cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Body mass index, physical activity, and risk of renal cell carcinoma.

To investigate the association between obesity and risk of renal cell carcinoma and to examine whether the association is modified by physical activity. A population-based case–control study of 406 patients with renal cell carcinoma and 2434 controls conducted in Iowa. Information was collected on weight at the ages 20–29, 40–49, and 60–69 years, height, nonoccupational physical activity, diet, and other lifestyle factors. Renal cell carcinoma risk was estimated by odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusting for age, total energy intake, and other confounding factors. Height and total energy intake were not associated with risk in either sex. In men, neither physical activity nor level of obesity in any period of life was significantly associated with risk. In women, lower physical activity was associated with higher risk (OR=2.5; 95% CI=1.2–5.2 comparing exercise 1 time/day). Compared with women in the lowest quartile for BMI, the risks of renal cell carcinoma for women in the highest 10% of BMI in their 20s, 40s, and 60s were 1.4 (CI=0.6–3.1), 1.9 (CI=0.9–4.2), and 2.3 (CI=0.9–6.0), respectively. When analyses were limited to self-respondent data, the corresponding ORs were 2.9 (CI=1.2–7.4), 3.2 (CI=1.3–7.5), and 2.1 (CI=0.7–6.4), respectively. There was little evidence that physical activity modifies the association of BMI with renal cell carcinoma. Nonoccupational physical activity was inversely associated and obesity was positively associated with risk of renal cell carcinoma among women. The risk appeared to be greater for women in the highest 10% of BMI in their 40s. Our finding of little evidence of an interaction between physical activity and BMI requires confirmation.
Manifestations of Personality in Online Social Networks: Self-Reported Facebook-Related Behaviors and Observable Profile Information

Abstract Despite the enormous popularity of Online Social Networking sites (OSNs; e.g., Facebook and Myspace), little research in psychology has been done on them. Two studies examining how personality is reflected in OSNs revealed several connections between the Big Five personality traits and self-reported Facebook-related behaviors and observable profile information. For example, extraversion predicted not only frequency of Facebook usage (Study 1), but also engagement in the site, with extraverts (vs. introverts) showing traces of higher levels of Facebook activity (Study 2). As in offline contexts, extraverts seek out virtual social engagement, which leaves behind a behavioral residue in the form of friends lists and picture postings. Results suggest that, rather than escaping from or compensating for their offline personality, OSN users appear to extend their offline personalities into the domains of OSNs.
Contradictions in educational policy: implementing integrated problem‐based environmental health curriculum in a high stakes environment

In this paper, we focus on the efforts of educators at nine different research sites within the United States, funded by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), to develop and implement innovative, interdisciplinary curriculum on the relationship of the environment and human health. The NIEHS correctly maintained that the interdisciplinary nature of learning about environmental health would improve students’ learning across several subject areas and should, therefore, contribute to students scoring higher on state’s subject area based standardized tests. However, these goals were undermined by state polices linking standardized tests with student promotion and graduation, and the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that required public schools and districts to aggregate test scores which might have negative consequences, such as reducing school funding or privatizing school administration and state policies. These policies resulted in deleterious effects that unde...
Mechanistic Information from the First Volume Profile Analysis for Intramolecular Electron-Transfer Reactions: Tetraammine−Ruthenium(Ligand) Complexes of Cytochrome c

The kinetics and thermodynamics of a series of reversible intramolecular electron-transfer reactions in systems of the type trans-(NH3)4(L)Ru(His33)−cyt c(hh) and trans-(NH3)4(L)Ru(His39)−cyt c(Ck), where L represents NH3, isonicotinamide, 4-ethylpyridine, 3,5-lutidine, and pyridine, were studied as a function of pressure in order to construct the first complete volume profiles for such processes. The volume profiles demonstrate a significant partial molar volume increase associated with the reduction of the ruthenium center. In contrast to earlier results on a series of intermolecular reactions involving cytochrome c and the corresponding pentaammine complexes, for which the volume profiles are completely symmetrical (Inorg. Chem. 1996, 35, 1564), the studied intramolecular reactions exhibit asymmetric volume profiles. The overall volume changes can be accounted for in terms of electrostriction effects centered around the ammine ligands on the ruthenium center. Explanations in terms of electronic and nuc...
Broadcasting Policy in Canada

Armstrong, R. (2010). Broadcasting Policy in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 284 pages. In Broadcasting Policy in Canada, Robert Armstrong provides a clear overview and discussion of ...
Thermal conductivity of Kapton tape

Abstract Measurements of the thermal conductivity of Kapton tape at temperatures between 5 and 300 K are reported in this technical note. This material is useful for making low-conductance cryogenic ribbon cables. The thermal conductivity along the length of Kapton tape was found to be 5.24×10 −3 T 1.02 W m −1 K −1 .
Angiotensin II Receptors in Human Preadipocytes: Role in Cell Cycle Regulation

The role of angiotensin II (AII) in human preadipocyte physiology has been investigated in primary cultures from human adipose tissue. Receptor binding studies indicated that human preadipocytes express a high affinity AII binding site of the AT1 subtype, as binding of 125I-labeled [Sar1,Ile8]AII was rapid, saturable, and specific. As AII has previously been demonstrated to affect the cell cycle in adrenal and cardiac cells, the effect of AII on regulation of cycle progression was examined in human preadipocytes. Stimulation of preadipocytes with AII resulted in G1 phase progression of the cell cycle, as determined by flow cytometric analysis. AII treatment was associated with induction of expression of the messenger RNA for the cell cycle regulatory protein cyclin D1 in a dose-dependent manner. Pretreatment of cells with subtype-selective AT receptor ligands before AII stimulation indicated that the cyclin response was mediated via the AT1 receptor. The identity of the cells as preadipocyte was verified by culture in a defined differentiation medium, observing both leptin message expression and triglyceride accumulation by flow cytometry. These findings indicate that AII has early, receptor-mediated effects on cell cycle progression in human preadipocytes that may contribute to differentiation to the adipocyte phenotype.
The effect of foregrounding on readers' use of predictive inferences.

This research extends previous attempts to determine whether subjects make predictive inferences during comprehension. For example, when subjects read a passage about someone falling out of a 14th-story window, do they infer that the person is dead? Previous research in which lexical decision, word naming, and recognition tasks have been used for detecting predictive inferences has had mixed results. In experiment 1, a word-stem completion task was used to test for predictive inferences. The word stems were formed from target inferences that followed either priming or control passages. The data revealed that predictive inferences are generated only about concepts that are foregrounded in the passages. In Experiments 2 and 3, lexical decision and naming were used to test for predictive inferences. The lexical decision data replicated the word-stem completion data. A control experiment ruled out a simple context-checking explanation for the lexical decision results. The naming data indicated that this tasks was not sensitive to elaborative inference generation. Theresults show that readers make predictive inferences, but do so selectively.
Fabrication of a Nanomechanical Mass Sensor Containing a Nanofluidic Channel

Nanomechanical resonators operating in vacuum are capable of detecting and weighing single biomolecules, but their application to the life sciences has been limited by viscous forces that impede their motion in liquid environments. A promising approach to avoid this problem, encapsulating the fluid within a mechanical resonator surrounded by vacuum, has not yet been tried with resonant sensors of mass less than ∼100 ng, despite predictions that devices with smaller effective mass will have proportionally finer mass resolution. Here, we fabricate and evaluate the performance of doubly clamped beam resonators that contain filled nanofluidic channels and have masses of less than 100 pg. These nanochannel resonators operate at frequencies on the order of 25 MHz and when filled with fluid have quality factors as high as 800, 2 orders of magnitude higher than that of resonators of comparable size and frequency operating in fluid. Fluid density measurements reveal a mass responsivity of 100 Hz/fg and a noise equ...
Can you say it another way? Cognitive factors in bilingual children’s pragmatic language skills

Pragmatic differentiation in bilinguals is the ability to use two languages appropriately with different speakers. Although some sensitivity emerges by 2 years, the effects of context on these skills and their relation to other developing metacognitive capacities have not been examined. The current study compared the language use of 28 bilingual children (aged 2;7 to 3;10 and 4;1 to 4;11) across two tasks. All children were bilingual in English and Marathi, an Indian language. Theory of mind measures were included to assess whether developing cognitive capacities relate to pragmatic language ability. Results indicated that pragmatic differentiation is not an all-or-none ability but one which develops during the preschool years and varies based on the conversational context. This development is also related to metacognitive abilities which emerge during this time.
PReS-FINAL-2023: Uveitis surveillance through lean-six sigma for quality assurance in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Chronic asymptomatic iridocyclitis occurs in 10-20% of all patients with JIA leading to insidious but progressive morbidity and possible blindness. Patients with JIA-associated uveitis need to be seen by an ophthalmologist regularly. Lean thinking is based upon the following principles 1) Identifying the customer value (value adding steps) and alleviating the redundant parts of the process hence minimize waste 2) developing an effective flow production 3) eliminate backflows 4)using "pull" techniques 5) striving to perfection.
Decrease in repetitive extrasystole threshold during epinephrine infusion is enhanced in conscious dogs with perinephritic hypertension.

Abstract Hypertension is associated with myocardial hypertrophy as well as increased adrenergic responsiveness, both of which can predispose to malignant ventricular arrhythmias. This study was designed to test the effects of subpressor doses of epinephrine (0.15 and 0.3 μg/kg/min × 30 min) on vulnerability to ventricular arrhythmia in normotensive and perinephritic hypertensive dogs. Two groups of 6 dogs each were chronically instrumented with aortic catheters to measure mean arterial pressure and bipolar pacing catheters in the apex of the right ventricle to measure repetitive extrasystole threshold, an index of vulnerability to ventricular fibrillation. In the normotensive dogs, the low dose of epinephrine (0.15 μg/kg/min IV) had no significant effects on mean arterial pressure, heart rate or repetitive extrasystole threshold. However, in the hypertensive dogs, the same dose caused a significant 39% increase in heart rate ( p p
Thermal conductivity of heavily doped LPCVD polysilicon

We report the first experimental values for the thermal conductivity κ σ of polycrystalline silicon, an important design parameter for polysilicon micromechanics applied to sensors [1,2]. Because conventional methods to measure κ σ [3] are inappropriate for thin-film materials, we introduce a new technique that makes use of an inhomogeneously doped polysilicon microbridge. A bias is applied across the bridge and current-voltage characteristics are measured when the bridge is in vacuum and again when the bridge is immersed in heated silicone oil. The high-vacuum and oil-bath data are plotted on the same axes. Intercepts in the resulting pair of curve families provide a means to determine a power dissipation versus temperature plot. A thermal analysis relates the oil-bath temperature to the bridge temperature. The thermal conductivity is obtained from these data. Experiments have been repeated several times using various sizes for the polysilicon bridges. Values obtained for κ σ for heavily doped polysilicon range from 0.30 to 0.35 Wcm-1K-1, only 20 to 25% of the value for single-crystal silicon (1.41 Wcm-1K-1) [4]. This research provides a basis for thermal modeling of polycrystalline silicon structures and offers a technique for studying possible effects on a mechanical polysilicon property of variations in the process technology of the material. The technique can be used for other conducting materials that can be processed into small bridge structures.
Significance of the ‘Equivalent Redox Potential’ in Aqueous Solutions Under Ionizing Radiation

An evaluation is presented of the significance of the equivalent redox potential in aqueous solutions under ionizing radiation. The discussion is limited to steady states. (C.H.)
The Inadequacies of Technical Reporting

The advancements of science and engineering which are reported by oral and written modes have become overcomplicated. The message of reporting clearly defines the problem at hand; however, reportin...
Violated Wishes About Division of Childcare Labor Predict Early Coparenting Process During Stressful and Nonstressful Family Evaluations

Prior research has indicated that expectant parents overestimate the extent to which fathers will take part in the “work” of parenting, with mothers often becoming disenchanted when these expectations are violated following the baby's arrival. In this study, we examine the role of violated wishes concerning childcare involvement in accounting for variability in maternal and paternal marital satisfaction, and in early coparenting behavior as assessed during family-interaction sessions. The results indicate possible negative effects of violated wishes on the enacted family process and confirm previous findings regarding the effects of marital satisfaction. In addition, we uncovered differences in the way that violated maternal wishes are related to coparenting during playful and mildly stressful family interactions.
Synthetic Models for the Oxygen-Binding Hemoproteins

The oxygen binding hemoproteins hemoglobin (Hb), myoglobin (Mb), and cytochrome P-450 are important to the biological transport, storage, and metabolism of oxygen. Nevertheless the nature of the coordinate link between iron and dioxygen in these hemoproteins has not been defined at the atomic level. Furthermore the way in which the glogin proteinheme interaction directs reversible oxygen binding has been obscure. My students have addressed and partially clarified these issues by preparing crystalline iron(II) porphyrin-dioxygen complexes.1–5 These remarkable Mb models which reversibly bind oxygen in solution or in the solid state at ambient temperature have been characterized by Mossbauer1,5, ir spectra4 and X-ray crystallographic analysis.2
Studies in silico‐organic compounds. XXXII. The preparation of additional sulfides and polysulfides

The preparation of several new silicon containing sulfides is described. Also, a disila-alkyl polysulfide, prepared by peroxide oxidation, is reported.
Radiolysis of poly(acetaldehyde‐co‐chloral): A positive E‐beam resist

Acetaldehyde and chloral were copolymerized using triethyl aluminum catalyst. The copolymer (ACC) obtained with equimolar monomer feed is not alternating in structure as it was once thought to be; it is comprised of two fractions differing in MW and composition. ACC has good thermal stability which is further improved by endcapping. Radiolysis in vacuo caused depolymerization with a G(M) value (number of monomers produced per 100 eV) of about 4000 to 80% completion. The G(S) value for chain scission is 1.9. These processes are effectively inhibited by benzoquinone. Oxygen markedly increases G(M) to ca. 18,000 and > 97% completion. Addition of tetrabutyl ammonium salt or tetramethyl urea has no effect on the depolymerization, whereas the addition of di-t-butyl-p-cresol causes an induction period after which normal unzipping ensues. Even UV photolysis of ACC in the presence of oxygen produces monomer with a quantum yield of 1.7, but very little photolysis occurs in the absence of oxygen. Gamma radiolysis sensitized by (C6H5)2IPF6 has G(M) value of 32,700. These results are very similar to the radiolysis and photolysis of the homopolymer of monochloroacetaldehyde and reinforce the mechanisms proposed for them. The E-beam sensitivity of ACC is about 3 × 10−6 C cm−2.
Assessing trainee impact on operative time for common general surgical procedures in ACS-NSQIP.

Objective To examine the effect of surgical trainee involvement on operative time for common surgical procedures. Laparoscopic appendectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and open inguinal hernia repair comprise 17.7% of the total cases sampled in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) database. These cases are commonly performed by residents at varying levels of surgical training. Study Design A cross-sectional study was performed using American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data from 2005 through 2008 selecting patients undergoing laparoscopic appendectomy, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and open inguinal hernia repair. The primary outcome was operative time and predictive variables were resident involvement and training level. Linear regression analysis was used to compare operative times between cases performed by an attending alone and those assisted by junior (postgraduate year 1-2) or senior (postgraduate year 3-5) trainees, adjusting for patient and operative factors. Results A total of 115,535 surgical cases were included, with 65,364 (59%) performed with junior or senior surgical residents. Resident participation was associated with higher operative times with no significant differences between the junior and senior cohorts; this effect persisted after controlling for potential confounding factors. Operative time increased by 16.6 minutes (95% confidence interval, 16.2-17.0) for junior residents and also by 16.6 minutes (95% confidence interval, 16.2-16.9) for senior residents. Conclusions Surgical trainees' participation in common surgical procedures is associated with an increase in total operative time, with no difference between trainee seniority levels. This finding may be significant in assessing the impact of residency training programs on hospital efficiency.
Valid Versus Redundant Links in the Theory for "Neuropathic Pains"

T his intelligent essay emanates from a discovery on the fact that among the nerve fibers contained in nervi nervorum there exist nociceptors with conduction velocities in the C-fiber range and with characteristics of polymodal receptors. Details of that important study are given by the authors in a previous publication. The authors then join in the irresistible want of offering their finding as a possible explanation for the mystery of chronic "neuropathic" pains, a curse for humankind. They lament that despite much research, "a hypothesis regarding their etiologies has not been accepted." The authors' broad fund of knowledge on neuroanatomy, neuropathology, and neurophysiology, as capitalized with controlled imagination, yields a logically appealing hypothesis. Bone and Light propose that fine chronic posttraumatic pathology of nociceptors in nervi nervorum would generate afferent input that would be perpetuated through circumstantial use-induced friction against hypothetical intraor paraneural scars. Such input would hypothetically maintain a state of hyperexcitability in central neurons that would have been sensitized through past injurious afferent barrage and that would signal impulses decoded by the brain as pain. That would be the authors' basic hypothesis for the enigmatic condition of chronic "neuropathic" pains. Is this "almost intuitive" syllogism valid as a clinical reality? Clinical facts must now be factored into this clinically targeted theory.
Wrinkling of anisotropic soft membranes

Abstract We study the mechanical response of a fiber-reinforced non-linearly elastic thin-walled circular tube subject to torsional twist. If as a result of the applied deformation compressive stresses arise, wrinkling is taken into account. We investigate this phenomenon using the general tension-field theory, extended to account for the presence of oriented reinforcing fibers. The material under consideration is neo-Hookean with an additional term that accounts for the existence of the directional reinforcements. We first consider membranes characterized by uniaxial reinforcement and then extend our investigation to anisotropic materials characterized by two families of fibers in two preferred directions.
Two new records of Planctosphaera larvae (Hemichordata: Planctosphaeroidea)

Two specimens of the rarely found Planctosphaera larva have been taken in the North Atlantic near Challenger Bank north of the Azores and in the North Equatorial Current, latitude 19°33′ N, longitude 40°01′ W.
Protective effects of human milk antimicrobial peptides against bacterial infection.

A amamentac¸ao fornece uma abundância de moleculas paradesenvolver de forma aprimorada os tecidos e orgaos doneonato. O leite humano contem varias moleculas bioativasque modulam o sistema imunologico, bem como moleculascom atividades antimicrobianas diretas e indiretas que evi-tam osupercrescimentodemicro-organismospossivelmentepatogenicos. A combinac¸ao de fatores imunomoduladorese antimicrobianos ajuda a crianc¸a a evitar o desenvolvi-mento de doenc¸as inﬂamatorias e infecc¸ao infantil. Dessaforma, a alimentac¸ao de neonatos com formulas e outrossubstitutos esta claramente relacionada a uma frequenciacada vez maior de doenc¸as inﬂamatorias, como alergias,colite, diabetes juvenil e câncer infantil, bem como umafrequencia cada vez maior de infecc¸oes. Apesar de algunsdos mecanismos e moleculas envolvidos na protec¸ao do leitematerno contra infecc¸oes terem sido bem estudados, o qua-dro completo da biologia da protec¸ao antimicrobiana doleite materno ainda nao esta claro.Em um estudo publicado nesta edic¸ao do Jornalde Pediatria,
Using agency-wide dashboards for data monitoring and data mining: the Solano County Health and Social Services Department.

The Director needed accessible data on critical program areas in order to monitor changes presenting potential negative impacts. The Research, Evaluation and Planning division spearheaded the Dashboard featuring the seven program areas (Employment & Eligibility, Child Welfare Services, Mental Health, Public Health, Older Disabled Adult Services, Substance Abuse, and the Special Investigations Bureau), and three administrative units. Deputy Directors specified several key areas that their divisions were mandated to report or viewed as important for monitoring. The Dashboard enables Directors to communicate internally and externally about program results, strengths and growth areas, as well as track progress in relationship to strategic plan initiatives and intervene in areas needing improvement. Executive team members identify critical areas for improvement and the Assistant Director for Research and Evaluation implements corrective action through the Quality Assurance Committee. Agency lessons relate to t...
Reconstitution of Human Red Blood Cell Na/H and Na/Na Exchange Transport

ABSTRACT: Na/H and Na/Na exchange transport was measured using human erythrocyte membrane proteins solubilized with octyl glu- coside and reconstituted into voltage clamped soybean phospholipid membrane vesicles. The uptake of Na in exchange for either H or Na was: 1) 8 to 10 times higher in proteoliposomes that contained erythrocyte proteins than in proteoliposomes that contained heat denatured proteins or in liposomes that contained no proteins; 2) not affected by ouabain, bumetanide, or 4.4′-diiso- thiocyanostilbene-2-2′-disulfonic acid (DIDS); 3) inhibited by amiloride, 5-(n-ethyl-n-isopro- pyl)amitoride (EIPA), and 5-(n-ethyl-1-n-iso- butyl)amiloride (MIA) but not phenamil; and 4) inhibited by lithium (Li) in a concentration-dependent manner. Incubation of erythrocyte proteins with a low concentration of immobilized trypsin resulted in a significant increase (52%) in Na/Na transport, but no change was seen in Na/H transport. A higher concentration of trypsin increased Na/H transport by more than 2.5 times but did not increase Na/Na transport further. Examination of these studies indicates that, as assayed in reconstituted proteoliposomes that contained erythrocyte proteins, there is a differential response between Na/H and Na/Na transport to trypsin.
The recognition and use of dermestid (Insecta, Coleoptera) pupation chambers in paleoecology

Abstract Insect trace fossils are a relatively new source of climatic and taphonomic data. Because insects often have narrowly defined ecological requirements during their life cycle, they can be an exceptional source of data on season of death, temperature and moisture. We have found this to be true for dermestid pupation chambers and give three examples from the late Pliocene of Idaho and middle-late Pleistocene of Kansas.
Effects of planning on performance of trust‐violating versus tactful, white lies: How are familiar speech acts cognitively represented?

Planning should benefit performance of unfamiliar speech acts more than familiar speech acts. A review of research suggests that tactful white lies may typically be familiar, while trust‐violating ...
Planning for multilingualism and minority language rights in Sweden

As the presence of English in Europe continues to grow, there is a mounting interest in the position of national languages among European institutions, societies, and people. Swedish, like many national languages in Europe and throughout the world, is in an awkward position. It is at the same time a strong national language with the potential to dominate other languages within national borders and a potentially dominated language with respect to English as an international language. Sweden is currently faced with balancing this delicate position in its language policies. This paper explores recent developments in status planning, particularly with respect to language rights, for Sweden's five recognized national minorities and their languages. Swedish minority language issues are situated in sociohistorical context and recent language policy initiatives are analyzed. It is suggested that Swedish policy trends are moving towards fostering societal multilingualism.
Dynamic Quality of Service Management in Wireless Multimedia Networks.

The provisioning of quality of service (QoS) in future wireless communication networks is a complex problem due to the presence of changing network connectivity, user mobility, and shared, noisy, highly variable and limited communication links. In this paper, we propose a QoS management framework in wireless multimedia networks. A new comprehensive service model considering both traffic characteristics and user mobility for wireless multimedia networks is proposed. Based on this proposed service model, adaptive resource scheduling, admission control and resource reservation schemes are applied appropriately. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve higher network utilization and the resulting multimedia traffic can get better quality of service guarantees at different levels.
Optical Fourier Transform Analysis Of Satellite Cloud Imagery

The purpose of this work is to determine whether satellite derived cloud imagery can be effectively analyzed by optical means. Fourier transforms of a number of cloud images are obtained optically and digitized for analysis. Scenes are chosen from a 20 March 1975 frontal system across the Midwestern United States. Analysis is limited to three image categories: straight edges (jet stream), uniform cloud cover with globular texture (the frontal band), and broken cover or isolated globular texture (cumulonimbus activity). These are analyzed for time development of features as well as for type distinguishing features. The ROSA system at Engineering Topographic Laboratories is used in this analysis and the imagery is taken from the satellite ground station at the Atmospheric Sciences Laboratory. The results so far indicate that: (1) certain cloud features can be identified but that uniqueness of the identification must be established on a larger statistical sample, (2) the contrast level in "visual" imagery is not ideal and improvements in identification are expected to result from appropriate enhancements which can be applied "on line", (3) the scan line structure of the imagery can be more effectively exploited, and (4) this method of analysis merits a closer look.© (1977) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Human β‐defensin 3 binds to hemagglutinin B (rHagB), a non‐fimbrial adhesin from Porphyromonas gingivalis, and attenuates a pro‐inflammatory cytokine response

Human β-defensin 3 binds to hemagglutinin B (rHagB), a non-fimbrial adhesin from Porphyromonas gingivalis , and attenuates a pro-inflammatory cytokine response
Observation of time-resolved structural changes by linear interpolation of highly redundant X-ray diffraction data.

A new experimental strategy is described for obtaining time-resolved protein structural changes using monochromatic X-­ray crystallographic data. The method is based on time-dependent linear interpolation of observed intensity variations during conventional X-ray diffraction data collection. The method benefits from high data redundancy. Although the method was developed to examine time-dependent X-ray-induced crystal decay, it is potentially applicable to a variety of time-dependent crystallographic studies, including structural determination of chemical intermediates in enzyme reactions and X-ray-induced unfolding of proteins with multiple disulfide bonds.
Photochemical degradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate). II. Effect of wavelength and environment on the decomposition process

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) has been irradiated with UV light of different wavelengths and in various atmospheres. The extent of degradation was monitored by measuring the tensile strength, molecular weight, carboxylic acid endgroups, and fluorescence emission of the polymer. The importance of wavelengths <315 nm in causing deterioration was demonstrated to be mainly due to strong surface absorption which results in surface crazing and ultimate fracture under stress. Irradiation in nitrogen and under vacuum were found to give similar results, but with oxygen present in the system several significant differences were observed. In nonoxidative irradiations, crosslinking and discoloration of the polymer occurred. Under oxidative conditions, chain scissions and fluorescent material build-up resulted, whereas no crosslinking and only slight discoloration was observed. The possibility of a photo-oxidation reaction has thus been suggested, involving hydroperoxide formation, to explain the discrepancy in results obtained for the two types of environments.
Conversations with two former socialist unity party members: Views of life in East Germany

Apres une description de la structure sociale du SED, parti d'unite socialiste de l'ancienne Allemagne de l'Est, l'A. presente la vie en RDA et au SED, le leadership et la vie en RDA apres l'unification a travers l'histoire de vie de deux membres du SED. Il apparait que la democratie socialiste n'existait pas, que les critiques etaient ecartees, que l'echec du communisme est du aux structures internes et surtout que l'unification a ete difficile pour les membres du SED renvoyes de leurs emplois
Detection of IgE antibodies to bovine respiratory syncytial virus.

Abstract The role of IgE antibodies against respiratory syncytial virus has attracted attention for both human and bovine disease. To detect such antibodies, we have developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) specific for bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV). Firstly, anti-serum strongly positive for BRSV-specific IgE was produced by immunizing a levamisole-treated calf with BRSV. The presence and specificity of BRSV-specific IgE in this animal was confirmed with the Praunitz-Kustner (PK) technique. Potential interference in an ELISA by other BRSV-specific immunoglobulin isotypes was eliminated by preferential precipitation of serum samples with 27.5% saturated ammonium sulfate. The correlation between the PK and the ELISA assay was greater than 93% and the ELISA was found to be more specific than the PK. Indeed, in a pilot experimental infection study, the serum levels of BRSV-specific IgE were found to correlate with the symptom expression following repetitive live virus aerosolization. This may prove to be a useful rapid test to study both herd immunity and the potential pathogenic influence of IgE.
Orexin neuronal changes in the locus coeruleus of the aging rhesus macaque

Orexin neuropeptides regulate arousal state and excite the noradrenergic locus coeruleus (LC), so it is plausible that an age-related loss of orexin neurons and projections to the LC contributes to poor sleep quality in elderly humans and nonhuman primates. To test this hypothesis we examined orexin B-immunoreactivity in the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) and the LC of male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) throughout the life span. Orexin perikarya, localized predominantly in the LHA, showed identical distribution patterns irrespective of age. Similarly, orexin neuron number and serum orexin B concentrations did not differ with age. In contrast, orexin B-immunoreactive axon density in the LC of old animals was significantly lower than that observed in the young or adult animals. Furthermore, the age-related decline was associated with a significant decrease in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA in the LC, despite no change in TH-immunoreactive neuron number. Taken together, these data suggest that age-related decreases in excitatory orexin innervation to the noradrenergic LC may contribute to the etiology of poor sleep quality in the elderly.
Fuzzy normal regression model and related neural networks

A fuzzy normal regression model that takes normal fuzzy numbers as its elements for fuzzy sampling points is presented in this paper. This is a continuation of the author’s work in the paper [1]. The related fuzzy regression NN system makes the model more flexible in order to accommodate the renewing or refining of the sampling process. The essential ideas of fuzzy regression model and the related neural networks will be explained in a clear manner in this work using an application problem.
Social pathways to premenstrual symptoms.

The purpose of this study was to explore feminine and menstrual socialization, expectations about experiencing symptoms, and the stressful nature of women's lives among women with three perimenstrual symptom patterns. Social learning and stress theory provided a theoretical framework for understanding why some menstruating women experience premenstrual syndrome or premenstrual magnification symptom patterns. Data about socialization, stressful life context, expectations about symptoms, depressed mood, and other health-related and demographic indicators were obtained from an interview. Subsequent daily recordings in a health diary for two or more menstrual cycles provided data with which to classify women's symptoms across the menstrual cycle as a low severity symptom (LS, n = 73), premenstrual syndrome (PMS, n = 36), or premenstrual magnification (PMM, n = 62) pattern. Stepwise discriminant function analysis demonstrated that stressful life context, menstrual socialization, and expectations about symptoms related to menstruation differentiated women with an LS from those with a PMS or PMM symptom pattern. In addition, depressed mood differentiated the three groups. ©1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
THE RELATIVE RATES OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC ASSIMILATION OF ISOTOPIC FORMS OF CARBON DIOXIDE

The dictum that isotopes of the same element are chemically the same is, of course, only an approximation. There are many examples of significantly different chemical behavior by different isotopes. Chemical reaction velocities often are quite unequal for different isotopes, particularly with the lighter (and biologically interesting) elements; and these differences may result in some degree of isotope separation. Certain chemical equilibria have been employed for the enrichment of some of the stable isotopes; isotope effects on reaction rate constants thus have been the basis for the production of tracers on a commercial scale. Therefore it is patently true that the use of tracers in biochemical studies may also involve chemical reactions at which some isotope separation occurs. In the case of a series of such reactions, it is easy to visualize an appropriate kinetic scheme whereby rather considerable isotope fractionation could result. As long as such fractionation is very small, it is of little direct concern to the tracer biochemist; if it should become very large, it could complicate and even invalidate his interpretation of tracer experiments. Kamen (5) has called attention to this sort of complication in relation to tracer studies using the hydrogen isotope, H3, or tritium. He pointed out that discrimination by chemical reactions between ordinary hydrogen, H1 (protium), and tritium could, in theory, be so large as to completely invalidate the particular experiments considered. More recently Bigeleisen (2) has called attention to the possibility that isotopie discrimination may complicate tracer studies even with elements heavier than hydrogen. His calculation of the minimal ratio of reaction velocity constants to be expected, for reactions involving C14 and C12 for example, was 0.67. Such a discrimination factor would be of real concern in tracer methodology; but it is actually a hypothetically extreme value arrived at by compounding second and higher order effects, all assumed to be maximally effective in the direction of enhancing rather than minimizing the discrimination. It seems very unlikely that isotope fractionation occurs to this maximal extent in a single actual reaction. It may be recalled, nevertheless, that the overall biological processes studied by physiologists or biochemists are rarely single reactions. Metabolic transformations in-
Plasma ion temperature measurements via charge exchange recombination radiation

Spatially and temporally resolved plasma ion temperatures can be determined by measuring the Doppler‐broadened line profiles of transitions excited by charge‐exchange recombination reactions between fast hydrogen atoms and fully ionized low‐Z ions. Plasma rotation velocity profiles can also be obtained. A sample result from the PDX tokamak using He+ radiation is presented, and expected line intensities for model cases for PDX and TFTR are calculated.
Angiotensin II Concentration in Cerebrospinal Fluid after Intraventricular Injection of Angiotensinogen or Renin

To determine if the brain enzyme which has renin-like activity in vitro can form angiotensin in vivo, angiotensin II concentration in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was measured before and at various intervals after injection of partially purified renin substrate (angiotensinogen) into the third cerebral ventricle of anesthetized dogs. The injection increased CSF angiotensinogen concentration 3-fold, but despite this, CSF angiotensin II concentration, which was undetectable (less than 6.25 fmol/ml) before injection, did not change. Arterial blood pressure was also unchanged after the injection. In contrast, both CSF angiotensin II concentration and arterial pressure increased after an inventricular injection of renin. These results demonstrate that angiotensin II is formed centrally after administration of exogenous renin but not after injection of angiotensinogen. The results thus fail to demonstrate renin activity in the brain in vivo.
An algorithm for inversing a unification parser into an efficient unification generator

Abstract An algorithm that inverses a unification parser written in PROLOG into a generator for natural language is presented. Some aspects of applicability of the algorithm are discussed.
Lack of Evidence for Elevated Obstetric Complications in Childhood Onset Schizophrenia

Background Pre-, peri-, and postnatal obstetric complications (OC) are reported to be more frequent in adult patients with schizophrenia and have been linked to both greater severity and to “earlier” age of onset (before either age 18 or 22) in studies of adult patients. We hypothesized that by extrapolation, patients with childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS), with very early onset and very severe illness, would have had more numerous or more salient OC compared with their healthy siblings. Methods We compared the obstetric records of 60 COS children and 48 healthy siblings using the Columbia Obstetrics Complication Scale, a comprehensive measurement scale consisting of 37 variables having included a separate scale for fetal hypoxia. Results Patients with COS did not have a higher incidence of OC than the healthy sibling control group with the exception of increased incidence of maternal vomiting. Conclusions Obstetric complications, with the possible exception of maternal vomiting, are unlikely to play a major role in the etiopathogenesis of childhood-onset schizophrenia.
Emergent Comprehension: Understanding Comprehension Development among Young Literacy Learners.

This article hones what is meant by ‘emergent comprehension’. The authors define emergent comprehension as the period when young children, prior to conventional reading, engage in meaningful experiences that stimulate the development and use of meaning-making strategies with potential to affect later reading comprehension. The construct ‘emergent comprehension’ reflects the theoretical line the authors drew from meaning making, viewed primarily via theories of child development, to reading comprehension as conceived by the RAND model, a commonly accepted conception of comprehension. A vignette from a three year longitudinal study of very young children’s literacy learning, illustrates the authors’ conceptions. The vignette, one of more than 100 collected in the first year of the study, is interpreted via the three dimensions of the RAND model as well as relevant research and theories from the child development literature. This new model contributes to a life-long theory of reading development (Alexander, ...
Analysis of autoxidized fats by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. IX. Homolytic vs. Heterolytic cleavage of primary and secondary oxidation products

To elucidate the genesis of volatile lipid oxidation products, thermal homolytic and acid heterolytic decomposition processes were compared. Secondary oxidation products were decomposed thermally (200 C), and the volatiles formed were identified by capillary gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Oxidation products also were decomposed in the presence of HCl-methanol, and the resulting dimethyl acetals were identified by GC-MS. The volatile thermal decomposition products were those expected by homolytic β-scission on both sides of the hydroperoxide group. No dialdehydes were identified under our thermal decomposition conditions. In contrast, the acetals formed by acid decomposition were those expected by selective heterolytic scission between the hydroperoxide group and the allylic double bond. Dialdehydes identified from acid decomposition of cyclic peroxides and dihydroperoxides included malonaldehyde and 2,4-hexadienedial.
An optimal unequal error protection scheme with turbo product codes for wavelet compression of ultraspectral sounder data

Most source coding techniques generate bitstream where different regions have unequal influences on data reconstruction. An uncorrected error in a more influential region can cause more error propagation in the reconstructed data. Given a limited bandwidth, unequal error protection (UEP) via channel coding with different code rates for different regions of bitstream may yield much less error contamination than equal error protection (EEP). We propose an optimal UEP scheme that minimizes error contamination after channel and source decoding. We use JPEG2000 for source coding and turbo product code (TPC) for channel coding as an example to demonstrate this technique with ultraspectral sounder data. Wavelet compression yields unequal significance in different wavelet resolutions. In the proposed UEP scheme, the statistics of erroneous pixels after TPC and JPEG2000 decoding are used to determine the optimal channel code rates for each wavelet resolution. The proposed UEP scheme significantly reduces the number of pixel errors when compared to its EEP counterpart. In practice, with a predefined set of implementation parameters (available channel codes, desired code rate, noise level, etc.), the optimal code rate allocation for UEP needs to be determined only once and can be done offline.
Synthesis, characterization, and growth rates of aluminum- and Ge,Al-substituted silicalite-1 materials grown from clear solutions.

The synthesis, characterization, and growth rates of aluminum- and germanium,aluminum-substituted silicalite-1 (Al-silicalite-1, Ge,Al-silicalite-1) materials grown from clear solutions are reported. In the case of aluminum substitution, the crystallinity of the materials as determined by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) decreases with increasing aluminum content, as does the micropore volume determined by nitrogen adsorption and the growth rate determined by in situ small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The final materials possess slightly lower Si/Al ratios than the initial synthesis mixtures based on X-ray fluorescence analysis. In the case of simultaneous incorporation of germanium and aluminum, the final materials have a slightly lower Si/Al ratio than the synthesis mixture but a much higher Si/Ge ratio, indicating the aluminum is more readily incorporated in the zeolite as compared to germanium. This result is consistent with studies of individual heteroatom substitution behavior. Germanium incorporat...
Electrochemical modulation of the electronic properties in conducting poly(phenylenesulfidephenyleneamine)

Abstract The mechanism of electrochemical doping in poly(phenylenesulfidephenyleneamine) (PPSA) was investigated by in situ spectro-electrochemical methods. Our results indicate that the doping level in PPSA can be quantitatively adjusted by controlling the charge injection through regulating the applied oxidation potential and the duration of the doping. Due to the stabilization of the dopant ions, the oxidation state of the doped polymer can be permanently adjusted to desirable levels. It is demonstrated that a dry PPSA film with defined work-function (WF) values can be reproducibly prepared. The WF of the doped PPSA varies logarithmically with the amount of doping charge, in analogy with the changes in the Fermi level over impurity concentration observed in conventional semiconductors during doping.