cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Optical properties of Aeolian dusts common to West Texas

Abstract Both recent models and historical events such as the Dust Bowl and volcanic eruptions have illustrated aerosols can play a significant role in climate change through direct and indirect optical effects. Soil dust aerosols generated by Aeolian processes represent a significant fraction of the total mass burden of atmospheric particles. Central to a better understanding of the climate effects of dust aerosols is knowledge of their optical properties. This research study utilized a dust generator and several instruments to determine certain optical properties of Aeolian dust mimics created by the Amarillo and Pullman soil types native to the panhandle of Texas, USA. Values for the mass-extinction coefficient ranged between 1.74 and 2.97 m 2 g −1 at 522 nm depending on how mass concentration was determined. Single-scatter albedo (SSA) for both soil types ranged from 0.947 to 0.980 at visible wavelengths with SSA increasing at longer wavelengths. Angstrom absorption exponents were measured as 1.73 for Pullman and 2.17 for Amarillo soil. Observed Angstrom extinction exponents were 0.110 and 0.168 for the Pullman and Amarillo soil types. The optical properties reported may be of use for optical based estimates of soil erosion and aid in understanding how regional soil dusts may alter radiative transport presently and during historical events such as the Dust Bowl era.
A novel optical flow method for myocardial deformation analysis from tagged MRI

Background Cardiac motion analysis can play an important role in diagnosis of cardiac disease. Tagged magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the ability to directly and non-invasively alter tissue magnetization and produce tag patterns on the deforming tissue [1-3]. This abstract proposes a novel optical flow method for computing the left ventricular systolic dynamics using harmonic phase (HARP) [4] images extracted from tagged MRI data.
Isolation and identification of 16alpha, 18-dihydroxydeoxycorticosterone from human adrenal gland incubations.

Abstract Incubations of 1,2- 3 H-18-hydroxydeoxycorticosterone with human adrenal glands resulted in conversion to a more highly hydroxylated material in addition to other material. By derivative formation, gas chromatography — mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the structure of this material was shown to be 16 α , 18-dihydroxydeoxycorticosterone. Possible biological activity of this compound is discussed.
Classifying Linear and Nonlinear Structural Damage Using Frequency Domain ARX Models

Structural health monitoring can be viewed as a problem in statistical pattern recognition involving operational evaluation, data cleansing, damage identification, and life prediction. In damage id...
Protein kinase C activity and reactivity to phorbol ester in vascular smooth muscle from spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY).

Abstract Protein kinase C (PKC) activity in aortic and renal arterial smooth muscle form SHR (20–23 wk male; mean arterial pressure = 178 mm Hg) and WKY (age/sex matched; mean arterial pressure = 126 mm Hg) was quantitated. Activity was greatest in the particulate fractions relative to the soluble fractions in all sources. The only difference between SHR and WKY was in the soluble fraction from SHR renal arteries, which had 2 fold more activity (255 pmol/mg/min) when compared with WKY (136 pmol/mg/min). This difference was not apparently related to force modulation, since the magnitude of isometric force development in renal arteries in response to phorbol 12, 13-dibutyrate was not different between SHR and WKY. The magnitude of force developed in response to phorbol 12, 13-dibutyrate and PKC activity in the particulate fraction was greatest in aorta vs. renal arteries in both WKY and SHR. These results suggest that regional vascular differences in the amount of PKC activity may exist which are not apparently related to a disease state (i.e., hypertension). These differences may be related to differential sensitivity to phorbol ester-mediated contractions in isolated smooth muscle.
COEXISTENCE, EXCLUSION, OR NEUTRALITY? A META-ANALYSIS OF COMPETITION BETWEEN AEDES ALBOPICTUS AND RESIDENT MOSQUITOES

Competition experiments estimating the relative effects of inter- and intraspecific competition can help to resolve whether interspecific competition results in coexistence or exclusion. For mosquitoes, most such experiments have focused on invasive Aedes albopictus and its interactions with resident Aedes. A meta-analysis of such experiments tested whether the effect of interspecific competition is greater than, less than, or equal to that of intraspecific competition, and whether competitive outcomes are dependent on food quality. For A. albopictus and A. aegypti, there was significant context dependence, with interspecific competitive advantage for A. albopictus with low food quality, and competitive equivalence with high food quality. Meta-analysis of survivorship yielded more significant effects than did estimated rate of increase. Competitive effects and competitive responses of each species yielded similar results. This meta-analysis suggests competitive exclusion of A. aegypti by A. albopictus, and is thus consistent with field sampling, qualitative reviews, and interpretations from individual publications. For A. albopictus and A. triseriatus, most results indicated competitive equivalence and no context dependence, and are thus contrary to previous qualitative reviews and to interpretations from individual publications. For both pairs of species, published results suitable for meta-analysis remain scarce, and better experimental designs and improved analysis and reporting of statistical results are needed. Greater emphasis needs to be placed on estimating species' inter- and intra-specific competitive effects, rather than the more common, but theoretically less interesting, competitive responses. Experiments without low-density controls (i.e., replacement series) are inadequate for comparing competitive effects and responses.
Vibration analysis of the zigzag micro-structure for energy harvesting

An analytical method is developed to calculate the natural frequencies and the corresponding mode shapes of a zigzag structure proposed for MEMS energy harvesting from ambient vibrations. The high natural frequencies of the existing designs of MEMS vibrational energy harvesters are serious drawbacks. A zigzag design is proposed to overcome this deficit. The governing partial differential equations are solved using separation of variables for each of the lateral beams in the structure. The vibration of each beam is related to the vibration of its neighbor beams by continuity and equilibrium conditions. Finally enforcing the boundary conditions results the corresponding eigenvalue problem revealing the natural frequencies and mode shapes. The usefulness of the design is proved by the relation between the natural frequencies and number of elements, providing a method of designing a MEMS harvester with low natural frequency.
Comparing salt appetites: Induction with intracranial hormones or dietary sodium restriction

To raise a natural sodium appetite in the laboratory requires approximately 10 days on a very low sodium diet. Most other regimens induce sodium appetite more rapidly, but also result in behavioral or physiological changes not observed in the deprivation-induced state. We compared the characteristics of need-free sodium appetite induced either by systemic aldosterone combined with an intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of angiotensin II or by a single ICV injection of renin with an appetite induced by 10 days of sodium deprivation. We measured the latency to drink water and 3% NaCl, as well as the amount of these fluids consumed at 30 min, 3 h, and 24 h. Angiotensin induced the shortest latency for both water and salt drinking, but the overall salt intake was lower. In 24 h, renin and sodium deprivation both induced about 14 ml of NaCl consumption, but the time course of the fluid intake differed for the two regimens.
A study of scattered ion charge states for Krn+-Kr collisions (n = 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

Abstract The final ionization states have been measured for Kr ions scattered to 1, 2, and 4° from Kr targets for selected incident ion energies from 0.4 to 1.4 MeV. For projectile states ranging from 1 to 5 the average final scattered charge state is observed to have only a weak dependence on the initial charge state. For example, for 1.4 MeV, 4° scattering the average final charge state for Kr + -Kr collisions is 10.2 and for Kr 5+ -Kr it is 10.3. For 0.7 MeV, 1° scattering the final charge states ranged from 4.8 to 5.3 for incident charge states from 1 to 4. It is not clear for these very heavy ion-atom collisions that existing models provide an appropriate description of the ionization processes that give rise to the observed final charge states.
FORMATION AND RECONNECTION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL CURRENT SHEETS IN THE SOLAR CORONA

Current-sheet formation and magnetic reconnection are believed to be the basic physical processes responsible for much of the activity observed in astrophysical plasmas, such as the Sun s corona. We investigate these processes for a magnetic configuration consisting of a uniform background field and an embedded line dipole, a topology that is expected to be ubiquitous in the corona. This magnetic system is driven by a uniform horizontal flow applied at the line-tied photosphere. Although both the initial field and the driver are translationally symmetric, the resulting evolution is calculated using a fully three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (3D MHD) simulation with adaptive mesh refinement that resolves the current sheet and reconnection dynamics in detail. The advantage of our approach is that it allows us to apply directly the vast body of knowledge gained from the many studies of 2D reconnection to the fully 3D case. We find that a current sheet forms in close analogy to the classic Syrovatskii 2D mechanism, but the resulting evolution is different than expected. The current sheet is globally stable, showing no evidence for a disruption or a secondary instability even for aspect ratios as high as 80:1. The global evolution generally follows the standard Sweet- Parker 2D reconnection model except for an accelerated reconnection rate at a very thin current sheet, due to the tearing instability and the formation of magnetic islands. An interesting conclusion is that despite the formation of fully 3D structures at small scales, the system remains close to 2D at global scales. We discuss the implications of our results for observations of the solar corona. Subject Headings: Sun: corona Sun: magnetic fields Sun: reconnection
Pathways from physical activity to quality of life in older women

Background In spite of consistent evidence to suggest that being more physically active is associated with enhanced quality of life (QOL), there have been remarkably few attempts to determine the possible underlying mechanisms in this relationship.
Reclassification of a tubal leiomyosarcoma as an eGIST by molecular evaluation of c-KIT

Abstract Background. Extragastrointestinal stromal tumors (eGISTs) are rare mesenchymal-derived tumors arising outside of the GI tract. eGISTs are often histologically confused with leiomyosarcoma. Distinction between eGIST and leiomyosarcoma is critical because of the unique responsiveness of eGISTs to the molecularly targeted agent imatinib. Case. A woman presented with a history of tubal spindle cell tumor that was initially diagnosed and treated as a leiomyosarcoma. Because of minimal response to sarcoma directed chemotherapy, the possibility that the tumor was in fact an eGIST was investigated and supported by immunohistochemical and mutational analyses of the c-Kit receptor tyrosine kinase. The patient currently has stable disease control on imatinib for the last 18 months. Conclusions. The possibility of eGIST should be considered in the differential diagnosis of tumors with a spindle cell morphology in the gynecologic tract especially when involving the ovary, fallopian tube, or uterine serosa.
Retinex preprocessing for improved multispectral image classification

The goal of multi-image classification is to identify and label "similar regions" within a scene. The ability to correctly classify a remotely sensed multi-image of a scene is affected by the ability of the classification process to adequately compensate for the effects of atmospheric variations and sensor anomalies. Better classification may be obtained if the multi-image is preprocessed before classification, so as to reduce the adverse effects of image formation. In this paper, we discuss the overall impact on multi-spectral image classification when the retinex image enhancement algorithm is used to preprocess multi-spectral images. The retinex is a multi-purpose image enhancement algorithm that performs dynamic range compression, reduces the dependence on lighting conditions, and generally enhances apparent spatial resolution. The retinex has been successfully applied to the enhancement of many different types of grayscale and color images. We show in this paper that retinex preprocessing improves the spatial structure of multi-spectral images and thus provides better within-class variations than would otherwise be obtained without the preprocessing. For a series of multi-spectral images obtained with diffuse and direct lighting, we show that without retinex preprocessing the class spectral signatures vary substantially with the lighting conditions. Whereas multi-dimensional clustering without preprocessing produced one-class homogeneous regions, the classification on the preprocessed images produced multi-class non-homogeneous regions. This lack of homogeneity is explained by the interaction between different agronomic treatments applied to the regions: the preprocessed images are closer to ground truth. The principle advantage that the retinex offers is that for different lighting conditions classifications derived from the retinex preprocessed images look remarkably "similar", and thus more consistent, whereas classifications derived from the original images, without preprocessing, are much less similar.
Rotation—vibration symmetry correlation in bimolecular reactions. II. Atom—polyatom systems

Abstract A previously proposed rotational—vibrational (rovibrational) correlation scheme is extended to atom—polyatom systems. Three types of reactions are demonstrate the scheme: C + BA3(C3v ⇌ C - BA3(C3v, C + BA3(D3h ⇌ C - BA3 (C3v) and C + BA2(C2v) ⇌ C-BA2(C2v). The zeroth order (unperturbed) rovibrational wavefunctions (including degenerate modes) of the reactants and products are correlated to each other by using their permutation—inversion and point group symmetries. In this correlation we assume zero intermolecular potential as well as totally symmetric electronic state with zero spin. The hypothetical reaction O(1S) + O3(1A1) ⇌ O4(1A1) is completely treated for demonstration purposes. Extension to realistic cases is discussed.
Branching Ratio of the Electronic Mode of Positive Pion Decay

A new measurement of the branching ratio (π+→e++ν)(π+→μ++ν) has been completed. A double-focussing magnetic spectrometer was used to observe the spectra of electrons emitted in π decay and in μ decay. The scintillation pulses from the pion and its decay electron were recorded on a travelling-wave oscilloscope. Timing and pulse-height measurements were used to distinguish good events from accidentals. The total number of π−e events recorded in this experiment was 1346, of which 6% were accidentals and 5% were π−μ−e contamination. The branching ratio obtained from an analysis of the data over the π−e and μ−e distributions and corrected to include all decay electrons was (1.21±0.07)×10−4. This is close to the result expected for a universal V−A interaction. Kinoshita's calculation, taking into account radiative effects, gave 1.23×10−4. Our data also gave for the mean life of π decay τπ=(25.6±0.8)×10−9 second.
Cytokines in the treatment of leishmaniasis: From studies of immunopathology to patient therapy

The genus Leishmania, an obligate intramacrophage parasite, causes a wide spectrum of clinical diseases. It is worldwide in distribution and causes 20 million new cases annually with an at risk population of approximately 1.5 billion persons. The most severe forms are associated with high morbidity, mortality and relapses with conventional therapy. The therapeutic issues and responses to standard and alternative therapies are reviewed. Recent developments in molecular biology and immunology methods employed in the study of leishmaniasis have defined an intricate interaction of the parasite with host immune system. Perturbation of the host immune responses may be part of the survival mechanisms of Leishmania. In murine model, the finding of T helper cells that differ by their panel of cytokines has allowed a more precise definition of immunopathogenesis of leishmaniasis. Preliminary data from leishmaniasis patients lend support to this concept of altered immunomodulation. Furthermore, the data from leishmaniasis patients lend support to this concept of altered enhancement of therapeutic response by interferon-gamma has provided a new approach for treatment of patients using recombinant cytokines and for the study of the disease. Current research for early diagnosis, alternative therapies and need for vaccines are reviewed in the context of the immunopathology of leishmaniasis.
Sharp L1 estimates for singular transport equations

We provide L1 estimates for a transport equation which contains singular integral operators. The form of the equation was motivated by the study of Kirchhoff�Sobolev parametrices in a Lorentzian space-time verifying the Einstein equations. While our main application is for a specific problem in General Relativity we believe that the phenomenon which our result illustrates is of a more general interest.
Chitin degradation by cellulolytic anaerobes and facultative aerobes from soils and sediments

Species of strictly and facultatively anaerobic cellulolytic bacteria from soils and sediments were examined for the ability to degrade chitin. Of 22 species studied, 16 degraded insoluble chitin. Cellulomonas uda, which was selected for a comparative study of its cellulase and chitinase enzyme systems, produced different enzyme systems for the degradation of cellulose and chitin and different patterns of regulation of production of the two enzyme systems were observed. Moreover, C. uda utilized chitin as a source of nitrogen for the degradation of cellulose. In natural environments, the ability to use chitin as a nitrogen source may confer on cellulolytic microorganisms, such as C. uda, a selective advantage over other cellulolytic microbes.
Secondary Hypertension in Overweight and Stage 1 Hypertensive Children: A Midwest Pediatric Nephrology Consortium Report

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2010;12:34–39. ©2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. According to the Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents, stage 1 hypertension is often primary in origin and associated with overweight. In contrast, stage 2 hypertension is more often secondary in origin and, hence, requires more extensive evaluation according to task force recommendations. The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate whether the presence of stage 1 hypertension in overweight pediatric patients precludes workup for secondary hypertension (SH). This study included children (5–18 years) with hypertension (defined and staged per task force recommendations) referred to 4 pediatric nephrology centers in the Midwest region. Of the 246 referred patients, 166 patients with primary hypertension (PH) and SH were included for body mass index and hypertension stage analysis. The study revealed no significant differences in the mean age at diagnosis (PH, 13.1±3.1 years; SH, 12.4±3.8 years), distribution of overweight (PH, 89.4% BMI >85th percentile; SH, 80% BMI >85th percentile), and stage 1 (PH, 45%; SH, 40%) or 2 hypertensive (PH,55%; SH, 60%) children between PH vs SH. Overweight and presence of stage 1 hypertension should not preclude evaluation for SH.
Species-Specific Morphology of Masticatory Jaw Movements

Ethology defines action patterns as relatively invariant, species-specific movement patterns. Action patterns are said to have species-specific form features, much like anatomical morphology contains species-specific form features. However, morphology exists in space, whereas movements take form in time. Thus, movements and morphology cannot be quantified in the same way. Standard methods of quantifying the spatial and temporal dimensions of animal movements are not amenable to statistical, cross-species comparative studies. This paper describes a method of quantifying masticatory jaw movements so that rigorous cross-species comparisons can be made. Results show that jaw movements contain species-specific features, many of which are not visually detectable. The results suggest that it is possible to interpret the action pattern definition literally in that masticatory jaw movements have a quantifiable form, which contains species-specific features. Furthermore, the results show that jaw movement forms appear to reflect an animal's phylogenetic history as well as its current feeding niche. Future investigations should be able to elucidate how phylogeny and dietary selection pressures interact to produce specific features of dentoskeletal morphology and masticatory movement form.
Prebreakdown Cathode Processes in Liquid Hydrocarbons

Measurements are presented of the initiation of prebreakdown streamers at a point cathode in liquid hydrocarbons. Using a computer implementation of the method of images, the electric field is computed for selected geometries to confirm that the field strengths in the vicinity of these streamers are probably high enough so that electron multiplication processes can occur. High magnification photographs of streamer initiation show that the initial streamer velocity is (2.8±0.4) x 104 cm/s in toluene.
Change in data marks and groove structures of compact recordable disks in response to a high power laser beam

Changes in data marks and groove structures are examined when a high power laser beam (>0.5 W) is focused on compact disk recordable (CD-R) data layers. Observations are recorded as a function of exposure condition and the type of dye used in the recording layer. All samples experience a decrease in the depths of data mark features and the pregroove modulations on exposure. Data marks on cyanine- and azo-dye disks become optically invisible after exposure, while data marks on phthalocyanine-dye disks remain visible, even after high-power exposure. Also, phthalocyanine-dye disks show interesting phenomena, including mixture of the dye and the substrate material during recording and contrast reversal of the marks.
Milliwatt power AlGaN‐based deep ultraviolet light emitting diodes by plasma‐assisted molecular beam epitaxy

We report the development of AlGaN-based deep ultraviolet LEDs by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. The devices were evaluated under bare-die configuration, placed outside an integrated sphere, and were found to have optical power of 1.3 mW and 1.2 mW at 300 nm and 277 nm, under pulsed driving current of 200 mA and 500 mA, respectively. The external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the 300 nm LED is 0.16% at drive current of 90 mA. These data suggest that AlGaN alloys grown by MBE under excess Ga are capable of producing deep UV-LEDs with high IQE. (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Mirror-Image Confusions: Implications for Representation and Processing of Object Orientation.

Perceiving the orientation of objects is important for interacting with the world, yet little is known about the mental representation or processing of object orientation information. The tendency of humans and other species to confuse mirror images provides a potential clue. However, the appropriate characterization of this phenomenon is not entirely clear, in part because the stimuli used in most previous studies were not adequate for distinguishing various forms of mirror-image and non-mirror-image error. In the present study we explore the nature of mirror-image confusion and what the phenomenon can reveal about object-orientation representations. We report several experiments in which participants reported the orientations of pictures. In all of the experiments mirror-reflection errors were more frequent than other orientation errors. However, whereas mirror-image confusion has previously been described as a tendency to confuse stimuli that are related by reflection across an extrinsic (usually vertical) axis, the vast majority of mirror-image errors in our experiments were reflections across an object axis. This finding calls into question several hypotheses proposed to explain mirror-image confusion. We describe a coordinate-system orientation representation (COR) hypothesis that can account for our results (McCloskey, Valtonen, & Sherman, 2006). COR assumes that orientation representations map an object-centered reference frame onto a reference frame extrinsic to the object, with this mapping specified by several parameters. According to COR, mirror-image confusions and other orientation errors arise from failures in representing or processing specific parameters. Considered in light of COR, our results suggest that orientation representations are compositional, and that object-centered reference frames play a central role in orientation representation.
The Asymmetric Cycling of U.S. Soybeans and Brazilian Coffee Prices: An Opportunity for Improved Forecasting and Understanding of Price Behavior

The behavior of agricultural commodity markets can arguably result in markedly asymmetric price cycles, that is, downward cycles of substantially different length and breadth than upward cycles. This study assesses whether asymmetric-cycle models can enhance the understanding of the dynamics and provide for a better forecasting of U.S. soybeans and Brazilian coffee prices. The forecasts from asymmetric cycle models are found to be substantially mode precise than those obtained from standard autoregressive models. The asymmetric cycle models also provide useful insights on the markedly different dynamics of the upward versus the downward cycles exhibited by the prices of these two commodities.
Linear dependencies in extended LFSMs

In this paper, the linear dependencies of extended linear finite state machines (LFSMs) used as test pattern generators (TPGs) are examined. The TPG mechanism considered is a shift register whose initial portion is configured as an LFSM. This mechanism (LFSM/SR) can be used for pseudorandom and circuit-specific pseudoexhaustive test pattern generation. A formula is presented that relates the linear dependencies that can occur among the LFSM/SR cells with the characteristic polynomial of the LFSM. Previously, such an easily computable formula had only been established for Type-1 linear feedback shift registers (LFSRs). The generalization allows the fast determination of linear dependencies for any LFSM, including in particular Type-2 LFSRs and cellular automata.
STUDIES ON THE PSITTACOSIS-LYMPHOGRANULOMA GROUP II. A NON-INFECTIOUS PHASE IN VIRUS DEVELOPMENT FOLLOWING ADSORPTION TO HOST TISSUE

The pattern of growth of meningopneumonitis virus in vitro seemed to be similar to that occurring in ovo and thus the initial stages of development, the adsorption and the latent periods, were investigated by the use of tissue culture procedures. The initial increment of infectivity in allantoic membrane suspensions following virus inoculation in ovo was due to prolonged adsorption of virus and not to immediate virus reproduction. The length of the adsorption period varied with the virus dilution employed. The reduction of virus titer in allantoic membrane suspensions subsequent to adsorption was due to a change of infectious virus to a non-infectious form and this seemed to be a part of the normal developmental cycle of the virus. The possible causes for both prolonged virus adsorption and for the subsequent development of a non-infectious form are discussed.
Antihypertensive and metabolic effects of whole Maitake mushroom powder and its fractions in two rat strains

Maitake mushroom has been reported to favorably influence hypertension and diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of whole Maitake mushroom powder and two extracts designated as ether soluble (ES) and water soluble (WS) on Zucker fatty rats (ZFR), a model of insulin resistance, and on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), a model of genetic hypertension. In the initial study, we followed four groups of eight ZFR and SHR receiving special diets: a baseline diet (BD), BD + whole Maitake mushroom powder (20% w/w), BD + fraction ES (0.10% w/w), and BD + WS (0.22% w/w). Different effects of these dietary regimens on the 2 rat strains were found. At 35 days, only consumption of the ES diet significantly decreased systolic BP (SBP) in SHR (average 197 vs. 176 mm Hg, p < 0.001), while in ZFR only the groups consuming the whole Maitake and WS diets showed significantly decreased SBP (138 vs. 120-125 mm Hg, p < 0.001). A challenge test with losartan (an angiotensin II receptor blocker) indicates that angiotensin II does not play a major role in SBP regulation of ZFR, but does in SHR where consumption of ES relative to other groups significantly lowered activity of this system. In SHR, glucose, cholesterol, circulating insulin and HbA1C were virtually similar among all dietary groups; but whole Maitake (-22%), ES (-120%) and WS (-80%) diets were associated with decreased triglycerides, and the ES diet with lowered serum creatinine (-29%). In ZFR, circulating insulin and HbA1C were significantly decreased in the whole Maitake powder and ES groups, and tended to be lower in the WS group compared to control. In the ensuing studies, we gavaged ZFR once daily with water (control), 44 mg fraction WS, or 44 mg fraction WS plus 100 microg niacin-bound chromium (NBC). Oral gavage of WS clearly lowered SBP and circulating glucose concentrations, more so with the addition of chromium. We conclude that the examined forms of Maitake mushroom have antihypertensive and antidiabetic potential which differ among rat strains. The ES fraction may decrease SBP in SHR via alteration in the renin-angiotensin system.
Toward a dynamic model of deposition and utilization of yolk steroids

The discovery by Schwabl that maternal steroid hormones are transferred to the egg yolk and have effects on the phenotype of offspring revealed a new pathway for non-genetic maternal effects. The initial model relied on passive transfer. The thinking was that steroids passively entered the lipophillic yolk during yolk deposition and then were deposited in the yolk until they were passively delivered to the embryo as the yolk was used. Subsequent studies revealed that the system is much more dynamic than that. Here, we explore questions about how dynamic the system really is and look at questions like: Is transfer of maternal steroids to the yolk passive or is it actively regulated? At what stages of the maternal reproductive cycle are steroids transferred? During reproduction, how dynamic are the levels of yolk steroids? Especially in the case of potentially deleterious steroids (e.g., androgens in female offspring; glucocorticoids), once deposited can they come out of the yolk over time? Can they be metabolized by the yolk or by the embryo? During incubation, how much do steroid levels in the yolk change? Can steroids diffuse from the yolk to the embryo prior to yolk utilization? Does the embryo contribute to yolk steroid levels as it develops? We believe that comprehensive answers to questions like these will eventually allow us to generate a much more accurate and complete model of the transfer and utilization of yolk steroids and that this model will be much more dynamic and active than the one initially proposed.
Ethical aspects of the mitigation obstruction argument against climate engineering research

Many commentators fear that climate engineering research might lead policy-makers to reduce mitigation efforts. Most of the literature on this so-called ‘moral hazard’ problem focuses on the prediction that climate engineering research would reduce mitigation efforts. This paper focuses on a related ethical question: Why would it be a bad thing if climate engineering research obstructed mitigation? If climate engineering promises to be effective enough, it might justify some reduction in mitigation. Climate policy portfolios involving sufficiently large or poorly planned reductions in mitigation, however, could lead to an outcome that would be worse than the portfolio that would be chosen in the absence of further climate engineering research. This paper applies three ethical perspectives to describe the kinds of portfolios that would be worse than that ‘baseline portfolio’. The literature on climate engineering identifies various mechanisms that might cause policy-makers to choose these inferior portfolios, but it is difficult to know in advance whether the existence of these mechanisms means that climate engineering research really would lead to a worse outcome. In the light of that uncertainty, a precautionary approach suggests that researchers should take measures to reduce the risk of mitigation obstruction. Several such measures are suggested.
Experience with turn insulation failures in large 13.2 kV synchronous motors

Experience of dealing with a very high rate of failures in a population of 21000 HP motors is recounted. Special testing done to identify the failure mechanism and the conclusions that were drawn are described. Various recommendations to prevent premature winding failures proved ineffective. It is shown how an engineering analysis indicated that the accepted view of the failure mechanism was untenable. A theory of partial discharge in the end turn of the stator winding that is compatible with all known facts is proposed. >
Phylogenetic analysis of culturable dimethyl sulfide-producing bacteria from a Spartina-dominated salt marsh and estuarine water

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS)-producing bacteria play an important but as yet unquantified role in the biogenic transfer of sulfur from the ocean to the atmosphere (2, 25, 30). DMS production results from the enzymatic degradation of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) (9, 28, 43), an osmoprotectant (13, 14, 22, 47) produced and stored by marine phytoplankton, macroalgae, cyanobacteria, and coastal vascular plants (e.g., Spartina alterniflora) (7, 8, 23, 38, 50). When these organisms senesce and decay or phytoplankton are grazed upon by zooplankton, the intracellular DMSP is released into the water column or sediment (9, 35, 53), where it can be used as a carbon and energy source for the bacterial community (25, 49). The enzymatic degradation of DMSP to DMS and acrylate has been observed in marine and estuarine bacteria (11, 25, 31), fungi (4), and algae (6, 22, 41). The enzyme responsible, DMSP lyase, has been purified from several marine bacteria (11, 12, 48). Understanding the factors controlling DMS production in the marine environment relies on knowing the abundance, phenotypic diversity, and physiology of the microbes involved in this process. As there is not a functional probe available to quantitate and identify DMS-producing microbes in environmental samples, studies of DMS production have been limited to isolation and characterization of DMS-producing strains (11, 17, 21, 25, 31, 48, 52). The limitations in culturing marine bacteria have long been known (see reference 36), so it is probable that only a small percentage of DMS producers have been isolated. In recent studies of the diversity of DMS-producing bacteria from oceanic and estuarine waters it was found that all the isolates belonging to the Roseobacter subgroup of the α subdivision of the Proteobacteria were DMS producers (17, 31). Since the Roseobacter group accounted for almost 30% of the 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) in coastal and estuarine water (19), it suggested that this group of DMS-producing bacteria is quite common in the marine environment (17). However, other DMS-producing phylotypes from the marine environment belonging to the β (11), γ (21, 31), and δ (48) subdivisions of the Proteobacteria have also been identified, but their prominence remains unknown. S. alterniflora-dominated salt marshes represent another marine ecosystem where DMS production occurs. In fact the rates per unit area of salt marsh are much higher than those of coastal and ocean water (42) and may support a unique assemblage of DMS producers. The focus of this research was to assess the phenotypic and phylogenetic diversity of DMS-producing bacteria from the marsh and adjacent estuarine waters. The culturable DMS producers from these sources obtained by plating dilutions on minimal DMSP medium as described below belonged predominantly to the γ subdivision and, to a lesser extent, the α subdivision of Proteobacteria.
Some recent advances in the process world view

We discuss a modification of the process world view, a graphical modeling representation language for the modified process world view called control flow graphs (CFGs), an extension to CFGs called hierarchical control flow graph (HCFG) models, and a simulation system that uses HCFG Models called HiMASS.
Obesity and Related Health Behaviors Among Urban and Rural Children in the United States: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003–2004 and 2005–2006

Objective To assess rates of overweight/obesity and related health behaviors among rural and urban children using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Methods Data were drawn from the 2003–2004 and 2005–2006 NHANES surveys regarding demographic characteristics, weight status, dietary behaviors and physical activity behaviors. Results Significantly more rural children were found to be obese than urban children. Health behavior differences to explain this differential obesity rate were primarily not significant, but multivariate analyses indicate that for rural children meeting physical activity recommendations is protective and engaging in more than 2 hr/day of electronic entertainment promotes obesity. Conclusions There are modifiable health behavior differences between rural and urban children which may account for the significantly higher obesity rates among rural children.
The Effect of Papain Preparations on Beef Skeletal Muscle Proteinsa

SUMMARY The results reported here represent a preliminary study of the action of papain on the proteins of beef skeletal muscle. Suspensions of protein preparations which had been isolated from beef semitendinosus muscle were incubated with both crystalline papain and a commercial enzyme preparation. Analyses of ultrafiltrates of the enzyme digests indicated that all of the skeletal muscle protein fractions studied were affected by papain to some extent. Under the experimental conditions employed, the intracellular proteins were affected less by the commercial “meat tenderizer” than by crystalline papain. However, the effect of the two enzyme preparations on the connective tissue fractions was comparable. Papain appeared to affect mucoprotein and collagen more than the other skeletal muscle proteins. Incubation with papain markedly lowered the viscosity of the mucoprotein preparation. Collagen suspensions were converted to thick gels by the action of papain. These observations and the results of ultrafiltrate analyses suggest that the tenderizing effect of papain may be due at least in part to the breakdown of connective tissue.
The structure of medical informatics. Sponsored by SIG MED

This panel program discusses the nature of medical informatics as an information discipline: what constitutes Medical Informatics, how does it related to other disciplines, and what educational requirements do its information works face? Presenters are among the foremost researchers and spokespersons for the field.
A Neoliberal Nationalization?: The Constraints on Natural-Gas-Led Development in Bolivia

Moving from a neoliberal ideological testing ground to part of the purported new wave of Latin American socialism, the current Bolivian state has attempted to exercise greater control over its numb...
Unusual Presentation of Acute Renal Failure From Obstructive Uropathy

It is unusual to find a bladder diverticulum in a female and rare that it would lead to acute renal failure. We report on an 84-year-old woman who presented with renal failure due to obstructive uropathy secondary to a massive bladder diverticulum. CASE REPORT An 84-year-old woman presented with a 2-month history of progressive lower extremity edema, which did not improve with diuretics. She complained of shortness of breath on exertion but denied orthopnea or paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. She had lost 30 lb. of body weight during the previous 4 months, which she attributed to decreased appetite due to chronic nausea. The patient described progressive urinary frequency and a sensation of incomplete bladder emptying. Clinically, the patient had a large abdominal and suprapubic mass superior and posterior to the bladder occupying 75% of the pelvis. Laboratory results were significant for anemia and an increased creatinine level of 6.0 mg./dl. (normal 0.8 to 1.2). Further workup revealed a large heterogeneous mass in the midline pelvis measuring 16 12.3 cm. and thought to be of ovarian origin. Bilateral hydronephrosis was noted on renal ultrasound. On computerized tomography (CT) the mass measured 16 12.3 cm. and appeared to be of ovarian origin (fig. 1). The patient underwent cystoscopy and retrograde pyelography. The bladder was heavily trabeculated with multiple cellules and a diverticulum located in the left lateral bladder floor (fig. 2). Marked lateral deviation of the distal right ureter with contrast medium filling approximately the lower third of the ureter was noted. Due to the mass and vesicoureteral distortion, retrograde access to the upper tracts
Seismic AVO analysis of methane hydrate structures

Marine seismic data from the Blake Outer Ridge offshore Florida show strong “bottom simulating reflections” (BSR) associated with methane hydrate occurence in deep marine sediments. We use a detailed amplitude versus offset (AVO) analysis of these data to explore the validity of models which might explain the origin of the bottom simulating reflector. After careful preprocessing steps, we determine a BSR model which can successfully reproduce the observed AVO responses. The P- and S-velocity behavior predicted by the forward modeling is further investigated by estimating the P- and S-impedance contrasts at all subsurface positions. Our results indicate that the Blake Outer Ridge BSR is compatible with a model of methane hydrate in sediment, overlaying a layer of free methane gas-saturated sediment. The hydrate-bearing sediments seem to be characterized by a high P-wave velocity of approximately 2.5 km/s, an anomalously low S-wave velocity of approximately 0.5 km/s, and a thickness of around 190 meters. The underlaying gas-saturated sediments have a P-wave velocity of 1.6 km/s, an S-wave velocity of 1.1 km/s, and a thickness of approximately 250 meters.
Skeletal expansion by gradual intraoral distraction osteogenesis for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea

Distraction osteogenesis has been widely applied in maxillofacial surgery for the treatment of skeletal deformities. Distraction osteogenesis can also be applied in sleep apnea surgery to improve airway obstruction by expanding the maxillofacial skeleton. This article describes the techniques currently used by the primary author for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea in select patients.
Anisotropic geodesic distance computation for parametric surfaces

The distribution of geometric features is anisotropic by its nature. Intrinsic properties of surfaces such as normal curvatures, for example, varies with direction. In this paper this characteristic of a shape is used to create a new anisotropic geodesic (AG) distance map on parametric surfaces. We first define local distance (LD) from a point as a function of both the surface point and a unit direction in its tangent plane and then define a total distance as an integral of that local distance. The AG distance between points on the surface is then defined as their minimum total distance. The path between the points that attains the minimum is called the anisotropic geodesic path. This differs from the usual geodesic in ways that enable it to better reveal geometric features. Minimizing total distances to attain AG distance is performed by associating the LD function with the tensor speed function that controls wave propagation of the convex Hamilton-Jacobi (H-J) equation solver. We present two different, but related metrics for the local distance function, a curvature tensor and a difference curvature tensor. Each creates a different AG distance. Some properties of both new AG distance maps are presented, including parametrization invariance. We then demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed geodesic map as a shape discriminator in several applications, including surface segmentation and partial shape matching.
Effects of pistachios on the lipid/lipoprotein profile, glycemic control, inflammation, and endothelial function in type 2 diabetes: A randomized trial

Abstract Objective The health benefits of regular nut consumption have been well-documented; however, effects on cardiovascular risk in diabetes are emerging. This study examined the effects of daily pistachio consumption on the lipid/lipoprotein profile, glycemic control, markers of inflammation, and endothelial function in adults with type 2 diabetes. Materials/Methods We enrolled 30 adults (40–74 years) with well-controlled type 2 diabetes (mean glycated hemoglobin 6.2%) in a randomized, crossover, controlled feeding study. After a 2-week run-in period, participants consumed nutritionally-adequate diets with pistachios (contributing 20% of total energy) or without pistachios for 4 weeks each, separated by a 2-week washout. We assessed fasting lipids/lipoproteins, glycemic measures (while fasted and during a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test), inflammatory markers, and endothelial function after each diet period. Results Total cholesterol and the ratio of total to HDL cholesterol were significantly lower (p Conclusion Daily pistachio consumption can improve some cardiometabolic risk factors in adults with well-controlled type 2 diabetes. Our findings support recommendations that individuals with diabetes follow healthy dietary patterns that include nuts.
Media and Message Effects on DTC Prescription Drug Print Advertising Awareness

Despite various surveys of consumer attitudes toward direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising, little is known about the effectiveness of specific advertising campaigns. This article combines brand-level advertising awareness media spending, and print advertising message strategy data to examine message effects on DTC prescription drug advertising awareness. The findings show that after controlling for media spending, several message strategies are associated with higher levels of advertising awareness. Prescriptions for DTC drug advertising campaign design and implications for future research are presented.