cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
THE COAGULATION OF MYOSIN IN MUSCLE.

The coagulation of myosin is one of the few changes in the proteins of muscle known to take place during contraction and rigor. Although under certain conditions as much as one-third of the total protein of muscle may become insoluble, the significance of this change for the shortening of muscle is not understood. And yet the recognition of a definite transformation in the substance of muscle should be of value in investigating the mechanism of contraction, especially when one recalls that nearly all of those abortive theories of contraction that have been formulated since the time of Descartes have been based on knowledge of systems supposed to be analogous to muscle, rather than on a knowledge of the properties of living muscle itself. As a step towards an understanding of the chemical properties of the "living machinery" of muscle (as distinguished from the metabolic transformations in muscle) I have, accordingly, investigated the coagulation of myosin. I have already shown how the coagulation of myosin in muscle is related to the denaturation and coagulation of isolated myosin (Mirsky, 1935-36 and 1936-37). By measurements of protein sulfhydryl groups it was found that the coagulation of myosin in muscle differs from the coagulation of myosin and other proteins brought about by the usual denaturing agents (such as heat and acid) but resembles the coagulation of myosin caused by dehydration. At this point it is important to recall that when myosin is said to coagulate in muscle it is not supposed that myosin actually precipitates from solution. In muscle probably only a very small part of the myosin present is dissolved (Smith, 1934). That there is a change in myosin in muscle is inferred from the fact that at one time the protein can be dissolved in certain media in which at another time it cannot be dissolved; the myosin is said to have coagulated. Apparently myosin in muscle can pass from one gel state to another. How these states differ will be considered in this paper.
QCD Phase transition for Nt = 8 on 163 and 323 volumes

Abstract We report on 323 volume, ma=0.004 results suggesting second order behavior for the QCD phase transition. We have collected 1000 and 500 time units for the “ordered” and “disordered” runs respectively. The first order signal seen on a 163 volume seem to disappear when the volume is increased to 323.
Effect of radiation techniques in treatment of oropharynx cancer.

Objectives: To compare the toxicity and outcomes of three radiotherapy techniques—three-dimensional conformal (3D-RT), accelerated fractionation with concomitant boost (AFxCB), and intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT)—in the combined modality treatment of stage III–IV squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the oropharynx. Study Design: Retrospective review. Methods: Between 1998 and 2007, a total of 87 patients were treated; 23 were treated with 3D-RT, 32 with AFxCB, and 32 with IMRT. Systemic therapy consisted of platinum-based chemotherapy in 81 and anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (anti-EGFR)-targeted therapy in 6 cases. Median radiotherapy doses were 70Gy with 3D-RT, 72Gy with AFxCB, and 69.3Gy with IMRT. Locoregional control, survival outcomes, and feeding tube (PEG) dependence were compared using log-rank method. The incidence of acute mucositis and skin reaction, and grade ≥2 xerostomia at 6, 12, and 18 months after radiotherapy was compared using Fisher's exact test. Results: Median follow-up was 24 months (range 3 to 103 months) for living patients. Two-year overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and locoregional control (LRC) were 77.3%, 69.5%, and 86.4%, respectively. There was a trend toward improvement in LRC in patients treated with IMRT. Acute grade ≥3 skin and mucosal toxicity were significantly lower with IMRT compared to AFxCB (P < .001). Grade ≥2 xerostomia was significantly reduced with IMRT compared to AFxCB and 3D-RT (P < .001). There was no difference in the actuarial rate of PEG dependence (P = .96). Conclusions: Compared to AFxCB and 3D-RT, IMRT confers an improvement in toxicity and appears to have similar efficacy in patients with SCC of the oropharynx.
Distribution of a renin-like enzyme in the bovine adrenal gland.

La glande surrenale bovine contient un enzyme qui reagit avec l'angiotensinogene pour former de l'angiotensine. L'enzyme est distribue dans toute la glande surrenale, en plus grande quantite dans la medullosurrenale et dans la veine centrale. Vu les effects bien connus de l'angiotensine sur la secretion de l'aldosterone et sur les catecholamines de la medullosurrenale, il est possible que l'enzyme «renine-semblable» influence les fonctions specifiques de la glande surrenale.
Regulation of pellet egestion: The effects of multiple feedings on meal to pellet intervals in great horned owls

Abstract 1. 1. Owls fed a meal of mice, divided into two or three equal portions and fed over a period of time, had a longer meal to pellet interval (MPI) than when a similar sized meal was ingested as one portion. 2. 2. Two of four owls occasionally egested a pellet after each portion of a meal fed at 1900 and 0700 hr on successive days, and the combined time of the two MPIs was always less than the MPI resulting from a single pellet egested after both portions of a similar sized meal had been ingested. 3. 3. The ingestion of one or two portions of a meal at intervals after ingestion of the initial portion partially interrupts gastric digestion of the initial portion. When multiple feedings were separated by sufficient time to permit digestion of the first portion to reach “Late Pellet Compaction” phase (Rhoades and Duke, Condor, 79, 328–334, 1977), a pellet was egested before the second portion was ingested.
Antibody Response of Genetically Susceptible and Resistant Chickens to Cell-Free and Attenuated JM-V Leukosis Strain and Its Influence on Early Type II (Marek’s) Leukosis Infection

Abstract Experiments were carried out to: 1) determine the antibody response of chickens to cell-free and attenuated preparations of JMV leukosis strain, 2) determine the differences in antibody response to these antigens between susceptible (P-line) and resistant (N-line) chickens by means of serum neutralization and indirect fluorescent antibody tests, 3) investigate the influence of maternal (passive) antibody on early (day-old) JMV vaccination and 4) investigate the influence of maternal antibody in chicks naturally exposed continuously to JM virus from day-old to 8 weeks of age on the pathogenesis of Type II leukosis (Marek’s) infections and oncogenesis.
Wetting Characteristics of Aqueous Surfactant-Laden Drops

Strategies to promote or control droplet spreading on solid surfaces is important to many industrial and biological processes. The manipulation of surface tension and contact angle by the addition of surface-active compounds to the bulk liquid of a drop offers one strategy for altering the adhesion tension maintaining drop integrity on a solid surface. Here, we present results of an experimental study of surfactant-laden drop behavior on solid surfaces. Wetting experiments were performed to determine how contact angles and contact angle hysteresis change with varying soluble surfactant concentration in the bulk liquid phase. Static, advancing, and receding contact angles of aqueous solutions of two different surfactants were measured over a wide range of surfactant concentrations on three different solids using an inclining surface. In general, adhesion tension increased and then plateaus as the surfactant concentration increased from very dilute values to higher concentrations. At surfactant concentrations above the critical micelle concentration, a continued decrease in contact angle was observed, leading to an increase in the adhesion tension. Subsequent experiments confirmed adsorption of surfactants to the solid substrate. Contact angle hysteresis was calculated from the experimental data. The behavior of the contact angle hysteresis was substrate and surfactant concentration dependent, but only at lower surfactant concentrations. Material combinations that led to partial wetting could be converted to complete wetting by the addition of sufficient surfactant in the bulk phase, but at the cost of increasing adsorption onto the solid, which restricts drop motion.
Ulcer detection in wireless capsule endoscopy video

Wireless Capsule Endoscopy (WCE) is a painless and noninvasive technique that allows physicians to visualize the entire small bowel. Before WCE was introduced, examining the entire small bowel was impossible without surgical procedure. Although WCE is a technology breakthrough, the manual video diagnosis session is time consuming and is prone to human cognition errors. Therefore, gastroenterologists urge computer vision researchers to develop computer-aided diagnosis systems to assist the review session. In this paper, we would like to present an ulcer detection scheme that identifies ulcers in WCE video. A saliency map is created by means of channel mixer to highlight suspicious regions. Once the suspicious regions are identified, we extract textural features along the contour and classify them using a trained classifier for ulcer validation.
Human microRNAs target a functionally distinct population of genes with AT-rich 3′ UTRs

While investigating microRNA targets, we have found that human genes divide into two roughly equal populations, based on the fraction of A plus T bases in their 3′ UTRs. Using the Gene Ontology database, we find significant functional differences between the two gene populations, with AT-rich genes implicated in transcription and translation processes, and GC-rich genes implicated in signal transduction and posttranslational protein modification. Better understanding of the background distribution of nucleotides in 3′ UTRs may allow improved prediction of microRNA-targeted genes in humans. We predict at least 1,200 KnownGene transcripts to be regulated by microRNAs. The large majority of these microRNA targets are in the AT-rich 3′ UTR population. However, notwithstanding this preference for AT-rich targets, microRNA targets are found preferentially to be regulatory genes themselves, including both transcription factors and posttranslational modifiers. These results suggest that some processes involving mRNA, of which microRNA regulation may be just one, require AT-richness of 3′ UTRs for functionality. A relationship, not simply one-to-one, between these 3′ UTR populations and large-scale genomic isochores is described.
Validation of the Use of Middlebrook 7H10 Agar, BACTEC MGIT 960, and BACTEC 460 12B Media for Testing the Susceptibility of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to Levofloxacin

Levofloxacin, the active l-isomer of the quinolone ofloxacin, is now widely accepted for treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Because the drug is now widely used, we sought to establish susceptibility test conditions for Mycobacterium tuberculosis against levofloxacin by the traditional reference method, agar proportion (AP), the commonly used BACTEC 460 radiometric system, and the newer BACTEC MGIT 960 method. To determine the stability of levofloxacin in the two newer test systems (BACTEC 460 and BACTEC MGIT 960), media containing subinhibitory levels of levofloxacin were prepared and stored at 4 and 37 degrees C for 14 days. The stored media were inoculated with H37Rv, and the drug activity was compared to freshly prepared media. Results show that levofloxacin is stable over the course of testing. Next, optimum levofloxacin test concentrations were determined for AP, BACTEC 460, and BACTEC MGIT 960 methods. MICs were determined for 32 pan-susceptible isolates of M. tuberculosis obtained from presumably untreated patients and 14 quinolone-resistant isolates. The levofloxacin-resistant strains either were isolated from patients who remained culture-positive despite treatment with a quinolone agent (six strains) or contained known mutations in gyrA (eight strains). Levofloxacin MICs resulted in a bimodal pattern with values for resistant strains consistently higher than those for pan-susceptible strains. Results show that levofloxacin concentrations of 2 microg/ml (BACTEC 460 and BACTEC MGIT 960) and 1 microg/ml (AP) inhibited the growth of all pan-susceptible strains while permitting the growth of all levofloxacin-resistant strains. Confirmatory tests with a subset of pan-susceptible and levofloxacin-resistant isolates validated the selected test concentrations.
Compounds of alkaline-earth and divalent rare-earth metals stabilized by hydrogen impurities. The Yb5Sb3 and Mn5Si3 structure types for pnictides

Abstract All eight reported examples of the orthorhombic (β−)Yb5Sb3-type structure are ternary hydrides, namely, A5(Sb,Bi)3H for ACa, Sr, Eu, Yb. One additional example is Sm5Bi3H. These may be obtained in quantitative yields through the inclusion of AH2 in the syntheses. On the contrary, heating these products or the elementary reactants at 900–1100 °C in high vacuum while sealed in Ta regularly affords only hexagonal Mn5Si3-type products, i.e., A5Pn3 for ACa, Sr, Ba, Sm, Eu or Yb, PnAs, Sb or Bi, except for As with Ba or Sm. The examples with Ca5Bi3, Eu5(Sb,Bi)3 and Yb5Bi3 are new. Several problems with supposedly dimorphic phases are thus clarified. The hydrogen content of the typical sublimed or distilled alkaline-earth metals is often particularly serious (∼ 6–20 at.% H). The A5Pn3 phases with either structure type take up variable amounts of hydrogen and thereby exhibit significant variations in their individual lattice constants.
Carbamazepine‐Induced Release of Serotonin from Rat Hippocampus In Vitro

Summary: Purpose: Carbamazepine is one of several antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) that release the inhibitory neurotransmitter serotonin as part of their pharmacodynamic action on brain neurons. We undertook this study to investigate the cellular processes by which carbamazepine (CBZ) releases serotonin from brain tissue. Methods: Tissue slices were prepared from hippocampi of Sprague-Dawley rats. These hippocampal slices were preincubated in vitro in a buffer so that neurons within the slice would take up tritium-labeled serotonin. Subsequently the slices were superfused with buffer containing CBZ or other chemicals (or both) that increase the overflow of serotonin radioactivity. Results: Carbamazepine produced a concentration-dependent (50, 125, 250, or 500 μM) increase in basal overflow of serotonin radioactivity from superfused rat hippocampal slices in vitro. In contrast, these concentrations did not alter potassium-stimulated release, suggesting that the CBZ-induced release does not depend on depolarization or exocytosis. Blockade of the neuronal membrane serotonin transporter by fluoxetine (1 μM) or citaloprarn (2 μM) did not alter overflow of serotonin radioactivity produced by 250 μM CBZ. p-chloramphetamine (10 μM) produced a substantial increase in overflow of serotonin radioactivity, and this effect appears to be antagonized by 250 μM CBZ. Uptake of [3H]-labeled serotonin into hippocampal synaptosomes was inhibited by CBZ with a median inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 511 ± 33 μM and a Hill coefficient of 0.87 ± 0.11, suggesting competitive inhibition of uptake by CBZ. Conclusions: We conclude that CBZ (a) releases serotonin from hippocampal slices independent of exocytosis and by a mechanism not involving the neuronal membrane serotonin transporter, and (b) at high enough concentration, blocks the neuronal serotonin transporter.
Patterns of Secularization and Religious Rationalization in Emile Durkheim and Max Weber

Emile Durkheim’s and Max Weber’s sociologies of religion contain three different patterns of secularization and religious rationalization: the unilinear, the dialectical, and the nonlinear (which includes the paradoxical). Based on an analysis of Durkheim’s and Weber’s writings on religion, this paper argues that the process of religious rationalization and secularization is not always linear but can also take place in a dialectical or paradoxical manner. Whereas in the unilinear and dialectical theories of religious rationalization and secularization there is a progressive development, in the nonlinear or paradoxical theory, development is arrested. While the unilinear and dialectical theories are associated with the Occidental development to modernity, the paradoxical nature of theoretical religious rationalization was characteristic of the “arrested” development of the Orient, while the paradoxical aspects of secularization are associated with unresolved contradictions of modernity (the postmodern).
A linguistically motivated approach to grapheme-to-phoneme conversion for Korean

Abstract This paper describes a hand-written rule-based grapheme-to-phoneme (GTP) conversion system for Korean built within the Festival text-to-speech (TTS) synthesis framework. The core of the GTP conversion system is a simple implementation of nine linguistically motivated morphophonological rules. These rules, which are well known to students of Korean linguistics, were implemented in Festival rewrite formalism, and were applied to 1.3 million distinct orthographic words (space-delimited eojeols) from the Korean Newswire corpus. The outputs were evaluated against a representative subset of eojeols. The subset was examined by three native speakers of Korean, who judged 91.17% of the word types in a stratified sample of Korean eojeols to be acceptable pronunciations, which means that our system converted 99.63% of the grapheme tokens correctly. This performance is comparable to that obtained from earlier studies such as Kim et al. [Morpheme-based grapheme to phoneme conversion using phonetic patterns and morphophonemic connectivity information. ACM Transactions on Asian Language Information Processing 1 (1) (2002) 65–82] which, contrary to our system, used an elaborate morphological analysis module. This is evidence of the potential benefit of well-abstracted linguistic knowledge. In addition, because our approach is based on well-known linguistic principles, error analysis is fairly straightforward. Straightforward error analysis is an essential step in knowing what features are likely to be informative in training a hybrid system where exceptions to rules are handled by a machine-learning component.
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY OF AGED FREE AND RESTRAINED BOVINE MUSCLE

Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate changes in the membranous structures and in the myofibrils of free and restrained bovine muscle on aging. The various components of the sarcolemma were identified and the extensive ultrastructural changes in this complex membranous structure during postmortem aging are described. Possible contributions of the structural components of the sarcolemma, particularly the collagen fibrils and the amorphous layers, to tenderness are discussed Progressive disruptions in the Z line and breaks at the Z-I junction occurred in both free and restrained myofibrils during aging.
Nursing and Respiratory Collaboration Prevents BiPAP-Related Pressure Ulcers

In early 2012, an increase in the incidence of BiPAP-related pressure ulcers was noted in the progressive care unit of a large pediatric facility. An interdisciplinary team of nursing and respiratory staff and leadership formed a collaborative to address the gaps in practice, recommend, and implement evidence-based interventions using a quality improvement model. Interventions included piloting new masks, changing the skin barrier from a hydrocolloid dressing to a foam dressing and using a template for better fit, including skin assessments every 4 hours as part of nursing and respiratory therapists' workflow, and implementing a notification process that included Wound Ostomy Continence Nurses, respiratory, and nursing leadership for any redness of skin noted. Weekly rounding and communication by nursing and respiratory leadership ensured consistency and sustainability of practice. Aside from implementation of interventions, the primary focus was to develop a collaborative relationship between nursing and respiratory teams for shared ownership and accountability of patients on BiPAP support. Three months after the implementation of interventions, the occurrence of BiPAP-related pressure ulcers decreased from eleven in the first three quarters to one occurrence in the fourth quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2012. In 2013, the occurrence decreased to five for the entire fiscal year. Since the end of FY 2013, there has only been one occurrence of a BiPAP-related pressure ulcer in the progressive care unit. Close collaboration between respiratory and nursing has been the primary factor in decreasing BiPAP-related pressure ulcers. An important lesson learned is that interdisciplinary collaboration leads to improved patient outcomes.
Stiffness and Damping Evaluation of Air Bearing Sliders and New Designs With High Damping

We apply the dynamic simulation and modal analysis method to analyze the dynamic properties of slider-air bearings. First, the theoretical background and proposed methods are described. Then, five basic types, one of which is first proposed in this paper, of the air bearing surfaces (ABS) are briefly discussed. The dynamic properties of the sliders are investigated, and compared with each other. It is found that a negative pressure slider has the highest stiffness and lowest damping, the TPC and two newly proposed sliders demonstrate higher damping. Finally, the general ABS design problem is briefly discussed. A new advanced slider is designed, analyzed, and compared with the other sliders. The air bearing of the new slider design has larger stiffness and the highest damping of those studied.
The correction of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor concentration-response relationships in Xenopus oocytes

The rapid desensitization of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) has presented a serious problem for the characterization of this receptor subtype, potentially confounding the interpretation of concentration-response relationships. However, the consistency of cell geometry and solution flow in oocyte recordings permits estimations of instantaneous concentrations to be made in this system. Results interpreted with predicted instantaneous concentrations suggest that estimates of EC50 derived from conventional analysis may overestimate the actual EC50 values by a factor of 10 and underestimate Hill slopes by a factor of 2-3. If the limiting desensitization process of alpha7 receptors is driven by the agonist concentration itself rather than by time-dependent processes, then similar dependencies may exist between the response and instantaneous agonist concentration in other systems.
Observer-based robust fault detection of multirate linear system using a lift reformulation

Abstract This paper presents observer-based robust fault detection for multirate sampled-data linear system. It is assumed that all plant inputs are updated with a unique sampling period and that the plant outputs are sampled uniformly at integer multiples of the input sampling period. A state observer is constructed, as in the single-rate case, and a residual generator is derived. The paper shows that the residual signals can be decoupled from noise and disturbances. An illustrative numerical example is provided.
The influence of lipoproteins on whole-blood viscosity at multiple shear rates

Whole-blood viscosity appears to be an independent predictor of stroke, carotid intima-media thickening, and carotid atherosclerosis. The purpose of this study was to examine for relationships between whole-blood viscosity and blood lipids in young healthy subjects over a range of shear rates. Twenty-seven healthy men and women aged 10 to 25 years having a range of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol values 88 to 258 mg/dL and body mass index z scores -1.18 to 2.64 SDs were studied. Whole-blood viscosity at shear rates from 1 to 1000 per second was measured using an automated capillary viscometer. Blood lipids were measured using standard techniques. Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins were isolated by ultracentrifugation at density of <1.020 g/mL, and a high ratio of cholesterol to triglyceride was used as an indicator of lipoprotein remnants. Whole-blood viscosity at shear rates of 100 to 1000 per second showed significant negative correlations with apolipoprotein A-1, but not with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Whole-blood viscosity at a shear rate of 1000 per second correlated with LDL cholesterol and inversely with LDL size. On stepwise multivariate analysis, apolipoprotein A-1 accounted for 14.7% of the variation in whole-blood viscosity at a shear rate of 150 per second. This study points to the importance of high-density lipoprotein particle number on whole-blood viscosity at physiological shear rates. The physiological significance of the relationships between whole-blood viscosity and LDL cholesterol and LDL particle size at a very high shear rate remains to be determined.
Education Fever and the East Asian Fertility Puzzle: A case study of low fertility in South Korea

Fertility throughout East Asia has fallen rapidly over the last five decades and is now below the replacement rate of 2.1 in every country in the region. Using South Korea as a case study, we argue that East Asia's ultra-low fertility rates can be partially explained by the steadfast parental drive to have competitive and successful children. Parents throughout the region invest large amounts of time and money to ensure that their children are able to enter prestigious universities and obtain top jobs. Accordingly, childrearing has become so expensive that the average couple cannot afford to have more than just one or two children. The trend of high parental investment in child education, also known as ‘education fever’, exemplifies the notion of ‘quality over quantity’ and is an important contributing factor to understanding low-fertility in East Asia.
Prevalence of Fosfomycin Resistance among CTX-M-Producing Escherichia coli Clinical Isolates in Japan and Identification of Novel Plasmid-Mediated Fosfomycin-Modifying Enzymes

We evaluated the in vitro activity of fosfomycin against a total of 192 CTX-M β-lactamase-producing Escherichia coli strains isolated in 70 Japanese clinical settings. Most of the isolates (96.4%) were found to be susceptible to fosfomycin. On the other hand, some of the resistant isolates were confirmed to harbor the novel transferable fosfomycin resistance determinants named FosA3 and FosC2, which efficaciously inactivate fosfomycin through glutathione S-transferase activity.
Rapamycin does not control hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in LCMV-infected perforin-deficient mice†‡

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is an immunodysregulatory disorder for which more effective treatments are needed. The macrolide rapamycin has immunosuppressive properties, making it an attractive candidate for controlling the aberrant T cell activation that occurs in HLH. To investigate its therapeutic potential, we used rapamycin to treat Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus (LCMV)-infected perforin-deficient (Prf1(-/-)) mice according to a well-established model of HLH. At the regimens tested, rapamycin did not improve weight loss, splenomegaly, hemophagocytosis, cytopenias, or proinflammatory cytokine production in LCMV-infected Prf1(-/-) animals. Thus, single agent rapamycin appears ineffective in treating the clinical and laboratory manifestations of LCMV-induced HLH.
Responsibility and the Abuse Excuse

Does a woman's being repeatedly battered by her husband excuse her killing him while he was asleep? This and similar questions are often dealt with by asking a more general question, “Should we accept abuse excuses?” These questions engender a lot of heat, but little light, in the media and other public forums, and even in the writings of many theorists. They have been discussed as if there is a typical abuse excuse we can examine in order to examine abuse excuses in general. Similarly, the question of whether we should accept abuse excuses has often been discussed as if it is simple and straightforward. But there is no one typical abuse excuse, and the question of whether to accept such excuses is neither simple nor straightforward. There are many different abuse excuses, many different circumstances in which they are deployed, and many different sorts of concerns motivating their use. In this, abuse excuses are just like other, well-accepted excuses, such as self-defense.
Production of DNA Strand Breaks by the Hydroxyl Radical

SummaryThe circular covalently-closed double-stranded replicative intermediate of ϕX174 DNA synthesis (replicative form I, RFI) was irradiated in nitrogen-saturated aqueous solution. Under these conditions, OH· and eaq− are the main primary radicals and the yield of H· is approximately one-fifth of the other two species. The DNA was protected from radiation-induced strand breaks by the hydroxyl radical scavengers, potassium ferrocyanide and potassium iodide. Addition of potassium permanganate, which reacts with the electron and the hydrogen radical, afforded little protection. Potassium nitrate, which is an efficient electron radical scavenger, produced little protection against strand breaks. The hydroxyl radical is apparently the important species of water radiolysis involved in secondary radiation damage to DNA expressed as strand breaks. An important feature of this study was that the analysis for radiation damage was performed without exposure of the DNA to extensive chemical treatment or unknown cel...
PaleoENM: applying ecological niche modeling to the fossil record

Abstract. Ecological niche modeling (ENM) is a quantitative approach to predict species' abiotic requirements. It is a correlative technique, requiring geographically explicit information on species occurrences and the suites of environmental conditions experienced at each occurrence point. The output of these models is a set of environmental suitability rules that can be projected geographically and through time to test biogeographic, ecologic, and evolutionary hypotheses. Although developed by biologists and used extensively in the modern, ENM is in its early stages of application to the deep-time fossil record (hence PaleoENM). In part its limited use in the fossil record thus far reflects themethodological challenge of constructing paleoenvironmental layers needed for PaleoENManalysis, whereas in the modern these layers are available from large public databases (e.g.,WorldClim). This paper provides a contextual and methodological framework for appropriately applying PaleoENM, including best practices ...
The crystal structure of a bimuth–transition metal phosphate Bi6TiP2O16

Abstract A single-crystal was selected from the reaction product of a stoichiometric mixture of Bi3PO7 to which was added 10% TiO2 and its crystal structure determined from three-dimensional X-ray diffraction data. The structure is monoclinic, a=11.233(2) A, b=5.410(1) A, c=11.233(2) A, β=95.13(3)°, space group I2, Z=2; least squares refinement was on F2 and converged to R1=0.0514, wR2=0.146 for 833 unique reflections. The crystal was twinned by a 180° rotoinversion about the [ 1 01] direction of the direct lattice, resulting in the interchange of the a and c axes. The structure consists of chains formed by edge sharing of OBi4 tetrahedra. The stacking along [100] consists of these chains bridged by layers formed by TiO6 octahedra and PO4 tetrahedra. The three crystallographically independent Bi ions are surrounded by eight oxygen ions that form two bicapped trigonal prisms and one distorted cubic environment, respectively. The Bi–O distances vary from 2.20(4) to 3.16(4) A. Ti is in octahedral environment in which the equatorial distances are 1.82(3) and 2.00(5) A and the apical distances are 2.14(4) A. The PO4 tetrahedron is nearly regular.
Single-Index Models

One of the most important tasks of applied econometrics and statistics is estimating a conditional mean function. For example, one may want to estimate the mean annual earnings of workers in a certain population as a function of observable characteristics such as level of education and experience in the workforce. As another example, one may want to estimate the probability that an individual is employed conditional on observable characteristics such as age, level of education, and sex.
Large-amplitude unsteady flow in liquid-filled elastic tubes

Unsteady, large-amplitude motion of a viscous liquid in a long elastic tube is investigated theoretically and experimentally, in the context of physiological problems of blood flow in the larger arteries. Based on the assumptions of long wavelength and longitudinal tethering, a quasi-one-dimensional model is adopted, in which the tube wall moves only radially, and in which only longitudinal pressure gradients and fluid accelerations are important. The effects of fluid viscosity are treated for both laminar and turbulent flow. The governing non-linear equations are solved analytically in closed form by a perturbation expansion in the amplitude parameter, and, for comparison, by numerical integration of the characteristic curves. The two types of solution are compared with each other and with experimental data. Non-linear effects due to large amplitude motion are found to be not as large as those found in similar problems in gasdynamics and water waves.
The role of nitrates in coronary heart disease.

The organic nitrates are a safe and effective choice for the management of ischemic syndromes related to coronary heart disease. Although the anti-ischemic effects of these compounds have been recognized for more than a century, the mechanisms by which they exert their beneficial effects are still being delineated. In addition to their well-established venodilative activity, nitrates are now known to cause vasorelaxation of coronary arteries, coronary stenoses, and coronary collateral vessels and to prevent episodic coronary constriction. An antiplatelet effect has also been hypothesized. The three nitrate compounds currently available in the United States—nitroglycerin, isosorbide dinitrate, and isosorbide mononitrate— are provided in a variety of dosage forms, including sublingual, transmucosal, oral, and transdermal preparations. The rapid- but short-acting nitrate preparations are useful in arresting and preventing acute attacks of angina pectoris, whereas longer-acting oral and transdermal formulations are indicated for the relief of chronic symptomatic and asymptomatic ischemia. The intermittent nitrate dosing regimens introduced in recent years have reduced the likelihood of tolerance, which greatly limited the usefulness of long-acting nitrates in the past. Intravenous infusion of nitroglycerin is particularly appropriate for the management of unstable angina and the early complications of acute myocardial infarction. Preliminary evidence suggests that intravenous nitroglycerin may also be beneficial in preventing postinfarction ventricular remodeling, although it cannot yet be recommended for this purpose. (Arch Intern Med. 1995;155:357-364)
Bounds on distributed TDOA-based localization of OFDM sources

One main drawback of using Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) methods for source localization and navigation is that they require centralization of multiple copies of a signal. This paper considers blindly estimating the location of a Cyclic Prefix (CP) in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal, enabling distributed TDOA computation up to an integer ambiguity. This ambiguity can be resolved using integer least-squares methods, if enough TDOAs are available. The contributions of this paper are derivation of the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) on locating the CP, and hence on the underlying source localization problem.
Spatial geometric arrangements of disulfide-crosslinked loops in nonplanar proteins

The method presented earlier [T. Kikuchi, G. Nemethy, and H.A. Scheraga, (1986) J. Comput. Chem.7, 67] for the classification of patterns of the three-dimensional folding of a covalently crosslinked polypeptide chain has been extended to nonplanar proteins. The procedure described earlier was applicable only to proteins termed planar, i.e., with a connexity of the crosslinks (e.g., disulfide bonds) that can be represented in a planar diagram. The procedure described in the present work is applicable to any (planar or nonplanar) pattern of crosslinking. The classification is based on a systematic and objective method of enumeration of spatial geometric arrangements of loops (SGAL) using no information other than the location of the disulfide bonds in the amino acid sequence. Various SGAL classes correspond to the presence of different ways of mutual penetration of loops, called thrustings and entanglements. Information on SGAL classes can be of use in structural predictions of folding patterns of proteins.
Impact of the addition of a rotor-mounted damper bar cage on the performance of samarium-cobalt permanent magnet brushless DC motor systems

The impact of the addition of rotor-mounted amortisseur damper bar cages on the performance of permanent magnet brushless DC motors is investigated. Extension of models in previous papers is used to include the effects of the damper bar cage for a 15 hp, 120 V, 6-pole motor system for which ample test data were available. The results obtained in the course of this investigation showed no adverse impact for these amortisseur damper bar systems on the overall performance (voltages, currents, losses) of the system throughout the various paths in the motor and power-conditioner circuitry. >
Situating anonymization within a privacy risk model

Privacy risk analysis of complex socio-technical systems suffers from an inadequate risk model that focuses primarily on some form of Fair Information Practice Principles (FIPPs). Anonymization as a privacy risk control suffers from an emphasis on risk of failure, neglecting the circumstances surrounding its selection as a risk control in the first place. By interrelating an enhanced privacy risk model that goes beyond FIPPs and an integrated anonymization framework, the selection and implementation of anonymization as a privacy risk control can be more systematically considered and carried out. The Science and Technology Directorate of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has sponsored development of both an integrated anonymization framework and an enhanced privacy risk model to support more effective privacy risk management. Both of these are described at a high level and their interoperability illustrated by application to the Google Street View controversy.
A new methodology for examining the efficacy of SBIRT protocols on reducing healthcare utilization and costs

Background There is increasing interest in deploying Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) practices in emergency departments (ED). However, the current literature is inconclusive on whether or not SBIRT practices are cost effective and cost beneficial. In order to answer this question, new analytical methods need to be developed. The objective of the following study was to pilot a new experimental methodology modeling costs using a multilevel generalized linear model (GLM) for studying the impact of SBIRT on healthcare utilization and costs.
Immediate functional recovery after six hours of regional ischemia by careful control of conditions of reperfusion and composition of reperfusate.

This study tests the hypothesis that (1) irreversible muscle damage does not occur after as long as 6 hours of ischemia before reperfusion, (2) immediate functional recovery is possible by controlling the conditions of reperfusion during total vented bypass and the composition of the reperfusate with substrate-enriched blood cardioplegic solution, and (3) such control can be accomplished without thoracotomy. Of 43 dogs undergoing 2 to 6 hours of left anterior descending coronary occlusion, seven were studied by ultrastructural and mitochondrial analyses after 6 hours of regional coronary occlusion without reperfusion. Sixteen other dogs were reperfused with normal blood, with the heart in the beating state after 2 to 4 hours of ischemia, and 20 dogs received regional substrate-enriched blood cardioplegic reperfusion after 2 to 6 hours of ischemia for 20 minutes during total vented bypass accomplished through the femoral artery, femoral vein, and transaortic left ventricular venting. Six hours of ischemia without reperfusion caused minimal changes in mitochondrial structure and retained mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate production capacity at 64 % of control values despite complete depletion of tissue adenosine triphosphate. Reperfusion with normal blood in the beating, working hearts caused extensive structural damage, reduced reflow, and failed to restore contractility in any instance (–27% systolic shortening, p
Case Report: Pituitary Adenocarcinoma in an Acromegalic Patient: Response to Bromocriptine and Pituitary Testing: A Review of the Literature on 36 Cases of Pituitary Carcinoma

ABSTRACT There are 36 reported cases of metastatic pituitary carcinoma and almost half (44%) of these were associated with syndromes of hormonal hypersecretion. The case of a 56year-old acromegalic man with cervical lymphatic and spinal metastases from a primary pituitary carcinoma is described. Elevated basal levels of plasma growth hormone (GH) and insulin growth factor-1/Somatomedin C (IGF-1/ SmC) were found. GH levels did not increase after TRH or LHRH administration but decreased after L-Dopa and glucose. Immunostaining of the metastatic tumor for GH and electron microscopy findings confirmed the diagnosis of pituitary GH-secreting carcinoma. Striking clinical improvement and a 46% decrease in plasma GH levels were observed with bromocriptine treatment, although IGF-l/SmC levels increased during therapy. The clinical course of most reported cases of pituitary adenocarcinoma has been one of progressive intracranial expansion of a pituitary neoplasm. In only 25% were metastatic lesions discovered antemortem, and disabling symptomatology caused by metastases was rare. Only four previously reported patients of 36 with pituitary carcinoma had acromegaly.
Using Chunk Based Partial Parsing of Spontaneous Speech in Unrestricted Domains for Reducing Word Error Rate in Speech Recognition

In this paper, we present a chunk based partial parsing system for spontaneous, conversational speech in unrestricted domains. We show that the chunk parses produced by this parsing system can be usefully applied to the task of reranking Nbest lists from a speech recognizer, using a combination of chunk-based n-gram model scores and chunk coverage scores.The input for the system is Nbest lists generated from speech recognizer lattices. The hypotheses from the Nbest lists are tagged for part of speech, "cleaned up" by a preprocessing pipe, parsed by a part of speech based chunk parser, and rescored using a backpropagation neural net trained on the chunk based scores. Finally, the reranked Nbest lists are generated.The results of a system evaluation are promising in that a chunk accuracy of 87.4% is achieved and the best performance on a randomly selected test set is a decrease in world error rate of 0.3 percent (absolute), measured on the new first hypotheses in the reranked Nbest lists.
Quantitative Characterization of the Colloidal Stability of Metallic Nanoparticles Using UV–vis Absorbance Spectroscopy

Plasmonic nanoparticles are used in a wide variety of applications over a broad array of fields including medicine, energy, and environmental chemistry. The continued successful development of this material class requires the accurate characterization of nanoparticle stability for a variety of solution-based conditions. Although many characterization methods exists, there is an absence of a unified, quantitative means for assessing the colloidal stability of plasmonic nanoparticles. We present the particle instability parameter (PIP) as a robust, quantitative, and generalizable characterization technique based on UV-vis absorbance spectroscopy to characterize colloidal instability. We validate PIP performance with both traditional and alternative characterization methods by measuring gold nanorod instability in response to different salt (NaCl) concentrations. We further measure gold nanorod stability as a function of solution pH, salt, and buffer (type and concentration), nanoparticle concentration, and concentration of free surfactant. Finally, these results are contextualized within the literature on gold nanorod stability to establish a standardized methodology for colloidal instability assessment.
Effect of thiocyanate on iodide concentrating systems of the calf.

SummaryEffects of thiocyanate on iodide concentration by the calf abomasum, thyroid, and salivary glands were investigated. Five calves were anesthetized 20 hr after intravenous dosing with 200 μCi 125I and the left gastroepiploic vein, inferior thyroid vein, and carotid artery cannulated. Saliva flowing from the mouth and blood from each cannula were collected simultaneously at 5-min intervals for 40 min. A second 40-min collection was made after intrajugular injection of 0.33 mM NaSCN/kg of live wt. Thiocyanate increased venous/arterial 125I ratios by 22% for the abomasum and 26% for the thyroid, indicating a comparable degree of inhibition of iodide uptake in both concentrating mechanisms. Secretion of 125I into mixed saliva was reduced by 29%. In two additional calves, fitted with parotid duct cannulas, secretion of radioiodine into parotid saliva decreased by 75% after thiocyanate administration.
Improvements in Hurricane Surge Response Functions: Incorporating the Effects of Forward Speed, Approach Angle, and Sea Level Rise

Applying surge response functions (SRFs) in the estimation of peak hurricane surge is valuable to coastal management and safe-evacuation planning. These SRFs make use of the meteorological characteristics for expected storms as input, and were developed by Irish et al. (2009) using generalized dimensionless scaling laws and optimally selected sets of hydrodynamic hurricane simulations for the open coast and within more complex regions like coastal bays. With improvements to the existing form of the SRFs, reliable extreme-value hurricane flooding estimates can be obtained. Hurricane forward speed and approach angle are important meteorological parameters that can induce variations in surge estimates. Recent studies suggest that in the future sea level rise (SLR) may accelerate and major hurricanes may intensify. Here we present a methodology applied to modify the scaling laws to incorporate the effects of forward speed; we also introduce considerations being made towards developing scaling laws for approach angle and sea level rise effects.
Fluid, Grain and Porosity Substitution in Heterogeneous Rocks

Naturally occurring rocks are multiphase composites of minerals and fluids with varying elastic properties. Predicting the effect of removal, alteration or substitution of one or more phases on rock stiffness is of practical interest in Geophysics. Brown and Korringa extended Gassmann's fluid substitution theory to multimineralic rocks with interconnected pores; two of the primary assumptions of this work are: only the pore phase can be substituted and the pore geometry cannot change upon substitution. We present exact substitution relations for replacing one or more phases (fluid or solid) in a multimineralic isotropic rock, these solutions are also equivalent to relaxing the assumption of unchanging rock microstructure upon substitution. Both pore-filling phase and rock microstructure can change due to digenesis, dissolution, precipitation, partial freezing, melting, etc, and these situations can be modeled using the new formulation. Also, for such problems, approximate bounds for change in effective rock stiffness are developed which are in good agreement with laboratory and numerical examples; these depend only on initial effective stiffness and elastic properties, and volume fractions of constituents.