cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Experimental and computational approaches for the study of calmodulin interactions

Ca(2+), a universal messenger in eukaryotes, plays a major role in signaling pathways that control many growth and developmental processes in plants as well as their responses to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Cellular changes in Ca(2+) in response to diverse signals are recognized by protein sensors that either have their activity modulated or that interact with other proteins and modulate their activity. Calmodulins (CaMs) and CaM-like proteins (CMLs) are Ca(2+) sensors that have no enzymatic activity of their own but upon binding Ca(2+) interact and modulate the activity of other proteins involved in a large number of plant processes. Protein-protein interactions play a key role in Ca(2+)/CaM-mediated in signaling pathways. In this review, using CaM as an example, we discuss various experimental approaches and computational tools to identify protein-protein interactions. During the last two decades hundreds of CaM-binding proteins in plants have been identified using a variety of approaches ranging from simple screening of expression libraries with labeled CaM to high-throughput screens using protein chips. However, the high-throughput methods have not been applied to the entire proteome of any plant system. Nevertheless, the data provided by these screens allows the development of computational tools to predict CaM-interacting proteins. Using all known binding sites of CaM, we developed a computational method that predicted over 700 high confidence CaM interactors in the Arabidopsis proteome. Most (>600) of these are not known to bind calmodulin, suggesting that there are likely many more CaM targets than previously known. Functional analyses of some of the experimentally identified Ca(2+) sensor target proteins have uncovered their precise role in Ca(2+)-mediated processes. Further studies on identifying novel targets of CaM and CMLs and generating their interaction network - "calcium sensor interactome" - will help us in understanding how Ca(2+) regulates a myriad of cellular and physiological processes.
Differential neural regulation of a neuromuscular junction-associated antigen in muscle fibers and Schwann cells.

Monoclonal antibodies 3G2 and 4E2 recognize a postsynaptic component of rat neuromuscular junctions. In contrast to many other postsynaptic junctional antigens, expression of this antigen is nerve-dependent: immunoreactivity disappears form junctions following denervation and returns upon reinnervation (Astrow et al., 1992 J. Neurosci. 12:1602–1615). Here we show that the epitope is also expressed by Schwann cells and that this expression is also neurally regulated. Weak mAb 3G2/4E2 immunoreactivity was found in myelinating Schwann cells but was not detected in either nonmyelinating Schwann cells or in terminal Schwann cells at the neuromuscular junction. Following axotomy, immunoreactivity increased in myelinating Schwann cells, and nonmyelinating and terminal Schwann cells became immmunopositive. Moreover, the immunoreactivity in terminal Schwann cells revealed their extensive sprouting in response to denervation (Reynolds and Woolf, 1992, J. Neurocytol. 21:50–66). After nerve regeneration, mAb 3G2/4E2 immunoreactivity in all Schwann cells returned towards normal: it disappeared from temrinal Schwann cells, returned to low levels in myelinating Schwann cells, and decreased in nonmyelinating Schwann cells. Immunoblots of axotomized nerve and cultured muscle fibers revealed the same set of immunoreactive bands. Therefore, Schwann cells and muscle fibers share the expression of an epitope that is under neural control, but is regulated differently at each site. In Schwann cells, the presence of the nerve suppresses expression of the epitope, whereas in muscle fibers, the nerve terminal promotes this expression. The differential regulation of mAb 3G2/4E2 immunoreactivity in terminal Schwann cells and muscle fibers suggests that the epitope may be involved in interactions between nerve terminals and these cells. 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
High-temperature crystal structures and chemical modifications in RbH(2)PO(4).

We have used laboratory and synchrotron x-ray diffraction to investigate the structural and chemical changes undergone by polycrystalline RbH2PO4 upon heating within the 30–250 °C temperature interval. Our data show no evidence of the previously reported onset of partial polymerization at T = 96 °C (Park et al 2001 J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 13 9411) which was proposed as an explanation for the high-temperature proton conductivity enhancement in phosphate-based solid acids. Instead, we found that a tetragonal monoclinic polymorphic transition initiates at T≈90 °C. The transition is complete at T≈130 °C, and the new monoclinic RbH2PO4 polymorph is stable upon further heating to T = 200 °C. Moreover, its crystal structure is isomorphic to that of monoclinic CsH2PO4. This remarkable similarity suggests that the microscopic structures and dynamics responsible for the high-temperature superprotonic behavior of RbH2PO4 could be the same as those of its Cs-based counterpart.
HANDLING UNCERTAINTY IN THE ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS: A STOCHASTIC APPROACH

This paper describes a methodology for handling the propagation of uncertainty in the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). In real applications, the pairwise comparisons are usually subject to judgmental errors and are inconsistent and conflicting with each other. Therefore, the weight point estimates provided by the eigenvector method are necessarily approximate. This uncertainty associated with subjective judgmental errors may affect the rank order of decision alternatives. A new stochastic approach is presented to capture the uncertain behavior of the global AHP weights. This approach could help decision makers gain insight into how the imprecision in judgment ratios may affect their choice toward the best solution and how the best alternative(s) may be identified with certain confidence. The proposed approach is applied to the example problem introduced by Saaty for the best high school selection to illustrate the concepts introduced in this paper and to prove its usefulness and practicality.
Books — Digital signal processing: First, an overview; then a survey of the basic texts

The field of digital signal processing originated in the 1960s and accelerated in growth in the 1970s. It includes several basic operations on signals: reconstruction of signals from samples, analysis of the characteristics of signals, and signal filtering. Signal reconstruction refers to the operation of reforming a continuously varying signal, such as a voltage, a speed measurement, and other factors, from a set of evenly spaced samples of the signal.
Utilization of uridine in developing ovarioles of the kelp fly, Coelopa

Abstract The fate of 3 H-uridine in ovaries of the kelp fly C. frigida after injection into the female is followed by autoradiography and by thin layer chromatography over a time period of 4 hr. Autoradiography demonstrates that the label is incorporated initially into nuclear material in the nurse cells and follicle cells, and is transported from the nuclei into the cytoplasm within the first hour after injection. Reduced incorporation into nuclear material, after the first 2 hr following injection, is interpreted as depletion of exogenous precursor. Only a very small amount of label is found over the nuclei after 4 hr when the nurse cell cytoplasm is densely labeled. This indicates that most of the label is retained in long-lived products and is not available for the salvage pool. Analysis of the relative distribution of radioactivity in derivatives over a 4 hr time span corroborates the autoradiographic observations. The amount of radioactivity present in uridine, cytidine, and sugar nucleotides increases rapidly, though with different velocity for each nucleotide. The pattern of utilization during the first 2 hr, particularly of UTP, suggests preferential utilization of the exogenous precursor. After depletion of the salvage pool, labeled precursors provide low levels of specific activity for the nucleotide pool. The macromolecules synthesized after this time period do not show radioactivity.
Structural requirements of the rIn·rCn complex for Induction of human interferon☆

Abstract Two requirements for the polyriboinosinate and polycytidylate complex (rIn·rCn) to induce human interferon in cell cultures are generally assumed: (1) intactness of the double-stranded complex (with a Tm higher than the incubation temperature); (2) adequate resistance to nucleases. In this study, the rIn or rCn strand in the complex was interrupted either by unpaired bases (U or G) or by bond breakage. These imperfect complexes have Tm values substantially higher than 37 °C and can be protected from nucleases by complex formation with polylysine; this complex formation does not impair the induction ability of rIn·rCn. The r(I39,U)n·rCn and r(I21,U)n·rCn complexes were found to have little induction ability, while rIn·r(C20,G)n, rIn·r(C22,U)n, rIn·(C13,U)n and rIn·r(C7,U)n were found to be active. Similarly, rIn·oligocytidylate complexes (e.g. rIn·(Cp)23G > p) were active, while oligoinosinate rCn complexes (e.g. rI19·rCn) generally were not. Addition of poly l - (or d -) lysine to these imperfect complexes, although rendering them resistant to enzymic destruction, did not increase their antiviral activity. Thus, for interferon induction, the structural requirements in strand continuity and base-pairing are apparently more stringent in the rIn strand than in the rCn strand. Two inducers, rIn·r(C13,U)n and rIn·r(C20,G)n, may have a better therapeutic index than rIn·rCn itself; they are hydrolyzed by nucleases five- to eight-fold faster, and yet are nearly as active as interferon inducers.
The mechanism of the partial inhibition of fermentation in yeast by nickel ions

Abstract Nickel inhibits fermentation following its transport into a non-exchangeable compartment in the cell. Extracellular pH influences the inhibition by affecting the transport. One inside the cell, the Ni 2+ inhibiton can be modified by a number of factors such as flushing with gas, the presence of alcohol and acetaldehyde, the glucose concentration and the presence of O 2 . These modifications can be explained on the assumption that the predominant effect of Ni 2+ is to inhibit the enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase. Changes in absorption at 345 mμ (related to the NADH level) support this suggestion. Purified alcohol dehydrogenase is higly sensitive to Ni 2+ .
Long-distance electron transfer from a triplet excited state

Abstract Electron transfer from the triplet excited state of N,N,N',N'-tetramethylphenylene diamine to phthalic anhydride has been monitored by phosphorescence emission decay. The kinetics of the transfer process were observed directly and the rate constant depends exponentially on the reacting distance, k(r) = 1 × 10 4 exp(−0.58 r ) s −1 . The electron transfer rate has been found to be invariant over the temperature interval 77–143 K.
High-throughput programmable cryptocoprocessor

High-speed Internet protocol security (IPsec) applications require high throughput and flexible security engines. A loosely coupled cryptocoprocessor based on the advanced encryption standard combines high throughput with programmability. using domain-specific instructions and design principles such as control hierarchy and block pipelining, the security engine supports Internet protocol security and other networking applications.
A New Proof of a Theorem Due to Schoenflies

The electromagnetic field is thus obtained by superposing on the usual electromagnetic field of a moving electric pole a field derived from a type of field, which I have considered elsewhere,3 by writing H for E and -E for H. The properties of this additional field may be derived at once from the properties of the field described previously by simply interchanging the words magnetism and electricity. If (f, g, h) are no longer restricted to be the components of the acceleration and k is no longer restricted to be c2 -u2 v2w2, the formulae (3), (4) still specify an electromagnetic field in which a line of force is the locus of points moving with velocity c in directions specified by a set of equations of type (1) and these equations can still be reduced to Riccatian equations by means of the substitution (2). In a field of this more general type both electricity and magnetism travel away from the electric pole with the velocity of light while in the case of a field of Page's type there is an emission of magnetism but no emission of electricity. There is, however, no magnetic charge associate with the moving electric pole. In a field of this general type it is possible when f = g = h= = q = r = 0 for the points which trace out a line of force to move in one constant direction which is the same for all and for there to be no radiation of
Rank orderings of photoreceptor photon catches from natural objects are nearly illuminant-invariant

To examine the potential contribution of first-stage photoreceptor adaptation to color constancy, photon catches from 337 natural objects illuminated with phases of daylight and tungsten light were calculated for a model human fovea. The rank ordering of these photon catches within each cone photoreceptor class was examined. When first-stage adaptation is modeled using multiplicative or subtractive mechanisms, or a monotonic nonlinearity, no reordering of the rank ordering of photon catches is possible across illuminant changes. The observed rank orderings remained nearly invariant across illuminant changes for all three photoreceptor classes, although there was some local shifting in the rank orderings, thus ruling out the ability of von Kries adaptation alone to produce perfect color constancy. This means that for objects with natural reflectance spectra, the ordinal relationships between the photon catches within a class of photoreceptors exhibit only minor changes for these illuminant shifts. This result may be attributable to the fact that approx. 95% of the variance in these reflectance spectra is captured by the first principal component; objects that produce relatively few absorptions under one phase of daylight illumination will also produce relatively few absorptions under another phase. A geometric formalism for understanding these relationships is presented, and limitations on this analysis are discussed.
Chronic low back pain and depression

Abstract In an attempt to clarify the relationship between chronic low back pain and depression, the authors studied the incidence of depression, alcoholism, and chronic back pain in first-degree relatives of chronic pain patients with and without depression. A higher incidence of recurrent unipolar depression was found in those relatives of patients with depression than without depression. These findings raise questions about the concept of chronic low back pain simply as a variant of depression and they suggest that the occurrence of major depression together with chronic back pain might relate to genetic vulnerability to depression.
The effect of CAG repeat length polymorphism in the murine glucocorticoid receptor on transactivation potential

Severe sepsis remains an important cause of death, particularly among trauma and burn patients. The severity of the systemic inflammatory response after trauma or burns and susceptibility to sepsis vary among individuals. One possible mechanism is through differential effects on glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression by pro-inflammatory mediators (e.g. lipopolysaccharide signaling). In a mouse burn model, we demonstrated differential GR levels, size, and transcriptional activity in CD14 knockout (KO) mice when compared to wild-type (C57BL/6J) after injury. Sequence analysis revealed only 8 CAG repeats in the GR transactivation domain in the CD14 KO; the wild-type contained seventeen. A survey of genomic DNA from 51 mouse strains demonstrated CAG repeat length range from 7 - 17. We then studied the effect of polymorphism in CAG repeat length on GR activity. Fragments with CAG repeats varying from 8-40 (8, 17, 30, 38, and 40) were engineered and shuttled into the wild-type GR expression vector. The resulting plasmids were then co-transfected with a glucocorticoid response element linked to a luciferase in order to compare their transactivation potentials. Transactivation potential was highest in the 17-CAG GR. The effect of GR polymorphisms on GR activity warrants more research as this data suggests a mechanism for the individual differences in response to steroid treatment and the response to injury.
Improving passage ranking with user behavior information

User behavior information has proved valuable for inferring document relevance, but its role in deducing relevance at the passage/section level is not well explored. In this paper, we study how user behavior information implies section relevance, and use this information to improve section ranking. More specifically, we focus on four types of user search behavior that occur while browsing a document -- dwell time, highlighting, copying and clicks at the section level. Experimental results based on a commercial query log show that user behavior information can significantly improve section ranking. While section-level click information is a very powerful signal of relevance, it depends on an interface supporting section-level links. We find comparable levels of gain using other behavior information that does not depend upon such an interface.
Triplex formation by an oligonucleotide containing N4-(3-acetamidopropyl)cytosine

Triplex formation has been observed between an oligodeoxyribonucleotide duplex and an oligodeoxyribopyrimidine which contains N 4 -(3-acetamidopropyl)cytosine, a novel base analog which selectively interacts with a C-G base pair of the target duplex
Black box radiation gauges and analyzers: dream or reality?

Abstract This paper describes our attempts to make radiation gauges and analyzers operate in more of a ‘block box’ manner — being more independent of or at least more insensitive to changes in such things as sample composition and position. Our overall approach relies heavily on Monte Carlo simulation and that is discussed first in relation to radiation gauge and analyzer design and usage. Then the principles and applications of radiation gauges and analyzers including the Measurement Chi-Square and Monte Carlo Library Least-Squares, respectively, are treated. Finally future work in this area is discussed.
Who, why, when, and how: a development study*

Fifty children between the ages of 3; 0 and 5; 6 were asked six types of wh- questions following videotaped sequences. It is argued that differential difficulty of various forms of who questions supports a parallel model of information retrieval and processing during discourse. The differential difficulty of why and when questions are, however, attributable to a necessary progression in the ability to encode the relevant concepts linguistically. Responses to how questions are difficult because they involve a number of unrelated skills.
Group and individual accuracy in deception detection

Previous research examining the accuracy of deception detection judgments by individuals has concluded that the ability to detect deception is only slightly better than chance. Research has also found that individuals tend to be over‐confident, truth‐biased, and reliant on nonverbal behavior when making veracity judgments. This study (N = 129) tested if differences in deception detection accuracy, truth‐bias, judgmental confidences, and self‐reported cue reliance exist between individual judges and groups of individuals working in collaboration. No significant differences between groups and individuals emerged for accuracy, truth‐bias, or self‐reported cue reliance. Individuals within groups, however, were significantly more confident in their decisions than individuals working alone.
David Grove's Metaphor Therapy

Within the ever-expanding list of approaches to psychotherapy, there is a tendency to overlook deep imagery approaches. The current article reports on one such metaphor-based therapy developed by David Grove (Grove & Panzer, 1989). The approach is analyzed within the context of mainstream contemporary psychotherapy in general, the state of empirical understanding of common processes to psychotherapy, and in relation to other deep imagery-based approaches to therapy. Next, a step-by-step description of the techniques used within metaphor therapy are presented, along with a case example demonstrating the use of these techniques on a case involving pain symptoms. Finally, it is argued that deep imagery approaches in general, and Grove's approach in particular, may provide a means for greater theoretical integration within integrative healthcare.
State-Dependent Riccati Equation Control for Small Autonomous Helicopters

DOI: 10.2514/1.21910 This paper presents a flight control approach based on a state-dependent Riccati equation and its application to autonomous helicopters. For our experiments, we used two different platforms: an XCell-90 small hobby helicopter and a larger vehicle based on the Yamaha R-Max. The control design uses a six-degree-of-freedom nonlinear dynamicmodelthatismanipulated into apseudolinearformwheresystemmatricesare givenexplicitly asafunction of the current state. A standard Riccati equation is then solved numerically at each step of a 50 Hz control loop to design the nonlinear state feedback control law online. In addition, the state-dependent Riccati equation control is augmented with a nonlinear compensator that addresses issues with the mismatch between the original nonlinear dynamics and its pseudolinear transformation.
"Reenacting the Story of Tantalus": Eisenhower, Dulles, and the Failed Rhetoric of Liberation

This article examines Dwight Eisenhower's and John Foster Dulles's publicly declared goal to achieve the “liberation” of Eastern Europe, a goal that they claimed would replace the Truman administration's “passive” containment policy.But the evidence shows that Eisenhower and Dulles were unwilling to risk war with the Soviet Union and believed that liberation, if actually pursued, would induce the Soviet Union to react violently to perceived threats in Eastern Europe. Hence, in top-secret meetings and conversations, Eisenhower and Dulles rejected military liberation, despite their public pronouncements. Instead, they secretly pursued a tricky, risky, and long-term strategy of radio broadcasts and covert action designed to erode, rather than overthrow, Soviet power in Eastern Europe. In public, they continued to embrace liberation policy even when confronted with testimony from U.S. allies that the rhetorical diplomacy of liberation had not worked. This reliance on rhetoric failed to deter the Soviet Union ...
Effects of sulphur dioxide pollution on a Californian coastal sage scrub community.

Abstract Phytotoxic effects of sulphur dioxide emissions from an oil refinery (annual average of 0·09–0·17 ppm for a 25 year period) were studied near Santa Maria, on the rural central coast of California. Stands of coastal sage scrub along an SO 2 gradient downwind of the refinery were compared with stands in relatively pollution-free upwind sites. Physiological and growth changes in the dominant shrub, Salvia mellifera (black sage), were emphasised. Stomatal resistance of Salvia was found to be significantly lower on the polluted sites than on the pollution-free sites. Internodal stem length and heights of Salvia shrubs were also reduced. Significant reductions in photosynthetically active tissue of Salvia resulted from increased defoliation and decreased leaf size associated with SO 2 stress. Of particular ecological interest was the relative importance of species at different sites; abundance of perennial shrub species was significantly lower and abundance of annuals greater on the most polluted sites relative to the sites farthest from the SO 2 source. The influx of annuals and decrease in perennial cover resulted in greater species richness and reduced concentration of dominance similar to that observed in early post-fire sage scrub stands.
Eocene Epiphyllous Fungi

Fossil fungi belonging to the Meliolaceae and Microthyriaceae were found in Eocene deposits in Tennessee. Germinated spores for each form of fungus were identified. One of the two forms of the genus Meliola, (Meliolaceae) appears to have parasitized the leaf upon which it grew. The vegetative, sexual, and asexual reproductive structures are preserved in a member of the genus Asterina (Microthyriaceae). The discovery of these fungi indicates that Western Tennessee was warm and humid during the Eocene.
Kinetic ballooning instability for substorm onset and current disruption observed by AMPTE/CCE

A new scenario of AMPTE/CCE observation of substorm onset and current disruption and the corresponding physical processes is presented. Toward the end of late growth phase plasma beta increases to greater than or equal to 50 and a low-frequency instability with a wave period of 50-75 seconds is excited and grows exponentially to a large amplitude at the onset of current disruption. At the current disruption onset, higher-frequency instabilities are excited so that the plasma and electromagnetic magnetic field form a turbulent state. Plasma transport takes place to modify the ambient plasma pressure and velocity profiles so that the ambient magnetic field recovers from a tail-like geometry to a more dipole-like geometry. To understand the excitation of the low-frequency global instability, a new theory of kinetic ballooning instability (KBI) is proposed to explain the high critical beta threshold (the high critical beta threshold is greater than or equal to 50) of the low-frequency global instability observed by the AMPTE/CCE. The stabilization is mainly due to kinetic effects of trapped electrons and finite ion Larmor radii which give rise to a large parallel electric field and hence a parallel current that greatly enhances the stabilizing effect of field line tension tomore » the ballooning mode. As a result, the high critical beta threshold for excitation of KBI is greatly increased over the ideal-MHD ballooning instability threshold by greater than or equal to O(10 exp 2). The wave-ion magnetic drift resonance effect produces a perturbed resonant ion velocity distribution with a duskward velocity roughly equal to the average ion magnetic (gradient B and curvature) drift velocity. Higher-frequency instabilities such as cross-field current instability (CCI) can be excited by the additional velocity space free energy associated with the positive slope in the perturbed resonant ion velocity distribution in the current disruption phase.« less
Methodology for the determination of the interfacial properties of brittle matrix composites

The interfacial properties of a glass-ceramic matrix composite (SiC/CAS) were determined from single-fibre push-out tests using the interfacial test system. The coefficient of friction, μ, the residual clamping stress, σc, and fibre axial residual stress, σz, were extracted by fitting the experimental stress versus fibre-end displacement curves using the models of Hsueh, and Kerans and Parthasarathy. Using Hsueh's model, the intrinsic interfacial frictional stress (τ=μσc) was found to be 11.1±3.2 MPa, whereas by using Kerans-Parthasarathy's model it was found to be 8.2±1.5 MPa. Comparisons between these models are included, together with a discussion of data analysis techniques.
Improved Clinical Outcomes With High-Dose Image Guided Radiotherapy Compared With Non-IGRT for the Treatment of Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer

Purpose To compare toxicity profiles and biochemical tumor control outcomes between patients treated with high–dose image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) and high–dose intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for clinically localized prostate cancer. Materials and Methods Between 2008 and 2009, 186 patients with prostate cancer were treated with IGRT to a dose of 86.4 Gy with daily correction of the target position based on kilovoltage imaging of implanted prostatic fiducial markers. This group of patients was retrospectively compared with a similar cohort of 190 patients who were treated between 2006 and 2007 with IMRT to the same prescription dose without, however, implanted fiducial markers in place (non-IGRT). The median follow-up time was 2.8 years (range, 2–6 years). Results A significant reduction in late urinary toxicity was observed for IGRT patients compared with the non-IGRT patients. The 3-year likelihood of grade 2 and higher urinary toxicity for the IGRT and non-IGRT cohorts were 10.4% and 20.0%, respectively ( p = 0.02). Multivariate analysis identifying predictors for grade 2 or higher late urinary toxicity demonstrated that, in addition to the baseline Internatinoal Prostate Symptom Score, IGRT was associated with significantly less late urinary toxicity compared with non-IGRT. The incidence of grade 2 and higher rectal toxicity was low for both treatment groups (1.0% and 1.6%, respectively; p = 0.81). No differences in prostate-specific antigen relapse-free survival outcomes were observed for low- and intermediate-risk patients when treated with IGRT and non-IGRT. For high-risk patients, a significant improvement was observed at 3 years for patients treated with IGRT compared with non-IGRT. Conclusions IGRT is associated with an improvement in biochemical tumor control among high-risk patients and a lower rate of late urinary toxicity compared with high–dose IMRT. These data suggest that, for definitive radiotherapy, the placement of fiducial markers and daily tracking of target positioning may represent the preferred mode of external-beam radiotherapy delivery for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Molecular Pathology of Severe Combined Immunodeficiency in Mice, Horses, and Dogs:

Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) is an inherited disorder of humans, mice, horses, and dogs, in which affected individuals are incapable of generating antigen-specific immune responses. It o...
Subduction-zone metamorphism, calc-alkaline magmatism, and convergent-margin crustal evolution

Abstract At the dawn of the age of plate tectonics, Akiho Miyashiro published a seminal paper in which he drew attention to significant differences in regional metamorphic phase assemblages, described contrasting geologic occurrences, and inferred their characteristic ranges of physical conditions. He advanced the paired metamorphic belt concept, involving an oceanward, narrow, high-P/low-T blueschist zone intimately intermixed with ophiolites, and a landward, broad, low-P/high-T realm associated with arc volcanic–plutonic rocks. More recent studies have illuminated the following: (1) Two main types of convergent plate junction can be distinguished, Pacific underflow of thousands of km of oceanic lithosphere, and Alpine closure of an intervening oceanic basin leading to continental collision. (2) Plate descent carries mafic + felsic lithologies to depths of ~ 35–120 km or more at relatively low temperatures, producing high-pressure (HP) Pacific-type and ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) Alpine-type metamorphic terranes, respectively. (3) Exhumed HP–UHP complexes display low-aggregate bulk densities, reflecting chiefly buoyancy-driven ascent of quartzofeldspathic allochthons. (4) At a depth of ~ 35 km in a warm-lithosphere subduction zone, sialic crust should melt if an aqueous fluid were abundant; it does not, hence the activity of H2O must be low at such depths. (5) Global observations indicate that volcanic–plutonic arcs are sited 100 ± 20 km above subducting oceanic plates; devolatilization of sinking, hydrated oceanic crust ± mantle promotes the generation of calc-alkaline arc melts in this magmagenic zone. (6) Pacific-type underflow of basaltic crust-capped plates produces new and recycled continental crust, whereas Alpine-type convergence reshuffles collided terranes but does not generate juvenile sialic crust.
Paraganglia Mimicking Metastatic Seminomatous Tumor

Two cases are presented in which microscopic groups of retroperitoneal paraganglionic cells simulated metastatic seminomatous tumor. Both patients had histories of mixed testicular germ cell tumor with abdominal metastases and had been treated with chemotherapy. Persistent retroperitoneal disease was favored on follow-up imaging studies. Subsequent retroperitoneal lymph node dissection disclosed multifocal epithelioid cell groups with clear/vacuolated cytoplasm in the fibroconnective and adipose tissue, ranging from 1.0 to 3.0 mm in size. These cell groups were initially interpreted as recurrent metastatic seminoma, but were later reinterpreted as paraganglionic cells, which were confirmed by immunohistochemical analysis. The pathologic features for distinguishing paraganglionic cells from metastatic seminoma are discussed. Awareness of the presence of paraganglia and their distinction from metastatic disease is of practical importance in avoiding an overdiagnosis of malignancy and assuring proper patient...
Action Research Meets Critical Pedagogy: Theory, Practice, and Reflection

This article describes and critically examines the collaborative research process between an urban university’s research center and its community partners. The authors link the theoretical framework of collaborative research, participatory action research, and critical pedagogy to their personal experiences involving two collaborative research projects in which they participated. The projects were designed to foster engagement of youth in civic life through social research and to raise awareness of social inequality and injustice. The authors critically examine various phases of research with a particular focus on the following challenges: recruitment and attendance issues, development, language and methods issues, and the university and funding agency-driven push for a “product.” The authors point out the strengths and weaknesses of the collaborative approach and problematize issues not visible in the final research reports. Finally, strategies for enhancing the quality of the collaborative research invo...
Religious Activity and Pastoral Counseling among Protestant Youth with SED.

The past decade has shown a surge of interest in faith-based resources for a variety of social problems. However, these resources have not been systematically studied for children with emotional and behavioral problems. We investigated religious activity and use of pastoral counseling among Protestant youth with serious emotional disorders (SED) (N=464) and examined associated youth and caregiver characteristics. Findings indicate that the majority of SED youth do participate in religious activities, but do not frequently receive pastoral counseling for their problems. Youth with fewer externalizing problems as well as minority youth had an increased likelihood of participation in religious activities, while youth with more psychosocial impairment had an increased likelihood of using pastoral counseling. Implications of this study for research and practice are discussed.
Socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and environmental tobacco exposure among non-smoking females.

This study examined the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure among non-smoking females, determined which SES variable(s) were most strongly associated with ETS exposure, and examined whether the relationship between SES and ETS exposure was the same for Blacks and Whites. Participants were 404 never-smoker females recruited in the community. Independent variables included income, education, occupation, median income within zip code of participants' residence, and ethnicity. Number of days per week exposed to ETS in the past year was the dependent variable. There was a significant correlation between CO levels (parts per million, ppm) and self-reported ETS exposure (r = 0.22, p < 0.001). The mean CO level exposure was 1.81 +/- 1.19 ppm, and the mean number of days per week of ETS exposure was 4.72 +/- 4.71. The most frequent source of ETS exposure was at public places (64.4%). Although Blacks tended to report higher ETS exposure than Whites (p = 0.08), this tendency disappeared when SES indicators were entered in the model. Correlations among SES indicators were either non-significant or very modest suggesting that different SES indicators may not measure the same construct. Education was the only SES variable that was significantly associated with ETS exposure in this population. The relationship between SES and ETS exposure was similar for both Blacks and Whites. These findings suggest that education may be the most important factor to be considered when designing interventions to decrease ETS exposure among young non-smoking females (e.g., public education of the hazards of ETS exposure and awareness of existing tobacco-control laws and regulations).
Ukraine set to act on high suicide burden

Having survived multiple catastrophes in the 20th century, newly independent Ukraine now has some of the highest injury death rates in Europe. The nation's most common type of injury death is suicide, and its rate is one of Europe's and the world's highest. Alcohol abuse occurs in 20% of men, and major depression in 20% of women. Suicide is the leading cause of death in the Ukrainian Army, which has begun to recognize and address the problem. Mental health is one of three current priorities of the Ukrainian Ministry of Public Health. The government is developing a mental health policy and plan, with potential for prevention of suicide. A national university in the capital has created a graduate school of public health to build human capacity to prevent and control disease and injury.
A micromachined comb-drive tuning fork rate gyroscope

The development of single-crystal and polysilicon tuning fork gyroscopes of very small size and low cost using microfabrication technology is reported. These tuning fork gyroscopes are extremely rugged, inherently balanced, and easy to fabricate. For a 1-mm gyroscope, projected performance is 10 to 100 degrees /hr for bias stability and for resolution in a 60-Hz bandwidth. To date, 5000 degrees /hr in a 60 Hz bandwidth has been demonstrated. The principle of operation, projected and measured performance and fabrication of silicon, polysilicon, and nickel units and associated electronics and control issues are discussed. >
Women's participation in rural water supply projects in India: is it moving beyond tokenism and does it matter?

Evidence supporting the claim that women's participation in large-scale rural water supply projects leads to improved project outcomes is largely limited to isolated case studies. This paper attempts to fill this gap by examining data from 45 villages in two World Bank-assisted projects in India. Using data from a variety of sources, including water committee members, household surveys and focus groups, women's participation is quantified - what percentage actually attend meetings or are involved at higher levels of participation such as decision-making? While it is determined that, in some cases, female committee members are nominal, or token, participants, there is evidence that being on a local water committee helps women develop skills and confidence. Overall community participation is found to have a positive and significant relationship with different measures of project success; however, women's participation at the levels observed in this study is found to have no relationship to project success.
Perpendicular fibre tracking for neural fibre bundle analysis using diffusion MRI

Information on the directionality and structure of axonal fibres in neural tissue can be obtained by analysing diffusion-weighted MRI data sets. Several fibre tracking algorithms have been presented in the literature that trace the underlying field of principal orientations of water diffusion, which correspond to the local primary eigenvectors of the diffusion tensor field. However, the majority of the existing techniques ignore the secondary and tertiary orientations of diffusion, which contain significant information on the local patterns of diffusion. In this paper, we introduce the idea of perpendicular fibre tracking and present a novel dynamic programming method that traces surfaces, which are locally perpendicular to the axonal fibres. This is achieved by using a cost function, with geometric and fibre orientation constraints, that is evaluated dynamically for every voxel in the image domain starting from a given seed point. The proposed method is tested using synthetic and real DW-MRI data sets. The results conclusively demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of our method.
Safe screw placement in acetabular revision surgery

Revision of an acetabular component with extensive bone loss is a procedure that sometimes includes allografting or the placement of an unusually sized or positioned uncemented acetabular component. We evaluated the quadrant system used to guide screw placement in primary uncemented total hip surgery in the high hip center, jumbo component, and 3 designs of reinforcement rings. We used 14 pairs of cadaver hemipelves, which were prepared by removing all soft tissues except the medial neurovascular structures. With each implant, all screw holes were tested to determine if they followed the safe quadrant recommendations. In the high hip center, the center and anterior of the superoposterior quadrant was dangerous. All of the other implants met the quadrant recommendations.
Decoding by sequential code reduction

A general decoding method for cyclic codes is presented which gives promise of substantially reducing the complexity of decoders at the cost of a modest increase in decoding time (or delay). Significant reductions in decoder complexity for binary cyclic finite-geometry codes are demonstrated.
Heterologous RNA Encapsidated in Pariacoto Virus-Like Particles Forms a Dodecahedral Cage Similar to Genomic RNA in Wild-Type Virions

The genome of some icosahedral RNA viruses plays an essential role in capsid assembly and structure. In T=3 particles of the nodavirus Pariacoto virus (PaV), a remarkable 35% of the single-stranded RNA genome is icosahedrally ordered. This ordered RNA can be visualized at high resolution by X-ray crystallography as a dodecahedral cage consisting of 30 24-nucleotide A-form RNA duplex segments that each underlie a twofold icosahedral axis of the virus particle and interact extensively with the basic N-terminal region of 60 subunits of the capsid protein. To examine whether the PaV genome is a specific determinant of the RNA structure, we produced virus-like particles (VLPs) by expressing the wild-type capsid protein open reading frame from a recombinant baculovirus. VLPs produced by this system encapsidated similar total amounts of RNA as authentic virus particles, but only about 6% of this RNA was PaV specific, the rest being of cellular or baculovirus origin. Examination of the VLPs by electron cryomicroscopy and image reconstruction at 15.4-A resolution showed that the encapsidated RNA formed a dodecahedral cage similar to that of wild-type particles. These results demonstrate that the specific nucleotide sequence of the PaV genome is not required to form the dodecahedral cage of ordered RNA.
METAL-SUPPORT INTERACTIONS FOR NICKEL SUPPORTED ON A TITANIA-SILICA SURFACE PHASE OXIDE†

A 9wt.% Ni catalyst was prepared on a TiO2-SiO2 support, consisting of approximately one monolayer of TiO2 on the surface of SiO2. The chemical properties of the catalyst were studied by hydrogen chemisorption, ethane hydrogenolysis, and CO hydrogenation. The results showed evidence of metal-support interactions, as previously observed for bulk TiO2-supported nickel catalysts. When compared under similar experimental conditions, the TiO2-SiO2 support was found to be less interacting than bulk TiO2.
Astrocyte-Derived Monocyte-Chemoattractant Protein-1 Directs the Transmigration of Leukocytes Across a Model of the Human Blood-Brain Barrier

The migration of leukocytes across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the central nervous system is critical in the pathogenesis of central nervous system inflammatory diseases. The production of chemokines, such as monocyte-chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), by endothelial cells (EC) and astrocytes may initiate and amplify this process. Using a coculture of human EC and astrocytes to model the BBB, we demonstrated that exogenous MCP-1 induces the transmigration of monocytes in a dose-dependent manner. TNF-α, IFN-γ, or IL-1β treatment of cocultures also induced significant migration of monocytes that correlates with the induction of MCP-1 protein. TGF-β, previously shown to induce MCP-1 expression in astrocytes, but not in EC, caused migration of monocytes across cocultures, but not across EC grown alone. Monocytes and lymphocytes transmigrated across cytokine-treated cocultures in greater numbers than across EC alone. Astrocytes were the main source of cytokine-induced MCP-1, supporting a role for astrocytes in facilitating leukocyte transmigration. A blocking Ab to MCP-1 inhibited MCP-1- and cytokine-induced transmigration of monocytes by 85–90%. Cytokine treatment of cocultures also resulted in the transmigration of activated, CD69-positive lymphocytes. The MCP-1-mediated transmigration of monocytes across cocultures was blocked using an Ab to ICAM-1 and inhibited by 55% using an Ab to E-selectin. These data suggest a central role for astrocyte-derived MCP-1 in directing the migration of monocytes and lymphocytes across the BBB.
Biocatalytic Synthesis of Water-Soluble Oligo(catechins)

Catechins are polyphenolic compounds found in green tea. These flavonoids possess anti‐oxidant, anti‐carcinogenic, and anti‐inflammatory properties. The primary goal of this work is to synthesize water‐soluble oligomers of catechins. Although, oxidative polymerization of catechins catalyzed by enzymes such as Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) have been reported, the polymeric products have limited solubility. This restricts their compatibility with biological systems and their effectiveness as antioxidants or anti‐carcinogenic agents. Here we report a unique enzymatic approach for the synthesis of water‐soluble oligo(catechins). Polyelectrolytes such as Sulfonated Polystyrene (SPS) and surfactants such as sodium dodecylbenzenesulphonate (SDS) have been used as templates for the HRP catalyzed polymerization of (+)‐, (−)‐catechins and (−)‐epicatechin. Oligocatechins synthesized exhibit enhanced anti‐tumorigenic activity to human colon cancer cells as compared with the monomeric catechins.