cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alloxan-induced hyperglycemia in rabbits and the response of platelets to aggregating agents in vitro and to exposed subendothelium in vivo.

Abstract Many patients with diabetes mellitus show increased platelet aggregation and prostaglandin synthesis in response to physiological agents such as ADP and collagen when their platelets are tested in platelet-rich plasma or washed platelet suspensions. However, the relationship between increased platelet aggregation in vitro and increased thrombosis in vivo is difficult to establish with certainty. We have developed an in vivo model system in rabbits which tests the response of platelets in circulating native blood to an arterial vessel wall with limited damage such as might occur in arteries of patients with diabetes mellitus. We have used this model system to investigate whether 5 to 9 weeks of alloxan-induced hyperglycemia increases plate-let adhesion and aggregation on a damaged vessel wall in vivo as well as platelet aggregation in vitro. Our results show that rabbit plate-let function is not affected by extreme hyperglycemia and suggest that alloxan-induced diabetes in the rabbit may not be a good model for human diabetes mellitus.
Technical education transfer: perceptions of employee computer technology self-efficacy

This study investigated influences on employee self-efficacy of computer technologies resulting from computer training programs that were intended to meet individual and organization objectives for university personnel. Subsequent to training, an assessment of employee computer technology self-efficacy was necessary for determining self-efficacious duration and the usefulness of technical education. A descriptive survey design was used to gather data from a population of 2597 university employees. Results indicated employee computer technology self-efficacy levels remained stable for a 2.5-year period. In addition, select subscales of the variables previous classroom computer training and computer use required on the job predicted computer technology self-efficacy. Frequency of computer use, home computer use, and training responsibility were also noted to influence the transfer of training process as it pertains to computer technology self-efficacy. Interaction relationships were also discovered among certain disciplines of computer use and degree of computer use. Implications of the study are relevant to employee placement and workplace computer education needs.
Task Exception Handling in the VIEW Scientific Workflow System

Scientific workflows have been widely used by scientists to accelerate research experiments and achieve scientific discoveries. Due to the nature of science, scientific workflows often involve complex workflow design and distributed computation resources, so abnormal events are likely to happen and interrupt the normal execution of workflows. Restarting workflows is often too expensive and painful to do, especially for those long-running workflows. Thus, exception handling plays a significant role in the context of scientific workflows. In this paper, we present our ongoing work on exception handling in the VIEW scientific workflow management system.
Fuzzy vector median-based surface smoothing

We propose a novel approach for smoothing surfaces represented by triangular meshes. The proposed method is a two-step procedure: surface normal smoothing through fuzzy vector median (FVM) filtering followed by integration of surface normals for vertex position update based on the least square error (LSE) criteria. Median and order statistic-based filters are extensively used in signal processing, especially image processing, due to their ability to reject outliers and preserve features such as edges and monotonic regions. More recently, fuzzy ordering theory has been introduced to allow averaging among similarly valued samples. Fuzzy ordering theory leads naturally to the fuzzy median, which yields improved noise smoothing over traditional crisp median filters. We extend the fuzzy ordering concept to vector-based data and introduce the fuzzy vector median filter. The application of FVM filters to surface normal smoothing yields improved results over previously introduced normal smoothing algorithms. The improved filtering results, coupled with LSE vertex position update, produces surface smoothing that minimizes the effects of noise while simultaneously preserving detail features. The proposed method is simple to implement and relatively fast. Simulation results are presented showing the performance of the proposed method and its advantages over commonly used surface smoothing algorithms. Additionally, optimization procedures for FVM filters are derived and evaluated.
Forecasts of the 500 mb height using a dynamically oriented statistical model

The forecast skill of a simple dynamically inspired statistical model of the Northern Hemisphere 500 mb height field is evaluated in spectral and physical space for a variety of forecast lead times (1-32 days) and predictand averaging times (1-32 days). The model includes viscous damping, wave propagation, climatology and implicit stochastic forcing. The largest model skill was found for forecasts of the zonal flow and the largest waves. In general, the largest forecast skills were also associated with the largest forecast error, there being a slight geographic phase shift of the skill with respect to the error. Model skills for climate (time-averaged) forecasts are greater when using instantaneous rather than time averages to forecast time averages. Analysis of model errors suggests areas for improvement in representing forcing terms and model physics. However, the model error fields are largely 'white noise' which suggests that global forecast skills substantially larger than those obtained here are unlikely to be achieved by more sophisticated models.
Hydrodynamic hot-electron transport model with Monte Carlo-generated transport parameters

Abstract A unique hot-electron transport model suitable for studying submicron GaAs device structures is presented. The model is based on the semiclassical “hydrodynamic” conservation equations for the average electron density, momentum, and energy. The model includes electron relaxation times, momentum relaxation times, energy relaxation times, electron temperature tensors and heat flow vectors as a function of average electron energy for the Γ, X and L valleys of GaAs. The relaxation times represent rates of exchange of electrons between valleys and rates of loss of average momentum and average energy between and within the individual valleys. The electron temperature tensor and heat flow vector depend on the electron velocity distribution about the average electron velocity and ultimately affect transport when spatial variations in average velocity and average energy exist. Transport parameters are calculated using the Monte Carlo method and the ergodic principle applied directly to the integral definitions for the parameters. Therefore, the model includes nonequilibrium transport effects such as velocity overshoot and nonuniform average electron energy. The new model should prove instrumental in optimizing electron transport through submicron structures for high-speed device applications.
Petrology and geochemistry of the island of Sarigan in the Mariana arc; calc-alkaline volcanism in an oceanic setting

Isotopic studies of rocks from oceanic island arcs such as the Marianas indicate that little, if any, recycling of continental material (e.g. oceanic sediments) occurs in these arcs. Because oceanic arcs are on the average more mafic than the dominantly andesitic continental arcs, an important question is whether the andesites of continental arcs are produced by a fundamentally different (more complex?) mechanism than the lavas of oceanic arcs. An excellent opportunity for study of this question is provided by the island of Sarigan, in the Mariana active arc, on which calc-alkaline andesites (including hornblende-bearing types) are exposed along with more mafic lavas. Available isotope data suggest the Sarigan lavas (including the andesites) were derived from mantle material with little or no involvement of continental components. Ratios of incompatible elements suggest that most of the Sarigan lavas were derived from similar source materials. Absolute abundances of incompatible elements vary irregularly within the eruptive sequence and indicate at least 5 distinct magma batches are represented on Sarigan. Major element data obtained on the lavas and mineral phases in them, combined with modal mineral abundances, suggest that the calc-alkaline nature of the volcanic rocks on Sarigan results from the fractional crystallization of titanomagnetite in combination with other anhydrous phases. Amphibole, although present in some samples, is mainly a late-crystallizing phase and did not produce the calc-alkline characteristics of these lavas. Gabbroic samples found in the volcanic sequence have mineralogc and geochemical characteristics that would be expected of residual solids produced during fractional crystallization of the Sarigan lavas. When combined, data on the lavas and the gabbros suggest the following crystallization sequence: olivine — plagioclase — clinopyroxene — titanomagnetite — orthopyroxene±hornblende, biotite and accessory phases. These results lead to the conclusion that calc-alkaline magmas can be generated directly from mantle sources.
Methadone induced Torsades de Pointes mimicking seizures in clinical presentation.

Torsades de Pointes (TdP) has been associated with high dose methadone use. This usually presents clinically with palpitations, dizziness and syncope. We report a case of methadone-induced TdP with...
A randomized secondary treatment study of women with bulimia nervosa who fail to respond to CBT.

Objective Since the description of bulimia nervosa as a distinct diagnostic entity in 1979, several psychological and pharmacological interventions have been developed and empirically tested. The existence of several effective treatments, none of which is completely effective, is common to most psychiatric conditions. The research question that flows from such findings is whether second-level treatments would be effective for those who fail initial treatment. Method In the case of bulimia nervosa, the research findings suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the first level of treatment and that both antidepressant medication and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) may potentially be effective second-level treatments. This was a multicenter study in which 194 patients were initially treated with CBT. Those treated unsuccessfully (n = 62) were then randomized to treatment with IPT or medication management. Results Of those assigned to secondary treatment, 37 completed such treatment and 25 dropped out or were withdrawn. The abstinence rate for subjects assigned to treatment with IPT was 16% and for those assigned to medication management was 10%. No significant differences were found between medication and IPT in either the intent-to-treat or completer analysis. Discussion Dropout rates were high, and response rates were low among BN patients assigned to secondary treatments who failed to achieve remission with CBT. Offering lengthy sequential treatments appears to have little value, and alternative models for therapy need to be tested. © 2002 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 32: 271–281, 2002.
Qatar's Education City's university libraries: patrons, collections, and services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe Qatar's Education City's six university libraries, their international patrons, collections, and services.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides analysis of the data provided by various parties related to patrons, collections and services of the six university libraries in Qatar's Education during the calendar year of 2009.Findings – Education City's six branch libraries successfully support the needs of their patrons' curriculum and research needs especially in the e‐resources.Originality/value – This research provides in‐depth information for the Qatar Foundation, university and library administrators of main and branch campuses related to future e‐licensing, collections acquisitions, and staffing.
Towards a substantially autonomous aerobot for exploration of Titan

Robotic lighter-than-air vehicles, or aerobots, are strategic surveying and instrument deployment platforms for the exploration of planets and moons with an atmosphere, such as Venus, Mars and Titan. Aerobots are characterized by modest power requirements, extended mission duration and long traverse capabilities, and the ability to transport and deploy scientific instruments and in-situ laboratory facilities over vast distances. With the arrival of the Huygens probe at Saturn's moon Titan in early 2005, there is considerable interest in a follow-on mission that would use a substantially autonomous aerobot to explore Titan's surface. In this paper, we discuss first steps towards the development of an autonomy architecture and a core set of perception, reasoning and control technologies for a future Titan aerobot. We provide an overview of the autonomy architecture, which integrates perception-based flight planning and control, vehicle health monitoring and safing, long-range mission planning and monitoring, and vision-based science site surveying. We describe the JPL aerobot and the onboard avionics architecture testbeds, and conclude with results from initial teleoperated test flights.
The social “R & D” paradigm in child and youth services: Building knowledge convivially

Abstract Adaptation of agricultural and industrial research and development models offers new methods for bridging the worlds of research and practice in child and youth services. Social R & D methodologies provide effective means for generating new social technologies because they are product oriented and use a wide array of traditional and nontraditional data sources. This article discusses one social R & D paradigm—Developmental Research and Utilization. Permanency planning and community support systems research are used to illustrate the past and potential application of this methodology to the field of child and youth services.
Effects of caseins on thermal stability of bovine beta-lactoglobulin.

Casein fractions have been shown to act as molecular chaperones and inhibit aggregation of whey proteins in dilute solutions ( or =75 degrees C. Moreover, prolonged heating (90 min) of BLG with 2% (w/v) BCN (pH 6.0) at 90 degrees C produced a clear solution while BLG-ACN solutions formed translucent gels after heating for 15 min. The weight-averaged molar mass and root-mean-square (rms) radius of soluble aggregates were determined by size exclusion chromatography in conjunction with multiangle laser light scattering (SEC-MALS). SEC-MALS confirmed the turbidity results by showing that the BLG-BCN mixture (8% w/v protein) produced aggregates with lower molar mass and smaller rms radius (majority 20-40 nm). These results showed that BCN is a feasible component to stabilize higher concentrations of whey proteins in beverages.
In-between anarchy and interdependence: from state death to fragile and failing states

International relations scholars concede a vital role for anarchy in structuring state behaviour towards survival. Anarchy provides strong incentives for power-maximising behaviour, since states that do not act accordingly risk death by conquest. This assumption raises an important question: if international anarchy is pervasive, leading to processes where only the fit survive, how do we explain the survival of fragile and failing states? Under conditions of self-help such states should be tempting targets, yet these vulnerable states avoid death by conquest. Fragile and failing states survive because international order is based on a sovereignty regime backed by major powers. International order is more salient than anarchy and provides better vantage points to understand the absence of state death. Elements of international order, like the relational hierarchies between dominant and subordinate states, no longer tolerate state death. This largely explains the survival of fragile and failing states.
Long-term recording of cerebrospinal fluid pressure in freely behaving rats

Literature values for ‘normal’, ‘control’, ‘baseline’ cerebrospinal pressure (CSF-p) of rats reveal a large variability. Anesthesia, restraint, brief recordings at variable time from various sites and simultaneous infusions into the recording cannula may partly explain the variability. Here, we report values of continuous, day/night CSF-p recordings from a lateral ventricle in conscious, relatively unrestrained and freely behaving rats. The mean(±S.E.M.) daytime/nighttime values were11.4 ± 2.0 and14.9 ±2.3cm. H2O, respectively(P < 0.05). Minimum, but not maximum CSF-p's during the day were lower(P < 0.05) than at night. The results provide a normative data base for studies designed to evaluate experimental or pathological phenomena affecting CSF-p.
Regulation of the Packaging of Bacillus thuringiensis δ-Endotoxins into Inclusions

During sporulation, many Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies synthesize several related delta-endotoxins which are packaged into bipyramidal intracellular inclusions. These inclusions are solubilized in the alkaline, reducing conditions of the midguts of susceptible insect larvae and are converted by proteolysis to active toxins. The toxins insert into the membranes of cells lining the midgut and form cation-selective channels, which results in lethality. There are three delta-endotoxins, Cry1Ab3, Cry1Ca1, and Cry1Da1, present in the inclusions produced by a B. thuringiensis subsp. aizawai cell. While the ratio of the steady-state mRNAs for these three protoxins has been shown to differ (cry1Ab3/cry1Ca1/cry1Da1 mRNA ratio, 4:2:1), the half-lives of the cry1Da1 and cry1Ab3 mRNAs were found to be similar, indicating that there were differences in the transcription rates. The relative contents of these delta-endotoxins in purified inclusions from B. thuringiensis subsp. aizawai have been measured previously, and an even greater relative deficiency of the Cry1Da1 protoxin (ratio, 20:12:1) was found. In order to account for this deficiency, other steps which could be involved in inclusion formation, such as translation and packaging, were examined. The three cry genes have the same dual overlapping promoters, but the ribosome binding sequence for the cry1Da1 gene was not the consensus sequence. Translation was enhanced about fourfold by changing to the consensus sequence. In addition, the relative amount of Cry1Da1 protoxin in inclusions was twofold lower when cells were sporulated in Luria-Bertani (LB) medium than when cells were sporulated in a glucose-yeast extract medium. This difference was attributable to packaging since the relative amounts of Cry1Da1 antigen in cells sporulating in the two media were the same. Some factor(s) required for packaging of the Cry1Da1 protoxin in inclusions is apparently limiting in LB medium. Differences in the initial transcription rates, translation efficiencies, and packaging all contribute to the delta-endotoxin composition of an inclusion.
The E-domain peptide of rat pro-insulin-like growth factor II (proIGF-II): Properties of the peptide in serum and production by rat cell lines

We previously identified a naturally occurring peptide fragment derived from the carboxyl terminal region of the E-domain of pro-insulin-like growth factor II (proIGF-II117-156) in medium conditioned by cultured BRL-3A rat liver cells. In the present study we utilized a radioimmunoassay (RIA) for this peptide to measure physiological concentrations of the peptide in media and serum. Serum levels of the E-domain peptide were very high in the 5-day neonatal rat and declined thereafter to reach low levels in adult rat serum. Chromatography of adult rat serum on Sephadex G-75 in 1 M acetic acid yielded a single broad peak of E-peptide immunoreactivity that coeluted with a synthetic E-peptide standard. However, chromatography of day 5 neonatal rat serum on Sephadex G-75 yielded two peaks of immunoreactivity. One of the peaks coeluted with a synthetic E-peptide standard, whereas the other peak eluted in a region where higher molecular weight proteins typically elute. Experiments aimed at determining whether adult rat serum contained a binding protein for the E-domain peptide revealed that: (1) serum contains little, if any, binding protein for the E-domain peptide, (2) serum contains a proteinase activity that degrades the E-domain peptide, and (3) the proteinase activity can be eliminated by acetic acid/ethanol extraction. Of several rat cell lines tested (BRL-3A, rat embryo fibroblasts (REF), hepatoma cell lines (H4, HTC), GH3 pituitary tumor cells, and normal rat kidney fibroblasts (NRK], only BRL-3A and REF cells secreted measurable E-domain peptide into the medium. In addition, it was found that some component(s) of serum could stimulate secretion of E-domain peptide from BRL-3A and REF cells. Chromatography of the immunoreactivity from BRL-3A and REF-conditioned media on Sephadex G-75 in 1 M acetic acid yielded a single peak that coeluted with a synthetic E-domain peptide standard. Since secretion of the E-domain peptide parallels the expression of IGF-II, the RIA for the proIGF-II E-domain peptide may be useful for studies of the biosynthesis and secretion of IGF-II under different physiological conditions. The RIA for the IGF-II E-domain peptide has two technical advantages over the RIA for IGF-II, namely, the lack of interference by IGF binding proteins and the relative ease with which large quantities of pure antigen can be synthesized.
Information extraction for the future

This broad topic session covered a range of ideas on challenges for the future, along with approaches to meeting these challenges. Although some discussion of matters of scale was common to all the presentations, the speakers offered different perspectives on how to achieve scale-up.
Helsinki, Human Rights, and the Gorbachev Style

Human rights is one of three issues addressed by the Helsinki Accord, alongside security and trade matters. In the mid-seventies the accord was greeted with enthusiasm by the Soviet Union, which saw it as a means to reduce the U.S. presence in Europe. The United States, which played a limited role in drafting the accord, feared it might result in a betrayal of the various nationalities of Eastern Europe by its tacit acceptance of Soviet territorial arrangements. Over the next ten years the human rights section of the accord would become a central point of contention between the superpowers. Korey traces the evolution of the dispute and discusses Gorbachev's uneven attempts to improve the Soviet Union's recognition of human rights.
One-loop supergravity corrections to black hole entropy and residual supersymmetry

We study the one-loop corrections to the effective on-shell action of $N=2$ supergravity in the background of the Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole. In the extreme case the contributions from the graviton, gravitino, and photon to the one-loop corrections to the entropy are shown to cancel. This gives the first explicit example of the supersymmetric nonrenormalization theorem for the on-shell action (entropy) for BPS configurations which admit Killing spinors. We display the residual supersymmetry of the perturbations of a general supersymmetric theory in a bosonic BPS background.
Protection against rotavirus shedding after intranasal immunization of mice with a chimeric VP6 protein does not require intestinal IgA

Abstract Intranasal immunization of mice with chimeric VP6 and the adjuvant LT(R192G) consistently elicits >95% reductions in fecal rotavirus shedding following challenge. To determine the association between mucosal antibody and protection, we immunized BALB/c wt and J chain knockout (Jch−/−) mice with VP6 and either LT(R192G) or cholera toxin (CT). Both strains developed nearly equal levels of serum rotavirus IgG, but Jch−/− mice, which cannot transport dimeric IgA across epithelial cell surfaces, developed >4-fold higher levels of serum rotavirus IgA. Stool rotavirus IgA was present in wt but undetectable in Jch−/− mice. When challenged with rotavirus strain EDIM, reductions in rotavirus shedding were nearly identical in VP6-immunized wt and Jch−/− mice (i.e., 97% and 92%, respectively; P > 0.01). Th1 CD4 T cell responses were also detected in VP6-immunized animals based on high levels of IFN-γ and IL-2 found after in vitro VP6 stimulation of spleen cells. Therefore, protection induced by intranasal immunization of mice with VP6 and adjuvant does not depend on intestinal rotavirus IgA antibody but appears to be associated with CD4 T cells.
Infection barriers and responses in mosquito–filarial worm interactions

As a function of size, migration trajectory through the body and developmental site, filarial worm parasites inflict significant damage on the mosquito host. Some mosquitoes are equipped with physical and physiological barriers that confer a refractory state to parasite infection. In a susceptible host, parasites migrate to a developmental site and achieve an intracellular existence; during this process, worms elicit canonical mosquito immune response elements, particularly melanization and antimicrobial peptide (AMP) production. It is clear now that the response to infection also involves mitigating stress and manipulation of host cell machinery to delay necrosis. This review focuses on mechanisms of refractoriness and resistance to Brugia malayi, Brugia pahangi, and Dirofilaria immitis, with emphasis on infection in the mosquito, Aedes aegypti.
Cyclic strain causes heterogeneous induction of transcription factors, AP-1, CRE binding protein and NF-kB in endothelial cells: Species and vascular bed diversity

Recent studies demonstrate that cyclic strain stimulates protein kinase C in bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAEC) as well as the induction of immediate early genes and the transcription factor activator protein-1 (AP-1) in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). The objective of this study was to determine whether transcriptional factor induction in endothelial cells (EC) exposed to strain is the same with regard to the species and vascular bed they are derived from. Evidence for a heterogeneous response for growth, orientation and prostacyclin secretion has been obtained for a variety of EC exposed to cyclic strain. In this study, we investigated cyclic strain mediated induction of transcription factors, AP-1, cAMP response element binding protein (CRE) and nuclear factor kB (NF-kB) in cultured EC from HUVEC, human aorta (HAEC), and BAEC. EC were exposed to 10% average strain at 60 cpm for up to 24 h. At varying time points, nuclear protein was extracted and analyzed for production of AP-1, CRE and NF-kB by electromobility shift assay. The results demonstrate that EC exposure to cyclic strain leads to a significant induction of AP-1, CRE and NF-kB in HAEC and HUVEC, but not in BAEC. Furthermore, these findings are in marked contrast to the previously described shear stress induced activation of AP-1 and NF-kB in BAEC. There was also a temporal difference in their response such that stretch-induced activation of AP-1 and NF-kB peaked at 4 h, whereas CRE increased in a biphasic manner at 15 min and 24 h. These results may partially explain the divergent effects of cyclic strain on EC gene expression and phenotype in EC from different vascular beds and species and underscore the difference in EC response to cyclic strain and shear stress.
Lessons from Litigation over Silicone Breast Implants: A Call for Activism by Scientists

In ongoing litigation to determine whether silicone breast implants cause autoimmune disease, the question of what constitutes good science is being addressed by courts, and the answer has implications for approximately $50 billion in settlements. A federal court recently used neutral scientific advisers in excluding the admissibility of the “expert” opinion that implants cause systemic disease. The lesson from this litigation paradigm is that scientists should actively ensure that neutral, reliable scientific expertise is available to the court.
Estimation of adult stature from the calcaneus and talus

Calcanei and tali of 100 skeletons in the Hamann–Todd Collection at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History were measured. The skeletons represented 50 males and 50 females distributed equally by race, i.e., whites and blacks. Linear-regression equations, with standard errors ranging from 4.09 to 6.11 cm, were derived from these measurements for the purpose of estimating stature. Two independent control samples, including one comprised of remains of American servicemen lost in World War II and the Korea and Vietnam wars, were tested with relatively accurate results. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Correction of structural tilting and statistical analysis of directional data using PCTILT

Abstract The stereonet is used to determine the original orientation of planes or lines contained within deformed or structurally tilted rocks. The use of the stereonet, however, is tedious for large data sets, is accurate to within a few degrees at best, and may result in point-plotting and rotation errors. Calculation of basic directional statistics associated with orientation data requires calculations that can be time consuming when using a hand calculator. A new Computer Oriented Geological Society (COGS) program, termed “PCTILT”, quickly and accurately corrects directional data for single or multiple stages of structural tilting or deformation and calculates the basic statistics associated with such data sets. Program output to a disk file allows the user to perform additional statistical tests when desired. FORTRAN 77 source code is included to allow user modification of the program.
Gray's behavioral inhibition system : a psychometric examination

Abstract Gray has posited a neurologically anchored emotion system—the behavioral inhibition system (BIS). He has further posited that to stable individual differences in the sensitivity/reactivity of this system there corresponds a major dimension of personality/temperament—specifically a dimension of fearfulness-fearlessness, i.e. of trait anxiety. Comparisons of the MMPI item-response rates of three samples of female putative normals and of purified samples of female psychiatric outpatients and prostitutes (which were selected to represent the extremes of fearfulness and fearlessness, respectively) resulted in the location of 30 items that displayed the relationship: psychiatric outpatients > putative normals . prostitutes. The psychometric properties of the scale comprised of these 30 items, its relationship to Eysenck's scales of Neuroticism and Extraversion as well as to other scales, and the marked correspondence between the manifest contents of its constitutive items and a set of experiential and behavioral expectations derived from the functions which have been attributed to the BIS combine to provide strong support for the existence of a dimension of personality/temperament of the sort which Gray has proposed.
Structural and Functional Roles of Asparagine 175 in the Cysteine Protease Papain

The role of the asparagine residue in the Cys-His-Asn "catalytic triad" of cysteine proteases has been investigated by replacing Asn175 in papain by alanine and glutamine using site-directed mutagenesis. The mutants were expressed in yeast and kinetic parameters determined against the substrate carbobenzoxy-L-phenylalanyl-(7-amino-4-methylcoumarinyl)- L-arginine. At the optimal pH of 6.5, the specificity constant (k(cat)/KM)obs was reduced by factors of 3.4 and 150 for the Asn175-->Gln and Asn175-->Ala mutants, respectively. Most of this effect was the result of a decrease in k(cat), as neither mutation significantly affected KM. Substrate hydrolysis by these mutants is still much faster than the non-catalytic rate, and therefore Asn175 cannot be considered as an essential catalytic residue in the cysteine protease papain. Detailed analyses of the pH activity profiles for both mutants allow the evaluation of the role of the Asn175 side chain on the stability of the active site ion pair and on the intrinsic activity of the enzyme. Alteration of the side chain at position 175 was also found to increase aggregation and proteolytic susceptibility of the proenzyme and to affect the thermal stability of the mature enzyme, reflecting a contribution of the asparagine residue to the structural integrity of papain. The strict conservation of Asn175 in cysteine proteases might therefore result from a combination of functional and structural constraints.
Renal clearance of I131 in hypothyroid and euthyroid rats.

There have been numerous studies of variations in thyroidal uptake of radioactive iodine under varying biological conditions as a result of which it has been suggested that changes in renal clearance may also take place and affect the results. Thus Money et al. (1951) noted that ACTH, cortisone, Compound A, and DOC, decreased thyroid collection while testosterone, estrone, and progesterone increased collection of radioiodine. He admitted that the results possibly could be explained on the basis of steroid effects on water and salt metabolism and thus renal excretion of iodide. Randall and Albert (1951) in discussing the profound drop in thyroid uptake following hypophysectomy stated that part of the decrease may be due to factors other than the direct effect of hypophysectomy on the thyroid since the procedure might have affected renal function and hemodynamic conditions. Albert, Tenney and Lorenz (1952) found that renal clearance is markedly depressed after hypophysectomy
Seasonal mevinphos degradation on row crops in Monterey County, 1990

Abstract Twenty-three vegetable row crop fields were monitored for dislodgeable foliar residues of mevinphos (Phosdrin R ) during the summer and fall to investigate seasonal variation in residue dissipation rate. At the p = 0.05 level, no significant difference between seasonal means was found, indicating no marked seasonal effect.
Hospital admissions for respiratory symptoms and failure to thrive before and after Nissen fundoplication.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine whether Nissen fundoplication decreases hospital admissions for respiratory symptoms and failure to thrive (FTT). Methods A retrospective study using discharge abstract data from Southern California Kaiser Permanente hospitals during the last decade was done. Three hundred forty-two pediatric patients had at least one Nissen fundoplication. Hospital admissions for aspiration and other pneumonia, respiratory distress/apnea, and FTT were determined before and after Nissen fundoplication. Age and associated neurologic disorders were also studied. Statistical analysis was determined by χ 2 analysis, Poisson regression analysis, and relative risk. Results The number of patients requiring hospital admission for aspiration and other pneumonia, respiratory distress/apnea, and FTT was similar before and after Nissen fundoplication. The proportion of readmission within 1 year after Nissen fundoplication for aspiration pneumonia was 0.1250 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.0266-0.3236); other pneumonia, 0.5465 (95% CI, 0.4355-0.6542); respiratory distress/apnea, 0.5039 (95% CI, 0.4145-0.5931); and FTT, 0.5669 (95% CI, 0.4761-0.6545). Associated neurologic disorders independently increased hospital admissions for aspiration and other pneumonia, respiratory distress/apnea, and FTT. Age was inversely related to hospital admissions for respiratory distress and FTT. Conclusion Nissen fundoplication did not improve hospital admissions for pneumonia, respiratory distress/apnea, and FTT. Associated neurologic disorders increased readmissions for pneumonia, respiratory distress/apnea, and FTT, whereas increasing age decreased readmission for respiratory distress and FTT.
285 INHIBITION OF THROMBIN MEDIATED PLATELET AGGREGATION BY UTEROGLOBIN

One of the putative functions of pregnancy-specific proteins is the inhibition of platelet aggregation. This function may facilitate the free flow of blood through the uterine microvas-culature during pregnancy. Uteroglobin (UG) is a small molecular weight (15K) protein first discovered in the rabbit uterus during early pregnancy. The present investigation was undertaken to determine the effect of UG on platelet aggregation. Gel-filtered platelets (GFP) or platelet-rich plasma (PRP) from human volunteers and/or from rabbits were tested in an aggregometer with various inducers of aggregation including thrombin, ADP, collagen and arachidonic acid. Similar aggregation trials were carried out after preincubatlng GFP or PRP with various concentrations of UG. These results suggest that uteroglobin specifically prevents throrabin mediated platelet aggregation in both rabbits and humans. This effect may be due to phospholipase A2 inhibition.
Betsuyaku theory of free induction decay in a magnetically modified solid

Abstract The Free-Induction-Decay function G(t) of a magnetically modified system with spin 1 2 is evaluated by using Betsuyaku's theory. The result is as expected, that the amplitude of G(t) decreases and that the nodes shift to a later time as the non-magnetic impurity increases.
The medicalization of suicide in England: laymen, physicians, and cultural change, 1500-1870.

Defining a behavior as a medical problem can change both its moral and legal consequences. Responses to suicide were secularized in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as coroners' juries increasingly adopted the medical explanation for self-destruction and excused suicides as innocent lunatics who were not criminally responsible for their act. It was medical laymen, however, not physicians, who were the principal champions of the medical explanation as they sought to alleviate the effects of the suicide laws on survivors. The change in societal attitudes and responses to suicide illustrates both the negotiated quality of disease definition and the way in which formal medical thinking constituted only one factor in a diverse political, religious, and cultural context. Language: en
Calibration of a Capacitance System for Measuring Water Content of Tropical Soil

Capacitance sensors have improved substantially in the last decades, resulting in their wide acceptance. A new generation of multisensor capacitance systems (MCS) is now available that are easy to install and use. Calibration of capacitance sensors was conducted for a weathered clay loam soil and silica sand in field and laboratory conditions. The specific objectives of this research were to (i) conduct field and laboratory calibration of a new MCS in silica sand and soil, (ii) evaluate the performance of MCS for a shrinking–swelling tropical soil, and (iii) evaluate the effect of medium temperature on the MCS reading at constant water content. Three-parameter power type calibration equations were developed. The laboratory column calibration had higher correlation coefficients ( R 2 = 0.96 and 0.97 for soil and sand, respectively) than the rangeland ( R 2 = 0.73) and cultivated soils ( R 2 = 0.74). The manufacturer default model fitted the field data reasonably well in the higher moisture range (0.35–0.45 cm 3 cm −3 ). However, it performed poorly in the dryer range (0.2–0.35 cm 3 cm −3 ), severely underestimating soil moisture content. Shrinking and swelling of soil and the presence of bound water might have affected the sensor9s performance. Across the 45°C interval, there was 15% overestimation of the actual water content for soil and only 10% for sand. The relationship was statistically highly significant ( P R 2 = 0.99 for both sand and soil. Use of MCS is suitable for tropical soil; however, site specific calibration is needed to improve the estimates of soil water content.
Environmental co-regulation of substance P, somatostatin and neurotransmitter synthesizing enzymes in cultured sympathetic neurons.

Abstract Mechanisms regulating peptide neurotransmitter metabolism were examined in dissociated cell cultures of the neonatal rat superior cervical ganglion (SCG). The pineal gland, a target of the SCG, produced a soluble factor (PCM) which increased substance P (SP) levels more than 15-fold in sympathetic neurons cultured in the presence of ganglion non-neuronal cells. Elimination of the non-neuronal cells decreased SP to negligible levels and abolished the stimulatory effects of PCM on SP expression. These observations suggest that ganglion non-neuronal cells stimulate sympathetic expression of SP, and that the pineal influences neuronal SP by acting on, or in concert with, ganglion support cells. PCM also influenced other neurotransmitter systems. In the presence of ganglion non-neuronal cells, PCM treatment increased cholineacetyltransferase (CHAC) and decreased tyrosine hydroxylase (TOH) and somatostatin (SO). By contrast, PCM treatment of pure neuronal cultures resulted in negligibleCHAC and SP levels and a doubling of SO with a small increase in TOH. In sympathetic neurons, SP expression may be associated with cholinergic development, whereas SO may be associated with noradrenergic phenotypic expression. Moreover, there is a reciprocal relationship between SP and SS expression by sympathetic neurons analogous toe previously described relationship between noradrenergic and cholinergic expression 17–19 .
A multiscale modeling approach to analyze filament-wound composite pressure vessels

A multiscale modeling approach to analyze filament-wound composite pressure vessels is developed in this article. The approach, which extends the Nguyen et al. [Prediction of the elastic-plastic stress/strain response for injection-molded long-fiber thermoplastics. J Compos Mater 2009; 43: 217–246.] model developed for discontinuous fiber composites to continuous fiber ones, spans three modeling scales. The microscale considers the unidirectional elastic fibers embedded in an elastic–plastic matrix obeying the Ramberg–Osgood relation and J2 deformation theory of plasticity. The mesoscale behavior representing the composite lamina is obtained through an incremental Mori–Tanaka [Average stress in matrix and average elastic energy of materials with misfitting inclusions. Acta Metall 1973; 21: 571–574.] type model and the Eshelby [The determination of the elastic field of an ellipsoidal inclusion and related problems. Proc R Soc Lond, Ser A 1957; 241: 376–396.] equivalent inclusion method. The implementation ...
Relative value of plasma copper, zinc, lipids and lipoproteins as markers for coronary artery disease.

Abstract Studies in experimental animals have suggested an association between dietary copper deficiency, alone or with an attendant elevated intake of zinc, and an increase in serum total cholesterol. These findings led some to theorize that a dietary imbalance of zinc and copper may be a factor in the etiology of coronary heart disease. Plasma zinc and copper levels were measured in 60 adult male patients with confirmed coronary artery disease and compared with serum levels of lipids and lipoproteins in the same patients. The results were compared to the accepted values in normal adult males. In subjects with significant coronary artery atherosclerosis (≧ 50% luminal occlusion) there was no correlation between plasma zinc or copper with serum lipids or lipoproteins. However, total cholesterol was significantly correlated with low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, and inversely correlated with HDL-C : T-Chol ratio. Although dietary zinc and/or copper may influence the plasma levels of these trace metals, our studies show that there was no association between plasma zinc or copper and the serum levels of lipids or lipoproteins; we believe that this indicates that these trace metals are of doubtful value as markers for coronary atherosclerosis.
Compressible laminar flow in a channel

Laminar flow of a compressible Newtonian fluid in a channel is analyzed. An analytic solution to the vorticity-stream function form of the hydrodynamics equations is found for weakly compressible flow using a regular perturbation method. In contrast with previous studies, the present analysis does not invoke the lubrication approximation and, consequently, predicts both a nonzero transverse velocity and a nonzero transverse pressure gradient. Predicted velocity and pressure fields from the perturbation solution are compared with previously published analytical and numerical solutions. Expressions for pressure drop are also given for compressible laminar flow in a channel that display significant deviations from the incompressible case. In addition, experimental data from the literature for the flow of gases in microchannels are analyzed and compared with predictions from the analytical solution. We find that a commonly used method for analyzing microchannel flow experiments obscures a rather simple depend...
A novel circle detection method using Radon transform

A circle detection method utilizing Radon transform is proposed. In this paper, a closed form solution for the Radon transform of a circular structure is derived from the Radon transform of a round disk. Because the Radon transform of circle has the unique property of invariance to the angle change, a universal matched filter can be constructed from the Radon transform of circle. To detect if there is a circular structure of specific radius presented in the image, a pre-defined matched filter is applied to the Radon transform of the image at all angles and a circle presence intensity image is reconstructed from the filtering results through filtered back projection (FBP). By thresholding the circle presence intensity image, the presence and the location of the circle can be easily determined. The preliminary experimental results show that the proposed method is effective and has better signal to noise ratio in output compared to the typical Hough transform approach.
Erectile dysfunction is a signal of risk for significant medical comorbidities: A primary care view

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a multisystemic disorder most commonly caused by vascular insufficiency. Because the organic etiologies that cause ED often impact concurrently on other body systems, multiple comorbidities have been noted that occur more frequently among men with ED than among men without ED. This encourages us to consider the presence of ED as a signal of a variety of disorders that have similar etiologies, including psychosocial problems, endocrine imbalances, neurologic disorders, and, most notably, cardiovascular risk factors and/or disease. Evidence is accumulating that ED, especially vasculogenic ED, is a signal for endothelial dysfunction and resultant cardiovascular disease risk. ED may also be a "harbinger" of symptomatic cardiovascular or neurologic diseases. Knowing that a man has ED should encourage further evaluation for these comorbidities, because early detection may allow attenuation of disease risk or actual disease. The best way to perform this evaluation in men with ED needs further study. The role of the presence of ED as a “screening test” for increased cardiovascular disease risk also needs further exploration.