cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by the abused solvent, toluene

1 Toluene is a representative example of a class of industrial solvents that are voluntarily inhaled as drugs of abuse. Previous data from this lab and others has shown that toluene modulates the function of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine receptors at concentrations that do not affect non-NMDA receptors. 2 We utilized two-electrode voltage-clamp and whole cell patch-clamp techniques to assess the effects of toluene on neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors expressed in oocytes and cultured hippocampal neurons. Toluene (50 micro M to 10 mM) produced a reversible, concentration-dependent inhibition of acetylcholine-induced current in Xenopus oocytes expressing various nicotinic receptor subtypes. The alpha4beta2 and alpha3beta2 subunit combinations were significantly more sensitive to toluene inhibition than the alpha4beta4, alpha3beta4 and alpha7 receptors. 3 Receptors composed of alpha4 and beta2(V253F) subunits showed alpha4beta4-like toluene sensitivity while those containing alpha4 and beta4(F255V) subunits showed alpha4beta2-like sensitivity. 4 In hippocampal neurons, toluene (50 micro M to 10 mM) dose-dependently inhibited ACh-mediated responses with an IC(50) of 1.1 mM. 5 Taken together, these results suggest that nicotinic receptors, like NMDA receptors, show a subunit-dependent sensitivity to toluene and may represent an important site of action for some of the neurobehavioural effects of toluene.
Trusting the hospice nurse

The purpose of this study was to determine what it is about nurses that elicits trust in the perception of primary care-givers. Participants (N = 32) responded to a questionnaire, “Patient Trust and Nursing Behaviors,” that identifies a variety of descriptors about trust promoting behaviors of nurses. The behaviors identified can readily be learned by nurses and are believed characteristic of humanistic communication patterns of interaction or skills and attitudes as proposedby Humanistic Nursing Communication Theory.
Investigating Essential Factors on Students' Perceived Accomplishment and Enjoyment and Intention to Learn in Web Development

Web development is an important component in the curriculum of computer science and information systems areas. However, it is generally considered difficult to learn among students. In this study, we examined factors that could influence students' perceptions of accomplishment and enjoyment and their intention to learn in the web development course. Specifically, we investigated both student-related and instructor-related factors. A research model was developed. To empirically test the model and the hypotheses, the survey method was used and the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was adopted for data analysis. Overall, the results indicated that both student-related factors (perceived web development efficacy and motivation) and instructor-related factors (instructor characteristics and teaching method) could significantly influence students' perceptions toward accomplishment and enjoyment and their intention to learn web development. We also summarized comments collected from students to gain a deeper understanding of their ideas toward learning web development techniques. We believe the research results can help provide better knowledge and insights to educators on teaching web development.
Seasonal variability in airborne bacterial communities at a high-elevation site

Abstract Although bacteria are ubiquitous in the near-surface atmosphere, the temporal dynamics of airborne bacterial communities have not been well-studied. We examined seasonal shifts in bacterial abundances, the relative contribution of bacteria to total aerosol loads, and bacterial community structure at a high-elevation research station in northern Colorado, USA. Aerosol samples were collected from the near-surface atmosphere over 5–10 days during each of the four calendar seasons. Bacterial abundances varied by season with the highest concentrations observed during the fall and spring seasons, consistent with the changes in total particle concentrations, with bacterial cells often representing a large fraction (22% on average) of the total near-surface aerosol particles >0.5 μm. Bacterial community composition, determined via barcoded pyrosequencing, also varied significantly by season. The dominant taxa in the spring, winter, and second half of the fall sampling periods (when the ground was snow covered) were bacterial taxa commonly found in other cold environments while the summer and first half of the fall samples contained taxa that were likely derived from soil and leaf-surface environments. Bacteria are clearly an important component of atmospheric aerosols with the abundance and composition of these airborne bacterial communities shaped by seasonal shifts in atmospheric conditions and the conditions of the local terrestrial environment.
Pushing the Throughput Limit of Low-Complexity Wireless Embedded Sensing Systems

To maximize the communication throughput for wireless sensing systems, designers have attempted various combinations of protocol design and manual code optimization. Although the theoretical bandwidth limit is easy to determine loosely, there have been no systematic ways to arrive at a tight upper-bound. One contribution of this paper is a formula for deriving a tight upper-bound on the throughput of low-complexity wireless interfaces transmitting packets of a fixed size. It takes into account not only the software execution times on the nodes but also other communication protocols that must be bridged by the base station. The proposed upper-bound, which we believe is the tightest, represents the maximum amount of bandwidth utilization that can be achieved in practice. It can also serve as a means of comparing protocols built on different platforms. Another contribution is a streamlined schedule-based protocol, called RIPE-MAC, which achieves at least 83% of the upper-bound, significantly higher than previously achieved throughput. The proposed protocol needs no clock synchronization and incurs no further complexity on sensor nodes. In the proposed protocol, synchronization and schedule updates are reduced to a single pull message.
The effect of prolonged elevated glucose levels on the phosphate metabolism of the rabbit lens in perfused organ culture.

13C and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques were used to monitor phosphate metabolite longitudinal (T1) relaxation times and metabolism, the sorbitol pathway, and related bioenergetic processes in cultured rabbit lenses through 9 days of incubation with constant perfusion. Lenses were incubated in a modified TC-199 medium containing either 5.5- or 35.5 mM [1-13C]-enriched glucose. The NMR studies were augmented by biochemical and cation analyses, and by the visual assessment of lens clarity. In the hyperglycemic rabbit lens, relative to normal values, longitudinal (T1) relaxation times for phosphorus metabolites increased from 33- to 50% [with the exception of inorganic phosphate (Pi)]. This provides the first documentation that a pathophysiological insult to the lens can alter phosphorus metabolite T1 values. The determination of steady state levels for the NMR visible phosphorus metabolites present in the lens was obtained after correction for T1 differential saturation effects, and normalization to reflect the content of phosphorus equivalents in each metabolite. Relative to control lenses (i.e. incubated in 5.5 mM glucose-containing medium) the NMR visible phosphate metabolite pool of rabbit lenses subjected to a hyperglycemic stress for an extended period of time (greater than 72 hr) is characterized by the following statistically significant differences: a 23% decrease in the mean level of ATP; a 51% increase in the mean level of alpha-glycerolphosphate (alpha GP); a 56% decrease in the mean level of Pi; the appearance of an unidentified resonance at 6.2 ppm after 115- to 120-hr incubation; and lenticular acidification of 0.10 to 0.17 pH units. No statistically significant differences in the mean levels of ADP, dinucleotides (predominantly NAD+-NADH), and phosphomonoesters (other than alpha GP) were evident. Parallel 13C NMR measurements provided a real-time confirmation of sorbitol production and accumulation in rabbit lenses incubated in 35.5 mM glucose-containing medium. In agreement with classical biochemical analysis (Chylack and Kinoshita, 1969) sorbitol production attained a plateau level after ca. 3 days of incubation. Cation determinations performed at the conclusion of the 9-day incubation indicated that the lenses incubated under the two conditions have similar Na+ and K+ levels. Rabbit lenses incubated in normal glucose medium remained clear for at least 8 days. By contrast, for the rabbit lenses incubated in elevated glucose medium, equatorial opacification became evident by day 5; by day 8 extensive bleb formation and opacification was evident.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Clearance of bacteria from the blood of irradiated rabbits.

SummaryNormal and irradiated rabbits were inoculated intravenously with approximately 106Klebsiella pneumoniae, Type A. At intervals thereafter plate counts were made on peripheral blood. During the first 4 hours after inoculation the rate of clearance of microorganisms from the blood stream was as rapid and almost as complete in rabbits which had been exposed 1-8 days before with 800 r total body x-irradiation (LD50/30) as in unirradiated controls. From the 8th hour on, in most of the rabbits 3-8 days post-irradiation, the colony counts increased steadily until the animals died. These findings indicate that in the irradiated rabbit the reticulo-endo-thelial system was able for a few hours to remove the bacteria from the circulating blood but was unable to retain and destroy them.
Doctoral advising, research productivity and the academic balancing act: insights from Michael A. Hitt, Edwin A. Locke, Fred Luthans, Lyman W. Porter, and Anne Tsui

Achieving academic success requires diligence among all concerned – doctoral students, academic advisors, and institutions. This paper presents interviews of five outstanding scholars who have dedicated their lives to research productivity, academic advising, and scholarly service. The work/life balance and output they achieved is the result of purposeful planning, tenacity, and passion for the field and students. The paper first introduces the topic of academic success, then initial thoughts from the authors are presented. Brief biographies of the scholars are shared to demonstrate academic contributions. Interviews are presented as direct quotes from participants, with collective insights offered after each specific question.
Electrogenic 2 Na+/1 H+ exchange in crustaceans.

Hepatopancreatic brush border membrane vesicles of the freshwater prawn,Macrobrachium rosenbergii and the marine lobster,Homarus americanus exhibited22Na uptake which was Cl-independent, amiloride sensitive, and stimulated by a transmembrane H gradient (H i >H o ). Sodium influx by vesicles of both species were sigmoidal functions of [Na] o , yielding Hill coefficients that were not significantly different (P>0.5) than 2.0. Estimations of half-saturation constants (K Na) were 82.2mm (prawn) and 280.1mm (lobster), suggesting a possible adaptation of this transporter to environmental salinity.Trans-stimulation andcis-inhibition experiments involving variable [H] suggested that the exchangers in both species possessed single internal cation binding sites (pK 6.5–6.7) and two external cation binding sites (prawn, pK 4.0 and 5.7; lobster pK 3.5 and 6.1). Similarcis inhibition studies using amiloride as a competitive inhibitor of Na uptake supported the occurrence of dual external sites (prawn,K i 50 and 1520 μm; lobsterK i 9 and 340 μm). Electrogenic Na/H exchange by vesicles from both crustaceans was demonstrated using equilibrium shift experiments where a transmembrane potential was used as the only driving force for the transport event. Transport stoichiometries of the antiporters were determined using Static Head analysis where driving forces for cation transfer were balanced using a 10∶1 Na gradient, a 100∶1 H gradient, and a stoichiometry of 2.0. These electrogenic 2 Na/1 H exchangers appear thermodynamically capable of generating sufficient gastric acidification for organismic digestive activities.
Solidification modeling: Status and outlook

Solidification modeling is a complex and highly advanced field. This article examines the state of the art in solidification modeling, including physical phenomena of solidification such as heat extraction, transport processes within a casting, and dimensional changes in the casting and mold during solidification. Also examined are current efforts to model these phenomena and the strengths and weaknesses of these efforts. Finally, obstacles to solidification modeling, such as speed and cost of the process, are considered, along with the likelihood those obstacles will be overcome.
Venous waterfalls in coronary circulation.

Several studies of flow through collapsible tubing deformed by external pressures have led to a concept known as the “vascular waterfall”. One hallmark of this state is a positive zero-flow pressure intercept ( P e ) in flow-pressure curves. This intercept is commonly observed in the coronary circulation, but in blood-perfused beating hearts a vascular waterfall is not the only putative cause. To restrict the possibilities, we have measured flow-pressure curves in excised non-beating rabbit hearts in which the coronary arteries were perfused in a non-pulsatile way with a newtonian fluid (Ringers solution) containing potent vasodilator drugs. Under these circumstances, vascular waterfalls are believed to be the only tenable explanation for P e . In physical terms the waterfall is a region where the vessel is in a state of partial collapse with a stabilized intraluminal fluid pressure ( P w ). It is argued that the most probable site of this collapse was the intramural veins just before they reached the epicardial surface. In accord with the waterfall hypothesis, P e increased as the heart became more edematous, but flow-pressure curves also became flatter, implying multiple waterfalls with differing P w s, leading to complete collapse of some of the venous channels. The principal compressive force is believed to have been the interstitial fluid pressure as registered through a needle ( P n ) implanted in the left ventricular wall, but a small additional force ( P s ) was probably due to swelling of interstitial gels. A method is presented for estimating P s and P w . Unlike rubber tubing, blood vessels are both collapsible and porous. Apparently because of increased capillary filtration, P n was found to increase linearly with the perfusion pressure. Thus, P w was not the same at all points on the flow-pressure curve. This finding has interesting implications with respect to the concept of coronary resistance.
Community policing and social service partnerships: lessons from New England

Partnerships between police and social service agencies are an important but understudied component of community policing. This paper looks at why – despite the adoption of community and problem‐solving policing nationwide – police–social service partnerships are not routine. I draw from case studies of youth‐focused partnerships in four US cities to examine how police can better collaborate with municipal and community‐based agencies, and to address the organizational and leadership challenges confronting reformers. The findings of this paper illustrate that while police are valuable partners for social service agencies, one should use caution in conceptualizing too large a role for police in juvenile prevention and intervention initiatives.
DENDRITIC COMPLEXITY AND THE EVOLUTION OF CEREBELLAR PURKINJE CELLS

Cerebellar Purkinje cells have the most extensive dendritic arborization in the central nervous system. These neurons can be readily identified in most vertebrates. We reexamined a recently postulated relationship between phylogeny and fractal dimension of Purkinje cells' dendritic field (Takeda et al.1). The fractal dimension of Purkinje cells was measured, using a box-counting technique, from several species with diverging eras spanning 5.24 × 108 years. The linear correlation (y = mx + b) between phylogenetic placement and fractal dimension, for water creatures gave m = −0.057, r2 = 0.137 and for land creatures m = −0.096, r2 = 0.685. Regression analysis showed that the slope for the water creatures line was not significantly different from zero, but the slope for the land creatures was significant. These results only partially agree with the conclusions of Takeda et al. We also found that small variations in data collection and analysis can significantly change these results, including: quality and technique of cell reconstruction, criteria of selection of the scaling region, and tolerance on the power-law fit.
Crime, physical activity and outdoor recreation among Latino adolescents in Chicago

PURPOSE: The purpose was to examine how fear of crime, crime victimization, and perceived level of community incivilities are related to physical activity participation and outdoor recreation among Latino adolescents. METHOD: The study utilized a mixed methods approach that included 25 qualitative interviews and 390 school-based surveys collected from youth across three schools in Little Village, Chicago, Illinois. RESULTS: Results showed that Latino adolescents who expressed greater fear of crime also engaged in less physical activity and outdoor recreation. There was no association between crime victimization and physical activity and outdoor recreation. Those who perceived greater levels of community incivilities also engaged in less outdoor recreation, but perception of incivilities had no significant association with physical activity levels. Interview data revealed most of the children believed crime was a serious problem in their neighborhood and it impacted their ability to be physically active and play outside. CONCLUSIONS: Fear of crime was related to lower physical activity and outdoor recreation. It is imperative that communities provide safe environments for children to be active. Increasing police and adult presence in parks and school grounds is recommended. Moreover, efforts must be made to reduce the gang problems in Latino communities. Language: en
Alcohol Education Inventory—Revised: What every mental health professional should know about alcohol

Abstract In 1995, Miller and C'de Baca created a 50-item measure, the Alcohol Education Inventory (AEI), to assess mental health professionals' basic knowledge of alcohol and alcohol problems. The purpose of this study was to update the AEI based on advances in the field since its publication. The AEI-Revised (AEI-R) consists of 13 of the original AEI items, 30 items that were revised and updated, and 7 new items. The AEI-R was administered to 90 mental health trainees with percentage correct ranging from 60% (psychology postdoctoral fellows) to 70% (psychiatry residents). The percent correct is very similar to that found on the original AEI (64%–70%). Survey results suggest that alcohol-related knowledge by mental health professionals in general training is less than adequate. The AEI-R may be useful as a tool to assess basic knowledge of alcohol among mental health professionals.
Assessment and optimization of an airplane

Purpose – The ratio of the energy transformed to the revenue work done (ETRW) during a flight of an airplane can be employed as a key indicator to assess its environmental impact. It remains constant during the life cycle of the aircraft and is fixed by its designers. The goal of an environmentally optimum airplane is to minimize the ETRW. Design/methodology/approach – For an existing airplane, there are two major parameters that can greatly affect the ETRW, which are the ratio of actual payload to maximum possible payload “c” and the flight range R. The goal of this paper is to study the effect of c and R on ETRW and minimize it by using a genetic algorithm (GA). The study is performed on a Boeing 737-800 and a Boeing 747-400 aircraft as well as recently proposed aircraft designs namely the Boeing second-generation Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) and MIT Double-Bubble D8.2. Findings – It turns out that the maximum possible values of payload and range do not necessarily lead to a flight with minimal environmental...
Asymptotic distributions for morphological granulometric moments

Treating a binary image as a random process results in the granulometric pattern spectrum being a random function and its moments being random variables. Because these moments are used as image signatures and as local texture descriptors, their statistical distributions, and in particular their moments, are of importance. The present paper employs a theorem of Cramer to show for a certain class of image models that the pattern-spectrum-moment distributions are asymptotically normal, and it provides asymptotic expressions for moments of the spectrum moments. To facilitate application of Cramer's theory the paper introduces the class of orthogonal granulometric generators.
An exception-handling architecture for open electronic marketplaces of contract net software agents

Software agent marketplaces require the development of new architectures, which are capable of coping with unreliable computational and network infrastructures, limited trust among independently developed agents and the possibility of systemic failures. In analogy with human societies, agent marketplaces will benefit from the introduction of appropriate electronic exception handling institutions, whose role will be to help guarantee efficiency and fairness in the face of these challenges. This paper presents a research methodology for designing and evaluating such electronic institutions. It also describes how the methodology has been applied in order to design and evaluate an exception handling architecture for robust software agent marketplaces based on the contract net protocol.
III–V CMOS devices and circuits with high-quality atomic-layer-epitaxial La 2 O 3 /GaAs interface

By realizing a high-quality epitaxial La 2 O 3 / GaAs(111)A interface, we demonstrate GaAs CMOS devices and integrated circuits including nMOSFETs, pMOSFETs, CMOS inverters, NAND and NOR logic gates and five-stage ring oscillators for the first time. As an exercise of III-V CMOS circuits on a common substrate with a common gate dielectric, it provides a route to realize ultimate high-mobility CMOS on Si if long-time expected breakthroughs of III-V epi-growth on Si occur.
Improved light sectioning resolution by optimized thresholding

A common approach to structured light illumination is light stripe projection onto a surface topology and then analyzing the lateral displacements of the reflected pattern to reconstruct the surface topology. A single spatial frequency of a light stripe pattern may be used to illuminate a relatively flat surface. In the case of rough surfaces, the surface topology is encoded with a sequence of light stripe patterns with successively higher spatial frequencies. In both approaches, the maximum resolution is limited by the maximum spatial frequency used. However, the tradeoff between SNR blurring and spatial frequency limits the final reconstruction accuracy. That is, as spatial frequency increases, the projection systems's blurring function causes the light stripes to be coupled thereby decreasing the SNR of the reflected image. We present both mathematical and numerical models for this phenomenon which indicates that by laterally moving the light stripe pattern across the surface and optimally thresholding the image, we can achieve measurement density and accuracy beyond that achieved by increasing the frequency of a stationary light stripe pattern. the numerical model to be calibrated will accept experimental data. Theoretical and numerical results will be compared with experimental results.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Evaluating factor XIII specificity for glutamine-containing substrates using a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry assay.

Activated factor XIII (FXIIIa) catalyzes the formation of γ-glutamyl-e-lysyl cross-links within the fibrin blood clot network. Although several cross-linking targets have been identified, the characteristic features that define FXIIIa substrate specificity are not well understood. To learn more about how FXIIIa selects its targets, a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS)-based assay was developed that could directly follow the consumption of a glutamine-containing substrate and the formation of a cross-linked product with glycine ethylester. This FXIIIa kinetic assay is no longer reliant on a secondary coupled reaction, on substrate labeling, or on detecting only the final deacylation portion of the transglutaminase reaction. With the MALDI-TOF MS assay, glutamine-containing peptides derived from α2-antiplasmin, Staphylococcus aureus fibronectin binding protein A, and thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor were examined directly. Results suggest that the FXIIIa active site surface responds to changes in substrate residues following the reactive glutamine. The P-1 substrate position is sensitive to charge character, and the P-2 and P-3 substrate positions are sensitive to the broad FXIIIa substrate specificity pockets. The more distant P-8 to P-11 region serves as a secondary substrate anchoring point. New knowledge on FXIIIa specificity may be used to design better substrates or inhibitors of this transglutaminase.
Allylsilane initiated garbocyclizations

Abstract The intramolecular conjugate addition of an allylic anion, generated from a allylsilane moiety, with various Michael acceptors is reported.
Observation of quantum Zeno blockade in c (2) microresonators

We report observing all-optical modulation with a contrast of 80% via quantum Zeno blockade in a Lithium Niobate whispering-gallery-mode resonator at a pump peak power of 100μW.
Generating knowledge and decision expertise using simulation

One of the major issues in the application of knowledge-based simulation systems is the acquisition of decision making knowledge and its integration in operations and control. The primary focus of this research is the use of computer simulation for generating knowledge for problems that are constrained by expert availability and knowledge acquisition. The paper presents a methodology for developing decision expertise using simulation for systems with multiple performance criteria.
Platinum (410), a face with unusual activity for the breaking of N-O and C-O bonds

Abstract Banholzer et al., Surface Sci. 128 (1983) 176, suggested that ideas, analogous to those proposed by Woodward and Hoffmann for reactions in organic systems might be useful in identifying especially promising catalysts structures for further study. This work shows that Pt(410) has sites with the right orbital symmetry to break NO and CO bonds. Recently X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), temperature programed desorption (TPD), auger electron spectroscopy (AES), and reflection adsorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) studies were done to see if these sites do indeed have unusual properties for N-O and C-O bond breaking. XPS showed that NO dissociates upon adsorption on Pt(410) at room temperature. RAIRS indicates that there is however, a small fraction (≈ 20%) of the NO which molecularly adsorbs. TPD indicates that more than 90% of the NO which adsorbs dissociates before it desorbs. By comparison, the next most active face considered previously shows negligible dissociation at room temperature, and only 50% dissociation upon heating. Surprisingly however, nitrogen and oxygen bond energies inferred from flash desorption peak temperatures are lower on Pt(410), than on other less active faces (Pt(100), Pt(110)). CO was found to adsorb molecularly at room temperature. However, heating the layer to 500 K results in changes in the XPS spectra that are consistent with dissociation. No other platinum surface studied previously shows similar behavior. RAIRS indicates that initially the CO adsorbs in a linearly bound state. However, readsorption on a partially dissociated layer results in the formation of bridge bound CO. Clearly, then Pt(410) is unusually active. These results show that simple orbital symmetry arguments can be used to explain the relative activity of single crystal planes, and identify planes with potential for enhanced activity for study.
Phase separation in polymer solutions and gels

A brief overview of the kinetics of phase separation in polymer solutions and gels is presented. Small angle light scattering measurements of the time evolution of the structure factor following a quency into the spinodal region for polystyrene cyclohexane solutions show several unusual features as compared to either polymer blends or simple binary liquid mixtures. Nonlinearities appear to be important right from the beginning and the scaling behavior in the intermediate stages indicates the formation of ramified domains. The mobility varies with time, so that the phase separation process slows down as time proceeds. Similar experiments in gelatin solutions in a mixture of water and methanol show the effects of simultaneous occurrence of phase separation and gelation. The most dramatic effect is the pinning of the phase separated morphology at some intermediate stage in the unstable region of the phase diagram upon gelation. The final domain size depends strongly on the quench temperature
Time-Related Increase in Hematocrit on Chronic Hemodialysis: Uncertain Role of Renal Cysts

We studied the long-term changes in hematocrit in 283 center hemodialysis patients. Mean duration of dialysis (± SD) was 53.8 ± 43.4 months, with a range of 6 to 176 months. The correlations of hematocrit with clinical factors, laboratory values, and renal cystic changes were investigated. Time on dialysis was the strongest single predictor of hematocrit for the whole group ( r = 0.351, P r = 0.414, P r = 0.387, P
Excimer laser facilitated percutaneous coronary intervention of a nondilatable coronary stent.

A patient is described in which excimer laser percutaneous coronary intervention is performed inside a suboptimally expanded stent due to nondilatable calcified plaque. The use of excimer laser facilitated full expansion of the stent with a balloon.
Estimating the Potential for Facilitated Transport of Napropamide by Dissolved Organic Matter

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) has been found to significantly affect the soil sorption/desorption of napropamide [2-(alpha-naphthoxy-N, N-diethylpropionamide] and to enhance its transport through soil columns. A method to qualitatively predict if DOM will enhance the transport of napropamide based on easily determined sorptive characteristics is investigated. Batch sorption experiments were specifically designed to simulate field application of napropamide. The formation of a napropamide-DOM complex was enhanced by pretreating soils with pesticide and allowing the carrier solvent to evaporate prior to preparing a water extract of the soil (K1). A second adsorption coefficient was measured by equilibrating K1 with untreated soil (K2). Column transport studies using the same soils as the batch equilibrium studies were performed. After allowing napropamide to dry, columns were leached. Initial leachate from all soils contained napropamide indicating that the collected napropamide had been transported through the column without adsorption. However, the amount leached was dependant on soil type and in general soils with higher organic matter content had higher concentrations of napropamide in the initial 30 mL of leachate when compared with lower organic matter (OM) soils. The ratio of the K1 and K2 solutions from the batch equilibrium studies were found to be positively correlated with the mass of napropamide in the initial leachate. Therefore the ratio of K1 to K2 provided a better qualitative predictor of the potential for facilitated transport of napropmamide than soil OM content.
Different Pathways to Juvenile Delinquency: Characteristics of Early and Late Starters in a Sample of Previously Incarcerated Youth

We examined the differences between early and late start juvenile delinquents in a sample of 531 previously incarcerated youth in Oregon's juvenile justice system. Data were analyzed with logistic regression to predict early start delinquency based on four explanatory variables: foster care experience, family criminality, special education disability, and socioeconomic status. Youth with foster care experience were four times more likely to be early start delinquents than youth with no foster care experience. Youth with a family member convicted of a felony were two times more likely to be early start delinquents than youth with no family felony. Implications for future research are discussed, as well as implications for practice and policy. We suggest that future studies examine differences between male and female delinquents, the effects of foster care on children, and interfamilial processes that facilitate criminal behavior. Efforts to support children and families at risk of abuse and neglect should be reexamined in light of the results of our study, which adds to the emerging knowledge base regarding the relationships between violence experienced in early childhood, and future criminal behavior.
Trapping Patterns of Entomophthora gammae (Weiser) (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae) Conidia in a Soybean Field Infested with the Soybean Looper, Pseudoplusia includens (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

Air-borne conidia of the fungus Entomophthora gammae (Weiser), a pathogen of Pseudoplusia includens (Walker), were sampled continuously during August and September over a soybean field using a Burkhard spore trap. Conidia were first detected 1 week before host larvae were detected. Initial collections coincided with a cool, wet period. Once larvae were found, conidia were detected daily. Peak collections occurred at intervals of ca. 9 to 12 days, and highest numbers coincided with maximum host population levels. Daily collection patterns showed that initial detection usually occurred between 2000 and 2100 hours, with maximum production between 0000 and 0600 hours and essentially no production between 1200 and 1800 hours. Detection was confined to periods of near 100%RH, which normally were present for 8 h or more nightly during the trapping period.
Copy elimination in functional languages

Copy elimination is an important optimization for compiling functional languages. Copies arise because these languages lack the concepts of state and variable; hence updating an object involves a copy in a naive implementation. Copies are also possible if proper targeting has not been carried out inside functions and across function calls. Targeting is the proper selection of a storage area for evaluating an expression. By abstracting a collection of functions by a target operator, we compute targets of function bodies that can then be used to define an optimized interpreter to eliminate copies due to updates and copies across function calls. The language we consider is typed lambda calculus with higher-order functions and special constructs for array operations. Our approach can eliminate copies in divide and conquer problems like quicksort and bitonic sort that previous approaches could not handle.We also present some results of implementing a compiler for a single assignment language called SAL on some small but tough programs. Our results indicate that it is possible to approach a performance comparable to imperative languages like Pascal.
Topological exciton condensate of imbalanced electrons and holes

I study the effects of particle-hole imbalance on the exciton superfluid formed in a topological insulator thin film and obtain the mean-field phase diagram. At finite imbalance a spatially modulated condensate is formed, akin to the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state in a superconductor, which preempts a first-order transition from the uniform condensate to the normal state at low temperatures. The imbalance can be tuned by changing the chemical potential at the two surfaces separately or, alternatively, by an asymmetric application of Zeeman fields at constant chemical potential. A vortex in the condensate carries a precisely fractional charge half of that of an electron. Possible experimental signatures for realistic parameters are discussed.
Staged marginal contoured and central excision technique in the surgical management of perianal Paget's disease

Abstract Background Extramammary Paget's disease (EMPD) is an adenocarcinoma of the apocrine glands with unknown exact prevalence and obscure etiology. It has been divided into primary EMPD and secondary EMPD, in which an internal malignancy is usually associated. Treatment for primary EMPD usually consists of wide lesion excision with negative margins. Multiple methods have been proposed to obtain free-margin status of the disease. These include visible border lesion excision, punch biopsies, and micrographic and frozen-section surgery, with different results but still high recurrence rates. Methods The investigators propose a method consisting of a staged contoured marginal excision using “en face” permanent pathologic analysis preceding the steps of central excision of the lesion and the final reconstruction of the surgical defect. Results Advantages of this method include adequate margin control allowing final reconstruction and tissue preservation, while minimizing patient discomfort. Conclusions The staged contoured marginal and central excision technique offers a new alternative to the armamentarium for surgical oncologists for the management of EMPD in which margin control is imperative for control of recurrence rates.
Enzymology with a spin-labeled phospholipase C: soluble substrate binding by 31P NMR from 0.005 to 11.7 T.

31 P NMR relaxation studies from 0.005 to 11.7 T are used to monitor water-soluble inositol 1,2-(cyclic) phosphate (cIP) binding to phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C spin-labeled at H82C, a position near the active site of the enzyme, and to determine how activating phosphatidylcholine (PC) molecules affect this interaction. We show that, in the absence of an interface, cIP binding to the protein is not rate-limiting, and that lower activation by PC vesicles as opposed to micelles is likely due to hindered product release. The methodology is general and could be used for determining distances in other weakly binding small molecule ligand-protein interactions.
The importance of semantics in auditory representations.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the nature of auditory representations by manipulating the semantic and physical relationships between auditory objects. On each trial, listeners heard a group of four simultaneous sounds for 1 sec, followed by 350 msec of noise, and then either the same sounds or three of the same plus a new one. Listeners completed a change-detection task and an object-encoding task. For change detection, listeners made a same-different judgment for the two groups of sounds. Object encoding was measured by presenting probe sounds that either were or were not present in the two groups. In Experiments 1 and 3, changing the target to an object that was acoustically different from but semantically the same as the original target resulted in more errors on both tasks than when the target changed to an acoustically and semantically different object. In Experiment 2, comparison of semantic and acoustic effects demonstrated that acoustics provide a weaker cue than semantics for both change detection and object encoding. The results suggest that listeners rely more on semantic information than on physical detail.)
Biotic effects of impacts and volcanism

The biotic effects of late Maastrichtian mantle plume volcanism on Ninetyeast Ridge and Deccan volcanism mirror those of the Cretaceous–Tertiary (KT) mass extinction and impact event. Planktonic foraminifera responded to high stress conditions with the same impoverished and small-sized species assemblages dominated by the disaster/opportunists Guembelitria cretacea, which characterize the KT mass extinction worldwide. Similar high stress late Maastrichtian assemblages have recently been documented from Madagascar, Israel and Egypt. Biotic effects of volcanism cannot be differentiated from those of impacts, though every period of intense volcanism is associated with high stress assemblages, this is not the case with every impact. The most catastrophic biotic effects occurred at the KT boundary (65.0 Ma) when intense Deccan volcanism coincided with a major impact and caused the mass extinction of all tropical and subtropical species. The Chicxulub impact, which now appears to have predated the KT boundary by about 300 kyr, coincided with intense Deccan volcanism that resulted in high biotic stress and greenhouse warming, but no major extinctions. The unequivocal connection between intense volcanism and high stress assemblages during the late Maastrichtian to early Danian, and the evidence of multiple impacts, necessitates revision of current impact and mass extinction theories.
Prions are novel infectious pathogens causing scrapie and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Scrapie and Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) are caused by prions, which appear to be different from both viruses and viroids. Prions contain protein which is required for infectivity, but no nucleic acid has been found within them. Prion proteins are encoded by a cellular gene and not by a nucleic acid within the infectious prion particle. A cellular homologue of the prion protein has been IDentified. The role of this homologue in metabolism is unknown. Prion proteins, but not the cellular homologue, aggregate into rod-shaped particles that are histo-chemically and ultrastructurally IDentical to amyloid. Extracellular collections of prion proteins form amyloid plaques in scrapie- and CJD-infected rodent brains as well as CJD-infected human brains. Within the plaques, prion proteins assemble to form amyloid filaments. Elucidating the molecular differences between the prion protein and its cellular homologue may be important in understanding the chemical structure and replication of prions.
Ovoviviparity in carabid beetles of the genus Pseudomorpha (Insecta: Coleoptera)

Ovoviviparity is reported for the first time in the ground beetle family Carabidae. Eclosed larvae and fully developed embryos are found within the expanded lateral oviducts, bursa copulatrix and vagina of the putative myrmecophiles Pseudomorpha angustata and P. hubbardi. Eclosed larvae do not appear to be active while held inside the female prior to larviposition. Maximum larval numbers occur from mid-July to early September in these Arizona species, implying that larviposition is timed to coincide with summer rains. Larviposition is hypothesized as a means to eliminate egg mortality due to predation by ant hosts.
Localization of histidyl-tRNA synthetase (Jo-1) in human laryngeal epithelial carcinoma cell line (HEp-2 cells)

The present study was designed to determine the subcellular localization of histidyl-tRNA synthetase (Jo-1) in human laryngeal epithelial carcinoma cell line (HEp-2 cells). Indirect immunofluorescence using commercial HEp-2 cells with human serum and human-affinity-purified anti-Jo-1 antibodies was performed using confocal microscopy. Anti-histidyl-tRNA-synthetase-positive sera showed distinct nuclear and cytoplasmic granular staining in HEp-2 cells. Affinity purified anti-Jo-1 produced an identical pattern to the whole serum, whereas the serum fraction that did not bind to the affinity column was negative by immunofluorescence on HEp-2 cells. Two commercial human anti-Jo-1-positive control sera and seven anti-Jo-1-positive sera from patients with myositis reproduced the nuclear and cytoplasmic granular pattern. We conclude that Jo-1 is present in cytoplasm and in intact nuclei from HEp-2 cells. The presence of tRNA synthetases in intact nuclei suggests that they have an unsuspected function in the nucleus.
Isolation of globoids from cottonseed aleurone grain.

Abstract Cottonseed globoids have been isolated from aleurone grains by homogenization in 0.1 m Tris solution. Purification was obtained by filtering successively through filters of different porosity. The globoids are low in protein, fat, and carbohydrate content, and contain 14.2% phosphorus and about 10% metals. Almost 97.5% of the total phosphorus appears to be organic phosphorus; myoinositol hexaphosphate (phytic acid) was identified as the only organic phosphorus compound. The phytic acid content, based both on organic phosphorus and inositol contents, is 60%. Thus the physiological role of the globoid in plant seeds appears to be the site for storage of phosphorus and certain metals.
Active Pt Nanoparticles Stabilized with Glucose Oxidase

We report the growth of Pt nanoparticles (NP) coupled and stabilized in situ with glucose oxidase (GOx). The enzyme-capped-Pt nanoparticles were formed from K2PtCl6 (aq) reduced with H2 (g) in the presence of GOx at a molar ratio of 889/1 Pt(IV)/GOx, creating a direct-linkage between NP and protein during particle growth. Transmission electron microscopy imaging revealed the formation of fcc Pt nanocrystals in the presence of the enzyme with an average dimension = 4.05 ± 0.62 nm, whereas in its absence Pt black precipitated from solution. This is evidence that the glycoprotein terminated propagation of Pt growth and stabilized the NP surface. Transfer of Pt NP−GOx to an electrode by assembly on poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) allowed amperometric glucose determination with a low limit of detection of ca. 30 μM.
Multi-Year Fuel Cycles in the MHR Core Using LEU/Th Fuel

The current Modular Helium Reactor (MHR) fuel cycle uses fissile LEU (19.8 wt% U-235) and depleted uranium in separate TRISO particles, in a single fuel rod within a graphite matrix. The TRISO particle volume packing fraction (PF) in the fuel rods is 29%, of which the LEU particle PF is 62%. The lifetime between refuelings is about 476 effective full power days (EFPD). In this paper we assess the possibility of replacing the depleted uranium TRISO particles with thorium TRISO particles, and evaluate the impact of such replacement on fuel cycle length. A preliminary scoping study was performed to determine the most promising fuel rod/zoning configurations. The scoping study indicates that there is advantage to separating the thorium TRISO particles from the LEU particles at the fuel rod level instead of mixing them within a single rod. An axial checkerboard distribution of the fuel rods where all uranium and all thorium rods are interchangeable along the axial direction within the graphite block is the most promising configuration that was identified in this study and can be lead to a fuel cycle length extension of 50% to 80% relative to the current design, with only a modest increase in the fissile material loading (15%–20%). To this advantage can be added the benefit of a significant reduction in nuclear waste and in health risk. This study also lays the foundation for improving the fuel rod arrangement within the graphite block and the graphite blocks within the entire reactor core. The analysis is limited to a once-through fuel cycle based on in-situ fissioning of the U-233, without further separation and reprocessing.Copyright © 2008 by ASME