cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Direct sequencing of the activation peptide and the catalytic domain of the factor IX gene in six species.

Abstract By means of RNA amplification with transcript sequencing (RAWTS) under low stringency conditions, sequence was obtained directly without cloning for the activation peptide and the catalytic domain of factor IX from six species—sheep, pig, rabbit, guinea pig, rat, and mouse. The data presented demonstrate that, by the appropriate design of oligonucleotides and by performance of a nested PCR under appropriate conditions, it is possible to obtain sequence on a battery of species with a minimum of oligonucleotide primers. A total of 5.2 kb of cross-species sequence was generated with RAWTS. The results indicate that (1) 69% of the amino acids in the catalytic domain, but only 23% of the amino acids in the activation peptide, are identical in humans and the six species; (2) the catalytic domain evolves at a slower rate, but the extent and pattern of conservation of amino acids in the activation peptide suggest that the peptide functions as more than a cleavage spacer that separates the heavy and light chains in the catalytically inactive zymogen; (3) 37% of the amino acids in the activation peptide and 34% of the amino acids in the catalytic domain are factor IX-specific; i.e., they are either identical or changed in a highly conservative fashion in factor IX, but not in other related coagulation proteases; (4) these conserved factor IX-specific amino acids fall into three clusters, which are candidates for involvement in the protein interactions specific to factor IX; (5) there is a human-specific deletion after lysine 142 and a rodent-specific insertion after alanine 161; (6) in guinea pig, the insertion is associated with a seven-amino-acid repeat that corresponds to a perfect repeat of a 21-bp sequence; (7) humans have lost a potential N-glycosylation site that is conserved in the other species; (8) in each species, a few nonconservative changes occur in amino acids that are otherwise completely conserved, suggesting that compensatory mutations may have occurred; and (9) when compared to that of mouse, the amino acid identity with guinea pig factor IX is no greater than that found for the non-rodent species, a result compatible with the postulated increased rate of evolution in rodents.
Quenching of the fluorescence of NO2

The fluorescence yield of NO2 was monitored at 25 C with incident wavelengths of 4047, 4358, and 4800A at fluorescence wavelengths of 4860, 5577, and 6300A. The NO2 pressure was varied between 0.004 and 0.080 torr. Measurements were taken both in the absence of foreign gases and in the presence of up to 30 torr. He, N2, and O2 at each NO2 pressure. In the absence of foreign gases, the self quenching follows a Stern-Volmer quenching mechanism, but foreign-gas quenching shows marked deviations from this mechanism. Both from lifetime and kinetic considerations, it is argued that the electronic state formed by absorption of the radiation cannot be the emitting state. Emission occurs from several vibrational levels of the emitting state, the various vibrational levels being formed by collisional cascade reactions. The appropriate quenching rate constant ratios were measured and tabulated. Even the two electronic state mechanism is insufficient to explain all the observations.
Measurements of gas phase carbon in steam explosion of biomass

Abstract Banagrass, a fast growing tropical grass with potential use as a feedstock for energy, fuel, and chemical production, was tested in a pilot-scale steam exploder equipped with a gas sampling system. Known quantities of argon injected into the reactor with process steam served as a trace gas and permitted quantification of biomass-derived gases. A total of 77 tests were performed over a uniform matrix of temperature and log 10 Reaction Ordinate, R 0 = t exp ( t − 100) 14.75 where t is time in minutes and T is temperature in degree Celsius. The main carbon-containing species in the biomass-derived gases was CO 2 . Gas-phase carbon ranged from 0.5% to 2.4%, averaging 1.1% of feedstock carbon. Gas phase carbon increased with increasing severity, reaching a maximum at ∼205°C.
Evaluations and Perceptions of Self, Ingroup, and Outgroup: Comparisons Between Mexican-American and European-American Children

The present research examined evaluations of self, ingroup members, and outgroup members among young Mexican-American and European-American children. European-American children showed a greater discrepancy between evaluations of themselves and other ingroup members, and perceived fewer ingroup members as like themselves, relative to Mexican-American children. European-American children also evaluated ingroup targets more positively than outgroup targets, and perceived substantially fewer outgroup targets to be like them, while Mexican-American children showed more balanced perceptions and evaluations of ingroup and outgroup targets. Considerations of group differences in status and culture are discussed, along with implications of these findings for research on children's self-evaluations.
Hyperspectral Microwave Atmospheric Sounding

We introduce a new hyperspectral microwave remote sensing modality for atmospheric sounding, driven by recent advances in microwave device technology that now permit receiver arrays that can multiplex multiple broad frequency bands into more than 100 spectral channels, thus improving both the vertical and horizontal resolutions of the retrieved atmospheric profile. Global simulation studies over ocean and land in clear and cloudy atmospheres using three different atmospheric profile databases are presented that assess the temperature, moisture, and precipitation sounding capability of several notional hyperspectral systems with channels sampled near the 50-60-, 118.75-, and 183.31-GHz absorption lines. These analyses demonstrate that hyperspectral microwave operation using frequency multiplexing techniques substantially improves temperature and moisture profiling accuracy, particularly in atmospheres that challenge conventional nonhyperspectral microwave sounding systems because of high water vapor and cloud liquid water content. Retrieval performance studies are also included that compare hyperspectral microwave sounding performance to conventional microwave and hyperspectral infrared approaches, both in a geostationary and a low-Earth-orbit context, and a path forward to a new generation of high-performance all-weather sounding is discussed.
The quantitative genetics of disease: Ambiguities

Here I review briefly some terms appropriate to the formal discussion of the genetics of disease. The motive for writing is that at least three kinds of participating experts are involved: pathologists, geneticists, and statisticians. Not only may some of the terms used in one field be unfamiliar to experts from another, the same term may be used in diverse ways among, or even within, fields. Such ambiguity may create illusory understanding or even frank confusion.
Functional recovery after hip fracture in the subacute setting.

To measure functional recovery after hip fracture in the subacute setting. There are over 340,000 hip fractures that occur in the United States annually. Three out of five hospitalizations attributable to injury among persons over 75 were for fractures. Greater than 50% were hip fractures. The purpose of this study is to describe the functional recovery after hip fracture in the subacute setting utilizing performance-based measures (PBMs). This is a prospective observational cohort. Descriptive statistics were used for baseline characteristics. Repeated measures analysis using a Bonferroni correction was utilized to compare admission and discharge PBM scores. Eighty residents were enrolled in the study, of which seven were withdrawn because of medical complications and one subject died within 1 week of admission. Data were analyzed for 72 subjects. There were 59 women and 13 men ranging in age from 63–99. Mean age was 85.3. The patients’ profiles were as follows: 53% lived alone, 63% were Medicare recipients, 50% used an assistive device before hip fracture, 46% sustained a femoral neck fracture, 57% underwent a bipolar hemiarthroplasty, 90% received epidural anesthesia, and 90% had a weight-bearing status as weight-bearing was tolerated. The PBM results are as follows: There was a significant improvement between admission and discharge TUG test, Tinetti gait and balance test, and 6MW test scores in patients who underwent surgical repair of a hip fracture after a fall.
An estimation of quench-gas bias in internal combustion engine in-cylinder sampling

Abstract A simplified empirical-analytic model of flame quenching and subsequent removal of probe boundary-layer gases during in-cylinder sampling was used to study the quench-bias problem. For conditions similar to those of a diesel cylinder the model showed that the flame temperature has the greatest influence on the mass fraction of quench gas in a sample; cylinder pressure, orifice size, and sampling interval have less influence. For flame temperatures greater than 1900°K, the quench-mass fraction was computed to be relatively small—about 4% of the total mass. Even when the hydrodynamic boundary layer is neglected, the quench gas assumed at a uniform temperature equal to the wall temperature and the flame temperature taken at 2222°K, the quench-mass fraction is calculated to be only 9 to 16%. Extension of the model to the case where the bulk gas is flowing did not alter the conclusion that quench bias appears to be relatively unimportant in high temperature regions.
Signal Transduction Cross Talk Mediated by Jun N-Terminal Kinase-Interacting Protein and Insulin Receptor Substrate Scaffold Protein Complexes

Scaffold proteins have been established as important mediators of signal transduction specificity. The insulin receptor substrate (IRS) proteins represent a critical group of scaffold proteins that are required for signal transduction by the insulin receptor, including the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase. The c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK)-interacting proteins (JIPs) represent a different group of scaffold molecules that are implicated in the regulation of the JNK. These two signaling pathways are functionally linked because JNK can phosphorylate IRS1 on the negative regulatory site Ser-307. Here we demonstrate the physical association of these signaling pathways using a proteomic approach that identified insulin-regulated complexes of JIPs together with IRS scaffold proteins. Studies using mice with JIP scaffold protein defects confirm that the JIP1 and JIP2 proteins are required for normal glucose homeostasis. Together, these observations demonstrate that JIP proteins can influence insulin-stimulated signal transduction mediated by IRS proteins.
Ras Protein Contributes to Cerebral Vasospasm in a Canine Double-Hemorrhage Model

Background and Purpose— Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). In the present study we examined the role of Ras protein, an upstream regulator of MAPK, and the effects of the inhibitors of Ras farnesyltransferase (FTase), FTI-277 and FTase inhibitor I, on angiographic vasospasm and clinical evaluations. Methods— Twenty-five dogs were randomly divided into 5 groups: control, SAH, SAH+dimethyl sulfoxide, SAH+FTI-277, and SAH+FTase inhibitor I. An established canine double-hemorrhage model of SAH was used by injecting autologous arterial blood into the cisterna magna on days 0 and 2. Angiography was performed at days 0 and 7. Clinical behavior and the activation of Ras (GTP-Ras) and phosphorylated ERK1/2 of MAPK in the basilar arteries were examined. Results— Severe vasospasm was obtained in the SAH and SAH+dimethyl sulfoxide dogs (42.5±2.5% and 38.9±2.4%, respectively). Enhanced GTP-Ras and phosphor...
Prospect Eleven: Princeton University's entry in the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge

This paper describes Princeton University’s approach to the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge, an off-road race for fully autonomous ground vehicles. The system, Prospect Eleven, takes a simple approach to address the problems posed by the Grand Challenge including obstacle detection, path planning, and extended operation in harsh environments. Obstacles are detected using stereo vision, and tracked in the time domain to improve accuracy in localization and reduce false positives. The navigation system processes a geometric representation of the world to identify passable regions in the terrain ahead, and the vehicle is controlled to drive through these regions. Performance of the system is evaluated both during the Grand Challenge and in subsequent desert testing. The vehicle completed 9.3 miles of the course on race day, and extensive portions of the 2004 and 2005 Grand Challenge courses in later tests.
Robot kinematics computations using GMDH learning strategy

Summary form only given, as follows. The group method of data handling (GMDH), a data analysis technique for identification of nonlinear complex systems, is a feature-based mapping neural network. It is also an example of a polynomial neural network (PNN). The PNN can be successfully trained to interpolate an unknown function by observing a few samples. The PNN is used to interpolate robot forward and inverse kinematics computations (FKC and IKC). The FKC and IKC are, respectively, designed to find the mapping from the joint space to the Cartesian space, and the mapping from the Cartesian space to the joint space. A PNN simulation software package has been developed for solving both the FKC and the IKC. The simulation was performed in a two-degree-of-freedom manipulator. The solutions of the built FKC and IKC networks were compared with the analytic equations. The PNN successfully learns the indicated path. >
An outbreak of M serotype 1 group A Streptococcus in a neonatal intensive care unit

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To describe the investigation and control of an outbreak of M serotype 1, Streptococcus pyogenes (group A Streptococcus , GAS) infections in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). STUDY DESIGN: The study was conducted in an NICU in a large urban universityaffiliated hospital. Retrospective review was performed of all infants and health care workers in the NICU, especially those either colonized or infected with GAS during the outbreak and the prospective surveillance period (July through September 1994). Prospective epidemiologic investigation, including cultures of throat, umbilicus, and anorectum (infants), or throat and anus (NICU personnel), identified a possible common source of the disease in case infants. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing and serotyping of all GAS strains were performed; M serotype 1 isolates were examined by DNA analysis with restriction fragment length polymorphism. The M-1 GAS isolates were tested for streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin (SPE) A and SPE B production. A retrospective chart review and analysis of infants with GAS infection or colonization was conducted. RESULTS: During a 1-week period, two very low birth weight infants more than 3 weeks of age had GAS septicemia and focal infection. Two additional very low birth weight infants with asymptomatic throat colonization were identified during the first week of surveillance. Benzathine penicillin G was administered to all NICU infants, but failed to eradicate throat colonization in the four case subjects. Seven days after completing parenteral antibiotic therapy, the index patient had a recurrence of GAS septicemia that was fatal. Eradication of throat colonization in the remaining three infants was achieved with a 10-day course of intravenous clindamycin therapy. Among 103 NICU personnel, five (4.9%) had asymptomatic GAS colonization with strains that were uniformly susceptible to penicillin. Each colonized adult was successfully treated with oral clindamycin therapy. Serotyping revealed that five isolates of GAS from four infants and one NICU respiratory therapist were M-1 isolates; DNA analysis confirmed that these were the same strain. The five M-1 isolates produced both SPE A and SPE B. CONCLUSIONS: The previously documented increase in prevalence of M-1 strains of GAS in the United States is likely to be associated with their introduction into closed populations including NICUs. Control of such outbreaks may be achieved by isolation, cohorting of case subjects and possible carriers, and successful eradication of colonization in case subjects and carriers. Although GAS organisms are uniformly susceptible to penicillin G, eradication may require agents other than penicillin. (J PEDIATR 1996;129:396-402)
Value of medical therapy in patients >80 years of age with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction.

Heart failure (HF) with preserved ejection fraction (EF) has a high prevalence in the geriatric population, and this cohort may be at risk of complications caused by polypharmacy. Effects of commonly used cardiac medications on long-term survival of patients >80 years with HF and preserved left ventricular EF were assessed. One hundred forty-two patients were evaluated. During a 5-year follow-up, 98 patients died (69%). There were no significant differences in baseline parameters in patients who died compared with those who survived at 5 years. None of the drug therapies appeared to make a significant difference in long-term survival, including β blockers (p = 0.89), angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin II receptor blockers (p = 0.91), calcium channel blockers (p = 0.69), diuretics (p = 0.30), digoxin (p = 0.22), and statins (p = 0.32). In conclusion, based on the present data, it appears that use of certain common cardiac medications may not be associated with a significant effect on long-term survival in octogenarians with HF and preserved EF.
An Evidence-Based Approach to Glaucoma Care

Put several glaucoma specialists in a room and solicit opinions on just about any clinical issue and you are bound to receive multiple opinions on how to manage the problem. For example, a patient presents with shallow angles on van Herrick screening. What gonioscopic features would prompt you to perform a laser iridotomy? Would you perform a dark room provocative test to confirm your impression that the angle was potentially occludable? Do you perform a pharmacological challenge test before proceeding to prophylactic laser iridotomy? Would you order an ultrasound biomicroscopic test to confirm your impression? If you do decide that prophylactic laser iridotomy is indicated, what is the best surgical technique for achieving patency? Is there evidence to support a “best approach” to the patient with the narrow angle? In this chapter, we discuss how evidence-based medicine (EBM) can be used to provide the very best answers to questions such as these. This approach can be applied not only to glaucoma problems, but also to any clinical problem in medicine.
The visual N1 component as an index of a discrimination process

Many previous studies have demonstrated that the visual N1 component is larger for attended-location stimuli than for unattended-location stimuli. This difference is observed typically only for tasks involving a discrimination of the attended-location stimuli, suggesting that the N1 wave reflects a discrimination process that is applied to the attended location. The present study tested this hypothesis by examining the N1 component elicited by attended stimuli under conditions that either required or did not require the subject to perform a discrimination. Specifically, the N1 elicited by foveal stimuli during choice-reaction time (RT) tasks was compared with the N1 elicited by identical stimuli during simple-RT tasks. In three experiments, a larger posterior N1 was observed in choice-RT tasks than in simple-RT tasks, even when several potential confounds were eliminated (e.g., arousal and motor preparation). This N1 discrimination effect was observed even when no motor response was required and was present for both color- and form-based discriminations. Moreover, this discrimination effect was equally large for easy and difficult discriminations, arguing against a simple resource-based explanation of the present results. Instead, the results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that the visual N1 component reflects the operation of a discrimination process within the focus of attention.
Endothelial nitric oxide synthase T-786C single nucleotide polymorphism: a putative genetic marker differentiating small versus large ruptured intracranial aneurysms.

Background and Purpose— Anecdotal evidence exists for at least 2 subpopulations of intracranial saccular aneurysms, namely, those that may form rapidly and rupture when small versus those that enlarge slowly and may rupture particularly when ≥10 mm in diameter. We sought to determine whether the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) T-786C single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), implicated in cardiovascular disease susceptibility, could facilitate differentiation between small (≤5 mm) versus large (≥10 mm) ruptured aneurysms. Methods— In accordance with institutional guidelines, clinical data were recorded prospectively and genomic DNA was isolated from blood samples obtained from 52 aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients (cases) and 90 randomly selected controls. Samples were assayed for eNOS gene promoter T-786C SNP with the use of gene microarray technology. Statistical analyses included multiple logistic regression. Results— Although there was no difference in genotype distributions betwee...
The effects of extremely low shear stress on cellular proliferation and neointimal thickening in the failing bypass graft.

Abstract Objective: Previous studies demonstrating a correlation between low shear stress (τ = 5-15 dyne/cm 2 ) and experimental vein graft neointimal thickening (NIT) support the role of low τ in vein graft failure. However, a simple linear relationship between low τ and NIT would underestimate the degree of NIT evident in high-grade occlusive lesions of failing human vein grafts. In this study we used a new experimental model that maintains patency at low τ ( 2 ), to delineate possible deviations from linearity in the low τ → NIT hypothesis. Methods: Thirty-two New Zealand White rabbits underwent creation of a common carotid vein patch with a segment of ipsilateral external jugular vein. Very low τ was created in 13 patches by ligation of the distal common carotid artery, leaving the only outflow through a small muscular branch. Normal τ was created in 11 patches by leaving the common carotid artery outflow intact. High τ was created in eight patches by ligation of the contralateral common carotid artery. Six patches were harvested after 2 weeks for measurement of cell cycle entry by proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunohistochemistry. The remaining 26 patches were harvested after 4 weeks, perfusion fixed, and excised for morphometric analysis. Results: Mean blood flow and τ at implantation ranged from 0.5 to 41 mL/min and 0.07 to 15 dyne/cm 2 , respectively. At the time of harvest, 30 of 32 patches remained patent, and the artificially created aberrations in blood flow were maintained (range, 0.7-41 mL/min). After 2 weeks PCNA immunohistochemistry showed a significantly higher level of cell cycling in patches exposed to low τ (40 ± 5 vs 1.6 ± 0.3 PCNA-positive cells per high-power field; P 2 ) resulted in NIT beyond that predicted by a simple linear correlation ( P =.003). Conclusion: Extremely low τ ( 2 ) stimulates high rates of smooth muscle cellular proliferation in arterialized vein patches. NIT is accelerated in these regions of low τ far beyond that predicted by a simple linear model. The nonlinear nature of the cellular proliferative response and NIT at τ less than 2 dyne/cm 2 may explain the rapid progression of neointimal lesions in failing bypass grafts. (J Vasc Surg 2001;34:90-7.)
Environmental signatures in proteome properties

(1)characterize eukaryotic and pro-karyotic proteomes by ‘‘theoretical 2D-gels,’’ two-dimensional plots where eachprotein is represented by its molecularweight and isoelectric point. The differ-ence in patterns between proteome2D-gels turns out to have little or norelation to phylogeny. Instead, a varietyof comparisons seem to indicate thattheoretical 2D-gels are shaped by thecellular environment and the ecologicalniche of the corresponding species.Knight
The Usefulness of Myth and the Myth of Usefulness: A Dilemma for the Applied Organizational Scientist:

The existential psychology of Ernest Becker (1971, 1973, 1975) is used to argue that organizations exist to provide a framework of myth which makes action possible. What they see as "useful" consists in furtherance of the myth. But knowledge about organizations requires seeing the myth as a myth: demythologizing. This poses a dilemma for the applied organizational scientist.
On the practical need for abstraction relations to verify abstract data type representations

The typical correspondence between a concrete representation and an abstract conceptual value of an abstract data type (ADT) variable (object) is a many-to-one function. For example, many different pointer aggregates give rise to exactly the same binary tree. The theoretical possibility that this correspondence generally should be relational has long been recognized. By using a nontrivial ADT for handling an optimization problem, the authors show why the need for generalizing from functions to relations arises naturally in practice. Making this generalization is among the steps essential for enhancing the practical applicability of formal reasoning methods to industrial-strength software systems.
Hazing in the College Marching Band

The purpose of this study was to investigate hazing in collegiate marching bands. Specifically, the researchers were interested in marching band students’ experiences with hazing behaviors, to whom they were reported, attitudes toward hazing, and level of awareness of institutional hazing policies. Using a multistage cluster sampling approach, we distributed an online questionnaire to college marching band members attending National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I schools. Participants (N = 1,215) were representative of 30 different states and included college freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Nearly 30% of respondents indicated they observed some form of hazing in their marching band. The most common acts of hazing involved public verbal humiliation or degradation, which generally went unreported. Reticence to report hazing was largely due to fear of social retaliation or perceptions that the hazing behaviors were innocuous. The vast majority of participants had negative attitudes regarding hazing and most learned about their institution’s hazing policy through a marching band orientation. Implications for the college marching band, contextualization of results, and future directions are discussed.
AAC intervention in the intensive care unit: The children's hospital Boston model

This paper describes a model for preoperative augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention for patients with planned admissions to the intensive care unit following surgery that render them temporarily unable to speak. Details of preoperative and postoperative interventions and discharge interviews are provided, along with strategies for patientdirected vocabulary selection and digital voice message banking. Anecdotal data present the benefits of preoperative introduction to AAC, as described by patients, family members, and medical staff.
INDUCTION OF MACROPHAGE PLASMINOGEN ACTIVATOR BY ENDOTOXIN STIMULATION AND PHAGOCYTOSIS : Evidence for A Two-Stage Process

The injection of thioglycollate medium into the peritoneal cavity of the mouse induces high levels of macrophage fibrinolytic activity due to the production and secretion of a plasminogen activator, a trypsinlike serine protease, which is absent in unstimulated macrophages. Intraperitoneal injection of endotoxin or mineral oil can stimulate only a fraction (<10%) of the fibrinolytic activity of thioglycollate cells, similar to the partial stimulation (<10%) seen 1-2 days after phagocytosis of latex or SRBC by unstimulated macrophages. The endotoxin-stimulated macrophages contain and release relatively low levels of plasminogen activator, but these primed cells can be triggered to produce and secrete high levels of enzyme, by phagocytosis of latex. Under conditions where the plasminogen activator is induced and secreted, there are no effects on the production and/or release of lysozyme or intracellular acid hydrolases, Discovery of a two-stage procedure for inducing macrophage plasminogen activator made it possible to study the role of cell priming and phagocytosis separately. Endotoxin was a more effective priming agent, weight for weight, than lipid A:BSA complex. Secretion of the plasminogen activator was induced only by thioglycollate, or endotoxin and latex. In situ fibrinolysis was induced by these agents and mineral oil, BCG, and fetal calf serum, in decreasing order of effectiveness. Phagocytosis of latex in all cases except thioglycollate stimulation, increased fibrinolytic activity from three- to sixfold. Latex and a variety of other particles such as M. lysodeikticus, aggregated gamma-globulin and immune complexes showed dose-dependent stimulation of fibrinolysis by endotoxin-primed macrophages. Although the initial phagocytic trigger was not specific for the substance employed, the ability to induce a sustained response depended on the persistence of the phagocytized particle within the cell. Fibrinolysis and secretion of plasminogen activator continued at high levels for at least 9 days after uptake of latex, a nondigestible particle, whereas plasminogen activator was secreted only transiently after ingestion of rapidly digested M. lysodeikticus. The induction of plasminogen activator secretion provides a mechanism by which the activated macrophage can exert a selective effect on its extracellular environment.
Lateral Dominance in Children with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of the study was to investigate the occurrence of lateral dominance problems in a sample of children with learning disabilities. Ninety-one children (62 boys, 29 girls) who attended a school for children with learning disabilities were selected for the study. The Harris tests of lateral dominance were administered individually, and the children were rated as having right, left, or mixed dominance for hand, eye, and foot. When compared with normative data on dominance in children, the results showed that the occurrence of mixed hand dominance was no more frequent, the occurrence of mixed eye dominance was less frequent, and the occurrence of mixed foot dominance was more frequent in the children with learning disabilities. Results also showed that the occurrence of mixed and crossed eye-hand dominance was significantly different in children with learning disabilities when compared with children without learning disabilities. However, the occurrence of mixed eye-hand dominance was found to be significantly greater in children without learning disabilities than in learning disabled children. Age and sex were not found to affect the occurrence of lateral dominance problems in children with learning disabilities.
Economic significance of risk premiums in the S&P 500 option market

Option pricing is complicated by the theoretical existence of risk premiums. This article utilizes a testable methodology to extract the pricing impact resulting from these risk premiums. First, option prices (based on the full dynamics of the underlying) are computed under the assumption that these risk premiums are not priced. The pricing methodology is independent of any particular option-pricing model or distributional assumptions on the return process for the underlying. The difference between the actual market prices and these “no-premium base case” prices reflects the effect of risk premiums. For at-the-money, 13-week S&P 500 options trading from 1989 until 1993, the effect of risk premiums is statistically significant and averages slightly over 20% (in units of Black–Scholes implied volatility). A simple delta-hedging strategy is used to demonstrate the economic significance of risk premiums, as the trading strategy provides enough profit to absorb a crash similar in magnitude to the 1987 crash once every 6.20 years. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark 22:1147–1178, 2002
Angiotensin II and alpha 1-adrenergic tone in chronic nitric oxide blockade-induced hypertension

Nitric oxide (NO) is a tonically produced vasodilator that maintains blood pressure (BP) in the normal animal. In these studies, we produced chronic NO blockade by oral administration of the NO synthesis inhibitor nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), which produced sustained hypertension and increased renal vascular resistance (RVR) in conscious rats. Acute blockade of the angiotensin II type 1 (AT1) receptor with losartan had little effect on BP and RVR in either chronically NO-blocked or normal conscious rats. Acute blockade of the alpha 1-adrenoceptor with prazosin produced moderate similar falls in BP in both chronically NO-blocked and normal rats. The combination of AT1 and alpha 1-adrenoceptor blockade was profoundly antihypertensive and was particularly effective in lowering BP in chronically NO-blocked rats where the hypertension was obliterated. In contrast, the increased RVR persisted in chronically NO-blocked rats receiving combined acute AT1 and alpha 1-adrenoceptor blockade. These observations indicate that, in the sustained phase of chronic NO blockade, the hypertension is largely due to the combined activities of alpha 1-adrenoceptor and AT1 stimulation.
Studies on Human Cervical Mucus: Mucoids and Their Relation to Sperm Penetration

A new method using polyacrylamide (combined gel) electrophosesis for separation of cervical mucus glycoproteins is described. Human cervical mucus was found to contain 2 different mucoids with distinct electrophoretic mobilities and staining qualities. Both mucoids were hydrolyzed by pancreatic chymotrypsin and proteolytic enzymes isolated from seminal plasma. Sperm migraiton was accelerated in hydrolyzed cervical mucus. The addition of seminal protease to ejaculated semen also enhanced sperm penetration. Hydrolysis of cervical mucus by either chymotrypsin or seminal protease was associated with a reduction in viscosity and a loss of spinnbarkeit and ferning. Hitherto it has been assumed that sperm motility and receptivity of cervical mucus are the important factors in sperm migration through the cervical canal. The findings in this study indicate that the proteolytic activity of seminal fluid and spermatozoa is also important. As far as sperm migration is concerned viscosity is the most important factor. The least viscous mucus is generally the most favorable one. (AUTHORS MODIFIED)
Abstract 4969: Impact of proteasome inhibition of caspase-8 regulation in cancer

Dissection of the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of apoptosis has lead to the development of new anti-cancer therapeutic strategies. Strategies involve combination of a chemotherapeutic agent with a death inducing ligand, such as TNF-alpha Related Apoptosis Inducing Ligand (TRAIL) to induce apoptosis in cancer cells that are resistant to apoptosis. We recently demonstrated that proteasome inhibition sensitizes TRAIL resistant prostate cancer to TRAIL mediated apoptosis using both in-vitro and in-vivo models, by stabilizing the active p18 subunit of initiator caspase-8. Based on this data indicating a potential relationship between caspase-8 and the proteasome, we hypothesize that caspase-8 ubiquitination and targeting to the 26S proteasome regulates the extrinsic pathway of cancer cell apoptosis. This study pursues the impact of proteasome inhibition on caspase-8 stability, trafficking and activity following death receptor activation. The contribution of caspase-8 polyubiquitination in regulating the extrinsic pathway of apoptosis is determined, using subcellular fractionation, caspase-8 and polyubiquitin immunoprecipitation (IP), and fluorescent microscopy techniques in diverse experimental cell models. The cell lines analyzed include the TRAIL resistant LNCaP prostate cancer cell line and caspase-8 deficient neuroblastoma (NB7) cell line, engineered to re-express and test the wild-type and non-cleavable mutant forms of caspase-8. Our findings indicate that the non-cleavable forms of caspase-8 are capable of inducing apoptosis comparably to wild-type caspase-8 upon treatment with proteasome inhibitor and TRAIL. Moreover we provide evidence that caspase-8 polyubiquitination occurs following caspase-8 processing into its active subunits, processed caspase-8 accumulates at the DISC, and ultimately cycles into the cytosol for proteasomal degradation. This study identifies caspase-8 processing as a significant regulatory mechanism in apoptosis outcomes in cancer cells, but not required for caspase-8 activation. Together these data provide a better understanding of caspase-8 regulation that can be used as a platform for identifying new molecular targets such as E3 ligases responsible for caspase-8 regulation. Further defining caspase-8 regulation can lead to strategies that enhance efficacy of current therapies or lead to development of new more specific caspase-8 driven anti-cancer approaches. Funding provided by DOD GRANT USAMRMC PC073314 Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4969. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-4969
Gender at the border: Nationalism and the new logic of punishment

Criminologists have spent the past decade writing about the border. Sociologists have documented the growing convergence of punishment and migration control, while legal theorists have critiqued th...
Decreasing inappropriate laboratory test utilization: controlling costs and improving quality of care.

Laboratory directors, hospital administrators, managed care plans, insurance companies, and governments continue to grapple with the competing demands of controlling health care costs, maintaining or improving quality of care, and addressing demands for increased access to newer expensive technologies. Although annual expenditures for laboratory tests are a relatively small part of total health care costs, clinical laboratory testing has not been spared from cost containment efforts. Controlling laboratory costs can be divided into two categories: good business practices and management systems that are part of stewardship of resources, along with systems designed to control laboratory utilization. Much has been written about the latter, but our understanding of how to do this without adversely affecting patient safety or quality of care is incomplete. Moreover, although a number of approaches to controlling laboratory utilization have been used, it is not known which approach is the most effective or how to integrate these approaches with other systems designed to control laboratory costs. Perhaps the most common approach to control expenditures on laboratory services is simply reducing reimbursement rates. This approach can be effective in the short run but has several fundamental flaws. The first of these is that there is an irreducible minimum cost to perform any test, so laboratories can only reduce costs before they start losing money each time they perform the test. Many laboratories already operate on all too thin margins, with little or no room to cut costs further. Moreover, once reimbursement rates fall below the cost of performing a test, it is not sustainable for laboratories to lose even more money each time reimbursement rates fall. It has been argued that this approach can work if laboratories use positive margins from some tests to subsidize tests with negative margins, but this is specious reasoning in an era when …
Evaluation of the Farmland Fertility of Qianshao Farm Based on GIS

It is important reference value to control the characteristics of arable land fertility and spatial distribution pattern accurately for improving the production capacity of arable land.Heilongjiang reclamation area′s Qianshao Farm was selected as the study area,the plots of land was put as evaluation units,and the quantitative valuation procedure was realized by adopting analytical hierarchical process,fuzzy math,integrating indexes and by the support of GIS techniques.Then we further analyzed the overall characteristics of arable land fertility and spatial distribution of geographical and administrative area.The results showed that farmland fertility was divided into six levels,at the same time,the soil fertility both presented normal distribution characteristics with the third-class and the fourth-class for the peak,and gradually reduced to the fifth-class,the second-class,the sixth-class and the first-class;the fertility of the most arable land was in the middle or upper levels,and paddy field fertility level was slightly higher than that of dry land fertility level because the paddy soil was in high quality and rich in nutrients as well as with proper management;the first,the second and the ninth precincts are in the southwest of Qianshao Farm were the farm′s high quality arable land concentrates.
Analysis on monitoring results of drinking water quality in 2010-2012 year in Pingyuan county

Objective To understand the hygienic status of drinking water in Pingyuan county, in order to ensure the safety of drinking water. Methods The drinking water quality were monitored and inspected in 2010-2012 year in Pingyuan county according to the "drinking water standard testing method", and the local drinking water quality situation were analyzed. Results 794 water samples were monitored in 2010-2012 year, the single detection showed that the qualified rate of total hardness, chloride, lead, arsenic and nitrates was 100%. The total coliform bacteria exceeded the standard most seriously, the qualified rate of which was only 32.11%, followed by turbidity, the qualified rate of which was 72.50%, the qualified rate of pH and total bacterial count was 83.42%, 88.66% respectively. Conclusion The total bacterial count and total coliform bacteria of drinking water in Pingyuan county exceed the standard, which is pointed out that the water quality is polluted by the organic matter, human or animal feces and garbage, the related section should attach importance to it, and take timely measures.
EXAFS of dilute systems: fluorescence detection

Since the first observations of the variation of the absorption coefficient for X-rays above the energy thresholds in the thirties until the early seventies, measurements and analysis of these variations were merely intended for the understanding of the underlying physics. Recently, with the understanding of the information available about the local atomic structure in the neighborhood of the absorbing species and the availability of high intensity synchrotron radiation sources, EXAFS has become a powerful structural tool. In the discussions that follow the details of the measurement for very dilute species will be presented. It is shown that for the more dilute systems the measurement of the emission rather than the direct absorption is a more favorable technique.
Nitric oxide-induced hyperpolarization stimulates low-conductance Na+ channel of rat CCD.

We used the patch-clamp technique in the split-open cortical collecting duct (CCD) to investigate the effect of nitric oxide (NO) on the low-conductance (6-pS) Na+ channel that can be blocked by 1 ...
Hidden corporate profits in the U.S. prison system: the unorthodox policy-making of the American Legislative Exchange Council

AbstractUsing a leaked document trove containing 800 model bills, we analyze the American Legislative Exchange Council’s (ALEC) hidden corporate profit making in the prison–industrial complex. We find that ALEC seeks to expand the private prison industry in three ways: (1) promoting greater use of private prisons, goods, and services, (2) promoting greater use of prison labor, and (3) increasing the size of the prison population. ALEC’s efforts to increase the prison population by expanding definitions of existing crime, creating new crimes, enhancing enforcement of existing crimes, amending the trial process to increase the likelihood of incarceration, and lengthening prison sentences for crimes pose a threat to civil liberties. ALEC’s unorthodox policy approach exemplifies John Gaventa’s theory that powerful interests maintain their power by creating conditions in which citizens are not able to identify and advocate on behalf of their interests.
A Generalized Nonnegative Tensor Factorization Approach for Distant Speech Recognition With Distributed Microphones

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) using distant (far-field) microphones is a challenging task, in which room reverberation is one of the primary causes of performance degradation. This study proposes a multichannel spectral enhancement method for reverberation-robust ASR using distributed microphones. The proposed method uses the techniques of nonnegative tensor factorization in order to identify the clean speech component from a set of observed reverberant spectrograms from the different channels. The general family of alpha–beta divergences is used for the tensor decomposition task which provides increased flexibility for the algorithm and is shown to provide improvements in highly reverberant scenarios. Unlike many conventional array processing solutions, the proposed method does not require closely-spaced microphones and is independent of source and microphone locations. The algorithm can automatically adapt to unbalanced direct-to-reverberation ratios among different channels, which is useful in blind scenarios in which no information is available about source-to-microphone distances. For a medium vocabulary distant ASR task based on TIMIT utterances, and using clean-trained deep neural network acoustic models, absolute WER improvements of +17.2%, +20.7%, and +23.2% are achieved in single-channel, two-channel, and four-channel scenarios.
Chemical composition-tailored LixTi0.1Ni1−xO ceramics with enhanced dielectric properties

Abstract This paper reports on the synthesis of polycrystalline (Li,Ti)-doped NiO powders (i.e., LixTi0.1Ni1−xO, abbreviated as LTNO) by the solid-state synthesis method. Note that, the doping concentration of Ti is kept constant (x∼0.10) in the stoichiometry, the difference in the material behavior of LTNO samples can only be attributed to the effect of Li. X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed a cubic rock-salt structured NiO-based phase with the presence of minor NiTiO3 phase, were reported elsewhere [Venkata et al., Chem. Phys. Lett., 649 (2016) 115–118.]. Dense microstructures were obtained using ultra high resolution scanning electron microscope. A high dielectric constant (e∼104) near room temperature at low-frequency was observed in LTNO ceramics. Weak temperature dependence of dielectric constant over the measured compositions (x = 0 to 0.10) was observed in the LTNO ceramics. A giant dielectric constant of 104–105 at high temperatures (120–170 °C) for certain LTNO compositions (x = 0.15 to 0.3) was observed in the sintered ceramics. The origin of the high dielectric constant observed in these LTNO ceramics is attributed to the Maxwell–Wagner polarization mechanism and a thermally activated mechanism.