cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Eco-procurement strategies for environmentally conscious manufacturers

Eco-procurement is about integrating environmental considerations into purchasing decisions. The advantages of this practice include cost savings, conservation of natural resources and energy, and compliance with environmental laws and regulations. While eco-procurement traditionally refers to customers (including companies) buying products containing recycled content, production of those products requires involvement of environmentally conscious manufacturers that must procure and reprocess used products containing recyclable content. In other words, eco-procurement in a supply chain refers as much to manufacturers as it does to customers. To this end, this paper addresses the following two crucial issues, and proposes a quantitative decision-making strategy for each of them: (1) which products must be chosen from a set of candidate-used products containing recyclable content? and (2) which suppliers, viz. companies that collect and sell the chosen used products, must be selected for eco-procurement?
Venture Investing in India? Think Twice.

Of late, a number of major U.S. VC funds have shown active interest in investing in India. Based on primary research involving major U.S. funds, the authors believe this interest has “bubble”-like characteristics. This article presents evidence to suggest that: 1) new investors are likely to exacerbate the existing capital overhang; 2) the limited supply of deals poses challenges; and 3) returns expectations are out of step with historical performance. Based on their observations and experiences, the authors have also outlined possible operating and investing philosophies for India that are likely to improve the chances of a successful investing experience.
Daily Variation in the Body Temperatures of Free-Ranging Garter Snakes

This study describes how the body temperatures (Th) of individual garter snakes varied on a daily basis under field conditions. Temperature-sensitive radio trans- mitters were surgically implanted into 10 Thamnophis elegans vagrans in eastern Wash? ington. The snakes were released and monitored at 15-min intervals for periods of up to several days from June 1979 to May 1980. Operative environmental temperatures were estimated with painted metal models and were used to indicate possible rb's. The com? bination of telemetered body temperatures with operative temperature data permitted detailed description of Th variation and evaluation of the relative importance of the physical environment and behavior in determining that variation. The physical environment usually prevented the snakes from attaining preferred (selected) 7ys and thus limited when and where they could be active and potentially reduced their physiological performance. On cool days or at night, when operative temperatures (Te) were 30?), the snakes selected Tb's within their preferred temperature range, and variation in Tb was small (e.g., range = 28.0?-32.5?, X = 29.9?, sd = 1.32?). The snakes stayed within their preferred temperature range >90% of the time when Te > 30?. Their high thermoregulatory precision and thermal utilization presumably maintained high levels of physiological performance on warm days. Delays in emergence accounted for most instances in which the snakes did not utilize available thermal opportunities.
DFT Investigation of the Catalytic Hydromethylation of Olefins by Scandocenes. 2. Influence of the Ansa Ligand on Propene and Isobutene Hydromethylation

Density functional theory (B3PW91) calculations have been carried out for the hydromethylation of propene and isobutene catalyzed by ansa-Me2Si(C5Me4)2ScCH, as modeled by H2Si(C5H4)2ScCH3. The calc...
Update in Women's Health

This Update reviews the past year's publications in women's health that have the most relevance to the practice of internal medicine. The authors have included a summary of new guideline recommenda...
Flow and heat transfer control over an external surface using a porous block array arrangement

Abstract In this study, a composite system made of multiple porous block structure used for flow and heat transfer control will be analyzed. The primary objective of this study is to analyze the changes in the flow pattern and heat transfer characteristics due to the existence of the multiple porous block structure. A general flow model that accounts for the effects of the impermeable boundary and inertial effects is used to describe the flow inside the porous region. Solutions of the problem have been carried out using a finite-difference method through the use of a stream function-vorticity transformation. Various interesting characteristics of the flow and temperature fields in the composite layer are analyzed and discussed in detail. The effects of several governing dimensionless parameters, such as the Darcy number, Reynolds number, Prandtl number, the inertia parameter, as well as the effects of pertinent geometric parameters, are thoroughly explored.
Line formation in the solar chromosphere. II - An optically thick region of the chromosphere-corona transition region observed with OSO 8

The University of Colorado ultraviolet spectrometer aboard the Orbiting Solar Observatory 8(OSO 8) has measured self-reversed profiles of the resonance line of C IV lamda 1548.2 at the limb passage of an active region. The degree of the self-reversal together with the absolute intensity of the line profile determine the electron density in the active region at 10 to the 10th/cu cm at temperatures where the C IV line is formed. The nonthermal component of the broadening velocity is no more than 14km/s, and the physical thickness of an equivalent plane-parallel slab in hydrostatic equilibrium that would give rise to the observed line profiles is about 430 km.
An autoradiographic study of calcium transport in spicule formation in the gorgonian Leptogorgia virgulata (Lamarck) (Coelenterata: Gorgonacea)

The route of calcium transport to the sites of spicule formation in the gorgonian Leptogorgia virgulata has been examined by the use of 45Ca as a tracer in light- and electron-microscopic autoradiography. From 1 to 15 min after the 15-min incubation the tracer accumulates in the axis. After 15 min there is a movement of label out of the axis largely to the peripheral region of the axis, the axial epithelium, and the mesoglea. By 60 min much of the label is in the spicules reaching its maximum level at 120 min. When calcium enters the scleroblast from the mesoglea, it appears to be transported to the spicule by electron-dense bodies. There does not appear to be a simultaneous release of all ionic calcium from the axis, but rather a continuously increasing efflux which levels off at 60–120 min. Not all of the calcium reaching the axis will traverse it en route to spicules; instead, a portion of it apparently precipitates as an amorphous compound.
Variation in the faecal shedding of Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7 in lactating dairy cattle and examination of Salmonella genotypes using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

Aims: To examine the variability in faecal shedding of Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in healthy lactating dairy cattle and to evaluate the genetic relatedness of Salmonella isolates. Methods: Faecal samples were obtained from lactating Holstein dairy cattle on four commercial farms in the southwestern US. All farms were within an 8-km radius and were sampled in August 2001, January 2002 and August 2002 (60 cows per farm per sampling; n = 720 total samples). Samples were cultured for E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella and a portion of the recovered Salmonella isolates were examined for genetic relatedness using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Results: Faecal shedding of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella varied considerably between farms and at the different sampling times. Large fluctuations in the percentage of positive animals were observed from summer to summer for both of these pathogens. Similarly, Salmonella serotype and serotype prevalence varied from farm to farm and within farm from one sampling time to another. Multiple Salmonella genotypes were detected for a number of serotypes and identical genotypes were found on different farms with one genotype of Salmonella Senftenberg identified on three of the four farms. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study demonstrated the wide variability in pathogen shedding within and among dairy farms all located in a small geographical region and highlights the complexity of pathogen control at the farm level.
Aberrant growth of regenerating retinotectal axons subsequent to optic tract ablation in goldfish

Abstract This study examined the effect of optic tract ablation on retinotectal fiber regeneration in goldfish. Approximately two-thirds of the left optic tract was removed, and, at various times post lesion (10–75 days), the course of regenerating retinotectal fibers was traced using horseradish peroxidase. In all experimental animals, axons were observed regenerating through the visual pathway but at the brachia most of the fibers were channeled through the ventral brachium. We present evidence that fibers in the ventral brachium originated from ganglion cells in all regions of retina and that these fibers grew almost exclusively into ventral half tectum even though some of these fibers would normally synapse in dorsal half tectum. These observations suggest that optic tract ablation does not prevent retinal fiber regeneration but results in aberrant growth through the brachia and significant inhibition of exploratory fiber growth within the tectum.
Detection of multiple nanophases by DSC

Polymer molecules have contour lengths which may exceed the dimension of microphases. Especially in semicrystalline samples a single molecule may traverse several phase areas, giving rise to structures in the nanometer region. While microphases have properties that are dominated by surface effects, nanometer-size domains are dominated by interaction between opposing surfaces. Calorimetry can identify such size effects by shifts in the phase-transition temperatures and shapes, as well as changes in heat capacity. Specially restrictive phase structures exist in drawn fibers and in mesophase structures of polymers with alternating rigid and flexible segments. On several samples shifts in glass and melting temperatures will be documented. The proof of rigid amorphous sections at crystal interfaces will be given by comparison with structure analyses by X-ray diffraction and detection of motion by solid state NMR. Finally, it will be pointed out that nanophases need special attention if they are to be studied by thermal analysis since traditional ‘phase’ properties may not exist.
Interpolated spatially variant apodization in synthetic aperture radar imagery

The original formulation of spatially variant apodization for complex synthetic aperture radar imagery concentrated on integer-oversampled data. Noninteger-oversampled data presented previously [IEEE Trans. Aerosp. Electron. Syst.31, 267 (1995)] suggested use of different weightings in the algorithm. An alternative noninteger-oversampled approach that employs the same apodization concept but uses local spatial interpolation is presented. With this approach the combined image formation, apodization, and detection of 1.3×-versus-2.0× oversampled data can be performed in half the time without loss of image quality.
Laparoscopic management of colonic complications in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV

Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV, also known as the vascular type, is the most severe form of the disease. It may cause spontaneous bowel perforation and rupture of major arteries. The treatment of bowel perforation in this population remains controversial because they are at risk for major wound complications owing to poor healing. We report the first use of laparoscopy in children with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
NEURO-FUZZY APPROACHES FOR SANITARY SEWER PIPELINE CONDITION ASSESSMENT

Recent advances in optical sensors and computing technologies have led to the development of inspection systems for underground facilities such as water lines, sewer pipes, and telecommunication conduits. It is now possible for inspection technologies that require no human entry into underground structures to be fully automated, from data acquisition to data analysis, and eventually to condition assessment. This paper describes the development of an automated data interpretation system for sanitary sewer pipelines. The interpretation system obtains optical data from the Sewer Scanner and Evaluation Technology (SSET), which is known to be the current leading-edge technology in inspecting sanitary sewer pipelines. The proposed system utilizes artificial neural networks to recognize various types of defects in sanitary sewer pipelines. The framework of this system includes modification of digital images for preprocessing, image feature segmentation, utilization of multiple neural networks for feature pattern...
Labor Force Response to Insured Unemployment

Abstract This paper examines short and long term labor force responses to unemployment insurance. The findings conform to the conventional view that comparatively generous unemployment insurance programs encourage joblessness over the short term. Over the longer term, however, a distributive lag occurs wherein joblessness inversely relates to past durations of insured unemployment. Hence, unemployment benefits appear to reduce joblessness over the long term despite their tendency to stimulate short term increases in joblessness. Since most previous studies consider only short term relationships, future work should consider theoretical models sensitive to both short and long term relationships. Future studies also need to explicate how labor force responses to unemployment insurance interact with the business cycle.
Interstrain comparison of male-predominant antiaphrodisiacs in Drosophila melanogaster

Abstract In the Canton-S strain of Drosophila melanogaster , the predominant male hydrocarbon, 7-tricosene, is transferred to females during mating and functions as an antiaphrodisiac (courtship inhibiting pheromone). In the Tai-Y strain, 7-tricosene is almost absent and the male-predominant hydrocarbon is 7-pentacosene. We show that Tai-Y females acquire 7-pentacosene during mating, and that synthetic 7-pentacosene functions as an antiaphrodisiac for Tai-Y males. Behavioural tests indicated that the mated female antiaphrodisiac differs between these strains, because both Tai-Y and Canton-S courtship was more strongly inhibited by mated females of their own strain than by mated females of the other strain. This was particularly evident with Tai-Y males, which were not inhibited by the mated Canton-S female antiaphrodisiac. Courtship inhibition by synthetic male-predominant hydrocarbons topically applied to virgin females was similarly asymmetric: courtship was strongly inhibited by the male-predominant hydrocarbon of the same strain, but not as strongly by that of the other strain. The male reproductive tract lipid, cis -vaccenyl acetate (Z11-18:Ac) is transferred to females of each strain during mating, and synthetic Z11-18:Ac topically applied to virgin females inhibited the courtship of males from each strain. That Z11-18:Ac inhibited the courtship of males from both strains, whereas the female antiaphrodisiacs did not, indicates that this compound is not a necessary component of the antiaphrodisiac of either strain.
Knights of the Razor: Black Barbers in Slavery and Freedom

Knights of the Razor: Black Barbers in Slavery and Freedom DOUGLAS WALTER BRISTOL, JR. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009 Pp. 216, $50.00 (hbk), ISBN 978 0 8018 9283 7 Douglas Walter B...
The electrical, optical and structural properties of InxZn1−xOy (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) thin films by combinatorial techniques

Indium–zinc-oxide (IZO) compositional libraries were deposited with dc magnetron sputtering onto glass substrates at 100 °C and analysed with high throughput, combinatorial techniques. The composition range from 4 to 95 at% In for Zn was explored. A peak in conductivity with σ > 3000 (Ω cm)−1 was observed at an indium content of ~70%. The mobility exceeded 30 cm2 (V s)−1 and the carrier concentrations were greater than 8 × 1020 cm−3. Crystalline phases were observed for In concentrations less than 45% and greater than 80% with an intermediate amorphous region. The low indium content films have a zinc oxide type structure with a ZnO (002) spacing ranging from ~2.61 to 2.85 A for 4% In and 45% In, respectively. For indium contents between 82% and 95%, the In2O3 (222) spacing varied from 2.98 to 2.99 A. Regardless of the composition or the degree of crystallinity, all films showed high optical transparency with the transmission >80% across the visible spectrum.
Taking old ideas seriously: Evolution, development, and human behavior

Abstract I argue that the roots of an adequate integration of evolution into psychology are not to be found in evolutionary psychology, but rather in evolutionary developmental biology (evo–devo). To this end, I provide an overview of evo–devo and explore the limited role that behavioral sciences have played in its genesis. I then motivate an evo–devo approach to psychobiology, and sketch desiderata for the success of this enterprise. In particular, I elucidate what it means to take both development and evolution seriously, and argue for the primacy of developmental analysis in the exploration of (human) behavior and its evolution.
Diagnosis and triage by ems professionals.

(2003). D IAGNOSIS AND T RIAGE BY EMS P ROFESSIONALS. Prehospital Emergency Care: Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 295-297.
A high efficiency transformation system for the basidiomycete Ustilago violacea employing hygromycin resistance and lithium-acetate treatment

A basidiomycete phytopathogenic fungus, Ustilago violacea, was transformed with pUCH1, a bacterial plasmid containing the hygromycin (Hyg)-resistance hygB gene fused to a promoter from the ascomycete Cochliobolus heterostrophus. After lithium acetate/polyethylene glycol treatment of whole sporidial cells, U. violacea transformants appeared on Hyg-agar at a frequency of 60-80 per microgram pUCH1 DNA. The Hyg phenotype was 100% stable in these transformants for at least 30 generations of mitotic growth under non-selective conditions. Southern DNA-DNA hybridization revealed multiple integrations of the pUCH1 plasmid into the U. violacea nuclear DNA. In addition, Escherichia coli transformants appeared at a frequency of 12 per microgram nuclear fraction DNA from Hyg U. violacea transformants; these E. coli consistently contained a deleted pUCH1 plasmid. This latter result suggested the low-frequency production of circular molecules by recombination within the integrated sequences.
A randomized trial of a brief mental health intervention for primary care patients

This randomized trial is a first evaluation of a brief psychotherapeutic intervention for primary care patients. Sixty-two participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or to treatment as usual. As compared with treatment as usual, the intervention led to significant reductions in symptoms of anxiety and depression. The reduction was maintained for 3 months after the end of treatment, but some return of symptoms occurred by 6 months after treatment. The treatment was well accepted by patients. This study provides good preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of this intervention.
Scheduling real-time computations with extended deadlines

In many applications, a real-time job allows part of its computation to be finished after its primary deadline but before its extended deadline. The authors study the scheduling issues for real-time computations with extended deadlines. They call the part of a computation which must be completed before the primary deadline its hard part, and the rest its soft part. Two variations of this problem are studied. In the first model, the system receives a penalty for each late soft part. In the second model, there is an extra computation overhead for each late soft part. For each model, algorithms to produce a feasible schedule are presented. >
Complement factor H gene associations with end-stage kidney disease in African Americans

Background. Mutations in the complement factor H gene (CFH) region associate with renal-limited mesangial proliferative forms of glomerulonephritis including IgA nephropathy (IgAN), dense deposit disease (DDD) and C3 glomerulonephritis (C3GN). Lack of kidney biopsies could lead to under diagnosis of CFH-associated end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) in African Americans (AAs), with incorrect attribution to other causes. A prior genome-wide association study in AAs with non-diabetic ESKD implicated an intronic CFH single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). Methods. Thirteen CFH SNPs (8 exonic, 2 synonymous, 2 3 0 UTR, and the previously associated intronic variant rs379489) were tested for association with common forms of non-diabetic and type 2 diabetes-associated (T2D) ESKD in 3770 AAs (1705 with non-diabetic ESKD, 1305 with T2D-ESKD, 760 controls). Most cases lacked kidney biopsies; those with known IgAN, DDD or C3GN were excluded. Results. Adjusting for age, gender, ancestry and apolipoprotein L1 gene risk variants, single SNP analyses detected 6 CFH SNPs (5 exonic and the intronic variant) as significantly associated with non-diabetic ESKD (P = 0.002–0.01), three of these SNPs were also associated with T2D-ESKD. Weighted CFH locus-wide Sequence Kernel Association Testing (SKAT) in non-diabetic ESKD (P = 0.00053) and T2D-ESKD (P = 0.047) confirmed significant evidence of association. Conclusions. CFH was associated with commonly reported etiologies of ESKD in the AA population. These results suggest that a subset of cases with ESKD clinically ascribed to the effects of hypertension or glomerulosclerosis actually have CFH-related forms of mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis. Genetic testing may prove useful to identify the causes of renal-limited kidney disease in patients with ESKD who lack renal biopsies.
Generalization of the Foscolo—Gibilaro analysis of dynamic waves

Abstract A new expression for the particle phase pressure in a fluidized bed, generalizing the one used by Foscolo and Gibilaro, is derived. In the new theory uniform fluidization is always unstable.
Motor-Motor Adaptation to Speech: Further Investigations

The two experiments described in this paper were designed to investigate further the phenomenon called motor-motor adaptation. In the first investigation, subjects were adapted while noise was presented through headphones, which prevented them from hearing themselves. In the second experiment, subjects repeated an isolated vowel, as well as a consonant-vowel syllable which contained a stop consonant. The findings indicated that motor-motor adaptation is not a product of perceptual adaptation, and it is not a result of subjects producing longer voice onset times after adaptation to a voiced consonant rather than shorter voice onset times after adaptation to a voiceless consonant.
Design of Flat-Plate Dehumidifiers for Humidification–Dehumidification Desalination Systems

Flat-plate heat exchangers are examined for use as dehumidifiers in humidification–dehumidification (HDH) desalination systems. The temperature and humidity ratio differences that drive mass transfer are considerably higher than in air-conditioning systems, making current air-conditioning dehumidifier designs and design software ill-suited to HDH desalination applications. In this work a numerical dehumidifier model is developed and validated against experimental data. The model uses a logarithmic mass transfer driving force and an accurate Lewis number. The heat exchanger is subdivided into many cells for high accuracy. The Ackermann correction takes into account the effect of noncondensable gases on heat transfer during condensation. The influence of various heat exchanger design parameters is thoroughly investigated and suitable geometries are identified. Among others, the relationship between heat flow, pressure drop, and heat transfer area is shown. The thermal resistance of the condensate layer is n...
Holographic Display Of SAR Imagery

Operational interpretation of SAR imagery is degraded by display/processing limitations. For example, the inability to maintain optimum focus over an entire image often results in severe impulse response degradation. Conventional hardcopy film recording can handle only a portion of the available SAR dynamic range; the benefits of a wide dynamic range are lost. Holographic viewers offer a means of overcoming these problems as well as offering potential benefits in other areas, such as sidelobe weighting and artifact removal. Most important, these operations can be performed interactively by the interpreter according to his requirements. The benefits of holographic viewers are unique, not being shared by other display devices -- film and CRT displays. The capabilities of current holographic viewers are discussed. Comparisons in terms of cost and utility are made with other display media. Recommendations for further development are presented.© (1978) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Using an artificial brain to interpret Adriatic surface currents

[1] Lying between the Italian peninsula and the northwestern Balkan nations, and separated from the Mediterranean Sea by the Strait of Otranto, the Adriatic Sea is largely cut off from global-scale ocean circulation patterns. As a whole, the Adriatic has a permanent counterclockwise circulation, but in the shallow northern reaches, surface currents vary dramatically over short spans of time, with potentially dangerous consequences for maritime activity. To understand the primary drivers of the fluctuating surface currents, Mihanovic et al. perform self-organizing map (SOM) analysis—an emergent computational technique in oceanographic research—on data provided by three high-frequency radar stations operating in the region. As a neural network technique, SOM analysis uses complex mathematical algorithms to train computers to pull patterns from jumbles of data, reducing complex multidimensional observations into simple visual maps. The approach is meant to emulate the learning abilities of biological brains.
Visually guided self-motion does not impair multiple object-tracking

Farrell & Robertson. (1998). Mental rotation and the automatic updating of body-centered spatial relationships. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 24(1), 227-233. Farrell &Thomson. (1998). Automatic spatial updating during locomotion without vision. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Sect A-Human Experimental Psychology, 51(3), 637-654. Foo, Warren, Douchon & Tarr. (2005). Do humans integrate routes into a cognitive map? Mapversus landmark-based navigation of novel shortcuts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 31, 195–215 Pick, Heinrichs, Montello, Smith, Sullivan, & Thompson. (1995). Topographic map reading. In P. Hancock, J. Flach, J. Caird and K. Vicente (eds.), Local Applications of the Ecological Approach to Human-Machine Systems (pp. 255–284). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Riecke & Bulthoff. (2004). Spatial updating in real and virtual environments: contribution and interaction of visual and vestibular cues. Applied Perception in Graphics and Visualization, 73, 9-17. Riecke, von der Heyde, & Bulthoff. (2009). Visual cues can be sufficient for triggering automatic, reflexlike spatial updating. ACM Transactions on Applied Perception, 2(3), 183-215. Thorndyke & Hayes-Roth. (1982). Differences in spatial knowledge acquired from maps and navigation. Cognitive Psychology, 14(4), 560-589. Waller, Loomis, Golledge, & Beall. (2000). Place learning in humans: The role of distance and direction information. Spatial Cognition and Computation, 2, 333–354. People are impaired at tracking when they simultaneously move through the environment • Object tracking and spatial updating rely on the same spatial process
GUN4-Porphyrin Complexes Bind the ChlH/GUN5 Subunit of Mg-Chelatase and Promote Chlorophyll Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis

The GENOMES UNCOUPLED4 (GUN4) protein stimulates chlorophyll biosynthesis by activating Mg-chelatase, the enzyme that commits protoporphyrin IX to chlorophyll biosynthesis. This stimulation depends on GUN4 binding the ChlH subunit of Mg-chelatase and the porphyrin substrate and product of Mg-chelatase. After binding porphyrins, GUN4 associates more stably with chloroplast membranes and was proposed to promote interactions between ChlH and chloroplast membranes-the site of Mg-chelatase activity. GUN4 was also proposed to attenuate the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by binding and shielding light-exposed porphyrins from collisions with O₂. To test these proposals, we first engineered Arabidopsis thaliana plants that express only porphyrin binding-deficient forms of GUN4. Using these transgenic plants and particular mutants, we found that the porphyrin binding activity of GUN4 and Mg-chelatase contribute to the accumulation of chlorophyll, GUN4, and Mg-chelatase subunits. Also, we found that the porphyrin binding activity of GUN4 and Mg-chelatase affect the associations of GUN4 and ChlH with chloroplast membranes and have various effects on the expression of ROS-inducible genes. Based on our findings, we conclude that ChlH and GUN4 use distinct mechanisms to associate with chloroplast membranes and that mutant alleles of GUN4 and Mg-chelatase genes cause sensitivity to intense light by a mechanism that is potentially complex.
Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus PcrA Helicases Can Support DNA Unwinding and In Vitro Rolling-Circle Replication of Plasmid pT181 of Staphylococcus aureus

Replication of rolling-circle replicating (RCR) plasmids in gram-positive bacteria requires the unwinding of initiator protein-nicked plasmid DNA by the PcrA helicase. In this report, we demonstrate that heterologous PcrA helicases from Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus are capable of unwinding Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pT181 from the initiator-generated nick and promoting in vitro replication of the plasmid. These helicases also physically interact with the RepC initiator protein of pT181. The ability of PcrA helicases to unwind noncognate RCR plasmids may contribute to the broad-host-range replication and dissemination of RCR plasmids in gram-positive bacteria.
3D mobile augmented reality in urban scenes

In this paper, we present a large-scale mobile augmented reality system that recognizes the buildings in the mobile device's live video and registers this live view with the 3-dimensional models of the buildings. Having the camera pose estimated and tracked, the system adds relevant information about the buildings to the video in the correct perspective. We demonstrate the system on a large database of geo-tagged panoramic images of an urban environment with associated 3-dimensional planar models. The system uses the capabilities of emerging mobile platforms such as location and orientation sensors, and computational power to detect, track, and augment buildings in urban scenes.
Reconsidering Renormalization Stability and Change in 20th-Century Views on University Patents

Contemporary polemics and scholarship tend to portray post-1980 research universities as exotic, abnormal, or ‘new’ because they embrace private intellectual property. This paper examines this sense of ‘newness’ by comparing two discourses - the university patent policy debates of 1910-39 and the Bayh-Dole debates of 1976-80 - and focuses on the interpretive flexibility of four institutions or tropes: ‘intellectual property’, ‘the university’, ‘the university inventor’, and ‘the public interest’. I argue that ‘intellectual property’ meant roughly the same thing in 1940 and 1980. However, ‘the university’ and ‘the university inventor’ changed subtly to accommodate a dramatic shift in the meaning of ‘the public interest’, which (by 1980) reflected the notion of a nationalized economy and a concern with federal deregulation. This suggests that the ‘newness’ of the contemporary research university has little to do with Merton’s norm of communism.
Feasibility of computer-assisted education in patients with multiple sclerosis

This project is aimed to assess feasibility of a novel patient-centered education model combining behavioral theories and interactive computer media to promote patient-driven care. The following specific features of the proposed model has been implemented: I) the educational intervention targets specific constructs, shown to facilitate patient self-care, in a unique way which accounts for psycho-social profile, disease history and personal preferences; 2) the educational intervention is linked and coordinated with patient electronic medical record; 3) computer-assisted education is driven by theories of adult learning and could be adapted to different levels of education, cognition or individual disabilities; 4) specific components has been included to achieve sustainability of benefits attained by initial patient education. Feasibility of the model in patients with multiple sclerosis has been evaluated.
Peptide Bonds, Disulfide Bonds and Properties of Small Peptides

The peptide bond links amino acids into head-to-tail polymers in proteins as peptides. Chemically, the peptide bond is an amide with restricted rotation about the carbon–nitrogen bond. This restricted rotation combined with free rotation around the alpha carbon of the linked amino acids define the three-dimensional structure of all proteins. The structure of a peptide or protein can be further stabilised by introducing disulfide crosslinks, a chemical oxidation between two sulfhydryl groups of the amino acid cysteine stabilise specific conformations of peptides and proteins. Small peptides, which often function biologically as hormones or other signalling molecules can also be useful model systems for investigating protein structure and function. The introduction of disulfide bonds and a change in conformation between the cis and trans conformations of the proline peptide bond may be a barrier to the rapid formation of the proper protein structure. In the cell, enzymes are present to catalyse these processes. Key Concepts: The conformational flexibility around the alpha carbon of peptides connected by peptide bonds accommodates an enormous number of structures depending on the protein sequence. Disulfides are chemical crosslinks between or within polypeptides that adds stability to the overall structure. Conformational transitions involving proline residues in a protein can slow protein folding due to a slow conformational transition. The enzymes protein disulfide isomerase and peptidyl proline isomerase function in the cell to catalyse slow chemical and configuration changes that retard protein folding. Keywords: peptide structure and function; peptides; disulfides; proline isomerisation; protein disulfide isomerases
The Ultimate in Cancer Chemoprevention: Cancer Vaccines

This perspective on Beatty et al. (beginning on page 438 in this issue of the journal) discusses the role of the immune system as nature's ultimate chemoprevention agent. A successful immune response to vaccination results in immunologic memory. In the case of a successful cancer-related response, antigen-specific T cells will be poised to destroy an aberrantly expressed protein even if the host is not exposed until years after the end of immunizations. After the abnormal cell is eradicated, T cells will lie in wait for the next exposure. The ability to develop effective cancer vaccines for prevention is fast becoming a reality as immunogenic aberrant proteins that drive malignant transformation are identified.
Novel CAR-mediated Mechanism for Synergistic Activation of Two Distinct Elements within the Human Cytochrome P450 2B6 Gene in HepG2 Cells

The constitutive active receptor (CAR) regulates the induction of the cytochrome P450 2B6 (CYP2B6) gene by phenobarbital-type inducers, such as 1,4 bis[2-(3,5-dichloropyridyloxy)]benzene (TCPOBOP) via the distal phenobarbital-responsive enhancer module (PBREM, at –1732/–1685 bp). Activation of the PBREM by TCPOBOP generated a 10-fold induction of CYP2B6 mRNA in HepG2 cells stably expressing mouse CAR (Ym17). Co-treatment with the protein phosphatase inhibitor okadaic acid (OA) synergistically increased this induction over 100-fold without directly activating CAR or the PBREM. Although OA synergy required the presence of PBREM, deletion assays delineated the OA-responsive activity to a proximal 24-bp (–256/–233) sequence (OARE) in the CYP2B6 promoter. CAR did not directly bind to the OARE in electrophoretic mobility shift assays. However, both DNA affinity and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed a significant increase in CAR association with the OARE after co-treatment with TCPOBOP and OA, indicating the indirect binding of CAR to the OARE. The two cis-acting elements, the distal PBREM and the proximal OARE, within the chromatin structure are both regulated by CAR in response to TCPOBOP and OA, respectively, to maximally induce the CYP2B6 promoter. This functional interaction between the two sites expands the current understanding of the mechanism of CAR-mediated inducible transcription.
Efficient hybrid scheme for the analysis of counter-rotating propellers

An efficient solution procedure has been developed for analyzing inviscid unsteady flow past counter rotating propellers. This scheme is first order accurate in time and second order in space, and has been extended to fourth order accuracy in the axial direction. The solution procedure has been applied to a 2-bladed SR-7 single rotation propeller and to a GE F7/A7 counter rotation propeller. The pressure coefficients and the global quantities, power and thrust, show good comparison with experimental measurements.
Weighted Bloom filter

A Bloom filter is a simple randomized data structure that answers membership query with no false negative and a small false positive probability. It is an elegant data compression technique for membership information and has broad applications. In this paper, we generalize the traditional Bloom filter to Weighted Bloom Filter, which incorporates the information on the query frequencies and the membership likelihood of the elements into its optimal design. It has been widely observed that in many applications, some popular elements are queried much more often than the others. The traditional Bloom filter for data sets with irregular query patterns and non-uniform membership likelihood can be further optimized. We derive the optimal configuration of the Bloom filter with query-frequency and membership-likelihood information, and show that the adapted Bloom filter always outperforms the traditional Bloom filter. Under reasonable frequency models such as the step distribution or the Zipf's distribution, the improvement of the false positive probability of the weighted Bloom filter over that of the traditional Bloom filter has been evaluated by simulations.
The Be A Star community-based after-school program: Developing resiliency factors in high-risk preadolescent youth

A number of factors have been suggested as contributing to the resiliency of youth at risk for substance abuse. The Be A Star program builds on existing community-based after school programs, focusing on those domains that have shown promise in building resiliency to withstand pressure from peers and the community to abuse substances. Approximately 700 children from the city of St. Louis participated in an after-school group program that met once each week. Groups were assigned to either the Be A Star program or traditional after-school groups. The evaluation indicates that those children who participate in the Be A Star program score significantly higher than comparison youths on 12 of the 16 factors tested. Suggestions are made regarding evaluation of community-based projects and the use of weekly groups to build resiliency factors in preadolescent youths. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
High Precision Integer Multiplication with a GPU

We have improved our prior implementation of Strassen's algorithm for high performance multiplication of very large integers on a general purpose graphics processor (GPU). A combination of algorithmic and implementation optimizations result in a factor of 2.3 speed improvement over our previous work, running on an NVIDIA 295. We have also reoptimized the implementation for an NVIDIA 480, from which we obtain a factor of up to 10 speedup in comparison with a Core i7 processor of the same technology generation. This paper discusses how we adapted the algorithm to operate within the limitations of the GPU and how we dealt with other issues encountered in the implementation process, as well as reporting performance results for a multiplications ranging from 255K bits, to 24.512M bits in size.
Idiopathic Transverse Myelitis

R eports in the medical literature of “acute myelitis” date back to 1882 and are credited to H. C. Bastain, MD Lond, FRS, a consulting physician to what was then called University College Hospital and the National Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic (London, England). He described several cases of acute myelitis resulting in “softening of the spinal cord.” He presented the pathologic findings of several autopsies from patients who died of the myelitis and divided the cases into those that he thought were due to “blood changes and toxins, often associated with feeble cardiac action, which may well act as causes of thrombosis in vessels of the spinal cord” and those that were due to acute inflammation. The “inflammatory” cases were postulated to be due to an infectious or an allergic mechanism.
Assessing complications and cost-utilization in ventral hernia repair utilizing biologic mesh in a bridged underlay technique

Abstract Background The inability to reapproximate fascia in complex ventral hernia (CVH) repair remains challenging. Single-stage bridging reconstructions have been reported, however, with high rates of recurrence and wound complications. We describe a single-surgeon experience with bridging biologic CVH repair. Methods We reviewed 37 patients undergoing CVH repair with bridging biologic mesh by the senior author from January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2013. Surgical history and operative characteristics were analyzed for predictors of hernia recurrence and wound complications. Results Average age was 53 ± 15 years, body mass index was 31.1 ± 8.1 kg/m 2 , and history of prior repair in 18 patients. Common indications were trauma, intra-abdominal infection, and prior intra-abdominal surgery. Incidence of wound complications was 51.4%, most commonly wound breakdown and infection. With average follow-up of 13 months, recurrence rate was 18.9% at an average of 8.2 months postoperatively. Analysis demonstrated postoperative wound infection as the only predictor of recurrence (odds ratio = 22.1, P = .017). Conclusions Hernia recurrence rate was 18.9% with bridged biologic CVH repairs, strongly associated with postoperative wound infection. This suggests that patients with postoperative infections may benefit from closer surveillance and more aggressive wound management.
Cheat: Exporting Business Ethics to Theatre Arts

Within the Academy and, of course, within the principal business school accrediting body, there has been persistent debate around whether business ethics should be taught as a stand-alone course or rather integrated across the business curriculum. Rare, however, are conversations heading in the direction of integration of business ethics beyond the traditional bounds of the business curriculum and into, for example, theatre arts and vice versa. And yet just this type of collaboration was established when an inter-College alliance was formed to create the devised play Cheat, a main stage theatre production for Western Washington University (WWU), in which theatre became the ground and moral theory from business ethics became the figure. The following is a detailed deconstruction of the variety of ways in which business ethics concepts and models informed the creation of Cheat, an original play written, designed, produced and performed by undergraduate theatre arts students.
Pharmacological Approaches for Management of Child and Adolescent Obesity

Overweight and obesity among children and adolescents continue to be a global public health epidemic. Current national data on childhood and adolescent obesity show alarming statistics of overweight and obese children and adolescents. This epidemic runs across various continents and affects various ethnic populations. The current weight management practices involve dietary modification, behavioral change therapies involving exercise, pharmacological therapy and surgical intervention. The purpose of this current review is to focus on pharmacological therapy i.e. role of sibutramine and orlistat in childhood and adolescent weight management. An open search of PUBMED database was made with search ‘key words’ such as ‘orlistat’ or ‘sibutramine’ or “pharmacological approaches” and “child obesity” and “adolescent obesity”. This yielded a total of 20 articles. All of these articles have been summarized in the current review. Sibutramine functions by promoting satiety and increases energy expenditure by inhibiting reuptake of noradrenaline and serotonin. Most of the studies, reviews and trials conducted using sibutramine among adolescents and children show limited short-term efficacy. The long-term effects of sibutramine use are not yet studied due to the severity of its side-effects profile. Orlistat was approved by Food and Drug Administration for adolescent weight reduction. Despite its approval, it has a limited role in adolescent and pediatric obesity reduction due to the purported malabsorption of fat soluble vitamins and its side-effect profile. Obesity and adolescent weight management in present times mainly deals with dietary modification with superadded behavioral therapies promoting exercise. There is insufficient evidence as of now if these alone would cause adequate weight reduction and weight maintenance. Pharmacotherapy i.e use of drugs like sibutramine and orlistat has a limited role in the current fight against childhood and adolescent obesity. Extreme side-effects, close monitoring and lack of long-term studies involving these drugs, suggest questionable efficacy in current times. Future research studies involving pharmacological agents need to not only have immense scientific rigor during preliminary analyses but should also translate their efficacy in practical and clinical settings. doi:10.4021/jocmr2010.05.288w
Wisdom: A culturally inclusive developmental perspective

This study examines cross-cultural age-related patterns of two modes of wisdom: the analytical (i.e., Knowledge Database, Abstract Reasoning), and the synthetic (i.e., Reflective Understanding, Emotional Empathy, and Emotional Regulation). A total of 68 American and 68 Japanese community-dwelling adults with an equal number of middle-aged (mean age = 45.3 years) and older adults (mean age = 70.1 years) in each group participated in the study. The results demonstrate that across cultures older adults function at a higher level than their middle-aged counterparts on these modes. Specific effects of culture, within each dimension, were also found. The general findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to a culturally inclusive developmental perspective on wisdom.