cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Action of FMRFamide on longitudinal muscle of the leech, Hirudo medicinalis.

1. Nerve terminals associated with longitudinal muscle in the leech show FMRFamide-like immuno-reactivity. 2. Structure-activity studies using FMRFamide analogs show that the C-terminal RFamide portion of the molecule is crucial for biological activity on leech longitudinal muscle. 3. The putative protease inhibitor FA (Phe-Ala) increases the peak tension produced by longitudinal muscle in response to superfused FMRFamide and the majority of its analogs, suggesting the presence of peripheral proteases capable of degrading RFamide peptides. 4. FMRFamide decreases the relaxation rate of neurally evoked contractions of longitudinal muscle. FA also decreases the relaxation rate of neurally evoked contractions. 5. Intact and isolated muscle cells respond to superfused FMRFamide with a conductance increase, that leads to depolarization and often with a delayed conductance decrease as the membrane potential is restored to resting levels. 6. The depolarizing response of isolated muscle cells to FMRFamide is dependent on external calcium.
Erratic nature of product ESD immunity testing investigated using a dual TEM cell

Product ESD immunity testing to meet European EMC Directive is straight forward but sometimes the outcomes can be quite surprising; for example, indirect discharge can be more potent than direct discharge and contrary to preferred method air discharge causes failure whereas contact discharge passes. One of the key factors responsible for the surprises is the lack of information on the frequency contents associated with those ESD events. In this paper those ESD phenomena are investigated using a dual TEM cell (P.F. Wilson and M.T. Ma, 1985) connected to a spectrum analyzer simulating product under test; the spectrum plots collected from the different ESD test modes are then examined to gain insights into those anomalies. Some examples are given to demonstrate correlation between the spectrum plots and the surprises encountered during actual product testing.
Effect of Processing Route on the Microstructure and Thermoelectric Properties of Bismuth Telluride-Based Alloys

Considerable work has been done to engineer materials with high efficiencies of thermoelectric heat-to-electricity conversion and the mechanical strength necessary to withstand the demands of practical applications. In particular, in the bismuth telluride system, extrusion pressing has been found to be effective for improving the mechanical strength of alloys via grain refinement. We review some of the literature relating to processing approaches for the bismuth telluride system. We also present preliminary data for a series of samples obtained by incorporating C60 via ball milling and spark plasma sintering into a matrix consisting of a (Bi,Sb)2Te3 alloy, with a focus on the texture of the composites and its relation to thermoelectric transport properties, in comparison to the parent material. The viability of improving the thermoelectric performance of bismuth telluride alloys by the insertion of nanoparticles into a composite is also considered.
Preharvest Feeding Strategy to Enhance Long-Chain Polyunsaturated and Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Composition of the Tail Muscle of Freshwater Prawns Macrobrachium rosenbergii Grown in Earthen Ponds

AbstractThree independent experiments were sequentially conducted during separate growing seasons (2009, 2010, and 2012) to determine whether a preharvest change in feed could achieve a desired enhancement of the long-chain (LC) polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content or the PUFA content of the tail muscle in freshwater prawns Macrobrachium rosenbergii. Juvenile freshwater prawns were stocked into 0.05-ha earthen ponds, cultured for 111–122 d, and then harvested. For the first experiment, there were three treatments: exclusive feeding of a commercial prawn feed for 122 d after stocking; exclusive feeding of range cubes for 122 d after stocking; and administering range cubes for 84 d followed by prawn feed for the final 38 d prior to harvest. The second experiment consisted of four treatments: range cubes were fed exclusively for the entire growing season (116 d) or were fed until replaced by the prawn feed at 39, 24, or 17 d prior to harvest. The LC-PUFA profile for the tail muscle of harvested prawns w...
Sequence and structural similarities between the leucine-specific binding protein and leucyl-tRNA synthetase of Escherichia coli

Abstract A role for the leucyl-tRNA synthetase (EC 6.1.1.4) has been established for regulating the transport of leucine across the inner membrane of Escherichia coli by the leucine, isoleucine, valine (LIV-I) transport system. This transport system is mediated by interactions of periplasmic binding proteins with a complex of membrane-associated proteins, and transcription of the high-affinity branched-chain amino acid transport system genes is repressed by growth of E. coli on high levels of leucine. We now report results from sequence comparisons and structural modeling studies, which indicate that the leucine-specific binding protein, one of the periplasmic components of the LIV-I transport system, contains a 121-residue stretch, representing 36% of the mature protein, which displays both sequence and structural similarities to a region within the putative nucleotide-binding domain of leucyl-tRNA synthetase. Early fusion events between ancestral genes for the leucine-specific binding protein and leucyl-tRNA synthetase could account for the similarity and suggest that processes of aminoacylation and transport for leucine in E. coli may be performed by evolutionarily interrelated proteins.
Transcriptional analysis of protective antigen-stimulated PBMC from non-human primates vaccinated with the anthrax vaccine absorbed

The transcriptional responses in recombinant protective antigen (PA)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from Anthrax Vaccine Absorbed (AVA)-vaccinated rhesus macaques were evaluated using Affymetrix HGU133 Plus 2.0 GeneChips. PBMCs from animals vaccinated at 0, 4, and 26 weeks were harvested at week 30, stimulated with PA, and RNA isolated. The expression of 295 unigenes was significantly increased in PA-stimulated compared to non-stimulated PBMCs; no significant decrease in gene expression was observed. These upregulated transcripts encoded for proteins functioning in both innate and adaptive immunity. Results were corroborated for several genes by real-time RT-PCR. This study provides information on the potential underlying transcriptional mechanisms in the immune response to PA in AVA-vaccinated rhesus macaques.
Presidential Conduct of Foreign Policy

This article examines the issue of presidential evaluation and performance in foreign affairs through a series of comparative case studies. It reveals conflicts and tradeoffs that presidents face in the conduct of foreign policy, how they come to terms with those problems, and how that coming-to-terms affects presidential evaluation. The case of President Reagan's Iran-Corcfra affair is then examined in the context of this analysis, demonstrating that it was less of an "aberration" than might otherwise appear.
Toll-like receptor 9 suppression in plasmacytoid dendritic cells after IgE-dependent activation is mediated by autocrine TNF-α

Background Functional significance for the αγ2 variant of the high-affinity IgE receptor (FceRI) reportedly expressed on human dendritic cell subtypes remains poorly understood. Studies show that immature plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) secrete large quantities of TNF-α and IL-6 when directly stimulated with anti-IgE antibody. This mode of activation, however, reduces Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) expression in pDCs and their ability to mount an IFN-α response when subsequently activated with oligodeoxynucleotide containing CpG. Objective To investigate the mechanisms underlying this IgE-dependent suppression of TLR9 and innate immune responsiveness in pDCs by focusing on autocrine cytokine responses. Methods pDCs were isolated from blood by using blood dendritic cell antigen 4 selection. Cytokine responses to anti-IgE antibody-dependent and/or CpG-dependent stimulation were measured by using ELISA. TLR9 expression was determined by using quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting. Results The time required for downregulating TLR9 expression in pDCs after anti-IgE stimulation correlated with the induction and duration of TNF-α secreted by these cells. Pretreatment of pDCs with recombinant TNF-α (but not IL-6 or IL-10) markedly suppressed TLR9 expression. Functional response to CpG (ie, IFN-α induction) was also inhibited with TNF-α pretreatment (inhibitory concentration50 = ∼200 pg/mL). Finally, an antibody that neutralizes TNF-α activity completely restored TLR9 expression during anti-IgE stimulation and significantly improved IFN-α secretion on subsequent activation with CpG. Conclusion Autocrine TNF-α secretion resulting from IgE/FceRI-dependent activation plays a critical role in suppressing TLR9-dependent responses in pDCs that normally promote TH1 activity.
Dislocation shielding and crack tip decohesion at the atomic scale

Anti-shielding of a crack tip by a dislocation is examined at the atomistic level for a simple geometry to test classical singular-crack and recent cohesive-crack models of crack/dislocation interactions. The atomistic model shows that, as an anti-shielding dislocation approaches the crack tip, It causes less anti-shielding than predicted by the singular-crack model The trend is qualitatively consistent with predictions of a cohesive-crack model, but the atomistic effect is even larger. The cohesive-crack model is consistent with the atomistic results if a reduced cohesive strength of similar to 3 5 GPa is used instead of the actual value of 13 GPa. The difference is shown to be due to the non-linear deformation of material around the crack tip, which cannot be fully represented by a cohesive zone law along the fracture surface It is then shown that, at the point of fracture, there is a unique traction displacement cohesive law acting behind the crack tip, independent of the position of the anti-shielding dislocation. The maximum traction of 12.8 GPa and fracture energy of 1.9 J m(-2) are both in excellent agreement with the values obtained from independent atomistic calculations on this material. Both the shielding and cohesive results have implications for the accurate modeling of fracture processes in metallic materials (C) 2010 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.
Glucocorticoid Potentiation of Cytochrome P4501A1 Induction by 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin in Porcine and Human Endothelial Cells in Culture

Cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) induction was examined in cultures of porcine aorta endothelial cells (PAEC) and of human aorta endothelial cells (HAEC) exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) with or without the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) agonist cortisol or dexamethasone (DEX). In PAEC exposed to 0.1 nM TCDD + 10 microM cortisol the level of CYP1A1 protein and the degree of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity induction were 2- to 3-fold greater than with 0.1 nM TCDD alone. A similar enhancement of EROD induction was obtained when 0.1 or 1 nM TCDD was added together with 0.1, 1, or 10 microM DEX in the media. Cultures of HAEC also showed potentiation of EROD induction when 1 nM TCDD was co-administered with 10 microM DEX. This potentiation caused by DEX was abolished by addition of 10 microM of the GR antagonist RU38486. These data suggest that potentiation of CYP1A1 induction in endothelial cells proceeds by a GR dependent mechanism.
Intake Swirl Process Generated by an Engine Head: a Flow Visualization Study

In-cylinder charge swirl is used in many internal combustion engines to promote combustion. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the in-cylinder swirl characteristics generated by an engine head during the induction process by means of flow visualization and Particle Tracking Velocimetry (PTV). The study was carried out for an engine head with a shrouded intake valve in a special single- cylinder transient water analog. The results revealed that the in-cylinder swirl generated by the shroud is characterized by a strong single vortex with its center of rotation eccentric to the cylinder axis. Furthermore, velocity data obtained for this study suggest that the in- cylinder swirl is not solid body rotation. Finally, the velocity fields were integrated and an equivalent swirl was calculated for the engine under transient conditions.
Effects of river discharge and suspended sediment on water quality in the Mississippi River

Abstract The chemical water quality in Pool 14 of the Mississippi River below Clinton, Iowa near the Quad‐Cities Nuclear Power Plant, was studied during the period August, 1972 through July, 1974. Variations in river discharge and suspended sediment affected many parameters. Increased discharge resulted in higher levels of total suspended solids, total P, chemical oxygen demand, Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn. The increased suspended solids concentrations were responsible for the higher levels of total P, chemical oxygen demand, Fe, Mn and Cu. Variations in Fe and Mn concentrations correlated strongly with Cu, Pb and Zn. About 90% of the total Fe and Mn concentrations occurred in the suspended solids fraction. Total Hg concentrations did not correlate with either discharge or suspended solids.
Hot Spots or Hot Hands? Serial Crisis Behavior, Escalating Risks, and Rivalry

Recently, a debate has begun concerning the relationship between conflict events over time between the same disputants. While research on rivalries and recurrent conflict suggest that crises are related over time, others (Gartzke and Simon 1999) doubt the empirical and theoretical foundations of this research. We agree with the critics that the proposition that conflicts between adversaries are related over time remains only weakly substantiated. To fill this lacuna, we test four hypotheses relating past crisis behavior and sequences to subsequent conflict, using International Crisis Behavior (ICB) project data. Our results support the serial crisis hypothesis and suggest that the probability of subsequent crises and wars increase with each past crisis. Our findings also reinforce the inclination to give more emphasis to the analysis of rivalries.
Inclusion, Not Exclusion: Recreation Service Delivery to Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Youth

Abstract Prejudice and stigmatization experienced by lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth, the resulting isolation of these youth, and approaches that recreation and education professionals can use to create nonthreatening, supportive environments that are inclusive of lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth will be discussed in this article.
Progress on a gravity map of Alaska

The U.S. Geological Survey began gravity surveys in Alaska ten years ago with local surveys in the Copper River and Tanana Basins. Shortly before the 1963 AGU gravity symposium [Barnes, 1965], the emphasis shifted from local surveys to the preparation of a reconnaissance gravity map of the whole state with a 10-mgal contour interval on a scale of 1:2,500,000, which would be similar to the gravity map of the United States [Woollard and Joesting, 1964]. Data have now been obtained in approximately three-fourths of the state, but there are large variations in both station density and geologic usefulness of the coverage. The amount of coverage is primarily influenced by the distribution of water bodies because more than three-fourths of the stations have been obtained by riverboats, small skiffs, and floatplanes.
Passive microwave imagery of a tropical storm near 118 GHz thermal and precipitation structure

An imaging microwave radiometer with eight double-sideband channels centered on the 118.75-GHz (1-)oxygen resonance was flown on a NASA ER-2 high altitude aircraft over a tropical cyclone in the Coral Sea, east of Australia. An eyewall of strong convection and a warm core within the eye are clearly visible. Brightness temperatures observed within the eye are approximately 10K warmer than those observed in clear air 100 km away. This warming extends somewhat beyond the eyewall in the highest (most opaque) channel. Two passes three hours apart may reveal a slight weakening of the convective activity. This flight provides the first known calibrated high-resolution 18.75 GHz imagery of a tropical storm. Temperature profiles and cloud-top altitudes may be inferred from the data. >
Acoustic and auditory phonetics: the adaptive design of speech sound systems

Speech perception is remarkably robust. This paper examines how acoustic and auditory properties of vowels and consonants help to ensure intelligibility. First, the source–filter theory of speech production is briefly described, and the relationship between vocal-tract properties and formant patterns is demonstrated for some commonly occurring vowels. Next, two accounts of the structure of preferred sound inventories, quantal theory and dispersion theory, are described and some of their limitations are noted. Finally, it is suggested that certain aspects of quantal and dispersion theories can be unified in a principled way so as to achieve reasonable predictive accuracy.
Nutritional Regulation of mRNA Processing

Understanding how a cell adapts to dietary energy in the form of carbohydrate versus energy in the form of triacylglycerol requires knowledge of how the activity of the enzymes involved in lipogenesis is regulated. Changes in the activity of these enzymes are largely caused by changes in the rate at which their proteins are synthesized. Nutrients within the diet can signal these changes either via altering hormone concentrations or via their own unique signal transduction pathways. Most of the lipogenic genes are regulated by changes in the rate of their transcription. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is unique in this group of enzymes in that nutritional regulation of its synthesis involves steps exclusively at a posttranscriptional level. G6PD activity is enhanced by the consumption of diets high in carbohydrate and is inhibited by the consumption of polyunsaturated fat. In this review, evidence is presented that changes in the rate of synthesis of the mature G6PD mRNA involves regulation of the efficiency of splicing of the nascent G6PD transcript. Furthermore, this regulation involves the activity of a cis-acting sequence in the G6PD primary transcript. This sequence in exon 12 is essential for the inhibition of G6PD mRNA splicing by PUFA. Understanding the mechanisms by which nutrients alter nuclear posttranscriptional events will provide new information on the breadth of mechanisms involved in gene regulation.
Beginning Music Teacher Mentor Practices: Reflections on the Past and Suggestions for the Future

The purpose of this inquiry was to examine the current reflections of 13 experienced teachers on their past perceptions of mentoring as documented by Conway (2003a). Participants read the 2003 stud...
Neutron Scattering and Monte Carlo Determination of the Variation of the Critical Nucleus Size with Quench Depth

We have used a combination of neutron scattering experiments and Monte Carlo simulations to study the initial stages of first-order phase transitions. We focus on quenches wherein the nascent phase is formed by homogeneous nucleation, and we approach the spinodal, i.e., the quench depth at which the original phase becomes unstable. In this regime, we show how critical nuclei sizes are determined from neutron scattering structure factors. Prevailing thought is that the size of the critical nucleus should increase with increasing quench depth and diverge at the spinodal. To the contrary, our experiments and simulations indicate that the critical nucleus size decreases monotonically as quench depth is increased and is finite at the spinodal.
Distribution of two C cycle enzymes in soil aggregates of a prairie chronosequence

Knowledge of the cycling and compartmentalization of soil C that influence C storage may lead to the development of strategies to increase soil C storage potentials. The objective of this study was to use soil hydrolases and soil aggregate fractionation to explore the relationship between C cycling activity and soil aggregate structure. The prairie chronosequence soils were native prairie (NP) and agricultural (AG) and tallgrass prairies restored from agriculture in 1979 (RP-79) and 1993 (RP-93). Assays for β-glucosidase (E.C. 3.2.1.21) and N-acetyl-β-glucosaminidase (NAGase, EC 3.2.1.30) activities were conducted on four aggregate size fractions (>2 mm, 1–2 mm, 250 μm–1 mm, and 2–250 μm) from each soil. There were significantly greater amounts of >2-mm aggregates in the RP-79 and RP-93 soils compared to the NP and AG soils due to rapid C accumulation from native plant establishment. Activities for both enzymes (μg PNP g−1 soil h−1) were greatest in the microaggregate (2–250 μm) compared to the macroaggregate (>2 mm) fraction; however, microaggregates are a small proportion of each soil (<12%) compared to the macroaggregates (∼75%). The RP soils have a hierarchical aggregate system with most of the enzyme activity in the largest aggregate fractions. The NP and AG soils show no hierarchical structure based on aggregate C accretion and significant C enzyme activity in smaller aggregates. The distribution of enzyme activity may play a role in the storage of C whereby the aggrading restored soils may be more susceptible to C loss during turnover of macroaggregates compared to the AG and NP soils with less macroaggregates.
Student perceptions of a problem-based learning course.

Within occupational therapy education, there has been increased attention to curricula and courses that emphasize problem solving, clinical reasoning, and synthesis of information across traditional discipline-specific boundaries. This article describes the development, implementation, and outcomes of a problem-based learning course entitled Selected Cases in Occupational Therapy. The course was designed to help students to integrate the various elements of a specific occupational therapy curriculum and to enhance their abilities to respond to an ever-changing health care environment. An evaluation of the course by the first 11 students who completed it revealed both strengths and weaknesses. Students responded that the course enhanced their professional behavior, including interpersonal communication skills, team work, and follow-through with professional responsibilities; helped them to integrate the various elements of the total occupational therapy academic program; enhanced their clinical reasoning skills by providing a structure for thinking through clinical issues; and provided personal gain or benefit (i.e., students perceived the course to be a valuable, realistic, and motivating experience). The students also identified several specific course elements that contributed to its integrating function, including content, class session format, and students' role. Identified course weaknesses included the methods of evaluating student performance and the format and content of specific cases.
METHODOLGY FOR PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF REGIONAL WIND ENERGY POTENTIAL

This paper describes a methodology for a preliminary assessment of a region’s wind energy potential. The methodology begins by discussing four primary considerations for site location: wind resources, wildlife corridors, proximity to transmission grids, and required land area. Algorithms to calculate wind energy production using both hourly and annual average wind speed are presented. The hourly data method adjusts for differences in height, air density and terrain effects between the measurement site and the proposed turbine site. The annual average wind data method adjusts for these factors, and uses the average annual wind speed to generate a Rayleigh distribution of wind speeds over the year. Wind turbine electricity generation is calculated using the wind speed data and the turbine power curve. The lifecycle cost of electricity is calculated from operating costs, purchase costs, a discount rate, and the project lifetime. A case study demonstrates the use of the methodology to investigate the potential for producing electricity from wind turbines in Southwest Ohio. This information is useful to utilities, power producers and municipalities as they look to incorporate renewable energy generation into their portfolios.
Route Recovery with One-Hop Broadcast to Bypass Compromised Nodes in Wireless Sensor Networks

This paper presents a route recovery scheme called route recovery by one-hop broadcast (RROB) that removes compromised nodes from the current route and reconstructs the route without depending on central mediation. The basic idea behind RROB is that a new path between the source node and the destination is reconstructed by having the current path bypass the compromised nodes. RROB's route establishment is based on adjacency matrices which give connectivity information between nodes to prevent packet flooding in the network. Instead of flooding packets in the network, RROB utilizes the neighbors of the compromised nodes to bypass the compromised nodes. The length of bypass is adjusted by the number of compromised nodes and the required security level. RROB is a pure local route recovery protocol and the protocol works regardless of the number of compromised nodes on the routing path. RROB's overhead of route reestablishment is restricted within one-hop neighborhood of the compromised nodes and therefore shows as high as 24% energy savings compared to existing schemes, while route establishment shows shorter latency.
Robot Assisted Microsurgery Development at JPL

A team of engineers at JPL, working in collaboration with MicroDexterity Systems, Inc., and Dr. Steve Charles, recently developed a telerobotic workstation to assist microsurgeons perform surgery.
The expression of sodium channels in astrocytes in situ and in vitro.

Publisher Summary The chapter describes recent morphophysiological work, and these data provide evidence for the expression of sodium channels in astrocytes in vivo and demonstrate that different subpopulations of astrocytes in vitro display different sodium channel expression patterns and sodium current properties, which appears to be modulated differentially by interactions with neurons. Sodium channels are expressed in astrocytes within the optic nerve in situ , although at this time it has not been established whether all optic nerve astrocytes in situ express similar densities of sodium channels, or sodium channels with similar electrophysiological properties. Second, cultured astrocytes are a heterogeneous group of cells in terms of ion channel expression. A2B5 - and A2B5 + astrocytes derived from optic nerves exhibit different patterns of sodium channel expression, and different properties of sodium current. In turn, optic nerve astrocytes display different patterns of sodium channel expression from astrocytes derived from hippocampus. The expression of sodium channels in at least some astrocytes in vitro appears to be modulated by cell-cell interactions.
THEORY AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A FUZZY CONTROL SCHEME FOR PENDUBOT

Abstract To deal with the swinging up and balancing control for an under-actuated robot, Pendubot, a new fuzzy logical control method is proposed in this paper. Two separate fuzzy reasoning control laws are employed for the tasks of swinging up and balance control. The proposed control scheme is tested by both simulations and hardware experiments. Hardware experimental results show the applicability of the proposed scheme.
Spatial summation within the receptive field center of lateral geniculate body neurons in the cat

1. Die raumliche Summation im receptiven Feldzentrum von Neuronen des Corpus geniculatum laterale (CG-L) wird beschrieben und mit entsprechenden Untersuchungen an retinalen Ganglienzellen verglichen. Neben groserer interneuronaler Variabilitat ergeben sich ausgepragtere Unterschiede der Summationseigenschaften der on-und off-Zentrum-Neurone. Der effektive Summationsbereich von etwa 1/5 der Flache des RFZ ist in Retina und CGL etwa gleich. 2. Die on-Zentrum-Neurone des CGL zeigen in beiden Adaptationszustanden einen ahnlichen Summationsverlauf wie in der Retina. Das Entladungsnieau ist im CGL jedoch erheblich geringer und nicht durch Unterschiede in der Spontanaktivitat zu erklaren. 3. Die Mehrzahl der off-Zentrum-Neurone des CGL zeigt bei DA inverse Summationsverlaufe wie in der Retina: durchgehende Verminderung der Entladungsrate der off-Antworten bei Vergroserung der Reizflache im RFZ. Eine kleine Gruppe zeigt einen parabelformigen Summationsverlauf mit Entladungszunahme bis zu Reizflachen von 10–30% der Flache des RFZ und darauffolgender Entladungsminderung. Bei Helladaptation zeigen fast alle off-Zentrum-Neurone diesen Parabelverlauf. Das durchschnittliche Entladungsniveau ist von dem retinaler offZentrum-Neurone nicht signifikant verschieden. 4. Die interneuronale Variabilitat der Summationsvorgange im RFZ von CGLNeuronen ist gegenuber den retinalen Ganglienzellen deutlich groser. Dies gilt insbesondere fur die off-Zentrum-Neurone. Das Summationsverhalten von CGLNeuronen last sich daher nicht wie in der Retina durch einen Funktionstyp beschreiben. 5. Die Befunde sprechen fur eine Transformation des retinalen Eingangs der off-Zentrum-Neurone im CGL, wahrend die on-Zentrum-Neurone auser der bekannten Frequenzuntersetzung keine wesentliche Umformung erkennen lassen.
The Jamming Equation of Synthetic-Aperture Radar

The Synthetic-Aperture Radar(SAR) is one kind of radar used for imaging.It has high resolution with range and azimuth. A jamming equation of SAR is given in this paper. On base of this equation, we can get the influence of jamming to SAR.
Nanodiscs for structural and functional studies of membrane proteins

Membrane proteins have long presented a challenge to biochemical and functional studies. In the absence of a bilayer environment, individual proteins and critical macromolecular complexes may be insoluble and may display altered or absent activities. Nanodisc technology provides important advantages for the isolation, purification, structural resolution and functional characterization of membrane proteins. In addition, the ability to precisely control the nanodisc composition provides a nanoscale membrane surface for investigating molecular recognition events.
Computing Relations between Moments and Cumulants

It is sometimes desirable to have easily accessible formulae expressing moments in terms of cumulants and vice versa. This paper offers a Mathematica implementation of two methods for generating such formulae, a method based on Kendall’s operator and an elementary method of equating coefficients of generating functions.
Joyce's Cultures, the Classical, and the Popular

Classical literature could well be considered to offer the opposite of the ordinariness of daily life, with its focus on events of great importance with significant implications for the welfare and fate of nations and cultures. Joyce's Ulysses , with its many allusions to the activities and texture of ordinary life previously discussed, is simultaneously structured on the narrative events of Homer's epic Odyssey , a device already evoked in the earlier A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. There Joyce complicates the identity of young Stephen with that unconventional name, for an Irishman, of Dedalus. By connecting Stephen to the Greek myth of Daedalus and Icarus, Joyce extends the story of oppressive life on an island from modern Ireland to ancient Crete, and traces the ambition (and failure) of artists to fly across the waters to freer environments back to classical mythology. For scholars of literary history the classical frameworks of Portrait and Ulysses made Joyce one of the premier figures of early twentieth-century Modernism as a movement. Beginning with T. E. Hulme's 1911 essay on “Romanticism and Classicism,” such Modernists as Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot embraced the concept of Classicism as a modernist principle. Their focus was largely stylistic, urging clean, dry, objective, precise language both in poetry and in prose rather than emotional flights of Romantic aesthetic excess. But Modernists also incorporated classical themes into their poetry and fiction, with Ulysses as a premier example. The thematic analogues to various events and adventures in the Homeric epic are of course programmed into the titles of the episodes that Joyce revealed to Carlo Linati, even though they are not listed as chapter titles in the book. Their function is, once again, to enlarge and enhance the story of ordinary and mundane life on a Thursday in Dublin by making it resonate with epic and heroic adventures. Classical mythology is not Joyce's only fictional intertext, however, and the democratic impulse that spurs his focus on ordinary life in his works also extends to what we now call “popular culture” – the panoply of media productions that ordinary citizens encounter in the course of their daily experiences. The title of Ulysses may have been inspired by Homer's Odyssey , but Finnegans Wake alludes to the popular Irish ballad that recounts the death and resurrection of a fallen man.
Teenage Mothers Today: What We Know and How It Matters

Over the past two decades, births to U.S. teenagers have fallen and no longer follow overall fertility patterns. Yet the unique challenges faced by teenage mothers and their families justify continued research. Across disciplines, newer work has furthered our understanding of teenage motherhood today. In this article, I highlight four areas of progress: processes of selection into teenage motherhood, the broader consequences of teenage childbearing beyond the socioeconomic realm, heterogeneity of effects, and the application of life course principles. Emerging societal trends such as complex family structures, a stalled recovery from the recession for families of low socioeconomic status, and a rapidly evolving political environment for reproductive health care continue to challenge the lives of teenage mothers. Given that the consequences for teenagers of becoming mothers may change, continued research is needed. Shifts in policy to favor supporting teenage mothers and addressing the causes of both teenage pregnancy and social disadvantage may help improve the lives of these mothers and their families.
SOX11 Cooperates with CCND1 in Mantle Cell Lymphoma Pathogenesis

Abstract MCL (Mantle cell lymphoma) is an aggressive and incurable B cell malignancy with a median survival of 5-6 years. Cyclin D1 (CCND1) overexpression is a key diagnostic feature of this disease, observed in more than 90% of MCL tumors. However, murine models over-expressing CCND1 in B cells do not recapitulate the phenotype of MCL. The SOX11 transcription factor is aberrantly expressed in 80-90% of primary MCL. Our published data demonstrated that SOX11 binds and functionally regulates key components in multiple oncogenic pathways in MCL such as WNT and TGFβ pathways. Recent studies have also showed that SOX11 regulates PAX5 and PDGFA to block differentiation and facilitate lymphoma growth. We thus hypothesize that SOX11 expression may contribute directly and functionally cooperate with CCND1 in MCL pathogenesis. To study the role of SOX11 in MCL tumorigenesis in vivo, we have generated a novel SOX11 transgenic mouse model with B cell-specific tissue expression under the E-mu enhancer and an IRES-eGFP tag to monitor the expression of SOX11. The presence of SOX11 can be readily detected in pre-pro-B stage in the bone marrow coincided with the activation of E-mu enhancer and was persistent through all stages of B cells. SOX11 over-expression in our mouse model led to an aberrant oligo-clonal expansion of CD19+/CD5+ B cells. This phenotype was evident in all SOX11 transgenic mice studied (100% penetrance, n= 42 mice) with an average of 7-12 fold increase (p We next studied the cooperation between CCND1 and SOX11 by crossing SOX11 transgenic mice with a CCND1 transgenic mouse model, which over-expresses CCND1 in a B-cell specific manner under a similar E-mu enhancer. Overexpression of both CCND1 and SOX11 in the double transgenic mice model dramatically enhanced (average 10x, range 6x-30x) the aberrant MCL phenotype (CD19+/CD5+/CD23-) in peripheral blood, spleen, bone marrow, peritoneal cavity and lymph nodes compared to age-matched SOX11 and CCND1 single-transgenic mice. We report here the first direct evidence in vivo that SOX11 expression drives an aberrant expansion of B cells consistent with early human MCL and functionally collaborates with CCND1 in "full blown" MCL pathogenesis, mimicking the commonly observed co-expression of SOX11 and CCND1 in most human MCL tumors. This model captures the underpinning molecular pathogenesis events occurred in the majority of human MCL and overcomes constraints of previous MCL models that develop a phenotype after long latency or with low penetrance, making it a valuable tool for testing anti-MCL therapeutics. We are currently developing small molecule SOX11 inhibitors using SOX11 DNA binding domain models and consensus SOX11 binding nucleotides to screen a large library of compounds to identify new therapeutics for this fatal disease and gain better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of MCL tumorigenesis. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Destroying Steganography via Amalgamation: Kleptographically CPA Secure Public Key Encryption.

We describe a general technique to protect randomized algorithms against kleptographic attacks. We then apply the technique to construct the first IND-CPA secure public-key encryption scheme in the kleptographic setting. Our scheme preserves IND-CPA security, even when all relevant cryptographic algorithms—including key generation—are subject to adversarial subversion. The scheme requires no trusted parties or re-randomization reverse firewalls. The technique also gives a secure symmetric key encryption scheme that advances the state-of-theart by permitting adversarial subversion of key generation and, furthermore, requiring no a priori decryptability assumptions. Designing cryptographic primitives immune to kleptographic subversion is an active area which has led to remarkable new models and techniques; many of these are realizable by systems and can reduce the threat of such strong attacks. The feasibility of public-key encryption that is kleptographically secure in the CPA sense has been open till now.
Speculative Charter School Growth in the Case of UNO Charter School Network in Chicago

Charter school advocates see the infusion of market competition into the educational sector as a means to achieving greater efficiency, effectiveness, and equity. Within this framework, consumer de...
Determinants of Pinterest affinity for marketers using antecedents of user-platform fit, design, technology, and media content

Social media networks have attracted a large number of users over the year which has increased its potential as a marketing channel. It is important for marketers to investigate characteristics and differentiators in these social media platforms so unique marketing strategies can be used. The Pinterest social media network is a much smaller platform as compared to other larger social media sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. Pinterest has a comparatively smaller user base that has been underutilised as a marketing channel. However, Pinterest offers tremendous potential for marketers because of niche appeal in a strong visual medium. Using antecedents of usability, design, user-platform fit, and media content of the Pinterest platform, this study investigated user affinity toward Pinterest. Pinterest affinity, in this study, refers to composite constructs of value, loyalty, and trust experienced by Pinterest users. The results of the study showed that user-platform fit, technical characteristics, design, and purchase intention constructs were important determinants of users' affinity toward Pinterest. Based on these findings, managerial implications and recommendations to marketers on Pinterest are discussed.
Dissociative sensibility disorders - A retrospective case series and systematic literature review.

Abstract Context Dissociative disorders present a huge challenge in clinical settings. In contrast to other dissociative symptoms, dissociative sensibility disorders are rarely focused on. Objective To identify the clinical characteristics and outcomes of dissociative sensibility disorders in children and adolescents, and to review the use of diagnostic procedures. Data sources For the review, a literature search used Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, and PubPsych (to 02/2015) and the reference lists of the studies identified. Study selection Screening of titles and abstracts; full-text assessment by two reviewers. Data selection The original case series was identified by using the local data register. Data extraction Two reviewers independently reviewed the data and, if they agreed on the relevance, extracted the data. In the original case series, data were extracted retrospectively from the records. Results Sixteen studies and seven case reports were identified, including 931 cases with dissociative disorders. In 210 cases the patient suffered either from a single sensibility disorder or predominantly from sensibility disorders. We identified thirteen further cases in our cohort. In both groups there was female predominance; the mean age of manifestation was early adolescence. The timing of admissions was variable. In approximately 50% of cases a premorbid stressful life event could be identified. Over 75% of cases had a good prognosis with complete resolution. Limitations Retrospective character of our own data collection, partially missing differentiation between the subgroups of dissociative disorders in the reviewed studies. Conclusions There is no uniform procedure for diagnostic work-up. The overall short-term prognosis is good.
Cognitive spatial-motor processes. 7. The making of movements at an angle from a stimulus direction: studies of motor cortical activity at the single cell and population levels.

Two rhesus monkeys were trained to move a handle on a two-dimensional (2-D) working surface either towards a visual stimulus ("direct" task) or in a direction orthogonal and counterclockwise (CCW) from the stimulus ("transformation" task), depending on whether the stimulus appeared dim or bright, respectively. Thus the direction of the stimulus (S, in polar coordinates) and the direction of the movement (M) were the same in the direct task but differed in the transformation task, such that M = S + 90 degrees CCW. The task (i.e. brightness) condition (k = 2, i.e. direct or transformation) and the direction of the stimulus (m = 8, i.e. 8 equally spaced directions on a circle) resulted in 16 combinations (k x m = 16 "classes") that were varied from trial to trial in a randomized block design. In 8 of these combinations the direction of the stimulus was the same for both tasks, whereas the direction of the movement was the same in the remaining 8 cases. The electrical signs of cell activity (N = 394 cells) in the arm area of the motor cortex (contralateral to the performing arm) were recorded extracellularly. The neural activity was analyzed at the single cell and neuronal population levels, and a modeling of the time course of single activity during the transformation task was carried out. We found the following. (a) Individual cells were active in both tasks; no cells were found that were active exclusively in only one of the two tasks. The patterns of single cell activity in the transformation task frequently differed from those observed in the direct task when the stimulus or the movement were the same. More specifically, cells could not be consistently classified as "movement"-or "stimulus"-related for frequently the activity of a particular cell would seem "movement-related" for a particular stimulus-movement combination, "stimulus-related" for another combination, or unrelated to either movement or stimulus for still another combination. Thus no real insight could be gained from such an analysis of single cell activity. (e) In a different analysis, we explored the idea that a changing directional signal could be detected in the time course of single cell activity during the reaction time. For that purpose we modeled the time course of single activity observed in the transformation task as a linear, weighted combination of influences from the direct task, taking the time patterns of cell activity during the stimulus, intermediate and movement directions in the direct task as estimates of the postulated directional influences.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Game Design as STS Research

Game design offers a powerful pedagogical paradigm for engaging students in thinking and researching sociotechnical systems. Using the example of designing a game around fracking, this paper describes how game design grapples with emergent dynamic processes, and how students are drawn into becoming STS researchers.
Sexual Abuse of Children With Learning Disabilities

Although children with a learning disability (LD) are at an increased risk of sexual abuse, it is unclear whether conditions specific to their impairment are associated with sexual assault or if risk derives from other comorbid conditions such as behavioral problems, social skill deficits, or loneliness. Using a national probability study of child maltreatment investigations in the United States ( n = 2,033), we hypothesized that children over the age of 4 with a LD are target congruent to a sexual perpetrator. Seven percent of children were identified as having a LD, and the odds of a sexual abuse allegation was 2.5 times greater for children with a LD relative to children without a LD regardless of confounders. Further, type and severity of assaults varied by group: over 3 times more children with a LD experienced digital or oral copulation compared to those without a LD. Results suggest that children with LDs may require tailored prevention efforts to protect them from sexual abuse.
Bayesian testing for independence of two categorical variables under two-stage cluster sampling with covariates

We consider Bayesian testing for independence of two categorical variables with covariates for a two-stage cluster sample. This is a difficult problem because we have a complex sample (i.e. cluster...
CuSbSe2 thin film solar cells with ~4% conversion efficiency grown by low-temperature pulsed electron deposition

Abstract CuSb(S,Se)2 is emerging as an alternative absorber for thin film photovoltaics, for its intrinsic p-type conductivity, tunable energy bandgap (1.0÷1.6 eV), high absorption coefficient > 104 cm−1 and very low cost of the constituent elements. In this work, we studied the structural, compositional and electro-optical properties of CuSbSe2 (CASe) films grown by Low Temperature Pulsed Electron Deposition (LTPED), a developing technology in thin film photovoltaics. We proved that stoichiometric or Cu-poor CASe films can be obtained at low temperature (