cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Goji berry improves colitis in IL10-/- mice through modulating gut microbiota

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are chronic gut disorders with complex and obscured etiologies. Accumulating evidences implicate gut microbiota as a pivotal factor in the IBD pathogenesis. Goji berry, a tonic food in China, is known for its immune-modulating properties. The objective of this study was to examine beneficial effects of Goji on experimental colitis in IL10- deficient (IL10 -/-) mice and further explore underlying mechanisms. IL10-/- mice that develop enterocolitis spontaneously were assigned to a standard rodent diet (CON) or a diet supplemented with Goji (1% of dry feed weight) for 10 weeks, when the colonic tissues and fecal contents were collected. Goji supplementation has no effect on body weight gain and feed intake in IL10-/- mice. Histologically, Goji supplementation improved pathobiological scores in IL10-/- mice. Pyrosequencing revealed that Goji supplementation dramatically increased Actinobacateria in gut microbiota with no change in other phyla. At family level, Goji supplement...
The effect of dietary energy source on serum concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I, growth hormone, insulin, glucose, and fat metabolites in weanling horses

Feeding diets high in soluble carbohydrates to growing horses has been implicated in the development of orthopedic diseases; as a result, substitution of dietary fat for soluble carbohydrates has received attention. Because IGF-I is integral to growth and cartilage development and because it is influenced by nutrition, we evaluated the effect of dietary fat substitution on metabolic endpoints and circulating GH and IGF-I in growing horses. Twelve Quarter Horse weanlings, four female and eight male, 151 to 226 d old, were blocked by sex and age and assigned to two treatment groups. Group one (CARB; n = six) was fed a concentrate containing 2.21% fat and 33.9% starch; group two (FAT; n = six) was fed a concentrate containing 10.3% fat and 24.0% starch. Both concentrates contained 3.0 Mcal/kg of DE and 16% CP. Brome hay also was fed. Diets were fed at 0800 and 1600 for 60 d. On d 0, 30, and 60, blood samples were obtained via a jugular catheter from 1 h before until 5 h after the morning feeding. Serum was analyzed for glucose, insulin, GH, IGF-I, NEFA, and total cholesterol (CHOL). Neither ADG (0.85 +/- 0.04 and 0.84 +/- 0.04 kg) nor concentrate DMI (4.04 +/- 0.12 and 4.03 +/- 0.12 kg/d) differed between treatments. There were consistent increases in glucose and insulin in response to feeding on d 0, 30, and 60 for both groups. On d 30, the glucose response to feeding was less (P = 0.07) over time in FAT vs. CARB; however, there were no significant treatment x time effects on d 0 or 60. On d 60, the insulin response to feeding was less (P < 0.05) over time in FAT compared with CARB; however, there was no treatment x time effect on d 0 or 30. Serum CHOL concentrations did not differ between groups on d 0. Horses in the FAT group had increased CHOL concentrations on d 30 and 60 compared with CARB (P < 0.01). Although treatment x time interactions were noted for GH on d 30 and 60 (P < 0.05), only transient and inconsistent differences in the secretory profiles between CARB and FAT treatments were evident at those sampling times. Serum NEFA and IGF-I did not differ between treatments on d 0, 30, or 60. These results suggest that dietary energy source, at least at the level used in this study, did not affect foal growth performance or serum IGF-I and NEFA concentrations. Fat substitution increased serum CHOL and variably affected serum GH, glucose, and insulin concentrations in response to feeding.
Two‐stage Atomic Layer Deposition: Deposition of Aluminum Oxide Films on Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Surfaces

We describe the growth of aluminum oxide (AlOx) on strong hydrophobic surfaces that consist of CH3‐terminated self‐assembled monolayers (CH3‐SAMs) by utilizing atomic layer deposition (ALD) with H2O as the oxygen source. The evolution of AlOx on the CH3‐SAMs was studied by comparing with that on hydrophilic OH‐terminated silicon dioxide (OH‐SiO2) surfaces. The AlOx grown on the CH3‐SAM surfaces underwent growth instability and developed significantly rough surface morphologies while the AlOx on the OH‐SiO2 maintained atomically smooth surface morphologies. The structural integrity of the CH3‐SAMs was also found to be disturbed substantially at the onset of the ALD process with H2O. To improve the surface morphology of AlOx on CH3‐SAM surfaces, a two‐stage ALD process was developed. In the two‐stage ALD process for AlOx, the first stage utilized n‐propanol as the oxygen source and the second stage proceeded with H2O. The optimized two‐stage ALD process significantly improved the surface morphology of AlOx ...
Unsupervised Pedestrian Re-identification for Loitering Detection

This paper presents a framework of detecting loitering pedestrians in a video surveillance system. First, to represent pedestrians an appearance feature which contains geometric information and color structure is proposed. After feature extraction, pedestrians are tracked by a proposed Bayesian-based appearance tracker. The tracker takes the advantage of Bayesian decision to associate the detected pedestrians according to their color appearances and spatial location among consecutive frames. The pedestrian's appearance is modeled as a multivariate normal distribution and recorded in a pedestrian database. The database also records time stamps when the pedestrian appears as an appearing history. Therefore, even though the pedestrian leaves and returns to the scene, he/she can still be re-identified as a loitering suspect. However, a critical threshold which determines whether two appearances are associated or not is needed to be set. Thus we propose a method to learn the associating threshold by observing two specific events from on-line video. A 10-minute video about three loitering pedestrians is used to test the proposed system. They are successfully detected and recognized from other passing-by pedestrians.
EDITOR'S CHOICE: Small-scale restoration in intensive agricultural landscapes supports more specialized and less mobile pollinator species

Summary Agriculture now constitutes 40–50% of terrestrial land use globally. By enhancing habitat suitability and connectivity, restoration within agricultural landscapes could have a major influence on biodiversity conservation. However, habitat management within intensive agricultural landscapes may primarily boost abundances of common, highly mobile generalists, rather than vulnerable or endangered species. We studied pollinator community response to small-scale habitat restoration in the intensively farmed Central Valley of California to determine whether restoration could also promote more specialized, less common and/or less mobile species. Composition of pollinator communities was assessed in five experimental and 10 control (unrestored) sites before and after restoration of native plant hedgerows over an 8-year period, using a before-after control-impact design. We characterized bee and fly species based on functional response traits [floral specialization, habitat specialization, abundance, body size and sociality (bees only)] known to influence the response to habitat change. We modelled how species occurrences changed with habitat restoration over time as modulated by their response traits. We found that hedgerows not only significantly enhanced occurrences of native bee and syrphid fly species, but that as hedgerows matured, they had a greater positive effect on species that were more specialized in floral and nesting resources and smaller (less mobile). Synthesis and applications. Unlike previous studies that suggest habitat restoration in agricultural landscapes only benefits mobile, generalist species, our results suggest that small-scale habitat restoration can promote species whose traits likely render them particularly vulnerable to habitat degradation. Thus, even within highly intensive agricultural landscapes, small-scale habitat restoration can be a conservation management tool. However, tailoring habitat enhancements to promote certain species or guilds may be critical for their success as a conservation intervention in agricultural landscapes.
Finding N-Most Prevalent Colocated Event Sets

Recently, there has been considerable interest in mining spatial colocation patterns from large spatial datasets. Spatial colocations represent the subsets of spatial events whose instances are frequently located together in nearby geographic area. Most studies of spatial colocation mining require the specification of a minimum prevalent threshold to find the interesting patterns. However, it is difficult for users to provide appropriate thresholds without prior knowledge about the task-specific spatial data. We propose a different framework for spatial colocation pattern mining: finding N -most prevalent colocated event sets, where N is the desired number of event sets with the highest interest measure values per each pattern size. We developed an algorithm for mining N -most prevalent colocation patterns. Experimental results with real data show that our algorithmic design is computationally effective.
Algorithm design of liquid lens inspection system

In mobile lens domain, the glass lens is often to be applied in high-resolution requirement situation; but the glass zoom lens needs to be collocated with movable machinery and voice-coil motor, which usually arises some space limits in minimum design. In high level molding component technology development, the appearance of liquid lens has become the focus of mobile phone and digital camera companies. The liquid lens sets with solid optical lens and driving circuit has replaced the original components. As a result, the volume requirement is decreased to merely 50% of the original design. Besides, with the high focus adjusting speed, low energy requirement, high durability, and low-cost manufacturing process, the liquid lens shows advantages in the competitive market. In the past, authors only need to inspect the scrape defect made by external force for the glass lens. As to the liquid lens, authors need to inspect the state of four different structural layers due to the different design and structure. In this paper, authors apply machine vision and digital image processing technology to administer inspections in the particular layer according to the needs of users. According to our experiment results, the algorithm proposed can automatically delete non-focus background, extract the region of interest, find out and analyze the defects efficiently in the particular layer. In the future, authors will combine the algorithm of the system with automatic-focus technology to implement the inside inspection based on the product inspective demands.© (2008) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor masquerading as invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix after an ectopic pregnancy.

☆ The view(s) expressed herein are those of the au official policy or position of Brooke Army Medical C Department, the U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon Genera Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. ☆☆ Poster presentation at the Armed Forces District and Gynecology, Honolulu, Hawaii, November 2009. ⁎ Corresponding author. Department of OB/GYN, 3851 Houston, TX 78234, USA. Fax: +1 210 916 5557. E-mail addresses: charles.leath@amedd.army.mil, Tr (C.A. Leath).
The Bungalows of Buffalo

Measured drawings of seven bungalows that were built between 1914 and 1926 in Buffalo, New York, are presented. The paper concentrates on the conventions which govern the organization of spaces in these bungalows and establish linkages with other house types in the popular tradition. The conventions found are expressed through the schemata of a parametric shape grammar which allow differences between bungalows to be explained as different geometric realizations of a shared set of conventions.
“New” Holistic Mass Media Business Model

This qualitative case study, based on the principles of grounded theory, develops a holistic business model for media outlets by investigating the organizational structure and corporate culture of ...
ETHNIC COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: A Spatial Examination

: In terms of spatial distribution, ethnic community development is affected by the ethnic group's unique socioeconomic and ethnic charateristics, as well as the urban structure within which it forms. The different, but important, role each of these variables plays cannot be documented easily. Therefore, studies on the internal and external diversity of ethnic communities face serious limitations. The study reported here illustrates the difficulty in understanding the residential distribution of certain immigrants and presents a technique which can rectify this problem. Using this methodology, the residential distribution of Russians, Iranians, Koreans, and Vietnamese in Los Angeles and Orange counties is analylzed. Significant spatial differences are revealed when socioeconomic and ethnicity factors are considered.
Discrete Convolutions via Mersenne Transrorms

A transform analogous to the discrete Fourier transform is defined in the ring of integers with a multiplication and addition modulo a Mersenne number. The arithmetic necessary to perform the transform requires only additions and circular shifts of the bits in a word. The inverse transform is similar. It is shown that the product of the transforms of two sequences is congruent to the transform of their circular convolution. Therefore, a method of computing circular convolutions without quantization error and with only very few multiplications is revealed.
Theory of the decay of a surface scratch to flatness

Abstract The decay to flatness of an isolated scratch in a planar surface is calculated under the assumption that the surface parameters are constant over the range of orientations exposed on scratch surface, and that the slope of the scratch surface never departs appreciably from that of the original plane. The mechanisms of material transport considered are surface diffusion and volume diffusion. The secondmoment α of the scratch profile is found to be time invariant and to ultimately characterize a given scratch uniquely. Explicit expressions are obtained that describe the entire scratch profile as a function of the time (and α). A discussion is given of the use of these expressions to determine diffusion coefficients from measurements of the kinetics of scratch decay.
Musculoskeletal Aging in Spinal Cord Injury

Musculoskeletal pain is a common problem in the general population and in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI). Aging has significant impacts on the musculoskeletal system. The interaction of aging and musculoskeletal demands in persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) results in unique problems that interfere with functional independence and quality of life. An understanding of these effects is needed to better design strategies and programs for primary prevention of musculoskeletal conditions that interfere with the lives of persons with SCI. This review summarizes some of these age-related changes and methods used to minimize their impact.
A λgt11 cDNA recombinant that encodes Dirofilaria immitis paramyosin

The cDNA synthesized from mRNA of Dirofilaria immitis female adult worms was cloned into the expression vector λgt11. Screening the library with a hyperimmune rabbit antiserum raised against adult worm homogenates yielded several antigen positive clones. One of these clones, λcDi2, was recognized by rabbit antisera raised against either D. immitis L-3, adult, Brugia malayi L-3 or Onchocerca volvulus adult worm antigen, as well as by antisera from humans naturally infected with O. volvulus or Wuchereria bancrofti. Affinity-purified anti-λcDi2 antibodies reacted with a 97-kDa protein on Western transfers of adult D. immitis antigen extracts that were reduced with β-mercaptoethanol. The whole rabbit anti-D. immitis adult antiserum depleted of anti-λcDi2 antibodies exhibited decreased reactivity to this 97-kDa band. A monoclonal antibody (IA6) that specifically binds Schistosoma mansoni paramyosin also recognised a 97-kDa protein in D. immitis extracts upon Western transfer. The deduced amino acid sequence of partial DNA sequence from λcDi2 showed some similarity to nematode myosin, and gave a stretch of 82 amino acids that is 91.5% identical to Caenorhabditis elegans paramyosin: thus, λcDi2 encodes D. immitis paramyosin.
Laser alignment strictness for optical diffraction effect in lithography processes

In the photo process, the product wafers' overlay accuracy mostly depends on the global alignment and final alignment result. Therefore, the key parameter of product wafer will be calculated via the laser onto the grating mark resulted in moire signal. The key parameter includes x, y coordinate, wafer rotation data, wafer orthogonal data, step scaling data. The alignment failed issues always suffer from the various films and thickness by laser alignment. Such as figure 1 is the power IC device for failed laser alignment. Figure 2 is the compared laser alignment issue about the WGA and LSA multiple grating mark, figure 3 is the compared laser alignment issue about the moire signal. In this paper, we provide several methods to improve the laser alignment issue. Specially, according to experimental results, we find out the improved direction for the laser alignment. The improved direction is that changed grating mark width, using the convex grating mark, using the higher viscosity photo resist and using the dry etching grating mark in etching process.
Application of functional genomic technologies in a mouse model of retinal degeneration.

Abstract Generation of tissue-specific, normalized and subtracted cDNA libraries has the potential to characterize the expression of rare transcriptional units not represented on Affymetrix GeneChips. Initial sequence analysis of our murine cDNA clone collections showed that as much as 86, 45, and 30% of clones are not represented on the Affymetrix Mu11k, MG-U74, and MG-430 chip sets, respectively. A detailed study that compared EST sequences of a subtracted library generated from mouse retina to those of MG-430 consensus sequences was undertaken, using UniGene build 124 as the common reference. A set of 1111 nonredundant transcript regions, not represented on the commercial array, was identified. These clusters were used as the primary filter for analyzing a data set produced by assaying samples from the Pde6brd1 mouse model of retinal degeneration on a 12,325-feature retinal cDNA microarray. QRT-PCR validated eight unique transcripts identified by microarray. Seven of the transcripts showed retina-specific expression. Full-length cloning strategies were applied to two of the ESTs. The genes discovered by this approach are the full-length mouse homologue of guanylate cyclase 2F (GUCY2F) and a carboxy-truncated splice variant of retinal S-antigen (SAG), known as regulators of the visual phototransduction G-protein-coupled receptor-mediated signaling pathway. These sequences have been assigned GenBank Accession Nos. AY651761 and AY651760 , respectively.
A priori tests of one-equation LES modeling of rotating turbulence

A priori tests of subgrid-scale (SGS) models are performed using results of 1283 direct numerical simulations for forced isotropic (Reλ = 100) and rotating turbulence (0.1 < Ro ω3 < 0.4). A range of SGS models is tested varying from algebraic, gradient, and scale similarity, to one-equation viscosity and non-viscosity dynamic structure models. Anisotropy and material frame indifference (MFI) requirements for SGS models in rotating systems are reviewed and used to help construct new models based on the dynamic structure approach. The models are evaluated primarily using correlation and regression coefficients of individual components of the SGS tensor, components of the divergence of the SGS stresses, and the kinetic energy transfer term between large and small scales. For all measures examined, the MFI-consistent dynamic structure models perform significantly better, especially for rotating turbulence.
An invariance principle for triangular arrays of dependent variables with application to autocovariance estimation

The invariance principle for triangular arrays of dependent variables is studied. We use the concept of mixingale, proposed by McLeish (1975). Uniform bounds are imposed on the growth of conditional expectations with respect to distant predecessors. The theorem is applied to invariance principles for autocovariance estimates based on triangular arrays of time-series data for weak mixing sequences and linear processes. Such results are required for bootstrap applications. Les auteurs etudient le principe d'invariance pour des tableaux triangulaires de variables dependantes. Us utilisent pour ce faire le concept de 'mixingale' propose par McLeish (1975). Us imposent des bornes uniformes sur la croissance des esperances conditionnelles par rapport aux predecesseurs eloignes. En decoulent des applications aux principes d'invariance pour des estimations de I'autocovariance s'appuyant sur des tableaux triangulaires de series chronologiques pour des suites faiblement melangeantes et des processus lineaires. De tels resultats sont prerequis pour la mise en oeuvre de methodes d'auto-amorcage.
Temperature and shelf-life studies with pre-peeled potatoes

Cooling of 30-pound bags of pre-peeled and sulfited whole potatoes or cut strips was found to be slow under commercial and laboratory conditions.
Phase I evaluation of chlorozotocin (NSC-178248): weekly schedule

A phase I trial of chlorozotocin was completed for a weekly times four dose schedule repeated every 8 weeks. Thrombocytopenia was the acute dose limiting toxicity. Nausea and vomiting were moderate to severe and dose related. Two cases of possible drug related irreversible nephrotoxicity were seen. Transient elevations of serum creatinine and mild proteinuria were noted. Also, transient elevations in SGOT were observed. One patient with a carcinoid tumor had a 60% reduction in his 5HIAA level after one course of therapy. The recommended dose for phase II clinical studies of chlorozotocin is 40 mg/m2 IV weekly for four weeks, repeated every 8 weeks.
Better vocoders are coming

The present state of the art and possible future trends in vocoder development are discussed both on the basis of further improvement to standard techniques and with reference to new approaches Synthetic speech systems which are designed to accomplish economies in transmission, or to meet special military needs, traditionally have involved some degree of degradation in the process whenever they involve bandwidth compression. If speech information can be successfully concentrated into narrower bands, the savings in channel capacity accruing from this procedure would be of great economic importance in reducing future capital investment in transmission systems.
Caspases: A treatment target for neurodegenerative disease?

Treating neurodegenerative disease with drugs that inhibit the activity of caspases (proteases that regulate apoptosis) is a therapeutic avenue beginning to be explored.
Nonpeptide Oxytocin Antagonists: Analogs of L-371,257 With Improved Potency

Structure-activity studies on the oxytocin antagonist 1 (L-371,257; Ki = 9.3 nM) have led to the identification of a related series of compounds containing an ortho-trifluoroethoxyphenylacetyl core which are orally bioavailable and have significantly improved potency in vitro and in vivo, e.g., compound 8 (L-374,943; Ki = 1.4 nM).
Measurements of the Mechanical Properties of Freestanding Nanoscale Membranes

We present experimental measurements of the mechanical properties of nanoscale-thick materials using a recently developed free-standing membrane test. Freestanding membranes of gold and a nano-porous silicate were centrally deflected using a spherical indenter attached to a microfabricated fixed-fixed beam device. Experiments of this type allow us to extract mechanical properties of the thin films without the complicating effects of the substrate, enabling accurate study of length scale effects. These experiments differ from previous work by testing freestanding films and by including the finite contact size of the indenter tip.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
Latin America On-Line: The Internet, Development, and Democratization

Increasingly, aid agencies are turning to information technology as a key to promoting development and political reform. Internet proponents view information as critical to solving such problems of environmental destruction, disease, and authoritarianism. While the Internet poses intriguing possibilities for enhancing economic competitiveness and political pluralism, it is also creating new forms of exclusion and may lead to the neglect of other basic development issues. Moreover, the proponents of the Internet expansion in the Americas risk exacerbating rather than diminishing the dependency and uneven growth of previous development schemes. This article explores the current state of the Internet in Latin America and identifies some of the contradictions which are apparent in the discussion and use of this new technology in the region.
Relaxation kinetics of the binding of ethidium bromide to unfractionated yeast tRNA at low dye-phosphate ratio.

Abstract Temperature-jump kinetic studies of the binding of ethidium bromide to unfractionated tRNA from yeast in the absence of Mg ++ reveal the presence of a three-step process. The first two steps are consistent with an intercalation mechanism as proposed by other workers to describe the interaction of planar polycyclic molecules with double helical nucleic acids. The third step appears to be unique for tRNA and we ascribe it to a change in the three dimensional conformation of the intercalated complex. Rate and equilibrium constants for the elementary steps have been calculated.
Efficacy of topical blockade of interleukin-1 in experimental dry eye disease

Purpose To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of topical interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) in the treatment of dry eye disease. Design Laboratory investigation. Methods Dry eye disease was induced in C57BL/6 female mice through exposure to a desiccating environment within a controlled environment chamber. Topical formulations containing 5% IL-1Ra, 1% methylprednisolone, 0.05% cyclosporin A, and a vehicle control containing carboxymethylcellulose sodium were applied after the induction of dry eye. Corneal fluorescein staining was performed by a masked observer in the different treatment groups. Immunohistochemical studies were undertaken to enumerate corneal CD11b+ cells, as well as to evaluate corneal lymphangiogenesis. Real-time polymerase reaction was used to quantify the expression of interleukin-1β in the cornea. Results A significant decrease in corneal fluorescein staining was observed after topical treatment with 5% IL-1Ra ( P P P P P P Conclusions Topical treatment with IL-1Ra is effective in ameliorating the clinical signs of the dry eye disease, as well as in reducing underlying inflammation. These effects are comparable with those resulting from treatment with topical methylprednisolone. Topical IL-1Ra may hold promise as a novel therapeutic strategy in the treatment of dry eye.
LIMES: a hypertext interface to a cholesterol management expert system

Hypermedia representations add superior explanation facilities and user interfaces to expert systems. LIMES (LIpid Management Expert System) is a hypermedia cholesterol management application built on the HyperLipid Advisory System created on the Macintosh II at Stanford University. HyperLipid is an expert system which was designed to administer the National Cholesterol Education Program clinical algorithm for detecting and treating hyperlipidemia. LIMES executes the HyperLipid knowledgebase within a HyperCard stack which embeds the inference engine of the expert system. The HyperCard module serves initially as a programming tool to communicate with the rule development system and ultimately as the interface to the runtime application. Predictors of the utility of this and other systems are the expertise differential between the system and end user, and the degree of risk inherent in the domain.
Family Business-Owning Couples: An EFT View into Their Unique Conflict Culture

This study expands the understanding of business-related tensions within business-owning couples through an interdisciplinary literature review, through a longitudinal data analysis, and through application of Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) to a case study. Business-owning husbands and wives in this study reported that conflicts related to work/family life balance and unfair distribution of resources (money, time, energy) between family and business systems create the greatest tensions. Low family functionality, wives' role dissatisfaction, transfer of resources from family to business, and husbands' identification of wives as major decision makers were all predictors of wives' higher tension levels. Husbands reported increased tension when wives worked more hours in the business. Three elements of EFT are applied to a family business couple.
Aerial and aquatic respiration in the Congo eel Amphiuma means means (Garden).

Abstract Direct separate and simultaneous determinations of pulmonary and cutaneous V O 2 and V CO 2 were made on the large aquatic salamander Amphiuma means means acclimated to 5, 15 and 25 °C. Differences in temperature significantly affected metabolic rate- and the relative partitioning of gas exchange. The animals were predominantly water breathers at 5 °C (92% of total V O 2 and 100% of total V CO 2 At 25 °C, the lungs assumed a greater role and accounted for 56% of the total V O 2 and 23% of the total V CO 2 Eleven Amphiuma submerged at 25 °C in air saturated water perished within 2 days; this aquatic animal, therefore, is an obligate air breather at higher metabolic rates. The lungs of Amphiuma are long, profusely vascularized and highly septated. Cineradiographic studies show that the lungs are efficiently ventilated when the animal surfaces for air. The pulmonary capacity of Amphiuma is similar to that of Siren lacertina and is of substantial adaptive value to both species which frequently find themselves in adverse aquatic environments ( e.g . warm, shallow and stagnant bodies of water which are often both hypoxic and hypercarbic).
Peripheral noradrenergic turnover in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Abstract Our goal was to determine whether basal sympathetic tone to the kidney and various peripheral tissues is altered in conscious diabetic rats. Norepinephrine (NE) turnover was determined by measuring the decline in tissue NE concentration ([NE]) at 4 and 8 h after administering α-methyl- p -tyrosine to animals from each of three groups, diabetic (STZ injected 4 weeks prior to experimentation), diabetic + insulin (STZ injected; insulin injected; 2 U/day per rat for 4 weeks) and control ( n = 18–20 per group). Various peripheral tissues (duodenum, left ventricle of the heart, kidney, skeletal muscle, left adrenal gland and liver) were examined. [NE] was significantly increased in the kidney and liver, but decreased in the duodenum of the diabetic compared to the control rats. In contrast to the changes in [NE], the rate constant, which provides an index of sympathetic tone, increased in the duodenum and liver, and a decreased in the adrenal gland. The turnover of NE, which is a composite of [NE] and rate constant, increased in the kidney and liver, and decreased in the adrenal gland of diabetic rats. Chronic treatment of diabetic rats with insulin normalized NE turnover in the liver, but not in the adrenal gland. Diabetic rats treated with insulin exhibited a reduced turnover of NE in the kidneys. These data demonstrate that there are differential changes in the [NE], rate constant, and turnover of NE in diabetic rats. Overall, these data indicate that there is increased noradrenergic activity to the kidney, possibly related to sodium retention, and a differential change in noradrenergic activation to various peripheral tissues in diabetic rats.
1000-H Evaluation of a 1200-V, 880-A All-SiC Dual Module

The commercial availability of silicon-carbide (SiC) power devices began over a decade ago with the introduction of SiC diodes and has expanded in complexity the past few years to include the offering of SiC transistors and power modules. Recently, characterization of a 1200-V, 800-A all-SiC dual module designed for large-scale electric military vehicle applications has been reported. This paper expands on the previous work by presenting details and results obtained from a long-term evaluation of a similar module. The module has successfully operated in an experimental circuit at a switching frequency of 10 kHz while running vehicle load profiles for over 1000 h and exhibited little change in device characteristics. Of all measured characteristics, none had a significant unfavorable change greater than 10% from its initial value. The 1000 h of circuit operation represents 11 783 miles of use or over half of the expected lifecycle in a military vehicle traction inverter.
On bone adaptation due to venous stasis

This paper addresses the question of whether or not interstitial fluid flow due to the blood circulation accounts for the observed periosteal bone formation associated with comprised venous return (venous stasis). Increased interstitial fluid flow induced by increased intramedullary pressure has been proposed to account for the periosteal response in venous stasis. To investigate the shear stresses acting on bone cell processes due to the blood circulation-driven interstitial fluid flow, a poroelastic model is extended to the situation in which the interstitial fluid flow in an osteon is driven by the pulsatile extravascular pressure in the osteonal canal as well as by the applied cyclic mechanical loading. Our results show that under normal conditions, the pulsatile extravascular pressure in the osteonal canal due to cardiac contraction (10 mm Hg at 2 Hz) and skeletal muscle contraction (30 mm Hg at 1 Hz) induce peak shear stresses on the osteocyte cell processes that are two orders of magnitude lower than those induced by physiological mechanical loading (100 microstrain at 1 Hz). In venous stasis the induced peak shear stress is reduced further compared to the normal conditions because, although the mean intramedullary pressure is increased, the amplitude of its pulsatile component is decreased. These results suggest that the interstitial fluid flow is unlikely to cause the periosteal bone formation in venous stasis. However, the mean interstitial fluid pressure is found to increase in venous stasis, which may pressurize the periosteum and thus play a role in periosteal bone formation.
Intermittent negative pressure ventilation in the treatment of respiratory failure in progressive neuromuscular disease

Five men with degenerative neuromuscular diseases (three with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis [ALS] and two with Duchenne's muscular dystrophy [DMD]) who had respiratory failure were treated with intermittent negative pressure ventilation (NPV). One patient with ALS in severe acute respiratory failure was successfully treated with NPV alone. This patient and two other ALS patients in chronic respiratory failure with PaCO2 elevation stabilized or improved their vital capacity (VC) and lowered their PaCO2 after 5 to 11 weeks of therapy. Finally, intermittent NPV was used to replace 24-hour positive pressure ventilation in two patients with DMD. It is concluded that intermittent NPV may stabilize or temporarily improve the respiratory status in patients with progressive neuromuscular diseases.
Resonant tunnelling through arrays of nanostructures

We investigate three-dimensional resonant tunnelling (RT) through a double potential barrier with a periodic modulation of the quantum well in the plane of the layers. Both elastic and phonon-assisted RT through transverse minibands separated by minigaps are considered. By using the Breit-Wigner-like formula for the transmission probability we find a more abrupt upward portion (front) of the current-voltage characteristics and a broader negative differential resistance region than in `conventional' RT through double barrier heterostructures. Phonon-assisted tunnelling characteristics follow the same trends.
Insertional mutagenesis of the cauliflower mosaic virus genome.

Abstract A series of small insertions has been introduced into the various translational reading frames of the DNA of a “severe” strain of cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV). A selectable gene (the kanamycin phosphotransferase gene of Tn903), flanked by a series of symmetrically arranged cloning sites taken from M 13mp7, was used to prepare the site-specific mutants. In-phase insertions of 12 or 30 bp, which introduced unique SaII sites into reading regions I, III, IV, V and into the amino-proximal portion of region VI, destroyed infectivity. Insertions in the amino-distal portion of region VI, in the large intergenic region, and in region II retained infectivity. The amino-distal insertions in region VI reduced the severity of symptoms in plants. The insertion in region II destroyed aphid transmissibility. Longer DNA segments when inserted into region II or into the amino-distal portion of region VI destroyed infectivity, but similar insertions in the intergenic region were without effect on virus infection or development.
Perspective: is NIH funding the "best science by the best scientists"? A critique of the NIH R01 research grant review policies.

AbstractClinical and experimental biomedical research provides the foundation for advances in medicine, health, and the welfare of the public. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the major agency providing funding for biomedical research. The stated objectives of the NIH for funding research
Volumetric asymmetries in late-onset mood disorders: an attenuation of frontal asymmetry with depression severity.

Abstract The purpose of the study was to examine global and regional volumetric asymmetries in patients with late-onset mood disorders and non-depressed control subjects. Our sample comprised 34 patients with late-onset major depression, 18 patients diagnosed with late-onset minor depression and 30 control subjects. All subjects were scanned using a 1.5 Tesla GE Scanner, and quantitative estimates of global and focal brain volumes were obtained. Control subjects and patients displayed significant right–left volumetric differences across several regions, with right-sided regions being larger than the left. In the frontal lobes, the asymmetry differed significantly in the three groups (P=0.02). It was most pronounced in the control group and decreased significantly in the minor and major depression groups. There was a significant trend (P=0.005) in the magnitude of frontal asymmetry across groups, with the frontal asymmetry decreasing with increasing severity of depression. Hemispheric and temporal asymmetries were comparable in all three groups. These data suggest that an attenuation of the ‘normal’ volumetric asymmetry in the frontal regions may provide a structural basis to late-onset mood disorders
Unidirectional links prove costly in wireless ad hoc networks

Most, of t,he routing algorithms for ad hoc net,works assume t,hat all wireless links are bidirect,ional. In realit,y, some links may be unidirect.ional. The presence of such links can jeopardize t,he performance of t,he existing dist,ance vect.or rout.ing algorit.hms. In this paper we show t,hat, dist.ance vector based rout,ing prot.ocols t,hat, account for unidirectional links will require nodes t.o exchange O(n2) informat.ion with each other, where n is t.he number of nodes in t,he nebwork. We also present. modifications to dist,ance vector based routing algorithms to make t,hem work in ad hoc netsworks wit.h unidirectional links.
The predecessors of bitcoin and their implications for the prospect of virtual currencies.

To examine whether the recent price patterns and transaction costs of Bitcoin represent a general characteristic of decentralized virtual currencies, we analyze virtual currencies in online games that have been voluntarily managed by individuals since 1990s. We find that matured game currencies have price stability similar to that of small size equities or gold, and their transaction costs are sometimes lower than real currencies. Assuming that virtual currencies with a longer history can provide an estimate for Bitcoin’s prospects, we project that Bitcoin will be less influenced by speculative trades and become a low cost alternative to real currencies.
An old flame reignites: vagal neuropathy secondary to neurosyphilis

Summary Objective This report describes neurosyphilis presenting as vocal fold paresis and velopharyngeal incompetence. This represents the first reported case of neurosyphilis presenting as a vagal neuropathy since 1963. Study Design Case report. Methods Review of medical records and literature search. Results The patient presented with voice changes and nasopharyngeal reflux of liquids. Examination showed a left vocal fold paresis and moderate velopharyngeal incompetence. Laryngeal electromyography revealed evidence of denervation, and neurologic evaluation showed bilateral Adie's pupils and a positive CSF VDRL. A remote history of syphilis treated with one intramuscular injection was obtained. The patient was treated with 6 weeks of penicillin and regained normal vocal function with minimal residual intermittent hypernasality. Conclusions Given the recent increase in the incidence of syphilis in the United States, this case serves as a reminder of the importance of including syphilis in the differential diagnosis of cranial neuropathies and the increasing likelihood of syphilis presenting to otolaryngology and speech pathology practices. Syphilis, a disease whose incidence had declined progressively for 60 years in the United States, is now resurgent and must be considered in the evaluation of patients presenting with unexplained cranial neuropathies.
Adding Fuel to the Fire: Methamphetamine Enhances HIV Infection

This Commentary examines the ability of methamphetamine to enhance HIV-1 infection in human macrophages, shedding new light on the drug's role in augmenting HIV-1 replication and immunopathogenesis.
Vitamin A and immunosuppression of allografts in dogs and rabbits

Abstract Vitamin A was administered to renal allografted dogs and skin allografted rabbits. Vitamin A alone did not affect graft survival. Immunosuppression with azathioprine and prednisolone in the dogs and prednisolone alone in the rabbits was not altered by the addition of vitamin A.
Repeated limited access to IV cocaine self-administration: conditioned autonomic rhythmicity illustrating "predictive homeostasis"

Rationale: Regular cocaine self-administration may act as a ”Zeitgeber” in animals and humans, and physiological rhythms may peak at the time when the drug is usually self-administered. Objective: To investigate whether or not daily sessions of cocaine self-administration for 2 weeks would synchronize autonomic rhythms to the time of daily access. Methods: Two weeks after implant of a jugular catheter and telemetry sender, each rat’s heart-rate (HR) and core temperature (Tc) rhythms were well entrained to the 12:12-h light:dark cycle (lights off: 0900 hours). For the next 2 weeks rats self-administered cocaine during daily sessions at 1300 hours. The circadian and ultradian oscillations of HR and Tc recorded during the 3 days after the last self-administration (SA) session were quantified by multi-oscillator cosinor analysis. Results: The HR and Tc were elevated during the initial 0.25 mg cocaine infusions of the daily session. This initial tachycardia disappeared as cocaine continued to be self-administered in accumulating amounts, while the locomotor activity remained elevated. After the last SA session the peak (acrophase) of the two cycles/day component in HR and Tc rhythms aligned to the time of day when cocaine self-administration had previously been scheduled. The amplitude of the circadian and ultradian HR and Tc oscillations as well as their circadian acrophase were not impacted by repeated daily time-limited cocaine self-administration. Conclusions: Cocaine controls the behavior and autonomic functions of rats self-administering limited amounts of cocaine during regular daily sessions, and this controlling influence extends beyond the last daily access period.
Novel polycyclic heterocyeles. XIII. Derivatives of the oxime and carbinol derived from 1,2‐dihydro‐11‐(trifluoromethyl)‐3H,7H‐quino[8,1‐cd] [1,5]benzoxazepin‐3‐one

The anions derived from the oxime, 2, and the carbinol, 3, generated by reaction with sodium hydride, were reacted with aminoalkyl chlorides and an aroyl chloride to give a number of amino-alkyl ethers and an aroyl ester. In addition, 2 and 3 were reacted with phenylisocyanate to yield O-phenylcarbamoyl derivatives. The pmr spectra of several of these compounds are discussed.
Increased renal uptake of [99mTc]methylene diphosphonate.

Abstract In a 2-month period, 4 of 313 bone scintiscans performed exhibited increased renal parenchymal uptake of [ 99 m Tc]MDP due to hypercalcemia, amphotericin B therapy, and sickle cell disease, respectively, the phenomena of which have been reported before. We added to the gamut a case of membranous pattern of lupus nephritis. Reasons for the “hot” kidneys are postulated.
Palytoxin: exploiting a novel skin tumor promoter to explore signal transduction and carcinogenesis.

Palytoxin is a novel skin tumor promoter, which has been used to help probe the role of different types of signaling mechanisms in carcinogenesis. The multistage mouse skin model indicates that tum...
TRANSCRANIAL DOPPLER ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN THE NEUROCRITICAL CARE UNIT

Medical and surgical intensive care units (ICUs) are designed to evaluate and monitor their patient’s pulmonary and cardiovascular conditions. In addition, neurologic ICUs are structured to provide frequent monitoring of a patient’s neurologic status. This is accomplished through detailed and repetitive neurologic examinations performed by specialty trained nurses and physicians. The inability of many neurologic and neurosurgical patients to communicate underlines the necessity of having some means of evaluation beyond periodic neurologic examinations. Due to the insensitivity of the neurologic examination to subtle changes in noneloquent brain regions, technologies have been developed to identify problems before they cause a change in the neurologic examination. This has traditionally been attained through the use of electroencephalography, evoked potentials, and measures of cerebral blood flow (CBF).85 Transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography represents a noninvasive means to evaluate the basal cerebral arteries.’ By evaluating the flow velocity spectrum of the cerebral arteries, it can provide information on cerebral hemodynamics, including direction of flow, patency of vessels, focal stenosis, and cerebrovascular reactivity.* This information can be used to help neurologists, neurosurgeons, or interventional neuroradiologists direct strategies aimed at preventing or treating neurologic deficits.