cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Alcohol withdrawal drives depressive behaviors by activating neurons in the rostromedial tegmental nucleus

Rostromedial tegmental nucleus (RMTg) GABA neurons exert a primary inhibitory drive onto midbrain dopamine neurons and are excited by a variety of aversive stimuli. There is, however, little evidence that the RMTg-ventral tegmental area (VTA)-nucleus accumbens shell (Acb) circuit plays a role in the aversive consequences of alcohol withdrawal. This study was performed in adult male Long-Evans rats at 48-h withdrawal from chronic alcohol drinking in the intermittent schedule. These rats displayed clear anhedonia and depression-like behaviors, as measured with the sucrose preference, and forced swimming tests. These aberrant behaviors were accompanied by a substantial increase in cFos expression in the VTA-projecting RMTg neurons, identified by a combination of immunohistochemistry and retrograde-tracing techniques. Pharmacological or chemogenetic inhibition of RMTg neurons mitigated the anhedonia and depression-like behaviors. Ex vivo electrophysiological data showed that chemogenetic inactivation of RMTg neurons reduced GABA release and accelerated spontaneous firings of VTA dopamine neurons. Finally, using a functional hemispheric disconnection procedure, we demonstrated that inhibition of unilateral RMTg, when combined with activation of D1 and D2 dopamine receptors in the contralateral (but not ipsilateral) Acb, mitigated the anhedonia and depression-like behaviors in alcohol-withdrawal rats. These data show that the integrity in the RMTg-VTA-Acb pathway in a single hemisphere is sufficient to elicit depression-like behavior during ethanol-withdrawal. Overall, the present results reveal that the RMTg-VTA-Acb pathway plays a crucial role in the depression-like behavior in animals undergoing alcohol withdrawal, further advocating the RMTg as a potential therapeutic target for alcoholism.
Evaluation of extracellular polymeric substances extracted from waste activated sludge as a renewable corrosion inhibitor.

Background Waste activated sludge (WAS) has recently gained attention as a feedstock for resource recovery. The aim of this study is to investigate the corrosion inhibition efficiencies of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) extracted from WAS. Methods The studied corrosion inhibitors were tested with carbon steel in 3.64% NaCl saturated with CO2 at 25 °C, which is the typical oilfield environment. They were first prepared by EPS extraction (heating at 80 °C), followed by centrifugation for solid and liquid separation, then the supernatant was freeze-thawed five times for sterilization of microorganisms in WAS to terminate metabolic activities in the test inhibitors to ensure consistency in corrosion inhibition. The EPS mixture (supernatant) was then deemed as the test corrosion inhibitor. The inhibition performance was determined using potentiodynamic polarization scans. Results Waste activated sludge alone showed unsatisfactory inhibition. However, EPS extracted from WAS showed an optimum inhibition of approximately 80% with 1,000 mg/L of inhibitor. The average total solid (TS) and EPS contents of the WAS were 7,330 mg TS/L WAS and 110 mg EPS/g TS, respectively. Three sets of extracted EPS were scanned with fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and showed almost overlapping curves, yielding the consistent inhibition performance. Discussion The potentiodynamic polarization results indicated that EPS acts as a mixed-type inhibitor which inhibits corrosion on both anode and cathode sites of metal surfaces. Based on the FTIR results, it was assumed that major chemical groups O-H, N-H, C-N, C=O, and C-H contributed to the inhibition by adsorbing on the metal surface, forming a biofilm that acts as a protective barrier to isolate the metal from its corrosive environment. Results show that WAS EPS corrosion inhibitors have inhibition performance comparable to commercial products, signifying their potential in commercialization. This corrosion inhibitor is renewable, biodegradable, non-toxic, and free from heavy metal, making it a superior green corrosion inhibitor candidate. Additionally, turning biomass into value-added product can be beneficial to the environment and, in this case, deriving new materials from WAS could also transform the economics of wastewater treatment operations.
Treatment Failure of Isavuconazole in a Patient with Cryptococcosis

Isavuconazole is a broad-spectrum azole that is FDA-approved for the treatment of aspergillosis and mucormycosis; data on the use of isavuconazole for the treatment and prevention of other invasive fungal infections are limited. Here, we report a patient with pulmonary cryptococcosis treated with isavuconazole who experienced progression to disseminated infection with Cryptococcus while on isavuconazole. Caution is advised when using isavuconazole in situations where there is a paucity of data to recommend its use.
The Impact of Physician Social Media Behavior on Patient Trust

Introduction: Institutions have developed professionalism policies to help guide physician social media behavior in light of professionalism lapses that have resulted in serious consequences. Prior...
Incidental Finding of a Tricuspid Valve Cyst in a Patient with a Ventricular Septal Defect

A 14-month-old male presented electively for repair of double-chambered right ventricle and ventricular septal defect after remote repair of aortic coarctation. Pre-operative echocardiogram showed a restrictive ventricular septal defect with inlet extension and partial occlusion by transformational tricuspid valve tissue. Upon visualization of the tricuspid valve intraoperatively, a clear yellow, fluid-filled cyst was found on the septal leaflet which was partially occluding the ventricular septal defect. Pathology examination showed that the cyst was contained within fibrous valve tissue and lined by endothelial cells which has not, to our knowledge, been described before in the literature.
Can the effectiveness of eyewitness expert testimony be improved

For over 35 years, scholars have searched with little success for a legal safeguard that can sensitize jurors to eyewitness testimony. The present study explored whether expert testimony that uses ...
Navigating Mandates and Working toward Coherence: Our Journey with a High-Stakes Teacher Performance Assessment

This article details the experiences of four teacher education faculty members as we navigated the consequential implementation of a state-mandated high stakes teacher performance assessment in our...
BRCA Mutations in Pancreas Cancer: Spectrum, Current Management, Challenges and Future Prospects

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains a challenging disease to treat. Despite advances in surgical techniques, radiation, and medical therapies, the 5-year survival rate remains below 9%. Over the past decade, the genomic landscape of PDAC has been well studied and BRCA mutations have emerged as a target for the development of more effective therapies. Alterations in germline BRCA and PALB2 are detected in approximately 5-9% of patients with PDAC and can lead to homologous repair deficiency (HRD). PDAC with HRD﻿ is more susceptible to cytotoxic agents, such as platinum salts and topoisomerase inhibitors, that cause DNA damage. Furthermore, PARP inhibitors have emerged as an effective non-cytotoxic approach to treating HRD-PDAC. In addition to BRCA and PALB2, germline mutations in other genes involved in the homologous DNA repair pathway - such as ATM and RAD51 - are potential targets, as are patients with the "BRCAness" phenotype and somatic mutations in the DNA repair pathway. Given the clinical implications of germline mutation related HRD in PDAC, universal germline testing is now recommended. In this review, we will discuss current and emerging biomarkers for HRD in PDAC, treatments, and the challenges associated with them.
Heterometallic trinuclear oxo-centered clusters as single-source precursors for synthesis of stoichiometric monodisperse transition metal ferrite nanocrystals

The use of heterobimetallic metal complexes as molecular single-source precursors is a promising strategy for the targeted synthesis of phase-pure stoichiometric ternary metal oxide nanocrystals. However, the design and synthesis of these precursors is not trivial and can require considerable effort. Using spinel metal ferrite nanocrystals of formula MFe2O4 (M = Fe2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+) as a model system, this paper evaluates the efficacy of the single-source precursor approach by comparing directly nanocrystals synthesized from the solvothermal reaction of heterobimetallic trinuclear oxo-bridged clusters of formula MIIFeIII2(μ3-O)(μ2-O2CR)6(H2O)3, R = CF3 to nanocrystals synthesized from the solvothermal reaction of stoichiometric mixtures of multi-source precursors, such as metal acetate or nitrate salts. For each M explored here, the clusters form phase-pure MFe2O4 nanocrystals with significantly narrower size distributions than nanocrystals synthesized from multi-source-precursors. In the case of M = Cu, the multi-source metal salt precursors produce a mixture of CuO and CuFe2O4. Additionally, changing the electronic nature of the R-group on the bridging carboxylate ligand from electron withdrawing (CF3) to electron donating (CH3 or C(CH3)3) decreases the average diameter of the resulting nanocrystals by a factor of two. The cluster molecules therefore offer superior control over both morphology and composition for transition metal ferrite nanocrystals. We hypothesize that this remarkable performance arises from the presence of pre-formed M2+–O–Fe3+ moieties in the cluster molecules that enable direct nucleation of MFe2O4 and preclude nucleation of binary oxide impurities.
Application of lung ultrasound in children

Traditionally, imaging diagnosis of respiratory diseases in children often relies on chest X-ray and CT examinations. With technical development, lung ultrasound (LUS) has been successfully applied for diagnosis of lung abnormalities, monitoring of disease progress and assessment of treatment response. This LUS technique has been rapidly recognized by pediatricians and advocated by children′s family because of its diagnostic capability and non-radiation hazards. This article reviews and summarizes the current literatures related to LUS examination technique and pediatric applications in lung abnormalities, including congenital malformations, respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary edema, pneumonia, trauma, and neoplasms. Key words: Lung; Ultrasonography; Child
Contested nation: the Mapuche, Bandits, and state formation in nineteenth-century Chile: by Pilar M. Herr, Albuquerque, University of New Mexico Press, 2019, 168 pp., US$65.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8263-6094-6

Since the late sixteenth century, the Mapuche people successfully defended their political and territorial independence from the Spanish empire in what is now the southern third of modern Chile (Ar...
Evaluating community science.

Abstract Community science—scientific investigation conducted partly or entirely by non-professional scientists—has many advantages. For example, community science mobilizes large numbers of volunteers who can, at low cost, collect more data than traditional teams of professional scientists. Participation in research can also increase volunteers’ knowledge about and appreciation of science. At the same time, there are worries about the quality of data that community science projects produce. Can the work of non-professionals really deliver trustworthy results? Attempts to answer this question generally compare data collected by volunteers to data collected by professional scientists. When volunteer data is more variable or less accurate than professionally collected data, then the community science project is judged to be inferior to traditional science. I argue that this is not the right standard to use when evaluating community science, because it relies on a false assumption about the aims of science. I show that if we adopt the view that science has diverse aims which are often in tension with one another, then we cannot justify holding community science data to an expert accuracy standard. Instead, we should evaluate the quality of community science data based on its adequacy-for-purpose.
Racial Disparities Associated With Reinterventions After Elective Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair

ABSTRACT Background There are substantial racial and socioeconomic disparities underlying endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) in the United States. To date, race-based variations in reinterventions following elective EVAR have not been studied. Here, we aim to examine racial disparities associated with reinterventions following elective EVAR in a real-world cohort. Materials and methods We used the Vascular Quality Initiative EVAR dataset to identify all patients undergoing elective EVAR between January 2009 and December 2018 in the United States. We compared the association of race with reinterventions after EVAR and all-cause mortality using Welch two-sample t-tests, multivariate logistic regression, and Cox proportional hazards analyses adjusting for baseline differences between groups. Results At median follow-up of 1.1 ± 1.1 y (1.3 ± 1.4 y Black, 1.1 ± 1.1 y White; P = 0.02), a total of 1,164 of 42,481 patients (2.7%) underwent reintervention after elective EVAR, including 2.7% (n = 1,096) White versus 3.2% (n = 68) Black (P = 0.21). Black patients requiring reintervention were more frequently female, more frequently current or former smokers, and less frequently insured by Medicare/Medicaid (P Conclusions There are significant differences between Black and White patients in the risk of reintervention after elective EVAR in the United States. The etiology of this difference deserves investigation.
Oyster growth across a salinity gradient in a shallow, subtropical Gulf of Mexico estuary

An increase in oyster aquaculture as a sustainable method of shellfish production is one response to overharvest and degradation of natural oyster reefs over the past century. Successful aquaculture production requires determining the environmental conditions optimal for oyster growth. In this study, the salinity, temperature, chlorophyll a concentration and the growth of Crassostrea virginica were monitored at four locations within the Mission-Aransas Estuary, Texas (USA), a shallow subtropical estuary influenced by relatively low freshwater inflow. Mean growth of the oyster shell (0.205 mm d–1 and 0.203 g d–1) and soft tissues (3.447 mg d–1) was highest when salinity was low (mean = 15.5) and chlorophyll a concentration was high (8.4 μg l–1). Oyster growth also varied temporally with periods of spawning. In low-inflow estuaries such as the Mission-Aransas Estuary, oyster farms should be sited close to river mouths so that oysters can benefit from freshwater inflows and lower salinities.
The Genesis of Phenomenology

Misunderstanding of Edith Stein begins, ironically, with “empathy.” That word translates the technical term Einfuhlung in the title of Stein’s 1916 doctoral dissertation. Stein herself used the term with precision, for she appreciated the issues at stake in the turn-of-the-century academic debates out of which it came to her. For the contemporary reader, the term Einfuhlung need not be a stumbling block. It can serve instead as a stepping stone back into the philosophical context in which Edith Stein began her academic career. The first two chapters of this work recover the state of the question of Einfuhlung before the First World War when, as a student in her early twenties at Gottingen, Edith Stein confronted it.1
Clinical implementation of genetic testing in medicine: a US regulatory science perspective

Heterogeneity of treatment effects in unselected patient populations has stimulated various strategic approaches to reduce variability and uncertainty and improve individualization of drug selection and dosing. The rapid growth of DNA sequencing and related technologies has ramped up progress in interpreting germline and somatic mutations and has begun to reshape medicine, especially in oncology. Over the past decade, regulatory agencies realized that they needed to be proactive and not reactive if personalized medicine was to become a reality. The US Food and Drug Administration, in particular, took steps to nurture the field through peer-reviewed publications, co-sponsoring public workshops and issuing guidance for industry. The following two major approaches to personalized medicine were taken: (i) encouragement of de novo co-development of drug–genetic test combinations by industry; and (ii) retrospective assessment of legacy genetic data for the purpose of updating drug labels. The former strategy has been more successful in getting new targeted therapies to the marketplace with successful adoption, while the latter, as evidenced by the low adoption rate of pharmacogenetic testing, has been less successful. This reflection piece makes clear that several important things need to happen to make personalized medicine diffuse in more geographical areas and among more therapeutic specialties. The debate over clinical utility of genetic tests needs to be resolved with consensus on evidentiary standards. Physicians, as gatekeepers of prescription medicines, need to increase their knowledge of genetics and the application of the information to patient care. An infrastructure needs to be developed to make access to genetic tests and decision-support tools available to primary practitioners and specialists outside major medical centres and metropolitan areas.
Dracunculiasis (Guinea worm disease) eradication.

Abstract Since the seminal review by Ralph Muller about Dracunculus and dracunculiasis in this serial publication in 1971, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Carter Center forged, during the 1980s, a coalition of organizations to support a campaign to eradicate dracunculiasis. Eighteen of 20 countries were known in 1986 to have endemic dracunculiasis, i.e., Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sudan, Togo, and Uganda. Transmission of the disease in Yemen was documented in 1995, and the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Central African Republic endemic in 1995. As of the end of 2004, a total of 16 026 cases of dracunculiasis were reported from 12 endemic countries (91% of these cases were reported from Ghana and Sudan, combined), a reduction greater than 99% from the 3.5 million cases of dracunculiasis estimated in 1986 to occur annually; the number of endemic villages has been reduced by >91%, from the 23 475 endemic villages in 1991; disease transmission has been interrupted in 9 of the 20 endemic countries; and WHO has certified 168 countries free of dracunculiasis, including Pakistan (1996), India (2000), Senegal and Yemen (2004). Asia is now free of dracunculiasis. “ The public interest requires doing today those things that men of intelligence and good will would wish, five or ten years hence, had been done ” Edmund Burke
Derzeitiger Stand der Markraumschienungs-Behandlung

Kuntscher hat 1940 den experimentellen Nachweis erbracht, das die Zerstorung der Markraumgefase die Knochenbruchheilung nicht verhindert und auch sonst keine grundsatzlich die Marknagelung verbietenden storenden Auswirkungen hat. Damit war der Weg fur die Markraumschienung als Behandlungssystem offen. Es war wiederum Kuntscher, der diesen Weg als erster systematisch beschritten hat und durch Erarbeitung der methodischen Voraussetzungen fur die Marknagelung richtunggebend gewesen ist. Nicolassen (1897), Delbet (1906), Lambotte (1913), Hey Groves (1918) und Rush (1937) haben zwar vor Kuntscher uber die Markraumschienung bei Einzelfallen publiziert. Kuntscher aber erst hat die vor ihm gewissermasen aus Notsituationen heraus geborene Anwendung der Markraumschienung zu einer Routine behandlungsmas-nahme gemacht. Die Diskussionen um die Prioritat sind musig. Kuntscher ist der Schopfer des Behandlungssystems „Marknagelung“.
Electromagnetic scattering theory

Electromagnetic scattering theory is discussed with emphasis on the general stochastic variational principle (SVP) and its applications. The stochastic version of the Schwinger-type variational principle is presented, and explicit expressions for its integrals are considered. Results are summarized for scalar wave scattering from a classic rough-surface model and for vector wave scattering from a random dielectric-body model. Also considered are the selection of trial functions and the variational improvement of the Kirchhoff short-wave approximation appropriate to large size-parameters. Other applications of vector field theory discussed include a general vision theory and the analysis of hydromagnetism induced by ocean motion across the geomagnetic field. Levitational force-torque in the magnetic suspension of the disturbance compensation system (DISCOS), now deployed in NOVA satellites, is also analyzed using the developed theory.
A time delay radial basis function network for phoneme recognition

This paper presents the time delay radial basis function network (TDRBF) for recognition of phonemes. The TDRBF combines features from time delay neural networks (TDNN) and radial basis functions (RBF). The ability to detect acoustic features and their temporal relationship independent of position in time is inherited from TDNN. The use of RBFs leads to shorter training times and less parameters to adjust, which makes it easier to apply TDRBF to new tasks. The recognition of three phonemes with about 750 training and testing tokens each was chosen as an evaluation task. The results suggest an equivalent performance of TDRBF and TDNN presented in Waibel et al. (1989), but TDRBF require much less training time to reach a good performance and in addition have a clear indication when the minimum error is reached, therefore no danger of overtraining exists. >
Conformations and Configuration

The rotational isomeric state model uses information about the bond lengths, bond angles, preferred torsional angles, and energies for short-range intramolecular interactions to quickly produce numerical values for conformational-dependent physical properties of chains unperturbed by the excluded volume effect. This article describes the rotational isomeric state model and gives several illustrative examples of its application to polymers. Keywords: characteristic ratio; configuration; conformation; conformational partition function; end-to-end distance; radius of gyration; rotational isomeric state
Strengthening of Single-Span Steel-Beam Bridges

The use of post-tensioning to increase the strength of steel beams in beam and concrete-slab bridges is shown to be feasible. The purpose of the study is to determine a technique for increasing the capacity of the bridges to meet today's loadings. The results of testing a half-scale model of an existing bridge indicate that post-tensioning can be used with only minor deck cracking. Comparisons of the data from the model with results using orthotropic plate theory indicate that this theory can be used as a preliminary design methodology for determining the required prestress force and its location for strengthening existing bridges.
Oxidative Stress Increases Production of β-Amyloid Precursor Protein and β-Amyloid (Aβ) in Mammalian Lenses, and Aβ Has Toxic Effects on Lens Epithelial Cells (∗)

Many amyloid diseases are characterized by protein aggregations linked to oxidative stress. Such diseases including those of the brain, muscle, and blood vessels exhibit plaques containing beta-amyloid (Abeta). Here we demonstrate that Alzheimer's precursor protein (betaAPP) and A beta are present at low levels in normal lenses and increase in intact cultured monkey lenses treated with H2O2 or UV radiation (known cataractogenic agents), and with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate. AP-1 factor binding, shown by others to up-regulate betaAPP expression, increased in the monkey lenses treated with H2O2, UV radiation, or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and paralleled the increase in betaAPP expression. Rat lenses exposed to oxidative stress showed increased betaAPP in the anterior epithelium and cortex. Incubation of cultured rabbit lens N/N1003A epithelial cells with Abeta induced inclusions and vacuoles and was cytotoxic. Abeta cross-reacting protein was readily detected in the cortex of a cataractous human lens. Our data show that betaAPP and Abeta increase in mammalian lenses as part of a response to H2O2 or UV radiation and suggest that they may contribute to the mechanism by which oxidative damage leads to lens opacification.
Clear Cell Sarcoma of Soft Tissue with Cytogenetic and Molecular Analyses

A 7-year-old girl presented with pain and progressive swelling on the left plantar surface. Biopsy of a 2.5 cm mass demonstrated nests of large oval tumor cells with high nuclear-to-cytoplasm ratio, amphophilic to clear cytoplasm, prominent nucleoli, and brisk mitotic activity. Occasional cells showed spindled morphology. Infrequent melanin pigment was present. Melanocytic markers (HMB45, S-100) were diffusely positive. A diagnosis of clear cell sarcoma of soft tissue (CCSS) was made, and the tumor was re-excision with negative margins. 28 months later, a 1.0 cm pulmonary nodule was identified and showed CCSS. Cytogenetics demonstrated a complex karyotype (unbalanced translocation der(12;14)(p10;q10), additional chromosome 22 material of unknown origin). Although the CCSS translocation t(12;22)(q13;q12) was not identified, EWSR1 gene rearrangement was detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). RT-PCR demonstrated an EWS-ATF1 fusion transcript, confirmed by direct sequencing. CCSS requires differentiation from malignant melanoma, due to overlapping clinical presentations, sites of involvement, histomorphology, immunocytochemical profiles, and ultrastructure. In many circumstances, definitive diagnosis is only possible with confirmation of the CCSS tumor-defining translocation.
Indigenous Rights, Traditional Knowledge, and Access to Genetic Resources - New Participants in Future International Law Making

Being able at least to imagine the demise of the nation-state is critical to understanding how the contemporary nation-state relates to indigenous peoples. Neither Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) nor Critical Race Theory (CRT) has effectively analyzed the impact of indigenous peoples concerns on international law, although both have tried to incorporate indigenous peoples into their respective modes of thinking. This is because TWAIL and CRT continue to focus fundamentally on the goals and advocacy of nationalist elites formed during the so-called post-colonial era. Indigenous peoples are lumped into social movements as if their interests cannot be distinguished from those of the mass of civil society. Scholars who take a grassroots, decolonizing approach, such as Maori professor Linda Tuhiwai-Smith, are much better suited to the task of analyzing the relationships among the nation-state, international laws surrounding traditional knowledge, and the rights of indigenous peoples.
Effect of subdicing on the dispersion and resonance behavior of elastic guided waves in 1D array ultrasound transducers

ABSTRACT 1D array ultrasound subdicing is a common fabrication practi ce to avoid the presence of lateral modes near the center frequency of the transducer. The objective of this study is to theoretically analyze the effect of subdicing depth and width on the dispersion and resonance behavior of elastic guided wave propagation in 1D array transducers. The transducer is modeled as a periodic structure with the representative cell composed of one element. A semi-analytical finite-element (SAFE) method is derived to obtain the disper sion curves, group velocity and resonance mode shapes of a piezoelectric structure with arbitrary cross-section and periodic boundary conditions. Results indicate that resonant modes can occur at cutoff frequencies (wavenumber k = 0), where the phase velocity is infinite. Moreover, another interesting resonance behavior at zero-group-velocity (ZGV) points (wavenumber k  0) is observed where the phase velocity is finite. Theoretical results show that subdicing increases the number of wavegui de modes, lowers the cut-off frequencies, increases the number of ZGV points and lowers the group velocities for flexural and extensional modes. Lower values of subdicing depth tend to increase the cut-of f frequencies, but subdicing widt h has a minor effect on the dispersion curves. These important changes of the dispersion behavior are likely to influence the resonance characteristics and the bandwidth of the transducer. The analysis presented in this study provides a useful tool to optimize the design of 1D array ultrasound transducers and to gain better understanding of the complicated acoustic behavior of 1D array ultrasound transducers Keywords: Guided Waves Dispersion, Zero-Group Velocity, 1D Ultrasound Transducer Array
Short photoperiod affects reproductive function but not dehydroepiandrosterone concentrations in male deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus)

Cessation of breeding is central among the suite of winter-coping strategies used by small rodents to survive energy-demanding winter conditions. Animals use photoperiod to predict the onset of winter and initiate, well in advance of deteriorating conditions, seasonal adaptations. Exposure to short photoperiod leads to regression of the reproductive system in long-day breeding animals. Likewise, exposure to short days leads to enhanced immune function among several rodent species studied. Because dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) increases immune function in virtually all studies reported to date, we sought to determine if DHEA concentrations might be influenced by photoperiod, thereby suggesting a mechanism whereby short photoperiod may enhance immune function. Male deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) were exposed to either short or long days for 10 weeks. Short photoperiods caused significant reduction in all reproductive organs measured relative to animals housed in long days. However, DHEA concentrations did not differ between short- and long-day mice. Taken together, these data suggest that short-day enhancement of immune function in deer mice is independent of DHEA concentrations.
A note on parameter estimation in the multivariate beta distribution

Abstract This note describes a numerically feasible method for parameter estimation in the multivariate beta (Dirichlet) distribution through the method of maximum likelihood. The Dirichlet distribution is used in many applications, including brand choice modelling in marketing, investigating past vegetation changes in biology, etc. Examples involving the consumer brand choices of regular ground coffee and proportions of fossil pollen in trees and some simulation results are given.
Utility of Temperature-Programmed Oxidation for Characterization of Carbonaceous Deposits from Heated Jet Fuel

Temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO) is used to determine the oxidation reactivity of carbonaceous deposits formed on different substrates via the thermal stressing of jet fuel samples. The multiple CO2 peaks in TPO profiles are attributed to differences in the oxidation reactivity of the deposits, which is related to their structural characteristics. This study investigates whether the TPO profiles relate to the characteristics of the deposits formed during thermal stressing, or if they result from chemical alterations of the original deposits during the TPO analysis. This question is important for understanding the substrate effects on carbon deposition from heated fuels, as well as the removal of carbonaceous deposits from the aircraft fuel system components. Findings from this study affirm that the results from TPO experiments can be used to characterize the oxidation reactivity of carbonaceous deposits, relative to their molecular and structural characteristics.
Social work between discipline and profession

This book is a wide-ranging and thoughtful consideration of key issues facing the field of social work. While there is considerable discussion of social work as a profession, the main thrust throug...
Two classes of Darboux-like, Baire one functions of two variables

Among the many characterizations of the class of Baire one, Darboux realvalued functions of one real variable, the 1907 characterization of Young and the 1997 characterization of Agronsky, Ceder, and Pearson are particularly intriguing in that they yield interesting classes of functions when interpreted in the two-variable setting. We examine the relationship between these two subclasses of the real-valued Baire one defined on the unit square.
Modeling and implementing software architecture with acme and archJava

Software architecture describes the high-level organization of a software system, and is essential both for reasoning about system properties and for implementing and evolving code. This poster describes two architecture-related tools: AcmeStudio for architectural modeling and analysis, and ArchJava for ensuring consistency between architecture and implementation. AcmeStudio is an architectural design tool based on Eclipse, supporting graphical and textual descriptions of software architecture as well as various forms of architectural analysis. The poster shows an example of creating an architecture in Acme and checking it against the constraints of an architectural style such as pipe-and-filter. ArchJava extends the Java language to include explicit architectural modeling constructs, and uses type system techniques to ensure that the implementation conforms to the architecture. The poster shows how AcmeStudio can generate skeleton ArchJava code, how developers can fill in this architecture with an implementation using an Eclipse-based ArchJava IDE, and how ArchJava's type system can help the developer to maintain consistency between code and architecture.
Inhibition of poliovirus by 2,6-diaminopurine

Abstract 2,6-Diaminopurine (DAP) at 10−4 M reduced the formation of poliovirus in infected HeLa cells to 2–4% of uninhibited controls. The simultaneous addition of equimolar (10−4 M) DAP and adenosine resulted in an 80% virus yield, when measured by PFU, which suggests that DAP exerts its inhibition by acting as an adenine analog. The effect of short pulses of DAP (10−4 M) before and at different times after infection suggests that a step in virus synthesis, which occurs during the eclipse phase, is being inhibited. DAP has a lesser but definite inhibitory effect when added after the eclipse phase of virus development. Part of the inhibitory effect of DAP on poliovirus production is due to the formation of virus with a reduced specific infectivity.
Redistribution of growth during phototropism and nutation in the pea epicotyl

First positive phototropism of the third internode of intact, 5-d-old pea (Pisum sativum L.) seedlings, grown under continuous, dim red light, showed maximal response following a photon fluence of 3 μmol·m-2 blue light. Greater or lesser fluences (with irradiation time 100 s or less) caused less bending, no response being detectable above 300 or below 0.03 μmol·m-2. Bilateral irradiation with blue light caused no detectable inhibition of growth rate over that range of fluences. The linear nutation of the pea third internode was shown to be driven by a balanced oscillation of growth rate such that the overall growth rate was little changed during the oscillation. Phototropic stimulation changed neither the amplitude nor the period of nutation. Nutation and phototropism probably regulate growth independently. Phototropism in response to the optimal blue light fluence was caused by concomitant depressed growth on the irradiated side and stimulated growth on the shaded side of the bending internode. These results are consistent with the Cholodny-Went hypothesis which states that unilateral blue light induces a lateral redistribution of a growth regulator.
Low-bandwidth Semi-active Damping for Suspension Control

Active damping has been shown to offer increased suspension performance in terms of vehicle isolaton, suspension packaging, and road-tire contact force. It can even approximate the performance of full state feedback control without requiring the difficult measurement of tire deflection. Many semi-active damping strategies have been introduced to approximate the response of active damping with the modulation of passive damping parameters. These strategies have typically required a relatevely high bandwidth for actuator response. This paper investigates the simulation performance and "frequency response" of two concepts in low-bandwidth semi-active suspension control. The first strategy controls the pressure drop in a hydraulic flow path, the second controls a hydraulic resistance. The bandwidth of these actuators is approximately an order of magnitude less than other semi-active devices. A quarter-car model is studied with the controlled damping replacing both passive and active damping of typical control schemes. Both low-bandwidth damping strategies perform remarkably well compared to both active and high-bandwidth, semi-active damping.
Fine-Scale Recombination Mapping of High-Throughput Sequence Data

In this paper, we contrast the resolution and accuracy of determining recombination boundaries using genotyping arrays compared to high-throughput sequencing. In addition, we consider the impacts of sequence coverage and genetic diversity on localizing recombination boundaries. We developed a hidden Markov model for estimating recombination breakpoints based on variant observations seen in the read coverage spanning uniformly sized genomic windows. Our model includes 36 states representing all combinations of 8 genomes, and estimates a founder mosaic that is consistent with the variants observed in the aligned sequences. At HMM transition locations we consider the most likely founder-pair and refine the recombination breakpoints down to an interval spanning two informative variants. We compare this solution to alternate solutions based on microarrays that we have estimated. At 30x coverage the recombination mapping accuracy far exceeds the resolution attainable by any microarray. Even at coverages of 1x and below we are generally able to estimate recombination breakpoints with comparable accuracy.
Abnormal labor outcomes as a function of maternal exposure to a catastrophic hurricane event during pregnancy

Hurricane Andrew, which made landfall on August 24, 1992, was one of the most destructive hurricanes in American history, causing atypically high levels of psychological and physical health impairment among the resident population and especially among vulnerable groups. This article investigates whether maternal exposure to Hurricane Andrew during pregnancy increased the risk of dystocia (or dysfunctional labor) and infant delivery by cesarean section, the standard medical response to abnormal labor progression. We analyze 297,996 birth events in Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida from 1992 to 1993 using propensity score methodology with stratification and nearest-neighbor matching algorithms. Results show that hurricane-exposed pregnant women were significantly more likely to experience stress-induced abnormal labor and cesarean delivery outcomes as compared to statistically matched comparison groups. The conclusion details the policy implications of our results, with particular attention to the importance of maternal prenatal care in the aftermath of disasters.
Inhibition of larval barnacle attachment to bacterial films: An investigation of physical properties.

The effects of films of two strains of a marine bacterium, Deleya marina (ATCC 25374 and 27129) on the attachment response of cypris larvae of the balanomorph barnacle, Balanus amphitrite, were examined in the laboratory. Tests showed that the cell-surface hydrophobicities of the two bacteria in suspension were different. In contrast, films derived from these cells were both highly wettable (i.e., displayed high surface free energy). Assays (22 hours) compared permanent attachment of larval barnacles to films derived from exponential and stationary phase cells for both bacteria. These films either had no effect or inhibited attachment of both 0-day- and 4-day-old cypris larvae when compared with unfilmed controls. Our data indicate that inhibition of larval barnacle attachment by films of the two bacteria is the result of factors other than surface free energy. Production of chemical barnacle settlement inhibitors by the bacteria is hypothesized.
Agency problems in tracking stock and minority carve-out decisions: Explaining the discrepancy in short- and long-term performances

Several studies have evaluated short- and long-term performances of parent firms who resort to restructuring via tracking stock or minority carve-out. Results show that short-term positive performance of restructuring parents turns negative in the long haul. Although researchers have attempted to resolve this inconsistency, a satisfactory explanation is yet to emerge. In this paper, we offer the self-serving behavior of restructuring parents’ managers as a potential explanation for the observed discrepancy in the short- and long-term performances. We argue that managers of parent firms create new units to receive additional compensation packages. We present evidence that the long-term negative performance can be attributed, at least partially, to self-awarded raise. Since managers of tracking stock parents enjoy a greater degree of managerial discretion and controls, we hypothesize that they would pay themselves a bigger compensation package than their carve-out counterparts and their long-term performance would be inferior to that of the latter group. Our results largely support these hypotheses.
Law, liability, and the school psychologist: Malpractice and liability

Abstract A variety of court decisions and laws relevant to malpractice and liability of school psychologists are presented. Terms are defined and examples of faulty psychological testing, defamation, withholding information, and inferred incompetence are provided. Suggestions regarding litigation and legal defenses are made and issues related to professional liability insurance are discussed.
Sequence patterns defining the 5' boundary of human genes.

In studies of both short and relatively long human genomic DNA, we found a clustering of the consensus site for the transcription factor GCF at the 5′ boundary of a subset of human genes. In studies of promoter regions with known transcription initiation site, the cluster of consensus GCF site appeared near the transcription initiation site and in some sequences it extended into the transcribed region defining the leader mRNA. We also found a detectable correlation between the 5′ boundary of human genes and recognition motifs for other transcription factors that bind to GC-rich sequences. But in these cases, the correlation was not as general as the correlation observed for the consensus GCF site. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biopolymers 59: 347–355, 2001
Long-Term Estrogen and Progesterone and Mating Stimuli As Regulators of Female Sexual Receptivity in the Mongolian Gerbil

In ovariectomized female Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) estradiol benzoate (6.6 μg/day) injections elicited high levels of lordosis. Lordosis was first observed after 7 days of estrogen treatment and lordosis quotients of greater than 100 occurred after 10 continuous days of estrogen treatment. In females primed with estrogen for 13 days a further facilitation of lordosis frequency was observed 4–6 hr after progesterone injection. In estrogen-primed females, lordosis quotients of over 100 were still possible even after 9 consecutive days of progesterone treatment, although prolonged progesterone exposure (0.4 mg/day for 24 hr or more) may have depressed lordosis. Mating stimuli also interact with hormonal treatments to depress receptivity in this species. Previously tested females showed lower levels of responding than females first tested after 21 consecutive days of estrogen and 9 days of progesterone. Males often footstomped in tests in which females showed lordosis, while pairs fought and males scent marked most often in tests with nonreceptive females.
Identification of an Insulin-responsive, Slow Endocytic Recycling Mechanism in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells

In adipocytes, the insulin-regulated aminopeptidase (IRAP) is trafficked through the same insulin-regulated recycling pathway as the GLUT4 glucose transporter. We find that a chimera, containing the cytoplasmic domain of IRAP fused to transmembrane and extracellular domains of the transferrin receptor, is slowly recycled and rapidly internalized in Chinese hamster ovary cells. Morphological studies indicate that the chimera is slowly trafficked through the general endosomal recycling compartment rather than being sorted to a specialized recycling pathway. A chimera in which a di-leucine sequence within the cytoplasmic domain of IRAP has been mutated to alanines is rapidly internalized and rapidly recycled, indicating that this di-leucine is required for the slow recycling but not for the rapid internalization. Insulin stimulates a 2-3-fold increase in the recycling of the chimera and only a 1.2-fold increase in the recycling of the transferrin receptor. The effect of insulin on the recycling of the chimera is blocked by wortmannin, a phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase inhibitor. GTPgammaS (guanosine 5'-3-O-(thio)triphosphate) increases the recycling of the chimera by 50% but has no effect on the recycling of the transferrin receptor. In these studies, we have identified in Chinese hamster ovary cells a novel, slow endocytic recycling mechanism that is regulated by insulin.
Interventions to prevent skin cancer by reducing exposure to ultraviolet radiation: A systematic review

The relationship between skin cancer and ultraviolet radiation is well established. Behaviors such as seeking shade, avoiding sun exposure during peak hours of radiation, wearing protective clothing, or some combination of these behaviors can provide protection. Sunscreen use alone is not considered an adequate protection against ultraviolet radiation. This report presents the results of systematic reviews of effectiveness, applicability, other harms or benefits, economic evaluations, and barriers to use of selected interventions to prevent skin cancer by reducing exposure to ultraviolet radiation. The Task Force on Community Preventive Services found that education and policy approaches to increasing sun-protective behaviors were effective when implemented in primary schools and in recreational or tourism settings, but found insufficient evidence to determine effectiveness when implemented in other settings, such as child care centers, secondary schools and colleges, and occupational settings. They also found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of interventions oriented to healthcare settings and providers, media campaigns alone, interventions oriented to parents or caregivers of children, and community-wide multicomponent interventions. The report also provides suggestions for areas for future research.
Motor Preparatory Activity in Posterior Parietal Cortex is Modulated by Subjective Absolute Value

For optimal response selection, the consequences associated with behavioral success or failure must be appraised. To determine how monetary consequences influence the neural representations of motor preparation, human brain activity was scanned with fMRI while subjects performed a complex spatial visuomotor task. At the beginning of each trial, reward context cues indicated the potential gain and loss imposed for correct or incorrect trial completion. FMRI-activity in canonical reward structures reflected the expected value related to the context. In contrast, motor preparatory activity in posterior parietal and premotor cortex peaked in high “absolute value” (high gain or loss) conditions: being highest for large gains in subjects who believed they performed well while being highest for large losses in those who believed they performed poorly. These results suggest that the neural activity preceding goal-directed actions incorporates the absolute value of that action, predicated upon subjective, rather than objective, estimates of one's performance.