cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Biology of the sand-smelt (Atherina presbyter Valenciennes) around Fawley power station

Past studies of fish impingement at Fawley power station have shown that sand-smelts, Atherina presbyter Valenciennes, are susceptible to impingement and may be a useful species for examining effects of impingement mortalities on population size and structure. A 21 month study of populations in the vicinity of Fawley power station was carried out to obtain data on the biology of the species for future population dynamics modelling studies. Aspects included in the study were growth, sex ratio, reproduction, survival and mortality rates and diet. Differences in apparent and true rates of growth indicated some size-selective mortality towards younger age groups, possibly caused by the power station. A seasonallyoscillating von Bertalanffy growth equation is given to predict mean length-at-age. Most female sand-smelts (73%) matured at the end of their first year of life, fecundities ranging on average from 1394 eggs per female for 1+ group fish to 6872 for III+ fish. The sex ratio was even (1 : 1). An annual survival rate of 10–8% was estimated for mature fish, and the consequent age structure of the population indicates that the bulk of egg production lies with the smaller (1+ group) fish. Since smaller fish are generally more vulnerable to impingement this factor may render populations sensitive to impingement mortalities. Gut content analysis indicated that sand-smelts probably actively select zooplankters from the general plankton when young and, once larger than 104 mm in length, increasingly feed upon natant macrofaunal species.
Lillian Gilbreth and the mental revolution at Macy’s, 1925‐1928

As a pioneer of both scientific management and industrial psychology, Lillian Gilbreth was ideally equipped to extend scientific management into the service sector in the 1920s. When her husband and partner Frank Gilbreth died in 1924 and she encountered sex discrimination among industrialists and engineers, she volunteered her consulting services at Macy’s department store, a work site rife with gender‐based conflict, coordination problems and inefficiency. This paper describes her work with Eugenia Lies, Macy’s director of planning, to revamp both the motions and psychological atmosphere of occupations within the store between 1925 and 1928. By uniting an industrial relations approach with personnel management techniques, Gilbreth and Lies made the Gilbreth brand of scientific management useful for the field of retail management.
Atomic scale trap state characterization by dynamic tunneling force microscopy

Dynamic tunneling force microscopy (DTFM) is applied to the study of point defects in an inter-layer dielectric film. A recent development enables simultaneous acquisition of DTFM, surface potential, and topographic images while under active height feedback control. The images show no clear correlation between trap state location and surface potential or topography of the surface. The energy and depth of individual trap states are determined by DTFM images obtained at different probe tip heights and applied voltages and quantitative tunneling and electrostatic models. The measured density of states in these films is found to be approximately 1 × 1019 cm−3 eV−1 near the dielectric film surface.
Surgical management of bleeding stomal varices.

A retrospective chart review of nine patients with stomal varices and portal hypertension who required surgical management of bleeding varices from 1978 to 1986 was performed. The patient's mean age at stoma formation was 46 years (range, 36 to 70 years). Three were female, six were male, and all were Caucasian. Three patients had colostomies and six had ileostomies. Indications for creation of the ostomies included inflammatory bowel disease in six patients and carcinoma in three patients. The time from creation of the stoma to the first bleed was 11 to 196 months (mean, 82 months). The average time between this bleed and surgical treatment was six months. The operative procedures performed included nine mucocutaneous disconnections (MCD) in seven patients (one for recurrent bleeding) and two stoma relocations (one for recurrence). MCD is simple, quick, and associated with a lower morbidity and intraoperative blood loss than stomal relocation. Post-operative follow-up has ranged from 4 months to 4.6 years (mean, 2.5 years). During this period there were two episodes of recurrent varices that required surgery. In the select group of patients that cannot be managed conservatively, MCD is favored and relocation considered only if MCD is technically impossible.
Effects of Superordinate Mediation Instruction and Task Size on Conceptual Performance

Summary The relative effects of superordinate mediation instructions and task size on Ss conceptual performance on a Heidbreder-type task were examined. Three conceptual dimensions (object, form, number) were used, with task size being varied as to the number of concepts employed within each dimension (one, two, or three). One half of the Ss received superordinate (dimension-relevant) instructions, while the remaining Ss received control instructions only. Sixty undergraduate education majors (45 female and 15 male Caucasian) were selected as Ss from a pool of volunteers in five sections of the Educational Psychology course, and were randomly assigned to one of six treatment combinations (n = 10). Proportion of correct responses made to a successive presentation of positive instances (seven sec rate) was the dependent measure employed, and the .05 level of confidence was the criterion for rejecting the null hypothesis. Results showed a linear difference in performance due to task size (p < .01), but no di...
The role of a novel cytochrome b-costaining nitrate reductase and quinone in the invitro reconstruction of formate-nitrate reductase activity of E. coli.

Summary In an attempt to isolate and study the components of the formate-nitrate reductase system of E . coli , we have purified two forms of a cytochrome b-containing nitrate reductase, containing 3.2 and 6.7 nmoles heme per mg of protein. Both forms contain three subunits whose molecular weights were estimated to be 155,000, 63,000, and 19,000 daltons. The cytochrome component of nitrate reductase is reduced in the presence of formate and formate dehydrogenase and is reoxidized when nitrate is added. Formate-nitrate reductase activity has been reconstructed with this preparation of nitrate reductase plus formate dehydrogenase, and quinone. A cytochrome-free nitrate reductase has been prepared which is ineffective in reconstruction but retains activity with an artificial electron donor.
If the goal is relief, what's wrong with a placebo?

(2003). If the Goal Is Relief, What's Wrong with a Placebo? The American Journal of Bioethics: Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 53-54.
Non-redox Oxy-Insertion via Organometallic Baeyer–Villiger Transformations: A Computational Hammett Study of Platinum(II) Complexes

A Hammett analysis of platinum-mediated oxy-insertion into Pt–aryl bonds is performed using DFT calculations. Modeled transformations involve the conversion of cationic PtII-aryl complexes [(Xbpy)Pt(R)(OY)]+ (R = p-X-C6H4; Y = 4-X-pyridine; Xbpy = 4,4′-X-bpy; X = NO2, H, NMe2) to the corresponding [(Xbpy)Pt(OR)]+ complexes via an organometallic Baeyer–Villiger (BV) pathway. Computational modeling predicts that incorporation of an electron-deficient NO2 group at the 4-position of pyridine-N-oxide lowers the activation barrier to the organometallic BV transformation. In contrast, computational studies reveal that increasing the donor ability of the migrating aryl group, by placement of NMe2 at the para position, lowers the activation barrier to the oxy-insertion step. The impact on the calculated activation barrier is greater for variation of the R group than for modification of Y of the oxygen delivery reagent. For the p-NO2/p-NMe2-substituted aryl migrating groups (R), the ΔΔG‡ for X = NMe2 versus X = NO2...
Bronchoscopic findings in a child with pandemic novel H1N1 influenza a and methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus

The spectrum of disease with pandemic novel H1N1 influenza A (2009) virus ranges from non-febrile, mild upper respiratory tract infection to severe or fatal pneumonia. We report the bronchoscopic findings associated with a fatal case of H1N1 influenza A associated with co-infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a previously healthy child, which were more severe than those previously described as associated with seasonal influenza infection alone. The severity of the airway pathology seen on bronchoscopy in this patient may be due to a unique effect of the H1N1 influenza A virus or may be as a result of a destructive synergism between this virus and bacteria such as MRSA. Pediatr Pulmonol. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
The Effects of Secondary Flow and Passive Injection on the Motion of Solid Particles Entrained in Flow Through a Curved Converging Channel

The three-dimensional effects of secondary flow, passive injection, and particle size on the motion of solid particles entrained in a laminar, incompressible flow through a curved, converging, rectangular passage were numerically investigated. Emphasis was placed on observing the physical mechanisms that cause particles 5 μm and smaller in diameter to deposit on passage surfaces and to concentrate near the endwalls and mid-span at the passage exit. Particle trajectories were calculated for 5. 30, and 300 μm diameter solid particles. It was observed that the paths of 5 μm particles were similar to the streamlines of the three-dimensional flow in the channel until the particles encountered the boundary layers on the blade surfaces and endwalls, where they would graze the surface (contributing to particle deposition) and concentrate at the exit of the channel. Particles of 30 μm diameter, however, were only slightly affected by secondary flows, but were affected enough to be made to concentrate at the exit near the endwall and mid-span surfaces. Particles of 300 μm diameter were not affected by secondary flows at all
Pathogenesis and treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon

The pathogenetic theories and treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon are reviewed. In primary Raynaud's disease, most evidence supports a local defect at the digital artery level, with vasoconstriction or vasospasm of the digital arteries inducing the color changes. Normal sympathetic activity, low transmural arterial distending forces, and serotonin may be associated factors in the production of vasospastic attacks. In Raynaud's phenomenon, persistent vasoconstriction, thickened vessel walls, increased blood viscosity, and low digital artery blood pressure distal to obstructions may lead to vasospastic attacks with normal sympathetic nerve stimuli. Since the underlying cause of primary Raynaud's disease is unknown, treatment involves the use of agents to reduce sympathetic nerve activity or to prevent vascular smooth muscle contraction. Most patients will respond to conservative measures, but if they fail nifedipine is the drug of choice and alleviates the syndrome in about two thirds of patients. Reserpine and guanethidine may be as effective, but well-controlled studies have not been performed. The beneficial response to prazosin is moderate and dissipates with time. Side effects with these drugs prevent their use in many patients. Diltiazem and nitroglycerin ointments are of questionable value. Ketanserin, a serotonergic S2-receptor antagonist, which has been shown to decrease the frequency of vasospastic attacks, and parenteral prostacyclin are among the new promising therapies.
Oscillations of the Velocity of Sound in Metals in a Magnetic Field

A study is made of the effect of a constant magnetic field on the propagation of acoustic waves in metals. It is shown that the velocity of sound may experience two types of oscillations as a function of the intensity of the magnetic field. There exist geometric oscillations associated with the coincidences of the diameter of the cyclotron orbits of the electrons with a half-integral or with an integral multiple of the acoustic wavelength. There are also quantum oscillations which have the same origin as the de Haas-van Alphen effect.
General theorems for stability and boundedness for nonlinear functional discrete systems

Abstract We consider the nonlinear functional discrete system x(n+1)=G n,x(s);0⩽s⩽n def = G n,x(·) and obtain sufficient conditions for stability properties of the zero solution and for the boundedness of solutions.
Simulation of bacterial growth, cell division, and DNA synthesis.

Abstract A computer program is described which simulates the growth and DNA replication processes in bacteria. The program is based on a particular model of DNA replication and its coordination with cell division ( 2, 5, 7 ). Results of our studies indicate that the model is consistent with a number of experimental results. We have also investigated some apparently inconsistent results and have shown how these too may be explained by the model when actual experimental conditions are simulated.
NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR, STATUS, AND GENDER: HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND THEIR RELATIONS?

The causes of gender differences in nonverbal behavior are not well understood. The present article discusses status as a possible explanation and analyzes some of the methodological and conceptual challenges associated with testing that hypothesis. The study by Helweg-Larsen, Cunningham, Carrico, and Pergram (2004), which investigated gender in relation to nodding toward peers versus professors in college classes, is highlighted to demonstrate some of the difficulties facing researchers when testing the status explanation.
Kinetic and mechanistic characterisation of Choline Kinase-α

Choline Kinase is a key component of the Kennedy pathway that converts choline into a number of structural and signalling lipids that are essential for cell growth and survival. One member of the family, Choline Kinase-α (ChoKα) is frequently up-regulated in human cancers, and expression of ChoKα is sufficient to transform cells. Consequently ChoKα has been studied as a potential target for therapeutic agents in cancer research. Despite great interest in the enzyme, mechanistic studies have not been reported. In this study, a combination of initial velocity and product inhibition studies, together with the kinetic and structural characterisation of a novel ChoKα inhibitor is used to support a mechanism of action for human ChoKα. Substrate and inhibition kinetics are consistent with an iso double displacement mechanism, in which the γ-phosphate from ATP is transferred to choline in two distinct steps via a phospho-enzyme intermediate. Co-crystal structures, and existing site-specific mutation studies, support an important role for Asp306, in stabilising the phospho-enzyme intermediate. The kinetics also indicate a distinct kinetic (isomerisation) step associated with product release, which may be attributed to a conformational change in the protein to disrupt an interaction between Asp306 and the phosphocholine product, facilitating product release. This study describes a mechanism for ChoKα that is unusual amongst kinases, and highlights the availability of different enzyme states that can be exploited for drug discovery.
Urban Chinese at the Sinitic Frontier: Social Organizations in United States’ Chinatowns, 1849–1898

To call Chinese nationals who have emigrated abroad ‘overseas Chinese’ seems very natural, especially since most joined together to form communities of fellow nationals outside of China. (It is not always appropriate to include the children and grandchildren of these emigrants, however.) The term implies a uniformity to the communities that Crissman made explicit in a model which proposed to tie them together and link them to cities in China.
Effects of a hospitalist care model on mortality of elderly patients with hip fractures.

BACKGROUND We previously demonstrated that a hospitalist service created to medically manage patients with hip fracture reduced time to surgery and length of hospital stay, with no difference in inpatient mortality, compared with patients who received standard care. Whether this improved efficiency affects long-term mortality is unknown. OBJECTIVE This study examined the effects of this hospitalist service versus standard care on mortality up to 1 year and identified predictors of mortality in patients with hip fracture. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING Tertiary care center. PATIENTS Four hundred and sixty-six consecutive patients admitted for surgical repair of a hip fracture in 2000–2002 with 93% 1-year follow-up. RESULTS There was no significant difference in survival of the patients between those on the hospitalist care service and those on the standard care service (70.5% [CI: 64.8%, 76.7%] vs. 70.6% [CI: 64.9%, 76.8%]; P = .36), despite the shortened time to surgery and decreased length of stay in the hospitalist group. Predictors of mortality included: admission from a nursing home (hazard ratio [HR] 2.24, [CI: 1.73, 2.90]); age at admission (HR 1.17 [CI: 0.99, 1.38]); inpatient complications, including ICU admission, myocardial infarction, or acute renal failure (HR 1.85 [CI: 1.45, 2.35]); and ASA class III or IV compared with ASA class II (HR 4.20 [CI: 2.21, 7.99]). CONCLUSIONS The improved efficiency in reducing length of stay and time to surgery in the hospitalist group did not adversely affect long-term mortality of this patient population. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2007;2:219–225. © 2007 Society of Hospital Medicine.
Self-authentication of value documents

To prevent fraud it is critical to distinguish an authentic document from a counterfeit or altered document. Most current technologies rely on difficult-to-print human detectable features which are added to a document to prevent illegal reproduction. Fraud detection is mostly accomplished by human observation and is based upon the examiner's knowledge, experience and time allotted for examination of a document. Another approach to increasing the security of a value document is to add a unique property to each document. Data about that property is then encoded on the document itself and finally secured using a public key based digital signature. In such a scheme, machine readability of authenticity is possible. This paper describes a patent-applied-for methodology using the unique property of magnetic ink printing, magnetic remanence, that provides for full self- authentication when used with a recordable magnetic stripe for storing a digital signature and other document data. Traditionally the authenticity of a document is determined by physical examination for color, background printing, paper texture, printing resolution, and ink characteristics. On an initial level, there may be numerous security features present on a value document but only a few can be detected and evaluated by the untrained individual. Because security features are normally not standardized except on currency, training tellers and cashiers to do extensive security evaluation is not practical, even though these people are often the only people who get a chance to closely examine the document in a payment system which is back-end automated. In the context of this paper, one should be thinking about value documents such as commercial and personal checks although the concepts presented here can easily be applied to travelers cheques, credit cards, event tickets, passports, driver's licenses, motor vehicle titles, and even currency. For a practical self-authentication system, the false alarms should be less than 1% on the first read pass. Causes of false alarms could be the lack of robustness of the taggant discrimination algorithm, excessive document skew as it is being read, or errors in reading the recordable stripe. The false alarm rate is readily tested by reading the magnetic tags and digitally signing documents in one reader and performing authentication in at least two other reading devices. When reading the same check in the same reader where signed, the error metric is typically in the range of 0.0600. When comparing different checks in different readers, the error metric generally reports values in the range of 0.3930. It is clear from tests to date that the taggant patterns are randomly different for checks even when printed serially one after another using the same printing process. Testing results to date on the robustness of the taggant comparison and discrimination algorithms indicate that it is probable that low false alarms and very low false accept rates will be achieved.
Artificial menstrual cycles, behaviour and the role of androgens in female rhesus monkeys

THE sexual behaviour of higher primates has special relevance to the human situation. The rhesus monkey, for instance, has a true menstruation, and copulation occurs throughout the cycle. Levels of sexual activity, however, are generally higher in the peri-ovulatory period1, and a similar mid-cycle maximum has been reported for certain human couples2. Androgens increase the sexual behaviour of rhesus females3,4, and they have been used to treat loss of libido in women5. These observations, together with the rise in plasma testosterone near mid-cycle, have led to suggestions that androgens may be the main libidinal hormone in the female6. We report here our experiments to test this hypothesis. We devised a daily dose schedule of oestradiol, testosterone and progesterone for ovariectomised rhesus monkeys that duplicated the changing plasma levels during normal menstrual cycles. When males were paired with females so treated, sexual activity showed a pattern similar to that during the normal cycle, and the omission of testosterone was without any detectable effect on this pattern.
Listeriosis in California Broiler Chickens

of three techniques for detecting bovine herpesvirus type 1 (BHV1) in naturally and experimentally contaminated bovine semen. Zuchthygiene 23:1-9. 3. Darcel CLQ, Coulter GH: 1976, IBR neutralizing substance in bull seminal fluid and its removal prior to attempts at virus isolation from semen. Can Vet J 17:317-343. 4. Kahrs RF, Johnson ME, Bender GM: 1977, Studies on the detection of infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) virus in bovine semen. Proc Annu Meet Am Assoc Vet Lab Diagn 20:187-208. 5. Kahrs RF, Littell RC: 1980, Detection of viruses in bovine semen. Influence of preparative centrifugation on isolation of IBR virus. Proc Annu Meet Am Assoc Vet Lab Diagn 23:251-262. 6. Loewen KG, Darcel CLQ: 1985, A comparison of two methods for the isolation of bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) from extended bovine semen. Theriogenology 23:935-939. 7. Moorthy ARS: 1985, Outbreak of balanoposthitis in breeding bulls. Vet Rec 116:98. 8. Schultz RD, Sheffy BE: 1980, Current status of viral infection of bovine genital tract with emphasis on IBR/IPV virus. In: Current therapy in theriogenology, ed. Morrow DA, pp. 503-509. W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, PA. 9. Snowdow WA: 1965, The IBR/IPV virus reaction to infection and intermittent recovery of the virus from experimentally inoculated cattle. Aust Vet J 41:135-142.
Shock tube measurements of f-values for iron and silicon

Abstract Iron-silicon spectra have been photographed in the 3400- to 6200-A region using a 3.4- m Ebert-type spectrograph. The light source was a He-driven shock tube using a mixture of powdered FeSi in an Ar carrier gas. A high-speed mechanical shutter and a Garton-type coaxial flashtube were used to record essentially simultaneous emission and absorption spectra for each shock. This procedure resulted in the testing for and removal of a number of systematic errors during the data reduction process, yielding relative oscillator strengths for 253 Fe I lines and the 3906-A line of Si I. These relative oscillator strengths have been placed on an absoute scale using the published gf -values of Blackwell et al . The published absolute scale of Fe I has been found to be in agreement with those published absolute scales of Si I having a log gf -value of approximately -1.1 for the 3906-A line.
Microdifferential Holography and the Polysarcomeric Unit of Activation of Skeletal Muscle

Unbalanced holographic difference images of contracting skeletal muscle fibers reveal that activation affects the amplitude of the light scattered by individual myofibrils. The results suggest that the unit of activation is not the sarcomeric structural unit, but a monomyofibrillar segment containing 20 to 40 contiguous sarcomeres.
Point-set lattice-theoretic topology

This essay attempts to survey in a coherent way certain aspects of point-set lattice-theoretic or poslat topology, by which we mean (fuzzy) topology grounded in notions of sets, functions, powersets, and powerset operators - the latter two being lattice-theoretic in nature and examined from a lattice-theoretic point of view using methods of category theory. Connections with other related issues and developments are frequently given
Evaluation of a limited sampling method used to determine the bioequivalence of highly variable drugs with long half-lives.

The usefulness of a limited sampling method (LSM) to determine the bioequivalence of highly variable drugs with long half-lives was investigated. The LSM uses multiple linear regression of observed drug plasma concentrations versus area under the curve (AUC) or C(max) (peak plasma concentration) to obtain a best set of coefficients, concentration times and intercept based upon the regression coefficient, R(2), to predict the selected pharmacokinetic parameter (i.e. AUC or C(max)). The LSM, used successfully in clinical settings, has also been suggested for data analysis of in vivo bioequivalence studies. Because the method has not yet been thoroughly tested under many conditions likely to be encountered in bioequivalence studies, a further investigation of the method's applicability to bioequivalence determination was undertaken. In the present study, training and test data sets incorporating various levels of intrasubject variability in clearance (CL) with different ratios for fraction absorbed (Fa) of test and reference drug formulations were used to further evaluate the applicability of the limited sampling method (LSM) to the evaluation of bioequivalence for drugs with long half-lives of elimination. Both simulated (a one-compartment pharmacokinetic (PK) model with first-order elimination) and experimental data were used in the study. The results indicated that the determination of bioequivalence using the LSM was significantly influenced by the ratio of Fa(test)/Fa(reference) and by the level of intrasubject error (variability) in CL. Therefore, use of the LSM to determine bioequivalence of drugs with long half-lives and highly variable in CL seems suitable only for formulations that have point estimates of Fa(test)/Fa(reference) within the range of 0.9-1.10. Because the Fa ratio range would have to be verified through use of observed data obtained from a pilot study, the practical utility of the LSM in the determination of bioequivalence would be severely limited.
Nickel/zinc batteries

Abstract The nickel/zinc battery is very attractive for electric vehicle applications. Development is slow because of problems related to the solubility of the zinc electrode discharge products and the disparity in charging efficiencies between the nickel and zinc electrodes. Recent advances in solving these problems are reviewed.
The research‐policy nexus: the case of unauthorised Mexico–US migration and US policy responses

Demographers have been more successful reaching agreement on the number of unauthorised foreigners in the United States, (estimated to number around 12 million) than economists have been in reaching consensus on the economic impacts of the mostly low-skilled unauthorised workers in the US labour market, (who number perhaps 6 million). Some economists have found significant adverse effects of low-skilled unauthorised workers on comparable US-born workers, while others have found positive effects of low-skilled immigrants on US workers. Economic research has played only a limited role in the US policy debate over what to do about unauthorised migration. The research most commonly cited in the media and by policy makers is released by think tanks and advocacy groups that tend to have specific points of view, favouring either more or less migration. There is, however, agreement amongst economists that low-skilled unauthorised migrants, mostly from Mexico and Latin America, have relatively modest effects in the huge US economy. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Definition and measurement of dust aeolian thresholds

[1] Dust suspension and particle “saltation threshold” speeds were measured in an environmental boundary layer wind tunnel located at the University of California, Davis. The results indicate that dust suspension threshold speeds occur at substantially lower friction speeds than “saltation threshold” speeds. Many of the dust suspension threshold values are half of the “saltation threshold” values. For example, surface soils from the most erodible areas of Owens (dry) Lake were tested in the wind tunnel, and we found that dust suspension thresholds varied from 50 to 75% of conventional “saltation threshold” values. Current regulatory models relying on “visual threshold” for estimating suspended dust may be incorrect and may lead to substantial underestimates of suspended material yield over large, expansive, erodible areas. Wind environments with average wind speeds at or around the “saltation threshold” speed values are especially susceptible to underestimation. Though this study focuses only on Owens (dry) Lake soils, we believe that the witnessed effect will occur in any soil with an abundance of dust particles interspersed among sand-sized particles.
Numerical solution of a calculus of variations problem using the feedforward neural network architecture

Abstract It is demonstrated, through theory and numerical example, how it is possible to construct directly and noniteratively a feedforward neural network to solve a calculus of variations problem. The method, using the piecewise linear and cubic sigmoid transfer functions, is linear in storage and processing time. The L 2 norm of the network approximation error decreases quadratically with the piecewise linear transfer function and quartically with the piecewise cubic sigmoid as the number of hidden layer neurons increases. The construction requires imposing certain constraints on the values of the input, bias, and output weights, and the attribution of certain roles to each of these parameters. All results presented used the piecewise linear and cubic sigmoid transfer functions. However, the noniterative approach should also be applicable to the use of hyperbolic tangents and radial basis functions.
Short communication: Homologous expression of recombinant and native thurincin H in an engineered natural producer

The Bacillus bacteriocin thurincin H exhibits a wide inhibitory spectrum of activity against various foodborne pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes, and dairy spoilage bacteria, especially different Bacillus species commonly existing in dairy products. Previously, we constructed 3 plasmids to express native thurincin H homologously in an engineered natural producer, Bacillus thuringiensis SF361thnH−. This host is deficient in thurincin H production because of an in-frame deletion of structural genes thnA1, thnA2, and thnA3 from the chromosome of the natural producer B. thuringiensis SF361. The previously constructed expression vectors were constructed by cloning the native thurincin H promoter, 3 (or 1) copies of structural genes, and the native (or Cry protein) terminator into an Escherichia coli–B. thuringiensis shuttle vector pHT315. In this study, 3 corresponding expression vectors (pGW134, pGW135, and pGW136) were constructed to express recombinant thurincin H-His6 in the same host, in which a 6-histidine tag was fused to the C terminus of each structural gene. The resulting low level of bacteriocin production indicated that the His tag might negatively interfere with subsequent posttranslational modification or exportation processes after the thurincin H-His6 prepeptide was translated. Additionally, in order to overexpress native thurincin H, 2 additional plasmids (pGW137 and pGW138) were constructed, consisting of the sporulation-dependent Cry protein dual promoter BtI and BtII, the thnA1 structural gene, and the thurincin H native or Cry protein terminator. However, production was low on Luria broth plates and absent on sporulation plates. It is possible that the resulting thurincin H prepeptide was not correctly modified or exported to the extracellular environment, due to the undesired biochemical and physiological changes during the sporulation phase.
A little thanks goes a long way: Explaining why gratitude expressions motivate prosocial behavior.

Although research has established that receiving expressions of gratitude increases prosocial behavior, little is known about the psychological mechanisms that mediate this effect. We propose that gratitude expressions can enhance prosocial behavior through both agentic and communal mechanisms, such that when helpers are thanked for their efforts, they experience stronger feelings of self-efficacy and social worth, which motivate them to engage in prosocial behavior. In Experiments 1 and 2, receiving a brief written expression of gratitude motivated helpers to assist both the beneficiary who expressed gratitude and a different beneficiary. These effects of gratitude expressions were mediated by perceptions of social worth and not by self-efficacy or affect. In Experiment 3, we constructively replicated these effects in a field experiment: A manager’s gratitude expression increased the number of calls made by university fundraisers, which was mediated by social worth but not self-efficacy. In Experiment 4, a different measure of social worth mediated the effects of an interpersonal gratitude expression. Our results support the communal perspective rather than the agentic perspective: Gratitude expressions increase prosocial behavior by enabling individuals to feel socially valued.
Interpersonal Problems and Interpersonal Expectations in Everyday Life

Are interpersonal problems related to interpersonal expectations? To answer this question, 150 undergraduates reported problems with being too agentic, unagentic, communal, or uncommunal. Then, over one week, each time they imagined how someone might react to them, they recorded who the other person was, how the person reacted, their feelings, and any imagined counter–reactions. Whereas uncommunal people imagined others not caring and themselves not disclosing, agentic people imagined others criticizing and themselves arguing. Agentic and uncommunal people also expected unresponsive and unsupportive reactions. Unagentic people did not expect more negative reactions, but did expect being unable to listen or speak openly when negative reactions or feelings did occur. Imagined reactions generally tended to evoke feelings of anger in agentic people, insecurity in unagentic people, shame in communal people, and disconnection in uncommunal people. Thus, changing everyday interpersonal expectations may help reduce chronic interpersonal problems.
Analysis of snail genes in the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis : insight into snail gene family evolution

The transcriptional repressor snail was first discovered in Drosophila melanogaster, where it initially plays a role in gastrulation and mesoderm formation, and later plays a role in neurogenesis. Among arthropods, this role of snail appears to be conserved in the insects Tribolium and Anopheles gambiae, but not in the chelicerates Cupiennius salei and Achaearanea tepidariorum, the myriapod Glomeris marginata, or the Branchiopod crustacean Daphnia magna. These data imply that within arthropoda, snail acquired its role in gastrulation and mesoderm formation in the insect lineage. However, crustaceans are a diverse group with several major taxa, making analysis of more crustaceans necessary to potentially understand the ancestral role of snail in Pancrustacea (crustaceans + insects) and thus in the ancestor of insects as well. To address these questions, we examined the snail family in the Malacostracan crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis. We found three snail homologs, Ph-snail1, Ph-snail2 and Ph-snail3, and one scratch homolog, Ph-scratch. Parhyale snail genes are expressed after gastrulation, during germband formation and elongation. Ph-snail1, Ph-snail2, and Ph-snail3 are expressed in distinct patterns in the neuroectoderm. Ph-snail1 is the only Parhyale snail gene expressed in the mesoderm, where its expression cycles in the mesodermal stem cells, called mesoteloblasts. The mesoteloblasts go through a series of cycles, where each cycle is composed of a migration phase and a division phase. Ph-snail1 is expressed during the migration phase, but not during the division phase. We found that as each mesoteloblast division produces one segment’s worth of mesoderm, Ph-snail1 expression is linked to both the cell cycle and the segmental production of mesoderm.
Failure to Recognize Newly Identified Aortic Dilations in a Health Care System With an Advanced Electronic Medical Record

Few researchers have measured the effect of failing to notice test results. The authors studied 91 new cases of abdominal aortic dilation observed on computed tomography (CT). Radiologists directly...
Changes in Prevalence of Depressive Symptoms in Alameda County: Age, Period, and Cohort Trends

Trends in depression are examined using data from the Alameda County Study, a three-wave, prospective community survey covering an 18-year period (1965-1974-1983). Age-period-cohort effects in rates of depressive symptoms were analyzed using logistic regression procedures to adjust for attrition due to loss-to-follow-up and nonresponse. The results indicate the presence of all three effects. There was a marked period effect, with rates in 1974 significantly higher than in either 1965 or 1983. There also was a definite cohort effect, with older cohorts exhibiting higher rates of depressive symptoms than younger cohorts. These findings do not provide support for an "age of melancholia" nor for an increasing cohort effect in succeeding generations. These prospective data on depressive symptoms are contrasted with those from studies that use cross-sectional data to estimate temporal trends in clinical depression, employing retrospective reports of lifetime prevalence and discussing possible reasons for the di...
Spontaneous onset of atrial fibrillation

Most commonly, atrial fibrillation is triggered by rapid bursts of electrical impulses originating in the myocardial sleeves of pulmonary veins (PVs). However, the nature of such bursts remains poorly understood. Here, we propose a mechanism of bursting consistent with the extensive empirical information about the electrophysiology of the PVs. The mechanism is essentially non-local and involves the spontaneous initiation of non-sustained spiral waves in the distal end of the muscle sleeves of the PVs. It reproduces the experimentally observed dynamics of the bursts, including their frequency, their intermittent character, and the unusual shape of the electrical signals in the pulmonary veins that are reminiscent of so-called early afterdepolarizations (EADs).
Risk factors associated with difficult venous access in adult ED patients

Abstract Objective The objective was to determine risk factors associated with difficult venous access (DVA) in the emergency department (ED). Methods This was a prospective, observational study conducted in the ED of an urban tertiary care hospital. Adult patients undergoing intravenous (IV) placement were consecutively enrolled during periods of block enrollment. The primary outcome was DVA , defined as 3 or more IV attempts or use of a method of rescue vascular access to establish IV access. Univariate and multivariate analyses for factors predicting DVA were performed using logistic regression. Results A total of 743 patients were enrolled, of which 88 (11.8%) met the criteria for DVA. In the adjusted analysis, only 3 medical conditions were significantly associated with DVA: diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 1.72, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-2.8), sickle cell disease (OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.5-9.5), and history of IV drug abuse (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.1-5.7). Notably, age, body mass index, and dialysis were not. Of patients who reported a history of requiring multiple IV attempts in the past for IV access, 14% met criteria for DVA on this visit (OR 7.7 95% CI 3-18). Of the patients who reported a history of IV insertion into the external jugular, ultrasound-guided IV placement, or a central venous catheter for IV access, 26% had DVA on this visit (OR 16.7, 95% CI 6.8-41). Conclusions Nearly 1 of every 9 to 10 adults in an urban ED had DVA. Diabetes, IV drug abuse, and sickle cell disease were found to be significantly associated with DVA.
Adjunctive benefits of subantimicrobial dose doxycycline in the management of severe, generalized, chronic periodontitis.

Background: Severe, generalized periodontitis is a form of chronic periodontitis that appears to be associated with an exaggerated host response. Little information is available on the benefits of using adjunctive host modulation in the management of this form of periodontal disease. Methods: Thirty subjects ≤ 45 years of age with severe, generalized periodontitis received subgingival debridement and oral hygiene instructions each week for 4 weeks, plus 6 months of adjunctive subantimicrobial doxycycline (SDD) or placebo. Periodontal status was monitored at baseline, and at 1 , 3, 5.25, and 8.25 months following completion of the hygiene sessions. Maintenance therapy was performed at 3, 5.25, and 8.25 months for both groups. Results: Ten subjects in each group completed all phases of the study. Subgingival debridement plus adjunctive SDD reduced deep pockets (≥7 mm at baseline) by an average of 3.02 mm after 9 months versus 1.42 mm for the placebo group. A significant clinical response was seen in both gr...
DIAGNOSIS OF PSITTACOSIS IN MAN BY MEANS OF INJECTIONS OF SPUTUM INTO WHITE MICE

By means of intraperitoneal injections in mice of unfiltered sputum or filtrates of sputum a large percentage of the cases of psittacosis in human beings can be successfully diagnosed in a relatively safe manner.
rAir flow menus: toward reliable 3D gestural input for radial marking menus

Despite the many challenges understanding how best to interact with large format displays, they are becoming increasingly popular for data analysis tasks in a variety of domains, including scientific, information, and geo-visualization. (Figure 1a shows a relatively small, 60" display; even larger, wall-size displays are also popular.) In order to make the most effective use of the full display, users typically stand and walk around in these environments. In fact, this physical navigation has been shown to be beneficial in data analysis tasks [1]. Since immobile input devices, such as mice, keyboards, or pen-tablets, do not naturally support interaction "on the move", new interactive techniques are needed to facilitate fluid interaction across a range of distances when working with large-format displays. We believe body-centric 3D, gestural input is particularly promising in this regard. Our work investigates techniques for reliable menu selection based upon these ideas, introducing new 3D input strategies for controlling menus. Our work builds upon previous techniques, such as rapMenu [3], which uses rotational hand movements and finger pinches to control menus from a distance.
A variable step-size method for solving stiff Lyapunov differential equations

We propose a method for solving stiff Lyapunov differential equations. A feature of this method is that the step-size of integration can be adjusted automatically according to the magnitude of the difference between two computed solutions at two successive time steps. This approach can automatically keep increasing the step-size of integration when the transient part of the solution becomes less and less significant. We encoded this method in MATLAB/sup (R)/ and tested it on several Lyapunov differential equations with known analytic solutions. In each of the cases, the relative errors of the computed solutions near the steady state were small even for large step-sizes of integration.
One Lyn molecule is sufficient to initiate phosphorylation of aggregated high-affinity IgE receptors

In response to antigenic stimuli, the multisubunit immune recognition receptors become aggregated and then phosphorylated on their cytoplasmic tyrosines. For the clonotypic receptors of B and T cells and for Fc receptors such as the high-affinity receptor for IgE (FcɛRI), a Src family kinase initiates this phosphorylation. We ask whether aggregation of the initiating kinase itself is required for signal transduction or whether, alternatively, a single associated kinase molecule can phosphorylate the receptors in an aggregate. We formulate the alternative molecular mechanisms mathematically and compare predictions with experimental findings on FcɛRI-bearing cells expressing varying amounts of the transfected Src family kinase Lyn. The data are consistent with the requirement of only a single Lyn molecule per FcɛRI aggregate to initiate signaling and are inconsistent with a mechanism requiring more than one Lyn molecule.
Evolution of calcite growth morphology in the presence of magnesium: Implications for the dolomite problem

Abstract The effect of magnesium on calcite growth morphology was known to occur as step rounding in some cases and surface segmentation in others. What remains unknown are the conditions for and the relations between the different effects, suggesting a lack of comprehensive understanding of the fundamental cause. Here we investigated the evolution of spiral hillock morphology on calcite cleavage surfaces in solutions with increasing Ca to Mg ratios and supersaturation levels using in situ atomic force microscopy. We isolated the effects of Mg and saturation by conducting experiments under conditions of constant pH, ionic strength, and Ca 2+ /CO 3 2− . Our results revealed three types of morphological variations, ranging from step rounding in one direction (type I), to all directions (type II), and finally to a mosaic-like surface segmentation associated with monolayer buckling and step bunching (type III). These results suggest that the effect of magnesium on calcite growth depends upon multiple parameters including the concentration of Mg in solution, the step speed, as well as the extensiveness of Mg for Ca substitution in calcite lattice. We propose that the morphological variation may be understood by a model taken into consideration of (1) the lifespan and flux size of Mg ions at kinks in comparison to step kinetics, and (2) the diffusion and alignment of point defects created by the substitution of Mg for Ca in the crystal lattice. Stress calculations show that the maximum amount of Mg which calcite lattice can sustain before plastic deformation is ∼40%, suggesting that lattice stress due to the mismatch between MgCO 3 and CaCO 3 is likely the ultimate cause for the difficulty of ambient condition dolomite crystallization.