cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Differential Diagnosis of Impaired Reciprocal Social Interaction in Children: A Review of Disorders

Impairment in reciprocal social interaction in children that is less severe than autism can be difficult to diagnose due to the variety of developmental pathways that may lead to this problem. Seven childhood disorders are reviewed that include impaired reciprocal interaction: multisystem developmental disorder, nonverbal learning disability syndrome, semantic-pragmatic disorder, attachment disorders (including a developmental theory of limbic system damage), multiplex developmental disorder, schizoid personality disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. Clarification is needed for most of the disorders in the areas of operationalized criteria, assessment tools, and documenting causal relationships.
Reentry to Pediatric Residency After Global Health Experiences

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Although nonphysician reentry transitions have been characterized in literature, little is known about the reentry physicians in general, or residents in particular. We conducted a qualitative study to explore pediatric residents’ reentry, using reverse culture shock as a conceptual framework. METHODS: Eighteen pediatric residents who completed global health experiences in Africa (9 categorical residents with 1-month elective, 9 global child health residents with 12-month training) participated in interviews that included a card-sort to solicit emotional responses consistent with the conceptual framework. Data in the form of interview transcripts were coded and analyzed according to principles of grounded theory. RESULTS: All pediatric residents, despite variable time abroad, reported a range of emotional responses on reentry to residency. Global child health residents felt disconnection and frustration more intensely than categorical residents, whereas categorical residents felt invigoration more intensely than global child health residents. Although residents met with program leadership after their return, no resident described these meetings as a formal debriefing, and few described a deliberate strategy for processing emotions on reentry. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with reverse culture shock, pediatric residents felt a range of emotions as they move toward a steady state of acculturating back into their residency program. Residency programs might consider creating safety nets to help cultivate support for residents when they reenter training.
Attribution in Performance Evaluation

Hiring, promotion, and wage-setting decisions depend on judgments of ability. Employers often assess their employees' abilities in noisy environments and must judge how environmental factors, such as market conditions and task difficulty, affect performance. This experiment examines the extent to which employers adjust for employee task difficulty when assessing employee ability. Results reveal that subjects valued employees who were observed performing an easy task more highly than those who were observed performing a more difficult task. This over-valuation persisted despite incentives for accurate assessments, increased feedback, and increased experience with the tasks. This finding is consistent with earlier social psychology research on interpersonal perception and suggests that the tendency to underweight task difficulty and other environmental factors may be prevalent in economic markets.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor efficacy in severe and melancholic depression

Depression with melancholic features appears to be a discrete affective syndrome characterised by profound psychomotor, cognitive and mood disturbances that are qualitatively different from other forms of depression. Some investigators have hypothesised that melancholia may have a neurological basis with psychomotor disturbances associated with selective alterations in dopamine neurotransmission and disturbances in basal ganglia function. A number of studies have examined the role of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the treatment of melancholia. Although relatively few prospective trials have focused on melancholic depression, several retrospective meta-analyses and trials in populations that are likely to include a high proportion of melancholic patients have provided a wealth of data. While some early studies suggested that SSRIs might be less effective in the treatment of melancholia, the results of these may have been biased and confounded by several side-effects of tricyclic antidep...
Early and sustained blood pressure control is necessary for stroke prevention

Hypertension is the most common and most important risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD), heart failure (HF), chronic kidney failure (CKD), and especially stroke, if left untreated. Stroke is a devastating complication of hypertension and is a major cause of death and disability worldwide and its incidence increases linearly with the blood pressure (BP) and level and the advancement of age (1-3). Lewington et al. , have shown that the incidence of stroke was directly related to the level of systolic and diastolic BP (SBP, DBP) for all age groups, but with higher prevalence in older than younger subjects (3). Stroke, besides being a cause of long-term disability for the affected person, it is also a significant burden on society and healthcare expenditures (4). According to this report, each year approximately 795,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke, with 610,000 being first strokes and 185,000 recurrent strokes with 87% of all strokes being ischemic and 10% being hemorrhagic. The direct and indirect expenditures in the US for the year 2012 were $71.6 billion (4), and it is projected that by the year 2030, the total stroke-related, medical costs to be $183.13 billion, with the majority of the projected increase to arise from those 65-79 years of age (5). Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the in the US after ischemic heart disease (IHD) and cancer. Worldwide in 2010, the prevalence of stroke was 33 million with 16.9 million people having a first stroke and stroke was the second-leading global cause of death behind IHD (6). Possible causes for this increase in stroke incidence are the ageing of the population, the poor control of BP as well as the other cardiovascular risk factors, like obesity, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia (5-7). However, recent studies show that the incidence of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes has decreased significantly between 1990 and 2010 by 13% and 19% respectively, in high income countries, but not in low to middle income countries (7). This could, possibly, reflect the better control of BP and other risk factors in the high income countries.
The Use of Uroflowmetry to Diagnose Recurrent Stricture After Urethral Reconstructive Surgery

Purpose: The ability of uroflowmetry to diagnose recurrent stricture disease after urethroplasty has not been fully investigated.Materials and Methods: Our routine post-urethroplasty monitoring includes retrograde urethrogram and voiding cystourethrogram at 3 and 12 months, in addition to uroflowmetry at 3-month intervals for a year. All uroflowmetry data, including maximum flow rate, voided volume and voiding curve shape, as well as retrograde urethrogram/voiding cystourethrogram and voiding symptom data are stored in a prospectively maintained urethroplasty database that was analyzed for patients with postoperative retrograde urethrogram/voiding cystourethrogram and satisfactory uroflowmetry in the same period. Uroflowmetry data points and urinary symptoms were compared with corresponding findings on retrograde urethrogram/voiding cystourethrogram to determine the ability of uroflowmetry to predict recurrence.Results: A total of 278 men (68%) met study inclusion criteria, of whom 63 (23%) had recurrent ...
Numerical simulations of the quantized vortices on a thin superconducting hollow sphere

In this paper, we investigate the vortex nucleation on a thin superconducting hollow sphere. The problem is studied using a simplified system of Ginzburg-Landau equations. We present numerical algorithms which preserve the discrete gauge invariance for both time dependent and time independent simulations. The spatial discretization is based on a spherical centroidal Voronoi tessellation which offers a very effective high resolution mesh on the sphere for the order parameter as well as other physically interesting variables such as the super-current and the induced magnetic field. Various vortex configurations and energy diagrams are computed. Dynamic responses of the vortices to the applied current are also simulated.
The Role of Beliefs About the Importance of Social Skills in Elementary Children’s Social Behaviors and School Attitudes

Positive attitudes toward school have been suggested as a meaningful indicator of school engagement among elementary children. The current study was guided by a social cognitive developmental perspective which suggests that social cognitions, including beliefs, play an important role in children’s adjustment outcomes. The present study examined the hypothesis that children’s beliefs about the importance of social skills contribute to school attitudes through their effect on social behavior (i.e., social skills and aggression). The effect of gender was also examined as related to the mean levels of and associations among study constructs. Participants were third through fifth-grade students (N = 342) and their teachers (N = 22) from Midwestern rural communities of the United States. Child self-reports, peer nominations, and teacher ratings were gathered. Children’s beliefs about the importance of social skills were positively associated with social skills and positive school attitudes and were negatively associated with aggression. Beliefs about the importance of social skills were indirectly related to positive school attitudes via social behaviors (i.e., social skills, aggression). Gender differences were detected in the mean levels of study constructs but not in the associations among them. Findings suggest that children’s beliefs about social skills are an important aspect of social cognition that has significant implications for children’s social behavior and school adjustment. Specific ways in which the findings can inform educators and parents in supporting the development of children’s beliefs about the importance of social skills are discussed.
Poverty, the postmodern and the jobless future

Abstract In the United States of America poverty remains high even in a time of relative prosperity and low unemployment. In the 1930s and 1960s when poverty was high it led to a massive poor peoples movement. In the 1990s even with increasing immiseration there currently isnat a major poor peoples movement in the United States that is struggling to create an alternative politics to the current privatization of the welfare state. In this paper I argue that there are three conditions that currently make a poor peoples movement difficult. The first is that the political representation of the postmodern is piecemeal reform and this is expressed through the last master narrative of computer-aided capitalism. The state has been hollowed out and national issues like hunger and poverty have been subordinated to the requirements of global competition. The second is the problem of advocacy, that is that the bureaucratic requirements of managing poverty organizations and especially fundraising make the theorizing necessary to create an alternative poverty politics difficult. Thirdly the thesis of the ljobless futurer that both the new global organization of capital and the new technologies requires fewer workers at lower wages rendering job solutions to poverty obsolete. Only a social movement of the poor that takes the time to theorize a new poverty politics and includes radical democracy and a middle class guaranteed annual income can end the problem of poverty. Currently this is not happening.
Hubbing and Airline Costs

Airline hubbing can be viewed as a strategy to increase airline network efficiency and to reduce operating costs. Alternatively, hubbing can be viewed as a marketing strategy permitting airlines to achieve dominant market shares at their hub airports and to take advantage of market preferences for the increased frequancies that the strategy permits. This study inquires into the hypothesis that significant cost reductions can be achieved by hubbing. Using a detailed cost analysis of 13 airlines with different degrees of hubbing over the period 1976‐1984, we find no evidence of a relation between the degree of hubbing and cost levels. The current conclusion is that the explanation of hubbing is likely to be found in an analysis of airline marketing strategies and in market response to airline routing and networking decisions.
Influence of growth and temperature on strontium deposition in the otoliths of Atlantic salmon

Sr : Ca ratios measured in the otoliths of sea-caged Atlantic salmon Salmo salar showed distinct seasonal peaks that were unrelated to water temperature and somatic growth, suggesting other factors have a greater influence on strontium deposition. Atlantic salmon remained in the sea-cages for two seasons, or equivalent to two-seawinter fish in the wild and were subjected to seasonally varying temperatures. Water temperature appeared to be inversely related to the Sr : Ca ratios, but this relationship was statistically not significant. Furthermore, water temperature could not explain the distinct increase in the strontium during the second year. The intensity of the Sr peaks increased in the second season while average winter water temperatures were consistent between years. Additionally, strontium deposition in the otoliths was unrelated to somatic growth. Somatic growth, as evidenced by circuli spacings on the scales, was largely invariant and therefore could not explain the observed peaks. Though not explicitly measured, the data are consistent with the notion that strontium deposition is a function of maturity state in Atlantic salmon.
Design and fabrication of a 2D superconducting bolometer array for SAFIRE

The Submillimeter and Far-InfraRed Experiment (SAFIRE) on the SOFIA airborne observatory will employ a large-format, two-dimensional, close-packed bolometer array. SAFIRE is an imaging Fabry-Perot spectrometer operating at wavelengths between 100μm and 700μm. The array format is 16×32 pixels, using a 32-element multiplexer developed in part for this instrument. The low backgrounds achieved in spectroscopy require very sensitive detectors with NEPs of order 10 -19 W/√Hz. An architecture which permits 512 pixels to be placed adjacent to each other in an area the size of a postage stamp, integrate them with multiplexers, and provide all the necessary wiring interconnections is a complex proposition, but can be achieved. Superconducting detectors can be close-packed using the Pop-Up Detector (PUD) format, and SQUID multiplexers operating at the detector base temperature can be intimately coupled to them. The result is a compact array, easily scalable to kilopixel arrays. We describe the PUD architecture, superconducting transition edge sensor bolometers we have manufactured and tested using the PUD architecture, and the electronics of SQUID multiplexed readouts. We show the design and assembly of the mechanical model of a 512-element bolometer array.
Application Of Fast Infrared Detectors To Detonation Science

Infrared radiometers have been used to make time-resolved emission measurements of shocked explosives. Instruments of moderate time resolution were used to estimate temperatures in shocked but not detonated explosives. The heterogeneity of the shock-induced heating was discovered in pressed explosives by two-band techniques, and the time-resolved emittance or extent of hot spot coverage indicated a great dependence on shock pressures. Temperatures in moderately shocked organic liquids were also measured. Faster response radiometers with 5 ns rise times based on InSb and HgCdTe photovoltaic detectors were constructed and tested. Preliminary data on reactive shocks and detonations reveals a resolution of the heating in the shock wave and the following reaction.© (1983) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Postsynaptic Induction and PKA-Dependent Expression of LTP in the Lateral Amygdala

Abstract Whereas much is now known about the behavioral importance of the lateral nucleus of the amygdala for the storage of implicit memories of fear, little is known in molecular terms about the signal transduction pathways required for long-term potentiation (LTP) in this nucleus. Using brain slices containing the amygdala, we have studied LTP in the pathway from external capsule to the lateral nucleus, a pathway that mediates information from the auditory cortex important for fear conditioning. We found the induction of LTP is postsynaptic; it is dependent on postsynaptic depolarization, on the influx of Ca 2+ into the postsynaptic cell and, at least in part, on the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. The LTP is associated with a decrease of paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) and is blocked by bath application but not blocked by postsynaptic injection of inhibitors of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate–dependent (cAMP-dependent) protein kinase (PKA). Consistent with the possibility that the expression might involve PKA presynaptically, the adenylyl cyclase activator forskolin induced synaptic potentiation of this pathway that also was associated with a decrease of PPF, and this potentiation occluded the tetanus-induced LTP.
A comparison of the adult and miracidial stages of Echinostoma paraensei and E. caproni

Adult Echinostoma paraensei and Echinostoma caproni were grown in outbred mice and golden hamsters to compare size, growth rates, infectivity, and habitat selection. Antagonistic responses between the 2 species were investigated by concurrent infections in mice. Miracidial stages were compared for developmental stages, hatching responses, and behaviour to light and gravity. Size differences and growth rates were significantly different in both mice and hamsters. Mice proved to be better hosts for E. caproni and hamsters for E. paraensei. In mature infections, E. paraensei adults localized in the duodenum and E. caproni in the ileum of both mice and hamsters. In concurrent infections of mice, E. paraensei adults were significantly smaller than in single species infections beyond 14 days post-infection, while E. caproni adults were either equal to or larger than those in single species infections. On the other hand, E. paraensei were recovered in larger numbers in concurrent infections than in single species infections, while the reverse was found for infectivity of E. caproni adults. Miracidia of E. paraensei developed at the same rate as those of E. caproni in both light and dark cultures, but E. paraensei hatched much sooner when exposed to light. No miracidia hatched from cultures kept in the dark, indicating light is needed to stimulate the hatching process. All light-stimulated cultures exhibited a circadian hatching pattern from 1100 to 1600 hours. Cultures maintained in the dark past 11 days did not hatch when exposed to light. Miracidia of E. paraensei showed a positive phototaxis but no response to gravity. This comparison of life cycle stages leads us to conclude that E. paraensei and E. caproni are distinct species.
Chronic Restraint Stress Upregulates Erythropoiesis through Glucocorticoid Stimulation

In response to elevated glucocorticoid levels, erythroid progenitors rapidly expand to produce large numbers of young erythrocytes. Previous work demonstrates hematopoietic changes in rodents exposed to various physical and psychological stressors, however, the effects of chronic psychological stress on erythropoiesis has not be delineated. We employed laboratory, clinical and genomic analyses of a murine model of chronic restraint stress (RST) to examine the influence of psychological stress on erythropoiesis. Mice exposed to RST demonstrated markers of early erythroid expansion involving the glucocorticoid receptor. In addition, these RST-exposed mice had increased numbers of circulating reticulocytes and increased erythropoiesis in primary and secondary erythroid tissues. Mice also showed increases in erythroid progenitor populations and elevated expression of the erythroid transcription factor KLF1 in these cells. Together this work reports some of the first evidence of psychological stress affecting erythroid homeostasis through glucocorticoid stimulation.
A low-temperature Mitsunobu reaction for the inversion of sterically hindered secondary alcohols

Abstract Mitsunobu inversion of 1,1′-binaphthalenediol 3 with benzoic acid was studied, and the success of the reaction was found to depend upon quantitative formation of bis-oxyphosphonium salt 6 at −23 °C, prior to S N 2 displacement at 25 °C.
Performance Analysis of Systematic Upper Layer FEC Codes and Interleaving in Land Mobile Satellite Channels

This paper provides an analytical method for evaluating the performance of upper layer forward error correction (FEC), when used together with interleaving on land mobile satellite channels, in terms of residual (after decoding) packet loss rate (PLR). In addition, the analysis highlights the overheads introduced by this technique, which depend on the channel statistics, in terms of additional packet delivery delay, bandwidth consumption, and computation power required. We show why the interleaver is mandatory in some environments, due to the severe disruptive characteristics of the channel, according to measurement campaigns promoted by the European Space Agency. This analysis provides the expression of the residual PLR when systematic FEC coding blocks are interleaved at the packet level (i.e., when a cyclic redundancy check and a sequence number identify a correct data unit). This method can be employed for the performance evaluation of recent and future mobile communication systems that take advantage of upper layer FEC and interleaving techniques.
A mineral-rich extract from the red marine algae Lithothamnion calcareum preserves bone structure and function in female mice on a western-style diet

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a mineral-rich extract derived from the red marine algae Lithothamnion calcareum could be used as a dietary supplement for prevention of bone mineral loss. Sixty C57BL/6 mice were divided into three groups based on diet: the first group received a high-fat Western-style diet (HFWD), the second group was fed the same HFWD along with the mineral-rich extract included as a dietary supplement, and the third group was used as a control and was fed a low-fat rodent chow diet (AIN76A). Mice were maintained on the respective diets for 15 months. Then, long bones (femora and tibiae) from both males and females were analyzed by three-dimensional micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and (bones from female mice) concomitantly assessed in bone strength studies. Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), osteocalcin, and N-terminal peptide of type I procollagen (PINP) were assessed in plasma samples obtained from female mice at the time of sacrifice. To summarize, female mice on the HFWD had reduced bone mineralization and reduced bone strength relative to female mice on the low-fat chow diet. The bone defects in female mice on the HFWD were overcome in the presence of the mineral-rich supplement. In fact, female mice receiving the mineral-rich supplement in the HFWD had better bone structure/function than did female mice on the low-fat chow diet. Female mice on the mineral-supplemented HFWD had higher plasma levels of TRAP than mice of the other groups. There were no differences in the other two markers. Male mice showed little diet-specific differences by micro-CT.
Recent Advances in Dendritic Cell Biology

Dendritic cells are professional antigen presenting cells that are central to the induction and regulation of immunity. This review discusses recent advances in the understanding of dendritic cell biology.
CD44 expression in alopecia areata and androgenetic alopecia

CD44 is a widely distributed cell surface protein thought to be involved in multiple steps of normal immune cell function, including T-cell activation, and in cellular adhesion where it mediates cell attachment to hyaluronate. In normal skin, CD44 is found by immunohistochemical means to be primarily in eccrine coil cells. In this study, we have looked at the expression of CD44 in normal scalp and in two different hair disorders, androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata. In normal scalp and androgenetic alopecia, CD44 was found in its normal distribution in eccrine coil cells. In scalp of 30 patients with alopecia areata, there was no expression of this glycoprotein. Patients were also assessed pre and post treatment for their alopecia areata, and even though they had no significant hair regrowth, 2 patients regained expression of CD44, indicating a variable expression of this protein in the alopecia areata disease process. The absence of CD44 expression in alopecia areata-affected scalp may give further information regarding the pathogenesis of this disease.
Comparison of dissociative experiences between rhythmic gymnasts and female dancers

The prevalence of pathological and nonpathological dissociation (as defined in the DSM-IV) was assessed in two elite populations, international rhythmic gymnasts (RGs) from the Bulgarian and US National Rhythmic Gymnastics Teams and professional concert dancers from Bulgaria, Canada and United States. The Dissociative Experience Scale–II was used to measure type and frequency of dissociation. Dissociative tendencies among RGs and dancers were similar, and different from controls. Dancers endorsed significantly more experiences of feeling their body did not belong to them. RGs had significantly greater ability to ignore pain and claimed increased experiences of ease when performing difficult tasks. Individuals from the two elite populations, and not the control group, scored in the pathological range for dissociative disorders. The results confirmed the need for further clarification of degree and severity of dissociation among elite populations; populations that place very high demands on their body and h...
Scattering and radiative properties of semi-external versus external mixtures of different aerosol types

Abstract The superposition T -matrix method is used to compute the scattering of unpolarized light by semi-external aerosol mixtures in the form of polydisperse, randomly oriented two-particle clusters with touching components. The results are compared with those for composition-equivalent external aerosol mixtures, in which the components are widely separated and scatter light in isolation from each other. It is concluded that aggregation is likely to have a relatively weak effect on scattering and radiative properties of two-component tropospheric aerosols and can be replaced by the much simpler external-mixture model in remote sensing studies and atmospheric radiation balance computations.
CHARMed, but not convinced: Comment on Metcalfe (1990).

Metcalfe (1990) proposed her Composite Holographic Associative Recall Model (CHARM) as a model of eyewitness suggestibility. CHARM has many appealing properties and performed well in simulations of suggestibility. Most important, CHARM provides a formal mechanism by which suggestions impair memory without affecting performance on McCloskey and Zaragoza's (1985a) Modified Tests. Nonetheless, a number of shortcomings limit CHARM's usefulness as a model of suggestibility: (a) in the simulations, control terms differ from those in human studies; (b) the model makes a counterintuitive prediction about performance on a recognition pair composed of an event detail and its control term; (c) CHARM models association, not remembering; and (d) most of the intelligence in the simulations lies in the programmer rather than in CHARM itself, which limits the model's constraint on memory blending
Human Operators in Automated Systems: The Impact of Active Participation and Communication:

Operator-system participation and operator-operator communication were manipulated to investigate the effects of increases in active participation on operator monitoring and problem-solving performance. 112 subjects worked as operators of a simulated process system. Operators worked in teams of two on both a monitoring task and, after the system failed, a diagnostic task. The results of this study suggest that active participation in the system improved both monitoring and diagnostic performance while reducing boredom during monitoring and stress while diagnosing a failure. Communication tended to facilitate performance of active participants but degrade performance of passive participants.
An extended equation to calculate NaCl contents from final clathrate melting temperatures in H2O-CO2-NaCl fluid inclusions: Implications for P-T isochore location

This report informs fluid inclusion researchers of an extended equation to calculate wt% NaCl from final CO{sub 2}-clathrate melting temperatures in H{sub 2}O-CO{sub 2}-NaCl fluid inclusions. This equation is valid only if melting occurs in the presence of CO{sub 2}-liquid, CO{sub 2}-vapor, and salt solution. Previous workers used the equation of Bozzo et al. (1973, 1975) for salinity calculations; however, their equation is limited to clathrate melting temperatures between 10 and about 0C (0-16 wt% NaCl). Application of this equation to final clathrate melting temperatures from 0C to the peritectic temperature of {minus}10.0C (16-24.2 wt% NaCl) yields significant errors in calculated NaCl content. Experimental data over the entire range of 10 to {minus}10.0C is provided by Chen (1972b) and his best fit equation is W = +0.00098241(10 {minus} T)(T{sup 2} + 45.385T + 1588.75), where W is the wt% NaCl and T is the final clathrate melting temperature (C). The values of W calculated by this equation are relative only to the salt solution (independent of CO{sub 2} content) and have an average and maximum deviation of 1.33 and 5.61%, respectively (from the experimentally determined values of W). This equation should be used instead of equation of Bozzo et al.more » (1973, 1975) in fluid inclusion data reduction programs such as HALWAT and CHNACL described by Nicholls and Crawford (1985) and FLINCOR described by Brown (1989). Without such correction, calculation of isochore position in P-T space using these programs may yield significant errors if fluid inclusions have final clathrate melting temperatures between 0 and {minus}10.0C.« less
Use of cross-validation as a stopping rule in emission tomography image reconstruction

Simulated and real Positron Emission Tomography (PET) images are reconstructed using the iterative EM algorithm. The data is split up into independent parts. The EM algorithm is applied to each part and stopped according to a cross-validation procedure. For a variety of simulated and real data sets, stopping points were reached. For simulated data, the average of the reconstructions from a four-way split of the data was visually superior to the reconstruction obtained by applying the EM algorithm to the full data and stopping at a subjectively chosen iteration. For real data, such an improvement was not observed. To remove point artifacts, the reconstructions were filtered.© (1991) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A seasonal comparison of metabolic and water loss rates of three species of grasshoppers

Abstract 1. 1. Seasonal differences in metabolic and water loss rates were examined in three related species of grasshoppers collected from shrub-steppe communities in Utah: Arphia conspersa, A. pseudonietana and 2. 2 cohorts of Trimerotropis pallidipennis . 2. No significant differences ( P = 0.05) in metabolic rates were observed between seasons (early vs late), between genera ( Arphia vs Trimerotropis ) nor among species. 3. 3. Early season (spring) grasshoppers had a higher (but non-significant) mean water loss rate (± X ± SD in mg.g −1 -hr −1 ) (4.81 ± 1.53) than late season (summer) grasshoppers (4.43 ± 1.43). 4. 4. Among species, early season A. conspersa had a significantly higher water loss rate (5.22 ± 1.76) under similar conditions than late season A. pseudonietana (3.67 ± 1.22), but early season T. pallidipennis had a significantly lower water loss rate (4.40 ± 1.17) than the late season generation (5.32 ± 1.12). 5. 5. Because of variables that were not or could not be controlled, the relationship between these physiological traits and season was difficult to address.
THE ORIGIN AND HORMONAL CONTROL OF SCENT PRODUCTION IN SUNCUS MURINUS

The sideglands of Suncus murinus are not responsible for the char- acteristic musk production. Concentrations of sweat glands on the throat and behind the ears apparently produce this odor. Removal of both sebaceous side- gland pads did not result in loss of the musk odor. Bilateral castration caused sweat gland atrophy and cessation of musk production within 3 weeks in 11 males and in two of five females. Testosterone or estradiol implants caused sweat gland recovery and the resumption of odor production in castrates of both sexes, as did progesterone in males. Adrenocortical-like tissue around the epoophoron may have supported odor production in some castrates. The occurrence of dermal sideglands in several species of shrews (and the midventral gland of Blarina brevicauda) has been known for many years. Coues (1896) stated that both the ventral and sidegland pads of Blarina were composed entirely of sebaceous tubules. Eadie (1938) and Pearson (1946) agreed that the ventral gland of Blarina was almost entirely sebaceous but they showed that the sideglands were approximately half sweat tubules. Eadie noted that the sweat tubules were apparently supported by testicular secretions and that the sebaceous tubules atrophied during pregnancy. He stated that the ventral gland of Blarina produced the characteristic odor and suggested that the sideglands might produce a sexual attractant. Pearson (1946), on the con- trary, noticed no regression of either the sebaceous or sweat tubules in non- breeding males or in castrates of either sex. Because both ventral and side- gland areas contained sebaceous tubules and because both areas seem odorif- erous, Pearson assumed that the sebaceous elements of the glands were produc- ing the odorous substance. Theelin (estrogen) and proluton (progesterone) had no effect on the glands and the testosterone only increased the vascularity of the sideglands. Confusion has resulted from abandoning the early designation "sideglands" of Arnback-Christie-Linde (1907) and Johnsen (1914) and substituting "scent glands" (Pearson, 1946), when in fact, the sideglands have not been shown to be the source of the musky odor of shrews. Extension of the "scent gland" designation to other species, for example, Suncus murinus (Barbehenn, 1962), may be without foundation.
Genotypic variation in roasted peanut flavor quality across 60 years of breeding

Abstract In developing new peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) breeding lines and cultivars, the breeder's primary focus is upon those heritable characteristics with direct, measurable effects. Flavor quality characteristics are heritable but do not have a directly measurable economic value, so they are often overlooked. Failure to monitor and evaluate flavor quality may lead to serious defects in new breeding lines and cultivars. Flavor quality data on lines developed since 1930 were examined to identify trends in flavor quality of the cultivars and breeding populations in the virginia, runner, and fastigiate market types. Virginia-type cultivars have trended toward poorer roasted peanut flavor (reduced intensity of the roasted peanut and sweet attributes and increased intensity of the bitter attribute). Use of the commercially successful cultivars Florigiant and NC 7 in the ancestry of new breeding lines appears to have reduced the flavor quality. Runner-type cultivars increased slightly in average sweetness o...
Energy comparison and optimization of wireless body-area network technologies

Wireless body-area networks (WBANs) have revolutionized the way mobile and wearable computers communicate with their users and I/O devices. We investigate an energy-efficient wireless device driver for low-duty peripherals, sensors and other I/O devices employed in a WBAN to communicate with a more powerful central device. We present an extensive comparative study of two popular WBAN technologies, 802.15.1 (Bluetooth) and 802.15.4 (ZigBee), in terms of design cost, performance, and energy efficiency. We discuss the impact of tunable parameters of the wireless device driver on connection latency and energy consumption for both Bluetooth and ZigBee. We address dynamic resource management in higher-level protocols by investigating the trade-off between connection latency and energy consumption. We propose an energy-efficient power-down policy that utilizes the interval between consecutive connection requests for energy reduction; we study an adaptive connection latency management technique that adjusts various tunable parameters dynamically to achieve minimum connection latency without changing the energy consumption level. Our measurements and experimental results show that these techniques are very effective in reducing energy consumption while meeting connection latency requirements.
INFLUENCE OF HISTAIMINE H1 AND H2‐RECEPTOR BLOCKERS ON SYMPATHETIC VASODILATOR AND VASOCONSTRICTOR RESPONSES IN CANINE PAW

Abstract 1 Vasodilator responses to histamine, bradykinin and sympathetic nerve stimulation were elicited in the perfused paw of dogs treated with bretylium (15-20 mg/kg) and atropine. The H2-receptor blocking agent, burimamide, when administered in the dose of 5 mg/kg intravenously and 4 mg intra-arterially did not depress significantly these vasodilator responses. The subsequent administration of tripelennamine in the dose of 2.5-5 mg/kg intravenously and 4 mg intra-arterially produced a significant blockade of the response to histamine and reduced the sustained vasodilator response to nerve stimulation. 2 In guanethidine-treated dogs, tripelennamine administered in the same dose following burimamide produced a blockade of the response to histamine comparable to that in the bretylium experiments, but decreased only the sustained vasodilator response to stimulation at 1 Hz. When the order of administration of the antihistamines was reversed in another group of guanethidine-treated dogs, tripelennamine had only a slight blocking effect on the response to histamine and did not affect the responses to nerve stimulation. Burimamide exerted a significant blocking effect on the response to histamine, but not to nerve stimulation. Another H2-receptor blocking agent, metiamide, when given after tripelennamine, also had a marked blocking effect on the response to histamine and almost abolished the vasodilator response to 4-methylhistamine, an H2-agonist. Nevertheless, even in the presence of this profound histamine blockade, the sustained vasodilator response to nerve stimulation remained unchanged. 3 In another group of experiments vasoconstrictor responses to exogenous noradrenaline and sympathetic stimulation were initially depressed by burimamide and later returned to control values. Tripelennamine increased these responses by its uptake blocking action. 4 It is concluded that the sustained vasodilator response is not antagonized by a specific antihistaminic action. The decrease in the sustained vasodilator response produced by antihistamines is produced attributable to potentiation of a residual adrenergic vasoconstricotr effect not completely blocked by bretylium.
Human retinal pigment epithelial cells express scavenger receptors BI and BII.

Abstract The retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells that underlie the retina ingest and metabolize thousands of lipid-rich photoreceptor outer segments (POS) every day. The scavenger receptor (SR) CD36 and integrin αvβ5 have been shown to participate in POS binding and internalization by RPE cells. The objective of the current study was to determine whether RPE cells express SRs other than CD36. Primary cultures of human RPE cells express both mRNA and protein for SR-BI and SR- BII. SR-BI and SR-BII mRNAs were detected by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. SR-BI protein was detected by immune precipitation of [35S]methionine-labeled crude cellular extracts. SR-BII was detected by Western blotting of immune precipitated crude cellular extracts. SR-BI and SR-BII proteins were also detected by immunofluorescence staining of RPE cells in culture. The results suggest that these SRs may play a role in POS lipid binding and uptake by RPE cells in the eye.
Multi-motor controller as an educational tool

Mastering concepts on power electronics and motor drives can be very challenging for many students. In order to deliver the concepts successfully hardware based learning tools are frequently used in undergraduate and graduate level courses. But most of these tools fall below expectations due to their complexity, lack of functionality or cost. This paper presents a learning tool on motor drives which addresses most of these issues. This proposed learning tool has the capability to deliver effective learning experiences on different types of motors discussed in advanced driving courses. The learning tool comes with user software which provides additional functionalities, such as the ability to manipulate closed loop variables, monitor real time speed variation, control firing patterns, log data and program the motor speed variation. The proposed learning tool is ideal to be incorporated in lab sessions to deliver important concepts in motor drives effectively and efficiently.
Frequency of optic disc or parapapillary nerve fiber layer drusen in retinitis pigmentosa

Abstract Purpose: To determine the frequency and characteristics of optic disc and parapapillary nerve fiber layer drusen in patients with retinitis pigmentosa and to attempt to document any differences in the frequency within different genetic subtypes of retinitis pigmentosa. Methods: This retrospective case series reviewed 117 patients with autosomaldominant, 84 with autosomal-recessive, and 61 with X-linked recessive forms of retinitis pigmentosa. Color fundus photographs were reviewed independently by three investigators. The presence of optic disc or parapapillary nerve fiber layer drusen was documented only when all three observers concurred as to their presence. The number (isolated or multiple), site (disc, parapapillary, or both), and bilaterality (unilateral or bilateral) were noted in each patient. Results: Optic disc or parapapillary nerve fiber layer drusen or both were observed in 11 patients (9.4%) with autosomal-dominant, 6 patients (7.1 %) with autosomal-recessive, and 7 patients (11.5%) with X-linked recessive types of retinitis pigmentosa. The differences in the observed frequencies were not statistically significant ( P = 0.67). Overall, the frequency of optic nerve head or parapapillary drusen or both in 262 patients with retinitis pigmentosa was 9.2%. Conclusion: In a large population of patients with retinitis pigmentosa, our findings suggest that approximately 10% are likely to show optic nerve fiber layer drusen involving the optic disc or parapapillary regions or both. The frequency does not vary significantly between different genetic subtypes.
The Interplay of Electron‐Phonon and Electron‐Electron Scattering within the Two‐Time Green's Function Description

We present numerical results for electron-phonon and electron-electron scattering in optically excited electron plasmas in bulk semiconductors. Our results are based on the full two-time Green's function approach. They include quantum mechanical memory and correlation effects because the scattering integrals are generalizations of the conventional Boltzmann scattering integrals. The interplay of two different scattering mechanisms is studied and compared to results where only one scattering mechanism is present.
Race and Sex Effects on the Association Between Muscle Strength, Soft Tissue, and Bone Mineral Density in Healthy Elders: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study

Two factors generally reported to influence bone density are body composition and muscle strength. However, it is unclear if these relationships are consistent across race and sex, especially in older persons. If differences do exist by race and/or sex, then strategies to maintain bone mass or minimize bone loss in older adults may need to be modified accordingly. Therefore, we examined the independent effects of bone mineral-free lean mass (LM), fat mass (FM), and muscle strength on regional and whole body bone mineral density (BMD) in a cohort of 2,619 well-functioning older adults participating in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study with complete measures. Participants included 738 white women, 599 black women, 827 white men, and 455 black men aged 70-79 years. BMD (g/cm2) of the femoral neck, whole body, upper and lower limb, and whole body and upper limb bone mineral-free LM and FM was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Handgrip strength and knee extensor torque were determined by dynamometry. In analyses stratified by race and sex and adjusted for a number of confounders, LM was a significant (p < 0.001) determinant of BMD, except in white women for the lower limb and whole body. In women, FM also was an independent contributor to BMD at the femoral neck, and both FM and muscle strength contributed to limb BMD. The following were the respective beta-weights (regression coefficients for standardized data, Std beta) and percent difference in BMD per unit (7.5 kg) LM: femoral neck, 0.202-0.386 and 4.7-5.9%; lower limb, 0.209-0.357 and 2.9-3.5%; whole body, 0.239-0.484 and 3.0-4.7%; and upper limb (unit = 0.5 kg), 0.231-0.407 and 3.1-3.4%. Adjusting for bone size (bone mineral apparent density [BMAD]) or body size BMD/height) diminished the importance of LM, and the contributory effect of FM became more pronounced. These results indicate that LM and FM were associated with bone mineral depending on the bone site and bone index used. Where differences did occur, they were primarily by sex not race. To preserve BMD, maintaining or increasing LM in the elderly would appear to be an appropriate strategy, regardless of race or sex.
Effects of Melatonin Implants on Structures and Behaviors of the House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) Eye

This study aimed to determine the extraretinal effects of melatonin upon the eyes of an avian species, the House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus). Twelve birds (full-grown, second-year males) each received a Silastic tubing intraperitoneal implant, six containing melatonin (average release = 24 micrograms/d/bird; = M birds) and six being empty (= C birds). Microscopic study of pupillary and palpebral behaviors during the final week demonstrated lesser pupillary diameters and interpalpebral distances in M birds under all test conditions. These effects could have diminished mean light levels reaching parts of the retina. Characteristics of the relative miosis and ptosis of M birds resemble signs in some CNS disorders, such as altered inhibition of the Edinger-Westphal nucleus, and especially lesions in, or lowered activity of, higher sympathetic centers (a subtype of Horner's syndrome). Weights of eyes and their parts were the same in M and C birds, contrasting with previously reported results from male Golden Hamsters, possibly due to species differences and/or preexperimental attainment of full growth in the finches. Effects of melatonin on pupillary and palpebral behaviors, demonstrated here for the first time, foster caveats for simplistic experimental designs and interpretations with melatonin when sensory-neural-behavioral interactions are affected. Quantitative changes in pupillary and palpebral behaviors may, nevertheless, provide a window for monitoring central actions of melatonin in living test subjects in chronic studies.