cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Solar wind drivers of Traveling Convection Vortices

[1] We present the first clear and consistent evidence of solar wind drivers of Traveling Convection Vortices (TCVs). Using high time resolution data from GEOTAIL just upstream of the bowshock and within 10 earth radii of the sun-earth line, we were able to clearly identify solar wind triggers for 30 of 31 large amplitude TCV events during 1995. These data showed that 20 of the 30 solar wind drivers were isolated foreshock cavities of the type that have been previously reported. A further 8 events belong to a similar class which occurred primarily during rapid rotations of the IMF from or to a radial orientation, accompanied by a foreshock cavity-like region at the edge of the IMF transition. These observations suggest that the vast majority of TCVs are driven by perturbations of the magnetosphere caused by foreshock cavities that are formed in the interaction between the IMF and the bowshock.
Perception and generation of mirror-inverted letters.

Reinvang I. R. Perception and generation of mirror-inverted letters. Scand. J. Psychol., 1972, 13, 285–291.—-The ability to write and read mirror-inverted text was studied in two experiments. Exp. I showed no transfer of training from reading to writing, or vice versa, suggesting that separate systems with similar properties determine spatial reversals. In Exp. 2 subjects made more errors when trying to mirror-invert letters classified as left-orienting, rather than right-orienting. An explanation relating this finding to the left-to-right progression of text in English is offered.
Defective distal regulatory element at the 5′ upstream of rat prolactin gene of steroid-nonresponsive GH-subclone

Abstract The prolactin-nonproducing (PRL−) GH cell strains (rat pituitary tumor cells in culture). GH12C1 and F1BGH12C1, do not respond to steroid hormones estradiol or hydrocortisone (HC). However, the stimulatory effect of estradiol and the inhibitory effect of hydrocortisone on prolactin synthesis can be demonstrated in the prolactin-producing GH cell strain, GH4C1. In this investigation we have examined the 5′ end flanking region of rat prolactin (rat PRL) gene of steroid-responsive, GH4C1 cells to identify the positive and negative regulatory elements and to verify the status of these elements in steroid-nonresponsive F1BGH12C1 cells. Results presented in this report demonstrate that the basel level expression of the co-transferred Neo gene (neomycin phosphoribosyl transferase) is modulated by the distal upstream regulatory elements of rat PRL gene in response to steroid hormones. The expression of adjacent Neo gene is inhibited by dexamethasone and is stimulated by estradiol in transfectants carrying distal regulatory elements (SRE) of steroid-responsive cells. These responses are not observed in transfectants with the rat PRL upstream sequences derived from steroid-nonresponsive cells. The basal level expression of the host cell α-2 tubulin gene is not affected by dexamethasone. We report here the identification of the distal steroid regulatory element (SRE) located between 3.8 and 7.8 kb upstream of the transcription initiation site of rat PRL gene. Both the positive and the negative effects of steroid hormones can be identified within this upstream sequence. This distal SRE appears to be nonfunctional in steroid-nonresponsive cells. Though the proximal SRE is functional, the defect in the distal SRE makes the GH substrain nonresponsive to steroid hormones. These results suggest that both the proximal and the distal SREs are essential for the mediation of action of steroid hormones in GH cells.
Obesity, oxidative stress, and fibrosis in chronic kidney disease

Obesity in combination with diabetes and hypertension likely is contributing to the increasing incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in the 21st century worldwide and requires novel insights and strategies for treatment. There is an increasing recognition that the kidney has an important role in the complex inter-organ communication that occurs with the development of inflammation and fibrosis with obesity. Inhibition of the adiponectin-AMPK pathway has now become established as a critical pathway regulating both inflammation and pro-fibrotic pathways for both obesity-related kidney disease and diabetic kidney disease. AMPK regulates NFκB activation and is a potent regulator of NADPH oxidases. Nox4 in particular has emerged as a key contribtor to the early inflammation of diabetic kidney disease. AMPK also regulates several transcription factors that contribute to stimulation of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) system. Another key aspect of AMPK regulation is its control of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and mitochondrial biogenesis. Inhibition of PGC-1α, the transcriptional co-activator of mitochondrial biogenesis is being recognized as a key pathway that is inhibited in diabetic kidney disease and may be linked to inhibition of mitochondrial function. Translation of this concept is emerging via the field of urine metabolomics, as several metabolites linked to mitochondria are consistently downregulated in human diabetic kidney disease. Further studies to explore the role of AMPK and related energy-sensing pathways will likely lead to a more comprehensive understanding of why the kidney is affected early on and in a progressive manner with obesity and diabetes.
Developmental emergence of long-term memory for sensitization in Aplysia

Abstract Adult Aplysia exhibit both short-term and long-term memory for sensitization in the gill and siphon withdrawal reflex. Previous developmental studies showed that short-term memory for sensitization emerges late in juvenile development (stage 12; Rankin and Carew, 1988; Wright et al., 1991). In the present study, we examined the development of long-term memory for sensitization. Long-term sensitization of the siphon withdrawal reflex was quantified as an increase in mean response duration observed 20–24 h after receiving a training regime of one or more 90-min sessions of electrical shock to the tail. In the first three experiments we assessed the capacity for long-term sensitization in adults and in juveniles of stages late 12 and early 12. Animals in all three age classes showed long-term sensitization. In a fourth experiment we simultaneously trained and tested both early stage 12 animals and stage 11 animals with identical stimulus parameters that were scaled down to a level appropriate to the smaller stage 11 animals. Under these conditions, the early stage 12 animals demonstrated long-term sensitization, while the stage 11 animals still showed no evidence of long-term sensitization. These results indicate that long-term sensitization first emerges at early stage 12, which is the same developmental stage in which short-term sensitization first emerges. Although these behavioral data do not elucidate underlying mechanisms, the fact that short-term and long-term memory emerge according to the same developmental timetable is consistent with the possibility that these two forms of memory may share at least some common mechanistic features.
Detection of QTL influencing cortisol levels in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Abstract Genetic variation in sensitivity to stress is a major determinant of production and welfare of aquaculture species. We investigated the genetics of the stress response using rainbow trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) clonal lines with differing levels of domestication. First, we compared levels of cortisol among three clonal lines: two derived from highly domesticated populations (Arlee and OSU) and one from a population recently taken into captivity (Swanson). The Arlee clonal line showed significantly reduced cortisol levels in response to a netting stressor relative to the OSU and Swanson clonal lines. Next, we used interval mapping and composite interval mapping to scan the genome for quantitative trait loci (QTL) influencing post-stress cortisol levels in doubled haploid offspring of an OSU × Arlee hybrid and compared these to QTL for body mass. Two significant QTL with opposing additive effects on cortisol levels were detected, explaining 43% of the phenotypic variation. Two QTL were also detected for juvenile body mass, one of which overlapped with a QTL for cortisol levels on linkage group OA-XXVII, indicating a possible genetic link between these traits. However, the additive effects of these overlapping QTL suggest a positive relationship between cortisol levels and growth rate rather than the expected negative relationship. Our findings suggest complex genetic control of stress physiology and its relationship with growth rate.
Unibus: a contrarian approach to grid computing

Despite maturing in many ways, heterogeneous distributed computing platforms continue to require substantial effort in terms of software installation and management for efficient use, often necessitating manual intervention by resource providers and end-users. In this paper we propose a novel model of resource sharing that is a viable alternative to that commonly adopted in the grid community. Our model, termed Unibus, shifts the resource virtualization and aggregation responsibilities to the software at the client side, taking these burdens away from resource providers. Drawing from parallels with operating systems, we argue that distributed resources may be unified and aggregated at the user's end, in a manner similar to ordinary peripheral devices. Running on the user's access device, the overlay system software can virtualize remote resources via dynamically deployed software mediators analogous to device drivers, reconfiguring the resources if necessary via "firmware" modules. To illustrate the feasibility of the Unibus model, we have prototyped a development toolkit automating the installation, build, run, and post-processing stages of MPI applications. Through the provided console, this toolkit can deploy and configure an MPI execution environment across a set of heterogeneous, isolated distributed resources, turning them into a coherent virtual machine with a single interface point. We conducted a series of experiments with the NAS Parallel Benchmarks. Results indicate that the toolkit preserves the application performance of "bare" MPI, while substantially reducing maintenance and configuration efforts. Overall, the results suggest that the envisioned client side overlay model for resource sharing may potentially be able to address some of long-standing obstacles in building heterogeneous HPC systems.
Spontaneous mobilization of integrated recombinant adenoassociated virus in a cell culture model of virus latency.

A cell line containing integrated recombinant adenoassociated virus (AAV) was investigated for spontaneous mobilization of vector sequence. Detection of these rare events was facilitated by using a vector design that allowed the circular rescue product (cAAV) to be individually scored by bacterial transformation. Restriction and sequence analysis of captured clones revealed five highly ordered classes of cAAV, each of which contained a defined segment of the integrated vector locus. A common feature of all cAAV classes was the presence of a modified inverted terminal repeat that joined the ends of the liberated sequence. Assembly of extrachromosomal vector genomes was accompanied by deletions in the integration locus that could be mapped to one of the five cAAV classes, suggesting an excision-type mechanism. We propose that the spontaneous deletion and mobilization of vector sequence from the recombinant adenoassociated virus (rAAV) integration locus is mediated by a recombination event between the inverted terminal repeats that define the boundaries of the individual genome subunits.
A SEQUENTIAL QUADRATIC PROGRAMMING ALGORITHM FOR NONCONVEX, NONSMOOTH CONSTRAINED OPTIMIZATION ∗

We consider optimization problems with objective and constraint functions that may be nonconvex and nonsmooth. Problems of this type arise in important applications, many having solutions at points of nondifferentiability of the problem functions. We present a line search algorithm for situations when the objective and constraint functions are locally Lipschitz and continuously differentiable on open dense subsets of $\mathbb{R}^{n}$. Our method is based on a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm that uses an $\ell_1$ penalty to regularize the constraints. A process of gradient sampling (GS) is employed to make the search direction computation effective in nonsmooth regions. We prove that our SQP-GS method is globally convergent to stationary points with probability one and illustrate its performance with a MATLAB implementation.
Oxaloacetate Induces DNA Synthesis and Mitosis in Primary Cultured Rat Hepatocytes in the Absence of EGF

Abstract Oxaloacetate (OA), one of the substrates in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, was found to induce proliferation of primary cultured rat hepatocytes. During the 5 days of culture in a serum-free medium with 30 mM CA, hepatocyte DNA synthesis had been induced to the same degree as by culturing with 10 ng/ml epidermal growth factor (EGF). A 3% mitotic index was observed in OA-treated cells 60-70 hr after plating. The CA-induced DNA synthesis was inhibited by transforming growth factor-β in a dose-dependent manner and was abolished by 10mM hydroxyurea. OA and EGF induced DNA synthesis synergistically with >91% of the nuclei of the cells entering S phase at 48-72 hr in culture. Among other substrates in the TCA cycle, pyruvate, lactate, α-ketoglularate, succinate, fumarate, and malate at equimolar concentrations to that of OA also induced DNA synthesis. However, their activities were about half or less than that with OA. These results show that OA is a hepatocyte mitogen in vitro.
Maturation and activity of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 is inhibited by acyl-CoA binding domain containing 3

Imbalance of lipid metabolism has been linked with pathogenesis of a variety of human pathological conditions such as diabetes, obesity, cancer and neurodegeneration. Sterol regulatory element binding proteins (SREBPs) are the master transcription factors controlling the homeostasis of fatty acids and cholesterol in the body. Transcription, expression, and activity of SREBPs are regulated by various nutritional, hormonal or stressful stimuli, yet the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in these adaptative responses remains elusive. In the present study, we found that overexpressed acyl-CoA binding domain containing 3 (ACBD3), a Golgi-associated protein, dramatically inhibited SREBP1-sensitive promoter activity of fatty acid synthase (FASN). Moreover, lipid deprivation-stimulated SREBP1 maturation was significantly attenuated by ACBD3. With cell fractionation, gene knockdown and immunoprecipitation assays, it was showed that ACBD3 blocked intracellular maturation of SREBP1 probably through directly binding with the lipid regulator rather than disrupted SREBP1-SCAP-Insig1 interaction. Further investigation revealed that acyl-CoA domain-containing N-terminal sequence of ACBD3 contributed to its inhibitory effects on the production of nuclear SREBP1. In addition, mRNA and protein levels of FASN and de novo palmitate biosynthesis were remarkably reduced in cells overexpressed with ACBD3. These findings suggest that ACBD3 plays an essential role in maintaining lipid homeostasis via regulating SREBP1's processing pathway and thus impacting cellular lipogenesis.
Structure of the Y94F mutant of Escherichia coli thymidylate synthase.

Tyr94 of Escherichia coli thymidylate synthase is thought to be involved, either directly or by activation of a water molecule, in the abstraction of a proton from C5 of the 2′-deoxyuridine 5′-monophosphate (dUMP) substrate. Mutation of Tyr94 leads to a 400-fold loss in catalytic activity. The structure of the Y94F mutant has been determined in the native state and as a ternary complex with thymidine 5′-monophosphate (dTMP) and 10-propargyl 5,8-dideazafolate (PDDF). There are no structural changes ascribable to the mutation other than loss of a water molecule hydrogen bonded to the tyrosine OH, which is consistent with a catalytic role for the phenolic OH.
Transvaginal bladder neck suspension to Cooper's ligament.

Numerous surgeries have been proposed for the treatment of genuine stress incontinence, with the goals to improve functional outcome and decrease complications and their associated morbidity. Two new, minimally invasive procedures, transvaginal retropubic urethropexy and transvaginal Cooper’s ligament sling, are reviewed in this article. These procedures provide a completely transvaginal approach, without the use of abdominal incisions or bone anchors. The anterior point of suspension is Cooper’s ligament. The transvaginal retropubic urethropexy is used for the treatment of genuine stress incontinence with urethral hyper-mobility, and the transvaginal sling also may be used in the presence of intrinsic sphincteric deficiency. The procedures are described and the recent outcomes discussed.
Spasticity patients: special considerations

Abstract Spasticity is a frequent symptom of central nervous system disorders, and in many patients has a significant subjective and objective impact. Intrathecal baclofen (ITB) therapy is increasingly utilized to treat severe spasticity refractory to oral antispasticity medications, based on a growing body of evidence demonstrating its efficacy in various conditions. Because ITB involves significant risks, careful patient selection, thorough multidisciplinary patient evaluation and education, treatment planning, standardized surgical techniques, and aggressive management are required to maximize treatment benefits. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effects of ITB on function and subjective health status.
An indexing framework for peer-to-peer systems

Current peer-to-peer (P2P) indices are monolithic pieces of software that address only a subset of the desired functionality for P2P databases. For instance, Chord [6] provides reliability and scalability, but only supports equality queries. Skip Graphs [1] support equality and range queries, but only for one data item per peer. PePeR [4] supports equality and range queries over multiple data items per peer, but does not provide any search or reliability guarantees in face of multiple failures. Galanis et al. [5] describe an index structure for locating XML documents, but this index does not provide any provable guarantees on size and performance. In a P2P database system, all of the above functionality is required, but none of the existing systems supports it. We devise a modularized indexing framework that cleanly separates different functional components. This allows us to reuse existing algorithms rather than implement everything anew and to experiment with different implementations for the same component so that we can clearly evaluate and quantify the benefits of a particular implementation. Our indexing framework has the following components: 1. Fault-tolerant Torus: Provides fault-tolerant connectivity among peers. 2. Data Store: Stores actual data and provides methods for reliably exchanging data items between peers. 3. Replication Manager: Ensures data items are stored reliably even in the face of peer failures. 4. Content Router: Allows efficient location of data items.
Edge breakdown suppression in planar avalanche photodiodes: the joint opening effect avalanche photodiode

We present a discussion of a new edge breakdown suppression scheme for use in planar avalanche photodiodes called the joint opening effect avalanche photodiode, JOE-APD. The JOE-APD utilizes a single growth process that achieves center breakdown dominance without the use of guard rings, partial charge sheets or surface etches. Edge breakdown suppression is achieved within the JOE-APD by partially insulating the electric field growth in the active region from the geometry of the primary well. This design methodology allows for the fabrication of a thin multiplication region, which is necessary, for APDs used in Gb/s applications. In addition the electric fields at the surface of the joint opening effect APD are reduced. An advanced drift-diffusion simulation is used to demonstrate the workings of the JOE-APD.
Outpatient conversion of treatment to potassium-sparing diuretics

Thiazide diuretics frequently cause a decrease in serum potassium levels. In this study, 34 percent of patients taking hydrochlorothiazide had serum potassium levels below 3.5 meq/liter. The response of the serum potassium level was studied after treatment in 56 patients was switched from 50 mg of hydrochlorothiazide daily to either two capsules of hydrochlorothiazide/triampterene (Dyazide), or one tablet of hydrochlorothiazide/amiloride (Moduretic) daily, over nine to 15 months. The 24 patients whose treatment was changed to Dyazide had a rise in serum potassium levels from a mean of 3.56 meq/liter to 4.17 meq/liter in two to three weeks. The 32 patients whose treatment was changed to Moduretic had a rise in serum potassium levels from a mean of 3.76 meq/liter to 4.14 meq/liter in two to three weeks. The resultant rise in potassium levels was stable throughout the follow-up period in both groups. Patient acceptance of this change was excellent.
TU-C-17A-09: Multi-Case Knowledge-Based IMRT Treatment Planning in Head and Neck Cancer: Are Six Heads Better Than One?

Purpose: HNC IMRT treatment planning is a challenging process that relies heavily on the planner’s experience. Previously, we used the single, best match from a library of manually planned cases to semi-automatically generate IMRT plans for a new patient. The current multi-case Knowledge Based Radiation Therapy (MC-KBRT) study utilized different matching cases for each of six individual organs-at-risk (OARs), then combined those six cases to create the new treatment plan. Methods: From a database of 103 patient plans created by experienced planners, MC-KBRT plans were created for 40 (17 unilateral and 23 bilateral) HNC “query” patients. For each case, 2D beam’s-eye-view images were used to find similar geometric “match” patients separately for each of 6 OARs. Dose distributions for each OAR from the 6 matching cases were combined and then warped to suit the query case’s geometry. The dose-volume constraints were used to create the new query treatment plan without the need for human decision-making throughout the IMRT optimization. The optimized MC-KBRT plans were compared against the clinically approved plans and Version 1 (original KBRT) using the dose metrics: mean, median, and maximum (brainstem and cord+5mm) doses. Results: Compared to Version 1, MC-KBRT had no significant reduction of the dosemore » to any of the OARs in either unilateral/bilateral cases. Compared to the manually-planned unilateral cases, there was significant reduction of the oral cavity mean/median dose (>2Gy) at the expense of the contralateral parotid. Compared to the manually-planned bilateral cases, reduction of dose was significant in the ipsilateral parotid, larynx, and oral cavity (>3Gy mean/median) while maintaining PTV coverage. Conclusion: MC-KBRT planning in head and neck cancer generates IMRT plans with equivalent dose sparing to manually created plans. MC-KBRT using multiple case matches does not show significant dose reduction compared to using a single match case with dose warping.« less
Gender Representation in the Federal Workforce A Comparison Among Groups

This research note provides a synopsis of the current state of gender representation among racial groups in the federal workforce. Although the trend of representation is toward more diversity, dis...
Inhibition of protein synthesis by imexon reduces HIF-1α expression in normoxic and hypoxic pancreatic cancer cells

Hypoxia-inducing factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α), is a major survival factor for tumor cells growing in a low oxygen environment. The anti-cancer agent imexon binds thiols and causes accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in pancreatic cancer cells. Unlike many cytotoxic agents, imexon is equi-cytotoxic in human MiaPaCa-2 and Panc-1 cells grown in normoxic (21% O2) and hypoxic (1% O2) conditions. Western blot analyses of imexon-treated cells demonstrated that imexon reduces HIF-1α protein levels in both normoxic and hypoxic conditions in a time- and concentration-dependant fashion. Gemcitabine did not similarly affect HIF-1α levels. Imexon did not reduce transcription of new HIF-1α mRNA, but did reduce the synthesis of new proteins, including HIF-1α, measured by 35S methionine/cysteine (Met/Cys) incorporation. Concurrently, the half-life of existing HIF-1α protein was increased by imexon, in association with a marked inhibition of chymotryptic activity in the 20S proteasome. The inhibition of HIF-1α translation was not specific, rather it was part of a general decrease in protein translation caused by imexon. This inhibitory effect on translation did not involve phosphorylation of eukaryotic initiation factor-2α (eIF-2α) and was not closely correlated to cell growth inhibition by imexon, suggesting that mechanisms other than protein synthesis inhibition contribute to the drug’s cytotoxic effects. In summary, imexon blocks the translation of new proteins, including HIF-1α, and this effect overcomes an increase in the stability of preformed HIF-1α due to proteasome inhibition by imexon. Because net HIF-1α levels are reduced by imexon, combination studies with other drugs affected by HIF-1α survival signaling are warranted.
Spectral theory of stationary H-valued processes

Abstract For weakly stationary stochastic processes taking values in a Hilbert space, spectral representation and Cramer decomposition are studied. Using these ideas and the moving average representation for such processes established earlier by the authors, some necessary and sufficient spectral conditions for such stochastic processes to be purely nondeterministic are given in both discrete and continuous parameter cases.
Preferential Autoimmune Response in Prostate Cancer to Cyclin B1 in a Panel of Tumor-Associated Antigens

Previous studies have demonstrated that sera from patients with prostate cancer (PCa) contain autoantibodies that react with tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). Autoantibodies to cyclin B1 and fourteen other TAAs were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting in 464 sera from patients with PCa, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and other controls. Autoantibodies to cyclin B1 were detected in 31.0% of sera from randomly selected patients with PCa versus 4.8% in sera with BPH. In the further analysis, 31.4% of sera from PCa patients at the early stage contained anti-cyclin B1 autoantibody, and even 29.4% of patients who had normal prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in their serum samples were observed anti-cyclin B1 positive. The cumulative positive rate of autoantibodies against seven selected TAAs (cyclin B1, survivin, p53, DFS70/LEDGFp75, RalA, MDM2, and NPM1) in PCa reached 80.5%, significantly higher than that in normal control sera. In summary, autoantibody to cyclin B1 might be a potential biomarker for the immunodiagnosis of early stage PCa, especially useful in patients with normal PSA level. This study further supports the hypothesis that a customized TAA array can be used for enhancing anti-TAA autoantibody detection, and it may constitute a promising and powerful tool for immunodiagnosis of PCa.
Patience is a virtue: revisiting merge and sort on modern processors

The vast quantities of log-based data appearing in data centers has generated an interest in sorting almost-sorted datasets. We revisit the problem of sorting and merging data in main memory, and show that a long-forgotten technique called Patience Sort can, with some key modifications, be made competitive with today's best comparison-based sorting techniques for both random and almost sorted data. Patience sort consists of two phases: the creation of sorted runs, and the merging of these runs. Through a combination of algorithmic and architectural innovations, we dramatically improve Patience sort for both random and almost-ordered data. Of particular interest is a new technique called ping-pong merge for merging sorted runs in main memory. Together, these innovations produce an extremely fast sorting technique that we call P3 Sort (for Ping-Pong Patience+ Sort), which is competitive with or better than the popular implementations of the fastest comparison-based sort techniques of today. For example, our implementation of P3 sort is around 20% faster than GNU Quicksort on random data, and 20% to 4x faster than Timsort for almost sorted data. Finally, we investigate replacement selection sort in the context of single-pass sorting of logs with bounded disorder, and leverage P3 sort to improve replacement selection. Experiments show that our proposal, P3 replacement selection, significantly improves performance, with speedups of 3x to 20x over classical replacement selection.
Scattering by an infinite array of multiple parallel strips

The transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) electromagnetic scattering solutions for an infinite array of multiple parallel strips are considered. The solution is found using the perturbational form of the modified residue calculus technique (MRCT). In particular, the solution is found from the canonical problem of an infinite periodic array of semi-infinite parallel plates. Numerical results are presented and discussed. In addition, numerical results are given for a polarizer application.
Mammals Of Great Basin National Park, Nevada: Comparative Field Surveys and Assessment Of Faunal Change

Great Basin National Park in east central Nevada encompasses most of the southern Snake Range including Wheeler Peak, which at 3980 m is the highest peak in the interior Great Basin. The original detailed surveys of the mammals of this region were made between 1929 and 1939 by field crews from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. Between 2000 and 2003, we conducted additional field surveys of mammals in the park region in conjunction with the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring Program. Here, we provide a com- prehensive report on the mammal fauna of the park and its immediate surroundings based on a review of historical records and recent field surveys. We document 48 native species of mammals in the region. In addition, there are 7 species that potentially occur within the park, 4 species of questionable occurrence, 6 species formerly present but now extirpated, and 4 nonnative species. We provide a short account for each species that summarizes ecology and local dis- tribution and lists both historical and recent records of occurrence. Through comparative analysis of historical and recent data, we examine faunal changes in the park region during the past 70 years. Based on our results, we make some general recommendations for future resource management.
The Central Asylum for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, Canajoharie, New York, 1823-1835

The Central Asylum for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, Canajoharie, NY, was a public school for the Deaf that existed from 1823 to 1835. Little has been written about it. This study draws upon as much information as appears to be available on the history of this school. The history of the Central Asylum adds to the understanding of the beginnings of public education for the Deaf in the United States.
Reversal of the Immunosenescent Phenotype by Dehydroepiandrosterone: Hormone Treatment Provides an Adjuvant Effect on the Immunization of Aged Mice with Recombinant Hepatitis B Surface Antigen

This study sought to establish whether administration of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) or its sulfate derivative to aged mice could effectively correct the immunosenescent phenotype. Supplemental DHEA sulfate and topical DHEA fully corrected the age-associated dysregulated production of T cell lymphokines by cells from all of the different lymphoid organs tested. Either DHEA or DHEA sulfate supplementation promoted enhanced antibody responses against recombinant hepatitis B surface antigen (rHBsAg) by the aged recipients when incorporated directly into the vaccine. When DHEA was provided either topically or was incorporated directly into vaccine, vigorous primary and secondary antibody responses were detected in the aged mice given a single administration of DHEA, regardless of the mode of administration. It was also established that DHEA treatment could enhance specific antibody responses to rHBsAg in aged animals that had previously not been effectively immunized by conventional vaccination procedures.
Breaking Spectrum Gridlock With Cognitive Radios: An Information Theoretic Perspective

Cognitive radios hold tremendous promise for increasing spectral efficiency in wireless systems. This paper surveys the fundamental capacity limits and associated transmission techniques for different wireless network design paradigms based on this promising technology. These paradigms are unified by the definition of a cognitive radio as an intelligent wireless communication device that exploits side information about its environment to improve spectrum utilization. This side information typically comprises knowledge about the activity, channels, codebooks, and/or messages of other nodes with which the cognitive node shares the spectrum. Based on the nature of the available side information as well as a priori rules about spectrum usage, cognitive radio systems seek to underlay, overlay, or interweave the cognitive radios' signals with the transmissions of noncognitive nodes. We provide a comprehensive summary of the known capacity characterizations in terms of upper and lower bounds for each of these three approaches. The increase in system degrees of freedom obtained through cognitive radios is also illuminated. This information-theoretic survey provides guidelines for the spectral efficiency gains possible through cognitive radios, as well as practical design ideas to mitigate the coexistence challenges in today's crowded spectrum.
Synthesis and characterization of oligoethylene bibenzoate with hydroxyethyl end groups

In the process of exploring the potential advantage of 4,4′-biphenyl dicarboxylic acid (BDA) as a comonomer in poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), it was found that BDA needs to be derivatized for effective incorporation in PET specifically if high levels of BDA incorporation are desired. Bis-hydroxyethylbibenzoate (HEB) was synthesized with the anticipation that it would be compatible with both the continuous PET process which uses high-purity terephthalic acid as well as the batch PET process which utilizes dimethyl terephthalate. This article describes the synthesis of HEB and some of the oligoethylene bibenzoates produced in the process. Diethylene glycol is produced as an undesirable by-product during the reaction. In an effort to produce a minimum amount of diethylene glycol, a catalytic process was investigated which resulted in diethylene glycol levels of less than 0.5%. Quantitative analysis of diethylene glycol, performed by gas chromatography, and the oligomer structure studies performed by 1H- and 13C-NMR are described. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A unified model for the performance analysis of IEEE 802.11e EDCA

Rapid deployment of IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks (WLANs) and their increasing quality of service (QoS) requirements motivate extensive performance evaluations of the upcoming 802.11e QoS-aware enhanced distributed coordination function (EDCA). Most of the analytical studies up-to-date have been based on one of the three major performance models in legacy distributed coordination function analysis, requiring a large degree of complexity in solving multidimensional Markov chains. Here, we expose the common guiding principle behind these three seemingly different models. Subsequently, by abstracting, unifying, and extending this common principle, we propose a new unified performance model and analysis method to study the saturation throughput and delay performance of EDCA, under the assumption of a finite number of stations and ideal channel conditions in a single-hop WLAN. This unified model combines the strengths of all three models, and thus, is easy to understand and apply; on the other hand, it helps increase the understanding of the existing performance analysis. Despite its appealing simplicity, our unified model and analysis are validated very well by simulation results. Ultimately, by means of the proposed model, we are able to precisely evaluate the differentiation effects of EDCA parameters on WLAN performance in very broad settings, a feature which is essential for network design.
A case for integrated processor-cache partitioning in chip multiprocessors

Existing cache partitioning schemes are designed in a manner oblivious to the implicit processor partitioning enforced by the operating system. This paper examines an operating system directed integrated processor-cache partitioning scheme that partitions both the available processors and the shared cache in a chip multiprocessor among different multi-threaded applications. Extensive simulations using a set of multiprogrammed workloads show that our integrated processor-cache partitioning scheme facilitates achieving better performance isolation as compared to state of the art hardware/software based solutions. Specifically, our integrated processor-cache partitioning approach performs, on an average, 20.83% and 14.14% better than equal partitioning and the implicit partitioning enforced by the underlying operating system, respectively, on the fair speedup metric on an 8 core system. We also compare our approach to processor partitioning alone and a state-of-the-art cache partitioning scheme and our scheme fares 8.21% and 9.19% better than these schemes on a 16 core system.
Chinese Mothers and Adolescents’ Views of Authority and Autonomy: A Study of Parent–Adolescent Conflict in Urban and Rural China

Eighty-five dyads of eighth-grade adolescents (mean age = 14.15 years, SD = 0.39) and their mothers in China (30 dyads from urban one-child families, 27 from urban multiple-children families, and 28 from rural multiple-children families) were interviewed individually. They described daily parent–adolescent conflicts, justified their perspectives on disputes, and evaluated conflict resolutions. The results indicated that across urban and rural areas, for both one-child and multiple-children families, adolescents differed significantly from their mothers in their views of parental authority and individual autonomy. The results also showed several regional differences, pointing to the importance of considering the specific context in which conflicts occur.
Patterns of neuronal migration in the embryonic cortex

Real-time imaging of migrating neurons has changed our understanding of how newborn neurons reach their final positions in the developing cerebral cortex. The migratory routes and modes of migration are more diverse and complex than previously thought. The finding that cortical interneurons migrate to the cortex from origins in the ventral telencephalon has already markedly altered our view of cortical migration. More recent findings have demonstrated additional nuances in the migratory pattern and highlighted differences between subsets of interneurons. Moreover, radial migration of pyramidal neurons does not progress smoothly from ventricle to cortical plate, but is instead characterized by distinct migratory phases in which neurons change shape and direction of movement. Integrating these findings with the molecular machinery underlying migration will provide a more complete picture of how the cerebral cortex is assembled.
T-Cell Costimulatory Blockade in Organ Transplantation

Before it became possible to derive T-cell lines and clones, initial experimentation on the activation requirements of T lymphocytes was performed on transformed cell lines, such as Jurkat. These studies, although technically correct, proved misleading as most transformed T cells can be activated by stimulation of the clonotypic T-cell receptor (TCR) alone. In contrast, once it became possible to study nontransformed T cells, it quickly became clear that TCR stimulation by itself is insufficient for optimal activation of naive T cells, but in fact, induces a state of anergy. It then became clear that functional activation of T cells requires not only recognition of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and peptide by the TCR, but also requires ligation of costimulatory receptors expressed on the cell surface.
Post-CTS delay insertion to fix timing violations

In mainstream ASIC design, industry standard automation tools are used in generating circuit implementations that satisfy the timing and power budgets. A typical timing budget follows the specifications of a clock frequency governed by the longest data path in the circuit. To satisfy this constraint, a zero-skew clock network that minimizes or bounds the clock skew is synthesized. Due to variations, however, zero clock skew cannot always be maintained and timing violations occur. This paper describes a post-clock-tree synthesis (CTS) delay insertion process on the clock tree network in order to fix timing violations that occur after such automated design tools are used. A mathematical formulation is presented which computes the minimum amount of delay to be inserted on each branch of the clock network. Experimental results show that the clock networks of the largest ISCASpsila89 circuits can be corrected post-CTS to resolve the timing conflicts in approximately 90% of the circuits with minimal delay insertion (0.159timesclock period per clock path on average).
β-Adrenergic stimulation increases the intra-sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ threshold for Ca2+ wave generation.

Key points • In the heart, Ca2+ waves are arrhythmogenic spontaneous sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ release events that arise when the Ca2+ content in the SR reaches a critical threshold level. • β-Adrenergic signalling induces Ca2+ waves in cardiac myocytes, but it remains unclear if this is due to a decrease in the Ca2+ wave threshold or more simply due to an increase in SR Ca2+ content. • We used direct, dynamic measurement of SR Ca2+ levels to show that the Ca2+ wave threshold is unexpectedly increased during β-adrenergic stimulation. • Our data show that the primary cause of Ca2+ waves following acute β-adrenergic stimulation is the increase in SR Ca2+ content and not a decrease in the Ca2+ wave threshold. • We propose that the elevation of the Ca2+ wave threshold represents a protective mechanism against arrhythmogenic events during periods of β-adrenergic stimulation. Abstract β-Adrenergic signalling induces positive inotropic effects on the heart that associate with pro-arrhythmic spontaneous Ca2+ waves. A threshold level of sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ ([Ca2+]SR) is necessary to trigger Ca2+ waves, and whether the increased incidence of Ca2+ waves during β-adrenergic stimulation is due to an alteration in this threshold remains controversial. Using the low-affinity Ca2+ indicator fluo-5N entrapped within the SR of rabbit ventricular myocytes, we addressed this controversy by directly monitoring [Ca2+]SR and Ca2+ waves during β-adrenergic stimulation. Electrical pacing in elevated extracellular Ca2+ ([Ca2+]o= 7 mm) was used to increase [Ca2+]SR to the threshold where Ca2+ waves were consistently observed. The β-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol (ISO; 1 μm) increased [Ca2+]SR well above the control threshold and consistently triggered Ca2+ waves. However, when [Ca2+]SR was subsequently lowered in the presence of ISO (by lowering [Ca2+]o to 1 mm and partially inhibiting sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase with cyclopiazonic acid or thapsigargin), Ca2+ waves ceased to occur at a [Ca2+]SR that was higher than the control threshold. Furthermore, for a set [Ca2+]SR level the refractoriness of wave occurrence (Ca2+ wave latency) was prolonged during β-adrenergic stimulation, and was highly dependent on the extent that [Ca]SR exceeded the wave threshold. These data show that acute β-adrenergic stimulation increases the [Ca2+]SR threshold for Ca2+ waves, and therefore the primary cause of Ca2+ waves is the robust increase in [Ca2+]SR above this higher threshold level. Elevation of the [Ca2+]SR wave threshold and prolongation of wave latency represent potentially protective mechanisms against pro-arrhythmogenic Ca2+ release during β-adrenergic stimulation.
Building compilers by combining algebras

Embedded systems present a wide variety of challenges for developers of language tools. Verification of correctness, flexibility for adding new language features, and retargeting new architectures all present significant problems when developing a compiler for embedded systems. In this paper we present a domain-specific language based on modular monadic semantics which addresses many of these challenges.
Characterization of a ricin fusion toxin targeted to the interleukin-2 receptor

Fusion toxins are hybrid proteins consisting of peptide ligands linked through amide bonds to polypeptide toxins. The ligand directs the molecule to the surface of target cells and the toxin enters the cytosol and induces cell death. Ricin is an excellent candidate for use in fusion toxins because of its extreme potency, the extensive knowledge of its atomic structure and the lack of prior immunological exposure in patients. We synthesized a baculovirus transfer vector with the polyhedrin promoter followed sequentially from the 5' end with DNA encoding the gp67A leader sequence, the tripeptide ADP, IL-2 (interleukin-2), another ADP tripeptide and RTB (ricin toxin B chain) with lectin-site mutations W37S and Y248H. Recombinant baculovirus was generated in Sf9 insect cells and used to infect Sf9 cells. Recombinant IL-2-RTB[W37S/Y248H] protein (fusion protein of IL-2 with modifications W37S and Y248H) was recovered at high yields from day 6 insect cell supernatants, partially purified by affinity chromatography and reassociated with RTA (ricin toxin A chain). The fusion toxin was soluble, immunoreactive with antibodies to RTB, IL-2 and RTA and had a molecular weight of 80 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The molecule reacted poorly with asialofetuin, but bound strongly to IL-2 receptor based on selective cytotoxicity to IL-2 receptor bearing cells. The specific cytotoxicity could be blocked with IL-2 but not lactose. Thus, we report a novel targeted fusion toxin protein with full biological activity.
p300/Cyclic AMP-Responsive Element Binding-Binding Protein Mediates Transcriptional Coactivation by the CD28 T Cell Costimulatory Receptor

During Ag stimulation of T cells, the recognition of B7 molecules by the CD28 costimulatory receptor increases the level of c-Fos, a component of the AP-1 transactivator known to bind the 5′ Il2 gene enhancer. In this study, we show that the costimulation of Fos transcription by CD28 is associated with increased binding of p300/CREB-binding protein (CBP) molecules at the Fos promoter, and is blocked by an adenoviral E1A molecular antagonist of p300/CBP. Furthermore, transcriptional activation by a C-terminal domain of CBP is strengthened when CD28 molecules are actively signaling. This increased amount and activity of p300/CBP molecules at the Fos gene correlated with higher histone H4 acetylation and RNA polymerase II association with the promoter. These data suggest a global mechanism whereby CD28 signaling influences the rate and intensity of new gene expression during Ag recognition via direct control over the coactivator function of p300/CBP.