cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Role of AMPA receptors in homocysteine‐NMDA receptor‐induced crosstalk between ERK and p38 MAPK

Homocysteine, a metabolite of the methionine cycle has been reported to play a role in neurotoxicity through activation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDAR)-mediated signaling pathway. The proposed mechanisms associated with homocysteine-NMDAR-induced neurotoxicity involve a unique signaling pathway that triggers a crosstalk between extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and p38 MAPKs, where activation of p38 MAPK is downstream of and dependent on ERK MAPK. However, the molecular basis of the ERK MAPK-mediated p38 MAPK activation is not understood. This study investigates whether α-Amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptors (AMPARs) play a role in facilitating the ERK MAPK-mediated p38 MAPK activation. Using surface biotinylation and immunoblotting approaches we show that treatment with homocysteine leads to a decrease in surface expression of GluA2-AMPAR subunit in neurons, but have no effect on the surface expression of GluA1-AMPAR subunit. Inhibition of NMDAR activation with D-AP5 or ERK MAPK phosphorylation with PD98059 attenuates homocysteine-induced decrease in surface expression of GluA2-AMPAR subunit. The decrease in surface expression of GluA2-AMPAR subunit is associated with p38 MAPK phosphorylation, which is inhibited by 1-napthyl acetyl spermine trihydrochloride (NASPM), a selective antagonist of GluA2-lacking Ca2+ -permeable AMPARs. These results suggest that homocysteine-NMDAR-mediated ERK MAPK phosphorylation leads to a decrease in surface expression of GluA2-AMPAR subunit resulting in Ca2+ influx through the GluA2-lacking Ca2+ -permeable AMPARs and p38 MAPK phosphorylation. Cell death assays further show that inhibition of AMPAR activity with 2,3-dioxo-6-nitro-1,2,3,4,tetrahydrobenzoquinoxaline-7-sulfonamide (NBQX)/6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3, -dione (CNQX) or GluA2-lacking Ca2+ -permeable AMPAR activity with NASPM attenuates homocysteine-induced neurotoxicity. We have identified an important mechanism involved in homocysteine-induced neurotoxicity that highlights the intermediary role of GluA2-lacking Ca2+ -permeable AMPARs in the crosstalk between ERK and p38 MAPKs.
Emergency department use among kidney transplant recipients in the United States.

Patients with end-stage renal disease use the emergency department (ED) at a 6-fold higher rate than do other US adults. No national studies have described ED use rates among kidney transplant (KTx) recipients, and the factors associated with higher ED use. We examined a cohort of 132 725 adult KTx recipients in the United States Renal Data System (2005-2013). Data on ED visits, hospitalization, and outpatient nephrology visits were obtained from Medicare claims databases. Nearly half (46.1%) of KTx recipients had at least one ED visit (1.61 ED visits/patient-year [PY]), and 39.7% of ED visits resulted in hospitalization in the first year posttransplantation. ED visit rate was high in the first 30 days (5.26 visits/PY) but declined substantially thereafter (1.81 visits/PY in months 1-3; 1.13 visits/PY in months 3-12 posttransplantation). ED visit rates were higher in the first 30 days versus rates for dialysis patients but less than half the rate thereafter. Female sex, public insurance, medical comorbidities, longer pretransplantation dialysis vintage, and delayed graft function were associated with higher ED use in the first year post-KTx. Policies and strategies addressing potentially preventable ED visits should be promoted to help improve patient care and increase efficient use of ED resources.
Preservation of Animal Welfare during Unforeseen Events

Abstract Preservation of animal welfare during unforeseen emergencies requires extensive planning efforts and appropriate response measures. Written emergency (contingency) plans for animal research programs are mandated by the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and by the United States Department of Agriculture–Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. This chapter describes four categorical types of unforeseen events (natural disasters, operational/facility failures, disease outbreaks, and civil and security concerns) with examples of each and suggestions for appropriate and institution-specific preparation, mitigation, response, and recovery. Ultimately, when unforeseen events occur, the priority must be to ensure human health and safety first and subsequently aim to preserve animal life and welfare. Through diligent efforts of institutional stakeholders to continuously improve disaster preparedness and response procedures, the chances for an emergency plan to succeed are heightened, and the health and welfare of animals, along with the research dependent upon them, can be safeguarded now and for the future.
Sequence homology of the 3'-untranslated region of calmodulin III in mammals.

Calmodulin (CaM) has three separate nonallelic genes that encode for three identical proteins. These genes differ considerably in the 5′- and 3′-untranslated regions (UTR) and in the promoter region. The sequence of the 3′-UTR of CaM III gene for rat and mouse was completed and compared to the human sequence. The rat and mouse 3′-UTR region had an identity of approximately 80% with the human. Three common polyadenylation signals in the 3′-UTR may account for the multiple CaM III transcripts. Although the untranslated regions are distinctively different for the three CaM genes, these regions are highly conserved among mammals. This high sequence conservation suggests an important function in the localization or regulation of CaM mRNA.
Task scheduling and performance: Evidence from professional surf tournaments

Abstract Task scheduling can have a major impact on performance and economic outcomes. This paper estimates the causal impact of time between tasks on performance using data from professional surf tournaments. It exploits exogenous variation in surf conditions and predetermined characteristics of the tournament to obtain contests between highly paid professionals that differ with respect to when they last competed. Results show that larger rest times cause an increase in the probability of success. These results are driven by surfers that lost in the previous round, suggesting that, following a bad performance, more time between tasks increases performance.
Technology review and data analysis for cost assessment of water treatment systems

A wide variety of water sources, treatment methods, and recycling options have created a myriad of water management options. For modeling of sustainable water treatment options, computationally efficient models may be required. This paper provides a comprehensive and comparative review of the water management systems and the associated economic, environmental, and performance metrics. The water management systems are represented as a network of sources, users, technologies, recycling options, and quality of water. Special attention is given to desalination systems. The two main technology categories currently used for desalination are thermal (e.g., Multistage Flash "MSF", Multi-Effect Distillation "MED", and Mechanical Vapor Compression "MVC") and membrane (e.g., seawater reverse osmosis "SWRO", brackish water reverse osmosis "BWRO"). The cost assessment includes a capital cost comparison (for which regression analysis has been used to account for the non-linear nature of the capacity-cost curves), an operating cost comparison, which includes energy requirements, labor costs, chemicals used, maintenance and repair costs, membrane replacement costs and a unit product cost ($/m3) breakdown, which combines the capital and operating costs. Numerous data were collected for the cost of desalination systems. Statistical methods were then used to analyze these collected data to establish deeper understanding of the relationship to capital cost, operating cost, capacity, constraints due to treatment method capabilities, requirements of the users. The paper also briefly discusses other cost considerations such as the water intake and distribution costs. The environmental impacts (concentrate disposal and CO2 footprint) have also been compared for the various technologies considered. Some integration strategies such as use of hybrid systems, cogeneration plants and use of renewable energy have shown reductions in cost associated due to energy consumption and thereby, reducing the unit product cost. Finally, the paper provides a selection guide suitable for various situations with consideration of the different factors affecting cost, environmental impact and energy demands.
Ultrahigh Evaporative Heat Fluxes in Nanoconfined Geometries.

Advancement in high-performance photonics/electronics devices has boosted generated thermal energy, making thermal management a bottleneck for accelerated innovation in these disciplines. Although various methods have been used to tackle the thermal management problem, evaporation with nanometer fluid thickness is one of the most promising approaches for future technological demands. Here, we studied thin-film evaporation in nanochannels under absolute negative pressure in both transient and steady-state conditions. We demonstrated that thin-film evaporation in nanochannels can be a bubble-free process even at temperatures higher than boiling temperature, providing high reliability in thermal management systems. To achieve this bubble-free characteristic, the dimension of nanochannels should be smaller than the critical nucleolus dimension. In transient evaporative conditions, there is a plateau in the velocity of liquid in the nanochannels, which limits the evaporative heat flux. This limit is imposed by...
Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Enhance Cell Killing and Block Interferon-Beta Synthesis Elicited by Infection with an Oncolytic Parainfluenza Virus

Previous results have shown that infection with the cytoplasmic-replicating parainfluenza virus 5 mutant P/V-CPI- sensitizes cells to DNA damaging agents, resulting in the enhanced killing of airway cancer cells. Here, we have tested the hypothesis that histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors can also act with P/V-CPI- infection to enhance cancer cell killing. Using human small cell lung cancer and laryngeal cancer cell lines, 10 HDAC inhibitors were tested for their effect on viability of P/V-CPI- infected cells. HDAC inhibitors such as scriptaid enhanced caspase-3/7, -8 and -9 activity induced by P/V-CPI- and overall cell toxicity. Scriptaid-mediated enhanced killing was eliminated in lung cancer cells that were engineered to express a protein which sequesters double stranded RNA. Scriptaid also enhanced cancer cell killing by two other negative strand RNA viruses - the La Crosse virus and vesicular stomatitis virus. Scriptaid treatment enhanced the spread of the P/V-CPI- virus through a population of cancer cells, and suppressed interferon-beta induction through blocking phosphorylation and nuclear translocation of Interferon Regulatory Factor 3 (IRF-3). Taken together, these data support a role for combinations of a cytoplasmic-replicating RNA virus such as the P/V-CPI- mutant along with chemotherapeutic agents.
The Global Dimensions of Populist Nationalism

Populist nationalist movements have primarily been understood through their nationalist frames, even as the media and scholars alike frequently refer to ‘global’ trends related to populism. But the...
‘The kind of things we’ve heard keep people in the district’: White racial exclusion and the evolution of school choice policies in Portland Public Schools:

This policy history traces the evolution of Portland Public Schools’ school choice programme from the early 1970s until 2010 and examines its impacts on the historically black Albina neighbourhood....
An Energy-Efficient Privacy Preserving Security-Oriented DSA With Low Latency

Conventional cryptography techniques based upper layer secure wireless communication solutions are often subject to major issues such as complex key management, high computational complexity, etc. Physical layer security mechanisms are proposed as appealing alternative solutions for secure wireless communications. However, existing physical layer security schemes each faces some major limitations including limited achievable secrecy capacity, sensitive to time-varying channel status, high power consumption and long delay. To tackle these issues, we propose a novel energy efficient security-oriented dynamic spectrum allocation/assignment (S-DSA) algorithm to provide message privacy (confidentiality) with low latency. Our S-DSA algorithm solves the radio resource (spectrum and power) allocation and privacy preserving problems jointly, which is modeled as a mixed-integer multi-objective optimization problem. The branch and bound mechanism integrated with non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) is proposed to search the optimal channel and power allocation strategy to maximize the achievable system secrecy capacity and minimize the latency and power consumption simultaneously. Simulations confirm that the confidentiality achieved by our serenity-oriented DSA induces negligible degradation on average throughput per user compared with exiting DSA schemes.
Remittances, Corruption, and Human Development in Latin America

International private transfers from immigrant workers to families and friends have surged in Latin America. These transfers, also known as remittances, grew from a mere US$5 billion in 1990 to US$74.3 billion in 2016, supplementing the income of millions of families in the region. Particularly, remittances can contribute to human development by lifting large populations out of extreme poverty and by enabling better housing, education, and health. However, corruption and weak institutional environments can severely reduce the effectiveness of remittances on the path of development. For instance, remittance recipient households could be discouraged to use these foreign funds to acquire assets due to the cumbersome and corrupt process to legalize property. Using a panel of 26 Latin American and the Caribbean countries over the period of 1985–2016, this study investigates the effects of remittances and corruption on five development indicators. We find that remittances do significantly affect human capital indicators, and more so among countries fighting corruption.
Patterns of Industry Payments to Urologists From 2014-2018.

Abstract OBJECTIVES To evaluate the patterns of financial transaction between industry and urologists in the first 5 years of reporting in the Open Payments Program (OPP) by comparing transactions over time, between academic and nonacademic urologists, and by provider characteristics among academic urologists. METHODS The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services OPP database was queried for General Payments to urologists from 2014-2018. Faculty at ACGME-accredited urology training programs were identified and characterized via publicly available websites. Industry transfers were analyzed by year, practice setting (academic vs nonacademic), provider characteristics, and AUA section. Payment nature and individual corporate contributions were also summarized. RESULTS A total of 12,521 urologists – representing 75% of the urology workforce in any given year – received $168 million from industry over the study period. There was no significant trend in payments by year (P = .162). Urologists received a median of $1602 over the study period, though 14% received >$10,000. Payment varied significantly by practice setting (P CONCLUSION Reporting of physician-industry transactions has not led to a sustained decline in transactions with urologists. Significant differences in industry interaction exist between academic and nonacademic urologists, and values transferred to academic urologists varied by gender, chair status, subspecialty, and AUA section.
Minimum-Energy Digital Computing With Steep Subthreshold Swing Tunnel FETs

Energy efficiency in digital circuits is limited by the subthreshold swing (SS), which defines how abruptly a transistor switches between its ON and OFF-states. The SS is particularly important for circuits targeting minimum-energy computation which operate in the subthreshold region between the ON and OFF-states of the transistor. The SS of MOSFET devices is fundamentally limited by thermionic emission, which has inspired a search for new devices whose SS can reach below the Boltzmann thermal limit. Tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs) have emerged as a post-CMOS candidate with low (steep) SS and have been investigated using an evolving selection of geometries and materials that yield continuously improving device performance and circuit performance estimates. To unify previous works and guide future TFET iterations, this article provides a comprehensive theory on minimum-energy operation in the subthreshold region for steep-SS devices. We show that the optimal supply voltage for energy minimization and minimum obtainable energy are both proportional to the SS, and that a fundamental limit exists for the required $I_{\mathrm{\scriptstyle {ON}}}/I_{\mathrm{\scriptstyle {OFF}}}$ to achieve operation at the minimum-energy point. We explore how device knobs affect the optimization space for minimum-energy operation, and analyze how common TFET nonidealities affect the potential for minimum-energy operation.
Examining the spatial distribution and temporal change of the green view index in New York City using Google Street View images and deep learning

As an important part of the urban ecosystem, urban trees provide various benefits to urban residents. It is therefore important to examine the spatial distribution and the temporal change in urban ...
Nomade brûlant: by Amina Mekahli, Algiers, ANEP Éditions, 2017, 224 pp., DA 700 (softcover), ISBN: 978-9961-768-96-9

Nomade brulant is the second novel by Algerian writer and poet Amina Mekahli, who is a unique voice in the contemporary Algerian literary scene, boldly declaring her strong attachment to her countr...
To prove or improve, that is the question: the resurgence of comparative, confounded research between 2010 and 2019

Between 2010 and 2019, ETR&D experienced increased publication of a specific type of research that does not provide useful knowledge to the instructional design field. This type of research is research to prove, which entails pitting an incumbent, “traditional” learning experience against a new, innovative learning experience that lacks maturity. Additionally, under closer inspection, these new, innovative learning experiences show significant gaps of good design judgment, in terms of their alignment with the instructional theory framework. This type of research robs the instructional design field of important and useful data associated with effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal outcomes. To provide evidence for our claims, we reviewed 39 ETR&D articles between 1980 and 2019 and 41 articles in non-ETR&D journals between 2009 and 2018 that represented traditional instruction comparisons. Our conclusion is that a change in ETR&D editorial policies around 2010, such as reviewers having more power than editors in determining which papers get published, led to the unintended consequences this paper reports. We provide recommendations for addressing this situation.
Day of Fire: An Oral History Perspective on the Bush White House on 9/11

Presidential crises come in multiple forms. The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC exemplify a type of crisis marked by a combination of four qualities: (1) a sudden...
Neuroprotective effects of disubstituted dithiolethione ACDT against manganese-induced toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells.

Abstract Dithiolethiones are lipophilic, organosulfur compounds that activate the Nrf2 transcription factor causing an upregulation of various phase II antioxidant enzymes. A disubstituted dithiolethione 5-amino-3-thioxo-3H-(1,2) dithiole-4-carboxylic acid ethyl ester (ACDT) retains the functional pharmacophore while also containing modifiable functional groups. Neuroprotection against autoimmune encephalomyelitis in vivo and 6-hydroxy dopamine (a model for Parkinson's disease) in vitro have been previously reported with ACDT. Manganese (Mn) is a metal essential for metabolic processes at low concentrations. Overexposure and accumulation of Mn leads to a neurological condition called manganism which shares pathophysiological sequelae with parkinsonism. Here we hypothesized ACDT to be protective against manganese-induced cytotoxicity. SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells exposed to 300 μM MnCl2 displayed approximately 50% cell death, and a 24-h pretreatment with 75 μM ACDT significantly reversed this cytotoxicity. ACDT pretreatment was also found to increase total GSH levels (2.18-fold) and the protein levels of NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) enzyme (6.33-fold), indicating an overall increase in the cells' antioxidant defense stores. A corresponding 2.32-fold reduction in the level of Mn-induced reactive oxygen species was also observed in cells pretreated with ACDT. While no changes were observed in the protein levels of apoptotic markers Bax and Bcl-2, pretreatment with 75 μM ACDT led to a 2.09-fold downregulation of ZIP14 import transporter, indicating a potential reduction in the cellular uptake of Mn as an additional neuroprotective mechanism. These effects did not extend to other transporters like the divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) or ferroportin. Collectively, ACDT showed substantial neuroprotection against Mn-induced cytotoxicity, opening a path for dithiolethiones as a potential novel therapeutic option against heavy metal neurotoxicity.
Rapid Implementation of Remote Online Patient Portal Activation in a Children's Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background Patient portal access allows more patient engagement, yet portal usage is not universal. Telemedicine visits became critical when the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic limited in-office visits. Given physical distancing requirements and telemedicine platform integrated into the patient portal, our institution needed to rapidly enroll patients and their proxies remotely, including hospitalized patients, to minimize care disruptions. Objectives The study aimed to describe the rapid implementation of remote patient portal activation in a pediatric integrated delivery network during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, to increase the percentage of patients with active portal status upon discharge by 15% (absolute change) across inpatient units within 3 months. Methods A multidisciplinary taskforce utilized quality improvement tools to identify barriers to successful inpatient patient portal activation followed by rapid intervention cycles to effect change. Weekly progress was monitored on a portal activation dashboard. Results We created clinical decision support tools and training within 2 weeks. Active patient portal status upon hospital discharge increased from 44 to 66% within 12 weeks. Online patient portal conversion within 7 days after hospital discharge increased from 6.0 to 24%. Offer rate increased from 73 to 85% across all inpatient units. Conclusion We rapidly and effectively implemented a remote proxy portal activation process in the inpatient setting. Remote activation, training, clinical decision support, multidisciplinary involvement, and emphasis on the portal as integral to ongoing care allowed us to dramatically increase portal conversion. This experience may be informative for pediatric hospitals aiming to increase proxy portal enrollment and adult hospitals with medical decision-making proxies.
Low Temperature Heat Exchanger Usage

Highly efficient extended-surface heat exchangers have a wide application in low temperature plants. In fact, it is probable that liquid hydrogen and helium temperatures could not be achieved without them. Even liquid nitrogen temperatures would be prohibitively expensive.
Room Light and Laser Development of Latent Fingerprints with Enzymes

A very pronounced enhancement in detectability of reasonably fresh latent finger-prints is obtained when the ninhydrin method is combined with enzyme treatment. Specifically, trypsin and pronase were found to be effective, particularly the former. When ridge detail in room light remains inadequate even upon enzyme treatment, laser examination following zinc chloride treatment can produce strong additional enhancement to render such prints identificable. Our results with older prints have been marginal to date. Reasons for this and directions for future study are discussed.
T Spaces: the next wave

Millions of small heterogeneous computers are poised to spread into the infrastructure of our society. Though mostly inconspicuous today, disguised as nothing more than PIM (personal information management) computers, these tiny processors will eventually pervade most aspects of civilized life. The one thing holding them back from being everyone's portal to the new electronic society and the access point to an infinite store of information is the lack of a high-quality logical link to the world's network backbone. Enter T Spaces, a network middleware package for the new age of ubiquitous computing. T Spaces is a tuple space-based network communication buffer with database capabilities that enables communication between applications and devices an a network of heterogeneous computers and operating systems. With T Spaces, it is possible to connect all computers together, which leads the way towards an infinitely large cluster of cooperating machines. In this paper, we describe the T Spaces package and explore some distributed applications that use T Spaces.
R&D and the Arms Race: An Analytical Look

The relationship of new weapons in the American arsenal to research and development (R&D) has often been assumed to be characterized by a linear model of the dependence of technology upon science. According to this model, basic research leads to new scientific knowledge, which in turn is applied to the end of deyeloping new technologies. The linear model has a long history, but it has been specially emphasized since World War II by scientists justifying support for basic research on the grounds of its indispensability to the advance of civilian and military technology.
Quantitative microdeterminationof enzymes in the sweat gland

Isocitric, glucose-6-phosphate, lactic, and malic dehydrogenases were determined inisolated sweat gland tissue, in patients with cystic fibrosis and in control subjects. No abnormality was observed in cases of cystic fibrosis and the basic defect in this disease remains to be discovered.
High Court Docket Control, Resource Allocation, and Legal Efficiency

A key source of institutional variation across judicial systems is the degree of control that the highest court has over its docket. However, despite this variation, the consequences of various institutional designs in judicial hierarchies remains relatively unexplored by the theoretical literature. In this paper, we develop a formal model of high court resource allocation. We analyze the model under two institutional designs. First, the Court must allocate at least some minimum effort to all cases; second, the Court has complete discretion over which cases to hear. We analyze the model to identify the optimal allocation of resources across cases as the institutional design varies. We then consider the conditions under which the various institutional rules increase or decrease the legal efficiency or performance, of the judicial system. Our analysis reveals the complex relationship among the institutional rules governing high court dockets, the design of the judicial hierarchy, and the performance of the legal system. The model informs substantively policy debates among judicial reformers and scholars concerned with institutional design as well as disciplinary debates about case selection and judicial decision-making.
Pipeline Stability Under Finite-Amplitude Waves

The lateral stability of a bottom-laid pipeline under finite-amplitude waves which are shoaling on a mildly-sloping, rigid beach is considered. Incipient sliding motion conditions are assumed in which the wave-induced hydrodynamic pressure force is statically balanced by the Coulomb bottom friction force on a rigid, impermeable seabed. The Morison equation is employed to compute the wave-induced hydrodynamic pressure force. This static balance results in a dimensionless stability parameter that may be equated to a dimensionless wave force acting on the pipeline in order to determine lateral stability. A dimensionless wave force is computed using water particle kinematics computed numerically from the finite-amplitude Dean stream function wave theory. Design curves for predicting this dimensionless wave force acting on a pipeline under various design wave conditions are provided. Engineering applications are included which use the dimensionless wave forces to predict the maximum depth required to stabilize a bottom-laid pipeline on a rigid, impermeable beach under specified design wave conditions.
Active view optimization for viewing objects in motion

This paper introduces a novel method to automatically generate camera animation for scenes with objects in motion. A means of bounding the scene is first discussed, in order to provide a restricted surface for the camera to move along. Methods for generating static views of a scene are then developed, based on prior literature in the field of optimal camera views. Methods for producing smooth animations for camera paths are developed. This is broken up into two constraints; the minimum distance constraint and the minimum angle constraint. Finally, a camera path is produced based on the two prior constraints. This framework is then applied to the problem of facial tracking and visualizing a large scene.
A nonlinear study of the coupled-cavity effects in a mode-locked diode laser

The drive-current-induced forced mode locking of a diode laser with an external cavity was studied by nonlinear analysis. The coupled-cavity effects were studied without having to assume in advance the type of solution to the coupled-mode equations. It is shown that, with homogeneous saturation, a set of modes may exist which quenches all other sets. If multiple mode sets do exist, they produce separate pulses which beat together to produce an output pulse with many lobes. >
A reliability program approach to operational safety

Abstract A Reliability Program (RP) model based on proven reliability techniques is being formulated for potential application in the nuclear power industry. Methods employed under NASA and military direction, commercial airline and related FAA programs were surveyed and a review of current nuclear risk-dominant issues conducted. The need for a reliability approach to address dependent system failures, operating and emergency procedures and human performance, and develop a plant-specific performance data base for safety decision making is demonstrated. Current research has concentrated on developing a Reliability Program approach for the operating phase of a nuclear plant's lifecycle. The approach incorporates performance monitoring and evaluation activities with dedicated tasks that integrate these activities with operation, surveillance, and maintenance of the plant. The detection, root-cause evaluation and before-the-fact correction of incipient or actual systems failures as a mechanism for maintaining plant safety is a major objective of the Reliability Program. Embodied within the approach are (1) determination of acceptable safety system performance criteria and associated alert levels: (2) tracing and/or trending of in-plant and industry systems performance and management of the associated surveillance, maintenance, and reportable event data base; (3) determination of risk-importance prioritized systems, components, and root-causes and ad hoc response to inplant safety problems or potentially applicable industry problems identified by NRC or INPO; and (4) a closed-loop failure reporting and corrective action program for correcting performance criteria violations or identified problems either through changes in operation or maintenance or through changes in utility management practices.
Effect of variation of Klebsiella pneumoniae acetolactate synthase expression on metabolic flux redistribution in Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli strains carrying the Bacillus subtilis acetolactate synthase (ALS) gene were previously shown to produce less acetate with higher ATP yields. Metabolic flux analysis was used to show that excess pyruvate was channeled into the less inhibitory product, acetoin. To further understand the role of intrinsic enzymatic properties and the effect of variations in enzyme levels in the alternation of metabolic fluxes, we constructed a chromosomal integrant of the Klebsiella pneumoniae ALS gene. The reported in vitro Michaelis-Menten constants (K(m)) for the Bacillus and the Klebsiella ALS are 13.0 mM and 8.0 mM, respectively. Furthermore, expression of the Klebsiella ALS is under the control of an inducible trp promoter system. Shake-flask experiments showed a linear induction response (the ALS activity changes from about 9 to 223 U/mg of protein when the inducer concentration [IAA] varied from 0 to 40 mg/L). Chemostat experiments showed a similar induction response. Interactions between the branched reactions catalyzed by the PFL, LDH, and the ALS enzymes at the pyruvate node were examined. The results indicate the importance of in vivo enzyme activities in the redistribution of metabolic fluxes.
Demonstration of a Catalytic Converter Using a Lawn Mower Engine.

Catalytic conversion is an important tool in environmental-remediation strategies and source removal of pollutants. Because a catalyst is regenerated, the chemistry can be extremely effective for conversion of undesirable pollutant species to less harmful products in situations where the pollutants have accumulated or are being continuously produced. An important and well-known application is the catalytic converter in the exhaust system of an automobile. We have developed a laboratory experience that qualitatively demonstrates the use of a catalytic converter to decrease emissions from the exhaust of a small internal-combustion engine taken from a lawn mower. The experiment involves a flow-reactor system with an integrated mass spectrometer to monitor the flow-stream composition in real time. In addition to the techniques employed, the laboratory serves to highlight aspects of surface science and heterogeneous catalysis and also illustrates a significant problem associated with catalytic converters.
Septal cell lines derived from the trisomy 16 mouse: generation, characterization, and response to NGF

The trisomy 16 mouse is a genetic model of Down syndrome. Clonal cell lines were developed from trisomic as well as euploid embryonic mouse septal cells by introduction of thermolabile large T antigen mutant of SV 40. The cell lines underwent morphological differentiation at the non-permissive temperature and in response to a differentiating agent. Immunocytochemical staining indicated that cells of neuronal lineage were immortalized. The addition of beta-nerve growth factor (100 ng/ml) increased the survival rate of a trisomy cell line in differentiated state, as measured by Trypan blue exclusion. These cell lines may prove useful in studies of neuronal abnormalities in this mouse model of Down syndrome.
Bootstrap-current experiments in a toroidal plasma-confinement device

The toroidal current observed during electron cyclotron heating in the Advanced Toroidal Facility torsatron is identified as bootstrap current. The observed currents, ranging between +4 and {minus}2 kA, agree well with predictions of neoclassical theory in magnitude and parametric dependence, as determined by systematic scans of quadrupole (shaping) and dipole (magnetic axis shift) moments of the poloidal magnetic field. It has been shown that the bootstrap current in a stellarator can be externally controlled, and zero-current operation can be achieved.
Analysis of the autonomy of imaginal disc defects in a small-disc mutant of Drosophila melanogaster.

Abstract Lethal mutations which cause imaginal disc abnormalities in Drosophila melanogaster identify genes whose function is necessary for normal disc development, and these mutant genes may be used as probes of the role of their wild-type alleles in normal development. It is crucial to the interpretation of the disc phenotype of such mutants to know which abnormalities are autonomous (caused by expression of the mutant gene in imaginal cells) and which are nonautonomous (indirectly caused, for example, by expression of the mutant gene in larval cells). We chose for study l(3)c21R (3-67.8), a late-larval lethal mutation with a complex phenotype, to test the adequacy of available techniques for assessing autonomy. We employed surgical and genetic techniques to determine the imaginal cell autonomy of the defects in cell viability, growth, and differentiation in c21R discs. The imaginal cell viability defect is nonautonomous. The disc growth and differentiation defects are autonomous; however, in genetic mosaics these two autonomous defects are separable. These results show that c21R belongs to the class of mutations which affect both larval and imaginal cells. In combination, the available methods were adequate to resolve the issue of autonomy in this complex case. However, in isolation several of the methods could have led to incomplete or misleading interpretations. This emphasizes that to analyze any developmental mutant it is necessary to examine the issue of autonomy from several points of view.
Random structure of error surfaces: toward new stochastic learning methods

This paper gives an overview of current work which is directed toward verifying, and exploiting in practice, a recent scaling model for neural network error surfaces. We begin the next section by reviewing a model which describes Boltzmann learning as a stochastic search in the error surface. The discussion also reviews a potentially far-reaching fractal model of neural network error surfaces as instances of a class of high-dimensional fractional Brownian motions (fBm). The main body of the paper then describes a series of experimental results for object classification via noisy sensor data in a mine detection application.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Potential Thyroliberin Affinity Labels II: Chloroacetyl Substituted Phenylalanyl Prolineamides

Three analogs of thyroliberin (I) were prepared. These compounds, N-m-chloroacetylbenzoyl-phenylalanyl-prolineamide (VIa), N-p-chloroacetylbenzoyl-phenylalanyl-prolineamide (VIb) and N-chloroacetyl-alanyl-phenylalanyl-prolineamide (IX), were designed as potential I antagonist affinity labels. However, no significant antagonist activity was observed. Compounds VIa and IX were found to have weak agonist activity. Cyclo (Phe-Pro) an analog of the I metabolite, cyclo (His-Pro), was found, however, to have significant I antagonist activity, but no agonist activity.
Public health and human rights: the virtues of ambiguity

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” says folk wisdom. The harm reduction and drug law reform movements have created more drug policy reform in the last 20 years than ever before. There are more drug policy reform and harm reduction organizations with more members and activists than ever before. More nations are moving away from the punitive prohibition model pushed by the US and toward policies based on harm reduction principles than ever before. So what current conjuncture of events is pushing harm reductionists and drug policy reformers to choose either a strong-rights model rooted in John Stuart Mill’s (1946) sovereign self or a weak rights model rooted in public health principles? Do the re-negotiation of important international treaties (Bewley-Taylor, 2003) or pressing pieces of national legislation hinge on this choice? Will harm reduction services cease to be delivered unless allegiance is sworn to one? Have harm reductionists and drug law reformers been hampered by failing to choose between these two models? It is not clear that if some official choice along such lines were made, a vexing problem would be solved. Neil Hunt’s (2004) sensible and fair-minded essay on these questions provides the welcome service of framing the issues clearly and reflecting on what the different positions might mean. In outlining distinct “stylised” versions, Hunt “attempts to capture the essence of two possible, contrasting positions” which he intends “as an aid to analysis”. It seems odd to question the value of greater clarity, but I believe such clarity can entail certain risks that are also worth thinking through. To start with, are the harm reduction movement and the drug policy reform movement one and the same? Are there people who identify as harm reductionists who do not also favour of drug law reform? Are there people who identify as drug law reformers who do not also favour harm reduction? There no doubt exist some harm reductionists whose
NUMERICAL MODELLING OF GENERATION AND TRANSPORT OF GAS AND HEAT IN SANITARY LANDFILLS II. MODEL APPLICATION

A mathematical model for the generation and transport of gas and heat in a sanitary landfill was developed based on earlier work on the Mountain View Controlled Landfill Project (MVCLP) in California, U.S.A. The present model incorporates biokinetic model equations describing the dynamics of the microbial landfill ecosystem into multi-layer, time-dependent transport and generation of gas and heat models. It is based on the fundamental principles governing the physical, chemical and microbiological processes in a porous media context such as a sanitary landfill. The model includes biochemical and temperature feedback loops to simulate the effects of their corresponding parameters on microbiological processes. The resulting integrated biokinetic, gas and heat generation and transport model was used to simulate field data from the MVCLP and to assess the sensitivity of model results to biological parameters. The model can be used to predict the rate and total production of methane in a landfill. The present work is pressented in a series of three papers: (I) model formulation; (II) model application; and (III) sensitivity analysis.f1
Reversed temporal region asymmetries of P300 topography in left- and right-handed schizophrenic subjects.

Summary The auditory P300 evoked potential was recorded in 36 subjects: left- (LH) and right-handed (RH) schizophrenic males and LH and RH normal controls. LH and RH normals showed no asymmetry in P300 scalp topography. LH and RH schizophrenics, however, showed lateralized asymmetries in temporal scalp regions: left right P300 voltage asymmetry in LH schizophrenics. These data suggest that the schizophrenic pathology of P300 neural generators is lateralized according to handedness and provide the first evidence that LH and RH schizophrenics can be dissociated based on left-right voltage asymmetries in P300 topography. These findings further emphasize the need for control of handedness in P300 studies of schizophrenia.
Solution Rheology of a Strongly Charged Polyelectrolyte in Good Solvent

Solution rheology of poly(2-vinylpyridine) and a random copolymer of 60% N-methyl-2-vinylpyridinium iodide and 40% 2-vinylpyridine in N-methylformamide (NMF) was studied over wide ranges of concentration. The fraction of monomers bearing an effective charge f = 0.31 of these copolymers was measured using dielectric spectroscopy. This low fraction of effectively charged monomers suggests that the polyion disrupts the hydrogen-bonding alignment of NMF that makes the dielectric constant of the pure solvent anomalously large. NMF is a good solvent for neutral poly(2-vinylpyridine) but has a significant quantity of ionic impurities even when freshly distilled. The specific viscosity and relaxation time of dilute and semidilute unentangled solutions exhibit the scaling with concentration expected by theory if cs ≈ 1 mM residual salt is present, identified from the change in slope of viscosity−concentration power laws from 5/4 to 1/2 at concentration c = 2cs/f = 9.5 × 10−3 M (moles of monomer per liter). The spe...
Limitations of transperineal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies.

Abstract Objectives. Screening and diagnosing prostate cancer in men who have undergone abdominoperineal resection (APR) poses a diagnostic challenge. Transperineal ultrasound is an effective imaging technique, but the sensitivity of transperineal needle biopsy under ultrasound guidance has not been evaluated. We compared the results of transrectal ultrasound-guided (TRUS) biopsies and transperineal ultrasound-guided (TPUS) biopsies obtained from patients with known prostate cancer, to evaluate the accuracy of TPUS prostate biopsies. Methods. Twenty patients with prostate cancer diagnosed by TRUS-guided biopsies were studied. Immediately before radical prostatectomy, TPUS was performed in the lithotomy position and six TPUS-guided biopsies were obtained. Routine sextant TRUS-guided biopsies were then obtained. Finally, radical retropubic prostatectomy was performed and the results of both biopsy sets were compared with the pathologic features of the surgical specimen. Results. All 20 prostates contained adenocarcinoma. The prostate was well visualized with TPUS and TRUS in all cases. TPUS-guided biopsies detected cancer in only 2 of the 20 specimens, yielding a sensitivity of 10%. On the same specimens, TRUS-guided biopsies were positive in 13 of 20 cases, a sensitivity of 65%. Cancers detected by TPUS-guided biopsies tended to have a higher volume, higher Gleason grade, and higher prostate-specific antigen level than those not detected by TPUS-guided biopsies. Conclusions. TPUS-guided sextant biopsies are less accurate than TRUS-guided sextant biopsies in detecting prostate cancer, even in the hands of experienced ultrasonographers. The limitations of TPUS-guided needle biopsies emphasize the importance of screening for prostate cancer before APR.
Ergodic Fading Z-Interference Channels Without State Information at Transmitters

This paper studies the capacity region of a two-user ergodic interference channel with fading, where only one user is subject to interference from the other user, and the channel state information (CSI) is only available at the receivers. A layered erasure model with arbitrary fading statistics is studied first, whose capacity region is completely determined as a polygon. Each dominant rate pair can be regarded as the outcome of a tradeoff between the rate of the interference-free user and the rate loss its interference causes the other user. Using insights from the layered erasure model, inner and outer bounds of the capacity region are provided for fading Gaussian Z-interference channels. The gap between the inner and outer bounds is no more than 12.8 bits per channel use per user, regardless of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and fading statistics.
Definitive identification of Bacillus anthracis—a review

The word 'problem' is seen with some frequency in relation to clear differentiation between Bacillus anthracis and B. cereus. In fact, although the close relationship of these two species is undisputed, it is only in the case of a few borderline isolates, rarely encountered in practice, that any sort of identification problem exists. Until recently this was only important to the taxonomist who found it unsatisfactory not to be able to identify definitively such isolates. To most others, if the isolate was unable to produce anthrax in a laboratory animal, it was discarded as irrelevant without being named, or it was called B. cereus or given a name such as B. anthracis similis, or even a totally unrelated name. More recently, in view of the new light in which B. anthracis is increasingly seen, resulting from its putative association with bioaggression, clear identification has become a more critical issue. This paper reviews the current state of the art and suggests the way forward for the future.