cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
HAX-1: a family of apoptotic regulators in health and disease.

HAX-1 comprises a family of ubiquitously expressed proteins that play important roles in the regulation of programmed cell death. Herein, we provide a comprehensive review of the expression profile of HAX-1 and its functional implications during health and disease, highlighting its direct involvement in the development of congenital neutropenia and neural abnormalities, when absent, and its contribution to the progression of psoriasis and cancer, when overexpressed. Moreover, we provide new information on the differential expression of the HAX-1 subfamily in three distinct types of epithelial cancers, including breast, skin, and colon. Our results demonstrate a significant up-regulation of the anti-apoptotic HAX-1 variant 001 in skin and colon, but not in breast and cancer cells, indicating tissue-specific differences in its expression pattern and properties during cancer formation and progression. Our findings further reveal a considerable down-regulation, if not abrogation, of three distinct, yet to be characterized, HAX-1 isoforms in breast cancer cells, suggesting that they may function in an opposite manner to the anti-apoptotic variant 001. This study aims to summarize our current knowledge on the physiological implications of the expression profile of the HAX-1 subfamily in health and disease, and provide new information on the differential expression and activities of HAX-1 members in three distinct types of cancer. J. Cell. Physiol. 226: 2752–2761, 2011. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Managerial Decision-Making on Moral Issues and the Effects of Teaching Ethics.

This study uses judgment and decision-making (JDM) perspective with the help of framing and schema literature from cognitive psychology to evaluate how managers behave when problems with unethical overtones are presented to them in a managerial frame rather than an ethical frame. In the proposed managerial model, moral judgment of the situation is one of the inputs to managerial judgment, among several other inputs regarding costs and benefits of various alternatives. Managerial judgment results in managerial intent leading to managerial action. The model and the effects of taking an ethics course on ethical and managerial judgment and managerial intent were then indirectly tested in this study, wherein subjects judged the ethical wrongness, managerial badness, and the managerial intent regarding decisions made in a case. Forty-nine MBA students analyzed a case involving budget-based bonuses and production, in which the ethical issue evolved over three stages. It appears from the Path-analysis results that managerial judgment mediated between moral judgment and the judgment of managerial intent as suggested by the proposed model, and that taking an ethics course directly affected managerial judgment but did not affect the moral judgment. Additionally, in the first stage of decision-making (early stage of a developing “ethical slippery slope”), moral judgment did not significantly influence managerial judgment. However, students with ethics course still were more inclined to judge the decision as managerially bad as compared to others, indicating that they were more aware or sensitive to the moral issues involved.
Insolubilized L-asparaginase implant: a preliminary report.

L-asparaginase, an enzyme used in the treatment of leukemia, has been covalently coupled to a Dacron vascular prothesis. The enzyme activity was determined in vitro and after remaining 7 days in vivo.
A 17pJ/bit broadband mixed-signal demodulator in 90nm CMOS

This paper presents the first fully integrated mixed-signal demodulator incorporating ultra low-power 3mW 3Gsps 3-bit ADCs and a 2mW high-speed real-time digital signal processing in 90nm CMOS that requires neither external synchronization controls nor processing to demodulate up to 3.5Gbps binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) modulated signal. The demodulator is integrated with IQ mixers, 13GHz QVCO, frequency synthesizers and baseband AGC, for an overall power consumption of 60mW from a 1V supply. The entire demodulator chip occupies 1.275×1.19mm2 and enables error free demodulation up to 2.5Gbps and BER of 1E-09 up to 3Gbps. To the best of authors' knowledge, this demonstrates the maximum throughput at minimum power budget among all types of CMOS multi-gigabit demodulators.
MODEL BASED CONTROL OF EXHAUST RECOMPRESSION HCCI

Abstract This paper presents an approach to model-based Controller development for Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI). The control strategy for HCCI is based on a physical two state discrete time model of the process. As the trapped exhaust is pivotal in setting up the cyclic coupling, its temperature and the amount of oxygen present in it are selected as the states of the system. The model is linearized about an operating point in order to generate simple linear controllers. The states of the model, however, are not directly measurable. Hence an observer is used to generate estimates of the states, which are then used by a controller to track a desired system trajectory. Results from simulation show that the system can be controlled with some error about an operating point. Experimental results demonstrate comparable tracking, along with a reduction in the cycle-to-cycle variability of HCCI.
Post-Regulation Research: Milk Marketing Order Regulations

Questions are being raised about the impact of the federal milk marketing order program which directly regulates the handling and farm-level pricing of about 65% of all milk produced in the United States. The program has been in existence for over forty years and has played an integral and pervasive part in shaping the U.S. dairy industry.1 Before any changes are made in the program, it is important to untangle and understand the complex economic relationships involved in order to evaluate the continued need for all or part of these regulations. This paper is an example of post-legislative research designed to help evaluate a long-standing set of regulations. Generally, the milk order program is not well understood. Some research results have been very controversial, and points of view on the program vary widely.2 Some argue that the program does not meet the stated goals outlined by Congress (Masson and Eisenstat) while others argue that the goals have been achieved and the public interest served with a minimum amount of government regulation (Forest). Some studies have attempted to measure the social costs of the program (Ippolito and Masson, MacAvoy) or alternative pricing policy modifications of the program (Buxton 1977, Dobson and Buxton). Other studies have considered the economic impact of alternative pricing policies under milk orders (Hallberg, Fallert and Buxton). This paper is divided into three parts. The first part reviews the major regulatory procedures and goals of the federal milk marketing order program. It further develops the economic rationale on how the regulations achieve those goals and reviews the major benefits usually ascribed to milk orders. The second part of the paper contains a discussion of the major economic impacts of milk orders while the third part contains some conclusions and policy implications.
Polyisobutylene‐containing block polymers by sequential monomer addition. X. Synthesis of poly(α‐methylstyrene‐b‐isobutylene‐b‐α‐methylstyrene) thermoplastic elastomers

The cationic polymerization of α-methyl-styrene (αMeSt) was investigated using the 2-chloro-2,4,4-trimethylpentane (TMPCl)/TiCl 4 initiating system in the presence of triethylamine (Et 3 N) as electron donor (ED) and CH 3 Cl/n-hexane mixed solvent in the -80 to -40°C range. Conversions are influenced by temperature, [TiCl 4 ], [Et 3 N], and [αMeSt]. The polymerization of αMeSt is living at -80°C. Highly syndiotactic PαMeSt was obtained
The Role of Visual Experience in the Development of Columns in Cat Visual Cortex

The role of experience in the development of the cerebral cortex has long been controversial. Patterned visual experience in the cat begins when the eyes open about a week after birth. Cortical maps for orientation and ocular dominance in the primary visual cortex of cats were found to be present by 2 weeks. Early pattern vision appeared unimportant because these cortical maps developed identically until nearly 3 weeks of age, whether or not the eyes were open. The naive maps were powerfully dominated by the contralateral eye, and experience was needed for responses to the other eye to become strong, a process unlikely to be strictly Hebbian. With continued visual deprivation, responses to both eyes deteriorated, with a time course parallel to the well-known critical period of cortical plasticity. The basic structure of cortical maps is therefore innate, but experience is essential for specific features of these maps, as well as for maintaining the responsiveness and selectivity of cortical neurons.
Physical and Chemical Variations in the Discharge of a Flowing Wella

Observations of temperature, pll, specific conduction, and discharge, and concentrations of calcium, magnesium, potassium. lithium, and sodium in the discharge of a flowing well reveal that geochemistry of aquifers should be based on sample wells which have been allowed to discharge for an extended period.
Coastal adaptation and economic tipping points

Purpose – This study aims to examine the effects of levee construction and tropical storms on regional economic growth of a coastal community. The study's goal is to highlight feedbacks important to climate change adaptation in the coastal zone.Design/methodology/approach – The research utilizes a dynamic feedback model that includes coastal engineering, urban economic development, and natural ecosystem response. The model is a tool to help discuss important long‐term issues and to highlight areas of policy intervention. The data for the model come from US Census data, the global DIVA coastal database, and IPCC projections.Findings – The results show urban areas facing elevated levels of exposure because of residents' low understanding of climatic risks. Coastal managers may actually increase long‐term exposure by attempting to protect coastal regions from long‐term sea‐level rise. Coastal defenses lead to a false sense of safety, increasing economic development in the short term, but causing larger econo...
Regulation of an H-ras-related transcript by parathyroid hormone in rat osteosarcoma cells

The rat osteosarcoma cell line UMR 106-01 is a commonly used model system for the study of osteoblast function. However, it also expresses a phenotype characteristic of transformed cells. To test whether the latter could be accounted for by aberrant oncogene expression, we probed Northern blots of UMR and other osteoblastic cells with a panel of oncogene probes. These blots, when probed with a cDNA specific for v-H-ras, revealed a 7.0-kilobase (kb) H-ras-related transcript (designated HRRT) in UMR 106-01 cells that was not expressed in other osteoblastic cells. Osteoblast-enriched calvarial cells expressed the typical 1.1-kb H-ras mRNA, which was absent in UMR cells. Additionally, Western blots of lysates of UMR cells documented the presence of three proteins immunologically related to H-rasp21. To determine whether HRRT represented a recombinant retrovirus product, Northern blots were probed with a cDNA specific for the highly conserved gag-pol region of Moloney murine leukemia virus. These blots showed parallel cross-reactivity with an apparently identical transcript of 7.0 kb. The 7.0-kb transcripts detected by both v-H-ras and gag-pol probes declined to the same extent after treatment with concentrations of PTH known to inhibit proliferation of these cells. PTH regulated the abundance of HRRT in a time- and dose-dependent manner, with greatest repression of the transcript after 8 h of treatment with 10(-8) M PTH. The decrease in HRRT could not be completely accounted for by changes in transcriptional activity, as determined by nuclear run-on assays.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS).
Spleen size in cirrhosis of different etiologies.

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of cirrhosis etiology on spleen size as measured by sonography and computed tomography (CT). METHODS The spleen images of 139 patients with cirrhosis secondary to alcohol abuse, hepatitis C, or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis were reviewed retrospectively. The maximum diagonal spleen length on a single sonogram and maximum spleen diameter on axial, coronal, or sagittal CT, whichever was largest, was compared among the etiologic groups. RESULTS In 127 patients who underwent sonography, the mean spleen size ± SD on sonography in the alcohol group (13.1 ± 2.5 cm) was significantly smaller than in the hepatitis C (15.0 ± 3.4 cm) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (15.2 ± 3.0 cm) groups (95% confidence intervals of the mean difference, 0.6 to 3.3 and 0.8 to 3.4 cm, respectively). In 87 patients who underwent CT, the mean spleen size on CT in the alcohol group (14.0 ± 2.7 cm) was smaller than in the hepatitis C (15.9 ± 3.4 cm) and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (15.5 ± 3.6 cm) groups, but the difference was not statistically significant. The spleen sizes on both sonography and CT in 79 patients were strongly correlated (r = 0.88; P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS Spleen size in patients with cirrhosis varies by the etiology of the disease. Therefore, to apply spleen size as a diagnostic or prognostic criterion in this context, it is important to recognize that cutoff values derived from spleen size in one etiologic group may not produce the same results when extrapolated to another etiologic group.
BOOK CENSORSHIP: A STRATEGY OF ORDER FOR THE FIREMEN IN FAHRENHEIT 451 AND MORAL MAJORITY, INC.

(1983). BOOK CENSORSHIP: A STRATEGY OF ORDER FOR THE FIREMEN IN FAHRENHEIT 451 AND MORAL MAJORITY, INC. Free Speech Yearbook: Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 20-32.
The USA plastics recycling industry: a survey of manufacturers and vendors of recycled plastic products

Despite efforts spanning more than a decade, plastics continue to be the least recycled component of the USA's municipal waste stream. This study addresses a significant gap in knowledge about the operation of the plastics recycling market by investigating and analysing the characteristics and experiences of manufacturers and vendors of consumer products with recycled plastics content.The study collected information through a survey of this segment of the USA's plastics recycling industry. The analysis of this information confirmed that the industry, as a whole, is young. Nevertheless, it offers a very wide variety of products. These face stiff competition from virgin resin plastic products, or from other virgin competing materials such as wood and cotton. Recycled plastic products are often more expensive than their competitors. Some manufacturers and vendors, especially the younger ones, addressed this problem by finding a niche market with consumers who are willing to pay a premium for environmentally friendly products. On the other hand, companies whose products are successfully competing against virgin products are more likely to have operated longer, to be vertically integrated (producing raw materials and consumer products), and to be more diversified in the number of resins they handle.Manufacturers and vendors of recycled plastic products in the USA have gained considerable experience since the early years of plastics recycling. Nonetheless, they continue to face some serious challenges. Operators of materials recovery facilities that process PCR have an important role to play in supporting the industry by improving the quality of their product (i.e. PCR). However, the most important factor for securing continued growth of the industry is the expansion of markets for the industry's products. The responses to the survey indicate that, while there are actions that manufacturers and vendors can take to increase their chances of success, the effect of government policy remains overwhelming. Policymakers can facilitate growth in plastics recycling by stepping up their efforts to implement effective demand-side policies and by adopting policies to internalize the environmental and social externalities of plastics manufacturing and use.
Molecular Mechanisms of Fluconazole Resistance in Candida parapsilosis Isolates from a U.S. Surveillance System

Candida parapsilosis is the second or third most common cause of candidemia in many countries. The Infectious Diseases Society of America recommends fluconazole as the primary therapy for C. parapsilosis candidemia. Although the rate of fluconazole resistance among C. parapsilosis isolates is low in most U.S. institutions, the resistance rate can be as high as 7.5%. This study was designed to assess the mechanisms of fluconazole resistance in 706 incident bloodstream isolates from U.S. hospitals. We sequenced the ERG11 and MRR1 genes of 122 C. parapsilosis isolates with resistant (30 isolates; 4.2%), susceptible dose-dependent (37 isolates; 5.2%), and susceptible (55 isolates) fluconazole MIC values and used real-time PCR of RNA from 17 isolates to investigate the regulation of MDR1. By comparing these isolates to fully fluconazole-susceptible isolates, we detected at least two mechanisms of fluconazole resistance: an amino acid substitution in the 14-α-demethylase gene ERG11 and overexpression of the efflux pump MDR1, possibly due to point mutations in the MRR1 transcription factor that regulates MDR1. The ERG11 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was found in 57% of the fluconazole-resistant isolates and in no susceptible isolates. The MRR1 SNPs were more difficult to characterize, as not all resulted in overexpression of MDR1 and not all MDR1 overexpression was associated with an SNP in MRR1. Further work to characterize the MRR1 SNPs and search for overexpression of other efflux pumps is needed.
Doing What I Like

I have spent my entire professional life at Harvard Medical School, beginning as a medical student. I have enjoyed each day of a diverse career in four medical subspecialties while following the same triad of preclinical areas of investigation-cysteinyl leukotrienes, mast cells, and complement-with occasional translational opportunities. I did not envision a career with a predominant preclinical component. Such a path simply evolved because I chose instinctively at multiple junctures to follow what proved to be propitious opportunities. My commentary notes some of the highlights for each area of interest and the mentors, collaborators, and trainees whose counsel has been immensely important at particular intervals or over an extended period.
Relating Interactions between Neurofilaments to the Structure of Axonal Neurofilament Distributions through Polymer Brush Models

Neurofilaments (NFs) have been proposed to interact with one another through mutual steric exclusion of their unstructured C-terminal "sidearm" domains, producing order in axonal NF distributions and conferring mechanical strength to the axon. Here we apply theory developed for polymer brushes to examine the relationship between the brush properties of the sidearms and NF organization in axons. We first measure NF-NF radial distribution functions and occupancy probability distributions for adult mice. Interpreting the probability distributions using information theory, we show that the NF distribu- tions may be represented by a single pair potential of mean force. Then, to explore the relationship between model parameters and NF architecture, we conduct two-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations of NF cross-sectional distributions. We impose purely repulsive interaction potentials in which the sidearms are represented as neutral and polyelectrolyte chains. By treating the NFs as telechelic polymer brushes, we also incorporate cross-bridging interactions. Both repulsive potentials are capable of reproducing NF cross-sectional densities and their pair correlations. We find that NF structure is sensitive to changes in brush thickness mediated by chain charge, consistent with the experimental observation that sidearm phosphor- ylation regulates interfilament spacing. The presence of attractive cross-bridging interactions contributes only modestly to structure for moderate degrees of cross-bridging and leads to NF aggregation for extensive cross-bridging.
Building Scalable Failure-proneness Models Using Complexity Metrics for Large Scale Software Systems

Building statistical models for estimating failure-proneness of systems can help software organizations make early decisions on the quality of their systems. Such early estimates can be used to help inform decisions on testing, refactoring, code inspections, design rework etc. This paper demonstrates the efficacy of building scalable failure-proneness models based on code complexity metrics across the Microsoft Windows operating system code base. We show the ability of such models to estimate failure-proneness and provide feedback on the complexity metrics to help guide refactoring and the design rework effort.
Bitcoin is Memory

We maintain that the crypto-currency bitcoin is a practical application of what is termed “memory” in the monetary economics literature. After reviewing the theoretical literature on money and memory, we offer a brief overview of the bitcoin protocol and argue that, like memory, bitcoin functions as a public record-keeping device. Finally, we provide evidence that — in line with the standard theoretical account of memory — bitcoin use has soared as the expected cost of storing traditional monies increased.
Comparative Cost-Effectiveness of the Components of a Behavior Change Communication Campaign on HIV/AIDS in North India

Numerous studies show that exposure to entertainment-education-based mass media campaigns is associated with reduction in risk behaviors. Concurrently, there is a growing interest in comparing the cost-effectiveness of HIV prevention interventions taking into account infrastructural and programmatic costs. In such analyses, though few in number, mass media campaigns have fared well. Using data from a mass media communication campaign in the low HIV prevalence states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi in Northern India, in this article we examine the following: (1) factors that mediate behavior change in different components of the campaign, comprising a TV drama, reality show for youth audiences, and TV spots; (2) the relative impact of campaign components on the behavioral outcome: condom use; and (3) the cost-effectiveness calculations arising from this analysis. Results suggest that recall of the TV spots and the TV drama influences behavior change and is strongly associated with interpersonal communication and positive gender attitudes. The TV drama, in spite of being the costliest, emerges as the most cost-effective component when considering the behavioral outcome of interest. The analysis of the comparative cost-effectiveness of individual campaign components provides insights into the planning of resources for communication interventions globally.
MULTIPOLLUTANT EFFICIENCY STANDARDS FOR ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION

This study contains a simulation of a coal-fired electric plant subject to multiple pollutant standards for SO{sub 2} and NOx. It shows that firms may not choose the lowest cost technology. The firm's cost-minimizing choice is compared for three increasingly stringent standards: the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, the 1997 New Source Performance Standards, and the 2002 North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Act. The study finds support on cost-benefit grounds for the 2002 North Carolina standard, which is the most stringent standard, but not for the 1997 NSPS.
Infrared Lattice Spectra of Rare-Earth Aluminum, Gallium, and Iron Garnets

The infrared lattice spectra of a large number of rare-earth garnets have been recorded. Of the seventeen predicted lattice modes, we observed 15 for the aluminum series, 12 for the gallium, and 10 for the iron. A set of three bands in the high-frequency region of each spectrum has been assigned to the motion of the oxygen anions bonded to the rare-earth cation. The lowest-frequency bands in each spectrum have been assigned to the translational motions of the rare-earth ion. All of the frequencies were assigned to external motions of the crystal lattice.
Comparison of a regulated delayed antigen synthesis system with in vivo-inducible promoters for antigen delivery by live attenuated Salmonella vaccines.

ABSTRACT Induction of strong immune responses against a vectored antigen in hosts immunized with live attenuated Salmonella vaccines is related in part to the amount of antigen delivered and the overall fitness of the Salmonella vector in relation to its ability to stimulate the host immune system. Constitutive high-level antigen synthesis causes a metabolic burden to the vaccine vector strain that can reduce the vaccine strain9s ability to interact with host lymphoid tissues, resulting in a compromised immune response. A solution to this problem is the use of systems that regulate antigen gene expression, permitting high levels of antigen synthesis only after the vaccine strain has reached its target tissues. In vivo-inducible promoters (IVIPs) are often used to accomplish this. We recently developed an alternative strategy, a regulated delayed antigen synthesis (RDAS) system, in which the LacI-repressible Ptrc promoter controls antigen gene expression by adding arabinose. In this paper, we compared the RDAS system with two commonly used IVIPs, PssaG and PpagC. Three nearly identical plasmids, differing only in the promoter used to direct transcription of the pneumococcal pspA gene, Ptrc, PssaG, or PpagC, were constructed and introduced into isogenic Salmonella vaccine strains with or without arabinose-inducible LacI synthesis. Mice immunized with the RDAS strain developed slightly higher titers of mucosal and serum anti-PspA antibodies than PpagC-immunized mice, while titers in mice immunized with the PssaG strain were 100-fold lower. Both the RDAS and PpagC strains conferred similar levels of protection against Streptococcus pneumoniae challenge, significantly greater than those for the PssaG strain or controls. Thus, RDAS provides another choice for inclusion in the live vaccine design to increase immunogenicity.
Interactions between Ras and Raf: Key regulatory proteins in cellular transformation

Ras proteins function during cell growth and development as essential, plasma membrane-bound signaling proteins. Current evidence suggests that Ras is part of a signal transduction chain extending from extracellular signals to transcriptional regulation in the nucleus. Growth factor and cytokine activation of many tyrosine kinase and kinase-linked receptors recruits many proteins to the plasma membrane including Ras-specific guanine nucleotide releasing proteins (GNRP). Under the influence of a GNRP, Ras proteins bind GTP, resulting in activation of the Ras signal. The GTP-bound form of Ras is capable of interacting directly with RasGAP, neurofibromin, and the Raf kinases. Although believed to be endowed with some signaling capacity, RasGAP and neurofibromin act primarily to negatively regulate Ras. Based upon genetic and biochemical studies in a variety of diverse organisms, the Raf kinases are considered the primary targets of Ras signaling. Activation of the Raf kinases is the first step in a cascade of multiple protein kinases, including Mek, Erkl, and Erk2. We are attempting to understand structurally how activated Ras proteins interact specifically with Raf kinases to induce the downstream signals necessary for cell division. Using mutagenesis, peptide epitope scanning, and in vitro reconstitution of protein interactions, we have identified specific sites of association between the Ras-GTP and c-Raf-1 proteins. The interaction between these contact points is essential for the plasma membrane localization of Raf, which ultimately leads to kinase activation. The formation of this protein complex is negatively regulated by protein kinase A (PKA) through phosphorylation of the c-Raf-1 N-terminus. Phosphorylation of c-Raf-1 serine 43 is believed to cause an N-terminal cap structure to cover the Ras docking site.
Performance Improvements Provided by Route Diversity in Multihop Wireless Networks

In multihop wireless networks, the variability of channels results in some paths providing better performance than other paths. Although it is well known that some paths are better than others, a significant number of routing protocols do not focus on utilizing optimal paths. However, cooperative diversity, which is an area of recent interest, provides techniques for efficiently exploiting path and channel diversity. This paper examines the potential performance improvements offered by path diversity. Three settings are examined, namely, where the path loss and channel correlation are neglected, where path loss is considered, but channel correlation is neglected, and where path loss and channel correlation are both accounted for. It is shown that, by exploiting path diversity, dramatic improvements in the considered route metric may be achieved. Furthermore, in some settings, if the link statistics are held constant, then when path diversity is exploited, the route metric improves with path length. This implies that, if links statistics are fixed and if sufficient path diversity exists, then paths with more hops tend to support higher bit rates than paths with fewer hops. It is shown that such behavior occurs when a particular map has a nonzero fixed point.
Factors Affecting Recovery of Consciousness After Seizures

Linear regression analysis was used to determine factors that influenced recovery time in 90 children aged 1-16 years (median age 6 years) treated for seizures with impairment of consciousness at Leeds General Infirmary, UK.
A seismological reassessment of the source of the 1946 Aleutian ‘tsunami’ earthquake

SUMMARY We present a re-evaluation of the seismological properties of the Aleutian ‘tsunami earthquake’ of 1946 April 1, characterized by a deceptively low conventional magnitude (7.4) in view of its catastrophic tsunami, both in the near and far fields. Relocation of 40 aftershocks show that the fault zone extends a minimum of 181 km along the Aleutian trench, in a geometry requiring a bilateral rupture from the original nucleation at the epicentre. Their spatial and temporal distribution are typical of the aftershock patterns of a large earthquake, and rule out the model of a landslide source exclusive of a dislocation. The analysis of the spectra of mantle waves favours the model of a large seismic source, with a static moment of 8.5 × 10 28 dyn-cm, making the event one of the ten largest earthquakes ever recorded (hence the destructive tsunami in the far field), and of a slow bilateral rupture, at an average velocity of only 1.12 km s −1 , hence the destructive interference in all azimuths for all but the longest mantle waves. The exceptionally slow character of the earthquake is confirmed by a deficiency in radiated seismic energy expressed by the lowest value measured to date of the energy-tomoment ratio. The earthquake appears as an end member in the family of ‘tsunami earthquakes’, resulting from the combination of anomalous, but not unprecedented, parameters, such as low stress drop and rupture velocity.
Akt1 mediates purinergic-dependent NOS3 activation in thick ascending limbs.

Extracellular ATP regulates many physiological processes via release of nitric oxide (NO). ATP stimulates NO in thick ascending limbs (TALs), but the signaling cascade involved in the cells of this...
Congenital retinal dystrophy and corneal opacity in trisomy 8 mosaicism.

Trisomy 8 mosaicism can present with a wide variety of systemic and ophthalmologic manifestations. We report a patient with an extinguished electroretinogram and diffuse retinal pigment epithelial abnormalities suggestive of a rod-cone dystrophy, which has not been previously reported in association with trisomy 8. A finding that has been described in several patients with trisomy 8 is a central corneal opacity, but there are no data regarding the natural history of this finding; the corneal opacity in our patient spontaneously improved. This case expands the clinical spectrum of this rare entity. Trisomy 8 mosaicism has been associated with multiple ophthalmologic findings. 1,2 The most common is strabismus, found in more than 50% of patients; there have also been at least 5 reports of a creamy stromal corneal opacity. 3 To our knowledge, on the basis of a MEDLINE search performed in December 2004 using the terms trisomy 8 mosaicism, retinitis pigmentosa, Leber congenital amaurosis, and retinal dystrophy, this is the first report of a congenital retinal dystrophy with an extinguished electroretinogram (ERG) in association with this syndrome, as well as the first report of spontaneous improvement of a characteristic corneal opacity. CASE REPORT A 5 month-old white male infant was referred for evaluation of a corneal opacity in his left eye. Significant medical history included incarcerated abdominal hernia, hypospadias, cryptorchidism, and tethered spinal cord; trisomy 8 mosaicism was established by cytogenetics. The patient’s serum titers were negative for toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus, and herpes virus. Ophthalmologic examination demonstrated ability to fix and follow with each eye, orthophoria, no nystagmus, and grossly full versions and visual fields as assessed by visually directed eye move
Collisional energy loss in a finite size QCD matter

Computation of collisional energy loss in a finite size QCD medium has become crucial to obtain reliable predictions for jet quenching in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. We here compute this energy loss up to the zeroth order in opacity. Our approach consistently treats both soft and hard contributions to the collisional energy loss. Consequently, it removes the unphysical energy gain in a region of lower momenta obtained by previous computations. Most importantly, we show that for characteristic QCD medium scales, finite size effects on the collisional energy loss are not significant.
Analysis, critique, and reevaluation of high-level waste repository water intrusion scenario studies

The several water intrusion scenario studies in the recent literature are all quite similar and may be easily understood if used to estimate the total number of eventual cancers per unit of energy generated, including their sensitivity to input parameters. However, these studies are grossly overpessimistic in several aspects of the problem, especially in using leach rate data from highly unrealistic experimental situations, and in ignoring geochemical considerations in both leaching and in transport. It is concluded that it is reasonable to expect removal and transport for an atom of buried waste to be similar to that for an atom of average rock. Under that assumption, the leach rate can be estimated from the chemical compositions of rock and of groundwater, coupled with the water flow through aquifers. The result (excluding /sup 238/U) is 0.0008 eventual cancer/GW(electric)-yr. This treatment would be invalidated if the waste were released through fractures in the rock induced by the emplacement operations or by heat. If such fractures cannot be discounted, total reliance must be on leach resistance.
Trust in Government and the Willingness to Pay Taxes in Transition Countries

This paper examines citizen trust in government, willingness to pay taxes, and desire for redistribution in transition countries. A theoretical model of trust in government is developed explaining willingness to pay (WTP) for public goods and empirical models are estimated for improved public education, improved public health system, combating climate change, helping the needy, and income redistribution. Data are from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Life in Transition Survey, 2010 (LITS II). Results confirm the theoretical model, with trust in government having a significant positive effect on WTP for public goods. Differences are found, however, among government institutions and public goods. Income is a significant factor contributing to trust in all social institutions, including government. Higher income citizens have greater WTP for public goods, including income redistribution. The possibility of upward mobility hypothesis is confirmed, with citizens expecting future income to be higher than current income being less supportive of redistribution.
Vessel sealing comparison: old school is still hip

Ligation with either absorbable or non-absorbable sutures has been the traditional state of the art, but a proliferation of technology now offers a host of methods to close and divide vessels. Only limited data are available that objectively compare different vessel sealing methods. The objective of this study was to compare a broad variety of methods of surgical vessel closure in a reproducible, independent, standardized test-to-failure ex vivo pressure challenge. Ten of the most common surgical sealing devices were represented in this study, including both mechanical and energy devices. Unfixed porcine carotid arteries were selected for testing. They were connected to a pump, and automated controlled infusion was initiated. Upon identification of a leak at the source of sealing, the maximum pressure in mmHg was logged. There were a total of 184 trials conducted using the 10 vessel sealing methods. The average burst pressure across all trials was 1100 mmHg with a range of 51.3–5171 mmHg. Suture-based methods displayed the highest average pressure until failure. Stapling methods showed the lowest burst pressures. All methods showed mean burst pressures above the “physiologically relevant” level of 250 mmHg. This study presents an independent, reproducible, ex vivo comparison of multiple methods of surgical arterial closure. In these laboratory conditions, tests to failure demonstrated widely varying sealing strength, highly dependent on method. All hemostatic modalities tested are capable of securing vessels safely and well above physiologic blood pressures, while suture-based methods were significantly stronger than other mechanical methods or modern energy devices.
Simplifying RIA Oversight

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provides oversight to RIAs managing at least $100 million of Regulatory Assets under Management (RAUM). The number of Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) managing these assets has increased significantly. In addition, there is increased public pressure to provide broader oversight resulting from regulatory failure of RIAs and Investment Advisor Representatives (IARs). The SEC and organizations such as the Investment Advisor Association (IAA) are lobbying Congress for more resources to provide adequate oversight. Even the smaller firms (managing less than 3.6% of RAUM) are held to the same level of oversight, expense and reporting requirements as the large, very complex investment advisors who manage 96.4% of the assets. This paper identifies and explores five key areas the SEC has marked as the most probable areas of failure, affecting the markets and consumers. It is questionable whether these major concerns highlighted in SEC releases, no-action letters and speeches are relevant to the smaller firms who do not take custody or provide true discretionary management of assets. The level of reporting and scrutiny placed on smaller RIAs using a simple business model, is likely, a waste of SEC resources and taxpayer money. If the SEC delegated oversight of these less complicated RIAs to trained, licensed and regulated compliance consultants, the SEC would reduce their regulatory workload and could refocus resources on larger firms, susceptible to conflicts of interest and other compliance violations established in the 1940’s Act. This small change would actually enhance regulation of smaller firms, and would bring meaningful relief to them at the same time. The advantages are significant. This change would allow smaller firms to provide a higher level of service and build better relationships with their clients.
Genetic analysis of resistance to tomato late blight in Solanum pimpinellifolium accession PI 163245

Late blight (LB), caused by Phytophthora infestans, is one of the most devastating diseases of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) worldwide. Due to the emergence of new and aggressive P. infestans isolates, identifying new genetic resistance to LB is a priority in tomato breeding. Recently, we reported the identification of several Solanum pimpinellifolium accessions with strong LB resistance. In this study, we investigated the utility of resistant accession PI 163245 for tomato breeding by examining heritability (h2) of resistance and the response to selection for resistance. Estimates of h2 based on F2 : F3 and F3 : F4 parent : offspring correlation analyses averaged 0.79 and 0.94, respectively, suggesting the heritable nature of LB resistance in PI 163245. Analysis of response to selection for resistance from F2 to F4 generations indicated a realized h2 of 0.63, confirming the utility of this resistance in tomato breeding. Two methods of estimating the minimum number of loci involved indicated the presence of one major resistance locus. Currently, genetic mapping and breeding efforts are underway to further confirm the viability of this accession for improving tomato LB resistance.
Survey of cryptic unstable transcripts in yeast

Cryptic unstable transcripts (CUTs) are a largely unexplored class of nuclear exosome degraded, non-coding RNAs in budding yeast. It is highly debated whether CUT transcription has a functional role in the cell or whether CUTs represent noise in the yeast transcriptome. We sought to ascertain the extent of conserved CUT expression across a variety of Saccharomyces yeast strains to further understand and characterize the nature of CUT expression. We sequenced the WT and rrp6Δ transcriptomes of three S.cerevisiae strains: S288c, Σ1278b, JAY291 and the S.paradoxus strain N17 and utilized a hidden Markov model to annotate CUTs in these four strains. Utilizing a four-way genomic alignment we identified a large population of CUTs with conserved syntenic expression across all four strains. By identifying configurations of gene-CUT pairs, where CUT expression originates from the gene 5’ or 3′ nucleosome free region, we observed distinct gene expression trends specific to these configurations which were most prevalent in the presence of conserved CUT expression. Divergent pairs correlate with higher expression of genes, and convergent pairs correlate with reduced gene expression. Our RNA-seq based method has greatly expanded upon previous CUT annotations in S.cerevisiae underscoring the extensive and pervasive nature of unstable transcription. Furthermore we provide the first assessment of conserved CUT expression in yeast and globally demonstrate possible modes of CUT-based regulation of gene expression.
Modern Foreign Language Education in the Light of Brain Mechanisms of Language Acquisition

Research in recent years has revealed detailed aspects of language acquisition,in particular,how the human brain detects linguistic patterns early in infancy,how infants exploit statistical properties from the language input,and how neural plasticity is associated with learning at different ages.Language learning,in essence,is realized in the dynamic interaction of innate neural mechanisms in the brain and postnatal experience of the linguistic environment.Both factors are indispensable and mutually influential in the process.In this paper,current frontier findings are introduced with an emphasis on comparing and contrasting first and second language acquisition.A new perspective is proposed to help quantify and understand the intrinsic neural properties of the learning process in the brain.Implications for guiding and optimizing modern foreign language education are discussed with respect to the relationship between language and mind,the neural constraints of second language learners,and most importantly,the establishment of a brain-science-based environmental infrastructure that is conducive to second language acquisition.
Nomenclature Associated with Chemical Characterization of and Compatibility Evaluations for Medical Product Delivery Systems

Delivery systems are used to store, contain, and/or administer liquid pharmaceutical products. Gaining an understanding of the chemical composition of such a delivery system is necessary with respect to effective system development, registration, and production. Additionally, the ability of the delivery system to impact the chemical composition of the contacted product may defi ne the safety and/or effi cacy of the product. Assessing the compatibility of the delivery system and the product is thus both necessary and desirable. The nomenclature associated with compatibility assessments has not been standardized, oftimes leading to conflicting or confusing information. This manuscript puts forth a nomenclature which classifi es those chemical entities which participate in the system/product interaction and delineates the various extraction strategies which may be used in compatibility assessments.
A measure of general functional dependence between two continuous variables

ABSTRACTExisting measures in the literature that are specifically concerned with testing and measuring independence between two continuous variables are all based on examining the definition of independence, i.e., FXY(x, y) = FX(x)FY(y). A new measure is constructed uniquely in this paper that uses the absolute value of first difference on adjacent ranks of one variable with respect to the other. This measure captures the degree of functional dependence attributable to the amount of randomness and the complexity of the underlying bivariate dependence structure in a commensurate way that existing coefficients are incapable of. As a test statistic of independence, this measure is shown to have comparable or better power than existing statistics against a wide range of alternative hypotheses that consist of functional and multivalued relational dependence with additive noise.
Sign, Signal, and Symbol

A sign indicates something else than what it is in itself, and it combines the functions of signifying and of indicating as its most essential characteristics. The function of signifying serves the recognition of a cognition-content other than the sign itself; so for instance does smoke signify the related cognition-content of fire, and a frown signifies anger or perplexity. The function of indicating the cognition-content of what the sign signifies serves the purpose of suggesting a way of behavior related to what the sign signifies. The aspect of signifying is more dominant in signs as the product of a causal relation, whereas the aspect of indicating dominates more in signs as the product of a social contract and in signals, as will be discussed later.
The Ludwig-Jones-Holling Differential Equations Model

We now turn to one of the simplifications of the 30,654 variable computer simulation model. Donald Ludwig, of the Mathematics Department, university of British Columbia, after hearing a non-mathematical presentation of the budworm-forest simulation research, captured the basic dynamics of the system in a system of three differential equations, using only three variables! With contributions from Dixon Jones, also a mathematician at U.B.C. and the ecologist CS. Holling, this evolved into an insightful model.