cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Low-dose ultraviolet-B irradiation of donor corneal endothelium and graft survival

Donor rabbit corneal endothelium was pretreated with different doses of ultraviolet (UV-B) irradiation (302 nm) before grafting to test whether allograft survival could be favorably affected in comparison with untreated corneas grafted into the same recipients. Endothelial rejection was observed in 19 of 32 (59%) eyes that received no treatment compared with five of 32 (16%) eyes that received UV-B (P less than 0.001), and increasing doses of UV-B were associated with lower rejection rates (P less than 0.05). Although exposure of donor endothelium significantly reduced endothelial rejection at all doses tested, it resulted in primary graft failure in a substantial proportion of corneas treated at high doses. Class II (Ia) antigen staining of corneal tissue was present in conjunction with clinical evidence of rejection, and the magnitude of staining correlated with the histologic extent of inflammation. Scanning electron microscopy revealed various endothelial cell surface irregularities and membrane defects in high-dose UV-treated corneas. Endothelial cell cultures exposed in vitro to UV-B light showed a dose-dependent loss in cell viability. These data suggest that UV-B pretreatment of donor corneal endothelium prolongs graft survival but that toxic side effects must be carefully controlled.
Dynamics of a divisive gain control in human vision

Evidence for a divisive contrast gain control in human vision was obtained using a contrast version of the probe-on-flash technique that has been employed in the light adaptation literature. Thresholds were measured for a briefly flashed (30 ms), vertical test pattern superimposed on a cosine mask as a function of time after mask onset (SOA). Threshold elevations declined monotonically for SOAs up to 150 ms. and exhibited an exponential time course with an average time constant of 51 ms. Increment thresholds for the test as a function of mask contrast provide direct evidence that these effects are due to operation of a divisive gain control within the first 150 ms after stimulus onset. Experiments to measure the spatial spread of this gain control show it to be localized to a region of no more than 45 arc min radius.
Scalable hybrid search on distributed databases

We have previously described a hybrid keyword search that combines metadata search with a traditional keyword search over unstructured context data. This hybrid search paradigm provides the inquirer additional options to narrow the search with some semantic aspect from the XML metadata query. But in earlier work, we experienced the scalability limitations of a single-machine implementation. In this paper, we describe a scalable hybrid search on distributed databases. This scalable hybrid search provides a total query result from the collection of individual inquiries against independent data fragments distributed in a computer cluster. We demonstrate our architecture extends the scalability of a native XML query limited in a single machine and improves the performance for some queries.
Applying Industrial Design and Cost Engineering to New Product Development in Early‐Stage Firms

For early-stage firms, successful commercialization of each new product is critically important, given the shortage of financial resources, the limited product portfolio, and small staffs typical of such firms. This paper investigates two key contributing factors for new product success in entrepreneurial firms: designing products that are appealing to target users in both form and function and designing products that can be manufactured at an attractive margin so that the new enterprise can generate much needed positive cash flow. These two practices—industrial design and cost engineering—are well studied in the context of larger, established corporations but have not been explored in the context of new ventures. This study focuses on the intensity of individual and combined adoption of design and cost engineering as measured by product development efficiency and effectiveness. The study was conducted on a homogeneous sample of early-stage firms that develop physical, assembled products where design plays a role. The data collection focused only on the first product developed by each firm respectively. The results show that when implemented together, industrial design and cost engineering enhance both the effectiveness and efficiency of new product development in early-stage firms, to greater effect than each does individually. Intensive individual adoption of practices had a negative impact on development efficiency measures such as development cost and duration. Only cost engineering individually had a beneficial impact on development effectiveness as measured by product margins. When combined, these two practices had a beneficial impact on both development duration and cost for the company's first commercial product, thereby reducing time-to-market and precious cash expenditures while maximizing project breakeven timing. The most successful firms in the study achieved a balance between creative innovation and cost discipline in the NPD process with third-party design and manufacturing resources. It was found that integrating third-party design firms into the development process can challenge, simplify, and add additional creative resources to the core entrepreneurial team, maximizing the ability to catalyze beneficial tension between creativity and cost discipline.
Lifestyle and safety practices of firefighters and their relation to cardiovascular risk factors

Background In the United States, over 50% of the deaths of on-duty firefighters are classified as sudden cardiac deaths. A holistic view of the multiple risk factors and their relation to the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is necessary to determine a baseline for prevention. Methods This study surveyed 154 firefighters in a large Midwestern county about their individual exposure to particulates, noise, heat stress, skin contamination, and physical stress; lifestyle factors such as exercise, diet, smoking, and alcohol consumption; health status; and demographic factors. Results Consumption of whole grains and alcohol were associated with a reduction of the risk of heart disease, while higher Body Mass Index (BMI) scores and increasing age were associated with increased risk of heart disease. Conclusions Although firefighters are exposed to substantial occupational risks, only lifestyle factors were found to significantly predict CVD and related health issues. BMI is a modifiable risk factor, which, if controlled, could appreciably improve health outcomes.
α‐Synuclein mediates alterations in membrane conductance: a potential role for α‐synuclein oligomers in cell vulnerability

alpha-Synuclein has been linked to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies through its propensity to form toxic oligomers. The exact mechanism for oligomeric synuclein-directed cell vulnerability has not been fully elucidated, but one hypothesis portends the formation of synuclein-containing pores within cell membranes leading to leak channel-mediated calcium influx and subsequent cell death. Here we demonstrate synuclein-induced formation of sodium dodecyl sulfate-stable oligomers, intracellular synuclein-positive aggregates, alterations in membrane conductance reminiscent of leak channels and subsequent cytotoxicity in a dopaminergic-like cell line. Furthermore we demonstrate that the synuclein-induced membrane conductance changes are blocked by direct extracellular application of an anti-synuclein antibody. The work presented here confirms that synuclein overexpression leads to membrane conductance changes and demonstrates for the first time through antibody-blocking studies that synuclein plays a direct role in the formation of leak channels.
Why brain death is considered death and why there should be no confusion

Editors' Note: In WriteClick this week, Dr. Meador asserts, in reference to “Why brain death is considered death and why there should be no confusion” and the accompanying editorial, that the prolonged support of a brain dead patient is a misuse of medical science and an ethical concern that deserves greater attention from the medical community and society as a whole. …
A Parallel Algorithm for Reverse Engineering Gene Regulatory Networks

Dynamic biological systems, such as gene regulatory networks (GRNs) and protein signaling networks, are often represented as systems of ordinary differential equations. Such equations can be utilized in reverse engineering these biological networks, specifically since identifying these networks is challenging due to the cost of the necessary experiments growing with at least the square of the size of the system. Moreover, the number of possible models, proportional to the number of directed graphs connecting nodes representing the variables in the system, suffers from combinatorial explosion as the size of the system grows. Therefore, exhaustive searches for systems of nontrivial complexity are not feasible. Here we describe a practical and scalable algorithm for determining candidate network interactions based on decomposing an N-dimensional system into N one-dimensional problems. The algorithm was tested on in silico networks based on known biological GRNs. The computational complexity of the network identification is shown to increase as N2 while a parallel implementation achieves essentially linear speedup with the increasing number of processing cores. For each in silico network tested, the algorithm successfully predicts a candidate network that reproduces the network dynamics. This approach dramatically reduces the computational demand required for reverse engineering GRNs and produces a wealth of exploitable information in the process. Moreover, the candidate network topologies returned by the algorithm can be used to design future experiments aimed at gathering informative data capable of further resolving the true network topology.
Madness and Possession in P?li Texts

In the context of contemporary interest in the use of Buddhist meditation practices in modern psychology, psychiatry and psychotherapy, this article offers a preliminary survey of a subject hitherto almost completely unstudied: madness in Premodern Pali texts. (Possession, especially but not only by Mara, who is both a deity and a phenomenological reality, is regarded by the Pali tradition as a kind of madness.) Using story-literature as well as doctrinal and jurisprudential texts, the article aims to collect together material on three ways in which the ideas and behaviours of madness are used: (i) the literal-pathological, (ii) in comparisons (‘as if’ mad), and (iii) in the metaphorical-evaluative sense where it is alleged that everyone who is not enlightened (or at least on the Path to it) is ‘mad’. It is centered around an eightfold classification of madness given in the commentary to a Jataka story, the Birth Story about Darimukha (Ja III #378, III 238–246).
Anti‐inflammatory activity of diazomethyl ketone and chloromethyl ketone analogs prepared from N‐tosyl amino acids

A series of diazomethyl ketone and chloromethyl ketone analogs prepared from N-tosyl amino acids was shown to have anti-inflammatory activity in mice at 20 mg/kg and in rats at 10 mg/kg. N-Tosyl-L-alanine and N-tosyl-β-alanine chloromethyl ketones demonstrated the most potent anti-inflammatory activity. The writhing reflex also was inhibited at 20 mg/kg in mice. In the tail flick test, N-tosyl-D, L-alanine and N-tosyl-D, L-isoleucine chloromethyl ketones demonstrated the highest increase in time. Toxicity studies indicated good therapeutic indexes for most of these agents.
Adaptive Predictor-Based Output Feedback Control for a Class of Unknown MIMO Linear Systems: Experimental Results

Experimental results are presented to validate a recently developed adaptive output feedback controller for a general class of unknown MIMO linear systems. The control approach relies on three components, a predictor, a reference model, and a controller. Specifically, since the predictor is designed to predict the system’s output for any admissible control input, controlling the uncertain system is reduced to controlling the predictor, which is a virtual system with known dynamics and full state available. Subsequently, a full state feedback control law is designed to control the predictor output to approach the reference system, while the reference system tracks the desired trajectory while accounting for the actuator amplitude and rate saturation constraints. Ultimately, the control objective of driving the actual system output to track the desired trajectories is achieved by showing that the system output, the predictor output, and the reference system trajectories all converge to each other. Theorems and the step-by-step implementation of the control strategy are presented. Finally, the control’s efficacy is illustrated by a real time implementation of the proposed algorithm on an actual helicopter test bed.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Integrating Inner-Healing Into Missions Education

In this article, Meynor Clara Cheng reviews cross-cultural stress and emotional bruises, four common damaged emotions, three models of inner healing, and a checklist of possible issues needing to be addressed in inner-healing ministry. Dr. Cheng explains how new missionaries are vulnerable to low self-esteem. Using David Seamand's writings as her framework, she identifies the common damaged emotions and the causes of emotional bruises. The four major common damaged emotions identified are a sense of unworthiness, a perfectionist complex, supersensitivity, and depression. These damaged emotions can be capsulized in one phrase:"low self-esteem." The five common causes of emotional bruises are parent-child relationship, conditional parental love, cultural overemphasis on being strong, sexual abuse, and faulty Christian concepts. Nevertheless, the parent-child relationship and the response to inflicted hurt are the two main factors in emotional bruises. Those who train missionaries should be knowledgeable of various approaches to inner healing so that they will have their own compatible model(s) of inner healing to use with their students. However, the author contends that intimacy with God, the Word of God, appropriation of the cross, and cooperation with the work of the Holy Spirit represent the essential dynamics and approaches in inner-healing.
Nanostructured anodic iron oxide film as photoanode for water oxidation

Two different configurations of photoanodes based on anodic iron oxide were investigated for photoelectrochemical water oxidation. A self-ordered and vertically oriented array of iron oxide nanotubes was obtained by anodization of pure iron substrate in an ethylene glycol based electrolyte containing 0.1M NH4F + 3 vol% water (EGWF solution) at 50 V for 15 min. Annealing of the oxide nanotubes in a hydrogen environment at 500 °C for 1 h resulted in a predominantly hematite phase. The second type of photoanode was obtained by a two-step anodization procedure. This process resulted in a two-layered oxide structure, a top layer of nano-dendrite morphology and a bottom layer of nanoporous morphology. This electrode configuration combined the better photocatalytic properties of the nano-dendritic iron oxide and better electron transportation behaviour of vertically oriented nano-channels. Annealing of these double anodized samples in an acetylene environment at 550 °C for 10 min resulted in a mixture of maghemite and hematite phases. Photocurrent densities of 0.74 mA cm−2 at 0.2 VAg/AgCl and 1.8 mA cm−2 at 0.5 VAg/AgCl were obtained under AM 1.5 illumination in 1M KOH solution. The double anodized samples showed high photoconductivity and more negative flat band potential (−0.8 VAg/AgCl), which are the properties required for promising photoanode materials.
STUDIES ON X-RAY EFFECTS : X. THE BIOLOGICAL ACTION OF SMALL DOSES OF LOW FREQUENCY X-RAYS.

A study has been made of the biological effect of a small dose of soft x-rays given off by a special water-cooled tube with a window of thin glass, operated at ½ inch spark-gap and 11 milliamperes. Mice exposed for 1 minute show 2 days later in the blood an increase in the number of lymphocytes and in the lymphoid organs an increased number of mitotic figures. There occurs also a marked dilatation of the vessels of the suprarenals, particularly between the cortex and medulla. The latter condition did not appear until after 24 hours and was still present 14 days after the treatment. No change was detected in other organs. Mice treated in this way showed a high degree of resistance to cancer transplants. The amount of resistance varied with the time of the inoculation after the treatment. The resistance was not increased before 3 days after and was at its highest point 10 days after the treatment.
Anonymity under flow insertion: A game theoretic approach

The problem of anonymous wireless networking is considered when an adversary is capable of controlling a subset of routes in the network. For a desired quality-of-service (QoS), as measured by network throughput, the problem of maximizing anonymity is studied from a game-theoretic perspective. Anonymity is quantified using conditional entropy of the routes given the adversary's observation. The problem of optimizing anonymity is posed as a two player zero-sum game between the network designer and the adversary; the task of the adversary is to choose a subset of flows to control so that anonymity of routes is minimum whereas the task of the network designer is to maximize anonymity by choosing a subset of nodes to evade flow detection by generating independent transmission schedules. It is shown that a unique Nash equilibrium exists for the game in the class of randomized strategies. The Nash equilibrium conditions are then used to derive properties of the optimal strategies of the network designer and the adversary.
Improving the efficiency of fluid cokers by altering two-phase feed characteristics

Abstract Fluid cokers are widely used in the petroleum industry but limited research has been reported for optimizing their feed injector systems. In the present work, the effect of variation in the two-phase flow, with respect to impact on atomization for the range of nominal commercial operating conditions for the feed system, was investigated. A commercial scale injector was assembled and air–water flow dynamics through the assembly was examined to understand the effect of small variation in the mass ratio of gas to liquid on injector operation. The air-to-liquid mass ratio (ALR) is typically used to correlate results for this type of water spray testing. In terms of droplet size and spray dispersion, the measured and observed effects for change in the type of flow were correlated with the resulting atomization efficiency. A full-scale test system was made of clear Plexiglas pipe to allow observation of the flow. Operating conditions for the tests were in the range of nominal commercial operation. Intermittent or slug flow and dispersed bubble (DB) flow regimes were observed in the transparent injector assembly for the range of conditions studied. In the present research, small changes in the gas flow rate through the spray injector system were demonstrated to alter the two-phase flow structure and subsequent atomization significantly. This change could be encountered in commercial operations where there is a malfunction such as a partially plugged nozzle. Experimental results from this work were applied to selecting optimal operating conditions for commercial operation. From this, criteria for droplet size and spray dispersion were selected for increased efficiency of coker operation. In general, dispersed bubble flow was determined to provide better atomization and dispersion of the spray and thereby potentially improve coker efficiency. Another aspect of this research was to develop a signal analysis method to analyze pulsation patterns measured for the two-phase flow passing through the injector feed system. This analysis allowed qualification of the two-phase flow type and was investigated as a tool for an on-line monitoring tool of the commercial spray injector system.
Development of the Charmm Drude Polarizable Force Field for the Study of Ion Interactions in Biological Systems

Ions play several crucial roles in the structure and function of biological systems: maintaining homeostasis, protein activation and stabilization, and cell electrophysiology and signaling. Molecular dynamics simulations are commonly employed to study ion-protein interactions. Since ions frequently have greater charge densities than the surrounding solvent and protein, they induce a dipole on adjacent molecules and moieties. To some degree, this is implicitly modeled within conventional additive atomic charge force fields. However, polarizable force fields have a considerable advantage over the traditional effective atomic charge force fields in situations where a charge dense species is solvated in a highly polarizable environment, and particularly where a polarizable molecule is solvated by an asymmetric charge density. The presented work describes our effort towards a systematic and more realistic modeling of ions within the framework of the all-atom CHARMM Drude polarizable force field, which is suitable for modeling large biological systems. By calibrating with respect to in vacuo, ab initio gas phase cluster geometries and energetics, as well as the condensed phase thermodynamic properties such as solvation free energy of neutral salts, we have developed polarizable ion parameters that provide specific representation of the many-body polarization effects in biological systems. We have characterized and parametrized the interaction between ions and amino acid side chains (e.g., serine), as well as the highly polarizable protein backbone, which is often found exposed to the interior of transmembrane ion channels. The new force field is used to characterize the binding of barium into the selectivity filter of the KcsA K+ channel and explore the factors governing the blockade of ion-selective channels by extremely charge-dense multivalent cation
Pattern in the Cortical Distribution of Prefrontally Directed Neurons with Divergent Axons in the Rhesus Monkey

Neurons with divergent branched axons have been noted in several structures, but their organization across cortical systems, cortical types, or cortical layers is not known. The above questions were addressed with the aid of multiple fluorescent retrograde tracers injected in one hemisphere of the prefrontal cortex of rhesus monkeys. The prefrontal cortex is well suited for this study because it receives input from diverse cortical systems. A small number of neurons (integral of 1%) that projected to two different ipsilateral prefrontal sites, and were thus double-labeled, were noted in prefrontal, premotor, visual, somatosensory, auditory, and parietotemporal association cortices, suggesting that this form of projection is general within the cortex. However, double-labeled neurons were noted in significantly higher numbers in transitional than in eulaminate areas. Moreover, neurons with divergent axons were more prevalent in the deep cortical layers than in the upper layers in both transitional and eulaminate areas. Although neurons with divergent axons constitute a small population of those that issue corticocortical projections in several adult mammalian species, they are preponderant in the primary sensory cortices of the fetal or neonatal stages. Transitional areas, which include a higher proportion of neurons with divergent axons, may retain some features observed in development to a greater extent than eulaminate sensory areas. This could help explain the great plasticity of transitional areas and their involvement in learning and memory, and also their preferential vulnerability in several neurologic disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy.
A pilot investigation of "metaphor blindness" in a college student population.

Abstract Previous research from our group suggests that patients with lesions in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL)—which is concerned with abstract numerical cognition and cross-modal association (which is consistent with its strategic location at the crossroads between the temporal, parietal and occipital lobes) have difficulty understanding proverbs and metaphors (Ramachandran and Hubbard, 2001). In the current pilot investigation, we report "metaphor blindness" in a college student population; that is, either the complete inability or difficulty for otherwise intellectually non-challenged individuals to comprehend metaphors of language. Participants ( N =205) read 12 metaphorical ("The detective jumped at the clue") and 12 literal ("The accident was a fall") sentences and had to decide whether the sentences conveyed a metaphorical or literal meaning. The mean accuracy for these metaphorical sentences was 11.0 ( SD =2.3; RNG =0–12); the mean accuracy for literal sentences was 7.2 ( SD =1.8; RNG =2–10). We found that 5% of participants (11/205) were unable or had difficulty understanding metaphors (i.e., were statistical outliers), while their score for literal sentences felt within a normal statistical range M =8.3 ( SD =2.3; RNG =5–10). Follow-up control procedures were conducted in order to help ascertain that the results were not due to low verbal IQ and task difficulty. Likewise, none of the "metaphor blind" participants reported any psychiatric or neurological histories that would impair language comprehension, including strokes, brain injuries, language problems dyslexia, and signs of late language onset. The results are very preliminary and future studies are needed to confirm these findings. We suggest that brain modules may be specialized even for subtle functions like metaphor and their formation in embryogenesis may be controlled by small handfuls of genes whose expression can go awry—as in "metaphor blindness".
Saying consonant clusters quickly

Abstract Articulatory variation as a function of speech rate is investigated experimentally. Specifically, two strategies for increasing rate are considered: shortening the duration of each component of a sequence and increasing the relative overlap of these components. Reduction in the magnitude of the articulations is also reported. Four consonant sequences spanning word boundaries were produced by five talkers at a variety of rates, and electropalatographic data were collected. Consonant duration, displacement, and temporal overlap and latency between the consonants are evaluated with respect to speaking rate. The results evidence both mechanisms of faster speech-individual consonants shorten in duration and a relatively linear increase occurs in the overlap of the articulations. The consonant sequences, however, do not behave identically. A consonant’s place, manner, and syllabic position are also found to affect the way in which speech rate is increased.
Functional clustering of immunoglobulin superfamily proteins with protein-protein interaction information calibrated Hidden Markov model sequence-profiles

Secreted and cell-surface-localized members of the immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSF) play central roles in regulating adaptive and innate immune responses and are prime targets for the development of protein-based therapeutics. An essential activity of the ectodomains of these proteins is the specific recognition of cognate ligands, which are often other members of the IgSF. In this work, we provide functional insight for this important class of proteins through the development of a clustering algorithm that groups together extracellular domains of the IgSF with similar binding preferences. Information from hidden Markov model-based sequence profiles and domain architecture is calibrated against manually curated protein interaction data to define functional families of IgSF proteins. The method is able to assign 82% of the 477 extracellular IgSF protein to a functional family, while the rest are either single proteins with unique function or proteins that could not be assigned with the current technology. The functional clustering of IgSF proteins generates hypotheses regarding the identification of new cognate receptor–ligand pairs and reduces the pool of possible interacting partners to a manageable level for experimental validation.
Near-Inertial Waves on the New England Shelf: The Role of Evolving Stratification, Turbulent Dissipation, and Bottom Drag

Abstract Energetic variable near-inertial internal waves were observed on the springtime New England shelf as part of the Coastal Mixing and Optics (CMO) project. Surface warming and freshwater advection tripled the average stratification during a 3-week observational period in April/May 1997. The wave field was dominated by near-inertial internal waves generated by passing storms. Wave evolution was controlled by a balance among wind stress, bottom drag, and turbulent dissipation. As the stratification evolved, the vertical structure of these near-inertial waves switched from mode 1 to mode 2 with associated changes in the magnitude and location of wave shear. The growth of mode-2 waves was attributable to a combination of changing wind stress forcing and a nonlinear coupling between the first and second vertical modes through quadratic bottom stress. To explore both forcing mechanisms, an open-ocean mixed layer model is adapted to the continental shelf. In this model, surface wind stress and bottom stre...
A Girl Like Her: An Effective Film for Teaching Reproductive Health Issues to Undergraduates

Fessler, A. (Producer and Director). (2012). A Girl Like Her [DVD]. New York, NY: Women Make Movies. $295.00 (for Universities)Ann Fessler's (2012) film, A Girl Like Her, is a hard-hitting film abo...
The infrared and visible absorption spectra of the lowest triplet state of acridine isolated in an argon matrix

Abstract The infrared and visible absorption spectra of the lowest 3ππ* state of acridine, produced via cw laser pumping of an argon matrix isolated sample are reported. The visible spectrum agrees well with previous studies. In the infrared, absorptions of the triplet state are observed at 1434, 1104, 1048, 1004 and 751 cm−1.
Radioactivity in blood and urine following intraperitoneal instillation of chromic phosphate in patients with and without ascites.

Systemic distribution of radioactive colloidal chromic phosphate P 32 after intraperitoneal instillation was studied in 10 patients with ovarian or endometrial malignancies. Seven patients without ascites received chromic phosphate P 32 for positive peritoneal washings, rupture of the capsule of the cyst during operation, or minimal Stage III disease. Three patients received chromic phosphate P 32 for recurrent ascites after multiple abdominal paracenteses. Blood and urine radioactivity measurements were performed at selected intervals. There was a clear statistically significant difference (p
Morphological conservatism in the foreleg structure of cicada hatchlings, Burmacicada protera n. gen., n. sp. in Burmese amber, Dominicicada youngi n. gen., n. sp. in Dominican amber and the extant Magicicada septendecim (L.) (Hemiptera: Cicadidae)

Two cicada hatchlings (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in Burmese and Dominican amber are described as Burmacicada protera n. gen., n. sp. and Dominicicada youngi n. gen., n. sp., respectively. Although very...
Lipoprotein lipase of ovarian follicles in the domestic chicken (Gallus domesticus) (38537).

The transport of triglyceride-fatty acids (TGFA) from the circulation to the developing oocyte of the chicken is an excellent model system for the study of mechanisms of lipoprotein transport. The laying hen synthesizes fatty acids in the liver, incorporates them into triglycerides and transports them, primarily as part of very low density lipoproteins (VLDL), to the ovary. The mechanism of transfer of plasma VLDL triglyceride to the ooplasm is not well understood.
Tissue Printing to Visualize Polyphenol Oxidase and Peroxidase in Vegetables, Fruits, and Mushrooms.

A simple tissue-printing procedure to determine the tissue location of the endogenous enzymes polyphenol oxidase and peroxidase in a variety of vegetables, fruits, and mushrooms is described. In tissue printing, cell contents from the surface of a cut section of the tissue are transferred to an adsorptive surface, commonly a nitrocellulose membrane. Because of the considerable expense of nitrocellulose, our procedure utilizes artists' hot-press watercolor paper as a novel and more economical alternative. Tissue prints are then exposed to an enzyme substrate from which an insoluble, colored product is produced. The appearance of color in specific areas of the print is an indication of the presence of the enzyme in those tissue locations. The experiment is designed to enable students to learn some fundamental concepts about enzymes. It has been used in an introductory-level organic and biochemistry course for nonscience majors, but would also be appropriate for advanced high school students or could be adapted for an upper-level undergraduate biochemistry course.
Evolution of different antiviral strategies in wild mouse populations exposed to different gammaretroviruses

Laboratory mice carry three host range groups of gammaretroviruses all of which are linked to leukemia induction. Although polytropic mouse leukemia viruses (P-MLVs) are generally recognized as the proximate cause of MLV-induced leukemias in laboratory mice, wild mice that carry only endogenous P-MLVs do not produce infectious virus and are not prone to disease; these mice carry the permissive XPR1 retroviral receptor and an attenuated variant of the retroviral restriction factor, APOBEC3. In contrast, Eurasian mice carrying ecotropic and xenotropic MLVs have evolved multiple restrictive XPR1 variants, other factors that interfere with MLV entry, and more effectively antiviral variants of APOBEC3. These different antiviral restrictions in Mus musculus subspecies suggest that the different virus types found in these natural populations may pose different but largely uncharacterized survival risks in their host subspecies.
PASSING AS SUPERMAN: THE IDEAL WORKER AND MEN'S PROFESSIONAL IDENTITIES

This field study of a professional service firm draws on 73 interviews, performance rankings and secondary data sources to build theory about how men relate to the ideal worker image and the reason...
Buckling of long sandwich cylindrical shells under external pressure

The paper deals with the theoretical prediction of buckling loads for sandwich long cylindrical shells with laminated facings and foam core. The loading is a uniform hydrostatic pressure, which means that the loading remains normal to the deflected surface during the buckling process. Several fiber materials are used in the laminated facings. The materials are: Boron/Epoxy, Graphite/Epoxy and Kevlar/Epoxy laminates with 0° orientation with respect to the hoop direction. These various materials are employed to provide comparative data that can be used in design. Shell theory results are generated with and without accounting for the transverse shear effect. Moreover, results based on three-dimensional elasticity are also generated for comparison purposes. The effect of the ratio of radius to thickness is assessed.
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education

he Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and TEducation (TSFRE) was created to help perpetuate the pioneering cardiothoracic surgical tradition, highlighted by Dr Evarts A. Graham’s first successful pneumonectomy for lung cancer on April 4, 1932, Dr Robert A. Gross’ division of a patent ductus arteriosus in 1938, the first Blalock-Taussig shunt operation on November 29, 1944, and Dr Clarence Crafoord’s successful correction of coarctation of the aorta [1–4]. When Dr John H. Gibbons, Jr, successfully used cardiopulmonary bypass on May 6, 1953, it was the result of research started 23 years before to address an insoluble problem he had seen at the bedside [5]. Now, heart valve repairs and replacements and heart-lung transplants are regularly successful, and cardiothoracic surgeons are studying such things as genomics, molecular biology, and tissue engineering. How can we perpetuate this tradition? In the 1980s, Martin F. McKneally, MD, and others noted that “following a period of leadership and innovation . . . cardiothoracic surgeons had become more practice centered [and] . . . the emphasis had shifted away from science” [6]. He pointed out the need and proposed a research and education foundation to The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Council on June 4, 1984. However, little happeneduntil 1988,whenhe andDrRobert L. Replogle approached David S. Sheridan [7], a good friend of Ralph D. Alley, MD. Dave, as Sheridan preferred to be called, responded with a grant of $50,000 and a commitment for $1 million to honor Dr Alley, who had suffered a series of strokes. This crucial donation paved the way for incorporation of the STS Education and Research Foundation in Illinois on December 23, 1988. Loving consideration of the name “Ralph Alley Foundation” was outweighed by vision. On October 25, 1989, Dr Replogle, the fledging group’s first president and one of Dr Alley’s strongest admirers, wrote to Dr Robert G. Ellison, saying that the foundation’s name needed to express “a wider and more long-range objective.” On March 2, 1992, the organization, previously known as “The Foundation,” became self-sustaining, and the name was changed to the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education. Administrative management services were provided by Smith, Bucklin and Associates until October 1, 2002. Thereafter,
Body mass index in families: spousal correlation, endogeneity, and intergenerational transmission

Previous studies have documented spousal and intergenerational correlations in body mass index (BMI) but few have considered familial weight data augmented with socioeconomic and behavioral control variables. This article considers a U.S. dataset that contains such information on husbands, wives, and grown children. Although certain variables (like education, race, and smoking status) are helpful in explaining an individual’s BMI, the BMI of one’s spouse (or parents) remains the most significant predictor of BMI. To help distinguish between correlation and causality in the married-adult BMI regressions, we consider two alternative approaches for dealing with possible endogeneity (due to omitted variables): (1) including spousal variables to proxy for omitted variables and (2) modeling spousal BMI in a hierarchical framework to explicitly allow for a “couple” effect. The results suggest endogeneity of educational attainment, but not smoking status, and support prior research that finds different associations of BMI with income for husbands and wives. For grown children, parental BMI and smoking status are identified as significant predictors.
Vasodilation by GPER in mesenteric arteries involves both endothelial nitric oxide and smooth muscle cAMP signaling

Our previous work showed that chronic activation of the membrane-bound estrogen receptor GPR30/GPER significantly lowers blood pressure in ovariectomized hypertensive mRen2.Lewis female rats which may, in part, reflect direct vasodilatory actions. The current study assessed the hypothesis that cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling contributes to GPER-mediated vasorelaxation. In mesenteric resistance arteries from intact Lewis females, relaxation to 17-β-estradiol (E2; 47±3% of phenylephrine contraction vs. vehicle 89±2%, P 0.05). The cAMP analog Rp-cAMPS partially attenuated vasodilation (65±7%, P 0.05 vs. vehicle). Pretreatment of endothelium-intact vessels with the adenylyl cyclase inhibitor SQ (63±6%) or the guanylyl cyclase inhibitor ODQ (62±9%) both partially inhibited the response to G-1 (P 0.05 vs. vehicle). In denuded vessels only SQ reduced the response (88±3%, P<0.001). Moreover, G-1 significantly increased intracellular cAMP levels in cultured mesenteric smooth muscle cells (P<0.05). We conclude that GPER-dependent vasorelaxation apparently involves both endothelial release of nitric oxide which activates guanylyl cyclase and smooth muscle cell activation of adenylyl cyclase. Downstream production of cyclic nucleotides and stimulation of protein kinases may phosphorylate proteins to promote vascular smooth muscle cell relaxation. The ability of GPER to initiate these signaling pathways may contribute to the beneficial vascular effects of estrogen.
The dimensions of computing

Computers have become ubiquitous in the psychology laboratory over the last two decades. This paper is an examination of the laboratory computer’s evolution; general evolutionary principles are used to predict future changes.
San Diego Field Operational Test of Smart Call Boxes: Technical Aspects

Smart call boxes are devices similar to those used as emergency call boxes in California. The basic call box consists of a microprocessor, a cellular transceiver, and a solar power source. The smart call box system also includes data-collection devices, call-box maintenance computers, and data recording systems at a central location. The goal of the smart call box field operational test (FOT) was to demonstrate that smart call boxes are feasible and cost-effective means of processing and transmitting data for tasks such as traffic census, incident detection, hazardous weather reporting, changeable message sign control, and video surveillance. The objective of the FOT evaluation was to determine the cost-effectiveness of smart call boxes, but because of schedule slippage the evaluation focused on only functional adequacy and capital costs. The concept for the smart call box system was found to be feasible but not necessarily optimal for the tasks involved. System integration was a major problem. Also, the number of external devices that can be attached to a single call box while maintaining the economic advantages of the system is restricted by wiring costs and limitations of the solar power supply. Test system performance was mixed. One subtest was canceled before the installation of equipment, functional systems were produced for only three of the four remaining subtests, and reliable operation was observed in only one case. In most cases, system costs will be dominated by the expense of installing wiring. Consequently, smart call boxes will be cost-effective compared with hardwire systems at many sites but may not be cost-effective compared with alternative wireless systems.
Statistical opportunities for analyzing spatial and temporal heterogeneity of field soils

Statistical techniques for analyzing data in the agricultural sciences have traditionally followed the pioneering efforts of R.A. Fisher who assumed that observations in the field were independent and identically distributed. Such techniques, proven useful in the past and still being used today for comparing the merits of different management practices or different treatments, are presently giving way to additional methods that are based upon observations being spatially or temporally correlated. It is physically more sensible to expect soil attributes to be correlated when they are measured at adjacent points in space or time. Spatially repetitious patterns of soil attributes for physical and biological processes occurring at distances of a few molecules to those of kilometers are also expected. Opportunities to use geostatistics, time series analyses, state-space models, spectral analyses of variance, lagged regression models and other alternative techniques for analyzing multidimensional random fields are available to enhance the understanding of agro-ecosystems. Approaches to modeling and fitting data using stochastic partial differential equations and scaling techniques also help reveal the underlying processes occurring in field soils. Inclusion of these alternatives in the development of an agro-ecological technology leads to improved sampling designs to better entire management units, rather than ascertaining the impact of particular, sometimes arbitrary treatments applied to a set of small plots using analysis of variance methods.
Intravenous versus oral rehydration during a brief period: responses to subsequent exercise in the heat

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess whether a brief period (20 min) of intravenous (i.v.) fluid rehydration versus oral rehydration differentially affects cardiovascular, thermoregulatory, and performance factors during exhaustive exercise in the heat. METHODS Following dehydration (-4% of body weight), eight nonacclimated highly trained cyclists (age = 23.5 +/- 1.2 yr; VO2peak = 61.4 +/- 0.8 mL x kg x min(-1); body fat = 13.5 +/- 0.6%) rehydrated and then cycled at 70% VO2peak to exhaustion in 37 degrees C. Rehydration (randomized, cross-over design) included: 1) CONTROL (no fluid), 2) DRINK (oral rehydration, 0.45% NaCl) equal to 50% of prior dehydration, and 3) IV (intravenous rehydration, 0.45% NaCl), equal to 50% of prior dehydration. Thus, in the DRINK and IV treatments subjects began exercise (EX) at -2% of body weight. RESULTS Exercise time to exhaustion was not different (P = 0.07) between DRINK (34.9 +/- 4 min) and IV (29.5 +/- 3.5 min), but both were significantly (P < 0.05) longer than CONTROL (18.9 +/- 2.7 min). Plasma volume was better (P < 0.05) restored during IV than CONTROL and DRINK at pre-exercise and 5 min EX, but different (P < 0.05) from only CONTROL at 15 min EX. Plasma lactate during DRINK was lower (P < 0.05) than IV at 15 min EX and postexercise. Heart rate during CONTROL was greater (P < 0.05) than DRINK and IV from 0-8 min EX, and greater (P < 0.05) than DRINK from 10-14 min EX. Rectal temperature during DRINK was less (P < 0.05) than IV from 0-24 min EX. Mean weighted skin temperature during DRINK was less (P < 0.05) than IV from 4-12 min EX. CONCLUSIONS Thus, despite no statistically significant performance differences between DRINK and IV, it appears that certain physiological parameters were better maintained in the DRINK trial, and the trend toward performance differences may be important to elite athletes.
The ghost of fouling communities past: the effect of original community on subsequent recruitment.

Biofouling on ships has been linked to the spread of invasive species, which has been identified as one of the current primary threats to the environment. Previous research on antifouling coatings suggested that the quantity of fouling, as well as community composition, on biocidal coatings was modified by prior fouling settlement. The experiment reported in this paper was designed to determine how preconditioning affected the rate and composition of subsequent fouling on transplanted silicone coatings. A series of 10 × 20 cm panels coated with Intersleek 700 or DC3140 were placed at three locations in Florida (Ponce Inlet, Sebastian Inlet, and Port of Miami), which were characterized by distinct fouling communities. Panels were immersed for four months, cleaned, and reciprocally transplanted among the three sites. Fouling community composition and coverage were characterized at bimonthly intervals both before and after transplantation. The original fouling community affected the subsequent fouling compos...
Recovery of plantaris muscle from impaired physical mobility.

The purpose of this investigation was to describe and compare various methods of recovering atrophied fast-twitch skeletal muscle following long-term impaired physical mobility. An animal model was used to study morphological adaptations of atrophied plantaris muscles to the effects of 28 days of hindlimb suspension (HS) followed by either sedentary recovery or run training during a 28-day recovery period. Significant atrophy, demonstrated by decreased mean fiber area (MFA,mm2), occurred during the 28-day period of HS. However, run training following long-term atrophy induced by HS did not result in the high levels of frank muscle damage and type IIC fibers previously reported in slow-twitch soleus muscle following longterm (28 days) atrophy.