cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The expanding utility of iron-sulfur clusters: Their functional roles in biology, synthetic small molecules, maquettes and artificial proteins, biomimetic materials, and therapeutic strategies

Abstract The ubiquity, structural variation, and functional diversity of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters in biological environments has long fascinated scientists. In nature, Fe-S clusters form a variety of shapes and sizes, from the simple [Fe2S2] rhombic cluster to the complex [Fe8S7] fused di-cubane ‘P-cluster’, among others. Fe-S clusters perform critical tasks, including electron transfer, catalysis, sulfur donation, and sensing, in many essential biological processes, such as cellular respiration, gene expression, nitrogen fixation, DNA repair, cofactor biosynthesis, and more. To further understand Fe-S clusters, they have been synthesized outside of their protein environments with various monodentate, bidentate, and tridentate ligands. In addition to providing insight into their biological properties, synthetic small molecule models of Fe-S clusters have yielded oxidation states and structures beyond those observed in biology as well as led to the development of many small molecule catalysts. More recently, Fe-S clusters have been utilized in an expanding array of applications, including maquettes and artificial proteins, biomimetic materials, and therapeutic development. The high degree of utility of Fe-S clusters outside of their biological roles suggests exciting possibilities for future uses of these earth-abundant, redox-active, and structurally and functionally diverse clusters. This review provides an overview of Fe-S clusters in and beyond biology to highlight the growing versatile uses of these clusters. Our discussion is divided into sections that describe the structure–function relationship of Fe-S clusters in five research areas: biology, synthetic small molecules, maquettes and artificial proteins, biomimetic materials, and therapeutic development. We also tracked the number of publications in each research area by year to identify trends in Fe-S cluster research, and we conclude by describing the overarching connections between each of the research areas. Overall, this review summarizes the application areas of Fe-S cluster research and highlights connections between the areas based on the structure–function relationship of Fe-S clusters and their ligands.
Country of Origin – Does it Matter Anymore?

Literally hundreds of articles have examined factors related to country of origin (COO) over the past thirty years. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has mandated that “all or virtually all” of a product claiming to be “Made in USA” must be made with US parts by US laborers. The questions are, in a global marketplace, does COO still play an important role in consumers’ decision-making process, do consumers associate a COO claim as reflecting a level of parts and/or labor content from the specified country, and is the FTC’s standard still needed? This study presents an internet-based empirical analysis of factors important to 897 US consumers considering purchase of a small home appliance and their perception of a “Made in USA” claim separately and as compared to a “Made in China” claim. The results show that COO is one of the least important factors in a purchase decision and that products with a “Made in China” label are seen more favorably than those with a “Made in USA” claim. Implications and directions for future research are presented.
Properties of Dynamic Simultaneous Equations Models

The task of modeling national economies has received much attention and considerable progress has been made. Large scale econometric models are used to make econometric forecasts, help explain the dynamic behavior of the economy and to aid economic policy decisionmaking. We examine each of these topics in this chapter.
Studies on polynucleotides. XCI. Yeast methionine transfer ribonucleic acid: purification, properties, and terminal nucleotide sequences.

Abstract Countercurrent distribution of baker's yeast transfer RNA (tRNA) gives rise to two peaks (I and II) of methionine acceptor activity. Methionine tRNA (tRNAfmet) (Peak I) has been purified to homogeneity by ion exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex and by reverse phase chromatography. It has the following properties. (a) It can be aminoacylated with methionine by either crude yeast or Escherichia coli aminoacyl tRNA synthetases. (b) The methionyl-tRNA thus formed can be further converted to N-formyl-methionyl-tRNA (fMet-tRNAfmet) in the presence of formyl tetrahydrofolic acid and E. coli methionyl-tRNA transformylase. (c) Amino acid incorporation studies in vitro with poly r(U-G) and poly r(A-U-G) as messengers show that, similar to E. coli fMet-tRNAfmet, the yeast fMet-tRNAfmet can bring about the initiation of protein synthesis under the direction of either of the initiator codons G-U-G or A-U-G. Analysis of fragments produced by the action of takadiastase Ribonuclease T1 show that the 5'- and 3'-terminal nucleotide sequences of yeast tRNAfmet are pA-G-, and C-U-A-C-C-A, respectively; the terminal sequences thus derived are not identical with those present in E. coli tRNAfmet. Under conditions of magnesium ion concentration (5 mm) used for the aminoacylation of tRNAfmet (Peak I), tRNAmet (Peak II) is aminoacylated by crude E. coli aminoacyl tRNA synthetases at a slow rate. At 15 mm Mg++, however, tRNAmet (Peak II) is aminoacylated with methionine to the same extent by crude E. coli aminoacyl tRNA synthetases as by yeast aminoacyl tRNA synthetases. Met-tRNA from Peak II cannot be converted to fMet-tRNA by E. coli extracts.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Valuation and Distribution in Private Equity (TN)

SUBJECT AREAS: Distribution, Entrepreneurial finance, Stocks, Valuation, Venture capital Introduces the issues attendant to valuing privately held portfolios and distributing thinly traded stock. Although they have existed since the beginning of the formal venture capital industry, they have received increasing amounts of attention as the money invested in private equity has grown. Presents the perspectives of the many participants in the industry.
Synchronizing estrus and(or) ovulation in beef cows after combinations of GnRH, norgestomet, and prostaglandin F2alpha with or without timed insemination.

Three experiments were conducted to induce estrus and(or) ovulation in 1,590 suckled beef cows at the beginning of a spring breeding season. In Exp. 1, 890 cows at three locations were allotted to three treatments: 1) GnRH on d -7 + prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) on d 0 (Select Synch); 2) GnRH on d -7 + PGF2alpha on d 0 (first day of the breeding season) plus a norgestomet implant (NORG) between d -7 and 0 (Select Synch + NORG); or 3) two injections of PGF2alpha given 14 d apart (2xPGF2alpha). More (P 60 d before the onset of the breeding season, conception rates were greater (P 4, rates of detected estrus (P < 0.05) and conception (P = 0.07) were increased. In Exp. 2, 164 cows were treated with the Select Synch + NORG treatment and were inseminated either after estrus or at 16 h after a second GnRH injection (given 48 h after PGF2alpha). Conception and pregnancy rates tended (P = 0.08) to be or were less (P < 0.05), respectively, for noncycling cows inseminated by appointment, but pregnancy rates exceeded 53% in both protocols. In Exp. 3, 536 cows at three locations were treated with the Select Synch protocol as in Exp. 1 and inseminated either: 1) after detected estrus (Select Synch); 2) at 54 h after PGF2alpha when a second GnRH injection also was administered (Cosynch); or 3) after detected estrus until 54 h, or in the absence of estrus, at 54 h plus a second GnRH injection (Select Synch + Cosynch). Conception rates were reduced (P < 0.01) in cows that were inseminated by appointment. An interaction of AI protocol and cycling status occurred (P = 0.05) for pregnancy rates with differing results for cycling and noncycling cows. Across experiments, variable proportions of cows at various locations (21 to 78%) were cycling before the breeding season. With the GnRH or GnRH + NORG treatments, ovulation was induced in some noncycling cows. Conception rates were normal and pregnancy rates were greater than those after a PGF2alpha program, particularly when inseminations occurred after detected estrus.
Cortical synchronization and perceptual salience

We present a striate-cortical model which proposes a direct relationship between cellular synchronization and perceptual salience. The model focuses on the role of the longrange horizontal connections between oriented simple cells in striate cortex and is able to account for current physiological and psychophysical results on contour salience. We demonstrate that horizontal connections between realistically-modeled multi-compartment pyramidal cells and interneurons can generate robust context-dependent synchronization. Closed contours induce better synchronization in the network than open contours, and closure thus increases perceptual salience, as observed psychophysically by Kovacs and Julesz. This result is a general topological property of synchronization. The model supports a temporal synchronization solution to the binding problem, in that changes in synchronization are directly linked to changes in visual perception.
Histochemical Demonstration of Sialomucin in Human Eccrine Sweat Glands

Eccrine sweat glands in paraffin sections of human skin fixed in neutral buffered formalin nearly always contained acidic carbohydrate detected by the colloidal iron stain, and to a less extent by Alcian blue 8 GX. Additional histochemical procedures designed to detect sulfated carbohydrates showed none. The acidic carbohydrate demonstrated in eccrine sweat glands was presumed to contain only carboxyl groups. As incubation of tissue sections in neuraminidase abolished stainability of the acidic carbohydrate with colloidal iron, the material removed was considered to be a sialomucin. To the best of our knowledge, the identification of the acidic mucin in human eccrine sweat glands as sialomucin has not been reported previously.
Capturing scientists’ insight for DDDAS

One of the intended consequences of utilizing simulations in dynamic, data-driven application systems is that the simulations will adjust to new data as it arrives. These adjustments will be difficult because of the unpredictable nature of the world and because simulations are so carefully tuned to model specific operating conditions. Accommodating new data may require adapting or replacing numerical methods, simulation parameters, or the analytical scientific models from which the simulation is derived. In this research, we emphasize the important role a scientist’s insight can play in facilitating the runtime adaptation of a simulation to accurately utilize new data. We present the tools that serve to capture and apply a scientist’s insight about opportunities for, and limitations of, simulation adaptation. Additionaly, we report on the two ongoing collaborations that serve to guide and evaluate our research.
Classification approach towards ranking and sorting problems

Recently, ranking and sorting problems have attracted the attention of researchers in the machine learning community. By ranking, we refer to categorizing examples into one of K categories. On the other hand, sorting refers to coming up with the ordering of the data that agrees with some ground truth preference function. As against standard approaches of treating ranking as a multiclass classification problem, in this paper we argue that ranking/sorting problems can be solved by exploiting the inherent structure present in data. We present efficient formulations that enable the use of standard binary classification algorithms to solve these problems, however the structure is still captured in our formulations. We further show that our approach subsumes the various approaches that were developed in the past. We evaluate our algorithm on both synthetic datasets and for a real world image processing problem. The results obtained demonstrate the superiority of our algorithm over multiclass classification and other similar approaches for ranking/sorting data.
Structure of the Neutral Trisaccharide of the Chondroitin 4-Sulfate-Protein Linkage Region

Abstract The structure of the carbohydrate-protein linkage region in the chondroitin 4-sulfate-protein complex of bovine nasal septum has been investigated. Three neutral oligosaccharides derived from the linkage region were isolated from chondroitin 4-sulfate: 3-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-d-galactose, 4-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-d-xylose, and O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 3)-O-β-d-galactopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-d-xylose, respectively. On the basis of the present findings and previously published data, the following structure is proposed for the carbohydrate sequence in the chondroitin 4-sulfate-protein linkage region. [see PDF for sequence]
DNA manipulations in ciliates

During the last several years Professor Rozenberg and I have been working closely together to try to unravel the secrets of complex DNA manipulations in ciliates. His creative and incisive analysis has given us a fresh perspective on the remarkable acrobatics that ciliates perform with their DNA gene sequences. I am pleased to contribute this paper on the structure of germline genes, which ciliates process in phenomenal ways, as an expression of my appreciation and admiration for his intelligence and energy in the quest to explain the extraordinary DNA gymnastics that the tiny ciliates perform.
Patterns and Consequences of Inadequate Sleep in College Students: Substance Use and Motor Vehicle Accidents

We examined college sleep patterns and consequences using a cross-sectional design. We found that students get insufficient sleep and frequently use medication and alcohol as sleep aids, use stimulants as alertness aids, and fall asleep at the wheel, or have motor vehicle accidents due to sleepiness. Future studies should focus on effective interventions for sleep in college students.
Protein trafficking on sliding clamps.

The sliding clamps of chromosomal replicases are acted upon by both the clamp loader and DNA polymerase. Several other proteins and polymerases also interact with the clamp. These proteins bind the clamp at the same spot and use it in sequential fashion. First the clamp loader must bind the clamp in order to load it onto DNA, but directly thereafter the clamp loader must clear away from the clamp so it can be used by the replicative DNA polymerase. At the end of replication, the replicase is ejected from the clamp, which presumably allows the clamp to interact with yet other proteins after its use by the replicase. This paper describes how different proteins in the Escherichia coli replicase, DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, coordinate their traffic flow on the clamp. The mechanism by which traffic flow on the β; clamp is directed is based on competition of the proteins for the clamp, where DNA structure modulates the competition. It seems likely that the principles will generalize to a traffic flow of other factors on these circular clamp proteins.
MITOTIC INHIBITION AND CHROMOSOME DAMAGE BY MITOMYCIN IN HUMAN LEUKOCYTE CULTURES.

Abstract Cultures of normal human leukocytes, stimulated to divide by phytohemagglutinin, were exposed to mitomycin (1 μg/ml) for one hour at various times during the culture period. Treatment of mitotically inactive cells at the time of planting resulted in chromosome aberrations, including many unusual chromatid exchanges, but no mitotic inhibition. Cultures treated shortly before or during DNA synthesis, 52 or 62 hr after planting, showed definite mitotic inhibition, but few chromosome changes. Two separate effects of mitomycin in this system are suggested, but it is not known if different mechanisms of action are involved.
Magnesium sulfate for the treatment of bronchospasm complicating acute bronchitis in a four-months'-pregnant woman

A four-months'-pregnant woman without a prior history of asthma presented to the emergency department with acute bronchitis compounded by bronchospasm. The patient failed to respond adequately to aggressive treatment with conventional therapy. Prior to hospital admission, a bolus of 3 g IV magnesium sulfate was infused with complete abatement of her bronchospasm, significantly increasing peak expiratory flow rate without any significant side effects. The patient was discharged home and remained asymptomatic thereafter.
Optical Properties of Gold Pyramidal Shells

We present an investigation of the optical properties of gold pyramidal shell nanoparticles. Theory shows a multiresonance spectrum at near-infrared wavelengths that is consistent with the measured extinction spectra of particles that are fabricated using a soft-lithography technique. In addition to electric dipole and electric quadrupole resonances, the calculations identify an unusual plasmon mode, which involves oscillation of the polarization perpendicular to the direction of both the incident polarization and wave vector. We show that this TE-like resonance can be suppressed by truncating the tip of the pyramid or by increasing the shell thickness without adversely affecting the in-plane dipole and quadrupole resonances.
Reminiscence and partial reinforcement in a discrete bar press situation

On the day following varied number of discrete trials under 100% or 50% reinforcement in an operant conditioning chamber, rats were given nonreinforced trials until an extinction criterion of no bar press in 5 min. was reached. An analysis of relative speed scores revealed significantly more reminisence for the 100% Ss. The data also indicated a reversal of the PRE when relative speed scores were analyzed and no significant difference between the 100% and 50% groups when trials to criterion constituted the dependent variable.
Humoral immunity is the dominant barrier for allogeneic bone marrow engraftment in sensitized recipients

We evaluated the relative contribution of the humoral and cellular arms of the immune response to bone marrow cells transplanted into sensitized recipients. We report here for the first time that humoral immunity contributes predominantly to allosensitization. Although the major role for nonmyeloablative conditioning is to control alloreactive host T cells in nonsensitized recipients, strikingly, none of the strategies directed primarily at T-cell alloreactivity enhanced engraftment in sensitized mice. In evaluating the mechanism behind this barrier, we found that humoral immunity plays a critical role in the rejection of allogeneic marrow in sensitized recipients. Adoptive transfer of as little as 25 μL serum from sensitized mice abrogated engraftment in secondary naive recipients. With the use of μMT mice as recipients, we found that T-cell-mediated immunity plays a secondary but still significant role in allorejection. Targeting of T cells in sensitized B-cell-deficient μMT mice enhanced alloengraftment. Moreover, both T- and B-cell tolerance were achieved in sensitized recipients when allochimerism was established, as evidenced by the acceptance of second donor skin grafts and loss of circulating donor-specific Abs. These findings have important implications for the management of sensitized transplant recipients and for xenotransplantation in which B-cell reactivity is a predominant barrier.
Progressive loss of in vitro immune response with tumor growth

Abstract Peripheral blood lymphocytes from rats carrying a transplantable hepatoma were cultured in the presence of phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (ConA) or dextran sulfate (DS) at various times after tumor cell inoculation or after its surgical removal. Mitogen-induced lymphocyte transformation, measured by tritiated thymidine incorporation, declined as the tumor size increased, especially when cells were cultured in autologous serum. The response to PHA and ConA declined prior to the response to DS. This inhibition could not be removed by extensive washing of the cells, alteration of serum concentration, time of incubation or mitogen dose. Culture for 24 hr prior to the addition of high doses of mitogen resulted in partial restoration of the PHA and ConA, but not DS, responses. Previously inhibited responses also returned when the tumor was surgically removed. Spleen cells from animals with large tumors were also inhibited.
Preparation and characterization of hydroxycarbonate precursors that yield successful alcohol synthesis catalysts

Abstract It is shown that Raman spectra and thermal analysis data (TGA and DSC) both discriminate among the hydroxycarbonate precursors that lead to successful Cu Zn - containing catalysts and those that lead to inactive catalysts. For binary Cu/Zn catalysts, the optimum precursor is single-phase three-dimensional aurichalcite, (Cu,Zn)5(OH)6(CO3)2, which is readily distinguished by these techniques from undesirable precursor materials such as copper hydroxynitrate [Cu2(OH)3NO3], rosasite [(Cu,Zn)2(OH)2CO3] and hydrozincite [Zn5(OH)6(CO3)2]. Ternary Cu Zn/Al catalysts are successfully made via a layer-structured hydrotalcite-like precursor, i.e., (Cu,Zn)6Al2(OH)16CO3·4H2O. Thermal decomposition and infrared analyses indicate that the interlayer carbonate anion is retained by the ternary catalyst even to calcination temperatures of 350–450 °C, which has implications for the subsequent aqueous surface doping treatments used to further promote these catalysts
Mass Spectrometric Approaches Using Electrospray Ionization Charge States and Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange for Determining Protein Structures and Their Conformational Changes

Electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry (MS) is a powerful analytical tool for elucidating structural details of proteins in solution especially when coupled with amide hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange analysis. ESI charge-state distributions and the envelopes of charges they form from proteins can provide an abundance of information on solution conformations that is not readily available through other biophysical techniques such as near ultraviolet circular dichroism (CD) and tryptophan fluorescence. The most compelling reason for the use of ESI-MS over nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for measuring H/D after exchange is that larger proteins and lesser amounts of samples can be studied. In addition, MS can provide structural details on transient or folding intermediates that may not be accessible by CD, fluorescence, and NMR because these techniques measure the average properties of large populations of proteins in solution. Correlations between measured H/D and calculated parameters that are often available from crystallographic data can be used to extend the range of structural details obtained on proteins. Molecular dynamics and energy minimization by simulation techniques such as assisted model building with energy refinement (AMBER) force field can be very useful in providing structural models of proteins that rationalize the experimental H/D exchange results. Charge-state envelopes and H/D exchange information from ESI-MS data used complementarily with NMR and CD data provides the most powerful approach available to understanding the structures and dynamics of proteins in solution.
Estimating legislators' preferences using background characteristics

This paper develops a way of thinking about and measuring private ideology by applying research on attitude formation to the measurement of political ideology. The measure, called FILTER, is widely generalizable to the study of political elites in and out of government, within and across countries. Application of this belief formation model of political ideology avoids several measurement problems that afflict commonly used action-based measures of public ideology. The method can be used to estimate the personal political preferences of politicians whose preferences are either not directly observable, or those who may be punished for making their preferences public. The method is applied to generate estimates for the 107th US Senate.
A Cutaneous Marker of Hepatitis C Virus

Question: A 53-yearold woman with hepatitis C (HCV) cirrhosis was admitted to our inpatient service with several days of progressive bilateral lower extremity pruritus, accompanied by severe pain and parasthesias. She had experienced intermittent pruritus for 2 years, but symptoms had become more severe in the 4 days before admission. Her pain was stabbing in nature and without radiation. Her pruritus has been refractory to multiple therapies including hydroxyzine, diphenhydramine, sertraline, cholestyramine, rifampin, naltrexone, topical steroids, and narrow band ultraviolet-B light therapy. She was hospitalized in March 2010 for a similar episode of intractable pruritus and pain, at which time she was diagnosed with lichen simplex chronicus. Plasmapheresis was attempted but abruptly stopped due to a blood stream infection. The patient was diagnosed with HCV cirrhosis (genotype 1A) in 2006 and was a nonresponder at 12 weeks to peginterferon-alpha and ribavirin therapy. Upon admission, her medications included sertraline 150 mg daily, hydroxyzine 25 mg 3 times daily, oxycodone-acetaminophen 5–325 mg every 4 hours and clobetasol 0.05% ointment. On examination, hyperpigmented, lichenified plaques with erosions involving the bilateral lower extremities, extending from the calves to the dorsal aspect of both feet were noted (Figures A and B). These lesions were accompanied by desquamation, with signs f intense excoriation. Examination of a skin biopsy specimen revealed subacute psoriasiform dermatitis. Laboratory study revealed serum HCV RNA titer of 1.4 106 IU/mL. What is the diagnosis and how would you treat this patient? Look on page 469 for the answer and see the GASTROENTEROLOGY web site (www.gastrojournal.org) for more information on submitting your favorite image to Clinical Challenges and Images in GI.
Age-neutral guidelines for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Use of common guidelines for primary prevention of cardiovascular events based on 10-year risk results in undertreatment of younger individuals, especially women, since age and sex are major determinants of global risk. Women in their late 40s have a 10-year risk lower than the 10% threshold used for cholesterol-lowering treatment even in the presence of marked elevations of blood pressure or cholesterol. Removal of age from risk algorithms and use of lifetime global risk to treat individuals according to the degree of their modifiable risk factors rather than demographics has been proposed. Initiation of therapy at younger ages, aiming at “primordial” prevention of atherosclerotic disease rather than focusing on cardiovascular events, will result in saving more quality-adjusted life-years. Generic medications can be obtained at an affordable cost, and concerns about long-term safety and efficacy can be tested in a clinical trial of younger individuals at low 10-year risk but high lifetime risk.
Light-induced mutagenicity in Salmonella TA102 and genotoxicity/cytotoxicity in human T-cells by 3,3'-dichlorobenzidine: a chemical used in the manufacture of dyes and pigments and in tattoo inks

Abstract DCB, 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine, is used primarily as an intermediate in the manufacture of diarylide yellow or azo red pigments for printing ink, textile, paint, and plastics. It is also used in tattoo inks. In this article, we investigate light-induced toxicity of DCB in both bacteria and human Jurkat T-cells. DCB itself is not toxic or mutagenic to Salmonella typhimurium TA102, but is photomutagenic at concentrations as low as 2 μM and phototoxic at concentrations >100 μM when bacteria are exposed to DCB and light at the same time (1.2 J/cm 2 of UVA and 2.1 J/cm 2 of visible light). Furthermore, DCB is both photocytotoxic and photogenotoxic to human Jurkat T-cells. Under a light irradiation dose of 2.3 J/cm 2 of UVA and 4.2 J/cm 2 of visible light, it causes the Jurkat T-cells to become nonviable in a DCB dose-dependent manner and the nonviable cells reaches 60% at DCB concentrations higher than 50 μM. At the same time, DNA fragmentation is observed for cells exposed to both DCB and light, determined by single cell gel electrophoresis (alkaline comet assay). As much as 5% (average) DNA fragmentation was observed when exposed to 200 μM DCB and light irradiation. This suggests that DCB can penetrate the cell membrane and enter the cell. Upon light activation, DCB in the cells can cause various cellular damages, leading to nonviable Jurkat T-cells. It appears, the nonviable cells are not caused solely by fragmentation of cellular DNA, but by other damages such as to proteins and cell membranes, or DNA alkylation. Therefore, persons exposed to DCB through environmental contamination or through tattoo piercing using DCB-containing inks must not only concern about its toxicity without exposing to light, but also its phototoxicity.
Mixed matrix membrane materials with glassy polymers. Part 2

Analysis presented in Part 1 of this paper indicated the importance of optimization of the transport properties of the interfacial region to achieve ideal mixed matrix materials. This insight is used in this paper to guide mixed matrix material formation with more conventional gas separation polymers. Conventional gas separation materials are rigid, and, as seen earlier, lead to the formation of an undesirable interphase under conventional casting techniques. We show in this study that if flexibility can be maintained during membrane formation with a polymer that interacts favorably with the sieve, successful mixed matrix materials result, even with rigid polymeric materials. Flexibility during membrane formation can be achieved by formation of films at temperatures close to the glass transition temperature of the polymer. Moreover, combination of chemical coupling and flexibility during membrane formation produces even more significant improvements in membrane performance. This approach leads to the formation of mixed matrix material with transport properties exceeding the upper bound currently achieved by conventional membrane materials. Another approach to form successful mixed matrix materials involves tailoring the interface by use of integral chemical linkages that are intrinsically part of the chain backbone. Such linkages appear to tighten the interface sufficiently to prevent “nonselective leakage” along the interface. This approach is demonstrated by directly bonding a reactive polymer onto the sieve surface under proper processing conditions.
Ethnicity and Adolescent Pathways to Alcohol Use

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the influence of ethnicity on factors affecting alcohol-use behaviors in a community sample of white, black, and Hispanic youth (N = 323). Conduct problems, positive alcohol expectancies, and socioeconomic status were expected to mediate the effect of negative affectivity and a paternal history of substance dependence on the age at onset of regular drinking and the frequency of drinking. METHOD: Subjects ages 14-21 (57.9% female; 60.7% white) were interviewed along with their fathers at baseline (Time 1), and subjects only were interviewed again 5 years later (Time 2). A structural equation model was used to test a deviance proneness model for predicting drinking behaviors and to evaluate differences on model paths by ethnicity. RESULTS: Ethnic group membership moderated mediational pathways linked to the onset of regular alcohol use but not to drinking frequency. An increase in the number of childhood conduct problems predicted an earlier age at onset of regular drinking for blacks, whereas more positive alcohol expectancies were associated with an earlier initiation of regular drinking for whites and Hispanics. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study provide evidence that risk factors for alcohol use in adolescents and young adults vary according to ethnic group. Language: en
Non Invasive Measurement of Blood Flow in the Human Lower Extremity

Stress fracture in lower extremities occurs commonly among military recruits and athletes during intensive physical training. This injury has a marked impact on the health of military personnel and imposes a significant financial burden [1]. Despites advances in stress fracture studies, its pathogeneses remains poorly understood and early diagnostic tools are lacking. Focal ischemia is a potential initiator of site-specific bone remodeling and may cause stress fractures in human lower extremity [2, 3]. We hypothesize that intensive repetitive loading impairs intramedullary blood flow due to pressurization of the bone marrow cavity, leading to focal ischemia and eventual development of stress fractures. To begin to test our hypothesis, we developed and validated a quantitative, non-invasive method to measure blood flow in vivo. The approach was based on Cine Phase Contrast MRI (CPC-MRI), a dynamic motion measurement and visualization modality that was originally designed for cardiovascular studies. By measuring the phase shift that is induced by pulsatile blood flows in the magnetic resonance signal, cross-sectional images and velocity maps are acquired of the moving fluid. This technique has been adapted to study blood flows in skeletal muscles [4], intracranial flows [5], and muscle mechanics and joint kinematics [6]]. We first performed a flow phantom study to validate the reliability and accuracy of CPC-MRI in measuring flow velocity. We then quantified the effects of brief exercise on blood flows in the lower extremities of human subjects. These non-invasive measurements will help us better understand the interplay between vasculature and skeletal system in various physiological and pathological conditions.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Effect of vitamin A deficiency on rat hepatic and colon epoxide hydrase

Rat liver microsomes and homogenized mucosal linings prepared from vitamin A-supplemented and deficient male rats were used in metabolic studies of 7-3H-styrene oxide. The colon tissue in deficient animals exhibits a significantly higher value of Vmax than the same tissue from vitamin-supplemented animals. The implications of this finding in addition to our earlier observation10 is discussed in relation to colon carcinoma.
New insights into progressive supranuclear palsy

Increased oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction have been suggested to play crucial roles in the pathogenesis of several neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. In this review, we will focus on progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare parkinsonian disorder with tau pathology. Particular emphasis is placed on the genetic and biochemical data that has emerged, offering new perspectives into the pathogenesis of this devastating disease, especially the contributory roles of oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction.
An optimization study for the RHIC polarized jet target

Abstract A study to determine the optimum magnet system for a polarized atomic hydrogen jet target is described. The design uses an atomic beam source with Ne–Fe–B permanent sextupole magnets to focus the beam and high frequency hyperfine transitions to produce nuclear polarization. A simulation model was developed and a new optimization technique was applied to the model. The study resulted in a magnet system predicted to generate an intensity of 9 × 10 16 atoms / s and a record polarized jet-target thickness of 9.5 × 10 11 atoms / cm 2 . The source design was subsequently used for construction of the RHIC polarized hydrogen jet target. The design of a polarimeter to determine the atomic polarization of the jet is also described.
Initial Investigations of Controller Tools and Procedures for Schedule-Based Arrival Operations with Mixed Flight-Deck Interval Management Equipage

NASA's Air Traffic Management Demonstration-1 (ATD-1) is a multi-year effort to demonstrate high-throughput, fuel-efficient arrivals at a major U.S. airport using NASA-developed scheduling automation, controller decision-support tools, and ADS-B-enabled Flight-Deck Interval Management (FIM) avionics. First-year accomplishments include the development of a concept of operations for managing scheduled arrivals flying Optimized Profile Descents with equipped aircraft conducting FIM operations, and the integration of laboratory prototypes of the core ATD-1 technologies. Following each integration phase, a human-in-the-loop simulation was conducted to evaluate and refine controller tools, procedures, and clearance phraseology. From a ground-side perspective, the results indicate the concept is viable and the operations are safe and acceptable. Additional training is required for smooth operations that yield notable benefits, particularly in the areas of FIM operations and clearance phraseology.
A CLASS OF FORCE-FREE MAGNETIC FIELDS FOR MODELING PRE-FLARE CORONAL MAGNETIC CONFIGURATIONS

Three-dimensional, quasi-static evolutions of coronal magnetic fields driven by photospheric flux emergence are modeled by a class of analytic force-free magnetic fields. Our models relate commonly observed photospheric magnetic phenomena, such as the formation and growth of sunspots, the emergence of an X-type separator, and the collision and merging of sunspots, to the three-dimensional magnetic fields in the corona above. By tracking the evolution in terms of a continuous sequence of force-free states, we show that flux emergence and submergence along magnetic neutral lines in the photosphere are essential processes in all these photospheric phenomena. The analytic solutions we present have a parametric regime within which the magnetic energy attained by an evolving force-free field may be of the order of 1030 ergs to several 1031 ergs, depending on the magnetic environment into which an emerging flux intrudes. The commonly used indicators of magnetic shear in magnetogram interpretation are discussed in terms of field connectivity in our models. It is demonstrated that the crossing angle of the photospheric transverse magnetic field with the neutral line may not be a reliable indicator of the magnetic shear in the coronal field above, due to the complexity of three-dimensionality. The poorly understood constraint of magnetic-helicity conservation on the availability of magnetic free energy for a flare is briefly discussed.
Defence of the Berkeley Work on Alpha-emitting Isotopes of Element 104

In the past two years, there has been some controversy about conflicting claims of Russian and American scientists to have demonstrated the formation of isotopes of Element 104 by nuclear reactions induced by high energy particles. This article is a restatement of the American case by Professor A. Ghiorso's group at Berkeley.
Coordination, collaboration and the impact of computer graphics

2011 marks the tenth year I've been involved with SIGGRAPH (a relative new-be) primarily as a volunteer for the newsletter. The contributions comprised of both solicited and voluntarily submissions are what make the newsletter what it is, not only an exciting and informative array of articles, but a conduit for the exchange of ideas and collaborations around a common interest - computer graphics - in all its applicable nuances.
Single gene control of a complex phenotype hangs in the balance.

Complex developmental events in eukaryotes are often controlled by complex regulatory pathways. From yeast to humans, the number of intricate transcriptional regulatory circuits is astounding (1). It is therefore striking that in the human fungal pathogen Candida albicans, two groups have independently discovered that a complex cellular switch and subsequent epigenetic behaviors are controlled almost exclusively by a single gene product (2, 3).
A New Consistency Method for Tomato Products: The Precipitate Weight Ratio

The precipitate weight ratio (PPT) which refers to the weight ratio of precipitate to the initial sample weight after centrifugation was found to be highly correlated with the Bostwick consistency and the efflux viscosity of tomato products. Lower correlation coefficients were found for products containing added ingredients. However, the PPT may be a unique and reliable parameter to evaluate the consistency of tomato products before formulation.
Expression of nuclear retinoic acid receptors in rat adipose tissue.

Expression of nuclear retinoic acid receptors (RAR-α, β and γ) was examined by Northern blots in rat lung, liver, and adipose tissue. Three transcripts of approximate sizes 7.3, 3.7, and 2.8 Kb were detected in adipose tissue. In contrast to adipose tissue only 3.7 and 2.8 Kb mRNA species were detected in liver and lung. Two RAR-β gene transcripts (3.3 and 3.0 Kb) were expressed in adipose tissue, liver, and lung. RAR-γ mRNA (3.36 Kb) was detected in adipose tissue and lung. The distribution of three RARs in adipose tissue suggests the physiological role of retinoic acid in the regulation of specific genes via RARs in adipocytes.
Spatial variation in the influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation on precipitation across Greenland

[1] Ice core-derived accumulation records from Greenland have been proposed as proxies for North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) reconstruction. In a series of single-site analyses, accumulation records from ice cores drilled in western Greenland were found to exhibit the strongest linear association with NAO. In this paper, we expand on these findings by proposing a spatiotemporal statistical model to explore further the relationship between NAO and the accumulation records from 35 firn and ice cores drilled in western and southern Greenland. In particular, we propose a temporal extension of the Bayesian spatially varying coefficient regression model, which is fit using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm. This model readily accommodates the irregular features of the data (i.e., variation in record lengths and irregular spacing among ice core locations) and the serial dependence within individual records. Using our statistical model, we are able to exploit the spatial dependence structure of the derived accumulation-NAO relationship to explore the regional patterns in the strength of this relationship. Our findings support previous work that identified a region in western Greenland where derived accumulation is most correlated with NAO. However, we also identify a region further inland to the east and south where the estimated strength of the linear accumulation-NAO relationship is weaker, but more certain, than in the previously identified region. Thus, our findings can be used to guide decisions regarding where to locate future drilling efforts in Greenland by weighing the trade-off between the potential strength of the accumulation-NAO relationship and its uncertainty.
Ruptured splenic artery aneurysm with resultant upper gastrointestinal bleeding

A case of upper gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to rupture of a calcified splenic artery aneurysm into the stomach is reported. Upper gastrointestinal series revealed the aneurysm as a calcification adjacent to the stomach but it was not recognized as a source of bleeding until laparotomy. After operation the patient recovered completely.
Prospective teachers’ views on the use of calculators with Computer Algebra System in algebra instruction

Although growing numbers of secondary school mathematics teachers and students use calculators to study graphs, they mainly rely on paper-and-pencil when manipulating algebraic symbols. However, the Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) on computers or handheld calculators create new possibilities for teaching and learning algebraic manipulation. This study investigated the views of Turkish prospective secondary mathematics teachers on the use of advanced calculators with CAS in algebra instruction. An open-ended questionnaire and group interviews revealed prospective teachers’ views and beliefs about when and why they prefer three possible uses of CAS—black box, white box, or Symbolic Math Guide (SMG). The results showed that participants mainly preferred the white box methods and especially SMG to the black box method. They suggested that while the black box method could be used after students mastered the skills, the general white box method and SMG could be used to teach symbolic manipulation.
Fgfr3 Is a Transcriptional Target of Ap2δ and Ash2l-Containing Histone Methyltransferase Complexes

Polycomb (PcG) and trithorax (trxG) proteins play important roles in establishing lineage-specific genetic programs through induction of chromatin modifications that lead to gene silencing or activation. Previously, we described an association between the MLL/SET1 complexes and a highly restricted, gene-specific DNA-binding protein Ap2δ that is required for recruitment of the MLL/SET1 complex to target Hoxc8 specifically. Here, we reduced levels of Ap2δ and Ash2l in the neuroblastoma cell line, Neuro2A, and analyzed their gene expression profiles using whole-genome mouse cDNA microarrays. This analysis yielded 42 genes that are potentially co-regulated by Ap2δ and Ash2l, and we have identified evolutionarily conserved Ap2-binding sites in 20 of them. To determine whether some of these were direct targets of the Ap2δ-Ash2l complex, we analyzed several promoters for the presence of Ap2δ and Ash2l by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). Among the targets we screened, we identified Fgfr3 as a direct transcriptional target of the Ap2δ-Ash2l complex. Additionally, we found that Ap2δ is necessary for the recruitment of Ash2l-containing complexes to this promoter and that this recruitment leads to trimethylation of lysine 4 of histone H3 (H3K4me3). Thus, we have identified several candidate targets of complexes containing Ap2δ and Ash2l that can be used to further elucidate their roles during development and showed that Fgfr3 is a novel direct target of these complexes.
Toxicity of Beta-Aminopropionitrile for Turkey Poults.∗

Summary(1) Beta aminopropionitrile hydrochloride was toxic to turkey poults at levels as low as 0.01% of diet. (2) Paralysis. degeneration of anterior motor neurons and growth depression were the chief abnormalities observed at 0.25% and 0.125% while pericardial and pulmonary hemorrhage, ruptured aortas, leg and toe deformities, and growth depression were the primary symptoms at lower levels. (3) Preliminary attempts to alter severity of symptoms by reducing the methionine level or by adding vit. B12 or a high level of all B vitamins were not very successful, but further investigation of the B vitamins appears to be justified.
Face detection on distorted images using perceptual quality-aware features

We quantify the degradation in performance of a popular and effective face detector when human–perceived image quality is degraded by distortions due to additive white gaussian noise, gaussian blur or JPEG compression. It is observed that, within a certain range of perceived image quality, a modest increase in image quality can drastically improve face detection performance. These results can be used to guide resource or bandwidth allocation in a communication/delivery system that is associated with face detection tasks. A new face detector based on QualHOG features is also proposed that augments face-indicative HOG features with perceptual quality–aware spatial Natural Scene Statistics (NSS) features, yielding improved tolerance against image distortions. The new detector provides statistically significant improvements over a strong baseline on a large database of face images representing a wide range of distortions. To facilitate this study, we created a new Distorted Face Database, containing face and non–face patches from images impaired by a variety of common distortion types and levels. This new dataset is available for download and further experimentation at www.ideal.ece.utexas.edu/˜suriya/DFD/.