cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Semidry electroblotting of peptides and proteins from acid-urea polyacrylamide gels.

Abstract A semidry electrophoretic transfer method was developed for efficient electroblotting of proteins separated by acid-urea polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (AU–PAGE). Model polypeptides ranging from 1.8 to 21.5 kDa were used to test transfer parameters that included time of transfer, power settings, transfer solutions, and membrane type. Optimized conditions were identified which allowed for transfer efficiencies of 70–100% following 5–15 min of applied current. The best transfer solution was 5% acetic acid, the same solvent used for electrophoresis. Therefore, acid–urea gels could be subjected to electrophoretic transfer without a soaking step, thereby reducing loss of band resolution and eliminating leaching of protein from the gel. The method was shown to be applicable to Western blot analysis of rat neutrophil defensins.
A probabilistic approach to some problems in blood-tissue exchange

The problem of exchange of substances between circulating blood and tissue is discussed in terms of a model with continuously distributed tissue characteristics. Consideration is given to the distribution of perfusion rates, the distribution of metabolism coefficients for a substance consumed at a rate proportional to its concentration, and the distribution of permeability coefficients for a slowly penetrating inert substance. Equations are derived for obtaining crude estimates of the moments of these distributions from exchange data.
Elemental analysis of complex organic aerosol using isotopic labeling and unit-resolution mass spectrometry.

Elemental analysis of unit-mass resolution (UMR) mass spectra is limited by the amount of information available to definitively elucidate the molecular formula of a molecule ionized by electron impact. The problem is compounded when a mixture of organic molecules (such as those found in organic aerosols) is analyzed without the benefit of prior separation. For this reason, quadrupole mass spectrometry is not usually suited to the elemental analysis of organic mixtures. Here, we present a mathematical method for the elemental analysis of UMR mass spectra of a complex organic aerosol through the use of isotopic labeling. Quadrupole aerosol mass spectrometry was used to obtain UMR data of 13C-labeled and unlabeled aerosol generated by far ultraviolet (FUV) photochemistry of gas mixtures containing 0.1% of either CH4 or 13CH4 in N2. In this method, the differences in the positions of ion groups in the resulting spectra are used to estimate the mass fraction of carbon in the aerosol, and estimation of the rema...
Facilitated search of proteins on DNA: correlations are important

A starting point of many biological processes is protein binding to specific regions on DNA. Although typical concentrations of DNA-binding proteins are low, and target sites are typically buried among huge number of non-specific sites, the search process is frequently achieved at a remarkably fast rate. For some proteins it has been confirmed that association rates might be even larger than the maximal allowed three-dimensional diffusion rates. The current theoretical view of this phenomenon is based on the idea of lowering dimensionality, i.e., the overall search process is viewed as a combination of uncorrelated three-dimensional excursions in the solution and one-dimensional hoppings on DNA. However, some predictions of this theoretical picture contradict recent single-molecule measurements of protein diffusion processes. An alternative theoretical approach points out the importance of correlations during the search process that appear due to non-specific interactions between protein and DNA molecules. To test different theoretical ideas we performed extensive lattice Monte Carlo computer simulations of the facilitated diffusion. Our results revealed that correlations are important, and the acceleration in the search could only be achieved at some intermediate non-specific binding energies and protein concentrations. Physico-chemical aspects and the origins of these correlations are discussed.
Team collaboration: the use of behavior principles for serving students with ASD.

Purpose Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and behavior analysts are key members of school-based teams that serve children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Behavior analysts approach assessme...
Bone loss and hormone therapy.

Excerpt To the editor: I was surprised on reading the report by Recker, Saville, and Heaney, "Effect of Estrogens and Calcium Carbonate on Bone Loss in Post-menopausal Women" (Ann Intern Med87:649-...
Isolating individual wheat (Triticum aestivum) chromosome arms by flow cytometric analysis of ditelosomic lines

We are reporting the successful isolation of wheat chromosome arm 1DS by flow cytometry. A chromosome suspension was prepared for the 1DS ditelosomic line and the normal ‘Chinese Spring’ (CS) by chopping 2-day-old root tip meristems, synchronized by hydroxyurea, in HEPES-magnesium sulfate buffer containing propidium iodide. Chromosomes were analyzed and sorted with a FACS Vantage flow cytometer and cell sorter. An extra peak was observed in the flow karyotype of the ditelosomic line that was absent in ‘CS’. The estimated size of chromosomes from the extra peak matched with the expected size of chromosome 1DS. Chromosomes from the putative 1DS peak were analyzed by both fluorescent microscopy and N-banding analysis. A total of 571 chromosomes from two separate experiments were analyzed, and all were observed to be telosomics except for 2 which were broken. About 82% of these telosomics showed the diagnostic N-band of 1DS, the remaining were unbanded and are probably also 1DS. This strategy can also be used to sort other wheat arms.
Remodeling of arterial conduits in coronary grafting.

Abstract In the initial decade of coronary surgery, serial angiography of internal thoracic artery grafts revealed increased caliber in some, decreased caliber in others, and "string sign" in a few, which was occasionally documented to be reversible. Although we speculated on possible causes of these changes, it was not until discovery of the endothelial role in modulating arterial diameter to maintain shear stress in a narrow range that we began to gain insight into the mechanisms responsible for remodeling of the arterial wall. This review provides a glimpse of the physiology and biology of arterial remodeling and summarizes observations on the various arterial conduits when subjected to flow alterations.
Antiproliferative potency of structurally distinct dietary flavonoids on human colon cancer cells

Dietary flavonoids are known to be antiproliferative and may play an important role in cancer chemoprevention, especially cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, because of a direct contact with food. This study was designed to compare the antiproliferative potency of several structurally distinct dietary flavonoids in colon cancer cells, Caco-2 and HT-29, and in rat non-transformed intestinal crypt cells, IEC-6. Flavonoids varied significantly in their antiproliferative potency depending on the structural features but the observations were consistent among the three cell lines studied. Of the two most potent flavonoids, quercetin and genistein, the effect was found to be dose-dependent and chromatin condensation, an indication of apoptosis, was noticed. Quercetin was found to distribute throughout the cell with higher amounts in the perinuclear and nucleoli areas. The lack of specific cell membrane enrichment by quercetin was consistent with its lack of effect on the transepithelial resistance. While several flavonoids including quercetin were found to be unstable, the chemical instability did not correlate with the antiproliferative potency, although it may contribute to the antiproliferative effect.
Effect of noise on front propagation

We study the role of noise in the propagation of a front into an unstable medium, as described by a Langevin equation for a scalar field. We investigate the crossover that occurs between constant-velocity propagation at early times and diffusive behavior at late times. We show that the time at which this crossover occurs is strongly correlated with the growth of the local value of the order parameter in the unstable region ahead of the front. We discuss the implications of our results concerning the relevance of noise terms in nonequilibrium problems involving spatial inhomogeneities.
Microtubule disassembly delays the G2–M transition in vertebrates

Abstract When cell cultures in growth are treated with drugs that cause microtubules to disassemble, the mitotic index (MI) progressively increases as the cells accumulate in a C-mitosis. For many cell types, however, including rat kangaroo kidney PtK 1 cells, the MI does not increase during the first several hours of treatment [1–3] (Figure 1Figure 1 (a) PtK 1 , (b) green monkey kidney (LLC-MK), and (c) pig kidney (PK) cultures were either untreated (white), or treated with nocodazole (light gray) or taxol (dark grey), and log(1 + MI) versus time (min) plotted. In contrast to taxol treatment, the MI in all of these cell types failed to increase during the first 150 min of nocodazole treatment.). This ‘lag' implies either that cells are entering mitosis but rapidly escaping the block, or that they are delayed from entering division. To differentiate between these possibilities, we fixed PtK 1 cultures 0, 90 and 270 minutes after treatment with nocodazole, colcemid, lumi-colcemid, taxol or cytochalasin D. After 90 minutes, we found that the numbers of prophase cells in cultures treated with nocodazole or colcemid were reduced by ∼80% relative to cultures treated with lumi-colcemid, cytochalasin D or taxol. Thus, destroying microtubules delays late G 2 cells from entering prophase and, as the MI does not increase during this time, existing prophase cells do not enter prometaphase. When mid-prophase cells were treated with nocodazole, the majority (70%) decondensed their chromosomes and returned to G 2 before re-entering and completing prophase 3–10 hours later. Thus, a pathway exists in vertebrates that delays the G 2 –M transition when microtubules are disassembled during the terminal stages of G 2 . As this pathway induces mid-prophase cells to transiently decondense their chromosomes, it is likely that it downregulates the cyclin A–cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) complex, which is required in vertebrates for the early stages of prophase [4].
Antimicrobial polymers as synthetic mimics of host-defense peptides

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria ‘superbugs’ are an emerging threat to public health due to the decrease in effective antibiotics as well as the slowed pace of development of new antibiotics to replace those that become ineffective. The need for new antimicrobial agents is a well-documented issue relating to world health. Tremendous efforts have been given to developing compounds that not only show high efficacy, but also those that are less susceptible to resistance development in the bacteria. However, the development of newer, stronger antibiotics which can overcome these acquired resistances is still a scientific challenge because a new mode of antimicrobial action is likely required. To that end, amphiphilic, cationic polymers have emerged as a promising candidate for further development as an antimicrobial agent with decreased potential for resistance development. These polymers are designed to mimic naturally occurring host-defense antimicrobial peptides which act on bacterial cell walls or membranes. Antimicrobial-peptide mimetic polymers display antibacterial activity against a broad spectrum of bacteria including drug-resistant strains and are less susceptible to resistance development in bacteria. These polymers also showed selective activity to bacteria over mammalian cells. Antimicrobial polymers provide a new molecular framework for chemical modification and adaptation to tune their biological functions. The peptide-mimetic design of antimicrobial polymers will be versatile, generating a new generation of antibiotics toward implementation of polymers in biomedical applications. WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2013, 5:49–66. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1199 Conflict of interest: K. K. is a coinventor on a patent application filed by the University of Pennsylvania covering ‘Antimicrobial Copolymers and Uses Thereof’. The patent application has been licensed to PolyMedix Inc. (Radnor, PA). PolyMedix did not play a role in the design and conduct of this study; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data; or in the preparation, review, or approval of the article. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Single-crystal electronic spectrum of ferrocene at 4.2°K

Abstract The single-crystal absorption spectrum of ferrocene at 4.2°K has been obtained in the 3000–6000 A region. The three observed bands were assigned as spin-allowed d-d transitions. A definitive ligand field interpretation of the electronic spectrum of ferrocene resulted.
Sensitivity and specificity of anti-Jo-1 antibodies in autoimmune diseases with myositis

Objective. To determine the sensitivity and specificity of anti-Jo-1 in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with and without myositis. Methods. Immunoblots on HeLa nuclei were used to screen sera from 554 consecutive connective tissue disease patients. Those who had 45–55-kd bands, all patients with polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM), and a random selection of SSc, Raynaud's disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis patients were also studied by anti–Jo-1 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and by immunoblots on rabbit pooled aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetase. Results. Anti–Jo-1 was present only in 8 of the 40 PM/DM patients. Conclusion. Anti–Jo-1 is specific for PM/DM.
Cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage

Abstract Cerebral vasospasm occurs in a significant number of individuals following subarachnoid hemorrhage secondary to a ruptured intracranial aneurysm. It is presently the single most important cause of neurological morbidity and mortality in this group of patients. The pathogenesis of the morphological changes seen in vasospastic vessels and the factors leading to the clinical syndrome of symptomatic vasospasm remain incompletely understood. However, recent progress has been made in both determining the pathophysiology of this disorder and in formulating a clinical approach to its prevention and treatment.
Crystal Structures at High Pressures of Metallic Modifications of Compounds of Indium, Gallium, and Aluminum

X-ray diffraction shows that the high-pressure modifications (at 22 to 130 kilobars) of the antimonides of indium, gallium, and aluminum are analogous to white tin. The arsenide and phosphide of indium transform to NaCl type. The transformation of these semiconductors to their metallic states is empirically related to their energy gap under normal conditions.
Variable Pressure Ion Chamber For Relative And Absolute Flux Measurement

When an X-ray beam is not monochromatic, the transmitted flux through an absorber is not an exponential function of the absorber thickness. Instead, it may be a sum of two, three, or more exponential functions depending on whether the beam contains photons of two, three, or more different energies. This work shows that if the thickness of a gaseous absorber is continuously varied by adjusting the gas pressure, the relative strength of different harmonics in the monochromator output can be determined. This method also provides an accurate means to measure the absolute cross section of the gas molecules, and in conjunction with a modified Samson type ion chamber may also be used to measure the absolute photon flux as well.
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF PENSION PLANS

IT MAY BE CONTENDED that any one person's critical evaluation of pension plans must be inadequate since his notion as to the success or failure of the plan will depend on what goal he has in mind for it. The argument follows that since plans serve different purposes for different people, a poor mark in its evaluation by one person may have no relevance in evaluating its success for another person. To be more specific, it is often stated as a foregone conclusion that the goals set for pension plans by the Government are inconsistent with the objectives of employers; with the result that a poor mark from the Government may merely indicate the success of the plan from the employer's point of view. This argument will not withstand a critical evaluation. In many respects, the success or failure of a pension plan in fulfilling its expectations will depend on constant factors; whether this success or failure is from the viewpoint of the employer, the employee, or the Government. An example in point is the matter of guaranteeing that an employee's pension expectations will, in fact, be met through the payment of pension benefits to him. For the employer, a pension plan will surely survive its critical evaluation if it serves as an effective inducement to prospective employees and, at the same time, acts as a positive incentive for his existing employees to stay with the company. In either respect, however, the plan will be a success only if there is a reality behind its promise and this reality is known to the employees. If not, the pension plan certainly will not be a factor in an employee's decision to join-and remain-with the company. For the employee, a pension plan will probably represent an important element in his retirement planning. With this promise of retirement funds, he will feel secure in using more of his present income for other types of savings or perhaps for consumption. If he retires and receives his pension, his critical evaluation will likewise be positive. If, on the other hand, there are no funds to meet his benefit payments, the plan from his standpoint is an utter failure. For society, private pension plans represent a valuable supplement to the basic social security system. They enable employees to retire with incomes more closely related to their existing standards of living than would be possible by relying solely on the social security system within its present structure. If the private retirement system is successful in meeting this goal, society, as a whole, would undoubtedly give it a high mark in its critical evaluation. However, this goal can be met only if the pension plans, in fact, make the pension distributions which they promise. Thus, there is at least one common measure of the success or failure of a
Successful application of communication techniques to improve the systems development process

Abstract Inadequate system requirements specifications reflect ineffective communication transactions between system users and developers. Today, effective communication between developers and users is more important than ever as organizations redirect resources to the development of decision/expert and communication support systems and to helping users develop their own systems. This paper reports on an exploratory study which tested the use of the Precision Model, a generalized communication model that draws upon a set of communication behaviors to facilitate effective communication between users and developers. These behaviors were incorporated into a general format for running design team meetings. The findings indicate that the new meeting format improved the communication between users and developers and enhanced their ability to develop shared, accurate and complete system requirements. In addition, the use of this format led to a reduction in the number of and length of meetings. It also demonstrated that developers were better able to develop and maintain rapport with users and that team members felt more productive and satisfied when meetings concluded. This research identifies specific behaviors and guidelines that can be used to improve the requirements definition process in any systems development project.
AGU Planet Earth Committee Report: Part I

In April 1988, AGU adopted a Planet Earth Initiative policy, which stated, in part, that AGU “recommends that the United States take the initiative among nations to establish an international observing system which, in conjunction with an active research program, will allow scientists to understand natural and anthropogenic changes in the Earth's environment and the global-scale forces that control them …” In furtherance of this position, a Planet Earth Committee was appointed in October 1988 with the responsibility of defining and helping to get implemented the Planet Earth Initiative (PEI). To do this, its activities were to include the following:
Partial characterization of cacao pod and stem gums

Abstract Histochemical analysis confirmed the ubiquitous presence of gums in Theobroma cacao. Gums from cacao stems and pod husks were prepared and partially characterized. Both gum preparations contained 2–3% protein after treatment with a cation-exchange resin, indicating that they are protein-polysaccharides. They both contained Gal, Glc, Rha, Ara, Xyl, GalA, and GlcA, stem gum in molar ratios of 1·0:2·8:1·9:0·3:0·1:2·4:1·2 and pod gum in molar ratios of 1·0:0·2:1·9:0·2:trace:4·2:1·3. Both cacao gums contained considerably more uronic acid than did gum karaya, and were approximately ten times less viscous than gum karaya.
College students' judgments regarding sexual aggression during a date

Effects of level of resistance and type of sexual behavior on judgments regarding sexual aggression on a date were studied. Participants were 138 female and 57 male college students who read one of six vignettes (three levels of resistance × two types of sexual behavior) describing a date in which unwanted sexual behavior occurred. Gender-neutral names (Chris and Pat) were used in the vignettes, and sex of aggressor and victim was not specified. Participants completed identical scales describing degree of disapproval of the aggressor's behavior from three different perspectives: their own viewpoint (Participant Rating), the victim's viewpoint (Victim Rating), and the aggressor's viewpoint (Aggressor Rating). Both Participant and Victim Ratings showed significant differences between levels of resistance, and significant but smaller differences due to participant gender. Participant ratings showed a significant but small difference between types of sexual behavior. The aggressor's overall behavior was labeled as date/acquaintance rape by 52.9% of participants for the vignette involving physical resistance and intercourse.
Titanium‐mediated living radical styrene polymerizations. V. Cp2TiCl‐catalyzed initiation by epoxide radical ring opening: Effect of solvents and additives

The effects of solvents, additives, ligands, and solvent in situ drying agents as well as catalyst and initiator concentrations have been investigated in the Cp2TiCl-catalyzed radical polymerization of styrene initiated by epoxide radical ring opening. On the basis of the solubilization of Cp2Ti(III)Cl and the polydispersity of the resulting polymer, the solvents rank as follows: dioxanetetrahydrofuran > diethylene glycol dimethyl ether > methoxybenzene > diphenyl etherbulk > tol- uenepyridine > dimethylformamide > 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone > dimethylaceta- mide > ethylene carbonate, acetonitrile, and trioxane. Alkoxide additives such as alu- minum triisopropoxide and titanium(IV) isopropoxide are involved in alkoxide ligand exchange with the epoxide-derived titanium alkoxide and lead to broad molecular weight distributions, whereas similarly to strongly coordinating solvents, ligands such as bipyridyl block the titanium active site and prevent the polymerization. By contrast, softer ligands such as triphenylphosphine improve the polymerization in less polar solvents such as toluene. Although mixed hydrides such as lithium tri-tert- butoxyaluminum hydride, sodium borohydride, and lithium aluminum hydride react with bis(cyclopentadienyl)titanium dichloride to form mixed titanium hydride species ineffective in polymerization control, simple hydrides such as lithium hydride, sodium hydride, and especially calcium hydride are particularly effective as in situ trace water scavengers in this polymerization. V C 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2015-2026, 2006
Running characteristics of MIG heads against MP, barium ferrite and ME tapes

The running characteristics (signal stability) of MIG heads against MP, barium ferrite and ME tapes were studied by measuring friction force between a tape and head, head output and head contour. The tests were conducted in the still and streaming modes of operation. Some still mode testing was also conducted at different temperatures and humidities. Based on this study, running characteristics of MP and barium ferrite tapes appear to be superior to that of ME tapes. >
Prediction of internal bond strength in a medium density fiberboard process using multivariate statistical methods and variable selection

This paper presents new data mining-based multivariate calibration models for predicting internal bond strength from medium density fiberboard (MDF) process variables. It utilizes genetic algorithms (GA) based variable selection combined with several calibration methods. By adopting a proper variable selection scheme, the prediction performance can be improved because of the exclusion of non-informative variable(s). A case study using real plant data showed that the calibration models based on the process variables selected by GA produced better performance than those without variable selection, with the exception of the radial basis function (RBF) neural networks model. In particular, the calibration model based on supervised probabilistic principal component analysis (SPPCA) yielded better performance (only when using GA) than partial least squares (PLS), orthogonal-PLS (O-PLS), and radial basis function neural networks models. The SPPCA model benefits most from the use of GA-based variable selection in this case study.
Maintaining Network QoS Across NIC Device Driver Failures Using Virtualization

Device driver failures have been shown to be a major cause of system failures. Network services stress NIC device drivers, increasing the probability of NIC driver bugs being manifested as server failures. System virtualization is increasingly used for server consolidation and management. The isolated driver domain (IDD) architecture used by several virtual machine monitors, such as Xen, forms a natural foundation for making systems resilient to NIC driver failures. In order to realize this potential, recovery must be fast enough to maintain QoS for network services across NIC driver failures. We show that the standard Xen configuration, enhanced with simple detection and recovery mechanisms, cannot provide such QoS. However, with NIC drivers isolated in two virtual machines, in a primary/warm-spare configuration, the system can recover from an overwhelming majority of NIC driver failures in under 10ms.
Nickel Nanocomposite Thin Films

Abstract : Nickel was deposited on epitaxial TiN matrix layer grown on Si (100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition process (PLD). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) study shows that nanoparticles formed are single crystals with two kinds of epitaxial relationship with respect to matrix TiN. One is cube on cube, where (200) Ni // (200) TiN // (200) Si and (02 2) Ni // (02 2) TiN // (02 2) Si. The particles grown in this orientation have a trapezoidal morphology in 011 projection. The other involves a 90 deg rotation with respect to 011 direction of TiN matrix (zone axis), where (0 22) Ni // (200) TiN // (200) Si and (200) Ni // (02 2) TiN // (02 2) Si. The particles grown in this rotated orientation have a triangular morphology in 011 projection and a smaller lattice constant compared with that of pure nickel. The possible mechanism of forming these two epitaxial orientations is discussed. Superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometer was used for magnetic measurements. In order to investigate the effect of texturing on magnetic properties of nanoparticles, results were compared with those obtained from Ni nanoparticles grown on amorphous Al2O3 matrix layer in previous research. It was found that both blocking temperature and coercivity of Ni nanoparticles grown on epitaxial TiN matrix are significantly higher than that of Ni grown on amorphous Al2O3. The higher value of coercivity is possibly associated with the stronger tendency of crystallographically oriented particles to retain their magnetic moments in the presence of reversing magnetic field.
Maximizing the sensitivity of a screening questionnaire for determining Fragile X at-risk status.

Parents of 55 preschool and school-aged children with the FMR1 full mutation (fM) completed a brief screening questionnaire. Parents of 55 additional children, each of whom was individually matched for sex, age, and IQ to one of the 55 children with Fragile X syndrome, also completed a questionnaire. Items on the questionnaire concerned behavior, rather than physical features or family history, associated with Fragile X syndrome. Children with the fM were more likely than controls to be on prescription medication, to have poor eye contact, to be described as nervous or anxious, and to regularly engage in repetitive movements and/or repetitive speech. Moreover, children with the fM received higher total scores on the questionnaire than their matched controls. These results suggest that questions about behavior are useful in the diagnostic evaluation of Fragile X syndrome, especially in the absence of the recognizable physical features associated with this condition. Am. J. Med. Genet. 83:281‐ 285, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Human telomere, oncogenic promoter and 5′-UTR G-quadruplexes: diverse higher order DNA and RNA targets for cancer therapeutics

Guanine-rich DNA sequences can form G-quadruplexes stabilized by stacked G–G–G–G tetrads in monovalent cation-containing solution. The length and number of individual G-tracts and the length and sequence context of linker residues define the diverse topologies adopted by G-quadruplexes. The review highlights recent solution NMR-based G-quadruplex structures formed by the four-repeat human telomere in K+ solution and the guanine-rich strands of c-myc, c-kit and variant bcl-2 oncogenic promoters, as well as a bimolecular G-quadruplex that targets HIV-1 integrase. Such structure determinations have helped to identify unanticipated scaffolds such as interlocked G-quadruplexes, as well as novel topologies represented by double-chain-reversal and V-shaped loops, triads, mixed tetrads, adenine-mediated pentads and hexads and snap-back G-tetrad alignments. The review also highlights the recent identification of guanine-rich sequences positioned adjacent to translation start sites in 5′-untranslated regions (5′-UTRs) of RNA oncogenic sequences. The activity of the enzyme telomerase, which maintains telomere length, can be negatively regulated through G-quadruplex formation at telomeric ends. The review evaluates progress related to ongoing efforts to identify small molecule drugs that bind and stabilize distinct G-quadruplex scaffolds associated with telomeric and oncogenic sequences, and outlines progress towards identifying recognition principles based on several X-ray-based structures of ligand–G-quadruplex complexes.
A cascaded scheme for eye tracking and head movement compensation

The authors previously (1995) proposed an efficient method for tracking the eye movements. The proposed algorithm did not address the issue of compensating for head movements. Head movements are normally much slower than eye movements and can be compensated for using another tracking scheme for head position. In this paper, a hybrid method employing the two tracking schemes is developed. To this end, first a measurement model for the compensation of the head movement is formulated and then the overall tracking scheme is implemented by cascading two Kalman filters. The tracking of the iris movement is followed by the compensation of the head movement for each image frame. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the accuracy aspects and the real-time applicability of the proposed approach.
The Changing Global Geography of Low-Technology, Labor-Intensive Industry: Clothing, Footwear, and Furniture

Summary A basic approach to the geographic investigation of low-technology, labor-intensive industries is sketched out by invoking notions of industrial organization, locational agglomeration, and spatial divisions of labor. The distribution of the clothing, footwear, and furniture industries across the contemporary world is described on the basis of detailed published statistics. Special emphasis is accorded to similarities and contrasts in the geography of production between more developed and less developed countries. I show that no matter what the level of development, agglomeration tends to be a pervasive (though not universal) feature of these three industries. Global trading patterns in the three industries are subjected to extended investigation. I examine international flows of finished products as well as production-sharing activities involving various kinds of subcontracting arrangements between high-wage and low-wage countries. I then attempt to demonstrate in theory how spatial agglomeration and international commodity flows function as mutually reinforcing phenomena via the play of increasing returns effects. The significance of low-wage, low-technology industries for processes of economic development is also stressed. In the conclusion I suggest that the global geography of production is tending more and more to assume the form of a far-flung mosaic of competing and collaborating agglomerations at various levels of productive capability and development.
Empowering Students With Cultural Competence Knowledge: Randomized Controlled Trial of a Cultural Competence Curriculum for Third-Year Medical Students

Background Formal training in cultural competence for health care providers has become vital as the US population continues to become increasingly culturally diverse. However, a low percentage of medical schools offer formal training in this area, and there is a lack of curriculum evaluation reported in the literature. Purpose To determine the impact of formal cultural competence teaching on third-year medical students’ knowledge of cultural competence. Method Data from 109 third-year medical students during the period of November 2001 to February 2004 were analyzed in the study. The intervention was a comprehensive cultural competence curriculum, and the primary outcome measure was the change score in cultural competence knowledge demonstrated by the medical students after completing a precourse and postcourse 40-item multiplechoice questionnaire. Results Forty-seven medical students in the control group and 62 medical students in the intervention group completed both the pretest and posttest. The overall knowledge scores in the intervention group increased by 19%, compared to a 4% increase in the controls (p Conclusions Third-year medical students in the intervention group were significantly empowered with cultural competence knowledge when compared to the control group.
Review: Angiotensin II receptor blockers and cardiovascular outcomes: what does the future hold?

Keywords: angiotensin II receptor blocker, ACE inhibitor, outcome trials, renin-angiotensin- aldosterone system, cardiovascular protection Abstract The ability of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) to lower blood pressure (BP) is well established. ACE inhibitors (ACE-Is) have also been shown to improve the prognosis of a broad range of patients at high cardiovascular risk, including those with heart failure, post-myocardial infarction (MI), and nephropathy. These benefits suggest that interrupting the renin- angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) with ACE-Is has a widespread vasculoprotective effect, provided that BP is also adequately controlled. Evidence that RAAS blockade by ARBs also improves long-term clinical outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease has started to accumulate, and will be tested further during the coming years as a number of large- scale, prospective trials are completed. These trials are investigating the long-term protective effects of ARBs on morbidity and mortality in patients with hypertension, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, acute MI, or established vascular disease. The results should establish the extent to which ARBs exhibit the vasculoprotective properties demonstrated by ACE-Is in patients at high cardiovascular risk. If ARBs are found to provide benefits that are similar to, or even greater than ACE-Is, it may have important implications for drug selection, given the excellent tolerability of ARBs. Some studies are also investigating whether more extensive RAAS blockade using a combination of an ARB and an ACE-I will offer even greater protection than either agent alone.
Sarcospan: a small protein with large potential for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Purification of the proteins associated with dystrophin, the gene product responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, led to the discovery of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex. Sarcospan, a 25-kDa transmembrane protein, was the last component to be identified and its function in skeletal muscle has been elusive. This review will focus on progress over the last decade revealing that sarcospan is an important regulator of muscle cell adhesion, strength, and regeneration. Investigations using several transgenic mouse models demonstrate that overexpression of sarcospan in the mouse model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy ameliorates pathology and restores muscle cell binding to laminin. Sarcospan improves cell surface expression of the dystrophin- and utrophin-glycoprotein complexes as well as α7β1 integrin, which are the three major laminin-binding complexes in muscle. Utrophin and α7β1 integrin compensate for the loss of dystrophin and the finding that sarcospan increases their abundance at the extra-synaptic sarcolemma supports the use of sarcospan as a therapeutic target. Newly discovered phenotypes in sarcospan-deficient mice, including a reduction in specific force output and increased drop in force in the diaphragm muscle, result from decreased utrophin and dystrophin expression and further reveal sarcospan’s role in determining abundance of these complexes. Dystrophin protein levels and the specific force output of the diaphragm muscle are further reduced upon genetic removal of α7 integrin (Itga7) in SSPN-deficient mice, demonstrating that interactions between integrin and sarcospan are critical for maintenance of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex and force production of the diaphragm muscle. Sarcospan is a major regulator of Akt signaling pathways and sarcospan-deficiency significantly impairs muscle regeneration, a process that is dependent on Akt activation. Intriguingly, sarcospan regulates glycosylation of a specific subpopulation of α-dystroglycan, the laminin-binding receptor associated with dystrophin and utrophin, localized to the neuromuscular junction. Understanding the basic mechanisms responsible for assembly and trafficking of the dystrophin- and utrophin-glycoprotein complexes to the cell surface is lacking and recent studies suggest that sarcospan plays a role in these essential processes.
Immersive volume visualization of seismic simulations: A case study of techniques invented and lessons learned

This paper is a documentation of techniques invented, results obtained and lessons learned while creating visualization algorithms to render outputs of large-scale seismic simulations. The objective is the development of techniques for a collaborative simulation and visualization shared between structural engineers, seismologists, and computer scientists. The computer graphics research community has been witnessing a large number of exemplary publications addressing the challenges faced while trying to visualize both large-scale surface and volumetric datasets lately. From a visualization perspective, issues like data preprocessing (simplification, sampling, filtering, etc.); rendering algorithms (surface and volume), and interaction paradigms (large-scale, highly interactive, highly immersive, etc.) have been areas of study. In this light, we outline and describe the milestones achieved in a large-scale simulation and visualization project, which opened the scope for combining existing techniques with new methods, especially in those cases where no existing methods were suitable. We elucidate the data simplification and reorganization schemes that we used, and discuss the problems we encountered and the solutions we found. We describe both desktop (high-end local as well as remote) interfaces and immersive visualization systems that we developed to employ interactive surface and volume rendering algorithms. Finally, we describe the results obtained, challenges that still need to be addressed, and ongoing efforts to meet the challenges of large-scale visualization.
Risk factors for amblyopia in children with capillary hemangiomas of the eyelids and orbit.

Introduction: Capillary hemangiomas are the most common orbital tumors of childhood and can cause amblyopia secondary to occlusion of the pupil, anisometropia, or strabismus. We undertook this study to describe the clinical characteristics of children with capillary hemangiomas and to propose a classification system to guide clinical treatment decisions. Methods: A retrospective review of the records of 129 patients with 132 capillary hemangiomas in two pediatric ophthalmology practices was conducted. Hemangiomas were classified based on size. Presence of aniosometropic astigmatism, ptosis, pupillary occlusion, lid margin change, proptosis, globe displacement, and strabismus was recorded. Results: Thirty-one hemangiomas measured less than 1 cm in greatest dimension and were not associated with amblyogenic factors. Seventy-five patients had hemangiomas that measured greater than 1 cm, 40 of which were associated with amblyopia. Eighteen children had diffuse hemangiomas that could not be measured and 14 of these were associated with amblyopia. Five of seven hemangiomas in six patients with PHACES syndrome were associated with amblyopia. Conclusion: This study is the largest review of capillary hemangiomas of the orbit and eyelids. Our findings suggest that size greater than 1 cm in largest diameter is an important predictor of amblyogenic factors and approximately half of these patients will require treatment. Diffuse hemangiomas and hemangiomas in patients with PHACES syndrome will cause amblyopia in the majority of cases.
Molecular and functional analysis of Drosophila single-minded larval central brain expression.

Abstract Developmental regulatory proteins are commonly utilized in multiple cell types throughout development. The Drosophila single-minded (sim) gene acts as master regulator of embryonic CNS midline cell development and transcription. However, it is also expressed in the brain during larval development. In this paper, we demonstrate that sim is expressed in three clusters of anterior central brain neurons: DAMv1/2, BAmas1/2, and TRdm and in three clusters of posterior central brain neurons: a subset of DPM neurons, and two previously unidentified clusters, which we term PLSC and PSC. In addition, sim is expressed in the lamina and medulla of the optic lobes. MARCM studies confirm that sim is expressed at high levels in neurons but is low or absent in neuroblasts (NBs) and ganglion mother cell (GMC) precursors. In the anterior brain, sim+ neurons are detected in 1st and 2nd instar larvae but rapidly increase in number during the 3rd instar stage. To understand the regulation of sim brain transcription, 12 fragments encompassing 5′-flanking, intronic, and 3′-flanking regions were tested for the presence of enhancers that drive brain expression of a reporter gene. Three of these fragments drove expression in sim+ brain cells, including all sim+ neuronal clusters in the central brain and optic lobes. One fragment upstream of sim is autoregulatory and is expressed in all sim+ brain cells. One intronic fragment drives expression in only the PSC and laminar neurons. Another downstream intronic fragment drives expression in all sim+ brain neurons, except the PSC and lamina. Thus, together these two enhancers drive expression in all sim+ brain neurons. Sequence analysis of existing sim mutant alleles identified three likely null alleles to utilize in MARCM experiments to examine sim brain function. Mutant clones of DAMv1/2 neurons revealed a consistent axonal fasciculation defect. Thus, unlike the embryonic roles of sim that control CNS midline neuron and glial formation and differentiation, postembryonic sim, instead, controls aspects of axon guidance in the brain. This resembles the roles of vertebrate sim that have an early role in neuronal migration and a later role in axonogenesis.
MISR: a new way to look at clouds

The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) on-board EOS-Terra is the first high-resolution imager to make global, near-simultaneous, multispectral, multi-angle radiometric measurements of the Earth (Diner et al. 1998). Its unique ability to retrieve combined spectral and angular signatures allows the authors to exploit both the spectral and angular information content of the upwelling radiation field in order to remotely sense properties of the Earth-atmosphere system. This paper highlights two of MISR's unique ways of studying clouds: (1) a stereoscopic capability to derive cloud-top heights and to detect cloud, and (2) the first application of band-differenced angular signatures to detect thin cirrus clouds.
Tempting and Testing through Costly Monitoring

A principal can hire an agent of hidden quality to work on a project with a long horizon, but strictly prefers his outside option to hiring a low type. The project's output is not observable so they cannot contract on performance. Every period that the agent is employed, the principal can perfectly monitor the agent's activities at a cost. The agent can either exert effort or shirk. The high type's preferences are aligned with the principal so he strictly prefers to exert effort. The low type finds it costly to exert effort, but may find it worthwhile to do so in order to deceive the principal. The principal's aim is to catch the low type shirking and fire him. Without commitment, monitoring has value for the principal if and only if he is pessimistic enough about the agent's quality. Monitoring decreases as the agent's reputation grows. With commitment, the principal's optimal contract involves monitoring even after learning that the agent is the high type. This reduces the incentive for low quality agents to deceive the principal. As an application I consider monitoring of an investment by a venture capitalist.
Promoting equity through health systems research in low- and middle-income countries: Practices of researchers

ABSTRACTBackground: Health systems research is increasingly identified as an indispensable means to achieve the goal of health equity between and within countries. While conceptual work has explored what form of health systems research in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is needed to promote health equity, there have been few attempts to investigate whether it is being performed in practice. Methods: This paper describes the results of a survey undertaken with health systems researchers worldwide (n = 104) to assess how equity-oriented current practice is in LMICs. Respondents were asked to answer all survey questions in relation to the externally-funded health systems research project in a LMIC(s) on which they had spent the most time during the past five years—referred to as the “index study.” Results: Data analysis indicates that 30% of respondents participated in health systems research focused on populations in LMICs that are worst-off in terms of their health. All respondents participated in ...