cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
RstA Regulation of Clostridioides difficile Toxin Production and Sporulation in Phenotypically Diverse Strains

The anaerobic spore-former, Clostridioides difficile, causes significant diarrheal disease in humans and other mammals. Infection begins with the ingestion of dormant spores which subsequently germinate within the host gastrointestinal tract. Here, the vegetative cells proliferate and secrete two exotoxins, TcdA and TcdB, which cause disease symptoms. Although spore formation and toxin production are critical for C. difficile pathogenesis, the regulatory links between these two physiological processes are not well understood and are strain-dependent. Previously, we identified a conserved C. difficile regulator, RstA, that promotes sporulation initiation through an unknown mechanism and directly and indirectly represses toxin gene transcription in the historical isolate, 630{Delta}erm. To test whether perceived strain-dependent differences in toxin production and sporulation are mediated by RstA, we created an rstA mutant in the epidemic 027 ribotype strain, R20291. RstA affects sporulation and toxin gene expression similarly in R20291, although more robust regulatory effects are observed in this strain than in 630{Delta}erm. Reporter assays measuring transcriptional regulation of tcdR, the sigma factor essential for toxin gene expression, identified sequence-dependent effects influencing repression by RstA and CodY, a global nutritional sensor, in four diverse C. difficile strains. We provide evidence that RstA contributes to tcdR bistability in R20291 by biasing cells to a toxin-OFF state. Finally, sequence-dependent and strain-dependent differences were evident in RstA negative autoregulation of rstA transcription. Our data establish RstA as an important regulator of C. difficile virulence traits, and implicate RstA as a contributor to the variety of sporulation and toxin phenotypes observed in distinct isolates.nnIMPORTANCETwo critical traits of Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis are the production of toxins, which cause disease symptoms, and the formation of spores, which permit survival outside of the gastrointestinal tract. The multifunctional regulator, RstA, promotes sporulation and prevents toxin production in the historical strain, 630{Delta}erm. Here, we show that RstA functions similarly in an epidemic isolate, R20291, although strain-specific effects on toxin and rstA expression are evident. Our data demonstrate that sequence-specific differences within the promoter for the toxin regulator, TcdR, contribute to regulation of toxin production by RstA and CodY. These sequence differences account for some of the variability in toxin production among isolates, and may allow strains to differentially control toxin production in response to a variety of signals.
Clinical Applications of Telemedicine in Gynecology and Women’s Health

Telemedicine and telehealth (TM/TH) are the 2 terms used interchangeably focusing on the delivery of health care services at a long distance using telecommunication technology. TM/TH has several gynecologic applications, including the well-woman visits, preventive care, preconception counseling, family planning including contraception and medical abortion, infertility workup, teleradiology, cervical cancer screening and colposcopy, mental health, and telesurgery. The goals of TM/TH are not only improving quality of health care in patients and building a virtual community of physicians but also increasing convenience, efficacy, and decreasing medical cost. In gynecology, TM/TH plays an important role, especially in well-woman care.
Does cognitive-behavioural therapy improve sleep outcomes in individuals with traumatic brain injury: a scoping review

Insomnia symptoms are common after a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) to treat sleep disturbances and insomnia (CBT-I) has been used to improve sleep outcomes. It i...
Strategic Federalism (Why More Decentralization Can Be Welfare Enhancing in a World of Increased Interaction between Disperse and Interdependent Players)

The world has witnessed significant changes after the Berlin Wall fell down, exteriorizing the end of the bi-polar geopolitical dispute between the US and the USSR. Countries around the world have reorganized their boundaries, their strategic priorities, and their governance tools, presenting the world with faster and more developed inter-state relationships and highly increased international investment, communications and trade flows. Concomitantly, a two-layered process of aggregation of smaller countries/markets and decentralization of existing and novel constitutional and inter-state arrangements took place. The Paper will submit that under these conditions arising from the post-Cold War era, increasing at the margins the degree of systemic decentralization of US' Federalism ⎯ or any given constitutional or inter/supra-state arrangement ⎯ in all areas not strictly related to national defense, foreign relations, international trade negotiations, and policing narrowly defined collective action problems among local governments, is likely to be welfare enhancing. Counterintuitively, the Paper will alert about the special threats existing federalisms like the US face when trying to re-decentralize what has been centralized over the years. Path-dependence and past partisan and interest group alignment appear to be strong enough forces to prevent beneficial decentralization from happening. However, a new approach based on the strategic merits of decentralization in a redefined competitive world could present both sides to the centralization/decentralization debate with fresh grounds for some level of agreement.
State-Level Examination of Clinical Outcomes and Costs for Robotic and Laparoscopic Approach to Diaphragmatic Hernia Repair

Background Published studies evaluating the effect of robotic assistance on clinical outcomes and costs of care in diaphragmatic hernia repair (DHR) have been limited. Study Design The Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient and State Ambulatory Surgery and Services Databases for Florida were queried to identify patients undergoing transabdominal DHR between 2011 and 2018 and associated inpatient and outpatient encounters within 12 months after the index operation. Patients undergoing robotic DHR were 1:1:1 propensity score-matched for age, sex, race, Elixhauser comorbidity score, case priority, payer, and facility volume with patients undergoing open and laparoscopic DHR. Results There were 5,962 patients (67.3%) who underwent laparoscopic DHR, 1,520 (17.2%) who underwent open DHR, and 1,376 (15.5%) who underwent robotic DHR. On comparison of matched cohorts, median index length of stay (3 days; interquartile range [IQR] 2 to 5 days vs 2 days; IQR 1 to 4 days; p Conclusions Laparoscopic DHR is the most cost-effective approach to DHR. Robotic assistance provides clinical outcomes comparable with laparoscopic DHR, but is associated with increased index cost.
Satisfiability Attack-Resistant Camouflaged Two-Dimensional Heterostructure Devices.

Reverse engineering (RE) is one of the major security threats to the semiconductor industry due to the involvement of untrustworthy parties in an increasingly globalized chip manufacturing supply c...
A New Algorithm for Decoding Reed-Solomon Codes

A new algorithm is developed for decoding Reed-Solomon codes. It uses fast Fourier transforms and computes the message symbols directly without explicitly finding error locations or error magnitudes. In the decoding radius (up to half of the minimum distance), the new method is easily adapted for error and erasure decoding. It can also detect all errors outside the decoding radius. Compared with the BerlekampMassey algorithm, discovered in the late 1960’s, the new method seems simpler and more natural yet it has a similar time complexity.
Matrix Methods in the Design Analysis of Mechanisms and Multibody Systems: Transformation Matrices in Kinematics

Introduction Before formulating a numeric method for design analysis of mechanisms and multibody systems, let us first consider the essential characteristics of the problem being addressed. What are the chief difficulties encountered in the design analysis of a mechanism or multibody system? It is not the laws of mechanics as such that cause difficulty. It is the fact that, once a problem has been formulated, it is often too formidable algebraically to be easily solved. This complexity does not arise from static and dynamic force relationships, but from the kinematics – the changing geometry. The basic constraint equations that govern the motions within a machine or multibody system come from the fact that rigid bodies hold their respective joint elements in constant spatial relationships to one another. This type of constraint invariably leads to a set of highly nonlinear simultaneous algebraic equations. Because the difficulties in an analytic approach to mechanism and multibody system analysis stem from the geometry, it is wise to choose a mathematical formulation suited to this type of problem. One such formulation is based on the use of matrices to represent the transformation equations between strategically located coordinate systems fixed in successive bodies. This approach has been developed into an extremely general and powerful technique for mechanism and multibody system analysis, and the next several chapters are devoted to its presentation. Before this can be presented effectively, however, we must become familiar with a number of basic operations that render matrix algebra so useful in performing coordinate transformations. The purpose of this chapter, therefore, is to develop this foundation.
Visualization and Transport of Quantum Dot Nanomaterials in Porous Media

This paper presents our research on the visualization and transport phenomena of quantum dot nanomaterials in porous media. It includes the development of a non-intrusive, high spatial and temporal resolution method to visualize transport and measure quantum dot nanomaterials concentration in porous media, allowing to characterize the mechanisms that control the transport, or lack of mobility, of engineered nanomaterials — quantum dots — in subsurface complex and heterogeneous environment. The visualization technique used to explore the transport of quantum dot nanomaterials is a toolbox that allows to characterize a wide range of flow and transport phenomena due to mesoscale heterogeneities. The characterization of these flow and transport phenomena includes the visualization and/or quantification of flow, fluid content and nanoparticle concentrations. The visualization technique selected to investigate transport of quantum dot nanomaterials in two-dimensional variably saturated porous media is a non-intrusive method based on fluorescence resulting from the quantum dots optical properties. The visualization procedure consists of exciting fluorescent quantum dots in porous media by using a UV light located in the front of the chamber and in characterizing the water content with the light transmitted through the porous media by using light emitted devices (LEDs) as a light source placed in the back of the chamber. The visualization, calibration and image analysis are performed using an image software. Experiments investigating quantum dot nanomaterials transport in unsaturated zone demonstrates the effects of preferential flow and gas-water interfaces on the transport of quantum dot nanomaterials through the vadose zone.
SOIL MECHANICS IN OFF-ROAD VEHICLE DESIGN: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

This paper presents a review of current traction-mobility technology and discusses its applications to vehicle design. The impact of this technology on previous vehicle designs is assessed.
Verifying low-level implementations of high-level datatypes

For efficiency and portability, network packet processing code is typically written in low-level languages and makes use of bit-level operations to compactly represent data Although packet data is highly structured, low-level implementation details make it difficult to verify that the behavior of the code is consistent with high-level data invariants We introduce a new approach to the verification problem, using a high-level definition of packet types as part of a specification rather than an implementation The types are not used to check the code directly; rather, the types introduce functions and predicates that can be used to assert the consistency of code with programmer-defined data assertions We describe an encoding of these types and functions using the theories of inductive datatypes, bit vectors, and arrays in the Cvc SMT solver We present a case study in which the method is applied to open-source networking code and verified within the Cascade verification platform.
Fast and Robust Joint Models for Biomedical Event Extraction

Extracting biomedical events from literature has attracted much recent attention. The best-performing systems so far have been pipelines of simple subtask-specific local classifiers. A natural drawback of such approaches are cascading errors introduced in early stages of the pipeline. We present three joint models of increasing complexity designed to overcome this problem. The first model performs joint trigger and argument extraction, and lends itself to a simple, efficient and exact inference algorithm. The second model captures correlations between events, while the third model ensures consistency between arguments of the same event. Inference in these models is kept tractable through dual decomposition. The first two models outperform the previous best joint approaches and are very competitive with respect to the current state-of-the-art. The third model yields the best results reported so far on the BioNLP 2009 shared task, the BioNLP 2011 Genia task and the BioNLP 2011 Infectious Diseases task.
The pistachio nut—a new crop for the Western United States

Importers claim that each year they could process and sell approximately 15,000 tons ot pistachio nuts it they were available. Presently, only a small quantity are produced commercially in Caliiornia. Experimental work with selected imported varieties, breeding, cultivating, pruning and other horticultural practises at the United States Department of Agriculture's Plant Introduction Station at Chico, California has demonstrated the economic feasibility of this crop for American growers.
Neutron diffraction study of the “brown phase” BaNd2CuO5

Abstract A neutron Rietveld refinement study of the “brown phase” BaNd 2 CuO 5 shows that this material is isostructural with the La analog, but adopts a totally different structure from that of the “green phase” BaR 2 CuO 5 formed for R = Y and most lanthanide elements. BaNd 2 CuO 5 is tetragonal, space group P4/mbm(126), with Z =2 and refined cell parameters a = 6.7015(1) and c =5.8211 (1) A. The BaNd 2 CuO 5 framework is built from edge- and face-sharing BaO 10 and NdO 8 polyhedra, while in the green phase structure the smaller R 3+ ion is surrounded by seven oxygen atoms. The square-planar CuO 4 groups are isolated in the structure.
Homomorphisms and functional completeness. Hemi-primal algebras. II

its species. • is called (a) "semi-primal" (s/pr) respectively (b) "hemi-primal" (h/pr) if: U is a finite set (of at least two elements) and if (a) each sub-algebraconservative (s/conservative) map f(~, q, ..., () from U, U . . . . . U into U is S-expressible, respectively (b) each homomorphism-conservative (= h-conservative) map f i s S-expressible. Here (a') is s-conservative if for each subalgebra ~' : 4, q,"" ~ W ~ f(~, q,. . .) ~ lI', (b') f is h-conservative if for each congruence relation O in 1I: ~=~', q=q ' , ... ( O ) ~ f ( ~ , ~ h . . . )=f(~ ' , ...)(O), and (c) f is S-expressible i f f may be composed from the primitive ~,. . . of the species S. As shown in [1], the "anti" (or "dual") nature of semi-versus hemiprimality is partially indicated by
Combined Imaging and Chemical Sensing with a Disposable Microscope Objective Chemical Sensor

Abstract This manuscript provides a concise review of the combined imaging and chemical sensing (CICS) technique performed with imaging fiber chemical sensors (IFCSs) and represents the first demonstration of CICS using a disposable microscope objective chemical sensor (dMOCS). The dMOCS assembly comprises two pieces that clamp around an imaging system's objective and a third adjoining piece that positions a sensing layer onto a sample's surface and within the objective's field of view. The prototype layer was oxygen‐sensitive and was fabricated using a luminescent ruthenium metal complex and a gas permeable polymeric membrane. O2‐sensitive dMOCSs were characterized with respect to their imaging capabilities, sensitivity, and temporal response, and the feasibility of performing a high‐content screening assay was demonstrated with preliminary measurements of oxygen dynamics from living cells. While IFCSs are a requisite for analyzing remote samples that cannot be brought to a microscope stage, for those sa...
Open reduction and internal fixation of fractures of the acetabulum. Results in 163 fractures

Management of displaced fractures of the acetabulum represents one of the greatest challenges in fracture surgery. This study reports intermediate term results for a single surgeon of 163 fractures in 161 patients treated by open reduction and internal fixation. The mean length of followup was 3.7 years. The most common fracture patterns treated were both column (67), transverse/posterior wall (32), posterior wall (14), and T shaped (12). The surgical approaches chosen were ilioinguinal (86), Kocher-Langenbeck (58), and extended iliofemoral (26) with 7 patients having sequential or simultaneous dual approaches. Reductions were rated by plain radiography and considered anatomic in 93 (56%) and near anatomic (< 2 mm displacement) in 40 (25%). There were 7 (4%) infections, 2 (1%) vascular injuries, 3 (2%) sciatic injuries, and 1 (1%) obturator nerve injury. Overall outcome was rated as excellent in 23 (14%), good in 101 (61%), fair in 25 (16%), and poor in 14 (9%). Nine patients have undergone hip salvage procedures. These results add to the growing body of clinical data which validates open reduction as the treatment of choice in most displaced fractures of the acetabulum.
Pines, Profits, and Popular Politics: Responses to the White Pine Acts in the Colonial Connecticut River Valley

In the eighteenth-century Connecticut Valley, colonists from all walks of life steadily protested the White Pines Acts. Their experience with popular resistance to imperial authority—sometimes passive, sometimes violent—prepared valley inhabitants to reject British authority during the Revolution, and it shaped an early American antipathy toward centralized governmental control of natural resources.
How web community organisation can help grid computing

OurGrid is a web-based community whose members can use each others' spare computing power. When an OurGrid member is not using his own computer, it can be used by any other member. This paper describes how the community aspects of OurGrid have been crucial for its success. It argues that grid economies, which provide another method for sharing computing power, might also benefit from having a web-based community structure.
Development and formative evaluation of multimedia case studies for Instructional Design and Technology students

This study describes the development of three case studies that included a combination of multimedia production and instructional design skills within a particular setting. These case studies incorporated real-life incidents from 47 professional instructional designers. These instructional designers described a total of 146 activities involving instructional design and/or multimedia production activities. Employing an emergent theme analysis approach, nine distinct themes developed from these activities and were included in the case studies. These themes included: Collaboration; Diffusion of Innovations; Formative Evaluation; Instructional Design; Interactive Instruction; Learner Analysis; Online Instruction; Technical Infrastructure; and Video Solutions. Fifty-seven Instructional Design and Technology graduate students evaluated the effectiveness of these case studies and considered the case studies as being valuable in furthering their understanding of related multimedia production and instructional design activities. The intent of these case studies was to enable Instructional Design and Technology students to comprehend the relationship between multimedia production and instructional design activities.
Parenteral hydralazine revisited

Historical aspects of the development and application of the vasodilator hydralazine are reviewed. The pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and mechanism of action are discussed, with emphasis on the parenteral use of this drug. It is reiterated that parenteral hydralazine is the preferred drug for the treatment of severe preeclampsia, but its usefulness in other forms of accelerated hypertension is also addressed. Through comparisons with other established antihypertensive agents, the efficacy and pharmacoeconomic potential of hydralazine are stressed.
Neutralization of Shallow Acceptor Levels in Silicon by Atomic Hydrogen

Most of the shallow acceptor levels due to boron in single-crystal silicon can be neutralized by atomic hydrogen at temperatures between 65 and 300\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C. This treatment can result in a sixfold increase in resistivity.
Infinite tensor products of Banach spaces I

Abstract In this paper we construct a new class of infinite tensor product Banach spaces. We call them spaces of type v since they are constructed in a manner which closely parallels von Neumanns construction of infinite tensor products of Hilbert spaces. We use these spaces to present results on infinite tensor products of semigroups of operators.
Two-loop unitarity constraints on the Higgs boson coupling

We use the results of Maher [ital et] [ital al]. (preceding paper) to construct the matrix of [ital j]=0 partial-wave two-body and 2[r arrow]3 scattering amplitudes for the scattering of longitudinally polarized gauge bosons [ital W][sub [ital L]][sup +],[ital Z][sub [ital L]] and Higgs bosons [ital H] correct to two loops in the high-energy, heavy-Higgs-boson limit [radical][ital s] [much gt][ital M][sub [ital H]][much gt][ital M][sub [ital W]]. We show explicitly that the energy dependence of the 2[r arrow]2 amplitudes can be completely adsorbed into a running quartic Higgs boson coupling [lambda][sub [ital s]]=[lambda][sub [ital s]]([ital s],[ital M][sub [ital H]][sup 2]) and factors which involve small anomalous dimensions and remain near unity. After diagonalizing the matrix of partial-wave amplitudes we use an Argand-diagram analysis to show that the elastic scattering amplitudes are approximately unitary and weakly interacting for [lambda][sub [ital s]][approx lt]2.3, but that three-loop corrections are necessary to restore unitarity for larger values of [lambda][sub [ital s]]. That is, the interactions in the Higgs sector of the standard model are effectively strong with respect to the perturbative expansion for [lambda][sub [ital s]][approx gt]2.3. The bound [lambda][sub [ital s]][approx lt]2.3 for a weakly interacting theory translates to a physical Higgs bosonmore » mass [ital M][sub [ital H]][approx lt]380 GeV if the bound is to hold for energies up to a few TeV, or [ital M][sub [ital H]][le]155 GeV in perturbatively unified theories with mass scales of order 10[sup 16] GeV.« less
The complexity of mineral dissolution as viewed by high resolution scanning Auger microscopy: Labradorite under hydrothermal conditions

Abstract The dissolution of labradorite under hydrothermal conditions has been studied by exposing a packed core of fine-grained labradorite powder to deionized water at 300°C and 300 bars for 57 days using a single-pass flowthrough apparatus. The principal methods used for characterizing the labradorite dissolution were high lateral resolution scanning Auger microscopy (SAM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and measurement of the exit solution chemistry. Under these hydrothermal conditions, boehmite and halloysite precipitate throughout the core and the labradorite powder undergoes extensive dissolution. The reacted labradorite surfaces are incongruently modified to levels as deep as 20 A (for Al and Si) to 30 A (for Na and Ca), although the distribution of elements within this depth or deeper is not yet known. The modified surface chemistry not only changes systematically down the length of the core, but is also locally variable. Generally, and relative to the starting composition, the reacted surfaces are enriched in Al and depleted in Na, Ca, and Si, and the Ca surface concentration decreases with distance from the inlet. Locally, some portions of the reacted labradorite surfaces have had Ca (and presumably Na) almost entirely removed. The dissolution mechanism of labradorite under hydrothermal conditions as revealed by SAM is highly complex, and the variability in surface chemistry is probably controlled by the local density and distribution of microcracks and crystal defects, the starting morphology of each labradorite surface, and the local flow patterns of reacting solution over that surface. Our results are contrary to previous XPS studies of dissolving feldspars (at or near room temperature) which do not report dramatic changes in near-surface chemistries. Part of the difference between the XPS and Auger results may be due to the difference in the depth of analysis associated with the characteristic electrons utilized by the two techniques.
The barrel of the gun and the barrel of oil in North-South equation

The paper discusses the role of the newly discovered petropower and of the striving for nuclear status in the Third World politics, both between the various countries that comprise it and between the Third World as a whole and the West. The first has to do with the competition for leverage and influence determined mainly by ideology, economics (which, in the last analysis, means technology), and military power. The second has to do with the striving for dignity and equity. This politics is vastly complicated by the industrialized and nuclearized Western powers intervention in pursuit of the dual goal of pacifying one form of energy, nuclear, to perpetuate its dominance through the monopoly of the atom, and militarizing another form of energy, oil, to be able to get it cheap, if possible, and in abundance. 15 references.
Transient focal ischemia in subhuman primates. Neuronal injury as a function of local cerebral blood flow.

Unilateral, transient (30, 60, and 120 minutes (min)) middle-cerebral-artery (MCA) occlusion was induced via transorbital craniotomy in 11 waking subhuman primates. Local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) was calculated from hydrogen clearance curves obtained through the use of intracerebral platinum microelectrodes. Unilateral MCA occlusion decreased LCBF in the territory of the ipsilateral MCA. Within minutes of the arterial occlusion all monkeys developed contralateral neurologic deficits that began disappearing three hours (h) after reopening the MCA. Regional ischemia, followed by 24 h of reperfusion, produced varying degrees of tissue vacuolation which correlated (r = 0.60, p < 0.01, n = 49) with the percent reduction in LCBF multiplied by the occlusion time. Neurons were classified according to the structural features of their perikaryon. A plot of neuron types versus percent vacuolation suggested that normal neurons become increasingly scalloped under increasingly severe ischemic conditions. The number of scalloped neurons decreased precipitously in areas of marked sponginess coincident with the appearance of irreversibly damaged neurons. Local tissue edema values exceeding 30% correlated with irreversible injury to all neurons in the same area. Regional cerebral ischemia of increasing severity was acompanied by increasing numbers of lethally injured neurons.
CATKIN FREEZING AND ACORN PRODUCTION IN GAMBEL OAK IN UTAH, 1978

In May 1978, a general freeze of the male flowers of Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii Nutt.) was observed in northern Utah. In August, transect reconnaissance was conducted throughout Utah to assess acorn production and the incidence of freeze damage in Gambel oak. It was found that below ca. 1950 m elevation acorn production was relatively low while the incidence of freeze damage was high. Above ca. 1950 m elevation, where the oaks were still dormant at the time of the freeze, acorn production was relatively high while freeze damage was relatively low. Occasional acorn production observed at low elevations appeared to be associated with subterranean pooling of water and/or cold air drainage. Some biogeographic implications of freeze stress are discussed.
Disproportionation of Fe2SiO4 to 2FeO+SiO2 at pressures up to 250kbar and temperatures up to 3000 °C

A sample of Fe2SiO4 (spinel) at approximately 250 kbar in a diamond anvil press was heated to approximately 3000 C for a duration of some ms using a focused light beam from a pulsed ruby laser. After quenching and unloading, X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the portion of the sample that had been heated contained wustite and stishovite. A sample of Fe2SiO4 (fayalite) at approximately 200 kbar in a diamond anvil press has been heated to 800 C for 20 min in a furnace. After quenching and unloading, the sample was found to have concentric zones with the fayalite phase at the lowest pressure, the spinel phase at the intermediate pressure, and a dark region at the center where the pressure was highest. An X-ray diffraction pattern of the dark central region indicated the presence of wustite. A microprobe analysis of a sample produced by a similar procedure indicated that SiO2 is apparently evolved along with wustite but is not sufficiently crystalline to be detected by X-ray diffraction.
Self-assembled nanostructures for antireflection optical coatings

We report the first results of self-assembled nanostructures using colloids for antireflection optical coatings. Two-dimensional (2D) periodic nano-structures were made by using self-assembled 2D colloidal crystals on top of a transparent substrate. An atomic force microscope was used to evaluate the quality of the nanostructure. The feature size of the structures was around 105 nm. This sub-wavelength structure is equivalent to an artificial film on top of the substrate. The effective refractive index of the film is found to be around 1.3. Such a low-index materials is desired for anti-reflection coating to reduce Fresnal reflection. We have observed the reduced reflection from glass surfaces as well as enhanced transmission. Our calculated results agree well with experimental measurement.
Laser versus cold instruments for microlaryngoscopic surgery

Controversy has arisen concerning the merits of the CO2 laser in microlaryngoscopic surgery because of the potentially harmful effects that the injudicious application of the laser could have on voice production. In an effort to develop a logical approach to instrument selection, the author examined the use of both cold instruments and the CO2 laser in the treatment of various benign and malignant lesions. A retrospective review of 307 microlaryngeal procedures performed over a 3-year period revealed that 263 (86%) were glottal and 44 (14%) were supraglottal. Of the 263 glottal procedures, 203 (77%) employed cold instruments alone and 60 (23%) used both cold instruments and the CO2 laser. The laser was used to assist in all 44 supraglottal procedures. Therefore, 203 (66%) of 307 procedures were done with cold instruments alone, and 104 (34%) of 307 procedures were performed using the CO2 laser with cold instruments. Lesions were stratified on the basis of pathology and size, as well as surgical approach. A primary phonomicrosurgical principle in glottal surgery is to maximally preserve the vocal fold's layered microstructure (laminae propria and epithelium). Precise tangential dissection was necessary for achieving this goal. For limited lesions, this dissection was best accomplished with cold instruments alone. The CO2 laser facilitated hemostatic surgical dissection for all supraglottal lesions and for selected larger glottal lesions in which bleeding would obscure visualization of the microanatomy of the musculomembranous vocal fold.
Identification of an alpha-adrenoceptor binding inhibitor: Possible implications in diabetes mellitus

An endogenous adrenergic antagonist extracted from porcine duodenal mucosa was tested for3H-yohimbine (5 nM) binding inhibitory activity using whole brain membranes. Duodenal mucosa was scraped into liquid N2 and extracted in 2M acetic acid (HAc)+1 mg/ml ascorbic acid. The supernatant was fractionated on SP-Sephadex C-25 with a stepwise pH gradient. The peak adrenoceptor binding inhibitory (ABI) activity eluted at pH 4.5 and fractionation of this material on Sephadex G-25 SF indicated a relative molecular mass (Mr) of 2000 to 3000. The ABI did not bind to a Pharmacia Pro RPC 5/5 column which resulted in further purification and indicated that the peptide is hydrophilic. ABI activity was specific for3H-yohimbine and did not affect3H-dihydroalprenolol binding to beta receptors. Incubation of pancreatic islets isolated from fasted rats with ABI completely reversed the effect of 2.5 × 10−6M norepinephrine (NE) on insulin release in the presence of 300 mg/dl glucose. I.v. injection of ABI in rats also prevented the increased serum glucose response to a glucose bolus caused by NE. Preliminary experiments indicate that ABI blocks the stimulation of platelet aggregation by epinephrine as well. The peptide identified in this study causes specific inhibition of binding to alpha-2 adrenergic receptors and exerts a potent glucose dependent effect on adrenergic inhibition of insulin release. Possible implications in diabetes mellitus are discussed.
Minimizing the risk of endophthalmitis following intravitreous injections.

Purpose: To review techniques that are important in preventing endophthalmitis following intravitreous injections based on the available evidence. Methods: A review of the literature regarding existing evidence that is relevant to post-injection endophthalmitis prophylaxis. Results: The available evidence regarding endophthalmitis prophylaxis is largely based on intraocular surgery, particularly cataract surgery. Despite the controversy and the paucity of evidence regarding endophthalmitis prophylaxis for intravitreous injections, it is recommended that povidone-iodine should be used prior to intravitreous injections to minimize or eliminate the presence of ocular surface bacteria. Administration of topical antibiotics may also be considered before and after the intravitreous injections. Strict adherence to aseptic techniques, including the use of an eyelide speculum is also important. Conclusion: Endophthalmitic can occur following intravitreous injections. Prophylaxis with topical povidone-iodine, and possibly antibiotics, as well as adherence to aseptic technique may minimize the risk of post-injection endophthalmitis.
Making Minds Matter: Infusing Mindfulness into School Counseling.

The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale for the integration of mindfulness interventions into school counseling. Mindfulness practices currently are neither widely known nor well utilized in the school counseling environment. Implementation of mindfulness in schools may help students increase academic performance, develop social skills, and learn coping mechanisms to enhance their personal quality of life. By helping students learn to embrace and practice self-awareness, school counselors empower students to take ownership of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. In this article, historical foundations, basic tenets, current research, applications for school counseling, multicultural considerations, and implications are discussed.
Human recombinant migration inhibitory factor activates human macrophages to kill tumor cells.

Abstract A recombinant form of human migration inhibitory factor (rMIF) obtained from COS-1 cells transfected with MIF-specific cDNA is able to activate cultured human peripheral blood monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages, in a dose-dependent manner to become cytotoxic for tumor cells in vitro. The cytotoxicity exhibited by macrophages treated with rMIF is ≥ 30% above that of cells incubated with control supernatants or with media and peaks 72 hr after the addition of tumor targets. rMIF also induces macrophages to produce tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). These results demonstrate that rMIF is able to modulate macrophage functions and plays a role in cell-mediated immune response.
Lost in the American agricultural swamp.

How serious are the problems that result from taxpayer support for American agriculture? Jim Bovard, of the Cato Institute in Washington, in a Letter from America, explores distortions which put the Common Agricultural Policy of the EEC into the shade.
Interactive effects of ethanol and nicotine on learning in C57BL/6J mice depend on both dose and duration of treatment

Objective and rationale Alcohol and nicotine are commonly co-abused; one possible explanation for co-abuse is that each drug ameliorates the aversive effects of the other. Both drugs have dose-dependent effects on learning and memory. Thus, this study examined the interactive effects of acute ethanol and acute, chronic, or withdrawal from chronic nicotine on fear conditioning in C57BL/6J mice.
Landforms and archaeological site location in the little Missouri badlands: A new look at some well-established patterns

Patterns in the distribution of archaeological sites in the Little Missouri Badlands of North Dakota have previously been attributed to prehistoric cultural preference for certain landforms. These patterns include the concentration of Plains Archaic sites in upland settings and the predominance of Late Prehistoric sites in the alluvial lowlands. An understanding of Holocene stratigraphy provides new insights into these patterns, and other spatial/temporal aspects of the archaeological record. These insights in turn illustrate the need for comprehensive stratigraphic studies prior to the formulation of prehistoric settlement models in highly eroded environments. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
A Five-Factor Measure of Avoidant Personality: The FFAvA

A new self-report assessment of the basic traits of avoidant personality disorder (AVD) was developed using a general trait model of personality (Five-factor model; FFM) as a framework. Scales were written to assess maladaptive variants of 10 FFM traits found to be robustly related to AVD across a variety of methods. In a sample of 291 undergraduates, the scales from the Five Factor Avoidant Assessment (FFAvA) proved to be internally consistent and strongly related to the original FFM scales from which they were derived. The FFAvA scales also demonstrated substantial incremental validity in the prediction of existing AVD measures and indexes of social discomfort over their FFM counterparts. The FFAvA provides an opportunity to examine AVD and its correlates using smaller, more basic units of personality rather than more global symptoms that might blend these elements.
Catalysis by titanocene-functionalized polymer-supported dendrimers

A series of variously-functionalized first-, second-, and third-generation dendrimers have been prepared and linked via a biphenyl core to a bis-styryl moiety suitable for use as a crosslinker in polymerization. Attachment of titanocene moieties to the first-generation system and copolymerization with styrene affords polymeric disks that exhibit catalytic properties superior to comparable solution-phase systems in a multicomponent coupling of chlorosilanes with Grignards to give bis-allylic silanes.
“Can I Trust You With This?” Investigating Middle School Students’ Use of Learning Supports:

Adolescents have a unique perspective on their own development. However, educators have not fully considered the role of students’ meaning making in the provision and receipt of school-based supports. To address this gap, this article draws on photographs and in-depth interviews that explore urban middle school students’ experiences with learning supports. The findings suggest that students seek learning supports that provide them with agency, nurture a sense of trust, and allow for opportunities to help others. This article suggests recommendations for the practice and research of learning supports, including involving students more fully in support processes.
Comparison of Cotton and Cotton/Rayon Tampons for Effect on Production of Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin

Studies were done to compare tampons made solely of cotton and made of both cotton and rayon for effect on growth of Staphylococcus aureus and production of toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1). Under stationary in vitro conditions in which tampons were either oversaturated or 50% saturated with culture media, the same amount of or more TSST-1 was made with cotton tampons than with cotton/rayon tampons. Similarly, when tested with the tampon sac method, cotton tampons yielded the same amount of or more toxin than did the cotton/rayon tampons. Bacterial cell numbers generally paralleled toxin production. These data indicate that cotton tampons neither prevent TSST-1 production nor significantly adsorb toxin onto the fibers to make toxin unavailable to cause toxic shock syndrome, in contrast to results of a previous study.
An Extended Perspective on Individual Security Behaviors: Protection Motivation Theory and a Unified Security Practices (USP) Instrument

Security threats regularly affect users of home computers. As such, it is important to understand the practices of users for protecting their computers and networks, and to identify determinants of these practices. Several recent studies utilize Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to explore these practices. However, these studies focus on one specific security protection behavior or on intentions to use a generic measure of security protection tools or techniques (practices). In contrast, this study empirically tests the effectiveness of PMT to explain a newly developed measure for collectively capturing several individual security practices. The results show that PMT explains an important portion of the variance in the unified security practices measure, and demonstrates the importance of explaining individual security practices as a whole as opposed to one particular behavior individually. Implications of the study for research and practice are discussed.
Kinetic Analysis of the Bisubstrate Cysteine Desulfurase SufS from Bacillus subtilis

Cysteine is the major sulfur donor for thio cofactors in bacterial and eukaryotic systems. The first step in sulfur mobilization involves a PLP-dependent enzymatic mechanism. During catalysis, free cysteine is converted into alanine with the concomitant formation of a persulfide bond with the catalytic cysteine residue, thus forming a covalent enzyme intermediate. Cysteine desulfurases in their persulfurated forms serve as donors at the intersection of various cellular sulfur-requiring pathways. Most Gram-positive bacteria, including Bacillus subtilis, contain a cysteine desulfurase gene sufS located adjacent to the gene encoding the proposed Fe−S cluster scaffold SufU. In this work, we identified the participation of SufU as a substrate in the SufS catalytic mechanism. Development of a sensitive method for detection of alanine formed in the SufS reaction enabled the identification of its associated mechanistic features. Steady-state kinetic analysis of alanine formation provided evidence of a double-disp...
Modeling Compact Exchangers for HVAC Applications

This paper presents equations for modeling the performance of compact air cooled heat exchangers when only limited supplier catalog performance information is available. Relations for the overall heat transfer coefficient under dry or wet surface operating conditions with water, steam, and refrigerants are presented. Equations for the air and water side pressure drop are also given. The coefficients in these equations may be determined using typical heat transfer vs. air face velocity data without the need for various surface and flow areas or air side convection coefficients. The model may then be used to predict performance at other conditions for which supplier data is not available.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Effect of modifications of semen diluent with cell culture serum replacements on fresh and stored turkey semen quality and hen fertility.

Abstract Two commercially available serum replacements formulated as supplements to somatic cell culture media were used with a turkey semen diluent to determine their effect on semen quality and spermatozoal fecundity before and after semen storage for 24 h. Progressive motility estimates (visual) and spermatozoal motility characteristics estimated by a computer-assisted semen analysis system, and sperm viability tests (the ethidium bromide exclusion procedure and a sperm stress test) were used to evaluate the semen. Although the presence of the serum replacements significantly increased spermatozoal motility, fertility was not augmented by the presence of the serum replacements. Computer-derived spermatozoal velocity and the percentage of nonviable spermatozoa estimated by the sperm stress test were negatively correlated with hen fertility. It was concluded that although the serum replacements augmented some spermatozoal motility characteristics, they failed to improve the fecundity of spermatozoa either before or after semen storage for 24 h.
Glial cells of the parietal eye: structural and biochemical similarities to retinal Müller cells.

The parietal eye of lizards is a relatively simple yet highly structured visual organ. Cone-like photoreceptors synapse directly onto ganglion cells that project to the brain. Golgi staining confirmed the existence of glial cells spanning the sensory epithelium in a manner analogous to the Muller cells of the vertebrate lateral eye retina. These parietal eye glial cells bear expanded end feet at the basal border of the eye. Electron microscopic examination revealed some ultrastructural similarity to Muller cells. Mitochondria, osmiophilic and transparent vesicles, and the Golgi apparatus are found in the apical end of the parietal eye glial cell. Junctional complexes join adjacent parietal eye glial cells and their neighboring photoreceptor cells. Bundles of filaments are found in the basal end of the cell and the plasma membranes of adjacent cells often intertwine tightly in this region. The parietal eye glial cells are immunoreactive to antibodies against glutamine synthetase, also characteristic of Muller cells. Some differences between parietal eye glial cells and Muller cells also are evident. The parietal eye glial cells are not immunoreactive to antibodies against another Muller cell marker, carbonic anhydrase II, and many of them contain melanin granules, while Muller cells are not pigmented. In addition, we have found that the lens cells of the parietal eye and the Muller cells of the lateral eye retina of lizards are immunoreactive to antibodies against both glutamine synthetase and carbonic anhydrase II.
Electronmicroscopy of self-parasitism by Histoplasma capsulatum and Blastomyces dermatitidis.

Intrahyphal as well as intrayeast hyphae were demonstrated by electron-microscopy in bothHistoplasma capsulatum andBlastomyces dermatitidis yeastlike and mycelial phase cells grown in agitated liquid media. These structures appeared to be rather common in cultures of yeastlike cells induced to convert to the mycelial phase. In many cases there was excellent preservation of ultrastructural detail of the “parasitized” cell which suggested that the cell may still be viable.