cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Light sheet microscopy reveals more gradual light attenuation in light-green versus dark-green soybean leaves

Light wavelengths preferentially absorbed by chlorophyll (chl) often display steep absorption gradients. This over-saturates photosynthesis in upper chloroplasts and deprives lower chloroplasts of blue and red light. Reducing chl content could create a more even leaf light distribution and thereby increase leaf light-use efficiency and overall canopy photosynthesis. This was tested on soybean cultivar 'Clark' (WT) and a near-isogenic chl b deficient mutant, Y11y11, grown in controlled environment chambers and in the field. Light attenuation was quantified using a novel approach involving light sheet microscopy. Leaf adaxial and abaxial surfaces were illuminated separately with blue, red, and green wavelengths, and chl fluorescence was detected orthogonally to the illumination plane. Relative fluorescence was significantly greater in deeper layers of the Y11y11 mesophyll than in WT, with the greatest differences in blue, then red, and finally green light when illuminated from the adaxial surface. Modeled relative photosynthesis based on chlorophyll profiles and Beer's Law predicted less steep gradients in mutant relative photosynthesis rates compared to WT. Although photosynthetic light-use efficiency was greater in the field-grown mutant with ~50% lower chl, light-use efficiency was lower in the mutant when grown in chambers where chl was ~80% reduced. This difference is probably due to pleiotropic effects of the mutation that accompany very severe reductions in chlorophyll and may warrant further testing in other low-chl lines.
Re-fusing form in genre study

Current theories of genre based in action neglect form. While recognizing that genre study needed to reject earlier formalism, this chapter argues that genre necessarily encompasses form as part of the fusion of form, substance, and action and should be re-examined as contextualized form. Neither Carolyn Miller nor Mikhail Bakhtin, seminal genre theorists, rejected form but rather rejected formalism. Form in this chapter is defined as the visible results and notable absences of language-use in generic contexts, A contextualized treatment of generic form embeds form into its individual, social, and cultural contexts; recognizes generic form as variable individually, synchronically, and diachronically; balances treatment of generic forms as both unique and shared; and views generic forms as inter-genre-al, interacting with other genres.
KWESTIA RELIGII I LITERATURY: NARZECZENI I RECEPCJA KATOLICYZMU MANZONIEGO

The essay examines the phenomenon of negative reception of religious thematics in the field of Comparative Literature in the US and the difficulties in interpreting I promessi sposi as a reflection on human accountability and its relationship to the idea of theodicy, both in American and Italian academe. Particular attention is paid to the problem of methodological and practical introduction of religion into the dyadic system of interdisciplinary studies in Comparative Literature.
Das Erzählen von Geschichte als Wechselwirkung zwischen vergangenem Stoff und gegenwärtigem Autor

Wenn Doblin das Erzahlen als eine Art des Handelns betrachtet und Handeln fur ihn kein Subjekt-Objekt-Verhaltnis, sondern gegenseitige Einwirkung ist, dann heist das, das sich auch die Erzahlung nicht als Objekt von ihrem Subjekt, dem Erzahler, trennen last.
Mediated Nationalisms and ‘Islamic Terror’: The Articulation of Religious and Postcolonial Secular Nationalisms in India

Drawing on Mahmood Mamdani’s analysis of the ‘good Muslim-bad Muslim’ dichotomy within American political and cultural discourse, this article analyses Hindu nationalists’ violent campaigns against India’s Muslim minority through a discussion of the reportage of two significant instances of this violence in Indian English-language newspapers. To explain the contradictory responses of the Indian press to these instances, the article argues that the prevalent liberal consensus of Indian nationalism, of which the press is a part, is responsible for the ambiguity that characterises mainstream responses to majoritarian violence against Muslims.
Quantitative analysis of trace levels of surface contamination by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Part I: Statistical uncertainty near the detection limit

We discuss the problem of quantifying common sources of statistical uncertainties for analyses of trace levels of surface contamination using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We examine the propagation of error for peak-area measurements using common forms of linear and polynomial background subtraction including the correlation of points used to determine both background and peak areas. This correlation has been neglected in previous analyses, but we show that it contributes significantly to the peak-area uncertainty near the detection limit. We introduce the concept of relative background subtraction variance (RBSV) which quantifies the uncertainty introduced by the method of background determination relative to the uncertainty of the background area itself. The uncertainties of the peak area and atomic concentration and of the detection limit are expressed using the RBSV, which separates the contributions from the acquisition parameters, the background-determination method, and the properties of the measured spectrum. These results are then combined to find acquisition strategies that minimize the total measurement time needed to achieve a desired detection limit or atomic-percentage uncertainty for a particular trace element. Minimization of data-acquisition time is important for samples that are sensitive to x-ray dose and also for laboratories that need to optimize throughput.
Esther Miriam Zimmer Lederberg: Pioneer in Microbial Genetics

Esther Miriam Zimmer Lederberg (1922–2006) was an American microbiologist who did pioneering work with all of the ways bacteria transfer genetic information. She discovered bacteriophage λ in Escherichia coli and with Joshua Lederberg first observed transduction. She characterized Neurospora mutants to expand Beadle and Tatum’s “one gene, one protein” research, participated in early experiments in E. coli conjugation in the Lederberg lab at University of Wisconsin, and later worked on transformation of Salmonella with plasmid DNA at Stanford University. The 1958 Nobel Prize was awarded to Joshua Lederberg, George Wells Beadle, and Edward Lawrie Tatum, and the Lederbergs subsequently moved to Stanford, where Joshua became chair of the Department of Genetics and Esther an untenured researcher in the Department of Medical Microbiology. They divorced in 1966. Esther stayed at Stanford but was never tenured; she became director of the Plasmid Reference Center (PRC) in 1976, organizing registration of the world’s plasmids, transposons, and insertion sequences. Officially retiring from Stanford in 1985, she continued at the PRC through 1986. Esther enjoyed performing early music and was a founder of the Mid Peninsular Recorder Orchestra. In 1989, she met Matthew Simon, an engineer newly arrived at Stanford; drawn together by shared interests in early music, botany, and literature, they married in 1993 and were together for the rest of her life. Esther will be remembered as a creative and meticulous experimentalist who was an active participant in creating the science of molecular biology, and as someone who continued to advance science through kindness and generosity in helping others.
The Spectacle of Suffering, Transnational Witnessing, and Solidarity

The post-cold war era presents cases of spectacular suffering beamed into the homes of the audience, awakening concern, and demanding intervention in places such as Somalia. Due to advances in mass media technology, such as satellite communications and cable news networks, this wave of globalization brought victims of war and famine to primetime television. As audiences shared emotional experiences through the graphic coverage of atrocity, civil society began to cry out for a humanitarian response. However, while new visual media provide venues for snapshots and highlight reels, coherent plotlines are more difficult to articulate. Spectacular television coverage of human suffering provokes profound reactions from the audience but does not translate these expressions into sustained political responses.
Interdisciplinarity: Potentials and Challenges

Interdisciplinarity, as a concept and practice, is reviewed and related to a recent article (Romm, 1998) in this journal. Authors advocating interdisciplinarity for social research and problem solving seem to have diverse, if often largely implicit, epistemological, and other assumptions informing their proposals. Romm (1998) develops and advocates a critical and reflexive orientation for tying interdisciplinarity to action research and related endeavors. For some academicians, however, interdisciplinarity appears to be considered a relatively unproblematic pursuit of merely selecting appropriate methods. Significant issues and questions concerning interdisciplinary pursuits, particularly in academic settings, exist and are briefly explored, based on the experiences and perceptions of the author. Basic structures and processes found in fields such as action research/science and management systems often seem neglected and very much needed for interdisciplinary inquiry and knowledge construction.
Obscuring effect of coding developmental disability as the underlying cause of death on mortality trends for adults with developmental disability: a cross-sectional study using US Mortality Data from 2012 to 2016

Objective To determine whether coding a developmental disability as the underlying cause of death obscures mortality trends of adults with developmental disability. Design National Vital Statistics System 2012–2016 US Multiple Cause-of-Death Mortality files. Setting USA. Participants Adults with a developmental disability indicated on their death certificate aged 18 through 103 at the time of death. The study population included 33 154 adults who died between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2016. Primary outcome and measures Decedents with a developmental disability coded as the underlying cause of death on the death certificate were identified using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision code for intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome or other developmental disability. Death certificates that coded a developmental disability as the underlying cause of death were revised using a sequential underlying cause of death revision process. Results There were 33 154 decedents with developmental disability: 7901 with intellectual disability, 11 895 with cerebral palsy, 9114 with Down syndrome, 2479 with other developmental disabilities and 1765 with multiple developmental disabilities. Among all decedents, 48.5% had a developmental disability coded as the underlying cause of death, obscuring higher rates of choking deaths among all decedents and dementia and Alzheimer’s disease among decedents with Down syndrome. Conclusion Death certificates that recorded the developmental disability in Part I of the death certificate were more likely to code disability as the underlying cause of death. While revising these death certificates provides a short-term corrective to mortality trends for this population, the severity and extent of this problem warrants a long-term change involving more precise instructions to record developmental disabilities only in Part II of the death certificate.
Clinicopathological features of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma with a diameter less than or equal to 5 mm.

Abstract Purpose This retrospective study was conducted to assess the epidemiological, clinical and histologic characteristics of incidentally identified and presurgically diagnosed papillary thyroid microcarcinomas less than or equal to 5 mm in size (small PTMC). Materials and methods Cases from October 2003 to February 2018 were retrieved from pathology databases, and their clinicopathological features were reviewed. Results There were a total of 182 cases of small PTMCs, 141 women and 41 men. The mean age at diagnosis was 53.5. Most of the small PTMCs were not detected on clinical examination and workup and were diagnosed incidentally during pathologic examination. 21.4% of small PTMCs showed multifocality, with 21 cases of unilateral multifocal lesions and 18 cases with bilateral multifocal tumors. Small PTMCs were most often follicular variant (51.9%) followed by classic type (47.5%). The average size of follicular variants appeared to be larger than that of the classic type PTMCs (2.84 ± 1.43 mm vs 2.26 ± 1.51 mm, P = 0.01). A total of 66 cases (36.3%) had regional lymph node sampling or selective neck dissection and 15 of these cases identified lymph node metastasis (22.7%). 46.7% of patients with node positive microcarcinomas were male compared with 16% male in group with negative lymph nodes (P = 0.03). Conclusions Small PTMCs (≤5 mm) are often multifocal and bilateral and histology is commonly both the classical and follicular variant of PTC. While often diagnosed incidentally small PTMC can lead to regional lymph node involvement in a significant portion of cases and evaluation of the regional lymph nodes should be considered in the clinical management of these patients.
Determinants of Excess Inventory Announcement and Stock Market Reaction in the Retail Sector

In this paper, we empirically analyze the determinants of excess inventory announcement and the stock market reaction to the announcement in the US retail sector. We examine if the firm’s operational competence, as measured by total factor productivity (TFP), can explain the retailer’s excess inventory announcement. We also investigate if the stock market reaction to such announcements is conditional on the operational competence of the announcing firm. We use a combined dataset on excess inventory announcements, annual financial statements, and daily stock prices of publicly traded retailers in the USA between 1990 and 2011. We find that operationally competent retailers have a lower probability of announcing excess inventory in the following year. In addition, the stock market penalizes excess inventory announcements made by operationally competent retailers more severely than those made by their less competent peers. Finally, providing action information, which the firm has taken or plans to take to deal with the excess inventory, moderates the negative association between firm’s operational competence and abnormal returns due to the announcement, whereas we do not find such moderating effect with reason information.
A machine learning approach to predict surgical learning curves

Abstract Background Contemporary surgical training programs rely on the repetition of selected surgical motor tasks. Such methodology is inherently open ended with no control on the time taken to attain a set level of proficiency, given the trainees’ intrinsic differences in initial skill levels and learning abilities. Hence, an efficient training program should aim at tailoring the surgical training protocols to each trainee. In this regard, a predictive model using information from the initial learning stage to predict learning curve characteristics should facilitate the whole surgical training process. Methods This paper analyzes learning curve data to train a multivariate supervised machine learning model. One factor is extracted to define the trainees’ learning ability. An unsupervised machine learning model is also utilized for trainee classification. When established, the model can predict robustly the learning curve characteristics based on the first few trials. Results We show that the information present in the first 10 trials of surgical tasks can be utilized to predict the number of trials required to achieve proficiency ( R 2 = 0.72 ) and the final performance level ( R 2 = 0.89 ). Furthermore, only a single factor, learning index, is required to describe the learning process and to classify learners with unique learning characteristics. Conclusion Using machine learning models, we show, for the first time, that the first few trials contain sufficient information to predict learning curve characteristics and that a single factor can capture the complex learning behavior. Using such models holds the potential for personalization of training regimens, leading to greater efficiency and lower costs.
Efficacy of fluorescent calcein mark retention and identification in endangered Colorado pikeminnow Ptychocheilus lucius

Distinguishing hatchery‐reared fishes from wild conspecifics can be required to quantify the success of augmentation programmes. This study estimated the probability of identifying calcein‐marked, hatchery‐reared Colorado pikeminnow Ptychocheilus lucius Girard from external and internal structures. Both control and marked fish held in the laboratory were correctly identified 80% of the time after 300 days. A fluorometer was more accurate 180 days post‐marking, whereas visual observation was more discriminating at 300 days. There were no differences in detection rates among structures in laboratory fish, and for most structures of fish held outdoors, detection rates were <20%. Overall, a strong negative effect of light on mark persistence was observed. Also, an initial positive effect of fish size on mark fluorescence and a negative effect of fish growth were detected. These results suggest the potential use of calcein as a batch‐marking tool would be aided by future studies that better quantify light exposure and calcein mark persistence in both field and experimental settings.
Comparing attitudinal learning of large enrolment active learning and lecture classes

Students’ self-reported attitudinal learning were compared between two different large courses that incorporated attitudinal learning objectives at a Midwestern US public university- a course on en...
Changes in Mean Corpuscular Volume and RBC Distribution Width Predict Erythrocyte Engraftment Following ABO-Incompatible Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Objectives The purpose of this study was to identify laboratory parameters representing erythrocyte engraftment to be used as an indicator to change the recipient to donor ABO group and Rh type following an ABO-incompatible hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Studies have shown that ABO incompatibility does not have an effect on outcome of HSCT; however, the serologic consequences of these ABO-incompatible transplants can make it difficult to decide when to begin support with donor ABO/Rh-type blood products. Methods This study explored the use of RBC distribution width (RDW), mean corpuscular volume, and hemoglobin as regularly tested laboratory parameters that could be used as surrogate markers for RBC engraftment in 65 patients who received ABO/Rh-incompatible HSCT. Results The appearance of engrafted donor RBCs correlated with a peak in RDW (P = .002). In addition, our findings suggest that serologic changes in ABO/Rh appear to correspond with a peak in RDW (P = .002). Conclusions High values of RDW likely result from a substantial proportion of large, young erythrocytes from recent engraftment with smaller, older pretransplant erythrocytes from the recipient. Our findings suggest that peak RDW may be an indicator of erythrocyte engraftment, following an ABO/Rh-incompatible HSCT.
Occupational Therapy Interventions for Older Adults With Low Vision

Evidence Connection articles provide clinical application of systematic reviews developed in conjunction with the American Occupational Therapy Association's (AOTA's) Evidence-Based Practice Project. Findings from the systematic review of occupational therapy for older adults with low vision were published in the January/February 2020 issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy (AJOT) and in AOTA's Occupational Therapy Practice Guidelines for Older Adults With Low Vision, published in the March/April 2020 issue of AJOT. In this article, we describe a case report of an older adult with low vision who was referred to outpatient occupational therapy services because of a recent progression of her age-related macular degeneration that led to a decline in functional independence. Each article in the Evidence Connection series summarizes the evidence from the published reviews on a given topic and presents an application of the evidence to a related clinical case. These articles illustrate how the research evidence from the reviews can be used to inform and guide clinical decision making.
Are laparoscopic and open ventral hernia repairs truly comparable?: A propensity-matched study in large ventral hernias

The merits of laparoscopic (LVHR) and open preperitoneal ventral hernia repair (OPPVHR) have been debated for more than 2 decades. Our aim was to determine peri-operative and long-term outcomes in large hernias. A prospective, institutional database at a tertiary hernia center was queried for patients undergoing LVHR and OPPVHR. One-to-one propensity score matching was performed for hernia defect size and follow-up. Three hundred and fifty-two LVHR and OPPVHR patients were identified with defect sizes closely matched between laparoscopic (182.0 ± 110.0 cm2) and open repairs (178.3 ± 99.8 cm2), p = 0.64. LVHR and OPPVHR patients were comparable: mean age 57.2 ± 12.1 vs 56.6 ± 12.0 years (p = 0.52), BMI: 32.9 ± 6.6 vs 32.0 ± 7.4 kg/m2 (p = 0.16), diabetes 19.0% vs 19.7% (p = 0.87), and smoking history 8.7% vs 23.0% (p < 0.001), respectively. OPPVHR had higher number of recurrent hernias (14.2% vs 44.9%, p < 0.001), longer operative time (168.1 ± 64.3 vs 186.7 ± 67.7 min, p = 0.006), and more components separation (0% vs 20.3%, p < 0.001). Mean mesh size was larger (p < 0.001) in the open group (634.4 ± 243.4 cm2 vs 841.8 ± 277.6 cm2). The hernia recurrence rates were similar (10.8% vs 9.2%, p = 0.62), with average follow-up of 39.3 ± 32.5 vs 40.0 ± 35.0 months (p = 0.89). Length of stay was higher in the OVHR cohort (5.4 ± 3.0 vs 6.3 ± 3.6 days, p < 0.001), but 30-day readmission rates (4.0% vs 6.4%, p = 0.31) were similar. Overall wound infection rate (2.9% vs 8.4%, p = 0.03) was higher in the OPPVHR group, but the mesh infection rate was similar between LVHR (1.7%) and OPPVHR (0.6%) (p = 0.33). Postoperative pain (41.1% vs 41.4%, p = 0.95) and overall QOL based on the Carolinas Comfort Scale at 6 months (p = 0.73) and 5-years (p = 0.36) were similar. Laparoscopic and open preperitoneal repair for large ventral hernias have equivalent hernia recurrence rates, postoperative pain, and QOL on long-term follow-up. Patients undergoing OPPVHR were more likely to be recurrent, complex, require components separation, and more likely to develop postoperative wound complications.
Interfacial CO2-mediated nanoscale oil transport: from impediment to enhancement

CO2-based enhanced oil recovery is widely practiced. The current understanding of its mechanisms largely focuses on bulk phenomena such as achieving miscibility or reducing oil density and viscosity. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that CO2 adsorption on calcite surfaces impedes decane transport at moderate adsorption density but enhances decane transport when CO2 adsorption approaches surface saturation. These effects change the decane permeability through 8 nm-wide pores by up to 30% and become negligible only in pores wider than several tens of nanometers. The strongly nonlinear, non-monotonic dependence of decane permeability on CO2 adsorption is traced to CO2's modulation of interfacial structure of long-chain hydrocarbons, and thus the slippage between interfacial hydrocarbon layers and between interfacial CO2 and hydrocarbon layers. These results highlight a new and critical role of CO2-induced interfacial effects in influencing oil recovery from unconventional reservoirs, whose porosity is dominated by nanopores.
Flight Software Development, Migration, and Testing in Desktop and Embedded Environments

This paper investigates different strategies for end-to-end flight software development that support having both desktop and embedded environments while minimizing the existing gap between them, in...
Association of Vaccine Type and Prior SARS-CoV-2 Infection With Symptoms and Antibody Measurements Following Vaccination Among Health Care Workers.

This cohort study evaluates symptoms following vaccination and antibody measurements in hospital workers who received an mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and had prior SARS-CoV-2 infection.
On the relationships between digital brand evidence, relationship quality and behavioural intentions among online tourism agencies’ customers

This paper aims to propose and empirically validate a measure of brand evidence of Online Travel Agencies (OTA), representing all relevant brand associations that customers are doing when evaluating an online brand, and then investigate its effect in building strong consumer-brand relationships and creating favourable consumer behavioural intentions. To check the validity of the proposed model, a survey of 971 users of OTA platforms in Greece was conducted and data was analysed with PLS. Results fully support the validity of the proposed brand evidence index, as several OTA’s brand related associations that a customer develops, before and during service encounters, shape the index expressing brand evidence. Furthermore, the findings confirmed the significant effects of brand evidence on both brand relationships quality and consumer behavioural intentions towards the brand. The current research effort significantly contributes to the field of digital booking services, as it appears to be the first to measure digital brand evidence and investigate their role to strengthen consumer-brand relationships.
Implementing a graduate medical education anti-racism workshop at an academic university in the Southern USA

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the social justice movement in early 2020 awakened many Americans to the health disparities and health care inequities affecting Black communities. This heig...
Elicitation of Spatial Language to Support Cross-Cultural Geographic Information Systems

There exists a conceptual gap between the methods people naturally use to structure spatial relations and the functionality of user interfaces for geographic information systems to support these methods. Spatial cognitive methods may be inferred by eliciting subjects’ verbal description of “real world”, everyday spatial relations. The resulting collection of natural spatial language may then be used as a realistic goal in the GIS user interface design process, especially in query language formulation. Furthermore, because many potential GIS users are non-English speakers it is also helpful to survey the cross-cultural extent of spatial-linguistic terminology; to do so foreign subjects should be tested in their native environments. Verbal descriptions of geographic space may then be empirically compared to performance in executing simple geographical analyses using GIS-like testing software, or may directly support theories of spatial cognition. It is suggested that instead of teaching users to perform better using current GIS technology, we may support the design of more intuitive GISs by studying the way people naturally think about, and describe, geographic space. A summary of such a study, a related pilot study, and a methodological template for testing Spanish and English-speakers are each described here.
Animal Nutritional Balance

Nutritional requirements of the grazing animals should be given first consideration in planning a forage program. This chapter discusses forage–animal plans, which are combined forage and management practices directed to meeting the nutritional needs of ungulate herbivores in specific production phases or throughout a production cycle. A priority objective is to match forages with animal nutritional needs. A key principle in developing forage–livestock systems is to utilize advantageously the inherent differences among forages, in their pattern of seasonal production and nutritive levels. Forage plant species that can be maintained high in digestibility or that offer plant parts, particularly leaves, of high digestibility through selective grazing are good choices for animal responses requiring high-energy intake. Forage–livestock plans must be adapted to the changing nutritive requirements of animals as they move into different phases of production. The alternative to this is to change the livestock program to better coordinate with changes that naturally occur in forage quality. When samples for nutrient evaluation are taken from the forage stand being grazed, rather than from the actual ingesta, they must be representative of what the grazing animals are eating, rather than what is available to them.
Hunting for Origins

On the Origin of Phyla - The authors provide a thorough and critical review and synthesis of recent research on the origin of species, covering both plants and animals.
Abstract 20385: Pregnancy-Induced Cardiac Hypertrophy is Accompanied by Unique Contractile Properties Not Seen in Other Forms of Physiological Hypertrophy

Background: Cardiac hypertrophy accompanying pregnancy has generally been categorized as physiologic hypertrophy similar to that seen with exercise, however a reduction in cardiac function in late pregnancy has been suggested. Furthermore, the hemodynamic stress of pregnancy can induce a maladaptive, pathologic hypertrophy in a small number of women. This study seeks to characterize the contractile properties of late-pregnant myocardium. Methods and Results: Late Pregnancy (LP) Female Swiss-Webster mice were bred then studied at near term (Embryonic day 17-19) and compared to age-matched, non-pregnant (NP) controls. Individual cardiac myocytes were isolated using collagenase-based perfusion technique. Two-dimensional Surface Area measured in quiescent cells was elevated (p<.01) in LP myocytes (LPM) (3609± 132u2) vs NP myocytes (NPM) (2736± 88u2), and this increase was due to increases in both length (8.5%) and width (15.6%). Western Blot analysis showed a reduction in Ryanodine Receptor protein in LP, but...
Extended backward differentiation formulae in the numerical solution of general Volterra integro-differential equations

In this paper nonlinear Volterra integro-differential equations are considered with kernels of the formP(x,s,y(s)) andK(x,s,y(x),y(s)) and extended backward differentiation methods are applied as extended from their introduction for the solution of ordinary differential equations by Cash [4]. An error bound is obtained and a rate of convergence is found and validated by testing the method on some examples. The numerical results are compared with those obtained by applying standard backward differentiation and collocation methods.
Cytoplasmic structure and contractility in amoeboid cells.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the cytoplasmic structure and contractility in amoeboid cells. It describes a select group of cell types and the role of actin in both cytoskeletal and contractile events. Amoeboid movement has been defined mechanistically as cell movement occurring in one of two possible ways: by the use of pseudopodia or by cytoplasmic streaming. The amoeboid cells discussed in this chapter have been separated into three categories based on the nature and extent of changes in cytoplasmic structure and contractility during movement and not on any proposed mechanism of movement. The first category consists of cells exhibiting cyclic and extensive changes in cytoplasmic structure and contractility correlated with amoeboid-like movement. The second category consists of amoeboid cells in which filopodia and small lobopodia predominate and in which cyclic but more localized changes in cytoplasmic structure and possibly contractility occur. The third category of cells includes the various mammalian cells grown in culture and cells that exhibit cell sorting during embryogenesis.
Evaluating the Long-Term Health and Economic Impacts of Central Residential Air Filtration for Reducing Premature Mortality Associated with Indoor Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) of Outdoor Origin

Much of human exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) of outdoor origin occurs in residences. High-efficiency particle air filtration in central heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems is increasingly being used to reduce concentrations of particulate matter inside homes. However, questions remain about the effectiveness of filtration for reducing exposures to PM2.5 of outdoor origin and adverse health outcomes. Here we integrate epidemiology functions and mass balance modeling to estimate the long-term health and economic impacts of HVAC filtration for reducing premature mortality associated with indoor PM2.5 of outdoor origin in residences. We evaluate 11 classifications of filters (MERV 5 through HEPA) using six case studies of single-family home vintages and ventilation system combinations located in 22 U.S. cities. We estimate that widespread use of higher efficiency filters would reduce premature mortality by 0.002–2.5% and increase life expectancy by 0.02–1.6 months, yielding annual monetary benefits ranging from $1 to $1348 per person in the homes and locations modeled herein. Large differences in the magnitude of health and economic impacts are driven largely by differences in rated filter efficiency and building and ventilation system characteristics that govern particle infiltration and persistence, with smaller influences attributable to geographic location.
Bradykinin: potential for vascular constriction in the presence of endothelial injury

Bradykinin (BK), a known vasodilator in vivo, and arginine vasopressin (AVP), a vasoconstrictor in vivo, both stimulate a rise in cytosolic free Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC). The present study was undertaken to investigate this apparent paradox. The following three possibilities were examined, namely, 1) signaling events other than [Ca2+]i are different for BK and AVP; 2) BK, but not AVP, stimulates prostaglandins in VSMC, thus resulting in divergent effects on VSMC tone; and 3) AVP and BK exhibit qualitatively similar effects on VSMC signal transduction but divergent effects on VSMC tone are mediated by endothelial events. The results demonstrated that BK stimulated a rise in inositol trisphosphate (IP3), [Ca2+]i, 45Ca2+ efflux, and Ca2+ influx and a biphasic change in intracellular pH when N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethanesulfonic acid-buffered solution was used. The BK-induced VSMC contraction was also comparable to that observed with AVP. The cyclooxygenase inhibitor, mec...
Colorimetric Determination of Formaldehyde via Free Radical Formation

Abstract Aliphatic aldehydes react with 2,3‐dimethyl‐2,3‐bis‐(hydroxylamino)butane and sodium periodate to form colored free radicals. These radicals were stabilized with pyridine in aqueous solution. Low levels of formaldehyde in aqueous solutions were determined utilizing this reaction.
Angiotensinase with a high degree of specificity in plasma and red cells.

A peptidase with a high degree of specificity for angiotensin II occurs in normal human plasma and red cells. Preparations from both sources have the same pH optimum, require calcium ions, and hydrolyze valyl5- or isoleucyl5-angiotensin II, but do not hydrolyze β-aspartyl1-angiotensin II, arginyl1-angiotensin II or deaminoangiotensin II. This enzyme, given the name angiotensinase A, requires α-L-aspartic acid or α-L-asparagine as the N-terminal amino acid in its angiotensin substrate, and thus differs from kidney leucine aminopeptidase. Other peptidases known to hydrolyze angiotensin also hydrolyze at least one of the other angiotensin analogs with substitution in the one position.
Programmed cell death—II. Endocrine potentiation of the breakdown of the intersegmental muscles of silkmoths

Abstract The abdominal intersegmental muscles of saturniid pupae are well preserved during the entire pupal period and throughout the three weeks required for the development of the adult moth. Then, within 48 hr after the emergence of the moth, the muscles break down and disappear. The breakdown is a result of developmental reactions within the muscles themselves; their dissolution, in this sense, is a carefully timed, final episode in their own metamorphosis. Thus, the endocrine conditions obtaining at the onset of adult development (the presence of ecdysone and the absence of juvenile hormone) dictate both the formation of all adult structures, including muscles, and the eventual death of the intersegmental muscles. If juvenile hormone is injected, the breakdown does not occur in the intersegmental muscles or in any of the other tissues which are normally destroyed during the pupal-adult transformation. The final signal for the initiation of breakdown does not appear to be endocrine in character. Thus, when pairs of pupae were joined in parabiosis so that they shared the same blood, the breakdown of muscle in one individual did not hasten or retard the breakdown in the other individual. This finding points to some further signalling system which triggers the initiation of cell death in the endocrinologically potentiated muscles.
Schistosoma japonicum: Semiquantitative assessment of circulating immune complexes, serum Clq and C3, and their relationship to renal pathology and hepatic fibrosis in rabbits

Abstract Ten New Zealand white rabbits were infected either once or four times with variable numbers of Schistosoma japonicum cercariae. Four animals served as the uninfected controls. All rabbits were bled at semimonthly intervals. Serum samples were examined for circulating immune complexes using an [ 125 I]Clq assay, or for Clq and C3 levels by single radial immunodiffusion. Control and experimental animals were necropsied at 32–39 weeks postinfection, and the kidneys and livers were removed. Some kidney specimens were quick-frozen in isopentane-liquid nitrogen, cut with a cryostat, and examined by direct or indirect immunofluorescent techniques for immunoglobulin, complement (C3), or parasite antigen glomerular localization. Other kidney specimens were fixed in formalin, sectioned, stained with H&E or PAS, and examined for evidence of histopathology. Liver specimens were treated in a similar manner. Diffuse renal lesions appeared in only 2 of 10 rabbits in the present study. However, each of these two animals had prominent and persistent levels of circulating [ 125 I]Clq material (immune complex), and the animal with the highest concentration of immune complex had the most severe nephropathologic changes. C3 levels were consistently depressed in the animal with severe renal pathology but were elevated in all other animals at some point in the infection. Circulating immune complex and serum C3 and Clq values moved in concert for most of the infected rabbits with the principal exception being the animals with diffuse renal lesions. It is of considerable interest and potential etiological significance that the four rabbits with the highest levels of circulating immune complex had the most extensive hepatic fibrosis.
Locating an undesirable facility with a minimax criterion

Abstract The problem considered in this paper involves the location of an undesirable facility such that the maximum weighted inverse square distance from the facility to n given points is minimized. The region in which the facility is to be located is bounded and contains the n points with which the facility to be located will interact. Applications can include siting an undesirable facility that produces some form of pollutant such as radiation, noise and some gases. Any problem that involves the location of a facility that emits pollutants whose concentrations follow the inverse square law is a candidate for the use of this work. A mathematical programming algorithm is developed for the situation in which the location problem involves a convex polygonal region. An interactive computer graphics approach is described for the case when the location problem involves a general region.
Transcranial AC Pulsed Applications of Weak Electromagnetic Fields Reduces Freezing and Falling in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: A Case Report

Freezing is a common and disabling symptom in patients with Parkinsonism. It affects most commonly the gait in the form of start hesitation and sudden immobility often resulting in falling. A high incidence of freezing occurs in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) which is characterized clinically by a constellation of symptoms including supranuclear ophthalmoplegia, postural instability, axial rigidity, dysarthria, Parkinsonism, and pseudobulbar palsy. Pharmacologic therapy of PSP is currently disappointing and the disease progresses relentlessly to a fatal outcome within the first decade after onset. This report concerns a 67 year old woman with a diagnosis of PSP in whom freezing and frequent falling were the most disabling symptoms of the disease at the time of presentation. Both symptoms, which were rated 4 on the Unified Parkinson Rating Scale (UPRS) which grades Parkinsonian symptoms and signs from 0 to 4, with 0 being normal and 4 being severe symptoms, were resistant to treatment w...
Five-year follow-up study of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder

This study reports the results of a 5-year follow-up evaluation of 13 Vietnam combat veterans with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who participated in a study of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy previously reported in this journal. Pretreatment and follow-up psychometric outcome measures were compared with those of a demographically matched control group of 14 combat veterans with chronic PTSD who did not receive EMDR. Analysis of variance showed that the modest to moderate therapeutic benefits that were manifest immediately following EMDR were lost at the 5-year follow-up evaluation, and there was an overall worsening of PTSD symptomatology over the 5-year period in both EMDR-treated and nontreated control subjects. This is a US government work. There are no restrictions on its use.
Epidemics of postoperative wound infections associated with hair carriers.

Abstract Two outbreaks of postoperative wound infections were attributed to staff carrying Staphylococcus aureus in their hair. One doctor was associated with eleven severe wound infections on a general surgical ward and a staff nurse on the renal-transplant ward was associated with five minor wound infections. In addition to the carrier state, other factors which contributed to the severity of infection included a reduced blood-supply with excessive necrotic tissue and dead space at the operative site in the general surgery patients and poor host resistance among the renal dialysis and post-transplant patients. During epidemics of wound infections it is important to routinely take cultures from hair and subungual spaces in addition to nose and throat. Povidone-iodine shampoo and adequate hair covering for staff are recommended to reduce shedding in the operating-theatre.
Epoetin alfa treatment for patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia.

Anemia (hemoglobin [Hb] < 12 g/dL) is a frequent and debilitating complication in the treatment of cancer. The negative effects of anemia include impairment of organ systems, disruption of important aspects of patient quality of life, and potential interference with completion and outcomes of cancer chemotherapy. Guidelines issued by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American Society of Hematology/American Society of Clinical Oncology jointly suggest that anemia in patients with cancer be managed by restoring Hb levels to approximately 12 g/dL, thereby minimizing transfusion requirements and resolving clinical symptoms associated with anemia. Recombinant human erythropoietin (epoetin alfa) administered 150 U/kg 3 times weekly or 40,000 U once weekly has been shown in randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials and large, open-label, nonrandomized, community-based studies to effectively and safely correct anemia in patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Several clinical trials support that treatment with epoetin alfa results in quality of life benefits that significantly correlate with Hb increases. Areas currently being investigated with epoetin alfa in the chemotherapy setting include the following: extended dosing regimens beyond the Food and Drug Administration–approved 3-times-weekly and once-weekly dosing regimens, early intervention for mild anemia, effects on treatment outcomes and survival, and optimal administration of concurrent iron supplementation.
Response of American dippers (Cinclus mexicanus) to variation in stream water quality

Summary 1. Semi-aquatic birds may be sensitive to altered water quality. While avian species are not used in the bioassessment of streams, they may complement the more common use of benthic macroinvertebrates and fish. We estimated the extent to which water quality can predict attributes of the populations of one common semi-aquatic bird, the American dipper (Cinclus mexicanus). 2. First, we estimated dipper presence/absence in relation to water quality as measured by a multimetric assessment index and individual bioassessment metrics. Second, we estimated dipper territory area and reproductive success in response to variation in water quality. We studied the diet, territory area and fecundity of dippers and sampled benthic macroinvertebrates, water chemistry and physical variables at 32 sites with and 17 sites without nesting dippers. 3. Dipper presence was only weakly related to chemical, physical and commonly recorded bioassessment metrics such as per cent Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera (%EPT). Dippers were strongly related to the abundance of their common prey, Drunella and Heptageniidae, which are only a small component of the commonly recorded bioassessment metrics. The variances in territory area and reproductive success were weakly predicted by water quality variables. 4. Dipper presence reflected disturbance as measured by their common prey, showing that lower abundance of these stream invertebrates affected this semi-aquatic bird. We suggest dipper presence/absence might be used in multimetric indices of biotic integrity for the bioassessment of streams.
Toxic responses of developing fifth instar milkweed bugs, Oncopeltus fasciatus (Hemiptera), to aflatoxin B1.

Although studies on the aflatoxins have involved test systems ranging from cell cultures to laboratory animals, there appears to be a general lack of information on the ecological and economic effects of aflatoxins on insects. However, this situation is gradually changing. These studies involved the toxic responses of fifth instar milkweed bugs (Oncopeltus fasciatus) to AFB/sub 1/. Milkweed bugs pass through five distinct nymphal instars. In the fifth instar stage, the insect is marked with lateral spots on all of the abdominal pleurites and median spots on the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth dorsal abdominal tergites. The apex of the ventral abdominal surface is black and the remainder of the body is reddish-orange. Also, the adult is elongate to oval, and it is black and red in color. Because of this insect's ability to live and reproduce normally when provided dried sunflower seeds and water, it is a very desirable model to study through out the year. It is thought that juvenile insect stages are more sensitive to AFT than are adults, thus the instar and its developmental and sexual responses to aflatoxins are of interest.