cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Impact of the Testing Environment on Affective Changes Following Acute Resistance Exercise

Research has demonstrated the anxiolytic and affective changes following resistance exercise. However, several studies have allowed the participants to leave the testing facility and return at a later time to complete psychological assessments. This weakens internal validity, making it impossible to interpret findings as due to exercise per se. To address this issue, 23 male participants were randomly assigned to either a “stay” or “go” group. Within each group, all participants completed a non-exercise control session and a weight-training session based on 50% of their one repetition maximum for each of five exercises. All participants remained in the laboratory for 60 minutes following each session, at which time only those in the “go” group left the laboratory and returned at 90 and 120 minutes for their remaining affective assessments. The results indicate that despite transient disruptions in mood, an acute bout of resistance exercise results in positive psychological changes that occur within 60 min...
2,9-Bis(1,3-benzothia-zol-2-yl)-1,10-phenanthroline dichloro-methane disolvate.

In the title compound, C26H14N4S2·2CH2Cl2, the two pendant benzothia­zole groups are slightly twisted with respect to the phenanthroline core [dihedral angles = 1.03 (7) and 9.05 (5)°]. Weak inter­molecular C—H⋯N and C—H⋯Cl inter­actions occur in the crystal structure.
Comment: Tooth enamel mineralization in ungulates: Implications for recovering a primary isotopic time-series, by B. H. Passey and T. E. Cerling (2002)

Passey and Cerling (2002) presented both direct measurement and a theoretical model that describe rates of tooth enamel mineralization in ungulates (hoofed mammals), and the retrievability of environmental time-series. Their results are quite important because ungulate teeth are common in the fossil record and readily analyzed for stable isotope compositions, which makes them outstanding archives of paleoecological and paleoclimate information (e.g., Koch, 1998). Because tooth enamel grows progressively, isotopic zoning in enamel potentially encodes isotopic seasonality. However, Passey and Cerling show that enamel mineralization processes must cause records of isotopic seasonality to be damped relative to an environmental signal. According to their model, damping is strongly dependent on lengths corresponding to rates of enamel maturation (lm) and lengthwise growth (t). They measured lm, but provided no values for t, and in their models instead assumed various ratios of lm/t. Unlike many comments, the purpose of this note is not to challenge their results per se, but rather to point out that published zoning profiles for several ungulates permit estimation of t. This in turn provides broad discrimination of their model results, and estimates for the degree of environmental damping likely present in tooth isotopic records.
Mobile agent-based computational steering for distributed applications

The mobile agent-based computational steering (MACS) for distributed applications is presented in this article. In the MACS, a mobile agent platform, Mobile-C, is embedded in a program through the Mobile-C library to support C-C++ mobile agent code. Runtime replaceable algorithms of a program are represented as agent services in C-C++ source code and can be replaced with new ones through mobile agents. In the MACS, a mobile agent created and deployed by a user from the steering host migrates to computing hosts successively to replace algorithms of running programs that constitute a distributed application without the need of stopping the execution and recompiling the programs. The methodology of dynamic algorithm alteration in the MACS is described in detail with an example of matrix operation. The Mobile-C library enables the integration of Mobile-C into any C-C++ programs to carry out computational steering through mobile agents. The source code level execution of mobile agent code facilitates handling issues such as portability and secure execution of mobile agent code. In the MACS, the network load between the steering and computing hosts can be reduced, and the successive operations of a mobile agent on multiple computing hosts are not affected whether the steering host stays online or not. The employment of the middle-level language C-C++ enables the MACS to accommodate the diversity of scientific and engineering fields to allow for runtime interaction and steering of distributed applications to match the dynamic requirements imposed by the user or the execution environment. An experiment is used to validate the feasibility of the MACS in real-world mobile robot applications. The experiment replaces a mobile robot's behavioral algorithm with a mobile agent at runtime. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A list of organometallic kryptoracemates

The vast majority of racemic solutions of chiral compounds apparently crystallize at room temperature in non-Sohncke space groups as racemic crystals. However, krypto­racemic crystals composed of nearly enantio­meric pairs occasionally crystallize at room temperature, or appear as low-temperature phases, in Sohncke space groups. As a complement to the previously published catalog of organic krypto­racemates [Fabian & Brock (2010). Acta Cryst. B66, 94–103], 1412 chiral organo­metallic crystal structures have now been extracted from the Cambridge Structural Database and analyzed. 26 are listed herein as credible krypto­racemates. The possible influence of temperature is discussed, together with some problems in characterizing and classifying these structures.
Optimal referent selection strategies in case-crossover studies: a settled issue.

I n this issue of EPIDEMIOLOGY, Janes et all present a comprehensive review of referent selection strategies in case-crossover analyses of air pollution data. This review is timely, given the increasing popularity of the case-crossover approach, and makes an important contribution to the field. As for other substantive areas of epidemiology, concerns over the validity of estimates of the short-term health effects of air pollution are paramount. Thus, study design decisions and analytic approaches should be engineered to maximize efficiency to the extent possible without introducing inordinate bias. The authors did an excellent job of summarizing insights regarding the importance of careful selection of referent periods to minimize potential biases, including those that arise from time trends in exposure, truncation of the air pollution data at the start and end of the exposure time series, and violations of the assumptions inherent in the conditional logistic likelihood that result in "overlap bias." The arguments put forth by Janes and colleagues convincingly show that, although other approaches may be valid under certain circumstances, the time-stratified selection strategy is more generally valid than any of the alternatives thus far proposed. Thus, this strategy should be considered the de facto standard approach to the analysis of data arising in studies of the short-term effect of air pollution and weather. The caution against "model shopping" is an extremely important one, but it must be distinguished from the concept of sensitivity analysis. Conducting several analyses and "cherry picking" results (ie, presenting only the subset of results that look the most "interesting" to the investigator) clearly is problematic and is likely to lead to the presentation of spuriously extreme effect estimates. However, assuming one considers only approaches that have been shown to be generally valid, it is reasonable for investigators to conduct sensitivity analyses. For example, when conducting a time-stratified case-crossover analysis, the length of the time strata should be chosen subject to the best judgment of the analyst. In studies of short-term health effects of air pollution, investigators have most commonly chosen strata defined by calendar month.>6 This is clearly a convenient choice that is easy to implement. However, an implicit assumption is that time-dependent confounders, such as season, or respiratory illness outbreaks are relatively constant within a calendar month. It is possible that strata of 2 or 3 weeks duration may better control for such confounding or that longer periods of up to 6 weeks might control confounding as well, but be more efficient.
Bush's War on Sexual Health and Defensive Strategies Against It

Abstract Since George W. Bush became President of the United States in 2001, his administration has presided over a far-reaching campaign attacking sexual and reproductive rights. This paper examines three facets of this campaign-the promotion of abstinence-only education; a general attack on condom use; and a campaign against sex workers-and offers strategies for advocates of sexual and reproductive rights to counter these measures.
Contour-based object tracking with gradient-based contour attraction field

Object tracking is a problem which is very often addressed by various approaches, including background subtraction, visual constancy or geometric flow. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, it proposes an enhanced feature-weighted gradient, enhancing the contours of the object characterized by this feature, and attenuating the gradient amplitude wherever the feature is not found. The second, and main contribution, is a new integrator for active-contours based tracking. It uses the gradient alongside the object contours and generates a bidirectional attraction field. The combination of the contour tracking and the weighted gradient is illustrated on the driver's-face tracking problem, where the illumination conditions (brightness, colour) change as the vehicle passes through different environments.
The effects of religious commitment on the attitudes and behavior of teens regarding premarital childbirth.

Abstract Using the NELS data set from the 1988-1992 period, this study used a longitudinal data set to address whether very religious teens maintained different attitudes and behaviors regarding premarital childbirth than their less religious counterparts. The results of this study support the notion that a high level of religious commitment among adolescents makes it less likely that teens will have permissive attitudes about premarital childbirth and also makes it less likely that they will become never married single parents during their high school years. The variables for “religiosity” were taken from the NELS surveys for 1988 and 1990. The variables measuring attitudes and behaviors regarding premarital childbirth were obtained from the 1992 data set. This procedure helped address any issues regarding the direction of causality. The significance of these results is discussed.
The effect of heliox in acute severe asthma: a randomized controlled trial.

Study objectives: To evaluate the effect of heliox on airflow obstruction and dyspnea in patients with acute severe asthma. Design: A prospective, randomized, controlled study. Setting: A university hospital. Patients: Twenty-three patients presenting to the emergency department with acute severe asthma were randomized to receive 70%/30% heliox or 30% oxygen. Measurements: Peak expiratory flow (PEF), dyspnea score, heart rate, respiratory rate (RR), and BP were measured at baseline and 20, 120, 240, 360, and 480 min after starting the test gas. After baseline, the PEF was measured by using the gas that was randomized to the treatment program. Results: In the first 20 min, there was a 58.4% increase in percent predicted PEF (%PEF) in the heliox group (p 0.1). Eighty-two percent of the heliox group had > 25% improvement in %PEF at 20 min, whereas only 17% of the oxygen group did (p 0.1) change immediately after the heliox was discontinued (270.6 to 264.2 L/min). In the heliox group in the first 20 min, there was a significant decrease in dyspnea score and RR (p < 0.05), but there were no further significant improvements for the rest of the study. In the oxygen group, no variables significantly improved until 360 min. Conclusion: Heliox rapidly improves airflow obstruction and dyspnea in patients with acute severe asthma and may be useful as a therapeutic bridge until the corticosteroid effect occurs. (CHEST 1999; 116:296 ‐300)
Connective tissue nevi of the skin: Clinical, genetic, and histopathologic classification of hamartomas of the collagen, elastin, and proteoglycan type

Connective tissue nevi of the skin are hamartomatous lesions consisting predominantly of one of the components of the extracellular matrix, namely, collagen, elastin, or glycosaminoglycans. On the basis of clinical, histopathologic, and genetic considerations, the connective tissue nevi can be classified into defined categories. Association with extracutaneous features allows further delineation of these disease entities and aids in establishing an accurate diagnosis.
Extraterrestrial Noise as a Factor in Space Communications

Present-day refinements in communication systems make it appear that extraterrestrial noise sources may establish a fundamental limitation on long-range communications. The various cosmic and solar system radio sources are considered with respect to their intensities, spectral distributions, and temporal characteristics. The most severe forms of interference occur in the long-wavelength regions of the radio-frequency spectrum, so that the future of space communications probably lies in the perfecting of low-noise microwave systems.
pH-induced activation of arenavirus membrane fusion is antagonized by small-molecule inhibitors.

The arenavirus envelope glycoprotein (GPC) mediates viral entry through pH-induced membrane fusion in the endosome. This crucial process in the viral life cycle can be specifically inhibited in the New World arenaviruses by the small-molecule compound ST-294. Here, we show that ST-294 interferes with GPC-mediated membrane fusion by targeting the interaction of the G2 fusion subunit with the stable signal peptide (SSP). We demonstrate that amino acid substitutions at lysine-33 of the Junin virus SSP confer resistance to ST-294 and engender de novo sensitivity to ST-161, a chemically distinct inhibitor of the Old World Lassa fever virus. These compounds, as well as a broadly active inhibitor, ST-193, likely share a molecular target at the SSP-G2 interface. We also show that both ST-294 and ST-193 inhibit pH-induced dissociation of the G1 receptor-binding subunit from GPC, a process concomitant with fusion activation. Interestingly, the inhibitory activity of these molecules can in some cases be overcome by further lowering the pH used for activation. Our results suggest that these small molecules act to stabilize the prefusion GPC complex against acidic pH. The pH-sensitive interaction between SSP and G2 in GPC represents a robust molecular target for the development of antiviral compounds for the treatment of arenavirus hemorrhagic fevers.
DNA bar coding and pyrosequencing to analyze adverse events in therapeutic gene transfer

Gene transfer has been used to correct inherited immunodeficiencies, but in several patients integration of therapeutic retroviral vectors activated proto-oncogenes and caused leukemia. Here, we describe improved methods for characterizing integration site populations from gene transfer studies using DNA bar coding and pyrosequencing. We characterized 160,232 integration site sequences in 28 tissue samples from eight mice, where Rag1 or Artemis deficiencies were corrected by introducing the missing gene with gamma-retroviral or lentiviral vectors. The integration sites were characterized for their genomic distributions, including proximity to proto-oncogenes. Several mice harbored abnormal lymphoproliferations following therapy--in these cases, comparison of the location and frequency of isolation of integration sites across multiple tissues helped clarify the contribution of specific proviruses to the adverse events. We also took advantage of the large number of pyrosequencing reads to show that recovery of integration sites can be highly biased by the use of restriction enzyme cleavage of genomic DNA, which is a limitation in all widely used methods, but describe improved approaches that take advantage of the power of pyrosequencing to overcome this problem. The methods described here should allow integration site populations from human gene therapy to be deeply characterized with spatial and temporal resolution.
Steinernema siamkayai n. sp. (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae), an entomopathogenic nematode from Thailand

Steinernema siamkayai n. sp. (Rhabditida: Steinernematidae) is a new entomopathogenic nematode isolated in Lohmsak, Thailand. Morphology, hybridisation and molecular studies indicated the distinctness of S. siamkayai n. sp. from other Steinernema spp. Diagnostic characters include: the total body length (398–495 μm) and tail length (31-41μm) of the third-stage infective juvenile and lateral field pattern with 6-8 longitudinal ridges; the presence of a tail mucro in both first and second generation females and males; the size and shape of the spicules and gubernaculum, and the arrangement of the genital papillae of the first and second generation males; and the shape of the vulva and tail of the first generation female and second generation female
Adaptive control of cyclic movements as muscles fatigue using functional neuromuscular stimulation

In this project, Functional Neuromuscular Stimulation (FNS) was utilized to activate the quadriceps muscle to move the lower leg in a cyclic pattern. During the 300 cycle trials (12.5 minutes), an adaptive neural network, the Pattern Generator/Pattern Shaper, determined the stimulation pattern. Throughout the trials, the adaptation was intermittently turned off and on so that during 3 intervals within the trial, the stimulation pattern was fixed for 50 cycles. We then investigated performance of the controller during intervals with fixed stimulation patterns and intervals with adaptation enabled. Results indicate that the adaptive controller learned to generate an appropriate stimulation pattern during the first interval with adaptation on. The performance of the fixed stimulation pattern then degraded over the next interval, presumably due to muscle fatigue. During subsequent intervals, performance improved with adaptation on and degraded with adaptation off, but the magnitude of the changes were less than during the initial intervals. These results indicate that the adaptive feature was particularly important during initial stages while most of the fatigue was occurring, but that fixed stimulation patterns may be suitable after the fatigue has plateaued.
Effect of Metoprolol and Verapamil Administered Separately and Concurrently after Single Doses on Liver Blood Flow and Drug Disposition

Nine healthy males participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, crossover study to determine the effects of verapamil and metoprolol administered alone and concurrently on blood flow through the hepatic artery and portal and hepatic veins and to detect a possible drug interaction between the two agents. Single oral doses of placebo/placebo, metoprolol (50 mg)/placebo, verapamil (80 mg)/placebo, or verapamil/metoprolol were separated by at least 14 days. Liver blood flow through individual hepatic vessels was measured up to 8 hours after dosage administration using a duplex Doppler ultrasound technique. Cardiac output, heart rate, blood pressure, stroke volume, and total peripheral resistance were measured for 3 hours after drug doses were given. In 5 subjects, pharmacokinetic parameters for total drug as well as S- and R-enantiomers were also measured. Verapamil given alone caused a rapid and intense increase in liver blood flow (hepatic artery = 50%, portal vein = 42%, hepatic vein = 55%) 0.75 to 1 hour after administration because of a decrease in total peripheral resistance and an increase in heart rate, stroke volume, and cardiac output. Metoprolol given alone caused a slow but prolonged decrease in liver blood flow (maximum decrease: hepatic artery = -54%, portal vein = -21%, hepatic vein = -27%) 4 hours after administration because of a decrease in heart rate and cardiac output. When the two agents were given together, a composite of the changes noted after separate administration was noted: a brief peak increase in liver blood flow at 0.33 to 1 hour followed by a slow, prolonged decrease that reached its maximum decline 4 to 5 hours postdose. During the combined phase, metoprolol and its enantiomers had an increased AUC and Cmax, while verapamil and its enantiomers had an increased AUC and t1/2. These pharmacokinetic changes were consistent with the magnitude and time course of liver blood flow changes through the hepatic artery and portal or hepatic veins.
Random homogeneous sodium sulfonate polysulfone ionomers: preparation, characterization, and blend studies

The sodium salts of randomly sulfonated polysulfone (Na-SPSF), derived from 1,1′-sulfonylbis-[4-chlorobenzene] with 4,4′-(1-methylethylidene)-bis-[phenol], were prepared over the composition range of 3–30 mol% sodium sulfonate, using improved procedures in which the sulfonating complex was introduced into an intensely agitated polymer solution. In contrast to earlier work, Tg was found to increase nonlinearly with sodium sulfonate content. A SAXS study provided no evidence of ionic clustering in these polymers. Binary blends of Na-SPSFs differing only in composition were prepared by casting films from solution, and their phase behavior was studied by dynamic mechanical analysis after annealing at 250°C. It was found that the blends were miscible up to a composition difference of about 9–10 mol% sodium sulfonate. Using this fact it was possible to calculate a value for χABn of 200–250, where χAB represents the segmental interaction parameter between unmodified and modified repeat units, and n is the degree of polymerization. Uncertainty in the degree of ionic association places a degree of uncertainty on the effective value of n and therefore on χAB. The product, however, is independent of any assumptions regarding molecular associations.
Immune Thrombocytopenia and Elemental Mercury Poisoning

Three cases of severe mercury toxicity occurring within a family are reported. Two cases of thrombocytopenia occurred in this family and represent the second such report in the literature of an association between elemental mercury toxicity and thrombocytopenia. Three of the children presented with a combination of dermatologic and neurologic manifestations reminiscent of acrodynia or pink disease. Each of the four children in this family were treated with dimercaptosuccinic acid. The hazard of vacuuming spilled mercury and appropriate clean-up procedures are described.
Using Fisher information to approximate ideal-observer performance on detection tasks for lumpy-background images

When building an imaging system for detection tasks in medical imaging, we need to evaluate how well the system performs before we can optimize it. One way to do the evaluation is to calculate the performance of the Bayesian ideal observer. The ideal-observer performance is often computationally expensive, and it is very useful to have an approximation to it. We use a parameterized probability density function to represent the corresponding densities of data under the signal-absent and the signal-present hypotheses. We develop approximations to the ideal-observer detectability as a function of signal parameters involving the Fisher information matrix, which is normally used in parameter estimation problems. The accuracy of the approximation is illustrated in analytical examples and lumpy-background simulations. We are able to predict the slope of the detectability as a function of the signal parameter. This capability suggests that the Fisher information matrix itself evaluated at the null parameter value can be used as the figure of merit in imaging system evaluation. We are also able to provide a theoretical foundation for the connection between detection tasks and estimation tasks.
A Market-Based Model of State Supreme Court News Lessons from Capital Cases

In this article, we present and test a market-based model of news content about state courts of last resort. We test our theory by examining newspaper coverage of decisions in death penalty cases. Our empirical results indicate that news elements of drama, novelty, and sensationalism influence coverage of state high courts’ death penalty cases rather than traditional indicators of legal salience. News content either anywhere in a newspaper or on its front page is influenced by similar factors, but front-page coverage is more sensitive to dramatic conviction reversals and the rarity of executions in a given state. Our results suggest that traditional explanations of the relationship between crime and newsworthiness have limited impact on media attention given to state supreme courts. Media coverage of state high courts is instead associated primarily with the behavior of the court and its justices.
Organizational Routines Are Stored as Procedural Memory: Evidence from a Laboratory Study

Organizational routines-multi-actor, interlocking, reciprocally-triggered sequences of actions-are a major source of the reliability and speed of organizational performance. Without routines, organizations would lose efficiency as structures for collective action. But these frequently repeated action sequences can also occasionally give rise to serious suboptimality, hampering performance when they are automatically transferred onto inappropriate situations. While the knowledgeable design and redesign of routines presents a likely lever for those wishing to enhance organizational performance, the lever remains difficult to grasp because routines are hard to observe, analyze, and describe. This paper argues that new work in psychology on "procedural" memory may help explain how routines arise, stabilize and change. Procedural memory has close links to notions of individual skill and habit. It is memory for how things are done that is relatively automatic and inarticulate, and it encompasses both cognitive and motor activities. We report an experiment in which paired subjects developed interlocked task performance patterns that display the chief characteristics of organizational routines. We show evidence from their behavior supporting the claim that individuals store their components of organizational routines in procedural memory. If routines are stored as distributed procedural memories, this may be the source of distinctive properties reported by observers of organizational routines. The paper concludes with implications for both research and practice.
Oral relaxin maintains intestinal blood flow in a rat model of NEC.

Abstract Purpose Intestinal vasoconstriction is a critical step in development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). Relaxin (RLXN), a hormone found in breast milk but absent from formula, is a potent vasodilator. We hypothesized that relaxin-supplemented feeds with an NEC protocol would decrease NEC severity and increase intestinal blood flow. Methods Timed-pregnant Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly assigned to CONTROL, NEC, NEC+1xRLXN, or NEC+All Feeds RLXN, and all but CONTROL underwent NEC protocol. NEC+1xRLXN and NEC+All Feeds RLXN groups were fed relaxin-supplemented formula with the last feed or every feed. At 48h of life, intestinal blood flow was measured at baseline and after application of 2.5% Delflex® solution. Results The addition of relaxin to NEC group feeds (1x or All Feeds) improved the degree of ileal injury. Ileal blood flow was decreased in the NEC pups compared to the CONTROLS, but the addition of relaxin to one feed increased baseline ileal blood flow in the NEC group compared to NEC alone. Furthermore, the addition of relaxin to ALL feeds significantly increased baseline ileal blood flow. Conclusion Pups who received relaxin with all feeds had substantially increased ileal perfusion compared to control pups. Our data suggest that relaxin supplementation maintains intestinal blood flow and results in less histologic NEC.
Tourism and deforestation in the Mt Everest region of Nepal

Over the past 50 years the Sherpa-inhabited Mt Everest region of Nepal has become a premier international mountaineering and trekking destination. Tourism development has brought prosperity to many Sherpas. It has also, however, had adverse impacts on regional forests and alpine vegetation because of the use of firewood by camping groups and inns and the felling of trees to construct inns and other tourist facilities. Concern that tourism was causing widespread deforestation helped catalyse the 1976 establishment of an inhabited protected area, Sagarmatha (Mt Everest) National Park, in the Khumbu region and spurred the implementation of a series of forest conservation and alternative energy development measures both within the national park and in a recently declared buffer zone in the adjacent Pharak region. This paper examines the changing pressures that tourism has placed on regional forests and alpine vegetation over the past half century and their role in regional vegetation change. This analysis is based primarily on detailed accounts of past and present forest use and change obtained during fieldwork conducted in all Khumbu and Pharak villages, along with corroborating evidence from early foreign visitors’ accounts and photographs. Contrary to some early reports it now appears there has actually been little deforestation since 1950. The continuing use of firewood by inns, however, has contributed to the thinning of forests in some parts of the national park and to the depletion of shrub juniper in the most heavily visited alpine regions. There has been a greater impact on forests just outside the national park, which have been heavily thinned over an extensive area in order to provide timber to build inns within the national park.
Subpubic fistula: a urethral duplication

The presence of prepubic and subpubic fistulas without other abnormalities is a rare variation in normal embryological development. These abnormalities are probably not associated with bladder exstrophy or a cloacal remnant but occur later with development of the genital tubercle. We report the identification of a subpubic fistula in a girl and subsequent evaluation, which give further insight into the embryology of this unusual entity. CASE REPORT An 8-year-old black girl presented for evaluation of enuresis. She had no history of urinary tract infections, and voided urinalysis and serum creatinine were normal. An opening was observed just superior to the clitoris (fig. 1). There was no discharge or local induration, and vaginal introitus and the female urethra were normal. Physical examination was otherwise unremarkable. The opening was probed for 1.5 cm. Renal ultrasound, excretory urography and dimercaptosuccinic acid scan were normal. At operation the fistula was dissected as it tracked just below and posterior to the pubic ramus for 3 cm., where it became a fibrous cord and could not be followed further or probed. Pathological evaluation of the cord revealed a soft tissue tract lined by squamous and probable transitional epithelium, which was surrounded by smooth muscle (fig. 2). DISCUSSION During early embryoloacal development the urinary tract and gut are joined at the cloaca. The normal genitourinary and gastrointestinal systems form as the anterior aspect of the cloacal membrane is closed by lateral mesodermal projections, and the urorectal septum separates the urinary and intestinal systems. The anterior aspect of the cloacal membrane can fail to close if the lateral mesodermal projections
Heavy metal biomineralization in free-living nematodes, Panagrolaimus spp

Grass-inhabiting free-living nematodes, Panagrolaimus spp. were found to biomineralize lead heavy metal. Cultures of two isolates of Panagrolaimus superbus, collected from Oxford, UK and Tucson, Arizona, were exposed to 500 ppm lead for an exposure time of 20 min. Control worms were exposed to deionized water. TEM sections taken from the oesophageal region revealed the presence of metal particulates in lead exposed nematodes only. X-ray elemental analysis confirmed the presence of lead in the particulates. This is the first account of heavy metal biomineralization in nematodes.
One-Year All-Cause Mortality of Patients Diagnosed as Having In-Hospital Pulmonary Embolism After Modern Elective Joint Arthroplasty Is Low And Unaffected By Radiologic Severity.

Abstract Background We studied the 1-year complication rate of patients diagnosed as having a pulmonary embolism (PE) after elective total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) surgery and the distribution of emboli in the pulmonary circulation, and determined if a relationship exists between the location of the PE and age, gender, body mass index, preoperative predisposing factors, American Society of Anesthesiology classification, type of surgery, prophylaxis, hospital stay, transfer to a higher level of care, and mortality. Methods Two hundred sixty-nine patients who developed an in-hospital PE proved by computed tomography pulmonary angiography after elective THA or TKA between 2005 and 2012 were studied. Results The most proximal location of the emboli was central in 62, segmental in 139, and subsegmental in 68. Nineteen patients (7%) developed a bleeding complication during PE treatment. Twenty-nine patients (11%) were readmitted during the first year. Two patients (0.74%) died: one had a segmental PE after TKA. He died 11 months after surgery due to an autopsy-proven sepsis. The second patient developed a segmental PE after THA. She was anticoagulated, developed an intracranial bleed, and died 8 months after surgery. Multivariate analysis showed that demographic variables, American Society of Anesthesiology class, preoperative comorbidities (with the exception of arrhythmia), and the presence of preoperative predisposing factors had no effect in the location of the PE. Conclusion The 1-year mortality rate of these patients is low. Death can be caused by bleeding complications secondary to anticoagulation or by unrelated conditions. This information may aid clinicians while counseling patients who developed a PE after surgery, particularly those with small subsegmental emboli.
Storage stability of wine coolers as influenced by juice content and citric acid addition

A study was conducted to examine the effects of citric acid, juice levels, and storage methods on the stability of wine coolers. Four flavors of wine coolers (apple, grape, pineapple, and citrus) were formulated with 10 and 50% fruit juice with each juice level having 0.2 and 0.4% citric acid added. Three storage temperatures were used: cold (3C), room (21C), and elevated (37C). The cold and room temperature storages were for 10 months, and the elevated temperature storage was for 4 months. Chemical analyses were conducted during storage and sensory analyses were conducted after storage. The pineapple coolers with 0.4% citric acid added were the only coolers to be rated with a significantly higher flavor rating over the coolers with 0.2% added. The wine coolers showed changes in color and decreases in pH and carbonation levels. Coolers containing 50% juice levels were less stable during storage and had lower sensory scores than the coolers containing 10% fruit juice. Elevated storage temperature (37C) for 4 months was an acceptable method of evaluating wine cooler stability problems.
A model for predicting the presence of school psychology: An international examination of sociocultural, sociopolitical and socioeconomic influences

School psychology exists in many countries around the world; however, it is far from ubiquitous. The extant literature offers limited empirical information addressing why school psychology may be present in some countries but not in others. The purpose of this study was to conduct a comparative investigation examining four sociocultural and sociopolitical theories that may help to explain the presence of school psychology within countries around the globe. The results from this study examining 108 different countries revealed that although the socioeconomic development of a country is an important explanatory factor of the presence of school psychology, it does not fully explain the presence of school psychology. Specifically, variables measuring a country’s modern mass cultural values and legacy of expenditures on social programs were independently predictive of the presence of school psychology. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed.
Nanoparticulate drug delivery platforms for advancing bone infection therapies.

Introduction: The ongoing surge of resistance of bacterial pathogens to antibiotic therapies and the consistently aging median member of the human race signal an impending increase in the incidence of chronic bone infection. Nanotechnological platforms for local and sustained delivery of therapeutics hold the greatest potential for providing minimally invasive and maximally regenerative therapies for this rare but persistent condition.Areas covered: Shortcomings of the clinically available treatment options, including poly(methyl methacrylate) beads and calcium sulfate cements, are discussed and their transcending using calcium-phosphate/polymeric nanoparticulate composites is foreseen. Bone is a composite wherein the weakness of each component alone is compensated for by the strength of its complement and an ideal bone substitute should be fundamentally the same.Expert opinion: Discrepancy between in vitro and in vivo bioactivity assessments is highlighted, alongside the inherent imperfectness of the for...
Interactive effects of a non-native invasive grass Microstegium vimineum and herbivore exclusion on experimental tree regeneration under differing forest management

Summary Invasive plants, herbivores and site management history can play crucial roles in determining plant community composition. The net effects of invasive species on plant communities are well known, but we have a poor understanding of the relative contributions of direct competitive effects of invasive species and their interactions with herbivores and management practices. Understanding interactions among plant invasions, herbivores and management history is critical for predicting and managing long-term ecological effects of invasions on native communities. We investigated the effects of the invasive annual grass Microstegium vimineum, vertebrate herbivory, site management history and their interactions on seedling performance of five native tree species in six forest sites. Half of the sites had been subjected to recent timber harvesting, and half had not been managed for timber for at least 20 years. We evaluated tree seedling survival and biomass after two growing seasons in blocked split-plots where the invasive grass was present or experimentally removed and where vertebrate herbivores were excluded by fencing or allowed onto the plots. Removal of the invasive grass and herbivore exclosures both had positive effects on seedling survival. Survival of all species was significantly increased by removal or by the interaction of removal with exclosure or timber harvest history. There was a significant interaction between exclosure and removal on seedling biomass where seedlings were larger in exclosure treatments with the invasive removed but smaller in exclosure treatments when the invader was present. Mean seedling biomass was 79·6% greater in harvested sites than in non-harvested sites. The significant positive effects of removal and recent timber harvest on the biomass of two Quercus species suggest strong impacts of invasion and management history on this important genus. Synthesis and applications. An invasive grass directly inhibited tree seedling performance but effects depended on herbivore exclusion treatment, timber harvest history and tree species. Our results suggest that forest management strategies should incorporate invasive plant control given that regeneration of desirable tree species can be influenced by plant invasions and their interactions with herbivores and previous management practices.
Eigenvector analysis of polarimetric SAR data

Fully polarimetric SAR data analysis has found wide application for terrain classification, land-use, soil moisture and ground cover classification. New methods and algorithms continue to be developed and tested. One method that has gained great popularity is the Cloude-Pottier eigenvalue/eigenvector decomposition of coherency matrices (Cloude and Pottier 1996). The eigenvalue spectrum uniquely describes the scattering entropy, anisotropy and span (total power). The eigenvectors are employed in the calculation of averaged quantities. Typically though the eigenvector components have not been analyzed in much detail. Here we present a general analysis of the eigenvectors based on an earlier observation (Cloude 2001) that the eigenvectors may be parameterized by a set of rotations.
EXPECTED MAKESPAN MINIMIZATION ON IDENTICAL MACHINES IN TWO INTERCONNECTED QUEUES

We study the scheduling of jobs in a system of two interconnected service stations, called Q1 and Q2, on m(m ≥ 2) identical machines available in parallel, so that every machine can process any jobs in Q1 or Q2. Preemption is allowed. Under certain conditions on the arrival, service, and interconnection processes, we determine a scheduling policy that minimizes the expected makespan.
Blood flow to the uterine and ovarian vascular beds of gilts during the estrous cycle or early pregnancy.

Blood flow to uteri, ovaries and other selectedmaternal tissuesof 3 nonpregnant (NP) and 4 pregnant (P) gilts was determined on Days 9, 11, 13 and 15 post-estrus or post-mating (Day Ofirst day of estrus or mating) using gamma-labeled microspheres. On either Day 6, 7 or 8, catheters were inserted into the left ventricle and the left femoral artery for infusion of microspheres and simul- taneous withdrawal of blood, respectively. At random, 7 X 106 25 �m spheres with one of 4 gamma labels (51Cr, �Sr, '41Ce or "9yb), in a volume of 10 ml, were infused on each of Days 9, 11, 13 and 15 such that each gilt received all 4 isotopes. Nonpregnant gills were sacrificed on Day 15 and P gills were sacrificed on Day 18. Each uterine horn from NP gifts was divided into 10 sections of equal length and their position in the uterine horn noted. Uteri of P gilts were divided into sections in contact with and devoid of conceptus tissue. Each section of uterus, as well as the cervix, vagina, liver, kidneys, lungs, and fibularis tertius muscles were weighed, homogenized and aliquoted prior to determination of radioactivity. Corpora lutea (CL), and the extraluteal com- ponent of each ovary, utero-ovarian lymph nodes, oviducts and the pituitary were weighed and placed directly into vials for counting. Blood flow (EF; mI/mm per g of tissue) to uterine seg- ments was greater (P<0.05) in P than NP gifts on each of the days measured. In P gilts, BF to uterine segments was higher (P<O.05) on Days 11 and 13 than Days 9 and 15 (2.05 ± 0.11 and 1.92 ± 0.10 vs. 1.18 ± 0.05 and 1.48 ± 0.06, respectively).On Day 13, BF to uterine segments in contact with conceptusea was elevated (P<0.O1) compared to segments between conceptuses (2.13 ± 0.04 vs. 1.76 ± 0.04). Corpora lutea BF was elevated (P<0.01) in P gilts on Day 13 (23.97 ± 2.51) compared to P gilts on Days 9, 11 or 15 (15.01 ± 1.26) or NP gilts across all Days (15.20 ± 1.21). These data demonstrate that by Day 13 of gestation, uterine segments in contact with conceptuses have greater blood flow than segments between conceptuses. In addition, this con- ceptus-associated increase in uterine BF on Day 13 occurs concomitantly with a transient rise in BF through the CL.
Implementation of Case Management for Batterer Program Participants

Among the recommendations for improving batterer counseling is additional services for African American men, which might be obtained through case management that includes individual intake screening, service identification, service contact review, and follow-up calls. A formative evaluation of a case management project was conducted through direct observations of procedures, semistructured interviews with staff, and tabulation of referrals (N = 202). The men's impressions and recommendations were collected through subsample phone interviews ( n = 72). Most men were referred for job or financial assistance, and few were referred for substance abuse or mental health problems. Barely half of referred men were contacted in the supportive case management phone calls. The average number of referrals per man increased over time, as did referral contacts. Interviews suggest, however, that the referral system had little impact. The case management was not implemented as designed primarily because of time constrain...
Greenhouse gas emissions from domestic hot water: heat pumps compared to most commonly used systems

We estimate the emissions of the two most important greenhouse gasses (GHG), carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), from the use of modern high-efficiency heat pump water heaters compared to the most commonly used domestic hot water systems: natural gas storage tanks, tankless natural gas demand heaters, electric resistance storage tanks, and tankless electric resistance heaters. We considered both natural gas-powered electric plants and coal-powered plants as the source of the electricity for the heat pumps, the thermal electric storage tanks, and the tankless electric demand heaters. The time-integrated radiative forcing associated with using a heat pump water heater was always smaller than any other means of heating water considered in this study across all time frames including at 20 and 100 years. The estimated amount of CH4 lost during its lifecycle was the most critical factor determining the relative magnitude of the climatic impact. The greatest net climatic benefit within the 20-year time frame was predicted to be achieved when a storage natural gas water heater (the most common system for domestic hot water in the United States) fueled by shale gas was replaced with a high efficiency heat pump water heater powered by coal-generated electricity; the heat pump system powered by renewable electricity would have had an even greater climatic benefit, but was not explicitly modeled in this study. Our analysis provides the first assessment of the GHG footprint associated with using a heat pump water heater, which we demonstrate to be an effective and economically viable way of reducing emissions of GHGs.
Role of vasopressin in renal vascular changes with hypoxemia and hypercapnic acidosis in conscious dogs.

To evaluate the role of vasopressin in the renal changes during combined acute hypoxemia and acute hypercapnic acidosis, eight conscious female mongrel dogs prepared with controlled sodium intake at 80 meq/24 h for 4 days were studied in one of the following six protocols: acute hypoxemia (80 min, arterial PO2 34 +/- 1 mmHg) followed by combined acute hypoxemia and hypercapnic acidosis (40 min, arterial PO2 35 +/- 1 mmHg, arterial PCO2 58 +/- 1 mmHg, pH = 7.20 +/- 0.01) during 1) intrarenal vehicle at 0.5 ml/min (N = 8); or 2) intrarenal infusion of vasopressin V1-receptor antagonist [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]AVP at 5 ng.kg-1.min-1 (N = 5); and with normal gas exchange during 3) intrarenal vasopressin at 0.05 mU.kg-1.min-1 (N = 8); 4) simultaneous infusion of intrarenal vasopressin and [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]AVP, 5 ng.kg-1.min-1 (N = 4); 5) intrarenal [d(CH2)5Tyr(Me)]AVP, 5 ng.kg-1.min-1 (N =4); and 6) intrarenal vehicle at 0.5 ml/min (N = 7). Intrarenal infusion of a subpressor dose of vasopressin resulted in a transient decrease in glomerular filtration rate and effective renal plasma flow over the first 20 min of infusion, suggesting that vasopressin induced nonsustained vasoconstriction of the renal vasculature. Intrarenal administration of [d(CH2)5Tyr-(Me)]AVP failed to block the fall in glomerular filtration rate or effective renal plasma flow when renal arterial blood vasopressin levels were elevated by intrarenal administration of exogenous vasopressin or by elevated systemic arterial endogenous circulating vasopressin during combined acute hypoxemia and hypercapnic acidosis. These data suggest that vasopressin (V1-receptor stimulation) does not play an important role in the renal vasoconstriction during combined acute hypoxemia and hypercapnic acidosis in conscious dogs.