cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Ewing's sarcoma protein interacts with the Tudor domain of the survival motor neuron protein

The survival motor neuron (SMN) gene is the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) determining gene. Here we report that the SMN protein product interacts in vitro and in vivo with the arginine/glycine (RG)-rich RNA binding protein and transcription factor, Ewing's sarcoma (EWS). Recently, the SMN encoded Tudor domain (exon 3) and the YG-motifs (exon 6) have been shown to be involved in binding to RG-rich proteins. Here, we demonstrate that the Tudor domain encoded by SMN exon 3 is independently sufficient to mediate the interaction with EWS. Synthetic mutations within the Tudor domain, as well as a SMA patient-derived mutation within exon 3, reduced the levels of the SMN/EWS interaction. Carboxyl-terminal SMN mutations that prevent formation of SMN oligomers also indirectly reduced EWS binding. A role for arginine methylation has been observed in some RG-containing SMN-interacting proteins. Here we demonstrate that SMN interacts with non-methylated EWS and an EWS-derived RG-containing peptide. In contrast to previously reported results, symmetrical dimethylation of the EWS-derived RG-peptide results in a quantitative increase in the dissociation rate between SMN and the symmetrical dimethylated EWS RG-peptide. Consistent with the interaction data, endogenous and transiently expressed SMN co-localizes with endogenous EWS in a number of cultured cell lines, as well as rat primary neuron cultures. Anti-sense RNA experiments, however, demonstrate that EWS does not mediate the nuclear distribution of SMN or other Cajal body components.
Enhanced Frequency Resolution in Parametrically Resonant Microcantilever Sensors

This work details the resonant frequency measurement of a silicon microcantilever using the features of the parametric resonance spectrum in the interest of designing a mass sensing resonator. Measured frequency resolution is demonstrated to be approximately 0.003 Hz for a device of frequency 30 kHz at room temperature, or 100 parts per billion. The cantilever motion is actuated and sensed electromechanically by Lorentz forces and induced electromotive force (EMF), respectively, using a static magnetic field generated by a proximal permanent magnet. Although direct comparison between frequency resolution in harmonic systems and in parametric systems is complex and has yet to be analytically determined, this platform circumvents limitations in oscillation amplitude imposed on harmonic systems and exhibits extremely high frequency resolution and may thereby be more desirable for micro- and nano-scale mass sensor applications.
SU‐GG‐I‐127: Multiple Stepped Magnetic Field Technique Applied to Enhance the Resolution of Electron Spin Echo Oxygen Imaging (ESEOI) at 250MHz

Purpose: The knowledge of local partial oxygen pressure (pO2) in malignant tumors is important due to the effect of hypoxia, or low oxygen concentration on tumor aggressiveness and response to radiation therapy. Three dimensional ESEOI is one of the few noninvasive modalities that provide a quantitative, spatially resolved measure of pO2 inside tumor. The spatial resolution is defined by the gradient field magnitude and therefore is limited by the imager frequency bandwidth. By using the multiple magnetic field B0 technique (MB0) we have extended the effective bandwidth of the imager and acquired images with better spatial resolution.Method and Materials: A phantom with the same spin probe (OX063H) used for small animal imaging was also employed in this study. Our pulse imager design allows us to use high microwave power and achieve frequency bandwidth of 20MHz. This bandwidth is sufficient to image a 2cm long sample using 50 mT/m gradient in the single B0 (SB0) technique. In the MB0 technique, the same experiment is repeated at multiple B0 values to increase the efficient acquisition bandwidth. Results: Using SB0 and MB0 methods, we obtained 3D images of our phantom with spatial resolution of 0.5mm. This is a large improvement compared to the 1.4mm resolution for current ESEOI protocol and 1.3mm resolution of continuous wave EPROI, both used in small animal imaging. The measured T2 uncertainty was about 5%. Conclusion: The MB0 method was found to be technically more complicated than the SB0 method but less susceptible to instrumental limitations in applying larger gradient fields. These results pave the way for high resolution ESEOI in small animal imaging. This makes ESEOI a more powerful tool for understanding the tumor physiology based on 3D pO2imaging.
Incorporating local history into planning documents: A case study from Guinea, West Africa

Abstract International development planners need to incorporate rural people's extensive historical experience with colonial, state and international development projects into their project feasibility documents. A comparison of four planning documents prepared in Guinea during 1987–1993 with historically informed field research demonstrates how the documents overlooked important factors in understanding local techniques in soil management and in women's organizational experiences. While many projects employ participatory methodologies to gather background information, they continue to emphasize technical and descriptive data and overlook important historical changes in the social and economic conditions that affect natural resource management strategies.
Epigenetic aspects of fertilization and preimplantation development in mammals: lessons from the mouse.

During gametogenesis, the parental genomes are separated and are epigenetically marked by modifications that will direct the expression profile of genes necessary for meiosis as well as for the formation of the oocyte and sperm cell. Immediately after sperm-egg fusion, the parental haploid genomes show great epigenetic asymmetry with differences in the levels of DNA methylation and histone tail modifications. The epigenetic program acquired during oogenesis and spermatogenesis must be reset for the zygote to successfully proceed through preimplantation development and this occurs as the two genomes approach each other in preparation for karyogamy. During preimplantation development, the embryo is vested with the responsibility of maintaining the primary imprints. In addition, female embryos must silence one of the X-chromosomes in order to transcribe equal levels of X-linked genes as their male counterparts. This review is intended as a survey of the epigenetic modifications and mechanisms present in zygo...
Price/performance comparison of C.mmp and the PDP-10

The analysis in this paper shows a multiprocessor like C.mmp to have a factor of three to four cost/performance advantage over uniprocessor systems such as the PDP-10 when implementations using similar technologies are considered. This comparison is shown to be very sensitive to memory prices and considerable attention is given to normalizing memory costs between C.mmp and the PDP-10. An important part of this analysis is a comparison of the PDP-10 architecture with the PDP-11 architecture (i.e. the architecture of the processors of C.mmp). When the limited address space of the PDP-11 is not a problem, we see that to a close approximation it takes the same number of PDP-11 instructions (average length 25 bits) as PDP-10 instructions (length 36 bits) to represent a program. While the comparison in this paper explicitly considers multiprocessor degradation factors such as memory interference, it does not address the problem of writing software systems capable of taking full advantage of the multiprocessor structures. The comparisons in this paper are primarily ofcused on comparing the hardware structures of uniprocessors and multiprocessors. Work is now in progress at CMU that is attempting to evaluate the effectiveness of both individual multiprocessor structures application programs and multiprogrammed systems operating on C.mmp.
EFFECT OF SUBSURFACE NUTRIENT SUPPLIES ON THE VERTICAL MIGRATION OF EUGLENA PROXIMA (EUGLENOPHYTA)1

Euglena proxima Dangeard inhabits intertidal sand flats and displays a tidal rhythm in vertical migration. During daytime low tides when the sand flat is emersed, millions of cells are visible on the sediment surface, but the population remains below the surface at all other times. An earlier study demonstrated that the extent of downward migration of E. proxima is reinforced by the presence of a subsurface layer of black sediment. The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that the higher availability of inorganic nutrients or organic substrates in or above the black layer is responsible for the enhancement of downward migration in E. proxima. This hypothesis was tested experimentally by manipulating the bottom water in 24 mesocosm containers in a tidal tank. Six replicates of each of the following nutrient treatments were tested: seawater control; deep porewater collected from 70 cm below the sediment surface; seawater enriched with ammonium, nitrate, and phosphate; and seawater enriched with acetate, glucose, and the preceding inorganic nutrients. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that the chl a biomass and chl a-weighted mean depth of the population at high tide were significantly greater for replicates receiving inorganic nutrients. There was no difference between those receiving only inorganic nutrients and those enriched with inorganic nutrients, acetate, and glucose. These findings represent the first experimental evidence that subsurface nutrients are an important resource that reinforces the maintenance of vertical migration behavior in benthic microalgae.
Why some countries have national health insurance, others have national health services, and the U.S. has neither.

Abstract This article presents a discussion of why some capitalist developed countries have national health insurance schemes, others have national health services, and the U.S. has neither. The first section provides a critical analysis of some of the major answers given to these questions by authors belonging to the schools of thought defined as ‘public choice’, ‘power group pluralism’ and ‘post-industrial convergence’. The second section puts forward an alternative explanation rooted in an historical analysis of the correlation of class forces in each country. The different forms of funding and organization of health services, structured according to the corporate model or to the liberal-welfare market capitalism model, have appeared historically in societies with different correlations of class forces. In all these societies the major social force behind the establishment of a national health program has been the labor movement (and its political instruments—the socialist parties) in its pursuit of the welfare state. In the final section the developments in the health sector after World War II are explained. It is postulated that the growth of public expenditures in the health sector and the growth of universalism and coverage of health benefits that have occured during this period are related to the strength of the labor movement in these countries.
Turnover of protein and nucleic acid in soluble and ribosome fractions of non-growing Escherichia coli

Abstract The stability of protein and of RNA has been examined in the ribosome and soluble fractions of non-growing E. coli . In both fractions there is balanced degradation and re-synthesis of protein at about 5% per h. The RNA of the ribosomes is also degraded at this rate but re-synthesized at only 1.5% per h. In the soluble fraction the rate of nucleic acid synthesis exceeds the rate of degradation, so that there appears to be net transfer of material from the ribosomes to the soluble fraction. Degradation of ribosomes supplies much of the free amino acids and almost all of the ribonucleotides passing through the free pool during starvation.
Lactone and Lactam Library Synthesis by Silver Ion-Assisted Orthogonal Cyclization of Unprotected Peptides†

An orthogonal cyclization strategy has been developed to prepare cyclic peptides individually or as a mixture in aqueous solutions. In this strategy, we propose a dual activation by entropy and enthalpy through Ag+ ion coordination of the reactive ends of an unprotected peptide thioester to permit long-range acyl migration. As a result, both lactamization and lactonization of linear peptides can be realized simultaneously or selectively by controlling the reaction conditions. At pH 4, lactonization is favored due to the strong protonation of the amino moieties. However, at pH 5−5.7 lactamization of α-amine of the N-terminal amino acid is favored, particularly with DMSO as a cosolvent. At pH > 6, lactamization of the e-amine of lysine becomes significant. Furthermore, the Ag+ ion complexation with the peptide thioester precursor in aqueous buffered solutions may facilitate entropy-favored ring−chain tautomerization, which in turn promotes formation of monomeric cyclic products and thereby reduces unwanted ...
Rural Versus Urban Victims of Violence: The Interplay of Race and Region

This paper examines individuals who were victims of domestic violence in Illinois between 1990 and 1995, comparing the traits and service needs of those who received assistance in an urban county over the 5-year period with those who were served by domestic violence programs in rural areas. Analysis focuses on the demographic characteristics of clients in each region, their relationship to the abuser, type of abuse, referral source, and need for both concrete and supportive services. In addition to looking at variations by region, analysis examines differences between African American and White clients within and across geographic areas so that the interaction of race and location is highlighted. Results indicate that apart from demographic differences related to race, there is little difference in the circumstances of abuse when victims in the urban region are compared to rural victims of violence. However, those in rural environments regardless of race, have more service needs. Differences in service needs also exist in relation to race, and for some services, both race and location are important. The implications of these findings for policy, practice, and future research are examined.
Proton pump inhibitors decrease eotaxin-3 expression in the proximal esophagus of children with esophageal eosinophilia.

Objective Besides reducing gastric acid secretion, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) suppress Th2-cytokine-stimulated expression of an eosinophil chemoattractant (eotaxin-3) by esophageal epithelial cells through acid-independent, anti-inflammatory mechanisms. To explore acid-inhibitory and acid-independent, anti-inflammatory PPI effects in reducing esophageal eosinophilia, we studied eotaxin-3 expression by the proximal and distal esophagus of children with esophageal eosinophilia before and after PPI therapy. In vitro, we studied acid and bile salt effects on IL-13-stimulated eotaxin-3 expression by esophageal epithelial cells.
Environmental Uses of the NIH-EPA Chemical Information System

A publicly accessible computer system for chemical information has been developed jointly by a number of agencies of the U.S. government. The system contains spectroscopic, crystallographic, toxicological, and regulatory data for more than 200,000 chemicals. The entire data base may be searched for a particular chemical structure or substructure, whose properties may then be retrieved. Alternatively, searching with numeric properties data is possible, permitting the identification of chemicals. Access is by local telephone call, and the system is used on a fee-for-service basis by organizations in over 20 countries. An important application of the system is to problems of chemical pollution.
Esophageal Adenocarcinoma: The Influence of Medications Used to Treat Comorbidities on Cancer Prognosis

Esophageal adenocarcinoma has undergone a continuous rise in incidence since the early 1970s and is the fastest rising cancer among white men in the United States. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that medications commonly used to treat multiple chronic conditions (for example, aspirin, non-aspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and statins) as well as powerful acid suppressants such as proton pump inhibitors are associated with a reduced risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. The chemopreventive potential of these classes of medications appears to be especially applicable to persons with Barrett's esophagus, the only known premalignant condition for esophageal adenocarcinoma. However, it is not known whether these medications also influence cancer recurrence and cancer-specific mortality in persons diagnosed with esophageal adenocarcinoma. This is an important question because most patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma have 1 or more comorbid conditions at the time of their cancer diagnosis and are receiving medication to treat these conditions. This article summarizes the evidence on the associations between 4 commonly used classes of medications and (1) risk of developing esophageal adenocarcinoma and Barrett's esophagus and (2) risk of cancer recurrence and cancer-specific mortality in patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma.
Obesity-induced hepatic hypoperfusion primes for hepatic dysfunction after resuscitated hemorrhagic shock.

Background Obese patients (BMI>35) after blunt trauma are at increased risk compared to non-obese for organ dysfunction, prolonged hospital stay, infection, prolonged mechanical ventilation, and mortality. Obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) produce a low grade systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) with compromised hepatic blood flow, which increases with body mass index. We hypothesized that obesity further aggravates liver dysfunction by reduced hepatic perfusion following resuscitated hemorrhagic shock (HEM). Methods Age-matched Zucker rats (Obese, 314–519 g & Lean, 211–280 g) were randomly assigned to 4 groups ( n = 10–12/group): (1) Lean-Sham; (2) Lean, HEM, and resuscitation (HEM/RES); (3) Obese-Sham; and (4) Obese-HEM/RES. HEM was 40% of mean arterial pressure (MAP) for 60 min; RES was return of shed blood/5 min and 2 volumes of saline/25 min. Hepatic blood flow (HBF) using galactose clearance, liver enzymes and complete metabolic panel were measured over 4 h after completion of RES. Results Obese rats had increased MAP, heart rate, and fasting blood glucose and BUN concentrations compared to lean controls, required less blood withdrawal (mL/g) to maintain 40% MAP, and RES did not restore BL MAP. Obese rats had decreased HBF at BL and during HEM/RES, which persisted 4 h post RES. ALT and BUN were increased compared to Lean-HEM/RES at 4 h post-RES. Conclusion These data suggest that obesity significantly contributes to trauma outcomes through compromised vascular control or through fat-induced sinusoidal compression to impair hepatic blood flow after HEM/RES resulting in a greater hepatic injury. The pro-inflammatory state of NAFLD seen in obesity appears to prime the liver for hepatic ischemia after resuscitated hemorrhagic shock, perhaps intensified by insidious and ongoing hepatic hypoperfusion established prior to the traumatic injury or shock.
Conceptual Differentiation among Body Parts as a Measure of Body Image

The utility of measures of conceptual differentiation is explored within the context of one's description of his body. The “Body Concept Differentiation Test” is described as a measure of conceptual differentiation of the body image. Data are presented regarding the relation of this measure to a standard measure of body-image perception (Barrier scores) and a standard measure of conceptual differentiation (Cart's Interpersonal Differentiation Test). Findings regarding the relationship of scores on the new test to physical and emotional “complaints” are summarized.
Gender differences in the experience of body awareness: An experiential sampling study

Employing experiential sampling methodology, the body awareness of 40 males and 40 females were monitored during a two-day period. When females were attentive to their bodies the feelings they experienced were more negative than were those of males, and this awareness was more likely to be directed toward specific body parts or functions rather than to the body as a whole. Males and females did not differ in their degree of body awareness or in the importance of this awareness, but males' degree of body awareness was positively related to body esteem, while females' body experience was positively related to beliefs about the importance of physical criteria in judging their attractiveness. In contrast to females, the more positively males evaluated their body dimensions, the more important they believed those dimensions were in determining their attractiveness. Results are discussed in terms of the greater social pressures exerted on women to meet attractiveness standards.
Legal and technical means to secure the commercial distribution of copyrighted electronic images on the information superhighway

The arrival of the information super highway has introduced a number of problems, both for the owners of copyrighted images and for those who would like to legitimately use those images. The digitization of all content, whether still image, animation, video, music, or text, has made copying infinitely easier and cheaper. Further, the instantaneous access to this wealth of digital copyrighted material by millions of potential users, and would-be pirates, has the potential to greatly proliferate the number of unauthorized copies being made. For most of this century, technology has facilitated the unauthorized, and thus uncompensated, use of copyrighted material. Thus, xerography, audio and video recording systems, and personal computers have all contributed to the problem. However, we are entering a new era, where encryption techniques will not only prevent unauthorized use of copyrighted material but facilitate the use of that material by those that are willing to pay a commercially reasonable fee for such use. The technology, referred to as 'information metering,' allows usage fees to be based on a variety of use parameters. Thus, the material can either be 'rented' for a single use or a fixed number of uses, or it can be 'purchased' for an unlimited number of future uses. One price can be charged for on-screen viewing, with a higher price for hard copy print-out. In the case of digital images, the browsing function can be free, while the price of the print-out function can be based on the resolution of the image.
Twelve tips for facilitating Millennials’ learning

Background: The current, so-called “Millennial” generation of learners is frequently characterized as having deep understanding of, and appreciation for, technology and social connectedness. This generation of learners has also been molded by a unique set of cultural influences that are essential for medical educators to consider in all aspects of their teaching, including curriculum design, student assessment, and interactions between faculty and learners.Aim: The following tips outline an approach to facilitating learning of our current generation of medical trainees.Method: The method is based on the available literature and the authors’ experiences with Millennial Learners in medical training.Results: The 12 tips provide detailed approaches and specific strategies for understanding and engaging Millennial Learners and enhancing their learning.Conclusion: With an increased understanding of the characteristics of the current generation of medical trainees, faculty will be better able to facilitate learn...
1.6. Application of models in the process of legislation

Abstract To what extent have quantitative models been used in the formulation of policy? The author addresses this question by examining two issues confronted by the Ninety-fourth Congress, oil price decontrol and synthetic fuels commercialization. He describes the influence of results from the large-scale models used to analyze the proposed policies and identifies conditions that apparently accounted for the successful use of these models.
Ion-cluster reactions in a drift tube ion source

Abstract A drift tube ion source constructed in this laboratory has a reaction pathlength of 5.5 cm which greatly increases the extent of ion reaction in the source. A low voltage gradient applied to metal rings inside the source reduces ion diffusion to the walls allowing studies to pressures greater than 1 torr. The source temperature can be varied from 100 to 400 K. Thermodynamic data obtained for proton solvation in ammonia are in good agreement with literature values.
Correcting vibration-induced performance degradation in enterprise servers

Server fan subsystems are power-hungry and generate vibrations, degrading the performance of data-intensive workloads and inflating the uptime electric bills of cost-sensitive datacenters. In this paper, we demonstrate a systematic server measurement methodology to isolate different types of vibrations and quantify their effect on hard disks. We introduce a thermal and cooling management policy that mitigates vibrational effects workload scheduling and fan control, and study the benefits of a hybrid storage array with solid-state drives (SSDs) that are impervious to vibrations. We achieve performance improvements of up to 73% and energy savings of up to 76% over the state of the art, while meeting thermal constraints and improving the system's resilience to both internal and external vibrations.
Mechanistic Basis of Altered Morphine Disposition in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Morphine is metabolized in humans to morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G) and the pharmacologically active morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G). The hepatobiliary disposition of both metabolites relies upon multidrug resistance-associated proteins Mrp3 and Mrp2, located on the sinusoidal and canalicular membrane, respectively. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the severe stage of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, alters xenobiotic metabolizing enzyme and transporter function. The purpose of this study was to determine whether NASH contributes to the large interindividual variability and postoperative adverse events associated with morphine therapy. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a control diet or a methionine- and choline-deficient diet to induce NASH. Radiolabeled morphine (2.5 mg/kg, 30 µCi/kg) was administered intravenously, and plasma and bile (0–150 or 0–240 minutes), liver and kidney, and cumulative urine were analyzed for morphine and M3G. The antinociceptive response to M6G (5 mg/kg) was assessed (0–12 hours) after direct intraperitoneal administration since rats do not produce M6G. NASH caused a net decrease in morphine concentrations in the bile and plasma and a net increase in the M3G/morphine plasma area under the concentration-time curve ratio, consistent with upregulation of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase Ugt2b1. Despite increased systemic exposure to M3G, NASH resulted in decreased biliary excretion and hepatic accumulation of M3G. This shift toward systemic retention is consistent with the mislocalization of canalicular Mrp2 and increased expression of sinusoidal Mrp3 in NASH and may correlate to increased antinociception by M6G. Increased metabolism and altered transporter regulation in NASH provide a mechanistic basis for interindividual variability in morphine disposition that may lead to opioid-related toxicity.
EFFECT OF EGO AND TASK INSTRUCTIONS ON COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE

To evaluate whether motivation is influenced by the way a task is presented, 80 college students were randomly assigned to receiving either ego or task instructions for an anagram and a coding task...
Reply to Roscoe

hunters are interested in maximizing their catch, regardless of whether this is terrestrial, arboreal, or avian. But, to the extent that hunters prefer a certain type of catch, their methods-though constrained or facilitated by vegetation densities-likely will be biased toward the net if they prefer terrestrial game and toward the bow if they prefer arboreal or avian species. In other words, both economic forces and vegetation densities may operate together in determining hunting technology. Indeed, if market forces are insignificant in the Sepik and important in the Ituri, then this may explain why vegetation density is so very apparent as a determinant of hunting technology in the former but seemingly obscured in the latter.
Comments on the types and type localities of South African reptiles collected by Heinrich Bergius and Ludwig Krebs

Abstract Karl Heinrich Bergius (1790–1818) and Georg Ludwig Engelhard Krebs (1792–1844) were German apothecaries living in South Africa who collected zoological material, including reptiles, for Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein, director of the Zoological Museum of the Wilhelm-Friedrichs-Universitat zu Berlin (ZMB). Although many of the specimens they sent to Berlin went unstudied, six species of reptiles described by Lichtenstein (1823), Wiegmann (1828, 1834) and Fitzinger (1843) were based on type material collected by them. In all cases (Sepedon rhombeata [= Causus rhombeatus], Coluber rufulus [= Lycodonomorphus rufulus], Gerrhosaurus flavigularis. Scincus homolocephalus [= Mabuya homalocephala], Cricochalcis aenea [= Chamaesaura aenea] and Pachydactylus bergii [= P geitje]) it is possible to restrict the type localities on the basis of the activities of the collectors. In the case of Sepedon rhombeata it is demonstrated that a recent claim (de Massary & Ineich 1994) that no type material was present i...
The phonocardiogram in idiopathic dilatation of the pulmonary artery

Abstract Eight patients with idiopathic dilatation of the pulmonary artery were studied by right heart catheterization and phonocardiography. The data suggest that, although there is no single diagnostic feature, a rather characteristic pattern is found on analysis of the phonocardiogram; it consists of a normal first heart sound, a systolic click, a faint or absent pulmonic systolic murmur, wide splitting of the second heart sound which is usually fixed, and occasionally a diastolic murmur at the pulmonary area. This distinctive pattern may prove to be of value in the diagnosis of idiopathic dilatation of the pulmonary artery.
The ionic requirements for regulation by molluscan thin filaments.

Initial studies on molluscan regulation indicated that thin filaments do not confer Ca2+-dependence on vertebrate myosin ATPase, and hence that molluscan muscles do not possess thin filament-linked regulatory systems. Subsequently it was shown that molluscan thin filaments do, in fact, impart Ca2+-sensitivity but only at Mg2+ concentrations greater than those used in the earlier studies. In the present study it is shown that Mg2+ prevents significant dissociation of tropomyosin and troponin subunits from thin filaments at the low monovalent ion concentrations typically employd to assay actomyosin ATPase; as a result Mg2+ allows expression of the molluscan thin filament regulatory system under these conditions.
Asymmetric diels-alder reactions of chiral alkoxy iminium salts

Abstract The optically active vinyl trimethylsilyloxy iminium salts, prepared from 8 and 14ab, were reacted with cyclopentadiene to give the optically active amides 15 and 16ab in high yield and with good diastereoselectivity.
Entamoeba histolytica Phagocytosis of Human Erythrocytes Involves PATMK, a Member of the Transmembrane Kinase Family

Entamoeba histolytica is the cause of amebic colitis and liver abscess. This parasite induces apoptosis in host cells and utilizes exposed ligands such as phosphatidylserine to ingest the apoptotic corpses and invade deeper into host tissue. The purpose of this work was to identify amebic proteins involved in the recognition and ingestion of dead cells. A member of the transmembrane kinase family, phagosome-associated TMK96 (PATMK), was identified in a proteomic screen for early phagosomal proteins. Anti-peptide affinity-purified antibody produced against PATMK demonstrated that it was a type I integral membrane protein that was expressed on the trophozoite surface, and that co-localized with human erythrocytes at the site of contact. The role of PATMK in erythrophagocytosis in vitro was demonstrated by: (i) incubation of ameba with anti-PATMK antibodies; (ii) PATMK mRNA knock-down using a novel shRNA expression system; and (iii) expression of a carboxy-truncation of PATMK (PATMKΔ932). Expression of the carboxy-truncation of PATMKΔ932 also caused a specific reduction in the ability of E. histolytica to establish infection in the intestinal model of amebiasis, however these amebae retained the ability to cause hepatic abscesses when directly injected in the liver. In conclusion, PATMK was identified as a member of the TMK family that participates in erythrophagocytosis and is uniquely required for intestinal infection.
Michael Gold on Walt Whitman

Explores Whitman's influence on author, editor, and avowed Communist Michael Gold, examining Gold's Jews Without Money (1930), his columns for the Daily Worker, and his editing for the New Masses to demonstrate how he "used Whitman repeatedly to demonstrate that Communism with a capital C was the culmination of American culture."
Measurements of the minimum elevation of nano-particles by 3D nanoscale tracking using ratiometric evanescent wave imaging

Effect of saline concentration on the minimum elevation of nanoparticles has been examined under the electric double layer interactions with the substrate glass surface. The use of ratiometric total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (R-TIRFM) allows three-dimensional tracking of nanoparticles in the near-wall region within less than 1 μm from the surface. The measurements of minimum elevation were made for polystyrene fluorescent nanospheres of 100, 250, and 500 nm in radii (SG = 1.05) for the salinity ranging from 0.1 to 10 mM. Special care was taken to insure cleaned surface conditions by elaborate sonication and rinsing of the glass substrate. The laser illumination intensity and duration also had to be carefully examined to minimize photobleaching of the fluorescence emission from particles. It is reported that the minimum elevation decreases with increasing saline concentration and with increasing particle sizes, for the first time experimentally and quantitatively to the authors’ knowledge.
Modernising women and democratisation after the Arab Spring

What has the Arab Spring meant to women, and women's rights, in the region? Three years after the mass social protests of January and February 2011, when and where can we expect the promises of democracy and equality, and the revolutionary spirit of unity and purpose, to be realised? This Foreword offers a stock-taking of events and possible future directions, with a focus on prospects for a women-friendly democratisation.
Log-Concave Functions And Poset Probabilities

elements of some (finite) poset , write for the probability that precedes in a random (uniform) linear extension of . For define where the infimum is over all choices of and distinct . Addressing an issue raised by Fishburn [6], we give the first nontrivial lower bounds on the function . This is part of a more general geometric result, the exact determination of the function where the infimum is over chosen uniformly from some compact convex subset of a Euclidean space. These results are mainly based on the Brunn–Minkowski Theorem and a theorem of Keith Ball [1], which allow us to reduce to a 2-dimensional version of the problem.
Lycopodium spore impacts onto surfaces

Experiments on oblique impact of Lycopodium spores with dry surfaces in the presence of adhesion were carried out. The experimental results are compared with those of stainless steel microsphere impact onto the same types of substrate surfaces. Three parameters are analyzed, the coefficient of restitution, the impulse ratio and the normalized kinetic energy loss and are used to represent the impact results. The comparisons show that the complex surface profile of a spore has a remarkable effect on impact response. The conjunction of the roughness of both the microparticle and the substrate make the impact mechanics even more complicated.
Effective image retrieval using dominant color descriptor and fuzzy support vector machine

Image retrieval is an active research area in image processing, pattern recognition, and computer vision. Relevance feedback has been widely accepted in the field of content-based image retrieval (CBIR) as a method to boost the retrieval performance. Recently, many researchers have employed support vector machines (SVMs) for relevance feedback. This paper presents a fuzzy support vector machine (FSVM) that is more robust to the four major problems encountered by the conventional SVMs: small size of samples, biased hyperplane, over-fitting, and real-time. To improve the performance, a dominant color descriptor (DCD) is also proposed. Experimental results based on a set of Corel images demonstrate that the proposed system performs much better than the previous methods. It achieves high accuracy and reduces the processing time greatly.
Cholesterol homeostasis: Clipping out a slippery regulator

SREBPs are transcriptional activators central to cholesterol homeostasis. Recent work has shown that a two-step cleavage of membrane-bound SREBPs frees them to enter the nucleus. An activator of the first, sterol-regulated proteolysis step has also been identified.
A generalized pisarenko technique for analyzing the NMR FID

Abstract Recently, several different methods for directly analyzing the time-domain NMR signal have been proposed. We have derived a new technique to determine the components of the true free induction decay in the presence of noise. The algorithm has its origins in the Pisarenko method of harmonic retrieval and therefore has very high discrimination between closely spaced frequencies. This algorithm incorporates knowledge of the noise power to analyze the FID. As in other techniques, calculating the decay time of an exponentially damped signal in the presence of noise continues to be the most difficult component of the problem. We apply the technique both to simulated data and to one example of physiologic NMR data to show its power.
Segmentation of non-viable myocardium in delayed enhancement magnetic resonance images

Purpose: To evaluate six algorithms for segmenting non-viable left ventricular (LV) myocardium in delayed enhancement (DE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Methods: Twenty-three patients with known chronic ischemic heart disease underwent DE-MRI. DE images were first manually thresholded using an interactive region-filling tool to isolate non-viable myocardium. Then, six thresholding algorithms, based on the image intensity characteristics of either LV blood pool (BP), viable LV myocardium, or both, were applied to each image. For the Mean−2SDBP algorithm, thresholds were equal to the mean BP intensity minus twice its standard deviation. For the Mean+2SDSemi, Mean+3SDSemi, Mean+2SDAuto, and Mean+3SDAuto algorithms, thresholds equaled the mean intensity of viable myocardium plus twice (or thrice, as denoted by the name) the standard deviation of intensity (subscripts denote how these values were determined: automatic or semi-automatic). For the Minimum Intensity algorithm, the threshold equaled the minimum intensity between the BP and LV myocardium mean intensities. Percent Scar was defined as the ratio of non-viable to total myocardial pixels in each image. Agreement between each algorithm and manual thresholding was assessed using Bland–Altman analysis. Results: Mean Percent Scar was 25 ± 16% by manual thresholding. Five of the six algorithms demonstrated mean bias within ±3% (all except Mean+2SDAuto); however, limits of agreement (LoA) were large in general (range 12–36%). The best overall agreement was demonstrated by the Mean+2SDSemi (bias, 0%; LoA, 12%) and Mean+3SDSemi(bias, −3%; LoA, 14%) algorithms. Conclusion: On average, five of the six algorithms proved satisfactory for clinical implementation; however, in some images, manual correction of automatic results was necessary.
961 EFFECTS OF INTRALIPID INFUSIONS OF ARTERIAL BLOOD GASES AND PULMONARY FUNCTION IN SMALL PREMATURE NEONATES

961 EFFECTS OF INTRALIPID INFUSIONS OF ARTERIAL BLOOD GASES AND PULMONARY FUNCTION IN SMALL PREMATURE NEONATES
Treatment of Asymptomatic Carotid Disease with Stenting: Pro

The assumptions upon which the decisions to treat asymptomatic patients are founded on landmark studies, such as the Asymptomatic Carotid Atherosclerotic Study (ACAS), the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study (VA), and the Asymptomatic Carotid Surgical Trial (ACST). In total, these trials randomized more than 5,000 patients to surgical vs. medical therapy. These trials were based on 60% stenosis and basically "no-risk" entry criteria. The carotid stent trials and registries, however, were based on 80% stenosis and all high-risk entry criteria. With a wide range of operator experience, and patient enrollment based on surgical risk criteria, Carotid ACCULINK/ACCUNET Post Approval Trial to Uncover Rare Events II (CAPTURE) II, Emboshield and Xact Post Approval Carotid Stent Trial (EXACT), and the Carotid Artery Revascularization Using the Boston Scientific EPI FilterWire EX/EZ and the EndoTex NexStent (CABERNET) trials were able to meet the American Heart Association guidelines of 3% procedural events in the asymptomatic subset. Carotid stenting is presently in the first and second generation of devices, and as the technology improves, procedural event rates should also improve. An understanding of the plaque composition and presence or absence of plaque vulnerability will separate those patients best suited for stenting versus endarterectomy. Asymptomatic patients cannot be grouped, but rather require individualization. Those patients with anatomical risks, preocclusive stenosis, and an incomplete Circle of Willis with a poorly collateralized hemisphere, are best managed with stenting versus endarterectomy or best medical management. Those patients, however, with <or=80% stenosis, and without comorbidities or anatomical risk, can be offered best medical management.
Health and distress predictors of heart rate variability in fibromyalgia and other forms of chronic pain.

Abstract Objective To examine health, psychological, and autonomic impairment differences between individuals with fibromyalgia and those with other chronic benign pain in these conditions. The possible role of the autonomic nervous system in the maintenance of chronic benign pain can be examined using heart rate variability (HRV), which measures the interplay between the excitatory sympathetic and the inhibitory parasympathetic nervous system. Predictors of HRV will also be examined. Methods This study examined resting HRV in a sample of 84 patients with chronic benign pain, a subgroup of whom had fibromyalgia. Participants completed a battery of self-report measures and underwent measurements of resting HRV. Results Individuals with fibromyalgia experienced higher levels of depression ( t (82) = − 2.27, p t (75.8) = 2.65, p Conclusions These findings emphasize the importance of addressing psychological distress and physical functioning in chronic pain populations and specifically fibromyalgia. Future research can further examine the role of physical health functioning, psychological distress, and pain severity in the relationship between chronic pain and autonomic abnormalities.
Frost Growth CFD Model of an Integrated Active Desiccant Rooftop Unit

A frost growth model is incorporated into a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of a heat pump by means of a user-defined function in a commercial CFD code. The transient model is applied to the outdoor section of an Integrated Active Desiccant Rooftop (IADR) unit in heating mode. IADR is a hybrid vapor compression and active desiccant unit capable of handling 100% outdoor air (dedicated outdoor air system) or as a total conditioning system, handling both outdoor air and space cooling or heating loads. The predicted increase in flow resistance and loss in heat transfer capacity due to frost build-up are compared to experimental pressure drop readings and thermal imaging. The purpose of this work is to develop a CFD model that is capable of predicting frost growth, a potentially valuable tool in evaluating the effectiveness of defrost-on-demand cycles.
Targeted delivery of vascular endothelial growth factor to enhance the stem cell therapy in treating myocardial infarction in rats

The stem cell therapy to treat myocardial infarction (MI) has shown disappointed results largely due to the poor survival of transplanted stem cells in the MI region. We propose a combination therapy by targeted delivery of a proangiogenic compound, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), to MI region to improve the micro-environment, which may enhance the survival of transplanted stem cells, and further improve the cardiac function. In this study, P-selectin conjugated immunoliposomes containing VEGF were given to the MI rats through tail vein injection immediately after surgery. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were transplanted to the MI region one week later. Left ventricular percent fractional shortening were measured 1 week and 4 weeks post MI using echocardiography. Results indicate that MI rats with no treatment lost 8% contractility (∼40% of its heart function) from 1 week to 4 weeks post-MI. Either targeted VEGF or MSCs treatment alone can slow down the loss by half to 4%. The combination of targeted VEGF and MSCs treatment further decreased the contractility loss to 0.7%. In conclusion, the combination treatment of targeted VEGF and MSCs results in a larger recovery in cardiac function compared to either targeted VEGF or stem cell treatment alone.
Chlorophyll binding to peptide maquettes containing a retention motif.

The motif Glu-X-X-His/Asn-X-Arg is conserved in the first and third membrane-spanning domains of all light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b- anda/c-binding proteins in chloroplasts. Molecular modeling of synthetic peptides containing the sequence Glu-Ile-Val-His-Ser-Arg, a motif found in the apoprotein of the major light-harvesting complex in plants, generated a loop structure formed by intrapeptide, electrostatic attraction between Glu and Arg. His, Asn, and charge-compensated Glu-Arg pairs are known ligands of the magnesium atom in chlorophyll. The prediction that this structure should bind two molecules of chlorophyll was confirmed experimentally with an assay based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer between peptides and chlorophyll a. Motifs with both potential ligands bound approximately two times the amount of chlorophyll as one in which His was replaced by Ala. These results support the conclusion that formation of this intermediate, within membranes of the envelope, is a crucial step in assembly of light-harvesting complexes and a mechanism that regulates import of the apoproteins into the chloroplast.