cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enhanced nutrient supply to the California Current Ecosystem with global warming and increased stratification in an earth system model.

[1] A leading hypothesis relating productivity with climate variability in the California Current Ecosystem (CCE) describes an alternation between warmer, well-stratified periods of low productivity and cooler periods of high productivity. This empirical relationship suggests that productivity will decline with global warming. Here, we explore the response of productivity to future climate change in the CCE using an earth system model. This model projects increases in nitrate supply and productivity in the CCE during the 21st century despite increases in stratification and limited change in wind-driven upwelling. We attribute the increased nitrate supply to enrichment of deep source waters entering the CCE resulting from decreased ventilation of the North Pacific. Decreases in dissolved-oxygen concentration and increasing acidification accompany projected increases in nitrate. This analysis illustrates that anthropogenic climate change may be unlike past variability; empirical relationships based on historical observations may be inappropriate for projecting ecosystem responses to future climate change.
Dietary protein affects intestinal calcium absorption.

Background: Changes in dietary protein in adults are associated with changes in urinary calcium excretion. The mechanisms underlying this effect are not completely understood, but alterations in intestinal absorption of calcium are not thought to be involved. Objective: We reexamined this mechanism by evaluating the effect of 2 amounts of dietary protein (low: 0.7 g/kg; and high: 2.1 g/kg) on fractional calcium absorption in 7 healthy, young women. Design: The experiment consisted of 2 wk of a well-balanced diet containing moderate amounts of calcium, sodium, and protein followed by 5 d of an experimental diet that contained 1 of 2 amounts of protein and constant amounts of other nutrients known to influence calcium metabolism. Seven subjects received both amounts of dietary protein in random order. Blood and urine were sampled at baseline and on day 4. Fractional calcium absorption was measured by dual-stable calcium isotopes on day 5. In a second study of 5 additional women, we evaluated the effects of dietary fiber on calcitropic hormones. Results: Subjects developed hypocalciuria and secondary hyperparathyroidism on day 4 of the low-protein diet. Urinary calcium excretion and the glomerular filtration rate were elevated significantly by day 4 of the high-protein compared with the low-protein diet. Fractional calcium absorption after the low-protein diet was 0.19 ± 0.03. which was significantly lower than that after the high-protein diet (0.26 ± 0.03, P = 0.05). Conclusion: These data provide evidence that depressed intestinal calcium absorption explains, in part, low-protein-induced secondary hyperparathyroidism.
Changes in biliary (high-molecular-mass) and liver isoforms of alkaline phosphatase after baboon-to-human liver transplantation

We report a case of hyperphosphatasemia in a 35-year-old patient with hepatitis B who underwent an orthotopic xenogeneic liver transplant. Marked increases in total alkaline phosphatase (ALP; EC 3.1.3.1) activity began 5 days posttransplantation (six times human normal) and increased to approximately 17 times normal at day 11. Increased ALP persisted for > 40 days and steadily increased to 75 times normal in the patient's last 30 days. Gel electrophoresis detected both liver (LALP) and biliary (high-molecular-mass, BALP) isoforms. LALP measured with ion-exchange columns revealed an activity time course pattern similar to that of total ALP. Results for BALP activity also obtained with ion-exchange columns exhibited broad variability, ranging from 2 to 428 times normal.
Bayesian detection of radar interference in radio astronomy

L-Band observations at the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and other radio observatories are often made in frequency bands allocated to aviation pulsed radar transmissions. It is possible to mitigate radar contamination of the astronomical signal by time blanking data containing these pulses. However, even when strong direct path pulses and nearby fixed clutter echoes are removed there are still undetected weaker aircraft echoes present which can corrupt the data. In a previous paper we presented an algorithm to improve real-time echo blanking by forming a Kalman filter tracker to follow the path of a sequence of echoes observed on successive radar antenna sweeps. The tracker builds a history which can be used to predict the location of upcoming echoes. We now present details of a new Bayesian detection algorithm which uses this prediction information to enable more sensitive weak pulse acquisition. The developed track information is used to form a spatial prior probability distribution for the presence of the next echoes. Regions with higher probability are processed with a lower detection threshold to pull out low level pulses without increasing the overall probability of false alarm detection. The ultimate result is more complete removal, by blanking the detected pulse, of radar corruption in astronomical observations.
Spatiotemporal variation in the relationship between landscape simplification and insecticide use.

Agrochemicals have numerous negative impacts on human health, ecosystem services, and ecological communities. Thus, their efficient use is an economic and ecological priority. Simplified landscapes may enhance insecticide use by reducing natural enemies and increasing connectivity of crops, but empirical tests of this theory are inconclusive. We explored the relationship between landscape simplification and insecticide use using longitudinal data from USDA Census of Agriculture spanning six censuses and 25 years (1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012) for nearly 3000 counties across the continental United States. The effect of landscape simplification was highly variable spatially and temporally. Landscape simplification was consistently correlated with increased insecticide use in some regions, but not in others. Our results indicate that the landscape-simplification–insecticide-use relationship is dynamic, and that national land use policy would benefit from actions that adequately reflect the spatial differences in the importance of landscape complexity to insecticide use.
Temporal Influence of the Renal Nerves on Renal Excretory Function During Chronic Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Synthesis

To determine whether the sympathetic nervous system contributes to the hypertension induced by long-term suppression of nitric oxide synthesis, we determined the neurally induced changes in renal excretory function during chronic administration of N g-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). Studies were carried out in six conscious chronically instrumented dogs subjected to unilateral renal denervation and surgical division of the urinary bladder into two hemibladders to allow separate 24-hour urine collection from denervated and innervated kidneys. Animals were studied during acute (100 minutes) and chronic (5 days) intravenous infusion of L-NAME at 37.1 nmol/kg per minute (10 μg/kg per minute). During the first 100 minutes of L-NAME, there were no significant changes in mean arterial pressure (control: 96±3 mm Hg), but heart rate fell from 66±6 to 55±7 beats per minute. Changes in glomerular filtration rate were not significant, but renal plasma flow and urinary sodium excretion decreased to ≈75% and 50% of control values, respectively; however, these changes were comparable in both kidneys. In association with these responses, plasma concentrations of norepinephrine (control: 887±130 pmol/L or 150±22 pg/mL) and epinephrine (control: 691±192 pmol/L or 108±30 pg/mL) tended to decrease. In contrast to the acute responses, mean arterial pressure increased from 92±3 to 106±3 mm Hg and heart rate decreased from 72±4 to 57±5 beats per minute by day 5 of L-NAME infusion, while renal plasma flow and glomerular filtration rate were not significantly different from control values. Most importantly, there were no significant differences in urinary sodium excretion between innervated (control: 31±2 mmol/d) and denervated (control 33±2 mmol/d) kidneys during chronic L-NAME infusion or during the recovery period. These results indicate that the renal sympathetic nerves do not play an important role in promoting sodium retention during either acute or chronic inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis in conscious dogs. Thus, increased renal sympathetic nerve activity does not contribute significantly to L-NAME-induced hypertension.
Impulse Response Method for Frequency-Dependent Pipeline Transients

An effective numerical method is presented to compute transients in piping systems in which frequency-dependent parameters influence the response. Frequency-dependent friction is utilized as the parameter-of-concern herein, however, the procedure can accommodate other factors such as frequency-dependent wavespeed equally well. The method, a variation in the impulse response method, is developed from the frequency response analysis and incorporates the fast Fourier transform
A Method for Thermal Process Evaluation of Conduction Heated Foods in Retortable Pouches

A mathematical model was developed to evaluate thermal processing of conduction heated foods in retortable pouches. This model uses any given finite value of surface thermal conductance (h) which is encountered in commercial sterilization of retortable pouches using hot water as the heating medium. The model is capable of determining process time, mass average sterilizing value and nutrient retention for a prefixed critical point sterilizing value using any retort temperature profile. Results of thiamin assay in pea puree processed in retortable pouches indicated good agreement between experimental and model predicted values of thiamin retention.
Ripening of bimodally distributed AgCl nanoparticles

Ripening of AgCl nanoparticles with a bimodal size distribution has been carefully studied in ethylene glycol containing poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) as capping molecules and at elevated temperatures (e.g., 160 °C). The resulting AgCl particles exhibit high uniformity in size and cube-tetrapod morphology that are significantly different from the original AgCl nanoparticles. In addition, enhanced reducing ability of ethylene glycol at high temperature partially reduces AgCl to form Ag nanocrystalline domains in the AgCl particles, leading the AgCl particles to be efficiently absorbing visible light and to serve as a class of visible-light-driven photocatalysts due to the strong surface plasmon resonance (SPR) associated with the Ag nanocrystallites.
Conditional discrimination vs. matching-to-sample : An expansion of the testing paradigm

A subject's performance under a conditional-discrimination procedure defines conditional relations between stimuli: "If Al, then Bl; if A2, then B2." The procedure may also generate matching to sample. If so, the stimuli will be related not only by conditionality, but by equivalence: Al and Bl will become equivalent members of one stimulus class, A2 and B2 of another. One paradigm for testing whether a conditional-discrimination procedure has generated equivalence relations uses three sets of stimuli, A, B, and C, three stimuli per set. Subjects learn to select Set-B and Set-C comparisons conditionally upon Set-A samples. Having been explicitly taught six sample-comparison relations, A1B1, A1C1, A2B2, A2C2, A3B3,and A3C3, subjects prove immediately capable of matching the B- and C-stimuli; six new relations emerge (B1C1, B2C2, B3C3, C1B1, C2B2, C3B3). The 12 stimulus relations, six taught and six emergent, define the existence of three three-member stimulus classes, A1B1C1, A2B2C2 and A3B3C3. This paradigm was expanded by introducing three more stimuli (Set D), and teaching eight children not only the AB and AC relations but DC relations also-selecting Set-C comparisons conditionally upon Set-D samples. Six of the children proved immediately capable of matching the B- and D-stimuli to each other. By selecting appropriate Set-B comparisons conditionally upon Set-D samples, and Set-D comparisons conditionally upon Set-B samples, they demonstrated the existence of three four-member stimulus classes, A1B1C1D1, A2B2C2D2, and A3B3C3D3. These larger classes were confirmed by the subjects' success with the prerequisite lower-level conditional relations; they were also able to select Set-D comparisons conditionally upon samples from Sets A and C, and to do the BC and CB matching that defined the original three-member classes. Adding the three DC relations therefore generated 12 more, three each in BD, DB, AD, and CD. Enlarging each class by one member brought about a disproportionate increase in the number of emergent relations. Ancillary oral naming tests suggested that the subject's application of the same name to each stimulus was neither necessary nor sufficient to establish classes of equivalent stimuli.
Light-induced modulation of coupling between AII amacrine cells in the rabbit retina

The rod-driven, AII amacrine cells in the mammalian retina maintain homologous gap junctions with one another as well as heterologous gap junctions with on-cone bipolar cells. We used background illumination to study whether changes in the adaptational state of the retina affected the permeabilities of these two sets of gap junctions. To access changes in permeability, we injected single AII amacrine cells with the biotinylated tracer, Neurobiotin, and measured the extent of tracer coupling to neighboring AII cells and neighboring cone bipolar cells. We also measured the center-receptive field size of AII cells to assess concomitant changes in electrical coupling. Our results indicate that in well dark-adapted retinas, AII cells form relatively small networks averaging 20 amacrine cells and covering about 75 microns. The size of these networks matched closely to the size of AII cell on-center receptive fields. However, over most of their operating range, AII cells formed dramatically larger networks, averaging 326 amacrine cells, which corresponded to an increased receptive-field size. As the retina was light adapted beyond the operating range of the AII cells, they uncoupled to form networks comparable in size to those seem in well dark-adapted retinas. Our results, then, indicate that the adaptational state of the retina has a profound effect on the extent of electrical coupling between AII amacrine cells. Although we observed light-induced changes in the number of tracer-coupled cone bipolar cells, these appeared to be an epiphenomenon of changes in homologous coupling between AII amacrine cells. Therefore, in contrast to the robust changes in AII-AII coupling produced by background illumination, our data provided no evidence of a light-induced modulation of coupling between AII cells and on-cone bipolar cells.
Bolometers operated at 0.1 K and 0.2 K cooled by adiabatic demagnetization

The construction of bolometers operating at temperatures of 0.1 K and 0.2 K and cooled by adiabatic demagnetization is reported. The electrical noise-equivalent power (NEP) of the bolometers was found to be 1.8 and 6.6 x 10 to the -16th W/sq rt Hz, respectively. These values are within a factor of two of the expected performance based upon bolometer theory. The thermistor material used was gallium-doped single-crystal germanium, for which a resistivity temperature dependence is found.
Growth and yield responses of snap bean to mixtures of carbon dioxide and ozone

Elevated CO 2 concentrations expected in the 21st century can stimulate plant growth and yield, whereas tropospheric O 3 suppresses plant growth and yield in many areas of the world. Recent experiments showed that elevated CO 2 often protects plants from O 3 stress, but this has not been tested for many important crop species including snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). The objective of this study was to determine if elevated CO 2 protects snap bean from O 3 stress. An O 3 -tolerant cultivar (Tenderette) and an O 3 -sensitive selection (S156) were exposed from shortly after emergence to maturity to mixtures of CO 2 and O 3 in open-top field chambers. The two CO 2 treatments were ambient and ambient with CO 2 added for 24 h d ' resulting in seasonal 12 h d -1 (0800-2000 h EST) mean concentrations of 366 and 697 μL L -1 , respectively. The two O 3 treatments were charcoal-filtered air and nonfiltered air with O 3 added for 12 h d 1 to achieve seasonal 12 h d ' (0800-2000 h EST) mean concentrations of 23 and 72 nL L -1 , respectively. Elevated CO 2 significantly stimulated growth and pod weight of Tenderette and S156, whereas elevated O 3 significantly suppressed growth and pod weight of S156 but not of Tenderette. The suppressive effect of elevated O 3 on pod dry weight of S156 was approximately 75% at ambient CO 2 and approximately 60% at elevated CO 2 (harvests combined). This amount of protection from O 3 stress afforded by elevated CO 2 was much less than reported for other crop species. Extreme sensitivity to O 3 may be the reason elevated CO 2 failed to significantly protect S156 from O, stress.
Linking Organizations in Communities: Actively Shaping Organizational Behavior

A growing body of work in the institutional theory tradition draws attention to the community level and its role in shaping organizational behavior. We contribute to this literature by examining ho...
Psychometrics of Neurological Soft Signs

ABSTRACT Objective To examine the psychometrics of neurological soft signs in young children. Method In a sample of 42 children from the community, two examiners simultaneously rated soft signs using a standardized examination. A subsample ( n = 33) was reexamined twice over the next week to estimate test-retest reliability. Results Total score exhibited acceptable internal consistency as well as interrater and test-retest reliability. Psychometrics for individual items appeared less satisfactory than for the total score. Discussion Although examiners can reliably rate a variety of soft signs, more research examining test-retest reliability is needed. A reliable examination might be useful in future efforts to document the neuropsychiatric correlates of soft signs.
Individual differences predict eyewitness identification performance

A great deal of research has focused on eyewitness identification performance as a function of sequential versus simultaneous lineup presentation methods. We examined if individual differences in cognitive ability influence eyewitness identification, and whether these factors lead to performance differences as a function of lineup presentation method. We found that individual differences in facial recognition ability, working memory capacity, and levels of autistic traits, did result in differential performance. Differences in lineup performance are due to the interaction of individual differences and presentation method, signaling that it is possible to enhance the accuracy of eyewitness identifications by tailoring a lineup presentation method to the capabilities of an individual eyewitness.
Influence of an irregular surface and low light on the step variability of patients with peripheral neuropathy during level gait.

Patients with peripheral neuropathy (PN) report greater difficulty walking on irregular surfaces with low light (IL) than on flat surfaces with regular lighting (FR). We tested the primary hypothesis that older PN patients would demonstrate greater step width and step width variability under IL conditions than under FR conditions. Forty-two subjects (22 male, 20 female: mean ± S.D.: 64.7 ± 9.8 years) with PN underwent history, physical examination, and electrodiagnostic testing. Subjects were asked to walk 10 m at a comfortable speed while kinematic and force data were measured at 100 Hz using optoelectronic markers and foot switches. Ten trials were conducted under both IL and FR conditions. Step width, time, length, and speed were calculated with a MATLAB® algorithm, with the standard deviation serving as the measure of variability. The results showed that under IL, as compared to FR, conditions subjects demonstrated greater step width (197.1 ± 40.8 mm versus 180.5 ± 32.4 mm; P < 0.001) and step width variability (40.4 ± 9.0 mm versus 34.5 ± 8.4 mm; P < 0.001), step time and its variability (P < 0.001 and P = 0.003, respectively), and step length variability (P < 0.001). Average step length and gait speed decreased under IL conditions (P < 0.001 for both). Step width variability and step time variability correlated best under IL conditions with a clinical measure of PN severity and fall history, respectively. We conclude that IL conditions cause PN patients to increase the variability of their step width and other gait parameters. Keywords: Neuropathy; Irregular surface; Step variability; Falls; Balance
I—Béatrice Longuenesse: Kant's‘I’in‘I Ought To’and Freud's Superego

There are striking structural similarities between Freud's ego and Kant's transcendental unity of apperception, which for Kant grounds our use of ‘I’ in ‘I think’. There are also striking similarities between Freud's superego and Kant's account of the mental structure that grounds our use of ‘I’ in the moral ‘I ought to’. The paper explores these similarities on three main points: the conflict of motivations internal to the mind, the relation between discursive and pre-discursive representation of moral motivation, and the unconscious character of moral motivation. The suggestion is that Freud offers resources for a naturalized account (an account in terms of the causal development of empirical human beings) of just those features of our moral motivation that, according to Kant, seem to make it least amenable to a naturalistic explanation. How much of a revision of Kant's analysis of moral justification is thereby entailed is beyond the purview of the paper.
High Frequency of a Novel Filamentous Phage, VCYϕ, within an Environmental Vibrio cholerae Population

ABSTRACT Environmental Vibrio cholerae strains isolated from a coastal brackish pond (Oyster Pond, Woods Hole, MA) carried a novel filamentous phage, VCYϕ, which can exist as a host genome integrative form (IF) and a plasmid-like replicative form (RF). Outside the cell, the phage displays a morphology typical of Inovirus, with filamentous particles ∼1.8 μm in length and 7 nm in width. Four independent RF isolates had identical genomes, except for 8 single nucleotide polymorphisms clustered in two regions. The overall genome size is 7,103 bp with 11 putative open reading frames organized into three functional modules (replication, structure and assembly, and regulation). VCYϕ shares sequence similarity with other filamentous phages (including cholera disease-associated CTX) in a highly mosaic manner, indicating evolution by horizontal gene transfer and recombination. VCYϕ integrates in the vicinity of the putative translation initiation factor Sui1 in chromosome II of V. cholerae. A screen of 531 closely related host isolates showed that ∼40% harbored phages, with 27% and 13% carrying the IF and RF, respectively. The relative frequencies of the RF and IF differed among strains isolated from the pond or lagoon of Oyster Pond, suggesting that the host habitat influences intracellular phage biology. The overall high prevalence within the host population shows that filamentous phages can be an important component of the environmental biology of V. cholerae.
Cognitive style and perceptions of the ideal teacher

As part of the ongoing discussion of the implications of certain cognitive-style matches between students and teachers, the present study explores whether field-independent and field-dependent students differed in their perceptions of characteristics of an “ideal” teacher. High school students (n = 145) completed the Hidden Figures Test and ranked as descriptors of the “ideal” teacher five teacher characteristics reflecting a more social orientation to teaching and five others reflecting a greater orientation to the task of teaching. Rankings on one of the task-oriented variables were significantly correlated (p< .01) with higher scores on the HFT, the more field-independent students, and thus consistent with a “same style” match orientation. However, rankings of two of the other task-oriented variables were significantly correlated (p < .01) with lower scores on the HFT (the more field-dependent students), and thus supportive of “effective combination” matches. Although taken collectively the rankings were remarkably similar, the small tendency for field-dependent students to prefer teacher traits in which they themselves are deficient deserves further exploration.
Prevention and diminished expression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis by low dose naltrexone (LDN) or opioid growth factor (OGF) for an extended period: Therapeutic implications for multiple sclerosis

Endogenous opioids inhibit the onset and progression of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) with 30days of treatment. This study examined the long term effects of the opioid growth factor (OGF, [Met(5)]-enkephalin) and a low dose of the opioid antagonist naltrexone (LDN) on expression of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-induced EAE. C57BL/6 mice began receiving daily injections of 10mg/kg OGF (MOG+OGF), 0.1mg/kg naltrexone (MOG+LDN), or saline (MOG+Vehicle) at the time of EAE induction and continuing for 60days. In contrast to 100% of the MOG+Vehicle group with behavioral symptoms of EAE, 63% and 68% of the MOG+OGF and MOG+LDN mice expressed disease. Both severity and disease indices of EAE in OGF- and LDN-treated mice were notably decreased from MOG+Vehicle cohorts. By day 60, 6- and 3-fold more animals in the MOG+OGF and MOG+LDN groups, respectively, had a remission compared to MOG+Vehicle mice. Neuropathological studies revealed i) astrocyte activation and neuronal damage as early as day 10 (prior to behavioral symptoms) in all MOG-injected groups, ii) a significant reduction of activated astrocytes in MOG+OGF and MOG+LDN groups compared to MOG+Vehicle mice at day 30, and iii) no demyelination on day 60 in mice treated with OGF or LDN and not displaying disease symptoms. These results indicate that treatment with OGF or LDN had no deleterious long-term repercussions and did not exacerbate EAE, but i) halted progression of disease, ii) reversed neurological deficits, and iii) prevented the onset of neurological dysfunction across a considerable span of time.
Communication and interdependence in geographically separated relationships

This article discusses the theoretic underpinnings of a framework for the analysis of communication in ongoing social relationships. A set of studies that have investigated various aspects of the framework are summarized. The majority of these studies have tested the notion that communication between members of ongoing relationships generates a shared view of the world that bonds relationship members. Relationship members who have achieved this type of bond are referred to as symbolically interdependent. The remainder of the article presents results of a study of the relationships between symbolic interdependence and time spent talking in groups of premarital couples that were either separated geographically or living in close proximity. Results supported the hypothesis that this relationship would be stronger in the group of geographically separated couples. Implications of the study are discussed as well as future directions for research on the perspective.
Class Formation and Struggle in Latin America

Dale L. Johnson* Historical development can only be adequately understood as a process of unfolding class relationships. Yet, on a world scale or within regions and nations, class formation, class structure, and class struggle are far from the main preoccupations of most investigators. Research on Latin America has produced an abundance of studies and a considerable advance of knowledge in the areas of political economy and the state. Research on social classes is less advanced. This robs studies in political economy of their necessary social and historical components and results in less than adequate appreciation of what lies behind changing features of states in the region. This issue is organized around the formation of social classes as a historical process, and it provides analyses of some of the main features of class structure and class struggle in Latin America today. As in issue 34 of Latin American Perspectives ("Rural Class Relations"), our concerns are less to present descriptive studies of particular classes than to try to identify patterns of historical development in the region as shaped by ongoing class formation and struggle. While class formation and struggle concretely take place in national contexts, they are highly conditioned by international forces. This introduction and the studies that follow emphasize that classes are not empirical entities, but changing social relationships. The most salient social relationship is that of capital to labor. Throughout the history of capitalist development on a world scale, one feature has been central: the polarization of class relations. There is, today, at one pole, concentrated and centralized wealth and power that exploits labor and appropriates value, whereas at the other pole, millions upon millions of producers are reduced to nothing except their labor power to sell. This polarization is a gradual historical process, proceeding nonlinearly. As the pace of polarization *Dale Johnson teaches in the Department of Sociology, Livingston College, Rutgers University. For their editing of this issue, the coordinating editors would like to thank a New York-based group of editors including Dale Johnson, Thomas Bamat, James Cockcroft, Judith Evans, and Hobart Spalding. Each editor provided first drafts of sections of this introduction. Johnson edited their drafts and added sections. The final positions stated (not necessarily adhered to by all the editors) are the responsibility of Johnson. The coordinating editors would also like to thank Barbara Metzger for her assistance in editing this issue.
FSH versus estrogen: Who's guilty of breaking bones?

Bone loss after menopause or gonadectomy has been attributed to the drop in estrogen levels. A recent paper (Sun et al., 2006) challenges this view by showing that the pituitary hormone FSH, previously thought to target only the gonads, also acts on osteoclasts to activate bone resorption. In conjunction with genetic studies, these data raise the possibility that FSH, independent of estrogen, causes hypogonadal bone loss.
P-selectin blockade is beneficial after uncontrolled hemorrhagic shock.

Objectives: The selectins play an important role in the neutrophil-mediated injury after hemorrhagic shock and resuscitation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of P-selectin blockade after HS and resuscitation. Methods: Forty-eight Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to controlled combined with uncontrolled HS and resuscitation. Rats were divided into three groups (n = 16/group): (1) sham, no HS; (2) control, HS + resuscitation + drug vehicle; (3) treated, HS + anti-P-selectin monoclonal antibody. Transaminase levels to measure hepatocellular injury, liver myeloperoxidase to assess neutrophil infiltration, and histology were analyzed and compared between groups. Survival was followed for 3 days and was compared statistically. Results: Survival significantly increased from 30% in the control group to 70% in the treated group. Hepatocellular and structural injury as well as neutrophil infiltration were significantly decreased in treated animals. Conclusion: Blockade of P-selectin resulted in decreased hepatocellular injury and increased survival in our model of uncontrolled HS. Selectins may be important therapeutic targets for blockade in the treatment of HS.
Quantitative Three Dimensional Echocardiographic Assessment of the Right Ventricle Can Identify Risk of Right Ventricular Failure in Patients Undergoing Left Ventricular Assist Device Surgery

Purpose Right ventricular failure (RVF) is associated with significant morbidity following left ventricular assist device (LVAD) surgery. Hemodynamic, clinical, and 2-dimensional echocardiographic variables poorly discriminate patients at risk of RVF. We examined the utility of 3-dimensional echocardiography (3DE) right ventricular (RV) volumetric assessment to identify patients at risk of RVF. Methods and Materials RVF was defined as need for inotropic infusion for >14 days following LVAD surgery or RV assist device (RVAD) placement. Preoperative RV volumes and ejection fraction (RVEF) were measured, blinded to clinical data, from transthoracic 3DE full volume data sets in 29 patients. Univariate analyses were used to compare baseline variables and 3DE RV indices among patients with and without RVF. Multivariate logistic regression was used to adjust for baseline covariates. Results 25 patients (86%) received continuous flow LVADs. 13 patients (45%) had RVF 2 required RVAD support and 11 required prolonged inotropes. Cardiac index (CI), RV stroke work index (RVSWI), indexed RV end diastolic and systolic volumes (RVEDVI & RVESVI) and RVEF were associated with RVF. RVEDVI (OR 1.082 (1.00, 1.17), p=0.049) and RVESVI (OR 1.117 (1.00, 1.25), p=0.049) remained associated with RVF after adjusting for RVSWI. Conclusions Quantitative 3DE is a promising method for pre-LVAD RV assessment. RV volumes assessed by 3DE are predictive of RVF in LVAD recipients, independent of RVSWI. Comparison of 3DE and baseline variables among patients with and without RVF. No RVF (mean±SD) RVF (mean±SD) P-value RVEDVI (ml/m2) 46 ± 13 65 ± 21 0.008 RVESVI (ml/m2) 30 ± 9 53 ± 22 0.0095 RVEF (%) 33 ± 9 23 ± 12 0.014 RVSWI (mmHg ml/m2) 644 ± 267 400 ± 175 0.0092 CI (l/min/m2) 2.3 ± 0.6 1.9 ± 0.3 0.047 Total Bilirubin (mg/dL) 1.4 ± 0.8 1.6 ± 0.9 0.68 BUN (mg/dL) 24 ± 13 17 ± 8 0.06 Right atrial pressure/PCWP ratio 0.4 ± 0.1 0.6 ± 0.2 0.09 Right atrial pressure (mmHg) 10 ± 4 14 ± 7 0.17
Stress sounds the alarmin: The role of the danger-associated molecular pattern HMGB1 in stress-induced neuroinflammatory priming

High mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) is an endogenous danger signal or alarmin that mediates activation of the innate immune response including chemotaxis and pro-inflammatory cytokine release. HMGB1 has been implicated in the pathophysiology of several neuroinflammatory conditions including ischemia, traumatic brain injury, seizure and chronic ethanol use. In the present review, the unique structural and functional properties of HMGB1 will be explored including its affinity for multiple pattern recognition receptors (TLR2/TLR4), redox sensitivity and adjuvant-like properties. In light of recent evidence suggesting that HMGB1 may also mediate stress-induced sensitization of neuroinflammatory responses, mechanisms of HMGB1 action in neuroinflammatory priming are explored. A model of neuroinflammatory priming is developed wherein glucocorticoids induce synthesis and release of HMGB1 from microglia, which signals through TLR2/TLR4, thereby priming the NLRP3 inflammasome. We propose that if GCs reach a critical threshold as during a fight/flight response, they may thus function as an alarmin by inducing HMGB1, thereby preparing an organism’s innate immune system (NLRP3 inflammasome priming) for subsequent immune challenges such as injury, trauma or infection, which are more likely to occur during a fight/flight response. In doing so, GCs may confer a significant survival advantage by enhancing the central innate immune and sickness response to immune challenges.
Retrospective studies in scleroderma: effect of potassium para-aminobenzoate on survival

Demographic and survival data are presented for 390 patients with scleroderma. For the entire group an estimated 81.4% survived 5 years from diagnosis and 69.4% survived 10 years. Life-table analyses revealed that adequate treatment with potassium para-aminobenzoate (Potaba KPAB) was associated with improved survival (p less than 0.01); 88.5% 5 year survival rate and 76.6% 10 year survival rate for adequately treated patients. Five and ten year survival rates for patients never treated with KPAB were 69.8 and 56.6%, respectively. Similar findings were obtained by comparing observed to expected mortality for these patients; again, KPAB therapy showed prolongation of survival. The Cox proportional hazards model was also applied to this retrospective study adjusting for baseline clinical involvement, demographics and KPAB treatment. There were some interesting results including a high significance for skin involvement per se as a prognostic indicator: the greater the extent of skin involvement the poorer prognosis. Time from first diagnosis to first University Hospital visit or admission when included as a covariate did not influence survival.
How fifth grade Latino/a bilingual students use their linguistic resources in the classroom and laboratory during science instruction

This qualitative, sociolinguistic research study examines how bilingual Latino/a students use their linguistic resources in the classroom and laboratory during science instruction. This study was conducted in a school in the southwestern United States serving an economically depressed, predominantly Latino population. The object of study was a fifth grade science class entirely comprised of language minority students transitioning out of bilingual education. Therefore, English was the means of instruction in science, supported by informal peer-to-peer Spanish-language communication. This study is grounded in a social constructivist paradigm. From this standpoint, learning science is a social process where social, cultural, and linguistic factors are all considered crucial to the process of acquiring scientific knowledge. The study was descriptive in nature, examining specific linguistic behaviors with the purpose of identifying and analyzing the linguistic functions of students’ utterances while participating in science learning. The results suggest that students purposefully adapt their use of linguistic resources in order to facilitate their participation in science leaning. What is underscored in this study is the importance of explicitly acknowledging, supporting, and incorporating bilingual students’ linguistic resources both in Spanish and English into the science classroom in order to optimize students’ participation and facilitate their understanding.
Enhanced activity of manganese III porphyrin epoxidation catalysts through supramolecular complexation

Several manganese III porphyrins showed significantly increased turnover-numbers for the catalytic epoxidation of
The electrical properties of phospholipid bilayer langmuir films.

Abstract Ordered phospholipid bilayers of the Langmuir type have been formed between aluminum electrodes. First electrical measurements are reported and a variety of phenomena observed. Current-voltage, capacitance-temperature, and conductivity-temperature characteristics are determined. Linear regions of log current vs. 1 T are observed with slope changes near the known transition temperatures for the lamellar phase in aqueous solutions, and minima in the capacitance are also observed near these temperatures. Conductivity is essentially independent of temperature from −100°C to +30°C. An activation energy of 0.65 eV is obtained for conduction above 60°C. Self-potentials are exhibited. The phenomena are discussed and various mechanisms considered.
Predictors of HIV-preventive sexual behavior in a high-risk adolescent population : the influence of perceived peer norms and sexual communication on incarcerated adolescents' consistent use of condoms

Abstract Data were collected from 112 sexually active adolescents incarcerated in a juvenile detention facility to identify predictors of consistent use of condoms during sexual intercourse. Adolescents completed an anonymous epidemiologic survey instrument developed by the Centers for Disease Control. The self-report survey assessed, demographic, psychosocial, and behavioral factors. Three factors were identified as associated with consistent condom use. These significant bivariate factors were entered into a multivariate logistic regression model to identify the independent contribution of each factor. Non-Black adolescents, adolescents who communicate with their sex partners about AIDS, and those who perceive peer norms as supporting condom use were significantly more likely to be consistent condom users. The findings suggest that Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) prevention programs for incarcerated adolescents that emphasize training in communication skills and modifying perceptions off peer normative behavior may be more effective in increasing the adoption and maintenance of condom use.
Influence of testosterone on glycine incorporation into mouse kidney β-glucuronidase

Abstract Conditions are described for the experimental study of rates of glycine-1- 14 C labeling of mouse kidney and liver β-glucuronidase in relation to the radioactivity of these and other organ proteins. Subsequently, it has been observed that mice stimulated maximally with exogenous testosterone possess renal β-glucuronidase whose specific radioactivity is greater than that measured in control animals. Conversely, the animals whose tissue proteins were previously labeled by glycine-1- 14 C administration and which underwent the stimulation by endogenous testosterone (gonadotrophin-produced) exhibited a more rapid disappearance of label in the renal β-glucuronidase protein than did corresponding control groups. In both sets of experiments the liver β-glucuronidase label was relatively unaffected by androgenic stimulation, a fact which fits the known organ specificity of the mouse renal β-glucuronidase response. On these grounds, it is contended that the increase in β-glucuronidase in the kidney of mice stimulated by testosterone is due to newly synthesized enzyme protein.
Dietary fiber and the chemopreventive modelation of colon carcinogenesis

Comparative international epidemiological data indicate that the difference between the highest and lowest colon cancer incidence is approximately 10-fold. This suggests that the dominant causes of colon cancer are environmental rather than genetic in origin, with the dominant environmental cause being the typical diet of Western industrialized countries. Many epidemiological and experimental studies have suggested an important role for dietary fiber in the prevention of colon cancer. Using the Fischer-344 rat as the experimental model, data clearly demonstrate a strong protective effect of a diet that is low in fat, high in fiber and high in calcium (low-risk diet). Such a diet prevents the development of both preneoplastic aberrant crypt foci (ACF) and colon tumors. Recent experiments have also demonstrated a direct relationship between a ras point mutation in ACF at different stages of rat colon carcinogenesis, and a ras point mutation that is subsequently present in colon tumors. Using wheat bran as the model dietary fiber source, its effects were compared to the effects of psyllium, phytic acid, vitamin E, beta-carotene, folic acid, alone or in combination, for their ability to prevent colon cancer in rats on high-risk Western-style diets. Our studies clearly demonstrated the ability of wheat bran to reduce ACF and colon tumors in rats that consumed high-fat, Western-style diets. Although phytic acid, which is a constituent of wheat bran, alone demonstrated strong cancer-preventive potential, our experiments provided evidence for the cancer-preventive effect of the crude fiber fraction that is independent of the effect of phytic acid. The synergistic combination of wheat bran with the soluble fiber psyllium led to enhanced protection; while the combination of wheat bran with beta-carotene showed only an additive effect. Beta-carotene appeared to show higher protection than wheat bran at an intake level that is nutritionally relevant to humans, suggesting the possibility of using beta-carotene to enhance the effects of dietary fiber in high-risk Western populations. Using ACF as an intermediate endpoint, it was also shown that vitamin E and beta-carotene appear to inhibit progression of ACF to colon cancer, while wheat bran and folic acid appeared to have weak cancer-preventive potential at this late stage of carcinogenesis. In conclusion, wheat bran alone, or in combination with psyllium, appears to have greater potential to inhibit earlier phases of carcinogenesis, while beta-carotene and vitamin E may also inhibit later stages of carcinogenesis. Despite considerable epidemiological and experimental evidence that increasing the fiber and lowering the fat content of the Western diet could substantially reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, the real challenge is to find effective ways to educate and motivate people to overcome their intrinsic cultural resistance to such changes in their eating habits.
Simpler without a simplest: Ockham’s Razor implies epistemic dilemmas

The atom (in the mereological sense of an object without proper parts) can explain much. This explanatory power increases if we relax constraints on the atom’s behaviour. For instance, Hud Hudson (2005: 113–116) considers suspending the rule that nothing can be in two places at the same time. Now fewer atoms are needed to compose an object. How few? Only one atom is needed. So parsimony favours this alternative over all others. Indeed, one atom is enough to constitute all the objects in the universe. Hudson’s atomic monism comports wonderfully with Ockham’s alternative formulation of his principle: ‘Plurality ought never to be posited without necessity.’ But what if Hud Hudson were working with gunk? Each part of gunk has proper parts, so it is infinitely divisible. How much multi-located gunk should Hudson postulate? However much he postulates, he should have postulated less! Other gunky scenarios invite the same inescapable excess – and not just for ‘things’. Alfred North Whitehead believed each region of space has proper subregions. But then how much space should Whitehead postulate? For any
Maximum-probable restoration of photon-limited images.

We define a computer algorithm for obtaining physically maximum-probable estimates of incoherent object scenes from their photon-count imges. The aim is to combine Bayesian maximum-probable (MAP) estimation with the known physics of image formation. A previous MAP approach to the problem assumed Poisson statistics to be obeyed by the image data. This is correct in the presence of negligible quantum degeneracy. Our aim is to extend this MAP approach into the domain of finite quantum degeneracy where a negative binomial law replaces the Poisson law. The resulting algorithm is a partial solution to the problem, being optimal or suboptimal depending on the object involved. To keep the algorithm simple and hence efficient to implement on a computer, the joint likelihood law for the image data is assumed to have a simple product form. This may be realized by either (a) ignoring interpixel correlations when they are finite (resulting in a suboptimal estimate) or (b) using two sets of data in an interlaced mode. These qualifications limit the applicability of the approach. The result of (a) or (b) is a joint likelihood law which is a simple product of negative binomial laws. Its maximum defines the MAP object estimate sought. Such object estimates are found to be regularized by prior knowledge of a variance or autocorrelation value across the object. Variance in particular is shown to directly exert a controlling influence on the fluctuation in the estimates. Test cases on computer-generated images are shown.