cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The role of a conserved histidine–tyrosine interhelical interaction in the ion channel domain of δ‐endotoxins from Bacillus thuringiensis

The delta-endotoxin proteins are produced by Bacillus thuringiensis during the sporulation phase of its life cycle. These proteins exhibit insecticidal activity through receptor-mediated ion channel formation. The mode of action of these proteins requires the conversion of the protein from a water-soluble conformation to a membrane-inserted conformation. While there is X-ray structure information for the soluble protein, no detailed structure exists for the membrane-inserted protein. However, based on peptide studies, an umbrella model for the membrane-inserted state has been proposed. Here, we investigated the role of a conserved hydrogen bond interaction between two helices that are suggested to undergo a large conformational change upon membrane insertion. Mutation of either the histidine or the tyrosine resulted in a protein that has significantly reduced bioactivity, increased overall flexibility, and significantly reduced stability. These data highlight an important role for this interaction in the overall stability of the protein. Additionally, the conservation of histidine and tyrosine in these positions may suggest a functional role for the interaction in the conformational switching from soluble to membrane protein.
Behavioral assessment and treatment planning with obsessive compulsive disorder: A review emphasizing clinical application

This paper provides an overview of the current state-of-the-art in behavioral assessment and treatment planning for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). New developments in assessment include the availability of the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale and Symptom Checklist for detailed interviewing regarding multiple types of obessions and compulsions and the self-report Padua Inventory. Cognitive features and personality traits specific to OCD are being examined with increasing frequency. Behavioral treatment methods continue to rely on the highly successful combination of exposure to feared situations and prevention of avoidance and compulsions, with or without serotonergic medications. Several variants of these methods are discussed, including group behavioral treatment and involvement of family members. Cognitive treatments have been increasingly studied with recent positive outcomes reported using this method. It seems likely that efforts to improve treatment efficacy will include assessment that is continued throughout treatment, and focus on personality and associated cognitive features and on interventions involving family members.
Capabilities and Social Justice

Women in much of the world lack support for fundamental functions of a human life. Unequal social and political circumstances give women unequal human capabilities. This paper critiques other approaches to these inequalities and offers a version of the capabilities approach. The central question asked by the capabilities approach is not, “How satisfied is this woman?”“How much in the way of resources is she able to command?” It is, instead, “What is she actually able to do and to be?” The core idea seems to be that of the human being as a dignified free being who shapes his or her own life, rather than being passively shaped or pushed around by the world in the manner of a flock or herd animal. The basic intuition from which the capabilities approach begins, in the political arena, is that human abilities exert a moral claim that they should be developed. Capability, not functioning, is the appropriate political goal.
Singlet-triplet relaxation in two-electron silicon quantum dots

We investigate the singlet-triplet relaxation process of a two-electron silicon quantum dot. In the absence of a perpendicular magnetic field, we find that spin-orbit coupling is not the main source of singlet-triplet relaxation. Relaxation in this regime occurs mainly via virtual states, and is due to nuclear hyperfine coupling. In the presence of an external magnetic field perpendicular to the plane of the dot, the spin-orbit coupling is important and virtual states are not required. We find that there can be strong anisotropy for different field directions: parallel magnetic field can increase substantially the relaxation time due to Zeeman splitting, but when the magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the plane, the enhancement of the spin-orbit effect shortens the relaxation time. We find the relaxation to be orders of magnitude longer than for GaAs quantum dots, due to weaker hyperfine and spin-orbit effects.
Play‐fighting differs from serious fighting in both target of attack and tactics of fighting in the laboratory rat Rattus norvegicus

Play-fighting is often difficult to differentiate from inhibited or immature serious fighting because both may utilize many of the same behavior patterns. In the rat the two behaviors involve different targets of attack. During play-fighting, snout or oral contact is directed at the opponent's nape of the neck, whereas during serious fighting, male residents mostly direct their bites at the intruder's rump. Although similar to those used in serious fighting, the behavior patterns used during play-fighting are modified to achieve the different targets of attack. Even though the tactics of attack and defense appear more adult-like with increasing age, the playful targets persist well into adulthood.
Bedside cardiovascular examination in patients with severe chronic heart failure: Importance of rest or inducible jugular venous distension

Abstract Objective. The aim of this study was to determine the sensitivity, speciticty and utility of the cardiovascular examination in predicting cardiac hemodynamics in patients with advanced chronic congestive heart failure. Background. Although the physical signs of acute left heart failure have been shown to correlate relatively well with cardiac hemodynamics, their reliability in estimating hemodynamics in patients with chronic heart failure has recently been questioned. Methods. We prospectively recorded the history, cardiovascular physical signs present at bedside examination and the hemodynamic measurements obtained at right heart catheterization in 52 patients with chronic congestive heart failure undergoing in-hospital evaluation for possible heart transplantation. In addition, we obtained chest radiographs and multigated nuclear scans for the evaluation of left ventricular function. Results. Pulmonary rates, a left ventricular third heart sound, jugular venous distension and the abdominojugular test, when positive, indicated higher right heart pressures and lower measures of cardiac performance. The presence of jugular venous distension, at rest or inducible, had the best combination of sensitivity (81%), specificity (80%) and predictive accuracy (81%) for elevation of the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (≥8 mm Hg). Furthermore, in this population sample, the probability of an elevated wedge pressure was 0.86 when either variable was present. Conclusions. The bedside cardiovascular examination in the patient with chronic heart failure is extremely useful in identifying patients with elevation of right and left heart pressures. Examination for jugular venous distension at rest or by the abdomino-jugular test is simple and highly sensitive and specific in assessing left heart pressures in these patients.
Adenosine A2A and A2B receptors work in concert to induce a strong protection against reperfusion injury in rat hearts

We aimed to test if stimulation of both adenosine A2A and A2B receptors is required to produce an effective cardioprotection against reperfusion injury. Isolated rat hearts were subjected to 30-min regional ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. The adenosine A1/A2 receptor agonist 5'-(N-ethylcarboxamido) adenosine (NECA) given at reperfusion reduced infarct size, an effect that was reversed by both the adenosine A2A antagonist SCH58261 and the A2B antagonist MRS1706. The A2B agonist BAY 60-6583 but not the selective A2A agonist CGS21680 reduced infarct size. Interestingly, a combination of BAY 60-6583 and CGS21680 further reduced infarct size. These results suggest that both A2A and A2B receptors are involved in NECA's anti-infarct effect at reperfusion. NECA attenuated mitochondrial swelling upon reperfusion and this was blocked by both SCH58261 and MRS1706, indicating that activation of A2 receptors with NECA can modulate reperfusion-induced mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening. In support, NECA also prevented oxidant-induced loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (DeltaPsi(m)) and matrix Ca2+ overload in cardiomyocytes via both the A2 receptors. In addition, NECA increased mitochondrial glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) phosphorylation upon reperfusion and this was again blocked by SCH58261 and MRS1706. In conclusion, A2A and A2B receptors work in concert to prevent reperfusion injury in rat hearts treated with NECA. NECA may protect the heart by modulating the mPTP opening through inactivating mitochondrial GSK-3beta. A simultaneous stimulation of A2A and A2B receptors at reperfusion is required to produce a strong cardioprotection against reperfusion injury.
MORPHOLOGICAL, TOXICOLOGICAL, AND GENETIC DIFFERENCES AMONG PSEUDO‐NITZSCHIA (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) SPECIES IN INLAND EMBAYMENTS AND OUTER COASTAL WATERS OF WASHINGTON STATE, USA1

Plankton samples from three inland embayments and several outer coastal sites of Washington State were collected from 1997 through 1999 and were examined for the presence of diatoms of the genus Pseudo-nitzschia and levels of the toxin, domoic acid (DA). Seven species were observed, including Pseudo-nitzschia pungens (Grunow ex Cleve) Hasle, P. multiseries (Hasle) Hasle, P. australis Frenguelli, P. fraudulenta (Cleve) Hasle, P. cf. heimii Manguim, P. pseudodelicatissima (Hasle) Hasle, and P. delicatissima (Cleve) Heiden. The coastal Pseudo-nitzschia species assemblages differed significantly from those observed within embayments. The dominant species observed at coastal sites were P. pseudodelicatissima and P. cf. heimii. Pseudo-nitzschia assemblages found in embayments included one or more of the following species: P. pungens, P. multiseries, P. australis, P. pseudodelicatissima, and P. fraudulenta. The nuclear large subunit rRNA gene was sequenced for six of the seven species identified. This sequence revealed that P. multiseries, P. pungens, P. australis, and P. heimii were genetically similar to those found in California, whereas P. delicatissima and P. pseudodelicatissima were distinct from the California isolates. Although the concentrations of DA in razor clams along Washington State coasts have exceeded regulatory limits several times since 1991, levels of DA in shellfish from Washington State embayments have not yet exceeded regulatory limits. The widespread presence of toxin-producing Pseudo-nitzschia species suggests, however, that toxic blooms are likely to occur within embayments in the future. In conjunction with the monitoring of environmental conditions conducive to toxic bloom formation, the development of species-specific probes for rapid and accurate detection of potentially toxic Pseudo-nitzschia species in this region would enable the forecasting of a toxic event before DA accumulates in shellfish, thereby reducing the impacts to coastal communities.
Rehabilitating the verbal recall of brain-injured patients by mnemonic training: An experimental demonstration using single-case methodology

Abstract The efficacy of mnemonic training was demonstrated in four patients using a multiple baseline across cases (“subjects')” design. Three patients had brain injury associated with vascular malfunction; one had congenital brain damage. They were seen for 18 sessions in which they were tested and trained on a word list retention task commonly used in information processing research. The task requires the retention of three words over an interval in which zero, three, or nine additional words have been read. In the initial six or 12 sessions the patient was told to “do your best”, and these sessions served as a baseline. In the final 12 or six sessions, training and practice in mnemonic elaboration (Bower & Clark, 1969; Craik & Watkins, 1973) were instituted. In this multiple baseline across cases design, the initiation of treatment is staggered in order to dissociate treatment effects from practice and recovery effects. All patients showed gains associated with the institution of training. In one case...
Entry of labeled monocytic cells into the central nervous system

The entry of circulating blood cells into the brain was studied by injecting radioactively labeled cells from the bone marrow of donor animals into recipient animals. The cells were labeledin vitro orin vivo, using H3 thymidine or H3 uridine. Labeled cells having features of monocytes or macrophages were shown to enter normal brain tissue and to aggregate at various types of brain lesions. There was indication that these cells later returned to the spleen.
A neuroscience perspective on incidental imaging findings and diagnostic and therapeutic silos.

Traditionally, psychiatry and clinical psychology have understood behavior as separate from brain function and have avoided referring neurobehavioral patients, particularly those carrying a Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) diagnosis, for additional studies such as neuroimaging. Current psychiatric training programs continue to permit this dichotomous misunderstanding by neglecting neuroscience courses that elucidate the relationship between behavior and brain function. Psychiatrists and psychologists have learned to interpret and manage behavior without a clear picture of brain physiology and function (1). Moreover, with the exception of some neuropsychologists, most psychologists and psychiatrists neglect standard neurological exams and only consider behavioral symptoms. When it concerns neurobehavioral disorders, psychiatric and psychological standards of practice disregard objective imaging for assessing brain function and primarily reserve this technique for research. This omission confirms a meager understanding of brain physiology and function and their influences on behavior. Therefore, psychological and psychiatric theories have become stuck in unsubstantiated data. For example, the DSM defines disorders purely from observational data. To be fair, those diagnostic theories evolved during an era that lacked the necessary technology for objective brain evaluation, yet despite neuro-imaging and neuro-scientific advances, clinical psychology and psychiatry training programs still disregard introducing neuroscience to their students trained to be clinicians. Consequently, this omission has caused competition and isolation between clinical specialties and the development of practical and intellectual silos. Didactic programs that ignore neuroscience perspectives hinder clinical mental health students by denying them a holistic view of the patient. This incomplete picture begins the process of pseudo-specialization, a process that has little to do with developing optimal person centered therapeutics for the patient. In an ideal world, all behavioral fields would pursue a common neuroscientific language and education that permits seamless understanding of biology, behavior, sociology, and pathology.
Dose-dependent effects of icilin on thermal preference in the hindpaw and face of rats.

Abstract Icilin induces wet dog shakes (WDS) in rodents when injected systemically and activates the cold receptor TRPM8 and putative cold receptor TRPA1. It is assumed that WDS reflect an enhanced cold sensitivity; however, none have examined the relationship between WDS and cutaneous cold sensitivity following systemic icilin. In this study, we sought to characterize the effect of systemic and central icilin administration on WDS and thermal preference with either hindpaw or facial stimulation. It was found that a low dose of icilin (.025 mg), which transiently elevated WDS, decreased preference for cold with hindpaw stimulation (15 and 45°C) when administered ip or it. Intracisternal administration of this dose produced similar results for facial stimulation (10 and 48°C), but had no effect when administered ip. In contrast a high dose of icilin (.25 mg), which persistently elevated WDS, strongly increased preference for cold with hindpaw stimulation and had no effect on thermal preference with facial stimulation. These findings indicate that at the low concentration, systemic and central icilin enhances cold sensitivity, likely via TRPM8 and TRPA1 activation. In contrast, systemic icilin at the high concentration produces peripheral and/or central effects that diminish cold sensitivity, while WDS is maintained at a persistent rate. Perspective Icilin is a unique compound that produces dissociable effects on an innate behavior (WDS) and on operant behaviors related to thermal perception. This compound could help clarify the relationship between peripheral cold transduction and the central induction of thermogenesis and nocifensive behaviors, as well as alterations that produce pathological pain.
Seebeck Effect in Heavy Rare-Earth Single Crystals

Seebeck coefficients $S$ have been measured along the three crystallographic directions $〈11\overline{2}0〉$, $〈10\overline{1}0〉$, and $〈0001〉$ for the heavy rare-earth metals Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, and Er over the temperature range 7 to 300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The $〈10\overline{1}0〉$ and $〈0001〉$ directions of Y were also measured. In the cases of Gd and Tb, a 1000-Oe field along the $〈0001〉$ and $〈10\overline{1}0〉$ directions, respectively, caused no marked change. A significant anisotropy between the $〈0001〉$ direction and the basal plane was found for all the metals except Y. The magnetic order-disorder temperatures are marked by changes in slope in the $S$-versus-$T$ curves. A discontinuity in $S$ at the magnetic transition is evident in the case of Dy.
The gamma globulin content of meconium and amniotic fluid and the intestinal immunity of the newborn to poliovirus.

Intact gamma G globulin has been isolated from amniotic fluid. After 20 weeks of gestation, gamma globulin of a small molecular weight is found in amniotic fluid and is presumed to be derived from fetal urine. Three Fab-like fragments of gamma G globulin have been isolated from meconium. Amniotic fluid gamma G globulin and the electrophoretically slow Fab fragment of meconium gamma globulin neutralize poliovirus when maternal antibody titers against poliovirus are high.
Crater Lake, Oregon: A restricted basin with base-of-slope aprons of nonchannelized turbidites

The basin floor of Crater Lake (10-km diameter, 600-m water depth) is covered by up to 75 m of sediment–gravity-flow deposits interbedded with mud. In the upper units (8 m (thick), sand and gravel layers with numerous wedging, strong seismic reflectors characterize the base-of-slope aprons at the basin margin. These layers evolve to turbidites of mainly thin, fine-grained, basin-plain type, characterized by numerous flat and weak seismic reflectors in the central basin floor. Many individual debris-chute sources funnel sediment to base-of-slope aprons: there, coarse-grained parts of the sediment–gravity flows deposit nonchannelized beds attributed to the F, A, B turbidite facies. While traversing the base-of-slope aprons, flows evolve to sheet-flow turbidity currents that deposit D-facies beds over the central basin floor. These processes and patterns of deposition characterize small siliciclastic basins without channelized submarine fans and are common in carbonate basins of all sizes.
Fabric dependence of wave propagation in anisotropic porous media.

Current diagnosis of bone loss and osteoporosis is based on the measurement of the bone mineral density (BMD) or the apparent mass density. Unfortunately, in most clinical ultrasound densitometers: 1) measurements are often performed in a single anatomical direction, 2) only the first wave arriving to the ultrasound probe is characterized, and 3) the analysis of bone status is based on empirical relationships between measurable quantities such as speed of sound (SOS) and broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and the density of the porous medium. However, the existence of a second wave in cancellous bone has been reported, which is an unequivocal signature of poroelastic media, as predicted by Biot’s poroelastic wave propagation theory. In this paper, the governing equations for wave motion in the linear theory of anisotropic poroelastic materials are developed and extended to include the dependence of the constitutive relations upon fabric—a quantitative stereological measure of the degree of structural anisotropy in the pore architecture of a porous medium. This fabric-dependent anisotropic poroelastic approach is a theoretical framework to describe the microarchitectural-dependent relationship between measurable wave properties and the elastic constants of trabecular bone, and thus represents an alternative for bone quality assessment beyond BMD alone.
Current knowledge of US metal and nonmetal miner health: Current and potential data sources for analysis of miner health status

Little is known about the current health status of US metal and nonmetal (MNM) miners, in part because no health surveillance systems exist for this population. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is developing a program to characterize burden of disease among MNM miners. This report discusses current knowledge and potential data sources of MNM miner health. Recent national surveys were analyzed, and literature specific to MNM miner health status was reviewed. No robust estimates of disease prevalence were identified, and national surveys did not provide information specific to MNM miners. Because substantial gaps exist in the understanding of MNM miners' current health status, NIOSH plans to develop a health surveillance program for this population to guide intervention efforts to reduce occupational and personal risks for chronic illness.
Motivational Interviewing in Health Care: Helping Patients Change Behavior, by Stephen Rollnick, PhD, William R. Miller, PhD, & Christopher C. Butler, MD. Guilford Press, New York, NY, 2007, 210 pages, softcover, $25.00, hardcover $45.00, ISBN: 978-1-59385-612-0, 978-1-59385-613-7

Providing patient care is commonly fraught with difficulty because what we think patients should do, advise them to do, and sometimes preach them to do, frequently falls on deaf ears. When we recom...
Tracing the Outer Structure of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy:Detections at Angular Distances between 10° and 34°

We have obtained deep photometric data in 24 fields along the southeast extension of the major axis of the Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal (Sgr dSph) galaxy and in four fields along the northwest extension. Using star counts at the expected position of the Sgr upper main sequence within the resulting color-magnitude diagrams, we unambiguously detect Sgr stars in the southeast over the range 10°-34° from the galaxy's center. If Sgr is symmetric, this implies a true major-axis diameter of at least 68°, or nearly 30 kpc if all portions of Sgr are equally distant from the Sun. Star counts parallel to the galaxy's minor axis reveal that Sgr remains quite broad far from its center. This suggests that the outer portions of Sgr resemble a stream rather than an extension of the ellipsoidal inner regions of the galaxy. The inferred V-band surface brightness (SB) profile ranges from 27.3 to 30.5 mag arcsec-2 over this radial range and exhibits a change in slope ~20° from the center of Sgr. The scale length of the outer SB profile is 172, compared with 47 in the central region of Sgr. We speculate that this break in the SB profile represents a transition from the main body of Sgr to a more extended "Sgr stream." By integrating the SB profile, we estimate that the absolute visual magnitude of Sgr lies in the range -13.4 to -14.6, depending on the assumed structure of Sgr; an upper limit to the luminosity of Sgr is therefore L~5.8×107 L☉. This result lowers the M/LV ratio inferred for Sgr down to ~10, which is consistent with values observed in the most luminous dSph companions of the Milky Way.
Elevated CA 19-9 portends poor prognosis in patients undergoing resection of biliary malignancies

Abstract Background Biliary tree malignancies including cholangiocarcinoma and gallbladder cancer are aggressive cancers with a high disease-specific mortality despite resection. The aim of the present study was to identify predictors of survival after resection. Methods A retrospective review of all patients that underwent radical resection of biliary malignancies was performed. Demographics, elevated CA19-9 (>35 U/ml), treatment and outcome data were collected and compared according to tumour location. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were created and compared using log-rank analysis. Multivariate analysis was undertaken using Cox proportional hazards regression. Results Ninety-one patients with biliary malignancies underwent surgical resection between 1992 and 2007. There were 46 (50.5%) extrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas (EHC), 23 (25.2%) intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas (IHC) and 22 (24.2%) gallbladder carcinomas (GBC). The median (range) age was 64 (24–92) years. An elevated CA19-9 was recorded in 45 (55%) patients (52% of IHC, 63% of EHC, and 41% of GBC). The overall median (range) survival was 22.5 (0.3–153.3) months. All three groups were similar in terms of age, gender, pre-operative CA 19-9 level, completeness of resection and tumour histopathological characteristics. GBC were associated with the shortest median survival (14.3 months) followed by EHC (24.8 months) and IHC (30.4 months); however, this did not meet statistical significance ( P = 0.971). Only elevated pre-operative CA 19-9 level (>35 U/ml) was predictive of poor median survival by univariate ( P = 0.003) and multivariate analysis (15.1 months vs. 67.4, P = 0.047). Conclusions Elevated pre-operative CA 19-9 levels were found to be independent predictors of poor survival after attempted resection for biliary tree malignancies. It is recommended that CA19-9 be routinely measured prior resection.
The Pareto-optimal Design of Term Life Insurance Contracts

I. Introduction Numerous investigations have been directed toward aspects of rational life insurance purchases and optimal coverage levels under differing conditions. Most of these studies have taken as “given” the design of life insurance contracts and have focused on optimal consumer responses to available insurance opportunities. 1 However, in works by Borch (1960, 1983), Arrow (1963, 1974) and Raviv (1979), contract design has been considered explicitly, yet in none of these studies has the focus been on life insurance; rather, general property and liability insurance received attention.
Melting in a Two-Component Packed Bed

The melting of a multi-component mixture that consists of melting and nonmelting components is examined. A numerical solution is obtained by solving the energy equation and continuity equations for both solid and liquid phases for a one-dimensional system. Both constant volume and constant porosity melting models are explored. Experiments were conducted to confirm the numerical results. During the experiments, heat was applied at the bottom of a rectangular packed bed containing salol (benzoic acid 2-hydroxyphenylester) and glass beads. The experiments were conducted with various sizes of glass beads ranging from 120 to 450 μm in diameter with salol having an average diameter of 90 μm. During the melting process, the volume fraction of the phase-change material (salol), temperature, and applied heat flux were measured. The volume fraction of the salol was measured utilizing gamma attenuation. Upon melting, the salol moves as two fronts, one downward due to gravity and one upward due to capillary action. The constant porosity model yields results which compare well with the experimental data.
Ordinary states: Everyday corruption and the politics of space in Mumbai

In this article, I draw from fieldwork on the micropractices of hawkers' illicit dealings with low-level state functionaries in Mumbai, India, to explore how claims to city space are negotiated. I argue that what is often understood as a breakdown in urban governance is, instead, what I call an "ordinary space of negotiation" that constitutes the grounds on which claims to substantive citizenship are made. This ethnographic exploration of what practices of corruption produce has the possibility to expand how scholars think about the state and political claim making in liberal democratic contexts at large.
Patient-specific knee joint finite element model validation with high-accuracy kinematics from biplane dynamic Roentgen stereogrammetric analysis

Little is known about in vivo menisci loads and displacements in the knee during strenuous activities. A new method that combines high-speed kinematics measured with biplane dynamic Roentgen stereogrammetric analysis (DRSA) and a subject-specific finite element (FE) model for studying in vivo meniscal behavior is presented here. Further model calibration in a very controlled uniaxial low and high-rate compression loading condition is presented by comparing the model behavior against the measured high-accuracy menisci DRSA kinematics and direct tibio-femoral pressure measurement from a K-scan sensor. It is apparent that certain model aspects such as removing of the pressure sensor from the model can result in relatively large errors (14%) in contact parameters that are not reflected in the change of the measured meniscal kinematics. Changing mesh size to 1 mm by 1 mm elements increased the magnitude of all but one of the contact variables by up to 45%. This local validation using accurate localized patient-specific geometry and meniscal kinematics was needed to enhance model fidelity at the level of contact between menisci and cartilage.
Preventive mitochondrial replacement

Techniques used recently to clone a sheep generate chimeras with the genome of the donor cell and mainly the mitochondria of the acceptor egg. The use of the same techniques should allow a mother carrying a mitochondrial defect to bear a normal child with normal mitochondria.
An animal model for venous thrombosis and spontaneous pulmonary embolism.

An animal model. To test the natural sequence of venous thrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism experimentally. Veterans Administration Hospital, USA. In dogs, a venous thrombosis was induced in a isolated segment of the internal jugular vein by a 5 min exposure to sodium morrhuate and then re-establishing venous patency. A tracer, 125I human fibrinogen, was administered through another vein 1 h prior to the end of each experiment when a blood sample, the venous thrombus, and the lungs were removed. Thrombi were described by age, weight, histology, and fibrin uptake (thrombus to blood radioactivity ratio, g/g). Pulmonary emboli (PE) were identified by autoradiography of lung slices or by microscopic examination of lung sections. Venous thrombosis developed in all experiments, duration 1–64, median 5 h (n=12). Histologically, younger thrombi were characterized by platelet aggregates surrounded by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN), and uniform fibrin deposit; the older thrombi by platelet ghost cells, fewer PMN leukocytes, and broken fibrin strands and loops (n=6). Pulmonary thromboemboli were imaged as ‘hot spots’ in six of six experiments in which lung slices were autoradiographed and were identified microscopically in six of six experiments in which lung sections were taken. The number of PE diagnosed microscopically did not correlate with the age of the corresponding thrombus but was directly related to fibrin uptake (n=5, r=0.99, P<0.01). An animal model for venous thrombosis that generates pulmonary thromboembolism has been described.
Journal of the American Society for Information Science ( JASIS ): past, present and future

This paper explores how the Journal of the American Society for Information Science (JASIS) has developed and what it might become. Topics covered include JASIS versus other ASIS publications, types of papers in JASIS, authors, competing journals, content scope, electronic enhancements, and how information scientists might shape the future of JASIS.
The Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) as Criminal Syndicate: Funding Terrorism through Organized Crime, A Case Study

Scholars have long recognized that terrorist groups have engaged in transnational organized crime activities. But the question that comes up is, “When does a criminal enterprise become a terrorist group or vice versa?” Terrorist groups have used physical violence, participated in weapons and drug trafficking networks, immigrant smuggling, and money laundering. More recently a number of terrorist groups have established what Jonathan White has referred to as “illegal multinational criminal organizations.” This article will examine the convergence of terrorism and organized crime through the prism of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK).
Synthesis of a Novel Bisphosphonic Acid Alkene Monomer

The convenient, scaleable synthesis of a novel ⟨-fluorinated bisphosphonic acid, incorporating a tethered acrylamide monomer, [1-fluoro-1-phosphono-7-(prop-2-enamido)heptyl]phosphonic acid (1), is described. The α–fluorine substituent offers the advantage (compared to an α–hydroxy) of compatibility with basic conditions in tetraester intermediates (avoiding phosphonate-phosphate rearrangement) while maintaining a phosphonic acidity that mimics that of pyrophosphoric acid. Sodio tetraisopropyl methylenebis(phosphonate) was monoalkylated with 1,6-dibromohexane and fluorinated with Selectfluor. An ω-nitrogen atom was introduced into the tether via incorporation of a phthalimide group, which as a UV-visible chromophore facilitated purification. Subsequent removal of the ester (HCl) and phthalimide (hydrazine) groups yielded ⟨–F, ω-aminohexyl methylenebis(phosphonic acid), which was reacted with acryloyl chloride at pH 8-9, then treated with HCl to give 1.
Detailed map of oxidative post-translational modifications of human p21ras using Fourier transform mass spectrometry.

P21ras, the translation product of the most commonly mutated oncogene, is a small guanine nucleotide exchange protein. Oxidant-induced post-translational modifications of p21ras including S-nitrosation and S-glutathiolation have been demonstrated to modulate its activity. Structural characterization of this protein is critical to further understanding of the biological functions of p21ras. In this study, high-resolution and high mass accuracy Fourier transform mass spectrometry was utilized to map, in detail, the post-translational modifications of p21ras (H-ras) exposed to oxidants by combining bottom-up and top-down techniques. For peroxynitrite-treated p21ras, five oxidized methionines, five nitrated tyrosines, and at least two oxidized cysteines (including C118) were identified by “bottom-up” analysis, and the major oxidative modification of C118, Cys118−SO3H, was confirmed by several tandem mass spectrometry experiments. Additionally, “top-down” analysis was conducted on p21ras S-glutathiolated by ox...
Amelioration of hypertension and insulin resistance by 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol in hemodialysis patients

The effects of i.v. 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol (DHCC) on blood pressure and insulin sensitivity were studied in 7 patients on maintenance hemodialysis and compared with 7 healthy controls. Three days after discontinuing oral 1,25-DHCC, the dialysis patients were evaluated by glucose clamp studies to quantitate insulin sensitivity, with (+D) and without (-D) a prior single dose of i.v. 1,25-DHCC at 2 micrograms/m2. Blood pressure was measured just before the glucose studies. During -D studies, the patients were hypertensive (mean arterial blood pressure 108 +/- 2 mmHg, controls 84 +/- 4 mmHg, P less than 0.02) and insulin resistant (insulin sensitivity index 7.5 +/- 0.4 mg/kg.min per microU per ml, controls 14.2 +/- 0.7, P less than 0.01). i.v. 1,25-DHCC significantly reduced the mean arterial blood pressure (96 +/- 3 mmHg, P less than 0.05) and increased insulin sensitivity (10.9 +/- 0.5 mg/kg.min per microU per ml, P less than 0.02) in the dialysis patients. I.V. 1,25-DHCC did not change blood pressure and insulin sensitivity in the control subjects. During -D studies, serum concentrations of 1,25-DHCC were significantly lower in patients than controls (P less than 0.02). Serum 1,25-DHCC during the +D studies increased to supraphysiological levels in both patients and controls. Serum concentrations of intact parathyroid hormone, total and ionized calcium, magnesium, potassium, urea nitrogen and creatinine were not different between the +D and -D studies in either the dialysis patients or the controls. These results suggest that pharmacological doses of 1,25-DHCC may have therapeutic value in the treatment of hypertension and insulin resistance in dialysis patients.
Economic and financial outcomes in transplantation: whose dime is it anyway?

Purpose of reviewOrgan transplant is a resource-intensive service that has been subjected to increasing scrutiny in this era of cost containment. A detailed understanding of the economic (societal) and financial (transplant provider) implications of organ quality, recipient characteristics, and allo
Three Dimensional Simulation of Blood Flow in the Small Arteries of a Truncated Vascular System With Three Levels of Bifurcation

Three dimensional blood flow in a truncated vascular system is investigated numerically using a commercially available finite element analysis and simulation software. The vascular system considered in this study has three levels of symmetric bifurcation. Geometric parameters for daughter vessels, such as their diameters and their angles of bifurcation, are specified according to Murray’s law based on the principle of minimum work. The ratio of blood vessel length to diameter is based upon experimental data found in the literature. An experimentally obtained velocity profile, available in the literature, is used as the inlet boundary condition. An outflow boundary model, consisting of a contraction tube to represent the pressure drop of the small arteries, arterioles, and capillaries that would follow the truncated vascular system, is used to specify the boundary condition at the eight outlets. The results show that although the blood flow velocity experiences a sudden decrease after the bifurcation points due to the higher total cross-sectional area of the daughter vessels as compared to the parent vessel, this decrease in velocity is partially recovered due to the tapering of the blood vessels as they approach the next bifurcation point. The results also show that the secondary flow which is typical after the bifurcation of large arteries does not develop after the bifurcation of small arteries due to the presence of laminar blood flow with very low Reynolds number in the small arteries. The numerical model yields pressure distributions and pressure drops along the vascular system that agree quite well with the physiological data found in the literature. Finally, the results show that, immediately following a bifurcation, the blood flow velocity profile is not symmetrical about the longitudinal axes of blood vessel. However, symmetry is recovered as the blood flow proceeds down the vessel.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Griffith's theory of brittle fracture in three dimensions

Abstract The Griffith theory of brittle fracture is extended to the three-dimensional problem of a flat elliptical crack in an otherwise uniform field of tensile and shear stresses. A method for finding the correct expressions of the change in strain energy due to the elliptical crack is developed. This is done by expressing the stresses and displacements in terms of the radius R 0 of a large sphere around the crack and by imposing the condition of equilibrium that the stresses or displacements across the spherical surface should agree with the prescribed boundary conditions as R 0 → ∞. The strain energy due to the presence of the elliptical crack is found to be independent of the tension applied parallel to the crack plane at infinity. On the basis of the thermodynamic argument of Griffith, it is also observed that the critical tensile and shear stresses increase rapidly as the ratio of major to minor semi-axes of the ellipse approaches unity.
Thermal behaviour of Ni(II) nitrate hydrate and its aerosols

Fine, hollow, spherical particles with an average size of one micronmeter were formed through pyrolysis of aerosol of nickel nitrate solution. The aerosol product obtained by fast heating to 450°C consisted of tiny crystallites of NiO, hydrated nitrate, and other non-crystalline phase(s). By heating above 480°C, it consisted only of crystalline NiO. To understand the reactions occurring during the aerosolization process, thermal analysis was conducted on nickel nitrate hexahydrate in stagnant and flowing air using different heating rates. The mechanism for the decomposition of nickel(II) nitrate hexahydrate is proposed.
Simvastatin Inhibits LPS-induced Alveolar Bone Loss during Metabolic Syndrome

Studies in recent years have shown a positive relationship between metabolic syndrome (MS) and periodontal disease (PD). Given that patients with MS take statins to reduce cholesterol, and statins also have anti-inflammatory effects, it is important to determine if statin intake hinders the progression of MS-associated PD. In this study, PD was induced in Zucker fat rats (ZFRs), an animal model for MS, and in control lean rats by periodontal injection of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans lipopolysaccharide (LPS), while simvastatin was given to some of the rats via gavage. After 4 wk of treatment, alveolar bone loss was determined by micro-computed tomography. To explore the underlying mechanisms, we determined the effect of simvastatin on tissue inflammation and the expression of molecules involved in osteoclastogenesis. Results showed that while bone loss was increased by LPS in both ZFRs and the control lean rats, it was significantly more in the former than the latter. Simvastatin effectively alleviated bone loss in both ZFRs and the control rats. Results also showed that LPS stimulated leukocyte tissue infiltration and expression of molecules for osteoclastogenesis, but simvastatin significantly modulated the stimulation. This study demonstrated that simvastatin inhibited LPS-induced alveolar bone loss and periodontal tissue inflammation in rats with MS.
The Texas-Mexican and the Politics of South Texas

Politics has been referred to by a recent writer as a “great game,” which, it may be added, is played ordinarily, not in a political vacuum between a majority and an opposing minority, but rather by groups organized on an economic, social, religious, or racial basis, which coalesce with each other and fall apart only to make new combinations. This process may readily be seen if one turns the telescope on the national political firmament, but it cannot be understood in the minutias of its ceaseless activity unless the microscope be applied to relatively small localities. The state of Texas, because of its wide extent and consequent variations of social and political phenomena, presents an admirable laboratory for this microscopic method of attack. It is proposed here to apply this method to a particular political section of Texas which has recently attracted some attention.The section referred to is that extreme southern portion of the state lying, in general, south of the Nueces River and east of Laredo, embracing thirteen counties and aggregating in area some 18,000 square miles. There are a number of reasons why it merits attention. The first and foremost is that the major element of its population is Mexican in race, but to a large extent American born. Many of these Mexican-Americans are descendants of the first settlers. It was rather the Anglo-American who was the newcomer. Obviously, therefore, the usual process of racial adjustment has been somewhat reversed. The American found the Mexican, and it was the Mexican to whom he to some extent adjusted himself.
The chemical conditions on the parent body of the Murchison meteorite: some conclusions based on amino, hydroxy and dicarboxylic acids.

Amino and hydroxy acids have been identified in the Murchison meteorite. Their presence is consistent with a synthetic pathway involving aldehydes, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia in an aqueous environment (Strecker-cyanohydrin synthesis). From the various equilibrium and rate constants involved in this synthesis, four independent estimates of the ammonium ion concentrations on the parent body at the time of compound synthesis are obtained; all values are about 2 × 10−3 M. Succinic acid and β-alanine have also been detected in the Murchison meteorite. Their presence is consistent with a synthesis from acrylonitrile, hydrogen cyanide and ammonia. Using the equilibrium and rate constants for this synthetic pathway, and the succinic acid/β-alanine ratio measured in the Murchison meteorite, an estimate of the hydrogen cyanide concentration of 10−3 to 10−2 M is obtained. Since hydrogen cyanide hydrolyzes relatively rapidly in an aqueous environment (t12 < 104yrs) this high concentration implies a period of synthesis of organic compounds as short as 104 years on the Murchison meteorite parent body.
Circadian genes and insulin exocytosis

The molecular clock controls 24-hour cycles of behavioral and physiological processes across the day-night cycle. Disruption of circadian rhythmicity has been implicated in the pathogenesis of several diseases, including the metabolic syndrome, although the role of clock genes in these disorders is still not well understood. Studies of the etiology of diabetes in circadian mutant mice have revealed a novel role for the clock in pancreatic β-cell insulin secretion, suggesting that a major cellular function of the circadian network involves control of protein exocytosis.
Frequency analysis of the visual steady-state response measured with the fast optical signal in younger and older adults

Relatively high frequency activity (>4 Hz) carries important information about the state of the brain or its response to high frequency events. The electroencephalogram (EEG) is commonly used to study these changes because it possesses high temporal resolution and a good signal-to-noise ratio. However, it provides limited spatial information. Non-invasive fast optical signals (FOS) have been proposed as a neuroimaging tool combining spatial and temporal resolution. Yet, this technique has not been applied to study high frequency brain oscillations because of its relatively low signal-to-noise ratio. Here we investigate the sensitivity of FOS to relatively high-frequency brain oscillations. We measured the steady-state optical response elicited in medial and lateral occipital cortex by checkerboard reversals occurring at 4, 6, and 8 Hz in younger and older adults. Stimulus-dependent oscillations were observed at the predicted stimulation frequency. In addition, in the younger adults the FOS steady-state response was smaller in lateral than medial areas, whereas in the older adults it was reversed in these two cortical regions. This may reflect diminished top-down inhibitory control in the older adults. The results indicate that FOS can be used to study the modulation of relatively high-frequency brain oscillations in adjacent cortical regions.
Collective level crossings on nanotubes and multipole excitations on fullerenes.

A meshlike energy structure of collective intersubband excitations and damped collective energy level crossings are predicted for electrons confined on a cylindrical graphitic nanotube. Unusual Kohn anomalies, besides 2${\mathit{k}}_{\mathit{F}}$, are found for nanotubes. Multipole collective excitations are obtained for ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ and related quasispherical fullerenes, and the results are in excellent agreement with available experimental measurements.