cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A NEW PROCEDURE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF INTRAOCULAR DYNAMICS IN HUMAN SUBJECTS.

A new procedure is described for the measurement of the intraocular dynamics in human subjects. It falls into two parts. First, the drainage vessels are occluded by a “suction cup”, and the subsequent pressure rise in the eye over a given time interval is used to derive the minimal rate of aqueous humor formation. Second, after removal of the cup, the pressure decay curve is recorded, and the pressure-flow relationship of the eye is derived utilizing the pressure-volume relationship of the living eye. The pressure-flow relationship of normal eyes has been found to comprise two main segments, and evidence is presented that one segment reflects the effect of increased pressure on aqueous humor formation and the other indicates the outflow facility. Finally, the independent measurement of the steady-state intraocular pressure, the rate of aqueous humor formation and the outflow facility enables one to calculate the venous pressure opposing the outflow of aqueous humor. The potentialities and the limitations of this new procedure have been assessed from studies on normal subjects.
Purification and structural studies of a major scrapie prion protein

Scrapie is a degenerative, neurological disorder caused by a slow infectious agent or prion. Extensively purified preparations of prions were denatured by boiling in sodium dodecyl sulfate and the major protein component (PrP 27-30) was isolated by preparative HPLC size exclusion chromatography after proteinase K digestion. The purified PrP 27-30 molecules were not infectious. Ultraviolet absorption spectra of purified PrP 27-30 demonstrated the absence of covalently linked polynucleotides. Amino acid composition studies showed that PrP 27-30 contains at least 17 naturally occurring amino acids. A single N-terminal amino acid sequence for PrP 27-30 was obtained; the sequence is N-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Gly-Thr-His-Asn-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys and it does not share homology with any known proteins. The same amino acid sequence was found when an extensively purified preparation of prions aggregated into rods and containing approximately 10(9.5) ID50 U/ml was sequenced directly. Knowledge of the amino acid sequence should permit determination of the genetic origin and replication mechanism of prions.
Velocity and Shape Selection of Dendritic Crystals in a Forced Flow

The phase-field method is used to simulate the two-dimensional growth of a dendritic crystal in a forced flow. The selection of the velocity and shape of the dendrite tip is investigated as a function of flow rate, growth direction relative to the flow, as well as anisotropy strength, and the results for the upstream growing tips are compared to existing theoretical predictions.
Glyburide is associated with attenuated vasogenic edema in stroke patients.

Background Brain edema is a serious complication of ischemic stroke that can lead to secondary neurological deterioration and death. Glyburide is reported to prevent brain swelling in preclinical rodent models of ischemic stroke through inhibition of a non-selective channel composed of sulfonylurea receptor 1 and transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily M member 4. However, the relevance of this pathway to the development of cerebral edema in stroke patients is not known.
High resolution Joint Time Delay and Frequency Estimation

Joint Time Delay and Frequency Estimation (JTDFE) problem of complex sinusoidal signals received at two separated sensors is an attractive problem that has been studied for many engineering applications. In this paper, the Rank-Revealing QR factorization is applied to the real data matrix obtained via the unitary transformation of the square Toeplitz complex data matrix. Then the MUSIC spectrum estimation function is used to estimate the frequencies. The time delay is estimated by applying RRQR to the complex data matrix. The unitary transformation from complex to real would reduce the processing time of frequency estimation by almost a factor of four, since the cost of complex manipulations is four times the real manipulations. Also RRQR is an important tool in numerical linear algebra because it provides accurate information about rank and numerical null space. The simulation results validate the performance of the proposed method.
Ultrastructural study of argyrosis of the cornea and conjunctiva.

Electron-microscopical examinations were made of the conjunctiva and cornea of ocular argyrosis. The minute silver deposits were located intracellularly in the connective tissue of the conjunctiva and extracellularly in Descemet membrane of the cornea. The level of distribution of the silver grains in Descemet membrane suggests the time of onset and duration of exposure to silver salts.
Thermodynamic properties and hydrogen speciation from vibrational spectra of dense hydrous magnesium silicates

Infrared absorption measurements were taken from 100 to 5000 cm−1 of a natural chondrodite and three dense hydrous magnesium silicates: phase A, phase B, and superhydrous phase B (shy-B). Raman spectra were also acquired from phase B and the chondrodite. Roughly half of the lattice modes are represented and our data are the first report of the low frequency modes. Comparison of our new spectra to symmetry analyses suggests that multiple sites for hydrogen exist for all the phases. The shy-B we examined crystallizes in P21nm with two OH sites. Models for the density of states are constructed based on band assignments for the lattice modes and for the OH stretching vibrations. Heat capacity CP and entropy S calculated using Kieffer's formulation should be accurate within 3% from 200 to 800 K. Model values for CP at 298 K are 299.6 J/mol-K for chondrodite, 421.5 J/mol-K for phase A, 529.4 J/mol-K for shy-B, and 618.9 J/mol-K for phase B. Model values for S2980 are 234.2 J/mol-K for chondrodite, 303.5 J/ mol-K for phase A, 377.9 J/mol-K for shy-B, and 473.3 J/mol-K for phase B. Debye temperatures are near 1000 K.
Search for correlates of self-actualization.

It was hypothesized that self-actualizing Ss, compared with other persons, will be more accurate perceptually, will have superior ability to reason and be logical, and will have greater preference ...
An Apparatus for Maintaining Eastern Oysters in the Laboratory

Abstract An apparatus that provides a continuous inflow of seawater is described in which eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) were maintained for 185 d in the laboratory with no mortalities. The effectiveness of this system during periods of high temperature and salinity may be useful in research and culture of eastern oysters.
Abstract C59: Lipid expression dynamics in epithelial cells undergoing HGF-induced EMT

Cancer metastasis occurs when cells detach from the primary tumor, invade through local tissues, migrate to distant sites, and colonize new tumors. The morphological change within the cell is termed epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), as cells change from their epithelial state and derive more primitive, mesenchymal characteristics. A cellular signaling pathway that stimulates EMT is initiated by hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), which binds and activates the c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase. Activation of HGF signaling induces dramatic changes in cell morphology and behavior. HGF signaling exerts its effect by altering gene transcription and proteome profiles in cells triggered to undergo EMT. The proteomic changes in HGF-induced cell lines is well documented, however changes in lipid expression and their contribution to EMT are poorly understood. Here we develop and employ mass spectrometry-based approaches to analyze lipid expression changes in cells. This method allows for analysis of thousands of lipids in a single sample and the determination of the relative abundance in each lipid. We have found that seventy lipids undergo dramatic regulatory expression changes in MDCK cells undergoing HGF-induced EMT. This effort could provide important clues into the identity of lipid modification or synthesis programs that are required for EMT and, more broadly speaking, for cellular events associated with cancer progression. Understanding their contribution and function could allow for identification of therapeutic targets for intervention in cellular processes required for cancer metastasis. Citation Format: Kristen Alexander, Brendan Coutu, John Prince, Marc Hansen. Lipid expression dynamics in epithelial cells undergoing HGF-induced EMT. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Invasion and Metastasis; Jan 20-23, 2013; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(3 Suppl):Abstract nr C59.
Effusion cytology of esophageal carcinoma

BACKGROUND Effusions in patients with esophageal carcinoma have only been reported rarely, and the cytologic findings in these specimens have not been well described. METHODS The authors reviewed 70 effusion specimens from 45 patients with known esophageal carcinoma, 37 of whom underwent resection. RESULTS Seventeen specimens were from 10 patients with squamous cell carcinoma; only 1 specimen contained malignant cells. Fifty-three specimens were from 35 patients with adenocarcinoma. Twenty-one specimens from 10 patients with adenocarcinoma contained malignant cells; these included 17 pleural, 2 pericardial, and 2 peritoneal fluids. Lymph node involvement at the time of resection was a significant risk factor for the development of a malignant effusion. The cytologic features were similar to those of other adenocarcinomas, but >50% of the specimens were hypocellular and neoplastic cells were rare. Three of 48 negative specimens contained markedly atypical mesothelial cells that were misinterpreted as possibly malignant; in each case the findings resolved over time. These cells were smaller and the chromatin more smudgy than in the neoplastic cells. Patients with positive effusions were significantly more likely to die of disease than those with a negative effusion, and the average time to death was shorter (5.3 months vs. 17 months). CONCLUSIONS Malignant effusions are more common in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma than those with squamous cell carcinoma. Markedly atypical mesothelial cells are a diagnostic pitfall in patients who undergo resection. Cancer (Cancer Cytopathol) 1997; 81:365-72. © 1997 American Cancer Society.
Isolation and characterization of an iron-containing superoxide dismutase from a eucaryote, Brassica campestris

Abstract A cyanide-insensitive superoxide dismutase was purified from mustard leaves, Brassica campestris . The protein had a molecular weight of 41,000 and was composed of two equally sized subunits. Metal analysis revealed that the enzyme contained 1.6 g atoms of iron per dimer. The isolation of an iron-containing superoxide dismutase from mustard leaves represents the first report of this enzyme in a multicellular eucaryotic organism.
Structural Requirements for Interaction of Sodium Channel β1 Subunits with Ankyrin

Sodium channel β subunits modulate channel kinetic properties and cell surface expression levels and function as cell adhesion molecules. β1 and β2 participate in homophilic cell adhesion resulting in ankyrin recruitment to cell contact sites. We hypothesized that a tyrosine residue in the cytoplasmic domain of β1 may be important for ankyrin recruitment and tested our hypothesis using β1 mutants replacing Tyr181 with alanine (β1Y181A), phenylalanine (β1Y181F), or glutamate (β1Y181E), or a truncated construct deleting all residues beyond Tyr181(β1L182STOP). Ankyrin recruitment was observed in β1L182STOP, showing that residues Ile166-Tyr181 contain the major ankyrin recruiting activity of β1. Ankyrin recruitment was abolished in β1Y181E, suggesting that tyrosine phosphorylation of β1 may inhibit β1-ankyrin interactions. AnkyrinG and β1 associate in rat brain membranes and in transfected cells expressing β1 and ankyrinG in the absence of sodium channel α subunits. β1 subunits are recognized by anti-phosphotyrosine antibodies following treatment of these cell lines with fibroblast growth factor. β1 and ankryinG association is not detectable in cells following treatment with fibroblast growth factor. AnkyrinG and β1Y181E do not associate even in the absence of fibroblast growth factor treatment. β1 subunit-mediated cell adhesion and ankyrin recruitment may contribute to sodium channel placement at nodes of Ranvier. The phosphorylation state of β1Y181 may be a critical regulatory step in these developmental processes.
Genetically regulated aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase induction in the eye: possible significance of the drug-metabolizing enzyme system for the retinal pigmented epithelium-choroid.

Abstract Aryl hydrocarbon (benzo[a]pyrene) hydroxylase induction in the eye from inbred C57BL/6N (responsive) and DBA/2N (nonresponsive) mice and from offspring of the appropriate genetic crosses was investigated. The hydroxylase activity is two- to more than 10-fold inducible in the eye by intraperitoneally administered polycyclic hydrocarbons such as β-naphthoflavone, 3-methylcholanthrene, and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and is apparently under the same genetic regulation as that in liver. Histofluorescent examination of the eye from β-naphthoflavone-treated C57BL/6N mice indicates that the hydroxylase activity is closely associated with the retinal pigmented epithelium-choroid layer; the retina demonstrates little activity. It is proposed that genetically controlled induction of the hydroxylase activity and perhaps other cytochrome P-450-mediated mono-oxygenase activities in the retinal pigmented epithelium-choroid play an important role for detoxification and/or metabolic potentiation of drugs and other xenobiotics. These foreign compounds, which include drugs, insecticides, and chemical carcinogens, presumably enter the retina through the choriocapillaris.
Sex and Age Bias in American White Pelicans Captured and Collected on Wintering Grounds

Abstract. While conducting research examining the impact of American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) on the aquaculture industry in the southeastern United States, an apparent age and sex bias was observed among captured and collected pelicans. Data from 284 pelicans captured or collected at loafing sites located near aquaculture ponds during 1998 to 2009 were analyzed. A sampling bias could suggest segregation of pelicans by sex or age on wintering grounds. Captured pelicans were strongly biased towards immature males (73%) and collected pelicans were male biased (38% Adult Male, 47% Immature Male). Although the underlying mechanisms are not understood, observed pelican use of loafing areas may be related to numerous, readily available prey at aquaculture facilities.
Hyperphalangy and clinodactyly of the index finger with Pierre Robin anomaly: Catel-Manzke syndrome. A case report and review of the literature.

Mandibular hypoplasia, glossoptosis, U-shaped cleft palate (Pierre Robin anomaly), associated with bilateral index finger malformation and congenital heart disease are described in a male, newborn infant. Review of the features of seven previously published patients, in addition to the patient reported here, confirms the existence of a distinct dysmorphogenesis syndrome. Although all of these eight patients have been males, and most were sporadic, the etiology of this rare malformation syndrome is unknown.
Bede's Ecclesiastical History and the Material Conditions of Anglo-Saxon Life

The author of the Ecclesiastical History of the English People was the greatest historian writing in the West between the later Roman Empire and the twelfth century, when we come to William of Malmesbury, Otto of Freising, and William of Tyre. Bede's qualities as a historian are well known and widely appreciated, and they need no further exposition here. Instead, we propose to be perverse and to attempt to read Bede's text as though he had been a sociologist or an economic anthropologist: What can we learn from him about the “material conditions” of life in post-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon England, especially about life in the sixth and seventh centuries. This is surely a strange purpose for which to use the Ecclesiastical History. We do so both to show that Bede is so rich and so multifaceted that he is immensely valuable for many purposes besides those of greatest obvious interest to him, and because the sources for social and economic life in those years are so poor that everything available is legitimate grist for the mills of our analysis.Actually there are two reasons why Bede might have furnished us with the kind of information we are seeking. One is that among classical and early medieval historians there was a considerable tradition of describing the barbarian world, of paying particular attention to the institutions, mores, and customs of the Germanic people or whoever might be the subject of the tale.
Institution-to-Institution Mentoring to Build Capacity in 24 Local US Health Departments: Best Practices and Lessons Learned

Introduction Institutional mentoring may be a useful capacity-building model to support local health departments facing public health challenges. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducted a qualitative evaluation of an institutional mentoring program designed to increase capacity of health departments seeking to address chronic disease prevention. The mentoring program included 2 program models, a one-to-one model and a collaborative model, developed and implemented for 24 Communities Putting Prevention to Work grantee communities nationwide.
Deaths in the United States among persons with Alzheimer's disease (2010–2050)

Abstract Background Alzheimer's disease (AD) profoundly affects the end-of-life experience. Yet, counts of deaths attributable to AD understate this burden of AD in the population. Therefore, we estimated the annual number of deaths in the United States among older adults with AD from 2010 to 2050. Methods We calculated probabilities of AD incidence and mortality from a longitudinal population-based study of 10,802 participants. From this population, 1913 previously disease-free individuals, selected via stratified random sampling, underwent 2577 detailed clinical evaluations. Over the course of follow-up, 990 participants died. We computed age-, sex-, race-, and education-specific AD incidences and education-adjusted AD mortality proportions specific to age, sex, and race group. We then combined these probabilities with US-wide census, education, and mortality data. Results In 2010, approximately 600,000 deaths occurred among individuals aged 65 years or older with AD, comprising 32% of all older adult deaths. By 2050, this number is projected to be 1.6 million, 43% of all older adult deaths. Conclusion Individuals with AD comprise a substantial number of older adult deaths in the United States, a number expected to rise considerably in coming decades.
Tit for tat among neighboring hooded warblers

The “dear-enemy” relationship of territorial songbirds could be mutually beneficial to neighbors, as males who recognize neighbors and reduce their responses to these neighbors would require less time and energy for territorial defense. In order for this relationship to be evolutionarily stable, this reduction in response to a neighbor must be conditional on reciprocal restraint by that neighbor. This study examined the possibility of such conditional responses in hooded warblers (Wilsonia citrina). Responses of territorial hooded warblers to playbacks of neighbors' songs from shared boundaries were measured before and after playbacks that simulated intrusions of those same neighbors (NNNN treatment) or strange birds (NSSN treatment) into the subjects' territories. Each male received both treatments separated by at least 8 days. Males increased their responses to playbacks of a neighbor's songs at the boundary after simulated intrusions of that same neighbor (NNNN) but did not increase their responses to such playbacks after simulated intrusions of strangers (NSSN). This increased response to a “defecting” neighbor suggests that the relationship between neighboring territorial hooded warblers is based on a conditional strategy like tit-for-tat.
The degradation of MTBE–BTEX mixtures by gamma radiolysis. A kinetic modeling study

Abstract Gamma radiolysis was used to degrade aqueous MTBE/BTEX mixtures and the results compared to kinetic modeling predictions. Under our experimental conditions all the BTEX compounds are degraded within 10 min while MTBE required irradiation times in excess of 30 min to accomplish complete decomposition. The initial simulation of the degradation kinetics based on a model containing the full set of water radiolysis reactions and rate constants of the reactions of the generated hydroxyl radicals, hydrated electrons, and hydrogen atoms with the MTBE, benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and para-xylene, agreed well with the measured data, however, deviations at longer irradiation times were seen. A second simulation, involving the grouping of the MTBE/BTEX degradation products into a single class of N identical species and using a rate constant for the hydroxyl radical with this species of 5.0×109 N M−1 s−1, leads to excellent agreement with the observed experimental results even at longer irradiation time.
Chain Anisotropy of Side-Group Liquid Crystalline Polymers in Nematic Solvents

We demonstrate a method for measuring the anisotropy of a side group liquid crystalline polymer (SGLCP) in a perdeuterated nematic solvent using small-angle neutron scattering. In this system scattering originates from both the polymer backbone and the large pendant side groups, causing the measured anisotropy to vary with molecular weight. Since it is the backbone anisotropy that is of interest, we show how to mathematically account for scattering due to the side groups. Using a molecular weight series of SGLCPs that have an oblate conformation, this method yields a constant ratio of the backbone radii independent of molecular weight and spacer length.
Analysis of 2,4,6-trichloroanisole in wines using solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract Cork taint in wine is a serious problem which is exacerbated by the difficulty of its assessment. Current analytical procedures are costly, time consuming and require the use of large amounts of solvents. We developed and evaluated a rapid method for the detection of the cork taint compound, 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA), in wine samples. The method employs solid-phase microextraction, a solventless, automated sampling procedure, coupled to GC-MS-selected ion monitoring analysis. Quantification is enabled by a fully deuterated [2H5]TCA analog used as an internal standard. Accuracy (±8%), precision (R.S.D. 5–13%), and limit of quantification (5 ng/l) are comparable to existing methods.
DHT Blind Rendezvous for Session Establishment in Network Layer Moving Target Defenses

This paper introduces a new method of securely exchanging information through a moving blind rendezvous by leveraging the size and distributed nature of BitTorrent Mainline Distributed Hash Table (DHT) in order to bootstrap a connection between nodes in a network layer moving target defense (MTD) system. Specifically we demonstrate an implementation of this scheme integrated with an existing MTD implemented in the IPv6 space: the Moving Target IPv6 Defense (MT6D). We show how MT6D peers can use this protocol to exchange configuration information, allowing them to locate other nodes as they move around the Internet, and how they can securely establish connections and related association parameters with no prior knowledge of the other party's network state. We require a minimal amount of pre-shared information between nodes; only that peers have access to public key information. This scheme enables mobility for peers within the MT6D protocol, allows dynamically changing configurations, and allows an MT6D server to scale to supporting many clients without a quadratic explosion in the number of secret keys which need to be maintained.
Preoperative β-blocker use: is titration to a heart rate of 60 beats per minute a consistently attainable goal?

Abstract Study objective To quantify the prevalence of perioperative β -blocker use and its impact on preoperative and preinduction heart rate (HR), in light of the recent publication of specific recommendations regarding perioperative β -blocker use and desired HR. Design Retrospective observational study in patients who underwent elective and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery between January 2001 and March 2002. Setting Tertiary-care teaching hospital. Measurements Percentage of eligible patients who received β -blockers preoperatively and the impact of non–protocol-based β -blocker therapy on preadmission and preinduction HR were recorded. Differences were assessed with unpaired t test and χ 2 analysis; P Results Of the patients who underwent vascular surgery, 9 had documented prior β -blocker intolerance. Of the remaining 172 patients, 94.8% had indication for perioperative β -blocker use. However, only 47.7% of the eligible patients received β -blockers. Of the 155 CABG patients, 74.2% were taking β -blockers preoperatively. Only 29% of vascular patients and 32% of CABG patients who were receiving β -blockers had HR less than 60 beats per minute (bpm) at preadmission. The mean preadmission HR in vascular surgery patients was 65.2 ± 11 and 73.2 ± 13.8 bpm in β -blocker and non– β -blocker patients, respectively ( P = .0001). In CABG surgery patients, preadmission HR values were 64.2 ± 13 and 76.1 ± 12 bpm in β -blocker and non– β -blocker patients, respectively ( P = .001). The preinduction HR subsequently increased in the β -blocker as well as in the non– β -blocker groups. Conclusion Only half of the patients who qualify to receive preoperative β -blockers by current recommendations actually receive them before noncardiac surgery, and the majority of these patients have preadmission and preinduction HR less than 60 bpm. Targeting β -blocker therapy treatment to an HR less than 60 bpm may not be readily achievable in many patients.
Intergenerational competitive equilibria under technological uncertainty and an exhaustible resource constraint

Abstract This paper presents a model of competitive intertemporal equilibrium in a finite-horizon, overlapping generations economy facing technological uncertainty and an exhaustible resource constraint. Individuals form rational expectations regarding future prices and economic conditions, and income is redistributed from one generation to the next through government-mandated lump-sum transfers. Under uncertainty, the relationship between resource price appreciation and the interest rate is mediated by consumers' risk aversion with respect to consumption in alternative states of nature. The intuitively appealing proposition that the expected resource price rises at the expected rate of interest holds only as a special case. If future generations are taken to be state-contingent in the sense that their composition depends on the states of nature prevailing when they are born, then equilibria are generally Pareto efficient. But if future generations are state-independent so that the set of individuals born at a given date is independent of the prevailing state of nature, then equilibria may be inefficient because markets do not exist where successive generations may equilibrate their marginal rates of substitution across consumption in alternative contingent states. Such inefficiencies may be remedied through the implementation of appropriate intergenerational transfers. An optimal intergenerational welfare distribution may be supported as a competitive equilibrium if the income transfer regime is properly selected and enforced. The social optima that result for a simple version of the model under the maximin welfare criterion indicate that greater sacrifices are required on the part of the present generation when future generations are taken to be state-contingent than when they are regarded as state-independent. This finding provides a possible explanation for the extreme risk aversion of conservationists with respect to the welfare of future generations.
Experimental Determination of Thermal Contact in a Diode-Heat Sink Assembly

This study examines experimentally the quality of contact of mechanical joints in a diode heat sink assembly. Steady-state contact conductance, h, is used as a quantitative measure of the quality of contact of a joint. The emphasis of the work is on determining the contact conductance, h, for a nonideal joint using a noncontact method of recording temperature distribution in a complex geometry. Thermal contact conductance for an interface is known to depend on parameters such as contact pressure, mean interface temperature and the surface roughness characteristics of the mating surfaces. The results are presented for three different conditions of the interface namely (i) the mating surfaces are bare (ii) aluminum foil is inserted between the mating surfaces, and (iii) a high thermal conductivity grease is applied to the mating surfaces. Two levels of contact pressure are used for the interface with aluminum foil. The results indicate that the contact conductance increases with the mean temperature of the interface in all the cases. At low interface temperature, the contact conductance was greatest for the bare interface conditions. At high interface temperature, the contact conductance was greatest for the aluminum foil interface condition.
Evaluation of the physical and in vitro protective activity of three synthetic peptides derived from the pro- and mature GDNF sequence

Recently, a small 11-amino acid amidated peptide, dopamine neuron stimulating peptide-11 (DNSP-11), was shown to exert neurotrophic-like actions on primary dopaminergic neurons and in parkinsonian rat models. This suggests smaller neurotrophic-like molecules may be deliverable and modifiable for therapeutic use. Here we evaluate the molecular and cellular protection properties of DNSP-11 and two other amidated-peptides, a 5-mer (DNSP-5) and a 17-mer (DNSP-17), hypothesized to be endoproteolytically processed from the pro- and mature glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) protein sequence, respectively. Far-UV circular dichroism spectra show that the three DNSPs are soluble and act independently in vitro. Reverse phase HPLC and mass spectrometry analysis show that the three peptides are stable for one month at a variety of storage and experimental conditions. To gain insight into their biodistribution properties in the brain, we used affinity chromatography to show that DNSP-17 binds heparin equally as tight as GDNF, whereas DNSP-5 and DNSP-11 do not bind heparin, which should facilitate their delivery in vivo. Finally, we present data showing that DNSP-11 provides dose-dependent protection of HEK-293 cells from staurosporine and 3-nitropropionate (3-NP) cytotoxicity, thereby supporting its broad mitochondrial-protective properties.
Studies on the mechanism of action of calciferol VII. Localization of 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D3 in chick parathyroid glands.

When 1,25(OH)2-vitamin D3 was administered to vitamin D-deficient chicks, within two hours the parathyroid glands were observed to accumulate this steroid to a concentration four times that present in the blood and equivalent to levels observed in the target intestine. Similarly, when 25-(OH)-vitamin D3 was administered, the parathyroid glands had 2.4 times the concentration of the metabolite, 1,25-(OH)2-vitamin D3 as that seen in the blood and 60% of that found in the intestine. These results are consistent with the concept that the hormonally active form of vitamin D, 1,25-(OH)2-vitamin D3, may interact with the parathyroid glands to effect changes in parathyroid hormone secretion.
A comment on relativistic Hamiltonian equations for any spin

Abstract The Guertin generalization of Dirac theory for a free particle with half-integer spin is shown to be a unitary transformation of the Weaver-Hammer-Good description by explictly deriving the unitary connections for spin - 3 2 between the two descriptions and the Foldy-Wouthuysen representation. Thus, the Guertin description exchanges simplicity of Lorentz transformation properties for some simplification in the form of physical operators. Some other spin - 3 2 representations, unitarily equivalent to those above, are also noted.
Comparison of EUV patterning performance between PTD and NTD for 1Xnm DRAM

Recently in the R&D area DRAM has shrunk to 1X nm, at the same time patterning technology has been one of the major challenges on 1X nm DRAM. Less than 20nm line and space and less than 30nm contact hole patterning are basically needed for 1X nm DRAM. Currently ArF immersion extension such as DPT (Double Patterning Technology), SADP (Self-Aligned Double Patterning) and SAQP (Self-Aligned Quadruple Patterning) shows robust patterning performance relative to EUV/DSA and become established process as a baseline for 1Xnm DRAM. But cost of ownership and process complexity of DPT/SADP can be the big burden for volume production. Furthermore too many DPT/SADP can make DRAM shrink meaningless. In spite of current issues on DPT/SADP, EUV source power has been the most critical issue so far. And now source power issue is pushing development of high sensitive EUV resist and related process. In this paper, author will compare EUV PTD and NTD in view of image contrast and swelling, also evaluate patterning performance between EUV PTD and NTD, and finally describe current status and issues of EUV NTD.
Properties of polymer liquid crystals: choosing molecular structures and blending

Abstract Monomer liquid crystals (MLCs), polymer liquid crystals (PLCs) and heterogeneous composites are compared. PLCs are classified into categories in function of their molecular structure. Molecular composites (MC) are characterized. Phase diagrams are analysed, and new ways of presenting information on coexisting phases including glassy ones are proposed. Rheology and methods of processing of PLCs and MCs are outlined. Characterization of PLCs including their dielectric behaviour is discussed. Blending of PLCs and properties of the blends of MCs are related to present as well as potential applications of liquid-crystalline and rigid rod materials.
Alteration of trace metal geochemical cycles due to the marine discharge of wastewater

Abstract The coastal area investigated of southern California is adjacent to a densely populated, highly industrialized area that injects about 4 × 10 9 l per day of wastewater into the adjacent coastal ocean. The wastewater contains large amounts of Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn, Ni, Ag and Zn, primarily associated with the solids, which produce trace metal concentrations in the wastewater praticulates of two to three orders of magnitude greater than the natural marine sediment. The injection of this solid waste into the ocean causes large areas (on the order of 130 km 2 ) of the marine sediment adjacent to the outfall systems to become heavily contaminated with trace metals. Less than 10% of the metals injected from the outfall are present in the contaminated marine sediment of the study area. The remaining 90% are either dissolved out of the waste solids suspended in seawater or transported out of the area by currents while still associated with the particulate matter. The effect on the global geochemical system due to wastewater discharge is not as extensive as on a local scale but is perhaps more important. The ocean injection of metals in municipal wastewater by man is now of the same order of magnitude as the injection of the metals by natural weathering. The global consequences of this are unknown; however while the natural rate of trace metal injection is constant, the anthropogenic contribution will increase with time.
Histidyl-tRNA Synthetase-related Sequences in GCN2 Protein Kinase Regulate in Vitro Phosphorylation of eIF-2

In yeast, starvation for amino acids stimulates GCN2 phosphorylation of the alpha subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor-2 (eIF-2). Phosphorylation of eIF-2alpha induces the translational expression of GCN4, a transcriptional activator of the general amino acid control pathway. It has been proposed that GCN2 sequences containing homology to histidyl-tRNA synthetases (HisRS) bind uncharged tRNA that accumulate during amino acid limitation and stimulate the activity of GCN2 kinase. In this report we address whether the HisRS-related sequences are required for GCN2 phosphorylation of eIF-2alpha in an in vitro assay. To measure the activity of GCN2 kinase in cellular extracts, we expressed and purified a truncated form of yeast eIF-2alpha. Phosphorylation of the recombinant eIF-2alpha substrate was dependent on both GCN2 kinase activity and the eIF-2alpha phosphorylation site, serine 51. Mutations in the HisRS-related domain of GCN2, which have been shown to block phosphorylation of eIF-2alpha in vivo and the subsequent stimulation of the general control pathway, also greatly reduced eIF-2alpha phosphorylation in the in vitro assay. These results indicate that the HisRS-related sequences are required for activation of GCN2 kinase function.
Magnetic sensors for data storage: perspective and future outlook

Sensors based on various magnetic principles and mechanisms are gaining wide acceptance in the data storage industry. The focus here is to make a comparative analysis of the practice and properties of current and past magnetic recording systems. Both longitudinal magnetic recording and perpendicular magnetic recording are addressed in the context of the media and magnetic sensors used in the recording head. An outlook for future data storage, such as patterned media and heat assisted recording, is also presented.
Energetics, Food Consumption, and Growth of Young Yellow Perch in Oneida Lake, New York

Abstract A study to determine the energy content of young (age-0) yellow perch Perca flavescens and their prey, measure metabolism, and relate energy supply and intake to fish growth was conducted in Oneida Lake, New York during the summers of 1975–1977. Growth rates in these years were similar in early summer when young yellow perch were 20 to 50 mm total length and fed almost exclusively on Daphnia pulex but varied widely in late summer when the diet was more diverse. In early summer, food intake averaged 23% of body energy content, young yellow perch assimilated about 68% of the daily ration, and gross efficiency averaged 27%. Comparison of observed growth and energy available for growth calculated from an energy budget indicated estimates of food intake and respiration were reasonable. In years when the D. pulex population collapsed in late summer, young yellow perch shifted to alternate prey and growth declined. Variation in first-year growth, mediated by D. pulex abundance, may determine the contrib...
The potential of bone marrow cells to orchestrate homeostasis and healing in skin

Bone marrow derived cells play a major role in the maintenance and repair of many tissues, mostly by the delivering of a variety of inflammatory cells. Recent evidence however suggests that bone marrow may also supply cellular substrate for rebuilding non-hematopoietic tissues following injury. This discussion addresses the potential role of bone marrow to provide cells to the skin for rebuilding of skin structures following injury and for skin maintenance.
Synaptic and Intrinsic Activation of GABAergic Neurons in the Cardiorespiratory Brainstem Network

GABAergic pathways in the brainstem play an essential role in respiratory rhythmogenesis and interactions between the respiratory and cardiovascular neuronal control networks. However, little is known about the identity and function of these GABAergic inhibitory neurons and what determines their activity. In this study we have identified a population of GABAergic neurons in the ventrolateral medulla that receive increased excitatory post-synaptic potentials during inspiration, but also have spontaneous firing in the absence of synaptic input. Using transgenic mice that express GFP under the control of the Gad1 (GAD67) gene promoter, we determined that this population of GABAergic neurons is in close apposition to cardioinhibitory parasympathetic cardiac neurons in the nucleus ambiguus (NA). These neurons fire in synchronization with inspiratory activity. Although they receive excitatory glutamatergic synaptic inputs during inspiration, this excitatory neurotransmission was not altered by blocking nicotinic receptors, and many of these GABAergic neurons continue to fire after synaptic blockade. The spontaneous firing in these GABAergic neurons was not altered by the voltage-gated calcium channel blocker cadmium chloride that blocks both neurotransmission to these neurons and voltage-gated Ca2+ currents, but spontaneous firing was diminished by riluzole, demonstrating a role of persistent sodium channels in the spontaneous firing in these cardiorespiratory GABAergic neurons that possess a pacemaker phenotype. The spontaneously firing GABAergic neurons identified in this study that increase their activity during inspiration would support respiratory rhythm generation if they acted primarily to inhibit post-inspiratory neurons and thereby release inspiration neurons to increase their activity. This population of inspiratory-modulated GABAergic neurons could also play a role in inhibiting neurons that are most active during expiration and provide a framework for respiratory sinus arrhythmia as there is an increase in heart rate during inspiration that occurs via inhibition of premotor parasympathetic cardioinhibitory neurons in the NA during inspiration.
Maximizing the performance of irregular applications on multithreaded, NUMA systems

In modern shared-memory systems, the communication latency and available resources for a group of logical processors are determined by their relative position in the hierarchy of chips, cores, and hardware threads. Thus the performance of multithreaded applications varies with the mapping of software threads to logical processors.In our study we observe huge variation in application performance under different mappings. Moreover, applications with irregular access patterns perform poorly under the default mapping. We maximize application performance by balancing communication overhead and available resources.Remote access overhead in irregular applications dominates execution time and can not be reduced by mapping alone on NUMA systems when the logical processors span multiple chips. In addition to new data replication and distribution optimizations, we improve geographical locality by matching access pattern to the data layout. We further propose a locality-centric optimization for simultaneously reducing remote accesses and improving cache performance. Our approach achieves better performance than prior NUMA-specific techniques.
Social commerce: Looking back and forward

Social commerce can be briefly described as commerce activities mediated by social media. In social commerce, people do commerce or intentionally explore commerce opportunities by participating and/or engaging in a collaborative online environment. As a relatively new phenomenon first widely acknowledged in 2005, social commerce presents new opportunities to examine issues related to information/content, business strategies, management, technologies, and people's behavior. This article presents a qualitative longitudinal study which systematically examines technological features and tools in social commerce websites to illustrate their evolution and impacts on the formation of social commerce practice today and its potential future. Using captures crawled by the Wayback Machine, fifteen websites are analyzed from the year they were “born” to the year of 2010. The analyses are guided by a semi-structured checklist of expected and desired tools and features based on a literature review in social commerce. The study finds that social commerce activities appeared as early as the late 90s and that there are different approaches to incorporating social channels and social networks. In addition, the findings support a preliminary classification of social commerce websites, a realignment of the term's conceptualization and the anticipation of possible new directions for this market segment.
High-Temperature Reliability of Advanced Ceramics

This paper describes high-temperature reliability, particularly creep and creep rupture behavior of three engineering ceramics-silicon nitride, silicon carbide, and alumina-based silicon-carbide-particulate ceramics-which are considered the most potential candidates for the use of blades of high-efficiency ceramic gas turbine. The structural reliability of silicon nitride is very often limited due to the softening of glassy phases formed at grain boundaries. On the other hand, silicon carbide, which generally does not contain glassy phase at the grain boundaries, shows excellent creep resistance even at very high temperatures. Finally, it is shown that creep resistance of alumina can be markedly improved by dispersing nano-sized silicon carbide particles into the grain boundary.
Decoding the assessment of student learning

This chapter outlines the understanding gained when working with faculty to learn about assessment, to develop a plan, and to support them as they carry out and interpret their assessments.
Model of human visual-motion sensing

We propose a model of how humans sense the velocity of moving images. The model exploits constraints provided by human psychophysics, notably that motion-sensing elements appear tuned for two-dimensional spatial frequency, and by the frequency spectrum of a moving image, namely, that its support lies in the plane in which the temporal frequency equals the dot product of the spatial frequency and the image velocity. The first stage of the model is a set of spatial-frequency-tuned, direction-selective linear sensors. The temporal frequency of the response of each sensor is shown to encode the component of the image velocity in the sensor direction. At the second stage, these components are resolved in order to measure the velocity of image motion at each of a number of spatial locations and spatial frequencies. The model has been applied to several illustrative examples, including apparent motion, coherent gratings, and natural image sequences. The model agrees qualitatively with human perception.
Exploring the space of a human action

One of the fundamental challenges of recognizing actions is accounting for the variability that arises when arbitrary cameras capture humans performing actions. In this paper, we explicitly identify three important sources of variability: (1) viewpoint, (2) execution rate, and (3) anthropometry of actors, and propose a model of human actions that allows us to investigate all three. Our hypothesis is that the variability associated with the execution of an action can be closely approximated by a linear combination of action bases in joint spatio-temporal space. We demonstrate that such a model bounds the rank of a matrix of image measurements and that this bound can be used to achieve recognition of actions based only on imaged data. A test employing principal angles between subspaces that is robust to statistical fluctuations in measurement data is presented to find the membership of an instance of an action. The algorithm is applied to recognize several actions, and promising results have been obtained.