cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Proteasome function and protein oxidation in the aged retina.

Abstract The proteasomal pathway is responsible for processes essential for cell viability, including the selective degradation of oxidized proteins. An age-dependent loss in proteasome function has been reported in many tissues, but has not been examined in the retina. In this study, we evaluated proteasome function and protein oxidation in retinal homogenates from young adult and old F344BN rats. For retinal proteasome from old rats, we observed an 80% decrease in the rate of casein degradation and a 75% loss in chymotrypsin-like activity. This loss in activity could be partially accounted for by a 50% reduction in expression of the 20S proteasome. The regulatory complex PA700 and the inducible β-subunit, LMP7, which is associated with the chymotrypsin-like activity, were expressed in equivalent concentrations relative to the 20S catalytic core in both young and old rats. Immunochemical analysis using antibodies that recognize the protein oxidative modifications, nitrotyrosine and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, showed that retinal proteins from old rats exhibited the greatest immunoreactivity. These results suggest that the age-related loss in proteasome function contributes to the accumulation of oxidized retinal proteins. Thus, the combined effect of an increase in oxidized proteins and inactivation of the protease responsible for ridding the cell of oxidized proteins places the aged retina at greater risk for irreversible damage caused by oxidative stress.
Correlation of Fracture Behavior in Circumferentially Cracked Pipes Under Combined Load Conditions Using SENT Specimens: Effects on J-R Resistance Curves

Single edge cracked under tension (SENT) specimens appear as an alternative to conventional fracture specimens to characterize fracture toughness of circumferentially cracked pipes. The similarities of stress and strains fields between SENT specimens and cracked pipes are now well known. However, these similarities are not so well established for the case of circumferentially cracked pipes under combined loading conditions (i.e. internal pressure plus bending). This work presents a numerical analysis of crack-tip constraint of circumferentially surface cracked pipes and SENT specimens using full 3D nonlinear computations. The objective is to examine combined loading effects on the correlation of fracture behavior for the analyzed crack configurations. The constraint study using the J-Q methodology and the h parameter gives information about the fracture specimen that best represents the crack-tip conditions on circumferentially flawed pipes under combined loads. Additionally, simulations of ductile tearing in a surface cracked plate under biaxial loading using the computational cell methodology demonstrate the negligible effect of biaxial loadings on resistance curves.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
The Composition and Status Ordering of the International System: 1815–1940

This paper has two closely related purposes, both of which, if accomplished, may help to accelerate the development of international relations as an empirically based discipline. One is to identify the shifting and expanding membership of the international system during the 125 years between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the outbreak of World War II. The other is to classify all such members of the system according to their attributed importance or status during the same period. In each case, the intent is not only to provide certain data which may be useful to the discipline, but to describe in considerable detail the procedures by which such data were gathered or, more accurately, “made.”
Elongation factor‐1α stabilizes microtubules in a calcium/calmodulin‐dependent manner

Elongation factor-1α (EF-1α), a highly conserved protein named for its role in protein translation, is also a microtubule-associated protein (MAP). We used high-resolution differential interference contrast microscopy to quantify the effect of substoichiometric amounts of EF-1α (isolated from Daucus carota) on the dynamic instability of microtubules assembled in vitro from either animal or plant tubulin. EF-1α modulates the dynamic behavior of microtubules assembled from either tubulin source, resulting in longer and more persistent microtubules. EF-1α, at a 1:20 molar ratio to tubulin, significantly (P < 0.05) reduces the frequency of catastrophe threefold and decreases shortening velocities almost twofold for microtubules assembled from animal tubulin. For microtubules assembled from plant tubulin, substoichiometric amounts of EF-1α significantly (P < 0.05) suppress the frequency of catastrophe greater than twofold and causes an almost threefold reduction in shortening velocities. Elongation velocities increase almost twofold and rescues, which are not observed in the absence of EF-1α, occur. In addition, calcium/calmodulin (Ca2+/CaM), which regulates the ability of EF-1α to bundle taxol-stabilized microtubules in vitro, also modulates the effect of EF-1α on the dynamic behavior of microtubules assembled in vitro from animal tubulin. Microtubule severing in the presence of EF-1α was never observed. These data support the hypothesis that EF-1α modulates the dynamic behavior of microtubules assembled in vitro in a Ca2+/CaM-dependent manner. Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 41:168–180, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Quasiclassical Trajectory Study of Energy Transfer and Collision-Induced Dissociation in Hyperthermal Ar + CH4 and Ar + CF4 Collisions

We present a study of energy transfer in collisions of Ar with methane and perfluoromethane at hyperthermal energies (E(coll) = 4-10 eV). Quasiclassical trajectory calculations of Ar + CX(4) (X = H, F) collisions indicate that energy transfer from reagents' translation to internal modes of the alkane molecule is greatly enhanced by fluorination. The reasons for the enhancement of energy transfer upon fluorination are shown to emerge from a decrease in the hydrocarbon vibrational frequencies of the CX(4) molecule with increasing the mass of the X atom, and to an increase of the steepness of the Ar-CX(4) intermolecular potential. At high collision energies, we find that the cross section of Ar + CF(4) collisions in which the amount of energy transfer is larger than needed to break a C-F bond is at least 1 order of magnitude larger than the cross sections of Ar + CH(4) collisions producing CH(4) with energy above the dissociation limit. In addition, collision-induced dissociation is detected in short time scales in the case of the fluorinated species at E(coll) = 10 eV. These results suggest that the cross section for degradation of fluorinated hydrocarbon polymers under the action of nonreactive hyperthermal gas-phase species might be significantly larger than that of hydrogenated hydrocarbon polymers. We also illustrate a practical way to derive intramolecular potential energy surfaces for bond-breaking collisions by improving semiempirical Hamiltonians based on grids of high-quality ab initio calculations.
Back to the future: coronary CT angiography using prospective ECG triggering.

Medical imaging with computed tomography (CT) has evolved rapidly during the past few decades, now allowing routine non-invasive coronary angiography1 and also guidance of innovative endovascular procedures of the aorta, and recently the aortic valve.2–4 Initial CT systems, introduced in the 1970s for body imaging, rotated the X-ray tube and detector system (gantry) very slowly around the patient, spanning several heartbeats per rotation.5 After acquisition of a single axial slice, the tube was turned off, and the patient table incremented to the next slice position, where scanning was repeated. Despite gradual improvements in tube rotation time to fractions of the heart cycle, allowing triggering to specific cardiac phases (‘sequential or step-and-shoot acquisition with prospective triggering’), these single-slice systems were too slow to image mobile organs. Therefore, cardiac imaging became feasible only after implementation of two key technical advances, spiral scanning and multislice technology. Hardware and software advances allowed fast subsecond data acquisition during continuous rotation of the gantry and continuous movement of the patient table. In the resulting spiral acquisition, data are acquired throughout the entire cardiac cycle during simultaneous recording of the ECG signal. Subsequently, data from specific periods of the cardiac cycle (most commonly late diastole) are reconstructed by retrospective referencing to the ECG … *Corresponding author. Tel: +1 216 445 7579. E-mail: schoenp1{at}ccf.org
A project spine framework for software engineering education (abstract only)

Software engineering (and by extension software engineering education) is a fast-paced and still emerging discipline (by historical comparison to traditional engineering), yet still immature. We argue this immaturity shows in software engineering education in two ways. First, significant efforts in the software engineering and computer science communities focus on content taxonomies or bodies of knowledge (BOKs), whereas BOKs are more established in traditional engineering disciplines. Second, project experiences are not viewed as a central integrating feature of a degree program's curricular implementation. Project experiences tend to be disjoint; there may be a "freshman project" or a "capstone" or an "undergraduate research experience" or merely a semester project undertaken by the individual initiative of an instructor. The Software Enterprise at Arizona State University uses project experiences as the contextual teaching and learning vehicle throughout the Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering degree program. Students engage in classroom learning, group-oriented lab exercises, implementation on scalable projects, and reflective assessment co-located in time for each concept. The result is a student who not only acquires a new skill, but also immediately understands how to put that skill in practice. The Software Enterprise, now in its 9th year, has evolved from an upperclassmen experience to the full-fledged project spine in the Software Engineering program. In a project spine, content is de-emphasized; foundational concepts are tied to project work throughout the undergraduate program. The Enterprise provides over 40 curricular modules (with labs), assessment tools, and pedagogical guidance on project-centered learning to computing educators.
Non-Cd Based Quantum Dots for Molecular Imaging

Compared with the organic dyes and fluorescent proteins, quantum dots (QDs) show many unique optical properties, such as narrow and tunable emission spectra, superior photostability, high quantum yields, and the capacity of simultaneous excitation of multiple fluorescence colors. The QDs emitting at above 700 nm in the NIR region minimize the problems of indigenous fluorescence of tissues and meet the requirements of in vivo biological imaging applications. However, most of QDs containing cadmium showed potential cytotoxicity under extreme conditions limiting their further applications and clinical translations.Copyright © 2010 by ASME
The quantum-state diffusion model applied to open systems

A model of a quantum system interacting with its environment is proposed in which the system is represented by a state vector that satisfies a stochastic differential equation, derived from a density operator equation such as the Bloch equation, and consistent with it. The advantages of the numerical solution of these equations over the direct numerical solution of the density operator equations are described. The method is applied to the nonlinear absorber, cascades of quantum transitions, second-harmonic generation and a measurement reduction process. The model provides graphic illustrations of these processes, with statistical fluctuations that mimic those of experiments. The stochastic differential equations originated from studies of the measurement problem in the foundations of quantum mechanics. The model is compared with the quantum-jump model of Dalibard (1992), Carmichael and others, which originated among experimenters looking for intuitive pictures and rules of computation.
The Tradition about Zeno of Elea re-examined

This paper makes no attempt to compete with the brilliant studies through which in the last thirty years several scholars have advanced our understanding of the evidence for Zeno of Elea and in particular of the verbatim preserved fragments. In fact my intention is not to replace theories by other theories but to create doubt about matters that for some time have been taken for granted and to change confident assumptions into hypotheses that would tolerate others besides them. Accounts of Zeno's philosophy generally take as their starting point some well known statements at the beginning of Plato's Parmenides.1 Given the paucity of reports bearing on his work as a whole, the information here vouchsafed about its content and purpose must seem priceless. It also seems authoritative, the idea of examining it critically almost sacrilegious. Zeno, we here read, wrote against those who ridiculed the thesis of his master Parmenides that "all is one"s;2 the opponents tried to discredit this thesis by pointing out contradictions and "ridiculous" consequences resulting from the Parmenidean "One." In return Zeno took the adversaries' position that "there are many" as basis for his reasoning, deducing from it in each of his arguments contradictions and other results even more "ridiculous" than what the opponents had found in Parmenides' theory. It is easy to see why this testimony is so irresistible. Plato himself
Crystal Structure Stabilization of Gadolinium Aluminum Garnet (Gd3Al5O12) and Photoluminescence Properties

To suppress the thermal decomposition and to stabilize the crystal structure of Gd3Al5O12 (GdAG) garnet, doping GdAG with smaller Ln3+ (Ln=Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and Y, respectively) to form (Gd,Ln)AG solid solutions was proposed in work. Carbonate precursors of (Gd,Ln)AG with an approximate composition of (NH4)x(Gd,Ln)3Al5(OH)y(CO3)z•nH2O were synthesized via coprecipitation from a mixed solution of ammonium aluminum sulfate and rare earth nitrate, using ammonium hydrogen carbonate as the precipitant. The precursors and the calcination derived oxides were characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy, DTA/TG, XRD, BET and FE-SEM. The results showed that smaller Ln3+ doping can indeed stabilize GdAG against its thermal decomposition to a mixture of GdAlO3 (GdAP) and Al2O3 phases at elevated temperatures and at the same time effectively lowers the temperature for garnet crystallization. The carbonate precursors are loosely agglomerated and the resultant (Gd,Ln)AG powders show good dispersion and a fairly uniform particle morphology. The (Gd,Ln)AG solid solutions exhibit decreasing lattice parameters along with decreasing radius of the dopant ions at the same dopant content of 50 at%. Photoluminescence properties of some of the garnet solid solutions are also studied. The materials developed herein may potentially be used for photoluminescent and scintillation applications.
Effects of Summer Academic Programs in Middle School on High School Test Scores, Course-Taking, and College Major

Through their participation in a seventh-grade talent search in 19961997, students qualified to attend a summer program at Duke University's Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP). Of the North C...
A Modification of the Folch Method of Lipid Extraction for Poultry

Abstract A modification of the Folch method of extracting fat was compared with the usual Folch method. There was no significant difference between values obtained by the two methods. The repeatability of the modified procedure was better than that of the usual Folch procedure (.83 vs. .73) and the correlation between the two methods was .95. The more rapid modified procedure should be an acceptable substitute for the usual Folch method of extracting fat from poultry carcasses.
Noise estimation and adaptive filtering during visual tracking

This paper proposes a procedure to characterize segmentation-based visual tracking performance with respect to imaging noise. It identifies how imaging noise affects the target segmentation as measured through local shape metrics (Sobolev and Laplace metrics). Such a procedure would be an important calibration step prior to implementing a visual tracking filter for a given need. We utilize the Bhattacharyya coefficient between the target and background intensity distributions to estimate the segmentation error. An empirical study is conducted to establish a correspondence between the Bhattacharyya coefficient and the segmentation error. The correspondence is used to adaptively filter temporally correlated segmentations. Preliminary results show improved performance when compared to fixed gains.
A new optimization criterion for generalized discriminant analysis on undersampled problems

A new optimization criterion for discriminant analysis is presented. The new criterion extends the optimization criteria of the classical linear discriminant analysis (LDA) by introducing the pseudo-inverse when the scatter matrices are singular. It is applicable regardless of the relative sizes of the data dimension and sample size, overcoming a limitation of the classical LDA. Recently, a new algorithm called LDA/GSVD for structure-preserving dimension reduction has been introduced, which extends the classical LDA to very high-dimensional undersampled problems by using the generalized singular value decomposition (GSVD). The solution from the LDA/GSVD algorithm is a special case of the solution for our generalized criterion, which is also based on GSVD. We also present an approximate solution for our GSVD-based solution, which reduces computational complexity by finding subclusters of each cluster, and using their centroids to capture the structure of each cluster. This reduced problem yields much smaller matrices of which the GSVD can be applied efficiently. Experiments on text data, with up to 7000 dimensions, show that the approximation algorithm produces results that are close to those produced by the exact algorithm.
Theaters and Sex: An Examination of Anonymous Sexual Encounters in An Erotic Oasis

Utilizing non-participatory observation data, this article examines the social dynamics of same-sex impersonal/anonymous encounters in an erotic oasis. Focusing on an adult theater, this research analyzes patron interaction to assess both verbal and non-verbal communication practices among oasis participants who are actively seeking partnered sexual activities. Concurrently, those interactions were also examined to ascertain any correlating factors between specific communication practices and the specific types of sexual activities that transpired. The emerging data offers a unique glimpse into a rarely studied environment, and adds to the literature on erotic oasis interaction patterns, impersonal sex, and sexual communication strategies.
From optical bench to cageside: intravital microscopy on the long road to rational vaccine design

Summary: No antiviral vaccine is perfect. For some important pathogens, there are no effective vaccines. Many current vaccines are based on the working principles of Jenner and Pasteur, that is, empiric administration of attenuated or inactivated forms of the pathogen. Tapping the full potential of vaccination requires a thorough understanding of the mechanism of immune activation by pathogens and their individual components. Though the rate of discovery continues to accelerate, the complexity of the immune system is daunting, particularly when integrated into the overall physiology of the host. Here, we review the application of multiphoton microscopy to examine host-pathogen interactions, focusing on our recent efforts to understand mouse CD8+ T-cell responses to viruses at the level of cellular interactions in lymph nodes draining the infection site. We also discuss our recent efforts to understand the influence of the sympathetic nervous system on antiviral immunity, with the ultimate goal of appreciating the traditional elements of immunity as just one facet of the total organismal response to infection and immunization.
Open Source and Open Science: how it is changing the medical imaging community

The Open Science movement advances the idea that the results of scientific research must be made available as public resource. Limiting access to scientific information hinders innovation, complicates validation, and wastes valuable socio-economic resources. Open Science is an effective way of overcoming the nearsightedness of the contemporary obsession with intellectual property. The practice of Open Science is based on three pillars: Open Access, Open Data, and Open Source. Given that the practice of medical image research pertains to a field that affects the health condition of the public, it is of paramount importance to introduce the concepts of Open Science in domains such as animal research, drug discovery, clinical trials, computer assisted diagnosis and computer assisted treatment.
Immobilization of ASH by Microwave Melting

Non-radioactive ash was immobilized via microwave melting. The ash composed mainly of silica (SiO2), titania (TiO2), calcia (CaO), alumina (Al2O3), and carbon (C). The ash was melted with various additives, such as magnetite (Fe3O4), lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), and boron oxide (B2O3) by using a 2.45 GHz, 750 W microwave oven. Samples with different ash and additive concentrations were melted when subjected to microwave radiation. Ease of melting was dependent on the carbon and magnetite concentrations. Melted samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and subjected to the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure in regard to lead (Pb) immobilization. Melted samples with more than 30 wt% additives has an undetectable leaching rate of less than 0.1 ppm of lead for TCLP test, which was found to be due to the reduction and evaporation of the lead during melting. More than 80 % of the lead was lost through evaporation leaving less than 0.1 wt% Pb in the melted glass.
Physical and biogeochemical controls on light attenuation in a eutrophic, back-barrier estuary

Light attenuation is a critical parameter governing the ecological function of shallow estuaries. In these systems primary production is often dominated by benthic macroal- gae and seagrass; thus light penetration to the bed is of pri- mary importance. We quantified light attenuation in three seagrass meadows in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, a shallow eutrophic back-barrier estuary; two of the sites were located within designated Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs). We sequentially deployed instrumentation measuring photosyn- thetically active radiation, chlorophylla (chla) fluorescence, dissolved organic matter fluorescence (fDOM; a proxy for colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorbance), tur- bidity, pressure, and water velocity at 10 min intervals over 3-week periods at each site. At the southernmost site, where sediment availability was highest, light attenuation was high- est and dominated by turbidity and to a lesser extent chla and CDOM. At the central site, chla dominated followed by tur- bidity and CDOM, and at the northernmost site turbidity and CDOM contributed equally to light attenuation. At a given site, the temporal variability of light attenuation exceeded the difference in median light attenuation between the three sites. Vessel wakes, anecdotally implicated in increasing sediment resuspension, did not contribute to local resuspension within the seagrass beds, though frequent vessel wakes were ob- served in the channels. With regards to light attenuation and water clarity, physical and biogeochemical variables appear to outweigh any regulation of boat traffic within the ESAs.
Role of Host Molecular Chaperones in Responses to Bacterial Infection and Endotoxin Exposure

Recent studies of heat shock protein-mediated modulation of the inflammatory and immune responses suggest its involvement in host responses to infection. In addition, during infection, the mammalian host is faced with the interaction of the heat shock responses of two competing organisms. Indeed, both mammalian and pathogenic heat shock proteins bind to host cells where they can signal danger, mediate inflammation and influence immune cell function. These overlapping repertoires of stress proteins may thus participate in determining the outcome of pathogenic infections by their abilities to take part in, work to prevent, or resolve infection. In this account, we have examined the role of heat shock proteins largely from the point of view of the mammalian host during the infection by non-viral microorganisms. When assessing the role of heat shock proteins in infection, a number of issues must be unraveled. The first is the relative roles of intracellular and extracellular mammalian heat shock proteins in pro- or anti-inflammatory processes. It is thus apparent that the intracellular heat shock proteins, heat shock transcription factor1 (HSF1) and the heat shock response (HSR) influence the infection of mammals by pathogenic organisms. The HSR and intracellular heat shock proteins protect against severe sepsis and fever as demonstrated in experiments using Hsp70 and HSF1 knockout mice. However, in addition, heat shock protein in the extracellular spaces may be involved in earlier phases of infection, in processes such as in complement activation, microorganism engulfment by phagocytes, cytokine secretion and immune responses to pathogens.
Role of endocytosis in signalling and regulation of G-protein-coupled receptors.

Many G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) undergo agonist-induced endocytosis. Endocytosis contributes to distinct processes that regulate the number and functional activity of receptors present in the plasma membrane, contributing to the well described processes of receptor sequestration and down-regulation. Emerging evidence suggests additional functions of endocytosis in mediating GPCR signalling via certain effector pathways, such as mitogen-activated protein kinase modules. The diverse functions of endocytosis raise fundamental questions about the nature of the vesicular carriers and membrane pathways that mediate the endocytic trafficking of specific GPCRs. Insights into the biochemical and functional properties of endocytic vesicles containing internalized opioid and adrenergic receptors will be discussed. Progress towards understanding the mechanisms that control the specificity with which distinct GPCRs are sorted to specialized sub-populations of endocytic vesicles will be highlighted.
Father Involvement, Dating Violence, and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among a National Sample of Adolescent Females

This study explored the relationship between the involvement of biological fathers and the sexual risk behaviors and dating violence/victimization and/or perpetration of adolescent girls. The data used in this cross-sectional analysis were drawn from the second wave of the public release of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Only adolescents who reported their biological sex as female, reported a history of being sexually active, and reported having a romantic partner in the previous 18 months were selected (N = 879). This study focused on overall positive sexual behaviors and use of contraception. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to best utilize capacity for dealing with latent variables and to test for possible mediation effects. The analysis demonstrated main effects of dating violence and father involvement on sexual behaviors. The more dating violence an adolescent girl experiences, the less likely she is to engage in healthy sexual behaviors. Likewise, the more involvement the biological father has in a woman's life, the more likely she is to engage in positive sexual behaviors. Perceived father involvement was associated with risky sexual behaviors among sexually experienced adolescent girls. Dating violence was directly associated with risky sexual behaviors among sexually experienced adolescent girls, particularly non-White girls. Future studies should use longitudinal models and test theoretically and empirically guided potential mediators. Future studies should also consider father figures such as step-fathers and grandfathers in addition to biological fathers, as having a father figure may be a stronger predictor of adolescent sexual behaviors than having a biological connection.
Learning while Building Games for Teaching

An innovative learning project brings students together with faculty and digital design studio staff to create videogames that help teach basic programming concepts.
Mesoscopic Fluctuations of Elastic Cotunneling

We study mesoscopic fluctuations of the conductance through a quantum dot at the wings of the Coulomb blockade peaks. At low temperatures, the main mechanism of conduction is elastic cotunneling. The conductance strongly fluctuates with an applied magnetic field. The magnetic correlation field is shown to be controlled by the charging energy, and the correlation function has a universal form. The distribution function for the conductance obtained analytically shows a nontrivial crossover between the orthogonal and unitary ensembles.
SELECTION FOR INCREASED NUMBERS OF EXTRA HETEROCHROMATIC CHROMOSOMES IN THE TOMATO

Crossing two parental plants carrying two types of extra chromosomes, 2n+2(5L•7S) by 2n+3(2S•2S) permitted effective selection for individuals with up to eight 2S•2S chromosomes in later generations. The crossing of 2n + 3(2S•2S) by 2n+1( 8S•8L) and by the wild tomato relative, diploid L. pimpinellifolium , produced plants with up to four extra chromosomes. The tolerance of 2S•2S chromosomes through both gametophytes is at least four extras. The presence of two to eight extra 2S•2S chromosomes decreased pollen fertility between 82 to 41%. Progeny tests reveal that 2S•2S chromosomes tend to be lost in transmission. Progenies of self-pollinated individuals with 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 chromosomes averaged 24.3, 25.1, 25.5, 27.1, 28.2 and 27.9 chromosomes respectively. The offspring of crosses between diploid and extrachromosomal plants showed similar tendencies. Evidently tomato 2S•2S chromosomes lack the mechanisms for accumulation characteristic of some plant species with naturally occurring accessory chromosomes.—Extra 2S•2S chromosomes are very stable mitotically and are not eliminated from the somatic tissue of unmodified plants. Severe pruning of certain plants induced loss or gain of these chromosomes.—The importance of accumulating two to 18 nucleolar organizer regions in a cell by addition of 2S•2S chromosomes is discussed.
MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF THE SPIROCYCLIC PENTACOORDINATE INDIUM(III) COMPLEX [(n-C4H9)4N]2{[S2C2(CN)2]2InCl} AND THE ISOMORPHOUS THALLIUM(III) COMPLEX [(n-C4H9)4N]2{[S2C2(CN)2]2TlBr]

Abstract Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of the spirobis(dithia) indium(III) chloride [(n-C4H9)4N]2-{[(S2C2(CN)2-InCl} (2) and the isomorphous thallium(III) bromide [(n-C4H9)4N]2{[S2C2(CN)2]2TlBr} (3) shows structures that are nearly midway along the Berry coordinate connecting idealized trigonalbipyramidal and rectangular-pyramidal geometries. They crystallize in the monoclinic space group P21/c. 2 has a = 15.961 (3) A b = 12.496 (5) A, c = 25.160 (6) A, β = 99.59 (2)°, and Z = 4. 3 has a = 16.063 (5) A, b = 12.565 (8) A, c = 25.091 (7) A, β = 100.17 (2)°, and Z = 4. The final agreement factors for 2 are R = 0.054 and R w = 0.083 on the basis of 4503 reflections having I ≥ 2σ 1; for 3 R = 0.050 and R w, = 0.062 on the basis of 4027 reflections having I ≥ 2σ 1. The structures obtained follow factors important in correlating geometries observed for spirocyclic phosphoranes. The atom size and electronegativity of the central atom relative to that for the halogen atom are of particular importance i...
Overview Biologicals & Immunologicals Recombinant vaccines: technology and applications

Recombinant DNA technology, combined with the current understanding of antigen processing and recognition, provides a wide selection of possible approaches for vaccine development. The selection of a particular vaccine approach can thus be based on the desired outcome. Modern vaccinologists can select from a range of vaccines including subunits, purified proteins or polysaccharides, proteins made by recombinant methods in vitro, live vectors, or polynucleotides. Therefore, the treatment can be tailored according to the immune response desired and the safety, efficacy, and availability of the wild-type organism or naturally produced antigen. This article aims to review several of the recent advances and major patent applications in this area.
Incidence of headache as a presenting complaint in over 1000 patients with sellar lesions and factors predicting postoperative improvement

Abstract Introduction Due to the high incidence of headaches and pituitary tumors, neurosurgeons often evaluate patients with benign-appearing sellar lesions and headaches without insight into whether the headache is attributable to the lesion. We sought to evaluate the incidence of headache as a presenting complaint in patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery for various pathologies and to identify factors predicting postoperative improvement. Methods We conducted a 5-year retrospective review of our first 1015 transsphenoidal surgeries since establishing a dedicated pituitary center. Results Of 1015 patients, 329 (32%) presented with headache. Of these 329 patients, 241 (73)% had headache as their chief complaint. Headache was most common in patients with apoplexy (84%), followed by Rathke's cleft cysts (RCCs) (60%). Multivariate analyses revealed diagnosis ( P =0.001), younger age ( P =0.001), and female gender ( P =0.006) to be associated with headache. Of patients presenting with headaches, 11% reported improvement at 6-week follow-up and 53% improved at 6-month follow-up. Multivariate analyses revealed gross total resection (GTR; P =0.04) and decreased duration of headache ( P =0.04) to be associated with improvement, while diagnosis, age, gender, lesion size, whether headache was a chief complaint, and location of headache were not associated with improvement ( P >0.05). Conclusion In analyzing over 1000 consecutive patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery, younger patients, females, and patients with RCCs and apoplexy were more likely to present with headache. Patients who underwent GTR and had shorter duration of headache were more likely to experience headache improvement. This information can be used to counsel patients preoperatively.
Poorly Explored Jewels of the Tropics: Estimating Diversity in Non-Pulmonate Land Snails of the Family Helicinidae (Gastropoda: Neritopsina) *

Abstract: Helicinids represent a family of tropical land snails with a distribution range limited to the subtropical and tropical zones of the New World, Australasia, and the Pacific. For an estimate of diversity in this poorly systematically revised group, the total number of described taxa was determined and used for calculations based on analyses of selected case studies with regard to the percentage of valid and new taxa. Extensive bibliographic searches identified about 1,250 available names, regardless of rank, that were described from 1801 onward. Fiftyeight percent of the names represent New World taxa whose majority (63%) was created before 1880 while the intensive study in most of the Australasian and Pacific areas started much later with the bulk of taxa described between 1880–1930. An analysis of the distribution of the type localities and the times of descriptions allowed for identification of scarcely- and well-studied areas. Eight potentially representative case studies of major revisions w...
Factors associated with event-level stimulant use during sex in a sample of older, low-income men who have sex with men in Los Angeles.

Prior research shows that stimulant use is consistently associated with high-risk sexual behavior in samples of men who have sex with men (MSM), but few studies have explored factors associated with use of crack or methamphetamine during sex during specific sexual events among older, very low-income MSM. This study examined stimulant use during the most recent sexual episodes in a sample of primarily older, very low-income MSM (n = 779). Although crack use was more prevalent than methamphetamine use (33% vs. 22%), findings suggest that methamphetamine users may be at greater risk for HIV transmission. HIV prevalence was higher among methamphetamine users (49%) than among crack users (24%). Having unprotected sex (OR 2.77, 95% CI 1.46–5.26), having sex in a public sex venue (OR 3.63, 95% CI 1.52–8.64), having sex with an HIV positive rather than with an HIV negative partner (OR 6.15, 95% CI 2.14–17.62), having exchanged sex for money or drugs (OR 4.16, 95% CI 1.78–9.72), and having a higher number of sexual partners (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.17–2.38) all were associated with increased odds of methamphetamine use during sex. Fewer high-risk behaviors were associated with increased odds of using crack during sex. Having unprotected sex was associated with increased odds of crack use during sex only when sex partners were perceived to be HIV negative rather than to be HIV positive or of unknown status. Findings provide observations on associations between stimulant use during sex and risk behaviors that may be important to HIV prevention and drug treatment approaches for urban, older, very poor MSM.
Surface defect site density on single walled carbon nanotubes by titration

Closed end single walled carbon nanotubes (c-SWNT) purified by acidic oxidation have been studied in order to determine the fraction of oxidized carbon sites present. This has been done by measuring the evolution of CO2(g) and CO(g) on heating to 1273 K. Following a 1273 K treatment, the defect sites were titrated repeatedly with O3. The results indicate that ∼5% of the carbon atoms in the c-SWNT samples pretreated to 1273 K are located at defective sites, capable of facile oxidation by O3. This high defect site density indicates that a significant number of these sites exist on the graphene walls of the nanotubes.
Decentralized algorithms for flow control in networks

Within the context of flow control problems in data communication networks, we consider decentralized algorithms which optimize a criterion reflecting the trade-off between the throughput and the total delay in a virtual circuit. We show that the "greedy" algorithm which provides individually optimum solutions for the users converges when the criterion is the power of the virtual circuit. We also present an algorithm executed using decentralized information which converges to a set of Pareto-optimum message rates among the users. Both of the algorithms make use of the local information available to end users and no exchange of information is needed.
Moving Upstream and Going Local: the Responsibility to Protect Ten Years Later

Ten years ago the international community pledged to protect civilians from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by endorsing the responsibility to protect (R2P) doctrine. Yet today, horrific violence against civilians continues in places like Syria, Iraq, and South Sudan. This article examines some of the progress and gaps in the international community’s efforts to better protect civilians against mass violence over the past decade. It proposes two emerging directions for advancing the R2P agenda in the coming years: 1) greater focus on upstream prevention, and 2) increased support for locally-led peacebuilding and prevention actors and capacities.
Hobbes’s State of Nature: A Modern Bayesian Game-Theoretic Analysis

Hobbes's own justification for the existence of governments relies on the assumption that without a government our lives in the state of nature would result in a state of war of every man against every man. Many contemporary scholars have tried to explain why universal war is unavoidable in Hobbes's state of nature by utilizing modern game theory. However, most game-theoretic models that have been presented so far do not accurately capture what Hobbes deems to be the primary cause of conflict in the state of nature—namely, uncertainty, rather than people's egoistic psychology. Therefore, I claim that any game-theoretic model that does not incorporate uncertainty into the picture is the wrong model. In this paper, I use Bayesian game theory to show how universal conflict can break out in the state of nature—even when the majority of the population would strictly prefer to cooperate and seek peace with other people—due to uncertainty about what type of person the other player is. Along the way, I show that the valuation of one's own life is one of the central mechanisms that drives Hobbes's pessimistic conclusion.
Inference, Intervention, and Prediction

What can be predicted when the causal structure and the joint distribution among a set of random variables is known that cannot be predicted when only the joint distribution over the set of random variables is known? The answer is that with the former we can predict the effects of intervening in a system by manipulating the values of certain variables, while with only the latter we cannot. For example, if we know only the joint distribution of smoking and lung cancer, we cannot determine whether stopping people from smoking will reduce the rates of lung cancer. On the other hand, if we also know that smoking causes lung cancer (and that there is no common cause of smoking and lung cancer), we can predict that stopping smoking will reduce lung cancer, and by how much. As the quotations at the beginning of the article show, there is a debate within the statistics community about whether predicting the effects of interventions from passive observations is possible at all. In this paper we will describe some recent work for predicting the effects of interventions and policies given passive observations and some background knowledge. While addressing some of the claims just considered, the results we describe unify two traditions in statistics-one, beginning at least as early as Sewell Wright ([Wright 34]; [Simon 77]; [Blalock 61]; [Kiiveri 82]; [Wermuth 83]; [Lauritzen 84]; [Kiiveri 84]; [Wright 34]; [Glymour 87]; [Pearl 88]), connects directed acyclic graphs with probability distributions through constraints on conditional independence relations, while the other ([Neyman 35]; [Rubin 77]; [Rubin 78]; [PearVerm 91]) connects causal claims with “counterfactual distributions” and offers rules for predicting the distribution of a variable that will result if other variables are deliberately manipulated ([Rubin 77]; [Pratt 88]). We consider the following two cases.
Structures of α-K3MoO3F3 and α-Rb3MoO3F3: Ferroelectricity from Anion Ordering and Noncooperative Octahedral Tilting

The room temperature crystal structures of α-K3MoO3F3 and α-Rb3MoO3F3 have been solved via combined Rietveld refinements of synchrotron and neutron powder diffraction data. These two compounds are part of a broader family of A2BMO3F3 compounds that have been studied for their dielectric properties, but until now the complex crystal structures of the ferroelectric phases of these compounds were not known. At room temperature and below, these two isostructural compounds are tetragonal with I41 space group symmetry and unit cell parameters of a = 19.38613(3) A, c = 34.86739(8) A for α-K3MoO3F3 and a = 20.0748(4) A, c = 36.1694(1) A for α-Rb3MoO3F3. Their structures are related to the cubic double perovskite structure but are considerably more complicated due to noncooperative octahedral tilting and long-range orientational ordering of the polar MoO3F33– units. The pattern of octahedral tilting is equivalent to that seen in the α-K3AlF6 structure, which has I41/a symmetry, but orientational ordering of MoO3F3...
Spin and Phonon Relaxation of V 4 + in Ti O 2

The spin-lattice relaxation of ${\mathrm{V}}^{4+}$ in Ti${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ is measured at liquid-helium temperatures using electron-spin-echo techniques. The ${T}_{1}$ relaxation decay function is represented by an expression which is the sum of two exponential functions. The decay constants for the two exponentials are 0.11 and 0.70 sec and they do not depend on temperature or sample size. The sample is annealed in air and the relaxation decay constants become 0.16 and 1.10 sec. This is interpreted as one constant being related to the equilibration of a "hot" spin system and a set of resonant phonon modes, and the other decay constant being related to the relaxation of the phonon mode by defect scattering.
Hypercoagulability and thrombosis

This article has stressed the common hereditary and acquired blood protein defects associated with thrombosis. The commonest hereditary defects appear to be antithrombin, protein C, and protein S deficiency, and the commonest acquired defects are anticardiolipin antibodies and the lupus anticoagulant. Therefore these are the defects that should first be looked for in an individual with unexplained thrombosis. If these commoner defects are not found, the rarer defects, including HC-II, plasminogen or t-PA deficiency, dysfibrinogenemia, or elevated PAI-1, should next be sought. The incidence of activated protein C cofactor deficiency is not yet clear but may also represent a common defect. Likewise, PAI-1 defects may, with time, be shown to be quite common. The importance of finding these defects has significant implications for therapy of the individual patient and for institution of family studies to identify, inform, and possibly treat others at risk. It is expected that as knowledge of hemostasis expands, more hereditary and acquired defects, such as elevated lipoprotein (a) or defects of extrinsic (tissue factor) pathway inhibitor may be associated with enhanced risks of thrombosis.
A Study on the Technology of Piston Strain Measurement

The greatest difficulty of a piston strain measurement system is how to get the temperature signal from the reciprocat-ing piston.The system in this paper is developed from the former Infrared Strain System and successfully overcomes the difficulty by transmitting data via infrared.The new system directly digitalizes the strain signal assembles the data into a data package and then transmits it outside via infrared.As well as increasing infrared intensity increasing data transmission speed with the help of these mea-sures,the reliability of the new system is greatly enhanced.The new system is proven successful by the piston measurement experi-ment.The results of the experiments show that the new system is good at reliability and measure precision.
Alcohol Effects on Albumin Synthesis

Alcoholism and alcohol-induced organ damage are two separate entities — the former, representing an abnormal syndrome, may show organ involvement early or late, while the latter may occur without true addiction. Either the effects of alcohol or its metabolite acetaldehyde or the resultant effects of complete alcohol metabolism on protein synthesis are probably organ specific, modified by genetic predisposition, altered by nutritional status, hormone inbalance, absorptive capabilities, and the presence or absence of prior alcohol-induced or associated organ damage. To try to isolate the acute and the chronic effects of ethanol exposure on a specific protein synthetic pathway in vivo is not a simple task. The picture is further complicated by the complex nature of the normal protein synthetic and cellular transport systems. It is only necessary to consider how many potential sites in the assembly line process of protein synthesis may be altered by alcohol to see how complex a scheme we are facing (Mueckler and Pitot 1981, 1982; Bantle et al. 1980a; Krieg et al. 1980; Prehn et al. 1981; Thomas et al. 1981; Emr et al. 1980; Walter and Blobel 1981; Rothman 1981; Dorling et al. 1975; Algranati and Sabatini 1979; Schreir et al. 1977; Blobel and Dobberstein 1975; Weigand et al. 1982; Peters et al. 1971; Redman and Cherian 1972; Glauman and Ericsson 1970). Following the final posttranscriptional modification, the appropriate messenger RNA (mRNA) becomes available for the translation process. In its most simplified form this process requires the presence of initiation factors which promote the formation of the ribosomal complex, a complex of the two ribosome subunits and the particular mRNA.