cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Future of the Past: Archaeology and Anthropology on the World Wide Web

In the final scene of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, a crate containing the object of Indiana Jones' quest is wheeled into an immense warehouse for indefinite storage and questionable research access. Unfortunately, this fate is not all that far from reality. Collections of archaeological and ethnographic materials ranging from stone axes, broken potsherds, and carved monuments to baskets, ceremonial masks, and skin canoes have been held by museums collections since the Renaissance. However, their inestimable value and unique conservation and curatorial requirements often conspire to remove them from the reach of all but the most diligent scholars. The potential of the Web to enhance the quality of research on archaeological and ethnographic collections is enormous. This paper will examine ways that one can use the Web to enhance research and improve access to a variety of materials; while there are many other resources for archaeology available on the Web, this paper focusses on museum-related sites. It will also explore the potential of the Web for innovative research strategies. Digitization of catalogs, associated documents, and images to help one locate and study collections and specific artifacts are just one approach. Others include the connection of devices to the Web, such as cameras and microscopes, the creation of virtual reference collections, and the establishment of research networks that will enhance the identification and analysis of material culture. This paper will also consider the role the Web could play in issues of cultural property, contributing to and in many ways intensifying ongoing debates of ownership, curation, conservation, and repatriation of sensitive materials.
Hysteretic Behavior of Superfluid Helium in Anopore

Superfluid 4 He exhibits hysteretic behavior due to capillary condensation in Anopore, a porous membrane containing mostly non-intersecting cylindrical pores. Because the pores are non-intersecting, we expect the system may behave similarly to a system of nearly non-interacting spins, where spin-up is equivalent to a filled pore and a spin-down is equivalent to an empty pore. We show the global hysteresis loop as well as subloops, and compare the results to those predicted for a system of non-interacting spins.
Lebesgue-Approximation-Based Model Predictive Control for Nonlinear Sampled-Data Systems with Measurement Noises

In computer-controlled systems model predictive control (MPC) algorithms are usually implemented in a discrete-time manner even when the plant is continuous-time. It means that (i) the time instants to sample the states and compute the optimal solution to a finite horizon optimal control problem (FHOCP) must be triggered intermittently and (ii) the computation of the control inputs, including solving the FHOCP, should be completely discrete-time. Inappropriate discretization may place a heavy computational burden on the processor and possibly lead to violation of system constraints, instability, and infeasibility of MPC. This paper presents a discrete-time MPC algorithm, based on Lebesgue approximation, for nonlinear sampled-data systems. In this algorithm, the sampling instants are triggered by a self-triggered scheme. The predictive model in the FHOCP is iterated in an aperiodic manner subject to the Lebesgue approximation model. Sufficient conditions are derived on feasibility and stability of the closed-loop systems with the guarantee of exclusion of Zeno behavior.
Expression profiling of human basophils: modulation by cytokines and secretagogues.

Human basophils are an accessible participant of the human allergic reaction. There is natural variation in various functional endpoints and in signaling molecule expression but there has been only a limited effort to place this information in the context of mRNA expression profiles. This study examined the hypothesis that unique mRNA signatures could be identified during the response of human basophils to several known forms of stimulation. Highly purified human basophils were cultured in vitro and exposed to IL-3, IL-5, NGF, IL-33, IL-2, anti-IgE Ab, or FMLP and the mRNA profiles examined by microarrays. The response to IL-3 and anti-IgE Ab were examined on 2–3 time frames and the response to IL-3 examined at several concentrations. In addition, the mRNA signatures of 3 different potential phenotypes were examined. These included basophils with the so-called non-releaser phenotype, and basophils from atopic and non-atopic subjects. Given the role of IL-3 in basophil maturation and the known profound effects on mature basophil function, it was not surprising that IL-3 showed the greatest influence on the basophil transcriptome. However, it also became apparent that the act of isolating and culturing basophils was sufficient to induce a large number of changes in the transcriptome, despite high viability and recovery. These “culture-effect” changes dominated the changes in mRNA profiles induced by other stimuli. Unique signatures for anti-IgE antibody and IL-33 could be identified although the number of gene transcripts (6–30) that were unique to these two stimuli was very limited. There were no apparent unique profiles for IL-5, NGF, IL-2 or FMLP. Therefore, a potential tool for screening basophil phenotypes was limited to changes that could be induced by IL-3 (or no IL-3), IL-33 and anti-IgE Ab.
Report of a workshop on nuclear forces and nonproliferation - Woodrow Wilson international center for scholars, Washington, DC November 30, 2011

A workshop sponsored by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in cooperation with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars was held at the Wilson Center in Washington, DC, on October 28, 2010. The workshop addressed evolving nuclear forces and their impacts on nonproliferation in the context of the new strategic environment, the Obama Administration's Nuclear Posture Review and the 2010 NPT Review Conference. The discussions reflected the importance of the NPR for defining the role of US nuclear forces in dealing with 21st century threats and providing guidance for National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Department of Defense (DoD) programs and, for many but not all participants, highlighted its role in the successful outcome of the NPT RevCon. There was widespread support for the NPR and its role in developing the foundations for a sustainable nuclear-weapon program that addresses nuclear weapons, infrastructure and expertise in the broader nonproliferation, disarmament and international security contexts. However, some participants raised concerns about its implementation and its long-term effectiveness and sustainability.
Skin Conductance as a Viable Alternative for Closing the Deep Brain Stimulation Loop in Neuropsychiatric Disorders

Markers from local field potentials, neurochemicals, skin conductance, and hormone concentrations have been proposed as a means of closing the loop in Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) therapy for treating neuropsychiatric and movement disorders. Developing a closed-loop DBS controller based on peripheral signals would require: (i) the recovery of a biomarker from the source neural stimuli underlying the peripheral signal variations; (ii) the estimation of an unobserved brain or central nervous system related state variable from the biomarker. The state variable is application-specific. It is emotion-related in the case of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, and movement-related for Parkinson's or essential tremor. We present a method for closing the DBS loop in neuropsychiatric disorders based on the estimation of sympathetic arousal from skin conductance measurements. We deconvolve skin conductance via an optimization formulation utilizing sparse recovery and obtain neural impulses from sympathetic nerve fibers stimulating the sweat glands. We perform this deconvolution via a two-step coordinate descent procedure that recovers the sparse neural stimuli and estimates physiological system parameters simultaneously. We next relate an unobserved sympathetic arousal state to the probability that these neural impulses occur and use Bayesian filtering within an Expectation-Maximization framework for estimation. We evaluate our method on a publicly available data-set examining the effect of different types of stress on peripheral signal changes including body temperature, skin conductance and heart rate. A high degree of arousal is estimated during cognitive tasks, as are much lower levels during relaxation. The results demonstrate the ability to decode psychological arousal from neural activity underlying skin conductance signal variations. The complete pipeline from recovering neural stimuli to decoding an emotion-related brain state using skin conductance presents a promising methodology for the ultimate realization of a closed-loop DBS controller. Closed-loop DBS treatment would additionally help reduce unnecessary power consumption and improve therapeutic gains.
Delirium Screening as a Predictor for Unplanned Extubations in a Pediatric Critical Care Unit

Background: Pediatric delirium has been under recognized and undertreated due to a lack of screening tools and limited clinician familiarity with the disease. In the past ten years, there has been an emergence of new bedside instruments to evaluate patients for the presence of delirium in the intensive care setting without the need for consultation of child psychiatry. Unplanned extubations are a significant patient harm event in …
Did Hospital Readmissions Fall Because Per Capita Admission Rates Fell

Recent reductions in hospital readmission rates have been attributed to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. However, admission rates also declined during the same period. We found that because the probability of an admission occurring soon after another is lower when there are fewer admissions per patient, the reduction in admission rates may explain much of the reduction in readmission rates.
Clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of LGR5, a cancer stem cell marker in patients with colorectal cancer.

Aim To analyze the clinicopathologic and prognostic significance of Leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5 (LGR5), a cancer stem cell marker expression in a cohort of colorectal cancer patients (CRC). Patients & methods A total of 76 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks of primary or metastatic tumors from 49 CRC patients were collected for duration 2009-2015. LGR5 expression was assessed through immunohistochemical staining of a tissue microarray. Results LGR5 was significantly over expressed in CRC tissue samples and found to be a statistically significant independent prognostic marker for an improved overall survival. Conclusion LGR5 expression was higher in colorectal cancer than in normal tissue. LGR5 was an independent prognostic marker for better clinical outcomes and might be used as a potential therapeutic target in CRCs.
Precision lung cancer survivorship care: Accrual to the Kentucky LEADS Collaborative Lung Cancer Survivorship Care Program.

144Background: Recent innovations in lung cancer care create an urgent need to generate survivorship care interventions that target lung cancer survivors and tailor content and services to this uni...
Future Scaling Potential of Particulate Media in Magnetic Tape Recording

Abstract This chapter explores the future scaling potential of magnetic tape technology based on low-cost particulate media. We first discuss the state of the art of particulate media. Moreover, we review the achievements and the technologies behind the recent 29.5 Gbit/in 2 areal density demonstration using low-cost particulate BaFe media. Finally, we examine the potential for further scaling, posing the questions: “Can magnetic tape be scaled to 100 Gbit/in 2 ?” and “What technologies are required to do so?” We conclude that using a combination of the technologies described in this chapter, the roughly 50 Gbit/in 2 areal density predicted by the INSIC roadmap to be required for a 128-TB cartridge appears achievable. Pushing these technologies further, a linear density of 650-800 kbit/in and a track pitch in the range of 0.165-0.2 μm may also be feasible, leading to an achievable areal density of 100 Gbit/in 2 .
COVID-19 and influenza testing in New York City.

Of the 6,079 patients admitted due to COVID-19 during March-May, 2020, 902 patients (14.8%) had influenza test. Among them, only 3 patients (0.33%) had positive test of influenza with concomitant infection of SARS-CoV-2. Our study demonstrated the very low rate of positive influenza test during COVID-19 pandemic. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Symbolic annihilation through design: Pregnancy loss in pregnancy-related mobile apps:

Pregnancy is a significant life event for many. Using mobile apps to manage pregnancies is common. Pregnancy loss is a common complication associated with stigma that impacts one’s wellbeing, relat...
Convalescent plasma use in the USA was inversely correlated with COVID-19 mortality.

Background: The US Food and Drug Administration authorized COVID-19 convalescent plasma (CCP) therapy for hospitalized COVID-19 patients via the Expanded Access Program (EAP) and the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), leading to use in about 500,000 patients during the first year of the pandemic for the USA. Methods: We tracked the number of CCP units dispensed to hospitals by blood banking organizations and correlated that usage with hospital admission and mortality data. Results: CCP usage per admission peaked in Fall 2020, with more than 40% of inpatients estimated to have received CCP between late September and early November 2020. However, after randomized controlled trials failed to show a reduction in mortality, CCP usage per admission declined steadily to a nadir of less than 10% in March 2021. We found a strong inverse correlation (r = -0.52, p=0.002) between CCP usage per hospital admission and deaths occurring 2 weeks after admission, and this finding was robust to examination of deaths taking place 1, 2, or 3 weeks after admission. Changes in the number of hospital admissions, SARS-CoV-2 variants, and age of patients could not explain these findings. The retreat from CCP usage might have resulted in as many as 29,000 excess deaths from mid-November 2020 to February 2021. Conclusions: A strong inverse correlation between CCP use and mortality per admission in the USA provides population-level evidence consistent with the notion that CCP reduces mortality in COVID-19 and suggests that the recent decline in usage could have resulted in excess deaths. Funding: There was no specific funding for this study. AC was supported in part by RO1 HL059842 and R01 AI1520789; MJJ was supported in part by 5R35HL139854. This project has been funded in whole or in part with Federal funds from the Department of Health and Human Services; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority under Contract No. 75A50120C00096.
Natural Products That Target the Arginase in Leishmania Parasites Hold Therapeutic Promise

Parasites of the genus Leishmania cause a variety of devastating and often fatal diseases in humans worldwide. Because a vaccine is not available and the currently small number of existing drugs are less than ideal due to lack of specificity and emerging drug resistance, the need for new therapeutic strategies is urgent. Natural products and their derivatives are being used and explored as therapeutics and interest in developing such products as antileishmanials is high. The enzyme arginase, the first enzyme of the polyamine biosynthetic pathway in Leishmania, has emerged as a potential therapeutic target. The flavonols quercetin and fisetin, green tea flavanols such as catechin (C), epicatechin (EC), epicatechin gallate (ECG), and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), and cinnamic acid derivates such as caffeic acid inhibit the leishmanial enzyme and modulate the host’s immune response toward parasite defense while showing little toxicity to the host. Quercetin, EGCG, gallic acid, caffeic acid, and rosmarinic acid have proven to be effective against Leishmania in rodent infectivity studies. Here, we review research on these natural products with a focus on their promise for the development of treatment strategies as well as unique structural and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic features of the most promising agents.
A critical role for E2-p53 interaction during the HPV16 life cycle

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are causative agents in ano-genital and oral cancers; HPV16 is the most prevalent type detected in human cancers. The HPV16 E6 protein targets p53 for proteasomal degradation to facilitate proliferation of the HPV16 infected cell. However, in HPV16 immortalized cells E6 is predominantly spliced (E6*) and unable to degrade p53. Here we demonstrate that human foreskin keratinocytes immortalized by HPV16 (HFK+HPV16), and HPV16 positive oropharyngeal cancers, retain significant expression of p53. In addition, p53 levels can be increased in HPV16+ head and neck cancer cell lines following treatment with cisplatin. Introduction of full-length E6 into HFK+HPV16 resulted in attenuation of cellular growth (in hTERT immortalized HFK, E6 expression promoted enhanced proliferation). An understudied interaction is that between E2 and p53 and we investigated whether this was important for the viral life cycle. We generated mutant genomes with E2 unable to interact with p53 resulting in profound phenotypes in primary HFK. The mutant induced hyper-proliferation, but an ultimate arrest of cell growth; b-galactosidase staining demonstrated increased senescence, and COMET assays showed increased DNA damage compared with HFK+HPV16 wild type cells. There was failure of the viral life cycle in organotypic rafts with the mutant HFK resulting in premature differentiation and reduced proliferation. The results indicate that the E2-p53 interaction is critical during the HPV16 life cycle, and that disruption of this interaction has anti-viral potential. We discuss potential mechanisms to explain these phenotypes.
Statistical and Astronomical Challenges in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey is an ambitious effort to map the entire Northern sky at high Galactic latitudes, using modern CCD cameras to take images in five photometric bands, and a pair of multi-object spectrographs to measure redshifts for 106 galaxies and 105 quasars. I describe some of the recent scientific results from the survey, focusing on quasars and galaxies, with an emphasis on the statistical challenges that they raise. The data are very rich, with potential impact on a large variety of astronomical problems, but most analyses to date have been carried out using rather unsophisticated statistical tools. These data are thus ideal to foster collaboration between astronomers and statisticians.
Specificity of attenuation control in the ilvGMEDA operon of Escherichia coli K-12.

Three different approaches were used to examine the regulatory effects of the amino acids specified by the peptide-coding region of the leader transcript of the ilvGMEDA operon of Escherichia coli K-12. Gene expression was examined in strains carrying an ilvGMED9-lac operon fusion. In one approach, auxotrophic derivatives were starved of single amino acids for brief periods, and the burst of beta-galactosidase synthesis upon adding the missing amino acid was determined. Auxotrophic derivatives were also grown for brief periods with a limited supply of one amino acid (derepression experiments). Finally, prototrophic strains were grown in minimal medium supplemented with single and multiple supplements of the chosen amino acids. Although codons for arginine, serine, and proline are interspersed among the codons for the three branched-chain (regulatory) amino acids, they appeared to have no effect when added in excess to prototrophs or when supplied in restricted amounts to auxotrophs. Deletions removing the terminator stem from the leader removed all ilv-specific control, indicating that the attenuation mechanism is the sole mechanism for ilv-specific control.
Education Finance Litigation: A Review of Recent High Court Decisions and their Likely Impact on Future Litigation

Most citizens know very little about how their schools are funded, and even less about the school funding litigation that has shaped public school funding systems since Serrano v. Priest. Nonetheless, funding litigation has had a tremendous impact on public schools in the United States, second only to the impact of the litigation associated with Brown v. Board of Education. Since Serrano, the highest courts in 36 states have issued opinions on the merits of funding litigation suits, with 19 upholding state funding systems and 17 declaring state funding systems unconstitutional. A 2001 article titled 2 Serrano and It's Progeny: An Analysis of 30 years of School Funding Litigation reviewed school funding litigation since the Serrano decision. This article updates this research by providing brief reviews of the most recent and significant school funding litigation decisions, including the most recent decisions in Claremont v. Governor, James v. Alabama Coalition for Equity, Tennessee Small School Systems v. McWherter, Lake View v. Huckabee, DeRolph v. State, and Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) v. State. This article also discusses possible future directions in this litigation, based on an analysis of these recent state high court cases and the litigation since Serrano v. Priest.
High-voltage IC technologies for AC/DC power conversion

The market for AC/DC power converters is growing rapidly, driven largely by the proliferation of portable electronic devices and adoption of LED lighting. This paper provides an overview of one of the most common circuit topologies used for AC/DC conversion and describes the IC technology requirements for these systems. Key characteristics and trends in high-voltage (HV) and ultra-highvoltage (UHV) technologies are discussed.
CT Radiation Dose Optimization and Tracking Program at a Large Quaternary-Care Health Care System.

Abstract Purpose The authors report the implementation and outcomes of a CT radiation dose optimization and tracking program at a large quaternary-care health care system. Methods A committee reviewed, optimized, and released standardized imaging protocols for the most common CT examinations across the health system. Volume CT dose index and dose-length product (DLP) diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) were established, with the goal of decreasing the percentage of outliers (CT scans with DLPs greater than the established DRLs) to Results The baseline percentage of outliers was slightly higher than 10% for pediatric scans but nearly 26.5% for adult scans. Over the first year, after standardized protocols were distributed, the percentage of outliers decreased for pediatric brain (from 22% to 6%), adult brain (from 23% to 3%), and adult chest (from 22% to 11%) examinations. Over the next 2 years, after the dose-tracking program was implemented, the percentage of outliers decreased for adult (brain, from 3% to 1%; chest, from 11% to 1%; abdomen, from 24% to 1%) and pediatric (brain, from 6% to 2%; chest, from 11% to 0%; abdomen, from 7% to 1%) examinations. Conclusions The reported CT protocol optimization and dose-tracking program enabled a sustainable reduction in the proportion of CT examinations being performed above established DRLs from as high as 26% to
Interspecies selective motoneuron projection patterns in chick-quail chimeras

During normal development chick motoneurons have been shown to project selectively to appropriate muscles by responding to a series of cues, both specific and nonspecific, within the limb. We tested the ability of motoneurons from another avian species, the Japanese quail, to respond to these cues by transplanting chick limb buds onto quail embryos and quail limb buds onto chick embryos between stages 17 1/2 and 19. Feulgen staining, which distinguishes chick from quail cells on the basis of nuclear chromatin, revealed that all limb tissue, including muscle, was of donor origin, indicating that the migration of somite-derived muscle precursor cells had been completed by the time of transplantation. Normal quail motoneuron pools for most muscles were located in the same relative positions as homologous chick pools. In chick-quail chimeras we found that the motoneuron pools of one species selectively innervated the homologous muscles in the limb of opposite species with considerable precision. This was determined by defining the segmental innervation pattern of the muscles electrophysiologically and by retrogradely labeling motoneuron pools with HRP. Selective innervation was confirmed by using the functional activation patterns of the motoneuron pools as an additional means of identifying motoneurons. We conclude that any limb-derived cues required by motoneurons to project to their appropriate muscles must be similar in chick and quail and that the growth cones of both species must have similar detector systems for responding to these cues. Only 7 spinal segments were found to innervate the quail limb (versus 8 for the chick), resulting in an anterior shift in the spinal segments innervating several posterior quail muscles.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Transcription Factors of Arabidopsis and Rice: A Genomic Perspective

The sections in this article are: Introduction - Arabidopsis and Rice Genomes: The Angiosperm Complement of Transcription Factors Plant Promoters.
Immunoglobulin M efficacy against Cryptococcus neoformans: mechanism, dose dependence, and prozone-like effects in passive protection experiments.

The IgM mAbs 12A1 and 13F1 are protective and nonprotective, respectively, against lethal Cryptococcus neoformans infection in mice. To better understand the variables that contribute to IgM efficacy against C. neoformans, we studied the effects of inoculum size, route of infection, and Ab dose for each of these mAbs. mAb 13F1 did not prolong survival under any condition studied. mAb 12A1 prolonged survival after the administration of certain Ab doses after i.p. infection with defined inocula and promoted phagocytosis, agglutination, and the formation of inflammatory cell rings around yeast cells in vivo. Large Ab doses of mAb 12A1 resulted in either no protection or enhanced infection, consistent with a prozone-like effect. Investigation of this phenomenon revealed that the fungal cell was protected against microbicidal nitrogen-derived oxidants when large amounts of Ab were bound to the C. neoformans capsule. mAb 12A1 was opsonic in vitro for peritoneal, but not splenic or alveolar macrophages. In summary, our results indicate that IgM efficacy against C. neoformans is a function of the route of infection, inoculum, and Ab dose and is associated with its ability to promote opsonization, agglutination, and phagocytic ring formation in vivo. The occurrence of the prozone-like phenomenon implies that high Ab titers are not necessarily beneficial in assuring protection against certain pathogens and that caution should be exercised in using high Ab titer as a measure for vaccine efficacy.
A combinatorial construction of the Schubert polynomials

Abstract We show a combinatorial rule based on diagrams (finite nonempty sets of lattice points (i, j) in the positive quadrant) for the construction of the Schubert polynomials. In the particular case where the Schubert polynomial is a Schur function we give a bijection between our diagrams and column strict tableaux. A different algorithm had been conjectured (and proved in the case of vexillary permutations) by A. Kohnert (Ph.D. dissertation, Universitat auf Bayreuth, 1990). We give, at the end of this paper, a sketch of how one would show the equivalence of the two rules.
Assessment of mathematics and reading performance : An examination of the correspondence between direct assessment of student performance and teacher report

Teacher judgments have been identified as a primary source of information regarding student academic achievement. Research examining the accuracy of teachers' judgments in assessing students' academic abilities has shown relatively high accuracy. However, previous studies have relied primarily on norm-referenced measures to obtain estimates of students' achievement in reading and mathematics. Recent developments in the assessment of students' academic skills, such as Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM), provide a direct estimate of students' skill levels in basic areas such as reading and mathematics. The purpose of the present study was to examine the extent to which teachers' perceptions of students' reading and mathematics skills corresponded to direct estimates of students' reading and mathematics skills. Two second-grade teachers estimated the reading and mathematics skills of 33 second-grade students. Results of this study indicated that teachers were not accurate in assessing their students' mathematics functioning. Teachers were more accurate in assessing the occurrence of Mastery mathematics levels in basic addition, but were very inaccurate in assessing the occurrence of Mastery, Instructional, or Frustrational mathematics levels in all other skills assessed. In reading, teachers' judgment accuracy varied as a function of grade-level material and instructional level. Specifically, teachers experienced considerable difficulty accurately identifying students who were reading at a Mastery level in grade-level or above-grade-level material. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 247–265, 2006.
Cooperativity in ligand binding: a new graphic analysis.

Abstract When analyzing binding of ligands to macromolecules, the existence of site-site interactions complicates a straightforward interpretation of the binding parameters obtained through classical analytical methods, such as the Scatchard plot. For describing site-site interactions, we propose a new parameter, the average affinity of the receptor sites, K , calculated as ( B F )/(R o −B) . Plotting K as a function of fractional occupancy ( B R o ), reveals that: (1) at very low occupancy a limiting high K is obtained ( K e) (“empty sites” conformation); (2) when the fraction of sites filled increases above a certain threshold, K begins to fall due to increasing site-site interactions until (3) a limiting low K ( K f) is obtained (“filled sites” conformation). This method has been successfully applied to the negative cooperativity of insulin receptors.
Home country environments, corporate diversification strategies, and firm performance

This study reexamines the relationships between corporate diversification strategies and firm performance and suggests that these relationships are related to home country environments. We examined...
Kinase requirements in human cells: V. Synthetic lethal interactions between p53 and the protein kinases SGK2 and PAK3

Cervical carcinomas are initiated through a series of well-defined stages that rely on the expression of human papillomavirus (HPV) oncogenes. A panel of 100 small hairpin RNAs that target essential kinases in many tumor types was used to study the stepwise appearance of kinase requirements during cervical tumor development. Twenty-six kinases were commonly required in three cell lines derived from frank carcinomas, and each kinase requirement was traced to the specific stage in which the requirement emerged. Six kinases became required following HPV-induced immortalization, and the requirement for two kinases, SGK2 and PAK3, was mapped to the inactivation of p53 in primary human epithelial cells. Loss of the p53 tumor suppressor in other primary epithelial cells also induced dependence on SGK2 and PAK3. Hence, SGK2 and PAK3 provide important cellular functions following p53 inactivation, fulfilling the classical definition of synthetic lethality; loss of p53, SGK2, or PAK3 alone has little effect on cell viability, whereas loss of p53 together with either SGK2 or PAK3 loss leads to cell death. Whereas tumor suppressor gene mutations are not directly druggable, other proteins or pathways that become obligatory to cell viability following tumor suppressor loss provide theoretical targets for tumor suppressor-specific drug discovery efforts. The kinases SGK2 and PAK3 may thus represent such targets for p53-specific drug development.
Pathogenesis of Murine Gammaherpesvirus-68 Infection in Interleukin-6-Deficient Mice

Murine gammaherpesvirus-68 (MHV-68) induces high levels of interleukin (IL)-6 production in both naive and primed lymphocyte populations. Mice that are homozygous (-/-) for deletion of the IL-6 gene were used to investigate the role of this cytokine in MHV-68 infection. The results showed that IL-6 is not essential for clearance of infectious MHV-68 from the lung or for the establishment, or control, of viral latency. Both IL-6 +/+ and -/- mice eliminated replicating virus from the respiratory tract within 15 days of infection, and their lungs remained clear of infectious virus for >/=150 days. Interestingly, the IL-6 -/- mice had both increased numbers of natural killer (NK)1.1+ cells and higher levels of NK cell activity than the +/+ controls at 10-15 days after infection. However, there was no difference in the cytotoxic T cell activity between the two groups of mice. Levels of latent virus were comparable in IL-6 +/+ and -/- mice over the time course studied. Furthermore, analysis of the numbers, types, and activation status of the various leukocyte subsets (other than NK cells) in the bronchoalveolar lavage population, lymph nodes, and spleens of +/+ and -/- mice revealed no striking differences. Apart from the expected lack of IL-6, cytokine profiles were not dramatically altered in IL-6 -/- mice. Thus, there is no evidence for an obligatory role for IL-6 in T cell activation during infection with MHV-68.
Forest-Based Biomass Supply Curves for the United States

Nationwide, county-level supply curves have been estimated for forest-based biomass to evaluate their potential contributions to producing biofuels. This study builds on the estimates of potential supply in the Billion Ton Supply study prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy. Forest biomass sources include logging residue, thinnings, other removals, unused mill residue, urban wood waste, and conventionally sourced wood (pulpwood size material). To make the estimates, we assume that lower cost forest biomass will be supplied from integrated harvesting operations that also remove sawlogs and pulpwood. We also assume that such removals can be estimated at the county level in two ways: first, as a portion of recent estimates of logging residues; and second, by simulated thinning operations that use tops, branches, and small trees for biomass. Supply from thinning dense forest stands is assumed to occur over 30 yr. Harvest and stumpage costs are estimated for each of th...
Power Failure in Acute Myocardial Infarction

PROMPT ALTERATION in the cause of death secondary to acute myocardial infarction was recognized several years ago with the advent of coronary care units. Arrhythmic deaths in the coronary care unit have become rare, and power failure of the heart has emerged as the major cause of death (Fig. 1). The survival rate for individuals who develop the shock syndrome associated with acute myocardial infarction is less than 15 per cent in most reported series, and has remained essentially unchanged for 90 years. Our current understanding of the pathophysiology of all forms of power failure of the heart is remarkably incomplete. Furthermore, postmortem findings in such patients discourage hopes for development of successful medical treatment; the area of necrotic left ventricular mass in individuals dying of shock is seldom less than 40 per cent of the entire left ventric1e.l It is conceivable, nevertheless, that a considerable impact on the mortality from power failure may be seen in the next few years. Before such advances can be made, it will be necessary to: (1) define the structural derangements of the heart at the onset of power failure, rather than hours or days later after medical interventions and prolonged hypotension; (2) develop prognostic indices, either from data at the time of admission to the hospital or from data collected serially. These indicators will allow identification of high-risk patients and recognition of apparently compensated power failure before irreversible changes have ensued. The first systematic reports of the development of prognostic indicators have begun to appear in the past year; (3) On the basis of such prognostic indices, initiate interventions to support the circulation at an earlier point in the course of the illness-perhaps within one hour of admission to the hospital. This review of power failure in acute myocardial infarction will be restricted to a consideration of ( 1) microscopic and macroscopic changes associated with power failure; (2) relation of these structural alterations to the physical examination and hemodynamic findings; (3) antecedent evaluation of risk of power failure and mortality; (4) unresolved issues of effectiveness of therapy; and (5) application of new technologic advances.
Effects of Cooperative Response Acquisition on Social Behavior During Free-Play.

Abstract This investigation assessed generalization of a laboratory acquired cooperative response to an extra-laboratory setting. Forty, 2-min samples of each S' s interactions (friendly, hostile, association, and conversation) were taken during spontaneous play. Each day a different dyad was exposed to the experimental situation wherein S s were individually reinforced for cooperative responses. Subsequently, 20 time samples were taken during free play. Associative play responses increased significantly following cooperative response acquisition as did associative play responses to experimental partners. Three dyads did not acquire the cooperative response; however, two appeared to have acquired an incompatible response. In general, this study demonstrated that a social response, cooperation, learned in a laboratory influenced the nature and frequency of social interactions in a spontaneous play situation.
Examination of chaotic signal encryption and recovery for secure communication using hybrid acousto-optic feedback

Generation of chaos from acousto-optic (A-O)Bragg cell mod- ulators with an electronic feedback has been studied for over 3 decades. Since an acousto-optic Bragg cell with zeroth- and first-order feedback exhibits chaotic behavior past the threshold for bistability, such a system was recently examined for possible chaotic encryption of simple mes- sages (such as a low-amplitude sinusoidal signal) applied via the bias input of the sound cell driver. Subsequent recovery of the message signal was carried out via a heterodyne-type strategy employing a locally gener- atedchaoticcarrier,withthresholdparametersmatchedtothetransmitting Bragg cell. In this paper, we present numerical results and detailed inter- pretations for signal encryption and recovery under hybrid A-O electronic feedback using a heterodyne strategy. Important features of this setup, such as the system robustness in terms of parameter matching (feedback gain, dc bias, and time delay) are also examined in some detail. C 2011
Capture of Drug Targets from Live Cells Using a Multipurpose Immuno-Chemo-Proteomics Tool

Recently we have described the development of an Immuno-chemo-proteomics method for drug target deconvolution and profiling the toxicity of known drugs ( Saxena , C. ; Zhen , E. ; Higgs , R. E. ; Hale , J. E. J. Proteome Res. 2008, 8 , 3490 - 3497 ). The orthogonal nature and advantage of the newly developed method over existing ones were presented. Most commonly, a small molecule was coupled to an epitope and used as an affinity probe to bind targets and later antibody against the epitope was used to isolate the probe-protein complex. However, such studies performed using cell lysates are prone to false positive identification because the protein source is not in its native physiological condition. Here we describe the development and application of a multipurpose soluble probe where a small molecule was coupled to a fluorophore-tagged cell-permeable peptide epitope, which was used to affinity isolate binding proteins from live cells. Fluorophore coupling allowed direct visualization of the compound in the cells, and cell permeability of the probe provided opportunity to capture the targets from the live cell. The GSK3-beta inhibitor Bisindolylmaleimide-III was coupled to a peptide containing the fluorescein-tagged TAT epitope. Following incubation with the live cells, the compound and associated proteins were affinity isolated using antifluorescein antibody beads. Using this approach, we captured the known Bisindolylmaleimide-III target GSK3-beta and previously unidentified targets from live cells. Dose-dependent inhibition of target binding to probe in the presence of uncoupled compound validated the approach. This method was directly compared with the one where cell lysate was used as the protein source providing an advanced strategy to aid in target deconvolution and help to eliminate false positives originating from non-native protein source.
Molecular-ruler nanolithography

Molecular-ruler nanolithography uses individual molecules as building blocks to create nanometer-scale features in a low-cost, high-throughput process. Self-assembled multilayers are used in combination with radiation-sensitive polymeric resists to interface nanometer-scale features with structures fabricated using conventional lithographic methods. This technique is advantageous for its high precision, parallel processing, and low capital investment. Here, we provide an overview of molecular-ruler nanolithography and describe how this technology is being applied to the creation of nanometer-scale devices, patterning of large-area sub-200-nm grating structures, and the fabrication of quartz templates for use as molds in imprint lithography.
Procedural effects on performance on the Hick paradigm: bias in reaction time and movement time parameters

This study investigated the effects that procedural variations may have on reaction time (RT) and movement time (MT) parameters from the Hick paradigm. Each of the 122 subjects was assigned to one of six experimental conditions. The six conditions represented the factorial crossing of two effects: (a) order of administration of bit conditions (ascending, random, and reversed), and (b) grouping of response alternatives (grouped and spread). The results revealed significant linear effects of order, and therefore of practice, on the slope relating both RT and MT to bits of information; corresponding effects on RT and MT intercept were in the predicted direction, but were nonsignificant. Visual attention effects were not found on any of the parameters; however, the difference in the slope relating MT to bits of information between grouped and spread response alternatives was interpreted as a response bias effect. Correlations between RT and MT slope parameters and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores supported the hypothesis that correlations between intelligence and RT and MT slope parameters derived from the Hick paradigm are a function of individual differences in practice effects, rather than individual differences in basic speed of information processing. Implications for research on the Hick paradigm are discussed.
An alternative dystrophin transcript specific to peripheral nerve.

Transcription of the 2.5 megabase dystrophin gene gives rise to multiple isoforms. We describe a 5.2 kilobase transcript, expressed specifically in peripheral nerve, that initiates at a previously unrecognized exon located ∼850 basepairs upstream of dystrophin exon 56. The likely product of this transcript (Dp116) is detected by C–terminal dystrophin antibodies exclusively in peripheral nerve and cultured Schwann cells. Dp116 is located along the Schwann cell membrane but is not present in the compact myelin lamellae or in axons. Dp116 lacks actin–binding and spectrin–like rod domains, arguing that it functions differently in the Schwann cell than does the major dystrophin transcript in muscle.
Past, present, and future trends of master's education in nursing

Nurses interested in pursuing careers in advanced practice are now being educated at the doctoral level through new doctorate of nursing practice degree programs. In light of this shift, master's programs for advanced practice nurses are in a tenuous position, and it is questionable whether the remaining master's level educational programs are meeting the needs of consumers, health care institutions, and students. Given the great need for clinical leadership in health care, it is essential to reexamine master's nursing education to ensure that educational institutions are meeting the needs of graduate nursing students, consumers, and health care systems. Research supports that the master's-prepared nurse of the future must be proficient in the development and management of accountable care systems using state-of-the-art technology. In addition, interprofessional models show improvement in health care delivery and health outcomes. The current demands in health care that impact nursing education will be discussed, including the movement toward interprofessional education and the broadened expertise, required of master's-prepared nurses working in an era of health care reform. While academic medical centers are actively advancing toward an interprofessional model, the majority of nurses in this country are educated in private and community settings. This article will examine the move toward interprofessional education at a private university, utilizing clinical partnerships to revise the master's program. The goal of this revision is to empower students with the expertise required in today's health care environment to improve the delivery of care.
NASA fills key positions

NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe has named Shannon Lucid, a NASA astronaut and veteran of five Space Shuttle flights, to serve as the agency's chief scientist. Lucid replaces Kathie Olsen, whom President Bush has said he intends to nominate as associate administrator for science in the White Office of Science and Technology Policy. President Bush also has announced his intention to nominate former NASA astronaut and Assistant Deputy Administrator Major General Charles F. Bolden as NASA Deputy Administrator.
THE EFFECT OF RHEUMATOID FACTORS AND OF ANTIGLOBULINS ON IMMUNE HEMOLYSIS IN VIVO

Studies were undertaken in man and in the rat comparing the effects of rheumatoid factors and immune antiglobulins on red cells sensitized with incomplete antibodies. The interaction of immune antiglobulins with sensitized red cells produced ( a ) agglutination in vitro and ( b ) an accelerated sequestration of the sensitized cells in vivo . In contrast, rheumatoid macroglobulins, although capable of agglutinating Rh-sensitized red cells in vitro , did not modify their destruction in vivo . The failure of rheumatoid factors to function as antiglobulins in vivo appears to reflect their non-reactivity with sensitized cells in whole serum. It is suggested: ( a ) that the native (7S) gamma globulins of plasma competitively inhibit rheumatoid factors from reacting with fixed antibody in the blood stream; ( b ) that if these macroglobulins do indeed have pathogenetic activity, this may be limited to body fluids of low protein content.
Pursuing interactive visualization of irregular grids

Many branches of the sciences produce sample data not arranged on rectilinear grids, and visualization of such data is generally more complex than visualizing more regular data. While isosurface algorithms such as “marching cubes” can be adapted with relatively little performance penalty, direct volume rendering presents more difficulties. This paper explores these issues, concentrating on algorithms for a particular kind of irregular grid known as a curvilinear grid, composed of six-sided cells that may be considered a result of the deformation of a regular rectilinear grid.