cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Molecular adaptation in the ice worm, Mesenchytraeus solifugus: divergence of energetic-associated genes.

The ice worm, Mesenchytraeus solifugus, is the largest glacially obligate metazoan and among only a few metazoan species that complete their life cycle at 0°C. We conducted a large-scale sequencing analysis of cDNAs isolated from ice worm anterior segments. Sequence comparisons among an available group of ice worm, arthropod, chordate, and nematode homologues suggest that ice worms encode proteins that are less bulky, are less polar, and contain fewer charged residues. Also, subunits of the catalytic F1 ATP synthase complex appear to have diverged more rapidly than other ice worm genes examined, suggesting a role in cold-temperature adaptation. Modeling of F1 ATP synthase β and γ subunits identified nonconservative, ice worm-specific amino acid substitutions at subunit contact sites and at sites proximal to the catalytic site.
Efficient seismic response data storage and transmission using ARX model-based sensor data compression algorithm

This paper presents a linear predictor (LP)-based lossless sensor data compression algorithm for efficient transmission, storage and retrieval of seismic data. Auto-Regressive with eXogenous input (ARX) model is selected as the model structure of LP. Since earthquake ground motion is typically measured at the base of monitored structures, the ARX model parameters are calculated in a system identification framework using sensor network data and measured input signals. In this way, sensor data compression takes advantage of structural system information to maximize the sensor data compression performance. Numerical simulation results show that several factors including LP order, measurement noise, input and limited sensor number affect the performance of the proposed lossless sensor data compression algorithm concerned. Generally, the lossless data compression algorithm is capable of reducing the size of raw sensor data while causing no information loss in the sensor data. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Treatment outcomes in type A and B alcohol dependence 6 months after serotonergic pharmacotherapy.

Background: Evidence supporting the use of serotonergic medications for the treatment of alcohol dependence is available from studies where pharmacotherapy targeted specific alcoholic subtypes. We previously established with Babor's alcohol typology that Type A “lower-risk/severity” alcoholics (n=55) had better treatment response to 14 weeks of sertraline (200mg/day) than placebo, and this was not found for Type B “higher-risk/severity” alcoholics (n=45). The purpose of this study is to assess in this original study group whether treatment gains in the Type A alcoholics were maintained, or, if treatment outcomes changed for the Type B alcoholics, after discontinuing pharmacotherapy. Methods: After the end of a 3-month course of 200mg/day of sertraline, the subjects were interviewed at several time points about their alcohol drinking, if any, using the Timeline Followback method. For 90% of the original study group, mixed effects and GEE models were used to compare monthly drinking amounts over a 6-month post-treatment period to drinking amounts in the last month of treatment. Results: We found that Type A alcoholics who had been treated with sertraline, in contrast to placebo, maintained the good outcomes they had achieved during treatment for at least 6 months following pharmacotherapy. We found that Type B alcoholics who had been treated with sertraline, in contrast to placebo, continued to show no advantage for pharmacotherapy in the 6 months after completing treatment. In addition, heavy drinking in Type B alcoholics increased over the 6 months post-pharmacotherapy in those initially treated with sertraline, compared to placebo. Conclusions: These data support the importance of considering alcohol subtype when pharmacologically treating alcohol dependence.
Teaching Consumer Product Design to Engineering Students

Consumer product design blends engineering and industrial design principles, and marketing strategies to bring functional, aesthetic products to market. While competitions motivate a diverse set of students to churn out products/ventures, a systematic approach for tackling consumer product design tasks and case studies that demonstrate the approach greatly benefit a number of students by focusing their design efforts. The paper elaborates such an approach using a case study highlighting the thought process. The case study involves the design of an innovative keychain. While the case study was primarily mechanical engineering in scope addressed by a student team of mechanical engineers, the approach outlined in the paper is generic and can be applied to product designs involving other disciplines.© 2008 ASME
Structure of a geranyl-α-pyrone from Mimulus aurantiacus leaf resin

Abstract A previously reported but misidentified geranyl-α-pyrone, in addition to six known compounds, was isolated from the leaf resin of Mimulus aurantiacus. HMBC NMR analyses of the geranyl-α-pyrone resolved uncertainties in the site of attachment of the two side chains and necessitated a revision of the previously reported structure. This compound is shown to be 3-geranyl-4-hydroxy-6-(2-hydroxypropyl)-2-pyrone.
On the Implementation of Stream-Wise Periodic Boundary Conditions

Fully-developed periodic boundary conditions have frequently been employed to perform calculations on the performance of typical elements of heat exchangers. Many such calculations have been achieved by transforming the equations of motion to obtain a new set of state variables which are cyclic in the stream-wise direction. In others, primitive variables, based on substitution schemes are employed. In this paper; a review of existing procedures is provided, and a new method is proposed. The method is based on the use of primitive variables with periodic boundary conditions combined with the use of slip values. Either pressure difference or mass flow rate may be prescribed, and both constant wall temperature and constant heat flux wall conditions may be considered. The example of an offset-fin plate-fin heat exchanger is used to illustrate the application of the procedure. The scope and limitations of the method are discussed in detail, and the mathematical basis by which the method may be extended to the consideration of problems involving mass transfer, with associated continuity, momentum, and species source/sinks is proposed.Copyright © 2005 by National Research Council of Canada
Hemodynamics Analysis of a Stenosed Carotid Bifurcation and its Plaque-Mitigating Design

Considering transient two-dimensional laminar flow in a diseased carotid artery segment with realistic inlet and outflow conditions, detailed velocity profiles, pressure fields, wall shear stress distributions and coupled, localized plaque formations have been simulated. The type of outflow boundary condition influences to a certain degree the extent of plaque build-up, which in turn reduces "disturbed flow" phenomena such as flow separations, recirculation zones, and wavy flow patterns in the artery branches during portions of the pulse. Based on computer experiments varying key geometric factors, a plaque-mitigating design of a carotid artery bifurcation has been proposed. Elimination of the carotid bulb, a smaller bifurcation angle, lower area ratios, and smooth wall curvatures generated a design with favorable hemodynamics parameters, leading to reduced plaque build-up by factors of 10 and 2 in the internal carotid and in the external carotid, respectively.
Adenosine, Inosine, and Guanosine Protect Glial Cells During Glucose Deprivation and Mitochondrial Inhibition: Correlation Between Protection and ATP Preservation

The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanism by which adenosine, inosine, and guanosine delay cell death in glial cells (ROC-1) that are subjected to glucose deprivation and mitochondrial respiratory chain inhibition with amobarbital (GDMI). ROC-1 cells are hybrid cells formed by fusion of a rat oligodendrocyte and a rat C6 glioma cell. Under GDMI, ATP was depleted rapidly from ROC-1 cells, followed on a much larger time scale by a loss of cell viability. Restoration of ATP synthesis during this interlude between ATP depletion and cell death prevented further loss of viability. Moreover, the addition of adenosine, inosine, or guanosine immediately before the amobarbital retarded the decline in ATP and preserved cell viability. The protective effects on ATP and viability were dependent on nucleoside concentration between 50 and 1,500 microM. Furthermore, protection required nucleoside transport into the cell and the continued presence of nucleoside during GDMI. A significant positive correlation between ATP content at 16 min and cell viability at 350 min after the onset of GDMI was established (r = 0.98). Modest increases in cellular lactate levels were observed during GDMI (1.2 nmol/mg/min lactate produced); however, incubation with 1,500 microM inosine or guanosine increased lactate accumulation sixfold. The protective effects of inosine and guanosine on cell viability and ATP were >90% blocked after treatment with 50 microM BCX-34, a nucleoside phosphorylase inhibitor. Accordingly, lactate levels also were lower in BCX-34-treated cells incubated with inosine or guanosine. We conclude that under GDMI, the ribose moiety of inosine and guanosine is converted to phosphorylated glycolytic intermediates via the pentose phosphate pathway, and its subsequent catabolism in glycolysis provides the ATP necessary for maintaining plasmalemmal integrity.
Tightly coupled mitochondria from human early placenta

1. A procedure for the isolation of tightly coupled mitochondria from human early placenta is described. 2. Mitochondria obtained by this method were able to oxidize Krebs cycle intermediates, pyruvate, glutamate, glutamine, palmitoyl-carnitine, alpha-glycerophosphate and beta-hydroxybutyrate. 3. These mitochondria incubated in the medium containing ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid and bovine serum albumin and no added Mg2+ ions exhibited a high respiratory control and adenosine diphosphate:oxygen (ADP:O) ratios corresponding to the theoretical values for all substrates tested. Addition of Mg2+ ions markedly reduced the respiratory control index and ADP:O ratio. 4. Adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity in the obtained mitochondrial preparation was stimulated about tenfold by Mg2+. Oligomycin inhibited Mg2+-stimulated ATPase activity by about 25 per cent, but completely inhibited this activity in the absence of Mg2+ ions. 5. It is concluded that the effect of Mg2+ ions on the respiratory control and ADP:O ratio reported in this paper is exerted mainly through the Mg/+-stimulated oligomycin-insensitive ATPase activity.
Reduction of pulmonary compliance found with high-resolution computed tomography in irradiated mice

Purpose: To demonstrate that high-resolution computed tomography (CT) can be used to quantify loss of pulmonary compliance in irradiated mice. Methods and Materials: Computed tomography images of three nonirradiated (controls) and three irradiated mice were obtained 200 days after a single dose of 16-Gy Co (60) thoracic irradiation. While intubated, each animal was imaged at static breath-hold pressures of 2, 10, and 18 cm H{sub 2}O. A deformable image registration algorithm was used to calculate changes in air volume between adjacent-pressure CT image pairs (e.g., 2 and 10 cm H{sub 2}O), and functional images of pulmonary compliance were generated. The mass-specific compliance was calculated as the change in volume divided by the pressure difference between the 2 image sets and the mass of lung tissue. Results: For the irradiated mice, the lung parenchyma mean CT values ranged from -314 ({+-} 11) Hounsfield units (HU) to -378 ({+-} 11) HU. For the control mice, the mean CT values ranged from -549 ({+-} 11) HU to -633 ({+-} 11) HU. Irradiated mice had a 60% (45, 74%; 95% confidence interval) lower mass-specific compliance than did the controls (0.039 [{+-} 0.0038] vs. 0.106 [{+-} 0.0038] mL air per cm H{sub 2}O per gmore » lung) from the 2-cm to 10-cm H{sub 2}O CT image pair. The difference in compliance between groups was less pronounced at the higher distending pressures. Conclusion: High-resolution CT was used to quantify a reduction in mass-specific compliance following whole lung irradiation in mice. This small animal radiation injury model and assay may be useful in the study of lung injury.« less
A Randomized Trial of an Intervention to Improve Self-Care Behaviors of African-American Women With Type 2 Diabetes: Impact on physical activity

OBJECTIVE—To determine whether a culturally appropriate clinic- and community-based intervention for African-American women with type 2 diabetes will increase moderate-intensity physical activity (PA). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—In this randomized controlled trial conducted at seven practices in central North Carolina, 200 African-American women, ≥40 years of age with type 2 diabetes, were randomized to one of three treatment conditions: clinic and community (group A), clinic only (group B), or minimal intervention (group C). The clinic-based intervention (groups A and B) consisted of four monthly visits with a nutritionist who provided counseling to enhance PA and dietary intake that was tailored to baseline practices and attitudes; the community-based intervention (group A) consisted of three group sessions and 12 monthly phone calls from a peer counselor and was designed to provide social support and reinforce behavior change goals; and the minimal intervention (group C) consisted of educational pamphlets mailed to participants. The primary study outcome was the comparison of PA levels between groups assessed at 6 and 12 months by accelerometer, which was worn while awake for 7 days. RESULTS—Totals of 175 (88%) and 167 (84%) participants completed PA assessment at 6 and 12 months, respectively. For comparison of PA, the P value for overall group effect was 0.014. Comparing group A with C, the difference in the average adjusted mean for PA was 44.1 kcal/day (95% CI 13.1–75.1, P = 0.0055). Comparing group B with C, the difference in the average adjusted mean was 33.1 kcal/day (95% CI 3.3–62.8, P = 0.029). The intervention was acceptable to participants: 88% were very satisfied with clinic-based counseling to enhance PA, and 86% indicated that the peer counselor’s role in the program was important. CONCLUSIONS—The intervention was associated with a modest enhancement of PA and was acceptable to participants.
Beyond the rainbow: new fluorescent proteins brighten the infrared scene

Two fluorescent proteins that emit in the far-red and infrared range for imaging applications in cells and in vivo are described.
HOHLRAUM RADIATION DRIVE MEASUREMENTS ON THE OMEGA LASER

Time-resolved drive measurements with thin-walled hohlraum targets on Omega [J. M. Soures et al., Phys. Plasmas 3, 2108 (1996)] are presented and compared with two-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. For the first time, radiation fluxes are measured through the laser entrance hole instead of through a diagnostic side hole. We find improved agreement between time dependent experiments and simulations using this new technique. In addition, the drive history obtained in this manner correlates well with the drive onto the capsule at target center.
Schematic storyboarding for video visualization and editing

We present a method for visualizing short video clips in a single static image, using the visual language of storyboards. These schematic storyboards are composed from multiple input frames and annotated using outlines, arrows, and text describing the motion in the scene. The principal advantage of this storyboard representation over standard representations of video -- generally either a static thumbnail image or a playback of the video clip in its entirety -- is that it requires only a moment to observe and comprehend but at the same time retains much of the detail of the source video. Our system renders a schematic storyboard layout based on a small amount of user interaction. We also demonstrate an interaction technique to scrub through time using the natural spatial dimensions of the storyboard. Potential applications include video editing, surveillance summarization, assembly instructions, composition of graphic novels, and illustration of camera technique for film studies.
Factions, Models and Resource Regulation: Prospects for Lowering the Maine Lobster Trap Limit

One of the most important questions facing resource management is how to regulate industries exploiting natural resources. Currently there is an effort in the Maine lobster industry to get lower trap limits, which provides an opportunity to get detailed information on the political factors influencing legislation in an important and highly successful industry. In many industries, including the Maine lobster industry, many laws come in the aftermath of conflict between industry factions seeking laws to get distributional benefits. In the Maine lobster industry, the politics of getting lower trap limits are byzantine. Two factions have different models of the fishery, leading them to advocate different policies. The positions of people in each faction are very complicated. Those favoring a lower trap limit assume the industry is highly inefficient and that a lower trap limit would result in better catches per trap haul, lower costs of operations and higher profits. Some of those opposing a trap limit assume fishing more traps will lower profits; others assume it will raise profits. Those opposing lower trap limits offer five different sets of reasons for their viewpoint. To date, efforts to impose a lower trap limit have been blocked, but a number of factors could change the strength of the factions and tip the balance. In this industry, resource management policy is being made in an atmosphere in which different industry groups are pulling in different directions for complex sets of reasons.
Central nervous system tumors and organ donation: an update

Purpose of review To critically present the existing data on the risks of tumor transmission from organ donors with primary central nervous system tumors. This review summarizes published data on tumor transmission as evidenced by eight case reports, three institutional series, and four national or international registries/organ procurement agency databases. Recent findings Several case reports, series and donor registries have documented that tumor transmission can occur, albeit rarely. Implicated risk factors include high-grade tumors, cerebrospinal fluid shunting, and a history of substantial neurosurgical procedure. Summary Transmission of a central nervous system tumor occurs in 0–22.5% of transplanted organs depending upon the method of data capture. Risk factors have been identified which may identify donors who pose a higher transmission risk with organ transplantation. Many transplants, however, have been performed without tumor transmission, using organs from donors with one or more risk factors.
Effect of hospital culture on blood transfusion in cardiac procedures.

Background In our effort to reduce the use of blood products in cardiac operations in a health care system, we noted variations in transfusion practices among facilities. Interestingly, surgeons practicing at the same hospital had similar transfusion rates. We sought to quantitate the contribution of hospital influence on individual surgeons' transfusion practices. Methods Blood transfusion data for coronary artery bypass graft operations at 12 Providence Health & Services facilities between January 2008 and June 2011 were reviewed. Frequency of perioperative blood transfusion, amount of transfusion, components transfused, and timing of transfusions were compared. Variation among surgeons at the same institution vs between institutions was computed based on multilevel mixed-effect logistic and linear regression models. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated. Results A total of 5,744 nonemergency first-time coronary artery bypass graft procedures were performed by 42 not-low volume (n > 30 in 2.5 years) surgeons at 12 Providence Health & Services hospitals during the 3.5-year study period. Frequency, amount, timing, and blood component usage were different among facilities but relatively similar for surgeons within a facility. The variance of red blood cell transfusion rate among hospitals (.82) is more than two times that among surgeons practicing within the same hospital (.35). Thus, surgeons contribute 30% to the variation, and 70% of the total variation can be explained by the hospital effect. Conclusions In our multihospital system, the hospital that a surgeon practices at plays a larger role in determining blood utilization than the individual surgeon's preference.
Reptilian class I major histocompatibility complex genes reveal conserved elements in class I structure.

The polymerase chain reaction was used to isolate clones with class I major histocompatibility complex sequences from fish (carp), amphibian (axolotl), and two species of reptile (lizard and snake). The lizard and snake clones were used to isolate class I cDNA clones. All the sequence showed the expected evolutionary relatedness. The carp and axolotl clones and one lizard cDNA clone lacked the first systeine in the α3 domain which in other class I heavy chains forms an intradomain disulfide bond. A small number of amino acid residues are conserved in the class I heavy chain sequences from all five classes of vertebrates. In the first two domains they are symmetrically clustered and contribute to intra-and interdomain contacts. None of these invariant residues are at peptide-binding, T-cell receptor-interacting, or CD8-binding positions.
A simple, highly stable scintillator light source for ultraviolet absorption-based sensors

A light source consisting of radioactive and scintillating materials is evaluated for use in absorption measurements in the ultraviolet (UV) spectral region. The UV light source demonstrates the qualities necessary for chemical sensors. It is inexpensive, simple, reliable, compact, and does not require an external power supply. Since the light source is based upon radionuclear events that are completely random in time, its output is extremely stable if averaged over even moderate time periods. This stability allows simple, single-beam optical arrangements to be used as demonstrated by detection of gaseous ozone and the anesthetic gas halothane. Detection limits, using a prototype instrument, are 1.7 and 160 ppm for the two gases, respectively.
Hepatic Extraction of Lactic Acid Remains Intact After Endotoxemia 236

We previously showed that endotoxin-induced lactic acidemia is initially caused by a decrease in clearance of lactic acid (L) and not by an increase in production (Pediatr Res 41:1997, 38A). Previous investigators have shown that hepatocellular function is impaired early in the course of sepsis (Wang et. al. Shock 3:1995). Because the liver is a major site of L metabolism, we hypothesized that impaired hepatic extraction of L would contribute to endotoxin-induced lactic acidemia. To test this hypothesis, we measured simultaneous hepatic venous (HV), portal venous (PV) and aortic (A) lactic acid concentrations after 2 mg/kg LPS was infused into the IVC in chronically catheterized rats (n=3). Blood L concentrations (nmol/ml) were analyzed using an enzymatic assay. The extraction of L by the liver, non-hepatic splanchnic organs, and the entire splanchnic system was determined from the hepatic venous-portal venous (HV-PV), portal venous-aortic (PV-A), and hepatic venous-aortic (HV-A) concentration gradients, respectively. Values in table are mean (SD). Aortic L concentration increased 4.5 fold peaking at 90 min post LPS infusion. The positive L(PV-A) remained unchanged indicating that the non-hepatic splanchnic organs are net producers of L but do not contribute to the increase in L after LPS. The increasingly negative L(HV-PV) after LPS indicates that the liver retains the ability to extract L from the PV after LPS. The increasingly negative L(HV-A) indicates that the splanchnic system as a whole is a net clearer of L after LPS. We conclude that the ability of the liver to extract lactate is not impaired by LPS. However, the net hepatic flux of L is related both to the concentration gradient of L across the liver and blood flow through the liver. Since L(HV-PV) becomes increasingly negative, we speculate that the decreased net extraction of lactate after LPS may be related to a decrease in hepatic blood flow.
Pregnancy intentions and happiness among pregnant black women at high risk for adverse infant health outcomes.

CONTEXT: Unintended pregnancy is associated with risk behaviors and increased morbidity or mortality for mothers and infants, but a woman's feelings about pregnancy may be more predictive of risk and health outcomes than her intentions. METHODS: A sample of 1,044 black women who were at increased risk were enrolled at prenatal care clinics in the District of Columbia in 2001-2003. Bivariate and multivariate analyses assessed associations between pregnancy intentions or level of happiness about being pregnant and multiple psychosocial and behavioral risk factors, and identified correlates of happiness to be pregnant. RESULTS: Pregnancy intentions and happiness were strongly associated, but happiness was the better predictor of risk. Unhappy women had higher odds than happy women of smoking, being depressed, experiencing intimate partner violence, drinking and using illicit drugs (odds ratios, 1.7-2.6). The odds of being happy were reduced among women who had other children or a child younger than two, who were single or did not have a current partner, who had had more than one sexual partner in the past year and who reported that the baby's father did not want the pregnancy (0.3-0.6). In contrast, the odds of being happy were elevated among women who had better coping strategies (1.03), who had not used birth control at conception (1.6) and who had 1-2 household members, rather than five or more (2.1). CONCLUSIONS: Additional psychosocial screening for happiness about being pregnant and for partner characteristics, particularly the father's desire to have this child, may help improve prenatal care services and prevent adverse health outcomes. Language: en
J-series ion thruster isolator failure analysis

Three Hg propellant isolators (two cathode and one main) failed during testing in the Mission Profile Life Test. These failures involved contamination of the surface of the alumina insulating body which resulted in heating of the vaporizer by leakage current from the high voltage supply, with subsequent loss of propellant flow rate control. Failure analysis of the isolators showed the surface resistance was temperature dependent and that the alumina could be restored to its original insulating state by grit blasting the surface. The contaminant was identified as carbon and the most likely sources identified as ambient facility hydrocarbons, directed back-sputtered facility materials, and outgassing from organic insulating materials within the thruster envelope. Methods to eliminate contamination from each of these sources are described.
A near-optimal part setup algorithm for 5-axis machining using a parallel kinematic machine

A near-optimal part setup model (NOPSM) is developed. The purpose of this model is to find the near-optimal part setup position and orientation based on the workspace, stiffness and accuracy capability of a parallel kinematic machine that can be used for 5-axis machining. To build the proposed NOPSM, the knowledge on the hexapod kinematics, workspace, stiffness, structural imperfection, nonuniform thermal gradient and accuracy is required. Thus, it is a comprehensive performance capability study for a parallel kinematic machine. The proposed model is a software solution concept to improve the machine’s performance. It is very cost effective and can also be modified for other 5-axis machine tool applications.
Quantitation of glycocalyx production in coagulase-negative Staphylococcus

The purpose of this study was to develop sensitive and accurate methods of quantitating bacterial glycocalyx. Coagulase-negative staphylococci were cultured in trypticase soy broth. Quantitation of slime production was evaluated using various methods of fixation and staining. The amount of dye associated with bacterial slime was assessed spectrophotometrically following solubilization of the dye-biofilm complex by 0.2 M NaOH at 85 degrees C for 1 h. Carnoy's solution was optimal for fixation of the slime, and toluidine blue staining was most reproducible. Fifteen strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis showed a gradation in biofilm production ranging from high, medium, to low that was strain stable. Irrespective of the technique used, high, medium, and low producers of bacterial slime remained in the same category and always showed significantly different optical density readings (p less than 0.05). In our experiments, solubilization of a toluidine blue-bacterial biofilm complex was a direct, simple, and efficient method for reproducibily quantitating glycocalyx. This method provides a useful means of rapid quantitation of biofilm production to assess its role in the infection process and in the response to antibiotic therapy.
What affects the costs of raising replacement dairy heifers : A multiple-component analysis

A DP model of a dairy replacement herd was developed to analyze the impact of different dairy and replacement herd variables on the cost of rearing replacements for a representative dairy herd of 100 cows. A model was developed with Pennsylvania and US average information as the basis for the parameters. We used age at first calving of 25 mo, calving interval of 13 mo, herd-culling rate of 25%, and preweaned calf death of 10% as the base for comparison. We examined the impact of factors including age at first calving, calving interval, PDR, and the number of replacements required. From the base model, the total cost of rearing sufficient replacements for a 100-cow herd was $32,344. A reduction in culling rate to 20%, holding all other factors fixed, caused the net costs of raising replacements for the dairy herd to fall by $7968 or 24.6%. Increasing the culling rate above 25% led to a deficit in replacements for maintaining constant herd size, assuming a closed herd. The average age at first calving also affected the net costs of raising replacement heifers; reducing the age at first calving by 1 mo lowered the cost of a replacement program by $1400 or 4.3%. Changes in the length of the calving interval or in the PDR had marginal impacts on the net costs of replacement programs when compared with either herd-culling rate or average age at first calving.
Leitgedanken zur Ausarbeitung von Mikromethoden

Die folgende, mehr oder weniger “philosophische” Auseinandersetzung ist das Ergebnis der sich im Laufe der Jahre unvermeidlich ansammelnden personlichen Erfahrungen. Der Anstos zur zusammenfassenden Betrachtung ergab sich schlieslich durch die andauernde Beschaftigung mit den praktischen Problemen eines industriellen Laboratoriums, das unter anderem standig auch mit der Ausbildung von Prufmethoden fur analytische Kontroll-Laboratorien beschaftigt ist. Es ist wenigstens denkbar, das jede der hergebrachten Prufmethoden in einem kleineren Masstab durchgefuhrt werden konnte, und es besteht die Moglichkeit, Materialaufwand und Arbeit zu verringern und vielleicht gleichzeitig die Resultate in kurzerer Zeit zu erhalten. Es erheben sich sogleich die Fragen: Wie gros ist die Aussicht auf Erfolg? Wird sich das Ergebnis in Anbetracht der aufzuwendenden Arbeit lohnen? Wie weit soll man die Verkleinerung treiben? Schlieslich, wie soll man vorgehen, um ohne unnotigen Zeitverlust zu einer geeigneten Mikromethode zu gelangen?
Langerhans' cell histiocytosis (histiocytosis X) of bone. A clinicopathologic analysis of 263 pediatric and adult cases.

Background. Langerhans' cell histiocytosis (LCH) of bone is a disorder of histiocytic proliferation with variable and often unpredictable behavior. Method. The authors evaluated the clinical and pathologic features of 263 patients (172 children, 91 adults) with biopsy-proven LCH examined during an 80-year period at the Mayo Clinic. Only patients with bone involvement pathologically and/or radiographically were included in the study. Clinical follow-up was available for 245 patients and ranged from 3 months to 50 years (mean, 12 years: median, 10 years). Chi-square tests were used to determine associations between age, gender, extent of osseous involvement, visceral disease, and pathologic features. Survival analyses were performed by univariate and multivariate Cox regression methods. Results. Age at presentation ranged from 2 months to 71 years with a clear predominance in children. The most common presenting complaint was pain, often worse at night. The skull was the most frequent osseous site in children and adults. Diabetes insipidus was documented in 40 patients. Forty-four children developed skeletal recurrence and/or new bone lesions, 19 of whom had diabetes insipidus. Fourteen children and 3 adults died either directly or indirectly from LCH. One adult patient developed systemic amyloidosis. All but two of these pediatric patients were 3 years of age or younger at presentation. All children with hepatosplenomegaly (7 patients) and/or thrombocytopenia (9 patients) died. Nine of the 14 children who died presented initially with three or more bone lesions. Conclusions. The clinical behavior of LCH of bone is often unpredictable; however, young age at diagnosis, hepatosplenomegaly, thrombocytopenia, and polyostotic (≥3 bones involved) disease are associated with a poor prognosis (P < 0.005). Recrudescence in children, but not in adults, strongly correlates with the presence of diabetes insipidus (P < 0.0005).
Enzymic hydrolysis of arachidonoyl-phospholipids by rat brain synaptosomes.

Rat brain synaptosomes prelabeled with [14C]arachidonoyl-phospholipids were used to study the characteristic properties of acyl hydrolases for different phospholipids. Incubation of the prelabeled synaptosomes at 37°C resulted in a time-dependent decrease of label from phosphatidylcholines (PC) and phosphatidylinositols (PI) and a concomitant increase in label in the free fatty acid fraction, but not diacylglycerols (DG). Phosphatidylserines (PS) also showed a decrease in radioactivity, but little change was observed for phosphatidylethanolamines (PE). At pH 7.4, the release of labeled arachidonate from PI was Ca2+-dependent, but that from PS and approx 50% of that from PC was not. The hydrolysis of PC was greatest at pH 7.4, but Ca2+-dependent hydrolysis of PI was active from pH 5.5 to 8.5. All detergents tested severely inhibited the release of labeled arachidonate, but in the presence of Ca2+ and deoxycholate or taurocholate, a large portion of PI was converted to DG through activation of the PI-phosphodiesterase. Different effects on the phospholipid hydrolysis were observed with different phospholipase A2 inhibitors. Mepacrine (1 mM) inhibited the Ca2+-dependent hydrolysis of PI but not PC, whereas dibucaine (1 mM) inhibited PC hydrolysis by 40% but did not affect PI. p-Bromophenacyl bromide (1 mM) dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) only partially inhibited (about 40%) the hydrolysis of PI and PC. The preferential hydrolysis of PI and PC by endogenous phospholipid acyl hydrolase correlates well with the observation that these same two lyso-phospholipids are also preferred by the acyltransferase for the reacylation process.
Gauge-invariant coupled gravitational, acoustical, and electromagnetic modes on most general spherical space-times

The coupled Einstein-Maxwell system linearized away from an arbitrarily given spherically symmetric background space-time is reduced from its four-dimensional to a two-dimensional form expressed solely in terms of gauge-invariant geometrical perturbation objects. These objects, which besides the gravitational and electromagnetic, also include mass-energy degrees of freedom, are defined on the two-manifold spanned by the radial and time coordinates. For charged or uncharged arbitrary matter background the odd-parity perturbation equations for example, reduce to three second-order linear scalar equations driven by matter and charge inhomogeneities. These three equations describe the intercoupled gravitational, electromagnetic, and acoustic perturbational degrees of freedom. For a charged black hole in an asymptotically de Sitter space-time the gravitational and electromagnetic equations decouple into two inhomogeneous scalar wave equations.
Infected Macaques That Controlled Replication of SIVmacor Nonpathogenic SHIV Developed Sterilizing Resistance against Pathogenic SHIVKU-1

Abstract Twenty macaques were used to evaluate the ability of nonpathogenic SIV mac or nonpathogenic chimeric SIV-HIV (SHIV) to induce protection in macaques against superinfection with a pathogenic variant of SHIV (SHIV KU-1 ) originally containing the tat, rev, vpu, and env of HIV-1 (strain HXB2) in a genetic background of SIV mac 239. Specifically, three macaques inoculated with molecularly cloned, macrophage-tropic SIV mac LG1 developed an early systemic infection but recovered with only traces of SIV mac DNA in visceral lymphoid tissues. These animals were then inoculated parenterally with pathogenic SHIV KU-1 . All three animals resisted infection with SHIV KU-1 , as indicated by lack of virus recovery and absence of SHIV-specific env and vpu sequences in the visceral lymphoid tissues and multiple regions in the CNS. We also examined the ability of five macaques that had been inoculated with nonpathogenic SHIV (NP-SHIV) to withstand challenge with the pathogenic SHIV KU-1 . Like the SIV mac LG1-inoculated macaques, these animals also resisted SHIV KU-1 challenge as judged by the inability to recover infectious virus, normal CD4 + T cell counts, and the absence of SHIV KU-1 signature sequences in the lymph node tissue. Thus, eight of eight animals that developed control over primary lentivirus infections had also developed resistance to infection with pathogenic SHIV KU-1 . Three groups of macaques were used as controls for this study. The first group consisted of six macaques inoculated with SHIV KU-1 alone. All animals developed viremia, showed severe loss of CD4 + T cells within 4 weeks, and succumbed to AIDS within 6 months. The second group of three macaques was inoculated first with SHIV KU-1 and inoculated later with uncloned, neurovirulent SIV mac 7F-Lu. A third group of three macaques was inoculated with SIV mac 7F-Lu followed by inoculation with SHIV KU-1 . PCR analyses using oligonucleotide primers specific for the SIV or HIV env revealed that macaques from the last two groups had widespread infection with both SHIV KU-1 and SIV mac , indicating that animals that failed to control productive replication of either SHIV KU-1 or SIV mac 7F-Lu could not resist superinfection with the other virus. These data indicate that sterilizing immunity against the virulent SHIV could be induced in animals that had experienced an immunizing infection. Moreover, the divergence of the envelope glycoprotein of the protective avirulent and virulent challenge virus suggests that a single vaccine could protect against infection with a virus containing a different envelope glycoprotein.
Development of an intravascular heating source using an MR imaging guidewire.

Materials and Methods: A 0.032-inch MRIG was connected to a 2.45-GHz microwave generator. We 1) calculated the microwave power loss along the MRIG, 2) simulated the power distribution around the MRIG, 3) measured the temperature increase vs. input power with the MRIG, and 4) evaluated the thermal effect on the balloon-compressed/microwave-heated aorta of six living rabbits. In addition, during balloon inflation, we also simultaneously generated high-resolution MR images of the aortic wall. Results: The power loss was calculated to be 3.9 dB along the MRIG. The simulation-predicted power distribution pattern was cylindrically symmetric, analogous to the geometry of vessels. Under balloon compression, the vessel wall could be locally heated at 41°C with no thermal damage apparent on histology. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the possibility of using the MRIG as a multifunctional device, not only as a receiver antenna to generate intravascular high-resolution MR images of atherosclerotic plaques and as a conventional guidewire to guide endovascular interventions during MR imaging, but also as a potential intravascular heating source to produce local heat for thermal enhancement of vascular gene transfection.
Binding of thrombin‐activated human factor VIII to platelets

Summary. To study association of platelets with factor VIII, the purified protein was 125I-labelled with Bolton-Hunter reagent to a specific activity of 243 000–360 000 cpm/U. Autoradiographs of SDS polyacrylamide gels revealed polypep-tides of VIII at Mr about 240 kDa, 90 kDa and intermediate values, as well as some radioactive contaminants, but the light chain (Mr 78/76) seen with silver stain was not labelled. After 2.5–5-fold activation with thrombin, the higher radioactive Mr band disappeared, the band at 90 kDa became more intense, and a band appeared at about 45 kDa. The radioactivity associated with platelets, studied in the presence of haemophilic BaS04-treated plasma, was maximal after 6–8 min and increased 3–15-fold on activation with thrombin. With activated VIII, autoradiographs of platelet pellets showed only Villa but results are expressed as units of unactivated VIII bound. At 0.3–0.7 U/ml, 108 platelets bound 0.0008–0.004 U Villa. The amount bound was not affected by the ratio of unlabelled VIII to VIII labelled in the presence of a 50-fold molar excess of unlabelled Bolton-Hunter reagent. Binding increased to 1.5 U Villa/108 platelets (about 13 600 molecules per platelet) at 140 U/ml, with no evidence of saturation. Binding was not affected by monoclonal antibodies to platelet glycoproteins IIb/IIIa or Ib, quenching the thrombin before adding platelets, or aggregating the platelets with A2318 7 in the presence of thrombin. Qualitatively, binding of labelled Villa and factor Va studied by others are similar. Binding of 125I-Villa to aggregated and unaggregated platelets was normal in patient M.S. whose platelets were shown by others to be deficient in their ability to bind radiolabelled factor Xa and generate coagulant activity. This difference, and the fact that platelet coagulant activity is increased by platelet activation and/or aggregation, suggest that binding of Va or Villa alone does not determine the assembly of active proteolytic complexes on the platelet surface.
Physics-based GaN HEMT transport and charge model: Experimental verification and performance projection

GaN-based high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) are rapidly emerging as front-runners in high-power mm-wave circuit applications. For circuit design with current devices and to allow sensible future performance projections from device engineering in such a rapidly evolving technology, physics-based compact device models are essential. This paper presents a new GaN HEMT model that accomplishes these goals. The model is based on the concept of the virtual-source charge and channel-injection-velocity that captures the essential FET device physics with a small number of device parameters that have straightforward physical meanings. The new model is calibrated and validated with experimental DC I-V and S-parameter measurements of fabricated devices. Using the model, a projection of cut-off frequency (f T ) of GaN-based HEMTs with scaling is performed to highlight performance bottlenecks.
Reflections in a Pool of Mercury: An Experimental and Theoretical Study of the Interaction Between Electromagnetic Radiation and a Liquid Metal

The conclusion of Schulz and of Wilson and Rice that the low-energy absolute reflectance of liquid mercury obeys the simple Drude formula is confirmed by new measurements made at near-normal incidence in the wavelength range 0.5-30 \ensuremath{\mu}. The difficulties inherent in obtaining such data are discussed, and a precise and sensitive double-beam infrared reflectance spectrometer, constructed for the purpose of overcoming these difficulties, is described. The results described must be reconciled with recent ellipsometric studies, carried out independently at several different laboratories, in which the apparent optical constants of liquid mercury were found to be substantially higher than those predicted by the Drude theory. From an examination of the solutions of Maxwell's equations describing the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with an inhomogeneous conductor, it is shown that such anomalous optical behavior is to be expected for a liquid metal whose surface is not a geometric boundary, but a transition zone over which the properties of the system vary from those of the bulk metal to those of the contact medium. To test the plausibility of this model, a simple form for the conductivity profile across this transition zone is assumed, and the surface parameters characteristic of that profile are varied to fit the observed ellipsometric and reflectometric data. Excellent agreement between theory and experiment is found for a variety of choices of the parameters, provided that the conductivity passes through a maximum as the surface zone is traversed. It is argued that such a maximum is qualitatively consistent with the known sensitivity of the conductivity of liquid mercury to variations in the liquid structure.
Highlighting the injunctive norm to reduce phone-related distracted driving

The purpose of this research was to measure the effectiveness of a social norm intervention to reduce phone-related distracted driving on a university campus. The intervention involved posting two different signs that highlighted the injunctive norm (people's disapproval of the behavior). One of the signs had a strong focus on the injunctive norm, whereas the second sign merely implied that phone-related distracted driving was disapproved. Research assistants recorded the phone-related distracted driving behaviors of people as they drove away from the signs. The results suggest that injunctive norm messages can be effective in reducing phone-related distracted driving, but only when they focus people's attention on the social disapproval of that behavior.
Using formalized temporal message-flow diagrams

Temporal message-flow diagrams (TMFDs), alternatively called sequence charts, interaction diagrams, event traces, or actor diagrams, are illustrations of a system's global message-passing activity over time, and a pictorial aid to understanding the system's behavior. They are widely used for requirements and documentation for network protocols and object-oriented applications. We present a general formalism for TMFDs, describe a suite of tools we have designed that employs this formalism, and present our experiences with these tools. The formalism and tools described serve to support and broaden the use of TMFDs in developing communicating systems.