cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Remote Biodetection Method Using Circular Dichroism

This paper proposes a new method for remote biodetection and simulates it with a laboratory optical table experiment. The new method, called circular polarization transmissometry, uses laser light scattered from the ground to measure the circular dichroism in an aerosol plume. In the optical table experiment, a scatter plate simulated the ground, and solutions of camphoroquinone simulated the biological aerosols. The experiment showed that this biodetection method could work even in day-light. Optical elements with inherent birefringence caused an optical artifact background that was subtracted from the signal.
Educational websites — pathophysiology

This continues the educational series of ‘ Pancreatology and the Web’ to expand our ongoing collection of valuable educational websites covering various scientific topics. In this is
Evaluation of posttonsillectomy hemorrhage and risk factors.

BACKGROUND: A 13-year retrospective study was undertaken to determine the incidence of posttonsillectomy hemorrhage, to evaluate potential risk factors, and to assess the efficacy and safety of ambulatory tonsillectomy.METHODS: From January 1985 to December 1997, 4662 patients underwent tonsillectomy at our institution. Ninety patients with posttonsillectomy bleeding were identified. For each patient with posttonsillectomy bleeding, 2 nonbleeding control subjects were selected and matched by age and sex to evaluate potential risk factors.RESULTS: Age was the only factor found to be statistically significant among the bleeding patients and the control group. The highest incidence (3.61%) of posttonsillectomy hemorrhage occurred in patients 21 to 30 years of age. In our experience, secondary hemorrhage was more common than primary hemorrhage, presenting most frequently on postoperative days 5 to 7.CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of posttonsillectomy bleeding in this review was 1.93%, and about half (47%) of the ...
Anatomy of Arteriovenous Crossings in Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion

We studied the photographic records of 292 eyes, including 103 eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion, 90 fellow eyes, and 99 control eyes without branch retinal vein occlusion. All arteriovenous crossings within three disk diameters of the optic disk, including the crossings at the sites of branch retinal vein occlusions, were studied. The relative positions of the crossing artery and vein could be determined at 1,939 crossings in all eyes. Crossings at which a vein crossed over an artery were a common finding (22.3% to 33.0% of crossings), but were rare at the crossings where branch retinal vein occlusions were found (2.4%). A greater proportion of arterial overcrossings was found in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusions (77.7%) compared to fellow eyes (70.6%) or control eyes (67.0%). Our data indicate that arterial overcrossings are at relatively higher risk of branch retinal vein occlusion than venous overcrossings, and that the risk of branch vein occlusion in an eye is proportional to the number of arterial overcrossings in the eye.
Fitting straight lines when both variables are subject to error

Abstract If the usual method of least squares is used to fit a straight line to observed points when both the independent variable and the dependent variable are subject to error, the true slope will tend to be underestimated. We undertook a computer-simulation (“Monte Carlo”) study of the previously published methods which have been designed to avoid this bias. None were wholly satisfactory. We have therefore developed and tested a large number of entirely new methods, each of which represents some kind of compromise between “the regression of y on x” (which underestimates the true slope) and “the regression of x on y” (which overestimates the true slope). Our computer study shows that while no single method, old or new, is “best” under all circumstances, a judicious choice of method can increase the accuracy and decrease the bias with which the true slope is estimated. Preliminary rules for selecting the most suitable methods are given, and several lines of further investigation are proposed.
Cytoplasmic Residues of Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoprotein gE Required for Secondary Envelopment and Binding of Tegument Proteins VP22 and UL11 to gE and gD

The final assembly of herpes simplex virus (HSV) involves binding of tegument-coated capsids to viral glycoprotein-enriched regions of the trans-Golgi network (TGN) as enveloped virions bud into TGN membranes. We previously demonstrated that HSV glycoproteins gE/gI and gD, acting in a redundant fashion, are essential for this secondary envelopment. To define regions of the cytoplasmic (CT) domain of gE required for secondary envelopment, HSVs lacking gD and expressing truncated gE molecules were constructed. A central region (amino acids 470 to 495) of the gE CT domain was important for secondary envelopment, although more C-terminal residues also contributed. Tandem affinity purification (TAP) proteins including fragments of the gE CT domain were used to identify tegument proteins VP22 and UL11 as binding partners, and gE CT residues 470 to 495 were important in this binding. VP22 and UL11 were precipitated from HSV-infected cells in conjunction with full-length gE and gE molecules with more-C-terminal residues of the CT domain. gD also bound VP22 and UL11. Expression of VP22 and gD or gE/gI in cells by use of adenovirus (Ad) vectors provided evidence that other viral proteins were not necessary for tegument/glycoprotein interactions. Substantial quantities of VP22 and UL11 bound nonspecifically onto or were precipitated with gE and gD molecules lacking all CT sequences, something that is very unlikely in vivo. VP16 was precipitated equally whether gE/gI or gD was present in extracts or not. These observations illustrated important properties of tegument proteins. VP22, UL11, and VP16 are highly prone to binding nonspecifically to other proteins, and this did not represent insolubility during our assays. Rather, it likely reflects an inherent "stickiness" related to the formation of tegument. Nevertheless, assays involving TAP proteins and viral proteins expressed by HSV and Ad vectors supported the conclusion that VP22 and UL11 interact specifically with the CT domains of gD and gE.
Selection of Aptamers for Amyloid β-Protein, the Causative Agent of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive, age-dependent, neurodegenerative disorder with an insidious course that renders its presymptomatic diagnosis difficult(1). Definite AD diagnosis is achieved only postmortem, thus establishing presymptomatic, early diagnosis of AD is crucial for developing and administering effective therapies(2,3). Amyloid beta-protein (Abeta) is central to AD pathogenesis. Soluble, oligomeric Abeta assemblies are believed to affect neurotoxicity underlying synaptic dysfunction and neuron loss in AD(4,5). Various forms of soluble Abeta assemblies have been described, however, their interrelationships and relevance to AD etiology and pathogenesis are complex and not well understood(6). Specific molecular recognition tools may unravel the relationships amongst Abeta assemblies and facilitate detection and characterization of these assemblies early in the disease course before symptoms emerge. Molecular recognition commonly relies on antibodies. However, an alternative class of molecular recognition tools, aptamers, offers important advantages relative to antibodies(7,8). Aptamers are oligonucleotides generated by in-vitro selection: systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX)(9,10). SELEX is an iterative process that, similar to Darwinian evolution, allows selection, amplification, enrichment, and perpetuation of a property, e.g., avid, specific, ligand binding (aptamers) or catalytic activity (ribozymes and DNAzymes). Despite emergence of aptamers as tools in modern biotechnology and medicine(11), they have been underutilized in the amyloid field. Few RNA or ssDNA aptamers have been selected against various forms of prion proteins (PrP)(12-16). An RNA aptamer generated against recombinant bovine PrP was shown to recognize bovine PrP-beta(17), a soluble, oligomeric, beta-sheet-rich conformational variant of full-length PrP that forms amyloid fibrils(18). Aptamers generated using monomeric and several forms of fibrillar beta(2;)-microglobulin (beta(2;)m) were found to bind fibrils of certain other amyloidogenic proteins besides beta(2;)m fibrils(19). Ylera et al. described RNA aptamers selected against immobilized monomeric Abeta40(20). Unexpectedly, these aptamers bound fibrillar Abeta40. Altogether, these data raise several important questions. Why did aptamers selected against monomeric proteins recognize their polymeric forms? Could aptamers against monomeric and/or oligomeric forms of amyloidogenic proteins be obtained? To address these questions, we attempted to select aptamers for covalently-stabilized oligomeric Abeta40(21) generated using photo-induced cross-linking of unmodified proteins (PICUP)(22,23). Similar to previous findings(17,19,20), these aptamers reacted with fibrils of Abeta and several other amyloidogenic proteins likely recognizing a potentially common amyloid structural aptatope(21). Here, we present the SELEX methodology used in production of these aptamers(21).
Opiate (Enkephalin) receptors of neuroblastoma cells: occurrence in clusters on the cell surface

A bioactive, fluorescent derivative of enkephalin, Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-Phe-Leu-Lys-rhodamine, was used to determine the distribution of opiate receptors in living neuroblastoma cells. The receptors appeared in clusters on the cell surface, and no internalization was detected. No specific fluorescence or clusters were observed in the presence of [D-Ala2, Leu5]enkephalin or at 4 degrees C, and the clusters were much reduced under ionic conditions (that is, with 100 millimolars sodium) that specifically decrease the binding of opiate agonists.
Understanding the cell phone effect on vehicle fatalities: a Bayesian view

This article examines the potential effect of various factors on motor vehicle fatality rates using a rich set of panel data and classical regression analysis combined with Bayesian Extreme Bounds Analysis (EBA), Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) and Stochastic Search Variable Selection (SSVS) procedures. The variables examined in the models include traditional motor vehicle and socioeconomic factors. In addition, the models address the effects of cell phone usage on such accidents. The use of both classical and Bayesian techniques diminish the model and parameter uncertainties which afflict more conventional modelling methods which rely on only one of the two methods.
Concise Review: Stem Cells in the Corneal Stroma

The cornea is a tough transparent tissue admitting and focusing light in the eye. More than 90% of the cornea is stroma, a highly organized, transparent connective tissue maintained by keratocytes, quiescent mesenchymal cells of neural crest origin. A small population of cells in the mammalian stroma displays properties of mesenchymal stem cells, including clonal growth, multipotent differentiation, and expression of an array of stem cell-specific markers. Unlike keratocytes, the corneal stromal stem cells (CSSCs) undergo extensive expansion in vitro without loss of the ability to adopt a keratocyte phenotype. Several lines of evidence suggest CSSCs to be of neural crest lineage and not from bone marrow. CSSCs are localized in the anterior peripheral (limbal) stroma near to stem cells of the corneal epithelium. CSSCs may function to support potency of the epithelial stem cells in their unique limbal niche. On the other hand, little information is available documenting a role for CSSCs in vivo in stromal wound healing or regeneration. In vitro CSSCs reproduce the highly organized connective tissue of the stroma, demonstrating a potential use of these cells in tissue bioengineering. Direct introduction of CSSCs into the corneal stroma generated transparent tissue in a mouse model of corneal opacity. Human CSSCs injected into mice corneas did not elicit immune rejection over an extended period of time. The CSSCs therefore appear offer an opportunity to develop cell- and tissue-based therapies for irreversible corneal blindness, conditions affecting more than 10 million individuals worldwide.
Acute pelvic pain: Evaluation and management

Acute pelvic pain in women is often a diagnostic dilemma. Obstetrical, gynecological, urological or gastrointestinal causes must be considered. Stabilization, immediate therapy and early consultation are often indicated. If no etiology is found, conservative management with frequent re-evaluation is adequate.
Bodies, Boxes, and Belonging: A Review of Queer Online

This article reviews Queer Online: Media, Technology and Sexuality, edited by Kate O'Riordan and David J. Phillips (2007). Although essays in Queer Online are welcome contributions to cyberqueer studies inasmuch as they underscore critical themes in cyberqueer lives, they sometimes lack the much-needed empirical basis for youth, parents, and education professionals to learn about, protect, and facilitate LGBT youth's online lives.
Five Years' Follow-Up in the Surgical Management of Cataracts in High Myopia Treated with the Kelman Phacoemulsification Technique

With the advent of phacoemulsification, much interest has again been rekindled in extracapsular cataract surgery and its effects on the vitreoretinopathies associated in high myopia. Since 1972, 278 patients with high myopia greater than --7.50 D, as as determined by axial length echography, have been operated on by the author. The five-year follow-up with statistical analysis of these cases is presented. Comments as to the merits of extracapsular versus intracapsular surgery in high myopia will be set forth.
Broadly tunable terahertz source

We present the results of a terahertz (THz) source based on difference frequency generation (DFG) that tunes seamlessly from 1.4 to 13.3 THz. The outputs from two seeded periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) optical parametric generators (OPGs) are mixed in a DAST crystal to generate the THz frequencies. The OPG's have ~1 nsec pulse duration and an output energy of approximately 200 μJ. The corresponding high peak intensities in the DAST crystal leads to appreciable conversion efficiency such that a room temperature pyro-electric detector is used to measure the THz signal. In one of the OPGs a continuously varying periodicity PPLN crystal is used to tune the output wavelength by translating the crystal. The crystal position and seed laser are computer-controlled and synchronized such that any wavelength within the seed laser's tuning range is randomly accessible, and hence any THz difference frequency between the two seed lasers is also randomly accessible. Phase matching in DAST requires the DFG inputs to have the same polarization. We demonstrate a scheme where the output of one of the OPGs is sent through the second OPG such that the two beams are collinear with the same polarization without using a beam splitter.
War and Society in the American Revolution: Mobilization and Home Fronts – Edited by John Resch and Walter Sargent

While America's founders enjoy remarkable popularity among the public, the Revolutionary War itself provokes less interest among scholars and general readers. This edited collection of ten essays e...
A Tomographic Streak Camera for Ultrahigh-Speed Movies

A new technique is described for recording ultrahigh-speed movies of transient events. An optical system is used to reduce an instantaneous two-dimensional image to a set of one dimensional projections whose space and time dependence is recorded by a streak tube. A maximum entropy tomography code is then used to reconstruct a frame of the output movie from each time slice of the streak tube image. The results of simulation studies will be presented, along with a discussion of practical considerations building such a system.
324 TRI-IODOTHYRONINE (T3) ELEVATION DUE TO DESICCATED THYROID

Fourteen hypothyroid children, 10 girls and 4 boys, had serum T4, T3 and TSH measured while receiving replacement therapy with desiccated thyroid and 6 weeks after beginning replacement therapy with sodium-l-thyroxine, 4.2±0.6(SD) μg/Kg per day (maximum 200 μg). Serum T3 while receiving desiccated thyroid was 393±144(SD) ng/dl compared to 157±23(SD) ng/dl while receiving thyroxine (P 0.1). Our findings show that a paradoxically elevated serum T3 concentration, unassociated with clinical hyperthyroidism is, in general, characteristic of treatment with desiccated thyroid. Replacement with sodium-l-thyroxine leads to normalization of all routine tests of thyroid function.
ε Expansions for Crumpled Manifolds

To study properties of self-avoiding surfaces, we consider D-dimensional elastic manifolds embedded in d-dimensional space. In the (d,D) plane there is a line separating ideal (Gaussian), and self-avoiding (interacting) behaviors. We develop the techniques for systematic perturbation expansions, and renormalization-group analysis, about any point on this line. The usual \ensuremath{\epsilon} expansion for polymers about d=4 is a special case. The exponents \ensuremath{\nu} and \ensuremath{\gamma} are calculated to lowest order, providing very good values for polymers (D=1), and reasonable indications for surfaces (D=2).
Mechanisms for segregating T cell receptor and adhesion molecules during immunological synapse formation in Jurkat T cells

T cells interacting with antigen-presenting cells (APCs) form an "immunological synapse" (IS), a bull's-eye pattern composed of a central supramolecular activation cluster enriched with T cell receptors (TCRs) surrounded by a ring of adhesion molecules (a peripheral supramolecular activation cluster). The mechanism responsible for segregating TCR and adhesion molecules remains poorly understood. Here, we show that immortalized Jurkat T cells interacting with a planar lipid bilayer (mimicking an APC) will form an IS, thereby providing an accessible model system for studying the cell biological processes underlying IS formation. We found that an actin-dependent process caused TCR and adhesion proteins to cluster at the cell periphery, but these molecules appeared to segregate from one another at the earliest stages of microdomain formation. The TCR and adhesion microdomains attached to actin and were carried centripetally by retrograde flow. However, only the TCR microdomains penetrated into the actin-depleted cell center, whereas the adhesion microdomains appeared to be unstable without an underlying actin cytoskeleton. Our results reveal that TCR and adhesion molecules spatially partition from one another well before the formation of a mature IS and that differential actin interactions help to shape and maintain the final bull's-eye pattern of the IS.
Reduction of nitric oxide with carbon monoxide on the Rh(100) single-crystal surface

Abstract The reduction of nitric oxide with carbon monoxide has been investigated on the Rh(100) single-crystal surface. Steady-state kinetic measurements, at 688 K and in the pressure range 1.0 to 1800 Pa, indicate that this process proceeds via a Langmuir-Hinshelwood-type mechanism and is selective toward the production of N2 and CO2. The carbon monoxide kinetic order varied continuously from +1 to −1 as the partial pressure of CO was increased from 1 to 250 Pa, at a constant NO partial pressure of 57.5 Pa. In a similar manner, the nitric oxide kinetic order varied continuously from + 3 2 to −1 as the partial pressure of NO was increased from 1 to 1800 Pa, at a constant CO partial pressure of 44.0 Pa. The catalyst surface was characterized with Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). Initial Auger analysis revealed surface contamination by sulfur, phosphorus, and boron. The boron contaminant was identified by AES and by the formation of boron (3 × 1) or (3 × 3) ordered overlayers. These contaminants were removed via cycles of argon ion bombardment, reactive ion bombardment, and high-temperature annealing. Nitric oxide adsorbed with a high sticking coefficient and formed a c(2 × 2) ordered overlayer at saturation. The nitric oxide adsorbate dissociated upon slow stepwise heating as indicated by the production of a surface oxide and disappearance of surface nitrogen. Thermal desorption experiments at a faster heating rate indicated, however, that most of the adsorbed nitric oxide desorbed molecularly in a first-order process with a peak at 401 K during the temperature flash. Carbon monoxide adsorbs molecularly in two distinct sites with desorption from both following first-order kinetics with TDS peaks at 373 and 425 K. A kinetic model was developed which is consistent with both the steady-state kinetic and surface characterization results. The kinetic data were fit to the steady-state rate law derived from this mechanism involving the reduction of adsorbed nitrous oxide and nitrogen dioxide species by molecularly adsorbed carbon monoxide.
Email feedback: a policy-based approach to overcoming false positives

Current email-control mechanisms, though highly effective, are pro-ne to dropping desirable messages. This can be attributed to their coarseness in filtering out undesirable messages from desirable ones. As a result policies to control undesirable messages are often overly permissive. To allow policies to be more restrictive, the transmission mechanism must be made aware of the ways to document a message so that it is acceptable downstream, thus giving the senders a chance of meeting those requirements. In this work, we design a scheme to enable rejected, but desirable messages to be upgraded in a way that they meet downstream requirements. We call this process 'message refinement'. This in turn allows downstream principals to express and enforce precise requirements as the risk of losing desirable messages is minimized. To apply this scheme uniformly to any email-control mechanism, we provide a flexible and extensible policy language to express message acceptance preferences. We use a constraint logic programming approach to specifying and evaluating these policies and show that their evaluation can be accomplished in PTIME. This supports our belief that this technique can be practically applied.
Ethics in evaluation: Beyond the standards

First , I'd like to outline some ideas about some criteria for making ethical judgments and when those ethical judgments might be made. In particular, I'm going to focus on two areas: setting up the evaluation question or negotiating the evaluation contract, and instrumentation. The first thing I did when I started thinking about this topic was to look up ethics in the dictionary. I came up with two definitions which I think will help illustrate my point. One definition of ethical behavior is conforming to the standards of conduct for a given profession. I think for most of us that's what we think about when we think about ethical behavior as evaluators-conforming to the standards of our profession. The other definition is conforming to moral standards; having to do with ethics or morality. This presentation deals with more than just conforming to the standards of our profession. I would like to emphasize that to be an ethical evaluator, it's first very important that you conform to the standards of our profession. If you don't do that, clearly you aren't being ethical. But beyond that, evaluation is a peopletype business. We deal with people on a regular basis, and as people dealing with people, there are additional ethical issues that we need to consider.' Obviously we follow the Joint Committee Standards. We look at the ERS Standards. We look at the ethical standards for conduct of research with human participants, the APA standards. We look at standards for conducting anthropological studies put out by the American Anthropological Association. Federally mandated institutional review boards that look at the rights of human subjects are in place for all of us. Those are the kinds of standards we must follow, but is there something else? Are there other considerations that we need to look at?
Distribution of Nerve Endings in the Pulmonary Artery of the Cat

The density distribution of nerve endings in the wall of the extrapulmonary portion of the cat's pulmonary artery was studied in serial sections after staining by a supravital methylene blue procedure. The greatest concentration of endings occurred at the bifurcation, in the adjacent parts of the pulmonary artery, and in its right and left main branches. The morphology and distribution of these endings is consistent with a pressoreceptor function.
A simple method for calculating the time response of a system to an arbitrary input

THERE are a number of methods for calculating the response of a linear system to an arbitrary input which divide the input into a series of units so small that each can be approximated quite crudely, but they are all quite laborious and require a very high degree of accuracy of computation to achieve adequate accuracy in the calculated response. Even more important, they give very little insight into why the system responds the way it does, or how the system transfer function should be changed to improve the response.
Blueprint for Professional Development: The Role of the Psychology Internship

This paper discusses the implications of the Blueprint for Health Service Psychology Education and Training (Blueprint; Health Service Psychology Education Collaborative (HSPEC), 2013) for psychology internship programs. The Blueprint provides a series of recommendations that seek to strengthen the core preparation and professional development of health service psychologists. As such, the present com- mentary is provided in the context that internship is but one part of the sequence of education and training of the health service provider in psychology. The Blueprint in the Context of Professional Development The Blueprint for Health Service Psychology Education and Training (referred herein as the Blueprint; Health Service Psy- chology Education Collaborative, (HSPEC), 2013) is a wel- come addition in the evolution of psychology training and practice. Three guiding principles emerge from this report. First, it reflects the efforts among several leaders in the educa- tion and training of the health service providers in psychology. To reach a significant measure of consensus in proposing this series of recommendations amid what was likely a diversity of opinion is most impressive. Second, the report promotes the expectation that psychology education and training should be guided by a quest for excellence rather than relying on defini- tions of minimum standards for the profession. Third, the process of training psychologists as health service providers represents a sequence in an educational trajectory that begins at the undergraduate level and proceeds through licensure. It can also be argued that in order to be a competent health service provider in psychology, ongoing post licensure, continuing education need to be pursued in order to incorporate the evolv- ing knowledge from science into practice and the changing demands of the health care marketplace. A commitment to lifelong professional learning is apparent and likely warrants serious consideration in the collaborative's future discussions. As the Blueprint report notes, psychology, as a health care
Identification of Brain Image Biomarkers by Optimized Selection of Multimodal Independent Components

The acquisition of multiple imaging modalities on the same individual in brain imaging studies has become a common practice. In functional studies, often several different tasks are performed on the same person. This motivates an analysis method that directly looks for the joint (shared) information lying within multimodal datasets. The present work uses a data fusion framework called joint independent component analysis (jICA) to yield joint (multimodal), maximally independent components (ICs) which capture the joint information from multiple modalities and enable identification of brain imaging biomarkers. We thus propose the use of a divergence metric on the estimated group distributions as an optimization factor for this framework, thus characterizing the differences in the across-group distribution functions for each modality individually and jointly as well. Special attention is being devoted to the behavior aspects of the J- divergence and Alpha divergence (with alpha= 0.5) due to their metric property and optimality, respectively.
Intraduodenal infusion of lysophosphatidylcholine restores the intestinal absorption of vitamins A and E in rats fed a low-zinc diet.

Our previous work has shown that the lymphatic absorptions of lipids and lipid-soluble vitamins, retinol and -tocopherol (TP), are lowered markedly in rats fed a low-zinc (LZ) diet in parallel with lower lymphatic phospholipid outputs. Phosphatidylcholine (PC), when infused enterally, restored the absorptions of fat and retinol, but further lowered the absorption of TP in rats fed the LZ diet. This study was conducted to determine whether a luminal infusion of lysophosphatidylcholine, a product of PC hydrolysis by pancreatic phospholipase A2 (PLA2), would simultaneously restore the absorptions of retinol and TP in LZ rats. Rats were trained to consume two meals per day and were divided into two groups. One group was fed an AIN-93G diet containing a LZ (3.0 mg Zn/kg), and the other was fed the same diet, but containing adequate zinc (AZ; 30.0 mg Zn/kg) for 6 weeks. Rats with lymph cannula were infused at 3.0 ml/hr for 8 hr with a lipid emulsion containing retinol, TP, and 14 C-labeled triolein ( 14 C-oleic acid) with or without 1-oleoyl-2hydroxy phosphatidylcholine (lysoPC) in 24 ml of PBS (pH 6.5). When the lipid emulsion without lysoPC was infused, the absorptions of retinol and TP were significantly lower in LZ rats (retinol, 13.2 ± 1.5 nmol; TP, 430.6 ± 66.8 nmol) than in AZ rats (retinol, 18.2 ± 1.0 nmol; TP, 543.8 ± 58.9 nmol). The lower absorptions of the vitamins in LZ rats occurred in parallel with a significant decrease in 14 C-oleic acid absorption. When the emulsion containing lysoPC was infused, however, absorptions of the vitamins (retinol, 18.4 ± 3.0 nmol; TP, 777.2 ± 92.1 nmol) in LZ rats were restored completely to the control levels (retinol, 20.4 ± 2.8 nmol; TP, 756.3 ± 136.1 nmol). The results suggest that the luminal hydrolysis of PC to lysoPC by PLA2 may be impaired in LZ rats, resulting in impaired absorption of fat and
Selection of target sites for mobile DNA integration in the human genome.

DNA sequences from retroviruses, retrotransposons, DNA transposons, and parvoviruses can all become integrated into the human genome. Accumulation of such sequences accounts for at least 40% of our genome today. These integrating elements are also of interest as gene-delivery vectors for human gene therapy. Here we present a comprehensive bioinformatic analysis of integration targeting by HIV, MLV, ASLV, SFV, L1, SB, and AAV. We used a mathematical method which allowed annotation of each base pair in the human genome for its likelihood of hosting an integration event by each type of element, taking advantage of more than 200 types of genomic annotation. This bioinformatic resource documents a wealth of new associations between genomic features and integration targeting. The study also revealed that the length of genomic intervals analyzed strongly affected the conclusions drawn—thus, answering the question “What genomic features affect integration?” requires carefully specifying the length scale of interest.
Detection Of Drug Resistance Mutations In The Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type I (HIV-I) pol Gene: Differences In Semen And Blood HIV-I RNA And Proviral DNA

Different tissues or body fluids in which human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) can reside may contain viruses with distinct characteristics. Sixteen HIV-1-infected patients receiving zidovudine or didanosine were studied cross-sectionally and 1 patient who switched from zidovudine to didanosine was followed sequentially to determine if drug resistance mutations within the HIV-1 pol gene at codons 74 and 215 differed depending on the compartment from which the gene was isolated (plasma, seminal fluid, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, or seminal nonspermatozoal mononuclear cells). Cell-free virus in plasma and semen developed detectable mutations first, followed by proviral DNA in seminal nonspermatozoal and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Study of the appearance of HIV-1 mutations in various compartments may help elucidate how the populations and dynamics of the virus differ throughout the body and determine whether seminal cell-free virus or provirus is the major sexually transmitted form.
Functionally complex muscles of the cat hindlimb. I. Patterns of activation across sartorius.

Summary. The cat sartorius (SA) can be divided functionally into an anterior (SAa), knee extensor portion and a medial (SAm), knee flexor portion; it can be further subdivided anatomically by multiple nerve branches into parallel longitudinal columns that terminate in a distributed insertion at the knee with a continuous range of moment arms. Thus, SA may be controlled by a discrete number of motoneuron task groups reflecting a small number of central command signals or by a continuum of activation patterns associated with a continuum of moment arms. To resolve this question, the activation patterns across the width of the SA were recorded with an electrode array during three kinematically different movements - treadmill locomotion, scratching and paw shaking, in awake, unrestrained cats. Uniformity of activation along the longitudinal axis was also examined because individual muscle fibers do not extend the length of the SA. In addition, the cutaneous reflex responses were recorded throughout all regions of the SA during locomotion. Two fascial surface-patch arrays, each carrying zP8 pairs of bipolar EMG electrodes, were sutured to the inner surface of the SA, one placed proximally and the other more distally. Each array sampled separate sites across the anterior to medial axis of SA. During locomotion, two basic EMG patterns were observed: the two burst-per-step-cycle pattern typical of SAa and the single burst pattern typical of SAm. There was an abrupt transition in the pattern of activation recorded in the two parts of SA during locomotion, and no continuum in the activation pattern was observed. Stimulation of both sural and saphenous cutaneous nerves during locomotion produced reflex responses that were uniformly distributed throughout SA, in contrast to the regional differences noted during unper
Assessment of pretransplant inflammation in pediatric renal allograft recipients

Summary Pretransplant (Tx) inflammation is linked to adverse outcomes in adult Tx recipients but no such data exist for children. Our study evaluated the predictive value of three pre-Tx inflammatory markers: serum C-reactive protein (CRP), Neopterin (Neo) and interleukin (IL) 12, in determining outcome. Pre-Tx serum on 51 children (mean age 11 years) transplanted between 1985 and 2000 was analyzed. Data on other variables were abstracted from patient records. Primary end-points were graft survival and acute rejection (AR). Kaplan-Meier and log-rank statistics compared endpoints in patients at different quartiles for each marker. Cox regression analysis was used to determine the independent effect of the markers on the end-points. The mean CRP, Neo, and IL-12 were 1.3 mg/l, 1.78 ng/ml, and 123 pg/ml, respectively. The mean CRP, Neo, and IL-12 were not different between the patients with and without AR or graft loss (P > 0.4 for all). Neither rejection-free survival nor graft survival was affected by CRP, Neo, or IL-12 quartiles. Cox-regression analysis demonstrated no predictive value of any marker on outcome. Unlike adults, a single pre-Tx determination of inflammatory markers was not predictive of AR or graft loss in children, indicating that the pathogenesis of AR may be different in children.
S6.4 Antiretroviral chemoprophylaxis: new opportunities and new challenges

With the success of the CAPRISA 004 study of 1% tenofovir vaginal gel in South African women, and the iPrEx study of the use of oral co-formulated tenofovir-emtricitabine in an international cohort of MSM, it is clear that chemoprophylaxis may be able to enhance current HIV prevention efforts. However, multiple questions remain, including which mode of drug delivery is likely to be most effective for each population, and which drugs are the preferred ones to use. Other major questions include the feasibility of using a rectal formulation to prevent HIV transmission, and what is the most parsimonious way to dose these medications, in order to save costs and to minimise toxicities. This presentation will review the data from recently completed trials, will summarise the status of other studies underway, will discuss the gaps in our knowledge, and will discuss the responses of medical care providers and high risk populations to the news of PreP efficacy. Clearly, the field is in its infancy, but offers promises for epidemic control.
Combined source-channel coding schemes for video transmission over an additive white Gaussian noise channel

There has been an increased interest in the transmission of digital video over real-world transmission media, such as the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) channel. Video transmitted over such a channel is subject to degradation due, in part, to additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). Some form of forward error-control (FEC) coding may be applied in order to reduce the effect of the noise on the transmitted bitstream; however, determination of the appropriate level of FEC coding is generally an unwieldy and computationally intensive problem, as it may depend upon a variety of parameters such as the type of video, the available bandwidth, and the channel SNR. More specifically, a combined source-channel coding approach is necessary in optimally allocating rate between source and channel coding subject to a fixed constraint on overall transmission bandwidth. In this paper we develop a method of optimal bit allocation under the assumption that the distortion is additive and independent on a frame-by-frame basis. A set of universal operational distortion-rate characteristics is developed which balances the tradeoff between source coding accuracy and channel error protection for a fixed overall transmission rate and provides the basis for the optimal bit allocation approach. The results for specific source and channel coding schemes show marked improvement over suboptimum choices of channel error protection. In addition, we show that our results approach information-theoretic performance bounds which are developed in this work.
Using analog neutral networks for control sensor linearization

The issues of cost, size, and weight of neural controllers have received minimal attention by neural and control researchers. In this paper, we discuss methods to improve the characteristics of control sensors using compact and low-cost analog circuitry. Our objective is to extend the linear region of operation of a nonlinear sensor using artificial neural networks. Our method is applied to the design of a discrete-component phase-locked loop.
A 3d digital atlas of C. elegans and its application to single-cell analyses

A digital atlas of C. elegans at the post-embryonic L1 stage is presented, along with automated methods for nucleus segmentation and annotation. These resources will enable quantitative analyses of nuclear spatial arrangements as well as high-throughput single-cell analyses in this organism.
Self-renewal vs. Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are typically derived from the inner cell mass of the preimplantation blastocyst and can both self-renew and differentiate into all the cells and tissues of the embryo. Because they are pluripotent, ES cells have been used extensively to analyze gene function in development via gene targeting. The embryonic stem cell is also an unsurpassed starting material to begin to understand a critical, largely inaccessible period of development. If their differentiation could be controlled, they would also be an important source of cells for transplantation to replace cells lost through disease or injury or to replace missing hormones or genes. Traditionally, ES cells have been differentiated in suspension culture as embryoid bodies, named because of their similarity to the early postimplantation-staged embryo. Unlike the pristine organization of the early embryo, differentiation in embryoid bodies appears to be largely unpatterned, although multiple cell types form. It has recently been possible to separate the desired cell types from differentiating ES cells in embryoid bodies by using cell-type-restricted promoters driving expression of either antibiotic resistance genes or fluorophores such as EGFP. In combination with growth factor exposure, highly differentiated cell types have successfully been derived from ES cells. Recent technological advances such as RNA interference to knock down gene expression in ES cells are also producing enriched populations of cells and elucidating gene function in early development.
OPTIMAL IMPULSIVE CONTROL OF DELAY SYSTEMS

In this paper, we solve an optimal control problem using the calculus of variation. The system under consideration is a switched autonomous delay system that undergoes jumps at the switch- ing times. The control variables are the instants when the switches occur, and a set of scalars which determine the jump amplitudes. Optimality conditions involving analytic expressions for the partial derivatives of a given cost function with respect to the control variables are derived using the calculus of variation. A locally optimal impulsive control strategy can then be found using a numerical gradient descent algorithm.
A water-powered micro drug delivery system

A plastic micro drug delivery system has been successfully demonstrated by utilizing the principle of osmosis without any electrical power consumption. The system has an osmotic microactuator (see Su, Lin, and Pisano, J. Microelectromech., vol. 11, pp. 736-7462, Dec. 2002) and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic cover compartment consisting of a reservoir, a microfluidic channel and a delivery port. The typical dimension of the microfluidic channel is 1 cm in length with a cross-sectional area of 30/spl times/100 /spl mu/m/sup 2/ to minimize the diffusive drug flow while pressure drop remains moderate. Using oxygen plasma to activate the surfaces of polymers for bonding, the osmotic actuator is bonded with the PDMS cover while liquid drug can be encapsulated during the bonding process. Employing the net water flow induced by osmosis, the prototype drug delivery system has a measured constant delivery rate at 0.2 /spl mu/L/h for 10 h with an accumulated delivery volume of 2 /spl mu/L. Both the delivery rate and volume could be altered by changing the design and process parameters for specific drug delivery applications up to a few years. Moreover, the induced osmotic pressure can be as high as 25 MPa to overcome possible blockages caused by cells or tissues during drug delivery operations.
Cape Town's Million Plus Black Township of Khayelitsha: Terrae Incognitae and the Geographies and Cartographies of Silence

Abstract The earth's inhabited areas are uneven in knowledge about peoples, landscapes and activities. The unevenness is attributed to the collection and dissemination of place-based knowledge by colonial powers, countries with long traditions of print knowledge, including the production of maps, and also the production of electronic information. This paper explores the concepts of terrae incognitae and the geographies and cartographies of silence about Khayelitsha, a township outside Cape Town that has more than a million residents. It examines geographical knowledge using Google hyperlinks and Scholar, placemarks (DigiPlaces) and Street View as well as information from travel sources. Reasons for the lacunae are discussed as well as working strategies to increase our awareness about the township's human and environmental conditions.
Sources and Consequences of Bargaining Power in Supply Chains

Abstract Research suggests that collaborative supply chain management (SCM) helps chain members create “a rising tide that lifts all boats.” Yet resource dependence theory suggests that when tides rise, some boats are lifted more than others; members who furnish important resources or resources where control is concentrated have bargaining power. Drawing on Thompson [Thompson, J.D., 1967. Organizations in Action. McGraw-Hill, New York], we argue that strong firms’ bargaining power use is tempered by the type of coordination different types of task interdependencies demand. We also investigate how both strong and weak members benefit from SCM. Whereas strong members reap most of the direct benefits, weak members can often gain by building switching costs with strong members, leveraging SCM outside the focal chain, and increasing survival chances.
Methyl Ketone Production in Milk-Fat-Coated Microcapsules. 1. Variation of Lipase and Spore Concentrations

Abstract Milk-fat-coated microcapsules containing pancreatic lipase, Penicillium roqueforti spores, a low melting fraction of butter, and phosphate buffer were evaluated for their ability to produce methyl ketones to enhance blue cheese flavor and to accelerate cheese ripening. Lipase and spore powder levels were tested in a 2 × 2 factorial design experiment with a center point. Production of 2-pentanone, 2-heptanone, and 2-nonanone, plus hexanoic, octanoic, and decanoic acids during 26 d at 10°C was determined using gas chromatography. The three methyl ketones increased steadily for approximately 400h before leveling off near 12 mg/g capsules. Free fatty acid concentrations increased initially but rapidly decreased to near zero as they were utilized by the spores. Capsules containing the high lipase level produced significantly more FFA and methyl ketones than capsules with the low level of lipase. Spore amounts had much less effect on methyl ketone production. Preference of the spore enzymes for hexanoic and octanoic acids initially led to higher levels of 2-pentanone and 2-heptanone than 2-nonanone. As octanoic and hexanoic acids were depleted, however, the decanoic acid that the lipase produced in abundance was utilized to yield high levels of 2-nonanone. These results indicate that not only can these milk-fat-coated microcapsules be used to produce methyl ketones, a major component of blue cheese flavor (2, 3, 16), but also that environmental factors may be manipulated to control the reactions.
The History of the North Carolina Community Party, by Gregory S. Taylor

The History of the North Carolina Community Party, by Gregory S. Taylor, Columbia, University of South Carolina Press, 2009, 259 pp., $39.95 (cloth), ISBN: 9781570038020 Gregory Taylor finds the Co...
Fine particle micromagnetics

This paper presents a numerical micromagnetic model for an isolated fine particle, which graphically illustrates the magnetization process. A three-dimensional discretization is used to represent a single particle. At each mesh point a magnetization of fixed magnitude is permitted to orient itself so that total energy is minimized. The energy terms considered are the Zeeman energy due to both the externally applied and the demagnetizing fields, the exchange energy and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy. Iterative methods are used to solve for the variation in the magnetization.