cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cytochrome c oxidase of mammals contains a testes-specific isoform of subunit VIb--the counterpart to testes-specific cytochrome c?

Sperm motility is highly dependent on aerobic energy metabolism, of which the apparent rate-limiting step of the mitochondrial respiratory chain is catalyzed by cytochrome c oxidase (COX). COX is the only electron transport chain complex to display isoforms, consistent with its suggested rate-limiting role. Isoforms were previously described for four of the 13 subunits. We now report the discovery that COX subunit VIb displays a testes-specific isoform in human, bull, rat, and mouse (COX VIb-2). Analysis of a variety of rat and mouse tissues, including ovaries, demonstrates exclusive expression of VIb-2 in testes, whereas VIb-1 transcripts are absent in rodent testes, even at early developmental stages. In contrast, both isoforms are transcribed in human testes. In situ hybridizations with human, rat, and mouse testes sections reveal VIb-2 transcripts in all testicular cell types. Within the seminiferous tubules, VIb-1 shows stronger signals in the periphery than in the lumen. Previously, cytochrome c was the only component of the mitochondrial respiratory chain known to express a testes-specific isoform in mammals. COX subunit VIb connects the two COX monomers into the physiological dimeric form, and is the only COX subunit that, like cytochrome c, is solely located in the inter-membrane space. Significant differences between the isoform sequences, in particular changes in charged amino acids, suggest interactions with cytochrome c and sperm-specific energy requirements. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 66: 8–16, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The Three-dimensional Structure of Extreme-Ultraviolet Accretion Regions in AM Herculis Stars: Modeling of Extreme-Ultraviolet Photometric and Spectroscopic Observations

We have developed a model of the high-energy accretion region for magnetic cataclysmic variables and applied it to Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer observations of 10 AM Herculis type systems. The major features of the EUV light curves are well described by the model. The light curves exhibit a large variety of features such as eclipses of the accretion region by the secondary star and the accretion stream and broad dips caused by material very close to the accretion region. While all the observed features of the light curves are highly dependent on viewing geometry, none of the light curves are consistent with a flat, circular accretion spot whose light curve would vary solely from projection effects. The accretion region immediately above the white dwarf (WD) surface is a source of EUV radiation caused by either a vertical extent to the accretion spot or Compton scattering off of electrons in the accretion column or, very likely, both. Our model yields spot sizes averaging 0.06RWD, or f ~ 1 × 10-3 the WD surface area, and average spot heights of 0.023RWD. Spectra extracted during broad-dip phases are softer than spectra extracted during the out-of-dip phases. This spectral ratio measurement leads to the conclusion that Compton scattering, some absorption by a warm absorber, geometric effects, an asymmetric temperature structure in the accretion region, and an asymmetric density structure of the accretion column are all important components needed to fully explain the data. Spectra extracted at phases where the accretion spot is hidden behind the limb of the WD, but with the accretion column immediately above the spot still visible, show no evidence of emission features characteristic of a hot plasma.
Automated vision system for inspection of wedge bonds

One of the problems in increasing reliability in the manufacture of integrated circuit devices is inspection of the bonds connecting the bond pads to the lead fingers to the device. The continuing increase in packing density of VLSI circuits requires that the inspection process be completely automated. Here we present a method for visual inspection of bonds which is intended to automatically extract parameters of significance in determining their quality froni two-dimensional images taken from the top of the IC wafer.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Recent Alpine Glacier Variability: Wind River Range, Wyoming, USA

Glacier area and volume changes were quantified through the use of historical aerial photographs in the Wind River Range, Wyoming. Forty-four glaciers in the Wind River Range were analyzed using orthorectified aerial photography from 2012. This is an update to the work of Thompson et al. [1] in which the surface area changes of the 44 glaciers were estimated from 1966 to 2006. The total surface area of the glaciers was estimated to be 27.8 ± 0.8 km2, a decrease of 39% from 1966 and a decrease of 2% from 2006. The 2012 volume changes for the 44 glaciers were estimated using the Bahr et al. [2] volume-area scaling technique. The total glacier volume in 2012 was calculated to be 1.01 ± 0.21 km3, a decrease of 63% from 1966. These results, once compared to temperature and snowpack trends, suggest that the downward trend in snowpack as well as increasing temperatures seem to be the most likely driver of the glacier recessions. With Global Circulation Models (GCMs) forecasting higher temperatures and lower precipitation in the western U.S., it is likely that glaciers will continue to recede.Glacier area and volume changes were quantified through the use of historical aerial photographs in the Wind River Range, Wyoming. Forty-four glaciers in the Wind River Range were analyzed using orthorectified aerial photography from 2012. This is an update to the work of Thompson et al. [1] in which the surface area changes of the 44 glaciers were estimated from 1966 to 2006. The total surface area of the glaciers was estimated to be 27.8 ± 0.8 km2, a decrease of 39% from 1966 and a decrease of 2% from 2006. The 2012 volume changes for the 44 glaciers were estimated using the Bahr et al. [2] volume-area scaling technique. The total glacier volume in 2012 was calculated to be 1.01 ± 0.21 km3, a decrease of 63% from 1966. These results, once compared to temperature and snowpack trends, suggest that the downward trend in snowpack as well as increasing temperatures seem to be the most likely driver of the glacier recessions. With Global Circulation Models (GCMs) forecasting higher temperatures and lower precipitation in the western U.S., it is likely that glaciers will continue to recede.
Light trapping using silicon nanostructures for solar cells

Silicon nanostructures are used for efficiency enhancement in Silicon solar cells. A 2 μm thick solar cell with silicon nanostructures on the front and back surfaces show photocurrent of 26.7 mA/cm2 (77% of the Yablonovitch limit).
The socialist romance of the postcolonial Arabic novel

This essay examines the politics of love in the Arabic novel: how love is used to envision a more just and egalitarian society. The marriage market, courtship practices, and kinship ties—which propagate and calcify gender and class hierarchies—prove formidable obstacles to the realization of the utopian vision of social equality. Love ideology becomes a means of defying these conventions, conceived of as a powerful force breaking down the hegemony of the upper classes and male privilege, challenging their sense of propriety and entitlement, and restructuring society according to more egalitarian principles. This essay contests the dichotomization of romantic and politically committed literature in Arabic literary criticism, and likewise, corresponding assumptions about the division between the personal and political, private and public presumably coded in the novel.
Matrix-Fiber Stress Transfer in Composite Materials Elasto-Plastic Model with an Interphase Layer.

Abstract The matrix-fiber stress transfer in glass-epoxy composite materials was studied using analytical and experimental methods. The mathematical model that was developed calculates the stress fields in the fiber, interphase, and neighboring matrix near a fiber break. This scheme takes into account the elastic-plastic behavior of both the matrix and the interphase, and it includes the treatment of stress concentration near the discontinuities of the fibers. The radius of the fibers and the mechanical properties of the matrix were varied in order to validate the mathematical model. The computed values for the lengths of debonding, plastic deformation, and elastic deformation in the matrix near the fiber tip were confirmed by measurements taken under polarized light on loaded and unloaded single fiber samples.
Breaking Tolerance to Double Stranded DNA, Nucleosome, and Other Nuclear Antigens Is Not Required for the Pathogenesis of Lupus Glomerulonephritis

In lupus-prone NZM2328 mice, a locus Cgnz1 on chromosome 1 was linked to chronic glomerulonephritis, severe proteinuria, and early mortality in females. A locus Adnz1 on chromosome 4 was linked to antinuclear antibody (ANA) and anti–double stranded DNA (dsDNA) antibody (Ab) production. In this investigation, two congenic strains, NZM2328.C57L/Jc1 (NZM.C57Lc1) and NZM2328.C57L/Jc4 (NZM.C57Lc4), were generated by replacing the respective genetic intervals containing either Cgnz1 or Adnz1 with those from C57L/J, a nonlupus-prone strain. The NZM.C57Lc1 females had markedly reduced incidence of chronic glomerulonephritis and severe proteinuria. NZM.C57Lc4 females had chronic glomerulonephritis and severe proteinuria without circulating ANA, anti-dsDNA, and antinucleosome Ab. These data confirm the linkage analysis. Unexpectedly, NZM.C57Lc1 females had little anti-dsDNA and related Ab, suggesting the presence of a second locus Adnz2 on chromosome 1. The diseased NZM.C57Lc4 kidneys had immune complexes by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. The eluates from these kidneys did not contain ANA, anti-dsDNA, and antinucleosome Ab, indicative of the presence of non–anti-dsDNA nephritogenic Ab. Thus, breaking tolerance to dsDNA and chromatin is not required for the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis. These results reaffirm that anti-dsDNA and related Ab production and chronic glomerulonephritis are under independent genetic control. These findings have significant implications in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus.
Phenotypic evidence for local adaptation to heat stress in the marine snail Chlorostoma (formerly Tegula) funebralis

Abstract Southern California (USA) populations of the intertidal marine snail Chlorostoma (formerly Tegula) funebralis generally occupy warmer climates and are exposed to high air temperatures during low tides more often than northern California populations. Available genetic data suggest there is extensive gene flow across a broad range of C. funebralis populations, so it is unclear if populations can adapt to differences in local environments. To test for population-specific responses to heat stress, three phenotypic assays were performed on three northern and on three southern populations of C. funebralis, after acclimation to common-garden conditions in the laboratory. Thermal drop-down, heat stress mortality, and heat stress reattachment assays were designed to evaluate ecologically relevant phenotypic responses to heat stress; these assays assessed tolerance during, mortality following, and speed of recovery following heat stress. The latter two tests indicate that southern populations consistently suffer significantly lower mortality and recover significantly more quickly following heat stress compared to northern populations. Hierarchical cluster analysis of stress response data clearly identified northern California and southern California regional groupings of populations. Thus, these results indicate that southern populations have higher tolerance to heat stress than northern populations and suggest that adaptation to local environmental differences can evolve despite moderate potential for larval dispersal in this species. Accounting for intraspecific population variation in thermal tolerance may provide important insights for predicting how species distributions will respond to global warming.
Glaucoma following retinal detachment operations

After retinal detachment operations 1–5% of the patients develop glaucoma. If this occurs directly after the operation it is the result of mechanical narrowing of the chamber angle.
Holmium Laser Applications of the Prostate

The high-powered holmium laser is an excellent tool for the surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. This article discusses the background of holmium use in the prostate and describes the surgical techniques of holmium laser ablation of the prostate and holmium laser enucleation of the prostate. Operative challenges are reviewed with suggestions as to how to avoid these problems or deal with them when they arise. Surgical outcomes and a thorough literature review are both presented.
DCC formation and observation in nucleus-nucleus collisions

Abstract High-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions may produce extended regions of space within which chiral symmetry is temporarily nearly restored. The subsequent non-equilibrium relaxation towards the normal vacuum may then produce disoriented chiral condensates : isospin-directed oscillations of the pion field. The conditions for the occurrence of this novel phenomenon and some of its observational consequences are discussed.
The preparation and structures of some simple trialkylstannylamides

Trialkylstannylamides of the type HC(O)N(SnR3)R′ (R  CH3, C2H5; R′ H, CH3, C6H5 were prepared by the reaction of a trialkylmethoxystannane with the appropriate amide at 110–120°C. Trimethylstannylformamide is an associated liquid and exists in only one conformation. Trimethylstannyl-N-methylformamide is unassociated in benzene and exists primarily (70%) in the conformation with the trimethylstannyl group cis to the carbonyl group. The average free energy of activation for rotation is 22 kcal/mole. The other derivatives exist in only one conformation and are unassociated in benzene.
Improved Asymptotic Formulas for Counting Correlation Immune Boolean Functions

A Boolean function is called correlation immune if every input is independent of the output when the inputs are chosen from a uniform distribution. We show how an asymptotic formula of Denisov, which approximately counts the $n$-variable correlation immune functions, can be improved so as to be accurate even for fairly small $n$. We also provide error estimates for our approximations, which Denisov did not do, and show a connection to the behavior of random walks. Such information is useful to designers of machine learning algorithms and stream ciphers.
Fitts correlation tracker fidelity in presence of target translation, rotation, and size change

The Fitts correlation algorithm is known to be optimal in measuring small image translations. As the position measurement portion of an image-based tracker, it yields excellent track fidelity over a sequence of images in which the tracked target exhibits small shifts from the predicted position. Real-world experience, however, informs us that the tracked target rarely confines itself to small-scale translational motion in the image plane, and sometimes changes size during the track period. When does the steady-state Fitts correlation need a boost from auxiliary algorithms to maintain target lock? We describe the envelope within which the Fitts correlation tracker can be expected to report target position accurately. Tolerances for target translation, in-plane rotation, and size change are parameterized by the correlation length of the tracked target. A successful image-based tracker using Fitts correlation for position measurement will require additional logic or modifications to the image-processing algorithm to enable it to operate outside the bounds described.
Advances in Pattern Recognition Algorithms, Architectures, and Devices

This PDF file contains the editorial “Advances in Pattern Recognition Algorithms, Architectures, and Devices” for OE Vol. 43 Issue 08
Effect of nickel as the chloride and the carbonate on palatability of cattle feed

Abstract A preliminary experiment with dairy calves ascertained the effects of supplemental nickel on voluntary feed consumption and animal health. Daily nickel intake of 500mg as either nickelous chloride or nickelous carbonate administered in gelatin capsule greatly reduced voluntary feed intake and was highly toxic to 2 calves weighing 43kg. However, the nickelous chloride was much more toxic than the carbonate. In a cafeteria experiment, diets containing nickel were offered free choice along with basal ration to 12 seven-month-old dairy heifers. Either 100ppm nickel as the chloride or 500ppm as the carbonate definitely reduced palatability but not at one-half these amounts. A linear depression (P
Inoperable endobronchial obstructing lung cancer treated with combined endobronchial and external beam irradiation: A dosimetric analysis

Abstract Purpose: This study is a dosimetric review of our experience incorporating both external beam radiotherapy and endobronchial brachytherapy in the treatment of inoperable endobronchial obstructing lung cancer. Methods and Materials: Sixty-five patients with symptomatic inoperable endobronchial obstructing lung cancer received combined external beam radiotherapy and temporary endobronchial iridium (Ir)-192 implants between February 1987 and May 1991. External beam irradiation doses ranged from 55 to 66 Gy. Patients were given 2 to 4 temporary Ir-192 endobronchial implants at the site of endobronchial obstruction. Individual implant doses ranged from 2.7 to 10 Gy. Total implant doses ranged from 6 to 35 Gy. Total treatment doses ranged from 61 to 96.6 Gy. Results: Sixty-three percent of patients had a complete local endobronchial response to treatment and 23% had a partial response. Forty-seven percent of patients receiving a total dose of less than 70 Gy experienced a complete local endobronchial response to treatment while 83% of patients receiving a total dose of 85 Gy or greater experienced a complete local endobronchial response to treatment. Sixty-six percent experienced an improvement in their performance status using an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance scale. Survival from the end of treatment was 38% at 1 year and 23% at 2 years, with the median survival at 8 months. Complications occurred in 965 (14%) of patients; 0% in patients receiving a total dose of less than 70 Gy, 10% in patients receiving a total dose of 70 to 84.99 Gy, and 24% of patients receiving a total dose of 85 Gy or higher. Conclusion: The data from this study again confirms the feasibility of this form of treatment for inoperable endobronchialobstructing obstructing lung cancer. In addition, there appears to be a dose response for both local response and complications.
An Experimental Study of Transport Properties of Ceramic Membranes for Use in Hemodialysis

Hemodialysis (HD) remains the primary treatment modality for the management of renal failure patients. Hemodialysis membranes play an important role in renal replacement therapy (RRT). HD is an extracorporeal blood clean process where the major mass transfer mechanism is diffusion. This therapy is mainly effectual for low molecular weight (LMW) solutes (such as urea and creatinine) removal or clearance for which diffusive mass transfer is a swift process. There is an increase in the removal of middle molecular weight (MMW) solutes (such as β2-microglobulin) when high flux membranes are available. Hemodiafiltration (HDF) is a treatment where the convective mass transfer accolades with diffusive mass transfer to increase the solute clearance efficacy, specifically for MMW solutes. The convective mass transfer is reliant on the amount of fluid exchanged. Toxin removal efficiency of HDF significantly depends on the porosity, pore size, pore distribution and surface area of the membrane [1, 2]. Although newly developed high flux polysulfone membranes have high MMW solute clearance, the non-uniform pore size and pore distribution is the main contributors to the albumin loss. Previous studies by Huang et al.[3], showed that nanoporous alumina sheet membranes have uniform pore size (∼ 10nm), high hydraulic permeability, uniform pore distribution and excellent pore structure with uniform channels. It was predicted that these membranes would have high molecular removal capacity. Therefore, in this study, experiments were performed to generate the data of intrinsic membrane properties such as hydraulic permeability, sieving coefficient and solute diffusive permeability for the alumina tubular membranes. Results were also compared to current polyethersulfone (PES) dialysis membranes.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Acute ethanol exposure inhibits silencing of cerebellar Golgi cell firing induced by granule cell axon input

Golgi cells (GoCs) are specialized interneurons that provide inhibitory input to granule cells in the cerebellar cortex. GoCs are pacemaker neurons that spontaneously fire action potentials, triggering spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents in granule cells and also contributing to the generation tonic GABAA receptor-mediated currents in granule cells. In turn, granule cell axons provide feedback glutamatergic input to GoCs. It has been shown that high frequency stimulation of granule cell axons induces a transient pause in GoC firing in a type 2-metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR2)-dependent manner. Here, we investigated the effect ethanol on the pause of GoC firing induced by high frequency stimulation of granule cell axons. GoC electrophysiological recordings were performed in parasagittal cerebellar vermis slices from postnatal day 23 to 26 rats. Loose-patch cell-attached recordings revealed that ethanol (40 mM) reversibly decreases the pause duration. An antagonist of mGluR2 reduced the pause duration but did not affect the effect of ethanol. Whole-cell voltage-clamp recordings showed that currents evoked by an mGluR2 agonist were not significantly affected by ethanol. Perforated-patch experiments in which hyperpolarizing and depolarizing currents were injected into GoCs demonstrated that there is an inverse relationship between spontaneous firing and pause duration. Slight inhibition of the Na+/K+ pump mimicked the effect of ethanol on pause duration. In conclusion, ethanol reduces the granule cell axon-mediated feedback mechanism by reducing the input responsiveness of GoCs. This would result in a transient increase of GABAA receptor-mediated inhibition of granule cells, limiting information flow at the input stage of the cerebellar cortex.
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura in a patient treated with imatinib mesylate: True association or mere coincidence?

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), characterized by thrombocytopenia and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, is a relatively rare disorder. The majority of cases have no defined causes. TTP has been reported in association with many drugs, but not with imatinib mesylate. We report a 22-year-old African-American woman who developed idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome. She was treated with imatinib mesylate and subsequently developed microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and acute renal failure. TTP was diagnosed. A kidney biopsy was performed and was diagnostic of thrombotic microangiopathy. The patient was treated with plasma exchange and hemodialysis. Her eosinophilia resolved, but she remained dialysis dependent. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of the possible association between imatinib mesylate and TTP.
Commentary Paper 1 on Action Signature: A Novel Holistic Representation for Action Recognition

The paper proposes a new holistic representation for actions, called action signature, which uses both global and local motion variations to classify an action. The action signatures are generated by estimating a sequence of orientations from the motion history images. A mixture of von Mises distributions is used in the classification stage of the system.
Adaptive subspace nulling based on Karhunen-Loeve expansion

Conventional approaches require at least 2N snapshot vectors for an N-element adaptive array for reliable estimation of the noise covariance matrix used in weight vector selection. In all-digital subspace beamforming, a matrix transformation is performed on each of these data snapshot vectors to reduce their dimensions from N to P, where P >
Voice quality conversion in TD-PSOLA speech synthesis

The capability of producing different voice qualities is highly desirable in modern speech synthesis systems. Diphone based synthesizers using TD-PSOLA can generate high quality synthetic speech. However, one of the drawbacks of such systems in comparison to the formant synthesizer or the LPC synthesizer is its inflexibility in voice quality conversion (VQC). In this paper, the author presents a VQC method for the TD-PSOLA synthesis system. For vocal fry, the ST-signals are multiplied by a Kaiser window with alternate magnitude; for breathy voice, the ST-signals are first convolved with a one-pole filter, and then combined with shaped noise signals, and finally multiplied by a Hanning window. All the windowed ST-signals are then overlap-added as in standard TD-PSOLA. The perceptual evaluation test shows that this method can generate the desired voice quality successfully.
Atroxase—A Fibrinolytic Enzyme Isolated from the Venuom of Western Diamond Back RattleSnake

Blood coagulation disorders are a worldwide medical problem. Among them, thrombosis, or the occlusion of a blood vessel, is a leading killer(l). Current thrombolytic agents used to reduce thrombosis are t-PA (tissue plasminogen activator), urokinase, and streptokinase. Although effective, these agents have undesirable side effects such as hemorrhage and reocclusion(2,3). Therefore, the search for safer thrombolytic agents from other sources continues(4,5,6).
RESIM-an algorithm for finding the similarity of regular expression based patterns and strings

Searching DNA sequence databases is addressed. An algorithm which finds a similarity measure for both patterns and strings expressed as regular expressions (RE similarity), using only alternation and concatenation, is presented. Given a pattern P with N tokens and depth D, and a string S with length M and depth d, then the RE similarity can be found in O(MN) time and using O(min(M,N)) space. There is a parallel algorithm that performs in O(N+M) time using min(N,M) processors and max(d,D)min(M,N) space. By adding a separator token to the string alphabet, the algorithm can be used to determine the best similarity over all of the delimited strings. >
Applying the Richards function in freezing tolerance determination with electrolyte and phenolic leakage techniques

The purpose of the present study was to apply the Richards function to fit electrolyte and phenolic leakage data for several taxa of woody plants subjected to freezing stress and to determine how the curve inflection point relates to the lethal temperature range. The lowest survival temperature of Fraxinus americana, Lagerstroemia cv. Natchez, Magnolia grandiflora, Rhododendron cv. Red Ruffle and Zelkova serrata was determined based on visual evaluation of oxidative browning facilitated by a modified regrowth test and differential thermal analysis. Lethal injury occurred in all cases within a range of 3 ° C below lowest survival temperature. Using the Richards function inflection point as an estimate of lethal temperature led to an overestimation of freezing tolerance in most taxa. This overestimation was greater for stems than leaves, and was greater in winter than in summer. The lethal temperature range generally coincided with the initial increase in leakage caused by freezing. The lethal temperature range also was determined by using a point of interception of the lower asymptote of a curve with a line tangential to the inflection point. In most taxa tested estimated lethal temperature based on the point of interception provided an improvement over the estimate based on the point of inflection.
Psychological jurisprudence and the information processing paradigm

The purpose of this article is to further recent work in the psychology of jurisprudence. After summarizing the value positions that are central to a jurisprudence that emphasizes the role of law in the everyday lives of individuals, we examine the interaction between the tenets of that philosophy and the paradigmatic content of psycholegal research. We propose that one dominant perspective, information processing, assumes that legal actors are imperfect processors of social information and proceeds to document biases and propose ways for the law to minimize shortcomings in human cognition. After summarizing the emerging theory of psychological jurisprudence, we discuss the information processing paradigm in psychology and law, illustrating its contributions with three recent studies. Next, we present an empirical analysis of abstracts from the last 5 years of empirical research to demonstrate that there is a representative body of information processing research in psychology and law. Following this is an in-depth assessment of a sample of cognitive and social cognitive studies, detailing the scientific and normative issues that make up this literature. Finally, we conclude with some recommendations for jurisprudential theorists and psycholegal researchers which will integrate the philosophy of psychology and law with its empirical underpinnings.
The Evolution of Bioinformatics in Toxicology: Advancing Toxicogenomics

As one reflects back through the past 50 years of scientific research, a significant accomplishment was the advance into the genomic era. Basic research scientists have uncovered the genetic code and the foundation of the most fundamental building blocks for the molecular activity that supports biological structure and function. Accompanying these structural and functional discoveries is the advance of techniques and technologies to probe molecular events, in time, across environmental and chemical exposures, within individuals, and across species. The field of toxicology has kept pace with advances in molecular study, and the past 50 years recognizes significant growth and explosive understanding of the impact of the compounds and environment to basic cellular and molecular machinery. The advancement of molecular techniques applied in a whole-genomic capacity to the study of toxicant effects, toxicogenomics, is no doubt a significant milestone for toxicological research. Toxicogenomics has also provided an avenue for advancing a joining of multidisciplinary sciences including engineering and informatics in traditional toxicological research. This review will cover the evolution of the field of toxicogenomics in the context of informatics integration its current promise, and limitations.
Reflections on the APSA Report on Graduate Education: International Students and Their Teacher Training

The January 2005 issue of PS: Politi cal Science and Politics carried a report compiled by the APSA Task Force on Graduate Education which provides nu merous suggestions to political science programs nationwide on preparing gradu ate students for professional careers, im proving mentoring and advising, and revising financial package/plans to sup port ABDs in their final stretch (Beltran et al. 2005). Among those proposals was a section specifically designed to address unique problems international students, international graduate assistants (IGA), and international graduate student in structors (IGSI) face at U.S. institutions:
Polyblends. II. Isochronal viscoelastic parameters for polyblends of butadiene–acrylonitrile elastomers and copolymers of vinyl stearate and vinyl chloride

Isochronal viscoelastic parameters were obtained for the polyblends of nitrile rubbers with internally and externally plasticized poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) whose mechanical properties were studied in the previous paper. Thus, the room-temperature mechanical properties of the previous paper were extended to included a wide temperature range in this work. Phase immiscibility, indicated by the observance of two glass transition temperatures, using differential scanning calorimetry, was observed for most of the polyblends. In contrast, blend compatibility was indicated by mechanical measurements, because the inflection temperatures of the isochronal curves (Ti) shifted with blend composition. It was concluded that mechanical spectroscopy-monitored volume elements large enough to include contributions to viscoelastic response from both phases; this caused the curves to shift with composition. On the other hand, the much shorter-range segmental responses characteristic of Tg produced transitions at the discrete temperature intervals representative of each phase. Using a relation between torsional stiffness at room temperature and tensile strength, failure strengths with respect to temperature were estimated and compared at varied free-volume increments (T − Tg) up to 50°C. Approximate equivalence was found by this procedure for fillers of bulk PVC and those containing 21 wt-% of both internal and external plasticizer, in analogy with findings for mechanical property optimization of the previous paper. Low-temperature properties and viscoelastic response of the polyblends containing vinyl stearate copolymers were greatly improved over their neat state. In addition, data from isochronal temperature–composition diagrams suggested viscoelastic equivalence, but greater ease of processability for the blends containing vinyl ester, compared to the others.
Ultrafast relaxation of hot electrons in quantum wires

Ensemble Monte Carlo simulations of hot nonequilibrium electron relaxation in rectangular GaAs quantum wires is carried out. The simulations demonstrate that the initial stage of hot photoexcited electron cooling dynamics is determined by cascade emission of optical phonons. The second relaxation stage is controlled by inelastic electron interaction with acoustic phonons and exhibits strong dependence on the cross-section of a quantum wire. If electron concentration exceeds 105 cm-1 nonequilibrium (hot) phonon effects come into play and hot phonon thermalization time defines the characteristic electron gas cooling time. In contrast to bulk materials and quantum wells, hot phonon effects in quantum wires are strongly dependent on the initial broadening of energy distribution of photoexcited electrons.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Freedom and psychology in the Americas

This study empirically demonstrated that indices of the status of psychology in the 35 countries of the Americas (scholarly productivity, existence of a psychological ethics code) are tied positively to enabling national conditions (economic and political freedom) in which the discipline is situated. Specifically, the relationship of economic and political freedom to the research productivity of psychologists was mediated by Internet usage. While political freedom and urban population ratio together predicted the adoption of a formal ethics code, the proportion of urban population was a more powerful predictor. These findings are discussed within the structural and dynamic realities of the region, and promising lines of inquiry are identified.
Defining requirements for advanced PHM technologies for optimal reliability centered maintenance

Condition Based Maintenance Plus (CBM+) can be described as optimal condition based maintenance (CBM) procedures defined by applying the principles and process of Reliability Centered Maintenance. This approach offers a rigorous and disciplined method, based on the system FMECA, to determine the least cost maintenance policy and procedures that are consistent with acceptable levels of safety and readiness, applying available prognosis and health management tools.
A Vertically Integrated Primitive-Equation Model

The primitive equations are integrated with The model includes topography and is capable of respond- respect to the vertical coordinate, sigma. The resulting ing to diabatic heating. Experiments with and without equations contain vertical eddy terms arising from non- the continuity equation are carried out, and a comparison linearities. These eddies are parameterized using a is made with barotropic forecasts. Exclusion of the mass standard-atmosphere temperature distribution and a continuity condition results in superior forecasts, especially linear jet wind profile independent of horizontal position. I
Stimulation of Angiogenesis by FGF-1 Delivered Through a Modified Fibrin Scaffold

AbstractA few studies have indicated that repeated dosing of acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-1) is essential to be effective in modulating the wound-healing response. However, little investigation has been done to determine the effective dosing regimen of FGF-1 or the appropriate carrier vehicle for this growth factor. The main objective of this study was to determine the effective angiogenic stimulatatory dose of FGF-1 delivered through a modified fibrin matrix, using a rabbit ear ulcer model. Specifically, the aim was to test the effects of FGF-1 on the angiogenic, fibroblastic, and epithelial responses in a wound model. Five 6-mm diameter ulcers to the depth of bare cartilage were created on each rabbit ear. Four different combinations (0.8, 8, 80, and 800 μg/ml) of the growth factor were examined across two periods of study. Pooled modified fibrin was used to deliver the growth factor. Histomorphometrical quantification was conducted after routine histological processing of the ulcers sites. Data...
Structural insights on Smad function in TGFβ signaling

TGFβ signaling plays a central role in regulating a broad range of cellular responses in a variety of organisms. TGFβ signaling from the cell membrane to the nucleus is mediated by the Smad family of proteins. During the past five years of intense investigation, key events in TGFβ signaling have been documented at the molecular and cellular level. Recent structural studies have improved our understanding of how specificity is generated in the TGFβ signaling pathways. Despite this progress, significant questions remain regarding the precise mechanisms of signaling and point to the urgent need for well-controlled biochemical studies. Rather than giving a comprehensive review on Smad-mediated TGFβ signaling, this review focuses on functional insights provided by recent structural studies and discusses several existing controversies. BioEssays 23:223–232, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Trends of Lung Cancer Mortality and Smoking Prevalence

Lung cancer killed approximately 1,590,000 persons in 2012 and currently is the leading cause of cancer death worldwide. There is large variation in mortality rates across the world in both males and females. This variation follows trend of smoking, as tobacco smoking is responsible for the majority of lung cancer cases. In this article, we present estimated worldwide lung cancer mortality rates in 2012 using the World Health Organization (WHO) GLOBOCAN 2012 and changes in the rates during recent decades in select countries using WHO Mortality Database. We also show smoking prevalence and trends globally and at the regional level. By region, the highest lung cancer mortality rates (per 100,000) in 2012 were in Central and Eastern Europe (47.6) and Eastern Asia (44.8) among males and in Northern America (23.5) and Northern Europe (19.1) among females; the lowest rates were in sub-Saharan Africa in both males (4.4) and females (2.2). The highest smoking prevalence among males is generally in Eastern and South-Eastern Asia and Eastern Europe, and among females is in European countries, followed by Oceania and Northern and Southern America. Many countries, notably high-income countries, have seen a considerable decrease in smoking prevalence in both males and females, but in many other countries there has been little decrease or even an increase in smoking prevalence. Consequently, depending on whether or when smoking prevalence has started to decline, the lung cancer mortality trend is a mixture of decreasing, stable, or increasing. Despite major achievements in tobacco control, with current smoking patterns lung cancer will remain a major cause of death worldwide for several decades. The main priority to reduce the burden of lung cancer is to implement or enforce effective tobacco control policies in order to reduce smoking prevalence in all countries and prevent an increase in smoking in sub-Saharan Africa and women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Profiling the Profilers: Deep Packet Inspection and Behavioral Advertising in Europe and the United States

This paper examines the use of deep packet inspection (DPI) in online advertising, and analyzes the effects public pressure, regulatory actions and judicial and policy-making proceedings had on those deployments. The research is part of a larger project on the effects of DPI on Internet governance which is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation. DPI, which allows Internet service providers (ISPs) to monitor the content of data packets in real-time, can be considered a disruptive technology because of the way its use conflicts with pre-established principles and norms of Internet governance. In this comparative study, we examine the rise and fall of NebuAd in the U.S. and of Phorm in Europe. We also include some less visible companies and spill-overs to Brazil and South Korea. We conduct a comprehensive analysis of these cases – from the early development and secret trials of the technology to the regulatory actions, business failures and litigation in the aftermath. Looking at a timeline of several years that covers the dynamic technical, economic and institutional interactions at play, the framework contrasts distinct actors, actor constellations and modes of interaction across institutional settings to illustrate similar and divergent policy outcomes. This research is based upon comprehensive analysis of political and legal documents and a series of interviews with DPI vendors, Internet advocates, engineers, and advertisers. The narrative follows four stages that we have found in similar case studies of DPI deployments: 1) unilateral, secret deployment, 2) uncontrolled public disclosure of the deployment, 3) civil activism around net neutrality and privacy norms, 4) political, legal and regulatory proceedings to resolve the conflicts. This framework highlights the interaction of technical, economic and institutional factors that are at work when politically contested technologies with a disruptive potential are deployed on the Internet. In this case, as in many others, the analysis shows how the deployments ran afoul of established principles and expectations and how the “notification” and “consent” practices so crucial to privacy law failed to bridge the gap between the expectations of Internet users and the formal legal definition applied by the courts. We show how this gap led to intense political pressure and market exit of DPI-based advertising platforms in both countries.
Energetic cost of behaviors performed in response to vessel disturbance: one link in the population consequences of acoustic disturbance model.

Several studies have shown that cetaceans respond to the physical presence and/or acoustic emissions from marine vessels. For example, cetaceans perform surface-active behaviors (SABs) in response to an increase in the number of and/or close approaches by vessels (Lusseau 2006; Noren et al. 2009; Williams et al. 2002, 2009). SABs are often performed in bouts of one or more behaviors performed sequentially, and the majority of SABs provide both visual and acoustic signals that are important to social marine mammals. Indeed, the use of sound is essential to the survival and reproduction of cetaceans (National Research Council 2003), and because of this, anthropogenic sound exposure in marine mammals is a concern. Individuals may compensate for increased vessel noise by changing the amplitude (Holt et al. 2009; Scheifele et al. 2005), duration (Foote et al. 2004), repetition rate, and/or frequency of the sounds they produce.
The Toxicity of Insecticides to Larvae of Dioryctria abietella in Laboratory Screening Tests

Laboratory screening tests were devised to evaluate the toxicity of 13 insecticides to last-instar larvae of a destructive pine cone moth, Dioryctria abietella (Denis & Schiffermuller). Emulsifiable concentrates of aldrin, BHC, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, malathion, toxaphene, Diazinon® ( O,O -diethyl O-(2 -isopropyl-4-wethyl-6-pyrimidinyl) phosphorothioate), Guthion® ( O,O dimethyl S-(4-oxo-1,2,3-benzotrinzin-3-(4 H )-ylmethyl) phosphorodithioate), Perthane® (a mixture of diethyl diphenyl diehlorocthane (95%) and related reactionproducts (5%)), and Sevin®(1-naphthyl N -methylearbamate) were screened. Mature larvae were exposed to pine cones which had been dipped in a range of water dilutions or these concentrates. L.C .-90 values, estimated from concentration-mortality regression lines for the 96-hour exposure period, were used to assess the toxicity of each insecticide. At this mortality level the most effective insecticides, in decreasing order of toxicity, were endrin, BHC, Guthion, DDT, dieldrin, and Diazinon.
Survey On AIDS Knowledge,Attitude And Behavior Among Floating Population

Objective To learn AIDS related knowledge,attitudes and behavior of the floating population in Huaiyuan county,and provide reference for controlling the prevalence of AIDS.Method Using questionnaire,AIDS related knowledge,attitudes and behavior were investigated in 233 floating population from three enterprises in Huaiyuan county.Results The awareness rate of AIDS knowledge in floating population was 44.64%,and there was no significant difference between males and females.The awareness rate was significantly higher in married people than that in singles,and increased with educational level,service length in Huaiyuan county.The awareness rates of every knowledge points were different.54.90% people had sexual activity,but the proportion of condom use was lower,only 12.27% used condoms at latest sexual activity.Radio,TV and newspaper were the main source to obtain AIDS related knowledge for the floating people.Conclusion The level of AIDS prevention and control knowledge and behavior were poorer,we should attach importance to AIDS prevention and control knowledge education and related behavior intervention.
Comparing comprehensive strength of the prefecture-level cities in Zhejiang province

At present,the development among regions of Zhejiang province was seen very imbalance,11 prefecture-level cities were taken as the research object,and 28 economic and social indicators were selected.The principal component analysis(PCA) integrated the selected indicators,aided by Matlab software to calculate and rank the comprehensive strength,was used to determine their specific location in the province.In accordance with the results to analyze the reasons for differences in overall strength of prefectural-level cities,reference information were provided for achieving inter-regional economic coordination and rapid development in the future in Zhejiang province.
Interpersonal Communication in Officialdom of Gui Zhou Prefect during Daoguang and Xianfeng Periods in Qing Dynasty——Reading the "Anshun and liping Prefect's Official Documents"

This article based on the "Anshun and liping Prefect's Official Documents" as main material,observe and study interpersonal communication in officialdom of Gui Zhou prefect during Daoguang and Xianfeng periods,to reveal many details of Officialdom in late Qing period.with the purpose of enhancing our understanding of local officialdom in late Qing dynasty,and discuss the relation between Interpersonal Communication in Officialdom and efficiency of administration.
Coevolution, Introduction to

Every living thing helps, harms, or competes with members of other species. When these interactions create reciprocal selection on the species involved, coevolution is possible. Research on coevolution seeks to understand how species coadapt in different interactions and how these dynamics shape long-term patterns of speciation and extinction, change with environmental and biological context, and combine to shape biological communities.