cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ethics and embryonic stem cell research: altered nuclear transfer as a way forward.

Ethical controversy in stem cell research arises because current methods to produce embryonic stem cell lines require the destruction of living human embryos. For this reason, there is increasing interest in developing alternative, non-embryonic sources of pluripotent stem cells. This effort is especially important in the US due to the prevailing policy against federal funding of embryo-destructive research. Altered nuclear transfer (ANT) is one of several potential methods to develop alternative sources of pluripotent stem cells. This approach employs the technique of somatic cell nuclear transfer, but the somatic cell nucleus or egg cytoplasm (or both) are first altered before the somatic cell nucleus is transferred into the oocyte. This alteration precludes the coordinated organization and developmental potential that is necessary for the resulting biological entity to be an embryo, but it still allows the entity to generate pluripotent stem cells. Proof-of-principle for one variant of ANT has been established in mice by silencing the functional expression of the gene Cdx2 in the somatic cell nucleus prior to its transfer into an enucleated egg. From the resulting non-embryonic laboratory construct, fully functional pluripotent stem cells were procured. Other more recent studies have suggested the possibility of achieving the same results by preemptively silencing maternally derived Cdx2 messenger RNA in the egg before the act of nuclear transfer. The procedure would produce the equivalent of a tissue culture of pluripotent stem cells. In contrast to the use of embryos ‘left over’ from clinical in vitro fertilization, ANT could produce pluripotent stem cell lines with an unlimited range of specifically selected and controlled genotypes. Such flexibility would greatly facilitate the study of disease, drug development, and toxicology testing, and may allow the production of therapeutically useful pluripotent stem cells that are immune-compatible. If developed to the point of scientific reliability, ANT would be a valuable research tool for the study of other aspects of cell development and differentiation, including gene expression patterns, imprinting, and cell-cell signaling. ANT would also help to clarify definitions and boundaries that distinguish true organisms from ‘biological artifacts’ and, thereby, provide moral precedent to guide future progress in developmental biology.
Transport of Novel State Variables

In this chapter, a framework is developed for comparison of different post-CMOS interconnect technologies using physical models of transport mechanisms for these novel interconnects. In the first part of the chapter, an overview of CMOS interconnects is provided with an emphasis on the impact of scaling on the performance and energy dissipation of local (<100 gate pitches) interconnects. The second part of the chapter deals with the delay modeling of novel interconnects. The upper bound on the performance of novel interconnects is benchmarked against their conventional CMOS counterparts. A set of guidelines is derived at the device and circuit level for post-CMOS technologies.
Hydraulic Theory for a Frictional Debris Flow on a Collisional Shear Layer

We consider a heap of grains that is driven by gravity down an incline. We assume that the heap is deforming by frictional shearing while supported at its base by a relatively thin region of intense shear in which grains interact through collisions. We describe the frictional shearing using the Mohr-Coulomb yield condition and distinguish between active and passive states when relating the normal stress in the flow direction to the weight of the material. We use the balance laws, constitutive relations, and boundary conditions of the kinetic theory for dense granular flows to describe the region of colliding grains at the base. We determine the relationship between the shear stress, normal stress, and relative velocity of the boundaries in this shear layer using an analysis of a steady shearing flow between identical bumpy boundaries. This relationship permits us to close the hydraulic equations governing the evolution of the shape of the heap and the depth-averaged velocity. We integrate the resulting equations numerically for values of the parameters typical for glass or acrylic spheres.
OVERVIEW OF U.S. RADIOACTIVE TANK PROBLEM

Radioactive waste, the result of nuclear weapons production and research activities, is stored in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2731 underground tanks and constitutes important scientific, technical, and regulatory challenges.2 There are several reasons that this waste is such a scientific and technical challenge. First, the total volume of the waste is ∼341,500 m3 and contains ∼734.2 MCi. This waste needs to be removed from the tanks because many of the tanks have leaked radioactive waste to the soil, and others are suspected of leaking, posing a potential near- and probably long-term threat to people and the environment.
Hard incompatibilism and the participant attitude

Following P. F. Strawson, a number of philosophers have argued that if hard incompatibilism is true, then its truth would undermine the justification or value of our relationships with other persons. In this paper, I offer a novel defense of this claim. In particular, I argue that if hard incompatibilism is true, we cannot make sense of: the possibility of promissory obligation, the significance of consent, or the pro tanto wrongness of paternalistic intervention. Because these practices and normative commitments are central to our relationships as we currently conceive of them, it follows that hard incompatibilism has radically revisionary conclusions.
Food for Thought: Consuming and Digesting as Political Metaphor in French Satirical Prints

This essay studies French satirical prints made after the Revolutions of 1789 and 1830, depicting the consuming and digesting body as a means of critiquing the stupidity, cupidity, and corruption of governments. In his 1831 caricature, Gargantua, Daumier depicts an obese Louis-Philippe seated on his toilet/throne devouring taxes paid by the poor and digesting them into awards for the elite. The monarch’s huge belly reveals how much of this wealth he has metabolized into his own fat. The caricatures hearken back to a visual language of prints from the first French Revolution—for example, the aristocratic elite devouring and digesting “the people”. Jacques-Louis David’s scatological prints of 1793, still understudied today, are examined here as well as the influence of British satirists.
Inaccurate consumer perceptions of monetary savings in a demand-side response programme predict programme acceptance

Demand-side response (DSR) measures are critical to integrating variable renewable generation into electric grids. Time-of-use rates (TOU) are a common DSR mechanism that seeks to shift electricity use to low-demand times using financial instruments. However, consumers generally have a poor understanding of their electricity use and bills, raising questions about the extent to which TOU participation is driven by perceptions of savings versus actual savings. We find that among 8,702 residents who opted into a pilot TOU programme, the TOU treatment decreases on-peak use compared to a control group, but this effect is small. Perceived savings is the strongest predictor of intent to remain on TOU, over and above actual savings, even though it is only weakly related to actual changes in bills and usage. Residents may thus join DSR programmes based on perceived savings without achieving actual monetary or energy use savings, which may undermine the goals of these programmes. Time-of-use tariffs aim to shift energy use to better match available supply. This study shows that perception of savings, more so than actual savings, predicts intent to remain enrolled in time-of-use programmes, which may undermine benefits for household finances and energy-reduction goals.
Global Risk Aversion and International Return Comovements

I establish three stylized facts about global equity and bond return comovements: Equity return correlations are higher, asymmetric, and countercyclical, whereas bond return correlations are lower, symmetric, and weakly procyclical. To interpret these stylized facts, I formulate a dynamic no-arbitrage asset pricing model that consistently prices international equities and bonds; the model features various time-varying global macroeconomic uncertainties and risk aversion of a global investor. I find that different sensitivities of equity returns (strongly negative) and bond returns (weakly positive or negative) to the global risk aversion shock can explain the observed comovement differences. Global risk aversion explains 90% (40%) of the fitted global equity (bond) comovement dynamics.
David Oliver: Rationing care by delaying decisions

Practitioners at the interface between the NHS and adult social care can see in plain, daily sight a silent truth that’s often invisible to outsiders: care rationing, by delay, gaming, arbitrary rules, and bureaucracy. We need to speak its name and blow its cover to the wider public. The officially reported data on the scale of delayed transfers of care from hospital make for grim reading about our under-resourced community health and social care services.1 But, as the National Audit Office reported in 2016, the real number of people waiting is often far higher.2 Here are some anecdotal examples I’ve seen. Patients are referred for social work assessment, and it may take a week or more for a social worker to be allocated. After assessment the social worker has to make repeated requests for more information from …
Changing Minds: Exploring Brain-Computer Interface Experiences with High School Students

Relatively little research exists on the use of experiences with EEG devices to support brain-computer interface (BCI) education. In this paper, we draw on techniques from BCI, visual programming languages, and computer science education to design a web-based environment for BCI education. We conducted a study with 14 10th and 11th grade high school students to investigate the effects of EEG experiences on students' BCI self-efficacy. We also explored the usability of a hybrid block-flow based visual interface for students new to BCI. Our results suggest that experiences with EEG devices may increase high school students' BCI self-efficacy. Furthermore, our findings offer insights for engaging high school students in BCI.
Self-supervised edge features for improved Graph Neural Network training.

Graph Neural Networks (GNN) have been extensively used to extract meaningful representations from graph structured data and to perform predictive tasks such as node classification and link prediction. In recent years, there has been a lot of work incorporating edge features along with node features for prediction tasks. One of the main difficulties in using edge features is that they are often handcrafted, hard to get, specific to a particular domain, and may contain redundant information. In this work, we present a framework for creating new edge features, applicable to any domain, via a combination of self-supervised and unsupervised learning. In addition to this, we use Forman-Ricci curvature as an additional edge feature to encapsulate the local geometry of the graph. We then encode our edge features via a Set Transformer and combine them with node features extracted from popular GNN architectures for node classification in an end-to-end training scheme. We validate our work on three biological datasets comprising of single-cell RNA sequencing data of neurological disease, \textit{in vitro} SARS-CoV-2 infection, and human COVID-19 patients. We demonstrate that our method achieves better performance on node classification tasks over baseline Graph Attention Network (GAT) and Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) models. Furthermore, given the attention mechanism on edge and node features, we are able to interpret the cell types and genes that determine the course and severity of COVID-19, contributing to a growing list of potential disease biomarkers and therapeutic targets.
Investment in a model of stancetaking: I mean and just sayin’

Abstract In this paper I argue for a perspective on stancetaking that relies on the notion that stance has three dimensions rather than the traditional two, adding the dimension of investment. My view of stancetaking takes stance to be an umbrella term for the related positions an interactional animator (in Goffman's 1981 sense) takes with respect to: the things referred to in the talk (a relationship of evaluation), the talk itself (a relationship of investment) and other people or things involved in the interaction (a relationship of alignment). I demonstrate that the dimension of investment in stancetaking explains the use of two discourse markers (just sayin(g) and I mean) more perspicaciously than, for example, separate notions of epistemic and interpersonal stance. In short, just sayin(g) lowers the investment of an utterance, while I mean intensifies it. Further, there are shifts in the use of both markers that move away from their original function, but the explanation for such shifts still benefits from appealing to the notion of investment.
STRATEGIC PLAINTIFFS AND IDEOLOGICAL JUDGES IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS LITIGATION

This paper examines the effect of judicial of ideology on the selection and outcome of telecommunications regulatory cases. Using a dataset on Federal Communications Commission orders and trials from 1990 to 1995, this paper shows that changes in the make-up of the bench of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affects not only who wins the cases, but also the cases selected for litigation. Specifically, firms are more likely to bring cases when the agency decisions are ideologically distant from the bench than when the two are actors are close ideologically. Judges, who are subsequently randomly selected, vote ideologically as the firms’ actions predict they will, with Republicans judges overturning Democratic agency decisions and vice versa. The effect of judicial ideology on case selection is much larger than the effect of judicial ideology on case outcomes. Additionally the paper also shows that plaintiff characteristics have little impact in determining case outcomes, but a statistically significant impact on cases selected for litigation. Finally, the paper provides initial results that regulatory uncertainty may lead to more litigation.
Deciphering active prophages from metagenomes

Temperate phages (prophages) are ubiquitous in nature and persist as dormant components of host cells (lysogenic stage) before activating and lysing the host (lytic stage). Actively replicating prophages contribute to central community processes, such as enabling bacterial virulence, manipulating biogeochemical cycling, and driving microbial community diversification. Recent advances in sequencing technology have allowed for the identification and characterization of diverse phages, yet no approaches currently exist for identifying if a prophage has activated. Here, we present PropagAtE (Prophage Activity Estimator), an automated software tool for estimating if a prophage is in the lytic or lysogenic stage of infection. PropagAtE uses statistical analyses of prophage-to-host read coverage ratios to decipher actively replicating prophages, irrespective of whether prophages were induced or spontaneously activated. We demonstrate that PropagAtE is fast, accurate and sensitive, regardless of sequencing depth. Application of PropagAtE to prophages from 348 complex metagenomes from human gut, murine gut and soil environments identified distinct spatial and temporal prophage activation signatures, with the highest proportion of active prophages in murine gut samples. Among the soil habitats evaluated (bog, fen and palsa), we identified unique populations of Myxococcales, Acetobacteraceae and Acidimicrobiaceae prophages to be active in fen, palsa and bog habitats, respectively. Within the human gut, 11 prophage populations, some encoding the sulfur metabolism gene cysH or a rhuM-like virulence factor, were consistently present over time but not active. Overall, PropagAtE will facilitate accurate representations of viruses in microbiomes by associating prophages with their active roles in shaping microbial communities in nature.
Abstract 3114: Olfactory ensheathing glia as a cell-based therapy for glioblastomas

Introduction: Olfactory ensheathing glia (OEG) is a fully differentiated cell that promotes the continuous regeneration of odor receptors from the nasal mucosa to the olfactory bulb during adult lifespan. OEG secretes several factors making the environment more permissive to regeneration, and promotes differentitation of progenitor/neural stem cells. Recently, our group showed for the first time that OEG can target glioblastoma (GBM) cells and GBM stem-like cells (GSC) in the mice brain via intranasal delivery, the natural route of OEG to the brain. Here, we test the potential of OEG in inhibiting the proliferation and stemness of GSC, leading to their differentiation (similar to their neural stem cells counterpart), making them susceptible to conventional therapy. Methods: OEG derived from mice OB (1.5e+5 cells) were co-cultured with GSC at 1:1 ratio. We used a dual secreted luciferase reporter that can be multiplexed together to monitor both OEG and GSCs viability and proliferation in the same well. For in vivo analysis, mice-bearing patient-derived xenograft GSCs were treated with a single injection of 1e+5 OEG intranasally or control. One week later, each group was subdivided into two groups which either received ionizing radiation (IR, one dose of 4Gy) or control. Results: GSC or their corresponding differentiated glioma cells (cultured in serum for 10 days) displayed a decrease in cell viability when co-cultured with OEG compared to control. Analysis of mRNA levels and immunofluorescence images from these co-cultures (using a Transwell) showed a significant decrease in markers associated with stemness and aggressiveness, and an increase in both neuronal and astrocytic markers compared to control. When assessed tumor formation, GSC cultured with OEG conditioned media (OEGCM) failed to form tumors and became more susceptible to IR and Temozolomide. In mice bearing PDX, intranasal injection of non-modified OEG lead to inhibition of tumor growth prolonged mouse survival (48 days vs 34 days for control; P Conclusion: Our findings show that OEG inhibits GBM stemness and malignancy, induces differentiation of GSCs, making them prone to conventional therapy. OEG have the advantage over other typical cell therapies since they are terminally differentiated and can be easily obtained from the olfactory mucosa, a simple procedure typically done for patients with spinal cord injury allowing autologous transplantation. Citation Format: Litia Carvalho, Renata Fleming, Gulsah Erel-Akbaba, Ghazal Lashgari, Daniel Ryan, Elie Tabet, Max Zinter, Jian Teng, Bakhos Tannous. Olfactory ensheathing glia as a cell-based therapy for glioblastomas [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 3114.
Delayed Digit Replantation: What is the Evidence?

A persistent challenge that has limited access and delivery of digit replantation surgery is timing, as ischemia time has traditionally been considered an important determinant of success. However, reports that the viability of amputated digits decreases after 6 hours of warm ischemia and 12 hours of cold ischemia are largely anecdotal. This review evaluates the quality and generalizability of available evidence regarding ischemia times after digit amputation and reported outcomes of “delayed” replantation. We identify substantial limitations in the literature supporting ischemia time cutoffs and recent evidence supporting the feasibility of delayed digit replantation. The current treatment approach for amputation injuries often necessitates transfers or overnight emergency procedures that increase costs and limit availability of digit replantation nationwide. Evidence-based changes to digit replantation protocols could lead to broader availability of this service, as well as improved care quality.
Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics Discretizations Algorithms and Solvers for Aerodynamic Flows

An overview of developments in computational fluid dynamic discretizations and solution techniques for aerodynamic applications over the past five-to-six-year time frame is given in this paper. Thi...
Synthesis, Characterization, and Stoichiometric U–O Bond Scission in Uranyl Species Supported by Pyridine(diimine) Ligand Radicals

Two uranium(VI) uranyl compounds, Cp*UO2(MesPDIMe) (3) and Cp*UO2(tBu-MesPDIMe) (3-tBu) (Cp* = 1,2,3,4,5-pentamethylcyclopentadienide; MesPDIMe = 2,6-((Mes)N=CMe)2C5H3N; tBu-MesPDIMe = 2,6-((Mes)N=CMe)2-p-C(CH3)3C5H2N; Mes = 2,4,6-trimethylphenyl), have been synthesized by addition of N-methylmorpholine N-oxide to trianionic pyridine(diimine) uranium(IV) precursors, Cp*U(MesPDIMe)(THF) (1), Cp*U(MesPDIMe)(HMPA) (1-HMPA), and Cp*U(tBu-MesPDIMe)(THF) (1-tBu). These uranyl complexes contain singly reduced pyridine(diimine) ligands suggesting formation occurs via cooperative ligand/metal oxidation. Treating 3 or 3-tBu with stoichiometric equivalents of Me3SiI results in stepwise oxo silylation to form (Me3SiO)2UI2(MesPDIMe) (5) or (Me3SiO)UI2(tBu-MesPDIMe) (5-tBu), respectively. Additional equivalents result in full uranium–oxo bond scission and formation of UI4(1,4-dioxane)2 with extrusion of hexamethyldisiloxane. The uranium complexes have been characterized via multinuclear NMR, vibrational, and electronic...
Phenotypic and Developmental Plasticity in Plants

Plants have a remarkable ability to alter their development in response to myriad environmental cues or stress. This phenotypic plasticity allows them to continually adapt to their local environment, a necessity for plants as sessile organisms. A host of environmental cues can be interpreted by plants, including light, temperature and nutrients, and these inputs are integrated and translated into a range of developmental outputs from shoot elongation, regulation of root gravitropism, altered flowering time, growth cessation of leaves, and timing of germination. This plasticity enables growth optimisation for the local environment, allows range expansion into hetergeneous habitats, and may provide an advantage as the changing climate affects growth conditions around the globe. Using model organisms such as Arabidopsis, molecular mechanisms for plastic growth responses are becoming more defined. Studies of growth and plasticity in less-characterized species could expand our knowledge of the range of plasticity present in nature. Key Concepts: Multiple environmental signals are integrated to regulate plant development. Plasticity gives plants the ability to optimise growth in varied environments. Developmental plasticity comes from the meristem, which continuously produces organs throughout the plant life cycle. Environmental cues can lead to changes in mRNA and protein abundance or activity, or they can be stored as epigenetic changes. Roots and shoots respond to different environmental conditions but employ similar cellular processes. Plants’ ability to optimise growth for a local environment may provide an advantage as habitats are altered by the changing climate. Keywords: phenotypic plasticity; developmental plasticity; plant development; climate change; flowering time; germination; plant morphology
Electronic structure and magnetic properties of transition-metal-doped 3C and 4H silicon carbide

We report density-functional calculations using the full-potential linearized muffin-tin orbital method on early first row transition-metal-doped silicon carbide in cubic $(3C)$ and hexagonal $(4H)$ polytypes. The transition energy levels in the gap for Ti, V, and Cr are compared with the available deep level transient spectroscopy and photoluminescence experiments. Our calculation shows that the Ti impurity is active for $4H$ but not for $3C$, while V and Cr impurities are active for both polytypes. The magnetic interactions are very different for Cr and Mn. Cr shows a very local exchange interaction that decays rapidly after second nearest neighbors, which is similar for different polytypes and different sites. The exchange interaction for Mn is quite long range and is very sensitive to the location of the Mn pairs.
Information value across cultures and communities

The value of information within and across communities varies; however, even slight variations in this value may define boundaries between different worlds. The Theory of Information Worlds offers a framework for understanding social information behaviors in these settings. This poster reports on the operationalization of the concept of Information Value and its implications for an ongoing project focusing on the development of codebooks intended to be effective across diverse research contexts and methodologies. Specifically, the concept of Information Value is operationalized and discussed through the lenses of three different dissertation projects focusing on South Korean political discourse on Twitter, Ernestine Rose and the Harlem Library, and the digital literacy practices of role-players in a new Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Implications of Information Value on research on communities and cultures are also briefly discussed before describing the project's next steps.
IR STUDIES OF CHEMISORPTION ON MOLECULAR SURFACES: AMMONIA ON SILVER CLUSTERS

Metal clusters are proposed as models to develop a molecular perspective on surface processes and to increase our understanding in important areas such as heterogeneous catalysis. This goal requires the characterization of small metal-cluster-ligand complexes in as great detail as possible. One avenue is to apply IR spectroscopy to cluster-ligand complexes. Problems of number density and mass selectivity prohibit the use of direct optical absorption methods. We report on progress towards applying infrared multiphoton dissociation, IRMPD, to obtain spectra by direct photodepletion. In this regard the silver-cluster-ammonia system is promising. The action spectrum for IRMPD of Ag2NH3, monitored via the Ag2 product in a fast-flow reactor, reveals an absorption peak at 1065 cm−1 which is assigned to the −NH3 umbrella mode of the complex. Molecular structure calculations using density-functional theory predict an end-on geometry and are in good agreement with this value. Preliminary results on complexes of larger Ag clusters studied by monitoring the IRMPD depletion of a AgnNH3 molecular beam by time-of-flight mass spectrometry are presented. The promise of these systems as models for NH3 bound to Ag surfaces is discussed.
Theoretical and Experimental Approaches in Ergonomic Design: Towards a Unified Theory of Ergonomic Design

Design is one of the most important issues in ergonomic science and its application. Ergonomics professionals use the term ‘design’ in many different ways. In this paper design is defined as the creation and description of ideal models or images of a new object for the purpose of their materialization in the future. As such the main part of the design process has to be done on the informational level. This paper analyzes the relationship between the theoretical and experimental approaches to ergonomics design, and demonstrates a need for development of a unified theory of ergonomic design.
The effect of a benzodiazepine antagonist, R015-1788, in diazepam dependent rats

A benzodiazepine antagonist, RO15-1788, was administered intragastrically to diazepam-dependent gastric fistula rats and a precipitated abstinence syndrome was observed. The intensity of the RO15-1788 precipitated abstinence syndrome, calculated by the Precipitated Abstinence Scale, increased in intensity in a log-dose manner over a dose range of 1.0 to 15.0 mg/kg of RO15-1788 and plateaued at the 15.0 mg/kg dose. The RO15-1788 precipitated diazepam abstinence syndrome differed both qualitatively and quantitatively from the diazepam withdrawal syndrome.
Heat transfer enhancement in laminar slurry pipe flows with power law thermal conductivities

Generalized theoretical results for heat transfer in laminar pipe flow with power law varying thermal conductivities are presented. The study is motivated by experimental observations that above a threshold shear rate the effective thermal conductivity for disperse two-phase mixtures increases with shear rate. Using a relatively general three parameter power law model for conductivity as a function of shear rate, heat transfer results for short and long pipes as well as with developing thermal profiles were obtained for both the uniform wall heat flux and uniform wall temperatur conditions. The results show that significant enhancement in heat transfer coefficient could be obtained from the microconvective effects.
A decomposition theorem for income redistribution policies

Abstract Income redistribution policies are examined in a model where households differ from each other in a vector of characteristics. It is shown that any redistribution policy can be expressed as the sum of a set of policies, each of which transfers income only within cohorts of households that are identical in all characteristics except one.
Integrated Ultramicroelectrode-Nanopipet Probe for Concurrent Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy and Scanning Ion Conductance Microscopy

Scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) has developed into a powerful tool for imaging a range of biophysical systems. In addition, SICM has been integrated with a range of other techniques, allowing for the simultaneous collection of complementary information including near-field optical and electrophysiological properties. However, SICM imaging remains insensitive to electrochemical properties, which play an important role in both biological and nonbiological systems. In this work, we demonstrate the fabrication and application of a nanopipet probe with an integrated ultramicroelectrode (UME) for concurrent SICM and scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). The fabrication process utilizes atomic layer deposition (ALD) of aluminum oxide to conformally insulate a gold-coated nanopipet and focused ion beam (FIB) milling to precisely expose a UME at the pipet tip. Fabricated probes are characterized by both scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry and exhibit a 100 nm diameter nanopipet tip and a UME with an effective radius of 294 nm. The probes exhibit positive and negative feedback responses on approach to conducting and insulating surfaces, respectively. The suitability of the probes for SECM-SICM imaging is demonstrated by both feedback-mode and substrate generation/tip collection-mode imaging on patterned surfaces. This probe geometry enables successful SECM-SICM imaging on features as small as 180 nm in size.
Differential development of acute tolerance to analgesia, respiratory depression, gastrointestinal transit and hormone release in a morphine infusion model

Abstract To determine whether the differences in development of acute tolerance to several morphine actions correlate with the mu receptor subtype mediating them, we have examined the appearance of acute tolerance to analgesia, respiratory depression, gastrointestinal transit, and hormone release in an intravenous morphine infusion model. Analgesia, a naloxonazine-sensitive mu 1 action, peaked at 2 hr after initiation of the infusions. The log dose-response relationship of the infusion rate to peak tailflick latency was linear from 10 to 50 μg/kg/min. By 8 hr, the tailflick latencies declined nearly to baseline levels, implying the rapid development of tolerance. Tolerance to morphine-induced prolactin release, another mu 1 action, also developed rapidly over 8 hr. In contrast, two mu 2 actions, respiratory depression measured with arterial blood gas determinations and gastrointestinal transit, showed no significant tolerance over a similar 8 hr infusion. We also observed no tolerance to morphine-induced growth hormone release, a non-mu 1 action, over the same period. Thus, these results demonstrate that mu 1 actions develop tolerance in an infusion model far more rapidly than a number of naloxonazine-insensitive (non-mu 1 ) ones and may help explain differences in the rate of tolerance development to morphine actions.
In Vivo Evolution of an RNA-Based Transcriptional Activator

From random RNA libraries expressed in yeast, we evolved RNA-based transcriptional activators that are comparable in potency to the strongest natural protein activation domains. The evolved RNAs activated transcription up to 53-fold higher than a three-hybrid positive control using the Gal4 activation domain and only 2-fold lower than the highly active VP16 activation domain. Using a combination of directed evolution and site-directed mutagenesis, we dissected the functional elements of the evolved transcriptional activators. A surprisingly large fraction of RNAs from our library are capable of activating transcription, suggesting that nucleic acids may be well suited for binding transcriptional machinery elements normally recruited by proteins. In addition, our work demonstrates an RNA evolution-based approach to perturbing natural cellular function that may serve as a general tool for studying selectable or screenable biological processes in living cells.
A novel ion transport membrane reactor for fundamental investigations of oxygen permeation and oxy-combustion under reactive flow conditions

Abstract Ion transport membrane (ITM) reactors present an attractive technology for combined air separation and fuel conversion in applications such as syngas production, oxidative coupling or oxy-combustion, with the promise of lower capital and operating costs, as well higher product selectivities than traditional technologies. The oxygen permeation rate through a given ITM is defined by the membrane temperature and oxygen chemical potential difference across it. Both of these parameters can be strongly influenced by thermochemical reactions occurring in the vicinity of the membrane, though in the literature they are often characterized in terms of the well mixed product stream at the reactor exit. This work presents the development of a novel ITM reactor for the fundamental investigation of the coupling between fuel conversion and oxygen permeation under well defined fluid dynamic and thermodynamic conditions, including provisions for spatially resolved, in-situ investigations. A planar, finite gap stagnation flow reactor with optical and probe access to the reaction zone is used to facilitate in-situ measurements and cross-validation with detailed numerical simulations. Using this novel reactor, baseline measurements are presented to elucidate the impact of the sweep gas fuel (CH 4 ) fraction on the oxygen permeation and fuel conversion. In addition, the difference between well-mixed gas compositions measured at the reactor outlet and those measured in the vicinity of the membrane surface are discussed, demonstrating the unique utility of the reactor.
DNA manipulation, sorting, and mapping in nanofluidic systems

Fluidic systems with nanometre length scales enable sensitive analysis of DNA molecules. Nanofluidic systems have been used to probe conformational, dynamic, and entropic properties of DNA molecules, to rapidly sort DNA molecules based on length dependent interactions with their confining environment, and for determining the spatial location of genetic information along long DNA molecules. In this critical review, recent experiments utilizing fluidic systems comprised of nanochannels, nanoslits, nanopores, and zero-mode waveguides for DNA analysis are reviewed (161 references).
Hydrolysis of glycosylpyridinium ions by anomeric-configuration-inverting glycosidases

The hydrolyses of five beta-D-xylopyranosylpyridinium ions by the beta-D-xylosidase of Bacillus pumilus proceed with kcat values 10(8)-10(9)-fold larger than the rates of spontaneous hydrolysis of the same compounds. Log(kcat) values correlate well with aglycon pK(a) [B1g(V) = -0.52, r = 0.99], whereas the correlation of log(kcat/Km) is poor [r = 0.77; beta 1g(V/K) = approximately -0.6]. The (1-->3)-beta-D-glucanase of Sporotrichum dimorphosporum hydrolyses 4-bromo-2-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)isoquinolinium ion with a rate enhancement of 10(8). The amyloglucosidase II of Aspergillus niger hydrolyses three alpha-D-glucopyranosylpyridinium ions with rate enhancements of 10(5)-10(8). The efficient hydrolysis of glycosylpyridinium ions by these three inverting glycosidases, the catalytic mechanism of which is unlikely to involve a nucleophile from the enzyme, makes it improbable that the hydrolysis of glycosylpyridinium ions by retaining glycosidases, discovered some years ago, is initiated by addition of a catalytic nucleophilic carboxylate group of the enzyme to the pyridinium ring.
The Chief Political Officer: CEO Characteristics and Corporate Political Activity

Research in corporate political activity has considered a number of antecedents to a firm’s engagement in politics. The majority of this research has focused on either industry or firm-level motiva...
cDNA from human ocular ciliary epithelium homologous to beta ig-h3 is preferentially expressed as an extracellular protein in the corneal epithelium.

The non-pigmented ciliary epithelium is largely responsible for the formation of aqueous humor in the mammalian eye. To provide a basis for studies at the molecular level, a directional expression cDNA library was constructed in Uni-ZAP XR vector from poly A+ RNA of the human non-pigmented ciliary epithelial derived ODM-2 cell line. Fifty-three cDNA clones were isolated from the library and characterized by partial sequence analysis. Approximately 49% of the clones exhibited homology with known genes in the GenBank/EMBL databases. The putative identification of these clones may reflect the transcriptional activity of the ODM-2 cells in culture. One of the identified clones, ODM-42-I, was found to be specific and highly expressed in the corneal epithelium. This clone had an exact match with a recently discovered human gene, βig-h3 (Skonier et al., 1992, DNA Cell Biol., 11: 511–522), which codes a surface recognition protein, inducible by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), and containing a putative binding site (RDG) for integrins. The ODM-42-I cDNA clone displays a distinctive pattern of expression found in the human eye, expressed almost exclusively in the cornea. Further studies, using sera from a synthetic peptide to the carboxy-terminal region of ODM-42-I, reveal that the protein is heterogeneous in charge and is preferenctially expressed on the extracellular surface of corneal epithelial cells, and might share immunologic properties with integrins β1. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Ratiometric Surface Enhanced Raman Quantification of Ligand Adsorption onto a Gold Nanoparticle

Surface modification is essential in biomedical applications and nanotechnological developments. We report a novel method using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for quantifying ligand adsorption onto gold nanoparticles (AuNPs). After centrifugal or settlement removal of the AuNPs−ligand complex, the amount of unbound ligand in the supernatant was determined ratiometrically with an isotope-encoded SERS reference method where known amounts of isotope-substituted ligand were added to the supernatant as an internal reference. Not only is this ratiometric method robust and accurate but it is also very easy to perform. Using this technique, the binding constant and packing density of the model ligand mercaptobenzimidazole (MBI) on a AuNP was determined for the very first time.
Incentives for renewable energy generation in the United States

This paper summarizes the incentives for using renewable energy sources to generate heat and electric power in the United States.
Study of the L -shell x-ray production cross section of cadmium by proton bombardment

The $L$-shell x-ray production process in cadmium for proton bombardment over the energy range 120 - 420 keV was studied using thin Cd targets (\ensuremath{\sim} 30 \ensuremath{\mu} g/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$). The x rays were observed with a high-purity Ge low-energy-photon-spectroscopy detector. The total x-ray cross sections were determined at 20-keV intervals in the bombarding energy range. Experimental cross sections were compared to the predictions of the nonrelativistic plane-wave Born approximation and the perturbed stationary-state theory with relativistic and Coulomb deflection corrections (CPSSR). The total $L$-shell x-ray cross sections are in reasonable agreement with the CPSSR theory. The complex $L$ x-ray spectrum was resolved into several components and the relative x-ray cross sections of these components were determined.
Evolutionary mode routinely varies among morphological traits within fossil species lineages

Recent studies have revitalized interest in methods for detecting evolutionary modes in both fossil sequences and phylogenies. Most of these studies examine single size or shape traits, often implicitly assuming that single phenotypic traits are adequate representations of species-level change. We test the validity of this assumption by tallying the frequency with which traits vary in evolutionary mode within fossil species lineages. After fitting models of directional change, unbiased random walk, and stasis to a dataset of 635 traits across 153 species lineages, we find that within the majority of lineages, evolutionary mode varies across traits and the likelihood of conflicting within-lineage patterns increases with the number of traits analyzed. In addition, single traits may show variation in evolutionary mode even in situations where the overall morphological evolution of the lineage is dominated by one type of mode. These quantified, stratigraphically based findings validate the idea that morphological patterns of mosaic evolution are pervasive across groups of organisms throughout Earth’s history.
Patients’ experiences of self-disclosure in psychotherapy: The effects of gender and gender role identification

Abstract This study examined the effects of gender and gender role identification on 223 patients’ experiences of self-disclosure in psychotherapy. Factor analysis of the Disclosure-to-Therapist Inventory-IV revealed two dimensions: a distress factor, reflecting the perceived difficulty and the anticipated impact of disclosures on the therapist, and an openness factor, reflecting the extent and perceived importance of disclosures and the interpersonal connection experienced during them. Female patients working with female therapists experienced greater distress in disclosure than male patients working with female therapists; in addition, patients with more flexible gender role identifications (i.e., androgynous) experienced greater openness than those with more traditional gender identifications. Findings suggest a need for greater discussion in therapy of the effects of gender on disclosure.
Intrinsic torsional viscosity of nematic liquid crystals.

A nematic liquid-crystal cylinder may exhibit metastable cholesteric-type twisted states in which the director uniformly rotates along the sample in the plane orthogonal to the cylinder axis. If a constant torque is maintained by strongly anchoring end plates, thermal fluctuations can produce rotation, leading to torsionally viscous behavior. We present a theory for the fluctuation-induced intrinsic torsional viscosity of narrow cylinders of nematic, based on the Frank free energy and constructed by analogy with the work of Langer and Ambegaokar on the resistance of superconducting channels.
The Integrated Feasibility Experiment (IFE) process

In this paper, we describe a process used for guiding the evaluation and transformation process for language processing research and development. The Integrated Feasibility Experiment process is explained by describing the key six steps, and then providing a specific example to help understand how to implement the steps.
Correlation Effects of MTI Filters

A frequency domain approach for determining the effective number of independent pulses at the output of a square law detector in a moving target indicator (MTI) system leads to a definition which gives the same asymptotic results as given by a previous definition.
Which Kids Can ‘Become’ Scientists? Effects of Gender, Self-Concepts and Perceptions of Scientists

Science, mathematics, and engineering (SME) disciplines lose potential female professionals as women move to other educational and career paths at higher rates than men. Also, the remaining women tend to cluster into particular fields. I frame these trends as identity-acquisition issues. Using identity theory, I examine links between gender, self-concepts, and perceptions of scientific others, focusing on how these contribute to students' SME interests and the resulting educational trajectories. The sample of 433 talented high school students was drawn from 10 SME summer programs conducted in 1995 and 1996. The students' interests follow common patterns by gender; identity theory helps to explain why. Key findings are as follows: (1) On average, girls' self-concepts are more like their perceptions of same-sex others than those of boys, and more unlike their perceptions of other science students. (2) Discrepancies between self-concepts and perceptions of those in science-related disciplines are associated with lower interest in those disciplines. (3) Discrepancies explain some differences, by sex, in interests.
AZ91D/TiB2 Nanocomposites Fabricated by Solidification Nanoprocessing

AZ91D, as one of the most widely used casting magnesium alloys, still suffers from inadequate mechanical performances for various applications. Nanoparticles could be used to form high-performance magnesium matrix nanocomposites. Among all nanoparticles, TiB2 has great potentials to enhance the mechanical property of AZ91D. This paper studies the microstructures and mechanical property of AZ91D-TiB2 nanocomposites fabricated through solidification nanoprocessing. TiB2 nanoparticles with a diameter of 25 nm are effectively fed into the AZ91D melt through a newly developed automatic nanoparticle-feeding system. Ultrasonic cavitation is used to disperse these nanoparticles in AZ91D melt for casting. With 2.7 wt% (about 1.0 vol%) of TiB2 nanoparticles addition, the mechanical property of AZ91D is much enhanced (by 21, 16, and 48% for yield strength, tensile strength, and ductility, respectively). Microstructural analysis with optical microscope, SEM, and S/TEM show that α-Mg grain and a network of massive brittle intermetallic phase (β-Mg17Al12) are simultaneously refined and modified. Further study suggests that the enhancement of mechanical properties of AZ91D is attributed not only to primary phase grain refinement, but also to the modification of intermetallic β-Mg17Al12 by TiB2 nanoparticles.