cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
EPR spectra of Mn2+-doped ZnS quantum dots

Powder Mn2+ EPR spectra of 5-nm ZnS:Mn quantum dots have been analyzed in detail to account for all the observed fine spectral features. The same spectral features are observed in samples with low doping of Mn2+ (0.003−0.008%), showing 10 weak forbidden transitions between the six-line pattern of the MS = −1/2 to MS = 1/2 transition for the six MI values. Spectral simulations have been performed with the Simfonia program with parameters gxx = 2.0064, gyy = 2.0064, gzz = 2.0066, D = 37.4 × 10-4 cm-1, E = 12.5 × 10-4 cm-1, Axx = 63.9 × 10-4 cm-1, Ayy = 64.0 × 10-4 cm-1, and Azz = 64.4 × 10-4 cm-1, suggesting a lower than Td site symmetry for the doped Mn2+ in the cubic ZnS structure. At higher doping concentration (15.9%), a single broad line is observed with isotropic g and A.
N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced resistance to ionizing radiation.

N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) pretreatments increase the resistance of Escherichia coli to γ-radiation. The increased resistance is dependent on functional polA, recA, recB, recC, and lexA genes and is partly dependent on recN. The MNNG-induced resistance is additive to resistance induced by pretreatment with γ-radiation but not by increases induced by hydrogen peroxide. The MNNG-induced resistance occurs in adaptive response mutants and at pretreatment levels of MNNG that do not activate cells to reactivate UV-inactivated lambda phage. The MNNG-induced resistance appears to be distinct from other inductions to γ-radiation resistance.
The fermion dynamic symmetry model and superdeformation near A = 220

Abstract The FDSM prediction of oblate superdeformed minima in nuclides with 84 Z N A = 220 is re-examined.
Progesterone attenuates hemorrhagic transformation after delayed tPA treatment in an experimental model of stroke in rats: involvement of the VEGF-MMP pathway.

Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the only FDA-approved treatment for acute stroke, but its use remains limited. Progesterone (PROG) has shown neuroprotection in ischemia, but before clinical testing, we must determine how it affects hemorrhagic transformation in tPA-treated ischemic rats. Male Sprague–Dawley rats underwent middle cerebral artery occlusion with reperfusion at 4.5 hours and tPA treatment at 4.5 hours, or PROG treatment intraperitoneally at 2 hours followed by subcutaneous injection at 6 hours post occlusion. Rats were killed at 24 hours and brains evaluated for cerebral hemorrhage, swelling, blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability, and levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), vascular endothelial growth factor level (VEGF), and tight junction (TJ) proteins. We also evaluated PROG's efficacy in preventing tPA-induced impairment of transendothelial electrical resistance (TEER) and TJ proteins under hypoxia/reoxygenation in the endothelial cells. Delayed tPA treatment induced significant hemorrhagic conversion and brain swelling. Treatment with PROG plus tPA ameliorated hemorrhage, hemispheric swelling, BBB permeability, MMP-9 induction, and VEGF levels compared with controls. Progesterone treatment significantly prevented tPA-induced decrease in TEER and expression of occludin and claudin-5, and attenuated VEGF levels in culture media subjected to hypoxia. The study concluded that PROG may extend the time window for tPA administration in ischemic stroke and reduce hemorrhagic conversion.
Quantitative infectivity studies of avian reticuloendotheliosis virus (strain T) in certain hematophagous arthropods.

Quantitative infectivity studies with 6 insect species, Aedes taeniorhynchus, Aedes triseriatus, Anopheles quadrimaculatus, Culex pipiens pipiens, Culex pipiens quinquefasciatus and Stomoxys calcitrans, showed that RE virus remained infectious up to 24 hr in the insects tested but did not reappear at later time periods coincidental with the insects’ feeding habits. Biological transmission of RE virus by these insects is therefore considered unlikely. Quantitative infectivity studies of RE virus in ticks, on the other hand, showed that the virus remained for at least one day in Argas ticks and for at least one week in Ornithodoros ticks. However, the virus did not reappear in either tick species and was not present at any time coincidental with their feeding habits. It is therefore unlikely that either tick could serve as a biological vector of RE virus. In the case of mechanical transmission studies, transmission of RE virus occurred with S. calcitrans, but only at a ratio of one transmission in 11 attempts with 20 infected fly bites. This would indicate that mechanical transmission of this virus is possible, but unlikely.
The biofilm forming potential of bacterial species in the genus Campylobacter

The biofilm forming abilities of 16 strains representative of 14 of the 16 species comprising the genus Campylobacter were determined on glass, stainless steel, and polystyrene plastic. The formation of biofilms has been suggested as a means by which Campylobacter is able to persist within an inhospitable environment. Of the eight microaerophilic Campylobacter species, including two strains each of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter fetus, only C. jejuni strain 81-176 reliably produced a visible biofilm on multiple surfaces. Alternately, all six strains of the anaerobic Campylobacter species reliably produced visible biofilms on multiple surfaces. Electron micrographs of the individual biofilms showed relatively homogeneous biofilms produced by the anaerobic strains, while the microaerophilic C. jejuni strain 81-176 produced a biofilm containing similar quantities of both the spiral and coccoid forms. This survey suggests a difference in the biofilm forming potentials and the morphologies of the bacteria comprising the biofilms between anaerobic and microaerophilic species of Campylobacter. Additionally, differences observed in the biofilm forming ability of two strains of C. jejuni suggest the need for a further investigation of the biofilm forming potential of this species using a larger number of strains.
Involution of Retinopathy of Prematurity

Objective To report the timing of involution of acute retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Design An analysis of prospective retinal observational data recorded at infants' eye examinations. Participants Infants from the Multicenter Trial of Cryotherapy for Retinopathy of Prematurity (CRYO-ROP) had birth weights less than 1251 g and served as subjects. The study population included 766 children who were examined in 5 of the 23 study centers and who developed at least 1 clock hour of acute ROP, stages 1 through 3. One eye from each patient was randomly chosen for analysis. Main Outcome Measures Investigators documented the location, extent, and severity of ROP during serial retinal examinations. The onset of the ROP's involution was determined from a review of these data, applying a set of predetermined criteria. Results Acute-phase ROP began to involute at a mean of 38.6 weeks postmenstrual age. In 90% of patients, the ROP began to involute before 44 weeks of postmenstrual age. Acute ROP that demonstrated involution by moving from zone II to zone III was associated with an unfavorable outcome in 2 (1%) of 200 cases. Retinopathy of prematurity that was present only in zone III during a child's serial retinal examinations was never associated with the development of a partial or total retinal detachment. Conclusions The onset of involution of acute retinopathy of prematurity correlates better with postmenstrual rather than with chronological age. This is reminiscent of the reported similar correlation of postmenstrual age to the time of onset of prethreshold and threshold ROP. Zone III ROP was nearly always associated with a favorable outcome.
Diversification of Catalytic Function in a Synthetic Family of Chimeric Cytochrome P450s

We report initial characterization of a synthetic family of more than 3000 cytochrome P450s made by SCHEMA recombination of 3 bacterial CYP102s. A total of 16 heme domains and their holoenzyme fusions with each of the 3 parental reductase domains were tested for activity on 11 different substrates. The results show that the chimeric enzymes have acquired significant functional diversity, including the ability to accept substrates not accepted by the parent enzymes. K-means clustering analysis of the activity data allowed the enzymes to be classified into five distinct groups based on substrate specificity. The substrates can also be grouped such that one can be a "surrogate" for others in the group. Fusion of a functional chimeric heme domain with a parental reductase domain always reconstituted a functional holoenzyme, indicating that key interdomain interactions are conserved upon reductase swapping.
Enhanced phagocytic activity of HIV-specific antibodies correlates with natural production of immunoglobulins with skewed affinity for FcγR2a and FcγR2b

While development of an HIV vaccine that can induce neutralizing antibodies remains a priority, decades of research have proven that this is a daunting task. However, accumulating evidence suggests that antibodies with the capacity to harness innate immunity may provide some protection. While significant research has focused on the cytolytic properties of antibodies in acquisition and control, less is known about the role of additional effector functions. In this study, we investigated antibody-dependent phagocytosis of HIV immune complexes, and we observed significant differences in the ability of antibodies from infected subjects to mediate this critical effector function. We observed both quantitative differences in the capacity of antibodies to drive phagocytosis and qualitative differences in their FcγR usage profile. We demonstrate that antibodies from controllers and untreated progressors exhibit increased phagocytic activity, altered Fc domain glycosylation, and skewed interactions with FcγR2a and FcγR2b in both bulk plasma and HIV-specific IgG. While increased phagocytic activity may directly influence immune activation via clearance of inflammatory immune complexes, it is also plausible that Fc receptor usage patterns may regulate the immune response by modulating downstream signals following phagocytosis--driving passive degradation of internalized virus, release of immune modulating cytokines and chemokines, or priming of a more effective adaptive immune response.
Acute aortic intramural hematoma associated with severe bilateral renal artery stenosis

A 77-year-old woman presented with the acute onset of severe intrascapular back pain. Her blood pressure was 220/90 mmHg. A computed tomogram of the chest with intravenous contrast revealed extensive atherosclerosis and an acute Type B intramural hematoma of the descending thoracic aorta (Panel A). The patient had known coronary artery disease, with previous percutaneous coronary intervention, and a long-standing history of hypertension. Abdominal duplex ultrasound demonstrated markedly elevated peak systolic velocities (PSV) in both the right (Panel B) and the left (Panel C) renal arteries, consistent with bilateral 60‐99% stenoses. Bilateral post-stenotic turbulence was noted on color Doppler (white arrows). The end-diastolic velocity in the right renal artery of 478 cm/s was suggestive of greater than 80% stenosis. Velocity in the abdominal aorta was normal. Angiography confirmed the presence of severe bilateral renal artery stenosis (Panel D, top). The left renal artery was heavily calcified (black arrow). The patient underwent bilateral renal artery stenting with an excellent angiographic result (Panel D, bottom).
Collaborative Research Stories: Whakawhanaungatanga

Collaborative Research Stories: Whakawhanaungatanga. Russell Bishop. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Dunmore Press, 1996. 273 pp.
Observation of restructuring of nanoparticle soot aggregates in a diffusion flame by static light scattering

Abstract Static light scattering experiments are performed within an ethylene–air diffusion flame for different flow- rates of the fuel gas. Direct evidence is here given about the fact that soot agglomerates, at the early stages of the agglomeration process, first grow as elongated chain-like structures and then, at later stages, assume more compact morphologies with significantly smaller size. This mechanism is observed to occur for the first time in a diffusion flame along the flame axis in the range of low heights-above-burner (HABs less than one fourth of the total flame length). Thus, branched elongated aggregates grow up at lower HABs to assume a radius of gyration R g ≈380 nm while the fractal dimension is practically constant D F ∗ ≈1.3 . Thereafter, at larger HABs, they self-reorganise in much shorter clusters (R g ≈160 nm ) , with D F ∗ increasing up to 1.9. Explanation is proposed for the observed rearrangement of soot fractal aggregates in terms of local heat transfer balance at cluster surface, which could cause, in the case of chain-like aggregates, a supplementary oxidation inside the pores of soot with possible breaking of the graphitic layers that act as bridges between primary particles within an aggregate. The relevance of depolarised scattered light is discussed with regard to some distinguishing features of clusters that share the same measured fractal dimension.
Sustainable energy from deep ocean cold seeps

Two designs of benthic microbial fuel cell (BMFC) were deployed at cold seeps in Monterey Canyon, CA, unattended for between 68 and 162 days. One design had a cylindrical solid graphite anode buried vertically in sediment, and the other had a carbon fiber brush anode semi-enclosed in a chamber above the sediment–water interface. Each chamber included two check valves to allow fluid flow from the sediment into the chamber. On average, power outputs were 0.2 mW (32 mW m−2 normalized to cross sectional area) from the solid anode BMFC and from 11 to 56 mW (27–140 mW m−2) during three deployments of the chambered design. The range in power produced with the chambered BMFC was due to different valve styles, which appear to have permitted different rates of chemical seepage from the sediments into the anode chamber. Valves with the lowest breaking pressure led to the highest power production and presumably the highest inputs of electron donors. The increase in power coincided with a significant change in the microbial community associated with the anode from being dominated by epsilonproteobacteria to a more diverse community with representatives from deltaproteobacteria, epsilonproteobacteria, firmicutes, and flavobacterium/cytophaga/bacterioides (FCB). The highest levels of power delivered by the chambered BMFC would meet the energy requirements of many oceanographic sensors marketed today. In addition, these BMFCs did not exhibit signs of electrochemical passivation or progressive substrate depletion as is often observed with buried anodes.
Variation in measures of immunocompetence of sea fan coral, Gorgonia ventalina, in the Florida Keys

Aspergillosis is a widespread disease that has impacted the demography of the Caribbean sea fan coral, Gorgonia ventalina. The innate coral immune defenses can be measured as constitutive levels of immune proteins (peroxidase [POX], prophenoloxidase [PPO], lysozyme-like activity [LYS], exochitinase [EXOC]), antioxidant (superoxide dismutase [SOD]), and antimicrobial (antibacterial [AB] and antifungal [AF]) activity. Therefore, variations in these parameters across a geographic region could provide clues to the role of environment in disease. This study examined healthy sea fans collected in July 2005 from six offshore sites in the Florida Keys lying between 24.569°N and 25.220°N, a distance of ~145 km. Contrary to expectations, small ( 15 cm) in the protein-based levels of activity in any of the measured parameters. However, there were significant differences in many of the parameters among sites, and Molasses Reef and Looe Key Reef were the most different in POX, PPO, SOD, and AF activity. This suggests that there are potential site-specific environmental factors that shape the immune physiology of colonies. Several proxies of environmental stress were also regressed against levels of the immune parameters. The proxies included 10 year averages of benthic community composition, 5 year averages of water quality, and historic aspergillosis disease prevalence and severity. Generality about environmental drivers was limited by assaying only six sites, but several patterns did emerge. SOD, EXOC, and AF activity were all correlated with percent bare substrate cover, suggesting that certain immune components may be activated in low coral environments. LYS and EXOC activity were positively correlated with dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), one proxy of water quality. There were no relationships between any of the measured immune parameters and previous disease prevalence and severity. This study is a first step in evaluating levels of within- and between-site variation in coral immunity and investigating possible environmental drivers.
Last-period problems in legislatures

Last-period problems seemingly arise in legislatures when members decide to retire from office; they then can indulge themselves without fear of electoral reprisal. In contrast, we argue that last-period indolence is rarely a problem in legislatures: retiring politicians embrace legislative responsibilities since this is their last opportunity to consume these prerogatives; and the actions of legislators seeking post-elective employment are policed by the stream of future earnings they jeopardize if their actions exhibit indications of looming principal-agent problems. Using a unique data set profiling the post-elective careers of ex-legislators, we find no evidence of last-period laxity in roll-call attendance.
DENSITY‐DEPENDENT POPULATION DYNAMICS OF A DOMINANT RAIN FOREST CANOPY TREE

Intraspecific, negative density dependence may contribute to the maintenance of diversity by limiting the dominance of common species. Shorea quadrinervis Slooten (Dipterocarpaceae) is one of the dominant canopy trees in a species-rich tropical rain forest in Southeast Asia. We test whether juvenile density and performance and overall population growth rate of S. quadrinervis decline with increasing local abundance of conspecific adult trees. We mapped the 357 S. quadrinervis adults (≥15 cm dbh) in 75 ha at Gunung Palung National Park, Indonesian Borneo, and compared the dynamics of juveniles <1 cm dbh between eight areas (80 m diameter plots) with high densities of conspecific adults and eight containing low densities. Within these 16 areas, we mapped 5215 S. quadrinervis juveniles and followed their growth and survival for two years. Plots with high and low density of S. quadrinervis adults did not differ in understory light, slope, aspect, or soil properties nor in the total density (all species combined) of either adults or juveniles. We evaluated four kinds of evidence. All were consistent with the hypothesis of negatively density-dependent population dynamics: (1) Density and size: Although the density of juveniles 75 cm tall. This suggests positive density-dependent seedling recruitment followed by negative density-dependent juvenile dynamics. (2) Foliar condition: Juveniles had more leaves per unit height where adult density was low. Growth and survival increased more with leaf number than with height. (3) Juvenile dynamics: Growth and survival were higher where adult density was low. Previous work suggests that herbivores may drive this negative density dependence in juvenile performance. (4) Population dynamics: We modeled population growth rate (λ) for each of the 16 areas using separate matrix models parameterized with empirical juvenile transition rates. We found that λ declined with local adult density (r2 = 0.40), and this trend was robust to the inclusion of El Nino conditions. We conclude that replacement of adults in the canopy is less likely in areas where conspecific adults are more abundant, tending to limit the dominance of S. quadrinervis in the canopy.
Automated Diagnosis of System Failures with Fa

Failures of Internet services and enterprise systems lead to user dissatisfaction and considerable loss of revenue. Since manual diagnosis is often laborious and slow, there is considerable interest in tools that can diagnose the cause of failures quickly and automatically from system-monitoring data. Fa uses monitoring data to construct a database of {\em failure signatures} against which data from undiagnosed failures can be matched. Two novel challenges we address are to make signatures robust to the noisy monitoring data in production systems, and to generate reliable confidence estimates for matches. Fa uses a new technique called {\em anomaly-based clustering} when thesignature database has no high-confidence match for an undiagnosed failure. This technique clusters monitoring data based on how it differs from the failure data, and pinpoints attributes linked to the failure. We show the effectiveness of Fa through a comprehensive experimental evaluation based on failures from a production setting, a variety of failures injected in a testbed, and synthetic data.
Dawning of a New Era for Acute Stroke Therapy

The results of the 4 recently presented/published trials for acute ischemic stroke herald the dawn of a new era in the treatment of patients with large vessel occlusion amenable to endovascular intervention. Additional trials are underway or have been stopped earlier because of the positive results observed in the initial trials. Hopefully, the ongoing trials will largely amplify and build on the results observed in the Multicenter Randomized Clinical Trial of Endovascular Treatment of Acute Ischemic in the Netherlands (MR CLEAN), Endovascular Treatment for Small Core and Anterior Circulation Proximal Occlusion With Emphasis on Minimizing CT to Recanalization Times (ESCAPE), Extending the Time for Thrombolysis in Emergency Neurological Deficits-Intra-Arterial (EXTEND-IA) and Solitaire With the Intention for Thrombectomy as Primary Endovascular Treament (SWIFT-PRIME) trials. At this time, it is important for the medical community, healthcare planners, and policy makers to have interpretation and guidance from experts about the trial results currently available for help in steering them as to how the trial results should be used in daily practice and for the local organization of acute stroke care. To accomplish this goal, …
Virtue, In Context

Virtue argumentation theory provides the best framework for accommodating the notion of an argument that is “fully satisfying” in a robust and integrated sense. The process of explicating the notion of fully satisfying arguments requires expanding the concept of arguers to include all of an argument’s participants, including judges, juries, and interested spectators. And that, in turn, requires expanding the concept of an argument itself to include its entire context.
Pacific sea surface temperature field reconstruction from coral δ18O data using reduced space objective analysis

[1] A systematic methodology for the reconstruction of climate fields from sparse observational networks of proxy data, employing the technique of reduced space objective analysis, is applied to the reconstruction of gridded Pacific Ocean Basin sea surface temperature (SST) from coral stable isotope (δ18O) data for the period 1607–1990. In this approach we seek to reconstruct only the leading modes of large-scale variability which are both observed in the modern climate and resolved in the proxy data. We find that the coral data verifiably resolve two spatial patterns of SST variability. The first and dominant pattern is that of the El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). A second pattern reflects uniform changes over most of the Pacific Basin. Calibration and verification tests for 1856–1990 show that root-mean-square variance is small (≤0.5°C RMS) and reconstruction errors are large (≤0.6°C RMS), limiting interpretation to the tropical region. Periods of enhanced ENSO activity similar to those observed in the past two decades are evident in the reconstruction for the early nineteenth century. The changing frequency of ENSO warm phase events appears to coincide with warming of the Pacific mean state inferred from similar reconstruction efforts using tree ring indicators over the last two centuries.
Monte Carlo studies of ion size effects in the diffuse double layer

Results from Monte Carlo (MC) simulations for restricted electrolytes are presented for both 1:1 and 2:1 electrolytes. It is shown that the potential drop across the diffuse layer for these systems may be expressed by a Taylors series in the Gouy-Chapman (GC) estimate of the same quantity. The coefficients of this series are defined in terms of the MSA volume fraction and the reciprocal thickness of the ionic atmosphere. The series model can also be used to estimate the differential capacity of the diffuse layer. The properties of unrestricted electrolytes are considered at or very close to the potential of zero charge.
Behavior based network traffic analysis tool

Pattern matching systems are mainly based on network models, which are formed from detailed analysis of user statistics and network traffic. These models are used in developing traffic analysis tools. This paper focuses on development of a behavior analysis tool on any operating system and its use on detecting internal active/passive attacks. Many kinds of tools and firewalls are in market to help network administrator to prevent intrusion from outside network, but very few tools to stop attacks from internal part of the network. This tool provides a way to detect any unusual behavior by a legitimate user in a network. It uses packet sniffer like Wireshark to record log traffic over a network. Furthermore, behavioral analysis is carried in two phases. In the first phase, Wireshark records the user's interaction with the network for a period of time and is stored in database. In second phase, current activity is compared to the past activity and notifies any new behavior to network administrator. This tool adds an additional layer of security along with the intrusion detection systems available from any network attacks. Many additional features can be incorporated in this tool for future enhancement.
Detection of Mononucleotide Repeat Sequence Alterations in a Large Background of Normal DNA for Screening High-Frequency Microsatellite Instability Cancers

Purpose: Mutations in mononucleotide repeat sequence (MRS) are good indicators of high-frequency microsatellite instability (MSI-H) cancers, but it has been a challenge to detect such mutations in a large background of wild-type DNA; as in this setting, PCR errors often generate false positive mutant alleles. In this study, we developed a general strategy, referred to as probe clamping primer extension-PCR (PCPE-PCR), to detect MRS alterations in a large background of wild-type DNA. Experimental Design: In PCPE-PCR, genomic DNA is first subjected to PCPE, in which mutant single-strand DNA molecules are preferentially produced. Next, genomic DNA is removed to enrich for the mutant DNA fraction. Thereafter, PCR is carried out using the remaining single-strand DNA molecules as templates. Finally, the PCR products are analyzed to reveal the MSI-H status. In this study, the sensitivity of this new method was first examined by spiking mutant DNA into wild-type DNA at specific ratios followed by studying whether this method is applicable to fecal DNA testing. Results: We showed that PCPE-PCR could detect both mutated BAT26 and transforming growth factor-β-RII (A)10 markers in the presence of 500-fold excess of normal DNA and that as few as three copies of mutated DNA could be detected. In addition, we showed that this technology could detect MSI-H colorectal cancer by fecal DNA analysis. Conclusion: PCPE-PCR is sensitive. In addition, PCPE-PCR is simple and amendable to a cost-effective and high-throughput screening operation. This technology may be applicable to noninvasive screening of MSI-H cancer.
Detecting stealthy, distributed SSH brute-forcing

In this work we propose a general approach for detecting distributed malicious activity in which individual attack sources each operate in a stealthy, low-profile manner. We base our approach on observing statistically significant changes in a parameter that summarizes aggregate activity, bracketing a distributed attack in time, and then determining which sources present during that interval appear to have coordinated their activity. We apply this approach to the problem of detecting stealthy distributed SSH bruteforcing activity, showing that we can model the process of legitimate users failing to authenticate using a beta-binomial distribution, which enables us to tune a detector that trades off an expected level of false positives versus time-to-detection. Using the detector we study the prevalence of distributed bruteforcing, finding dozens of instances in an extensive 8-year dataset collected from a site with several thousand SSH users. Many of the attacks---some of which last months---would be quite difficult to detect individually. While a number of the attacks reflect indiscriminant global probing, we also find attacks that targeted only the local site, as well as occasional attacks that succeeded.
Brachytic2/ZmABCB1 functions in IAA export from intercalary meristems

Dwarfism traits in Zea mays are regulated by multiple factors including the hormone auxin. Dwarf brachytic2 (br2) mutants harbour lesions in the gene encoding an orthologue of Arabidopsis thaliana ABCB1 which functions in auxin efflux out of meristematic regions in the shoot and root. br2 mesocotyls and coleoptiles exhibit reduced auxin transport. However, the dwarf stature of br2 derives from shortened lower internodes whilst the upper portion of the plant is completely normal. As such, it is counter-intuitive to attribute br2 dwarfism exclusively to reduced auxin export out of the shoot apex. Arabidopsis abcb1 mutants exhibit only minor reductions in auxin transport and plant height unless combined with mutations in the ABCB19 auxin transporter. Phylogenetic modelling analysis excludes the possibility that BR2 is more closely related to ABCB19 which has three more closely related orthologues in maize. BR2 is expressed in nodal meristems, and analyses of auxin transport and content indicate that BR2 function in these grass-specific tissues is analogous to ABCB1 function in the shoot and root apex of Arabidopsis. These results indicate that ABCB1/BR2 function is conserved between dicots and monocots, but also suggests that this function must be understood in the context of the segmental organization of grass plants.
Effects of methylphenidate and morphine on delay-discount functions obtained within sessions.

Four rats responded under a “self-control” procedure designed to obtain delay-discount functions within sessions. Each session consisted of seven blocks, with seven trials within each block. Each block consisted of two initial forced-choice trials followed by five free-choice trials. On choice trials, the rats could press either of two retractable levers. A press on one lever was followed by presentation of a smaller reinforcer (a single dipper presentation of a sucrose solution); a press on the other lever was followed by presentation of a larger reinforcer (four consecutive dipper presentations). The delay associated with the smaller reinforcer always was 0 s, whereas the signaled delay associated with the larger reinforcer increased across blocks (from 0 to 50 s). Under these conditions, the percentage of choices of the larger reinforcer decreased across blocks, and relatively reliable delay-discount functions were obtained within sessions. Doses of methylphenidate (1.0 to 17.0 mg/kg) and morphine (0.3 to 17.0 mg/kg) were then administered prior to selected sessions. Typically, intermediate doses of methylphenidate shifted the discount functions to the right (increased choices of the larger reinforcer). For 2 of the rats, this effect was pronounced; for the other 2 rats, this effect occurred after the range of delays for the larger reinforcer was decreased (0 to 20 s). On the other hand, in most cases morphine produced a slight leftward shift in the discount function (decreased choices of the larger reinforcer). The present procedure appears to be a useful and efficient method to characterize drug effects on an entire delay-discount function. As with many procedures used to study self-control choices, however, sources of control other than reinforcement delay and amount may have been operating in the present study, and these sources must be considered when interpreting drug effects.
Steroid implants and markers of bone turnover in steers

Steroidal implants are used extensively in beef cattle management to take advantage of welldocumented improvements in growth performance and efficiency. In addition to muscle growth, steroids bring about changes in bone and cartilage formation, hastening bone ageing. The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that recently identified indicators of bone and cartilage turnover could be detected in the peripheral circulation, and that these markers might reflect accelerated ageing effects of the widely used steroidal implants, trenbolone acetate (TBA) and estradiol-17β (E2). Thirty-two crossbred yearling steers were given one of four treatments to determine whether these markers of bone turnover could be detected and reflect steroid-induced bone maturity in the periphery: non-implanted controls; 25.7 mg estradiol-17β (E2); 120 mg trenbolone acetate (TBA); or 120 mg TBA and 24 mg E2 (T+E). Blood was collected on days 0, 7, 14 and 28 and serum analysed by ELISA for concentrations of IGF-I, osteocalcin, C-terminal telopeptides of Type I collagen (CTX-I) and C-terminal telopeptides of Type II collagen (CTX-II), as markers of the somatotropic-endocrine axis, bone formation, bone resorption and cartilage resorption, respectively. Circulating IGF-I was greater in E2 or T+E treated steers than controls on days 7 and 14. Osteocalcin was unaffected by treatment, but increased from day 0 on days 7, 14 and 28. Treatment did not affect CTX-I. However, CTX-II was elevated in the treated animals as opposed to the controls. Although these markers of bone and cartilage turnover are detectable, results suggest that implant-induced changes are not evident in the circulatory system. Keywords: Bone, cartilage, cattle, oestradiol 17-β, growth, trenbolone acetate
Archaeological Fragment Reconstruction Using Curve-Matching

We present a novel approach to the problem of puzzle solving as it relates to archaeological fragment reconstruction. We begin with a set of broken fragments. In the first stage, we compare every pair of fragments and use partial curve matching to find similar portions of their respective boundaries. Partial curve matching is typically a very difficult problem because the specification of the partial curves are highly unconstrained and curve matching is computationally expensive. To address the first problem, we only consider matches which begin at fragment corners and then use curve-matching with normalized energy to determine how far the match extends. We also reduce computational cost by employing a multi-scale approach. This allows us to quickly generate many possible matches at a coarse scale and only keep the best ones to be matched again at a finer scale. In the second stage, we take a rank-ordered list of pairwise matches to search for a globally optimal arrangement. The search is based on a best-first strategy which adds fragments with the highest pairwise affinity first, but then evaluates their confidence as part of the global solution by rewarding the formation of triple junctions which are dominant in archaeological puzzles. To prevent failure due to the inclusion of spurious matches, we employ a standard beam-search to simultaneously expand on multiple solutions. Results on several cases are demonstrated.
Development of a large urban longitudinal HIV clinical cohort using a web-based platform to merge electronically and manually abstracted data from disparate medical record systems: technical challenges and innovative solutions

Objective Electronic medical records (EMRs) are being increasingly utilized to conduct clinical and epidemiologic research in numerous fields. To monitor and improve care of HIV-infected patients in Washington, DC, one of the most severely affected urban areas in the United States, we developed a city-wide database across 13 clinical sites using electronic data abstraction and manual data entry from EMRs. Materials and Methods To develop this unique longitudinal cohort, a web-based electronic data capture system (Discovere®) was used. An Agile software development methodology was implemented across multiple EMR platforms. Clinical informatics staff worked with information technology specialists from each site to abstract data electronically from each respective site’s EMR through an extract, transform, and load process. Results Since enrollment began in 2011, more than 7000 patients have been enrolled, with longitudinal clinical data available on all patients. Data sets are produced for scientific analyses on a quarterly basis, and benchmarking reports are generated semi-annually enabling each site to compare their participants’ clinical status, treatments, and outcomes to the aggregated summaries from all other sites. Discussion Numerous technical challenges were identified and innovative solutions developed to ensure the successful implementation of the DC Cohort. Central to the success of this project was the broad collaboration established between government, academia, clinics, community, information technology staff, and the patients themselves. Conclusions Our experiences may have practical implications for researchers who seek to merge data from diverse clinical databases, and are applicable to the study of health-related issues beyond HIV.
The Tory Touch: True North and Old South

This paper takes the occasion of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 and the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War to make some suggestions as to possible ideological parallels between Canada and the Old South. In the case of Canada the argument has long been that the “pure Lockeanism” of the American experiment was unpalatable to the first English-Canadians or United Empire Loyalists and that this distaste for “classical liberalism” has remained a trait of Canadian politics ever since at one level or another. Such a case has been the mainstay of the “Tory-touch” theory of Canada. But so far as I am aware, no one has never pointed out in this discussion the way in which this “Tory touch” theory connects Canada to the Old South. This is all the more surprising given that the originator of the Tory-touch theory, Louis Hartz, first worked out his case not in connection with Canada but in connection with the “Reactionary Enlightenment” of the Old South. The argument of this paper is that political and intellectual experimentation designed to counteract Lockean liberalism, be it on either “Burkean” grounds as in the case of Canada or on quasi-Aristotelian grounds as in the case of the Old South, in this day and age must inevitably be seen in the light of “globalization” or the “End of History.” Names that will occur in the course of this paper’s discussion will include Frank Underhill, Louis Hartz, M. E. Bradford, Richard M. Weaver, George Fitzhugh, George Frederick Holmes, H.L. Mencken, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Peter C. Emberley, Waller R. Newell, George Grant, H.D. Forbes, Ian McKay, C.B. Macpherson, Gad Horowitz, Francis Fukuyama and Leo Strauss.
Computer aided analysis of prostate histopathology images Gleason grading especially for Gleason score 7

Clinically, prostate adenocarcinoma is diagnosed by recognizing certain morphology on histology. While the Gleason grading system has been shown to be the strongest prognostic factor for men with prostrate adenocarcinoma, there is a significant intra and interobserver variability between pathologists in assigning this grading system.
The relation between score on the stimulus variation scale and autokinetic movement

Score on a self-report inventory designed to measure the amount of stimulation seeking activity characteristically engaged in by adults (SVS) was related to performance in the autokinetic situation. A significant positive relationship between SVS score and amount of perceived movement was found when a simple linear measure was treated as the dependent variable. When Voth’s MI was treated as the dependent variable results were in the hypothesized direction but failed of significance.
FREQUENCIES AND ALLELISM OF LETHAL FACTORS WITHIN AND BETWEEN GENE ARRANGEMENTS. I. SAN JACINTO MOUNTAINS

This report will subsume the differences in frequency of lethal chromosomes among certain inversion rearrangements of the third chromosome of Drosophila pseudoobscura, together with their degrees of allelism in different environments. This first paper will deal chiefly with arrangements found in the San Jacinto Mountains, southern California. A second will deal chiefly with arrangements found in Guatemala. A third will compare mutation rates between certain arrangements. Populations of Drosophila pseudoobscura are known to carry a considerable load of recessive autosomal lethals (Wright, Dobzhansky, and Hovanitz, 1942). Furthermore, the third chromosome of this species has undergone a series of inversions which have resulted in 22 different gene arrangements. Crossing over between the heterozygotes of these arrangements is virtually suppressed (Dobzhansky and Epling, 1948; Levine and Levine, 1954). A change of arrangements may also significantly change the frequencies of crossing over at certain loci in different structural homozygotes (unpublished data). Thus, each arrangement tends to be preserved in its population as a discrete and different linkage group. Finally, the several arrangements occur at different frequencies in different environments within the species range (Dobzhansky and Epling, 1944). Each arrangement fluctuates in frequency at a given collecting site, but the pattern of their relative frequencies has remained not dissimilar for many generations at the sites that have been
A Multi-Stage Inversion Method for Simultaneous Source Deblending of Field Data

Simultaneous source technology has significant impacts on modern seismic acquisition. It allows us to acquire seismic data in a much more efficient way and can play a key role in areas where the acquisition window is rather short, such as the northern seas. A wide range of methods—from processing type to inversion type—have been proposed and studied in order to handle the source interference. Many of those work well on synthetic data but may suffer on field data. Here we propose a multi-stage inversion method, which combines traditional seismic processing with sparse inversion and provides a more target-oriented approach. Each stage of this method focuses on a particular portion of energy in the blended record and separates that from the rest. This method also has a simple and flexible framework, which could potentially combine with other state-of-the-art deblending algorithms. A field trial in the North Sea shows this hybrid approach to be highly successful.
Black‐Eyed Gills

What is causing the gills of shrimp in Georgia to turn black during the fall months? When shrimp are exposed to stressors such as contaminants, bacteria, fungi, and parasites, they may exhibit an immune response that causes the gill tissue to darken due to melanin production. This condition is called black gill. The number of shrimp with black gill varies by season. Shrimping inadvertently removes large amounts of organisms other than shrimp, which is called bycatch. In the Black-Eyed Gills activity, students in middle school examine the seasonal distribution of black gill, presumably caused by a parasite in Georgia, through a collection exercise and then assess the quantity of bycatch. Students sample items that represent shrimp with varying levels of black gill infection (assorted beans), as well as items representing bycatch from plastic bowls. Students record data for shrimp and bycatch for each season and compare their numbers to real data. Through the activity, students learn about parasites, shrimp, and inadvertent impacts of fishing, and brainstorm about potential environmental factors that might contribute to the seasonal distribution of black gill. This original activity employs critical thinking skills and presents an original exercise that is relevant to the growing body of research on the importance of parasites to marine ecosystems. It addresses NGSS related to how the physical environment affects organisms and interactions among species. Impact Statement We developed an original exercise that is relevant to the growing body of research on the importance of parasites to marine ecosystems. Students learn about a disease that affects commercial shrimp, and employ critical thinking skills by brainstorming about potential environmental factors that might contribute to the seasonal occurrence of the disease. Several Next Generation Science Standards are addressed, including constructing an argument that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Increase in stress on infrastructure facilities due to natural disasters

ABSTRACTThe services of infrastructure are often compromised in a post-disaster situation. This could be due to a direct physical impact on the infrastructure or due to a cascading impact resulting from reduced services of the supporting infrastructure. The reduced infrastructure services are unable to adequately meet the post-disaster community needs. Therefore, infrastructure facilities are likely to be operated with high stress on their capacities above the allowable stress (i.e. designed capacities) for meeting the services required. The system is unable to sustain the required serviceability level without the infusion of additional capacities when the stress level exceeds the limit stress. For example, after Haiti’s devastating earthquake, disrupted utility services, limited road networks, and the lack of civic governance influenced the capacity of all essential service providers. Furthermore, the earthquake-impacted hospitals had limited resources such as patient beds, medical staff, medical supplie...
Expression and characteristics of nicotinic receptorsin Xenopus oocytes

Torpedo electroplax nicotinic recep-tor (N_2-ChR) and rat brain nicotinic receptor(N_1-ChR) were synthesized in Xenopus oocytes after injec-tion with mRNAs transeripted in vitro from plasmidspSP64T containing the four full length TorpedoN_2-ChR subunit cDNAs or purified from yeast trans-ferred with rat brain N_1-ChR α4 and β2 subunitcDNAs. Membrane current in the inlected oocytes wasmeasured with voltage clamp technique by part cellflow and / or whole cell flow with various concentra-tions of carbamylcholine, the dose responses tocarbamylcholine were similar. K_1 of 0.528 and 0.491mmol·L-1, Φ-1 of 3.861 and 3.891 were obtained inoocytes inJected with Torpedo N_2-ChR mRNA bywhole cell flow and part cell flow, respectively. Adose-response curve shifted to left but similar to whatis obtained from Torpedo N_2-ChR. a K_1 of 0.140mmol·L-1 and a Φ-1 of 3.125 were obtained in theoocytes injected with rat brain N_1-ChR by whole cellflow.
Overview of bronchiolitis.

Many of the diseases associated with bronchiolitis may produce varying degrees of both histologic manifestations--i.e., proliferative and constrictive bronchiolitis. The factors responsible for producing one pattern or the other are not known. It therefore is important that one consider both the etiologic and histologic classification when attempting to identify a case of bronchiolitis. In some instances, it appears that proliferative bronchiolitis, the more common variety, is an "early" lesion that may completely or partially resolve. Constrictive bronchiolitis is a rare finding and may be the final outcome of persistent and severe proliferative bronchiolitis. Most often, constrictive bronchiolitis appears to be a separate process dependent on the type, extent, and severity of the initial insult.