cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Heparin/Heparan Sulfate N-Sulfamidase from Flavobacterium heparinum: STRUCTURAL AND BIOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION OF CATALYTIC NITROGEN-SULFUR BOND CLEAVAGE*

Sulfated polysaccharides such as heparin and heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans (HSGAGs) are chemically and structurally heterogeneous biopolymers that that function as key regulators of numerous biological functions. The elucidation of HSGAG fine structure is fundamental to understanding their functional diversity, and this is facilitated by the use of select degrading enzymes of defined substrate specificity. Our previous studies have reported the cloning, characterization, recombinant expression, and structure-function analysis in Escherichia coli of the Flavobacterium heparinum 2-O-sulfatase and 6-O-sulfatase enzymes that cleave O-sulfate groups from specific locations of the HSGAG polymer. Building on these preceding studies, we report here the molecular cloning and recombinant expression in Escherichia coli of an N-sulfamidase, specific for HSGAGs. In addition, we examine the basic enzymology of this enzyme through molecular modeling studies and structure-function analysis of substrate specificity and basic biochemistry. We use the results from these studies to propose a novel mechanism for nitrogen-sulfur bond cleavage by the N-sulfamidase. Taken together, our structural and biochemical studies indicate that N-sulfamidase is a predominantly exolytic enzyme that specifically acts on N-sulfated and 6-O-desulfated glucosamines present as monosaccharides or at the nonreducing end of odd-numbered oligosaccharide substrates. In conjunction with the previously reported specificities for the F. heparinum 2-O-sulfatase, 6-O-sulfatase, and unsaturated glucuronyl hydrolase, we are able to now reconstruct in vitro the defined exolytic sequence for the heparin and heparan sulfate degradation pathway of F. heparinum and apply these enzymes in tandem toward the exo-sequencing of heparin-derived oligosaccharides.
Optimal Tests of Treatment Effects for the Overall Population and Two Subpopulations in Randomized Trials, Using Sparse Linear Programming

We propose new, optimal methods for analyzing randomized trials, when it is suspected that treatment effects may differ in two predefined subpopulations. Such subpopulations could be defined by a biomarker or risk factor measured at baseline. The goal is to simultaneously learn which subpopulations benefit from an experimental treatment, while providing strong control of the familywise Type I error rate. We formalize this as a multiple testing problem and show it is computationally infeasible to solve using existing techniques. Our solution involves a novel approach, in which we first transform the original multiple testing problem into a large, sparse linear program. We then solve this problem using advanced optimization techniques. This general method can solve a variety of multiple testing problems and decision theory problems related to optimal trial design, for which no solution was previously available. In particular, we construct new multiple testing procedures that satisfy minimax and Bayes optimality criteria. For a given optimality criterion, our new approach yields the optimal tradeoff between power to detect an effect in the overall population versus power to detect effects in subpopulations. We demonstrate our approach in examples motivated by two randomized trials of new treatments for HIV.
Explaining the Gender Gap in Professors' Intentions to Leave

We examine gender differences in faculty members' intentions to leave their jobs and explanations for these differences. Using data from the National Survey of Postsecondary Faculty 1999 (NSOPF 99), we examine family, social control, and work explanations for intentions to leave. Findings show that gender is significantly related to intentions to leave, and women are more likely than men to intend to leave their jobs. Perceptions of ill-treatment based on gender are related to female professors' higher rate of intentions to leave, as is the fact that more women than men occupy part-time positions in academia.
What Capuchin Monkeys Can Tell Us About the Origins of Hominid Material Culture

Capuchin monkeys are well-known for their extensive manipulative propen sities which rival those of chimpanzees. This report examines the produc tion and use of tools by capuchins with the aim of gaining insight into the origins of hominid material culture. It is proposed that research examining tool-making and tool-using in extant nonhuman primates can facilitate greater understanding of the mental life of Homo habilis and other early hominid species.
Rhythm in Language and Music

Rhythm is widely acknowledged to be an important feature of both speech and music, yet there is little empirical work comparing rhythmic organization in the two domains. One approach to the empirical comparison of rhythm in language and music is to break rhythm down into subcomponents and compare each component across domains. This approach reveals empirical evidence that rhythmic grouping is an area of overlap between language and music, but no empirical support for the long-held notion that language has periodic structure comparable to that of music. Focusing on the statistical patterning of event duration, new evidence suggests that the linguistic rhythm of a culture leaves an imprint on its musical rhythm. The latter finding suggests that one effective strategy for comparing rhythm in language and music is to determine if differences in linguistic rhythm between cultures are reflected in differences in musical rhythm.
Subterranean Fire: A History of Working‐Class Radicalism in the United States – By Sharon Smith

This book begins with the premise that the history of working‐class radicalism and its potential to create revolutionary changes has been inadequately documented, if not completely ignored. The wor...
The reaction of cysteine with ceruloplasmin copper.

The kinetics of decay in absorbance at 610 nm in the reaction of cysteine with ceruloplasmin was biphasic under anaerobic conditions. Admission of oxygen to the bleached ceruloplasmin restored the blue color to about 75 % of the original value. However, under aerobic or anaerobic conditions an initial bleaching corresponded to a 25 % decrease in blue color. This change was irreversible and remained after removal of excess cysteine from the reaction mixture by dialysis. There was no correlation between transient and steady-state kinetic parameters. Circular dichroism measurements showed a characteristic reduction in the negative band at 450 nm, which is specific for type 1b copper. Isolation and further studies on cysteine-modified ceruloplasmin with a lower A610/A280 ratio showed < 10% reduction in enzyme activity toward p-phenylenediamine and o-dianisidine. Evidence is also presented that ceruloplasmin catalyzes the oxidation of cysteine with a one-electron reduction of oxygen and the formation of superoxide ion, which is then converted to H2O2 by ceruloplasmin. The effect of superoxide dismutase and catalase also confirms the presence of superoxide and H2O2. In sum, these data show that a permanent reduction of type 1b copper occurred when cysteine was used as a substrate. We conclude that there is a single electron transfer from cysteine directly to oxygen using one specific copper of ceruloplasmin, type 1b.
Implications of Zircaloy creep and growth to light water reactor performance

Abstract Deformation of zirconium alloy components in nuclear reactors has been a concern since the decision of Admiral Rickover to use them in the US Navy submarine reactors. With the exception of the first few light water reactors (LWRs) most of the core structural materials have been fabricated from either Zircaloy-2 or Zircaloy-4. Performance of these alloys has been extremely good, even though the effects of irradiation on deformation magnitudes and mechanisms were not fully appreciated until extensive service and in-reactor tests were accomplished. Since the reactor components are designed to operate at stress levels well below yield for normal conditions, the only significant deformation is time dependent. Although creep was anticipated, the enhancement by neutron irradiation and the stress-free, nearly constant-volume shape change known as irradiation growth were not known prior to materials testing in reactors under controlled conditions. Both of these phenomena have significant impact on performance and must be accounted for properly in design. Although irradiation creep and growth have resulted in only one significant performance problem (creep collapse of fuel cladding, which has been eliminated), deformation magnitudes and, particularly, differentials in strain magnitudes, are a continuing source of interest. Factors that affect dimensional stability due to both creep and growth include temperature, fluence, residual stress, texture, and microstructure. The first two are reactor variables and the others are related to component fabrication history. This paper includes a review of the applications of Zircaloy creep and growth to LWR fuel designs, a review of the impact of in-reactor creep and growth on fuel rod and fuel assembly performance, and comments on potential improvements. Since the reactor design, fuel design and the core environment in BWRs and PWRs are quite different, appropriate separation of the application of effects are made; of course, the basic phenomena are the same in both systems.
GROWTH AND ORGANIZED DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURED CELLS. II. Organization in Cultures Grown from Freely Suspended Cell

THE FIRST of this group of papers (Steward et al., 1958) described the various ways in which freely suspended cells from certain dicotyledonous plants grow and multiply to form a relatively unorganized nmulticellular mnass. The growth in question occurs under prescribed and controlled nutritional and environmental conditions. The purpose of this paper is to show hoAv the growth may be carried forward into the formation of roots and shoots and, in fact, the development of whole plants.
A note on the distributions of the maximum of linear Bernoulli processes

We give a characterization of the family of all probability measures on the extended line $(-\infty,+\infty]$, which may be obtained as the distribution of the maximum of some linear Bernoulli process.
Rat hepatic uroporphyrinogen III cosynthase: Purification, properties, and inhibition by metal ions☆

Abstract Rat hepatic uroporphyrinogen III cosynthase has been isolated and purified 50-fold with a 36% yield by ammonium sulfate fractionation and sequential chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel and Sephadex G-100SF. Inhibition of uroporphyrinogen III formation with increasing porphobilinogen concentration was observed. Cosynthase was shown to be thermolabile, and a time-dependent loss of enzyme activity during reaction with uroporphyrinogen I synthase and porphobilinogen was observed. The pH optimum for the complete system (synthase and cosynthase) was pH 7.8 in 50 m m Tris-HCl or 50 m m sodium phosphate buffer. Various metals (KCl, NaCl, MgCl2, CaCl2) increased formation of Uroporphyrinogen III. Heavy metals including ZnCl2, CdCl2, and CuCl2 were shown to selectively inhibit cosynthase activity, whereas other metals (HgCl2, PbCl2) were less selective and inhibited both synthase and cosynthase at similar concentrations.
Static Friction and Initiation of Slip at Magnetic Head-Disk Interfaces

The apparent friction force and electric contact resistance at the magnetic head-disk interface were measured simultaneously for textured and untextured disks lubricated with perfluoropolyether films of different thicknesses. The initial stick time, representing the time between the application of a driving torque and the initiation of interfacial slip, was determined based on the initial rise of the apparent friction force and the abrupt increase of the electric contact resistance. Relatively thin lubricant films yielded very short initial stick times and low static friction coefficients. However, for a film thickness comparable to the equivalent surface roughness, relatively long initial stick times and high static friction coefficients were observed. The peak value of the apparent friction coefficient was low for thin lubricant films and increased gradually with the film thickness. The variations of the initial stick time, static friction coefficient, and peak friction coefficient with the lubricant film thickness and surface roughness are interpreted in the context of a new physical model of the lubricated interface. The model accounts for the lubricant coverage, effective shear area, saturation of interfacial cavities, limited meniscus effects, and the increase of the critical shear stress of thin liquid films due to the solid-like behavior exhibited at a state of increased molecular ordering.
The Peer Review Process: The Art of Judgment

Peer review is an essential mechanism for evaluating the judgment and performance of clinical providers. Reasons for conducting physician peer review range from identified quality-of-care concerns to general education. There are a variety of challenges to conducting an effective peer review, including the personal concerns of the peers conducting the reviews. This article reviews the potential uses of physician peer review, its basic methodologies, and challenges to and suggestions for obtaining effective peer review.
Transfection of an inducible trout anion exchanger (AE1) into HEK-EcR cells.

A permanent cell line with inducible expression of the trout anion exchanger protein (trAE1) was constructed in a derivative of human embryonic kidney cells (HEK-293). In the absence of the inducer, muristerone A, the new cell line had no detectable trAE1 protein by Western analysis, biotinylation, and 36Cl− flux. The amount of trAE1 protein increased with increasing dose and incubation time with muristerone A. Anion exchange inhibitors significantly inhibited the inducible flux of anions (i.e., 36chloride and 35sulfate) and taurine in isotonic media. The transfected cells had the characteristics of trAE1-mediated transport in intact trout erythrocytes: (1) inhibition by anion transport inhibitors, (2) pH independence over the pH range of 6.5–7.5, and (3) activation of 35sulfate efflux by external anions in the selective order of Cl>Br>I≥F. These cells, in contrast to trout erythrocytes, were not sensitive to the anion exchange inhibitor, 4,4′-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid (DIDS), suggesting some difference in the properties of the transfected AE1. These results demonstrate the inducible expression of new anion transport membrane protein in HEK-293 cells. This is the first expression of trAE1 in a mammalian system. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Solution NMR determination of the seating(s) of meso-nitro-etioheme-1 in myoglobin: implications for steric constraints to meso position access in heme degradation by coupled oxidation.

The highly stereoselective cleavage of hemin in myoglobin by coupled oxidation has been attributed to steric barriers that leave more space near the α- than the other meso-positions. The steric barriers near meso positions in myoglobin have been investigated by establishing the thermodynamics and dynamics of possible seatings in the pocket of horse myoglobin of a four-fold symmetric etioheme I modified with a bulky nitro group at a single meso position. The cyanomet complex of this reconstituted myoglobin exhibits three sets of 1H NMR resonances that are linked dynamically and occur in approximate populations ratios of 0.82:0.10:0.08. Two dimensional 1H NMR has been used to assign the hemin and heme pocket resonances in the major isomer in solution and to determine that the hemin is oriented with the nitro group at the canonical γ-meso position of native hemin. The dominance of this isomer is attributed to the solvent exposure of this portion of the hemin which stabilizes the highly polar nitro group. Usi...
Incomplete markets and incentives to set up an options exchange

Traditional analyses with incomplete markets take the securities that are traded as exogenous. In this paper we endogenize the market structure by considering incentives to introduce (costly) options exchanges which issue derivative securities. The method of financing the exchange is critical in determining whether the market structure is socially efficient. If the exchange can charge fees to all agents and make every agent's participation a necessary condition for establishing the exchange then the market structure chosen in equilibrium is efficient. However, if either of these conditions is not satisfied then an inefficient market structure may be chosen.
Natural gas deregulation in the United States: How will it affect agriculture?

Abstract This paper examines the implications of three policies of federal deregulation of natural gas prices on the macroeconomy, fertilizer prices, and agriculture for the 1983–1990 period. The three policies are in phase-in of price decontrol (modified NGPA), 2-year freeze on gas prices (price freeze) and accelerated decontrol of wellhead gas prices (early decontrol). Gas price increases affect domestic ammonia producers by raising the cost of producing ammonia. However, even relatively large gas price increases have only a small impact on fertilizer prices and the costs of agricultural production because only an estimated 20% of the increase in natural gas prices is passed through to fertilizer prices, assuming no restrictions on fertilizer imports.
Enhanced ordering and stability of Pd8W in proton irradiated Pd-W alloys

Abstract Irradiation enhanced ordering of Pd 8 W was studied in binary alloys, most of which contained 10 at.%W, under 400 keV proton irradiation over the temperature range 100–420°C. The Pd 8 W phase was observed under several combinations of irradiation dose and temperature. Post-irradiation annealing experiments involving times varying from a minimum of 5 to a maximum of 120 days, depending on the temperature, were conducted. It is concluded that Pd 8 W is thermodynamically stable at temperatures below 735°C in the 10%W alloy, but its region of stability has not been determined as a function of composition. Pd 8 W was never observed to nucleate and grow under normal isothermal annealing conditions, which underscores the crucial role played by the point defects generated during irradiation in enhancing the rate of diffusion, hence ordering. Tetragonal Pd 8 W has a very small lattice mismatch with the matrix; it is positive in the c 0 -axis direction and negative in the a 0 -axis direction. The lattice mismatch might play a role in a curious anomaly in the frequency of observation of the three possible orientational variants of the ordered phase. These should exist in equal proportions, but do not, the underpopulated variant being that which has its c 0 axis parallel to the incident portion beam. The mechanism responsible for this effect has not been identified. The stability of the A 8 B structure type is examined in light of crystallographic structural stability schemes recently proposed. These schemes are consistent, for the most part, with the A 8 B phases known to exist and those known not to exist, and suggest that certain A 8 B phases may also be stable, although they have never been observed.
Living with the stigma of AIDS

This article uses interview data to explore how 23 gay and bisexual men who had AIDS were affected by and managed stigma. The article describes how stigma affects the relationships of persons with AIDS to their families, friends, lovers, colleagues, and health care providers. It explores how persons with AIDS avoid or reduce stigma by concealing their illnesses, learning when and to whom they should reveal their illnesses, changing their social networks, educating others about AIDS, developing nonstigmatizing theories of illness causation, and using bravado to convince others that they are still functioning social beings.
Alterations in the expression and localization of protein kinase C isoforms during mammary gland differentiation.

Abstract Protein kinase C (PKC) is involved in signaling that modulates the proliferation and differentiation of many cell types, including mammary epithelial cells. In addition, changes in PKC expression or activity have been observed during mammary carcinogenesis. In order to examine the involvement of specific PKC isoforms during normal mammary gland development, the expression and localization of PKCs α, δ, e and ζ were examined during puberty, pregnancy, lactation, and involution. By immunoblot analysis, expression of PKC α, δ, e and ζ proteins was increased in mammary epithelial organoids during the transition from puberty to pregnancy. In mammary gland frozen sections, PKCs α, δ, e and ζ were stained in the luminal epithelium and myoepithelium, in varying isoform and developmental stage-specific locations. PKC α was found in a punctate apical localization in the luminal epithelium during pregnancy. During lactation, PKC e was present in the nucleus, and PKC ζ was concentrated in the subapical region of the luminal epithelium. Additionally, marked staining for PKCs α, δ, e and ζ was observed in the myoepithelial cells at the base of ducts and alveoli. This basal ductal and alveolar staining differed in intensity in a developmentally-specific fashion. During most time points (virgin, pregnant, lactating, and early involution), myoepithelial cells of the duct were more intensely stained than those lining the alveoli for PKCs α, δ, e and ζ. During late involution (days 9–12), the preferential staining of ducts was lost or reversed, and the myoepithelial cells lining the regressing alveolar structures stained equally (PKCs e and ζ) or more intensely (PKCs α and δ), coincident with the thickening of the myoepithelial cells surrounding the regressing alveoli. The increased PKC isoform staining at the base of alveoli during involution suggests that alveolar regression may be influenced by alterations in signaling in the alveolar myoepithelium.
Effect of Postoperative Epidural Analgesia on Patient Outcomes

The overall benefits of perioperative epidural anesthesia and analgesia for decreasing morbidity and mortality is controversial. However, perioperative epidural anesthesia and analgesia will attenuate detrimental perioperative pathophysiology, which, in turn, may diminish the incidence of adverse patient outcomes. There are increasing experimental and clinical data to support the use of perioperative epidural anesthesia and analgesia for decreasing postoperative pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular complications. One of the primary reasons that the “regional versus general anesthesia” question has not been answered is due to the significant methodological issues present in every available trial, which affect the interpretation and limit the applicability of the trial results. A major issue in the overall interpretation of results from trials examining the effect of postoperative epidural analgesia on patient outcomes is that “epidural analgesia” is commonly viewed as a generic term. There are clinical and outcome implications for various inputs into what constitutes “epidural analgesia,” including the duration of epidural analgesia, analgesic contents (eg, local anesthetics versus opioids), and location of catheter placement. We will examine these issues along with the role of epidural analgesia in the multimodal approach for patient recovery.
THE NEAR INFRA-RED ABSORPTION SPECTRUM OF CALCITE.

roots such that the substitution carrying each complex root to its complex conjugate is commutative with the galois group of 0(t) = O. Then n is necessarily a power of 2. The restriction we have made on the algebra in the above theorem amounts to just a little more than choosing the algebra to be a known normal division algebra, the only case that can be considered in detail at present, due to the lack of knowledge of the structure of division algebras. * This number of these PROCEEDINGS, On the Structure of Pure Riemann Matrices, etc.
Intercalative Conformations of the 14R (+)- and 14S (−)-trans-anti-DB[a,l]P-N6-dA Adducts: Molecular Modeling and MD Simulations

Among the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon class of chemical carcinogens, dibenzo[a,l]pyrene (DB[a,l]P) is the most potent tumorigen that has been identified to date. Structurally, it is bulky with six aromatic rings, and it contains the nonplanar fjord-region. The conformational properties of DB[a,l]P-derived DNA adducts responsible for its extraordinary carcinogenicity are hence of great interest. We have carried out molecular modeling and MD simulations for the 14R (+)- and 14S (-)-trans-anti-DB[a,l]P-N⁶-dA adducts derived from the reactions of the DB[a,l]P diol epoxides with adenine in double-stranded DNA. The structures are based on the classically intercalated NMR solution structures of the analogous fjord-region benzo[c]phenanthrene-derived-N⁶-dA adducts. One objective was to gain insight on the impact of the more bulky DB[a,l]P ring system on the structural characteristics of the intercalative adduct conformations. A further objective was to elucidate the effect of the flexible twist associated with the sterically hindered aromatic ring in the fjord-region on the intercalated conformations, for comparison with the intercalated but planar bay-region benzo[a]pyrene-derived-N⁶-dA adducts. For the DB[a,l]P-N⁶-dA adducts, our results show that the 14R (+)-adduct is more favorably intercalated on the 5'-side of the modified adenine than the stereoisomeric 14S (-)-adduct, intercalated on its 3'-side. The 14R (+)-adduct manifests better van der Waals stacking interactions with flanking base pairs, less perturbed Watson-Crick hydrogen bonding, less local groove enlargement, less unwinding, and a lower solvent exposure than the 14S (-)-adduct. These structural findings are consistent with observed thermodynamic melting data, UV absorption properties, and fluorescence quenching studies. By contrast, the NMR solution structures for the analogous but less bulky B[c]Ph-derived adducts reveal no such stereoisomeric effect, while the planar bay-region benzo[a]pyrene-derived-N⁶-dA adducts do. Differences in nucleotide excision repair susceptibilities of the fjord and bay region adducts stem from distinctions in their intercalative conformations, produced by the intrinsic topological variations in their polycyclic aromatic ring systems.
Applying an information-seeking dialogue model in an interactive information retrieval system

– People often engage in different information-seeking strategies (ISSs) within a single information-seeking episode. A critical concern for the design of information retrieval (IR) systems is how to provide support for these different behaviors in a manner which searchers can easily understand, navigate and use, as they move from one ISS to another. The purpose of this paper is to describe a dialogue structure that was implemented in an experimental IR system, in order to address this concern. , – The authors conducted a user-centered experiment to evaluate the IR systems. Participants were asked to search for information on two different task types, with four different topics per task, in both the experimental system and a baseline system emulating state-of-the-art IR systems. The authors report here the results related explicitly to the use of the experimental system's dialogue structure. , – For one of the task types, most participants followed the search steps as predicted in the dialogue structures, and those who did so completed the task in fewer moves. For the other task type, predicted order of moves was often not followed, but participants again used fewer moves when following the predicted order. Results demonstrate that the dialogue structures the authors designed indeed support effective human information behavior patterns in a variety of ways, and that searchers can effectively use a system which changes to support different ISSs. , – This study shows that it is both possible and beneficial, to design an IR system which can support multiple ISSs, and that such a system can be understood and used successfully.
Lack of analgesic activity of substance P following intraperitoneal administration

Abstract Intraperitoneal administration of Substance P to rats did not result in significant analgesic activity. In addition, intraperitoneal administration of Substance P to mice also failed to result in significant analgesic activity. These results suggest a re-examination of the reported analgesic activity of peripherally administered Substance P.
Cross-link density, viscoelasticity and swelling of hydrogels as affected by dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes

We investigate the development of the cross-link density, viscoelasticity and swelling behavior of polyethylene glycol monoacrylate (PEGMA) as affected by the dispersion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes, CNTs, in the volume fraction, φ, range of 10−4 to 5 × 10−3. Linear viscoelastic material functions of the PEGMA–CNT suspensions depend on the state of the dispersion of the nanotubes. The dynamic properties, especially the storage moduli, increase with the better dispersion of the CNTs into an interconnected network. Upon UV-curing of PEGMA–CNT the dynamic properties decrease significantly with the increasing concentration of CNTs suggesting that the formation of the CNT network prior to curing decreases the mobility of PEGMA to give rise to a reduction in the cross-link density of the PEGMA–CNT. The decrease of the cross-link density becomes more significant with better dispersion of the nanotubes. The decrease of the cross-link density of the PEGMA–CNT hydrogels increases their rates of swelling in water and phosphate buffered saline, PBS.
Recent Concepts of the Performance of the Heart

The heart is a pump built for quick adjustment of its performance to changing load. It has a low mechanical efficiency in terms of the energy cost of its external useful work. It is primarily a compression pump and the cyclic variations of its pressure-volume relationships define a measure of the compression work that it does. The heart has no fixed initial length, or rather, since it is a hollow viscus, no fixed initial volume. Certain peculiarities in its performance depend on the geometric relationship between mechanical events taking place in the walls of the heart and the resulting effects upon the blood in its chamber. These include the influence of velocity and duration of contraction on its size and the influence of size on its performance. The heart's minute output is determined not only by its diastolic size but also by its systolic residue and the frequency of the beat. It is likely that both of these latter parameters are altered in the physiologic regulation of the heart beat. While the frequ...
Ultrastructural analysis of corneal exposure to UV radiation

. The primate cornea was exposed to 300 nm UVR with five levels of radiant exposure from 0.08 to 0.6 Jcm−2. All cellular layers of the cornea were damaged at the 0.08 Jcm−2 exposure, and damage became more severe as the exposure level was increased. The corneal cells showed variable response in that essentially normal cells were found among damaged cells. Eight days post-exposure using the 0.6 Jcm−2 level, the epithelium had regained its normal thickness and was populated largely by normal appearing cells; however, the stroma showed damaged keratocytes and the loss of keratocytes. The corneal basement membranes (the epithelial basement membrane and the posterior limiting lamina) and the anterior limiting lamina were not damaged at any exposure level except for an isolated area along the epithelial basement membrane in one cornea. Therefore, one is lead to conclude that basement membranes are unaffected by UVR. The endothelium continued to demonstrate the loss of mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and some vacuoles at 8 days after exposure. However, the endothelium appeared to have resumed its physiological function as demonstrated by the reduced stromal oedema. This research gives the first complete description of UV-B induced corneal damage and repair of the full, in-depth cornea of the primate using the EM.
ESoftCheck: Removal of Non-vital Checks for Fault Tolerance

As semiconductor technology scales into the deep submicron regime the occurrence of transient or soft errors will increase. This will require new approaches to error detection. Software checking approaches are attractive because they require little hardware modification and can be easily adjusted to fit different reliability and performance requirements. Unfortunately, software checking adds a significant performance overhead.In this paper we present ESoftCheck, a set of compiler optimization techniques to determine which are the vital checks, that is, the minimum number of checks that are necessary to detect an error and roll back to a correct program state. ESoftCheck identifies the vital checks on platforms where registers are hardware-protected with parity or ECC, when there are redundant checks and when checks appear in loops. ESoftCheck also provides knobs to trade reliability for performance based on the support for recovery and the degree of trustiness of the operations. Our experimental results on a Pentium 4 show that ESoftCheck can obtain 27.1% performance improvement without losing fault coverage.
Will global warming modify the activity of the Madden–Julian Oscillation?

The Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) is the most prominent form of tropical intraseasonal variability in the climate system. Observations suggest that warming in the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans in recent decades may have contributed to increased trends in the annual number of MJO events. A stochastic model is used to project changes in MJO activity under a global warming scenario. The mean number of events per year may rise from ∼3.9 (1948–2008) to ∼5.7 (2049–2099) and the probability of very active years (5 or more events) may significantly increase from 0.51 ± 0.01 (1990–2008) to 0.75 ± 0.01 (2010–2027) and 0.92 ± 0.01 (2094–2099). Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society
Resolving conflicting views: Gaze and arrow cues do not trigger rapid reflexive shifts of attention

It has become widely accepted that the direction of another individual's eye gaze induces rapid, automatic, attentional orienting, due to it being such a vital cue as to where in our environment we should attend. This automatic orienting has also been associated with the directional-arrow cues used in studies of spatial attention. Here, we present evidence that the response-time cueing effects reported for spatially non-predictive gaze and arrow cues are not the result of rapid, automatic shifts of attention. For both cue types, response-time effects were observed only for long-duration cue and target stimuli that overlapped temporally, were largest when the cues were presented simultaneously with the response-relevant target, and were driven by a slowing of responses for invalidly cued targets rather than speeding for validly cued ones. These results argue against automatic attention-orienting accounts and support a novel spatial-incongruency explanation for a whole class of rapid behavioral cueing effects.
Assemblage structure, but not diversity or density, change with depth on a northeast Pacific seamount

Although depth-related patterns in assemblage structure are documented in several deep-sea systems, variation in diversity, assemblage structure, and abundance with depth on individual seamounts remains unexplored. Knowledge of alpha- and beta-diversity on single seamounts is needed for any robust generalization about large-scale biodiversity patterns on seamounts. Here, we explore bathymetric variation in benthic megafauna, based on ROV video transects, on Davidson seamount (1246–3656 m) in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. We found that substantial change in assemblage structure can occur over vertical scales on an individual seamount. Changes of 50% in assemblage composition (betadiversity, faunal turnover) were observed over as little as a 1500 m depth interval down the flanks of the seamount, although bathymetric clines in composition were not uniform across major taxa. Diversity and density exhibit no consistent bathymetric pattern and can vary greatly on a single isobath. Our findings suggest that ecological and evolutionary processes may vary considerably on a single seamount. As such, seamounts should be viewed as patchworks of habitats where high beta-diversity may ultimately increase total biodiversity. Marine Ecology. ISSN 0173-9565
Analysis of the Doublesex Female Protein in Drosophila melanogaster : Role in Sexual Differentiation and Behavior and Dependence on Intersex

doublesex (dsx) is unusual among the known sex-determination genes of Drosophila melanogaster in that functional homologs are found in distantly related species. In flies, dsx occupies a position near the bottom of the sex determination hierarchy. It is expressed in male- and female-specific forms and these proteins function as sex-specific transcription factors. In the studies reported here, we have ectopically expressed the female Dsx protein (Dsx F ) from a constitutive promoter and examined its regulatory activities independent of other upstream factors involved in female sex determination. We show that it functions as a positive regulator of female differentiation and a negative regulator of male differentiation. As predicted by the DNA-binding properties of the Dsx protein, Dsx F and Dsx M compete with each other for the regulation of target genes. In addition to directing sex-specific differentiation, Dsx F plays an important role in sexual behavior. Wild-type males ectopically expressing Dsx F are actively courted by other males. This acquisition of feminine sex appeal is likely due to the induction of female pheromones by Dsx F . More extreme behavioral abnormalities are observed when Dsx F is ectopically expressed in dsx - XY animals; these animals are not only courted by, but also copulate with, wild-type males. Finally, we provide evidence that intersex is required for the feminizing activities of Dsx F and that it is not regulated by the sex-specific splicing cascade.
Morphology and origin of axonal endings in nucleus laminaris of the chicken

The axonal endings on the somata and dendrites of third-order auditory neurons in nucleus laminaris (NL) were measured and classified in thin-sectioned material from adult chickens. Two methods were used to determine which ending types arise from second-order auditory neurons in nucleus magnocellularis (NM): 1) degeneration of axonal endings in NL after transection of the crossed dorsal cochlear tract (CTrX) carrying the axons of each NM to the contralateral NL, and 2) injection of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) into NM or the CTrX to label endings in NL by anterograde transport. About 42% of the perikaryl surface of NL neurons and 63% of the dendritic surface are apposed by axon terminals arising from NM; these endings are also prevalent on the axon hillock and initial segment. The NM endings are characterized by round, clear synaptic vesicles distributed at an average density of 76/microns2 behind small punctate synaptic junctions with thick synaptic densities. These endings degenerate preferentially after transection of the CTrX and are the only endings consistently labeled after HRP injections. About 31% of the perikaryl surface of NL and 10% of the distal dendritic surface are apposed by a prominent non-NM axonal ending type. This ending is characterized by a synaptic vesicle density of 135/microns2 and a single large area of synaptic contact which bears very slight densities on both pre- and postsynaptic membranes. On the perikaryon, about 80% of these non-NM terminals end on the cell body proper, with the rest found on proximal dendrites or capping the short somatic processes or spines occasionally seen in NL. The distribution of the two ending types does not differ significantly along the posterior-to-anterior axis of NL.
Clustering of acute and subacute stent thrombosis related to the introduction of generic clopidogrel.

Introduction Generic clopidogrel recently became available in the United States and was rapidly adopted as a cost-effective alternative to the brand name formulation. However, unlike other medications, subtle differences in clopidogrel bioavailability may lead to acute consequences including stent thrombosis (ST). Materials and methods We studied the incidence of acute and subacute ST during the initial period of generic clopidogrel use (June 18, 2012-September 6, 2012 [80 days]) at a single percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) center. There were 4 definite ST cases within 30 days of successful PCI in patients receiving generic clopidogrel, which were compared to historic control ST cases from 80 days prior to generic clopidogrel use and for 3 years from June 18, 2009 to June 17, 2012. Results During generic clopidogrel administration, 1054 PCIs were performed, giving a definite 30-day ST incidence of 0.38% (4 of 1054) among these patients. By comparison, there were 2 episodes of definite 30-day ST during the 80 days immediately preceding generic clopidogrel use (2 of 1114), while 3-year historic data indicated a definite 30-day ST incidence of 0.14% (20 of 14 432), representing a 2.7-fold increase in definite 30-day ST with generic clopidogrel use (P = .076). Exclusion of 3 historic controls with a defined reason for ST (noncompliance, marked thrombocytosis) gave a 3.2-fold increase in 30-day ST with generic clopidogrel (P = .050). An ST-predictive algorithm revealed no difference in the likelihood of ST between patients receiving generic clopidogrel and historic controls. Conclusions We observed an unexpected >2-fold increase in ST coincident with generic clopidogrel use. Although we cannot ascribe causality, this observation warrants increased vigilance and close monitoring of patients receiving generic clopidogrel.
Regression testing in Software as a Service: An industrial case study

Many organizations are moving towards a business model of Software as a Service (SaaS), where customers select and pay for services dynamically via the web. In SaaS, service providers face the challenge of delivering and maintaining high quality software solutions which must continue to work under an enormous number of scenarios; customers can easily subscribe and unsubscribe from services at any point. To date, there has been little research on unique approaches for regression test methodologies for testing in a SaaS environment. In this paper, we present an industrial case study of a regression testing approach to improve test effectiveness and efficiency in SaaS. We model service level use cases from field failures as abstract events and then generate sequences of these for testing to provide a broad coverage of the possible use cases. In subsequent releases of the system we prioritize the tests to improve time to detection of faults in the modified system. We have applied our technique to two releases of a large industrial enterprise level SaaS application and demonstrate that using our approach (1) we could have uncovered escaped faults prior to the system release in both versions of the system; (2) using a priority order we could have improved the efficiency of testing in the first version; and (3) prioritization based on failure history from the first version increases the fault detection rate in the new version, suggesting a correlation between the important sequences in versions that can be leveraged for regression testing.
Educational Experiences of Children in Foster Care: Meta-Analyses of Special Education, Retention and Discipline Rates

The educational achievements of children in foster care have been determined to be below average in individual studies. In the present investigation, 31 studies were examined via four meta-analyses...
The efficacy of silver dressings and antibiotics on MRSA and MSSA isolated from burn patients

In this study our objectives were (1) to investigate whether meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) showed an increased tolerance to silver wound dressings compared with meticillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA); and (2) to evaluate the effects of bacterial phenotypic states of MRSA and MSSA, and pH, on the activity of silver wound dressings and two antibiotics, ampicillin and clindamycin. Twenty MRSA strains and 10 MSSA strains isolated from burns patients in South Africa were evaluated for their susceptibility to a silver alginate and a silver carboxymethyl cellulose wound dressing, employing a corrected zone of inhibition assay, conducted on Mueller Hinton agar and a poloxamer-based biofilm model. When exposed to the two silver dressings, all 30 S. aureus strains showed susceptibility. Possible enhanced antimicrobial efficacy of the silver dressings occurred when pH was lowered to 5.5, compared with a pH of 7.0. When all S. aureus were grown in the biofilm phenotypic state and exposed to both silver dressings and antibiotics, enhanced tolerance was noted. Susceptibility to silver was overall higher for MRSA when compared with MSSA. This study showed that the effect of pH and bacterial phenotypic state must be considered when the antimicrobial activity of silver wound dressings is being investigated. It is evident from the data generated that both pH and the bacterial phenotypic state are factors that induce changes that affect both antimicrobial performance and bacterial susceptibility.
Does work pay psychologically as well as economically? The role of employment in predicting depressive symptoms and parenting among low-income families.

This longitudinal study examined quantity and quality of maternal employment as predictors of depressive symptoms and parenting style in a sample of 94 low-income mothers whose 4-year-old children were enrolled in Head Start at baseline. Results suggest that answers to the question of whether work "pays" are complex: Findings suggest some benefits of greater employment participation while also indicating that women holding lower prestige jobs experienced increases in their use of negative parenting style, net of baseline demographic and psychological characteristics. Sparse evidence for selection processes was found, with cohabitation and maternal depressive symptoms modestly predictive of subsequent maternal employment. Implications of these findings for welfare reform and educationally related policies for low-income families are discussed. Since the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996, lowincome women have faced increasing policy pressure to work outside the home. An initial wave of research on the effects of welfare reform focused primarily on whether programs were successful in reducing welfare caseloads and in moving lowincome women from reliance on public assistance into work. A growing second wave of research has addressed questions of the impact of these employment programs on families' psychosocial well-being and children's social, behavioral, and academic outcomes (Chase-Lansdale & Brooks-Gunn, 1995;
Mobilization of Radioactive Sodium from the Gastrocnemius Muscle of the Dog.

ConclusionsThe lymphatic system of the dog's hind extremity does not play a significant role in the mobilization of intramuscularly injected sodium, nor does the radioactive material diffuse along intramuscular planes beyond the range of the Geiger-Mueller counter.Intramuscularly injected radioactive sodium can be quantitatively recovered from femoral vein blood if the collateral venous system of the upper thigh is occluded.The rate of removal of sodium 24 measured external to the site of injection is the same as that determined from the blood actually draining from the muscle.
Simplifying decision trees

Many systems have been developed for constructing decision trees from collections of examples. Although the decision trees generated by these methods are accurate and efficient, they often suffer the disadvantage of excessive complexity and are therefore incomprehensible to experts. It is questionable whether opaque structures of this kind can be described as knowledge, no matter how well they function. This paper discusses techniques for simplifying decision trees while retaining their accuracy. Four methods are described, illustrated, and compared on a test-bed of decision trees from a variety of domains.