cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
2-Aminopurine as a Probe for Quadruplex Loop Structures

Summary Fluorescent reporter groups have served for many years as sensitive probes of macromolecular structure. Such probes can be especially useful in comparative studies such as detection of conformational changes and discrimination among structural models. Spectroscopic methods such as fluorescence are attractive because they are rapid, require small amounts of material, are nondestructive, can be carried out with commonly available equipment, and are relatively inexpensive. In addition, there is a rich library of theoretical and practical materials available to aid in data interpretation. The intrinsic fluorescence of most nucleic acids is too low to be useful in structural studies. Thus, it is necessary to incorporate a suitable reporter group to utilize fluorescence methods involving polynucleotide structure. A highly fluorescent adenine analog, 2aminopurine, has long served in this capacity. The present article describes our use of 2aminopurine as a probe of loop structures in quadruplex DNA. In particular, we show how knowledge of the relative intensity of 2-aminopurine emission as well as its sensitivity to exogenous quenching molecules such as acrylamide can aid in comparing crystal and solution structures of an oligonucleotide model of the human telomere and in discrimination among models containing tandem repeats of the telomeric quadruplex.
Immune-responsive gene 1 is a novel target of progesterone receptor and plays a critical role during implantation in the mouse

The steroid hormone progesterone (P) is a critical regulator of uterine receptivity during blastocyst implantation. The hormone acts through nuclear P receptors (PRs) to modulate the expression of specific gene networks in various uterine cell types. To identify the P-regulated pathways underlying uterine receptivity, we previously used oligonucleotide microarrays to analyze uterine mRNA profiles at the time of implantation in response to RU486, a PR antagonist. We reported that the mRNA corresponding to the immune-responsive gene 1 (Irg1), a previously described lipopolysaccharide-inducible gene, is one of the several mRNAs that are markedly down-regulated by RU486 in the preimplantation uterus. In the present study, we performed in situ hybridization to show that P stimulates Irg1 mRNA synthesis in the luminal epithelial cells of uteri of ovariectomized wild-type but not PR knockout mice. We also report that Irg1 mRNA was induced in the luminal epithelium of pregnant uterus between d 3 and 5, overlapping the window of implantation. To investigate the function of Irg1 during implantation, we administered sense or antisense oligodeoxynucleotides into preimplantation mouse uteri. Treatment with antisense oligodeoxynucleotides led to suppression in Irg1 mRNA expression without affecting unrelated mRNAs in the pregnant uterus. This intervention was also accompanied by impairment in embryo implantation, indicating that the phenotype is linked to the suppression of Irg1 mRNA. Collectively, our studies identified Irg1 as a novel target of PR in the pregnant uterus and also revealed that it is a critical regulator of the early events leading to implantation.
Comment on Jonathan Benjamin's ‘Submerged Prehistoric Landscapes and Underwater Site Discovery: Reevaluating the ‘Danish Model’ for International Practice’

Jonathan Benjamin (2010) offers a well-reasoned and tested procedure to maximize the discovery of prehistoric underwater sites, building on the work of Fischer along the coast of Denmark, and then ...
How plant functional-type, weather, seasonal drought, and soil physical properties alter water and energy fluxes of an oak-grass savanna and an annual grassland

Abstract Savannas and open grasslands often co-exist in semi-arid regions. Questions that remain unanswered and are of interest to biometeorologists include: how do these contrasting landscapes affect the exchanges of energy on seasonal and annual time scales; and, do biophysical constraints imposed by water supply and water demand affect whether the land is occupied by open grasslands or savanna? To address these questions, and others, we examine how a number of abiotic, biotic and edaphic factors modulate water and energy flux densities over an oak–grass savanna and an annual grassland that coexist in the same climate but on soils with different hydraulic properties. The net radiation balance was greater over the oak woodland than the grassland, despite the fact that both canopies received similar sums of incoming short and long wave radiation. The lower albedo and lower radiative surface temperature of the transpiring woodland caused it to intercept and retain more long and shortwave energy over the course of the year, and particularly during the summer dry period. The partitioning of available energy into sensible and latent heat exchanged over the two canopies differed markedly. The annual sum of sensible heat exchange over the woodland was 40% greater than that over the grassland (2.05 GJ m −2 per year versus 1.46 GJ m −2 per year). With regards to evaporation, the oak woodland evaporated about 380 mm of water per year and the grassland evaporated about 300 mm per year. Differences in available energy, canopy roughness, the timing of physiological functioning, water holding capacity of the soil and rooting depth of the vegetation explained the observed differences in sensible and latent heat exchange of the contrasting vegetation surfaces. The response of canopy evaporation to diminishing soil moisture was quantified by comparing normalized evaporation rates (in terms of equilibrium evaporation) with soil water potential and volumetric water content measurements. When soil moisture was ample normalized values of latent heat flux density were greater for the grassland (1.1–1.2) than for the oak savanna (0.7–0.8) and independent of moisture content. Normalized rates of evaporation over the grassland declined as volumetric water content dropped below 0.15 m 3 m −3 , which corresponded with a soil water potential of −1.5 MPa. The grassland senesced and quit transpiring when the volumetric water content of the soil dropped below −2.0 MPa. The oak trees, on the other hand, were able to transpire, albeit at low rates, under very dry soil conditions (soil water potentials below −4.0 MPa). The trees were able to endure such low water potentials and maintain basal levels of metabolism because ecological forcings kept the tree density and leaf area index of the woodland low, physiological factors forced the stomata to close progressively and the trees were able to tap deeper water sources (below 0.6 m) than the grasses.
Quenched, Spongy Hail

Abstract Spongy hailstones have been collected by the quenching method, and their structures examined. The most common type of spongy hail in Colorado is small hail that formed as loose rime (graupel) and became soaked with liquid water during fall. Hail that grew spongily has also been observed, and the structures are illustrated. The interpretations are confirmed by experiment.
Dyslipidaemia in 2015: Advances in treatment of dyslipidaemia.

Statins remain the first-line therapy for dyslipidaemia. In 2015, however, effectiveness in reducing serum cholesterol levels and decreasing rates of cardiovascular disease in combination with statins has been demonstrated for two new classes of drugs: cholesterol-absorption inhibitors and PCSK9 inhibitors. The latter rival statins in their capacity to lower cholesterol levels.
Hybrid Factory: The Japanese Production System in the United States

The article reviews the books, “Hybrid Factory: The Japanese Production System in the United States,” edited by Tetsuo Abo, “The Japanese Firm: Sources of Competitive Strength,” edited by Masahiko Aoki and Ronald Dore, and “Does Ownership Matter: Japanese Multinationals in Europe,” edited by Mark Mason and Dennis Encarnation.
Hexavalent chromium induces chromosome instability in human urothelial cells

Numerous metals are well-known human bladder carcinogens. Despite the significant occupational and public health concern of metals and bladder cancer, the carcinogenic mechanisms remain largely unknown. Chromium, in particular, is a metal of concern as incidences of bladder cancer have been found elevated in chromate workers, and there is an increasing concern for patients with metal hip implants. However, the impact of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) on bladder cells has not been studied. We compared chromate toxicity in two bladder cell lines; primary human urothelial cells and hTERT-immortalized human urothelial cells. Cr(VI) induced a concentration- and time-dependent increase in chromosome damage in both cell lines, with the hTERT-immortalized cells exhibiting more chromosome damage than the primary cells. Chronic exposure to Cr(VI) also induced a concentration-dependent increase in aneuploid metaphases in both cell lines which was not observed after a 24h exposure. Aneuploidy induction was higher in the hTERT-immortalized cells. When we correct for uptake, Cr(VI) induces a similar amount of chromosome damage and aneuploidy suggesting that the differences in Cr(VI) sensitivity between the two cells lines were due to differences in uptake. The increase in chromosome instability after chronic chromate treatment suggests this may be a mechanism for chromate-induced bladder cancer, specifically, and may be a mechanism for metal-induced bladder cancer, in general.
Metabolic Engineering and Modeling of Metabolic Pathways to Improve Hydrogen Production by Photosynthetic Bacteria

Rising energy demands and the imperative to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are driving research on biofuels development. Hydrogen gas (H2) is one of the most promising biofuels and is seen as a future energy carrier by virtue of the fact that 1) it is renewable, 2) does not evolve the “greenhouse gas” CO2 in combustion, 3) liberates large amounts of energy per unit weight in combustion (having about 3 times the energy content of gasoline), and 4) is easily converted to electricity by fuel cells. Among the various bioenergy strategies, environmental groups and others say that the concept of the direct manufacture of alternative fuels, such as H2, by photosynthetic organisms is the only biofuel alternative without significant negative criticism [1]. Biological H2 production by photosynthetic microorganisms requires the use of a simple solar reactor such as a transparent closed box, with low energy requirements, and is considered as an attractive system to develop as a biocatalyst for H2 production [2]. Various purple bacteria including Rhodopseudomonas palustris, can utilize organic substrates as electron donors to produce H2 at the expense of solar energy. Because of the elimination of energy cost used for H2O oxidation and the prevention of themore » production of O2 that inhibits the H2-producing enzymes, the efficiency of light energy conversion to H2 by anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria is in principle much higher than that by green algae or cyanobacteria, and is regarded as one of the most promising cultures for biological H2 production [3]. Here implemented a simple and relatively straightforward strategy for hydrogen production by photosynthetic microorganisms using sunlight, sulfur- or iron-based inorganic substrates, and CO2 as the feedstock. Carefully selected microorganisms with bioengineered beneficial traits act as the biocatalysts of the process designed to both enhance the system efficiency of CO2 fixation and the net hydrogen production rate. Additionally we applied metabolic engineering approaches guided by computational modeling for the chosen model microorganisms to enable efficient hydrogen production.« less
Packaging for a Sensor Platform Embedded in Concrete

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is developing packaging for a sensor platform to be embedded in the harsh environment of concrete structures. The sensors will monitor the corrosive environment of the structure over periods of several decades to aid in scheduling maintenance and repair. The United States has recognized the risks associated with its aging infrastructure and is actively replacing deteriorated/high risk structures as well as simultaneously developing the tools and techniques to monitor new infrastructure as it ages. JHU/APL has reviewed the sensing requirements for infrastructure monitoring, especially bridge decks, and developed a concept based on distributed, embedded sensors. The Wireless, Embedded Sensor Platform (WESP) will implement the concept of a low-cost, customizable sensor platform suitable for long-term field measurements. The WESP is designed to be powered and queried remotely as often as required and can be used to measure the evolution of the corrosive environment over time. The objective of this research and development is to design, implement, and demonstrate packaging techniques for embedded sensor suites commensurate with a 50-year lifetime when embedded in concrete having a pH greater than 13, and exposed to harsh environments of salt, and mechanical and thermal stress. To meet this objective, the WESP construction will use a commercial ceramic IC package and unique manufacturing and assembly techniques. The prototype is expected to provide sensor identification, temperature, pressure, and conductivity data within a package volume less than 2.5 cm 3 (0.15 in 3 ). Reliability test results will be reviewed and specialized tests will be performed to evaluate the performance of the packaging design. These include such tests as freeze/thaw cycling, thermal shock, thermal cycling, Highly Accelerated Stress Test (HAST), 85% relative humidity/85°C, and accelerated life testing. Future developments are expected to reduce size and implement additional sensor types to fully characterize the concrete environment.
Time-lapse seismic observations of regional gas blowdown at Teal South

Summary In the late 1990’s, a consortium studied ocean-bottom timelapse seismic data from an oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. One set of observations suggested that nearby reservoirs, not under production, were affected adversely by production from one reservoir, through the regional decline in pressure, which was communicated through the water sands connecting these reservoirs via circuitous routes. The present study uses time-slices through the individual timelapse volumes of instantaneous amplitude and their difference volume, providing a more-detailed spatial study than the initial study. We find direct evidence for the escape of hydrocarbons from one of the neighboring reservoirs and for the intrusion of water at the base of the producing reservoir. This supports many aspects of the original study, and suggests that monitoring for regional gas blow-down may be practical.
Study on the Internal Equilibrium of Population Urbanization in Shanxi Province

With the spread of the " people-oriented" concept and new urbanization development,population urbanization caused widespread concern in terms of evaluation of the urban population,people have proposed the equilibrium from inside and outside two aspects of evaluation equilibrium. Mainly from the population urbanization of internal equilibrium,This paper points out the development of urbanization in Shanxi Province chosen through 11 indicators,which have a grasp of the system of Shanxi Province population urbanization development level. It puts forward the corresponding proposals on the problems existing in the development.
Involvement of a Hydrophobic Site in the Inhibition of the Microsomal p-Hydroxylation of Aniline by Alcohols

Ethanol in millimolar concentrations inibited the p -hydroxylation of aniline, a type II compound, but had no effect on the N -demethylation of ethylmorphine, a type I compound. The inhibitory effect of the ethanol on aniline p -hydroxylation was shown to occur at some stage beyond the reduction of cytochrome P-450. Aniline p -hydroxylation was inhibited competitively by all the primary alcohols from ethanol through heptanol, and the inhibitory potency of the alcohols increased with increasing carbon chain length. The increment in the free energy of binding,-0.48 kcal/mole/CH 2 group, provided evidence for an alcohol hydrophobic binding site in either the microsomal membrane or the protein. Studies with the fluorescent probe 1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate suggested that the hydrophobic catalytic site resides in the protein. The first requirement for inhibition of aniline p -hydroxylation appeared to be hydrogen bond formation between the hydroxyl group of the alcohol and the enzyme. Steric requirements were also shown to be important. A good correlation between inhibitory potency and logarithm of the partition coefficient was observed for the straight-chain alcohols, but this no longer held for branched-chain compounds. An analysis of the inhibitory data by the method of Hansch showed this system to be one of the most sensitive ascribed to the effects of alcohols.
Guidelines for publishing mixed methods research studies in the Nordic Journal of Music Therapy

The Nordic Journal of Music Therapy (NJMT) accepts manuscripts of empirical research, literature-based research, as well as other genres such as essays, perspectives on practice, and dialogues and ...
Using deep belief networks for vector-based speaker recognition.

Deep belief networks (DBNs) have become a successful approach for acoustic modeling in speech recognition. DBNs exhibit strong approximation properties, improved performance, and are parameter efficient. In this work, we propose methods for applying DBNs to speaker recognition. In contrast to prior work, our approach to DBNs for speaker recognition starts at the acoustic modeling layer. We use sparse-output DBNs trained with both unsupervised and supervised methods to generate statistics for use in standard vector-based speaker recognition methods. We show that a DBN can replace a GMM UBM in this processing. Methods, qualitative analysis, and results are given on a NIST SRE 2012 task. Overall, our results show that DBNs show competitive performance to modern approaches in an initial implementation of our framework.
Science and the myth of information

In this article, we show the mythical relationship between science and information. Since every substance has a price-tag or price-tags of information which includes all the building blocks in our universe, one can not simply ignore information when dealing with science. We have shown that there is a profound connection between information and entropy, a quantity that has been well accepted in science. Without this connection, information would be more difficult to apply to science. Two of the most important pillars in modern physics must be the Einstein's relativity theory and the Schrodinger's quantum mechanics. We show that there exists a profound relationship between them, by means of the uncertainty principle. In due of the uncertainty relation, we show that every bit of information takes time and energy to transfer, to create and to observe. Since one cannot create something from nothing, we show that, anything to be created needs a huge amount of energy and requires a great deal of entropy to make it happen! My question is that, can we afford it?
Effects of photoperiod on population performance and sexually dimorphic responses in two major arbovirus mosquito vectors, Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

The Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus (Skuse) and the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus) are medically important species that vector several arboviruses. Globally, populations of both species experience (and are sensitive to) photoperiodic variations. The present study aims to test if photoperiod regimes affect the population performance of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti. Since mosquitoes have sex-specific strategies to maximize fitness, we also tested the hypothesis that Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti would exhibit differences in the male and female response (sexually dimorphic response) to various photoperiod treatments. We reared cohorts of first instar larvae to adulthood in three photoperiod treatments: short day (10 h light), control (12 h light) and long day (14 h light). We measured and compared survival to adulthood, population growth, development time of males and females, and wing length across treatments. Although we detected no effects of photoperiod on the population performance of both species, we found evidence of a sexual dimorphic response to photoperiod in Ae. albopictus, but not in Ae. aegypti, with Ae. albopictus females being more sensitive to variations in photoperiod. The observed differences between sexes of Ae. albopictus are consistent with sex-specific developmental constraints. The absence of a sexually dimorphic response to photoperiod in Ae. aegypti can be attributed to different strategies evolved in this species to prepare for unfavourable conditions associated with shorter day length. We discuss the ecological and medical implications of our findings.
Neurologic Presentation of Mitochondrial Disorders

Nervous system presentations in 42 children with mitochondrial disorders were analyzed by reviewing charts at the Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, and other centers in Israel.
Accelerated life testing of solid dielectric cables

The achievement of an accelerated laboratory test capable of predicting the useful service life of products has been an elusive goal for most manufactures. This state of affairs applies to solid dielectric cables functioning in complex environments. The community of interests concerned with electrical power transmission and distribution has long been aware of the lack of a suitable test. It has devised a wide assortment of procedures for evaluating the performance of cable designs and materials, but they do not provide accurate validatable estimates of service life under normal operating conditions. In common with most tests that are loosely labeled “accelerated” they are upon close examination useful mostly for quality control and comparative purposes.
Pricing Mechanism for Quality-Based Radio Mapping via Crowdsourcing

White Space (WS) Networking crucially relies on the active monitoring of spatio-temporal spectrum usage (to identify WS opportunities). To achieve this, one way is to gather spectrum data via wide-area sensor deployment and construct better Radio Environment Maps (REMs) with spatial models such as Kriging and Gaussian Process (GP). An economically viable alternative is via incentivized crowdsourcing, i.e., outsourcing sensing tasks to mobile users who have sensorized high-end client devices like tablets or smartphones, and providing proper incentives to compensate for users' sensing costs. In crowdsourced REM, features that impact REM performance and economic cost include user locations and the heterogeneity of user devices, which impact data quality and sensing costs. In this work, we emphasize the use of a hardware noise term in the GP model to account for data quality, and adopt mutual information to quantify sampling performance; we further design a pricing mechanism that allows the platform to maximize its expected utility at each stage and send optimal price offers to users sequentially, with joint consideration of sampling value, data quality and cost. We conduct simulations to evaluate the performance. Simulation results show that our mechanism outperforms two baseline mechanisms, and benefits from more users and less hardware noise (i.e., better data quality).
Peer Connectedness in the Middle School Band Program.

Previous research suggests that students participating in school-based musical ensembles are more engaged in school and more likely to connect to their peers in school; however, researchers have no...
Jane Addams as experimental philosopher

ABSTRACTThis paper argues that the activist, feminist and pragmatist Jane Addams (1860–1935) was an experimental philosopher. To defend this claim, I argue for capacious notions of both philosophical pragmatism and experimental philosophy. I begin in Section 2 with a new defence of Rose and Danks’ [‘In Defense of a Broad Conception of Experimental Philosophy’. Metaphilosophy 44, no. 4 (2013): 512–32] argument in favour of a broad conception of experimental philosophy. Koopman [‘Pragmatist Resources for Experimental Philosophy: Inquiry in Place of Intuition’. Journal of Speculative Philosophy 26, no. 1 (2012): 1–24] argues that many twentieth-century American pragmatists (e.g. Peirce, James, Dewey) can make important contributions to contemporary experimental philosophy. In Section 3, I argue that while this may be true, it is also true that under the broad conception, many of the pragmatists just were experimental philosophers. In Section 4, I argue that as a pragmatist philosopher in her own right, Jane ...
Joint tracking and power level estimation of multiple targets using a proximity sensor network

This work documents our investigation of multiple target tracking filters in proximity sensor networks when the target power levels are not known. The challenge is that when the targets are close, it is hard to determine if the sensor reports are the results of a loud target or multiple quiet targets. Given the binary measurements:1 for detection of targets and 0 for nondetection of targets, the works studies the feasibility of using the joint multitarget particle filter to estimate the number of targets, and at the same time estimate the 5D target states including the positions, velocities and power levels.
Building them up, breaking them down: Topology, vendor selection patterns, and a digital drug market’s robustness to disruption

Abstract Drug distributors are increasingly turning to online markets to deliver and procure illegal drugs. Online venues allow drug vendors to span broad audiences, reshape organizational structure, and remain relatively anonymous. Such trends raise fundamental questions regarding the structural robustness, topological characteristics, and tie formation patterns in online drug distribution networks. We examine one online illegal opioid transaction network. We characterize the network’s topology, evaluate selection dynamics that sustain and facilitate the growth of the drug market, and investigate network vulnerability. Results support the existence of trust-based preferential attachment and give insight to how the network reacts to disruption.
SHERPA Services and SHERPA/RoMEO

ABSTRACTEuropean-based SHERPA (Securing a Hybrid Environment for Research Preservation and Access) services are a suite of free scholarly communication resources aimed at proving authors information on publisher’s open access policies. SHERPA’s most notable service is RoMEO, is a database aggregating publisher archiving policies which allows researchers quick access to copyright and self-archiving policies of more than 23,000 global publishers.
Candidate for a live vaccine

Immune dysfunction is a well-known phenomenon in end-stage liver disease (ESLD). The pretransplant period offers a unique window for primary care physicians to optimize the transplant's vaccine protection before antirejection medications are initiated. Live vaccinations are selected cautiously but the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) vaccine, Zostavax, is recommended for pretransplant candidates. This case highlights an ESLD patient who developed disseminated cutaneous VZV within 30 days of vaccination.
The impact of load models in an algorithm for improving voltage stability via demand response

Increasing communication and control capabilities will allow future power system operators to exploit large quantities of responsive demand. This paper discusses ongoing work that employs demand response to improve voltage stability via virtual spatial shifting of loads (i.e., altering the locational distribution of power consumption in one time period with an energy payback in a following time period). In this paper, we study the impact of load models on a previously proposed iterative linearization algorithm to determine loading patterns that maximize a voltage stability margin, namely, the smallest singular value (SSV) of the power flow Jacobian matrix. Specifically, we extend the algorithm to enable inclusion of composite load models consisting of both “ZIP” components and a steady-state squirrel-cage induction machine (IM) model. We then investigate the impact of different load models on both the stability margin and the loading pattern. Using the IEEE 14-bus system as an illustrative example, the results show that the type of load model affects the nominal system's SSV, the optimal SSV, and the optimal loading pattern. The maximum-achievable percent change in SSV is larger using IM models than using ZIP models. We also discuss the difficulty in interpreting the stability margin when the system undergoes structural changes resulting from the use of different voltage-dependent load models.
Synthesis of program binaries into FPGA accelerators with runtime dependence validation

With the emergence of readily available FPGA cloud computing platforms, ease of use for application developers becomes increasingly crucial to widespread adoption. Synthesis directly from binaries has been proposed as an option to alleviate the design burden. However, in program binaries, loop bounds and loop invariants used for memory index calculation are often compiled into runtime data stored in registers or memories, making static loop dependence analysis infeasible. In this work, a two-phase approach is presented to address this issue with: 1) an offine phase to recover memory access patterns in the loop for data dependence analysis based on software profiling. and 2) an online phase to dynamically check for parallelization assertions. We use this method to discover and exploit coarse-grained parallelism for accelerating compute-intensive affine loops in binaries. With our target platform, the Zynq-7000 FPGA SoC, we ran and examined four benchmarks with our flow: GemsFDTD, Matrix Multiply, Sobel Edge Detection, and K-Nearest Neighbors. Results show up to 9.5x speedup with our flow compared to the pure software flow on the 667 MHz ARM Cortex A9 processor.
Proof Without Words: Decomposing the Combination ()

(1996). Proof Without Words: Decomposing the Combination () Mathematics Magazine: Vol. 69, No. 2, pp. 127-127.
Natural Gas Pipeline Regulation in the United States: Past, Present, and Future

This monograph provides a detailed overview of federallevel regulation of the U.S. interstate natural gas pipeline industry. To develop a more complete understanding of the current regulatory environment, we place contemporary rules and regulations into their proper historical context by first reviewing the evolution of gas pipeline regulation over the course of the 20th Century. We then discuss the market restructuring process that culminated in 1992 with FERC Order No. 636, review the economic and policy research that studied its effects on pipeline operations (and on the U.S. natural gas market writ large), and examine the current regulations and industry structure that have since emerged. Finally, we explore possibilities for the future of regulation in the gas pipeline industry, offering some predictions regarding the likely direction of regulatory changes, paying particular attention to the possibility of incentive-based regulation in natural gas transmission.
The Bacillus subtilis Multigene Sporulation Test for Detection of Environmental Mutagens

The value of short-term in vitro screening tests for environmental mutagens is well established. It is generally agreed that a small battery of tests using both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells should be used in preliminary screening to detect potential mutagens.(7) Bacterial tests are efficient and economical methods of detecting specific locus mutations. Moreover, well-developed methods of genetic manipulation make it easier to study mechanisms in bacteria. Tests for general genetic screening should be sensitive to a wide range of genetic damage and, if possible, representative of damage to the genome as a whole.
Synthesis by reverse transcriptase of DNA complementary to globin messenger RNA.

RNA tumor viruses contain a DNA polymerase that can synthesize a faithful DNA copy of viral RNA (1,5,23,25,26,31,32). This enzyme is easily released and purified from virions and can utilize a wide variety of polymers as templates (6,7,13,14,18,35,38). In order for a template to be copied, a primer or initiator that binds to the template by hydrogen bonds is required (3). The 3′-OH end of the primer is then covalently attached to the newly synthesized DNA (29). When the 60–70S tumor viral RNA is transcribed, the primer is apparently a short polyribonucleotide that is found attached to the DNA product (10,18,35,37).
In Vitro Models for Biomechanical Studies of Neural Tissues

In vitro models are invaluable tools for studying cell behavior in a highly controlled setting. Cell and tissue culture models of the nervous system can be utilized to elucidate neurobiological phenomena that are difficult to observe, manipulate, or measure in vivo. In the context of biomechanics, culture models that accurately mimic specific brain features can be used to determine tissue properties and tolerances to mechanical loading. There are several criteria that culture models must meet in order to complement in vivo and macroscopic biomechanical studies. In addition to providing an environment that is conducive to cell survival, cell type and source are critical to the interpretation of results. In this review, we present design criteria for ideal cultures, the current state of the art in neural cell and tissue culturing methods, and the advantages and limitations to using culture mimics. We will further present what insights in vitro models can provide to complement in vivo and macroscopic biomechanics in terms of meso- to microscale material properties and tissue-level tolerance criteria. The discussion will focus primarily on central nervous system (CNS) tissue, which is inherently complex in cytoarchitecture and organization. In addition, the CNS is not typically exposed to mechanical loading beyond physiological motion; therefore, it is expected that cell death and functional failure may be particularly prominent at large deformations and high loading rates. These and other factors must be considered when attempting to extract and culture CNS tissue or its components for studying neurobiological or neuromechanical phenomena.
Genetic and Evolutionary Relationships between Plastids and the Nuclear-Cytoplasmic System

Each green plant cell has at least three separate genetic systems. How these interact is a conspicuous genetic aspect of photosynthesis. Each of the genetic systems, is, furthermore, part of a potentially semi-independent metabolic system whose activity could affect the expression of genes in the other genomes. What are the potential mechanisms of integration among the chloroplasts, the mitochondria, and the nucleo-cytoplasm? Which of these mechanisms is used? We have been exploring some specific aspects of these general problems.
Learning bilingual lexicons using the visual similarity of labeled web images

Speakers of many different languages use the Internet. A common activity among these users is uploading images and associating these images with words (in their own language) as captions, filenames, or surrounding text. We use these explicit, monolingual, image-to-word connections to successfully learn implicit, bilingual, word-to-word translations. Bilingual pairs of words are proposed as translations if their corresponding images have similar visual features. We generate bilingual lexicons in 15 language pairs, focusing on words that have been automatically identified as physical objects. The use of visual similarity substantially improves performance over standard approaches based on string similarity: for generated lexicons with 1000 translations, including visual information leads to an absolute improvement in accuracy of 8-12% over string edit distance alone.
Effect of thrombolysis on acute mitral regurgitation during evolving myocardial infarction: Experience from the thrombolysis myocardial infarction (TIMI) trial☆

Abstract Objective. This study was undertaken to determine whether early successful thrombolysis can reverse infarct-associated mitral valve dysfunction. Background. Mitral regurgitation is a common complication of acute myocardial infarction and has been shown to adversely affect both short and long-term prognosis. Although anecdotal reports have suggested that reperfusion of the infarct-related artery may restore normal function to the mitral valve, this theory has not been subjected to formal investigation. Method. Patients with total or partial obstruction of the infarct-related artery received intravenous thrombolytic therapy with either streptokinase or recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator within 7 h of symptom onset (mean 4.8 h) as part of the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) Phase I trial. Repeat coronary angiography assessed arterial patency at 90 min and 10 days after attempted reperfusion. The presence and severity of mitral regurgitation were determined by contrast ventriculography both before thrombolysis and before hospital discharge. Result. Overall, 21 (16%) of the 132 study ptients exhibited mitral regurgitation on either their initial or their predischarge ventriculogram. The proportion of infarct-related arteries found to be patent (TIMI flow grade 2 or 3) was statistically similar in patients with and without mitral regurgitation during each angiographic evaluation period (initial, 90 min and 10 days). Although coronary artery perfusion increased overall during sequential measurement (mean TIMI grade was 0.4 ± 0.6 initially, 1.5 ± 1.3 at 90 min and 2.2 ± 1.0 at 10 days), the pattern of reperfusion observed could not predict an increase or decrease in regurgitant severity (p = NS). Early mitral regurgitation resolved in 57% of patients by 10 days, but this resolution appeared independent of the presence or absence of improved coronary perfusion (60% vs. 50%). The development of new regurgitation during the recovery period (6%) was also unrelated to improved perfusion (7% vs. 4%). Conclusions. Acute mitral regurgitation developing during myocardial infarction shows frequent changes in its presence or severity during the 1st 10 days, appears independent of coronary artery patency both early and late after thrombolysis and cannot be reliably treated by improving arterial perfusion with thrombolytic agents.
ON FUNDAMENTAL SOLUTIONS FOR MULTIVARIATE SINGULAR INTERPOLATION

The objective of this paper is to give a constructive approach to the solution of the fundamental functions for cardinal interpolation from a shift-invariant space generated by the (multi-)integer translates of some compactly supported function whose polynomial symbol has a non-empty zero set. This problem was first introduced by Chui, Diamond, and Raphael, where explicit solutions were given for various zero sets. Later, de Boor, Hollig, and Riemenschneider gave an existence proof for zero sets which are more general. In this paper, we give an integral representation of the fundamental solutions that can be made explicit in some cases and we will also give a growth condition of such fundamental solutions. The four-directional box splines will be used as an illustrative example.
The Acoustic Environments in Which Older Adults Wear Their Hearing Aids: Insights From Datalogging Sound Environment Classification.

Purpose This report presents data on the acoustic environments in which older adults with age-related hearing loss wear their hearing aids. Method This is an observational study providing descripti...
Data Collection on Sensitive Topics with Adolescents Using Interactive Voice Response Technology

We describe the development and implementation of a survey administered using interactivevoice response (IVR) technology to collect information on sensitive topics in a USnational sample of adolescents age 12-17. Respondents were participants in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics 2014 Child Development Supplement (N=1,098). We review questionnaire design, fieldwork protocols, data quality and completeness, and respondent burden. We find that in the context of research on sensitive topics with adolescents, IVR is a cost-efficient and flexible method of data collection that yields high survey response rates and low item nonresponse rates with distributions on key variables that are comparable to other national studies.
The Role of the Human Virome in Hematologic Malignancies

The focus of this Chapter will be on the viruses that can persistently infect humans becoming permanent members of the human virome. These viruses include Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Kaposi’s sarcoma herpes virus (KSHV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV)-1. EBV, KSHV and HTLV-1 establish latent infections in lymphocytes that cannot be eradicated while HCV leads to chronic infection that can be ultimately cured with anti-viral drugs. The hematologic malignancies associated with these viral infections include B, T and natural killer (NK) cell lymphomas and adult-T cell leukemia. A challenge in understanding the etiology of the viral-associated hematologic malignancies is the relative ubiquity of the viruses within the human population in contrast to the rarity of the associated malignancies. Nonetheless, it is clear that these members of our human virome contribute to a substantial burden of hematologic malignancy.
Influence of Inoculant Form and Applied Nitrogen on Growth and Root Nodulation of Maackia amurensis

Abstract We studied growth and nodulation of Maackia amurensis Rupr. & Maxim, treated with three forms of an inoculant of Bradyrhizobium (USDA 4349) and irrigated with solutions containing N at 1.8, 3.6, 7.2, or 14.3 mol·m−3(25, 50, 100, or 200 ppm). One inoculant (arabinose-gluconate liquid) was prepared in our laboratory, whereas the other two (Cell-Tech liquid and Cell-Tech peat powder) were obtained from a commercial source. Nodule dry mass of 10-week-old seedlings was similar regardless of inoculant form. Only plants supplied N at 1.8 and 3.6 mol·m−3 (25 and 50 ppm) nodulated consistently, and nodule dry mass of plants in these two treatments was not different. Laminar area and plant dry mass were highest among plants provided the two highest concentrations of N. Shoot N content was lowest and highest for plants provided N at 3.6 mol·m−3 (50 ppm) and 14.3 mol·m−3 (200 ppm), respectively, and it was not affected by form of inoculant. We conclude that liquid and peat-based inoculants cause a similar de...
The Effects of Oxide and Organic Films on Sliding Friction

In the past three years, an investigation has been made at Southwest Research Institute on the friction and wear behavior of ostensibly clean metals [1], of steel with lead films present [2], of copper with oxide films present [3], and of copper, iron, and gold with organic films present. The work was done with a bullet-on-sleeve or a bullet-on-disk apparatus of the same basic design. Low sliding speeds (0.10–0.25 mm/sec) were used to minimize interfacial heating and hydrodynamic effects. The temperature ranged from + 150 down to −250°C, with emphasis on low temperatures. The basic experiments were performed in a dry, pure helium atmosphere, in an effort to provide an environment nearly free of oxygen and organic contaminants. However, the effects of dry and wet air were also studied to generate comparative data in some key instances. This paper summarizes the salient aspects of the work on ostensibly clean metals, oxide films, and organic films.
Mid-Nineteenth Century Methods for the 1970s.

contemporary ones. This emphasis on what's new in the teaching of mathematics seems to obscure the main purpose of teaching mathematics. Old arithmetic is still being taught in the elementary school. It might also be wise to use some old strategies and effective methods from the past in the modern classroom to accomplish our goals in the 1970s. It seems to be the peculiar destiny of those who make education their life's work
Milton and Dryden

Tracing the evolution of charm, Beckman notes that the word remained pejorative until the seventeenth century when it took on an additional sense, that of “pleasing quality.” Until then charm carried the negative sense of spell-casting. Even Congreve’s well-known “Music has charms to soothe a savage breast” (1697) retains the sense of magic and spell-casting. Not so in Milton, who could take charm either way, and it is both malign and benign in Paradise Lost. But early in his career in Comus (1634), Milton used it approvingly: How charming is divine Philosophy! Not harsh, and crabbed as dull fools suppose, But musical as is Apollo’s lute, And a perpetual feast of nectar’d sweets, Where no crude surfet raigns.
The Dark Side of Construct Convergence: Navigating Consensus, Evolution, and Practical Relevance in Theory Building

As fields of study solidify, agreement forms among scholars on how to define and measure constructs that are foundational to theory building. We refer to this agreement process as “construct conver...
Changing prices in a changing climate: Electoral competitiveness and fossil fuel taxation

For over forty years, economists have advocated carbon taxes as the most efficient policy for addressing climate change. However, not all governments have increased the price of fossil fuels. When do politicians decide to increase consumer prices? This paper highlights the role of electoral competitiveness. I argue that carbon tax increases are most likely when competitiveness is low and politicians are insulated from voter punishment. Moreover, this effect depends on the personal costs of tax increases to voters. I test this explanation using an original dataset of gasoline taxes and new data on electoral competitiveness across high-income democracies between 1978 and 2013, as well as a case study of eco-tax reform in Germany. This analysis points to a crucial mechanism that plausibly accounts for the differential ability of governments to tackle a wider range of long-term policy challenges.
Running a Basic Science Lab

Surgeon-scientists who supervise basic science laboratories are an essential component of the field of academic surgery and contribute to the fundamental understanding and treatment of disease through discovery and application of innovative therapies. A surgeon-scientist is defined as a surgeon who is engaged in bench research, usually translational in nature, and across a variety of fields including genetics and genomics, cell and development molecular biology, proteomics, lipidomics, biomedical engineering, systems biology, and more recently, machine learning and computational-patient interfaces [1]. Due to the increasing complexity of the fields in which surgeon-scientists are engaged, there has been an evolution over the past three decades from being an isolated bench researcher to his/her incorporation into groups of investigators working together in multidisciplinary teams (e.g. ‘team science’). This change has been fostered by the unique attributes of surgeon-scientists who are positioned to be the key conduit for translational application of novel therapies into clinical practice.
A study of the symbolic clothing disposition behaviors of Generation Y

This qualitative study explored symbolic clothing behaviors of Generation Y women in relation to the disposition of their wedding gowns. The wedding gown is a symbolic garment that is steeped in tradition and is part of an important rite of passage ceremony (Geller, 2001) The wedding gown reflects the values and beliefs of the bride’s culture (Whelehan & Carter, 2007). Over the last sixty years the white wedding gown has become the standard costume of the American bride. A review of the current media reflects a change in the disposition behavior of Generation Y; websites encourage women to sell their gowns, donate them to charities, or destroy the gowns in photo shoots.