cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Direct-recording megachannel analyzer through associative programming of a small computer

Abstract The need for real-time accumulating analyzers in the megachannel range has become very apparent in recent years, though excessive cost has prevented their construction. Recently, various investigations have suggested that a solution lay in the utilization of the associative memory technique. A megachannel analyzer employing this technique has been designed. Its basic principle has been described previously1). This paper deals with the programming and extending of the on-line computer into a megachannel, multidimensional, direct-recording associative analyzer. The features of the system are ultimately determined by the list format used. The random-tree list format, while useful during the experiment, has the disadvantage that all items on the list are interconnected. A megachannel analyzer employing double list technique has been designed to overcome this limitation and is now in successful operation. Experiments are presented which have become possible for the first time due to the associative analyzer technique. It is shown that there is a considerable difference between spectra based on first arrived events and those based on most probable events.
The Disappearance of Race in Mortgage Lending

: In the past 25 years, housing researchers, governmental regulators, industry advocates, and community activists have all relied on a unified analytical infrastructure that was developed in the 1970s to monitor racial and geographic inequalities in U.S. housing markets. Since the mid-1990s, however, several developments in the housing finance sector have undermined a key element of this system: data collected under the auspices of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975. The second-largest racial-ethnic group among mortgage loan applicants is now officially designated as “information not provided.” In this article, we analyze the causes and geography of this disappearance and its consequences for civil rights enforcement, academic research on redlining and discrimination, and community activism. Our analysis is simultaneously a cautionary narrative of the steady erosion of a valuable public data system and a strategic intervention intended to salvage the empirical contributions of the data for interdisciplinary research, community right-to-know purposes, and public policy development. Using Atlanta, Georgia, as a case study, we marshal a suite of multivariate techniques to disentangle the geographic, individual, and institutional factors responsible for the rise in unreported applications. We also devise a simple method to estimate the “true” racial and ethnic composition of the pool of unknown applicants. The contributions of this endeavor are mediated by the political and epistemological problems of racialization and categorical reification.
Disc electrophoresis of glycoproteins in snake venoms.

Abstract Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to qualitatively separate venom glycoproteins from several species of snakes found in the families Crotalidae and Elapidae. Several staining techniques were compared after electrophoresis was carried out at either high or low pH with variations in the concentration of acrylamide in the separation gel. The stained electrophoresis bands showed characteristic similarities in the closely related species of each family.
Non-invasive gamma camera imaging of gene transfer using an adenoviral vector encoding an epitope-tagged receptor as a reporter.

A model epitope-tagged receptor was constructed by fusing the hemagglutinin (HA) sequence on the extracellular N-terminus of the human somatostatin receptor subtype 2 (hSSTr2) gene. This construct was placed in an adenoviral (Ad-HAhSSTr2) vector. This study evaluated Ad-HAhSSTr2 in vitro and in vivo using FACS, fluorescent microscopy, radioactive binding assays, and gamma camera imaging techniques. Infection of A-427 non-small cell lung cancer cells with Ad-HAhSSTr2 or Ad-hSSTr2 resulted in similar expression of hSSTr2 by FACS analysis and binding assays using a 99mTc-labeled somatostatin analogue (99mTc-P2045). HAhSSTr2 expression in A-427 cells was specific for infection with Ad-HAhSSTr2. FITC-labeled anti-HA antibody (FITC-HA) confirmed surface expression in live A-427 cells and the absence of internalization. Gamma camera imaging and gamma counter analysis of normal mice showed significantly greater (P<0.05) liver uptake of 99mTc-labeled anti-HA antibody (99mTc-anti-HA) in mice injected i.v. 48 h earlier with Ad-HAhSSTr2 (53.6±6.9% ID/g) as compared to mice similarly injected with Ad-hSSTr2 (9.0±1.3% ID/g). In a mouse tumor model, imaging detected increased tumor localization of 99mTc-anti-HA due to direct intratumor injection Ad-HAhSSTr2. Gamma counter analysis confirmed significantly greater (P<0.05) uptake of 99mTc-anti-HA in tumors injected with Ad-HAhSSTr2 (12.5±4.1% ID/g) as compared to Ad-hSSTr2-infected tumors (5.1±1.5% ID/g). These studies demonstrate the feasibility of using an epitope-tagged reporter receptor for non-invasively imaging gene transfer.
Macromolecular Changes in Extruded Starch-Films Plasticized with Glycerol, Water and Stearic Acid

Native corn starch, plasticized with water, glycerol and stearic acid, was extruded in a conical twin-screw extruder and sheeted into 0.4-0.6 mm thick films. The effects of extrusion and plasticizers on gelatinization, as well as the molecular and structural changes, in thermoplastic starch were analyzed. The onset and peak gelatinization temperatures of extruded starch varied from 42-46°C and 52.9-56.9°C, respectively, depending on the glycerol content. The enthalpy of gelatinization of extruded thermoplastic starch in excess water varied from 3.6-7.6 J/g, which also increased with plasticizer content. Amylose-lipid complexes were formed during extrusion, and their enthalpies depended on the initial stearic acid and moisture contents. High-performance size-exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) data revealed that the starch underwent fragmentation during extrusion even under highly plasticized conditions, but the degradation was not severe as compared to previous findings. The relative percentages of amylopectin and amylose in native starch were 76.9 and 23.1 %, respectively, which were changed to 71.3-76.6% and 23.4-28.7% in the extrudates. The average molecular weights of amylopectin and amylose in the extrudates ranged from 1.55 x 10 7 -2.07 x 10 7 and 4.35 x 10 5 ―7.39 × 10 5 , respectively. On the other hand, the molecular weights of amylopectin and amylose in native corn starch were observed as 2.27 x 10 7 and 4.68 x 10 5 , respectively. Cross-polarization magical angle spinning (CP/ MAS) and high-power decoupling (HP-DEC) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of thermoplastic starch revealed the characteristics of amylomaize starch, confirming HPSEC results that the amylopectin macromolecules underwent fragmentation into amylose-like fractions. In the extrudates, glycerol was found to be less mobile and entrained within the starch network.
Fluorometric Enzymatic Method for Determination of Formaldehyde

Abstract Two sensitive fluorometric enzymatic methods for the determination of formaldehyde are described. These methods were developed using the enzyme formaldehyde dehydrogenase to catalyze the oxidation of formaldehyde to form formate and NADH in the presence of β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). In method I, the increase in NADH, which is directly proportional to the concentration of formaldehyde, is measured fluorometrically at λex= 348 nm and λem= 467 nm. In method II, the NADH is subsequently reacted with resazurin in the presence of a second enzyme diaphorase to form resorufin, a highly fluorogenic compound. The fluorescence intensity is then measured at λex= 575 nm and λem= 590 nm. The optimum conditions as well as the linear range and precision of these methods were investigated.
Human DNA topoisomerase I: quantitative analysis of the effects of camptothecin analogs and the benzophenanthridine alkaloids nitidine and 6-ethoxydihydronitidine on DNA topoisomerase I-induced DNA strand breakage.

Human DNA topoisomerase I (topo I) has been purified from normal placenta and from a recombinant baculovirus expression system. A new radiolabeled plasmid DNA assay has been used to quantitate the activity of the purified enzymes and to compare the ability of several types of topo I-targeted drugs to induce topo I-mediated DNA strand breaks. The 100-kDa recombinant enzyme form isolated from the baculovirus expression system is able to relax 2564 ng of supercoiled M-13 mp19 plasmid per minute per nanogram of enzyme. The addition of camptothecin (1 microM) to the reaction lowers the rate to 1282 ng per minute per nanogram of enzyme. The 100-kDa topo I from human placenta is able to relax 1092 ng of supercoiled plasmid per minute per nanogram of enzyme and the 68-kDa topo I form from placenta is able to relax 2069 ng of supercoiled plasmid per minute per nanogram of enzyme. Camptothecin (1 microM) decreases the relaxation rate of the placental enzymes about 50%. In the presence of several different types of topo I-targeted drugs, both the recombinant and placental enzymes are induced to cleave plasmid DNA. Quantitative DNA cleavage assays with radioactive plasmid DNA and 9-aminocamptothecin, topotecan, SN-38, 10, 11-methylenedioxycamptothecin, 7-ethyl-10, 11-methylenedioxycamptothecin, 7-chloromethyl-10, 11-methylenedioxycamptothecin, nitidine, and 6-ethoxy-5, 6-dihydronitidine indicate that the order of potency in inducing topo I-mediated DNA breakage is methylenedioxycamptothecin analogs > SN-38 > 9-aminocamptothecin > topotecan and camptothecin > nitidine compounds. The order of potency correlates with the half-lives of the topo I-DNA drug complex determined with radiolabeled DNA in 0.45 M NaCl at 30 degrees C. The half-life of the complex formed with 7-chloromethyl-10,11-methylenedioxycamptothecin is greater than 90 min whereas the half-life of the topo I-DNA complex with 6-ethoxy-5, 6-dihydronitidine is less than 15 s. The other drugs tested were found to have drug complex half-lives which fall between these two extremes.
“He lives as a Master”: Seventeenth‐Century Masculinity, Gendered Teaching, and Careers of New England Schoolmasters

You that are men and thoughts of manhood know, Be Just now to the Man who made you so. Martyr'd by Scholars the stabbed Cassian dies, And falls to cursed Lads a Sacrafice. Not so my Cheever; Not by Scholars slain, But Praised and Lov'd, and wished to Life again. Cotton Mather, 1708 In New England, as in the country as a whole, teaching began as a male occupation. The earliest schoolmasters taught in small settlements of religious dissenters who had migrated to the wilderness of New England in the seventeenth century. The gendered meaning of teaching accompanied the social practice of hiring male teachers. Puritan minister Cotton Mather, in his passionate elegy for seventeenth-century New England schoolmaster Ezekiel Cheever, attests to the settlers' belief in the manliness of teachers. To Mather and other English settlers, the very term schoolmaster denoted masculine qualities. In Mather's own words: “He lives as a Master, the Term, which has been for above three thousand years, assign'd to the Life of a Man.” For Mather, teachers were not only male but embodied a particular vision of the masculine as well. Mather's vision of the ideal teacher, as having a specific kind of masculinity, was not unique to him. Drawing on English and Puritan traditions, the early New England colonists embraced an image of the ideal teacher that incorporated masculine virtues.
Rediscovering “Terroir” in West African Agroforestry Parklands

The objective of this article is to examine how agricultural intensification and changing land tenure practices impact the management of two valuable parkland species: Vitellaria paradoxa and Parkia biglobosa. The article presents a conceptual framework that examines customary land tenure in an agroecological context. This required a variety of methods, including qualitative surveys on livelihoods and parkland management, surveys on land use history, and tree density measurements in farmers' fields. The research, conducted in northern Benin, reveals that farmers historically exploited the relative sparseness of Parkia biglobosa in natural vegetation by sowing its seeds in their fields in order to distinguish them from unclaimed land. As agriculture has intensified, farmers have abandoned this practice, which is likely contributing to the decline of Parkia biglobosa in regional agricultural landscapes. The abandonment of this practice also reveals an overlooked difference in management strategies for the t...
Computerized image processing for evaluation of sampling error in ion microprobe analysis

Abstract A method is described for the microscale evaluation of sample heterogeneity as applied to in-situ ion microprobe analysis. Computer feature analysis of digitized ion images is utilized to generate sampling constants, which can be related to the degree of heterogeneity present for a particular constituent in the sample. The expected precision for a series of analyses, or the number of analyses required for a desired precision can also be determined. This approach, which is experimentally verified for NBS SRM-664 low-alloy steel, can be used both to minimize sampling error and to assess the applicability of specific reference materials to microprobe analysis.
The risk of upper gastrointestinal cancer in familial adenomatous polyposis

Abstract Adenomas with potential for malignancy occur frequently in the upper gastrointestinal tract of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. However, an assessment of relative risk of upper gastrointestinal cancer in patients with adenomatous polyposis has never been performed. Therefore, the incidence rate of upper gastrointestinal cancer in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis in The Johns Hopkins Registry was compared with the rate of the general population through person-year analysis with adjustment for demographics. There was an increased relative risk of duodenal adenocarcinoma (relative risk, 330.82; 95% confidence limits, 132.66 and 681.49; P P
Women's studies and computer science: their intersection

Women's studies and computer science both evolved as academic disciplines in the 1960s, but they evolved along very different paths. The differences between science, engineering, and the humanities are discussed, followed by a brief review of women's studies. Feminist epistemology and its dedication to concrete learning introduce new ideas for gaining knowledge that will also make computer science more relevant for minority and low-income students. Children's use of computer technology and Logo software is introduced.
Alcohol Use and Unintended Sexual Consequences among Women Attending an Urban Sexually Transmitted Infections Clinic.

Abstract Background Although alcohol use has been linked with a variety of sexual behaviors, we lack an understanding of what precise events occur when women drink that may lead to emotional or physical harms. Methods To fill this gap, we qualitatively explored the unintended sexual events occurring while drinking among a particularly at-risk clinic population: urban women attending a public sexually transmitted infections (STI) clinic. This was a secondary data analysis of 20 semistructured, in-depth interviews conducted between December 2009 and August 2010 with 20 sexually active adult women attending the Baltimore City Health Department STI Clinic. We purposively sampled women presenting for care in the STI clinic who reported either binge drinking in the past 6 months or engaging in vaginal or anal intercourse while under the influence of alcohol. Interviews were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Results Five major unintended sexual events emerged: sex with new partners; alternative sexual activities, including anal sex and “rough” sex; unprotected sex; blacked out sex or sex occurring during alcohol-related amnesia; and rape. Themes often overlapped, and sexual victimization was a common thread throughout multiple themes. An additional theme, alcohol and prey, largely occurring in bars and nightclubs, emerged as an important precursor to many of the unintended events described. Conclusions Alcohol use was associated with a variety of—often dangerous—unintended sexual events. Our results highlight the link between alcohol use and sexual victimization and the need for intervention development to reduce the emotional and physical harms resulting from the unintended consequences of alcohol use.
Pulmonary function changes associated with cardiomegaly in chronic heart failure.

Abstract Background This study examined the influence of increased cardiac size on maximal lung volumes, forced expiratory airflows, and the diffusing capacity of the lungs in heart failure (HF) patients compared with controls. Methods and Results Forty-one HF patients of New York Heart Association (NYHA) class: Group A=class I/II (n = 26) and Group B=class III/IV (n = 15) and an equal number matched controls (CTL) were recruited. Participants underwent echocardiography, spirometry, and posteroanterior and lateral chest radiographic evaluation (RAD) for volumetric estimation of the total thoracic cavity (TTC), diaphragm, heart, and lungs. Analysis of variance demonstrated no difference between groups for TTC volume ( P = .63). RAD cardiac volumes (% TTC volume) were significantly different among all groups ( P P P P P Conclusions These results suggest cardiac size may pose significant constraints on the lungs and likely plays a major role in the restrictive breathing patterns often reported in HF patients.
The Science of Kalām

Our intention here is to present the essential character of classical, sunnī kalām within a strictly formal perspective and to set out its basic aspects. It was conceived by the mutakallimīn as a rational, conceptual, and critical science and, although kalām differed in a number of basic concepts and constructs and in its analytic system, the topical organisation of the major compendia parallels that of metaphysics as understood in the contemporary Aristotelian tradition. The debates between kalām and falsafa need to be examined within this context. Kalām, however, is theological in the strict sense of the term and it is as such that its problematic and its procedures are primarily to be understood. Thus seen, the object of kalām is to rationalise the cognitive content presented to Believers in the symbolic language of the koranic revelation. It has, then, four principal tasks, sc, to conceptualise, to order, to explain, and where possible to justify the primary doctrines of the community whose belief is held to be normative. Within this framework the differences that characterise the major schools as such and the various tendencies of individual masters within each school may readily be brought to light.
Distribution of neuropeptide S receptor mRNA and neurochemical characteristics of neuropeptide S-expressing neurons in the rat brain.

Neuropeptide S (NPS) and its receptor (NPSR) constitute a novel neuropeptide system that is involved in regulating arousal and anxiety. The NPS precursor mRNA is highly expressed in a previously undescribed group of neurons located between the locus coeruleus (LC) and Barrington's nucleus. We report here that the majority of NPS-expressing neurons in the LC area and the principal sensory trigeminal nucleus are glutamatergic neurons, whereas many NPS-positive neurons in the lateral parabrachial nucleus coexpress corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). In addition, we describe a comprehensive map of NPSR mRNA expression in the rat brain. High levels of expression are found in areas involved in olfactory processing, including the anterior olfactory nucleus, the endopiriform nucleus, and the piriform cortex. NPSR mRNA is expressed in several regions mediating anxiety responses, including the amygdaloid complex and the paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus. NPSR mRNA is also found in multiple key regions of sleep neurocircuitries, such as the thalamus, the hypothalamus, and the preoptic region. In addition, NPSR mRNA is strongly expressed in major output and input regions of hippocampus, including the parahippocampal regions, the lateral entorhinal cortex, and the retrosplenial agranular cortex. Multiple hypothalamic nuclei, including the dorsomedial and the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus and the posterior arcuate nucleus, express high levels of NPSR mRNA, indicating that NPS may regulate energy homeostasis. These data suggest that the NPS system may play a key role in modulating a variety of physiological functions, especially arousal, anxiety, learning and memory, and energy balance. J. Comp. Neurol. 500:84–102, 2007. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
DiMoVo: a Voronoi tessellation-based method for discriminating crystallographic and biological protein-protein interactions.

Motivation: Knowledge of the oligomeric state of a protein is often essential for understanding its function and mechanism. Within a protein crystal, each protein monomer is in contact with many others, forming many small interfaces and a few larger ones that are biologically significant if the protein is a homodimer in solution, but not if the protein is monomeric. Telling such ‘crystal dimers’ from real ones remains a difficult task. Results: It has already been demonstrated that the interfaces of native and non-native protein–protein complexes can be distinguished using a combination of parameters computed with a method on the Voronoi tessellation. We show in this article that the same parameters highlight significant differences between the interfaces of biological and crystal dimers. Using these parameters as descriptors in machine learning methods leads to accurate classification of specific and non-specific protein–protein interfaces. Availability: Software is available at http://fifi.ibbmc.u-psud.fr/ DiMoVo Contact: anne@rezo.net
The Physiologus: A Poiēsis of Nature

In August 1940, the poet Wallace Stevens wrote a series of letters to Hi Simons, a Chicago literary critic who had sent Stevens a list of questions concerning various images in his poems. Wary of explanations of poetry that betray the poetic voice, Stevens composed notes which intensified his images, rendering them, if anything, stranger rather than more common. In the course of one letter, he was moved to comment on the nature of poetry itself.
Thermal and electrical effects of staggered micropin-fin dimensions for cooling of 3D microsystems

Microfluidic cooling shows promise in cooling next generation 3D microsystems when integrated with through-silicon-vias. In this work, electrical and thermal effects of staggered micropin-fin heat sink dimensions are analyzed using deionized water. An experimental study of five different silicon micropin-fin arrays with a nominal height of 200 μm and diameters down to 30 μm was conducted at flow rates up to approximately 100mL/min and pressure drops up to approximately 200 kPa. The lowest convective thermal resistance achieved was 0.098 °C/W across a 1 cm 2 die. These experimental results were then used to simulate temperature profiles of an interposer-cooled 3D stack.
An orphan receptor tyrosine kinase family whose members serve as nonintegrin collagen receptors

Abstract Mammalian cells constantly monitor and respond to a myriad of extracellular signals, often by using cell surface receptors. Two important classes of cell surface receptors include the receptor tyrosine kinases, which recognize peptide growth factors such as insulin, and the integrins, which most often mediate binding to components of the extracellular matrix. We report that the collagens serve as ligands for the previously orphan family of discoidin domain–containing receptor-like tyrosine kinases. The unexpected realization that an extracellular matrix molecule can directly serve as a ligand for receptor tyrosine kinases provides an example of ligands shared by integrins and receptor tyrosine kinases, and this finding seems likely to change prevailing views about the mechanisms by which cells perceive and respond to the extracellular matrix.
Liver Abscess Caused by Streptococcus milleri

There is now convincing evidence that Streptococcus milleri is an important cause of pyogenic liver abscesses. The clinical course is no different from that of pyogenic infections of the liver arising from other causes. A positive blood culture should alert the clinician to the possibility of hepatic suppuration. Treatment consists of drainage by laparotomy or percutaneous aspiration combined with approximately 6 weeks of penicillin administration. Patients with liver abscesses who receive metronidazole may not respond if S. milleri is the infecting organism.
Breaking the Ice in Human-Agent Communication: Eye-Gaze Based Initiation of Contact with an Embodied Conversational Agent

In human-human conversation, the first impression decides whether two people feel attracted by each other and whether contact between them will be continued or not. Starting from psychological work on flirting, we implemented an eye-gaze based model of interaction to investigate whether flirting tactics help improve first encounters between a human and an agent. Unlike earlier work, we concentrate on a very early phase of human-agent conversation (the initiation of contact) and investigate which non-verbal signals an agent should convey in order to create a favourable atmosphere for subsequent interactions and increase the user's willingness to engage in an interaction with the agent. To validate our approach, we created a scenario with a realistic 3D agent called Alfred that seeks contact with a human user. Depending on whether the user signals interest in the agent by means of his or her gaze, the agent will finally engage in a conversation or not.
High degree of genetic diversity of non-polio enteroviruses identified in Georgia by environmental and clinical surveillance, 2002-2005.

Enterovirus surveillance data are useful for establishing temporal and geographical patterns of circulation and for virus characterization to determine phylogenetic relationships between strains. Almost no information is available on circulating enteroviruses in Georgia and the surrounding region. To describe enterovirus circulation in Georgia, determine relationships with previously characterized strains and assess the role of environmental and clinical enterovirus surveillance, this study analysed a total of 112 non-polio enterovirus isolates identified during 2002–2005 from sewage and human stool samples. Viruses were isolated in cell culture using standard methods and typed by partial sequencing of the VP1 gene. A total of 20 different non-polio enterovirus serotypes were identified over the 4-year period. The most commonly detected enteroviruses included echovirus (E) 6 (21 isolates; 18.8 %), E20, E3 and E7 (11 isolates each; 9.8 %), E11, coxsackievirus (CV) B4 and CVB5 (seven isolates each; 6.3 %), and E13, E19 and E30 (six isolates each; 5.4 %). Phylogenetic analysis showed that many serotypes were represented by more than one genetic lineage. The present study showed a very high degree of enterovirus diversity in Georgia and demonstrated the added value of environmental enterovirus surveillance, particularly in settings with limited clinical surveillance. Several serotypes would not have been detected without having both clinical and environmental surveillance in place. Several serotypes detected in Georgia were among those rarely reported in the USA and Europe (e.g. E3, E20 and E19). As the emergence of new genetic lineages of enterovirus in a particular area is often associated with large-scale outbreaks, continued monitoring of enterovirus strains by both environmental and clinical surveillance and genetic characterization should be encouraged.
Urine Output Changes During Postcardiac Arrest Therapeutic Hypothermia.

While commonly described, no studies have characterized cold-induced diuresis or rewarm anti-diuresis occurring during the delivery of therapeutic hypothermia (TH). We sought to determine urine output changes during the provision of postcardiac arrest TH. We analyzed clinical data on patients receiving postcardiac arrest TH at an urban tertiary care center. TH measures included cooling by cold intravenous fluid, external ice packs, and a commercial external temperature management system. TH treatment was divided into phases: (1) induction, (2) maintenance, (3) rewarm, and (4) post-rewarm. The primary outcome measure was the mean urine output rate (mL/hour). We compared urine output rates between TH phases using a Generalized Estimating Equations model, defining urine output rate (mL/hour) as the dependent variable and TH phase (induction, maintenance, rewarm, and post-rewarm) as the primary exposure variable. We adjusted for age, sex, initial ECG rhythm, location of arrest, shock, acute kidney injury, rat...
High field electrical and thermal aging of polypropylene films

The lifetimes of polypropylene films under high AC and DC field stresses were determined at 23 degrees C, 70 degrees C and 90 degrees C. For DC aging, the results indicate that a power law type of relation might hold true, with the parameters changing with temperature. However, for AC aging, more anomalous results were obtained. At least three regions in the voltage-life curve were identified: a region where the stresses applied were very close to the breakdown field of the films, an intermediate region and a region where the films were stressed at comparatively low electric fields. It is speculated that these regions arise because of different mechanisms that are operative at different electric stresses and temperatures, as well as the progressive impregnation of the dielectric films with the transformer oil. The results are described and discussed. >
EFFECTS OF NICOTINE ON SPERM ATTACHMENT AND PENETRATION OF ZONA-FREE HAMSTER EGGS

A previous study from this laboratory showed that nicotine in vitro has deleterious effects on sperm motion characteristics. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of nicotine on the ability of human spermatozoa to attach and penetrate zona-free hamster eggs. Spermatozoa from fertile donors, washed free of seminal plasma, were incubated with medium (control) and 0.1, 1, 5, and 10 mM concentrations of nicotine (concentrations estimated to approximate residual concentrations of nicotine in the testes of heavy smokers) for 18 h at 37°C in a humid 5% carbon dioxide incubator. The sperm preparations were then mixed with enzymatically denuded hamster eggs and incubated for 3 h at 37°C. The oocytes were examined by phase-contrast microscopy to enumerate the rates of sperm attachment and penetration. The data were analyzed by a paired t test and repeated measures analysis of variance using the arcsine transformation of the percentages. The percentages of eggs with attached spermatozoa significantly decl...
Trisomy 9 mosaicism.

The first live-born female with trisomy 9 mosaicism is reported. This patient, like four others in the literature, has a characteristic face with narrowed temples, enophthalmus, large nose and pouched cheeks, as well as skeletal abnormalities of the extremities, including hip dislocation, limited joint mobility and bone hypoplasia.
Raman line widths in rare-earth sesquisulfide solid solutions

High-resolution Raman spectra were measured on two solid solution series of rare-earth sesquisulfldes: The La2S3-Gd2S3sequence with the orthorhombic a structure and the Dy2S3-Er2S3 sequence with the monoclinic δ structure. Precise line widths, measured on the most intense line, showed a pronounced maximum in the middle of the solid solution series, demonstrating the relationship between Raman line width and structural disorder. The magnitude of the effect scaled with the difference in ionic radii of the cations making up the solid solution.
Elevated hepatic enzymes and incidence of venous thromboembolism: a prospective study.

Abstract Purpose Approximately 10% of the general population has elevated blood concentrations of hepatic enzymes, which are linked to increased coagulation markers. We tested whether elevated hepatic enzymes are associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Methods We followed 12,604 adults with measurements of alanine transaminase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) prospectively for VTE occurrence. Results AST and GGT above the laboratory normal values were associated over two decades of follow-up with increased risk of total (n = 532) and provoked VTE (n = 332), but with not unprovoked VTE (n = 200). In a model adjusted for age, race, sex, hormone replacement, alcohol intake, diabetes, body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and C-reactive protein, the hazard ratios (HR) (95% confidence interval) for high versus normal AST were 1.46 (1.00–2.11) for total VTE and 1.83 (1.21–2.79) for provoked VTE. For high GGT, the HR were 1.34 (1.06–1.69) for total VTE and 1.43 (1.07–1.91) for provoked VTE. When follow-up was limited to the first 10 years, associations were even stronger (HR ≈ 1.7 for total VTE). Conclusions Elevated concentrations of two hepatic enzymes (AST and GGT) in this general middle-aged population are associated with a modestly increased risk of VTE.
Thyroid-specific enhancer-binding protein (T/EBP): cDNA cloning, functional characterization, and structural identity with thyroid transcription factor TTF-1.

Abstract A cDNA clone encoding a thyroid-specific enhancer-binding protein (T/EBP) was isolated from a rat thyroid-derived FRTL-5 cell lambda gt 11 expression library, using a double-stranded oligonucleotide probe. This oligonucleotide was previously demonstrated to have the strongest binding affinity among three cis-acting DNA elements within the thyroid-specific enhancer region located 5.5 kbp upstream of the human thyroid peroxidase gene transcription start site. Nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the cDNA revealed that T/EBP is identical to the previously reported thyroid-specific transcription factor 1 (TTF-1), which binds to the promoter of the rat thyroglobulin gene and controls its thyroid-specific expression. Expression of the T/EBP cDNA under control of the human cytomegalovirus major immediate-early gene promoter conferred thyroid-specific enhancer activity of as high as 26-fold to nonpermissive human hepatoma HepG2 cells when cotransfected with a vector containing 6.3 kbp of upstream sequence of the human thyroid peroxidase gene connected to a luciferase reporter gene. T/EBP was further expressed in HepG2 cells by using the vaccinia virus expression system. The expressed protein was partially purified by using sequence-specific affinity column chromatography and was further shown, by gel mobility shift experiments, to specifically bind to the enhancer-derived double-stranded oligonucleotide. These results clearly indicate that the binding of T/EBP (TTF-1) to the specific cis-acting enhancer element is largely responsible for thyroid-specific enhancer activity.
Effects of murine erythroleukemia inducers on mouse erythroid colony formation in culture.

The effect of various agents which are known to increase the differentiation of Friend erythroleukemia cells was investigated in cultures of mouse bone marrow cells. N, N-dimethylacetamide (5 and 15 mM) and acetamide (60 mM) significantly increased the number of erythroid colonies observed. Tetramethylurea, dimethylformamide, pyridine N-oxide, and butyric acid were ineffective. Dimethylsulfoxide at a concentration of 1% significantly increased colony number in cultures of marrow cells obtained from male mice, but had no effect in cultures of female bone marrow cells.
The Impact Of Weekly Money Supply Announcements ON Stock Market Returns: A Multiprocess Mixture Model Approach

This study provides evidence concerning the impact of anticipated and unanticipated components of the weekly money supply announcements on stock market returns in the United States and Canada on the date after the announcement. The innovative aspect of this study is the use of a multiprocess mixture model recently proposed by Gordon and Smith (1990) for modeling time series that are subject to several forms of potential discontinuous change and outliers. The technique involves running multiple models in parallel with recursive Bayesian updating procedures which extend the standard Kalman filter. The results provide strong evidence in favor of the efficient markets hypothesis that only the unanticipated component of the money supply announcement influences the stock market returns in both the United States and Canada. The use of OLS estimated in the present study produces results which suggest that both anticipated and unanticipated components of the money supply announcement exert a statistically significant influence on stock market returns in both countries. In contract, the multiprocess mixture model estimation method produces results which support the efficient markets hypothesis. The difference in findings between OLS and multiprocess estimation methods is attributed to the ability of the multiprocess techniques to model discontinuous structural shifts in the parameters and accommodate outliers in the stock return-weekly money relationship. The multiprocess mixture method provides evidence that numerous discontinuities and outliers exist in the stock market returns-weekly money relation and produces posterior probabilities for the multiple models running in parallel. These probabilities suggest that the OLS model has low posterior probability relative to the structural shift and outlier models which suggest poor inferences regarding the significance of anticipated and unanticipated money arise from the use of OLS estimation techniques.
Sample complexity of risk-averse bandit-arm selection

We consider stochastic multiarmed bandit problems where each arm generates i.i.d. rewards according to an unknown distribution. Whereas classical bandit solutions only maximize the expected reward, we consider the problem of minimizing risk using notions such as the value-at-risk, the average value-at-risk, and the mean-variance risk. We present algorithms to minimize the risk over a single and multiple time periods, along with PAC accuracy guarantees given a finite number of reward samples. In the single-period case, we show that finding the arm with least risk requires not many more samples than the arm with highest expected reward. Although minimizing the multiperiod value-at-risk is known to be hard, we present an algorithm with comparable sample complexity under additional assumptions.
Effect of sepsis on eIE4E availability in skeletal muscle

Chronic septic abscess formation causes an inhibition of protein synthesis in gastrocnemius that is not observed in rats with a sterile abscess. The inhibition is associated with an impaired translation initiation. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of sepsis on phosphorylation and availability of eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF)4E in gastrocnemius 5 days after induction of a sterile or septic abscess. Neither sepsis nor sterile inflammation altered the extent of eIF4E phosphorylation. Moreover, no changes in the amount of the binding protein 4E-BP1 associated with eIF4E or in the phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 were observed during sepsis or sterile inflammation. In contrast, sepsis and sterile inflammation caused a reduction in the relative amount of eIF4G bound to eIF4E compared with controls. The diminished amount of eIF4G bound to eIF4E was not the result of a reduced abundance of eIF4E. Sepsis, but not sterile inflammation, caused an increase in the cellular abundance of eIF4E. The results provide evidence that alterations in the eIF4E system are probably not rate controlling for the synthesis of total, mixed proteins in gastrocnemius during sepsis. Instead, on the basis of our previous studies, changes in eIF2B appear to be responsible for limiting protein synthesis in skeletal muscle during sepsis.
Effect of a Prior History of Overweight on Return of Menses in Adolescents With Eating Disorders.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether a history of overweight, weight suppression, and weight gain during treatment have an effect on return of menses (ROM) in adolescents with eating disorders (EDs).
ESTIMATION OF GENETIC NEIGHBORHOOD PARAMETERS FROM POLLEN AND SEED DISPERSAL IN THE MARINE ANGIOSPERM ZOSTERA MARINA L.

The relative importance of random genetic drift and local adaptation in causing population substructuring in plant species remains an important empirical question. Here I estimate the effective size of the genetic neighborhood, Nb , as a means of evaluating the likely role of genetic drift in creating genetic differentiation within a population of a marine plant, Zostera marina L. (eelgrass). Calculations of effective neighborhood size are based on field estimates of pollen and seed-dispersal distributions, an electrophoretic estimate of the mating system using open-pollinated progeny arrays, and determination of the effective density of reproductive individuals in the population. Neighborhood area calculated from the parent-offspring dispersal variances was equal to Na = 524 m2 ; variance in the seed-dispersal distribution contributes more than twice as much as variance in pollen dispersal to Na . Including an outcrossing rate slightly different from random, estimated neighborhood size for Z. marina is Nb = 6255. This estimate is one of the largest reported for plants or animals and indicates that genetic drift in small neighborhoods is highly unlikely to cause genetic substructuring in the study population. High gene-flow levels provided by the marine environment appear to prevent genetic isolation by distance among eelgrass patches, but the importance of drift through founder events in this population characterized by high patch turnover cannot be discounted and is the subject of ongoing study.
The Impact of Employee Compensation and Financial Performance on Nonprofit Organization Donations

This study focuses on the complex interaction between employee compensation and organizational financial performance. In particular, we investigate the impact of higher than median employee compens...
Future Tactical Fighter Requirements: A Propulsion Technology Update

This paper examines the potential roles that are emerging from current studies of future U.S. Air Force tactical fighters and analyzes their impact on the propulsion system requirements. It provides an updated review of the leading propulsion technology concepts that are the candidates in meeting such critical design challenges as supersonic cruise, stealth, STOL, as well as high maneuvering capability with a cost-efficient weapon system.Copyright © 1979 by ASME
Abstract 4776: Calmodulin modulates Fas-induced survival signals in pancreatic cancer cells

Pancreatic cancer remains a devastating malignancy with poor prognosis, which is largely resistant to current therapies. Death receptor-initiated apoptotic pathways have been implicated both in pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and therapy. To understand the resistance of pancreatic tumor to Fas death receptor-induced apoptosis, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of Fas-activated survival signaling in pancreatic cancer cells. Using lentivirus-mediated RNA interfering strategy, we generated pancreatic cancer cell lines MiaPaCa-2 and BxPc-3 with stable knockdown of the Fas associated protein with death domain (FADD), the adaptor that mediates downstream signaling upon Fas activation. Knockdown of FADD rendered these Fas-sensitive pancreatic cells resistant to apoptosis induced by the Fas agonist antibody, CH-11. Consistently, CH-11 induced recruitment of caspase-8 into the Fas-activated death inducing signaling complex was blocked in FADD knockdown cells, which was associated with no activation of caspase-8 and caspase-3. By contrast, CH-11 promoted the survival of the FADD knockdown MiaPaCa2 and BxPc3 cells in a concentration-dependant manner, as measured by MTS assay. Increased phosphorylation of ERK was demonstrated in the FADD knockdown cells in response to CH-11 treatment. The pharmacological inhibitor of ERK, PD98059, abrogated CH-11-promoted cell survival in FADD knockdown MiaPaCa-2 and BxPC-3 cells. Furthermore, increased phosphorylation of Src was demonstrated in FADD knockdown cells in response to CH-11. The Fas-induced activation of Src was blocked by the specific Src inhibitor, PP2, which further inhibited the Fas-induced activation of ERK and cell survival of the FADD knockdown cells. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying Fas-induced Src activation, we analyzed Fas-associated proteins by immunoprecipitaion of Fas in the FADD knockdown cells. Increased Src and phosphorylated Src was indentified in the Fas-associated protein complex activation by CH-11. Concomitantly, increased recruitment of calmodulin (CaM) into the Fas-associated protein complex was demonstrated as well. Trifluoperazine, a CaM antagonist, inhibited the Fas-induced recruitment of CaM, Src and phosphorylated Src. Consistently, trifluoperazine inhibited Fas-induced activation of Src and blocked Fas-promoted cell survival in the FADD knockdown cells. These results demonstrate that Fas induces FADD-independent survival signaling in pancreatic cancer cells via CaM-mediated activation of Src-ERK signaling pathways. Understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for the resistance of pancreatic cells to apoptosis induced by Fas-death receptor signaling may provide molecular insights into designing novel therapies to treat pancreatic tumors. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4776. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-4776