cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Relationship Characteristics and HIV Transmission Risk in Same-Sex Male Couples in HIV Serodiscordant Relationships

Unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) remains a main risk factor for HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM) and this is of particular concern for partners of HIV serodiscordant status. However, HIV transmission risk has been demonstrated to vary by the sexual position adopted among partners. Guided by interdependence theory, this study examined how relational factors were differentially associated with risk taking (HIV-positive/insertive and HIV-negative/receptive) and strategic positioning (HIV-positive/receptive and HIV-negative/insertive) UAI within serodiscordant same-sex male couples. HIV-positive men and their HIV-negative partners (n couples = 91; n individuals = 182) simultaneously but independently completed computerized questionnaires and HIV-positive men had blood drawn for viral load. A minority of couples (30 %) engaged in risk taking and/or strategic positioning unprotected anal sex. Results of multinomial logistic regression indicated that HIV-negative partners’ levels of relationship commitment were positively associated with the odds of engaging in strategic positioning sexual behaviors. For HIV-negative partners, reports of relationship intimacy, and sexual satisfaction were negatively associated with odds of reporting risk taking behavior. In contrast, HIV-positive partners’ reported sexual satisfaction was positively associated with odds of engaging in risk taking behavior. Findings suggested that aspects of relational quality may be differentially associated with sexual decision making for same-sex male couples in serodiscordant relationships. Study findings lend support for the incorporation of discussions of HIV risk reduction strategies, enhancing communication between partners, and support for general relationship functioning in HIV care.
Ecological Interface Design for Military Command and Control

The authors use the cognitive systems engineering framework to design and evaluate an interface for military command and control. They discuss analytic tools and principles of this framework and provide concrete examples (e.g., work domain analyses for U.S. Army tactical operations at the battalion level). They also discuss principles of ecological interface design, including direct perception, direct manipulation, and the perception-action loop. The translation between work domain analyses and the specific characteristics of the interface are made explicit. The authors describe the potential for this interface to support effective decision making and problem solving, including links with naturalistic decision-making approaches. Evaluations of the interface have been positive and are described briefly. Actual or potential applications of this research include both specific interface design strategies for military command and control and general interface design principles for this category of work domain.
Longitudinal follow-up of pulmonary function after lobectomy in childhood : factors affecting lung growth

We examined the changes in pulmonary function values in 27 patients who underwent a lobectomy due to cystic lung disease and compared the results regarding such factors as disease type, age at operation, and preoperative infections. Percent vital capacity (%VC) decreased immediately after lobectomy, but recovered to normal values within 2 postoperative years and remained within or above the normal range. The ratio of residual volume to total lung capacity (RV/TLC) rose temporally with the increase in %VC, but then remained normal after 2 postoperative years. There was no difference in %VC and RV/TLC between diseases, while bronchial atresia showed a significantly lower correlation with percent of forced expiratory volume at 1 s. The older group operated upon at over 4␣years of age and the group that had infections before operation showed relatively low %VC and high RV/TLC. Some patients demonstrated extremely low %VC along with funnel chest deformities. Our study suggests that overinflation of the remaining lung compensates VC in the early period after lobectomy while subsequently alveolar multiplication occurs. Factors affecting compensatory lung growth were considered to be operation later than 4 years of age, preoperative infection, and a thoracic deformity.
Azygos Lymph Node Enlargement as Initial Manifestation of Underlying Disease

Azygos lymph node enlargement is usually an indication of advanced bronchogenic carcinoma, although it may occur in benign pulmonary disease. Often it is found in conjunction with enlargement of hilar and other mediastinal lymph nodes. Isolated azygos lymph node enlargement is unusual and demands tissue diagnosis. Four patients without other evidence of underlying disease were evaluated because of roentgenographic finding of azygos lymph node enlargement. Three had malignant disease and one reactive lymphoid hyperplasia. Current concepts of mediastinal lymphatic drainage are presented. Because of the likelihood of underlying malignancy, biopsy examination of an enlarged azygos node by cervical mediastinoscopy is indicated.
Adrenal disorders in pregnancy.

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) are up-regulated during normal pregnancy. Pregnancy represents a state of relative hypercortisolism, resulting from the interaction of the maternal HPA axis and the fetal-placental unit. Consistent with a physiologic role, the RAS maintains normal sodium balance and volume homeostasis. In normal gestation, hypercortisolism and relative hyperaldosteronism are not usually clinically apparent. In contrast, adrenal disorders that do occur during pregnancy contribute to significant maternal and fetal morbidity. This article reviews the natural history, causes, diagnosis, and treatment of adrenal causes of Cushing’s syndrome, adrenocortical hypofunction, primary hyperaldosteronism, and the management of adrenal pheochromocytoma in pregnancy. Cushing’s syndrome in pregnancy The clinical presentation of Cushing’s syndrome in pregnancy is similar to that in the general population, except for the preservation of menses before conception. The cause, however, differs between the pregnant and nonpregnant state because adrenal causes of Cushing’s syndrome account for over 60% of 122 previous reports in pregnancy, in contrast with 15% in nonpregnant women [1,2]. Solitary adrenal adenomas are the most common cause, whereas adrenal carcinoma accounts for approximately 10% of cases [3,4]. Pheochromocytoma causing ectopic Cushing’s syndrome was reported on two occasions. Its rarity may be explained by the anovulation that usually accompanies severe hypercortisolism [3,5]. Primary pigmented
Cultural differences are not always reducible to individual differences

We show that differences in social orientation and in cognition that exist between cultures and social classes do not necessarily have counterparts in individual differences within those groups. Evidence comes from a large-scale study conducted with 10 measures of independent vs. interdependent social orientation and 10 measures of analytic vs. holistic cognitive style. The social measures successfully distinguish between interdependence (viewing oneself as embedded in relations with others) and independence (viewing oneself as disconnected from others) at the group level. However, the correlations among the measures were negligible. Similar results were obtained for the cognitive measures, for which there are no coherent individual differences despite the validity of the construct at the group level. We conclude that behavioral constructs that distinguish among groups need not be valid as measures of individual differences.
Longitudinal Prospective Study of Headache During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Chronic headache fluctuates in response to changes in hormonal levels. Headache generally improves with rising estrogen levels, and worsens with falling levels. Headache should, therefore, predictably improve with pregnancy and worsen postpartum. Several retrospective studies have confirmed this pattern. In this study, 49 pregnant women with chronic headache (18 with migraine, 16 with tension-type, and 15 with combined migraine and tension-type) were followed prospectively. Headache activity was recorded daily throughout pregnancy and for 3 months postpartum. Overall, there was a 30% improvement in headache between the second and third trimesters for the entire sample. This was not statistically significant. Headache improved significantly for 41% of the women, with a slightly greater tendency for headache to improve in women with migraine compared to those with tension-type or combined migraine and tension-type headaches. Headache activity was not influenced by history of menstrual migraine, history of headache change with prior pregnancies, parity, or breast-feeding. In general, women reporting headache at the end of their first trimester continued to report headache throughout pregnancy and postpartum.
Patient-controlled room air insufflation versus automated carbon dioxide delivery for CT colonography.

OBJECTIVE. Our objective was to prospectively compare colonic distention and patient comfort at screening CT colonography (CTC) with patient-controlled room air (RA) insufflation versus automated carbon dioxide (CO2) delivery.SUBJECTS AND METHODS. Two hundred eight adults undergoing CTC were randomized to RA or CO2 (104 per method). Colonic distention was prospectively assessed by segment using a 4-point scale (1 = optimal, 2 = adequate, 3 = inadequate, 4 = collapsed). Adequacy of combined supine/prone segmental evaluation was also recorded. Patients provided discomfort ratings on a 0-10 scale (0-1 = none/insignificant, 2-3 = minimal, 4-6 = intermediate, 7-10 = significant) before, during, and after the procedure.RESULTS. No significant differences in segmental distention were observed in the prone position between techniques. In the supine position, CO2 resulted in significantly greater distention in the sigmoid, descending, and transverse segments (p < 0.01). After combined supine/prone assessment, two/...
An intrinsic progenitor defect in Diamond-Blackfan anaemia

Summary. To determine whether the erythropoietin (epo) insensitivity of erythroid progenitor differentiation in congenital pure red cell aplasia or Diamond-Blackfan anaemia is intrinsic to the progenitor itself or is due to defective accessory cell function or active suppression, progenitors from normals and two patients (one steroid resistant and one spontaneously remitting), separated from all known accessory cells using sequential negative selection techniques (adherence, E-rosetting, and direct and indirect immune-panning), were studied. Initially, we evaluated three patients with DBA using unfractionated bone marrow mononuclear cells. Progenitors from two steroid non-responsive patients showed insensitivity to crude epo (c-epo) while one steroid responsive patient demonstrated normal in vitro sensitivity to c-epo. When recombinant epo (r-epo) was used in place of c-epo, the two steroid non-responders continued to demonstrate in vitro progenitor epo insensitivity. However, sensitivity of progenitors from the steroid responder, which was normal in the presence of c-epo, became abnormal when recombinant epo (r-epo) was substituted. Thus, using unfractionated bone marrow, the abnormal response to epo of progenitors from some patients with DBA appears to be obscured by stimulating factors termed erythroid burst-promoting activity (BPA) which are present in c-epo. Using fractionated highly enriched progenitors, from normals and a steroid responsive patient a final 3–10-fold enrichment of progenitors was achieved, but no such enrichment was seen when marrow from a steroid resistant patient was cultured. The epo sensitivities of normal and of patient erythroid progenitors were similar. However, at sub-optimal epo concentrations in both patients CFU-E responsiveness to crude BPA was abnormal compared to the three controls. We conclude from these studies that in DBA: (a) the failure of erythropoiesis is due to an intrinsic progenitor defect; (b) this defect involves progenitor insensitivity to factors in addition to erythropoietin; and (c) there exists a spectrum of disease reflected in the degree of the in vitro abnormality observed.
Reinforcing effects of morphine in the nucleus accumbens

Abstract The possibility that morphine exerts its reinforcing effects via an action in the nucleus accumbens was investigated in the rat using the self-administration model and the method of intracerebral injection. Male, adult rats implanted with a chronic cannula aimed at this nucleus were tested for self-administration in a rectangular chamber equipped with two levers, one at each end. Each subject was given several sessions in blocks of two sessions for a given substance, the first session with the active lever at one end of the chamber, the next with the active lever at the other end. During a session, responses on the inactive lever were without consequences. Depression of the active lever was coupled with the presentation of a tone to facilitate discrimination between the two levers. All subjects received a sequence of 5 sessions, the first for habituation, the next two to test for effects of artificial cerebrospinal fluid, and the next two to test for effects of morphine. A few subjects in which the cannula had not been dislodged or plugged were further tested for effects of morphine and then for effects of morphine mixed with naloxone. Each response on the active lever resulted in an injection of 0.02 μl. During the morphine sessions, this volume contained 0.2 μg of the opiate; during the sessions of morphine and naloxone, this volume contained 0.2 μg morphine mixed with 0.2 μg naloxone. The results show that self-administration was induced and maintained when morphine was injected inside the nucleus accumbens, not in an area outside this region but at the same brain level. The rate of responding on the active lever for morphine was higher than for artificial cerebrospinal fluid and it showed a pattern of gradual increase over time. In contrast, the rate of responding on the inactive lever during the morphine sessions showed a decline. This pattern was not evident in these animals during control sessions and in the animals in which the injections were outside the n. accumbens. These results are interpreted to indicate that the n. accumbens may be part of a system of structures mediating the reinforcing effects of opiates.
Investigations on the effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on parameters of various immune functions

The effects of TCDD exposure on parameters of immune function during the developmental period were investigated. Exposures were performed in Fischer/Wistar rats. Fetal and neonatal rats were exposed to TCDD through maternal dosing (5 micrograms/Kg) on day 18 of gestation and on days 0, 7, and 14 of postnatal life (group 1). Another group of neonatal rats were exposed to TCDD through maternal dosing on days 0, 7, and 14 of postnatal life only (group 2). Body weights and relative thymus weights were found to be suppressed up to 135 days of age in group 1 but only up to 35 days of age in group 2. Parameters of cell-mediated and humoral immune function were investigated. TCDD suppressed cell-mediated immune function without affecting humoral immune function. TCDD-exposed animals had recovered normal cell-mediated immune function by 270 days of age. A group of inbred Fischer rats was exposed to TCDD as described for group 1 above. At 45 days of age these animals were utilized in lymphocyte homing studies. It was found that TCDD exposure alters homing patterns of lymphocytes from exposed animals when adoptively transferred to untreated animals. In addition, lymphocytes from nonexposed animals did not home normally when injected into TCDD-exposed recipients.
Integration of expert systems with hypermedia

Hypermedia enables users to perceive an abstract level of concepts more clearly and easily than a plain text by providing powerful and maneuverable system interfaces. It has been applied to various fields including design, documentation, information retrieval, manufacturing, education, and training. However, it lacks intelligence which is most critical for intelligent systems. Expert systems (ES) have been very successful in many domain areas. However, ES also has several problems including knowledge transfer (user interface) and knowledge acquisition. Among the problems knowledge transfer can be alleviated by using a hypermedia technology, since hypermedia allows more dynamic user control of the information in the knowledge base. ES also can alleviate the inherent problem of hypermedia since it has a reasoning ability. This paper discusses an integration of ES with hypermedia, which provides the mutual benefits of each system to remedy parts of the above mentioned problems. Two architectures of integrating the two systems are presented. The LOCUS system, a prototype, has been developed to test one of the proposed architectures in this research. The integration of ES with hypermedia enhances usability, interactivity, learning ability, flexibility, adaptability, intelligence of the system and can be used in various fields (e.g., CAD/CAM design, simulation, intelligent manufacturing, training, education, etc.), since it offers several amenities as described in this paper.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Molecular Simulations of Polyphosphazenes for Biomedical Applications

Properties of four biomedically relevant polyphosphazenes—poly(dichlorophosphazene) (PDCP), poly(glycineethylesterphosphazene) (PGEEP), poly[bis(carboxylatophenoxy)phosphazene] (PCPP) and poly[di(imidazole)phosphazene] (PDIP)—were investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. The densities obtained for these polymers ranged from 1.269 (PGEEP) to 2.174 (crystalline PDCP) g/cm3. As validation of the simulation results, the glass transition temperature of PGEEP was estimated to be 255 K, in agreement with experimental results. Radial distribution functions showed evidence of hydrogen bonding in amorphous PCPP, but little or no hydrogen bonding was observed in the remaining polymers. Hydrogen bonding leads to increased electrostatic interactions in amorphous PCPP, as evidenced by the larger solubility parameter of 19.082 (J/cm3)1/2 obtained for PCPP compared to 14.437, 13.928, and 14.647 (J/cm3)1/2 for amorphous PDCP, PGEEP and PDIP, respectively. Time-correlation functions were calculated for each polymer to determine the relative flexibility of the backbones and side-groups of each polyphosphazene. The backbones and side-groups of both amorphous PDCP and PGEEP show significant flexibility while those of amorphous PCPP and PDIP show more limited motions.
Improved ancestry inference using weights from external reference panels

Motivation: Inference of ancestry using genetic data is motivated by applications in genetic association studies, population genetics and personal genomics. Here, we provide methods and software for improved ancestry inference using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) weights from external reference panels. This approach makes it possible to leverage the rich ancestry information that is available from large external reference panels, without the administrative and computational complexities of re-analyzing the raw genotype data from the reference panel in subsequent studies. Results: We extensively validate our approach in multiple African American, Latino American and European American datasets, making use of genome-wide SNP weights derived from large reference panels, including HapMap 3 populations and 6546 European Americans from the Framingham Heart Study. We show empirically that our approach provides much greater accuracy than either the prevailing ancestry-informative marker (AIM) approach or the analysis of genome-wide target genotypes without a reference panel. For example, in an independent set of 1636 European American genome-wide association study samples, we attained prediction accuracy (R2) of 1.000 and 0.994 for the first two principal components using our method, compared with 0.418 and 0.407 using 150 published AIMs or 0.955 and 0.003 by applying principal component analysis directly to the target samples. We finally show that the higher accuracy in inferring ancestry using our method leads to more effective correction for population stratification in association studies. Availability: The SNPweights software is available online at http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/alkes-price/software/. Contact:aprice@hsph.harvard.edu or cychen@mail.harvard.edu. Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Moving forward without looking back: Performance management systems as real-time evidence-based practice tools

article i nfo Article history: Performance management systems provide child welfare agencies with tools to monitor program components, make real-time changes, and build an empirical base for the intervention. The two primary components of the performance management system discussed in this paper are balanced scorecards and dashboards. The goal is to provide an overview of the process, to describe how a performance management system was developed and the rationale behind it, and to provide examples of how the process was implemented at a national and site level. The paper provides an overview of performance management systems and an example of how perfor- mance management tools can be applied to child welfare agencies. These tools can assist in planning and quality improvement and can be used to support the ongoing development of an empirical base for service programs. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Integration of simian virus 40 into cellular DNA occurs at or near topoisomerase II cleavage hot spots induced by VM-26 (teniposide).

Abstract Inhibition of DNA topoisomerase II in simian virus 40 (SV40)-infected BSC-1 cells with a topoisomerase II poison, VM-26 (teniposide), resulted in rapid conversion of a population of the SV40 DNA into a high-molecular-weight form. Characterization of this high-molecular-weight form of SV40 DNA suggests that it is linear, double stranded, and a recombinant with SV40 DNA sequences covalently joined to cellular DNA. The majority of the integrants contain fewer than two tandem copies of SV40 DNA. Neither DNA-damaging agents, such as mitomycin and UV, nor the topoisomerase I inhibitor camptothecin induced detectable integration in this system. In addition, the recombination junctions within the SV40 portion of the integrants correlate with VM-26-induced, topoisomerase II cleavage hot spots on SV40 DNA. These results suggest a direct and specific role for topoisomerase II and possibly the enzyme-inhibitor-DNA ternary cleavable complex in integration. The propensity of poisoned topoisomerase II to induce viral integration also suggests a role for topoisomerase II in a pathway of chromosomal DNA rearrangements.
The association of elective hormone therapy with changes in lipids among glucose intolerant postmenopausal women in the diabetes prevention program.

Objective It is unclear how lipids change in response to lifestyle modification or metformin among postmenopausal glucose intolerant women using and not using hormone therapy (HT). We examined the one-year changes in lipids among postmenopausal, prediabetic women in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), and whether changes were mediated by sex hormones.
Security engineering of lattice-based policies

Describes an algebraic approach to the security engineering of lattice policies. The approach has two main goals. First, it seeks to model access control policies with anti-symmetry, reflexivity and transitivity exceptions using a lattice, and to propose an information flow security definition for the resulting set of policies (POL). Second, it supports a constructive approach to policy specification through an algebraic structure (POL, AND, OR, NOT, /spl equiv/, /spl les/). This structure is homomorphic to Boolean algebra. The approach's goals and design decisions are influenced by the context in which it is being used: a library of reusable security components with tools to facilitate their reuse for securing application systems.
Social Workers and Brief Interventions: A Research-Informed Response to Changing Views on Marijuana

Over the past 40 years, views on marijuana legalization have changed significantly, with surveys indicating that about 28% of U.S. residents were supportive of such legalization in the 1970s, where...
Organothymedia: Reflections on the enjoyment of the pipe organ

This tutorial explores the almost universal appeal which the pipe organ, in instrument unique to Western culure, ecerts on the hearts and minds of humans. The subject is approached from five different perspectives; the musicologist, the listener, pipe organ craftsmen, the orgainstn, and the scientist seeking to understand the physics of pipe emerges; each in his own way, discovers intrinsic enjoyment and fulfillment in the expression of his art.
Ablation of Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 Abolishes Endothelin-Induced Increases in Afferent Renal Nerve Activity: Mechanisms and Functional Significance

Endothelin 1 (ET-1) and its receptors, ETA and ETB, play important roles in regulating renal function and blood pressure, and these components are expressed in sensory nerves. Activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) 1 channels expressed in sensory nerves innervating the renal pelvis enhances afferent renal nerve activity (ARNA), diuresis, and natriuresis. We tested the hypothesis that ET-1 increases ARNA via activation of ETB, whereas ETA counterbalances ETB in wild-type (WT) but not TRPV1-null mutant mice. ET-1 alone or with BQ123, an ETA antagonist, perfused into the left renal pelvis increased ipsilateral ARNA in WT but not in TRPV1-null mutant mice, and ARNA increases were greater in the latter. [Ala1, 3,11,15]-endothelin 1, an ETB agonist, increased ARNA that was greater than that induced by ET-1 in WT mice only. [Ala1, 3,11,15]-endothelin 1-induced increases in ARNA were abolished by chelerythrine, a protein kinase C inhibitor, but not by H89, a protein kinase A inhibitor. Chelerythrine, H89, and BQ788, an ETB antagonist, did not affect ARNA triggered by capsaicin in WT mice. Substance P release from the renal pelvis was increased by [Ala1, 3,11,15]-endothelin 1 in WT mice only, and the increase was abolished by chelerythrine but not by H89. Chelerythrine, H89, and BQ788 did not affect capsaicin-induced substance P release. Our data show that ET1 increases ARNA via activation of ETB, whereas ETA counterbalances ETB in WT but not in TRPV1-null mutant mice, suggesting that TRPV1 mediates ETB-dependent increases in ARNA, diuresis, and natriuresis possibly via the protein kinase C pathway.
SAMC: a code compression algorithm for embedded processors

In this paper, we present a method for reducing the memory requirements of an embedded system by using code compression. We compress the instruction segment of the executable running on the embedded system, and we show how to design a run-time decompression unit to decompress code on the fly before execution. Our algorithm uses arithmetic coding in combination with a Markov model, which is adapted to the instruction set and the application. We provide experimental results on two architectures, Analog Devices' Share and ARM's ARM and Thumb instruction sets, and show that programs can often be reduced by more than 50%. Furthermore, we suggest a table-based design that allows multibit decoding to speed up decompression.
Magnetic Field Measuring System for Remapping the ORIC Magnetic Field

The Holifield Heavy Ion Research Facility will integrate a new 25 MV tandem electrostatic accelerator into the existing cyclotron laboratory which includes the Oak Ridge Isochronous Cyclotron (ORIC). 1 Computations of ion paths for beam injection from the new tandem into ORIC require field mapping in the regions traversed by the beam. Additional field data is also desired for the higher levels (~19 kG) now used for most heavy ion beams. The magnetic field measurement system uses 39 flip coil/current integrator sets with computer controlled data scanning. The coils are spaced radially at 1 inch intervals in an arm which can be rotated azimuthally in 2 degree increments. The entire flip coil assembly can be shifted to larger radii to measure fields beyond the pole boundary. Temperature stabilization of electronic circuitry permits a measurement resolution of ±1 gauss over a dynamic range of ±25,000 gauss. The system will process a scan of 8000 points in about one hour.
Sharp Norm Comparison of Martingale Maximal Functions and Stochastic Integrals

Much of this paper will be devoted to answering a question about stochastic integrals, Question 1 below. Question 2 is even more basic. The primary goal is to introduce a method that can be used to study these and other questions about martingale maximal functions.
New insight into the spawning behavior of lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, from a recovering population in the Laurentian Great Lakes

Spawning behavior of lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, is poorly understood, relative to stream-dwelling salmonines. Underwater video records of spawning in a recovering population from the Drummond Island Refuge (Lake Huron) represent the first reported direct observations of lake trout spawning in the Laurentian Great Lakes. These observations provide new insight into lake trout spawning behavior and expand the current conceptual model. Lake trout spawning consisted of at least four distinct behaviors: hovering, traveling, sinking, and gamete release. Hovering is a new courtship behavior that has not been previously described. The apparent concentration of hovering near the margin of the spawning grounds suggests that courtship and mate selection might be isolated from the spawning act (i.e., traveling, sinking, and gamete release). Moreover, we interpret jockeying for position displayed by males during traveling as a unique form of male-male competition that likely evolved in concert with the switch from redd-building to itinerant spawning in lake trout. Unlike previous models, which suggested that intra-sexual competition and mate selection do not occur in lake trout, our model includes both and is therefore consistent with evolutionary theory, given that the sex ratio on spawning grounds is skewed heavily towards males. The model presented in this paper is intended as a working hypothesis, and further revision may become necessary as we gain a more complete understanding of lake trout spawning behavior.
Mechanisms mediating plant distributions across estuarine landscapes in a low-latitude tidal estuary

Understanding of how plant communities are organized and will respond to global changes requires an understanding of how plant species respond to multiple environmental gradients. We examined the mechanisms mediating the distribution patterns of tidal marsh plants along an estuarine gradient in Georgia (USA) using a combination of field transplant experiments and monitoring. Our results could not be fully explained by the "competition-to-stress hypothesis" (the current paradigm explaining plant distributions across estuarine landscapes). This hypothesis states that the upstream limits of plant distributions are determined by competition, and the downstream limits by abiotic stress. We found that competition was generally strong in freshwater and brackish marshes, and that conditions in brackish and salt marshes were stressful to freshwater marsh plants, results consistent with the competition-to-stress hypothesis. Four other aspects of our results, however, were not explained by the competition-to-stress hypothesis. First, several halophytes found the freshwater habitat stressful and performed best (in the absence of competition) in brackish or salt marshes. Second, the upstream distribution of one species was determined by the combination of both abiotic and biotic (competition) factors. Third, marsh productivity (estimated by standing biomass) was a better predictor of relative biotic interaction intensity (RII) than was salinity or flooding, suggesting that productivity is a better indicator of plant stress than salinity or flooding gradients. Fourth, facilitation played a role in mediating the distribution patterns of some plants. Our results illustrate that even apparently simple abiotic gradients can encompass surprisingly complex processes mediating plant distributions.
SYNTHESIS OF A DECAPEPTIDE SEQUENCE (A2 8-A3 7) OF RUBREDOXIN. AMINO ACIDS AND PEPTIDES. XXXVI

A protected decapeptide corresponding to a section found in the last half of the protein chain of rubredoxin has been prepared by standard peptide methods.
A history model for managing the VLSI design process

A history model is proposed to support the dynamic aspects of VLSI design, i.e., the controlled and disciplined sequencing of CAD tool invocations. This model is based on a task specification language, for encapsulating CAD tool invocations, and a novel activity thread, which maintains the history of task invocations and serves as a focus for sharing work results in a cooperative manner. A prototype was built on top of the OCT CAD framework. >
Simple analytical expression for the dispersion of plasmonic structures with coaxial geometry

We derived a simple analytical expression for the modal dispersion of deep-subwavelength coaxial plasmonic structures. Our approach provides an intuitive picture that allows a qualitative understanding and a quantitative prediction of the complete dispersion behavior.
Northern ancestry for the Goochland terrane as a displaced fragment of Laurentia: Comment and Reply REPLY

We welcome the opportunity to discuss further our ideas regarding translational tectonics along the Iapetan margin of Laurentia. We look forward to seeing published papers on the Alleghanian history of the Goochland terrane based on recent abstracts of our colleagues from William and Mary, but
Effects of substrate conductivity on dielectric barrier discharge sterilization efficacy

Summary form only given. Non-equilibrium atmospheric pressure plasma is an ideal solution for sterilizing spacecraft before flight and upon return to Earth without thermal or chemical degradation to the surface. Spacecrafts are composed of a variety of conductive and non-conductive components. For this reason, it is important to study sterilization efficacy on varying substrates which are conductive, non-conductive, wet, dry, grounded, and un-grounded. The bacteria chosen for these experiments are Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus pumulis, and Deinococcus radiodurans. The results will allow NASA researchers to better design spacecraft for higher sterilization efficacy. Further, it will ultimately aide in preventing forward and reverse contamination for NASA space missions.
Xanthophyll cycle pigment and antioxidant profiles of winter-red (anthocyanic) and winter-green (acyanic) angiosperm evergreen species

Leaves of many angiosperm evergreen species change colour from green to red during winter, corresponding with the synthesis of anthocyanin pigments. The ecophysiological function of winter colour change (if any), and why it occurs in some species and not others, are not yet understood. It was hypothesized that anthocyanins play a compensatory photoprotective role in species with limited capacity for energy dissipation. Seasonal xanthophyll pigment content, chlorophyll fluorescence, leaf nitrogen, and low molecular weight antioxidants (LMWA) of five winter-red and five winter-green angiosperm evergreen species were compared. Our results showed no difference in seasonal xanthophyll pigment content (V+A+Z g(-1) leaf dry mass) or LMWA between winter-red and winter-green species, indicating red-leafed species are not deficient in their capacity for non-photochemical energy dissipation via these mechanisms. Winter-red and winter-green species also did not differ in percentage leaf nitrogen, corroborating previous studies showing no difference in seasonal photosynthesis under saturating irradiance. Consistent with a photoprotective function of anthocyanin, winter-red species had significantly lower xanthophyll content per unit chlorophyll and less sustained photoinhibition than winter-green species (i.e. higher pre-dawn F(v)/F(m) and a lower proportion of de-epoxidized xanthophylls retained overnight). Red-leafed species also maintained a higher maximum quantum yield efficiency of PSII at midday (F'(v)/F'(m)) during winter, and showed characteristics of shade acclimation (positive correlation between anthocyanin and chlorophyll content, and negative correlation with chlorophyll a/b). These results suggest that the capacity for photon energy dissipation (photochemical and non-photochemical) is not limited in red-leafed species, and that anthocyanins more likely function as an alternative photoprotective strategy to increased VAZ/Chl during winter.
Activity Patterns of Red Hills Salamanders (Phaeognathus hubrichti) at Their Burrow Entrances

The Red Hills salamander (Phaeognathus hubrichti), a large fossorial plethodontid endemic to south-central Alabama, was listed as federally threatened in 1976. To determine the seasonal and daily activity patterns of this species, I counted the number of salamanders present at burrow entrances, recorded the amount of time individual salamanders spent at entrances, and measured five abiotic variables to determine how they correlated with the number of salamanders at burrow entrances. Red Hills salamanders were present at burrow entrances all months of the year, displayed a unimodal daily activity pattern, and spent a mean of 12.3 continuous hours at an entrance each day. Regardless of season, time spent at an entrance remained relatively constant. Air temperature had the highest correlation with the number of salamanders present at entrances. Burrow entrances play a prominent role in the lives of these salamanders. When estimating population size for conservation efforts, surveys should be conducted at night and at multiple times and dates during the warmer months of the year because not all salamanders are present at entrances at any one time.
Exploiting Key Events for Learning Interception Policies

One scenario that commonly arises in computer games and military training simulations is predator-prey pursuit in which the goal of the non-player character agent is to successfully intercept a fleeing player. In this paper, we focus on a variant of the problem in which the agent does not have perfect information about the player’s location but has prior experience in combating the player. Effectively addressing this problem requires a combination of learning the opponent’s tactics while planning an interception strategy. Although for small maps, solving the problem with standard POMDP (Partially Observable Markov Decision Process) solvers is feasible, increasing the search area renders many standard techniques intractable due to the increase in the belief state size and required plan length. Here we introduce a new approach for solving the problem on large maps that exploits key events, high reward regions in the belief state discovered at the higher level of abstraction, to plan efficiently over the low-level map. We demonstrate that our hierarchical key-events planner can learn intercept policies from traces of previous pursuits significantly faster than a standard point-based POMDP solver, particularly as the maps scale in size.
SafePay: Protecting against credit card forgery with existing magnetic card readers

Existing magnetic cards adopt plain text to store confidential information, thus being vulnerable to an untrusted credit card reader or a skimming device. To tackle the problem, researchers have proposed several new techniques such as integrated circuit card (IC card) and mobile wallet applications [1]; however, none of them can support existing magnetic card readers thereby facing backwards compatibility issue.
STRAIN DIFFERENCES IN THE SOMNOGENIC EFFECTS OF INTERFERON INDUCERS IN MICE

Increased slow-wave sleep accompanies influenza infection in C57BL/6 mice but not BALB/c mice. These strains of mice possess different alleles of the genetic lucus If-1, which codes for high (If-1h; C57BL/6) and low (If-1(1); BALB/c) production of interferon (IFN), a putative sleep-inducing cytokine. To evaluate the contribution of the If-1 gene to differences in murine sleep propensity, sleep patterns were evaluated in mice treated with the IFN inducers polyinosinic:polycytidilic acid (pIC) or Newcastle disease virus (NDV), with influenza virus, or with murine interferon (IFN-alpha) or IFN-alpha/beta. As compared with baseline values, C57BL/6 mice exhibited increased slow-wave sleep after all three challenges, but BALB/c mice did not. Congenic B6.C-H28c mice, which bear the BALB/c allele for low IFN production on the C57BL/6 genetic background, showed enhanced slow-wave sleep after influenza infection but not after NDV. Exogenous IFN did not enhance slow-wave sleep in either C57BL/6 or BALB/c mice. These data suggest that the If-1 allele may influence the somnogenic responsiveness of mice under some conditions but that additional mechanisms may contribute to sleep enhancement during infectious disease.
Hispanic Male’s Perspectives of Health Behaviors Related to Weight Management:

Hispanic males have the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity among men in the United States; yet are significantly underrepresented in weight loss research. The purpose of the current study...
Metamaterial-waveguide bends with effective bend radius < λ_0/2

We designed, fabricated, and characterized broadband, efficient, all-dielectric metamaterial-waveguide bends (MWBs) that redirect light by 180 deg. The footprint of each MWB is 3 μm×3 μm and redirection is achieved for single-mode waveguides spaced by 1.3 μm, which corresponds to an effective bend radius of 0.65 μm ( 80% and ∼70%, respectively. Furthermore, the MWBs have an operating bandwidth >66 nm (design) and >56 nm (experiments). Our design methodology that incorporates fabrication constraints enables highly robust devices. The methodology can be extended to the general routing of light in tight spaces for large-scale photonic integration.
All Adolescents Deserve Routine Conversations About Sexual Activity and Pregnancy Prevention.

It is essential that physicians who take care of adolescents, whether in specialty practice or primary care, learn to routinely address adolescent sexuality and reproductive health care. According to our most recent Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 64.1% of 12th graders have had sexual intercourse ≥1 time, and 49.3% of 12th graders have had sexual intercourse with at least ≥1 person in the last 3 months. Unfortunately, only 53% of those 12th graders had used a condom during their last sexual encounter, and only 32.2% of those 12th graders had used a birth control pill, intrauterine device, implant, shot, patch, or ring during their last sexual encounter.1 Despite these high levels of sexual activity and unprotected sex, we have not yet reached the point where all providers of primary … Address correspondence to Erica J. Gibson, MD, University of Vermont, Department of Pediatrics, 1 South Prospect Street, 3rd Floor, Burlington, VT 05401. E-mail: erica.gibson{at}uvmhealth.org
Why Firewalls Need Not Exist

The firewall paradox for black holes is often viewed as indicating a conflict between unitarity and the equivalence principle. We elucidate how the paradox manifests as a limitation of semiclassical theory, rather than presents a conflict between fundamental principles. Two principal features of the fundamental and semiclassical theories address two versions of the paradox: the entanglement and typicality arguments. First, the physical Hilbert space describing excitations on a fixed black hole background in the semiclassical theory is exponentially smaller than the number of physical states in the fundamental theory of quantum gravity. Second, in addition to the Hilbert space for physical excitations, the semiclassical theory possesses an unphysically large Fock space built by creation and annihilation operators on the fixed black hole background. Understanding these features not only eliminates the necessity of firewalls but also leads to a new picture of Hawking emission contrasting pair creation at the horizon.
Development of a New Composite Material Based on λ-MnO2 and Porous Ceramics

A new granulation method was proposed for modifying microcrystalline inorganic ion-exchangers into granular shape suitable for practical applications. By this method the ion-exchanger can be supported in porous ceramics having large particle size for column operations. Spherical composite materials of λ-MnO2 and porous ceramics, for example, were examined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), chemical analysis, specific surface area determination and electron probe microanalysis. The composites were produced by impregnating the pores in ceramics with lithium and manganese nitrates (Li/Mn molar ratio=0.5) and transforming the nitrates to LiMn2O4 by heating and then to λ-MnO2 by acid-treatment. The optimum heating temperature was about 600°C at which almost all the nitrates crystallized to form LiMn2O4 and little amounts of impurities such as α-Mn2O3, β-MnO2, Mn3O4, etc., were present. After acid-treatment λ-MnO2 was confirmed to be distributed uniformly in the ceramics particles. These composites had large specific surface areas up to 250m2⋅g-1 and adsorbed Li+ ion selectively from a mixed alkali metal ions solution.
Developmental aspects of uridine diphosphate galactose 4-epimerase in rat intestine

Abstract Kinetic and developmental characteristics of rat intestinal UDP-galactose 4-epimerase activity have been examined. The enzyme in the adult rat had a Vmax. value 2–3 times higher than that of the newborn animal, but the Km values for the enzyme in the newborn and adult rat were the same (0.17mm). No differences in epimerase activity were found along the length of the jejuno-ileum of adult animals, but higher activity was detected in the lower portion of the villi and crypts. The specific activity of the enzyme in the newborn rat began to rise at about 17 days of age, reaching a peak at 29 days of age, and then became constant at adult values. Total epimerase activity in the newborn rat liver was 2–5 times higher than the total activity in the intestine, and total epimerase activity in the adult intestine was 3–4 times higher than the total activity in the liver. Cortisone injection did not enhance the increase of epimerase normally seen during development, but caused a decrease in activity of this enzyme in the jejunum in rats up to 17 days of age. After 17 days, cortisone treatment had no effect on epimerase activity.
Pharmacological evidence of inhibitory and disinhibitory neuronal circuits in dorsal cochlear nucleus.

The dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) is rich in both glycine and GABA inhibitory neurotransmitter systems, and the response properties of its principal cells (pyramidal and giant cells) are strongly s...
Comparative study of lipopolysaccharide-, lipid IVa-, and lipid X-induced tumor necrosis factor production in murine macrophage-like cell lines.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) was initially described in the sera of Mycobacterium bovis strain BCG infected mice treated with endotoxin (2) and defined by its ability to cause necrosis of tumors in mice. In addition to this potentially beneficial effect, TNF has been shown to be intimately involved in the pathophysiology of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced shock and lethality in mice (1). In both instances, the primary sources of TNF are macrophages (5).
Estimating Childhood Multi-Media Lead Exposure: Expanded Exposure/Uptake/Biokinetic Model

Despite significant reductions over the past decade, lead exposure continues to be a problem for millions of children in the US. Minimizing further exposure to lead from its numerous and diverse so...