cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mouse clavicular development: Analysis of wild‐type and cleidocranial dysplasia mutant mice

Cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD) is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by hypoplasia or aplasia of clavicles, open fontanelles, and other skeletal anomalies. A mouse mutant, shown by clinical and radiographic analysis to be strikingly similar to the human disorder and designated Ccd, was used as a model for the human disorder. Since malformation of the clavicle is the hallmark of CCD, we studied clavicular development in wild-type and Ccd mice. Histology and in situ hybridization experiments were performed to compare the temporal and spatial expression of several genes in wild-type and Ccd mutant mouse embryos. Bone and cartilage specific markers--type I, II, and X collagens, Sox9, aggrecan, and osteopontin were used as probes. The analyses covered the development of the clavicle from the initial mesenchymal condensation at embryonic day 13 (E13) to the late mineralization stage at embryonic day 15.5. At day 13.5, cells in the center of the condensation differentiate into characteristic precursor cells that were not observed in other bone anlagen. In the medial part of the anlage these cells express markers of the early cartilage lineage (type II collagen and Sox9), whereas cells of the lateral part express markers of the osteoblast lineage (type I collagen). With further development the medial cells differentiate into chondrocytes and start to express chondrocyte-specific markers such as aggrecan. Cells of the lateral part differentiate into osteoblasts as indicated by the production of bone matrix and the expression of osteopontin. At day 14.5 a regular growth plate has developed between the two parts where type X collagen expression can be demonstrated in hypertrophic chondrocytes. The data indicate that the medial part of the clavicle develops by endochondral bone formation while the lateral part ossifies as a membranous bone. The clavicle of Ccd mice showed a smaller band of mesenchymal cell condensation than in wild-type mice. Cells of the condensation failed to express type I and type II collagen at E13.5. In the lateral part of the clavicle type I collagen expression was not detected until E14.5 and osteopontin expression only appeared at E15.5. At E15.5, a small ossification center appears in the lateral part which is, in contrast to the wild-type clavicular bone, solid and without primary spongiosa as well as bone marrow. In the medial portion, type II collagen expression and endochondral ossification never occurs in Ccd mice; this portion of the clavicle is therefore missing in Ccd.
FLUX-BREAKING OF SECOND E8 IN THREE-GENERATION SUPERSTRING MODELS

Some Calabi-Yau manifolds leading to three generations of chiral fermions in the heterotic E8×E8 some superstring theory are endowed with a freely acting discrete symmetry Z3, which when mapped homomorphically into the E6 subgroup of the first E8 causes it to break to (SU(3))3 or SU(6)×U(1). The same discrete group can be mapped homomorphically into the second E8 and can result in its breaking. We obtain some of the maximal subgroups of E8 and present the breaking directions in weight space for some breakings. Flux-tubes arise in these theories and their significance in cosmology is briefly discussed.
Plasmodium yoelii: comparison of indirect immunofluorescence and radioimmunoassay for detecting monoclonal antibodies to malaria.

Abstract The techniques of indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) and radioimmunoassay (RIA) were compared for efficiency in detecting antimalarial monoclonal antibodies in culture supernatants following lymphocyte hybridization. Culture supernatants from 479 wells were examined. Approximately 9% of the wells were found to contain antibodies to Plasmodium yoelii by IFA and 13% by RIA analysis. However, only 4.6% of the wells were positive by both IFA and RIA techniques. In general, stage-specific hybrids were more easily detected in IFA than RIA tests, whereas monoclonal antibodies binding to non-stage-specific antigens were more readily detected by RIA than IFA analysis. Selected monoclonal antibodies of the IgG and IgM classes were purified by protein A and molecular-weight-exclusion chromatography, respectively. The minimal amount of monoclonal antibody required to give a positive IFA reaction ranged from 1.6 to 100 μg antibody/ml (0.03-2 μg antibody/test), but only 0.1 to 100/μ.g antibody/ml (1 ng-2 μg antibody/test) was needed to produce a positive RIA reaction. Use of an isotype-specific RIA for screening for antimalarial antibodies resulted in the detection of additional hybridomas missed by standard IFA and RIA tests. Thus, it is important to use several serologic methods if maximal efficiency in detecting antimalarial monoclonal antibodies is to be achieved.
Evaluation of different catalyst systems for bulk polymerization through “click” chemistry

Abstract “Click” chemistry is a frequently used technique in polymer chemistry for coupling polymer end groups to construct novel copolymer architectures and as a step-growth polymerization technique. In this study, the bulk polymerization of a diyne and a bisazide were achieved through the copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide 1,3-cycloaddition (CuAAC) with different catalysts, including the homogeneous catalyst Cu(PPh 3 ) 3 Br and a heterogeneous Cu/C catalyst. The effects of different catalyst systems on the kinetics of the “click” polymerization were evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and oscillatory rheology. Additionally, the thermomechanical properties of resulting polymers were evaluated by temperature-ramp oscillatory rheology and thermal stabilities by thermogravimetry.
Heat shock protein 27 protects lung epithelial cells from hyperoxia-induced apoptotic cell death

Oxygen toxicity or hyperoxia is one of the major contributing factors in the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) is an important chaperone protein in the postnatal lung development. However, the role of Hsp27 in lung epithelial cells during hyperoxia is unclear. Our studies by cDNA array and immunohistochemistry revealed that hyperoxia decreased Hsp27 expression in newborn rat lungs. Western blot showed that hyperoxic treatment significantly decreased Hsp27 protein expression in cultured human lung epithelial cells (A549). The expression of Hsp27 was decreased approximately twofold after 24-h and threefold after 48- and 72-h hyperoxic exposure compared with that of the A549 cells exposed to normoxia (p < 0.05, n = 3). Knockdown of Hsp27 expression by siRNA resulted in more apoptotic cell death in A549 cells. Overexpression of Hsp27 reduced hyperoxia-induced apoptotic cell death to 9.2% in Hsp27 overexpressing A549 cells from 12.6% in control A549 cells after 72-h hyperoxic exposure (p < 0.01, n = 8-9). Overexpression of Hsp27 also diminished hyperoxia-induced caspase-9 activation in A549 cells. Our results demonstrated that hyperoxia decreased Hsp27 expression in newborn rat lung and cultured human lung epithelial cells. Overexpression of Hsp27 could reduce hyperoxia-induced apoptosis in cultured human lung epithelial cells.
Recent changes in the trends of teen birth rates, 1981-2006.

Abstract Purpose To explore trends in teen birth rates by selected demographics. Methods We used birth certificate data and joinpoint regression to examine trends in teen birth rates by age (10–14, 15–17, and 18–19 years) and race during 1981–2006 and by age and Hispanic origin during 1990–2006. Joinpoint analysis describes changing trends over successive segments of time and uses annual percentage change (APC) to express the amount of increase or decrease within each segment. Results For teens younger than 18 years, the decline in birth rates began in 1994 and ended in 2003 (APC: −8.03% per year for ages 10–14 years; APC: −5.63% per year for ages 15–17 years). The downward trend for 18- and 19-year-old teens began earlier (1991) and ended 1 year later (2004) (APC: −2.37% per year). For each study population, the trend was approximately level during the most recent time segment, except for continuing declines for 18- and 19-year-old white and Asian/Pacific Islander teens. The only increasing trend in the most recent time segment was for 18- and 19-year-old Hispanic teens. During these declines, the age distribution of teens who gave birth shifted to slightly older ages, and the percentage whose current birth was at least their second birth decreased. Conclusions Teen birth rates were generally level during 2003/2004–2006 after the long-term declines. Rates increased among older Hispanic teens. These results indicate a need for renewed attention to effective teen pregnancy prevention programs in specific populations.
Behavior of the solutions to exterior boundary value problems at low frequencies

Abstract A simple method is given to study the low frequency behavior of the solutions to exterior boundary value problems for elliptic equations of second order.
Segregation effects in noble-metal film growth on Bi(0001): insights from Auger analysis

Abstract The growth of reactive adatom-substrate overlayers has been examined during the deposition of Ag and Cu on Bi(0001) using primarily Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). When viewed by the commonly used signal-versus-time plot, the Auger data exhibit a featureless behavior with a temperature dependence that is suggestive of cluster or compound formation. Surprisingly, when the same data are portrayed on a substrate-versus-adatom plot of the signals, the results are quite unlike those previously reported in the literature, in that the curvature of the data is the opposite of that typically found as the adatom signal increases. Heavy adatom deposition is needed to totally obscure the substrate signal. In the absence of factors that are known to affect the Auger yield in such overlayer systems, these data are found to be consistent with a growth process in which a layer of Bi substrate atoms is continuously segregated at the vacuum-solid interface. This interpretation is consistent with predictions from surface free-energy arguments, in that the Bi has a much lower energy than Ag or Cu and, thus, has a strong tendency to stay on top of the growing film.
The Cinema and Its Shadow: Race and Technology in Early Cinema Alice Maurice. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013.

The Cinema and Its Shadow: Race and Technology in Early Cinema Alice Maurice. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013.Cinema began as a series of brief but luminous tricks played upon its audience in the dark. Within the frame of the film screen and, indeed, the early twentieth century, the trick was often predicated, as Alice Maurice argues in The Cinema and Its Shadow, on the presumption of tangible racial difference. Race-change and masquerade, when partnered with the apparatus of the camera, became evidence of the medium's power to attract and deceive. Later, these instruments would beckon toward verisimilitude. Early cinema provided ethnographic accounts of Sioux cultural practices in Buffalo Dance (Edison Manufacturing Company, 1894), fixated on race-centered metamerism with images of black bodies submerged in white soapsuds in A Morning Bath (James H. White, 1896), and transformed Chaucerian paradigms of misdirected kisses into racist punchlines on the impossibility of interracial desire in a series of iterative films.Racial difference provides, in the first decade of the twentieth century, a link to "cinema's nascent signifying practices" (47). Blackface abounded but so did selfreflexive cultural products, which destabilize the naturalized relationship between contemporary visual arts and postmodern metanarrative. Two "proto-chase films", The Miller and the Sweep (George Albert Smith, 1897) and The Chimney Sweep and The Miller (American Mutoscope and Biograph, 1900), show black and white-signified by soot and flour rather than flesh-subject to mutual substitution and equally capable of obliterating spectatorial discernment. Clouds of each substance fill the screen in order to "emancipate... and combine... essences that 'become' motion" (34). In What Happened in the Tunnel (Edwin S. Porter, 1903) the screen goes black, and a harassed white woman substitutes her body with that of an African-American domestic, surprising the audience by revealing her white male harasser in a taboo embrace when the light returns.As cinema aged in the teens and twenties, it authenticated its aesthetic potential by refining its representation of the human face. Just as psychoanalysis and philosophy centered subjectivity as a focal point for critical analysis, the cinematic close-up demonstrated the appropriate apparatus for realistic analytical detail of the subject's face (80).Cecil B. DeMille's The Cheat (1915) refined this mechanism with proximate closeups of its white female and Asian male characters, played by Fanny Ward and Sessue Hayakawa. The latter was simultaneously praised for offering a quiet, 'inscrutable' performance and providing a "glimpse of life among" an ethnic group frequently represented as alien (93, 97). …
Régularité conditionnelle des équations de Navier–Stokes

Resume Dans cette Note, nous donnons des conditions suffisantes de regularite des solutions des equations de Navier–Stokes. Nous montrons que si une solution de Leray–Hopf verifie l'une des trois conditions (i) ∂ u / ∂ x 3 ∈ L t s 0 L x r 0 ou 2 / s 0 + 3 / r 0 ⩽ 2 et 9 / 4 ⩽ r 0 ⩽ 3 , (ii) ∇ u 3 ∈ L t s 1 L x r 1 ou 2 / s 1 + 3 / r 1 ⩽ 11 / 6 et 54 / 23 ⩽ r 0 ⩽ 18 / 5 , ou (iii) u 3 ∈ L t s 0 L x r 0 ou 2 / s 0 + 3 / r 0 ⩽ 5 / 8 et 24 / 5 ⩽ r 0 ⩽ ∞ , alors elle est reguliere. Ces conditions ameliorent les resultats existants sur la regularite conditionnelle des equations de Navier–Stokes. Pour citer cet article : I. Kukavica, M. Ziane, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 343 (2006).
Functional reconstruction of a calcaneal deficit due to osteomyelitis with femoral head allograft and tendon rebalance

Calcaneal osteomyelitis is one of the most devastating complications encountered with the surgical treatment of calcaneal fractures. Previous treatments have focused on infection ablation, followed by either bracing or amputation. Few reports have focused on a staged procedure and ultimate functional reconstruction of the calcaneus. The case presented utilized a flexor hallucis longus tendon transfer with reattachment of the Achilles tendon, and implantation of a femoral head allograft. At 24 month follow-up, the patient was able to return to all pre-injury activities, without bracing or assistance.
Somatic cell hybrids between Friend erythroleukemia cells and mouse hepatoma cells.

Somatic cell hybrids between hepatoma and Friend erythroleukemia parental cells were studied for the expression of liver-specific and erythroid properties. Several independent clones were isolated using HAT selection and were shown to be true hybrids by isozyme and chromosome analysis. All displayed a complete extinction of hemoglobin and globin mRNA production, but a retention of albumin and transferrin secretion. The data suggest that erythroid differentiation is being actively inhibited by the hepatoma genome. Possible mechanisms that might explain these results are discussed in the light of current hypotheses regarding the mechanism of cell differentiation.
Magnetic resonance imaging compatibility of endoclips.

Background Endoscopic clipping devices are now available for treatment of GI hemorrhage and microperforations. All commercially available endoclips are labeled as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) incompatible. No data are available about the actual magnetic field strength at which endoclips are first deflected nor the clinical relevance of the magnetic fields on endoclips used in GI endoscopy. Objective To determine the compatibility of different endoclips with MRI. Design Prospective observational study. Setting Experiment on excised pig tissue in an MRI scanner. Interventions The physical deflection and strength of attraction of endoclips: Resolution Clip, TriClip, QuickClip, and Ethicon Endo-surgery Clip were measured in different positions by using an MRI scanner at a field strength of 1.5 Tesla. Endoclips that demonstrated deflection were attached to a pig stomach and tested for detachment at a 1.5-Tesla MRI field strength. Main Outcome Measurements Physical deflection and detachment from pig stomach mucosa in an MRI scanner. Results All endoclips except the one made by Ethicon Endo-surgery demonstrated physical deflection under the tested conditions. The magnetic attraction was strongest for the Resolution Clip (0.7 gauss) compared with the TriClip (1.2 gauss) and the QuickClip (26.8 gauss). Only the Triclip demonstrated detachment from the pig gastric tissue under testing conditions. Limitations A pig model and a small number of clips. Conclusions The Ethicon Endo-surgery clip is compatible with MRI. All other clips showed deflection in a magnetic field, but only the TriClip demonstrated detachment from gastric tissue, and hence should be considered MRI incompatible.
γ-Aminobutyric acid receptor binding antagonism by the amidine steroid RU5135

The novel convulsant amidine steroid RU5135 inhibited gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor binding in membranes from seven regions of rat brain (IC50 = 11 +/- 2 nM against [3H]muscimol and 0.8 +/- 0.2 nM against [3H]bicuculline methochloride), apparently lowering the number of binding sites labeled with gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor agonists or antagonists. The steroid reversed the enhancement of benzodiazepine receptor binding by gamma-aminobutyric acid, pentobarbital, and etazolate, but did not inhibit the binding of the convulsant [35S]t-butyl bicylophosphorothionate. Thus, RU5135 shows very potent in vitro actions more resembling those of the gamma-aminobutyric acid site antagonist, bicuculline, than the chloride channel antagonist, picrotoxin.
Left Axis Deviation: Diagnostic Contribution of Stress Testing and Post-Exercise Systolic Time Intervals

The response to graded submaximal upright bicycle ergometry combined with resting and postexercise systolic time intervals (STIs) was investigated in ten ambulatory subjects (study group) with normal electrocardiograms except for a frontal plane axis of ≥ −30% or left axis deviation (LAD) (mean −40°); and eight age-matched volunteers (control group) with a normal ECG and frontal plane axis (mean +35°). Following a 12-lead resting ECG, supine STIs were measured. The subjects then exercised on a bicycle ergometer at progressive workloads with ECG and blood pressure monitoring until a heart rate based on 85 percent of the age-predicted maximum was attained or an abnormal end point was noted. STIs were repeated immediately postexercise. Prolongation of left ventricular ejection time corrected for heart rate (LVETc) of 8 msecs or more from rest to postexercise. (ΔLVETc) was considered an abnormal STI response. The ΔLVETc can elicit left ventricular dysfunction and possible latent organic heart disease in patients with isolated left axis deviation.
In/finite Time: Tracing Transcendence to Emmanuel Levinas's Talmudic Lectures

Abstract In this article, I attempt to trace Emmanuel Levinas's notion of transcendence and its relation to infinity to his Talmudic lectures to offer both a philosophical diagnosis as well as a counter to the essentialist logic of what Levinas considers the traditional or ‘metaphysical’ concept of time. This opens my speculative argument up to two levels of interpretation as it requires an historical investigation into the cultural context that conditioned Levinas's particular understanding of transcendence and infinity in relation to his turn toward Talmud and sacred Jewish texts in the years following World War Two. But it also requires that we take seriously the critique of history as inadequate to such a task that is inherent in Levinas's presentation of these concepts. All of this hinges on the role and place of ‘time’ in Levinas. I consider Levinas's category of ‘time immemorial’ as a counter to the essentialist logic of what Levinas considers the traditional or ‘metaphysical’ concept of time which...
A Bibliography of the Writings of Sen Katayama in Western Languages

N O STUDY of the history of the Japanese socialist movement may be made without reference to the work and thought of Sen Katayama (1859-1933). Pioneer socialist, publisher of the first successful Japanese labor newspaper, and representative of Japanese socialism in the camps of the international movement, Katayama's career is a veritable mirror of the Japanese socialist movement. No systematic study of Katayama's life and work has yet been made and without it the history of the Japanese socialist movement must remain incomplete. Among his writings, those appearing in western language publications should not be neglected. Until 1913, when he left his native land forever, Katayama was constantly confronted with oppression and censorship and consequently it was mainly in publications printed abroad that he could bare completely his mind and heart. After 1913 he rarely wrote for Japanese publications, and thus the principal sources for the study of the remaining years of his life, the Bolshevik period, are his Western language publications.L It will be noted in the bibliography that most of Katayama's writings after 1920 appeared in organs of the Communist International. Many of these periodicals and papers were published in several languages, usually Russian, French, German, and English. Since complete files of these publications are rarely to be found in the libraries of the United States, the compiler has generally worked with those most available.2 This will explain use of the Kommunistische Internationale, Rote Gewerkschafts-Internationale, and International Press Correspondence rather than other language editions.
Atypical transcription of microRNA gene fragments

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short ( approximately 22 nt) RNAs that impact gene expression by sequence-specific interactions with messenger RNA or promoter sequences of genomic DNA. Ectopic expression of miRNAs can be accomplished by placing fragments of the corresponding miRNA precursor under the control of RNA polymerase II or III (RNAP II/III). Here, we report that, in the absence of exogenous promoters, DNA fragments incorporating miRNA precursors can be delivered directly into a variety of human cells and give rise to the corresponding mature miRNA. Notably, the transcription of these miRNA DNA fragments appears resistant to conventional inhibitors of RNAP I/II/III activity. Taken together, our findings suggest the existence of a previously unrecognized atypical transcription program for miRNA precursor sequences.
War Commemoration and the Republic in Crisis: Weimar Germany and the Neue Wache

“Our dead are above the petty quarreling and the wretched, empty phrases that we cherish. A deep remembrance of our fallen brethren can only strengthen the will to reconcile differences and awaken the spirit that one of their number once expressed in this fashion: ‘Germany must live, even if we must die.”’ Thus a conservative nationalist representative to the Reichstag in Berlin addressed his colleagues in March 1927. His words reflect several notions current in Weimar Germany. They voice a call, still impassioned eight years after the armistice, for commemoration of the war dead, and they register a frustration with the contentious fragmentation of contemporary political culture, so dissonant with the image of soldiers unified in selfless sacrifice for the German fatherland. Finally, these words articulate the widespread sense that it was in the memory of the fallen of the Great War and in the emulation of their heroic sacrifice that Germans could find the bond to unify them as a people during the postwar period.
Data Analysis of Diversion and Dynamic Message Signs

Dynamic message signs (DMS) are used in conjunction with other media to communicate traffic conditions, general information, and recommended diversion strategies to motorists. This study uses loop detector data from Richmond, Virginia, to estimate diversion rates attributable to DMS advisory messages on Interstate 95 where Interstate 295 is available as a comparable alternate route, thus evaluating DMS effectiveness in traffic diversion without major concerns of added trip time or quality of the alternate route. The impacts of existing message strategies are investigated to determine those messages that maximize diversion for specific circumstances. Analysis is performed for various message types for the scenario of an incident on the primary freeway, I-95, encouraging diversion of I-95 traffic to an alternate route (I-295). Results show trends where the usage of particular words in messages is more effective than others in causing diversion, and recommendations are made to create a more effective message...
Real-time, multi-wavelength microbe detection instrument

A hand-held instrument has been developed for microbial detection on surfaces and in water. Based on intrinsic microbial fluorescent markers, the instrument detects the presence of /spl sim/10 cells in /spl sim/2 cm/sup 2/ interrogation area on a surface, such as meats/poultry, surgical tools and other sterile surfaces, and in water. Contact with the sample is not necessary for detection. Six intrinsic fluorescent markers are used simultaneously to determine the presence, quantity, and metabolic state (live/dead) of the microbial contamination. Detection requires seconds.
Heart failure with preserved and reduced ejection fraction: different risk profiles for different diseases

This editorial refers to ‘Incidence and epidemiology of new onset heart failure with preserved vs. reduced ejection fraction in a community-based cohort: 11-year follow-up of PREVEND’, by F.P. Brouwers et al. , doi:10.1093/eurheartj/eht066 Approximately 15 million Europeans and 6 million Americans suffer from heart failure (HF), with annual direct and indirect costs in the billions.1 About half of patients have a preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), while the others display a reduced EF (HFrEF).2,3 Clinical trials have unequivocally shown that treatments such as neurohormonal antagonists improve outcome in HFrEF, while similar trials in HFpEF have been neutral.1,2 Several reasons have been proposed for this differential response, including unique pathophysiologies in HFpEF and HFrEF, differing degrees of neurohormonal activation, significant pathophysiological heterogeneity within the broad population of HFpEF patients, and higher non-cardiovascular mortality in HFpEF.1,2 It is also possible that the heart in HFrEF displays greater plasticity and amenability to reverse remodelling, while changes in the mechanical properties of the heart and vasculature in HFpEF might be less reversible by the time symptoms develop. Thus, interventions designed to prevent HFpEF might be more effective to reduce the global disease burden. To better inform strategies to prevent HFpEF (and HFrEF), detailed insight is needed into disease-specific risk factors. Brouwers and colleagues have now presented exciting new data identifying common and distinct risk profiles for incident HFpEF and HFrEF.4 As part of the community-based Prevention of Renal and Vascular Endstage Disease (PREVEND) study, 8592 subjects living in Groningen, The Netherlands, underwent baseline medical examination along with blood testing and 24 h urine sampling. After a median follow-up duration of 11.5 years, the authors undertook the ambitious enterprise of carefully reviewing all medical records to identify subjects developing incident HF. The HF diagnosis was established …
The Acoustic Reflex in Diagnostic Audiology: From Metz to Present

In 1946, Metz described what was probably the first practical impedance bridge for measurement of the acoustic reflex. Over the next four decades, diagnostic use of the acoustic reflex progressed in parallel with instrumentation refinements. Today, acoustic reflex threshold and decay testing are a routine component of the diagnostic audiology test battery. Recent advances in the measurement of suprathreshold latency and amplitude have further enhanced the diagnostic value of acoustic reflex measurement.
Meridional Anisotropy in the Discrimination of Parallel and Perpendicular Lines—Effect of Body Tilt

It is well documented that orientation discrimination is poorer for stimuli oriented obliquely than for those that are vertical or horizontal. Buchanan-Smith and Heeley recently reported that in the absence of a spatial reference this anisotropy follows gravitational rather than retinal coordinates, suggesting a high-level basis for the anisotropy in unreferenced orientation discrimination tasks. In the present study, unlike the previous one, the effects of body tilt on orientation discrimination have been examined in the presence of explicit simultaneous spatial references. The thresholds for discrimination of two parallel or two perpendicular lines were estimated for the retinally principal and oblique orientations, with the body either erect or tilted 45° with respect to gravity. In agreement with previous studies, meridional anisotropy for both parallelism and perpendicularity discrimination was found when observers were seated upright. When the observer's body was tilted, the anisotropy for the paral...
Retake Analysis For The New, Multiple-pass Sweeping Gantry Method For Peripheral Angiography

A new multiple-pass, sweeping gantry technique * (SWEEPING) for single injection peripheral angiography (PA) is compared to the conventional preprogrammed step ping technique (STEPPING). By spreading out acquisitions at each position over time, SWEEPING increases the probability of acquiring contrast-filled images. As compared to STEPPING, SiI'EEPING significantly reduces the predicted number of retakes estimated from a retrospective analysis of whole-leg film images.
A game theoretic model for power control in multi-rate mobile data networks

Power control has been extensively studied in cellular networks with primarily voice traffic. Next generation wireless networks are evolving towards all-data systems. In particular, transmission from mobile stations (MSs) will tend to be bursty and there will be a variety of transmission rates (multi-rate transmission). Recently, non-cooperative game theory has been applied to study power control in wireless data networks. In these studies, MSs are assumed to be transmitting continuously and all of them at the same rate. We apply non-cooperative game theory to bursty transmissions and multi-rate systems in this paper. This results in a power control game of incomplete information. The issues arising from this change are investigated and numerical results are provided.
Genetic variation in germination, growth, and survivorship of red maple in response to subambient through elevated atmospheric CO2

Genetic variation in plant response to atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) may have influenced paleo-vegetation dynamics and could determine how future elevated CO2 drives plant evolution and ecosystem productivity. We established how levels of relatedness ‐ the maternal family, population, and provenance ‐ affect variation in the CO2 response of a species. This 2-year growth chamber experiment focused on the germination, growth, biomass allocation, and survivorship responses of Acer rubrum to four concentrations of CO2: 180, 270, 360, and 600lLL � 1 ‐ representing Pleistocene through potential future conditions. We found that all levels of relatedness interacted with CO2 to contribute to variation in response. Germination responses to CO2 varied among families and populations, growth responses depended on families and regions of origin, and survivorship responses to CO2 were particularly affected by regional identities. Differences among geographic regions accounted for 23% of the variation in biomass response to CO2. If seeds produced under subambient CO2 conditions behave similarly, our results suggest that A. rubrum may have experienced strong selection on seedling survivorship at Pleistocene CO2 levels. Further, this species may evolve in response to globally rising CO2 so as to increase productivity above that experimentally observed today. Species responses to future atmospheric CO2 and the accompanying biotic effects on the global carbon cycle will vary among families, populations, and provenances.
A constant-contour-length reptation model without independent alignment or consistent averaging approximations for chain retraction

A reptation model for the primitive chain that does not assume independent alignment or consistent-averaging for the retraction process, or equilibrium relaxation for the reptation process is proposed and compared to the analytical expressions of Doi and Edwards in single-step, double-step strains and steady-state shear flow. The Doi and Edwards model with independent alignment approximation underpredicts the magnitude of the relaxation modulus by 25%, and consistently overpredicts the magnitude of the damping function; for steady shear flow, it predicts the correct shape for the steady-state viscosity and the first normal stress difference coefficient, although the magnitude is incorrect. The analytical expressions of Doi and Edwards without independent alignment approximation are excellent approximations to the damping function. In double-step strains, the expressions of Doi assuming consistent averaging, but no independent alignment, predict well the stress decay following the second strain. Linear response theory is found to be invalid for describing the stress relaxation following single-step strain for the models considered. Similar to the Doi and Edwards model, no overshoot for the first normal stress difference is observed for the simulation model. Unlike the Doi equation derived without the independent alignment approximation but restricted to double-step strains, the simulation model proposed here can be easily generalized to complex flow fields. No contour length fluctuation or constraint release is considered in this model, and chain retraction is assumed to be instantaneous.
“Candidatus Accumulibacter” Population Structure in Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal Sludges as Revealed by Polyphosphate Kinase Genes

We investigated the fine-scale population structure of the “Candidatus Accumulibacter” lineage in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) systems using the polyphosphate kinase 1 gene (ppk1) as a genetic marker. We retrieved fragments of “Candidatus Accumulibacter” 16S rRNA and ppk1 genes from one laboratory-scale and several full-scale EBPR systems. Phylogenies reconstructed using 16S rRNA genes and ppk1 were largely congruent, with ppk1 granting higher phylogenetic resolution and clearer tree topology and thus serving as a better genetic marker than 16S rRNA for revealing population structure within the “Candidatus Accumulibacter” lineage. Sequences from at least five clades of “Candidatus Accumulibacter” were recovered by ppk1-targeted PCR, and subsequently, specific primer sets were designed to target the ppk1 gene for each clade. Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) assays using “Candidatus Accumulibacter”-specific 16S rRNA and “Candidatus Accumulibacter” clade-specific ppk1 primers were developed and conducted on three laboratory-scale and nine full-scale EBPR samples and two full-scale non-EBPR samples to determine the abundance of the total “Candidatus Accumulibacter” lineage and the relative distributions and abundances of the five “Candidatus Accumulibacter” clades. The qPCR-based estimation of the total “Candidatus Accumulibacter” fraction as a proportion of the bacterial community as measured using 16S rRNA genes was not significantly different from the estimation measured using ppk1, demonstrating the power of ppk1 as a genetic marker for detection of all currently defined “Candidatus Accumulibacter” clades. The relative distributions of “Candidatus Accumulibacter” clades varied among different EBPR systems and also temporally within a system. Our results suggest that the “Candidatus Accumulibacter” lineage is more diverse than previously realized and that different clades within the lineage are ecologically distinct.
Modulation of sex ratios in Daphnia magna following multigenerational exposure to sewage treatment plant effluents.

Abstract The influence of sewage treatment plant effluents on sex ratios in Daphnia magna was investigated. Female daphnids were acclimated for several generations to effluents from a municipal sewage treatment plant and a residential oxidation lagoon and then placed under conditions to maximize male offspring production. Both effluents resulted in a statistically significant decrease in male production and a shift in male broods from earlier broods to later broods near the end of the adult life cycle. For example, sex ratios in control daphnids ranged from 0.43 to 0.67 in broods 3–4 compared with 0.0–0.13 in daphnids exposed to the residential oxidation lagoon. Secondary sexual characteristics of both sexes were statistically significantly increased by the sewage lagoon effluent but not the municipal effluent. These preliminary results suggest that alteration in timing of sexual determination due to exposure to sewage treatment plant effluents could severely impact the survival of daphnid populations.
Growth of nanotubes for probe microscopy tips

Carbon nanotubes, which have intrinsically small diameters and high aspect ratios and which buckle reversibly, make potentially ideal structures for use as tips in scanning probe microscopies, such as atomic force microscopy (AFM)1,2,3,4. However, the present method of mechanically attaching nanotube bundles for tip fabrication is time consuming and selects against the smallest nanotubes, limiting the quality of tips. We have developed a technique for growing individual carbon nanotube probe tips directly, with control over the orientation, by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) from the ends of silicon tips. Tips grown in this way may become widely used in high-resolution probe microscopy imaging.
Nailing the coffin shut on doubts that violent video games stimulate aggression: comment on Anderson et al. (2010)

Over the past half century the mass media, including video games, have become important socializers of children. Observational learning theory has evolved into social-cognitive information processing models that explain that what a child observes in any venue has both short-term and long-term influences on the child's behaviors and cognitions. C. A. Anderson et al.'s (2010) extensive meta-analysis of the effects of violent video games confirms what these theories predict and what prior research about other violent mass media has found: that violent video games stimulate aggression in the players in the short run and increase the risk for aggressive behaviors by the players later in life. The effects occur for males and females and for children growing up in Eastern or Western cultures. The effects are strongest for the best studies. Contrary to some critics' assertions, the meta-analysis of C. A. Anderson et al. is methodologically sound and comprehensive. Yet the results of meta-analyses are unlikely to change the critics' views or the public's perception that the issue is undecided because some studies have yielded null effects, because many people are concerned that the implications of the research threaten freedom of expression, and because many people have their identities or self-interests closely tied to violent video games.
Atypical Biosynthetic Properties of a Δ12/ν+3 Desaturase from the Model Basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium

The model white-rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium contains a single integral membrane Delta(12)-desaturase FAD2 related to the endoplasmic reticular plant FAD2 enzymes. The fungal fad2-like gene was cloned and distinguished itself from plant homologs by the presence of four introns and a significantly larger coding region. The coding sequence exhibits ca. 35% sequence identity to plant homologs, with the highest sequence conservation found in the putative catalytic and major structural domains. In vivo activity of the heterologously expressed enzyme favors C(18) substrates with nu+3 regioselectivity, where the site of desaturation is three carbons carboxy-distal to the reference position of a preexisting double bond (nu). Linoleate accumulated to levels in excess of 12% of the total fatty acids upon heterologous expression of P. chrysosporium FAD2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In contrast to the behavior of the plant FAD2 enzymes, this oleate desaturase does not 12-hydroxylate lipids and is the first example whose activity increases at higher temperatures (30 degrees C versus 15 degrees C). Thus, while maintaining the hallmark activity of the fatty acyl Delta(12)-desaturase family, the basidiomycete fad2 genes appear to have evolved substantially from an ancestral desaturase.
Dynamic harmonic identification in converter waveforms using radial basis function neural networks (RBFNN) and p-q power theory

Radial basis function neural networks (RBFNN) are used to dynamically identify harmonics content in converter waveforms based on p-q (real power-imaginary power) theory. The converter waveforms are analyzed and the harmonic contents are identified over a wide operating range. The proposed RBFNN filtering training algorithm are based on systematic and computationally efficient training method called hybrid learning method. The small size and the robustness of the resulted network reflect the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm. The analysis is verified using MATLAB simulation.
Colloidal Stability and Titania Precipitate Morphology: Influence of Short-Range Repulsions

For a wide range of reagent concentrations, particles formed from the hydrolysis of tetraethyl orthotitanate in aqueous ethanol solutions fall into two morphological types. In the first, the particles are composed of uniform spheres, while in the second, the precipitate consists of agglomerates of discrete particles which have been fused together by further reaction products. To explain this observation, we develop a growth mechanism where colloidal stability is imparted to the growing particles through a combination of electrostatic and short-range repulsions giving rise to a shallow secondary minimum which develops for certain particle sizes and results in the formation of doublets that can be fused together. If the particle surface potential is of sufficient magnitude, the secondary minimum is no longer accessible by Brownian motion and uniform precipitates result. The effects of particle surface potential and reaction medium ionic strength are discussed.
Observation of Flow Dissipation in 3He-B

Anomalous dissipation is observed in 3He-B flowing in a U-tube device. The dissipation is of unknown origin and persists to the lowest measured velocity. The position of this result in the framework of other 3He-B flow experiments is discussed.
Effect of THAM on brain oedema in experimental brain injury.

The metabolic brain acidosis after trauma has been thought to increase brain oedema and contribute to neurologic deterioration. Amelioration of the brain acidosis either by systemic buffering agents or by hyperventilation has been proposed as a method of treatment. The objective of this study was to explore brain oedema and the metabolic changes in brain that occur with the use of hyperventilation, Tromethamine and combination (THAM and hyperventilation) therapy in experimental fluid-percussion brain injury. Brain lactate, brain pH, inorganic phosphate (Pi) and ATP were measured by 1H and 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Also Water content in brain tissue using the specific gravimetric technique were determined in 32 cats. Prolonged hyperventilation provided relative ischaemia in brain tissue and promoted more production of brain lactate, no recovery of PCr/Pi ratio, and no decrease in brain oedema. On the other hand the administration of THAM served to decrease production of brain lactate and brain oedema and promoted the recovery of cerebral energy dysfunction. THAM ameliorates the deleterious effects of hyperventilation by minimizing energy disturbance and also decreases brain oedema. We conclude that THAM may be effective in reducing brain tissue acidosis and helpful as a metabolic stabilizing agent following severe head injury.
Technologies and Magnitude of Ancillary Services Provided by Commercial Buildings

Commercial buildings increasingly include technologies capable of providing ancillary services to electric power grids. Features include thermal energy storage inherent in building structures that can be coupled to electric grids through heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems controlled by variable-speed drives (VSDs). In parking garages, plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are connected to the building power lines through charging stations and can be utilized as grid storage. System power electronics can control equipment power demand at frequencies associated with ancillary services procured in electricity markets, where services dispatch over time scales ranging from hours to seconds. Limitations in provision of services by buildings include building-scale thermal and electrical energy storage capacities: thermal comfort of occupants, state of charge of PEV batteries, and the power rating of VSDs and PEV chargers. This paper reviews available technologies and necessary control strategies for HVAC systems in commercial buildings to provide ancillary services. We then develop physically-based scaling metrics for building thermal storage technologies accessible through HVAC systems. In addition, the effect of ancillary services provided by HVAC systems on grid network and electricity market operations is analyzed using simulation case studies, incorporating magnitude scaling of services. We finally evaluate a possibility that the HVAC systems and PEVs provide three-phase voltage and power balance regulation services, respectively.
Computational Prediction of Nose -Down Control for the Pre -Production F/A -18E at High Angles of Attack

Computational fluid dynamics was used to predict the longitudinal stability and control characteristi cs of the pre -production F/A -18E Super Hornet configuration with neutral and full nose -down control at high -angle -of -attack, subsonic condition s. Such data contribute to an analysis of the ability of the pilot to recover from extreme angles of attack. The calculations were made for Mach 0.082 at a Reynolds number of 1.15 million based on mean aerodynamic chord at angles of attack between 0° and 60 °. The F/A -18E was modeled with 34° leading -edge flaps, 4° trailing -edge flaps, 0° aileron deflection, a rudde r deflection of 30°, a spoiler d eflection of 60° and horizontal -tail deflections of 0° and 20°. The flow conditions and configuration corresponded to those used in tests of a 15% -scale F/A -18E wind -tunnel model tested at the 30 - by 60 -ft Full -Scale Wind T unnel at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, VA. The flow solver used during this project was USM3D , which was developed by the NASA Langley Research Center. The forces and moments predicted by USM3D compared well to the wind -tunnel data for ang les of attack between 0° and 40°. For angles of attack from 40° to 60 °, however, the results from USM3D differed from the wind tunnel data . These differences are attributed to the unsteady nature of the flow and turbulence effects not adequately captured by the computations .