cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Performance comparison of thorium track, polycarbonate, and CR-39 neutron dosimeters

Abstract Personnel dosimetry intercomparison studies have been ongoing at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory since 1974. Track neutron dosimeters have been used by various participants in each of these studies to date. Specific types of track dosimeters used include thorium track, polycarbonate, CR-39, and combination (CR-39 and polycarbonate). The results of 313 track dosimeter measurements made by participants during 61 operations of the Health Physics Research Reactor in 6 different shielding conditions over a 10-yr period are presented, compared, and analyzed.
Paramagnetic Hyperfine Structure and Relaxation Effects in Mössbauer Spectra: Fe 57 in Ferrichrome A

The M\"ossbauer effect of ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{57}$ in the metalloprotein ferrichrome $A$ (FA) has been investigated at temperatures between 0.98 and 300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K; in some cases the absorber was placed in an external field of 18 kOe, oriented perpendicular to the propagation direction. The polycrystalline paramagnetic sample exhibited temperature-, field-, and concentration-dependent magnetic hyperfine structure. At 0.98\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K in zero field, a well-resolved six-line spectrum was observed. As the temperature was raised, the pattern coalesced until at 300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K only a single broad non-Lorentzian line was visible. The effect of an applied field was, at all temperatures, to noticeably sharpen the hfs pattern; and at 77\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K or below eight lines were easily resolved. Changes of the spectra with temperature and field are attributed to electronic relaxation, and a model is used to calculate relaxation spectra. The model employs the modified Bloch equations as rate equations to describe fluctuations of an effective hyperfine field. The iron-iron separation was increased by dilution of some of the samples in ethyl alcohol. As is well known from ESR work, spin-spin interactions decrease on dilution: a sharpening of the spectrum resulted. The importance of using solutions in studying M\"ossbauer spectra of biologically interesting ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ compounds is demonstrated. Some of the consequences of paramagnetic hyperfine interactions for M\"ossbauer spectroscopy are discussed. Differences between the effective hyperfine field and the interaction $A\mathbf{I}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\mathbf{S}$ are noted, as are certain analogies between M\"ossbauer and optical spectroscopy, under the $A\mathbf{I}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}\mathbf{S}$ interaction. From previous ESR work the electronic spin Hamiltonian for FA was found to be of the form $D[{{S}_{z}}^{2}\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{3} S(S+1)]+E[{{S}_{x}}^{2}\ensuremath{-}{{S}_{y}}^{2}]$. Rather complex hyperfine spectra are predicted for ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ with this spin Hamiltonian, and representative spectra are illustrated. It is shown that these spectra, expected in the absence of spin-spin interaction, would be sufficient to determine the ratio $\frac{E}{D}$ of the spin-Hamiltonian parameters; this illustrates the complementary nature of ESR and M\"ossbauer spectra of the same system.
Cardiac Rehabilitation Call to Action for Healthcare Providers

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is a multi-disciplinary, secondary prevention treatment modality 1 which reduces mortality and morbidity among patients with coronary heart disease and improves symptoms, functional capacity, metabolic status, depression, and health related quality of life. 2,3 A recent analysis suggested that CR contributed significantly to the reduction in coronary heart disease mortality observed in the United States between 1980 and 2000 and that the risk reduction attributable to CR was comparable to reductions attributed to post-event aspirin, beta-blocker, ACE-inhibitor, statin and warfarin therapy as well as to risk reductions attributed to acute thrombolysis and revascularization. 4 CR is considered a Class I indication after acute coronary syndrome, coronary revascularization, and for stable angina, but remains underutilized with low referral, low enrollment, and low completion rates and considerable disparities in access. 5,6 (SELECT FULL TEXT TO CONTINUE)
Peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for breast cancer patients with bone marrow metastases using GM-CSF priming.

Abstract Twenty-seven patients with metastastic breast cancer to the bone marrow underwent successful collection of peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) following GM-CSF cytokine priming and were engrafted following courses of high-dose chemotherapy. Myeloid engraftment was observed in a median of 12 days, with a range of 8–29 days. The cell dose infused correlated, although weakly, with days to engraftment, although assays of CFU-GM and CD34+ cells did not, suggesting refinement in such assays is needed. The failure to observe complete remission of the tumor suggests alternative chemotherapy regiments should be investigated.
The phylogenetic position of the dart-poison frogs (Dendrobatidae) among anurans: an examination of the competing hypotheses and their characters

Dart-poison frogs (family Dendrobatidae) are well known for the bright colors and toxic skin alkaloids of some members. These small inhabitants of tropical forests comprise 157 named species placed in six genera. Despite the growing interest in all aspects of dendrobatid biology, the placement of the family in relation to other anurans remains controversial because of differing views concerning the identity of its sister group. The dendrobatids are hypothesized to be derived from within either the Leptodactylidae or the Ranidae, which are classified in the superfamilies Bufonoidea and Ranoidea, respectively. These extremely divergent hypotheses of relationships were derived traditionally from limited numbers of characters. Examples of a few characters that support the leptodactylid hypothesis include aspects of cranial morphology and procoelous vertebrae, and those that support the ranid hypothesis include round sacral diapophyses and the presence of bursa angularis oris. Interestingly, some characters we...
Control of constrained nonlinear systems: a case study

Presents a Lyapunov function approach to the control of nonlinear systems that are subject to pointwise-in-time constraints on state and control. This approach is applied to an electromechanical system that serves as a prototype for the first mode of an electrostatically shaped membrane. Electrostatically shaped membranes have been proposed as mirrors and antennas since the early 1960s because they can be used as lightweight reflectors for radar, radio, and optics applications. Lightweight reflectors are in demand, for example, in spacecraft applications where launch weight is a significant constraint. A thin, electrically conducting membrane is formed into a desired shape by electrostatic forces that are controlled by varying the electrical potential between the membrane and an electrode mounted below it. Because the membrane is under lateral in-plane tension and a uniform normal stress due to the electrostatic potential, it assumes a paraboloidal shape for optics applications. Since the focal length can be varied by changing the gap distance, electrostatically controlled membranes are particularly suitable for adaptive optics applications. Small focal lengths needed for many applications can be achieved if the gap distance between the membrane and the fixed plate is made sufficiently small.
Modeling and Analysis of a Shared Channel Architecture for Performance Improvement in Optical Burst Switched Networks

Existing optical burst switching (OBS) architecture has assumed the separated transfer of burst header packets and data bursts. To deal with burst contention and blocking, various approaches have been proposed such as using deflection routing, fiber delay line buffering, wavelength conversion, and burst segmentation. In this paper, we investigate a shared channel architecture that allows the transfer of both burst header packets and data bursts on the same wavelength channel with some modifications on the current OBS architecture. The new shared channel based OBS architecture is expected to have better flexibility in resource utilization and improved burst blocking performance. Based on the reduced load fixed point approximation, we provide an analytic model for burst blocking probability analysis under the proposed architecture which employs the just-enough-time signaling and fixed routing. The accuracy of the analytic model is validated via extensive simulation. Overall, our analysis and simulation show that the proposed architecture achieves a significantly lower burst blocking probability than the conventional architecture.
Complex Coacervate Microcapsules for Mammalian Cell Culture and Artificial Organ Development

A number of combinations of anionic and cationic polymers, the majority being polysaccharides, were screened to determine their suitability for the development of alternative microcapsule formulations capable of supporting cells. The capsules were taken through a limited optimization and then evaluated on the bases of rupture strength, permeability to albumin, and ability of their components to promote the attachment, aggregation, and function of encapsulated rabbit hepatocytes. The widely used alginate—polylysine capsules were employed as a comparative standard in all tests. A number of the new formulations compared favorably with the standard, and some exhibited superior performance in specific areas. Hepatocyte function, as evaluated by the rate of urea synthesis, showed no significant differences between formulations over a 24-h test period. One formulation, composed of the polysaccharides (carboxymethyl) cellulose, chondroitin sulfate A, chitosan, and polygalacturonate, was found to be superior to alginate—polylysine capsules in the areas investigated and supported the long-term survival and growth of liver endothelial cells.
Images of crime and justice: murder and the true crime genre

Crime has long been an important topic in the media. Researchers examining the relationship between beliefs about crime and exposure to the media have found evidence suggesting that such beliefs are influenced by both the form and content of media coverage of crime. Moreover, other research has discovered that the media often presents a seriously distorted picture of criminal activity. The study described in this article examines the question of whether a newly important form of crime coverage, the “true crime” genre, provides a distorted portrayal of homicide. True crime books are accounts of actual homicide cases which are presented in a style which often resembles fiction. A content analysis of true crime cases is compared with official data on murder, and the results indicate that, in accord with research on other media forms, the portrayal of homicide in the true crime realm is extremely narrow, and significantly differs from the full range of cases which typify murder in America.
Using Social Cognitive Theory to Predict Intentional Exercise in Post-Retirement Adults

Abstract No theory based studies have been done that explain why post-retirement adults are physically inactive. The purpose of this descriptive study was to test the ability of Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) constructs to predict intentional exercise among post-retirement adults. The sample consisted of 108 Columbus, Ohio area senior center members. Based on a six-month measure, the following model accounted for 52.3 percent of a variance in exercise: barriers to exercise, social support for exercise, exercise self-efficacy, benefits of exercise, and enjoyment of exercise. SCT was useful in predicting intentional exercise in post-retirement adults. It is suggested that exercise programs based on SCT be developed and tested on post-retirement adult populations.
Radar Observations of Mercury.

Confirmation of the astronomical unit reported by muhleman, using radar observations of mercury
Consequences of POR mutations and polymorphisms

P450 oxidoreductase (POR) transports electrons from NADPH to all microsomal cytochrome P450 enzymes, including steroidogenic P450c17, P450c21 and P450aro. Severe POR mutations A287P (in Europeans) and R457H (in Japanese) cause the Antley-Bixler skeletal malformation syndrome (ABS) plus impaired steroidogenesis (causing genital anomalies), but the basis of ABS is unclear. We have characterized the activities of ∼40 POR variants, showing that assays based on P450c17 activities, but not cytochrome c assays, correlate with the clinical phenotype. The human POR gene is highly polymorphic: the A503V sequence variant, which decreases P450c17 activities to ∼60%, is found on ∼28% of human alleles. A promoter polymorphism (∼8% of Asians and ∼13% of Caucasians) at -152 reduces transcriptional activity by half. Screening of 35 POR variants showed that most mutants lacking activity with P450c17 or cytochrome c also lacked activity to support CYP1A2 and CYP2C19 metabolism of EOMCC (a fluorogenic non-drug substrate), although there were some remarkable differences: Q153R causes ABS and has ∼30% of wild-type activity with P450c17 but had 144% of WT activity with CYP1A2 and 284% with CYP2C19. The effects of POR variants on CYP3A4, which metabolizes nearly 50% of clinically used drugs, was examined with multiple, clinically relevant drug substrates, showing that A287P and R457H dramatically reduce drug metabolism, and that A503V variably impairs drug metabolism. The degree of activity can vary with the drug substrate assayed, as the drugs can influence the conformation of the P450. POR is probably an important contributor to genetic variation in both steroidogenesis and drug metabolism.
Convection pattern and stress system under the African plate

Studies on tectonic forces from satellite-derived gravity data have revealed a subcrustal stress system which provides a unifying mechanism for uplift, depression, rifting, plate motion and ore formation in Africa. The subcrustal stresses are due to mantle convection. Seismicity, volcanicity and kimberlite magmatism in Africa and the development of the African tectonic and magnetic features are explained in terms of this single stress system. The tensional stress fields in the crust exerted by the upwelling mantle flows are shown to be regions of structural kinship characterized by major concentration of mineral deposits. It is probable that the space techniques are capable of detecting and determining the tectonic forces in the crust of Africa.
Protein turnover in chemostat cultures of Escherichia coli

Abstract Protein turnover in exponentially growing Escherichia coli was investigated in a chemostat where changes in medium composition and physical manipulation of cells were minimized. Growing cells were subjected to a sequential double-isotope labeling procedure. The soluble proteins were isolated by two-dimensional electrophoresis and the isotope ratios were calculated for each protein sampled. Differentially synthesized proteins previously reported were shown to be the result of changes in medium composition or physical manipulation. The previously reported turnover of certain proteins appears to be the result of change(s) in the medium. However, additional results support the conclusion that the turnover of other proteins can occur independent of such changes.
The measurement of Protein Synthesis for Assessing Proteostasis in Studies of Slowed Aging

Slowing the aging process can reduce the risk for multiple chronic diseases simultaneously. It is increasingly recognized that maintaining protein homeostasis (or proteostasis) is important for slowing the aging process. Since proteostasis is a dynamic process, monitoring it is not a simple task and requires use of appropriate methods. This review will introduce methods to assess protein and DNA synthesis using deuterium oxide (D2O), and how protein and DNA synthesis outcomes provide insight into proteostatic mechanisms. Finally, we provide a discussion on how these assessments of protein and DNA synthesis are “mechanistic” investigations and provide an appropriate framework for the further development of slowed aging treatments.
Schubrad: The comparison of the sensitivities of similar experiments

In an elegant but seldom cited series of papers, Schumann and Bradley (Bradley & Schumann, 1957a, 1957b; Schumann & Bradley, 1959) developed a statistical test for comparing the sensitivities of similar experiments. The test applies null-hypothesis testing logic to the question of whether two F-ratios from separate experiments may be regarded as equal in magnitude. Thus, the test measures strength of effect in a comparative sense. The basic statistic is the ratio of the F-ratios, whose expected value is one if the null hypothesis is true. Bradley and Schumann (1957b) derived the distribution of this test statistic. The Schumann-Bradley procedure is not subject to the incisive criticisms (O'Grady, 1982) of the better known strength-of-effect measures, which are based upon proportion of variance accounted for (Hays, 1963). The major limitation of the procedure is that it requires the experiments to be similar in structure; that is, they should have the same number of factors, levels per factor, and observations per cell. A typical behavioral application is to have a set of judges rate the same set of stimuli several times using two response modes. Each response mode is regarded as a separate experiment. The F-ratio for stimuli then measures the sensitivity (i.e., discriminating power) of the response mode, and the Schumann-Bradley procedure determines whether one response mode is significantly more sensitive than the other. Alternately, the Schumann-Bradley procedure may be used to compare the multiple correlation coefficients (R2) in two similar regression experiments. This is useful because R is often used as a measure of the proportion of variation in the dependent variable associated with regression on the independent variables.
Neural correlates of the divergence of instrumental probability distributions.

Flexible action selection requires knowledge about how alternative actions impact the environment: a “cognitive map” of instrumental contingencies. Reinforcement learning theories formalize this map as a set of stochastic relationships between actions and states, such that for any given action considered in a current state, a probability distribution is specified over possible outcome states. Here, we show that activity in the human inferior parietal lobule correlates with the divergence of such outcome distributions–a measure that reflects whether discrimination between alternative actions increases the controllability of the future–and, further, that this effect is dissociable from those of other information theoretic and motivational variables, such as outcome entropy, action values, and outcome utilities. Our results suggest that, although ultimately combined with reward estimates to generate action values, outcome probability distributions associated with alternative actions may be contrasted independently of valence computations, to narrow the scope of the action selection problem.
Characterization of mouse endoplasmic reticulum methionine-R-sulfoxide reductase ☆

Methionine-R-sulfoxide reductases (MsrBs) catalyze a stereospecific reduction of methionine-R-sulfoxides to methionines in proteins. Mammals possess three MsrB genes. MsrB1 (SelR) is a selenoprotein located in the cytosol and nucleus, MsrB2 (CBS-1) is a mitochondrial protein, and MsrB3 is a recently identified protein with an unusual localization pattern. Human MsrB3 occurs in two protein forms, MsrB3A and MsrB3B, which can be targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria, respectively. These forms are generated by alternative first exon splicing that introduces contrasting N-terminal signal peptides. Herein, we characterized mouse MsrB3 and found no evidence of alternative splicing of its gene. The ER signal was located upstream of the predicted mitochondrial signal sequence in a single coding region, whose product was targeted to the ER. Although the mitochondrial signal could function if placed at the N-terminus, it did not target MsrB3 to mitochondria as part of the entire coding region. In addition, immunoblot assays detected no mitochondrial MsrB3 in examined mouse tissues. The data suggest that, in mice, MsrB3 is largely or exclusively an ER-resident protein, and that the reduction of methionine-R-sulfoxides in different cellular compartments is provided by individual MsrB isozymes.
Ferromagnetism of 3He films in the low-field limit.

We provide evidence for a finite-temperature ferromagnetic transition in two dimensions as $H\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ in thin films of ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ on graphite, a model system for the study of two-dimensional magnetism. We perform pulsed and cw NMR experiments at fields of 0.03--0.48 mT on ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ at areal densities of $20.5--24.2\mathrm{atoms}/{\mathrm{nm}}^{2}$. At these densities, the second layer of ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ has a strongly ferromagnetic tendency. With decreasing temperature, we find a rapid onset of magnetization that becomes independent of the applied field at temperatures in the vicinity of 1 mK. Both the dipolar field and the NMR linewidth grow rapidly as well, which is consistent with a large (order unity) polarization of the ${}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ spins.
Nanoscale CMOS: potential nonclassical technologies versus a hypothetical bulk-silicon technology

Abstract Using our process/physics-based compact models (UFDG and UFPDB) in Spice3, we project device characteristics and CMOS performances of nonclassical UTB (FD/SOI and DG) and classical, hypothetical bulk-Si technologies optimized at the Lg = 28 nm node. For the nonclassical MOSFETs (generally with metal gates for Vt control) with the same UTB thickness (tSi), the DG devices are shown to be far superior for SCE control. Also, with regard to speed, the DG devices are generally superior to the FD/SG counterparts because of higher drive currents. However, for light loads and moderate supply voltages, a suboptimal FD/SG design (with the same tSi) for both LOP and HP CMOS applications is found to yield speeds comparable to the DG designs, even though its current drive is much lower and its SCEs are much more severe. This surprising result is explained by the much lower FD/SG intrinsic gate capacitance, CG(VGS). When the FD/SG CMOS design is optimized by aggressive scaling of the UTB thickness, its high-VDD speed diminishes (but is still comparable to that of DG CMOS) because of higher CG at intermediate gate voltages, while its low-VDD speed improves due to increased current. Compared to these nonclassical CMOS designs, the delay of the classical bulk-Si/SG CMOS is predicted to be much longer due mainly to its high CG in the weak/moderate inversion region and relatively low drive current. Finally, we show how FD/SOI CMOS speed is degraded as the BOX is thinned, thereby suggesting that such thinning is not a good design tradeoff.
The Chondroitin Sulfate Form of Invariant Chain Can Enhance Stimulation of T Cell Responses through Interaction with CD44

Abstract Invariant chain (li) is a nonpolymorphic glycoprotein that associates with major histocompatibility complex class II molecules and has been shown to mediate several functions in class II-restricted antigen presentation. A small proportion of li is modified by the addition of chondroitin sulfate (li-CS), and this form of li is associated with class II on the surface of antigen-presenting cells. In this report we show that expression of li-CS dramatically enhanced the ability of class II-positive EL4 transfectants to stimulate class II-dependent allogeneic and mitogenic T cell responses. Antibody blocking studies and the ability of CD44 to bind directly to li-CS suggest that li-CS can function as an accessory molecule during T cell responses through interactions with CD44.
A multiwire proportional chamber system for monitoring low momentum beam in accelerators

A diagnostic is being developed at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) for the purpose of identifying low momentum beam tails in the linear accelerator. These tails must be eliminated in order to maintain the transverse and longitudinal beam size. Instead of the currently used phosphor camera system, this instrument consists of a multiwire proportional chamber (MWPC) front end coupled to an EPICS compliant VME-based electronics package. Low momentum tails are detected with a resolution of 5 mm in the MWPC at a high dispersion point near a bending magnet. While phosphor is typically not sensitive in the nano amp range, the MWPC is sensitive down to about a pico amp. The electronics package will process the signals from each of the MWPC wires to generate an array of beam currents at each of the lower energies. The electronics will have a wideband analog front end, active antialias filter, and high-speed analog to digital converter for each wire. Data from multiple wires will be processed with an embedded digital signal processor and results placed in a set of VME registers. An EPICS application will assemble the data from these VME registers into a display of beam current vs. beam energy (momentum) in the LANSCE control room. This display will update at least once per second, but will be a representation of the real time signal processing results from the electronics package.
Circulation and chemotaxis of fetal hematopoietic stem cells.

The major site of hematopoiesis transitions from the fetal liver to the spleen and bone marrow late in fetal development. To date, experiments have not been performed to evaluate functionally the migration and seeding of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) during this period in ontogeny. It has been proposed that developmentally timed waves of HSCs enter the bloodstream only during distinct windows to seed the newly forming hematopoietic organs. Using competitive reconstitution assays to measure HSC activity, we determined the localization of HSCs in the mid-to-late gestation fetus. We found that multilineage reconstituting HSCs are present at low numbers in the blood at all timepoints measured. Seeding of fetal bone marrow and spleen occurred over several days, possibly while stem cell niches formed. In addition, using dual-chamber migration assays, we determined that like bone marrow HSCs, fetal liver HSCs migrate in response to stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α); however, unlike bone marrow HSCs, the migratory response of fetal liver HSCs to SDF-1α is greatly increased in the presence of Steel factor (SLF), suggesting an important role for SLF in HSC homing to and seeding of the fetal hematopoietic tissues. Together, these data demonstrate that seeding of fetal organs by fetal liver HSCs does not require large fluxes of HSCs entering the fetal bloodstream, and that HSCs constitutively circulate at low levels during the gestational period from 12 to 17 days postconception. Newly forming hematopoietic tissues are seeded gradually by HSCs, suggesting initial seeding is occurring as hematopoietic niches in the spleen and bone marrow form and become capable of supporting HSC self-renewal. We demonstrate that fetal and adult HSCs exhibit specific differences in chemotactic behavior. While both migrate in response to SDF-1α, fetal HSCs also respond significantly to the cytokine SLF. In addition, the combination of SDF-1α and SLF results in substantially enhanced migration of fetal HSCs, leading to migration of nearly all fetal HSCs in this assay. This finding indicates the importance of the combined effects of SLF and SDF-1α in the migration of fetal HSCs, and is, to our knowledge, the first demonstration of a synergistic effect of two chemoattractive agents on HSCs.
Information foraging as a foundation for code navigation (NIER track)

A major software engineering challenge is to understand the fundamental mechanisms that underlie the developer's code navigation behavior. We propose a novel and unified theory based on the premise that we can study developer's information seeking strategies in light of the foraging principles that evolved to help our animal ancestors to find food. Our preliminary study on code navigation graphs suggests that the tenets of information foraging provide valuable insight into software maintenance. Our research opens the avenue towards the development of ecologically valid tool support to augment developers' code search skills.
Nanomonitors: Nanomaterial Based Devices Towards Clinical Immunoassays

The immobilization of biomolecules on a solid substrate and their localization in “small” regions are major requirements for a variety of biomedical diagnostic applications, where rapid and accurate identification of multiple biomolecules is essential. In this specific application we have fabricated nanomitors for identifying specific protein biomarkers based on the electrical detection of antibody-antigen binding events. The nanomonitor, lab-on-a-chip device technology is based on electrical detection of protein biomarkers. It is based on developing high density, low volume multi-well plate devices. The scientific core of this technology lies in integrating nanomaterial with micro fabricated chip platforms and exploiting the improve surface area to volume to improve the detection. The devices that have been developed utilize electrical detection mechanisms where capacitance and conductance changes due to protein binding are used as “signatures” for biomarker profiling. In comparison to optical methods, the electrical detection technique is non-invasive as well as a label free. The signal acquisition is simple and it uses the existing data acquisition and signal analysis methods
A high-glucose, fat-free diet rapidly causes a specific decrease in albumin mRNA even if the diet contains adequate protein

Abstract We have shown previously that a high-glucose, fat-free diet decreases the level of liver albumin mRNA in rat even though the diet contains excess protein (30%, w/w). This diet is unique in that it also decreases the higher-order coiling of liver nuclear chromatin. Altered chromatin structure is considered a prerequisite for gene expression. In this study we measured the rate at which liver albumin mRNA is decreased by a high-glucose, fat-free diet. We compared the rate of reduction of albumin mRNA with the rate of dietary induction of two other prominent liver mRNAs. Using RNA-cDNA hybridization, we measured the relative amounts of mRNA for liver albumin, fatty acid synthetase (FAS), and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6-PGD) after refeeding a high-glucose, fat-free diet for two hours to 5 days following a 48-hour fast. The results show that a high-glucose, fat-free diet which contains adequate protein causes a maximal decrease in albumin mRNA after 8 hours, coinciding with increases in the levels of FAS and 6-PGD mRNAs. The latter two mRNAs are required for the biosynthesis of fatty acids from the excess carbohydrate. The results indicate that the hepatocyte can coordinately regulate the levels of specific mRNAs, by down-regulating the level of albumin mRNA. The relatively long half-life of the albumin protein may be a factor in the regulation of its mRNA.
Hallucinatory experiences of psychiatric patients in seclusion

Abstract Seclusion is a common treatment method in psychiatry. However, there are contradictory reports about the effects of the sensory deprivation involved in seclusion on the distortions of perceptions seen in some psychiatric patients. This descriptive study explored the seclusion experiences of seriously ill psychiatric patients; described the hallucinatory experiences of these patients during seclusion; and examined the relationship between hallucinations and sensory stimulation, as reflected in staff visits and length of time secluded. Consenting adult male and female psychiatric inpatients ( n = 25), with DSM III-R diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were interviewed within 5 days after a seclusion experience, using a modification of Richardson's structured interview guide. Approximately half of the patients hallucinated in seclusion; however, 70% of these had also hallucinated before seclusion. There were no significant relationships between hallucinating in seclusion and frequency of staff visits or length of time secluded; however, patients who hallucinated received significantly more “as needed” (PRN) medications and had more therapeutic visits than patients who did not hallucinate.
Novel Techniques for Low‐cost, High Performance, Optoelectronic Component Assembly

The drive towards low unit cost in optoelectronics packaging is assisted by simple, rapid assembly processes, and by avoiding the need for hermeticity. This paper discusses the use of visible blue‐light cured resins as an important issue in assembly techniques. Results are also reported on trials of silicone gels as a means to produce hermetic equivalence performance in optoelectronic (O‐E) components and associated electronics. Photodiodes coated in these gels could be expected to have a service life of >60 years and results for coated lasers are encouraging with degradations of 4%/1000 h of damp heat stress, while GaAs ICs showed no degradation. The potential of these technologies has made possible the fabrication of a simple photodiode mount with coupling efficiencies approaching 100%. Low cost laser assembly has also been investigated. To demonstrate the feasibility of these technologies an O‐E transceiver module has been produced.
Apolipoprotein E ε4 and Change in Cognitive Functioning in Community-Dwelling Older Adults:

The relationship between apolipoprotein E (APOE) e4 and change in cognition was examined in older men (n = 247; age = 75.0 ± 3.5 years) and women (n = 79; age = 70.8 ± 4.9 years) free of history of stroke. Participants were examined again 4.0 ± 0.5 years later. Exclusion criteria were (1) initial scores on the Mini-Mental State Examination of 23 or less or (2) the presence of the APOE 2/4genotype. Men with e4showed greater decline in some measures of executive function and verbal memory compared to those without e4; women with e4showed greater decline in Trail Making test performance relative to women without the allele. A significant gender × APOEe4interaction was seen for change in performance on short delay cued recall. These results suggest that APOEe4is associated with cognitive decline differently in older adult men and women.
Optimal control with state-space constraint I

Optimal control of piecewise deterministic processes with state space constraint is studied. Under appropriate assumptions, it is shown that the optimal value function is the only viscosity solution on the open domain which is also a supersolution on the closed domain. Finally, the uniform continuity of the value function is obtained under a condition on the deterministic drift.
Active exploration for learning rankings from clickthrough data

We address the task of learning rankings of documents from search enginelogs of user behavior. Previous work on this problem has relied onpassively collected clickthrough data. In contrast, we show that anactive exploration strategy can provide data that leads to much fasterlearning. Specifically, we develop a Bayesian approach for selectingrankings to present users so that interactions result in more informativetraining data. Our results using the TREC-10 Web corpus, as well assynthetic data, demonstrate that a directed exploration strategy quicklyleads to users being presented improved rankings in an online learningsetting. We find that active exploration substantially outperformspassive observation and random exploration.
Estimating the Effect of Leaders on Public Sector Productivity: the Case of School Principals

Although much has been written about the importance of leadership in the determination of organizational success, there is little quantitative evidence due to the difficulty of separating the impact of leaders from other organizational components - particularly in the public sector. Schools provide an especially rich environment for studying the impact of public sector management, not only because of the hypothesized importance of leadership but also because of the plentiful achievement data that provide information on institutional outcomes. Outcome-based estimates of principal value-added to student achievement reveal significant variation in principal quality that appears to be larger for high-poverty schools. Alternate lower-bound estimates based on direct estimation of the variance yield smaller estimates of the variation in principal productivity but ones that are still important, particularly for high poverty schools. Patterns of teacher exits by principal quality validate the notion that a primary channel for principal influence is the management of the teacher force. Finally, looking at principal transitions by quality reveals little systematic evidence that more effective leaders have a higher probability of exiting high poverty schools.
Tamoxifen and contralateral breast cancer

Women with prior history of breast cancer have an approximately three times greater risk of developing cancer of the opposite breast than women with no such history. This risk may be even higher in certain subgroups, including patients with a family history of breast cancer and premenopausal women. The 1998 Oxford overview analysis demonstrated a highly significant reduction of 30% in the incidence of contralateral breast cancer (CBC) in patients treated with tamoxifen compared with those never treated with the drug. Additionally, longer durations of tamoxifen are associated with greater reductions in risk, such that 1 year, 2 years, and 5 years of treatment are associated with risk reductions of 13%, 26%, and 47%, respectively (Fig. 1). In contrast, a similar analysis of adjuvant chemotherapy trials in breast cancer demonstrated no such reduction in the incidence of CBC. In this review, we will examine the available data on tamoxifen and CBC and further attempt to characterize the secondary neoplasms.
Diacylglycerol Kinase ζ (DGKζ) Is a Critical Regulator of Bone Homeostasis Via Modulation of c‐Fos Levels in Osteoclasts

Increased diacylglycerol (DAG) levels are observed in numerous pathologies, including conditions associated with bone loss. However, the effects of DAG accumulation on the skeleton have never been directly examined. Because DAG is strictly controlled by tissue-specific diacylglycerol kinases (DGKs), we sought to examine the biological consequences of DAG accumulation on bone homeostasis by genetic deletion of DGKζ, a highly expressed DGK isoform in osteoclasts (OCs). Strikingly, DGKζ(-/-) mice are osteoporotic because of a marked increase in OC numbers. In vitro, DGKζ(-/-) bone marrow macrophages (BMMs) form more numerous, larger, and highly resorptive OCs. Surprisingly, although increased DAG levels do not alter receptor activator of NF-κB (RANK)/RANK ligand (RANKL) osteoclastogenic pathway, DGKζ deficiency increases responsiveness to the proliferative and pro-survival cytokine macrophage colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). We find that M-CSF is responsible for increased DGKζ(-/-) OC differentiation by promoting higher expression of the transcription factor c-Fos, and c-Fos knockdown in DGKζ(-/-) cultures dose-dependently reduces OC differentiation. Using a c-Fos luciferase reporter assay lacking the TRE responsive element, we also demonstrate that M-CSF induces optimal c-Fos expression through DAG production. Finally, to demonstrate the importance of the M-CSF/DGKζ/DAG axis on regulation of c-Fos during osteoclastogenesis, we turned to PLCγ2(+/-) BMMs, which have reduced DAG levels and form fewer OCs because of impaired expression of the master regulator of osteoclastogenesis NFATc1 and c-Fos. Strikingly, genetic deletion of DGKζ in PLCγ2(+/-) mice rescues OC formation and normalizes c-Fos levels without altering NFATc1 expression. To our knowledge, this is the first report implicating M-CSF/DGKζ/DAG axis as a critical regulator of bone homeostasis via its actions on OC differentiation and c-Fos expression.
A Study of Perceptions of the Stepparent Role

This study was designed to test whether there is a lack of social consensus about how stepparents should and will act as parents, and whether individuals in society perceive stepparent roles as similar to or different from the roles of biological and adoptive parents. Two-hundred and forty introductory psychology students were randomly assigned to complete one of three versions (biological parent, adoptive parent, and stepparent) of the Family Role Questionnaire and a demographic instrument. The Family Role Questionnaire consists of 16 vignettes describing a variety of situations calling for some degree of parental behavior. As hypothesized, there was greater variability in subjects' responses to how stepparents, in contrast to biological and adoptive parents, would actually respond and how they should behave in the situations in the vignettes. In addition, respondents thought that stepparents were less obligated and less likely than were biological and adoptive parents to engage in the supportive parenta...
Bridging the Academic–Practitioner Divide in Marketing Decision Models:

Abstract The marketing decision models field has produced many striking developments that have had a dramatic impact on practice. However, the field has produced orders of magnitude more developments that have received minimal use. In this article, the author notes the many successful marketing model developments but then considers the relatively low level of practical use (trial or adoption) and questions why that is the case. He then suggests how changes in the incentive and reward systems for marketing academics, marketing practitioners, and marketing intermediaries can bring about adoption and implementation improvements that would be mutually beneficial, bridging the academic–practitioner divide. The author also outlines a program of research in the area of the adoption and use of marketing decision models that will provide guidance on what to develop and how to get those developments adopted.
Isolation of DNA-binding proteins by direct screening of cDNA libraries with labeled binding sites

Transcriptional control of plant gene expression involves the interaction of sequence-specific DNA binding proteins with their cognate recognition sequences. The last few years have seen dramatic progress in the isolation and characterization of such proteins. Historically, transcription factors were isolated by biochemical methods involving extensive purification of the protein from tissue in which the factor was active. While such procedures have resulted in the isolation of a number of animal transcription factors, no plant transcription factors have been isolated by this method to date. However, an increasing number of plant proteins with the properties of transcription factors have been isolated by 1) genetic approaches involving the tagging of regulatory loci by transposons, see for example [1–3], or with T-DNA, see for example [4], followed by the cloning of the loci, or 2) by the screening of expression cDNA libraries with a DNA binding site probe. In the following sections, I will briefly describe the direct screening approach, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this approach, point out the critical parameters, and then provide detailed protocols for all the steps in the procedure.
A Novel System-Centric Intelligent Adaptive Control Architecture for Damping Inter-Area Mode Oscillations in Power System

In this paper, an intelligent approach based on system-centric controller to develop a power system stabilizer is proposed. The approach discuss a methodology that designs a hybrid controller with two algorithms, one a Neural Network (NN) based controller with explicit neuro-identifier, and the other, an adaptive controller evolved from a Model Reference Adaptive Controller (MRAC). This design performs as a system-centric controller. The NN is trained offline with extensive data, and is also adjusted online. Main advantage and uniqueness of the proposed scheme is the controllers' ability to complement each other in case of parametric and functional uncertainty. Moreover, the online neural network approximates the plant in the event of functional change during abnormal operating conditions. The theoretical results are validated by conducting simulation studies on a two area equivalent 5 generator, 8 bus multi-machine power system with varying generator schedules that shows low frequency oscillations.
LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18) triggers hydrogen peroxide production by canine neutrophils

The respiratory burst of neutrophils stimulated by chemotactic factors is markedly augmented by Mac-1-dependent adhesion such as the interaction of Mac-1 (CD11b/CD18) with intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1; CD54) expressed on the surface of parenchymal cells (e.g., cardiac myocytes). In the current study, we evaluate the hypothesis that lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1; CD11a/CD18) can also trigger the respiratory burst in neutrophils. To isolate LFA-1/ICAM-1 interactions from Mac-1/ ICAM-1 interactions, full-length chimeric ICAM-1 was developed and expressed in L cells with domains 1 and 2 from canine ICAM-1 and domains 3-5 from human ICAM-1 (C1,2;H3-5). We have shown that canine neutrophils do not bind to human ICAM-1. We demonstrated that chimeric ICAM-1 C1,2;H3-5 supported only LFA-1-dependent adhesion of canine neutrophils and that such adhesion triggered rapid onset of H2O2 production from canine neutrophils. The following seven experimental conditions distinguished LFA-1-dependent H2O2 production from Mac-1-dependent production: It did not require exogenous chemotactic stimulation; H2O2 release was more rapid, but the amount released was <40% of that mediated by Mac-1 adhesion; it was inhibited by anti-CD11a and anti-ICAM-1 antibodies; in contrast to that mediated by Mac-1, it was not inhibited by anti-CD11b antibody, neutrophil inhibitory factor (NIF), or cytochalasin B or H7. Thus, canine neutrophils seem to be able to utilize two members of the beta2 integrin family to interact with ICAM-1 and signal H2O2 production, with LFA-1 at an early stage without prior chemotactic stimulation and Mac-1 at a later stage requiring chemotactic stimulation.
Let Hunger Be Your Guide? Being Hungry before a Meal Is Associated with Healthier Levels of Postmeal Blood Glucose

AbstractAccumulating evidence suggests that when people eat might be as important for their health as what or how much they eat. Consumers initiate eating behavior in response to a number of factors including time of day, food availability, and hunger. The present research examines whether feeling hungry might reflect a time at which it is relatively healthy for individuals to initiate eating. Specifically, the present research examines whether differences in hunger predict differences in an important health measure, namely, postmeal blood glucose. The results show that post-meal blood glucose is highest when people are not at all hungry and relatively lower when people are moderately hungry or very hungry. When people are very hungry, postmeal glucose is not lower and possibly slightly higher than when people are moderately hungry. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that, from a health standpoint, it is beneficial to eat when moderately hungry.
Leading the Clients: Assessing the Importance of the Loan Officer in a Microfinance Program

Microfinance programs can improve the economic, social, and spiritual conditions of the poor. Survey responses from more than 29,000 microfinance clients are used here to study what impact the loan officer may have on advancement of this so called triple bottom line. The study seeks to identify what, if any, improvement in the economic, social, and spiritual conditions of the borrowers depends on the staff member administering the loan. While a general improvement in all three conditions over the course of the program is clear in the data, no conclusive evidence is found that this is due to the loan officer.