cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Enzymatic Mediated Polymerization of Phenol and Aniline Derivatives on a Langmuir Trough

Enzymatic polymerization of a number of monomers in an ordered lattice on a Langmuir trough (L-T) was investigated. The assembly and polymerization of two mixed monomeric systems consisting of 4-tetradecyloxyphenol (C14PP) with phenol, and 4-hexadecylaniline (C16PA) with aniline, in various ratios were carried out. Polymerization was obtained with C14PP and phenol (in the ratio 1:10), and C16PA and aniline (in the ratio 1:2) on buffered MilliQ water (pH 7.5) using the enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) at 20°C. Polymerized monolayers were then transferred to appropriate substrates for UV-Vis, third order non linear optical (NLO) properties, and thickness measurements. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was performed on the final polymers. Results suggest that the lattice controlled polymerization results in highly ordered conjugated polymers with improved functional, electronic, NLO and processability properties, which form a basis for intelligent materials design and applications.
Photoinactivation of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria with the antimicrobial peptide (KLAKLAK)(2) conjugated to the hydrophilic photosensitizer eosin Y.

We test the hypothesis that the antimicrobial peptide (KLAKLAK)2 enhances the photodynamic activity of the photosensitizer eosin Y upon conjugation. The conjugate eosin-(KLAKLAK)2 was obtained by solid-phase peptide synthesis. Photoinactivation assays were performed against the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and multidrug resistant Acinetobacter baumannii AYE, as well as the Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Partitioning assays were performed with E. coli and S. aureus. Photohemolysis and photokilling assays were also performed to assess the photodynamic activity of the conjugate toward mammalian cells. Eosin-(KLAKLAK)2 photoinactivates 99.999% of 108 CFU/mL of most bacteria tested at a concentration of 1 μM or below. In contrast, neither eosin Y nor (KLAKLAK)2 cause any significant photoinactivation under similar conditions. The increase in photodynamic activity of the photosensitizer conferred by the antimicrobial peptide is i...
Diabetic Macular Edema and Argon Laser Photocoagulation: A Prospective Randomized Study

Loss of vision from diabetic retinopathy can result from complications of neovascular proliferation, or frequently, from macular edema secondary to background diabetic retinopathy. Although the benefits of photocoagulation for proliferative diabetic retinopathy have been clarified by the National Eye Institute's collaborative diabetic retinopathy study, those for background diabetic retinopathy with macular edema remain unclear. Several articles have described the visual benefits and reduction of edema following photocoagulation of eyes with background diabetic retinopathy and macular edema, but only Patz's study was prospectively designed utilizing a random assignment of laser treatment for one eye with the other eye remaining untreated. This article reports the two-year results of a similar prospective study in which one eye in each of 39 patients with symmetrical macular edema secondary to background diabetic retinopathy was randomly selected to receive argon laser photocoagulation, while the fellow eye remained untreated.
Direct numerical solution of large sets of simultaneous equations

Abstract The paper attempts to survey, classify and compare methods available for the solution of simultaneous equations on a digital computer. It is known that, for direct methods, the amount of central processor time required to perform the solution varies little from one method to the other. More interesting than the algorithm is the data handling method. The basis for comparison here is core utilization and the number of required I/O operations. Low core utilization means higher program capacity and increased generality, whereas a low I/O activity improves efficiency and reduces system residence time. One of the interesting findings in a comparative study of the demands on computer resources is that the data handling method is indeed the deciding factor, rather than the mathematical algorithm. In order to avoid too mathematical an approach, the paper recognizes the origin of the equations in the mathematical modelling of physical problems. A classification of such problems is attempted and its implications with regard to the solution procedures are assessed whenever possible. A number of parameters are suggested for use in program performance measurements.
EDA for HLM: Visualization when Probabilistic Inference Fails

Nearly all hierarchical linear models presented to political science audiences are estimated using maximum likelihood under a repeated sampling interpretation of the results of hypothesis tests. Maximum likelihood estimators have excellent asymptotic properties but less than ideal small sample properties. Multilevel models common in political science have relatively large samples of units like individuals nested within relatively small samples of units like countries. Often these level-2 samples will be so small as to make inference about level-2 effects uninterpretable in the likelihood framework from which they were estimated. When analysts do not have enough data to make a compelling argument for repeated sampling based probabilistic inference, we show how visualization can be a useful way of allowing scientific progress to continue despite lack of fit between research design and asymptotic properties of maximum likelihood estimators. Somewhere along the line in the teaching of statistics in the social sciences, the importance of good judgment got lost amid the minutiae of null hypothesis testing. It is all right, indeed essential, to argue flexibly and in detail for a particular case when you use statistics. Data analysis should not be pointlessly formal. It should make an interesting claim; it should tell a story that an informed audience will care about, and it should do so by intelligent interpretation of appropriate evidence from empirical measurements or observations. —Abelson, 1995, p. 2
Effects of selection delays on radial maze performance: acquisition and effects of scopolamine.

Abstract The effects of post-selection confinement (delays) on both the acquisition of performance and the response to the muscarinic blocker, scopolamine, were examined in an automated version of the eight arm radial maze. Long-Evans rats, exposed to post-selection delays of 0.5 sec (n = 4) or 100 sec (n = 4) during daily training trials did not differ in either the number of trials to acquire an accurate baseline of performace or in the amount of time required to obtain all eight food pellets. However, the pattern (delta-arm scores) of within-session arm selections demonstrated by the two groups of rats differed. Rats exposed to the 0.5 sec delay typically selected arms adjacent to arms from which they exited while rats exposed to the 100-sec delay were more likely to enter arms 2-removed from the exit arm. When scopolamine (0.03 to 1.0 mg/kg) was administered prior to testing, rats in the 100-sec delay group showed a greater reduction of accuracy and a larger increase in selection latency than rats in the 0.5-sec delay group. The differential effect of delay value on delta-arm scores was also eliminated in a dosage dependent manner with scopolamine. Schopolamine methylbromide (0.3 mg/kg) was found to have little effect on performance. In summary, the results indicate that the post-selection delay procedure is a sensitive and selective test for chemical-induced dysfunctioning of spatial memory in rats.
How do people really seek information about others?: Information seeking across Internet and traditional communication channels

The present research describes the manner in which individuals use various media in the interpersonal information seeking process. Stephens’ (2007) information and communication technology (ICT) succession theory was applied to an interpersonal information seeking context, and hypotheses and research questions about the channels people use to seek information about others of various relationship to the seeker were offered. Two hundred and twenty-five participants responded to a survey about this topic, and they reported a greater likelihood to seek information about less-known targets using channels where they would be unidentifiable. However, participants reported a greater likelihood to seek information about more-known targets using channels where they would be identifiable. Channels such as social networking websites were frequently reported to be useful regardless of whether the target was well known or less known. Properties of these channels and their implications for interpersonal information seeking as well as theoretical implications of these findings are discussed and directions for future research are examined.
Gamma-ray crystallography and related techniques

Abstract Use of gamma-ray diffraction has now been successfully demonstrated for accurate extinction-free structure factor measurements, but no complete crystallographic studies have been performed using gamma-ray techniques. Recently, we have taken data using 0.12 A gamma-rays (153Sm) on Mg2SiO4 and BeO which demonstrate for the first time the ability to perform “normal” crystallographic studies with gamma-rays. To make this technique accessible to a more general community we have designed a new instrument using 0.2 A gamma radiation (169Yb) and a special detector which could be set up in any X-ray laboratory. We have also demonstrated the feasibility of powder diffraction studies with gamma-rays which hold significant advantages over X-ray techniques and could also be set up in an X-ray laboratory. A gamma-ray Compton scattering spectrometer using 320 keV radiation (51Cr) is being designed and will be used to determine momentum density distributions. Finally, a quasi-elastic scattering instrument using an intense (1000 Ci) Mossbauer source and a conversion electron detector is partially completed and should open some new areas of research when operational.
Is Gravity Linear

Despite the solid theoretical foundation on which the gravity model of bilateral trade is based, empirical implementation requires several assumptions which do not follow directly from the underlying theory. First, unobserved trade costs are assumed to be a (log-)linear function of observables. Second, the effects of trade costs on trade flows are assumed to be constant across country pairs. Maintaining consistency with the underlying theory, but relaxing these assumptions, we estimate gravity models—in levels and logs—using two data sets via nonparametric methods. The results are striking. Despite the added flexibility of the nonparametric models, parametric models based on these assumptions offer equally or more reliable in-sample predictions and out-of-sample forecasts in the majority of cases, particularly in the levels model. Moreover, formal statistical tests fail to reject either parametric functional form. Thus, concerns in the gravity literature over functional form appear unwarranted, and estimation of the gravity model in levels is recommended. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic Why the Adjustments Are Insufficient

One way to make judgments under uncertainty is to anchor on information that comes to mind and adjust until a plausible estimate is reached. This anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic is assumed to underlie many intuitive judgments, and insufficient adjustment is commonly invoked to explain judgmental biases. However, despite extensive research on anchoring effects, evidence for adjustment-based anchoring biases has only recently been provided, and the causes of insufficient adjustment remain unclear. This research was designed to identify the origins of insufficient adjustment. The results of two sets of experiments indicate that adjustments from self-generated anchor values tend to be insufficient because they terminate once a plausible value is reached (Studies 1a and 1b) unless one is able and willing to search for a more accurate estimate (Studies 2a-2c).
The 15N(p, n)15O reaction below 9.3 MeV

Abstract In connection with studies of differences between the polarization and analyzing power observables for the 15N(p, n)15O reaction, differential cross sections at ten proton energies between 5.5 and 9.3 MeV were measured using time-of-flight techniques. These new measurements allowed all previous data to be evaluated through use of the extensive total cross sections measured by Barnett in a study of the mass-16 system. Although some previous data were clearly discrepant, a simple renormalization of Barnett's measurements results in consistency of most of the data.
Nanoscale fluorescence imaging using a single-wall carbon nanotube

A single-wall carbon nanotube attached to an AFM probe is used for near-field optical imaging of 20 nm diameter fluorescent spheres and 5 nm diameter CdSe quantum dots.
A new arithmetic function of combinatorial significance

The function γ(n) is defined for n > 1 as the number of representations n = ab with positive integers a and b. From the basic identity ∑n=2∫γ(n)f(n) = ∑m=2∫ ∑k=1∫ f (mk) = ∑k=1∫ ∑m=2∫ f(mk) , valid for any function f(n) for which Σn=2∞ γ(n) |f(n)| < ∞, several zeta-function identities are derived, and certain sums involving γ(n) are evaluated while others are proved irrational.
Two-level random switching in the reentrant insulating phase around the ν=1/5 fractional quantum Hall liquid

In the insulating-phase reentrant around the v=1/5 fractional quantum Hall liquid of a large sample, we have observed two-level random switching at a step on the nonlinear I-V curve above the conduction threshold. The I-V step separates a low-resistance region at low voltages and a high-resistance region at high voltages. The dwelling times have an exponential probability distribution and an approximately exponential dependence on voltage, but not an activated temperature dependence. The switching is not observed above ≃60 mK and for filling factor v 13 T. We suggest that, on the I-V step, the insulating phase can support two conduction configurations, corresponding to two sliding states in the Wigner-crystal picture, which switch between one another through tunneling
The Digital Divide in Health Education: Myth or Reality?

Abstract Although e-health interventions provide new opportunities for health education, there has been cause for concern regarding the purported information technology gap between those who have access to digital applications and those who do not-termed the “digital divide.” The literature suggests, however, that this divide may now be illusory, driven primarily by a myriad of societal divides such as income, education, and literacy inequities. Such disparities may be the true propagators of what is now becoming a mythical digital divide. The purpose of this article is to identify the evolutionary nature of the digital divide and speculate as to how and why it has become a mirage in today’s increasingly technological world. Based on this discussion, suggestions are made regarding how health educators can enable the use of technology to better health through the study of consumer health informatics and e-health behavioral support.
Zaleplon and triazolam physical dependence assessed across increasing doses under a once-daily dosing regimen in baboons

The ability of the GABA(A)-receptor-subtype-selective hypnotic zaleplon to produce physical dependence was compared to the nonselective benzodiazepine triazolam. Progressively increasing doses of zaleplon and triazolam were given to baboons by intragastric infusion once each day, with doses increasing every 17 days. Next, the highest dose was given for 10-34 additional days by continuous infusion. Both drugs produced increases in food-maintained lever pressing, ataxia, and time to complete a fine motor task. Plasma levels increased dose-dependently; drug was detectable 24 h after higher doses. Flumazenil produced a mild or intermediate precipitated-withdrawal syndrome on day 14 of all dosing conditions. When drug delivery ended after 85-100 days, a benzodiazepine-type withdrawal syndrome occurred. Physical dependence potential of zaleplon and triazolam appear similar.
RESEARCH IN PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT

This article presents a review of the book “Research in Public Policy Analysis and Management,” vol. 1, by John P. Crecine.
Decreased adrenal medullary catecholamines in adrenal transplanted parkinsonian patients compared to nephrectomy patients

Abstract Adrenal medullary catecholamines were measured in tissue samples from eight patients who underwent autologous transplantation of the adrenal medulla to the caudate nucleus as a treatment for Parkinson's disease. These adrenal catecholamine levels were compared to a group of patients of similar age who underwent unilateral nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. The levels of each catecholamine, expressed as nanomoles per milligram wet weight tissue, were significantly lower ( P ≤ 0.005) in the parkinsonian patients than in the nephrectomy patients. These observations support data reported previously from autopsy specimens and suggest that the adrenal medullae of parkinsonian patients may be a compromised source of dopamine-producing tissue; this may limit its effectiveness in eliciting maximum clinical improvement following transplantation.
Toxicity of bog water to embryonic and larval anuran amphibians

A survey of the amphibians of a north temperate zone bog revealed that a number of species common in suitable locations nearby were absent from the bog. Several species of anuran larvae and embryos suffered high mortality when placed in the naturally acidic stream draining the bog. Mortality of bullfrog larvae (Rana catesbeiana) placed at a number of sites along the natural pH gradient (pH 3.9–6.6) formed by this stream was significantly greater than in those placed in a clearwater control stream (pH 6.6–6.9). This lethality of stream water even at moderate pH's near 6.0 indicates that a toxic factor other than acidity may be involved. In the laboratory, mortality of clawed frog (Xenopus laevis) embryos was significantly greater in unaltered bog water (pH 4.0–4.3) than in bog water neutralized with sodium hydroxide or in charcoal filtered tap water. The latter two conditions did not show significant mortality differences. This implies that low pH is the principal source of toxicity for Xenopus.
A simple nonlinear model of electrical activity in the intestine.

We have simulated electrical activity of the intestine in a computer model that describes the coupled layers of longitudinal muscle (LM) and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC). The model suggests that pacemaker activity is due to the ICC layer, while the pulse propagation involves the LM layer that is in the excitatory state. The model describes well the experimentally observed phenomena: frequency change along the intestine, synchronization along short distances and desynchronization for long distances, and the decrease of propagation distance and propagation time along the intestine. We have observed the occurrence of phase interruptions or breaks, which are responsible for the limited values of propagation distance and time.
Nitric Oxide–Induced Downregulation of Cdk2 Activity and Cyclin A Gene Transcription in Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Background—Nitric oxide (NO) inhibits vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and neointima formation after balloon injury. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying NO-mediated growth arrest are poorly understood. In the present study, we examined the effects of the NO donors sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) on cell cycle activity in VSMCs. Methods and Results—Stimulation of quiescent rat VSMCs with serum leads to an increase in cyclin-dependent kinase (cdk)2 kinase activity that correlates with a marked induction of cyclin A protein expression. The addition of SNP or SNAP to VSMC cultures at the time of serum stimulation abrogates the induction of cdk2 activity without suppressing protein levels of cdk2 or cyclin E. These NO donors block serum-stimulated upregulation of cyclin A mRNA and protein and repress the serum induction of cyclin A promoter activity in VSMCs. Conclusions—The addition of the nitric oxide donors SNP or SNAP to mitogen-stimulated VSMC...
France and Algeria at War: Nation, Identity, and Memory

Todd Shepard. The Invention of Decolonization: The Algerian War and the Remaking of France . Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006. 304 pp., $22.95, ISBN 978-0801443602. Marie-Pierre Ulloa. Franci...
Cardiac optical mapping under a translucent stimulation electrode.

Major effects of stimulation on cardiac transmembrane potentials (Vm) are thought to occur under the electrode, however these have not been optically mapped due to blockage of light by electrodes. Here we optically mapped under translucent indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes in hearts stained with transmembrane voltage sensitive fluorescent dye, di-4-ANEPPS excited at 488 nm. Emissions in wavelength bands 510–570 nm and >590 nm were similarly affected by changes in ITO transmittance due to electrochemical effects of current at the electrode interface. Dual-wavelength ratiometric mapping with the two emission bands revealed Vm under the electrode during plateau-phase stimulation (220 mA). Changes in Vm were heterogeneous under the electrode, and were anisotropic with larger values along the fiber axis. These results explain early excitation sites for sufficiently strong diastolic stimulation, and agree with theoretical predictions based on summation of anisotropic effects of point stimulation and a linear 3-d cardiac bidomain computer model. The bidomain model and experiments disagree under the edge of the electrode, where modeled Vm is much larger. Thus, changes in Vm under an electrode are anisotropic with greater Vm in the direction parallel to fibers. Nonlinear effects of stimulation in hearts may limit changes in Vm under the electrode edge.
Lack of human herpesvirus 8 and Epstein-Barr virus in Kikuchi's histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis.

Kikuchi's histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis is a self-limited disorder that typically involves the cervical lymph nodes of young women. Although a viral etiology has been postulated, a definitive viral agent has not been identified. Recent reports have suggested that human herpesvirus 8 (HHV 8) or Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) may play an etiologic role. We investigated the presence of HHV 8 and EBV in archival tissue from 34 cases of Kikuchi's histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis. We examined 29 cases for HHV 8 using a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on paraffin-embedded or frozen tissue, and 24 cases for EBV RNA using in situ hybridization (ISH) for EBER1. Controls included reactive lymph nodes from 8 adult women presenting with cervical or axillary lymphadenopathy. The study patients included 7 men and 27 women with a mean age of 28 years. All patients were previously healthy without evidence of immunocompromise and presented with cervical, axillary, or inguinal lymphadenopathy. Two cases exhibited EBV RNA by ISH; this was confirmed by PCR for EBV DNA. HHV 8 DNA was not amplified by nested PCR in any of the cases of Kikuchi's histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis or reactive lymph nodes; control PCR demonstrated the presence of amplifiable DNA in all cases. These findings suggest that HHV 8 and EBV do not play causative roles in Kikuchi's histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis.
Suppression of Neu-induced mammary tumor growth in cyclin D1 deficient mice is compensated for by cyclin E

Amplification and/or overexpression of the receptor tyrosine kinase HER2/Neu and the cell cycle regulatory gene cyclin D1 are frequently associated with human breast cancer. We studied the functional significance of cyclin D1 in Neu-induced mammary oncogenesis by developing mice overexpressing either wild-type or mutant Neu in a cyclin D1 deficient background. The absence of cyclin D1 suppresses mammary tumor formation induced by the wild-type or activated mutant form of Neu, which promote multi- and single-step progression of tumorigenesis, respectively. These data indicate that cyclin D1 is preferentially required for Neu-mediated signal transduction pathways in mammary oncogenesis. Significantly, 35% of mutant Neu/cyclin D1−/− mice regained mammary tumor potential due to compensation by cyclin E. Thus, shared targets of cyclins D1 and E are important in modulating Neu function in mammary tumorigenesis. Our results imply that the combinatorial inhibition of cyclins D1 and E might be useful in the treatment of malignancies induced by Neu.
Feature-guided clustering of multi-dimensional flow cytometry datasets

Background: Flow cytometry produces large multi-dimensional datasets of the physical and molecular characteristics of individual cells. The objective of this study was to simplify the cytometry datasets by arranging or clustering ''objects'' (cells) into a smaller number of relatively homogeneous groups (clusters) on the basis of interobject similarities and dissimilarities. Results: The algorithm was designed to be driven by histogram features; that is, the relevant single parameter histogram features were used to guide multidimensional k-means clustering without an a priori estimate of cluster number. To test this approach, we simulated cell-derived datasets using protein-coated microspheres (artificial ''cells''). The microspheres were constructed to provide 119 populations in 40 samples. The feature-guided (FG) approach accurately identified 100% of the predetermined cluster combinations. In contrast, an approach based on the partition index (PI) cluster validity measure accurately identified 83.2% of the clusters. Direct comparisons of the two methods indicated that the FG method was significantly more accurate than PI in identifying both the number of clusters and the number of objects within the clusters (p<.0001). Conclusion: We conclude that parameter feature analysis can be used to effectively guide k-means clustering of flow cytometry datasets.
Acquisition of nicotine self-administration in rats: the effects of dose, feeding schedule, and drug contingency.

The studies presented here were designed to further clarify the nature of nicotine self-administration (SA) based on a limited access model in which rats are food restricted, receive operant training using food reinforcement, and are then tested in daily 1-h drug sessions. We examined the effects of dose, feeding schedule, and contingency of drug delivery on acquisition of nicotine SA. Two doses of nicotine bitartrate, 0.03 and 0.06 mg/kg per infusion (free base), supported the transition from food-reinforced to drug-reinforced responding, although the pattern of behavior differed between these doses. In contrast, 0.01 mg/kg per infusion failed to maintain nicotine SA. In a second study, animals were divided into three groups according to feeding schedule. Rats that were both weight restricted and food deprived showed the highest level of SA behavior, although neither food deprivation nor weight restriction was necessary to establish SA. In the third experiment, rats that were switched from food to nicotine as the response-dependent reinforcer maintained higher response rates throughout a 9-day period than animals switched to response-independent (i.e., yoked) nicotine which showed minimal responding after day 1. Furthermore, the differences between self-administering and yoked animals emerged during the first session, suggesting that nicotine may serve as a reinforcer during the first drug exposure in naive animals. These results indicate that acquisition of nicotine SA can be influenced by both dose of nicotine and feeding schedule and that, in animals previously trained on a food-reinforced operant, active lever pressing is maintained only when nicotine delivery is contingent upon responding.
The reward value of peers. A variable influencing the efficacy of filmed modeling in modifying social isolation in preschoolers.

Sixteen socially isolate preschoolers were classified as peer or non-peer-oriented on the basis of their responses to a test devised to measure the reward value of peers. Half of the subjects in each classification were assigned to a modeling treatment and viewed a film depicting appropriate social behavior in the nursery school; half served as controls and saw an animal film. Peer-oriented modeling film subjects increased significantly more in their peer social interactions at posttest and follow-up assessments than did the non-peer-oriented modeling group. In addition, both peer-oriented and non-peer-oriented modeling groups were significantly higher on peer interaction than the control groups. Alternative and supplemental procedures for increasing isolate preschoolers' social interaction are discussed.
Definitions and Nomenclature of Nucleic Acid Structure Parameters

At an EMBO Workshop on DNA Curvature and Bending, held at Churchill College, Cambridge, on 10-15 September 1988, two sessions were scheduled on definitions of parameters used to describe the geometry of nucleic acid chains and helices, and a common nomenclature for these parameters. The most widely used library of helix analysis programs, HELIB (Fratini et al., 1982; Dickerson, 1985) suffers from the fact that the translations and rotations as defined are not fully independent and depend to a certain extent upon the choice of overall helix axis. Several research groups have been engaged independently in developing alternative programs for the geometrical analysis of polynucleotide chains, but with different definitions of quantities calculated and with widely different nomenclature even when the same parameter was involved.
Enumeration and Characterization of Bacteria Indigenous to a Shallow Water-Table Aquifer

Regions of the earth below the root zone of soil have conventionally been considered void of life. However, widespread pollution of ground water in the U.S. by organic compounds has kindled interest in the numbers of microbes that might be found in aquifers and associated regions of the deeper unsaturated zone, and in their ability to degrade organic pollutants. Newly developed techniques in microbial ecology allow the direct enumeration and examination of soil microbes without recourse to their cultivation on growth media. These techniques reduce many uncertainties associated with the use of culture media, such as the growth of contaminants or the failure of indigenous forms to grow on a particular medium. Samples were recovered aseptically from depths of 1·2, 3·0, and 5·0 meters (m) at the margin of a small floodplain near Lula, Oklahoma. Depth to the water table was 3·6 m; depth to bedrock was 6·0 m. Numbers of microbes were surprisingly similar at all three depths (3 to 9 × 106/g dry material). Although both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria were encountered, small Gram-positive coccoid forms predominated. No protozoa, yeasts, or other fungi were seen. The indigenous bacteria could rapidly degrade toluene. Chlorobenzene was degraded in material from the vadose zone, while bromodichloromethane was degraded in material from the saturated zone. There was no detectable degradation of 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, or tetrachloroethylene.
Oncogenic tyrosine kinases target Dok-1 for ubiquitin-mediated proteasomal degradation to promote cell transformation.

Cellular transformation induced by oncogenic tyrosine kinases is a multi-step process involving activation of growth-promoting signaling pathways and inactivation of suppressor molecules. Dok-1 is an adaptor protein that acts as a negative regulator of tyrosine kinase-initiated signaling and opposes oncogenic tyrosine kinase-mediated cell transformation. Findings that its loss facilitates transformation induced by oncogenic tyrosine kinases suggest that Dok-1 inactivation could constitute an intermediate step in oncogenesis driven by these oncoproteins. However, whether Dok-1 is subject to regulation by oncogenic tyrosine kinases remained unknown. In this study we show that oncogenic tyrosine kinases, including p210(bcr-abl) and oncogenic forms of Src, down-regulate Dok-1 by targeting it for degradation through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. This process is dependent on the tyrosine kinase activity of the oncoproteins, and is mediated primarily by lysine-dependent polyubiquitination of Dok-1. Importantly, restoration of Dok-1 levels strongly suppresses transformation of cells expressing oncogenic tyrosine kinases, and this suppression is more pronounced in the context of a Dok-1 mutant that is largely refractory to oncogenic tyrosine kinases-induced degradation. Our findings suggest that proteasome-mediated down-regulation of Dok-1 is a key mechanism by which oncogenic tyrosine kinases overcome the inhibitory effect of Dok-1 on cellular transformation and tumor progression.
Uncertainty in Paleoecological Studies of Mercury in Sediment Cores

Increased recognition of the ecological damage of mercury (Hg) has focused attention on quantifying spatial and temporal patterns of Hg deposition. Studies are commonly based on core chronologies and use a combination of techniques to measure parameters such as bulk density, percent solids, Hg concentration, and radionuclide activity. Little attention is generally devoted to the propagated error associated with these measurements. We identified the impact of sources of uncertainty on stratigraphic Hg determinations for Florida Everglades and Lake Erie cores. Large errors may be introduced by converting wet sample Hg content to dry-weight concentrations. Drying of sediments at 55 °C caused Hg losses of 18%. Samples, air-dried at room temperature, retained considerable moisture and required corrections for remaining water content. Frozen sediments did not lose Hg during a 72-day storage. Random error in radionuclide analysis of cores resulted in dating uncertainty of ±1.2 yr in 10 yr old deposits. This error increased to ±20 yr in 100 yr old sediments. Propagation of small errors in each step of the analysis (while adhering to strict QA/QC criteria) produced compounded uncertainties of ±11 and ±29% in Hg concentrations under different analytical rigor, and errors of up to ±73% in Hg accumulation rates in older sediments. Enrichment factors, comparing uncertain recent and historic Hg accumulation rates, differed by as much as ±48%. Uncertainty in paleoecological studies of mercury needs to be documented in order to correctly evaluate trends and remediation efforts.
Topical drug classification

Current definitions of lotions, gels, creams and ointments vary depending on literature source, market history or traditional use. This often leads to confusion when deciding which dosage form to prescribe and/or purchase. The existing classification of topical dosage forms needs to be re-examined to ensure that definitions for different dosage forms are based on consistent scientific principles and that dosage forms can be distinguished from one another. The purpose of this study is to obtain a scientifically based, systematic classification of dosage forms for topical drugs. A variety of prescription and over-the-counter topical products currently marketed as lotions, gels, creams, and ointments are evaluated using different techniques including rheology (viscosity and shear rate versus shear stress), loss on drying (LOD), specific gravity, surface tension, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), water absorption, dilution properties, microscopic evaluation, transmittance of visible light, appearance and composition. Rheology is the most discriminating property separating creams and lotions. Water plus volatiles (as measured by LOD) and composition separate ointments and creams. Composition and thermal behavior separate gels from the other dosage forms. Based on these findings, new definitions and a decision tree are presented to assist in the determination of the appropriate nomenclature for a topical dosage form.
The influence of high resistivity substrates on CMOS latchup robustness

This paper demonstrates latchup results in a 50 Omega-cm substrate wafer in a 0.13-mum technology. Latchup evaluation will evaluate and compare a 10 Omega-cm and a 50 Omega-cm substrate wafer on the NPN bipolar current gain, betanpn, PNP bipolar current gain, betapnp,, the bipolar current gain product, betapnpbetanpn, undershoot, and overshoot phenomena.
Long-distance potentials: an approach to the multiple-minima problem in ligand-receptor interaction

The multiple-minima problem is a classical problem in molecular structure prediction. For ligand-receptor systems, a possible direction to alleviate this major obstacle is to simplify the objective function (intermolecular energy) and smooth its profile. We introduce long-distance atom-atom potentials for ligand-receptor interactions. The longer ranges result in averaging of the energy potential at a given point. Our simplified force field is based on a trivial empirical representation of interatomic interactions as a step function. We demonstrate that the intermolecular energy calculation by a systematic search with such a simplified long-distance force field delivers the global minimum (crystallographically determined position of the ligand) by radically suppressing local minima (or false-positive fits). The effectiveness of the approach is demonstrated on different molecular complexes of known structure.
Hearth and Soul: Economics and Culture in Partisan Conceptions of the Family in the Progressive Era, 1900–1920

Both political scientists and popular commentators have reacted to the culture wars of the 1990s as something new in American politics, a deviation from the durable grounding of politics in economic interests. However, as recent work, along with many of the classic treatments of the Populist and Progressive eras demonstrate, American politics has long been infused with both culture and economics. The interesting question is thus not “which one” but rather “how” these two dimensions of political value have intersected through time and what the dynamics of those intersections reveal. The paper uses congressional family policy debates to demonstrate two alternative policy frameworks during the Progressive Era, each with its own alignment of the two dimensions and one emerging as a harbinger to the New Deal welfare state. Through systematic discursive analysis of committee hearings transcripts of the Fifty-sixth to Sixty-sixth Congresses, it assembles two dominant conceptual frameworks of family as illustrative of the two approaches. The progressive understanding viewed family economics as foundational, circumscribing its cultural qualities and legitimating state intervention. In contrast, the traditionalist conception privileged self-regulating families' cultural qualities as more fundamental, only loosely related to economic condition, such that active state intervention into family economics was seen as inappropriate and ineffective. These alternative approaches to state and family relations viewed culture or economics alternatively as foundational or epiphenomenal, if related at all. As history unfolded, the progressive conception ultimately prevailed in New Deal and postwar social policies, which continued to emphasize the economic dimension as subsuming the cultural one. Investigating the dynamics of intersectionality between economics and culture is suggested as a potential pathway to bridge work emphasizing durable economic interests in politics with other work focused instead on the endurance of moral conflicts in political deliberations, implying that in the Progressive Era the parties were not only divided in terms of which set of issues were more important but also over how the two dimensions of political value related to each other, if at all.
BAC Transgenic Mice Express Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein in Central and Peripheral Cholinergic Neurons

The peripheral nervous system has complex and intricate ramifications throughout many target organ systems. To date this system has not been effectively labeled by genetic markers, due largely to inadequate transcriptional specification by minimum promoter constructs. Here we describe transgenic mice in which enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) is expressed under the control of endogenous choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) transcriptional regulatory elements, by knock-in of eGFP within a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) spanning the ChAT locus and expression of this construct as a transgene. eGFP is expressed in ChAT(BAC)-eGFP mice in central and peripheral cholinergic neurons, including cell bodies and processes of the somatic motor, somatic sensory, and parasympathetic nervous system in gastrointestinal, respiratory, urogenital, cardiovascular, and other peripheral organ systems. Individual epithelial cells and a subset of lymphocytes within the gastrointestinal and airway mucosa are also labeled, indicating genetic evidence of acetylcholine biosynthesis. Central and peripheral neurons were observed as early as 10.5 days postcoitus in the developing mouse embryo. ChAT(BAC)-eGFP mice allow excellent visualization of all cholinergic elements of the peripheral nervous system, including the submucosal enteric plexus, preganglionic autonomic nerves, and skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscle neuromuscular junctions. These mice should be useful for in vivo studies of cholinergic neurotransmission and neuromuscular coupling. Moreover, this genetic strategy allows the selective expression and conditional inactivation of genes of interest in cholinergic nerves of the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system.
Mixed multi-threshold differential cascode voltage switch (MT-DCVS) circuit styles and strategies for low power VLSI design

This paper presents mixed multi-threshold differential cascode voltage switch (MT-DCVS) circuits for low-power, high performance and deep-submicron VLSI design. These logic circuits incorporate two different sets of CMOS devices, low-V/sub t/ and regular high-V/sub t/ CMOS devices. By appropriately selecting the low-V/sub t/ and high-V/sub t/ devices and configurations in a circuit, we can gain performance of circuit while keeping the leakage current and power low. The key approaches are using low-V/sub t/ devices to gain performance, using high-V/sub t/ devices to cut off the leakage path and also using the reverse-biased low-V/sub t/ devices in their standby state. The methodology and algorithm are developed and simulated. The applications of such multi-V/sub t/ circuit techniques to the static, domino NORA DCVS and delayed reset circuits are described. The use of footer/header devices, gated-Vdd and a mixture of low-V/sub t/ and high-V/sub t/ devices to reduce power dissipation and subthreshold leakage current during standby and active modes, and the global design issues are also discussed.
The mental models of HR professionals as strategic partners

In this paper, we elicited and examined mental models of human resource professionals, regarding the interrelationships of important elements in shaping competitive strategy, for consensus or systematic variation, testing for HR’s distinctive contribution at the strategy table. In order to examine their mental models, we collected empirical data from a stratified non-probability respondent sample of HR professionals in three stages: semi-structured informant interviews; free list and rank ordering tasks; and drawing exercises. Performing consensus analysis of respondents’ mental models, we found that: First, as a group, HR professionals lack a robust, integrated HR strategic perspective; Second, consensus views of labor relations practitioners and business unit generalists emerge as most distinctive and most people-focused . As one of few scholarly empirical examinations of HR practitioners’ mental models on their view as strategic partners , this study challenges the normative calls among scholars and professional organizations for HR’s participation in strategy formulation.
PyEPL: A cross-platform experiment-programming library

PyEPL (the Python Experiment-Programming Library) is a Python library which allows cross-platform and object-oriented coding of behavioral experiments. It provides functions for displaying text and images onscreen, as well as playing and recording sound, and is capable of rendering 3-D virtual environments for spatial-navigation tasks. It is currently tested for Mac OS X and Linux. It interfaces with Activewire USB cards (on Mac OS X) and the parallel port (on Linux) for synchronization of experimental events with physiological recordings. In this article, we first present two sample programs which illustrate core PyEPL features. The examples demonstrate visual stimulus presentation, keyboard input, and simulation and exploration of a simple 3-D environment. We then describe the components and strategies used in implementing PyEPL.
Shape Memory Alloys

An overview of shape memory alloys (SMAs) is presented, identifying some of the known alloy systems, their distinctive thermo-mechanical properties, and the atomic-level and microstructural mechanisms responsible for their remarkable behaviors. Some less known and unusual phenomena in their thermo-mechanical response are highlighted that have created pitfalls for the casual user. A few interesting applications of SMAs, especially in the aerospace field, are briefly described that have enabled novel manufacturing techniques, deployable mechanisms, and adaptive structures. Keywords: shape memory alloys; aerospace applications; adaptive structures; nitinol; shape memory effect; superelasticity; martensitic transformation; thermo-mechanical behavior
Plus and minus strand leader rnas in negative strand virus-infected cells

Abstract Sendai virus and VSV minus strand genome RNAs, labeled specifically at their 3′ ends with RNA ligase, were used as probes to detect leader RNA—that is, short transcripts (approximately 50 nucleotides) complementary to the exact 3′ end of the minus strand genome. These probes have allowed the detection of plus strand leader RNAs in both Sendai virus and VSV-infected cells as well as in the virion transcriptase reactions. The use of a similar probe, prepared from the self-complementary ends of DI genome RNA and containing the 3′ end of the plus strand antigenome RNA, has allowed the detection of a minus strand leader RNA of identical size in VSV-infected cells. Since the presence of DI genomes could not be detected by analytical sucrose gradient centrifugation in these VSV-infected cells, this minus strand leader RNA is apparently synthesized on the template formed by the exact 3′ end of the antigenome RNA.
Laparoscopic exposure and sequential observation of the ovary of the cycling bitch.

A method was developed to alter surgically the bursa of the bitch to allow sequential observation of the ovary by means of laparoscopy. Adult anesthetized female dogs of three breeds underwent laparoscopic examinations in which each natural bursa slit was lengthened 1.0-1.5 cm using laparoscopic hook scissors in conjunction with electrocautery. The ovary could be effectively and repeatedly exposed for laparoscopic viewing through the lengthened bursa slit. Neither Laparoscopic surgery nor frequent routine laparoscopic examinations of the reproductive organs had an effect on subsequent ovarian activity. All dogs subjected to the laparoscopic ovarian exposure technique exhibited estrus behavior, follicle development, ovulation and corpus luteum formation. Preovulatory follicular development was detected as early as 11 days before ovulation with the most rapid follicular maturation occurring two to three days before ovulation. Follicular collapse and extensive hemorrhage at the rupture site during ovulation did not occur. Release of the cumulus mass from a vesicular follicle was observed in one bitch. The cumulative mass adhered to the follicular wall for an indefinite time following ovulation. The structural size of the bitch corpus luteum was maximal four to eight days following ovulation. Corpora lutea remained visible on the ovarian surface for 16 weeks. No differences in cyclic ovarian morphology were observed among the three breeds of dogs studied.