cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Population Numbers and Reproductive Health.

A recent study published in Lancet predicts a remarkable drop in population numbers following a peak that will be reached by 2064. A unique feature of the upcoming population drop is that it will be almost exclusively caused by decreased reproduction, rather than factors that increase rates of mortality. The reasons for decreased reproduction are also unique, as, unlike previous centuries, today, limited reproduction is hardly due to a shortage in resources. In other words, the predicted population drop is almost exclusively due to changes in reproductive behavior and reproductive physiology. Today, global changes in reproductive behavior are mostly explained by social sciences in a framework of demographic transition hypotheses, while changes in reproductive physiology are usually attributed to effects of endocrine disrupting pollutants. This review outlines a complementary/alternative hypothesis, which connects reproductive trends with population densities. Numerous wildlife and experimental studies of a broad range of animal species demonstrated that reproductive behavior and reproductive physiology are negatively controlled via endocrine and neural signaling in response to increasing population densities. The causal chain of this control system, although not fully understood, includes suppression of every level of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) cascade by hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, activated in response to increasing stress of social interactions. This paper discusses evidence in support of a hypothesis that current trends in reproductive physiology and behavior may be partly explained by increasing population densities. Better understanding of the causal chain involved in reproduction suppression by population density related factors may help developing interventions to treat infertility and other reproductive conditions.
Complex Dimensions of Nonlattice Self-Similar Strings: Quasiperiodic Patterns and Diophantine Approximation

The study of the complex dimensions of nonlattice self-similar strings is most naturally carried out in the more general setting of Dirichlet polynomials.
Cystathionine γ-Synthase: A PYRIDOXAL PHOSPHATE ENZYME CATALYZING RAPID EXCHANGES OF β AND α HYDROGEN ATOMS IN AMINO ACIDS

Abstract Cystathionine γ-synthase catalyzes replacement of the succinyl group of O-succinylhomoserine by cysteine to yield cystathionine, a step in methionine biosynthesis in Salmonella. The enzyme catalyzes rapid exchanges of both α and β hydrogen atoms in many amino acids that are not otherwise substrates. Stereospecificity was indicated by the exchangeability of all 4 hydrogen residues in alanine but of only 2 in α-aminobutyrate. Neither the replacement of a substituent on carbon 4 nor the exchange of a hydrogen on carbon 3 have been observed with any other pyridoxal phosphate enzyme. Cystathionine itself underwent exchange of 4 hydrogen residues, the α hydrogen and 1 β hydrogen in each chain. The rate of exchange in the 3-carbon chain was 6 times greater than either the exchange rate in the other chain or the Vmax for net cystathionine formation. In the 4-carbon chain, the apparent initial rate of β hydrogen exchange was twice that of α hydrogen exchange. Cystathionine was also found to undergo slow γ elimination and γ replacement reactions; the hydrogen exchange rates were about 103 times faster than the rates of cysteine exchange or elimination. The apparent Km for cystathionine was the same in all reactions. No hydrogen exchanges were catalyzed by apoenzyme (the Km for pyridoxal-P was also determined (4 x 10-8 m)). These results indicate that the γ elimination step catalyzed by cystathionine synthase is unconcerted and that the enzyme is efficiently designed for general base attack on an amino acid β hydrogen. The solvent hydrogen previously shown to be acquired at carbon 3 of α-ketobutyrate during the γ elimination reaction is introduced stereospecifically. This protonation is, therefore, catalyzed by the enzyme.
Stability robustness bounds with output feedback

Closed-loop linear time-invariant systems with output feedback are considered. Based on the Lyapunov approach, allowable linear time-invariant perturbations to the nominal system are considered and calculated to ensure stability robustness and certain performance robustness of closed-loop systems in any predeterminate region. >
Replacement of the Aromatic Primary Amino Group by Hydrogen

The replacement of an aromatic primary amino group by hydrogen is usually effected by the reduction of the diazonium salt derived from the amine. It is evident that the success of the deamination process is a function of the completeness of diazotization as well as of the reduction. Diazonium compounds have been treated with a great variety of reducing agents some of which have become incorporated into procedures for replacing the diazo group by hydrogen. The important process involve reduction by: alcohols, hypophosphorous acid, alkaline formaldehyde, stabilization of the diazonium salt with naphthalene-1,5-disulfonic acid followed by treatment with zinc or copper, sodium stannite, stannous chloride or sodium sulfate reduction to hydrazine from which the hydrocarbon is obtained by oxidation. Keywords: replacement; primary amino group; hydrogen; alcohols; hypophosphorous acid; alkaline formaldehyde; stabilization; diazonium salt; naphthalene-1,5-disulfonic acid; sodium stannite; stannous chloride; sodium sulfate reduction; hydrazine
Modelling Neutral & Plasma Chemistry with DSMC

The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is a powerful method for modelling chemically reacting flows. It is a statistical method which simulates the Boltzmann equation by interacting computational particles which represent a large number of a single species type. A statistical problem will occur when trace concentrations are required to be accurately modelled; the traditional strategy is to use more computational particles per cell or simply obtain lower statistics and thus have higher uncertainty for the trace concentrations. A new method, cell based chemistry (CBC), based on an integral balancing concept, allows all chemistry, including trace reactions, to be efficiently modelled in the framework of DSMC. This strategy first separates the collision phase from the reacting phase. Then a strategy is presented which conserves both the collision and reaction frequencies in a consistent manner. The illustrative problem is a chemically reacting glow discharge plasma; the ion concentrations typically are at a 0.1% mole fraction but dominant the physical mechanism of the system. Comparisons will be made to a chlorine plasma in a Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC) reference cell with an inductive coil at approximately 20 mtorr system pressure.
Orbital pythiosis: a non-fungal disease mimicking orbital mycotic infections, with a retrospective review of the literature.

Summary In the past decade there have been four well-documented cases of orbital pythiosis caused by Pythium insidiosum. All were recorded in apparently healthy children. Although pythiosis seems to be a rare infection in humans, we recently conducted a review of the medical literature to investigate misdiagnosed cases of orbital pythiosis in the past 100 years in children. To track putative cases of orbital pythiosis, we first identified orbital cases initially diagnosed as fungal infections. We were particularly interested in cases (a) involving apparently young healthy hosts, (b) the presence of hyaline, aseptate hyphal elements in the infected tissues, (c) the morphological features of the hyphal elements, (d) the presence of an eosinophilic granulomatous reaction with the Splendore–Hoeppli phenomenon around the mycelial elements, (e) resistance to antifungal therapy, (f) outcome after therapy, if any, and (g) cultural strategies. This study showed that indeed, there had been five other recorded cases of orbital infections, all in young children in the USA, with characteristics consistent with infections caused by P. insidiosum. The reports had described those cases of orbital-cranial-arterial diseases as patients with aspergillosis (one case), penicilliosis infection (one case), and zygomycosis (three cases). We reviewed those anomalous cases and discuss details about their clinical, pathologic, therapeutic, and etiologic evidence used to reclassify them as putative cases of orbital pythiosis. Zusammenfassung Im letzten Jahrzehnt gab es vier gut dokumentierte Falle von orbitaler Pythiose, verursacht durch Pythium insidiosum. Alle betrafen offensichtlich gesunde Kinder. Da die Pythiose beim Menschen als selten gilt, suchten wir in der medizinische Literatur nach fehldiagnostizierten Orbitalpythiose-Fallen an Kindern in den letzten hundert Jahren. Um fundig zu werden, erfassten wir zunachst alle initial als Orbitalmykosen diagnostizierten Falle. Folgenden Merkmalen galt unser besonderes Interesse: 1. Offensichtlich gesunde Wirte; 2. Hyaline, unseptierte Hyphenelemente im infizierten Gewebe; 3. Der morphologische Charakter der Hyphen; 4. Eosinophile, granulomatose Reaktion mit Splendore-Hoeppli-Phanomen um die Myzelelemente herum; 5. Resistenz gegenuber antimykotischer Therapie; 6. Therapieausgang und 7. Kulturelles Vorgehen. In der Tat deckte diese Studie funf weitere dokumentierte Orbitalinfektionnen auf, alles Kinder in den USA mit Charakteristika, die mit Infektionen durch P. insidiosum im Einklang standen. Die Krankengeschichten hatten diese als Orbital-Kranial-Arterien-Befall in einem Fall als Aspergillose, einem als Penicilliose und in drei Fallen als Zygomykose dargestellt. Diese anomalen Fallen wurden von uns revidiert und uber die Diskussion ihrer klinischen, pathologischen, therapeutischen und atiologischen Charakteristika als mutmasliche Falle von Orbitalpythiose reklassifiziert.
Classification and cognition

1. Introduction and Basic Concepts 2. Category Structures and Categorization 3. Models for Category Learning 4. Categorization and Memory Processing 5. On the Storage and Retrieval of Categorical Information 6. Extensions and New Applications of the Exemplar-Similarity Model
English Proficiency, Threshold Language Policy and Mental Health Service Utilization among Asian-American Children

This paper explores the role of English proficiency, ethnicity, and California's threshold language policy in the rates of discontinuing mental health services among Asian-American children. We used data from the 2001-2006 Client and Services Information (CSI) System, which contains county-level information about service users in public mental health systems. Our data included 59,218 service users under the age of 18. We used logistic regression to determine the likelihood of discontinuing services, while controlling for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. English-speaking Asians were 11% more likely than English-speaking Whites to discontinue mental health services. Non-English-speaking Asians were 50% significantly more likely to stay in services. The results also revealed some inter-ethnic variations in the discontinuation patterns; however, the patterns of mental health service utilization appear to be driven by the availability of mental health services in Asian-ethnic languages in county of residence. Further research is needed to understand the intake and referral processes that Asian children go through within the mental health service system.
Critical Comparisons in Politics and Culture

Critical Comparisons in Politics and Culture. John Bowen and Roger Petersen. eds. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 266 pp.
Reinforcing properties of cocaine in the medial prefrontal cortex: Primary action on presynaptic dopaminergic terminals

The presynaptic mechanisms involved in the initiation of cocaine reinforcement were investigated using neurotoxin lesions. Rats were trained to intracranially self-administer cocaine (50 to 90 pmol) into the medial prefrontal cortex and after dose-effect analyses were completed, each rat received a unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine lesion (4 micrograms in 0.2 microliter) at the self-administration site. The lesion selectively decreased dopamine content in the medial prefrontal cortex (-45%) and decreased cocaine-maintained responding to vehicle levels. Lever-pressing could be reinstated by substituting dopamine (300 pmol) but not serotonin for cocaine. Dopamine self-administration was attenuated by including equimolar concentrations of the D2 dopaminergic antagonist sulpiride in the injectate. These results suggest that the initiation of reinforcing neuronal activity in the medial prefrontal cortex appears to result in part through the direct interaction of cocaine with presynaptic reuptake sites associated with dopaminergic nerve endings. The resulting increased synaptic concentration of the neurotransmitter may then interact with postsynaptic D2 binding sites to activate neuronal systems involved in the mediation of this reinforcement.
Management of a large lingual thyroid in the orthognathic surgery patient

The embryogenesis, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and clinical management of the lingual thyroid entity are discussed. A patient with a large lingual thyroid, who also required a mandibular set-back osteotomy, is presented. The preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative considerations and management of this patient as they relate to the lingual mass and its possible effects on the airway are discussed.
Design features and developmental modification of pigtail macaque, Macaca nemestrina, agonistic screams

Scream vocalizations produced by pigtail macaques during agonistic encounters were studied using spectrographic and multivariate analyses. These calls are important in the recruitment of support from allies against opponents. Direct discriminant analysis was used to classify screams recorded from 45 monkeys living in a stable captive group at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center. Pigtail macaques employed acoustically distinct classes of screams depending upon features of the agonistic context: four types of screams were associated with the relative rank of the opponent and with the severity of the aggression. A comparison of rhesus macaque, Macaca mulatta, screams with those of pigtail macaques revealed that the acoustic features of screams used by the two species in identical agonistic contexts were very different. Matrilineal relatedness did not emerge as a factor related to specific call types in pigtail monkeys as it had for rhesus monkey screams. Significantly more classification errors were made for the calls recorded from monkeys under 3 years of age than for older monkeys in each of the four agonistic contexts. Calls correctly classified into the four agonistic contexts were assigned with a significantly higher probability for older monkeys, suggesting that call renditions of older monkeys were closer to the ‘prototype’ for a particular context than were those of younger monkeys. Proper contextual usage and the production of screams appear to undergo developmental modification.
Upslope flow of turbidity currents on the northwest flank of the Cearà Rise: western Equatorial Atlantic*

A piston core (RC16-57) raised from the northwestern flank of the Ceara Rise contained several turbidites up to 62 cm thick with grain sizes ranging from clay to coarse sand. These turbidites were similar in composition to terrigenous turbidites found throughout the Amazon Cone, continental rise and abyssal plains of the western Equatorial Atlantic. The core site (RC16-57) on the Ceara Rise, however, was 156 m above the level of the adjacent Amazon Cone (the source of the turbidites). Thus the turbidity currents which deposited these beds apparently had to flow upslope for 17 km to reach the core site. Sub-bottom reflectors observed on a 3.5 kHz echogram that extended from the Amazon Cone upslope past the core site suggested that these and deeper turbidites extended from the cone up the rise flank to distances of up to 40 km from the cone/rise boundary and to elevations up to 400 m above the level of the cone at the base of the rise. An equally plausible explanation could be that the turbidity currents that deposited these sediments were in excess of 400 m in thickness and thus would not require uphill flow to reach their observed location on the rise flank. The absence of terrigenous turbidites from the bases of topographic knolls on the continental rise and abyssal plains throughout the western Equatorial Atlantic indicated, however, that turbidity currents were normally less than 100 m thick and hence would seem to rule out this explanation. The average gradient of the rise flank in this region was about 1 : 1000 (\sim 0.5°).
A Genetically Encoded Metabolite Sensor for Malonyl-CoA

Malonyl-CoA is the rate-determining metabolite for long chain de novo fatty acid synthesis and allosterically inhibits the rate-setting step in long chain fatty acid β-oxidation. We developed a cell-based genetically encoded biosensor based on the malonyl-CoA responsive Bacillus subtilis transcriptional repressor, FapR, for living mammalian cells. Here, we show that fluctuations in malonyl-CoA, in mammalian cells, can regulate the transcription of a FapR-based malonyl-CoA biosensor. The biosensor reflects changes in malonyl-CoA flux regulated by malonyl-CoA decarboxylase and AMP-activated protein kinase in a concentration-dependent manner. To gain further insight into the regulatory mechanisms that affect fatty acid metabolism, we used the malonyl-CoA sensor to screen and identify several kinases. LIMK1 was identified and its expression was shown to alter both fatty acid synthesis and oxidation rates. This simple genetically encoded biosensor can be used to study the metabolic properties of live mammalian cells and enable screens for novel metabolic regulators.
Transference and Transparency: Digital Technology and the Remediation of Cinema

Les nouveaux objets numeriques, en particulier les jeux videos et les jeux par ordinateurs, ont remis en cause le statut culturel que le cinema a occupe pendant des decennies. Cette remise en cause a donne lieu a une anxiete vis-a-vis des nouveaux medias, qui se trouve reflechie dans une serie de films des annees 1990, notamment eXistenZ et The Matrix. Les cineastes hollywoodiens ont repondu a ce « defi numerique » en adoptant une double strategie: ils ont integre les effets speciaux generes par ordinateur, tout en maintenant une adhesion au recit lineaire narratif et a la representation transparente. Recemment, le DVD a amene l’industrie cinematographique a explorer des formes hybrides de representation et meme d’interactivite.
Architectural support for fast wavelet transform

Wavelet transform is being used for many real-time signal and image processing applications. Many applications can tolerate certain level of compromise in accuracy for a faster speed. In this paper we propose a wavelet processor architecture to support approximated calculation of the wavelet transform.Our design uses the fixed point number system to simplify the hardware design and the computation procedures. By using a table look-up technique, one can predict the range of an output coefficient, so that the computation of coefficients need not be completed. This technique can be efficiently implemented in the wavelet processor for in-line thresholding. By adjusting the thresholding level, one can achieve different levels of computational accuracy and speed. Our simulation results on processing of speech and musical data show that this thresholding technique is quite effective and flexible.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Functional status in women with lung cancer

Lung cancer remains the number one cause of cancer-related death and the third most common cancer for women in the United States. The major purpose of this study was to describe physical functional status in a sample of women with lung cancer. Functional status was objectively measured by the Karnofsky Performance Status Scale, and subjectively by the Rand Physical Function Scale, and the Physical Function Subscale of the CARES-Short Form. A convenience sample of 69 women participated in a one-time data collection. The typical subject was 12 months, had non-small cell limited disease, and was not currently receiving treatment. The most prevalent disruptions in physical function were reduced energy (59%), difficulty with household chores (33%), and interference with work (28%). A third of the sample had serious limitations in three or more activities. Approximately 26% of the sample had severe limitations in moderate activities, 20% in walking short distances, and 16% in walking one flight of stairs. Only a quarter were satisfied with their level of activity. Physical function was different by income category (one-way analysis of variance), with those with the lowest income having the poorest function.
Further evidence for the stability of methylenechloronium ylide, H2CCIH. A neutralization-reionization ion-dissociation experiment

Recent theoretical and experimental studies are in conflict with our previous neutralization–reionization evidence for the surprising stability of simple ylides such as H2CCIH. Neutralization of [H2CCIH]+˙ ions from CICH2COOH with Hg followed by reionization of the resulting neutral molecules with O2 produces intense [CCIH3]+˙ parent ions. Collisionally activated dissociation of these mass-selected ions shows that 47 ± 5% are the [H2CCIH]+˙ isomer. This demonstrates that stable H2CCIH molecules can be formed by neutralization, surviving intact for the lifetime of the experiment (10−6 s). Field ionization conditions effective in ionizing excited argon atoms do not produce appreciable ionization of the neutrals from [H2CCIH]+˙, suggesting that the stable H2CCIH neutrals are not Rydberg state molecules.
TU‐C‐351‐09: Fluoroscopic Lung Tumor Tracking

Purpose: To develop algorithms that can track the invisible lungtumors by tracking relevant anatomic features in the fluoroscopic images based principle component analysis (PCA) and regression analysis.Method and Materials: For each patient 15 seconds of fluoroscopic images were taken before treatment and used as training dataset. A few regions‐of‐interest (ROIs) were manually selected in the first image frame that may contain anatomic features correlated with tumor motion. PCA was applied to reduce the dimensionality of each ROI to 3. Tumor positions were manually marked by an expert observer in all training images. Regression methods were applied to build the correlations between the tumor position and the PCA‐processed ROIs. Then the correlations were used to predict the tumor positions in the testingimages. Four regression methods were considered: 1‐degree and 2‐degree linear regression,artificial neural network (ANN), and support vector machine (SVM). Their accuracy was assessed by comparing the prediction results with the reference tumor locations manually determined by the expert observer. Results: 12 sequences of fluoroscopic images have been studied retrospectively. Results are reported in terms of mean and variation of localization error. Considering all regression methods, the mean localization errors (MLE) are smaller than 1 mm for most patients and in the worst case is still smaller than 2.5 mm. Variations are smaller than 1 mm most of the time, and the largest variation is about 9 mm. 1‐degree linear regression and ANN in general perform better than the other two methods. The other two methods tend to have overfitting problems. Conclusion: Based on PCA and regression analysis, we proposed a novel method that can track the invisible lungtumor in fluoroscopic images by tracking correlated anatomic features. The method has an accuracy of 1mm in most of cases and smaller than 3mm in the worst case.
Socioeconomic evaluation of the impact of natural resource stressors on human-Use Services in the Great Lakes environment: a Lake Michigan case study

Abstract The Great Lakes watershed is home to over 40 million people (Canadian and U.S.) who depend on a healthy Great Lakes ecosystem for economic, societal, and personal vitality. The challenge to policymakers and the public is to balance economic benefits with the need to conserve and replenish regional natural resources in a manner that ensures long term prosperity. Nine critical broad-spectrum stressors of ecological services are identified, which include pollution and contamination, agricultural erosion, non-native species, degraded recreational resources, loss of wetlands habitat, climate change, risk of clean water shortage, vanishing sand dunes, and population overcrowding. Many of these stressors overlap. For example, mining activities alone can create stress in at least five of these categories. The focus groups were conducted to examine the public’s awareness of, concern with, and willingness to expend resources on these stressors. This helped generate a grouping of stressors that the public is especially concerned about, those they care little about, and everything else in between. Stressors that the respondents have direct contact with tend to be the most important to them. This approach of using focus groups is a critical first step in helping natural resource managers such as Trustees and NGOs understand what subsequent steps to take and develop policy measures that are of most interest and value to the public. Skipping or glossing over this key first task could lead to difficulties with respect to survey design and model development in a non-market valuation study. The focus group results show that concern related to pollution and contamination is much higher than for any of the others. It is thus clear that outreach programs may be necessary to educate the public about the severity of some low-ranked stressors including climate change.
Molecular basis of dimethylglycine dehydrogenase deficiency associated with pathogenic variant H109R.

Dimethylglycine dehydrogenase (DMGDH) is a mitochondrial matrix flavoprotein that catalyses the demethylation of dimethylglycine to form sarcosine, accompanied by the reduction of the covalently bound FAD cofactor. Electron-transfer flavoprotein reoxidizes the reduced flavin and transfers reducing equivalents to the main mitochondrial respiratory chain through the enzyme ETF-ubiquinone oxidoreductase. DMGDH plays a prominent role in choline and 1-carbon metabolism. We have expressed the mature form of human DMGDH and the H109R variant identified in a DMGDH-deficient patient as N-terminally His6-tagged proteins in E. coli. The enzymes were purified to homogeneity by nickel affinity and anion exchange chromatography. The presence of FAD in the wild-type enzyme was confirmed by spectrophotometric analysis. The H109R variant, however, had only 47% of the wild-type level of bound flavin as expressed in E. coli, indicating its reduced affinity for FAD As previously described for rat enzyme studies, the wild-type human enzyme exhibited two Km values for N,N-dimethylglycine (Km1 = 0.039 ± 0.010 mmol/L and Km2 = 15.4 ± 1.2 mmol/L). The addition of 4 μmol/L tetrahydrofolate resulted in a slight decrease in specific activity and a substantial decrease in Km2 (1.10 ± 0.55 mmol/L). The flavinated H109R variant protein exhibited a 27-fold decrease in specific activity and a 65-fold increase in Km, explaining its pathogenicity. Additionally, the current expression system represents a significant improvement over a previously described rat DMGDH expression system and will enhance our ability to further study this important metabolic enzyme.
Biochemical Studies of Olfaction: Binding Specificity of Odorants to a Cilia Preparation from Rainbow Trout Olfactory Rosettes

: Cilia isolated from the olfactory epithelium (olfactory rosettes) of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) bind amino acids, which are odor stimuli to this species. We demonstrate that L-threonine, l-serine, and l-alanine bind to a common site, TSA, in the cilia preparation. All possible mixtures of two of the amino acids as competitors, with the third as the 3H-labeled ligand, were studied. The effect of two combined (unlabeled) competitors was always substantially less than additive compared with their actions singly. Along with additional inhibition studies using mixtures of inhibitors, the data show that the three odorants must interact with at least one common binding site, TSA. Binding of l-[3H]lysine to site L was unaffected by addition of l-threonine, l-serine, or l-alanine, establishing its independence from site TSA. l-Arginine inhibited binding of l-[3H]lysine, showing that both of these basic amino acids interact with site L. The data establish the presence, in trout olfactory cilia, of at least two separate and noninteracting populations of odorant binding sites, TSA and L.
Neutron Activation at 195 kev

Neutron activation cross sections were measured at 195 kev (50 kev energy spread) for about 30 isotopes, bY absolute gamma counting. Absolute calibration was effected by determining the RdTh-D/sub 2/O neutron source strength with a flat response 4 pi graphite sphere neutron counter, and irradiating indium in the form of a thin, uniform, spherical shell. The results are in general agreement with those of other investigators. The 25-kev activation cross sections of Pr/sup 141/, Zr/sup 94/, Ga/sup 71/ Ga/sup 7 and Pd/ sup 108/ were revised. (auth)
An Expert System for Prediction of Chemical Toxicity

The National Fisheries Research Center— Great Lakes has developed an interactive computer program that uses the structure of an organic molecule to predict its acute toxicity to four aquatic species. The expert system software, written in the muLISP language, identifies the skeletal structures and substituent groups of an organic molecule from a user-supplied standard chemical notation known as a SMILES string, and then generates values for four solvatochromic parameters. Multiple regression equations relate these parameters to the toxicities (expressed as log10LC50s and log10EC50s, along with 95% confidence intervals) for four species. The system is demonstrated by prediction of toxicity for anilide-type pesticides to the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). This software is designed for use on an IBM-compatible personal computer by personnel with minimal toxicology background for rapid estimation of chemical toxicity. The system has numerous applications, with much potential for use in the pharmaceutic...
Application of circular statistics in the study of muscular activity during semi-reclined cycling

Semi-reclined cycling is commonly recommended as a form of rehabilitation exercise; hence, a better knowledge of lower-extremity muscle activations is essential to improve the design of these exercise regimens. Techniques from circular statistics were used to investigate the effects of workload on the lower limb muscles' onset and offset patterns during semi-reclined cycling. Fifteen healthy, male, novice cyclists participated in three cycling trials of different workloads with a constant cadence. Electromyography (EMG) data of four lower limb muscles and pedal's kinematics were collected. By using circular statistics, we demonstrated that cycling workload does have an effect on the onset and offset of lower-extremity muscles during semi-reclined cycling, while using linear methods would result in incorrect implications. These findings suggest that circular statistics is a proper tool in analyzing muscular onset and offset in cycling.
Gauging the Strength of Power Frequency Fields Against Membrane Electrical Noise

The possible physiological effect of power frequency fields (60 Hz in the US, 50 Hz in most other countries) is still a hotly debated issue. These relatively slow fields distribute themselves across cell membranes and a common approach has been to compare the strength of these fields to the strength of the electric noise that the membrane generates itself through Brownian motion. However, there has been disagreement among researchers on how to evaluate the membrane electric noise. In the first part of this article three major models are discussed. In the second part an ab initio modeling of membrane electric fields finds that different manifestations of Brownian noise lead to an electric noise intensity that is many times larger than what conventional estimates have yielded. Finally, the legitimacy of gauging a nonequilibrium external signal against internal equilibrium noise is questioned.
Kaposi's sarcoma of the stomach and duodenum: endoscopic and roentgenologic correlations.

Kaposi's sarcoma of the skin can be attended by visceral involvement that is often occult and asymptomatic. Comprehensive diagnosis, as illustrated by the author's 4 cases, requires thorough radiographic and endoscopic examinations. The choice of appropriate therapy will depend on proper staging and definition of the disease. Curiously, in response to chemotherapy, the gastric lesions may regress while the skin disease is unaltered.
Traffic analysis zone level crash estimation models based on land use characteristics

The objective of this paper is to develop crash estimation models at traffic analysis zone (TAZ) level as a function of land use characteristics. Crash data and land use data for the City of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina were used to illustrate the development of TAZ level crash estimation models. Negative binomial count models (with log-link) were developed as data was observed to be over-dispersed. Demographic/socio-economic characteristics such as population, the number of household units and employment, traffic indicators such as trip productions and attractions, and, on-network characteristics such as center-lane miles by speed limit were observed to be correlated to land use characteristics, and, hence were not considered in the development of TAZ level crash estimation models. Urban residential commercial, rural district and mixed use district land use variables were observed to be correlated to other land use variables and were also not considered in the development of the models. Results obtained indicate that land use characteristics such as mixed use development, urban residential, single-family residential, multi-family residential, business and, office district are strongly associated and play a statistically significant role in estimating TAZ level crashes. The coefficient for single-family residential area was observed to be negative, indicating a decrease in the number of crashes with an increase in single-family residential area. Models were also developed to estimate these crashes by severity (injury and property damage only crashes). The outcomes can be used in safety conscious planning, land use decisions, long range transportation plans, and, to proactively apply safety treatments in high risk TAZs.
Real time recursive prediction of river flows

A method is presented for predicting flows in a river. A stochastic model with a set of undetermined parameters is postulated, and these parameters are estimated in real time using the available flow data, and the model is used for prediction. The predictor is recursive and yields the predicted values of flows at a future time instant based upon all presently available information. In addition, a method is given for comparing optimal predictors obtained from different stochastic models. We use the prediction schemes to obtain one-day-ahead forecasts of the Wabash River in the U.S.A. by using the daily riverflow data, paying particular attention to the choice of the order of the stochastic difference equation.
The description of a new species of Myzopoda (Myzopodidae: Chiroptera) from western Madagascar

A new species of Myzopoda (Myzopodidae), an endemic family to Madagascar that was previously considered to be monospecific, is described. This new species, M. schliemanni, occurs in the dry western forests of the island and is notably different in pelage coloration, external measurements and cranial characters from M. aurita, the previously described species, from the humid eastern forests. Aspects of the biogeography of Myzopoda and its apparent close association with the plant Ravenala madagascariensis (Family Strelitziaceae) are discussed in light of possible speciation mechanisms that gave rise to eastern and western species.
Hydrolyzed Leather Meal in Chick Diets

Abstract HYDROLYZED leather meal 2 (HLM) produced from tannery scraps was fed to broilers from 1–4 and 1–8 weeks of age by Hilliard and Waldroup (1969). These workers evaluated the nutritive value of HLM in broiler diets at dietary levels ranging from 1.0 to 8.0%. Methionine, lysine and tryptophane supplementation of the HLM diets was also studied. They concluded that dietary levels of HLM up to 8% could be satisfactorially used in nutritionally balanced broiler diets. HLM contains a minimum of 60% crude protein, a minimum of 5% crude fat and not more than 2.75% chromium. The primary source of the chromium in HLM is due to the various chrome chemicals used in tannery processes (O’Flaherty et al., 1962). The studies reported herein were undertaken to study the effect of HLM supplementation of broiler diets on performance and chromium tissue storage. EXPERIMENTAL The chicks used in these experiments were day-old,…
Certain ventromedial hypothalamic afferents.

Summary (1) Some of the afferents of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (HVM) have been studied in mature mouse and rat brains with the rapid Golgi method. (2) Entirely surrounding the nucleus is a fiber capsule which encompasses a dense terminal field. (3) The HVM capsule is composed of axons from the stria terminalis, the mammillary peduncle, the medial forebrain bundle, and the lateral hypothalamus. It also contains fibers which enter the diencephalon through the zona incerta. (4) These fibers all have boutons en passant and short collaterals which terminate in the capsule. Some of these synapse in a repetitive fashion on those HVM dendrites that extend into the capsule. (5) In addition to their collaterals and terminals in the capsule, most of the afferents have fine collaterals which penetrate into the interior of HVM. These end as small terminals which do not appear to have any unique specializations. Small swellings and boutons en passant along such penetrating fibers may form axosomatic synapses with the HVM neurons.
Microseconds Simulations Reveal a New Sodium-binding Site and the Mechanism of Sodium-coupled Substrate Uptake by LeuT

The bacterial sodium-coupled leucine/alanine transporter LeuT is broadly used as a model system for studying the transport mechanism of neurotransmitters because of its structural and functional homology to mammalian transporters such as serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine transporters, and because of the resolution of its structure in different states. Although the binding sites (S1 for substrate, and Na1 and Na2 for two co-transported sodium ions) have been resolved, we still lack a mechanistic understanding of coupled Na+- and substrate-binding events. We present here results from extensive (>20 μs) unbiased molecular dynamics simulations generated using the latest computing technology. Simulations show that sodium binds initially the Na1 site, but not Na2, and, consistently, sodium unbinding/escape to the extracellular (EC) region first takes place at Na2, succeeded by Na1. Na2 diffusion back to the EC medium requires prior dissociation of substrate from S1. Significantly, Na+ binding (and unbinding) consistently involves a transient binding to a newly discovered site, Na1″, near S1, as an intermediate state. A robust sequence of substrate uptake events coupled to sodium bindings and translocations between those sites assisted by hydration emerges from the simulations: (i) bindings of a first Na+ to Na1″, translocation to Na1, a second Na+ to vacated Na1″ and then to Na2, and substrate to S1; (ii) rotation of Phe253 aromatic group to seclude the substrate from the EC region; and (iii) concerted tilting of TM1b and TM6a toward TM3 and TM8 to close the EC vestibule.
Syngeneic living-donor liver transplantation without the use of immunosuppression.

Abstract Transplantation between monozygotic twins has been successfully performed using the kidney, small intestine, and pancreas. Identical HLA matching has enabled these individuals to be transplanted without the need for immunosuppressive medication. Liver transplantation without immunosuppression would lessen the risk of recurrent viral hepatitis and eliminate much of the morbidity associated with long-term use of immunosuppressive medication. Living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been performed with increasing success in recent years without an opportunity arising to use a monozygotic twin as a donor. We report 2 cases of LDLT between identical twins wherein perfect haploidentity has allowed these recipients to be transplanted without the need for immunosuppression. Although HLA matched genotypically, there may be differences in anatomy between donor and recipient. Mild liver chemistry test abnormalities may occur after transplant despite the absence of immunosuppression. GASTROENTEROLOGY 2002;123:1341-1345
Quantifying global exergy resources

Exergy is used as a common currency to assess and compare the reservoirs of theoretically extractable work we call energy resources. Resources consist of matter or energy with properties different from the predominant conditions in the environment. These differences can be classified as physical, chemical, or nuclear exergy. This paper identifies the primary exergy reservoirs that supply exergy to the biosphere and quantifies the intensive and extensive exergy of their derivative secondary reservoirs, or resources. The interconnecting accumulations and flows among these reservoirs are illustrated to show the path of exergy through the terrestrial system from input to its eventual natural or anthropogenic destruction. The results are intended to assist in evaluation of current resource utilization, help guide fundamental research to enable promising new energy technologies, and provide a basis for comparing the resource potential of future energy options that is independent of technology and cost.
Toward more efficient photochemical CO2 reduction: Use of scCO2 or photogenerated hydrides

Abstract Rhenium(I) and ruthenium(II) complexes have been successfully used for photochemical CO2 reduction to CO or formate. However, a typical turnover frequency for such reactions is
Do Vouchers and Tax Credits Increase Private School Regulation? A Statistical Analysis

School voucher and education tax credit programs have proliferated in the United States over the past 2 decades. Advocates have argued that they will enable families to become active consumers in a free and competitive education marketplace, but some fear that these programs may bring a heavy regulatory burden that could stifle market forces. Until now, there has been no systematic, empirical investigation of that concern. This article aims to shed light on the issue by quantifying the regulations imposed on private schools within and outside school choice programs and then analyzing them with descriptive statistics and regression analyses. The results were tested for robustness to alternative ways of quantifying private school regulation and to alternative regression models, and the question of causality is addressed. The study concludes that vouchers, but not tax credits, impose a substantial and statistically significant additional regulatory burden on participating private schools.
Generalized Stokes parameters in phase space

The generalized Stokes parameters (GSP) are studied under the theory of phase space. It is noted that phase-space Stokes parameters can be a useful tool for Wigner distribution function measurements. Electromagnetic Wigner functions are introduced by use of the two-point statistics of GSP. The advantage in the GSP is that they can be measured in terms of the electric correlation matrix (which is a measurable quantity) or they can be measured independently. Hence, the GSP help in finding the polarization and coherence properties of electromagnetic beams. Within this framework, by using the GSP in phase space, the intensity feature of electromagnetic beams in phase space is given, as well.
Osteopontin expression in intratumoral astrocytes marks tumor progression in gliomas induced by prenatal exposure to N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea.

To better study early events in glioma genesis, markers that reliably denote landmarks in glioma development are needed. In the present study, we used microarray analysis to compare the gene expression patterns of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-localized N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU)-induced tumors in rat brains with those of uninvolved contralateral side and normal brains. Our analysis identified osteopontin (OPN) as the most up-regulated gene in glioma. Using immunohistochemistry we then confirmed OPN expression in every tumor examined (n = 17), including those with diameters as small as 300 μm. By contrast, no OPN immunostaining was seen in normal brain or in brains removed from ENU-exposed rats before the development of glioma. Further studies confirmed that OPN was co-localized exclusively in intratumoral glial fibrillary acidic protein-expressing cells and was notably absent from nestin-expressing ones. In conjunction with this, we confirmed that both normal neurosphere cells and ENU-immortalized subventricular zone/striatal cells produced negligible amounts of OPN compared to the established rat glioma cell line C6. Furthermore, inducing OPN expression in an immortalized cell line increased cell proliferation. Based on these findings, we conclude that OPN overexpression in ENU-induced gliomas occurs within a specific subset of intratumoral glial fibrillary acidic protein-positive cells and becomes evident at the stage of tumor progression.
Vocational Maturity: The Effects of School, Grade, Curriculum and Sex.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the usefulness of the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) as a measure of vocational maturity. Using longitudinal data collected over three points in time from three large school systems, answers were sought to each part of the following question: Does the mean VDI score differ (a) among three school systems, (b) among four curricula, (c) among three grades, (d) and between males and females? The statistical methodology used was analysis of variance. The findings indicate that scores on the CMI incrementally increase by grade level. However, the rate and level of this increase is influenced by sex, school, and curriculum effects.
Variation in bacterial acid-soluble deoxyribotides during discontinuous deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis

Cells of S. typhimurium and A. fecalis contain an intracellular pool of deoxyribotide compounds equal to approx. 2–5% of their total DNA content. When a culture of S. typhimurium is shifted from 25° to 37°, the resulting sudden synthesis of DNA is accompanied by a drop in the content of intracellular deoxyribotides. These are not replenished until just before the next burst of DNA synthesis. Synchronized cultures of A. fecalis exhibit a stepwise increase in deoxyribotides before DNA synthesis. The pool is not depleted by DNA synthesis. Stepwise deoxyribotide synthesis may be uncoupled from DNA synthesis by addition of deoxyribosides to the medium. Under these conditions DNA synthesis is no longer periodic, whereas pool synthesis continues in a stepwise manner. Stepwise synthesis of deoxyribotides occurs in the absence of protein synthesis despite a reduction of 70% in the amount of DNA made. However, the deoxyribotide content of the cell increases from a value of 2.7-5.5% of the total DNA content as is observed normally. Chromatographic analysis of the deoxyribotide pool revealed that more than 90% of the material is derived from thymidine. The remainder is derived from cytidine. No adenine or guanine deoxyribotides could be detected at any time during the cell-division cycle. During the division cycle the composition of the pool did not vary. The results are discussed in relation to the control of the synthesis of DNA and its precursors.