cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mutagenicity and metabolism of dimethyl phthalate and its binding to epidermal and hepatic macromolecules.

As an active ingredient in insect repellents, dimethyl phthalate (DMP) had previously been shown to produce chromosomal aberrations in the livers of rats following sub‐chronic application of the phthalate to skin. When we tested DMP in the Ames muta‐genesis assay, it produced in bacterial tester strain TA100 (but not TA98) a dose‐related mutagenic response that was abolished by NAD‐ and NADP‐independent metabolism associated with rat liver microsomal preparations (S9). In a host‐mediated mutagenesis assay, rats were injected ip with DMP (2 g/kg body weight); urine was collected for 24 h, extracted, and analyzed for mutagenic activity and phthalic acid‐containing derivatives. The extracted urine was not mutagenic to TA100 and contained an equivalent of 1.96 mg phthalate/ml urine. More than 97% of the phthalic acid‐containing derivatives present in the extracted urine consisted of the nonmutagenic metabolite of DMP, monomethyl phthalate (MMP). In vitro experiments showed that rat liver homoge‐nates hydrolyz...
Pyrolytic Carbon Proximal Interphalangeal Joint Resurfacing Arthroplasty

Purpose To evaluate the clinical results of a pyrolytic carbon resurfacing proximal interphalangeal joint (PIPJ) arthroplasty in patients with osteoarthritis. Methods A retrospective review of 18 PIPJ arthroplasties in 8 women with severe osteoarthritis performed by a single surgeon was completed with an average follow-up period of 13 months. Clinical assessment included range of motion (ROM), stability, and deformity. Radiographs were reviewed for evidence of loosening, subsidence, fracture, and osseointegration. Six patients, representing 16 joints, answered a questionnaire regarding pain relief, appearance, and overall satisfaction with the arthroplasty. Complications also were recorded. Results The average preoperative ROM was 10° to 63°, and the average postoperative ROM was 18° to 71°. Although the average arc of motion was unchanged, 9 joints had an increase in ROM and 9 joints had a decrease in ROM. All joints were stable laterally. Radiographic review indicated 2 joints with loosening at 4 months after surgery. Complications included 8 squeaky joints, 5 joint contractures, and 2 dislocations. Pain was relieved completely in 8 joints, and the pain rating on a visual analog scale was 3.6 out of 10 for the 8 patients who had residual pain. Patients were satisfied completely with the results of 9 joints. Although there was residual deformity in 4 joints, patients believed that 15 of 16 joints had improved in appearance. Five of 6 patients responded that they would have the surgery again. There have been no secondary procedures performed by us. Conclusions The insertion of pyrolytic carbon implants for PIPJ arthroplasty is a technically demanding procedure, but it has the potential to achieve pain relief, stability, satisfactory ROM, and correction of the deformity; however, the results in this review were unpredictable and may not be superior to those achieved with other methods of arthroplasty. Type of study/level of evidence Therapeutic, Level IV.
The introduction of a paging technique into the symmetric list processor, SLIP

When the computing community turned its attention back to the problem of "pure" symbol manipulation, a large and ever-growing family of "list-processing" ("LP") computer languages resulted. SLIP, which is one of these, was primarily written in FORTRAN, making it easy to use, understand and debug. The widespread use of SLIP, however, has been severely hampered by the restriction of available space in the system. Guided by the desire for more available space, we imposed upon our study the conditions that as few changes as possible should be made to the SLIP system, and additions to the system should be automatic functions of the system and not of the user. This report shows how a paging technique incorporated into the SLIP system accomplished our goal.
Open-label, sequential comparison of eptifibatide with abciximab for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Abstract Background: Platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonists reduce complications following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). There are limited data comparing different agents. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare in-hospital and 30-day outcomes in 2 sequential cohorts of consecutive patients undergoing PCI at our institution who received abciximab or eptifibatide. Methods: The first cohort included patients who received abciximab between September 1, 1998, and January 9, 1999, and the second included patients who were treated with eptifibatide between January 11 and April 27, 1999. Per formulary decision, during the latter period, patients with renal insufficiency continued to be treated with abciximab and were ineligible for therapy with eptifibatide. Major adverse cardiac events (MACEs) were evaluated by one or more of the authors and compared. Results: A total of 319 patients were treated with abciximab and 301 with eptifibatide. There were no differences in baseline characteristics between the 2 groups, with the exception of a significantly higher proportion of patients with chronic renal insufficiency in the abciximab-treated group (4% vs 0% with eptifibatide; P = 0.03) The majority of interventions were performed for an acute coronary syndrome. Procedural success was 97% in both groups. Eptifibatide patients were treated for a mean 20.4 (5.2) hours, with 10.1% receiving the drug before the procedure. There were no differences in overall or individual MACEs in hospital or at 30 days. Conclusion: Our data suggest similar in-hospital and 30-day outcomes for abciximab- and eptifibatide-treated patients undergoing PCI.
DNA of ciliated protozoa: DNA sequence diminution during macronuclear development of oxytricha

We have measured the reassociation kinetics of DNA from the micronucleus and from the macronucleus of the hypotrichous ciliate Oxytricha. The micronuclear DNA reassociates with at least a two-component reaction, indicating the presence of both repeated and non-repeated sequences. The kinetic complexity of micronuclear non-repeated DNA is in the range of 2 to 15 X 10(11) daltons; the haploid DNA content of the micronucleus is 4 X 10(11) daltons (0.66 pg), measured microspectrophotometrically. The DNA of the macronucleus reassociates as a single second-order reaction, with a kinetic complexity of 3.6 X 10(10) daltons. A comparison of the kinetic complexities of micronuclear and macronuclear DNAs suggest a 5 to 30 fold reduction in DNA sequence complexity during the formation of a macronucleus from a micronucleus. Macronuclear DNA is in pieces with an average molecular weight of 2.1 X 10(6) daltons. Since the kinetic complexity of macronuclear DNA is 3.6 X 10(10) daltons, the macronucleus must contain about 17,000 different kinds of DNA pieces. Each macronucleus contains 3.5 X 10(13) daltons (58 pg) of DNA, indicating that each sequence must be present about 1000 times per macronucleus or 2000 times per cell.
Uncovering hidden variance: pair-wise SNP analysis accounts for additional variance in nicotine dependence

Results from genome-wide association studies of complex traits account for only a modest proportion of the trait variance predicted to be due to genetics. We hypothesize that joint analysis of polymorphisms may account for more variance. We evaluated this hypothesis on a case–control smoking phenotype by examining pairs of nicotinic receptor single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using the Restricted Partition Method (RPM) on data from the Collaborative Genetic Study of Nicotine Dependence (COGEND). We found evidence of joint effects that increase explained variance. Four signals identified in COGEND were testable in independent American Cancer Society (ACS) data, and three of the four signals replicated. Our results highlight two important lessons: joint effects that increase the explained variance are not limited to loci displaying substantial main effects, and joint effects need not display a significant interaction term in a logistic regression model. These results suggest that the joint analyses of variants may indeed account for part of the genetic variance left unexplained by single SNP analyses. Methodologies that limit analyses of joint effects to variants that demonstrate association in single SNP analyses, or require a significant interaction term, will likely miss important joint effects.
Aconitase is the main functional target of aging in the citric acid cycle of kidney mitochondria from mice

The activities of the citric acid cycle enzymes were determined in mitochondria isolated from kidneys of relatively young, middle age, and old mice. Aconitase exhibited the most significant decrease in activity with age. The activity of alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase exhibited a modest decrease in activity, while NADP(+)-isocitrate dehydrogenase (NADP(+)-ICD) activity increased moderately with age. Activities of citrate synthase, NAD(+)-isocitrate dehydrogenase (NAD(+)-ICD), succinyl-CoA synthetase (SCS), succinate dehydrogenase (SD), fumarase (FUM), and malate dehydrogenase (MD) were not affected. The molar ratio of the intra-mitochondrial redox indicator, NADPH:NADP(+), was higher in young compared to old animals, while the NADH:NAD(+) molar ratio remained unchanged. It is suggested that an age-related decrease in aconitase activity along with relatively subtle alterations in activities of some other citric acid cycle enzymes are likely to contribute to a decline in the overall efficiency of mitochondrial bioenergetics. The biological consequences of such alterations include age-related fluctuations in the citric acid cycle intermediates, which are precursors of protein synthesis, activators of fatty acid synthesis, and can also act as ligands for orphan G-protein coupled receptors.
Technology education for woman by d.i.y. technology in closing gender gap

Today more than ever, the importance of technology is increasing rapidly and related job opportunities are growing in electrical engineering, computer science and other related fields. Despite this trend, female employment in these fields is still low and it is hard to find renowned female scientists and programmers. In addition, most attendees at technology exhibitions and readers of technology magazines are male. Why aren't women interested in computer science and electrical engineering? I believe that creating an interest in technology and science for women from a young age could help increase the number of females in technology-based fields. When a mother and daughter make electronic crafts together, the mother becomes a good role model for technology use, and can help stimulate her child's interests in science and technology. This paper explores the reasons why women are not interested in technology and how this can be overcome.
"Why can't you control this?" How women's interactions with intimate partners define menopause and family.

ABSTRACT In this article I explore women's discussions of the interactions that families have about menopause and, thus, attempt to broaden feminist knowledge of women's experiences of menopause within families. Data on which this article is based were collected in 61 in-depth interviews with menopausal women in a midwest state in 2001. Findings suggest that biomedical definitions of menopause are often reaffirmed within interactions between intimate partners. Thus, women reported negative familial interactions about menopause, as they were encouraged to define symptoms as problematic and seek medical treatment. Alternatively, some interviewees reported positive interactions about menopause, as a few partners helped them soothe symptoms and follow health regimens. Women interpreted these latter interactions as support or care, rather than surveillance or monitoring. The author concludes that familial interactions bolster dominant constructions of both menopause and family because, as menopause is discusse...
Statistical and graphical methods for evaluating solute transport models: Overview and application

Abstract Mathematical modeling is the major tool to predict the mobility and the persistence of pollutants to and within groundwater systems. Several comprehensive institutional models have been developed in recent years for this purpose. However, evaluation procedures are not well established for models of saturated-unsaturated soil-water flow and chemical transport. This paper consists of three parts: (1) an overview of various aspects of mathematical modeling focused upon solute transport models; (2) an introduction to statistical criteria and graphical displays that can be useful for model evaluation; and (3) an example of model evaluation for a mathematical model of pesticide leaching. The model testing example uses observed and predicted atrazine concentration profiles from a small catchment in Georgia. The model tested is the EPA pesticide root zone model (PRZM).
Saturated and monounsaturated long-chain hydrocarbons of lime juice sacs

Abstract Saturated and monounsaturated long-chain hydrocarbons were determined in juice sacs of two sour lime cultivars, Key and Persian, and one sweet lime, Columbia. The dominant hydrocarbon in the saturated fraction for all limes was linear C25. For the monoene fraction, C29 predominated in both Key and Persian, but C25 predominated in Columbia. Iso- and anteiso-branched hydrocarbons comprised collectively 38·4–57·8% of the saturated fraction, but only 9·5–20·1% of the monoene group. The major branched isomers found in the saturated group were odd-numbered, iso-branched structures. In the monoene group, both odd-numbered, iso-branched and even-numbered, anteiso-branched structures were prominent.
The Hats Information Fusion Challenge Problem

We describe the Hats Simulator as an information fusion challenge problem. Hats is a virtual world in which many agents engage in individual and collective activities. Most agents are benign, some intend harm. Agent activities are planned by a generative planner. Playing against the simulator, the goal of the analyst is to identify and arrest harmful agents before they carry out their plans. The simulator provides both scalar and categorical information. Information fusion tasks in the Hats domain include assessing information value, choosing information collection strategies, tracking individuals and resources, identifying events, hypothesizing group membership, ascribing suspicion, and identifying plans. After each game, the analyst is assessed a set of scores including the cost of acquiring information, the cost of falsely accusing benign agents, and the cost of failing to detect harmful agents. The simulator is implemented and currently manages hundreds of thousands of agents.
Operator-product expansion and the asymptotic behavior of spontaneously broken scalar field theories

We reexamine a recent study of the operator-product expansion in spontaneously broken scalar field theories. First, the asymptotic behavior of the propagator in a spontaneously broken lambdaphi/sup 4/ theory is calculated to lowest nontrivial order. The use of the operator-product expansion in the ''naive'' vacuum, with operators developing nonvanishing vacuum expectation values, is found to correctly reproduce the usual perturbative analysis of the shifted theory when carried out to the same order. The renormalization-group improvement of this result is studied. We find that ..gamma..2, the renormalization-group coefficient of the operator phi/sup 2/, is nonzero at first order in lambda. This contradicts the result of the study of Gupta and Quinn. The generalization of this analysis to all Green's functions at all orders in perturbation theory is outlined. We argue that the renormalization-group improvement of the perturbation theory should yield the same answer for the two methods of calculating the asymptotic limit. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for gauge theories.
Meaningful Marx and Marxology

THE MEANING OF KARL MARX by Bruce Mazlish New York: Oxford University Press, 1984. 188 pp., $17.95
Explaining 'explaining away'

'Explaining away' is a common pattern of reasoning in which the confirmation of one cause of an observed or believed event reduces the need to invoke alternative causes. The opposite of explaining away also an occur, where the confirmation of one cause increases belief in another. A general qualitative probabilistic analysis of intercausal reasoning is provided and the property of the interaction among the causes (product synergy) that determines which form of reasoning is appropriate is identified. Product synergy extends the qualitative probabilistic network (QPN) formalism to support qualitative intercausal inference about the directions of change in probabilistic belief. The intercausal relation also justifies Occam's razor, facilitating pruning in the search for likely diagnoses. >
Metal‐organic Surfactants as Sintering Aids for Silicon Nitride in an Aqueous Medium

Interaction between two commercial silicon nitride powders and various metal-organic surfactants was investigated in an aqueous medium to obtain a homogeneous distribution of sintering aid. Conditions under which the silicon nitride particles could be coated with metal oxide sintering aids were identified. Acoustophoresis, XPS, TEM, and FTIR were used to characterize the interaction between the metalorganic and the silicon nitride powder. From these data, the mechanism of attachment of the coatings was proposed. The surface area and surface chemistry of the powder, the pH of the solution, the structure of the surfactant, and the surface charge behavior of the powder and the coating were found to be the crucial parameters. The control of these parameters offered a simple and reproducible method to homogeneously distribute various metal oxides. Multicomponent coatings were also possible. The coated powders containing 0.5–4 wt% sintering aid could be compacted to 72% green density.
A Load Balancing Scheme for Cluster-based Secure Network Servers

Although the secure sockets layer (SSL) is the most popular protocol to provide a secure channel between a client and a cluster-based network server, its high overhead degrades the server performance considerably, and thus, affects the server scalability. Therefore, improving the performance of SSL-enabled network servers is critical for designing scalable and high performance data centers. In this paper, we examine the impact of SSL offering and SSL-session aware distribution in cluster-based network servers. We propose a backend forwarding scheme, called ssl_with_bf that employs a low-overhead user-level communication mechanism like VIA to achieve good load balance among server nodes. We compare three distribution models for network servers: round robin (RR), ssl_with_session and ssl_with_bf through simulation. The experimental results with 16-node and 32-node cluster configurations show that while session reuse of ss_with_session is critical to improve the performance of application servers, the proposed backend forwarding scheme can further enhance the performance due to better load balancing. The ssl_with_bf scheme can minimize average latency by about 40% and improve throughput across a variety of workloads
A Fractal Study of Silcon Surfaces

In this work the variation method is used to extract the fractal dimension of rough surfaces. Rough silicon surfaces from chemical etching and rapid thermal deposition were measured with atomic force microscopy and are shown to exhibit fractal properties.
The Yods and Waws of 4Qtestimonia and the Use of Digital Imaging Techniques

4QTestimonia (4Q175) was published by J. Allegro in JBL 75 in 1956, and then republished in DJD 5 in 1968. The text appears to have been written by the same scribe who wrote 1QS and it may be dated on paleographical evidence to the first quarter of the first century BCE.' In 1970, J. Strugnell published an article in which he noted that the waws and yods of 4Q175 were somewhat difficult to distinguish, and he disagreed with Allegro on the reading of the following words:2
Evolution of abstracts presented at the annual scientific meetings of academic emergency medicine

There has been a general trend in medicine towards greater sophistication in research design. In order to assess this trend in emergency medicine we compared the characteristics of abstracts presented at the 1974, 1983, 1989, and 1997 annual scientific meetings of academic emergency medicine. All 870 abstracts were reviewed by 1 of 3 investigators who determined research design attributes using a standardized classification scheme that has good interrater reliability. Over the last 25 years the following trends were noted: more surveys (0% v1% v3% v8%, P = 0.002), more randomized studies (0% v10% v12% v15%, P = 0.05), and more blinded studies (0% v7% v5% v11%, P = 0.01). Tests of statistical significance were reported with increasing frequency (8% v26% v59% v69%, P < 0.001) as were power calculations (0% v0% v1% v3%, P = 0.02). During the study period there were also increases in the median number of authors, proportion of foreign lead authors, and the proportion of studies involving human subjects. These results reflect considerable improvement in the degree of research design sophistication reported in selected abstracts of academic emergency medicine over the study period. Further strategies to assure continued enhancement of emergency medicine research should be explored.
Application of passive microwave data in estimating freeze-thaw dates of a small lake

Our method uses coarse resolution passive microwave data to estimate freeze-thaw dates of soil in the region surrounding the lake. Using the soil freeze-thaw dates we then determine a high probability “window” of days during which the lake freeze-thaw dates may occur. This paper mainly focuses on using passive microwave data to estimate this high probability window of days for the freeze and the thaw seasons of a lake. The importance of this project in our broader research goal of estimating freeze-thaw dates for small lakes can be explained as follows. Given a classifier that can classify SAR images of small lakes into “ice” and “no-ice” images (a parallel research project that we are involved in), we demonstrate that using passive microwave data to estimate the “window” will improve the practical use of the classifier in detecting freeze-thaw dates of the lake, by reducing the number of datasets required (using only the datasets that fall within the window). By reducing the number of SAR datasets required for the algorithm we reduce both financial and computational cost of the classification algorithm. This in turn will make the method more affordable and improve the usability of the classification algorithm to keep track of lake freeze-thaw dates for a larger number of lakes. The passive microwave data collected, results obtained till date and related literature will be discussed in this paper.
Profiles of school readiness among four-year-old Head Start children

Abstract This study uses the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) data from 1997 to investigate the degree to which child, family, classroom, teacher, and Head Start program characteristics are related to children's school readiness and continued development over the four-year-old Head Start year. Latent class analyses were used to examine the constellation of school readiness competencies within individual Head Start children in both the fall and spring of the four-year-old Head Start year. Multinomial regression analyses examined patterns of association between demographic and program characteristics and profile membership over time. Four distinct developmental profiles were found in the sample in the fall, and three were found in the spring. Furthermore, a substantial proportion of Head Start children (43%) moved from a developmental profile including some risk to a strengths profile between the fall and spring of the Head Start year. Child age, family structure, parental educational attainment, classroom quality and teacher's level of educational attainment emerged as important factors associated with stability and change in profile membership over the four-year-old Head Start year, but receipt of social services through Head Start was not associated with stability or change in profile membership.
Lipid Metabolism by Gut Microbes and Atherosclerosis

### Gut Flora Metabolism of Phosphatidylcholine Promotes Cardiovascular Disease Wang et al Nature . 2011;472:57–63. A recent metabolomic study provides evidence that microbial metabolism of lipids in the gut yields product(s) that promote atherosclerosis. These results add another dimension—the microbiome—to the complex determinants of atherogenesis. Atherosclerotic vascular disease is a complex pathophenotype that is governed by genetic and environmental determinants. The mechanistic interplay between specific genetic loci that predispose to atherosclerosis and promotive dietary factors is well known and serves as the basis for current preventive therapeutic strategies designed to limit expression of overt disease. For example, we routinely urge our patients at risk for atherosclerosis to reduce the intake of cholesterol-rich foods and, for those who are glucose intolerant, to limit the intake of carbohydrates. These exhortations are predicated on the view that dietary risk factors are directly absorbed from the gut to exert their adverse vascular effects. What has been neglected until recently, however, is the role of commensal intestinal microorganisms in the metabolism of foodstuffs and their potential consequences for host metabolism and disease pathogenesis. A recent outcome of the application of contemporary genomics to human pathobiology is the ability to characterize the microbiome of these commensal organisms and to do so in conjunction with exploring the functional consequences of these unique microbiota for human biology and disease. Gut flora can significantly influence the bioavailability of dietary constituents and their metabolism in mammalian hosts.1 Susceptibility to obesity2 and insulin resistance3 are determined by the specific metabolic characteristics of gut microbiota. The ability of this unique microbial community to exert such dramatic effects on metabolism should not be surprising when one considers that nearly 99% of the genes in humans are microbial in origin.4 With the rapid evolution of metagenomic …
Whole genome sequence analysis of the simulated systolic blood pressure in Genetic Analysis Workshop 18 family data: long-term average and collapsing methods

Analysis of longitudinal family data is challenging because of 2 sources of correlations: correlations across longitudinal measurements and correlations among related individuals. We investigated whether analysis using long-term average (average of all 3 visits) can enhance gene discovery compared with a single-visit analysis. We analyzed all 200 replicates of simulated systolic blood pressure (SBP) in Genetic Analysis Workshop 18 (GAW18) family data using both single-marker and collapsing methods. We considered 2 collapsing approaches: collapsing all variants and collapsing low-frequency variants. Analysis using long-term average performed slightly better than SBP measured at a single visit. Collapsing all variants performed much better than collapsing low-frequency variants at MAP4 and FLNB, which included a common variant with a relatively large effect. For several variants in gene MAP4, single-marker analysis also provided high power. In contrast, collapsing only low-frequency variants performed much better for SCAP, DNASE1L3, and LOC152217, where rare variants in these genes had larger effect than common variants. However, for other causal variants, all approaches provided disappointingly poor performance. This poor performance appeared to occur because most of these causal variants explained a very small fraction of phenotypic variance. We also found that collapsing multiple variants did worse than single-marker analysis for several genes when they contained causal single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with both positive and negative effects. Because half of causal SNPs were not found in the annotation file based on the 1000 Genomes Project, we found that power was also affected by our use of incomplete annotation information.
α-2,3-Sialyltransferase Enhances Neisseria gonorrhoeae Survival during Experimental Murine Genital Tract Infection

The addition of host-derived sialic acid to Neisseria gonorrhoeae lipooligosaccharide is hypothesized to be an important mechanism by which gonococci evade host innate defenses. This hypothesis is based primarily on in vitro assays of complement-mediated and phagocytic killing. Here we report that a nonpolar α-2,3-sialyltransferase (lst) mutant of N. gonorrhoeae was significantly attenuated in its capacity to colonize the lower genital tract of 17-β estradiol-treated female BALB/c mice during competitive infection with the wild-type strain. Genetic complementation of the lst mutation restored recovery of the mutant to wild-type levels. Studies with B10.D2-HCoH2dH2-T18c/OSN (C5-deficient) mice showed that attenuation of the lst mutant was not due to increased sensitivity to complement-mediated bacteriolysis, a result that is consistent with recently reported host restrictions in the complement cascade. However, Lst-deficient gonococci were killed more rapidly than sialylated wild-type gonococci following intraperitoneal injection into normal mice, which is consistent with sialylation conferring protection against killing by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs). As reported for human PMNs, sialylated gonococci were more resistant to killing by murine PMNs, and sialylation led to reduced association with and induction of a weaker respiratory burst in PMNs from estradiol-treated mice. In summary, these studies suggest sialylation confers a survival advantage to N. gonorrhoeae in mice by increasing resistance to PMN killing. This report is the first direct demonstration that α-2,3-sialyltransferase contributes to N. gonorrhoeae pathogenesis in an in vivo model. This study also validates the use of experimental murine infection to study certain aspects of gonococcal pathogenesis.
Function of Rad17/Mec3/Ddc1 and its partial complexes in the DNA damage checkpoint

The Saccharomyces cerevisiaeheterotrimeric checkpoint clamp consisting of the Rad17, Mec3, and Ddc1 subunits (Rad17/3/1, the 9-1-1 complex in humans) is an early response factor to DNA damage in a signal transduction pathway leading to the activation of the checkpoint system and eventually to cell cycle arrest. These subunits show structural similarities with the replication clamp PCNA and indeed, it was demonstrated in vitro that Rad17/3/1 could be loaded onto DNA by checkpoint specific clamp loader Rad24-RFC, analogous to the PCNARFC clamp–clamp loader system. We have studied the interactions between the checkpoint clamp subunits and the activity of partial clamp complexes. We find that none of the possible partial complexes makes up a clamp that can be loaded onto DNA by Rad24-RFC. In agreement, overexpression of DDC1 or RAD17 in a MEC3� strain, or of MEC3 or RAD17 in a DDC1∆ strain shows no rescue of damage sensitivity. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Object detection grammars

In this talk I will discuss various aspects of object detection using compositional models, focusing on the framework of object detection grammars, discriminative training and efficient computation.
The Role of Lawyers in Producing the Rule of Law: Some Critical Reflections

INTRODUCTION For the last 15 years, American and European governments, lending institutions led by the World Bank, and NGOs like the American Bar Association have been funding projects to promote the “Rule of Law” in developing countries, former Communist and military dictatorships, and China. The Rule of Law is of course a very capacious concept, which means many different things to its different promoters. Anyone who sets out to investigate its content will soon find himself in a snowstorm of competing definitions. Its barebones content (“formal legality”) is that of a regime of rules, announced in advance, which are predictably and effectively applied to all they address, including the rulers who promulgate them — formal rules that tell people how the state will deploy coercive force and enable them to plan their affairs accordingly. The slightlymore-than barebones version adds: “applied equally to everyone.” This minimalist version of the Rule of Law, which we might call pure positivist legalism, is not, however, what the governments, multilateral lenders and NGOs have been promoting. All of the active projects have some specific substantive and institutional content. Multilateral lending institutions (development banks) have tended to favor the general position — loosely traceable to Max Weber and Douglass North in one version, and to Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek in another — that well-functioning markets require the support of a framework of clearly defined and effectively and predictably enforced legal rules and rights. At the height of the so-called Washington Consensus in the 1990s, neo-liberal promoters stressed in particular that the Rule of Law protects property rights, especially in foreign direct investment,
Paleontologic evidence for complex tectonic interlayering of Mississippian to Permian deep-water rocks of the Golconda allochthon in Tobin Range, north-central Nevada

A detailed paleontologic study in the Hoffman Canyon area was undertaken to determine the degree of tectonic interlayering in a thick succession of largely deep-water chert, argillite, and silty limestone composing the Havallah sequence of the Mesozoic Golconda allochthon of western and north-central Nevada. The study focused on the type area of the Havallah Formation which, as originally defined, was considered to be largely a conformable sequence of Permian(?) rocks. The results indicate that the Havallah sequence in the Hoffman Canyon area consists of a complex tectonic accumulation characterized by repetition of Mississippian, Pennsylvanian, and Permian rocks in at least 12 superposed thrust plates. Such a style of deformation may be characteristic of much of the Golconda allochthon, although paleontologic evidence of this style is clear in only a few areas and is probably best defined in the Hoffman Canyon area. Detailed stratigraphic and paleontologic studies of the Havallah sequence at a few other localities in Nevada indicate considerable lithologic variability of comparable-age rocks in the sequence from area to area, indicating a complex depositional setting that at present is only partly understood.
A practical approach to evaluating test results

The author describes the procedure used at NCR Corporation to evaluate the data collected during usability tests. He points out that it can be overwhelming to face a mass of data to be compiled, categorized, analyzed, and evaluated at the end of a test, with limited time available for producing a report. This situation is avoided by defining, before a test, the tools that will be used to collect the test data and the process by which the results will be evaluated, and then performing the preliminary evaluation of data in a process parallel with the test itself. At the end of the test, an evaluation meeting is held at which the cumulative results are reviewed and solutions to the problems that have been identified are defined. >
Modeling crosstalk induced delay

The amplitude of coupled noise is often used in estimating the crosstalk effect. Coupling noise-induced delay measures the impact of crosstalk on circuit performance. Efficient computation of worst case noise-induced delays are essential, because such calculations are performed a huge number of times during timing analysis. In this paper we analyze the problem of crosstalk noise-induced delay in one logic stage. We observe that the popular method of crosstalk delay computation based on superposition of the victim's switching waveform and the noise waveform determined when the victim is quiet, produces an underestimation of delay. To capture the crosstalk noise-induced delay, we introduce the concept of dynamic coupling noise waveform. We propose a method of synthesizing the dynamic noise waveform and using it to estimate the delay change.
Predominant expression and activation-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of phospholipase C-gamma 2 in B lymphocytes.

Abstract The triggering of T- or B-cell antigen-specific receptors is accompanied by rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of distinct cellular substrates, one of which is the gamma 1 isoform of inositol phospholipid-specific phospholipase C (PLC-gamma 1). This phosphorylation event, mediated by a putative protein tyrosine kinase coupled to the antigen receptor, probably stimulates the enzymatic activity of PLC-gamma 1, thereby promoting inositol phospholipid hydrolysis and other downstream signal transduction events. Recently, another ubiquitously expressed PLC isoform, PLC-gamma 2 (which shares 50.2% amino acid homology with PLC-gamma 1), has been identified. PLC-gamma 2-specific antibodies were used to evaluate the distribution and potential signaling role of this isoform in lymphocytes. Here, we report that, in contrast to T lymphocytes that express predominantly PLC-gamma 1, the major isoform expressed in murine and human resting B cells is PLC-gamma 2. Among B-cell tumor lines, all five murine B-lymphoma lines tested and one of six human B-lymphoblastoid cell lines also expressed predominantly PLC-gamma 2. However, three other human lines preferentially expressed PLC-gamma 1, and two others displayed similar levels of the two PLC-gamma isoforms. Furthermore, the triggering of B-cell surface immunoglobulin by anti-receptor antibodies was accompanied by a rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of PLC-gamma 2, which peaked after 5 min of stimulation. Conversely, and in agreement with recent reports, triggering of the T-cell antigen receptor complex led to the predominant phosphorylation of PLC-gamma 1 on tyrosine. These findings identify PLC-gamma 2 as a substrate for a B-cell putative protein tyrosine kinase coupled to the antigen receptor and suggest that its tyrosine phosphorylation constitutes a critical and early event in B-cell activation and, furthermore, that PLC-gamma 1 and PLC-gamma 2 may participate in similar but distinct signal transduction pathways in lymphocytes.
Vertebrate Fruit Removal and Ant Seed Dispersal in the Neotropical Ginger Renealmia alpinia (Zingiberaceae)

Plants frequently display fruit characteristics that support multiple seed-dispersal syndromes. These ambiguous characteristics may reflect the fact that seed dispersal is usually a complex process involving multiple dispersers. This is the case for the Neotropical ginger Renealmia alpinia (Zingiberaceae). It was originally suggested that the aromatic fruits of R. alpinia located at the base of the plant are adapted for terrestrial mammal seed dispersal. However, the dark-purple coloration of the fruits and bright orange aril surrounding the seeds suggest that birds may play a role in R. alpinia seed dispersal. At La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, we used camera traps to record vertebrate visits to infructescences of R. alpinia. Most visitors were toucans and aracaris (Ramphastidae). However fruits were also removed by terrestrial mammals (coatis and armadillos). In addition to vertebrate fruit removal, some of the fruits dehisce and the seeds that fall on the ground are dispersed by ants. Fruitfall traps showed that 77 percent of fruits are removed by vertebrates. However, 15 percent of fruits fall to the base of parent plants to be potentially dispersed by ants. Experiments using a laboratory ant colony showed that ants are effective seed dispersers of R. alpinia. Ant seed manipulation increased germination success and reduced time to germination. In conclusion, primary seed dispersal in the Neotropical ginger R. alpinia is mostly performed by birds, additionally ants are effective dispersers at short distances. Seed dispersal in R. alpinia is a complex process involving a diverse array of dispersal agents.
Analytics for software development

Despite large volumes of data and many types of metrics, software projects continue to be difficult to predict and risky to conduct. In this paper we propose software analytics which holds out the promise of helping the managers of software projects turn their plentiful information resources, produced readily by current tools, into insights they can act on. We discuss how analytics works, why it's a good fit for software engineering, and the research problems that must be overcome in order to realize its promise.
A domestic speech recognition based on Hidden Markov Model

Based on HMM (Hidden Markov Model), this paper proposed a domestic speech recognizer, which can be used at home to do some simple tasks, such as turning on/off the light, opening/closing the doors and turning up/down air conditioners' temperature according to voice commands. Compared to traditional speech recognizers, it achieves a high recognition rate and low computational cost, which are important for the domestic application.
Seasonal, Tissue-Specific Regulation of Akt/Protein Kinase B and Glycogen Synthase in Hibernators

Yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris) exhibit a circannual cycle of hyperphagia and nutrient storage in the summer followed by hibernation in the winter. This annual cycle of body mass gain...
Voxel spread function method for correction of magnetic field inhomogeneity effects in quantitative gradient‐echo‐based MRI

Purpose Macroscopic magnetic field inhomogeneities adversely affect different aspects of MRI images. In quantitative MRI when the goal is to quantify biological tissue parameters, they bias and often corrupt such measurements. The goal of this article is to develop a method for correction of macroscopic field inhomogeneities that can be applied to a variety of quantitative gradient-echo-based MRI techniques. Methods We have reanalyzed a basic theory of gradient echo MRI signal formation in the presence of background field inhomogeneities and derived equations that allow for correction of magnetic field inhomogeneity effects based on the phase and magnitude of gradient echo data. We verified our theory by mapping effective transverse relaxation rate in computer simulated, phantom, and in vivo human data collected with multigradient echo sequences. Results The proposed technique takes into account voxel spread function effects and allowed obtaining virtually free from artifacts effective transverse relaxation rate maps for all simulated, phantom and in vivo data except of the edge areas with very steep field gradients. Conclusion The voxel spread function method, allowing quantification of tissue specific effective transverse relaxation rate-related tissue properties, has a potential to breed new MRI biomarkers serving as surrogates for tissue biological properties similar to longitudinal and transverse relaxation rate constants widely used in clinical and research MRI. Magn Reson Med 70:1283–1292, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
An agent-based framework for assessing missile defense doctrine and policy

BMD-agents (BMDA) is a framework for specifying entities and their interaction patterns used in the command and control (C2) of ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems. In BMDA, doctrine is encoded as rules of individual agents and C2 policies are encoded as combinations of agents. BMDA can be used to analyze measures of effectiveness and performance of BMD policies.
Introduction: early onset of antidepressant action.

critical to confront the issue of what early changes are clinically meaningful as opposed to only statistically meaningful. Once definitions are clarified, the key scientific questions are whether early onset of action actually occurs with some current therapies and whether it occurs with one therapy more than another. Is there, in fact, any evidence that one antidepressant can work more quickly than another? This supplement presents articles, discussions, and a debate examining the question of whether the data prove that one antidepressant does, or could, work faster than another. Evaluating the data involves the key complicating methodological issue of distinguishing between early onset of efficacy and superior overall efficacy appearing early in a trial. If the data agree that early onset of action has been demonstrated, are there differences among these drugs that may account for these effects? Almost a decade ago, Robert Prien and colleagues listed the methodological criteria they determined necessary in designing a study that examines earlier onset of action of one drug over another. First, to eliminate a chance finding when interpreting data after completion of a study, the terms defining early onset must be clearly established given the number of variables in a trial. Second, determining early onset requires that the standard clinical study be altered, permitting more frequent assessments and allowing patient improvement measurements at relevant timepoints. Third, aggressive dosing should be a criterion so all treatments are equally likely to show early onset of action. Without such a criterion, dosing of one treatment may be more aggressively administered at full or optimal therapeutic dose while others are not, resulting in the appearance that one treatment works faster than another. Fourth, the study population must be of adequate size and include a placebo control to measure antidepressant effect. Finally, an early onset response must be sustained to be considered significant. With these questions and considerations in mind, the clinical researchers contributing to this supplement have scrutinized this issue, assessed available data and reports, and now offer insight into the state of the art of early time to onset of antidepressant efficacy.
FDI: The Neglected Twin of Trade

Chapter III asks whether foreign direct investment (FDI) is a substitute or complement for international trade, since both possibilities are modelled in the theory of multinational firms. A gravity model estimates the cumulative effect for a sample of 63 countries and suggests that FDI inflows reduce overall trade and in some cases deteriorate the trade balance. Three channels are identified in case studies of Spain, Mexico, and Thailand but need to be quantified in further research. Predictions should not be based on the gravity model because it appears structurally unstable.