cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Control of rRNA Expression by Small Molecules Is Dynamic and Nonredundant

The control of ribosomal RNA transcription is one of the most enduring issues in molecular microbiology, having been subjected to intense scrutiny for over 50 years. Rapid changes in rRNA expression occur during transitions in the bacterial growth cycle and following nutritional shifts during exponential growth. Genetic approaches and measurements of initiating nucleoside triphosphate (iNTP) and guanosine 5'-diphosphate, 3'-diphosphate (ppGpp) concentrations and of rRNA promoter activities showed that rapid changes in the concentrations of iNTPs and ppGpp account for the rapid changes in rRNA expression. The two regulatory signals are nonredundant: changes in iNTP concentration dominate regulation during outgrowth from stationary phase, whereas changes in ppGpp concentration are responsible for regulation following upshifts and downshifts during exponential phase. The results suggest a molecular logic for the use of two homeostatic regulatory mechanisms to monitor different aspects of ribosome activity and provide general insights into the nature of overlapping regulatory circuits.
Transplantation resistance to a murine plasmacytoma lacking MHC determinants.

Abstract A spontaneously arising murine plasmacytoma, HPC-202, derived from a BALB/c.H-2 b congenic mouse that lacks any detectable H-2 determinants on its cell surface is described. However, the expression of H-2 determinants is inducible by interferon-γ. The H-2 negative cell surface phenotype permits the HPC-202 tumor to escape H-2 allospecific cytotoxic cell lysis but not NK cell lysis, as well as to grow, to varying degrees, in some H-2 incompatible hosts. In those strains which exhibit a resistance to HPC-202 growth, resistance does not map to a single gene within the major histocompatibility complex of the mouse. Resistance is also radiosensitive and is therefore presumably due to a rapidly dividing cell population. The utility of this tumor as a model system to study both the non-H-2-restricted natural resistance to tumor growth, and the mechanism by which H-2 genes are regulated by cells is discussed.
Vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopic study of crystalline cellulose in biomass

The noncentrosymmetry requirement of sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy allows selective detection of crystalline cellulose in plant cell walls and lignocellulose biomass without spectral interferences from hemicelluloses and lignin. In addition, the phase synchronization requirement of the SFG process allows noninvasive investigation of spatial arrangement of crystalline cellulose microfibrils in the sample. This paper reviews how these principles are applied to reveal structural information of crystalline cellulose in plant cell walls and biomass.
Effect of dietary fat on the lipid composition and utilization of short-chain fatty acids by rat colonocytes.

The objective of the present studies was to examine the effect of dietary fat on the lipid composition of rat colonocytes and their utilization of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). Rats were fed 14% beef fat, fish oil or safflower oil plus 2% corn oil in a semi-synthetic base diet for 4 wk. Colonocytes were isolated and their lipid composition was examined. Feeding beef fat and fish oil resulted in an increase in monounsaturated fatty acids and a reduction in ω-6 fatty acids. Feeding fish oil resulted in an enrichment with ω-3 fatty acids. These was no dietary influence on the amount of either cholesterol or phospholipids of colonocytes. Fish oil feeding resulted in significant increase in colonocyte free fatty acids (FFA) as compared to other diets. Dietary fat was found to have no effect on SCFA utilization by colonocytes. Colonocytes were found to utilize SCFA in the order of butyrate ≥acetate ≥propionate. The presence of acetate and propionate in the medium had no effect on the rate of butyrate utilization.
Multi-frequency diffuse optical tomography

The performance of diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is investigated when multi-modulation frequencies are used simultaneously in the inverse problem in order to cast the forward model. The forward model used was based on the first-order Rytov approximation of the diffusion equation. Numerical measurements were generated with a finite difference approach for configurations relevant to breast optical mammography. The impact of various frequency-set characteristics was evaluated. Furthermore, the effect of sensitivity matrix preconditioning was investigated. The criteria underlying this study were based on a ‘singular value analysis’ and parameter cross-talk between absorption and scattering reconstructions. It had been shown that preconditioning the matrix was necessary to provide accurate results and an even distribution of frequencies within the larger bound. Furthermore, correlating the different criterions used demonstrated that analysis based on optimization of condition number alone was providing misl...
Effects of humidification on activity of catalysts and antioxidants in model systems

Studies on freeze-dried model systems containing methyl linoleate and various additives have shown that water content plays an important role in controlling the activity of antioxidants and catalysts; water can counteract the catalytic activity of certain metals, and can enhance the antioxidant effect of some chelating agents. Different additives, however, respond differently to the effects of humidification, especially at high water activities. Data are presented which show that complexes of managanese and histidine show enhanced prooxidant activity at high water contents, while those of cobalt and histidine become more antioxidant. The effectiveness of EDTA as a chelating agent is also enhanced as the moisture content is increased. However, the effects of humidification are dependent on other components of the system, including the nature of the hydrophilic support.
Heterogeneous Preferences, Compensating Wage Differentials, and Comparable Worth

This paper sets up a general equilibrium model of a world of heterogeneous jobs and heterogeneous tastes, and uses the model to (i) analyze the effects of employer discrimination and (ii) predict the likely consequences of requiring "equal pay for jobs of comparable worth." It shows that employment of both women and men is likely to fall as a result of comparable worth. It also shows that when individuals' tastes are heterogeneous, neither comparable worth nor the simple model of compensating differentials on which it is based provides useful insights into wage determination. In particular, when tastes are heterogeneous, there is no reason to expect equal pay for jobs of "comparable worth" even in the absence of employer discrimination.
Patients with cyclic vomiting pattern and diabetic gastropathy have more migraines, abnormal electrogastrograms, and gastric emptying

Objective. Some patients with diabetic gastroparesis exhibit cyclical symptoms. The purpose of this work was to study the subset of patients with cyclic vomiting characteristics, described as a cyclic vomiting pattern, in a population of patients with symptoms of diabetic gastroparesis. Material and methods. Sixty-seven patients with symptoms of diabetic gastroparesis were investigated. The patients were divided into two groups based on the presence or lack of cyclic symptoms, and stratified by demographics, medical history, hemoglobin A1C, total symptom score (TSS), standardized gastric emptying test (GET), and electrogastrography (EGG). Results. Of these 67 patients, 38 (56%) had cyclic symptoms. The two groups were similar in age, gender, illness duration, insulin use, hemoglobin A1C values, and TSS. There were noteworthy differences regarding migraine headache (47.4% versus 20.7%, p=0.02), gastric emptying study (GES) at 1 h (84.1% versus 59.9%, p=0.02), EGG frequency (4.9 versus 3.6 cpm, p=0.05), and...
Adaptation of D-glucose transport by dietary carbohydrate

Abstract Adaptation in intestinal transport of D-glucose due to dietary carbohydrate was studied with an in situ perfusion technique. Three groups of 10 rats were fed isocalorically for 7 days, diets with no carbohydrate, glucose or fructose. A segment of jejunum was cannulated and perfused with 14 C-glucose to measure absorption. Net transport of glucose was increased 76% upon feeding glucose or fructose compared to no carbohydrate. While carbohydrate feeding is known to induce intestinal disaccharidases such as sucrase and maltase, these results demonstrate that it also enhances the capacity of the intestinal tract to absorb glucose.
Confessions of Practice: Multidimensional Interweavings of Our Work as Teacher Educators

In this article, we describe our inquiry and confess how our work as teacher educators weaves through multiple contexts and roles to reinforce a stronger enactment and construction of knowledge and practical relevance. We examined the complex nature of teacher education roles through collaborative self-study. Questions included the following: What roles do we enact as teacher educators? How do these enacted roles interact in multiple, situated contexts? We found our roles were multidimensional across activity systems. Knowledge and models flowed across settings and enhanced practical relevance with candidates and in our work as we negotiated the multiple interweavings of our work.
Brief Decentralized disturbance attenuating output-feedback trackers for large-scale nonlinear systems

The problem of decentralized output-feedback tracking with disturbance attenuation is addressed for a new class of large-scale and minimum-phase nonlinear systems. Common assumptions like matching and growth conditions are not required for the underlying decentralized system with a diagonal structure. An observer-based decentralized controller design is presented. The proposed decentralized output-feedback laws achieve asymptotic tracking and internal Lagrange stability when the disturbance inputs disappear, and, guarantee external stability in the presence of disturbance inputs. These external stability properties include Sontag's ISS and iISS conditions and standard L"2-gain property.
Visualizing the performance of higher-order programs

Profiling can provide the information needed to identify performance bottlenecks in a program, but the programmer must understand its relation to the program source in order to use this information. This is difficult due to the tremendous volume of data collected. Moreover, program transformations such as macro expansion and procedure inlining can obscure the relationship between the source and object code. Higher-order programs present additional challenges due to complex control flow and because they often consist of many small, often anonytnous, procedures whose individual performance properties may be less interesting than their characteristics as a group.To address these challenges we have implemented a profiler and interactive profile visualizer and integrated them into an optimizing Scheme compiler. The profiler instruments target code and maintains correlations with the original source despite compiler optimizations that can eliminate, duplicate, or move code. The visualizer operates as a source-code browser with features to examine execution counts and execution times from several perspectives. It supports the programmer in identifying program hot spots as well as code regions responsible for or affected by those hotspots. It also supports profile differencing which permits the programmer to study program behavior in different execution contexts.Our experience suggests that visualization tools can help to present raw profile data in a meaningful way. The tool can synthesize a high-level picture of program performance while still giving the programmer the ability to explore the details in interesting regions of code.
Load modeling and calibration techniques for power system studies

Load modeling is one of the most uncertain areas in power system simulations. Having an accurate load model is important for power system planning and operation. Here, a review of load modeling and calibration techniques is given. This paper is not comprehensive, but covers some of the techniques commonly found in the literature. The advantages and disadvantages of each technique are outlined.
Health monitoring of an aeroelastic system with a freeplay nonlinearity

In past work we have demonstrated a vibration based health monitoring methodology which was experimentally validated on several plate and beam systems. The method is based on processing time series data by transforming the data into a state space object, an attractor, and then identifying geometric features of the attractor. The system's structural health or level of damage is monitored by tracking the evolution of the geometric feature as the system evolves. Our previous research indicated that low dimensional inputs work best for characterizing the features. Also discovered was the fact that the features could be characterized with minimal performance loss by using a band limited noise input. The current work assess whether an ambient excitation can serve as the input to the structure and still successfully identify and track geometric features of the system in much the same way that the band limited noise was able to characterize the system. The system in question is a 2D typical section airfoil model with a control surface. A reduced order aerodynamic approach developed by Peters is used to model the fluid loading on the structure. Damage is induced on the structure by introducing increasing amounts of freeplay in the restoring torque of the control surface. The novel and most important component of the model from the stand point of implementing an on-line structural health monitoring system is the use of an ambient source of excitation namely atmospheric gust loading.
STAGE: a decoding engine suitable for multi-compressed test data

Most of the recently discussed test stimulus data compression techniques are based on the low care bit densities found in typical scan test vectors. Data reduction primarily is achieved by, compressing the don't-care bit information, while maintaining the care bit data. The original care bit density, hence, dominates the theoretical compression limits. This paper discusses potential on-chip hardware decoder architectures that allow for combining care bit oriented methods with test cube clustering to achieve multilevel test stimulus compression that reduces the data for both care bits and don't-care bits.
Stable‐isotope analysis of a deep‐sea benthic‐fish assemblage: evidence of an enriched benthic food web

In this study, fishes and invertebrates collected from the continental slope (1000 m) of the eastern North Pacific Ocean were analysed using stable-isotope analysis (SIA). Resulting trophic positions (T(P) ) were compared to known diets and habitats from the literature. Dual isotope plots indicated that most species groups (invertebrates and fishes) sorted as expected along the carbon and nitrogen axes, with less intraspecific variability than interspecific variability. Results also indicated an isotopically distinct benthic and pelagic food web, as the benthic food web was more enriched in both nitrogen and carbon isotopes. Trophic positions from SIA supported this finding, resulting in the assignment of fishes to different trophic positions from those expected based on published dietary information. These differences can be explained largely by the habitat of the prey and the percentage of the diet that was scavenged. A mixing model estimated dietary contributions of prey similar to those of the known diet of Bathyraja trachura from stomach-content analysis (SCA). Linear regressions indicated that trophic positions calculated from SIA and SCA, when plotted against B. trachura total length for 32 individuals, exhibited similar variation and patterns. Only the T(P) from SCA yielded significant results (stomach content: P 0·05).
Variational eigenstrain multiscale finite element method

A new subgrid (subscale) finite element method is proposed, which is termed as the variational eigenstrain multiscale method. It combines the essential ideas of Hughes variational multiscale formulation [Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Engrg. 127 (1995) 387] with Eshelbys inclusion theory [Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A 252 (1957) 561] and Muras equivalent eigenstrain principle [Micromechanics of Defects in Solids, Martinus Nijhoff Publisher, 1987] to homogenize numerical error due to finite element discretization. By synthesizing variational multiscale method with the equivalent eigenstrain principle, we have developed a new finite element formulation that can automatically homogenize its own discretization errors so that it may attain better accuracy in a coarse scale finite element computation than that of the original coarse scale finite element computation. The paper provides the theoretical foundation of the method as well as two numerical examples that illustrate and validate the proposed method. 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Energy management in software-controlled multi-level memory hierarchies

Performance and energy consumption behavior of embedded applications are increasingly being dependent on their memory usage/access patterns. Focusing on a software-managed, application-specific multi-level memory hierarchy, this paper studies three different memory hierarchy management schemes from both energy and performance angles. The first scheme is pure performance-oriented and tuned for extracting the maximum performance possible from the software-managed multi-level memory hierarchy. The second scheme is built upon the first one but it also reduces leakage by turning-on and off memory modules (i.e., different memory levels) at appropriate program points during execution based on the data access pattern information extracted by the compiler. The last scheme evaluated is oriented towards further reducing leakage energy, as well as dynamic energy, by modifying the data transfer policy (data access pattern) of the performance-oriented scheme. Our empirical analysis indicates that it is possible to reduce leakage consumption of the application-specific multi-level memory hierarchy without seriously impacting its performance, and that one can achieve further savings by modifying data transfer pattern across the different levels of the memory hierarchy.
Effects of network delays on swarming in a multi-agent security system

In testing our multi-agent cyber security system, Ant-Based Cyber Defense (ABCD) we have found that pheromone efficacy, swarm formation, and cyber-security properties of a multi-agent system can be affected by non-uniform delay times experienced by the ant agents as they traverse on large-scale, real-world networks. This led to tests where we artificially induced delay on large sections of a network to experiment with swarms under different delay conditions.As predicted by queuing theory, we found that more agents gathered in grid sections with longer inter-node propagation/transmission delays and that the population of agents in the sections with longer delays was proportional to the delay times in that network section relative to the rest of the network. We verified the observed operational behavior via both simulation and queuing theoretic analysis and found that there may be no closed-form solution to the steady state of a system without static transition probabilities. In ABCD, transition probabilities are dynamic, arising from non-deterministic pheromone deposition rates.Without careful tuning of multi-agent security systems to a given network's delay characteristics the security provided may be significantly less than desired because agents may not be distributed as needed or required by the designers. We have used the findings in this study to discover parameters to help make this tuning possible.
Evaluation Of 2.0 nm Grown and Deposited Dielectrics in 0.1 μm PMOSFETs

The quality and composition of ultra-thin 2.0 nm gate dielectrics advocated for the 0.1 μm technology regime is expected to significantly impact gate tunneling currents, P+-gate dopant depletion effects and boron penetration into the substrate in PMOSFETs. This paper presents a comparative assessment of alternative grown and deposited gate dielectrics in sub-micron fabricated devices. High quality rapid-thermal CVD oxides and oxynitrides are examined as alternatives to conventional furnace grown gate oxides. An alternative gate process using in-situ boron doped and RTCVD deposited poly-Si is explored. PMOSFETs with Leff down to 0.06 μm were fabricated using a 0.1 μm technology. Electrical characterization of fabricated devices revealed excellent control of gate-boron depletion with the in-situ gate deposition process in all devices. Boron penetration of 2.0 nm gate oxides was effectively controlled by the use of a lower temperature RTA process. The direct tunneling leakage, although significant at these thicknesses, was less than 1 mA/cm2 at Vd = −1.2 V for all dielectrics. MOSFETs with comparable drive currents and excellent junction and off-state leakages were obtained with each dielectric.
Comparison of the enantiomers of (±)-doxanthrine, a high efficacy full dopamine D1 receptor agonist, and a reversal of enantioselectivity at D1 versus alpha2C adrenergic receptors

Abstract Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative condition involving the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Dopamine D 1 receptor agonists are potential alternative treatments to current therapies that employ L-DOPA, a dopamine precursor. We evaluated the pharmacological profiles of the enantiomers of a novel dopamine D 1 receptor full agonist, doxanthrine (DOX) at D 1 and α 2C adrenergic receptors. (+)-DOX displayed greater potency and intrinsic activity than (−)-DOX in porcine striatal tissue and in a heterologous D 1 receptor expression system. Studies in MCF7 cells, which express an endogenous human dopamine D 1 -like receptor, revealed that (−)-DOX was a weak partial agonist/antagonist that reduced the functional activity of (+)-DOX and dopamine. (−)-DOX had 10-fold greater potency than (+)-DOX at α 2C adrenergic receptors, with an EC50 value of 4 nM. These findings demonstrate a reversed stereoselectivity for the enantiomers of DOX at D 1 and α 2C receptors and have implications for the therapeutic utility of doxanthrine.
The incidence and temporal patterning of insomnia: a pilot study

Whether subjects with Insomnia exhibit good sleep on some interval basis is unclear. Prior research suggests that patients with insomnia are highly variable with respect to night-to-night sleep continuity, that more than 40% of patients with insomnia exhibit temporal patterning of good sleep, and that nearly 90% of patients with insomnia exhibit better than average sleep following 1 to 3 nights of relatively poor sleep. The aim of the present study was to replicate and extend the above noted findings utilizing: 1) a large sample studied over an extended time interval; 2) absolute standards for “good” and “poor” sleep; and 3) a formal statistical methodology to assess temporal patterning and the association of Time-In-Bed with bout duration of poor or average sleep. Thirty-three subjects with insomnia and 33 good sleepers completed sleep diaries over the course of 110 days. It was found that subjects with insomnia (as compared to good sleepers) had more poor nights (e.g., about 39% vs. 7% of the assessed nights), a higher probability of a having a poor night on any given occasion (60% greater probability than good sleepers), and more consecutive nights of poor sleep between good sleep nights (median bout duration of about 3 vs. 1 night). Lastly, it was found that (as would be predicted by both the Spielman model and the Two Process model) time in bed moderated bout duration in the insomnia group. That is, longer times in bed were associated with longer bouts of poor sleep.
Practical considerations for Kalman filter training of recurrent neural networks

General recurrent neural networks for application studies have not been widely used, possibly due to the relative ineffectiveness of existing gradient-based training algorithms. An overview of a decoupled extended Kalman filter (DEKF) algorithm for training of recurrent neural network architectures is presented, with special emphasis on application to control problems. Qualitative differences between the DEKF algorithm, which only performs updates to a recurrent network's weight parameters, and a recent EKF formulation of R.J. Williams (1992) that performs parallel estimation of both the network's weights and recurrent node outputs are discussed. >
Promoting learning in informal learning environments

Learners need to see the relevance of their learning in their everyday lives and activities in order to understand and value the importance of learning. To do this, they need rich experiences that promote such learning and mental model building. So how can we promote substantial learning in everyday, informal environments from real world practices and experiments? Museum learning and some after-school environments have addressed this issue, but in many cases, the learning can only go but so far. This paper seeks to explore how we can promote learning in these environments that can be transferred to other places and experiences. Kitchen Science Investigators (KSI) is a research endeavor, aimed at creating an after-school environment where elementary and middle school children learn from everyday experiences. This paper tells the story of the learning that occurred in this environment, pointing out activities and artifacts that worked well at both motivating and promoting learning.
Maternal prepregnancy obesity and insulin treatment during pregnancy are independently associated with delayed lactogenesis in women with recent gestational diabetes mellitus

Background: The timely onset of stage II lactogenesis (OL) is important for successful breastfeeding and newborn health. Several risk factors for delayed OL are common in women with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), which may affect their chances for successful breastfeeding outcomes. Objective: We investigated the prevalence and risk factors associated with delayed OL in a racially and ethnically diverse cohort of postpartum women with recent GDM. Design: We analyzed data collected in the Study of Women, Infant Feeding and Type 2 Diabetes After GDM Pregnancy (SWIFT), which is a prospective cohort of women diagnosed with GDM who delivered at Kaiser Permanente Northern California hospitals from 2008 to 2011. At 6–9 wk postpartum, delayed OL was assessed by maternal report of breast fullness and defined as occurring after 72 h postpartum. We obtained data on prenatal course and postdelivery infant feeding practices from electronic medical records and in-person surveys. We used multivariable logistic regression models to estimate associations of delayed OL with prenatal, delivery, and postnatal characteristics. Results: The analysis included 883 SWIFT participants who initiated breastfeeding and did not have diabetes at 6–9 wk postpartum. Delayed OL was reported by 33% of women and was associated with prepregnancy obesity (OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.07, 2.29), older maternal age (OR: 1.05; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.08), insulin GDM treatment (OR: 3.11; 95% CI: 1.37, 7.05), and suboptimal in-hospital breastfeeding (OR: 1.65; 95% CI: 1.20, 2.26). A higher gestational age was associated with decreased odds of delayed OL but only in multiparous mothers (OR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.67, 0.94). Conclusions: One-third of women with recent GDM experienced delayed OL. Maternal obesity, insulin treatment, and suboptimal in-hospital breastfeeding were key risk factors for delayed OL. Early breastfeeding support for GDM women with these risk factors may be needed to ensure successful lactation. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as {"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT01967030","term_id":"NCT01967030"}}NCT01967030.
The Na+/Ca2+ exchanger Inhibitor KB-R7943 is also a potent inhibitor of EC coupling and ryanodine receptors

Background: Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) is a plasma membrane transporter that moves Ca2+ in or out of the cell depending on membrane potential and transmembrane ion gradients. NCX is the main pathway for Ca2+ extrusion from ventricular myocytes and has been extensively studied in this tissue. NCX inhibitors can ameliorate cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury and this result has been attributed to inhibition of the Ca2+ inward mode of NCX. Here we tested two NCX inhibitors, KB-R7943 and SN-6 on adult dissociated skeletal muscle fibers loaded with Fluo-4 and [3H]ryanodine binding analysis. Results: KB-R7943 (5 and 10 μM) reversibly inhibits Ca2+ transients elicited by electrical stimulation. At the same concentrations SN-6 has no effect on the properties of transients. In order to evaluate a possible direct effect of KB-R7943 and SN-6 on RyR activity we performed [3H]-ryanodine binding assays because ryanodine binds to the channel in the open state and is used to evaluate channel conformation. Using a skeletal muscle SR fraction we found that 5 or 10 μM KB-R7943 inhibits high affinity binding of [3H]-ryanodine in a dose-dependent manner whereas SN-6 has negligible activity. Conclusion: Our results suggest that KB-R7943 is a potent and reversible blocker of RyR channels and EC coupling in adult fibers. The effects of these compounds on cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury may be partially explained by their effect on RyR activity. Support: R01AR43140 & P01 AR52354
Human Action and Social Groups as the Natural Home of Assessment: Thoughts on 21st Century Learning and Assessment

This paper argues that formal systems of assessment have their origins in the everyday circuit of human action. Assessment is an integral part of all human learning. This is its “natural home”. Social groups have always lifted assessment out of the circuit of human action and partially formalized it as a way of both “mentoring” and “policing” (norming) newcomers and members alike. This aspect of assessment is more prevalent today than ever thanks to the proliferation of interest-driven groups on the Internet. Finally, I discuss the further formalization of assessment in systems of assessment used in schools. The more “natural” and social forms of assessment hold out keys for improving school-based assessment, as well as indicators about core ethical issues.
Issues of Hearing Impairment

In this section, we consider a public policy issue and examine data related to Hearing Impaired Children. The opinion of experts from a Midwestern preschool for young deaf and hard of hearing students will be used to determine the best predictors of success when these students are mainstreamed in the public school system. We also use techniques from fuzzy mathematics to develop metrics for measuring how well these deaf and hard of hearing preschool students are closing the gap with respect to language growth.
Submicron Magnetite Grains and Carbon Compounds in Martian Meteorite ALH84001: Inorganic, Abiotic Formation by Shock and Thermal Metamorphism

Purported biogenic features of the ALH84001 Martian meteorite (the carbonate globules, their submicron magnetite grains, and organic matter) have reasonable inorganic origins, and a comprehensive hypothesis is offered here. The carbonate globules were deposited from hydrothermal water, without biological mediation. Thereafter, ALH84001 was affected by an impact shock event, which raised its temperature nearly instantaneously to 500-700K, and induced iron-rich carbonate in the globules to decompose to magnetite and other minerals. The rapidity of the temperature increase caused magnetite grains to nucleate in abundance; hence individual crystals were very small. Nucleation and growth of magnetite crystals were fastest along edges and faces of the precursor carbonate grains, forcing the magnetite grains to be platy or elongated, including the "truncated hexa-octahedra" shape. ALH84001 had formed at some depth within Mars where the lithostatic pressure was significantly above that of Mars' surface. Also, because the rock was at depth, the impact heat dissipated slowly. During this interval, magnetite crystals approached chemical equilibria with surrounding minerals and gas. Their composition, nearly pure Fe(3)O(4), reflects those of equilibria; elements that substitute into magnetite are either absent from iron-rich carbonate (e.g., Ti, Al, Cr), or partitioned into other minerals during magnetite formation (Mg, Mn). Many microstructural imperfections in the magnetite grains would have annealed out as the rock cooled. In this post-shock thermal regime, carbon-bearing gas from the decomposition of iron carbonates reacted with water in the rock (or from its surroundings) to produce organic matter via Fischer-Tropschlike reactions. Formation of such organic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons would have been catalyzed by the magnetite (formation of graphite, the thermochemically stable phase, would be kinetically hindered).
The frequency of oophorectomy at the time of hysterectomy: Trends in surgical practice, 1928–1953

The data reviewed indicate the background of an effort being made to document the subsequent health or eventual disease among women whose ovaries have been preserved at the time of hysterectomy, as compared to the women whose apparently normal ovaries had been removed as a prophylactic measure. The data reported suggest that no generally accepted criteria for ovarian preservation or indication for ovarian removal have been observed during the 25 year period reviewed. Recognition of the varied practices of gynecologists and surgeons in this regard seems to emphasize the importance of making an effort to individualize and do the most beneficial procedure for the individual patient.
Winery Distribution Choices and the Online Wine Buyer

Direct to consumer (DTC) wine sales are an increasingly important distribution channel for wineries, particularly due to online wine sales growth. This research profiles the online wine buyer. Based on the responses of 918 wine consumers, the online wine buyer is an older, married man, with a high income. The online wine buyer is more likely to be a wine connoisseur. Despite access and comfort with technology, millennials are unlikely online buyers. From this research, online retailers and wineries gain positioning knowledge for appealing to individuals interested in online purchases. This research also identifies expansion opportunities through untapped consumer markets.
Statin adjunctive therapy shortens the duration of TB treatment in mice

Background The repurposing of existing agents may accelerate TB drug development. Recently, we reported that the lipid-lowering drug simvastatin, when added to the first-line antitubercular regimen, reduces the lung bacillary burden in chronically infected mice. Objectives We investigated whether the addition of simvastatin to the first-line regimen (isoniazid/rifampicin/pyrazinamide) shortens the duration of curative TB treatment in mice. Methods Mycobacterium tuberculosis-infected THP-1 cells were exposed to simvastatin to determine the effect of statins on the activity of first-line anti-TB drug activity and intracellular rifampicin concentration. Single-dose and steady-state pharmacokinetic studies guided optimized simvastatin dosing in vivo. BALB/c mice were aerosol-infected with M. tuberculosis H37Rv and drug treatment was initiated 6 weeks post-infection. Separate groups of mice received standard TB treatment with or without simvastatin. Relapse rates were assessed 3 months after discontinuation of each treatment regimen. MALDI-MS imaging was used to image the cholesterol content of mouse lung lesions. Results Simvastatin significantly enhanced the bactericidal activity of first-line drugs against intracellular M. tuberculosis without altering intracellular rifampicin concentrations. Adjunctive treatment with 60 mg/kg simvastatin shortened the time required to achieve culture-negative lungs from 4.5 to 3.5 months. Following 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 months of treatment, relapse rates were 100%, 50% and 0%, respectively, in the control group and 50% (P = 0.03), 20% and 0%, respectively, in the statin group. Simvastatin did not alter plasma or lung lesion cholesterol levels. Conclusions Statins are attractive candidates for host-directed, adjunctive TB therapy. Further preclinical studies are needed to define the optimal statin and dosing.
Clinical and bacteriologic correlates of the papG alleles among Escherichia coli strains from children with acute cystitis.

Background, papG is the Gal(α1-4)Gal-specific adhesin gene of Escherichia coli P fimbriae. The three alleles of papG are associated with different receptor-binding preferences, occur in different lineages of E. coli and appear differentially associated with specific clinical syndromes, e.g. allele II with pyelonephritis and allele III with cystitis. However, no data are available regarding associations of the papG alleles with clinical outcomes. Methods. Alleles I, II and III of papG were sought among 38 E. coli urine isolates from children with acute cystitis by a polymerase chain reaction-based assay. The papG genotype was compared with other bacterial characteristics and with response to therapy. Results. papG was detected in 13 (34%) strains. It was associated positively with sfa and hly (which encode S fimbriae and hemolysin) and negatively with afa (which encodes Dr-binding adhesins). Allele II predominated over allele III (29% of strains, vs. 5%; P < 0.01). Allele II was significantly associated with serogroups O1 and O16 and with agglutination of both human and sheep erythrocytes, whereas allele III was associated with sfa, hly, serogroup O16 and preferential agglutination of sheep erythrocytes. The presence of papG predicted recurrent bacteriuria among children receiving 3-day treatment and Allele III predicted same-strain recurrence. Conclusions. These findings conflict with existing data associating allele III with cystitis, confirm and extend previous associations of papG alleles II and III with other bacterial properties and suggest that papG genotype may predict clinical outcomes.
Abstract 2349: DLC1 interaction with S100A10 mediates inhibition of in vitro cell invasion and tumorigenicity of lung cancer cells

Deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) is a multidomain Rho-GTPase-activating protein (RhoGAP) and a tumor suppressor in several human common cancers. DLC19s structure predicts its interaction with a number of other proteins with various cellular functions. Previously we have shown that S100A10 (also known as p11), a key plasminogen receptor on the surface of cell membrane, colocalizes and binds with DLC1 in cell cytoplasm. The binding sites were mapped to the central domain of the DLC1 and at the end of C-terminus of S100A10. The same terminus is also a binding site for Annexin A2, which is believed to regulate availability of extracellular S100A10 and, therefore, dynamics of plasmin formation. Now we demonstrate that DLC1 competes with Annexin A2 for interaction with S100A10. DLC1 binding to S100A10 did not affect DLC19s RhoGAP activity but did reduce availability of S100A10 for binding by Annexin A2. Furthermore, the expression of DLC1 also affected S100A10 expression in a dose dependent manner, and increased S100A10 ubiquitin-dependent degradation. All of the above interactions attenuated plasminogen activation and resulted in inhibition of in vitro cell migration, invasion, colony formation and anchorage independent growth of aggressive and tumorigenic lung tumor cells. Transduction of DLC1-negative breast tumor cells significantly reduced the ability of tumor cells to form pulmonary metastases as well as inhibited distant dissemination of liver tumor cells in athymic mice. Current observations provide a plausible mechanism for DLC1 antimetastatic function by negatively affecting plasminogen activation, which in turn lead to a significant reduction in invasiveness of tumor cells. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2349.
Elucidating Band-Selective Sensitization in Iron(II) Polypyridine-TiO2 Assemblies

Iron(II) polypyridines represent a cheaper and nontoxic alternative to analogous Ru(II) polypyridine dyes successfully used as photosensitizers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). We employ density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) to study ground and excited state properties of [Fe(bpy)(CN)4]2–, [Fe(bpy-dca)(CN)4]2–, and [Fe(bpy-dca)2(CN)2] complexes, where bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine and dca = 4,4′-dicarboxylic acid. Quantum dynamics simulations are further used to investigate the interfacial electron transfer (IET) between the excited Fe(II) dyes and a TiO2 nanoparticle. All three dyes investigated display two bands in the visible region of the absorption spectrum, with the major transitions corresponding to the metal-to-ligand charge transfer states. The calculated IET rates from the particle states created by the excitation of the lower-energy absorption band are comparable to or slower than the rate of the excited state decay into the nonemissive, metal-centered states of the Fe(I...
Making Arrowpoints in a Prehistoric Pueblo

AbstractTwo deposits of workshop debris from Grasshopper Pueblo provide information on the manufacture of small, pressure flaked arrowpoints. A number of indications are interpreted to suggest that although some specialized lithic work areas exist and stone tools were economically important, their makers were unlikely to have been highly specialized craftsmen.
A Test of the Unidimensionality of the Index of Status Characteristics

M t /rANY writers in the field of social stratification have criticized the apparent -AN.. V ambiguity in the concepts and research procedures of W. Lloyd Warner and his associates.' Warner's primary technique for social class placement, Evaluated Participation, has been made the special target of critics who have pointed out that its imprecision and subjective character do not lend themselves to replication and validation by independent observers. Several years ago Warner, Meeker, and Eells published a manual2 containing directions for computing an independent measure, an Index of Status Characteristics, which purportedly serves as an index of class placement by Evaluated Participation. This Index, hereafter called the ISC, "may be substituted for the other method (Evaluated Participation) and used largely by itself."3 The utility of the ISC is demonstrated by the presentation of a "conversion table" which translates numerical ISC ratings into their equivalent status levels according to Evaluated Participation.4 The efficiency of ISC ratings in predicting placement by Evaluated Participation is shown by deriving high multiple correlations between Evaluated Participation ratings and the items of the ISC.6 The ISC recommended by Warner is a summation of weights assigned to an evaluation of a given subject's dwelling area, house type, occupation, and source of income. According to Warner:
Preliminary Observations on the Mitotic Chromosomes of Culicoides Variipennis (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

The chromosome complement from somatic tissue of Culicoides variipennis was examined and found to have a chromosome number of 2 n = 6. Mitotic metaphase is figured.
Prevention and Response to Intervention: Past, Present, and Future

This chapter traces the incorporation of prevention constructs and research into RTI. It begins by tracing the history of prevention, describing early efforts to apply prevention constructs to mental health and academic achievement that led to the development of prevention science in the 1990s. The history concludes with a summary of new developments in prevention science in the last decade. The historical overview is followed by specific examples of how prevention shaped many aspects of RTI as it evolved into its contemporary form. The chapter closes with a discussion of where RTI meets or fails to meet the standards of evidence within prevention science and suggests next steps for improving RTI research and practice.
Encounters with Popular Pasts (Robinson and Silverman, eds.)

This work is a book review considering the title Encounters with Popular Pasts edited by Mike Robinson and Helaine Silverman.
Pre-filtering in gain-scheduled and robust control

We revisit the issue of gain-scheduled versus robust control with a focus on matrix inequalities. It has been established that for uncertain continuous-time linear systems that depend affinely on the uncertainty, gain-scheduled stabilizability implies robust stabilizability. That is, as far as stabilizability is concerned, using a more complex gain-scheduled controller brings no advantage. In the case of performance and discrete-time systems, counter-examples exist that show that gain-scheduling can indeed be advantageous. These proof are unfortunately not constructive, and the associated necessary and sufficient conditions are hard to verify even in low dimensions. In practice, conditions based on Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs) are widely used to design robust and gain scheduled controllers at the expense of some conservatism. The main goal of the present paper is to explore to what extent solvability of certain LMIs for gain-scheduled control also implies solvability of the corresponding robust control inequalities. One issue investigated in detail is that of using pre-filters to handle uncertainty appearing in the input matrix. Our results show that this technique, which has been used since the 80s is rarely productive in the sense that solvability of certain gain-scheduled control design problems for the original system augmented with a pre-filter often implies existence of a robust control for the original system, which we calculate explicitly using a projection. One exception seem to be the LMIs based on the condition of Daafouz and Bernussou (2001) for discrete-time systems. A series of examples illustrate the results.
NATURAL CYTOTOXICITY OF HUMAN MONOCYTES

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a study on the cytotoxic activity of the monocytes and its potentiation by lymphokines and interferon. In a study described in the chapter, cytolytic activity of the monocytes was measured by 51Cr-release from prelabeled tumor target cells after 3–4 h of interaction with effector cells. The cytolytic activity was studied at the single-cell level with the conjugate/agarose technique using a modification of the method described for cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Monocytes and tumor target cells at 1:1 ratio were incubated in a pellet for 10 min at 30°C and 20 min at 4°C. The cells were then gently resuspended in molten 0.5% agarose at 39°C and quickly spread on a microscope slide. After incubation for 3–4 h at 37°C, the slides were incubated with trypan blue to stain the dead cells. Each slide was scored for the percent bound monocytes and the percent dead conjugated target cells, and the number of cytotoxic monocytes was calculated. It was found that the various human suspension cell lines used as targets differed in their sensitivity to lysis, with K562, a myeloid cell line, being the most sensitive one. The cytotoxic activity of the monocytes varied both among donors and among different preparations.
Communication III (Immunological Control)

One of controlling systems in the body which the body also uses for communication (externally and internally) is the Immune system, based upon existence of MHC molecules fundamental for recognition, and other molecules responsible for antigen-presentation and immediate or postponed reaction to it. The fundamental unique feature of immune system cells is the capability of distinguishing “self” from “non-self” cells and proteins. Communication between different cell types of the immune system is critical in the recognition of self, surveillance, defense, and clearance of foreign invaders. These signaling mechanisms involve direct cell–cell signaling as well as autocrine and paracrine signaling. The essential feature of particular cells of immunological system is memory and although still known at the level of phenomenology, presents the basis for vaccines.