cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pharmacotherapy for overactive bladder: an evidence-based approach to selecting an antimuscarinic agent.

Multiple drugs are now available for the treatment of overactive bladder. Currently, the pharmacological approach is to deal with the problem at the neuromuscular junction by attempting to stop the activity of the neurotransmitter with antimuscarinic medications. This article reviews the positive and negative aspects of the agents that are currently available for use in the US. In randomised clinical trials, extended-release formulations of these agents appear as effective as the immediate-release formulations, but are associated with fewer adverse effects. Attempts to use entities that are muscarinic M3 selective antimuscarinic agents have not significantly improved the efficacy, but have reduced the major adverse effect of excessively dry mouth. Dose escalation or titration is addressed to enhance efficacy further. None of these drugs appear to cause significant cardiac or CNS adverse events. This supports the continued use of these agents for overactive bladder symptomatology, as they appear to be effective in reducing symptoms and remain generally well tolerated.
The design of optimum component test plans in the demonstration of a series system reliability

Abstract System testing is often not feasible, and it is a common practice in these situations to attempt to draw inferences about the system reliability from the results of component tests. An acceptance procedure based on component tests that guarantee certain type I and II errors has been known for a series system. Methods for computing the individual component test times which minimize total test cost and guarantee the probability requirements for this acceptance procedure have also been given: none of them considers a priori information on component reliabilities. In this paper we consider the question of whether these optimum solutions are modified if a priori deterministic information on individual component failure rates is available. Results have shown that it is profitable to use the given information. and optimum component test times are not neccessarily equal: they depend on individual component test costs in fact. We provide a procedure to compute optimum component test times. This procedure is based on the well known cutting plane idea and column generation technique. We also discuss the conditions for the existense of an optimum solution.
Clutch size, development and wing morph differentiation of Melittobia digitata

Melittobia digitata Dahms (Hymenoptera, Eulophidae) is a wing polymorphic, gregarious ectoparasitoid of bees and wasps. In nature, females of this wasp start to produce their progeny after feeding on the host. The first adults to develop will emerge as short wing morphs (SWM). Mother and daughters will lay eggs in the same hosts, and the following females to develop will emerge as long wing morphs (LWM). We evaluated the effects of the clutch size on the development, egg load, and wing morph differentiation of M. digitata. Developmental time was shorter when insects developed in small clutches, and immature survivorship was reduced in the largest clutch (400 eggs/host). Morph differentiation was also affected by the clutch size. SWMs developed in small clutches (5 and 25 eggs/host) while LWMs in large clutches (200 and 400 eggs/host). However, both morphs developed in intermediate clutches (50 and 100 eggs/clutch), with a decreasing number of SWMs developing with the increase in the clutch. The size and egg load of each morph was affected with the increase in the clutch size, although the forewing length/hindtibia length ratio was kept constant for each morph developing from different clutch sizes. Egg load of LWMs was also reduced when compared to the SWMs that developed from the same clutch, although LWMs females were larger (longer tibia length). We discuss the possible mechanisms inducing the morph differentiation in M. digitata, as well as the physiological, behavioral, and ecological changes facing each morph.
Viral infections of the gastrointestinal tract.

Viral gastroenteritis is a major public health problem worldwide, and the number of identified pathogens continuously increases. Investigators have made considerable progress toward understanding both the epidemiology and the mechanisms of virus–cell interactions, host responses, and pathogenesis. A
Buying a pig when both buyer and seller are in pokes

This paper considers the situation of a foreign company buying an enterprise in an Eastern European country. Since the enterprise has no record in a market economy, neither buyer or seller knows what value should be placed on it. In addition, very often the physical assets of the enterprise have little value, so the purchasing firm is actually buying a license to engage in a particular line of business and expects some subsidy or protection while the enterprise is being renovated and is entering the market. Bargaining postulates are developed and a simple bargaining model is evolved which show conditions under which bargaining will succeed. The role of the proportion of equity purchased and the effect of subsidies are considered.
Psychiatric agreement regarding patient “attractiveness”

Summary In a general psychiatric outpatient clinic it was found that a group of more or less psychiatrically sophisticated raters could accurately judge, at a high level of significance, the actual dispositions of patients from a group of edited intake notes. The raters were also asked to judge a list of hypothetical patient attributes in relation to the sorting task they had just performed. Positively, negatively, and neutrally rated fictional attributes were compared with actual attributes reported in the intake notes. At the positive and negative extremes there appeared to be a high correspondence between hypothetical attributes, actual cases, and similar studies of selection procedures reported in the literature. At the neutral and middle levels individual judgments were considerably weakened. Nonetheless, combined group ratings appeared to present a reasonably accurate picture of clinic operation even for low-rated items and cases. Certain of the hypothetical and real descriptive elements appeared to correspond with popular assumptions about attractiveness of patients to psychiatric clinicians while others did not.
Wavelength Compensation For Hoe

Abstract Wavelength compensation for HOE has been investigated. The general equations for ray tracing through holograms are described. Using computer simulations, several HOE systems have been evaluated.
Hybridization of conductive few-layer graphene with well-dispersed Pd nanocrystals

Abstract To improve the activity of Pd nanocrystals (NCs) and maximize the applicability, we used a very simple, low-cost and environmentally benign method to hybridize conductive few-layer graphene with Pd NCs. The TEM results indicated that the monodispersed Pd NCs were well distributed on the graphene surface. The particle size and loading density can be easily tailored by varying reaction times. The XRD and Raman spectrum clearly demonstrated that the pristine exfoliated few-layer graphene are well-crystallized with very low defects, and still preserved the high crystalline structure after the chemical deposition of Pd NCs. Furthermore, this effective process does not require the use of surfactants during the entire reaction, resulting in a clean interface between Pd NCs and graphene substrate, with improved electron transmission. This work presents not only a promising methodology for the mass production of Pd@graphene hybrids, but also opening up the opportunity to develop graphene-Pd based devices for applications in catalysts, sensors and hydrogen storage.
Cloning, expression, purification, and characterization of the acid α-mannosidase from Trypanosoma cruzi

The acid alpha-mannosidase of Trypanosoma cruzi is a broad-specificity hydrolase involved in the catabolism of glycoconjugates, presumably in the digestive vacuole. We have cloned the alpha-mannosidase gene from a T.cruzi epimastigote genomic library. The alpha-mannosidase gene was determined to be single copy by Southern analysis, and similar sequences were not detected in genomic digests of either Trypanosoma brucei or Leishmania donovani. The coding region was subcloned into the Pichia pastoris expression vector pPICZ, and alpha-mannosidase activity was detected in the medium of induced cultures. The recombinant alpha-mannosidase demonstrated a pH optimum, inhibition by swainsonine, Km, and substrate specificity consistent with the characteristics of the alpha-mannosidase previously purified from T.cruzi epimastigotes. The recombinant enzyme was purified 103-fold from the culture medium of Pichia pastoris and had a native molecular mass of 359 kDa by gel filtration. A combination of SDS-PAGE, deglycosylation with endo H, and NH2-terminal sequencing indicates that the enzyme is originally synthesized as a homodimeric polypeptide that is subsequently cleaved to form a heterotetramer composed of 57 and 46 kDa subunits. A polyclonal antibody raised to the recombinant enzyme was shown to immunoprecipitate the alpha-mannosidase from T.cruzi cell extracts and will be used in future immunolocalization studies.
Distribution and accumulation of mercury in tissues of captive-reared common loon (Gavia immer) chicks

We determined the distribution and accumulation of Hg in tissues of common loon (Gavia immer) chicks maintained for up to 15 weeks on either a control diet with no added methylmercury chloride (MeHgCl) or one containing either 0.4 or 1.2 μg Hg (as MeHgCl)/g wet-weight food. Total Hg and MeHg tissue concentrations were strongly positively correlated (r2 > 0.95) with the amount of Hg delivered to individual chicks throughout the course of the experiment. The pattern of differential Hg concentration in internal tissues was consistent within each treatment: Liver > kidney > muscle > carcass > brain. Feather Hg concentrations were consistently higher than those of internal tissues and represented an important route of Hg elimination. Feather mass accounted for 4.3% ± 0.1% (average ± standard error) of body mass, yet 27.3% ± 2.6% of total Hg intake was excreted into feathers. Our calculations indicate that 26.7% ± 4.9% of ingested Hg was not accounted for and, thus, either was never absorbed or was absorbed and subsequently eliminated in feces. With the additional excretion into feathers, 54% of ingested Hg was excreted. Demethylation was evident in the liver at all treatment levels and in the kidneys of chicks dosed at 1.2 μg Hg/g. Mercury concentrations were strongly positively correlated (r2 ≥ 0.95) among internal tissues and with blood Hg concentration. Mercury concentrations of secondary feathers were moderately correlated (r2 = 0.82–0.93) with internal tissues. We supply regression models that may be used to provide perspective and a useful means of interpreting the variety of measures of Hg exposure reported in the literature.
Low 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Predicts the Onset of Mobility Limitation and Disability in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The Health ABC Study

Limitations in physical function in older adults strongly predict future disability resulting in dependency, institutionalization, greater health care costs and utilization of health care services, poor health outcomes, and mortality (1). With a growing older population, there is an increasing need to identify potentially modifiable risk factors for the onset of limitations in physical function. A growing body of literature suggests that low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) may accelerate the disablement process through both direct effects on muscular function (2) as well as indirectly through the onset of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, impaired pulmonary function, and osteoarthritis (3). However, current Institute of Medicine recommendations for vitamin D intake and 25(OH)D concentrations are based only on bone health (4). Several factors put older adults at risk of low 25(OH)D, including low dietary intake, reduced exposure to UVB radiation, and reduced efficiency of cutaneous vitamin D synthesis (5,6). Recent data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) 2001–2006 show that low 25(OH)D is common in community-dwelling older adults (>70 years) with approximately 31% of older men and 38% of older women having 25(OH)D <50 nmol/L (to convert to ng/mL, divide by 2.496) (7). In general, observational studies have shown that that low 25(OH)D is associated with lower physical performance and strength in older adults (8–14), measures that are predictive of subsequent mobility disability (15). However, the association between low 25(OH)D and change in physical performance and strength over time has been inconsistent (16–21), with some studies showing greater declines in physical performance and others finding no association. Low 25(OH)D has also been associated with prevalent self-reported limitations in mobility among older adults (10,22). We recently showed that low 25(OH)D is associated with incident mobility limitation over 3 years of follow-up among the oldest old (23). However, whether low 25(OH)D is associated with the onset of mobility limitation and disability in younger, initially well-functioning older adults is unknown. Serum 25(OH)D may also indirectly affect physical function via hyperparathyroidism secondary to low 25(OH)D concentrations (5). Previous studies show elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) is associated with lower physical performance and strength (11,14,24,25). The primary objective of these analyses was to examine the association between 25(OH)D and incident mobility limitation and disability over 6 years of follow-up using data from the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) study. The role of PTH, both independently and as a contributor to low 25(OH)D, on incident mobility limitation and disability was also examined.
Pinus baileyi (section Pinus, Pinaceae) from the Paleogene of Idaho, USA

Pinus baileyi from the Paleogene of Idaho was initially related to the bristlecone pine P. longaeva (subgen. Strobus, sect. Parrya, subsect. Balfourianae) from western North America. Unlike the centromucronate condition in P. longaeva, P. baileyi cones have raised umbos that are excentromucronate, i.e., the mucro positioned in the upper umbo field above the keel. Cone size and scale morphology shows that P. baileyi more closely resembles excentromucronate pines of subsects. Halepenses and Pinus sensu Gernandt et al. (2005, Taxon 54: 29-42), but is most similar to P. resinosa, P. kesiya, and P. massoniana of subsect. Pinus. Morphologically, P. baileyi resembles the fossil species P. princetonensis and P. arnoldii from the Eocene Princeton Chert, British Columbia, Canada. Pinus baileyi extends the western North American range of ovulate cones resembling subsect. Pinus from the middle Eocene of British Columbia, Canada and Washington, USA to the Oligocene of Idaho, USA. Pinus baileyi, and possibly P. princetonensis and P. arnoldii, indicates the presence of early populations of subsect. Pinus-type pines in the western cordillera of North America, raising the possibility that P. resinosa and P. tropicalis may have evolved from this group.
A Practical Method of Maintainability Allocation

A practical method of allocating the system maintainability (M) requirement to lower functional equipment levels is described. The use of this method minimizes trial and error in establishing values for each equipment item and the amount of tradeoffs required in apportionment relative to equipment complexity and M design characteristics. It has flexibility in application in that it can provide initial allocations at the conceptual design stage and updated allocations at various stages of design when more is known about a given system. The method will prove practical if the system requirement is practical and if the basic k factor tables are reasonably correct. If the system requirement is unrealistic, no method of allocation could make it realistic.
A study of the performance of steering tasks under spatial transformation of input

Typical direct manipulation tasks often suffer from an inherent indirection between the virtual objects that form the computer interface and the input devices through which the user interacts to manipulate these objects. This paper studies the effect of spatial indirection on the performance of interaction. For continuous input devices, spatial transformation can be decomposed into translation, rotation, and scale. Translation alone simply shifts a movement from the device space to a different position in the virtual space, preserving the direction and size of that motion. Rotation changes the direction, while scale modifies the size. This study found evidence that rotation and scale are significant factors in interaction performance. We propose a model based on these factors that can be employed to predict the time required for a task of tracing and staying inside a non-linear shape. Contrary to our initial hypothesis, moderate translation changes did not register significant variations in the required time. The results of this study are also applicable to the placement and ergonomics of physical input devices.
Advanced metal and dielectric barrier cap films for Cu low k interconnects

Multi-layer SiN barrier film with high breakdown and low leakage is developed for Cu low k interconnects and is compared with the SiCNH barrier film used at previous technology nodes. Ultra-thin SiN barrier cap film also provides high conformality and fills recess in Cu lines observed post CMP. A significant enhancement in electro migration (EM) performance was obtained by selectively depositing Co on top of Cu lines followed by conformal multi-layer SiN barrier film. Further EM lifetime improvement is obtained by using a Co liner to form a wrap around structure with completely encapsulated Cu. An integrated in-situ preclean/ metal/dielectric cap chamber was used to avoid any oxidation of Cu/Co layers. Kinetic studies of CVD Co liner/Co cap samples show significant increase in EM activation energy (1.7 eV) over samples with dielectric only barrier film (0.9–1 eV). The complete wrap around structure with Co liner and Co cap shows improved device reliability.
Communicating Breast Cancer Risks to Women Using Different Formats

Using a pre-post test design with a baseline, laboratory, and a 6-month follow-up, we communicated women's objective breast cancer risks, based on the Gail Model, using two formats: (a) range of risks (e.g., risk of breast cancer can be as low as 1% and as high as 5%); and (b) as a point estimate (e.g., your risk of breast cancer is 3%). We examined how these presentations individually and jointly affected women's perceived lifetime breast cancer risks. Overall, providing risk estimates either as a range of risks or as a point estimate lowered women's perceived lifetime risks compared with women who did not get information presented this way shortly after receipt of this information relative to baseline. At the 6-month follow-up, perceptions of lifetime risks generally returned to their baseline values. Overall, women viewed their risk feedback, whether presented as a point estimate or as a range of risks, as equally credible, trustworthy, accurate, and personally relevant. These results suggest that women evaluate risk feedback containing either point estimates or range of risks as equally acceptable. Both formats lead to short-term reductions in perceived risk (i.e., greater accuracy).
Fluorescent 1.4-Dihydropyridines: The Malondlaldehyde connection

Abstract Under suitable conditions, malondlaldehyde Is capable of modifying amino acid residues to novel, highly fluorescent 1,4-dihydropyridines. The structures assigned to these compounds are supported by UV, HRMS, high-field NMR, and X-ray crystallographic data. The mechanism of these transformations, which Is fully discussed, involves the Michael reaction of alkylidene malondialdehydes with enaminals, both of which are produced as detectable Intermediates. These findings may be of significance in explaining some of the biological chemistry of malondlaldehyde. The transformation also provides a new approach to the synthesis of a wide range of light stable 4-arylated-1,4-dlhydropyridines of potential interest as calcium channel antagonists.
HOMOGENIZATION OF A SPECTRAL EQUATION WITH DRIFT IN LINEAR TRANSPORT

This paper deals with the homogenization of a spectral equation posed in a periodic domain in linear transport theory. The particle density at equilibrium is given by the unique normalized positive eigenvector of this spectral equation. The corresponding eigenvalue indicates the amount of particle creation necessary to reach this equilibrium. When the physical parameters satisfy some symmetry conditions, it is known that the eigenvectors of this equation can be approximated by the product of two term. The first one solves a local transport spectral equation posed in the periodicity cell and the second one a homogeneous spectral diffusion equation posed in the entire domain. This paper addresses the case where these symmetry conditions are not fulfilled. We show that the factorization remains valid with the diffusion equation replaced by a convection-diffusion equation with large drift. The asymptotic limit of the leading eigenvalue is also modified. The spectral equation treated in this paper can model the stability of nuclear reactor cores and describe the distribution of neutrons at equilibrium. The same techniques can also be applied to the time-dependent linear transport equation with drift, which appears in radiative transfer theory and which models the propagation of acoustic, electromagnetic, and elastic waves in heterogeneous media.
Birkhoff's contraction coefficient

Presented here is a new proof of the theorem of Garrett Birkhoff which states that multiplication by any positive square matrix induces a contraction mapping on positive projective space with respect to the Hilbert projective metric and also evaluates the contraction coefficient.
Matthews coefficient probabilities: Improved estimates for unit cell contents of proteins, DNA, and protein–nucleic acid complex crystals

Estimating the number of molecules in the crystallographic asymmetric unit is one of the first steps in a macromolecular structure determination. Based on a survey of 15,641 crystallographic Protein Data Bank (PDB) entries the distribution of VM, the crystal volume per unit of protein molecular weight, known as Matthews coefficient, has been reanalyzed. The range of values and frequencies has changed in the 30 years since Matthews first analysis of protein crystal solvent content. In the statistical analysis, complexes of proteins and nucleic acids have been treated as a separate group. In addition, the VM distribution for nucleic acid crystals has been examined for the first time. Observing that resolution is a significant discriminator of VM, an improved estimator for the probabilities of the number of molecules in the crystallographic asymmetric unit has been implemented, using resolution as additional information.
DEDUCTIVE PARSING WITH MULTIPLE LEVELS OF REPRESENTATION.

This paper discusses a sequence of deductive parsers, called PAD1 -- PAD5, that utilize an axiomatization of the principles and parameters of GB theory, including a restricted transformational component (Move-α). PAD2 uses an inference control strategy based on the 'freeze' predicate of Prolog-II, while PAD3 -- 5 utilize the Unfold-Fold transformation to transform the original axiomatization into a form that functions as a recursive descent Prolog parser for the fragment.
Effects of hypertonic buffer composition on lymph node uptake and bioavailability of rituximab, after subcutaneous administration

The subcutaneous administration of biologics is highly desirable; however, incomplete bioavailability after s.c. administration remains a major challenge. In this work we investigated the effects of excipient dependent hyperosmolarity on lymphatic uptake and plasma exposure of rituximab as a model protein. Using Swiss Webster (SW) mice as the animal model, we compared the effects of NaCl, mannitol and O-phospho-L-serine (OPLS) on the plasma concentration of rituximab over 5 days after s.c. administration. An increase was observed in plasma concentrations in animals administered rituximab in hypertonic buffer solutions, compared with isotonic buffer. Bioavailability, as estimated by our pharmacokinetic model, increased from 29% in isotonic buffer to 54% in hypertonic buffer containing NaCl, to almost complete bioavailability in hypertonic buffers containing high dose OPLS or mannitol. This improvement in plasma exposure is due to the improved lymphatic trafficking as evident from the increase in the fraction of dose trafficked through the lymph nodes in the presence of hypertonic buffers. The fraction of the dose trafficked through the lymphatics, as estimated by the model, increased from 0.05% in isotonic buffer to 13% in hypertonic buffer containing NaCl to about 30% for hypertonic buffers containing high dose OPLS and mannitol. The data suggest that hypertonic solutions may be a viable option for improving s.c. bioavailability.
Finite element analysis of rubber‐like materials by a mixed model

A Reissner type variational principle is utilized to formulate a mixed finite element model for a finite-strain analysis of Mooney-Rivlin rubber-like materials. An incremental and stationary Lagrangian formulation is adopted. The functional consists of incremental displacements and incremental hydrostatic and distortional stresses as variables. In the finite element formulation the displacements are interpolated in terms of nodal displacements while the two different strss components are approximated independently. The stress parameters for the distortional stresses are eliminated at the element level and the resulting matrix equations for each incremental solution involve the incremental nodal displacements and the average hydrostatic pressure in each element as unknowns. Four-node quadrilateral plane stain elements were used to analyze the inflation of an infinitely long thick-walled cylinder subjected to internal pressure. Both resulting displacements and stresses are found to converge to exact values as the magnitude of the loading increments is decreasing.
Synthese und Funktionalisierung von Indolen mit Übergangsmetallreagentien

Die Problematik der Anwendung von Ubergangsmetallreagentien bei der Synthese komplizierter organischer Verbindungen wird schon jahrzehntelang bearbeitet, und viele ausergewohnliche organische Reaktionen konnten bereits auf diese Weise realisiert werden. Dennoch haben die Organiker diese Chemie nur sehr zogernd akzeptiert; erst in letzter Zeit beginnen die Ubergangsmetallkomplexe einen angemessenen Platz unter den Werkzeugen der organischen Synthese einzunehmen. Die anfangliche Abneigung der synthetisch arbeitenden Organiker gegenuber Organometallreagentien geht auf mehrere Faktoren zuruck. Zum einen waren metallorganische Prozesse fur Organiker aufgrund fehlenden Wissens und mangelnder Erfahrung im Umgang mit d-Elektronen enthaltenden Elementen haufig etwas Mysterioses und Unvorhersehbares, zum anderen haben sich die Metallorganiker dadurch keinen Dienst erwiesen, das sie ihre neuesten Fortschritte als nutzliche synthetische Methoden anpriesen, die Untersuchungen jedoch auf sehr einfache organische Systeme ohne ernstzunehmende Funktionalitat beschrankten. (Im Englischen last sich dies treffend als „methyl, ethyl, butyl, futile syndrome” beschreiben.) Glucklicherweise haben sich die Dinge geandert. So befassen sich die Metallorganiker inzwischen mit komplizierteren Systemen, und die jungere Generation der Organiker profitiert bereits davon, das sie wahrend des Studiums auch mit Ubergangsmetallen und deren Chemie Bekanntschaft gemacht hat. Dieser Beitrag zeigt am Beispiel der Verwendung von Ubergangsmetallen bei der Synthese von Indolen, was heute auf diesem Gebiet moglich ist.
Interfacial studies of solid-state cells based on electrolytes of mixed ionic-electronic conductors

Abstract Combination of 4-probe impedance and polarization measurements offers an effective approach to investigate electrode kinetics and transport properties of each cell component in a solid-state electrochemical cell based on an electrolyte of mixed ionic–electronic conductor (MIEC). In particular, two representative solid-state cells, one with an electrolyte of an MIEC (Pt | BaCe 0.8 Gd 0.2 O 3 | Pt) and the other with an electrolyte of an ionic conductor (Pt | Bi 1.5 Y 0.5 O 3 | Pt), are used as examples to demonstrate the uniqueness of these techniques in separating the response of each cell component, in measuring the interfacial polarization resistance and overpotential of each individual interface, in identifying reaction mechanisms (the nature of rate-limiting steps), and in determining kinetic parameters.
Fear as a Disposition and an Emotional State: A Genetic and Environmental Approach to Out‐Group Political Preferences

Fear is a pervasive aspect of political life and is often explored as a transient emotional state manipulated by events or exploited by elites for political purposes. The psychological and psychiatric literatures, however, have also established fear as a genetically informed trait, and people differ in their underlying fear dispositions. Here we propose these differences hold important implications for political preferences, particularly toward out-groups. Using a large sample of related individuals, we find that individuals with a higher degree of social fear have more negative out-group opinions, which, in this study, manifest as anti-immigration and prosegregation attitudes. We decompose the covariation between social fear and attitudes and find the principal pathway by which the two are related is through a shared genetic foundation. Our findings present a novel mechanism explicating how fear manifests as out-group attitudes and accounts for some portion of the genetic influences on political attitudes.
An Fe-N2 Complex That Generates Hydrazine and Ammonia via Fe═NNH2: Demonstrating a Hybrid Distal-to-Alternating Pathway for N2 Reduction

Biological N2 fixation to NH3 may proceed at one or more Fe sites in the active-site cofactors of nitrogenases. Modeling individual e–/H+ transfer steps of iron-ligated N2 in well-defined synthetic systems is hence of much interest but remains a significant challenge. While iron complexes have been recently discovered that catalyze the formation of NH3 from N2, mechanistic details remain uncertain. Herein, we report the synthesis and isolation of a diamagnetic, 5-coordinate Fe═NNH2+ species supported by a tris(phosphino)silyl ligand via the direct protonation of a terminally bound Fe-N2– complex. The Fe═NNH2+ complex is redox-active, and low-temperature spectroscopic data and DFT calculations evidence an accumulation of significant radical character on the hydrazido ligand upon one-electron reduction to S = 1/2 Fe═NNH2. At warmer temperatures, Fe═NNH2 rapidly converts to an iron hydrazine complex, Fe-NH2NH2+, via the additional transfer of proton and electron equivalents in solution. Fe-NH2NH2+ can libera...
Physiology of Food Utilization by the Spider Tarentula kochi (Araneae: Lycosidae)

The weight loss between feedings decreased as feeding rates and meal size were reduced and leveled off at 0.01 mg per mg wet weight per day in laboratory feeding studies on Tarentula kochi Keyserling. The weight loss in the field was 0.019 mg per mg wet weight per day or 2-fold higher than in the laboratory-feeding studies. The difference was probably due to increased respiration with greater activity in the field. The respiratory quotient was 0.78. The weight loss was calculated from only the carbon in carbon dioxide. This equaled 0.004 mg per mg wet weight per clay or about ½ the weight loss in laboratory feeding studies. The difference was probably due to greater water loss in laboratory feeding studies than in studies on respiratory rate. The respiration, expressed as the logarithm, showed a linear relationship to temperature between 15 and 30°C. The respiration increased 3-fold during feeding and 4.28- fold during molting. The weight loss at the molt was 5- to 12-fold greater than during the intermolt period. The difference was due to increased water loss.
Allergic Contact Dermatitis Caused by Mushrooms. A Case Report and Literature Review

The first author is allergic to skin contact with mushrooms of Suillus americanus, S. granulatus, S. grevillei, S. luteus, or S. neoalbidipes. Symptoms develop between one and two days after contact and last for approximately a week, disappearing completely without treatment. Symptoms consist of reddening, swelling, and itching, at the sites of contact with pileus cuticle mucilage of all five species. Pore layer tissues (tested for S. americanus and S. luteus) also produced strong reactions, as did pileus trama (tested for S. luteus). Spores from spore prints (tested for S. americanus and S. luteus) produced no reaction. The reaction can be avoided by wearing gloves when handling allergenic species and by washing hands promptly after working with these species. Similar cases, reported from North America, Europe, and Russia, involve Agaricus, Boletus, Lactarius, Paxillus, Ramaria, and Suillus species. Several cases involve allergy to multiple species or genera. Symptom severity varies, presumably with intensity of exposure. In one case, symptoms were renewed following ingestion. Most cases demonstrate delayed allergic contact sensitivity.
Effects of thyroid status and adrenergic blocking drugs on isoproterenol-induced enlargement of the salivary glands.

SummaryThyroidectomy reduced the weight of rat salivary glands and triiodothyro-nine increased it. The hypertrophy in salivary glands induced by isoproterenol was unaffected by thyroidectomy or pretreatment with triiodothyronine. Propranolol inhibited the isoproterenol-induced hypertrophy to a greater extent than phenoxybenzamine suggesting that the adrenergic receptors are primarily beta in type.
Phorbol esters sensitize platelets to activation by physiological agonists

Phorbol esters such as phorbol 12, 13-dibutyrate (PdBu; 40 to 200 nmol/L) or 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate (20 to 80 nmol/L) added to aspirinized platelet-rich plasma (PRP) 5 to 15 seconds prior to various platelet stimuli (epinephrine, ADP, prostaglandin endoperoxide analog U44069, collagen, PAF, or vasopressin) potentiate the rate and extent of aggregation and ATP secretion induced by those agonists. Platelet aggregation, but not secretion, is potentiated at low concentrations of agonists; platelet secretion is potentiated at higher concentrations of the platelet stimuli. Potentiation of platelet responses was also observed when the preincubation time with PdBu was extended to 12 minutes and also occurred in washed platelets. The potentiating effect of phorbol esters is not mediated by formation of arachidonate metabolites or by released ADP. The sensitizing effect of PdBu on platelet aggregation induced by epinephrine is unique, since in contrast to the other platelet stimuli it is also found at maximal concentrations of epinephrine and does not diminish with prolonged preincubation of platelets with PdBu. Activation of protein kinase C ranges from 20% to 80% over control after 1 to 10 minutes of platelet pretreatment with PdBu but dramatically increases after subsequent addition of a stimulus such as vasopressin. In contrast, agonist-induced myosin light chain phosphorylation is reduced after platelet pretreatment with PdBu. The results indicate that protein kinase C activation enhances platelet aggregation and dense granule secretion triggered by physiologic stimuli, although it desensitizes agonist-induced myosin light chain phosphorylation.
From intuition to evidence: a data-driven approach to transforming cs education

Educators in many disciplines are too often forced to rely on intuition about how students learn and the effectiveness of teaching to guide changes and improvements to their curricula. In computer science, systems that perform automated collection and assessment of programming assignments are seeing increased adoption, and these systems generate a great deal of meaningful intermediate data and statistics during the grading process. Continuous collection of these data and long-term retention of collected data present educators with a new resource to assess both learning (how well students understand a topic or how they behave on assignments) and teaching (how effective a response, intervention, or assessment instrument was in evaluating knowledge or changing behavior), by basing their decisions on evidence rather than intuition. It is only possible to achieve these goals, however, if such data are easily accessible. I present an infrastructure that has been added to one such automated grading system, Web-CAT, in order to facilitate routine data collection and access while requiring very little added effort by instructors. Using this infrastructure, I present three case studies that serve as representative examples of educational questions that can be explored thoroughly using pre-existing data from required student work. The first case study examines student time management habits and finds that students perform better when they start earlier but that offering extra credit for finishing earlier did not encourage them to do so. The second case study evaluates a tool used to improve student understanding of manual memory management and finds that students made fewer errors when using the tool. The third case study evaluates the reference tests used to grade student code on a selected assignment and confirms that the tests are a suitable instrument for assessing student ability. In each case study, I use a data-driven, evidence-based approach spanning multiple semesters and students, allowing me to answer each question in greater detail than was possible using previous methods and giving me significantly increased confidence in my conclusions.
Abstract 1332: Interleukin-15 enhances rituximab-dependent cytotoxicity ex vivo and in vivo against a mouse lymphoma expressing human CD20

Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 antibody, revolutionized treatment for B-cell malignancies, but it is not without its own shortcomings, most notably tumor relapse. Recent research has provided evidence supporting the increased efficacy of RTX when combined with interleukin-15 (IL-15). IL-15 enhances antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC), an important mechanism of RTX, by increasing the proliferation and activation of natural killer (NK) cells, as well as monocytes and macrophages. However, the majority of this evidence has been obtained through in vitro experiments and in vivo models using xenografts in immuno-deficient mice. Given the complexity of the immune system, we used an immuno-competent, syngeneic mouse model of human B-cell lymphoma to further investigate the effect of combining IL-15 with RTX to enhance ADCC. Wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice (n = 40) were distributed into treatment groups of 10 mice each, and inoculated intravenously with EL4-CD20 cells, a mouse lymphoma line transfected with human CD20. IL-15 was given five times per week for 4 weeks (5μg/mouse), starting on day 3 after tumor inoculation, and RTX was given once per week for 4 weeks (100 μg/mouse), starting on day 5. While IL-15 and RTX individually prolonged survival of the mice when compared with the control (p Citation Format: Bernard Wen, Meili Zhang, David Dilillo, Jeffrey V. Ravetch, Thomas A. Waldmann. Interleukin-15 enhances rituximab-dependent cytotoxicity ex vivo and in vivo against a mouse lymphoma expressing human CD20. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 1332. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-1332
Slewing maneuver of a flexible spacecraft using finite time control

The slew-maneuver control problem is studied for a flexible spacecraft consisting of a rigid main body to which a long flexible appendage is attached. A nonlinear dynamical system model is first developed using a distributed parameter modeling technique. A filtered finite time control law is then introduced to achieve fast and precise slewing maneuvers without residual vibrations. The results are applied to a benchmark flexible system and a simulation example is included to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control technique.
The Student Teaching Experience: Learning by Doing

(1971). The Student Teaching Experience: Learning by Doing. Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation: Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 51-52.
Modeling influenza-like illnesses through composite compartmental models

Abstract Epidemiological models for the spread of pathogens in a population are usually only able to describe a single pathogen. This makes their application unrealistic in cases where multiple pathogens with similar symptoms are spreading concurrently within the same population. Here we describe a method which makes possible the application of multiple single-strain models under minimal conditions. As such, our method provides a bridge between theoretical models of epidemiology and data-driven approaches for modeling of influenza and other similar viruses. Our model extends the Susceptible–Infected–Recovered model to higher dimensions, allowing the modeling of a population infected by multiple viruses. We further provide a method, based on an overcomplete dictionary of feasible realizations of SIR solutions, to blindly partition the time series representing the number of infected people in a population into individual components, each representing the effect of a single pathogen. We demonstrate the applicability of our proposed method on five years of seasonal influenza-like illness (ILI) rates, estimated from Twitter data. We demonstrate that our method describes, on average, 44% of the variance in the ILI time series. The individual infectious components derived from our model are matched to known viral profiles in the populations, which we demonstrate matches that of independently collected epidemiological data. We further show that the basic reproductive numbers ( R 0 ) of the matched components are in range known for these pathogens. Our results suggest that the proposed method can be applied to other pathogens and geographies, providing a simple method for estimating the parameters of epidemics in a population.
Family Support of Third-Grade Reading Skills, Motivation, and Habits:

This qualitative study investigated the ways in which 84 parents from predominantly low-income communities described supporting their third graders’ reading skills, motivation, and habits. Thematic...
Kinships in a natural meadow vole population

We have devised a radionuclide technique that allows the assessment of matrilineal kinship by the transfer of unique combinations of gamma-emitting radionuclides from pregnant and lactating female meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) to their offspring. A pool of prospective fathers can be established from field records of reproductively active males that were alive at the time of conception of the female's litter. Electrophoresis of 6 proteins allowed us to eliminate genetically incompatible males from the prospective pool of fathers. A log-likelihood statistic provided an estimate of the probability of paternity. In the case of numerical ties physical proximity of the males to the mother at the time of conception was used. With these techniques, we established 40 kinships in a field population of meadow voles.
Investigation of Plasma Formation with ns Laser by Using Focused Sub-ns Laser Probe

A laser ablation plasma formation process was investigated by shooting another laser beam. The initial plasma was created by a mildly focused nanosecond laser beam and the probe laser, which has about ten times shorter pulse length with tightly focussed condition, was irradiated on it. By analysing high temperature plasma created by the probe laser, we could detect an interaction between the initial low temperature plasma and the probe laser. The interaction caused that the velocity of high temperature plasma generated by the sub-ns laser became smaller and the amount of the highly charged ions decreased. We found that the interaction does not occur during the irradiation of the first half of the ns laser. This fact indicates that the plasma is not produced during the first half of the ns laser.
Caveolin1 Identifies a Specific Subpopulation of Cerebral Cortex Callosal Projection Neurons (CPN) Including Dual Projecting Cortical Callosal/Frontal Projection Neurons (CPN/FPN).

Abstract The neocortex is composed of many distinct subtypes of neurons that must form precise subtype-specific connections to enable the cortex to perform complex functions. Callosal projection neurons (CPN) are the broad population of commissural neurons that connect the cerebral hemispheres via the corpus callosum (CC). Currently, how the remarkable diversity of CPN subtypes and connectivity is specified, and how they differentiate to form highly precise and specific circuits, are largely unknown. We identify in mouse that the lipid-bound scaffolding domain protein Caveolin 1 (CAV1) is specifically expressed by a unique subpopulation of Layer V CPN that maintain dual ipsilateral frontal projections to premotor cortex. CAV1 is expressed by over 80% of these dual projecting callosal/frontal projection neurons (CPN/FPN), with expression peaking early postnatally as axonal and dendritic targets are being reached and refined. CAV1 is localized to the soma and dendrites of CPN/FPN, a unique population of neurons that shares information both between hemispheres and with premotor cortex, suggesting function during postmitotic development and refinement of these neurons, rather than in their specification. Consistent with this, we find that Cav1 function is not necessary for the early specification of CPN/FPN, or for projecting to their dual axonal targets. CPN subtype-specific expression of Cav1 identifies and characterizes a first molecular component that distinguishes this functionally unique projection neuron population, a population that expands in primates, and is prototypical of additional dual and higher-order projection neuron subtypes.
Childhood poverty, catecholamines, and substance use among African American young adults: The protective effect of supportive parenting.

Abstract From a sample of African American families living in the rural South, this study tested the hypothesis that growing up in poverty is associated with heightened biological stress levels in youth that, in turn, forecast elevations in drug use in young adulthood. Supportive parenting during adolescence was hypothesized to protect youth's biological stress levels from rising in the context of poverty. African American youth and their primary caregivers from 385 families participated in a 14-year prospective study that began when youth were 11 years of age. Data were collected from 2001 to 2016. All families lived in impoverished communities in the rural South. Linear regression models and conditional indirect effect analyses were executed in 2016 to test the study hypotheses. High number of years living in poverty across adolescence was associated with high catecholamine levels, but only among those youth who received low levels of supportive parenting. Youth catecholamine levels at age 19 forecast an increase in substance use from age 19 to age 25. Conditional indirect effects confirmed a developmental cascade linking family poverty, youth catecholamine levels, and increases in substance use for youth who did not receive high levels of supportive parenting. Current results suggest that, for some African American youth, substance use vulnerability may develop “under the skin” from stress-related biological weathering years before elevated drug use. Receipt of supportive parenting, however, can protect rural African American youth from biological weathering and its subsequent effects on increases in substance use during adulthood.