cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
EXPLORING EDD PROGRAM DIRECTORS' EXPERIENCES CONCERNING EXTENDED DOCTORAL STUDY DURATION

Recent studies revealed that the phenomenon of extended duration of doctoral study (i.e., study duration exceeding the predetermined program schedule) exists at many universities around the world, and most commonly occur during the dissertation phase. In this study, which was conducted at different universities across the United States, the experiences of directors of Education Doctorate (EdD) programs in which students can extend the dissertation time, were investigated. The study employed a qualitative methodology with a phenomenological approach. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results highlighted factors relevant to EdD timely completion, and aspects that need to be developed for better dissertation experience and more efficient EdD programs. Research outcomes could be helpful for graduate school leaders and professionals in higher education who could review and adopt policies and practices affecting the dissertation experience. A Recommendation for future research scope was included.
AI in Healthcare: Improving Human Interface for Patient Safety. Better Standards Needed to Make Artificial Intelligence User-Friendly for Clinicians

Working in healthcare can cause major mental, physical and organizational stress, which in turn can lead to clinical hazards. Artiﬁcial intelligence may help, though recent research on such advanced technology is largely devoted to patient safety; regulatory bodies conducting such studies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), focus on improving an AI system’s performance purely from a statistical viewpoint. What’s missing is a need to integrate AI and cognitive ergonomics to make it more user-friendly for medical workers. Cognitive ergonomics – the gathering of knowledge about human perception, memory, and mental processes – has been neglected in the healthcare domain and the evaluation of AI from a cognitive ergonomics perspective is not well-established. Though the effect of clinicians’ heavy mental load on patient safety is known, there is no framework to guide the graphical user interface (GUI) of complex AI systems and their inﬂuence on clinicians’ and patients’ thoughts and feelings. Here we seek to adopt a systems approach to develop and propose a conceptual framework across AI, cognitive ergonomics and patient safety.
Mediating between Contact Feasibility and Robustness of Trajectory Optimization through Chance Complementarity Constraints.

As robots move from the laboratory into the real world, motion planning will need to account for model uncertainty and risk. For robot motions involving intermittent contact, planning for uncertainty in contact is especially important, as failure to successfully make and maintain contact can be catastrophic. Here, we model uncertainty in terrain geometry and friction characteristics, and combine a risk-sensitive objective with chance constraints to provide a trade-off between robustness to uncertainty and constraint satisfaction with an arbitrarily high feasibility guarantee. We evaluate our approach in two simple examples: a push-block system for benchmarking and a single-legged hopper. We demonstrate that chance constraints alone produce trajectories similar to those produced using strict complementarity constraints; however, when equipped with a robust objective, we show the chance constraints can mediate a trade-off between robustness to uncertainty and strict constraint satisfaction and also reduce the solve time compared to using the robust cost alone. Thus, our study may represent an important step towards reasoning about contact uncertainty in motion planning.
Low-dose targeted radionuclide therapy renders immunologically cold tumors responsive to immune checkpoint blockade

Molecular and cellular effects of radiotherapy on tumor microenvironment (TME) can help prime and propagate antitumor immunity. We hypothesized that delivering radiation to all tumor sites could augment response to immunotherapies. We tested an approach to enhance response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) by using targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) to deliver radiation semiselectively to tumors. NM600, an alkylphosphocholine analog that preferentially accumulates in most tumor types, chelates a radioisotope and semiselectively delivers it to the TME for therapeutic or diagnostic applications. Using serial 86Y-NM600 positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, we estimated the dosimetry of 90Y-NM600 in immunologically cold syngeneic murine models that do not respond to ICIs alone. We observed strong therapeutic efficacy and reported optimal dose (2.5 to 5 gray) and sequence for 90Y-NM600 in combination with ICIs. After combined treatment, 45 to 66% of mice exhibited complete response and tumor-specific T cell memory, compared to 0% with 90Y-NM600 or ICI alone. This required expression of STING in tumor cells. Combined TRT and ICI activated production of proinflammatory cytokines in the TME, promoted tumor infiltration by and clonal expansion of CD8+ T cells, and reduced metastases. In mice bearing multiple tumors, combining TRT with moderate-dose (12 gray) external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) targeting a single tumor augmented response to ICIs compared to combination of ICIs with either TRT or EBRT alone. The safety of TRT was confirmed in a companion canine study. Low-dose TRT represents a translatable approach to promote response to ICIs for many tumor types, regardless of location.
Impact of weather on cow-calf industry locations and production in the United States

Abstract CONTEXT Significant seasonal weather changes can create uncertainty in cattle markets due to resulting decreased cattle performance, increased animal mortality rates, and elevated production costs. Significant fluctuations in the number of beef cow inventories are a result of market conditions and weather changes. In addition, changes in industry structure, forage availability, and cost of transporting animals versus forage have caused geographic movement of the cow-calf sector in the United States. Cows are usually pasture-raised year-round, thus fulfilling nearly two-thirds of their forage requirements. Changes in weather, however, can directly affect forage quantity and quality, potentially directly impacting animal growth through feed intake. OBJECTIVE Because weather impacts on cow-calf production in the United States has received minimal research attention, this paper provides new empirical evidence of weather effects on location and production of the cow-calf industry. METHODS An econometric model of location and production is developed to examine the impact of temperature and total precipitation changes for each season, and economic factors on the spatial structure and geographical location of cow-calf production in 25 major cow-calf producing states in the U.S. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The results show that seasonal temperatures and total seasonal precipitation significantly impact county-level beef cow inventories and operational locations. The results also reveal significant spatial patterns relative to positive correlations of beef cow inventories across counties. SIGNIFICANCE Changes in production resulting from weather changes ultimately affect operational profits. Knowledge regarding the economic impacts of increases in seasonal average temperature and precipitation variability on cow-calf production is needed by producers to develop risk-mitigating practices and production planning. Significant spatial patterns are also important for sector-specific development and concentration because understanding the importance of the spatial location of cow-calf operations may help policymakers formulate effective policies to facilitate sector development.
Evolution of Skin Color

Current theories for the development of epidermal pigmentation in hominins are problematic. Skin cancers occur beyond peak reproductive years, and minimal UV-B penetrates to deeper skin layers where folic acid circulates and eccrine glands reside. Generating an optimal permeability barrier was challenging for hominins who employed sweat to thermoregulate as they inhabited African savannas. Epidermal pigmentation provided hominins with a superior barrier. Latitude-dependent pigment dilution to facilitate cutaneous vitamin D3 (VD3) synthesis is also problematic, because: UV-B-irradiated skin, whether pigmented or nonpigmented, generates comparable VD3; extracutaneous storage of VD3 supplies year-round VD3 requirements; adequate dietary sources existed in the Upper Paleolithic; VD3 deficiency is rarely seen in pre–industrial age fossils; and evidence is lacking for mutations facilitating VD3 production/action. Pigment dilution instead largely served in metabolic conservation—the imperative to redirect scarce protein production toward more urgent requirements. Europeans of the far north instead developed loss-of-function filaggrin mutations leading to reduced trans-urocanic acid, the major UV-B absorber in stratum corneum, and to a corresponding increase in circulating VD3 levels.
On global changes in effective cloud height

[1] Measurements by the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument exhibit a decreasing trend in global mean effective cloud top height (2000–2011). Here we show that this trend is likely related to an artifact in the data present during the early years of the MISR mission that caused a systematic reduction in the number of retrievals of clouds at lower elevations relative to clouds at higher elevations. After the application of a post-hoc method for removing the bias associated with missing retrievals the MISR effective cloud height anomalies exhibit a positive trend over time.
Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Cardiovascular morbidity and related mortality are a major public health concern, and indeed coronary artery disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of death in adults both in Europe and in the United States with over 13,000,000 Americans estimated to have chronic CAD (1). With its non-invasiveness and no need for use of ionizing radiation, cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging can be used to assess myocardial morphology, function, ischemia, and viability, and its clinical role has been expanding in clinical cardiology.
Frontal lobe bioenergetic metabolism in depressed adolescents with bipolar disorder: a phosphorus‐31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy study

Shi X-F, Kondo DG, Sung Y-H, Hellem TL, Fiedler KK, Jeong E-K, Huber RS, Renshaw PF. Frontal lobe bioenergetic metabolism in depressed adolescents with bipolar disorder: a phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Bipolar Disord 2012: 14: 607–617. © 2012 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Objectives: To compare the concentrations of high-energy phosphorus metabolites associated with mitochondrial function in the frontal lobe of depressed adolescents with bipolar disorder (BD) and healthy controls (HC). Methods: We used in vivo phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy (31P-MRS) at 3 Tesla to measure phosphocreatine (PCr), beta-nucleoside triphosphate (β-NTP), inorganic phosphate (Pi), and other neurometabolites in the frontal lobe of eight unmedicated and six medicated adolescents with bipolar depression and 24 adolescent HCs. Results: Analysis of covariance, including age as a covariate, revealed differences in PCr (p = 0.037), Pi (p = 0.017), and PCr/Pi (p = 0.002) between participant groups. Percentage neurochemical differences were calculated with respect to mean metabolite concentrations in the HC group. Post-hoc Tukey–Kramer analysis showed that unmedicated BD participants had decreased Pi compared with both HC (17%; p = 0.038) and medicated BD (24%; p = 0.022). The unmedicated BD group had increased PCr compared with medicated BD (11%; p = 0.032). The PCr/Pi ratio was increased in unmedicated BD compared with HC (24%; p = 0.013) and with medicated BD (39%; p = 0.002). No differences in β-NTP or pH were observed. Conclusions: Our results support the view that frontal lobe mitochondrial function is altered in adolescent BD and may have implications for the use of Pi as a biomarker. These findings join volumetric studies of the amygdala, and proton MRS studies of n-acetyl aspartate in pointing to potential differences in neurobiology between pediatric and adult BD.
Dynamic Communicators in MPI

This paper describes a proposal to add support for dynamic communicators to the MPI standard. This adds the ability to grow or shrink a specified communicator, under well defined conditions. The goal is to make it possible for a new class of applications --- long-running, mission-critical, loosely coupled applications, running in a highly dynamic environment --- to use MPI libraries for their communication needs, and to enable HPC applications to adjust to changing system resources. Implementation analysis indicates that performance impact on existing high-performance MPI applications should be minimal, or non-existent. The changes to MPI implementations are expected to be well compartmentalized.
Real-time packet editing using reconfigurable hardware for active networking

An active network node architecture, called Active Packet Editing (APE), is proposed. The main concept of APE is to accelerate functions essential to active network operation, such as packet classification and NAT (Network Address Translation). The twofold architecture of APE combines a software active packet processor with a high-speed hardware packet editor. Based on preset rules (pattern, action), the packet editor classifies and modifies packets passing through the node. Upon the receipt of active packets, the software active packet processor dynamically configures the packet editor. This paper focuses on introducing the high-speed packet editing mechanism which utilizes FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays) and CAMs (Content Addressable Memories). A prototype network node based on the architecture performs Gigabit-class throughput with packet editing.
Chemokine receptor CCR5 mediates resistance to West Nile Virus infection in mouse and man

West Nile Virus (WNV) is a re-emerging pathogen and a well-known agent of fatal encephalitis in several species, including mouse and man; however immunopathogenic mechanisms are poorly understood. We found that WNV induced upregulation of the chemokine receptor/HIV coreceptor CCR5 and its ligand CCL5 in mouse brain, as well as influx of effector leukocytes, including CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, NK cells, and macrophages, of which ~25% expressed CCR5. Infection of CCR5-/- mice was rapidly and uniformly fatal, whereas the majority of CCR5+/+ mice survived. Consistent with this, CCR5 32 homozygotes were overrepresented in three of three cohorts of symptomatic WNV seropositive individuals compared to control populations. And were more likely to have a fatal outcome. CCR5 appears to mediate resistance to fatal WNV infection in mouse and man by coordinating leukocyte recruitment to the infected brain. Thus CCR5 32 homozygosity is a strong genetic risk factor for symptomatic WNV infection in man. The results suggest that therapeutic blockade of CCR5 may carry increased risk of symptomatic and possibly fatal outcome should individuals become infected with WNV.
The Biochemistry of Chromium

Chromium has been known to be a micronutrient for mammals for four decades, but progress in elucidating the role of chromium has proceeded slowly. However, recent studies have shed light on a potential role of chromium in maintaining proper carbohydrate and lipid metabolism at a molecular level. The oligopeptide chromodulin binds chromic ions in response to an insulin-mediated chromic ion flux, and the metal-saturated oligopeptide can bind to an insulin-stimulated insulin receptor, activating the receptor's tyrosine kinase activity. Thus, chromodulin appears to play a role in an autoamplification mechanism in insulin signaling. The molecular agent responsible for transporting chromium from mobile pools to insulin-sensitive cells is probably the metal transport protein transferrin. Chromium from the popular dietary supplement chromium picolinate enters cells via a different mechanism. Release of chromium from chromium picolinate for use in cells requires reduction of the chromic center, a process that can lead potentially to the production of harmful hydroxyl radicals.
Radiation transfer through specular passages—a simple approximation

Abstract A new technique is developed for approximating exchange factors for specular radiation passages. It is shown that for a large class of configurations, even with curved reflector surfaces, the average number of reflections can be calculated by a simple analytic formula and without any ray tracing. The fraction of radiation transmitted through the passage, τ (one of the exchange factors), can then be approximated by τ ≈ p n > if the specular reflectivity ρ of the passage wall is high. A rigorous lower bound is derived which agrees with the exact result within a few percent for any e = 1 −ρ, provided e is not too large. Several examples are discussed, including cylindrical passages, V-troughs and compound parabolic concentrators. The method is particularly useful for calculating transmission and absorption of radiation in solar concentrators.
Energy and labor requirements of intercity motor frieght transportation

Abstract Intercity motor carrier operations are divided into three broad categories: (i) regulated, (ii) private, and (iii) owner-operator. Total economic costs per ton-mile are computed for each of these modes. Input/output analysis is then used to compute the total energy and labor impacts per ton-mile for the three modes. Comparisons are made to similar figures for other modes and policy applications are discussed.
Yeast contain a non-proteinaceous pool of copper in the mitochondrial matrix.

The yeast mitochondrion is shown to contain a pool of copper that is distinct from that associated with the two known mitochondrial cuproenzymes, superoxide dismutase (Sod1) and cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) and the copper-binding CcO assembly proteins Cox11, Cox17, and Sco1. Only a small fraction of mitochondrial copper is associated with these cuproproteins. The bulk of the remainder is localized within the matrix as a soluble, anionic, low molecular weight complex. The identity of the matrix copper ligand is unknown, but the bulk of the matrix copper fraction is not protein-bound. The mitochondrial copper pool is dynamic, responding to changes in the cytosolic copper level. The addition of copper salts to the growth medium leads to an increase in mitochondrial copper, yet the expansion of this matrix pool does not induce any respiration defects. The matrix copper pool is accessible to a heterologous cuproenzyme. Co-localization of human Sod1 and the metallochaperone CCS within the mitochondrial matrix results in suppression of growth defects of sod2Δ cells. However, in the absence of CCS within the matrix, the activation of human Sod1 can be achieved by the addition of copper salts to the growth medium.
Lessons Learned from Plant Modernization Programs and their Implications for Reactor Design

There is renewed interest in nuclear power in the United States and in constructing new reactors within the next decade. The new reactors likely will be based on advanced digital technology unlike most of the current plants. To better understand the human factors issues associated with these advanced systems, we studied plants that have undergone significant modernization using digital technology. Many of the lessons learned from these plants are also applicable to advanced designs and we are analyzing them with the goal of developing guidance for conducting safety reviews to ensure that both the modernization programs and advanced plant designs realize their potential safety and operational benefits and do not adversely impact human performance and safety. The purpose of this paper is to identify the lessons learned from the modernization programs and their implications for design reviews.
ELASTIC AND INELASTIC SCATTERING OF p, d, α, … ON NUCLEI

Abstract Advances since the 8th International Conference on High Energy Physics and Nuclear Structure (Vancouver, August 1979) have been made in the area of the measurement of spin-dependent observables, and in the understanding of multiple scattering theory. There have been recent investigations of the DWIA approximation and improvements thereto, and of elastic scattering involving large momentum transfers. New work has been reported on the elastic scattering of complex probes and giant resonances.
The Specificity and Orientation of a TCR to its Peptide–MHC Class II Ligands

Abstract A T cell–mediated immune response is mainly determined by the 3–5 aa residues that protrude upwards from a peptide bound to an MHC molecule. Alterations of these peptide residues can diminish, eliminate or radically alter the signal that the T cell receives through its T cell receptor (TCR). We have used peptide immunizations of normal mice and mice carrying α or β chain TCR transgenes to identify three distinct peptide contact points. One, near the carboxyl terminus of the peptide, involves the β chain CDR3 region; the second was centrally located and interacted with both the α and β chain CDR3 loops; the third was near the amino terminus of the peptide, and affected Vα gene usage, but not the structure of CDR3 of either TCR chain. Based on these results, we propose an orientation for the TCR of this cloned line and argue for its generality.
A NOTE ON UNCERTAINTY, DEMPSTER RULE OF COMBINATION, AND CONFLICT

Abstract The relationship between uncertainty and the Dempster rule of combination in Dempster-Shafer theory is discussed. In particular, a condition is presented that is sufficient to guarantee that uncertainty does not increase by using the rule. A new definition of conflict of pieces of evidence is proposed and discussed.
A survey of Southeastern United States veterinarians' preferences for managing cats with diabetes mellitus.

This study evaluated primary practitioners’ perceptions of managing feline diabetics. Surveys distributed during local continuing education events achieved a response rate of 46% (90/195). A mean o...
A REEVALUATION OF COGNITIVE CARE TRAINING IN NURSING HOMES

Cognitive care training, also known as dementia training, has changed significantly, and negatively, since 1993 in New York State nursing homes. The research reported in this paper examines the employment requirements for cognitive care training and the actual post-employment cognitive care training. The research involved a replication of the research by Porter (1994) who assessed the level of cognitive care training in New York State nursing homes a decade ago. Using a condensed version of the questionnaire distributed in 1993, 524 nursing homes were studied to ascertain the number of hours and types of cognitive care training provided in 2003 compared to 1993. From a stratified random sample of New York State nursing homes, it was hypothesized that there would be significant differences between the number of cognitive care training hours offered in 1993 and those in 2003. Current regulations on cognitive care training hours in New York State also were assessed. A statistically significant negative diffe...
A fuzzy approach for multiresponse optimization: an off-line quality engineering problem

Abstract Multiresponse optimization techniques are used to identify settings of process parameters that make the product's performance close to target values in the presence of multiple quality characteristics. In this study, a fuzzy multiresponse optimization procedure is proposed to search an appropriate combination of process parameter settings based on multiple quality characteristics or responses. Fuzzy regression models are first used to model the relations between process parameters and responses. The possibility distributions of the prediction responses are then obtained. The problem is reduced to a multiobjective optimization problem with fuzzy objectives. A strategy of optimizing the most possible response values and minimizing the deviations from the most possible values is proposed. We consider not only the most possible value, but also the imprecision of the prediction responses. Through a die casting example, we show how to use our approach to reach an appropriate machine setting which simultaneously optimize both casting quality and die life.
Computational modeling of through-thickness dynamic impact response in cross-rolled Ti-6Al-4V plates

The through-thickness ballistic impact response forextra-low-interstitial (ELI)-grade Ti-6Al-4V cross-rolled and heat-treated plates is numerically simulated, taking into account specific material textures. Ballistic tests suggest that the incidence of material plugging is affected by specific thermal/mechanical processing paths above and below the β-transus temperature. Ti-6Al-4V polycrystalline aggregates are nominally textured via routine rolling-deformation and thermal-processing schedules in the α+β or β-phase fields. Thus, realistic processing textures, viz., the basal, transverse, as well as an idealized random texture, are simulated via a two-dimensional (2D) constitutive model for slip and twinning (treated here as pseudoslip) prescribed for the hcp single crystal. The polycrystal is constructed by incorporating the material theory into a finite-element model that explicitly represents a spatial distribution of single crystals. The polycrystalline mechanical response is examined with respect to macroscopic shear loading, such as that which may take place during dynamic punch-through processes. A ranking of the material textures is prescribed via numerically derived measures of external work performed. Results indicate that transverse textures generated by thermal/mechanical processing in the β-phase field are particularly susceptible to impact failures. Such microstructural and orientationsensitive rankings are a keen marker of material performance and offer a refinement over the quasistatically generated Mil-A-4077 acceptance criterion for ballistic impact applications.
Investigations of implantation-induced changes in surface layers of epitaxial garnet thin films

Abstract Using newly improved FMR characterization techniques, we have established that mechanisms other than the implantation- induced stress are responsible for uniaxial anisotropy field change. We have measured λ 111 / M s and the crystalline anisotropy field H 1 in the implanted layer. H 1 is shown to decrease after implantation.
Carrier-mediated uptake of hexoses by the rat visceral yolk sac

Abstract The rat visceral yolk sac is shown to possess a sodium-independent, phloretin-sensitive, and phlorizin- and ouabain-insensitive transport system for hexoses. The rate of uptake of ( 3 H)2-deoxy-D-glucose was measured in vitro and shown to be greatest on the 12th day, decreasing progressively with increasing gestational age up to the 20th day. Little uptake of 3-O-methyl-D-glucose, α-methylglucoside or L-glucose occurred. On uptake by the visceral yolk sac, 2-deoxy-D-glucose was phosphorylated, leading to considerable accumulation of this sugar. Several sugars inhibited 2-deoxy-D-glucose uptake as follows: D-glucose = mannose > fructose > galactose > xylose > fucose.
Enhancement of antimicrobial activity by synthetic ion channel synergy

Hydraphile synthetic ion channels were found to enhance the cytotoxicity to E. coli and B. subtilis of erythromycin, kanamycin, rifampicin, and tetracycline when co-administered with the antibiotic at sublethal concentrations of channel.
Performance measures of surgeon-performed colonoscopy in a Veterans Affairs medical center

Background Quality indicators are increasingly emphasized in the performance of colonoscopy. This study aimed to determine the standard of care rendered by surgeon-endoscopists in a Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center by evaluating the indications for colonoscopy and outcome performance measures according to established quality indicators for colonoscopy.
Mentoring the New Professional in Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education: The Kentucky Teacher Internship Program.

By statutory mandate, all of Kentucky's first-year interdisciplinary early childhood educators receive support and assistance from a team of resource teachers, principals, and teacher educators through a year-long supervised internship. This program supports new teachers as they form their professional identities and allows mentors to sharpen their analytical skills as they examine specific curricular and professional issues with their new colleagues. Programs like Kentucky's internship program have the potential to reduce the current rate of attrition for early childhood special educators during the critical first years of their professional careers and to support their competence and confidence throughout their professional lives. This article describes Kentucky's program and identifies challenges in its implementation and empirical validation as a case example.
Secondary Prevention in an RTI Model: A Step Toward Academic Recovery

The secondary level of a Response to Intervention system, sometimes referred to as Tier II intervention, targets students who experience inadequate response to good classroom instruction for 10–15 weeks of validated small-group instruction. The twin purposes of secondary prevention are to (a) prevent the development of long-term reading difficulty and (b) assess whether a more intensive level of intervention (i.e., tertiary prevention, sometimes delivered under the auspices of special education) is necessary to ensure that the student exits school with the reading competence necessary for success. In this article, the author discusses a secondary prevention initiative that began in the New York City Public Schools in 2004; describes the resulting academic intervention toolkit with options for RTI assessment methods and instructional interventions; and discusses challenges to secondary prevention including building staff capacity, keeping parents informed, and the costs.
Atropine resistance and muscarinic receptors in the rat urinary bladder.

Abstract The action of an anticholinesterase and an antimuscarinic drug upon nerve-induced contractions of the rat urinary bladder were examined during transmural stimulation at 20 Hz. Responses were graded in magnitude by limiting the duration of the stimulus trains. 2 Responses of low magnitude produced by short stimulus trains were unchanged by atropine; however, maximal responses resulting from long stimulus trains were diminished in magnitude and shortened in duration. 3 Responses of small magnitude elicited by short stimulus trains involve muscarinic receptors in close proximity to the neuroeffector junction and are resistant to atropine. 4 Maximal responses elicited by long stimulus trains involve 'junctional' muscarinic receptors as well as receptors located at the periphery of the junction; the 'extrajunctional' receptors are blocked by atropine. 5 Responses of low magnitude produced by short stimulus trains were unaffected by echothiophate; however, the duration of maximal responses resulting from the long stimulus trains was extended. 6 The inhibition of cholinesterase did not increase the occupation of muscarinic receptors by the transmitter; however, after large quantities of transmitter were released by the long stimulus trains the association between the receptors and acetylcholine was prolonged.
Embryotoxicity, teratogenicity, and aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity in Forster's terns on Green Bay, Lake Michigan.

Known reproductive problems, including congenital malformations and poor hatching success, exist for the state endangered Forster's tern ( Sterna forsteri ) in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Twenty Forster's tern eggs were collected from separate nests at (i) a natural colony with documented reproductive problems, situated at Green Bay, Lake Michigan, and (ii) an inland colony at Lake Poygan (control) where reproduction was documented as normal. Eggs from the two locations were placed in the same laboratory incubator and candled throughout incubation. Hatching success of Green Bay eggs was 52% of that for controls. Several early embryonic deaths occurred, but most mortality occurred close to the time of hatching. Liver microsomal aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity was elevated approximately threefold in Green Bay hatchlings compared to controls. Green Bay terns that hatched weighed less than controls, had an increased liver to body weight ratio, and had a shorter femur length. Two Green Bay embryos that failed to hatch had anomalies, one with a crossed beak and one with poor ossification of the foot. One Green Bay hatchling had an abnormally ossified ilium. These effects were observed in eggs where there were measureable levels of aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase inducers including polychlorinated biphenyls and polychlorinated dibenzo- p -dioxins.
Determination of absolute phosphate metabolite concentrations in RIF-1 tumors in vivo by 31P-1H-2H NMR spectroscopy using water as an internal intensity reference.

The absolute metabolite quantification method of Thulborn and Ackerman [J. Magn. Reson 55, 357 (1983)] in which the tissue water proton signal is used as an internal intensity standard and its more recent variation in which NMR peak intensities are referenced to that of the natural abundance deuterium signal of water [Li et al., SMRM Abstr.2, 825 (1988); Song et al, Magn. Reson. Med.25, 45 (1992) have been implemented to obtain absolute phosphate metabolite concentrations in subcutaneous RIF-1 tumors during untreated growth and following treatment with 5-fluorouracil. The equivalence of these two hydrogen isotopes as intensity standards and the validity of their use in the determination of absolute metabolite concentrations in vivo by NMR has been demonstrated. On matched in vivo and extract tumor samples (n = 5), excellent agreement has been obtained between nucleoside triphosphate concentrations determined by NMR and those derived by HPLC analysis for the control tumors. Following 3 days of untreated growth, absolute concentrations of phosphate metabolites in RIF-1 tumors (n = 10) decreased significantly, except for the Pi concentration which did not vary. For the treated tumors (n = 10) there were no changes in metabolite concentrations except for a decrease in the PCr and, possibly, Pi concentrations. The PCr/Pi ratio in the latter tumors did not change. These observations suggest that changes in absolute metabolite concentrations may be more sensitive indices of response to therapy than changes in metabolite peak amplitude ratios, a parameter commonly used to express in vivo NMR data.© 1992 Academic Press,Inc.
Treating Anger and Aggression in Military Populations: Research Updates and Clinical Implications

Anger is a common symptom among military populations with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); yet, anger treatment has received relatively little attention in the literature. This discrepancy is surprising given that excessive anger is a key predictor of treatment outcome in PTSD. This study seeks to (a) build a case for the importance of a more explicit approach to understanding and treating anger in our military and veteran populations, (b) summarize the current literature base on treatment factors and treatment outcomes for treating anger and related symptoms among veterans, and (c) offer clinical and research implications and recommendations based on current findings and on the expertise of the authors in completing a large-scale study of anger treatment with veterans.
The minimum legal drinking age and marijuana use: new estimates from the NLSY97.

In volume 30, issue 4 of this journal Baris Yoruk and Ceren Yoruk (Y&EY) used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1997 (NLSY97) and a regression discontinuity design to estimate the effect of the minimum legal drinking age on a variety of substances including marijuana. They obtained evidence that the probability of marijuana use increased sharply at the age of 21, consistent with the hypothesis that alcohol and marijuana are complements, but inadvertently conditioned on having used marijuana at least once since the last survey. Applying the Y&EY research design to all NLSY97 respondents ages 19 through 22, we find no evidence that alcohol and marijuana are complements.
Calpain-generated natural protein fragments as short-lived substrates of the N-end rule pathway

Calpains are Ca2+-dependent intracellular proteases. We show here that calpain-generated natural C-terminal fragments of proteins that include G protein–coupled receptors, transmembrane ion channels, transcriptional regulators, apoptosis controllers, kinases, and phosphatases (Phe-GluN2a, Lys-Ica512, Arg-Ankrd2, Tyr-Grm1, Arg-Atp2b2, Glu-Bak, Arg-Igfbp2, Glu-IκBα, and Arg-c-Fos), are short-lived substrates of the Arg/N-end rule pathway, which targets destabilizing N-terminal residues. We also found that the identity of a fragment’s N-terminal residue can change during evolution, but the residue’s destabilizing activity is virtually always retained, suggesting selection pressures that favor a short half-life of the calpain-generated fragment. It is also shown that a self-cleavage of a calpain can result in an N-end rule substrate. Thus, the autoprocessing of calpains can control them by making active calpains short-lived. These and related results indicate that the Arg/N-end rule pathway mediates the remodeling of oligomeric complexes by eliminating protein fragments that are produced in these complexes through cleavages by calpains or other nonprocessive proteases. We suggest that this capability of the Arg/N-end rule pathway underlies a multitude of its previously known but mechanistically unclear functions.
Subcortical deterioration after cortical damage: effects of diazepam and relation to recovery of function.

Agents which enhance the activity of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) can severely disrupt behavioral recovery in rats following damage to the cortex if delivered during a sensitive postoperative period. The mechanisms of this disruption have not been found. It has been suggested dously that the ipsilateral striatum and related structures may be transiently disabled after cortical lesions and that diazepam may interfere trestoration of function in these areas. In the present experiment, the subcortical anatomical effects of chronic (3 weeks) administration of epam, an indirect GABAergic agonist, were assessed following unilateral lesions of the anteromedial cortex (AMC) or the sensorimotor cortex (IC) in rats. Atrophic and degenerative changes were examined in the striatum, substantia nigra and thalamus. Following either AMC or SMC ons, there was a reduction in the size of the ipsilateral striatum and thalamus and a loss of neurons in the ipsilateral substantia nigra pars culata (SNr). After AMC lesions, striatal atrophy and neuron loss in the SNr were increased by the diazepam regimen relative to vehicleted controls. In addition, diazepam interfered with the behavioral recovery from somatic-sensorimotor asymmetries in AMC-lesioned rats. or SMC lesions, the sites of striatal and thalamic atrophy were different from that observed after AMC lesions, and the extent of atrophy neuron loss was not exaggerated by diazepam treatment. Consistent with these data, diazepam did not significantly affect recovery from C lesions. These findings suggest that the long-term disruptive effects of diazepam on recovery of function after AMC lesions may be red to an augmentation of lesion-induced degeneration.
Extracting input-line position from Hough transform data

The Hough transform (HT) detects lines in an input but not their location. We describe a new way to determine the position of a line from HT data. The line position information is extracted from the shape of the HT pattern around the HT peak. Results are shown illustrating this algorithm on single- and multiple-line input images.
Picosecond UV photolysis and laser-induced fluorescence probing of gas-phase nitromethane

Ground-state NO2 radicals are formed in <5 ps with a quantum yield of ≈ 70% in 264 nm photolysis of low pressure nitromethane, as revealed by laser-induced fluorescence probing. Raman shifted photolyzing pulses indicate the NO2 yield varies little with wavelength, although a small yield of excited state NO*2 produced at 264 nm increases significantly at 238 nm.
The MOCVD growth of ZnSe using Me2Zn, H2Se and SeEt2

Abstract Good quality ZnSe films were grown under different conditions by the MOCVD technique using Me2Zn, H2Se, and SeEt2, the gases and their mixtures were analyzed using IR absorption spectroscopy, and their decomposition products were analyzed with a gas chromatograph. Our results indicate that Me2Zn and SeEt2 do not form an adduct and thus block the room temperature reaction between Me2Zn and H2Se. However, our results also indicate that the Me2Zn/H2Se reaction product is of the form (MeZnSeH)n where n is small and has a relatively large vapor pressure, and that good quality ZnSe films can be grown from it. Also, there is no detectable room temperature reaction between Me2Zn and SeEt2, but at higher temperatures they do react so that SeEt2 could be used as a selenium source.
Three-dimensional transvaginal neurosonography of the fetal brain: 'navigating' in the volume scan.

Objectives Fetal neuroscan by ultrasound has gained in importance over recent years. Two-dimensional (2D) transvaginal sonography was an important step in understanding the constantly changing and developing fetal brain. The objective of this article is to describe the use of three-dimensional ultrasound of the fetal brain enhanced by the transvaginal transfontanelle scanning technique. Methods Thirty-four pregnant patients were referred to us because of a history of brain anomaly or suspected brain pathology. The fetuses were scanned transvaginally. Two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional (3D) images were generated. The volumes obtained by the 3D-ultrasound machine were displayed in the three conventional orthogonal planes (coronal, sagittal and axial). Results Of the 34 fetuses 10 had normal brain anatomy and 24 had brain pathology. In all 34 cases the 2D images as well as the 3D volumes were of diagnostic quality and all three planes could be obtained. The axial sections could only be obtained by the 3D re-construction of the volume scans. The 2D images produced were acquired from a common point originating from the foot print of the transvaginal probe at the fetal anterior fontanelle or the sagittal suture, the sections ‘radiate’ from this point. Therefore, these sections are not parallel sections, but are oblique to each other. In contrast, the 3D volume could be examined using the classical parallel sections in all three orthogonal planes. The posterior fossa could be seen better if the footprint of the probe was placed over the posterior fontanelle or on the sagittal suture. The marker dot enabled a precise creation of anatomy and pathology. In the ‘angio mode’ it was possible to follow the anterior cerebral and pericallosal artery. Conclusions The 3D-ultrasound technology using the transvaginal approach is effective and practical to perform during fetal neuroscan. The ability to ‘navigate’ in the volume and the ‘marker dot’ enables exact location of normal structures and evaluation fetal brain pathology. The volume can be reviewed over and over again, can be mailed to an expert, could be shown to consultants (pediatric neurology and neurosurgeons) and used for teaching. Copyright © 2000 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology
Brown fat thermogenesis and its role in the development of obesity

Abstract The role of brown fat thermogenesis in the development of obesity is considered from a number of perspectives. In adult rats, the impact of scapular brown fat lipectomy on carcass fat accretion was examined in three different rodent models: the Zucker lean (Fa/−) rat which is relatively resistant to obesity, the Zucker obese (fa/fa) rat which is characterized by a particularly severe form of hyperplastic obesity and the Osborne Mendel rat which remains lean on a standard pelleted diet but readily becomes obese on a palatable high fat diet. The consequences of brown fat lipectomy varied from no effect on carcass white fat accretion in Zucker Fa/− lean rats to a significant increase in adiposity in the Zucker fatty fa/fa relative to their respective sham-operated controls. The effect of the Osborne Mendel rat was intermediate between the Fa/− and the fa/fa. The results point to the importance of genetic background with respect to the impact of brown fat lipectomy on the development of white fat adiposity. In the developing Zucker rat at 2 and 8 days of age, in vivo evidence is presented to support the concept that brown fat thermogenesis is attenuated in the fatty fa/fa preobese pup. In animals of the fatty fa/fa genotype, maximum oxygen consumption in response to acute cold exposure was lower than in lean pups of the Fa/Fa genotype. Moreover, at 8 days of age, the rectal temperature of the cold-exposed fa/fa pups fell more precipitously than did that of the lean during the period of cold exposure. The genetic obesity of the fatty fa/fa rat at 8 days of age was contrasted with that of 8-day old Zucker genetically lean Fa/Fa pups raised in small litters, a manipulation that results in a type of dietary obesity. The rate of oxygen consumption in response to cold was significantly increased in the overfed pups as compared to both genetically obese (fa/fa) pups and genetically lean (Fa/Fa) pups raised in normal sized litters. Our data support the concept that although the obesity of the fatty fa/fa rat pup was associated with a failure of brown fat mediated thermogenesis, there appeared to be no such failure in the overfed Fa/Fa lean pups during the initial phase of overfeeding.
Changes in Protein Synthesis in the Morphogenesis of Fundulus heteroclitus

IN the deuterostomes, RNA previously synthesized in the oocyte or on maternal genetic templates is required for development of the embryo through the blastula1,2. In sea urchin3, amphibian4,5 and fish6–8 zygotes early and continuous exposure to actinomycin D resulted in blastula arrest. Removal of the drug before the third cleavage in the sea urchin allowed normal development through gastrulation9 although in the fish6, in spite of a similar removal, gastrulation is abnormal and surviving embryos are defective. Further development awaits a switch to the immediacy of nucleus-directed RNA synthesis. Information necessary for gastrulation is synthesized during cleavage stages and appears to be stored before it is utilized10,11.
Expression of ras genes in rainbow trout liver

Members of the ras gene family have been studied in a variety of species. Two ras genes expressed in the normal liver of rainbow trout, ras-1 and ras-2, as well as a portion of a genomic ras-1 allele, are described for the first time in this report. Over 500 bp of trout ras-1 and at least 300 bp of trout ras-2 genes expressed in normal liver have been sequenced; DNA homology to the human ras genes ranges from 76.8% to 87.1%. The base changes resulting from over 400 million years of evolutionary divergence between the species were primarily silent, with few changes in protein sequence. The partial DNA sequence of the genomic ras-1 allele has 86.8% homology to the first two exons of human c-Ha-ras, and its intron has several conserved sequences characteristic of vertebrate intron-exon junctions. However, the predicted amino acid sequence of trout ras-1 differs at only one of the first 172 amino acid residues from human c-Ki-ras with the alternate exon 4b. Since trout ras-1 differs at 17 and 18 residues from the human c-N-ras and c-Ha-ras proteins, respectively, over this region, we conclude that trout ras-1 is a c-Ki-ras gene. The highly conserved nature of this gene suggests that the ras p21 protein has identical functions in normal and neoplastic cells among higher and lower vertebrates.