cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Origin of Lipid A Species Modified with 4-Amino-4-deoxy-l-arabinose in Polymyxin-resistant Mutants of Escherichia coli AN AMINOTRANSFERASE (ArnB) THAT GENERATES UDP-4-AMINO-4-DEOXY-l-ARABINOSE

In Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, addition of the 4-amino-4-deoxy-l-arabinose (l-Ara4N) moiety to the phosphate group(s) of lipid A is required for resistance to polymyxin and cationic antimicrobial peptides. We have proposed previously (Breazeale, S. D., Ribeiro, A. A., and Raetz, C. R. H. (2002) J. Biol. Chem. 277, 2886-2896) a pathway for l-Ara4N biosynthesis that begins with the ArnA-catalyzed C-4" oxidation and C-6" decarboxylation of UDP-glucuronic acid, followed by the C-4" transamination of the product to generate the novel sugar nucleotide UDP-l-Ara4N. We now show that ArnB (PmrH) encodes the relevant aminotransferase. ArnB was overexpressed using a T7lac promoter-driven construct and shown to catalyze the reversible transfer of the amino group from glutamate to the acceptor, uridine 5'-(beta-l-threo-pentapyranosyl-4"-ulose diphosphate), the intermediate that is synthesized by ArnA from UDP-glucuronic acid. A 1.7-mg sample of the putative UDP-l-Ara4N product generated in vitro was purified by ion exchange chromatography, and its structure was confirmed by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. ArnB, which is a cytoplasmic protein, was purified to homogeneity from an overproducing strain of E. coli and shown to contain a pyridoxal phosphate cofactor, as judged by ultraviolet/visible spectrophotometry. The pyridoxal phosphate was converted to the pyridoxamine form in the presence of excess glutamate. A simple quantitative radiochemical assay was developed for ArnB, which can be used to assay the enzyme either in the forward or the reverse direction. The enzyme is highly selective for glutamate as the amine donor, but the equilibrium constant in the direction of UDP-l-Ara4N formation is unfavorable (approximately 0.1). ArnB is a member of a very large family of aminotransferases, but closely related ArnB orthologs are present only in those bacteria capable of synthesizing lipid A species modified with the l-Ara4N moiety.
Anti-Sm B cell tolerance and tolerance loss in systemic lupus erythematosus

Autoimmunity is a serious health problem and understanding the maintenance and loss of tolerance to self-antigens are key issues in developing new therapeutic strategies to treat these diseases. Despite considerable progress toward understanding B cell tolerance and tolerance loss, much remains unknown, particularly regarding B cells specific for antigens targeted in disease. Our interest in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a B cell-mediated autoimmune disease characterized by the production of autoantibodies to numerous nuclear antigens, is focused on understanding B cell tolerance and tolerance loss to the SLE-specific autoantigen Sm in mice and humans. Our work aims to provide the cellular and molecular underpinnings for the development of rational therapies to target autoreactive B cells in human SLE.
Integrated system for planning peripheral bronchoscopic procedures

Bronchoscopy is often performed for diagnosing lung cancer. The recent development of multidetector CT (MDCT) scanners and ultrathin bronchoscopes now enable the bronchoscopic biopsy and treatment of peripheral regions of interest (ROIs). Because the peripheral ROIs are often located several generations within the airway tree, careful planning is required prior to a procedure. The current practice for planning peripheral bronchoscopic procedures, however, is difficult, error-prone, and time-consuming. We propose a system for planning peripheral bronchoscopic procedures using patient-specific MDCT chest scans. The planning process begins with a semi-automatic segmentation of ROIs. The remaining system components are completely automatic, beginning with a new strategy for tracheobronchial airway-tree segmentation. The system then uses a new locally-adaptive approach for finding the interior airway-wall surfaces. From the polygonal airway-tree surfaces, a centerline-analysis method extracts the central axes of the airway tree. The system's route-planning component then analyzes the data generated in the previous stages to determine an appropriate path through the airway tree to the ROI. Finally, an automated report generator gives quantitative data about the route and both static and dynamic previews of the procedure. These previews consist of virtual bronchoscopic endoluminal renderings at bifurcations encountered along the route and renderings of the airway tree and ROI at the suggested biopsy location. The system is currently in use for a human lung-cancer patient pilot study involving the planning and subsequent live image-based guidance of suspect peripheral cancer nodules.
Individual Learner Variables and Their Effect on Mathematics Achievement as Students Advance From Fifth to Sixth Grade

A total of 761 students (58.1% female) from selected fifth- and sixth-grade mathematics classrooms in Alabama were examined to investigate the relationships between individual learner variables (gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status [SES]) and mathematics performance. Specifically, this portion of the study examined individual learner variables and their effects on mathematics achievement as students advance from fifth to sixth grade. The two-group path analysis resulted in differences in the degree to which individual learner variables (i.e., gender, ethnicity, SES) affect self-regulated learning, motivation, anxiety, and mathematics achievement as students move from fifth to sixth grade. Path analysis results indicated that the constrained and unconstrained models were statistically different (p < .001), meaning that the findings were not consistent for the fifth- and sixth-grade students.
A formal characterization and analysis for hardware-in-the-loop and hybrid process simulation during manufacturing system deployment

Manufacturing process deployment is one of the most integral parts of a production life cycle. The intelligent application of simulation at the deployment stage of a manufacturing process can result in a great reduction in ramp-up time and cost. One new approach to deployment is to use a mix of simulation and real processes so as to lessen the short comings of simulation accuracy and real equipment availability. Hybrid Process Simulation is an approach to the merging of both real and simulated components of a manufacturing process during deployment. In this paper an ontology and analysis is put forth for the quantitative description of a manufacturing process during deployment called equivalence analysis. Equivalence analysis consists of three quantities: structural equivalence, leaf equivalence, and communication equivalence. Structural equivalence is the measure of how many of the entities and bodies in the HPS are represented in simulated or actual form. Communication equivalence is the measure of how much of the communication infrastructure is represented and whether it is physically present. Leaf equivalence is the measure of how many of the terminal entities and bodies in the HPS are represented in simulated or actual form. The equivalence analysis put forth here has been applied to two manufacturing processes containing both real and simulated components. These example demonstrate how equivalence analysis can be used as a tool to track and describe deployment when the HPS approach is employed.
Mild nephrogenic diabetes insipidus caused by Foxa1 deficiency.

Foxa1 is a member of the winged helix family of transcription factors and is expressed in the collecting ducts of the kidney. We investigated its potential contribution to renal physiology in Foxa1-deficient mice on a defined genetic background. Foxa1–/– mice are dehydrated and exhibit electrolyte imbalance as evidenced by elevated hematocrit and plasma urea levels, hypernatremia, and hyperkalemia. This phenotype is the consequence of decreased urine osmolality secondary to renal vasopressin resistance. Mutations of the human genes encoding the vasopressin 2 receptor and aquaporin 2 cause nephrogenic diabetes insipidus; however, expression of these genes is maintained or increased, respectively, in Foxa1–/– mice. Likewise, expression of the genes encoding the Na-K-2Cl cotransporter (NKCC2), the potassium channel ROMK, the chloride channel CLCNKB, barttin (BSND), and the calcium-sensing receptor (CASR), each of which is important in sodium reabsorption in the loop of Henle, is maintained or even increased in Foxa1-deficient mice. Thus, we have shown that Foxa1–/– mice represent a new model of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus with unique molecular etiology, and we have identified the first transcription factor whose mutation leads to a defect in renal water homeostasis in vivo.
Cortisol responses to mental stress, exercise, and meals following caffeine intake in men and women

Caffeine elevates cortisol secretion, and caffeine is often consumed in conjunction with exercise or mental stress. The interactions of caffeine and stress on cortisol secretion have not been explored adequately in women. We measured cortisol levels at eight times on days when healthy men and women consumed caffeine (250 mg × 3) and underwent either mental stress or dynamic exercise protocols, followed by a midday meal, in a double blind, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Men and women had similar cortisol levels at the predrug baselines, but they responded differently to mental stress and exercise. The cortisol response to mental stress was smaller in women than in men (p=.003). Caffeine acted in concert with mental stress to further increase cortisol levels (p=.011), the effect was similar in men and women. Exercise alone did not increase cortisol, but caffeine taken before exercise elevated cortisol in both men and women (ps<.05). After a postexercise meal, the women had a larger cortisol response than the men, and this effect was greater after caffeine (p<.01). Cortisol release in response to stress and caffeine therefore appears to be a function of the type of stressor and the sex of the subject. However, repeated caffeine doses increased cortisol levels across the test day without regard to the sex of the subject or type of stressor employed (p<.00001). Caffeine may elevate cortisol by stimulating the central nervous system in men but may interact with peripheral metabolic mechanisms in women.
The Black Atlantic Archive

What, exactly, is the "black Atlantic"? It has been more than a decade since Paul Gilroy published his influential monograph, The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (1993). Since three of the four books under review have the phrase "black Atlantic" in their titles (the fourth, Philip Gould's Barbaric Traffic, refers more generally to the "18th-century Atlantic world," presumably because many of the writers he considers were not black), we can begin by asking what these authors find most compelling about Gilroy's book. For Vincent Carretta and Gould, The Black Atlantic offers an "influential" path beyond nation and race as master terms, "[i]magining instead a diasporic model of racial identity" (3). In the fourth chapter of Barbaric Traffic, Gould contends that the autobiographies of John Marrant and Venture Smith argue against Gilroy's claim that liberalism and the Enlightenment are little more than engines of "terror" for black people in the eighteenth century (123). But Gould's very topic-antislavery rhetoric in England and Americaclearly follows Gilroy's lead in replacing the nation-state with a "transatlantic context" (7). Gilroy is most pervasively present as a model in Alan Rice's Radical Narratives of the Black Atlantic. For Rice, Gilroy's book was "epochal," a "paradigm shift beyond the narrow nationalisms of much African diasporan history" (23). Rice makes much of Gilroy's clever pun that the black Atlantic's "counterculture of modernity" was more a matter of "routes" than "roots." Because their collection of primary texts focuses on black writers who moved, either physically or imaginatively, between the US, Nova Scotia, England, and Sierra Leone, Joanna Brooks and John Saillant unsurprisingly also seize on this pun in "Face Zion Forward" (5). Clearly, Gilroy's book remains a powerful model of thinking beyond the self-serving narratives of the nation-state, a shift of perspective that our current global self-consciousness finds right and proper. But this surely cannot be the whole reason for Gilroy's influence. Such a transnational vision was not in itself a new approach to black history and culture in 1993, after all. Scholars studying the cultural transformations of the African diaspora (Brooks and Saillant note particularly Robert Farris Thompson and Cedric Robinson
Romulus Tropaeophorus (Aeneid 6.779–80)

A general consensus has emerged among twentieth-century commentators on the Aeneid that pater ipse…superum must be taken together and understood as referring to the father of the gods and not to Mars, sire of Romulus. What remains a subject of debate is the meaning of honor here and its particular association with Jupiter. Does it betoken the abstraction itself or a concrete manifestation of it? Austin, following Donatus, opts for the former alternative (‘probably no more than “majesty”’), Norden and R. D. Williams for the latter. Of these the first finds a reference to the Zeus-given sceptre of kings, the second to Jove's thunderbolt.The language of the passage argues in favour of metonymy for two reasons. First, we expect Anchises, when showing off Romulus, to adhere to the pattern he has already set in the two portions of his parade which have preceded. In the case of the initial hero, Silvius, we attend largely to genealogical background (760–6). The second segment, a group made up of Procas, Capys, Numitor and Aeneas Silvius, elicits from Aeneas' father a series of exclamations on the valour of their res gestae (767–77). Yet each also has a tangible symbol of martial virtus that distinguishes him.
Lorentz transformation of blackbody radiation

We present a simple calculation of the Lorentz transformation of the spectral distribution of blackbody radiation at temperature T. Here we emphasize that T is the temperature in the blackbody rest frame and does not change. We thus avoid the confused and confusing question of how temperature transforms. We show by explicit calculation that at zero temperature the spectral distribution is invariant. At finite temperature we find the well-known result familiar in discussions of the 2.7 K cosmic radiation.
Effects of Potato Association on Oviposition Behavior of Mexican Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Host-induced ovipositional behavior by Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say), from Morelos, Mexico, was studied in greenhouse experiments. Morelos L. decemlineata were unable to oviposit unless fed Solanum angustifolium Miller, regardless of their larval feeding history. Neither larval nor preovipositional adult feeding on potato, S. tuberosum L., induced oviposition preference for potato. Morelos L. decemlineata had much lower oviposition preference for potato than Rhode Island beetles, when given potato and S. angustifolium simultaneously, and they ceased oviposition immediately after being confined on potato. Encasement of Mexican pupae with Rhode Island pupal exuviae stimulated the emerging adults to oviposit on potato without feeding on S. angustifolium.
Effects of fatigue on synergies in a hierarchical system

We investigated the effect of fatigue produced by timed maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) of the index finger of one of the hands on performance in MVC and accurate cyclic force production tasks in right-handed subjects. Based on earlier studies, we hypothesized that fatigue would produce an increase in the indices of force-stabilizing synergies in both hands as well as between the hands in two-hand tasks. Synergies were defined as co-varied adjustments of commands to fingers (modes) across cycles that stabilized total force. Fatigue caused a significant reduction in the MVC of the exercised as well as the non-exercised hand. Indices of finger enslaving (lack of individuation) increased with fatigue in both hands, although the increase was significant in the exercised hand only. In contrast to the significant effects of fatigue on MVC forces performed by the non-exercised hand, there were no comparable transfer effects on the root mean square errors during accurate force production. During one-hand tasks, both hands showed high indices of force-stabilizing synergies. These indices were larger in the left hand. Fatigue led to a general increase in synergy indices. Exercise by the left hand had stronger effects on synergy indices seen in both hands. Exercise by the right hand showed ipsilateral effects only. Smaller effects of fatigue were observed on accuracy of performance of the force-down segments of the force cycles compared to the force-up segments. For the bimanual tasks, synergies were analyzed at two hierarchical levels, two-hand (four-finger) and within-a-hand (two-finger). An increase in the synergy index with fatigue was observed at the lower (two-finger) level of the hierarchy only. We interpret the lack of effects of fatigue at the upper (two-hand) level as a consequence of a trade-off between synergies at different levels of the hierarchy. The differences between the hands are discussed within the dynamic dominance hypothesis.
Nativism or Economic Threat: Attitudes Toward Immigrants During the Great Recession

To better evaluate the weight of economic versus cultural factors in determining individual attitudes toward open borders, this article reports on a survey experiment conducted over the course of t...
Stochastic beam dynamics in quasi-isochronous storage rings

We investigate effects of quantum fluctuation, potential well distortion, quantum lifetime, and Touschek lifetime of the quasi-isochronous (QI) dynamical system. The Fokker-Planck equation is employed to study the equilibrium bunch distribution. The quantum lifetime in the moderate damping regime is compared with analytical formulae. The effects of harmonic radio-frequency phase modulation on equilibrium distribution function, quantum lifetime reduction, and the occurrence of stochastic resonance are studied. The formula for the Touschek lifetime for the QI dynamical system is derived and studied.
Biologic Markers and Neurochemical Correlates of Agitation and Psychosis in Dementia

Behavioral and psychiatric symptoms frequently accompany the cognitive deterioration of dementia occurring in up to 80% of both community-based and nursing home patients. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), behavioral complications may develop at any stage of the disease process and tend to follow a more unpredictable course than the core cognitive symptoms. Over the past 15 years, our knowledge of the biologic and neurochemical basis of dementia, and of AD in particular, has increased significantly. Great emphasis has been placed on the cholinergic system abnormalities in the context of the cognitive impairment in AD and on the psychopharmalogic enhancement of cholinergic transmission in AD. However deficits in other neurotransmitter systems, such as the noradrenergic, serotonergic, and dopaminergic systems, also occur and may contribute to the core cognitive symptoms of AD. More recently, there has been increased interest in the biologic and neurochemical basis of behavioral and psychiatric disturbances in dementia. This article reviews the evidence for biologic and neurochemical correlates of psychosis and agitation in dementia, and discusses the treatment implications for these findings.
Algorithms to Deconvolve Stylus Geometry From Surface Profile Measurements

Algorithmes permettant de tenir compte de la geometrie du stylet lors des mesures de profils de surface
Experimental experience with a temporary intraluminal heparin‐bonded polyurethane arterial shunt

After vascular injury, intraluminal arterial shunting may be employed if definitive surgery must be delayed. This paper describes use of a heparin-bonded polyurethane shunt to restore distal circulation after ligation of the femoral artery in sheep. In studies to determine tissue viability for 12 h after insertion into the femoral artery, five of seven shunts remained patent. In another series of experiments to study tissue viability after limb ischaemia, the femoral artery was ligated and a tight Esmarch bandage applied to the limb for 6 h before shunt insertion. The shunt remained patent for 12 h in five of six cases. Nearly all shunt failures occurred shortly after placement and were attributable to intimal damage arising from difficulties during insertion.
Solution Conformation of the Unbound HIV-1 Protease Derived from Residual Dipolar Couplings Measured at Ambient and High-Pressure Conditions

The flexibility of the glycine-rich flaps are known to be essential for the catalytic activity of the HIV-1 Protease but their exact conformations at the different stages of the enzymatic pathway remain yet to be determined. While hundreds of crystal structures of protease-inhibitor complexes have been solved, only a dozen of unbound protease structures have been reported to date. These structures reveal a large heterogeneity of flap conformations, ranging from closed, to semi-open and wide-open conformations. We used here NMR spectroscopy to determine the flap orientation of the unbound protease in solution. The conformation of the flaps was determined by comparing the measured residual dipolar couplings to reference crystal structures representing the closed, semi-open and wide-open states. The data clearly indicate that the apo protease adopts a closed conformation in solution, similar to an inhibitor-bound state.We also compared the effect of high-pressure on the flap conformations of an apo and inhibitor-bound protease by measuring backbone residual dipolar couplings up to 1 kbar. A rigid-body motion model was derived to characterize the pressure-induced conformational changes of the flaps. While a minimal rearrangement of the flaps was observed in the case of the inhibitor-protease complex, we observed a significant pressure-induced rotation of the flaps in the case of the apo protease. These results highlight the intrinsic conformational flexibility of the unbound protease and offer a new perspective to understand the mechanism of ligand and inhibitor binding.
Distribution of 3':5'-cyclic AMP and 3':5'-cyclic GMP in rabbit retina in vivo: selective effects of dark and light adaptation and ischemia.

Abstract By use of highly sensitive radioimmunoassays, 3':5'-cyclic AMP (cAMP) and 3':5'-cyclic GMP (cGMP) were measured in individual layers of light- and dark-adapted rabbit retinas, and the effects of ischemia were determined. In light-adapted retinas, cGMP levels ranged 50-fold, with over 90% of the total concentrated in the photoreceptor cells. The layer of outer segments contained 95 mumol/kg of dry weight, or three times the concentration present in the remainder of the photoreceptor cell layers. By contrast, levels of cAMP varied only 4-fold; the lowest level (6 mumol/kg of dry weight) was found in the outer segment layer and the highest level (22 mumol/kg of dry weight) in the inner segment layer of the photoreceptor cells. Dark adaptation elevated cGMP levels only in retinal layers containing photoreceptor cells, and the greatest proportional increase was observed in the synaptic layer of photoreceptor cells. Dark adaptation also caused increases of cAMP that were restricted to the outer plexiform and outer nuclear layers. Ischemia lowered cGMP levels, but only in retinal layers containing photoreceptor cells, and elevated cAMP levels, primarily in the inner layers of the retina. The effects of ischemia were greater in the dark-adapted than in light-adapted retinas. These results indicate that cGMP and cAMP levels in retina are influenced by the light adaptational state, that ischemia markedly modifies these processes, and that the effects of both light exposure and ischemia are regionally selective.
Invariant subspaces for tightly clustered eigenvalues of tridiagonals

The invariant subspace of a real symmetric tridiagonal matrixT associated with a tight cluster ofm eigenvalues has a special structure. This structure is revealed by the envelope of the subspace (defined in Section 3) havingm high hills separated bym − 1 low valleys.
Art & Soul: An Experimental Friendship between the Street and a Museum

In the summer of 1968, as the Democratic National Committee prepared to roll into Chicago, the city's Museum of Contemporary Art was entering into an unusual partnership—an “experimental friendship”—with an organization called CVL, Inc. What's remarkable about this organization was that it was the new incarnation of a notorious street gang known as the Vice Lords.
Antibacterial Activity of a New Parenteral Cephalosporin—HR 756: Comparison with Cefamandole and Ceforanide

HR 756, a new parenteral cephalosporin that is beta-lactamase resistant, was tested against 271 bacterial isolates. Both agar and broth dilution testing were employed, using two media and two inoculum sizes of bacteria. Antibacterial activity of the drug was compared to that of cefamandole (CFM) and ceforanide (CFN). In agar, HR 756 was more active than CFM and CFN against all bacteria tested except isolates of Staphylococcus aureus, which were better inhibited by CFM. HR 756 exhibited some antipseudomonas activity in agar, although a marked inoculum effect was apparent. A comparison of median minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations in broth showed again that HR 756 was the most active of these three drugs. HR 756 demonstrated enhanced antibacterial activity compared to CFM and CFN against bacteria sensitive to all three drugs as well as against more resistant isolates of Serratia marcescens, Enterobacter species, and indole-positive Proteus. As with other cephalosporins, results for most bacteria were affected by inoculum size, medium, and type of dilution test employed in in vitro studies.
In-situ formation of alumina coatings in niobium toughened Mo(Si,Al)2

One approach that has been explored for the toughening and strengthening of MoSi[sub 2] based materials is the introduction of ductile refractory metal reinforcements. Due to the considerable stability of the transition metal silicides and the relatively high mobility of silicon in systems consisting of silicides and refractory metals, it has been found that this approach leads to materials that have poor long term stability at high temperature, unless a coating is interposed between the silicide matrix and the refractory metal reinforcement. Both Xiao and Abbaschian and Lu and coworkers have applied coatings to these reinforcements using conventional techniques. The most promising coatings were oxides, namely alumina and yttria. Besides the difficulties associated with preserving these conventional coatings during processing, it has also been observed that silica inclusions possibly degrade the coating during high temperature exposure. While in-situ coatings have been applied to refractory metal reinforcements in NbAl[sub 3] and NiAl matrices, the authors known of no successful scheme developed for in-situ coating of these metals in silicide matrices. In this work, an attempt was made to produce in-situ alumina coatings on preoxidized Nb fibers by using an aluminum-rich Mo(Si, Al)[sub 2]-(C40) matrix. Furthermore, the effectiveness of this layer formore » (a) protecting the fiber from interaction with the matrix and (b) promoting debonding was investigated.« less
TTO utility scores measure quality of life in patients with visual morbidity due to diabetic retinopathy or ARMD.

PURPOSE To evaluate the utility scores in patients with varying degrees of visual morbidity due to diabetic retinopathy or ARMD. METHODS Patients with vision =20/40 in one eye due to diabetic retin...
The Allocation of Consumer Incentives to Meet Simultaneous Sales Quotas: An Application to U.S. Army Recruiting

Consumer incentives often have a dual role: to expand the market and to redistribute the market so as to meet sales targets for a range of products. The proper allocation of incentives must recognize and deal with the competitive and "cannibalizing" effects operating among product classes. The presence of environmental factors, scale economies, and cost per unit for each of the candidate incentive types also must be accounted for. This paper develops and illustrates an analytical approach designed to improve the allocation of consumer incentives where sales targets are exogenously set. The model generates a system of simultaneous behavioral equations, a portion of which is included to reflect attempted cost minimizing behavior. The model is applied to FY81-FY86 data from the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, which allocated over $1 billion for special incentives to selected recruits. The incentives consist of enlistment bonuses and educational benefits offered to quality recruits who select critical occupational specialties. The sales targets are enlistment quotas for each of the occupational specialties that must be simultaneously satisfied. The Army's goal is to meet these quotas, in a postulated recruiting environment, at minimum total incentive expenditure. Results suggest that the Army could improve the cost-effectiveness of its recruiting effort through a reallocation of the incentives it offers to recruits. Misallocation during the FY81-FY86 period is estimated to have cost the Army approximately 3.5% of its total incentives expended in infantry recruiting recruiting.
A Bold, New Initiative for Circulation A Family of Subspecialty Journals

I am pleased to announce plans for a new publishing initiative at Circulation that will take effect this calendar year. Beginning in April, with subsequent launch dates throughout 2008, 6 new subspecialty journals will be published as part of the Circulation family of journals: Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology ; Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics ; Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging ; Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions ; Circulation: Cardiovascular Outcomes and Quality ; and Circulation: Heart Failure . The decision to embark on this new publishing venture was made after many hours of hard work and careful deliberation by the editorial staff at Circulation , the American Heart Association Scientific Publishing Committee, and the publisher, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Formal, unanimous approval was granted by the American Heart Association Board of Directors last October. The decision to develop these new journals was predicated on several growing concerns that we believed urged a thoughtful response. First, the acceptance rate at Circulation remains in the 10% to 12% range. Many articles of excellent scientific quality are rejected on the basis of priority, which generally means that the topics presented in these articles are too narrow in scope for the general readership of Circulation . These priority-based rejections comprise approximately 20% of all submissions and largely fall into the 6 subspecialty disciplines represented by the new …
Construction of exact multimonopole solutions in the Yang-Mills-Higgs system

Exact axially symmetric multimonopole solutions in the Yang-Mills-Higgs system were recently constructed by Prasad et al. in the Prasad-Sommerfield limit. In this paper we reexpress their results in a more convenient and closed form and also give general constraint relations on the parameters in order to ensure reality of the solution over all space. Further, it is shown that solutions satisfying the reality condition, although regular on the ${x}_{3}$ axis in general, develop singularities on the asymptotic surfaces near the ${x}_{3}$ axis. The necessary and sufficient conditions to ensure nonsingular solutions on the asymptotic surfaces and hence the finiteness of energy are given. The solutions to these conditions uniquely determine all the parameters, up to an overall translation, and are the ones that appear in Prasad's ansatz.
Elevated serum protein-bound iodine values with dietary iodine deficiency.

ABSTRACT Study of the thyroid function of mildly mentally retarded children in one training school in Michigan, and of deaf children in another training school, showed the former group to be iodine-deficient. Fiftythree children aged 8 to 16 years exposed to this dietary iodine deficiency for an average period of one year differed from the comparable group of 50 children without iodine deficiency only in a twofold elevation of the two-hour thyroidal uptake of I131. A representative group of 17 subjects from 140 residing in the iodine-deficient institution for an average period of ten years, however, differed further in that they had abnormally elevated serum PBI levels (average, 8.8 μg per 100 ml) and PBI-BEI differences (average, 2.9 μg per 100 ml). All subjects were euthyroid. An increased incidence of goiter was also found in the group of 140 subjects exposed to iodine deficiency for a longer period of time. The nature of the material in serum accounting for this increased PBI-BEI difference was not es...
Developmental trends in the salience of meaning versus structural attributes of written words

This study was designed to evaluate Gibson's contention that maximum sensitivity to the meanings of printed words does not occur until the individual has become a fluent reader. Also of interest was the degree to which reading ability would significantly influence the developmental course. These questions were evaluated by means of a sorting task which allowed subjects to group printed words on the basis of either semantic-syntactic (meaning) or graphic-phonologic (structural) attributes, and differential grouping tendencies along the age/grade continuum were the dependent measures specifically evaluated. Subjects consisted of normal and poor readers from grades 1–6, as well as ninth graders and college sophomores. The study was quasi-longitudinal in that available subjects from grades 2–5 were retested a year later to evaluate the reliability of developmental trends.
Augmentation With Modafinil to Achieve Remission in Depression: A Case Report

Sir: Depression, with a prevalence rate from 4.8% to 9.2%, is a common illness treated by family physicians.1 Over the last 20 years, a number of antidepressants have become available for physicians to treat patients with depression. Approximately 50% to 60% of patients will respond to treatment2; however, only about half of those patients responding to treatment will achieve remission.3 Clinicians are then left to treat a large number of patients who have responded to initial treatment but continue to experience depressive symptoms that interfere with their level of functioning. A case is presented of a patient diagnosed with depression, taking 2 antidepressants, who had previously failed augmentation with lithium and levothyroxine, but achieved remission with the addition of modafinil.
Methodology to Determine Destruction of Bacterial Spores during Extrusion Cooking

A methodology was developed for determining destruction of bacterial spores during extrusion cooking in a single screw extruder. Procedures were developed for estimating processing time at different screw speeds and calculation of “D-” and “z-values.” The proposed methodology evaluated destruction of Bacillus globigii spores in 18% moisture corn/ soybean mixture (70/30%, w/w). “D-value” expressed on the basis of average time at mass temperature >95°C during extrusion was the most conservative estimate of spore sensitivity. Times ranged from 1.7 sec at 115°C to 6.6 sec at 100°C maximum mass temperatures. These “D-values” resulted in a “z-value” of 25.3°C., similar to that reported for the same strain with dry heat.
Photon-photon scattering in effective-photon theory

Abstract Effective photon theory of laser-induced gas breakdown is shown to imply a very large photon-photon scattering cross section in the vacuum, of the order of 10 -22 cm 2 . This could be seen using crossed laser beams of moderate intensity, about 1 MW/cm 2 .
A performance estimate for the detection of undeclared nuclear-fuel reprocessing by atmospheric 85Kr

To test the sensitivity of using atmospheric (85)Kr to detect undeclared separation of plutonium from irradiated nuclear-reactor fuel, measurements of atmospheric (85)Kr taken in Tsukuba, Japan are analyzed to determine: (1) a lower limit of detection for discovering anthropogenic (85)Kr emissions, (2) the probability of detecting plutonium separation at the Tokai Reprocessing Plant, and (3) the extent to which these results can be generalized to other sites. A LLD of at least 3.4 sigma=0.14 Bq/m(3) with a theoretical false-positive rate of 0.05% is recommended for safeguards' purposes. At this threshold, the continuous separation of 100, 300, and 900 g equivalent weapon-grade plutonium per day was found to correspond to 10%, 50%, and 80% probability of detection, respectively. The smallest detected concentration was for the continuous separation of 45 g/day, with a probability of detection of about 0.6%. It was found that the detection rate is determined predominantly by the weather.
Sandwiched Marriages: The Implications of Child and Parent Relations for Marital Quality in Midlife

The well-being of the sandwich generation is presumed to be affected by simultaneous relations and exchanges with adult children and aging parents. The implications of intergenerational involvements for marital relations in midlife is analyzed for a sample of 2,129 married persons forty to fifty-nine years old from the National Survey of Families and Households. Being a parent or child is common, though variable by age, but helping both generations is relatively unusual. Intergenerational exchange has little association with reported marital quality for either women or men, though quality of relations with children and parents is more consistently related to quality of marital relations. It appears that the generally high satisfaction found in midlife marriages is sustained despite occasional intergenerational burdens
The institutionalization of the aesthetic: Systemic contradiction in the organization of creativity

The paper treats the organization of arts and cultural institutions—those activities and structures that encompass the aesthetic dimension of life. When aesthetic or creative activities are institutionalized, they evolve toward a bureaucratic organizational form that is antithetical to their systemic function. The rules and regulations that control the system form the basis for its internal structure. Adherence to the rules becomes the criterion for assessing the systems performance. Therefore, the goal of any bureaucracy is to constrain creativity and limit options. When the mission of the bureaucratic organization is to enhance creativity and develop new options, the structure and function of the system are in conflict. The paper contrasts the implications of this emphasis on organizational structure over function in cultural institutions. It then discusses alternate forms that attempt to balance the aesthetic function within a formalized organizational structure.
Gigantic enhancement of atomic nondipole effects : The 3s→3d resonance in Ca

Dramatic examples of the importance of nondipole effects in photoelectron angular distributions at photon energies as low as a few tens of eV are found. This occurs in 3p photoionization of the Ca(4s{sup 2}) atom and its ions Ca{sup +}(4s{sup 1}) and Ca{sup 2+}(4s{sup 0}) at photon energies corresponding to a quadrupole 3s{yields}3d resonance. The nondipole parameters are found to drastically increase to as much as 65% of the dipole counterpart. The quintessence is that this resonance turns out to be giant because of selective orbital collapse for the quadrupally excited 3d orbital. In addition, nondipole effects are known to result in an electric current--the drag current--in a gaseous medium upon photoionization of its atoms. We present our calculated data for the drag current in Ca vapor as well, in an attempt to trigger experimental studies of this interesting phenomenon in general. Calculations were performed within the framework of the random-phase approximation with exchange.
There is no role for ERCP in unexplained abdominal pain of pancreatic or biliary origin.

The diagnosis of pancreatic or biliary disease in patients with “classic” clinical or biochemical features (e.g., steatorrhea, obstructive jaundice, elevated enzymes) is usually straightforward. Invasive tests may not always be required in such patients, and when they are, the risk-benefit ratio is relatively easy to justify because a number of the underlying conditions may be amenable to specific palliative or curative therapy. By contrast, the subject of this discussion is a group of patients who present with the sole symptom of abdominal pain, suspected to be “pancreatobiliary” in origin. At present, this group represents one of the biggest challenges for diagnosis and treatment in clinical gastroenterology. Many of these patients will undergo a battery of tests including ERCP. The focus of this article is to discuss the role of ERCP and sphincter of Oddi manometry (SOM) in patients with abdominal pain of suspected pancreatobiliary origin, including both “structural” and “functional” disorders. STRUCTURAL DISORDERS Let us first examine the assumptions implicit in the decision to request an ERCP or EUS in a given patient with abdominal pain of “suspected pancreatobiliary origin” (Table 1).
Effects of an impurity on malathion and its structural analog on rat liver carboxylesterases and erythrocyte esterases

Abstract The inhibitory effects on liver microsomal carboxylesterases and erythrocyte membrane esterases produced by an impurity of malathion was investigated. Treatment of rats with an impurity of malathion, O,O,S -trimethyl phosphorothioate (OOS-Me), and its structural analog O,O -dimethyl S -ethyl phosphorothioate (OOS-Et) inhibited liver microsomal malathion and phenthoate carboxylesterases. The inhibition lasted for at least 7 days following a single oral administration of OOS-Me. These treatments inhibited acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and (Na + + K + )-dependent ATPase of erythrocyte membranes which persisted at least 3 days. OOS-Et was a more potent inhibitor of all the esterases examined than OOS-Me. Pretreatment of rats with a metabolic inducer, phenobarbital, or a metabolic inhibitor, piperonyl butoxide, had no effect on such inhibitory effects on liver microsomal carboxylesterases produced by OOS-Me or OOS-Et.
Quantum-based electronic devices

Abstract Microstructure technology provides a major element of the technology needed to realize envisioned quantum-based electronic devices. Quantum transport and quantum device research results indicate clearly the physical regimes and basic operating principles for some classes of quantum-based electronic devices. These same results also highlight current deficiencies in the full technology needed to realize small, ultrahigh speed quantum-based electronic devices.
Tracking Reading: Dual Task Costs of Oral Reading for Young versus Older Adults.

A digital pursuit rotor was used to monitor oral reading costs by time-locking tracking performance to the auditory wave form produced as young and older adults were reading out short paragraphs. Multilevel modeling was used to determine how paragraph-level predictors of length, grammatical complexity, and readability and person-level predictors such as speaker age or working memory capacity predicted reading and tracking performance. In addition, sentence-by-sentence variation in tracking performance was examined during the production of individual sentences and during the pauses before upcoming sentences. The results suggest that dual tasking has a greater impact on older adults' reading comprehension and tracking performance. At the level of individual sentences, young and older adults adopt different strategies to deal with grammatically complex and propositionally dense sentences.
Frequency of congenital heart defects in patients with hemophilia.

Most structural congenital heart defects (CHD) are thought to be multifactorially determined, but the precise causal factors usually are unknown. One may postulate that vascular events, such as hemorrhage in the developing embryo, could influence morphogenesis of the heart. One method of studying this hypothesis is to determine the frequency of CHD in persons with heritable bleeding diatheses and their families. We reviewed retrospectively medical and family histories of 120 hemophilia A and 14 hemophilia B patients seen in our Genetics Department. The family histories included 1, 126 maternal relatives of hemophiliac patients. We also reviewed the family histories of 138 patients with X-linked disorders who did not have bleeding diatheses or syndromes associated with CHD; these histories included 960 maternal relatives. There was one confirmed case of a CHD in 134 hemophilia patients, giving a frequency of 0.75% compared to 0.8% in the general population at birth. There was no apparent difference in the frequency of CHD in hemophilia A and B patients compared to the general population or in the relatives of hemophilia patients as compared to control individuals.
Regional permeability of salmon calcitonin in isolated rat gastrointestinal tracts: Transport mechanism using Caco-2 cell monolayer

The objective of the study was to determine the region of maximum permeation of salmon calcitonin (sCT) through the gastrointestinal tract and to investigate the mechanism of permeation. For regional permeability determination, male Sprague-Dawley rats (250–300 g) were anesthetized and the gastrointestinal tissues were isolated. Stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, or colon tissues were mounted on Navicyte side-by-side diffusion apparatus. Salmon calcitonin solutions (50 μM in phosphate-buffered saline, pH 7.4, 37°C) were added to the donor side, and the samples were removed from the receiver compartment and analyzed by competitive radioimmunoassay (RIA). For mechanistic studies, Caco-2 cells were grown on Transwell inserts (0.4-μm pore size, 0.33 cm2 area) in a humidified 37°C incubator (with 5% CO2). Transport experiments were conducted for sCT solutions (50 μM in Dulbecco's modified eagle's medium [DMEM], pH 7.4) from the apical-to-basolateral (A-to-B) direction and B-to-A direction at 37°C and from the A-to-B direction at 4°C. Cell monolayer integrity was monitored by mannitol permeability and transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) measurements. The permeability coefficients (× 10−9, cm/sec) for sCT through rat stomach, duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon tissues were 0.482±0.086, 0.718±0.025, 0.830±0.053, 1.537±0.32, and 0.934±0.15, respectively. The region of maximum sCT permeability is ileum followed by colon, jejunum, duodenum, and stomach. The permeability coefficients (× 10−6, cm/sec) for sCT through Caco-2 cell monolayer were 8.57±2.34 (A-to-B, 37°C), 8.01±1.22 (A-to-B, 4°C), and 6.15±1.97 (B-to-A, 37°C). The mechanism of its permeation is passive diffusion through the mucosa as determined from the Caco-2 monolayer permeability of sCT.
Kinetics of the reaction OH (v = 0) + O3 → HO2 + O2

Abstract The rate constant of the reaction OH ( v = 0) + O 3 HO 2 + O 2 was measured over the temperature range from 220 to 450°K at total pressures between 2 and 5 torr using ultraviolet fluorescent scattering for the detection of OH radicals. An Arrhenius expression, k 1 = 1.3 × 10 −12 exp(−1900/ RT ) cm 3 /sec was obtained and the rate constant for the reaction HO 2 + O 3 OH + 2O 2 was inferred to be less than 0.1 k 1 over the entire temperature interval.
Monitoring global monthly mean surface temperatures

The accuracy of the global surface air temperature (SST) estimates for a particular month over the past decade is assessed using all of the in situ observations available today. The sources of noise in the data, the numbers of observations, and the spatial coverage are appraised for the comparison with the climate signal, and different analyzed results are compared to determine their reproducibility. The data are further evaluated by comparing anomalies of near-global monthly mean surface temperatures with those of global satellite channel 2 microwave sounding unit temperatures for 144 months from 1979 to 1990. The results indicate that the inherent noise level in an SST observation is about 1.0 C, and this is compounded when the observation is made in regions of large temperature gradient.