cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of Zeolite Structure and Acidity on the Product Selectivity and Reaction Mechanism forn-Octane Hydroisomerization and Hydrocracking☆

The activity, product selectivity, and stability of a series of bifunctional zeolite catalysts, primary ZSM-12, USY, and β-zeolite, with different Si/Al ratios were compared for the hydroisomerization and hydrocracking ofn-octane. The performance of L-zeolite and mordenite was examined to a lesser extent as well. It was found that the activity per acidic site decreases at the initial stage (1 h on stream) in the following order: ZSM-12 > β-zeolite > mordenite > USY > L-zeolite. For extended periods of operation, the activity of ZSM-12 remains unchanged. The superior stability of ZSM-12 even under accelerating coking conditions results from its unique pore structure, which does not favor coke formation. Its one-dimensional noninterpenetrating puckered channels (5.5×6.1 A) act as perfect tubes, which do not trap coke precursors. The branched product selectivity increases with the increase in Bronsted acid site strength of the zeolite catalysts, and thus hydroisomerization is favored at the expense of cracking at a higher Bronsted acid strength. USY-5.8 (CBV-712) showed relatively high initial activity with respect to other USYs. This is probably related to its high surface Al content. The Bronsted acid strength of the USY zeolites decreases in the order USY-2.6 > USY-28 ≥ USY-5.8. The 2,2-DMC6and 3,3-DMC6isomers are not favored as final products due to their bulky molecular size even in USY. In addition, the 2,2-DMC6species is more abundant than 3,3-DMC6because the rate of isomerization by PCP intermediates decreases in the following order: 2-MC7> 3-MC7> 4-MC7. The 2,3-DMC6concentration is much higher than that predicted by equilibrium, which indicates that the interconversion of 2,3-DMC6to other dibranched isomers is not preferred. The i-C4/n-C4ratio detected depends on both the reaction temperature and zeolite pore structure/acidity. Aluminium content determines the type of β-scission. For zeolites with a high concentration of acid sites (Si/Al < about 30), type A β-scission dominates at low temperature, while at lower Al content, type A, B, and C β-scissions are equally important.
A suite of inpatient and outpatient clinical measures for pharmacy accountability: recommendations from the Pharmacy Accountability Measures Work Group.

Three defining characteristics of national healthcare policy that affect patient care are accountability of providers, standardization of performance measures, and incentives for improvement.[1][1] Accountability for outcomes and health status is jointly shared by the patient and provider.
International Trade, OECD Membership, and Religion

Transaction costs in trade gravity equation are proxied by the distance that separates two trading partners, under the assumption that the distance elasticity is the same across all trading partners. We show that distance elasticity, however, critically depends on whether trading partners are industrial countries (i.e., members of the OECD) or share same religion. These heterogeneities are both statistically and economically significant. For instance, expected trade flows are the largest when an OECD member trades with a non-member and both are non-religious. Expected trade flows fall as much as by 62.9% between two non-religious, non-OECD members. Expected bilateral trade drops by 48.1% when both countries in the pair are OECD members while one is Christian and the other is Islamic. Both religion and OECD membership significantly affect the typical transaction costs implied by the gravity equation.
Radiation-induced transient attenuation of optical fibers at 800 and 1300 nm

Radiation-induced absorption in optical fibers has been a subject of considerable interest throughout the world. As availability and applications of fibers have evolved from ''first window'' systems operating near 850 nm to ''second window'' systems near 1300 nm, interest in wavelength dependence of radiation effects in optical fibers has similarly evolved. The present work summarizes second-window, radiation-induced transient absorption measurements in optical fibers for times shorter than 5 ..mu..s. Comparisons to first window data for these fibers are also presented. Only high purity silica fibers with low-OH concentrations were used in the present study to avoid the large OH absorption band in this region. This paper also collects first window data on several high-OH optical fibers.
Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase‐2 Gene Delivery Ameliorates Postinfarction Cardiac Remodeling

Hypothesis: Adenoviral-mediated (AdV-T2) overexpression of TIMP-2 would blunt ventricular remodeling and improve survival in a murine model of chronic ischemic injury. Methods: Male mice (n = 124) aged 10–14 weeks underwent either (1) left coronary artery ligation to induce myocardial infarction (MI group, n = 36), (2) myocardial injection of 6 × 1010 viral particles of AdV-T2 immediately post-MI (MI + T2 group, n = 30), (3) myocardial injection of 6 × 1010 viral particles of a control adenovirus (MI + Ct, n = 38), or 4) received no intervention (controls, n = 20). On post-MI day 7, surviving mice (n = 79) underwent echocardiographic, immunohistochemical, and biochemical analysis. Results: In infarcted animals, the MI + T2 group demonstrated improved survival (p < 0.02), better preservation of developed pressure and ventricular diameter (p < 0.04), and the lowest expression and activity of MMP-2 and MMP-9 (p < 0.04) compared with MI and MI + Ct groups. All infarcted hearts displayed significantly increased inflammatory cell infiltration (p < 0.04 vs. control, MI, or MI + T2), with infiltration highest in the MI + Ct group and lowest in the MI + T2 group (p < 0.04). Conclusions: Adenoviral mediated myocardial delivery of the TIMP-2 gene improves post-MI survival and limits adverse remodeling in a murine model of MI. Clin Trans Sci 2011; Volume 4: 24–31
EFFECT OF SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE INHIBITOR ON NITRIC OXIDE-INDUCED AIRWAY RELAXATION AND INTRACELLULAR Ca2+ TRANSIENTS. ▴ 2307

Endogenous production of superoxide anion (SA) is known to affect a variety of signal transduction pathways in smooth muscle. In this study, we investigated the effect of diethyldithiocarbamate (DETCA), an inhibitor of Zn, Cu-superoxide dismutase (SOD), on nitric oxide (NO)-mediated relaxation and intracellular Ca2- ([Ca2+]i) transients in porcine tracheal smooth muscle (TSM) cells. In carbachol (CH)-contracted TSM strips, DETCA (10 mM) inhibited relaxations mediated by cGMP and induced by NO released from intrinsic nerves as well as by the NO donor, sodium nitroprusside (SNP), but not that mediated by cAMP and induced by isoproterenol. In CH-contracted tissues, exposure to DETCA resulted in increased lucigenin-dependent chemiluminescence. DETCA did not inhibit the elevation of cGMP in response to SNP. In single, freshly isolated TSM cells loaded with fura-2/AM, exposure to 100 nM acetylcholine (ACh), which acts through the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) receptor, resulted in elevation of [Ca2+]i. DETCA attenuated this Ca2+ response, but not to caffeine, an inducer of Ca2+ release through the ryanodine receptor. These results suggest that SA attenuates NO-mediated relaxations at a step distal to the generation of cGMP, and decreases ACh-induced elevation of [Ca2+]i by inhibiting IP3-induced Ca2+ release selectively. Supported by Univ. of Minnesota, Mayo Foundation, and NIH grant HL51736-02C. MSK was recipient of an Abbott Senior Fellowship.
Use of Fluorescent NIR Dyes in Silica Nanoparticles and as Enzyme Substrates in Bioanalytical Applications

Near-Infrared (NIR) absorbing carbocyanine dyes have been increasingly used in analytical, biological and medical fields as they can be useful for developing bioanalytical and biomedical methods. The utilization of the NIR spectral region (650-900 nm) is advantageous and is due to the inherently lower background interference and the high molar absorptivities of NIR chromophores. NIR dyes typically have relatively lower fluorescent quantum yield as compared to visible fluorophores, but much higher molar absorptivities which more than compensates for the lower quantum yields regarding detection limits. Fluorescence intensity of NIR dyes significantly increases by enclosing several dye molecules in silica nanoparticles. Self quenching may become a problem for carbocyanines at such high concentrations that may be present in the silica nanoparticles. Dyes that have large Stokes’ shift can significantly decrease this problem. Increased Stokes’ shift for carbocyanines dyes can be achieved by substituting meso position halogens with a linker containing aliphatic or aromatic amino moiety which also serves as a covalent linker for attaching the dye molecule to the nanoparticle backbone. The primary applications of these particles are for bright fluorescent labels to be used in bioanalytical applications such as immunochemistry, flow cytometry, etc. This work also discusses the use of NIR dyes as enzyme substrates. NIR dyes can be used as enzyme substrates and hence for characterization of enzyme activity. The well characterized alkenesulfonate monooxygenase enzyme was chosen for these studies. Carbocyanines containing alkylsulfonate moieties do not exhibit significant fluorescence change upon binding to biomolecules however otherwise identical NIR dye analogs that contain alkylaldehyde moiety at the same position do exhibit changes which can be utilized for characterization of alkenesulfonate monooxygenase enzyme activity using near infrared dyes as substrates. In this study a new class of sulfonated penta- and heptamethine dyes were used as substrates in vitro utilizing a photo-reduced riboflavin mononucleotide (FMN) with a glucose/ glucose-oxygenase oxygen scavenging system. Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) detected CZE was utilized to detect the sulfonated and de-sulfonated carbocyanines. The lower fluorescence quantum yield of the less water soluble alkylaldehyde analogs was detected and enzyme activity was characterized.
Retrospective Assessment of Initial Stroke Severity Comparison of the NIH Stroke Scale and the Canadian Neurological Scale

Background and Purpose—The NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and the Canadian Neurological Scale (CNS) have been reported to be useful for the retrospective assessment of initial stroke severity. However, unlike the CNS, the NIHSS requires detailed neurological assessments that may not be reflected in all patient records, potentially limiting its applicability. We assessed the reliability of the retrospective algorithms and the proportions of missing items for the NIHSS and CNS in stroke patients admitted to an academic medical center (AMC) and 2 community hospitals. Methods—Randomly selected records of patients with ischemic stroke admitted to an AMC (n=20) and community hospitals with (CH1, n=19) and without (CH2, n=20) acute neurological consultative services were reviewed. NIHSS and CNS scores were assigned independently by 2 neurologists using published algorithms. Interrater reliability of the scores was determined with the intraclass correlation coefficient, and the numbers of missing items were tabulated. ...
Environmental Education Television Episodes

“Our Changing Planet” is a series of 90-second television episodes whose purpose is to enhance public understanding of the global environment and the changes it is undergoing. The hope is that with this deeper understanding, people will appreciate the need to modify behaviors that produce negative environmental effects. The episodes are produced by the Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, with partial funding from NASA. To date, 40 episodes have been created and distributed to 46 public television stations across the United States by the National Educational Telecommunications Association.
Effect of insulin-like growth factor-I on cholesterol side-chain cleavage cytochrome P450 messenger ribonucleic acid expression in ovarian theca-interstitial cells stimulated to differentiate in vitro

Abstract Currently available evidence supports the hypothesis that insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) may play a role in stimulating ovarian theca-interstitial cell (TIC) differentiation in preantral follicles. The purpose of the present studies was to examine the potential role of IGF-I in TIC differentiation by determining the effects of IGF-I on cholesterol side-chain cleavage cytochrome P450 (P450 SCC ) mRNA expression in TIC stimulated to differentiate in vitro. TIC were isolated from the ovaries of hypophysectomized immature rats by Percoll gradient centrifugation and cultured in the presence and absence of LH and IGF-I up to 6 days. At various times cytoplasmic RNA was extracted from the TIC and P450 SCC mRNA was measured by specific assay using reverse transcription followed by the polymerase chain reaction. Increasing concentrations of LH (0–1 μg/ml) stimulated a dose-related increase in P450 SCC mRNA (ED 50 = 36.2 ± 5.5 ng/ml) which reached maximal levels at 100 ng/ml of LH. Addition of IGF-I (30 ng/ml) caused a small increase in P450 SCC mRNA over TIC treated with LH alone but did not alter the ED 50 for LH stimulation. IGF-I alone also stimulated an increase in P450 SCC mRNA which reached approximately 3-fold over unstimulated levels at 100 ng/ml. In the presence of LH, IGF-I stimulated a dose-related increase in P450 SCC mRNA (ED 50 = 1.2 ± 0.05 ng/ml). Time-course studies revealed that expression of P450 SCC mRNA was greatest at 2 days in TIC treated with IGF-I alone, LH alone or LH plus IGF-I and then declined at 4 and 6 days. Detailed studies demonstrated that LH stimulated a rapid increase in progesterone production after an approximately 2 h lag. Progesterone levels reached maximal levels at 10 h and were maintained until approximately 20 h after which they began to decline. Although IGF-I alone did not alter progesterone production, concomitant treatment with LH and IGF-I caused progesterone to increase in the culture medium until 18 h when the levels were approximately 2-fold higher than in TIC treated with LH alone. After 20 h progesterone levels began to decrease. P450 SCC mRNA expression followed a pattern very similar to the pattern of progesterone production with two exceptions. First, IGF-I alone stimulated an approximately 3-fold increase in P450 SCC mRNA at 24 h of treatment which was sustained throughout the culture period. Second, maximal levels of P450 SCC mRNA in TIC treated with LH plus IGF-I were maintained until 30 h before a decline was observed. The results of our studies demonstrate that IGF-I stimulates the expression of P450 SCC mRNA in ovarian TIC and support the hypothesis that IGF-I may play a role in stimulating TIC differentiation in developing follicles.
Acoustic Propagation in Turbulent Layers

The objective of this work was to determine the extent to which acoustic propagation varies in the vicinity of topographic features where the flow oscillates between laminar and turbulent states. Since these topographic features are ubiquitous in coastal areas, the results will impact ACOMMS performance in these areas. In a recent experiment by Mourn and Nash, oceanographic measurements were made around a small bank off the western continental shelf (Fig. 1). Temperature, salinity, and turbulent dissipation rate measurements were obtained from this experiment and broadband (9-llkHz) acoustic simulations done to determine the impact of the turbulent sound speed field on acoustic propagation. Acoustic simulations show an overall increase in transmission loss of about 10-15 dB within the 10-11 KHz band. This corresponds to the times where intense turbulence occurs. The transmission loss correlates well with the turbulent dissipation rate.
ε-Sarcoglycan, a Broadly Expressed Homologue of the Gene Mutated in Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy 2D

The sarcoglycans are transmembrane components of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex, which links the cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix in adult muscle fibers. Mutations in all four known sarcoglycan genes (alpha, beta, gamma, and delta) have been found in humans with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. We have identified a novel protein, epsilon-sarcoglycan, that shares 44% amino acid identity with alpha-sarcoglycan (adhalin). We show that epsilon-sarcoglycan is a membrane-associated glycoprotein and document its expression by Northern blotting, immunoblotting, and immunofluorescence. In contrast to alpha-delta sarcoglycans, which are expressed predominantly or exclusively in striated muscle, epsilon-sarcoglycan is broadly distributed in muscle and nonmuscle cells of both embryos and adults. These results raise the possibility that sarcoglycan-containing complexes mediate membrane-matrix interactions in many cell types.
Yield Comparison of Hybrid Agaricus Mushroom Strains as a Measure of Resistance to Trichoderma Green Mold.

ABSTRACT Commercially available strains of hybrid white, hybrid off-white, and brown Agaricus bisporus mushrooms were compared for resistance to green mold caused by Trichoderma harzianum biotype 4 (Th4). Seven mushroom spawn strains were assessed for total weight of mushrooms (grams per 0.1 m2) with or without the addition of an aqueous Th4 spore suspension added at spawning time. Cropping studies were conducted at the Mushroom Research Center (Pennsylvania State University) to emulate commercial growing operations. Excessive spawn handling had no significant effect on development of green mold. Severity of green mold was related to time between infestation and green mold appearance, with more significant yield losses occurring when green sporulation was detected early in production. Significant differences in yield were measured among mushroom strains in response to Th4 infestation. Hybrid white strains were extremely susceptible, with a mean yield loss of 96%. Hybrid off-white strains exhibited interme...
Kaluza-Klein models as pistons

We consider the influence of extra dimensions on the force in Casimir pistons. Suitable analytical expressions are provided for the Casimir force in the range where the plate distance is small, and where it is large, compared to the size of the extra dimensions. We show that the Casimir force tends to move the center plate toward the closer wall; this result is true independently of the cross section of the piston and the geometry or topology of the additional Kaluza-Klein dimensions. The statement also remains true at finite temperature. In the limit where one wall of the piston is moved to infinity, the result for parallel plates is recovered. If only one chamber is considered, a criterion for the occurrence of Lukosz-type repulsion, as opposed to the occurrence of renormalization ambiguities, is given; we comment on why no repulsion has been noted in some previous cosmological calculations that consider only two plates.
The effect of alcohol consumption on risk-taking while driving

Using a cover story of the effects of alcohol on perceptual and motor abilities, three levels of alcohol consumed (high, moderate, and none) were combined with three levels of alcohol expected (high, moderate, and none) to determine their effects on risk-taking while driving. Thirty-nine subjects were randomly assigned to six conditions. A driving simulation task was employed; dependent variables were cars passed and total time at high speed. Results indicated greatest risk-taking, measured by cars passed and time spent at high speed, by subjects who believed they had consumed a moderate amount of alcohol. Actual amount of alcohol consumed produced no significant differences.
Physical Mapping of a Translocation Breakpoint in Neurofibromatosis

The gene for von Recklinghausen neurofibromatosis (NF1), one of the most common autosomal-dominant disorders of humans, was recently mapped to chromosome 17 by linkage analysis. The identification of two NF1 patients with balanced translocations that involved chromosome 17q11.2 suggests that the disease can arise by gross rearrangement of the NF1 locus, and that the NF1 gene might be identified by cloning the region around these translocation breakpoints. To further define the region of these translocations, a series of chromosome 17 Not I-linking clones has been mapped to proximal 17q and studied by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. One clone, 17L1 (D17S133), clearly identifies the breakpoint in an NF1 patient with a t(1;17) translocation. A 2.3-megabase pulsed-field map of this region was constructed and indicates that the NF1 breakpoint is only 10 to 240 kilobases away from 17L1. This finding prepares the way for the cloning of NF1.
Relationships between mitotic cycle duration, S period duration and the average rate of DNA synthesis in the root meristem cells of several plants

The average mitotic cycle duration of root meristem cells of several plants was measured with 3H-thymidine. The results were in full accord with the statement that the cycle duration increases with an increase in the DNA content per cell. The results also showed that the average mitotic cycle duration for root meristem cells is the sum of the duration of DNA synthesis (S period) and a constant of 5.25–6.5 hr. The S period duration and the average mitotic cycle duration increase linearly with either the amount of DNA per cell or the average rate of DNA synthesis. The average rate of DNA synthesis also increased with the amount of DNA to be replicated per cell per cycle.
Changes in experimental stroke outcome across the life span

Acute ischemic stroke is a leading cause of mortality and disability in the elderly. Age is the most important nonmodifiable risk factor for stroke, yet many preclinical models continue to examine only young male animals. It remains unclear how experimental stroke outcomes change with aging and with biologic sex. If sex differences are present, it is not known whether these reflect an intrinsic differing sensitivity to stroke or are secondary to the loss of estrogen with aging. We subjected both young and aging mice of both sexes to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Young female mice had smaller strokes compared with age-matched males, an effect that was reversed by ovariectomy. Stroke damage increased with aging in female mice, whereas male mice had decreased damage after MCAO. Blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability changes are correlated with infarct size. However, aging mice had significantly less edema formation, an effect that was independent of sex and histologic damage. Differences in the cellular response to stroke occur across the life span in both male and female mice. These differences need to be considered when developing relevant therapies for stroke patients, the majority of whom are elderly.
The association of sexual interest and sexual behaviors among adolescent women: A daily diary perspective

Theoretical and empirical linkages of adult women's sexual interest and sexual behaviors are relatively well-established, but few data address similar issues in adolescent women. This paper reviews data from published reports of associations of adolescent women's sexual interest and various sexual behaviors. All of the papers reported data collected from a single longitudinal cohort of young women. The primary source of data collection was daily diaries, allowing close temporal pairing of sexual interest with sexual behaviors. Young women's sexual interest on a given day was consistently and independently associated with sexual activity on that day, whether the behavior was first lifetime coitus, coitus, fellatio, cunnilingus, anal intercourse, or coitus during menses. We also found no evidence of influence of hormonal contraceptives on young women's sexual interest. Taken together, these data demonstrate the relevance of sexual interest as a key factor in young women's sexuality and sexual behavior.
Time reversal, enhancement, and suppression of dipole radiation by a phase-conjugate mirror

The interaction of a dipole radiator with a phase-conjugate mirror through a quantized radiation field leads to dramatic enhancement of the nonlinearity if the radiator is a slightly anharmonic oscillator. Quantum noise from the conjugator saturates the linear and nonlinear response of a two-level radiator when the reflectivity exceeds unity.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A Theoretical Investigation of Stimulated Brillouin Scattering in Phase-Modulated Fiber Amplifiers

We report on theoretical and numerical investigations of stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in optical fibers. A theoretical framework is presented which involves a nonlinear triply-coupled time-dependent system of equations containing the optical, Stokes, and phonon fields. We examine short fibers where previous approximations for long fibers cannot be made. We consider modulation frequencies and linewidths starting at approximately the Brillouin gain bandwidth and all the way up to frequencies of the order of the Brillouin resonance frequency. We provide simulations showing the SBS suppression factor as a function of modulation amplitude and frequency for a single-sinusoidal modulator.
Incisional or core biopsies of salivary gland tumours: how far should we go?

Abstract Trends in the evaluation of salivary gland masses have changed as imaging studies have improved and sampling techniques have evolved over the past several decades. Whether clinically palpable or detected by imaging studies, salivary gland masses have been readily evaluated by fine needle aspiration. More recently, imaging guided core-needle biopsy has been employed with mixed results. The literature on these techniques is reviewed and analyzed with particular attention to tissue adequacy and diagnostic accuracy. Comparison is made using selected case presentations to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of establishing a diagnosis when core-needle biopsy is utilized. Core-needle biopsy of salivary gland tumours may be a useful first diagnostic approach as long as the limitations of the procedure are well understood and managed.
Estimating the errors on measured entropy and mutual information

Abstract Information entropy and the related quantity mutual information are used extensively as measures of complexity and to identify nonlinearity in dynamical systems. Expressions for the probability distribution of entropies and mutual informations calculated from finite amounts of data exist in the literature but the expressions have seldom been used in the field of nonlinear dynamics. In this paper formulae for estimating the errors on observed information entropies and mutual informations are derived using the standard error analysis familiar to physicists. Their validity is demonstrated by numerical experiment. For illustration the formulae are then used to evaluate the errors on the time-lagged mutual information of the logistic map.
Inhibition of a Yeast LTR Retrotransposon by Human APOBEC3 Cytidine Deaminases

The mammalian APOBEC3 family of cytidine deaminases includes several members that possess potent antiretroviral activity. Human APOBEC3F and APOBEC3G are specifically incorporated into human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) progeny virions in the absence of virion infectivity factor (Vif), where they deaminate deoxycytidine to deoxyuridine on the minus strand of nascent reverse transcripts. Editing of the HIV-1 cDNA leads to its degradation or to G to A hypermutation of the integrated provirus. Here, we show that APOBEC3 proteins also restrict the activity of a distantly related long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon. When expressed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, human APOBEC3C, APOBEC3F, or APOBEC3G or mouse APOBEC3 potently inhibit replication of the Ty1 LTR retrotransposon. APOBEC3G interacts with Ty1 Gag and is packaged into Ty1 virus-like particles (VLPs) by a mechanism that closely resembles the one it uses to enter HIV-1 virions. Expression of APOBEC3G results in a reduced level of Ty1 cDNA integration and G to A editing of integrated Ty1 cDNA. Our findings indicate that APOBEC3G restricts Ty1 and HIV-1 by similar mechanisms and suggest that the APOBEC3 proteins target a substantially broader spectrum of retroelements than previously appreciated.
Non-vertebrate hosts in the analysis of host–pathogen interactions

Mutations in bacterial pathogens have been isolated using many strategies. In contrast, the hosts they attack are significantly less tractable. To overcome this problem, a number of model host systems have been developed for isolation and investigation of mutations that modulate pathogen growth. These novel host models are either unicellular organisms, intact invertebrates or cells derived from invertebrates.
Prejudice, Social Distance, and Familiarity with Mental Illness

In this study, the paths between two prejudicial attitudes (authoritarianism and benevolence) and a proxy measure of behavioral discrimination (social distance) were examined in a sample drawn from the general public. Moreover, the effects of two person variables (familiarity with mental illness and ethnicity) on prejudice were examined in the path analysis. One hundred fifty-one research participants completed measures of prejudice toward, social distance from, and familiarity with mental illness. Goodness-of-fit indexes from path analyses supported our hypotheses. Social distance is influenced by both kinds of prejudice: authoritarianism (the belief that persons with mental illness cannot care for themselves, so a paternalistic health system must do so) and benevolence (the belief that persons with mental illness are innocent and childlike). These forms of prejudice, in turn, are influenced by the believers' familiarity with mental illness and their ethnicity. We also discuss how these findings might contribute to a fuller understanding of mental illness stigma.
Current and future treatments for cognitive deficits in dementia.

In this article, we primarily focus on the treatment approaches currently marketed and in advanced stages of development for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles remain the pathologic hallmarks of AD, and much progress has been made in unraveling the molecular biology of these changes. In addition, there is also intense research into inflammatory and oxidative mechanisms as well as vascular and neurochemical alterations in AD. Therapies targeted at these mechanisms are discussed.
Lymphoplasmacytic Chronic Cholecystitis and Biliary Tract Disease in Patients With Lymphoplasmacytic Sclerosing Pancreatitis

Lymphoplasmacytic sclerosing pancreatitis (LPSP) represents a distinctive form of chronic pancreatitis characterized by diffuse fibroinflammatory infiltrates that can involve both the pancreatic ducts and acinar parenchyma. Several cases of inflammatory infiltrates within the gallbladder have been reported in association with LPSP, but the spectrum of gallbladder pathology in patients with LPSP has not been systematically reviewed. Many patients with LPSP have distal CBD fibrosis, strictures, and inflammation, features that overlap somewhat with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). In PSC, a pattern of gallbladder pathology termed "diffuse acalculous lymphoplasmacytic chronic cholecystitis" has been previously described as showing a triad of diffuse, mucosal-based, plasma cell-rich inflammatory infiltrates. We studied 20 gallbladders from patients with LPSP and compared them with 20 gallbladders in PSC, 20 gallbladders with chronic cholelithiasis, and 10 gallbladders from patients with benign (non-LPSP) pancreatic disease. The following features were evaluated: degree and composition of mucosal inflammation and deep (mural) inflammation, lymphoid nodules, metaplasia, dysplasia/neoplasia, fibrosis, muscular hypertrophy, Rokitansky-Aschoff sinuses, and cholesterolosis. The majority (60%) of gallbladders in LPSP contained moderate or marked inflammatory infiltrates and lymphoid nodules, frequencies similar to PSC but significantly higher than in chronic cholelithiasis and benign non-LPSP pancreatic disease. LPSP gallbladders received the highest scores for deep inflammation of all groups, and 35% of LPSP gallbladders showed transmural chronic cholecystitis. Overall, "diffuse lymphoplasmacytic chronic cholecystitis" was present in 50% of PSC cases and 25% of LPSP cases, but in only 5% of chronic cholelithiasis and none of non-LPSP benign pancreatic disease. Mucosal inflammation in LPSP gallbladders correlated significantly with the presence of inflammation in the extrapancreatic portion of the CBD. These findings suggest that inflammatory pathology of the gallbladder is frequently associated with LPSP and that it is part of the spectrum of biliary tract disease in these patients, rather than a simple reflection of the pancreatitis itself.
Demystifying internet-wide service discovery

This paper develops a high-performance, Internet-wide service discovery tool, which we call IRLscanner, whose main design objectives have been to maximize politeness at remote networks, allow scanning rates that achieve coverage of the Internet in minutes/hours (rather than weeks/months), and significantly reduce administrator complaints. Using IRLscanner and 24-h scans, we perform 21 Internet-wide experiments using six different protocols (i.e., DNS, HTTP, SMTP, EPMAP, ICMP, and UDP ECHO), demonstrate the usefulness of ACK scans in detecting live hosts behind stateless firewalls, and undertake the first Internet-wide OS fingerprinting. In addition, we analyze the feedback generated (e.g., complaints, IDS alarms) and suggest novel approaches for reducing the amount of blowback during similar studies, which should enable researchers to collect valuable experimental data in the future with significantly fewer hurdles.
EVOLUTIONARY DESIGN OF GENETIC CIRCUITS AND CELL-CELL COMMUNICATIONS

Synthetic genetic circuits are artificial networks of transcriptional control elements inserted into living cells in order to ‘program’ cellular behavior. We can extend this application to programming population behavior by incorporating cell-cell communications capabilities. By designing and building such networks, cellular circuit engineers expect to gain insight into how natural genetic networks function with remarkable robustness, stability, and adaptability to changing environments. Programmed cells also have promising applications in biotechnology and medicine. A major challenge that biological circuit engineers face is the difficulty of predicting circuit performance at the design stage, with the consequence that actual construction requires significant experimental effort, even for very simple circuits. To address this fundamental obstacle we propose the use of laboratory evolution methods to create new circuit components and optimize circuit performance inside living cells.
Exercise in Heart Failure: A Synthesis of Current Research.

(1) Exercise intolerance, as a hallmark symptom in patients with heart failure, has been the focus of numerous research initiatives in recent years. The purpose of this review is to synthesize the current literature in order to provide the clinician with an understanding of the state of knowledge regarding the role of exercise in treatment of heart failure. Many studies speak to the effect of exercise training in this population. While sample sizes have been small and restricted predominantly to male subjects with ischemic cardiomyopathies, strong support has been documented in favor of beneficial effects of exercise in heart failure. Future research should target more representative subject pools (i.e., females, non-ischemic cardiomyopathies, cultural minorities, frail elderly, and NYHA class IV), evaluation of impact on quality of life outcomes, exploration of different types and intensity of exercise, and formulation of specific activity prescription tools which can guide practitioners in making activity and/or exercise recommendations to those patients who have no access, or limited access, to cardiac rehabilitation programs.
Stylesheet transformations for interactive visualization: towards a Web3D chemistry curricula

Recent Standards specifications offer important but underemployed techniques to maximize access-to and distribution-of information for real-time 3D visualization over the web. This paper describes and evaluates such techniques to transform structured data such as Chemical Markup Language (CML) to different forms and contexts for Web3D delivery using Extensible Stylesheet Transformations (XSLT), Extensible 3D (X3D), and VRML97. Standards design approaches offer a number of advantages: data durability, data interoperability, and an ecology of tools to be deployed for production and delivery. As we demonstrate, these techniques allow developers to port data between multiple representations and formats, to leverage the separation of the presentation (reference) from the content (referent), and the ability to define 'high-level' markup tags for application-specific needs. By defining a set of XSL Transformations, we are able to generate multiple views and interaction schemes with the same data set; each one 'personalized' for different applications and different levels of expertise.
Water in the desert? The influence of Wilhelm Röpke on Ludwig Erhard and the social market economy

It is commonly believed that Wilhelm Ropke heavily influenced Ludwig Erhard and, through him, West Germany's social market economy. This article demon- strates that Ropke's influence on Erhard was limited. Although the two men shared many common ideals, they also differed on many fundamental issues. Moreover, Erhard developed his ideas before he read Ropke's wartime trilogy.
An odd order remark

In [4], Gorenstein provided a short argument that a minimal counterexample to Thompson’s N-Group Theorem must be either “quasi-thin” or “of uniqueness type.” In this note, we offer an even shorter proof that a minimal counterexample to the Odd Order Theorem of Walter Feit and John G. Thompson must have a “strongly p-embedded subgroup”. Only the brevity of the proof may be surprising. Certainly the thrust of Chapter 4 of the Odd Order Paper [l] is to produce far sharper uniqueness statements and it has long been clear that the difficulty of the Odd Order Problem resides in the fact that strongly p-embedded subgroups are far more intractable for odd primes p than for p = 2. However, in case this point has been missed by some and in the hope that someone will have a truly new and wonderful idea to treat strongly p-embedded subgroups, we offer the following result.
The Virulence Activator AphA Links Quorum Sensing to Pathogenesis and Physiology in Vibrio cholerae by Repressing the Expression of a Penicillin Amidase Gene on the Small Chromosome

Activation of the tcpPH promoter on the Vibrio pathogenicity island by AphA and AphB initiates the Vibrio cholerae virulence cascade and is regulated by quorum sensing through the repressive action of HapR on aphA expression. To further understand how the chromosomally encoded AphA protein activates tcpPH expression, site-directed mutagenesis was used to identify the base pairs critical for AphA binding and transcriptional activation. This analysis revealed a region of partial dyad symmetry, TATGCA-N6-TNCNNA, that is important for both of these activities. Searching the V. cholerae genome for this binding site permitted the identification of a second one upstream of a penicillin V amidase (PVA) gene on the small chromosome. AphA binds to and footprints this site, which overlaps the pva transcriptional start, consistent with its role as a repressor at this promoter. Since aphA expression is under quorum-sensing control, the response regulators LuxO and HapR also influence pva expression. Thus, pva is repressed at low cell density when AphA levels are high, and it is derepressed at high cell density when AphA levels are reduced. Penicillin amidases are thought to function as scavengers for phenylacetylated compounds in the nonparasitic environment. That AphA oppositely regulates the expression of pva from that of virulence, together with the observation that PVA does not play a role in virulence, suggests that these activities are coordinated to serve V. cholerae in different biological niches.
A ballistic material model for continuous-fiber reinforced composites

A ply-level material constitutive model for plain-weave composite laminates has been developed to enable computational analyses of progressive damage/failure in the laminates under high velocity ballistic impact conditions. In this model, failure-initiation criteria and damage evolution laws are introduced to account for the major fiber-failure modes (tensile, compressive, punch shear and crush loading). In addition, two matrices related failure modes (in-plane shear and through the thickness delamination) are also accounted for. These types of fiber and matrix failure modes are commonly observed during a ballistic event. The composite-material model has been implemented within LS-DYNA as a user-defined material subroutine and used successfully to predict the damage and ballistic behavior of composite laminates subjected to various ballistic impact conditions. It is hoped that the availability of this material model will help facilitate the development of composite structures with enhanced ballistic survivability.
Hybrid Query Session and Content-based Recommendations for Enhanced Search

This paper presents a simple and intuitive method for mining search engine query logs to get fast query recommendations on a large scale industrial-strength search engine. In order to get a comprehensive solution, we combine two methods together. First, we study and model search engine users' sequential search behavior, and interpret this consecutive search behavior as client-side query refinement, that should form the basis for the search engine's own query refinement process. This query refinement process is exploited to learn useful relations and build fuzzy associative memories that help generate related queries via a fuzzy inference process. Second, we combine this method with a traditional content based similarity method to compensate for the high sparsity of real query log data, and more specifically, the shortness of most query sessions.
Liver disease, HIV and aging

The life expectancy of HIV-infected patients has increased due to the efficacy of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in controlling HIV replication; thus, the population living with HIV infection is steadily aging. Liver-related morbidity and mortality has emerged as a leading problem in HIV-infected patients. Since aging, HIV infection and HAART all affect the liver, understanding the impact of the combination of these factors on liver disease is crucial for optimisation of care in the aging HIV-infected population. This review will focus on the current understanding of liver disease in older (>50 years old) HIV-negative individuals and in HIV-infected individuals. Areas for future research in the area of HIV, liver disease and aging will also be discussed.
In Vivo Administration of the Recombinant IL-7/Hepatocyte Growth Factor β Hybrid Cytokine Efficiently Restores Thymopoiesis and Naive T Cell Generation in Lethally Irradiated Mice after Syngeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation

Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is often followed by a prolonged period of T cell deficiency. Therefore, the enhancement of T cell reconstitution is an important clinical goal. We have identified a novel hybrid cytokine containing IL-7 and the β-chain of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in the supernatant of cultured mouse BM stromal cells. We have cloned and expressed the IL-7/HGFβ gene to produce a single-chain rIL-7/HGFβ protein that stimulates the in vitro proliferation of thymocytes, early B-lineage cell, and day 12 spleen CFUs. In this study, we show that, following syngenic BMT, the in vivo administration of rIL-7/HGFβ supports the rapid and complete regeneration of the thymus and efficiently reconstitutes the pool of naive T cells having a normally diverse TCR repertoire. The rIL-7/HGFβ hybrid cytokine was significantly more effective quantitatively than was rIL-7 and differed qualitatively in its ability to cross-link c-Met and IL-7Rα and to stimulate the expansion of early thymocyte progenitors and thymic epithelial cells. It also supports the maturation and homeostatic expansion of peripheral T cells. Consequently, the in vivo administration of rIL-7/HGFβ may offer a new approach to preventing and/or correcting post-BMT T cell immune deficiency.
Lower bounds for non-interactive zero-knowledge

We establish new lower bounds and impossibility results for noninteractive zero-knowledge proofs and arguments with set-up assumptions. - For the common random string model, we exhibit a lower bound for the trade-off between hardness assumptions and the length of the random string for non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs. This generalizes a previous result ruling out non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs for non-trivial languages with a random string of length O(log n). - In the registered public key model, we show that there does not exist a noninteractive zero-knowledge proof for a non-trivial language. - In the bare public key model with fully nonuniform simulation wherein the size of the simulator is also allowed to depend on the size of the distinguisher and the distinguishing gap, there does not exist a non-interactive zero-knowledge proof for an NP-complete language, unless the polynomial hierarchy collapses. On the other hand, there is a non-interactive zero-knowledge argument for all of NP with a fully nonuniform simulator. Our negative results complement upper bounds and feasibility results from previous work.
Adaptive Power Controllable Retrodirective Array System for Portable Battery-Operated Applications

An adaptive power controllable retrodirective array system is presented for a portable applications. The proposed system is able to turn on only when it needs to operate so that it can avoid wasting battery power in idle mode. This power management is accomplished by employing a rectenna and an analog switch into a battery-operated system. When an RF signal is received by an antenna, it is divided into a rectenna and a receiver, where most power is sent to a rectenna through a 15-dB coupler. The converted DC power from a rectenna wakes up the system by activating a switch connected to a battery and the receiver. When there is no interrogation, a switch becomes off. An output voltage is twice increased by a voltage doubler and added up by connecting in series. The 2nd and 3rd harmonic rejection characteristic of a circular sector antenna is introduced so that it makes the system simpler by eliminating a low-pass filter (LPF) in the rectenna. For the phase-conjugation retrodirective array, 2nd sub-harmonic mixers are used by employing anti-parallel diode pairs (APDP's), which enables to avoid the expensive high frequency oscillators. It is experimentally demonstrated that the retrodirective array system with the proposed power management can retransmit the received signal toward the source when the received power density is over 0.057 mW/cm2•
PENSIONS, SOCIAL SECURITY, WEALTH AND LIFETIME EARNINGS: EVIDENCE FROM THE HEALTH AND RETIREMENT STUDY

Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we calculate the relationship between socio-economic status and a utility based measure of annuity value. We find considerable variation between groups once we take account of not only socio-economic differences in mortality, but also pre-annuitized wealth and longevity risk pooling in marriage.Using HRS data on subjective survival probabilities, we then construct a subjective life table for each individual in the HRS. We show that these tables vary appropriately between groups and aggregate closely to group level averages. We calculate the value each household would place on annuitization, based on the husband and wife's subjective life tables, and the household's degree of risk-aversion and proportion of pre-annuitized wealth. A significant minority would perceive themselves as suffering a net loss from mandatory annuitization.