cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Regulation of ornithine decarboxylase mRNA by phorbol esters and insulin in normal and C-kinase-deficient rat hepatoma cells

Tumor-promoting phorbol esters and insulin produce similar effects in Reuber H35 rat hepatoma cell proliferation, including increased ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) enzyme activity, DNA synthesis, and mitogenesis. We investigated ODC mRNA accumulation in cells treated with either insulin or 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Both agents caused rapid accumulation of ODC mRNA: for TPA, it was maximal 3 hr after treatment (4-6-fold greater than control cells) and returned quickly to control levels; for insulin, it was significantly longer, continuing to increase for at least 6 hr. Simultaneous treatment with TPA and insulin led to additive effects on ODC mRNA. Induction of ODC by TPA was blocked by down-regulation or inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC), consistent with a PKC-mediated mechanism. In contrast, PKC down-regulation had little effect on ODC induction by insulin. Furthermore, although both agents stimulated ribosomal S6 protein phosphorylation in cells containing normal amounts of PKC, the response to TPA was abolished in PKC-depleted cells; the effect of insulin was only slightly inhibited. TPA caused a rapid redistribution of essentially all of the PKC activity from the cytosolic to the membrane fraction of the cells, whereas insulin had no effect on PKC distribution. These results suggest that although insulin and TPA share some common cytoplasmic signalling pathways, their effects on phosphorylation of nuclear proteins and transcription of ODC may be mediated by distinct factors.
Effects of mothers' perceptions of children's competence: The moderating role of mothers' theories of competence.

There is much evidence that parents' perceptions of children's competence affect the development of children's academic functioning. In the current research, the possibility that this is moderated by parents' theories about the stability of competence was examined. In a 2-wave, 1-year study of 126 children (9 to 12 years old) and their mothers, children's academic functioning (i.e., grades, perceptions of competence, attributions for performance, and mastery orientation) and affective functioning (i.e., self-esteem and depressive symptoms) were examined. Among mothers with relatively high entity theories, their perceptions acted as self-fulfilling prophecies foreshadowing children's academic and affective functioning over time. However, among mothers with relatively low entity theories, mothers' perceptions did not predict children's academic and affective functioning.
The Pertinence of Partners Examining Intersections Between Women’s Homelessness and Their Adult Relationships

This article explores the relationships between homeless women and their intimate partners. Based on results from a focus group of homeless women at a domestic violence shelter and 20 in-depth interviews with women at two centers for the homeless, the authors suggest that the nature of the intimate relationships homeless women have are varied and impact their social exclusion and subsequent homelessness in different ways. For instance, women may become homeless without their partners or with them, by force or by choice. Homeless women may be financially dependent on the partner, but they also may be providing the only income for the family. Ultimately, the authors explicate the complex intersection between women’s homelessness and their adult relationships to add to the understanding of homeless women.
COMMUNICATION FACTORS RELATED TO CLOSER INTERNATIONAL TIES

The question of what promotes closer ties between nations has long been central to the study of intercultural communication. This research develops and tests a model that specifies three factors drawn from social distance and systems perspectives that are posited to have an influence on the desire for closer ties between the U.S. and Mexico. Each of the factors, perceptions of homophily, shared interests, and threats, have previously been identified as occupying central positions in the development of international relationships. The sample used to test the model was drawn from eight elite occupational groups within Mexican urban centers (N = 800). The results were supportive of the model, with quite acceptable goodness of fit measures, with a high level of variance accounted for in the dependent variable, and with support for the paths between exogenous and endogenous variables as predicted in the model.
The metamorphic history of eucrites and eucrite‐related meteorites and the case for late metamorphism

— We report induced thermoluminescence (TL) data for separates from three howardite, eucrite and diogenite (HED) meteorites and the Vaca Muerta mesosiderite. The results of thermal modeling of the surface of their parent body are also described. The TL sensitivities for matrix samples from the LEW 85300, 302 and 303 paired eucrites and the Bholghati howardite are lower than the TL sensitivities for the clasts, which is consistent with regolith working of the matrix in fairly mature regoliths. Within an isochemical series of HED meteorites, TL sensitivity reflects metamorphic intensity, but clast-to-clast variations in the TL sensitivities of the Vaca Muerta mesosiderite and clasts in the EET 87509, 513 and 531 paired howardite primarily reflect differences in mineralogy and petrology. Thermoluminescence peak temperatures indicate that all the components from the LEW 85300, 302 and 303 paired eucrites experienced a reheating event involving temperatures >800 °C, which is thought to have been due to impact heating, and therefore that the event was concurrent with or postdated brecciation. The Vaca Muerta clasts are essentially unmetamorphosed, but the induced TL data indicate that the remaining howardite, eucrite, dioenite and mesosiderite (HEDM) meteorites experienced metamorphism to a variety of intensities but involving temperatures 800 °C cause a change in TL peak temperature. Feldspars from a variety of terrestrial and extraterrestrial sources show this behavior, and x-ray diffraction and kinetic studies suggest that it is indirectly related to Al, Si disordering. Cooling rates are not consistent with autometamorphism following the initial igneous event or with heating by subsequent eruptions of lava onto the surface of the HED parent body. Instead, our thermal models suggest that the metamorphism occurred within a regolith ejecta blanket of up to a few kilometers thick, with different levels of metamorphism corresponding to different thicknesses of blanket, between essentially 0 and ∼2 km, rather than different burial depths in a regolith of uniform thickness. We argue that metamorphism occurred 3.9 Ga ago and was associated with the resetting of the Ar-Ar system for the HED meteorites.
Sulfur diagenesis and partitioning in Holocene Peru shelf and upper slope sediments

Abstract Sediments of the Peru margin were sampled in two transects across the shelf and upper slope (75 to 1000 m) in October of 1992. This region is characterized by high surface-water productivity and consequent high organic carbon fluxes, low terrigenous inputs, as well as an intense oxygen-minimum zone (OMZ) impinging on the slope at depths between 75 and 550 m. Sediments analyzed in this study were collected from one ship-deployed box core and five submersible-deployed push cores. Organic carbon (TOC) concentrations in surface sediments range from 1 to 18% on a dry weight basis. Formation of pyrite begins at the sediment/water interface (SWI). Maximum concentrations of pyrite sulfur in the cores from this study range from 0.5 to 1.8 wt.%. Concentrations of pyrite are influenced by availability of reactive iron and an oxidant capable of converting AVS to pyrite. Highly reactive iron is stripped from terrigenous detritus in the core of the OMZ. Some of this iron may contribute to glauconite formation in sediments near the base of the OMZ, where it is concentrated into a glauconitic green sand as a result of reworking and winnowing. In a shallow-water site (109 m) at the upper edge of the OMZ, high concentrations of pyrite, total iron and iron/aluminum ratios indicate that easily reduced iron species are available for sulfidation at the SWI. Pyrite formation at this site is nearly complete in the upper 4 cm of the sediment. In contrast, pyrite concentrations are slightly lower at the surface of two of the deeper-water sites (at 309 m, in the center of the OMZ, and to a lesser extent at 671 m, at the bottom edge of the OMZ), and appear to be influenced, in part, by availability of reactive iron. Concentrations of acid-volatile sulfides (AVS) are low in all sediments (≤ 0.04 wt.%), but are slightly elevated in sediments from the center of the OMZ. The ratio of organic sulfur (S-org)to organic carbon (TOC)at the sediment surface of the cores examined here is remarkably constant (0.012 ± 0.002) and within the range observed in marine biota (0.01 to 0.02), suggesting that organic sulfur at the SWI is dominantly biogenic. Although S-org/TOC ratios increase downcore, there is no clear correlation between concentrations of organic sulfur and organic carbon below the SWI. There is also no clear relation between concentrations of organic sulfur and total iron. Organic sulfur concentrations vary from site to site (0.06 to 0.33 wt.%), but are relatively constant downcore at any given site. Maximum concentrations are in cores from the center of the OMZ.
Consistent sparse factorization of elliptic difference equations

Abstract A new approximate sparse factorization (CSF) of discretized elliptic systems has been used to solve large model Dirichlet problems more efficiently than all other methods which share its applicablity to general elliptic systems. If this efficiency is sustained in general, CSF will revolutionize numerical solution of elliptic systems.
Nonrigid motion analysis under small deformations

Recovery of motion parameters and point correspondences is a fundamental problem in computer vision. Although a great deal of research has been done solving rigid motion, nonrigid motion analysis has only recently been addressed, and is gaining interest due to its wide range of applications. This thesis introduces a novel method for estimating motion parameters and point correspondences between 2D curves and 3D surfaces under small nonrigid deformations. We use curvature to track point correspondences and motion parameters between 2D curves under small deformations. Curvature is invariant to the type of parameterization used, and to rigid transformations. These properties help us to deal with purely nonrigid motion, as curvature is not affected by translation/rotation of a given point. The motion parameter in this analysis is a point function, called the displacement function. In this work, it was defined as a polynomial function of a point on the curve under motion. Simulations are performed for illustrating accuracy of the algorithm's estimation by generating deformations on different curves. Real data experiments are also performed, using MR grid data, breast contours from mammogram images and contours of the left ventricle of heart. Three approaches are presented in this thesis for tracking point correspondences, and estimating motion parameters in 3D nonrigid motion. Unlike the 2D case, the motion parameter used here is a vector point function (not scalar), also called displacement function. It it represents both direction and magnitude of deformation at a given point. The first approach involves the use of changes in the "discriminant" for nonrigid motion analysis. Discriminant is defined as the infinitesimal area of surface at a given point. The second approach involves the use of changes in the unit normal at any given point on a surface under deformation. The third approach uses the challenges in Gaussian curvature along with the changes in unit normal direction. In all these approaches, the displacement function can be any point function representing the deformation involved. In our work, we have chosen a polynomial vector function to approximate the deformation. Simulations are performed for each approach by generating nonrigid motion on an ellipsoidal data set to illustrate performance and accuracy of the derived algorithms. Then, the algorithm is tested on a sequence of facial range images. A total of 16 sets of images were used in this experiment, where eight persons have generated two expressions each. We demonstrate the correct correspondence recovery by tracking points on the face during each facial expression. The correspondences estimation is also evaluated by comparing the algorithm's output against manual tracking of feature points by different users. In addition, nonrigid motion segmentation is successfully performed on these images. The motion parameters generated by the algorithm have also been used to demonstrate the abnormality in cardiac motion from CT images.
9;22;15 complex translocation in Ph1 chromosome positive CML revealed by Giemsa-11 procedure in apparent lymphoid cells of blastic crisis

Abstract A Ph1 chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia patient whose chronic phase lasted 7.5 years experienced a blastic transformation originating in the spleen. The spleen was infiltrated with undifferentiated blast cells that on cytogenetic analysis had a hyperdiploid karyotype and were Ph1 chromosome positive. The blast cells were negative for PAS, peroxidase, Sudan black and esterase stains. They were non-T, non-B with TdT activity. Remission was achieved in response to prednisone, vincristine, and adriamycin. Ph1 positive cells were present with cells responding to PHA stimulation throughout the course of the disease. A Giemsa-11 staining procedure made possible the ascertainment of a No. 9 translocation chromosome in blastic crisis cells that had also been present in Ph1 chromosome positive cells early in the disease. The presence of this translocation initially in myeloid cells and subsequently in apparent lymphoid cell types suggests the origin of this patient's leukemia as a pluripotential stem cell.
Workplace reasons for saying you're sorry: Discourse task management and apology in telephone interviews

We propose a model of the speech act of apologizing that ranges apologies along a continuum from the most situational, on one end, to the most personal, on the other. We then analyze the 252 occurrences of I'm sorry, excuse me, and beg pardon and their variants in 62 telephone interviews conducted for a public‐opinion polling service. Very few of the apologies in the interviews are responses to particular personal offenses, intended to convey regret and apparently successful in doing so. Rather, because of the necessity for discourse task management in this genre, interviewers and respondents use apologies at the situational end of the continuum. Such apologies signal and remedy minor interactional difficulties and establish cooperative rapport. Situational apologies also serve as indirect ways of rejecting questions or answers or cajoling reluctant respondents. Situational apologies are routinized in origin and unelaborated in form; their function is to restore social equilibrium rather than to express g...
The importance of drawing in the mechanical design process

Abstract This paper is a study on the importance of drawing (both formal drafting and informal sketching) during the process of mechanical design. Five hypotheses, focused on the types of drawings, their necessity in mechanical problem solving, and their relation to the external representation medium, are presented and supported. Support is through referenced studies in other domains and the results of protocol studies performed on five mechanical designers. Videotapes of all the marks-on-paper made by designers in representative sections of the design process were studied in detail for their type and purpose. The resulting data is supportive of the hypotheses. These results also give requirements for future computer aided design tools and graphics education, and goals for further studies.
Binocular eye movements during accommodative vergence

Binocular eye position was monitored by the photoelectric technique during accommodative vergence. Contrary to previous reports indicating that accommodative vergence was a uniocular phenomenon, without exception, binocular accommodative vergence movements were recorded. The total vergence amplitude in the viewing eye was reduced, on the average, by approximately 88% with respect to the vergence movement measured in the covered eye. Some saccadic eye movements that occurred during vergence movements were likewise reduced in amplitude in the viewing eye by up to 20%. Smooth eye movements were utilized to counteract the vergence movement in the viewing eye. This smooth movement alone, or in conjunction with a late saccade, returned the eye to the target and helped to maintain the retinal image of the target coincident with the foveal center for the duration of the accommodative vergence movement. Thus, there appears to be a fixation-holding mechanism which produced a general attenuation of both vergence and some saccadic movements in the viewing eye. Although this control strategy produced violations of Hering's law with respect to the magnitude of the movements in the eyes but not with respect to the direction of the movement, it was implemented in the interest of retaining the target within the sensitive foveal region.
Altered cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism in Huntington disease.

Abstract Huntington disease is an autosomal-dominant neurodegenerative disorder characterized by behavioral abnormalities, cognitive decline, and involuntary movements that lead to a progressive decline in functional capacity, independence, and ultimately death. The pathophysiology of Huntington disease is linked to an expanded trinucleotide repeat of cytosine-adenine-guanine (CAG) in the IT-15 gene on chromosome 4. There is no disease-modifying treatment for Huntington disease, and novel pathophysiological insights and therapeutic strategies are needed. Lipids are vital to the health of the central nervous system, and research in animals and humans has revealed that cholesterol metabolism is disrupted in Huntington disease. This lipid dysregulation has been linked to specific actions of the mutant huntingtin on sterol regulatory element binding proteins that result in lower cholesterol levels in affected areas of the brain with evidence that this depletion is pathologic. Huntington disease is also associated with a pattern of insulin resistance characterized by a catabolic state, resulting in weight loss and a lower body mass index than individuals without Huntington disease. Insulin resistance appears to act as a metabolic stressor attending disease progression. The fish-derived omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid, have been examined in clinical trials of Huntington disease patients. Drugs that combat the dysregulated lipid milieu in Huntington disease may help treat this perplexing and catastrophic genetic disease.
Able But Unintelligent: Including Positively Stereotyped Black Subgroups in the Stereotype Content Model

The stereotype content model (SCM) posits that warmth and competence are the key components underlying judgments about social groups. Because competence can encompass different components (e.g., intelligence, talent) different group members may be perceived to be competent for different reasons. Therefore, we believe it may be important to specify the type of competence being assessed when examining perceptions of groups that are positively stereotyped (i.e., Black athletes and musical Blacks). Consistent with the SCM, these subgroups were perceived as high in competence-talent but not in competence-intelligence and low in warmth. Both the intelligence and talent frame of competence fit in the SCM's social structural hypothesis.
Neuropsychiatry of corticobasal degeneration and progressive supranuclear palsy

Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) and progressive supranuclear palsy syndrome (PSPS) are two of the atypical Parkinsonism syndromes, in that patients exhibit rigidity, occasional tremor and postural instability, but do not symptomatically respond to dopamine replacement. CBS and PSPS can often present with complex cognitive difficulties and neuropsychiatric disturbances. Symptoms of depression, apathy, or agitation can be subtle and are often overlooked as reactions to learning a new diagnosis of Parkinsonism. These symptoms may be the earliest presenting evidence of CBS or PSPS, and these syndromes can be misdiagnosed with a primary psychiatric disorder rather than a neurodegenerative condition. Patients may be inappropriately treated with antipsychotic medications that exacerbate the extra-pyramidal motor features of the syndromes. When symptoms are considered to comprise a neurodegenerative syndrome, it may be an inaccurate diagnosis as many features of CBS and PSPS not only overlap with each other, but also with other dementia syndromes. This review discusses similarities and differences between the syndromes of CBS and PSPS in terms of neuropsychiatric features. Improved characterization of the clinical syndromes is necessary to better predict underlying pathology. Improved education about these diseases would help patients, caregivers and clinicians to anticipate symptom progression and avoid premature nursing home placement.
Electro-optic scanner for optical disk fine tracking system

Electro-optic (EO) scanners can be used as fine tracking actuators to improve the servo bandwidth in future high density/high data-rate optical disk drives. In this paper we report on the use of an EO scanner in a new optical tracking system. Track following has been accomplished with a servo bandwidth of 200 kHz and we have demonstrated track switching between nine tracks using only an EO scanner. A fine tracking experiment using an EO scanner has been demonstrated in parallel with a voice-coil actuated lens to expand the fine tracking range. Significant improvement in track switching speed and track following are demonstrated with the scanner/lens actuators as compared to tracking with the lens actuator alone.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Metabolomics of brain and reproductive organs: characterizing the impact of gestational exposure to butylbenzyl phthalate on dams and resultant offspring

Phthalates are plasticizers finding wide spread use in industrial and household products, with measureable levels of phthalate-derived metabolites in the general US population. Phthalates have endocrine disruption potential and have been implicated as obesogens. Our exploratory investigation to reveal the impact of in utero exposure to a phthalate on the biochemical profiles of the brain, testes, and uterus of prepubertal offspring, and of tissues from dams administered butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP). Pregnant rats (three per group) were administered (on gestation day 14–21) corn oil (control), or 25 mg/kg/day or 750 mg/kg/day BBP in corn oil. Tissues were collected from each of the dams on postnatal day (pnd) 21 (~3 weeks after the end of BBP administration), and from each of the pups on pnd 26 (~4 weeks after birth to dams administered vehicle or BBP during gestation) and processed for metabolomics analysis. Multivariate data analyses revealed metabolites that best distinguished the exposed and control groups. The metabolites most important to distinguishing the study groups were tested for significance using the exact Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Male pups had significant differences (control versus BBP dose groups) in levels of metabolites for both the brain and testes even at the P < 0.01 level. However, female pups and dams had significant testing for the uterus only at the P = 0.1 level tested. Female pups also had some significant differences for the brain with P values between 0.5 and 0.1. Amino acid metabolism (male and female pups) and phospholipid metabolism (male pups) were perturbed for the brain. Amino acid metabolism, purine metabolism, and TCA cycle were perturbed for tests and uterus. This study demonstrated the use of metabolomics to reveal metabolic perturbations in tissues of offspring following in utero exposures, and suggests the use of this approach for determining the impact of exposure past the time of the presence of the parent compound and metabolites derived from the parent compound.
Low noise temperature microstructure measurements with thermistors

Abstract Thermistors are sensitive devices for the measurement of temperature microstructure in the ocean. Improvements in experimental technique have enabled us significantly to reduce the noise levels below those of previous oceanic observations, to compare directly calculated and measured noise levels, both in the laboratory and in oceanic waters, and to document the sources of the noise spectrum. The lowest noise levels achieved, corresponding to an r.m.s. level of 3 μ°C over a bandwidth of 20 to 100 cpm, are a factor of 100 lower than the signal levels found in a record taken at a depth of 3500 m in the South Pacific. For frequencies less than 0.1 Hz the dominant noise is the excess noise, or f−1 noise, of the gain amplifier while the Johnson noise of the thermistor is the major source for frequencies greater than 4 Hz. The described data system has a dynamic range sufficient for active regions such as the Gulf Stream as well as mixed layers and abyssal waters.
Yeast pseudohyphal growth is regulated by GPA2, a G protein α homolog

Pseudohyphal differentiation, a filamentous growth form of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is induced by nitrogen starvation. The mechanisms by which nitrogen limitation regulates this process are currently unknown. We have found that GPA2, one of the two heterotrimeric G protein alpha subunit homologs in yeast, regulates pseudohyphal differentiation. Deltagpa2/Deltagpa2 mutant strains have a defect in pseudohyphal growth. In contrast, a constitutively active allele of GPA2 stimulates filamentation, even on nitrogen-rich media. Moreover, a dominant negative GPA2 allele inhibits filamentation of wild-type strains. Several findings, including epistasis analysis and reporter gene studies, indicate that GPA2 does not regulate the MAP kinase cascade known to regulate filamentous growth. Previous studies have implicated GPA2 in the control of intracellular cAMP levels; we find that expression of the dominant RAS2(Gly19Val) mutant or exogenous cAMP suppresses the Deltagpa2 pseudohyphal defect. cAMP also stimulates filamentation in strains lacking the cAMP phosphodiesterase PDE2, even in the absence of nitrogen starvation. Our findings suggest that GPA2 is an element of the nitrogen sensing machinery that regulates pseudohyphal differentiation by modulating cAMP levels.
Determination of polyaromatic hydrocarbons in river water using a sorbent consisting of removable octadecyltrimethylammonium ions attached to cation exchange silica in conjunction with commercial C18 silica.

An application that highlights the usefulness of a solid phase extraction sorbent having a removable surfactant “stationary phase” is introduced. Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) efficiently trap on commercially available non-polar sorbents (i.e., C18 silica). However, solvents that are necessary to break strong hydrophobic interactions between the analyte and sorbent are harmful and incompatible for direct introduction into a reversed phase liquid chromatographic setup. In the presented approach, the entire “stationary phase”–analyte association is removed, resulting in very efficient elutions with a final extract that is mild and reversed phase liquid chromatographic compatible. Commercial C18 silica was placed adjacent to this sorbent to provide more efficient trapping of less hydrophobic PAHs. PAHs were preconcentrated from river water and were determined using fluorescence detection coupled to HPLC. Detection limits for all PAHs examined were in the sub µg L−1 level.
A TEOTIHUACAN PRESENCE AT CHAC II, YUCATAN, MEXICO: Implications for early political economy of the Puuc region

A long-term research program at the Maya center of Chac (II) is providing extraordinary new information regarding architecture, mortuary populations, and foreign presence at the Puuc hills during the Early Classic period ( a.d. 300‐ 600). The finding of numerous early substructures at monumental and residential contexts, unusual mortuary practices, and various artifacts showing central Mexican inspiration and/or origin has led to the serious realization that the center of Chac did not develop in cultural isolation. It is becoming increasingly evident that Teotihuacan played a significant role, either directly or via one of its surrogates, in the rise of urban centers in the Puuc region. This paper explores the evidence of foreign influences and contacts at Chac and discusses the larger implications for the early political economy of the Puuc hills region and the region’s relationship to greater Mesoamerica. 4 Ahau was the name of the katun when occurred the birth of the Pauahs, when the rulers descended. Thirteen katuns they reigned; thus they were named while they ruled. 4 Ahau was the name of the katun when they descended; the great descent and the little descent they were called.
Paraµ -- A Partial and Higher-Order Mutation Tool with Concurrency Operators

The mutation operators implemented in a mutation tool typically mutate the entire programs thoroughly and thus generate enormous number of mutants spread all over the programs. However, the complexity and difficulty level of methods implemented in a given program is less evenly distributed all over the program. Hence, the non-uniform distribution of complexity of methods in a program is an indication of testing efforts required for each method. We introduce partial mutations where only the complex parts of the programs are mutated instead of the entire programs. Paraµ is a mutation tool for Java programs enabling partial mutations. In addition to the class mutation, Paraµ implements concurrency mutation operators to address the recent advances in multicore systems and hence mutation testing of parallel and multi-threaded programs. Furthermore, Paraµ allows higher-order mutations by which the users are allowed to specify the order and the types of mutation operators and thus perform a combinatorial higher-order mutation testing.
Prophylactic administration of liposomal amphotericin B is superior to treatment in a murine model of invasive aspergillosis after hematopoietic cell transplantation.

With use of a novel model of invasive Aspergillus fumigatus, the efficacy of prophylactic versus therapeutic administration of liposomal amphotericin B (L-AmB) was tested in C57BL/6 mice. After lethal irradiation and transplantation of whole bone marrow (d 0), animals were challenged with conidia either intravenously or via nasal instillation on d +3 and divided into 3 groups: group I received 5% dextrose in water throughout the study period; group II received L-AmB, 5 mg/kg, beginning on d +4; and group III received L-AmB, 5 mg/ kg on d 4, d 2, d 0, and d +2, then daily starting d +4. Groups I and II did not survive intravenous challenge, whereas group III had a 40% survival rate. After nasal instillation of conidia, the survival was 25%, 35%, and 85% for mice in groups I, II, and III, respectively. These results demonstrate that prophylactic administration of L-AmB increased early survival against lethal challenge with A. fumigatus, compared with therapy instituted after infection. Since the advent of prophylactic, preemptive, and treatment strategies for the treatment of cytomegalovirus, invasive aspergillosis has emerged as the most lethal infectious complication after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Modifications in the chemotherapeutic preparative regimens and the transplanted grafts have resulted in a significant shortening of the period of neutropenia. However, the incidence of invasive aspergillosis remains between 8% and 15%. Furthermore, mortality after diagnosis of either proved or probable invasive aspergillosis in the setting of allogeneic HCT is 92%‐100%, despite aggressive treatment with a growing roster of appropriate antifungal agents [1]. Therefore, the lethality of this infection underscores the necessity of preventing this infection. Empiric institution of broad-spectrum antifungal therapy for fever unresponsive to 3‐4 days of antibacterial administration
A self-aligning latch-up mechanism in out of plane silicon microelectrode array for neural prosthesis

This paper presents a novel design and development of a self-aligning latch-up mechanism for out of plane, high density, three dimensional penetrating micro electrode array used for neural prosthesis. The microsystem consists of two components; male and female. The male component has 100 neural electrodes with one row of edge column having a "mushroom" geometry, and corner posts at the four corners. The corner posts are chemically etched to form sharp micro needles. In the female component there are rows of "mushroom" shaped columns with a hole in the corner post. The "mushroom" columns in the male and female parts compliment each other to form an inter-lock that does not allow the microsystem to fall apart, while the sharp micro needles of male component helps in self-aligning the microsystem into the holes of the female component of the microsystem. This does not allow the microsystem to move laterally.
Electromagnetic propagation in an exponential ionization density

The propagation of a plane electromagnetic (TE) wave into a plane stratified medium in which the ionization density varies as exp ( z/z_{0} ) is investigated. The solution of the wave equation appears as a combination of Bessel functions of imaginary order and complex argument, but the magnitude of the reflection coefficient (taken at z = -x ) is given by the simple expression exp {-(4\pi z_{0}\cos \theta_{i}/\lambda) \tan^{-1}(\nu_{c}/\omega)} , where \theta_{i} is the angle of incidence, \lambda is the free-space wavelength and ( \nu_{c}/\omega ) is the ratio of electron collision frequency to the frequency of the field. In general, the field components must be obtained from a complex series, but at depths beyond the critical density asymptotic forms are given which display the rapid decay of the evanescent field in terms of elementary functions.
Treating Alcoholic Families

Members of alcoholic families distort roles. The distortion is characterized by boundary ambiguity: the ambiguous perception of who is in the family and who should perfom what roles and tasks. Recovery is expedited when clinical interventions are derived from conceptualizing recovery as progress through four levels of family interaction distinguished by progressively clearer boundaries.
Both complete and correct?: multi-objective optimization of touchscreen keyboard

Correcting erroneous input (i.e., correction) and completing a word based on partial input (i.e., completion) are two important "smart" capabilities of a modern intelligent touchscreen keyboard. However little is known whether these two capabilities are conflicting or compatible with each other in the keyboard parameter tuning. Applying computational optimization methods, this work explores the optimality issues related to them. The work demonstrates that it is possible to simultaneously optimize a keyboard algorithm for both correction and completion. The keyboard simultaneously optimized for both introduces no compromise to correction and only a slight compromise to completion when compared to the keyboards exclusively optimized for one objective. Our research also demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method in keyboard algorithm design, which is based on the Pareto multi-objective optimization and the Metropolis algorithm. For the development and test datasets used in our experiments, computational optimization improved the correction accuracy rate by 8.3% and completion power by 17.7%.
Fire Frequency and the Vegetative Mosaic of a Spruce-Fir Forest in Northern Utah

Fire scar and vegetative analysis were used to construct a fire history for the Engelmann spruce/subalpine fir ( Picea engelmannii/Abies lasciocarpa ) vegetation type of Utah State University (USU) T. W. Daniel Experimental Forest. Three distinct periods of fire frequency were established-presettlement (1700-1855), settlement (1856-1909), and suppression (1910-1990). Mean fire interval (MFI) decreased during the settlement period and greatly increased during the suppression era. The difference was attributed to the influx of ignition sources during the settlement of nearby Cache Valley, located 40 km to the west. Logging and livestock grazing appear to have led to the reduced MFI, which in turn worked as a factor to create the vegetative mosaic now observed on the study area. The increase in MFI during the suppression ear permitted the advancement of shade-tolerant species in the understory of the shade-intolerant lodgepole pine ( Pinus contorta var. latifolia ) and quaking aspen ( Populus tremuloides ). Continued suppression of disturbance from wildfire will allow the lodgepole pine cover type, which experience the lowest MFI during the settlement period, to be further invaded by shade-intolerant species, decreasing spatial stand diversity and increasing the risk of more intense fires.
Poe's Law, group polarization, and argumentative failure in religious and political discourse

Poe's Law is roughly that online parodies of religious views are indistinguishable from sincere expressions of religious views. Poe's Law may be expressed in a variety of forms, each highlighting either a facet of indirect discourse generally, polarized attitudes of online audiences, or the quality of online religious material. As a consequence of the polarization of online discussions, invocations of Poe's Law have relevance in wider circles than religion, particularly politics. Moreover, regular invocations of Poe's Law in critical discussions have the threat of further entrenching and polarizing views.
Frayed At The Edges: Collective Memory And History On The Borders Of Classic Maya Polities

This article explores social memory and history as they pertain particularly to secondary political centers on the edges of the Classic Maya kingdoms of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan. Over the course of the Late Classic period ( a.d . 600–900) the rulers of Maya polities in the Usumacinta River basin increasingly relied on the subordinate lords who governed these secondary centers to patrol and control the boundaries of their territories. For the rulers of any state, formulating an appropriate and coherent history to guide social memory is a critical political act for maintaining the cohesion of the political community. But as the Classic period progressed, client lords were increasingly permitted a formerly royal prerogative; they were accorded their own inscribed monuments. The monuments, together with associated ritual performances, were an integral part of the construction of history and collective memory in local communities and allowed secondary nobles to restructure social memory for their own interests. This trend, in turn, increased the potential for royal history and authority to be contested throughout the kingdom. Through several case studies this paper examines the ways that subordinate nobles could contest social memory and history sanctioned by primary rulers and the ways in which kings acted to maintain the reins of history and memory.
Epsilon protein kinase C as a potential therapeutic target for the ischemic heart

Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the western world. Ischemic damage can occur by acute myocardial infarction, stable angina, cardiac stunning, and myocardial hibernation. In addition, 'scheduled' ischemic events, occurring during cardiac surgery, heart transplantation, and elective angioplasty, can also result in cardiac damage. Ischemic or pharmacological preconditioning can decrease the extent of damage to the myocardium. Although the mechanism of preconditioning-mediated cardioprotection is not fully understood, epsilonPKC has been implicated as a critical mediator of this process in animal studies. The use of isozyme-specific pharmacological tools has permitted a better elucidation of the upstream stimuli and the downstream transducers of epsilonPKC in the pathways leading to cardioprotection. While little is known about the role of epsilonPKC in these pathways in humans, animal studies suggest a potential therapeutic role of epsilonPKC. This review will focus on the role of epsilonPKC in cardiac protection and on the signal transduction cascades that have been implicated in this protection.
Fluorinated Photodynamic Therapy Device Tips and their Resistance to Fouling for In Vivo Sensitizer Release

We describe progress on a one-step photodynamic therapy (PDT) technique that is simple: device tip delivery of sensitizer, oxygen and light simultaneously. Control is essential for their delivery to target sites to generate singlet oxygen. One potential problem is the silica device tip may suffer from biomaterial fouling and the pace of sensitizer photorelease is slowed. Here, we have used biomaterial (e.g. proteins, cells, etc.) from SQ20B head and neck tumors and whole blood for an assessment of fouling of the silica tips by adsorption. It was shown that by exchanging the native silica tip for a fluorinated tip, a better nonstick property led to an increased sensitizer output by ~10%. The fluorinated tip gave a sigmoidal photorelease where singlet oxygen is stabilized to physical quenching, whereas the native silica tip with unprotected SiO-H groups gave a slower (pseudolinear) photorelease. A further benefit from fluorinated silica is that 15% less biomaterial adheres to its surface compared to native silica based on a bicinchoninic acid assay (BCA) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. We discuss how the fluorination of the device tip increases biofouling resistance and can contribute to a new pointsource PDT tool.
The growth of ice crystals in a stirred tank

Ice crystals were grown in water or sodium chloride solutions by direct contact with evaporating butane. In water subcooled 0.01° to 0.05°C., the particles grew about one-quarter to one-half as fast as fast as predicted from heat transfer correlations. The growth rates in 2% salt solution were about sevenfold lower than those obtained in water at the same subcooling, because the concentration difference for salt diffusion lowered the interface temperature. Calculations indicate the diffusion effect to be much greater for disk-shaped particles than for spheres.
Total synthesis of hyacinthacine A2: stereocontrolled 5-aza-cyclooctene photoisomerization and transannular hydroamination with planar-to-point chirality transfer

The total synthesis of hyacinthacine A2 is reported via a novel transannular hydroamination in which planar chirality of a 5-aza-trans-cyclooctene precursor is transferred to point chirality in the product. Key to the success of this strategy was the development of a method for establishing absolute planar chirality via stereocontrolled photoisomerization of a 5-aza-cis-cyclooctene. This was accomplished by constructing a 5-aza-cis-cyclooctene precursor with a trans-fused acetonide. The improved diastereoselectivity observed upon photoisomerization of this derivative is attributed to the conformational strain of the eight-membered ring in the minor diastereomer.
Adaptive Immunity to Fungi

Only a handful of the more than 100,000 fungal species on our planet cause disease in humans, yet the number of life-threatening fungal infections in patients has recently skyrocketed as a result of advances in medical care that often suppress immunity intensely. This emerging crisis has created pressing needs to clarify immune defense mechanisms against fungi, with the ultimate goal of therapeutic applications. Herein, we describe recent insights in understanding the mammalian immune defenses deployed against pathogenic fungi. The review focuses on adaptive immune responses to the major medically important fungi and emphasizes how dendritic cells and subsets in various anatomic compartments respond to fungi, recognize their molecular patterns, and signal responses that nurture and shape the differentiation of T cell subsets and B cells. Also emphasized is how the latter deploy effector and regulatory mechanisms that eliminate these nasty invaders while also constraining collateral damage to vital tissue.
A Comprehensive Review of the Loop Diuretics: Should Furosemide Be First Line?

Objective:To review the literature regarding the pharmacokinetic profiles, comparative safety and efficacy, and comparative costs of loop diuretics to evaluate the current clinical usefulness of furosemide.Data Sources:A search of MEDLINE (1966–June 2009) was conducted using the terms furosemide, torsemide, bumetanide, ethacrynic acid, and loop diuretics. Articles were limited to those written in English.Study Selection and Data Extraction:All English-language articles identified from the data sources were reviewed. Studies were eligible if they encompassed pharmacokinetics, comparative safety and efficacy, or comparative costs of the loop diuretics.Data Synthesis:In patients with heart failure (HF), torsemide demonstrated decreased mortality compared with furosemide in 1 study (2.2% vs 4.5% in the furosemide group; p < 0.05), decreased hospitalizations in 1 study (23 in the torsemide group vs 61 in the furosemide group; p < 0.01), and improved New York Heart Association functional classifications in 2 st...
Configuration Management for DTNs

We are investigating new methods for Configuration Management of devices inter-connected over challenged networks such as wireless Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks (MANETs) and Disruption Tolerant Networks (DTNs). Configuration Management in these network environments require efficiency in communications, bundling of base operations into composite sets, i.e., transactions, resiliency against configuration errors and local autonomous control of configuration. This paper describes our early efforts in architecture, designing and prototyping the Configuration Network Management Protocol (CNMP) as a proposed Configuration Management protocol for these challenging network environments.
Peer Victimization and Forms of Aggression During Middle Childhood: The Role of Emotion Regulation

The current short-term longitudinal study evaluated whether anger and sadness regulation moderated the associations between peer victimization and physical and relational forms of aggression over a 6-month period. Participants included 278 predominantly Caucasian children (51.8 % female) between 8 and 12 years of age (M = 9.33, SD = 0.99). Peer victimization was assessed at Time 1 using child- and teacher-reports, and teachers provided ratings of children’s aggressive behavior at Time 1 and Time 2. Children also completed self-report measures of anger and sadness regulation at Time 1. Results from multilevel models provided support for the notion that children’s ability to effectively regulate their feelings of anger and sadness influences the relations among peer victimization and forms of aggression over time. As anticipated, high levels of anger regulation attenuated the link between child-reported peer victimization and physical aggression. Further, when levels of anger regulation were high, teacher-reported peer victimization predicted subsequent decreases in physical aggression. Contrary to expectations, however, high levels of anger and sadness regulation exacerbated the association between child-reported peer victimization and relational aggression, and teacher-reported peer victimization predicted decreases in relational aggression over time when levels of anger regulation were low. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed.