cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Serum Proteins Affect the Inhibition by Delta-Tetrahydrocannabinol of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Production by Mouse Macrophages

In vitro studies of the effects of marijuana’s major psychoactive component, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), on immune functions show that THC is able to inhibit a variety of immune functions (1,2). However, the effect of THC on tumor necrosis factor (TNF) production by macrophages has not been reported until recent work in our laboratory (3). TNF-α, which is secreted principally by activated macrophages (4), has recently been shown to be produced in greater amounts if stimulation of murine peritoneal macrophages is performed in medium containing Salmonella enteritidis lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and 0.5% bovine serum albumin (BSA) in place of 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) (Z. M. Zheng & S. Specter, unpublished observations). The use of BSA resulted in a reduction in the serum protein in the medium used to examine the effect of THC on TNF-α production (3). This reduction of serum is important since increasing the serum concentration in culture medium has been shown to inhibit in vitro activity of THC (5). In the current report, we present the effect of FBS and BSA on the inhibition by THC of TNF-α production by mouse resident peritoneal macrophages.
Paternity leave in medical residency.

Although the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) covers parental leave within a year of the adoption or birth of a child, medical residents should be aware that leaves of absence require careful planning and may extend their training.
Evaluating nuclear data and their uncertainties

In the last decade or so, estimating uncertainties associated with nuclear data has become an almost mandatory step in any new nuclear data evaluation. The mathematics needed to infer such estimates look deceptively simple, masking the hidden complexities due to imprecise and contradictory experimental data and natural limitations of simplified physics models. Through examples of evaluated covariance matrices for the soon-to-be-released U.S. ENDF/B-VIII.0 library, e.g., cross sections, spectrum, multiplicity, this paper discusses some uncertainty quantification methodologies in use today, their strengths, their pitfalls, and alternative approaches that have proved to be highly successful in other fields. The important issue of how to interpret and use the covariance matrices coming out of the evaluated nuclear data libraries is discussed.
Additive Manufacturing of Cemented Tungsten Carbide with a Cobalt-Free Alloy Binder by Selective Laser Melting for High-Hardness Applications

Cemented tungsten carbide (WC) is commonly used for wear-resistant applications, such as cutting tools and abrasives due to its extremely high hardness. This hardness leads to post-process machining of WC to be time- and cost-intensive. This study examined the feasibility of additive manufacturing of cemented WC to near-net-shape in an effort to reduce post-process machining. The binder phase in the manufactured samples is an iron-based alloy, which has a lower melting temperature than cobalt, the conventional binder in cemented WC. In this proof-of-concept study, cuboid specimens of WC with a low content of the iron-based alloy binder were printed; the effect of different processing conditions on the resultant density and microstructure of the material were investigated. Theoretical densities as high as 95% were achieved using this method. Artifacts indicative of the manufacturing process are present in the samples, and the challenges in removing the processing history from the final microstructure are discussed.
Improving an Administrative Case Definition for Longitudinal Surveillance of Sickle Cell Disease.

Objective:Several states are building infrastructure and data collection methods for longitudinal, population-based surveillance systems for selected hemoglobinopathies. The objective of our study ...
Moral order among members of a friendship group of preschool boys

The making of assessment descriptions can be key processes in children's negotiations of the social and moral orders of their peer groups. This paper examines how a friendship group of preschool boys followed through a year-long video-ethnography construct their local social and moral order, through use of a particular interactional resource, membership categorizations. A collection of clips of the boys' use of membership categorizations was created and analysed. Overall, the boys frequently described their own (or pretend play characters') behaviours as 'fixing' and 'helping', and reacted positively to these descriptions, by agreeing to do the actions, carrying out the actions and including group members so described in play. Likewise, if one of the peers' behaviours was described as 'destroying', 'smashing' or a similarly aggressive action, the boys oriented to these named qualities as negative, through changing the play topic, moving away or sanctioning the person so described. We argue that the ways in which the boys use and respond to the referenced activities and index them as 'positively' or 'negatively' bound to the relationship category of being a good friend or peer group member determine what counts to the participants themselves as acceptable moral behaviour.
Tissue-engineered blood-brain barrier models via directed differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells

Three-dimensional (3D) tissue-engineered models of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) recapitulate in vivo shear stress, cylindrical geometry, and cell-ECM interactions. Here we address four issues associated with BBB models: cell source, barrier function, cryopreservation, and matrix stiffness. We reproduce a directed differentiation of brain microvascular endothelial cells (dhBMECs) from two fluorescently labeled human induced pluripotent stem cell lines (hiPSCs) and demonstrate physiological permeability of Lucifer yellow over six days. Microvessels formed from cryopreserved dhBMECs show expression of BBB markers and maintain physiological barrier function comparable to non-cryopreserved cells. Microvessels displaying physiological barrier function are formed in collagen I hydrogels with stiffness matching that of human brain. The dilation response of microvessels was linear with increasing transmural pressure and was dependent on matrix stiffness. Together these results advance capabilities for tissue-engineered BBB models.
A review of the evolving landscape between the consumer Internet and men’s health

Internet adoption continues to increase as broadband access and mobile connectivity penetrate developing global markets. Alongside increasing adoption, the Internet continues to evolve and usher in new modes of user interaction. Social media and search engines have facilitated the emergence of the participatory web, in which users are able to contribute content, form online communities, and disseminate information. This participatory web is reshaping the patient-physician relationship as patients are able to search for medical information, directly engage with healthcare practitioners through social media, and make therapeutic decisions via online marketplaces. The ability for patients to self-diagnose and self-treat is highly relevant to andrology, given that men have a baseline reluctance to visit healthcare providers. Furthermore, men's health issues such as erectile dysfunction and male infertility are stigmatized, with men turning to the Internet for guidance. The focus of this review is to survey the academic literature that evaluates the quality of online content for four common men's health conditions: hypogonadism, male infertility, erectile dysfunction, and Peyronie's disease.
A Hearing Screening Pilot Study with Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities.

Purpose Many children with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities are at a higher risk for hearing loss than their peers who are typically developing. Unfortunately, they do not consistently participate in routine school-based hearing screenings. The current study investigated the feasibility of increasing their participation using an otoacoustic emissions protocol and documented results relative to student educational profiles. Method A total of 43 students with significant cognitive disabilities enrolled at a public school exclusively serving this population participated in the study. All but 9, who were excluded because of known hearing loss, were screened by a licensed audiologist assisted by audiology doctoral students. The protocol included otoscopy, tympanometry, distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), and teacher surveys. Results DPOAE screening was attempted on 33 students without previously diagnosed hearing loss and successfully completed for 26 (78.8%). Two students (4.6%) with absent otoacoustic emissions and normal tympanograms were referred for further assessment due to concerns about possible sensorineural hearing loss in one or both ears, and 10 (23.3%) had abnormal tympanograms in one or both ears. Conclusions Considering the high risk of sensorineural hearing loss for children with significant disabilities, it is important for them to be included in school hearing screenings. The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of using DPOAEs for school-based hearing screenings with this population with an interprofessional team of licensed audiologists, educators, and speech-language pathologists. The results further suggest that students with significant disabilities and hearing loss may be unidentified and underserved. Given the complex needs of this population, an interprofessional practice model for hearing screenings and intervention services is recommended.
The Obesity Paradox in the Trauma Patient: Normal May not Be Better

The obesity paradox is the association of increased survival for overweight and obese patients compared to normal and underweight patients, despite an increased risk of morbidity. The obesity paradox has been demonstrated in many disease states but has yet to be studied in trauma. The objective of this study is to elucidate the presence of the obesity paradox in trauma patients by evaluating the association between BMI and outcomes. Using the 2014–2015 National Trauma Database (NTDB), adults were categorized by WHO BMI category. Logistic regression was used to assess the odds of mortality associated with each category, adjusting for statistically significant covariables. Length of stay (LOS), ICU LOS and ventilator days were also analyzed, adjusting for statistically significant covariables. A total of 415,807 patients were identified. Underweight patients had increased odds of mortality (OR 1.378, p < 0.001 95% CI 1.252–1.514), while being overweight had a protective effect (OR 0.916, p = 0.002 95% CI 0.867–0.968). Class I obesity was not associated with increased mortality compared to normal weight (OR 1.013, p = 0.707 95% CI 0.946–1.085). Class II and Class III obesity were associated with increased mortality risk (Class II OR 1.178, p = 0.001 95% CI 1.069–1.299; Class III OR 1.515, p < 0.001 95% CI 1.368–1.677). Hospital and ICU LOS increased with each successive increase in BMI category above normal weight. Obesity was associated with increased ventilator days; Class I obese patients had a 22% increase in ventilator days (IRR 1.217 95% CI 1.171–1.263), and Class III obese patients had a 54% increase (IRR 1.536 95% CI 1.450–1.627). The obesity paradox exists in trauma patients. Further investigation is needed to elucidate what specific phenotypic aspects confer this benefit and how these can enhance patient care. Level III, prognostic study
Deformation and Coalescence of Ferrodroplets in Rosensweig Model using the Phase Field and Modified Level Set Approaches under Uniform Magnetic Fields

Abstract By using both a phase field approach and a modified level set approach, two multiphase numerical models are proposed and compared in this paper to investigate the ferrodroplet deformation and merging process in a non-magnetic viscous medium under the influence of uniform magnetic fields. The finite element method is utilized for the spatial discretization of both numerical models. The numerical results show excellent agreement with the analytical solutions in the simple axisymmetric setting. The effects of different magnetic bond numbers and magnetic susceptibility on the deformation of ferrodroplets are systematically investigated. The coalescence process, in which two small ferrodroplets merge into a single larger droplet under uniform magnetic fields, is also studied by using both the phase field approach and the modified level set approach. Moreover the attraction phenomenon between two ferrodroplets, which was previously discovered in numerical experiments, is observed in our numerical tests. By comparing with analytical solutions, our study demonstrates that the diffuse interface (phase field) approach performs better than the modified level set approach when there is large topological deformation of the ferrodroplet. Several other important aspects, including the evolution of the flow field, the magnetic energy distribution, the spurious flows near the interfaces, and conservation of mass in both approaches, are studied as well.
COVID-19 and healthcare lessons already learned

COVID-19 has exposed deep-rooted flaws in our health system regarding healthcare financing and delivery This essay uses COVID-19 as a frame to reflect on the growth in our uninsured population, the flaws inherent in healthcare federalism, how “Trumpcare” has made things worse, the magnified importance of Medicaid, and the problems inherent in relying primarily on private actors
A unique and evolutionarily conserved retinal interneuron relays rod and cone input to the inner plexiform layer

Neurons in the CNS are distinguished from each other by their morphology, the types of the neurotransmitter they release, their synaptic connections, and their genetic profiles. While attempting to characterize the retinal bipolar cell (BC) input to retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), we discovered a previously undescribed type of interneuron in mice and primates. This interneuron shares some morphological, physiological, and molecular features with traditional BCs, such as having dendrites that ramify in the outer plexiform layer (OPL) and axons that ramify in the inner plexiform layer (IPL) to relay visual signals from photoreceptors to inner retinal neurons. It also shares some features with amacrine cells, particularly Aii amacrine cells, such as their axonal morphology and possibly the release of the inhibitory neurotransmitter glycine, along with the expression of some amacrine cell specific markers. Thus, we unveil an unrecognized type of interneuron, which may play unique roles in vision.
Effects of caloric restriction on human physiological, psychological, and behavioral outcomes: highlights from CALERIE phase 2

Caloric restriction (CR) is a strategy that attenuates aging in multiple nonhuman species. The Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) trials are part of a research program aiming to test the effects of CR on aging and longevity biomarkers in humans. Building on CALERIE phase 1, CALERIE phase 2 (CALERIE 2) was the largest study to date to assess sustained CR in healthy humans without obesity. In a 24-month randomized controlled trial comprising 218 participants at baseline, CALERIE 2 showed that moderate CR, 11.9% on average, induced improvements in aging-related biomarkers without adversely affecting psychological or behavioral outcomes. The objectives of this report are to summarize and review the highlights of CALERIE 2 and report previously unpublished results on eating disorder symptoms and cognitive function. This article specifically summarizes the physiological, psychological, aging, behavioral, and safety results of the trial. Also provided are research directions beyond CALERIE 2 that highlight important opportunities to investigate the role of CR in aging, longevity, and health span in humans.
Kopenhagen gegen das Universum

„Wenn man unter Physikern eine Umfrage durchfuhren wurde“, schrieb Bryce DeWitt 1970, „wurden sich die meisten zu einer Mitgliedschaft im [Kopenhagen-] Lager bekennen, genau wie die meisten Amerikaner behaupten wurden, an die Menschenrechte zu glauben, ob sie diese nun gelesen haben oder nicht.“(Bryce S. DeWitt 1970, „Quantum Mechanics and Reality,“ Physics Today 23 (9):30–35, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3022331.) DeWitt hatte es geschafft, den Herausgeber von Physics Today, der Monatszeitschrift fur die Mitglieder der American Physical Society, zu uberzeugen, einen Artikel uber die Grundlagen der Quantenphysik zu veroffentlichen. Als Zeichen der Zeit war es nicht besonders schwierig, Hobert Ellis jr. dazu zu uberreden.
Engineering of thermal radiation using phase-transition materials

This talk will discuss the integration of phase-transition materials into thermal emitters to engineer thermal radiation. Topics will include zero-differential and negative-differential thermal emission, radiative runaway, infrared privacy shielding, and passive thermoregulation.
Workplace violence in nursing: A concept analysis

Objectives To clarify the concept of workplace violence in nursing and propose an operational definition of the concept. Methods The review method used was Walker and Avant's eight-step method. Results Identification of the key attributes, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents of the concept resulted in an operational definition of the concept. The proposed operational definition identifies workplace violence experienced by nurses as any act or threat of verbal or physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior that occurs at the worksite with the intention of abusing or injuring the target. Conclusions Developing insights into the concept will assist in the design of new research scales that can effectively measure the underlying issues, provide a framework that facilitates nursing interventions, and improve the validity of future studies.
Revisiting Russell’s troodontid: autecology, physiology, and speculative tool use1

Dale Russell described the osteology, morphology, and ecology of the small theropod “Stenonychosaurus inequalis” in two papers, speculating on its life habits, brain power, vision, movement, feedin...
Supply Chain Management in der Automobilindustrie

Das SCM der Automobilindustrie ist der Untersuchungsgegenstand dieser Arbeit im Hinblick auf die Bewertung moglicher Auswirkungen des RFID-Einsatzes. Folgende Abschnitte charakterisieren zuerst das aktuelle Branchenumfeld, leiten dann hieraus strategische Herausforderungen fur das SCM ab und konkretisieren diese anschliesend in Anforderungen an die Prozessgestaltung (s. Abbildung 3–1). Dabei erfolgt eine Konzentration auf koordinationsintensive Aufgabenbereiche. Eine abschliesende Situationsbeschreibung zum Einsatz von IT-Systemen im SCM der Automobilindustrie zeigt einen moglichen Bedarf nach RFID, um die zuvor beschriebenen kritischen Prozesse besser zu unterstutzen.
Spin Angular Momentum Transfer in Magnetoresistive Nanojunctions

High current density spin-polarized transport in current-perpendicular nanomagnetic junctions reveals an interaction between the spin-polarized current and the nanomagnet electrodes. This interaction causes a current-induced magnetic excitation in the ferromagnetic electrodes, leading either to persistent magnetic precession or to a complete magnetic reversal, under a dc current bias. This article gives a brief review of the basic understanding of this so-called spin-transfer phenomenon, including the basic mechanism, its early theoretical prediction and experimental discovery, and the significance of this interaction for applications in modern electronics. This review uses a framework of phenomenological analyses, bridging experimental observations and first-principle-based theoretical work. Keywords: Spin angular momentum; spin torque; spin transfer; current-induced magnetic switching; spin polarized transport; spintronics
Shape Functions for Velocity Interpolation in General Hexahedral Cells

Numerical methods for grids with irregular cells require discrete shape functions to approximate the distribution of quantities across cells. For control-volume mixed finite-element (CVMFE) methods, vector shape functions approximate velocities and vector test functions enforce a discrete form of Darcy's law. In this paper, a new vector shape function is developed for use with irregular, hexahedral cells (trilinear images of cubes). It interpolates velocities and fluxes quadratically, because as shown here, the usual Piola-transformed shape functions, which interpolate linearly, cannot match uniform flow on general hexahedral cells. Truncation-error estimates for the shape function are demonstrated. CVMFE simulations of uniform and non-uniform flow with irregular meshes show first- and second-order convergence of fluxes in the L2 norm in the presence and absence of singularities, respectively.
EIIaCre -- utility of a general deleter strain.

We conducted a survey of the utility of the EIIaCre strain of transgenic mice in which Cre is expressed in the unfertilized egg and in the zygote. Our survey is based on results reported by 10 laboratories that set up matings of EIIaCre mice and gene-altered mutant strains that harbor lox-flanked genes. Cre action on 29 different lox-flanked loci resulted in progeny in which the DNA sequences between the lox sites were found to be deleted. In cases where proper quantitation was performed, the frequency of deletions approximated Mendelian expectations. These results underscore the utility of EIIaCre mice as a general deleter strain. This review examines the efficiency of Cre medi
On the Feasability of Dynamic Partitioning of Pointer Structures

In this paper, we give experimental results of runtime partitioning of arbitrary order loop with pointer-based structures. Arbitrary order loops are those loops whose iterations can be executed in any order, typically iterating over a bag, list, or set. Such iterations are often used in algorithm texts for iterating over adjacency lists and other collections, and are similar to Linda's bags.
Maternal Cocaine Treatment Alters Dynorphin and Enkephalin mRNA Expression in Brains of Fetal Rhesus Macaques

Cocaine exposure in utero is known to cause a variety of behavioral and motor deficits that may be attributable to alterations in the dopamine neurocircuitry. To ascertain cocaine effects in the fetus, we developed a nonhuman primate model in which pregnant monkeys were administered cocaine from day 20 through day 60 or 70 of gestation. Fetuses from these pregnancies develop a repertoire of neural deficiencies, including decreased mRNA expression of tyrosine hydroxylase in the midbrain and increased mRNA expression of dopamine receptor subtypes in the rostral forebrain. Presently, we studied the effects of maternal cocaine treatment on the mRNA expression of the endogenous opioids preprodynorphin (PPD) and preproenkephalin (PPE) in fetal monkey brains. Fetuses exposed to saline (0.9%) or cocaine (3 mg/kg) were delivered by Caesarean section, the fetal brains were dissected, and tissue RNA was extracted and quantified using ribonuclease protection assay analysis. The opioid peptides PPD and PPE were expressed in the fetal monkey brain by day 60, and even higher levels were found in day 70 fetuses. Maternal exposure to cocaine increased gene expression of PPD and PPE in the fetus at both day 60 and day 70 of gestation. Dynorphin mRNA levels were significantly elevated in the striatum, whereas enkephalin mRNA was elevated in both the frontal cortex and the striatal area of fetuses whose mothers received cocaine. Changes in the expression of these opioid peptides in presumed dopamine target neurons, which mediate motivation and reward, as well as motor control, provide further evidence for profound consequences of in utero cocaine exposure on the developing dopamine neurocircuitry.
Snow cover and late fall movement influence wood frog survival during an unusually cold winter

Understanding how organisms will respond to altered winter conditions is hampered by a paucity of information on the winter ecology for many species. Amphibians are sensitive to environmental temperature and moisture conditions and may be vulnerable to changes in winter climate. We used a combination of radio telemetry and field enclosures to monitor survival of the freeze-tolerant wood frog (Lithobates sylvaticus) during the unusually cold winter of 2013-2014. We experimentally manipulated snow cover to determine the effect of snow removal on winter survival. In addition, we placed a group of untracked frogs at locations used by tracked frogs prior to long-distance late fall movement to investigate whether late fall movement entailed survival consequences. Winter survival was highest (75.3 %) among frogs at post-movement locations that received natural snow cover. The odds of surviving the winter for frogs in the snow removal treatment was only 21.6 % that of frogs in the natural snow treatment. Likewise, paired frogs placed at pre-fall movement locations had only 35.1 % the odds of surviving as tracked frogs at post-fall movement locations. A comparison of a priori models that included microhabitat conditions measured at wood frog overwintering locations revealed that the minimum temperature experienced and the depth of the frog in the substrate explained additional variation in winter survival. Our results suggest that acute exposure to lethal temperature conditions is the most likely cause of mortality during this study, rather than energy exhaustion or desiccation. They also demonstrate the importance of snow cover to the winter survival of wood frogs.
A method for 3D content creation

This paper proposes a software solution that provides an interface more akin to traditional artistry. A user will be able draw a simple two-dimensional sketch of a figure or object and convert it into a 3D object without having to rebuild the figure from scratch in a 3D development environment. Because such sketches are crude in nature, the newly created figure can be refined by carving details from it using a haptic device, much as a sculptor does with stone or clay. This paper details the problems in developing such a system, and how their solutions were addressed.
Effects of parallelism degree on run-time parallelization of loops

Due to the overhead for exploiting and managing parallelism, run-time loop parallelization techniques with the aim of maximizing parallelism may not necessarily lead to the best performance. In this paper we present two parallelization techniques that exploit different degrees of parallelism for loops with dynamic cross-iteration dependences. The DOALL approach exploits iteration-level parallelism. It restructures the loop into a sequence of do-parallel loops, separated by barrier operations. Iterations of a do-parallel loop are run in parallel. By contrast, the DOACROSS approach exposes fine-grained reference-level parallelism. It allows dependent iterations to be run concurrently by inserting point-to-point synchronization operations to preserve dependences. The DOACROSS approach has variants that identify different amounts of parallelism among consecutive reads to the same memory location. We evaluate the algorithms for loops using various structures, memory access patterns, and computational workloads on symmetric multiprocessors. The algorithms are scheduled using block cyclic decomposition strategies. The experimental results show that the DOACROSS technique outperforms the DOALL, even though the latter is widely used in compile-time parallelization of loops. Of the DOACROSS variants, the algorithm allowing partially concurrent reads performs best because it incurs only slightly more overhead than the algorithm disallowing concurrent reads. The benefit from allowing fully concurrent reads is significant for small loops that do not have enough parallelism. However it is likely to be outweighed by its cost for large loops or loops with light workload.
Model-Building in the New Economic History

Of all varieties of history the economic is the most fundamental. Not the most important: foundations exist to carry better things. How a man lives with his family, his tribe or his fellow-citizens; the songs he sings; what he feels and thinks when he looks at the sunset; the prayers he raises—all these are more important than the nature of his tools, his trick of swapping things with his neighbours, the way he holds and tills his fields, his inventions and their consequences, his money-when he has learnt to use it-his savings and what he does with them [Clapham, 1957: introduction].
Altered rates of protein transport in Arabidopsis mutants deficient in chloroplast membrane unsaturation.

Abstract Protein transfer across membranes is mediated by protein machinery embedded in the membrane. The complement of different lipid classes within a membrane is known to influence the efficiency of some protein translocation processes, but very little is known about whether the fatty acid composition of the membrane bilayer also affects protein transport. We investigated this issue using three mutants of Arabidopsis , fad6 , fad5 , and fad3 fad7 fad8 , that have reduced levels of fatty acid unsaturation in their thylakoid membranes. Interestingly, the effect of reduced unsaturation was different for three distinct pathways of protein transport. In thylakoids from all three mutants, transport of the OE17 protein on the ΔpH/Tat pathway was reduced by up to 50% relative to wild-type controls, when assays were run at 10, 20 or 30 °C. By contrast, transport of the OE33 protein on the Sec pathway was substantially increased in all the mutants at the three temperatures. Transport of the CF O II protein (ATPg) on the ‘spontaneous’ pathway was largely unaffected by reduced unsaturation of the thylakoid membranes. Experiments with intact chloroplasts from wild-type Arabidopsis and the three mutants confirmed these changes in thylakoid transport reactions and also demonstrated an increased rate of protein import across the chloroplast envelope in each of the mutants. This increased capacity of chloroplast protein import may partially compensate for the reduced capacity of thylakoid transport by the ΔpH/Tat pathway. The fad5 , fad6 and fad3 fad7 fad8 mutants used in this study grow normally at 15–20 °C, but exhibit reduced photosynthesis and growth, relative to wild-type controls, at low temperatures (4 °C). The results reported here indicate that protein transport and chloroplast biogenesis may well contribute to these low-temperature phenotypes.
How Japanese partners help US manufacturers to raise productivity

Abstract Cross-border alliances are useful strategies for technological innovation and as a basis for the adaptation of foreign technologies. This study provides evidence that through strategic alliances US automotive firms are effectively adopting manufacturing technologies from Japan, and are adapting them to the US industrial context. The results show that US firms without foreign affiliations use fewer modern manufacturing technologies than US firms with Japanese strategic alliance partners. Furthermore, US firms with Japanese strategic alliance partners believe that manufacturing cycle times for product introduction are more efficient that US firms without foreign affiliations.
Carbohydrate metabolism of lactic acid cultures. IV. Glycolytic and HMS pathway enzymes in Streptococcus lactis and their sensitivity to antibiotics.

Streptococcus lactis possessed glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase, 6-phosphogluconic-dehydrogenase, ribose-5-phosphate isomerase and transketolase enzyme activities. The presence of the previously reported aldolase, lactic dehydrogenase, alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde dehydrogenase activities in the organism was confirmed. These results indicated that carbohydrate metabolism in the organism follows both Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas and Hexose monophosphate shunt pathways. The presence of aldolase, glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconic-dehydrogenase is in accordance with the fact that the organism is a facultative homofermenter.
Eye Evolution: Two Eyes Can Be Better Than One

The development of our eyes is owed in part to ancestral structures which functioned in phototaxis. With the origin of bilateral annelid larva, two eyes co-evolved with neurons to improve phototaxis performance.
Dichotomous Dopaminergic Control of Striatal Synaptic Plasticity

Dopamine (DA) is important to a wide range of striatal functions, including associative learning and habit formation. At synapses between cortical pyramidal neurons and principal striatal medium spiny neurons (MSNs), postsynaptic D1 and D2 DA receptors are postulated to be necessary for the induction of long-term potentiation and depression, respectively. Because these receptors are restricted to two distinct MSN populations, this postulate demands that synaptic plasticity be unidirectional in each cell type. Using brain slices from DA receptor transgenic mice, we show that this is not the case. Rather, DA plays complementary roles in these two types of MSN to ensure that synaptic plasticity is bidirectional and Hebbian. In models of Parkinson's disease, this system is thrown out of balance, leading to unidirectional changes in plasticity that could underlie network pathology and symptoms.
Electronic states in impurity superlattices.

This paper presents a band theory of impurity superlattices that takes into account the atomicity of impurity charges by using a Hamiltonian which is a functional of the probability distribution of donor and acceptor impurities. In this theory, subbands are generated from the symmetry breaking caused by the presence of impurities. Subband structure is determined by means of a canonical transformation. The analysis of electron-photon coupling shows that there is a hierarchy of selection rules for the p.A coupling of subbands
The effects of DHBE and MLA on nicotine-induced enhancement of contextual fear conditioning in C57BL/6 mice.

Rationale Previous research indicates that nicotine administration enhances hippocampus-dependent forms of learning, including contextual fear conditioning. This effect is blocked by mecamylamine, a noncompetitive, broad-spectrum nicotinic receptor antagonist.
PORTABLE SPECKLE INTERFEROMETRY CAMERA SYSTEM

Speckle interferometry of close double stars avoids seeing limitations through a series of diffraction-limited high speed observations made faster than the atmospheric coherence time scale. Electron multiplying CCD cameras have low read noise at high read speeds, making them ideal for speckle interferometry. A portable speckle camera system was developed based on relatively low cost, off-the-shelf components. The camera's modular components can be exchanged to adapt the system to a wide range of telescopes.
Structure multiéchelles et propriétés des matériaux du pneu

Derriere l’aspect uniforme des materiaux du pneu, se devoile a des echelles de quelques nanometres un univers complexe. Une vision physico-chimique du procede de fabrication des melanges donne un eclairage sur la morphologie de repartitions aleatoires de petits objets fractals dans une matrice de polymere. On discute du lien entre les proprietes mecaniques mesurees au niveau macroscopique, la structure aux petites echelles des materiaux et le procede d’obtention de cette structure. On illustre que le couplage entre experiences reelles et virtuelles via la simulation numerique est un atout fort de la demarche scientifique.
Absorption and diffusion measurements of water in acrylic paint films by single-sided NMR

Abstract Artists’ acrylic paint surfaces can accumulate surface grime. Aqueous surface cleaning of these paints can be particularly problematic because they swell upon exposure to water and because of the presence of water extractable additives. Research to determine the parameters of water penetration and swelling as well as the role of the water soluble additives in these phenomena is important in order to understand the leaching mechanism and possibly describe the best conditions for removal of water soluble grime. In this work, the penetration and molecular dynamics of water with different salt concentrations in films of artists’ waterborne acrylic paint were studied for the first time in situ using noninvasive single-sided nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). This novel approach demonstrated that the absorption of water in the acrylic film is independent of the salt concentration, whereas the absorption of water in water-washed acrylic paints, after the water soluble components have been removed, is not only 15% less than unwashed paint films but it also decreases with increasing salt concentration. In addition, the self-diffusion coefficients of water within the acrylic polymeric network were determined and analyzed. The diffusion coefficients of water depend only slightly on the salt concentration and are only marginally influenced by the amount of incorporated surfactants. Thus the diffusion rate of water within the acrylic polymer film appears to be almost independent of the salt concentration or the surfactant content.
CO2 permeability and amorphous fractional free-volume in uniaxially drawn HDPE

The CO2 permeability of uniaxially drawn high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was investigated and drastic changes were observed as a function of draw ratio. An estimation of variations in both density and fractional free volume of the amorphous component in the drawn polymers was made on the basis of experimental data. The dramatic variations in permeability resulting from drawing were shown to be the consequence of changes of fractional free volume in the amorphous phase of the drawn polymer. Good correlation exists between measured solubility and diffusion coefficients of drawn samples and the estimated fractional free volume; this correlation agrees with the existing free volume theory for diffusion in polymers.
FT-IR Studies Of The Folding Of Ribonuclease

FT-IR spectra of ribonuclease A, a small globular enzyme, show the effects of a ribonuclease molecule unfolding and then refolding in deuterium oxide. The deuteration process causes changes in the Amide I and Amide II regions of the spectra that provide information allowing assignment of peaks of the deconvolved Amide I band to secondary structural features.
Influence of Staphylococcus aureus strain-type on mammary quarter milk somatic cell count and N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase activity in cattle from eight dairies

The hypothesis tested was that there are differences in pathogenicity between strains of Staphylococcus aureus that cause bovine mastitis. Mammary quarter milk somatic cell count (SCC) and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAGase) activity were used as indicators of the pathogenicity of different strains of S. aureus that infect the bovine udder. Eight commercial dairy herds with a history of S. aureus in bulk tank milk cultures were studied. Initially, composite foremilk samples were collected from all lactating cattle in each herd and cultured for staphylococci. Subsequently, all cows with a coagulase-positive staphylococcal intramammary infection (IMI) at the initial sampling that were still present in the herd of origin had individual mammary quarter foremilk samples collected. Coagulase-positive staphylococcal isolates were confirmed as S. aureus using a commercial biotyping system. Staphylococcus aureus isolates were strain-typed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Mammary quarter milk SCC and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase activity were determined for each cow. The difference in mean somatic cell count and mean NAGase activity for mammary quarters infected with the same strain of S. aureus and for uninfected quarters on the same cow was calculated. One-way analysis of variance was used to assess differences between strains within a herd. Overall, no significant differences were found between strains, suggesting that the degree of udder parenchymal injury induced by S. aureus IMI is in general significantly affected by factors other than strain type.
Empirical bond‐order potential for hydrocarbons: Adaptive treatment of van der Waals interactions

Bond-order potentials provide a powerful class of models for simulating chemically reactive systems with classical potentials. In these models, the covalent bonding interactions adapt to the environment, allowing bond strength to change in response to local chemical changes. However, the non-bonded interactions should also adapt in response to chemical changes, an effect which is neglected in current bond-order potentials. Here the AIREBO potential is extended to include adaptive Lennard-Jones terms, allowing the van der Waals interactions to vary adaptively with the chemical environment. The resulting potential energy surface and its gradient remain continuous, allowing it to be used for dynamics simulations. This new potential is parameterized for hydrocarbons, and is fit to the energetics and densities of a variety of condensed phase molecular hydrocarbons. The resulting model is more accurate for modeling aromatic and other unsaturated hydrocarbon species, for which the original AIREBO potential had some deficiencies. Testing on compounds not used in the fitting procedure shows that the new model performs substantially better in predicting heats of vaporization and pressures (or densities) of condensed-phase molecular hydrocarbons. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2008
Developmental Regulation of Angiotensinogen Gene Expression in Sheep

It has been suggested that the liver is not the main source of angiotensinogen during fetal life in rats, but that the kidney is an important site of fetal angiotensinogen synthesis. In an effort to determine if this phenomenon is specific to the rat or applicable to other species, we compared the ontogenic changes in hepatic and renal angiotensinogen mRNA expression in fetal (60, 90, 118, and 138 d of gestation, term being 145 d), newborn (7 d postnatal), and adult sheep. Total RNA was extracted, subjected to Northern blotting and hybridized using a full-length rat radiolabeled antisense RNA. Angiotensinogen mRNA sequences were detected in all fetal liver samples and appeared to increase 3-fold from 60 to 138 d gestation and then to decrease after birth. In contrast, angiotensinogen mRNA could not be detected in renal cortical tissue of 118 or 138 d fetuses, or newborn or adult sheep. We conclude that, unlike in the rat, liver angiotensinogen gene expression is detectable during the 2nd trimester of gestation in sheep and is developmentally regulated. Furthermore, in contrast to the fetal rat, angiotensinogen mRNA sequences were undetectable in fetal sheep kidney.
Are we appropriately triaging patients with unstable angina

Background It is uncertain how aggressively patients should be monitored and admitted to the hospital for chest pain syndromes and if the monitoring itself affects patient care, process, or outcomes. We assessed the appropriateness of care based on retrospective analysis of admission bed assignment (nonmonitored vs monitored) and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) risk score in patients from the Global Unstable Angina Registry and Treatment Evaluation (GUARANTEE) Registry. Methods Baseline characteristics, process of care, and outcomes were compared among 2939 patients admitted to 1 of 35 hospitals in the United States. Patients were stratified into low (0-2), intermediate (3 or 4), and high (5-7) risk based on TIMI risk score. Results Among the patients, 92 (3%) were admitted to the cardiac care unit (CCU), 1602 (56%) were admitted to the telemetry unit, and 1163 (41%) were admitted to an unmonitored bed. Paradoxically, high-risk patients comprised only 1% of those in the CCU, 5% of those in telemetry, and 10% of those in nonmonitored units. Conversely, low-risk patients were 64% of those in the CCU, 53% of those in telemetry, and 42% of those in unmonitored beds. Procedures were done more often on patients admitted to nonmonitored units than those on telemetry or in the CCU irrespective of TIMI risk score. Conclusions This registry suggests that triage of patients does not routinely follow the risk-based approach suggested in the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association guidelines and could therefore potentially lead to inefficiencies in care. Better implementation of risk stratification for acute coronary syndrome evaluation and management is necessary. (Am Heart J 2005;149:1-6.)
Impact of the Film, “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest,” on Attitudes towards Mental Illness

Films have been neglected by psychologists, yet their powerful impact is shown in a field study of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Prior to the release of this film, 146 college students were admi...
N-type ohmic contact on type-II InAs/GaSb strained layer superlattices

Different metallisation schemes for the formation of n-type ohmic contact on type-II InAs/GaSb strained layer superlattice material are reported. The specific contact resistance of metal contacts was evaluated by the transfer length method. The Ge(282A)/Au(547A)/Ni (50A)/Pt(470A)/Au(2001A) contact yielded a specific contact resistance of 1.6×10−5 Ωcm2 (rapid thermal anneal, 380°C, 60 s).
Analysis of the Uniform Accident and Sickness Policy Provision Law: Lessons for Social Work Practice, Policy, and Research

The Uniform Accident and Sickness Policy Provision Law (UPPL) is a state statute that allows insurance companies in 26 states to deny claims for accidents and injuries incurred by persons under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Serious repercussions can result for patients and health care professionals as states enforce this law. To examine differences within the laws that might facilitate amendments or reduce insurance companies' ability to deny claims, a content analysis was carried out of each state's UPPL law. Results showed no meaningful differences between each state's laws. These results indicate patients and health professionals share similar risk related to the UPPL regardless of state.
Structural Similitude and Scaling Laws for Buckling of Cross-Ply Laminated Plates

The increasing use of laminated composite components for a wide variety of applications in aerospace, mechanical, and other branches of engineering requires extensive experimental evaluation of any new design. Thus, it is extremely useful if a fullscale structure can be replaced by a similar scaled-down model, which is much easier to work with. The objective of this study is to investigate problems associated with the design of scaled models. Similitude theory is employed to develop the necessary similarity conditions. Both complete and partial similarity are discussed. The procedure consists of systematically observing the effect of each parameter and corresponding scaling laws. Then acceptable intervals and limitations for these parameters and scaling laws are discussed. In each case, a set of valid scaling factors and corresponding response scaling laws that accurately predict the response of prototypes from experimental models is introduced. Particular emphasis is placed on the cases of buckling of re...
Grain boundary segregation of phosphorus and

This paper reports a study of grain boundary segregation of phosphorus and sulfur in types 304L and 316L stainless steel. Phosphorus was found to segregate in both alloys, but the amount of segregation depended on several factors. These included the time and temperature of the aging heat treatment, the total composition of the steel, and compositional banding. Sulfur was usually precipitated as chromium-rich sulfides and the amount of elemental segregation was low. The correlation between segregation of phosphorus and corrosion in the Huey test was not exact. This fact appeared to result from the contribution of other microstructural elements to the corrosion process.