cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Calcium-related properties of horseradish peroxidase☆

Abstract Horseradish peroxidase has been shown to be a metalloprotein in which calcium contributes to the structural stability of the protein. Isoenzyme C and A contain 2.0 and 1.4 moles calcium/mole enzyme, respectively, which can be removed by treatment with guanidine hydrochloride and EDTA. Calcium-free isoenzyme C, but not isoenzyme A, reconstitutes upon addition of calcium and regains enzymatic activity. Free calcium readily exchanges with isoenzyme C, but only to a small extent with isoenzyme A. In addition the role of calcium in maintaining molecular conformation is evidenced by the effects of calcium removal from the isoenzyme C on the thermal stability of the protein.
Casein kinase II-catalysed phosphorylation of calmodulin is altered by amino acid deletions in the central helix of calmodulin

Abstract Calmodulin is phosphorylated by casein kinase II on Thr-79, Ser-81, Ser-101 and Thr-117. To determine the consensus sequences for casein kinase II in intact calmodulin, we examined casein kinase Ikmediated phosphorylation of engineered calmodulins with 1–4 deletions in the central helical region (positions 81–84). Total casein kinase II-catalyzed phosphate incorporation into all deleted calmodulins was similar to control calmodulin. Neither CaMΔ84 (Glu-84 deleted) nor CaMΔ81–84 (Ser-81 to Glu-84 deleted) has phosphate incorporated into Thr-79 or Ser-81, but both exhibit increased phosphorylation of residues Ser-101 and Thr-117. These data suggest that phosphoserine in the +2 position may be a specificity determinant for casein kinase II in intact proteins and/or secondary structures are important in substrate recognition by casein kinase II.
NMR structure of an unusual Pt2(μ-BINOL) dimer: More surprises from a seemingly simple chiral ligand

A novel [(dppe)2Pt2(μ-BINOL)]2+[OTf]-2 dimer (A) was cleanly produced by addition of 1 equiv of HOTf to (dppe)Pt(S-BINOL) (1) or via “comproportionation” of 1 with (dppe)Pt(OTf)2 (2). The structure of A was investigated by 1H, 31P, and 13C NMR spectroscopy, as well as 2D 1H/1H (COSY) and 13C/1H (HMQC, HMBC) correlation experiments, revealing that both halves of the bridging BINOL ligand have undergone “enol−keto” tautomerization in this complex. Two symmetry-equivalent (dppe)Pt fragments coordinate in an anti fashion via Pt−C σ bonds to the adjacent atoms C1 and C1‘ of the resulting “diketo” BINOL ligand. η1-Coordination of the carbonyl groups of “diketo” BINOL to Pt was proposed to fill the fourth coordination site of each Pt square plane in dimer A, generating favorable five-membered Pt-chelate rings; the P−Pt coupling constants observed for A are consistent with CO→Pt coordination. The driving force for dimer formation is likely electrostatic, as dimerization distributes the dicationic charge of Pt Lew...
Rapid HIV screening for women in labor

Women now comprise approximately half of all HIV-infected individuals and the epidemic of pediatric HIV disease continues unabated in the developing world. The issue of mother-to-child transmission has been a major concern for public health officials since the early years of this epidemic. Not uncommonly, the first opportunity to ascertain the HIV status is when a woman presents to a hospital in labor. Rapid HIV tests can provide fast results, allowing time for the provider to offer antiretroviral therapy. Several effective antiretroviral regimens are now available for the intrapartum patient whose rapid HIV test comes back as positive. Antiretroviral therapy should be initiated as soon as possible after a positive rapid HIV test result and prior to standard confirmatory testing. This article summarizes the epidemiology of HIV and focuses on testing policies, technologies for rapid screening for HIV infection and antiretroviral regimens that can reduce the risk of perinatal transmission from the intrapartum patient whose rapid HIV test comes back positive.
Potential mechanisms of angioplasty

There are at least five potential mechanisms for enlarging the arterial lumen using the technique of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Each of these mechanisms is reviewed along with evidence from clinical or experimental angioplasty supporting or refuting an actual role for that mechanism in mechanical dilation of diseased vessels. Although plaque compaction is not plausible, each of the other four responses--redistributive modeling of plaque, embolization of plaque components, plastic stretching of the arterial wall, and phagocytic removal of plaque during healing after angioplasty--has been confirmed in at least some circumstances. Since the lesions probably differ in their biomechanical properties, we conclude that it is unlikely that a single mechanism will explain all of the successful dilations.
Myocilin and optineurin: Differential characteristics and functional consequences

Myocilin and optineurin are two genes linked to glaucoma, a major blinding disease characterized by progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells and their axons. This review describes the characteristics of myocilin and optineurin protein products and summarizes the consequences of ectopically expressed wild-type and mutant myocilin and optineurin in trabecular meshwork and/or neuronal cells. Myocilin and optineurin exhibit differential characteristics and have divergent functional consequences. They contribute to the development of glaucoma probably via distinct mechanisms.
The Fort Bragg managed care experiment: Short term impact on psychopathology

Many concerns have been raised about mental health services for children and adolescents. These concerns have included not treating those in need and providing inappropriate services to those who are treated. The continuum of care philosophy purports to remedy these problems by offering a comprehensive and coordinated range of services emphasizing community-based treatment. Services in the continuum include alternatives to trditional restrictive forms of care such as hospitalization. The provision of more appropriate care is hypothesized to improve the clinical outcomes of children treated in a continuum of care. The Fort Bragg Evaluation compared quality, use, outcome, and cost of the continuum of care model to a more traditional, fragmented system of care. This paper presents the effects of a service delivery system on short term psychopathology outcomes.
Bounded Toeplitz products on Bergman spaces of the unit ball

Abstract We consider the question for which square integrable analytic functions f and g on the unit ball the densely defined products T f T g ¯ are bounded on the weighted Bergman spaces. We prove results analogous to those we obtained in the setting of the unit disk and the polydisk.
Order and statistical crystallography of patterned breath figures

Abstract Patterned condensation or breath figures form from the dropwise condensation of water on a surface. Such networks have attracted recent attention as environmental sensors, optical diffraction gratings, and tools for studying thin film behavior. To test a random breath figure's regularity in shape and size, the formalism of statistical crystallography is developed here for drop sidedness. The standard size-shape relations (Lewis's law, Desch's law, and Aboav-Weaire's law) govern area, perimeter, and nearest neighbor shapes, Taken together, these physicochemical laws predict a highly non-equilibrium structure for the breath figure which evolves as a unimodal shape distribution without dominant drop perimeter energy.
Political action committee for scientists

Spurred by budget proposals that could severely reduce science funding (Eos, March 24, March 3, February 10), seven scientists currently serving as Congressional Science or State Department Fellows recently founded a political action committee (PAC) for scientists. The Science and Technology Political Action Committee (SCITEC-PAC) aims to make scientists more politically aware and better informed about potential legislative actions that affect research. It will also serve to ‘establish a political presence’ with respect to science, said Donald Stein, SCITEC-PAC's chairman. The organization is not a lobbying group, explained Stein, professor of neurology and psychology at Clark University and the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. ‘Lobbyists seek to influence officials by presenting information to them,’ he said, ‘while a PAC tries to influence the outcome of elections through campaign contributions of money, time, and effort in behalf of candidates that share similar goals and aspirations.’ In other words, the PAC will be a vehicle for promoting candidates for federal office who advocate strong support for scientific research and training. In addition, the PAC will develop and study science policy and budget issues and will attempt to stimulate government and private sector interest in these issues.
Transformation kinetics of polycrystalline aragonite to calcite: new experimental data, modelling, and implications

Experimental data are used to model the transformation rate of polycrystalline aragonite (grain diameter ∼80 μm) to calcite. Optimized values for nucleation and growth rates were obtained by numerically fitting the overall transformation rates from 280° to 380°C and 0.10 MPa to an expression for a grain-boundary-nucleated and interface-controlled transformation. The nucleation rate is ∼4–5 orders of magnitude faster than for calcite nucleated within aragonite grains, and the growing in rate is slower below 300°C than for calcite growing in aragonite single crystals. The activation enthalpy for growth in polycrystalline aggregate is ∼247kJ/mol compared to 163 kJ/mol for growth in single crystals. Permanent deformation of the phases limits the elastic strain energy due to the ∼7% volume change and reduces the coherency of the calcite/aragonite interace. Theoretical expressions are used to extrapolate the data for nucleation and growth to other temperatures, and data from 0.10 to 400 MPa are used to evaluate the effect of pressure on the grain-boundary nucleation rate. Because of permanent deformation of the phases, the effective strain energy for nucleation is ≤0.55 kJ/mol, which is less than a quarter of the value for purely elastic deformation. These data are used to predict the percent transformation for various P-T-t paths; without heating during uplift partial preservation of aragonite in dry blueschist facies rocks can occur if the calcite stability field is entered at ∼235° C, and the kinetic data are also consistent with published P-T-t paths which include heating during uplift. The predicted percent transformation is relatively insensitive to variations in the initial grain size of the aragonite, but strongly dependent on the effective strain energy.
Fall Flaming Effects on Densities, Distributions, and Dispersal of Tetranychus urticae and Neoseiulus fallacis (Acari: Tetranychidae, Phytoseiidae) on Peppermint

Fall flaming of harvested peppermint, Mentha piperita L., fields for disease control immediately decreased levels of the predatory phytoseiid mite Neoseiulus fallacis (Garman) by 84–98%, while suppressing the spider mite pest Tetranychus urticae Koch to a lesser extent. By the following spring, more T. urticae were found in flamed fields than unflamed fields and in many cases the pest reached outbreak densities (>5 per leaf) and required use of miticides for control. After harvest on unflamed mint, more N. fallacis were found on prostrate plants near the humid soil surface than on erect plants, whereas spider mites were near equal on prostrate and erect plants. The 1st erect plant type was 15–25 cm tall without leaves on the lower 7.5 cm. The 2nd was 2.5–7.5 cm tall with at least 3 sets of leaves and the prostate plants extended to only 1.3 cm above the soil surface. The net effect of this temporal–spatial asynchrony between predators and prey was to uncouple the system, temporarily. This uncoupling for a short time (physiologically) seemed to stabilize interactions by keeping the predators from overexploiting spider mite populations in the fall and spring. Tests of selective flaming in small field plots showed that predaceous mites dispersed 7–8 m from unflamed plots to recolonize flamed plots before spider mites reached outbreak conditions. Allowing small, unflamed refuges to exist where predaceous mites can survive may reduce negative impact of flaming on control of spider mites at whole field levels.
Making the big decision [Perspectives on Graduate Life]

This paper is based on author's personal experience in medical education. In the March/April 2013 issue of IEEE Pulse, author will talk about beginning the life as an actual graduate student in dissertation lab.
Language in a multicultural context: The african experience

Abstract The cultural interplay in Africa between indigenous, Islamic and Western legacies has given rise to four language types which we have described as Afro‐ethnic, Afro‐Islamic, Afro‐Western and Western. After providing a working definition of these types, we proceed to look at their average tendencies and characteristics in the areas of writing, geographical spread, demographic distribution and functional value. For a while these types existed in relative distributive and functional complementarity within the continental constellation of languages. However, new economic, political and cultural forces have acted in concert to infuse a spirit of linguistic competition in social domains, roles and functions and in creating new sociolinguistic dynamics and formations. In the process Afro‐Islamic languages have become secularised after passing through an ecumenical stage, while, among the Western languages, English has continued to expand its hold on the African continent in general. And as western techn...
A Preliminary Investigation of the Effects of Gender and Race on Voice Onset Time

Twenty individuals participated in a study of Voice Onset Time (VOT) production. Participants included equal numbers of males and females and equal numbers of African Americans and Caucasian Americ...
Fatigue crack propagation in torsion

Abstract The redistribution of stress and strain in front of a growing crack in it twisted bar is derived, assuming the material to be ideally plastic. The result is used in connexion with a simple fracture criterion to determine the initial rate of growth of a fatigue crack. Experiments with torsion members are reported.
Dynorphin-A-(1-8) is contained within vasopressin neurosecretory vesicles in rat pituitary

Dynorphin-A-(1-8), an opioid peptide widely distributed in the rat central nervous system, is present in vasopressin-containing neurosecretory cells terminating in the neural lobe of the pituitary. Electron microscopic immunocytochemistry reveals that dynorphin-A-(1-8) is contained within the same neurosecretory vesicles as vasopressin and vasopressin-associated neurophysin in the neural lobe of the rat. The results indicate that dynorphin may be released in the pituitary concomitantly with vasopressin during the antidiuretic response.
Identification of the B33 martensite phase in Cu–Zr using first-principles and X-ray diffraction

X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments and first-principles calculations were employed to investigate the martensitic transformation products formed upon rapid cooling of the CuZr-B2 phase. Candidate intermetallic compound structures were selected, and calculations show that CuZr-B11 (CuTi prototype), CuZr-B27 (FeB), CuZr-B19′ (NiTi) and CuZr-B33 (BCr) are more stable than the B2 phase at 0 K. Computed XRD patterns, based on first-principles calculations, were compared with experimental XRD measurements. The results indicate that the CuZr martensite consists of the CuZr-B33 and CuZr-B19′ phases.
Macrophage colony stimulating factor controls macrophage recruitment to the cycling mouse uterus

Progesterone and estrogen induce uterine epithelial cells to produce macrophage colony stimulating factor (CSF-1), and mouse uterine epithelial cells produce large amounts of CSF-1 during embryo development. The present study demonstrated that estrogen and progesterone each induce uterine CSF-1 gene transcription and translation detectable by Northern blotting and bioassay. Intrauterine CSF-1 production was greater in the presence of both estrogen and progesterone than following exposure to either hormone alone. CSF-1 mRNA was detectable in the uterus throughout the estrous cycle while CSF-1 bioactivity was detected only during proestrus. CSF-1 production was directly related to the presence of macrophages in the uterus. Ovariectomy, which was rapidly followed by a loss of uterine CSF-1 gene transcription, also was followed by a dramatic decrease in the number of uterine macrophages. Both uterine CSF-1 and uterine macrophages were reconstituted in a dose-dependent manner by systemic administration of estrogen or progesterone. High concentrations of circulating estrogen and progesterone increased the number of macrophages in the uterus and increased their accumulation near epithelial surfaces. Similar relationships were observed in the uterus of cycling mice. Macrophages accumulated in the uterus following intraluminal injection of recombinant human CSF-1 to ovariectomized mice, directly demonstrating the ability of CSF-1 to recruit macrophages from peripheral blood into the uterus. These studies demonstrated that estrogen and progesterone stimulation of CSF-1 production by mouse uterine epithelial cells controls recruitment and distribution of macrophages in the uterus during the estrous cycle.
Community behavior and amyloid-associated phenotypes among a panel of uropathogenic E. coli

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) are the major causative agents of urinary tract infection and engage in a coordinated genetic and molecular cascade to colonize the urinary tract. Disrupting the assembly and/or function of virulence factors and bacterial biofilms has emerged as an attractive target for the development of new therapeutic strategies to prevent and treat urinary tract infection, particularly in the era of increasing antibiotic resistance among human pathogens. UPEC vary widely in their genetic and molecular phenotypes and more data are needed to understand the features that distinguish isolates as more or less virulent and as more robust biofilm formers or poor biofilm formers. Curli are extracellular functional amyloid fibers produced by E. coli that contribute to pathogenesis and influence the host response during urinary tract infection (UTI). We have examined the production of curli and curli-associated phenotypes including biofilm formation among a specific panel of human clinical UPEC that has been studied extensively in the mouse model of UTI. Motility, curli production, and curli-associated biofilm formation attached to plastic were the most prevalent behaviors, shared by most clinical isolates. We discuss these results in the context on the previously reported behavior and phenotypes of these isolates in the murine cystitis model in vivo.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder and serotonin: Is there a connection?

Reports of the antiobsessional efficacy of clomipramine have led to a "serotonin hypothesis" of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). To test this hypothesis, 16 outpatients with DSM-III OCD were studied using several measures of serotonergic function. Platelet 3H-imipramine binding and serotonin uptake were not significantly different between the OCD patients and a normal, age-matched control group. The level of the metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was significantly higher in a small cohort of obsessionals compared with healthy volunteers, possibly reflecting increased brain serotonin turnover. In a direct test of the role of serotonin uptake in clomipramine's antiobsessional effects, the serotonin uptake inhibitor zimelidine was compared with the noradrenergic uptake inhibitor desipramine in a double-blind, controlled study. Zimelidine reduced CSF 5-HIAA, but was clinically ineffective in this group. Desipramine had weak but significant clinical effects. Nonresponders to zimelidine or desipramine improved significantly during a subsequent double blind trial of clomipramine. These findings demonstrate that pharmacological blockade of serotonin reuptake alone is not sufficient for an antiobsessional response.
Captive breeding of endangered Mohave tui chub.

Abstract The endangered Mohave tui chub Gila bicolor mohavensis, which occurs only in three populations in southern California, has not been previously spawned in captivity. Captive breeding of imperiled fishes can be important to conserve biodiversity and aid in native fish conservation efforts by reducing the collection of wild fish for translocations, providing individuals for experimental studies, and ensuring species survival. To spawn Mohave tui chub, we lowered water temperature to 10°C, held this temperature constant for 30 d, and then warmed the tank at a rate of 1°C per day to reach ambient air temperature (20–22°C). We used a photoperiod of 10 h light : 14 h dark and adjusted the photoperiod to 14 h light : 10 h dark when the tank reached 15°C. These photoperiod and water temperature regimes were designed to simulate Mojave Desert springtime conditions. Artificial plants were provided as spawning substrate. Three spawning events produced over 1,700 larval fish. Fish not subjected to this photop...
A 4-DAY OR A 3-DAY WORKWEEKS SCHEDULING PROBLEM WITH A GIVEN WORKFORCE SIZE

This paper presents an exact decomposition approach for an employee days-off scheduling problem of an homogeneous workforce under serval realistic days-off scheduling constraints. These constraints include the following: (1) each employee is assigned to three or four consecutive days-off per week, (2) each employee is assigned at least four consecutive days-off per month and (3) each employee is assigned at least a weekend off per month. A three-step decomposition method is used to obtain the work assignments while respecting the labor demands and the stated constraints.
Reframing Health Policy Debate: The Need for Public Interest Language

This article argues that health policy debate is dominated by the language of economics; that this approach makes it difficult to support equity concerns; and that recasting debate in public interest terms would balance equity and efficiency more effectively than "right to health care" claims. The public interest is presented as governmental-therefore binding-action that addresses the common good. Drawing on speech act theory, I suggest that policy language not only describes situations, it also shapes the way we identify and choose solutions to problems. Public interest language may therefore help us deal with tough issues like the growth of for-profit health care so that the pain inherent in societal choice does not fall on those members of society least able to bear it.
Developing a Lean Value Model for Product Development

This paper presents a value quantification model for multi-stage product development using lean principles. The proposed value model considers four main stages of product development (PD) including conceptual development, systems design, detailed design and prototyping. The model determines an optimal solution for each of the design variables to maximize the value at each of the PD stages. The value at each of the PD stages is formulated as a function of the six factors: (a) importance of customer requirements (b) cost of customer’s ownership, (c) parts/service availability, (d) weighted average cost of capital, (e) information evolution and (f) risk reduction. Factors (a)-(d) have been adequately addressed in the literature. This study focuses on information evolution and risk reduction. These two factors are defined by a set of value attributes including performance, risk, schedule, cost, form, fit, function and timeliness. An example of Detonator Disposal (DD) robot family is used to explain the working of the proposed model.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Synthesis, surface, and cell-adhesion properties of polyurethanes containing covalently grafted RGD-peptides.

In an attempt to improve endothelial cell adhesion and growth on a polyurethane copolymer, cell adhesive RGD-containing peptides were grafted to the polymer backbone. Two peptide grafting reaction schemes, including one-step and two-step approaches, were developed. Amino acid analysis confirmed that the two-step approach had a higher peptide coupling efficiency. The two-step reaction scheme was utilized to prepare GRGDSY, GRGDVY and GRGESY (inactive control) peptide grafted polyurethanes with two different peptide densities (100 and 250 μmol/g polymer). In-vitro endothelial cell adhesion experiments showed that, without the presence of serum in culture medium, the GRGDSY- and GRGDVY-grafted polyurethanes dramatically enhanced cell attachment and spreading. Increasing the peptide density from 100 to 250 jimol/g polymer for the GRGDSY-and GRGDVY-grafted polyurethanes resulted in an increase in cell attachment. Similar trends were observed in endothelial cell growth studies using culture medium containing serum and growth supplement.
Prevention of seizure-induced sudden death in a chronic SUDEP model by semichronic administration of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor

DBA/1 mice are a chronically susceptible model of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) that exhibit chronic audiogenic generalized convulsive seizures (GCSs), leading to death from respiratory arrest (RA) if not resuscitated. Serotonin (5-HT) normally enhances respiration in response to elevated CO(2) levels, which occur during GCSs in humans. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), such as fluoxetine, increase 5-HT availability. We examined whether fluoxetine can block GCS-induced sudden death in DBA/1 mice. Fluoxetine (15-70 mg/kg ip) was administered acutely with seizure induction at 30minutes or semichronically in five daily doses (20mg/kg/day) with induction after 5 days. Acute fluoxetine (45 or 70 mg/kg) significantly reduced the incidence of RA without blocking seizure susceptibility. Semichronic fluoxetine did not block seizures, but significantly reduced seizure-induced RA, which is consistent with effects of SSRIs on respiration in patients with epilepsy [Bateman LM, Li DS,LiN TC, Seyal M. Epilepsia 2010;51:2211-4]. These findings suggest that treatment with SSRIs should be evaluated for reducing the incidence of SUDEP in patients.
Highly effective and high throughput chipping monitor to prevent wafer cracking

During semiconductor manufacturing processes, wafer cracking inside a tool is a very serious problem in a fab. It results in costs from tool recovery, wafer and time loss, and potential contamination for other wafers. Most wafer cracking cases result from wafer edge chipping. A good chipping monitor solution will save more than 100 times the costs related to wafer cracking cases.
As Far as Republican Principles Will Admit: Presidential Prerogative and Constitutional Government

Scholars often try to define presidential prerogative in legal terms and thereby recognize its tech nical "illegality. " This article argues that prerogative cannot be seen in su? simple legal terms. The author situates prerogative more explicitly in the context of Madison's constitutional framework: acceptance (or rejection) of a particular use of prerogative will hinge on the judgment of the other branches of government and not simply on the letter of the law. Prerogative cannot be neatly defined beforehand. What is accepted as a measure of prerogative at one moment may well be rejected at another. Seeing presidential prerogative in this way gives voice to Madison's dynamic constitutionalism. In The Education (1918), Henry Adams, perhaps our most astute observer of American history, confessed that had his life hung in the balance regarding his first judgment of Presi dent Lincoln, he would have lost it. Happily for Adams, historical judgments are post hoc, giving him time to reflect, and correct, his initially misguided judgment. Maybe it was Adams's overwrought sense of irony that led him to believe that the new president was even more in need of an education than the young grandson and great-grandson to past presi dents. Adams can be forgiven, for few, if any, judged Lincoln correctly at that moment. In fact, it seems apt that Lincoln's presidency was judged great largely in retrospect. Lincoln seized extraordinary power, justified by the seriousness of events as well as on the outcome of its use. Lincoln's use of presidential prerogative, the greatest in our history, reveals that our judgments of such a use of power are, of necessity, after the fact. The very nature of prerogative suggests that judgment is not possible in the midst of action. Prerogative is, after all, exercised in extraordinary circumstances when the executive must act on his discretion to ensure the public good. The whole point is that we cannot stand idly by, waiting for public consensus or congressional action. So the president acts for the
Reconstruction from vertex-switching

Abstract Let X be a graph with vertices x1 ,…, xn. Let Xi be the graph obtained by removing all edges {xi, xj} of X and inserting all nonedges {xi, xk}. If n ≢ 0 (mod 4), then X can be uniquely reconstructed from the unlabeled graphs X1.…, Xn. If n = 4 the result is false, while for n = 4m≥8 the result remains open. The proof uses linear algebra and does not explicitly describe the reconstructed graph X.
Measurement of Manmade Electromagnetic Radiations from a 200-Mile Orbit

The study determined the feasibility of measuring electromagnetic radiations over the 0.1 to 15 GHz frequency range from a orbiting spacecraft. The primary objective was to define an experiment for an Apollo mission, although an unmanned space vehicle experiment is also considered. The study concludes that such an experiment is feasible and suggests an evolutionary series of experiments. Significant objectives of the first experiment are: (1) to measure RF as a function of earth location with -100 dbm receiver sensitivity, (2) enhance the over-all experiment with the astronaut by making decisions and performing real-time analysis of the experiment and of intentionally varied signals, (3) the experiment can be integrated into a mission depending on the spacecraft and other experiments, (4) extensive coverage of populated areas by orbit inclinations of 28 to 90 degrees, and (5) process and display of accumulated data by computers to the extent required by different users. The resulting data may find use in frequency allocation, equipment specifications, operational procedures, and interference maps that will be useful in site selection.
Nucleic Acid Structure Characterization by Small Angle X‐Ray Scattering (SAXS)

Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) is a powerful method for investigating macromolecular structure in solution. SAXS data provide information about the size and shape of a molecule with a resolution of ∼2 to 3 nm. SAXS is particularly useful for the investigation of nucleic acids, which scatter X-rays strongly due to the electron-rich phosphate backbone. Therefore, SAXS has become an increasingly popular method for modeling nucleic acid structures, an endeavor made tractable by the highly regular helical nature of nucleic acid secondary structures. Recently, SAXS was used in combination with NMR to filter and refine all-atom models of a U2/U6 small nuclear RNA complex. In this unit, general protocols for sample preparation, data acquisition, and data analysis and processing are given. Additionally, examples of correctly and incorrectly processed SAXS data and expected results are provided.
Corrected Laplacians: closer cuts and segmentation with shape priors

We optimize over the set of corrected Laplacians (CL) associated with a weighted graph to improve the average case normalized cut (NCut) of a graph. Unlike edge-relaxation SDPs, optimizing over the set CL naturally exploits the matrix sparsity by operating solely on the diagonal. This structure is critical to image segmentation applications because the number of vertices is generally proportional to the number of pixels in the image. CL optimization provides a guiding principle for improving the combinatorial solution over the spectral relaxation, which is important because small improvements in the cut cost often result in significant improvements in the perceptual relevance of the segmentation. We develop an optimization procedure to accommodate prior information in the form of statistical shape models, resulting in a segmentation method that produces foreground regions which are consistent with a parameterized family of shapes. We validate our technique with ground truth on MRI medical images, providing a quantitative comparison against results produced by current spectral relaxation approaches to graph partitioning.
A Novel Interpolation Method for Electric Potential Fields in the Heart during Excitation

In mapping the electrical activity of the heart, interpolation of electric potentials plays two important roles. First, it permits the estimation of potentials in regions that could not be sampled or where signal quality was poor, and second, it supports the construction of isopotential lines and surfaces for visualization. The difficulty in developing robust interpolation techniques for cardiac applications lies in the abrupt change in potential in the vicinity of the activation wave front. Despite the resulting nonlinearities in spatial potential distributions, simple linear interpolation methods are the current standard and the resulting errors due to aliasing can be large if electrode spacing does not lie on the order of 0.5-2 mm--the thickness of the activation wave front. We have developed a novel interpolation method that is based on two observations specific to the spread of excitation in the heart: (1) that propagation velocity changes smoothly within a region large enough to contain several measurement electrodes and (2) that electrogram morphology varies very little in the neighborhood of each sample point except for a time shift in the potential wave forms. The resulting interpolation scheme breaks the interpolation of one highly nonlinear variable--extracellular potential--into two separate interpolations of variables with much less drastic spatial variation--activation time and electrogram morphology. We have applied this method to potentials originally recorded at 1.5 mm spacing and then subsampled at a range of densities for testing of the interpolation. The results based both on reconstruction of isopotential contour maps and statistical comparison showed significant improvement of this novel approach over standard linear techniques. The applications of the new method include improved determination of electrophysiological parameters such as spatial gradients of potential and the path of cardiac activation and recovery, estimation of electrograms at desired locations, and visualization of electric potential distributions.
Angiotensin II and Serum Differentially Regulate Expression of Cyclins, Activity of Cyclin-Dependent Kinases, and Phosphorylation of Retinoblastoma Gene Product in Neonatal Cardiac Myocytes

The hypertrophic response in cardiac myocytes and the mitogenic response in other cell types share various early cellular responses. However, how the subsequent cell growth response, such as cell cycle machinery, is regulated in cardiac hypertrophy is not understood. Using cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes, we examined the effect of angiotensin II (Ang II), a hypertrophic stimulus, on mRNA and protein expression of cyclins and cyclin-dependent protein kinases (cdks), activity of cdks, and phosphorylation of retinoblastoma gene product (pRb). The effect of FCS, a stimulus that was previously reported to initiate both protein and DNA synthesis in cardiac myocytes, was also examined for comparison. Ang II activated cdk4 and caused phosphorylation of pRb, peaking at 12 hours, but subsequently downregulated cyclin D1, D3, and A expression and cdk2 activity. FCS increased the expression of G1-S cyclins, caused activation of cdk4, cdk2, and cdc2, and strongly phosphorylated pRb but failed to significantly stimulate DNA synthesis in neonatal cardiac myocytes. These results suggest that Ang II transiently activates but subsequently downregulates cell cycle regulators. Induction of G1 and G1-S cyclins and activation of cdks by FCS are not sufficient to drive cardiac myocytes into S phase. The functional role of pRb phosphorylation by Ang II and serum stimulation and, by inference, the subsequent liberation of E2F in terminally differentiated myocytes remain to be elucidated.
Comment on “The Dynamics of plant layout”

This note establishes a class of best possible upper bounds for the Dynamic Plant Layout Problem (DPLP) examined by Rosenblatt (Rosenblatt, M. J. 1986. The dynamics of plant layout. Management Sci. 32 76–86.) in this journal. We use the notation of that paper.
Structure and Reduction and Mixed Copper‐Aluminum Oxide

Mixed oxides of copper and aluminum were prepared in porous form by the citrate process under various calcination conditions. The oxide samples were characterized by several techniques to determine chemical structure and texture. Atomic absorption spectroscopy provided the fractions of copper soluble and insoluble in hot nitric acid, which closely corresponded to CuO and CuAl_2O_4, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD) provided complementary information about the content of the pure and compound oxides. X-ray line broadening, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were used to estimate the size of crystallites or phase domains. The reduction by hydrogen of samples containing different amounts of CuO and CuAl_2O_4 was studied by thermogravimetric analysis and XRD. The compound oxide CuAl_2O_4 and part of CuO closely associated with Al_2O_3 were reduced much more slowly than bulk CuO. Oxides of 1+ oxidation state, Cu_2O and CuAlO_2, were identified as reduction intermediates.
The meaning of the Bulgarian evidential and why it cannot express inferences about the future

The paper presents a uniform analysis of the Bulgarian evidential in reportative and inferential contexts. The Bulgarian evidential is analyzed as having both a temporal and an epistemic modal component. The analysis allows to explain why the evidential can be used to report false beliefs in reportative contexts but not in inferential ones, as well as why the Bulgarian evidential cannot express inferences about the future. Both cases are problematic for the previous analyses of evidentiality in Bulgarian (Izvorski 1997, Koev 2011).
Formation and growth of extensional fracture sets

Naturally occurring extension fractures, including some joints and veins, form sets consisting of numerous subparallel fractures, each with well-defined ends. In order to correctly interpret these fractures in the field, it is necessary to determine which factors control the geometries of fracture sets. This requires consideration of the conditions leading to both the initiation and the cessation of fracture propagation. A fracture begins to propagate when the crack extension force reaches a critical value, which is a property of the rock and of environmental conditions. After propagation initiates, the crack extension force varies owing to: (1) increase in crack length, (2) change in remote strain, (3) elastic interaction with nearby cracks, (4) change in internal fluid pressure, and (5) stress relaxation due to growth of cracks in the surrounding rock. Each fracture continues to propagate as long as its crack extension force exceeds the critical value and terminates when this condition is no longer met. Neglecting fluid effects, the final geometry of the fracture set is a function of the remote strain history and the initial crack geometry, which can be characterized by the initial crack density. For low initial densities, large increases in crack length occur with little or no increase in remote strain. However, for large initial densities, crack lengths increase only if the applied strain increases. This analysis is used to estimate the variation in remote strain during formation of a fracture set in granitic rock from observations of the final fracture geometry.
Obesity is associated with left atrial enlargement, E/A reversal and left ventricular hypertrophy

Obesity is a well-known risk factor for congestive heart failure (CHF) (1,2). Many studies in the literature have found body mass index (BMI) to be a risk factor for left ventricular (LV) remodelling, such as LV hypertrophy and dilation, potentially causing CHF (3–6). However, the majority of these studies are small in scale. In the present study, we used a very large database consisting of patients who had undergone echocardiograms for various clinical reasons. We investigated whether there was any association between BMI and parameters of LV diastolic dysfunction using univariate and multivariate analyses.
E- and F-region variations near periods of 27 and 15 days at Washington, D.C.

Abstract The E- and F-regions over Washington, D.C., were examined for periodic variations near the 27- and 15-day periods. A noontime centered seven-hour average of the minimum virtual height h′E and the ordinary wave critical frequencies ƒ 0 E and ƒ 0 F2 were examined over an eight-year period. These averages, h′, ƒ E and ƒ F respectively, were subjected to power- and cross-spectrum analysis. Nonseasonal variations in h′ are not correlated with ƒ E or ƒ F . ƒ E and ƒ F have a strong 27-day periodicity between the maximum and minimum Zurich sunspot number and are in phase at this period. ƒ E and ƒ F are related and in phase at the 14·7-day period but neither ƒ E nor ƒ F has a 14·7-day periodicity indicated in their power spectra. ƒ E and ƒ F are a maximum at the 14·7-day period just after lunar transit. The phase relations are compared with earlier results.
Envejecimiento y migración en una comunidad andina: Livitaca en 1689

Recientes estudios sobre la poblacion indigena en America han puesto de relieve la abrupta disminucion demografica ocurrida en los dos siglos que sucedieron a la conquista espanola. Una mayor mortalidad y una menor fecundidad alteraron tambien la estructura de la poblacion, aumentando en particular su envejecimiento. Por otra parte, las corrientes migratorias fueron cuantiosas y se han revelado de fundamental importancia para la comprension del desarrollo socioeconomico de la zona. Dentro de este conjunto de proposiciones, el presente estudio quiere examinar lo sucedido en una region tipica de campesinos quechuas en las tierras altas del sur peruano; region de comunidades tradicionales y de presencia espanola en las haciendas. Dos son los puntos en los que me detendre en particular: el avanzado envejecimiento del grupo, segun se desprende de su distribucion por edades, y la magnitud y direccion de las migraciones. Si los «historiadores y antropologos han solido concebir los pueblos de indios como asentamientos estables en zonas rurales», los nuevos analisis muestran, por el contrario, que la poblacion indigena del espacio peruano experimento fuertes migraciones intra e interregionales, empujadas en particular por la necesidad de evadir las imposiciones estatales coloniales.
Population-level responses to nutrient heterogeneity and density by Abutilon theophrasti (Malvaceae): an experimental neighborhood approach

An experimental approach was used to examine the effects of spatial nutrient heterogeneity and planting density on the sizes of plants within populations of Abutilon theophrasti. Planting locations were generated using random numbers and replicated among populations growing on two different scales of heterogeneity and homogeneous soils. The same quantity of nutrients (dehydrated cow manure) was added to each population, regardless of the spatial nutrient distribution. The higher density was achieved by adding additional planting locations to those present at the lower density. Plant biomass was compared among ten planting locations present in all populations. Plants in seven locations were smaller at the higher density, but the spatial distribution of nutrients affected plant size in only two locations. At the population level, the higher density reduced mean plant biomass and increased both total biomass and the coefficient of variation in biomass, a measure of size inequality. Only when populations on both scales of heterogeneity were together compared with those on homogeneous soils were population-level measurements found to be significantly affected by soil treatment; heterogeneity resulted in decreased total biomass and an increase in the coefficient of variation, apparently due to an increase in the number of small plants in the population. These results, together with the finding that fine root biomass increased in nutrient-enriched patches, suggest that on heterogeneous soils most plants were able to access nutrient patches.
Differential thermal sensitivity in the human skin

Thermal irradiation was applied to selected skin areas to determine whether particular areas demonstrate a greater thermal sensitivity than others in determination of a physiological thermoregulatory response. Modifications in thigh sweating rate were related to the change in temperature of the irradiated skin and the area of skin irradiated by computing a sensitivity coefficient for each skin area. Thermal sensitivity of the face, as measured by its effect on sweating rate change from the thigh, was found to be approximately three times that of the chest, abdomen men and thigh. Lower legs were found to have about one-half the thermal sensitivity of the thigh. A table of weighting factors for calculation of physiological mean skin temperature, based upon thermal sensitivity and area, is presented.
Manifest Diaspora: Black Transamerican Politics and Autoarchiving in Slavery in Cuba

On 13 December 1872, crowds of black USAmerican citizens and Cuban exiles stepped out of the cold New York night and filed into the bustling warmth of the Cooper Institute. Heeding the call from the meeting’s pre-circulated announcement, the assembled men and women filled the great hall to show their support for the Cuban Liberation Army currently waging an anti-colonial revolution against Spain—what became known as the Ten Years’ War (1868–78)—and to vociferously express their collective condemnation of slavery’s stubborn persistence on the island. The crowd listened eagerly to the rhetorical portraits of Cuba’s political atmosphere and the growing international debate over its decolonization efforts. Their enthusiasm grew over the course of the evening as they witnessed theatrical orators deliver heartfelt appeals and recite stirring poetry detailing the atrocities of Cuban slavery and the rebels’ noble cause. By the convention’s close, those gathered resolved to petition President Ulysses S. Grant to recognize the belligerent rights of the revolutionaries in an official capacity, a gesture widely regarded as essential to the success of the Cuban military and the abolition of slavery. After the New Year, the meeting’s organizers—the Cuban Anti-Slavery Committee (CASC)—compiled a thorough transcript of that night’s proceedings along with the advertisement for the convention, New York penny papers’ news coverage of the event, and even minutes from a spinoff meeting held in Boston some days later. The CASC supplied these collected materials to a small printing outfit, which in turn fashioned a forty-two-page pamphlet titled Slavery in Cuba (1873) in the publisher’s distinctive blue wrapping. It was one of the longest pamphlets that the upstart firm of Powers, MacGowan, and Slipper had published to that point since the associates largely specialized in printing short informational and political leaflets out of their office in the Sun Building in the early 1870s. To date, Slavery in Cuba has been regarded as little more than an occasional footnote in internationally scoped historiographies of the Ten Years’ War. Through a careful examination of this pamphlet’s literary dimensions and its context within