cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Community Forestry in the State of Uttarakhand, India: Not Meeting the Needs of the Villagers

This community forestry case study examines village forest councils (van panchayat) in India’s northern state of Uttarakhand. We describe forest stocking levels of 20 community forests and address the question of whether these forests are in a position to provide commodity resources, such as fuelwood and fodder, on a sustainable basis. In addition, we report on the perceptions of the villagers on whether their respective community forest is meeting their fuelwood and fodder needs. At the biophysical level, none of the community forests were in a position to provide fuelwood and fodder on a sustainable basis. Most forests did not have adequate overstory stocking, and there was no evidence of deliberate management to improve the situation. Interviews with 400 villagers (20 in each village) supported the field findings. Villagers unanimously reported that their respective community forest was inadequate in supplying commodity needs. Furthermore, they wished the Forest Department would provide more technical and financial assistance to guide them with forest management needs. Women are a critical part of community forestry as they are the primary gatherers of fuelwood and fodder. Although the perceptions of women toward forest management issues are important, our interviews with female villagers indicate they play a passive role in decision-making. Decentralization in natural resources management sounds good at the theoretical level as it provides villagers with some authority and autonomy, but it cannot be effectively implemented without professional guidance coupled with resources. The villagers are ready and willing to improve the situation, but they do not have the resources to make change unilaterally—they need professional and financial support from the Forest Department.
Which System Differences Matter? Using L1/L2 Regularization to Compare Dialogue Systems

We investigate how to jointly explain the performance and behavioral differences of two spoken dialogue systems. The Join Evaluation and Differences Identification (JEDI), finds differences between systems relevant to performance by formulating the problem as a multi-task feature selection question. JEDI provides evidence on the usefulness of a recent method, l1/lp-regularized regression (Obozinski et al., 2007). We evaluate against manually annotated success criteria from real users interacting with five different spoken user interfaces that give bus schedule information.
Anesthetic Complications in the Neonate

The neonate is at risk for increased perianesthetic complications attributed, in part, to such factors as the transitional circulation and the immaturity of many organ systems and metabolic processes. In the preterm neonate, incomplete maturation of all organ systems, in particular the pulmonary and cardiovascular systems, further magnifies the risks in the perioperative period. Neonatal surgical or interventional procedures, such as repair or palliation of major congenital anomalies or management of life-threatening complications of prematurity, are rarely elective. Excellent communication and collaboration among the neonatal, anesthesia, and surgical teams are essential to optimize the outcome. Despite best intentions, preparation, and experience, perianesthetic adverse events confront all practitioners. The discussion of complications and risks for all procedures and therapeutic options is beyond the scope of this chapter; therefore, the focus here is to provide an overview of the adverse events to which neonates are particularly vulnerable and of the potential risks from anesthetic agents.
“I always expected to have grandchildren some day”: The long road from sense of loss to gradual acceptance

This paper explores, through the use of narrative data, ways in which older parents respond to the realization that they never will become grandparents. Stated reactions range from unresolved grief...
How we proposed the spin transistor

Spintronic devices, which exploit the spin of electrons for information processing and storage, are a key emerging technology in electronics. Supriyo Datta explains how emulating optical phenomena inspired his prediction of the spin transistor.
Selectivity of Methylation of Metal-Bound Cysteinates and Its Consequences

Alkylation of metal-bound cysteinate residues forms an integral step in both the activation of the DNA-damage sensing Ada protein from E. coli and the reaction mechanisms of several zinc-dependent enzymes. The roles of metal ions and the protein structure in regulating the reactivity of bound cysteinate residues is not well-understood. Variants of a consensus zinc finger peptide were used to determine the effects of alkylation of cysteine residues on both metal binding and stability of the peptide structure. The ability of thioethers to act as ligands was probed through the direct synthesis of peptides with methionine or S-methylcysteine replacing the second histidine within the zinc finger framework. This position can be substituted with cysteine with no significant loss of structure or stability. Two-dimensional 1H NMR studies and water exchange experiments of the peptide with S-methylcysteine in this position showed that methylation affected the structure of the peptide−zinc complex in the last turn of...
The Chloroplast Genome

In the last years, the availability of chloroplast genomes for plants and algae is increasing. These data can be useful both in the biotechnological area and in the evolutionary field, for the analysis of phylogenetic relationships among groups of organisms. Thanks to the advance of high-throughput sequencing, it is now possible to obtain the chloroplast genome sequence as a contaminant of whole-genome sequencing projects. Otherwise, the entire organelle genome can be recovered by means of long-range PCR amplification, using universal primers designed on highly conserved regions. The fragments obtained can be massively sequenced and the reads mapped on a reference genome. The chloroplast genomes of the Cynara cardunculus taxa, namely the globe artichoke, wild and cultivated cardoon and of other Cynara wild species are now available in the public databases. The structure of the Cynara chloroplast genome shows the classical quadripartite organization, with a long- and a short-single copy region and two inverted repeats. Within the globe artichoke, a marked variation is observed between the Romaneschi group and the other artichoke varietal types, due to some deletion events present in the Romaneschi. The highly variable regions found in the chloroplast genome can be used for barcode applications and phylogenetic relationships, not only in the genus Cynara, but also in the Asteraceae family.
5TH ESCMID Conference on Vaccines in Bilbao, Spain. Vaccines against respiratory infections: new insights and new vaccines

The 5th ESCMID Conference on Vaccines, which was held in Bilbao, Spain, from September 6 to 8 in 2019, was attended by more than 150 participants from 36 countries around the world, a number that c...
Recurrent Chromosomal Abnormalities in Tumoral Lesions of Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma/Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Large-Scale Fluorescent in-Situ Hybridization Study on Tissue Biopsy Sections

Background: Small lymphocytic lymphoma/chronic lymphocytic leukemia (SLL/CLL) is a lymphoproliferative disorder of small mature B-cells, most commonly presenting with peripheral blood and bone marrow involvement. Tumoral lesions are variably encountered, resulting from either lymph node involvement or, less commonly, infiltration into virtually any extramedullary site. The prognostic assessment of patients with SLL/CLL relies strongly on the identification of recurrent chromosomal abnormalities, which are routinely tested by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on peripheral blood or bone marrow specimens. However, the incidence of such recurrent chromosomal abnormalities on tumoral lesions has only been studied on small series, and its concordance with peripheral blood and/or bone marrow testing remains unknown. We hereby report a large series of chromosomal abnormalities detected on tumoral SLL/CLL lesions, based on a validated FISH panel for formalin-fixed/paraffin-embedded (FFPE) biopsy sections. Methods: FISH was performed at Mayo Clinic on FFPE tissue sections from biopsies obtained from May 2014 to November 2018, as clinically indicated. Pathology reports and HE173:105). Most cases had 1 abnormality (55%), with fewer patients having 2 abnormalities (13%), and only 1 case showing 3 abnormalities. Of 47 patients with 2 or more chromosomal aberrations, most (72%) had 13q- in combination with either 11q- (7 cases), +12 (10 cases) or 17p- (7 cases) (Figure 1B). Of 29 patients with positive blood or bone marrow FISH results within 12 months of tissue biopsy, 7 patients (24%) had discrepant results, all of which were limited to discordant +12 and/or 13q- detection. In 14 additional patients with positive blood or bone marrow FISH results more than 12 months before or after tissue biopsy, discordant results were found in 3 cases (21%), all of which indicated gains of 17p- (2 cases) or 11q- (1 case) on the follow-up analysis. Conclusions: We hereby report the largest documented series (to the best of our knowledge) of FISH results performed on tumoral lesions of SLL/CLL. Trisomy 12 was overrepresented in tumoral lesions, as compared to the reported predominance of 13q- in leukemic involvement. Discrepant results between concurrent tumoral and leukemic FISH testing were limited to differences in +12 and 13q- in our series. We also document the acquisition of aberrancies of unfavorable prognosis (17p- and 11q-) on follow up FISH analysis in a small subset of patients, which should be taken into account when considering repeat FISH studies. Download : Download high-res image (120KB) Download : Download full-size image Figure . Disclosures Horna: MorphoSys AG: Research Funding.
Chapter 108 – Genetic Engineering

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an understanding of genetic engineering technologies developed for insects and emphasizes studies with the vinegar fly, Drosophila melanogaster, because, as a result of its successful use as a genetic model for eukaryotic genetic systems, developments in genetic engineering with this species establish a benchmark for what can, or could, be done in other insect species. This chapter also discusses the more recent use of transposable-element-based genetic transformation procedures in nondrosophilid insects and concludes that many of the tools required for genetic manipulations of nondrosophilid insects are now available.
George Stigler’s Adam Smith: Successes and Failures

George Stigler was a great admirer of Adam Smith as well as a pioneer of writing critical, analytical histories of economics. The paper examines Stigler’s significant contributions to Smith scholarship as well as Stigler’s use of Adam Smith’s analytical insights in his (Stigler’s own work). The paper argues that while Stigler’s assessment of Smith’s analytical achievements in economics is largely a success, his blindness to Smith’s moral philosophy causes him to misrepresent self-interest as the “bedrock” of the Wealth of Nations. Rather, I argue that justice is more fundamental than self-interest, and hence the true “bedrock” of the book. The separation of moral philosophy from economics is Stigler’s most significant failure.
Repair of iatrogenic tracheal injury in acute respiratory failure with veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation:

Iatrogenic tracheal injuries are rare but potentially serious complications of endotracheal intubation that frequently require lung isolation to repair. This is not tolerated in patients with severe respiratory failure. We describe a case in a patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome, repaired using veno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
Dissecting transcription factor-target interaction in bovine coronavirus infection

Coronaviruses are RNA viruses that cause significant disease within many species, including cattle. Bovine coronavirus (BCoV) infects cattle and wild ruminants, both as a respiratory and enteric pathogen, and possesses a significant economic threat to the cattle industry. Transcription factors are proteins that activate or inhibit transcription through DNA binding and have become new targets for disease therapies. This study utilized in silico tools to identify potential transcription factors that can serve as biomarkers for regulation of BCoV pathogenesis in cattle, both for testing and treatment. A total of 11 genes were identified as significantly expressed during BCoV infection through literature searches and functional analyses. Eleven transcription factors were predicted to target those genes (AREB6, YY1, LMO2, C-Rel, NKX2-5, E47, RORAlpha1, HLF, E4BP4, ARNT, CREB). Function, network, and phylogenetic analyses established the significance of many transcription factors within the immune response. This study establishes new information on the transcription factors and genes related to host-pathogen interactome in BCoV infection, particularly transcription factors YY1, AREB6, LMO2, and NKX2, which appear to have strong potential as diagnostic markers, and YY1 as a potential target for drug therapies.
In Search of the Self

This chapter moves from the political discourse of state actors to the psychological discourse that inquires about these individuals and their capacity to participate in affairs of state. Not only must they reconcile the civilized hypocrisy of conformity and professional role-playing assigned to them by the community, they are also presumed to fit some Cartesian–Kantian model of the self as a unified and consistent subject whose conduct can be judged against a standard of hypocrisy. This model is contrasted with different models that problematize the uniformity of the self. If the self cannot be fully known, and if there is no clear ontological self prior to its unfolding in language, how is it possible to claim the absence of authenticity in the name of hypocrisy? Similarly, if the mind has multiple modules with different functionalities, is the charge of inconsistency appropriate as the basis for the charge of hypocrisy? Even if hypocrisy seems too blunt a term, it might still serve as a deterrent for immoral and antisocial behavior.
Frustrated spin one on a diamond lattice in NiRh 2 O 4

The fascinating interplay between topology and magnetism was first observed in integer spin chains. As conjectured by Haldane, half-integer and integer spin chains differ in their excitation spectra: while the former are gapless, the latter contain a Haldane gap. Though there are now many examples of Haldane gap materials, they all contain spin chains and are thus quasi-one-dimensional materials. Recent proposals suggest that strongly correlated, three-dimensional spin-one diamond lattices can also harbor topological magnetic states and Haldane-gapped excitation spectra, however, no materials have been found to harbor spin-one on a diamond lattice thus far. The authors present data on NiRh${}_{2}$O${}_{4}$, a tetragonal spinel with Ni${}^{2+}$ (S= 1) on a diamond lattice, and present it as a candidate three-dimensional topological paramagnet.
Visuo-Motor Feedback Modulates Neural Activities in the Medulla of the Honeybee, Apis mellifera

Behavioral and internal state modulation of sensory processing has been described in several organisms. In insects, visual neurons in the optic lobe are modulated by locomotion, but the degree to which visual-motor feedback modulates these neurons remains unclear. Moreover, it also remains unknown whether self-generated and externally generated visual motion are processed differently. Here, we implemented a virtual reality system that allowed fine-scale control over visual stimulation in relation to animal motion, in combination with multi-channel recording of neural activity in the medulla of a female honeybee (Apis mellifera). We found that this activity was modulated by locomotion; however, in most cases, only when the bee had behavioral control over the visual stimulus (i.e., in a closed-loop system). Moreover, closed-loop control modulated a third of the recorded neurons, and the application of octopamine (OA) evoked similar changes in neural responses that were observed in a closed-loop. Additionally, in a subset of modulated neurons, fixation on a visual stimulus was preceded by an increase in firing rate. To further explore the relationship between neuromodulation and adaptive control of the bee9s visual environment, we modified motor gain sensitivity while locally injecting an OA receptor antagonist into the medulla. Whereas female honeybees were tuned to a motor gain of -2 to 2 (between the heading of the bee and its visual feedback), local disruption of the OA pathway in the medulla abolished this tuning, resulting in similar, low levels of response across levels of motor gain. Our results show that behavioral control modulates neural activity in the medulla and ultimately impacts behavior. SIGNIFICANCE When moving, an animal generates motion of the visual scene over its retina. We asked whether self-generated and externally generated optic flow are processed differently in the insect medulla. Our results show that closed-loop control of the visual stimulus modulates neural activity as early as the medulla, and ultimately impacts behavior. Moreover, blocking octopaminergic modulation further disrupted object tracking responses. Our results suggest that the medulla is an important site for context-dependent processing of visual information and that placing the animal in a closed-loop environment may be essential to understand its visual cognition and processing.
Outcomes in Living Donor Compared With Deceased Donor Primary Liver Transplantation in Lower Acuity Patients With Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Scores <30.

While recent studies have reported favorable outcomes in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT), it remains unclear which populations benefit most from LDLT. The aim of this study is to evaluate post-transplant outcomes in LDLT compared to deceased donor liver transplant (DDLT) according to Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score categories. Using data from the OPTN/UNOS registry, outcomes were compared between 1,486 LDLT, 13,568 donation after brain death (DBD) DDLT, and 1,171 donation after circulatory death (DCD) DDLT transplanted between 2009 and 2018. Because LDLT for patients with MELD score >30 was rare (1.8% of all LDLT), all patients with scores > 30 were excluded to equalize LDLT and DDLT cohorts. Risk factors for one-year graft loss were determined in LDLT and DDLT, separately. Compared with LDLT, DBD-DDLT had significantly lower risk of 30-day (aHR 0.60, P<0.001) and one-year graft loss (aHR 0.57, P<0.001). The significantly lower risk of graft loss was more prominent in the mid-MELD score category (score 15-29). DCD-DDLT, compared to LDLT, had significantly lower risk of 30-day graft loss, but comparable risk of one-year graft loss regardless of MELD score category. In LDLT, significant ascites was an independent risk factor for graft loss in patients with mid-MELD scores (aHR 1.68, P=0.02), but not in the lower-MELD score group. Risk of one-year graft loss in LDLT patients with ascites who received left liver was significantly higher than either those who received right liver or those without ascites who received left liver CONCLUSION: In LDLT, combinations of MELD score of 15-29, moderate/severe ascites and use of left liver, are associated with worse outcomes. These findings help calibrate appropriate patient and graft selection in LDLT.
Solution of Helmholtz Equation

The Helmholtz equation governs the physical problems, such as the vibration of a membrane, the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a waveguide, the oscillatory or seiche motion of an enclosed mass of water in a lake or harbor, and the acoustic vibrations of a body of fluid enclosed in a room or vehicle. This chapter describes finite element solution for such problems. The chapter illustrates the importance of Helmholtz equation by describing the numerical examples related to the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a waveguide and the problem of noise in the passenger compartment of an automobile. The solution provided by Helmholtz equation for such problems has some physical significance in determining component of the magnetic field strength vector; elevation of free surface measured from the mean water level; transverse displacement of the membrane; and excess pressure above ambient pressure.
Bacteriological Evaluation of Manufacturing-Grade Bulk-Tank Milk,

Summary Standard, thermoduric, and psychrophilic counts were made on 701 bulk-tank milk samples of manufacturing grade. These samples were obtained from 267 Iowa producers at all seasons of the year. Plates for standard and thermoduric counts were incubated at 32° C. Direct microscopic clump counts were made on 586 samples. The SPC of 37.7% of the samples exceeded 1,000,000 per milliliter, as compared to 26.5% at this level for the psychrophilic plate count results. Thermoduric counts in excess of 10,000 per milliliter were obtained on 43.6% of the samples. The direct microscopic clump count was considerably less than the SPC on many samples. Of the 245 samples out of 586 comparisons where the results of these two counts failed to agree, all but 16.3% of the samples had high counts of psychrophilic or thermoduric bacteria. Most psychrophilic bacteria stained readily, but many appeared to grow in clumps. The clumps probably were broken up during preparation of dilutions for plating. Thermoduric organisms apparently did not readily take up the stain, although they were not specifically tested.
Polyvictimization, income, and ethnic differences in trauma-related mental health during adolescence.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate ethnic differences in trauma-related mental health symptoms among adolescents, and test the mediating and moderating effects of polyvictimization (i.e., number of types of traumas/victimizations experienced by an individual) and household income, respectively. Data were drawn from the first wave of the National Survey of Adolescents-replication study (NSA-R), which took place in the US in 2005 and utilized random digit dialing to administer a telephone survey to adolescents ages 12–17. Participants included in the current analyses were 3312 adolescents (50.2 % female; mean age 14.67 years) from the original sample of 3614 who identified as non-Hispanic White (n = 2346, 70.8 %), non-Hispanic Black (n = 557, 16.8 %), or Hispanic (n = 409, 12.3 %). Structural equation modeling was utilized to test hypothesized models. Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic participants reported higher levels of polyvictimization and trauma-related mental health symptoms (symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression) compared to non-Hispanic Whites, though the effect sizes were small (γ ≤ 0.07). Polyvictimization fully accounted for the differences in mental health symptoms between non-Hispanic Blacks and non-Hispanic Whites, and partially accounted for the differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanic Whites. The relation between polyvictimization and trauma-related mental health symptoms was higher for low-income youth than for high-income youth. Disparities in trauma exposure largely accounted for racial/ethnic disparities in trauma-related mental health. Children from low-income family environments appear to be at greater risk of negative mental health outcomes following trauma exposure compared to adolescents from high-income families.
Austenite ferromagnetism and martensite morphology

The Curie temperature of the austenite, the martensite-start temperature, and martensite morphology have been determined in a series of nil-carbon Fe−Ni and Fe−Ni−Co alloys. For these alloys, austenite ferromagnetism aboveMs is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for the formation of lenticular rather than packet martensite. In contrast to Fe−Ni alloys where lenticular martensite only forms below ≈O°C, some of the Fe−Ni−Co alloys transform to this structure at temperatures up to ≈200°C. The results support the hypothesis that the resistance of austenite to plastic deformation affects the habit plane and thus morphology of the martensite which forms.
Quantification and Visualization of LD Patterns and Identification of Haplotype Blocks

Classical measures of linkage disequilibrium (LD) between two loci, based only on the joint distribution of alleles at these loci, present noisy patterns. In this paper, we propose a new distance-based LD measure, R, which takes into account multilocus haplotypes around the two loci in order to exploit information from neighboring loci. The LD measure R yields a matrix of pairwise distances between markers, based on the correlation between the lengths of shared haplotypes among chromosomes around these markers. Data analysis demonstrates that visualization of LD patterns through the R matrix reveals more deterministic patterns, with much less noise, than using classical LD measures. Moreover, the patterns are highly compatible with recently suggested models of haplotype block structure. We propose to apply the new LD measure to define haplotype blocks through cluster analysis. Specifically, we present a distance-based clustering algorithm, DHPBlocker, which performs hierarchical partitioning of an ordered sequence of markers into disjoint and adjacent blocks with a hierarchical structure. The proposed method integrates information on the two main existing criteria in defining haplotype blocks, namely, LD and haplotype diversity, through the use of silhouette width and description length as cluster validity measures, respectively. The new LD measure and clustering procedure are applied to single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) datasets from the human 5q31 region (Daly et al. 2001) and the class II region of the human major histocompatibility complex (Jeffreys et al. 2001). Our results are in good agreement with published results. In addition, analyses performed on different subsets of markers indicate that the method is robust with regards to the allele frequency and density of the genotyped markers. Unlike previously proposed methods, our new cluster-based method can uncover hierarchical relationships among blocks and can be applied to polymorphic DNA markers or amino acid sequence data.
Mechanism of self-assembly of tobacco mosaic virus protein. II. Characterization of the metastable polymerization nucleus and the initial stages of helix formation.

Abstract The endothermic polymerization of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) protein has been studied by sedimentation at pH 6.5 and found to be extremely dependent on the rate of warming from near 0 to 20 °C. Warming rates of 20 deg. C per minute were shown previously to result in large, > 100 S, non-equilibrium rods which persist for many hours and decay slowly to shorter rods at equilibrium (Scheele & Schuster, 1975). The present results, obtained at warming rates as slow as 0.003 deg. C per minute, show that the equilibrium distribution consists mainly of short rods having an s 20,w o value of 24.4 S. Mass-balance calculations of depolymerization data suggest that the 24.4 S boundary at pH 6.5 represents the initial stages of stable helical rod formation at 20 °C and corresponds to about a three-turn helix, as predicted by Caspar (1963). Upon cooling either equilibrium or non-equilibrium TMV protein rods to 6.5 °C at pH 6.5 a metastable aggregate is formed which has an s 20,w o value of 19.6 S, the same, within experimental error, as the two-layer cylindrical disk that is composed of 34 subunits characterized at pH 7 and 20 °C (Durham et al. , 1971). This metastable ~20 S aggregate at 6.5 °C, pH 6.51 depolymerizes very slowly, by an apparently first-order process to the equilibrium distribution of ~98% 4 S protein and ~2% 20 S protein. The rate constant is 4.3× 10 −5 ±0.1 × 10 −5 min −1 , corresponding to a half-time of about 12 days. Although both the equilibrium and kinetic properties of TMV protein polymerization are extremely temperature dependent, reproducible equilibrium and non-equilibrium polymerization states can be obtained through careful control of the rate of nucleation. These results lead to a polymerization mechanism that verifies a previous suggestion for the origin of “polymerization memory” in TMV protein and provide a physical model for the mathematical description of nucleation-controlled kinetics of TMV protein polymerization (Scheele & Schuster, 1974).
Conformity to Masculine Norms and Intellectual Engagement

800x600 Research on the relationship between masculinity and intellectual engagement may be helpful in exploring the current challenges of male students in academic settings. Although the traditional male role in Western societies has often included notions of winning, competitiveness, and achievement, there is a growing research literature that documents male struggles with achievement, particularly in academic, intellectual, and occupational domains (Morris, 2011; Rosin, 2010; Sax, 2008a, b). In this study, the relationships between conformity to masculine norms and intellectual engagement were explored in a sample of diverse men in the United States. It was predicted that men who more strongly conformed to masculine norms would demonstrate lower intellectual engagement. As predicted, conformity to masculine norms was significantly predictive of lower intellectual engagement on three of the five constructs measured (Openness to Experience, Intellectual Complexity, and Love of Learning). Conformity to masculine norms was not a significant predictor of Need for Cognition or Curiosity. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Geometrical Concepts in Epithelial Sheets

Abstract Geometrical aspects relevant to discussion of deformable epithelial cell sheets are presented. The epithelium is pictured as consisting of cells joined at their lateral surfaces and having cell heights which vary with position over the middle surface, which bisects the cell heights. The Gauss and Mean curvatures are shown to be represented by simple functions of variables S and h , where S is an angular deformation of the sheet at each point and h is the local cell height. It is argued that the Gauss curvature can often be considered as a simple quadratic function of S divided by h 2 , while the Mean curvature H is defined as S / h . These two variables are in turn to be considered as monotonic functions of the morphogen(s). A closed set of coupled morphogen and geometry equations are suggested, which, however, represent an open dynamical system in the sense that there is continuous external energy input. A growing, three dimensional entity of continuously changing shape and pattern is thus represented by this growth and form algorithm.
Correcting the diffusion approximation at the boundary

The diffusion approximation to the radiative transport equation applies for light that has propagated deeply into an optically thick medium, such as biological tissue. It does not accurately model light near boundaries where measurements of scattered light are often taken. Here, we compute a correction to the diffusion approximation at the boundary. This correction requires only small modifications to the standard diffusion approximation used in biomedical optics. In particular, one needs only to compute the coefficients in the boundary condition for the diffusion approximation and an additive correction. We give explicit procedures for these computations. Using numerical results for the steady-state plane–parallel slab problem, we show that this corrected diffusion approximation is a much better approximation than the standard diffusion approximation for modeling the reflectance and transmittance.
Holding body and cell together—adhesion molecules and the medicine of the future

Abstract Molecular Biology of Cell Adhesion Molecules edited by Michael A. Horton, John Wiley & Sons, 1996. £34.95 (243 pages) ISBN 0 471 96677 0
Immunodeficiency Disease and Implications for Dental Treatment

Because patients with immunodeficiency diseases have an increased susceptibility to dental caries, a comprehensive preventive treatment program is essential to their dental needs. Precautions should be taken to protect patients from chance infections. General practitioners are well equipped to treat such patients.
Chemotaxis Receptor Complexes: From Signaling to Assembly

Complexes of chemoreceptors in the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane allow for the sensing of ligands with remarkable sensitivity. Despite the excellent characterization of the chemotaxis signaling network, very little is known about what controls receptor complex size. Here we use in vitro signaling data to model the distribution of complex sizes. In particular, we model Tar receptors in membranes as an ensemble of different sized oligomer complexes, i.e., receptor dimers, dimers of dimers, and trimers of dimers, where the relative free energies, including receptor modification, ligand binding, and interaction with the kinase CheA determine the size distribution. Our model compares favorably with a variety of signaling data, including dose-response curves of receptor activity and the dependence of activity on receptor density in the membrane. We propose that the kinetics of complex assembly can be measured in vitro from the temporal response to a perturbation of the complex free energies, e.g., by addition of ligand.
Factors affecting the capillary electrophoresis of ricin, a toxic glycoprotein

Abstract Conditions for the analysis of ricin with capillary electrophoresis were investigated. Uncoated and coated columns were tested with a variety of different buffer combinations which included different principal components, pH, ionic strength, and additives. Of the combinations tested, uncoated columns used with either zwitterionic salts or putrescine gave the best results. Multiple peaks were resolved with these conditions. Coated columns generally yielded between 1000 and 5000 plates with several buffer combinations. Ricin may be analyzed faster and with greater resolution with capillary electrophoresis employing untreated fused-silica columns than by using other chromatographic techniques.
Foreign Experts, Capitalists, and Competing Agendas: Privatization in Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary

This article examines privatization and privatization ministries in Poland, Czechoslovakia/the Czech Republic, and Hungary, stressing the comparability of these organizations and the context in which they originated. The author focuses on the activities and agendas of foreign experts employed or retained by ministries of privatization and the programs they supported. She assesses the degree to which outcomes to date approximated a neoliberal economic agenda of rapid privatization. She distinguishes between (a) opposition to rapid privatization agendas that can be identified with “Leninist legacies” or distributional coalitions attached to the satae industrial sector and (b) promoters of privatization who may work at cross-purposes with supporters of rapid privatization agendas, in particular investment banking firms assisting ministries of privatization. The purpose of the analysis is to suggest the range of capitalist activities surrounding privatization that are emerging in Eastern Europe, adding a furt...
Phosphorus Enrichment Affects Litter Decomposition, Immobilization, and Soil Microbial Phosphorus in Wetland Mesocosms

affect decomposition, and values less than five can inhibit decomposition of leaf litter (Qualls and Haines, Like many wetland ecosystems, areas of the northern Everglades 1990). While many bogs exhibit very acid conditions of Florida, USA, have been influenced by P eutrophication. Our objective was to determine if P enrichment of water influences the that are potentially inhibitory to decomposition, fens litter decomposition rate and nutrient immobilization by litter and, such as the Everglades often have soil pH values near further, to determine the quantitative relationship of these responses neutrality and near the optimum for decomposition. across a range of P concentrations in surface water. In addition, we High concentrations of dissolved organic acids are a determined whether P additions rapidly elevated microbial biomass common characteristic of many wetlands and can inhibit P in the soil. In order to isolate the effects of P enrichment, we placed decomposition by creating highly acid water. Qualls and bags containing cattail (Typha domengensis Crantz) and sawgrass Haines (1990) showed that this affected decomposition (Cladium jamaicense Pers.) litter into two sets of experimental chan- only by controlling H 1 concentration, not by any other nels into which controlled inputs of five different phosphate concentrainhibitory properties of the organic acid molecules. tions were added continuously. After 1 yr of incubation, litter was The decomposition of plant litter can also be limited analyzed for C, P, N, Cu, Ca, and K content. Loss of C at the end of 1 yr increased linearly with increasing average PO4 content in the by the concentration of inorganic N and P (Alexander, channels with a similar slope for both species of litter. Immobilization 1977) in soil or water surrounding the decomposer micaused an absolute increase in P content of the litter up to approxi- croflora. Suberkropp and Chauvet (1995) found that mately ninefold across the range of water P concentrations, while NO3 concentration was the only variable correlated with immobilization of N, Ca, and K did not vary with water P concentra- differences in litter decomposition among six hardwater tions. During decomposition, litter exhibited a net uptake of Cu (a streams; however, Triska and Sedell (1976) found no nutrient potentially limiting plant growth on peat soils). The microbial decomposition response to NO
Compressive sensing MRI with complex sparsification

Compressive Sensing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CS-MRI) has been rapidly developed during last several years. To reconstruct an image from incomplete data using compressive sensing, the image has to be sparse or can be transformed to sparse representation. Gradient operators associated with total variation (TV) and discrete wavelet transform (DWT) are two commonly used sparsifying transforms in CS-MRI. Since the data acquired in MRI are complex, these transforms are usually applied to the real and the imaginary parts of the image independently. In this paper, we will explore the application of the complex wavelet transform (CWT) as a more effective sparsifying transform for CS-MRI. Specifically, dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DT-CWT), a CWT previously used for real or complex image compression, is integrated with compressive sensing reconstruction algorithm. We will test the new method using both simulated and in-vivo MRI data. The results will be compared with those of DWT and TV, which show that the new method can achieve better sparsity and reduced reconstruction errors in CS-MRI.
Induction of Estrogen-Regulated Genes Differs in Immortal and Tumorigenic Human Mammary Epithelial Cells Expressing a Recombinant Estrogen Receptor

Studies on estrogen receptor (ER)-positive human breast cancer cell lines have shown that estrogen treatment positively modulates the expression of the genes encoding transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF alpha), 52-kDa cathepsin-D, and pS2. To determine whether these genes would be similarly regulated by estrogens in normal human mammary epithelial cells, we stably transfected immortal nontumorigenic human mammary epithelial cells with an ER-encoding expression vector. ER-negative tumor cells were also transfected for comparison. Levels of TGF alpha and 52-kDa cathepsin-D mRNA were enhanced by estrogen treatment of both ER-transfected immortal and tumorigenic cells, demonstrating that the ER by itself is sufficient to elicit estrogenic regulation of the expression of these genes. In contrast, expression of the pS2 gene was detected only in the ER-transfected tumor cells. The ER in both cell lines is capable of recognizing the pS2 promoter, however, since estrogen enhanced the activity of an introduced pS2-CAT reporter plasmid in transient expression analyses. These and other experiments with somatic cell hybrids between the immortal cells and ER+/pS2+ MCF-7 tumor cells, where pS2 gene expression is extinguished, support the conclusion that the immortal nontumorigenic cells encode gene products that block endogenous pS2 expression. These results also imply that such repressors are not active in the tumor cells.
Quantitative Differences between N-terminal Methionyl Nascent Globin Chains of Human and Rabbit Reticulocytes

INCORPORATION of methionine as N-terminal residue initiates biosynthesis of a globin chain in rabbit reticulocytes1–7. After initiation, elongation of the chain proceeds with successive additions of amino acid residues; therefore a population of actively synthesising polysomes contains nascent peptide chains of all stages of elongation8. The initial methionine residue is removed before completion of the chain; consequently methionine is the N-terminal residue of short nascent chains, and valine, the second amino acid incorporated, is the N-terminal residue of long nascent chains. When these chains are digested with trypsin, long nascent chains yield the same N-terminal tryptic peptides as haemoglobin, αT1 of α chain and βT1 of β chain, which have N-terminal valine and are composed of seven and eight amino acid residues, respectively9, 10. The N-terminal tryptic peptides of short nascent chains are longer by one residue, namely the N-terminal methionine. Thus all but very short nascent chains contain either the methionyl or the valyl N-terminal tryptic peptide, and the ratio of yields of these peptides from a tryptic digest is a measure of the relative numbers of the two types of nascent chains in a polysomal preparation.
Influence of Dose on the Metabolism and Excretion of Terbutaline in the Rat

Abstract1. The effects of dose and route of administration on the metabolic fate of terbutaline were studied in normal rats and in rats with ligated bile ducts. Unchanged terbutaline and its glucuronide were quantitively determined in the 0–24 h urine after oral doses ranging from 0.15 to 1000 mg/kg and after intra-peritoneal and subcutaneous doses covering a smaller range.2. Only 2.2–13.5% of orally administered drug, but about 25% of that administered parenterally, was eliminated unchanged in urine, indicating a very large capacity for conjugation of phenols in the intestinal wall.3. Only the glucuronide conjugate was eliminated in bile.4. The ratio of unchanged drug to glucuronide conjugate decreased as the dose was increased from 0.15 to 10 mg/kg and then increased at higher doses. This is consistent with increasing saturation of the conjugating capacity of the liver and the intestinal wall at higher doses.
CUTICLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE STOMATAL REGION OF POPULUS CLONES

SUMMARY Cuticle development and degree of stomatal occlusion of three Populus clones varied with growth environment and leaf type (early or late leaves). Whereas stomatal occlusion by cuticular components was negligible in plants of all clones grown in a moist controlled environment, heavier cuticle deposition and stomatal occlusion were found on abaxial surfaces of early, but not late leaves, of field-grown clones. Hence these Populus clones responded adaptively to the more xeric field conditions in a fashion that would restrict both stomatal and cuticular water loss. The cuticle around the stomatal apparatus of all clones was ridged, with elaborate stranded patterns emanating from the stomata. Stomatal ledges were found in all clones studied, and ledge aperture was not closely related to pore aperture of the guard cells because of variation in the point of attachment of the ledges to the outer lateral wall of the guard cells. Because stomatal pore and ledge apertures are independent, stomatal impressions (which reproduce ledge aperture only) should not be used to estimate stomatal aperture unless it can be shown that ledges are not present.
Rapid‐onset dystonia‐parkinsonism

We studied a large family with a previously undescribed, autosomal dominant dystonia-parkinsonism syndrome. We chose to call the disorder "rapid-onset dystonia-parkinsonism" (RDP) based on the unusually rapid evolution of signs and symptoms. Affected individuals developed dystonia and parkinsonism between 14 and 45 years of age. The onset was acute in six individuals with the abrupt onset of symptoms over the course of several hours, and subacute in four others who had evolution over several days or weeks. Thereafter, progression of symptoms was usually very slow. Two had intermittent focal dystonia without parkinsonism, and one obligate gene carrier was asymptomatic at 68 years. CSF levels of homovanillic acid were decreased in the two individuals tested, but dopaminergic therapy provided only slight benefit. The DYT1 gene responsible for early-onset, generalized idiopathic torsion dystonia in Jewish and some non-Jewish families has been mapped to chromosome 9q34. Linkage analysis with three markers near the DYT1 gene showed several obligate recombinations, excluding DYT1 as a candidate gene for RDP. We believe RDP is unique and should be classified separately from other forms of hereditary dystonia-parkinsonism.
Hazardous organic compounds in liquid wastes from disposal pits for production of natural gas

Abstract Samples of liquid waste found in disposal pits from natural gas production were collected at sites selected in northwest New Mexico and were characterized for hazardous and other organic compounds using GC and GC/MS techniques. Purge and trap pretreatment was used in GC/MS determination of volatile organic compounds while solvent extraction, prefraction and preconcentration were used for isolation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and alkylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the same waste samples. Benzene and alkylated benzenes were present at estimated concentrations of 10 to 50 mg/L in aqueous portions of pit wastes, Selected ion monitoring with capillary GC/MS with deuterated PAH as internal standards was used to quantify PAH in both aqueous and non-aqueous liquid phases. Over 50 PAH were detected at total concentrations of 130μg/L to 24,500 μg/L for aqueous phases and 1055 mg/kg to 13,500 mg/kg for non-aqueous phases in pit wastes. In addition, total organic compounds detected i...
Fear conditioning, pre-pulse inhibition and drug modulation of a short latency startle response measured electromyographically from neck muscles in the rat

The present study evaluated if startle measured electromyographically in the neck muscles (having a 5 msec latency) would exhibit behavioral and pharmacological plasticity known to alter startle measured in a stabilimeter device. A total of 15 rats were implanted with bilateral EMG electrodes in the dorsal neck muscles and subsequently exposed to a variety of manipulations known to affect the whole-body startle response. The peak-to-peak EMG response that occurred within 10 msec of startle stimulus onset displayed pre-pulse inhibition, enhancement by prior fear conditioning, inhibition by clonidine, and enhancement by strychnine. The data are discussed in terms of modulation of neural transmission along a primary startle-mediating pathway.
Spatial distribution of impurities and H neutrals in ELMO Bumpy Torus /EBT/

Absolute-brightness measurements and spatial scans in the vacuum ultraviolet have been used to investigate the presence and spatial density distribution of various charge states of carbon and aluminium (the major impurities) and neutral hydrogen in the ELMO Bumpy Torus. The impurity concentrations are quite low; the total fractional carbon concentration in the toroidal core (compared to the electron density) is less than 6 × 10−5. Sources for the C and Al impurities are examined. Experimental evidence and arguments based on the space potential and drift surfaces which are presented indicate that the surface blanket plasma plays a role analogous to a divertor, shielding the core plasma from impurities.