cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Distribution and properties of diencephalic neuronal responses to genital stimulation in the female cat

Abstract Responses of single units and unit clusters to vaginal stimulation were recorded from the thalamus, subthalamus, and hypothalamus of lightly sedated estrous and anestrous cats. Pronounced, short-latency neuronal responses were found to be distributed widely in the diencephalon generally, but with a relatively low density in the hypothalamus. Most of the unit responses to genital stimulation were accelerative changes in firing which outlasted the stimulus by many seconds or minutes. Units responding to vaginal stimulation were usually also responsive to a tail pinch or to tactile stimulation of the face, limbs, or trunk. The response properties of the diencephalic neurons were quite similar to those of genitally sensitive neurons in the midbrain and pons which have been described previously.
A time-resolved DPIV study of the unsteady character of the flow over a surface-mounted prism

Abstract Time resolved digital particle image velocimetry is used to quantify mean and instantaneous flow parameters in the separated flow over a surface mounted prism. Two-dimensional measurements at the mid-plane of the prism of the mean velocity magnitude, reverse coefficient, and vorticity are presented. The instantaneous variations of the vorticity field are also presented, giving quantitative proof of the extent of the unsteady character of the flow. The mean flow results show variations of the edge of the shear layer and the separation bubble as the Reynolds number is increased from 2500 to 16 500. The instantaneous analysis showed a sequence of events that starts with the shear layer becoming unstable and an associated vortex rollup. The interaction of this vortex with the wall forms a reverse flow in the boundary layer on the topside of the prism and generates opposite sign vorticity. A comparison of the mean and instantaneous flow characteristics shows that the flow undergoes significant variations with time such that the concept of a mean flow that consists of a shear layer, a separation bubble and reattachment may be of limited physical significance.
Steroids can modulate transdifferentiation of prolactin and growth hormone cells in bovine pituitary cultures.

Fluctuations in the proportions of pituitary acidophils (cells that release GH and PRL, either separately or concurrently) have been correlated with dynamic changes in the steroid hormone milieu. Since modulation of these acidophilic subtypes can occur without appreciable alterations in the total number of acidophils, it has been proposed that GH- and PRL-secreting cells can actually transdifferentiate (gain or lose the ability to release GH or PRL). To test this hypothesis, we examined the effects of steroids on the proportions of cells that released GH, PRL, or both hormones (i.e. mammosomatotropes) in bovine pituitary cell cultures. Specifically, anterior pituitary cells from castrated males were cultured for 6 days in the absence (controls) or presence of 17 beta-estradiol, cortisol, or progesterone. Reverse hemolytic plaque assays revealed that 6.64 +/- 1.2% of all pituitary cells released GH, while 68.8 +/- 5.3% were PRL secretors in control cultures. Cortisol and progesterone induced an increment i...
PHOTON - PHOTON SCATTERING CONTRIBUTION TO THE SIXTH ORDER MAGNETIC MOMENTS OF THE MUON AND ELECTRON

We have calculated the three-photon exchange contribution to the sixth-order anomalous magnetic moment of the leptons. Our result for the electron-loop contribution to the muon moment (18.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.1) ${(\frac{\ensuremath{\alpha}}{\ensuremath{\pi}})}^{3}$ brings the theoretical prediction into agreement with the CERN measurements within the 1-standard-deviation experimental accuracy. The result for the electron-loop contribution to the electron moment is (0.36\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.04) ${(\frac{\ensuremath{\alpha}}{\ensuremath{\pi}})}^{3}$. The theoretical errors represent the accuracy of the required seven-dimensional numerical integrations.
Chaebol and Catastrophe: A New View of the Korean Business Groups and Their Role in the Financial Crisis*

We present a model of industrial organization that has multiple stable equilibria and argue that the high-concentration equilibrium describes Korea's economy and the low-concentration equilibrium describes Taiwan's economy. Past industrial policy of the state may have put Korea's economy in the high-concentration equilibrium, but discontinuation of the policy did not cause the industrial organization to change because this is an economically viable equilibrium. The high-concentration equilibrium produces a narrower range of final goods than the low-concentration equilibrium, which explains why the 1996 collapse in semiconductor prices caused the less diversified Korean economy to contract more than the more diversified Taiwanese economy. More importantly, this collapse in demand caused Korea's economy to move to a new equilibrium that has a smaller number of business groups, as evidenced by the collapse of the second-tier chaebol and their absorption into the first-tier chaebol. This wave of bankruptcies,...
Four distinct and unusual linker proteins in a mitotically dividing nucleus are derived from a 71-kilodalton polyprotein, lack p34cdc2 sites, and contain protein kinase A sites.

Abstract Tetrahymena thermophila micronuclei contain four linker-associated proteins, alpha, beta, gamma, and delta. Synthetic oligonucleotides based on N-terminal protein sequences of beta and gamma were used to clone the micronuclear linker histone (MLH) gene. The MLH gene is single copy and is transcribed into a 2.4-kb message encoding all four linker-associated proteins. The message is translated into a polypeptide (Mic LH) that is processed at the sequence decreases RTK to give proteins whose amino acid sequences differ markedly from each other, from the sequence of macronuclear H1, and from sequences of typical H1s of other organisms. This represents the first example of multiple chromatin proteins derived from a single polyprotein. The delta protein consists largely of two high-mobility-group (HMG) boxes. An evolutionary analysis of HMG boxes indicates that the delta HMG boxes are similar to the HMG boxes of tsHMG, a protein that appears in elongating mouse spermatids when they condense and cease transcription, suggesting that delta could play a similar role in the micronucleus. The micronucleus divides mitotically, while the macronucleus divides amitotically. Surprisingly, macronuclear H1 but not Mic LH contains sequences resembling p34cdc2 kinase phosphorylation sites, while each of the Mic LH-derived proteins contains a typical protein kinase A phosphorylation site in its carboxy terminus.
An analytic Toeplitz operator that commutes with a compact operator and a related class of Toeplitz operators

For a bounded analytic function, ƒ, on the unit disk, D, let Tƒ and Mƒ denote the operators of multiplication by ƒ on H2(∂D) and L2(∂D), respectively. In their 1973 paper, Deddens and Wong asked whether there is an analytic Toeplitz operator Tƒ that commutes with a nonzero compact operator, and whether every operator that commutes with an analytic Toeplitz operator has an extension that commutes with the corresponding multiplication operator on L2. In the first part of this paper, we give an explicit example of an analytic Toeplitz operator Tφ that settles both of these questions. This operator commutes with a nonzero compact operator (a composition operator followed by an analytic Toeplitz operator). The only operators in the commutant of Tφ that extend to commute with Mφ are analytic Toeplitz operators. Although the commutant of Tφ contains more than just analytic Toeplitz operators, Tφ is irreducible. The remainder of the paper seeks to explain more fully the phenomena incorporated in this example by introducing a class of analytic functions, including the function φ, and giving additional conditions on functions g in the class to determine whether Tg commutes with nonzero compact operators, whether Tg is irreducible, and which operators in the commutant of Tg extend to the commutant of Mg. In particular, we find representations for operators in the commutant and second commutant of Tg.
Automated substring hole analysis

Code coverage is a common measure for quantitatively assessing the quality of software testing. Code coverage indicates the fraction of code that is actually executed by tests in a test suite. While code coverage has been around since the 60's there has been little work on how to effectively analyze code coverage data measured in system tests. Raw data of this magnitude, containing millions of data records, is often impossible for a human user to comprehend and analyze. Even drill-down capabilities that enable looking at different granularities starting with directories and going through files to lines of source code are not enough. Substring hole analysis is a novel method for viewing the coverage of huge data sets. We have implemented a tool that enables automatic substring hole analysis. We used this tool to analyze coverage data of several large and complex IBM software systems. The tool identified coverage holes that suggested interesting scenarios that were untested.
Mechanism of Transcriptional Activation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa ExsA

ExsA is a transcriptional activator of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa type III secretion system (T3SS). The T3SS consists of >40 genes organized within 10 transcriptional units, each of which is controlled by the transcriptional activator ExsA. ExsA-dependent promoters contain two adjacent ExsA binding sites that when occupied protect the −30 to −70 region from DNase I cleavage. The promoters also possess regions bearing strong resemblance to the consensus −10 and −35 regions of σ70-dependent promoters. The spacing distance between the putative −10 and −35 regions of ExsA-dependent promoters, however, is increased by 4 to 5 bp compared to that in typical σ70-dependent promoters. In the present study, we demonstrate that ExsA-dependent transcriptional activation requires a 21- or 22-bp spacer length between the −10 and −35 regions. Despite the atypical spacing in this region, in vitro transcription assays using σ70-saturated RNA polymerase holoenzyme (RNAP-σ70) confirm that ExsA-dependent promoters are indeed σ70 dependent. Potassium permanganate footprinting experiments indicate that ExsA facilitates an early step in transcriptional initiation. Although RNAP-σ70 binds to the promoters with low affinity in the absence of ExsA, the activator stimulates transcription by enhancing recruitment of RNAP-σ70 to the PexsC and PexsD promoters. Abortive initiation assays confirm that ExsA enhances the equilibrium binding constant for RNAP while having only a modest effect on the isomerization rate constant.
THE DEGREE OF COMPENSATORY RENAL HYPERTROPHY FOLLOWING UNILATERAL NEPHRECTOMY I. THE INFLUENCE OF AGE

Compensatory hypertrophy of the kidney in albino rats becomes less as age advances. There is a rapid decrease from 5 days to 60 days of age and then a slow diminution throughout adult life.
FORTY-EIGHT-HOUR-RESPONSE OF THE IMMATURE MALE RAT TO ANDROGENS11

THE AUTHORS HAVE REPORTED (1) that the prostate and seminal vesicle of the immature male rat show a definite weight increase 24 hours after the subcutaneous administration of testosterone propionate in oil. The rats used were 32, to 38 days old and weighed 65 to 85 gm. The mean responses of the seminal vesicles in the various groups increased consistently with the dosage. With the lowest dose used (0.00625 mg.) the increase in seminal vesicle weight above the normal control level was 10.59% and with the largest dose (0.5 mg.) the increase was 53.47%. The prostates showed a relatively smaller response than the vesicles and the response was also less consistent. While the mean seminal vesicle weights of the two highest dosage groups were significantly greater than the normal control mean, the differences between different dosage groups were not significant (in spite of the fact that there were 20–25 animals in each group).
Performance Analysis of an Autonomous Mobile Robot Mapping System for Outdoor Environments

As unmanned ground vehicles take on more and more intelligent tasks, determination of potential obstacles and accurate estimation of their position become critical for successful navigation and path planning. The performance analysis of obstacle mapping and unmanned vehicle positioning in outdoor environments is the subject of this paper. Recently, the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Intelligent Systems Division has been a part of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency LAGR (Learning Applied to Ground Robots) Program. NIST's objective for the LAGR Project is to insert learning algorithms into the modules that make up the NIST 4D/RCS (Four Dimensional/Real-Time Control System) standard reference model architecture which has been successfully applied to many intelligent systems. We detail world modeling techniques used in the 4D/RCS architecture and then analyze the high precision maps generated by the vehicle world modeling algorithms as compared to ground truth obtained from an independent differential GPS system operable throughout most of the NIST campus. This work has implications, not only for outdoor vehicles but also, for indoor automated guided vehicles where future systems will have more and more onboard intelligence requiring non-contact sensors to provide accurate vehicle and object positioning.
Valuation of Commodity Futures and Options under Stochastic Convenience Yields, Interest Rates, and Jump Diffusions in the Spot

This paper investigates the effects of stochastic convenience yields, stochastic interest rates, and jumps in the spot price on the pricing of commodity futures, forwards, and futures options. Numerical examples show that one-factor prices differ materially from the stochastic convenience yield two-factor prices when convenience yield is considerably above its long-term average. The extension to a three-factor model with stochastic interest rates leads to a different futures price but the forward price is unchanged. The extension ofthe three-factor model to include jumps in the spot price process does not affect forward or futures prices but it can have an impact on options prices. The model is applied to price the present value of future cash flows from a real asset.
Response of the Primary Tumor to Neoadjuvant Sunitinib in Patients With Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma

Purpose: We assessed the activity of neoadjuvant sunitinib on primary renal tumors in patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma as well as the feasibility and safety of subsequent surgical resection.Methods: A total of 19 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma deemed unsuitable for initial nephrectomy due to locally advanced disease or extensive metastatic burden were treated with 50 mg sunitinib daily for 4 weeks on followed by 2 weeks off. Tumor response was assessed by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors every 2 cycles and the rate of conversion to resectable status was estimated.Results: Median patient age was 64 years and initial median radiographic renal tumor size was 10.5 cm. Clinical stage was N+ (10) and M+ (15). No patients experienced a complete response. Partial responses of the primary tumor were noted in 3 patients (16%), 7 (37%) had stable disease and 9 (47%) had disease progression in the primary tumor. Overall tumor response included 2 patients (11%) with partial response...
The Impact Of Expectations On Newcomer Performance In Teams As Mediated By Work Characteristics, Social Exchanges, And Empowerment

Integrating research on the Pygmalion and Galatea effects with a group socialization model and theories of work motivation and interpersonal leadership, we delineated and tested a model of newcomer...
Validating Quicksand: Schema Versioning in \tauXSchema

The W3C XML Schema recommendation defines the structure and data types for XML documents, but lacks explicit support for time-varying XML documents or for a time-varying schema. In previous work we introduced \tauXSchema which is an infrastructure and suite of tools to support the creation and validation of time-varying documents, without requiring any changes to XML Schema. In this paper we extend \tauXSchema to support versioning of the schema itself. We introduce the concept of a bundle, which is an XML document that references a base (nontemporal) schema, temporal annotations describing how the document can change, and physical annotations describing where timestamps are placed. When the schema is versioned, the base schema and temporal and physical schemas can themselves be time-varying documents, each with their own (possibly versioned) schemas. We describe how the validator can be extended to validate documents in this seeming precarious situation of data that changes over time, while its schema and even its representation are also changing.
A statistical comparison of gold and palladium-nickel plating systems for various fretting parameters

An electrodeposited plating system of gold over an 80Pd-20Ni alloy is a promising contact material that potentially offers the advantages of thick gold plate at significantly lower cost. This paper presents the statistical and experimental evaluation of various fretting parameters on the contact resistance stability of a simulated separable connector contact interface. The parameters were: gold bath, gold thickness, amplitude displacement, palladium-nickel thickness and current flow through the contact. Statistically, the research found that: gold flashed palladium-nickel is inferior to an equivalent thickness of gold plating; palladium-nickel underplate exhibits different contact resistance characteristics for flash and heavy gold plating thicknesses; and humidity has a significant effect on contact resistance. No statistical difference between the hard and soft gold baths was detected. Additional experimentation of the gold flash thickness found palladium-nickel to be beneficial compared to the gold flash on nickel underplate, and current flow to be detrimental. Hard and soft golds with the palladium-nickel behaved differently with and without current flow. Fretting wear and ultimately fretting corrosion were the dominate failure mechanisms of gold flash systems, with little frictional polymer formation for the palladium-nickel systems, even when the gold flash was worn out.
Changes in Population and Land Use Over Time in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

This paper draws upon a detailed longitudinal survey of households living on agricultural plots in the northern three provinces of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the principal region of colonization by migrants in Ecuador since the 1970s. Following the discovery of petroleum in 1967 near what has subsequently come to be the provincial capital and largest Amazonian city of Lago Agrio, oil companies built roads to lay pipelines to extract and pump oil across the Andes for export. As a result, for the past 30 years over half of both Ecuador's export earnings and government revenues have come from petroleum extracted from this region. But the roads also facilitated massive spontaneous in-migration of families from origin areas in the Ecuadorian Sierra, characterized by minifundia and rural poverty. This paper is about those migrants and their effects on the Amazonian landscape. We discuss the data collection methodology and summarize key results on settler characteristics and changes in population, land use, land ownership, technology, labor allocation, and living conditions, as well as the relationships between changes in population and changes in land use over time. The population in the study region has been growing rapidly due to both natural population growth (high fertility) and in-migration. This has led to a dramatic process of subdivision and fragmentation of plots in the 1990's, which contrasts with the consolidation of plots that has occurred in most of the mature frontier areas of the Brazilian Amazon. This fragmentation has led to important changes in land tenure and land use, deforestation, cattle raising, labor allocation, and settler welfare.
Importance of Endosperm for Nutrition of Fraxinus pennsylvanica Seedlings

Contact between endosperm and cotyledons of germinating Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh, seedlings was not essential for continuation of seedling growth or adaptation of cotyledons for photosynthesis. However, when cotyledons were in contact with endosperm, the cotyledons had faster rates of elongation and dry weight increase, slower depletion of reserves, and higher chlorophyll contents. Photosynthetic contributions by cotyledons may be enhanced if environ mental conditions support rapid emergence of cotyledons from surrounding seed structures.
Abstraction in Assertion-Based Test Oracles

Assertions can be used as test oracles. However, writing effective assertions of right abstraction levels is difficult because on the one hand, detailed assertions are preferred for thorough testing (i.e., to detect as many errors as possible), but on the other hand abstract assertions are preferred for readability, maintainability, and reusability. As assertions become a practical tool for testing and debugging programs, this is an important and practical problem to solve for the effective use of assertions. We advocate the use of model variables - specification-only variables of which abstract values are given as mappings from concrete program states - to write abstract assertions for test oracles. We performed a mutation testing experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of model variables in assertion-based test oracles. According to our experiment, assertions written in terms of model variables are as effective as assertions written without using model variables in detecting (injected) faults, and the execution time overhead of model variables are negligible. Our findings are applicable to other use of runtime checkable assertions.
Microaggressions: The new racism

Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation By Derald Wing Sue Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, March 2010, 352 pages, ISBN: 978-0-470-49140-9, $45
Homogenized Euler equation: a model for compressible velocity gradient dynamics

Along the lines of the restricted Euler equation (REE) for incompressible flows, we develop homogenized Euler equation (HEE) for describing turbulent velocity gradient dynamics of an isentropic compressible calorically perfect gas. Starting from energy and state equations, an evolution equation for pressure Hessian is derived invoking uniform (homogeneous) velocity gradient assumption. Behaviour of principal strain rates, vorticity vector alignment and invariants of the normalized velocity gradient tensor is investigated conditioned on dilatation level. The HEE results agree very well with the known behaviour in the incompressible limit. Indeed, at zero dilatation HEE reproduces the incompressible anisotropic pressure Hessian behaviour very closely. When compared against compressible direct numerical simulation results, the HEE accurately captures the strain rate behaviour at different dilatation levels. The model also recovers the fixed point behaviour of pressure-released (high-Mach-number limit) Burgers turbulence.
Oral Transfer of Adult Ancylostoma ceylanicum Hookworms into Permissive and Nonpermissive Host Species

Syrian hamsters become anemic and exhibit delayed growth following oral infection with third-stage Ancylostoma ceylanicum hookworm larvae. Here we describe experiments designed to determine the feasibility of adult worm transfer (AWT) between hosts, a technique that would facilitate the specific study of bloodfeeding hookworms in vivo without prior exposure of the host to larva-specific antigens, permit the ex vivo manipulation of adult parasites prior to reimplantation, and also allow for cross-species transfer of worms. Weanling hamsters given an oral AWT of 40 or 60 mixed-sex A. ceylanicum worms rapidly developed anemia; in the higher-dose group, hemoglobin levels declined from prechallenge levels by 44% within 4 days following AWT. Long-term survival of transferred worms was demonstrated by recovery of parasites from the intestines 42 days after AWT. AWT hamsters acquired humoral immune responses against soluble adult hookworm extracts and excretory-secretory products that were comparable in magnitude to those of animals given a typical infection with larvae. In AWT experiments employing the nonpermissive murine model, C57BL/6 mice given adult worms rapidly became anemic and lost weight in a manner similar to AWT hamsters. Infection of additional mouse strains demonstrated that while C57BL/10 and CD-1 mice also developed anemia following AWT, BALB/c mice were resistant. The technique of AWT to mice may further our understanding of hookworm pathogenesis by allowing the study of adult hookworm infections in a species with well-characterized genetics and an abundance of available reagents.
Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity of Dioxin in Fish

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD or dioxin) is a global environmental contaminant and the prototypical ligand for investigating aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR)-mediated toxicity. Environmental exposure to TCDD results in developmental and reproductive toxicity in fish, birds and mammals. To resolve the ecotoxicological relevance and human health risks posed by exposure to dioxin-like AHR agonists, a vertebrate model is needed that allows for toxicity studies at various levels of biological organization, assesses adverse reproductive and developmental effects and establishes appropriate integrative correlations between different levels of effects. Here we describe the reproductive and developmental toxicity of TCDD in feral fish species and summarize how using the zebrafish model to investigate TCDD toxicity has enabled us to characterize the AHR signaling in fish and to better understand how dioxin-like chemicals induce toxicity. We propose that such studies can be used to predict the risks that AHR ligands pose to feral fish populations and provide a platform for integrating risk assessments for both ecologically relevant organisms and humans.
Differential Effects of Selective Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors on Vascular Smooth Muscle Ion Channels May Account for Differences in Cardiovascular Risk Profiles

Celecoxib, rofecoxib, and diclofenac are clinically used cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, which have been under intense scrutiny because long-term rofecoxib (Vioxx; Merck, Whitehouse Station, NJ) treatment was found to increase the risk of adverse cardiovascular events. A differential risk profile for these drugs has emerged, but the underlying mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. We investigated the effects of celecoxib, rofecoxib, and diclofenac on ionic currents and calcium signaling in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) using patch-clamp techniques and fura-2 fluorescence and on arterial constriction using pressure myography. Celecoxib, but not rofecoxib or diclofenac, dramatically enhanced KCNQ (Kv7) potassium currents and suppressed L-type voltage-sensitive calcium currents in A7r5 rat aortic smooth muscle cells (native KCNQ currents or overexpressed human KCNQ5 currents) and freshly isolated rat mesenteric artery myocytes. The effects of celecoxib were concentration-dependent within the therapeutic concentration range, and were reversed on washout. Celecoxib, but not rofecoxib, also inhibited calcium responses to vasopressin in A7r5 cells and dilated intact or endothelium-denuded rat mesenteric arteries. A celecoxib analog, 2,5-dimethyl-celecoxib, which does not inhibit COX-2, mimicked celecoxib in its enhancement of vascular KCNQ5 currents, suppression of L-type calcium currents, and vasodilation. We conclude that celecoxib inhibits calcium responses in VSMCs by enhancing KCNQ5 currents and suppressing L-type calcium currents, which ultimately reduces vascular tone. These effects are independent of its COX-2 inhibitory actions and may explain the differential risk of cardiovascular events in patients taking different drugs of this class.
Sentence comprehension and voxel-based morphometry in progressive nonfluent aphasia, semantic dementia, and nonaphasic frontotemporal dementia

To investigate the basis for impaired sentence comprehension in patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) we assessed grammatical comprehension and verbal working memory in 88 patients with three distinct presentations: progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA), semantic dementia (SD), and nonaphasic patients with a disorder of social comportment and executive processing (SOC/EXEC). We related sentence comprehension and working memory performance to regional cortical volume in a subgroup of 29 patients with structural MRI scans using voxel-based morphometry. PNFA patients exhibited the greatest difficulty with sentence comprehension and were especially impaired with grammatically complex sentences, which correlated with atrophy in left inferior frontal cortex. Working memory performance in these same patients correlated with a proximal but distinct left inferior frontal region. SD patients' sentence comprehension scores correlated with left inferolateral temporal lobe damage, which we hypothesize and reflect impairments in lexical processing. We did not observe any consistent relationship between cortical atrophy and sentence comprehension impairment in SOC/EXEC patients, suggesting the deficits in this subgroup may be due to more variable declines in executive resources.
Voltage clamp of the cardiac sodium current at 37 degrees C in physiologic solutions.

The cardiac sodium current was studied in guinea pig ventricular myocytes using the cell-attached patch voltage clamp at 37 degrees C in the presence of 145 mM external sodium concentration. When using large patch pipettes (access resistance, 1–2 M omega), the capacity current transient duration was typically 70 microseconds for voltage clamp steps up to 150 mV. At 37 degrees C the maximum inward sodium current peaked in approximately 200 microseconds after the onset of a clamp step and at this strong depolarization, less than 10% of the sodium current developed during the capacity transient. The sodium current developed smoothly and the descending limb of the current-voltage relationship usually spanned a range of 40 mV. Moreover, currents reduced by inactivation of sodium channels could be scaled to superimpose on the maximum current. Current tails elicited by deactivation followed a monoexponential time course that was very similar for currents of different sizes. Data obtained over a range of temperatures (15 degrees-35 degrees C) showed that the steady-state inactivation and conductance-voltage curves were shifted to more negative voltages at lower temperatures. These results demonstrate the feasibility of investigating the sodium current of mammalian cardiac cells at 37 degrees C in normal physiological solutions.
Contemporary Methods of Social Introduction: Is the Stigmatisation justified?

Historically, individuals in search of a romantic partner have expanded their pool of alternatives by meeting others through their personal social networks. In the last few decades, however, a growing singles population, coupled with advances in technology, has promoted the utilisation and modernization of contemporary marriage market intermediaries (MMIs), including online dating sites, social networking sites, and professional matchmaking services. Importantly, these contemporary MMIs depart from more normative methods for meeting others, making their use ripe for social stigmatization, as evidenced by myriad portrayals in the popular media. The purpose of the present research was to provide an empirical exploration of the validity of the layperson stigma towards users of contemporary MMIs by assessing the extent to which users and nonusers of these various services differ on key individual characteristics relevant to relationship initiation and progression. Specifically, we surveyed 96 individuals, all of whom were attending a singles‘ happy hour, and compared users and nonusers of contemporary MMIs on several important characteristics. Although users reported going on more dates and perceived greater attractiveness in others at the event, no differences were observed in personality (i.e., the Big 5) or adult attachment classification (i.e., secure vs. insecure). Altogether, our findings suggest that users of contemporary MMIs are not socially undesirable people (or at least any more undesirable than nonusers).
PERSISTENCE OF H5 AND H7 AVIAN INFLUENZA VIRUSES IN WATER

Although fecal-oral transmission of avian influenza viruses (AIV) via contaminated water represents a recognized mechanism for transmission within wild waterfowl populations, little is known about viral persistence in this medium. In order to provide initial data on persistence of H5 and H7 AIVs in water, we evaluated eight wild-type low-pathogenicity H5 and H7 AIVs isolated from species representing the two major influenza reservoirs (Anseriformes and Charadriiformes). In addition, the persistence of two highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 viruses from Asia was examined to provide some insight into the potential for these viruses to be transmitted and maintained in the environments of wild bird populations. Viruses were tested at two temperatures (17 C and 28 C) and three salinity levels (0, 15, and 30 parts per thousand sea salt). The wild-type H5 and H7 AIV persistence data to date indicate the following: 1) that H5 and H7 AIVs can persist for extended periods of time in water, with a duration of infectivity comparable to AIVs of other subtypes; 2) that the persistence of H5 and H7 AIVs is inversely proportional to temperature and salinity of water; and 3) that a significant interaction exists between the effects of temperature and salinity on the persistence of AIV, with the effect of salinity more prominent at lower temperatures. Results from the two HPAI H5N1 viruses from Asia indicate that these viruses did not persist as long as the wild-type AIVs.
Elevations in C-reactive protein and endothelin-1 system activity in humans

Abstract Aims C-reactive protein (CRP) is an inflammatory cytokine that has been shown to be an independent predictor of future atherothrombotic events. Hyperactivity of endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor peptide produced by the endothelium, is linked with cardiovascular disease development and progression. ET-1 is sensitive to inflammatory stimuli, though the influence of CRP on ET-1 system activity is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that ET-1-mediated vasoconstrictor tone is enhanced in adults with elevated plasma CRP concentrations. Materials and methods Sixty non-obese adults (43–70 years) were studied: 20 with hsCRP 3.0 mg/L (high CRP; 6.3 ± 0.5 mg/L). Forearm blood flow (FBF; plethysmography) was determined in response to intra-arterial infusions of ET-1 (5 pmol/min for 20 min) and selective ETA receptor blockade (BQ-123, 100 nmol/min for 60 min). Key findings In response to ET-1, FBF decreased ~ 10% in the low (− 10.0 ± 2.3%), moderate (− 10.7 ± 4.0%), and high (− 6.6 ± 5.2%) CRP groups, with no significant differences between groups. Additionally, all groups demonstrated a marginal, though significant (~ 10%), vasodilator response to BQ-123; however, there were no differences in the FBF response to BQ-123 across CRP groups. There were no significant correlations between plasma CRP concentrations and peak FBF response to either ET-1 or BQ-123. Significance These results indicate that ET-1 system activity is not influenced by elevations in CRP. Enhanced ET-1 system activity may not be involved in the increased cardiovascular disease risk associated with elevations in plasma CRP concentrations.
The Epidemiology Of Bacterial Meningitis

Background: The incidence by age and causative organism of bacterial meningitis are not known on a community basis. Methods: The epidemiology of bacterial meningitis in a metropolitan county was studied by identifying all cases admitted to a hospital from 1983 through 1987. Results: The overall incidence of bacterial meningitis was 5 per 100,000 person-years, but numbers of cases ranged from 40 per 100,000 for children younger than 5 years to 1.0 per 100,000 in adults aged between 16 and 64 years. No significant excesses of cases were found in male patients or in blacks. The predominant causative organism varied with age. Overall, Haemophilus influenzae was the most common causative organism, but 32 percent of cases were due to Streptococcus pneumoniae. Case fatality rates were high for S. pneumoniae (12.5 percent) and very high for the small number of elderly patients suffering from bacterial meningitis. Conclusions: Significant declines have occurred in the last decade in the incidence of bacterial meningitis in children, particularly in those younger than 5 years, and in disease caused by H. influenzae and group B streptococcus.
Plasmodium falciparum carbohydrate metabolism: a connection between host cell and parasite

Selected aspects of the metabolism of Plasmodium falciparum are reviewed, but conclusions based on the study of other species of plasmodia are intentionally not included since these may not be applicable. The parasites increase glucose consumption 50-100 fold as compared to uninfected red cells; most of the glucose is metabolized to lactic acid. The parasite contains a complete set of glycolytic enzymes. Some enzymes such a hexokinase, enolase and pyruvate kinase are vastly increased over corresponding levels in uninfected red cells. However, the pathway for synthesizing 2,3-diphosphoglycerate (2,3-DPG) is absent. Parasitized red cells show a decline in the concentration of 2,3-DPG which may function as an inhibitor for certain essential enzyme pathways. Pentose shunt activity is increased in absolute terms, but as a percent of total glucose consumption, there is a decrease during parasite infection of the red cell. The parasite contains a gene for G6PD and can produce a small quantity of parasite-encoded enzyme. It is not clear if the production of this enzyme can be up-regulated in G6PG deficient host red cells. The NADPH normally produced by the pentose shunt can be obtained from other parasite pathways (such as glutamate dehydrogenase). NADPH may subserve additional needs in the infected red cell such as driving diribonucleotide reductase activity--a rate limiting enzyme in DNA synthesis. The role of NADPH in protecting the parasite-red cell system against oxidative stress (via glutathione reduction) remains controversial. Parasitized red cells contain about 10 times more NAD(H) than uninfected red cells, but the NADP(H) content is unchanged.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
STRATIFYING RISK OF CARDIAC MORTALITY IN INTENSIVE CARE PATIENTS USING ABSOLUTE CHANGE IN TROPONIN T

Cardiac troponin T (TnT) is commonly elevated in critically ill patients due to cardiac and non-cardiac etiologies. Distinguishing primary cardiac ischemia from other etiologies can be a clinical challenge, and impact the necessity and urgency of invasive testing. The purpose of this study is to
Protein Reserves and Survival of Cocks on a Protein-Free Diet

Abstract INTRODUCTION EVIDENCE for the usefulness of protein reserves in growing chickens during disease stress and during stress imposed by protein-imbalanced diets has been presented by Fisher et al. (1964). On the other hand Halac (1961, 1962) and Holt et al. (1962) on the basis of studies in which survival on protein-free diets constituted the major stress, reached the opposite conclusion. These latter workers found essentially no difference in the survival rate of young rats on a protein-free diet following prefeeding with a normal or supernormal level of dietary protein; in a similar study Allison et al. (1964) obtained similar results to those of Holt and Halac. Previously we pointed out (Fisher et al., 1964) that the supernormal protein diet used by Halac and Holt was not balanced with respect to calories, and that in one of their experiments, the protein in the control diet was in excess of the protein …
Impact of prehospital hypothermia on transfusion requirements and outcomes.

BACKGROUND Prehospital hypothermia (PH) is known to increase mortality following traumatic injury. PH relationship with transfusion requirements has not been documented. The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the impact of PH on blood product requirements and subsequent outcomes. METHODS The Los Angeles County Trauma System Database was queried for all patients admitted between 2005 and 2009. Demographics, physiologic parameters, and transfusion requirements were obtained and dichotomized by admission temperatures with a core temperature of less than 36.5 °C considered hypothermic. Multivariate analysis was performed to determine factors contributing to transfusion requirements and to derive adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for mortality and rates of adult respiratory distress syndrome and pneumonia. RESULTS A total of 21,023 patients were analyzed in our study with 44.6% presenting with PH. Hypothermic patients required 26% more fluid resuscitation (p < 0.001) in the emergency department and 17% more total blood products (p < 0.001) than those who were admitted with a normal temperature. There was a trend toward an increase in emergency department transfusion (8%, p = 0.06). PH was independently associated with the need for a transfusion (AOR, 1.1; p = 0.047), increased mortality (AOR, 2.0; p < 0.01), as well as incidence of adult respiratory distress syndrome (AOR, 1.8; p < 0.05) and pneumonia (AOR, 2.6; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION PH is associated with increased transfusion and fluid requirements and subsequently worse outcomes. Interventions that correct hypothermia may decrease transfusion requirements and improve outcomes. Prospective studies investigating correction of hypothermia in trauma patients are warranted. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic/epidemiologic study, level III.
Ring warmup and helium recovery for the RHIC accelerator : Thermal analysis of the warmup of a superconducting magnet string

RHIC design criteria require that a faulty string be warmed rapidly to a serviceable temperature. Integral electric heaters warm the superconducting magnets. The magnets are very sensitive to temperature peaks and local gradients. Helium gas is circulated during warmup so that all points are warmed at nearly equal rates. An optimized string warmup procedure gives a continuous, uniform temperature profile, that is flat and rises steadily to room temperature at a rate which allows manageable recovery of the liquid helium content of the magnets. The ideal is not easily obtained. Various warmup schemes are studied. Limitations on the process, including those of the RHIC helium recovery system are discussed. A finite difference code (Fortran) is used to model a magnet string with flowing helium and electric heat generation. Temperature dependent properties of metal and gas including variable density are accounted for. Predictions are compared to physical test data.
The Medium and Culture Conditions of Helminthosporium gramineum Rabenh. f. sp. echinochaloae with Solid State Fermentation

Helminthosporium gramineum Rabenh f.sp.echinochloae(HGE) is a potential biocontrol agent for barnyardgrass control in rice field.Authors optimized the medium and culture conditions in a solid state fermentation system for mass production of HGE conidia.Investigation on carbon source,nitrogen source and solid substrate indicated that a medium consisted of 4% rice flour,1% soybean meal,0.2% Na3PO4.12H2O,0.1% MgSO4.7H2O and perlite was better for high yield of condia.40% medium moisture,8% inoculum concentration,25℃ and 11 d incubation were good for the conidial production.By the medium and culture conditions,the maximum conidial yield was 1.5×107conidia.g-1 dry material.Pot bioassay in the greenhouse gave rise to 80% control efficacy against barnyardgrass after treatment with HGE conidia at 0.6 g.m-2.
Modeling By Elaboration: An Application To Visual Process Simulation

AbstractAttempts to expand the role of OR/MS into the broader community have been limited in part by the difficulties of educating non-OR/MS professionals concerning the intricacies of modeling. The purpose of this paper is to present and illustrate a new methodology called Modeling by Elaboration (MBE). This methodology assists naive as well as advanced modelers in developing complex models through a process of systematically “elaborating” a fundamental model linked to a specified problem domain. The differences between MBE and other well-known modeling paradigms, such as top-down modeling and rapid prototyping, are discussed. We provide a framework for model elaboration that uses definitional, structural, and hybrid modifications. The MBE process is illustrated using a visual simulation package us applied in a retail-banking domain. Implications of MBE are discussed from three perspectives: learning, software developers, and the organizations for which the models were developed. For future research, we ...
Monoclonal antibodies to the human CSF-1 receptor (c-fms proto-oncogene product) detect epitopes on normal mononuclear phagocytes and on human myeloid leukemic blast cells.

The first monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) to epitopes in the extracellular domain of the human c-fms proto-oncogene product (receptor for the macrophage colony stimulating factor, CSF-1) were used with flow cytometric techniques to study receptor expression on normal human peripheral blood monocytes, bone marrow cells, and leukemic blasts. On normal cells CSF-1 receptors were restricted in their expression to cells of the mononuclear phagocyte lineage. CSF-1 receptors were detected on leukemic blasts from 15 (30%) of 50 children with acute myeloid leukemia, compared with four (15%) of 26 adults. By contrast, detectable CSF-1 receptors were uniformly absent on blasts from 19 children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. CSF-1 receptors on normal monocytes and myeloid leukemia cells could be induced to downmodulate by incubation with either human recombinant CSF-1 or phorbol esters, confirming that the receptors had functional ligand- binding sites and responded to transmodulation by inducers of protein kinase C. The numbers of receptors per cell and the percentage of positive cases were highest for leukemic blasts with cytochemical and morphological features of monocytes. However, CSF-1 receptors were also detected on a subset of leukemic blast cells with features of granulocytic differentiation (FAB subtypes M1 through M3). Southern blotting analyses of DNA from 47 cases of acute myeloid leukemia demonstrated no rearrangements within the 32 kb of genomic sequences that contain CSF-1 receptor coding exons or in the 50 kb upstream of the first coding exon. Analysis of the upstream region of the c-fms locus revealed that sequences representing the terminal 112 untranslated nucleotides of c-fms mRNA map 26 kb 5′ to the first coding exon, suggesting that at least one c-fms promoter is separated from the receptor coding sequences by a very long intron. Whereas expression of the CSF-1 receptor in myeloid leukemic blasts is not restricted to cells with monocytic characteristics, the apparently aberrant pattern of receptor synthesis in a subset of cases with granulocytic features appears not to be due to chromosomal rearrangements within 50 kb upstream of sequences encoding the receptor.