cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Egg production by the coccinellid Hippodamia convergens fed on two morphs of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae

Adults of the lady beetle Hippodamia convergens Guerin-Meneville, requiring aphids for egg production, were fed suboptimal amounts of apteriform virginoparous larvae or alatiform gynoparous larvae of the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulz.), and artificial diet ad lib. The beetles initiated oviposition sooner and deposited significantly more eggs when supplied with the same weight of apterous virginoparous morph. The possible nutritional, hormonal, and ecological implications of the findings are discussed. Zusammenfassung Eiproduktion der Coccinellid Hippodamia convergens nach Futterung mit zwei Morphen von der Blattlaus Myzus persicae Die Eiproduktion des Marienkafers Hippodamia convergens, welcher hierzu Blattlause als Nahrung benotigt, wurde bei Futterung mit zwei verschiedenen Morphen der Blattlaus Myzus persicae untersucht. Der Verzehr derselben Menge flugelloser Virginoparen fuhrte im Vergleich zu geflugelten Gynoparen zu fruherer und signifikant erhohter Eiabgabe. Der hormonale und ernahrungsphysiologische Hintergrund und die okologische Bedeutung dieser Ergebnisse werden diskutiert.
High resolution and compact slit-less spectrometer using spherical beam volume holograms

We present compact slit-less spectrometers using spherical beam holograms with resolution close to 1 nm using thick holographic materials. The spectrum estimations of unknown light sources are used to demonstrate the performance of these slit-less spectrometers.
On the fundamental group of certain polyhedral products

Abstract Let K be a finite simplicial complex, and ( X , A ) be a pair of spaces. The purpose of this article is to study the fundamental group of the polyhedral product denoted Z K ( X , A ) , which denotes the moment-angle complex of Buchstaber and Panov in the case ( X , A ) = ( D 2 , S 1 ) , with extension to arbitrary pairs in [2] as given in Definition 2.2 here. For the case of a discrete group G, we give necessary and sufficient conditions on the abstract simplicial complex K such that the polyhedral product denoted by Z K ( B G ) is an Eilenberg–Mac Lane space. The fundamental group of Z K ( B G ) is shown to depend only on the 1-skeleton of K. Further special examples of polyhedral products are also investigated. Finally, we use polyhedral products to study an extension problem related to transitively commutative groups, which are given in Definition 5.2 .
An absolute measurement of the efficiency of a BF3 proportional counter

Abstract We report an absolute measurement of the efficiency of a BF 3 counter in narrow beam geometry in the energy range frame 0.024 eV to 0.111 eV. Agreement with calculated efficiency values is excellent. No significant end effects are noted. The basic feature of this experiment is the measurement of the incident neutron flux by gold foil activation and counting in an NaI well counter which was calibrated with gold foils irradiated in the National Bureau of Standards Standard Thermal Neutron Flux.
FTIR studies of Saran chars

FTIR spectroscopy has been applied to a study of oxidized Saran chars. A pregrind technique is applied during KBr pellet preparation which, along with inherent advantages of FTIR, produces much higher quality spectra than could previously be obtained. Bands occurring in the spectra of the oxidized carbons at 1720 and 1585 cm−1 are assigned to carbonyl vibrations in COOH groups and to aromatic ring stretching modes, enhanced in intensity by oxygen containing functional groups, respectively. The intensity of the 1720 cm−1 band is found to vary linearly with % burn-off in the carbon sample. It is suggested that the activity of the 1585 cm−1 band which is found to increase in intensity as a function of % burn-off, is caused mainly by an increase in oxygen containing functional groups at advancing levels of burn-off. A mechanism is postulated for the formation of surface anhydrides based on IR results. This involves early formation of anhydride structures followed by conversion of anhydrides to acidic groups via hydrolysis with atmospheric moisture.
Optic synapse number but not density is constrained during regeneration onto surgically halved tectum in goldfish: HRP-EM evidence that optic fibers compete for fixed numbers of postsynaptic sites on the tectum.

The number of optic synapses in the half tectum of goldfish was counted by using an improved HRP-labeling protocol and a columnar sampling method that spanned the entire optic innervation layer, S-SO-SFGS. It was previously found by using this procedure in intact tectum that the normal number of optic synapses was regenerated by 30 days and maintained thereafter even in the absence of impulse activity. This suggested that the number of synapses in this system was intrinsically fixed. In order to examine whether this limit was imposed by optic fibers or by target cells, optic synapses were counted in surgically halved tecta which received compressed optic projections consisting of regenerating optic fibers from the entire retina. We reasoned that if synapse number is a function of the number of afferents, then there should be twice the normal number of optic synapses per column; on the other hand, if their number is fixed by target, then their number per column should be normal. We found that the number of optic (labeled) synapses was normal in sample columns from fish at 70 days and 160 days after optic nerve crush. Thus, retinal ganglion cells, on average, formed half as many synapses on the half tectum compared to intact tectum, indicating the number of optic synapses was limited by the tectum. The number of nonoptic (unlabeled) synapses was also found to be normal. By contrast, the S-SO-SFGS was found to be 88–103% thicker compared to normal fish, apparently because of a 20-fold increase in the number of optic fibers. As a result, the density of synapses was about half normal in half tecta, and so, in contrast to synapse number, synaptic density is not constrained during regeneration. We infer from these data that optic fibers compete for limited numbers of postsynaptic sites during regeneration and suggest that this competition promotes neural map refinement and the various plasticities described for this projection.
Autecological Observations of Acanthodactylus erythrurus (Sauria: Lacertidae) in Southern Spain

Autecological aspects of Acanthodactylus erythrurus were examined at La Algaida, Cadiz Province, Spain. The male population is composed of 60 % adult and 40 % subadult individuals; male hatchlings increase in size at a rate of 0.06 mm/day from hatching ( 31 mm snout-vent length) to sexual maturity (∼61 mm); 50 % do not survive beyond 1.5 years, but those which reach adult size may live 1.9 years. Females grow from hatching (∼ 28 mm) to sexual maturity( 57 mm) at a rate of 0.05 mm/day; less than half survive 1.4 years and the life span of some individuals is 2.1 years. Adult males outnumber adult females 1.4:1, but subadult ratios are 1:1. Adults and subadults associate with different plant species during their activity period, but each age class tends to avoid open sand patches. These 8.4-13 g lizards feed on a wide variety of insects and appreciable quantities of plant material. 49% ofall males and 82% ofall females actively consume Halimium halimifolium. We suspect this lizard species is wide ranging and non-territorial ; only one agonistic encounter was recorded and it was interspecific (with Psammodromus algirus). The frequency of escape from predation is estimated at 26.8 %, based on tail-loss figures, and the incidence of cestode parasitism (Oochoristica cf. tuberculata) is 2.1 %. The population studied was highly resilient to 16 months of intense human predation.
Dissolved inorganic radiocarbon in the North Pacific Ocean and Sargasso Sea

We present radiocarbon measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in depth profiles from reoccupations of our central North Pacific Ocean and Sargasso Sea (SS) sites. From 1985 to 1999, an increase in Δ14C values of 6–17‰ was measured between 1150 and 2400 m depth in the North Central Pacific. Natural changes in deep circulation are likely responsible for variability of Δ14C signatures in the deep ocean, though we cannot rule out the presence of bomb 14C at this depth range. Bomb 14C had increased in the deep SS from 1989 to 2000; this is the result of southward transport of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) to this site.
The Effects of Human Recombinant Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) on Long Injury from Hyperoxia and Mechanical Ventilation in the Neonatal Piglet

The Effects of Human Recombinant Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) on Long Injury from Hyperoxia and Mechanical Ventilation in the Neonatal Piglet
The Art of Image Processing with Java by Kenny A. Hunt

The Art of Image Processing with Java by Kenny A. Hunt, Natick, MA, A. K. Peters, Ltd, 2010, 343 pp, US$69.00, Hardcover, ISBN 978-1-56881-717-0. Picking up a copy of Kenny A. Hunt's The Art of Ima...
Children's ascriptions of property rights with changes of ownership

Abstract Ownership is not a “natural” property of objects, but is determined by human intentions. Facts about who owns what may be altered by appropriate decisions. However, young children often deny the efficacy of transfer decisions, asserting that original owners retain rights to their property. In Experiment 1, 4–5-year-old and 7–8-year-old children and adults were asked to resolve disputes between initial owners and various types of receivers (finders, borrowers, buyers). Experiment 2 involved disputes both before and after transfers of ownership. At all ages participants privileged owners over non-owners and accepted the effectiveness of property transfers. Overall, children's intuitions about property rights were similar to those of adults. Observed differences may reflect older participants’ willingness to segregate property rights from other considerations in assessing the acceptability of actions.
Motor evoked potentials from transcranial stimulation of the motor cortex in humans.

Electrical testing of central nervous system pathways is assuming increasing importance in clinical medicine. However, there is no direct monitor of the motor system. We previously reported using a motor evoked potential created by direct excitation of the spinal cord, placing a stimulating electrode over the corticospinal tract area. To produce a less invasive test, we now use direct transcranial stimulation of the motor cortex through the scalp or direct stimulation of the motor cortex itself during operation. A descending signal can be recorded over the spinal cord and in the peripheral nerves where no retrograde sensory signals should be able to descend. This motor cortex stimulation produces contralateral limb movements and selective activation of the peripheral nerves of a limb. The characteristics of this signal are similar to those described in the neurophysiological literature for a descending motor signal. With a depth electrode, it was found that the signal was strongest in the spinal cord near the corticospinal tracts and in the anterior horn cell area. A set of lesioning studies showed that most of the signal travels in the area of the corticospinal tract, with some traveling in the ventral portion of the spinal cord, perhaps in the anterior corticospinal tract. Section of the pyramid essentially abolishes the signal, but lesioning of the red nucleus does not. This test offers an electrical assessment of the motor system that can be useful in experimental work on spinal cord and brain function. It has potential clinical applicability in humans.
Twist-four effects on the asymmetry in polarized-electron--deuteron scattering and sin/sup 2/theta/sub W/

The twist-four, spin-two quantum-chromodynamic corrections to the asymmetry parameter in polarized-electron-deuteron scattering and their effect on ${sin}^{2}{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{W}$ have been calculated using the operator-product expansion of the product of the weak and electromagnetic currents. The coefficients in the expansion were determined using perturbation-theory techniques, and the deuteron matrix elements of the operators were evaluated using the MIT bag model. The higher-twist effects decrease the value of ${sin}^{2}{\ensuremath{\theta}}_{W}$, as determined from polarized-electron-deuteron scattering, similar to the electroweak radiative corrections, but by less than 1%.
From the Support Vector Machine to the Bounded Constraint Machine

The Support Vector Machine (SVM) has been successfully applied for classification problems in many different fields. It was originally proposed using the idea of searching for the maximum separation hyperplane. In this article, in contrast to the criterion of maximum separation, we explore alternative searching criteria which result in the new method, the Bounded Constraint Machine (BCM). Properties and performance of the BCM are explored. To connect the BCM with the SVM, we investigate the Balancing Support Vector Machine (BSVM), which can be viewed as a bridge from the SVM to the BCM. The BCM is shown to be an extreme case of the BSVM. Theoretical properties such as Fisher consistency and asymptotic distributions for coefficients are derived, and the entire solution path of the BSVM is developed. Our numerical results demonstrate how the BSVM and the BCM work compared to the SVM.
A method for parental RNA interference in the wasp Nasonia vitripennis

The wasp Nasonia vitripennis is emerging as a useful model organism in which to address a variety of biological questions, due, in part, to its ease of laboratory use, unique aspects of its biology and the sequencing of its genome. In order to take full advantage of the potential of this organism, methods for manipulating gene function are needed. To this end, a protocol for parental RNA interference (pRNAi) in N. vitripennis is described. pRNAi entails injecting pupae with double-stranded RNA, allowing the injected wasps to eclose and examining the progeny for developmental defects. This basic protocol is described in the context of the life cycle of N. vitripennis. This technique has been useful in elucidating the function of most, although not all, genes tested to date, and has potential applications beyond embryonic patterning. pRNAi experiments in Nasonia can be completed in as little as 2 weeks.
Focus on discovering mechanisms: a relativistic, agent-directed, perfused liver

To facilitate integration and reconciliation between similar experiments, we need relativistic analogues that can be independent of experimental protocols; yet reasonably represent biological components and interactions among them, along with hypothesized mechanistic details. We designed, constructed and validated an analogue of a recirculating, isolated perfused liver used in a study of drug interactions between digoxin, rifampicin and quinidine. We believe these analogues can evolve into executable biological knowledge embodiments that provide concrete instances of knowledge and means to falsify mechanistic hypotheses.
Application of fiber specklegram sensor to fine angular alignment

Experimentation of fiber specklegram sensor (FSS) as applied to fine angular alignment is presented. The objective is to exploit the spatial information contents (i.e., fiber speckle field) for sensing. The results shown that FSS is highly sensitive to fiber perturbation. As applied to fine angular alignment, two sensing fibers are tightly glued on a plastic rod. By bending the plastic rod, high angular measurement with bending direction can be obtained. The sensitivity measurement is shown to be as high as 0.02°, using a 0.3 numerical aperture (NA) silicate fiber. The sensitivity can be further improved if one uses higher NA fibers.
The gender role journey measure: Scale development and psychometric evaluation

The Gender Role Journey concept was developed to help women and men explore their gender role changes and transitions. A 34-item Gender Role Journey Measure (GRJM) was conceptualized and developed through empirical methods. The construct validity of the five phases of the gender role journey is assessed. The GRJM and the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) were given to a sample of women and men (N=878). The sample was predominantly Caucasian from a mixed ethnic background. Principle factor analysis indicated three meaningful factors: Acceptance of Traditional Gender Roles; Gender Role Ambivalence, Confusion, Anger, and Fear; and Personal-Professional Activism. Moderately high test-retest and internal consistency reliabilities were found for each of the factors. Gender differences and gender by PAQ interactions were found for all three of the factors of the GRJM. Implications for future research, teaching, and workshops are suggested.
Group and family cognitive behavior therapy for adolescent depression and substance abuse: A case study

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) has been demonstrated to be an effective acute intervention for adolescent depression. However, studies to date of CBT with depressed adolescents have excluded those with comorbid substance abuse. Treatment of comorbid substance abuse requires that the targets of CBT be expanded to include social cognitive and family factors associated with the substance use disorder. We developed an integrated group and family therapy model of intervention for adolescents with both depression and substance abuse. The case of R.P. illustrates the application of this treatment model. Treatment includes skills training in the context of a closed, mixed-gender, twice-weekly adolescent group and weekly family therapy sessions to apply new skills in the family context. Central clinical issues and core cognitive and behavioral correlates of R.P.'s depression and substance abuse are delineated as they occurred during the course of treatment. Treatment was associated with improvements in mood and reductions in substance use.
Speaker change detection and tracking in real-time news broadcasting analysis

This paper addresses the problem of real time speaker change detection and speaker tracking in broadcasted news video analysis. In such a case, both speaker identities and number of speakers are assumed unknown. A two-step speaker change detection algorithm, including potential change detection and refinement, is proposed. Speaker tracking is performed based on the results of speaker change detection. A Bayesian Fusion method is used to fuse multiple audio features to get a more reliable result. The algorithm has low complexity and runs in real-time with a very limited delay in analysis. Our experiments show that the algorithms produce very satisfactory results.
Productivity, technology and efficiency of de novo banks: A counter evidence from Turkey

Abstract Employing a non-parametric frontier method, we investigate the technical X-efficiency and productivity growth of de novo banks vis-a-vis established banks in Turkey. The purpose of the paper is to study the performance pattern of de novo banks upon establishment. Overall results suggest that de novo banks tend to outperform established banks in all aspects of productive efficiency. Productivity, technology and efficiency also tend to grow faster in de novo banks than in established banks. Most of these performance improvements, however, take place in early years. As these banks approach the age of 10, diseconomies of scale issues begin to emerge, implying that economies of scale opportunities from expanding production scales are quite limited in the Turkish banking market. We also found that foreign entries are not only more efficient but also register faster productivity growth than domestic entries, suggesting that banking authorities, especially in emerging markets, may use foreign entries to boost the efficiency performance of their banks.
Instrumentation for the New Millennium Program Mars Microprobe Project: design approach and test results

The Mars Microprobe Project provides a unique opportunity to validate instrumentation technologies for performing relevant science experiments on the Martian surface and at a depth of up to two meters. The instrumentation package of the Mars Microprobe includes a meteorological instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure and temperature, accelerometers to measure the atmospheric drag on the probe aeroshell during descent, accelerometers for measuring the forces on the probe at impact, temperature sensors in the penetrator to measure the soil thermal conductivity at depth, and an experiment to collect a small sample of the Martian regolith and determine if water is present in the sample. These instruments have been designed to withstand the deceleration forces resulting from the impact and penetration of the probe into the Martian surface and to function in the harsh temperature environment beneath the surface. Results from the design and environmental test of these instruments are presented.
Muscle compensatory mechanisms during able-bodied toe walking

The purpose of this study was to use muscle-actuated forward dynamic simulations to quantify individual muscle contributions to body support (vertical ground reaction force) and propulsion (horizontal ground reaction force) and the mechanical energetics of the body segments during toe and heel-toe walking performed by able-bodied subjects to identify possible compensatory mechanisms necessary to toe walk. The simulations showed that an increased magnitude of plantar flexor power output in early stance, which was necessary to maintain the equinus posture during toe walking, contributed to body support and acted to brake (decelerate) the center-of-mass in the horizontal direction. This in turn required a reduction in the contributions to support from the vastii, gluteus maximus and biarticular hamstring muscles and decreased contributions to braking from the vastii and to a lesser extent the gluteus maximus. In late stance, the soleus contributed less to body support and forward propulsion during toe walking, which when combined with the increased braking by the plantar flexors in early stance, required a prolonged contribution to forward propulsion from the hamstrings from mid- to late stance. The multiple compensatory mechanisms necessary to toe walk have important implications for distinguishing between underlying pathology and necessary compensatory mechanisms, as well as for identifying the most appropriate treatment strategy for equinus gait.
The spin-isospin dependent interaction from inelastic proton scattering on 6Li

Abstract The differential cross section for the inelastic scattering of protons leading to the ( J π = 0 + , T = 1) state of 6 Li at 3.56 MeV has been measured at E p = 24.4 MeV. A real spin-isospin dependent interaction with a Yukawa shape, a strength of 12.7 MeV and a range of 1.0 fm fits the data well at small angles.
URBAN HEAT ISLAND AND URBAN HEALTH: EARLY AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES*

The nature and sources of early American understanding of an important form of human-induced climatic change, the urban heat island effect, are considered. Recognition and explanation of the phenomenon occured both earlier and more widely than is usually supposed. Interest stemmed not only from concerns that remain significant today, but from others that have been discarded, notably anticontagionist theories of the causation of disease.
Concept Analysis of Language in Psychotherapy

Explicitly or implicitly, psychotherapist and patient have agreed to a contractual relationship in which the therapist is to apply his skill to understanding and helping the patient. As a means of implementing this contract, the patient is to speak of himself, and the clinician is to question him, raise hypotheses about what he says or does, and offer interpretation and instruction. What the patient says is taken not only as information about particular subject matter, but as data about his way of viewing the world and about his difficulties. On the other hand, the clinician chooses his own contributions either to produce further clarification of the patient’s statements or to facilitate changes in the patient’s attitudes and behavior. The interaction between psychotherapist and patient is thus somewhat different from ordinary conversation (Streeck, 1980, p. 124).
RIT’s engineering honors program: Product innovation in a global Economy

The honors program in the Kate Gleason College of Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology began in 2002. The program admits approximately thirty first year students each year and focuses upon product innovation in a global economy. The goal of the program is to provide talented engineering students with a full appreciation of the product development cycle, from concept to realization; in particular, how products are conceived, how decisions are made at the corporate level to pursue certain products and not others, and how product concepts are refined, engineered, and then manufactured for the marketplace. The first strategy being used is a two academic year course sequence covering topics ranging from teamwork and leadership to globalization. The second strategy involves taking students on two comprehensive "field trips" - one domestic and the other international, where students explore how companies, large and small, address product development. Prior to each trip students present background material on each company and after the company visit students engage in a discussion of the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This paper will describe the successful integration of this specialized series of courses with the domestic and international company visits to achieve student appreciation of product development in a global marketplace. Program and course assessment results will be presented.
Analog phase holograms by electron-beam lithography

Phase holograms have been created on the surface of a thin film of poly-methyl methacrylate (PMMA, Plexiglas) by direct-write electron beam (E-Beam) lithography. The process involves delivering a patterned exposure dose followed by partial development with a strong developer. The patterned dose derives from arbitrary computer-calculated holograms, which must be corrected for the sensitivity characteristic of the PMMA and for the effective point-spread function of the E-Beam.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Self-tuning control with singular pencil models

The problem of self-tuning control for linear stochastic systems is considered. The system is represented in singular pencil system model whose internal variables and parameters are estimated using an ordinary Kalman filter. The estimated internal variables and parameters are then used in the state feedback controller to achieve self-tuning control.
Toward Standardization of Benefit-Cost Analysis of Early Childhood Interventions

A growing body of benefit-cost analyses (BCAs) of early childhood programs has been prompted by the increased demand for results-based accountability when allocating public and private sector resources. While the BCAs of early childhood programs serve to make such investments more compelling, there are limitations in the current state of the art, including a lack of standardization in the BCA methods used, from discount rates to shadow prices. The objective of this paper is to delineate a set of standards for conducting BCAs of early childhood programs. The paper reviews the existing evidence of the economic returns from early childhood programs that serve children and families in the first five years of life, discusses the challenges that arise in applying the BCA methodology such programs, highlights the variation in current methods used, and proposes a set of standards for applying the BCA methodology to early childhood programs. The recommendations concern issues such as the discount rate to use and the age to which costs and benefits should be discounted; stakeholder disaggregation; outcomes to value, the associated values, and projections of future outcomes; accounting for uncertainty; sensitivity analysis; and reporting of results. The proposed standards can guide the choices that analysts need to make about the methods to use when performing BCAs for one or more early childhood programs and they can support greater transparency in the results the analysts provide. The standards can also support consumers of the BCA results in their need to understand the methods employed and the comparability across different studies.
The effectiveness of evaluating mumps vaccine effectiveness.

mumps. If the objective is to simply decrease clinical illness, the evaluation of cases of mumps parotitis is adequate. If the goal is to interrupt transmission, subclinical cases must also be considered, because individuals with these cases shed virus [2] and presumably are capable of spreading infection. The failure of isolation of patients with mumps to prevent the spread of disease has been attributed to the shedding of virus prior to or in the absence of parotid swelling [2]. If comparisons are made between vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, the effect of prior subclinical infection should not affect efficacy estimates, because the
Immunological basis of inflammation in dialysis

Several studies indicate that chronic inflammation is the major determinant of the 'dialysis syndrome' characterized by malnutrition, cachexia and vasculopathy and responsible for the high mortality and morbidity rate in dialysed patients. Uraemia together with repeated contact with the dialytic devices are considered the most important factors eliciting the immune system response resulting in inflammation. Dialysis may also contribute by means of bacterial contamination of dialysis fluids or acetate-containing dialysis buffers. Chronic infections (Chlamydia pneumoniae) in combination with a defective immune system and favourable genetic background can also be involved. The chronic inflammation of long-term dialysed uraemic patients induces an increased production of reactive oxygen species which cannot be counterbalanced due to defective antioxidant capability typical of uraemia: the resulting altered redox state is responsible for the accelerated senescence characteristic of the dialysis syndrome. The most important immunological mechanisms underlining the development of the dialysis syndrome are reviewed.
Examining an Extension of Johnson’s Hypothesis: Is Male Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence More Underreported than Female Violence?

This paper examines two hypotheses about under-reporting in intimate partner violence data. The first hypothesis holds that significant amounts of under-reporting of intimate partner violence occur due to stigma. The second examines the empirical evidence behind Johnson’s (Journal of Marriage and the Family 57:238–294, 1995) contention that controversial findings of equal rates of intimate partner violence perpetration among men and women occur through a combination of heterogeneity in type of intimate partner violence and missing data. E.M. and Data Augmentation are used to correct for item non-response in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Strong support is found for general under-reporting; weak support is found for greater under-reporting of male violence.
Degradation of isoxaflutole (balance) herbicide by hypochlorite in tap water.

Chlorine has been widely employed for the disinfection of drinking water. Additionally, it has the capacity to oxidize many organic compounds in water. Isoxaflutole (Balance; IXF) belongs to a new class of isoxazole herbicides. Isoxaflutole has a very short soil half-life and rapidly degrades to a stable and phytotoxic metabolite, diketonitrile (DKN). Further degradation of DKN produces a nonbiologically active benzoic acid (BA) metabolite. In experiments using high-performance liquid chromatography-UV spectroscopy (HPLC-UV) and HPLC tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), DKN was found to rapidly react with hypochlorite in tap water, yielding the BA metabolite as the major end product. One milligram per liter (19 μM) of hypochlorite residue in tap water was able to completely oxidize up to 1600 μg/L (4.45 μmol/L) of DKN. In tap water, the disappearance of IXF was much more rapid than in DI water. As soon as the IXF is hydrolyzed to DKN, the DKN quickly reacts with the OCl- to form nonphytotoxic BA. As a r...
Non-Creole Features in the Verb System of Afro-Hispanic Languages: New Insights from SLA Studies

The goal of this paper is to show how two commonly found linguistic features in Afro-Hispanic contact varieties can be explained as the result of advanced second language strategies and, for this reason, they do not necessary imply a previous creole stage for these languages. The features under inspection are lack of subject-verb agreement and the presence of non-emphatic, non-contrastive overt subjects. The current analysis recurs to recent findings in generative approaches to second language acquisition (SLA) to provide new insights into the nature of these syntactic structures.
Guanadrel sulfate: a postganglionic sympathetic inhibitor for the treatment of mild to moderate hypertension.

Guanadrel sulfate is structurally and pharmacologically similar to guanethidine but has different pharmacokinetic properties. The drug produces peripheral postganglionic sympathetic blockade as a consequence of interference with neuronal release of norepinephrine and displacement of norepinephrine from storage vesicles. Animal studies using large multiples of human antihypertensive doses suggest a low order of human toxicity. Clinical studies have failed to reveal any major effect on hematologic, hepatic or renal function. The effect on serum lipids and plasma renin is unknown. The drug is well absorbed after oral administration. Peak plasma levels in humans occur 1.5–2 hours after a administration. Protein binding is less than 20%. Data from animal studies and clinical trials demonstrating a lack of central nervous system side effects indicate that little if any drug enters the central nervous system. The drug is partially metabolized by the liver, but nearly 50% of an orally administered dose appears unchanged in the urine. The mean elimination half-life is approximately 12 hours. The onset of antihypertensive action after oral administration of guanadrel to humans is 30–120 minutes (mean 77 minutes). The offset of drug action after a single oral dose ranges between 4–14 hours (mean 9 hours). The hypotensive response to guanadrel in hypertensive subjects is the result of a decline in systemic vascular resistance with an impairment of the normal sympathetic reflexes in the erect position. Guanadrel causes a reduction in renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate in the erect position. Open label clinical trials of antihypertensive efficacy indicate that guanadrel is effective in 60 and 70% of patients in the supine and erect positions, respectively. In comparative clinical trials, guanadrel appears to be as effective as guanethidine or methyldopa in reducing blood pressure in persons with mild to moderately severe hypertension; mean doses ranged from 56–162 mg/day. In other studies, investigators have used doses of 5–600 mg daily. The maximum recommended dosage is 400 mg/day. Side effects reported with guanadrel administration are those that would be predicted for a postganglionic sympathetic inhibitor that does not enter the central nervous system. Sexual dysfunction, orthostatic dizziness and diarrhea occur with the drug but do not seem to be as frequent or as severe as with guanethidine administration. In a comparison of guanadrel to methyldopa, methyldopa caused more complaints of drowsiness, and drowsiness scores of methyldopa patients remained higher than those of guanadrel patients even after two years of therapy. The drug has received approval as a step 2 antihypertensive agent in the United States. The available data suggest that it will serve as a reasonable alternative to other step 2 antihypertensives.
Filial Responsibility Expectations among Mexican American Undergraduates: Gender and Biculturalism.

How Mexican American college students perceive responsibility for parental care is important as Mexican American elders’ numbers increase. The authors applied mixed methods to investigate the impact of gender and biculturalism within this group. Two hundred and eighty-six Mexican American undergraduates completed the Hamon Filial Responsibility Scale. Twenty others participated in focus groups. Females endorsed filial responsibility expectations at higher rates than males, but biculturalism influenced more change in elder care expectations among males.
São Paulo map collections

Presentation des collections de cartes geographiques disponibles dans les differentes bibliotheques publiques et specialisees, de cette ville bresilienne
CLONING AND PHYSICAL MAPPING OF AN EARLY REGION OF THE BACTERIOPHAGE T4 GENOME

We have cloned DNA restriction fragments from the largely nonessential region of bacteriophage T4 located between genes 39 and 56. The cloned DNA fragments were used to construct a precise map of the sites in this region recognized by eight restriction endonucleases. This restriction map allowed us to compare the cytosine-containing T4 DNA used for cloning with the hydroxymethylcytosine-containing DNA of wild-type T4; there were no detectable rearrangements in the region tested. We were also able to determine the physical locations of several deletion end points and of several genes.
Potential Inhibitors of Chemokine Function: Analysis of Noncovalent Complexes of CC Chemokine and Small Polyanionic Molecules by ESI FT-ICR Mass Spectrometry

Chemokines play a critical role in inducing chemotaxis, extravasation, and activation of leukocytes both in routine immunosurveillance and autoimmune diseases. Traditionally, to disrupt chemokine function, strategies have focused on blockage of its interaction with the receptor. Recently, it has been demonstrated that binding to glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) is also required for the in vivo activity of many chemokines. Thus, interference with the GAG-binding of chemokines may offer an alternative, valid, anti-inflammatory strategy. However, the potential of using small polyanions to inhibit the interactions between chemokines and cell surface GAGs has not been fully explored. In this study, a mass spectrometry based filtration trapping assay was utilized to study the interactions between two CCR 2 ligands (MCP-1/CCL2 and MCP-3/CCL7) and a series of low molecular weight, polyanionic molecules. Findings were confirmed by using a hydrophobic trapping assay. The results indicated that Arixtra (fondaparinux sodium), sucrose octasulfate, and suramin were specific binders of the chemokines, while cyclodextrin sulfate, although the most highly sulfated molecule among the ones investigated, showed no binding. The binding stoichiometry of the small molecule ligand was determined from the measured molecular weight of the noncovalent complex. Furthermore, the dissociation constant between MCP-3 and Arixtra was determined by using electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (ESI FT-ICR) mass spectrometry, which compared favorably with the result of the isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) assay. The relative binding affinity of these ligands to MCP-3 was also determined using a competitive filtration trapping assay.
Influence of the seed polymer on the chromatographic properties of size monodisperse polymeric separation media prepared by a multi-step swelling and polymerization method

Monodisperse polymer particle-based separation media were prepared by a multi-step swelling and polymerization method with two pairs of monomers and two porogenic solvents. Their chromatographic properties were compared to those of beads prepared by a corresponding suspension polymerization method without the use of seed polymer to ascertain the influence of the seed polymer on their porous structures. A large change in porous structure was observed when the swollen particle consisting of monomers and porogenic solvents contained at least one good solvent for the polystyrene seed polymer, allowing it to remain in the polymerizing medium. In contrast, when the polystyrene seed particle was excluded from the swollen oil droplets, due to its poor solubility in the monomers and the porogenic solvents, there was no difference in the chromatographic properties such as pore volume, pore size, pore size distribution, or retention selectivity between the multi-step swelling and polymerization method and the suspension polymerization method. Since the only difference between the multi-step swelling and polymerization method and the suspension method is the use of the seed polymer, it appears that a very small amount (< 1% v/v) of seed polymers in the enlarged swollen droplets plays an important role as a porogen and affects the porous structure as well as the chromatographic properties of the monodisperse polymer particle-based separation media. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Higher plant cytochrome b5 polypeptides modulate fatty acid desaturation

Background Synthesis of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) in the endoplasmic reticulum of plants typically involves the fatty acid desaturases FAD2 and FAD3, which use cytochrome b5 (Cb5) as an electron donor. Higher plants are reported to have multiple isoforms of Cb5, in contrast to a single Cb5 in mammals and yeast. Despite the wealth of information available on the roles of FAD2 and FAD3 in PUFA synthesis, information regarding the contributions of various Cb5 isoforms in desaturase-mediated reactions is limited. Results The present functional characterization of Cb5 polypeptides revealed that all Arabidopsis Cb5 isoforms are not similarly efficient in ω-6 desaturation, as evidenced by significant variation in their product outcomes in yeast-based functional assays. On the other hand, characterization of Cb5 polypeptides of soybean (Glycine max) suggested that similar ω-6 desaturation efficiencies were shared by various isoforms. With regard to ω-3 desaturation, certain Cb5 genes of both Arabidopsis and soybean were shown to facilitate the accumulation of more desaturation products than others when co-expressed with their native FAD3. Additionally, similar trends of differential desaturation product accumulation were also observed with most Cb5 genes of both soybean and Arabidopsis even if co-expressed with non-native FAD3. Conclusions The present study reports the first description of the differential nature of the Cb5 genes of higher plants in fatty acid desaturation and further suggests that ω-3/ω-6 desaturation product outcome is determined by the nature of both the Cb5 isoform and the fatty acid desaturases.
Transformation of the Central and East European Passenger Car Industry: Selective Peripheral Integration through Foreign Direct Investment

The Central and East European (CEE) passenger car industry underwent major transformations through foreign direct investment (FDI) in the 1990s. The author demonstrates that the effects of FDI on the passenger car industry have been profound, but geographically uneven. To understand the different regional and local strategies of foreign car producers better, the author introduces a classification of FDI in the passenger car industry based on the degree of embeddedness in local economies and relationships to path dependency in the 1990s. The effects of FDI on selective peripheral integration of parts of CEE into the European car production system, as well as the role of Central Europe in the division of labour in the European passenger car industry, are also considered.
Programmed Death in Bacteria

Programmed cell death (PCD) in bacteria plays an important role in developmental processes, such as lysis of the mother cell during sporulation of Bacillus subtilis and lysis of vegetative cells in fruiting body formation of Myxococcus xanthus. The signal transduction pathway leading to autolysis of the mother cell includes the terminal sporulation sigma factor EςK, which induces the synthesis of autolysins CwlC and CwlH. An activator of autolysin in this and other PCD processes is yet to be identified. Autolysis plays a role in genetic exchange in Streptococcus pneumoniae, and the gene for the major autolysin, lytA, is located in the same operon with recA. DNA from lysed cells is picked up by their neighbors and recombined into the chromosome by RecA. LytA requires an unknown activator controlled by a sensory kinase, VncS. Deletion of vncS inhibits autolysis and also decreases killing by unrelated antibiotics. This observation suggests that PCD in bacteria serves to eliminate damaged cells, similar to apoptosis of defective cells in metazoa. The presence of genes affecting survival without changing growth sensitivity to antibiotics (vncS, lytA, hipAB, sulA, and mar) indicates that bacteria are able to control their fate. Elimination of defective cells could limit the spread of a viral infection and donate nutrients to healthy kin cells. An altruistic suicide would be challenged by the appearance of asocial mutants without PCD and by the possibility of maladaptive total suicide in response to a uniformly present lethal factor or nutrient depletion. It is proposed that a low rate of mutation serves to decrease the probability that asocial mutants without PCD will take over the population. It is suggested that PCD is disabled in persistors, rare cells that are resistant to killing, to ensure population survival. It is suggested that lack of nutrients leads to the stringent response that suppresses PCD, producing a state of tolerance to antibiotics, allowing cells to discriminate between nutrient deprivation and unrepairable damage. High levels of persistors are apparently responsible for the extraordinary survival properties of bacterial biofilms, and genes affecting persistence appear to be promising targets for development of drugs aimed at eradicating recalcitrant infections. PCD in unicellular eukaryotes is also considered, including aging in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Apoptosis-like elimination of defective cells in S. cerevisiae and protozoa suggests that all unicellular life forms evolved altruistic programmed death that serves a variety of useful functions.
Evidence Supporting Product Standards for Carcinogens in Smokeless Tobacco Products

Smokeless tobacco products sold in the United States vary significantly in yields of nicotine and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNA). With the passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, the Food and Drug Administration now has the authority to establish product standards. However, limited data exist determining the relative roles of pattern of smokeless tobacco use versus constituent levels in the smokeless tobacco product in exposure of users to carcinogens. In this study, smokeless tobacco users of brands varying in nicotine and TSNA content were recruited from three different regions in the U.S. Participants underwent two assessment sessions. During these sessions, demographic and smokeless tobacco use history information along with urine samples to assess biomarkers of exposure and effect were collected. During the time between data collection, smokeless tobacco users recorded the amount and duration of smokeless tobacco use on a daily basis using their diary cards. Results showed that independent of pattern of smokeless tobacco use and nicotine yields, levels of TSNA in smokeless tobacco products played a significant role in carcinogen exposure levels. Product standards for reducing levels of TSNA in smokeless tobacco products are necessary to decrease exposure to these toxicants and potentially to reduce risk for cancer.
Serial serum drug concentrations and prolonged anticholinergic toxicity after benztropine (Cogentin) overdose.

Abstract A 38-year-old man overdosed on benztropine mesylate (Cogentin; Merck Sharpe & Dohme, West Point, PA) and developed anticholinergic poisoning syndrome, which lasted nine days. Serial serum benztropine concentrations were obtained during his hospitalization. Fluctuating benztropine levels suggested that his lengthy intoxication may have been secondary to prolonged, intermittent absorption rather than from slow plasma clearance. This is belleved to be the first report of serial serum benztropine concentrations after overdose.