cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Modeling Study of T-Type Ca2+ Channel Gating and Modulation by L-Cysteine in Rat Nociceptors

L-cysteine (L-cys) increases the amplitude of T-type Ca2+ currents in rat T-rich nociceptor-like dorsal root ganglia neurons. The modulation of T-type Ca2+ channel gating by L-cys was studied by fitting Markov state models to whole-cell currents recorded from T-rich neurons. The best fitting model tested included three resting states and inactivation from the second resting state and the open state. Inactivation and the final opening step were voltage-independent, whereas transitions between the resting states and deactivation were voltage-dependent. The transition rates between the first two resting states were an order of magnitude faster than those between the second and third resting states, and the voltage-dependency of forward transitions through resting states was two to three times greater than for analogous backward transitions. Analysis with the best fitting model suggested that L-cys increases current amplitude mainly by increasing the transition rate from resting to open and decreasing the transition rate from open to inactivated. An additional model was developed that could account for the bi-exponential time course of recovery from inactivation of the currents and the high frequency of blank sweeps in single channel recordings. This model detected basically the same effects of L-cys on channel gating as the best fitting model.
Analytical Study on Seismic Response of Piping Under Multiple Support Excitations

Conventional response spectrum analysis is used for piping seismic design in Japan. When piping is supported by restraints and structures fixed on multiple buildings or floors, the envelope of the response spectra of all supporting points is typically applied for the piping under multiple excitations. The local vibration mode of long piping is difficult to excite by the far input from the vibrating part, so the analysis will overestimate the response. Considering each input from each building or floor can estimate more reasonable seismic response of the piping. The researches about seismic response analysis by multiple input excitations have been performed since 1960s and the analysis methods are used for piping design in the United State.There are a few experimental researches to verify the validity of the analysis method by multiple excitations. So an excitation test by multiple excitations planned to verify the validity of the application. This current study was performed as a preliminary investigation for the excitation test and it was to obtain the seismic response of a piping model by multiple excitations. Several kinds of analysis methods are compared and the characteristics of them are discussed.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
The optimality of tit‐for‐tat

The paper examines the performance of tit‐for‐tat in iterated plays of prisoners’ dilemma and chicken. In particular, the paper examines, via computer simulations, a space of surrogate Axelrod‐type tournaments over these games. The surrogate tournaments are specified in terms of characteristics of strategies similar to those Axelrod identifies as fundamental. The paper shows that the zones of optimality for tit‐for‐tat in tournament play of both prisoners’ dilemma and chicken remarkably constrained, but that tit‐for‐tat generally does well relative to other strategies. Furthermore, our results show that the success of tit‐for‐tat is sensitive to the number of players and the assignment of payoff values.
Structure and expression of the phosphoglycerate kinase (Pgk) gene of Drosophila melanogaster

The gene that encodes phosphoglycerate kinase in Drosophila melanogaster (Pgk) has been isolated and characterized. There is a single copy of Pgk in the Drosophila genome located at cytogenetic position 23A1-2. Transcripts of Pgk are 1.6 kb long and are found during development with a profile similar to the expression pattern of other genes of the glycolytic pathway. There are substantial amounts of maternal transcript in early embryos which decline in abundance until mid-embryogenesis when transcript levels increase; levels remain high, during larval stages, fall during pupariation and rise again at emergence. The nucleotide sequence of the Pgk gene reveals two small introns, one of which is at a position identical to the site of an intron found in Pgk genes from other organisms. The Pgk gene has no TATA box in the region of transcription initiation and has multiple transcription initiation sites that are closely spaced within 110 nucleotides of the translation start site.
Trilobite Eyes: Calcified Lenses in vivo

The corneal lenses preserved in the eyes of some of the Paleozoic trilobites (Arthropoda) are constructed of calcite that is crystallographically oriented to behave like glass. The calcareous lenses are capable of forming inverted images over a large depth of field and must have been present in the living trilobites.
Head control strategies during whole-body turns.

Recent reports have described the motion of individual body segments during turns toward visual targets. During a whole-body turn, the head’s trajectory in space is determined by both body-in-space rotation and head-on-body rotation. To inform subsequent investigations of head control strategies during turns, we provide a kinematic description of head and pelvis rotation in 20 healthy human subjects as they performed step turns toward a visible target or in the direction of a previously seen target. At the time of peak head velocity in space, the head was moving faster than the pelvis by ∼54° s−1 when turning toward a visible target, and ∼25° s−1 when turning in a remembered direction. Peak head velocities were slower in the absence of a visual target, but pelvis velocities were not significantly different. The pattern of relative motion between the head and pelvis followed a temporal sequence. Early in the turn, the head rotated with respect to the pelvis in the same direction as the pelvis was rotating in space. During the mid portions of the turn, en bloc rotation of the head and pelvis predominated. Later in the turn, head-in-space velocity was lower than pelvis-in-space velocity, and was thus relatively stabilized. This pattern of head movement during turns is quite similar to eye-in-head movements during large eye–head gaze shifts. This suggests that in addition to saccadic and stabilization mechanisms, a specific control strategy to move segments together should be incorporated into models of gaze reorienting behavior.
On The Determination of Shadow Boundaries and Relevant Eigenrays For Sound Propagation In Stratified Moving Media

The eiconal and ray equations for a stratified moving medium are analyzed to determine which rays connect a source located at an altitude z = z(sub s) to an observer on the ground plane. The characteristics of all available rays are ascertained. Further, the rays which determine the shadow boundary are found. Thus, the shadow boundary may be easily calculated and any observers for which an eigenray does not exist eliminated from further consideration. Therefore, the analysis may be applied to save computer time in two ways. First, rays that do not reach the ground may be eliminated before they are traced, and observers for which no eigenray exists may be eliminated from consideration.
Spin analog method for collective modes of the Hubbard model

We make use of a canonical transformation relating the positive U and negative U sectors of the one band Hubbard model to study the global SU(2) pseudospin symmetry in the model, and to investigate the structure of the collective excitation spectrum from a superconducting ground state in the model. New collective modes in this model associated with the SU(2) pseudospin symmetry, recently discussed by Zhang, appear in the pseudo-spinwave spectrum of the transformed problem. Consequences of this mapping for a self dual generalization of the Hubbard model are also discussed.
Information Access and Exchange among Small Worlds in a Democratic Society: The Role of Policy in Shaping Information Behavior in the Post-9/11 United States.

Every democratic society relies on deliberation and dialogue between social groups with varying perspectives to provide for the representation of the diverse members of the society. Meaningful deliberation is based on open access to information by individuals and free exchange of information between different social groups. Policy developments in the United States since September 2001, however, have altered the roles of information in many social contexts, with impacts on information access and information exchange between social groups. These changes have the potential to be of great consequence to social and political uses of information in society. Libraries, as established guardians of diverse perspectives of information, are in a unique position to protect and preserve information access and exchange in this new policy environment.
Shoot morphogenesis associated with flowering in Populus deltoides (Salicaceae)

Temporal and spatial formation and differentiation of axillary buds in developing shoots of mature eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides) were investigated. Shoots sequentially initiate early vegetative, floral, and late vegetative buds. Associated with these buds is the formation of three distinct leaf types. In May of the first growing season, the first type begins forming in terminal buds and overwinters as relatively developed foliar structures. These leaves bear early vegetative buds in their axils. The second type forms late in the first growing season in terminal buds. These leaves form floral buds in their axils the second growing season. The floral bud meristems initiate scale leaves in April and begin forming floral meristems in the axils of the bracts in May. The floral meristems subsequentty form floral organs by the end of the second growing season. The floral buds overwinter with floral organs, and anthesis occurs in the third growing season. The third type of leaf forms and develops entirely outside the terminal buds in the second growing season. These leaves bear the late vegetative buds in their axils. On the basis of these and other supporting data, we hypothesize a 3-yr flowering cycle as opposed to the traditional 2-yr cycle in eastern cottonwood.
Switching probabilities for single-domain magnetic particles

Solving the stochastic Landau-Lifshitz equation numerically, we compute as a function of time $t$ the probability per unit time, ${P}_{s}(t)$, that a classical, single-domain magnetic particle with an easy uniaxial anisotropy and a collinear applied magnetic field will reverse its magnetization (``switch'') via thermal activation over the energy barrier. The ${P}_{s}(t)$ curves increase with $t$ for small $t$, achieving a maximum at some time ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{P}$ before decaying exponentially with time constant ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{D}$ at long time, as per the standard Neel-Brown picture. Both ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{P}$ and ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{D}$ increase (the latter exponentially) with increasing barrier height; ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{P}$ grows logarithmically with ${\ensuremath{\tau}}_{D}$, consistent with a recent phenomenological ``energy-ladder'' model, and experiments on submicron-sized magnetic thin films.
Exploring Student Interest in Entrepreneurship Courses

A technique for evaluating student interest in entrepreneurship courses was used to direct development of a curriculum. New venture creation and small business courses held highest interest. Support courses in marketing and finance were followed by specialty courses in creativity, innovation, and corporate entrepreneurship. Differences in student responses were explored.
On a lattice of hermitian-preserving cones

Refinements of a lattice of pointed cones of hermitian-preserving linear transformations are established by showing equality of some of the cones and proper inclusion for others. A finite nested sequence of nonpointed cones which are properly contained between the pointed cone π(PSD) and the nonpointed cone HP is generated.
Caring for the liver transplant recipient.

The return of liver transplant recipients to their homes invariably results in a new algorithm for care. While the transplant center may continue to monitor liver tests, manage immunosuppressive agent levels, and field phone calls from the patient, the day-to-day care of the transplant patient will be remanded to the primary or principal care physician, often a gastroenterologist. Keeping this axis of combined care between the transplant center and the referring physician intact can be difficult unless the program of long-term care is coordinated.
Towards on-chip tunable nanolasers based on optomechanical zipper cavities

Work towards semiconductor nanolasers at λ = 1.3 µm in optomechanically coupled one dimensional photonic-crystal cavities is presented. Optical mode spectroscopy and on-chip tuning capability based on capacitive actuation is developed. Experimental and theoretical results are presented.
Human fibroblast conditioned media contains growth-promoting activities for low density cells

Normal diploid human fibroblasts, cultured at high density (1-2 X 10(5) cells per cm2) release two growth promoting activities into the culture medium. The fibroblast proliferation activity-conditioned medium facilitates the attachment of low density cells to the substrate. The activity resides in a non-dialyzable material that is sensitive to proteolytic inactivation. A second activity is dialyzable and can be recovered in the dialysate. In the presence of serum it stimulates cell growth. After 168 hours of incubation conditioned medium cultures contain five times more cells than are present in comparable cultures without conditioned medium. A reproducible biological assay for each activity is described.
Growing overlap between terrorism and organized crime in India: A case study

This article discusses the growing overlap between organized crime and terrorism in India and highlights the key factors that explain this process. It begins with a summary of the Mumbai attacks of 2008 as an example of growing overlap between organized crime groups and terrorism in India. Organized crime groups that traditionally focused on money-making opportunities and stayed away from extreme forms of large-scale violence have increasingly been converging with terrorist outfits, especially in case of sectarian violence and religious terrorism. Some of the more obvious factors that facilitate this process are drugs and arms trafficking, while the less explored but equally dominant are socio-cultural, politico-religious and historical factors. The global war on terrorism has also increased networking opportunities and incentives for organized crime and terrorist groups that provide each other goods and services, while also adapting to each other’s business and methods.
Clonal analysis of graft-infiltrating lymphocytes from renal and cardiac biopsies dominant rearrangements of TcRβ genes and persistence of dominant rearrangements in serial biopsies

Abstract Graft-infiltrating lymphocytes from both human renal and cardiac allografts were propagated in interleukin 2 in order to evaluate rearrangements in the T-cell receptor (TcR) β-chain genes. Individual biopsies from renal allografts during episodes of cellular rejection were examined as well as multiple biopsies of heart transplant patients from whom endomyocardial samples were taken prior to, during, and after episodes of rejection. TcRβ-chain rearrangements were evaluated in Southern blots using DNA extracted from interleukin 2-propagated cells and digested with restriction endonucleases permitting assessment of rearrangements to both Cβa and Cβ2. Rearrangements shared among greater than 5% of the “bulk” culture appear as nongermline bands when hybridized with a Cβ probe. Single-cell progeny were generated from limiting dilution, and the rearrangements among the cloned progeny compared to the “bulk” of the cultured progeny of graft-infiltrating lymphocytes. The results indicate that “dominant” rearrangements are a common feature of renal allograft-infiltrating lymphocytes (14 of 15 cases examined). Since the number of cells which can be recovered from a given cardiac biopsy may be limiting, evaluation of clonal dominance from these cultures is more difficult to evaluate. However, sharing of “dominant” rearrangements among multiple biopsies from the same cardiac allograft patient indicates an in vivo selection for T cells with the same receptor rearrangement. Analysis of individual clones showed 3133 clones from a renal allograft sharing the “dominant” rearrangement noted in the bulk culture, but none of these “dominant” clones showed antidonor specificity. Of particular note is that these clones were not the progeny of a single cell, as there was not sharing of the second rearrangement noted in each clone. Thus, the “dominance” noted in the bulk culture was not the result of outgrowth of a single rapidly dividing cell, but rather a reflection of some advantage to cells with a similar rearrangement of TcRβ. One in fifteen clones from a cardiac allograft shared the rearrangement noted in the bulk culture from which it was derived. This clone showed a donor-specific proliferative activity which was also noted in another biopsy that shared the same dominant restriction pattern and donor-specific proliferative activity. Taken together, these results indicate
Electromagnetic scattering from arbitrarily shaped chiral objects using the finite difference frequency domain method

In this paper, finite difference frequency domain (FDFD) formulation has been developed for the analysis of electromagnetic wave interaction with chiral materials, and the validity of the formulation for three dimensional scattering problems has been confirmed by comparing the numerical results to exact or other numerical solutions. The influences of the chirality on the scattered field components are investigated. Numerical results for bistatic radar cross section (RCS) are presented and compared to reference solutions and it is found that the proposed FDFD method shows good agreement. It is realized that the presented method is relatively easy to program and can be applied to a wide variety of problems of complex and composite structures efficiently.
Structure of mammalian portal vein: Postnatal establishment of two mutually perpendicular medial muscle zones in the rat

In all mammalian species examined thus far, the media of the adult mammalian portal vein consists of two mutually perpendicular smooth muscle zones separated by a fibrous layer. The cells of the muscle zone nearest the intima are arranged circumferentially and resemble smooth muscle of other vessels; the muscle cells of the thicker, vascularized outer zone are longitudinal and contain mitochondria and pinocytotic vesicles in great abundance, suggesting relatively high metabolic activity. The adult configuration is not present at birth and only develops during the first three postnatal weeks in the rat. Partitioning of the media commences at about three days and contrasting orientation and composition of the cells of the two muscle zones is not established until seven to ten days after birth. Vasa vasorum appear in the outer muscle layer at about two weeks and nerve fibers appear even later. Post-natal establishment of a special, double layered neuromuscular structure may be related to the adaptation of the portal circulation to the effective closure of the ductus venosus.
Risk of lymphoma in patients with ulcerative colitis treated with thiopurines: a nationwide retrospective cohort study.

Background & Aims There is controversy over whether the treatment of patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) with thiopurines increases their risk of lymphoma. We evaluated the risk of lymphoma (ongoing, residual, and per year of therapy) among thiopurine-treated patients with UC. Methods We obtained nationwide data from the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system from 2001 to 2011. We performed a retrospective cohort study, analyzing data on 36,891 patients from their date of diagnosis of UC in the VA health care system to a diagnosis of lymphoma or October 1, 2011 (subjects followed up for a median of 6.7 years). Thiopurine exposure was assessed using the VA pharmacy database. Patients who developed lymphoma were identified based on ICD-9 codes and confirmed by manual chart review. Results In total, 4734 patients with UC (13%) were treated with thiopurines for a median of 1 year. Lymphoma developed in 119 patients who had not been treated with thiopurines, 18 who were treated with thiopurines, and 5 who had discontinued treatment with thiopurines. The incidence rates of lymphoma were 0.60 per 1000 person-years among patients who had not been treated with thiopurines, 2.31 among patients who were treated with thiopurines, and 0.28 among patients who had discontinued treatment with thiopurines. The incidence rates of lymphoma during the first year, second year, third year, fourth year, and >4 years of thiopurine therapy were 0.9, 1.6, 1.6, 5, and 8.9 per 1000 person-years, respectively. The age-, sex-, and race-adjusted hazard ratios of developing lymphoma were 4.2 (95% confidence interval, 2.5–6.8; P P = .17) after discontinuing treatment with thiopurines compared with patients who had not been treated with thiopurines. Conclusions Based on a retrospective, nationwide cohort study, patients with UC have a 4-fold increase in risk of lymphoma while being treated with thiopurines compared with patients who have not been treated with thiopurines. The risk increases gradually for successive years of therapy. Discontinuing thiopurine therapy reduces the risk of lymphoma.
Preliminary Results of Stainless Steel Impact Bending Tests

Stainless steels are used for the construction of numerous spent nuclear fuel or radioactive material containers that may be subjected to high strains and moderate strain rates during accidental drop events. Mechanical characteristics of these materials under dynamic (impact) loads in the strain rate range of concern are not well documented. However, two previous papers [1, 2] reported on impact tensile testing and analysis results performed at the Idaho National Laboratory using 304L and 316L stainless steel specimens that began the investigation of these characteristics. The goal of the work presented herein is to: (1) add the results of additional tensile impact testing for 304L stainless steel specimens, and (2) show that the application of the strain rate-dependent material curves (determined through that tensile impact testing) to specimens designed to respond in bending during impact loading would yield accurate deformation and strain predictions.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Temperature and Humidity Profiles in Mesoscale Unsaturated Downdrafts

Abstract Profiles of temperature and humidity beneath precipitating anvil clouds in tropical convective systems suggest the presence of a mesoscale unsaturated downdraft there. In this paper, a one-dimensional, steady-state, hydrostatic model of a downdraft is used to simulate profiles of temperature and humidity beneath anvil clouds. With a realistic drop-size distribution, the model calculations produce profiles that closely resemble observed soundings beneath anvil clouds. Such calculated profiles can be useful in computing the mass, heat and moisture budgets of tropical convective systems.
A vitreous carbon-polymethacrylate composite for dental implants.

A STUDY HAS BEEN CARRIED OUT ON THE STRUCTURE AND SURFACE TEXTure of a new dental implant material composed of vitreous carbon balloons (3 wt % or 6 wt %) and poly(methyl methacrylate). Tooth replica implants using this material had been successfully placed in baboons, and histologic study revealed normal alveolar bone and a peri-implant membrane with the connective tissue fibers oriented in a horizontal direction. Square wafers (10 mm X 10 mm X 1 mm) were studied, with the surface sandblasted in one-half of the specimens. Light microscopy revealed that in the 3% carbon specimens, the vitreous carbon micro-balloons were evenly spaced and often appeared to be fragmented within their spaces. S.E.M. studies revealed a finely porous surface with numerous large craters. Microballoons were often seen within the craters in the nonsandblasted specimens.
Time-dependent projected Hartree-Fock

Projected Hartree-Fock (PHF) has recently emerged as an alternative approach to describing degenerate systems where static correlation is abundant, when the spin-symmetry is projected. Here, we derive a set of linearized time-dependent equations for PHF in order to be able to access excited states. The close connection of such linear-response time-dependent PHF (TDPHF) to the stability condition of a PHF wave function is discussed. Expanding this analysis also makes it possible to give analytical expressions for the projected coupling terms of Hamiltonian and overlaps between excited Slater determinants. TDPHF with spin-projection (TDSUHF) and its Tamm-Dancoff approximation are benchmarked for several electronically degenerate molecules including the dissociating H2, F2 and O3 at equilibrium, and the distorted ethylene. It is shown that they give consistently better descriptions of excited states than does time-dependent HF (TDHF). Furthermore, we demonstrate that they offer not only singly but also doubly excited states, which naturally arise upon spin-projection. We also address the thermodynamic limit of TDSUHF, using non-interacting He gas. While TDPHF singly excited states tend to converge to those of HF with the size of the system due to the lack of size-extensivity of PHF, doubly excited states remain reasonable even at the thermodynamic limit. We find that the overall performance of our method is systematically better than the regular TDHF in many cases at the same computational scaling.
Fundamental limitations of conventional-FET biosensors: Quantum-mechanical-tunneling to the rescue

Electrical detection of biomolecules using Field-Effect-Transistors (FETs) [1–5] is very attractive, since it is label-free, inexpensive, allows scalability and on-chip integration of both sensor and measurement systems. Nanostructured FETs, especially nanowires have gained special importance due to their high electrostatic control and large surface-to-volume ratio. In order to configure the FET as a biosensor (Fig. 1(a)), the dielectric/oxide layer on the semiconductor is functionalized with specific receptors. These receptors capture the desired target biomolecules (a process called conjugation), which due to their charge produce gating effect on the semiconductor, thus changing its electrical properties such as current, conductance etc. Thus it is intuitive, that greater the response of the FET to the gating effect, higher will be its sensitivity where sensitivity can be defined as the ratio of change in current due to biomolecule conjugation to the initial current (before conjugation). While the highest response to gating effect can be obtained in the subthreshold region, the conventional FETs (CFET) suffer severely due to the theoretical limitation on the minimum achievable Subthreshold Swing (SS) of [K B T/q ln(10)] due to the Boltzmann tyranny (Fig. 1(b)) effect where K B is the Boltzmann constant and T is the temperature. This also poses fundamental limitations on the sensitivity and response time of CFET based biosensors [6]. In recent times, Tunnel- FETs have attracted a lot of attention for low power digital applications [7]–[17], due to their ability to overcome the fundamental limitation in SS (60 mV/decade) of CFETs. Recently, it has been shown that the superior subthreshold behavior of TFETs can be leveraged to achieve highly efficient biosensors [6]. This is possible, thanks to the fundamentally different current injection mechanism in TFETs in the form of band-to-band tunneling [17]. The working principle of TFET biosensors is illustrated in Fig. 1c.
Committee Decision Making in Organizations: An Experimental Test of the Core

One concept that has been widely supported in experiments on predicting the outcome of majority-rule voting committees is the Core, the set of alternatives that cannot be defeated by any other in a binary contest. Unfortunately, the applicability of these experiments to organizations is limited by a set of rigid controls intended to ensure that the experiments are internally valid. This paper tests the Core in a laboratory environment that relaxes these controls. The Core is found to be highly predictive under these relaxed conditions, thereby enhancing confidence in its external validity.
A perspective on nanophase materials for orthopedic implant applications

In the past, synthetic conventional materials have not served as satisfactory implants. As an example, the current average lifetime of an orthopedic implant (such as hip, knee, ankle, etc.) is only 10 to 15 years. Clearly, such conventional materials (or those materials with constituent dimensions greater than 1 micron) have not invoked suitable cellular responses to regenerate enough bone to allow these devices to be successful for long periods of time. In contrast, due to their ability to mimic the dimensions of constituent components of natural bone (like proteins and hydroxyapatite), nanophase materials may be an exciting successful alternative orthopedic implant material. Nanophase materials are defined as materials with constituent dimensions (and/or associated surface features) less than 100 nm in at least one direction. This review article discusses recent studies that have been conducted to determine the efficacy of nanophase materials as orthopedic implants. In doing so, compared with conventional orthopedic implant materials, it is suggested that nanophase materials can be synthesized to possess similar nanometer dimensions as components of natural bone to promote new bone formation; a criterion critical to orthopedic implant success.
Perceived Satisfaction of Police Officers with Their Marriages

Writers have argued that the stresses of police work create pressures in the police officers' marriages (Stratton, 1975). T o explore the perceived satisfaction of married state police troopers, 34 troopers from two units (Ai,,, = 31.2, SD = 5.8; mean years of police worlc 7.1, SD = 5.2) were administered a brief questionnaire on stress and marriage, which they completed anonymously. Their perceived satisfaction with their marriages was assessed on a 6-point scale (from very satisfied to very dissatisfied). Each trooper also rated the stress he felt from 15 sources on a 4-point scale (from extremely stressful to not stressful at all) and provided some background demographic data. Troopers who were more satisfied with their marriages reported less stress from problems with coworkers ( r = -0.44), less stress from lack of support from prosecutors and courts ( r = -0.39), less stress from shift work ( r = -0.34), less stress from problems from home life ( 7 = -0.69), less stress from having to intervene in crises ( r = -0.31), less stress from living in the same town where they worked ( r = -0.52), and less total stress ( r = -0.45) ." Perceived satisfaction with marriage was not related to their ages, their wives' ages, their age differences, numbers of years of police work, whether and for how long they worked at a second job, the numbers of children or previous marriages, and whether they married their wives prior to or after becoming troopers. These results indicate that troopers who report less stress from a variety of sources associated with their work also perceive more satisfaction with their marriages. Whether these variables are causally related or merely the result of a more positive view of life in general is a question for future research.
Exchange rate volatility and demand for money in less developed countries

One implication of currency substitution is that the exchange rate could serve as another determinant of the demand for money. Indeed, many studies have justified this empirically for the majority of countries. If the exchange rate serves as a determinant of the demand for money, exchange rate volatility could also influence money demand. By using annual data from 15 less developed countries and the bounds testing approach, we show that exchange rate volatility has short-run effects on the demand for real M2 monetary aggregate in LDCs. However, in most countries, short-run effects are not sustained.
Well-posedness in Maxwell systems with distributions of polarization relaxation parameters

We present existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence (with respect to probability distributions on polarization parameters) of solutions in Maxwell systems. This provides a theoretical and computational foundation for associated inverse problems.
Ultrastructure of the Guinea Fowl (Numidia meleagris) Spermatozoon

Abstract The ultrastructure of guinea spermatozoa was characterized by transmission and scanning electron microscopy. The average lengths and widths (measured at the widest points) of the segments were as follows: acrosome, 1.8 × .47 μ; nucleus, 12.8 × .49 μ; midpiece, 3.9 × .59 μ; flagellum, 59 × .52 μ. Thus, the guinea sperm cell is slightly smaller than the chicken or turkey spermatozoon. The ultrastructure of the guinea spermatozoon was similar to that of the chicken and turkey with two exceptions: 1) the mitochondria had cristae aligned parallel and oblique with respect to the outer limiting membrane and 2) there was no proximal centriole, the distal centriole projected into the implantation fossa with “arms” of the nonstriating connecting piece extending laterally from the centriole to the implantation fossa.
Crystal Structure Refinement of Reedmergnerite, the Boron Analog of Albite

Ordering of boron in a feldspar crystallographic site T1(0) has been found in reedmergnerite, which has silicon-oxygen and sodium-oxygen distances comparable to those in isostructural low albite. If a simple ionic model is assumed, calculated bond strengths yield a considerable charge imbalance in reedmergnerite, an indication of the inadequacy of the model with respect to these complex structures and of the speculative nature of conclusions based on such a model.
Self-broadening in the fundamental bands of HF and HCl☆

Abstract Self-broadened lineshapes in the fundamental bands of HF and HCl have been measured with a high-resolution difference-frequency laser spectrometer. Self-induced broadenings, shifts, and collisional narrowings have been extracted by least-squares fitting several collisional profiles to the spectra. At low pressures, the collisional narrowing effect causes deviations of the lineshapes from the Voigt profile having a Doppler-fixed Gaussian component, and yields a measure of the diffusion constants of the molecules.
The interaction of Acanthamoeba castellanii cysts with macrophages and neutrophils.

Acanthamoeba castellanii, a free-living amoeba, causes a sight-threatening form of keratitis. Even after extensive therapies, corneal damage can be severe, often requiring corneal transplantation to restore vision. However, A. castellanii cysts are not eliminated from the conjunctiva and stroma of humans and can excyst, resulting in infection of the corneal transplant. The aim of this study was to determine whether elements of the innate immune apparatus, neutrophils and macrophages, were capable of detecting and eliminating A. castellanii cysts and to examine the mechanism by which they kill the cysts. Results show that neither innate immune cell is attracted chemotactically to intact cysts, yet both were attracted to lysed cysts. Both macrophages and neutrophils were capable of killing significant numbers of cysts, yet neutrophils were 3-fold more efficient than macrophages. Activation of macrophages with lipopolysaccharide and interferon-γ did not increase their cytolytic ability. Conditioned medium is...
Quantitative in situ gel electrophoretic assay for neomycin phosphotransferase activity in mammalian cell lysates

A method for the assay of neomycin phosphotransferase activity in eucaryotic cell lysates is described. Total cytoplasmic proteins are fractionated in nondenaturing polyacrylamide gels and then allowed to react in situ with [gamma-32P]ATP and kanamycin. The reaction products are detected by blotting to phosphocellulose paper and autoradiography. The assay is linear with protein concentration and sensitive enough to detect expression in transient assays.
The Mexican Supreme Court and the Juntas de Conciliación y Arbitraje, 1917–1924: The Judicialisation of Labour Relations after the Revolution*

This article reviews Mexican Supreme Court decisions concerning the legal status of juntas de conciliacion y arbitraje (state labour boards of conciliation and arbitration) between 1917 and 1924. During this period the Court played an important role in legitimising these administrative boards, which have since become a constituent part of Mexico's state–labour regime. This examination of the Court's decisions shows how judge-made law contributed to the evolution of industrial relations in the country in the early 1920s. Furthermore, the article's discussion of the connection between the Court's evolving case law and its changing membership in this period indicates how its legal decisions were sensitive to political changes. This presents an early instance of the more recent trend toward the judicialisation of politics in Latin America.
Alpha-stable modeling of noise and robust time-delay estimation in the presence of impulsive noise

A new representation of audio noise signals is proposed, based on symmetric /spl alpha/-stable (S/spl alpha/S) distributions in order to better model the outliers that exist in real signals. This representation addresses a shortcoming of the Gaussian model, namely, the fact that it is not well suited for describing signals with impulsive behavior. The /spl alpha/-stable and Gaussian methods are used to model measured noise signals. It is demonstrated that the /spl alpha/-stable distribution, which has heavier tails than the Gaussian distribution, gives a much better approximation to real-world audio signals. The significance of these results is shown by considering the time delay estimation (TDE) problem for source localization in teleimmersion applications. In order to achieve robust sound source localization, a novel time delay estimation approach is proposed. It is based on fractional lower order statistics (FLOS), which mitigate the effects of heavy-tailed noise. An improvement in TDE performance is demonstrated using FLOS that is up to a factor of four better than what can be achieved with second-order statistics.
Measurement of Prochlorococcus ecotypes using real-time polymerase chain reaction reveals different abundances of genotypes with similar light physiologies.

Summary Prochlorococcus is a marine cyanobacterium which is found at high abundances in world's tropical and subtropical oligotrophic oceans. The genus Prochlo- rococcus can be divided into two major groups based on light physiology. Both of these groups can be fur- ther subdivided into genetically distinct lineages, or ecotypes. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays based on sequence differences in the 16S-23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer or the 23S rDNA were developed to examine the distribution of each ecotype in the field. The real-time PCR assays enabled linear quantification of concentrations ranging from 10 to 4 × 10 5 cells ml − 1 . These assays were applied to a stratified water column in the Sargasso Sea. The majority of Prochlorococcus cells above 110 m belonged to the one of the low chlorophyll b/a ratio (high-light adapted) ecotypes, while two types of high chlorophyll b/a ratio (low-light adapted) cells domi- nated below 110 m. The other three types were found at significantly lower numbers or not detected at all. Differences in the abundance of ecotypes within the major light physiology groupings suggest that other factors, such as nutrient utilization and differential mortality, are driving their relative distributions. Real- time PCR assays will enable further exploration of these factors and temporal and geographic variability in ecotype abundance.
Lessons learned from research on photorefractive polymers and molecular materials

Organic photorefractive (PR) materials are a new kind of electrooptic substance that emerged 10 years ago. These are very complicated materials that possess both electrooptic effects and photoconductivity. It is challenging to integrate these properties into a single polymer system that will exhibit this PR effect. This article highlights our efforts in the past nine years in synthesizing and characterizing fully functionalized organic PR materials. I emphasize the lessons we have learned from this research, which may be more valuable to those who are interested in this area. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 2557–2564, 2001
The Discovery of Guiana by Sir Walter Ralegh: With Related Documents – Edited by Benjamin Schmidt

To say, as this author does, that Sir Walter Ralegh “lived large” is no exaggeration (vii). Known to American students as the sponsor of the Roanoke voyages who named “Virginia” for his queen, much...
New load shedding scheme for islanded power systems

This paper presents a new load shedding scheme for islanded power systems (IPS). Navy shipboard power systems (SPS), typical examples of islanded power systems, have been studied. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is adopted for dynamically prioritizing the loads, based on changing priorities of loads and system critical natures of loads. The load shedding scheme tries to maximize various system benefits and minimize load curtailment. An illustration of the developed load shedding scheme is presented.
Hemodynamic Effects of Anthrax Toxins in the Rabbit Model and the Cardiac Pathology Induced by Lethal Toxin

Anthrax lethal toxin (LeTx) and edema toxin (EdTx) have been shown to alter hemodynamics in the rodent model, while LeTx primarily is reported to induce extensive tissue pathology. However, the rodent model has limitations when used for comparison to higher organisms such as humans. The rabbit model, on the other hand, has gained recognition as a useful model for studying anthrax infection and its pathophysiological effects. In this study, we assessed the hemodynamic effects of lethal toxin (LeTx) and edema toxin (EdTx) in the rabbit model using physiologically relevant amounts of the toxins. Moreover, we further examine the pathological effects of LeTx on cardiac tissue. We intravenously injected Dutch-belted rabbits with either low-dose and high-dose recombinant LeTx or a single dose of EdTx. The animals’ heart rate and mean arterial pressure were continuously monitored via telemetry until either 48 or 72 h post-challenge. Additional animals challenged with LeTx were used for cardiac troponin I (cTnI) quantitation, cardiac histopathology, and echocardiography. LeTx depressed heart rate at the lower dose and mean arterial pressure (MAP) at the higher dose. EdTx, on the other hand, temporarily intensified heart rate while lowering MAP. Both doses of LeTx caused cardiac pathology with the higher dose having a more profound effect. Lastly, left-ventricular dilation due to LeTx was not apparent at the given time-points. Our study demonstrates the hemodynamic effects of anthrax toxins, as well as the pathological effects of LeTx on the heart in the rabbit model, and it provides further evidence for the toxins’ direct impact on the heart.
NF-κB inhibition facilitates the establishment of cell lines that chronically produce human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 viral particles.

Most human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1)-infected HeLa and SupT1 cells cease proliferation and become senescent immediately after infection by HTLV-1 or transduction of the HTLV-1 taxgene. The cellular senescence response triggered by Tax is caused by hyperactivated NF-B and mediated by cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors, p21 CIP1/WAF1 and p27 KIP1 . When NF-B activity is blocked by a degradation-resistant form of IB,N-IB, Tax-induced senescence is averted. Here, we show that NF-B inhibition through the expression of N-IBallows cells of a human osteosarcoma (HOS) cell line to be chronically infected by HTLV-1. Stable HTLV-1-producing HOS cell clones can be readily established and isolated. These clones continue to proliferate in culture; express Tax, Rex, Gag, and Env proteins persistently; and transmit HTLV-1 to naive HOS, SupT1, and Jurkat T reporter cell lines readily after cocultivation. As HOS cells are adherent to culture plates, infected T cells in suspension can be easily collected and characterized. The ease with which chronic and productive HTLV-1 infection can be established in cell culture through inhibition of NF-B affords a useful means to examine in depth the molecular events of HTLV-1 replication and the mechanisms of action of viral genes. IMPORTANCE This paper describes a system for establishing cell lines that can be productively infected by human T-lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) and can spread HTLV-1 to susceptible cells. Such a system can facilitate the study of HTLV-1 replication in cell culture.
Sisyphus and the Avalanche: The United Nations, Egypt and Hungary

The gods had condemned Sisyphus to push a rock up the top of a mountain, from which the rock kept rolling down. International organization seems to be a modern illustration of an old myth. After each crisis, new attempts are made to push the rock of peace up again, and no crisis has revealed the frustrating task of international organization more sharply than the recent shock of the Middle Eastern and Hungarian explosions.
Fatalities caused by TRALI

This article includes a retrospective review of fatalities caused by transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) over a 5-year period (from 1997 to 2002) that were reported to the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research involving 58 recipient deaths and the corresponding 63 blood component donors. Descriptive statistics are presented. Recipient characteristics include age, sex, and admitting diagnosis. Cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disorders, and cancer were the most frequent diagnoses of transfusion recipients. Reported deaths did not appear to be associated with age, sex, reason for transfusion, or transfusion component. Implicated blood component(s) and clinical symptoms at the time of reaction were recorded. Fresh frozen plasma was implicated in one half of the cases, whereas red blood cells played a role in approximately one third. The clinical characteristics described most often in TRALI reports included shortness of breath, frothy sputum, pulmonary infiltrates, and hypoxia. Donor variables included age, sex, parity, and laboratory tests for antibodies to HLA and/or antigranulocyte antibodies. Laboratory tests showed HLA antibodies and/or antigranulocyte antibodies were positive in the majority of donors tested. More data are needed to better describe the role of antibodies in these reactions. Greater awareness is crucial for the practitioner to be alert for signs and symptoms of TRALI and to be aware of the necessary steps in treatment.