cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pathogenic bacteria associated with cultured American eels, Anguilla rostrata Le Sueur

American eels, Anguilla rostrata, obtained from an aquaculture facility in South Carolina were examined for diseases and bacterial pathogens were isolated and identified. During the first year of culture, only a small number of bacterial pathogens and diseases were detected in glass and elver stages. This observation appears to be associated with a natural immunity to disease and/or administering the antibacterial compound, nitrofurazone. There was also a positive correlation between the use of nitrofurazone and the isolation of nitrofurazone resistant strains of Aeromonas hydrophila. A higher incidence of bacterial pathogens and/or disease occurred during the process of culling and in older eels during warmer months. The primary aetiological agent of disease of cultured eels was A. hydrophila. Other potential pathogens isolated included A. salmonicida, Vibrio spp. and Pseudomonas spp.
Cholesterol reduction and life expectancy.

Excerpt To the editor: Taylor and associates (1) state that they wish to provide a model to determine how much benefit to expect from a dietary program to reduce serum cholesterol. But the only ben...
How does an “All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI)” promote and facilitate local and global biodiversity conservation?

ABSTRACT Long-lasting tropical wildland biodiversity conservation will occur only through non-damaging use of that biodiversity by a wide array of social sectors. An All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) of any large conserved wildland, essentially a biodiversity development project, is therefore simultaneously a conservation project, despite the fact that its superficial appearance is basically the science and administration of finding, organizing, and distributing information for as many species as possible in a defined period (usually 5-10 years for a large area). This process is highly international in personnel and subject matter, highly dependent on resident biodiversity managers, expensive, public domain, and best carried out on-the-job as learning-by-doing.
Dimensional analysis and a potential classification algorithm for prediction of wear in friction stir welding of metal matrix composites

The objective of this study is to develop a dimensionless parameter which can be used to estimate the amount of volumetric wear, a friction stir welding tool will experience in joining a metal matrix composite. Metal matrix composites are strong, lightweight materials consisting of a metal matrix (often an aluminum alloy) reinforced with ceramic particles or fibers. This study derives a dimensionless number based on three major process variables in friction stir welding: rotation speed, traverse speed, and length of weld. This number is correlated with wear data collected from experiments in which a steel friction stir welding tool was used to join Al 359/SiC/20p. The use of the dimensionless number as a classifier for tool condition is also evaluated.
Y-Family DNA polymerases may use two different dNTP shapes for insertion: A hypothesis and its implications

Chemicals and radiation can damage DNA leading to the formation of adducts/lesions, which – if not removed by DNA repair pathways – usually block replicative DNA polymerases (DNAPs). To overcome such potentially lethal blockage, cells have lesion bypass DNAPs, which are often in the Y-Family and include several classes. One class includes human DNAP κ and E. coli DNAP IV, and they insert dCTP in the non-mutagenic pathway opposite [+ta]-B[a]P-N2-dG, which is the major adduct formed by the environmental carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene. Another class includes hDNAP η and ecDNAP V, and they insert dATP opposite [+ta]-B[a]P-N2-dG in the dominant G → T mutagenic pathway. Herein we develop a hypothesis for why the IV/κ-class preferentially does cellular dCTP insertion. On the minor groove side of the active site, Y-Family DNAPs have a cleft/hole that can be analyzed based on an analogy to a “chimney.” Our models of DNAP IV show a large chimney opening from which the pyrene of [+ta]-B[a]P-N2-dG can protrude, which allows canonical adduct-dG:dCTP pairing. In contrast, our models of DNAP V have small chimney openings that forces adduct-dG downward in the active site such that canonical adduct-dG:dCTP pairing is not possible. Based on X-ray structures, sequence alignment and our modeled structures of Y-Family DNAPs, chimney opening size seems primarily controlled by one amino acid (“flue-handle”), which dictates whether nearby amino acids (“flue”) plug the chimney or not. Based on this analysis, a correlation is apparent: the flue is closed in V/η-class DNAPs giving small chimney openings, while the flue is open for the IV/κ-class giving large chimney openings. Secondarily, a hypothesis is developed for why the V/η-class might preferentially do cellular dATP insertion opposite [+ta]-B[a]P-N2-dG: the small chimney forces adduct-dG lower in the active site, possibly leading to catalysis using a non-canonical dNTP shape that permits syn-adenine:adduct-dG base pairing. In summary, a hypothesize is developed that the pyrene moiety of [+ta]-B[a]P-N2-dG protrudes from the large chimney opening of DNAP IV, thus permitting canonical dCTP:adduct-dG pairing, while the small chimney opening of DNAP V forces [+ta]-B[a]P-N2-dG lower down in the active site, in which syn-adenine can pair with adduct-dG via a non-canonical dNTP shape.
The Structure of the Venus Ionosphere

Our current knowledge of the spatial structure of the Venus ionosphere and its temporal behavior is reviewed, with emphasis on the more recent Pioneer Venus measurements and analysis not covered in earlier reviews. We will stress the ionosphere structure, since other papers in this issue deal with its dynamics, and its magnetic properties. We also discuss some of the limitations that the orbit has placed on the spatial and temporal coverage of the ionosphere. For the benefit of future users of the data some of the factors which affect the measurement accuracies are discussed in an Appendix.
Evoking [r] Using Visual Feedback

An adult who was not able to produce singleton consonantal [r] or any of the r-colored vowels correctly (although he could produce some consonant clusters containing [r]) was enrolled in a treatmen...
Time trends in mortality of Conophthorus ponderosae Hopkins exposed to insecticide residues.

The protection of the female cones of Pinus monticola (Dougl. ex D. Don) from attack by Conophthorus ponderosae (Hopkins) requires that the beetles be killed before they enter the cone. This encourages consideration of the distributions of length of time to death and how these distributions are changed with different concentrations of various candidate insecticides. In this study a three-parameter Weibull function was employed to depict the distributions for data originally collected for a probit analysis. The time to achieve 90% mortality as defined by the Weibull function was taken as a dependent variable, and a regression evaluation was used to define relationships with concentration for selected insecticides. The mode Y = b0 + b1 · X−1, in which Y = LT90 and × = insecticide concentration in g litre−1, proved useful when a sufficient range of concentrations was included in the testing.
On the complexity of join predicates

We consider the complexity of join problems, focusing on equijoins, spatial-overlap joins, and set-containment joins. We use a graph pebbling model to characterize these joins combinatorially, by the length of their optimal pebbling strategies and computationally, by the complexity of discovering these strategies. Our results show that equijoins are the easiest of all joins, with optimal pebbling strategies that meet the lower bound over all join problems and that can be found in linear time. By contrast, spatial-overlap and set-containment joins are the hardest joins, with instances where optimal pebbling strategies reach the upper bound over all join problems and with the problem of discovering optimal pebbling strategies being NP-complete. For set-containment joins, we show that discovering the optimal pebbling is also MAX-SNP-Complete. As a consequence, we show that unless NP = P, there is a constant ∈o, such that this problem cannot be approximated within a factor of 1 + ∈O in polynomial time. Our results shed some light on the difficulty the applied community has had in finding “good” algorithms for spatial-overlap and set-containment joins.
An unstable mutant gene of the am locus of Neurospora results from a small duplication

Abstract We have cloned the unstable am mutant gene, am 126 , as well as the am gene from an am 126 revertant. The mutation is a result of a 33-bp duplication that repeats a sequence starting 13 bp upstream of the 3' splice junction between intron 1 and exon 2 and extends 20 bp into exon 2. In addition, there is a G → A transition 2 bp upstream of the first copy of the duplicated sequence. In the revertant gene the wild-type sequence is precisely recovered, involving both the loss of the duplication and a reversion (A → G) of the associated transition. Our data suggest that only the more 5' of the two 3' splice junctions present in the duplicated version of the gene is used. This favors a 5' → 3' scanning mechanism for exon splicing.
Partial pressures of oxygen, phosphorus and fluorine in some lunar lavas

Abstract Lunar sample 14310 is a feldspar-rich basalt which shows no evidence of shock deformation or recrystallization. Pyroxenes include Mg-rich orthopyroxene, pigeonite and augite; pyroxferroite occurs in the interstitial residuum. Plagioclase feldspars are zoned from An96 to An67, and variations in feldspar compositions do not necessarily indicate loss of Na during eruption of the lava. Opaque phases include ilmenite, ulvo¨spinel, metallic iron, troilite, and schreibersite. Both whitlockite and apatite are present, and the interstitial residua contains baddeleyite, tranquillityite and barium rich sanidine. Theoretical calculations provide estimates of partial pressures of oxygen, phosphorus and fluorine in lunar magmas. In general, partial pressures of oxygen are restricted by the limiting assemblages of iron-wu¨stite and ilmenite-iron-rutile; phosphorus partial pressures are higher in lunar magmas than in terrestrial lavas. The occurrence of whitlockite indicates significantly lower fugacities of fluorine in lunar magmas than in terrestrial magmas.
Multicanonical Monte-Carlo simulations of light propagation in biological media.

Monte-Carlo simulation is an important tool in the field of biomedical optics, but suffers from significant computational expense. In this paper, we present the multicanonical Monte-Carlo (MMC) method for improving the efficiency of classical Monte Carlo simulations of light propagation in biological media. The MMC is an adaptive importance sampling technique that iteratively equilibrates at the optimal importance distribution with little (if any) a priori knowledge of how to choose and bias the importance proposal distribution. We illustrate the efficiency of this method by evaluating the probability density function (pdf) for the radial distance of photons exiting from a semi-infinite homogeneous tissue as well as the pdf for the maximum penetration depth of photons propagating in an inhomogeneous tissue. The results agree very well with diffusion theory as well as classical Monte-Carlo simulations. A six to sevenfold improvement in computational time is achieved by the MMC algorithm in calculating pdf values as low as 10-8. This result suggests that the MMC method can be useful in efficiently studying numerous applications of light propagation in complex biological media where the remitted photon yield is low.
Use of the Differential Ability Scales (DAS) Special Nonverbal Composite among Young Children with Linguistic Differences

The Differential Ability Scales (DAS) was administered to young children (ages 3 to 6) to determine the appropriateness of the instrument with children with linguistic differences. Specifically, th...
Gustatory rhinitis: A syndrome of food-induced rhinorrhea

Abstract The consumption of certain foods causes watery rhinorrhea (gustatory rhinitis) in many individuals. To examine the underlying mechanisms responsible for this common phenomenon, 12 subjects ingested control foods and positive foods (foods that cause rhinorrhea). Nasal lavages performed 10 minutes after each food challenge were analyzed for albumin and total protein. Positive food challenge, but not control food challenge, induced rhinorrhea in all subjects. Positive food challenge increased albumin (7.8 ± 1.9 to 24.5 ± 7.6 mg/L; p p
Effect of Low Temperature on Fatigue Crack Formation and Microstructure-Scale Growth from Corrosion Damage in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu

The strong effect of cold temperature on the fatigue resistance of 7075-T651 is established. As temperature decreases from 296 K to 183 K (23 °C to −90 °C), the formation life for cracking about pit and EXCO corrosion perimeters increases, microstructure scale crack growth rates decrease in the range from 20 to 500 μm beyond the corrosion topography, and long crack growth rates similarly decline. Fatigue crack surface features correlate with reduced hydrogen embrittlement with decreasing temperature fed by localized H produced during precorrosion for pit and EXCO-proximate cracks, as well as by crack tip H produced by water vapor reaction during stressing for all crack sizes. The importance of the former H source increases with decreasing temperature for cracks sized below 200 μm. Decreasing temperature to 223 K (−50 °C) eliminates the contribution of environmental H through interaction of reduced water vapor pressure in equilibrium with ice and reduced H diffusion. The Knudsen flow model and exposure parameter, \( P_{{{\text{H}}_{2} {\text{O}}}}/f \), enables improved modeling of temperature dependent crack propagation, but does not fully describe low temperature fatigue behavior due to possible rate limitation by H diffusion. Further decreases in MSC da/dN to 183 K (−90 °C) are related to reduced mobility of the corrosion-precharged H which may associate with vacancies from dissolution. Crack formation, and growth rates correlate with either elastic stress intensity range or cyclic crack tip opening displacement, and are available to predict corrosion effects on airframe fatigue for the important low temperature regime.
Genomic profiling in locally advanced and inflammatory breast cancer and its link to DCE-MRI and overall survival.

AbstractPurpose: We have previously reported that dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) perfusion patterns obtained from locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) patients prior to neoadjuvant therapy predicted pathologic clinical response. Genomic analyses were also independently conducted on the same patient population. This retrospective study was performed to test two hypotheses: (1) gene expression profiles are associated with DCE-MRI perfusion patterns, and (2) association between long-term overall survival data and gene expression profiles can lead to the identification of novel predictive biomarkers. Methods: We utilised RNA microarray and DCE-MRI data from 47 LABC patients, including 13 inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) patients. Association between gene expression profile and DCE-MRI perfusion patterns (centrifugal and centripetal) was determined by Wilcoxon rank sum test. Association between gene expression level and survival was assessed using a Cox rank score test. Additio...
Nonadiabatic electronic response in atom scattering from metal surfaces

The response of metal electrons to a localized perturbation varying in time is singular; this dynamic property may influence the observability of diffraction peaks in atom scattering from metal surfaces.
Multiscale modeling catalytic decomposition of hydrocarbons during carbon nanotube growth.

A molecular dynamics simulator coupled to a quantum semiempirical Hamiltonian model was applied to multiscale modeling of the catalytic decomposition of hydrocarbons during carbon nanotube (CNT) and carbon nanofiber (CNF) growth. It was found that catalytic decomposition of acetylene is accompanied by a large energy release and its rate weakly depends on temperature in the range from 20 to 700 °C. In contrast, the methane decomposition rate substantially decreases as the iron temperature drops. A comparative analysis of acetylene decomposition on a clean surface and on an oxidized Fe(100) surface showed that the presence of oxygen reduces the decomposition rate by an order of magnitude, but has very little influence on the amount of heat released by the reaction. We also found that oxygen absorbed on the surface of catalyst does not easily diffuse into the catalyst or desorb from the surface. This implies that the surface of the catalyst is quickly covered by oxygen during CNT/CNF growth even at low oxyge...
The Academic Consequences of Desegregation and Segregation: Evidence from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Using survey data from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) collected in 1997, I examine (a) the academic consequences of attending segregated and desegregated schools, (b) how second generation segregation, in the form of tracking, diminished the potential benefits of school-level desegregation, (c) why desegregated learning environments are superior to segregated ones, and d) given the district’s new neighborhood schools pupil assignment plan, what do preliminary data suggest about racial and social class isolation and concentration in CMS’s 140 schools. The paper concludes with speculation as to what I anticipate will happen to race gaps in achievement, attainment, and racial antagonisms when the district returns to segregated neighborhood schools. In many ways, Charlotte serves as a strategic case study. Aside from the school system’s historic importance for the desegregation movement, and its reputation as a successfully desegregated district, this study’s unique data and methodology advance desegregation research designs. Therefore, while the CMS findings are not are generalizeable, they are nonetheless, suggestive of the effects of desegregated and segregated schooling on achievement. They are also instructive about the broader theoretical and methodological issues with which all desegregation research must grapple: how to capture students’ varied experiences with different types of segregation and desegregation, and the necessity of examining the extent to which desegregation plans have been implemented before assessing their value as a school reform. The findings from Charlotte offer important insights for understanding why so many desegregation programs seem to offer minority students such limited redress from the inequality in educational opportunities they continue to endure. The paper demonstrates that the more CMS students —both black and white—were exposed to truly desegregated education, the better were their academic outcomes. It shows that even in a school district highly regarded for its desegregation record, ability grouping and tracking resegregated many students within
Peer Mentoring in Clinical Education

Clinical training methods have been discussed among disciplines with a variety of methods having been used with some success. However, there is limited empirical evidence to support particular meth...
Two-Dimensional Materials as Substrates for the Development of Origami-Based Bionanosensors

In this paper, we report the development of methods for the stable localization of DNA origami as bionanostructures for potential molecular optoelectronic sensor systems. The microcontact printing approach has been adapted to provide a rapid method for the production of self-assembled monolayer nanopatterning of aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) on mica substrates. 1.2 μm blazed gratings were used as molds in the production of soft polydimethylsiloxane stamps. This stamp has been used to prepare fine-line patterns of APTES on flat mica surfaces. A solution-phase method was used to coat the bare mica between these APTES lines with dichlorodimethylsilane, which suppresses nonspecific binding of DNA origami nanostructures. Imaging studies confirm the addressing of rectangular DNA origami structures to the APTES patterns on mica.
The Cost of Volatile Investment in an Emerging Economy

I measure the welfare gains from eliminating fluctuations in investment in an emerging economy such as Argentina. The estimated welfare effects are an order of magnitude higher than those for the US and arise with moderate degrees of diminishing returns to investment.
Mushroom body structural change is associated with division of labor in eusocial wasp workers (Polybia aequatorialis, Hymenoptera: Vespidae).

Abstract Highly eusocial insect workers exhibit age-related division of labor. Adults begin working inside the nest, moving to the nest periphery and later to foraging. Passage through this task sequence is associated with neuroanatomical changes in the mushroom bodies (MB) of honey bee (Apis) and ant (Camponotus) workers. We asked whether eusocial wasp workers (Polybia aequatorialis) exhibit similar changes in adult neuroanatomy. Wasps were identified as working in-nest, on-nest, or foraging. The volumes of the somata of workers’ MB intrinsic neurons (Kenyon cells), and of the neuropils containing the Kenyon cell dendritic arbors (calyces), were estimated using stereological methods. In-nest workers had significantly smaller calyx to Kenyon cell volume ratios than on-nest and foraging workers. Age-related task specializations in Polybia workers are associated with major neuroanatomical reorganization in the mushroom bodies.
Event-Based Stabilization of Periodic Orbits for Underactuated 3-D Bipedal Robots With Left-Right Symmetry

Models of robotic bipedal walking are hybrid, with a differential equation that describes the stance phase and a discrete map describing the impact event, that is, the nonstance leg contacting the walking surface. The feedback controllers for these systems can be hybrid as well, including both continuous and discrete (event-based) actions. This paper concentrates on the event-based portion of the feedback design problem for 3-D bipedal walking. The results are developed in the context of robustly stabilizing periodic orbits for a simulation model of ATRIAS 2.1, which is a highly underactuated 3-D bipedal robot with series-compliant actuators and point feet, against external disturbances as well as parametric and nonparametric uncertainty. It is shown that left-right symmetry of the model can be used to both simplify and improve the design of event-based controllers. Here, the event-based control is developed on the basis of the Poincare map, linear matrix inequalities and robust optimal control. The results are illustrated by designing a controller that enhances the lateral stability of ATRIAS 2.1.
Characterization of the Multiple Conformational States of Free Monomeric and Trimeric Human Immunodeficiency Virus Envelope Glycoproteins after Fixation by Cross-Linker

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) gp120 exterior and gp41 transmembrane envelope glycoproteins assemble into trimers on the virus surface that represent potential targets for antibodies. Potent neutralizing antibodies bind the monomeric gp120 glycoprotein with small changes in entropy, whereas unusually large decreases in entropy accompany gp120 binding by soluble CD4 and less potent neutralizing antibodies. The high degree of conformational flexibility in the free gp120 molecule implied by these observations has been suggested to contribute to masking the trimer from antibodies that recognize the gp120 receptor-binding regions. Here we use cross-linking and recognition by antibodies to investigate the conformational states of gp120 monomers and soluble and cell surface forms of the trimeric HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins. The fraction of monomeric and trimeric envelope glycoproteins able to be recognized after fixation was inversely related to the entropic changes associated with ligand binding. In addition, fixation apparently limited the access of antibodies to the V3 loop and gp41-interactive surface of gp120 only in the context of trimeric envelope glycoproteins. The results support a model in which the unliganded monomeric and trimeric HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins sample several different conformations. Depletion of particular fixed conformations by antibodies allowed characterization of the relationships among the conformational states. Potent neutralizing antibodies recognize the greatest number of conformations and therefore can bind the virion envelope glycoproteins more rapidly and completely than weakly neutralizing antibodies. Thus, the conformational flexibility of the HIV-1 envelope glycoproteins creates thermodynamic and kinetic barriers to neutralization by antibodies directed against the receptor-binding regions of gp120.
Regulation of Root Hair Initiation and Expansin Gene Expression in Arabidopsis

The expression of two Arabidopsis expansin genes (AtEXP7 and AtEXP18) is tightly linked to root hair initiation; thus, the regulation of these genes was studied to elucidate how developmental, hormonal, and environmental factors orchestrate root hair formation. Exogenous ethylene and auxin, as well as separation of the root from the medium, stimulated root hair formation and the expression of these expansin genes. The effects of exogenous auxin and root separation on root hair formation required the ethylene signaling pathway. By contrast, blocking the endogenous ethylene pathway, either by genetic mutations or by a chemical inhibitor, did not affect normal root hair formation and expansin gene expression. These results indicate that the normal developmental pathway for root hair formation (i.e., not induced by external stimuli) is independent of the ethylene pathway. Promoter analyses of the expansin genes show that the same promoter elements that determine cell specificity also determine inducibility by ethylene, auxin, and root separation. Our study suggests that two distinctive signaling pathways, one developmental and the other environmental/hormonal, converge to modulate the initiation of the root hair and the expression of its specific expansin gene set.
Thermal Stability of the Premature Infant in Neonatal Intensive Care

Abstract Hypothermia continues to be a problem for premature infants being cared for in neonatal intensive care because care and procedures expose infants to cold environmental temperatures and infants have immature thermoregulation. Researchers continue to study this problem in order to optimize care with evidence based thermal practices. This paper reviews current research and recommendations to give nurses evidence to formulate thermal stability guidelines for premature infants as well as areas where more research is needed.
Oral histories in meteoritics and planetary science: IX. Heinrich Wänke

— In this interview, Heinrich Wanke, a nuclear physicist, describes how he first encountered meteorite studies in 1953 when, after finishing his Ph.D. thesis in Vienna, he joined the research group of Professor Friedrich Paneth at the University of Durham, England. There, he worked on problems relating to uranium-helium ages of iron meteorites. A year later, Wanke moved with Paneth to the Max-Planck-Institut fur Chemie at Mainz in Germany. He continued meteorite research but also conducted experiments to measure noble gases in the stratosphere, a project that brought him to America in 1956 where he first met Professor Harold C. Urey, with whom he formed a lasting friendship. After Paneth's early death in 1958, Wanke remained at the Institute in Mainz and pursued research on topics such as the isotopic compositions of cosmogenic noble gases in iron meteorites and the abundances of primordial rare gases implanted by solar wind particles in brecciated stony meteorites. In 1969, Wanke was appointed to fill Paneth's position as a director of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Chemie just in time for him to lead a wide spectrum of research projects on the lunar rocks and soils. From the geochemical evidence these studies provided, he theorized on the formation of the Moon by the giant impact hypothesis, and proposed a two-component model for the cosmic composition of the Earth's mantle. His group also investigated the isotopic chemistry of martian meteorites and its bearing on the origin and evolution of Mars, which he viewed as a cored planet that underwent early differentiation without subsequent convective homogenization. In 1980, the Meteoritical Society awarded the Leonard Medal to Heinrich Wanke for his numerous contributions of fundamental importance to meteoritics and planetary science.
Appliances to correct resected or missing portions of the mandible

Abstract When portions of the mandible are lost, a prosthesis should be constructed to restore occlusion and masticatory function and to improve appearance. The appliance may be a temporary one, being used as an adjunct to a bone graft, or may be a permanent one substituting for the lost tissue.
Circuitry underlying regulation of the serotonergic system by swim stress

The dorsal raphe nucleus (DR)-serotonin (5-HT) system has been implicated in depression and is dramatically affected by swim stress, an animal model with predictive value for antidepressants. Accumulating evidence implicates the stress-related neuropeptide corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the effect of swim stress on this system. This study investigated neural circuits within the DR that are activated by swim stress as revealed by neuronal expression of the immediate early gene, c-fos. Swim stress increased c-fos expression in the dorsolateral subregion of the DR. The majority of c-fos-expressing neurons were doubly labeled for GABA (85 +/- 5%), whereas relatively few were immunolabeled for 5-HT (4 +/- 1%), glutamate (0.5 +/- 0.3%) or calbindin (1.5 +/- 0.3%). Dual immunohistochemical labeling revealed that c-fos-expressing neurons in the dorsolateral DR were enveloped by dense clusters of CRF-immunoreactive fibers and also contained immunolabeling for CRF receptor, suggesting that c-fos-expressing neurons in the DR were specifically targeted by CRF. Consistent with this, the CRF receptor 1 antagonist, antalarmin, prevented swim-stress-elicited c-fos expression in the dorsolateral DR. Together with previous findings that both swim stress and CRF decrease 5-HT release in certain forebrain regions, these results suggest that swim stress engages CRF inputs to GABA neurons in the dorsolateral DR that function to inhibit 5-HT neurons and 5-HT release in the forebrain. This circuitry may underlie some of the acute behavioral responses to swim stress as well as the neuronal plasticity involved in long-term behavioral changes produced by this stress.
Species of the Acritarch Genus Palaeostomocystis Deflandre 1937: Potential Indicators of Neritic Subpolar to Polar Environments in Antarctica During the Cenozoic

A palynological analysis was undertaken on 16 samples from seven piston cores collected along two offshore transects near Seymour and James Ross Islands. Diverse assemblages of reworked marine microplankton (including organic-walled dinoflagellate cysts, cymatiosphaerids, leiospheres, and other acritarchs) and terrestrial palynomorphs (including pollen and spores) were recovered from glacio-marine sediments of late Pleistocene age. Among the reworked taxa, four species belonging to the acritarch genus Palaeostomocystis Deflandre 1937 comprise up to 17% of all palynomorphs. Highest abundances were recorded from sites close to the coast. The potential use of Palaeostomocystis as a proxy for early ice-sheet development on the Antarctic margins is evaluated in light of earlier studies. This evaluation suggests that the high abundances of Palaeostomocystis on the Antarctic Peninsula reflect neritic-type environments (shallow waters, bay-like areas, or marginal seas) and sub-polar to polar conditions as exist in the Bering Sea, Greenland margins, and other subarctic to arctic areas today.
A Social Comparison Explanation for the Third-Person Perception

This study proposes the third-person perception (TPP) can be viewed as a type of comparative social judgment in the domain of media influence, in that it is a function of assimilation, contrast, and anchoring mechanisms in the process of social comparison. The derived hypotheses were tested with web-based experimental data (N = 511). Results showed some evidence that TPP was a function of assimilation and contrast effects. There was also evidence that there were anchoring effects, and such effects tended to emerge when self was the anchor. Implication and directions for future research on TPP were discussed.
Evaluation of the Corrosion Resistance of Fe–Al–Cr Alloys in Simulated Low NOx Environments

Due to their excellent corrosion resistance, iron aluminum alloys are currently being considered for use as weld claddings in fossil fuel fired power plants. The susceptibility to hydrogen cracking of these alloys at higher aluminum concentrations has led researchers to examine the effect of chromium additions on the corrosion resistance of lower aluminum alloys. In this work, three iron aluminum alloys were exposed to simulated coal combustion environments at 500 and 700 °C for short (100 h) and long (5000 h) isothermal durations. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the corrosion products. All alloys exhibited excellent corrosion resistance during short term exposures. For longer test times, increasing the aluminum concentration improved alloy corrosion resistance. The addition of chromium to the binary iron aluminum alloy prevented the formation iron sulfide and resulted in slower corrosion kinetics. A general classification of the scales developed on these alloys is presented.
Intraocular pressure abnormalities associated with central and hemicentral retinal vein occlusion.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the prevalence of ocular hypertension (OHT) and glaucoma in patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and hemi-CRVO (HCRVO) and of the fall in intraocular pressure (IOP) secondary to CRVO/HCRVO. Design Nonrandomized comparative case series. Participants and methods We investigated 674 consecutive patients who were initially seen with unilateral CRVO (n = 548) and HCRVO (n = 126) at their onset, with a normal fellow eye. The fellow uninvolved eye in each patient acted as a control. Central retinal vein occlusion and HCRVO were categorized into nonischemic and ischemic. At all visits, patients had a detailed ocular history, as well as a thorough bilateral ocular evaluation, including IOP recording with a Goldmann applanation tonometer; when the diagnosis of OHT or glaucoma was initially uncertain, the 24-hour diurnal IOP was recorded. The observed prevalence rates of OHT and glaucoma among patients with CRVO and HCRVO were compared with those in the general population. Main outcome measures The prevalence of OHT and glaucoma, and of ocular hypotension secondary to CRVO/HCRVO. Results The overall prevalence of glaucoma was 9.9% and of OHT 16.2%. The prevalence of glaucoma/OHT was found to be significantly ( P P = 0.156). Forty-eight percent of all patients had lower IOP (≥2 mmHg) in the CRVO/HCRVO eye than in the fellow (uninvolved) eye at their initial evaluation. The prevalence of ocular hypotension was significantly ( P P = 0.007). Conclusions Central retinal vein occlusion and HCRVO have a significant association with glaucoma and OHT and with a subsequent fall in IOP in the involved eye. Few patients with CRVO/HCRVO have high IOP in the involved eye, although many of them do have it in the fellow uninvolved eye. It is important to exclude glaucoma/OHT in the fellow eye of any patient with CRVO/HCRVO; if present, elevated IOP should be treated to reduce the risk of that eye developing (1) CRVO/HCRVO and (2) glaucomatous damage. There may be no benefit to prescribing IOP-lowering drops for involved eyes whose IOP is already normal.
Decentralized Multi-Echelon Supply Chains: Incentives and Information

Consider a supply chain in which a product must pass through multiple sites located in series before it is finally delivered to outside customers. Incentive problems may arise in this system when decisions are delegated to corresponding site managers, each maximizing his/her own performance metric. From the overall system's point of view, the decentralized supply chain may not be as efficient as the centralized one. In practice, alternative performance mechanisms are often used to align the incentives of the different managers in a supply chain. This paper discusses the cost conservation, incentive compatibility, and informational decentralizability properties of these mechanisms. In particular, for a special type of supply chain, we show that a performance measurement scheme involving transfer pricing, consignment, shortage reimbursement, and an additional backlog penalty at the last downstream site satisfies all these properties.
Global biogeography of autotroph chemistry: is insolation a driving force?

Synthesis The tissue chemistry of plants can influence ecosystem processes including growth, herbivory, and decomposition. Our comparison of nitrogen and phosphorus in over 1700 autotroph taxa demonstrates that latitudinal trends in tissue chemistry are consistent across non-vascular and vascular species in freshwater, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. Tissue chemistry varies most within species and taxonomic lineages, yet the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio within individuals is strikingly similar among species in different ecosystems. These results shed new light on existing hypotheses, suggesting that light (e.g. photon flux) and growing season duration are primary drivers of latitudinal gradients in tissue chemistry, but providing little support for temperature, nutrient supply, or soil substrate age. Photoautotroph nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) tissue concentrations can influence ecosystem function via processes including growth, decomposition, and consumption, and may reflect traits maintaining coexistence. Studies in terrestrial systems have led to hypotheses that latitudinal trends in the N and P content of leaves may be driven by soil substrate age, environmental temperature, or season length; however, terrestrial patterns alone cannot differentiate these mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate that broad geographical patterns of N and P in freshwater and marine multicellular photoautotrophs are concordant with those in terrestrial ecosystems. Our > 6800 record database reveals that mean tissue N and P increase with latitude in all ecosystems, but P increases more rapidly, causing N:P to decline; mean N:P scaling within individuals also is identical among systems, despite very different evolutionary environments. A partitioning of the variance in these data suggests that species composition and local environmental context likely lead to the variation observed within a latitudinal band. However, the consistency of trends in photosynthetic tissue chemistry across Earth’s ecosystems suggests that biogeographical gradients in insolation and growing season length may constrain tissue N and P, whereas global trends in temperature, nutrient supply, and soil substrate age are unlikely to generate the consistent latitudinal trends among ecosystems. Thus, this cross-ecosystem comparison suggests a new hypothesis, global patterns of insolation, while also providing a new perspective on other mechanisms that have been hypothesized to underlie latitudinal trends in photosynthetic tissue chemistry.
Guest Editors' Introduction: Micro's Top Picks from the Microarchitecture Conferences

The guest editors introduce this special issue showcasing Micro's Top Picks from the Microarchitecture Conferences of 2006. They describe the issue's intensive submission and selection process. The articles focus on the design of resilient computing systems, the architecture of multicore systems, performance evaluation techniques, general-purpose processors, and a programmable architecture for wireless protocols.
Automated nuclear segmentation of coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering microscopy images by coupling superpixel context information with artificial neural networks

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy is attracting major scientific attention because its high-resolution, label-free properties have great potential for real time cancer diagnosis during an image-guided-therapy process. In this study, we develop a nuclear segmentation technique which is essential for the automated analysis of CARS images in differential diagnosis of lung cancer subtypes. Thus far, no existing automated approaches could effectively segment CARS images due to their low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and uneven background. Naturally, manual delineation of cellular structures is time-consuming, subject to individual bias, and restricts the ability to process large datasets. Herein we propose a fully automated nuclear segmentation strategy by coupling superpixel context information and an artificial neural network (ANN), which is, to the best of our knowledge, the first automated nuclear segmentation approach for CARS images. The superpixel technique for local clustering divides an image into small patches by integrating the local intensity and position information. It can accurately separate nuclear pixels even when they possess subtly lower contrast with the background. The resulting patches either correspond to cell nuclei or background. To separate cell nuclei patches from background ones, we introduce the rayburst shape descriptors, and define a superpixel context index that combines information from a given superpixel and it's immediate neighbors, some of which are background superpixels with higher intensity. Finally we train an ANN to identify the nuclear superpixels from those corresponding to background. Experimental validation on three subtypes of lung cancers demonstrates that the proposed approach is fast, stable, and accurate for segmentation of CARS images, the first step in the clinical use of CARS for differential cancer analysis.
Atomic packing and short-to-medium-range order in metallic glasses

Unlike the well-defined long-range order that characterizes crystalline metals, the atomic arrangements in amorphous alloys remain mysterious at present. Despite intense research activity on metallic glasses and relentless pursuit of their structural description, the details of how the atoms are packed in amorphous metals are generally far less understood than for the case of network-forming glasses. Here we use a combination of state-of-the-art experimental and computational techniques to resolve the atomic-level structure of amorphous alloys. By analysing a range of model binary systems that involve different chemistry and atomic size ratios, we elucidate the different types of short-range order as well as the nature of the medium-range order. Our findings provide a reality check for the atomic structural models proposed over the years, and have implications for understanding the nature, forming ability and properties of metallic glasses.
An Analysis of Verbal Reports of Solving Spatial Problems as an Aid in Defining Spatial Factors

(1953). An Analysis of Verbal Reports of Solving Spatial Problems as an Aid in Defining Spatial Factors. The Journal of Psychology: Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 17-25.
Age and tumor size predicts lymph node involvement in Hürthle Cell Carcinoma.

Introduction: Hurthle cell carcinoma (HCC) is a rare tumor that tends to metastasize to the lymph nodes. Some studies have correlated size of Hurthle cell tumors with the risk of malignancy. Whether the size of HCC correlates with the risk of lymph node (LN) metastases, to our knowledge has not been addressed. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on all patients diagnosed with HCC on final pathology between 1997 and 2008. The tumor size and lymph node status was obtained for each patient. The data were analyzed utilizing Student's t-test and the Fisher's exact test to calculate the two-tailed p-value. Results: Out of 39 patients diagnosed with HCC 3(8%) had LN metastases; 1 had ipsilateral central LN metastasis and 2 had ipsilateral central and lateral LN metastasis. LN dissection was performed in patients with known metastasis (2 were evident on preoperative ultrasound and 1 intraoperatively). Patients with LN metastasis were older than those without (mean age: 86.7 and 56.4 years, respectively), had larger tumors (mean size: 6 and 4 cm) and were commonly male (2 of 3). No tumor 5cm cancer had node metastasis, 0/24 with <5cm cancer had node metastasis). Conclusions: Similar to what has been found in patients with papillary thyroid cancer, older male patients with Hurthle cell carcinomas greater than 5cm are more likely to have lymph node metastasis. Our data suggest that these patients may benefit from a prophylactic ipsilateral central neck dissection at the time of their initial operation.
Degree of obesity at delivery and risk of preeclampsia with severe features

Background The risk of preeclampsia increases as maternal body mass index (BMI) increases. The link between increasing maternal BMI and preeclampsia with severe features is less well-established. Objective To estimate the effect of increasing severity of obesity on risk of preeclampsia with severe features, stratified by early-onset and late-onset disease. Study Design We performed a retrospective cohort study of consecutive singleton live births at a tertiary care facility from 2004 to 2008. Women were included in the cohort if they delivered a singleton live birth and maternal height and weight was measured on admission. The primary exposure was maternal weight category on presentation for delivery, defined as normal (BMI 18.5−24.9; referent group, n = 1473), overweight (BMI 25−29.9, n = 3081), obese (BMI 30−39.9, n = 4196), and morbidly obese (BMI ≥40, n = 1446). The primary outcome was preeclampsia with severe features. Secondary outcome was early-onset preeclampsia with severe features at Results Of the 10,196 patients meeting inclusion criteria, 1119 developed preeclampsia. Of those, 881 (8.6%) women developed preeclampsia with severe features. Overall, the risk of preeclampsia with severe features was not significantly different in the 4 BMI categories. Of the 10,196 women in the cohort, 1072 delivered Conclusion Increasing maternal weight was not associated with preeclampsia with severe features in the total cohort; however, overweight, obese, and morbidly obese women are at increased risk of developing late-onset preeclampsia with severe features.
On the Pseudo-Dimension of Nearly Optimal Auctions

This paper develops a general approach, rooted in statistical learning theory, to learning an approximately revenue-maximizing auction from data. We introduce t-level auctions to interpolate between simple auctions, such as welfare maximization with reserve prices, and optimal auctions, thereby balancing the competing demands of expressivity and simplicity. We prove that such auctions have small representation error, in the sense that for every product distribution F over bidders’ valuations, there exists a t-level auction with small t and expected revenue close to optimal. We show that the set of t-level auctions has modest pseudo-dimension (for polynomial t) and therefore leads to small learning error. One consequence of our results is that, in arbitrary single-parameter settings, one can learn a mechanism with expected revenue arbitrarily close to optimal from a polynomial number of samples.
Genomic Analysis of Breast Cancer Heralds a Changing Treatment Paradigm

Deep genomic analysis in breast cancer and the identification of driver mutations will result in treatments based on molecular subtypes and pathways. Mutations not yet familiar to most oncologists will become part of the clinical oncology vernacular. Such discoveries will advance the concept of "biology first, not drug first," because molecular biology will drive drug development and clinical trial design involving small, molecularly defined subsets of patients, according to a presentation at the NCCN 19th Annual Conference.