cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transient natural convection heat transfer to starch dispersion in a cylindrical container: Numerical solution and experiment

Abstract Center temperature-time profile of a 3.5% cornstarch dispersion heated in a vertical 303 × 404 can at 121 °C compared favorably with finite element-based calculations with FIDAP computer simulation program. A thermo-rheological model based on experimental rheological data during starch gelatinization at 65–95 °C and combined with an assumed submodel for decreasing viscosity at 95–121 °C was used in the simulation. Most of the deviation between experimental and calculated profiles was about 5%, but a higher deviation (20%) occurred at the beginning of the heating cycle was attributed to higher heating rates ~ 14 °C min −1 than the 3 °C min −1 used in gathering rheological data, and to settling of starch granules. The deviation from experimental data was higher when the decreasing segment of the η a versus temperature data were omitted in the simulation. Shear rates that were high early during heating decreased due to increase in apparent viscosity ( η a ) as a result of starch gelatinization. With heating, initially the velocity boundary layer was displaced away from the wall due to increase in the magnitudes of η a of the STD close to the wall and subsequently moved closer to the wall due to decrease in η a . Transient isotherms changed from Benard convection cells initially to stratified lines with increasing temperatures towards the top.
An estrogen modulated protein in rabbit oviducal fluid

A low molecular weight protein (16 000) has been detected in oviducal fluid of normal mature estrous rabbits, but is absent from serum of the same animals. The protein migrates to the post albumin region upon electrophoresis on polyacrylamide gels at alkaline pH; it seems resistant to denaturation by 7% acetic acid, consequently assuming a characteristic cone-shaped configuration under certain staining and destaining conditions. This protein, furthermore, is responsive to alterations in in vivo estrogen titers: it diminishes to undetectable levels following ovariectomy and is restored following parenteral estradiol-17β, but not progesterone, administration. This oviducal fluid protein has been accordingly designated as an estrogen modulated protein.
Defending a Moving Target Against Missile or Torpedo Attack

Problems involving kinematics of a counterweapon intercepting an attacking missile are well known. However, when the attacker's target, the counterweapon's launch platform, is moving, the problem generally becomes amenable only to trajectory simulation. Such may be the case in defense against torpedo attack against a ship and other situations involving the use of antimissile missiles. This paper derives the kinematic relations among the three bodies (missile, target, and counterweapon) in closed form under the asymptotic approximation of constant-bearing trajectories (collision courses). It is shown that the defending target, even if moving, can still determine the optimum course for its counterweapon when range and speed of the attacking vehicle are unknown. A simple relation is derived for the ratio between the attacker-target range (and time to impact) at counterweapon launch and the range at interception of the attacker by the counterweapon. Normalized curves are presented for some representative cases of defense by a counterweapon of known speed against a torpedo or missile attack on a moving target. The equations are shown to reduce to the familiar form for a stationary target.
Crossnational Survey Research and Subnational Pluralism

Much of the research based on crossnational surveys aggregates micro-data into countrywide means and percentages. This research often does not consider other important aggregates such as cultural or ethnic groups. In earlier publications, we have shown that this can lead to faulty inferences and to overlooking major sources of difference in attitudes and behavior associated with ethnicity (Silver & Dowley, ; Dowley & Silver, a). Seligson () similarly demonstrates the problem with aggregating individuals to a countrywide mean in much of the political culture literature, when within-country variance is greater than between-country variance on key indicators of political values. This article focuses on how three major crossnational survey projects address the issue of ethnicity. We rely on questionnaires and codebooks from the surveys as well as our own analyses of the datasets. The major crossnational survey data collections usually do include information about ethnicity in their survey protocols but they do so in an inconsistent way, and they have not given sufficient attention to ethnicity in the sample designs. As a result, users of the data are handicapped in what they might do with the data. By identifying the extent to which these data sets collect information on ethnicity, we hope to reveal and to evaluate the potential for theoretically driven hypothesis-testing concerning ethnic differences in political attitudes and behavior in crossnational research. At the same time, we hope to inform designers of the major collections how greater attention to ethnicity might improve the quality and usefulness of the data.
AKT-induced reactive oxygen species generate imatinib-resistant clones emerging from chronic myeloid leukemia progenitor cells

AKT-induced reactive oxygen species generate imatinib-resistant clones emerging from chronic myeloid leukemia progenitor cells
Reversal of enzymatic hydrolysis: Rate and extent of ester synthesis as catalyzed by chymotrypsin and subtilisin Carlsberg at low water concentrations

Immobilized chymotrypsin catalyzes esterification of N-acetyltyrosine in a medium containing high concentrations of alcohols. The hydrophilic support and inclusion of glycerol protect the enzyme activity and allow catalysis to proceed in the presence of only 10% (v/v) water. The same equilibrium concentration of ester is obtained whether reaction proceeds from ester or from free acid. Hates of ester synthesis and hydrolysis are similar when measured under the same conditions, but are at least one order of magnitude slower than optimal rates of hydrolysis. Subtilisin Carlsberg in the free, unmodified form catalyzes ester synthesis at even lower water concentrations; optimal rates are obtained at 5–15% H2O. Hydrolytic enzymes can thus be utilized as catalysts of synthesis reactions in nonaqueous solvents where synthesis is thermodynamically favored over hydrolysis; in some cases this may provide economic and/or energetic advantages over conventional techniques.
Targeted Therapies for Locally Advanced or Metastatic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lung

Most patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) present with advanced or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. Given the low prevalence of oncogenic driver mutations in SCC, I do not routinely perform molecular testing. The times that I perform molecular testing in SCC are for patients with SCC and a light or never smoking history, adenosquamous histology, or when the histological diagnosis is not definitive. For patients with a good performance status and adequate organ function, a platinum doublet is the standard therapy, and I generally use carboplatin and gemcitabine or carboplatin and paclitaxel. In the second-line setting for patients who are chemotherapy candidates, I will use docetaxel on a weekly or every three week schedule. Erlotinib is a treatment option in the third-line setting. My preference is for patients to participate in clinical trials because the development of novel therapies for patients with SCC has been slow compared with nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer. Ongoing investigations into the genomics of SCC will hopefully identify driver mutations or alterations in pathways essential for oncogenesis and tumor growth and will lead to the development of targeted therapies. The complexity of the genomics of SCC will make the development of targeted therapies challenging.
Light scattering from the spherical-shell atmosphere: Earth curvature effects measured by SeaWiFS

It is commonly known that the Earth's atmosphere is a spherical-shell atmosphere (SSA) rather than a plane-parallel atmosphere (PPA). Thus, the light scattered by the Earth's atmosphere is governed by physics of the radiative transfer equation (RTE) with proper boundary conditions in the SSA system. In satellite and aircraft remote sensing, however, the PPA model is usually assumed to compute the lookup tables and convert the sensor-measured signals to the desired physical and optical quantities. The PPA assumption is a simple yet very good approximation for solar and sensor zenith angles < ∼80°. Note that the solar and sensor zenith angles here are defined as a measure at the local surface. In the PPA assumption, however, the solar zenith angles ≥90° is not defined. When the solar zenith angles ≥90° in the PPA system; i.e., when the Sun is below the horizon, there will be no light scattered out to the top of the atmosphere (TOA) or at the bottom of the surface. We would experience complete darkness in this situation.
Uptake and blood pressure studies in the chick embryo following treatment with a teratogenic dose of dopamine

We report on the ventricular pressor response and regional (head, heart, and body) uptake of dopamine hydrochloride (DA) following topical application of a teratogenic dose to the stage 24 chick embryo. Embryos treated with DA exhibited a significant increase in mean ventricular blood pressure (MVBP) at 0.5 and 1 hour after treatment when compared to saline-treated control embryos. The time of the elevated MVBP correlated with the time of the peak uptake of DA in the embryonic heart. Even though the level of DA in the heart remained high for 9 hours, there was no measurable increase in blood pressure beyond 1.5 hours, suggesting unresponsiveness to DA or perhaps conversion of DA to its metabolites. These experiments have correlated a physiologic response of a known cardiovascular teratogen to its uptake in the embryo.
CLINICAL COMPARISON OF ATRACURIUM AND VECURONIUM (ORG NC 45)

The potency, histamine releasing ability, cardiovascular effects, and pharmacodynamics of vecuronium and atracurium were investigated in 64 healthy patients following administration i.v. Cumulative dose-response curves showed vecuronium to be 4.4 times as potent as atracurium. Using the calculated EQ90 of each drug (43 g kg−1 for vecuronium and 188 fig kg−1 for atracurium), vecuronium had a significantly more rapid onset time and shorter duration of action than atracurium. When three times the ED90 doses were used (129 gkg−1 for vecuronium and 564 g kg−1 for atracurium), no statistically significant differences in the pharmacodynamics were seen between the two drugs, although vecuronium tended to be shorter-acting. There was no clinical evidence of histaminr release during the study. No clinically significant changes in arterial pressure or heart rate were seen after the injection of either drug, although vecuronium caused a statistically significant decrease in heart rate (≏5%) at 5 and 10 min after administration. Both drugs would appear to have certain advantages over existing non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking drugs.
Wireless Gigabit Data Telemetry for Large-Scale Neural Recording

Implantable wireless neural recording from a large ensemble of simultaneously acting neurons is a critical component to thoroughly investigate neural interactions and brain dynamics from freely moving animals. Recent researches have shown the feasibility of simultaneously recording from hundreds of neurons and suggested that the ability of recording a larger number of neurons results in better signal quality. This massive recording inevitably demands a large amount of data transfer. For example, recording 2000 neurons while keeping the signal fidelity ( $>12$ bit, $> 40$ KS/s per neuron) needs approximately a 1-Gb/s data link. Designing a wireless data telemetry system to support such (or higher) data rate while aiming to lower the power consumption of an implantable device imposes a grand challenge on neuroscience community. In this paper, we present a wireless gigabit data telemetry for future large-scale neural recording interface. This telemetry comprises of a pair of low-power gigabit transmitter and receiver operating at 60 GHz, and establishes a short-distance wireless link to transfer the massive amount of neural signals outward from the implanted device. The transmission distance of the received neural signal can be further extended by an externally rendezvous wireless transceiver, which is less power/heat-constraint since it is not at the immediate proximity of the cortex and its radiated signal is not seriously attenuated by the lossy tissue. The gigabit data link has been demonstrated to achieve a high data rate of 6 Gb/s with a bit-error-rate of 10−12 at a transmission distance of 6 mm, an applicable separation between transmitter and receiver. This high data rate is able to support thousands of recording channels while ensuring a low energy cost per bit of 2.08 pJ/b.
Childhood-Onset Schizophrenia: Insights From Neuroimaging Studies

Advances in neuroimaging allow prospective study of human brain development. Studies on pediatric populations are particularly informative because they explore the pathophysiological processes that are tied to important periods of brain development. Furthermore, childhood-onset counterparts of typical adult-onset illnesses usually show a more severe phenotype, one that is less likely to be influenced by environmental factors and more likely to show genetic influences. Such samples thus provide an opportunity to study the illness in its relatively pure form and that may also increase the likelihood of identifying causal genetic events. A study of childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) has been ongoing at the NIMH since 1990. The diagnosis is made using unmodified DSM-III-R/IV criteria and, in most cases, after a drug-free inpatient observation. The COS cases (N = 102 to date) clinically resemble poor outcome adult-onset schizophrenia (AOS) cases, in that all phenomenological, family, and neurobiological studies in COS show similar findings as in AOS, suggesting continuity between these two forms of the illness. Structuralbrainabnormalitiesareanestablishedfeature of AOS, characterized by reduced gray matter (GM) volumes in the cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala, which is subtly progressive over time. The majority of neuroimaging studies in COS have come from the NIMH sample. Earlier COS studies, consistent with findings from AOS studies, showed increased lateral ventricular volume, decreased total and regional GM volumes, and increased basal ganglia volumes that progressed during adolescence.
Response of non-premixed flames to bulk flow perturbations

Abstract This paper describes the dynamics of non-premixed flames responding to bulk velocity fluctuations, and compares the dynamics of the flame sheet position and spatially integrated heat release to that of a premixed flame. The space–time dynamics of the non-premixed flame sheet in the fast chemistry limit is described by the stoichiometric mixture fraction surface, extracted from the solution of the -equation. This procedure has some analogies to premixed flames, where the premixed flame sheet location is extracted from the G = 0 surface of the solution of the G-equation. A key difference between the premixed and non-premixed flame dynamics, however, is the fact that the non-premixed flame sheet dynamics are a function of the disturbance field everywhere, and not just at the reaction sheet, as in the premixed flame problem. A second key difference is that the non-premixed flame does not propagate and so flame wrinkles are convected downstream at the axial flow velocity, while wrinkles in premixed flames convect downstream at a vector sum of the flame speed and axial velocity. With the exception of the flame wrinkle propagation speed, however, we show that that the solutions for the space–time dynamics of the premixed and non-premixed reaction sheets in high velocity axial flows are quite similar. In contrast, there are important differences in their spatially integrated unsteady heat release dynamics. Premixed flame heat release fluctuations are dominated by area fluctuations, while non-premixed flames are dominated by mass burning rate fluctuations. At low Strouhal numbers, the resultant sensitivity of both flames to flow disturbances is the same, but the non-premixed flame response rolls off slower with frequency. Hence, this analysis suggests that non-premixed flames are more sensitive to flow perturbations than premixed flames at O(1) Strouhal numbers.
Is central obesity associated with cirrhosis-related death or hospitalization? A population-based, cohort study

Background & Aims: We aimed to determine the interaction between body fat distribution (central versus peripheral) and increased body mass index (BMI) with regards to the risk of cirrhosis-related death or hospitalization. Methods: Participants included 11,434 persons aged 25–74 years without evidence of cirrhosis at entry into the study or during the first 5 years of follow-up who were subsequently followed for a mean of 12.9 years as part of the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were categorized into "normal-weight" (BMI 2 , N=5750), "overweight" (BMI 25 to 2 , N=3770), and "obese" (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 , N=1914). The subscapular to triceps skinfold thickness ratio (SFR) was used to categorize body fat distribution into central (SFR > 1, N=5211) and peripheral (SFR ≤ 1, N=6223). Results: Cirrhosis resulted in death or hospitalization of 88 participants during 149,888 person-years of follow-up (59/100,000 person-years). Among persons with a central body fat distribution, cirrhosis-related deaths or hospitalizations were more common in obese persons (115/100,000 person-years, adjusted hazard ratio 2.2, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–4.6) and in overweight persons (94/100,000 person-years, adjusted hazard ratio 1.5, 95% CI 0.8–3.0) compared to normal-weight persons (59/100,000 person-years). However, among persons with a peripheral fat distribution, there was no association between obesity (adjusted hazard ratio 0.7, 95% CI 0.3–1.6) or overweight (adjusted hazard ratio 0.8, 95% CI 0.2–2.8) and cirrhosis-related death or hospitalization. Conclusions: The risk of cirrhosis-related death or hospitalization appears to be increased in the presence of cirrhosis, but only among persons with a central fat distribution. The excess risk associated with central obesity might be related to insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis.
Diffusive traversal time: Effective area in magnetically induced interference.

Classical diffusion through a disordered region, connected to leads with unscattered carrier motion, can be characterized by reflection and transmission probabilities and by the time it takes a carrier to diffuse through the sample. This traversal time is found, following a suggestion by Pippard, by letting carriers be absorbed along the way and calculating the resulting reduction in transmission. The traversal time for diffusion is used to calculate the mean square area enclosed between two randomly selected paths in a disordered conductor. In the presence of a magnetic field, this area determines the field scale over which the magnetoresistance exhibits uncorrelated random fluctuations.
Antiquity of the vertebrate pattern of activity metabolism and its possible relation to vertebrate origins.

Vertebrates generally possess well developed capacities for anaerobic metabolism, resulting in formation of lactic acid. Those capacities have traditionally been interpreted in terms of adaptation to hypoxic environments or to special situations such as diving. However, anaerobic metabolism in striated muscle tissue is frequently a major source of ATP utilized during periods of intense activity. The evolutionary significance of anaerobically supported activity has not been discussed, although the interrelationships of capacities for aerobiosis and activity have received considerable attention1. We present here evidence that the pattern of activity metabolism utilized by extant species probably dates back to the earliest vertebrates. It is also postulated that the evolution of extensive capacity for anaerobically supported burst activity may have been closely related to the evolution of vertebrates from invertebrate chordates.
Can a Systems Perspective Help Us Appreciate the Biological Meaning of Small Effects

The study of dramatic phenotypes has been pivotal to elucidating biological mechanisms. Effectively approaching low-magnitude quantitative phenotypes, a common outcome of systematic loss-of-function studies, will be critical for understanding how individual components of cells interact to generate functioning systems.
Polynomial neural nets for signal and image processing in chaotic backgrounds

Abstract We study non-linear signal processing for detection of threshold signals in chaotic backgrounds. The method is based upon synthesis of a polynomial neural network (PNN) for prediction of chaotic dynamics. Using a solution of the Mackey-Glass equation as a chaotic background, we synthesize a non-linear PNN processor which produces a threshold signalto background improvement of over 20 db. 1. Introduction Many natural backgrounds, such as radar clutter, which are thought to be random, may be deterministic chaos. Because of the finite dimensionality of a chaotic background, a non-linear signal processor can be trained as a global predictor. It is well known that many physical sources can produce space-time patterns which follow the dynamics of alow-dimensional attractor [1, 2]. Leung and Haykin have recently foundexperimental evidence that radar clutter from the ocean surface may have a chaotic attractor of dimension 7 [3] . We make the important distinction between irregular behavior, such as 'deterministic' chaos, and randomness.
Inactivation of two diverse enzymes in the amidinotransferase superfamily by 2-chloroacetamidine: dimethylargininase and peptidylarginine deiminase.

The enzymes dimethylargininase [dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase (DDAH); EC 3.5.3.18] and peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD; EC 3.5.3.15) catalyze hydrolysis of substituted arginines. Due to their role in normal physiology and pathophysiology, both enzymes have been identified as potential drug targets, but few useful inhibitors have been reported. Here, we find that 2-chloroacetamidine irreversibly inhibits both DDAH from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and human PAD4 in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, despite the nonoverlapping substrate specificities and low levels of amino acid identity of their catalytic domains. Substrate protection experiments indicate that inactivation occurs by modification at the active site, albeit with modest affinity. Mass spectral analysis demonstrates that irreversible inactivation of DDAH occurs through selective formation of a covalent thioether bond with the active-site Cys249 residue. The mechanism of inactivation by 2-chloroacetamidine is analogous to that of c...
Soft piezoelectric (1−x)Pb(Sc1/22Ta1/2)O3-(x)PbTiO3 ceramics with high coupling factors and low QM

Abstract The piezoelectric behavior of materials from the (1-x)Pb(Sc1/22Ta1/2)O3-(x)PbTiO3 solid solution system has been investigated. The [x = 0.45] composition in particular has exhibited an outstanding piezoelectric response [d33 = 650 (pC/N). kt = 0.5, kp = 0.61. k33 = 0.73] and a low mechanical quality factor [QM = 30]. These features make it a promising candidate for a variety of piezoelectric sensor applications. The difficulties involved in effectively poling a bar sample and a means to avoid these problems are also addressed.
How Do Mothers and Fathers Influence Pediatric Injury Risk in Middle Childhood

Objectives Parental influences are among the strongest behavioral correlates to unintentional injury outcome in early childhood, but are less well understood as children develop. We implemented a prospective research design to study how parenting style, parent–child relationships, and parental mental health influence injury during middle childhood. We also considered the roles of parent and child gender. Methods Parental influences were assessed from a sample of 584 first graders, plus their mothers and fathers. Injuries requiring medical treatment were assessed regularly over the subsequent 5 years. Logistic regression models examined how maternal and paternal parenting factors predicted injury among all children, just boys, and just girls. Results Fathers who reported more positive relationships with their children had children protected from injury. This was particularly true of father–son relationships. No maternal traits predicted injury. Conclusions A positive father–child, and especially a positive father–son relationship, may protect children from injury during middle childhood.
Probing N6-methyladenosine RNA modification status at single nucleotide resolution in mRNA and long noncoding RNA

N(6)-methyladenosine (m(6)A) is the most abundant modification in mammalian mRNA and long noncoding RNA (lncRNA). Recent discoveries of two m(6)A demethylases and cell-type and cell-state-dependent m(6)A patterns indicate that m(6)A modifications are highly dynamic and likely play important biological roles for RNA akin to DNA methylation or histone modification. Proposed functions for m(6)A modification include mRNA splicing, export, stability, and immune tolerance; but m(6)A studies have been hindered by the lack of methods for its identification at single nucleotide resolution. Here, we develop a method that accurately determines m(6)A status at any site in mRNA/lncRNA, termed site-specific cleavage and radioactive-labeling followed by ligation-assisted extraction and thin-layer chromatography (SCARLET). The method determines the precise location of the m(6)A residue and its modification fraction, which are crucial parameters in probing the cellular dynamics of m(6)A modification. We applied the method to determine the m(6)A status at several sites in two human lncRNAs and three human mRNAs and found that m(6)A fraction varies between 6% and 80% among these sites. We also found that many m(6)A candidate sites in these RNAs are however not modified. The precise determination of m(6)A status in a long noncoding RNA also enables the identification of an m(6)A-containing RNA structural motif.
Alienation and Political Behavior

Alienation is both one of the most popular and vague concepts used by contemporary social scientists. Scholars often cite Robert Nisbet's statement that alienation is basically a perspective. The current age is said to be one of alienation, or writers declare alienation to be the fundamental interpretive concept for explaining deviant behavior. One author has even gone so far as to say that definition is unnecessary because we can all feel what “it” is in our very bones. Indeed, if we don't understand it intuitively we are alienated by definition.Recently, there have been a series of attempts to clarify the meaning of the term. Daniel Bell, commenting on the uses of the concept alienation in the works of Marx, distinguishes estrangement (“a socio-psychological condition”) from reification (“a philosophical category with psychological overtones”). For research purposes, the fundamental difference between these meanings lies in the criteria which are applied in determining whether an individual is alienated. The existence of estrangement is determined by investigating the attitudes of individuals; reification is measured against “objective” standards about the quality of human life established by the investigator.The reification (objective) tradition has many strong exponents. It offers a potentially powerful concept to an analyst wishing to evaluate the human condition in terms of explicitly stated criteria of what man ought to be in his social and personal relationships. Most of the contemporary scholarly work, however, is concerned with estrangement, and my own interest also lies in the individual's perception of the situation he faces.
Low-delay vector excitation coding of speech at 8 kbit/s

A new version of low-delay vector excitation coding (LD-VXC) operating at 8 kb/s that provides very good speech quality is presented. New features of the scheme include an increased vector dimension, closed-loop pitch prediction with fractional pitch values, codebock orthogonalization techniques, and dual-mode interframe coding of the pitch trajectory. Informal listening tests demonstrate that its quality is comparable to that of vector sum excited linear prediction (VSELP) operating at the same rate, while maintaining a delay constraint an order of magnitude smaller than that of VSELP. >
Developing a model framework for predicting effects of woody expansion and fire on ecosystem carbon and nitrogen in a pinyon–juniper woodland

Sagebrush-steppe ecosystems are one of the most threatened ecosystems in North America due to woodland expansion, wildfire, and exotic annual grass invasion. Some scientists and policy makers have suggested that woodland expansion will lead to increased carbon (C) storage on the landscape. To assess this potential we used data collected from a Joint Fire Sciences Program demonstration area to develop a Microsoft Excel based biomass, carbon, and nitrogen (N) spreadsheet model. The model uses input for tree cover, soil chemistry, soil physical properties, and vegetation chemistry to estimate biomass, carbon, and nitrogen accumulation on the landscape with woodland expansion. The model also estimates C and N losses associated with prescribed burning. On our study plots we estimate in treeless sagebrush-steppe ecosystems, biomass accounts for 4.5 Mg ha �1 C and 0.3 Mg ha �1 N this is <10% of total estimated ecosystem C and N to a soil depth of 53 cm, but as tree cover increases to near closed canopy conditions aboveground biomass may account for 62 Mg ha �1 C and 0.6 Mg ha �1 N which is nearly 53% of total estimated ecosystem C and 13% of total estimated ecosystem N to a soil depth of 53 cm. Prescribed burning removes aboveground biomass, C and N, but may increase soil C at areal tree cover below 26%. The model serves as a tool by which we are able to assess our understanding of the system and identify knowledge gaps which exist for this ecosystem. We believe that further work is necessary to quantify herbaceous biomass, root biomass, woody debris decomposition, and soil C and N with woodland expansion and prescribed fire. It will also be necessary to appropriately scale these estimates from the plot to the landscape. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
ELK, a new protocol for efficient large-group key distribution

Secure media broadcast over the Internet poses unique security challenges. One problem is access control to a large number of subscribers in a public broadcast. A common solution is to encrypt the broadcast data and to disclose the decryption key to legitimate receivers only. However, how do we securely and efficiently establish a shared secret among the legitimate receivers? And most importantly, how can we efficiently update the group key securely if receivers join or leave? How can we provide reliability for key update messages in a way that scales up to large groups? Recent research makes substantial progress to address these challenges. Current schemes feature efficient key update mechanisms assuming that the key updates are communicated reliably to the receivers. In practice, however the principal impediment to achieve a scalable system is to distribute the key updates reliably to all receivers. We have designed and implemented ELK, a novel key distribution protocol, to address these challenges with the following features: ELK features perfectly reliable, super-efficient member joins; ELK uses smaller key update messages than previous protocols; ELK features a mechanism that allows short hint messages to be used for key recovery allowing a tradeoff of communication overhead with member computation; ELK proposes to append a small amount of key update information to data packets, such that the majority of receivers can recover from lost key update messages; and ELK allows to trade off security with communication overhead.
First Clinical Cases of OXA-48-Producing Carbapenem-Resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in the United States: the “Menace” Arrives in the New World

ABSTRACT OXA-48 has emerged as a major carbapenemase associated with the Enterobacteriaceae in Europe, North Africa, and Asia. We report the first two clinical cases of OXA-48-type carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in the United States from patients recently hospitalized in Saudi Arabia and India. Each is more carbapenem resistant than nearly all previously reported OXA-48-type-producing Enterobacteriaceae.
Mutation of tlyA Confers Capreomycin Resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Capreomycin, an important drug for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, is a macrocyclic peptide antibiotic produced by Saccharothrix mutabolis subspecies capreolus. The basis of resistance to this drug was investigated by isolating and characterizing capreomycin-resistant strains of Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Colonies resistant to capreomycin were recovered from a library of transposon-mutagenized M. smegmatis. The transposon insertion site of one mutant was mapped to an open reading frame in the unfinished M. smegmatis genome corresponding to the tlyA gene (Rv1694) in the M. tuberculosis H37Rv genome. In M. smegmatis spontaneous capreomycin-resistant mutants, the tlyA gene was disrupted by one of three different naturally occurring insertion elements. Genomic DNAs from pools of transposon mutants of M. tuberculosis H37Rv were screened by PCR by using primers to the tlyA gene and the transposon to detect mutants with an insertion in the tlyA gene. One capreomycin-resistant mutant was recovered that contained the transposon inserted at base 644 of the tlyA gene. Complementation with the wild-type tlyA gene restored susceptibility to capreomycin in the M. smegmatis and M. tuberculosis tlyA transposon mutants. Mutations were found in the tlyA genes of 28 spontaneous capreomycin-resistant mutants generated from three different M. tuberculosis strains and in the tlyA genes of capreomycin-resistant clinical isolates. In in vitro transcription-translation assays, ribosomes from tlyA mutant but not tlyA+ strains resist capreomycin inhibition of transcription-translation. Therefore, TlyA appears to affect the ribosome, and mutation of tlyA confers capreomycin resistance.
A statistical method for the detection of variants from next-generation resequencing of DNA pools

Motivation: Next-generation sequencing technologies have enabled the sequencing of several human genomes in their entirety. However, the routine resequencing of complete genomes remains infeasible. The massive capacity of next-generation sequencers can be harnessed for sequencing specific genomic regions in hundreds to thousands of individuals. Sequencing-based association studies are currently limited by the low level of multiplexing offered by sequencing platforms. Pooled sequencing represents a cost-effective approach for studying rare variants in large populations. To utilize the power of DNA pooling, it is important to accurately identify sequence variants from pooled sequencing data. Detection of rare variants from pooled sequencing represents a different challenge than detection of variants from individual sequencing. Results: We describe a novel statistical approach, CRISP [Comprehensive Read analysis for Identification of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) from Pooled sequencing] that is able to identify both rare and common variants by using two approaches: (i) comparing the distribution of allele counts across multiple pools using contingency tables and (ii) evaluating the probability of observing multiple non-reference base calls due to sequencing errors alone. Information about the distribution of reads between the forward and reverse strands and the size of the pools is also incorporated within this framework to filter out false variants. Validation of CRISP on two separate pooled sequencing datasets generated using the Illumina Genome Analyzer demonstrates that it can detect 80–85% of SNPs identified using individual sequencing while achieving a low false discovery rate (3–5%). Comparison with previous methods for pooled SNP detection demonstrates the significantly lower false positive and false negative rates for CRISP. Availability: Implementation of this method is available at http://polymorphism.scripps.edu/~vbansal/software/CRISP/ Contact: vbansal@scripps.edu
Simulator study of a turn procedure for reducing airspace requirements for supersonic transports

Computer simulation study of turn procedure for reducing airspace requirements for supersonic transports
Home-Based Therapy for Young Children in Low-Income Families: A Student Training Program

The purpose of this project was to develop an internship training program that offered in-home therapy for young children with significant emotional and behavior problems. The children lived in single-parent, low-income homes in unsafe neighborhoods of a large, urban area. A year-long, training and supervision program was implemented with 10 second-year, graduate students enrolled in 5 different university programs that prepared mental health professionals. Students received specialized instruction in working with diverse families living in poverty and in an evidence-based treatment program. They initially observed veteran counselors implementing the treatment program in homes and gradually assumed responsibility for conducting sessions on their own. Students’ scores on a measure of counseling self-efficacy improved significantly from pre- to postinternship. Students reported high levels of satisfaction with the training program and significantly improved confidence levels in their counseling skills at the conclusion of their internship experience. The limitations of these preliminary outcomes for this pilot program are discussed along with the need for more research in this understudied area.
Gene silencing using micro-RNA designed hairpins.

During RNA interference (RNAi), long dsRNA is processed to ;21 nt duplexes, short interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which silence genes through a mRNA degradation pathway. Small temporal RNAs (stRNAs) and micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are ;21 nt RNAs that are processed from endogenously encoded hairpin-structured precursors, and function to silence genes via translational repression. Here we report that synthetic hairpin RNAs that mimic siRNAs and miRNA precursor molecules can target a gene for silencing, and the mechanism of silencing appears to be through mRNA degradation and not translational repression. The sequence and structural configuration of these RNAs are important, and even slight modification in structure can affect the silencing activity of the hairpins. Furthermore, these RNAs are active when expressed by DNA vectors containing polymerase III promoters, opening the possibility for new approaches in stable RNAi-based loss of function studies.
Menthol Cigarette and Marijuana Use Among Adolescents

Introduction Menthol cigarette and marijuana use among adolescents is high; however, little is known about dual use in this age. Thus, we examined these rates among 2 samples of adolescents in Connecticut. Methods Study 1 examined a school-wide survey assessing variables related to cigarettes and marijuana among high school students (N = 837 [13% smokers]), and Study 2 examined these factors using baseline data of high school-aged, treatment-seeking, daily cigarette smokers prior to quitting (N = 132). Results In Study 1, lifetime marijuana use among all adolescents was 33% and past 30-day marijuana use was 21%. Among cigarette smokers, 55% reported smoking menthol cigarettes, 84% reported lifetime marijuana use, and 66% reported past 30-day marijuana use. Multivariate-adjusted logistic regression models indicated that cigarette smokers, when compared with nonsmokers, had greater rates of lifetime (odds ratio [OR] = 10.91) and past 30-day marijuana use (OR = 10.44). Among smokers, use of menthol cigarettes, when compared with use of nonmenthol cigarettes, was associated with greater lifetime (OR = 5.05) but not past 30-day marijuana use. In Study 2 with daily smokers, 59% of adolescents reported use of menthol cigarettes and 66% reported past 30-day marijuana use. Compared with nonmenthol cigarette smokers, menthol cigarette smokers were more likely to report past 30-day marijuana use (OR = 2.44). Conclusions Cigarette smoking is associated with marijuana use, and among smokers, menthol cigarette smoking further increased the odds of marijuana use. More research on the dual use of marijuana and tobacco is needed to inform prevention and treatment of substance use.
Insider Trading as a Signal of Private Information

There is substantial evidence that insider trading is present around corporate announcements and that this insider trading is motivated by private information. Using real estate investment trusts that choose to reappraise themselves as our sample, we establish that the appraisals contain information, but find no market response to the public announcement of this information in these appraisals. We consider two possible explanations for this inconsistency: the first that the appraisal information is not highlighted in earnings reports and hence remains unobserved; and the second that insiders trade on the appraisal information in the time that elapses between the appraisal and its public announcement. We find strong support for the second hypothesis, with insiders buying (selling) after they receive favorable (unfavorable) appraisal news, especially for negative appraisals. We also find that positive (negative) appraisals and net insider buying (selling) elicit significant positive (negative) abnormal returns during the appraisal period. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Technique for Measuring the Emittance of Polymers at Elevated Temperatures

A simple technique has been devised for determining the high-temperature, spectral emittance of materials which are melting and/or decomposing. The method has been applied to polystyrene; it could also be applied to some other condensed-phase materials.
Insect Symbioses: A Case Study of Past, Present, and Future Fungus-Growing Ant Research*

Fungus-growing ants (Attini: Formicidae) engage in an obligate mutualism with fungi they cultivate for food. Although biologists have been fascinated with fungus-growing ants since the resurgence of natural history in the modern era, the early stages of research focused mainly on the foraging behavior of the leaf-cutters (the most derived attine lineage). Indeed, the discovery that the ants actually use leaf fragments to manure a fungus did not come until the 1800s. More recently, three additional microbial symbionts have been described, including specialized microfungal parasites of the ant's fungus garden, antibiotic-producing actinobacteria that help protect the fungus garden from the parasite, and a black yeast that parasitizes the ant-actinobacteria mutualism. The fungus-growing ant symbiosis serves as a particularly useful model system for studying insect-microbe symbioses, because, to date, it contains four well-characterized microbial symbionts, including mutualists and parasites that encompass micro-fungi, macro-fungi, yeasts, and bacteria. Here, we discuss approaches for studying insect-microbe symbioses, using the attine ant-microbial symbiosis as our framework. We draw attention to particular challenges in the field of symbiosis, including the establishment of symbiotic associations and symbiont function. Finally, we discuss future directions in insect-microbe research, with particular focus on applying recent advances in DNA sequencing technologies.
An ultrastructural study of the inner core of the Pacinian corpuscle

Pacinian corpuscles from the hindfeet and mesentery of cats have been examined by light and electron microscopy. The study focuses on the inner core region which houses the single, non-myelinated terminal of the afferent axon. This region of the axon possesses specialized axon processes which enormously increase the surface area of the axolemma. The axon processes are long, branched, filiform structures, containing exclusively ~6 nm microfilaments, and are reminiscent of filopodia on the tips of growth cones of axons and dendrites. These axon processes emanate from the two poles of the elliptical terminal axon, from several sites in the transitional zone, and from the entire surface of the ultraterminal axon, the bulbous, branched, distal extremity of the nerve fibre. Each branch of an axon process articulates with an inner core cell hemilamella except at the distal end of the ultraterminal where axon processes may also approximate the inner edge of the outer core. The base of each axon process contains an elaborate array of organelles including clear and dense-core vesicles of synaptic vesicle size, all enmeshed in ~6 nm microfilaments. The structure and location of the axon processes appear to be eminently suitable for detecting pressure transients transmitted through the outer core of the corpuscle. It is suggested that the mechano-electrical transduction system has, as its morphological substrate, multiple units, each formed by a branched axon process and its specialized basal region. The existence of sympathetic axon terminals abutting the central axon is disputed but the presence of unusual, dense-centred and elongated vesicles within cellular profiles close to the axon is confirmed.
Candidate characteristics driving initial impressions during rapport building: Implications for employment interview validity

We examine the antecedents impacting interviewers’ initial impressions of candidates formed during the rapport-building stage of the interview and subsequent evaluations of answers to highly structured interview questions. Ratings for 130 mock interview candidates reveal a strong relationship between interviewers’ initial impression of the candidate and their evaluations of candidate responses to structured questions. These initial impressions correspond with candidate extraversion and verbal skill, controlling for job qualifications. Interviewers’ initial impressions mediate the effect of candidate characteristics, relevant for some jobs more so than others, on later evaluations. Thus, initial impressions formed during rapport building appear to influence subsequent evaluations whether they are clearly job-relevant or not. These findings have important implications for the validity of structured interviews.
Comparison of an aerial water-pan pheromone trap with traditional trapping techniques for the European corn borer (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

An aerial water-pan pheromone trap (AWPT) was compared with 15-W blacklight (BLT) and Pherocon 1-C sticky traps (ST), for trapping the European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner). At low ECB population densities, the catches in AWPT and BLT were not significantly different, whereas at higher ECB densities, catches in BLT were greater. The AWPT caught significantly more ECB, at all densities, than did the ST. Night observations revealed the AWPT to be 400% more efficient at trapping ECB than the ST. Competition by virgin females, and the sedentary tendency of males, could explain why catches were similar at low densities and dissimilar at higher densities.
Partial-trisomy syndromes. II. An insertion as cause of the OFD syndrome in mother and daughter.

One of the autosomes of the C group (6–12), C′, can sometimes be identified by a secondary constriction.
Progress in the Research on Ecotoxicological Behavior of Acrylamide

The acrylamide (AM) is one of the most important chemical materials and applied to various fields. Its ecotoxicological behavior has long been a focus of attention. The characteristics of AM are briefly introduced; the behaviors of AM in organisms are analyzed; the effects of AM on human are reviewed at length; the fates of AM in environment are completely summarized. Preventive measures are also presented in this paper. The paper provides some references to the future application, treatment and prevention.