cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lessons from the Genetics of Colon Cancer

Remarkable advances in the understanding of specific inherited and acquired genetic events that are important in colonic carcinogenesis have occurred in the last several years. Studies of the population genetics of colon cancer have determined that the gene responsible for familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), and Gardner's syndrome has been localized on the long arm of chromosome 5 and have more clearly defined the importance of genetic influences in ‘sporadic’ colon cancer. Studies of the molecular genetics of colon cancer have identified acquired alterations in oncogenes such as the K-ras gene and in putative tumor suppressor genes such as the FAP gene on chromosome 5, the p53 gene on chromosome 17, and the DCC gene on chromosome 18, which appear to mediate important steps ir the adenoma-dysplasia-carcinoma sequence. Some of these research advances (FAP gene carriage) are already being used clinically to identify individuals at risk for colon cancer, and they offer great promise for the future of both ...
Editorial: State of the Journal

With this fourth year of the IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (TAC), the field of affective computing is strong and vibrant. In 2013 we will mark the fifth International Conferences on Affective Computing in Geneva, Switzerland, which will be cochaired by our associate editor, Catherine Pelachaud. Over the last year, TAC published 43 articles over four issues, up from 26 articles in 2011. We expect to maintain this publication rate over the next year and focus on attracting high-quality articles. The journal continues to encourage interdisciplinary research and we've attracted articles from recognized names in both the computational and social sciences of affect. After these four years of growth, as Editor-in-Chief (EiC) I feel confident in stating that TAC is the premier journal for research on the topic of affective computing. The editorial board has remained steady over the last year, but to handle our increasing paper load we have added one editor focusing on human-robot interaction. I welcome Bilge Mutlu from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who's bio and photo are provided. In the coming year, my primary goal continues to be to increase the visibility of the journal and for this I need your help. Please help me in spreading awareness of the journal.
The Association between Early Tracheal Colonization and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia

To evaluate the relationship between early tracheal colonization and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). This is a retrospective cohort study which included 308 inborn neonates admitted to the newborn intensive care unit at the University of Miami Jackson Memorial Medical Center between January 1997 and December 2000 with birthweight 500 to 1000 g, who required mechanical ventilation on the first day of life. Chorioamnionitis was diagnosed by maternal symptoms and histopathopathology. Tracheal cultures were obtained immediately after tracheal intubation. BPD was diagnosed in neonates who had supplemental oxygen requirement for more than 28 days. Pearson's χ2 and Logistic Regression Analysis were used to evaluate the relationship between chorioamnionitis, positive initial tracheal cultures and BPD, after adjusting for confounding variables. In patients with chorioamnionitis, the incidence of early positive tracheal cultures was 41% compared to 16% in those without chorioamnionitis, (p<0.00001). In patients with birthweight 700 to 1000 g, a positive early tracheal culture increased the risk of BPD (OR=2.42, CI 1.05 to 5.62, p<0.05). Preterm infants exposed to chorioamnionitis have an increased incidence of early tracheal colonization. This early tracheal colonization may predispose them to develop BPD.
Environmental Congruence and Symptoms of Psychopathology A Further Exploration of the Effects of Exposure to the Jail Environment

This article examines the link between environmental congruence and symptoms of psychopathology among jail prisoners. Samples of New Jersey jail prisoners were administered instruments that measured environmental needs, perceived environmental resources, and symptoms of psychopathology. The needs and resources instruments were combined into a measure of environmental congruence and analyzed in conjunction with symptom scores. The results indicate that prisoners who have low environmental congruence, that is, expressed needs are not well matched by perceived resources, suffer from more extreme symptoms of psychological distress than do their counterparts, who enjoy relatively high congruence. This finding has several implications for environment-centered programs and research in jails.
New color image processor for the video camera

This paper presents a newly-developed digital color image processor (CIP) for the video camera. The CIP accepts digitized image signals from a one-chip color CCD sensor, performs luminance and chrominance signal processing, and outputs NTSC Y/C and digital CCIR601 signals. In addition, the algorithmly-developed auto-focus mechanism that will be integrated with CIP is described.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Use of collagen injections for vesicoureteral reflux in transplanted kidneys

Abstract Reports in the literature suggest the incidence of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in transplanted kidneys to range from 2–79%. Collagen injections have been used with reported success rates of up to 65% to prevent VUR into native orifices in children, but have not been studied in transplant neo-orifices. We evaluated the use of collagen injections in seven patients with transplant kidney neo-orifices who displayed grades II–IV VUR and seemed to be related to symptomatic urinary tract infections (UTIs). Postoperative VCUGs obtained at 2 months showed improvement in the grade of reflux in four of seven (57.1%) patients; one (14.3%), no change; and two (28.6%), worse reflux. All patients also redeveloped symptomatic UTIs after collagen injection. We conclude that the use of collagen injections in kidney transplant neo-orifices did not prevent VUR. Although prevention of VUR may have been achieved short term, VCUG examinations 2 months after initial injection revealed persistent reflux. Etiologies for failure to prevent VUR may be the readily absorbable nature of collagen, technical aspects of the procedure, the degree of reflux, and anatomic differences between native orifices (which lie on a well-supported trigone) and transplant neo-orifices (which lie on the posterior wall with less support).
Silencing the genes for dopa decarboxylase or dopachrome conversion enzyme reduces melanization of foreign targets in Anopheles gambiae

The production of melanin is a complex biochemical process in which several enzymes may play a role. Although phenoloxidase and serine proteases are clearly key components, the activity of other enzymes, including dopa decarboxylase and dopachrome conversion enzyme may also be required. We tested the effect of knockdown of gene expression for these two enzymes on melanization of abiotic targets in the mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. Knockdown of dopa decarboxylase and dopachrome conversion enzyme resulted in a significant reduction of melanization of Sephadex beads at 24 h after injection. Knockdown of a third enzyme, phenylalanine hydroxylase, which is involved in endogenous production of tyrosine, had no effect on bead melanization. Quantitative analysis of gene expression demonstrated significant upregulation of phenylalanine hydroxylase, but not the other two genes, following injection.
Systematic corrections to the Born-Oppenheimer approximation

Abstract A method for providing systematic diabatic corrections to the Born-Oppenheimer approximation is presented. We begin with an adiabatic expansion of the exact vibronic wavefunctions and, via the molecular Hamiltonian, develop expressions for the diabatic terms in the Schrodinger equation. We then derive recursion relations which allow one to introduce the diabatic interactions to any desired degree of approximation. As an example, the first approximation (beyond the Born-Oppenheimer approximation) is discussed explicitly. In passing, we assess some of the common misconceptions associated with the Born-Oppenheimer approximation.
Self partitioning neural networks for target recognition

Automatic target recognition (ATR) is a domain in which the neural network technology has been applied with limited success. The domain is characterized by large training sets with dissimilar target images carrying conflicting information. This paper presents a novel method for quantifying the degree of non-cooperation that exists among the target members of the training set. Both the network architecture and the training algorithm are considered in the computation of the non-cooperation measures. Based on these measures, the self partitioning neural network (SPNN) approach partitions the target vectors into an appropriate number of groups and trains one subnetwork to recognize the targets in each group. A fusion network combines the outputs of the subnetworks to produce the final response. This method automatically determines the number of subnetworks needed without excessive computation. The subnetworks are simple with only one hidden layer and one unit in the output layer. They are topologically identical to one another. The simulation results indicate that the method is robust and capable of self organization to overcome the ill effects of the non-cooperating targets in the training set. The self partitioning approach improves the classification accuracy and reduces the training time of neural networks significantly. It is also shown that a trained self partitioning neural network is capable of learning new training vectors without retraining on the combined training set (i.e., the training set consisting of the previous and newly acquired training vectors).
Flash photolysis study of ligand binding by modified myoglobins at low temperatures

Abstract The CO-binding kinetics of myoglobin containing proto-, meso- and deuterohemes were studied by flash photolysis over the temperature range 50–300 K. Results recorded over a large dynamic range of time (microseconds to many seconds) reveal processes that are non-exponential in time and multiphasic. The data are explained by a model in which the CO molecule must surmount four barriers in migrating from the solvent to the heme iron. At least two of these barriers have heights that vary from one molecule to another. Varying the nature of the heme group affects mainly the innermost of these barriers and, to a lesser degree, the second-outermost barrier.
Effects of suspended sediments on geochemical processes near the mouth of the Amazon River: examination of biological silica uptake and the fate of particle-reactive elements

Abstract The effects of suspended-sediment concentration on the biological uptake of silica and the chemical behavior of particle-reactive elements are examined for the continental shelf waters near the mouth of the Amazon River. Dissolved silica and suspended-sediment concentrations measured during periods of high and low discharge indicate that uptake of dissolved silica begins where the suspended-sediment concentration falls below 10–20 mg l1. Near the mouth of the Amazon River the 10 mg l1 turbidity contour and the region of initial silica uptake both occur 20–40 km farther offshore during periods of high discharge (May and June) than during periods of low discharge (October and November). The location of initial silica uptake along an across-shelf transect near the river mouth varies by as much as 20 km on a time scale of days to weeks, which is comparable to the seasonal variation. Silica uptake, chlorophyll a concentration, and suspended-sediment concentration are poorly correlated along this transect (correlation coefficients range from +0.03 to −0.3). The poor correlations may be a result of grazing by zooplankton. Phaeopigment:chlorophyll a ratios increase offshore from 0 to 0.7, which supports the hypothesis that zooplankton grazing may be responsible for the low chlorophyll concentrations in the low-turbidity offshore waters exhibiting extensive silica removal. Excess210Pb inventories for box cores collected from an across-shelf transect just south of the river mouth range from 21 to 124 dpm cm2, which are 2–10 times greater than the inventory supported by atmospheric supply and in-situ production in the overlying water column. Riverine supply and lateral transport from offshore waters are the main sources of excess210Pb to the Amazon continental shelf.210Pb and234Th data indicate that the high particulate flux from the Amazon River scavenges particle-reactive species not only from river water and continental shelf water but also scavenges these elements from offshore open-ocean water which flows onto the shelf.
VARIATIONAL CALCULATIONS OF ELECTROMAGNETIC SCATTERING FROM TWO RANDOMLY SEPARATED RAYLEIGH DIELECTRIC CYLINDERS.

The exact solution, Born approximation, and its variational improvement are obtained for the scattering of electromagnetic waves from two randomly separated Rayleigh dielectric cylinders. This special model is used to test a recently developed vector stochastic variational principle. The variational results are shown to account accurately for the geometric polarizability of the cylinders as well as for multiple scattering and interference.
Simulation of triaxial compression tests with polyhedral discrete elements

Abstract The triaxial compression test is by far the most common laboratory test used to measure the mechanical properties of granular soils. In this paper, a series of simulations using the discrete element method (DEM) with polyhedral particles are introduced to simulate drained and undrained triaxial compression tests. A series of DEM simulations are first presented to replicate nine isotropically consolidated drained triaxial compression (CIDC) tests on sand specimens. The DEM micro-mechanical parameters of the inter-particle friction angle, normal and shear contact stiffness were calibrated using a single test in the series. The calibrated DEM model was then used to compute the response of other eight tests. The model gave very good estimate of the behavior for the other eight tests corresponding to a range of initial void ratios and confining pressures. The deviatoric stress and volumetric strains obtained in each CIDC test simulation show good agreement with the corresponding experimental data. The major source of error in the simulations is the use of larger particle sizes necessary to keep the computational cost manageable. The DEM model was then used to compute undrained response of the sand specimens by simulating isotropically consolidated undrained triaxial compression (CIUC) tests. The computed responses, presented in terms of the stress path, deviatoric stress, and shear induced pore water pressure, are consistent with our understanding of sand behavior. The simulations demonstrate that polyhedral DEM provides a suitable tool for representing granular material responses in triaxial shear without the need for use of complex input model parameters.
Optical and ODMR investigation of the low lying excited states of neat α-oxalic acid dihydrate

Abstract The lowest excited singlet and triplet states of neat α-oxalic acid dihydrate have been investigated by optical, optical Zeeman, and zero-field optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) spectroscopy at T ≲ 4 K. The observed electronic transitions in absorption are assigned as 1Au ← 1Ag (ν0 = 34131 cm−1) from its normal polarizatio These correspond to the expected lowest lying 1,3nπ* excitations in trans-α-dicarbonyls. The 3Au → 1Ag phosphorescence is also observed. Monitoring the phosphorescence intensity, the fine structure splittings and principal axes' orientation and the kinetic parameters of the 3Au s The fine structure constants are X = 2510.0, Y = −1800.3, and Z = −709.7 MHZ where the x axis is in-plane and parallel to the carbo The absolute signs of the constants have been established by optical Zeeman measurements. The τx zero-field spin state has the largest total phosphorescence rate, radiative rate, and populating rate. The τx activity in the 0 - 0 band is polarized mainly along the x axis. However, considerable normal polarization associated with an in-p
Conceptualizing social information

In this paper, I propose a research agenda based on the concept of the social information system, a form of information system designed to process information about individuals and their social relationships for the explicit purpose of producing a particular social order, i.e, organizational culture. The agenda is based on a review of extant research on organizationally-bound social network(ing) sites, categorizing findings according to labor-oriented and social-oriented uses. The proposed research agenda establishes as an object of socio-technical inquiry the design and use of the social information system as a facilitator of organizational culture.
Categorical medicine residents' experiential curriculum

Purpose To assess the case mix or experiential curriculum of a university-based categorical medicine residency program and compare the residents' continuity clinic case mix with the outpatients seen by practicing internists. Patients and methods Descriptive study during the 1991–1992 academic year of 24,218 inpatients and outpatients from the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Medicine's three core hospitals: the University of California, San Francisco Hospital; the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center; and the San Francisco General Hospital. The diagnoses and ages of patients who made office visits to practicing internists from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) were compared with corresponding data from the categorical medicine residents' continuity clinic patients. Results Seventy percent of the general medicine inpatients at the three core hospitals had one of the 25 most common principal diagnoses for inpatients. Eighty-seven percent of the patients seen by the residents in their continuity clinic had one of the 20 most common diagnoses seen by practicing internists in the NAMCS. The age distribution was similar in both groups. Conclusions A systematic assessment of clinical training at one university-based hospital program shows that common internal medicine problems represent the case mix of the great majority of patients, both inpatients and outpatients, seen by categorical medicine residents. Residents' continuity clinic patients are similar to patients seen by practicing internists. The program's challenge is to ensure that residents have adequate time with general medicine experiences, both in the inpatient setting and in the ambulatory and longitudinal care settings, while balancing and integrating these activities.
High precision measurements of alkalinity and total carbon dioxide in seawater by potentiometric titration — 1. Presence of unknown protolyte(s)?

Abstract An automated system for measuring alkalinity and total carbon dioxide in seawater by potentiometric titration is described. Single observation standard errors of ∼1 μequiv. kg−1 and ∼2 μmol kg−1 for alkalinity and total carbon dioxide are obtained using this system. The titration total carbon dioxide results are ∼21 μmol kg−1 higher than those obtained by gas extraction methods which, unlike the titration method, do not require detailed knowledge of the chemistry of the seawater samples. Possible explanations of these differences include: an error in the physico-chemical model; a persistent contamination problem; or the presence of an unknown protolyte (HX) in natural seawater. We find this latter hypothesis most intriguing. We show that a species with a pK between 6.0 (carbonic acid) and 8.7 (boric acid) would not affect the alkalinity, but would be recorded putatively as ‘total CO2’ in a titration procedure, and suggest that such a species may occur at significant concentration in seawater.
Reclaiming fiber from newsprint dry methods

Abstract Economical and environmental considerations suggest the desirability of recycling old newspapers to newsprint in urban areas, using methods with reduced demand for process water. In bench-scale experiments, we successfully dry-fiberized old newspapers at moisture contents from 2 to 52%. Handsheets of acceptable appearance were made from dry-processed fiber by both air-laid water-laid processes. Water-laid handsheets of dry-fiberized furnish had less strength than did handsheets from wet-processed fiber. Air-laid handsheets yielded lower density and has less tensile strength compared to water-laid handsheets of the same fiber. Methods for increasing tensile strength are suggested.
Does neostigmine administration produce a clinically important increase in postoperative nausea and vomiting

Neostigmine is used to antagonize neuromuscular blocker-induced residual neuromuscular paralysis. Despite the findings of a previous meta-analysis, the effect of neostigmine on postoperative nausea and vomiting remains unresolved. We reevaluated the effect of neostigmine on postoperative nausea and vomiting while considering the different anticholinergics as potentially confounding factors. We performed a systematic literature search using MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane library, reference listings, and hand searching with no language restriction through December 2004 and identified 10 clinical, randomized, controlled trials evaluating neostigmine's effect on postoperative nausea and vomiting. Data on nausea or vomiting from 933 patients were extracted for the early (0-6 h), delayed (6-24 h), and overall (0-24 h) postoperative periods and analyzed with RevMan 4.2 (Cochrane Collaboration, Oxford, UK) and multiple logistic regression analysis. The combination of neostigmine with either atropine or glycopyrrolate did not significantly increase the incidence of overall (0-24 h) vomiting (relative risk, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.70-1.18; P = 0.48) or nausea (relative risk, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 0.98-1.59; P = 0.08). Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that there was not a significant increase in the risk of vomiting with large compared with small doses of neostigmine. Contrasting a previous analysis, we conclude that there is insufficient evidence to conclude that neostigmine increases the risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting.
RecBC enzyme activity is required for far-UV induced respiration shutoff in Escherichia coli K12

Abstract Shutoff of respiration is one of a number of recA+ lexA+ dependent (SOS) responses caused by far ultraviolet (254 nm) radiation (UV) damage of DNA in Escherichia coli cells. Thus far no rec/lex response has been shown to require the recB recC gene product, the RecBC enzyme. We report in this paper that UV-induced respiration shutoff did not occur in either of these radiation-sensitive derivatives of K12 strain Ab1157 nor in the recB recC double mutant. The sbcB gene product is exonuclease I and it has been reported that the triple mutant strain recB recC sbcB has near normal recombination efficiency and resistance to UV. The sbcB strain shut off its respiration after UV but the triple mutant did not show UV-induced respiration shutoff; the shutoff and death responses were uncoupled. We concluded that respiration shutoff requires RecBC enzyme activity. The RecBC enzyme has ATP-dependent double-strand exonuclease activity, helicase activity and several other activities. We tested a recBC+‡ (double dagger) mutant strain (recC 1010) that had normal recombination efficiency and resistance to UV but which possessed no ATP-dependent double-strand exonuclease activity. This strain did not shut off its respiration. The presence or absence of other RecBC enzyme activities in this mutant is not known. These results support the hypothesis that ATP-dependent double-strand exonuclease activity is necessary for UV-induced respiration shutoff.
PP-attachment Disambiguation using Large Context

Prepositional Phrase-attachment is a common source of ambiguity in natural language. The previous approaches use limited information to solve the ambiguity -- four lexical heads -- although humans disambiguate much better when the full sentence is available. We propose to solve the PP-attachment ambiguity with a Support Vector Machines learning model that uses complex syntactic and semantic features as well as unsupervised information obtained from the World Wide Web. The system was tested on several datasets obtaining an accuracy of 93.62% on a Penn Treebank-II dataset; 91.79% on a FrameNet dataset when no manually-annotated semantic information is provided and 92.85% when semantic information is provided.
Validated ion-exclusion chromatographic method for citrate and acetate in medical fluids

In this paper we describe the development and validation of a solid-phase extraction procedure, followed by ion-exclusion chromatographic determination of citrate and acetate in medical fluids. The medical fluids contained trace levels of non-polar compounds, which were not of interest for the purposes of assay requirements, but due to their strong affinity towards the ion-exclusion chromatography column necessitated a 180-min long runtime to elute. The developed SPE procedure, based on trapping the hydrophobic compounds, on a reversed-phase material, while allowing analytes of interest elute off unretained, shortened the runtime to 35 min. The procedure is simple since it has only two steps, conditioning of the SPE cartridge with acetonitrile and treating the sample. The SPE procedure followed by ion-exclusion chromatographic determination was successfully validated per the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH) guidelines in terms of specificity, accuracy as recovery versus untreated sample, precision, range, linearity of response, ruggedness, stability of treated samples, and robustness. The validation data showed that the method is specific, accurate, precise, rugged, and robust. The validated method has been routinely used in the manufacturing environment.
Metabolism of taxol by human and rat liver in vitro: A screen for drug interactions and interspecies differences

Human liver slices, human liver microsomes, and rat liver microsomes were used to investigate the metabolism of3H-taxol. The effects of drugs frequently coadministered with taxol and the effects of several cytochrome P450 system probes were studied. In all, 16 compounds were screened. After incubation with liver slices or with microsomal protein,3H-taxol was converted into several radioactive species resolved by HPLC. There were qualitative and quantitative species differences in the metabolism of taxol. The pattern of metabolism was similar for both human-derived preparations, with 6α-hydroxytaxol being the major metabolite peak. In drug interaction studies performed with human liver microsomes, cimetidine 80 μM, and diphenhydramine 200 μM, had little or no effect on 6α-hydroxytaxol formation. Quinidine, ketoconazole, dexamethasone and Cremophor EL inhibited 6α-hydroxytaxol formation with IC50 values of 36 μM, 37 μM, 16 μM and 1 μl/ml, respectively, but these concentrations exceed the usual clinical range. Cremophor EL also inhibited microsomal metabolism of taxol, but at 2 μl/ml it had little or no effect on 6α-hydroxytaxol production by human liver slices. These results suggest that: (1) taxol is metabolized by the cytochrome P450 system; (2) taxol metabolism is different in humans than in rats; (3) taxol metabolism in humans is unlikely to be altered by cimetidine, dexamethasone, or diphenhydramine, drugs regularly coadministered with taxol; (4) taxol metabolism can be indirectly affected by Cremophor EL, the formulation vehicle; (5) taxol metabolism may be altered by concentrations of ketoconazole achievable in humans only at very high doses; and (6) taxol metabolism and drug interaction studies of clinical relevance can be performed in vitro with human liver microsomes and human liver slices, but not with rat liver preparations.
Rates of weak convergence of approximate minimum contrast estimators for the discretely observed Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process

Abstract The paper introduces some new approximate minimum contrast estimators of the drift parameter in the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process based on discretely sampled data and obtains rates of weak convergence of the distributions of the estimators to the standard normal distribution using random, nonrandom and mixed normings.
Aerosolized Metaproterenol in the Treatment of Asthmatics with Severe Airflow Obstruction: Comparison of Two Delivery Methods

The bronchodilator response to metaproterenol delivered by metered-dose inhaler (MDI) with a spacer device (Aerochamber [A]) and by jet nebulizer was studied in 44 asthmatic patients who presented to the emergency department with acute severe (FEV 1 1 in the A group was 33.5 and 49.0 percent, respectively. The mean percentage of improvement in FVC and FEV 1 in the jet nebulizer group was 22.8 and 33.0 percent, respectively. There was no significant difference in the mean percentage of improvement values between the two groups. We were unable to demonstrate a difference in bronchodilator response to metaproterenol delivered by MDI-A and jet nebulizer in emergency department asthmatics with acute severe airflow obstruction.
Chiral silylation reagents for the determination of absolute configuration by NMR spectroscopy.

We have investigated the use of chiral silylating reagents as analytical probes for determining the absolute stereochemistry of natural products by NMR spectroscopy. These reagents are prepared in ...
HIV-1 MATRIX PROTEIN BINDING TO RNA

The matrix (MA) domain of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) precursor Gag (PrGag) protein plays multiple roles in the viral replication cycle. One essential role is to target PrGag proteins to their lipid raft-associated phosphatidylinositol-(4,5)-bisphosphate [PI(4,5)P(2)] assembly sites at the plasma membranes of infected cells. In addition to this role, several reports have implicated nucleic acid binding properties to retroviral MAs. Evidence indicates that RNA binding enhances the binding specificity of MA to PI(4,5)P(2)-containing membranes and supports a hypothesis in which RNA binding to MA acts as a chaperone that protects MA from associating with inappropriate cellular membranes prior to PrGag delivery to plasma membrane assembly sites. To gain a better understanding of HIV-1 MA-RNA interactions, we have analyzed the interaction of HIV MA with RNA ligands that were selected previously for their high affinities to MA. Binding interactions were characterized via bead binding, fluorescence anisotropy, gel shift, and analytical ultracentrifugation methods. Moreover, MA residues that are involved in RNA binding were identified from NMR chemical shift data. Our results indicate that the MA RNA and PI(4,5)P(2) binding sites overlap and suggest models for Gag-membrane and Gag-RNA interactions and for the HIV assembly pathway.
Involvement of amino acids 361 to 364 of human topoisomerase I in camptothecin resistance and enzyme catalysis

Abstract Camptothecins are antineoplastic drugs that specifically target the enzyme DNA topoisomerase I. Prior work has identified a human topoisomerase I mutation, F361S, that confers resistance to camptothecin. We now demonstrate that substitutions in the 361–364 region can alter DNA cleavage/ligation by the enzyme. The defective catalysis exhibited by certain mutants likely relates to an impaired interaction with DNA, since these enzymes are more sensitive to the inhibitory effects of DNA binding ligands. Moreover, studies with peptides and fusion proteins suggest that the 361–364 region may bind DNA directly. The finding that the 361–364 region is involved in both enzyme catalysis and camptothecin resistance suggests that this region is part of the active site of human topoisomerase I and that camptothecin may interact with the enzyme at this site.
Normal electro-oculograms in two patients with malignant melanoma of the choroid.

The electro-oculogram has been applied in the diagnostic evaluation of eyes with malignant uveal melanoma. Typically, a marked reduction in the light peak to dark trough ratio has been reported. We studied two patients with histologically confirmed uveal malignant melanomas in whom the preenucleation electro-oculograms were normal. The electro-oculogram should be evaluated within the framework of the clinical examination and other ancillary tests in the diagnostic evaluation of a suspected uveal malignant melanoma
Adaptive assignment of binary user spreading codes in DS-CDMA systems

In direct-sequence code-division-multiple-access (DS-CDMA) systems, the pre-detection signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the output of the single-user minimum-mean-square-error (MMSE) filter is a function of the specific user spreading code (signature). In this paper, we consider the adaptive optimization of the user signature assignment such that the output SINR of the MMSE filter is maximized under a transmitter power constraint. In the context of binary signatures, the complexity of the signature optimization procedure is exponential in the processing gain. A low-cost suboptimum adaptive binary signature assignment algorithm is derived based on conditional optimization principles. We use this algorithm to design an efficient system-wide multiuser adaptive signature set assignment scheme. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated under asynchronous multipath fading DS-CDMA channel models and is compared to the performance of systems with arbitrarily chosen signature sets.
Diurnal variation of urinary excretion for patients with psychosis, intermittent hyponatremia, and polydipsia (PIP syndrome)

Abstract Ten patients [8 men and 2 women, mean age (sd) 37.6 ± 6.5 years] with psychosis, intermittent hyponatremia, and polydipsia (PIP syndrome) underwent serial determinations at 6:00 am, 12 noon, 6:00 pm, and 12 midnight of levels of urinary creatinine concentration (UCR), urinary specific gravity (SPGR), and urinary osmolality (UOSM) on 8 consecutive Thursdays. Diurnal variation ( p was present in the case of each parameter of urinary excretion (UCR, SPGR, and UOSM). These three parameters remained very low throughout the day (mean UCR 19.0 mg/dl, mean SPGR 1.0033, and mean UOSM 112.6 mosmol/kg), which is consistent with severe and persistent hyposthenuria, and each parameter correlated well with the other two parameters ( r between 0.78 and 0.93 , p r = 0.912, p = 0.0005) for the 10 PIP patients. Twenty-four-hour urinary volume (24UV) could then be estimated using UCM and values of 17.5 and 12.5 mg creatinine/kg body weight for male and female PIP patients, respectively, to calculate the daily urinary excretion of urinary creatinine. The group mean 24 UV was 6963 ml, with a range of 4934–9884 ml. We hope that information about the diurnal variation of urinary excretion (21.6%, 20.5%, 27.4%, and 30.4% of 24UV excreted in consecutive quartiles commencing with the 12 midnight to 6:00 am quartile), coupled with the utilization of the equation UCM=0.7615 × UC6PM + 6.1503 ( r = 0.972, p = 0.0005) to estimate UCM as an index of 24UV in the PIP syndrome, will provide tools to better elucidate the relationship between psychosis and water dysregulation .
Fault tolerance properties in quantum-dot cellular automata devices

We present a study of the joint influence of temperature and fabrication defects on the operation of quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) devices. Canonical ensemble, a Hubbard-type Hamiltonian and the inter-cellular Hartree approximation were used, and a statistical model has been introduced to simulate defects in the QCA devices. Parameters such as success rate and breakdown displacement factor (BDF) were defined and calculated numerically. Results show the thermal dependence of BDF values of the QCA devices. The BDF values decrease with temperature. The joint influence of randomly missing dots and temperature was also studied.
Strain differences in the acquisition of nicotine-induced conditioned taste aversion

Lewis (LEW) and Fischer (F344) rat strains differ on a variety of physiological and behavioral endpoints, including reactivity to drugs of abuse. Although they differ in drug reactivity, such assessments are generally limited to morphine and cocaine. To determine if these differences generalize to other drugs, the present study examined these strains for their reactivity to the affective properties of nicotine, specifically their sensitivity to nicotine in the conditioned taste aversion preparation. For four or five conditioning cycles given every other day, rats from both strains were allowed access to saccharin and injected with nicotine (0.1, 0.4, 0.8 mg/kg) or vehicle. On intervening days, all rats were given access to water and injected with vehicle. Under this one-bottle training and testing procedure, neither strain displayed aversions at the lowest dose of nicotine (0.1 mg/kg). Aversions were evident for both strains at 0.4 and 0.8 mg/kg, although the F344 rats acquired the aversions at 0.4 mg/kg faster and displayed a significantly greater aversion at 0.8 mg/kg than subjects from the LEW strain. For both strains, aversions were evident at all doses (and in a dose-dependent manner) when subjects were given access to saccharin and water in a two-bottle test. There were, however, no strain differences on this test. Differences between the two strains in their acquisition of nicotine-induced taste aversions were discussed in the context of aversion assessments with other compounds as well as in relation to differences in the self-administration of nicotine in the two strains.
Phase restoration in synthetic aperture radar imaging

A perturbation method is presented for reconstructing phase from uncorrupted amplitude measurements in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging via a wave equation governing SAR data and a Riccati equation that relates the amplitude and phase functions of SAR data. The two wave equations governing SAR data at two temporal frequencies of the radar signal are combined to derive a method to reconstruct complex phase errors, i.e., fading as well as loss of coherence, that vary linearly with respect to the radar signal's temporal frequencies. >
A receding horizon control law for harbor defense

The paper studies a harbor defense situation where an intruder attempts to out-maneuver defenders and destroy a target. The purpose of this paper is to construct a feedback, receding horizon control law for the defenders based on a max-min optimal control problem which we believe captures the essence of the intruder goals.
Wife's employment and worker relocation behavior

Abstract A survey of workers involved in a recent job relocation provided data which permitted an analysis of the effect of wife's labor force attachment on family location choice. Studies have shown that family migration may be inhibited by a wife's employment and by the strength of her labor force attachment. Researchers have contended that such influences may be absent in cases of employee transfers and job relocations. In this case study, migration was deterred by wife's labor force attachment and was also affected by a worker's eligibility for a company buyout, tenure with the company, community attachment and family size.
Optical absorption coefficient, time of thermal relaxation, time of surface threshold, and time of heat incubation for PMMA samples at the CO2 laser-beam wavelength of 10.6 microm.

Objective: This paper discusses in detail the mathematical identification of the optical absorption α (cm−1) of Beer's law, a crucial parameter to study the development of laser beam craters into dry poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) samples exposed to steady CO2 laser beams emitting radiation at λ = 10.6 µm in continuous- wave (CW) mode. Three additional time-dependent coefficients have been determined as well. In clinical applications, these results are important in order to precisely quantify and forecast the ablation capabilities of the CO2 laser beam, to optimize its usage in the operating room, and to address the safety issues related to surgical interventions on human tissue. Background Data: Currently, the data available in the literature do not allow the identification of the numerical value of α (cm−1) for PMMA at λ = 10.6 µm with enough, and therefore satisfactory, accuracy. Additionally, the correct identification of the optical absorption of PMMA would allow the isolation, with better accuracy...
Antral and esophageal rimple: A normal variation

The occurrence of fine antral and esophageal rimpling appears to be the result of contractions of the muscularis mucosa. The lack of persistence during distention is compatible with this conclusion. The folds have no pathologic significance.
Oxidative phosphorylation, Ca2+ transport, and fatty acid-induced uncoupling in malaria parasites mitochondria.

Respiration, oxidative phosphorylation, calcium uptake, and the mitochondrial membrane potential of trophozoites of the malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei were assayed in situ after permeabilization with digitonin. ADP promoted an oligomycin-sensitive transition from resting to phosphorylating respiration. Respiration was sensitive to antimycin A and cyanide. The capacity of trophozoites to sustain oxidative phosphorylation was additionally supported by the detection of an oligomycin-sensitive decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential induced by ADP. Phosphorylation of ADP could be obtained in permeabilized trophozoites in the presence of succinate, citrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, glutamate, malate, dihydroorotate, alpha-glycerophosphate, and N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine. Ca(2+) uptake caused membrane depolarization compatible with the existence of an electrogenically mediated Ca(2+) transport system in these mitochondria. An uncoupling effect of fatty acids was partly reversed by bovine serum albumin, ATP, or GTP and not affected by atractyloside, ADP, glutamate, or malonate. Evidence for the presence of a mitochondrial uncoupling protein in P. berghei was also obtained by using antibodies raised against plant uncoupling mitochondrial protein. Together these results provide the first direct biochemical evidence of mitochondrial function in ATP synthesis and Ca(2+) transport in a malaria parasite and suggest the presence of an H(+) conductance in trophozoites similar to that produced by a mitochondrial uncoupling protein.
Ground‐based observations of diffuse auroral frequencies in the context of whistler mode chorus

[1] We present a case study of an active auroral event containing diffuse auroral structures. These data were collected on 04 February 2009 during a ground-based observational campaign at Poker Flat, Alaska (L ∼ 6), from January through April 2009. They were used to extract the frequencies of pulsating auroral structures that lasted many hours after substorm breakup. There are two main frequency ranges reported, coincident with the spatial resolution capabilities of the two different fields of view of the optical imagers used. The all-sky imager clearly revealed the pulsations of the large patches, ranging from approximately 50 to 500 mHz. The narrowfield imager measured the pulsations within the finer structure to be in the range of 0.5 to 15 Hz. Both observations are consistent with the frequencies expected from theoretical, modeling and observational work on whistler mode chorus and ECH waves. In particular, the repetition frequencies observed in the visual aurora closely match the observed repetition rate of discrete chorus elements previously described in the literature. There are three significant additional insights gained through these data. The frequency of the pulsations correlates to the intensity of the aurora, with the brighter aurora containing higher frequencies. The scale size of the structures relates to the frequency of the pulsations, with the smaller structures occurring with higher frequency pulsations. The intensity profile of the pulsating structures is not symmetric, with the intensity increasing at a slower rate than it decreases.
Cultural identification and alcohol use among "Black" adolescents.

This study examined the relationship between cultural identification and alcohol use among Black adolescents—77 African-American and 185 Haitian Black adolescents. The Orthogonal Cultural Identification Scale assessed cultural identification. A logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between cultural identification association between cultural identification, friendships, and alcohol use. Results indicate no relationship between cultural identification and alcohol use. Drinking during the past six months was significantly associated with having close friends who drink. Although the direction of friend influence is unclear. Differences were observed in the context of drinking between the two groups and, importantly, youths in both groups reported drinking alone and to relax/because of stress. Sociocultural factors, context and the basis of drinking need to be addressed in programs for youth.
Infrared and optical evidence for a dust cloud behind supernova 1987A

A substantial increase in the 8-13 micron flux from SN1987A since May 1988 has been attributed to reradiation by an asymmetric circumstellar dust cloud located mainly behind the supernova at a distance of about 200 light days. The calculations of Roche et al. (1989) are extended here to consider the implications of such a cloud. It is concluded that the expected optical echo from the cloud should be resolvable and this, rather than an internal energy source, may cause the observed slowdown in dimming of the supernova. The reflected light may contribute substantially to the current optical luminosity. Observations should be made as soon as possible, for the phenomenon may be evanescent. The dust spectrum suggests that the dust is carbonaceous rather than silicaceous. The cloud behind the supernova may be truly interstellar.
On the Hankel transformation of order zero

In this paper we write the Hankel transform of order zero of a function as a composition of Fourier transforms, and a new proof is given for Hankel's theorem on Hankel transformation of order zero.
Experimental Analysis and Process Window Development for Continuous Filament-Wound APC-2

A small-scale filament winding apparatus was built so that surface temperature distributions could be determined during actual filament winding runs and the resulting temperatures could be compared to those predicted by a numerical model. Several experimental runs were performed using various combinations of infrared energy input and prepreg tape velocities. Infrared thermography was used to determine the surface temperature of the composite during each experiment. The field of view of the infrared camera included approximately 90 degrees of the mandrel in the angular direction and two-thirds of the axial length of the composite on the mandrel.The numerical and experimental results in this paper suggest that varying the position of the infrared lamp, changing the prepreg tape velocity (winding speed), or the heat flux incident on the composite have a major impact on the temperature distribution throughout the composite; these factors may therefore be used to alter the physical properties and overall quali...
Nonlinear Effects in Ferrite‐Filled Reduced‐Size Waveguide

Nonlinear effects were investigated at 9375 Mc in ferrite-filled reduced-size rectangular waveguide with transversely applied magnetic fields. The cross-sectional area of standard X-band waveguide was reduced to as low as one-tenth its original value, maintaining approximately the same aspect ratio. Factors investigated were insertion loss, threshold power level, spike characteristics, dynamic range of limiting, and breakdown power level. These are discussed with relation to waveguide size, frequency, ferrite loading geometry, ferrite material parameters, and temperature. Thresholds as low as 3 w peak were observed using standard polycrystalline ferrite materials. It was possible to realize useable limiter configurations whose low power losses were less than 1 db. The application of these effects in the design of a compact X-band limiter are mentioned, as well as the advantages and limitations of devices utilizing these effects.