cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Cholinergic Ligand Binding Material of Axonal Membranes

Evidence has accumulated that acetylcholine (ACh) might play a role in axonal as well as in synaptic membranes. The postulate of Nachmansohn (23) that ACh triggers axonal as well as synaptic permeability changes has been a subject of controversy. However, cholinergic agonists and antagonists affect conduction at the nodes of Ranvier where permeability barriers to quaternary ammonium compounds are minimal (4, 12). Furthermore, choline acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase, the enzymes responsible for the synthesis and the hydrolysis of ACh, are present in nerve fibers. Also, in crustacean peripheral nerves release of ACh from cut nerve fibers could be demonstrated (13). Moreover, Denburg and his coworkers (10, 11) have prepared closed membrane vesicles from lobster walking leg nerve plasma membrane, and have demonstrated saturable binding of cholinergic agonists and antagonists to such membranes. Our laboratory has thus been engaged in studying this “axonal cholinergic binding material,” and in elucidating its functions.
Lest We Be "Status Quo" Seekers

The article by Green and Segar1 which proposes a new design for patient care suggests some sweeping changes in our traditional methods of providing pediatric education and medical services. It should be evaluated as a serious proposal designed to bring simultaneous improvement to both fields. While the commentary by McKay makes some pertinent recommendations regarding the improvement of inpatient medical care (in the Children9s Hospital of Columbus the monthly statistics for 1961 show that the average length of stay varied from 6 days to 7.3 days), his suggestion that Green9s proposal "circumvents rather than meets the problem" suggests to me that he has missed its main purpose.
Evaluation of the effects of prostate specific antigen (PSA) on prostate cancer bone metastasis

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 4371 The establishment of metastatic prostate cancer (CaP) in bone and its tendency to elicit an osteoblastic bone response occurs via mechanisms not yet fully understood. Factors primarily or exclusively produced by CaP cells have been implicated in the bone osteoblastic response. Among these secreted factors are the human kallikrein proteins, including PSA. The objective of this study was to examine the potential roles of PSA in the development of the osteoblastic bone response elicited by metastatic CaP. Chinese hamster ovary cells were transfected to express PSA using the TET-on system (CHO/PSA). CHO/PSA cells treated with tetracycline had up to six-fold higher PSA levels compared to LNCaP cells (161.97±6.67 vs . 26.75±0.825 ng/ml/105 cells, P=0.0025). PSA expression did not alter the proliferation of CHO/PSA cells. PSA expression decreased osteoclast formation from RAW264.7 cells in co-culture experiments. Studies on the effects of PSA on osteoblast proliferation and differentiation are currently underway. To examine the effects of PSA expression in vivo, CHO/PSA cells were injected subcutaneously into intact male SCID mice and PSA expression was induced by the administration of doxycycline (Dox). High serum PSA levels were detected in the Dox induced animals. Four weeks post-injection, approximately half of the total serum PSA consisted of fPSA (fPSA=999±363 ng/ml, tPSA=1545±368 ng/ml), suggesting that the remainder of the total PSA consisted of enzymatically active PSA. PSA expression did not affect tumor growth in this model system. To evaluate the effects of PSA expression on bone, intact male SCID mice were intratibially injected with CHO/PSA cells. PSA expression was induced by the administration of Dox. High levels of serum PSA (1083±159 ng/ml) were measured in the Dox induced animals three weeks post-cell injection. Also, approximately half of the total serum PSA consisted of fPSA (fPSA=601±95 ng/ml), suggesting that the remainder of the total PSA was enzymatically active. Micro CT analysis of tumored tibiae showed that the periosteal and cortical bone volumes were decreased in the Dox- induced mice. Interestingly, endosteal bone volumes were also significantly decreased in comparison to untreated animals (0.48±0.03 vs. 0.67±0.08, P=0.05). In conclusion, our results suggest that PSA alone does not elicit an osteoblastic bone response. We are currently conducting bone histomorphometric analysis and additional animal studies to more clearly determine the role of PSA in the significant bone changes observed in vivo .
Reinventing Identities: The Gendered Self in Discourse

Reinventing Identities: The Gendered Self in Discourse. Mary Bucholtz. A. C. Liang. and Laurel Sutton. eds. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 431 pp.
Contributions of posterior parietal cortex to cognitive functions in primates

The posterior parietal cortex plays an important role in a variety of cognitive functions in the primate brain. Parietal lesions result in profound defects in the perception and memory of spatial relationships, in the guidance of reaching motions and of the grasping of nearby objects, and in the control of eye movements to visual targets. The ability to direct attention to visual stimuli is also severely impaired after parietal damage. Anatomical and physiological studies in the monkey cortex have identified subdivisions with specialized properties and neural circuits that are capable of Unking visual information to areas involved in motor control. Neurophysiological experiments with animal behavior are now uncovering the neuronal mechanisms that transform information from visual to motor coordinates, and providing important insight into the mechanisms that direct attention to salient stimuli.
Conjunctival microvascular hemodynamics following vaso-occlusive crisis in sickle cell disease

Painful vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) is the clinical hallmark of sickle cell disease (SCD). Microcirculatory hemodynamic changes following painful VOC may be indicative of future development of VOC events in subjects with SCD. The purpose of the present study was to determine alterations in conjunctival microvascular hemodynamics during non-crisis state in SCD subjects with a history of VOC. Conjunctival microcirculation imaging was performed to measure conjunctival diameter (D) and axial blood velocity (V) in 10 control and 30 SCD subjects. SCD subjects were categorized into two groups based on their history of VOC within a 2-year period before imaging (with or without VOC-H) and also based on whether there was progression in the rate of VOCs during a 2-year period following imaging as compared to before imaging (with or without VOC-P). Conjunctival V was significantly higher in SCD subjects with VOC-H than in both control subjects and SCD subjects without VOC-H (P≤0.03). Conjunctival V was also significantly higher in SCD subjects with VOC-P compared with control subjects and SCD subjects without VOC-P (P≤0.03). Assessment of the conjunctival microcirculation may be useful for understanding hemodynamic changes that lead to VOC events in SCD subjects.
Missing stellar mass in SED fitting: spatially unresolved photometry can underestimate galaxy masses

We fit model spectral energy distributions to each pixel in 67 nearby ( =0.0057) galaxies using broadband photometry from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and GALEX. For each galaxy, we compare the stellar mass derived by summing the mass of each pixel to that found from fitting the entire galaxy treated as an unresolved point source. We find that, while the pixel-by-pixel and unresolved masses of galaxies with low specific star formation rates (such as ellipticals and lenticulars) are in rough agreement, the unresolved mass estimate for star-forming galaxies is systematically lower then the measurement from spatially-resolved photometry. The discrepancy is strongly correlated with sSFR, with the highest sSFRs in our sample having masses underestimated by 25% (0.12 dex) when treated as point sources. We found a simple relation to statistically correct mass estimates derived from unresolved broad-band SED fitting to the resolved mass estimates: m_{resolved} = m_{unresolved}/(-0.057log(sSFR) + 0.34) where sSFR is in units of yr^{-1}. We study the effect of varying spatial resolution by degrading the image resolution of the largest images and find a sharp decrease in the pixel-by-pixel mass estimate at a physical scale of approximately 3 kpc, which is comparable to spiral arm widths. The effects we observe are consistent with the "outshining" idea which posits that the youngest stellar populations mask more massive, older -- and thus fainter -- stellar populations. Although the presence of strong dust lanes can also lead to a drastic difference between resolved and unresolved mass estimates (up to 45% or 0.3 dex) for any individual galaxy, we found that resolving dust does not affect mass estimates on average. The strong correlation between mass discrepancy and sSFR is thus most likely due to the outshining systematic bias.
Fine-Tuning the pH Trigger of Self-Assembly

The creation of smart, self-assembling materials that undergo morphological transitions in response to specific physiological environments can allow for the enhanced accumulation of imaging or drug delivery agents based on differences in diffusion kinetics. Here, we have developed a series of self-assembling peptide amphiphile molecules that transform either isolated from molecules or spherical micelles into nanofibers when the pH is slightly reduced from 7.4 to 6.6, in isotonic salt solutions that simulate the acidic extracellular microenvironment of malignant tumor tissue. This transition is rapid and reversible, indicating the system is in thermodynamic equilibrium. The self-assembly phase diagrams show a single-molecule-to-nanofiber transition with a highly concentration-dependent transition pH. However, addition of a sterically bulky Gd(DO3A) imaging tag on the exterior periphery shifts this self-assembly to more acidic pH values and also induces a spherical micellar morphology at high pH and concent...
Steroid receptor coactivator 2 is essential for progesterone-dependent uterine function and mammary morphogenesis: insights from the mouse--implications for the human.

Abstract While the indispensability of the progesterone receptor (PR) in female reproduction and mammary morphogenesis is acknowledged, the coregulators preferentially recruited by PR to mediate its in vivo effects have yet to be fully delineated. To further parse the roles of steroid receptor coactivator (SRC)/p160 family members in P-dependent physiological processes, genetic approaches were employed to generate a mouse model (PRCre/+SRC-2flox/flox) in which SRC-2 function was ablated specifically in cell-types that express the PR. Fertility evaluation revealed that while ovulation occurred normally in the PRCre/+SRC-2flox/flox mouse, uterine function was markedly affected. Absence of SRC-2 in PR positive uterine cells contributed to an early block in embryo implantation, a phenotype not shared by knockouts for SRC-1 or -3. Although the PRCre/+SRC-2flox/flox uterus could mount a partial decidual response, removal of SRC-1 in the PRCre/+SRC-2flox/flox uterus resulted in a complete block in decidualization, confirming that uterine SRC-2 and -1 are both required for P-initiated transcriptional programs which lead to full decidualization. In the case of the mammary gland, whole-mount and histological analyses revealed the absence of significant branching morphogenesis in the hormone-treated PRCre/+SRC-2flox/flox mammary gland, reinforcing an important role for mammary SRC-2 in cellular proliferative events that require PR. Based on the above and the observation that SRC-2 is expressed in many of the uterine and mammary cell-lineages in the human as observed in the mouse, we suggest that further investigations are warranted to gain additional insights into SRC-2's involvement in normal (and possibly abnormal) uterine and mammary cellular responses to progestins.
Occam's razor is a double-edged sword: Reduced interaction is not necessarily reduced power

Although Norris, McQueen & Cutler have provided convincing evidence that there is no need for contributions from the lexicon to phonetic processing, their simplification of the communication between levels comes at a cost to the processes themselves. Although their arrangement may ultimately prove correct, its validity is not due to a successful application of Occam's razor.
Leber hereditary optic neuropathy: respiratory chain dysfunction and degeneration of the optic nerve

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is an inherited form of bilateral optic atrophy in which the primary etiological event is a mutation in the mitochondrial genome. The optic neuropathy involves a loss of central vision due to degeneration of the retinal ganglion cells and optic nerve axons that subserve central vision. The primary mitochondrial mutation is necessary, but not sufficient, for manifestation of the optic neuropathy and secondary genetic and/or epigenetic risk factors are also involved, although they are poorly defined at the present time. There is broad agreement that mutations at nucleotides 3460, 11,778 and 14,484 are primary LHON mutations, but there may also be other rare primary mutations. It appears that the three primary LHON mutations are associated with respiratory chain dysfunction, but the derangement may be relatively subtle. There is also debate on whether there are mitochondrial mutations that have a secondary etiological or pathogenic role in LHON. The specific pattern of neurodegeneration in LHON may arise from a 'chokepoint' in the optic nerve in the region of the nerve head and lamina cribosa and which may be more severe in those LHON family members who become visually affected. It is hypothesized that the respiratory chain dysfunction leads to axoplasmic stasis and swelling, thereby blocking ganglion cell function and causing loss of vision. In some LHON patients, this loss of function is reversible in a substantial number of ganglion cells, but in others, a cell death pathway (probably apoptotic) is activated with subsequent extensive degeneration of the retinal ganglion cell layer and optic nerve.
Holocene variations in mineral and grain-size composition along the East Greenland glaciated margin (ca 67°–70°N): Local versus long-distance sediment transport

Quantitative X-Ray Diffraction (qXRD) analysis of the <2 mm sediment fraction from surface (sea floor) samples, and marine sediment cores that span the last 10–12 cal ka BP, are used to describe spatial and temporal variations in non-clay mineral compositions for an area between Kangerlussuaq Trough and Scoresby Sund (∼67°–70°N), East Greenland. Bedrock consists primarily of an early Tertiary alkaline complex with high weight% of pyroxene and plagioclase. Farther inland and to the north, the bedrock is dominantly felsic with a high fraction of quartz and potassium feldspars. Principal Component (PC) analysis of the non-clay sediment compositions indicates the importance of quartz and pyroxene as compositional end members, with an abrupt shift from quartz and k-feldspar dominated sediments north of Scoresby Sund to sediments rich in pyroxene and plagioclase feldspars offshore from the early Tertiary basaltic outcrop. Coarse (<2 mm or <1 mm) ice-rafted sediments are largely absent from the trough sediments between ∼8 and 5 cal ka BP, but then increase in the last 4 cal ka BP. Compositional unmixing of the sediments in Grivel Basin and Kangerlussuaq Trough indicate the dominance of local over long distance sediment sources, with pulses of sediment from tidewater glaciers in Kangerlussuaq and Nansen fjords reaching the inner shelf during the Neoglaciation. The change in IRD is more dramatic in the sediment grain-size proxies than in the quartz wt%. Forty to seventy percent of the variance in the quartz records from either side of Denmark Strait is explained by low frequency trends, but the data from the Grivel Basin, East Greenland, are distinctly different, with an approximate 2500 yr periodicity.
Some General Notions of Variability Ordering with Applications

In this note several notions of partial orderings among distributions based on some generalized variability inherent in the random variables or the distribution functions are presented. The notions of variability ordering are introduced via the probability weighted moments, vitality measure and related moment inequalities.
Efficacy and safety of the band and slough technique for endoscopic therapy of nonampullary duodenal adenomas: a case series.

Background Endoscopic resection of nonampullary duodenal adenomas (NADAs) is effective but carries substantial procedural risks. Therapeutic banding for treatment of duodenal mucosal neoplasia has not been studied. We report a novel band and slough (BAS) technique for therapy of NADA without endoscopic resection. Objective Efficacy and safety of BAS. Design Retrospective review of a prospective database. Setting Community hospital. Patients Patients with sporadic and familial biopsy-proven NADA without invasive cancer undergoing BAS. Intervention Patients were treated with BAS without endoscopic resection on an outpatient basis. A follow-up telephone call was made by a nurse at 24 hours. Follow-up endoscopy was performed at 8 weeks, with further therapy of residual NADA. In patients with minimal residual NADA not amenable to banding, argon plasma coagulation (APC) "touch-up" was used. Subsequent endoscopic surveillance was performed. Main Outcome Measurements Complete histologic remission of NADA after successful BAS and postprocedure bleeding, perforation, and pain. Results Ten patients, average age 65 years, 6 male, with sporadic/familial adenomatous polyposis NADA 8 of 2 (6 tubular adenoma and 4 tubulovillous adenoma) were treated. Mean (largest) NADA was 12.5 mm (20 mm). Five patients achieved complete remission after a single session. Among 5 patients requiring further therapy, 3 were treated with repeat banding with or without APC and 2 with APC alone. The average number of bands per session was 4.4. Patients were followed up to 24 months without NADA recurrence. None of the patients had acute or delayed adverse events of bleeding, perforation, or postprocedure pain. Limitations Lack of polyp tissue retrieval. Conclusion BAS appears to be a safe and potentially effective endoscopic treatment for NADA. However, larger studies are needed to corroborate these findings.
On the Stability of Trade Partnerships

In his landmark study of US commodity flows, Ullman explains flow as being determined by complementarity, intervening opportunity, and transferability. Of these three concepts, only complementarity can be readily tested empirically; this may be accomplished through an analysis of trade partnerships. Despite rapidly fluctuating flow volumes, results of this analysis indicate that trade partnerships are predominantly stable. Further, partnerships involving large volumes are much more stable than those involving small volumes. This provides evidence of the role of spot markets in determining the pattern of commodity flows.
AGU Members Learn Ways to Get Involved in Science Policy

Gasps filled the room as scientists listened to a talk about the looming U.S. “fiscal cliff” and sequestration impacts on the science community. This was but one example of efforts by AGU's Public Affairs team during this year's Fall Meeting to talk to members about the latest news on the federal budget and what was happening on Capitol Hill.
Declining Growth Status of Indigenous Siberian Children in Post-Soviet Russia

Human health status in Russia has declined sharply over the last decade. The massive social changes that have taken place since the fall of the Soviet Union have resulted in increasing morbidity and mortality rates. However, relatively little information is available on the changes in health and disease patterns of Russia's many indigenous populations. The present study examines anthropometric indices of growth status of young children (< 6 years; n = 155), a sensitive index of population health, in three indigenous Evenki communities of Central Siberia between 1991 and 1995. Children of the 1995 sample are significantly shorter, lighter, and leaner than those measured in 1991 and 1992. In 1995, 61 % of Evenki children were growth stunted (heightfor-age z score < -2.0), as compared to 34% in 1991 and 1992 (p < 0.001). Similarly, the prevalence of low weight-for-age (weight-for-age z score < -2.0) children in the 1995 sample was more than double that of the 1991/92 sample (43% vs. 18%; p <0.001), and the prevalence of low weight-for-height (weight-for-height z score < -2.0; "wasting") increased from 2% to 17% (p < 0.001). The levels of growth retardation observed in 1995 are comparable to those seen among impoverished third-world populations. Additionally, the declines in linear growth appear to be particularly pronounced in girls, raising the question of whether there may be differential treatment of boys and girls under these conditions of stress. Overall, these results indicate that increased economic marginalization is having a profound effect on the health and well-being of indigenous Siberian groups. Further work is necessary to determine the proximate causes of the disturbing trends, and the potential solutions and interventions.
Etiological agents of bovine mastitis

A total of 137 microbial species, subspecies and serovars have been isolated from the bovine mammary gland. Nucleic acid hybridization studies have restructured the classification of many mastitis pathogens. Availability of defined species descriptions has permitted greater insight into the distribution and pathogenicity of many previously unrecognized microorganisms associated with bovine mastitis. Precise epidemiological studies are needed to better delineate the role of some microorganisms in bovine mastitis and to aid development of improved control methods.
Effects of Cr addition on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of 6061-T6 continuously cast and rolled redraw rod

Abstract Chromium additions to 6061 aluminum alloy can form α-Al 12 (Fe, Cr) 3 Si dispersoids during homogenization. Continuous cast bar does not receive a homogenization step and is rolled directly after casting, therefore, it is of interest to determine the effect of Cr addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of continuous cast 6061-T6 rod. Microstructural examination of 0.5 inch diameter continuous cast and rolled 6061 w/Cr T6 rod revealed that the rod had a fully recrystallized microstructure with pancake-shaped grains indicative of aluminum alloys containing dispersoids. Examination of TEM samples confirmed the existence of α-Al 12 (Fe, Cr) 3 Si dispersoids in the T6 rod microstructure. X-ray diffraction (Guinier techiique) revealed that the 6061 w/Cr T6 rod contained α-Al 12 Fe 3 Si and α-Al 12 (Fe, Cr) 3 Si constituent phases whereas the 6061-T6 rod without Cr contained only β-Al 9 Fe 2 Si 2 . Tensile test results showed that Cr addition to 6061-T6 rod substantially improved the ductility of the rod.
Mandibular Bone Turnover During Calcium Deficiency in the Rat

Bone resorption and deposition during calcium deficiency were compared in the mandible, femur, and vertebrae. While resorption did not differ markedly among the three sites, mineral deposition was lowest in the mandible, leading to a greater net loss of mineral than from femur or vertebrae.
Protein kinase D1 maintains the epithelial phenotype by inducing a DNA-bound, inactive SNAI1 transcriptional repressor complex.

Background Protein Kinase D1 is downregulated in its expression in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast and in invasive breast cancer cells, but its functions in normal breast epithelial cells is largely unknown. The epithelial phenotype is maintained by cell-cell junctions formed by E-cadherin. In cancer cells loss of E-cadherin expression contributes to an invasive phenotype. This can be mediated by SNAI1, a transcriptional repressor for E-cadherin that contributes to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Methodology/Principal Findings Here we show that PKD1 in normal murine mammary gland (NMuMG) epithelial cells is constitutively-active in its basal state and prevents a transition to a mesenchymal phenotype. Investigation of the involved mechanism suggested that PKD1 regulates the expression of E-cadherin at the promoter level through direct phosphorylation of the transcriptional repressor SNAI1. PKD1-mediated phosphorylation of SNAI1 occurs in the nucleus and generates a nuclear, inactive DNA/SNAI1 complex that shows decreased interaction with its co-repressor Ajuba. Analysis of human tissue samples with a newly-generated phosphospecific antibody for PKD1-phosphorylated SNAI1 showed that regulation of SNAI1 through PKD1 occurs in vivo in normal breast ductal tissue and is decreased or lost in invasive ductal carcinoma. Conclusions/Significance Our data describe a mechanism of how PKD1 maintains the breast epithelial phenotype. Moreover, they suggest, that the analysis of breast tissue for PKD-mediated phosphorylation of SNAI1 using our novel phosphoS11-SNAI1-specific antibody may allow predicting the invasive potential of breast cancer cells.
Black Women in Mathematics in the United States

(1981). Black Women in Mathematics in the United States. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 88, No. 8, pp. 592-604.
Direct Regulation of Diurnal Drd3 Expression and Cocaine Reward by NPAS2

Abstract Background Circadian gene disruptions are associated with the development of psychiatric disorders, including addiction. However, the mechanisms by which circadian genes regulate reward remain poorly understood. Methods We used mice with a mutation in Npas2 and adeno-associated virus-short hairpin RNA mediated knockdown of Npas2 and Clock in the nucleus accumbens (NAc). We performed conditioned place preference assays. We utilized cell sorting quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing. Results Npas2 mutants exhibit decreased sensitivity to cocaine reward, which is recapitulated with a knockdown of neuronal PAS domain protein 2 (NPAS2) specifically in the NAc, demonstrating the importance of NPAS2 in this region. Interestingly, reducing circadian locomotor output cycles kaput (CLOCK) (a homologue of NPAS2) in the NAc had no effect, suggesting an important distinction in NPAS2 and CLOCK function. Furthermore, we found that NPAS2 expression is restricted to Drd1 expressing neurons while CLOCK is ubiquitous. Moreover, NPAS2 and CLOCK have distinct temporal patterns of DNA binding, and we identified novel and unique binding sites for each protein. We identified the Drd3 dopamine receptor as a direct transcriptional target of NPAS2 and found that NPAS2 knockdown in the NAc disrupts its diurnal rhythm in expression. Chronic cocaine treatment likewise disrupts the normal rhythm in Npas2 and Drd3 expression in the NAc, which may underlie behavioral plasticity in response to cocaine. Conclusions Together, these findings identify an important role for the circadian protein, NPAS2, in the NAc in the regulation of dopamine receptor expression and drug reward.
Coloration of KC1 and KBr crystals by far ultraviolet radiation

Abstract F center production by far ultraviolet radiation has been studied in the range of Photon energies 40–150 eV. Synchrotron was used both for color center production and as a light source for detection. The temperature dependence and efficiency of coloration are different than in the exciton tail or in the X-ray region, and this is thought to be due to the proximity of the surface in the present case.
Rectus femoris transfer—Gracilis versus Sartorius

Abstract In order to determine the effectiveness of a new technique of rectus femoris transfer and to compare the effectiveness between the two transfer sites (gracilis versus sartorius), we evaluated the results of pre- and post-operative gait analyses in 46 limbs in 35 cerebral palsy patients who had been treated with the rectus femoris transfer either to the gracilis (gracilis group) or to the sartorius (sartorius group). Preoperatively, there were no significant differences between the two groups in any of the parameters measured. Post-operatively there were significant improvements in stride length, dynamic knee range of motion (ROM), knee angle at initial contact, and maximum knee extension in stance in both groups ( P P
Organic Microspheres from the Precambrian of South-West Africa

Quartz crystals from the Precambrian of South-West Africa contain organic particles in their inclusions which closely resemble, in detailed morphology, coacervates, proteinoid microspheres, or fossil and recent microorganisms. The theoretical significance of these organic particles is discussed with reference to problems of the origin of life and the search for extraterrestrial organisms by remote sensors.
Disparities between ophthalmologists and their patients in estimating quality of life.

Purpose of review Numerous types of instruments can measure quality of life in a given state of health. This article reviews studies that have measured quality of life of patients and physicians for various types of disease states by using a generic preference-based method known as the time tradeoff method of utility analysis. Of particular interest are comparisons of quality of life estimates between patients and physicians for common ophthalmologic conditions. Recent findings In nearly all of the studies identified, the quality of life estimates of patients differed significantly from those of physicians. In studies involving macular disease, cataracts, and numerous other types of medical conditions, physicians generally underestimated the impact of the condition on patients' quality of life. Less of a disparity between patients and physicians has been reported for estimates of quality of life with glaucoma. Differences in quality of life estimates may be related to poor physician-patient communication. Summary It is important to appreciate the differences in preferences of patients and physicians. Because only patients themselves know their values and needs regarding treatments and outcomes, physicians should routinely elicit patients' preferences and allow them to participate in decision making about treatment. At the societal levels, patients' preferences should help guide decisions including how to allocate finite health care resources. An important tool for this purpose is cost-utility analysis, which incorporates data on patient preferences, along with survival and cost data, to compare the values of competing health care interventions.
Catabolism of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene by Mycobacterium vaccae.

Mycobacterium vaccae strain JOB-5 cometabolized 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in the presence of propane as a carbon and energy source. Two novel oxidized metabolites, as well as several known reduced products, were generated during catabolism of TNT byM. vaccae. During the cometabolic process, there was transient production of a brown chromophore. This compound was identified as 4-amino-2,6-dinitrobenzoic acid. WhenM. vaccae was incubated with [14CTNT and propane, 50% of the added radiolabel was incorporated into the cellular lipid fraction. These results suggest that ring cleavage occurred prior to the incorporation of radiolabelled carbon into phosphatidyl-l-serine, phosphatidylethanolamine, cardiolipin, and other polar lipids.
Preoperative risk factors for postoperative Clostridium difficile infection in colectomy patients

Abstract Background Wide variation among hospitals in the rate of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) after surgery was hypothesized to be related to different prophylactic antibiotic practices. Methods Between March 2008 and March 2010, 30-day confirmed postoperative CDI rates were prospectively collected for patients undergoing colectomy surgery at 23 hospitals participating in a collaborative quality improvement program. Preoperative variables significantly associated with CDI (P ≤ .10) in a bivariate analysis were incorporated into a logistic regression model to test for independent associations. Results Among 4,936 patients, the overall rate of CDI was 1.6% (range by hospital, 0%–9%). After adjusting for patient comorbidities and hospital site, type of preoperative antibiotics used for prophylaxis was not significantly associated with CDI. Emergency surgery, low albumin, and neurologic and renal comorbidities emerged as independent preoperative predictors of CDI. Conclusions Perioperative antibiotic practices did not prove to be independently associated with CDI after colectomy surgery.
Phospholipid methylation in myogenic cells

Abstract The biosynthesis of phosphatidylcholine from successive N-methylation of phosphatidylethanolamine has been implicated as a major mechanism for the transduction of several receptor-mediated signals including β -adrenergic coupling to adenylate cyclase. In this report we demonstrate L-isoproterenol stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity in two myogenic cell lines, L8 and BC3H-1. Using a sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method for qualitative and quantitative determination of phospholipids we found an active membrane phospholipid methylation pathway in these cells. Despite β -adrenergic simulation of adenylate cyclase no alteration in the transmethylation pathway could be demonstrated.
Effects of grain boundaries on the channel conductance of SOl MOSFET's

A physical model that describes the effects of grain boundaries on the linear-region (strong-inversion) channel conductance of SOI (polysilicon on silicon-dioxide) MOSFET's is developed and supported experimentally. The model predicts an effective turn-on characteristic that occurs beyond the strong-inversion threshold, and henceforth defines the "carrier mobility threshold voltage" and the effective field-effect carrier mobility in the channel, which typically is higher than the actual (intragrain) mobility. These parameters, which are defined by the properties of the grain boundaries, can easily be misinterpreted experimentally as the threshold voltage and the actual carrier mobility.
Poly(ether sulfone) membranes for desalination: membrane preparation and characterization

Abstract Desalination membranes have been prepared from sulfonated poly(ether sulfone). These asymmetric structures were prepared by casting from a ternary system comprised of the polymer, a nonsolvent, and a swelling agent (that is, a cosolvent casting solution). Phase inversion was induced by a combination of evaporation and gelation in a second nonsolvent. Membrane performance (flux and salt rejection) was related to the composition of the initial casting solution, the composition of the cast film at the time of gelation, and the solution history. Partial solubility parameters were used to quantify the compositions and to facilitate a visualization of the membrane preparation process.
Internal wave—granular temperature interaction: an energy balance study on granular flow

Recent work demonstrated that under a certain resonance condition a granular flow becomes unstable to internal wave oscillations. The generated oscillation may result in an optimization of the flow by reducing the net power loss to frictional drag. The present paper examines possible interaction between ordered oscillations and granular temperature within a high-speed granular flow. It will be shown that one consequence of the initial generation of the internal waves is that there will be a net reduction in the granular temperature. In effect, the instability amounts to a conversion from chaotic to ordered oscillation, and thus a more efficient transport. The subsequent evolution of the flow, beyond the initial instability phase will be investigated in this study. The primary flow is assumed to consist of a sliding layer of negligible granular temperature placed above a high-shear basal layer of significant granular temperature. Each layer may grow or decrease in depth as the flow develops downstream and the two layers exchange mass across the interface. A flow instability behaving as a landslide with mixing confined to a thin layer near its base may evolve with time to become a fully-mixed debris flow, or vice-versa.
Synthesis of 5-isopropyl-substituted poly(l-proline)s: Optically active cis- and trans-5-isopropylproline and poly(cis- and trans-5-isopropylproline).

Synthesis of 5-Isopropyl-Substituted Poly(l-proline)s: Optically Active cis - and trans -5-Isopropylproline and Poly( cis - and trans -5-isopropylproline)
Evaluation of gas emissions from animal building dusts using a cylindrical convective chamber

A cylindrical convective chamber was developed to monitor gas emissions from dusts. To extract ammonia and odorous gases adsorbed by the dust in the chamber, a low-temperature thermal desorption technique was applied. The empirical thermal desorption coefficients and densities of animal building dust were investigated. A chemiluminescence ammonia analyser and an ACSCENT international olfactometer were used for the ammonia and odour detection threshold analysis. The core objective of this research was to determine the magnitude of ammonia and odour emissions from animal building dust. The ammonia emissions from the dust samples varied depending on animal types and the dust sampling time. Dust from pig buildings was sampled solely for odour measurement. The average odour detection threshold and the emission rates of dust from pig buildings were 238±62 OU m −3 and 1.43±0.37 OU (min g dust) −1 , respectively. The odour data were processed by using SAS to examine any variations among the pig building types.
Who should profit from the business of science? The moral limit to private profit in entrepreneurial science.

The common and sometimes querulous response to those who have had doubts about the justice of a social arrangement that permits this use of public funds for private gain has been that things like recombinant genes and artificial hearts are private property; as such, they can legitimately be used to make a profit. To deny this appears tantamount to denying a right to private property and thereby calls into question our fundamental economic institutions
Surgical Residency Market Research-What Are Applicants Looking for?

Objectives We propose that one of the integral parts of building a stronger residency program is the ability to recruit top applicants. Little is known about the factors applicants use to evaluate residency programs. Given that the top applicants are likely to be ranked highly by multiple programs, we sought to determine which factors applicants themselves used to evaluate potential residency programs. Design An anonymous, voluntary survey was distributed to all interviewing applicants, asking them to rank 12 factors when choosing a residency. They were additionally asked about any prior research or international medical experience. Settings Surveys were distributed at the beginning of the interview day and collected in sealed unmarked envelopes. Participants All applicants interviewing for general surgery residency at the University of Virginia during the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons. Results Resident satisfaction was rated the highest, 8.7 out of 9. In descending order of importance, applicants ranked record of the chiefs (8.0), resident case volume (7.8), academic reputation (7.6), geography (7.4), research opportunities (7.3), laparoscopic laboratory (6.2), elective time (5.4), international opportunities (5.1), benefits (4.8), and vacation (4.7), respectively. No correlation was found between prior research experience and research ranking score. A significant positive correlation was found between those applicants with prior international experience and their ranking of international opportunities during residency (p Conclusions Applicants rated a program on a broad range of factors and commonly cited a “gut feeling” or “esprit de corps.” The ability to pursue an identified area of special interest, in this case an international opportunity, proved to be an additional major selection factor for a subset of candidates.
NOTE ON THE EXPANSION IN POWERS OF POISSON'S RATIO OF SOLUTIONS IN ELASTOSTATICS

In this paper we examine the power-series development with respect to Poisson's ratio of the solution to the second boundary-value problem (surface tractions prescribed) in three-dimensional classical elastostatics for the case of vanishing body forces. The individual terms of this expansion, by means of steady-state thermoelasticity theory, are found to admit an independent physical interpretation. This interpretation, in turn, permits certain conclusions concerning the dependence upon the elastic constants of solutions to space problems. In particular, it is shown that for a body of arbitrary connectivity all stresses are independent of the elastic constants if and only if the dilatation (and the mean normal stress) is a linear function of the cartesian coordinates. The feasibility of successive approximations of solutions appropriate to sufficiently small values of Poisson's ratio is also considered.
Fast learning of approximation policies for coordination in distributed networks

This paper presents the Average-Max Reinforcement Learning (AMRL) algorithm that can be used to approximate a global policy of a Markov Decision Process (MDP) as a set of local policies that can be executed in a partially observable environment. The local policies are obtained by reinforcement learning and averaging state-action tables under a stochastic process model. This approach overcomes the scalability problem that arises when a large MDP has to be solved exactly. The approach is motivated by the problem of computing coordination policies for correlated but distributed sensors. We demonstrate the performance of this learning scheme on a simulation of a wireless body sensor network. These results show that the performance of the AMRL algorithm is significantly better than a random policy and is close to the optimal policy that can be obtained from solving a global MDP. The results also show that the AMRL algorithm is scalable to networks represented by large state spaces.
Molecular Mechanisms of Mitochondrial Ca2+ Uptake: Role of MICU1 and its Paralogs

Mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake is central to cell metabolism, signaling and survival. Recent studies identified MCU as the pore of the mitochondrial Ca2+ uniporter and MICU1 as its critical regulator. MICU1 and its paralogs, MICU2 and MICU3 are EF-hand proteins and are the primary candidates to confer Ca2+ sensitivity to the Ca2+ uniporter. We will present studies of the molecular mechanisms of the MICU-dependent closure of the uniporter at low [Ca2+] levels and its cooperative activation when [Ca2+] increases. Furthermore, we will present clues to the MICU-dependence of the tissue specific mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake profiles.
Anomalous heat transfer and drag in laminar flow of viscoelastic fluids

Abstract A boundary-layer approach is used to derive an expression for the heat transfer coefficient when a viscoelastic fluid flows past a cylinder. The heat-transfer coefficient becomes independent of velocity at large values of the latter, thus explaining the experimental results of James and Acosta. The agreement with the observations of these authors is, however, only qualitative, since their experiments were carried out at relatively low Reynolds numbers. By changing the exponent of the Reynolds number from the boundary-layer approximation value to one which is valid in the range used by James and Acosta, a correlation is suggested which is in satisfactory agreement with their data. Similar considerations are used to explain the additional experimental observation of James and Acosta, i.e. that the drag coefficient for the flow past a cylinder also becomes independent of velocity at large values of the latter quantity.
AlGaAs heterostructure injection laser s.c.r.

The operation of a gate-controlled p-n-p-n injection laser device has been demonstrated. The switching is accomplished by an electrical control signal. The threshold current of the laser incorporated into the device is about 100 mA, and its optical properties are similar to those of the Be-implanted laser reported recently.
Hormonal Influences on the Level of Testicular Androgen Binding Activity: Effect of FSH Following Hypophysectomy

Concentrations of high affinity (Ka equals 5.5 plus or minus 0.83 times 10-8M-1) androgen binding activity in carbonextracted rat testicular supernatants have been determined by Scatchard plot analysis under a variety of hormonal situations: (a) 0-90 days following hypophysectomy; (b) 0-60 days of daily injection of NIH-FSH-P1 (150 mug) beginning 1 day after hypophysectomy; and (c) 0-60 days of daily FSH treatment beginning 30 days after hypophysectomy. The high affinity binding component declined from 0.32 pmoles/mg protein intact adults to 0.28, 0.17, and less than 0.08 (limit of detectability) pmoles/mg protein at 11, 16 and 31 days, respectively. FSH treatment beginning immediately after surgery slowed this decline, giving values of 0.30, 0.17, and 0.12 pmoles/mg protein after 11, 29, and 54 days of treatment, respectively. Expressed as pmoles per testis this represented 96, 61, and 40% of the intact control level. Similar effects on the level of androgen binding protein (Rf 0.54) were measured by steady-state polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The concentration in both testis and epididymis declined gradually to nondetectable levels by 30 days after surgery. FSH treatment for 11, 29, and 54 days, respectively, resulted in 0.37, 0.38, and 0.03 pmoles of sites/mg protein in testis compared to 0.34 in intact controls and 5.7, 2.6, and 0.2 pmoles/mg protein in epididymis compared to 2.8 in intact controls. Doses of 80, 150, and 300 mug FSH/rat/day for 3 days beginning 30 days after hypophysectomy when postmeiotic elements of the germinal epithelium had degenerated caused graded increases in both testicular and epididymal levels of androgen binding protein. Prolonged FSH treatment (150 mug) under these conditions resulted in an increase in binding activity to a level of 0.12, 0.19, 0.17, and 0.20 pmoles/mg protein after 3, 11, 25, and 56 days of treatment. On a per testis basis this represented less than 20% of intact control levels. PAGE estimates were comparable except at the long treatment intervals. These results indicate that FSH treatment influences the level of androgen binding protein in adult testis and epididymis. This may reflect a direct influence on synthesis, degradation, and transport and/or indirect effects on general maintenance and responsiveness of the pertinent cell types.