cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cytological and cytochemical studies on the frontal and pineal organs of the treefrog, Hyla regilla

1. The fine structure of photoreceptoral, neural, and supportive elements in the frontal and pineal organs (stirnorgan and epiphysis) of young larvae of the Pacific Treefrog, Hyla regilla, is described and figured with electron micrographs. Especially noteworthy is the variation in the outer segments of the photoreceptoral processes in both organs: e.g., linear arrangement of discs like that in rods and cones, whorls of membranes, and unpatterned disposition of tubules and cisternae. 2. The frontal and pineal organs of illuminated and dark-adapted tadpoles were studied for differences in ultrastructure and in PAS-positive material believed to be glycogen at least in part. The dark-adapted stirnorgan had a significantly greater amount of PAS-positive material and more cytoplasmic granules (glycogen ?) than the light-adapted frontal organ. Differences in the amount of PAS-positive material in the pineal and subcommissural organs of dark versus light-treated animals were not statistically significant. 3. Assay of 5-hydroxy and 5-methoxy indoles in frontal organs and in meninges (control tissue) of young tadpoles by spectrofluorometry provided no evidence that the stirnorgan contains melatonin or its precursors even in 100 pooled organs. 4. The functional significance of our findings is discussed. In the light of this and other studies we conclude that the stirnorgan is a photoreceptive organ and that the amphibian larval pineal organ is probably light-sensitive. What use the organism makes of the information transmitted by these organs via their neural tracts and possibly by secretory products is not yet evident.
A random-parameter hazard-based model to understand household evacuation timing behavior

The goal of this paper is to develop a random-parameter hazard-based model to understand hurricane evacuation timing by individual households. The choice of departure time during disasters is a complex dynamic process and depends on the risk that the hazard represents, the characteristics of the household and the built environment features. However, the risk responses are heterogeneous across the households; this unobserved heterogeneity is captured through random parameters in the model. The model is estimated with data from Hurricane Ivan including households from Alabama, Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi. It is found that the variables related to household location, destination characteristics, socio-economic characteristics, evacuation notice and household decision making are key determinants of the departure time. As such the developed model provides some fundamental inferences about hurricane evacuation timing behavior.
Current and Emerging Therapies in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Focus on Treprostinil

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a progressive disease process with a high morbidity and mortality. Until the advent of epoprostenol, a continuous prostacyclin infusion therapy, PAH was uniformly fatal but for those few who responded to calcium channel blockers. The development of PAH specific oral therapies including endothelin antagonists and phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors provide effective alternatives to intravenous epoprostenol for mild to moderately symptomatic persons. But while effective, a significant number of patients fail oral therapy and require combination oral therapy and progression to prostacyclins. While epoprostenol improves quality of life and average life span in PAH, a short 4 minute half life places patients at high risk for rapid decompensation with even short interruptions of the infusion. Additionally, epoprostenol requires a complicated delivery system including a large pump and an indwelling central line that carries risk of infection and sudden occlusion. The second prostanoid developed was treprostinil which has the advantage of a 4 hr half life, stability at room temperature, and the ability to be continuously administered subcutaneously with a small pump. Subsequently, treprostinil was demonstrated to be safe and effective given intravenously and by inhalation. We will review the pharmacokinetics, dosing, metabolism, and side effects of treprostinil in its various forms and overall place in the treatment of PAH.
Effect of bone morphogenetic protein signaling on development of the jaw skeleton.

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) regulate many aspects of development including skeletogenesis. Here, we examined the response of neural crest-derived cells to ectopic BMP signaling by infecting avian embryos with retroviruses encoding Bmp-2 or Bmp-4 at various times of development. Infection at stages 10 and 15 transformed large areas of the skull into cartilage by day 13. At this time cartilage condensations were still forming, which revealed the presence of uncommitted mesenchymal cells. By day 19, hypertrophic chondrocytes were present in the cartilage possibly due to changes in the perichondrium that relieved repression on hypertrophy. While these cells expressed Sox9, Collagen-2, Runx2, Ihh, Noggin, and Collagen-10, cartilage was not replaced by bone. Whether this is an intrinsic property of the skull cartilage, or results from sustained Bmp signaling is not known. Developmental Dynamics 237:3727–3737, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Comparing percutaneous tracheostomy with open surgical tracheostomy.

Tracheostomy is one of the most frequent surgical procedures carried out in critically ill patients.1 Traditionally, open surgical tracheostomy has been done by surgeons in the operating room, and in many institutions it remains that way. In the past 50 years, however, several methods of doing percutaneous tracheostomy at the bedside have been introduced. Some of these methods did not get far because of high complication rates. The most popular technique today is the percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy described by Ciaglia in 1985.2 This technique uses serial dilators over a guide wire and is usually done at the bedside in the intensive care unit under bronchoscopic guidance. Ciaglia later introduced a single tapered dilator to replace the serial dilators, further simplifying the technique. In experienced hands, percutaneous tracheostomy can be done in five to 10 minutes and will rarely require more than 15 minutes. The low cost of percutaneous tracheostomy initially was an important reason …
Re: Stages and Thresholds of Hemodynamic Failure

To the Editor: We appreciate the opportunity to address several of the comments made by Nemoto and his colleagues1 regarding our prior work. First, and most importantly, we would like to emphasize that measurements of oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) remain the most rigorously validated method for identifying stroke risk in patients with carotid occlusion.2 We must disagree with statements by Nemoto et al that OEF is not predictive of stroke risk. This conclusion is not valid, as it is based on erroneous interpretation of our data. Increased OEF is predictive of stroke risk . The St. Louis Carotid Occlusion Study (STLCOS) was a blinded, prospective study of cerebral hemodynamics and stroke risk in patients with complete occlusion of a carotid artery.3 In this study, we prospectively set as a threshold the outer limits …
Higgs scalar in heavy-vector-meson decays

For both UPSILON (9.5,b-barb) and T (t-bart), the decay into Higgs scalar plus photon is calculated, employing a triangle-diagram estimate for the dependence of this decay matrix element on the Higgs-scalar mass. This mass dependence gives a significant supression, but the decay should still be readily observable, if energetically allowed.
Stable Isotope Labeling of Phosphoproteins for Large-scale Phosphorylation Rate Determination

Signals that control responses to stimuli and cellular function are transmitted through the dynamic phosphorylation of thousands of proteins by protein kinases. Many techniques have been developed to study phosphorylation dynamics, including several mass spectrometry (MS)-based methods. Over the past few decades, substantial developments have been made in MS techniques for the large-scale identification of proteins and their post-translational modifications. Nevertheless, all of the current MS-based techniques for quantifying protein phosphorylation dynamics rely on the measurement of changes in peptide abundance levels, and many methods suffer from low confidence in phosphopeptide identification due to poor fragmentation. Here we have optimized an approach for the stable isotope labeling of amino acids by phosphate using [γ-18O4]ATP in nucleo to determine global site-specific phosphorylation rates. The advantages of this metabolic labeling technique are increased confidence in phosphorylated peptide identification, direct labeling of phosphorylation sites, measurement phosphorylation rates, and the identification of actively phosphorylated sites in a cell-like environment. In this study we calculated approximate rate constants for over 1,000 phosphorylation sites based on labeling progress curves. We measured a wide range of phosphorylation rate constants from 0.34 min−1 to 0.001 min−1. Finally, we applied stable isotope labeling of amino acids by phosphate to identify sites that have different phosphorylation kinetics during G1/S and M phase. We found that most sites had very similar phosphorylation rates under both conditions; however, a small subset of sites on proteins involved in the mitotic spindle were more actively phosphorylated during M phase, whereas proteins involved in DNA replication and transcription were more actively phosphorylated during G1/S phase. The data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD000680.
Network Equilibrium with Activity-Based Microsimulation Models: The New York Experience

Travel demand models and network simulation models are distinct sets of procedures that are combined and interact within the framework of regional transportation modeling systems. Conventional four-step models have numerous limitations compared with more advanced activity-based microsimulation models, primarily with respect to internal consistency and detailed behavioral realism. However, two of the remaining advantages of four-step models are an established theory and an effective set of practical rules for achieving global network equilibrium so that travel time and cost simulated in the networks exactly correspond to the demand (trip tables) generated by the model. Nonetheless, this issue remains less explored and somewhat obscure for activity-based models. These models have a more complicated analytical structure compared with four-step models, which makes it difficult to derive equilibrium conditions in a rigorous theoretical manner. In addition, implementation of an activity-based model requires mic...
Fuzzy algebraic field extensions

Abstract In this paper we introduce the concept of fuzzy algebraic field extensions. We determine conditions for which a fuzzy algebraic field extension has unique maximal fuzzy intermediate fields which are fuzzy separable algebraic and fuzzy purely inseparable.
Global autocorrelation scales of the partial pressure of oceanic CO2

A global database of approximately 1.7 million observations of the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in surface ocean waters (pCO2) collected between 1970 and 2003 is used to estimate its spatial autocorrelation structure. The patterns of the lag distance where the autocorrelation exceeds 0.8 is similar to patterns in the spatial distribution of the first baroclinic Rossby radius of deformation indicating that ocean circulation processes play a significant role in determining the spatial variability of pCO2. For example, the global maximum of the distance at which autocorrelations exceed 0.8 averages about 140 km in the equatorial Pacific. Also, the lag distance at which the autocorrelation exceed 0.8 is greater in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream than it is near the Kuroshio, approximately 50 km near the Gulf Stream as opposed to 20 km near the Kuroshio. Separate calculations for times when the sun is north and south of the equator revealed no obvious seasonal dependence of the spatial autocorrelation scales. The pCO2 measurements at Ocean Weather Station (OWS) 'P', in the eastern subarctic Pacific (50 N, 145 W) is the only fixed location where an uninterrupted time series of sufficient length exists to calculate a meaningful temporal autocorrelation function for lags greater than a few days. The estimated temporal autocorrelation function at OWS 'P', is highly variable. A spectral analysis of the longest four pCO2 time series indicates a high level of variability occurring over periods from the atmospheric synoptic to the maximum length of the time series, in this case 42 days. It is likely that a relative peak in variability with a period of 3-6 days is related to atmospheric synoptic period variability and ocean mixing events due to wind stirring. However, the short length of available time series makes identifying temporal relationships between pCO2 and atmospheric or ocean processes problematic.
Principles and Pitfalls: a Guide to Death Certification

Death certificates serve the critical functions of providing documentation for legal/administrative purposes and vital statistics for epidemiologic/health policy purposes. In order to satisfy these functions, it is important that death certificates be filled out completely, accurately, and promptly. The high error rate in death certification has been documented in multiple prior studies, as has the effectiveness of educational training interventions at mitigating errors. The following guide to death certification is intended to illustrate some basic principles and common pitfalls in electronic death registration with the goal of improving death certification accuracy.
Economic Reform and Growth in China

This paper surveys (1)the reasons for economic reform in China to be introduced in 1978, (2)the major components of economic reform, (3) the characteristics of the reform process, (4) why reform was successful, (5) the shortcomings of Chinai¯s economic institutions, (6) the factors contributing to rapid economic growth, and (7) the future prospects of further reform and growth, with important conclusions summarized in the last section concerning economic reform in general. Much of the material is drawn from the authori¯s book Chinai¯s Economic Transformation(Blackwell, 2002).
Cerebral blood flow pulsatility deficits in HIV+ poly substance abusers: differences associated with antiviral medications.

Abstract This study examines the influence of HIV-seropositivity and antiviral medications on cerebral blood flow in cocaine abusers. Forty-five HIV negative (HIV−) cocaine abusers, 36 HIV positive (HIV+) cocaine abusers (CD4; mean 378, ±229) and 27 control HIV− subjects were studied. Blood flow velocity and pulsatility were determined for the anterior and middle cerebral arteries using transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD). Psychological assessments, which included the psychiatric symptom checklist (SCL-90R), hopelessness (Beck) and well-being (Ellison) questionnaires revealed greater psychiatric distress in HIV+ cocaine abusers than the other groups. HIV− cocaine abusers and HIV+ cocaine abusers not receiving antiviral medications (n=25 of 36) had elevated pulsatility values, indicating increased resistance in the cerebral blood vessels in comparison to control subjects. HIV+ cocaine abusers using antiviral medications (n=11 of 36) had pulsatility values similar to HIV− control subjects. Interestingly, there was no significant relationship between intensity of psychiatric distress reported by HIV+ cocaine abusers and perfusion deficits. Our findings suggest that unmedicated HIV+ cocaine abusers have cerebrovascular deficits, which are similar to HIV− cocaine abusers. In addition, the use of antiviral medications appears to be associated with a reduction of these deficits in HIV+ cocaine abusers. Nevertheless, more studies will be needed before any conclusion can be reached regarding possible beneficial effects of these agents on the cerebral vasculature.
College Students' Perception of Lecturers Using Humor:

Humor use in an audio-taped lecture by a male or female professor was varied to produce versions with (a) no humor, (b) sexual humor, (c) other-disparaging humor, and (d) self-disparaging humor. After exposure to the lecture materials, male and female subjects' perception of the lecturer's intelligence and appeal was assessed. On measures of appeal, significant transverse interactions between sex of speaker and sex of respondent were obtained for both sexual and self-disparaging humor. Effects were in opposite directions, however, for these two types of humor. The use of self-disparaging humor led to higher ratings of appeal when speaker and respondent were of the same sex. In contrast, the use of sexual humor led to higher ratings of appeal when speaker and respondent were of opposite sex. The variations in humor had no appreciable effect on the perception of the lecturer's intelligence.
Spacecraft mission operations - lessons learned from automation

Automation could be used as a cost reduction or system improvement tool but all efforts must be made to ensure the health and safety of the spacecraft and the mission as a whole. Automation has saved the automotive industry millions of dollars and it can do the same to the spacecraft industry in this era of budget cuts. Manual ways of doing things should not be completely discarded. If possible, the various missions should try to develop a system, that would enable some of the controllers or operators to perform manual functions on the project periodically. Manual redundancies or overrides should be built into all automated processes. Airplanes have manual redundancies that are used in disengaging the auto-pilot when it malfunctions. Employees should be trained to handle both manual and automation processes just like pilots - who can fly an airplane on auto pilot and manually. Automation on older and/or existing missions should only be encouraged after a thorough risk and cost/benefits analysis has been done.
Genetic algorithms and instruction scheduling

Many difficulties are encountered when developing an instruction scheduler to produce efficacious code for multiple architectures. Heuristic-based methods were found to produce disappointing results; indeed the goals of validity and length compete. This lead to the introduction of another method to search the solution space of valid schedules: genetic algorithms. Their application to this domain proved fruitful.
Geomorphic controls on lacustrine isotopic compositions: Evidence from the Laney Member, Green River Formation, Wyoming

Oxygen isotope values from lacustrine carbonate in the Laney Member of the Green River Formation (Wyoming) exhibit a sudden, basinwide, ~6‰ upsection decrease in δ 18 O at ca. 49 Ma. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology constrains the duration of the isotopic shift to ≤~200,000 years. This change coincides with a sudden change in lake type, from balancedfi lled in the lower LaClede Bed to overfi lled in the upper LaClede Bed, as well as an increase in the proportion of calcitic (>80% calcite out of total carbonate by X-ray diffraction [XRD]) samples from 32% to 73%. The δ 18 O shift is correlatable through several locations across the Greater Green River Basin, and also coincides with a previously observed shift to less radiogenic 87
The Versatile Alkenylalanes and Alkenylboranes

The discoveries that alkenylalanes1 and alkenylboranes2 of predictable stereochemistry can be directly synthesized via the monohydroalumination and monohydroboration, respectively, of alkynes have opened a number of exciting new frontiers for chemical research. Of special importance have been the studies directed toward the utilization of these organometallics as intermediates in organic Synthesis. These efforts have resulted in the development of many new synthetic procedures of interest to the organic chemist.
DIFFERENTlAL REACTIVITY OF EXCITED SINGLETS AND TRIPLETS

Summary Experimental data from the oxygen quenching of excited states, from the acidities of excited states, and from the kinetics of photosynthesis indicate that the lowest excited singlet and the lowest triplet states of aromatic molecules may not have the same reactivity. The reasons for these differences may be connected with the energy deficit of triplets, with spin conservation rules, with differences in the nuclear geometry, or with differences in the electronic configuration or polarizability. With improved theoretical representations of excited states, the observed differences in reactivity may serve to increase our understanding of the nature of primary photochemical events.
Litigation costs and the underpricing of initial public offerings

This paper examines a risk-averse entrepreneur's motivation to underprice an initial public offering of equity where the entrepreneur faces the threat of litigation by outside investors. Outside investors have an incentive to seek compensation via tort law and the Securities Act of 1933 should the stock price fall subsequent to their purchase of the IPO. Potential litigation costs motivate the entrepreneur to underprice the IPO in a tradeoff between the litigation cost and the up-front opportunity loss of underpricing. In a single-period model, this paper formalizes the entrepreneur's pricing and retained ownership decisions resulting in ten testable hypotheses.
Inflammation-mediated dysfunction and apoptosis in pancreatic islet transplantation: implications for intrahepatic grafts

Recent advances in clinical protocols have improved the outcomes of pancreatic islet transplantation (PIT), yet PIT recipients typically require pancreatic islet grafts derived from multiple donors to achieve insulin independence. This along with experimental models of syngeneic PIT, showing that up to 60% of pancreatic islet tissue undergoes apoptosis within the first several days post-transplantation, strongly suggest the involvement of nonalloantigen-specific, inflammatory events in partial destruction of the graft following PIT. Interleukin-1beta appears to be among the most important inflammatory mediators, causing pancreatic islet dysfunction and apoptosis through the up-regulation of inducible nitric oxide (NO) synthase and cyclooxygenase-2. Kupffer cells secrete many molecules, including cytokines, NO, and free radicals, which are known to be directly toxic to the pancreatic islets, and depletion or inhibition of Kupffer cells improves outcomes following experimental PIT. Immediately after transplantation, the pancreatic islets are perfused only by portal vein blood until the process of angiogenesis restores arterial blood flow some 7-10 days later. This delayed vascularization may have implications for the expression of leukocyte adhesion molecules, the effects of free radicals, and the role of ischemia-reperfusion injury. Finally, in the immediate post-transplant period, hepatocytes may contribute to pancreatic islet injury through the production of NO. This paper reviews literature regarding the inflammatory events that follow PIT as well as the pathogenesis of diabetes and the pathophysiology of hepatic ischemia-reperfusion and their relation to the survival and function of intrahepatic pancreatic islet grafts.
Meeting land mobile spectrum requirements&#8212;An enigmatic task!

Subsequent to its decision in March of 1964 in Docket No. 11997 which retained the present eighty-two channel television allocation, the Federal Communications Commission has taken several actions and is actively considering a number of other proposals which, together or singly, show promise of affording varying degrees of spectrum relief for the burgeoning land mobile services. These actions, together with related studies of frequency occupancy and utilization undertaken by the Commission, are discussed.
Does Tetanus-Diphtheria-Acellular Pertussis Vaccination Interfere with Serodiagnosis of Pertussis Infection?

An anti-pertussis toxin (PT) IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was analytically validated for the diagnosis of pertussis at a cutoff of 94 ELISA units (EU)/ml. Little was known about the performance of this ELISA in the diagnosis of adults recently vaccinated with tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine, which contains PT. The goal of this study was to determine when the assay can be used following Tdap vaccination. A cohort of 102 asymptomatic health care personnel (HCP) vaccinated with Tdap (Adacel; Sanofi Pasteur) were aged 19 to 79 years (median, 47 years) at vaccination. For each HCP, specimens were available for evaluation at 2 to 10 time points (prevaccination to 24 months postvaccination), and geometric mean concentrations (GMC) for the cohort were calculated at each time point. Among 97 HCP who responded to vaccination, a mixed-model analysis with prediction and tolerance intervals was performed to estimate the time at which serodiagnosis can be used following vaccination. The GMCs were 8, 21, and 9 EU/ml at prevaccination and 4 and 12 months postvaccination, respectively. Eight (8%) of the 102 HCP reached antibody titers of ≥94 EU/ml during their peak response, but none had these titers by 6 months postvaccination. The calculated prediction and tolerance intervals were <94 EU/ml by 45 and 75 days postvaccination, respectively. Tdap vaccination 6 months prior to testing did not confound result interpretation. This seroassay remains a valuable diagnostic tool for adult pertussis.
Enhanced flow boiling in a microchannel with integration of nanowires

Abstract Convective heat transfer performance of a micro-channel with copper nanowires (CuNWs) coatings has been investigated experimentally. Experimental studies were carried out on a bottom surface heated single micro-channel of 672 μm hydraulic diameter using de-ionized (DI) water as coolant. Nanowires were directly grown on the bottom surface of the micro-channel using electrochemical deposition technique. Both single-phase and two-phase convective heat transfer experiments were performed at different mass flux and different degree of sub-cooling. The results from microchannel with bare surface are used as the baseline data. CuNWs coatings have been found to enhance single-phase heat transfer rate by up to ∼25%, whereas in the flow boiling regime, the enhancement was up to ∼56% with a pressure drop increase by ∼20% in the single-phase regime. The obvious change of pressure drop in the fully developed boiling regime was not observed.
The Role of Race/Ethnicity and Race Relations on Public Opinion Related to the Treatment of Blacks by the Police

Previous research has identified strong effects of race on the evaluations of police performance. This research expands on past research by investigating public opinion related to Black treatment by the police. Recent Gallup poll data were examined to determine whether race and ethnicity influenced citizens' views on the treatment of Blacks in comparison to Whites by the police. In addition, the authors examined whether race relations affected citizens' views on the treatment of Blacks by the police. On both fronts, support was found for the influence of these factors. Demographic variables such as age, gender, education, employment status, region, and political ideology were also significantly related to public opinion regarding the perceived treatment of Blacks by the police. After contextualizing these results, the authors discuss the implication of the findings.
Insect thin films as solar collectors.

A numerical method for simulation of microscale radiation effects in insect thin-film structures is described. Accounting for solar beam and diffuse radiation, the model calculates the reflectivity and emissivity of such structures. A case study examines microscale radiation effects in butterfuly wings, and results reveal a new function of these multilayer thin films: thermal regulation. For film thicknesses of the order of 0.10 μm, solar absorption levels vary by as much as 25% with small changes in film thickness; for certain existing structures, absorption levels reach 96%., This is attributed to the spectral distribution of the reflected radiation, which consists of a singular reflectance peak within the solar spectrum.
Integrated GPS and UWB navigation system: (motivates the necessity of non-interference)

We compare the positioning performance of GPS and DGPS to that of GPS/DGPS integrated with non-interfering UWB transponders. Simulations of a simple test case predict 15% horizontal accuracy improvement of GPS+UWB over stand-alone GPS and 25% improvement of DGPS+UWB over pure DGPS.
The surgical approach to the lateral nasal gland. A new method for studying the canine thermoregulatory response.

Abstract The lateral nasal gland is surgically accessible, its duct readily cannulated and its secretory output can be easily collected, thus providing a means of monitoring the thermoregulatory response of the dog to either varying environmental conditions, or to change that is due to internal and pharmacological manipulations.
On the structural complexity of multi-agent robot formations

We present a complexity measure for studying the structural complexity of multi-agent robot formations. We base this measure on the total information flow in the system, which is due to sensory perception and communication among agents. We show that from an information theoretic point of view, perception and communication are fundamentally the same. We show how the information flows depends on different protocols and that the broadcast protocol corresponds to the worst-case complexity for a given formation.
Actin in Pollen and Pollen Tubes

Flowering plants rely on the highly polarized process of pollen tube growth for delivery of the sperm cells and thus for sexual reproduction. Although it has long been known that the actin cytoskeleton is necessary for pollen grain germination and tube growth, the precise structure of the actin arrays and their regulation by actin-associated proteins is only starting to be uncovered. Long, axially-oriented bundles of actin are abundant in the shank of pollen tubes but absent in their apices. These bundles function as tracks for the myosindependent cytoplasmic streaming that transports organelles and secretory vesicles in a bi-directional, reverse-fountain pattern. Exocytosis of the vesicles, which is required for cell growth, is restricted to the apex of the pollen tube. To understand these growth-dependent motile processes, actin as well as many actin-binding proteins, are being isolated from pollen and characterized both in vitro and in vivo. Spatial modulation of the actin cytoskeleton may be governed in part by calcium, protons and small GTPases, which are asymmetrically distributed. Understanding how the actin cytoskeleton interacts with these different factors helps us explain the molecular basis of polarized pollen tube growth.
Origin of the 30–60 Day Oscillation in the LOD and Atmospheric Angular Momentum: New Findings from the UCLA General Circulation Model

Significant 30-60 day oscillations have been detected in both length-of-day (LOD) and atmospheric angular momentum (AAM) data sets. This study examines AAM fluctuations arising in a numerical simulation of the global atmosphere, performed with the UCLA General Circulation Model. A strong 30–60 day AAM (zonal wind) oscillation is found in the NH extratropics of the model, associated with periodic blocking over the northeast Pacific and Atlantic oceans. A coupled, zonally-symmetric mass redistribution leads to coherent fluctuations in the atmosphere’s moment of inertia. No intraseasonal oscillations are found in an experiment with surface elevations set to zero, suggesting an orographic origin of the extratropical 30–60 day AAM oscillation.
The Vulnerable Patient: Providing a Lens Into the Interconnected Diseases of the Heart and Brain.

![Figure][1] Many philosophers have explored the interconnectedness between the brain and the heart; yet, technological advances in imaging, increased physiological understanding, and a greater appreciation of optimal medical therapy have allowed cardiovascular researchers and clinicians to
The Leadership Enigma is more than Semantics

The debate has long raged about the relative merits of leadership, management, and administration. This article does not advance the study of any of these terms, but questions the utility of valuin...
Intermittent severe hypoxia induces plasticity within serotonergic and catecholaminergic neurons in the neonatal rat ventrolateral medulla

Brain stem serotonin (5-HT) contributes to autoresuscitation during intermittent severe hypoxia (IsH). We demonstrate that 5-HT deficiency is associated with a greater, IsH-induced increase in Fos-...
Networked Online Auctions: Agent Behavior and Strategic Gain

We consider a network of overlapping auctions and quantify the impact of overlap on agent behavior. Eliminating spatial and temporal constraints to connect physically apart customers, eauction mechanism has become one of the key components in current e-commerce system. One interesting aspect is that often there are multiple timely-overlapping mechanisms which form a network of information transfer. Since the signals revealed from an auction can influence the strategic space of users in the other ongoing auctions, it is crucial to view the market as a network in which overall interactions of mechanisms determine the global equilibrium. We present a taxonomic analysis on heterogeneous bidder behavior in a networked e-auction market. We classify the bidders’ participation and bidding strategy at individual mechanism level and at the market level. The outcomes of different strategies are compared in terms of the likelihood of winning and the relative surplus. We observe the outcome heavily relies on user strategies. We also examine whether heterogeneous mechanism formats having different winner/price determination rules influence bidder entry decision.
System Identification of a COTS Autopilot System Using Flight Test Data

This paper describes the process of analyzing flight test data gathered using a commercially off-the-shelf autopilot system for design an outer loop autolanding controller. The autopilot was installed on a 1/3 scale Yak-54 UAV. Five different autonomous flights were conducted in Fort Riley, Kansas and flight test data were recorded for system identification purposes. Transfer functions were estimated for both the Vx and Vz components using the MATLAB system identification toolbox.
Prostaglandins and Renin Release from Submaxillary Glands in Vitro

The present studies were undertaken to investigate the effect of prostaglandins (PGs) on renin release from the submaxillary glands of mice. Pooled mouse submaxillary gland slices were incubated in Krebs-Henseleit buffer solution following a preincubation period, and renin release was measured by a radioimmunoassay for the direct measurement of submaxillary gland renin. Arachidonic acid (AA) significantly stimulated renin release at 10, 20, and 30 min of incubation. These increases of renin release were abolished by the presence of indomethacin. The synthetic prostaglandin endoperoxide analogue (EPA) strongly stimulated renin release at 10, 20, and 30 min of incubation. However, at a higher concentration the stimulating effect of EPA virtually disappeared. PGI2 caused the highest increase of renin release at 10 and 20 min of incubation. At higher concentrations the effect of PGI2 on renin release was drastically reduced, although it was still statistically significant. PGE2 and PGF2 alpha also exerted a significant increase in renin release; however, the extent of this effect was much less than that of EPA and PGI2. Other prostaglandins such as PGE1, PGA2, PGD2, PGF1 alpha, and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha were found to have no significant effect on renin release. These results suggest that the prostaglandin system directly affects renin release from submaxillary gland independent of systemic hemodynamic and neurogenic influences.
Seizure-Alerting Dogs in Epilepsy Management

Families of all children (1 to 18 years old) followed at the Refractory Epilepsy Clinic, Alberta Children’s Hospital, Canada, were surveyed and those who had a dog for at least one year while having at least 1 seizure/month were selected and questioned regarding seizure-related behaviors.
Archaeological Monitoring of a Sidewalk Construction Project in Landa Park, New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas

In February 1996, the Center for Archaeological Research of The University of Texas at San Antonio conducted monitoring for the construction of a handicap ramp in Landa Park, New Braunfels, Comal County, Texas. The work-required by the Texas Historic Commission-was performed under contract with the city of New Braunfels Parks and Recreation Department. The excavation of the footings for the handicap ramp covered an area roughly 2 x 5 m and was less than 70 cm in depth. Over 2,600 prehistoric artifacts were uncovered including bone, fIre-cracked rock, mussel shell, numerous platform and nonplatform flakes, cores, unifaces, several bifaces, and diagnostic projectile points. The diagnostic artifacts included Gower, Uvalde, Frio, Ellis, and Marcos projectile points as well as a Clear Fork biface and two Guadalupe bifaces. These diagnostics indicate at least three temporal assignments ranging from the Early Archaic to the Late Transitional Archaic periods. The artifacts were found in good archaeological and geological contexts despite the fact that the project area was in the midst of a heavily developed recreation area. The site has been assigned trinomial 41CM221.
A Cosmopolitan Journey?: Difference, Distinction and Identity Work in Gap Year Travel

In A Cosmopolitan Journey? Snee addresses the question of whether gap years promote cultural acceptance or if they merely allow privileged young people the opportunity to feel good about traveling ...
Central Bankers Read Election Returns, Not Balance Sheets

The financial crisis that began in 2007 has led to ad hoc actions to ‘save the banks’ in the United States, Britain, Ireland, and Iceland. The policy judgment has been that if the loan losses of the banks were much larger than their capital and they were closed with losses to the depositors, the economies would encounter massive deflationary pressures as the money supplies declined and as households and business firms became more cautious spenders. The governments felt the need to supply capital to banks to ensure that depositors would not take a ‘haircut.’ The provision of the capital was ad hoc, and then the policy makers realized that a new problem had developed as a result of partial government ownership of the banks.
Political Structure and System and the Notion of Logical Completeness

The purpose of this note is to provide a technique which may be used to define the concepts of political structure and political system. As suggested by Almond [1], such definitions should be capable of distinguishing between those political elements which may be common to all societies and those which are particular to each. Indeed, the point of view taken here will be essentially to think of the former as comprising the political structure and the latter as determining the particular political system within that structure. This distinction will permit more rigorous and formal definitions than those already familiar to political scientists.2 It will also provide tests for determining the logical completeness of models and suggest a way of organizing future research.
The V in MVPA: Vigorous Physical Activity in Physical Education

In recent years, there has been an increase in the popularity of high-intensity exercise programs and physical activities such as CrossFit, Spartan races, and P90X. This article discusses whether such activities have a place in middle and high school physical education, and how they could be safely and appropriately incorporated.
Echocardiographic detection of left ventricular thrombus in patients undergoing HeartMate II left ventricular assist device implantation.

Purpose Transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiograms (TEE) are considered accurate in detecting the presence of left ventricular (LV) thrombus. A persistent LV thrombus poses risks of pump thrombosis and stroke in LVAD recipients. The relationship between preoperative echocardiography and intraoperative findings at LVAD implantation has not previously been studied. Methods A retrospective review examined all patients undergoing LVAD placement or exchange from October 2011 to March 2014. Preoperative TTE and TEE data were validated with presence of LV thrombus during the direct inspection at the time of LVAD placement, and the findings were analyzed quantitatively. Results Between October 2011 and March 2014, 99 patients underwent a total of 107 LVAD implants. Preoperative TTE was available in 93 (86.9%) cases, while preoperative TEE was available in 37 cases (34.6%). On preoperative TTE, LV thrombus was correctly identified in only two cases, while on preoperative TEE no cases of LV thrombus were identified correctly, and there were 2 false positive reports. Intraoperative inspection revealed presence of LV thrombus in 14 cases. The sensitivity of preoperative TTE was 16.7% and the specificity 100% in detecting LVT, compared to 0% and 93.8%, respectively, for TEE. Conclusions Preoperative echocardiogram offers low accuracy for presence of LV thrombus. Overall, the sensitivity is too low to reliably exclude thrombus. This could have significant implications in planning off-pump LVAD exchange as thrombus could be missed. More data are necessary to determine whether this could have significant effects on thromboembolic complications and survival.
Organ System Involvement and Mortality In Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease

Background Acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) is a significant source of morbidity and mortality following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). aGVHD targets the skin, gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and liver resulting in three key clinical features: skin rash, serum bilirubin elevation, and diarrhea. The primary objective was to identify the incidence of GI tract and liver involvement in patients with cutaneous aGVHD, and to compare mortality between skin-limited and extra-cutaneous disease. Methods A retrospective medical record review was performed to collect data from patients who underwent allogeneic HSCT at a large, urban, NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center over a 24 month period (2010-2011). All patients diagnosed with cutaneous aGVHD by the primary transplant team or the dermatology consult service were analyzed. Data collected included timing of skin eruption relative to transplant, aGVHD symptoms, method of diagnosis of aGVHD of the GI tract and/or liver, and patient one-year post-transplant mortality. Results 137 patients received an allogeneic HSCT during 2010-2011. 45% (62/137) of these patients were diagnosed with cutaneous aGVHD. The mean onset of rash was day + 47 (range + 6 to +153). aGVHD was limited to the skin in 42% (26/62) of patients, and 58% (36/62) had cutaneous + GI tract and/or liver aGVHD. Of patients with aGVHD, 26% (16/62) had cutaneous + GI tract involvement, 6% (4/62) had cutaneous + liver involvement, and 26% (16/62) had cutaneous + GI tract + liver involvement. Of the 62 aGVHD patients, 39 received a myeloablative transplant (63%) and 23 received a non-myeloablative transplant (37%). The incidence of skin-limited aGVHD in patients receiving myeloablative HSCT was 33% (13/39), as compared to an incidence of 57% (13/23) in patients receiving non-myeloablative HSCT. Extra-cutaneous disease occurred in 67% (26/39) of patients receiving myeloablative HSCT compared to 43% (10/23) of patients receiving non-myeloablative HSCT. All-cause, one-year post-transplant mortality in patients with cutaneous aGVHD was 52% (32/62). Mortality was highest in the subgroup of patients with cutaneous + liver involvement (75%), followed by cutaneous + GI tract + liver involvement (56%), cutaneous involvement only (39%), and cutaneous + GI tract involvement (31%). There was no statistically significant difference in mortality between those with aGVHD limited to the skin as compared to those with skin + GI tract and/or liver disease (39% vs 44%; p=0.64). Conclusion In this study, cutaneous aGVHD presented more frequently with concurrent skin and extra-cutaneous disease compared to those who had skin-limited disease, and 26% (16/62) had involvement of all three organs. There was little difference in mortality between patients with aGVHD limited to the skin compared to patients with skin + GI tract and/or liver aGVHD. Disclosures: Mehta: Celgene: Speakers Bureau; Millennium: Speakers Bureau. Cotliar: Therakos: Honoraria; BMS Oncology: Honoraria.
The Role of Visual-Spatial Abilities in Dyslexia: Age Differences in Children’s Reading?

Reading is a highly complex process in which integrative neurocognitive functions are required. Visual-spatial abilities play a pivotal role because of the multi-faceted visual sensory processing involved in reading. Several studies show that children with developmental dyslexia (DD) fail to develop effective visual strategies and that some reading difficulties are linked to visual-spatial deficits. However, the relationship between visual-spatial skills and reading abilities is still a controversial issue. Crucially, the role that age plays has not been investigated in depth in this population, and it is still not clear if visual-spatial abilities differ across educational stages in DD. The aim of the present study was to investigate visual-spatial abilities in children with DD and in age-matched normal readers (NR) according to different educational stages: in children attending primary school and in children and adolescents attending secondary school. Moreover, in order to verify whether visual-spatial measures could predict reading performance, a regression analysis has been performed in younger and older children. The results showed that younger children with DD performed significantly worse than NR in a mental rotation task, a more-local visual-spatial task, a more-global visual-perceptual task and a visual-motor integration task. However, older children with DD showed deficits in the more-global visual-perceptual task, in a mental rotation task and in a visual attention task. In younger children, the regression analysis documented that reading abilities are predicted by the visual-motor integration task, while in older children only the more-global visual-perceptual task predicted reading performances. Present findings showed that visual-spatial deficits in children with DD were age-dependent and that visual-spatial abilities engaged in reading varied across different educational stages. In order to better understand their potential role in affecting reading, a comprehensive description and a multi-componential evaluation of visual-spatial abilities is needed with children with DD.
Determining organic compound ratios in soils and vegetation of the Holy Cross Mts, Poland

The objectives of this investigation in the Holy Cross Mountain region of Poland were (1) to establish organic-concentration baselines, and (2) (if possible) to determine spatial distribution pattern of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons in topsoil. These objections were accomplished using an unbalanced, nested analysis-of-variance (ANOVA) barbell sampling design. Samples of topsoil (horizon A), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestrisL.) needles and lichen thalii Hypogymnia physodes(L.) Nyl. were collected for polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinatedbiphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides and phenols. Of these four organic groups, PAHs was detected in topsoil of nearly all investigation sites. Their total content ranged from 4.43 to 1905.83 gk g 1 , exceeding at some places that assessed for unpolluted cultivated soils of Poland. The results of organic compound determinations performed on soils and vegetation from the Holy Cross Mountain region showed that some concentrations of compounds were elevated probably due to air pollution. Nonetheless, some portions of them, especially phenols, might have been products of metabolic activity. Topsoil, Scots pine and partly lichens of Eysica Mt. revealed the highest concentrations of PAHs, PCBs and organochlorine pesticides. The content of PCBs in lichens of the study region was somewhat higher than in Lapland.