cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Client consensus on beliefs about abstinence: Effects on substance abuse treatment outcomes

Organizational culture, as evinced by consensus regarding staff and client beliefs and values, has been shown to affect client engagement in residential substance abuse treatment. The present paper extends this work to treatment outcomes. Secondary analysis of data from a "Beliefs About Abstinence Scale," used in the Drug Abuse Treatment Outcomes Study (DATOS), was conducted for 76 programs, including outpatient methadone treatment, outpatient drug-free, short-term inpatient, and long-term residential programs. Findings show that higher levels of client consensus after 1 month of treatment were associated with less use of drugs and alcohol at 1-year follow-up, after controlling for the mean of the scale score, gender, age, client substance use at baseline and treatment modality. The implications of the results for substance abuse treatment are discussed.
Analysis of Buoyancy and Tube Rotation Relative to the Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition Process

The secondary flows resulting from buoyancy effects in respect to the MCVD process have been studied in a rotating horizontal tube using a perturbation analysis. The three-dimensional secondary flow fields have been determined at several axial locations in a tube whose temperature varies in both the axial and circumferential directions for different rotational speeds. For small rotational speeds, buoyancy and axial convection are dominant and the secondary flow patterns are different in the regions near and far from the torch. For moderate rotational speeds, the effects of buoyancy, axial and angular convection are all important in the region far from the torch where there is a spiraling secondary flow. For large rotational speeds, only buoyancy and angular convection effects are important and no spiraling secondary motions occurs far downstream. Compared with thermophoresis, the important role of buoyancy in determining particle trajectories in MCVD is presented. As the rotational speed increases, the importance of the secondary flow decreases and the thermophoretic contribution vecomes more important. It is noted that thermophoresis is considered to be the main cause of particle deposition in the MCVD process.
Making Sense of Disparities in Mathematics Remediation: What is the Role of Student Retention?

Recent research on mathematics remediation in community colleges indicates that there are large differences in the rate of successful remediation between students of differing levels of initial math deficiency. One might presume that these “skill gaps” in successful remediation are a result of differing rates of student retention. That is, presumably poorer math skills are associated with a shorter duration of college attendance (lower persistence) and, in turn, a shorter duration of college attendance is associated with a lower likelihood of successful remediation. However, the limited prior evidence does not appear to support this explanation for the “skill gaps” in successful remediation. In an effort to make sense of this incongruity, I executed a detailed analysis of the relationship between level of math deficiency at college entry, persistence, and successful remediation in math. In contrast to the conclusions of prior work, I find that differences in persistence contribute strongly to the “skill g...
New selectivity in peptide hydrolysis by metal complexes. Platinum(II) complexes promote cleavage of peptides next to the tryptophan residue.

Tryptophan-containing N-acetylated peptides AcTrp-Gly, AcTrp-Ala, AcTrp-Val, and AcTrp-ValOMe bind to platinum(II) and undergo selective hydrolytic cleavage of the C-terminal amide bond; the N-terminal amide bond remains intact. In acetone solution, bidentate coordination of the tryptophanyl residue via the C(3) atom of indole and the amide oxygen atom produces complexes of spiro stereochemistry, which are characterized by 1H, 13C, and 195Pt NMR spectroscopy, and also by UV−vis, IR, and mass spectroscopy. Upon addition of 1 molar equiv of water, these complexes undergo hydrolytic cleavage. This reaction is as much as 104−105 times faster in the presence of platinum(II) complexes than in their absence. The hydrolysis is conveniently monitored by 1H NMR spectroscopy. We report the kinetics and mechanism for this reaction between cis-[Pt(en)(sol)2]2+, in which the solvent ligand is water or acetone, and AcTrp-Ala. The platinum(II) ion as a Lewis acid activates the oxygen-bound amide group toward nucleophilic...
The Adjacent Pixel Nonlinearity: Problems and Solutions

The adjacent pixel nonlinearity refers to the dependence of the luminance of a given pixel on the preceding pixel or pixels. We measured this nonlinearity for two CRT displays by measuring the average luminances of a variety of test patterns with different luminance jumps. A two-stage model proposed by Mulligan and Stone was used to fit the data [Mulligan and Stone (1989). Journal of the Optical Society of America A, 6, 1217–1227 (1989)]. The results show that the model predicts our data well. Based on our measurements and the modeling results, a double-entry lookup table was created to compensate for this nonlinearity. This compensation method works even if the current pixel depends on more than one preceding pixel. Observers commented that at small pixel sizes the compensation results in a sharp, accurate image. Advantages and problems of this compensation will be discussed. Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.
The Discourse and Reflections of Teacher Candidates During an Early Field Experience

The purpose of this study was to determine the capacity of teacher candidates to facilitate and reflect on classroom discourse in the context of an early field experience. The classroom discourse and reflections of 10 teacher candidates were examined through interviews, audio and video recordings, and written reflections. The findings indicated that teacher candidates employed the most complex discourse and the highest level of reflection when they worked with individual or small groups of students and understood the instructional goals for the lesson. The implications for supporting teacher-candidate learning during early field experiences are discussed.
The diversity and evolution of circadian clock proteins in fungi.

Circadian rhythms are endogenous cellu- lar patterns that associate multiple physiological and molecular functions with time. The Neurospora circadian system contains at least three oscillators: the FRQ/WC-dependent circadian oscillator (FWO), whose core components are the FRQ, WC-1, WC-2, FRH, and FWD-1 proteins; the WC-dependent circa- dian oscillator (WC-FLO); and one or more FRQ/ WC-independent oscillators (FLO). Little is known about the distribution of homologs of the Neurospora clock proteins or about the molecular foundations of circadian rhythms across fungi. Here, we examined 64 diverse fungal proteomes for homologs of all five Neurospora clock proteins and retraced their evolu- tionary history. The FRH and FWD-1 proteins were likely present in the fungal ancestor. WC-1 and WC-2 homologs are absent from the early diverging chytrids and Microsporidia but are present in all other major clades. In contrast to the deep origins of these four clock proteins FRQ homologs are taxonomically restricted within Sordariomycetes, Leotiomycetes and Dothideomycetes. The large number of FRH and FWD-1 homologs identified and their lack of concordance with the fungal species phylogeny indicate that they likely underwent multiple rounds of duplications and losses. In contrast, the FRQ, WC-1 and WC-2 proteins exhibit relatively few duplications and losses. A notable exception is the 10 FRQ-like proteins in Fusarium oxysporum, which resulted from nine duplication events. Our results suggest that the machinery required for FWO oscillator function is taxonomically restricted within Ascomycetes. Al- though the WC proteins are widely distributed, the functional diversity of the few non-Neurospora circa- dian oscillators suggests that a WC-FLO oscillator is unlikely to fully explain the observed rhythms. The contrast between the diversity of circadian oscillators and the conservation of most of their machinery is likely best explained by considering the centrality of noncircadian functions in which RNA helicase (FRH), F-box (FWD-1), WC-1 and WC-2 (light- sensing) proteins participate in fungi and eukaryotes.
Nuclear gene products that function in mitochondrial DNA replication

Mammalian mitochondrial DNAs replicate unidirectionally from two distinct strand-specific origins. A round of replication begins at the heavy-strand origin (the D-loop) where transcripts from an upstream promoter serve as the primers for DNA synthesis. The transition from RNA to DNA synthesis occurs within short, conserved nucleotide sequence blocks and is mediated by specific endonucleolytic cleavage of the primary transcript. An enzymic component involved in the generation of primer RNA in mouse mitochondria has been identified. It is a sequence-specific endoribonuclease that cleaves single-stranded RNA substrate precisely at one of the transition sites. The other origin, that for light-strand synthesis, is located well apart on the genome and functions only when in a single-stranded template form. This origin has a defined secondary structure that is the most highly conserved sequence element in mammalian mitochondrial DNAs. Initiation of replication at this origin is by the action of a mitochondrial DNA primase, which is capable of synthesizing a short stretch of ribonucleotides before switching to DNA synthesis. Mitochondrial DNA primase appears to have an associated RNA species and the evidence to date suggests that components of both the D-loop endoribonuclease and the DNA primase are nuclear gene products.
A Model for Prediction of Heat Stability of Photosynthetic Membranes

A previous study revealed a positive correlation between heat-induced damage to photosynthetic membranes (thylakoid membranes) and chlorophyll loss. In this study, we exploited this correlation and developed a model for predicting thermal damage to thylakoids. Prediction is based on estimation of the ratio of constant chlorophyll a fl uorescence (O) and the peak of variable fl uorescence (P) (O/P). The model was developed using 12 cultivars of hexaploid winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). It was tested in six genotypes of hexaploid wheat, 25 genotypes of tetraploid wheat (T. turgidum L.), and 20 genotypes of maize (Zea mays L.). Predictive ability was assessed by analyzing the relationship between the predicted and measured O/P. The model adequately predicted O/P and thereby the heat stability of thylakoid membranes in all genotype groups with high coeffi cients of determination (r 2 > 0.80). This model could be used as an easy and inexpensive means for detection of the structural and functional state of photosynthetic membranes in wheat and maize, and possibly other crops, in hot environments.
Accelerating pipelined integer and floating-point accumulations in configurable hardware with delayed addition techniques

The speed of arithmetic calculations in configurable hardware is limited by carry propagation, even with the dedicated hardware found in recent FPGAs. This paper proposes and evaluates an approach called delayed addition that reduces the carry-propagation bottleneck and improves the performance of arithmetic calculations. Our approach employs the idea used in Wallace trees to store the results in an intermediate form and delay addition until the end of a repeated calculation such as accumulation or dot-product; this effectively removes carry propagation overhead from the calculation's critical path. We present both integer and floating-point designs that use our technique. Our pipelined integer multiply-accumulate (MAC) design is based on a fairly traditional multiplier design, but with delayed addition as well. This design achieves a 72 MHz clock rate on an XC4036xla-9 FPGA and 170 MHz clock rate on an XV300epq240-8 FPGA. Next, we present a 32-bit floating-point accumulator based on delayed addition. Here, delayed addition requires a novel alignment technique that decouples the incoming operands from the accumulated result. A conservative version of this design achieves a 40 MHz clock rate on an XC4036xla-9 FPGA and 97 MHz clock rate on an XV100epq240-8 FPGA. We also present a 32-bit floating-point accumulator design with compiler-managed overflow avoidance that achieves a 80 MHz clock rate on an XC4036xla-9 FPGA and 150 MHz clock rate on an XCV100epq240-8 FPGA.
A Comparison of Dutch and US Teachers’ Perceptions of the Incidence and Management of ADHD

Dutch and US teachers were questioned about their perceptions of the incidence and causes of ADHD, as well as their views of appropriate treatments. Dutch teachers were more likely than US teachers...
Key role of T cell defects in age-related vulnerability to West Nile virus.

West Nile virus (WNV) infection causes a life-threatening meningoencephalitis that becomes increasingly more prevalent over the age of 50 and is 40–50× more prevalent in people over the age of 70, compared with adults under the age of 40. In a mouse model of age-related vulnerability to WNV, we demonstrate that death correlates with increased viral titers in the brain and that this loss of virus control with age was the result of defects in the CD4 and CD8 T cell response against WNV. Specific age-related defects in T cell responses against dominant WNV epitopes were detected at the level of cytokine and lytic granule production, each of which are essential for resistance against WNV, and in the ability to generate multifunctional anti-WNV effector T cells, which are believed to be critical for robust antiviral immunity. In contrast, at the peak of the response, old and adult T cells exhibited superimposable peptide sensitivity. Most importantly, although the adult CD4 or CD8 T cells readily protected immunodeficient mice upon adoptive transfer, old T cells of either subset were unable to provide WNV-specific protection. Consistent with a profound qualitative and quantitative defect in T cell immunity, old brains contained at least 12× fewer total effector CD8 T cells compared with adult mice at the peak of brain infection. These findings identify potential targets for immunomodulation and treatment to combat lethal WNV infection in the elderly.
Strategy and Structure in the Textile Industry: Spencer Love and Burlington Mills, 1923-1962

Shrewd product selection allowed Spencer Love to build Burlington Mills into a large profitable firm in what most observers regarded as a declining industry, textiles. Using integration, diversification, and a multidivisional structure, he then attempted to have Burlington dominate its industry just as a few other large corporations controlled steel, automobiles, and chemicals. In textiles, however, powerful forces constrained and sometimes defeated these strategies. After the emergence of artificial and synthetic fibers, textile mills became dependent on large yarn manufacturers in the chemical industry such as Du Pont and Celanese. In addition, large size and diversification did not always protect a company's profits, and forward integration into the volatile women's garment industry proved to be especially dangerous. In the end, Love concluded that Burlington should remain a weaving and knitting company; when he died in 1962, textiles remained an industry in which small, specialized firms survived alongside the corporate giants.
Treatment of embolizing arterial lesions with endoluminally placed stent grafts

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of endovascular stent grafts for the management of embolizing arterial lesions. Eight patients who presented to Barnes-Jewish Hospital between June 2000 and June 2001 with embolizing arterial lesions were treated with covered stents or stent grafts. All hospital records were retrospectively reviewed, and pertinent data extracted. Our results showed that endovascular stent grafts can be used successfully to exclude embolizing arterial lesions without increasing the risk of further embolization. Long-term follow-up will be necessary to assess the durability of this approach to embolizing arterial lesions.
U-Pb geochronology and geochemistry of the McCoy Mountains Formation, southeastern California: A Cretaceous retroarc foreland basin

The timing of deposition of fluvial sediments now forming the >7-km-thick McCoy Mountains Formation is one of the key uncertainties in reconstructing the Mesozoic paleogeography of southern California and western Arizona. Ion-microprobe U-Pb geochronologic data for individual zircons from nine sandstones from the McCoy Mountains type section and six associated igneous rocks provide significant new constraints on the tectonic setting and the timing of deposition within the northwest-trending McCoy basin. U-Pb zircon data from a metavolcanic rock of the underlying Dome Rock sequence in the Palen Mountains confirm that the McCoy Mountains Formation was deposited after regional Middle to Late Jurassic arc magmatism. U-Pb zircon data from a Late Cretaceous granodiorite intruding the formation in the Coxcomb Mountains confirm that the formation was deformed and metamorphosed prior to 73.5 ± 1.3 Ma. Populations of detrital zircons vary systematically with both rock type and stratigraphic height; lithic arkoses predominantly derived from the west have consistently more abundant younger zircons than do litharenite sandstones predominantly derived from the north, and the youngest zircons yield maximum depositional ages that decrease from 116 Ma near the base to 84 Ma near the top of the section. The detrital-zircon data permit a Late Jurassic age for the basal, comparatively quartz-rich sandstone. However, the data further suggest that >90% of the formation was deposited between middle Early and middle Late Cretaceous time. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that most of the McCoy Mountains Formation represents a retroarc foreland basin, deposited behind the active, evolving Cretaceous Cordilleran continental- margin magmatic arc that lay to the west and in the foreland of the actively deforming Cretaceous Maria fold-and-thrust belt.
An Input Stage for the Implementation of Low-Voltage Rail to Rail Offset Compensated CMOS Comparators

A rail-to-rail differential input stage with programmable threshold levels and offset compensation is introduced. Applications for the implementation of differential and double differential comparators are discussed. Experimental results obtained from a MOSIS 0.5 mum CMOS technology test chip are shown that validate rail-to-rail operation with a 1.5 V supply voltage.
The Inflammasome NLRs in Immunity, Inflammation, and Associated Diseases

Inflammasome activation leads to caspase-1 activation, which causes the maturation and secretion of pro-IL-1β and pro-IL-18 among other substrates. A subgroup of the NLR (nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich repeat containing) proteins are key mediators of the inflammasome. Studies of gene-deficient mice and cells have implicated NLR inflammasomes in a host of responses to a wide range of microbial pathogens, inflammatory diseases, cancer, and metabolic and autoimmune disorders. Determining exactly how the inflammasome is activated in these diseases and disease models remains a challenge. This review presents and integrates recent progress in the field.
Tissue-Type Transglutaminase from Red Sea Bream (Pagrus major)

A cDNA clone encoding a tissue-type transglutaminase (TGase) was isolated from a cDNA library prepared from the liver of red sea bream (Pagrus major). The cDNA sequence had an open reading frame coding for a protein of 695 amino acids and showed 43 % identity to the sequence of guinea pig liver TGase, revealing a relatively low overall similarity. However, the 25-amino-acid sequence containing the putative active site (Cys272) of the enzyme was completely conserved between the two species, and was also identical to the corresponding regions of human and bovine endothelial cell TGases. In addition, the critical residues (His332 and Asp355) thought to form the catalytic-center triad together with Cys272, were found in the highly conserved region. The red sea bream TGase had an extension of 11 amino acids in the C-terminal region and some differences in the N-terminal region when compared with guinea pig TGase. From the cloned cDNA, a semi-synthetic TGase gene suitable for overexpression in Escherichia coli was constructed (pTTG2-22). At a reduced temperature (28°C), E. coli cells transformed with pTTG2–22 could produce soluble TGase which exhibited catalytic activity in the presence of calcium. E. coli extracts containing the recombinant red sea bream TGase induced gelation of actomyosin solutions, accompanied by a significant increase of ɛ-(γ-glutamyl)lysine bonds, which are predominantly derived from the cross-linking of myosin heavy chains. These results indicate that this fish TGase should be useful for further analysis of TGase structure/function relationships and that it could also be employed to enhance the viscoelastic properties of proteinaceous materials.
Exploring recursion in Hilbert curves (poster session)

This tip will describe the use of a graphical tool to explore the recursive Hilbert curves and will explain some of the mathematical information that can be visualized using this tool.
Chips to bedside: incorporation of microarray data into clinical practice.

Advances in analytic technologies have often driven progress in medicine. This is particularly true for diagnostics in which new imaging methods and novel molecular analytic tools such as DNA sequencing and PCR have all found their diagnostic niche and are now routinely used in the clinic. High-
Increasing the size of a network by a constant factor can increase performance by more than a constant factor

In one routing scheme which has been implemented on a parallel architecture based on the butterfly graph, messages are sometimes destroyed. It is shown that if messages are sent to random destinations, the expected number of messages that reach their destinations is Theta (n(log n)-1/q), where n is the size of the butterfly graph and q is the number of messages that can move through one edge (or, equivalently, vertex) in one time step. In the analysis of this problem, interesting techniques for solving nonlinear systems of difference equations are developed that could have applications to other problems. >
Environmental response and adaptation of glycoprotein glue within the droplets of viscous prey capture threads from araneoid spider orb-webs

Viscous threads that form the prey capture spiral of araneoid orb-webs retain insects that strike the web, giving a spider more time to locate and subdue them. The viscoelastic glycoprotein glue responsible for this adhesion forms the core of regularly spaced aqueous droplets, which are supported by protein axial fibers. Glycoprotein extensibility both facilitates the recruitment of adhesion from multiple droplets and dissipates the energy generated by insects struggling to free themselves from the web. Compounds in the aqueous material make the droplets hygroscopic, causing an increase in both droplet volume and extensibility as humidity (RH) rises. We characterized these humidity-mediated responses at 20%, 37%, 55%, 72% and 90% RH in two large orb-weavers, Argiope aurantia, which is found in exposed habitats, and Neoscona crucifera, which occupies forests and forest edges. The volume-specific extension of A. aurantia glycoprotein reached a maximum value at 55% RH and then declined, whereas that of N. crucifera increased exponentially through the RH range. As RH increased, the relative stress on droplet filaments at maximum extension, as gauged by axial line deflection, decreased in a linear fashion in A. aurantia, but in N. crucifer increased logarithmically, indicating that N. crucifera threads are better equipped to dissipate energy through droplet elongation. The greater hygroscopicity of A. aurantia threads equips them to function in lower RH environments and during the afternoon when RH drops, but their performance is diminished during the high RH of the morning hours. In contrast, the lower hygroscopicity of N. crucifera threads optimizes their performance for intermediate and high RH environments and during the night and morning. These interspecific differences support the hypothesis that viscous capture threads are adapted to the humidity regime of an orb-weaver's habitat.
Large-margin minimum classification error training: A theoretical risk minimization perspective

Large-margin discriminative training of hidden Markov models has received significant attention recently. A natural and interesting question is whether the existing discriminative training algorithms can be extended directly to embed the concept of margin. In this paper, we give this question an affirmative answer by showing that the sigmoid bias in the conventional minimum classification error (MCE) training can be interpreted as a soft margin. We justify this claim from a theoretical classification risk minimization perspective where the loss function associated with a non-zero sigmoid bias is shown to include not only empirical error rates but also a margin-bound risk. Based on this perspective, we propose a practical optimization strategy that adjusts the margin (sigmoid bias) incrementally in the MCE training process so that a desirable balance between the empirical error rates on the training set and the margin can be achieved. We call this modified MCE training process large-margin minimum classification error (LM-MCE) training to differentiate it from the conventional MCE. Speech recognition experiments have been carried out on two tasks. First, in the TIDIGITS recognition task, LM-MCE outperforms the state-of-the-art MCE method with 17% relative digit-error reduction and 19% relative string-error reduction. Second, on the Microsoft internal large vocabulary telephony speech recognition task (with 2000h of training data and 120K words in the vocabulary), significant recognition accuracy improvement is achieved, demonstrating that our formulation of LM-MCE can be successfully scaled up and applied to large-scale speech recognition tasks.
Evolution of a New Gene Substituting for the leuD Gene of Salmonella typhimurium: Origin and Nature of supQ and newD Mutations

The second specific enzyme in the biosynthesis of leucine, alpha-isopropylmalate isomerase, is coded for by two genes, leuC and leuD. Leucine auxotrophs carrying mutations in the leuD gene (including deletions of the entire leuD gene) revert to leucine prototrophy by secondary mutations at the locus supQ, which is located in the proline region of the chromosome. The mechanism of the supQ function is explained by the following model. The supQ gene and an additional gene, newD, code for two different subunits of a multimeric enzyme, whose normal function is yet to be determined. The newD gene protein is able, without genetic alterations, to form an active complex with the leuC protein, thus replacing the nonfunctional or missing leuD protein and restoring leucine prototrophy. The newD protein has, however, a higher affinity for the supQ protein than for the leuC protein; therefore, mutations in the supQ gene are needed to make sufficient amounts of the newD protein available. The following gene order has been established: gpt-proB-proA-ataA-supQ-newD. Different supQ mutations have been identified, i.e., insertion in the supQ gene, point mutations, and deletions of various extent. Some deletions remove the P22 phage attachment site ataA. Other supQ deletions are simultaneously Pro(-), because they extend into the proA or proA and proB genes; some extend even further, i.e., into the gpt gene (guanine phosphoribosyl transferase). Mutations in the newD gene caused renewed leucine auxotrophy in leuD supQ mutant strains. One newD mutation causes a temperature-sensitive Leu(+) phenotype. Alternate models for the supQ-newD interactions are discussed.
The Space Systems Analysis Laboratory: Utah State University's new concurrent engineering facility

Utah State University, realizing the potential of concurrent engineering facilities in the academic setting, has established the Space Systems Analysis Laboratory (SSAL), a state-of-the-art conceptual design center similar to design centers at government agencies such as NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center as well as The Aerospace Corporation. This facility, to augment Utah State University's growing space engineering capabilities, is used for teaching space systems courses as well as for engaging in space systems designs. With the latter, new capabilities with advanced engineering environments, as well as geographically distributed concurrent engineering, are demonstrated. Utah State University has already entered into at least one partnership to engage in distributed space systems collaborative engineering, whereby participants from each member institution collaborate using Internet technology on space systems projects. This paper discusses the expected capabilities of the SSAL as well as future directions that the facility can take.
Moving on with the distraction: commentary on an article by Charles L. Saltzman, MD, et al.: "Motion versus fixed distraction of the joint in the treatment of ankle osteoarthritis. A prospective randomized controlled trial".

The surgical treatment of severe ankle arthritis continues to be challenging and somewhat controversial. Although ankle arthrodesis is thought to be the “gold standard,” this procedure definitely carries with it the risk of hindfoot arthroses on radiographs with the passage of time1. Interest in ankle replacement has increased in recent years, but studies have shown a relatively high rate of revision arthroplasty at the time of early follow-up2. The surgical treatment of degenerative joint disease of the ankle becomes even more taxing for younger patients. The risk of adjacent-joint arthritis will definitely increase with the passage of time after a tibiotalar arthrodesis. Similarly, the risk of requiring a repeat surgical procedure will increase when an ankle replacement …
Expression, Function, and Regulation of Neuronal Acetylcholine Receptors Containing the α7 Gene Product

Native acetylcholine (ACh) receptors that contain the α7 gene product function as ligand-gated ion channels that are cation-selective, prefer nicotine over ACh, and rapidly desensitize. Activation of the receptors elevates intracellular calcium levels in neurons, triggering calcium-dependent events such as neurite retraction and the release of arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid, in turn, reversibly inhibits the receptors, suggesting negative feedback regulation. The α7 gene product is expressed not only in neurons but also in developing muscle, raising the possibility that such receptors mediate cholinergic regulation of calcium-dependent events in a variety of cells.
Expansive and Complex Pathways to World Society The Global Connections of Kenyan Environmental Organizations and Their Support for Climate Change Scripts

The global diffusion of scripts by international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) is well established by world society literature as a key component of globalization. However, most of the lite...
Differential effects of [Gln4]neurotensin on circular and longitudinal muscle of dog ileum in vitro

We studied the effects of neurotensin analogue [Gln4]-neurotensin on isolated dog ileal longitudinal and circular muscle strips. [Gln4]neurotensin stimulated the spontaneous contractile activity of the circular muscle but inhibited that of the longitudinal muscle in a dose-dependent fashion. Hexamethonium had no effect on the spontaneous longitudinal or circular muscle contractile activity. Atropine and tetrodotoxin (TTX) both inhibited the longitudinal muscle. Atropine had no effect on the circular muscle, but TTX stimulated it. The effects of [Gln4]neurotensin on the circular muscle were reduced but not completely abolished by atropine. The inhibition of the longitudinal muscle by [Gln4]neurotensin was not reduced by any of the above antagonists but was enhanced by atropine. Electrical field stimulation (10 Hz, 100 mA) stimulated the longitudinal muscle and inhibited or stimulated the circular muscle depending on the pulse width of the stimulus. These effects were unaffected by [Gln4]neurotensin. We conclude that [Gln4]neurotensin has differential effects on isolated muscle strips of the two muscle layers in the dog ileum. It stimulates the circular muscle partially through cholinergic nerves at preganglionic sites and partially through a direct myogenic effect. [Gln4]neurotensin inhibits the spontaneous activity of the longitudinal muscle presumably by reducing the excitability of cholinergic nerves at postganglionic sites.
Is that a Copier in Your Pocket? Using Your Smartphone for Smarter Legal Research and Practice

Most attorneys carry a smart phone everywhere they go. They use apps to get directions to the closest pizza place, check sports scores and update their social media status. With the proper apps, a smart phone can also serve as a personal scanner copier; an invisible, portable hard-drive; and as a document storage device. This article discusses some of the categories of smart phone utilities most useful to the practice of law.
Child abuse and conviction of sexual crimes: A preliminary finding.

A survey of 112 postreleased convicted felons was conducted concerning ways they were punished as children. A self-reported history of child-abusive punishment was compared with prison histories and police records. A significant relationship between self-reported abusive punishment and the sexual offender was found. Punishment data on a random sample of 376 noninstitutionalized Oregon male adults were compared to the felons. The latter group reported significantly higher rate of abusive childhood experiences than did the comparison group.
Ising-Model "Metamagnet" and Tricritical Susceptibility Exponent

A spin-\textonehalf{} Ising-model "metamagnet" is studied by the method of high-temperature expansions. The phase boundary in the $H\ensuremath{-}T$ plane is obtained for a simple cubic lattic with in-plane ferromagnetic interactions but between-plane antiferromagnetic coupling, and a tricritical point is located. Along the critical line, the staggered susceptibility appears to have an exponent $\frac{5}{4}$ (consistent with the universality hypothesis), while at the tricritical point, the direct susceptibility shows a tricritical exponent of \textonehalf{}.
Abstract 1522: Spheroid formation causes a decrease in ovarian cancer cell growth rate that persists through dissociation and growth as a monolayer

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality of all cancers of the female reproductive system. It accounts for three percent of all cancers in women and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the United States. Ovarian cancer cells can metastasize to the uterus, fallopian tubes, and pelvis tissues as well as to other organs. Even with optimal treatment there is a high probability that the cancer will recur, suggesting that current treatments are not successful in eliminating all of the ovarian cancer cells. This may be a result of a protective mechanism of the ovarian cancer cells. Spheroids are large collections of cancer cells that adhere tightly to each other rather than spreading out across an underlying basement membrane. They have been observed in ovarian cancer both in vivo and in ovarian cancer cell lines. Spheroids have been shown to play a role in the metastasis of ovarian cancer cells and have also been shown to be drug resistant. It is our hypothesis that spheroid formation results in epigenetic changes promoting the survival of ovarian cancer cells. Our data suggests that spheroid growth causes the growth rate of ovarian cancer cells to decrease and remain decreased following the transition from spheroids back to monolayer culture. Furthermore, serial passaging of ovarian cancer spheroids results in an increase in resistance to cytotoxic drugs. Since the decrease in growth rate appears to be persistent after spheroid culture it is likely the result of epigenetic modifications that occur during spheroid formation. These epigenetic changes, currently being studied, could become potential drug targets, as new treatments are developed to not only kill ovarian cancer cells but also prevent spheroid formation. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1522. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-1522
Simulation Research on a Single Phase Series Hybrid Active Power Filter

In order to ensure series hybrid active power filter(SHAPF)operating normally in the condition of high power,improve the filtering effect,and reduce the disturbance variable between the inverters,a single-phase SHAPF scheme is presented.As the simulation results show,this scheme gives rise to lesser loss and better filtering effect.
Effects of low dose radiation on differential expression of serum protein in mice

The aim is to find out the key proteins related with low dose radiation(LDR) by proteomic technology,which provided the theory foundation for LDR protection. Two-dimensional electrophoresis(2-DE) was performed on serum protein. Differential expression proteins were identified by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF-MS) and database analysis. Compared with the control group,7 altered proteins was definite in terms of apolipoprotein C-III,beta-globin,parotid secretory protein,alpha-2-macroglobulin precursor,mouse transthyretin,C1qc protein and clusterin. Some proteins related with LDR are found. It may provide some new explanations for the mechanism of LDR.
Learning from Emerging and Mature Markets to Design Mobile P2P Payment Experiences

Since 2011 the authors have researched and designed mobile payments applications for mature and emerging markets. Building on our extended research in the mobile payments domain across different markets, and drawing upon the identification of global trends in social and payments mobile services, we derive design implications and recommendations for mobile P2P payment experiences.
Enantioselective Synthesis of Dilignol Model Compounds and Their Stereodiscrimination Study with a Dye-Decolorizing Peroxidase

A four-step enantioselective approach was developed to synthesize anti (1R,2S)-1a and (1S,2R)-1b containing a β-O-4 linkage in good yields. A significant difference was observed for the apparent binding affinities of four stereospecific lignin model compounds with TcDyP by surface plasmon resonance, which was not translated into a significant difference in enzyme activities. The discrepancy may be attributed to the conformational change involving a loop widely present in DyPs upon H2O2 binding.
Experience with robot in 12 commercial, natural language data base query applications

The ability to understand Natural Language has long been a goal of Artificial Intelligence Research, and it is still far from being solved, however, in the early 1970's the AI research techniques reached a point whereby certain applications became feasible for the first time. Since that time, several systems such as PLANES[1], LIFER[2], and ROBOT[3,4,5] have been built that have demonstrated that the current state of the art is sufficient for quite good natural language data base query. The implementation of the R0301 system has been geared for high performance and instaliaoility in accual real world environments. As such, it offers the AI research community some insight into the difficulties encountered when putting the current: AI technology in the hands of people in the real world. This paper discusses the unexpected linguistic and semantic difficulties encountered in the 12 commercial applications to which ROBOT has been applied during the last year and a half.
Molecular Simulation Insights on Xe/Kr Separation in a Set of Nanoporous Crystalline Membranes.

Separation of xenon and krypton is highly relevant to several applications such as spent nuclear fuel processing. Molecular simulation has been extensively used to understand the Kr/Xe separation performance of nanoporous materials for adsorption-based technologies but less frequently for membrane-based technologies. Motivated by recent experimental reports on krypton-selective membranes, herein, we present grand canonical Monte Carlo and biased molecular dynamics simulations (using adaptive biasing force) to elucidate the nature of adsorption- and diffusion-based Kr/Xe separation mechanisms in a set of nanoporous materials: SAPO-34, ZIF-8, UiO-66, and IRMOF-1. Xenon is found to preferentially adsorb on all materials, but diffusion selectivity for krypton is found to dominate the overall membrane separation selectivity. To increase adsorption selectivity for krypton, large pore cages are found to be desirable. To increase diffusion selectivity for krypton, stiff pore windows with a diameter smaller than x...
3D Printing of Highly Stretchable, Shape-Memory, and Self-Healing Elastomer toward Novel 4D Printing.

The three-dimensional (3D) printing of flexible and stretchable materials with smart functions such as shape memory (SM) and self-healing (SH) is highly desirable for the development of future 4D printing technology for myriad applications, such as soft actuators, deployable smart medical devices, and flexible electronics. Here, we report a novel ink that can be used for the 3D printing of highly stretchable, SM, and SH elastomer via UV-light-assisted direct-ink-write printing. An ink containing urethane diacrylate and a linear semicrystalline polymer is developed for the 3D printing of a semi-interpenetrating polymer network elastomer that can be stretched by up to 600%. The 3D-printed complex structures show interesting functional properties, such as high strain SM and SM -assisted SH capability. We demonstrate that such a 3D-printed SM elastomer has the potential application for biomedical devices, such as vascular repair devices. This research paves a new way for the further development of novel 4D pr...
Eine Perlenschnur im Gefäss

Die fibromuskulare Dysplasie ist eine nicht entzundliche, nicht arteriosklerotische Erkrankung der Arterien, die zu Stenosen, Verschlussen, Dissektionen sowie zu aneurysmatischen Erweiterungen der betroffenen Gefasse fuhren kann.
Synthesis and characterization of economical, multi-functional porous ceramics based on abundant aluminosilicates

Abstract This paper reports synthesis routes and microstructural and performance characterization of a family of economical, multifunctional porous ceramics developed through geopolymerization of an abundant volcanic tuff (aluminosilicate mineral) as the primary source material. Metakaolin, silica fume, alumina powder, and pure silicon powder are also used as additional ingredients when necessary, and activated by potassium-based alkaline agents. The composition and heat treatment regimes are modified to provide the desired pore structure features for percolation, contaminant retention, and thermal conductivity. The treatment temperatures used are lower than those used in conventional porous ceramics synthesis. Extensive microstructural characterization using different techniques to examine the morphology and to quantify the pore volumes, sizes, and connectivity, which are important in dictating the performance characteristics, are reported. Measurements of flow rates and thermal conductivity demonstrate the multifunctionality of the synthesized matrices, which demonstrate adequate strengths for a number of buildings-related applications.
The Impact of Acquisition Mode on Expected Speed of Product Mastery and Subsequent Consumer Behavior

Consumers can obtain skill-based products through a variety of acquisition modes, such as purchase or rental. Despite the rise of nonpurchase acquisition modes, surprisingly little research has explored the effects of differential acquisition modes on consumer behavior. This research begins to fill this gap in the literature by examining the effect of acquisition mode on the expected time necessary to master newly adopted skill-based products and the downstream consequences for consumers and marketers. Results of four experiments and a field study show that purchasing, versus renting, products requiring skill-based learning increases the amount of time consumers expect to be required to master them. Further, the differences in speed of product mastery, in turn, impact subsequent consumer behavior via differential levels of product use commitment.
Oxygen consumption of Drosophila pupae

1. Rates of oxygen consumption by pupae ofDrosophila pseudoobscura have been measured at 25° and at 14° C. 2. The oxygen consumption is high at pupation, drops rapidly thereafter, remains nearly constant for some time after reaching the minimum value, and slowly rises again, attaining, at the time of emergence of the imago, a value close to that characteristic of the early pupal period. The relation of these changes to the changes in the internal organization of the pupa is discussed. 3. The total oxygen consumption per unit dry weight is of the same order of magnitude at the temperatures studied. 4. Oxygen consumption appears to be higher in male than in female pupae.
Anatomy and Epidemiology

Chronic urogenital pain is a common condition which significantly impacts patients and the healthcare system. Presented is the prevalence and societal impact of chronic urogenital pain. Pelvic floor anatomy and the neurovasculature related to urogenital pain is also reviewed.
Knowledge, Perceptions, and Attitudes of Medical Residents Towards Nanomedicine: Defining the Gap.

Even though the general public opinion towards nanotechnology applications to health has been studied, medical residents’ opinions remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perception, knowledge, and attitude of medical residents towards nanomedicine using a 35-item questionnaire. Correlations between intrinsic factors, heuristics, and attitude towards nanomedicine were analyzed using the χ2 test. Seventy medical residents participated. Nanomedicine was perceived as a developing field in its clinical trial stages. Responsibility for nanomedicine was attributed to scientists, whereas its ethical responsibility to physicians. The majority reported not having adequate access to information. A positive attitude towards nanomedicine was correlated with higher willingness to use nanomedicine to diagnose and treat patients (p < 0.05). Medical residents had a positive attitude towards nanomedicine. However, they lacked accurate knowledge in the field. Participants might have relied on availability heuristics to form their opinion. Formal education for the “handlers” of nanomedicine seems to be needed.
Interface-mediated plasticity of nanoscale Al–Al2Cu eutectics

Abstract Laser surface re-melted Al–Al2Cu eutectic alloy with α-Al and θ-Al2Cu nanoscale lamellae exhibits high strength and good plasticity at room temperature, implying that the nanoscale θ-Al2Cu lamellae plastically co-deform with α-Al. Microscopy characterization reveal that plastic deformation of θ-Al2Cu lamellae is accommodated by localized shear on unusual slip planes of {121}Al2Cu. Herein, we elucidate interface-mediated deformation mechanisms of nanoscale Al–Al2Cu eutectics and investigate the structure and properties of the {001}Al‖{001}Al2Cu interface using atomistic simulations. Simulation results reveal that the interface is composed of two sets of misfit dislocations with the displacement shift complete vectors as Burgers vectors. We then conduct simple shear simulations to explore shear response and corresponding mechanisms of the Al–Al2Cu interface, and reveal that interfacial shear is accomplished through the gliding of misfit dislocations on the interface. Plasticity of nanoscale θ-Al2Cu lamellae is examined to be associated with localized shears on {121}Al2Cu planes, which are ascribed to the continuity of slip systems across Al–Al2Cu interfaces and accumulated lattice dislocations at interfaces.