cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Goldstini

Supersymmetric phenomenology has been largely bound to the hypothesis that supersymmetry breaking originates from a single source. In this paper, we relax this underlying assumption and consider a multiplicity of sectors which independently break supersymmetry, thus yielding a corresponding multiplicity of goldstini. While one linear combination of goldstini is eaten via the super-Higgs mechanism, the orthogonal combinations remain in the spectrum as physical degrees of freedom. Interestingly, supergravity effects induce a universal tree-level mass for the goldstini which is exactly twice the gravitino mass. Since visible sector fields can couple dominantly to the goldstini rather than the gravitino, this framework allows for substantial departures from conventional supersymmetric phenomenology. In fact, this even occurs when a conventional mediation scheme is augmented by additional supersymmetry breaking sectors which are fully sequestered. We discuss a number of striking collider signatures, including various novel decay modes for the lightest observable-sector supersymmetric particle, gravitinoless gauge-mediated spectra, and events with multiple displaced vertices. We also describe goldstini cosmology and the possibility of goldstini dark matter.
Transparent Backsheets for Bifacial PV Modules: Material Characterization and Weathering

Bifacial PV modules are promising to achieve a lower levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) compared to monofacial modules because light absorption occurs from both sides of the devices. The glass/transparent backsheet structure offers many advantages over the glass/glass structure for bifacial modules, such as lighter weight and higher hail resistance. However, research on the weatherability and long-term reliability of transparent backsheet materials and bifacial modules under their service environments is lacking. In this study, the material property and the durability of three fluoropolymer-based transparent backsheets and their laminated coupons have been investigated. The accelerated laboratory tests were carried out on the NIST SPHERE (Simulated Photodegradation via High Energy Radiant Exposure) under UV/75 °C/50 % RH and UV/65 °C/50 % RH for transparent films and coupons, respectively. Optical and chemical properties of specimens were characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and Raman microscopy. Nano-indentation was used to evaluate changes in surface modulus and scratch-resistance of the transparent backsheets. Preliminary results indicate that different backsheets perform differently after aging, and potential cracking could occur once films become brittle. The cracking of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) core layer was observed, as well as the cracking of the ethylene vinyl-acetate (EVA) inner layer. This study will provide a scientific basis for material choice and product development for a more reliable bifacial PV technology.
Minority-Union Collective Bargaining: What's Old is New

This year marks the re-beginning of the critical role that labor unions can once again play in the American economy. Although the Trumpian years represented the culmination of half a century of organized labor’s steady decline in membership and influence, recent widespread employee and union activity, plus strong union support by President Biden and renewed public interest tell us that a variety of positive changes affecting American workers are now in the offing. Those changes are occurring in a rapidly changing world of work, a world where human employees increasingly share their work with robots and applications of artificial intelligence (AI).
Market discipline and financial safety net design

There has been little empirical work on the effectiveness of safety nets designed for banks, for lack of data on safety net design across countries. The authors examine cross-country data on bank-level interest expense and deposit growth for evidence of market discipline in individual countries. In addition, using cross-country information on deposit insurance systems, they investigate the impact of explicit deposit insurance (and its key features) on bank interest rates and market discipline. They find that: 1) Many countries retain some degree of market discipline, regardless of the type of safety net. 2) The existence of explicit deposit insurance lowers banks' interest expenses and makes interest payments less sensitive to bank risk factors, especially bank liquidity. 3) Higher explicit coverage, broader coverage, and the existence of an earmarked insurance fund increase required-deposit rates and reduce market discipline. 4) Private (especially joint) management of insurance schemes lowers deposit rates and improves market discipline.
Collapsing dimensions, physical limitation, and other student metaphors for limit concepts

This study investigated introductory calculus students' spontaneous reasoning about limit concepts guided by an interactionist theory of metaphorical reasoning developed by Max Black. In this perspective, strong metaphors are ontologically creative by virtue of their emphasis (commitment by the producer) and resonance (support for high degrees of elaborative implication). Analysis of 120 students' written and verbal descriptions of their thinking about challenging limit concepts resulted in the characterization of 5 clusters of strong metaphors. These clusters were based on the objects, relationships, and logic related to intuitions about (a) a collapse in dimension, (b) approximation and error analyses, (c) proximity in a space of point-locations, (d) a small physical scale beyond which nothing exists, and (e) the treatment of infinity as a number. Students' reasoning with these metaphors had significant implications for the images they formed and the claims and justifications they provided about multiple limit concepts.
Computer simulation of dental implant treatments

Behavior of the peri-implant tissue following a dental implant surgery is simulated. The cascade of tissue responses starting with healing, followed by remodeling are investigated. Although different implant designs, implant widths and amounts of micro-motion during the healing period were all shown to have important effects on the long-term status of the surrounding region; the amount of micro-motion was found to have the most noticeable impact. It was shown that increasing the micro-motion always leads to a lower bone quality and development of more cartilaginous tissue. However, it was found that increasing the micro-motion beyond a specific amount, depending on the geometry and design of the implant, does not lead to more bone resorption in the regions adjacent to the implant which provides a more reliable bone-implant contact.
Three respiratory gases and the red cell: oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitric oxide

Three vital gases – oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen – intersect at the level of the human red blood cell. The delivery of oxygen to all tissues by red cells is essential to human life. Evolution has created a complex molecule, haemoglobin, designed for efficient uptake and off-loading of oxygen. Iron rests at the centre of the haeme moiety and is critical for oxygen exchange. Although studied for over a century, some details of oxygen transport by the red cell remain uncertain. Recent research has focused on the interaction of haemoglobin with a complex of cell-membrane proteins centred on band 3. In addition, there is renewed interest in the question of whether or not stored red cells deliver oxygen to tissues as well as fresh red cells. The interactions of CO2 with the red cell have drawn far less research attention. Plasma CO2 released by tissues serves as an essential trigger for oxygen release by haemoglobin via the Bohr effect. CO2 transport depends on conversion of CO2 to bicarbonate via red cell carbonic anhydrase in conjunction with chloride exchange across the red cell membrane. There is very little research on the effect of blood storage on CO2 excretion although this aspect of respiratory physiology is every bit as important as oxygen delivery. Nitric oxide (NO) physiology is directly related to oxygen delivery by the red cell. NO serves a local vasodilator to increase blood flow to hypoxic tissue beds. NO binds strongly to haemoglobin which serves as an NO sink. Under normal conditions, plasma NO synthesized by endothelial cells is not consumed by red cell haemoglobin because of a diffusion blockade across the red cell membrane that results from membrane structures not fully identified. Under conditions of red cell lysis, free haemoglobin scavenges NO reducing local vasodilation. Scavenging of NO is now recognized as an important component of the physiologic response to chronic haemolysis and is very likely to play an important role in the renal lesion of acute haemolysis. The three RBC gases are also the three principal gases of the Earth’s atmosphere. While CO2 is the least abundant of the three by far, it is also likely to be the most critical to the future survival of life on Earth – because small further increases in the concentration of CO2 will result in continued climate change, and large increases will be deadly. Thus, the management of three vital gases by the collection of red cells found within us has broad similarities to the collective management of our atmosphere. Just as the survival of individual tissue cells depends upon proper balance of these three respiratory gases, so too will their proper balance be the key to survival of life on Earth.
STUDIES ON SODIUM-POTASSIUM-ACTIVATED ADENOSINE TRIPHOSPHATASE. X. OCCURRENCE IN RETINAL RODS AND RELATION TO RHODOPSIN.

The nature and properties of the adenosine triphosphatase activity in the visual rods of cow, rabbit and frog retinas were studied. Fresh retinal homogenates were separated by differential centrifugation into a nuclear fraction, a rod fraction and a combined mitochondrial-microsomal fraction. In all species and fractions, both Na-K-activated adenosine triphosphatase and Mg-activated adenosine triphosphatase were present, the activity of the former always being higher than that of the latter. In the cow, calf and rabbit, the rod adenosine triphosphatase activities, expressed on a dry-weight basis, were higher than the corresponding activities in whole retina; whereas, in the frog, they were about equal. Rods from cows and frogs, prepared in the dark from dark-adapted eyes, were assayed in darkness and in light. No change in either type of adenosine triphosphatase activity was noticed. The presence of 50 m m neutralized hydroxylamine did not change the adenosine triphosphatase activities. Incubation of bleached rods of all three species with 1·3 × 10 −4 m all- trans -retinene or 11- cis -retinene caused 92% inhibition of the Na-K-activated adenosine triphosphatase and 65% inhibition of the Mg-activated adenosine triphosphatase. At 2·6 × 10 −6 m (about equimolar with opsin in the case of the frog), there was, on the average, a 10% inhibition of the Na-K-activated adenosine triphosphatase and no inhibition of the Mg-activated adenosine triphosphatase. In the rabbit brain, adenosine triphosphatase showed the same behavior. All- trans -retinol (1·3 × 10 −4 m ) caused 22% inhibition of Na-K-activated adenosine triphosphatase and 10% inhibition of Mg-activated adenosine triphosphatase. These findings are in disagreement with the view that rhodopsin is an adenosine triphosphatase. An alternative role for the Na-K-activated adenosine triphosphatase of the retinal rods is proposed.
Influence of Maternal-Fetal Histocompatibility and MHC Zygosity on Maternal Microchimerism

To investigate the relationship between maternal-fetal histocompatibility and maternal microchimerism, we developed a sensitive quantitative PCR assay for the neomycin resistance gene (neoR), and, in a mouse model system, used neoR as a noninherited maternal allele marker of maternal cells to detect and quantitate maternal microchimerism in tissues of neoR(-/-) N2 backcross progeny of (neoR(+/-))F(1) females mated with neoR(-/-) males. Using this approach, we obtained evidence for the presence of chimeric maternal cells in the brain, spleen, and thymus of all weanling and adult mice so tested. The numbers of chimeric maternal cells present in the spleen did not differ significantly from those in the thymus regardless of age or maternal-fetal histocompatibility. At all ages, brain tissue had higher level of maternal microchimerism than lymphoid tissue in mice MHC identical with their mothers, but the levels were similar in mice MHC disparate with their mothers. The levels of chimeric maternal cells in both brain and lymphoid tissue of mice with homozygous syngenicity and maternal allogenicity were similar, and tended to be higher than tissue-specific levels in mice with either combined maternal-fetal allogenicity or heterozygous syngenicity. Thus, MHC homozygous progeny had higher levels of maternal microchimerism than MHC heterozygous progeny. We conclude that normal mice possess small numbers of maternal cells in spleen, thymus, brain, and probably most other tissues, and that maternal-fetal histocompatibility influences the levels of these cells by mechanisms related to MHC zygosity of the progeny.
Test anxiety and United States Medical Licensing Examination scores

Summary Background Many medical students experience test anxiety, which may impair their performance in examinations. We examined the relationship between test anxiety and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) step-1 scores and determined the effect of a test-taking course on anxiety and USMLE scores. Methods We randomly chose second-year students to take a test-taking strategies course (cases) from among volunteers. The remainder of the class served as controls. We measured test anxiety with the Westside Test Anxiety Scale (with possible scores of 1–5). The cases completed the Westside Test Anxiety scale at baseline, after completing the course (4 weeks) and again after taking the USLME step 1 (10 weeks). The controls completed the instrument at baseline and after taking the USMLE step 1 (10 weeks). Results Ninety-three of 101 (92%) students participated in the study. The baseline test anxiety score for all students was 2.48 (SD 0.63). Test anxiety was inversely correlated with USMLE step 1 (β = –0.24, p = 0.01), adjusting for Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores. The test anxiety score of the participants decreased from 2.79 to 2.61 after the course (p = 0.09), and decreased further to 2.53 after the USMLE (p = 0.02), whereas the scores of the controls increased. The mean USMLE step-1 score was 234 for the cases and 243 for the controls (p = 0.03). Many medical students experience test anxiety, which may impair their performance in examinations Discussion Test anxiety is modestly inversely correlated with USMLE step-1 scores. A test-taking strategy course modestly reduced anxiety, but did not improve USMLE scores. More robust interventions that achieve greater reductions in text anxiety may improve test scores.
Higher p invariants

The rho-invariant is an invariant of odd-dimensional manifolds with finite fundamental group, and lies in the representations modulo the regular representations (after tensoring with Q). It is a fundamental invariant that occurs in classifying lens spaces, their homotopy analogues, and is intimately related to the eta-invariant for the signature operator. The goal of this note is to use some of the technology developed in studying the Novikov higher signature conjecture to define an analogous invariant for certain situations with infinite fundamental group.
Effect of juglone on growth in vitro of Frankia isolates and nodulation of Alnus glutinosa in soil

In vitro growth (total protein content) of 5 Frankia isolates was significantly inhibited at 10-4 M juglone (5-hydroxy-l ,4-napthoquinone) concentration, but the degree of inhibition varied with the Frankia isolate. Isolates from Alnus crispa [Alnus viridis ssp. crispa (Ait.) Turril] were most tolerant of 10-4 M juglone relative to controls, while an isolate from Purshia tridentata (Pursh.) D.C. was most inhibited, displaying a dramatic decrease in growth and greatly altered morphology.
Kinetic relationship of coal hydrogenation, pyrolysis and dissolution

Data are presented concerning the production of gaseous and liquid products from coal. The processes considered include pyrolysis, dissolution in solvent with and without the application of ultrasonic energy, batch hydrogenation, and continuous hydrogenation. The products are compared with respect to both quantity and type. Activation energies are presented and mechanisms discussed. Coal hydrogenation in the presence of an appropriate catalyst shows very great promise as a means of converting coal to liquid and gaseous fuels. Yields of 30% high octane gasoline, 5% diesel oil, 35% high Btu gas, and 30% char, on a weight basis, have been achieved.
Amenity changes, property values, and hedonic prices in a closed city

Abstract The effects of changes in amenity levels on the bid prices for land and on the marginal worth of an amenity are examined. The vehicle for analysis is a closed-city urban spatial model containing an explicit utility function and explicitly specified, spatial distributions of amenities. Issues addressed include the behavior of bid price (and property value) schedules in response to amenity changes; the impact of such changes on the utility of renters, under conditions of both identical and disparate tastes; the effect of amenity changes on the amenity's schedule of marginal worth; and the relation of such a schedule in a closed city to that in an open city.
Staples, Links, and Poles in the Construction of Regional Development Theories

The developmental trajectories of extractive economies differ systematically from those of industrial economies. Analysis of these differences is difficult, because the specific characteristics and location in space of particular extracted resources distinguish extractive economies from each other far more than commodities produced and location distinguish industrial economies. The peculiar distoritions of Harold Innis's studies of particular staples as these were incorporated into general statements about regional economic development illustrate some of the tensions between ideographic and nomothetic goals in the analysis of regional economies and the dangers of resolving these tensions by collapsing the particular into the general. Subsequent use of these regional economic development models to obscure problems of particular resource extractive projects illuminates some of the unintended practical consequences of theoretical errors.
Upper extremity ischemia caused by small artery disease

One hundred patients with ischemic finger ulceration had detailed prospective evaluation to determine the incidence of associated diseases, response to treatment, and natural history of the condition. A potentially serious associated disease was detected in each patient including autoimmune disease in 54%, Buerger's disease in 9%, arteriosclerosis obliterans in 9%, hypersensitivity angiitis in 22%, and miscellaneous diseases in 6%. Conservative treatment with soap and water scrubs, antibiotics, and local resection/debridement resulted in long-term healing without recurrence in 88% of patients. Most recurrences occurred in patients with autoimmune disease, usually scleroderma or CRST.
Optical measurements of lateral energy flow and plasma motion in laser-produced plasmas

An optical system consisting of a telephoto lens and multi-image camera is described and the experimental results and their implications are presented. We will also describe the opto-electronic system that will measure the time history of the energy flow with sub-nanosecond resolution. The system will be useful to study both one- and two-dimensional geometries. The third optical diagnostic is a laser probe utilizing detection by the opto-electronic system mentioned above. This diagnostic measures plasma motion as well as energy flow. The laser probe and detection system mounts directly onto the target chamber at LASLs Gemini CO/sub 2/ laser, causing severe alignment and stability problems whose solutions will be shown.
The influence of staffing on diagnostic yield of EMU admissions: A comparison study between two institutions

Abstract Patients with recurrent, stereotyped neurological events of unclear etiology often warrant admission for continuous video-EEG monitoring in an epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) for diagnosis. Epilepsy monitoring unit admission duration has been reported to range from days to weeks. To date, there are limited data on the average duration of admission for patients admitted to the EMU for spell classification. Many EMUs are forced to limit the overall duration of admission for numerous reasons including limited resources. It is unclear if a time-limited EMU stay reduces the event capture rate and, therefore, diagnostic yield of event classification admissions. The goal of this study was to determine how a time-limited length of stay strategy impacted event capture in patients admitted for spell classification. A retrospective chart review was performed at two comparable adult epilepsy monitoring units, Mayo Clinic Hospital (MCH) in Phoenix, Arizona, and Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center (BGSMC) in Phoenix, Arizona. Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center is only staffed Monday through Friday, thereby limiting the total possible duration of admission to five days. The goal was to determine if the rate of event capture differed between two institutions employing a time-limited EMU admission (BGSMC) when compared with the nonlimited admission (MCH). A total of 300 patient admissions at MCH and 260 patient admissions at BGSMC were reviewed over a comparable time period. The event capture rates at MCH and BGSMC were 74% and 72%, respectively. There was a greater percentage of patients with nonepileptic events (NEEs) at MCH than at BGSMC (62.7% vs. 47.3%). The mean duration until first event was 31 h at MCH and 38 h at BGSMC. The mean length of stay was greater at MCH (4.5 days) when compared with BGSMC (3.3 days). The overall diagnostic yield of a time-limited EMU admission was similar to that of a nonlimited admission for the purpose of spell classification. There was a statistically significant difference when comparing the time until first event at both institutions; however, this still fell within the 5-day duration that the time-restricted admission was limited to. These results may be important in optimizing an EMU practice in patients requiring admission for spell classification.
Utilizing the Home Setting to Teach Watson' Theory of Human Caring

Watson's theory of human caring serves as a framework in assisting RN/BSN completion students caring for dying patients at home. Through personal journals and case conferences, students incorporated Watson's 10 carative factors of human caring as the basis of their nursing interventions with clients and families. In this required course students visited patients, saw them through the dying process, and helped families with grieving. Students learned principles of home care, hospice, and what the differences and similarities can mean in the home and hospital setting.
Comparative luteolytic activity of estradiol cyclopentylpropionate and prostaglandin F2α in diestrous cows

Abstract The effect of estradiol cyclopentylpropionate (EC) on corpus luteum (CL) function in diestrous cows was evaluated. Two doses of EC (4 and 20 mg) were given by intramuscular (IM) injection and one dose of EC (4 mg) was given by intrauterine (IU) infusion. Control cows were treated with physiologic sterile saline (PSS) IU or corn oil IU (negative controls) or prostaglandin F 2α (PGF 2α , 30 mg IM, positive control). A total of 24 cows, four per treatment, were treated on days 8 to 12 of the estrous cycle (day 0 equals day of estrus). Luteal function was monitored by serum progesterone through 96 hours after treatment. A decrease in serum progesterone from pretreatment diestrous concentrations to less than 1.0 ng/ml was considered indicative of luteolysis. Intrauterine injection of PSS and corn oil had no effect on luteal function. Neither IM nor IU administration of EC caused consistent or rapid luteolytic effects. Prostaglandin F 2α consistently induced rapid luteal regression. These results indicate that EC should not be considered luteolytic in the same sense as is PGF 2α .
Role of Small Intestinal Cytochromes P450 in the Bioavailability of Oral Nifedipine

To determine the effect of intestinal cytochrome P450 (P450) enzymes on the bioavailability of oral drugs, we have examined the metabolism of nifedipine, an antihypertensive drug and a model substrate of CYP3A4, in mouse models having deficient expression of the NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase. Initial studies were performed on Cpr-low (CL) mice, which have substantial decreases in Cpr expression in all tissues examined, including the small intestine. In CL mice, area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) values for blood nifedipine after intraperitoneal and oral dosing were 1.8- and 4.0-fold, respectively, higher than in wild-type mice, despite increased expression of multiple P450 enzymes in both liver and intestine. The greater extent of the increase in the AUC value for oral than for intraperitoneal nifedipine suggested that intestinal P450s influence the bioavailability of oral nifedipine, a notion supported by results from further studies on LCN and CL-LCN mice. The LCN mice, which have liver-specific Cpr deletion, had 6.9-fold higher AUC values and 2.2-fold higher C(max) values for blood nifedipine than did wild-type mice after oral nifedipine, consistent with the critical role of hepatic P450s in systemic nifedipine clearance. However, in the CL-LCN mice, which have global decreases in Cpr expression in all tissues examined and Cpr deletion in the liver, AUC and C(max) values for oral nifedipine were, respectively, 2.2- and 1.8-fold higher than in LCN mice, confirming the fact that P450-catalyzed metabolism in the small intestine, the portal-of-entry organ for oral drugs, plays an important role in the first-pass clearance of oral nifedipine.
Analysis of Autophosphorylating Kinase Activities of Arabidopsis and Human Cryptochromes

Cryptochromes are FAD-based blue-light photoreceptors that regulate growth and development in plants and the circadian clock in animals. Arabidopsis thaliana and humans possess two cryptochromes. Recently, it was found that Arabidopsis cryptochrome 1 (AtCry1) binds ATP and exhibits autokinase activity that is simulated by blue light. Similarly, it was reported that human cryptochrome 1 (HsCry1) exhibited autophosphorylation activity under blue light. To test the generality of light stimulated kinase function of cryptochromes, we purified AtCry1, AtCry2, HsCry1, and HsCry2 and probed them for kinase activity under a variety of conditions. We find that AtCry1, which contains near stoichiometric amounts of FAD and human HsCry1 and HsCry2 (which contain only trace amounts of FAD), has autokinase activity, but AtCry2, which also contains stoichiometric amounts of FAD, does not. Finally, we find that the kinase activity of AtCry1 is not significantly affected by light or the redox status of the flavin cofactor.
GSI resonances are not von Neumann-Wigner states

Abstract It has been suggested that the sharp resonances observed at GSI may be due to bound states of the e + e − system. Two research groups working independently have supported this suggestion by numerical calculations based on several non-local relativistic two-body equations derived from QED. Both groups have drawn an analogy between the continuum bound states found in their numerical calculations and those found by von Neumann and Wigner in the context ov non-relativistic quantum mechanics. Abruzov et al. [JETP Lett. 50 (1989) 262] derived a certain quasi-local non-relativistic potential as an approximation to the relativistic equation used im their numerical work, and susggested without proof that this non-relativistic potential could support continuum bound states of the von Neumann-Wigner Kind. We show that this conjucture conflict wwith a theorem due to Weidmann and Simon.
Synthesis and Structure of [TpBut2]In, a Highly Twisted [Tris(3,5-di-tert-butylpyrazolyl)hydroborato]indium(I) Complex: Comparison with the Re-Evaluated Ordered Structure of [TpBut]In

The indium(I) complex [TpBut2]In ([TpBut2] = tris(3,5-di-tert-butylpyrazolyl)hydroborato), synthesized by the reaction of [TpBut2]Na with InCl, exhibits a structure in which the [TpBut2] ligand adopts a highly twisted configuration due to steric interactions of the tert-butyl substituents in the 5-positions of the pyrazolyl groups. In contrast, the absence of 5-tert-butyl substituents allows the pyrazolyl groups in [TpBut]In to be coplanar with their respective In−N−N−B planes. The structure of [TpBut]In has been previously reported but was noted to exhibit an unusual type of disorder in which a nitrogen atom of one molecule was coincident with the boron atom of its disordered configuration [Dias, H. V. R.; Huai, L.; Jin, W.; Bott, S. G. Inorg. Chem. 1995, 34, 1973−1974]. In view of the unusual nature of the disorder, which involved both a 2-fold rotation and a canting of the molecule, the disordered structure of [TpBut]In was re-evaluated. Significantly, an ordered structure of [TpBut]In was obtained. Th...
Targeted deletion of Vegfa in adult mice induces vision loss

Current therapies directed at controlling vascular abnormalities in cancers and neovascular eye diseases target VEGF and can slow the progression of these diseases. While the critical role of VEGF in development has been well described, the function of locally synthesized VEGF in the adult eye is incompletely understood. Here, we show that conditionally knocking out Vegfa in adult mouse retinal pigmented epithelial (RPE) cells, which regulate retinal homeostasis, rapidly leads to vision loss and ablation of the choriocapillaris, the major blood supply for the outer retina and photoreceptor cells. This deletion also caused rapid dysfunction of cone photoreceptors, the cells responsible for fine visual acuity and color vision. Furthermore, Vegfa deletion showed significant downregulation of multiple angiogenic genes in both physiological and pathological states, whereas the deletion of the upstream regulatory transcriptional factors HIFs did not affect the physiological expressions of angiogenic genes. These results suggest that endogenous VEGF provides critical trophic support necessary for retinal function. Targeting factors upstream of VEGF, such as HIFs, may be therapeutically advantageous compared with more potent and selective VEGF antagonists, which may have more off-target inhibitory trophic effects.
Systemically and topically administered leptin both accelerate wound healing in diabetic ob/ob mice.

Leptin is a 16 kD protein that is produced by adipocytes and induces weight loss in both normal and genetically obese ob/ob mice. ob/ob mice are obese, have multiple metabolic abnormalities, and exhibit impaired wound healing. Exogenous administration of leptin to these animals induces weight loss and corrects their metabolic defects. Leptin’s effect on wound repair, however, has not been studied. Systemic administration of leptin at doses ranging from 0.1 to 10 mg/kg/day induced a highly significant acceleration in wound repair in ob/ob mice (p<0.0001), but not in db/db mice, indicating that leptin’s effects on wound repair were mediated through the leptin receptor. We then investigated the possibility that leptin was acting directly at the wound site by administering leptin topically, and found that topical leptin also induced a dose dependent acceleration in wound repair (p<0.0001). In addition, we found that all forms of leptin receptor, including the signal transducing long form, were present in skin...
Formation of a hexokinase complex is associated with changes in energy utilization in celery organs and cells

We previously presented evidence that the hexose-regulated repression of the mannitol catabolic enzyme mannitol dehydrogenase (MTD) in celery (Apium graveolens L.) may be mediated by hexokinase (EC 2.7.1.1) (HK) [Prata et al. (1997) Plant Physiol 114: 307-314]. To see if differential regulation of HK forms might be involved in the sugar-regulated repression of MTD we characterized two forms of HK with respect to their expression in various plant organs as well as in celery suspension cell cultures. We found that the vast majority of HK activity was membrane-associated, whereas fructokinase (EC 2.7.1.4) was found largely in the soluble cell fraction. Gel filtration chromatography further revealed the differential expression of two molecular size classes of HK. One HK (HK-L) chromatographed at 68 kDa, a typical size for a plant HK, while the second (HK-H) chromatographed at 280 kDa. This unique 280 kDa HK was shown to be composed of a 50 kDa HK protein, possibly complexed with other, as yet unidentified, components. The HK-L was present in all cells and organs analyzed, and thus may be a likely candidate for mediation of sugar repression. In contrast, the presence of the HK-H complex was specific to certain organs and cells grown under certain conditions. Our analyses here showed no correlation between the presence of the HK-H and MTD repression or derepression in celery cells. Instead, the HK-H complex was present exclusively in rapidly growing organs and cells, but not in non-growing celery storage tissues or in carbon-depleted celery suspension-cultured cells. Furthermore, the HK-H complex was present when Glc in the growth media was replaced with 2-deoxy Glc, a HK substrate that does not provide energy for growth and metabolism. These results imply that the HK-H complex may have a potentially unique role in the metabolism of rapidly growing celery cells, in particular, in hexose phosphorylation. We also found that mitochondria prepared from Glc-grown celery suspension-cultured cells contained substantial HK activity, and that oxygen uptake of these mitochondria was stimulated by Glc. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that mitochondrial localization of celery HK may play a role in rapid recycling of adenylate.
The ultraviolet spectrophotometric determination of gold

Abstract An ultraviolet spectrophotometric method for the determination of gold is proposed which is based on the use of ammonium 1-pyrrolidinecarbodithioate, also often called ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate, as a complexant. Conformity to Beer's law was observed for 0.5 to 5 ppm of gold. The molar absorptivity was 3.83 × 10 4 liter mole −1 cm −1 .
Sensitivity improvement in 2D and 3D HCCH spectroscopy using heteronuclear cross-polarization

A new method, which employs a sequence of heteronuclear-homonuclear-heteronuclear Hartmann-Hahn (HEHOHEHAHA) cross-polarization steps for obtaining through-bond H-C-C-H correlations in larger proteins (Mr > 15 kDa), is presented. The method has significantly higher sensitivity compared to INEPTHOHAHA-INEPT-based techniques. An additional feature of this experiment is that well-phaseable spectra may be obtained with a minimal (4-step) phase cycle and, consequently, experimental time can be utilized towards obtaining high resolution in indirect dimensions. Results from 2D and 3D HEHOHEHAHA experiments on T4-lysozyme are presented.
Optimal implementation approach for discrete wavelet transform using FIR filter banks on FPGAs

We present a wavelet transform implementation approach using a FIR filter bank that uses a Wallace Tree structure for fast multiplication. VHDL models targeted specifically for synthesize have been written for clocked data registers, adders and the multiplier. Symmetric wavelets like Biorthogonal wavelets can be implemented using this design. By changing the input filter coefficients different wavelet decompositions may be implemented. The design is mapped onto the ORCA series FPGA after synthesis and optimization for timing and area.
Using markets to allocate pollution permits and other scarce resource rights under limited information

Abstract We consider the design of government policy to ration such scarce resources as water or pollution permits in the presence of limited information. When government policy is formulated, some informed agents (e.g. established public utilities) know how highly they value the resource. Other uninformed agents (e.g. potential independent power producers) only learn their valuations at some later date. The government allows uninformed agents to trade the resource rights they receive on a competitive market. Informed agents may or may not have the same privilege. The optimal initial distribution of resource rights differs significantly according to whether informed agents can trade the rights they receive.
Von Compliance zu Adhärenz

Wandel der Begrifflichkeiten - In den letzten Jahren hat sich im Hinblick auf das Verstandnis der Therapietreue der Patienten ein starker Wandel vollzogen. Das fuhrt dazu, dass der Begriff „Compliance“ immer haufiger durch die Bezeichnung „Adharenz“ ersetzt wird.
Decomposing growth in revenues and costs into price, quantity and total factor productivity contributions

This article employs the superlative Fisher and Tornqvist indexes for exact decomposition of growth in nominal revenues and costs. The findings confirm the well-known result that these indexes very closely approximate each other, implying that the mathematically simpler and computationally easier Tornqvist is the more practicable index. Moreover, this article's nominal growth decomposition yields all the results from the more common real growth decomposition and is also more informative for policy purposes. Application to the US agricultural sector during 1948–2001 shows that of the 3.31% average annual growth in revenues, TFP growth contributed 1.90 percentage points (pct. pts.); growth in output prices added 1.43 pct. pts.; while growth in input quantities contributed – 0.02 pct. pts. (i.e. fewer inputs). Therefore, real output growth (or revenue growth less output price growth) was 1.88 pct. pts., revealing that TFP's 1.90 pct. pts. growth contribution was fully responsible for real output growth with ...
Analysis of two-dimensional radiative heat transfer in a gray medium with internal heat generation

Abstract Radiative heat transfer in a two-dimensional rectangular enclosure with gray medium and internal heat generation is considered. Solutions are generated by a point allocation technique in which unknown temperature profiles are expressed as polynomials. Based on a recently developed generalized exponential integral function, the present solution technique is demonstrated to be computationally more efficient than most of the conventional solution methods. For the case with constant internal heat generation, numerical solutions for temperature and heat flux distributions for enclosures of different optical thicknesses and aspect ratios are obtained. Analytical solutions are developed in the optically thin limit. Both the optical thickness and the enclosure geometry are demonstrated to have strong effects on the temperature distribution within the medium. The average heat transfer to the different boundaries, on the other hand, appears to depend mainly on the enclosure geometry.
The Effect of Circuit Breakers on Expected Volatility: Tests Using Implied Volatilities

Following the 1987 stock market crash, trading controls or circuit breakers were implemented in financial markets to moderate extreme volatility. However, the effectiveness of circuit breakers on the operation of these markets is disputed. While some argue that circuit breakers curb the effects of overreaction in markets and restore confidence, others argue that these trading interruptions merely delay price movements to later periods or to other markets. This paper examines the effect of changes in circuit breaker rules on the market's expectation of future volatility. The results have policy implications and suggest that the circuit breaker rule changes have no effect on expected volatility.
The influence of word frequency on recency effects in directed free recall

Leading theoretical explanations of recency effects are designed to explain the reported absence of a word frequency effect on recall of words from recency serial positions. The present study used a directed free-recall procedure (J. J. Dalezman, 1976) and manipulated the frequency composition of the word lists (pure and mixed). Overall, with pure lists, a greater proportion of high-frequency (HF) words were recalled than low-frequency (LF) words, and with mixed lists, a greater proportion of LF words were recalled than HF words. Of importance, this recall advantage for one frequency over the other as a function of list composition was evident across the last three serial positions, indicating an influence of word frequency on recency effects that is dependent on the frequency composition of the lists. These results challenge one of the major assumptions on which several theories of recency effects have been based.
The role of elevation, relative sea-level history and vegetation transition in determining carbon distribution in Spartina alterniflora dominated salt marshes

Abstract Spartina alterniflora salt marshes are among the most productive ecosystems on earth, and represent a substantial global carbon sink. Understanding the spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of both above- and below-ground carbon in these wetland ecosystems is especially important considering their potential in carbon sequestration projects, as well as for conservation efforts in the context of a changing climate and rising sea-level. Through the use of extensive field sampling and remote sensing data (Light Detection and Ranging – LiDAR, and aerial images), we sought to map and explain how vegetation biomass and soil carbon are related to elevation and relative sea-level change in a S. alterniflora dominated salt marsh on Galveston Island, Texas. The specific objectives of this study were to: 1) understand the relationship between elevation and the distribution of salt marsh vegetation percent cover, plant height, plant density, above-and below-ground biomass, and carbon, and 2) evaluate the temporal changes in relative sea-level history, vegetation transitions, and resulting changes in the patterns of soil carbon distribution. Our results indicated a clear zonation of terrain and vegetation characteristics (i.e., height, cover and biomass). In the soil profile, carbon concentrations and bulk densities showed significant and abrupt change at a depth of ∼10–15 cm. This apparent transition in the soil characteristics coincided temporally with a transformation of the land cover, as driven by a rapid increase in relative sea-level around this time at the sample locations. The amounts of soil carbon stored in recently established S. alterniflora intertidal marshes were significantly lower than those that have remained in situ for a longer period of time. Thus, in order to quantify and predict carbon in coastal wetlands, and also to understand the heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of carbon stocks, it is essential to understand not only the elevation, the relative sea-level rise rate, and the vertical accretion rate – but also the history of land cover change and vegetation transition.
Dual‐band millimeter‐wave/infrared focal‐plane arrays

In this paper, a novel arrangement for dual-band millimeter-wave and infrared focal plane array based on slot-antenna-coupled metal-oxide-metal diodes is demonstrated. The receiving properties for millimeter-wave and infrared antenna-coupled detector pixels are presented. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 46: 78–80, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.20906
Efficacy of self-instructional training for reducing children's anxiety in an evaluative situation.

Abstract Fifty-six fourth-grade children were categorized as either high or low in trait anxiety and then assigned to a self-instruction treatment, minimal-treatment, or no-treatment control condition. At both pretest and posttest, the subjects recited a memorized poem while being videotaped with the expectation that they would be judged on their performance. State anxiety measures, a behavior rating of anxiety, a measure of performance accuracy and the time involved in reciting a poem were obtained at both pretest and posttest. Contrary to expectation, the self-instructional training resulted in subjects' exhibiting greater signs of behavioral anxiety, subjects' hurrying through the task (taking less time to recite the poem) and high trait-anxiety subjects' reporting more state anxiety while anticipating reciting the poem. Correlational analyses indicated that trait anxiety was significantly related to the measures of state anxiety and the behavior rating of anxiety but not to performance accuracy.
Mechanism of damnacanthal-induced [Ca2+]i elevation in human dermal fibroblasts

Abstract Damnacanthal is a potent and selective inhibitor of p56 lck tyrosine kinase in a variety of tissues. We have found, however, using the Ca 2+ microfluorimetry technique, that damnacanthal releases intracellular Ca 2+ stores and promotes Ca 2+ entry in human dermal fibroblasts. The effect of damnacanthal on the peak [Ca 2+ ] i values and the latent time to the peak was concentration-dependent. Damnacanthal releases Ca 2+ from thapsigargin-sensitive Ca 2+ stores, and the Ca 2+ stores responding to damnacanthal were overlapped with those of bradykinin. Damnacanthal-induced Ca 2+ entry was mediated by voltage-dependent and voltage-independent Ca 2+ channels. This effect of damnacanthal on intracellular Ca 2+ mobilization was also observed in cultured bovine coronary endothelial cells but not demonstrated in freshly isolated rat basilar smooth muscle cells. Our study suggests that damnacanthal increases intracellular Ca 2+ by releasing Ca 2+ from internal stores and promoting Ca 2+ entry. The relationship between the actions of damnacanthal on tyrosine kinase and intracellular Ca 2+ requires further investigation.
Frequency-domain fluorescence spectroscopy, a new method for the resolution of complex fluorescence emission

Abstract The fluorescence emission from complex chemical and biological samples can be resolved by measuring the frequency-response of the emission, which is now possible from 1 to 2000 MHz. The frequency-response allows determination of the components in a mixture, construction of time-resolved emission spectra, and measurement of the dynamic and hydrodynamic properties of biological macromolecules. The instrumentation is relatively simple, and data acquisition times can be short. At present, this method may be superior to direct measurements of time-resolved fluorescence emission.
Pleistocene horses from Tarija, Bolivia, and validity of the genus †Onohippidium (Mammalia: Equidae)

ABSTRACT The rich Pleistocene (Ensenadan) mammalian fauna from Tarija, Bolivia, contains abundant fossil horses. Traditionally, it has been stated that three genera, Equus and the hippidiforms Hippidion and Onohippidium, and as many as five species are represented by the equids in the Tarija fauna. Recently, it has been proposed that Onohippidium is a junior synonym of Hippidion and thus there is only one valid genus of hippidiform at Tarija. The present study reports new data from upper and lower dentitions, metapodials, and the skull (particularly the preorbitai facial fossa) showing that three monospecific equid genera are present in the Pleistocene of Tarija, including the primitive hippidiforms Hippidion principale and Onohippidium devillei, and the advanced equine Equus insulatus. The genus Onohippidium is indeed valid and distinct from Hippidion based on facial characters, dental pattern, and metatarsal proportions. Comparisons with relevant equids from North America confirm that the hippidiform ho...