cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Respiratory viral antigens in autopsy lung tissue specimens from patients with cancer or myocardial infarction

Using immunoenzyme histochemical analysis, we retrospectively examined lung tissue specimens obtained at autopsy from 118 patients with cancer who had received chemotherapy and 20 patients who had died after myocardial infarction. Respiratory viral antigens were demonstrated in lung tissue specimens from eight of 118 cancer patients and two of 20 myocardial infarction patients. Most of the patients with demonstrable viral antigens were febrile and had signs of pulmonary infection, but in no case was pulmonary viral infection considered clinically. The following viral antigens were demonstrated: influenza A virus (6 patients), respiratory syncytial virus (2), influenza B virus (1), and parainfluenza virus type 1 (1).
Gene duplication and functional divergence during evolution of the cytoskeletal linker protein talin

Abstract The animal talins are large, modular proteins that link the actin cytoskeleton to the extracellular environment through interactions with β-integrins and actin. Dictyostelium discoideum has two talins, TalA and TalB, which have distinct physiological roles in cell adhesion, cell differentiation, and cytokinesis. We previously identified a second talin gene in vertebrates. Thus, talin function in vertebrates is also due to the action of multiple proteins. Using a phylogenomic approach we have determined that D. discoideum TalA/B and the animal talins are related by descent from a common ancestral talin and that duplication of TLN2 early in the chordate lineage produced TLN1. An additional duplication subsequently produced a second Talin-2 in teleost fishes and a second Talin-1 in Xenopus laevis. We also show that vertebrate Talin-2 mRNA is alternatively processed. In the invertebrate Drosophila melanogaster and in the non-vertebrate chordate Ciona intestinalis, which each have only one talin gene, alternative processing of talin mRNA also produces multiple talin species. Thus, in these organisms, talin function may be due to the action of more than one protein. To identify isoform-specific functions of vertebrate talins we have shown through proteomic analysis that mammalian Talin-1 and Talin-2 bind to different protein partners. Further characterization of the differences between animal talins, especially the direct comparison of talins in the model urochordate C. intestinalis, which has one talin gene that produces two talins through alternative mRNA splicing, with Talin-1 and Talin-2 in model vertebrates, will provide an experimental system for studying neofunctionalization or subfunctionalization of talin following the vertebrate talin gene duplication.
On SWNT reinforced composites from a continuous mixing process

A new continuous impingement mixing process has been used to disperse unpurified single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in a Shell EPON-862/EpiCURE system. Composites with up to 0.2 wt% loading of SWNTs were prepared by this process. The hydrodynamic dispersion of SWNTs was found to depend on the non-dimensional Curtet number (Ct). Dispersion was evaluated by analyzing SEM images of the fracture surface using an image processing technique based on the concept of Shannon entropy. Electrical conductivity of these composites was greatly enhanced when compared with the plain material. The behavior of electrical conductivity as a function of dispersion was found to be in accordance with results from the image processing technique, and was also used to estimate the sedimentation of SWNTs.
Structure and properties of sputter-deposited CdTe

CdTe films were sputter deposited in thicknesses of 2 to 10 μm using systematically selected deposition conditions. Crystal structure was controllably varied from sharp hexagonal (wurtzite), to highly faulted, to sharp cubic (sphalerite). Electrical resistivity was controllably varied from 10 4 to 108 Ω.cm for p-type material and from 106 to 108 Ω.cm for n-type films. Infrared transmission characteristics for wavelengths near the band edge were controllably varied from highly transparent to highly absorptive. The variation in both the structure and properties of the deposited films was shown to result from the influence of sputter deposition parameters on film composition (stoichiometry). Deposition parameters which influence grain size in the polycrystalline films were established, and grain sizes ranging from 0.2 to 3 μm were produced. Control of the electrical properties of the films by doping with several different acceptor impurities was only slightly successful.
Characterization of isoxanthopterin deaminase isolated from the cockroach, Periplaneta americana

Abstract Isoxanthopterin deaminase was found to occur in Periplaneta americana. It catalyzed the irreversible hydroxylative deamination of isoxanthopterin. The pH and temperature optima are 6.6 and 37°C respectively. Only isoxanthopterin served as a substrate for the enzyme whereas xanthopterin, KCN, and KF inhibited. The enzyme is most active in Malpighian tubules whereas fat body, head, integument and wings, and gut tract showed less activity. The enzyme is similar to Bombyx mori isoxanthopterin deaminase in its properties. In both insects, deaminated isoxanthopterin (7-oxylumazine) is a terminal catabolite of pteridine metabolism.
Exposing plasmids as the Achilles' heel of drug-resistant bacteria.

Many multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens harbor large plasmids that encode proteins conferring resistance to antibiotics. Although the acquisition of these plasmids often enables bacteria to survive in the presence of antibiotics, it is possible that plasmids also represent a vulnerability that can be exploited in tailored antibacterial therapy. This review highlights three recently described strategies designed to specifically combat bacteria harboring such plasmids: inhibition of plasmid conjugation, inhibition of plasmid replication, and exploitation of plasmid-encoded toxin–antitoxin systems.
Regression analysis of multivariate incomplete failure time data by modeling marginal distributions

Abstract Many survival studies record the times to two or more distinct failures on each subject. The failures may be events of different natures or may be repetitions of the same kind of event. In this article, we consider the regression analysis of such multivariate failure time observations. Each marginal distribution of the failure times is formulated by a Cox proportional hazards model. No specific structure of dependence among the distinct failure times on each subject is imposed. The regression parameters in the Cox models are estimated by maximizing the failure-specific partial likelihoods. The resulting estimators are shown to be asymptotically jointly normal with a covariance matrix that can be consistently estimated. Simultaneous inferential procedures are then proposed. Extensive Monte Carlo studies indicate that the normal approximation is adequate for practical use. The new methods allow time-dependent covariates, missing observations, and arbitrary patterns of censorship. They are illustrat...
Post-translational insertion of fragment of the glucose transporter into microsomes requires phosphoanhydride bond cleavage

Most eukaryotic secretory and membrane proteins insert co-translationally into the membrane of the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER), and are targeted there by one or more NH2-terminal or internal signal sequences. However, little is known about the actual translocation and membrane integration processes. In particular, any energy requirements for targeting and integration have remained obscure because of the inability to uncouple the processes from concomitant protein synthesis. We recently showed that the human glucose transporter (GT), an integral membrane glycoprotein, can insert post-translationally into dog pancreatic microsomes with low but demonstrable efficiency in vitro, and that a fragment corresponding to the NH2-terminal 340 amino acids and 8 of the 12 membrane-spanning alpha-helixes of GT (GT-N) can insert with significantly greater efficiency. We report here that post-translational insertion of GT-N into pancreatic microsomes requires energy in the form of a phosphodiester bond, and suggest that co-translational insertion of proteins into the RER may also require energy independent of that used for polypeptide synthesis.
PZ-51 (Ebselen) in vivo protection against Adriamycin-induced mouse cardiac and hepatic lipid peroxidation and toxicity

Adriamycin (Adr)-induced cardiotoxicity occurs most likely via an oxidative mechanism of action. Moderation of this activity may result in an improved therapeutic index for this compound. PZ-51, 2-phenyl-1,2-benzoisoselenazol-3(2H)-one, is a selenoorganic compound with thiol-dependent, peroxidase-like activity. We tested this compound alone and in combination with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for its effect on Adr-induced in vivo toxicity in Balb/c mice. These studies demonstrated that PZ-51 protects against Adr-induced lipid peroxidation in heart and liver tissue and Adr-induced toxicity in general, as measured by total serum creatine kinase activity and body weight.
Carbon isotope analysis of acetaldehyde emitted from leaves following mechanical stress and anoxia

Although the emission of acetaldehyde from plants into the atmosphere following biotic and abiotic stresses may significantly impact air quality and climate, its metabolic origin(s) remains uncertain. We investigated the pathway(s) responsible for the production of acetaldehyde in plants by studying variations in the stable carbon isotope composition of acetaldehyde emitted during leaf anoxia or following mechanical stress. Under an anoxic environment, C3 leaves produced acetaldehyde during ethanolic fermentation with a similar carbon isotopic composition to C3 bulk biomass. In contrast, the initial emission burst following mechanical wounding was 5-12 per thousand more depleted in (13)C than emissions under anoxia. Due to a large kinetic isotope effect during pyruvate decarboxylation catalysed by pyruvate dehydrogenase, acetyl-CoA and its biosynthetic products such as fatty acids are also depleted in (13)C relative to bulk biomass. It is well known that leaf wounding stimulates the release of large quantities of fatty acids from membranes, as well as the accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). We suggest that, following leaf wounding, acetaldehyde depleted in (13)C is produced from fatty acid peroxidation reactions initiated by the accumulation of ROS. However, a variety of other pathways could also explain our results, including the conversion of acetyl-CoA to acetaldehyde by the esterase activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase.
Recent developments in electron‐molecule scattering

Over the past few years a wealth of new information on the properties of temporary negative ions has become available through various electron scattering techniques. The present paper focuses on recent work involving electron transmission spectroscopy to probe low-lying shape resonances in polyatomic systems. Emphasis is placed on new findings concerning the relative positions of π* and σ* resonances and dissociative attachment (e− + AB AB− A + B−) channels in unsaturated compounds. The theoretical questions raised by the experimental results are discussed.
Competing Mobile Network Game: Embracing antijamming and jamming strategies with reinforcement learning

We introduce Competing Mobile Network Game (CMNG), a stochastic game played by cognitive radio networks that compete for dominating an open spectrum access. Differentiated from existing approaches, we incorporate both communicator and jamming nodes to form a network for friendly coalition, integrate antijamming and jamming subgames into a stochastic framework, and apply Q-learning techniques to solve for an optimal channel access strategy. We empirically evaluate our Q-learning based strategies and find that Minimax-Q learning is more suitable for an aggressive environment than Nash-Q while Friend-or-foe Q-learning can provide the best solution under distributed mobile ad hoc networking scenarios in which the centralized control can hardly be available.
Class Politics and Agricultural Exceptionalism in California's Organic Agriculture Movement

Opposition within the organic agriculture community to a state regulatory initiative intended to close a loophole on the prohibition of stoop labor in California agriculture illuminates critical tensions around the “labor question” underpinning California's rapidly expanding organic sector. Through an exploration of the contradictions between the political economic realities of organic agriculture, the lived realities of farm workers, and the ideological framework of “agricultural exceptionalism” espoused in the organic community, this article challenges widely held assumptions that organic agriculture embodies a more socially sustainable form of production. We conclude that these tensions must be confronted if any progress is to be made toward the incorporation of social justice into definitions of agro-food system sustainability.
Perillyl Alcohol Inhibits TCR-Mediated [Ca2+]i Signaling, Alters Cell Shape and Motility, and Induces Apoptosis in T Lymphocytes

Perillyl alcohol (POH) inhibits isoprenylation and has shown anticancer and chemopreventive properties in rodent models. The mechanism that underlies the anticancer activity of POH and other isoprenylation inhibitors is unknown but has been postulated to involve decreased levels of isoprenylated Ras and Ras-related proteins. Previously we demonstrated that POH effectively inhibits human T cell proliferation in vitro and can prevent acute and chronic rejection in a rat cardiac transplant model. In this report, we investigate the effects of POH on T lymphocytes at the single-cell level. POH disrupts the polarized shape and motility of antigen-specific murine 1E5 T cells. Using an optical trap to position anti-CD3-coated beads in contact with 1E5 T cells, we demonstrate that POH inhibits their TCR-mediated calcium response. Furthermore, we show that POH preferentially induces apoptosis in PHA-activated human T cells as well as in 1E5 T cells.
THREE MING DYNASTY MARTYRS AND THEIR MONSTROUS MOTHERS-IN-LAW

The Ming dynasty was the first to see widespread adoption of the cult of female chastity and fidelity, with its prevalence of suicide and martyrdom. This article uses three accounts of Ming dynasty chastity-martyrdom to explore contradictions and tensions in the social expression of the cult. In these three stories, young wives die resisting pressure from their licentious mothers-in-law to engage in adulterous acts. The mothers-in-law render their daughters-in-law unable to model the filial obedience that was a central feature of Ming gender ideology. The resulting tensions are analyzed to situate the Ming chastity cult culturally, by relating it to other late imperial discourses about women, such as the surge in erotic novellas, the idealization of the courtesan, the expansion of women’s devotional cults, and the increasingly irreverent tone of literati fiction.
DIRECT OBSERVATION OF STRETCHED-EXPONENTIAL RELAXATION IN LOW-TEMPERATURE LENNARD-JONES SYSTEMS USING THE CAGE CORRELATION FUNCTION

We report on the direct observation of stretched exponential relaxation in low-temperature monatomic Lennard-Jones systems which were cooled slowly from the liquid phase to form crystals with a large number of defects. We use the cage correlation function [E. Rabani, J. D. Gezelter, and B. J. Berne, J. Chem. Phys. 107, 6867 (1997)] which measures changes in atomic surroundings to observe the stretched exponential relaxations. We obtain a distribution of hopping rates assuming that the origin of the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts law is from static disorder in the distribution of barrier heights. [S0031-9007(99)09049-3]
Effect of buoyancy on the dynamics of a turbulent boundary layer laden with microbubbles

This paper describes the effect of gravity on the dynamics of a turbulent boundary layer laden with microbubbles. A poly-dispersed distribution of air bubbles with diameters in the 5-1000 μm range was injected at the leading edge of a surface-piercing vertical flat plate. Reynolds numbers, based on the momentum thickness, up to 2000 and bubble void fractions up to 5 % were studied. The streamwise velocity profile was found to satisfy the logarithmic law characteristic of single-phase turbulent boundary layers, for the range of bubble void fractions studied. It was found that the effect of the bubbles could be modelled as an offset from the wall which increases as the bubble void fraction is increased. Bubbles were observed to segregate by size within the boundary layer, giving rise to strong inhomogeneities in the local void fraction. Buoyancy acting on this region of high bubble void fraction leads to a strongly sheared vertical velocity profile, which divides the boundary layer into three subregions: an inner region closest to the wall populated by very small bubbles with low vertical velocity; an intermediate region where large bubbles accumulate, and which also had the largest number density, resulting in a large vertical velocity induced by the buoyancy; and an outer region with significantly fewer bubbles than the two previously described and of smaller diameters. These three regions correlated well with the presence of a secondary flow normal to the wall in which the wall-normal velocity was positive in the inner region (fluid moved away from the wall), went through zero in the intermediate region (where the vertical velocity reached its maximum) and was negative in the outer region (fluid moved towards the wall). This secondary flow was found to depend strongly on the bubble void fraction and did not scale well with the viscous scales of the boundary layer.
METABOLIC POOLS IN THE SPADIX OF ARUM DURING FLORAL DEVELOPMENT

SUMMARY The concentration of certain metabolic intermediates in the spadix of Arum has been determined over the complete period of floral development from the point at which the spathes are first visible in the leaf base to thermogenesis in the spadix. These intermediates include sucrose, glucose, fructose, pyruvate, alanine, citrate, α-ketoglutarate, glutamate, glutamine, malate, aspartate and asparagine. Assays for these intermediates were supplemented by measurements of mitochondrial respiratory activity, soluble and protein-bound flavins, thiamine and ethanol-insoluble materials. These constituents and processes reveal four broad patterns of change indicating a complex system controlling floral development and thermogenesis. The clearest indication of a specific control seen is the correlation of low mitochondrial respiratory activity with low levels of soluble flavins, suggesting that lack of these cofactors limits the respiratory activity of young spadices.
Insider Trading, Analysts' Forecast Revisions, and Earnings Changes

We provide evidence that insider trading contains value-relevant information by examining the association of insider trading with subsequent earnings changes and analysts' forecast revisions. Using...
Etiological Issues in the Development of Sociopaths, Criminals, and Impulsive Personalities

A recent clipping in a Boston newspaper cited a sociological study suggesting that “peer group influences determine whether a specific youth will become delinquent. Sex, race, social class, a broken home, or inner-city living have relatively little influence.” The study defined delinquency in terms of the 40 percent of youths who have admitted keeping stolen goods and the 50 percent who admitted shoplifting. In the face of such a nonspecific definition, I wondered how these social scientists would regard the patient about whom I had been consulted that morning. This teenage child of two alcoholic parents had in the previous six months stabbed his teacher, pushed a brother out of a third-story window, and been sent to jail for six years for manslaughter. Had he simply fallen in with bad companions?
Naloxone attenuates rat’s preference for signaled shock

Rats were confined and given signaled shock on one side of a shuttlebox and unsignaled shock on the other side. Preference tests revealed that rats injected with the opiate antagonist naloxone during training showed no subsequent side preference, whereas saline control rats preferred the signaled side. The second and third experiments showed that this naloxone effect could not be due to state-dependent learning (generalization decrement), interference with exploratory activity, or the drug making the signal aversive. The results suggest that release of endogenous analgesic substances may constitute a central nervous system preparatory response which mediates a preference for signaled shock.
The effect of acetaminophen on methemoglobin and blood glutathione parameters in the cat.

Abstract Acetaminophen (APAP) was given orally to 6 mature cats (3 male and 3 female) in single progressive doses of 20 (low), 60 (medium), or 120 (high) mg APAP/kg body weight, each 3 weeks apart. Methemoglobin (MHB), reduced blood glutathione (GSH) and APAP blood concentrations, and blood NADH methemoglobin reductase and NADPH glutathione reductase activities were measured periodically for 8 days after dosing. A statistically significant increase in MHB formation (21.7% and 45.5%, respectively) occured following the medium and high doses. NADH methemoglobin reductase activity at the high dose decreased significantly. Red blood cell GSH concentrations decreased significantly during the first 24 h after the high APAP dose and returned to normal by 192 h. NADPH glutathione reductase activity decreased significantly following the high dose, but not after the lower APAP doses.
Embryonic Mortality Between 16 and 34 Days Post-Breeding in Cows of Low Fertility

Summary A study was made to determine the percentage of repeat-breeder cows with normal embryos at 16 elapsed days of gestation and the embryonic death rate between 16 and 34 elapsed days. Apparently normal embryos were recovered from the uteri of 29 (58%) of 50 repeat-breeder cows slaughtered 16 days after the first day of heat; 50 repeat-breeder cows at 34 days had 14 normal embryos (28%). The estimate of embryonic death from 16 to 34 days was 51.7%.
Remote sensing of stream depths with hydraulically assisted bathymetry (HAB) models

This article introduces a technique for using a combination of remote sensing imagery and open-channel flow principles to estimate depths for each pixel in an imaged river. This technique, which we term hydraulically assisted bathymetry (HAB), uses a combination of local stream gage information on discharge, image brightness data, and Manning-based estimates of stream resistance to calculate water depth. The HAB technique does not require ground-truth depth information at the time of flight. HAB can be accomplished with multispectral or hyperspectral data, and therefore can be applied over entire watersheds using standard high spatial resolution satellite or aerial images. HAB also has the potential to be applied retroactively to historic imagery, allowing researchers to map temporal changes in depth. We present two versions of the technique, HAB-1 and HAB-2. HAB-1 is based primarily on the geometry, discharge and velocity relationships of river channels. Manning’s equation (assuming average depth approximates the hydraulic radius), the discharge equation, and the assumption that the frequency distribution of depths within a cross-section approximates that of a triangle are combined with discharge data from a local station, width measurements from imagery, and slope measurements from maps to estimate minimum, average and maximum depths at a multiple cross-sections. These depths are assigned to pixels of maximum, average, and minimum brightness within the cross-sections to develop a brightness–depth relation to estimate depths throughout the remainder of the river. HAB-2 is similar to HAB-1 in operation, but the assumption that the distribution of depths approximates that of a triangle is replaced by an optical Beer–Lambert law of light absorbance. In this case, the flow equations and the optical equations are used to iteratively scale the river pixel values until their depths produce a discharge that matches that of a nearby gage. R 2 values for measured depths versus depths estimated by HAB-1 and HAB-2 are 0.51 and 0.77, respectively, in the relatively simple Brazos River, Texas. R 2 values for HAB-1 and HAB-2 are 0.46 and 0.26, respectively, in the Lamar River, a complex mountain river system in Yellowstone National Park. Although the R 2 values are moderate, depth maps and crosssections derived from the HAB techniques are consistent with typical stream geomorphology patterns and provide far greater
Edge excitations of paired fractional quantum Hall states

The Hilbert spaces of the edge excitations of several ``paired'' fractional quantum Hall states, namely, the Pfaffian, Haldane-Rezayi, and 331 states, are constructed and the states at each angular momentum level are enumerated. The method is based on finding all the zero-energy states for those Hamiltonians for which each of these known ground states is the exact, unique, zero-energy eigenstate of lowest angular momentum in the disk geometry. For each state, we find that, in addition to the usual bosonic charge-fluctuation excitations, there are fermionic edge excitations. The wave functions for each case have a similar form, related to Slater determinants, and the edge states satisfy a ``projection rule,'' that the parity of the number of fermions added to the edge equals the parity of the charge added. The edge states can be built out of quantum fields that describe the fermions, in addition to the usual scalar bosons (or Luttinger liquids) that describe the charge fluctuations. The fermionic fields in the Pfaffian and 331 cases are a noninteracting Majorana (i.e., real Dirac) and Dirac field, respectively. For the Haldane-Rezayi state, the field is an anticommuting scalar. For this system, we exhibit a chiral Lagrangian that has manifest SU(2) symmetry, but breaks Lorentz invariance, because of the breakdown of the spin-statistics connection implied by the scalar nature of the field and the positive-definite norm on the Hilbert space. Finally, we consider systems on a cylinder, where the fluid has two edges, and construct the sectors of zero-energy states, discuss the projection rules for combining states at the two edges, and calculate the partition function for each edge excitation system at finite temperature in the thermodynamic limit. The corresponding theory for the hierarchy and its generalizations is also given. It is pointed out that the conformal field theories for the edge states are examples of orbifold constructions. Two appendixes contain technical details. \textcopyright{} 1996 The American Physical Society.
Metformin inhibits the inflammatory response associated with cellular transformation and cancer stem cell growth

Metformin, the first-line drug for treating diabetes, inhibits cellular transformation and selectively kills cancer stem cells in breast cancer cell lines. In a Src-inducible model of cellular transformation, metformin inhibits the earliest known step in the process, activation of the inflammatory transcription factor NF-κB. Metformin strongly delays cellular transformation in a manner similar to that occurring upon a weaker inflammatory stimulus. Conversely, inhibition of transformation does not occur if metformin is added after the initial inflammatory stimulus. The antitransformation effect of metformin can be bypassed by overexpression of Lin28B or IL1β, downstream targets of NF-κB. Metformin preferentially inhibits nuclear translocation of NF-κB and phosphorylation of STAT3 in cancer stem cells compared with non-stem cancer cells in the same population. The ability of metformin to block tumor growth and prolong remission in xenografts in combination with doxorubicin is associated with decreased function of the inflammatory feedback loop. Lastly, metformin-based combinatorial therapy is effective in xenografts involving inflammatory prostate and melanoma cell lines, whereas it is ineffective in noninflammatory cell lines from these lineages. Taken together, our observations suggest that metformin inhibits a signal transduction pathway that results in an inflammatory response. As metformin alters energy metabolism in diabetics, we speculate that metformin may block a metabolic stress response that stimulates the inflammatory pathway associated with a wide variety of cancers.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPREADING FACTOR AND HYALURONIDASE

A comparative study of spreading factor and hyaluronidase in preparations from various sources revealed the following points of similarity and dissimilarity in the two reactions. 1. Similarities: (a) All preparations containing hyaluronidase also produced spreading. (b) Heating at 65° and 100°C. for 30 minutes produced a comparable effect on both reactions. (c) The demonstration of the presence of hyaluronic acid in skin offers a plausible explanation for the mechanism of spreading on the basis of hyaluronidase activity. 2. Dissimilarities: (a) No parallelism was observed in the degree of activity of spreading factor and hyaluronidase in the same preparations. (b) All preparations which produced spreading did not contain hyaluronidase. (c) Antisera to hyaluronidase preparations specifically and completely inhibited the activity of the homologous enzyme but did not inhibit the spreading factor in the same preparations. The significance of the similarities and dissimilarities between the two reactions is discussed. It is concluded that while hyaluronidase may play a role in the spreading reaction the phenomenon is a complex one and cannot be explained on the basis of a simple chemical reaction.
BROADENING OF ELECTRON ENERGY LEVELS AND NUCLEAR SPIN-LATTICE RELAXATION IN SMALL SUPERCONDUCTORS

— To explain the absence of level quantization effects in small particles we propose a level broadening mechanism involving intergrain electron tunneling, thermally activated by carrier-carrier interaction. We also investigate the quasiparticle broadening due to superconducting fluctuations. The latter mechanism is found operative only in the presence of one-electron broadening.
Chemical structure and physical properties of diamond-like amorphous carbon films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Thin films of amorphous carbon (–C) and amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a–C: H) were prepared using magnetron sputtering of a graphite target. The chemical structures of the films were characterized using electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) and Raman spectroscopy. The mass density, hardness, residual stress, optical band gap, and electrical resistivity were determined, and their relation to the film’s chemical structure are discussed. It was found that the graphitic component increases with increasing sputtering power density. This is accompanied by a decrease in the electrical resistivity, optical band gap, mass density, and hardness. Increasing the hydrogen content in the sputtering gas mixture results in decreasing hardness (14 GPa to 3 GPa) and mass density, and increasing optical band gap and electrical resistivity. The variation in the physical properties and chemical structures of these films can be explained in terms of the changes in the volume of sp2-bonded clusters in the a–C films and changes in the termination of the graphitic clusters and sp3-bonded networks by hydrogen in the a–C: H films.
Factorization of matrix functions and their inverses via power product expansions

The conversion of a power series with matrix coefficients into an infinite product of certain elementary matrix factors is studied. The expansion of a power series with matrix coefficients as the inverse of an infinite product of elementary factors is also analyzed. Each elementary factor is the sum of the identity matrix and a certain matrix coefficient multiplied by a certain power of the variable. The two expansions provide us with representations of a matrix function and its inverse by infinite products of elementary factors. Estimates on the domain of convergence of the infinite products are given.
Physiologically regulated alternative splicing patterns of fast troponin T RNA are conserved in mammals

NH2-terminal isoforms of fast troponin T (TnT) are generated by alternative splicing of fast TnT RNA transcripts. Significantly different estimates for the number of isoforms have been obtained by ...
Do sovereign wealth funds mitigate authoritarian rule?: a statistical analysis of sovereign wealth funds and the resource curse.

DO SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS MITIGATE AUTHORITARIAN RULE? A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS AND THE RESOURCE CURSE G. Jason Smith December 6, 2010 The famous oil baron' John Paul Getty once defined his secret to success in three parts, "Rise early, work hard, strike oil." This recipe, however, has not lead to political and economic success for oil-reliant, emerging market states. Rather than experiencing a resource blessing, these states have been plagued by a resource curse. This project introduces and tests my theory that sovereign wealth funds offer an exit to the resource curse and pathway back to the resource blessing. This theory is based on two observations I noticed during previous research on the subject: states with sovereign wealth funds boost occupational specialization and government transparency. Since both of these factors are believed to be necessary for democratization, then states with sovereign wealth funds should be less authoritarian. My findings suggest that the political transparency claim is true and that sovereign wealth funds do increase occupational specialization. However, the findings also suggest that occupational specialization is no longer a causal mechanism of the resource curse.
A Multiplex PCR for Rapid Identification of Shiga-Like Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 Isolated from Foods ‡.

For rapid and specific identification of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) serotype O157 :H7 isolated from food samples, experimental conditions for a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were optimized and a multiple digoxigenin (DIG)-labeled oligonucleotide probe hybridization (DLOPH) assay was developed. A suspect colony from MacConkey sorbitol agar containing 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indoxyl-β-D-glucuronide (MSA-BCIG) was used for the multiplex PCR. Three different DNA sequences of E. coli O157 :H7 were amplified simultaneously in the PCR: a specific fragment of an attaching and effacing gene (eae gene), conserved sequences of Shiga-like toxins (SLT) I and II, and a fragment of the 60-MDa plasmid. The identities of PCR products were confirmed by hybridization using DIG-labeled internal oligonucleotide probes and colorimetric detection with anti-DIG Fab fragments conjugated to alkaline phosphatase. This method yielded positive results with all reference strains of EHEC serogroup O157, including serotypes O157 :H7, O157 :NM, and O157 :H - , and negative results were obtained with all strains of nontoxigenic E. coli serogroup O157, other serotypes of E. coli, and other bacterial species. The detection limit of the method was 65 colony-forming units (CFU) of E. coli O157 :H7. All 29 cultures of EHEC O157 :H7 isolated from meat samples and identified by biochemical and serological tests were positive in the multiplex PCR. EHEC O157 :H7 was identified from all of 70 experimentally inoculated ground beef and milk samples which had initial inocula of 4 to 9 CFU/g (ml) and were subjected to a 6-h enrichment culturing. The multiplex PCR procedure could be very useful for routine examinations of food samples for the presence of EHEC O157.
Epigenetic Reprogramming in Naive CD4+ T Cells Favoring T Cell Activation and Non-Th1 Effector T Cell Immune Response as an Early Event in Lupus Flares

Objective Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a relapsing autoimmune disease that affects multiple organ systems. T cells play an important role in the pathogenesis of lupus; however, early T cell events triggering disease flares are incompletely understood. This study was undertaken to examine DNA methylation in naive CD4+ T cells from lupus patients to determine if epigenetic remodeling in CD4+ T cells is an early event in lupus flares. Methods A total of 74 lupus patients with an SLE Disease Activity Index score of 0-18 were included. Naive CD4+ T cells were isolated from peripheral blood samples, and DNA was extracted for genome-wide methylation assessment. RNA was also extracted from a subset of patients to determine the relationship between epigenetic changes and transcription activity using RNA sequencing and microRNA arrays. Results We demonstrated that naive CD4+ T cells in lupus undergo an epigenetic proinflammatory shift, implicating effector T cell responses in lupus flare. This epigenetic landscape change occurs without changes in expression of the corresponding genes, poises naive CD4+ T cells for Th2, Th17, and follicular helper T cell immune responses, and opposes inhibitory transforming growth factor β signaling. Bioinformatics analyses indicate that the epigenetic modulator EZH2 might play an important role in shifting the epigenetic landscape, with increased disease activity in lupus naive CD4+ T cells. Further, the expression of microRNA-26a, which is sensitive to glucose availability and targets EZH2, was negatively correlated with disease activity in lupus patients. Conclusion An epigenetic landscape shift in naive CD4+ T cells that favors T cell activation and non-Th1 immune responses predates transcription activity and correlates with lupus activity. A role for EZH2 dysregulation in triggering lupus flares warrants further investigation.
Constraints on mingling of crystal populations from off-center zoning profiles: A statistical approach

Major- and trace-element and isotopic analyses of single crystals can reveal temporal changes in the thermodynamic and mechanical behavior of magmatic systems. Additionally, zoning can be used to define crystal populations that have shared a common environment based on the correlation of zoning profiles among groups of crystals. However, as is evident in petrographic thin sections, comparison of zoning patterns is complicated by the geometric distortions resulting from crystal sections that are off-center. Because of these distortions, identification of crystal populations becomes increasingly difficult with increasing degrees of geometric non-ideality. In addition, because of the inherent complexity of zoning profiles, often there is ambiguity in determining what level of correlation is significant, even for ideal cases. Consequently, significance levels must be determined for each correlation technique and set of natural profiles. We evaluate the effectiveness of standard correlation, wavelet-based correlation (WBC), and profile-normalization techniques designed to counter the effects of non-ideality using Monte Carlo experiments correlating synthetic profiles. Results from the experiments show that adaptive profile normalization provides more significant correlations from fewer profiles than other techniques indicating that it is at least partially effective in counteracting the effects of non-ideality.
A WENO-based Method of Lines Transpose approach for Vlasov simulations

Abstract In this paper, a high order implicit Method of Lines Transpose (MOL T ) method based on a weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO) methodology is developed for one-dimensional linear transport equations and further applied to the Vlasov–Poisson (VP) simulations via dimensional splitting. In the MOL T framework, the time variable is first discretized by a diagonally implicit strong-stability-preserving Runge–Kutta method, resulting in a boundary value problem (BVP) at the discrete time levels. Then an integral formulation coupled with a high order WENO methodology is employed to solve the BVP. As a result, the proposed scheme is high order accurate in both space and time and free of oscillations even though the solution is discontinuous or has sharp gradients. Moreover, the scheme is able to take larger time step evolution compared with an explicit MOL WENO scheme with the same order of accuracy. The desired positivity-preserving (PP) property of the scheme is further attained by incorporating a newly proposed high order PP limiter. We perform numerical experiments on several benchmarks including linear advection, solid body rotation problem; and on the Landau damping, two-stream instabilities, bump-on-tail, and plasma sheath by solving the VP system. The efficacy and efficiency of the proposed scheme is numerically verified.
Learning to rank for alert triage

As cyber monitoring capabilities expand and data rates increase, cyber security analysts must filter through an increasing number of alerts in order to identify potential intrusions on the network. This process is often manual and time-consuming, which limits the number of alerts an analyst can process. This generation of a vast number of alerts without any kind of ranking or prioritization is often referred to as alert desensitization [1]. This is the phenomenon where competent analysts become so numbed by the barrage of false positives that they are unable to identify the true positives, leading to unfortunate breaches. Our goal is to alleviate alert desensitization by placing the most important alerts at the front of the queue. With less time and energy expended investigating false positives, critical alerts may not be overlooked allowing timely responses to potential breaches. This paper discusses the use of supervised machine learning to rank these cyber security alerts to ensure that an analyst's time and energy are focused on the most important alerts.
A desk-top simulation workstation designed around the DSP96002

The author described a way to dramatically increase the speed of a popular desk top computer, the Apple Macintosh II, so that it becomes an effective and inexpensive simulation workstation. The design is based on the use of concurrent high-speed floating-point microprocessor chips on boards that plug into the NuBus card slots of the Macintosh II. The MPU chosen for the implementation is the Motorola DSP96002, a very high speed 32-bit microprocessor with on-chip floating-point hardware. The 40.5 Mflops (million floating-point operations per second) peak performance of the DSP96002 makes it well suited for simulation applications. Each board contains two DSP96002 processor nodes, an interface to the NuBus of the Macintosh II, and an interface to a proprietary high-speed data bus for connection to other DSP96002 boards. From one to five boards can be used in a system, resulting in a maximum of ten nodes for the simulator. A fully expanded workstation has a maximum sustained rate of 400 Mflops, which approaches the speed of a supercomputer. >
Quantification of the microstructural anisotropy of distraction osteogenesis in the rabbit tibia.

A longitudinal orientation of fibers and trabeculae has been observed histologically within distracted callus. This study quantified the intensity and angle of orientation of trabeculae within a distracted callus. Sixteen New Zealand white rabbits underwent unilateral tibial callus distraction with an external fixator across a mid-diaphyseal osteotomy. Included were: a seven-day post-operative latency period, ten days of distraction at 0.5 mm every 12 hours, and 20 days of post-distraction consolidation before euthanasia. Tibiae were removed, stripped of soft tissue, sectioned, and processed for decalcified histology. Micrographs of mid-coronal sections of the callus were evenly divided into 12 regions and underwent Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis of the digitized image to determine the angle and intensity of the orientation of the bony trabeculae within the callus. The microstructure of the regenerate callus demonstrated an angle of orientation that uniformly matched that of cortical bone in all of regions of the callus and an intensity of orientation which approached that of cortical bone.
Functionalized Polycyclic Aromatic Polymers for High Temperature Wireless Chemical Memory Threshold Sensors

A pair of new polymers, poly(di-t-butylacenaphthylene) (pTBAcN) and poly(dipropylacenaphthylene) (pPAcN), were made via Friedel–Crafts alkylation of polyacenaphthylene. These polymers exhibit thermal stability beyond 250 °C and solubility in excess of 25 wt % in aliphatic hydrocarbons. Films of pPAcN over 10 μm thick were successively applied to planar surfaces via brush coating. Chemical memory for a passive wire resonant sensor was utilized to detect aliphatic hydrocarbons in high temperature environments. The coated threshold sensor showed a lower, stable resonant frequency before and after exposure to water at 130 °C for 3 h and showed an increased triggered resonant frequency after aliphatic exposure, consistent with an uncoated sensor device.
Lung Manifestations in the Rheumatic Diseases

Lung ailments in rheumatic diseases present unique challenges for diagnosis and management and are a source of significant morbidity and mortality for patients. Unlike the idiopathic interstitial pneumonias, patients with rheumatic diseases experience lung disease in the context of a systemic disease that may make it more difficult to recognize and that may present greater risks with treatment. Despite recent advances in our awareness of these diseases, there is still a significant lack of understanding of natural history to elucidate which patients will have disease that is progressive and thus warrants treatment. What we do know is that a subset of patients with rheumatic disease experience parenchymal lung disease that can prognostically resemble idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, such as in rheumatoid arthritis, and that others can have aggressive inflammatory lung disease in the context of autoimmune myositis, systemic sclerosis, or an undifferentiated autoimmune process. As we enter into a paradigm shift where we view lung health as a cornerstone of our care of patients with rheumatic diseases, we hopefully will improve our ability to identify those patients at highest risk for pulmonary disease and progression, and offer emerging treatments which will result in better outcomes and a better quality of life.
The Use of Opportunistic Salpingectomy at the Time of Benign Hysterectomy.

Abstract Study Objective To delineate the use of opportunistic salpingectomy over the study period, to examine factors associated with its use, and to evaluate whether salpingectomy was associated with perioperative complications. Design A retrospective cross-sectional study (Canadian Task Force classification II-2). Setting The Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative. Patients Women undergoing ovarian-conserving hysterectomy for benign indications from January 2013 through April 2015. Interventions The primary outcome was the performance of opportunistic salpingectomy with ovarian preservation during benign hysterectomy. The change in the rate of salpingectomy was examined at 4-month intervals to assess a period effect over the study period. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to evaluate independent effects of patient, operative, and period factors. Perioperative outcomes were compared using propensity score matching. Measurements and Main Results There were 10 676 (55.9%) ovarian-conserving hysterectomies among 19 090 benign hysterectomies in the Michigan Surgical Quality Collaborative in the study period. The rate of opportunistic salpingectomy was 45.8% (n = 4890). Rates of opportunistic salpingectomy increased over the study period from 27.5% to 61.6% (p Conclusion The rates of salpingectomy increased significantly over the study period. The laparoscopic approach and younger age are associated with an increased probability of salpingectomy. Salpingectomy is not associated with increased blood loss or perioperative complications.