cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Anti-Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Messages Elicit Reactance: Effects on Attitudes and Policy Preferences

Messages that convey the dangers associated with consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) may be the most effective means of changing attitudes toward consumption and policy preferences. However, there is a risk that this message type also stimulates reactance, a form of resistance to persuasion. A study (N = 618) using messages from the 2012 New York City anti-SSB campaign and a sample of New York City residents showed just such effects. Reactance was heightened by prior message exposure, conservative political orientation and prior consumption of SSBs. The net message effect was still persuasive overall for attitudes, but could be improved by 17% if reactance were eliminated. In contrast, the net message effect on policy preferences was counterpersuasive, due to processes other than reactance. Anti-SSB threat appeals can change attitudes toward one’s own behavior in a more healthful direction, while simultaneously eroding support for more restrictive SSB policies.
Neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics, healthcare spatial access, and emergency department visits for ambulatory care sensitive conditions for elderly.

Abstract The objective of this study is to explore relationships among neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics (for example, income and ethnicity), spatial access to health care, and emergency department (ED) visits for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) for adults aged 65 years and over. ED visit data were from 15 counties in the Texas Coastal Bend from September 1, 2009 and August 1, 2012. ED visits for ACSC that were common for elderly were estimated based on Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ's) ACSC and Prevention Quality Indicators. The U.S. Census American Community Service (ACS) data provided neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics. Spatial access to general practices and to hospitals, respectively at the zip code level were estimated using the enhanced two-step floating catchment area method. Using multivariable regression models, we estimated associations of elderly ACSC ED visits with neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics and spatial accessibility of healthcare. We found higher rates of elderly ACSC ED visits are significantly associated with higher rates of elderly Hispanic and poverty at the zip code level. Spatial access to general practices and hospitals play inverse roles in the rate of elderly ACSC ED visits. Poorer access to general practices but easier access to hospitals contributes to the higher elderly ACSC ED rate at the zip code level. Neighborhood socioeconomic characteristics and spatial access to healthcare affect the rate of elderly ACSC ED visits. Research informing policy action is needed to decrease racial/ethnic and economic disadvantage and increase equitable spatial access to primary care for the elderly.
Telepsychiatry: Implications for Psychiatrist Burnout and Well-Being.

Physician burnout and stress have reached alarming levels. Psychiatrists are at risk of experiencing burnout due to emotional stressors related to the nature of the clinical work, occupational haza...
Abstract LB-328: Loss of TFF1 leads to activation of RAGE in mouse and human gastric tumorigenesis

Background: The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is a central signaling molecule in the innate immune system and is highly expressed in various cancers including gastric cancer. RAGE is a pattern recognition receptor that binds to multiple ligands leading to its activation and onset of pro-inflammatory response. Trefoil factor 1 (TFF1) is a small secreted protein expressed in the gastrointestinal tract which plays a key role in protection of gastric mucosal membrane and provides protection from injury and damage, therefore acts as tumor suppressor gene. In this study we investigated the role of TFF1 in regulation and degradation of RAGE receptor in vivo and in vitro. Material and Results: Using quantitative real-time PCR, we observed significant increase of RAGE expression in gastric tissue from Tff1 knockout from non-dysplastic lesion; this increase of expression of RAGE was more notable in dysplastic samples, as compared to normal tissues (p Conclusion: Our data demonstrate, for the first time, that high levels of RAGE and its ligands S100A2 and A4 are mechanistically related to TFF1 levels. RAGE inhibitors demonstrated a therapeutic efficacy in pre-clinical in vitro models. Additional in vitro and in vivo studies are planned to determine the functional, mechanistic and therapeutic outcomes of RAGE in gastric tumorigenesis. Citation Format: Nadeem S. Bhat, Mohammed Soutto, Zheng Chen, Shoumin Zhu, Huma Naz, Ahmed Gomaa, Sen Wang, Barry I. Hudson, El-Rifai Wael. Loss of TFF1 leads to activation of RAGE in mouse and human gastric tumorigenesis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-328.
Learning Relational Dependency Networks for Relation Extraction

We consider the task of KBP slot filling – extracting relation information from newswire documents for knowledge base construction. We present our pipeline, which employs Relational Dependency Networks (RDNs) to learn linguistic patterns for relation extraction. Additionally, we demonstrate how several components such as weak supervision, word2vec features, joint learning and the use of human advice, can be incorporated in this relational framework. We evaluate the different components in the benchmark KBP 2015 task and show that RDNs effectively model a diverse set of features and perform competitively with current state-of-the-art relation extraction methods.
Imbalance in zinc homeostasis enhances lung Tissue Loss following cigarette smoke exposure.

Abstract Cigarette smoke exposure is a major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cadmium is a leading toxic component of cigarette smoke. Cadmium and zinc are highly related metals. Whereas, zinc is an essential metal required for normal health, cadmium is highly toxic. Zrt- and Irt-like protein 8 (ZIP8) is an avid transporter of both zinc and cadmium into cells and is abundantly expressed in the lung of smokers compared to nonsmokers. Our objective was to determine whether disturbed zinc homeostasis through diet or the zinc transporter ZIP8 increase susceptibility to lung damage following prolonged cigarette smoke exposure. Methods Cigarette smoke exposure was evaluated in the lungs of mice subject to insufficient and sufficient zinc intakes, in transgenic ZIP8 overexpressing mice, and a novel myeloid-specific ZIP8 knockout strain. Results Moderate depletion of zinc intakes in adult mice resulted in a significant increase in lung cadmium burden and permanent lung tissue loss following prolonged smoke exposure. Overexpression of ZIP8 resulted in increased lung cadmium burden and more extensive lung damage, whereas cigarette smoke exposure in ZIP8 knockout mice resulted in increased lung tissue loss without a change in lung cadmium content, but a decrease in zinc. Conclusions Overall, findings were consistent with past human studies. Imbalance in Zn homeostasis increases susceptibility to permanent lung injury following prolonged cigarette smoke exposure. Based on animal studies, both increased and decreased ZIP8 expression enhanced irreversible tissue damage in response to prolonged tobacco smoke exposure. We believe these findings represent an important advancement in our understanding of how imbalance in zinc homeostasis and cadmium exposure via tobacco smoke may increase susceptibility to smoking-induced lung disease.
The development of social strategic ignorance and other regarding behavior from childhood to adulthood

Abstract We conduct a dictator experiment with children (7–16 years old) and adults to study the development of the underlying motivations for other-regarding behavior. Prior to choosing the sharing rule, our participants can manipulate their access to information and remain strategically ignorant of the payoffs associated with some or all of the alternatives. We find that information avoidance is infrequent (11.2% of the trials) and occurs for two opposite motives: some participants –mostly adults– look only at their payoffs and maximize them whereas some other participants –mostly school age children– look only at the other person’s payoffs and maximize them. Among fully informed participants, sharing depends on age but it is also nuanced by the opportunity cost of giving.
Influence of Transverse Crack Opening Size on Chloride-Induced Corrosion of Steel Bars in Concrete

Abstract This study evaluated the influence of crack opening size on the corrosion initiation and propagation of reinforcing steel bars in precracked concrete as a result of chloride ingress. Uncra...
FastSpec: Scalable Generation and Detection of Spectre Gadgets Using Neural Embeddings

Several techniques have been proposed to detect vulnerable Spectre gadgets in widely deployed commercial software. Unfortunately, detection techniques proposed so far rely on hand-written rules which fall short in covering subtle variations of known Spectre gadgets as well as demand a huge amount of time to analyze each conditional branch in software. Since it requires arduous effort to craft new gadgets manually, the evaluations of detection mechanisms are based only on a handful of these gadgets. In this work, we employ deep learning techniques for automated generation and detection of Spectre gadgets. We first create a diverse set of Spectre-V1 gadgets by introducing perturbations to the known gadgets. Using mutational fuzzing, we produce a data set with more than 1 million Spectre-V1 gadgets which is the largest Spectre gadget data set built to date. Next, we conduct the first empirical usability study of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) for creating assembly code without any human interaction. We introduce SpectreGAN which leverages masking implementation of GANs for both learning the gadget structures and generating new gadgets. This provides the first scalable solution to extend the variety of Spectre gadgets. Finally, we propose FastSpec which builds a classifier with the generated Spectre gadgets based on the novel high dimensional Neural Embedding technique BERT. For case studies, we demonstrate that FastSpec discovers potential gadgets in OpenSSL libraries and Phoronix benchmarks. Further, FastSpec offers much greater flexibility and much faster classification compared to what is offered by the existing tools. Therefore FastSpec can be used for gadget detection in large-scale projects.
SEC Regulations and Firms

This study examines the effect of SEC regulations on firm valuations and corporate policies over the past 50 years. I build a time-varying and industry-specific measure of SEC regulatory restrictions, based on the universe of effective SEC rules and machine-learning relevance of the regulations to each industry. My identification strategy uses a generalized difference-in-differences design, exploiting the staggered nature of large changes in SEC regulatory restrictions across industries. I find that firms increase their demand for compliance employees following increases in regulatory restrictions, suggesting heightened regulatory burdens. At the same time, the affected firms experience increases in valuation and operating performance. The effects are asymmetric, where regulations have stronger impacts than deregulations. The results are consistent with increased regulatory burdens pushing out weaker companies, which increases the market power of other firms. Following increases in SEC restrictions, underperforming firms are more likely to exit the market, leading to more concentrated industries.
Color-Blind: Procedure's Quiet but Crucial Role in Achieving Racial Justice

This article explores the often overlooked role of procedure in producing impartiality in judicial proceedings. The article addresses a number of procedures, including those in the Constitution, that have allowed courts to deal with racially charged cases without undue influence from local pressure. The article compares federal courts and state courts – most of whom lack the protections against salary reduction that federal judges enjoy – and shows the start contrast in the Desegregation era between federal judges who enforced the Equal Protection Clause, and the many state judges who refused to follow U. S. Supreme Court and federal appellate rulings. The article also explores less well known procedural differences, such as those involving selection of juries and remedial tools available to federal courts but not to state courts. The article, however, spends a good deal of time digging beneath the issue of how local pressures can impede impartial justice, especially in racially charged cases, to the roots of the trouble. The Framers developed constitutional protections to help federal judges enjoy independence – e.g., protection for life during good behavior, and against salary reductions – because they knew that human bias was a fact of life. Similarly, any procedures seeks to account for the human bias that interferes with impartial justice. No system will achieve that perfectly. Nor does this article maintain that the federal or any other system achieved such perfect impartiality, even in Desegregation matters. The article simply points to the role of procedures, behind the scenes, in assisting with the effort to provide impartial justice.
A Mother's Gold

In this narrative medicine essay, a family medicine intern frames her infant's beginning with another mother's ending from COVID-19 and considers the threads of loss for the mother isolated from her son and imagines her own losses, beginning with her daughter's weaning [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association is the property of American Medical Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )
The Young Republic

The rise and growth of the Dutch Republic1 will always fill us with amazement and a desire for understanding. Here was a people of artisans, shopkeepers, sailors and merchants that defeated the best armies of Europe, had created a land of industrious and growing cities, with a mighty fleet and an excellent transportation system, a flourishing agriculture and horticulture, an exemplary financial condition, a country that created an art which in its way has never been surpassed. Natives and strangers were impressed. “How is it done?” they asked abroad. An Englishman who, in 1614, witnessed the departure of the herring fleet from Amsterdam, a fleet of a thousand sail, exclaimed that “no king on earth has ever seen a fleet such as this being equipped by his subjects.” The French Duke De Rohan, visiting Amsterdam in 1600, said that nobody could believe it who had seen it, but there were from three to four thousand sailing vessels on the quays, twice a year fleets of between four hundred and five hundred ships arrived with wheat from Danzig, wine and salt from France and Spain and, moreover, other ships laden with spices and other precious commodities from India and the newly discovered countries.
The millennium flies in

The complete genomic sequence of the flyDrosophila melanogasterwill soon be available. As a prelude to this, two groups have looked at the amount of work that will have to be done to make biological sense of the raw data. These studies include correlations between the primary DNA sequence and genetic function, and the generation of specific mutations to study the functions of particular genes.
Quantum Theory and the Nature of Gravitation

This is an essay sketching the line of thinking which has led the present author to propose the constituent or atomic model of gravitation more than a decade ago. It turns out that viewing the problem of gravitation as a quantum many body problem could be quite useful when addressing some old unsolved problems such as the cosmological constant problem. I have applied this idea in 1996 to the problem of the largest cold gravitating system, the finite Universe itself. The result was the prediction of a small, positive vacuum energy density, now known, after its experimental discovery in 1998, as `dark energy'. The smallness of this quantity was understood as the finite size effect in the cold quantum many body system, and I quote here from \cite{Ma96}, {\it `` The smallness of the cosmological constant in natural Planck units is a result of an almost perfect thermodynamical limit. This is to say that the smallness of the cosmological constant is an effect due to an enormous number $N$ of hypothetical \textsf{gravitational} \textsf{atoms}. The present upper bound on the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ allows us to draw the conclusion about the lower bound on a number of \textsf{gravitational} \textsf{atoms} in the observed Universe, $N\sim 10^{122}$. ...''}. The old cosmological constant problem is a man-made problem because the vacuum energy density has nothing to do with the quartic divergences (zero point energies) in the interacting relativistic quantum field theories (i.e. in the Standard Model of elementary particles). The actual value of the vacuum energy density of the vacuum finite size de Sitter Universe is $\frac{E_{0}}{V}$, where $E_{0}$ is the ground state energy of $N$ \textsf{gravitational} \textsf{atoms}, which are spin-zero bosons of mass $M\sim M_{_{Pl}}$, contained in the finite volume $V$.
A new solid state extractor pulser for the FNAL magnetron ion source

A new solid state extractor pulser has been installed on the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) magnetron ion source, replacing a vacuum tube style pulser that was used for over 40 years. The required ion source extraction voltage is 35 kV for injection into the radio frequency quadrupole. At this voltage, the old pulser had a rise time of over 150 μs due to the current limit of the vacuum tube. The new solid state pulsers are capable of 50 kV, 100 A peak current pulses and have a rise time of 9 μs when installed in the operational system. This paper will discuss the pulser design and operational experience to date.
Signal Processing Using Guided-Wave Acoustooptic Bragg-Diffraction in LiNbO/sub 3/ Waveguides

Real-time processing of rf signals using guided-wave acoustooptic Bragg-diffraction in LiNbO/sub 3/ waveguides has been studied both theoretically and experimentally. Good performance figures for convolution have been achieved by employing multiple tilted surface acoustic waves: time-bandwidth product of 305, dynamic range of approximately 50 db, total rf power of 310 mW for maximum convolution output and the frequency resolution of 1 MHz (defined at zero convolution output).
Comprehensive LCGC for enhanced headspace analysis

A chemical analyzer will be reported based upon coupling liquid chromatography (LC) with a water mobile phase via a novel interface to high-speed capillary gas chromatography (GC). The interface preserves the temporal information of the LC separation, thus a comprehensive two-dimensional LC×GC separation is obtained. The LC separation is in the 5–10 min range, while the GC separations are in the 1–2 second range. For a 5 min LC separation, 150 GC separations are obtained if the GC separations are every 2 s, thus a truly comprehensive LC×GC data density is obtained. The 100% water mobile phase simplifies instrumental requirements, thus enhancing separation and detection strategies, thus broadening the scope of LC to on-line process analysis and field monitoring applications by improving safety and minimizing waste. Volatile organic compounds are analyzed by LC×GC with enhanced chemical selectivity. Thus, this comprehensive LC×GC instrument is a useful alternative to current methods that employ headspace analysis. Separations of compounds such as benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, o-xylene (BTEX), as well as chloroform and methylene chloride are presented. Injected sample concentration limits of detection are in the 40–200 parts-per-billion range. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Micro Sep 12: 160–166, 2000
Mechanistically based probability modelling, life prediction and reliability assessment

Life prediction and reliability assessment are essential components for the life-cycle engineering and management (LCEM) of modern engineered systems. These systems can range from microelectronic and bio-medical devices to large machinery and structures. To be effective, the underlying approach to LCEM must be transformed to embody mechanistically based probability modelling, vis-a-vis the more traditional experientially based statistical modelling, for predicting damage evolution and distribution. In this paper, the probability and statistical approaches are compared and differentiated. The process of model development on the basis of mechanistic understanding derived from critical experiments is illustrated through selected examples. The efficacy of this approach is illustrated through an example of the evolution and distribution of corrosion and corrosion fatigue damage in aluminium alloys in relation to aircraft that had been in long-term service.
Equipment maintenance as a user service

Equipment maintenance services are not usually considered as a user service. These services are, however, important for user satisfaction as equipment malfunctions cause frustration and can result in loss of information. During the past two years, the Academic Computer Center at Washburn University has developed maintenance laboratory facilities and a maintenance staff of one full-time person. The impetus to do this came from the realization that acquiring off-campus maintenance was becoming increasingly costly with little or no control over the quality and timeliness of the maintenance services procured off-campus. Also, there was no program of preventative maintenance which let to equipment failure during classes with the associated frustration of both faculty and students. The growth in the population of microcomputers and terminals connected to a minicomputer required that some program be developed to maintain the computing equipment and build and maintain data communications networks.This paper will point out that maintenance, while often not considered a user service, is in fact an increasingly important user service as the user community expands and users come to look upon access to a computer as a basic service. The paper will discuss what maintenance services are provided at Washburn and the policies which govern the access to these services. It will also cover the benefits and problems associated with doing your own maintenance and how some strategies for getting maximum benefit from the resources which are allocated for maintenance activities.
Perceived Risks and Pharmacists' Generic Substitution Behavior

There is substantial potential for consumer savings through increased use of generic drugs. A major reason they have not been realized is pharmacists' reluctance to dispense generic products for prescriptions written for brand name drugs. The purposes of this study were to determine whether pharmacists' perceptions of the risks associated with generic substitution were related to their substitution behavior and to determine which aspects of risk were most influential. Rating scales were developed to measure the importance and probability of five types of risks which pharmacists might incur. An overall perceived-risk score was calculated. Substitution behavior was measured. Regression analysis indicated that risk perceptions were significantly related to substitution behavior for those pharmacists who helped decide which generic products were stocked in the pharmacy. Examination of mean scores indicated that pharmacists were most concerned with performance risks.
Automatic and effortful processes in memory for spatial location

According to Hasher and Zacks (1979), memory for spatial location is automatically encoded and cannot be improved by intent. In this study, groups of subjects viewed 124 photographs on posters (4 on each) with instructions to remember the location of 3, 6, 12, or 24 targeted photographs. Memory for 3 photographs was significantly improved by instructions over that of the 24-target group and an incidental group. There was also slight improvement in memory for up to 12 photographs over that of the incidental group. Automatic encoding, as reflected by the performance of the incidental group, was the primary mechanism in remembering location. Even though the strong form of the Hasher and Zacks theory was not supported, the main thrust of their position seemed correct.
Quantum analysis of polarization properties of optical beams

We present a quantum treatment of polarization of optical beams and discuss some properties of beams of any state of polarization. The analysis is based on quantum-mechanical interpretation of a canonical experiment that is used to elucidate polarization properties of stochastic fields in classical optics. Our work shows how to apply some ideas and techniques, commonly used in the classical theory, for fields that cannot be treated classically.
Obama's Surge: A Bureaucratic Politics Analysis of the Decision to Order a Troop Surge in the Afghanistan War

This study examines the decision-making process leading to President Barack Obama's decision to order a troop surge in Afghanistan in December 2009. I analyze the decision-making process according to the precepts of the bureaucratic politics model and conclude that the bureaucratic politics model provides a compelling and descriptively accurate account of the Afghanistan surge decision-making process. Actors' policy preferences were influenced by consideration of bureaucratic role and position within government, significant examples of political activity occurred throughout the strategy review, and the ultimate decision was a political compromise.
Reproductive Allometry in Three Species of Dusky Salamanders

Desmognathus comprises 21 currently recognized species of salamanders in eastern North America. Assemblages of 3–6 species occur in the Appalachian Mountains, wherein the larger species are more aquatic and the smaller more terrestrial. Adaptive divergence along the habitat gradient from stream to forest involves variation in such life-history traits as age and size at metamorphosis and maturation, survival, propagule size, and fecundity. In this study I examined the tradeoff between egg size and clutch size in North Carolina populations of D. santeetlah, D. ocoee, and D. aeneus, with special emphasis on the latter two species. Traits evaluated included standard length, body mass, trunk volume, egg size, clutch size, and clutch volume. For D. aeneus and D. ocoee, regressions of log-transformed values of body mass and trunk volume on standard length, and trunk volume on body mass, indicated strong similarity between the species in those body proportions that ostensibly constrain female reproductive effort. In all three species bivariate linear regressions of log-transformed values of clutch dimensions on body size suggested little correlation between egg size and body size within species, although larger species had larger eggs, larger clutches, and greater clutch volumes. An apparent interspecific tradeoff between egg size and clutch size in D. aeneus and D. ocoee suggested a common pattern in the relationship between body size and reproductive effort in these species. The results provided further evidence of a high level of life-history invariance in the genus Desmognathus, embodied in tradeoffs, which may stem from morphological conservatism related to specializations of the musculo-skeletal system.
Low-spin bis(2-methylimidazole)(octaethylporphyrinato)iron(III) chloride (perp-[Fe(OEP)(2-MeHIm)(2)]Cl): a consequence of hydrogen bonding?

The synthesis and characterization of low-spin bis(2-methylimidazole)(octaethylporphyrinato)iron(III) chloride (perp-[Fe(OEP)(2-MeHIm)2]Cl) is reported. The structure shows that the cation is a low-spin species with two imidazole ligands having a relative perpendicular orientation. The porphyrin core is very ruffled, which leads to shortened equatorial bonds of 1.974(4) A and slightly elongated axial Fe−N bond lengths of 2.005(10) A that are about 0.02 A shorter and 0.03 A longer, respectively, in comparison to bis-imidazole ligated iron(III) species with parallel oriented axial ligands. A one-dimensional hydrogen-bond chain is formed between chloride anions and uncoordinated imidazole nitrogen atoms. Compared with paral-[Fe(OEP)(2-MeHIm)2]ClO4, hydrogen bonding may play an important role in the differences in the two structures. Mossbauer spectra show broadened quadrupole doublets with quadrupole splittings of 1.81 mm/s at RT and 1.94 mm/s at 20 K. The isomer shift ranges from 0.26 to 0.36 mm/s. These co...
Resistive transition in TlBiSrCaCuO thin films in magnetic fields

Abstract The resistive transition for a c -axis oriented (Tl, Bi)Sr 2 Ca 2 Cu 3 O χ thin film with a critical temperature of 106 K was investigated in magnetic fields up to 9 T. The magnetic field-induced resistive transition shows a considerable anisotropic broadening behavior; a much broader transition in the field perpendicular to the ab -plane than in a parallel field. This behavior is strongly influenced by the magnetic field component perpendicular to the ab -plane. The resistivity in magnetic fields approaches zero exponentially versus temperature. The activation energy U 0 (0) deduced from the slope of the Arrhenius curve is expressed by the power law of U 0 (0)∝ B -1 . The resistive transition in magnetic fields for (Tl, Bi)Sr 2 Ca 2 Cu 3 O χ is attributed to thermally activated flux creep.
Expression and activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases-3 and -6 in rheumatoid arthritis.

The p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase signal transduction pathway regulates the production of interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-α. p38 kinase inhibitors are effective in animal models of arthritis and are currently being developed in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, little is known about the upstream kinases that control the activation of p38 in RA synovium. In vitro studies previously identified the MAP kinase kinases (MAPKKs) MKK3 and MKK6 as the primary regulators of p38 phosphorylation and activation. To investigate a potential role for MKK3 and MKK6 in RA, we evaluated their expression and regulation in RA synovium and cultured fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS). Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that MKK3 and MKK6 are expressed in RA and osteoarthritis (OA) synovium. Digital image analysis showed no significant differences between OA and RA with regard to expression or distribution. However, phosphorylated MKK3/6 expression was significantly higher in RA synovium and was localized to the sublining mononuclear cells and the intimal lining. Actin-normalized Western blot analysis of synovial tissue lysates confirmed the increased expression of phosphorylated MKK3/6 in RA. Western blot analysis demonstrated constitutive expression of MKK3 and MKK6 in RA and OA FLS. Phospho-MKK3 levels were low in medium-treated FLS, but were rapidly increased by interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-α, although phospho-MKK6 levels only modestly increased. p38 co-immunoprecipitated with MKK3 and MKK6 from cytokine-stimulated FLS and the complex phosphorylated activating transcription factor-2 in an in vitro kinase assay. These data are the first documentation of MKK3 and MKK6 activation in human inflammatory disease. By forming a complex with p38 in synovial tissue and FLS, these kinases can potentially be targeted to regulate the production of proinflammatory cytokine production in inflamed synovium.
History and surveillance of volcanic activity on Jan Mayen island

Jan Mayen is a small isolated Arctic island located on or very near the junction of the southern end of Mohns ridge and the central part of the Jan Mayen fracture zone. The alkaline petrology and tectonic setting of Jan Maven are similar to some other volcanic islands along the mid-Atlantic ridge, particularly the Westmann Islands of Iceland. Both the Westmann Islands and Jan Mayen are underlain by a relatively thick oceanic(?) crust, about 15 km thick, and recent eruptions were initiated and accompanied by earthquakes with loci from 25 to 30 km deep. The northern hall of the island is dominated by Mt. Beerenberg, a major central volcano composed mainly of alkali olivine basalt. The oldest exposed lavas are of upper Pleistocene age. Flank eruptions on Beerenberg in 1732, 1818 and 1970, together with historic and cartographic evidence for similar eruptions in the 16th century and the middle of the 19th century, suggest an eruption frequency of 150 years ± 75 years. A three-station seismograph network, six surface tilt-measuring sites, and a gravity and levelling profile comprise the main features of the present surveillance system.
Overview of U.S. Fishery requirements

On April 12, 1990, an international agreement between the United States, Canada, and Japan was signed that, among other things, requires real-time automatic satellite position fixing devices (transmitters) to be deployed on 100% of the Japanese squid and large-mesh driftnet fishing vessels operating in the North Pacific in 1990. These transmitters must allow automatic, real-time monitoring of the location and identity of each vessel by Japanese, Canadian, and U.S. officials. Japan had approximately 350 vessels conducting driftnet operations in the North Pacific Ocean in 1990. Similar agreements were reached between the U.S. and Korea and the U.S. and Taiwan in 1989. Taiwan agreed to equip 100% of its 135 North Pacific driftnet vessels with transmitters in 1990. South Korea agreed to equip 100% of its 188 driftnet vessels with transmitters in 1990. All countries agreed to fund the purchase, installation, maintenance, and data processing costs involved in this program. All countries agreed to provide U.S. authorities with real-time access to the satellite-generated position data. In July 1990, U.S. officials began monitoring the locations of approximately 700 foreign driftnet vessels operating in the North Pacific. Tests were conducted of two position fixing transmitter systems using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellites while the negotiations, which took over two years to complete, were ongoing. An overview of the systems tested and the results of those tests were provided to Japan, Taiwan, and Korea to assist them in choosing a transmitter best suited to their program requirements. Each country chose to use the Argos Location and Data Collection Satellite System. The Argos system is packaged on a NOAA Tiros-N satellite. This paper describes the need for a foreign fishing vessel tracking system, the results of the satellite transmitter test program, and the successful implementation of this program in 1990.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Visual influences on sensorimotor EEG responses during observation of hand actions.

Abstract There is growing interest within the field of social-cognitive neuroscience in the dynamics of sensorimotor EEG rhythms during the observation of actions performed by others. However, there remain important gaps in the literature regarding the effects of perceptual aspects of the observed hand movements. This study investigated two visual influences on the EEG response to hand actions. Specifically, the perspective of the action in relation to the participant (egocentric/allocentric) was varied and the effect of the hand used to carry out the action (left/right) was also assessed. While EEG was recorded, 28 undergraduate participants observed video clips showing an actor’s hand reaching for, grasping, and lifting a cylindrical object across four conditions (right-hand egocentric, left-hand egocentric, right-hand allocentric, and left-hand allocentric). For actions viewed from an egocentric perspective, significantly greater event-related desynchronization (ERD) was present in the 7–9 Hz range over right mid-frontal, right central, and bilateral mid-parietal sites for right-handed actions compared to left-handed actions. In addition, greater ERD was observed within the 7–9 Hz band during the observation of right-handed egocentric actions compared to actions viewed from the allocentric perspective. This finding was present at bilateral central and mid-parietal sites, and emerged as an anticipatory effect prior to the onset of the observed hand movements.
Examining the Relationship Between Psychological Well-Being and the Need for Continued Public Assistance Benefits

This study focuses on examining the mediating affect that psychological well-being may have on the use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the cash relief program under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. A stratified random sample of individuals in receipt of TANF volunteered to complete a comprehensive survey measuring their psychological well-being. Twelve months later, an unobtrusive check of their TANF status was conducted, and the psychological well-being of individuals still in receipt of TANF was compared with individuals who had stopped receiving benefits. The data reveal that a person's psychological well-being, with the exception of self-efficacy, is not a good predictor of TANF termination. The conclusions suggest other factors as likely contributors to TANF termination.
Understanding seasonal phosphorus dynamics to guide effective management of shallow, hypereutrophic Grand Lake St. Marys, Ohio

Abstract Grand Lake St. Marys, hereafter Grand Lake, is a large shallow reservoir in western Ohio that has become hypereutrophic in recent decades owing to external phosphorus (P) loading. To restore water quality in Grand Lake, managers must decide whether to reduce external P loading from tributaries or continue to reduce internal P loading from sediments using aluminum sulfate additions. To help managers identify the most effective strategies for water quality improvements in Grand Lake, we quantified the reservoir's seasonal P dynamics using tributary and in-reservoir P measurements during 2009–2011. We also tested the short-term effects of reduced external P loading on Grand Lake's water quality using a pond experiment performed at the adjacent St. Marys State Fish Hatchery. The highest P concentrations in Grand Lake (1660, 391, and 311 μg/L in 2009, 2010, and 2011, respectively) occurred in summer when external P loads from tributaries were minimal, suggesting internal P release from sediments was t...
Consistency of signal intensity and T2* in frozen ex vivo heart muscle, kidney, and liver tissue.

Purpose To investigate tissue dependence of the MRI-based thermometry in frozen tissue by quantification and comparison of signal intensity and T2* of ex vivo frozen tissue of three different types: heart muscle, kidney and liver.
Production of Mouse Placental Lactogen-I by Trophoblast Giant Cells in Utero and in Vitro

Mouse placental lactogen-I (mPL-I) is the earliest appearing member of the PRL-GH family of placental hormones. Using immunological techniques, we have localized mPL-I both in utero and in vitro to trophoblast giant cells. Detectable amounts of mPL-I were first seen by immunohistochemistry on day 6 of gestation in the mural trophoblast. On day 7 giant cells of the ectoplacental cone also contained mPLI, and on day 10 giant cells adjacent to both the decidua basalis and decidua capsularis stained positive. By day 12 however, all intra- and extraembryonic tissues were negative. The pattern of mPL-I staining in the placenta is consistent with its reported gestational serum profile. mPL-I was also present in trophoblast giant cells in vitro shortly after attachment and spreading of day 5 blastocysts. Analysis of conditioned medium from blastocyst outgrowths by immunoprecipitation and two-dimensional electrophoresis, and by immunoblotting, identified mPL-I as the major secretory product from the trophoblast, c...
Cooperative Assembly of a Protein-DNA Filament for Nonhomologous End Joining

Nonhomologous end joining repairs DNA double-strand breaks created by ionizing radiation and V(D)J recombination. Ku, XRCC4/Ligase IV (XL), and XLF have a remarkable mismatched end (MEnd) ligase activity, particularly for ends with mismatched 3′ overhangs, but the mechanism has remained obscure. Here, we showed XL required Ku to bind DNA, whereas XLF required both Ku and XL to bind DNA. We detected cooperative assembly of one or two Ku molecules and up to five molecules each of XL and XLF into a Ku-XL-XLF-DNA (MEnd ligase-DNA) complex. XLF mutations that disrupted its interactions with XRCC4 or DNA also disrupted complex assembly and end joining. Together with published co-crystal structures of truncated XRCC4 and XLF proteins, our data with full-length Ku, XL, and XLF bound to DNA indicate assembly of a filament containing Ku plus alternating XL and XLF molecules. By contrast, in the absence of XLF, we detected cooperative assembly of up to six molecules each of Ku and XL into a Ku-XL-DNA complex, consistent with a filament containing alternating Ku and XL molecules. Despite a lower molecular mass, MEnd ligase-DNA had a lower electrophoretic mobility than Ku-XL-DNA. The anomalous difference in mobility and difference in XL to Ku molar ratio suggests that MEnd ligase-DNA has a distinct structure that successfully aligns mismatched DNA ends for ligation.
Gender Differences in Persistence in Computer-Related Fields

The effectiveness of precollege and college achievement measures in predicting persistence for men and women in computer-related fields was examined. Persistence rates were similar for men and women in computer technology, electrical/computer engineering, and industrial engineering. However, fewer women than men persisted in computer science. Discriminant function analysis was conducted separately for men and women in each field and was equally effective for men and women in correctly classifying persisters and nonper-sisters (64–72%) in each field except computer technology where the classification rate was considerably lower for women (58%). GPA was generally the most important variable followed by a measure of math ability. High school science grades and number of semesters were often selected for the discriminant function for men, but not for women. The potential role of nonachievement factors in persistence such as peer and faculty support and expectancies are also discussed.
Effects of heavy-element settling on solar neutrino fluxes and interior structure

We consider the effects of gravitational settling of both He and heavier elements on the predicted solar neutrino fluxes and interior sound speed and density profiles. We find that while the structural changes that result from the inclusion of both He and heavy-element settling are only slightly larger than the changes resulting from the inclusion of He settling alone, the additional increases in expected neutrino fluxes are of comparable size. Our preferred model with both He and heavy-element settling has neutrino count rates of 9.0 SNU for Cl-37 detectors and 137 SNU for Ga-71 detectors, as compared to 7.1 and 127 SNU for a comparable model without any diffusive separation, or 8.0 and 132 SNU for a model that includes He settling alone. We suggest that the correction factors by which the predicted neutrino fluxes of solar models calculated without including the effects of diffusion should be multiplied are 1.25 +/- 0.08 for Cl detectors, 1.07 +/- 0.02 for Ga detectors, and 1.28 +/- 0.09 for the B-8 flux (1 sigma errors). Comparison of internal sound speed and density profiles strongly suggests that the additional changes in calculated p-mode oscillation frequencies due to the inclusion of heavy-element settling will be small compared to the changes that result from He settling alone, especially for the higher degree modes. All models with diffusive separation give much better agreement with the observed depth of the convection zone than do nondiffusive models. The model that includes both He and heavy-element settling requires an initial He mass fraction Y = 0.280 and has a surface He abundance of Y = 0.251 at the solar age.
Crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell technology: meeting the challenge for utility power

The author discusses recent progress in US crystalline silicon photovoltaic cell technology for both one-sun and concentrating applications. The progress in crystalline silicon technology has manifested itself in improved efficiency and in lower costs of processing and production. Experience over the past eight years with large systems representative of utility-scale applications has been good. It is suggested that there now appear to be several choices within the crystalline silicon technology path that have excellent potential to meet the necessary cost for entry into the utility market. The status of the current research efforts and the direction of the US Department of Energy sponsored crystalline silicon research program are discussed. >
Serotonin, obsessive compulsive disorder and the basal ganglia

SummaryEvidence suggests that there is dysfunction in limbic cortico-striato-pallido-thalamic circuitry in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Serotonin receptors are certainly positioned to modulate activity within this ‘limbic loop’, either via 5-HT2A-mediated reductions in striatal dopamine release, 5-HT1D-mediated reductions in pallidal or nigral GABA release from striatal projection neurons, or via 5-HT3- or 5-HT1A-mediated reductions in cellular activity within limbic cortico-striatal projection neurons. Other models of neuroanatomic substrates utilizing other neurotransmitter systems are also discussed to explain the possible basis of neuronal dysfunction in OCD.
Androgen receptors from rat kidney and brain; DNA-binding properties of wild-type and tfm mutant.

Abstract Androgen receptors from rat kidney and hypothalamus-preoptic area have been demonstrated and partially characterized by their binding properties on DNA-cellulose. For both tissues the receptors eluted from DNA-cellulose with characteristic patterns, which distinguished the two extracts from one another; in addition, estrogen receptors from kidney were eluted separately from the androgen receptors. The androgen receptors from rat tissues resembled those from mouse tissues in exhibiting limited capacity and high affinity for testosterone and for dihydrotestosterone, in their chromatographic characteristics on DNA-cellulose, and in the distinctive elution patterns between kidney and brain extracts. Tissues from the androgen-resistant rat mutant, testicular feminization ( tfm ). had reduced levels of androgen receptors in both kidney and hypothalamus-preoptic area. The residual androgen-binding activities in each tissue adhered to DNA-cellulose and eluted with the same patterns as obtained for receptors of the wild-type rats.