cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Primary Brain and Central Nervous System Neoplasms in the Automated Central Tumor Registry: 2000-2010 (P07.108)

Objective: Compare the descriptive epidemiology of primary CNS neoplasms in the ACTUR with the Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States (CBTRUS). Background The Automated Central Tumor Registry (ACTUR) compiles cancer data on Department of Defense beneficiaries (active duty servicemembers (SMs), family members, military retirees). Epidemiologic characteristics of primary CNS neoplasms in this population have not been described previously. Design/Methods: We obtained anatomic location and histologies of malignant and benign primary CNS neoplasms, 2000-2010. Unadjusted incidence rates for active duty SMs were based on the average active duty population, 2000-2009. Overall survival (OS) was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: 3452 cases were identified in the ACTUR, 1443 malignant and 2009 benign CNS neoplasms. Overall, median age was 41 years and 53% were male. 8% were ages 0-17, 23% 18-30, 34% 31-49, and 35% over 50. Overall, the most common anatomic locations were pituitary (22.6%), meninges (18.3%), and frontal lobes (11.2%). The most common histologies, including benign and malignant cases, were pituitary (22.4%), meningioma (20.1%) and glioblastoma (12.2%). Median OS for glioblastoma cases diagnosed 2000-2004 (n=207) was 9.9 months versus 12.2 months for cases diagnosed 2005-2010 (n=243), a non-significant difference (p=0.46). 1171 (34%) cases were active duty SMs, 74% were male, median age was 31. In SMs, the most common histologies were pituitary (24.1%), astrocytoma (15.5%) and nerve sheath tumor (11.0%). The unadjusted incidence rate of primary CNS neoplasms in SMs was 8.5 per 100,000, similar to ages 20-34 in the CBTRUS (7.9 per 100,000). Conclusions: Primary CNS neoplasms in DOD beneficiaries have a similar anatomic and histologic breakdown compared to the general U.S. population. Histologic breakdown and incidence rate of cases in active duty SMs were similar to young adults in the CBTRUS. However, despite reports from other registries, OS in glioblastoma cases from the ACTUR did not significantly improve from 2000-2010. Supported by: Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. Disclosure: Dr. Theeler has nothing to disclose. Dr. Gilbert has received personal compensation for activities with Schering-Plough Corporation and UCB Pharma as speaker and/or consultant. Dr. Gilbert has received research support from Schering-Plough Corporation. Dr. Bondy has nothing to disclose.
Sex Pheromone-Based Trapping System for Papaya Fruit Fly (Diptera: Tephritidae)

In the laboratory and in field cages, papaya fruit flies, Toxotrypana curvicauda Gerstaecker, responded optimally (short range attraction and landing) to visual stimuli characteristic of host fruit. The compound eyes of male and female papaya fruit flies were most sensitive to blue (475 nm) and green (500 nm) wavelengths when measured by electro-physiological methods. A fruit model (12.7 cm diameter, dark green sphere) was combined with synthetic sex pheromone (2,6-methylvinyl pyrazine) in a controlled release formulation, to make a trap for capturing papaya fruit flies in the field. Flies attracted by the pheromone landed on the sticky-coated fruit mimic and were caught. In a field test of the trap with different sex pheromone release rates, mostly females were caught. Catches of females were higher in traps releasing 140, 300, and 900 ng/h than in unbaited control traps. Males were caught in traps with all release rates of pheromone tested, but none significantly higher than in unbaited traps. This is only the second successful field test of sex-pheromone baited traps for fruit flies.
Regulatory and Other Barriers to Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture: A Case Study of Urban Planners and Urban Farmers from the Greater Chicago Metropolitan Area

Seven perceived barriers to urban and peri-urban agriculture in the greater Chicago metropolitan area are identified through interviews with urban planners and farmers. All seven perceived barriers involve unclear or agriculture-unfriendly regulations governing urban and peri-urban agriculture. Results suggest that urban and peri-urban farmers commonly are being forced to operate within a legal limbo or petition for exceptions to a variety of current regulations. The study documents the need for clear and agriculture-inclusive local ordinances and provides direction for local efforts to create them.
Connecting Microphysical Processes in Colorado Winter Storms with Vertical Profiles of Radar Observations

AbstractTo better connect radar observations to microphysical processes, the authors analyze concurrent polarimetric radar observations at vertical incidence and roughly side incidence during the Front Range Orographic Storms (FROST) project. Data from three events show signatures of riming, aggregation, and dendritic growth. Riming and the growth of graupel are suggested by negative differential reflectivity ZDR and vertically pointing Doppler velocity magnitude |VR| > 2.0 m s−1; aggregation is indicated by maxima in the downward-relative gradient of radar reflectivity at horizontal polarization ZH below the −15°C isotherm and positive downward-relative gradients in |VR| when averaged over time. A signature of positive downward-relative gradients in ZH, negative downward-relative gradients in |VR|, and maxima in ZDR is observed near −15°C during all three events. This signature may be indicative of dendritic growth; preexisting, thick platelike crystals fall faster and grow slower than dendrites, allowin...
Lessons Learned in Patients with Large Steinstrasse

Experience with 19 patients (25 ureters) who suffered the complication of a large steinstrasse (a third or more of the ureteral length) has led to lessons regarding the management of this complication as well as to insights into patient presentation, metabolic consequences, and the efficiency of diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. Few symptoms were present in a large percentage of patients despite urinary obstruction, decreased renal function, infection and in several cases impending sepsis. Large stone burdens, bilateral treatment, inability to debulk stone burden before extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and unexpected fragment movement were definite predisposing factors in the development of this complication. Double pigtail stents and percutaneous nephrostomy alone did not always prevent or resolve the problem. Combined use of percutaneous nephrostomy and ureteroscopic ultrasonic or laser lithotripsy appears to be the most effective treatment modality in patients who fail brief observation. This approach can be combined under appropriate circumstances with a secondary extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy or percutaneous nephrolithotripsy treatment in the staged management of complex upper urinary tract calculous disease.
Whole-cell currents in rat cortical collecting tubule: low-Na diet increases amiloride-sensitive conductance.

Individual principal cells within the rat cortical collecting tubule were studied under voltage-clamp conditions using the whole-cell variation of the patch-clamp technique. Isolated tubules were s...
Topological and Quantum Size Effects in Superconductors at Reduced Length Scale

The periodicity of persistent currents in multiply connected geometries arising from the Aharonov and Bohm effect is studied for both s-wave superconducting ring and d-wave superconducting cylinder. The loop geometry of a d-wave superconductor is also considered. The solutions of the BdG equations suggest that the hc∕e-periodicity is a generic property in s-wave superconductor ring at the mesoscale and in unconventional superconductors. Finally, the theoretical approach to solving the BdG equations is also provided for nanoscale superconductors. The quantum size effects are showcased with the oscillation of transition temperature.
Hexamethylmelamine: Metabolic Activation and Cytotoxicity

Hexamethylmelamine (HMM) is an investigational s-triazine antitumour agent with established antitumour activity against human malignancies. We have shown that HMM is metabolically activated by hepatic monooxygenases to reactive species which covalently bind to microsomal protein and to calf thymus DNA. The N-methylol intermediate in HMM demethylation covalently binds to protein and calf thymus DNA in the absence of activating systems (Ames et al, Cancer Res. 43: 500, 1983). When HMM is incubated for 1hr with continuous human tumour cell lines in culture, no inhibition of colony formation is observed at concentrations as high as 200µg/ml. In this same system, mitomycin C totally abolishes colony formation at concentrations of 0.4µg/ml. When HMM is similarly incubated in the presence of 9,000 x g rat liver supernatant activating system, colony formation is inhibited only when NADPH is added to incubation mixtures. Cyclophosphamide was used as a positive control for these studies. We have also determined that HMM is significantly metabolised in an NADPH dependent manner by rat kidney, lung and brain microsomal preparations, but not by tumour cells under identical conditions. Cytotoxicity appears to be dependent on conversion of HMM to alkylating metabolites by hepatic and possibly extrahepatic tissues rather than formation of such metabolites by tumour cells. Supported in part by RCDA CA0755 (MMA), and CA30250, DHHS.
Digestibility of energy, amino acids, and phosphorus in a novel source of soy protein concentrate and in soybean meal fed to growing pigs

Three experiments were conducted to determine standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of CP and AA, DE and ME, and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) and standardized total tract digestibility (STTD) of P in a new source of soy protein concentrate (SPC) and in soybean meal (SBM). In Exp. 1, 9 barrows (initial BW: 13.08 ± 1.98 kg) were prepared with a T-cannula in the distal ileum and allotted to a triplicated 3 × 3 Latin square design with 3 diets and 3 periods. A nitrogen-free diet and 2 diets that contained corn starch and SPC or SBM as the sole source of CP and AA were formulated. Each period lasted 7 d, and ileal digesta were collected on d 6 and 7 of each period. The SID for Ile, Leu, Phe, Pro, and Tyr was greater ( < 0.05) in SPC than in SBM, but for CP and all other AA, no difference between SPC and SBM was observed. In Exp. 2, 24 barrows (initial BW: 13.94 ± 1.34 kg) were housed individually in metabolism crates and randomly allotted to 1 of 3 diets. A corn-based diet (96.9% corn) and 2 diets that contained corn and SPC or corn and SBM were formulated. Each diet was fed to 8 pigs. Feces and urine samples were collected using the marker to marker method with 5-d adaptation and 5-d collection periods. The DE and ME in SPC and SBM were calculated using the difference procedure. Results indicated that the ATTD of GE was lower ( < 0.05) in SBM than in corn and the DE and ME in SPC were greater ( < 0.01) than in corn and SBM. In Exp. 3, 40 barrows (initial BW: 14.12 ± 2.08 kg) were placed in metabolism crates and allotted to 4 diets in a randomized complete block design with 10 pigs per diet. Two diets were based on SPC or SBM as the sole source of P. Two additional diets were formulated by adding microbial phytase to diets that were otherwise similar to the 2 initial diets. Feces were collected for 5 d after a 5-d adaptation period and values for ATTD and STTD of P were calculated. No differences were observed in ATTD and STTD of P between SPC and SBM, but the ATTD and STTD of P of both SPC and SBM were greater ( < 0.01) if microbial phytase was added to the diets. In conclusion, the concentrations of DE and ME are greater in SPC than in SBM, but the SID of most AA and the STTD of P are not different between SPC and SBM.
Influence of Scale Formation on Copper Enrichment Behaviour in Continuously Cast Slab

Copper enrichment behavior in continuously cast slab induced by scale formation after continuous cooling in H2O vapor atmosphere and consecutively in air has been experimentally investigated by combining with SEM-EDS analysis, for the purpose to examine the effects of initial slab surface temperature and contents of copper and nickel. For Slab 1 with copper content of 0.1 percent, no visible copper enrichment is found at scale-substrate interface irrespective of the various scale microstructures formed at different initial slab surface temperatures. For Slab 2 with higher contents of copper and nickel, copper-rich phase accumulates and stays at scale-substrate interface under the condition of lower initial slab surface temperature; while Cu-rich phase in the porous scale formed at higher initial slab surface temperature is noted with simultaneous Ni-emichment appearing in front of the steel-scale interface. Both a porous scale and high nickel content work together to provide pores for copper-rich phase migration away from interface and occlude within the scale layer.
Eye blinking in an avian species is associated with gaze shifts.

Even when animals are actively monitoring their environment, they lose access to visual information whenever they blink. They can strategically time their blinks to minimize information loss and improve visual functioning but we have little understanding of how this process operates in birds. This study therefore examined blinking in freely-moving peacocks (Pavo cristatus) to determine the relationship between their blinks, gaze shifts and context. Peacocks wearing a telemetric eye-tracker were exposed to a taxidermy predator (Vulpes vulpes) and their blinks and gaze shifts were recorded. Peacocks blinked during the majority of their gaze shifts, especially when gaze shifts were large, thereby timing their blinks to coincide with periods when visual information is already suppressed. They inhibited their blinks the most when they exhibited high rates of gaze shifts and were thus highly alert. Alternative hypotheses explaining the link between blinks and gaze shifts are discussed.
Developing a Motion Comic for HIV/STD Prevention for Young People Ages 15-24, Part 2: Evaluation of a Pilot Intervention

ABSTRACTIn the United States, young people (ages 15–24 years) are disproportionately affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), due at least in part to inadequate or incorrect HIV/STD-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intentions (KABI). Comic book narratives are a proven method of HIV/STD prevention communication to strengthen KABI for HIV/STD prevention. Motion comics, a new type of comic media, are an engaging and low-cost means of narrative storytelling. The objective of this study was to quantitatively evaluate the effectiveness of a pilot six-episode HIV/STD-focused motion comic series to improve HIV/STD-related KABI among young people. We assessed change in HIV/STD knowledge, HIV stigma, condom attitudes, HIV/STD testing attitudes, and behavioral intentions among 138 participants in 15 focus groups immediately before and after viewing the motion comic series. We used paired t-tests and indicators of overall improvement to assess...
Entrepreneurial impact sourcing: a conceptual framework of social and commercial institutional logics

This article answers calls for better characterizations of impact sourcing given its potential to create social impacts in conjunction with global sourcing. It introduces a conceptual framework consisting of four dimensions drawn from entrepreneurship literature: primary mission, success criteria, resource mobilization and innovation approach – that characterize entrepreneurial impact sourcing service providers. These four dimensions are anchored across ideal types of social and commercial institutional logics to explicitly account for and capture the dual social and commercial value orientations of impact sourcing service providers as acknowledged in the literature. We evaluate the utility of this framework by using it to assess a US-based business process outsourcing social enterprise that focuses on the underserved workforce of military veterans and spouses of military personnel. We found that this firm used social logic for both the firm's primary mission and the firm's resource mobilization; it used commercial logic for its success criteria, and it used both logics for its innovation. Our analysis of the case substantiates the applicability of the framework for capturing variation in how impact sourcing providers may selectively draw upon different logics across the four dimensions. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Mechanisms and catheter ablation therapy of atrial fibrillation.

Presented at the Texas Heart Institute's Sixth Symposium on Cardiac Arrhythmias: New Pharmacologic and Interventional Strategies; held at the Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa; 19 February 2005; Houston. E-mail: ude.hcimu@ydaromf
Legislatures as Gendered Organizations: Challenges and Opportunities for Women’s Empowerment as Political Elites

This chapter focuses on opportunities for and limitations to women’s global political empowerment at the organizational/institutional level by examining how legislative committee organizations institutionalize gender. Building from theories of gendering new institutions, gendered organizations, and gender as a social structure, this chapter suggests ways we can use these theories to better understand gendered legislatures as important fields of women’s political (dis)empowerment. A descriptive analysis illustrates women’s segregation within a masculine/men’s dominated committee space. Electing more women does not guarantee more empowerment for women in committees. The findings highlight women’s empowerment as an organizational outcome that can vary in substance and scope. I conclude with suggestions for specific steps that can be taken to develop these ideas to understand women’s political empowerment worldwide.
Modern History of Military and Veteran Mental Health Care

This chapter reviews roughly 100 years of evolution in the nature of warfare, knowledge of psychiatric consequences of warfare, and forms and systems of treatment for active duty USA military service members and veterans. Archival records from World War I and World War II, monographs prepared by the Veterans Administration, reports from the Congressional Research Office, and peer-reviewed published reports from the mid-twentieth century to the present are among the records analyzed. The selection of service members has evolved from massive mobilization and demobilization surrounding the two world wars and the Korean and Vietnam Wars to a professional volunteer force during the Gulf War and conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Concepts of battle fatigue and shell shock gave way to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). The concept of a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) evolved with the need for classification of soldiers’ reactions to military service. The practice of psychiatry and the nature of psychiatric treatments have expanded exponentially, in part due to the study of the effects of warfare on military members and veterans.
Marianismo Beliefs, Intimate Partner Violence, and Psychological Distress Among Recently Immigrated, Young Adult Latinas.

Marianismo is a Latino cultural value that describes both positive and negative aspects of traditional Latina femininity. Marianismo emphasizes culturally valued qualities such as interpersonal har...
Branching Random Walk

In a volume dedicated to Ted Harris, it is appropriate that there should be some discussion of branching processes, a subject of which he is one of the founders. In a series of papers in the 1940’s and 50’s (see references [1] to [9] at the end of this paper), culminating in his famous 1963 book “The Theory of Branching Processes” [10], he helped to lay the rigorous mathematical foundations of the subject, to answer a number of basic questions, and to show the direction of many future lines of research.
A Personal Outlook on Generator Research

If we want domain-specific program generation to form the basis of a strong, long-lived research community, we need to recognize what its potential impact might be and why the promise has not been fulfilled so far. In this chapter, I review my past work on generators and I present a collection of personal opinions on the symptoms convincing me that there is room for improvement in the generators research community. Then I analyze the causes of these symptoms, some of which are inherent, while some others can be overcome. A major cause of difficulty is the inherent domain-specificity of generators that often makes research work be less valuable to other generator writers who are unfamiliar with the domain. I propose directions on what should be considered promising research for the community, what I believe are useful principles for generator design, and what community building measures we can take.
The conserved protective cyclic AMP-phosphodiesterase function PDE4B is expressed in the adenoma and adjacent normal colonic epithelium of mammals and silenced in colorectal cancer.

Conservation over three mammalian genera—the mouse, rat, and human—has been found for a subset of the transcripts whose level differs between the adenoma and normal epithelium of the colon. Pde4b is one of the triply conserved transcripts whose level is enhanced both in the colonic adenoma and in the normal colonic epithelium, especially adjacent to adenomas. It encodes the phosphodiesterase PDE4B, specific for cAMP. Loss of PDE4B function in the ApcMin/+ mouse leads to a significant increase in the number of colonic adenomas. Similarly, Pde4b-deficient ApcMin/+ mice are hypersensitive to treatment by the inflammatory agent DSS, becoming moribund soon after treatment. These observations imply that the PDE4B function protects against ApcMin-induced adenomagenesis and inflammatory lethality. The paradoxical enhancement of the Pde4b transcript in the adenoma versus this inferred protective function of PDE4B can be rationalized by a feedback model in which PDE4B is first activated by early oncogenic stress involving cAMP and then, as reported for frank human colon cancer, inactivated by epigenetic silencing.
Elizabeth Inchbald’s Pocket Diaries

In this chapter, I consider excerpts from Elizabeth Inchbald’s pocket diaries from 1781–1820 in order to theorize the significance of the pocket diary as an embodied archive—that is, as an object and receptacle of information that is literally and figuratively tied to the body. In particular, I examine Inchbald’s references to clothing—wearing her “white silk” dress onstage and off, and her use of a “cletin” elastic waistcoat, which she wore to alleviate the symptoms of her “complaint” (an ailment that plagued her in her later years). Tracing the larger cultural resonance of these garments connects Inchbald’s daily performances to a range of representations of eighteenth-century women. The chapter also looks at Inchbald’s vexed relationship with the notorious actress Mary Wells. I contend that material about their association recorded in Inchbald’s pocket diary represents a “shadow archive” or an alternative record of theatrical women that does not appear in official documents, memoirs, or biographies. The present-day scholar’s relationship to this text, a hybrid genre of private and public material, resembles a touristic encounter—the diary itself presents an opportunity for “staged intimacy,” a window into the backstage regions of Inchbald’s experience.
Associations of anthropometric measures of obesity with physical limitations in older adults

Introduction: Physical limitations are associated loss of independence, lower quality of life, greater healthcare costs, and mortality. Changes in body composition during the aging process contribu...
Electrophysiology finds no inherent delay for grammatical gender retrieval in non-native production

Late second language (L2) learners experience pervasive difficulty mastering grammatical gender, and a comprehensive account of this deficit has yet to emerge. We investigate a previously unexamined aspect of L2 gender use: the time course of lexical feature retrieval. Using event-related potentials (ERPs) with a covert production task, we examined whether L2 gender retrieval is delayed relative to phonology and to the time course of feature retrieval in native speakers for familiar nouns whose gender participants had strong knowledge of. Results find that L2 gender retrieval is not fundamentally delayed, and that L2 lexical feature retrieval may be more susceptible to top-down influences. These findings place important constraints on accounts of L2 acquisition and processing with respect to how lexical features are represented and retrieved. Our results further suggest that deficits in online L2 gender use may stem from post-retrieval processes and/or retrieval errors rather than inherent delays in gender retrieval.
Cerebrovascular Disease in Patients with COVID-19: A Review of the Literature and Case Series

COVID-19 has been associated with a hypercoagulable state causing cardiovascular and neurovascular complications. To further characterize cerebrovascular disease (CVD) in COVID-19, we review the current literature of published cases and additionally report the clinical presentation, laboratory and diagnostic testing results of 12 cases with COVID-19 infection and concurrent CVD from two academic medical centers in Houston, TX, USA, between March 1 and May 10, 2020. To date, there are 12 case studies reporting 47 cases of CVD in COVID-19. However, only 4 small case series have described the clinical and laboratory findings in patients with COVID-19 and concurrent stroke. Viral neurotropism, endothelial dysfunction, coagulopathy and inflammation are plausible proposed mechanisms of CVD in COVID-19 patients. In our case series of 12 patients, 10 patients had an ischemic stroke, of which 1 suffered hemorrhagic transformation and two had intracerebral hemorrhage. Etiology was determined to be embolic without a clear cause identified in 6 ischemic stroke patients, while the remaining had an identifiable source of stroke. The majority of the patients had elevated inflammatory markers such as D-dimer and interleukin-6. In patients with embolic stroke of unclear etiology, COVID-19 may have played a direct or indirect role in the processes that eventually led to the strokes while in the remaining cases, it is unclear if infection contributed partially or was an incidental finding.
Abstract 17500: A Crisis of the Heart

A 59 year old female with past medical history of metastatic neuroendocrine tumor without cardiac involvement was admitted for transarterial catheter embolization (TACE) procedure of liver lesions....
Family home visiting and fathers: A scoping review

Abstract Early childhood family home visiting (FHV) is an evidence-based intervention aimed at promoting healthy child development, preventing child abuse and neglect, and providing support and education to parents. Despite evidence that fathers provide critical support to their families, little research has focused specifically on fathers involved in FHV. This scoping review aims to systematically assess the current research on the intersection of fathers and FHV and factors associated with fathers’ involvement in FHV programming. Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus were systematically searched. Following title/abstract screening (n = 311) and full-text review (n = 70) for inclusion and exclusion criteria, 36 manuscripts were included in this review. Key findings were organized into six categories: (1) individual father characteristics associated with fathers’ involvement in FHV; (2) programmatic factors associated with fathers’ involvement in FHV; (3) fathers’ outcomes and (4) mothers’ outcomes associated with fathers’ involvement in FHV; (5) fathers’ relationships in the family system; (6) fathers’ engagement with children. Results support previous studies that including fathers in FHV programs and promoting healthy relationships between mothers and fathers improves program retention. However, whether or not fathers participate in FHV appears to be connected to the perceived role of fathers held by fathers, mothers, home visitors, and FHV programs. Negative or apathetic attitudes towards involving fathers in FHV can impact fathers’ involvement in FHV. Lack of consistency in measurement and reliance on maternal report are limitations of the existing literature. Implications for future research center on the need to address programmatic changes to increase father involvement in FHV.
Lack of evidence for positive reinforcing and prosocial effects of MDMA in pair-housed male and female rats.

Abstract 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is classified as an entactogen, producing feelings of emotional openness and relatedness. One unique feature of MDMA is that people tend to selectively take this drug in social and/or intimate situations. Although MDMA is recognized as having abuse liability, preclinical studies report that it has weak reinforcing effects in animals. The objective of this study was to characterize the positive reinforcing and prosocial effects of MDMA in a translational model of the social environment in which two rats have simultaneous and contingent access to MDMA in close physical proximity. To this end, MDMA self-administration was examined on both fixed and progressive ratio schedules of reinforcement in six groups of rats: (1) isolated males, (2) isolated females, (3) male-male dyads, (4) female-female dyads, (5) male-female dyads, and (6) female-male dyads. For pair-housed rats, data from both rats were analyzed. Next, social preferences were examined in a partner preference test. MDMA failed to produce positive reinforcing effects under all conditions examined. Across a 30-fold dose range (0.01–1.0 mg/kg/infusion), MDMA did not maintain higher responding than saline on both schedules of reinforcement and in all groups tested. In partner preference tests, a history of shared exposure to MDMA did not establish a social preference, and acute administration of MDMA failed to establish a preference for another MDMA-treated rat. These data suggest that social contact does not increase the positive reinforcing effects of MDMA in rats, and that neither contingent nor noncontingent MDMA administration establishes a social preference in rats.
Where Are The Genes Missing From Prokaryotic Genomes

Copyright: © 2015 Brocchieri L. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Despite the remarkable achievements of modern computational methods in predicting prokaryotic genes, evolutionary conservation and other analyses suggest that a significant number of genes are missing from published genome annotations [1-3]. Particularly in genomes of high GC content, the presence of coding regions missing from annotations can often be identified simply and reliably by graphically matching annotated coding regions to appropriately visualized compositional properties of the genome sequence, with the method of “frame analysis” [4]. With this method the GC content of the sequence is measured within a moving window (say, about 200 nt wide) in three subsequences, each composed of every third nucleotide, and starting, respectively, at the first, second, or third position of the genome sequence. The GC contents of the three subsequences are plotted along the genome generating three “curves” called “S-profiles” [5]. Whenever a coding region is traversed, each of the three subsequences will be superimposed to first, second, or third positions of the codons, depending on the coding strand and phase of the gene. Thus, each S-profile will represent the GC content of one of the three codon positions of the gene. Since in coding regions of high GC content the three codon positions have very different GC content, very high in third and relatively low in second codon positions (Figure 1), this will reflect in characteristic contrasts between S-profiles, visually corresponding to characteristic “bubbles”, informative of the presence, phase, and coding strand of the underlying gene (Figure 2). When annotated genes are matched to the S-profiles, missed genes will become obvious, as unmatched bubbles. To facilitate using frame analysis on a genomic scale and extend its usage to sequences of any composition, we recently developed a method for quantifying and generalizing the information provided by frame analysis [3], and implemented these methods in the N-Profile Analysis Computational Tool (NPACT), available at http://genome.ufl.edu/npact/, which identifies sequence regions with significant 3-base periodicity (“Hits”) corresponding to S-profile bubbles, looks for associated open reading frames (ORFs), compares them to genome annotations, and displays missing ORFs and corresponding hits together with S-profiles and pre-annotated genes.
Middle Miocene ice sheet dynamics, deep-sea temperatures, and carbon cycling: A Southern Ocean perspective

[1] Relative contributions of ice volume and temperature change to the global ∼1‰ δ18O increase at ∼14 Ma are required for understanding feedbacks involved in this major Cenozoic climate transition. A 3-ma benthic foraminifer Mg/Ca record of Southern Ocean temperatures across the middle Miocene climate transition reveals ∼2 ± 2°C cooling (14.2–13.8 Ma), indicating that ∼70% of the increase relates to ice growth. Seawater δ18O, calculated from Mg/Ca and δ18O, suggests that at ∼15 Ma Antarctica's cryosphere entered an interval of apparent eccentricity-paced expansion. Glaciations increased in intensity, revealing a central role for internal climate feedbacks. Comparison of ice volume and ocean temperature records with inferred pCO2 levels indicates that middle Miocene cryosphere expansion commenced during an interval of Southern Ocean warmth and low atmospheric pCO2. The Antarctic system appears sensitive to changes in heat/moisture supply when atmospheric pCO2 was low, suggesting the importance of internal feedbacks in this climate transition.
Melatonin and tryptophan derivatives as free radical scavengers and antioxidants

Several tryptophan derivatives function as free radical scavengers and antioxidants. The molecule that has been most widely investigated in this regard is N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine (melatonin); however, pinoline (6-methoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-β-carboline) and N-acetylserotonin also possess free radical scavenging activity. Experimental studies have shown that melatonin directly scavenges the hydroxy radical, peroxyl radical, peroxynitrite anion, and singlet oxygen. Furthermore, this tryptophan derivative stimulates a number of antioxidative enzymes and stabilizes cell membranes; this latter action helps membranes to resist free radical damage. While the antioxidative actions of most molecules are limited by their specific intracellular distribution, e.g., vitamin E in lipid-rich membranes, melatonin’s antioxidative actions include the protection of lipids in the cell membrane, proteins in the cytosol, and DNA in the nucleus. Furthermore, melatonin crosses all morphophysiological barriers and enters equally well all cells in the organism.
Evidence of important, common disease processes contributing to late-life dementia that have not yet been recognized, characterized, or even named.

Prior to 1970, cognitive decline in late life was often dismissed as “senility” or “chronic brain syndrome”, or attributed to one of several rather rare conditions such as Creutzfeld-Jacob disease or progressive supranuclear palsy. Most cases were not thought of as specific diseases. Mild or moderate cognitive decline was commonly viewed as “normal aging”, especially when it occurred in the later decades of life. The term “Alzheimer’s disease” (AD) was reserved for dementia syndromes developing before age 65 years. In the middle and late 1960 s, Blessed, Tomlinson, and Roth in the United Kingdom, and Robert Perry and Robert Katzman in the United States carried out analyses that revolutionized conventional thinking about AD and brain aging [1–4]. Their work pointed out the biologic silliness of limiting the diagnosis of AD to persons younger than 65, since the same cognitive impairments and neuropathologic lesions that characterized AD before age 65 continued to be seen in persons who became demented at age 66 or later. The disease process described by Alzheimer, marked by
Effect of Age, Sex, and Type of Feedback on Motor Performance and Locus of Control

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of consistent positive and negative feedback on motor performance and a shift in locus of control. Comparisons of the data were made on the basis of age, sex, type of feedback, and internal–external (I–E) disposition. Extreme internal and external participants were offered positive or negative feedback on a rotary pursuit motor task over 20 trials, twice per week, for 6 weeks (a total of 240 trials). The results were as follows: (a) all eighth-grade (13-year-old) subjects displayed superior motor skill performance as compared to fifth-grade (10-year-old) students; (b) subjects across age groups who received positive feedback performed better than subjects given negative feedback; (c) a significant locus of control by feedback interaction indicated that high internals were superior to high externals under positive feedback conditions but that negative feedback produced inferior performance by internals compared to heightened performance by ext...
USING TUMOR MARKERS TO PREDICT THE SURVIVAL OF PATIENTS WITH METASTATIC RENAL CELL CARCINOMA

ABSTRACTPurpose: Approximately 30% of renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) present as metastatic disease. Molecular markers have the potential to characterize accurately the biological behavior of tumors a...
The art of politics and poetry: the political poetry of Jacques Prevert and Aryeh Sivan

The article demonstrates the potency and volatility of political lyricism by comparing two masters of the trade, the French Jacques Prevert and the Israeli Aryeh Sivan. Although writing in two dissimilar cultures and witnessing disparate political environments, the poetry of Prevert and Sivan is similar in many ways. They are both keen observers of their societies' woes and both are equally critical. Their accounts are s are emphatic and caring and strewn in their passionate, affectionate and brutally honest verses, Prevert and Sivan are the quintessential models for contemporary political poetry. Both poets, despite their disparate cultures and dissimilar local experiences, painstakingly probe and penetrate the political realities around them with velvet nails.
Polyethylene/boron nitride composites for space radiation shielding

Composites made with boron might be absorbers of low energy neutrons, and could be used for structural materials for spacecraft. Polyethylene/boron nitride composites were fabricated using conventional polymer processing techniques, and were evaluated for mechanical and radiation shielding properties. The boron nitride powder surfaces were also functionalized to improve interfacial adhesion. Addition of neat boron nitride to an injection molding grade HDPE increased the tensile modulus from 588 to 735 MPa with 15 vol % filler. The bonding of a trifunctional alkoxysilane to the powder surface prior to processing increases the composite modulus to 856 MPa at the same loading. Scanning electron microscopy of fracture surfaces verified that the silane-treated powders had improved adhesion at the filler/polymer interface. Radiation shielding measurements of a 2 wt % boron nitride composite were improved over those of the neat polyethylene. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008
Serum lipoprotein profiles of young atherosclerosis-susceptible White Carneau and atherosclerosis-resistant Show Racer pigeons

1. 1. Newly-hatched atherosclerosis-susceptible White Carneau and atherosclerosis-resistant Show Racer pigeons (Columba livia) had significantly lower (P < 0.01) alpha/beta serum lipoprotein ratios than 6-week, 3-month, or 6-month old pigeons of the corresponding breed, as determined by densitometric analysis of polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoretic profiles. 2. 2. Differences in alpha/beta serum lipoprotein ratios were not observed between the two breeds at any age studied.
Cognitive Differentiation and the Perception of Older Persons: A Test of the Vigilance Hypothesis

Using data collected from a probability sample of 1012 adults, this study examines the relationships among knowledge about aging, net negative bias in knowledge about aging, fear about the consequences of being old, and differentiation of image of older persons. The findings that negative bias in knowledge about aging and fear of the consequences of being old predict differentiated images of older people provides support for the vigilance hypothesis as applied to the stimulus-object "older person."
Deposition velocity of phosphorus-containing particles over southern Lake Huron, April–October, 1975

Abstract Total mass, phosphorus concentration and the size distribution of phosphorus-containing particles were determined. Samples were collected aboard the R/V Roger R. Simons and at eleven land-based stations from April to October, 1975. Based on cross-lake mass and phosphorus concentration gradients, size distribution and vertical profiles, a mixing box model was used to determine a deposition velocity for phosphorus-containing particles of 0.57cm s−1.
L-Amino acid oxidase (LOX) modulation of melphalan activity against intracranial glioma

These studies evaluated the efficacy of sequential pretreatment with L-amino acid oxidase (LOX) and LOX antiserum in the modulation of melphalan activity against intracranial glioma in athymic nude mice. LOX produced statistically significant (P<0.01) depletion of the large neutral amino acids isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, and valine in murine plasma at doses of 100 and 200 μg administered intravenously. Polyclonal anti-LOX antibody was successfully produced in mice, rabbits, and goats subsequent to immunization with LOX. Staphylococcal protein A-purified rabbit anti-LOX serum inhibited approximately 50% of LOX activity in vitro relative to control samples. This antiserum was used in vivo to inactivate LOX after it had depleted the large neutral amino acids, thereby preventing LOX-mediated catabolism of melphalan. Inoculation of three mice with rabbit anti-LOX serum after the treatment with LOX (100 μg) reduced LOX activity by 100%, 89%, and 100% at 6 h compared with reductions of 80%, 59%, and 52% over the same period in animals receiving LOX alone. In three separate studies using groups of eight to ten mice bearing intracranial human glioma xenografts, pretreatment with LOX followed by anti-LOX serum increased the antitumor activity of melphalan as compared with treatments with melphalan plus LOX, melphalan plus anti-LOX serum, or melphalan alone.
Histopathological changes in susceptible corn inoculated with Helminthosporium maydis race O

Seedlings of a susceptible inbred line of male-fertile corn were inoculated with conidia of Helminthosporium maydis race O. Histological and ultrastructural observations of mesophyll, bundle sheath and phloem were made over a period of 8 days. Histological observations at 1 day revealed that lesions were comprised of several dead mesophyll cells bordered by a pair of vascular bundles. By 3 days lesions had developed their characteristic appearance caused by mesophyll collapse and had increased to a width of 10–12 bundles. At the ultrastructural level, the first signs of mesophyll cell change were rupture of the tonoplast and swelling of the mitochondrial matrix followed by a disintegration of the cytoplasm and swelling of the chloroplast stroma. Following these changes the cytoplasm became filled with an electron dense material and the plasmalemma ruptured leaving only partial remnants of chloroplasts as recognizable organelles. All of these changes occurred by 1 day. Bundle sheath cells were more resistant and intact cells could be observed in 3-day-old lesions. Phloem showed signs of degeneration by 1 day with distortion of the sieve-tube element membranes and disintegration of the companion cell cytoplasm. By 4 days the phloem had disintegrated.
ATTITUDES TOWARD THE AGED AND FREQUENCY OF THOUGHTS ABOUT DEATH

pleted Kogan's Attitudes Toward Old People scale and a list of items designed to indicate their frequency of thoughts about death. No correlation (.03) was found between scores on the two instruments. The pattern of scores for subjects for the variable of years of education was consistent with earlier research. Research by Nathan Kogan ( 1961) indicates that subjects holding negative attitudes toward old people are more disposed toward Anomie, the tendency to look to the future with pessimism and helplessness in the face of powerful social forces. In the present study, it was hypothesized that there would be a relationship berween thoughts about death and attitudes toward old people. As those subjects in Kogan's study who were less favorably disposed toward older people also were more disposed toward a feeling of helplessness and pessimism about the future, it would be reasonable to expect chat subjects having more negative feelings abouc the aged would also have more frequent thoughts abouc death. Likewise, those scoring more positively in their attitudes toward old people might then be expected to have fewer thoughts about deach. Method.-A group of 130 professional and para-professional nurses, social workers and mental health personnel amending a one-day institute on deach and care of the terminally ill presented by the University of Georgia's Center for Continuing Education were asked to complete Kogan's Attitudes Toward Old People scale and a 10-item list of statements indicating their frequency of thoughts abouc death. There were three subjects under the age of 21, 68 were between the ages of 21 and 35 yr., 42 were between 36 and 55 yr. of age, and 17 of the subjects were over 55. There were 11 3 whites, 16 blacks, and one Oriental in the group, and 16 males and 114 females. The Kogan scale (1961) is a 34item Likert scale that measures relative atrimdes toward the aged. Ten items on frequency of thoughts about death (Table 1) were constructed; several of the
An immunology primer for computational modelers

The immune system is designed to protect an organism from infection and damage caused by a pathogen. A successful immune response requires the coordinated function of multiple cell types and molecules in the innate and adaptive immune systems. Given the complexity of the immune system, it would be advantageous to build computational models to better understand immune responses and develop models to better guide the design of immunotherapies. Often, researchers with strong quantitative backgrounds do not have formal training in immunology. Therefore, the goal of this review article is to provide a brief primer on cellular immunology that is geared for computational modelers.