cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Native and Exotic Ants Nesting in Red Mangroves of Jamaica

Red mangroves (Rhizophora mangle) grow in and adjacent to shallow brackish water in subtropical and tropical estuaries around the world, and provide a unique arboreal habitat, often completely isolated by water from any terrestrial habitat. I surveyed ants nesting in the dead hollow vegetation, including twigs, small branches, air roots, and prop roots, of red mangroves at 30 sites around Kingston Harbour and neighboring areas along the southeastern coast of Jamaica. I collected 18 ant species (13 native and 5 Old World exotics), including three Jamaican endemics (Camponotus fugax, Cephalotes jamaicensis, and Crematogaster vicina). The most common species in the 221 samples were three native species: Crematogaster steinheili (21 sites; 64 samples), Tapinoma litorale (18 sites; 40 samples), and C. fugax (18 sites; 33 samples). The only exotic ants collected at more than one site were Monomorium floricola (13 sites; 24 samples) and Tapinoma melanocephalum (4 sites; 5 samples). The most diverse site (with eight species) was part of an enormous continuous stand of red mangrove in Salt River, within the Portland Bight Protected Area. Two Salt River sites were the only places I found the Jamaican endemic Cephalotes jamaicensis. The sites with the greatest variety of ants were relatively free of trash, including all four Salt River sites, where I collected only native ant species. However, even at sites around Kingston Harbour that were littered with large amounts of trash washed in from the sea, the red mangrove stands generally seemed healthy and harbored primarily native Jamaican ants. Protecting red mangroves in Jamaica will help conserve native Jamaican species living in this unique habitat.
Rapid induction of mouse virus-like (VL30) element transcripts by erythropoietin in murine erythroid progenitor cells

We examined the activation of genes induced by erythropoietin (Epo) in erythroid progenitor cells that were isolated from the spleens of mice infected with anemia-inducing strain of the Friend virus. These erythroid progenitor cells, termed FVA cells, undergo in vitro differentiation to erythrocytes under the influence of Epo within 2 to 3 days. We used a differential hybridization procedure to screen a cDNA library constructed from FVA cells that were treated with Epo 2U/mL in the absence of serum for 2 hours. Of 20,000 recombinant phages, 47 plaques hybridized preferentially to cDNA probe prepared from Epo- stimulated cells. We found at least three different Epo-responsive genes (ERGs) and one of them corresponds to the mouse virus-like (VL30) element, similar to already reported BVL-1. The induction of VL30, which was evident within 30 minutes after Epo exposure, reached a maximum by 1 hour and remained stable for up to 4 hours. The treatment of FVA cells with cycloheximide (CHX) 10 micrograms/mL, which in itself activates the expression of VL30 caused a superinduction of the Epo signal. Changes in intracellular Ca2+ concentrations, either raised by ionomycin or depleted by EGTA, had no effect on the Epo-induced VL30 expression. In addition, protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors such as staurosporine (3 mumol/L) or H7 (20 mumol/L) and a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein (200 mumol/L), did not inhibit the Epo-induced expression of VL30. TPA (100 ng/mL), a PKC agonist, did not induce VL30 expression. Although the physiologic role of VL30 in the differentiation of erythroid progenitor cells is not known, our findings demonstrate that VL30 is an early ERG, and may be a useful indicator of the initial molecular actions of Epo.
Investigator-sponsored trial of efficacy and tolerability of cabozantinib (cabo) at lower dose: A dose-finding study in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) and bone metastases.

4566 Background: Cabo (XL184) is an oral inhibitor of MET and VEGFR2. In a randomized discontinuation trial of cabo 100mg daily, 76% of men with CRPC and bone metastases had partial or complete res...
The independent effects of nutrient enrichment and pulsed nutrient delivery on a common wetland invader and its native conspecific

Human activities often lead natural systems to be nutrient enriched, with anthropogenically derived nutrients commonly delivered in discrete pulses. Both nutrient enrichment and nutrient pulses can impact plant performance and phenotypic plasticity, especially in invasive species, but quantifying their independent effects remains challenging. To explore the effects of nutrient enrichment and nutrient pulse magnitude, we established a common garden experiment using the North American wetland invader Phragmites australis and its native conspecific Phragmites australis subsp. americanus (five source populations each). We exposed plants to three levels of nutrient enrichment that were delivered either in small or large-magnitude pulses, examining productivity and plasticity responses over a single growing season. Productivity and biomass allocation differed by lineage, with invasive Phragmites producing 73% more biomass and 66% more culms, but with the native growing 31% taller and allocating more of its biomass belowground. Contrary to expectations, both lineages responded similarly to nutrient enrichment and were similarly plastic in their traits. Nutrient enrichment, rather than nutrient pulses, led to large productivity gains and trait plasticity magnitudes. However, total biomass and leaf-level traits (specific leaf area and chlorophyll concentration) were responsive to variation in nutrient pulse magnitudes. By decoupling the effects of nutrient enrichment from nutrient pulses, our study demonstrates the independent effects of these two key factors for plant performance and, by extension, invasion success. We report trait-based similarities between two lineages of Phragmites that play contrasting ecological roles in North American wetlands, and we highlight the potentially detrimental effects of nutrient pulses.
What is the role of the microenvironment in MDS

Treating myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) remains challenging. Hematopoiesis occurs within a heterogeneous, complex and dynamic microenvironment, and a multiplicity of mutations in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) lead to MDS. But is there a role for the microenvironment? Here we review experimental and conceptual arguments that support a role for the microenvironment, provide evidence for the disruption of the microenvironment in MDS, and explore microenvironmental signals that may provide a targetable and conserved vulnerability in MDS that transcend genetic heterogeneity.
Unnatural selection of salmon life histories in a modified riverscape

Altered river flows and fragmented habitats often simplify riverine communities and favor non-native fishes, but their influence on life-history expression and survival is less clear. Here, we quantified the expression and ultimate success of diverse salmon emigration behaviors in an anthropogenically altered California river system. We analyzed two decades of Chinook salmon monitoring data to explore the influence of regulated flows on juvenile emigration phenology, abundance, and recruitment. We then followed seven cohorts into adulthood using otolith (ear stone) chemical archives to identify patterns in time- and size-selective mortality along the migratory corridor. Suppressed winter flow cues were associated with delayed emigration timing, particularly in warm, dry years, which was also when selection against late migrants was the most extreme. Lower, less variable flows were also associated with reduced juvenile and adult production, highlighting the importance of streamflow for cohort success in these southernmost populations. While most juveniles emigrated from the natal stream as fry or smolts, the survivors were dominated by the rare few that left at intermediate sizes and times, coinciding with managed flows released before extreme summer temperatures. The consistent selection against early (small) and late (large) migrants counters prevailing ecological theory that predicts different traits to be favored under varying environmental conditions. Yet, even with this weakened portfolio, maintaining a broad distribution in migration traits still increased adult production and reduced variance. In years exhibiting large fry pulses, even marginal increases in their survival would have significantly boosted recruitment. However, management actions favoring any single phenotype could have negative evolutionary and demographic consequences, potentially reducing adaptability and population stability. To recover fish populations and support viable fisheries in a warming and increasingly unpredictable climate, coordinating flow and habitat management within and among watersheds will be critical to balance trait optimization versus diversification.
Facet Joint- and Nuchal Ligament-Sparing Laminectomy is Not Inferior to Conventional Open-Door Laminoplasty from Clinical and Radiologic Perspectives.

Objective To investigate the noninferiority of facet joint- and nuchal ligament-sparing laminectomy (FNL) compared with conventional open-door laminoplasty. Methods This retrospective study analyzed 31 patients who underwent FNL (7 women; median age, 71 years) and 29 patients who underwent laminoplasty (9 women; median age, 61 years) with cervical myelopathy due to degenerative cervical spine diseases. The surgical concept in laminectomy was to spare the facet joints and nuchal ligament, providing laminectomy with deviation to the side of dominant symptoms. In both groups, recovery rate of Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score, mean decompression ratio (decompressed width/distance between outermost edges of the lateral mass on computed tomography ×100) at decompressed laminas, and pre- and postoperative final cervical Cobb angle and cervical sagittal vertical axis were mainly examined. Results Clinical and radiologic median data with interquartile range for patients who underwent FNL and laminoplasty were as follows: postoperative follow-up, 783.0 days (535.0–1128.0 days) and 731.0 days (524.0–1213.5 days); preoperative JOA score (full score 17), 13.0 (9.5–15.0) and 13.0 (10.0–14.0); recovery rate of JOA score, 72.2% (33.3–100.0%) and 50.0% (31.0–75.0%); and mean decompression ratio, 41.9% (40.0–43.6%) and 51.6% (48.9–55.4%), respectively. The FNL group showed a comparable recovery rate of JOA score to the laminoplasty group, despite the significantly smaller mean decompression ratio (P Conclusions FNL was not inferior to conventional open-door laminoplasty in terms of clinical or radiologic outcomes, reducing the detachment of muscle from each lamina.
Signal Peptide of HIV-1 Envelope Functions to Modulate Glycosylation Impacting Exposure of V1V2 Epitopes

HIV-1 envelope (Env) is a trimer of gp120-gp41 heterodimers, synthesized from a precursor gp160 that contains an ER-targeting signal peptide (SP) at its amino-terminus. Each trimer is swathed by ~90 N-linked glycans, comprising complex-type and oligomannose-type glycans, which play an important role in determining virus sensitivity to neutralizing antibodies. We previously examined the effects of single point SP mutations on Env properties and functions. Here, we aimed to understand the impact of the SP diversity on glycosylation of virus-derived Env and virus neutralization by swapping SPs. Analyses of site-specific glycans revealed that SP swapping altered Env glycan content and occupancy on multiple N-linked glycosites, including the conserved N156 and N160 glycans in the V1V2 region at the Env trimer apex. Virus neutralization was also affected, especially by antibodies against the V2i, V2p and V2q epitopes. Likewise, SP swaps affected the recognition of soluble and cell-associated Env by antibodies targeting distinct V1V2 configurations. These data highlight the contribution of SP sequence diversity in shaping the Env glycan content and its impact on the configuration and accessibility of V1V2 epitopes on Env.
Lessons from the Losing: Implications of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Organizational Diversity Scholarship and Practice

Abstract Organizational profitability and survival are often contingent on the ability to respond to crises effectively (Pearson and Clair, 1998) In this essay, I contend that considering the impact of country composition and culture during the COVID-19 pandemic can enhance our comprehension of the role of diversity during duress When crises occur, demographic differences tend to be especially salient, as individuals become more attentive to protecting the perceived interests of the in-group, often at the expense of outgroups (King, Knight and Hebl, 2010;Krosch, Tyler, and Amodio, 2017)
High-Performance GaN Vertical p-i-n Diodes via Silicon Nitride Shadowed Selective-Area Growth and Optimized FGR- and JTE-Based Edge Termination

In this work, we develop highly efficient ET schemes based on a selective-area processing methodology that can effectively stymie device leakage, resulting in reliable device operation. In particular, we demonstrate plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy (PAMBE) facilitated silicon nitride shadowed selective-area growth (SNS-SAG) technique, capable of producing smooth GaN interfaces and sidewalls as an enabling technology for high-performance vertical GaN power devices. SNS-SAG is shown to reduce leakage current by at least four orders of magnitude compared to a dry etched device. Floating guard ring (FGR) and junction termination extension (JTE) based ET designs for GaN p-i-n diodes for punchthrough operation have been simulated and analyzed in order to develop SNS-SAG compatible space-modulated junction termination extension (SM-JTE) schemes capable of achieving maximum reverse blocking efficiency >98% while maintaining a wide doping window of up to $\sim \,\,5\times 10^{17}$ cm−3 at a minimum reverse blocking efficiency of ~ 90% extending well into high 1017cm−3 range ( $\sim \,\,8\times 10^{17}$ cm−3). In conjunction with the proposed SNS-SAG technique, SM-JTE schemes have the prospects to offer reliable GaN vertical power device operation.
Mechanically Reconfigurable Slot Array Using Accordion-Like Microactuators

A novel mechanically reconfigurable 8×11 slot array using accordion-like microactuators as an alternative to conventional electronically steered arrays is reported. The array scans 0° to –30° in elevation by simultaneously varying the inter-element spacing between sliding slot elements. To maintain low slidelobe levels, the radiating slots are designed to have nonuniform width. The array is fed by a single slotted waveguide from one side. The actuator provides continuous motion with a precision of 30 μ m (λ0/625) and is controlled via a printed circuit board (PCB) circuit. The accordion-like structure provides a uniform yet tunable spacing between each slot column, eliminating the need for costly and complex electronic scanning. This high precision approach reduces the system footprint, ensures high power handling capability, and ensures ease of integration in future applications. The structure, operating at 16 GHz, is fabricated using a laser-etching process and in-house additive manufacturing. Measurement results are congruent with simulations.
Florida’s 26th and 27th Congressional Districts: No Socialists, No Communists, No Way

Two of Florida’s 27 congressional districts flipped party control in 2020. Districts 26 and 27, the state’s two most southernmost seats, have become swing seats in this swing state. First-term Democratic incumbents Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and Donna Shalala faced challenges from recognizable Republican candidates, county mayor Carlos Gimenez and journalist and television personality Maria Elvira Salazar. They also faced charges of supporting socialism and being called communists as well personal attacks fueled by outside spending and President Donald Trump’s speeches. The result: the incumbents were defeated by 51–49% in both races while Trump cut his vote deficit in south Florida.
Building Blocks for Global Climate Protection

The paper presents an innovative institutional strategy for global climate protection, quite distinct from, but ultimately complementary to the stalled UNFCCC climate treaty negotiations. The building blocks strategy relies on a variety of smaller-scale transnational cooperative arrangements, involving not only states but sub-national jurisdictions, firms, and NGOs, to undertake activities whose primary goal is not climate mitigation but which will achieve greenhouse gas reductions as an inherent byproduct. This strategy avoids the inherent problems in securing an enforceable treaty to secure the global public good of climate protection by mobilizing other incentives — including economic self-interest, energy security, cleaner air, and furtherance of international development — to motivate such actors to cooperate on actions that will also benefit the climate. The paper outlines three specific models of regime formation (club, linkage and dominant actor models) which draws on economics, international relations, and organizational behavior to create transnational regimes that are generally self-enforcing and sustainable, avoiding the free rider and compliance problems that are endemic in a climate treaty. These regimes will contribute to global climate action not only by achieving emissions reductions in the short-term, but also by creating global webs of cooperation and trust, and by linking the building block regimes to the UNFCCC system through greenhouse gas monitoring and reporting systems. In these ways, the building blocks regimes will help secure eventual agreement on a global climate treaty.
INVITED REVIEW: STUDY DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR CLINICAL RESEARCH IN VETERINARY RADIOLOGY AND RADIATION ONCOLOGY

High quality clinical research is essential for advancing knowledge in the areas of veterinary radiology and radiation oncology. Types of clinical research studies may include experimental studies, method-comparison studies, and patient-based studies. Experimental studies explore issues relative to pathophysiology, patient safety, and treatment efficacy. Method-comparison studies evaluate agreement between techniques or between observers. Patient-based studies investigate naturally acquired disease and focus on questions asked in clinical practice that relate to individuals or populations (e.g., risk, accuracy, or prognosis). Careful preplanning and study design are essential in order to achieve valid results. A key point to planning studies is ensuring that the design is tailored to the study objectives. Good design includes a comprehensive literature review, asking suitable questions, selecting the proper sample population, collecting the appropriate data, performing the correct statistical analyses, and drawing conclusions supported by the available evidence. Most study designs are classified by whether they are experimental or observational, longitudinal or cross-sectional, and prospective or retrospective. Additional features (e.g., controlled, randomized, or blinded) may be described that address bias. Two related challenging aspects of study design are defining an important research question and selecting an appropriate sample population. The sample population should represent the target population as much as possible. Furthermore, when comparing groups, it is important that the groups are as alike to each other as possible except for the variables of interest. Medical images are well suited for clinical research because imaging signs are categorical or numerical variables that might be predictors or outcomes of diseases or treatments.
Blame Welfare, Ignore Poverty and Inequality

With the passage of the 1996 welfare reform, not only welfare, but poverty and inequality have disappeared from the political discourse. The decline in the welfare rolls has been hailed as a success. This book challenges that assumption. It argues that while many single mothers left welfare, they have joined the working poor, and fail to make a decent living. The book examines the persistent demonization of poor single-mother families; the impact of the low-wage market on perpetuating poverty and inequality; and the role of the welfare bureaucracy in defining deserving and undeserving poor. It argues that the emphasis on family values - marriage promotion, sex education and abstinence - is misguided and diverts attention from the economic hardships low-income families face. The book proposes an alternative approach to reducing poverty and inequality that centers on a children's allowance as basic income support coupled with jobs and universal child care.
Abstract 2593: Multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors synergize with folate-hapten mediated immunotherapy in folate receptor positive cancers

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA The folate receptor (FR) which binds the vitamin folic acid with high affinity is overexpressed by a variety of human cancers including ovarian, endometrial, renal, and lung cancers. Consequently, the receptor has been exploited for the delivery of imaging agents and highly potent drugs exclusively to FR expressing tumors while avoiding uptake by the surrounding healthy tissue. This targeting mechanism can also be utilized for immunotherapy by vaccinating mice against a particular hapten in order to induce the production of anti-hapten antibodies and subsequently treating tumor bearing mice with a folate-hapten conjugate. The resulting reduction in tumor burden is achieved by antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). However, hapten mediated immunotherapy alone has been ineffective at controlling tumor progression over longer periods of time and requires supplementation with immunomodulatory cytokines for optimum therapeutic results. Several multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitors have recently shown promising synergy in a variety of different cancers when combined with other immunotherapies. Therefore, we examined the effect of combining the RTK inhibitors sunitinib and axitinib with folate-fluorescein therapy in tumor bearing mice that had previously been immunized against fluorescein. We report here that sunitinib synergizes with folate-fluorescein in both the L1210A lymphoma and the M109 lung cancer models resulting in slowed tumor progression, inhibition of tumor vasculature, and increased levels of circulating CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The combination of axitinib with folate-fluorescein was only evaluated in mice bearing L1210A tumors and these mice have also demonstrated lower average tumor volumes than mice treated with either drug alone or not treated at all. These results suggest that RTK inhibitors play an important role in modulating the anti-tumor immunity of tumor bearing mice and could be a potent addition to ADCC mediated therapeutic approaches for cancers. Citation Format: Nimalka A. Bandara, Philip S. Low. Multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors synergize with folate-hapten mediated immunotherapy in folate receptor positive cancers. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 2593. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-2593
Designing A Cryptosystem Based On Invariants Of Supergroups

The work of our group falls within the area of Cyber Security, which is one of Qatar's Research Grand Challenges. We are working on designing a new public key cryptosystem that can improve the security of communication networks. The most widely used cryptosystem at present (like RSA) are based on the difficulty of factorization of numbers that are constructed as product of two large primes. The security of such systems was put in doubt since these systems can be attacked with a help of quantum computers. We are working on a new cryptosystem that is based on different (noncommutative) structures, like algebraic groups and supergroups. Our system is based on the difficulty of computing invariants of actions of such groups. We have designed a system that uses invariants of (super)tori of general linear (super)groups. Effectively, we are building a "trapdoor function" enabling us to find a suitable invariant of high degree and do the encoding of the message quickly and efficiently but which provides an attacker with computationally very expensive and difficult task to find an invariant of that high degree. As with every cryptosystem, the possibility of its break have to be scrutinized very carefully and the system has to be investigated independently by other researchers. We have established theoretical results about minimal degrees of invariants of a torus that are informing possible selection of parameters of our system. We continue getting more general theoretical results and we are working towards an implementation and testing of this new cryptosystem. A second part of our work is an extension from the classical case of algebraic groups to the case of algebraic supergroups. We are concentrating especially on general linear supergroups. We have described the center of the distribution superalgebras of general linear groups GL(m|n) using the concept of an integral in the sense of Haboush and computed explicitly all generators of invariants of the adjoint action of the group GL(1|1) on its distribution algebra. The center of the distribution algebra is related via the Harish-Chandra map to infinitesimal characters. Understanding of these characters and blocks would lead us to the description of the linkage principle, that is of composition factors of induced modules. Finding and proving linkage principle for supergroups over the field of positive characteristics is one of our main interests. This extends classical results from the representation theory that are giving scientists, mathematicians and physicists, a tool to find a theoretical model where the fundamental rules of symmetries of the space-continuum are realized. Better theoretical background could lead to better understanding of the experimental data and predictions confirming or contradicting our current understanding of the universe. As happened many times in the past, finding the right point of view and developing new language can often lead to different level of understanding. Therefore we value the theoretical part of our work the same way as the practical work related to the cryptosystems.
Integrated parcellation and normalization using DTI fasciculography

Existing methods for fiber tracking, interactive bundling and editing from Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Images (DMRI) reconstruct white matter fascicles using groups of virtual pathways. Classical numerical fibers suffer from image noise and cumulative tracking errors. 3D visualization of bundles of fibers reveals structural connectivity of the brain; however, extensive human intervention, tracking variations and errors in fiber sampling make quantitative fascicle comparison difficult. To simplify the process and offer standardized white matter samples for analysis, we propose a new integrated fascicle parcellation and normalization method that combines a generic parametrized volumetric tract model with orientation information from diffusion images. The new technique offers a tract-derived spatial parameter for each voxel within the model. Cross-subject statistics of tract data can be compared easily based on these parameters. Our implementation demonstrated interactive speed and is available to the public in a packaged application.
Monocomponent Phase Equilibrium

Phase equilibria for a monocomponent system require uniformity of temperature, pressure, and chemical potential. In the temperature-pressure plane, single-phase regions are separated from one another by two-phase coexistence curves that meet at the triple point where all three phases, crystalline solid, liquid, and vapor, are in mutual equilibrium. The Clausius-Clapeyron differential equation depends on the ratio of enthalpy change to volume change and describes the coexistence curves that can be approximated for ideal vapors. The solid-vapor coexistence curve ends at a critical point; at larger pressures or temperatures there is no distinction between these phases. The chemical potential is continuous at the coexistence curves but its slope versus temperature or pressure is discontinuous. We develop equations for the thermodynamic functions and sketch them versus temperature and pressure. Finally we discuss phase equilibria in the volume-pressure plane where two phases in equilibrium are separated by a miscibility gap in volume.
Constructing a Feminist Reorganization of the Heterosexual Breadwinner/Caregiver Family Model: College Students’ Plans for their Own Future Families

Although feminist scholars have been criticizing the breadwinner-caregiver model of family division of labor for decades (Ferree 1990, 2010; Friedan 1963) and women are earning a substantial portion of families’ income (Wang et al. 2013) change in family care has been slow. Families are a cultural system that may serve to constrain parents’ behaviors by gender. Although most women are employed, they are also responsible for a bulk of the housework, an examination of men’s behavior can reveal how changes can occur in the breadwinner-caregiver model. Drawing on the social-cognitive theory (Bussey and Bandura 1999), it was hypothesized that when men and women in emerging adulthood remember their parents sharing childcare and paid labor more equitably, they would also be planning for a future where men were involved in childcare. Participants were 586 college students from Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern regions of the United States. They responded to surveys measuring parental division of labor during childhood, along with their own plans for their future families, and feelings of competence for such tasks. Interestingly, men who remembered their fathers caring for them reported feeling more competence in childcare tasks themselves. Results indicated that college men and women are able to construct family roles that do not adhere to the breadwinner-caregiver model when their parents modeled a less traditional division of labor in their childhoods.
Mutants of bacteriophage lambda defective in vegetative genetic recombination.

Abstract Five mutants of bacteriophage λ defective in vegetative genetic recombination ( red − ) have been isolated and characterized for some of their genetic and physiological properties. For three of the red − mutants, vegetative genetic recombination between the L and J genes falls to approximately 10 −3 or less of the normal level in two rec − hosts. Recombination between L and J is approximately 10% of normal for these red − mutants in a rec + host. red − phage also show a greater sensitivity to the lethal action of ultraviolet irradiation than red + when grown in an extremely ultraviolet sensitive ( rec − uvr − ) host. The five red − mutations define a single complementation group and are located in a small region of the central part of the λ vegetative map. Therefore all five mutations probably affect a single gene, which we designate red . The properties of the red − mutants are most easily explained if the red gene specifies an enzyme which catalyzes a step in vegetative genetic recombination between λ DNA molecules, and if the majority of λ vegetative genetic recombination is normally mediated at least in part by this enzyme.
DEPRIVATION AND RADIANT HEAT REINFORCEMENT

Four groups of 10 rats each were fed ad lib. or in a manner to maintain them 10, 20, or 30% below their free-feeding body weight. Each animal was closely clipped and exposed to the cold (2°C) with radiant heat reinforcement available. Results show that the frequency of radiant heat reinforcement did not vary as a function of deprivation level; however, as the intensity of the radiant heat reinforcement was decreased, the frequency of radiant heat reinforcements increased.
Labeling mental illness : The effects of received services and perceived stigma on life satisfaction

Labeling theory proponents and the theory's critics have different views of stigma and thus differ on the consequences of labeling for people with mental illness. The labeling perspective posits that because of stigma, official labeling through treatment contact has negative consequences for mental patients. In contrast, critics of labeling theory claim that stigma is relatively inconsequential. Instead, they argue that because labeling results in receiving needed services, it provides significant benefits for mental patients. Thus far, no study has tested the relative positive and negative effects of labeling. The author examines these views by comparing the importance of perceived stigma versus the receipt of services for the quality of life of persons with chronic mental illness. Results show that both stigma and services received are significantly associated with quality of life but in opposite ways. These findings have important implications for interventions for mental illness
EXCITATORY ACTIONS OF GABA IN DEVELOPING RAT HYPOTHALAMIC NEURONES

1. Gramicidin-perforated patch clamp recording was employed to study GABA-mediated responses in rat hypothalamic neurones (n = 102) with an intracellular Cl- concentration unaltered by the pipette solution. 2. In young cultures after 1-7 days in vitro (DIV), GABA induced depolarizing membrane potentials (+16.5 +/- 1.3 mV) that often surpassed the threshold for the firing of action potentials (-42 +/- 1 mV) and resulted in an increase in neuronal activity. The depolarizing responses to GABA in young cultures were dose dependent. The concentration of GABA necessary to evoke the half-maximal depolarization (EC50) was 2.8 microM. In contrast, GABA induced hyperpolarizing membrane potentials (-12.0 +/- 1.4 mV) and a decrease in neuronal activity in older neurones (20-33 DIV). Both the depolarization and the hyperpolarization induced by GABA were blocked by bicuculline, indicating a mediation by GABAA receptors. 3. The reversal potentials of the GABA-evoked currents were between -40 to -50 mV during the first week of culture, and shifted to below -70 mV after 3 weeks of culture. In parallel, neurones that were dissociated from older animals (postnatal day 5) had a more negative reversal potential for the GABA-evoked currents than cells from younger animals (embryonic day 15), suggesting that the negative shift of the reversal potential occurs both in vitro and in vivo. Our data suggest that the mechanism for GABA-induced depolarization is the depolarized Cl- reversal potential found in young but not older neurones. 4. Consistent with the depolarizing response to exogenous application of GABA, some spontaneous depolarizing postsynaptic potentials in young cultures were insensitive to AP5-CNQX, but were eliminated by bicuculline, indicating that synaptically released GABA mediated excitatory synaptic transmission in early development. 5. By combining a rapid computer-controlled delivery of GABA with subthreshold positive current injections into recorded neurones, we found in young cultures that the GABA-evoked depolarization could directly trigger action potentials, facilitate some depolarizing input to fire action potentials, and shunt other depolarizing input. Whether the GABA-induced depolarization is excitatory or inhibitory would be determined by the reversal potential of the GABA-evoked current, and the temporal relationship between GABA-evoked depolarizations and other excitatory events. 6. We conclude that the reversal potential of the GABA-evoked current shifts negatively from depolarizing to hyperpolarizing in developing hypothalamus. Consequently, GABA neurotransmission may serve both excitatory and inhibitory roles during early development.
An Empirical Comparison of Combinatorial and Random Testing

Some conflicting results have been reported on the comparison between t-way combinatorial testing and random testing. In this paper, we report a new study that applies t-way and random testing to the Siemens suite. In particular, we investigate the stability of the two techniques. We measure both code coverage and fault detection effectiveness. Each program in the Siemens suite has a number of faulty versions. In addition, mutation faults are used to better evaluate fault detection effectiveness in terms of both number and diversity of faults. The experimental results show that in most cases, t-way testing performed as good as or better than random testing. There are few cases where random testing performed better, but with a very small margin. Overall, the differences between the two techniques are not as significant as one would have probably expected. We discuss the practical implications of the results. We believe that more studies are needed to better understand the comparison of the two techniques.
Computer Determination of Sidebands in Frequency Modulation with Complex Periodic Modulation Functions

Manual methods are not practical for accurately determining the sideband properties of a frequency-modulated system involving complex modulation functions. A technique, utilizing an IBM 7094 Data Processing System, accomplishes the solution with accuracy to four decimal places for an unmodulated carrier amplitude of one. This technique was programmed in FORTRAN IV language.
Duration and rate of grain filling in selected winter wheat populations. I: Inheritance

Grain yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is determined in part by kernel weight, which is a function of the rate and duration of grain fill (GF). The lack of information regarding the inheritance of GF rate and duration prompted this study to determine the relative magnitude of genetic components and combining ability estimates for the GF parameters. Parents and F 1 generations resulting from a 4 × 4 diallel mating scheme were grown in space-planted experiments in 1987 and 1988. The plots were sampled at 2- to 3-d intervals after anthesis to obtain GF data [...]
Influences of rate, length, and complexity on speech disfluency in a single-speech sample in preschool children who stutter.

Abstract The purpose of the present study was (1) to determine whether speech rate, utterance length, and grammatical complexity (number of clauses and clausal constituents per utterance) influenced stuttering-like disfluencies as children became more disfluent at the end of a 1200-syllable speech sample [Sawyer, J., & Yairi, E. (2006). The effect of sample size on the assessment of stuttering severity. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 15, 36–44] and (2) to explore the interaction of speech rate, length, and grammatical complexity at the beginning (syllables 1–300, Section A) and the end (syllables 901–1200, Section B) of the speech sample. Participants were eight boys and six girls (M = 40.9 months) who were selected from the Sawyer and Yairi [Sawyer, J., & Yairi, E. (2006). The effect of sample size on the assessment of stuttering severity. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 15, 36–44] study. Mean length of utterance (MLU) in morphemes, the number of clauses, clausal constituents, and articulation rate, measured in syllables per second were analyzed from the children's conversational speech. The median split procedure [Logan, K., & Conture, E. (1995). Length, grammatical complexity, and rate differences in stuttered and fluent conversational utterances of children who stutter. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 20, 35–61; Yaruss, J. S. (1997). Utterance timing and childhood stuttering. Journal of Fluency Disorders, 22, 263–286] was used to study interactions between articulation rate, utterance length, and grammatical complexity across the two sections. The mean number of clauses per utterance, clausal constituents per utterance, and articulation rate revealed no significant differences between Section A and Section B, whereas MLU significantly increased in Section B (p = .013). Clausal constituents and MLU were significantly correlated both in Sections A and B. The median split procedure revealed trends for utterances characterized as high length and low-speech rate to be greater in number in Section B than A, but the differences were not significant. Educational objectives: The reader will learn about and be able to: (a) describe the influence of grammatical complexity and mean length of utterance on disfluent speech; (b) compare different procedures for assessing speech rate and determine why the effects of articulation rate have been inconclusive; (c) discuss procedures for comparing length, rate, and complexity across a single-speech sample; and (d) explain why therapeutic methods that emphasize shorter utterance lengths, rather than only slower speech rates, are advisable in establishing fluency in preschool children who stutter.
Thyroid Dysfunction as a Late Effect in Survivors of Pediatric Medulloblastoma/Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumors A Comparison of Hyperfractionated versus Conventional Radiotherapy

BACKGROUND Primary hypothyroidism is a common sequela of craniospinal radiotherapy in the treatment of pediatric brain tumors. METHODS The authors compared the incidence of primary hypothyroidism after hyperfractionated radiotherapy (HFRT) (n = 14 patients) versus conventionally fractionated radiotherapy (CRT) (n = 34 patients) in a group of pediatric patients with medulloblastoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumors (MB/PNET). RESULTS The mean age at the time of tumor diagnosis was 7.9 years in the HFRT group and 8.4 years in the CRT group. The patients were followed for a mean of 4.6 years (HFRT) and 8.3 years (CRT) after diagnosis. Mean radiation doses to the thyroid were similar in both radiotherapy groups (29 gray [Gy] [HFRT] vs. 24 Gy [CRT]). Approximately 14% of the HFRT and 62% of the CRT patients developed primary hypothyroidism within a similar period after irradiation (3.2 years [HFRT] vs. 3.0 years [CRT]). Analysis by cumulative incidence function demonstrated a significant difference in the risk of developing thyroid dysfunction between these two groups of patients (P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS The current study findings suggest that the use of HFRT in the treatment of pediatric patients with MB/PNET is associated with a lower risk of these patients developing primary hypothyroidism. Cancer 1997; 80:798-804. © 1997 American Cancer Society.
Effects of seedborne potato virus Y on Russet Norkotah performance

Research plots were established in 1996 and 1997 at Klamath Falls and Hermiston, Oregon and Tulelake, California to determine: 1) the extent of seedborne PVY spread during the growing season; 2) effects of seedborne PVY on yield and grade of Russet Norkotah; and 3) the economic consequences of varying levels of seedborne PVY infections. A series of 5 treatments evaluated initial PVY infection levels of 1 to 60% in 1996 and 1 to 98% in 1997. Virus spread occurred earlier and was more extensive at Hermiston than at Klamath Falls or Tulelake. Plants derived from PVY-free seed were nearly 100% PVY infected at early senescence at Hermiston. Comparisons of potatoes grown from PVY-free seed versus potatoes grown from seed where initial PVY infection levels were 60% in 1996 and 100% in 1997 showed seedborne PVY infection at these levels reduced U.S. No. 1 yields by an average of 40% at Hermiston, 20% at Tulelake, and 12% at Klamath Falls. Predicted total yield losses were 0.19, 0.12, and 0.08 Mg ha−1 for each percent of PVY infection at HAREC, IREC, and KES, respectively. Reductions in gross crop value were estimated at 39, 26, and 14%, respectively, based on regression analyses.
MODELS FOR INFLATION WITH A LOW SUPERSYMMETRY BREAKING SCALE

Abstract We present models where the same scalar field is responsible for inflation and for the breaking of supersymmetry. The scale of supersymmetry breaking is related to the slope of the potential in the plateau region described by the scalar field during the slow rollover, and the gravitino mass can therefore be kept as small as MW, the mass of the weak gauge boson. We show that such a result is stable under radiative corrections. We describe the inflationary scenario corresponding to the simplest of these models and show that no major problem arises, except for a violation of the thermal constraint (stabilization of the field in the plateau region at high temperature). We discuss the possibility of introducing a second scalar field to satisfy this constraint.
Animal Models in Human Nutrition Research

Animal models are used extensively in nutritional research. Studies with animal models may not provide a discussion of the applicability of the model to humans, and seldom do such studies discuss the limitations of the model. This article presents information that is targeted toward the nutrition support practitioner about the use of animal models in nutritional research. The rationale for using animal models and the applicability to humans, the limitations of applicability, and the unique opportunities related to animal models is presented.
Polyploidy and small RNA regulation of cotton fiber development

Cotton is not only the most important source of renewal textile fibers, but also an excellent model for studying cell fate determination and polyploidy effects on gene expression and evolution of domestication traits. The combination of A and D-progenitor genomes into allotetraploid cotton induces intergenomic interactions and epigenetic effects, leading to the unequal expression of homoeologous genes. Small RNAs regulate the expression of transcription and signaling factors related to cellular growth, development and adaptation. An example is miRNA-mediated preferential degradation of homoeologous mRNAs encoding MYB-domain transcription factors that are required for the initiation of leaf trichomes in Arabidopsis and of seed fibers in cotton. This example of coevolution between small RNAs and their homoeologous targets could shape morphological traits such as fibers during the selection and domestication of polyploid crops.
Stress: The legal and organizational implications

Evolving legal trends, as well as court cases in which stress related to employment situations led to liability for the employer, were reviewed and summarized. These results were integrated with those in current empirical stress research in order to identify potential areas of concern for managers. This unified approach was then used to examine some common organizational situations and to suggest practices, policies, and procedures that may be useful in reducing or eliminating the harmful effects of stress on employees. It was concluded that, while employers must be knowledgeable about general stressors likely to affect employee well-being, they must also identify factors unique to their own situations. The responsibility of the manager in analyzing the work situation and responding to the individuals involved is emphasized.
A 4-node 3D-shell element to model shell surface tractions and incompressible behavior

We present in this paper a shell element that models the three-dimensional (3D) effects of surface tractions, like needed when a shell is confined between other solid media. The element is the widely used MITC4 shell element enriched by the use of a fully 3D stress-strain description, appropriate through-the-thickness displacements to model surface tractions, and pressure degrees of freedom for incompressible analyses. The element formulation avoids instabilities and ill-conditioning. Various example solutions are presented to illustrate the capabilities of the element.
Gamma Radiation Effects on the Pectic Substances in Citrus Fruits

SUMMARY— Exposure of citrus fruits to gamma radiation at doses of 150 and 300 krad increased the water- and oxalate-soluble pectins and decreased the protopectin in component parts of Valencia oranges and Duncan grapefruit. The quantities of water-soluble pectin and protopectin in the peel and membrane were affected the most by irradiation. Degradation of the pectins as measured by jelly grade increased in all components of the irradiated fruits. The greatest decrease in jelly grade occurred in the March samples when the Brix/acid ratio was least. Methoxyl contents of the pectins from the peel of oranges and grapefruit decreased, while this characteristic decreased only slightly in pectins from the membrane of irradiated fruits. Pectinesterase activity in the peel of both oranges and grapefruit decreased with increased dosages, while the activity in the membrane of both fruits increased.