cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Activation of the Ah receptor signaling pathway by prostaglandins.

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor that mediates many of the biological and toxicological actions of a diverse range of chemicals, including the environmental contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, dioxin). Although no endogenous physiological ligand for the AhR has yet been described, numerous studies support the existence of such a ligand(s). Here we have examined the ability of prostaglandins and related chemicals to activate the AhR signaling system. Using two AhR-based bioassay systems we report that relatively high concentrations of several prostaglandins (namely, PGB3, PGD3, PGF3α, PGG2, PGH1, and PGH2) can not only stimulate AhR transformation and DNA binding in vitro, but also induce AhR-dependent reporter gene expression in mouse hepatoma cells in culture. PGG2 also induced AhR-dependent reporter gene expression to a level three-to four fold greater than that observed with a maximal inducing dose of TCDD. Sucrose gradient ligand binding analysis revealed that PGG2 could competitively displace [3H]TCDD from the AhR. Overall, our results demonstrate that selected prostaglandins are weak agonists for the AhR and they represent a structurally distinct and novel class of activator of the AhR signal transduction pathway. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 15:187–196, 2001
Serology in the respiratory mycoses

This report is an effort to summarize the most recent developments in antigens and serologic tests used for the diagnosis and prognosis of histoplasmosis, blastomycosis, coccidioidomycosis, paracoccidioidomycosis and cryptococcosis. Studies by means of immunodiffusion (ID) in agar gels (AG), viz.; various modifications of the procedure described by Ouchterlony, are emphasized. The absence of standardization in terminology of either this test—ID, AG or Ouchterlony—or the antigenic constituents reactive at different stages of the infections or diseases is perhaps representative of the confusion currently existing in the serologic study of the respiratory mycoses.
Church history in the age of science;: Historiographical patterns in the United States, 1876-1918

Considered a founder of the field of church historiography, Henry Warner Bowden provides the earliest analyses of the work of John C. Shea, Ephraim Emerton, Frank H. Foster, Arthur C. McGiffert, Walter Rauschenbusch, and Philip Schaff.Bowden explicates the dramatic juxtapositions resulting from two powerful and opposing definitions of history: objectivity vs. faith; naturalism vs. providential activity; science vs. theology. As the decades passed, the theological position gradually lost its appeal, allowing scientific ideals to prevail."
Analyzing relationships between closed labs and course activities in CS1

Closed laboratories are becoming an increasingly popular approach to teaching introductory computer science courses. However, as observed in [1], "Considering the prevalence of closed labs and the fact that they have been in place in CS curricula for more than a decade, there is little published evidence assessing their effectiveness." In this paper, we report on how students' performance in closed laboratories relates to their performances on a placement exam, homework assignments, course exams, and how it relates to their self-reported attitudes towards our CS1 course. This analysis provides insights to help us improve the design of our laboratories as well as other components of CS1.
Bury St. Edmunds and the populations of late medieval English towns, 1270-1530.

One of the most intriguing and important eras of British demographic history is the later middle ages, crudely defined herein to encompass the years 1270 to 1530. This period includes medieval population at its apex, followed by what many observers have called a Malthusian subsistence crisis, an era of famine and plague pandemic, and finally, a slow, almost phased, period of recovery. Much of the groundwork of urban demographic studies was laid in the nineteenth century, by scholars such as William Denton and the Greens. They believed that most aspects of urban life declined in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and that demographic contraction went hand in hand with social and economic ruin. Despite some questioning and modification of these premises, the concept of decline passed into the twentieth century, and was synthesized by M.M. Postan, the leading economic historian of his time. Using empirical methods, Postan built a general model of late medieval economic stagnation and decay. Towns were more or less peripheral to the gist of his argument, which stressed the overwhelming importance of the rural economy, but he did comment on urban life.
Service-delivery strategies: Three approaches to consulting for hospitality

Abstract Effective consulting for hospitality involves going beyond applying mere expertise to solve a client's particular problem to being an empowering expert who focuses on ensuring that clients obtain the tools and resources needed to solve their own problems.
Water splitting: An adaptive junction.

The energetic and kinetic behaviours of water-oxidation catalysts deposited on semiconductor electrodes are probed in situ, elucidating the junction formed between them, and transforming the design principles of the catalysts.
Work of breathing indices in infants with respiratory insufficiency receiving high-flow nasal cannula and nasal continuous positive airway pressure.

To compare work of breathing (WOB) indices between two nCPAP settings and two levels of HFNC in a crossover study. Infants with a CGA 28–40 weeks, baseline of HFNC 3–5 lpm or nCPAP 5-6 cmH2O and fraction of inspired oxygen ⩽40% were eligible. WOB was analyzed using respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) for each of the four modalities: HFNC 3 and 5 lpm, nCPAP 5 and 6 cmH2O. N=20; Study weight 1516 g (±40 g). Approximately 12 000 breaths were analyzed indicating a high degree of asynchronous breathing and elevated WOB indices at all four levels of support. Phase angle values (means) (P<0.01): HFNC 3 lpm (114.7°), HFNC 5 lpm (96.7°), nCPAP 5 cmH2O (87.2°), nCPAP 6 cmH2O (80.5°). The mean phase relation of total breath (PhRTB) (means) (P<0.01): HFNC 3 lpm (63.2%), HFNC 5 lpm (55.3%), nCPAP 5 cmH2O (49.3%), nCPAP 6 cmH2O (48.0%). The relative labored breathing index (LBI) (means) (P⩽0.001): HFNC 3 lpm (1.39), HFNC 5 lpm (1.31), nCPAP 5 cmH2O (1.29), nCPAP 6 cmH2O (1.26). Eighty-two percent of the study subjects—respiratory mode combinations displayed clustering, in which a proportion of breaths either occurred predominantly out-of-phase (relative asynchrony) or in-phase (relative synchrony). In this study, WOB indices were statistically different, yet clinically similar in that they were elevated with respect to normal values. These infants with mild-to-moderate respiratory insufficiency demonstrate a meaningful elevation in WOB indices and continue to require non-invasive respiratory support. Patient variability exists with regard to biphasic clustered breathing patterns and the level of supplemental fraction of inspired oxygen ⩽40% alone does not provide guidance to the optimal matching of WOB indices and non-invasive respiratory support.
The Unidimensionality and Reliability of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales

The unidimensionality and reliability of the Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scales (PKBS) for assessing child behavior with at-risk children was examined using a sample of 1,679 2- to 6-year-old children from nine Starting Early Starting Smart study sites. The unidimensionality of the eight PKBS scales was assessed using confirmatory factor analysis for the full sample, and the comparability (invariance) of the scales was examined across gender and Black and White racial groups. The results supported the unidimensionality of six of the eight scales using the full sample. The unidimensionality of the scales varied across gender and racial subgroups. Four of the eight PKBS scales were shown to be comparable across gender subgroups, and three of the eight scales were shown to be comparable across racial subgroups. The reliability of measurements derived from the PKBS was sufficient for using the PKBS as a measure of group performance for young at-risk children.
Deconstructing heart failure disease management.

The nurses in the heart failure disease management intervention tested in DeBusk and colleagues' study contacted the patients only by telephone. The failure of this program to alter congestive hear...
Lowering of plasma free tryptophan in normal and portacaval shunt dogs

Abstract The purpose of this study was to develop a method which would produce immediate and sustained lowering of plasma free tryptophan. Glucose, insulin, and mixtures of the two in different concentrations were infused into dogs over a period of 6 hr. Blood was sampled during the course of the infusion for assay of plasma free and total tryptophan, free fatty acids, glucose, and insulin. The infusate found to produce the most significant and sustained reduction in plasma free tryptophan in normal dogs was a mixture of 25% glucose and insulin. The lowering ranged from 26 to 47% during the course of the infusion. When the same infusion mixture was administered to dogs with established portacaval shunts, and elevated plasma free tryptophan concentrations (3.3 ± 0.3 μg/ml compared to normal dogs which had 1.9 ± 0.1 μg/ml), there was a 35% reduction to normal levels (2.0–2.2 μg/ml). A glucose-insulin mixture has, therefore, been found which, upon infusion into dogs, significantly lowers plasma free tryptophan levels. The effect of such an infusion on the plasma levels of free tryptophan, and the clinical course of patients with hepatic encephalopathy remains to be determined.
Moving towards making social toxins mainstream in children's environmental health

Purpose of Review—While traditional disciplinary research theory and methods have focused separately on how social and physical environmental factors affect children’s health, evolving research underscores important integrated effects. Recent findings—This review outlines the specific reasons why social determinants should be considered mainstream in children’s environmental health research with particular focus on interactive effects between social and physical hazards. These include (a) sensitivity of overlapping physiological systems, via epigenesis, programming, and plasticity to social and physical environmental moderation that may impact health across the life span; (b) ways in which social environmental vulnerabilities moderate the effects of physical environmental factors providing specific examples related to respiratory health and neurodevelopment; (c) overlapping exposure distribution profiles; and (d) relevance to pediatric health disparities. Summary—Because of the covariance across exposures and evidence that social stress and other environmental toxins (e.g., pollutants, tobacco smoke) may influence common physiological pathways (e.g., oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory immune pathways, autonomic disruption), understanding the potential synergistic effects promises to more completely inform children’s environmental health risk. While this discussion focuses around the respiratory and neurological systems, these concepts extend more broadly to children’s psychological and physical development.
Competitive inheritance and limitedness of graphs

The study of competition number of graphs has brought many interesting problems to graph theory and combinatorics. However, little is known about what makes the competition number of a graph small or large. In this paper, we introduce competitive inheritance and limitedness of graphs. We show that most graphs studied in the literature of competition graphs possess the inheritance property on their competition number. We characterize the limitedness of graphs on competition number by forbidden induced subgraphs. Our results also prove a conjecture of Opsut on competition number for a new class of graphs. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A semi‐micro synthesis of selenophene

The best yields were obtained when the sodium hydrogen selenide was generated from elemental selenium and 2 molar equiv of sodium borohydride in the minimum amount of water-dimethylformamide (1:8), or 95% ethanol - DMF (1:4). The selenide solution can be added to the bis(trimethylsilyl) - 1,3-butadiyne, or the diyne can be dissolved in DMF and added to the selenide solution with little difference in yield (60 to 80%). A slightly lower yield is obtained if the selenide is generated in the presence of the diyne, but the one-pot procedure is more convenient.
The Management of Academic Culture: Notes on the Management of Meaning and Social Integration.

This article is concerned with the management of the symbolic life of academic organizations, an area strangely neglected in discussions of academic management. The adoption by higher education of the techniques of market-based businesses comes at a time when these businesses are being criticized for lack of attention to organizational culture. Academic institutions may best be understood as value-rational organizations grounded in strong cultures described as ideologies and belief systems. Some thoughts on the management of academic culture, on the management of meaning and social integration, are developed.
X-ray absorption spectroscopic evidence for the formation of Pb(II) inner-sphere adsorption complexes and precipitates at the calcite-water interface.

Combined batch sorption and in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy provide direct assessment of the mechanisms for Pb(II) sorption at the calcite−water interface under low-temperature conditions. At low metal concentration, 1 μM initial Pb, X-ray absorption fine structure data indicate the formation of Pb mononuclear inner-sphere complexes at the surface. A first-shell Pb−O bond length of 2.34 A is consistent with nearest oxygen neighbors in 3- or 4-fold coordination with a distorted trigonal pyramidal or square pyramidal geometry with a stereochemically active electron lone pair. For high initial Pb concentrations, 20 and 60 μM Pb, precipitation of hydrocerussite and cerussite secondary phases dominates Pb partitioning. At 5 and 10 μM initial Pb, the sorption mechanism is dual in nature with persistence of the mononuclear adsorption complex combined with precipitation of a cerussite phase occurring prior to saturation of theoretically available surface sites. The formation of inner-sphere complexes implie...
Shifting Lenses: A Critical Examination of Disability in Adult Education.

Adult educators discuss disability as an organizing variable, rarely troubling the concept of disability as an identity marker by examining its social construction.
Acetaldehyde disrupts tight junctions in Caco-2 cell monolayers by a protein phosphatase 2A-dependent mechanism.

Acetaldehyde is accumulated at high concentrations in the colonic lumen following ethanol administration. Previous studies demonstrated that acetaldehyde disrupts intestinal epithelial tight junctions and increases paracellular permeability. In the present study, we investigated the role of PP2A in the acetaldehyde-induced disruption of intestinal epithelial tight junctions. Caco-2 cell monolayers were exposed to 200–600 μM acetaldehyde for varying times, and the epithelial barrier function was evaluated by measuring transepithelial electrical resistance and inulin permeability. Acetaldehyde treatment resulted in a time-dependent increase in inulin permeability and redistribution of occludin and ZO-1 from the intercellular junctions. Treatment of cells with fostriecin (a PP2A-selective inhibitor) or knockdown of PP2A by siRNA blocked acetaldehyde-induced increase in inulin permeability and redistribution of occludin and ZO-1. The effects of fostriecin and acetaldehyde were confirmed in mouse intestine ex vivo. Acetaldehyde-induced tight junction disruption and barrier dysfunction were also attenuated by a PP2A-specific inhibitory peptide, TPDYFL. Coimmunoprecipitation studies showed that acetaldehyde increased the interaction of PP2A with occludin and induced dephosphorylation of occludin on threonine residues. Fostriecin and TPDYFL significantly reduced acetaldehyde-induced threonine dephosphorylation of occludin. Acetaldehyde failed to change the level of the methylated form of PP2A-C subunit. However, genistein (a tyrosine kinase inhibitor) blocked acetaldehyde-induced association of PP2A with occludin and threonine dephosphorylation of occludin. These results demonstrate that acetaldehyde-induced disruption of tight junctions is mediated by PP2A translocation to tight junctions and dephosphorylation of occludin on threonine residues.
New Rules for the Treatment of Stock Options: Caveats for Management

Stock options have become an increasingly popular part of compensation packages. But some of the latest rules for handling them are complex. The authors explain how to navigate these treacherous waters, and list a variety of caveats you must heed. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Documents Lost: Or, The “List of Special Materials”

As required by law, the U.S. Government Printing Office issues the Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications to serve as the “comprehensive index of public documents.” The Monthly Catalog was for many years an indispensable, but stodgy, source of bibliographic information about publications of the federal government. Since the mid‐1970s the Monthly Catalog has undergone a number of significant changes. In July 1976 it took on a new look when it first appeared with unit card format citations. The Monthly Catalog's indexing also changed: Library of Congress subject headings were introduced, and new index sections were added. With the adoption of computer techniques, the publication has been able to become more responsive to the demands placed upon it.
A Theoretical Investigation of Dimethyl Carbonate Synthesis on Cu-Y Zeolite

A theoretical analysis of the mechanism of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) synthesis via oxidative carbonylation of methanol on Cu-exchanged Y zeolite, Cu−Y, was explored using density functional theory. These calculations show that methanol adsorbs in the presence of oxygen to form coadsorbed methoxide and hydroxide species and dimethoxide species on extraframework Cu+ cations. DMC can form by CO addition to the former species to produce monomethyl carbonate species, which then react with additional methanol or by CO addition to dimethoxide species to form DMC directly. The turnover frequency for DMC synthesis is estimated to be 1.2 × 10-5 s-1 for the reaction conditions used in the experimental work of Zhang and Bell (J. Catal., in press). This value compares very closely with that observed, 5 × 10-5 s-1. The calculated value of the apparent activation energy is 15.0 kcal/mol, in good agreement with that measured experimentally, 14.8 kcal/mol. The effects of methanol and oxygen on the adsorption of CO have als...
Supercritical fluid chromatography - mass spectrometry

Abstract A new interface for capillary column supercritical fluid chromatographymass spectrometry (SFC-MS) is described and initial results are presented. The advantages of SFC include the ability to separate high molecular weight, nonvolatile, and thermally unstable compounds not amenable to GC. A capillary column SFC-MS interface can replace HPLC-MS in most applications and has advantages due to the higher possible chromatographic efficiency, mobile phase volatility, and the simplicity of the interface design. Pressure programming during the chromatographic separation also allows precise control over the solvating power of the supercritical fluid mobile phase. The direct fluid injection interface provides for transfer of the total SFC effluent into a chemical ionization source. Results are presented to illustrate the separation analysis of mixtures of aromatic hydrocarbons and styrene oligomers using n -pentane and carbon dioxide as the mobile phase.
Risky Business: Temporal and Spatial Variation in Preindustrial Dryland Agriculture

Traditional dryland agriculture in the Pacific island was often labor-intensive and risky, yet settlement and farming in dry areas played an important role in the development of Polynesian societies. We investigate how temporal and spatial climatic fluctuations shape variation in agricultural production across dryland landscapes. We use a model that couples plant growth, climate, and soil organic matter dynamics, together with data from Kohala, Hawai'i, to understand how temperature, rainfall, nitrogen availability, and cropping activity interact to determine yield dynamics through time and space. Due to these interactions, the statistical characterization of rainfall alone is a poor characterization of agricultural yield. Using a simple linear model of human population dynamics, we show that the observed yield variation can affect long-term population growth substantially. Our approach to analyzing spatial and temporal fluctuations in food supply, and to interpreting the population consequences of these fluctuations, provides a quantitative evaluation of agricultural risk and human carrying capacity in dry regions.
ANALYSIS OF THE OEDIPAL COMPLEX

When 32 female Ss chose a photo of a physique which they would desire as “lover,” Ss tended to choose a physique which either received a rank of 1 or 7 (most or least like father) on a scale of per...
A Parallel Clustering Method Study Based on MapReduce

Clustering is considered as one of the most important tasks in data mining. The goal of clustering is to determine the intrinsic grouping in a set of unlabeled data. It has been widely applied to many kinds of areas. Many clustering methods have been studied, such as k-means, Fisher clustering method, Kohonen neural network and so on. In many kinds of areas, the scale of data set becomes larger and larger. Classical clustering methods are out of reach in practice in face of big data. The study of clustering methods based on large scale data is considered as an important task. MapReduce is taken as the most efficient model to deal with data intensive problems. In this paper, parallel clustering method based on MapReduce is studied. The research mainly contributes the following aspects. Firstly, it determines the initial center objectively. Secondly, information loss is taken as the distance metric between two samples. The efficiency of the method is illustrated with a practical DNA clustering problem.
Recent advances in the mathematical theory of steady flow of viscoelastic fluids

Abstract The paper reviews recent existence theorems for steady flows of viscoelastic fluids. The results concern small perturbations of either the rest state or a flow with uniform velocity. Differential as well as integral models are discussed. For differential models, we also discuss the boundary conditions which need to be prescribed at an inflow boundary; it turns out that there is a difference between Maxwell- and Jeffreys-type models in this respect. For Newtonian fluids, existence results which go much farther are known; the data need not be small and no regularity of the boundary is required. A number of problems are pointed out which make similar results for viscoelastic fluids difficult and in some cases unlikely.
Report from the Scientific Integrity Advisor: issues arising in 2005 and 2006.

I became the Scientific Integrity Advisor of Neurology in 2004,1 and summarized the issues we encountered during that first year.2 In that summary, I am embarrassed to report that in citing the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), we erroneously printed their URL as icjme.org and not icmje.org. An alert reader notified us that icjme.org was a pornographic site, containing images of nude celebrities. We immediately alerted the publisher, who corrected the error in the electronic versions, and we published a Correction in the next issue. Our publisher contacted the ICMJE, advising them to file a complaint with a domain dispute resolution committee, as it is apparently a violation of Internet registration policies to intentionally post unrelated material on misspelled domain names. In logging on to icjme.org in January 2007, I was pleasantly greeted by a notice that my organization's Internet Use Policy restricts access to the Web site because of its “adult content.” Throughout this report of years 2 and 3, I use the pronoun “he” to refer to all authors, regardless of their sex, rather than the awkward “he/she” or “s/he” constructions; thus, not all the offenders were men. We had two unresolved issues when I wrote …
Left atrial appendage thrombus is not uncommon in patients with acute atrial fibrillation and a recent embolic event: A transesophageal echocardiographics tudy

Objectives. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency of left atrial thrombus in patients with acute atrial fibrillation. Background. It is commonly assumed but unproved that left atrial thrombus in patients with atrial fibrillation begins to form after the onset of atrial fibrillation and that it requires ≥3 days to form. Thus, patients with acute atrial fibrillation (i.e., <3 days) frequently undergo cardioversion without anticoagulation prophylaxis. Methods. Three hundred seventeen patients (250 men, 67 women; mean [±SD] age 64 ± 12 years) with acute (n = 143) or chronic (n = 174) atrial fibrillation were studied by two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography. Results. Left atrial appendage thrombus was present in 20 patients (14%) with acute and 47 patients (27%, p < 0.01) with chronic atrial fibrillation. In patients with a recent embolic event, the frequency of left atrial appendage thrombus did not differ between those with acute (5 [21%] of 24) and those with chronic (12 [23%] of 52, p = NS) atrial fibrillation. Patients with acute versus chronic atrial fibrillation, respectively, did not differ (p = NS) in mean age (64 ± 13 vs. 65 ± 11 years), frequency of concentric left ventricular hypertrophy (32% vs. 26%), hypertension (32% vs. 41%), coronary artery disease (35% vs. 39%), congestive heart failure (43% vs. 48%), mitral stenosis (4% vs. 7%) or mitral valve replacement (1.4% vs. 6%). The minimally detectable difference in proportions between patients with acute and chronic atrial fibrillation based on a power of 0.80 and base proportion of 0.20 was 14%. Conclusions. Left atrial thrombus does occur in patients with acute atrial fibrillation <3 days in duration. The frequency of left atrial thrombus in patients with recent emboli is comparable between those with acute and chronic atrial fibrillation. These data suggest that patients with acute atrial fibrillation for <3 days require anticoagulation prophylaxis or evaluation by transesophageal echocardiography before cardioversion and should not be assumed to be free of left atrial thrombus.
Vitrification chemistry and nuclear waste

Abstract The vitrification of nuclear waste offers unique challenges to the glass technologist. The waste contains 50 or 60 elements, and often varies widely in composition. Most of these elements are seldom encountered in processing commercial glasses. The melter to vitrify the waste must be able to tolerate these variations in composition, while producing a durable glass. This glass must be produced without releasing hazardous radionuclides to the environment during any step of the vitrification process. Construction of a facility to convert the nearly 30 million gallons of high-level nuclear waste at the Savannah River Plant into borosilicate glass began in late 1983. In developing the vitrification process, the Savannah River Laboratory has had to overcome all of these challenges to the glass technologist. Advances in understanding in three areas have been crucial to our success: 1) oxidation-reduction phenomena during glass melting; 2) the reaction between glass and natural waters, and 3) the causes of foaming during glass melting.
WHICH SPATIAL HETEROGENEITY FRAMEWORK? CONSEQUENCES FOR CONCLUSIONS ABOUT PATCHY POPULATION DISTRIBUTIONS

Patches, gradients, and hierarchies are three common organizational frameworks for assessing the effects of spatial heterogeneity on species distributions. Since these frameworks are often chosen a priori, without knowledge of study systems, they may not correspond to the empirical heterogeneity present and may result in partial or erroneous conclusions about the forces structuring species distributions. I tested the consequences of choosing particular frameworks and whether patch heterogeneity structured patchily distributed populations of the valley elderberry longhorn beetle (Desmocerus californicus dimorphus) along four rivers in California's Central Valley (USA). A comparison of the three approaches revealed that each led to incomplete conclusions about controls on the beetle's distribution and populations. Patch analysis revealed weak effects of patch size and quality, and high unexplained variance, which likely reveals large amounts of stochasticity since replication was high. The patch analysis therefore concluded that distributions consistent with patch dynamic structures like classic metapopulation, source-sink, and mainland-island models existed in the different rivers. Conversely, gradient analyses revealed a gradient-distribution pattern responding to continuous and often large-scale variables, such as host-plant age or size, water availability, and the presence of an invasive leguminous tree; again most variance in beetle occurrence remained unexplained. Hierarchical analysis identified the natural spatial patterns of the system but gave no indication of causal processes. The combination of all three approaches explained the maximum variance in beetle occurrence, through inclusion of a comprehensive list of explanatory variables, multiple spatial scales, various types of heterogeneity, and a focus on the scales at which beetle-environment interactions were strongest. Surprisingly, these results still supported the notion that the beetle exists as a metapopulation, a structure thought to be rare because it ignores habitat quality and landscape conditions. These analyses exemplify the simultaneous importance of local patch attributes and broad-scale and/or gradient variables that are commonly overlooked in patch studies. Importantly, some patch attributes acted over inter-patch scales, affecting the perception of patch distances and distributional extents. Only through the integration of frameworks was I able to decipher the system's complexity and see that all three types of heterogeneity were acting in the system, sometimes over unexpected scales.
DIELECTRIC PROPERTIES OF HUMAN LEUKOCYTE SUBPOPULATIONS DETERMINED BY ELECTROROTATION AS A CELL SEPARATION CRITERION

Abstract The separation and purification of human blood cell subpopulations is an essential step in many biomedical applications. New dielectrophoretic fractionation methods have great potential for cell discrimination and manipulation, both for microscale diagnostic applications and for much larger scale clinical problems. To discover whether human leukocyte subpopulations might be separable by such methods, the dielectric characteristics of the four main leukocyte subpopulations, namely, B- and T-lymphocytes, monocytes, and granulocytes, were measured by electrorotation over the frequency range 1kHz to 120MHz. The subpopulations were derived from human peripheral blood by magnetically activated cell sorting (MACS) and sheep erythrocyte rosetting methods, and the quality of cell fractions was checked by flow cytometry. Mean specific membrane capacitance values were calculated from the electrorotation data as 10.5 (± 3.1), 12.6 (± 3.5), 15.3 (± 4.3), and 11.0 (± 3.2) mF/m 2 for T- and B-lymphocytes, monocytes, and granulocytes, respectively, according to a single-shell dielectric model. In agreement with earlier findings, these values correlated with the richness of the surface morphologies of the different cell types, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The data reveal that dielectrophoretic cell sorters should have the ability to discriminate between, and to separate, leukocyte subpopulations under appropriate conditions.
Makebelieve: using commonsense knowledge to generate stories

Introduction This paper introduces MAKEBELIEVE, an interactive story generation agent that uses commonsense knowledge to generate short fictional texts from an initial seed story step supplied by the user. A subset of commonsense describing causality, such as the sentence “a consequence of drinking alcohol is intoxication,” is selected from the ontology of the Open Mind Commonsense Knowledge Base (Singh, 2002). Binary causal relations are extracted from these sentences and stored as crude trans-frames (Minsky, 1988). By performing fuzzy, creativity-driven inference over these frames, creative “causal chains” are produced for use in story generation. The current system has mostly local pair-wise constraints between steps in the story, though global constraints such as narrative structure are being added. Our motivation for this project stems from two questions: Can a large-scale knowledge base of commonsense benefit the artificial intelligence community by supplying new knowledge and methods to tackle difficult AI problems? And given that full commonsense reasoning has yet to mature, can we demonstrate any success with a more “fail-soft” approach? We picked story generation because we feel it is a classic AI problem that can be approached with a creative use of commonsense knowledge. Compared to problem solving or question answering, story generation is a “softer” problem where there is no wrong solution per se, and that solution is evaluated subjectively. This paper is organized as follows. In the first section we frame our approach in the context of previous work in story generation. In the second section, we present the system’s representation of commonsense and techniques for fuzzy, creativity-driven inference. The third section presents an overview of the story generation architecture of MAKEBELIEVE. We conclude with an evaluation of the system followed by some discussion.
The role of copper compounds as fillers in transfer film formation and wear of nylon

Abstract The friction and wear behavior of filled nylon 11 composites was studied. The fillers used were CuS, CuO, CuF 2 and Cu(C 2 H 3 O 2 ) 2 ·H 2 O (copper acetate). A fixed filler proportion of 35% by volume was used. Sliding tests were performed in a pin-on-disk configuration at 1.0 m s −1 speed and 0.65 MPa nominal contact pressure under ambient conditions. The pin was made of composite specimens and the disk of hardened tool steel. It was found that CuS, CuF 2 and CuO as fillers reduced the wear rate of nylon while Cu(C 2 H 3 O 2 ) 2 ·H 2 O increased it. The cause of this behavior was investigated in terms of the ability of these materials to develop a transfer film and its bonding to the counterface. The wear rates of nylon and copper-acetate-filled nylon were high because the ability of nylon to form a transfer film was poor and the composite transfer film had poor adhesion to the counterface. On the other hand, the wear-resistant nylon composites which were filled with CuS, CuO and CuF 2 transferred well to the counterface and their transfer films were thin, uniform and strongly adherent to the counterface. The adhesion of the transfer film to the counterface for CuO-nylon composite was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis.
IRF8 Governs Expression of Genes Involved in Innate and Adaptive Immunity in Human and Mouse Germinal Center B Cells

IRF8 (Interferon Regulatory Factor 8) is a transcription factor expressed throughout B cell differentiation except for mature plasma cells. Previous studies showed it is part of the transcriptional network governing B cell specification and commitment in the bone marrow, regulates the distribution of mature B cells into the splenic follicular and marginal zone compartments, and is expressed at highest levels in germinal center (GC) B cells. Here, we investigated the transcriptional programs and signaling pathways affected by IRF8 in human and mouse GC B cells as defined by ChIP-chip analyses and transcriptional profiling. We show that IRF8 binds a large number of genes by targeting two distinct motifs, half of which are also targeted by PU.1. Over 70% of the binding sites localized to proximal and distal promoter regions with ∼25% being intragenic. There was significant enrichment among targeted genes for those involved in innate and adaptive immunity with over 30% previously defined as interferon stimulated genes. We also showed that IRF8 target genes contributes to multiple aspects of the biology of mature B cells including critical components of the molecular crosstalk among GC B cells, T follicular helper cells, and follicular dendritic cells.
Kinsey's View on Human Behavior

One would expect a zoologist, when he addresses himself to the study of some aspect of human behavior, to elect from the current assortment of theoretical orientations toward human behavior --such as psychoanalytic theory, field theory, symbolic interaction theory and learning theory-that one which has the most in common with the zoological orientation toward organisms in general. It is therefore not surprising to find that Kinsey takes what is essentially the learning theorist's point of view, with its heavy reliance on physiological explanations for human (social) behavior. This much was evident in the first Kinsey report, but one had to infer it from his unit for analysis, his choice of language, his use of data from infra-human species and from his interpretive statements scattered here and there throughout the book. In the second Kinsey report he has in Chapter 16, "Psychologic Factors in Sexual Response," given a fairly explicit account of his view, one which corroborates the judgment that his is a learning theory position, at least insofar as he takes into account factors which are not patently physiological in the first place. He makes it clear that he regards with misgivings the distinction between the physiologic and the psychologic.* He says, for example, "It might properly be contended that all functions of living matter are physiologic .. ." only regarding it as "customary" to regard "certain aspects of animal behavior as psychologic functions." (p. 642)x* This "customary" distinction he evidently regards as treacherous, for he suggests that an end product of the distinction encourages "the opinion that the psychologic aspects of human sexual behavior are of a different
A complete fourth-order vibration-rotation Hamiltonian for the bent XYX molecule

Abstract Detailed expressions in terms of the fundamental molecular parameters for all coefficients of the Hamiltonian of the bent XYX (H 2 O type) molecule are given. The calculation of these coefficients is based on the Darling-Dennison Hamiltonian in the Amat-Nielsen-Goldsmith expansion.
1016 CHOLESTASIS IN THE TOXIC-SHOCK SYNDROME (TSS)

Serum liver function tests were performed in 22 females, fulfilling the criteria for the TSS. Total serum bilirubin at some point during hospitalization was > 1.0 mg/dl in 18/21 pts. Mean (x) and SD during hospitalization were: 2.3±1.3 mg/dl (n=20) on day #1, 3.1±2.7 (n=14) on day #2, and 2.5±2.1 (n=12) on day #3, respectively, with a maximum (max) level of 11.3 mg/dl in one pt. In 8/16 pts tested, the conjugated bilirubin was > 0.4 mg/dl with a range (R) = 0.5−5.3 mg/dl; x = 1.8±1.6 mg/dl. Other abnormalities of liver function on the first hospital day included SGOT > 41 U/L in 15/20 pts, max: 300 U/L, x = 103±99 U/L; SGPT > 40 IU/L in 8/10 pts, max: 267 IU/L, x = 92±83 IU/L, and GGT > 55 U/L in 7/9 pts, max: 231 U/L, x = 112.4±61.5 U/L. Serum albumin was 101 U/L in 13/19 pts. Serum bile salts (BS) were > 10 μMolar in 16/16 pts, R = 12.2 − 147.7, x = 37.8±37.4. These abnormal values for BS are particularly striking, as all pts were essentially fasting. The 7 pts who required dopamine had significantly higher total serum bilirubin levels during the first two hospital days (t-test of p < .005 and p < .05, respectively). These findings are best explained by both hypoperfusion of the liver and a canalicular injury secondary to staphylococcal exotoxin. Cholestatic features appear to be a universal finding in TSS.
Diagnosis of Cochlear Ménière’s Disease with Electrocochleography

The existence of cochlear Meniere’s disease, once considered a variant of classic Meniere’s disease but without vertigo, has been questioned due to lack of objective evidence that endolymphatic hydrop
Three brief epileptic seizures reduce inhibitory synaptic currents, GABAA currents, and GABAA-receptor subunits

Summary: Purpose: Cellular mechanisms activated during seizures may exacerbate epilepsy. γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in brain, and we hypothesized that brief epileptic seizures may reduce GABA function. Methods: We used audiogenic seizures (AGSs) in genetically epilepsy-prone rats (GEPRs) to investigate effects of seizures on GABA-mediated inhibition in the presence of epilepsy. GEPRs are uniformly susceptible to AGSs beginning at 21 postnatal days. AGSs are brief convulsions lasting ∼20 s, and they begin in inferior colliculus (IC). We evoked three seizures in GEPRs and compared the results with those in seizure-naive GEPRs and nonepileptic Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats, the GEPR parent strain. Results: Whole-cell recording in IC slices showed that GABA-mediated monosynaptic inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) were reduced 55% by three brief epileptic seizures. Whole-cell recording in IC neuronal cultures showed that currents elicited by GABA were reduced 67% by three seizures. Western blotting for the alpha1 and alpha4 subunits of the GABAA receptor showed no statistically significant effects. In contrast, three brief epileptic seizures reduced gamma2 subunit levels by 80%. Conclusions: The effects of the very first seizures, in animals known to be epileptic, in an area of brain known to be critical to the seizure network, were studied. The results indicate that even brief epileptic seizures can markedly reduce IPSCs and GABA currents and alter GABAA-receptor subunit protein levels. The cause of the reductions in IPSCs and GABA currents is likely to be altered receptor subunit composition, with reduced gamma2 levels causing reduced GABAA-receptor sensitivity to GABA. Seizure-induced reductions in GABA-mediated inhibition could exacerbate epilepsy.
ISEE studies of the quasi-parallel bow shock

ISEE-1 and-2 plasma and magnetic field observations are used to examine several encounters with brief magnetic pulsations in the quasi-parallel region of the earth's bow shock. The two-spacecraft timing of the magnetic field signature is examined to see if the pulsation encounters are nested (as for back and forth motion of the shock over the spacecraft) or simply time-shifted (as for a structure convected anti-sunward across the spacecraft). Examples of both types of signatures are found, some within minutes of each other, suggesting that at least some pulsations probably originate from the growth and steepening of upstream waves but may eventually be able to stand in the upstream flow, perhaps becoming part of the shock surface itself. The possibility that some of the pulsations may simply be brief encounters with the moving shock is also not ruled out.
Considering Mycobacterium haemophilum in the differential diagnosis for lytic bone lesions in AIDS patients who present with ulcerating skin lesions

Mycobacterium haemophilum has recently been recognized as a newly emerging cause of osteomyelitis in immunocompromised patients. While still uncommon, its incidence has increased significantly with the growing AIDS epidemic. Like its relative M. tuberculosis and M. intracellulare, this organism is acid-fast positive; yet unlike its more well-known counterparts, M. haemophilum requires iron-supplemented culture media and low incubation temperatures (30-32 degrees C) for growth. We describe a case of M. haemophilum osteomyelities in the distal femur of a 36-year-old HIV-positive male, who also presented with multiple skin ulcerations. In an AIDS patient with a lytic bone lesion and concomitant skin eruptions, the diagnosis of M. haemophilum should be entertained so that special culture media can be used and appropriate treatment administered.
Numerical simulations of large earthquakes: Dynamic rupture propagation on heterogeneous faults

Our current conceptions of earthquake rupture dynamics, especially for large earthquakes, require knowledge of the geometry of the faults involved in the rupture, the material properties of the rocks surrounding the faults, the initial state of stress on the faults, and a constitutive formulation that determines when the faults can slip. In numerical simulations each of these factors appears to play a significant role in rupture propagation, at the kilometer length scale. Observational evidence of the earth indicates that at least the first three of the elements, geometry, material, and stress, can vary over many scale dimensions. Future research on earthquake rupture dynamics needs to consider at which length scales these features are significant in affecting rupture propagation.
Hydromechanical response of a fracture undergoing compression and shear

Abstract The normal compliance and fluid flow rates through a natural fracture in Austin Chalk were measured as a function of shear offset. We compare the experimental data on the effects of normal stress and shear offset on fluid flow rates to predictions from a microscopic theory of surface contact constrained by surface roughness measurements.
Independent components of magnetoencephalography: localization

We applied second-order blind identification (SOBI), an independent component analysis method, to MEG data collected during cognitive tasks. We explored SOBI's ability to help isolate underlying neuronal sources with relatively poor signal-to-noise ratios, allowing their identification and localization. We compare localization of the SOBI-separated components to localization from unprocessed sensor signals, using an equivalent current dipole modeling method. For visual and somatosensory modalities, SOBI preprocessing resulted in components that can be localized to physiologically and anatomically meaningful locations. Furthermore, this preprocessing allowed the detection of neuronal source activations that were otherwise undetectable. This increased probability of neuronal source detection and localization can be particularly beneficial for MEG studies of higher-level cognitive functions, which often have greater signal variability and degraded signal-to-noise ratios than sensory activation tasks.
Grammatical evolution decision trees for detecting gene-gene interactions

A fundamental goal of human genetics is the discovery of polymorphisms that predict common, complex diseases. It is hypothesized that complex diseases are due to a myriad of factors including environmental exposures and complex genetic risk models, including gene-gene interactions. Such interactive models present an important analytical challenge, requiring that methods perform both variable selection and statistical modeling to generate testable genetic model hypotheses. Decision trees are a highly successful, easily interpretable data-mining method that are typically optimized with a hierarchical model building approach, which limits their potential to identify interactive effects. To overcome this limitation, we utilize evolutionary computation, specifically grammatical evolution, to build decision trees to detect and model gene-gene interactions. Currently, we introduce the Grammatical Evolution Decision Trees (GEDT) method, and demonstrate that GEDT has power to detect interactive models in a range of simulated data, revealing GEDT to be a promising new approach for human genetics.