cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Seuss boost: Rhyme helps children retain words from shared storybook reading

This study examines the potential benefits of rhyme on young children’s word retention during shared reading. In two experiments, 2- to 4-year-old children heard their parent read either a rhymed or non-rhymed version of the same animal story, and were then tested on how many animal names they subsequently recognized from the story in Experiment 1 and could correctly identify in Experiment 2. In both experiments, children performed better in the rhyme condition across the age range despite differing levels of word familiarity. While there were no other differences between conditions in parents’ reading styles or the emphasis placed on the animal names, parents’ dramatic pausing just before reading animal names may have promoted children’s ability to anticipate animals before they were initially named. These findings supported the hypothesis that rhyme combined with parental behavior can facilitate active prediction on the part of children, which in turn may contribute to their word retention and learning from the storybooks.
Incorporation of [14C]glycine into Micrococcus lysodeikticus membrane protein and effects of protein synthesis inhibitors.

Abstract 14C]Glycine incorporation into Micrococcus lysodeikticus membranes and membrane protein showed a variable level of resistance to the inhibitory effects of chloramphenicol at 100 μg/ml, a concentration which inhibited the incorporation into the cytoplasmic protein fraction to the extent of 90–97%. Incorporation into the membrane protein in the presence of chloramphenicol ranged from 30 to 100% that observed for control (no chloramphenicol) membrane protein fractions. Only 1% of the total incorporation, both in the presence and absence of chloramphenicol, could be accounted for as N-terminal groups of the proteins. Over 80% of the incorporated [14C]glycine was recovered as glycine after acid hydrolysis and on high-voltage electrophoresis of pronase digests, the label migrated as free glycine and peptides. Fractionation of the membrane proteins after lipid extraction with n- butanol revealed that the “water-soluble protein” fraction was the least affected by chloramphenicol and that incorporation into the “water-insoluble protein” fraction was inhbited to the extent of 75%. No such differential inhibitory effect upon incorporation into cytoplasmic and membrane proteins was observed with puromycin (5 μg/ml) which inhibited the uptake into both cellular fractions to an equal extent (80% after 90 min preincubation with the inhibitor). Cycloheximide was ineffective on both growth and incorporation of [14C]glycine.
Ramp descent performance with the C-Leg and interrater reliability of the Hill Assessment Index

Background:Transfemoral amputees have decreased ability to descend ramps and hills. The Hill Assessment Index quantifies transfemoral amputee ramp performance, but interrater reliability has not be...
Androgen receptor or estrogen receptor-β blockade alters DHEA-, DHT-, and E2-induced proliferation and PSA production in human prostate cancer cells

BACKGROUND Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) is an endogenous steroid that is metabolized to androgens and/or estrogens in the human prostate. DHEA levels decline with age, and use of DHEA supplements to retard the aging process is of unproved effectiveness and safety. LNCaP and LAPC-4 prostate cancer cells were used to determine whether DHEA-modulated proliferation and prostate specific antigen (PSA) production were mediated via the androgen receptor (AR) and/or ERβ. METHODS Cells were treated with DHEA, DHT, or E2 and antagonists to AR (Casodex®-bicalutamide) or ER (ICI 182,780) or siRNA to the respective receptors. Proliferation was assessed by MTT assay and PSA mRNA and protein secretion were measured by quantitative real-time PCR and ELISA. Associations of AR and ERβ were analyzed by co-immunoprecipitation studies and fluorescent confocal microscopy. RESULTS DHEA-, T-, and E2-induced proliferation of LNCaP cells was blunted by Casodex but not by ICI treatment. In LNCaP cells, Casodex and ICI suppressed hormone-induced PSA production. In LAPC-4 cells, DHT-stimulated PSA mRNA was inhibited by Casodex and ICI, and the minimal stimulation by DHEA was inhibited by ICI. Use of siRNAs confirmed involvement of AR and ERβ in hormone-induced PSA production while AR-ERβ co-association was suggested by immunoprecipitation and nuclear co-localization. CONCLUSIONS These findings support involvement of both AR and ERβ in mediating DHEA-, DHT-, and E2-induced PSA expression in prostate cancer cells. Prostate 67: 1152–1162, 2007. © 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Partial melting in the upper mantle

The low velocity zone in tectonic and oceanic regions is too pronounced to be the effect of high temperature gradients alone. Partial melting is consistent with the low velocity, low Q and abrupt boundaries of this region of the upper mantle and is also consistent with measured heat flow values. The inferred low melting temperatures seem to indicate that the water pressure is sufficiently high to lower the solidus about 200 °C to 400 °C below laboratory determinations of the melting point of anhydrous silicates. The mechanical instability of a partially molten layer in the upper mantle is probably an important source of tectonic energy. The top of the low-velocity zone can be considered a self-lubricated surface upon which the top of the mantle and the crust can slide with very little friction. Lateral motion of the crust and upper mantle away from oceanic rises is counterbalanced by the flow of molten material in the low-velocity layer toward the rise where it eventually emerges as new crust. If this lateral flow of molten material is not as efficient as the upward removal of magma, then regions of extrusion, such as oceanic rises, will migrate.
Children's book-reading habits: A new criterion for literacy

No reasonable person could argue against learning to read. The point of this article is that learning to read is not just a matter of mastering a few simple skills, nor is literacy just a matter of passing a reading test. Learning to read must involve acquiring the reading habit. Literacy must be viewed as the regular exercise of reading skills through reading books. The time-honored reasons why children should read books are now bolstered and supplemented by new research evidence that book reading can make a unique and powerful contribution to children's reading development.
PEOPLE OR PAPERWORK An Analysis of Influences upon Juvenile Court Personnel

Probation officers and other juvenile court staff complain that paperwork limits the time spent working directly with youth. The alleged effect of paperwork is compared with that of interpersonal influence resulting from time spent talking with youth about their problems. Multiple regression of data from a juvenile court staff indicated that the time spent on paperwork has no independent effect. This group's paperwork complaints are ideological. But interpersonal influences do have considerable impact.
Adsorptive stripping voltammetry of sex hormones at the static mercury drop electrode

Abstract Controlled adsorptive accumulation of testosterone, methyltestosterone and progesterone on the static mercury drop electrode provides the basis for direct stripping measurement of these compounds ar nanomolar concentrations. The adsorptive stripping behavior is evaluated with respect to preconcentration time and potential, stripping mode, concentration dependence, drop size and other variables. With 5-min accumulation, peak current enhancements of 45, 18 anal 12 are observed for 5 × 10−8 M testosterone, progesterone and methyltestosterone, respectively, relative to direct pulse voltammetry. Detection limits are 1.6 × 10−10 M for testosterone, 2 × 10−10 M for progesterone and 3.3 × 10−10 M for methyltestosterone with 15-min preconcentration. The relative standard deviation for 8 × 10−8 M progesterone is 3.4% (n=8). Applicability to direct measurements of methyltestosterone in pharmaceutical formulations is assessed.
COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF PRIOR VERSUS PROGRESSIVE ARTICULATION OF PREFERENCE IN BICRITERION OPTIMIZATION.

Procedures for solving multiple criteria problems are receiving increasing attention. Two major solution approaches are those involving prior articulation and progressive articulation of preference information. A progressive articulation (interactive) optimization approach, called the Paired Comparison Method (PCM) is compared to the prior articulation approach of a priori utility function measurement in a quality control decision environment from the perspective of the decision maker. The three major issues investigated included: (1) the ease of use of each method, (2) the preferences of solutions obtained, and (3) the insight provided by the methodology into the nature and structure of the problem. The problem setting involved management students who were rquired to determine an acceptance sampling plan using both methods. The PCM provided the most preferred solutions and was considered easier to use and understand. The prior articulation of preference method was found to give more insight into the problem structure. The results suggest that a hybrid approach, combining both prior preference assessment and an interactive procedure exploiting the advantages of each, should be employed to solve multiple criteria problems.
Searching for simplicity in the analysis of neurons and behavior

What fascinates us about animal behavior is its richness and complexity, but understanding behavior and its neural basis requires a simpler description. Traditionally, simplification has been imposed by training animals to engage in a limited set of behaviors, by hand scoring behaviors into discrete classes, or by limiting the sensory experience of the organism. An alternative is to ask whether we can search through the dynamics of natural behaviors to find explicit evidence that these behaviors are simpler than they might have been. We review two mathematical approaches to simplification, dimensionality reduction and the maximum entropy method, and we draw on examples from different levels of biological organization, from the crawling behavior of Caenorhabditis elegans to the control of smooth pursuit eye movements in primates, and from the coding of natural scenes by networks of neurons in the retina to the rules of English spelling. In each case, we argue that the explicit search for simplicity uncovers new and unexpected features of the biological system and that the evidence for simplification gives us a language with which to phrase new questions for the next generation of experiments. The fact that similar mathematical structures succeed in taming the complexity of very different biological systems hints that there is something more general to be discovered.
Surface isotherms of intrinsic red cell membrane proteins

Abstract Preparations of intrinsic membrane proteins (IMP) from the red cell were characterized as primarily mixtures of the SDS-polyacrylamide gel bands 3, 4.1, 4.2, 6, and 7. The compression isotherms of spread films of different preparations showed variations in the slopes and extrapolated areas that correlated with the average molecular weights ( MW ) of the preparations. Binary mixtures of cytochrome c and bovine serum albumin (BSA) showed qualitatively similar variations with changes in the ratio of these two proteins, suggesting that the MW is a reasonable normalizing parameter that should be useful for characterizing protein mixtures. The slopes of the compression isotherms and the extrapolated areas of both the IMP monolayers and the binary mixtures were correlated with each other as well as with MW . The elasticities of all monolayers at π = 5 dyn/cm showed about the same values at MW > 40,000, and the surface potentials of all red cell protein films (IMP and earlier studies of extrinsic proteins) showed comparable values.
Probing the Brønsted and Lewis acidity of zeolite HY: A 1H/27Al and 15N/27Al TRAPDOR NMR study of monomethylamine adsorbed on HY

A combination of variable temperature 1H, 15N, and 27Al MAS NMR and 1H/27Al and 15N/27Al TRAPDOR NMR has been used to study the adsorption of monomethylamine (MMA) on dehydrated zeolite HY. Monomethylammonium cations (MMAH+) are formed, which at temperatures below −40 °C are rigidly bound to the zeolite framework. At loading levels of MMA that exceed the number of Bronsted acid protons, 1H resonances intermediate in chemical shift between those of MMA and MMAH+ are observed from species undergoing rapid proton transfer reactions between MMA and MMAH+. These exchange processes are frozen out at −140 °C, and MMAH+ and physisorbed MMA are observed. The deprotonation of the Bronsted acid SiO(H)Al site, and the consequent formation of MMAH+, results in a reduction of the 27Al quadrupole coupling constant (QCC) of the nearby aluminum atom by more than 12 MHz, and a QCC for this site of 3.0 (±0.3) MHz is determined. Rehydration of HY and then subsequent calcination at 400 °C results in the formation of silanols,...
Comment on "ab initio studies of (H2O)14- clusters: existence of surface and interior-bound extra electrons" [J. Chem. Phys. 125, 024307 (2006)].

In a recent paper Khan [J. Chem. Phys.125, 024307 (2006)] presented ab initio calculations for a surface and a cavity bound isomer of (H2O)14− that turn out to be almost isoenergetic. Khan concluded that this result contradicts earlier studies that found that for small to intermediate size water clusters the most stable surface bound anion states were far more stable than the lowest cavity-type anion states. This conclusion is not warranted by the computational results.
Neuropsychological differences between alcohol-dependent and cocaine-dependent patients with or without problematic drinking

The present study evaluated differences among three groups of substance abusers, abstinent for 1-5 months. One group was composed of 17 alcohol-dependent patients. The other two groups were composed of cocaine-dependent patients who scored below (n = 29) or above (n = 18) the median Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) score for the cocaine-dependent group in total. The Shipley Institute of Living Scale was administered to all subjects. An ANOVA, with age as a covariate, revealed that the cocaine-dependent group with lower MAST scores exhibited statistically significant impairments on the Shipley abstraction subtest and on total IQ relative to the two other groups. There were no group differences on the verbal subtest. The abstraction and IQ deficits in the lower MAST score cocaine-dependent group could not be explained by decreased verbal abilities, a greater duration or frequency of cocaine use, or by a higher prevalence of Antisocial Personality Disorder. However, a chi 2 analysis revealed that this group contained more individuals who used cocaine in its 'freebase' or smoked form. Since the two cocaine-dependent groups were comparable in demographic and psychological characteristics, but had different levels of cocaine exposure, the results suggest that the decrements in abstraction scores reflect a cocaine-related effect.
Calculation of ultraviolet fluence rate distributions in an annular reactor: significance of refraction and reflection

Abstract A model, utilizing the multiple point source summation approximation for a linear lamp, is presented for the calculation of the fluence rate distribution and the average fluence rate in an ultraviolet (UV) reactor. The model is sophisticated, in that it accounts for both reflection and refraction as a beam of UV radiation passes through an air/quartz/water interface. When the effects of reflection and refraction are “turned off” (by setting the refractive indices to 1.000), there is only a small increase (∼6.5% arising from reflection) in the calculated average fluence rate for 10 mm path length transmittance (T′10) values less than 70%. Thus, under these conditions, the effects of reflection and refraction can be safely neglected (with a 6.5% correction for reflection). In many practical applications, such as drinking water treatment, the T′10 is usually much larger than 70%, where the error of neglecting refraction and reflection can be as large as 25%, and thus the more sophisticated model should be used.
A duality theorem for Hopf module algebras

Let G be a locally compact abelian group acting continuously on a von Neumann algebra A via a homomorphism CI of G into Aut A. In 1973, Takesaki showed how an action oi of the dual group G could be naturally defined on the von Neumann algebra crossed product d x ~ G and proved that the double crossed product (4 x a G) x ti G was naturally isomorphic to & @ $?, where 6? is the ring of all bounded operators on L,(G). This duality theorem for group actions was extended to arbitrary locally compact groups G independently by Nakagami, Landstad, and StratilaVoiculescu-Zsido in the mid 1970s. This extension required replacing the action of G on &’ x r G by a “coaction” of G on & x a G. Indeed coactions of G are defined in general, and it is proved that (Jl”e x rr G) x d G N &Y 0 6? for any action c( of G on & and corresponding coaction oi of G on &?’ x ? G. A similar theorem is proved reversing the roles of c1 and oi. An exposition of this theorem may be found in Nakagami-Takesaki [7], where complete references to the literature may also be found. (Nakagami and Takesaki phrase things in a dual fashion to handle the topological subtleties more easily.) In [2], Cohen and Montgomery recognized that for finite groups G, a coaction of G on an F-algebra A, where F is a field, is just a G-grading of A. It was known that a G-grading of an algebra A is the same as an (FG)*-module algebra action of (FG)*, the Hopf algebra dual to FG, on A. Given these facts, they were able to prove the following duality theorems:
Structural improvement of unliganded simian immunodeficiency virus gp120 core by normal-mode-based X-ray crystallographic refinement

The envelope protein gp120/gp41 of simian and human immunodeficiency viruses plays a critical role in viral entry into host cells. However, the extraordinarily high structural flexibility and heavy glycosylation of the protein have pre­sented enormous difficulties in the pursuit of high-resolution struc­tural investigation of some of its conformational states. An unliganded and fully glycosylated gp120 core structure was recently determined to 4.0 A resolution. The rather low data-to-parameter ratio limited refinement efforts in the original structure determination. In this work, refinement of this gp120 core structure was carried out using a normal-mode-based refinement method that has been shown in previous studies to be effective in improving models of a supramolecular complex at 3.42 A resolution and of a membrane protein at 3.2 A resolution. By using only the first four nonzero lowest-frequency normal modes to construct the anisotropic thermal parameters, combined with manual adjustments and standard positional refinement using REFMAC5, the structural model of the gp120 core was significantly improved in many aspects, including substantial decreases in R factors, better fitting of several flexible regions in electron-density maps, the addition of five new sugar rings at four glycan chains and an excellent correlation of the B-factor distribution with known structural flexibility. These results further underscore the effectiveness of this normal-mode-based method in improving models of protein and nonprotein components in low-resolution X-ray structures.
Efficient alcoholysis of 5,6-dihydro-1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-epoxide with ytterbium(III) triflate and subsequent enantioselective transesterification with lipases

New 5,6-dihydro-1,10-phenanthroline derivatives were prepared in high yield via ytterbium(III) triflate-catalyzed alcoholysis of the corresponding epoxide. Enzymatic transesterifications of racemic alkoxy alcohols afforded enantioselective separations with up to 99% ee. The lipase derived from Burkholderia cepacia (PSCI) was the most efficient, with E-values of up to 200. The steric effect of substituents in the 6-position on reaction time and enantioselectivities was assessed.
Under the veil.

According to Norman Daniels's prudential lifespan account (PLA), because of scarcity of medical resources it is rational to adopt a health care system that distributes less resources to those at la...
Structure and entrainment in the plane of symmetry of a turbulent spot

Laser-Doppler velocity measurements in water are reported for the flow in the plane of symmetry of a turbulent spot. The unsteady mean flow, defined as an ensemble average, is fitted to a conical growth law by using data at three streamwise stations to determine the virtual origin in x and t. The two-dimensional unsteady stream function is expressed as ψ=U^2_∞tg(ξ,η) in conical similarity co-ordinates ζ = x/U_∞t and η = y/U_∞t. In these co-ordinates, the equations for the unsteady particle displacements reduce to an autonomous system. This system is integrated graphically to obtain particle trajectories in invariant form. Strong entrainment is found to occur along the outer part of the rear interface and also in front of the spot near the wall. The outer part of the forward interface is passive. In terms of particle trajectories in conical co-ordinates, the main vortex in the spot appears as a stable focus with celerity 0·77U_∞. A second stable focus with celerity 0·64U_∞ also appears near the wall at the rear of the spot. Some results obtained by flow visualization with a dense, nearly opaque suspension of aluminium flakes are also reported. Photographs of the sublayer flow viewed through a glass wall show the expected longitudinal streaks. These are tentatively interpreted as longitudinal vortices caused by an instability of Taylor-Gortler type in the sublayer.
Distributed mobility management for efficient video delivery over all-IP mobile networks: Competing approaches

The recent proliferation of multimedia mobile devices and a variety of mobile applications are generating an enormous amount of data traffic over mobile networks. The key driver of the mobile traffic growth is mobile video. Currently, mobile networks are evolving to the 4G system, which has a flatter architecture and provides all-IP-based mobile broadband service. In all-IP mobile networks, IP mobility management is a key function that allows mobile nodes to continue their communications even when their point of attachment to the IP network changes. Existing mobile networks employ a centralized mobility management scheme where all intelligence is concentrated in one end-point system, rather than being distributed through the internet. However, this cannot satisfactorily support mobile videos, which demand a large volume of data and often require QoS such as session continuity and low delay. This motivates distributed mobility management (DMM) solutions that can efficiently handle mobile video traffic. In this article, we survey different approaches for DMM in standards development organizations such as IETF and 3GPP, and also in research organizations. We focus on three different DMM approaches that are currently being considered by the IETF: PMIPv6-based, MIPv6-based, and routing-based DMMs. We provide a qualitative analysis to compare the three DMM approaches and discuss which DMM approaches are more suitable for efficient mobile video delivery.
Cumulative Exposure to CD8+ Granzyme Bhi T Cells Is Associated with Reduced Lung Function Early after Lung Transplantation

Abstract Outcomes following lung transplant remain suboptimal. This is attributable to variable posttransplant recovery of lung function, and inconsistent degrees of lung function loss after peak function is reached. Granzyme B is elevated in the blood and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in acute rejection. We hypothesized that persistent exposure to T cells high in granzyme B would negatively correlate with lung function. We investigated cumulative exposure measured as the area-under-the-curve (AUC) of CD8 + T cell granzyme B hi cells in the first year posttransplant in both BAL and blood in 24 transplant recipients. We assessed the correlation between cumulative 1-year exposure and FEV 1 slope. There was a negative correlation between 1-year exposure and FEV 1 slope within the first year ( r = −0.63; P = .001). This relationship persisted even when adjusted for transplant type, gender, age, rejection, and indication for transplantation. In contrast, no relationship was seen with the 1-year AUC and lung function after 1 year posttransplant. In contrast to the BAL granzyme B hi levels, granzyme B hi levels from the blood showed no relationship with lung function. These findings suggest that CD8 + T-cell–driven factors are responsible for early improvements in lung function after transplantation.
Choice of treatment for women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome presents with many different symptoms and signs, for which different therapies are indicated. However, for the majority of women, the metabolic disorder requires diligence in management, regardless of the presenting complaint.
“YOUTH IS ENMESHED IN A HIGHLY DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY SYSTEM”: EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILIES, PARENTAL INCARCERATION, AND JUVENILE COURT DECISION MAKING*

Although prior work has substantiated the role of external attributes in juvenile court decision making, no study to date has examined how family situational factors as well as maternal and paternal incarceration affect juvenile court officials' responses to troubled youth. Using quantitative and qualitative juvenile court data from a large urban county in the southwest, this study draws on attribution theory to examine how family structure, perceptions of family dysfunction, and parental incarceration influence out-of-home placement decisions. Findings reveal that juvenile court officials' perceptions of good and bad families inform their decision making. This study emphasizes the need to unravel the intricate effects of maternal and paternal incarceration and officials' attributions about families and family structure on juvenile court decision making.
Hybridization of different numerical methods using domain decomposition

This paper presents a generic domain decomposition approach for solving electrically large problems by hybridizing different numerical methods. The benefits of the proposed approach are demonstrated through some real-life examples.
Functional Neuroimaging in the Examination of Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

Functional neuroimaging offers the opportunity to understand the effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on the activities of the brain as well as providing a window into the relationship between neural activation and the behavioral outcomes that have been described in affected individuals. Several different methodologies have been used to examine the neurophysiological signal changes associated with different brain functions in prenatally exposed individuals and those diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or other fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). These include electroencephalography (EEG), positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). These studies demonstrate that it is feasible to use these technologies with this clinical population and that the damage to the central nervous system associated with prenatal alcohol exposure has widespread functional implications; however, currently, the literature in these areas is limited and unsystematic. Functional MRI with this clinical population has just begun to explore the implications of prenatal alcohol exposure with the first paper published in 2005. Other methodologies are similarly limited in scope. Nonetheless, these functional neuroimaging studies suggest that prenatal alcohol exposure, or a diagnosis of FAS, may lead to restrictions in neural efficiency or a global decrement in processing resources.
Effectiveness of high-dose methotrexate in T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia and advanced-stage lymphoblastic lymphoma: a randomized study by the Children's Oncology Group (POG 9404)

The Pediatric Oncology Group (POG) phase 3 trial 9404 was designed to determine the effectiveness of high-dose methotrexate (HDM) when added to multi-agent chemotherapy based on the Dana-Farber backbone. Children with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) or advanced lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-NHL) were randomized at diagnosis to receive/not receive HDM (5 g/m2 as a 24-hour infusion) at weeks 4, 7, 10, and 13. Between 1996 and 2000, 436 patients were enrolled in the methotrexate randomization. Five-year and 10-year event-free survival (EFS) was 80.2% ± 2.8% and 78.1% ± 4.3% for HDM (n = 219) versus 73.6% ± 3.1% and 72.6% ± 5.0% for no HDM (n = 217; P = .17). For T-ALL, 5-year and 10-year EFS was significantly better with HDM (n = 148, 5 years: 79.5% ± 3.4%, 10 years: 77.3% ± 5.3%) versus no HDM (n = 151, 5 years: 67.5% ± 3.9%, 10 years: 66.0% ± 6.6%; P = .047). The difference in EFS between HDM and no HDM was not significant for T-NHL patients (n = 71, 5 years: 81.7% ± 4.9%, 10 years: 79.9% ± 7.5% vs n = 66, 5 years: 87.8% ± 4.2%, 10 years: 87.8% ± 6.4%; P = .38). The frequency of mucositis was significantly higher in patients treated with HDM (P = .003). The results support adding HDM to the treatment of children with T-ALL, but not with NHL, despite the increased risk of mucositis.
Precipitin responses of infected mice to exoantigens and cellular antigens of Trypanosoma musculi.

Abstract Plasma were collected from mice which had been immunosuppressed with 650 R from a cobalt-60 gamma radiation source and infected with Trypanosoma musculi. Trypanosomes were also collected from immuno-suppressed mice and from nonirradiated, infected animals. Rabbit antiserum was prepared against trypanosomes fron nonirradiated mice and employed in immunodiffusion analyses to detect trypanosome exoantigens (ExAg) in plasma of irradiated, infected mice and cellular antigens (CAg) in extracts of parasites which had been collected from immunosuppressed and nonirradiated hosts. The rabbit antiserum formed at least 3 precipitin lines with plasma from irradiated, infected mice and 8–9 precipitin lines with extracts of parasites which were obtained from immunosuppressed and untreated mice. Two of the precipitin reactions were against mouse plasma antigens (PAg). Lower levels of PAg appeared to be present in extracts of trypanosomes which were isolated from the irradiated mice than in those from nonirradiated animals. Mice synthesized antibodies against 1 ExAg which was demonstrable in immunodiffusion tests by 14 days after T. musculi infection. A single precipitin reaction was also seen after 21 days. One to 2 precipitin lines were formed with ExAg after 42 days of infection. Two to 3 precipitin lines formed between the ExAg and mouse antisera collected 98, 175 and 341 days after injection of the T. musculi. Similar immunodiffusion reactions were detected with CAg present in both the extracts of T. musculi which had been isolated from irradiated and those from nonirradiated mice and the mouse antisera. One to 2 precipitin lines were found between CAg and antisera from mice which had been infected for 14 days. Two precipitating antigen-antibody systems were seen with antisera collected after 21, 42 and 98 days and 2–3 precipitin reactions were formed between CAg and antisera collected from mice 175 and 341 days after infection. Absorption and immunodiffusion analyses conducted with rabbit and mouse antisera indicated parasite ExAg in plasma of irradiated, T. musculi infected mice were also present in preparations of CAg of the trypanosomes. The persistence of antibody and the increase in the numbers of antigen-antibody systems detected by immunodiffusion during the course of the infection may in part be related to the presence of parasites in capillaries of the kidneys long after they cannot be demonstrated in the peripheral blood of the host.
Phase-shifting and other challenges in optical mask technology

Optical lithography has benefitted from progresses in wavelength reduction, lenses, resist systems, alignment, focussing, table accuracy, and insute metrology. As a result, the minimum feature size of integrated circuits has been reduced through many generations from 2 micrometers to 0.5 micrometers in manufacturing. There are many opportunities in improving the mask to help continue the progress. The image contrast can be restored by reducing stray light with mask anti-reflection coating at the absorber-air interface. Pre-distorting the mask against the distortion of the imaging lens can drastically improve the overlay performance. Adjusting the gray level or the feature size individually according to the pattern proximity environment can create a larger common exposure-defocus window for different feature shapes. Introducing phase shifts in the mask can simultaneously improve resolution and depth of focus, with the potential of a two-generation improvement with any given projection imaging equipment, provided the overlay capability is upgraded accordingly. In addition to describing and comparing these opportunities, the phase-shifting technology is given a special focus on the working principle, the different approaches to phase shifting, their imaging characteristics in terms of exposure-defocus diagrams, a systems view, and the scope of its development.
Technical entrepreneurship and revitalization

Abstract This paper discusses the significance of technical entrepreneurship on revitalization of the productivity and economy of the United States. Programs sponsored by federal and state governments are outlined. The present state of technical entrepreneurship education is discussed. Finally, technical entrepreneurship in a large organization is considered.
Parsing XML using parallel traversal of streaming trees

XML has been widely adopted across a wide spectrum of applications.Its parsing efficiency, however, remains a concern, and can be a bottleneck.With the current trend towards multicore CPUs, parallelization to improve performanceis increasingly relevant. In many applications, the XML is streamedfrom the network, and thus the complete XML document is never in memory atany single moment in time. Parallel parsing of such a stream can be equated toparallel depth-first traversal of a streaming tree. Existing research on parallel treetraversal has assumed the entire tree was available in-memory, and thus cannotbe directly applied. In this paper we investigate parallel, SAX-style parsing ofXML via a parallel, depth-first traversal of the streaming document. We showgood scalability up to about 6 cores on a Linux platform.
Regulation of mTOR Signaling by Semaphorin 3F-Neuropilin 2 Interactions In Vitro and In Vivo

Semaphorin 3F (SEMA3F) provides neuronal guidance cues via its ability to bind neuropilin 2 (NRP2) and Plexin A family molecules. Recent studies indicate that SEMA3F has biological effects in other cell types, however its mechanism(s) of function is poorly understood. Here, we analyze SEMA3F-NRP2 signaling responses in human endothelial, T cell and tumor cells using phosphokinase arrays, immunoprecipitation and Western blot analyses. Consistently, SEMA3F inhibits PI-3K and Akt activity, and responses are associated with the disruption of mTOR/rictor assembly and mTOR-dependent activation of the RhoA GTPase. We also find that the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, as well as mTOR-inducible cellular activation responses and cytoskeleton stability are inhibited by SEMA3F-NRP2 interactions in vitro. In vivo, local and systemic overproduction of SEMA3F reduces tumor growth in NRP2-expressing xenografts. Taken together, SEMA3F regulates mTOR signaling in diverse human cell types, suggesting that it has broad therapeutic implications.
Validation of equations used to predict plasma osmolality in a healthy adult cohort

Background: Plasma osmometry and the osmol gap have long been used to provide clinicians with important diagnostic and prognostic patient information. Objective: We compared different equations used for predicting plasma osmolality when its direct measurement was not practical or an osmol gap was of interest and identified the best performers. Design: The osmolality of plasma was measured by using freezing point depression by microosmometer and osmolarity calculated from biosensor measures of select analytes according to the dictates of each formula tested. After a rigid analytic prescreen of 36 originally published equations, a bootstrap regression analysis was used to compare shrinkage and model agreement. Results: Sixty healthy volunteers provided 163 plasma samples for analysis. Of 36 equations considered, 11 equations met the prescreen variables for the bootstrap regression analysis. Of the 11 equations, 8 equations met shrinkage and apparent model error thresholds, and 5 equations were deemed optimal with an original model osmol gap ,5 mmol. Conclusions: The use of bootstrap regression provides a unique insight for osmolality prediction equation performance from a very large theoretical population of healthy people. Of the original 36 equations evaluated, 5 equations appeared optimal for the prediction of osmolality when its direct measurement was not practical or an osmol gap was of interest. Note that 4 of 5 optimal equations were derived from a nonhealthy population. Am J Clin Nutr
CONFIDENCE SETS CENTERED AT Cp-ESTIMATORS

Suppose X n is an observation, or average of observations, on a discretized signal ξ n that is measured at n time points. The random vector X n has a N(ξ n , σ2 n I) distribution, the mean and variance being unknown. Under squared error loss, the unbiased estimator X n of ξ n can be improved by variable-selection. Consider the candidate estimator ξ n (A) whose i-th component equals the i-th component of X n whenever i/(n+1) lies in A and vanishes otherwise. Allow the set A to range over a large collection of possibilities. A C p -estimator is a candidate estimator that minimizes estimated quadratic loss over A. This paper constructs confidence sets that are centered at a C p -estimator, have correct asymptotic coverage probabiligy for ξ n , and are geometrically smaller than or equal to the competing confidence balls centered at X n . The asymptotics are locally uniform in the parameters (ξ n , σ2 n ). The results illustrate an approach to inference after variable-selection.
Impaired vasodilation by red blood cells in sickle cell disease

Red blood cells (RBCs) have been ascribed a unique role in dilating blood vessels, which requires O2-regulated binding and bioactivation of NO by Hb and transfer of NO equivalents to the RBC membrane. Vasoocclusion in hypoxic tissues is the hallmark of sickle cell anemia. Here we show that sickle cell Hb variant S (HbS) is deficient both in the intramolecular transfer of NO from heme iron (iron nitrosyl, FeNO) to cysteine thiol (S-nitrosothiol, SNO) that subserves bioactivation, and in transfer of the NO moiety from S-nitrosohemoglobin (SNO-HbS) to the RBC membrane. As a result, sickle RBCs are deficient in membrane SNO and impaired in their ability to mediate hypoxic vasodilation. Further, the magnitudes of these impairments correlate with the clinical severity of disease. Thus, our results suggest that abnormal RBC vasoactivity contributes to the vasoocclusive pathophysiology of sickle cell anemia, and that the phenotypic variation in expression of the sickle genotype may be explained, in part, by variable deficiency in RBC processing of NO. More generally, our findings raise the idea that defective NO processing may characterize a new class of hemoglobinopathy.
Genetic Variation in PCLO Is Associated with Prefrontal Cortex Expression and Bipolar Disorder

1 T here is no shortage of findings in studies of postmortem brains of patients with psychiatric disorders (1). Evidence that these findings are related to the pathophysiology and/or etilogy of major mental illnesses has been far less common. Conounds of treatment, substance abuse, and postmortem artifacts hat affect RNA and protein degradation are unfortunately the ule rather than the exception (2). The advent of agnostic, hyothesis-blind approaches, such as microchip array expression echnology, have the potential to exacerbate this problem insoar as these studies generate data on thousands of genes in a ingle experiment. An alternative approach in postmortem brain studies is to use ene expression and/or protein levels or activity as an intermediate henotype for the genetic variation that is thought to increase risk or brain diseases such as schizophrenia ([3–5]; for a review, see [6]). his approach has been applied to bipolar disorder in the Choi et al. 7) manuscript in this issue of Biological Psychiatry. Choi et al. (7) identify 367 genes that are differentially expressed n prefrontal cortex (PFC) of patients with bipolar disorder that are ot thought to be the result of the usual postmortem confounds. xpression data from these genes were then examined for associaion with single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 100 kiloases of the gene, yielding 45 SNP-gene expression associations. astly, one of those SNPs, an intronic SNP in piccolo (PCLO), s13438494, is associated with bipolar disorder in a meta-analysis of enome-wide association studies (GWAS). This study is to be applauded for at least two reasons. First, it einforces once again the idea that postmortem confounds, such as rior treatment, substance abuse, and the like, can be mitigated by he use of genotyping in the analysis of expression data. Second, it hows the value of postmortem brain in helping to elucidate the enetic underpinnings of a major mental illness, bipolar disorder. It does not, however, explain why bipolar disorder patients as a roup have decreased expression of PCLO in PFC relative to control ubjects. The difference in frequency for the risk allele in patients elative to control subjects is clearly too small to account for the ifferences in expression between the patients and the control ubjects. The possibility that allelic variation in other genes may
Sulfonium Ion Derivatization, Isobaric Stable Isotope Labeling and Data Dependent CID- and ETD-MS/MS for Enhanced Phosphopeptide Quantitation, Identification and Phosphorylation Site Characterization

An amine specific peptide derivatization strategy involving the use of novel isobaric stable isotope encoded ‘fixed charge’ sulfonium ion reagents, coupled with an analysis strategy employing capillary HPLC, ESI-MS, and automated data dependent ion trap CID-MS/MS, -MS3, and/or ETD-MS/MS, has been developed for the improved quantitative analysis of protein phosphorylation, and for identification and characterization of their site(s) of modification. Derivatization of 50 synthetic phosphopeptides with S,S′-dimethylthiobutanoylhydroxysuccinimide ester iodide (DMBNHS), followed by analysis using capillary HPLC-ESI-MS, yielded an average 2.5-fold increase in ionization efficiencies and a significant increase in the presence and/or abundance of higher charge state precursor ions compared to the non-derivatized phosphopeptides. Notably, 44% of the phosphopeptides (22 of 50) in their underivatized states yielded precursor ions whose maximum charge states corresponded to +2, while only 8% (4 of 50) remained at this maximum charge state following DMBNHS derivatization. Quantitative analysis was achieved by measuring the abundances of the diagnostic product ions corresponding to the neutral losses of ‘light’ (S(CH3)2) and ‘heavy’ (S(CD3)2) dimethylsulfide exclusively formed upon CID-MS/MS of isobaric stable isotope labeled forms of the DMBNHS derivatized phosphopeptides. Under these conditions, the phosphate group stayed intact. Access for a greater number of peptides to provide enhanced phosphopeptide sequence identification and phosphorylation site characterization was achieved via automated data-dependent CID-MS3 or ETD-MS/MS analysis due to the formation of the higher charge state precursor ions. Importantly, improved sequence coverage was observed using ETD-MS/MS following introduction of the sulfonium ion fixed charge, but with no detrimental effects on ETD fragmentation efficiency.
Importance of Selected Inhaler Characteristics and Acceptance of a New Breath-Actuated Powder Inhalation Device

The degree of patient comfort and satisfaction with an inhaler can have an important effect on compliance with asthma treatment and, hence, therapeutic success. The objective of this study was to assess, from the patient's perspective, the importance of various inhaler characteristics and then evaluate patient satisfaction with a new breath-actuated powder inhaler (Diskhaler TM*) based on those characteristics. Self-administered patient satisfaction questionnaires were completed as part of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of fluticasone propionate powder in the treatment of asthma. At baseline, patients rated the importance of five inhaler characteristics (convenient to carry, durability, easy to load, easy to hold and operate, and easy to clean). Following exposure to the Diskhaler over a period of 8 weeks, patients rated the inhaler on those same characteristics. They also rated their comfort using the inhaler and their overall satisfaction with the inhaler. Data were available from ...
Interpretation of nitrogen isotope signatures using the NIFTE model

Nitrogen cycling in forest soils has been intensively studied for many years because nitrogen is often the limiting nutrient for forest growth. Complex interactions between soil, microbes, and plants and the consequent inability to correlate δ15N changes with biologic processes have limited the use of natural abundances of nitrogen isotopes to study nitrogen (N) dynamics. During an investigation of N dynamics along the 250-year-old successional sequence in Glacier Bay, Alaska, United States, we observed several puzzling isotopic patterns, including a consistent decline in δ15N of the late successional dominant Picea at older sites, a lack of agreement between mineral N δ15N and foliar δ15N, and high isotopic signatures for mycorrhizal fungi. In order to understand the mechanisms creating these patterns, we developed a model of N dynamics and N isotopes (Nitrogen Isotope Fluxes in Terrestrial Ecosystems, NIFTE), which simulated the major transformations of the N cycle and predicted isotopic signatures of different plant species and soil pools. Comparisons with field data from five sites along the successional sequence indicated that NIFTE can duplicate observed patterns in δ15N of soil, foliage, and mineral N over time. Different scenarios that could account for the observed isotopic patterns were tested in model simulations. Possible mechanisms included increased isotopic fractionation on mineralization, fractionation during the transfer of nitrogen from mycorrhizal fungi to plants, variable fractionation on uptake by mycorrhizal fungi compared to plants, no fractionation on mycorrhizal transfer, and elimination of mycorrhizal fungi as a pool in the model. The model results suggest that fractionation during mineralization must be small (˜2‰), and that no fractionation occurs during plant or mycorrhizal uptake. A net fractionation during mycorrhizal transfer of nitrogen to vegetation provided the best fit to isotopic data on mineral N, plants, soils, and mycorrhizal fungi. The model and field results indicate that the importance of mycorrhizal fungi to N uptake is probably less under conditions of high N availability. Use of this model should encourage a more rigorous assessment of isotopic signatures in ecosystem studies and provide insights into the biologic transformations which affect those signatures. This should lead to an enhanced understanding of some of the fundamental controls on nitrogen dynamics.