cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stage movement following a 5A's intervention in tobacco dependent individuals with serious mental illness (SMI)

Abstract Smoking among individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) creates significant health problems. This study explored stage of change transitions over time among smokers with serious mental illness (SMI) and how dose of a brief intervention and other psychosocial variables were related to stage transitions. Participants were a subsample of 110 patients who participated in a larger controlled trial (Dixon, et al., 2009) examining whether psychiatrists in mental health clinics implementing the “5A's” (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange) significantly reduced smoking among persons with SMI. Participants were classified into one of the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) Stages of Change for Smoking Cessation as well as classified into groups based upon the pattern of stage status transitions over time (i.e., Regressors, Stable, Inconsistent, Progressors with and without a successful quit). Modest quit rates for this brief intervention were found at one-year (6.4%) and the dose of the intervention was meaningfully related to positive stage transitions. Cessation outcomes from the controlled trial (Dixon, et al., 2009) indicated a small effect on smoking cessation, which is confirmed in this stage transition secondary analysis with a subset of these smokers. However, these results suggest that a brief intervention delivered by psychiatrists in a mental health treatment setting does seem to make an impact on these smokers.
Indexes of von Willebrand factor as biomarkers of aortic stenosis severity (from the Biomarkers of Aortic Stenosis Severity [BASS] study).

We correlated von Willebrand factor (VWF) activity indexes and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) with measures of aortic stenosis (AS) severity, bleeding, symptoms, and freedom from death or aortic valve replacement. Patients with AS (n = 66 [16 mild, 20 moderate, and 30 severe]) and aortic valve replacement (n = 21) were assessed with VWF antigen, VWF latex agglutination immunoturbidic activity, platelet function analyzer collagen plus adenosine diphosphate (PFA-CADP), VWF multimer ratio, and BNP level after echocardiography. In patients with AS, the mean gradient correlated with BNP (Spearman r = 0.29, p = 0.02), VWF latex agglutination immunoturbidic activity/VWF antigen ratio (r = −0.41, p
Dynamic changes in nahAc gene copy numbers during degradation of naphthalene in PAH-contaminated soils

Many bacteria that degrade polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contain the nahAc gene that encodes a component of multimeric naphthalene dioxygenases. Because the nahAc gene is highly conserved, this gene serves as a potential biomarker for PAH degradation activity. The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between the rate of naphthalene degradation and the copy number of the nahAc gene in soils using conventional and real-time PCR. Four sets of degenerate primers for real-time PCR were designed based on the nahAc DNA sequences of 33 bacterial species. Before addition of naphthalene, copy numbers of the nahAc gene were below the detection limits of the assay at 5×103 copy numbers per gram of soil, but increased by over a thousand fold to 107 copies after 6 days of exposure to naphthalene vapors (approximately 30 ppm soil water concentration). Two unreported naphthalene dioxygenase homologs were found in the naphthalene-spiked soil by cloning and sequencing of the PCR products from the nahAc primers. Results of these experiments demonstrate the highly dynamic changes that occur in soil microbial communities after exposure to naphthalene and suggest that there is a direct relationship between gene copy numbers and degradation rates for naphthalene in PAH-contaminated soils.
Can deterministic replay be an enabling tool for mobile computing

Deterministic record and replay is fast becoming a vital technology in desktop and server computing environments. Yet, the applicability of this technology to computation run on small, mobile devices such as cell phones has not yet been explored. We argue that there are several potential uses of replay that are especially beneficial when applied to mobile phones: dual execution on cloud or cloudlet computers to reduce latency and possibly phone energy use, operation shipping for file synchronization, and offloading of expensive security and reliability checks to remote servers. In this paper, we explore these potential uses, as well as some of the unique challenges posed by implementing replay on phones.
Elisabeth Pauline Pickett (1918-): Opening the Door for Women in Urological Oncology

Purpose: We outline the career of Elisabeth Pauline Pickett (1918-), the first board certified female urologist.Materials and Methods: The historical literature including personal writings of Pickett and her mentors were reviewed. The factors which determine female medical student career choice as well as a summary of the current status of women in urology were also examined.Results: The groundwork for women in the modern era of urology was forged by Mary E. Childs MacGregor, who also supported and encouraged fellowship training. Inspired by Doctor MacGregor’s example, Elisabeth Pickett became the first female general surgeon to complete a fellowship in urological oncology in 1955 under Dr. Willet Whitmore at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and to be board certified in urology in 1962. Despite the benchmark set by these early pioneers the American Board of Urology currently lists only 324 female board certified urologists, 86 female candidates and 20 board eligible individuals as of the year 2006.Conclusions: A...
Developing the Ethnic Identity Scale Using Eriksonian and Social Identity Perspectives

Two studies were conducted to develop and explore the psychometric properties of the newly developed Ethnic Identity Scale (EIS). Consistent with Erikson's and Tajfel's theoretical perspectives, the EIS assesses 3 domains of ethnic identity formation: exploration, resolution, and affirmation. In both studies, participants (N = 846) completed measures of familial ethnic socialization and self-esteem in addition to completing the EIS. In Study 1, we employed exploratory and confirmatory analyses to examine, refine, and confirm the factor structure of the EIS among university students (n = 615). In Study 2, we examined the psychometric properties of the EIS among high school students (n = 231). Results revealed a three-factor solution that reflected the proposed components of exploration, resolution, and affirmation. Furthermore, the three subscales were related in expected ways to measures of familial ethnic socialization and self-esteem.
Engineering and the law. The Supreme Court rules on medical device liability-or does it?

In previous articles the author has discussed the evolution of federal preemption for state products-liability claims against medical-device manufacturers. This is a controversial approach, and federal district and appeals courts have made opposing rulings on cases that are legally identical. Some courts have refused to allow any products-liability claims for devices, some have limited claims against only some devices, and some courts refused to limit claims in any cases. The United States Supreme Court has now reviewed this law to resolve the conflicts between the lower courts. The Court rendered its decision in Medtronic, Inc., v. Lora Lohr, 116 S.Ct. 2240, June 26, 1996. The Court did not find preemption in the case it reviewed, but neither did it clearly eliminate the chance of preemption in other cases. Ruling in a split decision, it assured that confusion will still reign.
Subjunctives, dispositions and chances

X says ‘It is probable that h’ and Y says ‘It is improbable that h’. No doubt X and Y disagree in some ways. In particular, they disagree in the way they evaluate h with respect to credal (or personal) probability to be used in practical deliberation and scientific inquiry in computing expectations.
An afterloading vaginal applicator.

Abstract An afterloading vaginal applicator has been built that incorporates two ovoid sources and two tandem sources arranged in the shape of a T, the tandems forming the upright and the ovoids, orthogonal to the tandems, located at the ends of the crossbar. The body of the applicator was designed and constructed to correspond to the 90 cGy/hr contour for a source loading of 10 mg Ra Eq 37 Cs for the ovoids and 15 mg Ra Eq 37 Cs for the tandems. TLD measurements made at various points located around the applicator in the AP and lateral planes indicate agreement with the dose calculated by computer to within ±1%.
Chromaffin cell xenografts in the rat neocortex can produce antidepressive activity in the forced swimming test

Adrenal medullary allografts, as well as other monoaminergic tissues, have been demonstrated in our laboratory to increase antidepressive activity when transplanted into the frontal neocortex of rats. Refinement in the optimal parameters for xenograft viability has indicated that isolated bovine chromaffin cells may be an improved source of graft donor tissue. The aim of the present study was to determine whether isolated bovine chromaffin cell grafts to the rat frontal neocortex could provide an alternative source of catecholamines for antidepressant activity. Isolated bovine chromaffin cells, isolated bovine fibroblasts, or an equal volume of vehicle were unilaterally implanted into the right or left frontal cortex or right visual cortex. All rats were assessed before and 6 weeks after transplantation using the forced swimming test, a popular measure of antidepressant activity. Bovine chromaffin cell grafts in either the right or left frontal cortex produced significant increases in antidepressant activity compared to grafts of bovine fibroblasts and sham-operated or nontransplanted rats. In contrast, bovine chromaffin cells transplanted to the visual cortex did not affect antidepressant activity. Bovine fibroblast grafts in the frontal cortex also induced slight increases in antidepressant activity, although significantly less than chromaffin cell grafts. Morphological analysis revealed robust survival of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive chromaffin cells that retained their in situ ultrastructure and occasionally formed synaptic connections with the host parenchyma. These results suggest that xenografted isolated bovine chromaffin cells can provide a viable source of catecholamines for antidepressive activity.
Horizons and Singularities in Static, Spherically Symmetric Spacetimes

We make a thorough study of the regions near finite-order metric-singularity boundaries of static, spherically symmetric spacetimes. After distinguishing curvature singularities from other types of metric breakdown, we examine the eigenvalues of the energy tensor near the singularities for positivity and energy dominance, find the causal class of the t-translation (“static”) Killing field, and ascertain the presence or absence of timelike, null, and spacelike geodesic incompleteness for each spacetime. For a certain subclass of spacetimes, we also show the completeness of all timelike and spacelike curves despite the superficial failure of the metric.
Anticipatory Guidance: Alcohol, Adolescents, and Recognizing Abuse and Dependence

Alcohol is the most used and abused addictive drug used by adolescents, making adolescent alcohol abuse a major social problem. Alcohol-related traffic fatalities continue to be the leading cause of death for 15-19-year-old youths. Factors that influence adolescents' decision to drink and drive include lack of reliable knowledge about alcohol and its effects, and lack of decision-making skills. Literature shows that promoting public awareness and education is a major method of prevention of alcohol abuse in its early stages. Nursing's goal is to help families to have a greater degree of intrafamily control and coping. Anticipatory guidance is an excellent method of empowering and educating families about alcohol facts, including risk factors, phases and consequences of usage, problem identification via information probes, and interventions that can be instituted early in a child's life to prevent adolescent alcohol-related problems.
Higher Vibrations of Chladni Plates

THE Chladni plates in use at the present time for producing nodal lines are ordinarily made of brass, ten inches square (or ten inches in diameter if circular) and one eighth or one sixteenth of an inch thick. They are set in vibration by drawing a violin bow along the edge perpendicular to the plate. If the plates are any thinner than one sixteenth of an inch, the pressure of the bow will tend to distort the plate and the resulting figure will be unsymmetrical. Using a slight modification of a valve oscillator described before1, I have succeeded in getting symmetrical figures upon brass plates one thirty-second and one sixty-fourth of an inch thick. The plate is balanced at the centre upon a small cone attached to the vibrating diaphragm of a loud speaker. A brass plate any thinner than these will bend under its own weight and distort the figure.
Low temperature painful stimulus alters brain wave pattern of transcutaneous electrical stimulus.

Abstract The somatosensory evoked response recorded from the scalp over the somatosensory cortex was used to examine the interaction between painful cold and transcutaneous electrical stimuli delivered concomitantly. When a painful cold stimulus was applied to the palmar receptive field of the median nerve while that nerve was being stimulated with electrical pulses at the wrist, there was an augmentation of an early component of the somatosensory evoked response manifested by an increase in the amplitude of a wave segment in comparison with room temperature controls. This augmentation depended on there being normal conduction of nerve impulses in both the population of small and large peripheral nerve fibers as compared to a state in which conduction was blocked selectively by a local anesthetic or a pressure cuff in those small and large fibers, respectively. The augmentation was not found to be characteristic of an arousal phenomenon, but was localized to the somatosensory cortex. This might represent the effects of a non-specific thalamortical projection system on a specific one.
Why can't I do it here?: using students as policy educators and enforcers

Making incoming students aware of university computing policies is often taxing. Beyond the challenge of awareness is the difficulty in enforcing computing policies, especially in residence halls, where many students have the attitude of "I did it at home. Why can't I do it here?" In this paper, the authors discuss how Northwest Missouri State University's Client Computing Department employs a three-pronged strategy to increase student IT policy awareness through the use of students as teachers during one month each summer and two whirlwind days in the fall, and through residence hall training, bulletin boards and newsletters. Additionally, the authors expand upon how these same students are used to deploy and enforce university computing policies, which are necessary for ensuring the security and stability of the campus network.
Statistical Methods in Computational Anatomy

This paper reviews recent developments by the Washington/Brown groups for the study of anatomical shape in the emerging new discipline of computational anatomy. Parametric representations of anatomical variation for computational anatomy are reviewed, restricted to the assumption of small deformations. The generation of covariance operators for probabilistic measures of anatomical variation on coordinatized submanifolds is formulated as an empirical procedure. Populations of brains are mapped to common coordinate systems, from which template coordinate systems are constructed which are closest to the population of anatomies in a minimum distance sense. Variation of several one-, two and three-dimensional manifolds, i.e. sulci, surfaces and brain volumes are examined via Gaussian measures with mean and covariances estimated directly from maps of templates to targets. Methods are presented for estimating the covariances of vector fields from a family of empirically generated maps, posed as generalized spect...
Pump it up: occurrence and regulation of multi-drug efflux pumps in Bacteroides fragilis.

Bacteroides fragilis is a gram-negative anaerobic commensal that can be a virulent pathogen when it escapes its normal niche in the human gut. Recent increases in reports of multi-drug resistance strains of this organism have lent urgency to understanding its mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance. We have identified and characterized RND-type multi-drug efflux pumps in B. fragilis which can pump out a variety of substrates and whose transcription levels can be elevated by a wide variety of antimicrobials, antiseptic agents, bile and other stressors. Our research is directed toward understanding how the efflux pump genes are controlled and how we may exploit that understanding to develop more effective, targeted therapy that will cure the infection without disrupting the entire gut microbiome that is so important in many aspects of human health.
Separation of the methyl esters of oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids by column chromatography using cation exchange resin containing silver ion

By taking advantage of the tendency of silver ion to form complexes with unsaturated compounds, the methyl esters of oleic, linoleic, and linolenic acids have been cleanly separated in good yield by column chromatography. The silver ion was supported by means of a cation exchange resin; no silver was ever eluted from the column. Aqueous methanol, pure methanol, and ethanol saturated with butene-1 were employed as solvents.
Metabolic effects of commercial β-glucuronidase preparations on estrogens

Abstract Labelled estradiol and estrone have been shown to be interconvertible by β-glucuronidase (Bacterial type II and Patella vulgata mollusk type L-1). Also, E 1 -6,7- 3 H-3-glucosiduronate has been shown to be converted to E 1 -6,7- 3 H and E 2 -6,7- 3 H by β-glucuronidase (Bacterial type II). The metabolic effects of the above two enzymes were also noticed when substrates were used in microgram amounts. A mammalian source of β-glucuronidase had no metabolic effect.
Salinity tolerance of laboratory‐reared larvae of the California killifish, Fundulus parvipinnis Girard

Newly hatched larvae of the California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) reared in the laboratory, were tolerant of salinities from fresh water to 70‰. Their salinity tolerance was influenced by incubation salinity; larvae hatched in lower incubation salinities exhibited greater freshwater tolerance than those hatched in higher salinities. In gradual acclimation tests, the upper median lethal salinity for the larvae was 130‰. Freshwater tolerance of the larvae decreased with age; yolk sac larvae were completely tolerant of fresh water while larvae more than 15 days old were least resistant.
Backtracking by single RNA polymerase molecules observed at near-base-pair resolution

Escherichia coli RNA polymerase (RNAP) synthesizes RNA with remarkable fidelity in vivo1. Its low error rate may be achieved by means of a ‘proofreading’ mechanism comprised of two sequential events. The first event (backtracking) involves a transcriptionally upstream motion of RNAP through several base pairs, which carries the 3′ end of the nascent RNA transcript away from the enzyme active site. The second event (endonucleolytic cleavage) occurs after a variable delay and results in the scission and release of the most recently incorporated ribonucleotides, freeing up the active site. Here, by combining ultrastable optical trapping apparatus with a novel two-bead assay to monitor transcriptional elongation with near-base-pair precision, we observed backtracking and recovery by single molecules of RNAP. Backtracking events (∼5 bp) occurred infrequently at locations throughout the DNA template and were associated with pauses lasting 20 s to >30 min. Inosine triphosphate increased the frequency of backtracking pauses, whereas the accessory proteins GreA and GreB, which stimulate the cleavage of nascent RNA, decreased the duration of such pauses.
Interstitial Migration in Aluminum

Investigations have been made of how stage-I recovery depends on radiation doping and on the magnitude of the radiation dose for aluminum samples that were irradiated with 0.40-MeV electrons. Experimental results give (1) the amount of enhancement of stage I caused by prior low-temperature irradiations, and (2) the temperature shift and the fractional amount of the ${I}_{E}$ substage for different irradiation doses. By analyzing the ${I}_{E}$ recovery in terms of Waite's theory of random recovery, a value of 3.5 lattice constants is obtained for the capture radius for an interstitial-vacancy annihilation. The radiation-doping experiments are analyzed by considering a variable capture radius for the trapping of interstitials by impurities.
Airborne laser bathymetry: a novel technique for shallow-water monitoring

Attention is given to airborne laser bathymetry, a new tool which allows very rapid hydrographic surveys to be conducted in shallow waters without the common marine navigation difficulties. A pulsed laser carried on board a plane or a helicopter sends an ultrashort luminous pulse to the sea bed. This pulse is located in the blue-green spectrum where sea water is the least absorptive. The pulse propagates with practically no attenuation to the surface of the water, where a first echo is retransmitted to the receiver due to the difference between the air and water index. When the pulse passes through the water, the suspended particles of organic origin (plankton) or mineral origin (sediment) diffuse the light transmitted and produce a diffused echo along the water column. On contact with the sea bed, a final echo, the amplitude of which will depend on the bottom type, is transmitted. Laser bathymetry is expected to reduce survey cost by a factor of 3. The instrument's mobility implies that areas far away from one another can be surveyed on the same day.
Structural mapping of protein interactions reveals differences in evolutionary pressures correlated to mRNA level and protein abundance.

Summary Genome-wide studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae concluded that the dominant determinant of protein evolutionary rates is expression level: highly expressed proteins generally evolve most slowly. To determine how this constraint affects the evolution of protein interactions, we directly measure evolutionary rates of protein interface, surface, and core residues by structurally mapping domain interactions to yeast genomes. We find that mRNA level and protein abundance, though correlated, report on pressures affecting regions of proteins differently. Pressures proportional to mRNA level slow evolutionary rates of all structural regions and reduce the variability in rate differences between interfaces and other surfaces. In contrast, the evolutionary rate variation within a domain is much less correlated to protein abundance. Distinct pressures may be associated primarily with the cost (mRNA level) and functional (protein abundance) benefit of protein production. Interfaces of proteins with low mRNA levels may have higher evolutionary flexibility and could constitute the raw material for new functions.
Mutagen activation by cDNA-expressed P1450, P3450, and P450a

cDNAs for rodent P(1)450, P(3)450, and P450a were expressed in the modified vaccinia virus-T7 RNA polymerase system. Each P450 exhibited its appropriate molecular weight and characteristic enzyme activity. Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity was catalyzed by P(1)450, acetanilide hydroxylase by P(3)450, and testosterone 7 alpha-hydroxylase by P450a. Ethoxycoumarin deethylase was exhibited by both P(1)450 and P(3)450. Each expressed P450 was also analyzed for its ability to activate 19 carcinogens of diverse classes to their mutagenic forms. Most notable was the activation of several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by P1 and the activation of acetylaminofluorene, 4-aminobiphenyl, and several heterocyclic amine food pyrolysate products by P(3)450. P450a, in contrast, showed slight mutagen activation only toward N-hydroxy-2-acetyl aminofluorene. The vaccinia virus-T7 RNA polymerase system described here can express cDNAs for diverse forms of P450, each of which can then be characterized for substrate and product specificity and for mutagen activation.
Magnetic Phase Diagram of Mn F 2 from Ultrasonic and Differential Magnetization Measurements

The magnetic phase diagram of Mn${\mathrm{F}}_{2}$, in the $H\ensuremath{-}T$ plane, is determined in magnetic fields up to 200 kG directed along the [001] and [100] directions. The magnetic phase transitions appear as anomalies in the ultrasonic attenuation and/or the differential magnetization. Near the various second-order phase transitions, the attenuation of longitudinal sound waves exhibits $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ anomalies, whereas near the spin-flop transition (which is a first-order transition) the ultrasonic attenuation exhibits a sharp spike and/or an abrupt increase, depending on the mode of propagation. The spin-flop transition is accompanied by a spike in the differential magnetic moment. The N\'eel temperature is ${T}_{N}=(67.33\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03)\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$K, and the triple point for H\ensuremath{\parallel}[001] is at ${T}_{3}=(64.9\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.1)\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$K and ${H}_{3}=119\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2$ kG. The field at the spin-flop transition (for H\ensuremath{\parallel}[001]) increases monotonically with temperature from 92\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.5 kG at 4.2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K to 119\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2 kG at the triple point. The curvature, at ${T}_{N}$, of the antiferromagnetic-paramagnetic boundary with H\ensuremath{\parallel}[001] is $\frac{{d}^{2}T}{d{H}^{2}}=\ensuremath{-}(3.2\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}$K/${\mathrm{G}}^{2}$. The curvature, at ${T}_{N}$, for the antiferromagnetic-paramagnetic boundary with H\ensuremath{\parallel}[100] is smaller by about an order of magnitude. The various phase boundaries are compared with the predictions of the molecular-field theory and other theoretical models.
Studies on the intracellular replicating DNA of herpes simplex virus type 1

Abstract Intracellular replicating molecules of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) DNA were analyzed by use of restriction endonucleases and electron microscopy. HSV-1-infected rabbit kidney cells were either pulse-labeled with [ 3 H]thymidine ([ 3 H]dT) or density-labeled with 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR). Replicating [ 3 H]dT-labeled HSV-1 DNA (ϱ CsCl = 1.725 g/cm 3 ) or BUdR-labeled HSV-1 DNA (ϱ CsCl = 1.750 g/cm 3 ) were isolated by CsCl density gradient centrifugation. Viral molecules with sedimentation coefficients of 56 to 84 S were isolated, concentrated, mixed with 32 P-labeled marker 56 S DNA from purified virions, and cleaved with Endo R· Eco R1 or Hind III. The highest 3 H to 32 P ratio for replicating HSV-1 DNA was found in fragments constituting the joint region of HSV-1 DNA. Electron microscopic observations of replicating molecules revealed the presence of both internal replication loops and lariat-type molecules. Though the origin and function of the lariat molecules is not known, the results presented suggest that the origin of HSV-1 DNA synthesis is located in the joint region of the S arm of the molecule.
Studies on the in vivo metabolism of retinoic acid in the rat.

A time study of the metabolism of 6,7-14C-retinoic acid after intraperitoneal injection of physiological levels (17 μg, 0.39 μc) into vitamin A deficient rats, which had been repleted with retinoic acid for two weeks up to two days before injection, resulted in a rapid metabolism to more polar compounds in the small intestine and its contents and a slower metabolism to primarily different materials in the liver and kidney. The major route of metabolism resulted in the urinary excretion of 60% of the injected dose in 24 to 27 hr. Urinary metabolites of 15-14C-retinoic acid were eluted from silicic acid at a similar concentration of solvents as the ring labeled metabolites although only 32% of the injected dose was recovered in 24 hr. Compounds chromatographically similar to the urinary metabolites were observed at various times in the liver, kidney and small intestine plus contents in addition to retinoic acid and other metabolites. The relative amounts of the metabolites in the different tissues studied varied as a function of the tissue and the time of analysis after injection. Most of the radioactivity from all tissues was extractable into methanol. A liver subcellular distribution of the radioactivity derived from the intraperitoneal injection of 650 μg of 6,7-14C-retinoic acid (25.9 μc) after 3 hr indicated a minimal level of association of radioactivity (150–250 dpm/mg protein) with all fractions and a greater association of radioactivity with the lysosomal-microsomal fraction (300–350 dpm/mg protein) and the 60–100% ammonium sulfate precipitable (750–800 dpm/mg protein) and 100% ammonium sulfate soluble fractions (422 dpm/mg protein) of the soluble supernatant.
A conceptual framework for evaluating information technologies and decision support systems for bioterrorism preparedness and response.

Objectives. The authors sought to develop a conceptual framework for evaluating whether existing information technologies and decision support systems (IT/DSSs) would assist the key decisions faced...
The killer molecule of complement.

Cell injury by complement occurs as a consequence of activation of either the classical or the alternative pathway on the surface of a cell. It is accomplished by the membrane attack complex (MAC). Its precursor proteins, C5, C6, C7, C8, and C9, are hydrophilic glycoproteins with Mr ranging from 70,000–180,000. When C5 is cleaved by the serine protease C5 convertase which covalently attaches to target cells, nascent C5b is produced and forms together with C6 a soluble and stable bimolecular complex (C5b,6). Upon binding of C5b,6 to C7 a trimolecular complex (C5b-7) is formed which expresses a metastable membrane-binding site. Membrane-bound C5b-7 constitutes the receptor for C8 and the tetramolecular C5b-8 complex binds and polymerizes C9. During the assembly process the proteins undergo hydrophilic-amphiphilic transition and the end product consists of C5b-8 (Mr approximately 550,000) and of tubular poly C9 (M[subr] approximately 1,100,000). The functional channel size varies but its maximal diameter is approximately 100 A,. C9 polymerization appears to involve initial reversible association of several C9 molecules which is followed by temperature-dependent, constrained unfolding. Unfolded C9 monomers then associate laterally with each other and polymerization terminates with closure of the circular structure which consists of 12–18 C9 monomers. Amino acid composition and sequence indicate that the N-terminal half of the single chain C9 molecule is hydrophilic and the C-terminal half rather hydrophobic. Phospholipid-binding and insertion into membranes are functions of the C terminal portion of the molecule. Control of the MAC is exerted by the S-protein (Mr 80,000) which binds to the forming complex and prevents its attachment to the cell membrane. Control is also exerted by certain species-specific membrane proteins which interfere with C5 convertase and C9 function.
Judgments of Sexual Harassment Court Case Summaries

Understanding third-person judgments of sexual harassment is important because of their role in bystander intervention, popular opinion, and perhaps even labeling experiences as harassment. We employed Brunswikian principles of representative design (sampling from natural environments and allowing environmental factors influencing judgments to intercorrelate) and multiple regression plus relative weight analyses to examine judgments about summaries of actual U.S. sexual harassment court cases. Potential factors influencing judgments (cues) were identified and coded by raters. Results suggest that naturally occurring cues were intercorrelated to some extent, and people use different aspects of these rich situations to make judgments. We also found that some less-studied cues (i.e., target's withdrawal from the workplace, number of incidents) are more important than that the previous research would suggest, while some often-studied cues (i.e., status of the harasser, target's response to the harasser) are less important. Participants overall used very few cues, even when many were available. Future research should employ Brunswik's representative design to use more realistic scenarios that allow for intercorrelated, naturally occurring cues. Especially if results can be replicated, theories about how judgments of sexual harassment are made can be developed that reflect the complex realities of sexual harassment judgments that our study revealed. Representative design could also be employed to help theory development in other scenario-based areas of organizational research. Ours is the first study of judgments of sexual harassment that used a Brunswikian approach to study actual court case summaries. This has allowed for a unique examination of this complicated phenomenon.
Crime prevention and commercial Burglary: A time series analysis

Abstract The impact of crime prevention on commercial burglary in a section of Portland, Oregon is assessed. Using time series analysis, and a control area for comparison, some of the problems of previous crime prevention research are addressed. The results of the study discussed show that not only was there a significant reduction in commercial burglary, but the effect persisted. Several rival hypotheses which could explain this reduction are rejected and suggestions for future research are offered.
Entropy, reversible and irreversible emittance growth

In this paper we examine the connection between emittance growth and entropy growth in linear accelerators. We divide emittance growth into two classes: reversible and irreversible, depending on the corresponding entropy change. We propose the general hypothesis that if (Delta) E > 0 and (Delta) S equals 0, then the emittance growth may be reversible. We also propose that if (Delta) E > 0 and (Delta) S > 0 then the emittance growth is irreversible. We outline how the concept may be applied to particular cases of relevance e.g. emittance growth and recovery in electron photoinjectors, and wakefield induced emittance growth, where correlations are introduced in the transverse phase space.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Calculation of gain at X-ray wavelengths resulting from optical pumping of helium-like ions

Abstract An equivalent two level scheme is described for calculating level populations of helium-like ions in dense optically thick plasmas. The scheme is used to show how population inversions due to optical pumping of 3Por 4P states are affected by line trapping. The importance of various line broadening mechanisms for determining gain is briefly discussed.
Ethical conduct of research in resource-limited settings.

Biomedical research like the world economy has entered the era of globalization. Nowhere is this more true than in the research of infectious diseases. The AIDS pandemic emerging infectious diseases such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) the continuing scourges of tuberculosis and malaria and the specter of bioterrorism are constant reminders of actual and potential threats posed to health worldwide. Meeting these challenges requires international collaboration. The remarkable coordination of efforts to identify the etiologic agent of SARS and contain its spread stands as a model of such collaboration. Increasingly international research of infectious diseases involves not only the sharing of data and microbial isolates among investigators from different countries but also the conducting of research involving human subjects in resource-limited settings. Although they are not new these efforts have grown in prominence because of the greater emphasis placed by governmental agencies and private foundations on funding infectious disease research in the developing world. (excerpt)
Some flight data extraction techniques used on a general aviation spin research aircraft

Some methods for obtaining flight data from a highly instrumented general aviation spin research aircraft are developed and illustrated. The required correction terms for the measurement of body accelerations, body velocities, and aircraft orientation are presented. In addition, the equations of motion are utilized to derive total aerodynamic coefficients for comparison with model tests and for analysis. Flight test experience is used to evaluate the utility of various instruments and calculation techniques for spin research.
Acquired humoral immune response of the large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas), to injected materials

Abstract The large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas) responded to a single injection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Schroeter) Migula vaccine with the elaboration of lytic substances that were demonstrated in vitro in the serum. These factors appear to be responsible for the increased resistance to bacterial infection acquired by O. fasciatus in response to vaccination. Both the acquired resistance and lytic substances were detected 4 hr after vaccination. They reached their maximum level by 24 hr and disappeared within 5 days. A weak transitory resistance to Pseudomonas infection and low titre of lytic substances could be provoked by the injection of heterologous substances. Normal insects inoculated with immune serum exhibited a resistance equal to that acquired by individuals to specific vaccine. The acquired lytic substances resisted exposure to 75°C, 1 N HCl, and 1 N NaOH for 1 hr and retained their activity after storage at −20°C for at least 6 months. They are associated with several of the proteins in electrophoretically fractionated serum, to which they appear attached, but retain their activity in the supernatant of immune serum that has had the protein precipitated by trichloroacetic acid. They are not antigenic for rabbits, nor do they affect the antigenicity of the normal serum proteins.
Gender Differences in Drinking Patterns among Hong Kong Chinese Youth: a Pilot Study

About one year before the People's Republic of China regained political control of Hong Kong, a semistructured interview study was conducted among a group of 101 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents to explore their drinking behavior. The purpose of this exploratory study was to look for empirical evidence confirming the general hypothesis that wherever Chinese reside, they are moderate drinkers. Specifically, the study was designed to examine whether male and female adolescents gave different reasons for their drinking and nondrinking behavior, were differentially affected by parents' drinking, and experienced differential consequences resulting from alcohol use. The results confirm that Chinese youth in Hong Kong are moderate drinkers. Only minimal differences exist between the genders. The traditional Chinese normative view of alcohol may partly explain the results, an observation that suggests future research into the sociocultural features that influence drinking among youth.
Synthesis of DAM-1 molecular sieves containing single walled carbon nanotubes

The mesoporous silica DAM-1 (Dallas Amorphous Material) has been synthesized in the presence of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) using vitamin E TPGS as the template. It is proposed that this water soluble version of vitamin E wraps and partially debundles the SWNTs en route to partial encapsulation within the DAM-1 particles. XRD, adsorption, SEM and TEM provide evidence for occlusion of the nanotubes.
Provider perceptions of safety planning with children impacted by intimate partner violence

Safety planning is a widespread intervention used with clients who have experienced domestic violence victimization. Although children are impacted by domestic violence, attention to the unique needs of children as they relate to domestic violence safety planning has received little attention to date. The authors conducted nine focus groups with domestic violence service providers about their perceptions of child safety planning. This article reports on the findings and implications of this focus group study that can inform the safety planning needs of children impacted by domestic violence. The themes discussed include Child Protective Services, the needs of older boys, school-related issues, custody-related issues, the extent to which children should be involved in safety planning, parenting issues, tools and tips for safety planning with children, and resources and services to promote children's safety.
Fluid-dynamic and NOx computation in swirl burners

Computational fluid dynamics simulations in a swirl combustor were coupled with chemical equilibrium calculations to evaluate the effects of swirl velocity and burner wall temperature on NOx formation. The fluid-dynamic variables such as velocity, temperature, pressure and species concentrations were obtained by using the finite-element commercial software FIDAP. The chemical equilibrium system under consideration comprised 16 reactions and 20 species. The reaction set included reactions responsible for formation of NOx and reactions believed to be responsible for soot formation in rich fuel–air mixtures. The Newton–Raphson method was used to solve the nonlinear system of equations describing the formation of equilibrium products in fuel–air mixtures. The main goal of this work was to develop a fast and robust computational approach to understand the impact of various design parameters on NOx formation in gas-fired swirl burners. The results showed that increasing swirl monotonically reduced CO and unburned hydrocarbons. The reduction was as high as 5 orders of magnitude. The exit plane NOx did not monotonically decrease with increasing swirl. NOx values initially increased with increasing swirl and then decreased. The procedure outlined in this paper has potential for evaluating new burner designs and operating conditions quickly and robustly.
Nickel aluminate spinel formation during sintering of simulated Ni-laden sludge and kaolinite

Abstract Incorporating Ni-laden waste sludge into kaolinite-based construction ceramic materials appears promising based on the identified nickel bearing phases, evaluated incorporation efficiency and nickel leachability of the products. Nickel aluminate spinel (NiAl2O4) results from sintering kaolinite and nickel oxide between 990 and 1480 °C, with more than 90% incorporation efficiency achieved at 1250 °C and 3 h sintering. At lower temperature (990 °C), NiAl2O4 formed from the reaction between nickel oxide and the defect spinel generated from the kaolinite–mullite reaction series. In addition to sintering temperature and time, four raw material mixing procedures were employed, and the ball-milled slurry samples had the highest nickel incorporation efficiency. Prolonged leach testing of NiO, NiAl2O4 and the product from sintered kaolinite + NiO mixtures was carried out using the TCLP extraction fluid #1 (pH 4.9) to evaluate the product stability, and the results revealed the superiority of spinel products over NiO in stabilizing nickel.
Effect of confinement during cookoff of TATB

In practical scenarios, cookoff of explosives is a three-dimensional transient phenomenon where the rate limiting reactions may occur either in the condensed or gas phase. The effects of confinement are more dramatic when the rate-limiting reactions occur in the gas phase. Explosives can be self-confined, where the decomposing gases are contained within non-permeable regions of the explosive, or confined by a metal or composite container. In triaminotrinitrobenzene (TATB) based explosives, self-confinement is prevalent in plastic bonded explosives at full density. The time-to-ignition can be delayed by orders of magnitude if the reactive gases leave the confining apparatus. Delays in ignition can also occur when the confining apparatus has excess gas volume or ullage. Understanding the effects of confinement is required to accurately model explosive cookoff at various scales ranging from small laboratory experiments to large real systems.
Male Genotype Influences Sperm Transport in Female Mice

The number of sperm in the oviducts of female mice mated to either C57BL16-+I+ (B6-+/+) or C57BL/6 tWa2 1+ (B6-t ’32 1+) males was determined for the first 3 h after ovulation. In females mated to B6-#{247}I+males, the mean number ± SEM of sperm in the isthmus decreased significantly, from 4400 ± 600 at 13 h post-hCG treatment to 2500 ± 700 at 15 h post-hCG (a total of 15 females were examined for each male genotype). In females mated to B6-t0032 1+ males, the mean number of sperm in the isthmus was similar (about 2000 ± 500) at all times examined. Very few sperm were observed at the site of fertilization after mating to either type of male. A significant increase in mean number of sperm per female at the site of fertilization was observed between 13 and 15 h in both types, but the increase occurred earlier in females mated to B6 tWD2 1+ males, suggesting that sperm from B6.tw32/+ males arrive at the eggs sooner than do normal sperm. The results of this study demonstrate that the male genotype can be influential in sperm transport
Conclusions: Therapeutic Potential of Novel Cannabinoid Receptors

For centuries the plants Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica (commonly known as marijuana) have been used for recreational, religious, and medicinal purposes across diverse cultures. The first recorded attributes of Cannabis were on its potent therapeutic actions, which included analgesic, sedative, and anticonvulsant effects. In the 1930s Cannabis extracts were one of the most commonly prescribed medicines of the US pharmacopeia. Unfortunately, the early criminalization of the use of Cannabis resulted in a near 35-year stall in scientific research aimed at understanding and optimizing the therapeutic potential of its extracts. It was the isolation and chemical characterization of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in 1964 as the first bioactive ingredient produced by Cannabis that revived the scientific community’s interest in further understanding and optimizing the unique therapeutic properties of phytocannabinoids (phyto-CB) (Mechoulam and Gaoni 1967).