cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Organotherapy, British physiology, and discovery of the internal secretions.

In April 1891, the French physiologist and neurologist C.-E. BrownSequard (1817-1894) and his assistant Arsene d'Arsonval (1851-1940) suggested to the Society of Biology at Paris that potent substances, which they called "internal secretions," ought to exist in animal tissues, and that disease probably resulted from their lack. Brown-Sequard and d'Arsonval proposed to their colleagues that one might discover these substances by using extracts of specific tissues to treat certain diseases. They argued that if a given condition could be successfully treated by the use of an extract, it was very likely that the condition was caused by inadequate production of an internal secretion. In a brief note, they outlined a program of experimental therapy to search for these substances.I Organotherapy, as this form of therapy came to be called, had originated two years earlier in Brown-Sequard's rejuvenation studies. At a similar meeting of the Society of Biology, Brown-S6quard had argued that the testes probably produced a "dynamogenic" substance which mnight be extracted from the testicles of animals and injected into aging or debilitated individuals to restore their strength. Brown-Sequard based the arguments for pursuing these experiments on commonly accepted assumptions about human sexuality. For example, it was widely held that loss of semen resulted in the loss of strength, and that the practice of masturbation led to debility. Brown-S6quard argued that retention of semen ought to lead to increased strength and vigor. Further, he suggested that the testes produced some substance which was nutritive to the nerves, and which might be extracted. In the light of these arguments, many physicians were willing to test his ideas, and "Brown-S6quard's fluid" came to be employed in the treatment of a
Huffman's algorithm via algebra

Abstract : The well known algorithm of David A. Huffman for finding minimum redundancy codes has found many diverse applications, and in recent years it has been extended in a variety of ways. The purpose of this note is to discuss simple algebraic approach that seems to fit essentially all of the applications of Huffman's method that are presently known. (Author)
Semantic mining on customer survey

Business intelligence aims to support better business decision-making. Customer survey is priceless asset for intelligent business decision-making. However, business analysts usually have to read hundreds of textual comments and tabular data in survey to manually dig out the necessary information to feed business intelligence models and tools. This paper introduces a business intelligence system to solve this problem by extensively utilizing Semantic Web technologies. Ontology based knowledge extraction is the key to extract interesting terms and understand the logic concept of them. All knowledge extracted forms a semantic knowledge base. Flexible user queries and intelligent analysis can be easily issued to the system over the semantic data store through standard protocol. Besides resolving problems in theory, we designed a flexible, intuitive user interaction interface to explain and present the analysis result for business analysts. Through the real usage of this system, it is validated that our system gives good solution for semantic mining on customer survey for business intelligence.
Perspectives on the validity of self-reported alcohol use.

Summary The purpose of this paper is to explore the search for an answer to the question “are self-reports of alcohol consumption valid?” and the concurrent denial by most alcohol researchers, that over-reporting of alcohol may be a possibility. Researchers have tended to ask this question with the inherent assumption that there is an absolute answer. The truth, however, is unlikely to be so neat or so simple.
Efficient stream authentication in secure wireless multimedia space networks: The source-authentication-protocol optimality

Resource constrained secure deep space Inter-Planetary Multimedia Networks (IPMNs) gathering various planetary sensor information have high requirements for energy-efficient transmission, error-resilient multimedia coding and robust content authentication. However, the joint exploration of Intra-Inter video coding versatility in signal processing domain, Signature-Hash diversity in information security domain and Forward Channel Correction (FEC) channel coding application in network protocol domain has largely been ignored in literature. In this paper, we propose a new Source-Authentication-Protocol (SAP) framework to provide multimedia service quality, communication overhead efficiency and multimedia content integrity simultaneously. To provide robust video authentication while keeping bandwidth resource constraints, a novel SAP based network resource allocation scheme is proposed to improve energy efficiency and communication resource utilization in IPMN by jointly exploring the diversities in the source, the authentication and the protocol categories. Results based on simulation studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed SAP scheme in achieving resource efficiency, video quality and authentication robustness, simultaneously.
Coronary arteriography. A study of 100 cases with angiographically proved coronary artery disease.

We have analyzed the angiographic and electrocardiographic data of 100 patients with clinical diagnosis of coronary artery disease, in all of whom coronary obstructive atherosclerotic involvement could be demonstrated by cine coronary arteriography. The presence of disease has been classified according to the documented reduction of lumen diameter: from first degree lesion, when only a barely appreciable irregularity was observed, to fifth degree lesion when there was complete occlusion of the vessel. Second, third and fourth degree lesions were respectively those showing 50, 75 and 90 per cent reduction of lumen diameter. The right coronary artery appeared more frequently involved than the other two main trunks. Only 27 patients (46 per cent) with complete occlusions presented electrocardiograms indicating a transmural necrosis, whereas in nine cases (16 per cent) the tracings were considered normal. The electrocardiogram appeared to underestimate the severity and widespread nature of the disease, when compared to the data obtained with coronary arteriography.
Regulation of phospholipase D by protein kinase C

In nearly all mammalian cells and tissues examined, protein kinase C (PKC) has been shown to serve as a major regulator of a phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase D (PLD) activity. At least 12 distinct isoforms of PKC have been described so far; of these enzymes only the alpha- and beta-isoforms were found to regulate PLD activity. While the mechanism of this regulation has remained unknown, available evidence suggests that both phosphorylating and non-phosphorylating mechanisms may be involved. A phosphatidylcholine-specific PLD activity was recently purified from pig lung, but its possible regulation by PKC has not been reported yet. Several cell types and tissues appear to express additional forms of PLD which can hydrolyze either phosphatidylethanolamine or phosphatidylinositol. It has also been reported that at least one form of PLD can be activated by oncogenes, but not by PKC activators. Similar to activated PKC, some of the primary and secondary products of PLD-mediated phospholipid hydrolysis, including phosphatidic acid, 1,2-diacylglycerol, choline phosphate and ethanolamine, also exhibit mitogenic/co-mitogenic effects in cultured cells. Furthermore, both the PLD and PKC systems have been implicated in the regulation of vesicle transport and exocytosis. Recently the PLD enzyme has been cloned and the tools of molecular biology to study its biological roles will soon be available. Using specific inhibitors of growth regulating signals and vesicle transport, so far no convincing evidence has been reported to support the role of PLD in the mediation of any of the above cellular effects of activated PKC.
Overview Of Optical Manufacturing Methods

There are two classes of optical manufacturing methods: (1) the traditional grind and polish method that leads to an original optical element and (2) replication techniques that yield identical copies of a master. The various process steps in the two approaches are described to illustrate the fundamental differences in the methods. An understanding of these processes often is helpful for selecting the most appropriate manufacturing method.© (1982) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Spontaneous or controlled: Overall structural organization of political phone-ins in two countries and their relations to societal norms

Abstract This study describes the differing overall structural organization of political radio phone-in interactions in Israel and the USA. The American phone-in is highly organized, tightly controlled by the host, who knows and introduces the caller at the opening, and closes the interaction unilaterally. In the Israeli phone-in, the opening resembles the mundane phone call: the call-taker acts as if he responds to a summons, there are greeting sequences, and the caller has the task of self-identification, since hosts do not know with whom they talk. Closings in Israel are negotiated and include pre-closings and closing sequences. Unlike the US structure, the Israeli structure promotes non-hierarchical institutional relations between participants, akin to mundane relations, often taken as relations between equals. The conclusion connects the overall structural organizations with the communication patterns in each society, suggesting phone-ins are one site that resonates and recreates societal norms.
Health burden in chronic disease: multimorbidity is associated with self-rated health more than medical comorbidity alone.

Abstract Objectives To investigate the association between multimorbidity—a construct comprising several health domains (medical comorbidity, musculoskeletal, physical and social functional status, mental health, and geriatric problems)—and overall self-rated health (SRH), an important chronic disease health outcome. We investigate whether medical comorbidity effects are mediated through other health domains and whether these domains have independent effects on SRH. Study Design and Setting Medicare recipients (n = 958) completed a questionnaire 3 years post primary total hip replacement surgery. Self-reported sociodemographic characteristics, SRH, and health domain statuses were ascertained. Probit regressions and path analyses were used to evaluate the independent effects of the health domains on SRH and the interrelationships between domains and to quantify direct and mediated effects. Results All domains were independently associated with SRH. Medical comorbidity explained 11.7% of the variance in SRH, and all other health domains explained 27.3%. The impact of medical comorbidity was largely direct (only 21.5% mediated through other domains). Medical comorbidity minimally explained the variance in other domain scores. Conclusion SRH has multiple determinants. This finding suggests that an exclusive focus on any one domain in health research may limit the researchers' ability to understand health outcomes for which SRH is predictive.
New frontiers in human cell biology and medicine: Can pluripotent stem cells deliver?

Human pluripotent stem cells provide enormous opportunities to treat disease using cell therapy. But human stem cells can also drive biomedical and cell biological discoveries in a human model system, which can be directly linked to understanding disease or developing new therapies. Finally, rigorous scientific studies of these cells can and should inform the many science and medical policy issues that confront the translation of these technologies to medicine. In this paper, I discuss these issues using amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as an example.
Hormone-induced changes in liver DNA synthesis: effects of glucocorticoids and growth hormone on liver growth and DNA polymerase activity.

The administration of glucocorticoid hormone to rapidly growing weanling rats results in a virtually complete inhibition of liver DNA synthesis. It is shown that upon cessation of treatment not only is there a prompt resumption of liver DNA synthesis, but that synthesis actually proceeds at a rate greatly exceeding that in control animals. The burst of new DNA synthesis which follows the release of the cortisone-induced inhibition represents an approximate doubling of the normal rate of synthesis and continues until the DNA content of the livers of the steroid-treated animals reaches that of the untreated controls. The demonstration that cessation of steroid treatment is followed not only by a period of rapid body weight gain but by a genuine acceleration of hyperplasia as well substantiates the earlier but hitherto unproven concept of post-steroid “catch-up” growth. A detailed comparison of the sequence of changes in liver DNA synthesis with that of changes in liver DNA polymerase activity makes it unlik...
Spontaneous expression of murine endogenous viruses in hamster X mouse hybrid cells

The spontaneous expression patterns of murine leukemia virus (MuLV) from mouse spleen cultures and hamster × mouse spleen hybrid cells were compared. The hybrid cells preferentially segregated mouse while retaining a complete set of hamster chromosomes. Virus expression patterns showed considerable mouse strain differences in both parental and hybrid cells. None of 13 BALB/c spleen cultures expressed virus while 6 of 20 hybrid clones expressed N-tropic or N-tropic and X-tropic viruses. All AKR spleen cultures and 5 of 7 hybrids expressed N-tropic but not X-tropic virus. X-tropic virus expression was detected in all 6 NZB spleen cultures and in 5 of 8 hybrids. Virus expression did not occur in NIH Swiss or NIH Swiss/Nude (nu/nu) spleen or hybrid cultures. A major structural locus (Akv-1) for N-tropic virus expression has been assigned to chromosome 7 in AKR mice by recombi-national genetics and is closely linked to the gene for glucose phosphate isomerase (Gpi-1). Analysis of AKR hybrids confirmed the requirement of chromosome 7 for initial expression of mouse N-tropic virus and, in addition, excluded the role of all other mouse chromosomes in this phenomenon. Eighteen of 20 BALB/c clones retained chromosome 7, including 6 virus-positive clones, suggesting that chromosome 7 may be necessary but is not sufficient for N-tropic virus expression in this strain. Hybrid clones with examples of asynteny were found for all other chromosomes. Long-term passage and sub-cloning studies of AKR and BALB/c virus-positive hybrids indicated that virus-positive clones segregated independently of chromosome 7 markers. Spontaneous expression of X-tropic virus in NZB hybrid clones was syntenic with the gene for-enylate kinase (Ak-1) which is assigned to chromosome 2. A relatively small number of NZB hybrid clones were studied and, a firm gene assignment cannot be made, because only one discordant clone each was found for chromosomes 1, 3, 10, 19. Our studies indicate that spontaneous expression of MuLV strains does not require the following MuLV-related genes: Fv-1 (chromosome 4), Fv-2 (chromosome 9), Rec-1 (replication of ecotropic virus, chromosome 5), Gv-1 and H-2 (chromosome 17).
A “parallel plate” electrostatic model for bimolecular rate constants applied to electron transfer proteins

A "parallel plate" model describing the electrostatic potential energy of protein-protein interactions is presented that provides an analytical representation of the effect of ionic strength on a biomolecular rate constant. The model takes into account the asymmetric distribution of charge on the surface of the protein and localized charges at the site of electron transfer that are modeled as elements of a parallel plate condenser. Both monopolar and dipolar interactions are included. Examples of simple (monophasic) and complex (biphasic) ionic strength dependencies obtained from experiments with several electron transfer protein systems are presented, all of which can be accommodated by the model. The simple cases do not require the use of both monopolar and dipolar terms (i.e., they can be fit well by either alone). The biphasic dependencies can be fit only by using dipolar and monopolar terms of opposite sign, which is physically unreasonable for the molecules considered. Alternatively, the high ionic strength portion of the complex dependencies can be fit using either the monopolar term alone or the complete equation; this assumes a model in which such behavior is a consequence of electron transfer mechanisms involving changes in orientation or site of reaction as the ionic strength is varied. Based on these analyses, we conclude that the principal applications of the model presented here are to provide information about the structural properties of intermediate electron transfer complexes and to quantify comparisons between related proteins or site-specific mutants. We also conclude that the relative contributions of monopolar and dipolar effects to protein electron transfer kinetics cannot be evaluated from experimental data by present approximations.
A high pressure thermogravimetry-magnetic susceptibility apparatus

Abstract An apparatus is described in which the thermogravimetry and magnetic susceptibility of a compound can be obtained at pressures from I to 68 atm. Application of the apparatus to the thermal reduction of the cobalt(III) ion in K 3 [Co- (C 2 O 4 ) 3 ]·3H 2 O at various elevated pressures is discussed.
Mouse LV 3D motion and strain analysis using tagged MRI

This paper presents a framework to reconstruct mouse left ventricular motion based on tagged MRI using nonlinear Laplacian deformable models, which perform better in terms of accuracy and efficiency. Based on the deformation results, we analyze the LV 3D motion and strain of the myocardial wall to depict the contractile function of the heart. In our framework, the 2D tagging lines are extracted using active contour models. The 3D control points are then generated from the intersections of the tagging lines, and a 3D meshless model is built based on the sparse 2D contours. Finally, the initial model is driven to deform by the control points using 3D meshless deformable model with nonlinear Laplacian kernel. This method is validated using the in vivo MRI tagging data from the mouse heart. The results show that the proposed method effectively quantifies the myocardial strain distribution of the LV model in 3D, which has the potential to increase accuracy in detecting various kinds of heart diseases.
Interaction of myasthenic serum globulin with the acetylcholine receptor.

Abstract A serum factor from patients with myasthenia gravis which inhibited the binding of 125 I-labeled α-bungarotoxin to acetylcholine receptor extracted with Triton X100 from rat muscle has been studied in detail. The inhibitory activity was localized to the IgG fraction based upon the fractionations by sodium sulfate precipitation and DEAE chromatography as well as reaction with anti-IgG globulin. The myasthenic globulin inhibited toxin binding to receptors extracted from degenerated muscle but did not inhibit toxin binding to normal junctional receptors. At saturation levels of myasthenic globulin, the number of denervated acetylcholine receptors available for toxin binding was reduced approx. 50%. The myastehnic globulin was found to bind to denervated acetylcholine receptors but not to normal acetylcholine receptors by a radioimmunoassay technique in which myasthenic globulin incubated with 125 I-labeled α-bungarotoxin-receptor complexes was precipitated by anti-IgG serum. The globulin binding was saturable over the same range as inhibition of toxin binding. The data suggest that the myasthenic IgC binds to a site on the receptor complex juxtaposed to the acetylcholine receptor site. The myasthenic globulin appears to be a useful probe for investigating differences between acetylcholine receptors extracted from normal and denervated muscle and for investigating the pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis.
Physics and the method of coincidences

Abstract In Part I the Physical Scale and the Coincidences are redefined. Emphasis is laid on the three following properties of the Scale: (1) the dimensional property, B; (2) the ordinal scale-mark property n; and (3) the estimate or uncertainty ϵ. The transformation (in finite differences) between amorphous space and metered space is given by ϵ = nB + ϵ, where ϵ is a coordinate in amorphous space. In Part II the transcription of pre-relativity mechanics in view of ϵ = nB + ϵ is indicated. Analogues for the transformation of coordinates and total differentials in amorphous (coordinate) space are given in metered space. A relative scale quantum B0common to a group of scales (used for allocating a set of points) is emphasized. In part III the notion of a common scale quantum is introduced in the spacetime continuum, which gives rise to the concept of an algorithmic spacetime scale. The three quantities characterizing this spacetime phase scale are: (1) the absolute kinematical quantum B; (2) the ordinal number n which is to be identified with an absolute quantum number and (3) the estimate ϵ. Throughout emphasis is laid on the ordinal property of coincidences with their associated ordinal integers, in the formulation of kinematical (and dynamical) laws. It is suggested that to bring out quantum and uncertainty effects, relative or absolute, the three kinematical elements n, B, and ϵ, are to replace the space and time coordinates in current use.
Hyperarticulation as a signal of stance

Abstract This study analyzes an episode of a televised political talk show for evidence that speakers hyperarticulate concepts about which they express stances, a use of hyperarticulation that interacts with the discourse function of signaling new information. Using content analysis, utterances were coded on two dimensions: Evaluation (presence or absence of stance-expression) and Novelty (new or given information). To compare the resulting groups, four measures indicating hyperarticulation were used: speech rate of phrases, and the duration, pitch, and vowel space expansion (first and second formant values) of stressed vowels in the phrases. Group results showed significant effects for both Evaluation and Novelty, and an interaction between them. Stance-expressing items were hyperarticulated compared to a control group of neutral phrases, and within each group, new information was hyperarticulated compared to given information. Speech rate showed these effects most reliably, with vowel duration showing effects for Evaluation. Vowel space expansion showed the same patterns without statistical significance; pitch was not a reliable indicator. These findings provide acoustic correlates to stance-expression, which have not been extensively investigated previously and which can be applied in future work on the identification of specific types of stance.
A new Ultra-Low Energy Consumption Communication Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

In any Wireless Sensor Network, the principal operation is the data acquisition by remote wireless sensor nodes, and data reporting through multi-hop communication to a central hub. In this paper, we designed a communication protocol, Ultra-Low Energy Consumption Communication Protocol (ULECCP), especially for data acquisition applications exhibiting very stringent power constraints and relatively large observation intervals. Our new communication protocol has two significant contributions compared to existing protocols: 1) to provide full functionality at a 1/1000 duty cycle in order to maintain ultra-low energy consumption. 2) to provide routing functionality for the data reporting with virtually no additional energy consumption. For evaluation of its performance, we implemented ULECCP on a Texas Instruments eZ430-RF2500 platform. The experimental result showed a packet success rate of 97% in an 8-hop chain topology, and over 99% packet success rate in a 1-hop star topology.
Sampling of microbial diversity by complete genomes

As has happened several times before, the majority ofcomplete microbial genomes that appeared in GenBankin the past 2 months have been sequenced at the USDepartment of Energy Joint Genome Institute (JGI) andreleased to the public without a formal publication(Table 1). This time the situation is even more curious thanever: the genome of Acidobacteria bacterium Ellin345, theﬁrst complete genome of a representative of the phylumAcidobacteria and arguably the most interesting one in thecurrent collection, has been sequenced and released with-out any description of the source organism. Aside fromthe cultivation procedure for this isolate from the soil coreof an Australian pasture (Sait
Lack of effect of fetal administration of cocaine on maternal and fetal plasma adrenocorticotropin, cortisol and lactate concentrations at 127-138 days gestational age.

Few in vivo studies have attempted to characterize the effects of cocaine on the maternal and fetal pituitary-adrenal axis during pregnancy. We, therefore, administered cocaine (2 mg·kg-1
Experience with nontreatment of central serous choroidopathy.

Data are presented from 27 patients (34 eyes) with central serous choroidopathy who were followed up for an average of 23 months without therapeutic intervention. The detachment completely resolved in all cases. The average duration of detachment was three months. In all eyes, the visual acuity returned to 20/40 or better, and in all but two eyes, the final visual acuity was 20/30 or better. Central serous choroidopathy is essentially a benign and self-limited disorder, and treatment by photocoagulation is seldom needed.
Computing Origami Universal Molecules with Cyclic Tournament Forests

Lang's "universal molecule" algorithm solves a variant of the origami design problem. It takes as input a metric tree and a convex polygonal region (the "paper") having a certain metric relationship with the tree. It computes a crease- pattern which allows for the paper to "fold" to a uniaxial base, which is a 3-dimensional shape projecting onto the given tree. Lang's universal molecule algorithm runs in cubic time and quadratic space. We investigate two implementations which improve the running time to sub-cubic time. The first uses a cyclic tournament forest, a new data structure which extends kinetic tournament trees to allow for cycle splitting operations, and the second uses a priority queue to store events.
Carbonyl emissions from gasoline and diesel motor vehicles.

Carbonyls from gasoline powered light-duty vehicles (LDVs) and heavy-duty diesel powered vehicles (HDDVs) operated on chassis dynamometers were measured using an annular denuder-quartz filter-polyurethane foam sampler with O-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine derivatization and chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses. Two internal standards were utilized based on carbonyl recovery, 4-fluorobenzaldehyde for _C8 compounds. Gas- and particle-phase emissions for 39 aliphatic and 20 aromatic carbonyls ranged from 0.1 ? 2000 ?g/L fuel for LDVs and 1.8 - 27000 mu g/L fuel for HDDVs. Gas-phase species accounted for 81-95percent of the total carbonyls from LDVs and 86-88percent from HDDVs. Particulate carbonyls emitted from a HDDV under realistic driving conditions were similar to concentrations measured in a diesel particulate matter (PM) standard reference material. Carbonyls accounted for 19percent of particulate organic carbon (POC) emissions from low-emission LDVs and 37percent of POC emissions from three-way catalyst equipped LDVs. This identifies carbonyls as one of the largest classes of compounds in LDV PM emissions. The carbonyl fraction of HDDV POC was lower, 3.3-3.9percent depending upon operational conditions. Partitioning analysis indicates the carbonyls had not achieved equilibrium between the gas- and particle-phase under the dilution factors of 126-584 used in the current study.
Designing a relational database for tracking and analysis of atmospheric deposition of mercury and trace metals in the Pensacola (Florida) Bay Watershed

The need to track and analyse the atmospheric deposition of mercury and trace metals in the Pensacola (Florida) Bay Watershed in recent years has resulted in the need for a data management system that will allow data to be efficiently stored, checked for errors, manipulated, retrieved for analysis and shared within the research community. In this paper, we describe a relational database that was developed as a data management tool to address the needs of those maintaining and using atmospheric deposition of mercury and trace metal data in the Pensacola Bay Watershed area. We present the overall design of the database and show useful queries that can be used to clean and maintain the integrity of the data, perform calculations on the data, join and union tables and retrieve the data for presentation and analysis.
Empowerment and Relationships: A Classroom Model to Enhance Student Motivation.

This project focused on the goal of establishing a classroom model of motivation in which the source of student motivation is based on internal mechanisms or structures, along with the establishment of greater self-regulatory opportunities for students, and which results in greater student empowerment and motivation. One-hundred current elementary and secondary teachers and 100 university preservice teacher education students completed a 40-item Likert-type questionnaire that focused on four classroom dimensions of affirmation, rejection, student empowerment and teacher control. The results of this project suggested that, although veteran and preservice teachers agreed on the need for teacher control in the classroom, there was less agreement about their perceptions of the need to create a classroom environment of positive affirmation and student empowerment. Implications for future research and the need for creating an affirming, empowering, motivational classroom environment are discussed in light of the limitations for teachers and schools to encourage these constructs associated with recent federal legislative policies.
Faunal collapse in East African game reserves revisited

Abstract Soule et al. ( Biol. Conserv. , 1979, 15 , 259-72) predicted that without intensive management, East African game reserves would lose a large proportion of their large mammal faunas if they became completely insularized (isolated from other habitat areas with healthy wildlife populations). They based their predictions on the loss of large mammal species from islands in the Malay archipelago following their insularization at the end of the Pleistocene. This paper considers the difficulty of estimating extinction rates from existing data and the paucity of data on the relationship between extinction rates and area. Re-analysing the Malay archipelago data, I find that insularized reserves may lose species even more rapidly than Soule et al . predicted.
Population Responses to Environmental Change in a Tropical Ant: The Interaction of Spatial and Temporal Dynamics

Spatial structure can have a profound, but often underappreciated, effect on the temporal dynamics of ecosystems. Here we report on a counterintuitive increase in the population of a tree-nesting ant, Azteca sericeasur, in response to a drastic reduction in the number of potential nesting sites. This surprising result is comprehensible when viewed in the context of the self-organized spatial dynamics of the ants and their effect on the ants’ dispersal-limited natural enemies. Approximately 30% of the trees in the study site, a coffee agroecosystem in southern Mexico, were pruned or felled over a two-year period, and yet the abundance of the ant nests more than doubled over the seven-year study. Throughout the transition, the spatial distribution of the ants maintained a power-law distribution – a signal of spatial self organization – but the local clustering of the nests was reduced post-pruning. A cellular automata model incorporating the changed spatial structure of the ants and the resulting partial escape from antagonists reproduced the observed increase in abundance, highlighting how self-organized spatial dynamics can profoundly influence the responses of ecosystems to perturbations.
Rereading Matthew On Jerusalem and Judaism

Matthew is commonly understood to have condemned Jews in general and Jerusalem in particular for rejecting Jesus and his followers. Three features of Matthew reveal that this was not his intent. Fi...
Trace Regularity for a Second Order Hyperbolic Equation with Nonsmooth Coefficients

Abstract In this research, a trace regularity theorem on a time-like surface is proved for the solution of a multidimensional linear acoustic wave equation with nonsmooth coefficients. Our theorem indicates that with microlocal restrictions against tangential oscillations in the coefficients, the boundary value is just as regular as the solution, in particular as regular as the coefficients allow.
Effects of medium pH on gluconeogenesis from dihydroxyacetone.

Abstract 1. 1. Decreasing the pH of the medium from 7.8 to 7.0 causes an increase in the rate of gluconeogenesis from dihydroxyacetone in isolated liver cells from fasted rats. 2. 2. The increase in glucose synthesis can be related to (1) a decrease in the rate of lactate formation, probably as a result of inhibition of pyruvate kinase, and (2) an inhibition of phosphofructokinase flux, as demonstrated by a decreased incorporation of [14C] on C-6 of glucose from a tracer level of [1-14C]galactose. 3. 3. These effects are similar to those produced by glucagon during gluconeogenesis from dihydroxyacetone, although glucagon causes an additional stimulation of gluconeogenesis at pH 7.0, when pyruvate kinase and phosphofructokinase fluxes are low.
Molecular Structures and Energetics of the (ZrO2)n and (HfO2)n (n = 1−4) Clusters and Their Anions

The group IVB transition-metal dioxide clusters and their anions, (MO2)n and (MO2)n− (M = Zr, Hf; n = 1−4), are studied with coupled cluster (CCSD(T)) theory and density functional theory (DFT). Similar to the results for M = Ti, these oxide clusters have a number of low-lying isomeric structures, which can make it difficult to predict the ground electronic state especially for the anion. Electron affinities for the low-lying structures are calculated and compared with those for M = Ti. Electron affinities of these clusters depend strongly on the cluster structures. Anion photoelectron spectra are calculated for the monomer and dimer and demonstrate the possibility for structural identification at a spectral line width of ≤0.05 eV. Electron excitation energies from the low-lying states to the singlet and triplet excited states are calculated self-consistently, as well as by the time-dependent DFT and equation-of-motion coupled cluster (EOM-CCSD) methods. The calculated excitation energies are compared to ...
Structural and spectroscopic characterization of the dirhenium acetamidate products resulting from the hydrolysis of acetonitrile

Abstract Unsaturated molecules such as nitriles are activated upon coordination to a dirhenium core. Acetonitrile is hydrolyzed in the presence of water to produce coordinated bridging acetamidate ligands as demonstrated by the reaction of [N(C 4 H 9 ) 4 ] 2 [Re 2 Cl 8 ] with CH 3 CN and water in ethanol to form the acetamidate complexes, [N(C 4 H 9 ) 4 ][Re 2 Cl 5 (μ-CH 3 C(O)NH)(μ-CH 3 C(OH)N)]·3CH 2 Cl 2 [ I ] and Re 2 Cl 4 (μ-CH 3 C(O)NH)(μ-dppm) 2 ·4 CH 2 Cl 2 /0.833 EtOH [ II ]. Compound II is formed when I is reduced upon coordination of bis(diphenylphosphino)methane (dppm). Compounds I and II were characterized using X-ray crystallography and a variety of other spectroscopic methods.
An initialization for cumulus convection in numerical weather prediction models

Abstract A procedure for initializing parameterizations for cumulus convection in numerical weather prediction models is described. The initialization adjust the temperature and humidity fields such that a simplified version of the Kuo cumulus parameterization will yield diagnosed convective precipitation and vertical heating profiles, if a specified velocity field can support them. In an unfavorable velocity field, the initialization will yield the closest approach to diagnosed convective precipitation possible. The initialization minimizes changes in the humidity and temperature fields while satisfying constraints imposed by the cumulus parameterization. Slight adjustments in the temperature field and relatively larger adjustments in the humidity field can modify the large scale from a state which does not support cumulus convection to a state whose convective heating, as parameterized by the simplified version of the Kuo scheme, agrees to the extent possible for an imposed velocity field. Use of more c...
Childhood brain tumours and exposure to animals and farm life: a review.

Brain tumours are the most common solid tumour in children. However, little is known about their aetiology, and only a small percentage of cases can be attributed to established risk factors. Exposure to farm animals and pets have been considered as possible risk factors for childhood brain tumour (CBT) development for several reasons. Numerous factors associated with farm life, including bacteria, pesticides, solvents and some animal oncogenic viruses, have been found to induce brain tumour formation in animals. Some studies have found viral gene sequences in human brain tumours. Epidemiological studies of brain tumours in adults have reported an increased risk among veterinarians and farmers. In this review, data are examined from seven case–control studies published between 1979 and 1998 that considered a possible relationship between fetal or childhood exposure to farm animals or pets and CBT. Five of the seven studies examined childhood farm residence or exposure of mother or child to farm animals and, of these five, four reported elevated risk for CBT with odds ratios (OR) ranging from 0.9 to 2.5 for maternal exposures and from 0.6 to 6.7 for children’s exposures. Later studies that were larger subsequently examined histological type and reported excess risk for primitive neuroectodermal tumours (PNETs) with farm residence prenatally (OR = 3.7, CI = 0.8, 24) or in childhood (OR = 5.0, CI = 1.1, 4.7). Increased risk of PNET was also associated with maternal exposure to pigs (OR = 12, CI = 1.1, 47) or poultry (OR = 4.0, CI = 1.2, 13). The results of these studies showed few other consistent relationships between farm life or farm animals and CBT.
Transformation of the black business elite

Objective. This study fills a void in research on race and social change by analyzing the transformation of the “black business elite,” that is, those blacks who have been nationally recognized as successful entrepreneurs. Methods. Data from encyclopedic sources on eminent black entrepreneurs are used to build a chronology that documents how this elite has changed over time. Results. In the early and middle 20th century, the elite was dominated by southerners who prospered in lines of enterprise that arose because of racially segregated consumer markets, namely, banking, insurance, and publishing. By the end of the 20th century, the elite was dominated by northerners, many of whom were born in the North and succeeded in forms of mass media entertainment that appeal to racially integrated audiences. Conclusion. These geographical and occupational shifts reflect salient post World War II changes in race relations, most notably the decline of racial segregation in many areas of social life and the increase of opportunities for black entertainers to achieve distinction on a national level. Yet, blacks' pursuit of eminence in the business world continues to be focused into a narrow range of endeavors.
A chemogenetic approach to RNA function/structure analysis

Almost two dozen nucleotide analogs have been synthesized with alpha-phosphorothioate-tagged triphosphates and utilized in an interference modification approach termed Nucleotide Analog Interference Mapping. This method has made it possible to determine the chemical basis of RNA function and structure, including the identification of new rules for RNA helix packing, the functional analysis of a binding site for monovalent metal ions within RNA and the characterization of the catalytic mechanism of RNA enzymes.
Evolutionary dynamics of cancer

If I were again beginning my studies, I would follow the advice of Plato and start with mathematics. Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
The culture of protest in seventeenth‐century French towns

(1990). The culture of protest in seventeenth‐century French towns. Social History: Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 1-23.
LONG-TERM OXYGEN THERAPY FOR COPD : IMPROVING LONGEVITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN HYPOXEMIC PATIENTS

Long-term oxygen therapy can increase life expectancy in hypoxemic patients with COPD. Accurate identification of hypoxemia requires arterial blood gas measurements. Pulse oximetry can be used to measure trends in oxygenation, oxygen needs, and oxygen requirements during exercise and sleep. A detailed oxygen prescription indicates: (1) the oxygen dose (L/min), (2) the number of hours per day that oxygen therapy is required, (3) the dose required during exercise, (4) the oxygen supply system: concentrator, compressed gas cylinder, or liquid oxygen reservoir, and (5) the delivery device: nasal cannula, demand-flow device, reservoir cannula, or transtracheal oxygen catheter.
Cost Function Analysis for FD-MC-CDMA Blind Frequency Offset Estimation in High Speed Aerial Communication

FD-MC-CDMA is an attractive candidate for next generation high speed aerial vehicle communication for its high spectrum efficiency and excellent BER performance. Similar to other multi-carrier transmission technologies, FD-MC-CDMA suffers significant performance degradation resulting from intercarrier interference (ICI) in high mobility environments. Particularly, because the ICI is observed from all other subcarriers, the benefit of decomposing subcarriers into non-contiguous sets diminishes. In our previous work, a parallel processing based blind frequency offset estimation and ICI cancellation method to significantly improve the BER performance in high mobility environments has been proposed. However, the proposed blind frequency offset estimation and ICI cancellation scheme relies on the assumption that there will be one global minimum to the cost function that is generated from the Euclidean distances between the true received signal vector and synthesized signal vectors. In this paper, we theoretically analyze the cost function in this blind estimation and cancellation algorithm and verify this assumption. Furthermore, by thoroughly examining the cost function in various scenarios, we also prove that this cost function is actually statistically symmetric. This cost function analysis not only help us understand the underlying principle of the effectiveness of the proposed blind frequency offset estimation and ICI cancellation scheme, it points to more sophisticated high efficiency algorithms which can significantly reduce the computational complexity.
Total internal reflection fluorescence: applications in cellular biophysics

Molecular interactions occurring on or near cell membrane surfaces are expected to have different properties from those occurring in bulk solutions. One particularly useful technique for studying surface-associated processes at the molecular level is total internal reflection fluorescence. In this method, the evanescent field from an internally reflected excitation source selectively excites fluorescent molecules on or near a surface. Evanescent excitation has been used recently with a variety of techniques in fluorescence microscopy and spectroscopy to probe the fundamental physicochemical properties of biochemical reactions at natural or model biological surfaces. These studies are providing enhanced understanding of cellular function. Several recent developments in total internal reflection fluorescence methodology from other fields are likely to find future application in cellular biophysics.
Characterization of pre- and postpatient x-ray polycapillary optics for mammographic imaging

Polycapillary x-ray optics can be used as pre- or post-patient optics to design mammographic imaging systems with higher resolution, greater contrast, and a lower absorbed patient dose. A multi-fiber collimating prototype optic, used as pre-patient beam shaper, provides 39% transmission efficiency at 17.5 keV, good uniformity, and only 3.9 mrad divergence. Experimental optics characterization results are compared with detailed computer simulations including analysis of optical defects such as channel waviness and bending. The collimating optic was used to produce monochromatic radiation by diffracting from a silicon crystal. The monochromatic contrast, measured at 8 keV with a polypropylene phantom, was 5 times greater than the measured polychromatic contrast.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Computer-assisted video motion analysis : a powerful technique for investigating motility and chemotaxis

Motility and chemotaxis play vital roles in the ecology of bacterial populations. Most methods used for studying these behaviors are quite time consuming and do not allow assessment of swimming and chemotactic behavior of individual cells. Computer-assisted video motion analysis (CAVMA) offers a precise, efficient alternative to these methods. CAVMA digitizes videomicroscope recordings, allowing estimation of motility parameters such as speed, rate of change in direction and net to gross displacement ratio. By examining the relationships between these parameters one can determine the nature of the response of an organism to a stimulus and quantify changes in behavior rapidly and accurately.
SU‐E‐T‐309: Estimating Tumor Growth Rate After Single Fraction of Dosage

Purpose: To develop a mathematical relationship between the cell proliferation probability after single irradiation and the cell survival fraction used for the linear‐quadratic (LQ) model. Methods: A set of differential equations were derived for the numbers of dividing cells and non‐dividing cells by introducing the probabilities of mitosis by the end of one cell cycle in a model. The cell survival fraction at the N‐th cell cycle obtained from this formulation was then related to the cell survival fraction commonly used in radiation biology as expressed by using two parameters alpha and beta along with the strength of single dosage for the LQ model. Results: The probability of a cell to divide (or cell proliferation probability, p) after single dosage of d can be expressed by a function of alpha, beta, d, TD, and T. Here TD is the doubling time of tumor volume and T is the time at which the cell survival data are collected during experiments. Normally T is equal to 5 to 10 times the cell cycle time. Using the probability p, then we obtained a formula for the modified growth rate which included the effect of irradiation. This formula indicates that the irradiated tumor keeps growing if the dosage is smaller than a certain threshold dose. The threshold dose increases as the alpha/beta ratio increases. The formula is different from one commonly used in literature; but it can represents actual experimental results more realistically. Conclusions: The formula of the modified growth rate including the radiation effect can be easily incorporated in a governing equation for tumor growth. The solutions should be able to reproduce experimental and observational data better than using a traditional formulation.