cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acute Renal Colic and Medical Expulsive Therapy

Acute onset flank pain with accompanying nausea, vomiting, anorexia, and hematuria is known as renal colic, and may indicate a renal or ureteral stone. Initial therapy is supportive and is directed at symptom control, including analgesia and hydration. In patients with well-controlled pain with no evidence of sepsis and adequate renal functional reserve, observation with medical expulsive therapy may be an option to facilitate stone passage without active urologic instrumentation. Key medications for this include tamsulosin and nifedipine. Patients who elect to trial medical expulsive therapy should be closely followed by their urologist.
Iodine Kinetic Energy: A Monitor for Dynamics of and Structure of Radicals Produced in the Photodissociation of Organic Iodides

The technique of state-selective one dimensional photofragmentation translation energy spectroscopy is developed and the velocity of the one photon photodissociated iodine in the 2P3/2 and 2P1/2 states is determined for C2F5I as well as for axial and equatorial iodocyclohexane.
Métodos para estimar la mortalidad adulta en los países en desarrollo: una revisión comparativa

La medicion de la mortalidad adulta sigue siendo deficiente en numerosos paises en desarrollo debido a la imprecision de los datos y a la falta de una metodologia unica y contrastada. En este articulo se analiza el desempeno de diversos metodos de medicion de la mortalidad adulta aplicados a un solo pais: Guatemala. Se incluyen metodos que estiman la cobertura del registro de defuncion o de los decesos notificados mediante el censo, metodos de supervivencia intercensal que utilizan datos de censos sucesivos, metodos basados en la sobrevivencia de los hijos y un conjunto de metodos de sobrevivencia de los padres. Para la evaluacion se usaron datos de los censos de poblacion guatemaltecos de 1981 y 1994, del registro de defunciones entre 1981 y 1994, y de la encuesta demografica y de salud de 1987. El analisis hace hincapie en la mortalidad de mujeres adultas.
Residential proximity to major roadways and incident hypertension in post-menopausal women

Living near major roadways has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, presumably from exposure to elevated levels of traffic-related air and/or noise pollution. This association may potentially be mediated through increased risk of incident hypertension, but results from prior studies are equivocal. Using Cox proportional hazards models we examined residential proximity to major roadways and incident hypertension among 38,360 participants of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Clinical Trial cohorts free of hypertension at enrollment and followed for a median of 7.9 years. Adjusting for participant demographics and lifestyle, trial participation, and markers of individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status, the hazard ratios for incident hypertension were 1.13 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.28), 1.03 (0.95, 1.11), 1.05 (0.99, 1.11), and 1.05 (1.00, 1.10) for participants living ≤50, >50-200, >200-400, and >400-1000 m vs >1000 m from the nearest major roadway, respectively (ptrend=0.013). This association varied substantially by WHI study region with hazard ratios for women living ≤50 m from a major roadway of 1.61 (1.18, 2.20) in the West, 1.51 (1.22, 1.87) in the Northeast, 0.89 (0.70, 1.14) in the South, and 0.94 (0.75, 1.19) in the Midwest. In this large, national cohort of post-menopausal women, residential proximity to major roadways was associated with incident hypertension in selected regions of the U.S. If causal, these results suggest residential proximity to major roadways, as a marker for air, noise and other traffic-related pollution, may be a risk factor for hypertension.
A low-cost, IP-based mobile network emulator (MNE)

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) mobile network emulator (MNE) is a low-cost, flexible wireless mobile internetwork protocol (IP) test environment that provides flexible, dynamic topology control and manipulation for testing of both IPv4 and IPv6 dynamic network scenarios, direct and indirect software support for network node motion modeling is supported. The emulation design and various software and hardware support components are described. A case example of how the mobile emulation system has been applied is also provided with a set of ancillary visualization tools, motion generators, and network analysis tools. Finally, it is discussed how such an emulation environment provides a valuable engineering tool supplementing more abstract simulation studies and costly, time-consuming field trials of mobile network systems and software.
Overview of Financial Instruments and Financial Markets

Broadly speaking, an asset is any possession that has value in an exchange. Assets can be classified as tangible or intangible. A tangible asset is one whose value depends on particular physical properties—examples are buildings, land, and machinery. Assets, by contrast, represent legal claims to some future benefit. Their value bears no relation to the form, physical or otherwise, in which these claims are recorded. Financial assets, also referred to as financial instruments, are intangible assets. For financial assets, the typical benefit or value is a claim to future cash. Financial markets are classified as cash/spot markets and derivatives markets. Financial markets play a key role in the financial system of all economies. In most economies financial instruments are created and subsequently traded in some type of financial market. Keywords: financial assets; financial instruments; issuer; investor; debt instrument; equity instrument; fixed income instruments; maturity; coupon rate; floating-rate securities; amortizing instrument; call provision; put provision; prepayment; search costs; liquidity; price discovery process; capital market; secondary market; primary market; over-the-counter market; derivatives markets; derivative instruments; futures contract; option contract
Drug use data, drug use theories and drug use policies in the United States: a combinatorial lack of connections.

In an ideal world, data on illicit drug use, theoretical understanding of the causes of illicit drug use and policies to reduce the health and social problems associated with illicit drug use would be strongly integrated. There would be: (i) multiple sources of data that converged, (ii) strong (falsifiable) theories for interpreting the data and (iii) evidence-based policies. The paper by Caulkins et al. in this issue [1] illustrates how far we currently are from such a utopia. Caulkins and colleagues present a convincing case that, during the last decade, cocaine use has decreased dramatically (approximately a 50% decrease) and marijuana use has increased almost as dramatically in the United States (approximately a 30% increase). Caulkins and colleagues were able to develop a plausible explanation for the decrease in cocaine use. They believe that a decrease in the supply of cocaine to the United States was important, although they are not certain what supply factors, perhaps eradication efforts, perhaps interorganizational warfare among drug trafficking organizations in Mexico, or perhaps in criminal organizations in Columbia switching from smuggling cocaine to smuggling gasoline, are causing this decrease in supply. With respect to the increase in marijuana use, Caulkins and colleagues do not select a most plausible explanation: 'We do not know why there was such a large increase in the number of daily/near daily users'. It is interesting to note what Caulkins and colleagues did not consider as possible explanations. Our current dominant policy with respect to limiting the use of marijuana and cocaine is criminalization of the sale and use of these drugs. In the most recently available Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrest data there were 1 552 432 drug-related arrests (12.7% of all arrests in 2012); of the drug-related arrests, 6.1% were for heroin and/or cocaine possession and 42.4%were for marijuana possession. An additional 5.9% were for the sale or manufacture of marijuana. Caulkins and colleagues do not consider the possibility that cocaine use is decreased because arresting people for cocaine possession has been effective in reducing use, nor do they consider the possibility that marijuana use is increased because we are not arresting enough people for marijuana possession. Enough said and not said? The situation in which we have imperfect but convincing data on important drug use trends has, at best, partial understanding of the trends, and where the trends are clearly not related to our dominant public policy with respect to illicit drug use sounds pretty dire. [more...] [1] Caulkins J., Kilmer B., Reuter P., Midgette G. Cocaine's fall and marijuana's rise: questions and insights based on new estimates of consumption and expenditures in US drug markets. Addiction 2015; 110: 728-36. Language: en
Antropología con ojos freelance: Entrevista a William A. Christian

En aquesta ocasio el Projecte Entrevistes ha entrevistat un antropoleg freelance nascut als EUA pero establert a Espanya despres de descobrir el pais fent el Cami de Sant Jaume: Bill Christian. Mogut per una curiositat natural per les persones i per un interes en el paper que la religio ocupa en les seves vides, Christian es una referencia imprescindible en l'estudi de la religiositat a Espanya. Combinant l'etnografia amb l'us de la documentacio d'arxiu, ha desenvolupat una antropologia historica que ha transmes en universitats com Berkeley, Santa Barbara (California) o la UAB. En aquesta entrevista (realitzada a Barcelona el desembre de 2012), descobrim com va ser la seva aproximacio i aprenentatge de l'antropologia, a partir d'una experiencia biografica bastant atipica que l'ha convertit en una rara avis dins el panorama de l'antropologia espanyola.
A data compression application for wireless sensor networks using LTC algorithm

In this paper, the author represents energy efficient data compression application based on LTC (Lightweight Temporal Compression) algorithm in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). WSNs are essentially constrained by motes' limited battery power and networks bandwidth. The author focuses on data compression algorithm which effectively supports data compression for data gathering in WSNs. Data reduction before transmission such as by compression will significantly decrease the resource usage. Therefore, the main idea of this paper is to show how a data compression application such as collection tree protocol (CTP) is used for data collection from different sensor nodes into the root node in order to increase the network lifetime. LTC algorithm is used to minimize the amount of error in each reading. In the context of the use of wireless sensor network technology for environmental monitoring, the two main elementary activities of wireless sensor network are data acquisition and transmission. However, transmitting/receiving data are power consuming task in order to reduce transmission associated power consumption; we explore data compression by processing information locally. The inception of sensor networks, in-network processing has been touted as enabling technology for long-lived deployments. Radio communication is the overriding consumer of energy in such networks. Therefore, data reduction before transmission, either by compression or feature extraction, will directly & significantly increase network lifetime. In many applications where all data must transport out of network, data may be compressed before transport, so chosen compression technique can operate under stringent resource constraints of low-power nodes and induces tolerable errors. This paper evaluates temporal compression scheme designed specially to be used by mica motes. By using LTC, it is possible to compress data up to −20 to −1. Furthermore this algorithm is simple and requires little storage as compared to other compression techniques. The proposed application is implemented on the tinyOS platform using the nesC programming language. To evaluate their work, the author conducts simulation via TOSSIM or a real-world testbed FlockLab. The result demonstrates the significance of the application.
Bubble stimulation efficiency of dinoflagellate bioluminescence

Dinoflagellate bioluminescence, a common source of bioluminescence in coastal waters, is stimulated by flow agitation. Although bubbles are anecdotally known to be stimulatory, the process has never been experimentally investigated. This study quantified the flash response of the bioluminescent dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum to stimulation by bubbles rising through still seawater. Cells were stimulated by isolated bubbles of 0.3–3 mm radii rising at their terminal velocity, and also by bubble clouds containing bubbles of 0.06–10 mm radii for different air flow rates. Stimulation efficiency, the proportion of cells producing a flash within the volume of water swept out by a rising bubble, decreased with decreasing bubble radius for radii less than approximately 1 mm. Bubbles smaller than a critical radius in the range 0.275–0.325 mm did not stimulate a flash response. The fraction of cells stimulated by bubble clouds was proportional to the volume of air in the bubble cloud, with lower stimulation levels observed for clouds with smaller bubbles. An empirical model for bubble cloud stimulation based on the isolated bubble observations successfully reproduced the observed stimulation by bubble clouds for low air flow rates. High air flow rates stimulated more light emission than expected, presumably because of additional fluid shear stress associated with collective buoyancy effects generated by the high air fraction bubble cloud. These results are relevant to bioluminescence stimulation by bubbles in two-phase flows, such as in ship wakes, breaking waves, and sparged bioreactors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Expressed breast milk analysis: an innovative tool in optimizing protein energy ratio and avoiding protein deficit after preterm birth (635.3)

Background: EBM protein content is highly variable between mothers and often below published levels. Current EBM fortification for preterm infants assumes equal EBM protein and focuses on increasing caloric intake. This approach may result in significant protein deficit over time and suboptimal P/E ratio. Objective: Determine if EBM analysis identifies a significant protein deficit after preterm birth and if individualized EBM protein fortification optimizes P/E ratio. Methods: The Julie Z7 milk analyzer (Scope Electric Ltd, Germany) was used to determine EBM protein content at day of life (DOL) 10 and every 2 weeks from mothers of preterm infants born at 24-29 6/7 weeks gestation. Using results of the milk analysis, anticipated protein deficit was compared to presumed protein intake based on published EBM protein levels (1.4 g/dl). P/E ratio was calculated for both standard and individualized fortification. Results: EBM protein content in 26 preterm infants receiving 150 ml/kg/day of EBM was 1.97 g ± 0.0...
A novel elastomeric connector for packaging interconnections, testing and burn-in applications

Elasticon connectors have been developed for a wide variety of interconnection and test applications which include module-to-board, board-to-board interconnections; high density module, board and LCD testings; as well as chip/wafer testing and burn-in to produce Known-Good-Die. Depending on the applications, the Elasticon connectors can be fabricated into two basic types, the single-sided (integrated to a substrate) and the double-sided (interposer) structure. The single-sided structure, the Integrated Probe, is designed and fabricated for test and burn-in applications. The density, compliance, thickness, pattern and size of both the one- and two-sided structures can be easily tailored to meet the requirements of each specific application. The fabrication processes involve wire bonding, laser and polymer casting and curing. The electrical, mechanical and thermal properties of the connector have been fully characterized. To achieve high compliance with low contact force, a proprietary elastomeric material has been formulated to achieve not only high compliance but high thermal stability. The conductive element uses highly conductive, corrosion free, and oxidation resistant noble metals and their alloys. The reliability and durability of the elastomeric connector have been evaluated with mechanical cycling, thermal cycling, stress relaxation, outgassing, and temperature and humidity rest. The thermal stability of the connector, including both the polymer and the conductive element, has been measured to exceed the burn-in temperatures, which range from 125 to 180/spl deg/C.
Management of temporal bone carcinomas: a therapeutic analysis of two groups of patients and long-term followup.

Fifty-one patients with squamous cell carcinomas arising within the temporal bone were subdivided into two groups. The initial group of 17 patients, seen between 1960 and 1980, were reviewed retrospectively and staged into four subgroups on the basis of initial tumor presentation and location (i.e., external auditory canal, superficial invasion, deep invasion, and tumors beyond the temporal bone). After treatment in a variety of surgical and radiotherapeutic combinations, the 5-year cure rates were: 70%, 70%, 50%, and 9%, respectively. Thirty-four patients, seen between 1980 and 1989, were placed in a new prospective protocol for combined surgery and postoperative irradiation. These patients were subdivided into the same subgroups on the basis of tumor location. The surgical procedures were formalized to be more encompassing (i.e., external canal tumors were treated by sleeve resection of the internal auditory canal and tympanic membrane, superficial invasion by superficial temporal bone resection, deep tumors by radical temporal bone resection, and those beyond the temporal bone by an infratemporal fossa approach). Radical neck dissections were performed where needed. The irradiation dosage was increased to 6250+ cGy, with a 4:1 ratio in favor of electrons for deeper penetration, and the fields were widened. At 36.6-month average followup, the cure rates were: 100%, 100%, 70%, and 65%, respectively. Six of ten patients with neck metastases at presentation had tumor recurrence or distant disease (60%).
MECHANICS OF ENAMEL SUSPENSION, II

It is shown that it is possible to reveal reasonably small differences in the behavior of the various glasses when electrodialyzed. The results of electrodialysis agree fairly well with the tests and general knowledge of acid resistance.
Learning from disasters: developing mechanical engineering topics

Engineering disasters are compelling events which interest students and provide a basis for teaching professional history and essential skills of the engineering discipline. This presentation outlines the development of disaster cases for undergraduate mechanical engineers, providing the content to integrate skills in research, writing, speaking, critical analysis and ethical evaluations.
Controller Improvement via Frequency Response Function Estimates

Abstract With knowledge of the internal stability of a closed-loop system with an unknown plant P and a known controller C1, we search for a controller better than the currently stabilizing controller in the sense of a certain performance measure. This searching procedure is formulated in the form of an optimization problem. Nonparametric identification of P or other transfer functions is performed with known error bounds from a limited amount of signal data collected from experiments on the closed-loop system with the currently stabilizing controller excited by designed reference signals and corrupted by disturbances and, then, the optimization problem is built in terms of these estimates. In order to reduce the numerical difficulty of the optimization problem, we employ a controller parameterization and propose an algorithm that may not produce the optimal controller but has fast computation ability. A focus of the study is to understand what can be achieved and under what assumptions for controller redesign using such limited identified system data.
Quaker bonnets and the erotic feminine in american popular culture

ABSTRACTIn this article, I trace widespread popular representations of Quaker women's bonnets from the 1850s through the 1930s in fiction, image, film, and music. Although American Quaker women began to abandon their plain clothing as early as the 1860s, the public remained fascinated with the bonnet for decades after. Wherever Quaker women were imagined, descriptions of their sensual, fetching, outsized bonnets usually were privileged over any notice of their person. Observers saw in the bonnet a host of alluring traits, which muted the potential spiritual and political virtuosity of the Quaker woman beneath it. The bonnet itself became a convenient and erotic shorthand for Quaker women in general, and today provides a helpful lens for understanding the ways in which public memory shapes the religious feminine in American culture.
Coronary artery abnormalities detected at cardiac catheterization following the arterial switch operation for transposition of the great arteries

Because the arterial switch operation has become the routine surgical approach for transposition of the great arteries, there is increasing awareness of adverse sequelae in some survivors. For the arterial switch to be considered the procedure of choice for transposition of the great arteries, long-term patency and normal function of the translocated coronary arteries must be achieved. We reviewed the cineangiograms and hemodynamic data in 366 patients who underwent postoperative catheterization after arterial switch operation. Of these, 13 patients (3%) had previously unsuspected coronary abnormalities diagnosed angiographically. No patient had noninvasive evidence of resting systolic dysfunction. Findings included left main coronary artery stenosis (n = 3) or occlusion (n = 2), anterior descending coronary artery stenosis (n = 1) or occlusion (n = 2), right coronary artery stenosis (n = 1) or occlusion (n = 1), and small coronary artery fistulas (n = 3). One patient died suddenly 3.3 years after surgery, 1 patient is lost to follow-up, and the remaining 10 patients are alive and asymptomatic up to 11 years after surgery.
Rabconnectin-3a Regulates Vesicle Endocytosis and Canonical Wnt Signaling in Zebrafish Neural Crest Migration

Cell migration requires dynamic regulation of cell–cell signaling and cell adhesion. Both of these processes involve endocytosis, lysosomal degradation, and recycling of ligand–receptor complexes and cell adhesion molecules from the plasma membrane. Neural crest (NC) cells in vertebrates are highly migratory cells, which undergo an epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) to leave the neural epithelium and migrate throughout the body to give rise to many different derivatives. Here we show that the v-ATPase interacting protein, Rabconnectin-3a (Rbc3a), controls intracellular trafficking events and Wnt signaling during NC migration. In zebrafish embryos deficient in Rbc3a, or its associated v-ATPase subunit Atp6v0a1, many NC cells fail to migrate and misregulate expression of cadherins. Surprisingly, endosomes in Rbc3a- and Atp6v0a1-deficient NC cells remain immature but still acidify. Rbc3a loss-of-function initially downregulates several canonical Wnt targets involved in EMT, but later Frizzled-7 accumulates at NC cell membranes, and nuclear B-catenin levels increase. Presumably due to this later Wnt signaling increase, Rbc3a-deficient NC cells that fail to migrate become pigment progenitors. We propose that Rbc3a and Atp6v0a1 promote endosomal maturation to coordinate Wnt signaling and intracellular trafficking of Wnt receptors and cadherins required for NC migration and cell fate determination. Our results suggest that different v-ATPases and associated proteins may play cell-type-specific functions in intracellular trafficking in many contexts.
Parallel embedded-atom method simulations with delayed electron density approximations

Abstract The embedded-atom method (EAM) is a popular technique for the atomic simulation of metals and alloys. The EAM procedure involves two computational phases; the first to evaluate electron densities and the second to evaluate embedding energies and repulsive forces. Substantial computational costs are required for each phase, particularly for the simulation of large particle systems. On distributed-memory architectures each phase also requires communication overhead, reducing parallel efficiency. We introduce a pseudo-EAM (PEAM) technique to improve the performance for particle simulations of metals. The key PEAM procedure is the approximation of electron densities from the previous timestep, allowing all computations to be performed in a single phase. We demonstrate the efficiency of the PEAM procedure and show that it produces identical behavior to EAM systems. On both serial and parallel architectures, PEAM simulations are nearly twice as fast as EAM simulations for the same atomic system.
Time, Money, and Labor History's Encounter with Consumer Culture

Time and money hours and wages have animated the activity of most modern workers' organizations. Still, labor historians not only have neglected these demands but have all too often simply dismissed as trivial their offspring, the culture of leisure and consumption. The conventional concerns of labor historians with economic power relations and the rational articulation of workers' material and psychological interests seem to be threatened by issues that point beyond the workplace. Variations on the theme of "workers' control" continue to take precedence over the struggle over the distribution of productivity among time, wages, and profits. What turns the labor historian from the centrality of time and money may be that these issues suggest a culture of classlessness, the irrelevance of the workplace, and dimin ished possibilities for collective action. One unfortunate consequence is that labor historians have played a minor role in the ongoing debate over popular and consumer culture.1 An effect of this relative absence has been that cultural studies of mass consumerism frequently have had to rely on a simplistic interpretation of "Fordism." Technological change and scientific management, the argument goes, led both to the deskilling of work and the necessity of an internal mass market. This, in turn, created the need for new mechanisms of labor adjustment (high wages and shorter hours) and of distribution (Keynesian demand management and advertising). Gradually, Fordism in the United States and Western Europe led to the "colonization of personal life" by commodity production.2 Much good history and sociology modifies these bold assertions.3 But this too-broad interpretation of Fordism allows cultural studies to dispense with concrete analysis of work except as an economic precondition and negative psychological background to consumer culture. Moreover, this analysis leads to an understanding of free time and consumption as unproblematic equivalences; it ignores the possibility of a political struggle for free time as an alternative to the commoditization of culture.
Responses of Native and Introduced Plant Species to Sucrose Addition in Puget Lowland Prairies

Abstract Nitrogen enrichment has often been demonstrated to enhance the success of introduced plant species at the expense of native species. In the south Puget lowland prairies of Washington State, invasion by Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), a nitrogenfixing legume, is associated with elevated soil nitrogen levels. After broom removal, the higher soil nitrogen levels may have facilitated the secondary invasion of the prairies by numerous non-native species, particularly rhizomatous pasture grasses that can interfere with native plant seedling establishment. Numerous studies have shown the potential for carbon addition to immobilize soil nitrogen and reduce the success of introduced species relative to native species. We compared the available soil nitrate, the cover of native and introduced species between sugar-addition (1000 g C m-2) and control plots on two Puget lowland prairies. Sugar treatment initially immobilized nitrate and reduced cover of introduced species compared to that on control plots,...
Changes in the nature of the Verwey transition in nonstoichiometric magnetite (Fe3O4).

A relaxation calorimetry investigation of magnetite (${\mathrm{Fe}}_{3(1\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\delta})}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$) single crystals, with controlled metal-to-oxygen stoichiometry, indicates a change in the nature of the Verwey transition. Beyond a critical composition (${\ensuremath{\delta}}_{\mathrm{cr}}\ensuremath{\approx}0.0039$) the transformation changes from first to higher order and is marked by the loss of the latent heat of transition.
Motor unit function during evolution of proximal axonal swellings

beta,beta'-Iminodipropionitrile (IDPN) impairs axonal transport of neurofilaments; their accumulation leads to the formation of proximal swellings in motor axons. Similar proximal swellings are a feature of some cases of motor neuron disease such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Motor units in IDPN-treated animals were assessed to determine their relative susceptibilities to impaired function and whether the functional changes resulting from proximal axonal swellings share certain electromyographic features with ALS. Intrinsic properties of medial gastrocnemius motoneurones (MN) and contractile responses of their motor units were examined during the evolution of proximal axonal swellings in cats administered IDPN (50 mg/kg once weekly) for 7, 14 or 35 days. While conduction velocities were significantly decreased in all motor unit types by 35 days, the conduction slowing was greater in fast fatigable (types FF and FI) motor units than in fatigue resistant (types FR and S) motor units. Normal correlations between axonal conduction velocity and MN input resistance (Rin) and the inverse relationship between Rin and rheobase were lost with progression of the neuropathy. Twitch and maximum tetanic tension developed by fast-fatigable motor units declined early in the neuropathy, whereas fatigue-resistant units did not show similar changes until later stages of the intoxication. In some motor units, irregular and abnormal tetanic tensions were elicited by repetitive MN discharge. At 14 and 35 days, a novel, intermediate motor unit response classified as slow and fatigable (SF) was observed. Conduction block, characterized by repetitive MN firing without a corresponding contractile response, was observed in some type FF and S units by 35 days. Morphometric analysis of muscle fiber types showed significant atrophy, particularly in the type I fibers at 14-35 days; the atrophy reversed following cessation of IDPN administration. The influence of proximal axonal swellings on motor unit function in IDPN neuropathy is discussed in terms of reported electrophysiological alterations in motoneurone disease.
Helmets and Preventing Motorcycle and Bicycle Injuries: Comments and a Correction

To the Editor. —Preventing bicycle-related injuries is an interest shared by the medical, engineering, and bicycle advocacy communities. The Council on Scientific Affairs 1 report offers the welcome observation that this goal can be accomplished by primary measures to prevent crashes and collisions, including educational and engineering approaches, as well as by the use of helmets to mitigate injuries incurred in crashes. One topic deserves further discussion. Twice the report recommends separation of pedestrian, bicycle, and motor vehicle traffic streams, calling it an "ideal but difficult-to-achieve engineering [approach] to injury prevention." That this separation is difficult to achieve is true, but that it is ideal is only partially correct. Separating bicyclists from pedestrians is sound engineering practice. But while it seems plausible that bicycle—motor vehicle collisions could be prevented by maximizing the separation of bicycles from motor vehicles, this is not so. 2 In addition to the obvious conflicts with
Determination of salicylic acid and two metabolites in plasma and urine using fluorimetry for directly measuring salicyluric acid.

An improved method has been developed for the measurement of salicylic acid and salicyluric acid in blood plasma and for these two substances and salicyl glycuronates in urine. Older methods measured salicyluric acid by the different extraction efficiencies of two solvents and the weaker color formation of salicyluric acid with ferric nitrate. This method measures salicyluric acid more specifically by means of its marked fluorescence at p H 10. A low concentration of a fluorescent substance, probably salicyluric acid, which has not been reported previously was found in dog plasma following large doses of sodium salicylate. The rate of hydrolysis of salicyluric acid by concentrated hydrochloric acid, an important factor in the calculation of the salicyl glycuronate fraction in this and former methods, has been re-examined and a higher value than previously reported has been found. An explanation of this difference is suggested. A synthetic sample of the glycuronate of salicylic acid coupled through the phenolic hydroxyl group, which has not been isolated from urine in pure form, has been tested for reactivity in the method.
Solid state coordination chemistry of oxomolybdenum–organodiphosphonate materials: consequences of introducing xylyldiphosphonate components

Hydrothermal syntheses were used to prepare compounds of the oxomolybdenum/xylyldiphosphonate and oxomolybdenum/M(II)–imine/xylyldiphosphonate families. Four compounds exhibited unadorned molybdophosphonate chains with the common {Mo5O15(O3PR)2}4− building unit: (4,4′-H2dpa)2[Mo5O15(1,2-O3PC8H8PO3)]·H2O (1·H2O), (4,4′-H2dpa)2[Mo5O15(1,3-O3PC8H8PO3)] (2), [Cu(terpy)2](H3O)[Mo5O15(1,4-O3PC8H8PO3)]·H2O (3·H2O), and [Co(2,2′-bpy)3](H3O)[Mo5(H2O)O14(1,4-O3PC8H8PO3)]·6H2O (4·6H2O). The pentanuclear building unit is preserved in the one-dimensional materials [{Cu(2,2′-bpy)2}2Mo5O15(1,4-O3PC8H8PO3)]·6H2O (5·6H2O), [{Cu(H2O)2(o-phen)}2Mo5O15(1,4-HO3PC8H8PO3)]·4H2O (6·4H2O), and (4,4′-Hbpy)[Ni(H2O)4(4,4′-Hbpy)}Mo5O15(1,2-O3PC8H8PO3)]·4H2O (8·4H2O), while a modified, protonated pentanuclear core is observed for [{Cu(H2O)(o-phen)}2(1,4-HO3PC8H8PO3H)][{Cu(o-phen)(H2O)}Mo5O14(OH)(1,4-O3PC8H8PO3)]2 (7), a material that also exhibits two discrete one-dimensional substructures. In contrast, the one-dimensional [{Ni(H2O)(tpypyz)}2Mo6O18(H2O)(1,4-O3PC8H8PO3)]·6H2O (9·6H2O) is constructed from hexanuclear molybdate clusters, and the two-dimensional [{Ni2(H2O)4(tpypyz)}Mo4O10(1,4-O3PC8H8PO3)2]·4H2O (10·4H2O) exhibits a unique tetranuclear core unit. The three-dimensional phase, [{Ni(H2O)(2,2′-dpa)}2Mo5O15(1,4-O3PC8H8PO3)]·2H2O (11·2H2O), reverts to the prototypical pentanuclear building unit. When the HF/Mo ratio of the reaction is increased from 4 : 1 to 8 : 1 or higher, three examples of oxyfluoromolybdate containing materials are observed: the one-dimensional [{Cu(o-phen)}2Mo2F5O4(OH)(H2O)4(1,3-O3PC8H8PO3)]·H2O (12·H2O); a structure displaying two discrete bimetallic oxyfluoride chains, [{Cu(terpy)2(OH)(H2O)}Mo2F4O3(1,2-O3PC8H8PO3)][{Cu(terpy)(H2O)}Mo2F3O4(1,2-O3PC8H8PO3)]·H2O (13·H2O); and a three dimensional compound, [{Cu3(bpy)2}Mo2F2O4(H2O)2(1,3-O3PC8H8PO3)2] (14). The structures of these materials are compared to those of previously described phases of the oxomolybdate/M(II)–imine/organophosphonate and oxyfluoromolybdate/M(II)–imine/organophosphonate families.
Endogenous fluorescence lifetime of viable cells by flow cytometry

Autofluorescence emission is commonly measured in flow cytometry and is used as a negative control in protocols that explore binding of exogenous fluorophores to cell receptors or other targets of interest. The presence of intrinsic fluorophores however may burden complex cytometry applications. For example it may be difficult to resolve fluorescence signals from multi-intensity and multi-color measurements when the de-convolved fluorescence in question falls close to the autofluorescence background. One possible solution to intensity and spectral overlap problems in flow cytometry is to acquire fluorescence decay kinetic measurements. To this end we focus on advancing time-dependent flow cytometry and conduct measurements of endogenous fluorescence lifetime. Instrument developments to a phase-sensitive flow cytometry (PSFC) system were coupled with lifetime measurements of intrinsic fluorophores from viable cell samples. The average lifetime of >300,000 individual rat fibroblast cells was measured at discrete wavelengths ranging from 457- to 785-nm using a 10-MHz intensity-modulated excitation beam. AC amplitude, DC, and phase-shift were resolved and the average lifetime from excitable endogenous species was measured. The lifetime results ranged from 1- to 6-ns over the broad spectral range. Cataloging lifetime values prefaces the use of phase-sensitive techniques in more complex systems and provides a priori measurements necessary for PSFC filtering known lifetime signals from Raman, or other emission and scattering events.
EPR and optical-absorption studies of a VO2+-doped Cs2C2O4·H2O single crystal

X-band EPR spectra of the VO2+ ion in cesium oxalate monohydrate (Cs2C2O4 · H2O) single crystal have been recorded at 295, 80, 42 and 4.2 K, indicating the presence of two VO2+ sites in the unit cell. The principal values, and the direction cosines of the principal axes, of the g2 and A2 tensors have been evaluated from a simultaneous fitting of the positions of the hyperfine lines, observed for the external magnetic field orientations in three mutually perpendicular planes, in a least-squares-fitting computer program. The principal values indicate that the local symmetry of the VO2+ ion, in the host lattice of Cs2C2O4 · H2O crystal, is predominantly C4v, with a small C2v component. The data indicate that the VO2+ ion, upon entering the Cs2C2O4 · H2O lattice, substitutes for two cesium ions interstitially. The room-temperature optical-absorption spectrum of the VO2+ -doped Cs2C2O4 · H2O, recorded in the 190 to 820 nm wavelength range, is exploited to study the energy levels of the VO2+ ion. The optical-absorption data, in conjunction with the EPR data, have been used to estimate the bonding coefficients of the V4+ ion with its nearest neighbours.
Knowing Versus Caring: The Role of Affect and Cognition in Political Perceptions

This paper examines the importance of political knowledge in shaping accurate perceptions of the political world—specifically, how levels of general political knowledge influence the accuracy of specific political judgments, how those judgments might also be shaped by “wishful thinking,” and how political knowledge attenuates the impact of wishful thinking on political judgments. Predictions of who would win the U.S. presidential election in 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996, as surveyed in the National Election Studies conducted in those years, were used as a measure of the accuracy of political perceptions. Analysis of these data reveals that both political knowledge and wishful thinking are important determinants of the accuracy of people's perceptions; in addition, the impact of wishful thinking on perceptions is attenuated by political knowledge.
Nature versus nurture: functional assessment of restoration effects on wetland services using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

[1] Land-use change has altered the ability of wetlands to provide vital services such as nutrient retention. While compensatory practices attempt to restore degraded wetlands and their functions, it is difficult to evaluate the recovery of soil biogeochemical functions that are critical for restoration of ecosystem services. Using solution 31P Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, we examined the chemical forms of phosphorus (P) in soils from wetlands located across a land-use gradient. We report that soil P diversity, a functional attribute, was lowest in farmland, and greatest in native wetlands. Soil P diversity increased with age of restoration, indicating restoration of biogeochemical function. The trend in soil P diversity was similar to documented trends in soil bacterial taxonomic composition but opposite that of soil bacterial diversity at our study sites. These findings provide insights into links between ecosystem structure and function and provide a tool for evaluating the success of ecosystem restoration efforts.
Analysis of establishment phase replication of the plasmid ColE1

The replication regulatory mechanisms by which the small, multicopy plasmid ColE1 maintains a constant steady-state copy number have been extensively characterized by a combination of in vivo genetics and in vitro biochemistry. We have extended the analysis of replication control into the "establishment" phase of replication, when ColE1-directed replicons replicate more than once per cell generation and the intracellular concentrations of plasmid-encoded replication regulatory elements are changing. To study establishment phase replication, in which plasmid-directed replicons amplify from an initially low concentration to the characteristic, steady-state concentration, bacteriophage-plasmid hybrids, termed phasmids, were constructed. Phasmids were shown to exhibit stability, segregation, and incompatibility properties similar to those of the parent plasmid. Establishment phase replication was analyzed by measuring the number of phasmids per cell as a function of time after infection. We observed a linear increase in phasmid concentration until the steady-state concentration characteristic of the ColE1 plasmid component of the hybrid was reached. The number of cell doublings required for the phasmid concentration to reach steady-state was inversely related to cell growth rate. The observed amplification kinetics imply that the frequency of replication initiation per phasmid continually decreases until steady-state is reached. Kinetics of establishment phase amplification were sensitive to rate of expression of RNA II. A phasmid containing an up mutation in the RNA II promoter amplified at a 15-fold faster rate than the wild-type phasmid. Concentration of the ColE1 replication negative regulator (RNA I) was proportional to phasmid concentration throughout the amplification phase. These results suggest that the same elements that regulate steady-state replication also control establishment phase replication.
Parameters of normal grief: A delphi study

Abstract This study explored bereavement experts' perceptions of the parameters of normal grief. The purpose of the study was twofold: to identify the terms used by the experts to designate grief that falls outside normal parameters; and to identify the physical, emotional, and behavioral manifestations of grief that these experts used to differentiate between normal grief and grief that falls outside the normal response range (GONR). A modified Delphi technique was used. The 22 experts identified 34 different descriptors of GONR, and 31 items that indicated the parameters of normal grief. The experts agreed that, early in bereavement, numerous manifestations are within normal parameters. However, later in the bereavement period, many of these manifestations are perceived as possibly or definitely outside the normal response range. The majority of the experts perceived all of the 31 manifestations as outside normal parameters at five year post bereavement. Caution must be used in generalizing from this sm...
Inhibitors of Serine/Threonine Phosphoprotein Phosphatases Alter Circadian Properties in Gonyaulax polyedra

Protein serine/threonine phosphatases were implicated in the regulation of circadian rhythmicity in the marine dinoflagellate Gonyaulax polyedra based on the effects of three inhibitors specific for protein phosphatases 1 and 2A (okadaic acid, calyculin A, and cantharidin). Chronic exposure to okadaic acid resulted in a significant period lengthening, as measured by the bioluminescent glow rhythm, whereas cantharidin and calyculin A caused large phase delays but no persistent effect on period. Short pulses of the phosphatase inhibitors resulted in phase delays that were greatest near subjective dawn. Unlike 6-dimethylaminopurine, a protein kinase inhibitor, okadaic acid, calyculin A, and cantharidin did not block light-induced phase shifts. The inhibitors tested also increased radiolabeled phosphate incorporation into Gonyaulax proteins in vivo and blocked protein phosphatase 1 and 2A activities in Gonyaulax extracts. This study indicates that protein dephosphorylation catalyzed by protein serine/threonine phosphatases is necessary for proper functioning of the circadian system.
Reply [to “Lake Nyos Dam”]

The Lake Nyos natural d am consists largely of unconsolidated pyroclastic surge deposits emplaced during the formation of Nyos maar [Lockwood et al., 1987]. The emplacement age of the d am is critical for an evaluation of this flood hazard to northwestern Cameroon and eastern Nigeria, and for preparation of mitigation strategies. Carbonized wood from the base of the d am has been dated at 5000 and 400 years B.P. by Lockwood and Rubin [1988]. Because of the lack of weathering or of significant erosion of the associated pyroclastic deposits around Lake Nyos we suggested that the youngest radiocarbon age (0.4 kyr) best dated the formation of the Nyos maar and present dam. The 5-kyr date was obtained on water-worn material in stream deposits beneath the pyroclastic section; we suggested that this sample was contaminated by radiogenically “dead” CO2.