cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Continuous Lubricated Squeezing Flow Technique to Study the Rheological Behavior of Polymer Melts in Equibiaxial Elongational Flow

Despite its technological significance, the rheological behavior of polymer melts in equibiaxial elongational flow is largely unexplored and, consequently, is inadequately understood. The simple reason for this is that methods for generating equibiaxial elongational deformations are either very complicated or not reliable. The most widely accepted method for generating rheologically controlled equibiaxial elongational flow is the rotating clamp method, or MultiAxiale Dehnung (MAD), developed by Meissner. However, the extremely complicated nature of the MAD rheometer has resulted in a relatively limited set of experimental data. A promising method that has been used with some success is known as Lubricated Squeezing Flow (LSF), where a polymer melt is squeezed between lubricated surfaces. Unfortunately, uncontrolled lubricant thinning limits the LSF technique to rather modest strain levels. Here we report the first direct comparisons of data obtained with the LSF and MAD techniques. We find that the data obtained using LSF deviate from the MAD data at Hencky strains of less than one, and display behavior that could easily be mistaken for strain hardening. For the past few years, we have been developing a modified LSF technique that involves the continuous injection of lubricant through porous metal plates. We report the first measurements of transient equibiaxial elongational viscosity obtained using the modified LSF technique and make comparisons with data from the MAD rheometer.
Use of psychopathology vignettes by patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and by mental health professionals to judge patients' insight.

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to clarify more precisely where patients with psychotic disorders and the mental health professionals who care for them disagree regarding whether the patient is ill or needs treatment. METHOD The authors prepared brief vignettes in everyday descriptive language that provided examples of the classical positive and negative psychopathological features of schizophrenia. Fifteen men and 11 women diagnosed as having schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and one physician used these vignettes as a common frame of reference to rate 1) the degree to which the patients demonstrated the features described in each vignette and 2) the degree to which the features signified the presence of mental illness. RESULTS Disagreements between the physician's and patients' ratings, indicating deficits in insight, were associated with the recognition of the presence of conceptual disorganization, avolition-apathy, and affective blunting in the patients by the physician but not the patients and with the conceptualization of hallucinatory behavior and suspiciousness as signs of mental illness by the physician but not the patients. CONCLUSIONS The authors conclude that the failure to acknowledge conceptual disorganization, avolition-apathy, and affective blunting and the failure to view hallucinatory behavior and suspiciousness as signs of mental illness, which proved to be additive in this study, contribute to deficits in insight.
AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF DIATHERMY : V. THE ELEVATION OF TEMPERATURE IN THE PNEUMONIC LUNG.

1. An experimental pneumonia with more or less lobar distribution has been produced in dogs by the method of intrabronchial insufflation of B. friedlaenderi, Type B, and Pneumococcus, Type I. 2. Such dogs as showed evidences of a pulmonary lesion when photographed by x-ray were selected for lung temperature measurements. 3. Measurements of lung temperature were made by means of thermocouples before and during diathermy. 4. The thermocouples which recorded the temperature in the consolidated lobes showed in most instances a more rapid rate of heating during diathermy than those in the normal lobes. The final increase in temperature in the pathological lobes over the normal lobes amounted to slightly more than 1°C. 5. When local heating occurred during diathermy it was of the order of magnitude found in a lung in which the branch of the pulmonary artery supplying it had been clamped. 6. Histological examination of the lungs showed the pathological reaction to consist of intraalveolar exudate composed of polymorphonuclear leucocytes and desquamated alveolar epithelium. In some sections the exudate was sufficient to cause compression and emptying of the alveolar capillaries. 7. The local heating, we believe, depends upon this ischemic state of the smaller vessels. 8. Further evidence for an imparied circulation in the pneumonic lung is furnished by injection preparations in which the uninjected area corresponded exactly to the gross pathological lesion.
Case-Control Study of the Risk Factors for Eclampsia

A case-control study was conducted to investigate risk factors for eclampsia. A total of 66 cases of eclampsia were ascertained from deliveries between 1977 and 1992 at two hospitals in Houston, Texas, based on the criteria defined by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Cases were matched to nonpreeclamptic controls on a 4 :1 ratio on the basis of hospital and month of delivery. The ratio of eclampsia cases to number of deliveries over the study period was 0.63 per 1,000. In a logistic regression model, risk factors for eclampsia included 1) two or fewer prenatal care visits (odds ratio (OR) = 6.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.26-16.41), 2) urinary tract infection (OR = 4.23, 95% CI 1.27-14.06), 3) primigravidity (OR = 2.87, 95% Cl 0.97-8.44), 4) obesity (OR = 2.49, 95% Cl 0.78-7.96), 5) black ethnicity (OR = 2.25, 95% Cl 0.88-5.78), 6) history of diabetes (OR = 2.07, 95% Cl 0.45-9.62), and 7) age ≤20 years (OR = 1.55, 95% Cl 0.47-5.10). Nulliparity was not shown to be a risk factor for eclampsia when controlled for primigravidity, and neither were previous history of abortion or previous history of pregnancy-induced hypertension. Thus, prior pregnancy itself, independent of outcome and preeclamptic/eclamptic complications, appears to be the protective factor against eclampsia in a subsequent pregnancy. Am J Epidemiol 1995 ;142 :437-41.
Agile manufacturing: the next logical step

Agile manufacturing is a new and revolutionary way of manufacturing and assembling products. It is the next logical step in the evolutionary chain of manufacturing technologies, following on the heels of its predecessors, craft production, mass production, and lean production. This paper explains what agile manufacturing is, and what needs to be done to successfully pave the way for its implementation. Successful implementation requires changes in five areas: government regulation, business cooperation, information technology, reengineering, and employee flexibility. The potential benefits of successfully implementing agile manufacturing are much too great for an organization to overlook, as are the potential consequences of failing to implement it. Though many organizations have made strides toward implementing agile manufacturing, there is much work that needs to be done. Corporations need the backing of strong infrastructure to make agile manufacturing successful. This will require cooperation between government and business.
A software tool for large-scale sharing and querying of clinical documents modeled using HL7 version 3 standard

We present a novel software tool called CDN (Collaborative Data Network) for large-scale sharing and querying of clinical documents modeled using HL7 v3 standard (e.g., Clinical Document Architecture (CDA), Continuity of Care Document (CCD)). Similar to the caBIG initiative, CDN aims to foster innovations in cancer treatment and diagnosis through large-scale, sharing of clinical data. We focus on cancer because it is the second leading cause of deaths in the US. CDN is based on the synergistic combination of peer-to-peer technology and the extensible markup language XML and XQuery. Using CDN, a user can pose both structured queries and keyword queries on the HL7 v3 documents hosted by data providers. CDN is unique in its design - it supports location oblivious queries in a large-scale, network wherein a user does not explicitly provide the location of the data for a query. A location service in CDN discovers data of interest in the network at query time. CDN uses standard cryptographic techniques to provide security to data providers and protect the privacy of patients. Using CDN, a user can pose clinical queries pertaining to cancer containing aggregations and joins across data hosted by multiple data providers. CDN is implemented with open-source software for web application development and XML query processing. We report the evaluation of CDN in a distributed environment (LAN) using a real dataset of discharge summaries available from the i2b2 project.
Trends in Dislocation Core Structures and Mechanical Behavior in B2 Aluminide

In an effort to understand the deformation mechanism in high temperature B2 intermetallics, atomistic simulations were carried out for dislocation cores in a series of compounds exhibiting the B2 structure (FeAl, NiAl, CoAl). A comparison was made on the basis of core structures, dislocation splittings and Peierls stress values. The (110) and (112) γ surfaces were computed for these three compounds. The importance of the APB values and the maximum shear faults for explaining the dislocation behavior is discussed.
Differential internalisation of mGluR1 splice variants in response to agonist and phorbol esters in permanently transfected BHK cells

Abstract The internalisation of metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR1α) and its splice variant (mGluR1β), in response to agonist and phorbol esters (PMA), has been studied. Both mGluR1α and mGluR1β exhibit a similar rate of internalisation following PMA treatment, with a shift in their distribution from plasma membrane to endosome-enriched membrane fractions. Agonist challenge however caused a rapid loss, within 5–10 min, of mGluR1β but not mGluR1α from the cell surface. These results show that the two forms of mGluR1 show different internalisation responses to agonist and suggest that the C-terminal region of the molecule plays an important role in this phenomenon.
Production of stable high solids coal—water fuel in a tumbling wet ball mill

Abstract This study investigates the parameters affecting the grinding process in a tumbling wet ball mill to produce a highly loaded, finely ground slurry with good rheological properties and good stability. The independent factors selected were solids, amount of dispersant and grind time. Experiments were conducted by choosing independent factor levels corresponding to a central composite design. The responses measured were %
A study of pre-school vision screening tests’ testability, validity, and duration: do group differences matter?

Vision screening was performed on 268 pre-school children: 170 from a private pre-school, 33 from a Caribbean-American parochial pre-school and 65 pre-school children from a clinic serving indigent Spanish farm-workers. Using a multi-station format, a stereoacuity test and two visual acuity tests were performed during a single screening session. The time it took to complete a test was recorded. To pass the screening, children were required to pass one visual acuity test and the stereoacuity test. Children who could not complete the protocol were retested at a later date. Children who failed the screening and every fourth child who passed the screening were referred for a full eye examination. The parents and teachers were masked to the results of the screening as well as the optometrists who performed the eye examination. Sensitivity, specificity and accuracy scores were 100%, 79% and 80%, respectively. Three-year-old children completed the Lea Symbol Chart more often than the HOTV. No differences in time...
The Atomic Moments and Hyperfine Fields in Fe2Ti and Fe2Zr

The magnetic properties of Fe2Ti and Fe2Zr, intermetallic compounds with Laves type structures, were studied using the techniques of neutron diffraction and nuclear resonance fluorescence (Mossbauer effect). Both compounds are ferromagnetic, with magnetic moments of 0.35 and 2.56 Bohr magnetons, respectively, at room temperature, and 0.92 and 3.12 Bohr magnetons, respectively, at liquid helium temperatures. A magnetic form factor for the iron atoms in Fe2Zr was determined. The nuclear resonance fluorescence experiments gave measures of the magnetic fields at the iron nuclei. At room temperature, the field for Fe2Zr was 190±10 kgauss, while that for Fe2Ti was very low, less than 5 kgauss. The relation between the atomic magnetic moments and the magnetic fields at the nuclei is discussed.
Erratum to: “Subnormal, permutable, and embedded subgroups in finite groups”

The original version of the article was published in Central European Journal of Mathematics, 2011, 9(4), 915–921, DOI: 10.2478/s11533-011-0029-8. Unfortunately, the original version of this article contains a mistake: Lemma 2.1 (2) is not true. We correct Lemma 2.2 (2) and Theorem 1.1 in our paper where this lemma was used.
Adenocarcinoma of the ileum in Crohn disease

Small bowel adenocarcinoma develops in 1.5% of patients who have longstanding Crohn disease and is very rarely diagnosed preoperatively because of its rarity, overlapping imaging features, and lack of reported cases. Nonspecific findings including loss of mural stratification (i.e., “target sign”) and mild degree of bowel wall enhancement when combined with enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes were helpful computed tomographic findings to suspect malignancy in our case.
Measurement variability in soybean water status and soil‐nutrient extraction in a row spacing study in the U.S. southeastern coastal plain

Abstract Full‐season determinate soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] was grown in the field in a humid climate for three seasons (1979–81). The objective was to examine variability in several methods of determining basic relationships between soil and plant water status in a range of canopy configurations and to examine treatment effects on soil‐nutrient extraction. In each year, two cultivars, “Davis” (group VI) and “Coker 338” (group VIII) were planted in four row spacings. In 1980 and 1981 the experiment was expanded and split for irrigation and row orientation (N—S or E‐W). Post‐harvest soil samples were collected and analyzed to determine if irrigation, row spacing, or cultivar influenced K, Ca, and Mg extraction patterns. During the growing seasons, parallel leaf diffusive resistance (Rs) was poorly correlated with xylem pressure potential (ψx), canopy s x temperature (Tc), canopy minus air temperature (?T), leaf vapor pressure deficit (LVPD), and atmospheric vapor pressure deficit (VPD) in single fa...
PERCEPTUAL CATEGORIZATION: A PARALLEL BETWEEN PERCEPTUAL IDENTIFICATION AND SERIAL LEARNING

Perception of both visual and auditory stimuli is facilitated as the number of cues associated with the perceptual categorization of the stimulus is increased (I), suggesting that this results from the accompanying increase in associations with the stimulus. Although it is well known that learning is facilitated by increases in associations, meaningfulness, familiarity, or pronounceability, it is of interest to examine whether cues shown to facilitate the perception of stimuli in discrete steps also facilitate learning in a like manner. The five lists of 10 stimuli described in the earlier report were presented individually to S according to the standard serial learning paradigm: (a) words with high ThorndikeLorge (1952) frequencies; (b) words with low Thorndike-Lorge frequencies; (c) common syllables; (d) nonsense syllables (near-words); and (e) words written backwards [the reader is referred to the complete description of the stimuli (I)]. The order of presentation of the lists was first randomized and then this series was systematically varied across Ss in a Latin square design. S learned one list a day on five consecutive days. The stimuli were presented one by one via a memory drum for 2 sec, with a 2-sec. interstimulus interval. S was instructed to anticipate and to write the next stimulus in sequence. The criterion was one perfect anticipauon of the list. Ten laboratory personnel, naive with respect to the purpose of the experiment, served as Ss. The mean number of trials to criterion on each list is presented in Fig. 1. AIthough 5 Ss reported realizing the construction of the BW list, only 3 attempted to learn the list as words written backwards and only 1 showed better performance on the BW
Effects of direct- and indirect-acting serotonin receptor agonists on the antinociceptive and discriminative stimulus effects of morphine in rhesus monkeys.

Effects of Direct- and Indirect-Acting Serotonin Receptor Agonists on the Antinociceptive and Discriminative Stimulus Effects of Morphine in Rhesus Monkeys
Genetic Polymorphism in Natural Populations of Avena fatua and A. barbata

IN a previous paper1 estimates of the degree of polymorphism at four marker loci and the between and within-family components of quantitative genetic variation were reported for several natural populations of Avena fatua and A. barbata from a small region of the Central Valley of California. These data indicated that the two species differed markedly in population structure; populations of A. fatua were highly polymorphic, in contrast to monomorphism in A. barbata, and were genetically more variable with respect to the quantitative traits studied. We report here the results of an extensive survey for polymorphisms in Avena populations in California. The primary aim of the survey was to obtain comparative data on geographical variation in the patterns of polymorphism in A. fatua and A. barbata and to ascertain how such variation relates to climatic variables, the relative abundance of the two species, and so on.
Inelastic light scattering at the second critical micellar formation of lecithin

Abstract Quasielastic light scattering provides a direct probe of the diffusional mobility of large particles in solution. Analysis of the light scattering spectra of natural lecithin as a function of scattering angle and concentration in hydrophilic and lipophilic solvents supports the conclusion that the second critical micelle transition is associated with the elongation of spherical molecular aggregates into cylindrical or ellipsoidal particles. The effective radius of the scattering entity below the second critical point is significantly less in nonpolar solvents. The latter result is explained in terms of amphiphilic lipid-solvent interactions.
Transcriptional regulatory network discovery via multiple method integration: application to e. coli K12

Transcriptional regulatory network (TRN) discovery from one method (e.g. microarray analysis, gene ontology, phylogenic similarity) does not seem feasible due to lack of sufficient information, resulting in the construction of spurious or incomplete TRNs. We develop a methodology, TRND, that integrates a preliminary TRN, microarray data, gene ontology and phylogenic similarity to accurately discover TRNs and apply the method to E. coli K12. The approach can easily be extended to include other methodologies. Although gene ontology and phylogenic similarity have been used in the context of gene-gene networks, we show that more information can be extracted when gene-gene scores are transformed to gene-transcription factor (TF) scores using a preliminary TRN. This seems to be preferable over the construction of gene-gene interaction networks in light of the observed fact that gene expression and activity of a TF made of a component encoded by that gene is often out of phase. TRND multi-method integration is found to be facilitated by the use of a Bayesian framework for each method derived from its individual scoring measure and a training set of gene/TF regulatory interactions. The TRNs we construct are in better agreement with microarray data. The number of gene/TF interactions we discover is actually double that of existing networks.
Rheology of Sulfonated Polystyrene Solutions

We report the apparent viscosity of aqueous solutions of a well-characterized synthetic polyelectrolyte, the sodium salt of polystyrene sulfonate. Using two rheometers we measure the apparent viscosity over more than five decades of shear rate to determine the Newtonian viscosity and the onset of shear thinning, which is inversely proportional to the relaxation time. We study five decades of polyelectrolyte concentration, from the dilute to the entangled regimes, and three decades of added salt (NaCl) concentration, on a single polyelectrolyte sample. Much of the viscosity data in the literature are shown to be in the shear thinning regime and are not indicative of the Newtonian viscosity. Our data for viscosity and longest relaxation time are qualitatively consistent with a recent scaling theory. There are systematic deviations from this simple theory, including the failure of the well-established Fuoss law, which is shown to be obeyed by the apparent viscosity only at higher shear rates.
Identification of Novel Ah Receptor Agonists Using a High-Throughput Green Fluorescent Protein-Based Recombinant Cell Bioassay†

The Ah receptor is a ligand-dependent transcription factor that mediates the biological and toxic effects of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD, dioxin). Recent evidence also suggests a role for the AhR in normal physiology and development. Although a variety of structurally diverse chemicals are reported to bind to and activate the AhR, the full spectrum of structural chemical classes that can interact with the AhR remains to be elucidated. Large-scale analysis of the ligand binding specificity of the AhR requires the use of a high-throughput AhR bioassay system for chemical screening. We have utilized a recombinant mouse hepatoma cell line (H1G1.1c3) containing a stably integrated TCDD- and AhR-responsive enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) reporter gene to screen a 1,5-dialkylamino-2,4-dinitrobenzene combinatorial chemical library consisting of 155 parental amines and up to 12 090 combinatorial products in less than 7 days for novel AhR agonists. These analyses have identified numerous parental amines as relatively potent inducers of EGFP (with EC(50)s between 8 and 1000 microM) and also have revealed several novel products of the combinatorial chemical library synthesis with EC(50)s between 10 and 100 microM. Overall, these results have not only allowed the identification of novel activators of the AhR but also demonstrate the utility of the recombinant H1G1.1c3 cell bioassay for high-throughput chemical screening.
Absolute quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for the measurement of human papillomavirus E7 mRNA in cervical cytobrush specimens

Few reports of the utilization of an accurate, cost-effective means for measuring HPV oncogene transcripts have been published. Several papers have reported the use of relative quantitation or more expensive Taqman methods. Here, we report a method of absolute quantitative real-time PCR utilizing SYBR-green fluorescence for the measurement of HPV E7 expression in cervical cytobrush specimens. The construction of a standard curve based on the serial dilution of an E7-containing plasmid was the key for being able to accurately compare measurements between cervical samples. The assay was highly reproducible with an overall coefficient of variation of 10.4%. The use of highly reproducible and accurate SYBR-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays instead of performing Taqman-type assays allows low-cost, high-throughput analysis of viral mRNA expression. The development of such assays will help in refining the current screening programs for HPV-related carcinomas.
Absence of magnetic anomalies due to seepage-induced "magnetoelectric effects" and implications for sulfide self-potentials

The magnetic field due to an azimuthally symmetric distribution of subsurface electric current, which may be associated with vertical hydrocarbon seepage, vanishes above the ground surface. However, geologic conditions in general do not provide perfect isotropic conditions, and, in theory, some magnetic fields can be generated by the magnetoelectric effect. Sedimentary rock sections are relatively isotropic, particularly in the stratigraphic plane. Thus, hydrocarbon seepage‐induced magnetic fields above the ground surface may never be significant, even if strong electric currents are associated with the seepage. All current‐generated magnetic fields, of whatever origin, must obey Ampere’s law; no line integral operation can distinguish a magnetic field having one origin from that of any other origin. Therefore, seepage‐induced magnetic anomalies, if they exist at all, are probably useless for hydrocarbon exploration because it is virtually impossible to distinguish them from other anomalies of unknown ori...
Multiplication of vaccinia virus in serum-free and serum-containing cell cultures.

THE use of tissue culture cells for the production of virus preparations and vaccines is increasing and will gain prominence in the future. A report has recently appeared concerning the possible use of cell cultures for the standardization of smallpox vaccines1. At present the cell lines used for the production of virus vaccines are grown in media which contain of necessity serum of one species or another2. Several cell lines which grow in media free of serum have been reported3, and the advantages that these cells might have for vaccine production are obvious. Their use, however, could well be limited by their ability to support virus growth to a high titre. This report describes a comparison of vaccinia growth in serum-free and serum-containing mouse lung cells.
Effect of prenatal cocaine on the acquisition of cocaine-induced taste aversions

Abstract Pregnant Long-Evans rats were injected SC twice daily with 20 mg/kg cocaine from gestational days (GD) 7–19. Vehicle controls were administered distilled water on these days. Pair-fed controls were similarly treated but allowed the same amount of food as consumed by the cocaine-exposed mothers. On postnatal day 1 (PND 1), pups of the mothers exposed to cocaine were surrogate-fostered. On PND 41, all subjects were grouped according to their history (cocaine, vehicle, and pair-fed) and were tested for their behavioral sensitivity to the aversive effects of cocaine by assessing their ability to acquire a cocaine-induced taste aversion. Rats from all three conditions were given saccharin to drink and then injected SC with either 0, 18, 32, or 50 mg/kg cocaine. Prenatal exposure to cocaine had no effect on the acquisition of aversions. Specifically, the prenatally exposed animals acquired the taste aversion in a dose-dependent manner similar to that of the controls. These data indicate that changes in sensitivity to cocaine are not necessary consequences of prenatal cocaine exposure.
The intrinsic low temperature magnetic and transport properties of NiAl

Abstract The magnetic susceptibility, resistivity, magnetoresistance, and NMR properties of very pure stoichiometric NiAl samples have been measured. The Kondo-like phenomena previously observed in this material are absent suggesting that the intrinsic properties agree with a simple Fermi surface as predicted by APW calculations.
Use of collaborative virtual environments in the mine countermeasures mission

We describe our work on the development and use of collaborative virtual environments to support planing, rehearsal, and execution of tactical operations conducted as part of mine countermeasures missions (MCM). Utilizing our VR-based visual analysis tool, Cave5D, we construct interactive virtual environments based on graphical representations of bathymetry/topography, above-surface imags, in-water objects, and environmental conditions. The data sources may include archived data stores and real-time inputs from model simulations or advanced observational platforms. The Cave5D application allows users to view, navigate, and interact with time-varying data in a fully 3D context, thus preserving necessary geospatial relationships crucial for intuitive analysis. Collaborative capabilities have been integrated into Cave5D to enable users at many distributed sites to interact in near real-time with each other and with the data in a many-to-many session. The ability to rapidly configure scenario-based missions in a shared virtual environment has the potential to change the way mission critical information is used by the MCM community.
Time domain spectroscopy to monitor the condition of cable insulation

Abstract The use of Time Domain Spectroscopy, the measurement of dielectric constant and loss using time-domain response, for monitoring the aging of reactor cable insulation is examined. The method is presented, showing its sensitivity, accuracy and wide frequency range. The method's ability to acquire a great deal of information in a short time and its superiority to conventional single frequency data is shown. Different cable samples are examined before and after exposure to radiation and changes with exposure are clearly seen to occur. Also it is shown that a wide range of behavior can be found in different insulation systems. The requirements for performing valid measurements is presented. The need for controlled samples and correlation with other criteria for aging is discussed.
Production of ultrahigh power densities with channeled propagation at 248nm in underdense plasmas

Abstract The analysis of X-ray emission from channeled propagation occurring in gas-phase Xe cluster targets provides evidence that multiphoton coupling can produce an atom-specific power exceeding 1 W/atom. This exceptionally high rate is found to be consistent with enhanced coupling arising from many-electron motions. The results indicate a limiting power density of ∼ 1021 W/cm3 for channels produced in an underdense plasma containing uranium clusters. This value is consistent with the requirements for strong X-ray amplification in the multi-kilovolt regime.
PURIFICATION AND COMPARISON OF 2′,3′‐CYCLIC NUCLEOTIDE 3′‐PHOSPHOHYDROLASES FROM BOVINE BRAIN AND SPINAL CORD

The membrane-bound enzyme 2′,3′-cyclic nucleotide 3′-phosphohydrolase has been purified from acetone powders of bovine white matter and spinal cord. Affinity chromatography on AMP-Sepharose has been used as the final step in the chromatographic purifications. The yield was about 3 mg of purified enzyme per 100 g of tissue in each instance. The enzymes from the two sources were indistinguishable by chromatography, gel electrophoresis, and amino acid analysis; the enzyme from spinal cord, however, has shown a specific activity of 225 units/mg compared to 342 units/mg for the enzyme from white matter. Both proteins had a molecular weight of 100,000 by gel filtration and 50,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions. The properties of the enzyme, including amino acid composition determined on the purified soluble protein and on the protein purified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis, were those of a basic hydrophobic protein.
Active repression mechanisms of eukaryotic transcription repressors

Regulators of transcription and, in particular, transcriptional repressors, play central roles in vital biological processes, such as development and the regulation of cell growth. A major class of transcriptional repressors consists of DNA-binding proteins that interact with specific promoter elements and repress transcription via small, portable repression 'domains'. Such transcriptional inhibition, first identified only five years ago, has been termed active repression, because it is not mediated simply by steric hindrance mechanisms. It is unknown how interaction(s) between such a repressor and the RNA polymerase II basal or regulatory transcription machinery can derail the formation or competency of a transcription complex at a promoter. However, the recent progress toward identification of molecular targets suggests several specific mechanisms for achieving active repression.
Thermal net flux measurements on the Pioneer Venus entry probes

Corrected thermal net (upward minus downward flux) radiation data from four Pioneer Venus probes at latitudes of 4 deg and 60 deg N, and 27 deg and 31 deg S, are presented. Comparisons of these fluxes with radiative transfer calculations were interpreted in terms of cloud properties and the global distribution of water vapor in the lower atmosphere of Venus. The presence of an as yet undetected source of IR opacity is implied by the fluxes in the upper cloud range. It was also shown that beneath the clouds the fluxes at a given altitude increase with latitude, suggesting greater IR cooling below the clouds at high latitudes and a decrease of the water vapor mixing ratios toward the equator.
Identification of three proline-directed phosphorylation sites in the human androgen receptor.

Full-length wild type and deletion mutant human androgen receptors (AR) were transiently expressed in monkey kidney COS cells to identify the phosphorylated amino acid residues. Phosphoamino acid analysis indicated serine (Ser) and threonine (Thr) residues as the major sites of phosphorylation. Both NH2- and carboxyl-terminal fragments containing the DNA-binding domain were highly phosphorylated, suggesting the presence of phosphorylation sites throughout the protein. Site-directed mutagenesis of wild type and deletion mutant AR at proline-directed consensus phosphorylation sites replaced Ser or Thr residues with Ala; wild type and mutant ARs were expressed in the presence of [32P]orthophosphate and isolated by immunoprecipitation using AR-specific antipeptide antibodies. Three proline-directed phosphorylation sites were identified: Ser 81 and 94 in the NH2-terminal region and Ser 650 in the hinge region. Expression of a series of NH2-terminal AR fragments provided evidence for additional sites in the NH2...
Some physiological, biochemical, and behavioral consequences of neonatal hormone administration: Cortisol and thyroxine ☆

Abstract Excess cortisol or thyroxine was administered to infant rats and various biochemical, physiological, and behavioral observations were made on the young and adult animal. A single injection of cortisol into the 1-day-old rat produced a complex of developmental abnormalities including decreased brain cholesterol, locomotor activity, body weight and delayed ontogeny of cerebral cortical dendritic spines. As adults, the hormone-treated rats produced less antibodies in response to the immunological challenge of two different antigens. The most severe and clinically relevant effect was an impairment in adult immunological responsiveness to antigenic challenges Neonatal thyroxine administration for several days immediately after birth did not cause the expected increase in oxygen consumption. The eyes of the treated animals opened earlier than littermate controls, brain cholesterol was increased, and the animals exhibited greater spontaneous locomotor activity. The activity of acetyl-cholinesterase in the hypothalamus and cortex was increased when measured 10 days after hormone administration was discontinued. Brain α-glycerophosphate dehydrogenase induction was unaffected by thyroxine at any age. The liver enzyme was increased, however, by hormone administration at all ages from fetal life to adulthood. The onset of physiological and behavioral bio-environmental interaction was accelerated: The maturation of the pituitary-adrenal response to stress appeared earlier; the development of the cortical EEG was advanced, as was its response to novel stimuli. This appeared to correlate with the earlier appearance of the startle reflex in the thyroxine treated animals. Young thyroxine-treated rats of 16, 17, and 18 days of age learned to avoid an electric shock faster than controls. However, when the experimental animals are adults they make more errors on two different maze-learning tasks. These results suggest that: (1) The presence of specific hormones in excess of ontogenetically inappropriate times during development may compromise the capability of certain adaptive or survival value mechanisms at later stages of the life cycle. (2) The immature status of some neuroendocrine systems during such hormone sensitive periods may therefore provide for the later full expression of these adaptive mechanisms.
Hormonal Alterations in the Lactating Dairy Cow in Response to Thermal Stress

The influence of acute exposure to thermal stress on the secretion of progesterone, estradiol, cortisol, and LH was monitored in 14 lactating Holstein cows. Eight cows were maintained throughout the summer in a refrigerated air-conditioned tie stall barn. An additional eight cows were maintained in outdoor corrals with access only to shade. Rectal temperatures and respiration rates of cows under heat stress conditions were elevated above the cows maintained under air conditioning. Cows in both environments exhibited similar serum concentrations of progesterone and estradiol throughout the estrous cycle. Serum cortisol concentrations were higher in heat-stressed cows compared to cows maintained under cooling. The number of LH pulses on d 5 of the estrous cycle was greatly reduced in the heat-stressed cows compared to the cows under cooling. No differences in the number of pulses of LH were observed on d 12 of the estrous cycle between cows in the two environments. Data suggest that heat stress can suppress anterior pituitary release of LH without having a measurable influence on ovarian steroid hormone secretion.
Enhanced damage localization for complex structures through statistical modeling and sensor fusion

Abstract Ultrasonic guided waves represent a promising technique for detecting and localizing structural damage, but their application to realistic structures has been hampered by the complicated interference patterns produced by scattering from geometric features. This work presents a new damage localization paradigm based on a statistical approach to dealing with uncertainty in the guided wave signals. A bolted frame and a section of a fuselage rib are tested with different simulated damage conditions and used to conduct a detailed comparison between the proposed solution and other sparse-array localization approaches. After establishing the superiority of the statistical approach, two novel innovations to the localization procedure are proposed: an approach to sensor fusion based on the Neyman–Pearson criterion, and a method of constructing simple models of geometrical features. Including the sensor fusion and geometrical models produces a substantial improvement in the system׳s localization accuracy. The final result is a robust and accurate framework for single-site damage localization that moves structural health monitoring towards practical implementation on a much broader range of structures.
Cognitions and Behaviors Scale: Development and Initial Performance of a Scale for Use With Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Objective: A conceptually based assessment scale was developed for use with adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). Method: A convenience sample of 287 university students completed a demographic survey and responded to a pool of items using a Likert-type scale. The main form of analysis is factor analysis, reliability and validity analyses, and t tests. Results: The analysis resulted in a valid and reliable multidimensional scale that is conceptually based. Hypotheses that survivors of CSA would score significantly higher than nonsurvivors and that female and male survivors of CSA would not have significant differences in subscale and total scale scores were supported. Conclusions: The scale reported here should be tested with known groups to further establish its validity and usefulness in the clinical assessment and intervention process of adult survivors of CSA.
Alanine: identification as compound interfering with chromatographic assays of formiminoglutamic acid in urine.

SummaryThe assay of urinary formiminoglutamic acid (FIGLU) by paper or thin-layer chromatography for the diagnosis of folic acid deficiency has been difficult to quantitate because of the inability to separate FIGLU from a ninhydrin reactive compound in urine. This ninhydrin-positive interfering compound has been identified by chromatographic and microbiological means as the previously unsuspected amino acid alanine. Since the endogenous urinary excretion of alanine may equal or exceed that of FIGLU in normal and folic acid deficient subjects, the usefulness of paper and thinlayer chromatographic techniques is limited to qualitative estimation of FIGLU in urines with FIGLU concentrations of 150 μg/ml or more.
Channel capacity of dual-branch diversity systems over correlated Nakagami-m fading with channel inversion and fixed rate transmission scheme

Closed-form expressions are derived for the channel capacity of dual-branch maximal ratio combining, equal gain combining, selection combining, and switch and stay combining (SSC) diversity systems over correlated Nakagami-m fading for the channel inversion with fixed rate transmission scheme. Since some of the final capacity expressions contain infinite series, the series are truncated and upper bounds on the truncation errors are presented. An expression is also derived that can be used to numerically determine the optimum adaptive switching threshold for the capacity of a dual-branch SSC system over correlated Nakagami-m fading channels. A closed-form expression for the optimum adaptive switching threshold is derived, however, for the case of independent branches. The corresponding expressions for Rayleigh fading are obtained as a special case of Nakagami-m fading. Finally, numerical results are presented, which are then compared to the capacity results that the authors previously obtained for the rate adaptation with constant power transmission scheme.
An adaptive characteristic Petrov-Galerkin finite element method for convection-dominated linear and nonlinear parabolic problems in two space variables

Abstract This paper is a continuation of previous work of the authors [2]. An adaptive scheme for the analysis of time-dependent parabolic problems defined on two-dimensional or three-dimensional space domains is developed which is based on a Petrov-Galerkin method for spatial approximation and the method of characteristics for the temporal approximation. Numerical examples are discussed which illustrate the efficiency and effectiveness of the method.
Computational analysis of a double-shell solar house

Abstract A simplified, one-dimensional formulation is used to study the role of natural circulation in the double-shell solar house. We consider the house as a complex thermosiphon, in which air warmed in a greenhouse travels through a loop formed by double walls around the house. The air carries heat to be stored in the ground for later use and also acts as a buffer between the inner living space and the outdoors. The Boussinesq approximation is considered to be valid for the air between the double walls, and the transient governing equations are integrated until steady state conditions are reached. The shape of the house is achieved in the context of a one-dimensional formulation by changing the direction in which gravity acts relative to the flow direction. The model includes radiation in the form of a source term on the south side of the house, heat loss through all surfaces using appropriate U -values and heat storage in and recovery from the ground and living space itself. The model clearly indicates trends in the way airflow and temperature distributions around the loop are affected by varying each parameter.
Separation of protein synthesis initiation factor eIF4A from a p220-associated cap binding complex activity

A cap binding complex activity was purified from HeLa cells by a procedure which does not depend on the use of cap-affinity chromatography. The activity co-purified with a Mr 220000 polypeptide (p220), but not with elF4A. The active complex therefore differs from eIF4F, the complex purified by cap analog-affinity chromatography, in that it lacks the Mr 50000 subunit which is antigenically identical to elF4A. The activities of elF4F, CBP I and the eIF4A free complex purified here were compared in a fractionated system translating capped globin mRNA. Results indicate that the two complexes have similar activities and that they perform a function which cannot be provided by CBP I alone. Cap binding complex activity can be partly separated from eIF4A activity on sucrose gradients, thus eIF4A provides a function that is distinct from cap binding complex activity. The results indicate that eIF4A can be physically separated from the cap binding complex without affecting the ability of the remaining structure to function in an in vitro translation system. They suggest that the eIF4A-free complex may provide a function that is not a property of either CBP I or of eIF4A, but may be a property of p220.
Adding atypical antipsychotics to antidepressants increases response in treatment-resistant major depression but increases discontinuation as a result of adverse events

Commentary on: JC Nelson, GI Papakostas. Atypical antipsychotic augmentation in major depressive disorder: a meta-analysis of placebo-controlled randomized trials. Am J Psychiatry2009;166:980–91.