cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A novel DFNA9 mutation in the vWFA2 domain of COCH alters a conserved cysteine residue and intrachain disulfide bond formation resulting in progressive hearing loss and site-specific vestibular and central oculomotor dysfunction†

Mutations within the COCH gene (encoding the cochlin protein) lead to auditory and vestibular impairment in the DFNA9 disorder. In this study, we describe the genetic mapping of progressive autosomal dominant sensorineural hearing loss first affecting high-frequency auditory thresholds within a human pedigree to the long arm of chromosome 14 in band q12. A maximal pairwise LOD score of 7.08 was obtained with marker D14S1021. We identified a c.1625G > T mutation in exon 12 of COCH that co-segregates with auditory dysfunction in the pedigree. The mutation results in a predicted p.C542F substitution at an evolutionarily conserved cysteine residue in the C-terminus of cochlin. The c.1625G > T transversion in COCH exon 12 represents the first reported mutation outside of the LCCL domain which is encoded by exons 4 and 5. The 542F mutant cochlin is translated and secreted by transfected mammalian cells. Western blot analysis under non-reducing and reducing conditions suggests that the 542F mutation alters intramolecular cochlin disulfide bond formation. In the vestibular system, a progressive horizontal canal hypofunction and a probable saccular otolith challenge were detected in family members with the c.1625G > T COCH alteration. Abnormal central oculomotor test results in family members with the c.1625G > T COCH alteration imply a possible central nervous system change not previously noted in DFNA9 pedigrees harboring mutations within the LCCL domain. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Salesperson Adaptive Selling Behavior and Customer Orientation: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract The authors combine findings from 155 samples of more than 31,000 salespeople to test alternative models of antecedents and consequences of adaptive selling behavior (ASB) and customer orientation (CO). A random-effects meta-analysis yields average values for 28 different correlations ranging from −.16 to .35, 19 of which are significant. Controlling for salesperson gender and selling experience, structural equation modeling indicates that ASB increases self-rated, manager-rated, and objective measures of performance, whereas CO increases only self-rated performance. Both ASB and CO increase job satisfaction. Tests of reciprocal relationships indicate that ASB increases CO and job satisfaction increases performance rather than vice versa. Selling experience increases performance but not job satisfaction, and saleswomen rate their performance and satisfaction slightly higher than salesmen do. The magnitudes of the relationships indicate that ASB and selling experience have greater effects than CO ...
Ebooks and Literacy in K-12 Schools.

In this article the authors present a review of literature from multiple disciplines pertaining to using eBooks in the classroom in order to understand the underlying literacy and technology related issues and challenges. eBooks brought about changes in how students learn to read, and in how they read to learn. They require students to learn new literacies and to use new technologies, which has had a profound impact on reading pedagogy in K–12 classrooms. Dedicated eBook readers, smartphones, and tablet computers have led to changes in a signature pedagogy—reading literacy instruction. Research is needed on how to best teach the new literacies to help learners adapt to the challenges of new media and technologies.
The impact of taxes on the choice of divestiture method

Abstract This paper estimates the magnitude of tax costs and their impact on the decision to divest assets via a taxable sale rather than a tax-free spin-off. We find that the tax costs are substantial, averaging 8% of market value of the divested assets, and that cross-sectional variation in tax costs has a large impact on managers’ choice of divestiture method. Our results are consistent with two explanations. First, managers are willing to incur avoidable tax costs to gain earnings and cash flow benefits. Second, managers choose taxable sales because the acquisition premia on the sales exceed the avoidable tax costs.
DNA methylation directs a time-dependent repression of transcription initiation.

Abstract Background: The regulation of DNA methylation is required for differential expression of imprinted genes during vertebrate development. Earlier studies that monitored the activity of the Herpes simplex virus (HSV) thymidine kinase ( tk ) gene after injection into rodent cells have suggested that assembly of chromatin influences the methylation-dependent repression of gene activity. Here, we examine the mechanism of methylation-dependent HSV tk gene regulation by direct determination of nucleoprotein organization during the establishment of a transcriptionally silenced state after microinjection of templates with defined methylation states into Xenopus oocyte nuclei. Results: The transcriptional silencing conferred by a methylated DNA segment was not immediate, as methylated templates were initially assembled into active transcription complexes. The eventual loss of DNase I hypersenitive sites and inhibition of transcription at the HSV tk promoter only occurred after several hours. Flanking methylated vector DNA silenced the adjacent unmethylated HSV tk promoter, indicative of a dominant transmissible repression originating from a center of methylation. The resulting repressive nucleoprotein structure silenced transcription in the presence of activators that are able to overcome repression of transcription by nucleosomes. Conclusions: Silencing of transcription by DNA methylation is achieved at the level of transcription initiation and involves the removal of transcriptional machinery from active templates. This transcriptional repression can occur by indirect mechanisms involving the time-dependent assembly of repressive nucleoprotein complexes, which are able to inhibit transcription more effectively than nucleosomes alone.
Sterols in developing seed from low and high oil Zea mays strains

Abstract Two strains of maize, one developed for high oil seed and one for low oil seed, where examined for sterol and fatty acid composition during seed development. During development of high oil seed the free sterol concentration decreased approx 24% while the steryl esters increased over 200%. In the low oil seed, the concentration of the free sterols decreased almost 300% while steryl esters decreased over 200%. On a per seed basis, the high oil seed accumulated higher levels of free sterol and steryl esters. Acylated steryl glycosides were highest in the high oil seed during the first phase of development. Linoleic and oleic acids were the major fatty acids in the oil of both strains.
The Effects of N2 and Ar as the Ambient Gas During Rapid Thermal Annealing of Tungsten Silicide

Rapid thermal annealing of amorphous tungsten silicide thin films (W0.62 Si0 38) on Si at 1100°C in Ar and N2 ambient gases was studied. All films annealed in N2 exhibited good adhesion and remained smooth with no large grain growth. Films annealed in Ar showed grain nucleation and growth from the film perimeter until a critical stress was achieved, followed by stress-assisted grain growth. The resulting growth of large columnar grains caused the films to delaminate. Removal of the surface oxide/nitride layer from the silicide prior to annealing resulted in uniform nucleation and growth over the entire film during annealing in Ar, with no stress-assisted grain growth or film delamination. No difference, however, was observed during annealing in N2. These results suggest that a surface film produced during annealing in N2 slows the nucleation and growth and consequently enhances film adhesion.
Green and Black Tea Polyphenols Mechanistically Inhibit the Aggregation of Amyloid-β in Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the 6th leading cause of death and is the only disease among the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured or treated. The amyloid cascade hypothesis states that naturally occurring amyloid-β (Aβ) monomer aggregates via a nucleation-dependent pathway to form soluble aggregates and insoluble fibrils that deposit as plaques in the brain. Consequently, inhibition of Aβ aggregation is one therapeutic strategy for AD. This study sought to explain epidemiological correlations between frequent tea consumption and reduced incidence of AD by identifying the Aβ aggregation inhibitory capabilities of key polyphenol components in green and black tea.Polyphenols studied include green tea catechins, epicatechin, epigallocatechin and epigallocatechin gallate, as well as black tea theaflavins, theaflavin and theaflavin monogallate. Four assays were used to target unique steps along the aggregation pathway: a monomer aggregation assay to monitor the overall aggregation process; an oligomerization assay to monitor the initial nucleation step; an association assay to monitor the late stage lateral binding of soluble aggregates; and an elongation assay to monitor the late stage lengthening of soluble aggregates.Catechins and theaflavins show different inhibitory capabilities at varying mechanistic steps of the Aβ aggregation pathway. Catechins affect only the later stages of aggregation, suggesting that catechins may bind a specific structure present in aggregates. Conversely, theaflavins show inhibitory capabilities at every stage of aggregation, alluding to a sequence specific recognition. Furthermore, better inhibitory capabilities, for both polyphenol categories, can be correlated with the number of gallate groups.
Social Entrepreneurship and Community Leadership: A Service-Learning Model for Management Education.

This article provides a “how to” guide for developing and teaching a service-learning course in social entrepreneurship and community leadership. As the framework of the course, service-learning operates through faculty to student, student to student, and student to client interactions. The discussion articulates the planning and faculty commitment necessary as well as the goals, objectives, project examples, and outcomes associated with the class. A unique aspect of the course, the pairing of graduate student mentors with high school student proteges within teams, is described. The service-learning activities required throughout the course are generalizable to several management education contexts that wish to enhance learning and leadership by creating partnerships between the university, its students, and its community.
Roll stabilisation of road vehicles using a variable stiffness suspension system

A variable stiffness architecture is used in the suspension system to counteract the body roll moment, thereby enhancing the roll stability of the vehicle. The variation of stiffness concept uses the ‘reciprocal actuation’ to effectively transfer energy between a vertical traditional strut and a horizontal oscillating control mass, thereby improving the energy dissipation of the overall suspension. The lateral dynamics of the system is developed using a bicycle model. The accompanying roll dynamics are also developed and validated using experimental data. The positions of the left and right control masses are sequentially allocated to reduce the effective body roll and roll rate. Simulation results show that the resulting variable stiffness suspension system has more than 50% improvement in roll response over the traditional constant stiffness counterparts. The simulation scenarios examined is the fishhook manoeuvre.
The Effects of Low Inventory on the Development of Productivity Norms

Low inventory, a crucial part of just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing systems, enjoys increasing application worldwide, yet the behavioral effects of such systems remain largely unexplored. Operations research (OR) models of low-inventory systems typically use a simplifying assumption that processing times of individual workers are independent random variables. This leads to predictions that low-inventory systems will exhibit production interruptions leading to lower productivity. Yet empirical results suggest that low-inventory systems do not exhibit the predicted productivity losses. This paper develops a model integrating feedback, goal setting, group cohesiveness, task norms, and peer pressure to predict how individual behavior may adjust to alleviate production interruptions in lowinventory systems. In doing so we integrate previous research on the development of task norms. Operations research models are used to show how norms can significantly improve throughput by decreasing variance and increasing the speed of the slowest workers, even if accompanied by decreases in speed of the fastest workers. Findings suggest that lowinventory systems induce individual and group responses that cause behavioral changes that mitigate production interruptions.
An analytic study of porosity evolution in powder metallurgy forming process

The behavior of a porous metal in a closed-die compression test is studied with the aid of a Gurson-type model, and the results are compared with the results obtained from its quadratic approximation and the yield functions of S. Shima and M. Oyane (1976) and S.M. Doraivelu et al. (1984). Once the initial porosity and the effective stress-strain relation for the matrix is provided, the response of the powder compact can be predicted for a closed-die compaction case. The simulation demonstrates that quadratic approximation gives a response very close to that predicted by the yield functions. The Gurson-type model seems to be inaccurate at high initial porosities. However, more mechanical tests need to be performed on these yield functions before any conclusions can be made.
Application-controllable policies in the NSM distributed mass storage system

Distributed storage systems are increasingly being used to provide shared parallel-access environments to meet the growing demands of data-intensive applications. In distributed storage systems, performance enhancement strategies such as proper data layout, prefetching, and cache management policies are useful to better fulfill the needs of the application. However, because of the diverse nature and domains of applications, an algorithm that is optimal for one application may be the worst case scenario for others. We discuss application-controllable policies in the network storage manager (NSM). The system has a unique architecture that divides its storage policies into three categories: core system features, application-controllable policies, and fine-tunable characteristics. The system enables flexible application-defined storage policies by providing standard algorithms that are commonly used in distributed high-performance environments. In addition, application programmers can plug-in their optimized implementations of the controllable policies. The paper presents experimental results that demonstrate significant improvement in data throughput and cache hit rates leading to significant overall performance enhancement.
Secretion of Chemotaxins by Guinea Pig Lung Macrophages I. The Spectrum of Inflammatory Cell Responses

Chemotactic activity for neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes was detected in the medium of guinea pig lung macrophage cultures. For the phagocytic cells, activity was greatest for neutrophils and least for lung macrophages. Activity for peritoneal macrophages was intermediate. Although the response of lymphocytes could not be directly compared to that of phagocytes, migration of lymphocytes toward culture supernatant greatly exceeded migration toward fresh medium. A phagocytic stimulus enhanced the activity for neutrophils in medium from cultures incubated for 2 hr. By 24 hr of incubation, however, activity in medium of stimulated and unstimulated cultures was similar. Since the increase in activity occurring over an 18 hr culture incubation period was not associated with loss of cell viability, it appears that release of chemotactic activity is a specific physiologic event. The finding that cultured lung macrophages secrete potent chemoattractants for neutrophils, macrophages, and lymphocytes in vi...
Effects of Experimental Congestive Heart Failure, Ouabain, and Asphyxia on the High-Energy Phosphate and Creatine Content of the Guinea Pig Heart

The left ventricles of guinea pigs have been assayed for adenosine triphosphate, adenosine diphosphate, adenylic acid, phosphorylcreatine, free creatine, and inorganic phosphate. These determinations have been made under various experimental conditions which affect the performance of the heart in vivo, such as experimental congestive heart failure, acute asphyxia, and the influence of the cardiac glycoside, ouabain. In 20 guinea pigs with experimental congestive heart failure, sacrificed 1 to 18 days after surgically producing a coarctation of the ascending aorta, a significant fall in PC (54 per cent), ATP (24 per cent), and total creatine (34 per cent) was observed. The extent of the loss of high-energy phosphate compounds and total creatine paralleled the severity of cardiac failure as determined by abnormal intraventricular pressure pulses, ventricular hypertrophy, and gross and microscopic pathology. In animals with experimental congestive heart failure, the cardiac glycoside ouabain produced significant slowing of the heart, a positive inotropic effect, and a lowering of abnormally high right ventricular systolic and left ventricular diastolic pressures. At the height of the response to ouabain, there was a further fall in PC to 25 per cent of normal without any change in ATP concentration. The positive inotropic action of ouabain is, therefore, not due to an ability of the drug to increase high-energy phosphate levels in failing heart muscle. Acute asphyxia produces a very rapid fall in the PC concentration (85 per cent lost in two minutes) and a much slower fall in ATP (33 per cent lost in eight minutes). Recovery of normal mechanical activity, after a period of asphyxia, by rebreathing occurs with little, if any, restoration of ATP and at a time when the PC concentration is only about 25 per cent of normal. These experiments indicate that steady-state levels of high-energy phosphate compounds are not as important in determining the mechanical capacity of the heart as are their rates of synthesis.
Temperature programmed desorption and infrared spectroscopic studies of thin water films on MgO(1 0 0)

Thin water (D2O) films on MgO(1 0 0) surfaces have been studied. Water was deposited at 115 K and monolayer and multilayer films were prepared by annealing above 150 K, where the transition from amorphous solid to cubic ice is known to take place, and then re-cooling. Temperature programmed desorption traces and transmission Fourier transform infrared spectra were recorded. For the monolayer, results are consistent with an essentially flat, hydrogen-bonded water network without a significant amount of dangling OD. Ice growing on the monolayer appears to be a blend of amorphous and crystalline solid at 115 K, becoming more crystalline when annealed. � 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.
Introduction: The Space and Place of Death

Archaeologists typically study death from the perspective of mortuary patterns, devising classifications of disposal facilities and their dead inhabitants along parameters such as technique and materials of tomb construction, position and orientation of the deceased, and paleobiology of the interred populations. From this information a society's organization and level of sociopolitical complexity is reconstructed. Less common among archaeologists is attention to the spatiality of death practice, the unifying focus of this volume. Archaeologists are concerned with issues such as the siting of mortuary facilities; the interplay of agency and expressive style in the funerary context as these relate to the physical space and taking place of mortuary custom; and the recognition, cultural reconstruction, and explanation of death landscapes. These perspectives provide a more holistic framework for achieving an ethnographically sensitive archaeology of death. The studies in this volume range widely in areal location, cultural and temporal focus, and theoretical approach.
Aging and immune function: Cellular and biochemical analyses

Recent progress on the cellular and molecular basis for T cell dysfunction in aged mice is reviewed, with emphasis on defects in calcium signal generation and protein kinase function. The accumulation in older mice of memory T cells at the expense of naive T cells seems to account for most of the decline in the proportion of cells that can secrete or respond to interleukin 2. Memory T cells in mice of any age have an intrinsic resistance to increases in cytoplasmic free calcium ion concentration, which in turn interferes with their responses to polyclonal activators. T cells from old mice also exhibit declines both in serine/threonine and in tyrosine-specific protein kinase signals after activation by either receptor-dependent or receptor-independent agonists.
Technical aspects of CT angiography

The basic tasks of spiral CT acquisition, image processing, and image display are the foundations underlying CT angiography regardless of the anatomic region of interest. Volume rendering is a rapidly emerging image processing technique for creating three-dimensional (3D) images from CT datasets, which has important advantages over other 3D rendering techniques including maximum intensity projection and surface rendering. This articles reviews the techniques that are commonly used in CT angiography and key considerations for optimization.
Invasive Phenotype of Trypanosoma Cruzi Restricted to a Population Expressing Trans-Sialidase

Trypanosoma cruzi expresses a developmentally regulated trans-sialidase implicated in the pathogenesis of Chagas' disease. On inhabitation of the extracellular milieu of cultured cells by infective trypomastigotes, the enzyme is restricted to a small (20 to 30%) population of parasites. The biological significance of trans-sialidase expression on this subset, termed TS+, and not on the majority (70 to 80%) of morphologically similar trypanosomes, named TS-, is unknown. To determine the roles of the TS+ and TS- subsets in T. cruzi invasion, we prepared pure populations of TS- and TS+ trypanosomes using magnetic beads coated with a monoclonal antibody specific for the tandem repeat unit of the trans-sialidase C terminus. After removal of nonadherent TS- trypomastigotes, the TS+ trypomastigotes were isolated from the beads by specific elusion with a synthetic peptide epitope of the trans-sialidase monoclonal antibody. Confirmation of TS+ and TS- phenotypes was obtained by immunofluorescence, immunoblotting, and sialidase or sialyl transferase activity measurements. The TS+ trypanosomes were highly invasive, as they attached to, penetrated, and thrived in cultured mammalian cells much more efficiently than did unfractionated parasites. The critical role of the trans-sialidase in invasion was underscored by the observation that infection was neutralized by human antibodies to transsialidase. What's more, the TS- parasites, in sharp contrast to their TS+ counterparts, were extremely inefficient in invading epithelial cells and fibroblasts. Further, introduction of small amounts of exogenous trans-sialidase into suspensions of nonpenetrating TS- parasites converted them to a highly invasive phenotype indistinguishable from that of the TS+ population. Rescue of the invasive phenotype was specific for the T. cruzi enzyme, for it didn't happen with bacterial and viral sialidases. The in vitro results were confirmed in the murine model of Chagas' disease, as TS- trypomastigotes were relatively avirulent while TS+ trypomastigotes were more virulent than unfractionated parasites.
The Lipid A from Vibrio fischeri Lipopolysaccharide A UNIQUE STRUCTURE BEARING A PHOSPHOGLYCEROL MOIETY

Vibrio fischeri, a bioluminescent marine bacterium, exists in an exclusive symbiotic relationship with the Hawaiian bobtail squid, Euprymna scolopes, whose light organ it colonizes. Previously, it has been shown that the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or free lipid A of V. fischeri can trigger morphological changes in the juvenile squid's light organ that occur upon colonization. To investigate the structural features that might be responsible for this phenomenon, the lipid A from V. fischeri ES114 LPS was isolated and characterized by multistage mass spectrometry (MSn). A microheterogeneous mixture of mono- and diphosphorylated diglucosamine disaccharides was observed with variable states of acylation ranging from tetra- to octaacylated forms. All lipid A species, however, contained a set of conserved primary acyl chains consisting of an N-linked C14:0(3-OH) at the 2-position, an unusual N-linked C14:1(3-OH) at the 2′-position, and two O-linked C12:0(3-OH) fatty acids at the 3- and 3′-positions. The fatty acids found in secondary acylation were considerably more variable, with either a C12:0 or C16:1 at the 2-position, C14:0 or C14:0(3-OH) at the 2′-position, and C12:0 or no substituent at the 3′-position. Most surprising was the presence of an unusual set of modifications at the secondary acylation site of the 3-position consisting of phosphoglycerol (GroP), lysophosphatidic acid (GroP bearing C12:0, C16:0, or C16:1), or phosphatidic acid (GroP bearing either C16:0 + C12:0 or C16:0 + C16:1). Given their unusual nature, it is possible that these features of the V. fischeri lipid A may underlie the ability of E. scolopes to recognize its symbiotic partner.
Organization of Mating Behavior in Male Hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus)

Factor analysis was applied to standard measures of sexual behavior in 73 male hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) as they interacted with hormone-primed females. The results suggest that 5 factors, or conceptual mechanisms, function in the organization of the behaviors observed in the first 2 copulatory series. Of these, the 3 that relate to the behaviors in the first copulatory series were compared to those emerging from prior analyses of other rodents. These comparisons revealed similarities and differences in factor structure across species. Whereas all of these analyses identify factors related to the initiation and efficiency of copulatory behavior, hamsters seem to differ from other species in the measures that best define these factors. In addition, the copulatory rate factor that has been prominent in previous analyses of rats seems to be absent in hamsters. These results suggest that male sexual behavior in hamsters is organized differently from that in other rodents. In more general terms, they suggest that even species with generally similar copulatory patterns can show significant differences in behavioral organization, in turn suggesting the need for additional factor analytic studies to better establish the extent of these species differences.
Beiträge zur Chemie der Meeresprodukte XLII. 24-Methylencholesterin†

Ausgehend vom 24-Ketocholesterin (I) ist das 24-Methylencholesterin (II) hergestellt worden. Es wird gezeigt, das die fruher aufgestellte Strukturformel fur Chalinasterin nicht richtig ist. Dieses Sterin ist identisch mit 24-Methylen-cholesterin, dessen Vorkommen in Meerestieren schon von anderer Seite festgestellt wurde.
A family of non-conforming elements and the analysis of Nitsche's method for a singularly perturbed fourth order problem

In this paper we address several issues arising from a singularly perturbed fourth order problem with small parameter ?. First, we introduce a new family of non-conforming elements. We then prove that the corresponding finite element method is robust with respect to the parameter ? and uniformly convergent to order h 1/2. In addition, we analyze the effect of treating the Neumann boundary condition weakly by Nitsche's method. We show that such treatment is superior when the parameter ? is smaller than the mesh size h and obtain sharper error estimates. Such error analysis is not restricted to the proposed elements and can easily be carried out to other elements as long as the Neumann boundary condition is imposed weakly. Finally, we discuss the local error estimates and the pollution effect of the boundary layers in the interior of the domain.
The number of Dirichlet solutions of a fourth order differential equation

It is shown that the equation (p 2 y”)”–(p 1 y’)’+ p 0 y = 0 has exactly two linearly independent solutions on [0,∞) with finite Dirichlet integral when the coefficients are nonnegative and p 2 satisfies a condition which includes all nondecreasing functions. An inequality for the Dirichlet form is derived and used to extend characterizations of the domains of certain self-adjoint operations associated with the differential expression to arbitrary symmetric boundary conditions at 0.
The polarity and dynamics of microtubule assembly in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Microtubule assembly in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is initiated from sites within spindle pole bodies (SPBs) in the nuclear envelope. Microtubule plus ends are thought to be organized distal to the SPBs, while minus ends are proximal. Several hypotheses for the function of microtubule motor proteins in force generation and regulation of microtubule assembly propose that assembly and disassembly occur at minus ends as well as at plus ends. Here we analyse microtubule assembly relative to the SPBs in haploid yeast cells expressing green fluorescent protein fused to α-tubulin, a microtubule subunit. Throughout the cell cycle, analysis of fluorescent speckle marks on cytoplasmic astral microtubules reveals that there is no detectable assembly or disassembly at minus ends. After laser-photobleaching, metaphase spindles recover about 63% of the bleached fluorescence, with a half-life of about 1 minute. After anaphase onset, photobleached marks in the interpolar spindle are persistent and do not move relative to the SPBs. In late anaphase, the elongated spindles disassemble at the microtubule plus ends. These results show for astral and anaphase interpolar spindle microtubules, and possibly for metaphase spindle microtubules, that microtubule assembly and disassembly occur at plus, and not minus, ends.
Another Take on Real Estate's Role in Mixed-Asset Portfolio Allocations

This article examines real estate's role in institutional mixed-asset portfolios using both private- and public-real estate indices, as a means of examining varying real estate-related risk/return opportunities. In so doing, this article also examines the effects of: (1) increasing the investment horizon, (2) placing constraints on the maximum allocation to any one asset class, and (3) varying the risk preferences of investors. The empirical results suggest—using infinite-horizon returns and all of the caveats that accompany such a perspective—that real estate allocations of approximately 10–15% of the mixed-asset portfolio represent an upper bound for most investors. For those investors preferring low-risk portfolios, (unlevered) private real estate is the vehicle serving this allocation preference; for those investors preferring high-risk portfolios, public real estate (with its embedded leverage of 40–50%) is the vehicle serving this allocation preference—with such vehicles serving as substitutes for a variety of noncore real estate strategies. In some sense, the distinction between private and public real estate is more about the use of leverage. For those investors preferring moderate-risk portfolios, an intermediate-leverage approach seems optimal.
Booz Allen Hamilton: Social and Beyond

AbstractBy 2008, consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton needed a more effective way to connect employees to each other and to valuable content. The majority of its consultants worked at client sites and there was a growing feeling of isolation at the firm. In addition, employee affinity to Booz Allen was starting to slip. Previous efforts at knowledge management, such as technology email lists and content management systems, had not been as effective as hoped: information silos remained. In 2008, Walton Smith and his team rolled out Hello, an enterprise collaboration platform containing tools such as social profiles, blogs, wikis, tags, and digital communities. By 2011, the platform was highly adopted by Booz Allen with ample business benefits for different stakeholders. Smith, however, faced difficult decisions going forward. Should the firm continue with internal software development/open source or should it move the Hello platform to a large, integrated vendor solution? Also, how could Booz Allen lever...
Treatment of psoriasis with chronic subcutaneous administration of somatostatin analog 201-995 (sandostatin). II. Effect on pancreatic and thyroid hormone.

Nine patients with psoriasis vulgaris were treated for 12 weeks with somatostatin analog, octreotide acetate (SMS 201-995) 50 or 100 micrograms by subcutaneous injection every 12 hours. The purposes of the study were to determine: (1) levels of insulin, glucose, glucagon, pancreatic polypeptide (PP), and SMS 201-995 after a subcutaneous injection of SMS 201-995 and ingestion of a standardized meal; (2) nocturnal (0200 h) thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels before, during, and after treatment; and (3) the pharmacokinetics of SMS 201-995. Insulin peaks at 30 minutes were blunted from 65.8 +/- 11.0 mu U/mL without treatment to 26.7 +/- 8.6 mu U/mL and 7.7 +/- 2.0 mu U/mL after the 50- and 100-micrograms doses, respectively. Glucagon levels remained constant during the meal and were not affected by the 50-micrograms dose. Mean glucose levels were significantly elevated during insulin suppression. PP was also rapidly suppressed by SMS 201-995 and remained so for 4 hours after the injection. Nocturnal TSH was blunted after 12 weeks of treatment (P less than or equal to .05). T4 and T3 resin uptake showed no depression, and patients remained clinically euthyroid. The plasma peak of SMS 210-995 occurred 30 minutes postinjection and half-life was longer than 2 hours. After chronic administration of SMS 201-995, insulin was suppressed with resultant mild carbohydrate intolerance that persisted throughout the treatment course.
Correlation of cotyledonary node shoot proliferation and somatic embryoid development in suspension cultures of soybean ( Glycine max L. Merr.)

Suspension cultures of soybean were initiated from hypocotyl or cotyledon callus tissue of several soybean genotypes. When these were grown on L2 medium with 0.4 mg/liter 2,4-D several genotypes produced numerous embryoids while others produced only a few such structures. Due to internal anatomy, no embryoid developed into a complete plant. A genotype's propensity to form normal appearing embryoids was correlated with the ability to proliferate shoots at the cotyledonary node on a medium with benzylaminopurine as determined in previous testing.
Chloride exchange between human erythrocytes and plasma studied with Cl36.

SummaryThe rate of transfer of chloride into and out of human erythrocytes was estimated in vitro with Cl36 and found to be at least 600 to 1300 times greater than that of sodium and potassium respectively. Incubation at low temperature, the conversion of hemoglobin to methemoglobin, and the addition of metabolic poisons, were all without detectable effect on the rate of transfer. These data are compatible with the hypothesis that chloride enters erythrocytes by passive diffusion, but they do not eliminate the possibility that metabolic processes responsible for Cl transfer may exist which are capable of transporting chloride into and out of the red cell at a very rapid rate.
Stimulation of neutrophil oxidative metabolism by chemotactic peptides: influence of calcium ion concentration and cytochalasin B and comparison with stimulation by phorbol myristate acetate.

Abstract Incubation of human neutrophils with the chemotactic peptide F-met-leu-phe induced uptake of extracellular oxygen and production of both superoxide anion (O2-) and chemiluminescence in a concentrationdependent fashion. F-met-met-met also stimulated these cell functions, but it was less potent than F-met-leu-phe, whereas the nonformylated met-met-met had little effect. Pretreatment of neutrophils with cytochalasin B produced a twofold to fivefold increase in O2 release and luminescence and a fourfold to sevenfold increase in the lysosomal enzyme release induced by the peptides. In contrast, the O2- release, chemiluminescence, and enzyme release stimulated by phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) were not significantly affected by the presence of cytochalasin. Addition of calcium ion (Ca++), but not addition of magnesium ion (Mg++), to cells in cationfree buffer markedly enhanced the O2 release, chemiluminescence, and oxygen consumption induced by F-met-leu-phe. Ca+ + caused no enhancement of the O2-release and luminescence induced by PMA. The enhancement of peptide-stimulated oxidative metabolism by Ca++ is compatible with the concept that changes in intracellular Ca++ concentrations are involved in activation of the enzyme responsible for the respiratory burst. The peptide concentrations required to stimulate oxidative metabolism were 10-50 times those needed for chemotaxis. Thus, at the origin of a gradient of chemotactic factors (that is, at sites of inflammation), these factors could stimulate production of reactive oxygen metabolites, which might contribute to the tissue damage and perhaps microbicidal activity mediated by neutrophils.
Immunologic markers and the diagnosis of prostatic cancer.

SUMMARY We have described recent developments of immunologic markers for prostatic cancer and their clinical evaluation for diagnosis of this disease. Although each assay method has some advantages and disadvantages, all methods have features of immunologic specificity and sensitivity, endowing them some clinical usefulness. At the present stage of development, prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) and prostate-specific antigen (PA) and their combination assay are the most useful tool for diagnosis of prostate cancer and for monitoring the clinical status of patients. The recent remarkable development of hybridoma technology has offered us a new avenue for prostatic cancer research and hopefully will provide additional useful markers in the not-too-distant future.
Educational background, high school stress, and academic success

Abstract This research considers whether students without college-educated parents encounter more stressful life events, and if this exposure influences high school academic success, college matriculation and college degree attainment. Analyses were performed on 7989 students between 1988 and 2000 from NELS:88/2000. Findings suggest that students without college-educated parents encounter more stressful life events. This difference did not account for group differences in outcomes. However, exposure to certain stressors affects high school success over the entire sample. These stressors tend to be beyond student control. In addition, total life events in high school relates to students' ability to finish a college degree over the entire sample. This research extends current knowledge by considering stress' impact on student growth, academic trajectory and retention.
Structure-Based Drug Design of c-Kit Inhibitors for Use in the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Inhibitors of c-Kit kinase have shown clinical relevance in various myeloid disorders, including acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Research in our lab has been oriented towards structure-based drug design of c-Kit inhibitors based on the available crystal structure. We describe the design, synthesis, and preliminary results from the in-vitro testing of several c-Kit kinase inhibitors in both enzymatic and cell-based assays. The design resulted from in-silico screening of several targeted libraries via docking to the crystal structure of c-Kit, followed by aggressive post-filtering by several criteria to significantly bias synthesis efforts towards candidate compounds with best chance for success. This led to 128 structures built from 8 common structural cores, from which 2 cores were initially selected based on the synthetic feasibility. Five compounds were initially synthesized, and were immediately followed by 60 compounds with variations to probe local structure-activity relationships. The initial set of compounds, designated APCKxxx, was tested in a c-Kit kinase assay; two compounds were found to have an IC50 in the high nM to low uM range. These compounds have been tested in a MTT-based assay using OCIM2 and OCI/AML3 cell lines. In the c-Kit expressing OCI/AML3 cell line, all five compounds possessed an EC50 < 500 nM and two had and EC50 ~100 nM. Our most recent results show that these compounds also show efficacy in some imatinib-resistant cell lines. We will discuss these results and our strategies for the second generation of compounds that are optimized for better activity, selectivity, and ADME properties.
The Racial Mundane: Asian American Performance and the Embodied Everyday by Ju Yon Kim

In The Racial Mundane: Asian American Performance and the Embodied Everyday, Ju Yon Kim provides an indispensable critical vocabulary for Asian American performance theory to grapple with quotidian...
The privacy paradox: how market privacy facilitates government surveillance

Although most surveillance studies scholars assume privacy is antithetical to surveillance, critics have recently warned that privacy-based criticisms may facilitate surveillance. That being said, ...
Fulfilling a Therapeutic Imperative in Cancer Treatment: Control of Multi-target Drug Impact

The causal heterogeneity and complexity of cancer have inspired drug developers to seek for multi-pronged strategies of therapeutic attack. Fuelled by systems biology insights, the burgeoning interest in multi-target drugs is motivating a reassessment of the therapeutic value of promiscuity. While drug efficacy may not correlate with specificity, it would be risky to take the opposite stance and welcome promiscuous compounds without a rational strategy to funnel their therapeutic impact. In this chapter we survey approaches to control the therapeutic impact of multi-target kinase inhibitors to fulfill the therapeutic imperatives of human cancer. Thus, we advocate for the application of the wrapping design concept to turn multi-target kinase inhibitors into clinical opportunities through judicious chemical modification.
Two-phase flow regimes of condensing R-134a at low mass flux in rectangular microchannels

Abstract Qualitative two-phase flow regime data are obtained from high-speed visualization of condensing flows of R-134a at mass fluxes from 75 to 150 kg m −2 s −1 and quality from 0.1 to 0.8 in square microchannels ( D H = 0.84 mm) cooled from a single side. Superheated R-134a is distributed into multiple parallel microchannels and then partially condensed, using a counterflow water loop, to the desired quality prior to the inlet of a visualization section. This experimental arrangement mitigates the potential for flow maldistribution. Despite very small heat duties, a low uncertainty in the quality in the visualization section is maintained by enforcing a large temperature difference on the water-side (Δ T > 10 K). For all conditions, annular or annular/wavy type flow were observed, with no distinct intermittent flow. Data are compared with flow macro and mini/microchannel maps, which are shown to over predict the occurrence of intermittent or wavy flow.
State Special Education Laws for Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavior Intervention Plans.

A comprehensive search identified 31 state statutes and regulations specific to functional behavioral assessments (FBA) and behavior intervention plans (BIP) in the special education context. A sys...
Relativity Before 1905

In 1905, Albert Einstein offered a revolutionary theory—special relativity—to explain some of the most troubling problems about electromagnetism and motion in the physics of the day. Soon afterwards, the mathematician Hermann Minkowski recast special relativity essentially as a new geometric structure for spacetime. The ideas of Einstein and Minkowski are the subject of the next two chapters; here we look at the physical questions that stimulated them, as well as partial solutions offered by others.
Changes of Fractional-Order Model Parameters in Biceps Tissue from Fatiguing Exercise

Electrical impedance measurements of biological tissues, also referred to as bio-impedance, quantify the passive electrical properties of these materials. To simplify the representation of multi-frequency bio-impedance measurements, equivalent circuit representations with fractional-order components are often employed, with the Cole-impedance model being one widely used equivalent circuit. In this work, bio-impedance measurements from 10 kHz to 100 kHz of 5 participants were collected from the biceps immediately pre- and post-execution of a fatiguing exercise protocol. The Cole-impedance parameters that best fit these datasets were determined using numerical optimization fitting routines. Comparing the pre- and post-fatigue measurements, both resistive and reactance components of the bio-impedance measurements are altered as a result of fatigue; with the most consistent trend being a decrease in the resistance components as a result of fatigue. Highlighting the suitability of using a fractional-order equivalent circuit model to represent tissues to track changes.
Diagnosis of acute and chronic renal failure.

This article presents a systematic approach—through history, physical examination, and laboratory findings—for the pursuit of the diagnosis of acute and chronic renal failure. These guidelines are based on the pathophysiology of the syndromes. In management, they serve the goal of staying the failure and regaining renal function.
Navigating Speed Bumps on the Innovation Highway in Hemophilia Therapeutics

The unprecedented emergence of novel therapeutics for both hemophilia A and B during the last half decade has been accompanied by the promise of even more extraordinary progress in ameliorative and curative strategies for both disorders. Paradoxically, the speed of innovation has created new dilemmas for persons with hemophilia and their physicians with respect to optimizing individual choices from the expanding menu of standard and novel therapies and approaches to symptom or risk reduction, and ultimately, to normalizing the hemophilia phenotype. Among the most disruptive new approaches, challenges remain in the form of the adverse reactions that have been observed with nonfactor therapies, as well as in the uncertain long-term safety profile of potentially curative gene therapy. Together, these challenges have generated uncertainty as to how to adopt novel therapies and treatment strategies across a diverse patient population, creating speed bumps on the hemophilia innovation highway. It is from this perspective that this article discusses the current state of gene therapy and bleeding prophylaxis for hemophilia A and B, as well as prevention and treatment of the factor VIII inhibitor phenotype in hemophilia A. It further posits that these speed bumps may provide important clues to the mechanistic understanding of both symptom manifestation and resilience within the hemophilia phenotype, as well as opportunities to reconsider and reconfigure the current paradigms for symptom prediction and individualized therapeutic decision making.