cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A research mentor training curriculum for clinical and translational researchers.

Mentoring plays a vital role in the career development and overall success of researchers across a wide range of fields, including academic medicine.1,2,3 In acknowledgement of the essential role that mentors play in the training of future researchers, many training and mentored career development awards require explicit information about the training and expertise of mentors for trainees and scholars. For example, the National Center for Research Resources/ National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) require sites to demonstrate how the mentors of their scholars and trainees will be trained and evaluated (RFA-RM-10-020, p.20); yet research mentoring skills are rarely taught.4 A 2009 survey of Research Education and Career Development Program Directors regarding mentoring programs for clinical and translational (KL2) scholars identified only nine training initiatives across 46 CTSA institutions.5 One reason so many programs have failed to implement training initiatives may be the lack of an established, evidence-based, user-friendly mentor training curricula upon which their training may be based. To address the need for a proven training curriculum, particularly for the mentors of clinical and translational researchers, Mentor Training for Clinical and Translational Researchers was developed. This curriculum was then implemented and tested as part of a randomized, controlled trial, for which 283 mentor-mentee pairs from 16 academic institutions were recruited. Half of the mentors (n=144) were randomly assigned to participate in mentor training. Here we report on the effectiveness of Mentor Training for Clinical and Translational Researchers based on evaluation data collected from these participants during and directly following their final training session.
Physical Load Estimation of Flight Attendant Work by Direct Observation and Accelerometry

Occupational groups with variable work tasks pose unique methodological challenges to ergonomists who need valid measures of physical job demands for occupational health research. In this study data on flight attendants' physical job demands were collected during five round-trip commercial passenger flights using direct observation and accelerometry. Thirty-five flight attendants (88% participation) each were observed inflight and equipped with two accelerometers (positioned on the leg and waist). Correlational analyses were performed to examine concordance between measures obtained by each method. Agreement was moderate to high between direct observation and accelerometry for measures of standing, lifting (leg), and overall physical effort level. Agreement was poor for back posture and push/pull activities. These findings suggest that accelerometry may provide an acceptable alternative to the labor-intensive but established observational approach when evaluating some physical job demands in occupational ...
Relaxation of the guinea-pig tracheal chain preparation by N6,2'-O-dibutyryl 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate.

N6,2′-O-Dibutyryl 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (dibutyryl 3′,5′-amp), isoprenaline and theophylline relax the guinea-pig tracheal chain preparation; whereas 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (3′,5′-amp) does not. The relaxant effect of isoprenaline, but not that of dibutyryl 3′,5′-amp, was blocked by propranolol. 3′,5′-amp is hydrolyzed rapidly by beef heart phosphodiesterase whereas dibutyryl 3′,5′-amp is not. The presence of equimolar concentrations of dibutyryl 3′,5′-amp does not alter the rate of phosphodiesterase mediated hydrolysis of 3′,5′-amp. These data are consistent with the theories that relaxation of the guinea-pig trachea may be mediated by 3′,5′-amp and that dibutyryl 3′,5′-amp acts by mimicking 3′,5′-amp at its site of action.
Structural Coupling: Simultaneity and Difference Between Communication and Thought

Starting from the theory of the Germen sociologist Niklas Luhmann, it is possible to describe the relationship between communication and individual thought in a new perspective. Thought is the autonomous production of a psychic system. Communication is the autonomous production of a social system. The relationship between psychic systems and social systems can be defined as “structural coupling.” Such a coupling is realized in two steps. First, a single communication and a single thought happen simultaneously, and this allows the indiuidual to think what he or she is understanding in communication. In this way, commuiaicon forms (social structures) may perturb a psychic system. Second, meaningful information about the perturbing social structures is produced in the psychic system, depending on psychic structures. Thanks to this autonomous production of meaning, a psychic system can be unique. It is necessary to describe both the structural coupling and the two different kinds of coupled structures; the social structures shaping the perturbing communication and the psychic structures shaping the meaning of this perturbation. The communication theory called coordinated management of meaning (CMM) provides an interesting description of the effects of structural coupling for individuals. The theory of structural coupling seems a promising way to explain how individual autonomy can be based on communication, avoiding harsh debates between individualism and collectivism.
Molecular brushes with spontaneous gradient by atom transfer radical polymerization

Spontaneous gradient copolymers were synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of acrylates and methacrylates and were subsequently employed to prepare macroinitiators for the synthesis of molecular brushes. Simultaneous copolymerizations of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 2-(trimethylsilyloxy)ethyl acrylate (HEA-TMS) with different monomer feed ratios were conducted, and the resulting poly(MMA-grad-HEA-TMS) copolymers were transformed to a macroinitiator, poly(MMA-grad-(2-(2-bromopropionyloxy)ethyl acrylate) (BPE)). Another monomer pair of 2-(trimethylsilyloxy)ethyl methacrylate (HEMA-TMS) and n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) was also used for a simultaneous copolymerization for comparison between these two systems. Brushes were synthesized from these macroinitiators by the “grafting from” method with n-BA. The gradient composition of the backbone was formed spontaneously due to the difference in the reactivity ratios of the two monomers. The reactivity ratios were determined by nonlinear least-squ...
Talent Development During the High School Years

The author stresses the need for adequate career guidance for gifted youth to clarify their life goals. He also outlines the organisational strategies that can be used to provide extra-curricular a...
Airborne ice nuclei near an active volcano

ACTIVE volcanoes have been suggested as being sources of atmospheric ice nuclei1,2, the rare yet crucial particles that initiate much of the Earth's precipitation. Other studies indicate that some volcanoes are not adding ice nuclei to the atmosphere or may be deactivating natural ice nuclei3–5. We report here measurements of atmospheric ice nucleus concentrations upwind and within the effluent plume of St Augustine, an actively venting island volcano situated at the base of the Aleutians in the mouth of Cook Inlet, Alaska (59°20′N, 153°30′W). St Augustine erupted violently on January 23, 1976 and then again on February 4, 1976. We find no evidence for ice nuclei production by this volcano. Between and after the major eruptions the volcano actively vented giving off gaseous and particulate matter. Sulphur dioxide concentrations in the plume were >5p.p.m. (J. Moyers, unpublished) and the total particulate loading was ∼100 μg m−3 (W. Zoller, unpublished) during the venting stages. A photograph of the venting volcano (February 1, 1976), taken as the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Electra aircraft (instrument boom visible to left) prepared to enter the plume on a sampling run, is shown in Fig. 1. During this and other sampling runs ice nuclei in the air were captured on Millipore membrane filters using the NCAR SAMOVAR Air Filtration System6.
Extreme Life Extension: Investing in Cryonics for the Long, Long Term

This article explores American conceptualizations of finance, the future, the limits of biological time, and the possibilities of biotechnoscience through an investigation of the social world of cryonics-the freezing of the dead with the hope of future revival. I describe some of the cosmologies of life, death, time, and the management of the future that circulate within cryonics communities, and I draw out relationships between cryonics practices and discourses and more common forms of personal future management prevalent within American neoliberal capitalism. I also illustrate similarities and differences between cryonics and more mainstream biomedical technologies. In doing so, I argue that cryonics is one American manifestation of anxieties about aging, time, and the future. I investigate the impact of biotechnologies on self-making and biosociality, and argue that crafting of selves can be deeply entwined with practices of investment or hope in the future of biomedicine and technology.
Organized religion and mental health

Benjamin Rush, who is regarded as the father of American psychiatry, opened the main part of his book, Medical Inquiries and Observations on the Diseases of the Mind, published in 1812, with these words: "In enter ing upon the subject of the following inquiries and observations, I feel as if I were about to tread upon consecrated ground. I am aware of the difficulty and importance of it, and I thus humbly implore that Being whose government extends to the thought of all His creatures, so to direct mine, that in this arduous undertaking nothing hurtful to my fel low citizens may fall from my pen, and that this work may be the means of lessening a portion of some of the greatest evils of human life." So, in the last year of his life, this pioneer of modern psychiatry ex pressed a feeling that all of us interested in the overlapping fields of reli gion and psychiatry must find appropriate to our undertakings. Dr. Francis J. Gerty, Past President of the American Psychiatric As sociation, on the occasion of his retirement from his position as Commis sioner of Mental Health for Illinois, said that a man who is engaged in important undertakings will be most fortunate in having three things in his favor: superb leaders to follow, highly skilled and co-operative as sociates to work with, and devoted and efficient assistants to get the work actually done. In my associations with the Academy and in assum ing the presidency of the American Psychiatric Association, I have su perb leaders to follow. Three presidents of the Academy have also been leaders of the American Psychiatric Association: Dr. Winfred Overhol
Age, iconic storage, and visual information processing.

Abstract Second, fourth, and sixth grade students and college adults identified simple stimuli presented tachistoscopically. A stimulus was followed by either a homogeneous white field or a patterned masking stimulus. The patterned mask was assumed to stop processing of the stimulus information retained in iconic storage, while the white field would simply degrade the stimulus. All groups performed equally well when the white field followed the stimulus, but the sixth-graders and adults were more accurate than the second and fourth graders when the patterned mask was used. This outcome is consistent with the notion that young children's iconic storage is longer than that of older children and adults but that young children process the information in iconic storage relatively slowly.
Comparison of 30-Day Integrations with and without Cloud-Radiation Interaction

Abstract A parameterization package for cloud-radiation interaction is incorporated into a spectral general circulation model (GCM). Fractional cloud amount is predicted quasi-empirically; cloud optical depth is specified for warm clouds and anvil cirrus, but depends on temperature for other subfreezing clouds; the long- and shortwave cloud optical properties are linked to the cloud optical depth. The model's time-mean clouds and its radiative, thermal, and dynamical response to cloud-radiation interaction are investigated for the extended forecast range, primarily by performing two sets of 30-day integrations from real initial conditions for three Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter and three NH summer cases: (i) CLDRADI, with cloud-radiation interaction; and (ii) LONDON, with this GCM's traditional specification of climatological zonal-mean cloud amount and global-mean cloud optical properties. The 30-day mean CLDRADI fields of total and high cloud amount and corresponding outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) ...
Re-charting global ethics

Migrations driven by ethnic, religious, and other forms of social conflict have been common in the past quarter-century, and have in Africa led many to seek refuge and to expect hospitality abroad. This leads to a concern for pluralist ethics, for many receiving refuge abroad expect that they will be able to live by their thoughts and beliefs, creating enclaves of cultural difference. But difference exists in all communities: cultural homogeneity does not exist except in the conservative imagination. Nevertheless, a sameness – the sameness of the value of every person – remains within this plurality. The sameness is conceived in distinct ways in the Natural Law tradition that yields liberalism, in the Golden Rule, in Kant's categorical imperative, and in the Luo culture of Eastern Africa. The Luo precept Luoro remb dhano (‘restraint from letting human blood’) is compared with these other ethical cosmopolitan wellsprings in this essay.
Meanings and Policy Implications of “Transformative Research”: Frontiers, Hot Science, Evolution, and Investment Risk

In recent times there has been a surge in interest on policy instruments to stimulate scientific and engineering research that is of greater consequence, advancing our knowledge in leaps rather than steps and is therefore more “creative” or, in the language of recent reports, “transformative.” Associated with the language of “transformative research” there appears to be much enthusiasm and conviction that the future of research is tied to it. However, there is very little clarity as to what exactly it is and what criteria might be used to design policy instruments to make more of it happen. In this paper, we contribute to the construction of a framework within which some conceptual clarity might be gained. We develop four analogies, or metaphors, that are found in the discourse about “transformative research” and show what they imply for the meaning of the notion and, as a result, both the phenomena that might be associated with it and the levers that would be available to design policy instruments. The analogies serving as theoretical metaphors that we propose, and also document to be present either explicitly or implicitly in the discourse about “transformative research,” are the stock market highlighting risk; the process of evolution and its selection mechanisms; the process of popular culture and the power of “hot” events; and exploration of the frontier of the unknown. No single analogy covers all the relevant issues. Together they help identify a field of phenomena and the potential and challenges “transformative research” presents to policy.
The cubic susceptibility dispersion of poly (4-BCMU) thin films: third harmonic generation and two-photon-absorption measurements

Abstract The near infrared dispersion of the third order nonlinear optical susceptibility, χ (3) , of poly [5, 7-dodecadiyn-1, 12-diol-bis (n- butoxycarbonyl-methyl-urethane)], poly (4-BCMU), is investigated by third-harmonic-generation and two-photon-absorption. A four level model gives a good fit to the measured dispersions in the range of 0.770 μm to 1.904μm. The coupling between the first 1 B u state and the two 1 A g states, located above and below it, control the dispersion of χ (3) in the linear transparency region of poly (4-BCMU).
Electromagnetic radiation from superconducting cosmic strings.

The power of electromagnetic radiation from a current-carrying loop of superconducting string is much greater than that given by a naive estimate. Most of the radiation originates near the cusps where the string velocity reaches the speed of light, and is emitted in short and sharply directed pulses.
A-geometrical approach to topological insulators with edge dislocations

A study of the propagation of electrons with varying spinor orientability is conducted using the coordinate transformation method. Topological insulators are characterized by an odd number of changes in the orientability of the spinors in the Brillouin zone. For defects the change in spinor orientability takes place for closed orbits in real space. Both the cases are characterized by nontrivial spin connections. Using this method we derive the form of the spin connections for topological defects in three-dimensional (3D) topological insulators. On the surface of a topological insulator, the presence of an edge dislocation gives rise to a spin connection controlled by torsion. We find that electrons propagate along 2D regions and confined circular contours. We compute for the edge dislocations the tunneling density of states. The edge dislocations violate parity symmetry, resulting in a current measured by the in-plane component of the spin on the surface. For a continuum distribution of edge dislocations with the Burger vector B(2) in the y-direction, we show that electron backscattering is absent for electrons with zero momentum in the y-direction.
An approach to the isoschizozygane alkaloid core using a 1,4-dipolar cycloaddition of a cross-conjugated heteroaromatic betaine.

A new strategy for the synthesis of the isoschizozygane alkaloid core has been developed that is based on a 1,4-dipolar cycloaddition reaction of a cross-conjugated heteroaromatic betaine. The resulting cycloadduct undergoes loss of COS, and further reduction delivers a 5a-aza-acenaphthylene intermediate that was transformed into the isoschizozygane skeleton upon treatment with acid.
The ethical (re)design of the Google Books project

Today, the Google Books project is at a relative standstill -- lawsuits against the project remain outstanding as the courts rejected a proposed settlement agreement. The failure of the original vision for the Google Books project to become fully realized presents us with a unique opportunity to ensure that whatever final form Google Books will take in the future, it is designed to support the values respected within the domain of information ethics. This paper will proposed an ethical re-design of the Google Books project, focusing on three core ethical values of primary interest to librarian and information professionals: privacy, intellectual freedom, and public access to information. Advocating for these values in the next iteration of the mass digitization service can help ensure that the informational norms of the library are embraced and upheld.
Studies on mechanical properties of films made from texturized whey protein and traditional whey protein

Introduction: In today's competitive world, development of new approaches through novel technologies is in demand to utilize the food ingredients in a better way. To achieve this goal, there is a need to understand different properties of food ingredients through basic research. Texturized whey protein concentrate (WPC) is one such novel food ingredient, which is currently being investigated by various researchers. Objective: The objective of this study was to compare a few selected mechanical properties of texturized whey protein concentrate (tWPC) films with those of the traditional WPC films. Materials and Methods: To perform this comparative study, moisture content, tensile strength, percentage elongation (PE), water vapor permeability, and water contact angle were evaluated by conditioning the films specimens for 3 h at 11%, 32%, 53%, 75%, 84%, and 100% RH with the help of supersaturated salt solutions to get a water activity of 0.11, 0.32, 0.53, 0.75. 0.84, and 0.99, respectively. Results: The results showed that as the water activity and thus the moisture content increased the PE and water vapor permeability of the tWPC films decreased significantly in comparison with the WPC-based films. On the other hand, the tensile strength and water contact angle of the tWPC films were found to be superior to those of the WPC films at all water activities. Conclusion: These results provide strong evidence that the tWPC films have improved mechanical properties of utility in package design in comparison with films made with WPC films. These attributes can be commercially exploited to advantage in fabrication of new food packaging systems and in edible coating of food products.
Sleep inertia, sleep homeostatic and circadian influences on higher-order cognitive functions.

Summary Sleep inertia, sleep homeostatic and circadian processes modulate cognition, including reaction time, memory, mood and alertness. How these processes influence higher-order cognitive functions is not well known. Six participants completed a 73-day-long study that included two 14-day-long 28-h forced desynchrony protocols to examine separate and interacting influences of sleep inertia, sleep homeostasis and circadian phase on higher-order cognitive functions of inhibitory control and selective visual attention. Cognitive performance for most measures was impaired immediately after scheduled awakening and improved during the first ~2–4 h of wakefulness (decreasing sleep inertia); worsened thereafter until scheduled bedtime (increasing sleep homeostasis); and was worst at ~60° and best at ~240° (circadian modulation, with worst and best phases corresponding to ~09:00 and ~21:00 hours, respectively, in individuals with a habitual wake time of 07:00 hours). The relative influences of sleep inertia, sleep homeostasis and circadian phase depended on the specific higher-order cognitive function task examined. Inhibitory control appeared to be modulated most strongly by circadian phase, whereas selective visual attention for a spatial-configuration search task was modulated most strongly by sleep inertia. These findings demonstrate that some higher-order cognitive processes are differentially sensitive to different sleep–wake regulatory processes. Differential modulation of cognitive functions by different sleep–wake regulatory processes has important implications for understanding mechanisms contributing to performance impairments during adverse circadian phases, sleep deprivation and/or upon awakening from sleep.
The Utilization of Process Evaluations in Childhood Obesity Intervention Research: A Review of Reviews

Process evaluations are an essential component to evaluating health promotion programs, however they are consistently under-utilized and oftentimes not reported upon in the literature. This study reports the use of process evaluations in childhood obesity prevention interventions implemented over the past three decades. Seven meta-analyses and systematic reviews were located for this review or reviews , and from these, 119 unique references were identified. Each article was retrieved and read for appropriateness, and 20 were excluded for a variety of reasons (ex. not published in English language), resulting in 99 articles included for this study. Overall, process evaluations were not well reported upon. Only 38 studies reported the fidelity of program implementation, 25 studies tracked participant attendance, 29 studied evaluated participant satisfaction, and 49 studies reported how staff members were trained. Additionally, one-third of the studies did not report using a single type of process evaluation, and only 5 studies reported using all four types. Results from this study suggest that the use of process evaluations has been low in this area of research, which may explain why many obesity prevention studies have reported mixed or modest results. Suggestions for implementing simple, yet effective process evaluations in future studies will be presented
Ontogeny of the pectoralis muscle in the little brown bat, Myotis lucifugus.

The ontogeny of a primary flight muscle, the pectoralis, in the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus: Vespertilionidae) was studied using histochemical, immunocytochemical, and electrophoretic techniques. In fetal and early neonatal (postnatal age 1–6 days) Myotis, histochemical techniques for myofibrillar ATPase (mATPase) and antibodies for slow and fast myosins demonstrated the presence of two fiber types, here called types I and IIa. These data correlated with multiple transitional myosin heavy chain isoforms and native myosin isoforms demonstrated with SDS-PAGE and 4% pyrophosphate PAGE. There was a decrease in the distribution and number of type I fibers with increasing postnatal age. At postnatal age 8–9 days, the adult phenotype was observed with regard to muscle fiber type (100% type IIa fibers) and myosin isoform profile (single adult MHC and native myosin isoforms). This “adult” fiber type profile and myosin isoform composition preceeded adult function by about 2 weeks. For example, little brown bats were incapable of sustained flight until approximately postnatal day 24, and myofiber size did not achieve adult size until approximately postnatal day 25. Although Myotis pectoralis is unique in being composed of 100% type IIa fibers, transitional fiber types and isoforms were present. These transitional forms had been observed previously in other mammals bearing mixed adult muscle fibers and which undergo transitional stages in muscle ontogeny. However, in Myotis pectoralis, this transition transpires relatively early in development. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Extensions of the Euler-Satake characteristic for nonorientable 3-orbifolds and indistinguishable examples

We compute the Fl-Euler‐Satake characteristics of an arbitrary closed, effective 3-dimensional orbifold Q where Fl is a free group with l generators. We focus on the case of nonorientable orbifolds, extending previous results for the case of orientable orbifolds. Using these computations, we determine examples of distinct 3-orbifolds Q and Q 0 such that ES 0 .Q/D ES 0 .Q 0 / for every finitely generated discrete group0.
Insulin resistant rats display enhanced rewarding effects of nicotine

Abstract Background Tobacco use among persons with Type II diabetes exponentially increases negative health consequences and mortality rates. It is especially troubling that diabetic persons who smoke have a greater difficulty with tobacco cessation as compared to non-diabetic smokers. Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome that consists of insulin resistance due to disruptions in insulin signaling. We have previously shown that insulin depletion enhances the motivational effects of nicotine. Methods The present study expands our previous work by examining whether insulin resistance, produced by a high-fat diet (HFD) regimen, enhances the rewarding effects of nicotine, as measured by the conditioned place preference (CPP) paradigm. Rats were placed on either a regular diet (RD) or a HFD for 5 weeks, after which they were assessed for insulin resistance via blood glucose measurements after an insulin challenge. Rats then underwent a nicotine CPP study. Results The findings revealed that HFD produced insulin resistant and non-insulin resistant animals. Interestingly, the magnitude of nicotine CPP was larger in insulin resistant rats versus RD rats. Nicotine CPP was absent in non-insulin resistant animals. A similar increase in body weight was observed in insulin resistant and non-insulin resistant rats as compared to RD rats. These findings suggest that neither the increased body weight nor the HFD per se in the insulin resistant rats contributed to the enhanced nicotine reward. Conclusion These present study suggests that insulin resistant rats undergo unique neurobiological changes related to a disruption in insulin signaling that promotes the rewarding effects of nicotine.
High-speed acousto-optic mapping modulator for the generalized Hough transform.

We describe a high-speed acousto-optic Hough-transform mapping modulator. This mapping modulator generates any θ slice of the straight line Hough-transform and one-dimensional slices of generalized Hough transforms (e.g., for circles and ellipses). We derive the mapping functions for the acousto-optic modulator for both circle and ellipse Hough transforms and show simulations of generalized Hough transforms using both functions. We also describe how the mapping modulators can compute Hough transforms for nonanalytically describable inputs.
Quasars and superconducting cosmic strings

Loops of superconducting cosmic string acquire electrical currents in the magnetic fields of host galaxies and emit short bursts of highly directed electromagnetic radiation. Here, we propose that the jets observed in quasars are formed by particles accelerated to relativistic energies by such bursts, and that the central engines of quasars are therefore loops of cosmic string.
Forced Convection From a Nonisothermal Cylinder in Crossflow

When nonuniform thermal boundary conditions are imposed on the surface of a circular cylinder in crossflow, the heat transfer characteristics can be quite different compared to what is found for isothermal or constant heat flux boundary conditions. In the present analysis, two kinds of nonuniform boundary condition along the circumference of the cylinder are considered in a uniform stream of air: step changes and linear profiles. To cite only one motivating application, step changes in temperature can arise on the surface of an external, cylindrical, solar central receiver. As the working fluid (water) flows through the vertical tubes that ring the circumference of Solar One (a solar central receiver in Barstow, CA), the solar flux on the receiver heats the water from a liquid to a superheated state. In this process, portions of the receiver panels, and thus portions of the circumference of the cylinder, function as a preheater, boiler, or superheater. Hence the surface temperature can vary significantly around the cylinder. Common engineering practice has been to use an average wall temperature with an isothermal cylinder heat transfer coefficient when estimating the convective loss in these kinds of situation.
Update in medical education 2007.

In this article, we summarize articles selected for presentation at the Update in Medical Education at the 31st annual meeting of the Society of General Internal Medicine.
Total Dose Effects in the 54HC Family of Microcircuits

Motorola and National Semiconductor 54HC00 and 54HC74 microcircuits were evaluated using CO-60 to determine their total dose radiation hardness. The devices were found to be radiation soft failing parametrically between 5 and 10 K rads and functionaly between 20 and 40 K rads. The failures were bias dependent, relatively insensitive to dose rate, and only annealed moderately when left unbiased at room temperature.
Survival of Released Bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus, Caught on Artificial Flies, Worms, and Spinner Lures

ABSTRACT Effects of three types of terminal gear and anatomical hooking location on mortality of released bluegill were investigated. Worm-baited hooks, artificial flies, spinner baits and seines (control group) were used to catch fish. Bluegill caught with worms had a significantly higher (P < 0.001) mortality (88%) than those caught with flies (32%), lures (28%) or seines (12%). All fish hooked in the esophagus, gill, tongue or eye died within 10 days, whereas, the mortality of fish that were hooked in the jaw was 37.5% and in the lip 13%. Worm-baited hooks were ingested deeper than artificial lures and flies. No significant difference in mortality between fly- and lure-hooked fish was observed. These results indicate that bluegills caught on artificial lures have a better chance to survive than those caught with worms.
Spectrophotometric investigations of the complexation between Ni(II) and thiocyanate in aqueous methanol

Abstract Ni(II) adds up to three thiocyanate ligands per cation in water and aqueous methanol. All three of the observed complexes are green, the color characteristic of free Ni(II) perchlorate, consistent with the absence of any geometry change occurring upon complexation. Equilibrium constants were obtained as a function of temperature and solvent composition. Because the magnitude of the third complex was significantly lower than for the first two species, the Benesi–Hildebrand method was used to measure the third complexation constant.
EFFECTS OF PRESHOT ROUTINE ON FREE-THROW SHOOTING

The effect of prohibiting the use of a preshot routine on free-throw shooting in competitive situations was investigated. 25 male high school basketball players were instructed to attempt 50 free throws alternating in blocks of 10 between the use of their preshot routine and shooting without it. To make the situation competitive, subjects were run in groups of five and their performance was recorded on a large easel placed to the side of the free-throw line. A significantly larger number of baskets were made in the preshot routine condition than without the routine. A competitive situation led to a greater decrement in baskets than had been reported in 1986 by Lobmeyer and Wassermen during noncompetitive free-throw shooting.
Crystal structure of murine sCEACAM1a[1,4]: a coronavirus receptor in the CEA family

CEACAM1 is a member of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family. Isoforms of murine CEACAM1 serve as receptors for mouse hepatitis virus (MHV), a murine coronavirus. Here we report the crystal structure of soluble murine sCEACAM1a[1,4], which is composed of two Ig-like domains and has MHV neutralizing activity. Its N-terminal domain has a uniquely folded CC' loop that encompasses key virus-binding residues. This is the first atomic structure of any member of the CEA family, and provides a prototypic architecture for functional exploration of CEA family members. We discuss the structural basis of virus receptor activities of murine CEACAM1 proteins, binding of Neisseria to human CEACAM1, and other homophilic and heterophilic interactions of CEA family members.
An exact finite deformation elasto-plastic solution for the outside-in free eversion problem of a tube of elastic linear-hardening material

An exact solution is obtained in this paper for the elasto-plastic outside-in free eversion problem of a tube of elastic linear-hardening material using a tensorial formulation. The solution is based on a finite-strain version of Hencky's deformation theory, the von Mises yield criterion, and the assumptions of volume incompressibility and axial length constancy. All expressions for the stress, strain distributions and the eversion load are derived in an explicit form. In addition, with both the linear-elastic and strain-hardening-plastic responses of the material being included and with the thickness effect of the tube being incorporated, this solution provides a rigorous and complete theoretical analysis of the elasto-plastic eversion problem, unlike existing solutions. Two specific solutions are also presented as limiting cases of the solution. Also provided are some numerical results and the related observations to show quantitatively applications of the solution.
Brain imaging in urea cycle disorders

Urea cycle disorders (UCD) represent a group of rare inborn errors of metabolism that carry a high risk of mortality and neurological morbidity resulting from the effects of accumulation of ammonia and other biochemical intermediates. These disorders result from single gene defects involved in the detoxification pathway of ammonia to urea. UCD include deficiencies in any of the six enzymes and two membrane transporters involved in urea biosynthesis. It has previously been reported that approximately half of infants who present with hyperammonemic coma in the newborn period die of cerebral edema; and those who survive 3days or more of coma invariably have intellectual disability [1]. In children with partial defects there is an association between the number and severity of recurrent hyperammonemic (HA) episodes (i.e. with or without coma) and subsequent cognitive and neurologic deficits [2]. However, the effects of milder or subclinical HA episodes on the brain are largely unknown. This review discusses the results of neuroimaging studies performed as part of the NIH funded Rare Diseases Clinical Research Center in Urea Cycle Disorders and focuses on biomarkers of brain injury in ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD). We used anatomic imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI), and (1)H/(13)C magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to study clinically stable adults with partial OTCD. This allowed us to determine alterations in brain biochemistry associated with changes in cell volume and osmolarity and permitted us to identify brain biomarkers of HA. We found that white matter tracts underlying specific pathways involved in working memory and executive function are altered in subjects with OTCD (as measured by DTI), including those heterozygous women who were previously considered asymptomatic. An understanding of the pathogenesis of brain injury in UCD is likely to advance our knowledge of more common disorders of liver dysfunction.
IL-35 production by inducible costimulator (ICOS)–positive regulatory T cells reverses established IL-17–dependent allergic airways disease

Background Recent evidence suggests that IL-17 contributes to airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR); however, the mechanisms that suppress the production of this cytokine remain poorly defined. Objective We sought to identify the regulatory cells and molecules that suppress IL-17–dependent allergic airways disease. Methods Mice were sensitized by means of airway instillations of ovalbumin together with low levels of LPS. Leukocyte recruitment to the lung and AHR were assessed after daily challenges with aerosolized ovalbumin. Flow cytometry, quantitative PCR, and gene-targeted mice were used to identify naturally arising subsets of regulatory T (Treg) cells and their cytokines required for the suppression of established allergic airway disease. Results Allergic sensitization through the airway primed both effector and regulatory responses. Effector responses were initially dominant and led to airway inflammation and IL-17–dependent AHR. However, after multiple daily allergen challenges, IL-17 production and AHR decreased, even though pulmonary levels of T H 17 cells remained high. This loss of AHR was reversible and required the expansion of a Treg cell subset expressing both forkhead box protein 3 and inducible costimulator. These Treg cells also expressed the regulatory cytokines IL-10, TGF-β, and IL-35. Whereas IL-10 and TGF-β were dispensable for suppression of AHR, IL-35 was required. Conclusion IL-35 production by inducible costimulator–positive Treg cells can suppress IL-17 production and thereby reverse established, IL-17–dependent AHR in mice. Targeting this pathway might therefore be of therapeutic value for treating allergic asthma in human subjects.
Effects of transition metals on the grain boundary cohesion in tungsten

The cohesion effect of transition metals on W grain boundaries (GBs) was studied via first-principles calculations. Systematic d-band filling for a given atomic environment results in trends of cleavage energy as a function of the solute’s electronic valence across different GB sites. Various solutes were found to strengthen the GB. Furthermore, lower- and higher-valence elements enhance cohesion at different positions. This suggests that employing both lower-valence (Hf, Ta, Nb) and higher-valence solutes (Re, Os, Ru) may further increase intergranular cohesion.
Administration of antenatal glucocorticoids prevents pulmonary artery structural changes in nitrofen-induced congenital diaphragmatic hernia in rats☆

Abstract Background/Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether maternal administration of dexamethasone has any effect on pulmonary vasculature in nitrofen-induced experimental congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) in a rat model. Methods : A CDH model was induced in pregnant rats after administration of 100 mg nitrofen on day 9.5 of gestation. Antenatal dexamethasone, 0.25 mg/kg was given intraperitoneally on day 18.5 and 19.5 of gestation. The fetuses were divided into three groups: group I (n = 10), normal controls; group II (n = 10), nitrofen-induced CDH; group III (n = 10), nitrofen-induced CDH with maternal antenatal dexamethasone treatment. The fetuses were killed by cesarean section at term. Victorian blue van Gieson staining and immunostaining with antialpha smooth muscle actin (ASMA) were performed on lung tissue. The degree of adventitial thickness and area, and medial thickness and area were measured in pulmonary arteries by image analyzer and analyzed statistically. Results : There was a significant increase in adventitial thickness and area in group II compared with group I and III ( P P Conclusion : This study demonstrates that antenatal maternal dexamethasone treatment prevents pulmonary artery structural changes in nitrofen-induced CDH in rats.
Constitutive Attachment of Murine Erythroleukemia Cell Histone-Depleted DNA Loops to Nuclear Scaffolding Is Found in the β-Major but Not the α1-Globin Gene

ABSTRACT We have identified a region of the β-globin gene that is attached constitutively to histone-depleted murine erythroleukemia cell nuclei. This region spans 800 bp and is located at −300 to ...
Carbon and nitrogen dynamics along the decay continuum: Plant litter to soil organic matter

Decay processes in an ecosystem can be thought of as a continuum beginning with the input of plant litter and leading to the formation of soil organic matter. As an example of this continuum, we review a 77-month study of the decay of red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) needle litter. We tracked the changes in C chemistry and the N pool in red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) needle litter during the 77-month period using standard chemical techniques and stable isotope analyses of C and N.
Deficient Geranylgeranylation of Ram/Rab27 in Choroideremia

Choroideremia, an X-linked form of retinal degeneration, results from defects in the Rab escort protein-1 (REP-1) gene. REP-1 and REP-2 assist in the attachment of geranylgeranyl groups to Rab GTPases, a modification essential for their action as molecular switches regulating intracellular vesicular transport. If Rabs that depend preferentially on REP-1 for prenylation exist, they will accumulate unprenylated in choroideremia cells. Using recombinant Rab geranylgeranyl transferase and REPs to label unprenylated cytosolic proteins, we identified one unprenylated protein in choroideremia lymphoblasts that was prenylated in vitro more efficiently by REP-1 than by REP-2. This protein was purified and identified as Ram (renamed Rab27), a previously cloned Rab of unknown function. Immunohistochemistry of rat retina showed that Ram/Rab27 is expressed in the pigment epithelium and choriocapillaris, the two retinal cell layers that degenerate earliest in choroideremia. These results raise the possibility that the retinal degeneration in choroideremia results from the deficient geranylgeranylation of Ram/Rab27 or a closely related protein.
Histamine sensitivity and anaphylaxis in the pertussis-vaccinated rat.

SummaryInoculation of the white rat with Hemophilus pertussis increases its sensitivity to histamine. Pertussis mixed with horse serum markedly enhances the ability of the antigen to produce anaphylactic sensitivity.
Embedding continuations in procedural objects

Continuations, when available as first-class objects, provide a general control abstraction in programming languages. They liberate the programmer from specific control structures, increasing programming language extensibility. Such continuations may be extended by embedding them in procedural objects. This technique is first used to restore a fluid environment when a continuation object is invoked. We then consider techniques for constraining the power of continuations in the interest of security and efficiency. Domain mechanisms, which create dynamic barriers for enclosing control, are implemented using fluids. Domains are then used to implement an unwind-protect facility in the presence of first-class continuations. Finally, we present two mechanisms, wind-unwind and dynamic-wind, that generalize unwind-protect.
Global spacetime symmetries in the functional Schrödinger picture.

In the conventional functional Schr\"odinger quantization of field theory, the background spacetime manifold is foliated into a set of three-surfaces and the quantum state of the field is represented by a wave functional of the field configurations on each three-surface. Although this procedure may be covariantly described, the wave functionals generally fail to carry a representation of the complete spacetime symmetry group of the background, such as the Poincar\'e group in Minkowski spacetime, because spacetime symmetries generally involve distortions or motions of the three-surfaces themselves within that spacetime. In this paper, we show that global spacetime symmetries in the functional Schr\"odinger picture may be represented by parametrizing the field theory---raising to the status of dynamical variables the embedding variables describing the spacetime location of each three-surface. In particular, we show that the embedding variables provide a connection between the purely geometrical operation of an isometry group on the spacetime and the operation of the usual global symmetry generators (constructed from the energy-momentum tensor) on the wave functionals of the theory. We study the path-integral representation of the wave functionals of the parametrized field theory. We show how to construct, from the path integral, wave functionals that are annihilated by the global symmetry generators, i.e., that are invariant under global spacetime symmetry groups. The invariance of the class of histories summed over in the path integral is identified as the source of the invariance of the wave functionals. We apply this understanding to a study of vacuum states in the de Sitter spacetime. We make mathematically precise a previously given heuristic argument for the de Sitter invariance of the matter wave functionals defined by the no-boundary proposal of Hartle and Hawking. The treatment is largely formal, but a brief discussion of anomalies is given.
Signaling molecules and pathways regulating the fate of spermatogonial stem cells

Spermatogenesis is the process that involves the division and differentiation of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) into mature spermatozoa. SSCs are a subpopulation of type A spermatogonia resting on the basement membrane in the mammalian testis. Self-renewal and differentiation of SSCs are the foundation of normal spermatogenesis, and thus a better understanding of molecular mechanisms and signaling pathways in the SSCs is of paramount importance for the regulation of spermatogenesis and may eventually lead to novel targets for male contraception as well as for gene therapy of male infertility and testicular cancer. Uncovering the molecular mechanisms is also of great interest to a better understanding of SSC aging and for developing novel therapeutic strategies for degenerative diseases in view of the recent work demonstrating the pluripotent potential of the SSC. Progress has recently been made in elucidating the signaling molecules and pathways that determine cell fate decisions of SSCs. In this review, we first address the morphological features, phenotypic characteristics, and the potential of SSCs. And then we focus on the recent advances in defining the key signaling molecules and crucial signaling pathways regulating self-renewal and differentiation of SSCs. The association of aberrant expression of signaling molecules and cascades with abnormal spermatogenesis and testicular cancer are also discussed. Finally we point out potential future directions to pursue in research on signaling pathways of SSCs.