cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Astro-comb calibration of an Echelle Spectrograph

We describe recent work calibrating a cross-dispersed spectrograph with an "astro-comb" i.e., a high repetition rate, octave spanning femtosecond laser frequency comb; and a filter cavity suppressing laser modes to match the resolution of the spectrograph. Our astro-comb provides ~1500 evenly spaced (~0.6 A) calibration lines of roughly 100 nW per line between 7800 and 8800 Angstroms. The calibration lines of the laser are stabilized to atomic clocks which can be referenced to GPS providing intrinsic stability of the source laser below 1 cm/s in stellar radial velocity sensitivity, as well as long term stability and reproducibility over years. We present calibration of the TRES spectrograph at the 1.5 m telescope at the Fred L Whipple Observatory below 1 m/s radial velocity sensitivity in six orders from 7800-8800 A.
Defensive hostility and anger expression: Relationship to additional heart rate reactivity during active coping

The main purpose of the present study was twofold: (a) to assess the relationship between defensive hostility (high hostility/high defensiveness) and additional heart rate reactivity during active coping and (b) to determine if the construct of anger-out might lend additional sensitivity to the predictive power of the defensive hostility model. Forty individuals were randomly assigned to complete a mental arithmetic task with or without the threat of shock. Participants also completed the Cook-Medley Hostility Inventory (Ho), the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MC), and the Spielberger Anger Expression Scale. Defensive hostile subjects (high Ho/high MC) were significantly more reactive than any other subgroup. In addition, the combination of low Ho/high anger-out scores yielded a subgroup significantly less reactive than any other subgroup. These findings clarify the complex relationship of hostility and cardiovascular reactivity.
Supercontinuum in the anomalous group-velocity dispersion region

We compute numerically the time-domain characteristics and the spectral distribution of an intense femtosecond pulse with its center frequency in the anomalous group-velocity dispersion region, that is, propagating in a one-spatial-dimension Kerr medium (optical fiber). We include in our calculations the effects of self-phase modulation, self-steepening, group-velocity dispersion, higher-order dispersion [β(3) term], and Raman scattering. We explicitly show the contributions of the different terms.
Effect of Insulin Sensitizer Therapy on Atherothrombotic and Inflammatory Profiles Associated With Insulin Resistance

Objective To determine whether targeted pharmacological improvement of insulin sensitivity will normalize the associated elevations of thrombotic and inflammatory cardiovascular disease (CVD) biomarkers in individuals with insulin resistance.
Nuclear Size and DNA Content of the Embryo and Endosperm During their Initial Stages of Development in Glycine max (Fabaceae)

A technique was developed for isolating embryo sacs from ovules of soybean and for separating embryo from endosperm. Image analysis and cytophotometry were used to determine the relative mass of DNA and size of nuclei of endosperm and embryo cells. Analyses were done at the globular through late heart-shaped embryo stages to correlate ploidy level or nuclear size, and differentiation in these tissues. Mean size of embryo nuclei was fairly constant through all stages studied. Ploidy condition of the embryo was stable, 950/o99% of the nuclei were distributed in a bipolar pattern by relative mass at 2C and 4C. Few embryo nuclei (3%) had ploidy levels above 4C at the late heart-shaped embryo stage. Variability in size ofendosperm nuclei seemed correlated with the morphological state of these nuclei (free-nuclear vs. cellular). Most endosperm cells did not show significant polyploidy with 840/o-92% of nuclei in the expected 3C-6C range, but some nuclei with elevated ploidy levels were noted during endosperm cellularization. Endosperm senescence was correlated with nuclear DNA loss over time. Polyploidy seems to have no direct role in the early differentiation of the soybean embryo and endosperm, but these stable conditions may be necessary for the early establishment of the embryo.
MacLab: A Macintosh system for psychology labs.

MacLab, a program that turns the Apple Macintosh into a psychology laboratory tool, is described. MacLab combines intelligent editors, a millisecond timer, MacPaint pictures, and the ease of use of the Macintosh user interface to create a system with which experimental psychologists can quickly create and run powerful experiments with no need of any knowledge of programming.
Syntheses, structures, and magnetic properties of unusual nonlinear polynuclear copper(II) complexes containing derivatives of 1,2,4-triazole and pivalate ligands.

Novel polynuclear Cu(II) complexes containing derivatives of 1,2,4-trizaole and pivalate ligands, [Cu3(μ3-OH)(μ-adetrz)2(piv)5(H2O)]·6.5H2O (1) (adetrz = 4-amino-3,5-diethyl-1,2,4-triazole, piv = pivalate), [Cu4(μ3-OH)2(μ-atrz)2(μ-piv)4(piv)2]·2MeOH·H2O (2) (atrz = 4-amino-1,2,4-triazole), [Cu4(μ3-OH)2(μ-tbtrz)2(μ-piv)2(piv)4]·4H2O (3) (tbtrz = 4-tert-butyl-1,2,4-trizaole), and [Cu4(μ3-O)2(μ-admtrz)4(admtrz)2(μ-piv)2(piv)2]·2[Cu2(μ-H2O)(μ-admtrz)(piv)4]·13H2O [4 = 4a·2(4b)·13H2O; admtrz = 4-amino-3,5-dimethyl-1,2,4-triazole], have been prepared and structurally characterized. 1 is an asymmetrical triangular complex containing a [Cu3(μ3-OH)] core with two Cu---Cu edges spanned by bridging adetrz ligands. 2, 3, and 4a are novel tetranuclear compounds containing a [Cu4(μ3-O)2] or [Cu4(μ3-OH)2] core with Cu---Cu edges spanned by bridging 1,2,4-triazole or pivalate ligands. 4b is a dinuclear compound with one admtrz and one water bridge, and it is the first dinuclear Cu(II) triazole complex with one bridging w...
Linearization of voltage-controlled oscillators using switched capacitor feedback

The voltage-frequency characteristics of any voltage-controlled oscillator can be linearized using a simple circuit containing a switched capacitor. The oscillation frequency becomes insensitive to power supply or temperature variations, and is determined only by the values of a capacitor, resistor, and the control voltage with respect to a reference voltage.
Number of women faculty in the geosciences increasing, but slowly

Why are there so few women faculty in the geosciences, while there are large numbers of women undergraduate and graduate students? According to National Science Foundation (NSF) estimates [e.g.,NSF, 1996] for 1995 in the Earth, atmospheric, and oceanic sciences, women made up 34% of the bachelor's degrees awarded, 35% of the graduate students enrolled, and 22% of the doctorates granted. Yet progress has been slower in achieving adequate representation of women geoscientists in academia, where women represent only 12% of the faculty. The barriers confronting the advancement of women scientists are complex and difficult to unravel. Proposed factors include cultural stereotypes, childhood socialization, lack of women mentors and role models, lack of critical mass, family responsibilities, dual-career-couple status, isolation from collegial networks, different research and publishing strategy, and less adequate access to institutional resources [c.f., Widnall, 1988; Zuckerman et al., 1991].
The substitutability of occupational groups using firm-level data

Abstract Labor demand elasticity estimates are presented for a model in which labor groups are defined by occupation. While most studies construct labor groups according to non-productive characteristics, such as race or gender, the results corroborate much of the existing research.
A MAJOR SOLUBLE GLYCOPROTEIN OF POTATO TUBERS

The major soluble glycoprotein of potato tubers was isolated by chromatography on DEAE cellulose and Con A Sepharose. It contained about 5% neutral sugar and 1%hexosamine, exhibited a molecular weight of 45,000 by SDS gel electrophoresis, and consisted of 6–10 ionic forms as revealed by isoelectric focusing. This glycoprotein comprised about 20%of the soluble protein in all of the 31 tested potato cultivars.
A method of reversible inactivation of small regions of brain tissue

Abstract A method is described for reversibly inactivating small, precisely localized regions of brain tissue with injections of nanoliter quantities of the local anesthetic lidocaine hydrochloride. The injections are made through a combined recording-injection probe consisting of a glass micropipette onto whose outer surface is plated a metallic cylinder for recording extracellular action potentials. The recording cylinder, located a known distance from the pipette tip, picks up a continuous, large-amplitude, multiunit response which can be used to accurately position the tip according to physiological criteria. It also provides a means of determining the duration of the anesthetic block and estimating its spread. This devise has been used to selectively block 200–400 μm regions of individual laminae of the lateral geniculate nucleus centered within 50 μm of a retinotopically defined target site. The blocks last from 3 to 10 min and can be repeated many times at the same location.
Factors associated with the non-utilization of contraceptives in adolescence

The literature concerning the major correlates of the non-utilization contraceptives in adolescence is critically reviewed. Research findings are analyzed and discussed in terms of their contribution not only to a deeper understanding of adolescents' risk-taking sexual behavior, but also to the implementation of more effective and realistic sexual education for this age-group.
Concentration dependence of the superconducting transition temperature in Pd H x and Pd D x

We have verified the existence of an inverse isotope effect between homogeneous bulk $\mathrm{Pd}{\mathrm{H}}_{x}$ and $\mathrm{Pd}{\mathrm{D}}_{x}$. Maximum $x$ values achieved by high-pressure charging were 0,99 and 0.97 for the hydride and deuteride, respectively. Our extrapolated values for the superconducting transition temperatures of PdH and PdD are 8 and 10 K, respectively.
A general framework for managing and processing live video data with privacy protection

Though a large body of existing work on video surveillance focuses on image and video processing techniques, few address the usability of such systems, and in particular privacy issues. This study fuses concepts from stream processing and content-based image retrieval to construct a privacy-preserving framework for rapid development and deployment of video surveillance applications. Privacy policies, instantiated to as privacy filters, may be applied both granularly and hierarchically. Privacy filters are granular as they are applicable to specific objects appearing in the video streams. They are hierarchal because they can be specified at specific objects in the framework (e.g., users, cameras) and are combined such that the disseminated video stream adheres to the most stringent aspect specified in the cascade of all privacy filters relevant to a video stream or query. To support this privacy framework, we extend our Live Video Database Model with an informatics-based approach to object recognition and tracking and add an intrinsic privacy model that provides a level of privacy protection not previously available for real-time streaming video data. The proposed framework also provides a formal approach to implement and enforce privacy policies that are verifiable, an important step towards privacy certification of video surveillance systems through a standardized privacy specification language.
Systematic Inflation of Buckminsterfillerene C60: Synthesis of Diphenyl Fulleroids C61 to C66

The synthesis of a new family of spheroidal carbon molecules derived from the fullerenes is described. The fulleroids are produced by incremental addition of a divalent carbon equivalent that has two phenyl (Ph) rings to fullerene C60. The fulleroids Ph2C61, Ph4C62, Ph6C63, Ph8C64, Ph10C65, and Ph12C66 have been prepared and characterized.
Performance monitoring tools for computer systems: Hardware, software, firmware and hybrid controls

Abstract Performance monitors are devices used by system analysts and industrial engineers to measure the efficiency of a computer system. Their nature and applications in a computerized information system is the concern of this study. A description is given of the characteristics of monitors, the types of measurement they perform and their four basic categories: hardware, software, firmware and hybrid. The advantages and disadvantages of each of the categories are analyzed. The major problems facing the system analyst in a system where monitors are used are those of data integrity. The system analyst must ensure that monitors are correctly installed and that they fulfill their purpose as expected without altering the rest of the operations of the system. Unauthorized use of monitors must be prevented and the primary controls necessary to ensure data privacy, those of access control, be implemented and enforced.
In search of symbiosis: constructing built environments based on site thermal climatic characteristics

Utilising nature as a building system input generates symbiotic interrelationships between the occupants and the built and natural environment, and suggests an innovative design methodology grounded in the contextual natural processes of a given site. This approach was explored through the design of an office building within a variant climate site, Takoma Park, Washington DC. The focus was on the design and integration of the program spaces with the building infrastructure with regard to providing maximum thermally optimal occupied spaces throughout the year. This was achieved through the interrelation of the extreme iconic thermal spaces of a cave ecosystem, a thermal mass, with a greenhouse, a glazed, low thermal storage capacity environment responsive to site thermal characteristics, supplemented with gradient spaces.
Aporphine alkaloids and lignans in heartwood of Liriodendron tulipifera

Abstract The following compounds were isolated from heartwood of Liriodendron tulipifera : glaucine, dehydroglaucine, asimilobine, N -acetylnornuciferine, norushinsunine, liriodenine, O -methylatheroline, (+)-syringaresinol, (+)-syringaresinol dimethyl ether and syringaldehyde. The occurrence of 1-benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids also has been indicated by mass spectroscopy. Some characteristic spectral properties of these aporphine alkaloids and their probable biosynthetic pathways are discussed.
Influence of Inoculum Density of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cyclaminis and Sodium Chloride on Cyclamen and the Development of Fusarium Wilt

ABSTRACT The influence of soil densities of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cyclaminis on development of Fusarium wilt of cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum) was evaluated by adding increasing amounts of F. oxysporum f. sp. cyclaminis-colonized millet inoculum to potting mix planted to cyclamen. Additions of inoculum resulted in an increase in the CFU of F. oxysporum f. sp. cyclaminis per ml of potting mix and an increase in vascular discoloration of the corm of cyclamens after 10 weeks. A threshold of 5 × 104 CFU/ml of potting mix was needed to consistently cause vascular discoloration in the corms. Final fresh leaf weights declined to 30% of the leaf weights of the control when inoculum was added at 105 CFU/ml of potting mix. The effect of NaCl on Fusarium wilt was also examined, as anecdotal reports from cyclamen producers suggest that NaCl applications may improve plant growth. When NaCl was applied to potting mix at rates of 0.25 and 0.50 g/liter of potting mix, final fresh weights were greater and the area under...
Cerebral Acid Hydrolase Activities: Comparison in "Quaking" and Normal Mice

The activity of several acid hydrolase enzymes was determined in whole brain homogenates of adult "quaking" and normal mice. A striking decrease was found in alpha-mannosidase and, to a lesser extent, aryl sulfatase levels in the samples from the mutant animals. The activities of the other "lyso-somal" enzymes were only slightly lowered.
Overhead minimization techniques for digital phase-locked loop frequency synthesizer

One emerging trend of implementing phase locked loop (PLL) based frequency synthesizers is to leverage digital signal processing in the loop filtering for more flexibility, scalability and smaller silicon area. This paper examines the pros and cons of such digital-intensive PLL architecture, and discusses techniques to minimize its overhead in terms of implementation cost and performance degradation. A hardware prototype in 65nm CMOS that synthesizes frequencies over 600–800 MHz is shown to prove the effectiveness the proposed overhead minimization techniques.
Direct coronary artery surgery for one year without an operative death. 196 consecutive cases.

Abstract A one-year series of 196 consecutive patients who underwent coronary artery bypass operation without a hospital death is presented; included are patients who had associated intracardiac procedures. Many patients had impairment of one or more portions of their left ventricular wall. Of the 196 patients, 194 (99%) have been followed up by questionnaire 6 to 18 months postoperatively. Grading of results has been according to degree of symptom relief and level of postoperative activity. Ninety-five percent of the 194 have improved after operation, and 89% are experiencing good or excellent results. There have been 5 late deaths. The factors pertaining to the management of these patients in the preoperative, operative, and postoperative periods that have made these results possible are indicated. The criteria used in our attempt to properly select patients with ventricular impairment are also cited. Most of the patients who had a less than optimal outcome following the operative procedure were noted at operation to have severe diffuse coronary atherosclerosis.
Pterygium: Intensity and Frequency of Activity

Summary A review of the literature on prevalence studies, a specific study in 1965–1966 on veterans seen in Sydney, a review of clinical records dating back to 1939 and a follow-up study from 1962 to 1975 on the rate of pterygium removal operations performed in the Repatriation General Hospital, Sydney, against the background of the veteran population of N.S.W. showed that the highest incidence of pterygium was in early middle-age and the lowest incidence in late middle-age (excluding childhood when pterygium was rare). Pterygium activity has been classified according to its frequency and intensity. Frequency of activity is a new concept and means the percentage of eyes (not subjects) affected with active pterygia in a given population. This includes newly developed pterygia and pterygia which had developed in an earlier age group but which were still active. Frequency of activity was found to be low in youth, very high in early middle-age, very low in late middle-age and high in senility. Intensity of activity, on the other hand, was found to be high in youth and low in middle-age and thereafter.
Experimentally Evaluating the Equilibrium Stress in Shear of Glassy Polycarbonate

One group of models proposed for characterizing the mechanical response of glassy polymers is based on a structure that resembles finite plasticity. In most cases, a constitutive equation for stress is proposed, which depends on the elastic deformation gradient, supplemented by a flow rule for the plastic deformation, which depends on the "over stress." The over stress is a properly invariant difference between the stress and the back stress (equilibrium stress). The back stress represents conditions under which relaxation events should stop and the material should be able to carry an applied load indefinitely without a need to change the strain. Questions that arise in using these models are whether such equilibrium stresses exist, how can they be evaluated, and what experiments can be used to characterize the flow rule. One challenge in accurately evaluating the locus of equilibrium conditions is the fact that the relaxation process substantially slow down around these points, and, therefore, a method that does not directly require being at the equilibrium is desirable. Focusing on shear, a thermodynamic theory for characterising the response of glassy polymers, similar to models currently used for this purpose, is developed, and using this model it is shown that one can set up a method to calculate the plastic strain rate. This method is based on evaluating the slope of stress-strain response under conditions of similar elastic and plastic strain, but different strain rates. Since the equilibrium stress occurs when the plastic strain rate goes to zero, the evaluated plastic strain rates allow evaluation of the needed information for developing the flow rule and obtaining the back stress. This method is used to evaluate the plastic strain rate and back stress at room temperature for polycarbonate. The evaluated results match well with results obtained by direct probing of the equilibrium stress, in which one searches for points at which the stress remains constant at a constant strain over long durations. The method proposed looks promising in evaluating the back stress of glassy polymers. The added advantage of this method is that it also provides a map of plastic strain rate and tangent modulus over a large range of loading conditions.
Diagnostic evaluation of patients with blunt abdominal trauma: a decision analysis.

. Objectives: Using decision analysis, to compare the expected utility (EU) of diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL), computed tomography (CT), and ultrasonography (US) to determine the optimal modality for the evaluation of blunt abdominal trauma (BAT) in hemodynamically stable adults. Methods: Data points for the decision analysis were obtained from three sources: 1) prevalence of BAT and the sensitivity and specificity of each diagnostic modality were determined through a criteria-based review of the literature; 2) rate of BAT necessitating immediate intervention, perioperative complication rate, and operative mortality rate were calculated using data from the authors’ institution's trauma registry; and 3) outcome utilities were determined by telephone survey of adults in a random sample of households in the region. The decision tree was constructed and evaluated in standard fashion. For each diagnostic modality, the authors calculated the EU using the minimum, mean, and maximum sensitivity and specificity across a range of prevalence. Mean outcome utilities were used for each branch of the tree when calculating the EU. Results: The EU of CT was consistently lower than the EUs of DPL and US at all levels of prevalence. However, the rank order of the EUs of US and DPL varied with the prevalence of BAT. When the prevalence was 40%, the EU of US was less than that of DPL. Conclusions: Among institutions operating under constraints similar to those used in this model, the optimal diagnostic modality for the evaluation of BAT can be determined based on the sensitivity and specificity of the modality at their institution and the prevalence of BAT in their patient population.
The effects of cyclooxygenase inhibitors on tumor-induced anorexia in rats.

Background. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) are potent induces of prostaglandin (PG) synthesis and injection of PGE, IL-1, or TNF decreases food intake in healthy animals, whereas the anorexigenic effects of injected IL-1 and TNF are blocked by inhibitors of PG synthesis. It has been hypothesized that host secretion of IL-1 and TNF contribute to tumor-induced anorexia. This study was undertaken to determine whether administration of PG inhibitors alters food intake in anorectic rats implanted with Walker 256 carcinoma. Methods. Groups of six tumor-bearing rats were implanted with slow-release pellets containing ibuprofen, indomethacin, or acetylsalicylic acid. Food intake, tumor growth, and body temperature were monitored for 14 days and compared with control tumor-bearing animals implanted with placebo pellets. Results. Tumor growth was associated with anorexia, fever, wieght loss, and increased leukocyte secretion of IL-1 and TNF. Indomethacin and ibuprofen retarded tumor growth 30–40% and lowered body temperature compared with controls, but had no effect on food intake or body weight of tumor-bearing animals. Conclusions. Prostaglandins do not mediate tumorinduced anorexia.
Neighborhood disadvantage in a moderately sized city: a SEM analysis

This study examines support for social disorganization theory in a moderately sized Midwest urban city. Six years (1995–2000) of ‘visible’ crime incidents geographically coded to 114 block group areas served as the main effect variable in the model test. Findings indicated support for social disorganization theory at the macro‐level. Implications include improved resource allocation directed towards gentrification and increased owner‐occupied housing while initiating enhanced informal social control mechanisms in areas with a significant proportion of rental properties. Further discussion focuses on alternative political planning for realistically improving quality of life and mediating disadvantaged neighborhoods.
Investigation of the Anode Boundary Layer of an Atmospheric Pressure Argon Arc

This paper is concerned with the thermodynamic state of the plasma in the anode region of a high intensity arc. Spectrometric studies of the boundary layer in front of a plane anode perpendicular to the axis of a wall-stablized, high-intensity arc in argon atmosphere indicate substantial deviations from LTE. Data taken at distances of 0.5 to 2 mm from the anode surface are evaluated with two different but not entirely independent non-equilibrium data reduction techniques in order to obtain radial distributions of electron temperature and electron density. The electron temperature distribution displays an off-axis peak which increases in magnitude with decreasing distance from the anode. Both electron temperatures and electron densities are considerably higher than the corresponding LTE values.
An InGaP/GaAs Merged HBT-FET (BiFET) Technology and Applications to the Design of Handset Power Amplifiers

The last decade has seen GaAs HBTs emerge as the dominant technology in wireless handset power amplifiers. Modern application requirements and size limitations have driven industry leaders towards the co-integration of depletion mode n-FET and GaAs HBT. The merger of Bipolar and FET, or BiFET, gives an additional degree of freedom in the design of advanced power amplifiers independent of a silicon controller. This paper provides an overview of the various techniques that can be used to join the two device technologies and then shows how a merged epitaxial structure, where an FET is formed in the emitter layers of an HBT, combines functional versatility with the high volume manufacturability needed to supply millions of power amplifiers at low cost. A large-signal model of the FET structure is developed which takes into account the unique physics and geometries of the device, including voltage-dependant parameters and charges on all four electrical terminals. Specific handset applications that can benefit or be enabled by BiFET are presented, such as on-off switching, low voltage bias controllers , Auto-Bias power amplifiers, and bias circuits with low or no voltage reference. When npn-only bias circuitry is limited to low voltage reference levels, HBT power amplifiers with BiFET bias stages are shown to have superior RF performance to their npn-only counterparts.
Variant IL-1 Receptor-Associated Kinase-1 Mediates Increased NF-κB Activity

IL-1R-associated kinase (IRAK)-1 is a critical mediator of TLR/IL-1R-induced activation of the transcription factor NF-κB. We previously described that a commonly occurring IRAK-1 variant haplotype, containing amino acid changes from serine to phenylalanine at position 196 and from leucine to serine at position 532, is associated with increased activation of NF-κB in LPS-stimulated neutrophils from patients with sepsis-induced acute lung injury and also higher mortality and more severe clinical outcomes in such patients. To investigate the underlying molecular mechanisms, we examined the ability of wild-type and variant IRAK-1 to modulate NF-κB activation. We found increased NF-κB transcriptional activity and expression of NF-κB-dependent proinflammatory cytokines in IL-1β-stimulated IRAK-1-deficient cells transfected with variant IRAK-1 as compared with IRAK-1 wild type. IκB-α degradation was faster and p65 phosphorylation more prolonged after IL-1β stimulation in cells expressing the IRAK-1 variant. However, IL-1-induced activation of MAPKs and nuclear translocation of NF-κB are comparable in both IRAK-1 variant- and IRAK-1 wild-type-expressing cells. Autophosphorylation of the IRAK-1 variant is greater than that found with wild-type IRAK-1. Additionally, variant IRAK-1 has greater interaction with TNFR-associated factor 6 than does wild-type IRAK-1. The enhanced activity of variant IRAK-1 appeared to be due to the alteration at aa 532, with only minimal effects being associated with change at aa 196. These results demonstrate that variant IRAK-1 is associated with alterations in multiple intracellular events that are likely to contribute to increased NF-κB activation and inflammatory responses in individuals with this IRAK-1 haplotype.
Recent strategies in the development of taxane anticancer drugs

Paclitaxel (Taxol®, Bristol-Myers Squibb) and docetaxel (Taxtere®, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer SA - now Aventis), complex polyoxygenated taxane diterpenoids bearing phenylisoserine moieties currently in extensive clinical use for the treatment of breast, ovarian and other cancers, are considered to be two of the most important drugs in cancer chemotherapy. However, low solubility, multi-drug resistance (MDR), dose-limiting toxicity as well as other adverse effects associated with these drugs present significant drawbacks. Accordingly, seeking the solutions to these problems of taxane anticancer drugs has been the main focus of both academic and industrial research activities for the period of 1997 - 1999. New taxoids (i.e., Taxol®-like compounds) with various modifications at the baccatin skeleton and the phenylisoserine side chain have been developed, which possess improved potency, especially against cancers expressing P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-based MDR. A number of prodrugs of paclitaxel and taxoids have been des...
The change from SOV to SVO in Ancient Greek

Although the order of major sentence constituents at all stages of Ancient Greek is quite free, the distribution of clause types is not random over time, but changes from predominantly verb-final to predominantly verb-medial, suggesting a change in progress. Using the paradigm of Kroch (1989), in which it is assumed that syntactic change involves competition between grammatical systems, two models are constructed, one for the verb-final grammar of the Homeric period (pre-800 B.C.) and one for the verb-medial grammar of the Hellenistic Koine (c. 100 A.D.). The language of an intermediate stage (Herodotus, c. 450 B.C.) is shown to pattern in part like Homer and in part like the Koine. More strikingly, the ratio of verb-final to verb-medial structure that best fits the distribution of clause types found in Herodotus is extremely close to an independent measure of this ratio obtained from the distribution of weak pronouns and clitics.
Residual-Energy-Activated Cooperative Transmission (REACT) to Avoid the Energy Hole

In a multi-hop wireless sensor network (WSN), the nodes that are one hop away from the Sink die first and cause an "energy hole," because they must forward the traffic from the rest of the network. When this hole forms, a large amount of "excess" energy is trapped in the other nodes. In this paper, we propose that some of those other nodes use some of the excess energy to do cooperative transmission (CT) to hop directly to the Sink, thereby relieving the nodes near the sink of some of their burden and balancing the energy consumption across the network. The REACT protocol triggers CT range extension when the nexthop node along a primary route has a lower residual energy than the current node. The paper considers several criteria for selecting the cooperators, and compares our proposed scheme to the AODV and CMAX multi-hop protocols through simulation.
Global Norms, Local Activism, and Social Movement Outcomes: Global Human Rights and Resident Koreans in Japan

The authors integrate social movement outcomes research and the world society approach to build a theoretical model to examine the impact of global and local factors on movement outcomes. Challenging the current research on policy change, which rarely examines the effects of global norms and local activism in one analysis, they argue (1) that global regimes empower and embolden local social movements and increase pressure on target governments from below, and (2) that local activists appeal to international forums with help from international activists to pressure the governments from above. When the pressures from the top and the bottom converge, social movements are more likely to succeed. Furthermore, these pressures are stronger in countries integrated into global society and on issues with strong global norms. The empirical analysis of social movements by resident Koreans in Japan advocating for four types of human rights-civil, political, social/economic, and cultural-demonstrates that the movements produced more successes as Japan's involvement in the international human rights regime expanded since the late 1970s, and that activism on issues with strong global norms achieved greater successes. The analysis also shows that lack of cohesive domestic activism can undercut the chances of social movements' success even with strong global norms on the issue.
Increasing Doses of an Inactivated Influenza A/H1N1 Vaccine Induce Increasing Levels of Cross-Reacting Antibody to Subsequent, Antigenically Different, Variants

Immunization approaches that will broaden antibody responses to antigenically different variants of influenza viruses are needed because vaccine strains do not always match the viruses that circulate during the subsequent epidemic. Sera collected from subjects who were vaccinated with various doses of influenza A/Taiwan/86 vaccine were assayed for the levels of antibody against 3 subsequent, antigenically different, A/H1N1 variants. Dose-related increases in antibody responses to all 4 viruses were observed, even against a virus appearing > 10 years after vaccination. Increasing the influenza vaccine dosage safely and predictably enhanced antibody responses to the vaccine virus and to subsequent, antigenically different, influenza A/H1N1 variants.
An integrated MMW radar system for outdoor navigation

The design of a MMW radar sensor for mobile robot outdoor navigation is presented, which is able to operate robustly even under adverse weather conditions. This sensor has a range of approximately 200 metres and uses a linear array of receivers and wavefront reconstruction techniques to compute range and bearing of objects within the field of view. Currently sensor design and hardware fabrication have been completed and the sensor is being integrated with other vehicle systems. Signal processing techniques are discussed and results obtained from simulation and the real sensor are presented.
A multiresolution approach to shear wave image reconstruction

Shear wave imaging techniques build maps of local elasticity estimating the local group velocity of induced mechanical waves. Velocity estimates are formed using the time delay in the motion profile of the medium at two or more points offset from the shear wave source. Because the absolute time-of-flight between any pair of locations scales with the distance between them, there is an inherent trade-off between robustness to time-of-flight errors and lateral spatial resolution based on the number and spacing of the receive points used for each estimate. This work proposes a method of using the time delays measured between all combinations of locations to estimate a noise-robust, high-resolution image. The time-of-flight problem is presented as an overdetermined system of linear equations that can be directly solved with and without spatial regularization terms. Finite element method simulations of acoustic radiation force-induced shear waves are used to illustrate the method, demonstrating superior contrast-to-noise ratio and lateral edge resolution characteristics compared with linear regression of arrival times. This technique may improve shear wave imaging in situations where time-of-flight noise is a limiting factor.
Phase I study of targeted radioimmunotherapy for leptomeningeal cancers using intra-Ommaya 131-I-3F8.

Purpose Tumors metastasizing to the CNS and leptomeninges (LM) are associated with significant mortality. We tested the toxicity, pharmacokinetics, and dosimetry of intraventricular iodine-131–labeled monoclonal antibody 3F8 (131I-3F8) targeting GD2-positive CNS/LM disease in a phase I clinical trial. Patients and Methods Adequate CSF flow was determined by pretreatment indium-111-DTPA studies. Fifteen patients received a tracer (1 to 2 mCi) and therapeutic injection (10 to 20 mCi) of intra-Ommaya 131I-3F8. 131I-3F8 pharmacokinetics were studied by serial CSF and blood samplings. Dosimetry was based on pharmacokinetics and region of interest (ROI) analyses on whole-body gamma camera scans. Tumor response was determined by clinical, radiographic, and cytologic criteria. Results Total absorbed CSF dose was 1.12 to 13.00 Gy by sampling and 1.00 to 13.70 Gy by ROI data. Average dosimetry ratio (Gy/mCi) of the therapy/tracer administration was 0.88 (± 0.58) and 1.08 (± 0.66) based on CSF pharmacokinetics and R...
The Tyrosine Kinase Adaptor Protein FRS2 Is Oncogenic and Amplified in High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer

High-grade serous ovarian cancers (HGSOC) are characterized by widespread recurrent regions of copy-number gain and loss. Here, we interrogated 50 genes that are recurrently amplified in HGSOC and essential for cancer proliferation and survival in ovarian cancer cell lines. FRS2 is one of the 50 genes located on chromosomal region 12q15 that is focally amplified in 12.5% of HGSOC. We found that FRS2 -amplified cancer cell lines are dependent on FRS2 expression, and that FRS2 overexpression in immortalized human cell lines conferred the ability to grow in an anchorage-independent manner and as tumors in immunodeficient mice. FRS2, an adaptor protein in the FGFR pathway, induces downstream activation of the Ras–MAPK pathway. These observations identify FRS2 as an oncogene in a subset of HGSOC that harbor FRS2 amplifications. Implications: These studies identify FRS2 as an amplified oncogene in a subset of HGSOC. FRS2 expression is essential to ovarian cancer cells that harbor 12q15 amplification. Mol Cancer Res; 13(3); 502–9. ©2014 AACR . This article is featured in Highlights of This Issue, [p. 391][1] [1]: /lookup/volpage/13/391?iss=3
Combined static and dynamic automated test generation

In an object-oriented program, a unit test often consists of a sequence of method calls that create and mutate objects, then use them as arguments to a method under test. It is challenging to automatically generate sequences that are legal and behaviorally-diverse, that is, reaching as many different program states as possible.This paper proposes a combined static and dynamic automated test generation approach to address these problems, for code without a formal specification. Our approach first uses dynamic analysis to infer a call sequence model from a sample execution, then uses static analysis to identify method dependence relations based on the fields they may read or write. Finally, both the dynamically-inferred model (which tends to be accurate but incomplete) and the statically-identified dependence information (which tends to be conservative) guide a random test generator to create legal and behaviorally-diverse tests.Our Palus tool implements this testing approach. We compared its effectiveness with a pure random approach, a dynamic-random approach (without a static phase), and a static-random approach (without a dynamic phase) on several popular open-source Java programs. Tests generated by Palus achieved higher structural coverage and found more bugs.Palus is also internally used in Google. It has found 22 previously-unknown bugs in four well-tested Google products.
Contrasting Effects of the Neuropeptides Substance P, Somatostatin, and Neuropeptide Y on the Methamphetamine-Induced Production of Striatal Nitric Oxide in Mice

Several laboratories have shown that methamphetamine (METH) neurotoxicity is associated with increases of nitric oxide (NO) production in striatal tissue and blockade of NO production protects from METH. Because substance P modulates NO production, we tested the hypothesis that intrinsic striatal neuropeptides such as somatostatin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) modulate striatal NO production in the presence of METH. To that end, METH (30 mg/kg, IP) was injected into adult male mice alone or in combination with pharmacological agonists or antagonists of the neurokinin-1 (substance P), somatostatin or NPY receptors and 3-nitrotyrosine (an indirect index of NO production) was assessed utilizing HPLC or a histological method. Pre-treatment with the systemic neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist WIN-51,708 significantly attenuated the METH-induced production of striatal 3-NT measured at two hours post-METH. Conversely, intrastriatal injection of NPY1 or 2 receptor agonists inhibited the METH-induced production of striatal 3-NT. Similarly, intrastriatal infusion of the somatostatin receptor agonist octreotide attenuated the METH-induced striatal production of 3-NT. Taken together, our results suggest the hypothesis that the neuropeptide substance P is pro-damage while the neuropeptides somatostatin and NPY are anti-damage in the presence of METH by targeting the production of NO.
DELAYED‐LIGHT STUDIES ON PHOTOSYNTHETIC ENERGY CONVERSION‐IV. EFFECT OF TRIS POISONING, AND OF ITS REVERSAL BY HYDROGEN DONORS, ON THE MILLISECOND EMISSION FROM CHLOROPLASTS*

— Destruction of the oxygen-evolving activity of chloroplasts by treatment with 0.8 M Tris-HC1 results in an extremely rapid dark decay of millisecond delayed light. Addition of electron acceptors such K3Fe(CN)6 or NADP+ does not change the decay characteristics of this msec delayed light. Artificial electron donors such as DPC partially restore the msec delayed emission to the slowly decaying situation which is found in control chloroplasts. Addition of electron acceptors to this photochemically competent system results in more rapid decay and in an increase of emission at 1 msec, as in control chloroplasts. We suggest on the basis of the delayed light data that Tris treatment induces a rapid side reaction which uselessly dissipates the oxidizing and reducing power which is stored by Photoreaction II. Artificial electron donors allow the Tris-poisoned photoreaction to store energy long enough for utilization of the energy by normal photosynthetic reactions, as shown by the flattening of the delayed light curves. In the restored system the normal reactions of electron transport are thus able to compete with the Tris-induced side reaction. This interpretation is supported by the finding that the restored system requires higher exciting intensities for saturation of NADP+ reduction than the control system.
Ligand binding to a high‐energy partially unfolded protein

The conformational energy landscape of a protein determines populations of all possible conformations of the protein and also determines the kinetics of the conversion between the conformations. Interaction with ligands influences the conformational energy landscapes of proteins and shifts populations of proteins in different conformational states. To investigate the effect of ligand binding on partial unfolding of a protein, we use Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and its functional ligand NADP(+) as a model system. We previously identified a partially unfolded form of DHFR that is populated under native conditions. In this report, we determined the free energy for partial unfolding of DHFR at varying concentrations of NADP(+) and found that NADP(+) binds to the partially unfolded form as well as the native form. DHFR unfolds partially without releasing the ligand, though the binding affinity for NADP(+) is diminished upon partial unfolding. Based on known crystallographic structures of NADP(+) -bound DHFR and the model of the partially unfolded protein we previously determined, we propose that the adenosine-binding domain of DHFR remains folded in the partially unfolded form and interacts with the adenosine moiety of NADP(+) . Our result demonstrates that ligand binding may affect the conformational free energy of not only native forms but also high-energy non-native forms.
Exploration of the topological requirements of ERAD identifies Yos9p as a lectin sensor of misfolded glycoproteins in the ER lumen

ER-associated degradation (ERAD) of glycoproteins depends on dual recognition of protein misfolding and remodeling of the substrate's N-linked glycans. After recognition, substrates are retrotranslocated to the cytosol for proteasomal degradation. To explore the directionality of this process, we fused a highly stable protein, DHFR, to the N or C terminus of the soluble ERAD substrate CPY* in yeast. Degradation of the C-terminal CPY*-DHFR fusion is markedly slowed and is accompanied by DHFR release in the ER lumen. Thus, folded lumenal domains can impede protein retrotranslocation. The ER lumenal protein Yos9p is required for both release of DHFR and degradation of multiple ERAD substrates. Yos9p forms a complex with substrates and has a sugar binding pocket that is essential for its ERAD function. Nonetheless, substrate recognition persists even when the sugar binding site is mutated or CPY* is unglycosylated. These and other considerations suggest that Yos9p plays a critical role in the bipartite recognition of terminally misfolded glycoproteins.
Exploring the Utility of Bayesian Truth Serum for Assessing Design Knowledge

Expanding and improving design knowledge is a vital part of higher education due to the growing demand for employees who can think both critically and creatively. However, developing effective methods for assessing what students have learned in design courses is one of the most elusive challenges of design education due to the subjective nature of design. For example, evaluating design outcomes is problematic due to the common pattern of increasing enrollments and reduced resources for design instruction. In this article, we propose and evaluate a new assessment method that uses a novel application of Bayesian Truth Serum (BTS), a scoring algorithm, in order to provide a scalable and reliable measure of design knowledge. This method requires no subjective input from the design instructor, nor does it require answers to questions that have distinct right or wrong answers. We tested this method over a 4-week period with 71 design students in an upper-level design course. For the study, participants were ask...