cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rules of the road: a consumer's guide for travelers seeking health care in foreign lands.

Pretravel planning for a healthy trip is essential. Immunizations, a proper medical kit, and management plans for existing medical conditions help minimize the chances for significant illness away from home. Despite thorough preparation, travelers can at times be in need of health care for injuries or acute illness. 1 Accessing care can be particularly daunting when formidable cultural or language barriers exist. Health care standards, particularly in exotic or relatively underdeveloped regions, are at least different if not substantially below what many would find in their home country. 2 The risk of iatrogenic complications from misdirected therapies or poorly maintained medical supplies is frequently a concern. The role of medications such as antibiotics often differs from what travelers expect and the quality of pharmaceuticals in some regions can be variable. 3,4 Furthermore, patients bring with them their fears of bad outcomes, which discolor even reasonable care. The business of providing health care to travelers abroad is booming. A growing number of commercial and educational resources are available that promote healthy traveling. 5 However, travelers need some guidance in becoming critical consumers of health care in foreign settings.Based on experience with caring for travelers
Security in an Age of Turbulence: Means of Response

International security is both a relative and an uneven notion. In an ‘anarchic society’ of nations that live in a condition of troubled peace or in a ‘state of war’ — depending on whether one takes a more Lockian or a more Hobbesian view of world affairs — there will always be a modicum of insecurity. Not all the actors can be simultaneously secure as long as we have not reached the unlikely stage of living in a world without threats and enmities or the distant stage of inhabiting a world so well organized that its members are both deprived of, and saved from, self-help. Moreover, the scope of insecurity is not fixed; the security of the world as a whole is threatened only by some perils, whereas certain regions, or individual members, can be endangered also by threats that do not affect the security of others.
Rigidity: A comparison by age and gender

This study compared personality rigidity in young adults (ages 17 to 21), older adults (21 to 72), male and female groups. A probability sample of 295 community-college psychology students were administered a 39-item, true false rigidity questionnaire. The following research hypotheses were formulated: Rigidity is related functionally to age and gender, with males being more rigid than females, young being more rigid than old, and young male and young female groups being more rigid than old male and old female groups. Measures of central tendency and dispersion as well as one-tailed t tests were used to analyze the data. The following significant differences at the .05 level were found: The male group was more rigid than the female group; and the young male group was more rigid than the young female group. Since no significant differences existed between old males and old females, it was concluded that rigidity differences may diminish with age.
Pathophysiology and management of hepatic encephalopathy.

Hepatic encephalopathy is a common complication of liver cirrhosis occurring in up to 80% of patients and is characterized by neuropsychiatric complications ranging from slight altered mental status to coma. While the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood with several proposed hypothesized theories, the mainstay of treatments are aimed at identifying and treating the precipitating causes or reducing intestinal ammonia production. Despite the increasing incidence of liver disease and liver cirrhosis within the UK, there have been few major advances in treatments of hepatic encephalopathy over the last decade. This article provides an overview of the pathogenesis, and medical and surgical management of this major clinical problem.
Control of heme content in Vitreoscilla by oxygen.

Protoheme IX is the only heme type present in Vitreoscilla, an obligate aerobe of the Beggiatoaceae family. Previous work showed that the heme content of Vitreoscilla cells was very dependent on growth conditions and that cells with high heme content also had a higher respiratory rate and a higher concentration of cytochrome o, the terminal oxidase. Experiments reported here showed that oxygen exerts a primary control on the heme content of Vitreoscilla and that the concentration of the peptone-yeast extract-acetate medium (PYA) was also important. There was an optimum shaking rate at each PYA concentration for maximum heme content and an optimum PYA concentration for each shaking rate. The atmospheric oxygen concentration of the shaking growth medium remained at 100% saturation and then began a rapid decline (t1/2 ca. 1hr) to less than 10% saturation. The time at which this decline began depended on both the PYA concentration and shaking rate at a fixed inoculum. The heme content of the cells increased over 50 fold as the oxygen concentration in the medium decreased during culture. Cells with a sub-maximal heme content exposed for two hr to 1) anaerobic conditions showed a 15% decrease in heme content; 2) 50% atmospheric oxygen, a 26% increase in heme content; 3) 100% atmospheric oxygen, an 80% decrease in heme content. The results show that the optimal oxygen concentration for maximum heme content in Vitreoscilla is relatively low, probably less than 10% atmospheric.
The effect of cigarette smoke on human oral polymorphonuclear leukocytes

A group of smokers and a group of non-smokers were the participants in this study The groups were matched by age and gingival health. Oral polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) were harvested from the subjects by saline mouth rinses. These PMN were tested for their ability to phagocytize latex spheres and to exclude trypan blue. Tests were performed for smokers and non-smokers on three consecutive days, with identical procedures except that every participant smoked one cigarette on the second day immediately prior to cell collection, PMN harvested from the oral cavities of smokers were less vital as measured with the dye exclusion test and were less able to phagocytize particles on each experimental day. Smoking one cigarette immediately prior to cell collection resulted in a further decrease of these parameters for both smokers and non-smokers.
Post-translational carboxylation of preprothrombin

The determination of the sites of possible regulation in the formation of an active enzyme protein was only possible after the overall pathway of active enzyme synthesis had been established. Regulation may be via the triplet code at the genetic transcription level, or at the translation level from messenger RNA to protein or at a post-translational level via chemical modification and/or polypeptide aggregation. The fact that the role of vitamin K in the formation of the normally pro-active forms of the coagulation proteins (II, VII, IX, and X) was post- translational was shown by Goswami and Munro (1) in 1962, and further confirmed by Hill, et al. (2), Babior (3), Lowenthal and Simmons (4), Ranhotra, et al. (5), and Shah and Suttie (6). In these studies total enzyme activity (prothrombin) recovery in vivo was obtained following administration of vitamin K to vitamin K deficient (7,8) rats which had received protein synthesis blocking agents. R. E. Olson, et al. (9–12) stated that vitamin K functioned in prothrombin synthesis at a genetic or translation level on the basis of no response to the vitamin after synthesis of protein was inhibited. This, however, became untenable with the finding of carboxylation as the vitamin K dependent step (13–16) in prothrombin ‘completion’.
TAKING AGENTS SERIOUSLY

Stit theory (a logic of seeing-to-it-that) is applied to legal matters. First the background to and nature of stit are set out, including a discussion of agentive sentences, branching time semantics, and the semantics specific to stit. In the second part are calculations involving stit. These stit calculations involve conjunctive actions, conditional actions, refraining, and when an agent could have done otherwise. The third part sets out some stit developments, including accounts of obligation and prohibition, multiple agency, and strategies and promises. Legal cases and actions involving evidence are discussed throughout.
Morphology of geniculo-striate afferents in a prosimian primate.

Abstract In order to analyze the arborization pattern of single axons innervating layer of striate cortex in Galago (a prosimian primate), injections of horseradish peroxidase were made into the white matter below visual cortex. Two distinct fiber types were identified which ramify within different subdivisions of layer IV. Fibers with large axons (type I) have relatively wide terminal arbors which ramify in layer IVa and lower layer III, while those with small axons (type II) arborize in restricted zones of layer IVb. Evidence from previous investigations suggest that terminals of these two fiber types represent the axon terminals of X-like and Y-like geniculate relay cells.
An Interdisciplinary Framework for the Study of Community Power.

The authors develop a framework for the analysis of community power structures from concepts and methodologies in political science and sociology. Relevant studies are reported to support certain elements of the framework and to suggest community characteristics which may be closely related to, perhaps predictive of, the configuration of the dominant influence structures in communities.
Strength in numbers: comparing vaccine signatures the modular way

Gene-expression signatures of the human vaccine response can be complex and noisy. Li et al. develop a new collection of gene-expression modules and use it to compare the response to five different vaccines.
ANGULAR CORRELATIONS IN PRODUCTION PROCESSES

A simple and general method is suggested for studying processes in which resonances or unstable particles are produced. The method consists of analyzing the experimental data in terms of all the possible angular correlations among the decay products of the produced particles. The specific correlations that can'be present in a number of experimentally feasible processes are explicitly tabulated. The usefulness of this method of analysis is illustrated by showing how the correlations provide extensive tests of various dynamical models of the production process such as one-particle-exchanges. Independent of any models, a great deal can be learned about the production amplitude from just the correlations present when neither incident beam nor target are polar.ized, although in general additional correlations must be known to completely construct this amplitude.
Aspects of the distribution and trace element composition of suspended matter in the Black Sea

During cruise #49 of the R/V Atlantis II to the Black Sea in March and April of 1969, samples of suspended matter were collected by filtration of 8 to 101. water samples through 0·45 μ membrane filters. The distribution of the total suspended matter at this time was dominated by detrital silicate particles from the major rivers of Russia, Romania and Bulgaria but a significant influence from the Sea of Azov was detectable. The concentrations of Mn, Fe, Co, Hg, Sc, Zn, La and Sb in the suspended matter have been determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. From these data it is apparent that the distribution of these elements in vertical profiles is influenced by four processes: 1. (1) The presence of detrital silicates. 2. (2) Precipitation as sulphides in the deep water. 3. (3) Coprecipitation with or adsorption by MnO2 that is precipitated just above the oxygen zero boundary. This is due to the upward flux of dissolved Mn(II) by advection and diffusion. 4. (4) Concentration by marine organisms in the surface waters. The profiles of scandium, lanthanum and iron are dominated by process (1) but processes (2), (3) and (4) also can be shown to be significant for iron. The manganese profile is dominated by process (3) and the zinc profile by process (2) while the profiles of cabalt, antimony and mercury are influenced by processes (1), (2) and (3).
Alloimmunization to RhD by platelet transfusions in autologous bone marrow transplant recipients.

Abstract Platelet transfusions from RhD-positive (D-positive) donors are often given to RhD-negative (D-negative) cancer patients. The low observed rate of alloimmunization has been attributed to disease and therapy-related immunosuppression. We have studied the occurrence of alloimmunization in 16 D-negative patients who did not have detectable anti-D prior to autologous bone marrow transplantation for malignant disease. All received D-positive platelets, but no other D-positive blood product. Three patients (19%) developed anti-D at 13, 24 and 83 days, respectively, after first receiving D-positive platelets, and after a total dose of 53, 65 and 119 D-positive platelet unit equivalents, respectively. Two of them also developed anti-C. The 13 patients in whom anti-D was not detected were also heavily transfused with D-positive platelets (mean +/- SD = 136 +/- 82 platelet unit equivalents). In 6 of them, the last recorded antibody screen was less than 3 months after the first D-positive platelets, and may not exclude a primary immune response. Thus, despite profound immunosuppression associated with autologous marrow transplantation, alloimmune responses to D-positive red cells in platelet concentrates can occur in some D-negative recipients.
NEGRO SLAVES OF THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES

ABSTRACT A relatively large number of negro slaves were owned by the Five Civilized Tribes before the American Civil War. Slaves were introduced while the Tribes still maintained their homelands east of the Mississippi River; after removal to the Indian Territory with their masters, the slaves formed an isolated labor pool for the entrepreneurial element of the Tribes. Slave-holding among the Indians maintained a form quite similar to that in the Old South, as the idea of slaving was transferred almost intact to the Indian society from the Southerners.
Breakage of Chromosomes Produced by Ultra-violet Radiation in Drosophila

IN Drosophila melanogaster, ultra-violet radiation produces genetic mutations, both lethal and visible, among which the frequency of chromosome aberrations is very low1. In this respect, genetic changes induced by ultra-violet radiation resemble spontaneous changes, in striking contrast to those produced by ionizing radiations or, to a lesser degree, by the mustard group of chemicals.
The Effectiveness of Non‐Physicians as Providers of Family Planning Services

Population growth and advances in contraceptive technology are discussed in relation to changes in birth control attitudes and practices and the expansion of public family planning programs. The literature describing training, utilization, and effectiveness of non-physicians in providing family planning services is reviewed. Studies comparing physician and non-physician provision of oral contraceptives arid IUD insertions are discussed. On the basis of extensive supporting data, the author concludes that many functions which formerly were in the physician's province are as safely and perhaps more appropriately performed by persons with less medical sophistication. Recommendations are made regarding the present arid future role of nurses as primary care providers in family planning.
The low temperature magnetization of TmFeO3

Abstract We report new data on the magnetization and susceptibility of TmFeO3 below 100°K. In disagreement with earlier measurements, the magnetization shows no compensation point. The data compare favorably with the recent single-ion theory for even-electron rare earths.
On the Delta set and catenary degree of Krull monoids with infinite cyclic divisor class group

Let M be a Krull monoid with divisor class group Z, and let S⊆Z denote the set of divisor classes of M which contain prime divisors. We find conditions on S equivalent to the finiteness of both Δ(M), the Delta set of M, and c(M), the catenary degree of M. In the finite case, we obtain explicit upper bounds on maxΔ(M) and c(M). Our methods generalize and complement a previous result concerning the elasticity of M.
Gender Differences in the Pathophysiology, Clinical Presentation, and Outcomes of Ischemic Heart Failure

Despite advances in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction (MI), heart failure (HF) remains a frequent acute and long-term outcome of ischemic heart disease (IHD). In response to acute coronary ischemia, women are relatively protected from apoptosis, and experience less adverse cardiac remodeling than men, frequently resulting in preservation of left ventricular size and ejection fraction. Despite these advantages, women are at increased risk for HF- complicating acute MI when compared with men. However, women with HF retain a survival advantage over men with HF, including a decreased risk of sudden death. Sex-specific treatment of HF has been hindered by historical under-representation of women in clinical trials, though recent work has suggested that women may have a differential response to some therapies such as cardiac resynchronization. This review highlights the sex differences in the pathophysiology, clinical presentation and outcomes of ischemic heart failure and discusses key areas worthy of further investigation.
Expression and hypophysiotropic actions of corticotropin-releasing factor in Xenopus laevis

Abstract Members of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) family of peptides play pivotal roles in the regulation of neuroendocrine, autonomic, and behavioral responses to physical and emotional stress. In amphibian tadpoles, CRF-like peptides stimulate both thyroid and interrenal (adrenal) hormone secretion, and can thereby modulate the rate of metamorphosis. To better understand the regulation of expression and actions of CRF in amphibians we developed a homologous radioimmunoassay (RIA) for Xenopus laevis CRF (xCRF). We validated this RIA and tissue extraction procedure for the measurement of brain CRF content in tadpoles and juveniles. We show that the CRF-binding protein, which is highly expressed in X. laevis brain, is largely removed by acid extraction and does not interfere in the RIA. We analyzed CRF peptide content in five microdissected brain regions in prometamorphic tadpoles and juveniles. CRF was detected throughout the brain, consistent with its role as both a hypophysiotropin and a neurotransmitter/neuromodulator. CRF content was highest in the region of the preoptic area (POa) and increased in all brain regions after metamorphosis. Exposure to 4 h of handling/shaking stress resulted in increased CRF peptide content in the POa in juvenile frogs. Injections of xCRF into prometamorphic tadpoles increased whole body corticosterone and thyroxine content, thus supporting findings in other anuran species that this peptide functions as both a corticotropin- and a thyrotropin (TSH)-releasing factor. Furthermore, treatment of cultured tadpole pituitaries with xCRF (100 nM for 24 h) resulted in increased medium content, but decreased pituitary content of TSHβ-immunoreactivity. Our results support the view that CRF functions as a stress neuropeptide in X. laevis as in other vertebrates. Furthermore, we provide evidence for a dual hypophysiotropic action of CRF on the thyroid and interrenal axes in X. laevis as has been shown previously in other amphibian species.
Periodic mesoporous organosilica with a hexagonally pillared lamellar structure.

Ordered mesoporous materials (OMMs) with well-defined pore sizes (>2 nm) and pore geometries are important in various applications that require fast mass transfer or deal with large molecules. Extensive research has resulted in the discovery of OMMs with three types of mesostructures: (i) bi- or multicontinuous, (ii) columnar, and (iii) discontinuous (cagelike). However, another type, the pillared lamellar structure, which has long been sought and has been mathematically computed and known to exist in the research fields of surfactant and multiblock-copolymer mesophases, still remains a mesostructure that has not been observed in real OMMs for any specific symmetry. Herein, we report an unprecedented type of ordered mesoporous material with a hexagonally pillared lamellar (HPL) structure (P63/mmc) that can be synthesized via a phase transformation from a lamellar mesophase by hydrothermal reaction in the presence of an organosilica precursor and a high concentration of a designed Gemini surfactant (Gem16−...
Identification of a Trans-Acting Function Regulating HLA-DR Expression in a DR-Negative B Cell Variant

Somatic cell hybridizations were performed between an HLA-DR negative variant of a human B lymphoid cell line (B-LCL) and normal unrelated B-LCLs. The HLA-DR codes for polymorphic determinants on a heterodimeric cell surface lymphocyte differentiation glycoprotein. A variant subline which was selected in a single step from a diploid heterozygous DR-1 DR-3 B-LCL had lost expression of both DR-1 and DR-3 and the heretodimer; it has been described earlier. In a fusion with a DR-2 B-LCL, the hybrids expressed DR-2 and reexpressed the DR-1 and DR-3 alleles. Similar results were seen in a fusion with a different normal B-LCL. Hybrid clones from both fusions were tested with a large number of alloantisera and essentially all informative sera showed reexpression. The results show that (1) the variant did not arise by mutations in the structural genes for DR-1 and DR-3; (2) the normal cells are supplying a missing gene product needed for expression of DR; (3) this gene product is capable of acting in trans. Chromosome counts showed that the apparent recessiveness of the variant in the hybrids was not due to chromosomal segregation.
Exploring visual and automatic measures of perceptual fidelity in real and simulated imagery

This paper introduces a new psychophysical experiment developed to enable observers to judge the quality of computer graphics imagery with respect to the real scene it depicts. This new framework facilitates perceptual judgment of images against a real scene. Unlike previous work, which examined primitive objects under basic illumination, this experiment examines complex geometry illuminated using a calibrated light source. To ensure valid results, a commercial lighting booth containing rapid prototyped three-dimensional (3D) objects serves as the real scene. For comparison, a series of representative images, of varying quality, were rendered using the physically based Radiance lighting simulation software. Results from these experiments show that higher parameter settings, which lead to longer processing times, do not necessarily lead to higher quality images. To demonstrate that there is only modest benefit to setting parameters higher, images are subjected to further testing using two different visual quality discrimination operators; the Visual Differences Predictor (VDP) and the Structural SIMilarity (SSIM) for image-quality assessment. The results from the automatic operators correspond well with each other, in addition to yielding comparable outcomes as the psychophysical experiment. Although, a single scene was considered in the experiment, several scenes are tested using the image-quality metrics to lend further reliability to the assertion that higher parameter settings, which lead to extended processing times, do not necessarily lead to superior quality results.
Bioconjugated quantum dots for in vivo molecular and cellular imaging

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are tiny light-emitting particles on the nanometer scale, and are emerging as a new class of fluorescent labels for biology and medicine. In comparison with organic dyes and fluorescent proteins, they have unique optical and electronic properties, with size-tunable light emission, superior signal brightness, resistance to photobleaching, and broad absorption spectra for simultaneous excitation of multiple fluorescence colors. QDs also provide a versatile nanoscale scaffold for designing multifunctional nanoparticles with both imaging and therapeutic functions. When linked with targeting ligands such as antibodies, peptides or small molecules, QDs can be used to target tumor biomarkers as well as tumor vasculatures with high affinity and specificity. Here we discuss the synthesis and development of state-of-the-art QD probes and their use for molecular and cellular imaging. We also examine key issues for in vivo imaging and therapy, such as nanoparticle biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, and toxicology.
A Method for Sexing Final Instar Larvae of the Genus Onthophagus Latreille (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Dung beetles of the genus Onthophagus Latreille are used as model systems in behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology, and insect development. In the past, studies on the developmental control of larval and adult form, and studies that seek to integrate development, evolution, and ecology, have been handicapped by experimenters' inability to determine the sex of developing larvae. Here we present a straightforward, reliable, and non-invasive method that permits sexing of Onthophagus Latreille larvae during their early to mid third instar.
THE EFFECT OF X-RAYS ON BACTERIA

(1) X-rays act like sterilizing agents upon cultures of B.coli and Erythrobacillus prodigiosus, in that the curves are characteristic sterilization or death-rate curves showing that the total counts decrease logarithmically with time. (2) In this experiment B.coli did not show variation or mutation when it was treated with X-rays. (3) With increasing irradiation Erythrobacillus prodigiosus showed a tendency toward lack of ability to produce its characteristic red pigment. By allowing the organism to grow on the plate for a period of five days the greater portion of the colonies produced their pigment. If a transfer of a white colony is made to an agar slant the characteristic pigment is produced in twelve hours. In only one case was it necessary to make a second transfer in order to bring about the development of the pigment. The above is another example of the variation tendency of Erythrobacillus prodigiosus.
Production and Dissipation of Energy in the Turbulent Flow of a Particle-Fluid Mixture, With Some Results on Drag Reduction

The production and dissipation of energy in a two-phase model for particle-fluid turbulent flow is considered. For plane parallel mean flow use of several scaling arguments yields a balance between production and drag dissipation for the particles, and between production and viscous dissipation for the fluid. A simple particle motion model is used to obtain estimates of the drag dissipation. Energy balance considerations are made for situations where drag reduction by the addition of particles is observed. Significant drag reduction is found to occur for sufficiently large Reynolds number. Discussion of the extra effectiveness of polymers for drag reduction is given within the framework of energy balance.
The American City as Non-Place: Architecture and Narrative in the Crime Films of Michael Mann

In almost 30 years of directing crime films, Michael Mann developed a singular style in his architectural depiction. His crime films display buildings, bridges, roads, and other geographic structur...
Outcomes After Diagnosis of Mycosis Fungoides and Sézary Syndrome Before 30 Years of Age: A Population-Based Study

Importance Mycosis fungoides and Sezary syndrome (MF/SS) are rare in children and young adults, and thus the incidence and outcomes in this patient population are not well studied. Objective To assess the incidence and outcomes of MF/SS in patients diagnosed before 30 years of age. Design, Setting, and Participants Retrospective study of 2 population-based cancer registries—the California Cancer Registry (n = 204) and 9 US cancer registries of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program (SEER 9; n = 195)—for patients diagnosed with MF/SS before 30 years of age. Main Outcomes and Measures Overall survival was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The risk of a second cancer was assessed by calculating the standard incidence ratio (SIR) comparing observed cancer incidence in patients with MF/SS with the expected incidence in the age-, sex-, and race-standardized general population. Results The incidence of MF/SS is rare before 30 years of age, with an incidence rate of 0.05 per 100 000 persons per year before age 20 years and 0.12 per 100 000 persons per year between ages 20 and 29 years in the California Cancer Registry. At 10 years, patients with MF/SS had an overall survival of 94.3% (95% CI, 89.6%-97.2%) in the California Cancer Registry and 88.9% (95% CI, 82.4%-93.2%) in SEER 9. In SEER 9, there was a significant excess risk of all types of second cancers combined (SIR, 3.40; 95% CI, 1.55-6.45), particularly lymphoma (SIR, 12.86; 95% CI, 2.65-37.59) and melanoma (SIR, 9.31; 95% CI, 8.75-33.62). In the California Cancer Registry, the SIR for risk of all types of second cancers was similar to that in SEER 9 (SIR, 3.45; 95% CI, 0.94-8.83), although not statistically significant. Conclusions and Relevance Young patients with MF/SS have a favorable outcome, despite a strong suggestion of an increased risk of second primary cancers. Prolonged follow-up is warranted to definitively assess their risk of developing second cancers in a lifetime.
A family of mixed finite elements for linear elasticity

A family of finite elements for use in mixed formulations of linear elasticity is developed. The stresses are not required to be symmetric, but only to satisfy a weaker condition based upon Lagrange multipliers. This is based on the same formulation used in the PEERS finite element spaces. Elements for both two and three dimensional problems are given. Error analysis on these elements is done, and some superconvergence results are proved.
Effects of type of cage front and feed trough partitions on productivity and ingestive, agonistic, and fearful behaviors of egg-type hens.

Two groups of White Leghorn pullets reared in floor pens were used to study the effects on performance and behavior in cages of horizontal wire cage fronts with and without feed trough partitions (HP and H, respectively) and vertical wire cage fronts with and without feed trough partitions (VP and V, respectively). In Experiment 1, hens in HP and VP cages consumed more (P less than .05) feed than hens in either H or V cages. This greater feed consumption combined with similar egg production resulted in significantly poorer feed conversion (P less than .05) for hens in VP cages. Hens in HP cages had fewer drinking bouts (P less than .05) and an intermediate amount of feeding time. Hens in H, V, and VP cages did not differ significantly in number of drinking bouts and feeding times. There were differences in feeding location preferences among treatments (P less than .05) but not within treatments. In Experiment 2, effects of horizontal (H) and vertical (V) wire cage fronts were examined to determine their effects on productivity and fearful behavior. Hens in H cages had better feather scores (P less than .05) than hens in V cages. Type of cage front had no significant effects on age at sexual maturity, egg production, mortality rate, average egg weight, and body weight.
Organization, 5′-flanking sequence and promoter activity of the rat GPC1 gene

Abstract Glypicans are a member of a family of glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchored heparan sulfate proteoglycans that are expressed in cell and development specific patterns. Rat GPC1 cDNA probes were used to screen rat genomic libraries. Three overlapping genomic clones that contained the entire rat GPC1 gene were isolated. The rat GPC1 gene is approximately 15 kb in length and consists of eight exons interrupted by introns of varying lengths. Two of the introns are quite short, with lengths of 41 and 43 base pairs. Each exon–intron splice junction exhibited the consensus splice site sequence. Exon 1 encodes the putative signal peptide and the serine residue of the first putative heparan sulfate attachment site. The last exon encodes the cluster of three potential COOH-terminal heparan sulfate attachment sites, the putative GPI anchor and polypeptide cleavage site, and the 3′-untranslated region including the polyadenylation signal. One of the genomic clones extended approximately 2.8 kb 5′ of the exon 1 coding sequence, and is thus likely to contain sequences that regulate GPC1 gene expression. Sequence analysis of the 5′-flanking sequence revealed a lack of consensus TATA and CAAT boxes. A search for potential transcription factor binding sites revealed a number of such motifs, including Sp1 (GC box), NF-κB, and MyoD (E-box). This region of the rat GPC1 gene shows significant sequence homology to the 5′-flanking region of the human GPC3 gene. Functional promoter activity of the rat GPC1 sequence was demonstrated by its ability to drive the expression of a luciferase reporter gene in several cell types.
Isolated Systolic and Diastolic Ventricular Interactions in Pacing-Induced Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Effects of Volume Loading and Pericardium

Background Interactions between the closely coupled right and left ventricles are known to play important roles as determinants of ventricular function, and the purpose of this study was to evaluate their effects in a model of heart failure. Methods and Results A dilated cardiomyopathy resulting in congestive heart failure (CHF) was produced in pigs by rapid ventricular pacing at 230 beats per minute for 1 week. Blood was rapidly withdrawn from the left ventricular (LV) apex into a prosthetic ventricle, and the instantaneous effects on the right ventricle were studied during volume loading and before and after pericardiectomy. The systolic interaction gain between the right and left ventricles (Gs) was calculated as the ratio of changes in mean systolic pressure during isolated systolic LV unloading. Diastolic ventricular interaction gain (Gd) was calculated as the ratio of changes in mean diastolic pressures during LV unloading in the last 150 ms of diastole. With the pericardium closed, all interaction ...
Catalytic efficiency of enzymes: a theoretical analysis.

This brief review analyzes the underlying physical principles of enzyme catalysis, with an emphasis on the role of equilibrium enzyme motions and conformational sampling. The concepts are developed in the context of three representative systems, namely, dihydrofolate reductase, ketosteroid isomerase, and soybean lipoxygenase. All of these reactions involve hydrogen transfer, but many of the concepts discussed are more generally applicable. The factors that are analyzed in this review include hydrogen tunneling, proton donor–acceptor motion, hydrogen bonding, pKa shifting, electrostatics, preorganization, reorganization, and conformational motions. The rate constant for the chemical step is determined primarily by the free energy barrier, which is related to the probability of sampling configurations conducive to the chemical reaction. According to this perspective, stochastic thermal motions lead to equilibrium conformational changes in the enzyme and ligands that result in configurations favorable for th...
Public communication strategy for NASA’s planetary protection program: Expanding the dialogue

Abstract The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Planetary Protection Office, in the Science Mission Directorate, has a long-term initiative under way in communication research and planning. The possibility of extraterrestrial life and efforts to search for evidence of it is one of NASA’s key missions and a subject of great interest to the public. Planetary protection plays a key role in the search for signs of life elsewhere, and NASA’s Planetary Protection Office has long recognized the importance of communications in accomplishing its goals and objectives. With solar system exploration missions advancing into the era of sample return and with the science of astrobiology changing assumptions about the nature and boundaries of life, the NASA Planetary Protection Office is expanding its communication research efforts. For the past decade, communication research sponsored by the NASA planetary protection program has focused on reaching members of the science community and addressing legal and ethical concerns. In 2003, the program broadened its communication research efforts, initiating the development of a communication strategy based on an interactive model and intended to address the needs of a broad range of external audiences. The NASA Planetary Protection Office aims to ensure that its scientific, bureaucratic, and other constituencies are fully informed about planetary protection policies and procedures and that scientists and officials involved in planetary protection are prepared to communicate with a variety of public audiences about issues relating to planetary protection. This paper describes NASA’s ongoing planetary protection communication research, including development of a communication strategy and a risk communication plan.
Intracortical Brain-Computer Interfaces for the Restoration of Communication and Mobility

For people with stroke, spinal cord injury, neuromuscular diseases, or other neurologic illnesses, currently available assistive and rehabilitation technologies are inadequate. In severe brainstem stroke and advanced ALS, patients may suddenly or progressively enter a locked-in state of being awake and alert but unable to move or communicate. Through clinical translation based on decades of basic neuroscience research, intracortically-based “brain-computer interfaces” are poised to revolutionize our ability to restore lost function. Over the past decade, neurotechnologies which record the individual and simultaneous activities of dozens to hundreds of cortical neurons have yielded new understandings of cortical function. This preclinical research, generally performed with healthy, neurologically intact non-human primates, has demonstrated that direct neural control of virtual and physical devices can be achieved. Recently, this exciting research has been translated into pilot clinical trials (IDE) of an intracortically-based neural interface system (BrainGate, www.braingate2.org), seeking to determine the feasibility of persons with tetraplegia controlling a computer cursor or other devices simply by imagining movement of their own hand. A variety of methods for decoding brain signals are being tested with the hope of not only restoring communication, but also providing a control signal for the reanimation of paralyzed limbs. A recent paper in Nature described a woman with brainstem stroke who used the BrainGate system to control a robotic arm to serve herself her morning coffee, demonstrating not only the critical ability to reach-and-grasp in her immediate, multidimensional environment, but also to perform a key activity of daily living using an intracortical BCI. In BrainGate-related research, early glimpses into the activities of dozens of individual cortical neurons in humans are also providing new insights and might provide new diagnostic and therapeutic modalities for people with epilepsy.
Electronic quadrupole moments of excited states and the charge wavefunction of the many-electron theory

Abstract It is shown that the electronic quadrupole moment as a measure of the charge distribution in non-closed shell systems is given not by the Hartree-Fock wavefunction, ΦRHF, but by the “charge distribution wavefunction” (the “charge wavefunction”) of NCMET, ϑc. The electronic quadrupole moments, Θ, of Be 1 1s22s2p3p0, B I 1s22s22p 2p0, B I 1s22s2p24P, B I 1s22s2p22D, and CI 1s22p32D0 are calculated by the full charge wavefunctions of NCMET and the Hartree-Fock wavefunctions. In C II, RHF gives Θ = 0.0 while the NCMET values are Θ = 0.07726 for J = 5 2 and Θ = 0.05408 for J = 3 2 . Where several l ≠ 0 orbitals are involved in the excited state, the RHF results can differ sizably from the accurate NCMET charge wavefunction results. Recent beam measurements of electronic quadrupole moments are pertinent to these conclusions.
Bimodal aerosol loading and dust cake formation on air filters

Abstract Dust cake formation and structures on filters under the challenge of bimodal aerosol have been studied theoretically and experimentally. A theoretical model has first been derived based on bimodal aerosol loading with known particle mean sizes and geometrical standard deviations. The dust cake structure (average packing density or porosity) is expressed as a function of the operating conditions (pressure drop and filtration flow rate), the number ratio of two component bimodal particles, the particle characteristics of the respective component ( e.g. particle size distribution and particle shape), and the total cake layer thickness. An experiment was then performed to verify the theoretical model. In the experiment, the dust cake height and pressure drop were measured in real time, and the loaded mass was inferred from the total collection time and the final mass measurement. The bimodal aerosol was generated by mixing both the alumina particles (0.7 μm mean diameter) and the Arizona Road Dust (2.0 μm) in the aerosol phase. Both types of particles were dispersed using a TSI Fluidized Bed Aerosol Generator. The experimental data correlate well with the theoretical model.
Dynamic changes of nuclear RNA foci in proliferating DM1 cells

Nuclear RNA foci are molecular hallmarks of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1). However, no designated study has investigated their formation and changes in proliferating cells. Proliferating cells, as stem cells, consist of an important cellular pool in the human body. The revelation of foci changes in these cells might shed light on the effects of the mutation on these specific cells and tissues. In this study, we used human DM1 iPS-cell-derived neural stem cells (NSCs) as cellular models to investigate the formation and dynamic changes of RNA foci in proliferating cells. Human DM1 NSCs derived from human DM1 iPS cells were cultured under proliferation conditions and nonproliferation conditions following mitomycin C treatment. The dynamic changes of foci during the cell cycle were investigated by fluorescence in situ hybridization. We found RNA foci formed and dissociated during the cell cycle. Nuclear RNA foci were most prominent in number and size just prior to entering mitosis (early prophase). During mitosis, most foci disappeared. After entering interphase, RNA foci accumulated again in the nuclei. After stopping cell dividing by treatment of mitomycin C, the number of nuclear RNA foci increased significantly. In summary, DM1 NSC nuclear RNA foci undergo dynamic changes during cell cycle, and mitosis is a mechanism to decrease foci load in the nuclei, which may explain why dividing cells are less affected by the mutation. The dynamic changes need to be considered when using foci as a marker to monitor the effects of therapeutic drugs.
Crosslinking of collagen gels: photochemical measurements

Clinical investigations have suggested the utility of being able to form, in situ, thin lenticules over the exposed corneal surface from the photopolymerization of a semi-liquid collagen gel. In order to be better able to understand and ultimately control the use of this viscous material for investigations of both the biological stability of these collagen films and their potential in synthetic epikeratoplasty we have studied the photochemical properties of the material. In particular, we have investigated the possibility of using light in the visible wavelength range to initiate gelation of bulk collagen gels, the crosslinking process being effected by added photoinitiators.© (1992) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The evolution of current hypertension therapy.

Abstract There has been a continuous evolution in hypertensive therapy during the last 30 years. Now, physicians have access to more than 40 agents for treating this widespread condition. Large-scale clinical trials have established that lowering blood pressure in patients with mild to moderate diastolic hypertension results in a decreased incidence of stroke and, to a lesser extent, a reduction in incidence of coronary heart disease [MacMahon SW, Cutler JA, Furberg CD, et al: Prog Cardiovasc Dis 1986; 29 (suppl 1): 99–118]. Even so, the decrease in overall mortality rate is not consistent. Although hypertension occurs with increasing frequency in those over 60 years of age, patients in this age group represent less than 12 percent of the subjects in large trials. Currently, stepped-care is the recommended approach for managing hypertension in patients of all ages. However, the availability of a variety of agents for initial therapy, all with approximately equal efficacy but differing side-effect profiles, calls such an approach into question.
A Learning Module for Increasing Ethical Awareness of Students

A learning module was introduced in a required Mechanical Engineering undergraduate course with the goal of increasing the ethical awareness of students. Specifically, the students were supposed to understand the basic theories of ethics and an engineering code of ethics, apply this understanding to differentiate between ethical and unethical engineering practices, and be able to suggest ethical solutions. The course was junior level Measurements and Instrumentation, taken by 120 students in six sections of about 20 each. In each section, a two-and-a-half-hour “Ethics workshop” was conducted during a lab period which included several interactive student activities such as discussion of theories of ethics, engineering case-studies and guidelines to solve an engineering “problem”, short video clips, a quiz, and an in-depth analysis of a hypothetical situation. At the conclusion of the module, students were asked to prepare a short report on an ethical solution of that situation. A survey was administered several days before and again several days after the workshop with identical questions. Based on the chi-square test, statistically significant increase in the ethical awareness of students was evident. Similar modules were also presented in freshman seminars courses. Although the above survey involved primarily junior students, it appears that the introduction of material on topics of academic integrity would be helpful to first-year students, and the introduction of engineering professional ethics would be useful at the beginning of their major in the first semester in the junior year.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Transplantable mouse neoplasm control by neutron capture therapy.

AFTER several years of effort based on the application of the principles of neutron capture therapy, we have empirically evolved a procedure which now can be added to the few effective treatments for established invasive transplantable neoplasms of animals. Previously, we discussed the biological utilization of thermal neutrons to generate alpha particles and lithium atom fragments from boron-10. We noted the pathways of these fragments are of cellular dimensions1–5, and how, in principle, one might thereby attain sharply localized intense effects. Our present observations on 611 neoplasms may serve to point towards achievement of these goals. In this communication we report the thermal neutron flux which must be incident on the skin over solid neoplasms 8 mm–17 mm in diameter to result in permanent regression after giving sodium pentaborate intravenously in a dose equivalent to 35 µg/g body weight of boron-10. Only a single treatment was required by this procedure.