cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pregabalin reduces muscle and cutaneous hyperalgesia in two models of chronic muscle pain in rats.

Abstract Pregabalin is used for treatment of neuropathic pain conditions. The present study evaluated effects of pregabalin in 2 rat models of muscle-induced hyperalgesia: Inflammatory and noninflammatory. Muscle hyperalgesia (withdrawal threshold to compression of the muscle) and cutaneous hyperalgesia of the paw (withdrawal threshold to von Frey filaments) were measured before and after induction of hyperalgesia and after treatment with pregabalin (saline, 10 to 100 mg/kg i.p.). In the inflammatory model, 3% carrageenan injected into 1 gastrocnemius muscle decreased the mechanical withdrawal threshold of the paw bilaterally and the compression withdrawal threshold of the muscle ipsilaterally 2 weeks later. Pregabalin (10 to 100 mg/kg) increased the compression withdrawal threshold of the inflamed muscle when compared with vehicle controls. Pregabalin also increased the mechanical withdrawal threshold of the paw bilaterally, but only with 100 mg/kg. In the noninflammatory model, 2 unilateral injections of acidic saline into the gastrocnemius muscle produced bilateral cutaneous and muscle hyperalgesia 24 hours after the second injection. Pregabalin (10 to 100 mg/kg i.p.) significantly increased the compression withdrawal thresholds of the muscle and the mechanical withdrawal threshold of the paw bilaterally when compared with vehicle. However, pregabalin also has significant motor effects at the higher doses (60 to 100 mg/kg). Therefore, pregabalin reduces both muscle and cutaneous hyperalgesia that occurs after muscle insult in 2 animal models of muscle pain at doses that do not produce ataxia. Perspective This study shows that pregabalin reduces both cutaneous and muscle hyperalgesia in inflammatory and noninflammatory models of muscle pain. Thus, pregabalin may be an effective treatment for people with chronic muscle pain.
Reversible transformations of short-range order in cobalt-base glasses

Abstract Co-Nb-B glasses show a reversible change in magnetic anisotropy (with no measurable change in saturation magnetization) upon thermal cycling about T0 = 108°C. The kinetics of the transformation distinguish it from relaxation phenomena. The transforming composition is free from microcrystallites down to the limit of resolution of scanning electron microscopy. A model is proposed for the transformation that considers the short-range order to have trigonal (T T0) components.
Green scheduling of control systems for peak demand reduction

Building systems such as heating, air quality control and refrigeration operate independently of each other and frequently result in temporally correlated energy demand surges. As peak power prices are 200–400 times that of the nominal rate, this uncoordinated activity is both expensive and operationally inefficient. We present an approach to fine-grained coordination of energy demand by scheduling the control systems within a constrained peak while ensuring custom climate environments are facilitated. The peak constraint is minimized for energy efficiency, while we provide feasibility conditions for the constraint to be realizable by a scheduling policy for the control systems. The physical systems are then coordinated by the scheduling controller so as both the peak constraint and the climate/safety constraint are satisfied. We also introduce a simple scheduling approach called lazy scheduling. The proposed control and scheduling strategy is implemented in simulation examples from small to large scales, which show that it can achieve significant peak demand reduction while being efficient and scalable.
ROC volumes--should they be used?

Invited comment on Alonzo, T.A. and Nakas, C.T. (2007). Comparison of ROC umbrella volumes with an application to the assessment of lung cancer diagnostic markers. Biometrical Journal49, 654–664. Issues remain as to the appropriateness of volumes as summary measures of accuracy when distinguishing between multiple disease classes and when comparing accuracy of tests. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
The effect of o-phenanthroline on the midpoint potential of the primary electron acceptor of photosystem II.

Abstract The primary electron acceptor of Photosystem II has a midpoint oxidation-reduction potential of +95 mV at pH 7.0 in Photosystem II chloroplast fragments prepared by digitonin treatment. The midpoint potential of the acceptor has a pH dependence of −60 mV/pH unit. At concentrations that inhibit oxygen evolution, o -phenanthroline shifts the midpoint potential of the primary acceptor by +70 mV. The shifted potential retains the same dependence on pH. The effect of o -phenanthroline suggests that it interacts directly with the primary electron acceptor of Photosystem II in a manner similar to that reported previously for the primary electron acceptor in purple photosynthetic bacteria.
ULTRA-DILUTE COMBUSTION OF PRIMARY REFERENCE FUELS

Abstract Using n-heptane and iso-octane as gasoline surrogate fuels, the laminar flame speeds, flame thicknesses, reaction zone thicknesses, and flammability limits of fuel/air/residual gas mixtures are computationally studied over ranges of pressures, temperatures, and dilution levels representative of unthrottled HCCI operation. These calculations are further used to characterize the combustion regime for spark-initiated HCCI combustion. In a turbulent premixed combustion regime diagram, the local flow conditions at the time of spark are estimated based on the in-cylinder turbulence levels reported in the engine combustion literature. Although the calculations show that these highly-diluted mixtures would be flammable, the flame speed may be so low and the flame so thick that the in-cylinder turbulence level may be sufficiently high to destroy the laminar flame structure. In order to increase the flame strength so that the local flame structure will not be affected much by the in-cylinder turbulence, sp...
Enzymatic requirement for cyanamide inactivation of rat liver aldehyde dehydrogenase

The in vitro inactivation of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) by cyanamide in rat liver slices, in intact mitochondria, and at various stages of purity was characterized. Low-Km ALDH was more susceptible to cyanamide inactivation than was the high-Km form. In addition, the presence of NAD or NADH was necessary for cyanamide inhibition of the ALDH activity. Cyanamide at low concentrations required enzymatic conversion to a reactive derivative that could inhibit ALDH. The data in this study are consistent with the suggestion of DeMaster et al. [Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun., 122, 358 (1984)] that catalase is the cyanamide-converting enzyme. An inhibitor of catalase activity, malonate, decreased the rate of cyanamide inactivation of ALDH in intact mitochondria. Furthermore, affinity chromatography-purified ALDH, free of catalase activity, was not susceptible to cyanamide inactivation. This affinity-purified ALDH was only inactivated by high concentrations of cyanamide. Thus, an alternative pathway for ALDH inactivation may exist in which enzymatic modification of cyanamide is not necessary. It is more likely, however, that a contaminating enzyme in the ALDH preparation is capable of activating cyanamide.
Correlating the initiation of virus replication with a specific pupal developmental phase of an ichneumonid parasitoid

The morphogenesis of virus particles associated with the calyx region of the lateral oviduct of the ichneumonid parasitoid Campoletis sonorensis is initiated during a specific phase of pupal development. The extent of body pigmentation proved to be the most reliable visual marker for correlation of induction of virus replication with particular phases of pupal development. Parasitoids removed from their pupal cases at 15 and 16 days after egg deposition were categorized into one of four developmental groups based on the degree of pigmentation. Viruses were not evident in the calyx cells of pupae representing the intial developmental stage, however, in all subsequent stages the concentration of particles gradually increased as development progressed. Observations of freeze-fractured tissue support previous suppositions that the viruses bud through the nuclear envelope following synthesis de novo within the nucleus.
Case Analyses of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients who Refused to Sign a Living Will

In a larger survey of fifty cancer patients offered living wills, six individuals declined to sign these advance directives. Theoretically, this failure to sign could either increase the chance for, or alternatively the patients' vulnerability to, resuscitation. A detailed evaluation of each of the six cases is contained herein. The potential value of living wills is discussed in the context of other, newer forms of advance directives, such as the durable power of attorney for health care, and a more detailed living will called the “Medical Directive.” It is concluded that the case for a living will in a cancer population still merits individual consideration, and in certain cases protects patients from unwarranted medical technology.
Chip Topography for Ductile-Regime Machining of Germanium

Ductile-regime response during the diamond turning of brittle germanium crystals is evident from the damage-free surfaces obtained. The nature of the ductile-regime processes cannot be determined by examination of the final machined surface itself. Machining chips were characterized using scanning electron microscopy. The chip topography provides insight into the ductile-to-brittle transition that occurs along the tool nose. A detailed examinaiton of the chips provides an independent estimate of the critical cutting depth for the transition.
Laser-array to single-mode-fiber coupling module with increased tolerance budget using polymer waveguide tapers

The coupling efficiency between laser diode arrays or OEIC components and single-mode fiber ribbons drops rapidly with increasing misalignment tolerance. There are trade-offs between the allowed minimum coupled power and the cost of establishing the required alignment. We demonstrate how tapered polymer waveguides may be used to match the laser mode to the fiber mode, resulting in a module with decreased alignment requirements for a given coupling efficiency. Waveguides with tapered mode profiles have been constructed using photobleaching of a guest/host dye/polymer system. Amoco 4212 polyimide doped with DCM dye was chosen as the waveguide material due to its good thermal stability, and its simple processing which allows multilayer waveguides to be readily fabricated. In particular, waveguides which simultaneously taper the mode both laterally and vertically have been designed. This waveguide system is compatible with assembly of the laser and waveguide components into a module by flip-chip soldering. Our solder self-alignment technique achieves accurate alignment of touching chips through an understanding of the dynamics during bonding.© (1996) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Isolation and Mobilization of Storage Proteins from Apple Shoot Bark

Separation of the bark storage protein into three groups was achieved with minimal contamination from interfering cbromophores, using diethylaminoethyl cellulose column chromatography. Two of these groups were shown 10 contain neutral sugars in close association with the proteins. All three groups disappeared rapidly after the onset of growth. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the storage proteins showed the presence of eight prominent proteins. Ammo acid analysis of hydrolyzates of the proteins indicated that a large percentage of the protein nitrogen was in the form of basic amino acids.
Hypoxia-induced pulmonary endothelin-1 expression is unaltered by nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide (NO) attenuates hypoxia-induced endothelin (ET)-1 expression in cultured umbilical vein endothelial cells. We hypothesized that NO similarly attenuates hypoxia-induced increases in ET-1 expression in the lungs of intact animals and reasoned that potentially reduced ET-1 levels may contribute to the protective effects of NO against the development of pulmonary hypertension during chronic hypoxia. As expected, hypoxic exposure (24 h, 10% O2) increased rat lung ET-1 peptide and prepro-ET-1 mRNA levels. Contrary to our hypothesis, inhaled NO (iNO) did not attenuate hypoxia-induced increases in pulmonary ET-1 peptide or prepro-ET-1 mRNA levels. Because of this surprising finding, we also examined the effects of NO on hypoxia-induced increases in ET peptide levels in cultured cell experiments. Consistent with the results of iNO experiments, administration of the NO donor S -nitroso- N -acetyl-penicillamine to cultured bovine pulmonary endothelial cells did not attenuate increases in ET peptide levels resulting from hypoxic (24 h, 3% O2) exposure. In additional experiments, we examined the effects of NO on the activity of a cloned ET-1 promoter fragment containing a functional hypoxia inducible factor-1 binding site in reporter gene experiments. Whereas moderate hypoxia (24 h, 3% O2) had no effect on ET-1 promoter activity, activity was increased by severe hypoxic (24 h, 0.5% O2) exposure. ET-1 promoter activity after S -nitroso- N -acetyl-penicillamine administration during severe hypoxia was greater than that in normoxic controls, although activity was reduced compared with that in hypoxic controls. These findings suggest that hypoxia-induced pulmonary ET-1 expression is unaffected by NO.
Analytical feature filter used in an analytically preprocessed picture image

We have developed a very efficient image preprocessing scheme that allows the main features (the boundary lines and the corner points) of some size-selected objects in a colored picture be singled out and be put in a much smaller bmp file. Then a recently corrected preprocessing program written in Visual Basic 6 can be applied directly to this file. We can then obtain a very compact analog data set to describe all the boundary lines contained in this file. This set of analog data can be used independently and efficiently to reconstruct all the main features of the selected objects. Before the reconstruction, we can also use an analytical filter to select some particular features according to, for example, the length of the boundary lines, the curvature of the boundary lines, the starting and ending points of the boundary lines, etc. These analytically filtered lines or curves can then be re-displayed in a different window and be used in some special-purpose object identification system that may accurately identify certain particular object from a very complex noisy background. Preliminary live experiments will be demonstrated.
DNA damage and p21(WAF1/CIP1/SDI1) in experimental injury of the rat adrenal cortex and trauma-associated damage of the human adrenal cortex.

In vivo models are needed to study the reactions of tissues to DNA damage, such as the induction of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21, indicating potential repair of the damage, versus apoptosis, indicating the elimination of the damaged cells. Damage to DNA occurs in tissues during shock, sepsis, and other critical medical conditions. Previous studies have found evidence of damage to the cortex of adrenal glands from organ donors who had undergone severe trauma prior to death. The present experiment studied rats under experimental interventions of clinical relevance to patients with conditions that put them at risk for damage to the adrenal glands. These interventions comprised ischaemia and reperfusion injury, sepsis following caecal ligation and puncture, acute pancreatitis, and administration of chemical agents (zymosan and acrylonitrile). All the interventions caused an increase in p21 mRNA as assessed by northern blotting and in situ hybridization. Increased nuclear p21 protein was shown by immunohistochemistry. All the interventions caused damage to DNA, as shown by labelling of available 3' termini of single-strand breaks with terminal transferase. The number of cells undergoing apoptosis, visualized by ligation of a hairpin oligonucleotide probe to double-strand breaks in DNA, was much lower. In rat adrenal glands, apoptotic cells were infrequent under all the conditions studied. They were more abundant in human organ donor adrenal glands that were previously shown to have extensive DNA damage accompanied by induction of p21. The similarity of the effects of a wide variety of surgical interventions and chemical agents suggest a common pathophysiological mechanism which is not specific to the initiating injury. Experimental injury of the rat adrenal cortex provides a model for investigating the role of organ DNA damage and of mediators of the response to DNA damage, such as p21.
Technical Comment: 'Genome order index' should not be used for defining compositional constraints in nucleotide sequences

A ''genome order index,'' defined as S=a^2+c^2+t^2+g^2, where a, c, t, and g are the nucleotide frequencies of A, C, T, and G, respectively, was used to suggest that there exist genome-specific constraints on nucleotide composition. We show that the ''evidence'' for constraint, S<1/3, is in fact a mathematical property that is always true regardless of data. Moreover, we show that S is strictly equivalent to and derivable from the Shannon H-function and has no advantage over it.
The basis for double contractions and slow relaxations of non-striated muscle in a pelecypod mantle

Abstract 1. 1. Electron micrographs of the mantle of Spisula solidissima reveal abundant muscle fibers (2–7 μ diameter) containing thick filaments ( 736±195 A ) and an occasional neuromuscular junction. 2. 2. Slow contractions have different contractile and pharmacological properties from fast responses but cannot be attributed to a catch mechanism. 3. 3. The first (phasic) component of a double contraction results from excitation of muscle fibers directly and motoneurons arriving from the pallial nerves. 4. 4. The second (tonic) component of the double contraction is a tetanic phenomenon: nervous elements discharge repetitively. 5. 5. An explanatory model suggests a dual innervation by both pallial motor axons and by local ganglion cells which fire repetitively.
Current account model with rational expectations and Bayesian learning

The article presents a long-term macro-model of the US trade balance that allows for agents with rational expectations to learn about the key parameters affecting the currency forecast. This allows for a dynamic that is a plausible middle-ground between the standard alternatives of either perfect information or investor myopia.
Brief paper: Application of nonlinear transformations to automatic flight control

This paper presents the results of an application of transformations (from nonlinear to linear systems) to the design of a helicopter autopilot. The topics covered are (1) a review of the transformation theory and its use in the design approach, (2) a description of the helicopter mathematical model, (3) the construction of the transformation from the nonlinear system to the linear system, and (4) a discussion of the system performance.
Subaltern Studies as a History of Social Movements in India

Subaltern Studies (hereafter SS, 1978–2008), a research collective and series of publications, is not typically associated with history writing on social movements in India. The stated aim of the group was to document the politics of the people during the era of British colonial rule in the subcontinent. Ranajit Guha, the founder of the collective underscored the importance of popular mobilizations to the project when he wrote ‘parallel to the domain of elite politics there existed throughout the colonial period another domain of Indian politics in which the principal actors were not the dominant groups of the indigenous society or the colonial authorities but the subaltern classes and groups constituting the mass of the labouring population and the intermediate strata in town and country—that is the people’.
The (in)effectiveness of torture for combating insurgency

It is commonly believed that torture is an effective tool for combating an insurgent threat. Yet while torture is practiced in nearly all counterinsurgency campaigns, the evidence documenting tortu...
Absorption and emission spectra of nitrosyl fluoride

Abstract The absorption spectrum of nitrosyl fluoride in the near ultraviolet has been studied, and 18 electronic-vibrational bands were found. Duplicate ν′ progressions were found and assigned to ν3′, numerous values of ν2′ and 2ν2′ appeared, and two weak bands were assigned to ν1′. These fundamentals ν1′, ν2′, ν3′ are 1450 cm−1, 343 cm−1, and 1086 cm−1. By comparison with ground-state vibration frequencies and from a study of relative intensities, it is proposed that the electronic transition changes the ONF bond orders as (1.5, 1.5) ← (2, 1). The reaction of nitric oxide and fluorine is chemiluminescent, even with low-temperature reaction conditions. The flame spectrum was found to be continuous and is assigned to a radiative two-body combination of NO and F.
The effect of temperature on photosynthetic and respiratory electron transport system activity in the shallow and deep‐living phytoplankton of a subalpine lake

SUMMARY. 1. The influence of temperature on in vivo photosynthetic and in vitro respiratory electron transport system (ETS) activity was determined over the season for the 3 m (warm-water) and a 20m (cold-water) phytoplankton communities in Castle Lake. The optimum temperature of photosynthesis at 3 m (X=20.8°C) was significantly higher than the average optimum at 20 m (X=14.8°C). 2. Seasonally, the photosynthetic temperature optimum increased when the blue-green alga Chroococcus limneticus Lemm. was present. The temperature characteristics of this organism were maintained even after it had settled into the cold water of the hypolimnion. 3. Temperature optima were not significantly different in experiments conducted under limiting or saturating photosynthetic photon flux densities (PPFD). 4. Short-term (1 h) preincubations with dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) (≃80 μg NH4NO3-N l−1) had little effect on the temperature characteristics of photosynthesis while the longer (>24 h) incubations provided by a whole-lake epilimnetic DIN addition (≃75 μg NH4NO3- N l−1) significantly lowered the photosynthetic temperature optimum to 12.5°C. Once this epilimnetic DIN was depleted the optimum roseto25°C, a value higher than that present before the enrichment, which coincided with the growth of C limneticus. 5. Respiratory ETS activity usually began to inactivate between 19 and 20°C. However, when C. limneticus was abundant the inactivation temperature was often greater ihan 25°C. 6. The average energy of activation (E) and Q10 value for the 3 m community (15.9 kcal mol−1 and 2.6 respectively) were significantly higher than those at 20 m (14.2 kcal mol−1 and 2.4 respectively). Seasonally, the highest E and Q10 values of ETS activity occurred during the late-summer bloom of C. limneticus. 7. These results demonstrate that the epilimnetic and hypolimnetic phytoplankton communities in Castle Lake are physiologically distinct with regards to their temperature characteristics.
RIGHT VENTRICULAR CARDIAC POWER OUTPUT IS INVERSELY RELATED TO PULMONARY VASCULAR RESISTANCE IN CHRONIC THROMBOEMBOLIC PULMONARY HYPERTENSION

Studies have shown that left ventricular cardiac power output (CPO) is a measure of global cardiac function and a predictor of cardiogenic shock mortality. The utility of right ventricular (RV) CPO, however, is unclear. Our aim was to investigate RV CPO in patients with chronic thromboembolic
Faraday rotation in femtosecond laser micromachined waveguides

We demonstrate magneto-optic switching in femtosecond-laser micromachined waveguides written inside bulk terbium-doped Faraday glass. By measuring the polarization phase shift of the light as a function of the applied magnetic field, we find that there is a slight reduction in the effective Verdet constant of the waveguide compared to that of bulk Faraday glass. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) measurements confirm that the micromachining leaves the concentration of the terbium ions that are responsible for the Faraday effect virtually unchanged.
Effects of Microstructure on Fracture Behavior of Hardened Cement Paste

Mechanical properties of any material, including hardened cement paste, are assumed to be controlled by its microstructure. An attempt has been made here to establish a link between bulk fracture parameters of hardened cement paste and its microstructure. Paste microstructure has been varied by changing the initial w/c ratio, curing time and curing temperature, and by addition of chemicals to change the calcium hydroxide morphology. It has been found that, like compressive strength, fracture parameters depend directly on porosity. Contrary to our initial hypothesis, CH morphology was found to have no effect on the fracture parameters.
Securities market weightings of complementary earnings predictors: Biased expectations or omitted risk measures?

Previous studies report delayed securities returns associated with analysts' earnings forecasts, prior earnings, and prior securities returns. Although this evidence typically has been attributed t...
DNA-induced conformational changes in cyclic AMP receptor protein: detection and mapping by a protein footprinting technique using multiple chemical proteases.

Cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP) is a regulator of transcription in Escherichia coli which mediates its activity by binding specific DNA sequences in a cyclic AMP-dependent manner. The interaction of CRP with specific DNA was probed by a protein footprinting technique using chemical proteases of different charge, size, and hydrophobicity. The experimental data were compared with known crystal structures of cAMP-CRP and cAMP-CRP-DNA complexes to determine a correlation between the structure of the complexes, the nature of the chemical protease and protein cleavage patterns. In addition, such comparison allowed us to determine if DNA binding in solution induced conformational changes in the protein not apparent in the crystal structure. In the cAMP-CRP-DNA complex, both the protections and the enhancements of proteolytic cleavage were observed outside of the known CRP-DNA interface, suggesting that CRP undergoes a conformational change upon binding DNA. Among the observed changes, the most interesting were those around the B alpha-helix and beta-strand 8, since this region overlaps with the activation region 2 which CRP uses for protein-protein interactions with RNA polymerase. DNA-induced changes were observed also in the region involved in CRP-CytR interaction and in CRP intersubunit contact regions. These data suggest that binding of DNA in solution induces conformational changes in CRP which can be transmitted via intersubunit contacts to regions of the protein involved in interactions with other members of transcriptional machinery.
Observation of tunneling and magneto-tunneling out of a 2D Wigner crystal

The authors measured the escape rate of surface state electrons from an electron layer confined at the liquid helium/vacuum interface in the temperature range of 30-450mK, and for densities 0.02 [minus] 2.2 [times] 10[sup 8]cm[sup [minus]2]. Below 200mK the escape rates were temperature independent and converged to the expected single particle tunneling rates in the zero density limit, where correlations are negligible. The single particle rates were enhanced exponentially as the density was increased up to a critical density n[sub c]. At n[sub c] the escape process becomes extremely nonlinear. As the barrier is raised so that the escape rates decrease below 5.0 [times] 10[sup [minus]4]sec[sup [minus]1], a new very weakly density and external field dependent mechanism seems to dominate the escape. Thermally activated escape was observed above 250mK and the activation energies were in good agreement with the expected values. Upon application of a magnetic field in the plane of the electron layer, the rates become strongly temperature and field dependent even at the lowest temperatures T [le] 40mK. At these temperatures and low densities rates are suppressed four orders of magnitude in a few kG magnetic fields.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF EDUCATION ON FAMILY SIZE

The impact of education on family size is divided into a direct effect (holding labor force participation and age at marriage constant) and an indirect effect (varying labor force participation and age at marriage). The results suggest that (I) the indirect effect of education is greater at higher levels of the wife’s education, (2) the direct effect is greater at lower levels of education in most cases, (3) the indirect effects do not vary systematically with husband’s education, (4) but the direct effect does vary systematically with husband’s education if the education of the wife is low but not if wife’s education is high.
Prosopagnosia and visual object agnosia: A behavioral study

Abstract A left-handed woman developed visual object agnosia, prosopagnosia, and visual disorientation after resection of the right occipital lobe. Color agnosia and alexia were absent. When asked to identify objects presented visually, the patient's errors represented visually related objects (underspecifications) or perseverations. Identification was facilitated when she observed the object being used in a natural way. Identification was impaired by surrounding the object with unrelated objects, decreasing the background illumination, decreasing the duration of exposure of the object to the patient, and probably also by decreasing the visual angle subtended by the object. In addition, there were disturbances of visualization (i.e., imaging in the absence of a visual stimulus) that paralleled the perceptual difficulties. We conclude that: (1) A deficit in visual perception, characterized by insufficient feature analysis of visual stimuli, was the basis of the visual agnosia in this case. (2) The visual agnosia could not be explained by (a) a vision-language disconnection syndrome, (b) decay of visual memory traces, or (c) deficiencies in the visual fields (pathologic Funktionswandel). (3) The ability to visualize (visual imagery) probably utilizes some of the same neural pathways used in perception. (4) The results in this case probably can be generalized to some but not all cases of visual agnosia; in particular, the deficit in most previously reported patients with prosopagnosia is similar to that of our case. However, agnosic alexia and color agnosia usually have a different neuropsychological basis.
MP3s Are Killing Home Taping: The Rise of Internet Distribution and Its Challenge to the Major Label Music Monopoly

The phrase “home taping is killing music”—a slogan invented and heavily promoted by major labels to combat the unauthorized duplication of music in the early-1980s—now sounds quaint after the rise of digital distribution. Because the legal arguments surrounding the trading of copyrighted music on file-sharing networks have been extensively debated elsewhere, this article primarily focuses on the way this alternative distribution system poses a very real challenge to major labels. That music monopoly, which has been in place for a century, was able to secure its dominance because it controlled the means of production—something that is no longer the case, because recording, production and distribution costs have radically dropped in price since the 1990s. This article, which operates in a journalistic mode, places into historical context the 1990s compact disc boom and the subsequent rise of digital distribution. The consumer-led file-sharing explosion forced an unwilling music industry into the online mark...
Internal residual stresses in elastically homogeneous solids: II. Stress fluctuations near a crack tip and effective energy release rate

We consider a linearly elastic composite medium which consists of an homogeneous matrix containing a crack and a homogeneous and statistically uniform random set of ellipsoidal inclusions; the elastic properties of the matrix and the inclusions are the same, but the stress-free strains fluctuate. We obtain the estimation of both the statistical average and the conditional average of stress intensity factors. The relations for the second statistical moments of stresses in the vicinity of the crack tip, averaged over the ensemble realization, are proposed as well. A method for construction of the effective strength surface of matrix composites, according to the properties of their components is developed. The expression for effective energy release rate is also derived. The fracture probabilities of separate components are calculated.
A Testable PLA Design with Low Overhead and High Fault Coverage

A new design of testable PLA's is presented. This design has the following characteristics: it requires little extra hardware; it has very little, if any, impact on the speed of the PLA in normal operation; it has very high fault coverage (all single and multiple stuck-at faults, crosspoint faults, and all combinations thereof are detected); and it can be used for designing testable folded PLA's. This design, however, is not appropriate for built-in test.
Effects of Adenine Nucleotides on the Contractility and Membrane Potentials of Rat Atrium

Adenine nucleotides and nucleosides depress the contractility of the rat atrium as has been shown previously for cardiac tissue of other species. It was found that this depression was accompanied by a marked shortening of the action potential, clue to a more rapid rate of repolarization, without marked effects on other atrial characteristics. The evidence points to the site of action as the cell membrane rather than the intracellular contractile systems. The purine-riboside moiety is the basic unit required for activity and combination of this group with sites in the membrane apparently leads to an increased permeability to potassium following depolarization.
Gemcitabine and Cytosine Arabinoside Cytotoxicity: Association with Lymphoblastoid Cell Expression

Two cytidine analogues, gemcitabine (dFdC) and 1-beta-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine (AraC), show significant therapeutic effect in a variety of cancers. However, response to these drugs varies widely. Evidence from tumor biopsy samples shows that expression levels for genes involved in the cytidine transport, metabolism, and bioactivation pathway contribute to this variation in response. In the present study, we set out to test the hypothesis that variation in gene expression both within and outside of this "pathway" might influence sensitivity to gemcitabine and AraC. Specifically, Affymetrix U133 Plus 2.0 GeneChip and cytotoxicity assays were performed to obtain basal mRNA expression and IC(50) values for both drugs in 197 ethnically defined Human Variation Panel lymphoblastoid cell lines. Genes with a high degree of association with IC(50) values were involved mainly in cell death, cancer, cell cycle, and nucleic acid metabolism pathways. We validated selected significant genes by performing real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and selected two representative candidates, NT5C3 (within the pathway) and FKBP5 (outside of the pathway), for functional validation. Those studies showed that down-regulation of NT5C3 and FKBP5 altered tumor cell sensitivity to both drugs. Our results suggest that cell-based model system studies, when combined with complementary functional characterization, may help to identify biomarkers for response to chemotherapy with these cytidine analogues.
Viewpoint: Towards an information systems perspective and research agenda on crowdsourcing for innovation

Recent years have seen an increasing emphasis on open innovation by firms to keep pace with the growing intricacy of products and services and the ever changing needs of the markets. Much has been written about open innovation and its manifestation in the form of crowdsourcing. Unfortunately, most management research has taken the information system (IS) as a given. In this essay we contend that IS is not just an enabler but rather can be a shaper that optimizes open innovation in general and crowdsourcing in particular. This essay is intended to frame crowdsourcing for innovation in a manner that makes more apparent the issues that require research from an IS perspective. In doing so, we delineate the contributions that the IS field can make to the field of crowdsourcing.
Novel C2-Purine Position Analogs of Nitrobenzylmercaptopurine Riboside as Human Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter 1 Inhibitors

Abstract Nucleoside transporter inhibitors have potential therapeutic applications as anticancer, antiviral, cardioprotective, and neuroprotective agents. S 6 -(4-nitrobenzyl)mercaptopurine riboside (NBMPR) is a prototype inhibitor of the human equilibrative nucleoside transporter (hENT1), and is a high affinity ligand with a K d of 0.1–1.0 nM. We have synthesized and flow cytometrically evaluated the binding affinity of a series of novel C 2 -purine position substituted analogs of NBMPR at the hENT1. The aim of this research was to understand the substituent requirements at the C 2 -purine position of NBMPR. Structure–activity relationships (SAR) indicate that increasing the steric bulk at the C 2 -purine position of NBMPR led to a decrease in binding affinity of these ligands at the hENT1. New high affinity inhibitors were identified, with the best compound, 2-fluoro-4-nitrobenzyl mercaptopurine riboside (7), exhibiting a K i of 2.1 nM. This information, when coupled with the information obtained from other structure–activity relationship studies should prove useful in efforts aimed at modeling the NMBPR and analogs pharmacophore of hENT1 inhibitors.
Ligation of the hypogastric arteries in combined abdominoperineal surgery.

One of the major problems encountered in extensive operations for low-lying lesions of the rectum is hemorrhage occurring during pelvic and perineal dissection. An effective method of preventing such hemorrhage is provided by routine bilateral ligation of the hypogastric arteries prior to mobilizing the rectum and performing low pelvic dissection. A review of the anatomy and the principal blood supply to the pelvis and perineum and a study of the collateral circulation reveals the advantages of this procedure. Ligation of the hypogastric arteries has been done for many years in isolated cases and recently this method has been employed routinely in a large number of cases. Complications and increased morbidity have not been a problem following this procedure. A satisfactory technic for ligation of the hypogastric arteries which includes the important aortopelvic lymph node dissection has been presented. It is recommended that bilateral ligation of the hypogastric arteries be included routinely in combined abdominoperineal operations for removal of the rectum.
The nutritional supplement chromium(III) tris(picolinate) cleaves DNA.

Chromium(III) tris(picolinate) [Cr(pic)3] is currently a very popular nutritional supplement; however, its safety has recently been questioned, especially with regard to its ability to act as a cla...
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: peer relationships and peer-oriented interventions.

Children with attention-defecit/hyperactivity disorder experience numerous peer difficulties and may benefit from specially designed intervention
Theoretical study of the C-H bond dissociation energy of C2H

A theoretical study of the convergence of the C-H bond dissociation energy D(0) in C2H with respect to both the one- and n-particle spaces is presented. The calculated C-H bond energies of C2H2 and C2H4, which are in excellent agreement with experiment, are used for calibration. The best estimate for D(0) of 112.4 + or - 2.0 kcal/mol is slightly below the recent experimental value of 116.3 + or - 2.6 kcal/mol, but substantially above a previous theoretical estimate of 102 kcal/mol. The remaining discrepancy with experiment may reflect primarily the uncertainty in the experimental D(0) value of C2 required in the analysis.
Modification of the optical properties of glass by sequential ion implantation

The linear and nonlinear optical properties of a series of samples formed by the sequential implantation of Ti, O and Au are examined. Energies of implantation for each ion were chosen using TRIM calculations to insure overlap of the ion distributions. The Ti was implanted with nominal doses of 1.2 and 2 {times} 10{sup 17} ions/cm{sup 2}. The samples were implanted with oxygen to the same nominal dose as the Ti. Au was then implanted with a nominal dose of 6 {times} 10{sup 16} ions/cm{sup 2}. The samples were subsequently annealed in oxygen at 900 C for two hours. The Ti and O are incorporated into the host network, while the Au forms nanosize colloids. The presence of the Ti in the substrate causes a shift in the surface plasmon resonance frequency of the Au metal colloids as well as an increase in the nonlinear response of the composites. The results are interpreted in terms of effective medium theory.
Secondary production of chironomid communities in insecticide-treated and untreated headwater streams

SUMMARY. 1. Production of chironomid communities of three first order, Appalachian Mountain streams was estimated and the effects of an insecticide-induced disturbance on chironomid production was examined. 2. Annual production of non-Tanypodinae chironomids in the streams during the first study year (no treatment) ranged from 1366 to 3636 mg m~2, while production of Tanypodinae chironomids ranged from 48 to 116 mg m~ 2. Production/biomass ratios ranged between 19 and 23 for non-Tanypodinae and from 6 to 7 for Tanypodinae chironomids. 3. Insecticide applications resulted in significantly lower chironomid densities and biomass in the treated stream relative to the pretreatment year and reference stream. Annual production of non-Tanypodinae (703 mg m~2) and Tanypodinae (32 mg m~2) chironomids in the treated stream decreased by 64% and 67%, respectively, compared with the pretreatment year. In contrast, production of non-Tanypodinae (2084 mg m ) increased by 34% and production of Tanypodinae (96 mg m ) by 57% in the reference stream.
Effect of Media Conductivity on High Frequency Dielectrophoretic Response

A method was developed for analyzing the high frequency dielectrophoresis (>20 MHz) response of microalgal cells with different lipid content on the basis of media conductivities. At these frequencies, the DEP response is expected to depend primarily on the dielectric properties of the cytoplasm. The medium used to perform DEP experiments has an important influence on their outcome since all properties are measured in relation to the medium, therefore its properties must be tightly controlled. This method is label free and only uses electric fields, and thus it is suitable for many other applications in the medical field.Chlamydomonas reinhardtii cells were cultured in regular medium and then the same cells were cultured under nitrogen-free conditions to accumulate neutral (non-polar) lipids. To measure the upper crossover frequency, two thin, needle shaped electrodes (100 nm thick) were patterned onto a glass slide using standard micro-technology processes and the motion of the cells was observed as an AC signal was swept from 20–80 MHz at ∼30Vpp (Volt peak to peak). Cells were injected to the microelectrode array in different medium conductivities that were adjusted by sodium chloride.The upper crossover frequencies of N-free cells in different media conductivities were measured. It was found that when the solution conductivity was between 4 ± 2 μs/cm and 106 ± 1 μS/cm and the operating frequency was between 20 and 80 MHz, the upper crossover frequency of the microalgae increased as the medium conductivity increased. The lipid content was verified via fluorescence microscopy and MATLAB image processing.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Parental care trade-offs and the role of filial cannibalism in the maritime earwig, Anisolabis maritima

Animals that provide parental care are expected to weigh the value of current offspring against the value of future offspring, such that total investment across all offspring is allocated to maximize lifetime fitness. In this study, we characterize the trade-offs associated with maternal care in the maritime earwig, Anisolabis maritima (Dermaptera: Anisolabididae). We measured the benefits of care in terms of hatching success through removal experiments and the costs of care by comparing the future fecundity of caring females to that of removals. We show that the benefits of care greatly outweigh the costs, providing a seven-fold increase in hatching success. Artificially removed females had larger subsequent clutches and shorter internest intervals, but very low hatching success. Naturally abandoning females always cannibalize all their eggs. Partial clutch cannibalism was a ubiquitous feature of maternal care, although rates were variable among individuals. In post hoc tests, we first addressed the ultimate explanation that filial cannibalism is a way for females to facultatively adjust their investment per clutch in order to maximize future reproduction. We then tested two proximate explanations for filial cannibalism: (1) females that lay more eggs for their given body size tend to consume more eggs, reflecting a nutritional deficiency; (2) females prefer to cannibalize the youngest eggs to reduce the overall duration of egg care. In addition, we consider the alternative explanation that females eat unviable eggs for hygienic reasons. Our results provide support for both energy limitation and hygienic maintenance. Higher rates of egg cannibalism near the very end of nesting were also suggestive of nymphal cannibalism, a phenomenon that will be examined in future work.
Preparing General Education Teachers for Inclusive Classrooms: Assessing the Process:

There is little doubt that general education teachers need to be prepared for students with special needs who will be in their classrooms. In this article, we describe West Virginia University's five-year preservice teacher education program efforts to meet this need. Using a strand approach, a series of special education learning outcomes and competencies have been incorporated into the core courses required of all education majors. Using both quantitative and qualitative assessments, students enrolled in their second, third and fourth year of the teacher education program and faculty teaching the core courses responded to the degree of competence and confidence they felt regarding the strand approach. Recommendations for WVU's fifth program year as well as for strengthening other teacher preparation programs with similar concerns are offered and supported.
Application of Unscented Kalman Filter to a cable driven surgical robot: A simulation study

Cable driven power transmissions are used in applications such as haptic devices, surgical robots etc. The use of flexible cable based power transmission often causes relative motion between the motor actuator and mechanism joint during operation due to the elasticity of the cable. State-space control methods can be used to improve performance, but may require state estimates. For nonlinear systems, the Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) provides a computationally efficient way to obtain state estimates. The UKF is applied here to a simulation of a minimially invasive surgical robot, to study the state estimation for a cable driven system with nonlinear dynamics. State estimates from the UKF are compared with the known states available from the simulation. These state estimates are also utilized by two different controllers interacting with the simulation to test the UKF performance under closed loop control. We tested the UKF performance with error perturbations in the system model's cable stiffness parameter.