cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The g-mode Oscillation in Hybrid Stars: A Tale of Two Sound Speeds

We study the principal core g-mode oscillation in hybrid stars containing quark matter and find that they have an unusually large frequency range ($\approx$ 200 Hz - 1 kHz) compared to ordinary neutron stars or self-bound quark stars. Theoretical arguments and numerical calculations that trace this effect to the difference in the behaviour of the equilibrium and adiabatic sound speeds in the mixed phase of quarks and nucleons are provided. We propose that the unique sensitivity of core g-mode oscillations to the presence of a mixed quark-nucleon phase can be an indicator of quark matter in neutron stars. Based on our analysis, we conclude that for binary mergers where one or both components may be a hybrid star, the fraction of tidal energy pumped into resonant g-modes in hybrid stars can exceed that of a normal neutron star by a factor of 2-3, although resonance occurs during the last stages of inspiral. A self-bound star, on the other hand, has a much weaker tidal overlap with the g-mode The cumulative tidal phase error in hybrid stars, $\Delta\phi\cong$ 0.5 radians, is comparable to that from tides in ordinary neutron stars, presenting a challenge in distinguishing between the two cases. However, should the principal g-mode be excited to sufficient amplitude for detection in a post-merger remnant with quark matter in its interior, its distinct frequency would be a strong and direct indication for the existence of hybrid stars.
Urethral recurrence following radical cystectomy: Risk factors and outcomes.

416Background: Urethral recurrence (UR) has been reported to occur in up to 5% of patients following radical cystectomy (RC). Debate continues regarding the utility of screening for UR after RC. Mo...
A Deep Learning Approach to Re-create Raw Full-Field Digital Mammograms for Breast Density and Texture Analysis.

A deep learning approach was developed to re-create for-processing digital mammograms from for-presentation mammograms and showed strong agreement with the original images.
Association between menopausal hormone therapy and risk of neurodegenerative diseases: Implications for precision hormone therapy

Introduction The impact of menopausal hormone therapy (HT) on age-associated Alzheimer's and neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) remains unresolved. To determine the effect of HT, formulation, type, and duration on risk of NDDs, a retrospective analysis was performed using a 10-year Humana claims dataset. Methods Study population included women aged 45 years or older with or without claim records of HT medications. Patients diagnosed with NDDs including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia, multiple sclerosis (MS), and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) were identified. Relative risk (RR) ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for combined NDDs, or AD, PD, dementia, MS, and ALS were determined. Cumulative hazard ratios were determined to investigate the association between HT and NDDs at different age groups. Results In 379,352 women with or without claim records of HT, use of HT was associated with significantly reduced risk for combined NDDs (RR 0.42, 95% CI 0.40-0.43, P 1 year) on combined NDDs, AD, PD, and dementia was greater compared to short-term therapy (≤1 year). Discussion HT was associated with reduced risk of all NDDs including AD and dementia, with greater duration of therapy and natural steroid formulations associated with greater efficacy. These findings advance precision HT to prevent NDDs including AD.
Image Segmentation, Compression and Reconstruction from Edge Distribution Estimation with Random Field and Random Cluster Theories

Random field and random cluster theory are used to describe certain mathematical results concerning the probability distribution of image pixel intensities characterized as generic $2D$ integer arrays. The size of the smallest bounded region within an image is estimated for segmenting an image, from which, the equilibrium distribution of intensities can be recovered. From the estimated bounded regions, properties of the sub-optimal and equilibrium distributions of intensities are derived, which leads to an image compression methodology whereby only slightly more than half of all pixels are required for a worst-case reconstruction of the original image. A custom deep belief network and heuristic allows for the unsupervised segmentation, detection and localization of objects in an image. An example illustrates the mathematical results.
A Multidimensional Network Forensics Investigation of a State-Sanctioned Internet Outage

In November 2019, the government of Iran enforced a week-long total Internet blackout that prevented the majority of Internet connectivity into and within the nation. This work elaborates upon the Iranian Internet blackout by characterizing the event through Internet-scale, near realtime network traffic measurements. Beginning with an investigation of compromised machines scanning the Internet, nearly 50 TB of network traffic data was analyzed. This work discovers 856,625 compromised IP addresses, with 17,182 attributed to the Iranian Internet space. By the second day of the Internet shut down, these numbers dropped by 18.46% and 92.81%, respectively. Empirical analysis of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) paradigm revealed that over 90% of compromised Iranian hosts were fingerprinted as IoT devices, which saw a significant drop throughout the shutdown (96.17% decrease by the blackout's second day). Further examination correlates BGP reachability metrics and related data with geolocation databases to statistically evaluate the number of reachable Iranian ASNs (dropping from approximately 1100 to under 200 reachable networks). In-depth investigation reveals the top affected ASNs, providing network forensic evidence of the longitudinal unplugging of such key networks. Lastly, the impact's interruption of the Bitcoin cryptomining market is highlighted, disclosing a massive spike in unsuccessful (i.e., pending) transactions. When combined, these network traffic measurements provide a multidimensional perspective of the Iranian Internet shutdown.
Identifying Anomalous Industrial-Control-System Network Flow Activity Using Cloud Honeypots

This work addressed efficient and effective implementation of honeypots (decoy devices) for industrial control systems in cloud services. The honeypots we investigated simulated control systems of a small electrical-power distribution system. Starting with two honeypot software frameworks called Conpot and GridPot, we increased their deceptiveness by adding new obfuscation techniques, new simulated features of an electric grid, and new control interfaces that mimicked the operator interface for an actual power plant. These deceptions were effective in our first experiments with a standalone honeypot. We then deployed the honeypot at three cloud sites in the U.S. and in Asia. Attacks we observed were mostly similar between the deployments with a few differences. We were concerned that deployment in the cloud could be detected by attackers and discourage them, but we saw no significant differences in activity between the two kinds of deployments; apparently enough systems are managed in the cloud today that such deployment is not suspicious. We conclude that honeypots for industrial control systems using cloud services are an effective tool for collecting attack intelligence.
The Stakes of User Interface Design for Democracy

Digital design choices such as color and font, the size and placement of action buttons, and the number of steps required to execute an action all shape the user experience (UX) and what information people absorb and release. Digital platforms and service providers shape the UX in ways that can be respectful of user autonomy and advance accurate, high-quality information, or in ways that subvert user choice and promote deception. Social media platforms have used “deceptive design” in many respects, making it easier to manipu­late users into taking actions, sacrificing data, and succumbing to beliefs they might not otherwise want to. This paper proposes that platforms replace “decep­tive design” with empowering or “democratic design.” Regulators have incorporated design best practices in a number of offline policies. This paper surveys key examples, ranging from emissions labels on cars to health warnings on cigarette packs where regulations were guided by design principles. Design best practices should inform online policy as well.
How do people radicalize

Abstract Very little is known about how violent extremist practices are learned, and the role of educational channels through which they are spread. This empirical study extrapolates insights specific to the Bosnian and Herzegovinian context to demonstrate how one ultraconservative ideology, Salafism, can radically alter the dominant thinking and behavior of ordinary individuals once they feel displaced from the mainstream institutions and particularly from the formal education. At the core of the displacement and replacement model of radicalization is an informal and tactful teacher, influencer, or a mentor that individuals connect with either online or in person. Using the primary data collected in Bosnia and Herzegovina through 20 in-depth and semi-structured interviews with radicalized persons, the study sequences a ten-step radicalization model through which the interviewees have transformed from ordinary citizens into radicalized actors with a potential to engage in violent extremism.
Politics and Taxation: An Introduction

This essay provides some observations about the relationship of politics and taxation and reviews the articles and commentaries that were prepared for the Third Annual NYU/UCLA Tax Policy Conference on Politics and Taxation held in Los Angeles on October 18, 2013. Understanding the relationship between politics and taxation is important for several reasons. First, it may help explain why countries adopt different taxing and spending patterns. It may also explain why the frequency, success and stability of tax reform efforts vary among countries. Finally a better understanding of politics and taxation may provide insights into such questions on how institutions shape policy outcomes and how tax policy may contribute to successful democratic governments.The four articles and commentaries cover a wide range of issues. The first article, by Larry Zelenak, examines the controversy generated by Mitt Romney’s remarks in the 2012 presidential campaign about the 47% percent of Americans who pay no income tax. The second article, by Colin McCubbins and Mathew McCubbins, reviews the effectiveness of voter initiatives and propositions in limiting the taxing power of elected officials. The third article, by Michael Doran, examines traditional policy explanations and legislator-motivation explanations to understand the tax legislative process and offers additional factors that may explain legislative behavior in the contemporary U.S. Congress. The final article, by Andrea Campbell, explores how attitudes towards taxes held by different groups in society may have changed during the Obama era.
Ultrasmall Fluorescent Silica Nanoparticles as Intraoperative Imaging Tools for Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

The ability to sensitively and specifically map biological events that promote cancer at the cellular and molecular levels utilizing particle-based probes may allow the timely stratification of patients to appropriate treatment arms, potentially improving patient quality of life and survival. Probing critical cancer targets may elucidate important insights into biological processes governing cancer progression, metastatic potential, and invasion. Lymph node metastases are a powerful predictor of outcome for melanoma. The earlier detection of micrometastatic disease within the sentinel lymph node (SLN) and/or other regional nodes utilizing a combination of intraoperative optical visualization tools may offer a distinct advantage over standard-of-care agents, particularly in anatomically complex areas of the body. This chapter will discuss the real-time surgical application of clinically translated ultrasmall tumor-directed core-shell silica nanoparticles, Cornell dots (or C dots), as a dual-modality (optical-PET) platform for mapping metastatic nodal spread using a handheld fluorescence camera system. The opportunity to combine the foregoing technologies with new image-driven metrics and informatics tools may potentially improve patient outcome measures by enabling a more predictive medicine to be implemented in clinical practice.
Optimization in photochemical reaction detection : Application to high-performance liquid chromatography—photolysis—electrochemical detection

Abstract Chemometric techniques have been applied to optimization of response in photochemical reaction detection. Multivariate optimization using a factorial experimental design was employed to assess the effects of mobile phase pH and UV irradiation time on the amperometric response obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography—photolysis—electrochemical detection for four cardiovascular drugs. The procedure is more representative of the dynamic analytical conditions encountered in photochemical reaction detection than previous methods employing univariate optimization or off-line static methods. Stepwise multiple linear regression with backward elimination was used to fit the experimental data to empirical reduced third-order polynomial models. Plots of response were used to determine optimum conditions and visualize the interactions between pH and irradiation time. The design and construction of a low-cost on-line photochemical reactor for high-performance liquid chromatography is also discussed.
Development of charge in low-conductivity liquids flowing past surfaces: Experimental verification and application of the theory developed for tube flow

Abstract Experiments, performed with the purpose of verifying the authors' theory describing charge generation in the turbulent flow of low-conductivity (hydrocarbon) liquids in tubes, are described. Improved apparatus and technique allowed precision in the data unattainable by previous investigators; in addition a much greater range of system variables was investigated than heretofore. The experiments verify the theory in detail: dependences upon liquid conductivity, flow velocity, tube length and tube diameter were found to be very closely predicted by the theory for small enough values of a dimensionless group—four times the square of the tube radius divided by the product of the kinematic viscosity and the relaxation time of the liquid, and the seven-fourths power of the Reynolds number—related to the ratio of the laminar subzone thickness to the diffuse double-layer thickness in the liquid. A plot of all the data over at least five orders of magnitude of the dimensionless group fell well within experimental scatter of the theoretically drawn curve for smooth tubes. Where the theory could no longer predict the current, the plot diverged from the theoretical curve, but was still a universal function of the dimensionless group. This occurred where the ratio of the laminar subzone thickness to the double-layer thickness was about 2. In rough tubes the current was found to be larger than in smooth tubes. Although this could be correlated qualitatively with the friction factor no quantitative correlation could be obtained. The applicable equations are summarized, and together with the plot, one is able to predict the charging current given the tube geometry, the turbulent flow average velocity, the liquid conductivity, viscosity, density and dielectric constant, and the temperature. The current was found to be independent of tube material.
The Application of Electric Current Computed Tomography to Defect Imaging in Metals

Electric Current Computed Tomography (ECCT) is a technique for producing images of the electrical resistivity profile within a body from measurements made on the body’s exterior. To make these measurements, an array of electrodes is attached to the surface of the body. Sets of current patterns are applied through these electrodes and the voltages needed to maintain these specified currents are measured and recorded. These applied currents and measured voltages are then used in a reconstruction algorithm to produce images that represent approximations to the electrical resistivity distribution in the interior of the body.
Environmental crime: a reader, edited by Rob White

Environmental Crime: A Reader, edited by Rob White, a professor of sociology and social work at the University of Tasmania, Australia, provides a sample of articles examining environmental crime, w...
Excitation Lifetimes and Excited-State Forces in Chemisorbed Molecules

Quantum-state populations and yields for the highest probability (neutral desorbate) channels are now available by laser resonance-ionization spectroscopy (RIS) [1,2], thus providing an unprecedented opportunity for theoretical progress in electron-stimulated desorption (ESD). In previous work [1–4], we reported a semi-quantitative explanation of the translational and internal energy distributions of NOo from Pt(111) based on a detailed microscopic model. More importantly, this work suggested several principles which appear general. After summarizing these, we present threshold data for the stimulated desorption of NO from (NO+O):Pt(111) and for the stimulated dissociation of NO2:Pt(111), observed by the detection of the NOo product, NO2 * (a) → NO(g) + O(a). We review the assigned excitations in the NO:Pt(111) case and argue that coadsorbed oxygen greatly increases the excitation lifetime. For NO2 , consideration of the photoelectron spectrum, electronic structure, and excitation lifetimes allows us to assign the two dominant dissociation channels to specific one and two hole excitations. While the holes occupy non-bonding molecular orbitals (MOs), we find charge-transfer screening into a strongly antibonding MO. This screening, while far from complete, strongly influences the excitation lifetimes and forces, and affects the two channels differently.
Crime and (with a Lag) Punishment: Equitable Sentencing and the Implications of Discounting

Because criminals discount the future, the deterrence and retributive value of a given criminal sanction steadily decreases as the lag between crime and punishment lengthens. Discounting thus implies that the same nominal sentence will have disparate discounted values when imposed after different lags. Since lags between crime and punishment are both ubiquitous and widely-varying, pre-conviction delays constitute an important (and hitherto overlooked) source of sentencing disparities. Because the mitigation of sentencing disparities is an important aim of criminal law, this essay proposes maintaining constant discounted sentencing terms by adjusting individual sanctions to account for the lag between crime and punishment. These adjustments may be large since the lag between crime and punishment is often lengthy and criminals may discount the future rapidly. Applying similar reasoning, the essay also proposes that convicted pretrial detainees should receive interest in addition to credit for time served since their sentences begin earlier and have greater discounted values.
Contact-Inhibited Revertant Cell Lines Isolated from Simian Virus 40-Transformed Cells. VII. Serum Detachment-Resistant Revertant Cells

Flat revertant cells of simian virus 40-transformed mouse fibroblasts have been isolated on the basis of resistance to a selective detachment procedure. The revertants are generally similar to those isolated by other procedures.
In Brief: En route to comet Hartley 2

NASA has given the go-ahead for the Deep Impact spacecraft to fly to comet Hartley 2 after the original target, comet Boethin, could not be found despite extensive searching. The spacecraft, which successfully guided an impactor into comet Tempel 1 in July 2005, will fly by comet Hartley 2 on 11 October 2010 as part of a two-part extended mission known as EPOXI. During the first part of the mission—Extrasolar Planet Observation and Characterization—a large telescope on the spacecraft will observe and study several previously discovered extrasolar planetary systems. During the second part of the mission—the Deep Impact Extended Investigation—the spacecraft will fly to within 1000 kilometers of the 0.8-kilometer-wide comet and study it with two telescopes and an infrared spectrometer.
Conditional repression of a calcium-activated potassium channel reveals its role in the hypercapnic ventilatory response

An increase in tidal volume is an important feature of the ventilatory response to hypercapnia. The neural substrate for tidal volume augmentation is the frequency of action potentials per inspiratory burst. Small-conductance, calcium-activated potassium channels, which are gated by the increases in intracellular calcium during activation, contribute to the interval between action potentials by generating an afterhyperpolarization current. The generation of mice in which one member of this class of potassium channels (SK3) can be regulated by dietary doxycycline (dox) [1] has enabled its role in the ventilatory response to carbon dioxide to be examined. Experiments were carried out in awake mice at 2 weeks of age. A control period in 100% oxygen was followed by 5 min in 5% CO2, 95% O2. Animals targeted for repression of SK3 (SK3 T/T) on dox showed a greater increase in tidal volume than either SK3 T/T not exposed to dox or wild type. There was no difference in the increase in respiratory rate between the three groups of animals. These results show that SK3 is an important regulator of action potential frequency during CO2 stimulation. They also suggest that medullary neurons which contribute to respiratory pattern may be characterized by SK3 channels while those responsible for rhythm may not.
Synthesis of telechelic methacrylic siloxanes with cycloaliphatic substituents groups for UV-curable applications

Abstract Methacrylic functionalized siloxanes were prepared in a two-step process. In the first step, a series of telechelic glycidyl epoxy siloxanes were prepared, substituted with either methyl, cyclopentyl, or cyclohexyl groups. In the second step, the telechelic glycidyl epoxy groups were reacted with methacrylic acid. The reaction was monitored via acid value, and when the acid value was ⩽10, the reaction was terminated. Characterization of the methacrylic telechelic siloxane polymers were performed using 1H NMR, 13C NMR and FT-IR. The methacrylated siloxanes were formulated with a free radical photo-initiator, UV-cured, and the rate of polymerization was monitored via photo-differential calorimetry. After curing, viscoelastic properties, and oxygen-permeability were evaluated. In addition, X-ray was used to evaluate the structure of the cured films. The rate of polymerization was dependent on substituent and increased with increasing substituent size. The oxygen permeability was dependent on crosslink density, and increased with increasing substituent size. The increase in permeability, and thus free volume was supported by X-ray studies which showed an increase in d-spacing with increasing alkyl size.
Finite Element Analysis of the Knee: The Effect of Tibiofemoral Alignment and Weight on the Stresses in the Knee

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease of articular cartilage that affects millions of people [1]. Local biomechanical factors may severely affect the initiation and progression of OA due to changes in loading conditions at the knee cartilage. Body weight and the frontal plane tibiofemoral alignment are two biomechanical factors that could increase the overall loading at the knee. A normal knee will have a tibiofemoral angle approximately 7° valgus [2]. Deviation from this angle leads to a knee joint with a varus or valgus condition. The tibiofemoral angle is measured by the intersection made between the mechanical axis of the femur and the tibia in the frontal plane and affects the magnitude of the varus knee moment, Fig. 1A. Biomechanical studies have shown the varus moment is a key determinant in the load distribution at the knee [3, 4], Fig. 1A, and has been linked to OA progression [5, 6].© 2008 ASME
Degeneration and regeneration of motoneuron dendrites after ventral root crush: computer reconstruction of dendritic fields.

Abstract Dendritic alteration can be induced by peripheral axotomy of central nervous system neurons. In the following experiment the dendritic profile of rat lamina IX motoneurons in the spinal cord segment under the T2 vertebra after ventral root crush (controls, 14, 30, 60, and 90 days postoperative (DPO), six animals per group) were studied. The spinal cord was impregnated by the Golgi technique, individual dendritic segments were measured from coded slides, the data computerized, and the dendrites reconstructed by computer. The dendritic parameters generated were length of the dendritic segment between branches, total number of branches, number of terminal branches, and serpentine length (total length of entire dendrite). Inter- and intraanimal statistical comparisons were made by ANOVA a priori and the Newman-Keuls test a posteriori. There were statistically significant losses and gains of dendritic branches and numbers of terminal dendrites (lowest, 14 and 60 days; highest, 30 and 90 days). The serpentine length of the dendrites showed the same statistically significant oscillations. There were statistically significant differences in average dendritic parameters (calculated from distance along dendritic segments) after ventral root crush. However, 17% of the neurons at 14 days, 100% at 30 days, 33% at 60 days, and 17% at 90 days differed from control values in serpentine length and at 14 DPO, 50%; 30 DPO, 50%; 60 DPO, 67%; and 90 DPO, 70% of the neurons had numbers of dendritic segments different from control. These data show that there is a cyclic degeneration and regeneration of motoneuron dendrites after ventral root crush for at least 90 postoperative days.
Directed test generation for validation of multicore architectures

Functional validation is widely acknowledged as a major challenge for multicore architectures. Directed tests are promising since a significantly smaller number of directed tests can achieve the same coverage goal compared to constrained-random tests. SAT-based bounded model checking is effective for automated generation of directed tests (counterexamples). While existing approaches focus on clause forwarding between different bounds to reduce the test generation time, this article proposes a novel technique that exploits temporal, structural, and spatial symmetry in multicore designs at the same time. Our proposed technique enables the reuse of the knowledge learned from one core to the remaining cores in multicore architectures (structural symmetry), from one bound to the next for a give property (temporal symmetry), as well as from one property to other properties (spatial symmetry). The experimental results demonstrate that our approach can significantly (3--10 times) reduce overall test generation time compared to existing approaches.
Optical system development and performance testing of the NEAR laser rangefinder

The near earth asteroid rendezvous (NEAR) laser rangefinder (NLR) is a bistatic system using a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser and a Dall-Kirkhamm telescope for a receiver. The NLR is one of a suite of five scientific data gathering instruments on the NEAR spacecraft. The NEAR mission is the first of NASA's Discovery Series of spacecraft. The NLR transmitter emits a 15.6 mJ, 15 ns pulse at 1064 nm. The receiver is capable of reliably detecting return signals from the asteroid as low as 1 fJ per pulse, which corresponds to an average power of 50 nW (20 ns pulse). The development and alignment approach of the bistatic system are discussed. The performance test results of the receiver, transmitter, and integrated rangefinder system are presented. Particular attention is given to the system alignment tests and an open air range verification test.
Costs of Lygus herbivory on cotton associated with farmer decision-making: an ecoinformatics approach.

Because the farmer is typically excluded from the experimental research setting, experimental research may face challenges in evaluating pest management tactics whose costs and benefits hinge on farmer decision-making. In these cases an ecoinformatics approach, in which observational data collected from the commercial farming setting are “mined” to quantify both biological variables and farmer behavior, can complement experimentation as a useful research tool. Here I analyze such an observational data set to characterize associations between early- (June) and mid-season (July) Lygus hesperus Knight populations and farmer decisions to apply plant growth regulators and defoliants. Previous experimental work suggested the hypothesis that Lygus herbivory, by inducing abscission of young flower buds, might generate increased use of plant growth regulators and defoliants. Cotton's ability to compensate for loss of flower buds may, however, increase as plants grow. On upland cotton, June Lygus populations were associated with increased use of plant growth regulators, as expected, but this relationship was not observed for July Lygus populations. June Lygus populations were not associated with the use of defoliants, whereas, surprisingly, July Lygus populations were associated with decreases in defoliant use. In contrast to these positive and negative associations observed on upland cotton, on Pima cotton Lygus populations exhibited no associations with use of either plant growth regulators or defoliants. These results suggest that cotton responses to Lygus herbivory, as demonstrated in previously published experimental studies, can translate into economically meaningful changes in farmer decisions to apply agricultural chemicals.
A Microactuation and Sensing Platform With Active Lockdown for In Situ Calibration of Scale Factor Drifts in Dual-Axis Gyroscopes

This paper presents the design and experimental results of a microvibratory actuation and sensing platform to provide on-chip physical stimulus for in situ calibration of long-term scale factor drifts in multiaxis microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) inertial sensors. The platform consists of a three degrees-of-freedom micromotion stage that can provide piezoelectric actuation for X / Y -tilting reference stimuli, compensation of undesired off-axis motion, integrated sensing of applied periodic stimulus, and electrostatic position lock-down for shock protection. A dual-axis MEMS gyroscope is mounted on top of the microplatform, and its electrical interconnects are provided through microfabricated highly flexible parylene cables with virtually zero-loading. The piezoelectric stage is measured to provide up to 280°/s angular ac excitation to a 25-mg inertial sensor payload at an expense of <100 μW, while providing an analog sensing signal (11 mV/°/s) to determine the applied rate with a precision of 1.2 °/s. The estimated scale factor has < 0.8% deviation from rate-table characterized values on the same-model gyroscope samples. With further improvements in control precision and angular velocity estimation, the introduced platform is expected enable on-chip self-calibration of long-term scale-factor drifts to < 100 ppm.
Physiological role of phosphorylation of the cyclic AMP response element binding protein in rat cardiac nuclei

We determine whether the cyclic AMP signal transduction pathway affects phosphorylation of cyclic AMP response element binding protein and increases muscle gene expression in the heart. Elevation of cyclic AMP results in phosphorylation of the binding protein which is detected using an antibody specific for the phosphorylated, but not the unphosphorylated, form. The protein is present, but not phosphorylated, within the nuclei of myocytes in intact neonatal rat hearts and in high-density cultures. It is not expressed in low-density cultures. Increasing the amount of phosphorylated cyclic AMP with either isoproterenol or forskolin also increases the frequency and force of the beating. The phosphorylated form of the response element binding protein is visible in the nuclei by 10 min and persists for 2 h of drug treatment. A 1.5-fold increase in skeletal α-actin and α-myosin gene expression is detected after 48 h of isoproterenol treatment. However, blockage of beating with a calcium channel blocker (verapamil) in the presence of cyclic AMP results in a similar increased gene expression. This suggests that muscle gene expression can be regulated directly by the cyclic AMP pathway, probably via phosphorylation of the cyclic AMP response element binding protein but independent of contractile activity.
Dynamic Behavior of Elastic-Plastic Simply Supported Pipes

Nonlinear responses of the dynamic behavior of simply supported pipes were analyzed using a nonlinear finite element program. In the first model, a 1 1/2-in. schedule 40 stainless steel pipe 48 in. long was studied. An elastic-plastic material was specified. The dynamic response of the pipe to a sinusoidal force input was calculated. There was no internal pressure and the magnitude of the force input was held constant as the frequency was varied. A total of 26 cases were studied starting with low frequencies that exhibited static behavior to twice the natural frequency. In addition, a 1-in. straight piping system studied experimentally by Beaney (1985a, b) was modeled analytically. Calculations are compared to experiment. The response of the piping at input frequencies of one-quarter and one-half of the natural frequency exhibited resonance behavior. At one forced frequency, an almost chaotic behavior of the dynamic pipe response was observed. However, at all other specified excitation frequencies, the system reaches a steady-state response. Output in the form of strain and displacement time histories and force displacement plots is developed. In addition, both work and equivalent viscous damping are calculated and presented.
Membrane tubularization and osmotic swelling in mitochrondria

Abstract A theoretical basis for the apparent correlation between osmotic swelling of the mitochondrial matrix space and tubularization of the inner mitochondrial membrane is proposed. The proposal rests on the assumption that tubularization arises as a consequence of a difference in the interfacial tension on the two sides of the membrane. A membrane analogue of Laplace's equation is derived relating the osmotic pressure difference across the tubular membrane to the difference in interfacial tension.
Phosphatidyl choline metabolism in the frog rod photoreceptor.

Abstract Using an in vitro incubation system, phosphatidyl choline metabolism was studied in the frog rod photoreceptor using [3H]choline as a precursor of phosphatidyl choline incorporated into the rod outer segment disc membranes. Phosphatidyl choline incorporation was not affected when visual pigment synthesis was inhibited with puromycin, but was significantly inhibited by hemicholinium, EDTA, EGTA, dinitrophenol, oligomycin and cell lysis by detergent or sonication. The presence or absence of the pigment epithelium has no effect on phosphatidyl choline metabolism other than that of a competitive nature. While neither rhodopsin, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, or phosphatidyl inositol incorporation is affected by incubation in light, phosphatidyl choline incorporation is inhibited by both prior bleaching and light incubation. Changes in the phosphatidyl choline composition of disc membranes may be one of the initial steps in the process by which rod photoreceptor outer segments shed their tips.
Structural and Morphological Investigation of Pendeo-Epitaxy 3C-SiC on Si Substrates

Successful pendeo-epitaxy growth of cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) on off-axis Si(001) substrates was achieved. The structural and morphological characteristics of pendeo-epitaxy 3C-SiC were strongly affected by underlying stripes and seed layer thickness. Stripes perpendicular to the Si substrate off-axis provide about three times faster lateral growth rate compared with parallel oriented stripes. Root-mean-square (RMS) measurements using atomic force microscope (AFM) indicate that the surface morphology of Pendeo-epitaxy 3C-SiC films remarkably improves with increasing seed layer thickness: from 9.8 nm for 3 μm thickness to 0.5 nm for 10 μm thickness. These effects on pendeo-epitaxy 3C-SiC are discussed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and AFM investigation.
Prenylation-dependent Association of Ki-Ras with Microtubules EVIDENCE FOR A ROLE IN SUBCELLULAR TRAFFICKING

Abstract We recently identified a prenyl peptide-binding protein in microsomal membranes from bovine brain (Thissen, J. A., and Casey, P. J. (1993)J. Biol. Chem. 268, 13780–13783). Through a variety of approaches, this binding protein has been identified as the cytoskeletal protein tubulin. Prenyl peptides bind to purified tubulin with a K d of 40 nm and also bind to tubulin polymerized into microtubules. Microtubule affinity chromatography of extracts from cells in which the prenyl protein pool was metabolically labeled revealed that prenyl proteins bound to the immobilized microtubules; one, a 24-kDa protein, was tentatively identified as a GTP-binding protein. Of several prenylated GTP-binding proteins tested, including Ki-Ras4B, Ha-Ras, RhoB, RhoA, and Rap1B, only Ki-Ras was found to bind significantly to microtubules, and this was in a prenylation-dependent fashion. A potential significance of the interaction of Ki-Ras4B with microtubules was indicated from analysis of the localization of newly synthesized Ki-Ras4B and Ha-Ras, each tagged with green fluorescence protein (GFP). Treatment of NIH-3T3 cells expressing GFP-Ki-Ras with Taxol (paclitaxel) resulted in accumulation of the expressed protein in intracellular locations, whereas in control cells the protein was correctly targeted to the plasma membrane. Importantly, such treatment with paclitaxel did not affect the cellular localization of expressed GFP-Ha-Ras. These results indicate that an intact microtubule network may be directly involved in Ki-Ras processing and/or targeting and provide direct evidence for a physiological distinction between Ki-Ras and Ha-Ras in cells. Additionally, the finding that paclitaxel treatment of cells disrupts Ki-Ras trafficking suggests an additional mechanism for the anti-proliferative effects of this drug.
Patient race and psychotropic prescribing during medical encounters

This paper examines how patient race, rating of physical and emotional health, expression of physical, emotional, and social problem symptoms, and physician perceptions of patients' physical health, emotional health, and social problems influence psychotropic prescribing in patients with chronic illness. Data were collected at 11 geographic areas in the United States and Canada. Patient visits were audio-tape recorded and research assistants interviewed each patient after their medical visit. Physicians completed self-administered questionnaires after each visit with a participating patient. Whites were significantly more likely to receive psychotropic prescriptions than non-whites (P < 0.05). Twenty percent of white and 13.5% of black patients received prescriptions for one or more psychotropic medications. Logistic regression techniques were used to predict psychotropic prescribing to white and non-white patients respectively. Patient expression of emotional symptoms and physician perceptions of patient emotional health significantly influenced psychotropic prescribing to white patients, whereas only patient expression of emotional symptoms significantly influenced psychotropic prescribing to non-white patients. Patient expression of physical and social problem symptoms and physician perceptions of patient physical health and social problems did not influence psychotropic prescribing to white or non-white patients. The paper emphasizes the importance of training primary care physicians to probe and to provide patients with an opportunity to discuss their emotional symptoms.
Tests of Independence in parametric Models With Applications and Illustrations

Tests of independence between variables in a wide variety of discrete and continuous bivariate and multivariate regression equations are derived using results from the theory of series expansions of joint distributions in terms of marginal distributions and their related orthonormal polynomials. The tests are conditional moment tests based on covariances between pairs of orthonormal polynomials. Examples include tests of serial independence against bilinear and/or autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity alternatives, tests of dependence in multivariate normal regression models, and dependence in count-data models. Monte Carlo simulation based on bivariate count models is used to evaluate the. size and power properties of the proposed tests. A multivariate count-data model for Australian health-care-utilization data is used to empirically illustrate the tests.
Effects of Tamoxifen on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Postmenopausal Women After 5 Years of Treatment

BACKGROUND Adjuvant tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer has been given for a period of several years. Cardiovascular diseases increased in incidence rapidly in women older than 60 years. Favorable changes in cardiovascular risk factors have been seen with 2 years of tamoxifen therapy, and lower rates of myocardial infarction and of hospitalization for heart disease have been observed in tamoxifen-treated women. PURPOSE We sought to evaluate changes in risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in postmenopausal women after therapy with tamoxifen for 5 years. METHODS Five years after their initial entry in a 2-year randomized, placebo-controlled toxicity study, we re-examined 62 of the original 140 disease-free, axillary node-negative postmenopausal breast cancer patients. These 62 patients were women available for study because they had not suffered major illness and had continued on either the tamoxifen or no-tamoxifen regimen to which they had been originally randomly assigned for the entire 5 years. Patient and control blood samples were analyzed for total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and subfractions, triglycerides, apolipoprotein AI, apolipoprotein B, lipoprotein(a), fibrinogen, glucose, and platelets. RESULTS At base line for all measurements except atherogenic lipoprotein [lipoprotein(a)], the 30 long-term tamoxifen recipients and the 32 long-term no-tamoxifen recipients were not significantly different. After 5 years, levels of total serum cholesterol (P < .001), LDL cholesterol (P < .001), and lipoprotein(a) (P = .001) were significantly lower, and apolipoprotein AI levels were significantly higher (P < .001) in the tamoxifen-treated group compared with the no-tamoxifen group. Apolipoprotein B levels increased to a greater extent in the no-tamoxifen than in the tamoxifen group (P < .001). After 5 years, fibrinogen level decrease and triglyceride level increases in the tamoxifen group compared with the no-tamoxifen group were of borderline statistical significance and HDL cholesterol levels were not different in the two groups. CONCLUSION Favorable changes in lipid, lipoprotein, and fibrinogen levels seen early in tamoxifen therapy in postmenopausal women persist with treatment of 5 years. IMPLICATIONS The types and magnitude of changes in cardiovascular risk factors seen here with tamoxifen are similar to a certain extent with those seen with estrogen supplements. Further risk-factor and ethnic-group data are needed to estimate the magnitude of expected benefits of tamoxifen treatment on incidence of heart disease.
Initial Experiments at High Normalized Current in the Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

Initial experiments in the Pegasus ST exhibited an operational limit of I p ∼ I tf at A ∼ 1.15. With new power supplies, discharge control has greatly increased. Equilibria and stability modeling of the high I p/I tf regime has produced stable equilibria with I p/I tf up to 2 while values of I p/I tf approaching 3 show a potential upper bound on stability. A new operating regime has been accessed in recent experiments with the addition of electrostatic plasma sources. Using the sources as a pre-ionization technique, I p/I tf values of 1.5 have been accessed at very low toroidal fields. Using the sources as a means for non-inductive startup, values of I p/I tf up to 2.3 are attained. The MHD activity in these discharges is characteristically different than ohmic discharges, suggesting the new current sources are modifying the current profile to allow stable discharge evolution at minimal toroidal field.
Microchemical techniques as applied to radiochemistry

The techniques for investigating the chemistry of radioactive elements usingμg quantities of material are described. These include methods of transfer and carrying out reactions, determination of solubility, valence state and half-life value, and vapor pressure measurements.
Determinants of supersaturation levels and crystallization rates of calcium oxalate from urines of normal humans and stone formers: Effects of nondialyzable materials

The importance of supersaturation levels of urinary calcium oxalate with respect to nephrolithiasis has been emphasized by the laboratories of Vermeulen [ 11, Elliot [2], and Nordin [3]. Because of the difficulty in determining the small quantities of urinary oxalate in solution, direct measurements of calcium oxalate supersaturation levels have been reported on only a few occasions. These few reports [2, 41 have involved cumbersome techniques which usually suffered from lack of sensitivity and precision and did not permit kinetic studies of crystallization rates. We have recently developed [5] a technique utilizing [14C]oxalate which can rather easily, precisely, and very sensitively determine the levels of urinary supersaturation or undersaturation with respect to calcium oxalate. More importantly, this method lends itself to kinetic studies in determining the rates of precipitation (crystallization rates) of calcium oxalate from human urines. Morning urines from both normal humans as well as stone formers were commonly supersaturated (the levels in general were somewhat higher in the stone formers), and the crystallization rates were usually several times faster in urines from stone formers than from normal humans. Our investigations of the determinants of the supersaturation levels and crystallization rates of calcium oxalate in human urines have revealed significant differences between urinary dialysates and retentates. This paper reports the influence of nondialyzable materials (presumably mucoproteins) on crystallization rates and supersaturation levels of calcium oxalate from urines of normal humans and stone formers.
Superconductivity near the vibrational-mode instability in MgCNi 3

To understand the role of electron-phonon interaction in superconducting ${\mathrm{MgCNi}}_{3}$ we have performed density-functional based linear response calculations of its lattice dynamical properties. A large coupling constant $\ensuremath{\lambda}=1.51$ is predicted and contributing phonons are identified as displacements of Ni atoms towards octahedral interstitials of the perovskite lattice. Instabilities found for some vibrational modes emphasize the role of anharmonic effects in resolving experimental controversies.
A Finite Element Method for Mechanical Response of Hair Cell Ciliary Bundles

This paper describes the development of a methodology for performing a mechanical analysis of hair cell ciliary bundles. The cilia were modeled as shear deformable beams, and interconnections were modeled as two-force members. These models were incorporated into software, which performs a finite element analysis of a user-defined bundle. The algorithm incorporates aspects of the bundle such as geometric realignment and buckling of compressed side links. A sample bundle is introduced and results of modeling it are presented.