cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Serum lipase determination using a one-hour period of hyrolysis

Abstract 1. 1. Optimum conditions have been determined for the measurement of serum lipase with respect to emulsifying agent, buffer, pH of hydrolyzate, and time of hydrolysis. 2. 2. The procedure developed makes use of the first hour of hydrolysis of triglyceride. 3. 3. Normal human serum lipase values range from 2 to 12 units per milliliter. A unit is the amount of enzyme that catalyzes the liberation of 1 μmole of fatty acid from triolein or olive oil in 1 hr per milliliter of serum. 4. 4. In acute pancreatitis markedly elevated serum lipase values were observed when determined with olive oil as substrate.
Molecular Dynamics and Calcium Binding Studies on Troponin C

Troponin C (TnC) is part of the myofilament complex in both cardiac and skeletal muscle cells. It initiates myofilament contraction upon calcium binding. Here we focus on elucidating the dynamics of the cardiac regulatory domain of TnC in response to calcium as well as troponin I (TnI) binding. Both classical and accelerated molecular dynamics simulations are performed on an apo, a calcium-bound and a calcium-TnI-bound system. Conformational sampling between the two simulation methods is compared. Using a principle component analysis the conformations sampled by the different system are compared. NMR order parameters and chemical shifts are calculated based on the simulations. Agreement with experimental observables suggests that a substantial amount of the protein’s native dynamics is sampled by the simulations. Brownian dynamics simulations of calcium association with TnC on representative structures from the molecular dynamics simulations diffusion limited calcium association rates in agreement with experimental measurements. The gating regime for calcium association is investigated using Brownian dynamics simulations on representative intermediate structures.
Examining Autism Spectrum Disorders by Biomarkers: Example From the Oxytocin and Serotonin Systems

Objective Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a heritable but highly heterogeneous neuropsychiatric syndrome, which poses challenges for research relying solely on behavioral symptoms or diagnosis. Examining biomarkers may give us ways to identify individuals who demonstrate specific developmental trajectories and etiological factors related to ASD. Plasma oxytocin (OT) and whole-blood serotonin (5-HT) levels are consistently altered in some individuals with ASD. Reciprocal relationships have been described between brain oxytocin and serotonin systems during development. We therefore investigated the relationship between these peripheral biomarkers as well as their relationships with age. Method In our first study, we analyzed correlations between these two biomarkers in 31 children and adolescents who were diagnosed with autism and were not on medications. In our second study, we explored whether whole-blood 5-HT levels are altered in mice lacking the oxytocin receptor gene Oxtr . Results In humans, OT and 5-HT were negatively correlated with each other ( p Oxtr showed increased whole-blood 5-HT levels ( p = .05), with this effect driven exclusively by mice less than 4 months old ( p Conclusions Identifying relationships between identified ASD biomarkers may be a useful approach to connect otherwise disparate findings that span multiple systems in this heterogeneous disorder. Using neurochemical biomarkers to perform parallel studies in animal and human populations within a developmental context is a plausible approach to probe the root causes of ASD and to identify potential interventions.
Crossarray Beamforming with a Parametric Receiving Array and a Line Array

A beamforming technique involving cross correlation of the outputs of two directional arrays is investigated. The performance characteristics of the crossarray system are determined and related to the characteristics of the two individual arrays. It is found that the crossarray beam pattern is the average (in decibels) of the beam patterns of the individual arrays, and that the crossarray gain (rejection of spatially distributed noise) is 1.5 dB greater than the average (in decibels) of the individual array gains. The most interesting applications for this system may be those where the two arrays are quite different, as in the case of a parametric acoustic receiving array (PARRAY) and a broadside line array.
Acute Pancreatitis: The Role of Diagnostic Imaging

In the U.S., acute pancreatitis is usually caused by excessive consumption of ethanol or by biliary stone disease. Major pathologic finding and complications include fluid collections within the organ or the adjacent peripancreatic tissues, pseudocysts, pancreatic necrosis, pseudoaneurysm, and abscess formation. Radiologic imaging, including endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), sonography, and computed tomography (CT), are important in the evaluation of acute pancreatitis and its complications. CT in particular also aids in grading the severity of acute pancreatitis and in predicting complications and mortality; however, CT correlation with Ranson's clinical prognostic factors or with other classification systems is less clear. The imaging and therapeutic aspects of acute pancreatitis are discussed and illustrated and prognostic factors are correlated.
Vessel Entry-Exit Behavior in the Gulf of Mexico Shrimp Fishery

Given the heterogeneous nature of the fishing fleet and complex vessel behavior, traditional marginalist supply models are not well suited for modeling vessel mobility. A discrete choice model is utilized here to predict the probability that a vessel will enter, exit, or remain in the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery based on a myopic profit maximization criterion. The multinomial logit model indicates that fisherman behavior is not influenced by stock variability. The crowding externality as represented by size of fishing fleet exhibits a strong negative impact on the probability of entry, independent of changes in abundance, exvessel prices, or harvest costs. The Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery was not an autonomous system of fishing vessels as initially believed.
A fault tolerant VLSI implementation of a nuclear control rod controller

The authors present a VLSI implementation of a control system used for automatic control of control rods in a typical nuclear power station. Fast, efficient, and reliable control over the control rods is achieved. The design is divided into two VLSI chips that form the heart of a hybrid redundant scheme for fault tolerance. The layout was generated using the MOSIS (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Implementation Service) CMOS 1-2- mu m process design rules. >
Performance analysis of Optical Packet Switches enhanced with electronic buffering

Optical networks with Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM), especially Optical Packet Switching (OPS) networks, have attracted much attention in recent years. However, OPS is still not yet ready for deployment, which is mainly because of its high packet loss ratio at the switching nodes. Since it is very difficult to reduce the loss ratio to an acceptable level by only using all-optical methods, in this paper, we propose a new type of optical switching scheme for OPS which combines optical switching with electronic buffering. In the proposed scheme, the arrived packets that do not cause contentions are switched to the output fibers directly; other packets are switched to shared receivers and converted to electronic signals and will be stored in the buffer until being sent out by shared transmitters. We focus on performance analysis of the switch, and with both analytical models and simulations, we show that to dramatically improve the performance of the switch, for example, reducing the packet loss ratio from 10−2 to close to 10−6, very few receivers and transmitters are needed to be added to the switch. Therefore, we believe that the proposed switching scheme can greatly improve the practicability of OPS networks.
Formation of [M — C2H4]+· in O‐d1‐butyric acid

The mass spectrum of CH3CH2CH2COOD shows no observable loss of C2H3D. This indicates for this compound that either the McLafferty rearrangement is concerted, or that the second step (olefin loss) is very fast in comparison to the reverse transfer of hydrogen back to the methylene radical.
A radionuclide generator for the production of211Pb and its daughters

211Pb and its daughters are produced in a generator system which utilizes the distillation of the intermediate daughter219Rn from223Ra. The radium is precipitated as the stearate to isolate the parent while allowing the gaseous daughter to emanate. While the yield of the system is low, approximately 10%, the radionuclidic purity is extremely high. No measurable223Ra is found in the product.223Ra is separated from its parent,227Ac, by cation exchange.
Do Young Women Expect Gender Equality in Their Future Lives? An Answer From a Possible Selves Experiment

This study examined young women’s expectations about gender equality in their future careers and marriages. The study implemented a possible selves method in which 114 undergraduate women from a Midwestern university in the United States were randomly assigned to envision themselves as married mothers employed either full-time, part-time, or not at all and possessing either an advanced degree or a bachelor’s degree. Participants indicated their expectations for gender equality by estimating their own and their future husbands’ expected salaries and hours per week of housework and employment. They also evaluated their possible selves and estimated their emotional well-being and likely attainment of several important life goals. Greater employment produced greater expected gender equality, although in all conditions participants expected to have lesser salary and more domestic work than their husbands. With employment, compared with no employment, and with an advanced degree, compared with a bachelor’s degree, participants rated their possible selves more positively and estimated that they would have greater emotional well-being and attainment of life goals related to respect and finances. However, employment negatively affected participants’ anticipated relationships with their children. Thus, our participants’ reactions displayed a tradeoff between satisfying their employment goals and their goals for their relationship with their children.
In vivo regulation of Na/Ca exchanger expression by adrenergic effectors.

The Na/Ca exchanger encoded by the NCX1gene plays an important role in calcium homeostasis in cardiac muscle. We previously identified three in vitro signaling pathways that are of major importance...
Egg consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes in older adults

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) remains an important public health issue in the United States. There are limited and inconsistent data on the association between egg consumption and fasting glucose or incident diabetes. Objectives: We assessed the association between egg intake and incident diabetes in older adults. Design: In this prospective study of 3898 men and women from the Cardiovascular Health Study (1989–2007), we assessed egg consumption by using a picture-sorted food questionnaire and ascertained incident T2D annually by using information on hypoglycemic agents and plasma glucose. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate adjusted relative risks. Results: During a mean follow-up of 11.3 y, 313 new cases of T2D occurred. Crude incidence rates of T2D were 7.39, 6.83, 7.00, 6.72, and 12.20 per 1000 person-years in people who reported egg consumption of never, <1 egg/mo, 1–3 eggs/mo, 1–4 eggs/wk, and almost daily, respectively. In multivariable-adjusted models, there was no association between egg consumption and increased risk of T2D in either sex and overall. In a secondary analysis, dietary cholesterol was not associated with incident diabetes (P for trend = 0.47). In addition, egg consumption was not associated with clinically meaningful differences in fasting glucose, fasting insulin, or measures of insulin resistance despite small absolute analytic differences that were significant. Conclusion: In this cohort of older adults with limited egg intake, there was no association between egg consumption or dietary cholesterol and increased risk of incident T2D.
A meta‐analytic investigation of contrast effects in decision making

Several theoretical perspectives and numerous experiments illustrate the influence of context on social judgment. Debate ensues, however, when researchers attempt to describe mechanisms that lead persons to contrast current decisions with prior judgments. The purpose of this study is to summarize and qualify prior analyses of the influences of context on judgment. Procedural conditions, stimuli type, and priming conditions are implicated as factors that moderate the main effect of extremity on contrastive judgments. Meta-analytical methods assess the main effect and moderators of contrastive judgments. Discussion of the results focuses on the implications of the study for theory of contrastive judgments and strategy. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Self-organized maps based spectral prediction of Rotylenchulus reniformis numbers

Rotylenchulus reniformis nematodes present in the soil are one of the major nematode parasite species significantly affecting the growth and development of cotton plants. Recent studies have shown that the nematode numbers in the plant's rhizosphere has direct impact on the reflectance of the plants. In this paper, authors utilize this correlation in developing a field worthy methodology for predicting nematode population number extant in the plant's rhizosphere from variable plant's reflectance. To accomplish this task, a supervised Self-organized map (SOM) was trained using the hyperspectral data signatures of cotton plants affected by different known nematode numbers. The hyperspectral signatures used for training were collected from the cotton plants grown in controlled environment. Twelve field samples (uncontrolled environment) with known nematode numbers obtained from lab analysis of the soil were presented to the supervised trained Self-Organized Map. The location of the sample on the labeled supervised-SOM was used to determine the estimated nematode population of the field sample. In addition to the map grid, the locations of the samples were also visualized using U-matrix, to determine whether the samples were not corrupt or located in the junk part of the map. In addition to the primary goal, hyperspectral signatures of both training and testing data were divided into three sub-regions: Visible region, NIR region and Mid-IR region to observe whether any particular region was the most effective in predicting nematode population.
Computer models of auxin transport: a review and commentary

With the recent proliferation of computer models of auxin transport, it is important that plant biologists understand something about these techniques and how to evaluate them. The paper begins with a brief introduction to the parts of a computer model, followed by a discussion of the limitations of the most common auxin modelling technique. Lastly, several recent models of organ initiation in the shoot apical meristem (i.e. phyllotaxis) are reviewed. The cell and molecular biology of phyllotaxis is now understood well enough that computer models can go beyond a simple 'proof of principle' and start to provide insights into gene function.
CD11a Is Essential for Normal Development of Hematopoietic Intermediates

The process of lymphopoiesis begins in the bone marrow (BM) and requires multiple cellular intermediates. For T cell production, lymphoid progenitors exit the BM and home to the thymus where maturation and selection ensue. These processes are dependent on a number of factors, including chemokines and adhesion molecules. Although the β2 integrin CD11a plays an important role in the migration of lymphocytes to lymph nodes, the role of CD11a in T cell development is largely undefined. Our studies now show that, in CD11a(-/-) mice, thymic cellularity was decreased and early T cell development was partially impaired. Remarkably, CD11a was critical for generation of common lymphoid progenitors (CLPs) and lymphoid-primed multipotent progenitors. However, in intact CD11a(-/-) mice, peripheral B and T cell subsets were only modestly altered, suggesting that compensatory mechanisms were operating. In contrast, competitive BM-reconstitution assays revealed an essential role for CD11a in the generation of thymocytes and mature T and B cells. This defect was linked to the requirement for CD11a in the development of CLPs. Furthermore, our results identified CLPs, and not lymphoid-primed multipotent progenitors, as the requisite CD11a-dependent precursor for lymphocyte development. Thus, these findings established a key role for CD11a in lymphopoiesis.
Effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted infections

In June 2000, the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH) organized a review of the scientific evidence on the effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The review concluded that condoms were effective in protecting against transmission of HIV to women and men and in reducing the risk of men becoming infected with gonorrhoea. Evidence for the effectiveness of condoms in preventing other STIs was considered to be insufficient. We review the findings of prospective studies published after June 2000 that evaluated the effectiveness of condoms in preventing STIs. We searched Medline for publications in English and included other articles, reports, and abstracts of which we were aware. These prospective studies, published since June 2000, show that condom use is associated with statistically significant protection of men and women against several other types of STIs, including chlamydial infection, gonorrhoea, herpes simplex virus type 2, and syphilis. Condoms may also be associated with protecting women against trichomoniasis. While no published prospective study has found protection against genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, two studies reported that condom use was associated with higher rates of regression of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and clearance of cervical HPV infection in women and with regression of HPV-associated penile lesions in men. Research findings available since the NIH review add considerably to the evidence of the effectiveness of condoms against STIs. Although condoms are not 100% effective, partial protection can substantially reduce the spread of STIs within populations.
Modeling Process Variability in Scaled CMOS Technology

Process variability has become a critical issue in scaled CMOS design. This article provides a comprehensive view on the predominant variation sources in sub-90-nm devices, their impact on device and circuit performance, and various modeling approaches for statistical circuit analysis.
Dietary and Plasma Magnesium and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease Among Women

Background Magnesium is associated with lower risk of sudden cardiac death, possibly through antiarrhythmic mechanisms. Magnesium influences endothelial function, inflammation, blood pressure, and diabetes, but a direct relation with coronary heart disease (CHD) risk has not been established. Methods and Results We prospectively examined the association between dietary and plasma magnesium and risk of CHD among women in the Nurses' Health Study. The association for magnesium intake was examined among 86 323 women free of disease in 1980. Information on magnesium intake and lifestyle factors was ascertained every 2 to 4 years through questionnaires. Through 2008, 3614 cases of CHD (2511 nonfatal/1103 fatal) were documented. For plasma magnesium, we conducted a nested case–control analysis, with 458 cases of incident CHD (400 nonfatal/58 fatal) matched to controls (1:1) on age, smoking, fasting status, and date of blood sampling. Higher magnesium intake was not associated with lower risk of total CHD ( P -linear trend=0.12) or nonfatal CHD ( P -linear trend=0.88) in multivariable models. However, magnesium intake was inversely associated with risk of fatal CHD. The RR comparing quintile 5 to quintile 1 of magnesium intake was 0.61 (95% CI, 0.45 to 0.84; P -linear trend=0.003). The association between magnesium intake and risk of fatal CHD appeared to be mediated partially by hypertension. Plasma magnesium levels above 2.0 mg/dL were associated with lower risk of CHD, although not independent of other cardiovascular biomarkers (RR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.44 to 1.04). Conclusions Dietary and plasma magnesium were not associated with total CHD incidence in this population of women. Dietary magnesium intake was inversely associated with fatal CHD, which may be mediated in part by hypertension.
Development of Zero-Link Polymers of Hemoglobin, Which do not Extravasate and do not Induce Pressure Increases upon Infusion

Intramolecular crosslink of hemoglobin tetramers solved the problem of urine elimination and short intravascular retention time of cell free hemoglobin infusion. It also produced a family of crosslinked hemoglobins with P50 between 18 and 30 mmHg. However, it did not solve the problem of MAP increases in infused animals. It was proven that extravasation of hemoglobin into interstitial fluid was responsible for MAP increases. Extravasation and the MAP increase was avoided using a hemoglobin polymer with average size near 25 MDa. In spite of a very high oxygen affinity, this polymer delivered oxygen to tissues, producing either vasodilation or vasoconstriction according to oxygen needs. It was also proven that cell free hemoglobins are more efficient than red cells in delivering oxygen to tissues.
GENETIC CONTROL OF THE IMMUNE RESPONSE TO MYOGLOBIN: XVI. CONTROL OF ANTIBODIES WITH PRESELECTED SPECIFICITIES FOLLOWING IMMUNIZATION WITH FREE SYNTHETIC PEPTIDES REPRESENTING THE ANTIGENIC SITES OR SURFACE NON-IMMUNOGENIC LOCATIONS IN THE PROTEIN

Previous studies in this laboratory have resulted in the determination of the antigenic structure of myoglobin. The present work was carried out to investigate the genetic control of the murine antibody response to myoglobin following immunization with free (i.e., not coupled to a carrier) synthetic antigenic sites or other peptides corresponding to surface regions of myoglobin that are not immunogenic when the native molecule is the immunizing antigen. Synthetic peptides corresponding to antigenic site 1 (peptide 15-22), site 2 (peptide 56-62), site 3 (peptide 94-100), site 4 (peptide 113-120), site 5 (peptide 145-151) and two surface regions, peptide 1-6 and peptide 121-127, were injected in complete Freund's adjuvant in different strains of mice. Serum antibodies specific for myoglobin were subsequently obtained and were measured by means of a radioimmune plate binding assay in which Mb was used as the solid phase antigen. It was found that the genetic control of the antibody response to myoglobin following immunization with the free synthetic peptides was different from the genetic control obtained following immunization with native myoglobin. The significance of this finding is discussed.
Investigating the relationship between mitochondrial genetic variation and cardiovascular-related traits to develop a framework for mitochondrial phenome-wide association studies

Mitochondria play a critical role in the cell and have DNA independent of the nuclear genome. There is much evidence that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation plays a role in human health and disease, however, this area of investigation has lagged behind research into the role of nuclear genetic variation on complex traits and phenotypic outcomes. Phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS) investigate the association between a wide range of traits and genetic variation. To date, this approach has not been used to investigate the relationship between mtDNA variants and phenotypic variation. Herein, we describe the development of a PheWAS framework for mtDNA variants (mt-PheWAS). Using the Metabochip custom genotyping array, nuclear and mitochondrial DNA variants were genotyped in 11,519 African Americans from the Vanderbilt University biorepository, BioVU. We employed both polygenic modeling and association testing with mitochondrial single nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs) to explore the relationship between mtDNA variants and a group of eight cardiovascular-related traits obtained from de-identified electronic medical records within BioVU. Using polygenic modeling we found evidence for an effect of mtDNA variation on total cholesterol and type 2 diabetes (T2D). After performing comprehensive mitochondrial single SNP associations, we identified an increased number of single mtSNP associations with total cholesterol and T2D compared to the other phenotypes examined, which did not have more significantly associated SNPs than would be expected by chance. Among the mtSNPs significantly associated with T2D we identified variant mt16189, an association previously reported only in Asian and European-descent populations. Our replication of previous findings and identification of novel associations from this initial study suggest that our mt-PheWAS approach is robust for investigating the relationship between mitochondrial genetic variation and a range of phenotypes, providing a framework for future mt-PheWAS.
A Country Auction

. Country Auction: The Paul V. Lettzel Estate Sale 1984.By Robert Aibel. Ben Levin. Chris Musello and Jay Ruby. Time: 56:00. Color. Purchase price: $80.00 for vhs; $100 for 3/4" Video; $760 for 16mm film. Rental price (3 day Rental period): $13.00 for vhs; $34.50 for 16mm Film. Available from the pennsylvania state University, audio-visual services, special services Building, 1127 fox hill road, university park, pa 16802.Tel. 814 865 6314 fax. 814 863 2574.
A dynamic system model of biogeography-based optimization

Abstract: We derive a dynamic system model for biogeography-based optimization (BBO) that is asymptotically exact as the population size approaches infinity. The states of the dynamic system are equal to the proportion of each individual in the population; therefore, the dimension of the dynamic system is equal to the search space cardinality of the optimization problem. The dynamic system model allows us to derive the proportion of each individual in the population for a given optimization problem using theory rather than simulation. The results of the dynamic system model are more precise than simulation, especially for individuals that are very unlikely to occur in the population. Since BBO is a generalization of a certain type of genetic algorithm with global uniform recombination (GAGUR), an additional contribution of our work is a dynamic system model for GAGUR. We verify our dynamic system models with simulation results. We also use the models to compare BBO, GAGUR, and a GA with single-point crossover (GASP) for some simple problems. We see that with small mutation rates, as are typically used in real-world problems, BBO generally results in better optimization results than GAs for the problems that we investigate.
Comparison of the spectra and dynamics of Er3+:Y2−xScxO3 (x = 0, 1, 2)

We have studied the spectra and lifetimes of Er3+ in the isostructural series, Y2O3, YScO3. Addition of Sc3+ to Er3+:Y2O3 shifted the energy level positions, changed the inhomogeneous broadening and shortened the fluorescence lifetimes for Er3+ in the C2 site. Going from Er3+:Y2O3 to Er3+: Sc2O3 increased the barycenter of the four lowest J-multiples, decreased the barycenter of the 4F92 and higher multiplets, and increased the crystal-field splitting within each J-multiplet. The inhomogenous line widths in the Er3+:YScO3 spectra were much larger than in Er3+:Y2O3 or Er3+: Sc2O3 due to random substitutional disorder in the mixed system. The random disorder in Er3+:YScO3 removed the inversion symmetry of the C31 lattice site and allowed observation of transitions from Er3+ ions in this site. All fluorescence lifetimes decreased with addition of Sc3+ indicating an increase in the nonradiative relaxation.
Molecular basis of mechanotransduction

Fluid shear stress resulting from blood flow can modulate vascular endothelial cell (EC) functions by sequentially activating the mechano-sensors, intracellular signaling pathways, and specific transcription factors to modulate gene and protein expressions, hence cellular functions. The vascular endothelial growth factor receptor Flk-l on the luminal side ofECs and the integrins on the abluminal side have been shown to be mechano-sensors. Other potential EC membrane mechano-sensors are G-protein coupled receptors, ion channels, and intercellular junction proteins. The activation of these mechano-sensors by shear stress leads to the triggering of phosphorylation cascades of signaling molecules such as the Ras-JNK signaling pathway to mediate the shear-activation of the expression of monocyte chemotactic protein-l (MCP-l) gene and protein. A sustained application of laminar shear stress results in only a transient activation of MCP-I expression followed by its down-regulation. Sustained laminar shear stress also activates the genes that inhibit EC proliferation. When ECs are subjected to complex flow patterns seen in the vascular branch points, the down-regulation of MCP-l in response to long-term laminar flow does not occur; the resultant sustained activation of MCP-I and other atherogenic genes contributes to the preferential localization of atherosclerosis in areas with complex flow. The accelerated EC turnover in areas with complex flow leads to enhanced low density lipoprotein (LDL) permeability. Temporal and spatial variations in shear stress and flow pattern play important roles in modulating endothelial functions. Interdisciplinary studies at the interface of biomedical sciences and engineering mechanics help to enhance our understanding of the fundamental process of mechano-chemical transduction and the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying cardiovascular diseases.
Production of Portal Hypertension and Esophageal Varices in the Mouse

SummaryA useful technic for producing portal hypertension and esophageal varices in the laboratory animal has been described. Ten weeks following infection of mice with S. mansoni, there was a significant increase in portal pressure in 51% of our animals, and the development of esophageal varices in 43%.
Die Moderation politischer Gesprächsrunden im Fernsehen

Im Fernsehen hat sich eine grose Zahl politischer Gesprachsrunden etabliert, die ein populares Medium fur politische Kommunikationsprozesse bilden. Medienkritiker beklagen, dass es den Sendungen an inhaltlicher Substanz fehle und sie zu einer Deformation offentlicher Diskurse beitrugen. Die Qualitat von Gesprachsrunden ist zu Teilen abhangig von der journalistischen Leistung ihrer Moderatoren. Kritiker werfen ihnen ungenugendes Engagement, unkritische Interviewfuhrung und Mangel an Fragen vor, die eine vernunftige Diskussion stimulieren konnten. Den gangigen Kritiken stehen aber nur wenige empirische Studien gegenuber, die systematisch quantitative Daten uber die Sendungen liefern. Der groste Teil der Forschung hat sich bisher auf Fernsehinterviews und Diskussionsrunden unmittelbar vor oder nach Wahlen bezogen. Dieser Aufsatz nimmt dagegen die Leistung der Moderatoren in regularen politischen Fernsehrunden in den Blick. In einer Inhaltsanalyse werden je zehn Ausgaben von »Sabine Christiansen«, »Berlin Mitte«, »Presseclub« und »19:zehn« untersucht. Die Studie zeigt eine bedeutsame Varianz im Ausmas journalistischer Aktivitaten, sowohl zwischen den vier Sendereihen als auch innerhalb ein und derselben Reihe. Obwohl einige kritische Diagnosen gestutzt werden, weist die Analyse auf die Notwendigkeit hin, signifikante Unterschiede in der Moderationsleistung zu beachten.
Galatians 3:1 as an Allusion to Textual Prophecy

As he admonishes the Galatians for their alleged sympathy to a different gospel, Paul makes a curious statement in 3:1b about having visually portrayed Jesus Christ crucified while among them. The meaning of the clause hinges on the sense of the verb προeγράφη. Despite an exact parallel in Rom 15:4 in reference to prophecies “forewritten” in the Judean writings, an overwhelming scholarly consensus construes this clause as “to proclaim or exhibit publicly” and, in turn, views it as an illustration of Paul's vivid rhetorical style. This interpretation has a long history but has gained further support in recent decades, as numerous Pauline scholars have argued for the apostle's familiarity with conventions of classical rhetoric. I argue, however, that the verse's immediate and wider context supports a predictive rendering of the key verb and also that this sense has in the past been excluded on questionable grounds that anticipate its rhetorical framework. Rather, I consider 3:1b an important piece of evidence for the role of textual practices within Paul's religious program, one that aids in situating him amid a broader phenomenon of divination from ostensibly prophetic literary corpora as well as a particular class of religious activity.
Chain Store Merchandising Policies for Ethnic Hair Care Products in a Major Urban Market1

Merchandise policies are compared for hair care products in two drugstore and two supermarket chains in Washington, D.C. Based on an area sample of stores, responses of store managers are reported along with data on shelf exposure in evaluating the performance of ethnic and non-ethnic product categories. The results provide a basis for interpreting the managerial implications of current merchandising policies for marketing Black hair care products.
Colorectal Cancer: Management of Local Recurrence

Local recurrence after surgery for colorectal cancer remains a challenging clinical problem. Modern imaging has allowed for better patient selection and gives the surgeon a higher degree of certainty about his or her ability to achieve a curative resection. Indications for surgery in patients with local recurrence have expanded to include patients with higher sacral involvement and extensive pelvic sidewall disease. Given the risks associated with increasingly more complex operations, several centers around the world have developed organized multidisciplinary teams of expert surgeons to make operating safer and more efficient. Surgery that achieves a negative-margin resection remains the universal predictor of oncologic outcome in patients with local recurrence. Improved surgical technique and the appropriate use of chemotherapy and radiation have led to increasingly better oncologic outcomes over the past 20 years. Postoperative morbidity remains high in patients with local recurrence and negatively impacts their quality of life. New strategies to mitigate morbidity should be the focus of future research.
Hypoglycemia during moderate intensity exercise reduces counterregulatory responses to subsequent hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia, which occurs commonly during and following exercise in people with diabetes, is thought to be due to attenuated counterregulation in the setting of therapeutic insulin excess. To better understand the pathophysiology of counterregulation, we aimed to determine if dextrose administration to maintain euglycemia during moderate intensity exercise alters the attenuation of counterregulatory responses to subsequent hypoglycemia in healthy adults . Counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia were assessed in 18 healthy adults after bed rest and following exercise with ( n = 9 ) and without ( n = 9 ) dextrose infusion. Responses were measured during a stepped euglycemic‐hypoglycemic clamp 24 h after either bed rest or two 90‐min bouts of exercise at 70% peak oxygen uptake . Hypoglycemia occurred during the second bout of exercise without dextrose infusion. Plasma glucagon and epinephrine responses to stepped hypoglycemia after antecedent exercise without dextrose infusion were significantly lower at the 45 mg/dL glycemic level compared to after bed rest. However, no attenuation of the counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia was evident after antecedent exercise when dextrose was infused. This study suggests that the attenuation of the counterregulatory responses during hypoglycemia after exercise is likely due to the hypoglycemia that occurs during moderate prolonged exercise and not solely due to exercise or its intensity.
The Psychology of Close Relationships: Fourteen Core Principles.

Relationship science is a theory-rich discipline, but there have been no attempts to articulate the broader themes or principles that cut across the theories themselves. We have sought to fill that void by reviewing the psychological literature on close relationships, particularly romantic relationships, to extract its core principles. This review reveals 14 principles, which collectively address four central questions: (a) What is a relationship? (b) How do relationships operate? (c) What tendencies do people bring to their relationships? (d) How does the context affect relationships? The 14 principles paint a cohesive and unified picture of romantic relationships that reflects a strong and maturing discipline. However, the principles afford few of the sorts of conflicting predictions that can be especially helpful in fostering novel theory development. We conclude that relationship science is likely to benefit from simultaneous pushes toward both greater integration across theories (to reduce redundancy...
Food Allergen Testing: Molecular, Immunochemical, and Chromatographic Techniques, by George Siragakis and Dimosthenis Kizis

“Food allergens are a series of agents, mainly proteins, which cause various unpleasant and sometimes clinical symptoms in humans through consumption of foods.”Twenty international experts contribu...
Software Engineering of Deceptive Software and Systems

This chapter considers further details in how to implement the deceptions described in this book. For readers interested in still more details, Heckman et al. (2015) provides a detailed top-down view of deception planning, and Bodmer et al. (2012) offers useful alternative approaches to operationalizing deception. Heckman et al. (2015) situates cyberdeception in the context of military operations planning, and Bodmer et al. (2012) is a good resource for people on the front lines of cyberattacks.
Pharmcokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of the Fluoroquinolones

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics of commonly utilized fluoroquinolones (ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, trovafloxacin, moxifloxacin, and gatifloxacin) and gemifloxacin (a fluoroquinolone in clinical phase-development stages in the United States). Maximal bactericidal effects are achieved when fluoroquinolones arrives at and remain in tissues occupied by the pathogen. This usually results in successful clinical outcomes and is dependent on optimizing concentration and occupancy times of antibiotics in affected tissues without disturbing other noninfected mammalian tissues. Fluoroquinolones, especially the newer ones, have considerable and practical pharmacokinetic features, including excellent oral absorption, excellent tissue distribution, significant interstitial fluid levels, substantial phagocytic cellular levels, and long half-lives. Fluoroquinolones achieve good penetration into respiratory tract tissues. High drug concentrations of bronchial mucosa, alveolar macrophage, and epithelial lining fluid indicate good penetration into the respiratory tract system. Good tissue penetration of fluoroquinolones into kidney, prostate tissue, and gynecologic tissue is also well documented. This characteristic offers a justification for the use of fluoroquinolones in the treatment of urinary tract or gynecologic infections. Most fluoroquinolones are eliminated primarily by hepatic elimination (metabolism or biotransformation) and renal excretion. Ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, gatifloxacin, and gemifloxacin are highly dependent on renal elimination. Glomerular filtration and active tubular secretion represent major renal excretion pathways. Trovafloxacin primarily relies on hepatic elimination.
Data-dependent evaluator modeling and its application to emotional valence classification from speech.

Practical supervised learning scenarios involving subjectively evaluated data have multiple evaluators, each giving their noisy version of the hidden ground truth. Majority logic combination of labels assumes equally skilled evaluators, and is generally suboptimal. Previously proposed models have assumed data independent evaluator behavior. This paper presents a data dependent evaluator model, and an algorithm to jointly learn evaluator behavior and a classifier. This model is based on the intuition that real world evaluators have varying performance depending on the data. Experiments on an emotional valence classification task show modest performance improvements of the proposed algorithm as compared to the majority logic baseline and a data independent evaluator model. But more critically, the algorithm also provides accurate estimates of individual evaluator performance, thus paving the way for incorporating active learning, evaluator feedback and unreliable data detection.
mTOR Inhibition Mitigates Molecular and Biochemical Alterations of Vigabatrin-Induced Visual Field Toxicity in Mice.

Abstract Background Gamma-vinyl–γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) (vigabatrin) is an antiepileptic drug and irreversible GABA transaminase inhibitor associated with visual field impairment, which limits its clinical utility. We sought to relate altered visual evoked potentials associated with vigabatrin intake to transcriptional changes in the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway and GABA receptors to expose further mechanisms of vigabatrin-induced visual field loss. Methods Vigabatrin was administered to mice via an osmotic pump for two weeks to increase GABA levels. Visual evoked potentials were examined, eye samples were collected, and gene expression was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Similarly, human retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE19) were exposed to vigabatrin and treated with mTOR inhibitors for mTOR pathway analysis and to assess alterations in organelle accumulation by microscopy. Results Dysregulated expression of transcripts in the mTOR pathway, GABA A/B receptors, metabotropic glutamate (Glu) receptors 1/6, and GABA/glutamate transporters in the eye were found in association with visual evoked potential changes during vigabatrin administration. Rrag genes were upregulated in both mouse eye and ARPE19 cells. Immunoblot of whole eye revealed greater than three fold upregulation of a 200 kDa band when immunoblotted for ras-related guanosine triphosphate binding D. Microscopy of ARPE19 cells revealed selective reversal of vigabatrin-induced organelle accumulation by autophagy-inducing drugs, notably Torin 2. Changes in the mTOR pathway gene expression, including Rrag genes, were corrected by Torin 2 in ARPE19 cells. Conclusions Our studies, indicating GABA-associated augmentation of RRAG and mTOR signaling, support further preclinical evaluation of mTOR inhibitors as a therapeutic strategy to potentially mitigate vigabatrin-induced ocular toxicity.
Where Is the Critical Empirical Interpersonal Communication Research? A Roadmap for Future Inquiry into Discourse and Power

Despite calls to integrate critical theory into interpersonal communication research over the past 25 years, and despite the considerable influence of critical theory in other communication subdisciplines, critical interpersonal communication research remains limited. I argue that poststructural theory, and specifically a Foucauldian orientation toward discourse and power, can provide scholars of interpersonal communication a novel yet disciplinarily grounded avenue for future critical empirical research. By providing a roadmap that traverses the history of critical thought in interpersonal communication, redirects key vocabulary, offers avenues for integrating critical theory into empirical research, and emphasizes pathways of critical qualitative inquiry, I contend that the subdiscipline of interpersonal communication will be enriched through attention to power in the discursive constitution of identities and relationships.
Percutaneous Pulmonary Embolus Mechanical Thrombectomy.

A 66-year-old African-American woman with no significant medical history presented with a 2-day history of worsening exertional dyspnea with minimal activity. Pulmonary embolus (PE) was suspected on the basis of clinical presentation and elevated D-dimer levels in absence of other clear explanation
Accidental copper sulfate toxicity after flame colorant ingestion

Sir,Metal salts used in the pyrotechnic industry as flame colorants are packaged in a manner similar to certain candies (Figure 1). We report a case of an unintentional ingestion of “Mystical Fire”...
SPARCS: A personalized problem-based learning approach for developing successful computer science learning experiences in middle school

To keep pace with today's computer and technology-driven workforce, strategies that spark and foster student interest in computer science during the K-12 years are sorely needed. Thus it is essential that teachers at these formative years are able to provide successful learning experiences in computing. We provide an overview of the Strategic Problem-based Approach to Rouse Computer Science (SPARCS) project being conducted at University of Nebraska at Omaha. SPARCS aims to help middle school teachers incorporate computer science lessons into the classes they teach, and inspire their students to consider careers in computing-related industries. We present our experiences and findings from the first year of a planned three-year study on SPARCS.
When It's Good to Feel Bad: An Evolutionary Model of Guilt and Apology.

We use techniques from evolutionary game theory to analyze the conditions under which guilt can provide individual �fitness bene�fits, and so evolve. In particular, we focus on the bene�fits of guilty apology. We consider models where actors err in an iterated prisoner's dilemma and have the option to apologize. Guilt either improves the trustworthiness of apology, or imposes a cost on actors who apologize. We analyze the stability and likelihood of evolution of such a `guilt-prone' strategy against cooperators, defectors, grim-triggers, and individuals who o�ffer fake apologies, but continue to defect. We fi�nd that in evolutionary models guilty apology is more likely to evolve in cases where actors interact repeatedly over long periods of time, where the costs of apology are low or moderate, and where guilt is hard to fake. Researchers interested in naturalized ethics, and emotion researchers, can employ these results to assess the plausibility of fuller accounts of the evolution of guilt.