cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mating behavior of Stomoxys calcitrans: effects of a blood meal on the mating drive of males and its necessity as a prerequisite for proper insemination of females.

A general description of mating behavior is given wherein the behavior of receptive females towards sexually aggressive males is contrasted with that of the rejection behavior of nonreceptive females. The mean copulation time was 5 min and 40 sec, and positioning of the wings by receptive females seemed important for orientation of mounting males. For males 1–10 days old, age per se had no effect on the mating drive, ability to inseminate, or virility. Digestion of at least 1 meal of vertebrate blood was indispensable before males could properly inseminate females. The blood meal was not necessary for sperm maturation but was necessary for the accessory gland (AG) cells to produce the seminal fluid needed for sperm transfer. There was a significant difference in the x¯ diam of the ejaculatory duct-accessory gland (ED-AG) of nonblood-fed (NBF) vs. blood-fed (BF) males, and the AG of the BF males decreased in size with each successive female inseminated; after males had consecutively inseminated 3 or 4 females, the size of the ED-AG was not significantly different from those of NBF males. Although a few NBF males did mate, digestion of only one blood meal was sufficient to greatly intensify the mating drive; NBF males, regardless of age, rarely attempted to copulate, whereas BF males attempted to mount and couple with paired females ca. once/min. Only 6.31% of NBF males inseminated females, and all transferred far less sperm than BF males. After inseminating 2 or 3 consecutive females, the mating drive of most BF males diminished, and they made no attempt to mate with other females during the next 4 h.
Observation of independent cation and anion sublattice long- range magnetic orderings in complex ferricenium salts: Layered magnetic composites

The low temperature magnetism of some magnets based on ferricenium cations and tetrahedral tetraholaferrate anions is discussed. Some of these materials behave as layered magnetic composites with distinctly different ordering temperatures for their respective anion and cation sublattices based on iron-57 Mossbauer spectroscopy and low-field DC magnetic susceptibility studies. Exemplary results are presented for the specific case of [Cp2Fe]+[FeBr4]− and indicateTcritical (anion) ∼ 14 K, while Tcritical (cation) ∼ 2.5 K whereχM versusT suggests canted 3D-AF (likely Heisenberg) behavior for the former and 2D-Ising AF behavior for the latter.
Adsorption and decomposition of CH3NH2 on Mo(100)-c(2 × 2)N

The adsorption and decomposition of CH3NH3 on a Mo(100)-c(2 × 2)N surface has been studied using temperature-programmed desorption and Auger electron spectroscopy. The initial sticking coefficient for CH3NH2, at 210 K, is estimated to be ~ 10−1, with the absolute value expected to be within a factor of three, and the maximum adsorption capacity is 0.28 ML. Temperature-programmed desorption studies show that adsorbed CH3NH2 undergoes desorption and concurrent decomposition. The major decomposition products are H2, NH3, Cs, and Ns. In addition, C2H4 is a minor decomposition product. D2/CH3NH2 coadsorption studies suggest that the decomposition of adsorbed CH3NH2 is initiated by intramolecular hydrogen transfer to form adsorbed CH2 and NH3. Most of the CH2 species undergo dehydrogenation to form C and H2. Some of the adsorbed NH3 decomposes to form N and H2, but most of the NH3 desorbs into the gas phase.
Structure of the outer mitochondrial membrane: analysis of X-ray diffraction from the plant membrane.

Abstract X-ray diffraction from centrifugally oriented specimens of plant outer mitochondrial membranes suggests that these membranes contain prominent in-plane subunits. The short lamellar repeat which these specimens display (as low as 5.1 nm) points to a predominantly internal localization of the protein components of these membranes. The simplest model for the putative in-plane subunit consistent with autocorrelation analysis of the normal-incidence diffraction data consists of two concentric rings of electron density with diameters of (approx.) 2 and 4 nm. These rings could represent the planar projections of concentric cylindrical shells, aligned normal to the membrane surface.
Prepregnancy body mass index, smoking during pregnancy, and infant birth weight.

Purpose Smoking during pregnancy is strongly associated with increased risk of small for gestational age (SGA) and low birth weight, whereas elevated prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) is associated with a decreased risk of SGA and greater birth weight. We investigated the combined effect of prenatal smoking and prepregnancy BMI on risk of SGA and on birth weight. Methods A total of 34,928 singleton, term pregnancies in residents of New York City between 1995 and 2003 were evaluated in multivariable regression models of birth weight and risk of SGA. Results Increasing prepregnancy BMI reduced the risk of SGA and increased birth weight. The effect of prenatal smoking on birth weight and SGA diminished in women as their prepregnancy BMI increased, such that prenatal smoking did not significantly impact the risk of SGA among women who were overweight or obese before pregnancy. Prenatal smoking decreased mean birth weight by 187 g (95% confidence interval [CI] −337, −37) among underweight women, by 129 g(95% CI −170, −87) among normal weight women, by 46 g (95% CI −113, +20) among overweight women, and by 75 g (95% CI −162, +11) among obese women. Conclusions This study suggests that the effect of smoking during pregnancy on SGA and birth weight is present in underweight and normal weight women but markedly reduced among obese and overweight women.
Approaches to low-cost solar cells

The paper reviews the major current US approaches to the cost reduction of solar cells, with the emphasis on silicon devices. Single-crystal, ribbon-grown and polycrystalline silicon solar cells are discussed.
Irony in Intellectual Property Arbitration

MANY HALLMARKS of arbitration intellectual property (IP) disputes are common to binding private dispute resolution in other areas. On scrutiny, the special nature of IP arbitration is not really all that special. The themes evoked in IP controversies connect with private dispute resolution in other fields, illustrating again arbitration's protean nature, in which a unity of essence survives a diversity in outward form. It is beyond cavil, for example, that IP raises public policy concerns. Any country will have an understandable reluctance to see arbitrators interference with national regulation of patent validity. Consequently, IP arbitration addresses principally the allocation of rights under licence agreements. Similar considerations exist with respect to arbitration involving matters such as antitrust,1 securities regulation2 and bankruptcy.3 These disputes all implicate public rights, whose violation could result in a loss to society-at-large, which never signed the agreement to arbitrate. Antitrust violations may mean higher prices for consumers. Securities fraud undermines confidence in public markets. Disposition of property belonging to a bankrupt company might limit assets available to other creditors. With respect to some of these subjects, analogous divisions of responsibility exist between courts and arbitrators. For example, arbitrators may determine damages suffered as a result of a contract breach by a company in bankruptcy. They cannot, however, usurp the ‘core’ bankruptcy functions exercised by judges in matters such as creditors' priority, preferential transfers and offsets.4 From a procedural perspective IP arbitration raises issues that are not too different from other forms of private binding dispute resolution. True, IP disputes often implicate interim measures and technical expertise, which played a part in the elaboration of IP arbitration rules by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). However, similar concerns exist in arbitration related to corporate acquisitions, joint ventures, investment and finance. Citing the need for …
Numerical simulation of creep deformations around a room in a deep potash mine

Abstract A finite element technique is used in this work to simulate the closure of an in situ test room developed during excavation of a deep potash mine. For the calculations, a constitutive model for creep was determined from laboratory triaxial tests of salt and short cylinder compressive tests of potash, and was incorporated into a coupled thermomechanical formulation for analyzing creeping viscous flow. The model is a multimechanism representation of three thermally-activated deformation mechanisms acting in parallel. Because the field test was a well-documented, two-dimensional configuration and because the constitutive model was uniquely determined by independent laboratory data, the good agreement obtained between calculations and field data for the significant duration of the test is an important first step in verifying the simulation technique. The constitutive model and numerical methods presented here can be used to understand creep in deep potash mines, and (very importantly) can aid in the design of facilities for isolating radioactive wastes and storing petroleum reserves.
ON THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF RESPONDING AND REINFORCEMENT TO WITHIN-SESSION PATTERNS OF RESPONDING

Operant responding may change systematically within experimental sessions even when the contingencies of reinforcement remain constant across the session. In two experiments, eight pigeons pecked a key for mixed grain delivered by variable interval or multiple variable interval schedules. Experiment 1 showed that changes in the rate at which reinforcers were delivered altered the within-session patterns even when the total amount of reinforcement presented per session was held constant. Experiment 2 showed that changing the overall rate of responding did not alter within-session response patterns. These results question the idea that within-session patterns of responding are produced by simple interpretations of satiation or fatigue. If within-session changes in responding were produced by satiation, then subjects receiving equal amounts of reinforcement should have shown similar within-session patterns of responding, but they did not (Experiment 1). If within-session changes were produced by fatigue, then the patterns should have differed when the overall response rate differed, but they did not (Experiment 2). The present study confirms that within-session patterns of responding are sensitive to changes in rate of reinforcement.
OP22.06: Monochorionic twin pregnancies complicated by an anomalous co-twin: fetal magnetic resonance imaging after radiofrequency ablation

Results: A total of 13 patients met inclusion criteria and were offered fetal cystoscopy and possible laser fulguration with confirmation of PUV. Seven patients decided to undergo fetal therapy and six elected to continue with expectant observation. There was no difference between both groups in gestation age at diagnosis and referral examinations or fetal urinary analysis. Urethral atresia was diagnosed in three cases (21.3%). At 26 weeks, fetuses that were managed expectantly presented with worse urinary biochemistry results (p < 0.05). Survival rates and percentage of infants with normal renal function were significantly higher in the cystoscopic laser group than in those cases that decided for prenatal expectant management. Conclusions: Percutaneous fetal cystoscopy is feasible using a thinner special cannula for prenatal diagnosis and therapy of LUTO. Prenatal laser ablation of the posterior urethra valves under cystoscopy may prevent renal function deterioration improving postnatal outcomes.
Timelike Geodesic Currents in the Stationary, Axisymmetric, Force-free Magnetosphere of a Kerr Black Hole

The structural properties of geodesic currents in an ambient Kerr background are studied from an analytical point of view. The geodesics in this congruence may correspond to charged particles that carry energy and angular momentum from the black hole through the Blandford-Znajek mechanism. It is shown that the resulting magnetosphere naturally satisfies the Znajek regularity condition. Particular attention is paid here to the energy extracted by matter currents rather than by electromagnetic Poynting fluxes. This analytic study is motivated by the mathematical structure behind the Blandford-Znajek process, and may only have limited applications to the astrophysics of supermassive black holes.
Monovalent Cations and the Incorporation of Metabolites by Isolated Thymus Nuclei

INCORPORATION into protein of amino-acid by disrupted Bacillus megaterium prootplasts1, pea seedling nucleoprotein particles2, and rat liver microsomes3 is markedly enhanced by potassium ions while sodium ions are either inhibitory or without effect. In contrast, incorporation of amino-acid into the proteins of isolated thymus nuclei requires sodium ions, and potassium ions are inactive4. Potassium ions are required for many different enzyme-catalyzed reactions; but the observations with nuclei constitute one of the few instances of an apparently similar requirement for sodium ions. We have, therefore, examined this requirement in more detail, especially to determine whether the sodium requirement is unique for nuclear protein synthesis, or whether related activities, such as nuclear nucleic acid synthesis, also require sodium ions.
Thermomechanical Investigation of Overhang Fabrications in Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing

Electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM) is one of powder-bed-fusion additive manufacturing processes that are capable of making full density metallic components. EBAM has a great potential in various high-value, small-batch productions in biomedical and aerospace industries. In EBAM, because a build part is immersed in the powder bed, ideally the process would not require support structures for overhang geometry. However, in practice, support structures are indeed needed for an overhang; without it, the overhang area will have defects such as warping, which is due to the complex thermomechanical process in EBAM. In this study, a thermomechanical finite element model has been developed to simulate temperature and stress fields when building a simple overhang in order to examine the root cause of overhang warping. It is found that the poor thermal conductivity of Ti-6Al-4V powder results in higher temperatures, also slower heat dissipation, in an overhang area, in EBAM builds. The retained higher temperatures in the area above the powder substrate result in higher residual stresses in an overhang area, and lower powder porosity may reduce the residual stresses associated with building an overhang.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
T Cell Development in Culture

The T cell compartment is continuously replenished by a renewable source of stem cells. In the adult, bone marrow-derived stem cells seed the thymus and initiate a developmental program that requires a series of incompletely understood signals that are normally provided by the thymus. Failure to recapitulate this process in simple in vitro cultures has hampered efforts to fully characterize these unique signals. In this issue of Immunity, Schmitt and Zuniga-Pflucker describe a simple in vitro culture system that is able to generate mature T cells from fetal liver stem cells by expressing the Notch ligand Delta-1 on the OP9 stromal cell line. This finding should greatly enhance efforts to study T cell development and may provide a tool for generating defined T cell populations in vitro.
Lesbian Health Care: Women's Experiences and the Role for Social Work

ABSTRACT Lesbian patients and their families may be exposed to discriminatory practices in the health care system. This qualitative study of 57 Midwestern lesbian parents used open- and closed-ended questions to examine the experiences the respondents had with their primary and secondary health care providers. Four themes emerged from the data: systemic barriers to health care, coming out to providers, seeking lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-friendly health care providers, and concern about mistreatment and prejudice within the health care system. Implications for service delivery, health care education, and directions in policy and research are explored.
Testing for Discrimination: Evidence from the Game Show Street Smarts

Abstract This paper conducts two alternative tests of discrimination in the game show Street Smarts, which both exploit the unique setup of the game to determine why discrimination occurs. The results indicate non-black contestants have a lower prior perception of the skill level of blacks relative to non-blacks in answering the average question in the game. When results are stratified by question category, one finds that non-black contestants perceive blacks and non-blacks to have equal ability in answering general knowledge questions. However, they perceive blacks to have a lower ability in answering miscellaneous, entertainment, and slang/common saying questions.
Occurrence of congenital heart defects in siblings of patients with univentricular heart and tricuspid atresia

Abstract Because of the rarity of univentricular heart and tricuspid atresia, no study of a large number of patients has been made to determine the empiric occurrence risks of a congenital heart defect in their siblings. A retrospective chart review was performed of 223 patients with univentricular heart and 113 with classic tricuspid atresia evaluated from 1982 to 1987. Thirty-four patients with univentricular heart and 17 with tricuspid atresia had no siblings and were excluded. Eleven of the total 388 siblings (2.8%) of the 189 patients with univentricular heart had a congenital heart defect. Of the siblings born after the index case of univentricular heart, 7 of 169 (4.1%) had a congenital heart defect. Two of the 210 siblings (1.0%) of the 96 patients with tricuspid atresia had a congenital heart defect. The patients with univentricular heart were subdivided into 4 groups: (1) double-inlet left ventricle; (2) complex univentricular heart with single or common inlet, or with a ventricle of common or right ventricular morphology; (3) complex univentricular heart with asplenia; and (4) complex univentricular heart with polysplenia. One of the 202 siblings (0.5%) of the 102 patients with double-inlet left ventricle had a congenital heart defect, compared with 7 of the 140 siblings (5.0%) of the 69 patients with complex univentricular heart, 1 of the 29 siblings (3.4%) of the 14 patients with complex univentricular heart and asplenia, and 2 of the 7 siblings (28.6%) of the 4 patients with complex univentricular heart and polysplenia. Thus, as predicted by the multifactorial model, the occurrence risk is higher for siblings of patients with more complex forms of univentricular heart. Splenic status should be ascertained, because this may affect the occurrence risk.
Experiments with discrimination-tree indexing and path indexing for term retrieval

This article addresses the problem of indexing and retrieving first-order predicate calculus terms in the context of automated deduction programs. The four retrieval operations of concern are to find variants, generalizations, instances, and terms that unify with a given term. Discrimination-tree indexing is reviewed, and several variations are presented. The path-indexing method is also reviewed. Experiments were conducted on large sets of terms to determine how the properties of the terms affect the performance of the two indexing methods. Results of the experiments are presented.
Ethylbenzene solubility, diffusivity, and permeability in poly(dimethylsiloxane)

The pure-gas sorption, diffusion, and permeation properties of ethylbenzene in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) are reported at 35, 45, and 55 °C and at pressures ranging from 0 to 4.4 cmHg. Additionally, mixed-gas ethylbenzene/N 2 permeability properties at 35 °C, a total feed pressure of 10 atm, and a permeate pressure of 1 atm are reported. Ethylbenzene solubility increases with increasing penetrant relative pressure and can be described by the Flory-Rehner model with an interaction parameter of 0.24 ± 0.02. At a fixed relative pressure, ethylbenzene solubility decreases with increasing temperature, and the enthalpy of sorption is -41.4 ± 0.3 kJ/mol, which is independent of ethylbenzene concentration and essentially equal to the enthalpy of condensation of pure ethylbenzene. Ethylbenzene diffusion coefficients decrease with increasing concentration at 35 °C. The activation energy of ethylbenzene diffusion in PDMS at infinite dilution is 49 ± 6 kJ/mol. The ethylbenzene activation energies of permeation decrease from near 0 to -34 ± 7 kJ/mol as concentration increases, whereas the activation energy of permeation for pure N 2 is 8 ± 2 kJ/mol. At 35 °C, ethylbenzene and N 2 permeability coefficients determined from pure-gas permeation experiments are similar to those obtained from mixed-gas permeation experiments, and ethylbenzene/N 2 selectivity values as high as 800 were observed.
Perfect gas thermodynamic properties of methanal, ethanal and their deuterated species

Abstract Employing recent and reliable selected molecular, spectroscopic, and thermal constants, the perfect gas thermodynamic properties [ H 0  H 0 0 , ( G 0  H 0 0 )/ T , S 0 , C 0 p , Δ H 0 f , and Δ G 0 f ], for methanal (formaldehyde), methanal- d 1 , methanal- d 2 , ethanal (acetaldehyde), ethanal- d 1 , and ethanal- d 4 were evaluated over the temperature range from 0 to 1500 K and 1 atm by statistical mechanical methods using rigid-rotor and harmonic-oscillator approximations. The internal rotation contributions of -CH 3 and -CD 3 rotors to the thermodynamic properties were computed based on internal rotation partition functions formed by summation of calculated internal rotation energy levels. The results compare well with available experimental data.
Separation of Inorganic Solutes from Oil-Field Produced Water using a Compacted Bentonite Membrane

Abstract We investigated the possibility of purifying oil-field produced water using a bentonite clay membrane. Experiments were performed in a bench-scale cell which incorporates a piston to compact the clay membrane. We diluted a produced water sample with an original total dissolved solids (TDS) of 196,250 mg l −1 obtained from a facility near Loco Hill, New Mexico, operated by an independent and tested the separation efficiency of the bentonite membrane for each of four dilutions. The results indicate that membrane efficiency for inorganic solutes decreases with increasing solute concentration and with increasing TDS. The rejection of SO 4 2− was greater than Cl − . This may be because the SO 4 2− concentration was much lower than the Cl − concentration in the waters tested. The cation rejection sequence varied with solute concentration and TDS. The solute rejection sequence for multi-component solutions is difficult to predict for synthetic membranes; it may not be simple for clay membranes either. The permeate flows in our experiments were 4.1–5.4% of the total flow. Both the flux through the membrane (approximately 2.5×10 −3 m 3 m −2 per day) and the inorganic solute rejections were low. This suggests that clay membranes, as tested, are not suitable for purification of high TDS waters.
Alpha-particle spectroscopic amplitudes for sd shell nuclei

Abstract Theoretical predictions for spectroscopic amplitudes corresponding to α-particle stripping and pickup reactions on all stable sd shell nuclei with 16 ≦ A ≦ 28 are tabulated. A pure (Os) 4 configuration for the internal wave function of the transferred nucleons is assumed. Initial and final states of the target and residual nuclei are taken to be members of pure rotational bands obtained by angular momentum projection from a single irreducible representation of SU(3). Using the tabulated results, the effect of representation mixing can be assessed. The predicted results for 18 O + α 22 Ne and 20 Ne + α 24 Mg are compared to results obtained with wave functions for 18 O and 20 Ne generated in shell model calculations. The results show that structural detail can be important, but rarely changes the simple prediction by more than a factor of two with transfers predicted to be strong/weak remaining so when representation mixing is taken into account.
Prevalence of Hearing Loss in Black and White Elders: Results of the Cardiovascular Health Study

Purpose The goal of this study was to determine the impact of age, gender, and race on the prevalence and severity of hearing loss in elder adults, aged 72–96 years, after accounting for income, ed...
Imperfect Federalism: The Intergovernmental Partnership for Homeland Security

The terror attacks of September 11, 2001, posed a set of security challenges for the nation’s cities that the increasingly decentralized federal system was poorly prepared to meet. Although it was generally agreed that domestic security required a close intergovernmental partnership, strong national leadership and support were lacking in creating and guiding this partnership. To make matters more difficult, political considerations in Congress generally trumped the assessment of security risks in the distribution of federal fiscal aid. This article explores the strains in the intergovernmental homeland security partnership, their causes, and efforts to adapt and reform. Despite some progress toward a more rational public administration of homeland security, the partnership still reflects the deficiencies of imperfect federalism.
Dynamics of continuous countercurrent mass-transfer processes-I. Single-component linear systems

Abstract A differential (distributed-parameter) model has been established for the dynamics of continuous countercurrent mass-transfer processes in single-component linear systems. This model provides a more concise and more rigorous analytical solution than available previously; it also offers a better perception of the physical features involving propagation, reflection and superposition of concentration waves. Stressing the chromatographic nature of such processes, this model suggests a prospective approach for modeling multicomponent systems.
On the parallel mechanism of the dissociation of energy-selected P(CH3)3+ ions.

Energy selected trimethyl phosphine ions were prepared by threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence (TPEPICO) spectroscopy. This ion dissociates via H, CH3, and CH4 loss, the latter two involving hydrogen transfer steps. The ion time-of-flight distribution and the breakdown diagram are analyzed in terms of the statistical RRKM theory, which includes tunneling. Ab initio and DFT calculations provide the vibrational frequencies required for the RRKM modeling. CH3 loss could produce both the P(CH3)2+ by a simple bond dissociation step, and the more stable HP(CH2)CH3+ ion by a hydrogen transfer step. Quantum chemical calculations are extensively used to uncover the reaction scheme, and they strongly suggest that the latter product is exclusively formed via an isomerization step in the energy range of the experiment. The data analysis, which includes modeling with the trimethyl phosphine thermal energy distribution, provides accurate onset energies for both H (E0K = 1024.1 ± 3.5 kJ/mol) and CH3 (E0K = 1024....
Pressure induced phase transition and spectroscopy of Mn5+-doped Li3PO4

Abstract A pressure induced phase transition from the high temperature to the low temperature form of Li3PO4 was observed and confirmed using Mn5+ luminescence spectroscopy and Raman scattering. The larger 1 E splitting and shorter lifetime observed in the low temperature phase are interpreted in terms of a larger distortion of the phosphate group of the low temperature phase from regular tetrahedral symmetry. The results illustrate that a competition between cubic crystal field and non-tetrahedral distortions is crucial to the understanding of the emission properties of d2 systems.
Collisions of kilo-electron-volt H + and He + with molecules at small angles: Absolute differential cross sections for charge transfer

Absolute differential cross sections for charge-transfer scattering of ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ and ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$ from molecules are reported over the laboratory angular range 0.02\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}--1.0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}. Cross sections have been determined at 0.5, 1.5, and 5.0 keV for collisions of ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ with ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$ and ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$, and at 1.5 keV for collisions of ${\mathrm{H}}^{+}$ with CO, ${\mathrm{CO}}_{2}$, NO, and ${\mathrm{CH}}_{4}$, and of ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$ with ${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$, ${\mathrm{N}}_{2}$, ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$, CO, and NO. The data exhibit considerable structure over the experimental angular range. Absolute integral cross sections from 0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} to 1.0\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} have been obtained and are compared with the published total cross sections.
Roles of Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase N-terminal Domain in Assembly and Activity of Tetrahymena Telomerase Holoenzyme

Telomerase extends chromosome ends by the addition of single-stranded telomeric repeats. To support processive repeat synthesis, it has been proposed that coordination occurs between DNA interactions with the telomerase RNA template, the active site in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) core, a TERT N-terminal (TEN) domain, and additional subunits of the telomerase holoenzyme required for telomere elongation in vivo. The roles of TEN domain surface residues in primer binding and product elongation have been studied largely using assays of minimal recombinant telomerase enzymes, which lack holoenzyme subunits that properly fold and conformationally stabilize the ribonucleoprotein and/or control its association with telomere substrates in vivo. Here, we use Tetrahymena telomerase holoenzyme reconstitution in vitro to assess TEN domain sequence requirements in the physiological enzyme context. We find that TEN domain sequence substitutions in the Tetrahymena telomerase holoenzyme influence synthesis initiation and elongation rate but not processivity. Functional and direct physical interaction assays pinpoint a conserved TEN domain surface required for holoenzyme subunit association and for high repeat addition processivity. Our results add to the understanding of telomerase holoenzyme architecture and TERT domain functions with direct implications for the unique mechanism of single-stranded repeat synthesis.
Update on Treatment Strategies for Obesity

Obesity is a disease that is defined as the accumulation of excessive amounts of body fat and is associated with increased risk of serious illness, disability, and death. In clinical practice, obesity is best assessed by calculating body mass index and measuring waist circumference. Treatment options are determined based on the body mass index, waist circumference, and adverse health consequences the patient is experiencing or is at an increased risk for facing in the future. Today, overweight and obesity impacts the majority of patients we treat in our clinical practices. Although endocrinologists are uniquely positioned to treat one of the major consequences of our current obesity epidemic, type 2 diabetes, we also need to be positioned and prepared to effectively treat one of its major causes—obesity. Type 2 diabetes and obesity are very much intertwined. Treatment of each disease affects the other. For these reasons, endocrinologists need to be experts in the treatment of obesity as well as diabetes. They should keep up with advances in obesity treatment including lifestyle, pharmaceutical, and surgical strategies. These strategies offer opportunities for improving the overall treatment for our obese patients today and will continue to improve and expand over the next decade.
The glucose transport system in Leishmania tropica promastigotes.

SYNOPSIS Transport of glucose by Leishmania tropica promastigotes was measured by the uptake of the nonutilizable glucose analog, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DOG), using the rapid filtration method. Both D-glucose and 2-DOG show identical rates of initial uptake. Intracellular 2-DOG readily exchanges with extracellular D-glucose and 2-DOG uptake is competitively inhibited by D-glucose. These observations suggest that both sugars are taken up by the same system. Neither the glucose analog α-methyl-D-glucoside (α-MG) nor 3-0-methyl glucose (3-0-MG) is taken up to any appreciable extent. Transport of 2-DOG shows saturation kinetics with a Vmax of 3.2 nmoles/mg cells/min and a Km of 0.16 mM. There is thus a stereospecific, carrier-mediated transport system for glucose uptake in L. tropica. About 2/3 of the intracellular pool following transport consists of 2-deoxy-D-glucose phosphate (2-DOG-P) and the remainder is free, unaltered 2-DOG.
Latino Im/migrants, “Dietary Health” and Social Exclusion : A Critical Examination of Nutrition Interventions in California

In this article, we highlight findings from ethnographic research on dietary health interventions with low-income Latino im/migrant populations in the Central Coast of California. We discuss the assumptions underpinning different models of nutrition intervention and education, as well as what these assumptions suggest about common perceptions of Latino im/migrant dietary health and knowledge. We demonstrate how interventions contribute to further marginalization of Latino im/migrants by positioning them as either helpless, unknowing subjects or as freeloading dependents of the state. We argue that Latino im/migrants are systematically denied power as they are consistently beseeched to assume more responsibility for their own dietary health problems. We contend that the implications of these interventions reinforce extant structures of social exclusion encountered by Latino im/migrants, while also failing to offer lasting solutions to food insecurity in Latino im/migrant communities.
Ten Years of Orthoclone OKT3 (Muromonab-CD3): A Review:

Many important advances in transplantation have been made during the last decade. The introduction of Orthoclone OKT3 into clinical trials and its subsequent approval by the Food and Drug Administration in 1985 for use as an antirejection agent for renal transplantation were landmarks in the field of clinical transplantation of solid organs. In the decade since the approval of OKT3 for clinical use, much has been learned and written about OKT3. OKT3 now is considered a safe and effective agent for prophylaxis and first-line treatment of acute rejection of solid organ allografts. In this article, the development and use of OKT3 over the last 10 years, as well as the present status and future implications of immune therapy with OKT3, are reviewed.
The Magnetic Properties of Naturally Occurring Goethite

Summary It has been found that goethite acquires a thermoremanent magnetization (TRM) when cooled in the presence of a magnetic field from 120°C. It is believed that this TRM is due to the presence of antiferromagnetism in goethite with a Neel temperature of 120°C. A few spins have no mates because of small grain size or the presence of imperfections and impurities. This TRM is related to antiferromagnetism. Similarly, hematite acquires a TRM at its Neel temperature which is due to unbalanced spins. In addition hematite is known to have a ‘parasitic ferromagnetism’. Hematite derived from heating goethite above 350°C showed two different types of behaviour. Hematite composed of particles less than 1/2μ diameter showed no spontaneous magnetization, but did show a weak thermoremanence whereas hematite composed of larger particles developed a spontaneous magnetization. These observations indicate that parasitic ferromagnetism exists only in grains larger than 1/2μ.
Creating a Community of Practice for Blueberries

The “All about Blueberries” Community of Practice is adapting the best existing extension publications and developing new research-based extension recommendations related to blueberry production an...
Evaluation of the attenuation provided by a radar absorbing material (RAM) coating on an HF wire rope antenna

A shipboard electromagnetic interference (EMI) problem is considered. The use of radar absorbent material (RAM) to reduce unintentional X-band (8-12 GHz) radar reflections from HF wire rope antennas is analyzed. An exact series solution for a lossy-coated circular cylinder was developed and used to determine the effectiveness of the various RAM coatings. >
Drug Authorization for Sofosbuvir/Ledipasvir (Harvoni) for Chronic HCV Infection in a Real-World Cohort: A New Barrier in the HCV Care Cascade.

Background New treatments for hepatitis C (HCV) infection hold great promise for cure, but numerous challenges to diagnosing, establishing care, and receiving therapy exist. There are limited data on insurance authorization for these medications. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective chart review of patients receiving sofosbuvir/ledipasvir (SOF/LED) from October 11-December 31, 2014 to determine rates and timing of drug authorization. We also determined predictors of approval, and those factors associated with faster decision and approval times. Results Of 174 patients prescribed HCV therapy during this period, 129 requests were made for SOF/LED, of whom 100 (77.5%) received initial approval, and an additional 17 patients (13.9%) ultimately received approval through the appeals process. Faster approval times were seen in patients with Child-Pugh Class B disease (14.4 vs. 24.7 days, p = 0.048). A higher proportion of patients were initially approved in those with Medicare/Medicaid coverage (92.2% vs. 71.4%, p = 0.002) and those with baseline viral load ≥6 million IU/mL (84.1% vs. 62.5%, p = 0.040). Linear regression modeling identified advanced fibrosis, high Model of End Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, and female gender as significant predictors of shorter decision and approval times. On logistic regression, Medicare/Medicaid coverage (OR 5.96, 95% CI 1.66–21.48) and high viral load (OR 4.52, 95% CI 1.08–19.08) were significant predictors for initial approval. Conclusions Early analysis of real-world drug authorization outcomes between October-December 2014 reveals that nearly one in four patients are initially denied access to SOF/LED upon initial prescription, although most patients are eventually approved through appeal, which delays treatment initiation. Having Medicare/Medicaid and advanced liver disease resulted in a higher likelihood of approval as well as earlier decision and approval times. More studies are needed to determine factors resulting in higher likelihood of denial and to evaluate approval rates and times after implementation of restrictive prior authorization guidelines.
Estimating myocardial fiber orientations by template warping

Myocardial fiber orientations are an important element for accurate modeling of cardiac electromechanics. However it is extremely difficult to estimate these directly in vivo with current imaging techniques. Most current methods for cardiac modeling use synthetic models of fiber orientation which may fail to capture subtle variations of fiber orientations in different hearts. We present a method to map the fiber orientations obtained from diffusion tensors from a template onto patient-specific cardiac geometry, using elastic registration followed by a reorientation of the diffusion tensors based on the local rotation component of the transformation. The effectiveness of the diffusion tensor mapping is validated on a set of diffusion tensor imaging datasets obtained from 19 canine subjects. The algorithm was able to map the diffusion tensors effectively for both healthy and failing hearts.
Polypropylene fibers reinforced with carbon nanotubes

The strength properties of polypropylene fibers were enhanced with single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). Solvent processing was used to disperse SWNTs in a commodity polypropylene. After the solvent was removed, the solid polymer was melt-spun and postdrawn into fibers of unusual strength. For a 1-wt % loading of nanotubes, the fiber tensile strength increased 40% (from 9.0 to 13.1 g/denier). At the same time, the modulus increased 55% (from 60 to 93 g/denier). © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 2079–2084, 2002
Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channels

The ryanodine receptors (RyRs) are a family of Ca2+ release channels found on intracellular Ca2+ storage/release organelles. The RyR channels are ubiquitously expressed in many types of cells and participate in a variety of important Ca2+ signaling phenomena (neurotransmission, secretion, etc.). In striated muscle, the RyR channels represent the primary pathway for Ca2+ release during the excitation-contraction coupling process. In general, the signals that activate the RyR channels are known (e.g., sarcolemmal Ca2+ influx or depolarization), but the specific mechanisms involved are still being debated. The signals that modulate and/or turn off the RyR channels remain ambiguous and the mechanisms involved unclear. Over the last decade, studies of RyR-mediated Ca2+ release have taken many forms and have steadily advanced our knowledge. This robust field, however, is not without controversial ideas and contradictory results. Controversies surrounding the complex Ca2+ regulation of single RyR channels receive particular attention here. In addition, a large body of information is synthesized into a focused perspective of single RyR channel function. The present status of the single RyR channel field and its likely future directions are also discussed.
Mothers' Reports of Children's Family Formation Behavior

Abstract In this article we explore methods for using mothers' interviews to gather data on their children's family formation experiences. These methods constitute a cost-efficient means of gathering data for models of family background that include both intergenerational and sibling influences. To judge the utility of these methods, we examine the quality of mothers' reports across a range of their children's family formation behaviors. The dimensions of reporting quality we analyze include completeness, precision, and accuracy of mothers' reports. We use unique data from personal interviews with mother–child pairs to test the accuracy of these mothers' reports. The results demonstrate that, with some behaviors, a flexible data collection approach can gather complete, precise, and accurate information on an entire sibling set by interviewing mothers. Our examination of data quality also suggests important limits on the use of this approach. The quality of mothers' reports depends on the subject matter, with mothers providing lower quality reports of their children's cohabitation behavior compared to their children's marital, childbearing, and divorce behavior.
Multi-carrier platform for wireless communications. Part 1: High-performance, high-throughput TDMA and DS-CDMA via multi-carrier implementations

Multi-carrier technologies in general, and OFDM and MC-CDMA in particular, are quickly becoming an integral part of the wireless landscape. In this first of a two-part survey, the authors present the innovative transmit/receive multi-carrier implementation of TDMA and DS-CDMA systems. Specifically, at the transmit side, the pulse shape (in TDMA) and the chip shape (in DS-CDMA) corresponds to a linear combining of in-phase harmonics (called a CI signal). At the receiver side, traditional time-domain processing (equalization in TDMA and RAKE reception in DS-CDMA) is replaced by innovative frequency based processing. Here, receivers decompose pulse (or chip) shapes into carrier subcomponents and recombine these in a manner achieving both high frequency diversity gain and low MAI. The resulting system outperforms traditional TDMA and DS-CDMA systems by 10–14 dB at typical BERs, and, by application of pseudo-orthogonal pulse shapes (chip shapes), is able to double system throughput while maintaining performance gains of up to 8 dB. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Statistical analysis and decoding of neural activity in the rodent geniculate ganglion using a metric-based inference system

We analyzed the spike discharge patterns of two types of neurons in the rodent peripheral gustatory system, Na specialists (NS) and acid generalists (AG) to lingual stimulation with NaCl, acetic acid, and mixtures of the two stimuli. Previous computational investigations found that both spike rate and spike timing contribute to taste quality coding. These studies used commonly accepted computational methods, but they do not provide a consistent statistical evaluation of spike trains. In this paper, we adopted a new computational framework that treated each spike train as an individual data point for computing summary statistics such as mean and variance in the spike train space. We found that these statistical summaries properly characterized the firing patterns (e. g. template and variability) and quantified the differences between NS and AG neurons. The same framework was also used to assess the discrimination performance of NS and AG neurons and to remove spontaneous background activity or ‘‘noise’’ from the spike train responses. The results indicated that the new metric system provided the desired decoding performance and noise-removal improved stimulus classification accuracy, especially of neurons with high spontaneous rates. In summary, this new method naturally conducts statistical analysis and neural decoding under one consistent framework, and the results demonstrated that individual peripheral-gustatory neurons generate a unique and reliable firing pattern during sensory stimulation and that this pattern can be reliably decoded.
Application of symbolic machine learning to the recognition of texture concepts

The authors present an approach to the texture recognition problem that deals with noisy learning and testing data. The method incorporates symbolic machine learning to acquire texture descriptions. Then, these descriptions are optimized in order to remove some noisy/imperfect components. The' authors present methodology and experimental results showing the increase in system recognition effectiveness when optimization of texture descriptions proceeds continuously. Such a matching of partial concept prototypes with test data gives recognition characteristics obtained for different concept optimization degrees. Then, the dynamics of these characteristics are used to make the recognition decision. >
Tumor necrosis factor-α related gene response to Epothilone B in ovarian cancer

Abstract Objectives . Epothilone B (EpoB) is a non-taxane microtubule-stabilizing agent with a mode of action similar to that of paclitaxel, but with the advantage of being active in paclitaxel-resistant cells. Knowledge regarding other mechanisms of EpoB action is limited. The purpose of this study was to identify gene expression profiles associated with the biological response to EpoB in an ovarian cancer cell line (SKOV3). Methods . SKOV3 cells were maintained in McCoy's 5A media. Equal densities cells were treated with or without EpoB, and were evaluated for cell growth arrest and apoptosis. mRNA expression was evaluated by cDNA microarrays and quantitative, real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (QRTPCR). Results . EpoB (10 nM) led to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in SKOV3 cells. Microarray analysis, comparing EpoB-treated to untreated cells, revealed altered expression of 41 genes. There was a predominance of sequences related to the TNFα stress response pathway. Differential expression of selected genes was confirmed by QRTPCR. Conclusions . We demonstrated that cDNA microarrays are a useful tool to rapidly screen for patterns of gene expression that characterize drug response. The microarray data suggest that the microtubule-stabilizing agent, EpoB, triggers stress-related signal transduction pathways related to TNFα. These pathways may contribute to mechanisms of EpoB action and potential mechanisms of resistance in ovarian cancer.