cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Education, literacy, and health: Mediating effects on hypertension knowledge and control

Abstract Objective To determine whether literacy mediates the association between education, hypertension knowledge and control. Methods In-person interviews with a literacy assessment and chart review were conducted with 330 hypertensive patients from six primary care safety net clinics. Mediational analysis was used to test the role of literacy skills in explaining the relationship between education and hypertension knowledge and control. Results In multivariate analyses that did not make an adjustment for the other variable, both lower educational attainment and more limited literacy were found to be significant independent predictors of poorer hypertension knowledge and control. When literacy was entered into models that included education only, the association between education and knowledge was fully attenuated and no longer significant (Grades 1–8: β = −0.30, 95% CI = −1.44–0.83), while the relationship between education and blood pressure control was only minimally reduced (AOR 2.46, 95% CI 2.10–2.88). More limited literacy skills also was associated with hypertension control in the final model (AOR 2.68, 95% CI 1.54–4.70). Conclusion Patient literacy mediated the relationship between education and hypertension knowledge. Literacy was a significant independent predictor of blood pressure control, but only minimally explained the relationship between education and blood pressure. Practice implications Health literacy is critical to the design of educational tools to improve knowledge acquisition. However, in order to impact health outcome, future health literacy studies should also address other psychosocial factors that impact motivation and capability to manage disease.
Magnetism of rare-earth/Y and rare-earth/Lu superlattices and films

Abstract The ability to tailor-make crystalline metallic superlattices with selected orientations has opened a new field of magnetism. We review work on rare-earth/yttrium and /lutetium superlattices and films, with emphasis on the effect of epitaxy on the phase diagram and on the propagation of magnetic order through the nonmagnetic component.
High speed circuit testing using ultrafast optical techniques

The electro-optic effect in conjunction with short optical pulses makes possible noninvasive wafer-level testing of integrated circuits. By using this particular technology, testing can be performed over a terahertz bandwidth and with micrometer resolution. Applications to digital integrated circuits and monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuits (MMIC) have been demonstrated.
Grammaire française 4th ed. by OLLIVIER, JACQUELINE, & MARTIN BEAUDOIN.

The article reviews the book "Grammaire francaise," 4th ed. by Jacqueline Ollivier and Martin Beaudoin.
The Relationship Between Second-Order Nonlinear Optical Properties and Ground-State Polarization

A review is presented describing our recent work to correlate the first hyperpolarizability, of organic materials with the molecular parameter bond length alternation (BLA). Donor-acceptor polyenes displaying a wide BLA range were synthesized.
A Two Step Linear Statistical Technique Using Leaps And Bounds Procedure for Retrieval of Geophysical Parameters from Microwave Radiometric Data

A linear statistical technique using leaps and bounds procedure is developed for retrieving geophysical parameters from remote measurements. It is applied to the retrieval of sea surface temperature (SST) from the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) on the SEASAT Satellite. The technique involves the application of an efficient algorithm to select the best fixed-size subset, of the 10 SMMR channels for linearly retrieving a given geophysical parameter. The 5 channel subset [6.6 V, 6.6H, 10H, 18 V, 21H], where V and H refer to the vertical and horizontal polarizations, respectively and numbers are the channel frequencies in gigahertz, provides the minimum rms error in estimating SST. Comparison with ground truth indicates that the algorithm infers SST with an rms accuracy of better than 1.5K under most environmental conditions. A quality control procedure is proposed which should further improve the accuracy.
Cultivating the Next Generation of Academic Leaders: Implications for Administrators and Faculty

“There is a fair amount of skepticism on the part of faculty, particularly successful faculty, about the value of academic leadership.” –Faculty Member “We are really questioning the idea of protec...
Analytical routes of period-m motions to chaos in a parametric, quadratic nonlinear oscillator

In this paper, analytical routes of periodic motions to chaos in a parametric, quadratic oscillator are investigated. The analytical solutions of period-m motions in such a parametric oscillator are presented from the finite term Fourier series, and the stability and bifurcation of the period-m motions are discussed through the eigenvalue analysis. The routes of periodic motions to chaos in such parametric oscillator are illustrated through harmonic amplitudes varying with excitation amplitude in the finite term Fourier series solution. From the routes of period-m motion to chaos, numerical illustrations of periodic motions are given through trajectories and analytical harmonic amplitude spectrum.
GLUTATHIONE REDOX STATUS ALTERS THE DIMERIC-MONOMERIC EQUILIBRIUM OF HUMAN GLUTATHIONE REDUCTASE. + 1228

The major intracellular redox buffer in most eukaryotic cells is glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (GSSG). The NADPH-dependent conversion of GSSG to GSH is catalyzed by the flavoenzyme glutathione reductase (GR). When active, GR functions as a homodimer; the GR equilibrium greatly favors GSH formation at cellular NADPH/NADP* ratios. Steady-state levels of GSH and GSSG in cells are not constant, but may vary considerably in response to nutritional status, hormones, drugs and oxidative stress. Normal ratios of GSH/GSSG range from 100-400; however, under oxidative stress ratios may fall to as low as 1-10. Alterations in glutathione redox status due to a change in either the concentration of GSH, GSSG, or both, if coupled to the redox status of thiols and disulfides in specific proteins, could provide a unique regulatory mechanism affecting the biological activity of receptors, transporters, and transcription factors, as well as enzymes including GR. Studies have suggested that the inactivation/reactivation of GR involves a monomer-dimer equilibrium. Possibly, intramolecular disulfide bond formation between cysteine residues in the catalytic center of GR provide increased dimer stability. To determine whether alterations in the glutathione redox status might regulate the monomerdimer state of GR, equilibrium experiments were performed using purified recombinant human GR. Enzyme was incubated with varying ratios of GSH/GSSG at 37°C for 1 hr in phosphate buffer [0.1 M KPO4 + 5 mM EDTA, pH =7.4]. Samples were quenched with 200 mM N-ethylmaleimide, electrophoresed on a 8% SDS-polyacrylamide gel, transferred to immobolin PVDF membrane and analyzed by Western blot. Results show that normal physiological GSH/GSSG ratios favor the monometric form, while ratios below normal result in the enzyme being predominantly in its homodimeric state. This study suggests the possibility of an autoregulatory mechanism for the inactivation/reactivation of GR via reversible disulfide bond formation and supports the importance of reversible thiol/disulfide redox equilibria in biological processes.
Plasmonics in Biology and Plasmon-Controlled Fluorescence

Fluorescence technology is fully entrenched in all aspects of biological research. To a significant extent, future advances in biology and medicine depend on the advances in the capabilities of fluorescence measurements. As examples, the sensitivity of many clinical assays is limited by sample autofluorescence, single-molecule detection is limited by the brightness and photostability of the fluorophores, and the spatial resolution of cellular imaging is limited to about one-half of the wavelength of the incident light. We believe a combination of fluorescence, plasmonics, and nanofabrication can fundamentally change and increase the capabilities of fluorescence technology. Surface plasmons are collective oscillations of free electrons in metallic surfaces and particles. Surface plasmons, without fluorescence, are already in use to a limited extent in biological research. These applications include the use of surface plasmon resonance to measure bioaffinity reactions and the use of metal colloids as light-scattering probes. However, the uses of surface plasmons in biology are not limited to their optical absorption or extinction. We now know that fluorophores in the excited state can create plasmons that radiate into the far field and that fluorophores in the ground state can interact with and be excited by surface plasmons. These reciprocal interactions suggest that the novel optical absorption and scattering properties of metallic nanostructures can be used to control the decay rates, location, and direction of fluorophore emission. We refer to these phenomena as plasmon-controlled fluorescence (PCF). We predict that PCF will result in a new generation of probes and devices. These likely possibilities include ultrabright single-particle probes that do not photobleach, probes for selective multiphoton excitation with decreased light intensities, and distance measurements in biomolecular assemblies in the range from 10 to 200 nm. Additionally, PCF is likely to allow design of structures that enhance emission at specific wavelengths and the creation of new devices that control and transport the energy from excited fluorophores in the form of plasmons, and then convert the plasmons back to light. Finally, it appears possible that the use of PCF will allow construction of wide-field optical microscopy with subwavelength spatial resolution down to 25 nm.
Idiopathic gait disorder among in-patients with acquired gait disorders admitted to a children's hospital

Many children are admitted to hospital for treatment of an acquired gait disorder. Some gait disorders have a definite underlying physical cause and some are idiopathic. A literature review shows that there have been few attempts to estimate the incidence or prevalence of idiopathic gait disorder in children. The economic and social impact may be substantial with regard to therapy and investigations and school absence, respectively. This study attempted to estimate the incidence and impact of idiopathic gait disorder in a tertiary children's hospital. It evaluated prospectively all the children admitted with a gait disorder requiring physiotherapy treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital, using a standardized pro-forma, during a 3-month period between March-June 1999. One hundred and three children (aged 2-16 years) were admitted with gait disorders (57 female and 46 male). Eight had an idiopathic gait disorder. All eight children exhibited significant functional impairment, pain and school absence. Idiopathic gait disorder accounted for 8% of children admitted to hospital with an acquired gait disorder and had an annual incidence of at least 2-4 per 100,000 children. The economic and social impact of these disorders is, therefore, substantial, especially with regard to diagnosis, investigations, treatment and school absence.
Microbial dormancy improves development and experimental validation of ecosystem model

Climate feedbacks from soils can result from environmental change followed by response of plant and microbial communities, and/or associated changes in nutrient cycling. Explicit consideration of microbial life-history traits and functions may be necessary to predict climate feedbacks owing to changes in the physiology and community composition of microbes and their associated effect on carbon cycling. Here we developed the microbial enzyme-mediated decomposition (MEND) model by incorporating microbial dormancy and the ability to track multiple isotopes of carbon. We tested two versions of MEND, that is, MEND with dormancy (MEND) and MEND without dormancy (MEND_wod), against long-term (270 days) carbon decomposition data from laboratory incubations of four soils with isotopically labeled substrates. MEND_wod adequately fitted multiple observations (total C–CO2 and 14C–CO2 respiration, and dissolved organic carbon), but at the cost of significantly underestimating the total microbial biomass. MEND improved estimates of microbial biomass by 20–71% over MEND_wod. We also quantified uncertainties in parameters and model simulations using the Critical Objective Function Index method, which is based on a global stochastic optimization algorithm, as well as model complexity and observational data availability. Together our model extrapolations of the incubation study show that long-term soil incubations with experimental data for multiple carbon pools are conducive to estimate both decomposition and microbial parameters. These efforts should provide essential support to future field- and global-scale simulations, and enable more confident predictions of feedbacks between environmental change and carbon cycling.
Truncation of the nuclear localization signal of polyomavirus VP1 results in a loss of DNA packaging when expressed in the baculovirus system

Using the pBlueBacIII baculovirus transfer vector, N11-VP1, a truncated form of the polyomavirus major capsid protein VP1, was cloned for expression in the baculovirus-insect cell expression system. The N11-VP1 protein is virtually identical to full-length, wild-type VP1, except that the first 11 amino acids have been deleted from the amino terminus of the protein. The N-terminal region of VP1 has previously been shown to contain the nuclear localization signal (NLS) of the protein and contains residues essential for both nuclear transport as well as DNA-binding functions. The 5-day infected Sf9 cellular lysate from the recombinant N11-VP1 preparation was purified by cesium chloride density gradient centrifugation. Capsid-like particles were observed in the resulting preparation. The purified particle preparation was analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as well as Western blotting and was shown to have accurately expressed the N11-VP1 as cloned. Examination of the Coomassie-stained gels revealed that the capsid-like particles composed of the N11-VP1 protein did not contain any host-derived histones. The absence of the histones in the N11-VP1 capsid-like particles is indicative of the inability of these particles to package DNA, a feature which is observed when wild-type VP1 is treated in this manner. Electron microscopy of these particles substantiated this observation. To determine if the deletion of the NLS exhibited true in vivo characteristics, Sf9 insect cells were infected with the recombinant baculovirus carrying the N11-VP1 gene and examined early in infection (30 h post-infection) by indirect immunofluorescence. The N11-VP1 protein was not transported to the nucleus and remained in the cytoplasm. When the Sf9 cells were coinfected with N11-VP1 and polyomavirus VP2 and VP3 carrying baculoviruses, the N11-VP1 was transported to the nucleus by cooperation with the minor capsid proteins. These studies demonstrate that the N-terminal region of VP1, which contains the NLS and DNA-binding domains, is essential for VP1 nuclear transport and its ability to package Sf9 cellular DNA.
The Dark Side of Incontinence: Nighttime Incontinence in Nursing Home Residents

Objective: To describe the characteristics of nighttime urinary incontinence in a sample of nursing home (NH) residents. Design: Prospective descriptive study of a convenience sample of incontinent NH residents. Setting: Four NHs. Participants: 136 incontinent NH residents. Measurements: Frequency and volume of incontinent and continent voids for three 10-hour daytime and three 10-hour nighttime data collection periods. Results: The frequency of nighttime incontinence was the same as during the day, but the volume of nighttime incontinent voids and total nighttime volume were higher than during the day. There was substantial between- and within-subject variability in volumes, but the distribution of ratios of night/total volumes approximated a normal curve. Diuretic use was associated with relatively low nighttime volumes. Conclusion: About one-quarter of the NH residents we studied produced substantially more urine at night than during the day. Several medical, behavioral, and environmental approaches should be considered for reducing the frequency and volume of nighttime incontinence in this population.
Cajal–Retzius cells and the development of the neocortex

Abstract The dual origin, structural organization, and evolving ascending stratification of the mammalian neocortex are explored from a developmental perspective. Layer I and subplate (layer VII) zone of the neocortex evolve first from a primordial plexiform neuropil that is established throughout the non-olfactory telencephalon and that is common to amphibians, reptiles and mammals. The remaining laminations (strata) of the neocortex evolve later, between layer I and the subplate zone, from the cortical plate (CP), which represents a multilayered mammalian evolutionary feature. The attraction of CP neurons towards layer I, their progressive ascending (inside-out) placement, common early differentiation stage (regardless of size, location, cortical depth, or eventual functional role, or all of these), and the unique morphologic features of its pyramidal neuron are developmental processes controlled by layer I and its Cajal–Retzius cells. Based on the role of these early neurons and of layer I, a new theory of neocortical cytoarchitectonics and nomenclature is proposed to explain the basic structural and functional organization of the mammalian neocortex, the morphology of its pyramidal cells, and the addition of new pyramidal cell strata that characterize its phylogenetic evolution.
Synthetic analgesics: preparation of racemic 6,7-benzomorphans

Abstract A simple preparation of 2-carbomethoxy-2-azabicyclo[3.3.1]nonan-6-one ( 7 and its conversion to the racemic benzomorphans: 9 , 10 , 14 are described.
A simple method for estimating cyclone efficiency

A simple method for estimating cyclone efficiency is given based on the assumptions of a lognormal size distribution and the generalized Lapple fraction efficiency curve. This method enables the prediction of the overall efficiency of the cyclone as a function of the cut diameter of the cyclone, a parameter in the generalized Lapple distribution, and the parameters of the lognormal distribution. The method shows the most significant parameter in predicting the overall efficiency for a lognormal dust is the ratio of the aerodynamic geometric mass mean diameter to the aerodynamic cut diameter.
Electronic localization in the cuprates

A simplified three-band model for the cuprates is proposed which reproduces three qualitatively interesting features of the electronic structure of these materials. These are the intense satellite peak observed in the photoemission spectrum, the antiferromagnetic coupling of Cu 3{ital d} spins, and the tendency toward localization of doped holes, as evidenced by the broken-symmetry solutions observed in {ital ab} {ital initio} quantum chemistry calculations in these materials. The first two are well known to derive from the large Coulomb repulsion associated with the Cu 3{ital d} orbital; it is shown that the last also follows from this fact. It is furthermore demonstrated that more sophisticated three-band models, when studied in the parameter regime believed to be appropriate to these materials, also exhibit this tendency toward localization. It is stressed that this feature is a consequence of the strong rehybridization and resulting reduction of the kinetic and Coulomb energies, accompanying the introduction of two holes on a single CuO{sub 6} unit. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}
Water and Fat Contents of Tsetse Flies

A CONSIDERABLE amount of work has recently been carried out or is in progress concerning the physiological responses of tsetse flies to environmental conditions. These studies have been largely concerned with the effect on the water and fat content of the flies.
Life and death in ancient populations: Bones of contention in paleodemography

In a recent articleBocquet-Appel & Masset (1985) renew their criticism of paleodemography and criticizeVan Gerven & Armelagos' (1983) defense of paleodemographic methods. In the present analysis we respond toBocquet-Appel andMasset's criticisms ofVan Gerven andArmelagos and then address the question of whether paleodemographic methods are capable of producing plausible results based on what is known about contemporary human populations. This is done by expanding the life tables previously analysed byVan Gerven and co-workers for the Medieval Christian site of Kulubnarti in Nubia'sBatn el Hajar. The expanded results are then compared to data obtained from contemporary human populations as well as interpreted in light of Nubian culture history.
Sister chromatid exchange in patients with viral disease.

Sister chromatid exchange (SCE) frequencies were studied in differentially stained chromosomes from lymphocytes of 17 patients with viral disease. The mean SCE score for the patients was 8.7 ± 2.9 standard deviations. SCE scores were significantly elevated in the patients compared with the controls (p < 0.01); however, variability in SCE means was observed in the patients. SCE elevations were also present in long term cultured Epstein Barr virus positive human B lymphocytes.
Rigorous statistical thermodynamics of a model binary solution: One-dimensional soft rods with hard rods

Abstract From canonical ensemble theory, the thermodynamic functions A , F (the one-dimensional pressure), μ, S , G , and H are obtained in the thermodynamic limit for a system of soft rods (two equal- mass points between which there is a potential proportional to separation) and for a system of hard rods of the same total mass and arbitrary length σ, on a circle. Introduction of a tangent “interchange loop” allows the evaluation of the partition function of an arbitrary mixture of physically indistinguishable soft rods with physically indistinguishable hard rods. All circular sequences of the two types of particles give the same previously evaluated integral; the number of sequences is related to the number of different linear arrangements in a way exact in the thermodynamic limit. The same thermodynamic functions are evaluated for the mixture. The fugacities reveal that the two non-ideal components surprisingly form a perfect solution with each other, regardless of the volume fraction, often invoked in three-dimensional solution theory.
Sialidase Activity in Mycoplasma Synoviae

Abstract Eleven strains of the avian pathogen Mycoplasma synoviae were evaluated for the presence of sialidase activity with the use of the fluorogenic substrate 2′-(4-methylumbelliferyl)-α-d-N-acetylneuraminic acid and the sialidase inhibitor 2-deoxy-2,3-didehydro-N-acetylneuraminic acid. The kinetics of in vitro growth in modified Frey medium were also assessed for each strain. Five strains had been isolated from clinically symptomatic chickens, and strains WVU1853T and K3344 have been demonstrated to be capable of reproducing disease in specific-pathogen-free chickens. All strains exhibited sialidase activity, although the amount varied 65-fold among strains (P < 0.0001) from 1.3 × 10−7 to 2.0 × 10−9 activity units per colony-forming unit. Strains originally isolated from clinically symptomatic birds had more (P < 0.05) sialidase activity than strains from asymptomatic birds. Strain WVU1853T exhibited the most sialidase activity (P < 0.0001) and grew to the highest culture density (P < 0.0001) among st...
Tracer techniques for estimating emissions from inaccessible ground level sources

Abstract A methodology is described that can be used to estimate emission rates from manufacturing plants, or other source areas, when access is not possible. An inert tracer is released at a known rate from a vehicle traveling back and forth on a cross-wind road outside the emission area. Samples are collected downwind of the source area (at a distance of 1–5 km), and analyzed for the tracer and emitted materials of interest. The paper describes how the emission rates of the materials of interest can be determined from the measured downwind concentrations. The method is generally insensitive to meteorological conditions if applied at night or under overcast, neutrally stable, daytime conditions; it is suitable for estimating fugitive emissions from sources within 10 or 15 m of ground level. However, it must be applied with discretion if interfering sources are present in the area. Results obtained in a test at a halogenated hydrocarbon manufacturing plant gave promising results and demonstrated the feasibility of the methodology. Suggestions for improvements are given.
Electrochemistry and electrogenerated chemiluminescence of n-pentyl and phenyl BODIPY species: Formation of aggregates from the radical ion annihilation reaction

The electrochemistry and the electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of the BODIPY species (2,6-diethyl-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-8-n-pentyl-4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene, i.e., B8-n-pentyl), an aromatic monomer (B8-phenyl), and a closely related dimer were examined. The B8-n-pentyl species with the n-pentyl donor chain in the meso position shows good electrochemical behavior in MeCN with the formation of stable radical ions. The ECL emission is characterized by long-wavelength emission during consecutive oxidation and reduction steps. This is attributed to aggregate formation on radical ion annihilation, the extent of which increased with increasing concentration of the compound. The B8-phenyl electrochemistry also shows stable radical ions. However, B8-phenyl with the meso phenyl group ECL emission does not show any long-wavelength emission. The synthesized dimer closely related to this species shows two electrochemical oxidations with peak separations of 0.5 V and two reductions with peak separ...
The mechanistic target of rapamycin pathway in sarcomas: from biology to therapy

Introduction: The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a critical node at the junction of multiple intracellular signaling pathways. Amongst its many functions, mTOR instrumentally coordinates protein synthesis and cell growth in response to varying nutrient levels. The mTOR pathway has been implicated and targeted in several malignancies with modest success. Sarcomas are uncommon but diverse mesenchymal tumors for which systemic therapy is often suboptimal. Unsurprisingly, evidence is accumulating for the relevance of mTOR pathway activation across multiple sarcomas. Several clinical trials testing mTOR targeted therapy in sarcomas recently have yielded mixed results.Areas covered: The biology of the mTOR pathway and its relevance to the maintenance of the cancer phenotype shall be reviewed. The preclinical evidence for mTOR pathway activation in a range of sarcoma subtypes, the pharmacology of current and developing agents targeting mTOR, and results of completed clinical trials in sarcomas will al...
Hidden in Plain Sight: Freud's Jewish Identity Revisited

Using a contextualizing, integrative approach, the author looks at aspects of Freud's life and the multiple levels of influence in terms of his theories. While keeping a broad overview of the historical and cultural life for Jews in 19th-century Europe, including the effects of anti-Semitism, emancipation, and the enlightenment movement, the author intertwines Freud's parents' lives and personalities as they played out in Freud's own development and in his theories. The author believes that Freud formed a particular repression linking Jewishness, passivity, femininity, and religion while elevating in his theories masculinity, activity, science, and atheism. The author specifically focuses on Freud's theories of the Unconscious and the oedipal complex as particularly representative of a split between his own Jewish home and the German high culture he was educated within. Drawing on literature within psychoanalysis and the disciplines of Jewish studies and broad cultural history, the author concludes that F...
Paramagnetic defects in germanium sulfur glasses

Abstract ESR-studies were conducted at 9.5 GHz on GeS 2±x glasses (x=0,0.1). Glasses were melted at 683°C, 789°C and 895°C in Vycor tubes which were evacuated and sealed before fusion. The ESR-spectra of the virgin glasses are characterized by a narrow symmetric (g=2.0037, Δ H pp =3G, A-component) and a broad asymmetric line (g=2.0113, Δ H pp =17G, B-component). The narrow line was not detected in the GeS 2±x glasses fused at 895°C and in the GeS 2.1 glass fused at 796°C. The narrow line intensity of the sulfur deficit glass is approximately two times the corresponding intensity of the stoichiometric and sulfur excess glass. The intensity of the asymmetric line is negligibly small in the GeS glasses fused at 638°C. It dominates in the spectra of the GeS glasses fused at 789°C, and triples in the GeS glasses fused at 895°C. Structural models for the defect centers which cause the detected lines have not yet been developed by us.
Magnetic properties of cobalt nanoparticles obtained by ion implantation into amorphous silica

Abstract Magnetic characterization of cobalt nanoparticles obtained by 35 keV Co + ion implantation into amorphous SiO 2 was carried out. Implantation fluences from 1.5 to 10 × 10 16 atoms/cm 2 were used to control the average size of the nanoparticles. Transmission electron microscopy measurements revealed sizes ranging from ca . 2.5 to 10 nm, depending on the implantation fluence. The magnetic properties were determined using a superconducting quantum interference device, with measurements carried out as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. The results show that magnetic properties are dependent on the dimensions of the nanoparticles, with an increase of the blocking temperature, anisotropy constant, and relative remanent magnetization, and a decrease of the saturation magnetization field decreasing for larger particles.
Interaction between low-affinity cupric ion and human methemoglobin.

Abstract Human hemoglobin has been shown to contain a high- as well as a low-affinity binding site for cupric ion on each of its constitutent β chains. The copper that is bound to the low-affinity site has been implicated in the selective oxidation of the β hemes. In the present work a low-affinity binding site for cupric ion has been located within 10 A of the heme iron in human hemoglobin. It is suggested that the proximal histidine is involved in the binding of copper at this site and that it participates in the oxidation of heme iron and reduction of cupric ion.
Neuroética: reflexiones sobre los principios latentes de la moral en medicina

Ethical dilemmas resulting from neural sciences have promoted the emergence of a new discipline termed neuroethics. Researchers distinguish between ethics of neuroscience and neuroscience of ethics. The former deals with ethical problems arising from new forms of interventions into the brain. The latter investigates the neural mechanisms that may possibly underlie morality as such. This article presents a survey of the new empirical facts and directions, and a critical evaluation of the methodological and ontological problems underlying neuroethics as such. Conceptual analyses of research issues and the underlying implicit conceptions of human being are thoroughly investigated based on Heidegger's thought
Monoclonal Antibodies to Genus- and Type-Specific Papillomavirus Structural Antigens

Monoclonal antibodies against SDS-disrupted bovine papillomavirus type 1 (BPVl) were obtained from hybridomas prepared by fusing mouse myeloma cell line P3X63Ag8Ul with spleen cells from immunized BAL
The influence of shading on associative N2 fixation

The effect of reduced solar radiation on associative N2-fixation and plant parameters was studied in three field experiments (1978–80). ‘Gahi-3’ pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum (L.) K. Monch.) field plots were shaded with saran shade cloth that reduced solar radiation by 50% and 75%. Acetylene reduction activity (ARA) was reduced by shading in one of the three experiments. The two non-responding experiments were conducted on a wall-drained, low-activity site (ARA means ranging 17–68 n moles ethylene core−1 h−1), the responding experiment was conducted on a poorly drained, high-ARA site.
Tetracyclines in ophthalmology

Tetracycline and its congeners demonstrate antimicrobial activity against bacteria, Chlamydiae and Toxoplasma gondii. Ophthalmologists can use these drugs to treat bacterial and chlamydial infections, and also for ocular rosacea and similar disorders. Side effects associated with systemic tetracycline use are most commonly related to the gastrointestinal tract and to signs of yeast superinfection. Minocycline use may be limited by its vestibular toxicity. Temporary growth retardation and staining of erupting teeth may occur with oral use of tetracycline in children under 8 years; these drugs should not be given in pregnancy or to young children. Topical tetracycline application yields good tear and aqueous humor concentrations.
Modular fluorescent benzobis(imidazolium) salts: syntheses, photophysical analyses, and applications.

A series of benzobis(imidazolium) (BBI) salts has been prepared and studied as a new class of versatile fluorescent materials. Using a high yielding, modular synthetic strategy, BBI salts with a range of functionality poised for investigating fundamental and applications-oriented characteristics, including emission wavelength tunability, solvatochromism, red-edge excitation, chemical stability, multiphoton excitation, and protein conjugation, were prepared in overall yields of 40−97%. Through structural variation, the BBIs exhibited λem ranging between 329 and 561 nm while displaying Φfs up to 0.91. In addition, the emission characteristics of these salts were found to exhibit strong solvent dependencies with Stokes shifts ranging from 4570 to 13 793 cm-1, depending on the nature of the BBI core. Although red-edge effects for BBI salts with Br and BF4 counterions were found to be similar, unique characteristics were displayed by an analogue with MeSO4 anions. The stability of an amphiphilic BBI was quanti...
Mechanisms of gastric mucosal injury and protection

This article emphasizes and reviews the premise that because the pathogenesis of acute gastric mucosal injury is multifactorial, several protective mechanisms should also be considered in analyzing gastric mucosal defense. The first part of the article reviews the pathogenesis of acute gastric mucosal injury by major etiologic factors such as hypoxia and chemical and biological agents, and emphasizes the common endogenous mediators of damage (e.g, endothelins, leukotrienes, thromboxane, platelet-activating factor, monoamines, free radicals, proteases, ammonia, hydrochloric acid, and bile acids--in decreasing potency). The second part of the review is devoted to the gastroprotective mechanisms that are analyzed by anatomical (histologic) location and biochemical processes. The endogenous mediators of acute gastroprotection include prostaglandins, sulfhydryl (SH) compounds, non-SH antioxidants, polyamines, and epidermal growth factor, whereas the protective and mediatory role of glucocorticoids, somatostatin, pentagastrin, histamine, gangliosides, and calcitonin gene-related peptide need further studies. A list of endogenous and exogenous chemicals that exert biphasic, damaging, and protective effects on the gastric mucosa in also included. The final common pathway of acute gastroprotection at the structural and functional level seems to be the preservation of subepithelial microvascular integrity leading to maintenance of mucosal blood flow that allows the energy-dependent rapid restitution (cell migration) from surviving gastric neck cells to repair the superficial epithelial defect. Very new data on the contribution of a histodilutional barrier and release of proteases to gastroprotective processes are also discussed.
L/I‐7 Comparison of HCV outcomes in recipients of expanded‐criteria, living donor, and standard liver grafts

Introduction: Living donor (LD) and expanded-criteria donor (ECD) livers are important sources of organ transplants in some regions. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains the most common reason for end-stage liver disease in the United States. It is unclear whether ECD and LD grafts are associated with poorer outcomes in hepatitis C recipients, as compared with non-ECD (standard [STD]) MELD-allocated livers. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare long-term hepatitis C recurrence rates and outcomes in recipients of ECD, LD, and STD grafts. Methods: The cohort of patients analyzed comprised all adult hepatitis C transplant recipients between 1/1/01 and 11/1/04 (minimum follow-up, 1 year). Recipients not surviving the immediate perioperative period (90 days) were excluded. Censored events were defined by disease-free graft survival. Disease recurrence was defined by histologically confirmed hepatitis C and at least stage II fibrosis. ECDs were identified according to accepted criteria (e.g., age, steatosis, ischemia, donation after cardiac death, abnormal biopsy). Results: In all, 120 patients formed the study cohort, with 79 ECD, 27 LD, and 14 STD grafts. The mean recipient MELD was 19.8 overall (range, 6 to 43), 20.1 (ECD), 14.1 (LD), and 24.7 (STD). The mean time to censored event was 709 days overall, 631 (ECD), 884 (STD), and 846 (LD). The 2-year disease-free survival rate was 44% (ECD), 55.6% (LD), and 70.7% (STD), by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Comparison of the curves indicated a significant difference between ECD and STD recipients, but no difference between ECD and LD recipients. Conclusions: Recipients with hepatitis C who received ECD grafts had poorer outcomes in our experience, as compared with those receiving STD grafts. LD grafts, which can be viewed as a subset of ECD grafts, also had poorer outcomes than STD whole grafts, but this difference was not statistically significant.
Toxicity of cadmium to rat osteosarcoma cells (ROS 172.8): Protective effect of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3

Inadequate vitamin D intake is an important cofactor in clinical and experimental bone disease induced by chronic cadmium exposure. The interaction was investigated by culture of rat osteoblastic osteosarcoma cells (ROS 17/2.8) in a serum-free medium with equimolar concentrations of cadmium chloride and 1 alpha,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3. After addition of cadmium alone to culture medium, the unstimulated secretion of osteocalcin and cellular alkaline phosphatase activity were inhibited at 10 pM, and of DNA synthesis and proline incorporation into collagen at 500 nM. In the presence of equimolar amounts of cadmium and 1 alpha,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3, all four responses paralleled those of 1 alpha,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3 alone up to the inhibitory concentration of 500 nM cadmium. Neither 10 nM 1 alpha,25-(OH)2 vitamin D3 nor 1 microM cadmium induced synthesis of metallothionein in these cells indicating that the protective effect of D3 was not related to the induction of a metallothionein-like protein in ROS 17/2.8 cells. In the presence or absence of D3, cadmium inhibited osteoblastic function at concentrations below the whole-organ concentration of cadmium in bone as reported in experimental and clinical cadmium-induced osteotoxicity. The extreme sensitivity of ROS 17/2.8 cells to cadmium may relate to the absence of metallothionein synthesis.
Making the most of microarray data.

The impact of microarray technology on biology will depend on computational methods of data analysis. A supervised computer-learning method using support vector machines predicts gene function from expression data—and shows promise.
Performance of the Lowell Observatory instrumentation system

The Lowell Observatory Instrumentation System (LOIS) is an instrument control software system with a common interface that can control a variety of instruments. Its user interface includes GUI-based, scripted, and remote program control interfaces, and supports operational paradigms ranging from traditional direct observer interaction to fully automated operation. Currently LOIS controls a total of ten instruments built at Lowell Observatory (including one for SOFIA), NASA Ames Research Center, MIT (for Magellan), and Boston University. Together, these instruments include optical and near-IR imaging, spectroscopic, and polarimetric capability. This paper reviews the actual design of LOIS in comparison to its original design requirements and implementation approaches, and evaluates its strengths and weaknesses relative to operational performance, user interaction and feedback, and extensibility to new instruments.
Residential Photovoltaic Energy Systems in California:The Effect on Home Sales Prices

Relatively little research exists estimating the marginal impacts of photovoltaic (PV) energy systems on home sale prices. Using a large dataset of California homes that sold from 2000 through mid-2009, we find strong evidence, despite a variety of robustness checks, that existing homes with PV systems sold for a premium over comparable homes without PV systems, implying a near full return on investment. Premiums for new homes are found to be considerably lower than those for existing homes, implying, potentially, a tradeoff between price and sales velocity. The results have significant implications for homeowners, builders, appraisers, lenders, and policymakers.
Faster Parametric Shortest Path and Minimum Balance Algorithms

Author(s): Young, NE; Tarjant, RE; Orlin, JB | Abstract: We use Fibonacci heaps to improve a parametric shortest path algorithm of Karp and Orlin, and we combine our algorithm and the method of Schneider and Schneider's minimum‐balance algorithm to obtain a faster minimum‐balance algorithm. For a graph with n vertices and m edges, our parametric shortest path algorithm and our minimum‐balance algorithm both run in O(nm + n2 log n) time, improved from O(nm log n) for the parametric shortest path algorithm of Karp and Orlin and O(n2m) for the minimum‐balance algorithm of Schneider and Schneider. An important application of the parametric shortest path algorithm is in finding a minimum mean cycle. Experiments on random graphs suggest that the expected time for finding a minimum mean cycle with our algorithm is O(n log n + m). Copyright © 1991 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company
Brain Protection in Cardiac Surgery

Brain injury is a major source of patient morbidity after cardiac surgery, and is associated with prolonged hospitalization, excessive operative mortality, high hospital costs, and altered quality of life. Frequency and the clinical manifestations depend on multiple factors, including the completeness and timing of neurologic testing. Ischemic brain infarctions may or may not be associated with stroke or postoperative neurocognitive dysfunction, but the long-term implications of these lesions on neurologic function have not yet been extensively evaluated. This article reviews the current views on the pathophysiologic basis of cerebral injury after cardiac surgery and provides a summary of measures aimed at reducing its occurrence.
Mechanisms underlying ischemic diastolic dysfunction: relation between rigor, calcium homeostasis, and relaxation rate.

Increased diastolic chamber stiffness (↑DCS) during ischemia may result from increased diastolic calcium, rigor, or reduced velocity of relaxation. We tested these potential mechanisms during sever...
Regulation of Ghrelin in Physiologic and Pathophysiologic States

Ghrelin, a ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor, is an orexigenic hormone produced in the gastrointestinal tract. In humans and other animals, circulating ghrelin levels fluctuate over the course of the day in relation to food intake. If circulating ghrelin plays a role in determining food intake from meal to meal, it will be important to understand the factors that regulate plasma ghrelin levels in relation to feeding. Circulating ghrelin levels also appear to reflect body weight changes over the longer term, raising the possibility that ghrelin functions as an adiposity signal. This review discusses some of the factors known to affect ghrelin levels, including nutrient stimulation of the gastrointestinal tract, diet composition, and weight loss. We also consider potential hormonal and neural mediators of the effects of nutrients and weight change on ghrelin levels.
Prevalence and correction of 25(OH) vitamin D deficiency in peritoneal dialysis patients.

BackgroundPeritoneal dialysis (PD) patients are at risk for 25(OH) vitamin D deficiency due to effluent loss in addition to traditional risk factors.ObjectivesTo measure 25(OH) vitamin D deficiency...
Triple junction magmatism: a geochemical study of Neogene volcanic rocks in western California

Abstract Inception of volcanism at late Oligocene to Recent centers in the eastern Coast Ranges of California (ECR suite) regularly decreases in age northward and is correlated with the northward migration of the transform-transform-trench Mendocino triple junction (MTJ). Miocene volcanism in the southern California basin (SCB suite) is spatially and temporally associated with the transform-ridge-trench Rivera triple junction (RTJ). The tholeiitic to calc-alkaline rocks in both suites were erupted through older trench melange while arc magmatism was occurring several hundred kilometers to the east. Therefore they are not related to subduction zone magmatism, but instead to interactions of the MTJ and RTJ with the continental margin. The ECR rocks, dominantly intermediate to silicic in composition, have relatively high δ 18 O values up to 11.3, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios up to 0.7055, as well as relatively high Th contents, suggesting that crustal anatexis played a dominant role in their generation. Coupled crystal fractionation and crustal assimilation by an initially basaltic magma cannot explain the high δ 18 O values and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios because greater than 95% of the basalt would need to crystallize. In contrast, the SCB rocks, dominantly mafic to intermediate in composition, have relatively low δ 18 O values down to 5.2 and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios down to 0.7025 suggesting that these rocks were derived dominantly from a mantle source. Whether crustal anatexis occurs is determined largely by the type of stress a triple junction imposes upon the continental margin. Both the MTJ and RTJ are associated with high heat flow and magma fluxes from the mantle. The transform-transform-trench MTJ is associated with locally variable mild extension to compression and therefore allows pooling of basaltic magma in the crust to initiate crustal melting. The high rates of continental extension associated with the transform-ridge-trench RTJ prevents such pooling of magma. The space created by decoupling of the subducted slab at a transform-transform-trench triple junction might promote passive upwelling of mantle material to fill it and induce melting to generate basalts. Mafic volcanic rocks of this origin may provide a unique view of the subcontinental mantle at the continental margin. 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios as low as 0.70255 for mafic volcanic rocks in the Sonoma-Tolay center associated with the MTJ contrast with high La/Sm ratios of 1.1 to 1.3 and low Zr/Nb,Hf/Ta,La/Th , and La/Ta ratios of 5.0 to 6.7, 2.6 to 3.5, 4.7 to 8.8, and 10.2 to 12.5, respectively. These data suggest that the mantle beneath parts of western California may have originally been depleted but has been enriched relatively recently. Such enrichment might have occurred by metasomatic processes associated with crustal accretion and/or juxtaposition of differing lithospheric mantle in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic.