cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Postnatal development of rat lung. Changes in lung lectin, elastin, acetylcholinesterase and other enzymes

Abstract The development of rat lung from a primitive gas-exchange organ to the mature respiratory organ is in large part a postnatal phenomenon that has been well characterized by morphological and morphometric methods. The alveolarization of the lung is achieved during the first 3 weeks of life. Cholinergic innervation of rat lung also appears postnatally. We have monitored the presence or activity of several proteins during postnatal rat lung development. Newborn-rat lung contains negligible amounts of acetylcholinesterase, but the specific activity of acetylcholinesterase reaches adult values by postnatal day 10–11. Neonatal-rat lung does not contain significant amounts of β-galactoside-binding protein [Powell (1980) Biochem. J. 187, 123–129]. The activity of this endogenous lung lectin was apparent at about day 6, was maximal between days 10 and 13 before declining 8–10-fold to reach adult values. Elastin has been implicated from morphological evidence as critical to lung restructuring. We have quantified the amount of desmosine and isodesmosine per g wet wt. of lung. The concentration of elastin, by this criterion, was low and stationary until postnatal day 7; a dramatic increase in elastin concentration occurred between days 10 and 20, when adult values were reached. The peak of lung-lectin activity was coincident with the maturation of acetylcholinesterase and the beginning of rapid elastin cross-linking. The specific activities of angiotensin-converting enzyme, carbonic anhydrase, choline kinase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase were also monitored.
Influence of extracapsular nodal spread extent on prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Background An objective definition of clinically relevant extracapsular nodal spread (ECS) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is unavailable.
Comparison of nBn and nBp mid-wave barrier infrared photodetectors

We have fabricated mid-wave infrared photodetectors containing InAsSb absorber regions and AlAsSb barriers in n-barrier-n (nBn) and n-barrier-p (nBp) configurations, and characterized them by current-voltage, photocurrent, and capacitance-voltage measurements in the 100-200 K temperature range. Efficient collection of photocurrent in the nBn structure requires application of a small reverse bias resulting in a minimum dark current, while the nBp devices have high responsivity at zero bias. When biasing both types of devices for equal dark currents, the nBn structure exhibits a differential resistance significantly higher than the nBp, although the nBp device may be biased for arbitrarily low dark current at the expense of much lower dynamic resistance. Capacitance-voltage measurements allow determination of the electron concentration in the unintentionally-doped absorber material, and demonstrate the existence of an electron accumulation layer at the absorber/barrier interface in the nBn device. Numerical simulations of idealized nBn devices demonstrate that photocurrent collection is possible under conditions of minimal absorber region depletion, thereby strongly suppressing depletion region Shockley-Read-Hall generation.
Change in tactual form discrimination error scores as a function of vibratory stimulation

Twenty females, who had previously participated in a similar experiment some six to eight months prior to the present study, were recalled in order to test the stability of the present tactual form discrimination task and to determine the effects of brief applications of vibration in tactful form discrimination. The discrimination measure was found to be remarkably stable and vibration reduced the number of errors made in form discrimination.
Detoxification of motor vehicle exhaust and suicide.

Lester and Murrell ( 1980) have argued that restricting the availability of the means for completing suicide may be an excellent way of preventing suicide. They reported that stricter handgun controls in the 48 continental states were associated with a lowered suicide rate. Recent data on the effects of emission controls on automobiles in the USA are consistent with this idea. Landers ( 1981) noted that the carbon monoxide content of car exhaust was 8.5% before 1968, 3.0% during 1975-1979, and 0.5% by 1980. While thc numter of people killing themselves using motor vehicle exhaust gases in the USA has remained roughly constant from 1965 to 1979 (2120 in 1965 and 1929 in 1979), the total number of suicides has risen in the same period from 21,501 in 1965 to 27,206 in 1979. Thus, che percentage of suicides using motor vehicle exhaust has dropped from 9.9% in 1965 to 7.1% in 1979. As motor vehicle exhaust in the USA has become less toxic, a smaller percentage of suicides seem to be using it as a means of killing themselves. This makes an interesting contrast with the situation in Britain where car exhaust suicides have more than tripled during the same period (Bulusu & Alderson, 1984). This may to some extent reflect increased ownership of cars, more homes with garages and possibly the increased popularity of hatchback and estate cars which permit rhe easier introduction of the exhaust gases into the passenger compartment. Another possible reason is that knowledge about this method of suicide has spread.
Design and fabrication of polymer-fiber-based luminescent solar concentrator fabrics

We present the design and fabrication of all-polymer optical fiber luminescent solar concentrators. Large-area, lightweight, and flexible fabrics constructed of such fibers are a low-cost solar-energy alternative useful for mobile applications.
Measurement accuracy&#8212;RF to optical

Various developments in microwave and optical metrology that have been stimulated by the needs of satellite and optical fiber telecommunications are discussed. A few recent examples of the symbiosis of science, technology, and metrology in the microwave and optical fields are noted. Meeting the challenge of providing calibration support to the new automated measurement systems is seen to require a high degree of cooperation among government, industry, and the universities.
Linear operators which preserve sign-nonsingular matrices

Abstract We characterize the linear operators that preserve the set of sign-nonsingular matrices. We show that if a linear operator T preserves the set of sign-nonsingular matrices, then T preserves the set of matrices of term rank 1. Then by a result of Beasley and Pullman on preservers of matrices of term rank 1, we can obtain the structure of T .
Feedback and Feedforward Locomotor Adaptations to Ankle-Foot Load in People With Incomplete Spinal Cord Injury

Humans with spinal cord injury (SCI) modulate locomotor output in response to limb load. Understanding the neural control mechanisms responsible for locomotor adaptation could provide a framework f...
Optimal Operation of a Seeded Pharmaceutical Crystallization with Growth-Dependent Dispersion

A cooling profile for a seeded pharmaceutical crystallization designed to achieve a desired mean crystal size is found by minimizing the batch operating time subject to a crystallization model. In many systems, optimizing a characteristic of the product crystal size density is the usual objective. This objective is not feasible for this system because growth-dependent dispersion occurs in the absence of secondary nucleation. Instead, the batch operating time is minimized, and the resulting characteristics of the crystal size density are then fixed by the operating policy. To prevent undesired secondary nucleation, both a cooling-rate constraint and a supersaturation constraint are investigated. The optimal policies are implemented and verified experimentally. The experimental measurements include solution concentration, slurry transmittance, and video microscopy. The video microscopy is used to determine the mean crystal size and standard deviation. These values are found to agree closely with the model p...
Implementing Change in Pediatric Care Practices Based on a Safety Event Reporting System

The Safety Event Reporting System (SERS) is an online reporting system for incident reporting. The neonatal intensive care unit at Children's Hospital Boston uses the reports from these events, along with staff input, to identify opportunities to change and improve clinical practice. Using these events as a chance to improve patient care and outcomes, instead of responding through punitive action, allows staff to feel comfortable reporting actual events and near misses. As a result, our unit has a high reporting rate for near misses, whereas there has been a decrease in serious, preventable events. This culture of inquiry and the nonpunitive system for reporting untoward events has led to quantifiable improvements in patient safety. In this paper, we describe SERS, discuss how we facilitate change through nonpunitive measures, and present measures we have used to improve patient safety in our unit in response to the SERS reports.
A modified Procrustes analysis for bilaterally symmetrical outlines, with an application to microevolution in Baculites

In quantitative paleobiology, one common format for image-derived information is the closed two-dimensional outline curve. Before the end of the last century a great variety of morphometric tools were on offer to deal with this data type, including diverse analyses of distance from a central point, “eigenshape analysis” of a carefully normalized tangent angle function, and Procrustes analysis of configurations of sliding semilandmarks. For the special case of outline forms that are nominally bilaterally symmetric, this paper offers a hybrid approach that fuses the Procrustes toolkit with a variant of a much older method, analysis of radial distance according to angles out of a center. The synthesis represents each outline as a regularly resampled data set of radially aligned shape coordinates analogous to bilateral Procrustes shape coordinates. When the center is iteratively located in one particular way, this representation has the same Procrustes distance statistics as a conventional radial representation, while the formalism of shape coordinates permits symmetrization, localizability, and thin-plate spline visualizations. We explain the method and sketch some of its advantages and limitations in the course of an example involving 99 Baculites inornatus outlines spanning 90 m of deposits from a high-precision measured section in the Campanian-age Rosario Formation cropping out at Punta San Jose, Baja California. This sequence shows substantial changes of pole curvature over time, changes that may involve a punctuation event regarding hydrostatics, hydrodynamics, or defense against predators. A concluding comment deals with implications of the developments here for Baculites microevolution and for morphometrics.
Multiple zeros in frequency analysis: the T(r)-process

Recently, a method has been established for determining the n0 unknown frequencies ωj in a trigonometric signal by using Szego polynomials; ρn(ψN;z). The Szego polynomials in question are orthogonal on the unit circle with respect to an inner product defined by a measure ψN. The measure is constructed from the observed signal values x(m): dψN(θ)/d(θ)= 1/2π |Σm=0N-1x(m)e-imθ|2Essential in the study is the asymptotic behavior of the zeros. If n ≥ n0 then n0 of the zeros of each limiting polynomial will coincide with the frequency points e±iωj. The limiting polynomial is not unique. The remaining (n-n0) zeros are bounded away from the unit circle.Several modifications of this method have been developed. The modifications are of two main types: Modifying the measure by modifying the observed signal values or by modifying the moments.In the present paper, we will modify the measure and study measures of the form dψ(Tr)(θ)/d(θ) = 1/2π |Σm=0∞ x(m)Tm Cme-imθ|2, where T = 1 - d ∈ (0,1) and the coefficients cm satisfy certain conditions.In this situation, we find the rate at which certain Toeplitz determinants tend to zero, and prove that the limit of the absolute value of the refleetion coefficients δβn0(Tr) for n = βn0 are limd→0 |δβn0(Tr)|2=1. We also prove that the frequency points occur as zeros with a certain multiplicity in the limiting polynomials.
Effects of low-dose naloxone on opioid therapy in pediatric patients: a retrospective case-control study

Objective: To develop novel therapies that prevent opioid tolerance in critically ill children we examined the effects of low-dose naloxone infusions on patients' needs for analgesia or sedation. Design and setting: Matched case-control study in a pediatric intensive care unit at a university children's hospital. Patients: We compared 14 pediatric ICU patients receiving low-dose naloxone and opioid infusions with 12 matched controls receiving opioid infusions. Measurements and main results: Opioid analgesia and sedative requirements were assessed as morphine- and midazolam-equivalent doses, respectively. No differences were observed between groups in opioid doses at baseline or during naloxone, but in the postnaloxone period opioid doses tended to be lower in the naloxone group. Compared to baseline the naloxone group required more opioids during naloxone but fewer opioids after naloxone. Total sedative doses were comparable at baseline in both groups, with no differences in the postnaloxone period. The naloxone group required less sedation after naloxone but sedation doses were unchanged in controls. The two groups did not differ in pain scores, sedation scores, or opioid side effects. Conclusions: Naloxone did not reduce the need for opioid during the infusion period but tended to reduce opioid requirements in the postnaloxone period without additional need for sedation. Randomized clinical trials may examine the effects of low-dose naloxone on opioid tolerance and side effects in pediatric ICU patients requiring prolonged opioid analgesia.
The Navigation Guide systematic review methodology: a rigorous and transparent method for translating environmental health science into better health outcomes.

Background: Synthesizing what is known about the environmental drivers of health is instrumental to taking prevention-oriented action. Methods of research synthesis commonly used in environmental h...
MICROWAVE AXIAL FREE-ELECTRON LASER WITH ENHANCED PHASE STABILITY

Abstract Free-electron laser (FEL) amplifiers in the Raman regime have high efficiencies and high output power at microwave wavelengths; however, the phase stability is not sufficient for driving linear accelerators. Fluctuations in the diode voltage are the largest cause of the shifts in the phase of the output power. Present-day pulse-power technology cannot keep the voltage fluctuations less than 1 4% . In this paper, we study the phase stability by analyzing the dispersion relation for an axial FEL, in which the rf field is transversely wiggled and the electron trajectories are purely longitudinal. It is found that the phase dependence on the beam velocity can be cancelled by the effect of the phase dependence on the beam plasma wave. This cancellation leads to first-order phase stability, which is not possible for standing-wave devices, such as klystrons. Detailed particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate the transverse wiggling of the rf mode and the axial FEL interaction and explicit calculations of the growing root of the dispersion relation are included to verify the phase stability.
“One Time for My Girls”: African-American Girlhood, Empowerment, and Popular Visual Culture

In this essay I examine how popular/public culture depicts African-American girlhood and adolescence. Primarily using a hip hop generation feminist theoretical framework, I discuss both the limitations and progressive possibilities of popular visual culture in representing African-American girlhood and adolescence. The essay moves from a discussion of a video that highlights the disempowering possibilities of mass, digital, and social media for black girls and adolescents to a discussion of two videos propelled by a black girl-centered discourse of empowerment. Each of the videos discussed offers insight into the lived experiences of African-American girls from historical, aesthetic, and expressive perspectives. I use visual media text analysis, hip hop generation feminist theory, and social and cultural theory to discuss how these videos contribute to the formation of a contemporary discourse of empowerment for black girls and adolescents. Ultimately, I assert the importance of popular/public culture for empowering black girls and adolescents, while acknowledging extant limitations and obstacles in mass, digital, and social media.
Secure Detection Using Binary Sensors

Abstract Cyber-physical systems employing remote sensors and actuators and sparse communication networks are pervading the infrastructure. In this paper we consider a prototypical problem of estimating a binary state using measurements provided by binary sensors. We propose a new approach to estimate the states based on sensor measurements that may have been corrupted by an attacker. The problem is formulated as a minimax problem in which a detector attempts to maximize the probability of detection in case of the worst case attempt by the attacker to minimize this probability. A fixed form of the detector is proposed in the case where the sensors are of equivalent specifications, along with a method to find the optimal detector parameters.
Observation of Pressure Drop Behavior in an Operating Fuel Cell Stack

Pressure drop on the cathode side of a PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) fuel cell stack has been studied and used as a diagnostic tool. Since the Reynolds number at the beginning of the flow field channel was <250, the flow through the channel is laminar, and the relationship between the pressure drop and the flow rate is linear. Some departure from linearity was observed when water was either introduced in the stack or produced inside the stack in the electrochemical reaction. By monitoring the pressure drop in conjunction with the cell resistance in an operational fuel cell stack, it was possible to diagnose either flooding or drying conditions inside the stack.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Paraoxonase-1 Enzyme Activity Assay for Clinical Samples: Validation and Correlation Studies

BACKGROUND Paraoxonase-1 (PON1) enzyme is reported in various types of tissues and linked to numerous pathophysiological disorders. It is a potential biomarker in many pathological conditions such as cardiovascular diseases. MATERIAL AND METHODS We conducted several small-scale studies to evaluate PON1 performance as affected by sample types, storage, and interferences. We also carried out short-term studies to compare the performance of the widely used PON1 assay to the similar commercially available PON1 kit assay method; sample size for the method comparison was N=40, and the number varied for other validation experiments. RESULTS Our studies using various types of anticoagulants show that samples collected in tubes with NaF, citrate, EDTA, clot activator, and sodium heparin have increased PON1 levels that are 49%, 24.5%, 19.8%, 11.4%, and 8%, respectively, higher compared to serum samples collected in plain tubes. However, samples collected in lithium heparin tubes demonstrated 10.4% lower PON1 levels compared to serum collected in plain tubes. Biological interference such as hemolysis has little effect on PON1 levels; however, samples spiked with lipids have shown 13% lower PON 1 levels. Our studies comparing the PON1 method commonly available for PON1 assay and a similar non-ELISA commercially available PON1 kit method showed a weak Spearman correlation coefficient of R2=0.40 for the range of 104.9-245.6 U/L. CONCLUSIONS The current study provides new validation data on enzyme PON1 performance. While no appreciable change was seen with storage, samples type affects the enzyme performance. Our results should encourage additional clinical studies to investigate other aspects of factors known to affect PON1 enzyme function and performance.
Poujadism: The political economy of a flash party

Invest igat ion o f the Vaucluse indicated that in choosing a village I should rule ou t certain areas . . . . Along the valley of the Rh6ne River the industrialized truck farms and vineyards give the communes more an urban than a rural a tmosphere . In the m o u n t a i n s . . , the communes are poor and isolated; they scarcely represent life in France today. But be tween these two ex t remes is an in te rmedia te region that suited our purposes perfec t ly . . . . We chose Peyrane
On the h-enclosability of spheres

Let B k , M n , N p be manifolds in the category C = Top, Duff or PL . Define M n and N p to be h -enclosable in B k if (1) k = n + p + 1, (2) there are C -imbeddings i : M n ⊆ B k and j: N p ⊆ B k with disjoint images and (3) there are de formation retractions of B k − i ( M n ) onto j ( N p ) and of B k − j ( N P ) onto i ( M n ). This is expressed as B k = [ M n , N P / i , j ] (mod C ). The manifolds are trivially h-enclosable in B k if, in addition, each manifold has a product tubular neighbourhood in the category C .
Raman Scattering from Semiconducting and Metallic Ge(As)

By use of an yttrium aluminum garnet laser operating at 2.1 \ensuremath{\mu}m, polarized transmission Raman spectra of Ge(As) have been measured for impurity concentrations spanning the Mott transition. The valley-orbit Raman line broadens markedly at the transition; its line shape has been fitted using the London-Heitler method. The spectrum in the metallic regime constitutes the first observation of single-particle scattering from intervalley fluctuations.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PURIFIED NERVE GROWTH FACTOR ANTIBODY

— Purified nerve growth factor antibody has been shown to be competent in several different systems. The material is effective in producing immunosympathectomy in young rats and in preventing the action of nerve growth factor on explants of rat superior cervical ganglia. When injected into the brain of young rats it is without effect on brain tyrosine hydroxylase activity, but appears to escape into the system and cause a reduction of tyrosine hydroxylase activity in the superior cervical ganglia. Iodinated antibody injected subcutaneously into neonatal rats does not enter the brain and does not accumulate in superior cervical ganglia, or any of the other tissues studied. The antibody prevents the retrograde transport of nerve growth factor from the anterior chamber of the eye to the superior cervical ganglion and is not itself transported.
Dealiasing Band-Limited Data Using a Spectral Continuity Constraint

I have chosen to use a simpler property of the spectrum of dipping events to remove the aliased energy from sampled data. In the p w domain a band limited dipping event has a locally continuous amplitude spectrum at the true dip and a discontinuous amplitude spectrum at the aliased dip. I perform a least-squares inverse transform (see e.g. (Kostov, 1990)) to the p w d omain with constraints in the p w domain that are based on a measure of local continuity as a function of frequency. Once I have found an unaliased representation of the data in the slant stack domain I can transform back to the z t domain at an arbitrary trace spacing.
Bait in arms: what happens when the wind blows?

In the BBS multiple book review of Donald Symons, The Evolution of Human Sexuality , BBS 3(2), 1980 the full reference was inadvertently omitted: Symons, D. 1979. The Evolution of Human Sexuality . New York: Oxford University Press.
Conformational changes in plastocyanin.

Abstract The visible and near-uv absorption and circular dichroic spectra were determined for spinach and poplar plastocyanin under a variety of conditions. The visible spectra showed that the copper center was invariant to changes in species, chemical modification with ethylenediamine, and addition of high concentrations of salt [2.7 m (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ]. In contrast, the near-uv spectra were sensitive to these conditions. Reduction of plastocyanin also altered its near-uv absorption and circular dichroic spectra. It is unlikely that these spectral changes were due to charge transfer bands since the near-uv CD spectrum of apo-plastocyanin was almost identical to that of reduced plastocyanin. There were no corresponding changes in the far-uv spectra which monitor protein secondary structure. The most likely explanation is that the protein has a flexible tertiary conformation. Conformational changes may be important in regulating electron transport. If plastocyanin is a mobile electron carrier, differential binding of the oxidized and reduced forms of plastocyanin to its reaction partners cytochrome f and P700 could facilitate electron transport.
Real-Time and Robust Estimation of Biodiesel Blends Using Crankshaft Position Sensor: Experimental Validation

Biodiesel is a renewable alternative fuel that produces lower exhaust emissions with the exception of nitrogen oxides (NOx) when compared to conventional diesel fuel. Fuel blend information is useful during engine operation for optimizing emissions and performance. Therefore, online estimation of biofuel content is a critical step in allowing diesel engines to maintain performance while simultaneously meeting emission requirements when operating on biodiesel blends. Presented in this paper is a model-based biodiesel blend estimation strategies using crankshaft torsionals. A sensitivity analysis investigation is conducted for the method to quantify robustness of the proposed fuel blend estimation methods.Copyright © 2012 by ASME and General Motors
"Paradoxical" effects of smoking on subjective stress versus cardiovascular arousal in males and females.

Abstract Cigarette smoking has sometimes been found to decrease subjective stress while simultaneously increasing cardiovascular arousal, contrasting effects referred to as the “nicotine paradox”. The present study assessed acute effects of cigarette smoking on subjective stress vs. cardiovascular arousal in minimally deprived male and female smokers who smoked (n = 16) or sham smoked (unlit cigarette, n = 15) and a comparison group of male and female nonsmokers (n = 12) who sham smoked only. All subjects participated in two sessions (high- or low-challenge computer task) in which they smoked or sham smoked prior to each of two 20-min task trials. Results showed reduced subjective stress in smoking smokers compared with sham-smoking smokers during the high- but not low-challenge task. However, this stress reduction occurred only immediately after smoking and dissipated midway through each trial. In males, smoking appeared to reduce stress below that of nonsmokers, while smoking in females attenuated stress only partially to the level of nonsmokers. In contrast with the attenuated stress effects, cardiovascular arousal (especially heart rate) was increased immediately after smoking during both tasks and did not appear to be directly related to subjective changes. These findings suggest that the stress-reducing effects of smoking may be transient, situationally specific, partly gender dependent, and dissociated from the effects of smoking on cardiovascular arousal.
Effect of shock strength on dust entrainment behind a moving shock wave

Abstract Secondary dust explosion is a serious industrial issue because it occurs under conditions corresponding to an increased quantity and concentration of dispersed, combustible dust when compared with the primary explosion. The problems of lifting and dispersion of a dust layer behind a propagating shock wave must therefore be understood to ensure safety regarding secondary dust explosion hazards. Using a new shock-tube facility for studying shock propagation over dust layers, limestone dust was subjected to Mach numbers ranging from 1.10 to 1.60. A shadowgraph technique was applied by using a high-speed camera (15,000 fps) for visualization of the dust-layer height change behind the moving shock wave. Also, the effect of dust-layer thickness on the entrainment process was observed by performing tests with two different layer depths, namely 3.2- and 12.7-mm thicknesses. New correlations were developed between the shock strength and the dust entrainment height as a function of time for each layer depth. In general, the results herein are in agreement with trends found in previous work, where there is a linear relationship between dust growth rate and shock Mach number at early times after shock passage. Also, new data were collected for image analyses over longer periods, where the longer observation time and higher camera framing rates led to the discovery of trends not previously observed by earlier studies, namely a clear transition time between the early, linear growth regime and a much-slower average growth regime. This second regime is however accompanied by surface instabilities that can lead to a much larger variation in the edge of the dust layer than seen in the early growth regime. In addition, for the linear growth regime, there was no significant difference in the dust-layer height growth between the two layer thicknesses; however, the larger thickness led to higher growth rates and much larger surface instabilities at later times.
A study of an advance organizer as a technique for teaching computer programming concepts

Research on instructional methods has suggested that advance organizers (e.g., metaphors) can be an effective tool in teaching certain types of material in some situations. In many cases, teaching computer programming concepts satisfies these criteria. In our research, beginning programming students were trained on the syntax of arrays. A training session consisted of reading a tutorial manual and entering lines of source code into an interactive system. One group was given a metaphorical organizer prior to training (an advance organizer). A second group received the organizer after training. A control group read a passage on computer history prior to training. The groups did not differ on training task performance or on a test of syntactic knowledge (near transfer). However, the advance organizer group did significantly better on a test of semantic knowledge (far transfer). Factors relating to when to use an advance organizer are discussed.
A framework for risk analysis in virtual directory security

Directory services are used by almost every enterprise computing environment. Virtual directories are components that provide directory services in a highly customized manner. Unfortunately, an analysis of risks posed by their unique position and architecture has not been completed. We present a detailed analysis of six attacks to virtual directory services. We also describe various categories of attack risks, and discuss what is necessary to launch an attack. Finally, we present a framework to use in analyzing these risks.
Determinants of an unusually stable mRNA in the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus.

Summary Myxococcus xanthus is a Gram-negative bacterium which has a complex life cycle that includes development (fruiting body formation). The gene for myxo-bacterial haemagglutinin, mbhA, is developmentally regulated and highly expressed. In this report we show that the mbhA mRNA is exceptionally stable for a prokaryotic organism, exhibiting a chemical half life (t1/2) of 150 min at 18 h of development. The mbhA mRNA was not stable in negetatively growing cells nor was it stable when expressed in Escherichia coli. We have used site–directed mutagenesis of the mbhA gene to analyse some of the determinants which mediate the stability of the mbhA transcript. Sequences within the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR) were found to be crucial for mRNA stability. This region of mRNA can potentially form an extremely stable stem-loop structure immediately adjacent to the translational stop codon. A deletion within this region caused a 10-fold increase in the decay rate of the transcript. Furthermore, conditions which were associated with reduced mbhA translation or mutations that caused premature termination of translation drastically reduced mRNA stability even in the presence of the wild type 3′-UTR. These results suggest that a significant aspect of mbhA mRNA stability involves a synergistic interaction of the translational machinery with sequence elements within the 3′-UTR.
Subsets of neurotensin-immunoreactive neurons revealed following antagonism of the dopamine-mediated suppression of neurotensin immunoreactivity in the rat striatum

Abstract The distribution of neurotensin-immunoreactive structures in the rat striatum was evaluated after blockade of dopamine neurotransmission by drugs that act presynaptically (6-hydroxydopamine, reserpine) and postsynaptically, preferentially at the D2 (eticlopride, haloperidol) and D1 [(R)-(+)-8-chloro-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-3-methyl-5-phenyl-1H-3-benzazepin-7-ol, SCH-23390] receptor sites. Calbindin-D (mol. wt 28,000) immunoreactivity was used to delineate patch (striosome) and matrix in the caudate-putamen and core and shell in the nucleus accumbens. Antagonism at the D2 dopamine receptor and 6-hydroxydopamine lesions caused dense axonal immunoreactivity and moderate numbers of neurotensin-immunoreactive neurons to be distributed preferentially in the matrix of the caudate-putamen. D1 receptor antagonism was significantly less effective at eliciting neurotensin-immuno-reactive neurons in the caudate-putamen. Reserpine or co-administration of the D1 and D2 receptor antagonists produced many neurotensin-immunoreactive neurons in both striatal compartments throughout the caudate-putamen and dense axonal neurotensin immunoreactivity in the medial patch compartment. To varying degrees, with SCH-23390 being least effective and reserpine most effective, all of the drug treatments elicited neurotensin immunoreactivity in neurons in the olfactory tubercle, rostral nucleus accumbens, accumbal shell and ventrolateral caudate-putamen, i.e. most of the ventral striatum.
Preparation of dissolvable albumin stents for vascular anastomosis with a 1.9 µm laser and in vitro mechanical strength assessments.

Introduction We present a clinically relevant method for producing and sterilizing dissolvable albumin stents to provide intraluminal support during vascular anastomosis, and a method for photothermally soldering vessels using a 1.9 µm diode laser with a 200-µm spot size, albumin solder, and water as the chromophore. Our aim in this study was to assess the mechanical integrity of soldered vessels, and to determine if gamma-irradiation affected the solubility of the stents. Materials and Methods The axial tensile strength and burst pressure of 3.75 ± 0.3 mm inner-diameter vessels soldered with varied swath width (1–7 mm), laser power (430–610 mW), solder concentration (22–46%w/w), and solder layering (1–3 layers) was tested in vitro. Stent dissolution was monitored by weight in blood, and with UV absorbance measurements in phosphate buffered saline (PBS). Solubility was measured for stents sterilized by 25 kGy gamma-irradiation, and stents with varied diameter and wall thickness. Results Optimized soldering parameters yielded tensile strengths of 4.4 ± 1.2 N and burst pressures of 400 ± 90 mm Hg with stay sutures. Differences in stent solubility in blood and PBS were not statistically significant (p = 0.99). Sterilization by 25 kGy gamma-irradiation did not cause significant changes (p > 0.6) in stent solubility, which was primarily volume-dependent. Under simulated intravascular flow conditions, 3 mm stents dissolved completely with 2.7 ± 0.7 ml/mg. Conclusions The results show that fast-dissolving stents can be produced reliably using the extrusion technique, and sterilized by gamma-irradiation. Without stay sutures, soldered vessels exhibited low tensile strength, but burst pressures comparable to sutured vessels. It was concluded that stay sutures would be necessary in vivo due to degradation of the tensile strength of soldered vessels with exposure to moisture. Lasers Surg. Med. 44:330–338, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Laboratory and Field Response of the Emerald Ash Borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae), to Selected Regions of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

ABSTRACT Retinal sensitivity of Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) was examined with an aim to improve trap efficacy for the beetle. Electroretinogram (ERG) recordings from dark-adapted compound eyes of male and female were measured at different wavelengths across the spectrum ranging from 300 to 700 nm. The spectral sensitivity curves revealed peaks in the UV (340 nm), the violet/purple (420–430 nm), blue (460 nm), and green (540–560 nm) regions of the spectrum. Females were sensitive to red regions of the spectrum (640–670 nm), whereas males were not. A spectrophotometer was used to measure the wavelength and reflectance for ash foliage, purple corrugated plastic traps, as well as the elytra and abdomen of adult A. planipennis. Traps were painted using colors based on ERG and spectrophotometer measurements and compared with purple corrugated plastic traps currently used by the USDA-APHIS-PPQ-EAB National Survey. In a field assay conducted along the edges of several A. planipennis-in...
Anomalous behavior of aminohydroxynaphthalenesulfonic acids during diazo coupling

Abstract The effect of pH on the diazo coupling reaction of some commonly used coupling components (J-acid, Gamma acid, H-acid and S-acid) with monosubstituted diazobenzenes has been investigated. The results demonstrate that, contrary to previous reports, selective diazo coupling ortho to an amino group of an aminohydroxynaphthalenesulfonic acid does not occur in weakly acidic (pH 5–6) media. In fact, such media were found to give nearly exclusive diazo coupling ortho or para to the hydroxyl group. The desired amine coupling reactions required a pH of 3.0–3.5 and occurred only with the more reactive diazonium salts. The structures of the dyes obtained were unambiguously determined with the aid of 1H-NMR spectroscopy.
Lipid Membrane Penetration Forces from AFM Force Spectroscopy

Understanding how short peptide sequences are able to penetrate cell membranes is important in disease studies and engineering new peptides for drug delivery. While the energetics of membrane penetration has been well studied, the mechanical landscape during contact, translocation, and exit is largely unknown. We used atomic force spectroscopy (AFM) studies on lipid membrane stacks to map the force-distance profile during penetration of short peptides. These force curves reveal the spatial location and magnitudes of penetration barriers that can be related to peptide molecular structure and orientation. We studied the widely used cell penetrating peptide HIV-TAT, a positively charged 9-mer with six arginine groups. The peptides were attached in a single layer at the end of a flat AFM tip giving nanometer spatial resolution relative to the lipid bilayer. Using stacks of lipid membranes rather than individual supported membranes improves data quality by removing substrate effects and providing better statistics.
A computational framework to emulate the human perspective in flow cytometric data analysis.

Background: In recent years, intense research efforts have focused on developing methods for automated flow cytometric data analysis. However, while designing such applications, little or no attention has been paid to the human perspective that is absolutely central to the manual gating process of identifying and characterizing cell populations. In particular, the assumption of many common techniques that cell populations could be modeled reliably with pre-specified distributions may not hold true in real-life samples, which can have populations of arbitrary shapes and considerable inter-sample variation. Results: To address this, we developed a new framework flowScape for emulating certain key aspects of the human perspective in analyzing flow data, which we implemented in multiple steps. First, flowScape begins with creating a mathematically rigorous map of the high-dimensional flow data landscape based on dense and sparse regions defined by relative concentrations of events around modes. In the second step, these modal clusters are connected with a global hierarchical structure. This representation allows flowScape to perform ridgeline analysis for both traversing the landscape and isolating cell populations at different levels of resolution. Finally, we extended manual gating with a new capacity for constructing templates that can identify target populations in terms of their relative parameters, as opposed to the more commonly used absolute or physical parameters. This allows flowScape to apply such templates in batch mode for detecting the corresponding populations in a flexible, sample-specific manner. We also demonstrated different applications of our framework to flow data analysis and show its superiority over other analytical methods. Conclusions: The human perspective, built on top of intuition and experience, is a very important component of flow cytometric data analysis. By emulating some of its approaches and extending these with automation and rigor, flowScape provides a flexible and robust framework for computational cytomics.
Preliminary characterization and physical properties of pyridoxal oxidase activity from Drosophila melanogaster

a method of extracting pyridoxal oxidase (PO) activity from D. melanogaster adults is described. in crude extracts, this method allows the activity to remain stable for an extended period of time so that subsequent work on the enzyme can be carried out. The extraction procedure, the constituents of the buffer, and the assay conditions are given. Under these conditions, there is an increase, in specific activity of PO during the first 4 to 8 h following extraction when the extract is held at 4° C. Optimum pH, substrate concentration, and ionic strength are given. In all of these cases the maximum activity points are not chosen since at those values, the lability of the activity is increased. Enzyme activity is also increased by short periods at 55°C. The basis for the increased activity, either upon heating or upon standing at 4°C, is not understood. These and other results are discussed considering the possibility that the structural loci for pyridoxal oxidase and aldehyde oxidase might have arisen as a duplication from an ancestral gene.
Trimer hydroxylated quinone derived from apocynin targets cysteine residues of p47phox preventing the activation of human vascular NADPH oxidase

Abstract Enzymatically derived oligophenols from apocynin can be effective inhibitors of human vascular NADPH oxidase (Nox). An isolated trimer hydroxylated quinone (IIIHyQ) has been shown to inhibit endothelial NADPH oxidase with an IC 50 ~ 30 nM. In vitro studies demonstrated that IIIHyQ is capable of disrupting the interaction between p47 phox and p22 phox , thereby blocking the activation of the Nox2 isoform. Herein, we report the role of key cysteine residues in p47 phox as targets for the IIIHyQ. Incubation of p47 phox with IIIHyQ results in a decrease of ~ 80% of the protein free cysteine residues; similar results were observed using 1,2- and 1,4-naphthoquinones, whereas apocynin was unreactive. Mutants of p47 phox , in which each Cys was individually replaced by Ala (at residues 111, 196, and 378) or Gly (at residue 98), were generated to evaluate their individual importance in IIIHyQ-mediated inhibition of p47 phox interaction with p22 phox . Specific Michael addition on Cys196, within the N–SH3 domain, by the IIIHyQ is critical for disrupting the p47 phox –p22 phox interaction. When a C196A mutation was tested, the IIIHyQ was unable to disrupt the p47 phox –p22 phox interaction. However, the IIIHyQ was effective at disrupting this interaction with the other mutants, displaying IC 50 values (4.9, 21.0, and 2.3 μM for the C111A, C378A, and C98G mutants, respectively) comparable to that of wild-type p47 phox .
Hypercapnia-induced increases in cerebral blood flow: roles of adenosine, nitric oxide and cortical arousal

The roles of nitric oxide, adenosine and cortical arousal in the response to 7.5% CO2 inhalation were investigated by measuring cerebral blood flow bilaterally in the rat somatosensory cortices with laser-Doppler flow probes. Administration of Nω-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester (l-NAME; 20 mg/kg, i.v.) significantly attenuated the response to hypercapnia (mean decrease of 47%). This effect was partially reversed by a subsequent administration of l-arginine. Caffeine (10 mg/kg, i.v.) also significantly reduced hypercapnic responses (mean decrease of 44%). Caffeine administration was also associated with a tendency for animals to exhibit electrocorticographic signs of arousal; often associated with a reduction in the attenuation of the flow response to CO2 inhalation. 8-(3-Chlorostyryl) caffeine (CSC, 1.0 mg/kg), a selective antagonist at adenosine A2a striatal receptors failed to attenuate CO2-evoked responses, whereas CGS 15943, a less selective A2a receptor antagonist, significantly reduced CO2 responses. These data from the rat suggest (1) that both nitric oxide and adenosine may contribute to pial arteriolar vasodilatation during hypercapnia, and (2) that CO2 inhalation acts as a potent stimulus for cortical arousal, with enhanced neuronal activity contributing to the vascular response. The effects of administration of adenosine antagonists, such as the methylxanthines antagonists caffeine and theophylline, on CBF responses to hypercapnia can potentially be negated by the ability of these agents to facilitate CO2-induced cortical arousal.
Momentum distribution of nucleons in the nuclear surface

Abstract The results of the 40 MeV (p, 2p) experiments of Griffiths and Eisberg are analysed on the basis of a model for the total momentum transfer. Assuming two-body collisions and the impulse approximation and representing the momentum distribution of bound protons by a Fermi distribution whose maximum momentum is p f , it is almost certain that 0.5 MeV
The leucine zippers of c-fos and c-jun for progesterone receptor dimerization: A-dominance in the A/B heterodimer

Human progesterone receptors (hPR) exist as two isoforms: 120 kDa B-receptors (hPRB) and N-terminally truncated 94 kDa A-receptors (hPRA). When transfected separately, each isoform exhibits different transcriptional properties that are ligand- and promoter-specific. In human target tissues, both receptor isoforms are present, so that a mixture of three dimeric species, A/A, A/B, and B/B, bind to DNA at progesterone response elements (PRE), and regulate transcription. To study the transcriptional phenotype of pure A/B heterodimers uncontaminated by A/A or B/B homodimers, we exploited the property of the leucine zipper (zip) domains of fos and jun, to form pure heterodimers. Chimeric constructs were made linking the zip of either c-fos or c-jun to the C-terminus of hPRB or hPRA (hPR-zip) to produce A-fos, B-fos, A-jun or B-jun. To determine whether the A- or B-isoform is functionally dominant in the A/B heterodimer, cells expressing hPR-zip chimeras were treated with the progestin antagonist RU486, which produces opposite transcriptional effects with the two isoforms. Gel mobility shift and immune co-precipitation assays show that in the presence of RU486 only pure heterodimers form between A-fos/B-jun or A-jun/B-fos, and bind DNA at PREs. Thus, in these pairs, interactions between the extrinsic fos/jun zipper domains override interactions between the intrinsic hPR dimerization domains. We find that under these conditions, antagonist-occupied B-zip homodimers stimulate transcription, while antagonist-occupied A-zip homodimers are inhibitory, and that pure A/B zip heterodimers have the inhibitory transcriptional phenotype of the A-zip homodimers. We conclude that, in pure heterodimers, A-receptors are dominant negative inhibitors of B-receptors. Additionally, the pure PR-zip heterodimers, unlike wild-type receptors, bind a PRE in the absence of hormone but do not activate transcription. Thus, PR dimerization and PRE binding are necessary but, without hormone, not sufficient to activate transcription.