cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The case against phonemic awareness

This paper presents a series of arguments concerning the notion that an awareness of the sub-syllabic (‘phonemic’) segments of speech is a factor in the acquisition of literacy skills. It will be claimed that such an awareness is not an untutored aspect of one’s linguistic consciousness, but, in fact, a limited consequence of acquiring literacy in an alphabetic script. In addition, it will be shown that any positive correlations between phonemic awareness and reading skill are based on a definition of reading that is misguided and potentially harmful. The paper reviews selected recent literature and research on phonemic awareness in literate and illiterate speakers, the relationships between letters and speech sounds, and variations in the definition of reading employed in this work. Contre la conscience phonemique Preoccupes par les etudes rapportant les echecs generalises des eleves dans l’apprentissage de la langue ecrite, les agents de l’education des etats-Unis ont pris en compte les avantages et les desavantages de deux methodes concurrentes d’enseignement de la langue ecrite, la methode phonetique et la methode du langage entier (Whole Language). Le langage entier met l’accent sur les relations pouvant exister entre l’ecrit et le langage alors que l’approche phonetique porte sur les relations entre l’ecrit et la parole. Une composante de l’approche phonetique pour l’apprentissage de la lecture est ce qu’il est convenu d’appeler la ‘conscience phonemique’. On soutient que les locuteurs se distinguent quant a leur conscience des segments infra-syllabiques de la parole (phonemes) et que de telles variations contribuent de maniere significative au developpement de l’habiletea relier les lettres aux sons du langage et, en consequence, a assurer le succes de l’apprentissage de la lecture par l’entremise de la methode phonetique. Les enfants presentant une faible ‘conscience phonemique’ sont alors entrânes a isoler et a manipuler de tels segments, un tel entrainement devant faciliter les acquisitions en lecture. Ce texte veut demontrer que la conscience des segments infra-syllabiques de la parole n’est pas l’une des composantes non apprise de la conscience de la parole, mais plutot une consequence tres limitee des methodes phonetiques. Plus loin, il est soutenu que les formes ecrites et parlees de l’anglais comportent une faible relation entre elles et que l’opinion voulant que l’ecrit soit mieux compris en traduisant les graphemes en phonemes est peu judicieuse et potentiellement prejudiciable a l’acquisition et l’utilisation des habiletes propres a l’apprentissage de la langue ecrite. Ce texte concerne exclusivement la langue anglaise. Les lecteurs francophones qui partageraient les idees emises ici apprecieront sans doute la lecture du chapitre 6, La representation graphique du langue tire du travail monumental de De Saussure, Cours de linguistique generale.
9,11-Dicis-12-fluororhodopsin. Chromophore properties from 19F-NMR studies.

— From a 19F-NMR study of 9,11-dicis-12-fluororhodopsin and its photobleached product, we concluded that the initially formed chromophore retained its configuration and the photoproduct corresponded to the two-bond isomerized all-trans. Upon standing, it slowly isomerized to the 9-cis isomer. The method represents a direct, non-destructive procedure for determining configuration purity of the pigment formed. Its unique fluorine opsin shift value is consistent with the expected different orientation of the fluoro-substituent in a dicis pigment.
Definitive identification of mammalian 5-hydroxymethyluracil DNA N-glycosylase activity as SMUG1.

Purification from calf thymus of a DNA N-glycosylase activity (HMUDG) that released 5-hydroxymethyluracil (5hmUra) from the DNA of Bacillus subtilis phage SPO1 was undertaken. Analysis of the most purified fraction by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed a multiplicity of protein species making it impossible to identify HMUDG by inspection. Therefore, we renatured the enzyme after SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and assayed slices of the gel for DNA N-glycosylase activity directed against 5hmUra. Maximum enzymatic activity was identified between molecular mass markers 30 and 34 kDa. Protein was extracted from gel slices and subjected to tryptic digestion and analysis by mass spectrometry. Analysis revealed the presence of 11 peptides that were homologous or identical to the sequence of the recently characterized human single-stranded monofunctional uracil DNA N-glycosylase (hSMUG1). The cDNA of hSMUG1 was isolated and expressed as a recombinant glutathione S-transferase fusion protein that was shown to release 5hmUra with 20× the specific activity of the most purified bovine fraction. We conclude that hSMUG1 and HMUDG are the same protein.
Usefulness of abrin as a positive control for the human tumor clonogenic assay

A series of approaches were tested in order to develop a simple technique for introducing a routine positive control into the Human Tumor Clonogenic Assay. Of the various techniques tested, the best proved to be the addition of the toxic plant lectin abrin to the culture system. When added to the agar underlayer of the culture system so that the final abrin concentration in culture was 10 μg/ml, survival of human tumor colonyforming units (TCFU) was reduced to <1% of control in 16/34 (47%) of human tumors, to < 10% in 33/34 (97%) and to <30% in all tumors tested (100%). A clear dose-response relationship to fractional survival was observed for individual tumors tested at multiple dose levels of abrin. When the dosage of abrin was reduced to 1 μg/ml, survival of TCFU was reduced to <30% in 25/28 (89.2%) of experiments. Inclusion of abrin controls in clonogenic assays thus provides an excellent and reproducible positive control to which cytotoxic effects of a variety of therapeutic agents can be compared.
Sex differences in language: A cross-national perspective with emphasis on English

Abstract Sex differences in language, the topic of much current research, have been analyzed according to differences in how males and females use language and to differences in language usage referring to the sexes. Differences in form and in the patterns of use are also revealing distinctions. Research findings on sex differences in the semantic system of various languages are presented, including such differences as incidence of intensifiers in speech, different terms for objects based on speaker sex, and differential lexical development in certain topic areas. Research findings on referencial language differences based on sex include forms of address and use of so-called generic or six-inclusive terms. Findings of some research studies on selected English sex-neutral terms are reported; they indicate that none of those referential terms function consistently in the socalled generic manner, including man and the pronoun he , in its various forms.
A qualitative readiness-requirements assessment model for enterprise big-data infrastructure investment

ABSTRACT In the last three decades, there has been an exponential growth in the area of information technology providing the information processing needs of data-driven businesses in government, science, and private industry in the form of capturing, staging, integrating, conveying, analyzing, and transferring data that will help knowledge workers and decision makers make sound business decisions. Data integration across enterprise warehouses is one of the most challenging steps in the big data analytics strategy. Several levels of data integration have been identified across enterprise warehouses: data accessibility, common data platform, and consolidated data model. Each level of integration has its own set of complexities that requir es a certain amount of time, budget, and re sources to implement. Such levels of integration are designed to address the technical challenges inherent in consolidating the disparate data sources. In this paper, we present a methodology based on industry best practices to measure the readiness of an organization and its data sets against the different levels of data integration. We introduce a new Integration Level Model (ILM) tool, which is used for quantifying an organization and data systems readine ss to share data at a certain level of data integration. It is based largely on the established and accepted framework provided in the Data Mana gement Association (DAMA-DMBOK). It comprises several key data management functions and supporting activities, together with several environmental elements that describe and apply to each functi on. The proposed model scores the maturity of a systems data governance processes and provides a pragmatic methodology for evaluating integration risks. The higher the computed scores, the better managed the source data system a nd the greater the likelihood that the data system can be brought in at a higher level of integration. Keywords: Big data, multi-agency data integration, data management, data warehouse
Toxicity of selected priority pollutants to various aquatic organisms

Toxicity tests were conducted with selected compounds listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as priority pollutants. Acute toxicity information was determined for acenaphthene, arsenic trioxide, cadmium chloride, mercury(II) chloride, silver nitrate, chlordane, endosulfan, and heptachlor. Acute tests were conducted using one or more of the following species: fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas), channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri), brown trout (Salmo trutta), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus), snails (Aplexa hypnorum), or chironomids (Tanytarsus dissimilis). Acute values from these tests ranged from a silver nitrate 96-hr LC50 of 6.7 micrograms/liter for fathead minnows to an arsenic trioxide 48-hr LC50 of 97,000 micrograms/liter for chironomids. In addition to acute tests, a fathead minnow embryo-larval exposure was conducted with silver nitrate to estimate chronic toxicity. The estimated maximum acceptable toxicant concentration for silver nitrate, based on fathead minnow survival, lies between 0.37 and 0.65 micrograms/liter.
Earthquakes and Geological Discovery

I was recently asked to speak about my research in an interdisciplinary faculty seminar at Boston College. I was surprised to discover that much of what I think of as common knowledge about seismology was “news” to my audience of highly-educated faculty from across the campus. Doesn't everybody know that it is through the analysis of seismograms that we have obtained most of our knowledge about the Earth's interior? Doesn't everybody in the Boston area know that earthquakes do occur in New England, and that the reason why it is so difficult to understand their offgins is because this area is far from any plate boundaries? Doesn't everybody know that seismology is a fascinating, scientifically sophisticated, modern and multi-disciplinary science? Brace Bolt should be commended for providing us with a valuable resource for “getting the word out” about seismology: Earthquakes and Geological Discovery is an enjoyable book that gives a...
Scarce Capital and Soviet Doctrine

I. The Problem and Its Setting, 311. — II. Exeunt Economists — Enter Engineers, 315. — III. The Engineers' Theories, 320. — IV. Return of the Economists, 327. — V. The Economists' Attack and Its Aftermath, 333. — VI. Conclusion, 340.
On Pragmatics, Exercitive Speech Acts and Pornography

Suppose that a suspect being questioned by the police says, “I think I’d better talk to a lawyer.” Whether that suspect has invoked her right to an attorney depends on which particular speech act(s) her utterance is. If she is merely thinking aloud about what she ought to do, then she has not invoked that right. If, on the other hand, she has thereby requested a lawyer, she has. Similarly, suppose that an unhappily married man says “I want my wife dead.” Whether he has thereby solicited his wife’s murder depends on which particular speech act(s) his utterance is. If he is merely describing his desires, he has committed no crime. If, by contrast, he has thereby hired an assassin, he has. As one can see, experts on speech acts (e.g. philosophers, linguists, psychologists and sociologists) have a lot to say about various issues in the law. I believe that expertise in speech act theory also illuminates various issues regarding free speech. In what follows, we consider how speech act theory may apply to certain arguments regarding the free speech status of pornography. In particular, we consider several speech act accounts of MacKinnon’s claim that pornography subordinates women, but, before turning to such accounts, some background is offered.
A Framework for Implementing Individualized Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in the Classroom

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a conceptual model that can be used to design and implement individualized learning strategies for students with learning disabilities. Students who self-regulate t...
Lennard–Jones parameters for combustion and chemical kinetics modeling from full-dimensional intermolecular potentials

Abstract Lennard–Jones parameters for use in combustion modeling, as transport parameters and in pressure-dependent rate-coefficient calculations as collision rate parameters, are calculated from accurate full-dimensional intermolecular potentials. Several first-principles theoretical methods are considered. In the simplest approach, the intermolecular potential is spherically averaged and used to determine Lennard–Jones parameters. This method works well for small species, but it is not suitable for larger species due to unphysical averaging over the repulsive wall. Another method considered is based on full-dimensional trajectory calculations of binary collisions. This method is found to be very accurate, predicting Lennard–Jones collision rates within ∼10% of those obtained via tabulated (experimentally-based) Lennard–Jones parameters. Finally, a computationally efficient method is presented based on one-dimensional minimizations averaged over the colliding partners’ relative orientations. This method is shown to be both accurate and efficient. The good accuracy of the latter two approaches is shown to be a result of their explicit treatment of anisotropy. The effects of finite temperature vibrations and multiple conformers are quantified and are shown to be small. The choice of potential energy surface has a somewhat larger effect, and strategies based both on efficient semiempirical methods and on first-principles direct dynamics are considered. Overall, 75 systems are considered, including seven baths, targets as large as heptane, both molecules and radicals, and both hydrocarbons and oxygenates.
Temporal stability for dynamic network relay sets

Distributed relay set election instability within mobile networks can cause backbone topology changes that affect the performance of both unicast and multicast data routing algorithms. We discuss stability improvements to such relay set election by adding a “resistance to change” weighting factor to help reduce change in election results. In particular, we examine a proposed extension to the Essential Connected Dominating Set (ECDS) algorithm that has been specified for use by both present mobile ad hoc network unicast and multicast protocols. We demonstrate temporal stability improvements in the ECDS relay set membership that can be achieved with a simple modification to the election algorithm. Our results are particularly important when dealing with frequently changing election metrics represented in the priority field such as density or link quality as a weight metric. By using several mobile models of networks undergoing link quality fluctuations we demonstrate significant improvements in stability of the backbone set. Our results also indicate that we can maintain good stability results while maintaining a small relay set membership size as compared to the unmodified algorithm.
The role of mental health in mediating the relationship between social support and optimal ART adherence

Optimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) is essential for reducing mortality and morbidity in persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), as well as for reducing the risk of further HIV transmission. While studies have identified psychosocial factors such as lack of social support and poor mental health status as important barriers to optimal ART adherence, few studies have explored the potential of a mediation effect of psychosocial factors on the relationship between social support and optimal ART adherence. This paper assessed whether mental health status mediated the relationship between social support and optimal ART adherence among a cross-sectional sample of 202 persons living with HIV who were recruited from HIV clinical care sites and community-based organizations in Los Angeles County (LAC). Participants completed a survey that included social support items from the Medical Outcome Study: Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS) Instrument, mental health measures from the Medical Outcomes Study Short ...
Desmosomes, Filaments, And Keratohyaline Granules: Their Role In The Stabilization And Keratinization of The Epidermis

Components of desmosomes, filaments, and keratohyaline granules were studied by electron microscope and biochemical methods to clarify their role in the stabilization and keratinization of the epidermis. Isolated desmosomes are composed of 76% protein, 17% carbohydrate, and 10% lipid. The bulk of protein consists of a "spectrin"-like fibrous protein, presumably present in the plaque, and of glycoproteins in the desmosomal interspace. The main component of filaments, prekeratin, is a low-sulfur α-protein composed of a pair of three-chain subunits with non-α-helical segments separated by 200 A-long α-helical regions. The major component of isolated keratohyaline granules, the amorphous particulate material, is formed by a high-sulfur protein with a single-type of polypeptide chain. polypeptide chains comparable to those found in prekeratin and keratohyaline granules were recovered from extracts of horny cells. Within the living part of the epidermis, filaments hypothetically form a cytoskeletal system which is anchored to desmosomes by a filamentous plaque protein. Glycoproteins are involved in the formation of strong junctions between the cells which enable the living part of the epidermis to respond as a whole to mechanical stress. The stratum corneum is stabilized by a similar system in a consolidated state which is less extensible. Horny cells are enveloped by a thickened membrane and the interfilamentous spaces are filled with various proteins, including the sulfur-rich amorphous protein found in keratohyaline granules.
DNA methylation regulates neuronal glutamatergic synaptic scaling

Enhanced receptiveness at all synapses on a neuron that receive glutamatergic input is called cell-wide synaptic upscaling. We hypothesize that this type of synaptic plasticity may be critical for long-term memory storage within cortical circuits, a process that may also depend on epigenetic mechanisms, such as covalent chemical modification of DNA. We found that DNA cytosine demethylation mediates multiplicative synaptic upscaling of glutamatergic synaptic strength in cultured cortical neurons. Inhibiting neuronal activity with tetrodotoxin (TTX) decreased the cytosine methylation of and increased the expression of genes encoding glutamate receptors and trafficking proteins, in turn increasing the amplitude but not frequency of miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (mEPSCs), indicating synaptic upscaling rather than increased spontaneous activity. Inhibiting DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) activity, either by using the small-molecule inhibitor RG108 or by knocking down Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a, induced synaptic upscaling to a similar magnitude as exposure to TTX. Moreover, upscaling induced by DNMT inhibition required transcription; the RNA polymerase inhibitor actinomycin D blocked upscaling induced by DNMT inhibition. Knocking down the cytosine demethylase TET1 also blocked the upscaling effects of RG108. DNMT inhibition induced a multiplicative increase in mEPSC amplitude, indicating that the alterations in glutamate receptor abundance occurred in a coordinated manner throughout a neuron and were not limited to individual active synapses. Our data suggest that DNA methylation status controls transcription-dependent regulation of glutamatergic synaptic homeostasis. Furthermore, covalent DNA modifications may contribute to synaptic plasticity events that underlie the formation and stabilization of memories.
Nonverbal Expression of Effort as Causally Relevant Information

The effects of nonverbal effort cues on causal attributions were assessed. Subjects watched a videotape of an athlete running on an exercise treadmill. The athlete either succeeded or failed and was either expressive or nonexpressive. As hypothesized, expressive athletes were seen to exhibit more effort than nonexpressive athletes. More important, significant interactions showed that for failure conditions nonexpressive athletes were seen to have less ability and as more responsible for their failure than expressive athletes. Implications for attribution research, attribution theory, and self-presentation were discussed.
On the ideology of hypodescent: Political conservatism predicts categorization of racially ambiguous faces as Black

article i nfo According to the principle of hypodescent, multiracial individuals are categorized according to their most so- cially subordinate group membership. We investigated whether the tendency to apply this principle is relat- ed to political ideology. In three studies, participants categorized a series of morphed faces that varied in terms of racial ambiguity. In each study, self-reported conservatism (vs. liberalism) was associated with the tendency to categorize ambiguous faces as Black. Consistent with the notion that system justification mo- tivation helps to explain ideological differences in racial categorization, the association between conserva- tism and hypodescent was mediated by individual differences in opposition to equality (Study 2) and was stronger when U.S. participants categorized American than Canadian faces (Study 3). We discuss ways in which the categorization of racially ambiguous individuals in terms of their most subordinate racial group may exacerbate inequality and vulnerability to discrimination.
HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination in South Africa--still a problem.

Awareness of global health issues is most effectively raised through global campaigns. In 2002 - 2003, the World AIDS Campaign adopted the theme ‘Live and Let Live: Stigma and Discrimination’ to address various hostile determinants powering HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination (S&D). Among the effects of HIV/AIDS-related S&D are blame, denial, and difficulties in adhering to treatment. While campaigns raise awareness of global health issues, it was HIV/AIDS that propelled global crusades for advocacy and mobilisation. HIV/AIDS S&D demanded a robust response at all levels of society, as efforts against HIV/AIDS were becoming futile. The various determinants of S&D should be placed in context to address the root causes that are specific to a particular nation or community. Otherwise, campaigns will come and go without a positive impact.
End region effects upon the performance of a magnetohydrodynamic channel

REVIOUS studies1'2 have identified MHD channel configurations and operating conditions which result in peak thermodynamic efficiency of the combined MHD/steam plant. A critical factor in these studies was that the MHD channel was cooled by low-pressure, low-temperature boiler feedwater. This results in a lowering of the steam plant efficiency with increasing MHD channel heat loss since it reduces the amount of regenerative boiler feedwater heating that can be done within the steam plant itself. In these initial studies, only the active (significantly power-producing) region of the channel was considered. This region was taken to extend from a 5-field low of 4 T at the front of the channel to a B-field low of approximately 3.5 T at the rear of the channel (see Fig. 1). However, even though the regions upstream and downstream of the active region do not produce significant amounts of power, they still produce significant voltage which requires voltage isolation. Therefore these regions require MHD-channel-type construction and hence cooling with lowpressure, low-temperature boiler feedwater with the attendant possibility of a further reduction in overall plant efficiency. The results presented in this paper apply only to plants of the size of 200 MWe and to MHD channels whose design requirements specify cooling with low-pressure, lowtemperature boiler feedwater. The sensitivity of various channel parameters (maximum B-field, diffuser recovery coefficient, generator load parameter, Mach number, and combustor pressure) are examined under the constraints of a maximum axial electric field (Ex) of 2.5 kV/m, a maximum transverse electric field (Ey) of 4 kV/m, and a maximum transverse current (Jy) of 10 kA/m2. II. Background The channel analysis is based on a quasi-one-dimensional code.3 However, in this study, the code has been modified to allow the calculation of the voltage drops through the integral boundary layer. This is necessary since the original model is inadequate for the channel end regions. In addition to the voltage-drop calculations, the channel code utilizes tabulated chemical equilibrium properties which are computed separately.4 This allows a considerable reduction of the required computing time, especially in the region of the boundary layers. The channel code is then combined with an overall system calculation2 to determine the performance of the MHD/steam plant.
The Determinants of State Budget Periodicity: An Empirical Analysis

States budget for a one-year or a two-year period. Little attention has been paid to the determinants of budget periodicity decisions at the state level. This article relies on existing surveys to develop hypotheses for the factors that influence the periodicity decision at the state level. The hypotheses are tested using a sample of 300 observations of the fifty states at various times in recent history. The results suggest that overall expenditures, budget complexity, political culture, revenue variability, and frequency of legislative session are statistically significant factors in the determination of budget periodicity.
Brain Activation during Face Perception: Evidence of a Developmental Change

Behavioral studies suggest that children under age 10 process faces using a piecemeal strategy based on individual distinctive facial features, whereas older children use a configural strategy based on the spatial relations among the face's features. The purpose of this study was to determine whether activation of the fusiform gyrus, which is involved in face processing in adults, is greater during face processing in older children (12–14 years) than in younger children (8–10 years). Functional MRI scans were obtained while children viewed faces and houses. A developmental change was observed: Older children, but not younger children, showed significantly more activation in bilateral fusiform gyri for faces than for houses. Activation in the fusiform gyrus correlated significantly with age and with a behavioral measure of configural face processing. Regions believed to be involved in processing basic facial features were activated in both younger and older children. Some evidence was also observed for greater activation for houses versus faces for the older children than for the younger children, suggesting that processing of these two stimulus types becomes more differentiated as children age. The current results provide biological insight into changes in visual processing of faces that occur with normal development.
On Control System Design for the Conventional Mode of Operation of Vibrational Gyroscopes

This paper presents a novel control circuitry design for both vibrating axes (drive and sense) of vibrational gyroscopes, and a new sensing method for time-varying rotation rates. The control design is motivated to address the challenges posed by manufacturing imperfection and environment vibrations that are particularly pronounced in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) gyroscopes. The method of choice is active disturbance rejection control that, unlike most existing control design methods, does not depend on an accurate model of the plant. The task of control design is simplified when the internal dynamics, such as mechanical cross coupling between the drive and sense axes, and external vibrating forces are estimated and cancelled in real time. In both simulation and hardware tests on a vibrational piezoelectric beam gyroscope, the proposed controller proves to be robust against structural uncertainties; it also facilitates accurate sensing of time-varying rotation rates. The results demonstrate a simple, economic, control solution for compensating the manufacturing imperfections and improving sensing performance of the MEMS gyroscopes.
A connectionist expert system approach to fault diagnosis in the presence of noise and redundancy

The author differentiates between physical redundancy involving duplicate measurements of the same quantity and analytical redundancy involving the behavior of a collection of sensors measuring different quantities. If there are a finite number of possible faults, if each fault has a known set of ideal instrument readings (in the absence of noise), and if a model of the noise is available, then analytical redundancy relationships exist. The task of constructing expert systems for problems involving noise and redundancy is then considered. The author reviews an automated method for constructing diagnostic expert systems (MACIE). This approach is based on machine learning techniques for connectionist network models and is well suited for noisy problems. The main advantage of the MACIE system is that it only requires training examples of desired behavior to generate the final expert system. Moreover, this approach takes advantage implicitly of both types of redundancy, without the need for explicit probabilistic analysis. >
Ethical concerns of twitter use for collective crisis response

Previous research on disasters and crises has shown that, in some cases, citizens from affected communities collectively participate in emergency response. Social media technologies now provide local and even non-local citizens an additional means for collective response. By using social media technologies, including Twitter, distributed citizens can generate and disseminate their own crisis-related information to a wide audience bypassing official communications. Researchers have found that citizens use Twitter for information production, broadcasting, brokering, and organization during violent crises [1–2] and natural disasters [3–6]. Although the information behaviors have been analyzed, ethical considerations have yet to be addressed.
Bile Acids: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Bile acids, amphipathic end products of cholesterol metabolism, are “good” in the infant because they enhance lipid absorption and thereby promote growth. Bile acids also induce bile flow and biliary lipid secretion. The enterohepatic circulation of bile acids is “bad” in the adult because it downregulates hepatocyte low-density lipoprotein receptor activity and thereby elevates plasma cholesterol levels. Defects in bile acid metabolism such as impaired biosynthesis or transport are “ugly” because they cause morbidity and death. New approaches for treating these defects are being developed.
Inhibiting caspase-9 after injury reduces hypoxic ischemic neuronal injury in the cortex in the newborn rat

A broad spectrum caspase inhibitor reduces hypoxic ischemic brain injury. We hypothesized that a specific caspase-9 inhibitor would provide similar protection. Seven-day-old rat pups had the right carotid artery ligated, then were subjected to 2.5 h of 8% oxygen. Caspase-9 activity in the right cortex was measured enzymatically. Caspase-9 activity was increased at 6, 12, and 24 h after injury. LEHD-CHO is a specific cell permeable caspase-9 inhibitor. LEHD-CHO given intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) into the brain after the hypoxic period eliminated the increase in caspase-9 activity. The greatest effect was at a dose of 50 microg/pup (1.6 micromol/kg). Fifty-two pups were randomly assigned to receive 50 microg/pup of i.c.v. LEHD-CHO or vehicle immediately after the hypoxic period. The loss of cortical neurons in the right hemisphere 22 days after injury was 52.0+/-8% in the vehicle treated animals, and 25+/-9% in the LEHD-CHO treated animals (P<0.05). Inhibiting caspase-9 activity reduces loss of neurons after brain injury.
Sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake: a regulatory step in the synthesis of acetylcholine.

— The sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake into synaptosomes from rat brain has been studied after in vivo treatments which would alter the activity of cholinergic neurons. We utilized a number of treatments to reduce the activity of cholinergc neurons in the brain. Administration of pentobarbital (65 mg/kg), chloral hydrate (40 mg/kg) and γbutyrelactone (750 mg/kg) caused a 50-80% reduction in sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake in several brain regions (30 min). This depression was not found 24 h after injection. Interruption of the cholinergic septal-hippocampal or habenuleinterpeduncular tracts by lesions (10 min-1 h) also caused a similar, large reduction in sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake in the hippocampus and the interpeduncular nucleus respectively. We reversed the inactivity after pentobarbital administration by direct electrical stimulation of the cholinergic septal-hippocampal tract. Stimulation (40 Hz) for 10-15 min completely reversed the depression in sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake. Stimulation at lower frequencies or for shorter times caused a partial reversal. Administration of pentylenetetrazol (75 mg/kg), a convulsant, was utilized to increase the activity of central cholinergic neurons. After drug administration, we found a large (60%) increase in sodium-de-pendent high affinity choline uptake. This increase was not found in the hippocampus when cholinergic afferents were interrupted by septal lesion prior to drug administration. We also examined the uptake after administration of cholinergic drugs. Oxotremorine (0.75 mg/kg), a muscarinic agonist which reduces acetylcholine release and turnover, caused a reduction in uptake. On the other hand, administration of scopolamine (5 mg/kg), a cholinergic antagonist which increases acetylcholine turnover, caused an increase in sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake. Addition of any drug utilized, drectly to uptake samples, did not alter uptake. We examined the conversion of [3H]choline to [3H]acetylcholine in hippocampal synaptosomes after septal lesion, pentylenetetrazol administration and in untreated controls. In all cases, 60-70% of the total sodium-dependent tritium content was present as [3H]acetylcholine. Evidence was presented that homoexchange is not or is less involved in choline uptake than in GABA uptake. A kinetic analysis of sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake was performed after all treatments. We found changes in Vmax, after all treatments, which were consistently in the same direction as the alterations in activity. The proposal is made that the sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake is coupled to cholinergic activity in such a way as to regulate the entry of choline for the maintenance of acetylcholine synthesis. The findings also lead us to propose that sodium-dependent high affinity choline uptake in vitro be utilized as a rapid, relative measure of the activity of cholinergic nerve terminals in vivo.
THE ASSASSINATION OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY: THE CASE OF TURKEY

L'A. offre ici d'abord une idee generale de l'oeuvre de Said Nursi (1876-1960), fondateur du mouvement Nurcu et a l'origine de l'histoire moderne de la societe turque en initiant une prise de conscience d'opposition au sein des limites de la domination kemaliste. Puis, pour mieux comprendre les ecrits de Nursi, il propose une explication du kemalisme et de sa version du laicisme et de son objectif. Enfin, il aborde le domaine de l'education ou les deux visions de la societe et de la politique ont ete mises en evidence.
Human studies in the pathophysiology of migraine: Genetics and functional neuroimaging

The expansion of technologies available for the study of migraine pathophysiology has evolved greatly over the last 15 years. Two areas of rapid progress are investigations focusing on the genetics of migraine and others utilizing novel functional neuroimaging techniques. Genetic studies are increasingly focusing on sporadic migraine and the utilization of unbiased searches of the human genome to identify novel variants associated with disease susceptibility. At the same time, neuroimaging studies have provided novel insights into the altered neuronal and network dynamics of the migrainous brain. These 2 parallel approaches provide complementary insights into the complexity and heterogeneity of migraine.
High alpha 1-adrenoceptor occupancy decreases relaxing potency of nifedipine by increasing myosin light chain phosphorylation.

It has been proposed that the decreased potency of Ca2+ channel blockers to produce relaxation in vascular tissues contracted at high alpha 1-adrenoceptor occupancy may be caused by activation of spare receptors. Results from the present study using isolated strips of rabbit renal arteries contracted with the alpha 1-adrenoceptor agonist phenylephrine (PhE) support this hypothesis and provide a cellular explanation for the phenomenon. PhE at 1 microM activated only 23% of the total alpha 1-adrenoceptor pool but produced maximum stress while increasing the extent of myosin light chain phosphorylation to 35%. Activation of additional (spare) alpha 1-adrenoceptors with 100 microM PhE produced an additional increase in the extent of myosin light chain phosphorylation, which reached 45%, but did not produce an additional increase in stress above that produced by 1 microM PhE. A complete [PhE]-response curve revealed a quasihyperbolic dependency of stress on myosin light chain phosphorylation; i.e., a roughly linear relation existed at [PhE] values below that producing maximum stress, and at higher concentrations, phosphorylation was further increased but stress was not. Interestingly, the Ca2+ channel blocker nifedipine (0.1 microM) reduced the increases in myosin light chain phosphorylation produced by both 1 and 100 microM PhE by the same amount, approximately 12%. Nifedipine also reduced the increases in [Ca2+]i produced by 1 and 100 microM PhE by the same amount. However, nifedipine reduced the level of stress produced by 100 microM PhE by only 17%, whereas the level of stress produced by 1 microM PhE was reduced by 63%.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Answering complex queries in peer-to-peer systems

Peer-to-peer (P2P) systems provide a robust, scalable and decentralized way to share and publish data. However, most existing P2P systems only support equality or keyword search queries. We believe that future P2P applications, such as digital libraries, resource discovery on a grid, or military applications, will require more complex query functionality, as users will publish semantically rich data. Towards the goal of supporting complex queries in P2P systems, this dissertation focuses on developing index structures that allow fast access to distributed data. We introduce first a general modular indexing framework that identifies and separates the different functional components of a P2P index structure. One of the benefits of such a framework is that it allows reusing the existing algorithms for different components rather than implementing everything anew. We can thus concentrate on creating algorithms that provide new functionality. We introduce P-Tree, a distributed fault-tolerant index structure. P-Trees support range queries in addition to equality queries in P2P systems in which each user (peer) publishes a small number of data items. We describe algorithms to maintain a P-Tree under insertions and deletions of data items/peers, and evaluate its performance using both a simulation and a real distributed implementation. Our results show the efficacy of our approach. We introduce then P-Ring, a novel index structure based on our framework, that supports both equality and range queries, is fault-tolerant, efficiently supports large sets of data items per peer (as opposed to P-Tree), and provides guaranteed logarithmic search performance in a stable system. In a thorough Wide Area Network experimental study we evaluate the performance of P-Ring and compare P-Ring with three other P2P index structures, Chord, Skip Graphs, and Online Balancing, implemented in the context of our indexing framework. Our performance results indicate that P-Ring outperforms Skip Graphs in terms of both query and maintenance cost. P-Ring offers a better load balance than Online Balancing, at a lower cost. P-Ring outperforms Chord in terms of search performance and supports a larger class of queries, with a low overhead.
Serum-starvation-induced changes in protein synthesis and morphology of Borrelia burgdorferi

It has been demonstrated previously that motile Borrelia burgdorferi cells transform into non-motile cyst-forms when incubated for several weeks in BSKII (a complex medium) lacking rabbit serum. B. burgdorferi cells cannot synthesize fatty acids de novo and serum is thought to provide a source of fatty acids and lipids. When B. burgdorferi cells were serum-starved in defined RPMI medium, ~90% of the cells formed spherical cysts within 48 h. Cyst formation was inhibited by tetracycline. Cyst opening and recovery of vegetative cells was rapidly induced by the addition of either BSKII or rabbit serum. The percentage of viable cells recovered from cysts ranged from 2·9% to 52·5%. Viability was inversely proportional to cyst age. Protein synthesis by B. burgdorferi during serum starvation was examined by labelling cells with Tran35S-Label and analysing the labelled proteins by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and fluorography. The synthesis of over 20 proteins was induced during serum starvation. Western blots of proteins from vegetative cells and cysts probed with sera from either B. burgdorferi-infected humans or monkeys revealed that several cyst proteins were antigenic. These data suggest that cells of B. burgdorferi, although possessing a small genome and extremely limited biosynthetic capabilities, rapidly respond to conditions of serum starvation by inducing changes in protein synthesis and cell morphology. This study may help explain how cells of B. burgdorferi can survive periods of nutrient deprivation in different hosts and host tissues.
Performance Tradeoffs in Team Knowledge Sourcing

This research examines how teams organize knowledge sourcing (obtaining access to others’ knowledge or expertise) and investigates the performance trade-offs involved in two approaches to knowledge sourcing in teams. One approach a team can take is to specialize, such that a small number of members source knowledge on behalf of the team. This specialized knowledge-sourcing approach lowers search costs. The other approach has most or all team members engaging in knowledge sourcing. This broad approach means that more team members interact directly with the knowledge source, and thus may understand the knowledge better. These options present a sourcing paradox: teams cannot reap the advantages of specialized sourcing and the advantages of broad sourcing. They face performance tradeoffs. Further under some conditions performance tradeoffs will be more pronounced. Specifically, specialized knowledge sourcing depends on within team knowledge sharing, and so conditions that hinder knowledge sharing in a team are likely to reduce the effectiveness of the specialized approach. Using archival data from several hundred software development projects in an Indian software services firm, we find support for most of our hypotheses. Our findings offer insight for theory and practice into how team organization, organizational knowledge resources, and within-team knowledge sharing can aid team performance.
Reflections on the Past, Transitions to the Future: The American Society of Nephrology

pattern, and obviously second order kinetics of some sort. In the early seventies, there was a very slow rate of growth. Then all of a sudden, thanks to decisions of past presidents who are in attendance at Renal Week 2002, we had a change in the slope of growth. The international attendance started increasing in the mid-1980s, and the clinical short courses were added, so the popularity for clinical nephrologists increased. Over the last few years we have observed a kind of semi-plateau. Can a society really be measured in terms of the quality of the organization simply by the rate of attendance growth at a meeting? There are some examples we can reflect upon; that of a well-studied society important in the United States for most of the 20 th century: the AFCR, ASCI, and AAP (The Old
Disentangling the effects of geographic distance and environmental dissimilarity on global patterns of species turnover

Aim To distinguish the effects of geographic distance and environmental dissimilarity on global patterns of species turnover in four classes of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians). Location Six hundred and sixty terrestrial ecoregions across the globe. Methods We calculated species turnover between each pair of ecoregions, using the Jaccard index (J). We selected seven variables to quantify environment in each ecoregion, and subjected the environmental values to a principal components analysis.For each realm,we applied multiple regression analysis relating the natural logarithm of the Jaccard index (lnJ) to geographic distance alone and in combination with differences in the environment variables measured as principal components (PC).We used partial correlations to partition variance in lnJbetween unique contributions of distance and environmental PC scores, the covariation between distance and environment, and unexplained variance. To examine the latitude and species turnover relationship, we regressed lnJ on latitude with distance between ecoregions being included as a covariate. Results The natural logarithm of the Jaccard index (lnJ) decreased significantly with increasing geographic distance for all vertebrate classes in each zoogeographic realm, and the slopes of the relationships per 1000 km ranged from -0.251 to -1.043. With environmental differences included in the analysis, both geographic distance and environmental differences were substantial predictors of lnJ for every combination of taxon and realm. On average, the unique contribution of geographic distance to variation in species turnover between ecoregions was about 1.4 times that of the environmental differences between ecoregions. Species turnover generally decreased with increasing latitude when controlling for geographic distance. The value of lnJ for each vertebrate class was highly and positively correlated with those of the other vertebrate classes. Main conclusions Our analyses suggest that both dispersal-based and nichebased processes have played important roles in determining faunal similarities among vertebrate assemblages at the spatial scale examined. Furthermore, reptiles and amphibians exhibited greater distance-independent faunal heterogeneity among ecoregions and greater turnover among ecoregions with respect to geographic and environmental distance than birds and mammals.