cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The psychology of sun-exposure and tanning

In the extensive literature devoted to the sociologic implications of physical appearance in our culture, that concerning the practice of suntanning is very sparse; the same may be said of the psychological literature.1,2 Why this is so is in itself an interesting question. Is it perhaps one example of the denial that so clearly enters into our behavior in regard to sunlight exposure? Despite all the available scientific evidence that purports to show how excessive, unprotected sunexposure damages the skin, promulgated in the many public service messages and powerful advertising campaigns, suntanning parlors and private swimming pools abound. People continue to crowd the beaches in summer, while those who dwell in northern climes, flock south in droves during the winter months, in search of the sun. In the American college spring break scene, pale is not cool, tan is in, and burning is the norm.3 That so many should engage in behavior so seemingly self-destructive can only suggest that powerful motivating psychological forces are at work. In what follows, I will summarize the available psychological studies on tanning behavior. I will then explore the psychological significance of the skin, the function of the skin as a messenger, the medical uses of sunlight exposure historically, the social implications of our attitudes towards appearance, and the cutaneous tactile experience of being in the sun, in an attempt to understand what those psychological motivating forces might be.
Poisoning Relationships: Perceived Unfairness in Channels of Distribution:

Abstract Understanding how relationships are damaged is a critical component in building and preserving strong distribution channels. Using longitudinal data from a Fortune 500 firm and its channel members, this research shows that perceived unfairness truly acts as “relationship poison” by directly damaging relationships, aggravating the negative effects of both conflict and opportunism, and undermining the benefits of using contracts to manage channel relationships. Surprisingly, at low levels of perceived unfairness, conflict and opportunism have small or even insignificant effects on channel member outcomes, which implies that research investigating the negative impact of conflict and opportunism on exchange outcomes may need reevaluation because these effects are contingent and may vary depending on the levels of perceived unfairness. In addition, the findings support the premise that using contracts to manage channel relationships represents a double-edged sword that suppresses the negative effects ...
Optical design of laser beam shaping systems

An overview of the history and current practices of laser beam shaping is presented. When diffraction effects are not important, geometrical methods for laser beam shaping (ray tracing, conservation of energy within a bundle of rays, and the constant optical path length condition) can be used to determine system configurations, including aspheric elements and spherical-surface GRIN lenses, which are required to change the intensity profile into a more useful form. Geometrical optics-based design methods are presented for shaping both rotationally and rectangular symmetric laser beam profiles. Applications of these techniques include design of a two-plano-aspheric lens system for shaping a rotationally symmetric Gaussian beam, a two-mirror system with no central obscuration for shaping an elliptical Gaussian input beam, and a three-element GRIN system for shaping a rotationally symmetric Gaussian beam.
Countertransference Reactions Toward Older Adults Facing HIV and AIDS

This article will provide a technique designed to identify and explore areas of countertransference when working with older adults facing HIV/AIDS. It offers instructors and supervisors a way to teach about countertransference toward older adults facing HIV and AIDS. This technique can be utilized in a variety of gerontological settings such as mental health clinics, multipurpose centers for older adults, as well as classrooms and private practice.
A dissecting aneurysm of the posteroinferior cerebellar artery: case report.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: We present a patient who experienced a subarachnoid hemorrhage secondary to a dissecting aneurysm of the right posteroinferior cerebellar artery (PICA). The use of an encircling clip in treating the aneurysm while preserving supply to brain stem perforators originating near the dissecting segment and the distal PICA territory was key in the operative management. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 48-year-old patient with a history of hypertension presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage confirmed by computed tomography of the brain. Successive cerebral angiography revealed a dynamic change in the configuration of the dissection, with expansion of the associated focal ectasia. OPERATIVE MANAGEMENT: At surgery, three brain stem perforators adjacent to the aneurysm were visualized. The dissecting segment was reconstructed with an encircling Sundt clip and muslin wrap, which preserved the flow through the PICA and brain stem perforators. CONCLUSION: A patient suffering from a dissecting PICA aneurysm and subarachnoid hemorrhage was successfully treated with direct surgical reconstruction of the parent artery, sparing the perforators to the medulla.
Abstract A51: Comparison of different berry types to prevent chemically induced papilloma development in the rat esophagus

The present study compared the ability of seven different berry types [black and red raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, acai, noni, goji (wolfberry)] to inhibit N‐nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA)‐induced tumor development in the F344 rat esophagus. These seven berry types have been shown to differ in their relative content of known chemopreventive agents such as anthocyanins, ellagitannins and carotenoids. Each berry type was picked when ripe, freeze‐dried under anoxic conditions to prevent decomposition of their chemical components, and ground into a powder. Beginning at 4 weeks of age, 120 F344 rats were injected with NMBA (0.3 mg/kg, 3x/wk for 5 weeks). Control rats (15) were injected with DMSO/water (80:20), the solvent for NMBA. Beginning one week after treatment with carcinogen, individual berry types were administered at 5% of the diet to groups of 15 NMBA‐treated rats until the end of the bioassay (35 weeks). At necropsy, the number of esophageal papillomas was enumerated in all groups of rats. No papillomas were seen in control rats treated with DMSO/water. All berry types caused a significant reduction in the number of NMBA‐induced papillomas when compared to rats treated with NMBA only. There was no significant difference in the relative ability of the different berry types to reduce tumor incidence, multiplicity or size. Histopathological studies showed that each berry type was about equally effective in preventing the conversion of preneoplastic lesions (dysplasias) to papillomas. These results suggest that the chemopreventive potential of berries for the rat esophagus is not restricted to black raspberries and strawberries as shown previously in our laboratory. They also suggest that berries that vary markedly in their content of anthocyanins, ellagitannins and carotenoids all exhibit chemopreventive potential in the rat esophagus. Supported by NCI grant CA103180 and USDA grant 38903‐03560. Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(1 Suppl):A51.
Stochastic ripening of one-dimensional nanostructures

Ostwald ripening, in which large clusters grow at the expense of smaller ones, is driven by differences in the chemical potentials of these clusters. We demonstrate that ripening can also occur without chemical potential differences between small and large particles, by observing the exchange of single atoms between linear chains of Ir atoms; on a W(110) surface these dissociate at a rate independent of length. Ripening takes place because of the stochastic nature of individual atomic events, and is characterized by large fluctuations in the number of exchanges for a chain to disappear. This mechanism should be generally applicable in the ripening of one-dimensional chains, formed on metals as well as semiconductors, and for which the dissociation energy is insensitive to length.
Crystal Structure of a MepR-DNA Complex Reveals the Mechanism of Transcription Repression of S. Aureus Multidrug Efflux Pump mepA

MepR is a multidrug binding transcription regulator, which represses the transcription of the S. aureus multidrug efflux pump gene mepA as well as its own gene. Repression is relieved by MepR binding to cationic lipophilic “drugs”, which are typical substrates of MepA. Dimeric MepR binds to inverted repeats of conserved pentad sequence GTTAG using winged helix-turn-helix (wHTH) motif. The mepR operator contains one inverted repeat, whilst the mepA operator has two MepR binding sites. Here, we report the crystal structure of MepR bound to an oligonucleotide containing a single MepR binding site as well as the structures of clinically relevant, multidrug-resistant MepR mutants, F27L and A103V.MepR interacts with consecutive DNA major grooves via van der Waals interactions between residue P62 and the TTA bases of GTTAG motif. Residue R87 of each “wing” interacts specifically with the minor groove by making a hydrogen bond to O2 atom of T4 base and is buttressed by a hydrogen bond network involving D85 and R88. In addition, a multitude of non-specific electrostatic interactions are made between the protein and DNA. No significant bending of DNA occurs upon MepR binding. Modelling of MepR-mepA operator complex suggests no significant interactions between the two MepR dimers. Structural alignment of apoMepR and the MepR-DNA complex demonstrates that significant rotation of the DNA-binding domain is required for specific DNA binding. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays reveal that mutations A103V and F27L affect MepR repressor function by markedly diminishing its DNA-binding activity. These mutations are located at the link between DNA-binding and dimerization domains and, likely, affect the ability of the wHTH motif to adopt the orientation necessary for specific DNA binding.
A reconfigurable RF MEMS based double slug impedance tuner

A reconfigurable double-slug impedance tuner has been developed based on a distributed RF-MEMS transmission line (DMTL). The fabricated device shows very good tuning operation from 10-30 GHz with a capacitance ratio of 2.5:1 resulting in uniform coverage of the Smith chart with a maximum VSWR of 4:1. The simulated and measured results are presented in the paper.
Double intertropical convergence zones—a new look using scatterometer

[1] The high-resolution wind vectors observed by the space-based scatterometer QuikSCAT, from 1999 to 2002, show that the double intertropical convergence zones (ITCZ) exist in the Atlantic and the eastern Pacific oceans for most of the annual cycle, and are far more extensive than previously recognized. For most of the time, the southern ITCZ is weaker than the northern one. The stronger ITCZ occurs when the northerly trade winds meet the southerly trade winds over warm water, resulting in deep convection. The weaker ITCZ over cooler water is caused by the deceleration of the surface winds as they approach the cold upwelling water near the equator. Decreases in vertical mixing and increases in vertical wind shear in the atmospheric boundary layer are suggested to be the causes of the deceleration of the trade winds as they move from warmer to colder water.
Quantitative analysis of epithelial morphogenesis in Drosophila oogenesis: New insights based on morphometric analysis and mechanical modeling

The process of epithelial morphogenesis is ubiquitous in animal development, but much remains to be learned about the mechanisms that shape epithelial tissues. The follicle cell (FC) epithelium encapsulating the growing germline of Drosophila is an excellent system to study fundamental elements of epithelial development. During stages 8 to 10 of oogenesis, the FC epithelium transitions between simple geometries-cuboidal, columnar and squamous-and redistributes cell populations in processes described as posterior migration, squamous cell flattening and main body cell columnarization. Here we have carried out a quantitative morphometric analysis of these poorly understood events in order to establish the parameters of and delimit the potential processes that regulate the transitions. Our results compel a striking revision of accepted views of these phenomena, by showing that posterior migration does not involve FC movements, that there is no role for columnar cell apical constriction in FC morphogenesis, and that squamous cell flattening may be a compliant response to germline growth. We utilize mechanical modeling involving finite element computational technologies to demonstrate that time-varying viscoelastic properties and growth are sufficient to account for the bulk of the FC morphogenetic changes.
Liquid-crystal-solid interface structure at the antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition

Total internal reflection is used to probe the molecular organization at the surface of a tilted chiral smectic liquid crystal at temperatures in the vicinity of the bulk antiferroelectric-ferroelectric phase transition. Data are interpreted using an exact analytical solution of a real model for ferroelectric order at the surface. In the mixture T3, ferroelectric surface order is expelled with the bulk ferroelectric-antiferroelectric transition. The conditions for ferroelectric order at the surface of an antiferroelectric bulk are presented.
Excessive production of mucoid substance in staphylococcus SIIA: a possible factor in colonisation of Holter shunts.

SUMMARY Staphylococci of subdivision siia can be shown to produce a large amount of mucoid substance during their growth, and it has been shown that they produce this substance in vivo when they colonise Holter shunts. It is suggested that this mucoid substance plays a part in maintaining colonisation by enabling microcolonies to adhere to the valve wall, and that it protects the organisms from the action of lysozyme and antibiotics. RESUME Production excessive de substance mucoide par le staphylocoque SIIA: facteur en cause dans la colonisation des shunts de Holter Les staphylocoques du sous-groupe sira produisent au cours de leur croissance, une quantite importante de substance mucoide et il a ete montre qu'ils peuvent agir ainsi in vivo quand ils colonisent un shunt de Holter. II est suggere que cette substance mucoide peut jouer un role dans le maintien de la colonisation en permettant a des colonies micro-biennes d'adherer aux parois de la valve et d'etre protegees de I'action des lysozymes et antibiotiques. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Ubermaβige Produktion mukoider Substanzen beim Staphylokokkus SIIA: eiti Faktor, der moglicherweise bei der Besiedlung von Holter Shunts eine Rolle spielt Staphylokokken der Untergruppe srra konnen wahrend ihres Wachstums nachweislich grose Mengen mukoider Substanzen produzieren und es ist gezeigt worden, das sie diese Substanzen in vivo produzieren, wenn sie Holter Shunts besiedeln. Es wird diskutiert, das diese mukoide Substanz fur die dauerhafte Besiedlung eine Rolle spielt, in dem sie Mikrokolonien ermoglicht, an der Klappenwand zu haften und die Organismen vor der Wirkung von Lysozymen und Antibiotika schutzt. RESUMEN Excesiva produccion de sustancia mucoide en el estafilococo SIIA: un posible factor de colonizacion de las vavulas de Holter Puede demostrarse que los estafilococos de la subdivision siia producen una gran cantidad de sustancia mucoide durante su crecimiento y se ha demostrado que la producen in vivo cuando colonizan las desvaciones de Holter. Se sugiere que esta sustancia mucoide juega un papel en el mantenimiento de la colonizacion, facilitando a las microcolonias su adherencia a la pared valvular, y que protege a los germenes de la accion del lisozima y de los antibioticos.
Thermal infrared imaging of ultracompact H II regions in W49A

Several compact radio continuum sources in W49A show detectable 8-20 μm emission in MIRAC2 images obtained at the IRTF. In general, the infrared morphologies of these sources closely resemble the radio continuum emission. Spectral energy distributions indicate an infrared continuum excess above the level expected from free-free emission, consistent with thermal emission from dust grains heated to a few hundred K. The bright radio continuum sources concentrated at the western end of the ring of ultracompact H II regions are not detected in the mid-infrared, while those at other positions in the ring are detected. This could be due to a localized region of high extinction along the line of sight. In addition, there are a few new infrared sources with no radio continuum counterparts. Finally, several infrared sources show strong 12.8 μm [Ne II] emission, yielding neon abundances that are typically a few percent of the cosmic abundance of neon but are high considering the expected Ne++/Ne+ ratios for the range of spectral types of the ionizing sources. We conclude that the [Ne II] emission must come from shells around the ultracompact H II regions, where the neon is able to survive as Ne+ rather than Ne++ because the radiation field has been softened by absorption of hard UV photons within the H II regions.
Wave-packet dynamics in slowly perturbed crystals: Gradient corrections and Berry-phase effects

We present a unified theory for wave-packet dynamics of electrons in crystals subject to perturbations varying slowly in space and time. We derive the wave-packet energy up to the first-order gradient correction and obtain all kinds of Berry phase terms for the semiclassical dynamics and the quantization rule. For electromagnetic perturbations, we recover the orbital magnetization energy and the anomalous velocity purely within a single-band picture without invoking interband couplings. For deformations in crystals, besides a deformation potential, we obtain a Berry-phase term in the Lagrangian due to lattice tracking, which gives rise to new terms in the expressions for the wave-packet velocity and the semiclassical force. For multiple-valued displacement fields surrounding dislocations, this term manifests as a Berry phase, which we show to be proportional to the Burgers vector around each dislocation.
Subclmical depression and role fulfillment in domestic settings: Spurious relationships, imagined problems, or real effects?

Considerable evidence has accumulated in support of the hypothesis that subclinical depression may inhibit role performance in important ways. However, interpersonal stress and marital discord often precede the development of depressive symptomatology and may independently predict deficits in family role functioning. In addition, cognitive theories suggest that persons with subclinical depression may report poor role functioning even in the absence of any real performance deficits. The current research examines the possibility (1) that the effect of depression on the fulfillment of important family roles is attributable to previously unmeasured contextual variables of ongoing interpersonal stress and/or relationship dissatisfaction or, alternatively, (2) that this relationship is the result of depressive distortion associated with self-report of symptoms and performance. Multiple regression analyses of interview data collected from 495 community-dwelling adults found, however, that depression is related to role functioning beyond any spurious effects attributable to interpersonal stress, spousal stress, or marital satisfaction. In addition, the effect of depression persists when collateral reports of role functioning utilized. Accordingly, it appears that subclinical depression is related to decrements in role performance, and this effect is not entirely due to contextual elements or shared method variance between self-report measures.
Intra and inter-user reliability of central corneal thickness measurements obtained in healthy feline eyes using a portable spectral-domain optical coherence tomography device.

Objective To determine the intra and inter-user reliability of central corneal thickness (CCT) measurements obtained using a portable spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) device in healthy feline eyes. Animals Twenty clinically normal cats. Procedures Gentle manual restraint was utilized for proper animal positioning. Central corneal thickness measurements were obtained from both eyes of each animal three times by two operators in succession. A 6 mm, corneal pachymetry protocol was performed using the Optovue® iVue SD-OCT system. The CCT was automatically calculated using the pachymetry software generated from eight radial scans, 6 mm in length. The CCT was recorded for each operator and compared statistically for both intra and inter-user reliability. Results Twenty cats (11 CM, 9 SF) with a mean age of 4.7 years were examined. The mean CCT for all eyes examined was 629.08 ± 47.05 μm. No significant difference in CCT was found based on the eye examined (OD vs. OS) or age of the animal. However, the CCT of spayed females was significantly higher (42.64 ± 18.0 μm) as compared to castrated males (P = 0.03). There was no significant difference in CCT measurements between replicates performed by the same operator or between operators. The mean difference in CCT between operators was 0.38 μm. The coefficient of variation for each user and between users was very low (range 0.68–1.5%). The intra-class correlation coefficient comparing operators was 0.975. Conclusions The Optovue® iVue SD-OCT device is capable of obtaining CCT measurements with excellent intra and interoperator reliability in healthy feline eyes.
Compartmentalization of visual centers in the Drosophila brain requires Slit and Robo proteins

Brain morphogenesis depends on the maintenance of boundaries between populations of non-intermingling cells. We used molecular markers to characterize a boundary within the optic lobe of the Drosophila brain and found that Slit and the Robo family of receptors, well-known regulators of axon guidance and neuronal migration, inhibit the mixing of adjacent cell populations in the developing optic lobe. Our data suggest that Slit is needed in the lamina to prevent inappropriate invasion of Robo-expressing neurons from the lobula cortex. We show that Slit protein surrounds lamina glia, while the distal cell neurons in the lobula cortex express all three Drosophila Robos. We examine the function of these proteins in the visual system by isolating a novel allele of slit that preferentially disrupts visual system expression of Slit and by creating transgenic RNA interference flies to inhibit the function of each Drosophila Robo in a tissue-specific fashion. We find that loss of Slit or simultaneous knockdown of Robo, Robo2 and Robo3 causes distal cell neurons to invade the lamina, resulting in cell mixing across the lamina/lobula cortex boundary. This boundary disruption appears to lead to alterations in patterns of axon navigation in the visual system. We propose that Slit and Robo-family proteins act to maintain the distinct cellular composition of the lamina and the lobula cortex.
Spurious spatial regression with equal weights

This note studies the Lee and Yu (2009) spurious regression model for the special case where the weight matrix is normalized and has equal elements, and where the nonstationarity is caused by near unit roots. It shows that spurious spatial regression will not occur in a spatially autoregressive (SAR) model when the spatial weight matrix is row-normalized and has equal weights. In fact, the asymptotic distribution of the OLS estimate will always converge to its true value zero. The only condition required is that the spatial coefficients of the dependent and independent variables be both less than 1, which is a requirement for the SAR model to be an equilibrium model.
Remarks on percolation and transport in networks with a wide range of bond strengths

Abstract In conventional percolation problems, there is no simple relation between the transport exponents and the critical exponents which describe geometric properties of the percolating clusters. In several problems involving bonds with a wide range of conductance, however, it has been found that there does exist a simple relation between the transport exponent and the geometric exponent describing the divergence of the correlation length. We give a brief review of these problems.
A Comparison of Functional and Pin-to-Pin Screening Data During Five Thousand Hours of Integrated Circuit Life Testing

This report evaluates and compares two electrical screening tests for integrated circuits, functional and pin-to-pin, over a period of 5,000 hours of operational life testing. Of a sample of 1,000 integrated circuits, 71% were initially identified by the functional screen as high qua'lity devices as opposed to 28% by the pin-to-pin screen. In addition, only 10 devices from the sample were commonly rejected by both tests. Further analysis revealed that 18 functional unacceptable devices were classified as pin-to-pin high quality devices and that 31 pin-to-pin unacceptable devices were classified as functional high quality. In general, the number of test failures observed remained constant during the first 5,000 hours of life testing. However, in the case of the load resistor test (pin-to-pin) and the output current test (functional), the number of test failures decreased as the testing time increased. An examination of the screening data after 5,000 hours of life testing showed essentially no change in the quality distribution of the sample as measured by the functional tests. However, the pin-to-pin screen showed a significant change in the sample distribution, with a number of circuits going from the high quality grouping to the commercial grouping.
Energy-aware topology control in heterogeneous wireless multi-hop networks

Topology control algorithms have been recently studied to reduce the energy consumption in heterogeneous multi-hop wireless networks. Instead of transmitting at full power, these algorithms seek to find the minimum power at which all the nodes should be transmitting while preserving the network connectivity. However, most existing topology control problems have been solved as range assignment problems, which neglect the fact that, in heterogeneous networks, devices have different characteristics. In this paper, we propose the residual energy aware dynamic (READ) topology control algorithm for heterogeneous wireless networks, which is solved as a power assignment problem. As such, READ considers the sensitivity of the receivers, the senders' maximal transmission power, and the nodes' residual energy to determine the final topology. The algorithm dynamically recruits the links that optimize the workload between different wireless devices while keeping the network connected. Simulation results demonstrate that READ can efficiently increase the network lifetime and the packet delivery rate when compared with R&M and LMST, two well-known position-based topology control mechanisms
UV-curable polymers with functionalized carbon nanotubes for MEMS

Current ultraviolet (UV) curable polymer techniques for MEMS fabrication pose certain challenges due to the electrical and mechanical properties of the polymer. A novel UV-curable polymer uniformly bonded with functionalized nanotubes was synthesized via a modified three-step in-situ polymerization. Purified multi-walled nanotubes, gained from the microwave chemical vapor deposition method, were functionalized by oxidation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was used to identify the -OH and -COOH groups attached to nanotube surface. The UV curable polymer was prepared from toluene diisocyanate (TDI), functionalized nanotubes, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). The chemical bonds between -NCO groups of TDI and -OH, -COOH groups of functionalized nanotubes were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. This new UV-curable polymer is expected to be a cost-effective solution with a variety of applications in UV coating, phase shifters for telecommunications and global positioning systems, and polymer and BioMEMS devices.
Growth hormone deficiency is associated with decreased quality of life in patients with prior acromegaly.

Context: Both GH deficiency (GHD) and GH excess are associated with a decreased quality of life. However, it is unknown whether patients with GHD after treatment for acromegaly have a poorer quality of life than those with normal GH levels after cure of acromegaly. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine whether patients with GHD and prior acromegaly have a poorer quality of life than those with GH sufficiency after cure of acromegaly. Design and Setting: We conducted a cross-sectional study in a General Clinical Research Center. Study Participants: Forty-five patients with prior acromegaly participated: 26 with GHD and 19 with GH sufficiency. Intervention: There were no interventions. Main Outcome Measures: We evaluated quality of life, as measured by 1) the Quality of Life Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency Assessment (QoL-AGHDA); 2) the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36); and 3) the Symptom Questionnaire. Results: Mean scores on all subscales of all questionnaires, except for the anger/hostility and anxiety subscales of the Symptom Questionnaire, showed significantly impaired quality of life in the GH-deficient group compared with the GH-sufficient group. Peak GH levels after GHRH-arginine stimulation levels were inversely associated with QoL-AGHDA scale scores (R = −0.53; P = 0.0005) and the Symptom Questionnaire Depression subscale scores (R = −0.35; P = 0.031) and positively associated with most SF-36 subscale scores. Conclusions: Our data are the first to demonstrate a reduced quality of life in patients who develop GHD after cure of acromegaly compared to those who are GH sufficient. Further studies are warranted to determine whether GH replacement would improve quality of life for patients with GHD after cure from acromegaly.
Scaling of prosocial behavior in cities

Previous research has examined how various behaviors scale in cities in relation to their population size. Behavior related to innovation and productivity has been found to increase per capita as the size of the city increases, a phenomenon known as superlinear scaling. Criminal behavior has also been found to scaling superlinearly. Here we examine a variety of prosocial behaviors (e.g., voting and organ donation), which also would be presumed to be categorized into a single class of scaling with population. We find that, unlike productivity and innovation, prosocial behaviors do not scale in a unified manner. We argue how this might be due to the nature of interactions that are distinct for different prosocial behaviors.
Osmotic opening of blood-brain and blood-ocular barriers.

Barriers in the eye and brain are composed of layers of cells that are connected by tight junctions which restrict intercellular diffusion. Exposure to hypertonie solutions increases the permeability of these barriers at blood vessels of the brain, retina and optic nerve (but not of the iris), and at the pigmented retinal epithelium and ciliary epithelium of the eye. At cerebral blood vessels, the osmotically-induced increase in permeability remains for 2-4 hr, is not associated with obvious brain damage, and is graded with respect to molecular size, being greater for small than for large molecules. Physiological and ultrastructural evidence indicates that hypertonic solutions increase cerebrovascular permeability by shrinking vascular endothelial cells and widening their tight junctions. It is suggested that a similar reversible widening of tight junctions accounts for osmotically-induced permeability increases at blood vessels of the retina and optic nerve, and at the retinal pigmented epithelium. Osmotic opening does not damage cells at barrier sites except at the ciliary epithelium, where the pigmented and nonpigmented layers separate and 50-80% of pigmented cells eventually die. Despite this loss, intraocular pressure, which falls immediately after hypertonic perfusion, returns to normal after 4-6 weeks. This suggests that the nonpigmented ciliary epithelium is more critical to secretion of aqueous humor than is the pigmented layer. Vacuoles at endothelial cells of the trabecular meshwork of Schlemm's canal disappear when intraocular pressure falls and return with normalization of pressure, supporting their role in excretion of aqueous humor.
Effect of slice thickness on detectability in breast CT using a prewhitened matched filter and simulated mass lesions

Purpose: Dedicated breast CT (bCT) is an emerging technology with the potential to improve the detection of breast cancer in screening and diagnostic capacities. Typically, the 3D volume reconstructed from the scanner is displayed as sectional images. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of section thickness on the detectability of simulated masses using a prewhitened matched filter (PWMF) as a model observer. Methods: A breast CT scanner has been designed and fabricated in the authors’ laboratory with more than 200 women imaged in IRB-approved phase I and phase II trials to date. Of these, 151 bilateral data sets were selected on the basis of low artifact content, sufficient breast coverage, and excluding cases with breast implants. BIRADS breast density ratings were available for 144 of these patients. Spherical mass lesions of diameter 1, 2, 3, 5, 11, and 15 mm were mathematically generated and embedded at random locations within the parenchymal region of each bCT volume. Microcalcifications were not simulated in this study. For each viewing plane (sagittal, axial, and coronal) and section thickness (ranging from 0.3 to 44 mm), section images of the breast parenchyma containing the lesion were generated from the reconstructed bCT data sets by averaging voxels over the length of the section. Using signal known exactly (SKE) model observer methodology, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed on each generated projected image using a PWMF based model observer. ROC curves were generated for each breast data set, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was evaluated as well as the sensitivity at 95% specificity. Results: For all lesion sizes, performance rises modestly to a peak before falling off substantially as section thickness increases over the range of the study. We find that the optimal section thickness tracks the size of the lesion to be detected linearly with a small positive offset and slopes ranging from 0.27 to 0.44. No significant differences were observed between left and right breasts. Performance measures are negatively correlated with measures of breast density, with an average correlation coefficient of −0.48 for the BIRADS breast density score and −0.81 for the proportion of glandular tissue in the breast interior. Conclusions: This study shows quantitatively how PWMF detection performance of a known lesion size is influenced by section thickness in dedicated breast CT. While the optimal section thickness is tuned to the size of the lesion being detected, overall performance is more robust for thin section images compared to thicker images.
X-linked glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and autosomal 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) polymorphisms in baboons

Electrophoretic polymorphisms of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (6PGD) were examined in captive colonies of five subspecies of baboons (Papio hamadryas). Phenotype frequencies and family data verified the X-linked inheritance of the G6PD polymorphism. Insufficient family data were available to confirm autosomal inheritance of the 6PGD polymorphism, but the electrophoretic patterns of variant types (putative heterozygotes) suggested the codominant expression of alleles at an autosomal locus. Implications of the G6PD polymorphism are discussed with regard to its utility as a marker system for research on X-chromosome inactivation during baboon development and for studies of clonal cell proliferation and/or cell selection during the development of atherosclerotic lesions in the baboon model.
Purification and characterization of isocitrate lyase fromEscherichia coli

Isocitrate lyase has been purified to homogeneity, as determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and subsequent silver staining, fromEscherichia coli D5H3G7. The enzyme was found to have a subunit molecular weight of 48,000 and a native molecular weight of 188,000 as determined by gel filtration chromatography. Thus, the enzyme appears to have tetrameric structure. The isoelectric point was determined to be 4.6, and the enzyme displayed a pH optimum at 7.3. The Km of isocitrate lyase forthreo-Ds-isocitrate was determined to be 8 μM. The purification procedure is highly reproducible and results in a 39% net yield of purified protein.
Demonstration of a new electrothermal thruster concept

The design and test of a microwave electrothermal thruster are described. The device, which employs a coaxial microwave discharge, was tested in nitrogen gas with 200-600 W of 2.45-GHz input power. Experimental measurements of thrust, specific impulse, and energy efficiency are presented for different flow and discharge pressures. Measured energy efficiencies varied between 30-60 percent and the performance compared favorably with other electrothermal thrusters operating in nitrogen gas. The experimental performance demonstrated the feasibility of the concept.
A Simple Index for Characterizing Charge Transport in Molecular Materials

While advances in quantum chemistry have rendered the accurate prediction of band alignment relatively straightforward, the ability to forecast a noncrystalline, multimolecule system's conductivity possesses no simple computational form. Adapting the theory of classical resistor networks, we develop an index for quantifying charge transport in bulk molecular materials, without the requirement of crystallinity. The basic behavior of this index is illustrated through its application to simple lattices and clusters of common organic photovoltaic molecules, where it is shown to reproduce experimentally known performances for these materials. This development provides a quantitative computational means for determining a priori the bulk charge transport properties of molecular materials.
Going, going, gone: characterizing the time-course of congruency sequence effects.

Performance on traditional selective attention tasks, like the Stroop and flanker protocols, is subject to modulation by trial history, whereby the magnitude of congruency (or conflict) effects is often found to decrease following an incongruent trial compared to a congruent one. These “congruency sequence effects” (CSEs) typically appear to reflect a mesh of memory- and attention-based processes. The current study aimed to shed new light on the nature of the attention-based contribution to CSEs, by characterizing the shape of the CSE time-course while controlling for mnemonic influences. Existing attention-based accounts of CSEs are either ambiguous in their predictions of CSE time-courses, or predict CSEs to persist or grow over the post-stimulus/response interval in anticipation of an upcoming stimulus. We gauged CSE time-courses by systematically varying inter-stimulus (Experiment 1) and response-to-stimulus (Experiment 2) intervals across a wide temporal range, in a face–word Stroop task. In spite of an exponential increase in the likelihood of stimulus appearance with increasing interval duration (i.e., an exponential hazard function), results from both experiments showed CSEs to be most pronounced at the shortest intervals, to quickly decay in magnitude with increasing interval length, and to be absent at longer intervals. These data refute the idea that attentional contributions to CSEs remain static over post-stimulus/response intervals and are incompatible with the notion that CSEs reflect expectation-guided preparatory biasing in anticipation of a forthcoming stimulus. The data are compatible, however, with the notion that attentional contributions to CSEs reflect a short-lived, phasic enhancement of attentional set in reaction to processing conflict.
Dietary intakes of vitamins A, C, and E and risk of melanoma in two cohorts of women

Within the two Nurses' Health Study cohorts of US women, we examined whether higher intakes of vitamin C, vitamin E, retinol, or individual tocopherols or carotenoids are associated with a lower risk of melanoma. We confirmed 414 cases of invasive melanoma among over 162,000 Caucasian women aged 25-77 years during more than 1.6 million person-years of follow-up. Diet was measured every 4 years with a food frequency questionnaire and supplement use was reported every 2 years. Several measures of sun sensitivity were assessed and included in proportional hazards models. We found that vitamins A, C, E and their individual components were not associated with a lower risk of melanoma. Only retinol intake from foods plus supplements appeared protective within a subgroup of women who were otherwise at low risk based on nondietary factors (relative risk (RR)=0.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.22-0.71 for >/=1,800 vs 400 microg day(-1), P for linear trend=0.01). Contrary to expectation, we observed higher risks of melanoma with greater intakes of vitamin C from food only (RR=1.43, 95% CI 1.01-2.00 for >/=175 vs <90 mg day(-1), P for linear trend=0.05) and a significant positive dose-response with frequency of orange juice consumption (P=0.008). Further research is needed to determine whether another component in foods such as orange juice may contribute to an increase in risk.
Phenazin-5-ium hydrogen sulfate monohydrate.

The crystal structure of the title salt, C12H9N2+·HSO4−·H2O, comprises inversion-related pairs of phenazinium ions linked by C—H⋯N hydrogen bonds. The phenazinium N—H atoms are hydrogen bonded to the bis­ulfate anions. The bis­ulfate anions and water mol­ecules are linked by O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions into a structural ladder motif parallel to the a axis.
Research in the Use of a Rating Scale as a Means of Evaluating the Personalities of Senior Dental Students

"Success in almost every line of vocational endeavor depends upon an ability to make a favorable impression on possible clients or customers. It would be probably agreed that in most professions, the economic importance of the factor of personal charm is greater than technical skill and almost on a par with reputation. Personal charm is, in part, a function of appearance and dress, but neither of these is so significant as habits of speech and conduct. "Although the development of personality can be controlled in a properly organized educational system, it cannot be said that the modern educational agencies are very effective in this connection. Personality development is left largely to the home and to chance experiences, and typical parents are poorly qualified to administer education of this type."
Dual photoactive species in Glu46Asp and Glu46Ala mutants of photoactive yellow protein: a pH-driven color transition.

Photoactive yellow protein (PYP) is a blue light sensor present in the purple photosynthetic bacterium Ectothiorhodospira halophila, which undergoes a cyclic series of absorbance changes upon illum...
Alfred Tarski's elimination theory for real closed fields

Tarski made a fundamental contribution to our understanding of R, perhaps mathematics’ most basic structure. His theorem is the following.To any formula ϕ(X1, …, Xm) in the vocabulary {0, 1, +, ·, <} one can effectively associate two objects: (i) a quantifier free formula (X1, …, Xm) in(1) the same vocabulary, and (ii) a proofof the equivalence ϕ ↔ that uses only the axioms for real closed fields. (Reminder: real closed fields are ordered fields with the intermediate value property for polynomials.)Everything in (1) has turned out to be crucial: that arbitrary formulas are considered rather than just sentences, that the equivalence ϕ ↔ holds in all real closed fields rather than only in R; even the effectiveness of the passage from ϕ to has found good theoretical uses besides firing the imagination.We begin this survey with some history in §1. In §2 we discuss three other influential proofs of Tarski's theorem, and in §3 we consider some of the remarkable and totally unforeseen ways in which Tarski's theorem functions nowadays in mathematics, logic and computer science.I thank Ward Henson, and in particular Wilfrid Hodges without whose constant prodding and logistic support this article would not have been written.
Polarization Sensitivity of Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector Coupled to a Metallic Diffraction Grid

We study experimentally and numerically the polarization sensitivity of quantum well infrared photodetectors coupled to a diffraction grid. The polarization extinction ratio of such system is determined by two factors: polarization sensitivity of the diffraction grid and the intrinsic polarization sensitivity of the photodetector itself. The combined effect of these factors result in non-monotonic dependence of the polarization extinction ratio on the parameters of the diffraction grid. By varying the grid parameters, i.e., increasing the height and tuning the grid period, a maximum value for the polarization extinction ratio can be achieved. Both front side and back side illuminations of the photodetector are studied. The strongest polarization sensitivity is achieved under front side illumination.
The gender gap: : brain-processing differences between the sexes shape attitudes about online advertising.

Prior research suggested that males are more selective information processors and females are more detailed processors, but effects on advertising attention and attitudes have been largely unstudied. In particular, mere-exposure effects (more favorable attitudes with little or no advertising attention) are expected to be more pronounced for males than for females, due to less comprehensive heuristic processing by males. Furthermore, gender differences in hemispheric (brain) processing are predicted, with males expected to have more favorable attitudes from advertisements on the left of the page and females expected to have more favorable attitudes from advertisements on the right of the page. Hypothesized marketing outcomes are generally supported. Management implications are discussed.
CHANGES IN MICROSTRUCTURE, STARCH GRANULES AND SUGARS OF GERMINATING BROAD BEANS

Scanning electron microscopy was used to study changes in micro-structure of broad beans during the germination process. Photomicrographs showed only slight differences in the appearance of cotyledon cell structure between the dry and soaked broad beans, but the size of the starch granules increased after soaking. Also scanning electron micrographs of the cotyledons and the starch and protein fractions of broad beans revealed changes in the surface of the cells during germination of the seed. The starch granules appeared to be very fragile and proteins began to break into small fragments after 8 days of germination. There was a decrease in amylose, amylopectin, and raffinose during germination. Sucrose and fructose increased during the 4-day germination period, but decreased thereafter. Raffinose decreased gradually during the 0-6 day germination period, and was not detectable after 8 days.