cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Identification of Western Wheatgrass Cultivars and Accessions by DNA Fingerprinting and Geographic Provenance

Western wheatgrass [Pascopryum smithii (Rydb.) Love (= Agropyon smithii Rydb)] is an allogamous North American range grass cultivated for seed production, hay, low-maintenance turf, and soil stabilization. The USDA maintains western wheatgrass cultivars, synthetic multiple-origin germplasnts, and source-identified single-origin accessions in the National Plant Germplasm System. The objective of this study was to test similarity of amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) genotypes among individual plants classified by accession and geographic provenance, and compare rates of DNA variation between single-origin and multiple-origin germplasm. Individual plants from 36 of 39 source-identified single-origin germplasm sources group strictly by accession, on the basis of the average proportion of shared DNA fragments between individual genotypes. Conversely, individual plant genotypes from three of the four synthetic multiple-origin accessions did not cluster by accession and displayed higher rates of DNA variation than did single-origin accessions. Although different accessions of the same cultivar generally group together, off-types were detected in six of the nine cultivar accessions. Pairwise comparisons of interpopulation genetic distances (o st ) among 39 single-origin accessions were correlated with geographical distances among the original collecting sites (r = 0.66). Genotypes representing these accessions form three natural groups on the basis of o st that correspond to three geographic regions of the USA: northern Great Plains, northern Rocky Mountains, and southern Rocky Mountains. Therefore, georaphically significant sources of DNA variation were detected and maintained within and among these ex situ germplasm sources. These results document genetic identity and diversity in the USDA western wheatgrass germplasm collection and support the premise that geographic provenance contributes to germplasm integrity.
Interaction between the Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Origin-Binding and DNA Polymerase Accessory Proteins☆

Interactions between the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) origin (ori)-binding protein (UL9) and two other components of the functional DNA replication complex have been observed. However, to date, no interaction between UL9 and a component of the DNA polymerase holoenzyme has been demonstrated. In this report, we demonstrate that UL9 and the DNA polymerase accessory protein (UL42) can form a stable complex in vitro as determined by coimmunoprecipitation with specific antibodies to each protein and by affinity chromatography using glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion proteins. Complex formation does not require the presence of other viral proteins and occurs in the presence of ethidium bromide, indicating that UL9-UL42 interaction is DNA independent. Affinity beads charged with increasing concentrations of GST-42 fusion protein up to 5 microM bound increasing amounts of UL9 expressed by in vitro transcription/translation in rabbit reticulocyte lysates. Binding of N- and C-terminal portions of UL9 to GST affinity matrices revealed that the N-terminal 533 amino acids were sufficient for binding to GST-42, albeit at approximately a four- to six-fold reduced affinity compared to the full-length protein. No binding of a polypeptide containing the remainder of the UL9 C-terminal residues was observed. Thus the ori-binding protein, UL9, can physically associate with at least one member of each of the complexes (helicase/primase, DNA polymerase holoenzyme, single-stranded DNA-binding protein) required for origin-dependent DNA replication. These specific interactions provide a means by which the ordered assembly of HSV-1 DNA replication proteins at origins of replication can occur in the infected cell for initiation of viral DNA synthesis.
Informational impediments to the use of capital budgeting models

Abstract The primary purpose of this study was to empirically examine whether or not informational impediments impair or alter decision making, with specific focus on capital budgeting decisions. Based on detailed interviews of senior corporate executives, it appears that management information systems (MIS) are less than adequate in providing the information items required to utilize the non-naive methods of capital budgeting. It is therefore suggested that the MIS concept be vastly broadened in regard to such decisions.
Effects of precocene I and II on flight behaviour in Oncopeltus fasciatus, the migratory milkweed bug

Abstract Treatment of newly emerged adult Oncopeltus fasciatus with the corpus allatum inhibitors. 7-methoxy-2,2-dimethyl chromene or 6,7-dimethoxy-2,2-dimethyl chromene (preocene I and II) results in an inhibition of long-term flight (presumed migratory) behaviour in both males and females and inhibition of oogenesis in females. Treatment of reproductive females with precocene briefly stimulates flight behaviour (which ceases in such females as oviposition begins) and then subsequently inhibits it. Oviposition also ceases in such females and oocyte resorption occurs. Topical application or injections of JH III to precocenetreated animals results in immediate restoration of the tendency to make long tethered flights while corpora cardiaca extract injections, corpora cardiaca implantation, sham implantation, sham injections and sham topical applications were ineffective in restoring prolonged flight behaviour to precocene-treated animals. Restoration of flight by JH III injection was observed within 1 hr after treatment with the hormone. These results indicate that JH is necessary for prolonged flight and presumably migratory behaviour in this species and its stimulatory effect on flight behaviour is immediate. Possible mechanisms of action of the hormone on flight behaviour are discussed.
Crisis management planning and the threat of bioterrorism

Abstract With acts of bioterrorism increasingly garnering attention worldwide, the subject of crisis preparedness for organizations takes on added meaning. This study of 72 of Michigan’s largest corporations found that 70% of those surveyed had crisis management plans in place, but only 12% had plans that specifically dealt with bioterrorism. Awareness of bioterrorism, perceived seriousness and controllability, and perceived susceptibility were significant and positive predictors of willingness to develop a crisis management plan. This snapshot of crisis communication preparedness was taken during a critical time in American history—immediately following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and during the first reports of a death in the United States from an anthrax attack.
General Polyhedral Finite Elements for Rapid Nonlinear Analysis

An analysis system for solid mechanics applications is described in which a new finite element method that can accommodate general polyhedral elements is exploited. The essence of the method is direct polynomial approximation of the shape functions on the physical element, without transformation to a canonical element. The main motive is elimination of the requirement that all elements be similar to a canonical element via the usual isoparametric mapping. It is this topological restriction that largely drives the design of mesh-generation algorithms, and ultimately leads to the considerable human effort required to perform complex analyses. An integrated analysis system is described in which the flexibility of the polyhedral element method is leveraged via a robust computational geometry processor. The role of the latter is to perform rapid Boolean intersection operations between hex meshes and surface representations of the body to be analyzed. A typical procedure is to create a space-filling structured hex mesh that contains the body, and then extract a polyhedral mesh of the body by intersecting the hex mesh and the body’s surface. The result is a mesh that is directly usable in the polyhedral finite element method. Some example applications are: 1) simulation on very complex geometries; 2) rapid geometry modification and re-analysis; and 3) analysis of material-removal process steps following deformation processing. This last class of problems is particularly challenging for the conventional FE methodology, because the element boundaries are, in general, not aligned with the cutting geometry following the deformation (e.g. forging) step.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Sizing Up State Policy Innovation Research

In the literature on state policy innovation, there are three major explanations for what causes a government to adopt a new policy. One is the internal determinants model, which posits that the main factors leading a state to innovate are internal political, social and economic characteristics of the stale. The other two are diffusion models—the regional diffusion model, and the national interaction model—which see slate policy adoptions as emulations of earlier adoptions by other states. Each of the three models has been associated with a distinct strategy for empirical testing. The regional diffusion model has been tested with factor analysis, the national interaction model with time-series regression, and the internal determinants model with cross-sectional regression. In this paper, I explore the ability of these “single-explanation” methodologies to detect the true innovation process underlying stale policy adoptions, by applying these methodologies to data generated from simulated innovation processes with known characteristics. I find that the methodologies often yield incorrect conclusions about the character of innovation. I conclude by presenting an agenda for refining a superior alternative methodology: the event history analysis approach to state policy innovation research introduced by Berry and Berry (1990).
Cerebellopontine angle lipoma in a teenager

Lipomas of the cerebellopontine angle are very rare lesions. To date, 18 patients have been reported, 17 of whom were adults. A second child is described with cerebellopontine angle lipoma.
Promoting a labor perspective in the American mass media: unions and radio in the CIO era, 1936-56:

Corporate interests have dominated American radio since the late 1920s, using a commercialized medium to sell business products and ideology. For several decades, organized labor challenged business control of the radio. Unable to compete with business in other areas of the mass media, radio, with its potential for reaching a large audience, held promise for a labor movement hoping to contest business domination of political discourse. This article explores the relationship between organized labor and radio broadcasting from the 1930s to the mid-1950s. During the early part of this period, unions engaged in a fierce struggle for access to radio and began challenging the coverage of labor in the mass media. In the post-Second World War era, organized labor launched an aggressive campaign to utilize radio to promote a working-class political perspective. By the early 1950s, labor's voice was more widely heard on the airwaves than ever before. Organized labor offered at least a modest check on corporate Amer...
Undersampling correction for array detector-based satellite spectrometers

Array detector-based instruments are now fundamental to measurements of ozone and other atmospheric trace gases from space in the ultraviolet, visible, and infrared. The present generation of such instruments suffers, to a greater or lesser degree, from undersampling of the spectra, leading to difficulties in the analysis of atmospheric radiances. We provide extended analysis of the undersampling suffered by modern satellite spectrometers, which include the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment, Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography, Ozone Monitoring Instrument, and Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite. The analysis includes basic undersampling, the effects of binning into separate detector pixels, and the application of high-resolution Fraunhofer spectral data to correct for undersampling in many useful cases.
Internalism and Evidence of Reliability

This paper concerns various competing views on the nature of perceptual justification. Various thought experiments that motivate various views are discussed. Once reliabilism is rejected and some form of internalism is instead embraced, the following issue arises: must an internalist nevertheless require that perceptual justification involve the possession of evidence for the reliability of our perceptual processes? Matthias Steup answers in the affirmative, espousing what he calls internalist reliabilism. Some problems are raised for this form of internalism.
Induction of azoospermia in normal men with combined Nal-Glu gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist and testosterone enanthate.

The effects of a combined GnRH antagonist and testosterone (T) replacement regimen on gonadotropins and spermatogenesis were examined to assess its potential as a male contraceptive regimen. The potent Nal-Glu GnRH antagonist ([Ac-D2-Nal1,D4-Cl-Phe2,D3-Pal3,Arg5, D4-p-methoxybenzoyl-2-amino butyric acid6,D-Ala10]GnRH) was administered daily (7.5 mg, sc) to eight normal men for 16 weeks. T enanthate was given im starting at week 2 and every 2 weeks thereafter through week 14 of the treatment phase. Serum LH, FSH, T, and estradiol concentrations were measured frequently during the 5-week control period, the 16-week treatment phase, and the 14-week recovery phase. Semen analyses were performed every week during the control phase and every 2 weeks during the treatment and recovery phases. Seven of eight subjects became azoospermic by 6-10 weeks of treatment; the eighth subject, who failed to achieve azoospermia, suppressed his sperm count to 7 million/mL by week 14 (from a mean baseline of 42 million/mL) befo...
Visual sensitivity at an edge.

Abstract The threshold for a small spot of light rises as it approaches the edge of an illuminated area and gradually falls in the dark. The threshold rise on the illuminated side of the edge was found to be dependent on the intensity of the illuminated field, absent at low in tensity. Short duration flashes of both edge and test spot abolished the threshold elevation on the illuminated side of the edge regardless of field intensity. While the threshold rise may be associated with lateral inhibitory effects, the fall in the dark was shown to be due to stray light in the eye.
Divergence of metabolic activation systems for short-term mutagenesis assays.

POLYCYCLIC hydrocarbons such as benzo(a)pyrene (BP) are prevalent environmental contaminants3 and are increasingly suspect as human carcinogens. They are routinely used as tumour agents in laboratory animals1 and in tissue culture assays2. These compounds are produced by the incomplete combustion of carbonaceous material such as fossil fuels used for transportation and industrial energy production. They are biologically inactive as parent compounds and require metabolic activation in tissue to produce a tumourigenically active species of the molecule. Activation is accomplished through the drug metabolising monooxygenase enzymes containing cytochrome P450 (refs 4–6), and activate the parent carcinogen to an intermediate epoxide7,8 which readily alkylates cellular macromolecules.
Mak21p of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a Homolog of Human CAATT-binding Protein, Is Essential for 60 S Ribosomal Subunit Biogenesis

Mak21-1 mutants are unable to propagate M1 double-stranded RNA, a satellite of the L-A double-stranded RNA virus, encoding a secreted protein toxin lethal to yeast strains that do not carry M1. We clonedMAK21 using its map location and found that Mak21p is homologous to a human and mouse CAATT-binding protein and open reading frames in Schizosaccharomyces pombe and Caenorhabditis elegans. Although the human protein regulates Hsp70 production, Mak21p is essential for growth and necessary for 60 S ribosomal subunit biogenesis. mak21-1mutants have decreased levels of L-A coat protein and L-A double-stranded RNA. Electroporation with reporter mRNAs shows thatmak21-1 cells cannot optimally express mRNAs which, like L-A viral mRNA, lack 3′-poly(A) or 5′-cap structures but can normally express mRNA with both cap and poly(A). The virus propagation phenotype of mak21-1 is suppressed byski2 or ski6 mutations, each of which derepresses translation of non-poly(A) mRNA.
Differential symbolic execution

Detecting and characterizing the effects of software changes is a fundamental component of software maintenance. Version differencing information can be used to perform version merging, infer change characteristics, produce program documentation, and guide program re-validation. Existing techniques for characterizing code changes, however, are imprecise leading to unnecessary maintenance efforts.In this paper, we introduce a novel extension and application of symbolic execution techniques that computes a precise behavioral characterization of a program change. This technique, which we call differential symbolic execution (DSE), exploits the fact that program versions are largely similar to reduce cost and improve the quality of analysis results. We define the foundational concepts of DSE, describe cost-effective tool support for DSE, and illustrate its potential benefit through an exploratory study that considers version histories of two Java code bases.
Economic contributions to institutional research on faculty

Economic models of the way in which faculty allocate their time, and the behavior of labor markets, can help inform institutional research on faculty in a variety of ways.
Swell Mitigation with Granulated Tire Rubber

Experiments were conducted to investigate the odometric swell behavior of expansive soil specimens mixed independently with two different granular additives: silica sand and granulated tire rubber (GTR). All specimens were prepared with the same global water content. However, specimens that contained sand swelled less than did analogous specimens that contained GTR, regardless of the surcharge stress imposed before inundation. Phase relationship analyses based on "oversize correction" equations derived for mixtures with three solid phases indicate that the specimens possessed clay portions with different dry density and initial water content. Such differ- ences are attributed mainly to the role of additive grain stiffness during specimen preparation. Results from complementary discrete element method simulations indicate that the stiffness of the additive grains may also play a role in mitigating the swell via contact force alterations upon swell. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000229. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers. CE Database subject headings: Concrete admixtures; Bentonite; Expansive soils; Rubber; Sand, material; Swelling, material. Author keywords: Additives; Bentonite; Expansive soil; Rubber; Sand; Swell.
Exploring the experiences and self‐labeling of mixed‐race individuals with two minority parents

This chapter presents preliminary findings from a study of the experiences and self-labeling of ten individuals who are biracial and whose parents identify themselves as monoracial members of minority groups. Implications for student affairs educators are shared.
Potential contribution of carbon by microphytic crusts in pinyon‐juniper woodlands

Abstract We examined the possibility that microphytic crusts (terrestrial algae, cyanobacteria, lichens, and mosses) contribute organ carbon fixed in photosynthesis directly to the soil ecosystem. Microphytic crusts and their underlying soils were collected from pinyon‐juniper woodlands in the fall and in spring. Samples of these crusts were exposed to 14 CO2‐labeled atmosphere. In general, a downward translocation of photosynthate over time from the crust was demonstrated by an increase in 14C content in the soils beneath the crusts. Following a 30‐min exposure to labeled atmosphere, the crusts accumulated as much as 55 × 103 disintegrations per minute (dpm) for a 0.1‐mL subsample volume (in the spring), leveling off about 25 × 103 dpm 10 and 21 days later. The crusts respired from 34 to 36% of the initial fixed carbon. The underlying soils accumulated significant 14C (relative to background) in both fall and spring samples. The source of this increase in 14C radiation in the soil is attributable to carb...
Crystal structure of the human TRPV2 channel ankyrin repeat domain.

TRPV channels are important polymodal integrators of noxious stimuli mediating thermosensation and nociception. An ankyrin repeat domain (ARD), which is a common protein–protein recognition domain, is conserved in the N-terminal intracellular domain of all TRPV channels and predicted to contain three to four ankyrin repeats. Here we report the first structure from the TRPV channel subfamily, a 1.7 A resolution crystal structure of the human TRPV2 ARD. Our crystal structure reveals a six ankyrin repeat stack with multiple insertions in each repeat generating several unique features compared with a canonical ARD. The surface typically used for ligand recognition, the ankyrin groove, contains extended loops with an exposed hydrophobic patch and a prominent kink resulting from a large rotational shift of the last two repeats. The TRPV2 ARD provides the first structural insight into a domain that coordinates nociceptive sensory transduction and is likely to be a prototype for other TRPV channel ARDs.
The roles of relative prices, interest rates, and bequests in the consumption function

Abstract This paper investigates the roles of relative prices, interest rates, inflation expectations and bequests in the determination of consumer expenditures for four goods in the U.S. The framework employed is a life-cycle extension of the Linear Expenditure System, in which relative prices, wealth, labor income, the nominal interest rate, and anticipated rates of inflation for each good are major arguments. The results provide strong empirical support for the expenditure system employed and suggest a significant role for relative prices and for the bequest motive in shaping saving decisions. We also find that expenditure decisions respond to both interest rates and anticipated inflation in a “Fisherian” fashion, but that the interest elasticity of saving is quite low and of uncertain sign. Our model also provides an estimate of the consumer's “horizon,” defined in the sense of Friedman.
Linear stochastic models of nonlinear dynamical systems

We investigate in this work the validity of linear stochastic models for nonlinear dynamical systems. We exploit as our basic tool a previously proposed Rayleigh-Ritz approximation for the effective action of nonlinear dynamical systems started from random initial conditions. The present paper discusses only the case where the probability density function Ansatz employed in the variational calculation is ``Markovian,'' i.e., is determined completely by the present values of the moment averages. In this case we show that the Rayleigh-Ritz effective action of the complete set of moment functions that are employed in the closure has a quadratic part which is always formally an Onsager-Machlup action. Thus, subject to satisfaction of the requisite realizability conditions on the noise covariance, a linear Langevin model will exist which reproduces exactly the joint two-time correlations of the moment functions. We compare our method with the closely related formalism of principal oscillation patterns (POP), which, in the approach of Penland, is a method to derive such a linear Langevin model empirically from time-series data for the moment functions. The predictive capability of the POP analysis, compared with the Rayleigh-Ritz result, is limited to the regime of small fluctuations around the most probable future pattern. Finally, we shall discuss a thermodynamics of statistical moments which should hold for all dynamical systems with stable invariant probability measures and which follows within the Rayleigh-Ritz formalism.
Partition Literature: A Study of Inti ār usain

In an interview given in July 1974, Intiār Ḥusain, one of the most perceptive creative writers of Pakistan, had this to say about the experience of migration that was the direct outcome of the Partition of India in 1947:A decade ago when I was talking about the experience of migration and the articles I wrote concerning it, I was in a state of great hope and optimism. It was then my feeling that in the process of the Partition we had sudenly, almost by accident, regained a lost, great experience—namely, the experience of migration, hijrat, which has a place all its own in the history of the Muslims—and that it will give us a lot. But today, after our political ups and downs, I find myself in a different mood. Now I feel that sometimes a great experience comes to be lost to a nation; often nations forget their history. I do not mean that a nation does, or has to, keep its history alive in its memory in every period. There also comes a time when a nation completely forgets its past. So, that experience, I mean the experience of migration, is unfortunately lost to us and on us. And the great expectation that we had of making something out of it at a creative level and of exploiting it in developing a new consciousness and sensibility—that bright expectation has now faded and gone.
THE USE OF TESTOSTERONE PROPIONATE IN FUNCTIONAL BLEEDING

The present communication is a report on the use of testosterone propionate (male sex hormone) in functional uterine bleeding. Of 25 cases so treated, the excessive bleeding was rapidly controlled in all but two. This clinical improvement was correlated with definite changes in the endometrium, as revealed by suction biopsies performed at intervals before, during and after treatment. The rationale for this form of therapy has its basis in animal experimentation as well as in our studies on the effect of testosterone propionate on the endometrial cycle of the human. Suppression of the estrus cycle in female rats was first induced with male hormone extracts of bull testes by Ihrke and D'Amour (1). Similar results were obtained with testosterone by Robson (2) in mice and Browman (3) in rats. In monkeys, Hartman (4) has shown that menstruation was delayed following testosterone administration, and Zuckerman (5) has reported that testosterone propionate inhibits follicle stimulation and luteinization, resultin...
Spatial variability and mechanisms underlying El Niño-induced droughts in Mexico

The El Nino Southern Oscillation plays a key role in modulating interannual rainfall variability in Mexico. While El Nino events are linked to drought in Mexico, uncertainty exists about the spatial pattern and causal mechanisms behind El Nino-induced drought. We use lead/lag correlation analysis of rainfall station data to identify the spatial pattern of drought associated with the summer before, and the spring following, the peak of warm SST anomalies in the eastern equatorial Pacific. We also use atmospheric fields from the North American Regional Reanalysis to calculate the anomalous moisture budget and diagnose the mechanisms associated with El Nino-induced drought in Mexico. We find that reduced rainfall occurs in Mexico in both the summer before and the spring after a peak El Nino event, especially in regions of climatologically strong convection. The teleconnection in the developing phase of El Nino is primarily driven by changes in subsidence resulting from anomalous convection in the equatorial Pacific. The causes of drought during the decaying phase of El Nino events are varied: in some years, descent anomalies dominate other moisture budget terms, while in other years, drying of the boundary layer on the Mexican plateau is important. We suggest that the latter may result from the interaction of weakened southeasterly winds in the Intra-Americas Sea with high topography along the Atlantic coast of Mexico. Weakened winds are likely driven by a reduced sea level pressure gradient between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Changes in easterly wave activity may contribute to drought in the developing phase of El Nino, but may be less important in the decaying phase of El Nino.
The Ontogeny of Mouse Mammary Gland Responsiveness to Ovarian Steroid Hormones

An investigation was carried out to define the ontogeny of normal mouse mammary gland responsiveness to the proliferative effects of estrogen (E) and/or progesterone (P). Since hormone receptors for both estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) are present in both epithelial and stromal cells, we have investigated how the effects of E and P are related to the presence of receptor activity in the epithelium and stroma. Intact or ovariectomized mice, between 3 days and 10 weeks of age, were used to study the effects of E and/or P on DNA synthesis, as determined by DNA histoautoradiography; the cellular distribution of ER and PgR was investigated by steroid autoradiography. The results indicate that the mammary gland sequentially acquires the ability to respond to the stimulatory effects of E and/or P. In the early postnatal period (3-14 days) neither hormone was effective. Both epithelial and stromal cells first became responsive to E at 3-4 weeks of age. Estrogen receptors were first detected in stromal cells at 5 days of age and in epithelial cells at 2 weeks of age. Thus, the acquisition of estrogen responsiveness did not appear to be tightly coupled to the presence of ER in either epithelial or stromal cells. In contrast, responsiveness to P was acquired significantly later, at 7 weeks of age, and was closely linked to the presence of E-inducible PgR in epithelial cells. P caused a highly synergistic effect on epithelial cell DNA synthesis when combined with E, providing further support for the concept that the major proliferative effect of P is mediated via E-inducible PgR. PgR were also present in stromal cells, but the proliferative effect of P in that cell type was not correlated with the presence of PgR.
Effects of salinity fluctuation on routine metabolism of juvenile spot, Leiostomus xanthums

We subjected juvenile spot, Leiostomus xanthurus, to eight different salinity fluctuation schedules to evaluate the effects of magnitude, rate, mean, and direction of salinity changes on their routine metabolism. Routine respiration stabilized within 3 h after all salinity changes and no fish died. Very rapid rates of change and changes at low mean salinity elicited short-term stress responses in 40–70 mm spot. Spot adapted more rapidly to increasing salinity changes than to decreasing changes, but the acclimation state of the fish apparently did not affect their salinity tolerance. Our results also indicated that spot undergo size-dependent changes in sensitivity to salinity fluctuation which correspond to seasonal shifts in distribution.
Stability of rare-earth-containing high-temperature molecules

Abstract The Knudsen effusion mass-spectrometric method has been used to study high-temperature equilibria involving gaseous, rare-earth-containing molecules such as bi-metals, carbides, oxides, and sulfides. Our recent work has especially concentrated on diatomic intermetallic compounds and on gaseous carbides. We summarize our investigations of diatomic intermetallic molecules with strong metal-metal bonds and discuss the bond energies in terms of empirical models of bonding. Our recent work on gaseous carbides has revealed the existence of new classes of gaseous, rare-earth carbides such as (RE)Cn or (RE)2Cn with n = 1–8 or M(RE)Cn with n = 1−4. This complex mode of vaporization is illustrated using the La-Ir-graphite system as example. The atomization energies of the gaseous rare-earth carbides are reviewed.
Early treatment of patent ductus arteriosus in premature infants with severe respiratory distress syndrome.

In 1983, a US National Collaborative Study (NCS) proposed criteria for the diagnosis of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in premature infants with respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), but the widespread use of pulsed Doppler cross-sectional echocardiography (PD-CSE) in neonatal intensive care units has made direct assessment of the ductus possible thus providing more timely therapy. We have compared the results in 30 premature infants with severe RDS, assessed according to the guidelines of the US NCS, with those in 51 infants whose PDA was diagnosed by PD-CSE. Together with a significant reduction in the age at treatment (7.8±3.9 vs 2.4±1.1 days), there was a reduced dependence on artificial ventilation (14.8±11.0 vs 7.8±2.7 days), a reduction in the number requiring surgical ligation of PDA (9 vs 2), a decreased incidence of bronchopulmonary-dysplasia (BPD) (40% vs 16%), and a reduction of unfavorable outcome of treatment (death or BPD) (76% vs 49%).
Exposure-based cognitive-behavioral treatment of PTSD in adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder: A pilot study

In an open trial design, adults (n = 20) with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were treated via an 11-week cognitive-behavioral intervention for PTSD that consisted of education, anxiety management therapy, social skills training, and exposure therapy, provided at community mental health centers. Results offer preliminary hope for effective treatment of PTSD among adults with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, especially among treatment completers (n = 13). Data showed significant PTSD symptom improvement, maintained at 3-month follow-up. Further, 12 of 13 completers no longer met criteria for PTSD or were considered treatment responders. Clinical outcomes for other targeted domains (e.g., anger, general mental health) also improved and were maintained at 3-month follow-up. Participants evidenced high treatment satisfaction, with no adverse events. Significant improvements were not noted on depression, general anxiety, or physical health status. Future directions include the need for randomized controlled trials and dissemination efforts.
Structure and properties of ultrafine silk fibers produced by Theriodopteryx ephemeraeformis

Theriodopteryx ephemeraeformis commonly known as bag worms produce ultrafine silk fibers that are remarkably different than the common domesticated (Bombyx mori) and wild (Saturniidae) silk fibers. Bag worms are considered as pests and commonly infect trees and shrubs. Although it has been known that the cocoons (bags) produced by bag worms are composed of silk, the structure and properties of the silk fibers in the bag worm cocoons have not been studied. In this research, the composition, morphology, physical structure, thermal stability, and tensile properties of silk fibers produced by bag worms were studied. Bag worm silk fibers have considerably different amino acid contents from those of the common silks. The physical structure of the bag worm silk fibers is also considerably different compared with B. mori and common wild silk fibers. Bag worm’s silk fibers have lower tensile strength (3.2 g/denier) and Young’s modulus (45 g/denier) but similar breaking elongation (15.3%) compared with B. mori silk. However, the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of bag worm fibers are similar to those of the common Saturniidae wild silk fibers. Bag worm silk fibers could be useful for some of the applications currently using the B. mori and wild silk fibers.
Improved Methods for the Mathematically Controlled Comparison of Biochemical Systems

The method of mathematically controlled comparison provides a structured approach for the comparison of alternative biochemical pathways with respect to selected functional effectiveness measures. Under this approach, alternative implementations of a biochemical pathway are modeled mathematically, forced to be equivalent through the application of selected constraints, and compared with respect to selected functional effectiveness measures. While the method has been applied successfully in a variety of studies, we offer recommendations for improvements to the method that (1) relax requirements for definition of constraints sufficient to remove all degrees of freedom in forming the equivalent alternative, (2) facilitate generalization of the results thus avoiding the need to condition those findings on the selected constraints, and (3) provide additional insights into the effect of selected constraints on the functional effectiveness measures. We present improvements to the method and related statistical models, apply the method to a previously conducted comparison of network regulation in the immune system, and compare our results to those previously reported.
From Maverick to Mainstream: The Scholarship of Engagement

A significant and growing number of universities across the country are pursuing the agenda of public and civic engagement and giving serious consideration to resultant faculty roles. Along with new university commitment come new definitions of scholarship, including the scholarship of engagement. The scholarship of engagement continues to emerge and expand as campuses manifest context-driven characteristics reflecting the correspondence between their notion of scholarship and their individual history, priorities, circumstances, and location. However, from its earliest definition as scholarship, engagement has presented challenges to higher education. This article presents work that is national in scope and that addresses these challenges by providing faculty with institutional models and resources to advance the documentation, evaluation, and review of the scholarship of engagement.
Jam, juice and forbidden fruits: Edible Black masculinities in contemporary pop culture

In the past couple of years we have witnessed rap artists banking on their image and their appeal to promote energy or sport related drinks. Nelly is selling Pimp Juice, Lil John advertises Crunk, and even 50 cent has got his own line of Vitamin Water. What they are selling is their masculinity, and a peculiar brand of it—brash, in your face, very sexualized. Why are audiences—especially young ones, and often white and suburban—willing metaphorically to ingest their masculinity? Is this a new phenomenon or are there other occasions when black masculinities were perceived as edible in the pop culture arena? From the Chocolate Salty Balls of South Park to the charming Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation, I try to analyze different declinations of the complex relationship between food and the black male body in contemporary America.
OCCURRENCE OF PREGNANCY IN CUSHING'S SYNDROME.

This report describes a young woman with Cushing's syndrome who became pregnant after the disease had been present for more than a year. Diagnostic studies suggested that an adrenal tumor was present. The patient was operated upon when she was 4½ months pregnant and the left adrenal, which contained a small adenoma, was removed. After surgery all evidence of Cushing's syndrome gradually disappeared. Three months and 10 days after the operation the patient delivered a normal infant, who weighed 1,660 g. The child, who is now over 2 years of age, is growing and maturing normally and the mother is in good health.
Urban Flash Flood Monitoring, Mapping and Forecasting via a Tailored Sensor Network System

Heavy convective rainfall often results in flooding in urban regions. The rainfall runoff process, however, is highly complex, nonlinear, and temporally and spatially varying because of the variability of the terrain and climate attributes. An intelligent traffic system covering the emergency response capacity in response to flooding impacts in low-lying area of urban regions is highly desirable to drivers and passengers nowadays. The proposed motes-based sensor network has three major modules, which are water level monitoring module, network video record module, and data processing module. The water level monitoring module sensors water level information and transmits it to a server computer via motes-based wireless network. The network video record module takes and sends video in real-time to the server too. The data processing module linking existing flooding level with NOAA NEXRAD rainfall prediction data enables us to publish online raw data, predict inundation zone, and disseminate video information through different media. Such integration would greatly enhance the disaster management capacity in hurricane events
Refrigeration for photomultipliers.

A closed-cycle mechanical refrigeration system has been adapted to cool photomultipliers automatically. Temperature is adjustable between +5° and −55°C and is stable to within ±0.3°C. An important feature of the design is the flexible connection to the cold box which allows extensive freedom of motion; this freedom is particularly important in astronomy where the cold box is mounted on the end of a telescope. Liquid Freon refrigerants have been used to cool photomultipliers for rocket flights. A brief description of two methods is given.
Data Quality Issues in Electronic Data Capture

Electronic data capture (EDC) systems hold the potential for dramatically reducing the time and effort required to acquire and process clinical trials data. However, these systems raise a number of data quality issues. This paper presents some ancient history background for EDC systems; raises and discusses the question, “Is data quality important?”; presents a rigorous discussion of methodology for evaluating clinical trial data quality; and summarizes the use of this methodology for EDC systems.
Recovery-oriented policy and care systems in the UK and USA.

The concept of recovery has been an influence on addicted individuals for many decades.But only in the past 15 years has the concept had a purchase in the world of public policy.In the USA,federal and state officials have promulgated policies intended to foster ‘recovery-oriented systems of care’ and have ratified recovery-supportive laws and regulations.Though of more recent vintage and therefore less developed, recovery policy initiatives are also being implemented in the UK. The present paper describes recovery-oriented policy in both countries and highlights key evaluations of the recovery-oriented interventions. [Humphreys K, Lembke A. Recovery-oriented policy and care systems in the UK and USA. Drug Alcohol Rev 2013]
Genomic representations using concatenates of Type IIB restriction endonuclease digestion fragments

We have developed a method for genomic representation using Type IIB restriction endonucleases. Representation by concatenation of restriction digests, or RECORD, is an approach to sample the fragments generated by cleavage with these enzymes. Here, we show that the RECORD libraries may be used for digital karyotyping and for pathogen identification by computational subtraction.
Review of recent progress in multilayer solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have become a promising candidate for lighting and display applications. High efficiency OLEDs require a multilayer device architecture to provide exciton confinement and balance charge transport. Conventional OLEDs are made by vacuum process, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced by solution processing. However, unlike vacuum-deposited OLEDs, solution-processed multilayer OLEDs are more challenging to make. The key for multilayer solution processing is to have the layer structure which can withstand solvents used in subsequent processing. We review the materials’ strategies to make multilayer solution-processed OLEDs. Specifically, we will discuss the use of cross-linkable organic materials, metal oxides, and orthogonal solvent systems to deposit various functional layers in an OLED.
Finding steady states of large scale regulatory networks through partitioning

Identifying steady states that characterize the long term outcome of regulatory networks is crucial in understanding important biological processes such as cellular differentiation. Finding all possible steady states of regulatory networks is a computationally intensive task as it suffers from state space explosion problem. Here, we propose a method for finding steady states of large-scale Boolean regulatory networks. Our method exploits scale-freeness and weak connectivity of regulatory networks in order to speed up the steady state search through partitioning. In the trivial case where network has more than one component such that the components are disconnected from each other, steady states of each component are independent of those of the remaining components. When the size of at least one connected component of the network is still prohibitively large, further partitioning is necessary. In this case, we identify weakly dependent components (i.e., two components that have a small number of regulations from one to the other) and calculate the steady states of each such component independently. We then combine these steady states by taking into account the regulations connecting them. We show that this approach is much more efficient than calculating the steady states of the whole network at once when the number of edges connecting them is small. Since regulatory networks often have small in-degrees, this partitioning strategy can be used effectively in order to find their steady states. Our experimental results on real datasets demonstrate that our method leverages steady state identification to very large regulatory networks.
In Vitro and In Vivo Evaluation of Staphylococcal Superantigen Peptide Antagonists

Superantigen peptide antagonists failed to block T-cell activation and cytokine production as well as toxic shock induced by staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) in HLA class II transgenic mice. They also failed to inhibit the binding of SEB to HLA class II molecules as well as activation of human T lymphocytes in vitro.
Surgical treatment for gastric carcinoma in the elderly.

Background and Objectives The incidence of gastric cancer is increasing in the elderly. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of advanced age (≥80 years) on morbidity, mortality and late outcome after curative surgery for gastric cancer. Methods The cases of 30 octogenarians (Group A) with gastric cancer who underwent surgical treatment in our Institution from 1990 to 2003 were reviewed and compared to a simultaneous group of 228 younger patients (Group B). Results The rate of resective and curative procedures was not different in the two groups, although the American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) risk was significantly higher in the elderly (P < 0.001) and the lymphatic dissection was less extended in group A. In the two groups, the curability was directly correlated to the cancer stage, but not affected by the ASA risk. The postoperative morbidity and mortality rates were similar in the two groups and were not related to the ASA risk. Considering the mortality for gastric cancer alone, the two groups showed a similar survival rate, only correlated to the cancer stage. Conclusions In the elderly, an oncologically correct surgical procedure can safely be prosecuted with satisfactory immediate and late results. J. Surg. Oncol. 2004;88:201–205. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Recent Research in 2 Maccabees

This article discusses the study of 2 Maccabees since c. 1975, focusing on issues pertaining to chronology; the unity, structure and purpose of the book; the date and provenance of the book; and li...
sparse inflorescence1, barren inflorescence1 and barren stalk1 Promote Cell Elongation in Maize Inflorescence Development

The sparse inflorescence1 (spi1), Barren inflorescence1 (Bif1), barren inflorescence2 (bif2), and barren stalk1 (ba1) mutants produce fewer branches and spikelets in the inflorescence due to defects in auxin biosynthesis, transport, or response. We report that spi1, bif1, and ba1, but not bif2, also function in promoting cell elongation in the inflorescence.