cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Chloroquine-induced neuronal cell death is p53 and Bcl-2 family-dependent but caspase-independent.

Chloroquine is a lysosomotropic agent that causes marked changes in intracellular protein processing and traf- ficking and extensive autophagic vacuole formation. Chloroquine may be cytotoxic and has been used as a model of lysosomal- dependent cell death. Recent studies indicate that autophagic cell death may involve Bcl-2 family members and share some features with caspase-dependent apoptotic death. To determine the molecular pathway of chloroquine-induced neuronal cell death, we examined the effects of chloroquine on primary telencephalic neuronal cultures derived from mice with targeted gene disruptions in p53, and various caspase and bcl-2 family members. In wild-type neurons, chloroquine produced con- centration- and time-dependent accumulation of autophagosomes, caspase-3 activation, and cell death. Cell death was inhibited by 3-methyladenine, an inhibitor of autophagic vacuole formation, but not by Boc-Asp-FMK (BAF), a broad caspase inhibitor. Targeted gene disruptions of p53 and bax inhibited and bcl-x potentiated chloroquine-induced neuron death. Caspase-9- and caspase-3-deficient neurons were not protected from chloroquine cytotoxicity. These studies indicate that chloroquine activates a regulated cell death pathway that partially overlaps with the apoptotic cascade.
Marketing Segmentation with Descriptive Statistics, Inference, Hypothesis Tests and Regression

Deb Henretta is about to commit substantial resources to launch Pampers Preemies. The following article from the Wall Street Journal describes Procter & Gamble’s involvement in the preemie diaper market:
Development of Drug-Induced Inverse Psoriasis in a Patient with Crohn’s Disease

Crohn's disease is difficult to manage and often requires multiple medications. While these drugs vastly improve quality of life, physicians must monitor for adverse events. We report a case of a flare of inverse psoriasis after 15 months of treatment with ustekinumab. This is the third reported case of a flare of drug-induced psoriasis with ustekinumab, and it is the first reported case with an inverse presentation; however, the clinical picture is confounded by concomitant use of hydroxychloroquine. Inverse psoriasis is a rare variant of drug-induced psoriasis of which physicians must be cognizant while treating patients with Crohn's disease.
Agricultural Biodiversity Maintenance in a Coastal Socio-Ecological System: the Pearl Lagoon Basin, Nicaragua

Globalization processes, such as market pressures, tend to encourage farmers to reduce agricultural (or agro-) biodiversity. Yet, what is known about the drivers of agrobiodiversity erosion largely comes from research from communities in which farming is the principle natural resource-based livelihood. Focusing on Caribbean Nicaragua’s Pearl Lagoon Basin following the construction of the first regional road, we used a mixed methods approach to understand how the complex livelihood dynamics inherent in coastal socio-ecological systems—where households rely upon both terrestrial and aquatic resources—affect farmers’ decisions to maintain agrobiodiversity. Our analyses reveal atypical spatial patterns of agrobiodiversity maintenance relative to road access: the farming systems of households most proximal to the road are significantly more agrobiodiverse than those maintained by household in distant communities. This pattern is in part explained by local livelihood dynamics. Market access associated with road development encouraged the depletion of the lagoon fishery. To buffer their food security, households’ near to the road are focusing efforts on their historically biodiverse subsistence agricultural systems. These findings suggest that conservation efforts targeting coastal socio-ecological systems must account for the ways in which the complexity of natural resource-based livelihoods in these systems affect households’ responses to a changing world.
Responses to Commentaries on Advances in Empirically Based Assessment.

(1993). Responses to Commentaries on Advances in Empirically Based Assessment. School Psychology Review: Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 334-342.
Sensitivity of SiC Grain Boundaries to Oxidation

Molecular dynamics simulations of dry oxidation of bicrystals with incoherent and coherent grain boundaries (GBs) in 3C–SiC are performed at 2000 K and the results are compared to oxidation of sing...
Integrative analysis of rare copy number variants and gene expression data in alopecia areata implicates an aetiological role for autophagy.

Alopecia areata (AA) is a highly prevalent autoimmune disease that attacks the hair follicle and leads to hair loss that can range from small patches to complete loss of scalp and body hair. Our previous linkage and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) generated strong evidence for aetiological contributions from inherited genetic variants at different population frequencies, including both rare mutations and common polymorphisms. Additionally, we conducted gene expression (GE) studies on scalp biopsies of 96 patients and controls to establish signatures of active disease. In this study, we performed an integrative analysis on these two datasets to test the hypothesis that rare CNVs in patients with AA could be leveraged to identify drivers of disease in our AA GE signatures. We analysed copy number variants (CNVs) in a case-control cohort of 673 patients with AA and 16 311 controls independent of the case-control cohort of 96 research participants used in our GE study. Using an integrative computational analysis, we identified 14 genes whose expression levels were altered by CNVs in a consistent direction of effect, corresponding to gene expression changes in lesional skin of patients. Four of these genes were affected by CNVs in three or more unrelated patients with AA, including ATG4B and SMARCA2, which are involved in autophagy and chromatin remodelling, respectively. Our findings identified new classes of genes with potential contributions to AA pathogenesis.
Partition-Theoretic Formulas for Arithmetic Densities

If \(\gcd (r,t)=1\), then Alladi proved the Mobius sum identity $$ -\sum _{\begin{array}{c} n \ge 2 \\ p_\mathrm{{min}}(n) \equiv r \pmod {t} \end{array}} \mu (n)n^{-1}= \frac{1}{\varphi (t)}. $$ Here \(p_\mathrm{{min}}(n)\) is the smallest prime divisor of n. The right-hand side represents the proportion of primes in a fixed arithmetic progression modulo t. Locus generalized this to Chebotarev densities for Galois extensions. Answering a question of Alladi, we obtain analogs of these results to arithmetic densities of subsets of positive integers using q-series and integer partitions. For suitable subsets \({\mathcal S}\) of the positive integers with density \(d_{{\mathcal S}}\), we prove that $$\begin{aligned} - \lim _{q \rightarrow 1} \sum _{\begin{array}{c} \lambda \in \mathscr {P} \\ \mathrm {sm}(\lambda ) \in {\mathcal S} \end{array}} \mu _{\mathscr {P}} (\lambda )q^{\vert \lambda \vert } = d_{{\mathcal S}}, \end{aligned}$$ where the sum is taken over integer partitions \(\lambda \), \(\mu _{\mathscr {P}}(\lambda )\) is a partition-theoretic Mobius function, \(\vert \lambda \vert \) is the size of partition \(\lambda \), and \(\mathrm {sm}(\lambda )\) is the smallest part of \(\lambda \). In particular, we obtain partition-theoretic formulas for even powers of \(\pi \) when considering power-free integers.
Metal–Organic-Framework-Derived Co/Cu–CarbonNanoparticle Catalysts for Furfural Hydrogenation

The transformation of Co, Cu, and mixed Co/Cu MOF-74 crystals into bimetallic, carbon-supported Co–Cu catalysts is investigated via high-temperature pyrolysis. Mixed-metal MOFs prepared via a one-s...
T cell populations in children with autism spectrum disorder and co-morbid gastrointestinal symptoms.

Abstract Children with ASD are more likely to experience gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms than typically-developed children. Numerous studies have reported immune abnormalities and inflammatory profiles in the majority of individuals with ASD. Immune dysfunction is often hypothesized as a driving factor in many GI diseases and it has been suggested that it is more apparent in children with ASD that exhibit GI symptoms. In this study we sought to characterize peripheral T cell subsets in children with and without GI symptoms, compared to healthy typically-developing children. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated from participants, who were categorized into three groups: children with ASD who experience GI symptoms (n ​= ​14), children with ASD who do not experience GI symptoms (n ​= ​10) and typically-developing children who do not experience GI symptoms (n ​= ​15). In order to be included in the GI group, GI symptoms such as diarrhea, constipation, and/or pain while defecating, had to be present in the child regularly for the past 6 months; likewise, in order to be placed in the no GI groups, bowel movements could not include the above symptoms present throughout development. Cells were assessed for surface markers and intracellular cytokines to identify T cell populations. Children with ASD and GI symptoms displayed elevated TH17 populations (0.757% ​± ​0.313% compared to 0.297% ​± ​0.197), while children with ASD who did not experience GI symptoms showed increased frequency of TH2 populations (2.02% ​± ​1.08% compared to 1.01% ​± ​0.58%). Both ASD groups showed evidence of reduced gut homing regulatory T cell populations compared to typically developing children (ASDGI:1.93% ​± ​0.75% and ASDNoGI:1.85% ​± ​0.89 compared to 2.93% ​± ​1.16%). Children with ASD may have deficits in immune regulation that lead to differential inflammatory T cell subsets that could be linked to associated co-morbidities.
Defining and Pursuing Goals in a Work First Environment: An Analysis of Public Assistance Recipients’ Experience and Perception of Public Policy on the Frontlines

For many public assistance recipients, engaging in work activities is mandatory to receive benefits. Although the goal of such activities, to assist recipients in finding employment quickly, matche...
Taurus: Lightweight Parallel Logging for In-Memory Database Management Systems (Extended Version).

Existing single-stream logging schemes are unsuitable for in-memory database management systems (DBMSs) as the single log is often a performance bottleneck. To overcome this problem, we present Taurus, an efficient parallel logging scheme that uses multiple log streams, and is compatible with both data and command logging. Taurus tracks and encodes transaction dependencies using a vector of log sequence numbers (LSNs). These vectors ensure that the dependencies are fully captured in logging and correctly enforced in recovery. Our experimental evaluation with an in-memory DBMS shows that Taurus's parallel logging achieves up to 9.9x and 2.9x speedups over single-streamed data logging and command logging, respectively. It also enables the DBMS to recover up to 22.9x and 75.6x faster than these baselines for data and command logging, respectively. We also compare Taurus with two state-of-the-art parallel logging schemes and show that the DBMS achieves up to 2.8x better performance on NVMe drives and 9.2x on HDDs.
Antihypertensive use for stroke in United States emergency departments.

Objective Timely emergency department (ED) control of hypertension in the acute phase of stroke is associated with improved outcomes. It is unclear how emergency physicians use antihypertensive medications to treat severe hypertension associated with stroke. We sought to determine national patterns of antihypertensive use associated with ED visits for stroke in the United States. Methods We analyzed data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) 2008-2017. We included ED visits associated with ischemic stroke (ICD9 433-434, ICD10 I630-I639) or hemorrhagic stroke (ICD9 430-432, ICD10 I600-I629). We estimated the number and proportions of stroke ED visits with triage blood pressure meeting treatment thresholds (triage systolic blood pressure [SBP] ≥180 mm Hg). We identified the frequency of antihypertensive use, as well as the most commonly used agents. Results Between 2008-2017, of a total 135,012,819 ED visits, 619,791 were associated with stroke (78.3% ischemic strokes and 21.7% hemorrhage strokes). Of all stroke visits, 21.8% received antihypertensive medications. Of the identified visits, 9.0% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.0%, 13.1%) ischemic stroke visits and 58.2% (95% CI = 49.0%, 66.9%) hemorrhagic stroke visits met criteria for BP reduction. A total of 47.6% (95% CI = 29.1%, 66.7%) of eligible ischemic stroke visits and 41.5% (95% CI = 30.5%, 53.3%) of eligible hemorrhagic strokes visits received antihypertensives. The most common agents used in ischemic stroke were beta-blockers, calcium-channel blockers, and ACE inhibitors. The most common agents used in hemorrhagic stroke included calcium-channel blockers, beta-blockers, and vasodilators. Conclusion In this national sample, less than half of strokes presenting to the ED with hypertension received antihypertensive therapy.
PdGNC confers drought tolerance by mediating stomatal closure resulting from NO and H 2 O 2 production via the direct regulation of PdHXK1 expression in Populus

Drought is one of the primary abiotic stresses, seriously implicating plant growth and productivity. Stomata play a crucial role in regulating drought tolerance. However, the molecular mechanism on stomatal movement-mediated drought tolerance remains unclear. Using genetic, molecular and biochemical techniques, we identified that the PdGNC directly activating the promoter of PdHXK1 by binding the GATC element, a hexokinase (HXK) synthesis key gene. Here, PdGNC, a member of the GATA transcription factor family, was greatly induced by abscisic acid and dehydration. Overexpressing PdGNC in poplar (Populus clone 717) resulted in reduced stomatal aperture with greater water-use efficiency and increased water deficit tolerance. By contrast, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated poplar mutant gnc exhibited increased stomatal aperture and water loss with reducing drought resistance. PdGNC activates PdHXK1 (a hexokinase synthesis key gene), resulting in a remarkable increase in hexokinase activity in poplars subjected to water deficit. Furthermore, hexokinase promoted nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) production in guard cells, which ultimately reduced stomatal aperture and increased drought resistance. Together, PdGNC confers drought stress tolerance by reducing stomatal aperture caused by NO and H2 O2 production via the direct regulation of PdHXK1 expression in poplars.
Opinions among pediatric critical care physicians regarding the ethics of withdrawal of ventricular assist devices and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

BackgroundPediatric critical care physician attitudes about withdrawal of ventricular assist devices (VAD) and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in cases of medical futility are poorly def...
Searching for emotional salience.

Abstract In the emotion induced blindness (EIB) paradigm, participants search for a single target picture embedded in a rapidly presented sequence of “background” pictures. When the sequence also contains a task-irrelevant, emotional distractor appearing shortly before the target, awareness for the target is severely impaired (Most, Chun, Widders, & Zald, 2005). This temporary “blindness” for the target is thought to reflect attention capture by the emotionally salient distractor which blocks the target's access to the attention system. However, there are also reasons to suspect that physical salience may play an important role in the initial attention capture process. The emotional pictures consist of close-ups of people and animals while the background pictures are wide-angle views of landscapes and cityscapes. These physical differences might result in pop-out of the distractor picture that is at least partially based on physical and not emotional salience. We investigated the role of physical salience in emotional capture by comparing the typical EIB paradigm, which uses dissimilar distractors, with one in which the background pictures consist of people and animals in non-emotional settings (similar distractors). If emotional salience is the basis of attention capture in EIB, we should see similar amounts of target suppression in both conditions. Instead, we found that the EIB effect was reduced and possibly eliminated in the similar background condition. A control experiment revealed that emotional information was still available in the similar background condition because the blink was restored when the emotional picture was designated for report by a salient cue. These findings are clearly inconsistent with current theories of EIB (e.g., McHugo, Olatunji, & Zald, 2013) which assume that initial attention capture is driven by emotional not physical salience.
The elicitation of ethylene biosynthesis by a Trichoderma xylanase is not related to the cell wall degradation activity of the enzyme

A [beta]-1,4-endoxylanase (EIX) isolated from Trichoderma viride elicits plant defense responses in certain tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) cultivars in addition to its xylan degradation activity. It was not clear whether elicitation occurs by cell wall fragments released by the enzymic activity or by the xylanase protein interacting directly with the plant cells. We used protoplasts isolated from tobacco leaves to test whether the cell wall is required for the stimulation of ethylene biosynthesis by EIX. Protoplasts of tobacco (cv Xanthi) responded to treatment with the EIX, as indicated by an increased production of ethylene and the loss of protoplast viability. Protoplasts prepared from ethylene-pretreated leaves produced more ethylene and had higher rates of cell death in response to EIX than protoplasts prepared from nonethylene-treated leaves. Protoplasts of an EIX-insensitive cultivar of tobacco (Hicks) were insensitive to high concentrations of EIX. The addition of a crude cell wall preparation to protoplasts during incubation with EIX did not enhance the induction of ethylene biosynthesis by nonsaturating as well as saturating concentrations of EIX. These data indicate that the xylanase activity of EIX is unrelated to the elicitation of ethylene biosynthesis through the production of some cell wall fragment, since the protein per se appears capable of eliciting ethylene biosynthesis in protoplasts.
Maintaining continuity through a scientific revolution: a rereading of E. B. Wilson and T. H. Morgan on sex determination and Mendelism.

ABSTRACT A rereading of the American scientific literature on sex determination from 1902 to 1926 leads to a different understanding of the construction of the Mendelian‐chromosome theory after 1910. There was significant intellectual continuity, which has not been properly appreciated, underlying this scientific “revolution.” After reexamining the relationship between the ideas of key scientists, in particular Edmund B. Wilson and Thomas Hunt Morgan, I argue that, contrary to the historical literature, Wilson and Morgan did not adopt opposing views on Mendelism and sex determination. Rather, each preferred a non‐Mendelian explanation of the determination of sex. Around 1910, both integrated the Mendelian and non‐Mendelian theories to create a synthetic theory. One problem was the need to avoid an overly deterministic view of sex while also accepting the validity of Mendelism. Morgan’s discovery of mutations on the X chromosome takes on different significance when set in the context of the debate about se...
Affordable hands-on DNA sequencing and genotyping: an exercise for teaching DNA analysis to undergraduates.

In this report, we describe a 5-week laboratory exercise for undergraduate biology and biochemistry students in which students learn to sequence DNA and to genotype their DNA for selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Students use miniaturized DNA sequencing gels that require approximately 8 min to run. The students perform G, A, T, C Sanger sequencing reactions. They prepare and run the gels, perform Southern blots (which require only 10 min), and detect sequencing ladders using a colorimetric detection system. Students enlarge their sequencing ladders from digital images of their small nylon membranes, and read the sequence manually. They compare their reads with the actual DNA sequence using BLAST2. After mastering the DNA sequencing system, students prepare their own DNA from a cheek swab, polymerase chain reaction-amplify a region of their DNA that encompasses a SNP of interest, and perform sequencing to determine their genotype at the SNP position. A family pedigree can also be constructed. The SNP chosen by the instructor was rs17822931, which is in the ABCC11 gene and is the determinant of human earwax type. Genotypes at the rs178229931 site vary in different ethnic populations. © 2013 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 41(6):388–395, 2013
"Descriptive Integration" In Biography: Two Women; Interdisciplinary Approaches to Identity; New Ethno Art Journal

Gae Whitney Canfield. Sarah Winnemucca of the Northern Paiutes. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1983. xiv. 306 pp. Illustrations. $19-95 (cloth). Broughton Coburn. Nepali Aama: Portrait of. Nepalese Hill Woman. Santa Barbara, California: Ross-Erikson, 1982. 165 pp. Illustrations. $9-95 (paper). Anita Jacobson-Widding. ed. Identity: Personal and Sorio-Cultural. Stockholm, Sweden: Almqvist & Wikesell; Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Humanities, 1983. 423 pp. $46.00 (cloth) Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics. No. 1, Spring 1981, 123 pp.; No. 2, Autumn 1981, 143 pp.; No. 3, Spring 1982, 117 pp. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, in collaboration with the Laboratoire d'Ethnologie, University of Paris X, Nanterre.
Efficient Serum Clearance of Botulinum Neurotoxin Achieved Using a Pool of Small Antitoxin Binding Agents

Antitoxins for botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) and other toxins are needed that can be produced economically with improved safety and shelf-life properties compared to conventional therapeutics with large-animal antisera. Here we show that protection from BoNT lethality and rapid BoNT clearance through the liver can be elicited in mice by administration of a pool of epitope-tagged small protein binding agents together with a single anti-tag monoclonal antibody (MAb). The protein binding agents used in this study were single-chain Fv domains (scFvs) with high affinity for BoNT serotype A (BoNT/A). The addition of increasing numbers of differently tagged scFvs synergistically increased the level of protection against BoNT/A. It was not necessary that any of the BoNT/A binding agents possess toxin-neutralizing activity. Mice were protected from a dose equivalent to 1,000 to 10,000 50% lethal doses (LD50) of BoNT/A when given three or four different anti-BoNT scFvs, each fused to an E-tag peptide, and an anti-E-tag IgG1 MAb. Toxin protection was enhanced when an scFv contained two copies of the E tag. Pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated that BoNT/A was rapidly cleared from the sera of mice given a pool of anti-BoNT/A scFvs and an anti-tag MAb but not from the sera of mice given scFvs alone or anti-tag MAb alone. The scFv pool and anti-tag MAb protected mice from lethality when administered up to 2 h following exposure of mice to a dose equivalent to 10 LD50 of BoNT/A. These results suggest that it will be possible to rapidly and economically develop and produce therapeutic antitoxins consisting of pools of tagged binding agents that are administered with a single, stockpiled anti-tag MAb.
Dissociative charge exchange of H3+ and D3+ with cesium: Dissociation dynamics and two- and three-body branching fractions

Abstract The two-and three-body center-of-mass kinetic energy release distributions for H3 and D3 along with their branching fractions were measured using charge exchange of H 3 + and D 3 + with Cs. Vibrational and rotational excitation in the diatomic product and radiative decay to the repulsive ground state from a manifold of Rydberg states are observed in both systems. The two-body dissociation pathway is found to be dominant, however, for higher-lying Rydberg states, the three-body pathway becomes increasingly important.
Monitoring Development and Pathology of Drosophila Indirect Flight Muscles Using Green Fluorescent Protein

Abstract We describe the use of a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter construct to monitor indirect flight muscle development in normal and mutant Drosophila melanogaster strains. We used polymerase chain reaction to amplify a portion of the Act88F actin gene that includes 1420 nucleotides of flanking DNA, the transcription start, first intron, and initiator codon, incorporating the fragment into the Drosophila germ line transformation vector pCaSpeR. We fused the fragment to the gene encoding green fluorescent protein of the bioluminiscent jellyfish Aequorea victoria . We could detect GFP protein in transgenic strains and found that its accumulation, conveniently visualized in living flies using epiflourescence microscopy, was limited to the indirect flight muscles. GFP fluorescence can be used to visualize all stages of flight muscle development subsequent to myoblast fusion and facilitates the detection of morphological changes in fibers caused by particular mutations.
Frequency and temperature dependence of the vibrational relaxation of the SH stretch mode in vitreous As2S3

Abstract The non-radiative relaxation of the SH vibrational stretch mode in hydrogen doped As2S3 glass has been measured using infrared picosecond laser saturation spectroscopy. A lifetime on the order of 10−10 s is found at low temperature that varies by a factor of 6 across the broad SH absorption line, demonstrating a site-dependent relaxation rate. A temperature dependence study indicates that the stretch mode relaxes through a multi-vibrational decay into modes of the glassy host.
Greatest Hits from Outer Space

There is music in outer space. Launched on 5 September 1977 aboard the Voyager 1 space probe was a golden record. This audio anthology of earthly musical gems was compiled by a committee chaired by...
The effects of conceptual training on reversal shift performance of young children

The relationship between conceptual training (analytic vs nonanalytic) and performance on a reversal shift task was studied in 4-, 6-, and 8-year-old children. Results revealed: (1) with increasing age, reversal shift performance improved; (2) only 6-year-old children showed a stable conceptual style; and (3) while both types of training enhanced reversal performance, analytic training resulted in greater facilitation of reversal shift learning. It was concluded that conceptual training channels a S’s attention upon the relevant dimensions of the shift task.
Viscoelastic subdiffusion: from anomalous to normal

We study viscoelastic subdiffusion in bistable and periodic potentials within the generalized Langevin equation approach. Our results justify the (ultra)slow fluctuating rate view of the corresponding bistable non-Markovian dynamics which displays bursting and anticorrelation of the residence times in two potential wells. The transition kinetics is asymptotically stretched exponential when the potential barrier ${V}_{0}$ several times exceeds thermal energy ${k}_{B}T$ $[{V}_{0}\ensuremath{\sim}(2--10){k}_{B}T]$ and it cannot be described by the non-Markovian rate theory (NMRT). The well-known NMRT result approximates, however, ever better with the increasing barrier height, the most probable logarithm of the residence times. Moreover, the rate description is gradually restored when the barrier height exceeds a fuzzy borderline which depends on the power-law exponent of free subdiffusion $\ensuremath{\alpha}$. Such a potential-free subdiffusion is ergodic. Surprisingly, in periodic potentials it is not sensitive to the barrier height in the long time asymptotic limit. However, the transient to this asymptotic regime is extremally slow and it does profoundly depend on the barrier height. The time scale of such subdiffusion can exceed the mean residence time in a potential well or in a finite spatial domain by many orders of magnitude. All these features are in sharp contrast with an alternative subdiffusion mechanism involving jumps among traps with the divergent mean residence time in these traps.
Ethical Quandaries for Clinical & Coaching Practitioners & Professions

Over the past decade, a significant number of clinical therapists have reinvented themselves as executive coaches, while the executive coaching profession burgeoned. As the migration of clinical pr...
Phase-locked cortical responses to a human speech sound and low-frequency tones in the monkey

Abstract Concurrent recordings of average evoked potentials (AEP) and multiple unit activity (MUA) in monkey primary cortex to the syllable /da/, low-frequency tones, and clicks were performed. The AEP in response to the syllable consisted of a periodic alternation superimposed upon slower phasic deflections. All components inverted across the superior temporal plane, indicating their auditory cortical origin. The periodic activity was phase-locked to the syllable's fundamental frequency at a latency of approximately 11 msec. MUA displayed a similar pattern of periodic activity, but with a shorter interval between stimulus and response peaks. This phase-locked MUA occurred only at regions of AEP polarity inversion. Phase-locked activity was also observed in the cortical AEP to 100 and 250 Hz, but not to 500 Hz tonal stimulation. MUA phase-locked to the stimulus frequency only occurred at 100 Hz. Both the periodic and slow components of the AEP were volume-conducted to the dorsal cortical surface. This finding suggests the possibility that similar cortical responses to speech sounds can be recorded from the human scalp.
Computational and Experimental Study of the Flow in Evaporative Crystallizers

Various evaporative-crystallization systems rely on the natural circulation generated by boiling as the only driving force for the fluid flow. The circulation resulting from the balance between the buoyancy forces of the vapor bubbles and the frictional resistance plays an important role in the convective-boiling heat transfer, and it is desired that this circulation be as high as practically possible to maximize the capacity of the equipment and to lead to high-quality product yield. Although the basic mechanisms that govern the individual processes of boiling, buoyancy, and two-phase interactions have been extensively studied in simpler geometries, their combined behavior in the complex geometry of evaporative-crystallizers and the interaction of numerous physical and chemical variables make it difficult to understand and optimize the key parameters leading to improved product yield. In the present study measurements and computations have been reported both in a lab-scale test rig and in a full-scale crystallizer in order to obtain a better understanding of the physical processes. It is observed that one of the key physical parameters that influence the circulation rate is the drag coefficient, and that, existing correlations have to be corrected for flow contamination and high void fractions to obtain reasonable agreement with measurements.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
A LabVIEW® program for determining electron number density from Stark broadening measurements of the hydrogen-beta line

A useful plasma diagnostic is the measurement of electron number density. One way to accomplish such measurements is to determine the contribution to the broadening of a spectral line due to the Stark effect. To simplify and extend such electron density measurements across computer platforms, a program that calculates electron number density from the Stark-broadened hydrogen-beta line has been written for the LabVIEW® environment. This program calculates electron number densities from the field strength that would be exerted on a hydrogen atom immersed in a plasma. Using the new program, the electron number density in a glow discharge is calculated for two different operating conditions. Not surprisingly, the results indicate that to increase the current density in the discharge, the source electrodes must be reduced in surface area. This article is an electronic publication in Spectrochimica Acta Electronica (SAE), the electronic section of Spectrochimica Acta Part B (SAB). The hardcopy text is accompanied by one disk with an executable program (written for Apple Macintosh), data and text files including a manual.
The United Nations and the Environment

In these closing decades of the twentieth century modern man is a paradox of extremes. He possesses untold knowledge and wealth, but these have brought no universal end to the indignity of poverty and ignorance. He has conquered space, but on earth he is unable to overcome conflicts and inequities. His mastery of science and technology gives him unprecedented power, but his living world is threatened as at no time since his planetary home first gave him warmth and shelter. Man's capacity to destroy is of course most dramatically manifest in his possession of the technologies of mass destruction-in particular those of nuclear and biological warfare-but the relatively recent emergence of the environmental issue has revealed the more subtle but no less dangerous risks he faces from the uncontrolled use or misuse of natural resources and the technologies of production. It is an issue that transcends political boundaries and stages of economic development. Damaging conditions such as increasing salinity of fertile land, depletion of forest reserves, pollution of land and water supplies, maldistribution of populations, and the unanticipated and undesirable side effects of pesticides and fertilizers occur in a wide variety of countries, no matter what the state of their economy. Every nation is affected by pollution of the planet's atmosphere and of the oceans whether or not it contributes to that pollution. Some problems-such as air and thermal pollution-are most severe in industrialized nations; in others water-bome parasites and desert making are often born out of poverty itself and occur most frequently in those least able to afford the necessary measures to cope with them. Thus the subject of the human environment is global in character and of universal concern. The human experience, of course, does not lack examples of attempts to generate popular enthusiasm and action by deliberate exag-
Force-rebalanced Lorentz force magnetometer based on a micromachined oscillator

This paper presents a 3-axis Lorentz force magnetometer based on an encapsulated micromechanical silicon resonator having three orthogonal vibration modes, each measuring one vector component of the external magnetic field. One mode, with natural frequency (fn) of 46.973 kHz and quality factor (Q) of 14 918, is operated as a closed-loop electrostatically excited oscillator to provide a frequency reference for 3-axis sensing and Lorentz force generation. Current, modulated at the reference frequency, is injected into the resonator, producing Lorentz force that is centered at the reference frequency. Lorentz force in the first axis is nulled by the oscillator loop, resulting in force-rebalanced operation. The bandwidth and scale-factor of this force-rebalanced axis are independent of resonator Q, improving the sensor's temperature coefficient from 20 841 ppm/ °C to 424 ppm/ °C. The frequencies of the other two modes are closely spaced to the first mode's reference frequency and are demonstrated to track thi...
Analysis of M/G/1/SRPT under transient overload

This short paper contains an approximate analysis for the M/G/1/SRPT queue under alternating periods of overload and low load. The result in this paper along with several other results on systems under transient overload are contained in our recent technical report [2].
The need for real evidence in physician workforce decision making.

ABSTRACT: The analysis by Barbara Starfield and colleagues has serious methodological and conceptual shortcomings. Despite the reference to “evidence” in the title, there is little evidence to guide the health care community or policymakers. The paper faults specialists for most of the ailments of U.S. medicine and fails to recognize the critical role of specialists in improving Americans’ health status. A variety of factors, including organizational and financing systems, discourage effective use of both primary care and specialty physicians. The nation would be better served by developing an evidence base on the relationship between outcomes and education, training, and specialty.
The Effect of Daily Versus Weekly Iron Supplementation for Iron Deficiency in Female Adolescent Cross Country Runners

The Effect of Daily Versus Weekly Iron Supplementation for Iron Deficiency in Female Adolescent Cross Country Runners
Proton Generation by Dissolution of Intrinsic or Augmented Aluminosilicate Minerals for in Situ Contaminant Remediation by Zero-Valence-State Iron

Metallic, or zero-valence-state, iron is being incorporated into permeable reactive subsurface barriers for remediating a variety of contaminant plume types. The remediation occurs via reductive processes that are associated with surface corrosion of the iron metal. Reaction rates for these processes vary widely with both the form of iron and the contaminant but have previously been shown to increase when certain aquifer materials are present in the mix. Knowledge of such geochemical effects is important for planning an in situ remediation, as well as understanding the transport and fate of the contaminant within the barrier. The increase in reaction rate has been hypothesized to be due to the presence of aluminosilicate minerals in some aquifer materials that can dissolve and participate in the reaction sequences. Current results show that a variety of aluminosilicate minerals, including kaolinite, montmorillonite, and a range of feldspars, can undergo dissolution in these disequilibrium systems and provide protons as electron acceptors at a rate sufficient to maintain and/or enhance the reactions. The proposed reactions are illustrated for aluminosilicate dissolution and chromate reduction. A potential benefit for TCE dechlorination is also depicted. These aluminosilicates may occur naturally in the aquifer geology and become mixed with the iron during emplacement, or they can be added to the iron as amendments prior to emplacement. Both scenarios provide greater confidence that contaminant reactions will be complete before the reactants exit the barrier and may allow the engineering of thinner barriers in situations constrained by cost or the presence of physical structures.
Hybrid Photopatterned Enzymatic Reaction (HyPER) for in Situ Cell Manipulation

The ability to design artificial extracellular matrices as cell-instructive scaffolds has opened the door to technologies capable of studying the fate of cells in vitro and to guiding tissue repair in vivo. One main component of the design of artificial extracellular matrices is the incorporation of biochemical cues to guide cell phenotype and multicellular organization. The extracellular matrix (ECM) is composed of a heterogeneous mixture of proteins that present a variety of spatially discrete signals to residing cell populations. In contrast, most engineered ECMs do not mimic this heterogeneity. In recent years, photo-deprotection has been used to spatially immobilize signals. However, this approach has been limited mostly to small peptides. Here we combine photo-deprotection with enzymatic reaction to achieve spatially controlled immobilization of active bioactive signals that range from small molecules to large proteins. A peptide substrate for transglutaminase factor XIII (FXIIIa) was caged with a photo-deprotectable group, which was then immobilized to the bulk of a cell-compatible hydrogel. With focused light, the substrate can be deprotected and used to immobilize patterned bioactive signals. This approach offers an innovative strategy to immobilize delicate bioactive signals, such as growth factors, without loss of activity and enables in situ cell manipulation of encapsulated cells.
Lipoproteins stimulate androgen production by cultured rat testis cells.

Abstract The effects of human high density lipoprotein (hHDL), human low density lipoprotein (hLDL), and rat high density lipoprotein (rHDL) on androgen production by cultured rat testis cells were investigated. Enzymatically dissociated testis cells from hypophysectomized adult rats were cultured in a serum-free medium. During the first 2 days of culture, the addition of human or rat lipoprotein alone stimulated testis cell testosterone (T) production by 100 to 250% in a dose-dependent manner. Likewise, treatment with hCG caused a 2.5-fold increase in T production. Furthermore, the effect of lipoproteins plus hCG was synergistic; the stimulation of T production by concomitant treatment with hCG and lipoproteins was greater than the sum of each added individually. Rat HDL augmented hCG stimulated T production in a concentration-dependent manner and maximum synthesis was achieved at 100 μg protein/ml (240% increase) with an ED 50 value of 25 μg/ml rHDL. At low concentrations (10–30 μg protein/ml), all lipoproteins tested had similar stimulatory effects on T production but at the highest dose tested (300 μg protein/ml), hHDL was more effective than rHDL. The stimulatory effect of lipoprotein was shown to be time-dependent. Maximum stimulation of T production by lipoprotein was seen during the initial 48 h of culture, whereas lipoproteins were ineffective during the first 5 h and during days 8 to 10 of culture. The present data are consistent with the concept that lipoproteins provide cholesterol substrate while gonadotropins stimulate the rate limiting enzyme(s) which convert cholesterol to T. This primary culture model of testis cells in serum-free medium is responsive to serum lipoproteins and offers a unique opportunity to study the direct effect of lipoproteins and gonadotropins on testicular steroidogenesis.
Semi-Autonomous Robot Avatar as a Medium for Family Communication and Education

Robots as an embodied, multi-modal technology have great potential to be used as a new type of communication device. In this paper we outline our development of the Huggable robot as a semi-autonomous robot avatar for two specific types of remote interaction — family communication and education. We also describe three different operator control interfaces (Web Interface, Wearable Interface and Sympathetic Interface) being developed to explore how these systems will impact the experience. Furthermore, through our discussion we highlight how we have applied five important elements in our system to allow the robot to function as a richly embodied communication channel. These five elements include sharing and directing attention, situational awareness through real-time sensor feedback, alleviating the cognitive load of a user, conveying the personality and character of the robot and global accessibility. Lastly, we provide results from a pilot study of the Web Interface.
The transient layer: implications for geocryology and climate‐change science

Research treating permafrost-climate interactions is traditionally based on a two-layer conceptual model involving a seasonally frozen active layer and underlying perennially frozen materials. This conceptualization is inadequate to explain the behaviour of the active-layer/permafrost system over long periods, particularly in ice-rich terrain. Recent research in North America supports earlier Russian conclusions about the existence of a transition zone that alternates in status between seasonally frozen ground and permafrost over sub-decadal to centennial time scales. The transition zone is ice-enriched, and functions as a buffer between the active layer and long-term permafrost by increasing the latent heat required for thaw. The existence of the transition zone has an impact on the formation of a cryogenic soil structure, and imparts stability to permafrost under low-amplitude or random climatic fluctuations. Despite its importance, the transition zone has been the focus of relatively little research. The impacts of possible global warming in permafrost regions cannot be understood fully without consideration of a more realistic three-layer model. The extensive data set under development within the Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) program will provide a significant source of information about the development, characteristics, behaviour, and extent of the transition zone. This paper is focused on the uppermost part of the transition zone, which joins the active layer at sub-decadal to multi-centennial time scales. This upper part of the transition zone is known as the transient layer. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Collection and transfusion of granulocyte concentrates from donors primed with granulocyte stimulating factor and response of myelosuppressed patients with established infection

Fifteen patients with prolonged neutropenia (a median of 23 days with granulocyte [PMN] < or = 500/microliters) and established fungal infections that had not responded to adequate antifungal therapy were transfused with PMN concentrates collected from 35 cytokine-primed granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) donors. Patients received a median of six transfusions. Leukocytosis and granulocytosis were observed within 24 hours of the first GCSF injection, which yielded concentrates averaging 55 x 10(9) white blood cells and 41 x 10(9) PMN. Data analysis suggested that response might be related to the duration of neutropenia and known infection, as patients given PMN tx earlier in the infectious course tended to have a better response. No significant toxicity was observed in donors.
Interleukin 6 enhances a cellular activity that functionally substitutes for E1A protein in transactivation.

Abstract An interleukin 6 (IL-6)-regulated cellular activity in HepG2 cells is found to functionally substitute for the transcriptional transactivator product of the adenovirus transforming gene E1A in transactivating E1A-dependent and E1A-responsive viral early genes. Mutant viruses deficient in E1A expression replicate in HepG2 cells. Induction with IL-6 leads to significant enhancement of synthesis of viral early E1B and E2ae mRNAs by greater than 30-fold and increases viral replication to the wild-type levels. The E1A-substituting activity activates E1A-responsive promoters in transient transfection, and this transcriptional activity is regulated by IL-6 induction. Formation of distinct protein-promoter complexes by binding of proteins in nuclear extracts prepared from HepG2 cells to the E1A-dependent E2ae promoter further supports the possibility that this activity may be a nuclear component in the IL-6 signal transduction pathway.