cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthetic oleanane triterpenoids: Magic bullets or not?

A recent clinical trial in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and diabetic nephropathy demonstrated that bardoxolone methyl (CDDO-ME) increases estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) by an unknown mechanism. The paper by Ding et al. suggests that short-term administration of a CDDO-ME analog increases GFR by increasing glomerular surface area. However, changes in other renal hemodynamic parameters cannot be excluded. Vigorous testing of CDDO-ME and highly purified analogs is warranted to determine their physiology, pharmacology, and efficacy and to exclude serious side effects.
The hippocratic oath: a code for physicians, not a pythagorean manifesto

The Hippocratic Oath is to be considered a code of conduct for all physicians and not a Pythagorean manifesto, in spite of the view of Edelstein. In fact, it can be shown that the prohibitions and requirements on which the Pythagorean hypothesis rests (the prohibition against helping suicide, inducing abortion, performing surgery, and having sex with patients or with members of their household and the rules of confidentiality and collegiality) do not necessarily link the Hippocratic Oath to the Pythagoreans. Edelstein affirms that only the Pythagoreans condemned suicide, whereas it can be shown that Plato, Aristotle, the Epicureans, and several authors in antiquity opposed it. Similarly, induced abortion was by no means universally accepted in antiquity. Soranus, for example, clearly states that many physicians opposed it in all cases. The passage of the oath concerning surgery can be shown to refer only to lithotomy (as others have underlined). As for sexual relations with patients or members of their household (male or female), the existence of laws against promiscuity (homo- or heterosexual), and other evidence, indicates that it was usually condemned. Finally, confidentiality and collegiality were virtues that the Pythagoreans were not alone in upholding. In addition, many of the principles upheld by the Oath are found in other documents unrelated to the Pythagoreans.
Bepridil and valproate retard Na+ reactivation in Myxicola.

Abstract Two drugs were examined, each causing a similar specific modification of Na + channel inactivation gating when internally applied to voltage-clamped Myxicola giant axons. Bepridil is an antianginal-antiarrhythmic agent with vasodilator and direct cardiac inotropic effects. Sodium valproate has anticonvulsant activity and causes use-dependent inhibition of repetitive firing in CNS neurons. Bepridil and sodium valproate caused a dose-dependent decrease in maximum Na + conductance (K D = 25 μ M for bepridil; K D = 0.5 mM for valproate). More importantly, at half-maximal blocking concentrations both drugs shifted steady state Na + inactivation in the hyperpolarizing direction] (by 30 mV for bepridil; 15 mV for valproate) and slowed the recovery of Na + channels from inactivation (by 300% for bepridil; 60% for valproate). There was no effect on the K + conductance, voltage-dependence of Na + activation, or the time-dependence of inactivation of conducting channels. Neither produced non-inactivating Na + current during long depolarizing steps.
Loss of Control Prevention and Recovery: Onboard Guidance, Control, and Systems Technologies

Loss of control (LOC) is one of the largest contributors to fatal aircraft accidents worldwide. LOC accidents are complex in that they can result from numerous causal and contributing factors acting alone or (more often) in combination. These LOC hazards include vehicle impairment conditions, external disturbances; vehicle upset conditions, and inappropriate crew actions or responses. Hence, there is no single intervention strategy to prevent these accidents. NASA previously defined a comprehensive research and technology development approach for reducing LOC accidents and an associated integrated system concept. Onboard technologies for improved situation awareness, guidance, and control for LOC prevention and recovery are needed as part of this approach. Such systems should include: LOC hazards effects detection and mitigation; upset detection, prevention and recovery; and mitigation of combined hazards. NASA is conducting research in each of these areas. This paper provides an overview of this research, including the near-term LOC focus and associated analysis, as well as preliminary flight system architecture.
Platinum(II)-Catalyzed Isomerization of Alkoxycyclopropanes to Alkylated Ketones

Conversion of alkoxycyclopropanes to 2-methyl ketones has been accomplished using catalytic platinum. Mechanistic studies revealed that the conversion involves platinum insertion into the cycloprop...
Studies on the Metabolism of Benzo[a]Pyrene and Dose-Dependent Differences in the Mutagenic Profile of Its Ultimate Carcinogenic Metabolite

(1994). Studies on the Metabolism of Benzo[a]Pyrene and Dose-Dependent Differences in the Mutagenic Profile of Its Ultimate Carcinogenic Metabolite. Drug Metabolism Reviews: Vol. 26, No. 1-2, pp. 125-163.
The Influence of Origen Upon St. Jerome's Commentary On Galatians

This paper examines the Commentary on Galatians by St. Jerome (PL 26,331-468) and its relationship to Origen. There has long been a need for a study of this kind. In 1882 Brooke Foss Westcott wrote that "Jerome does not seem to have made much use of Origen in his own Commentary [on Galatians]; but this work has not yet been carefully examined with a view to determine how far it is original".1 Less than a decade later Theodore Zahn expressed a more positive outlook:2 "If we possessed" (he writes) "fragments of Origen's exposition of the letter to the Galatians as large as those of the letter to the Ephesians, we would surely be able to draw a similarly complete proof for Hieronymus' dependence upon him." Turner, in his article on the Patristic Commentaries of St. Paul in the Supplementary Volume to Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (1904), concurred with the opinion.3 Finally Souter in 1927 wrote that "there is no doubt that a very large part of Jerome's commentary on Galatians is taken direct from Origen, though he is sometimes abridged in the process".4 The opinions of Westcott, Zahn, Turner and Souter, rendered over a period of forty-five years, suggest the value of a careful analysis of the influence of Origen upon Jerome's Commentary on Galatians.
Consistency Measures for Isoconversional Interpretation of In-Situ Combustion Reaction Kinetics

The reaction kinetics of an in situ combustion process were studied via ramped temperature oxidation within a kinetic cell system. A methodology is established for rapid assessment of consistency among the various heating programs needed to interpret the apparent activation energy versus conversion or temperature. The isoconversional principle based on multiple programs of temperature versus time is applicable to interpret the apparent activation energies of the series and coupled reactions comprising crude-oil combustion. The issue of measurement consistency was studied using both simulations and experiments. Three sets of ramped temperature oxidation experiments of different reactor designs, different air injection rates, and different sample mixture sizes were conducted. Both experimental and simulation results support that the isoconversional principle is a model-free interpretation tool and the principle is promising for the study of crude-oil reaction kinetics that involve multiphase, multicomponent...
Carbon monoxide hydrogenation over molybdenum and tungsten carbides

Abstract Hydrogenation of carbon monoxide was studied over the face centered cubic (fcc) phases of molybdenum and tungsten carbides. Moderately high surface area unsupported molybdenum and tungsten carbides (95 and 52 m2 g−1, respectively) were prepared using a temperature programmed synthesis method. The starting oxides were first converted to a cubic nitride by reacting with ammonia, which are subsequently transformed to the carbide in a methane/hydrogen mixture. The presence of the face centered cubic structure was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The catalysts were tested in a slurry continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR) at P=2 MPa, in the temperature range 494–573 K and space velocities that varied from 2.5 to 15 S l h −1 g cat −1 . The production of large amounts of carbon dioxide instead of water in the case of molybdenum carbide indicates a high water gas shift activity. In both cases the main hydrocarbon product is methane.
Mechanisms of the defect in glomerular ultrafiltration associated with gentamicin administration

Mechanisms of the defect in glomerular ultrafiltration associated with gentamicin administration. Micropuncture studies were performed in three groups of Munich-Wistar rats: eight normal hydropenic controls (group I) and two groups (eight rats each) which were treated with gentamicin in doses of either 4 or 40 mg/kg/day for ten days (groups II and III, respectively). Following gentamicin administration, values for single nephron (SN) GFR were reduced markedly, from the control mean of 31 ± 0.7 (SEM) nl/min to 22.4 ± 1.5 and 20.5 ± 0.9 for groups II and III, respectively. Declines in whole kidney GFR paralleled these falls in SNGFR. The primary cause of the reduction in SNGFR was a marked decline in glomerular capillary ultrafiltration coefficient, K f , in both gentamicin treatment groups. None of the other determinants of glomerular ultrafiltration were significantly affected in the low dose group (group II). In the high dose group (group III), however, mean values for initial glomerular plasma flow rate and mean transglomerular hydraulic pressure difference were significantly lower than in the control group, accounting for the somewhat greater decline in SNGFR observed in group III. Electron microscopic examination of kidney tissue from rats treated with both doses of gentamicin revealed no obvious abnormalities of the glomerular capillary wall, whereas the previously described morphologic aberrations of proximal convoluted tubule cells were readily demonstrable. Mecanisme de l'alteration de l'ultra-filtration glomerulaire associee a l'administration de gentamicine. Afin de definir l'alteration de l'ultra-filtration associee a l'administration de gentamicine trois groupes de rats Munich-Wistar ont ete etudiees par microponctions: 8 controles hydropeniques (groupe I) et deux groupes de huit rats chacun traites par la gentamicine aux doses de 4 (groupe II) ou 40 (groupe III) mg/kg/jour pendant dix jours. Apres l'administration de gentamicine les valeurs des debits de filtration des nephrons (SNGFR) ont ete considerablement reduites de 31 ± 0,7 (SEM) nl/min a 22,4 ± 1,5 et 20,5 ± 0,9 pour les groupes II et III, respectivement. Le debit de filtration glomerulaire du rein entier a diminue parallelenient. La cause essentielle de la reduction de SNGFR est une diminution importante de K f dans les deux groupes traites par la gentamicine, Aucun des autres determinants de l'ultra-filtration glomerulaire n'est affecte significativement dans le groupe II. Dans le groupe III, cependant, les valeurs moyennes du debit plasmatique glomerulaire initial et de la pression hydraulique transglomerulaire sont significativement inferieures aux controles, rendant compte de la plus grand diminution de SNGFR observee dans le groupe III. L'etude en microscopie electronique du tissu renal des rats traites par l'une ou l'autre dose de gentamicine n'a revele aucune anomalie majeure de la paroi du capillaire glomerulaire alors que les modifications anterieurement decrites des cellules du tube contourne proximal sont evidentes.
Effect of intracerebroventricularly administered octopamines and synephrines on angiotensin II-induced water intake in rats

Abstract Recent studies from this laboratory showed that l -m-synephrine (phenylephrine), a metabolite of l -m-octapamine, inhibited the drinking response of rats to peripherally administered angiotensin II. The objective of this investigation was to determine whether the isomers of both octapamine and synephrine could inhibit angiotensin II-induced dipsogenesis in the rat. Of the isomers tested, only d , l -m-octopamine and l -m-synephrine blocked the dipsogenic response to administration of angiotensin II (200 μg/kg, SC). The antidipsogenic effect of both d , l -m-octopamine and l -m-synephrine could be blocked by concurrent administration of yohimbine (300 μg/kg, IP), an α 2 -adrenoceptor antagonist. The results indicate that m-octopamine and m-synephrine exert their antidipsogenic effect via α 2 -adrenoceptors. These studies add to a growing body of data suggesting that activation of α 2 -adrenoceptors inhibits, while blockade of these receptors enhances, angiotensin II-induced drinking.
The E249K Mutator Mutant of DNA Polymerase β Extends Mispaired Termini

Abstract The DNA polymerase β mutant enzyme, which is altered from glutamic acid to lysine at position 249, exhibits a mutator phenotype in primer extension assays and in the herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) forward mutation assay. The basis for this loss of accuracy was investigated by measurement of misincorporation fidelity in single turnover conditions. For the four misincorporation reactions investigated, the fidelity of the E249K mutant was not significantly different from wild type, implying that the mutator phenotype was not caused by a general inability to distinguish between correct and incorrect bases during the incorporation reaction. However, the discrimination between correct and incorrect substrates by the E249K enzyme occurred less during the conformational change and chemical steps and more during the initial binding step, compared with pol β wild type. This implies that the E249K mutation alters the kinetic mechanism of nucleotide discrimination without reducing misincorporation fidelity. In a missing base primer extension assay, we observed that the mutant enzyme produced mispairs and extended them. This indicates that the altered fidelity of E249K could be due to loss of discrimination against mispaired primer termini. This was supported by the finding that the E249K enzyme extended a G:A mispair 8-fold more efficiently than wild type and a C:T mispair 4-fold more efficiently. These results demonstrate that an enhanced ability to extend mispairs can produce a mutator phenotype and that the Glu-249 side chain of DNA polymerase β is critical for mispair extension fidelity.
Effect of occlusal splints on TMJ symptomatology.

The clinical response of TMJ symptomatology to full-coverage occlusal splints, when used as the only means of treatment, was evaluated. The symptomatology recorded during the last postoperative visit was compared to the initial visit. The response of the different symptoms to the use of the occlusal splint was analyzed statistically using a chi-square test. A statistically significant difference (p = .03) was only found when comparing those groups having only pain or dysfunction symptomatology. The response favored the remission of pain. However, every symptom was improved with the use of an occlusal splint. It was concluded that: 1. Both pain and dysfunction symptomatology will benefit from the occlusal splint therapy. 2. The pain response will be significantly better than the dysfunction response when the patient is treated with an occlusal splint. 3. Eighty percent of the patients suffering from a TMJ syndrome will improve or be cured when the only form of treatment is the use of a full-coverage occlusal splint.
Inelastic Collision of Spherical Ion-Acoustic Solitons

The collision of spherical ion-acoustic solitons having different centers of symmetry is studied. Unlike one-dimensional collisions, the solitons are significantly changed by the collision. A new two-dimensional nonlinear object is found to be created. Remnants of the solitons that survive are found to be shifted in phase and reduced in amplitude.
What Happened to the CBD-Distance Gradient?: Land Values in a Policentric City

Hedonic regression methods are used to assess the impact of dwelling and structure characteristics, neighborhood effects, and multiple locations on a sample of almost 11000 residential property sales in Los Angeles County in 1980. Correction for the dwelling characteristic permits the analysis to be interpreted in terms of land values rather than property values per unit area. The selected equation explains more than 93% of the variation in the dependent variable (house price per unit of lot area). All the independent variables (five property or transaction characteristics, four neighborhood effects, and ten locational nodes) are statistically significant, with one major exception: distance from the CBD, which has a very low /-value and an unexpected sign. This result should be considered in the context of many superficial references, based largely on visual symbols such as new office buildings, to a revival of downtown Los Angeles. The authors interpret the finding that eight subcenters have a statistica...
Sedimentology of cross-stratified sandstones in Arikaree group, Miocene, southeastern Wyoming

Abstract The Arikaree Sandstone of Early Miocene age in southeastern Wyoming contains large-scale cross-stratification thought by previous investigators to have formed in a fluvial environment. Detailed study of the cross-strata, however, suggests an aeolian origin. Average angle of dip of foreset beds is 24° with angles as high as 34°. Thickness of sets of cross-strata is commonly 3–4 m with 11 m measured in one location. Settling velocities in water of hornblende and quartz grains from these deposits yield cumulative curves indicative of deposition from aeolian suspension. Petrographic study of the suspected aeolian sandstones shows them to contain smaller percentages of volcanic air-fall shards than associated fluvial sediments. This probably reflects the high winnowing susceptibility of these very fine-grained, low-sphericity shards during aeolian transportation and deposition. Scanning electron microscopy revealed polygonal plate structures on the surfaces of quartz grains which are generally associated with aeolian abrasion. The evidence suggests that these cross-strata represent remnants of aeolian dunes, possibly barchan and transverse types, that migrated across the aggrading High Plains surface during the Early Miocene. They consequently became intercalated with fluvial sediments producing complex facies relationships.
Variation in language networks in monolingual and bilingual English speakers: consequences for language mapping for surgical preplanning.

Proficient, nonnative English-speaking neurosurgery candidates are assessed for language function in English. In order to understand whether it is necessary to also assess native-language function, we examined the influence of native language on the bilingual language network of early, proficient bilinguals using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We compared the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response to a language task in well-matched groups of monolingual native English speakers (MLEs), bilingual native English speakers (BLE1s), and bilingual nonnative English speakers (BLE2s). Random effects analysis revealed a significant main effect of group in temporal–parietal regions highly germane to the planning of temporal lobe surgical procedures. To explore how the three groups differed, we examined the average time course in each area of main effect for each group. We found significant differences between the monolinguals and the two bilingual groups. We interpret our results as evidence for...
Integral model of dense gas plume dispersion

Abstract The injection of a dense gas stream at ground level into a flowing turbulent atmosphere produces a wide, flat plume that entrains air primarily through its upper surface. A quasi-one-dimensional flow model of an isothermal dense gas plume is developed for the purpose of comparing experiments in wind tunnels and water flumes and field tests in the atmosphere. Comparisons are made for plume width, including the width at the source, and centerline ground plane source gas concentration. All published data are used in this comparison, which cover a factor of about 100 in plume length scale and Reynolds number. Tests conducted by different experimenters were found not to be dynamically similar. Dimensionless model parameters, all of order unity, are selected to give the best agreement among all the experimental data. The dependence of entrainment rate on the plume Richardson number, a key feature of the model, is confirmed in the comparison. The entrainment rate parameter is found to be larger for the field tests than for the laboratory experiments, reflecting the much higher Reynolds number of the former.
Bilateral optic disc edema as a primary presentation of Lyme disease

Abstract Lyme disease is an illness caused by the tick-borne Borrelia burgdorferi spirochete in which ocular involvement often occurs. The illness has multiple clinical presentations with neurological, cardiac and rheumatological complications. This article reports the case of a patient who presented with neuro-ocular manifestations of Lyme disease. With the incidence of this disease rising, optometrists practicing in Lyme-endemic areas need to be aware of the possible clinical manifestations so that proper referrals can be made for treatment and management.
Inadequate and Harmful Clinical Supervision: Testing a Revised Framework and Assessing Occurrence

Two studies were conducted to revise and empirically test Ellis’s framework for inadequate and harmful supervision, and to determine the occurrence of inadequate and harmful clinical supervision from the supervisees’ perspective. For Study 1, we delineated 10 criteria for minimally adequate clinical supervision and defined inadequate and harmful supervision by differentiating self-identified and de facto supervision for each. Ratings from 34 supervision experts were used to generate a taxonomy of 16 de facto inadequate and 21 de facto harmful supervision descriptors. Because harmful supervision was distinct from, yet subsumed by, inadequate supervision, we revised the taxonomy and definitions accordingly. In Study 2, the occurrence of inadequate and harmful supervision was assessed for 363 supervisees; 93.0% were currently receiving inadequate supervision and 35.3% were currently receiving harmful supervision. Over half of the supervisees had received harmful clinical supervision at some point. Implicatio...
Relationship of Short Employment Tests and General Clerical Tests

Summary This study sought to determine whether the Short Employment Tests (SET) were as discriminating as the General Clerical Test (GCT) in selecting and classifying two groups of office workers with different educational backgrounds. Group I was composed of male and female clerical and other office applicants who were mainly high school graduates. This group was given the GCT and the vocabulary, numerical, and clerical sub-tests of the SET. Group II included male and female secretarial and stenographic applicants most of whom had business school or college training beyond high school. These applicants took the verbal section of the GCT and the verbal sub-test of the SET. For the clerical applicants, the correlation (.87) between the GCT and the SET total scores indicated that the SET could satisfactorily replace the GCT in the selection procedure and reduce test administration time. For the secretarial and stenographic applicants, the correlation between the GCT-B (Verbal) and SET Verbal was .77. The GCT-B differentiated more finely throughout the entire score range among these better educated applicants than the SET Verbal, which was too easy a test for this group. However, the SET Verbal appeared to be useful as a rough screen for eliminating the poorest applicants. No validity data are reported.
Alemtuzumab in CLL and other lymphoid neoplasms

The recent success of monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of various hematological and nonhematological cancers is the result of several decades of research in immune therapy of cancer. The identification of cancer-specific surface markers has led to the development of numerous monoclonal antibodies directed at these antigens, which have been associated with variable success in treating patients with different malignancies. Alemtuzumab, one such monoclonal antibody, is a humanized antibody directed against CD52. The target antigen is a small glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored glycoprotein that is highly expressed on normal T- and B-lymphocytes and on a large proportion of malignant lymphoid cells, but not on hematopoietic progenitor cells. A number of clinical trials have demonstrated the clinical activity of alemtuzumab in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), T-cell malignancies such as T-prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), and have examined its role as an immunosuppressive agent in transplantation and for the treatment of autoimmune disorders. Effective antibiotic prophylaxis can limit the incidence of infections, which are the major side effect associated with the profound lymphopenia occurring as a result of treatment with this agent.
Playing With Conflict: Teaching Conflict Resolution Through Simulations and Games

Playing With Conflict is a weekend course for graduate students in Portland State University's Conflict Resolution program and undergraduates in all majors. Students participate in simulations, games, and experiential exercises to learn and practice conflict resolution skills. Graduate students create a guided role-play of a conflict. In addition to an oral debriefing, students wrote a debriefing report following the Description, Interpretation, Evaluation (DIE) model of debriefing. The written debriefing report gave all students an opportunity to reflect, analyze, and evaluate their experience in depth. The use of two facilitators allows one to facilitate while the other observes and rests, makes 2 points of view available for the debriefing, and offers a model for resolving minor disagreements between them. Trust among students increased across the weekend as evidenced by an increase in cooperative choices and estimates of the likelihood that others would cooperate in the TAKE-A-CHANCE game, a version of PRISONER'S DILEMMA. Most reported having fun while they learned about themselves, interpersonal conflict, and some large-scale social conflicts.
Axial interactions in the mixed-valent CuA active site and role of the axial methionine in electron transfer

Within Cu-containing electron transfer active sites, the role of the axial ligand in type 1 sites is well defined, yet its role in the binuclear mixed-valent CuA sites is less clear. Recently, the mutation of the axial Met to Leu in a CuA site engineered into azurin (CuA Az) was found to have a limited effect on E0 relative to this mutation in blue copper (BC). Detailed low-temperature absorption and magnetic circular dichroism, resonance Raman, and electron paramagnetic resonance studies on CuA Az (WT) and its M123X (X = Q, L, H) axial ligand variants indicated stronger axial ligation in M123L/H. Spectroscopically validated density functional theory calculations show that the smaller ΔE0 is attributed to H2O coordination to the Cu center in the M123L mutant in CuA but not in the equivalent BC variant. The comparable stabilization energy of the oxidized over the reduced state in CuA and BC (CuA ∼ 180 mV; BC ∼ 250 mV) indicates that the S(Met) influences E0 similarly in both. Electron delocalization over two Cu centers in CuA was found to minimize the Jahn–Teller distortion induced by the axial Met ligand and lower the inner-sphere reorganization energy. The Cu–S(Met) bond in oxidized CuA is weak (5.2 kcal/mol) but energetically similar to that of BC, which demonstrates that the protein matrix also serves an entatic role in keeping the Met bound to the active site to tune down E0 while maintaining a low reorganization energy required for rapid electron transfer under physiological conditions.
Genetic Susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes and Implications for Therapy

Since 2000, we have witnessed an explosion of known genetic determinants of type 2 diabetes risk. These findings have seeded the expectation that our ability to make personalized, predictive, therapeutic clinical decisions is imminent. However, the loci discovered to date explain only a small fraction of overall inheritable risk for this disease. In many cases, the reported associations merely signal regions of the genome that are overrepresented in disease versus health but do not identify the causal variants. Well-powered cohort studies have shown that the set of markers detected thus far does not significantly improve individual risk prediction or stratification over common clinical variables, with the possible exception of younger subjects. On the other hand, risk genotypes may help target subgroups for more intensive surveillance or prevention efforts, although whether such a strategy improves patient outcomes and/or is cost-effective should be examined. Similarly, whether genetic information will help guide therapeutic decisions must be tested in adequately designed and rigorously conducted clinical trials.
Quantitative systems-level determinants of drug targets

Background Modern drug discovery tends to understand disease processes at the molecular level and then determine optimal molecular targets for drug intervention. Inferences have made from all available drug targets, such as how many drug targets there are, or how many novel drug targets could be potentially found in the human genome, to what functional families these proteins belong, and what structural properties make them bind to small molecules tightly and specifically. But all these are very intuitive and qualitative. The key question of which gene or protein in a disease process could be a successful drug target remains unanswered.
Latent herpes simplex virus and the nervous system

The natural history of herpetic disease is a most intriguing phenomenon in virology, and its definition has consumed the activities of a diverse group of individuals for the past three quarters of a century. The early suspicion that the nervous system plays a crucial role is now well-documented and appreciated. The work which has led to our current knowledge of this association is the subject of this review.
Repression of Pseudomonas putida phenanthrene‐degrading activity by plant root extracts and exudates

The phenanthrene-degrading activity (PDA) of Pseudomonas putida ATCC 17484 was repressed after incubation with plant root extracts of oat (Avena sativa), osage orange (Maclura pomifera), hybrid willow (Salix alba x matsudana), kou (Cordia subcordata) and milo (Thespesia populnea) and plant root exudates of oat (Avena sativa) and hybrid poplar (Populus deltoides x nigra DN34). Total organic carbon content of root extracts ranged from 103 to 395 mg l(-1). Characterization of root extracts identified acetate (not detectable to 8.0 mg l(-1)), amino acids (1.7-17.3 mg l(-1)) and glucose (1.6-14.0 mg l(-1)), indicating a complex mixture of substrates. Repression was also observed after exposure to potential root-derived substrates, including organic acids, glucose (carbohydrate) and glutamate (amino acid). Carbon source regulation (e.g. catabolite repression) was apparently responsible for the observed repression of P. putida PDA by root extracts. However, we showed that P. putida grows on root extracts and exudates as sole carbon and energy sources. Enhanced growth on root products may compensate for partial repression, because larger microbial populations are conducive to faster degradation rates. This would explain the commonly reported increase in phenanthrene removal in the rhizosphere.
Fab! or Drab?: Increasing the Effectiveness of Teaching and Learning in Summer Classes

This article reviews the pitfalls and benefits of teaching and learning in summer school and identifies the lack of student interest as the key factor affecting the effectiveness of learning in the summer. The primary goal of this research is to investigate the impact of active learning strategies on generating student interest and improving their learning in summer school. This article presents results of the study embedded into the classroom curriculum of a summer course. The study consisted of a series of active learning interventions, surveys of students, and observations of their academic performance. The scores of students enrolled in the summer class were compared to academic results of those students who took a similar course during the regular terms. The evidence examined in the study demonstrates that active learning strategies can increase students' situational interest in the summer school setting and can improve the quality of their learning.
Characterizing the Performance and Power Consumption of 3D Mobile Games

A preliminary study using the Quake 3 and XRace games as benchmarks on three mainstream mobile system-on-chip architectures reveals that the geometry stage is the main bottleneck in 3D mobile games and confirms that game logic significantly affects power consumption.
Alpha1adrenergic system and arrhythmias in ischaemic heart disease

Several lines of experimental evidence obtained over the last decade indicate that alterations in the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor system may contribute significantly to arrhythmogenesis in the ischaemic heart. Under normal physiological conditions, alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation of myocytes elicits a modest increase in inotropy, a lengthening of repolarization secondary to a decrease in IK through activation of protein kinase C, and a decrease in automaticity in Purkinje cells due to an increase in Na+/K+ ATPase activity. These findings suggest that alpha 1-adrenergic stimulation of the myocardium would elicit an antiarrhythmic effect. However, during both early ischaemia and reperfusion there is an enhanced responsivity to alpha-adrenergic stimulation and a potent antiarrhythmic effect of alpha 1-adrenergic blockade in several species including the conscious dog. This enhanced alpha-adrenergic responsivity may be due to an increase in alpha 1-adrenergic receptors in ischaemic myocardium originating from a site distinct from the intracellular site for trafficking of beta-adrenergic receptors, possibly within or near the sarcolemma. Recently, we developed an isolated adult canine ventricular myocyte preparation which also exhibits a 2- to 3-fold reversible increase in alpha 1-adrenergic receptors in response to severe hypoxia (PO2 = less than 15 mmHg) associated with marked sarcolemmal accumulation of long-chain acylcarnitines (LCA) secondary to hypoxia-induced inhibition of beta-oxidation of fatty acids. The increase in alpha 1-adrenergic receptors is prevented by inhibition of carnitine acyltransferase I which precludes accumulation of LCA. The sarcolemmal accumulation of LCA increases membrane fluidity, suggesting that the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor may be latent within or near the sarcolemma and becomes accessible to a surface ligand only as membrane fluidity is altered. This conclusion is also supported by our findings that hypoxia elicits a marked increase in the coupling of the alpha 1-adrenergic receptor to inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) production in canine myocytes exposed to norepinephrine. IP3 has been shown to mobilize Ca2+ from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, thereby modulating the levels of intracellular Ca2+. Stimulation of hypoxic myocytes with norepinephrine also results in the appearance of delayed after-depolarizations and triggered rhythms, probably in response to an increase in intracellular Ca2+. In conclusion, these findings indicate that the alpha 1-adrenergic system can contribute to arrhythmogenesis in the ischaemic heart and that approaches to reduce the incidence of sudden cardiac death should include blockade of alpha 1-adrenergic receptors.
Karst Processes, Landforms and Issues

Karst systems are often extremely sensitive to the nature of human activities taking place on the surface. Pollutants and contaminants can wash into karst landforms and downward through cracks and fissures in the hard carbonate bedrock, rapidly entering the aquifer below. Because so much of the world’s population (some sources estimate as much as 25%) draws drinking water from karstic aquifers, there is a significant incentive to understand and develop land use regulations that work to prevent the inadvertent contamination of groundwater supplies in karst landscapes. This chapter acts as an introduction to the topic, describing the processes by which karst features form, identifying several of the most common karst landform types, and providing examples of instances in which careless or unmanaged human–karst interaction had negative results.
Four transistor comparator based PWM for DC-DC Converters

The increase in the use of electronic portable devices in the market has led to the use of the DC-DC converters. In different types of the DC-DC Converter the more efficient one to be chosen is the Buck converter. In the power electronics industry there are many types of voltage regulators and DC-DC Converters. But as concern with the VLSI Design logic the main aim is to reduce the area and the power consumption. The Buck converter topology is complex due to the larger component present in it. Thus in order to reduce the area and the power consumption of the circuitry we introduce a Four-transistor comparator based PWM to be used in the DC-DC Converters. Thus, in this work the design of a Four-transistor comparator and the PWM is done using 180nm conventional CMOS Technology in Cadence Virtuoso tool.
Mixed Convolved Action Principles for Dynamics of Linear Poroelastic Continua

Although Lagrangian and Hamiltonian analytical mechanics represent perhaps the most remarkable expressions of the dynamics of a mechanical system, these approaches also come with limitations. In particular, there is inherent difficulty to represent dissipative processes and the restrictions placed on end point variations are not consistent with the definition of initial value problems. The present work on poroelastic media extends the recent formulation of a mixed convolved action to address a continuum dynamical problem with dissipation through the development of a new variational approach. The action in this proposed approach is formed by replacing the inner product in Hamilton’s principle with a time convolution. As a result, dissipative processes can be represented in a natural way and the required constraints on the variations are consistent with the actual initial and boundary conditions of the problem. The variational formulations developed here employ temporal impulses of velocity, effective stress, pore pressure and pore fluid mass flux as primary variables in this mixed approach, which also uses convolution operators and fractional calculus to achieve the desired characteristics. The resulting mixed convolved action is formulated in both the time and frequency domains to develop two new stationary principles for dynamic poroelasticity. In addition, the first variation of the action provides a temporally well-balanced weak form that leads to a new family of finite element methods in time, as well as space.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Nonprofit Organizations in Disaster Response and Management: A Network Analysis

This paper tracks changes in the national disaster management system with regard to the nonprofit sector by looking at the roles ascribed to nonprofit organizations in the Federal Response Plan (FRP), National Response Plan (NRP), and National Response Framework (NRF). Additionally, the data collected from news reports and organizational after action reports about the inter-organizational interactions of emergency management agencies during the September 11 th attacks and Hurricane Katrina are analyzed by using network analysis tools. The findings of the study indicate that there has been an increase in the interactions of the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (NVOAD) network member organizations on par with policy changes in the NRP to involve nonprofit organizations in the national disaster planning process. In addition, those organizations close to the center of the network experienced enhanced communication and resource acquisition allowing them to successfully accomplish their missions, a finding that supports the development of strong network connections.
Some of the Ways of the Slime-Mould

A recent volume by Professor D'Arcy W. Thompson, bearing the terse title " Growth and Form," seems to me for the mycologist very suggestive, and to that extent, at least, one of the most useful among the books of later years. A paragraph from its pages might form the text for the discussions of the present paper. After developing at length and very clearly the various problems of tension, particularly as determined by molecular attractions, in liquids mass-tensions, surface-tension and their interactions, the author applies to Ethalium, a common slime-mould, the same principles applicable to so much water, assuming the myxomycete to have the same specific gravity, and both liquids placed for experiment under similar conditions. The paragraph, too long for quoting here, is noteworthy for two reasons: in the first place it presents, as is believed, the first citation of a slime-mould anywhere or at any time in a court of physical research; and in the second place, it is the first attempt, so far as I have noted, to refer the phenomena especially characteristic of the organisms in question to forces purely physical in nature-i.e., to such as are familiar to the laboratories of purely physical science. In these days of refined and beautiful physical research chemical and physical reactions are so interrelated that only the most accomplished expert in either or both fields may venture their mention, not to say discussion. The present writer makes no pretension; but there are in the life history of the slime-moulds certain peculiar facts, patent to ordinary observation, always worthy of study and, as it would seem, deserving, for thorough apprehension, not to say comprehension, all the help that physical science may afford. Professor Thompson's argument is very helpful, and yet-as illustrating the way of the slime-mould-permit me to summon the chief offender.
Unified Mobility Identification and Rectification of Six-Bar Linkages

This paper offers a unified method for a complete and unified treatment on the mobility identification and rectification of any planar and spherical six-bar linkages regardless the linkage type and the choice of the input, output, or fixed links. The method is based on how the joint rotation spaces of the four-bar loop and a five-bar loop in a Stephenson six-bar linkage interact each other. A Watt six-bar linkage is regarded as a special form of Stephenson six-bar linkage via the stretch and rotation of a four-bar loop. The paper offers simple explanation and geometric insights for the formation of branch (circuit), sub-branch, and order of motion of six-bar linkages. All typical mobility issues, including branch, sub-branch, and type of motion under any input condition can be identified and rectified with the proposed method. The method is suitable for automated computer-aided mobility identification. The applicability of the results to the mobility analysis of serially connected multiloop linkages is also discussed.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
When Pictures Aren't Pretty: Deconstructing Punitive Literacy Practices.

Young children frequently tell visual stories, drawing pictures to record and share their thoughts, feelings and understanding. How and what young children describe through art, especially when wri...
Quantified Facial Soft-tissue Strain in Animation Measured by Real-time Dynamic 3-Dimensional Imaging.

Various imaging modalities have been used to characterize facial motion in relation to the soft tissues, skin, and facial skeleton. Conventional radiology, such as computed tomographic scans and magnetic resonance imaging, has been used to evaluate shape and volume of fat, muscle, and bone1,2 and thereby has advanced our understanding of facial anatomy in static subjects. Although 2-dimensional photography remains the most common imaging for patient evaluations, its limitations have fostered technologic advances in 3-dimensional methods such as laser scanning and stereophotogrammetry3 that have begun to better elucidate the multidimensional attributes of the dynamic face. Facial aging is an intricate and multifactorial process that affects multiple components of the face differentially, resulting in dyspigmentation and loss of skin tone, descent and atrophy of fat and muscle, and remodeling of the underlying facial bone structure.4 The dynamic face is clearly affected by facial aging; however, the relationship between dynamic and static aging remains to be understood, in part, because few objective data defining dynamic facial changes exist. Consequently, an objective method of quantifying age-related dynamic changes of the face is necessary for advancing our understanding of how distinct facial components are specifically affected by animation at baseline and with advancing age. The aim of this pilot study is to evaluate and quantify distinct anatomic changes in the dynamic human face using a novel real-time 3-dimensional imaging technology. Speckle-tracking photogrammetry, the methodology employed in this study, is an innovative technology that enables the dynamic analysis of both topographic and geometric changes in real time. This 3-dimensional imaging captures position, displacement, geometry, and strain.5,6 Digital image correlation through the ARAMIS system (Trilion Quality Systems, Pa.) is designed to achieve full-field, noncontact, optical measurements for the purpose of characterizing materials in a fluid and dynamic manner. When the surface to be examined is subject to a deformational force, such as stretch or compression, the resulting displacements and strains are measured and then compared to the given surface’s static reference state, which is defined at the onset of the imaging process. This technology has previously successfully characterized the mechanical properties of a variety of biologic materials, including in vivo deformational measurements in frog hearts, local strain behavior in artificial muscle, and bone surface strains secondary to loading in mouse tibias.6–8 We hypothesize that this technology can serve as a valuable tool for the evaluation and understanding of dynamic facial anatomy.
Application of crystallization-induced asymmetric transformation to a general, scalable method for the resolution of 2,8-disubstituted Tröger's base derivatives

A general method for the gram scale resolution of 2-substituted and 2,8-disubstituted Troger's base (TB) derivatives in 63-91% yield has been achieved through the application of crystallization-induced asymmetric transformation (CIAT). Enantiomeric ratios of the resolved TB derivatives range from 99.1:0.9 to >99.5:0.5. Among the Troger's base compounds resolved are four synthetically valuable bromo and iodo derivatives.