cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stimulation of the XPB ATP-dependent helicase by the beta subunit of TFIIE

TFIIE and TFIIH are essential for the promoter opening and escape that occurs as RNA polymerase II transits into early elongation. XPB, a subunit of TFIIH, contains an ATP-dependent helicase activity that is used in both of these processes. Here, we show that the smaller beta subunit of TFIIE stimulates the XPB helicase and ATPase activities. The larger alpha subunit can use its known inhibitory activity to moderate the stimulation by the beta subunit. Regions of TFIIE beta required for the helicase stimulation were identified. Mutants were constructed that are defective in stimulating the XPB helicase but still allow intact TFIIE to bind and recruit XPB and TFIIH to form the pre-initiation complex. In a test for the functional significance of the stimulatory effect of TFIIE beta, these mutant forms of TFIIE were shown to be defective in a transcription assay on linear DNA. The data suggest that the beta subunit of TFIIE is an ATPase and helicase co-factor that can assist the XPB subunit of TFIIH during transcription initiation and the transition to early elongation, enhancing the potential diversity of regulatory targets.
pH-dependent structural changes at the Heme-Copper binuclear center of cytochrome c oxidase.

The resonance Raman spectra of the aa3 cytochrome c oxidase from Rhodobacter sphaeroides reveal pH-dependent structural changes in the binuclear site at room temperature. The binuclear site, which is the catalytic center of the enzyme, possesses two conformations at neutral pH, assessed from their distinctly different Fe-CO stretching modes in the resonance Raman spectra of the CO complex of the fully reduced enzyme. The two conformations (alpha and beta) interconvert reversibly in the pH 6-9 range with a pKa of 7.4, consistent with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements done at cryogenic temperatures (D.M. Mitchell, J.P. Sapleigh, A.M.Archer, J.O. Alben, and R.B.Gennis, 1996, Biochemistry 35:9446-9450). It is postulated that the different structures result from a change in the position of the Cu(B) atom with respect to the CO due to the presence of one or more ionizable groups in the vicinity of the binuclear center. The conserved tyrosine residue (Tyr-288 in R. sphaeroides, Tyr-244 in the bovine enzyme) that is adjacent to the oxygen-binding pocket or one of the histidines that coordinate Cu(B) are possible candidates. The existence of an equilibrium between the two conformers at physiological pH and room temperature suggests that the conformers may be functionally involved in enzymatic activity.
A method for the determination of the pore size distribution of molecular sieve materials and its application to the characterization of partially pyrolyzed polysilastyrene/porous glass composite membranes

Abstract A technique for the determination of the pore size distribution of molecular sieve materials is described. This method is based on the determination of the microporous volume accessible to molecular probes of different sizes. The method is used to follow the molecular sieve structure which develops during the pyrolysis of polysilastyrene (dimethylsilane-methylphenylsilane copolymer). A molecular sieve membrane is prepared by partially pyrolyzing a polysilastyrene solution-coated porous Vycor glass tube.
The analysis of SO42− in seawater by difference chromatography1

A method of analysis of SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/ in seawater or seawaterlike samples is based on difference chromatography techniques and achieves a precision of better than 0.1 percent in the determination of SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/; Cl/sup -/ ratios. The determination is made on only 0.5 ml of seawater, making the technique particularly suitable for interstitial water studies where limited volumes of sample are available.
The Aging Sick and the near Dead: A Study of Some Distinguishing Characteristics and Social Effects

Being old and sick are not licenses that lead, in any straightforward way, to acquiring access to life sustaining medical services. The performance by which the elderly person presents his claim to services must be taken into account. Of particular importance is that the patient express an aspiration to get well, and be willing to seek help and cooperate with those who are technically competent. In the absence of these accords, the elderly patient may be discredited as a sick individual and be relegated, instead, to a near death status.
Dielectric relaxation kinetics at higher temperature mode in cellulose

In this work the complex dielectric permittivity was measured from 10 –1 to 1 MHz by dielectric dynamic spectroscopy (DDS). Thermally stimulated depolarisation current (TSDC) technique is used to investigate molecular mobility of cellulose. At high temperature, the various dielectric relaxation phenomena are separated by applying a recent analytical protocol. The comparison between the activation enthalpy values obtained by both techniques allows assignment of the α -mode to cooperative movements of nanometric sequences of the main chain. The strong/fragile model is used to explain the Arrhenius behaviour of this mode. The influence of water content on secondary and primary relaxation modes was examined.
Analytical solutions of kinematic equations for erosion on a plane I. Rainfall of indefinite duration

Abstract Kinematic equations have been utilized in the past for modeling erosion from a sloping plane subject to rainfall. This paper, part I in a series of two, presents analytical solutions of these equations under the assumption of constant effective rainfall of indefinite duration. These solutions contain a function which is related to a generalization of Dawson's integral. Some pertinent properties of this function are briefly discussed. The solutions obtained by previous investigators constitute a part of the solutions developed here. In part II the solutions are derived for the case when the duration of the effective rainfall is finite.
A study of prostaglandin F2α as the luteolysin in swine: III effects of estradiol valerate on prostaglandin F, progestins, estrone and estradiol concentrations in the utero-ovarian vein of nonpregnant gilts

Polyvinyl catheters were placed into the right and left utero-ovarian veins and saphenous vein and artery of three control (C) and four estradiol valerate (EV) treated gilts on Day 9 after onset of estrus. The EV treated gilts received 5mg EV/day on Days 11 through 15 after onset of estrus. On Days 12 through 17 utero-ovarian vein blood samples were collected at 15 min intervals from 0700 to 1000 hr and 1900 to 2200 hr and single samples were taken at 1100 and 2300 hr. Peripheral blood samples (saphenous vein or artery) were taken at 0700, 1100, 1900 and 2300 hr from Day 12 until the control gilts returned to estrus or until Day 25 for EV treated gilts and used to measure plasma steroid hormone concentrations. Utero-ovarian vein prostaglandin F (PGF) concentrations (ng/ml, n=1,177) were measured by RIA. Status (control vs EV treated gilts) by day interactions were detected (P=.10). Curvilinear day trends were detected for plasma PGF concentrations in control (P<.01) but not EV treated gilts. PGF concentrations (X ± S.D.) for control and EV treated gilts were 1.20 ± 2.08 and .26 ± .84 ng/ml, respectively. PGF peaks (concentrations greater than X + 2 S.D.) occured with greater frequency in control gilts (X2 = 4.87; P<.05). The interestrus interval (X ± S.E.) for control and treated gilts was 19.0 ± .6 and 146.5 ± 74.8 days, respectively. Data indicate that estradiol valerate may exert its luteotrophic effect by preventing PGF release from the uterus.
Reducing cyclone pressure drop with evasés

Abstract Cyclones are widely used to separate particles from gas flows and as air emission control devices. Their cost of operation is proportional to the fan energy required to overcome their pressure drop. Evases or exit diffusers potentially could reduce exit pressure losses without affecting collection efficiency. Three rectangular evases and a radial evase with a variable opening were tested on two cyclones. Pressure drop was recorded for inlet velocities from about 10 to 20 m s− 1. The radial evase reduced cyclone pressure drop by between 8.7 and 11.9 percent when its exit area was equal to the flow area of the cyclone vortex finder or gas exit. A simple payback based on avoided energy costs was estimated to be between 3600 and 5000 h, not including installation cost.
Extraction techniques for narcotics, barbiturates, and central nervous system stimulants in a drug abuse urine screening program

Abstract Several different extraction techniques, each of which is well suited to large scale screening of urines for drugs of abuse, are presented. Each technique has special advantages, depending on the needs of a clinical operation. In the paper we have compared three basic approaches. (I) Extraction of drugs from urines by absorbing them on cation-exchange resin loaded paper and then eluting the drugs from the paper with two consecutive buffer-solvent systems. Sedative-hypontics are extracted at pH 1.0 using citrate buffer, and amphetamines and opiates at pH 10.1 using NH4Cl-NH4OH buffer. (II) Direct extraction of drugs from an urine specimen first at pH i using HCl for sedative-hypnotics and then at pH 10.1 using NH4Cl-NH4OH for amphetamines and opiates. When the goal is limited to the detection of amphetamine and congeners only, the urine is extracted at pH 12 using NaOH. (III) Acid hydrolysis of uring specimens followed by direct extraction of drugs at pH 10.1 using NH4Cl-NH4OH buffer. Our standard procedure involves the use of ion-exchange extraction of technique (procedure I); procedure II is used for urine specimens of less than 40 ml volume. Procedure I seems best if (a) urine collection is to be paced at 2–3 day intervals; (b) volume or urine available is 40–50 ml or more; (c) pooling of ion papers of the same patient representing different urine specimens is desired to cut down the cost of analysis and work load without diluting the sensitivity of the test. This procedure has been compared with procedures II and III and some of the relative advantages and disadvantages of each procedure are presented.
Nonlinear filtering with quasi-Monte Carlo methods

We describe a new hybrid particle filter that has two novel features: (1) it uses quasi-Monte Carlo samples rather than the conventional Monte Carlo sampling, and (2) it implements Bayes’ rule exactly using smooth densities from the exponential family. Theory and numerical experiments over the last decade have shown that quasi-Monte Carlo sampling is vastly superior to Monte Carlo samples for certain high dimensional integrals, and we exploit this fact to reduce the computational complexity of our new particle filter. The main problem with conventional particle filters is the curse of dimensionality. We mitigate this issue by avoiding particle depletion, by implementing Bayes’ rule exactly using smooth densities from the exponential family.
Undoped and doped FeSi or how to make a heavy fermion metal with three of the most common elements

Abstract We review electrical conductivity, magnetic susceptibility and optical data on the Kondo insulator FeSi and its chemically doped metallic derivatives. While at T =0, FeSi appears in many respects to be a conventional band insulator, its temperature-dependent behavior cannot be explained in terms of ordinary band theory. Doping with Al yields a transition from the Kondo insulator to a heavy fermion metal. The transition maps quantitatively onto that observed for Si:P, with the exception of a strongly renormalized effective carrier mass and critical concentration. We conclude that one of the simplest ways to make a heavy fermion metal is to dope a Kondo insulator.
Infrared active species of hydrogen adsorbed by alumina-supported platinum

Abstract Two infrared active hydrogen species adsorbed on alumina-supported platinum with bands at 2120 and 2060 cm −1 are reported. Corresponding bands are observed for deuterium at 1520 and 1480 cm −1 . Both species are removed from the surface by pumping at room temperature and neither is adsorbed at 77 °K on a surface cooled in helium from 573 °K. The species responsible for the 2120 cm −1 band does adsorb at 77 °K on a surface which has been exposed to hydrogen at room temperature, evacuated, and cooled to 77 °K in helium. The 2060 cm −1 band is markedly enhanced on a surface containing water, either intentionally added or formed in situ by reaction of hydrogen with oxygen. The 2060 cm −1 band is easily obscured by an intense CO band at the same frequency. Neither species is necessary for the catalysis of the isotopic exchange reaction at 77 °K and only the species responsible for the 2060 cm −1 band exchanges at this temperature.
Cofinite Induction and Artin′s Theorem for Hopf Algebras

Abstract Let H be a finite dimensional cocommutative Hopf algebra over a field K of characteristic zero. Then it is possible for H to be simple; that is, H has no proper nontrivial subHopf algebras. In particular, the Hopf algebraic analog of Artin′s theorem for representations of finite groups does not hold.
Lectures on contemporary probability

Simple random walk and Stirling's formula Simple ramdon walk in many dimensions Self-avoiding walk Brownian motion Shuffling and random permutations Seven shuffles are enough (sort of) Markov chains on finite sets Markov chain Monte Carlo Random walks and electrical networks Uniform spanning trees Random walk simulations Other simulations Simulations in finance Problems Bibliography.
Neurotrophin/receptor expression in urinary bladder of mice with overexpression of NGF in urothelium.

Urothelium-specific overexpression of nerve growth factor (NGF) in the urinary bladder of transgenic mice stimulates neuronal sprouting in the urinary bladder, produces increased voiding frequency,...
Phase II Study of Concurrent Continuous Temozolomide (TMZ) and Tamoxifen (TMX) for Recurrent Malignant Astrocytic Gliomas

Purpose and background: The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of response and toxicity in adults with recurrent anaplastic astrocytoma (AA) or glioblastoma multiforme (GM) treated with concurrent continuous TMZ and TMX.
Transient Monte Carlo analysis and application to heterojunction bipolar transistor switching

A self-consistent simulation using the Monte Carlo ensemble particle technique for analysis of heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) transient behavior, such as switching performance, is presented. The transient Monte Carlo method has been applied to a self-consistent simulation of two HBT designs with improved collector structures for high-speed and high-frequency applications, and the results are compared with the characteristics of conventional HBTs. The simulation results indicate that the two new collector structures, the inverted field collector and the undoped collector, have better switching performance than the conventional HBT. The study of the switching characteristics' dependence on collector-base bias voltage and collector current suggests that the inverted field HBT is the best approach in terms of switching properties. The results are supported and explained by examining electron transport properties such as overshoot velocity and energy valley occupation, as well as band bending in the collector space-charge region at different current levels. >
ELECTROPORATION OF EMBRYOGENIC PROTOPLASTS OF SWEET ORANGE (CITRUS SINENSIS (L.) OSBECK) AND REGENERATION OF TRANSFORMED PLANTS

Electroporation conditions were optimized for the transfection of protoplasts isolated from an embryogenic cell line of sweet organe [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck ev. Hamlin]. Electric field strength (375–450 V cm−1) vector DNA concentration (100 μgml−1), carrier DNA concentration (100 μgml−1), electroporation buffer (pH 8), and preelectroporation heat shock of protoplasts (5 min at 45°C) were optimized. The plasmid vector pBI221 containing the β-glucuronidase (GUS) coding sequence under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter was used and GUS activity was measured 24h after electroporation. All variables significantly affected transfection efficiency and when optimal conditions for each were combined. GUS activity was 7714 pmol 4-methylumbelliferone (MU) mg−1 (protein) min−1. Protoplasts were then electroporated in the presence of green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression vectors pARS101 or pARS108. Green fluorescent embryos were selected, plants regenerated, and integration of the transgene was confirmed by Southern blot analysis. Both plasmids were constructed using EGFP, a GFP variant 35 times brighter than wtGFP, having a single, red-shifted excitation peak, and optimized for human codon-usage. pARS101 was constructed by placing EGFP under the control of a 35S–35S promoter containing 33 bp of the untranslated leader sequence from alfalfa mosaic virus. pARS108 was constructed similarly except sequences were added for transport and retention of EGFP in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum.
Effects of Combined Treatment With Glycopyrrolate and Albuterol in Acute Exacerbation of Asthma

Abstract Study objective : Recent reports suggest that glycopyrrolate is as effective as metaproterenol in the treatment of acute bronchospasm. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the addition of a single aerosolized dose of glycopyrrolate to an albuterol regimen results in a greater improvement in pulmonary function than treatment with an albuterol regimen alone in patients with acute asthma. Design : Prospective, randomized, double-blinded, controlled study. All patients received a total of three aerosol treatments and 60 mg solumedrol IV push. Patients were randomized to receive 2 mg aerosolized glycopyrrolate (combination therapy) or aerosolized placebo (control) in addition to their first 2.5 mg albuterol aerosol treatment. Both groups received 2.5 mg aerosolized albuterol alone for the next two treatments. Setting: An urban teaching hospital emergency department. Participants: One hundred twenty-five patients with acute exacerbation of asthma were entered into the study. Main results : There was no difference in pretreatment forced expiratory volume (one second) (FEV 1 ) between the control group and the glycopyrrolate group. Asthmatic patients receiving combination therapy had less of a change in FEV 1 (52%) than did control patients (82%, P Conclusion : The combination of glycopyrrolate and albuterol does not appear to be beneficial over albuterol alone in treating patients with acute exacerbation of asthma. [Cydulka RK, Emerman CL: Effects of combined treatment with glycopyrrolate and albuterol in acute exacerbation of asthma. Ann Emerg Med February 1994;23:270-274.]
A 12 bit 1 GS/s Dual-Rate Hybrid DAC With an 8 GS/s Unrolled Pipeline Delta-Sigma Modulator Achieving > 75 dB SFDR Over the Nyquist Band

A 12 bit Dual-Rate Hybrid digital-to-analog converter (DAC) architecture with a split Nyquist (1 GS/s) and delta-sigma modulator path (8 GS/s) is proposed and implemented in 65 nm CMOS. Based on the hybrid architecture, the delta-sigma-assisted pre-distortion scheme compensates for the current steering cell mismatch, which further reduces the analog circuit complexity and area. The proposed 8X unrolled pipeline delta-sigma modulator allows for high-speed third-order noise shaping with a digital standard cell design flow. The measured spurious-free dynamic range achieves 91–76 dB over the 500 MHz Nyquist band. The proposed DAC architecture is mostly digital and hence favors future technology scaling.
Modeling mechanophore activation within a viscous rubbery network

Mechanically induced chemical reactivity is a promising means for designing self-sensing and autonomous materials. Force sensitive chemical groups called mechanophores can be covalently linked into polymers in order to trigger specific chemical reactions upon mechanical loading. A model framework is developed to describe the response of these mechanophores to mechanical loading within an elastomeric matrix. A multiscale modeling scheme is used to couple mechanophore kinetics with rubbery elasticity. In particular, transition state theory for the population of mechanophores is modified to account for the stress-induced changes in kinetics within the solid state. The model is specified to the case of spiropyran covalently linked into a polymethacrylate (PMA) backbone. This optically trackable mechanophore (optically active through absorption and fluorescence when triggered) allows the model to be assessed in comparison to observed experimental behavior. The activation predicted by the ideal viscous elastomer model is reasonable, but consistently occurs at a larger strain than in the experiments. The glassy portion of the PMA response accounts for part of the difference in the onset of activation between experiments and the ideal elastomer model. The glassy stress response is therefore included as an additional empirically determined driving force for activation in the model. The remainder of the discrepancy between the experimental and simulation results is attributed to force inhomogeneity within the rubbery network, highlighting that the mechanophore response is correlated with local force history rather than with macroscopic stress.
Combining vector quantization and histogram equalization

Combined vector quantization and adaptive histogram equalization Pamela C. Cosman Eve A. Riskin Robert M. Gray tDurand Building, Department of Electrical Engineering Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-4055 Department of Electrical Engineering, FT- 10 University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195 ABSTRACT Adaptive histogram equalization is a contrast enhancement technique in which each pixel is remapped to an intensity proportional to its rank among surrounding pixels in a selected neighborhood. We present work in which adaptive histogram equalization is performed on the codebook of a tree-structured vector quantizer so that encoding with the resulting codebook performs both compression and contrast enhancement. The algorithm was tested on magnetic resonance brain scans from different subjects and the resulting images were significantly contrast enhanced. 1. INTRODUCTION Histogram equalization refers to a set of contrast enhancement techniques which attempt to spread out the intensity levels occurring in an image over the full available range.1 Histogram equalization is a competitor of interactive intensity windowing, which is the established contrast enhancement technique for medical images. In global histogram equalization, one calculates the intensity histogram for the entire image and then remaps each pixel's intensity proportional to its rank among all the pixel intensities. In adaptive histogram equalization (AHE), the histogram is calculated only for pixels in a context region, usually a square, and the remapping is done for the center pixel of the square. This can be called pointwise histogram equalization because, for each point in the image, one calculates the histogram for the square context region centered on that point. Because this is very computationally intensive, the bilinear interpolative version is an alternative that lowers the computational complexity.2 It calculates the histogram for only a set of non-overlapping context regions that cover the image and the reniapping of pixel intensity values is then exact for only the small number of pixels that are at the centers of these context regions. For all other pixels, a bilinear interpolation from the nearest context region centers determines the appropriate remapping function. With the bilinear interpolative version of AHE, the remapping function for a given pixel of intensity i at location (, y) is determined from the nearest 4 context regions as shown in figure 1. Ifm+_ denotes the mapping at the grid pixel (x+, y.) to the upper right of (x, y), and similar subscripts are used for the other surrounding context regions, then the interpolated AHE result is given by2: in(i) = a[bm(i) + (1 — b)m_(i)J + [1 — u]{bm_(i) + (1 — b)m__(i)], b= here y+—y- O-8194-0805-O/92/$4.QO SPIE Vol. 1653 Image Capture, Formatting, and Display (1992) / 213 Downloaded From: http://proceedings.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 05/20/2014 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms
Genes and Social Behavior

What specific genes and regulatory sequences contribute to the organization and functioning of brain circuits that support social behavior? How does social experience interact with information in the genome to modulate these brain circuits? Here we address these questions by highlighting progress that has been made in identifying and understanding two key “vectors of influence” that link genes, brain, and social behavior: 1) social information alters gene readout in the brain to influence behavior; and 2) genetic variation influences brain function and social behavior. We also briefly discuss how evolutionary changes in genomic elements influence social behavior and outline prospects for a systems biology of social behavior.
Delayed hemorrhagic complications after flow diversion for intracranial aneurysms: a literature overview

Delayed aneurysm rupture and delayed intraparenchymal hemorrhages (DIPH) are poorly understood and often fatal complications of flow diversion (FD) for intracranial aneurysms. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for these complications. We performed a systematic review on post-FD delayed aneurysm rupture and DIPH. For each reported case, we collected the following information: aneurysm location, size and rupture status, type of flow diverter used, timing of the hemorrhage, and neurological outcome. We reported descriptive statistics of patients suffering DIPH and delayed aneurysm rupture to determine if there were any characteristics consistently present among patients with these complications. We identified 81 delayed aneurysm ruptures and 101 DIPH. Of the delayed ruptures, 76.6 % (45/58) occurred within 1 month. The prognosis of delayed ruptures was poor, with 81.3 % (61/75) experiencing death or poor neurological outcome. Giant aneurysms accounted for 46.3 % of ruptures (31/67). Of these aneurysms, 80.9 % (55/68) were initially unruptured. Of the delayed ruptured aneurysms, 17.8 % (13/73) had prior or concomitant coiling. DIPHs were ipsilateral to the treated aneurysm in 82.2 % (60/73) of cases. Of the DIPH, 86.0 % (43/50) occurred within 1 month after FDS. Combined morbidity/mortality rate was 68.5 % (50/73) following DIPH. Of DIPHs, 23.0 % (14/61) occurred in patients with giant aneurysms. Our study demonstrates that giant aneurysms represent almost 50 % of delayed aneurysm ruptures in the flow diverter literature. About 20 % of delayed ruptures occurred despite associated coiling. A substantial proportion of DIPHs occur early following FDS treatment of giant aneurysms.
Raman spectroscopic carbonaceous material thermometry of low-grade metamorphic rocks: Calibration and application to tectonic exhumation in Crete, Greece

We present new Raman spectra data of carbonaceous material (CM) to extend the range of the Raman spectra of CM thermometer (RSCM) to temperatures as low as 100 8C. Previous work has demonstrated that Raman spectroscopy is an excellent tool to describe the degree of graphitization of CM, a process that is independent of pressure but strongly dependent on metamorphic temperature. A linear relationship between temperature and the Raman parameter R2 (derived from the area of the defect band relative to the ordered graphite band) forms the basis of a previous thermometer. Because R2 shows little variability in low-temperature samples, 330 8C serves as a lower limit on the existing thermometer. Herein, we present Raman spectra from a suite of low-temperature (100 to 300 8C) samples from the Olympics Mountains and describe other aspects of the Raman spectra of CM that vary over this range. In particular, the Raman parameter R1 (the ratio of heights of the disordered peak to ordered peak) varies regularly between 100 and 350 8C. These data, together with published results from higher-temperature rocks, are used to calibrate a modified RSCM thermometer, applicable from 100 to 700 8C. Application to low-grade metasediments in the Otago region in the South Island of New Zealand gives temperatures consistent with previous estimates, demonstrating the reliability of the modified RSCM thermometer. We apply the modified RSCM thermometer to 53 samples from Crete to evaluate the role of the Cretan detachment fault in exhuming Miocene high pressure/low-temperature metamorphic rocks exposed there. The metamorphic rocks below the detachment (the Plattenkalk and Phyllite–Quartzite units) give metamorphic temperatures that range from 250 to 400 8C, consistent with previous petrologic estimates. We also demonstrate that the Tripolitza unit, which lies directly above the detachment, gives an average metamorphic temperature of about 260 8C. The modest break in metamorphic temperature in central Crete indicates that the Cretan detachment accounts for only 5 to 7 km of exhumation of the underlying HP–LT metamorphic rocks, which were initially accreted at ~35 km. We argue that the bulk of the exhumation (~28 km out of 35 km total) occurred by pervasive brittle stretching and erosion of structural units above the detachment. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The President and the Supreme Court

It is now well over a decade since the latest and bitterest in the series of clashes between the President and the Supreme Court which have marked American constitutional development. The "court-packing" debate of 1937 has receded into historical perspective without trace upon the institutional bases for the separatism which produced this struggle. But, while formally the respective power situations of the two parties may be much the same as before 1937, the chastening effect of that experience is likely to discourage either side from initiating any further trials by combat in the near future. The Court, it seems safe to assume, is likely to think a long time before it embarks upon another such calculated campaign to reverse the election returns. For his part the President probably has a better appreciation of the Court's resources for withstanding a direct assault, and is more likely to be convinced of the virtues of the waiting game. For the appointing power does give the President the trump cards, if the game lasts long enough for him to play them. At first it seemed that President Roosevelt was not to have this opportunity, and his patience proved inadequate under the strain. But, with the help of the retirement provisions of the 1937 act, he eventually got a chance to give the Court perhaps the most thorough renovating it has ever received, naming eight new associate justices and promoting Harlan F. Stone to the chief justiceship. President Truman within his first year of office was presented with two vacancies on the Court, one being that of the post of Chief Justice. Vacancies have come so thick and fast during the past decade, in fact, as to raise the possibility of a static Court for some time in the future. Five of the nine members of the present Court are still in their fifties, and the two oldest justices, Frankfurter (66) and Reed (64), are still comfortably this side of the (voluntary) retirement age of 70. Under these circumstances the timehonored practice of a conservative Court outlasting a liberal President may well be reversed.
Celebrity Worship: Critiquing a Construct

McCutcheon, Lange, & Houran (2002) proposed the Celebrity Attitude Scale (CAS) to identify celebrity worshipers, useful for identifying individuals who are overly absorbed or addicted to their interest in a celebrity. Problematic is the absence of a conceptual definition for celebrity worshiper and how this term relates to use of the term fan. Currently, these terms are most often used as if they were synonyms (Haspel, 2006; Maltby, Day, McCutcheon, Gillett et al., 2004; McCutcheon, Lange, & Houran, 2002). Sampled groups of serious fans contained many individuals who met none of the criteria for celebrity worship, as identified by the CAS. The use of celebrity worshiper as a synonym for fan appears to be conceptually flawed.
Assessing School Council Contribution to the Enabling Conditions for Instructional Capacity Building: "An Urban District in Kentucky".

This study identified the enabling conditions related to building instructional capacity created by the councils in three high-performance schools in an urban district. The authors collected the data through observation, interview, and document mining. School-level data were sorted inductively into themes through constant comparative analysis. These school-level data then were analyzed cross-case. Four enabling conditions generalized across the three councils: (a) principal facilitation of decision making through sharing power with council members, (b) schoolwide networking facilitating "bottom-up" problem solving with staff and parents, (c) a focus on student achievement through use of assessment data, and (d) promotion of staff collective accountability for student achievement. The authors extended these findings to those of other studies and discussed why other enabling conditions identified in the literature were not found in this study: financial resources, systematic professional development, program coherence, and "constructive" conflict.
Exponential dichotomies and homoclinic orbits in functional differential equations

Abstract Suppose an autonomous functional differential equation has an orbit Γ which is homoclinic to a hyperbolic equilibrium point. The purpose of this paper is to give a procedure for determining the behavior of the solutions near Γ of a functional differential equation which is a nonautonomous periodic perturbation of the original one. The procedure uses exponential dichotomies and the Fredholm alternative. It is also shown that any smooth function p ( t ) defined on the reals which approaches zero monotonically as t → ± ∞ is the solution of a scalar functional differential equation and generates an orbit homoclinic to zero. Examples illustrating the results are also given.
The Baby K Case: A Search for the Elusive Standard of Medical Care

An anencephalic infant, who came to be known as Baby K, was born at Fairfax Hospial in Falls Church, Virginia, on October 13, 1992. From, the moment of birth and repeatedly thereafter, the baby's mother insisted that aggressive measures be pursued, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation and ventilator support, to keep the baby alive as long as possible. The physicians complied. However, following the baby's second admission for respiratory failure, the hospital sought declaratory relief from the court permitting it to forgo emergency life support on the grounds that “a requirement to provide respiratory assistance would exceed the prevailing standard of medical care,” and that “because any treatment of their condition is futile, the prevailing standard of medical care for infants with anencephaly is to provide warmth, nutrition, and hydration.” The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of the baby's mother, citing the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (popularly known as the “anti-dumping” act), which contained no “standard of care” exception to the requirement to provide “treatment necessary to prevent the material deterioration of the individual's condition.” An appeal to the United States Supreme Court was rejected. The baby died some two and one-half years later of cardiac arrest during her sixth visit to the emergency department of Fairfax Hospital for respiratory failure.
The Newell Test for a theory of cognition.

Newell (1980; 1990) proposed that cognitive theories be developed in an effort to satisfy multiple criteria and to avoid theo- retical myopia. He provided two overlapping lists of 13 criteria that the human cognitive architecture would have to satisfy in order to be functional. We have distilled these into 12 criteria: flexible behavior, real-time performance, adaptive behavior, vast knowledge base, dynamic behavior, knowledge integration, natural language, learning, development, evolution, and brain realization. There would be greater theoretical progress if we evaluated theories by a broad set of criteria such as these and attended to the weaknesses such evalu- ations revealed. To illustrate how theories can be evaluated we apply these criteria to both classical connectionism (McClelland & Rumel- hart 1986; Rumelhart & McClelland 1986b) and the ACT-R theory (Anderson & Lebiere 1998). The strengths of classical connection- ism on this test derive from its intense effort in addressing empirical phenomena in such domains as language and cognitive development. Its weaknesses derive from its failure to acknowledge a symbolic level to thought. In contrast, ACT-R includes both symbolic and sub- symbolic components. The strengths of the ACT-R theory derive from its tight integration of the symbolic component with the sub- symbolic component. Its weaknesses largely derive from its failure, as yet, to adequately engage in intensive analyses of issues related to certain criteria on Newell's list.
Feasibility of a pilot-scale hybrid constructed wetland treatment system for simulated natural gas storage produced waters

Pilot-scale hybrid constructed wetland treatment systems (CWTSs) were designed to determine their feasibility for the treatment of natural gas storage produced waters (NGSPWs). To accomplish this task, we characterized NGSPWs, designed and constructed pilot-scale hybrid CWTSs, and measured their performance. Characterization of NGSPWs involved the establishment of constituents of concern (based on the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit limits and potential risks to receiving system biota) and allowed for the formulation of simulated waters. The design of the CWTSs was driven by chlorides and metals (cadmium, copper, lead, and zinc) as well as organics. Individual modules were designed and constructed to create a flexible and robust treatment system that could be modified to treat the range of constituents found in NGSPWs. The system focuses on biogeochemical pathways leading to the immobilization of constituents of concern. The CWTSs in this pilot-scale study were capable of removing constituents of concern and toxicity from simulated NGSPWs. For example, in simulated fresh NGSPW, copper and lead were removed from 0.70 and 0.74 mg/L, respectively, to below instrument detection (0.010 and 0.015 g/L, respectively). The NGSPWs with chloride concentrations greater than the tolerance of freshwater plants (4000 mg Cl/L) require either comanagement with lower chloride waters or additional treatment such as reverse osmosis (hence, a hybrid CWTS). This pilot-scale study provides proof-of-concept data to support the feasibility of hybrid CWTSs for the treatment of NGSPWs. The CWTSs that are properly designed, constructed, and operated can be readily implemented with the potential to reduce the costs of handling water produced from gas storage fields.
Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule‐1 Mediates Endothelial‐Cardiomyocyte Communication and Regulates Cardiac Function

Background Dilated cardiomyopathy is characterized by impaired contractility of cardiomyocytes, ventricular chamber dilatation, and systolic dysfunction. Although mutations in genes expressed in the cardiomyocyte are the best described causes of reduced contractility, the importance of endothelial‐cardiomyocyte communication for proper cardiac function is increasingly appreciated. In the present study, we investigate the role of the endothelial adhesion molecule platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule (PECAM‐1) in the regulation of cardiac function. Methods and Results Using cell culture and animal models , we show that PECAM‐1 expressed in endothelial cells (ECs) regulates cardiomyocyte contractility and cardiac function via the neuregulin‐ErbB signaling pathway. Conscious echocardiography revealed left ventricular (LV) chamber dilation and systolic dysfunction in PECAM‐1−/− mice in the absence of histological abnormalities or defects in cardiac capillary density. Despite deficits in global cardiac function, cardiomyocytes isolated from PECAM‐1−/− hearts displayed normal baseline and isoproterenol‐stimulated contractility. Mechanistically, absence of PECAM‐1 resulted in elevated NO/ROS signaling and NRG‐1 release from ECs, which resulted in augmented phosphorylation of its receptor ErbB2. Treatment of cardiomyocytes with conditioned media from PECAM‐1−/− ECs resulted in enhanced ErbB2 activation, which was normalized by pre‐treatment with an NRG‐1 blocking antibody. To determine whether normalization of increased NRG‐1 levels could correct cardiac function, PECAM‐1−/− mice were treated with the NRG‐1 blocking antibody. Echocardiography showed that treatment significantly improved cardiac function of PECAM‐1−/− mice, as revealed by increased ejection fraction and fractional shortening. Conclusions We identify a novel role for PECAM‐1 in regulating cardiac function via a paracrine NRG1‐ErbB pathway. These data highlight the importance of tightly regulated cellular communication for proper cardiac function.
Regression analysis of log‐transformed data: Statistical bias and its correction

Power and exponential relationships are common in most quantitative disciplines. In environmental chemistry and toxicology, predictive applications range from flow-related variation in water quality to factors influencing toxicity. Power and exponential models are used frequently in environmental chemistry and toxicology. Such models can generate biased predictions if derived with least-squares, linear regression of log-transformed variables. An easily calculated but seldom used estimate of bias can enhance the accuracy of subsequent predictions. This prediction bias and means of correcting it are presented, along with several examples.
Exploiting Market Size in Service Systems

We study a profit-maximizing firm providing a service to price and delay sensitive customers. We are interested in analyzing the scale economies inherent in such a system. In particular, we study how the firm's pricing and capacity decisions change as the scale, measured by the potential market for the service, increases. These decisions turn out to depend intricately on the form of the delay costs seen by the customers; we characterize these decisions up to the dominant order in the scale for both convex and concave delay costs. We show that when serving customers on a first-come, first-served basis, if the customers' delay costs are strictly convex, the firm can increase its utilization and extract profits beyond what it can do when customers' delay costs are linear. However, with concave delay costs, the firm is forced to decrease its utilization and makes less profit than in the linear case. While studying concave delay costs, we demonstrate that these decisions depend on the scheduling policy employed as well. We show that employing the last-come, first-served rule in the concave case results in utilization and profit similar to the linear case, regardless of the actual form of the delay costs.
Gene Structure, Regulation and Function

The human OTC gene has been localized to the short arm of the X chromosome at Xp21.1(1), approximately 12 centimorgans (eM) closer to the centromere than the gene for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The gene was located in normal cell lines by in situ hybridization to mitotic chromosome spreads, employing a nearly full-length eDNA probe. Finer localization was accomplished by using the probe on chromosomes with known deletions in the p21 region(1), Because it is located on the X chromosome, lyonization of the OTC gene in females due to random inactivation of one of the X-chromosomes(2) leads to a mosaic pattern in the liver which was elegantly demonstrated in the liver of a female heterozygous for OTC deficiency(3).
Atmospheric moisture recycling : Role of advection and local evaporation

Abstract An approximate formulation of how much moisture that precipitates out comes from local evaporation versus horizontal transport, referred to as “recycling,” has allowed new estimates of recycling to be mapped globally as a function of length scale. The recycling is formulated in terms of the “intensity of the hydrological cycle” I, which is alternatively referred to as a “precipitation efficiency” as it denotes the fraction of moisture flowing through a region that is precipitated out, and a “moistening efficiency,” M, which is defined as the fraction of moisture evaporated from a region to that flowing through. While datasets of the pertinent quantities have improved, they still contain uncertainties. Results show that often the intensity is not greatest at times of greatest precipitation because moisture transport into the region is also a maximum, especially in the monsoonal regions. The annual cycle variations of I are fairly small over North America and Europe while large seasonal variations ...
E-Participation among American Local Governments

Using data from national surveys conducted in 2006 and 2011, we examine whether local governments in the United States have adopted e-participation (a.k.a. e-democracy). The results show that few American local governments have done so. These results are highly inconsistent with the claims of e-democracy advocates. Two important factors account for the lack of e-democracy at the American grassroots: lack of funding and lack of perceived demand. Another reason may be that early predictions were incorrect. Based on these findings, we would expect that e-democracy among US local governments will not be substantially different in the foreseeable future than it is now.
Probabilistic controlled airspace infringement tool

A current ground based safety net called Controlled Airspace infringement Tool (CAIT) is used by Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs). It warns them if any aircraft within uncontrolled airspace penetrates the Controlled airspace (CAS) without an advance clearance from the ATC. This penetration or ‘Infringement’ is considered as a major concern to ATCs where it may cause a possible conflict or mid-air collision. A conflict is an event which one aircraft loses its minimum separation to another. The downside of CAIT is that it only warns ATCs if the aircraft has already infringed CAS, this gives the ATC minimum time to react and avoid any conflict. In this research, we investigate a model which warns ATCs of possible future infringements accurately. We implement two Kalman filters (KF) as our tracking tool, one for each flight mode: constant velocity and constant acceleration each of which has its own state and observation errors. We will implement on-line learning too for these errors at each time step to predict the future uncertainties more accurately. We will then use two methods to estimate the probability of infringements: shortest distance and complement this method with the Monte Carlo sampling. We also used the switching Kalman filter (SKF) to choose between the most appropriate Kalman filter at each time step. On testing on real tracks, the SKF was found to give superior predictions of the aircraft location, permitting better estimates of the probability of CAS infringement to be made.