cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
MSLT in Primary Insomnia: Stability and Relation to Nocturnal Sleep

STUDY OBJECTIVES To assess the stability of the multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) in primary insomnia and its relation to total sleep time. DESIGN Randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, clinical trial. SETTING Outpatient with sleep laboratory assessments in months 1 and 8 of treatment. PARTICIPANTS Ninety-five primary insomniacs, 32-64 years old and 55 age- and sex-matched general population-based, representative controls. INTERVENTIONS After a screening nocturnal polysomnograms (NPSG) and MSLT the following day, participants with primary insomnia were randomized to take zolpidem 10 mg (n = 50) or placebo (n = 45) nightly for 12 months. During months 1 and 8, while taking their prescribed treatments, NPSGs and MSLTs the following day were conducted. A population-based sample served as controls and received a single NPSG followed by MSLT. RESULTS Mean daily sleep latency on the screening MSLT of insomniacs was normally distributed across the full range of MSLT scores and significantly higher than those of a population-based representative control sample (P < 0.006). The insomniacs with the highest screening MSLTs had the shortest screening total sleep times (P < 0.05). The MSLTs of insomniacs during treatment in study month 1 were correlated (r = 0.44, P < 0.001) with their month 8 MSLT. The mean MSLT score of the zolpidem group did not differ from that of the placebo group, and the stability within treatment groups also did not differ. CONCLUSIONS These data support the hypothesis that some insomniacs show a reliable disorder of hyperarousal with increased wake drive both at night and during the day.
Measurements of mass diffusivity of gases in plasma and reaction velocity constant in bloods.

Abstract A method is developed to determine the mass diffusivity of gases in plasma and the reaction velocity constant with hemoglobin in intact red cell suspensions, in human and dog blood. Oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide are used. A small gas bubble is injected into a flask containing plasma or blood degassed by the use of a vacuum pump. The instantaneous bubble size is measured at certain time intervals until the bubble is completely dissolved in the liquid. Both the mass diffusivity and the reaction velocity constant are calculated from the solution of the mass transfer equation for the diffusion of a gas from a bubble into a liquid, using the initial size and measured life time of the bubble as input data, or the slope of the radius-time curves during the moment immediately following injection. Results are compared and agree well with some existing values.
Calculation of the electron mass in terms of measured quantities in a left-right—symmetric model

We describe a class of left-right--symmetric models in which the electron mass can be calculated in terms of the fine-structure constant, the muon mass, and the Weinberg angle. We obtain m/sub e//m/sub ..mu../ = N..cap alpha../..pi..sin/sup 2/theta/sub W/. N is a pure number depending on the particular model. In our approach the electron derives its mass not from the muon directly (as in most models where m/sub e/ is calculated as a radiative effect) but from a lepton of large mass. (The mass of this heavy lepton does not appear in the expression for m/sub e//m/sub ..mu../ and thus is not considered by present data to have a definite value.) We present an illustrative model in which, for values of sin theta/sub W/ consistent with neutrino data, the mass of the electron comes out too large by roughly a factor of 2.
Collective correlation between vacuum nucleons in PSPS meson theory

Abstract The effect of the collective correlation between vacuum nucleons is calculated using an approximation in which the kinetic energy of the nucleons is neglected as compared with their rest energy. The point is that there can exist a strong collective correlation between vacuum nucleons just as between electrons in metal, since interactions between vacuum nucleons due to pions is dominantly attractive. It is shown that this effect can play in fact an important role, if this attractive interaction is sufficiently strong, and that the low energy behaviour of the phase shift δ 3 of the S-wave pion-nucleon scattering and the position of the (33) resonance are rather sensitive to this effect. As an example, the phase shift δ 3 is calculated using a Tamm-Dancoff approximation including up to two pions and one nucleon-antinucleon pair. It is shown that the result agrees reasonably well with experiment if parameters specifying the strength and the range of the attractive potential are chosen suitably.
Core-reset functions in magnetic-amplifier analysis part I ¿ A core-reset function

The operation of a magnetic amplifier is described by the differential equations of its physical system. In any analysis of amplifier operation the circuit equations resulting from the application of Kirchhoff's laws possess terms containing the voltages which are induced electromagnetically in the core windings by changing core flux in accordance with Faraday's law, and terms containing the various currents which flow in the windings. In general, a knowledge of the core properties relating instantaneous values of the rate of change of core flux ?? and of net mmf (magnetomotive force) F of the currents in the windings is an essential part of a complete description of the physical system.
The Making of Hindu Communal Organizations, Places, and Identities in Postcolonial Dar es Salaam:

The author focuses on the religious and caste-based (or ‘communal’) organizations and places of the Hindu immigrant community in postcolonial Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). The paper illustrates how communal organizations, and the contending public narratives that they generated, played a crucial role in defining Hindu communal places and the caste, class, and gender politics around these places. In highlighting these complex politics of multiple identities and communal places, the author underscores the importance of a rapidly shifting political context and a constant reconfiguration of the Tanzanian Asian diaspora at the local, national, and international levels.
Collective Response: Social Justice, Difference, and the City

Young's argument for a group-differentiated, culturally pluralist form of social life is grounded in her compelling critiques of universalism and the dominant distributive paradigm of justice. Rejecting ‘the logic of identity’ that suppresses difference, and models of justice in which power is not seen as relational, she offers an alternative vision of social life that includes and empowers groups on their own terms. ‘City life’, which allows persons and groups to interact in common spaces without dissolving into unity, serves as her normative ideal. Although her analysis suffers from a one-dimensional conception of reason and her privileging of the urban scale is problematic, Young has produced a provocative book that leads the reader to consider the spatial characteristics of a just society.
Chlorine Treatment of Bacterial Fin Rot of Trout

(1937). Chlorine Treatment of Bacterial Fin Rot of Trout. The Progressive Fish-Culturist: Vol. 4, No. 34, pp. 6-9.
Older Patient Perspectives on Long-Term Anxiolytic Benzodiazepine Use and Discontinuation: A Qualitative Study

Objective The objective of the study is to understand patient factors contributing to the chronicity of benzodiazepine use by older adults as a first step in the development of acceptable intervention strategies for taper/discontinuation or prevention of chronic use.
Heuristics for a calculational proof

Abstract Using a small, yet sufficiently sophisticated example, we show the heuristics that lead to a compact and clear solution. An implicit message is that the calculational style has the advantage that the formalism used provides major heuristic guidance for the design of the proof.
Transport for suburbia: Beyond the automobile age, by Paul Mees

This book review summarizes and evaluates Transport for Suburbia: Beyond the Automobile Age, by Paul Mees. The argument in Transport for Suburbia is that density is not a necessary prerequisite for an effective transit system, and that transfers can be used as a tool to expand the scope of a transit network. Mees presents this argument and his suggestions for improving transit service through a series of narratives about car culture, land use, and best and worst case transit system scenarios.
Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer versus Hydrogen Atom Transfer: Generation of Charge-Localized Diabatic States

The distinction between proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) and hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) mechanisms is important for the characterization of many chemical and biological processes. PCET and HAT mechanisms can be differentiated in terms of electronically nonadiabatic and adiabatic proton transfer, respectively. In this paper, quantitative diagnostics to evaluate the degree of electron−proton nonadiabaticity are presented. Moreover, the connection between the degree of electron−proton nonadiabaticity and the physical characteristics distinguishing PCET from HAT, namely, the extent of electronic charge redistribution, is clarified. In addition, a rigorous diabatization scheme for transforming the adiabatic electronic states into charge-localized diabatic states for PCET reactions is presented. These diabatic states are constructed to ensure that the first-order nonadiabatic couplings with respect to the one-dimensional transferring hydrogen coordinate vanish exactly. Application of these approaches t...
Uterine chemokines in reproductive physiology and pathology.

PROBLEM: Chemokines are increasingly recognized as important regulators of PROBLEM: Chemokines are increasingly recognized as important regulators of uterine function. METHODS OF STUDY: The following is a review of uterine chemokines, especially monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)-1, interleukin (IL)-8, and regulated-upon-activation normal-T-cell-expressed and -secreted (RANTES) protein, in reproductive physiology and pathology. RESULTS: It is increasingly clear that IL-8, MCP-1, RANTES and their receptors are produced by endometrial, myometrial, and trophoblast cell types in a timed and co-ordinated manner. In addition to the regulation of leukocyte migration and function, uterine chemokines also display specific roles in endometrial angiogenesis, apoptosis, proliferation, and differentiation. IL-8, MCP-1 and RANTES are regulated by local growth factors and cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), interferon-y, and IL-1. IL-8 takes part in cervical ripening and parturition. IL-8, MCP-1 and RANTES are also found at high levels in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis. CONCLUSION: Co-ordination of chemokine-chemokine receptor interactions plays an important role in the menstrual cycle and successful pregnancy. Moreover, unbalanced chemokine expression contributes to pathologic conditions typified by uncontrolled cellular proliferation, migration and invasion.
Interactions of a marine humic acid with clay minerals and a natural sediment

Abstract Reactions between humic acid and clay minerals were studied in fresh water and in 3.5% sodium chloride solutions. In fresh water conditions clay minerals (chlorite, illite, kaolinite and natural sediments) with sizes less than 4 μ diameter are able to adsorb less than 0.4% of the humic acid, while in NaCl solution these clays are able to adsorb more than 2.5%. Increasing the acidity of the reaction media causes enhanced adsorption. The order of increasing adsorption capacity of the clay minerals in simulated sea water conditions (3.5% NaCl at pH 8.1) is chlorite > illite > kaolinite. Experimental adsorption processes are almost completely reversible with changes in the electrolyte strength. X-ray diffraction studies of the organo-clay complexes indicate that the organic matter does not alter the structure of the clay minerals. Infrared and thermogravimetric analyses suggest that the carboxyl groups of the humic acid participate in chemical bonding with the clay minerals. The results of these studies indicate that short term exposures of clay minerals to humic acids yield mainly physically bound organo-clay complexes while some chemisorbed bonding takes place through carboxyl groups. An electrochemical model is proposed which depicts the relative importance of coulombic and Van der Waals' forces in adsorption processes of humic acid on clay minerals in varying chemical environments.
Successful chemotherapy for childhood metastatic embryonal cell carcinoma of the testicle: a preliminary report.

A child with widespread metastases successfully treated with chemotherapy alone is described. One course of combination chemotherapy using cis-platinum, vinblastine, and bleomycin produced disappearance of multiple pulmonary metastatic lesions. Four courses of therapy produced shrinkage and tumor sterilization of an abdominal mass. Twenty-six months after initiation of chemotherapy the patient is well, off of all therapy for fourteen months, and free of disease or drug related complication with normal creatinine clearance and alpha-fetoprotein determinations. The published adult experience demonstrates that this therapy is extremely effective for the treatment of metastatic embryonal cell carcinoma of the testis in young adults, and our case report extends this favorable experience into childhood. Toxicity is substantial, but justifiable considering the poor outlook associated with widespread metastatic disease. Collectively, the reviewed data suggest that further trials of this type of therapy are indicated in children.
The social costs of tobacco advertising and promotions

Recent longitudinal evidence suggests that approximately 34% of all new tobacco experimentation occurs because of tobacco advertising and promotions. Based on this figure, in this paper we estimate the long-term impact on mortality and morbidity, as well as the economic and medical costs associated with smoking that is attributable to cigarette advertising and promotions in the United States. This study used several data sources, including the Teenage Attitudes and Practices Survey (TAPS), the 1993 and 1996 Adolescent California Tobacco Surveys (CTS), and the Food and Drug Administration's estimates of annual illness-related benefits of alternative effectiveness rates of banning tobacco advertising. Our resulting estimates are that in each year between 1988 and 1998, tobacco advertising and promotional activities generated approximately 193000 additional adult smokers who began smoking as adolescents because of advertisements and promotions. That decade of tobacco advertising and promotions will also result in approximately 46400 smoking-attributable deaths per year and 698400 years of potential life lost, which translates into costs of approximately $21.7 billion to $33.3 billion in total medical, productivity, and mortality-related costs. Even accounting for quitting behavior, each year of advertising-attributable smoking increases the number of smokers in the population. We conclude that annual costs can be expected to continue to increase if tobacco advertising and promotional activities are not effectively eliminated. If all tobacco industry advertising and promotional activities were banned for the next 25 years, nearly 60000 smoking-attributable deaths per year could be avoided, saving nearly 900000 life-years, $2.6 billion in excess medical expenses, and between $28 billion and $43 billion in mortality costs.
Some type specimens of zoosporic fungi

The location of material representing types of eight species of the Physodermataceae is noted. These include the types for the genera Physoderma and Urophlyctis . Holotypes and isotypes are designated, and briefly described.
Bayesian filtering for tracking pose and location of rigid targets

Tracking of target pose is important for ATR in situations where there is a relative motion between the targets and the sensor(s). Taking a Bayesian approach, we formulate the problem of jointly tracking the target positions and orientations as a problem in nonlinear filtering. Combining pertinent ideas form importance sampling and sequential methods, we apply an iterative Monte Carlo approach to solve for MMSE solutions. This tracking algorithm is demonstrated for tracking individual targets in a simulated environment.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Distributed multimedia data storage for dependability, scalability, and high performance

In this paper, we describe a method for enabling efficient and dependable multimedia data storage and transfer in a large scale distributed computing and communication environment such as Web environment. The proposed method has several advantages over traditional ones: high data rates, scalability, availability, reliability, and seamless system controlled load balancing.
Reductive cleavage versus hydrogenation of allyl aryl ethers and allylic esters using sodium borohydride/catalytic ruthenium(III) in various aqueous solvent mixtures

Abstract The reduction of allyl aryl ethers using sodium borohydride in the presence of a catalytic amount of ruthenium(III) chloride in various aqueous solvent mixtures at 0 °C was examined. In aqueous tetrahydrofuran, hydrogenation was the favored pathway (85–100% yield of the corresponding aryl propyl ether); whereas in aqueous N -methylformamide, reductive cleavage predominated (4:1 mixture of phenolic product/aryl propyl ether). In order to gain some insight into the mechanism for this process, 3-octyn-1-ol and trans -2-decen-1-yl acetate were subjected to similar reductive conditions; and both substrates afforded products inconsistent with a single-electron-transfer mechanism.
A new LDD structure: total overlap with polysilicon spacer (TOPS)

The total overlap with polysilicon spacer (TOPS) structure, a fully overlapped lightly doped drain (LDD) structure, is discussed. The TOPS structure achieves full gate overlap of the lightly doped region with simple processing. TOPS devices have demonstrated superior performance and reliability compared to oxide-spacer LDD devices, with an order of magnitude advantage in current degradation under stress for the same initial current drive or 30% more drive for the same amount of degradation. TOPS devices also show a much smaller sensitivity to n/sup -/ dose variation than LDD devices. Gate-induced drain leakage is reported for the first time in fully overlapped LDD devices. >
Dysfunction of early-stage visual processing in schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenia is associated with deficits in higher-order processing of visual information. This study evaluated the integrity of early visual processing in order to evaluate the overall pattern of visual dysfunction in schizophrenia. METHOD: Steady-state visual-evoked potential responses were recorded over the occipital cortex in patients with schizophrenia and in age- and sex-matched comparison volunteers. Visual-evoked potentials were obtained for stimuli composed of isolated squares that were modulated sinusoidally in luminance contrast, number of squares, or chromatic contrast in order to emphasize magnocellular or parvocellular visual pathway activity. RESULTS: Responses of patients to magnocellular-biased stimuli were significantly lower than those of comparison volunteers. These lower response levels were observed in conditions using both low luminance contrast and large squares that biased processing toward the magnocellular pathway. In contrast, responses to stimuli that biased proces...
Embedded DNA-polypyrrole biosensor for rapid detection of Escherichia Coli

The principal objective of this paper was to present the design and fabrication of a single-strand (ss) DNA biosensor for the detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli) DNA synthetic oligonucleotides as a model of rapid detection of bacterial select bioterrorism agents. Molecular biology and chemical electrodeposition techniques, such as cyclic voltammetry (CV), were combined to develop and test a model DNA-based biosensor on a platinum (Pt) electrode electropolimerized with polypyrrole (PPY). The hybridization on embedded DNA into PPY with complementary DNA samples was determined. The recognition element was a 25 base pair (bp) oligonucleotide specific for E. coli derived from the uidA gene that codes for the enzyme /spl beta/-D glucuronidase. CV scans between 0.0 and +0.70 V at a 50-mV/s scanning rate generated current versus potential graphs. A standard DNA concentration of 1 /spl mu/g//spl mu/L was used to determine the hybridization signal of the biosensor. The model biosensor generated distinctive CV signals between complementary and noncomplementary DNA oligonucleotides. The biosensor proved to be effective in the detection of complementary uidA 25-bp oligonucleotide for E. coli K-12.
National Performances: The Politics of Class, Race, and Space in Puerto Rican Chicago

Ana Y. Ramos-Zayas, National Performances: The Politics of Class, Race, and Space in Puerto Rican Chicago (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003).Building on the pioneering research of ant...
Another Politics of Life is Possible

Although it is usually assumed that in Michel Foucault’s work biopolitics is a politics which has life for its object, a closer analysis of the courses he gave at the College de France on this topic, as well as of the other seminars and papers of this period, shows that he took a quite different direction, restricting it to the regulation of population. The aim of this article is to return to the origins of the concept and to confront the issue of life as such. This implies four shifts with respect to Foucault’s theory: (1) Politics is not only about the rules of the game of governing, but also about its stakes. (2) More than the power over life, contemporary societies are characterized by the legitimacy they attach to life. (3) Rather than a normalizing process, the intervention in lives is a production of inequalities. (4) The politics of life, then, is not only a question of governmentality and technologies, but also of meaning and values. The discussion is grounded on a series of empirical investigati...
Novel linear and nonlinear optical properties of electromagnetically induced transparency systems

We describe some interesting linear and nonlinear optical properties of three-level electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) systems, such as absorption reduction, sharp dispersion change, and enhanced Kerr nonlinearity. These novel optical properties are very useful in enhancing efficient nonlinear optical processes, which can find applications in optoelectronic devices. We present some experiments done in our group in the past few years with three-level atomic systems, especially more recent experiments with EIT medium inside an optical cavity.
Relationship Between Camp Attendance and Self-Perceptions in Children With Chronic Health Conditions: A Meta-Analysis

Objective A meta-analysis examined the association between camp attendance and changes in self-perceptions in children with chronic health conditions. Methods Studies using quantitative methods to assess changes in self-perceptions while attending camps designed for children with chronic health conditions were included in analyses. A random-effects model was used, and Cohen’s d was used to calculate effect sizes at both post-camp and follow-up. Some potential moderators of effects were examined (i.e., type of measure of self-perceptions, children’s chronic health condition, camp components). Results 31 studies were included in the analyses. Children experienced small, but statistically significant, improvements in self-perceptions at both post-camp (d ¼ .25, 95% CI [.16–.34]) and extended follow-up (d ¼ .15, 95% CI [.05–.26]). This relationship was moderated by type of measure of self-perceptions and child health condition. Conclusions Camp attendance is associated with small improvements in self-perceptions for children with some chronic health conditions.
Bilateral Laplace Transforms on Time Scales: Convergence, Convolution, and the Characterization of Stationary Stochastic Time Series

The convergence of Laplace transforms on time scales is generalized to the bilateral case. The bilateral Laplace transform of a signal on a time scale subsumes the continuous time bilateral Laplace transform, and the discrete time bilateral z-transform as special cases. As in the unilateral case, the regions of convergence (ROCs) time scale Laplace transforms are determined by the time scale’s graininess. ROCs for the bilateral Laplace transforms of double sided time scale exponentials are determined by two modified Hilger circles. The ROC is the intersection of points external to modified Hilger circle determined by behavior for positive time and the points internal to the second modified Hilger circle determined by negative time. Since graininess lies between zero and infinity, there can exist conservative ROCs applicable for all time scales. For continuous time (ℝ) bilateral transforms, the circle radii become infinite and results in the familiar ROC between two lines parallel to the imaginary z axis. Likewise, on ℤ, the ROC is an annulus. For signals on time scales bounded by double sided exponentials, the ROCs are at least that of the double sided exponential. The Laplace transform is used to define the box minus shift through which time scale convolution can be defined. Generalizations of familiar properties of signals on ℝ and ℤ include identification of the identity convolution operator, the derivative theorem, and characterizations of wide sense stationary stochastic processes for an arbitrary time scales including autocorrelation and power spectral density expressions.
The ocean response to operational westerly wind bursts during the 1991–1992 El Niño

Numerical simulations of the remotely forced ocean response to westerly wind bursts prior to and during the 1991 - 1992 El Nino are examined; the models are forced by wind stress from the U.S. Navy's atmospheric global operational analysis/forecast system. The study focuses on (1) the relative response of the first and second internal modes to a single episode of westerly bursts; (2) the role of westerly bursts in producing the eastern Pacific sea level variations from October 1990 to February 1992; and (3) the relative importance of the remotely forced sea level responses generated by central and western Pacific wind anomalies. The simulation use the Naval Research Laboratory global multilayer formulation; the suite of experiments includes hydrodynamic simulations that use both one- and three- active-layer reduced gravity models as well as an experiment that also includes thermodynamic effects. The models are executed from January 1, 1990, to March 1, 1992, a period that includes 10 significant westerly wind bursts or burst clusters and the 1991 - 1992 El Nino event. The numerical experiments reveal an ability to accurately simulate the eastern Pacific sea level variations during this period. In response to a single burst, the three-layer hydrodynamic simulation reveals that the second internal mode Kelvin wave yields a sea level change at the eastern boundary that is approximately one third that of the first mode and a surface velocity signature that is equivalent to the first mode. During the onset of the El Nino event the inclusion of higher modes also produces a more realistic representation of the observed eastern boundary sea level signal. Furthermore, by comparing the model response to particular wind bursts with the observed sea level at Baltra, Galapagos, a value of 2.5 - 2.6 m/s is suggested as the most appropriate mean speed for the first internal mode Kelvin wave during the onset phase. A scenario for the onset of the 1991 - 1992 El Nino is given.
CONGRUENCE BETWEEN SUPERPOSITIONAL AND PHYLOGENETIC PATTERNS: COMPARING CLADISTIC PATTERNS WITH FOSSIL RECORDS

— As the only direct evidence of past organismic history, the fossil record has always figured importantly in the reconstruction of phylogeny. But the incomplete nature of the fossil record has also been cited as a basis for claiming that fossils play only a secondary role in developing phylogenetic hypotheses that encompass extant taxa. The reliability of fossil data in such applications is a function of the degree of fit between superpositional relationships and the sequence of phylogenetic events. Thirty-eight vertebrate cases are examined for the fit between age data based on fossil first occurrences and phylogenetic results based on cladistic analysis. A general correspondence between superpositional and cladistic information is observed, although the degree of fit varies widely among cases. Horses, certain other ungulates, synapsids and basal archosaurs, which show very high correlations, are taxa characterized by an abundance of superpositional and cladistic data. Other groups, such as primates, show very poor correlations because certain major clades have either unreasonably short fossil durations or no fossil record at all. Correlations are also diminished when either fossil records or cladistic sequences are poorly resolved. In most cases, cladistic resolution was observed to exceed superpositional resolution. Correlations can be enhanced by more precise (e.g. radiometric) age dates, but these also place a high expectation on the fit between fossil first occurrence and cladistic results. Stratigraphic occurrence does not always provide a precise reflection of independently derived phylogenies, but the correspondence between age and cladistic information is remarkably high in a notable number of vertebrate examples.
Effects of chronic oral methylphenidate on cocaine self-administration and striatal dopamine D2 receptors in rodents.

Background: Methylphenidate (MP) and amphetamine, which are the mainstay for the treatment of ADHD, have raised concerns because of their reinforcing effects and the fear that their chronic use during childhood or adolescence could induce changes in the brain that could facilitate drug abuse in adulthood. Methods: Here we measured the effects of chronic treatment (8 months) with oral MP (1 or 2 mg/kg), which was initiated in periadolescent rats (postnatal day 30). Following this treatment, rats were tested on cocaine self-administration. In addition at 2 and 8 months of treatment we measured dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) availability in the striatum using [ 11 C]raclopride microPET (μPET) imaging. Results: Animals treated for 8 months with 2 mg/kg of MP showed significantly reduced rates of cocaine self-administration at adulthood than vehicle treated rats. D2R availability in the striatum was significantly lower in rats after 2 months of treatment with MP (1 and 2 mg/kg) but significantly higher after 8 months of MP treatment than in the vehicle treated rats. In vehicle treated rats D2R availability decreased with age whereas it increased in rats treated with MP. Because low D2R levels in the striatum are associated with a propensity for self-administration of drugs both in laboratory animals and in humans, this effect could underlie the lower rates of cocaine self-administration observed in the rats given 8 months of treatment with MP. Conclusions: Eight month treatment with oral MP beginning in adolescence decreased cocaine-self administration (1 mg/kg) during adulthood which could reflect the increases in D2R availability observed at this life stage since D2R increases are associated with reduced propensity for cocaine self administration. In contrast, two month treatment with MP started also at adolescence decreased D2R availability, which could raise concern that at this life stage short treatments could possibly increase vulnerability to drug abuse during adulthood. These findings indicate that MP effects on D2R expression in the striatum are sensitive not only to length of treatment but also to the developmental stage at which treatment is given. Future studies evaluating the effects of different lengths of treatment on drug self-administration are required to assess optimal duration of treatment regimes to minimize adverse effects on the propensity for drug self administration. © 2007 Published by Elsevier Inc.
Teleost growth factor independence (gfi) genes differentially regulate successive waves of hematopoiesis

Growth Factor Independence (Gfi) transcription factors play essential roles in hematopoiesis, differentially activating and repressing transcriptional programs required for hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) development and lineage specification. In mammals, Gfi1a regulates hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), myeloid and lymphoid populations, while its paralog, Gfi1b, regulates HSC, megakaryocyte and erythroid development. In zebrafish, gfi1aa is essential for primitive hematopoiesis; however, little is known about the role of gfi1aa in definitive hematopoiesis or about additional gfi factors in zebrafish. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of an additional hematopoietic gfi factor, gfi1b. We show that gfi1aa and gfi1b are expressed in the primitive and definitive sites of hematopoiesis in zebrafish. Our functional analyses demonstrate that gfi1aa and gfi1b have distinct roles in regulating primitive and definitive hematopoietic progenitors, respectively. Loss of gfi1aa silences markers of early primitive progenitors, scl and gata1. Conversely, loss of gfi1b silences runx-1, c-myb, ikaros and cd41, indicating that gfi1b is required for definitive hematopoiesis. We determine the epistatic relationships between the gfi factors and key hematopoietic transcription factors, demonstrating that gfi1aa and gfi1b join lmo2, scl, runx-1 and c-myb as critical regulators of teleost HSPC. Our studies establish a comparative paradigm for the regulation of hematopoietic lineages by gfi transcription factors.
Prestress as an optimal biomechanical parameter for needle penetration

Drug delivery requires precise intradermal and subcutaneous injections of formulations to clinically relevant penetration depths. However, penetration depth is confounded by skin deflection, which occurs prior to and during penetration as the skin surface deforms axially with the needle, and which varies profoundly due to differing intrinsic mechanical (e.g. viscoelastic) tissue properties, disease state, aging, and ethnicity. Herein, an ex vivo model was utilized to study factors that affect skin deflection and the efficacy of injection, including prestress applied at the tissue surface, needle gauge, velocity, and actuation depth. The application of prestress minimized skin deflection during needle penetration and allowed for needle actuation to the targeted penetration depths with minimum variability. The force required to achieve target penetration depths was found to increase with prestress and decrease with needle gauge. Our findings emphasize the need for prestress applied to the skin surface to minimize variation in skin properties and administer formulations for intradermal and subcutaneous treatments with maximum precision.
Trends in Electronic Cigarette Use Among U.S. Adults: Use is Increasing in Both Smokers and Nonsmokers

Objectives: We assessed trends in use of electronic cigarettes among U.S. adults, demographic predictors of use, and smoking status of current electronic cigarette users. Methods: Mixed-mode surveys were used to obtain representative, cross-sectional samples of U.S. adults in each of 4 years. Results: Sample sizes for 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 were 3,240, 3,097, 3,101, and 3,245, respectively. Ever use of electronic cigarettes increased from 1.8% (2010) to 13.0% (2013), while current use increased from 0.3% to 6.8%, p < .001. Prevalence of use increased significantly across all demographic groups. In 2013, current use among young adults 18–24 (14.2%) was higher than adults 25–44 (8.6%), 45–64 (5.5%), and 65+ (1.2%). Daily smokers (30.3%) and nondaily smokers (34.1%) were the most likely to currently use e-cigarettes, compared to former smokers (5.4%) and never-smokers (1.4%), p < .001. However, 32.5% of current electronic cigarette users are never- or former smokers. Conclusions: There has been rapid growth in ever and current electronic cigarette use over the past 4 years. Use is highest among young adults and current cigarette smokers. Although smokers are most likely to use these products, almost a third of current users are nonsmokers, suggesting that e-cigarettes contribute to primary nicotine addiction and to renormalization of tobacco use. Regulatory action is needed at the federal, state, and local levels to ensure that these products do not contribute to preventable chronic disease.
The New England Life: Design Review in Boston

The design review process surrounding Phillip Johnson’s proposal for the New England Life Insurance Company’s new headquarters in Boston’s Back Bay marks a transition. Under the administration of Mayor Kevin White, citizen input in the design review process had been achieved through the ad hoc use of citizen advisory committees. The committee appointed for the New England Life project worked hard to win modifications of Johnson’s design. It felt that it had met community concerns only to find itself caught in the middle of intense criticism from neighborhood interests and the Boston Society of Architects.
The effect of early intervention on skeletal pattern in Class II malocclusion: a randomized clinical trial.

Early treatment for Class II malocclusion is frequently undertaken with the objective of correcting skeletal disproportion by altering the growth pattern. Because the majority of previous studies of growth modification for Class II malocclusion have been based on retrospective record reviews, the efficacy of such an approach has not been well established. In this controlled clinical trial, patients in the mixed dentition with overjet ≥7 mm were randomly assigned to either early treatment with headgear, or modified bionator, or to observation. All patients were observed for 15 months with no other appliances used during this phase of the trial. The three groups, who were equivalent initially, experienced statistically significant differences ( p
Human ecology and the geographic distribution of physician assistants.

Ecological characteristics of states were correlated with measures of the geographic distribution of physician assistants, and, for comparative purposes, of new physician licenses . It was hypothesized that prior physician-to-population ratios, the distribution of physician assistant training opportunities, and the nature of state laws regulating physician assistants also would affect the geographic distribution of physician assistants. Population size, of course, is strongly correlated with the total number of both groups In the various states. When numbers relative to population are considered, physician assistants are concentrated in states with extensive training opportunities and, to a lesser extent, favorable laws. In contrast, new physician h-censes tend to be concentrated in states that already have high physician-to-population ratios.
Super-additive interaction of the reinforcing effects of cocaine and H1-antihistamines in rhesus monkeys.

Histamine H1 receptor antagonists can be sedating and have behavioral effects, including reinforcing and discriminative stimulus effects in non-humans, that predict abuse liability. Previous research has suggested that antihistamines can enhance the effects of some drugs of abuse. We have reported a synergistic interaction between cocaine and diphenhydramine (DPH) in a self-administration assay with monkeys. The present study was designed to extend those findings to other combinations of cocaine and DPH, and to the mixture of cocaine and another H1-antihistamine, pyrilamine. Rhesus monkeys were prepared with chronic i.v. catheters and allowed to self-administer cocaine, DPH or pyrilamine alone or as mixtures under a progressive-ratio schedule of reinforcement. Cocaine, DPH and pyrilamine alone maintained self-administration and cocaine was the stronger reinforcer. When cocaine was combined with DPH or pyrilamine in a 1:1, 1:2 or 2:1 ratio of the ED50s, the combinations were super-additive as reinforcers. Reinforcing strength of the combinations was greater than that of the antihistamines alone but not greater than cocaine. The data support the prediction that the combination of cocaine and histamine H1 receptor antagonists could have enhanced potential for abuse relative to either drug alone. The interaction may involve dopamine systems in the CNS.
BEReX: Biomedical Entity-Relationship eXplorer

Summary: Biomedical Entity-Relationship eXplorer (BEReX) is a new biomedical knowledge integration, search and exploration tool. BEReX integrates eight popular databases (STRING, DrugBank, KEGG, PhamGKB, BioGRID, GO, HPRD and MSigDB) and delineates an integrated network by combining the information available from these databases. Users search the integrated network by entering key words, and BEReX returns a sub-network matching the key words. The resulting graph can be explored interactively. BEReX allows users to find the shortest paths between two remote nodes, find the most relevant drugs, diseases, pathways and so on related to the current network, expand the network by particular types of entities and relations and modify the network by removing or adding selected nodes. BEReX is implemented as a standalone Java application. Availability and implementation: BEReX and a detailed user guide are available for download at our project Web site (http://infos.korea.ac.
Modeling of pseudoelasticity via reversible slip in Fe3Ga

The Fe3Ga alloy with the cubic D03 lattice possesses considerable recoverable strain due to the slip reversibility. Pseudoelasticity via reversible slip in Fe3Ga is studied with atomistic simulations. An extended Peierls–Nabarro model incorporating the Generalized Stacking Fault Energy (GSFE) is established to determine Peierls stress in D03 and L12 Fe3Ga. The back stress and frictional stress are predicted during loading and unloading process. These stress magnitudes govern the reversible slip in Fe3Ga. The results show that the reversible slip observed experimentally in D03 Fe3Ga is induced by its larger back stress compared to its frictional stress. In contrast, the reversible slip cannot appear in L12 since its back stress is not large enough to pull back superpartials, and thus the existence of L12 will suppress the pseudoelasticity of D03 Fe3Ga and results in decreasing the strain recovery. The present study has explored the theoretical foundations of this phenomenon arising from high back stresses responsible for cyclic reversible dislocation motion.
The role of social context and individual experience in novel task acquisition in cottontop tamarins, Saguinus oedipus

In socially tolerant settings, naive individuals may have opportunities to interact jointly with knowledgeable demonstrators and novel tasks. This process is expected to facilitate social learning. Individual experience may also be important for reinforcing and honing socially acquired behaviours. We examined the role of joint interaction and individual experience in the acquisition of a novel foraging task in captive cottontop tamarins. The task involved learning how to locate and access two hidden food rewards from among 10 differently cued forage sites. Tamarins were tested in three different conditions: (1) individually, (2) while interacting with a naive mate, and (3) while interacting with a mate trained as a knowledgeable demonstrator. For tamarins tested with mates present, we interspersed social input test days with exposure to the task while alone. Tamarins were tested again 17 months after their last exposure to the task, to assess long-term memory. All tamarins tested with knowledgeable demonstrators solved the task. In contrast, tamarins tested alone or with naive mates had similarly high levels of neophobia and low levels of task acquisition. We conclude that joint interaction occurs in mated pairs of cottontop tamarins and facilitates the spread of novel behaviour. Interspersing test days with a knowledgeable demonstrator present and test days alone with the task helped tamarins to achieve the ultimate goal of the task: obtaining food rewards. Tamarins performed similarly when tested 17 months later, regardless of their initial learning environment. Tamarins had memory deficits for the location of hidden food rewards, but retained memory of the necessary motor actions and solved the task.
Tackling Concurrency and Timing Problems

Concurrent systems, either hardware or software, are notoriously difficult to design correctly in large part due to the complexities of nondeterministic execution. A concurrent system can perform many different correct computations for a given input sequence because the absolute order of execution is dependent on factors which cannot be known at design/compile time. Synchronization constructs are used to restrict the set of possible computations to correct computations only, but insertion of synchronization constructs is a manual and error-prone task. The detection of synchronization errors is made difficult because the manifestation of an error can depend on operation timing, which can change between executions. We define a class of synchronization errors and define the timing requirements to ensure the detection of these errors. We provide a coverage metric which can be used to determine whether or not a given test execution is sufficient to detect the defined class of synchronization errors.
4th generation infrared detectors and focal plane arrays

Infrared imaging (3–25µm) has been an important technological tool for the past sixty years since the first report of infrared detectors in 1950s. The ability to detect the temperature of a scene from the blackbody radiation that it emits has spawned applications in a wide variety of fields ranging from defense and security to non-invasive medical diagnostics and remote sensing. However, IR imaging landscape has dramatically changed in the past decade. Firstly, the cost of lower end imagers has been steadily declining (30% every year since 2005) enabling them to be mounted on dashboards of automobiles including Audis and BMWs. Secondly, advent of novel antimonide based semiconductor technology has dramatically improved the performance of higher end imagers that are used for military, defense and security applications. There has been a dramatic progress in the development of infrared detectors in the past decade with new materials like InAsSb, InAs/GaSb superlattices and InAs/InAsSb superlattices. However, in spite of dramatic technological progress, there are a lot of unknowns in these materials. For instance, the background concentration, vertical mobility, diffusion constants etc for these systems are largely unknown or are very difficult to measure accurately. The GaSb conducting substrate coupled with anisotropic transport and quantum transport makes the investigating of this system challenging.
Mid-Career Faculty and High Levels of Community Engagement: Intentional Reshaping of Meaningful Careers

This study examined the relationship between vital mid-career faculty and rates of participation in community engagement at three public comprehensive universities in New England. Specifically, mid-career faculty successfully taught, rendered service within their setting, and conducted some research, but in interviews they described additional meaning and career fulfillment derived from creating and maintaining niches of community engagement focusing on social problems and change . Data from 102 faculty surveys were analyzed in the form of descriptive statistics, correlations, and t-tests. Data from 30 face-to-face interviews with faculty—all of whom were selected for their high self-vitality ratings as well as gender, rank, and discipline—were coded and assigned themes. There appeared to be a positive correlation between mid-career faculty who chose to participate in community engagement and high levels of vitality that may be influenced and enhanced by the engagement itself.