cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bile acid sulfates. III. Synthesis of 7- and 12-monosulfates of bile acids and their conjugates using a sulfur trioxide-triethylamine complex

Abstract The 7- and 12-monosulfates of chenodeoxycholic acid, deoxycholic acid, and cholic acid were prepared by sulfation of the protected bile acids with sulfur trioxide-triethylamine in pyridine overnight and were isolated by precipitation as the p-toluidinium salt after removing the protecting group(s). The taurine conjugates were obtained by conjugating the bile acid sulfates with taurine in hot dimethyl formamide (DMF) in the presence of N-ethoxycarbony1-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline (EEDQ). A new procedure of preparing glycine conjugated bile acid sulfates by direct conjugation of the bile acid sulfate triethylammonium salt with ethyl glycinate in boiling chloroform in the presence of EEDQ is also described. The advantage of these procedures over other procedures are their simplicity and their higher yields (typically above 90%) The thin layer Chromatographic mobilities of these sulfates are presented. The influence of side chain and hydroxyl group configurations on the properties of bile acid sulfates is briefly discussed.
Activity-stress ulcers in rats: The role of preentrainment to meal time

Abstract Rats housed in activity wheels (A-W) or hanging cages (HC) received food restriction to 4 h/day for 15 days. Food was given at fixed times to entrain the feeding entrainable oscillator or at irregular times to prevent entrainment. One half of the rats received food in the light phase, the other half in the dark phase of the light-dark cycle. Food was then reduced to 6 g/day for 4 days for A-W rats of 7 days for HC rats. Stomachs were removed 24 h after the last meal and the ulcerated area was quantified. Twenty one of 32 A-W rats and 19 of 32 HC rats had ulcers in the glandular stomach. Ulcers were significantly larger in A-W rats ( p p
Mandibular fracture not shown by axial computed tomography: Benefit of computed reformation

A 36-year-old man was brought to the emergency department after being assaulted. A mandible series showed a nondisplaced fracture through the angle of the mandible extending through the left third molar tooth. Axial slices from a nonhelical computed tomographic (CT) examination of the head as well as a helical CT examination of the mandible failed to demonstrate the fracture. The fracture was well shown, however, on sagittal CT reformations. Although CT is generally regarded as more sensitive than plain radiography for the detection of fractures, fractures may be overlooked by CT if examination in only one plane is performed.
Improving performance of computer-aided detection scheme by combining results from two machine learning classifiers.

Rationale and Objectives Global data–based and local instance–based machine-learning methods and classifiers have been widely used to optimize computer-aided detection and diagnosis (CAD) schemes to classify between true-positive and false-positive detections. In this study, the correlation between these two types of classifiers was investigated using a new independent testing data set, and the potential improvement of a CAD scheme's performance by combining the results of the two classifiers in detecting breast masses was assessed. Materials and Methods The CAD scheme first used image filtering and a multilayer topographic region growth algorithm to detect and segment suspicious mass regions. The scheme then used an image feature–based classifier to classify these regions into true-positive and false-positive regions. Two classifiers were used in this study. One was a global data–based machine-learning classifier, an artificial neural network (ANN), and the other was a local instance–based machine-learning classifier, a k -nearest neighbor (KNN) algorithm. An independent image database including 400 mammographic examinations was used in this study. Of these, 200 were cancer cases and 200 were negative cases. The preoptimized CAD scheme was applied twice to the database using the two different classifiers. The correlation between the two sets of classification results was analyzed. Three sets of CAD performance results using the ANN, KNN, and average detection scores from both classifiers were assessed and compared using the free-response receiver-operating characteristic method. Results The results showed that the ANN achieved higher performance than the KNN algorithm, with a normalized area under the performance curve (AUC) of 0.891 versus 0.845. The correlation coefficients between the detection scores generated by the two classifiers were 0.436 and 0.161 for the true-positive and false-positive detections, respectively. The average detection scores of the two classifiers improved CAD performance and reliability by increasing the AUC to 0.912 and reducing the standard error of the estimated AUC by 14.4%. The detection sensitivity was also increased from 75.8% (ANN) and 65.9% (KNN) to 80.3% at a false-positive detection rate of 0.3 per image. Conclusions This study demonstrates that two global data–based and local data–based machine-learning classifiers (ANN and KNN) generated low correlated detection results and that combining the detection scores of these two classifiers significantly improved overall CAD performance ( P
Ethnic and Gender Differences in Cough Reflex Sensitivity

Background: Although recent studies have suggested that the cough reflex is more sensitive in women than in men, ethnic differences in cough reflex sensitivity have not previously b
Formation and characterization of non-growth states in Clostridium thermocellum: spores and L-forms

Clostridium thermocellum is an anaerobic thermophilic bacterium that exhibits high levels of cellulose solublization and produces ethanol as an end product of its metabolism. Using cellulosic biomass as a feedstock for fuel production is an attractive prospect, however, growth arrest can negatively impact ethanol production by fermentative microorganisms such as C. thermocellum. Understanding conditions that lead to non-growth states in C. thermocellum can positively influence process design and culturing conditions in order to optimize ethanol production in an industrial setting. We report here that Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405 enters non-growth states in response to specific growth conditions. Non-growth states include the formation of spores and a L-form-like state in which the cells cease to grow or produce the normal end products of metabolism. Unlike other sporulating organisms, we did not observe sporulation of C. thermocellum in low carbon or nitrogen environments. However, sporulation did occur in response to transfers between soluble and insoluble substrates, resulting in approximately 7% mature spores. Exposure to oxygen caused a similar sporulation response. Starvation conditions during continuous culture did not result in spore formation, but caused the majority of cells to transition to a L-form state. Both spores and L-forms were determined to be viable. Spores exhibited enhanced survival in response to high temperature and prolonged storage compared to L-forms and vegetative cells. However, L-forms exhibited faster recovery compared to both spores and stationary phase cells when cultured in rich media. Both spores and L-forms cease to produce ethanol, but provide other advantages for C. thermocellum including enhanced survival for spores and faster recovery for L-forms. Understanding the conditions that give rise to these two different non-growth states, and the implications that each has for enabling or enhancing C. thermocellum survival may promote the efficient cultivation of this organism and aid in its development as an industrial microorganism.
Analysis of 36 reported cases of late thrombosis in drug-eluting stents placed in coronary arteries.

Drug-eluting stents (DESs) have decreased the incidence of in-stent restenosis. Within the past 2 years several cases on late stent thrombosis (LST) have been reported. This study analyzed and reviewed all published cases of LST in DESs to explore possible trends not previously reported. We applied a Medline search using the key word “drug eluting stents.” All 845 positive matches in March 2006 were screened for case reports of LST in DESs, defined as angiographic stent thrombosis ≥30 days after deployment. We included reported LSTs from randomized trials, observational registry reports, and letters to the editor if information regarding timing from stent deployment to clinical event, vessel, stent diameter and length, and antiplatelet regimen were available. There was no significant difference in the incidence of LST between sirolimus- and paclitaxel-eluting stents. Median time from stent deployment to clinical event was 242 days (total range 39 to 927). If aspirin and clopidogrel were discontinued, median time to clinical event was 7 days (3 to 150). In comparison, if only clopidogrel was discontinued, median time to clinical event was 30 days (14 to 690, p
Developing Socially Just Teachers: The Interaction of Experiences Before, During, and After Teacher Preparation in Beginning Urban Teachers

This interpretive study investigated how 12 graduates from a justice-oriented teacher preparation program described their teaching goals, practices, and influences on those practices after their 1st year of teaching in an urban school. Relationships among these teachers’ orientations toward socially just teaching, self-reported socially just teaching practices, and self-reported preprogram, program, and postprogram influences were explored. Teachers who were individually and structurally oriented exhibited a sociocultural consciousness and described socially just teaching in various combinations of culturally responsive pedagogies, consciousness-raising, and advocacy; whereas individually oriented teachers focused primarily on “color-blind” caring relationships with their students. Factors that seemed to influence a more structural orientation to socially just teaching included (a) cross-cultural experiences before and during teacher preparation, (b) program course content and field experiences that chall...
A model of motor performance during surface penetration: From physics to voluntary control

The act of puncturing a surface with a hand-held tool is a ubiquitous but complex motor behavior that requires precise force control to avoid potentially severe consequences. We present a detailed model of puncture over a time course of approximately 1,000 ms, which is fit to kinematic data from individual punctures, obtained via a simulation with high-fidelity force feedback. The model describes puncture as proceeding from purely physically determined interactions between the surface and tool, through decline of force due to biomechanical viscosity, to cortically mediated voluntary control. When fit to the data, it yields parameters for the inertial mass of the tool/person coupling, time characteristic of force decline, onset of active braking, stopping time and distance, and late oscillatory behavior, all of which the analysis relates to physical variables manipulated in the simulation. While the present data characterize distinct phases of motor performance in a group of healthy young adults, the approach could potentially be extended to quantify the performance of individuals from other populations, e.g., with sensory–motor impairments. Applications to surgical force control devices are also considered.
Rebuilding a damaged heart: long-term survival of transplanted neonatal rat cardiomyocytes after myocardial infarction and effect on cardiac function.

Background— The long-term effects of cardiac cell transplantation on cardiac function are unknown. Therefore, we tested the survival and functional impact of rat neonatal cardiac myocytes up to 6 months after transplantation into infarcted hearts. Methods and Results— Cardiomyocytes from male neonatal Fischer 344 rats (1 to 2 days, 3 to 5×106) or medium was injected into the infarcts of adult syngeneic female animals 1 week after left coronary artery ligation. Six months later, implanted cardiomyocytes were still present by quantitative TaqMan polymerase chain reaction and histology. In all treated hearts, discrete lumps of cells were present within the infarct scar, which was not observed in media-injected hearts typified by a transmural infarct scar. Infarct thickness was greater in treated animals versus control animals (909±97 versus 619±43 μm, P<0.02), whereas infarct size and left ventricular volumes were similar. By biplane angiography, left ventricular ejection fractions at 6 months were greater (...
Involvement of phospholipase A2 in neurodegeneration

Phospholipases A2 are a heterogeneous class of enzymes that hydrolyse fatty acids from the sn-2 2 position of membrane phospholipids. Prolonged stimulation of phospholipase A2 may damage membrane integrity, not only because of the loss of essential phospholipid from the lipid bilayer but also as a result of an uncontrollable Ca2+ influx. The increased levels of intracellular Ca2+ may be responsible for enhanced lipolysis, proteolysis and DNA fragmentation. This process along with the accumulation of lipid peroxidation products may be associated with neurodegeneration in acute neural trauma (ischemia, head and spinal cord injuries) and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer's disease).
The Global Monsoon as Seen through the Divergent Atmospheric Circulation

Abstract A comprehensive description is given of the global monsoon as seen through the large-scale overturning in the atmosphere that changes with the seasons, and it provides a basis for delimiting the monsoon regions of the world. The analysis focuses on the mean annual cycle of the divergent winds and associated vertical motions, as given by the monthly mean fields for 1979–93 reanalyses from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR) and European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), which are able to reproduce the dominant modes. A complex empirical orthogonal function analysis of the divergent circulation brings out two dominant modes with essentially the same vertical structures in all months of the year. The first mode, which depicts the global monsoon, has a simple vertical structure with a maximum in vertical motion at about 400 mb, divergence in the upper troposphere that is strongest at 150 mb and decays to zero amplitud...
APOE genotype-specific differences in the innate immune response.

Apolipoprotein-E protein is an endogenous immunomodulatory agent that affects both the innate and the adaptive immune responses. Since individuals with the APOE4 gene demonstrate worsened pathology and poorer outcomes in many neurological disorders, we examined isoform-specific differences in the response of microglia, the primary cellular component of the brain's innate immune response, in detail. Our data demonstrate that microglia derived from APOE4/4 targeted replacement mice demonstrate a pro-inflammatory phenotype that includes altered cell morphology, increased NO production associated with increased NOS2 mRNA levels, and higher pro-inflammatory cytokine production (TNFα, IL-6, IL12p40) compared to microglia derived from APOE3/3 targeted replacement mice. The effect is gene dose-dependent and increases with the number of APOE4 gene alleles. The APOE genotype-specific immune profile observed in the microglial immune response is also observed in the cortex of aged APOE3/3 and APOE4/4 mice treated with lipopolysacchride (LPS) and in peripheral (peritoneal) macrophages. To determine if APOE4's action resulted from an isoform-specific difference in effective levels of the apolipoproteins, we generated mice expressing only a single allele of APOE3. Immune-stimulated macrophages from APOE3/0 mice demonstrated an increased inflammatory response compared to APOE3/3 mice, but less than in APOE4/4 mice. These data suggest that inhibition of inflammation depends upon the dose of apoE3 protein available and that apoE4 protein may alter inflammation partly by dose effects and partly by being qualitatively different than apoE3. Overall, these data emphasize the important role of apolipoprotein E and of the APOE genotype on the immune responses that are evident in most, if not all, neurological disease.
An ENSO predictor of dust emission in the southwestern United States

[1] Here we show that there is a significant relationship between Nino 3.4 ENSO anomaly (Dec–Jan average) and precipitation in the southwestern United States. This contributes to increased frequency of dust events in the years following strong La Nina and El Nino years. High probabilities (60%–100%) exist for an elevated frequency of dust events in years when the ENSO anomaly, annual precipitation, or annual P/PE falls below the 10th percentile. This analysis provides a quantitative framework in which to evaluate the expected effects of climate change on this and other arid regions.
Cognitive and Tactical Dimensions of Conversational Goal Management

Rationalist depictions of conversational behaviour assume that communicators engage in a good deal of goal-directed thinking and that such thinking guides message production. The current study used a cued-recall method (Cegala et al., 1988) to investigate the composition of conversational cognition and to investigate the relationship between cognitions and tactics. Results indicated that goal-oriented cognition was prominent but that non-strategic thoughts were more frequent. In addition, results indicated that individuals using tactics of low, moderate, and high levels of goal management sophistication had qualitatively different conversational cognitions. Finally, partner tactics appeared to influence the composition of conversational cognition.
Organization and Customer: Managing Design and Coordination of Services

Customer participation in the operations of service organizations can be a major source of input uncertainty. A framework for analyzing service organizations is presented in which different conditions of input uncertainty are matched with the design of different interdependence patterns which, in turn, are matched to different portfolios of coordination mechanisms. The composition of portfolios draws on both the conventional organizational literature and recent work on control mechanisms at the client/service firm interface.
Word Frequency Estimation as a Measure of Degree of Bilingualism

headings: rating scales, tests of verbal fluency, tests of flexibility and tests of dominance.1 The rating scales most frequently used are language background questionnaires and self ratings of language use. On the other hand, tests of verbal fluency are usually either measures of speed of response to verbal stimuli or of the number of responses produced within time limits. Ervin,2 for example, compared the speed with which bilinguals were able to name pictures in each language and Johnson' and Macnamara4 contrasted the number of different words produced in each language within equal time limits. An example of a flexibility measure is Macnamara's richness of vocabulary tests in which subjects (Ss) are presented with a series of phrases in each language, of the type "he is drunk", and are asked to write as many words or expressions as possible that are synonymous with the word underlined in the phrase. In dominance tests the bilingual is confronted with an ambiguous stimulus and is asked to pronounce or interpret it. It is assumed that his behavior indicates the language which he controls most fully. Recently, the possibility of using word frequency estimation as a measure of bilingual proficiency has been suggested by the finding that individuals can accurately estimate the frequencies with which words appear in print. Thus CarrollP reported that rankings of printed word frequencies obtained from monolingual Ss had substantial correlations with the rankings found in the Thorndike-Lorge frequency counts.
Rate-based query optimization for streaming information sources

Relational query optimizers have traditionally relied upon table cardinalities when estimating the cost of the query plans they consider. While this approach has been and continues to be successful, the advent of the Internet and the need to execute queries over streaming sources requires a different approach, since for streaming inputs the cardinality may not be known or may not even be knowable (as is the case for an unbounded stream.) In view of this, we propose shifting from a cardinality-based approach to a rate-based approach, and give an optimization framework that aims at maximizing the output rate of query evaluation plans. This approach can be applied to cases where the cardinality-based approach cannot be used. It may also be useful for cases where cardinalities are known, because by focusing on rates we are able not only to optimize the time at which the last result tuple appears, but also to optimize for the number of answers computed at any specified time after the query evaluation commences. We present a preliminary validation of our rate-based optimization framework on a prototype XML query engine, though it is generic enough to be used in other database contexts. The results show that rate-based optimization is feasible and can indeed yield correct decisions.
Synthesis and Characterization of RbLi7Ge8 with Isolatedcloso-[Li4Ge12]8− Ions, Lithium-Capped Truncated Tetrahedra of Ge1212−

The largest isolated clusters of Group 14 elements, giant truncated tetrahedra of Ge1212- , are found in the title compound. RbLi7 Ge8 , which is an electronically balanced, saltlike Zintl phase, was synthesized by heating the corresponding stoichiometric mixture of elements.
Changing conflict asymmetries constructively

The complex and fluid nature of asymmetry is analyzed and then the sources of changes in conflict asymmetry are discussed. This analysis is then applied to particular conflicts that have followed different trajectories of asymmetry and conflict transformation. The trajectories include (1) transformation toward symmetry and equitable resolution (South Africa and the civil rights struggle in the US South) and (2) protracted failure to achieve appropriate symmetry or to have unilateral imposition (Sri Lanka, Palestinians and Israelis).
The mechanism of photosynthetic water splitting.

Oxygenic photosynthesis, which provides the biosphere with most of its chemical energy, uses water as its source of electrons. Water is photochemically oxidized by the protein complex photosystem II (PSII), which is found, along with other proteins of the photosynthetic light reactions, in the thylakoid membranes of cyanobacteria and of green plant chloroplasts. Water splitting is catalyzed by the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) of PSII, producing dioxygen gas, protons and electrons. O2 is released into the atmosphere, sustaining all aerobic life on earth; product protons are released into the thylakoid lumen, augmenting a proton concentration gradient across the membrane; and photo-energized electrons pass to the rest of the electron-transfer pathway. The OEC contains four manganese ions, one calcium ion and (almost certainly) a chloride ion, but its precise structure and catalytic mechanism remain unclear. In this paper, we develop a chemically complete structure of the OEC and its environment by using molecular mechanics calculations to extend and slightly adjust the recently-obtained X-ray crystallographic model [K. N. Ferreira, T. M. Iverson, K. Maghlaoui, J. Barber and S. Iwata, Science, 2004, 303, 1831–1838]. We discuss our mechanistic hypothesis [J. P. McEvoy and G. W. Brudvig, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2004, 6, 4754–4763] with reference to this structure and to some important recent experimental results.
Fully Parsing the Penn Treebank

We present a two stage parser that recovers Penn Treebank style syntactic analyses of new sentences including skeletal syntactic structure, and, for the first time, both function tags and empty categories. The accuracy of the first-stage parser on the standard Parseval metric matches that of the (Collins, 2003) parser on which it is based, despite the data fragmentation caused by the greatly enriched space of possible node labels. This first stage simultaneously achieves near state-of-the-art performance on recovering function tags with minimal modifications to the underlying parser, modifying less than ten lines of code. The second stage achieves state-of-the-art performance on the recovery of empty categories by combining a linguistically-informed architecture and a rich feature set with the power of modern machine learning methods.
Strip and line path integrals with a square pixel matrix: a unified theory for computational CT projections

Calculated forward projection techniques have been used for various purposes in computerized tomography applications, and several models have been proposed to simulate the tomography projection process. Since the area weighted strip integral is one of the best models, methods to facilitate the computation of strip integrals would be very useful. In particular, a triangular subtraction technique with a reduced number of weighting factors is proposed for the calculation of the strip integral. A unified path integral theory is also proposed to bridge various models and to clarify the integral interaction when a line or a strip passes through a square pixel matrix. >
Antibiotic Prophylaxis and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease

To the Editor: A recent article by Pasceri et al1 suggested a significantly higher prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infections in patients with ischemic heart disease compared with matched controls. Two editorials in the same issue of Circulation critically evaluated existing knowledge regarding the association between chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis2 and the potential use of antibiotic therapy.3 Although there appears to be increasing evidence that low-grade inflammation induced by prior exposure to infective agents such as Chlamydia pneumoniae , cytomegalovirus, or H pylori might play a role in the development of atherosclerotic lesions, there is controversy regarding a proven pharmacological rationale for antibiotic therapy for atherosclerotic vascular disease. Pasceri et al1 conclude that eradication of H pylori may play a future role in the prevention of ischemic heart disease. In our opinion, macrolide antibiotics have many properties that should be considered in the design and evaluation of clinical trials in ischemic heart disease. First, macrolides appear to exert potent anti-inflammatory effects. In the lung, erythromycin seems to ameliorate …
Estimating age-dependent costs and benefits of roots with contrasting life span: Comparing apples and oranges

Summary • The relation between root age and root function is poorly understood, despite its importance to root longevity. • The effect of root age on respiration rates and 32P-uptake kinetics was determined for roots excavated from mature apple and citrus trees (median root life spans of 30 vs 300 d). To evaluate whether root longevity maximizes the efficiency of nutrient capture, daily and lifetime efficiencies were calculated by dividing simulated P-uptake benefits (solute transport model) by age-specific respiration costs. • We found that: respiration rates and P uptake capacity change with root age in a species-specific way; and soil characteristics that determine the rate of nutrient depletion in the rhizosphere are as important as changes in root physiology in determining the age at which a root reaches its maximum efficiency. • Further testing of the efficiency of nutrient capture as a predictor of root life span requires measurement of both soil properties and age-specific physiology of roots including their mycorrhizal fungi.
Axl Mediates Vascular Remodeling Induced by Deoxycorticosterone Acetate–Salt Hypertension

Axl, a receptor tyrosine kinase, was recently identified as a novel candidate gene in a genetic model of salt-sensitive hypertension (Sabra rat). Our group first reported that Axl plays a significant role in vascular remodeling in response to injury. Here we investigated the role of Axl in the pathogenesis of hypertension in a deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)–salt model. Hypertension was induced in Axl wild-type (Axl +/+ ) mice and Axl-deficient (Axl −/− ) mice by uninephrectomy and DOCA-salt for 6 weeks. Controls were uninephrectomized and received tap water and regular chow ad libitum. DOCA-salt treatment increased systolic blood pressure by 25 mm Hg in both genotypes after 1 week. Systolic blood pressure remained significantly elevated in Axl +/+ DOCA, whereas systolic blood pressure levels in Axl −/− DOCA mice were the same as controls at 6 weeks. DOCA-salt increased relative kidney weight and glomerular hypertrophy by 40% compared with controls in both genotypes. Consistent with levels of systolic blood pressure, endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation was impaired in Axl +/+ DOCA mice compared with Axl +/+ controls, whereas in Axl −/− DOCA mice relaxation responses were similar to Axl −/− controls. In addition, endothelium-independent vasorelaxation was improved in Axl −/− DOCA mice compared with Axl +/+ DOCA mice. Nitrotyrosine and phospho-Akt immunoreactivity was significantly reduced in arteries from Axl −/− DOCA mice compared with Axl +/+ DOCA mice. The remodeling index of the mesenteric artery (media:lumen ratio) was significantly increased in Axl +/+ DOCA mice compared with Axl −/− DOCA mice. Finally, increased vascular apoptosis in the Axl −/− DOCA mice suggests a likely mechanism for Axl-dependent effects on hypertension. These data strengthen the pathogenic role for Axl in salt-sensitive hypertension.
Known Unknowns: Power Shifts, Uncertainty, and War

Large and rapid power shifts resulting from exogenous economic growth are considered sufficient to cause preventive wars. Yet most large and rapid shifts result from endogenous military investments. We show that when the investment decision is perfectly transparent, peace prevails. Large and rapid power shifts are deterred through the threat of a preventive war. When investments remain undetected, however, states may be tempted to introduce power shifts as a fait accompli. Knowing this, their adversaries may strike preventively even without conclusive evidence of militarization. In fact, the more effective preventive wars are, the more likely they will be launched against states that are not militarizing. Our argument emphasizes the role of imperfect information as a cause of war. It also explains why powerful states may attack weaker targets even with ambiguous evidence of their militarization. We illustrate our theory through an account of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
Antagonistic Modulation of a Hyperpolarization-Activated Cl– Current in Aplysia Sensory Neurons by SCPB and FMRFamide

Whole cell voltage-clamp recordings from Aplysia mechanosensory neurons obtained from the pleural ganglion were used to investigate the actions on membrane currents of the neuropeptides SCPB and FM...
Aggregation under homogeneous ambiguity: a two-fund separation result

Contrary to the common prior model, the construction of a representative agent whose preferences follow the multiple-priors model (1989) requires strong restrictions on sets of priors and on an aggregate endowment process if we permit a large deviation among agents’ degrees of risk aversion. This paper shows that if agents’ felicity functions belong to a family of linear risk tolerance functions with the same marginal risk tolerance, the representative agent always exists at an interior equilibrium without such restrictions, and two-fund separation holds
Transmural action potential changes underlying ventricular electrical remodeling.

INTRODUCTION Although it is well established that alterations in heart rate or activation sequence induce electrical remodeling in the atria, electrical remodeling in the ventricle is poorly understood. METHODS AND RESULTS To determine the changes in cellular repolarization that underlie ventricular electrical remodeling caused separately by altered heart rate and activation sequence, optical action potentials were recorded simultaneously from 256 sites spanning the transmural wall of the arterially perfused canine wedge preparation (n = 15). Action potentials were compared from the same sites under identical conditions [endocardial pacing, cycle length (CL) = 1,000 msec], before and after an intervening 20- to 60-minute period of remodeling induced by (1) rapid pacing (CL = 300 msec) with no change in activation sequence; (2) altered activation sequence (epicardial pacing) with no change in rate; or (3) no change in rate or activation sequence (control). Action potential duration (APD) shortened by 24.8 +/- 4.8 msec following a period of rapid heart rate (P < 0.05) but prolonged (by 12.7 +/- 1.8 msec) following a period of altered activation sequence (P < 0.05). Hence, even after restoration of baseline heart rate and activation sequence, there were persistent changes in APD from baseline, indicative of electrical remodeling. Moreover, the orientation of the maximum APD gradient across the transmural wall changed more significantly following heart rate remodeling (by 27.7 degrees +/- 4.9 degrees, P < 0.05) than following activation sequence remodeling (by 12.3 degrees +/- 2.4 degrees, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Persistent changes in ventricular repolarization can be induced by surprisingly short periods of altered rate or activation sequence. In contrast to atrial remodeling, electrical remodeling in the ventricle can result in prolonged APD (with altered activation sequence) or reversal of APD gradient orientation (with rapid rate), suggesting that the nature of ventricular electrical remodeling induced by these two perturbations is different.
Unseen Disadvantage: How American Universities' Focus on Independence Undermines the Academic Performance of First-Generation College Students

American universities increasingly admit first-generation college students whose parents do not have 4-year degrees. Once admitted, these students tend to struggle academically, compared with continuing-generation students--students who have at least 1 parent with a 4-year degree. We propose a cultural mismatch theory that identifies 1 important source of this social class achievement gap. Four studies test the hypothesis that first-generation students underperform because interdependent norms from their mostly working-class backgrounds constitute a mismatch with middle-class independent norms prevalent in universities. First, assessing university cultural norms, surveys of university administrators revealed that American universities focus primarily on norms of independence. Second, identifying the hypothesized cultural mismatch, a longitudinal survey revealed that universities' focus on independence does not match first-generation students' relatively interdependent motives for attending college and that this cultural mismatch is associated with lower grades. Finally, 2 experiments at both private and public universities created a match or mismatch for first-generation students and examined the performance consequences. Together these studies revealed that representing the university culture in terms of independence (i.e., paving one's own paths) rendered academic tasks difficult and, thereby, undermined first-generation students' performance. Conversely, representing the university culture in terms of interdependence (i.e., being part of a community) reduced this sense of difficulty and eliminated the performance gap without adverse consequences for continuing-generation students. These studies address the urgent need to recognize cultural obstacles that contribute to the social class achievement gap and to develop interventions to address them.
School-Based Management: Involving Minority Parents in Shared Decision Making

In the past decade, systemic school reform has taken hold in America in the form of "school-based management" (SBM) or shared decision making as a mechanism for improving schooling. Despite the lac...
38.2: The Detection of Moving Features on a Display: The Interaction of Direction of Motion, Orientation, and Display Rate

The contrast detection thresholds for Gabor patches, as a function of speed, oscillated by as much as a log unit when the motion was orthogonal to the orientation of the Gabor. Sensitivity was mediated by temporal frequency alone. Parallel motion, wide-band stimuli, and eye tracking allowed for higher sensitivity.
Preventive and interceptive orthodontics: a strong theory proves weak in practice.

Abstract No Abstract Available. Read at the twenty-third biennial meeting of the Angle Society, Hilton Head, South Carolina, October 1979.
The Fallacy of Focus: Variance in Bonus Compensation in Starting Offers for MBAs

This paper empirically tests how employers allocate bonus compensation toward MBAs with “focused profiles”. Leveraging sociological theory, we create a new construct that measures the degree of con...
Serviceability Limit States: Connection Slip

The serviceability limit state for slip of bolted steel joints is the slip-resistance. The statistical properties of the parameters which define this resistance are presented and analyzed. Based on these properties, and using First-Order Second-Moment probabilistic analysis, limit-states design criteria are developed for friction-grip bolted joints.
Effects of Interface Nonplanarity on the Interface Fracture Energy of the TiN/SiO 2 System

Fracture mechanics models indicate that nonplanarity of the interface should have a significant effect on the measured fracture energy [1–5]. Previous work on a typical interconnect structure (Fig 1) has demonstrated that two thin film systems with nominally the same composition, but processed under different conditions exhibited different SiO 2 /TiN interface fracture energies [6,7]. pon investigation via crosssectional TEM, it was found that the stronger interface was significantly rougher than the weaker interface. These results indicate that small changes in processing conditions can significantly effect both interface morphology and adhesion. Accordingly, in this study, samples differing in the flow rate of Ar to a plasma arc during deposition of a TIN layer were chosen in order to investigate the effects on the interface morphology and the resulting interface fracture energy.
Wheels on Wheels on Wheels-Surprising Symmetry

I was thinking of the curve traced by a particle on a wheel mounted on a wheel mounted on a wheel, each turning at a different rate. The first term represents the largest wheel, of radius 1, turning counter-clockwise at one radian per second. The second term represents a smaller wheel centered at the edge of the first, turning 7 times as fast. The third term is for the smallest wheel centered at the edge of the second, turning 17 times as fast as the first, clockwise and out of phase. See FIGURE 1. As you can notice from FIGURE 2, this curve displays a 6-fold symmetry, a fact that one would probably not guess by looking at the formulas.
Ecological, Relationship-Based Model of Children’s Subjective Well-Being: Perspectives of 10-Year-Old Children in the United States and 10 Other Countries

The purpose of this study is to further assess the international relevance of an ecological, relationship-based model of children’s subjective well-being with samples of 10-year-old children from the United States (n = 502, M age = 10.66, SD = .55) and 10 other countries: Algeria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Nepal, Romania, Rwanda, South Korea, and Uganda (n = 502, M age = 10.12, SD = .48). All children completed the Children’s Worlds survey, which includes individual factors, contextual factors of home and family, life and neighborhood, school, and peers, and subjective well-being measures for life satisfaction, mental health, and self-image. The strongest predictors of children’s subjective well-being were family and peer relationships, school, and neighborhood quality. Findings support the international relevance of an ecological, relationship-based model of children’s subjective well-being.
Distributed Cooperative Control of Heavy-haul Trains

To address the multi-locomotive cooperative control problem for heavy-haul trains under the conditions of complex topography and unreliable communication,the distributed cooperative controller independent on communication delay and interruption was developed.By introducing in states and input transformation,the complicated longitudinal dynamical model of heavy-haul trains was reduced to a double integrator form.On the basis of this form,the distributed cooperative controller was designed to adjust all subsystems of a heavy-haul train to conver reference velocity while keeping the minimum in-train forces.The proof of the uniform asymptotically cooperative stability was given,which accounted for the fact that the closed heavy-haul train system was able to reach cooperative converge under unreliable communication conditions.The simulation comparison between the centralized LQR controller and the proposed cooperative controller under ideal and unreliable communication validates the performance and efficiency of the proposed method.
Fetal myelomeningocele: Is antenatal ultrasound useful in predicting neonatal outcome?

The objective of this study was to determine if an ultra-sound examination, when performed in the third trimester immediately preceding delivery, is useful in predicting outcome in infants with a myelomeningocele. A retrospective review was undertaken of prenatal ultrasound records and pediatric outcome data on fetuses with isolated myelomeningocele referred to our institution after 28 weeks' gestation during a three-year period. Macrocephaly proved to be the one antenatal ultrasound finding that most correlated with later poor outcomes in infants with myelomeningocele. Macrocephalic fetuses had a longer mean hospital stay after birth and were more likely to have significant respiratory and feeding difficulties. No fetus with macrocephaly had a normal mental score, and all had severe motor deficits on later follow-up testing. The ultrasound diagnosis of macrocephaly identified a group of fetuses with myelomeningocele, who were at highest risk of neonatal problems and developmental delay. Cesarean delivery and aggressive medical treatment of complications did not improve the outcome in these infants. This finding will be useful when counseling patients regarding route of delivery and in pediatric decisions regarding treatment of complications.
Properties of a recombinant chimeric protein in which the gamma-carboxyglutamic acid and helical stack domains of human anticoagulant protein C are replaced by those of human coagulation factor VII

A chimeric cDNA, encoding residues 1-46 (the gamma-carboxyglutamic acid module and its trailing helical stack) of human coagulant factor (f) VII, bound to residues 47-419 of human anticoagulant protein C (PC), was constructed and expressed. The resulting protein, r-[delta GD-HSPC/[symbol: see text] GD-HSfVII]PC, was properly processed with regard to signal/propeptide release, cleavage of the K156R dipeptide, Gla and Hya contents, and the presence of glycosylation. The mutant protein displayed normal dependencies on Ca2+ for adoption of its metal ion-dependent conformation and for binding to acidic phospholipid vesicles. The chimera failed to recognize a monoclonal antibody (MAb) specific for the Ca(2+)-induced conformation of the Gla domain (GD) of PC, but did react with another MAb directed in part to the Ca(2+)-dependent conformation of the GD of fVII. Further, this chimeric protein possessed similar steady state constants as wild-type r-PC toward activation by thrombin and thrombin/thrombomodulin. The activated form of the chimera was very similar to that of its wild-type counterpart in its whole plasma anticoagulant activity, as well as its activity toward inactivation of coagulation factor VIII. The chimeric protein did not bind to the fVII cofactor, tissue factor, showing that the GD/HS domain region of fVII is insufficient for that particular interaction. The results demonstrate that the GD/HS of fVII, when present in the PC and APC background, serves to maintain the Ca2+/PL-related functions of these latter proteins, and suggest that the Ca2+ and PL-dependent interactions of the GD-HS of PC are sufficiently general in nature such that the GD-HS regions of other proteins of this type can satisfy most of the requirements of PC and APC. The data presented also offer support for the independent nature of the domain unit consisting of the GD/HS module.
A ROS-Assisted Calcium Wave Dependent on the AtRBOHD NADPH Oxidase and TPC1 Cation Channel Propagates the Systemic Response to Salt Stress

Plants exhibit rapid, systemic signaling systems that allow them to coordinate physiological and developmental responses throughout the plant body, even to highly localized and quickly changing environmental stresses. The propagation of these signals is thought to include processes ranging from electrical and hydraulic networks to waves of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cytoplasmic Ca(2+) traveling throughout the plant. For the Ca(2+) wave system, the involvement of the vacuolar ion channel TWO PORE CHANNEL1 (TPC1) has been reported. However, the precise role of this channel and the mechanism of cell-to-cell propagation of the wave have remained largely undefined. Here, we use the fire-diffuse-fire model to analyze the behavior of a Ca(2+) wave originating from Ca(2+) release involving the TPC1 channel in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We conclude that a Ca(2+) diffusion-dominated calcium-induced calcium-release mechanism is insufficient to explain the observed wave transmission speeds. The addition of a ROS-triggered element, however, is able to quantitatively reproduce the observed transmission characteristics. The treatment of roots with the ROS scavenger ascorbate and the NADPH oxidase inhibitor diphenyliodonium and analysis of Ca(2+) wave propagation in the Arabidopsis respiratory burst oxidase homolog D (AtrbohD) knockout background all led to reductions in Ca(2+) wave transmission speeds consistent with this model. Furthermore, imaging of extracellular ROS production revealed a systemic spread of ROS release that is dependent on both AtRBOHD and TPC1 These results suggest that, in the root, plant systemic signaling is supported by a ROS-assisted calcium-induced calcium-release mechanism intimately involving ROS production by AtRBOHD and Ca(2+) release dependent on the vacuolar channel TPC1.
Imaging and Clinical Outcomes in 20 Dogs Treated with Thin Film Banding for Extrahepatic Portosystemic Shunts.

Objective To prospectively evaluate the efficacy of thin film band attenuation of congenital extrahepatic portosystemic shunts (CEPSS) in dogs using clinical, biochemical, and imaging-related outcome measures. Study Design Prospective case series. Animals Dogs with CEPSS (n=20). Methods Client-owned dogs with CEPSS were enrolled and thin film banding of the shunting vessel was performed. Before and at least 6 months after surgery, serum bile acids and computed tomography (CT) angiography were performed and owners completed a health questionnaire regarding the dog's clinical signs. Postoperative CT images were assessed for the effectiveness of band closure, change in portal vein/aorta ratio, change in liver volume/weight ratio, and whether the band was placed in the appropriate location. Preoperative and postoperative health questionnaire data and serum bile acids were compared. Results The band resulted in complete closure of the vessel around which it was placed in 13 dogs. In the remaining 7 dogs, the vessel lumen was narrowed but not completely closed. In 8 dogs the band location was suboptimal, allowing systemic drainage of visceral blood or secondary shunting branches to persist. Liver volume/body weight ratios and portal vein/aorta diameter ratios increased in most dogs. Serum bile acids decreased in all but 1 dog and owners reported improved health in 19 dogs. Conclusion Thin film banding resulted in complete occlusion of many, but not all vessels around which it was placed. Even in dogs with inappropriate band location or with incomplete closure, clinical improvement can be expected based on our results.