cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mechanical and Hydraulic Aspects of Plant Cell Growth

As any student beleaguered with plant anatomy or morphology will attest, plant cells come in a myriad of shapes and sizes. In vascular plants, each member of this cell menagerie can usually be traced back through development to small, nearly isodiametric cells of the meristem. This chapter will review the physical basis by which this transformation takes place. Because of space limitations, many important aspects of cell morphogenesis will be omitted. For detailed discussion of biochemical and cytological aspects of plant cell morphogenesis, readers are referred to recent reviews and collections of articles on this subject (Darvill et al. 1980; Dugger and Barnicki-Garcia 1984; Kiermayer 1981; Maclachlan and Fevre 1982; Robinson and Quader 1982; Taiz 1984). Likewise, it is beyond the scope of this chapter to consider specific influences of environmental agents and hormones on cell shape and size. Readers interested in this aspect of plant growth should consult relevant reviews and other sources (Cleland 1981; MacMillan 1980; Scott 1981; Wareing 1982; Weisenseel and Kicherer 1981).
Cortical inter-hemispheric circuits for multimodal vocal learning in songbirds

Vocal learning in songbirds and humans is strongly influenced by social interactions based on sensory inputs from several modalities. Songbird vocal learning is mediated by cortico-basal ganglia circuits that include the SHELL region of lateral magnocellular nucleus of the anterior nidopallium (LMAN), but little is known concerning neural pathways that could integrate multimodal sensory information with SHELL circuitry. In addition, cortical pathways that mediate the precise coordination between hemispheres required for song production have been little studied. In order to identify candidate mechanisms for multimodal sensory integration and bilateral coordination for vocal learning in zebra finches, we investigated the anatomical organization of two regions that receive input from SHELL: the dorsal caudolateral nidopallium (dNCLSHELL) and a region within the ventral arcopallium (Av). Anterograde and retrograde tracing experiments revealed a topographically organized inter-hemispheric circuit: SHELL and dNCLSHELL, as well as adjacent nidopallial areas, send axonal projections to ipsilateral Av; Av in turn projects to contralateral SHELL, dNCLSHELL, and regions of nidopallium adjacent to each. Av on each side also projects directly to contralateral Av. dNCLSHELL and Av each integrate inputs from ipsilateral SHELL with inputs from sensory regions in surrounding nidopallium, suggesting that they function to integrate multimodal sensory information with song-related responses within LMAN-SHELL during vocal learning. Av projections share this integrated information from the ipsilateral hemisphere with contralateral sensory and song-learning regions. Our results suggest that the inter-hemispheric pathway through Av may function to integrate multimodal sensory feedback with vocal-learning circuitry and coordinate bilateral vocal behavior.
The Author as Collector: Kenneth Goldsmith’s Aestheticism

Kenneth Goldsmith has been Uncreative Writing’s chief publicist and its most visible cheerleader. Starting with Goldsmith’s engagement with Walter Benjamin, Chapter 2 looks at some of his most radical claims and shows that they do not hold up. It concludes that Goldsmith is an aesthete of the old school and that his writing works within—and maintains—the limited economy of cultural goods.
Molybdenum isotope fractionation during adsorption to organic matter

Abstract Organic matter is of emerging interest as a control on molybdenum (Mo) biogeochemistry, and information on isotope fractionation during adsorption to organic matter can improve interpretations of Mo isotope variations in natural settings. Molybdenum isotope fractionation was investigated during adsorption onto insolubilized humic acid (IHA), a surrogate for organic matter, as a function of time (2–170 h) and pH (2–7). For the time series experiment performed at pH 4.2, the average Mo isotope fractionation between the solution and the IHA (Δ98Mosolution-IHA) was 1.39‰ (±0.16‰, 2σ, based on 98Mo/95Mo relative to the NIST 3134 standard) at steady state. For the pH series experiment, Mo adsorption decreased as pH increased from 2.0 to 6.9, and the Δ98Mosolution-IHA increased from 0.82‰ to 1.79‰. We also evaluated natural Mo isotope patterns in precipitation, foliage, organic horizon, surface mineral soil, and bedrock from 12 forested sites in the Oregon Coast Range. The average Mo isotope offset observed between precipitation and organic (O) horizon soil was 2.1‰, with light Mo isotopes adsorbing preferentially to organic matter. Fractionation during adsorption to organic matter is similar in magnitude and direction to prior observations of Mo fractionation during adsorption to Fe- and Mn- (oxyhydr)oxides. Our finding that organic matter influences Mo isotope composition has important implications for the role of organic matter as a driver of trace metal retention and isotopic fractionation.
Association entre pontage de la selle turcique et inclusion palatine des canines : évaluation sur téléradiographie de profil et CBCT.

Resume Introduction L’objectif de cette etude est de trouver une correlation entre le pontage de la selle turcique et la presence de canine incluse en position palatine a l’aide des teleradiographies de profil et du CBCT. Materiel et methode On a selectionne les teleradiographies de profil et les CBCT de 60 sujets repondant a des criteres specifiques. Ces radiographies ont ete analysees pour etudier la relation entre le pontage de la selle turcique et plusieurs facteurs. La presence ou l’absence d’un pontage partiel ou complet etait deduite en mesurant les dimensions de la selle turcique et en utilisant un systeme de score precis. Resultats et conclusion Notre etude n’a pas montre d’association statistiquement significative entre le pontage de la selle turcique tel que diagnostique selon la teleradiographie de profil et le CBCT avec les facteurs suivants : âge, sexe, typologie faciale, classe squelettique et presence de canine incluse. Nous avons trouve qu’il y a une difference significative pour la classification de la selle turcique entre ces deux methodes radiographiques.
Fingerling and Food-Fish Production in Ponds

Growing fish in earthen ponds is an ancient practice, and ponds continue to be the most common fish culture system used worldwide. Over 95 percent of the catfish produced in the United States are grown in ponds. Nevertheless, pond culture of channel catfish is profitable only when the proper combination of resources is available. Water temperature cannot be controlled in ponds, and commercial pond culture is feasible only in regions that provide a growing season long enough to produce a 1-pound fish from egg in less than 18 months. Pond culture also requires large tracts of relatively inexpensive land. The land must be of the correct topography and soil type for economical construction and operation of ponds. Pond culture is water-intensive, and large volumes of high-quality water must also be readily available. Even when these resources are available, production of fish in ponds will be uneconomical if there is no market for the fish or if variable operating costs (particularly feed cost) are high. The proper industry infrastructure is necessary for profitable production of channel catfish.
One Step Removed

This chapter explores the sources of misaligned expectations. Based on Dan Lortie’s “Apprenticeship of Observation,” the chapter examines the roles of past classroom experiences, family histories, cultural rhetoric, and media representations in shaping and informing students’ expectations of teaching. Students’ experiences with teaching have been mediated and filtered through experiential and cultural lenses, which helps to explain why unfiltered, face-to-face encounters with teaching are often surprising and, sometimes, unsettling. The chapter includes activities designed to help readers reflect on their own mediated experiences with teaching.
Genetic improvement of GPU code

As the programming stack and tool support for GPU have matured, GPUs have become accessible to programmers who often lack domain-specific knowledge of the underlying architecture and fail to fully leverage the GPU's computation power. This paper presents GEVO (Gpu EVOlution), a tool for automatically tuning the performance of GPU kernels in the LLVM representation to meet desired criteria. GEVO uses population-based search to find edits to programs compiled to LLVM-IR that improve performance on desired criteria and retain required functionality. GEVO extends earlier GI work by operating directly on the LLVM-IR without custom representations or other manual interventions. We demonstrate that GEVO improves runtime on NVIDIA Tesla P100 for many programs in the Rodinia benchmark suite and a supervised machine learning code, ThunderSVM. For the Rodinia benchmark, GEVO improves GPU kernel runtime performance by an average of 13.87% and as much as 43% over the fully compiler-optimized baseline. If the kernel output accuracy is relaxed to tolerate 1% error, GEVO can find kernel variants that outperform the baseline version by an average of 15.47%. For ThunderSVM, GEVO reduces entire model training time by 50% and 24.8%, for MNIST handwriting recognition dataset and a9a income prediction, where the accuracy of trained model are improved by 0.17% and 0.04% respectively.
Imaging Pulmonary Embolic Disease

The purpose of this article is to review the imaging findings and current imaging techniques of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) and chronic thromboembolic disease. Special considerations are also discussed, including pregnancy, congenital heart disease, lower extremity computed tomography (CT), and the isolated subsegmental PE. CT pulmonary angiography and planar ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) lung scintigraphy are the primary means of evaluating pulmonary embolic disease. Magnetic resonance angiography avoids ionizing radiation and iodinated contrast in select patients. V/Q SPECT/CT provides greater accuracy and fewer non-diagnostic exams than planar V/Q scans. Dual-energy CT may prove valuable in the diagnosis of and preoperative planning for chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Imaging plays a central role in identifying thromboembolic disease, but understanding the benefits and limitations when choosing the appropriate modality is imperative. Further research is needed to elucidate the role of emerging technologies in the assessment of thromboembolic disease.
Abstract P174: Incidence of Hyponatremia on Spironolactone in Patients With a Prior Episode of Chlorthalidone-Induce Hyponatremia

Chlorthalidone and spironolactone are commonly used diuretics for patients with difficult-to-manage hypertension. Hyponatremia is a common adverse effect that results in discontinuing these medicat...
Beneficial effects of sound exposure on auditory cortex development in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome.

Abstract Background Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common genetic cause of autism and intellectual disability. Fragile X mental retardation gene (Fmr1) knock-out (KO) mice display core deficits of FXS, including abnormally increased sound-evoked responses, and show a delayed development of parvalbumin (PV) cells. Here, we present the surprising result that sound exposure during early development reduces correlates of auditory hypersensitivity in Fmr1 KO mice. Methods Fmr1 KO and wild-type (WT) mice were raised in a sound-attenuated environment (AE) or sound-exposed (SE) to 14 kHz tones (5 Hz repetition rate) from P9 until P21. At P21-P23, event-related potentials (ERPs), dendritic spine density, PV expression and phosphorylation of tropomyosin receptor kinase B (TrkB) were analyzed in the auditory cortex of AE and SE mice. Results Enhanced N1 amplitude of ERPs, impaired PV cell development, and increased spine density in layers (L) 2/3 and L5/6 excitatory neurons were observed in AE Fmr1 KO compared to WT mice. In contrast, developmental sound exposure normalized ERP N1 amplitude, density of PV cells and dendritic spines in SE Fmr1 KO mice. Finally, TrkB phosphorylation was reduced in AE Fmr1 KO, but was enhanced in SE Fmr1 KO mice, suggesting that BDNF-TrkB signaling may be regulated by sound exposure to influence PV cell development. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that sound exposure, but not attenuation, during early developmental window restores molecular, cellular and functional properties in the auditory cortex of Fmr1 KO mice, and suggest this approach as a potential treatment for sensory phenotypes in FXS.
Building Resource Adaptations via Test-Based Software Minimization: Application, Challenges, and Opportunities

Building resource adaptive software systems is a challenging problem. Researchers have proposed many techniques and tools to build such systems. We previously proposed a technique called Test-based Software Minimization (TBSM) that relies on using tests to define functionality that can be sacrificed to achieve resource gain. We demonstrate easy-applicability, usability, and effectiveness of TBSM by building resource adaptations for two real-world scenarios. We also discover significant challenges associated with the practical application of TBSM. Based on our attempt to overcome the challenges for two scenarios, we summarize possible solutions to the challenges, and note that these solutions are synergistic with a larger goal of improving software quality.
Eradication of broad-spectrum multi-drug fungal pathogens through photoinactivation of a detoxifying enzyme (Conference Presentation)

Candida auris, the deadly infectious fungus, was reported to infest nearly 60 hospitals and more than 90 nursing homes in New York City. Moreover, these fungal species have developed resistance to all three major anti-fungal drugs. Drug-resistant Candida spp. and other non-albicans have developed multi-drug resistance around the world. Here, we show that, through efficient photoinactivation of an essential detoxifying enzyme which exists in most of the fungal strains, we could achieve significant eradication of those pathogens by subsequent administration of low-concentration of hydrogen peroxide and antifungal drugs. Noteworthy, hydrogen peroxide or antifungal alone is not effective to eradicate them.
Output Controllability of a Linear Dynamical System with Sparse Controls

In this paper, we study the conditions to be satisfied by a discrete-time linear system to ensure output controllability using sparse control inputs. A set of necessary and sufficient conditions can be directly obtained by extending the Kalman rank test for output controllability. However, the verification of these conditions is computationally heavy due to their combinatorial nature. Therefore, we derive non-combinatorial conditions for output sparse controllability which can be verified with polynomial time complexity. Our results also provide bounds on the minimum sparsity level required to ensure output controllability of the system. This additional insight is useful for designing sparse control input that drives the system to any desired output.
Scaling Langdell's Wall

It never crossed my mind in law school that I might teach there one day. Intent on trying to change the world, my main goal in law school was to get in, and get out with a license to practice. And yet, after decades of law practice and some part-time teaching of trial advocacy, I became of a full-time faculty member. This essay chronicles my journey and choices I have made as a teacher.
Data management for social justice: three case studies

This paper develops the conceptual bounds for a form of antagonistic data management that addresses reports our research team has encountered detailing police harassment of students and faculty at the University of California, Los Angeles. Building on the authors' previous work investigating the state of collected data on police officer-involved homicides in Los Angeles County, frameworks from the fields of critical legal storytelling and information and archival studies are utilized to develop a mode of data management for social justice, applied through three case studies to illustrate the issues at stake and suggest ways forward. We draw from this literature and cases to generate data management concepts that are easily accessed and applied to the development of tools for collecting and disseminating important narratives of police harassment incidents in ways that appropriately address issues of privacy, ultimately to shape discourse that mobilizes meaningful positive change around criminal justice reform.
A new experience of online education under the COVID-19 pandemic for occupational therapy students in Palestine

There are circumstances and conditions that stimulate thinking and research in a scientific and practical way. These conditions fit into our reality under the COVID-19 pandemic. This experience rel...
The Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of risk factors, mostly of metabolic origin that taken together enhance the predictive ability of diseases, specifically cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The risk factors comprising MetS are abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and hyperglycemia or insulin resistance. Of these, abdominal obesity and insulin resistance are central to the pathogenesis and development of MetS, while genetic and environmental factors also play a role. Additionally, MetS is closely associated with both a proinflammatory and prothrombotic state, which at least partially mediates insulin resistance and the associated increased risk of CVD. There remains some debate regarding whether MetS is an entity in its own right and if it has greater predictive ability of CVD risk and T2DM than its individual components. New data suggest that it does improve predictive ability; this combined with the mounting body of evidence to support a distinct pathophysiological process is beginning to earn MetS a place of its own. MetS has been, and continues to be, an area of great interest and robust research and is generally accepted as a paradigm identifying patients at risk for CVD and T2DM, allowing for aggressive risk factor modification at an early stage of disease.
Noisy metabolism can drive the evolution of microbial cross-feeding

Cross-feeding, the exchange of nutrients between organisms, is ubiquitous in microbial communities. Despite its importance in natural and engineered microbial systems, our understanding of how cross-feeding arises is incomplete, with existing theories limited to specific scenarios. Here, we introduce a novel theory for the evolution of cross-feeding, which we term noise-averaging cooperation (NAC). NAC is based on the idea that, due to their small size, bacteria are prone to noisy regulation of metabolism which limits their growth rate. To compensate, related bacteria can share metabolites with each other to ``average out99 noise and improve their collective growth. This metabolite sharing among kin then allows for the evolution of metabolic interdependencies via gene deletions (this can be viewed as a generalization of the Black Queen Hypothesis). We first characterize NAC in a simple model of cell metabolism, showing that metabolite leakage can in principle substantially increase growth rate in a community context. Next, we develop a generalized framework for estimating the potential benefits of NAC among real bacteria. Using single-cell protein abundance data, we predict that bacteria suffer from substantial noise-driven growth inefficiencies, and may therefore benefit from NAC. Finally, we review existing evidence for NAC and outline potential experimental approaches to detect NAC in microbial communities.
Skeleton-Based Techniques for the Creative Synthesis of Structural Shapes

A dominant problem in engineering design is that very often an optimal design lies outside the search space defined at the start point of the design process. To access new state-space that may contain the optimal design, it is necessary to change the problem formulation during design by changing the design variables or grammar of the problem. This generation and exploration of new search spaces is referred to as creative design. We describe a creative shape generation methodology that combines ideas from computational geometry and numerical optimization and can synthesize and optimize shapes from high level functional specifications of performance requirements and design objectives. The methodology uses a geometric abstraction of shape—the skeleton—as the basis for shape representation and parameterization. This parameterization supports creative design as it is adaptive and changes throughout the design process to accommodate the shape changes that occur. The design process iterates on the construction of skeletonbased design spaces and the formulation of search problems that explore these spaces. This methodology is capable of generating new shapes with geometries and topologies significantly different from those of the starting shape and which lie outside the initial design space. Two examples illustrate the implemented synthesis process.
Use of 10-formyl-5,8-dideazafolate as substrate for rat 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the use of 10-formyl-5,8-dideazafolate as substrate for rat 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase. 10-formyltetrahydrofolate (10-HCO-H 4 PteGlu) is susceptible to oxidative degradation and must be protected by reducing agents during synthesis and use in enzyme assays. The (6R,S)-10-HCO-H4PteGlu, while highly unstable, is easily generated from stable, commercially available (6R,S)-5-HCO-HaPteGlu in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME), using the method of Rabinowitz. The 10-formyl-5,8-dideazafolate was originally synthesized as a quinazoline analog of folic acid. It was found to be a modest inhibitor of rat liver dihydrofolate reductase and had activity against L1210 leukemia in mice. The oxidation of 10-formyl-5,8-dideazafolate is followed by the production of 5,8-dideazafolate at 295 nm 6 or NADPH at 340 nm. The absorption of 5,8-dideazafolate at 340 nm is reflected in the adjusted extinction coefficient for NADPH. The absorption of NADPH at 295 nm is approximately 2% of the extinction coefficient for 5,8-dideazafolate and is ignored. Hydrolase activity is followed by the production of 5,8-dideazafolate at 295 nm in the presence of 100 m M 2-ME. The assay may be run at room temperature. Assays of crude extracts require the removal of low molecular weight compounds by spin column desalting.
Examining the WorkFORCE™ Assessment for Job Fit and Core Capabilities of FACETS™

This report introduces the WorkFORCE™ Assessment for Job Fit, a personality assessment utilizing the FACETS™ core capability, which is based on innovations in forced-choice assessment and computer adaptive testing. The instrument is derived from the five-factor model (FFM) of personality and encompasses a broad spectrum of personality assessment. This document provides an overview of the assessment, beginning with detailing evidence-based practices for personality measurement and modeling its relationship to workplace outcomes. We address the validity and fairness of this assessment, the creation of composite scores, and the generalizability of the assessment across languages and job types. We conclude with recommendations on the use of this capability for workforce applications and guidelines for future research.
A Scenario for Strong Gravity without Extra Dimensions

A different reason for the apparent weakness of the gravitational interaction is advanced, and its consequences for Hawking evaporation of a Schwarzschild black hole are investigated. A simple analytical formulation predicts that evaporating black holes will undergo a type of phase transition resulting in variously long-lived objects of reasonable sizes, with normal thermodynamic properties and inherent duality characteristics. Speculations on the implications for particle physics and for some recently-advanced new paradigms are explored.
Fabrication of Thin‐Films Composed of ZnO Nanorods Using Electrophoretic Deposition

We have investigated a template-free electrophoretic deposition (EPD) process using preformed ZnO nanorods suspended in isopropanol. The preformed ZnO nanorods were synthesized using a solvothermal reaction under different conditions of temperature and time. The length of the resulting ZnO nanorods depended on conditions of synthesis. The powders of ZnO nanorods were then suspended in isopropanol. Electrophoretic mobility of the ZnO nanorods was measured and zeta potential calculated. Thin-films comprised of ZnO nanorods were fabricated on transparent conductive oxide glass using EPD. Resulting ZnO thin-films were smooth and uniform, and film-weight was controlled by changing the voltage that was applied as well as the time of deposition. These thin-films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy methods. To illustrate one application of these electrophoretically deposited materials, the films of both ZnO nanorods and nanopowders were used as photoelectrodes of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) and their performance tested. The DSCs fabricated with a film of ZnO nanorods showed higher efficiency than those of ZnO nanopowders.
Massive Lepton Pair Production — the Drell-Yan Process — with Nuclear Targets

The Drell-Yan process, hA → (μμ-)X, in which a massive lepton-pair is produced inclusively from a nuclear target, offers the possibility for gaining unique insight into the A dependence of the quark and antiquark densities of nuclei, qA(x,Q2) and q-A(x,Q2). Measurements are crucial for testing whether the A dependence of deep-inelastic structure functions, known as the EMC effect, is a universal, process independent property of parton densities. Precise experiments with pion and nucleon beams on nuclear targets would extend knowledge of the A dependence of quark and antiquark densities of nuclei into important intervals of the fractional longitudinal momentum variable x which are not accessible easily in deep inelastic scattering. Models constructed to interpret the EMC effect are used to obtain predictions for the A dependence of massive lepton pair production. For tests of quantum chromodynamics, isolating nuclear dependence is necessary before definite conclusions can be drawn on the behavior of the pion structure function and on the magnitude and kinematic variation of predicted higher order terms (K factor). I indicate the sensitive regions of phase space and the increased level of experimental precision which is needed if a contribution is to be made to isolating the A dependence of quark and antiquark densities from the Drell-Yan process.
Retrofit of a high power Nd:glass laser system with liquid crystal polarizers

The glass development laser (GDL), has been operating at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics since 1978. This Nd:phosphate glass system produces high peak power optical radiation at lambda = 1054 nm or lambda = 351 nm for use in studying the interaction physics of intense laser beams with matter. The amplifier staging incorporates the propagation of linearly and circularly polarized light in rod amplifiers which vary in diameter from 16 mm to 90 mm. Numerous quartz or mica quarter waveplates and Brewster angle dielectric thin film polarizers are required to limit accumulated phase retardation between amplification stages and to accommodate interstage Pockels' cell isolation switches. We have recently replaced most of the waveplate-dielectric polarizer combinations in GDL with liquid crystal polarizers. Comprised of 11 ..mu..m thick cholesteric fluids sandwiched between optical quality glass plates, liquid crystal polarizers provide excellent polarization properties, low insertion loss, angular insensitivity, and laser damage resistance at lambda = 1054 nm. The design, fabrication, and performance of left-handed and right-handed circular polarizers will be discussed.
Two-photon spectroscopy of symmetric donor/acceptor substituted conjugated molecules

Summary form only given. The design of two-photon absorbing chromophores for applications such as optical limiting, fluorescence imaging and microfabrication, relies on the availability of detailed structure-property relationships for the two-photon response. In this presentation we will discuss the two-photon absorption spectra for donor-/spl pi/-donor (D-/spl pi/-D), donor-/spl pi/-acceptor-/spl pi/-donor (D-A-D) and acceptor-/spl pi/-donor-/spl pi/-acceptor (A-D-A) molecules (where /spl pi/ is a biphenyl, a polyenic-type or bis(styryl)benzene-type /spl pi/-bridge), which have been measured using the two-photon induced fluorescence method.
AUTOREGULATORY FUNCTIONING OF A DROSOPHILA GENE PRODUCT THAT ESTABLISHES AND MAINTAINS THE SEXUALLY DETERMINED STATE

Sxl appears to head a regulatory gene hierarchy that controls Drosophila sexual dimorphism in response to the X chromosome/autosome balance. Only XXAA cells normally have Sxl(+) activity. It maintains both the female morphogenetic sequence and a level of X-linked dosage-compensated gene expression compatible with diplo-X cell survival. In the absence of this activity, male sexual development and dosage-compensated gene hyperactivation ensure. Loss-of-function Sxl mutations generally have female-specific lethal effects caused by upsets in dosage compensation. New female-viable Sxl mutant alleles and combinations which lack Sxl's female sex determination function, yet still provide sufficient dosage compensation function for diplo-X survival, are described here. Consequently, such mutants cause genotypic females to develop as phenotypic males. Some of these sex-transforming Sxl mutants do not require the maternally produced da(+) activity that is normally essential for the functioning of zygotic Sxl alleles. In this paper, products of these unusual alleles are shown to act in trans to induce the expression of zygotic Sxl(+) alleles that would otherwise be unable to function due to a lack of maternal da(+) activity. This result indicates a third function for Sxl(+) product: a positive autoregulatory role. Controls for the autoregulation experiments demonstrated the sex-trans-forming epigenetic effect of the da mutation for the first time in diploids. In these experiments the female-specific zygotic lethal effects that normally would have accompanied loss of maternal da(+) activity were suppressed by mutations known to block dosage-compensation gene hyperactivation-the autosomal, male-specific lethals. Three types of abnormal sexual phenotypes were produced in the experiments described here, each with important implications for the mechanism of sex determination: (1) a true intersex phenotype produced by one particular Sxl allele shows that Sxl(+) must be involved in the cellular response to the X/A balance rather than in its establishment; (2) a maternally induced, female-sterile phenotype indicates that either the process of autoregulation or the mutants used to demonstrate it are tissue specific and (3) a mosaic intersexual phenotype whose character implies that the Sxl(+ ) activity level is set early in development, both by the da( +)-mediated X/A balance signal and by autoregulation, and is maintained subsequently in a cell autonomous fashion, independent of the initiating X/A balance signal. Thus, this study supports the view that sex determination is truly determinative in the standard developmental sense, and that Sxl is the carrier of the sexually determined state.
The hippocampus and the brain: a neural network model

A brain-mapped neural network that combines attentional and configural mechanisms is able to characterize the attributes of multiple classical conditioning paradigms and to describe the effects of many neurophysiological manipulations. As shown in Buhusi and Schmajuk (1996), the attentional-configural model describes neural activity in several brain regions. As also shown in Buhusi and Schmajuk (1996), the attentional-configural model has been applied to the description of the effects of lesions. Schmajuk and Buhusi (1997) illustrated how the configural model correctly describes the effect of these lesions on discrimination paradigms in which stimuli can act as a simple conditioned stimulus (CS) or an occasion setter. Buhusi, et al. (1998) showed that the model can offer a resolution for the apparently conflicting results of hippocampal selective and nonselective lesions on latent inhibition. Schmajuk, et al. (1998) showed that the attentional model offers a description of the interaction between the procedural design and administration of dopaminergic drugs on latent inhibition. Many times, the effect of brain manipulations seems to be specific to the parametric conditions of the experiment, duration of the CS in the case of hippocampal lesions and trace conditioning, procedure and total time of preexposure in the case of hippocampal lesions and latent inhibition, and CS and unconditioned stimulus (US) intensity and duration in the case of dopaminergic agents and latent inhibition. The specificity of these results is well captured by the neural network approaches described in this article. We can now describe, in terms of the model, the functional anatomy of eyeblink conditioning, in animals and humans presented. Although the combination of traditional and advanced technologies can bring an enormous amount of exciting information about how different regions in the human brain participate in eyeblink conditioning, our understanding of the functionality of these regions can only be achieved with the help of formal neural network models.
KRAS Mutations in Mucinous Lesions of the Uterus

Objectives: The current study examined the KRAS mutation status in a spectrum of mucinous lesions of the uterus, including mucinous metaplasia (MM), atypical mucinous proliferation (AMP), endocervical mucosa, and microglandular hyperplasia (MGH). Methods: Thirty-nine cases, including 15 AMPs, nine MMs, nine MGHs, and six normal endocervical mucosas, were selected from the departmental archive. All AMP cases with follow-up biopsies or hysterectomies were reviewed. Genomic DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue and KRAS codons 12 and 13 sequence analyzed. Results: KRAS codon 12 and 13 mutations were detected in 10 (67%) of the 15 AMP cases. No KRAS mutations were identified in MMs, MGHs, and endocervical mucosas ( P = .002, AMP vs MM or MGH, Fisher exact test). Most women with AMP were postmenopausal (13/15 [86.7%]) and presented with dysfunctional uterine bleeding. Among the 10 cases of AMP harboring KRAS mutations, six (60%) cases were subsequently diagnosed with carcinoma, one with atypical complex hyperplasia, and two with AMP within endometrial polyps. Conclusions: The results suggest a possible association between KRAS mutations and mucinous differentiation in endometrial carcinogenesis. KRAS status can help in assessing benign from precursor or malignant mucinous lesions as well as differentiate endometrial lesions from those of cervical origin.
Identification of YsaP, the Pilotin of the Yersinia enterocolitica Ysa Type III Secretion System

ABSTRACT Secretins are multimeric outer membrane pore-forming proteins found in complex export systems in Gram-negative bacteria. All type III secretion systems (T3SSs) have a secretin, and one of these is the YsaC secretin of the chromosomally encoded Ysa T3SS of Yersinia enterocolitica. In some cases, pilotin proteins, which are outer membrane lipoproteins, are required for their cognate secretins to multimerize and/or localize to the outer membrane. However, if secretin multimers mislocalize to the inner membrane, this can trigger the protective phage shock protein (Psp) stress response. During a screen for mutations that suppress YsaC toxicity to a psp null strain, we isolated several independent mutations predicted to increase expression of the YE3559 gene within the Ysa pathogenicity island. YE3559, which we have named ysaP , is predicted to encode a small outer membrane lipoprotein, and this location was confirmed by membrane fractionation. Elevated ysaP expression increased the steady-state level of YsaC but made it less toxic to a psp null strain, and it also decreased YsaC-dependent induction of psp gene expression. Subsequent experiments showed that YsaP was not required for YsaC multimerization but was required for the multimers to localize to the outer membrane. Consistent with this, a ysaP null mutation compromised protein export by the Ysa T3SS. All these observations suggest that YsaP is the pilotin for the YsaC secretin. This is only the second pilotin to be characterized for Yersinia and one of only a small number of pilotins described for all bacteria. IMPORTANCE Secretins are essential for the virulence of many bacterial pathogens and also play roles in surface attachment, motility, and competence. This has generated considerable interest in understanding how secretins function. However, their fundamental differences from typical outer membrane proteins have raised various questions about secretins, including how they are assembled into outer membrane multimers. Pilotin proteins facilitate the assembly of some secretins, but only a small number of pilotins have been identified, slowing efforts to understand common and distinct features of secretin assembly. This study provides an important advance by identifying a novel member of the pilotin family and also demonstrating a method of pilotin discovery that could be broadly applied.
Outcome of induction immunosuppression for liver transplantation comparing anti‐thymocyte globulin, daclizumab, and corticosteroid

Summary In addition to standard corticosteroid induction, anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) or daclizumab as induction immunosuppression has been reported for liver transplantation. However, the effects and long-term outcomes of antibody induction therapy are not well known, especially for hepatitis C (HCV). The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database was utilized to analyze 16 898 adult primary liver transplant patients who received ATG alone (n = 452), ATG and steroids (ATG + S) (n = 1758), daclizumab alone (n = 683), or steroid alone (n = 14 005), listed as induction immunosuppression. Graft and patient survival, and donor and recipient factors for survival were analyzed for HCV and all liver diseases. For patients with HCV, ATG + S had significantly inferior graft survival compared with daclizumab (P = 0.01) and steroids (P = 0.03). The Cox proportional hazards model also showed that ATG + S was a marginal risk factor for graft failure (P = 0.05). On the other hand, for patients with all the liver diseases, graft and patient survival were not significantly different between induction regimens. ATG induction appeared to be preferentially used in patients with renal dysfunction, with improvement in renal function after liver transplantation. Thus, ATG induction can be used for patients with renal dysfunction in non-HCV diseases. Daclizumab induction achieved satisfactory short-term and long-term outcomes of liver transplantation in all the liver diseases including HCV disease.
Improvements in the Linear Programming Iterative Algorithm

This note presents a technique for improving the computational efficiency of both triangular crash and primal linear programming algorithms. Triangular crashing is a specialized iterative technique often used to produce a good starting basis for solving linear programming problems. It gains speed by omitting part of the Simplex process but requires that ensuing incoming vectors have zero valued updated elements on previous pivot positions—hence "triangular". If a non-trivial basis exists, there is a substantial wasted effort in updating candidates which subsequently fail the triangularity test. This note contains a computationally more efficient triangular crashing algorithm, included in the LP2900 code, which detects non-triangularity without updating, enabling it to be used with a non-trivial basis. It is indicated that incorporating this algorithm into the primal iterative cycle just prior to reinversion will reduce the average time per iteration for the primal phase.
Direct hypophysial inhibition of luteinizing hormone release by dopamine in the rabbit.

Abstract The role and site of action of dopamine in regulating gonadotropin secretion remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the possibility that dopamine regulates LH secretion by acting directly on the pituitary gland of the rabbit. The effect of dopamine infusion on LHRH-evoked LH release was determined in intact and pituitary stalk sectioned animals. Intravenous injection of LHRH (1 μg) in intact and acutely stalk sectioned rabbits increased peripheral plasma LH levels from a resting value of 0.2 ng/ml to maximal values of 12–14 ng/ml within 10–20 min. When dopamine was infused iv at a dose of 6.6 μg/min/kg BW from 30 min before LHRH injection until 120 min after, the rise in plasma LH levels in intact and stalk sectioned animals was decreased by 50–70%. However, dopamine infused at a lower dose (0.66 μg/min/kg BW) or at a higher dose (66.0 μg/min/kg BW), did not affect the LHRH-induced secretion of LH. These results suggest that dopamine can exert a direct hypophysial inhibitory effect on release of LH. They also demonstrate that dopamine is inhibitory only within a restricted dose-range, extending to the pituitary an established property of dopamine in the cardiovascular system.
Late (five to eight years) clinical and angiographic assessment of patients undergoing successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty

Abstract Little is known concerning the late outcome of patients after successful percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). In particular, the angiographic assessment of coronary anatomy late after PTCA is lacking. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to obtain clinical and angiographic information in a consecutive cohort of patients in whom initial PTCA was successful and in whom ≥5 years had elapsed. Furthermore, we attempted to correlate the angiographic status of the initial PTCA site with clinical status at late follow-up.
From Idea to Action Notes for a Contingency Theory of the Policy Implementation Process

Implementation studies appearing since 1973 show a disappointing lack of convergence that may be due to different, often implicit, conceptualizations of implementation. They range from "classical" linear models linking policy or statute with execution to "circular, " "adaptive, " or "evolutionary" concepts that envisage a more dynamic interaction between the making and implementation of policy. It is suggested that the wide range of possible situations calls for a contingent theory linking policy to implementation. Such a theory demands a conceptual model that is abstract enough to accommodate diversity and to recognize that failure to implement policies or programs is not an aberration. A model is presented that meets these specifications: the Policy-Program-Implementation Process (PPIP) model, which can serve as a conceptual framework for developing contingent theories of policy implementation in the future.
Optimal relaxation of I/O electrical requirements under packaging uncertainty by stochastic methods

Fast and accurate evaluation of system failure rate is performed using stochastic collocation methods. First, we demonstrate that variability in I/O performance, such as driven voltage and slew rate, will impact failure probability of the link. For instance, higher slew rates will lead to increased levels of crosstalk between signals. Crosstalk above a certain threshold can be an indicator of system failure. Then, we demonstrate that by defining an upper bound for failure probability, an optimally relaxed set of I/O performance metrics can be generated corresponding to a stochastic interconnect model. This can be achieved by minimizing a cost function formulated with some performance metric, if these metrics are random variables. Lastly, we demonstrate that, if more information about the packaging design becomes available, the randomness of the interconnect model can be reduced, leading to a more relaxed set of I/O performance metrics. The method proposed in [1] is then be used to verify that the packaging design will meet the tolerated failure probability.
Junctional diversification in the generation of the precursor of a discrete immune response

Phosphocholine (PC)-specific antibodies that arise in the mouse in response to Proteus morganii (PM) and use V1-DFL16.1-JH1 are characterized by a number of recurring mutations. Most striking is an invariant A for G substitution in codon 95 of VH which results in an asparagine instead of aspartate at that position. Because of the apparent importance of this substitution in an anti-PC(PM) response, we wanted to determine the molecular basis for this base change. A cDNA library derived from pre-immune splenic B cells was examined for the frequency of VDJ containing the A substitution at 95 and the presence of additional point mutations in these sequences. Six different cDNA were isolated which contained an A substitution at the VD junction (frequency 0.00009); a seventh positive cDNA could not be examined. The V segments of four of these cDNA matched known germline genes and were, therefore, unmutated. Two others closely matched V in families whose members have not all been characterized, hence, it is not known whether the mutations observed are somatic or germline in origin. Sequences of 35 cDNA clones, containing the same V segment but differing in D, J and junctional nucleotides, revealed no mutations. These results indicate that the A substitution generated at codon 95 is most likely a product of V-DJ joining.
Arch structure and injury patterns in runners.

Abstract Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine if high-arched and low-arched runners exhibit different injury patterns. Design. Non-randomized, two-group injury survey. Background. Running-related injuries are thought to be related, in part, to lower extremity structure. High-arched and low-arched runners with their different bony architecture may exhibit very different lower extremity mechanics and, consequently, different injury patterns. It was hypothesized that high-arched runners will exhibit a greater incidence of lateral injuries, skeletal injuries and knee injuries while low-arched runners will show a greater incidence of medial injuries, soft tissue injuries and foot injuries. Methods. Twenty high-arched and 20 low-arched runners were included in this study. Running-related injuries were recorded and divided into injury patterns of medial/lateral, bony/soft tissue and knee/foot and ankle for both high-arched and low-arched runners. A χ2 analysis was then employed in an attempt to associate injury patterns with arch structure. Results. High-arched runners reported a greater incidence of ankle injuries, bony injuries and lateral injuries. Low-arched runners exhibited more knee injuries, soft tissue injuries and medial injuries. Conclusions. Based on these results, high and low arch structure is associated with different injury patterns in runners. Relevance Different injury patterns are present in individuals with extreme high arches when compared to those with extremely low arches. These relationships may lead to improved treatment and intervention strategies for runners based on their predisposing foot structure.
Basic creep of hardened cement paste A re-examination of the role of water

A re-examination of the role which water plays in the creep process of hardened cement paste (hcp) was made using a differential thermogravimetric technique. Prior to creep experiments in a controlled humidity chamber, very thin specimens of cement paste (<1 mm) were subjected to various drying regimes including exchange of water with organic solvents for 48 h followed by a gentle drying procedure. Cement paste specimens with or without evaporable water will exhibit significant creep suggesting a mechanism involving microsliding between C-S-H sheets.