cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Study of effect of water vapor and mechanical strain on thermal conductivity of zinc oxide using the ReaxFF reactive force field

Abstract We present a study of the effect of strain on the thermal conductivity of the zinc oxide using ReaxFF reactive force field. Effect of water vapor on failure stress of zinc oxide has also been carried out. Force fields for zinc oxide and water have already been developed by Raymand et al. [1] , [2] , [3] . The thermal conductivity calculations were carried out using the Transient Non-Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics (T-NEMD) described by Bharathi and van Duin [4] . For a zinc oxide nanowire, the effect of different values of mechanical strain – 0%, 2%, 6% and 10% (in the absence of water) on thermal conductivity is studied. No significant change in thermal conductivity is observed as the nanowire is stretched up to 6% strain (∼5 W/m K) and is in good agreement with the results presented by Kulkarni and Zhou (Average value ∼5.5 W/m K) [6] . The conductivity drops by 30% when the wire is stretched to 10% of its length. However, in contrast to the observations by Kulkarni et al. [7] , no phase change is observed in our simulations. The effect of water vapor (system density – 1.04, 1.09, 1.18 and 1.24 kg/m3) on the failure stress of zinc oxide nanowire is evaluated. The studies on effect water vapor on failure indicate that the failure stress drops from 14.25 GPa in the absence of water vapor to 12.0 GPa (−15.8%) for water vapor density of 1.24 kg/m3. Significant hysteresis is observed with increasing water vapor density. As a practical application of T-NEMD, results from work on the sintering of zinc oxide nanoparticles in water vapor are reported.
Outcome disparities in African American women with triple negative breast cancer: a comparison of epidemiological and molecular factors between African American and Caucasian women with triple negative breast cancer

Although diagnosed less often, breast cancer in African American women (AAW) displays different characteristics compared to breast cancer in Caucasian women (CW), including earlier onset, less favorable clinical outcome, and an aggressive tumor phenotype. These disparities may be attributed to differences in socioeconomic factors such as access to health care, lifestyle, including increased frequency of obesity in AAW, and tumor biology, especially the higher frequency of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in young AAW. Improved understanding of the etiology and molecular characteristics of TNBC in AAW is critical to determining whether and how TNBC contributes to survival disparities in AAW. Demographic, pathological and survival data from AAW (n = 62) and CW (n = 98) with TNBC were analyzed using chi-square analysis, Student’s t-tests, and log-rank tests. Frozen tumor specimens were available from 57 of the TNBC patients (n = 23 AAW; n = 34 CW); RNA was isolated after laser microdissection of tumor cells and was hybridized to HG U133A 2.0 microarrays. Data were analyzed using ANOVA with FDR 2-fold difference defining significance. The frequency of TNBC compared to all BC was significantly higher in AAW (28%) compared to CW (12%), however, significant survival and pathological differences were not detected between populations. Gene expression analysis revealed the tumors were more similar than different at the molecular level, with only CRYBB2P1, a pseudogene, differentially expressed between populations. Among demographic characteristics, AAW consumed significantly lower amounts of caffeine and alcohol, were less likely to breastfeed and more likely to be obese. These data suggest that TNBC in AAW is not a unique disease compared to TNBC in CW. Rather, higher frequency of TNBC in AAW may, in part, be attributable to the effects of lifestyle choices. Because these risk factors are modifiable, they provide new opportunities for the development of risk reduction strategies that may decrease mortality by preventing the development of TNBC in AAW.
Absence of P-Selectin, but Not Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1, Attenuates Neointimal Growth After Arterial Injury in Apolipoprotein E–Deficient Mice

Background—We tested the hypothesis that apolipoprotein (apo)E-deficient (apoE−/−) mice with targeted disruption of the intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) or P-selectin gene (apoE−/− ICAM-1−/− or apoE−/− P-selectin−/− mice, respectively) are protected from neointima formation after arterial injury through inhibition of monocyte trafficking to sites of endothelial denudation. Methods and Results—ApoE−/−, apoE−/− ICAM-1−/−, or apoE−/− P-selectin−/− mice were fed an atherogenic Western diet for 5 weeks and underwent wire denudation of the left common carotid artery after 1 week of feeding. The absence of P-selectin in apoE−/− mice inhibited neointima formation by 94% (P<0.0001) after arterial injury and reduced the intima-to-media ratio compared with the presence of P-selectin in apoE−/− mice. ICAM-1 deficiency did not protect against plaque formation after injury. Large numbers of macrophages were found in the neointima and media of apoE−/− and apoE−/− ICAM-1−/− mice. In contrast, almost no macropha...
Intimate Partner Violence Among Hispanics: A Review of the Literature

This paper analyzed the existing literature on risk and protective factors for intimate partner violence among Hispanics using the four-level social-ecological model of prevention. Three popular search engines, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Google Scholar, were reviewed for original research articles published since the year 2000 that specifically examined factors associated with intimate partner violence (IPV) among Hispanics. Factors related to perpetration and victimization for both males and females were reviewed. Conflicting findings related to IPV risk and protective factors were noted; however, there were some key factors consistently shown to be related to violence in intimate relationships that can be targeted through prevention efforts. Future implications for ecologically-informed research, practice, and policy are discussed.
Transfusion medicine: looking to the future

Summary The evolution of transfusion medicine into a clinically oriented discipline emphasising patient care has been accompanied by challenges that need to be faced as specialists look to the future. Emerging issues that affect blood safety and blood supply, such as pathogen inactivation and more stringent donor screening questions, bring new pressures on the availability of an affordable blood supply. Imminent alternatives for management of anaemia, such as oxygen carriers, hold great promise but, if available, will require close oversight. With current estimates of HIV or hepatitis C viral (HCV) transmission approaching one in 2 000 000 units transfused, keeping to a minimum bacterial contamination of platelet products (one in 2000) and errors in transfusion, with its estimated one in 800 000 mortality rate, assume great urgency. Finally, serious difficulties in blood safety and availability for poor, developing countries require innovative strategies and commitment of resources.
Quits, Recission of Quits, and Constructive Discharge in Arbitration

This article explores the arbitral criteria involved in cases when grievants quit or appear to quit their jobs, and then change their minds. It looks at factors that arbitrators take into account in determining when a voluntary resignation has taken place. The principles or guidelines for rescinding a quit are also reviewed. When a quit is forced by some action of the employer, arbitrators generally consider this situation to constitute a “constructive discharge,” and if such a finding is made, will review the discharge to determine whether it meets just cause standards.
Power spectral Density (PSD) technique in damage detection

A damage detection method was implemented for a simply supported beam structure. The analytical model was compared to experimental results. The theoretical model was obtained from an energy formulation of the problem using the Rayleigh-Ritz method to obtain the equation of motion. Matrices were composed in a State Space model to reproduce the input-output system between actuator and sensor. The damage was modeled with material property variations in a small section of the beam. The experimental set up consisted of an aluminum beam with damage introduced by adding different weights in various locations. Two piezoelectric patches were used to provide the dynamical excitation and output the response. The dynamic changes were investigated and compared with theoretical predictions with good agreement obtained. The Power Spectral Density (PSD) approach was used to obtain information related to the size of damage. The analysis resulted independent of damage location.
Taxonomic relationships among strains of Clostridium acetobutylicum and other phenotypically similar organisms

Abstract Most of the presently studied acetone-butanol (solvent)-producing bacteria are labelled as Clostridium acetobutylicum . This situation contrasts what was experienced by investigators of the 1940s who faced a plurality of names for solvent-producing bacteria. Significant phenotypic differences, however, exist among the presently studied strains of C. acetobutylicum , which raised the question of whether or not these organisms can truly be considered as members of one species. Furthermore, two cultures (ATCC 824 and NCIMB 8052) that are thought to be equivalent in serving as the type strain of C. acetobutylicum have significantly different properties. To assess the relatedness of these bacteria as members of a species, a comparison of similarity of their genomic DNA is most effective. DNAs from cultures of clostridia labelled as C. acetobutylicum , ‘ C. butylicum ’, and C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum from several collections have been compared with DNAs from reference strains, including the type strain of C. acetobutylicum and C. beijerinckii . Based on DNA reassociation, which measures sequence similarities, four distinct groups or species (with inter-group similarities below 30%) were identified: (i) those having > 80% DNA sequence similarity with the type strain of C. acetobutylicum ; (ii) those, including NCIMB 8052, having > 70% DNA sequence similarity with the type strain of C. beijerinckii ; (iii) two cultures (NRRL B643 and NCP 262) having 94% similarity between them; and (iv) C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum . Identification of four species from these solvent-producing clostridia explains the discrepancies reported by different laboratories, and classification of these bacteria on the basis of their genomic relatedness should facilitate future genetic experiments. It is noteworthy that after the carbon source was switched from starch (corn mash) to sugars (molasses), the industrial solvent fermentation indeed utilized organisms (represented by groups 2, 3, and 4) genetically distinct from C. acetobutylicum .
California Coast Range Tectonics in Light of Geophysical Constraints: A Tribute to Ben Page

The central and southern Coast Ranges, extending from the San Francisco Bay area 400 km southeastward to the Transverse Ranges, form part of a wide, soft plate boundary between the Pacific plate and the Sierra Nevada subplate, a boundary that was inherited from the Mesozoic Franciscan subduction prism. Cutting diagonally through the Coast Ranges from their west side on the north to their east side on the south, the San Andreas strike-slip fault system accommodates more than 90% of the relative plate motion; the remaining small component, convergence normal to the fault, produced Miocene—present intense folding, reverse faulting, and, finally, the present ranges. A representative crustal cross section at the latitude of San Francisco Bay displays these structures along with the geophysical evidence. Structures now juxtaposed across the San Andreas system were transported through restricting and releasing bends in the complex fault system, but regionally the central and southern Coast Ranges exhibit areal c...
Performing the bridal body in fifteenth-century Florence

Culture constructs stages for the performance of the body. One of the ways in which those stages are erected is though somatic ornamentation. This essay focuses on the extraordinarily expensive and elaborate jewels bestowed upon brides in fifteenth-century Florence. Adducing family record books, sumptuary legislation, as well as religious and secular symbolic attitudes toward body decoration, this study documents how jewels functioned in the economic and symbolic exchanges then constituting marriage. Moreover, it links the jewels to those seen in a broad variety of visual arts. Seen not only as supplemental decoration, marital jewels are construed as beacons defining the limits of the performed bridal body.
2012 AAPS National Biotech Conference Open Forum: A Perspective on the Current State of Immunogenicity Prediction and Risk Management

The immunogenicity profile of a biotherapeutic is determined by multiple product-, process- or manufacturing-, patient- and treatment-related factors and the bioanalytical methodology used to monitor for immunogenicity. This creates a complex situation that limits direct correlation of individual factors to observed immunogenicity rates. Therefore, mechanistic understanding of how these factors individually or in concert could influence the overall incidence and clinical risk of immunogenicity is crucial to provide the best benefit/risk profile for a given biotherapeutic in a given indication and to inform risk mitigation strategies. Advances in the field of immunogenicity have included development of best practices for monitoring anti-drug antibody development, categorization of risk factors contributing to immunogenicity, development of predictive tools, and development of effective strategies for risk management and mitigation. Thus, the opportunity to ask "where we are now and where we would like to go from here?" was the main driver for organizing an Open Forum on Improving Immunogenicity Risk Prediction and Management, conducted at the 2012 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference in San Diego. The main objectives of the Forum include the following: to understand the nature of immunogenicity risk factors, to identify analytical tools used and animal models and management strategies needed to improve their predictive value, and finally to identify collaboration opportunities to improve the reliability of risk prediction, mitigation, and management. This meeting report provides the Forum participant's and author's perspectives on the barriers to advancing this field and recommendations for overcoming these barriers through collaborative efforts.
Spatial updating of targets in front and behind

This research compared the accuracy of spatial updating of targets in front with that of targets behind. The participant viewed a target on the ground several meters away and then, without vision, sidestepped along a guide rope while trying to mentally update the location of the target. On some trials, the target location was in front as the person sidestepped and, on other trials, the target location was behind. Participants responded by facing the updated target location with eyes closed. The results indicate that people are able to update target locations behind them very nearly as well as target locations in front.
Community development among toxic tailings: An interactional case study of extralocal institutions and environmental health

Using Monticello, Utah, as our case study, we apply interactional field theory to an understudied area – the impact of extralocal institutions on community development related to environmental health issues. While the role of external forces in community development efforts is acknowledged in the interactional field theory literature (e.g. Brennan, M., & Luloff, A., (2007). Exploring rural community agency differences in Ireland and Pennsylvania. Journal of Rural Studies, 23(1), 52–61; Korsching, P., Sapp, S., & El-Ghamrini, S. (2003). Rural telephone company adoption of service innovations: A community field theory approach. Rural Sociology, 68(3), 387–409), there is minimal analysis of what happens to community development when encountering these forces. Therefore, we explore what can occur when collective community action related to local toxics and community-wide illness collides with an extralocal federal agency. To accomplish this, we analyze both in-depth interview data and archival data sources. D...
Regulation of slow calcium channels of myocardial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells by cyclic nucleotides and phosphorylation.

The slow Ca2+ channels (L-type) of the heart are stimulated by cAMP. Elevation of cAMP produces a very rapid increase in number of slow channels available for voltage activation during excitation. The probability of a Ca2+ channel opening and the mean open time of the channel are increased. Therefore, any agent that increases the cAMP level of the myocardial cell will tend to potentiate ICa, Ca2+ influx, and contraction. The action of cAMP is mediated by PK-A and phosphorylation of the slow Ca2+ channel protein or an associated regulatory protein (stimulatory type). The myocardial slow Ca2+ channels are also rogulated by cGMP, in a manner that is opposite orantagonistic to that of cAMP. We have demonstrated this at both the macroscople level (whole-cell voltage clamp) and the single-channel level. The effect of cGMP is mediated by PK-G and phosphorylation of a protein, as for example, a regulatory protein (inhibitory-type) associated with the Ca2+ channel. Introduction of PK-G intracellularly causes a relatively rapid inhibition of ICa(L) in both chick and rat heart cells. Such inhibition occurs for both the basal and stimulated ICa(L). In addition, the cGMP/PK-G system was reported to stimulate a phosphatase that dephosphorylates the Ca2+ channel. In addition to the slower indirect pathway—exerted via cAMP/PK-A—there is a faster more-direct pathway for ICa(L) stimulation by the β-adrenergic receptor. This latter pathway involves direct modulation of the channel activity by the alpha subunit (αs*) of the Gs-protein. In vascular smooth muscle cells the two pathways (direct and indirect) also appear to be present, although the indirect pathway producesinhibition of ICa(L). PK-C and calmodulin-PK also may play roles in regulation of the myocardial slow Ca2+ channels. Both of these protein kinases stimulate the activity of these channels. Thus, it appears that the slow Ca2+ channel is a complex structure, including perhaps several associated regulatory proteins, which can be regulated by a number of factors intrinsic and extrinsic to the cell, and thereby control can be exercised over the force of contraction of the heart.
Examples of technological trend forecasting for research and development planning

Abstract The research reported here was directed at evaluating existing means of technological forecasting and obtaining improved methods. This report presents the results of fitting appropriate trend curves to several sets of data on technologies of interest to the Air Force. These trends, when projected, represent technological forecasts. The likelihood of continuation or change of the trend is discussed in each case, with implications for R&D (research and development) planning. These forecasts are considered of possible interest as examples of applied forecasting techniques.
A light-activated GTPase from octopus photoreceptors

Abstract A light activatable GTPase has been found in octopus photoreceptor outer segments. The ATPase activity found in these samples is not influenced by light. Light activation of the GTPase seems to be maximal at 400 mM KCl, 0.5 μM GTP, pH 8.0. The light activated GTPase differs from the bovine GTPase of rod outer segment membranes in that it does not dissociate from the photoreceptor's membrane under conditions which dissociate the bovine enzyme.
Gene targeting in mammalian cells by homologous recombination

Gene targeting by homologous recombination is a genetic tool that permits modification of cellular genes in a precise and predetermined fashion. The methodologies that are currently available permit gene targeting at high efficiency and fidelity. New developments promise large-scale modification of the mammalian genome using these techniques.
Villous tumor of rectum and a portion of the sigmoid flexure causing severe electrolyte imbalance.

Some features of villous tumors of the colon and rectum have been reviewed briefly and a case of a large benign villous tumor of the rectum and a part of the sigmoid flexure with severe electrolyte imbalance has been discussed. Probably one similar case has been reported previously.
Make good choices, kid: biopolitics of children's bodies and school lunch reform in Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

In recent debates surrounding childhood nutrition and US school lunch reforms, the child's body serves as a contested battleground in a destructive politics of blame over obesity and diabetes. Scalar discourses of the body play a significant role in constructing food-related problems and their solutions. We illustrate our claims through a critical analysis of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution; a celebrated national television program centered on chef Oliver's attempts to address childhood nutrition through school lunch reform. Informed by Foucault's biopolitics, our analysis highlights how moralizing scalar discourses of the body frames nutrition as an individual problem of personal choice. Food politics, when played out at the scale of young bodies, masks class divisions, marginalities, and governmental policies that structure access to nutritious food in the US school lunch system. Increased attention to biopower, scalar politics, and the political economy of childhood nutrition in the space of US public s...
Neurogene Therapy for the 21st Century

Clinical descriptions of a spate of hereditary neurological conditions, including Tay-Sachs disease, Gaucher disease, Fabry disease, and Niemann-Pick disease, appeared in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The accumulating toxic sphingolipids in Gaucher disease and Niemann-Pick disease were identified in the 1930s and those in Tay-Sachs disease and Fabry disease in early 1960s. Specific enzymatic abnormalities were elucidated in each of these conditions between 1965 and 1969. 1-6 Diagnostic tests based on assaying the respective enzymes were developed using white blood cells, cultured skin fibroblasts, and serum. These assays also provided for the identification of the majority of the carriers of these disorders. Prenatal detection of each of these conditions was established in the early 1970s. 7-9 Genetic counseling for Tay-Sachs disease has reduced the number of cases by approximately 90%. Soon after the metabolic defects were elucidated in Gaucher disease and Niemann-Pick disease, consideration was given to enzyme replacement therapy. 10 In the early 1970s, single infusions of several of the required enzymes revealed reductions of the accumulating lipids in the blood and in the liver. 11-13 No clinical improvement was apparent, and none of these enzymes reached the brain. In the late 1980s, large quantities of purified glucocerebrosidase, the enzyme that is lacking in Gaucher disease, became available. By modifying the glycoform of this enzyme, it was effectively targeted to lipidstoring macrophages. Enzyme replacement with this preparation has brought great benefit to thousands of patients with type 1 Gaucher disease 14 and some help to patients with type 3 (chronic neuronopathic) Gaucher disease. 15 The central nervous system manifestations in patients with type 2 (acute neuronopathic) Gaucher disease have not responded to intravenously administered glucocerebrosidase. Therefore, my colleagues and I 16 developed a technique for the intracerebral administration of this enzyme. If this strategy proves effective, it will be explored in a number of hereditary disorders that involve the central nervous system. Reliable methods will appear in the 21st century to deliver therapeutic enzymes to the central and peripheral nervous systems. Many hereditary neurological disorders will be treated effectively. The effectiveness in gene and neuronal stem cell therapy trials that were initiated in the late 1990s will be greatly improved. One can confidently anticipate that complete cures for many neurogenetic disorders will be developed in the next century.
Emotion Profiles in the Dreams of Men and Women

Abstract We have investigated the emotional profile of dreams and the relationship between dream emotion and cognition using a form that specifically asked subjects to identify emotions within their dreams. Two hundred dream reports were collected from 20 subjects, each of whom produced 10 reports. Compared to previous studies, our method yielded a 10-fold increase in the amount of emotion reported. Anxiety/fear was reported most frequently, followed, in order, by joy/elation, anger, sadness, shame/guilt, and, least frequently, affection/eroticism. Unexpectedly, there was no significant difference in the profiles of emotion reported by men and women. When the reports were scored for bizarreness, a significant correlation was found between the occurrence of bizarreness and major shifts in emotion. These results support the conclusion that dreaming is a mental state whose general emotional features are widely shared across individuals and strongly linked to cognitive features within individual dreams.
Policy implications of drug importation.

Abstract Background: Importation of prescription drugs into the United States has been a major health policy issue for some time. The original objective of personal importation was to allow patients to have access to drugs that were not available to them in the United States either for continuation of therapy begun in another country or when all US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drug options for their condition had been exhausted. An increasing proportion of personally imported drugs are currently marketed in the United States, but imported drugs are presumably available at a lower cost to the consumer. As US consumers opt for importation through Internet sites and other means of purchase from other countries, potential risks of exposure to counterfeit products have increased, presenting challenges to both the US regulatory system and pharmaceutical companies. Objective: This commentary summarizes the current state of importation of prescription drugs into the United States. Conclusions: Regulators and policymakers are under increasing pressure to address the high cost of branded drugs in the United States and the desires of many US patients to purchase less expensive formulations of these products through importation. In many cases, the historical policies surrounding personal importation of prescription drugs that are not sold in the United States have been blatantly ignored, leaving the FDA in a quandary. While current legislative proposals would allow for greater access to drugs directly to consumers from other countries, they do not address the fact that the FDA has no ability to monitor the safety and efficacy of imported products. As such, the possibility of the entry of counterfeit medications and the related potential harm remain concerns.
Multiband extensions of the electrically small, near-field resonant parasitic Z antenna

Variations of the electrically small, resonant near-field parasitic Z antenna are investigated. By introducing multiple near-field resonant parasitic elements, multiband systems are developed. Simulations reveal how the couplings between these multiple parasitic elements impact their individual internal matching networks and radiation mechanisms. The impact of each configuration on its potential fabrication is taken into account. Dual-band designs are reported that achieve operation at the satellite communication frequency, 430 MHz, at the global positioning satellite (GPS) L1 frequency (1575.42 MHz) and at the GPS L1 and L2 (1227.60 MHz) frequencies. A quad-band design that operates at 430 MHz and at all of the GPS L1, L2 and L5 (1174.45 MHz) frequencies is also reported. The simulated performance characteristics of each design, including their level of matching to a 50 Ω source, their radiation efficiencies, their bandwidths and their radiation patterns are given.
Emotion word use in the conversational speech of schizophrenia patients.

Introduction. Many recent studies have found that, although schizophrenia patients tend to display diminished facial expressions of emotion, they report levels of emotional experiences that are similar to those of controls. Although these findings are very informative, it is unknown whether such dissociation exits for other modalities such as verbal expression of emotion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between the use of emotion words during a free speech task and subjective experience of emotion in schizophrenia patients and controls. Methods. Speech samples of 48 schizophrenia patients and 48 nonpsychiatric control individuals were compared on the type and amount of emotional words used, as well as on the level of self-reported stress experienced while providing descriptions of themselves. Results. Groups did not differ in the amount or type of emotion words uttered during the free speech task. Patients, however, found the task more stressful than controls. Emotion word use...
The palaeomagnetism of some Upper Cretaceous kimberlite occurrences in South Africa

Abstract Palaeomagnetic results are reported from the De Beers, DuToitspan and Wesselton kimberlite pipes ( 86 ± 3Ma ) at Kimberley and from the Finsch and Koffyfontein pipes. The latter are both less than 150 km from Kimberley and although undated are geologically correlated with the Kimberley pipes. Eighty blocks, oriented without recourse to magnetic methods, have been collected from the five pipes. The samples comprise kimberlite, accidental inclusions of widely varying lithologies and wall rock thus enabling inclusion and baked contact tests to be performed. Extensive alternating field and thermal demagnetization experiments show that the magnetization of the kimberlite is primary. Secular variation is not averaged out in any one pipe (with the possible exception of Finsch) and it is suggested the three Kimberley pipes were emplaced simultaneously. The mean pole position of the five pipes (57.2°E, 58.2°S with K = 25.8 and A 95 = 15.3° ) is believed to be a good estimate of the palaeomagnetic pole 86 ± 3Ma ago. It is now possible to state that the African Mesozoic palaeomagnetic pole remained essentially in the same position until at least 86 ± 3Ma ago.
Induction of Gene Expression in Sheepshead Minnows (Cyprinodon variegatus) Treated with 17β-Estradiol, Diethylstilbestrol, or Ethinylestradiol: The Use of mRNA Fingerprints as an Indicator of Gene Regulation

Abstract The recent interest in hormonally active environmental contaminants has sparked a drive to find sensitive methods to measure their effects on wildlife. A molecular-based assay has been developed to measure the induction of gene expression in sheepshead minnows ( Cyprinodon variegatus ) exposed in vivo to the natural and pharmaceutical estrogens 17β-estradiol, ethinylestradiol, and diethylstilbestrol. This method used differential display reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction assays to compare the expression of individual mRNAs from control and estrogen-exposed fish. Forty-eight differentially expressed cDNAs were isolated by this method, including cDNAs for vitelline envelope proteins and vitellogenin. The mRNA expression patterns for fish injected with a pharmacological dose of estradiol (5 mg/kg) were identical to those obtained in fish receiving constant aqueous exposure to 212 ng estradiol/liter. Further, the cDNA “fingerprint” pattern observed in the estradiol-treated fish also matched that obtained in fish receiving continuous-flow aqueous exposures to 192 ng ethinyl estradiol/liter and a nominal concentration of 200 ng diethylstilbestrol/liter. The results demonstrate a characteristic expression pattern for genes upregulated by exposure to a variety of natural and anthropogenic estrogens and suggest this approach may be valuable to examine the potential effects of environmental contaminants on other endocrine-mediated pathways of reproduction, growth, and development.
Bioinhibition of human fibroblast cultures sensitized to Q-switch II dye and treated with the Nd: YAG laser: a new technique of photodynamic therapy with lasers.

Cette technique pourrait etre utilisee pour reduire les depots de collagene dans les cheloides et les cicatrices hypertrophiques
So You’ve Converged – Now What? The Convergence of Critique

Given the clear convergence of practices of nature across the traditional East-West divide examined in these essays, it is not surprising to learn that the consequences of the particular practice of nature characteristic of industrial capitalism also converged around similar problems such as deforestation, smog, and water pollution, all with their attendant ill effects on health and prosperity. If we look at the key period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the West and in Japan we also find a vast, shared reaction to and critique of the destructive aspect of the great convergence. Here I will focus on a particular instance of this global critical movement found in anarchism, specifically the thought and practice of Ishikawa Sanshirō (1876–1956). Influenced by Edward Carpenter and the Reclus brothers, Elisee and Paul, Ishikawa did not privilege the newly emerging industrial proletariat as the revolutionary subject as did fellow anarchists Ōsugi Sakae and Kōtoku Shūsui. Instead he stay...
Interior-exterior bodily awareness following poliomyelitis.

were asked "to name 20 parts of the body." All Ss were tested late in rhe first year following the onset of poliomyelitis. The paralyzed patients showed statistically fewer interior responses while the recovered patients showed significantly fewer exterior responses than control groups matched on 7 variables. All groups made many more exterior responses (81%) than interior responses. This has been reported by others and should be kept in mind when investigating bodily attention patterns. Patients stricken with poliomyelitis ("polio") are required to make major adaptive changes during the usually protracted convalescence after initial paralysis. The present study was undertaken to understand these changes by examining differences in "here and now" patterns of bodily attention in patients
Approximate solutions to a nonlinear diffusion equation

Approximate similarity solutions to the porous-medium equation, c1 = ∇ · (cm ∇ c), are obtained in one and two dimensions. The problems considered arise in the modelling of dopant diffusion in semiconductors, the two-dimentional problems corresponding to diffusion under a mask edge.
Isoform specific regulation of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor by O-linked glycosylation

The inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (InsP3R), an intracellular calcium channel, has three isoforms with >65% sequence homology, yet the isoforms differ in their function and regulation by post-translational modifications. We showed previously that InsP3R-1 is functionally modified by O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine glycosylation (O-GlcNAcylation) (Rengifo, J., Gibson, C. J., Winkler, E., Collin, T., and Ehrlich, B. E. (2007) J. Neurosci. 27, 13813–13821). We now report the effect of O-GlcNAcylation on InsP3R-2 and InsP3R-3. Analysis of AR4-2J cells, a rat pancreatoma cell line expressing predominantly InsP3R-2, showed no detectable O-GlcNAcylation of InsP3R-2 and no significant functional changes despite the presence of the enzymes for addition (O-β-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase) and removal (O-β-N-acetylglucosaminidase) of the monosaccharide. In contrast, InsP3R-3 in Mz-ChA-1 cells, a human cholangiocarcinoma cell line expressing predominantly InsP3R-3, was functionally modified by O-GlcNAcylation. Interestingly, the functional impact of O-GlcNAcylation on the InsP3R-3 channel was opposite the effect measured with InsP3R-1. Addition of O-GlcNAc by O-β-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase increased InsP3R-3 single channel open probability. Incubation of Mz-ChA-1 cells in hyperglycemic medium caused an increase in the InsP3-dependent calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum. The dynamic and inducible nature of O-GlcNAcylation and the InsP3R isoform specificity suggest that this form of modification of InsP3R and subsequent changes in intracellular calcium transients are important in physiological and pathophysiological processes.
Fairness at the Group Level: Justice Climate and Intraunit Justice Climate

Like many constructs within the managerial sciences, organizational justice has traditionally been conceptualized as an individual-level phenomenon. In recent years, this has begun to change, as a number of research studies have explored justice as a collective or group-level construct. The authors provide a review of this literature, historically tracing the growth of this research tradition, reviewing measurement issues, and discussing available research findings. The authors argue that there are at least two viable treatments of unit-level justice. Justice climate pertains to the manner in which a team is treated by outside agents, such as an authority figure. Intraunit justice climate pertains to the manner in which teammates treat one another. Although much more research is needed, evidence suggests that both justice climate and intraunit fairness are useful predictors of work attitudes and behavior.
Friction and wear behavior of thioether hydroxy vegetable oil

Abstract This work describes the tribochemical evaluation of vegetable oil based antiwear additive obtained through chemical modification. The Sulfur was incorporated using a chemical reaction of epoxidized vegetable oil and common thiols, resulting in formation of a hydroxy thioether derivative of vegetable oils. The synthesis retains the vegetable oil structure, eliminates poly-unsaturation in the molecule, and adds polar functional groups that significantly improve adsorption on metal surfaces. These additives are obtained by chemical modification of oils originated from natural resources. The tribochemical behavior of sulfur incorporated vegetable oil was studied by measuring friction coefficient using ball-on-disk configuration and wear scar diameter using four-ball configuration. Comparative tests with commercial antiwear additives demonstrate the effectiveness of these derivatives. The derivatives were found useful as agriculturally based antiwear additives for lubricant applications.
Hand Recognition Using Geometric Classifiers

We discuss the issues and challenges in the design of a hand outline based recognition system. Our system is easier to use, cheaper to build and more accurate than previous systems. Extensive tests on more than 700 images collected from 70 people are reported. Classification, verification and identification of the input images were done using two simple geometric classifiers. We describe a novel minimum enclosing ball classifier which performs well for hand recognition and could be of interest for other applications.
Experimental evidence for deeper interrogation inside cardiac tissue using transillumination and a fluorescence absorber

Limited optical interrogation depth prevents studies of arrhythmias in 3D tissue. Our experiments with single photon excitation and computer simulations with single and two-photon excitation show that the addition of a fluorescence absorber can modify the region of tissue interrogated with transillumination. Experiments were performed with a pair of 0.1 cm thick rabbit cardiac slices. The slices were excited with 488 nm single photon laser excitation while light from opposite side was collected for transillumination. One slice was stained with di-4-ANEPPS while the other was not. In different measurements, both slices were also stained with the red light absorbing dye, blue 1. In our models fluorescent photons were launched from specific regions of the tissue to mimic staining of different layers with di-4-ANEPPS. In additional simulations the fluorescence absorption coefficient was increased 3-fold. In our experiments with the di-4-ANEPPS slice facing away from the laser, measured light intensity was 68% of the value found with di-4-ANEPPS slice facing the laser while it was 21% in the model. This reduction in intensity from the deeper layer became less pronounced after addition of the red absorber. Then with di-4-ANEPPS slice facing away from the laser the measured light intensity was 81% of the value found with di-4-ANEPPS slice facing the laser in experiments while it was 34% in the model. This indicates deepening of the interrogated region by addition of red absorbing dye. In computer simulations using two-photon excitation at 1064 nm, increasing the fluorescence absorption further deepend the interrogated region compared with one photon excitation at 488 nm.
Above the weathering front: contrasting approaches to the study and classification of weathered mantle

Abstract Weathered mantle comprises the materials above bedrock and below the soil. It can vary in thickness from millimeters to hundreds of meters, depending primarily on climate and parent material. Study of the weathered mantle comes within the realms of four disciplines: geology, geomorphology, soil science, and civil engineering, each of which uses a different approach to describe and classify the material. The approaches of engineers, geomorphologists, and geologists are contrasted and compared using example papers from the published literature. Soil scientists rarely study the weathering profile as such, and instead concentrate upon soil-forming processes and spatial distribution primarily in the solum. Engineers, including engineering geologists, study the stability and durability of the weathered mantle and the strength of the materials using sophisticated procedures to classify weathered materials, but their approach tends to be one-dimensional. Furthermore, they believe that the study of mineralogy and chemistry is not useful. Geomorphologists deal with weathering in terms of process—how the weathered mantle is formed—and with respect to landform evolution using a spatial approach. Geologists tend to ignore the weathered mantle because it is not bedrock, or to study its mineralogy and/or chemistry in the laboratory. I recommend that the approaches of the various disciplines be integrated—geomorphologists and geologists should consider using engineering weathering classifications, and geologists should adopt a spatial perspective to weathering, as should engineers and engineering geologists.
Mindfulness, Nonattachment, and Suicide Rumination in College Students: The Mediating Role of Depressive Symptoms

This study examined the relations among mindfulness, nonattachment, depressive symptoms, and suicide rumination in undergraduate college students (N = 552). Hypothesized pathways and mediation were tested using path analysis. As hypothesized, depressive symptoms were negatively associated with both mindfulness and nonattachment; and suicide rumination was negatively related to mindfulness and nonattachment, and positively associated with depressive symptoms. Moreover, the mindfulness–suicide rumination and nonattachment–suicide rumination associations were both in part, mediated by depressive symptoms. Implications for the improved treatment of young adults at risk for depression and suicidal behaviors are discussed.
Protein kinase C-dependent phosphorylation and mitochondrial translocation of aldose reductase

Although aldose reductase (AR) is a critical participant in osmoregulation, and the metabolism of glucose and aldehydes derived from lipid peroxidation, post-translational mechanisms regulating its activity have not been identified. In this paper, we report that stimulation of protein kinase C (PKC) in several cell types induces phosphorylation of AR and translocation of the phosphorylated protein to the mitochondria. In vitro, recombinant AR was directly phosphorylated by activated PKC, suggesting that AR may be an in vivo PKC substrate. Together, these observations reveal a novel link between PKC activation and the regulation of glucose and aldehyde metabolism.
A generalized Laplace transform technique for phase-change problems

Analytical solutions of transient heat transfer problems involving melting or solidification are inherently difficult to obtain because of the nonlinearity associated with the moving boundary condition at the solid-liquid interface. A few exact solutions of phase-change problems are currently available (Ozisik, 1980; Carslaw and Jaeger, 1959). The mathematical approach used to achieve these solutions, however, is quite crude. Instead of solving the problem, a solution is assumed for the temperature profile. The assumed solution satisfies the governing differential equation, one of the boundary conditions and, in some cases, the initial condition as well. The assumed solution depends on the nature of the problem. It could be an error function or a complementary error function with coefficients to be determined by applying the remaining boundary condition. The interface condition is then applied to yield normally a transcendental equation, from which the transient interface location can be determined. The present note proposes a technique to extend the Laplace Transform method to obtain a closed-form solution for nonlinear phase-change problems. Solutions to a few problems are demonstrated to elucidate the essence of the technique.
Characterisation of systemic dissemination of nonreplicating adenoviral vectors from tumours in local gene delivery

Systemic virus dissemination is a potential problem during local gene delivery in solid tumours. However, the kinetics and pathways of the dissemination have not been well characterised during the first 24 h after the infusion is started. To this end, we infused adenoviral vectors for luciferase or enhanced green fluorescence protein into three different tumour models in mice. During and/or after the infusion, we determined the amount of adenoviruses in the tumour, blood, and liver, and examined the transgene expression in the liver, lung, blood, and tumour. In addition, we intravenously injected tumour cells expressing luciferase and examined the biodistribution of these cells in the body. We observed transgene expression in the liver and tumour at 24 h after the infusion, but could not detect transgene expression in the blood and lung. The peak concentration of viral vectors in the plasma occurred during the intratumoral infusion. At 10 min after the infusion, few viral vectors remained in the blood and the ratio of copy numbers of adenoviruses between liver and tumour was >2 in 80% and ⩾10 in 40% of the mice. Most tumour cells injected intravenously accumulated in the lung within the first 24 h. Taken together, these data indicated that systemic virus dissemination occurred mainly during the first 10 min after the intratumoral infusion was started, and that the dissemination was due to infusion-induced convective transport of viral vectors into leaky tumour microvessels.