cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diabetic Diarrhea: A clinical and pathophysiological study

Thirteen patients with diabetic diarrhea were studied in order to obtain a clinical and pathophysiological description of this disorder. The patients already had debilitating complications of diabetes, such as neuropathy and occlusive vascular disease. The diarrhea was intermittent and an isolated absorption defect for fat was present in 5 of the 13 patients. Intestinal biopsies and pancreatic exocrine function were normal. No evidence was found of abnormal bacterial colonization of the upper gastrointestinal tract. Water and electrolyte absorption was normal in jejunum and ileum during continuous perfusion with normal saline. However, following the oral administration of d-xylose in water, the test meal gained in volume and its passage through the ileum was delayed. Lack of pain with jejunal distention indicated impairment of afferent sympathetic innervation. The efferent sympathetic and parasympathetic pathways appear to be intact in view of the normal response of intestinal motility to l -epinephrine, l -norepinephrine, and methacholine. These results are consistent with previously published autopsy studies showing degeneration of interneuronal pathways in the pre- and paravertebral sympathetic ganglia in diabetic diarrhea.
The Organization and Integration of Anglo-American Policing

A great deal of current police sociology builds on classic qualitative and ethnographic works on public police (Manning 2005). yet these works (e.g., Bittner 1967; Bittner 1970; Ericson 1982; Grimshaw and Jefferson 1987; Klockars 1985; Manning 1977; Skolnick 1994; van Maanen 1972) and subsequent studies have left almost entirely unexamined the ways in which separate public police components interact, save perhaps some limited comment on the intersections between generalist officers and specialists (Ericson 1981; Marx 1987; Reiner 2010). Moreover, while much attention has been paid in recent years to the policing milieu outside of police forces — and for good reason — there is still foundational sociological work to be done to understand coordination between police before, or at least at the same time as, we seek to understand coordination within the larger policing ‘’web’ (Brodeur 2010).
A Dominant Mutation in Rpe65, D477G, Delays Dark Adaptation and Disturbs the Visual Cycle in the Mutant Knock-In Mice

RPE65 is an indispensable component of the retinoid visual cycle in vertebrates, through which the visual chromophore 11-cis-retinal (11-cis-RAL) is generated to maintain normal vision. Various blinding conditions in humans, such as Leber congenital amaurosis and retinitis pigmentosa (RP), are attributed to either homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in RPE65. Herein, we investigated D477G missense mutation, an unprecedented dominant-acting mutation of RPE65 identified in patients with autosomal dominant RP. We generated a D477G knock-in (KI) mouse and characterized its phenotypes. Although RPE65 protein levels were decreased in heterozygous KI mice, their scotopic, maximal, and photopic electroretinography responses were comparable to those of wild-type (WT) mice in stationary condition. As shown by high-performance liquid chromatography analysis, levels of 11-cis-RAL in fully dark-adapted heterozygous KI mice were similar to that in WT mice. However, kinetics of 11-cis-RAL regeneration after light exposure were significantly slower in heterozygous KI mice compared with WT and RPE65 heterozygous knockout mice. Furthermore, heterozygous KI mice exhibited lower A-wave recovery compared with WT mice after photobleaching, suggesting a delayed dark adaptation. Taken together, these observations suggest that D477G acts as a dominant-negative mutant of RPE65 that delays chromophore regeneration. The KI mice provide a useful model for further understanding of the pathogenesis of RP associated with this RPE65 mutant and for the development of therapeutic strategies.
Vaccines in 2017: Closing in on a Zika virus vaccine

Over the past 2 years, Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as a pathogen capable of causing devastating congenital malformations in the developing fetus and significant neurological disease in adults. In 2017, substantial progress has been made towards the development, immunological analysis and preclinical evaluation of vaccine platforms to prevent the pathologies associated with ZIKV infection.
Introduction to the Journal of Global Justice and Public Policy

Introduction to Volume 1, Issue 1, published Fall 2014, of the Journal of Global Justice and Public Policy. Dean Jeffrey Brauch explains the focus of the Journal on issues of domestic and international importance. The Journal partners with the Center for Global Justice, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law, which equips advocates to promote the rule of law and to seek justice for the world's downtrodden - the abused, the oppressed, and the enslaved. Founded in 2014, the Journal of Global Justice and Public Policy (JGJPP) is a Christian academic journal dedicated to scholarly publications on all issues effecting global justice both in domestic and international law. The Journal features articles, notes, case comments, and reviews submitted by prominent scholars, practitioners, and students. In constant pursuit of superior content, JGJPP actively solicits manuscripts, both secular and religious, which focus on international law.
Frobenius’ Generalized Theory of Theta Functions

This chapter is devoted to Frobenius’ theory of generalized theta functions, which he called “Jacobian functions” in honor of Jacobi, who had pointed out the fundamental role that can be played by theta functions in establishing the theory of elliptic functions and solving the inversion problem.
Polarized Infrared Reflectance of Single Crystals of Apatites

Experiments are described using the polarized specular-reflectance technique to determine the dipole directions and relative intensities of the PO4 vibrations in F-apatite and hydroxyapatite single crystals. Use of this information to make assignments of the frequency bands is discussed.
Initial results of genomic scans for ovulation rate in a cattle population selected for increased twinning rate.

Genomic scans were conducted with 273 markers on 181 sires from a cattle population selected for increased twinning rate to identify chromosomal regions containing genes that influence ovulation rate. Criteria used for selecting markers were number of alleles, ease of scoring, and relative position within linkage group. Markers were multiplexed or multiple-loaded on the gels to reduce the costs and labor required to obtain genotypic data. This approach reduced the number of gels by 45% when compared with running each marker independently. Male animals selected for the genomic scan sired the majority of the population. A modified interval analysis was used in a granddaughter design to compare effects of each allele within sire for 10 different sire families. The midparent deviation of the son's estimated breeding value for ovulation rate was used as the phenotype. Forty-one potential peaks were identified with a nominal significance level less than or equal to 0.05. The 10 peaks with the highest significance levels (P < 0.02) were selected for further analysis. Markers were genotyped across daughters of the sire where nominal significance was found for each of the 10 peaks. One peak (BTA5, relative position 40 cM) was found to be nominally significant in the daughters. The nominal significance levels were P = 0.01 for the sons (n = 32) and P = 0.02 for the daughters (n = 94) of sire 784403. A combined genomewide significance value (P = 0.07) was calculated that accounted for the 10 analyses with sons and the 10 analyses with daughters. These results strongly suggest that this region contains a gene(s) that is involved in the follicular recruitment and development process.
A New Solution

The solution I now want to consider is based on a certain view of what constitutes good and evil, a view which is certainly not absurd or wholly arbitrary but in fact is a view to which many of us are prepared to subscribe. It is a solution which I had first vaguely and defectively advanced in the American Philosophical Quarterly (1964) pp. 244–47. With the passage of time, helped by the stimulus received from objections raised, the true nature of this somewhat complex solution gradually unfolded in my mind and I think I was able to provide a much improved account of it by the time I contributed to the discussion held in The Journal of Value Inquiry (1970). At this stage I feel that I may be able to present a clear enough exposition, so that the reader, who may initially be quite put off by the seeming strangeness of the solution, is by the end of the next chapter satisfied that yet another path has been opened toward the elimination of the problem of evil.
Injectable calcium phosphates for vertebral augmentation

Abstract: Osteoporotic compression fractures are a common problem and are associated with extensive patient morbidity. Percutaneous injection of cement with (kyphoplasty) or without (vertebroplasty) the prior use of a balloon to create a cavity has been reported to reduce pain and stabilize the fracture in some patients. The most common type of cement used for vertebral augmentation has been polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), although this does have some potential disadvantages. Among alternative materials, calcium phosphate cements are very osteoconductive, may have adequate compressive strength for some applications, are isothermic during curing, and are slowly resorbed and remodeled by bone. Although those properties may seem desirable, unfortunately some calcium phosphate cements are thrombogenic, and appear to have been associated with perivertebral thrombus formation leading to cardiopulmonary complications including pulmonary embolism and patient death. It seems unlikely that the theoretical advantages of calcium phosphate cements for vertebral augmentation will overcome the potentially serious complications. At this time, calcium phosphate cements are not FDA approved for vertebral augmentation and we do not recommend the routine use of calcium phosphate cements for vertebroplasty or kyphoplasty.
An inverse problem arising in the evolution of combustion aerosols

Aerosol modeling has been studied in the literature under various simplifying assumptions. We refer the reader to the book by Hidy and Brock [1] and articles [2–4], and the to the references given there. The particular model to be considered in this chapter arises in soot formation in flat flame. This model has been considered by Harris, Weiner and Ashcraft [5]; it represents conditions encountered inside an engine (e.g., an automobile engine). The model assumes particle inception and surface reaction. In order to design the shape of some components of the engine or of its exhaust, it is important to find out the inception rate I(t) and the surface reaction rate k(t) of the particles (assumed to be spheres).
Effects of Probiotic (Bacillus subtilis DE111) Supplementation on Immune Function, Hormonal Status, and Physical Performance in Division I Baseball Players.

We sought to determine the effects of probiotic supplementation (Bacillus subtilis DE111; 1 billion CFU∙d−1) on markers of immune and hormonal status in collegiate male athletes following 12 weeks of offseason training. Twenty-five Division I male baseball athletes (20.1 ± 1.5 years, 85.5 ± 10.5 kg, 184.7 ± 6.3 cm) participated in this double blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study. Participants were randomly assigned to a probiotic (PRO; n = 13) or placebo (PL; n = 12) group. Pre- and post-training, all athletes provided resting blood and saliva samples. Circulating concentrations of testosterone, cortisol, TNF-α, IL-10, and zonulin were examined in the blood, while salivary immunoglobulin A (SIgA) and SIgM were assayed as indicators of mucosal immunity. Separate analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were performed on all measures collected post intervention. No differences in measures of body composition or physical performance were seen between groups. TNF-α concentrations were significantly (p = 0.024) lower in PRO compared to PL, while there were no significant group differences in any other biochemical markers examined. A main effect for time was observed (p < 0.05) for increased testosterone (p = 0.045), IL-10 (p = 0.048), SIgA rate (p = 0.031), and SIgM rate (p = 0.002) following offseason training. These data indicate that probiotic supplementation had no effect on body composition, performance, hormonal status, or gut permeability, while it may attenuate circulating TNF-α in athletes.
Global analysis of mutations driving microevolution of a heterozygous diploid fungal pathogen.

Candida albicans is a heterozygous diploid yeast that is a commensal of the human gastrointestinal tract and a prevalent opportunistic pathogen. Here, whole-genome sequencing was performed on multiple C. albicans isolates passaged both in vitro and in vivo to characterize the complete spectrum of mutations arising in laboratory culture and in the mammalian host. We establish that, independent of culture niche, microevolution is primarily driven by de novo base substitutions and frequent short-tract loss-of-heterozygosity events. An average base-substitution rate of ∼1.2 × 10−10 per base pair per generation was observed in vitro, with higher rates inferred during host infection. Large-scale chromosomal changes were relatively rare, although chromosome 7 trisomies frequently emerged during passaging in a gastrointestinal model and was associated with increased fitness for this niche. Multiple chromosomal features impacted mutational patterns, with mutation rates elevated in repetitive regions, subtelomeric regions, and in gene families encoding cell surface proteins involved in host adhesion. Strikingly, de novo mutation rates were more than 800-fold higher in regions immediately adjacent to emergent loss-of-heterozygosity tracts, indicative of recombination-induced mutagenesis. Furthermore, genomes showed biased patterns of mutations suggestive of extensive purifying selection during passaging. These results reveal how both cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic factors influence C. albicans microevolution, and provide a quantitative picture of genome dynamics in this heterozygous diploid species.
Translation dysregulation in neurodegenerative disorders.

Aberrant translational repression has emerged as a common feature across multiple neurodegenerative disorders. The mechanisms underlying translational repression have not been fully elucidated but, in some cases, involve activation of the integrated stress response (ISR) pathway by disease-associated, aggregation-prone proteins. For example, studies in mouse models of prion and tauopathy disorders demonstrate a link between expression of misfolded forms of prion and tau proteins, respectively, and phosphorylated alpha subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (p-eIF2α)-dependent translational repression. Remarkably, disease-related phenotypes are alleviated in these models by pharmacological and genetic interventions that restore protein translation (1, 2). What do we know about translational repression in the context of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and related disorders such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD)? A new report in PNAS by Kamelgarn et al. (3) addresses this question by contributing mechanistic insight into how the ALS- and FTD-associated protein fused in sarcoma (FUS) modulates translation during disease. Interestingly, these authors found that the effects of mutant FUS on translational repression extend to the nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) pathway. These findings reinforce the notion that translation dysregulation plays a role in neurodegenerative disease pathogenesis and highlight the factors involved in NMD as therapeutic targets for these disorders. FUS is an RNA/DNA-binding protein that shuttles between the nucleus and cytoplasm and engages in diverse cellular processes that include transcription, splicing, and translation (4). A majority of ALS-linked mutations are located within the nuclear localization sequence and cause the protein to accumulate and ultimately aggregate within the cytoplasm (5, 6). Notably, FUS dysfunction is relevant to other forms … [↵][1]1Email: daryl.bosco{at}umassmed.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
The structural basis of the arrestin binding to GPCRs

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are the largest family of signaling proteins targeted by more clinically used drugs than any other protein family. GPCR signaling via G proteins is quenched (desensitized) by the phosphorylation of the active receptor by specific GPCR kinases (GRKs) followed by tight binding of arrestins to active phosphorylated receptors. Thus, arrestins engage two types of receptor elements: those that contain GRK-added phosphates and those that change conformation upon activation. GRKs attach phosphates to serines and threonines in the GPCR C-terminus or any one of the cytoplasmic loops. In addition to these phosphates, arrestins engage the cavity that appears between trans-membrane helices upon receptor activation and several other non-phosphorylated elements. The residues that bind GPCRs are localized on the concave side of both arrestin domains. Arrestins undergo a global conformational change upon receptor binding (become activated). Arrestins serve as important hubs of cellular signaling, emanating from activated GPCRs and receptor-independent.
Linear B Cell Epitopes Derived from the Multifunctional Surface Lipoprotein BBK32 as Targets for the Serodiagnosis of Lyme Disease.

ABSTRACT BBK32 is a multifunctional surface lipoprotein expressed by Borrelia burgdorferisensu lato, the causative agent of Lyme disease. Previous studies suggested that BBK32 could be a sensitive antigen target of new, more effective, serodiagnostic assays for the laboratory diagnosis of Lyme disease. However, nonspecific antibody binding to full-length BBK32 has hampered its use as a target in clinical assays. Specificity can be improved by the use of peptides composed of linear B cell epitopes that are unique to B. burgdorferi, eliminating cross-reactive epitopes that bind to antibodies generated by non-B. burgdorferi antigens. In this study, we identified linear B cell epitopes in 2 regions, BBK32 amino acids 16 to 30 [BBK32(16–30)] and BBK32 amino acids 51 to 80 [BBK32(51–80)], by probing overlapping peptide libraries of BBK32 with serum from patients with early Lyme disease. We screened synthetic peptides containing these epitopes using a large panel of serum (n = 355) obtained from patients with erythema migrans lesions (early Lyme disease), Lyme arthritis, syphilis, rheumatoid arthritis, or healthy volunteers. BBK32(16–30) demonstrated a nearly universal antibody binding in serum from all patients, indicating that regions of BBK32 are highly cross-reactive. BBK32(51–80) was less cross-reactive, being able to distinguish serum from Lyme disease patients from control patient serum; however, an unacceptable level of antibody binding was still observed in control samples, resulting in a reduced specificity (94.7%). These results indicate that BBK32 contains cross-reactive epitopes that make it a poor antigen target for inclusion in a serodiagnostic assay for Lyme disease and highlight the difficulties in identifying highly sensitive and specific seroassay targets. IMPORTANCE Lyme disease is an infectious disease that has the potential to cause significant morbidity with damage to nervous and musculoskeletal systems if left untreated. Appropriate antibiotic treatment during early infection prevents disease progression. Unfortunately, currently available diagnostics are suboptimal in the detection of early disease. The inability to confirm Borrelia infection using laboratory methods during early disease is, in part, responsible for much of the controversy surrounding Lyme disease today. As a result, there has been significant investment in the identification of new antigen targets to generate diagnostic assays that are more sensitive for the detection of early infection. The importance of our research is that in our evaluation of BBK32, an antigen that was previously identified as a promising target for use in serodiagnostics, we found a high degree of cross-reactivity that could compromise the specificity of assays that utilize this antigen, leading to false-positive diagnoses.
An empirical examination of leadership styles' impact on innovative behaviour and entrepreneurial orientation in Canadian firms: a cross-cultural perspective

In the small and medium-sized enterprise, cross-cultural and entrepreneurial leadership research, there has been an assumption that one's leadership style modus operandi is one size fits all. In the current research, Canadian leadership styles and leadership differences between Canadian and North American business entrepreneurial leaders were tested. New empirical results are substantive and add to the cross-culture entrepreneurial theory. There are limited Canadian-based entrepreneurial studies: the expected corollary was that there were no differences between Canadian and American leadership styles; however, the results reported otherwise. Data were obtained from 145 Canadian respondents located in Toronto, Ontario in Canada. Data were analysed with hierarchical regression analyses and multivariate analysis of variance in testing seven hypotheses. The analyses reported a statistically significant difference in Canadian and North American leadership styles employed in an entrepreneurial context.
Serious Games and Gamification in the Corporate Training Environment: a Literature Review

Gamification is the concept of leveraging the psychological predisposition to engage in gaming, using mechanisms that game designers have applied in making video games, as a potential means to make real world activities more engaging. A serious game is a game designed for a primary purpose beyond that of pure entertainment. The influence of games on the cognitive, emotional and social domains of players increases motivation and engagement of learners. Within a gamified environment, individuals demonstrate a willingness to engage in repetitive tasks, experience failure, and make repeated attempts despite the risk. In the workplace, gamification provides many benefits for companies, including enhanced workforce recruitment and retention, increased program adoption, and improved work performance. However, many companies are reluctant to adopt gamification due to the challenges of accomplishing change within organizational hierarchies, as well as other concerns like demographics, ethics, and a history of failed attempts at gamification. This paper presents a literature review to synthesize research and findings on serious games and gamification in the workplace.
Residency, Race, and the Right to Public Employment

Residency requirements impose restrictions on the domicile of individuals. Contemporary debates over residency and rights increasingly foreground immigration, citizenship, and belonging. This essay, however, shifts scale and addresses the exclusionary power of residency requirements associated with municipal employment. And just as race continues to play a central role in national debates over belonging, I illustrate that race continues to matter in local public employment. The analysis centers on a cluster of towns in northern New Jersey that required firefighters to live in member municipalities. The towns used the exclusionary power of residency requirements to privilege the employment of local residents, thereby reducing the employment chances of Blacks who lived near, but not in, the towns. The NAACP joined several individual plaintiffs in successfully challenging this tactic. This case study relates then to recent court decisions on race and public employment but also offers a critique of the role of municipal residency requirements as a tool for reform. The analysis points to the irony that residency requirements designed to be inclusive can operate to be exclusive at the same time.
Adverse pregnancy outcomes among women presenting at antenatal clinics in Ouélessébougou, Mali.

In sub-Saharan Africa, malaria continues to scourge the population and is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in young children and pregnant women. As current preventative measures such as intermittent preventive treatment and use of insecticide-treated nets provide incomplete protection, several malaria vaccines are currently under development, including one to specifically prevent pregnancy malaria. Prior to conducting vaccine trials, it is important to obtain background information on poor pregnancy outcomes in the target population to establish a baseline. Pregnant women presenting at community health care centers for antenatal care were recruited to the study. Gestational age was determined by ultrasound examination following recruitment. Antenatal care and pregnancy outcome information were collected during a visit 4–8 weeks post-delivery. One thousand eight hundred fifty women completed the study, and analysis included 1814 women after excluding multiple gestations (n = 26) and missing/incomplete data (n = 10). The percentage (95% CI) of adverse pregnancy outcomes is as follows: miscarriage, 0.28% (0.04–0.52); stillbirth, 1.93% (1.30–2.56); early neonatal death, 1.65% (1.03–2.24); late neonatal death, 0.39%, (0.10–0.68); and preterm delivery (PTD), 4.74% (3.76–5.73). The percentages of early and late neonatal deaths and PTD were significantly higher (p < 0.01) in primigravid compared to multigravid women. In primigravidae, 3.1, 1.1 and 7.1% of pregnancies resulted in early neonatal death, late neonatal death and PTD, respectively, while these outcomes in multigravidae were 1.0, 0.1 and 2.7%, respectively. Major malformations were identified in 4 newborns. Low gravidity and young age predict perinatal death and PTD. The information collected here can be used as a baseline for adverse pregnancy outcomes in future vaccine trials in pregnant women.
Assessing the impact of large-scale computing on the size and complexity of first-principles electromagnetic models

There is a growing need to determine the electromagnetic performance of increasingly complex systems at ever higher frequencies. The ideal approach would be some appropriate combination of measurement, analysis, and computation so that system design and assessment can be achieved to a needed degree of accuracy at some acceptable cost. Both measurement and computation benefit from the continuing growth in computer power that, since the early 1950s, has increased by a factor of more than a million in speed and storage. For example, a CRAY2 has an effective throughput (not the clock rate) of about 10 11 floating-point operations (FLOPs) per hour compared with the approximate 10 5 provided by the UNIVAC-1. The purpose of this discussion is to illustrate the computational complexity of modeling large (in wavelengths) electromagnetic problems.
Pitfall to Peace: FARC’s Political Participation and Mass Support for Peace Talks in Colombia:

Transforming armed groups into legitimate political actors is often considered an ideal way to settle armed internal conflicts. In democracies, the efficacy of such approaches depends on the public...
Callan-Rubakov Effect and Higher Charge Monopoles

In this paper we study the interaction between magnetic monopoles and massless fermions. In the low energy limit, the monopole's magnetic field polarizes the fermions into purely in-going and out-going modes. Unitarity requires that the UV fermion-monopole interaction leads to non-trivial IR boundary conditions that relate the in-going to out-going modes. These non-trivial boundary conditions are what is known as the Callan-Rubakov effect. Here we derive the effective boundary condition by explicitly integrating out the UV degrees of freedom for the general class of spherically symmetric $SU(N)$ monopoles coupled to massless fermions of arbitrary representation. We then show that the boundary conditions preserve continuous symmetries without ABJ-type anomalies. As an application we explicitly derive the boundary conditions for the stable, spherically symmetric monopoles associated to the $SU(5)$ Georgi-Glashow model and comment on the relation to baryon number violation.
Intraoral minor salivary gland tumors. Report of thirty-eight cases.

Abstract This series of thirty-eight intraoral minor salivary gland tumors consists of twenty-six benign and twelve malignant tumors. Twenty-three of the twenty-six benign tumors are mixed tumors, and eight of the twelve malignant tumors are low-grade mucoepidermoid tumors. The palate was the favored site for benign tumors (fourteen cases), whereas malignant tumors occurred most frequently in the retromolar pad (five cases). The most common clinical feature of all tumors was a painless swelling. The wide variation in the incidence of malignancy shown in published series of minor salivary gland tumors may be a result of two factors: (1) variation in histopathologic criteria for malignancy and (2) type of institution from which a series is reported.
Money Shocks and Output: A Contemporary Money Demand Approach

We analyze the short-run effects of money shocks on output in the contemporary world. As our benchmark case, we visit Bernanke (1983) for the Turkish economy over the monthly period 2002M1-2006M10. We show that money shocks affect output with a lag of one month. After that, we introduce our contemporary model in which we include the effects of the usage of bank cards (i.e., credit and debit cards) into our analysis. Our contemporary model suggests that money shocks affect output for longer periods compared to the results obtained by the method of Bernanke (1983).
Evidence for a Stable Intermediate in Leukemia Virus Activation in AKR Mouse Embryo Cells

Abstract Analysis of the requirement for serum in the activation of the endogenous leukemia virus expression in AKR mouse embryo cells by 5-iododeoxyuridine shows that activation can be dissociated into two discrete serum-dependent events. The first involves incorporation of 5-iododeoxyuridine into DNA and results in the formation of a stable “activation intermediate” resembling the provirus formed during infection of stationary mouse embryo cells with exogenous leukemia virus. The second event, resulting in expression of the activation intermediate as synthesis of virus proteins, requires DNA replication but not 5-iododeoxyuridine.
Post-traumatic stress avoidance is attenuated by corticosterone and associated with brain levels of steroid receptor co-activator-1 in rats.

Individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) avoid trauma-related stimuli and exhibit blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation at the time of stress. Our rodent model of stress mimics the avoidance symptom cluster of PTSD. Rats are classified as "Avoiders" or "Non-Avoiders" post-stress based on the avoidance of a predator-odor paired context. Previously, we found Avoiders exhibit an attenuated HPA stress response to predator odor. We hypothesized that corticosterone administration before stress would reduce the magnitude and incidence of stress-paired context avoidance. Furthermore, we also predicted that Avoiders would exhibit altered expression of glucocorticoid receptor (GR) signaling machinery elements, including steroid receptor co-activator (SRC)-1. Male Wistar rats (n = 16) were pretreated with corticosterone (25 mg/kg) or saline and exposed to predator-odor stress paired with a context and tested for avoidance 24 h later. A second group of corticosterone-naive rats (n = 24) were stressed (or not), indexed for avoidance 24 h later, and killed 48 h post-odor exposure to measure phosphorylated GR, FKBP51 and SRC-1 levels in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN), central amygdala (CeA) and ventral hippocampus (VH), all brain sites that highly express GRs and regulate HPA function. Corticosterone pretreatment reduced the magnitude and incidence of avoidance. In Avoiders, predator-odor exposure led to lower SRC-1 expression in the PVN and CeA, and higher SRC-1 expression in the VH. SRC-1 expression in PVN, CeA and VH was predicted by prior avoidance behavior. Hence, a blunted HPA stress response may contribute to stress-induced neuroadaptations in central SRC-1 levels and behavioral dysfunction in Avoider rats.
Soaking Nebraska sedge seeds in warm, aerated water improves germination

Nebraska sedge ( Carex nebrascensis Dewey [Cyperaceae]) is a broadly distributed and locally abundant sedge in western North America. The species is commonly used in wetland and riparian restoration and enhancement plantings. Germination is typically achieved by subjecting the achenes with their perigynia removed (hereafter simply referred to as seeds) to 30-d stratification at 3 °C (37 °F); however, personal observations indicate that Nebraska sedge can be germinated using soaking water treatments without a stratification treatment. Staff at the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Aberdeen Plant Materials Center subjected seeds of Nebraska sedge to a number of soaking treatments and compared average germination and germination rates with those obtained using traditional methods. We found that seeds soaked in warm (24–35 °C [75–95 °F]), aerated water germinated significantly faster (3 to 6 times) than all other treatments. We also determined that, in most cases, soaking Nebraska sedge seeds in warm water significantly increased germination percentages compared with seeds germinated using the traditional 30-d stratification treatment (87% compared with 47%, respectively).
Promoting community through group work developing a research agenda

Abstract The articles comprising this special issue of the journal devoted to promoting community through group work contain many potentially useful suggestions. However, the lack of any supportive empirical data documenting the efficacy of these suggestions is conspicuous. We describe several approaches that could be used to test methods of promoting community, including initially using simple group and single-system research designs, operationally defining concepts, developing practical ways to measure these concepts, and focusing on evaluating the outcomes (and not the processes) of promoting a sense of community.
Expression analysis of PCSTE3, a putative pheromone receptor from the lung pathogenic fungus Pneumocystis carinii.

Abstract The fungal pathogen Pneumocystis carinii remains the most prevalent opportunistic infection in patients infected with HIV. Fungal pheromone receptors are seven transmembrane domain G-protein-coupled receptors which are expressed on specific mating types, and have ligand-binding extracellular domains for specific pheromones from cells of the opposite mating type. We have cloned and characterized PCSTE3 from P. carinii, which encodes a seven transmembrane domain protein orthologous to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae pheromone receptor Ste3. We detect PCSTE3 by indirect immunofluorescence using antibodies designed to extracellular domains of the receptor in yeast expressing the protein. Using a downstream Fus1-lacZ reporter gene, we determined that PCSTE3 does not recognize a- or α-factor pheromones as ligands for the receptor. We isolated P. carinii life cycle stages and examined PCSTE3 expression by immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry, and found PCSTE3 expression exclusively on a population of trophic forms. PCSTE3 receptor expression was not found on cysts.
On AFL generators for finitely encoded AFA

Two languages, and , are introduced for each finitely encoded AFA . Then two conditions on are presented, each of which guarantees that and are generators for the AFL defined by . Using and , generators are exhibited for a number of well-known AFL in computer science. Finally, it is shown that each of the above conditions, in conjunction with a third condition, permits every language in the AFL defined by to have a representation in the form , where R is a regular set and h"1 and h"2 are homomorphisms, with h"2 nondecreasing.
Mapping epistatic quantitative trait loci

How to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) with epistasis efficiently and reliably has been a persistent problem for QTL mapping analysis. There are a number of difficulties for studying epistatic QTL. Linkage can impose a significant challenge for finding epistatic QTL reliably. If multiple QTL are in linkage and have interactions, searching for QTL can become a very delicate issue. A commonly used strategy that performs a two-dimensional genome scan to search for a pair of QTL with epistasis can suffer from low statistical power and also may lead to false identification due to complex linkage disequilibrium and interaction patterns. To tackle the problem of complex interaction of multiple QTL with linkage, we developed a three-stage search strategy. In the first stage, main effect QTL are searched and mapped. In the second stage, epistatic QTL that interact significantly with other identified QTL are searched. In the third stage, new epistatic QTL are searched in pairs. This strategy is based on the consideration that most genetic variance is due to the main effects of QTL. Thus by first mapping those main-effect QTL, the statistical power for the second and third stages of analysis for mapping epistatic QTL can be maximized. The search for main effect QTL is robust and does not bias the search for epistatic QTL due to a genetic property associated with the orthogonal genetic model that the additive and additive by additive variances are independent despite of linkage. The model search criterion is empirically and dynamically evaluated by using a score-statistic based resampling procedure. We demonstrate through simulations that the method has good power and low false positive in the identification of QTL and epistasis. This method provides an effective and powerful solution to map multiple QTL with complex epistatic pattern. The method has been implemented in the user-friendly computer software Windows QTL Cartographer. This will greatly facilitate the application of the method for QTL mapping data analysis.
POST-MORTEM AND AMINOOXYACETIC ACID-INDUCED ACCUMULATION OF GABA: EFFECT OF GAMMA-BUTYROLACTONE AND PICROTOXIN

— The effects of γ-butyrolactone (GBL) and picrotoxin on both the post-mortem and amino-oxyacetic acid (AOAA) induced accumulations of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) were examined in rats. GBL produced a marked dose-dependent decrease in AOAA-induced GABA accumulation in caudate. globus pallidus, cerebellar and cerebral cortices. The cingulate cortex showed the greatest response to GBL treatment; subanesthetic doses completely blocked the effect of AOAA. Picrotoxin increased the AOAA-induced accumulation of GABA in parietal, entorhinal and cerebellar cortices, and had no significant effect in pyriform or cingulate cortices. Neither drug significantly altered the post-mortem accumulation of GABA. Results suggest that picrotoxin, a GABA antagonist and convulsant drug, causes an increase in GABA synthesis in vivo. The apparent decrease in GABA synthesis following GBL treatment was greater than that observed with anesthetic doses of chloral hydrate and was not blocked by picrotoxin. Alterations in the activity of GABA neurons, cerebral glucose metabolism and GAD activity may contribute to the apparent decrease in in vivo GABA synthesis caused by GBL.
Freeway Corridor Performance Measurement Based on Vehicle Reidentification

Section-related or link-based traffic sensor data can provide reliable and accurate inputs for traffic-performance-measurement systems. Section performance measurements can easily be generated via a vehicle-reidentification system. Inductive loop-detector (ILD)-based systems are cost effective because ILDs are widely installed in the field (with fewer market penetration concerns) and provide essentially anonymous surveillance with few, if any, privacy concerns. Accordingly, the authors have recently developed an algorithm, i.e., RTREID-2, using inductive loop signature-based methods for vehicle reidentification (ILD-VReID) and which was dedicated to meet the needs for real-time implementation and section-performance measurement. RTREID-2 was developed by utilizing a piecewise slope rate (PSR) approach to transform the raw vehicle signatures obtained from square loops (only). This paper reports the results of a 10.0-km (6.2-mi) freeway corridor implementation of RTREID-2 under congested morning peak-period conditions. Although RTREID-2 has been designed for real-time operation, this initial corridor investigation was conducted offline. The corridor contained mostly round inductive loop sensors with some square loops, providing an opportunity to assess the applicability and transferability of RTREID-2 to homogenous and heterogeneous loop-sensor systems. Analyses of travel time and speed at both freeway corridor and individual freeway section levels were conducted, and excellent results were obtained compared with Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements from control vehicles. The results suggest that RTREID-2 has the potential to successfully be implemented in a congested freeway corridor, utilizing either or both round or square inductive loop sensors.
Seeking an ammonia selective membrane based on nanostructured sulfonated block copolymers

Abstract A membrane containing 7–23 nm polystyrene sulfonate domains was prepared using a reactive block polymer precursor and evaluated for its ammonia selectivity. The ammonia permeability is over 20.1 × 10−17 kmol m/(m2 s Pa) (600 barrers) at 25 °C and 2 × 105 Pa (2 bar) pressure; the selectivity for a mixed gas feed containing ammonia and nitrogen is over 90, about the same selectivity that is inferred from the pure gas feeds (the “ideal selectivity”). Variations in the sulfonated phase domain size and the degree of crosslinking in the membrane give permeabilities which increase with the average ammonia pressure and retain their selectivity at higher pressure. The results may have value in the separation of ammonia produced by the Haber–Bosch process.
MUON CAPTURE IN OXYGEN

Muon capture in oxygen has been studied at the Berkeley 184-inch cyclotron. Muons were identified by a time-of-flight system and brought to rest in a water-cell, where some of them were captured by the16O nucleus. In the present state of the theory, the only firm conclusion is that the pseudoscalar coupling constant is positive.
Trends and regional differences in breastfeeding in Germany from 1871 to 1937.

This article describes trends and regional differences in breastfeeding within Germany from 1870 to 1937. Sharp regional differences in both the in- cidence and duration of breastfeeding are present around 1910. There is a com- plex pattern of trends in infant-feeding practices. Breastfeeding declined in urban areas between the late nineteenth century and the first World War. A strong nationwide resurgence in the incidence of breastfeeding occurred between the two world wars, accompanied by a decline in the average duration of breastfeeding. By 1937, the formerly great regional differences in breastfeeding had nearly dis- appeared. The article also discusses social, economic, cultural, and historical variables affecting infant-feeding practices, including local breastfeeding customs, a national infant welfare campaign, and allowances to nursing mothers.
Extension of continental lithosphere: A model for two scales of basin and range deformation

We develop a model for deformation in an extending continental lithosphere that is stratified in density and strength, assuming a rheology consistent with seismic focal depths and experimental flow laws. The model demonstrates that necking instabilities at two wavelengths will arise due to the presence of a strong upper crust and upper mantle separated by a weak lower crust. The magnitudes of the instabilities are directly related to strength contrasts within the lithosphere, while the dominant wavelengths of necking are controlled mainly by the thicknesses of the strong layers. The results are applied to the Basin and Range Province of the western United States where two scales of deformation can be recognized, one corresponding to the spacing of ranges and the other to the width of tilt domains. A Bouguer gravity anomaly and associated regional topography with a wavelength comparable to the width of tilt domains has also been recognized. For plausible density and strength stratifications, our results show that the horizontal scale of short wavelength necking is consistent with the spacing of individual basins and ranges, while that of the longer wavelength necking is consistent with the width of tilt domains. We thus suggest that Basin and Range deformation may be controlled by two scales of extensional instability. Extension in the weak lower crust in this model is laterally displaced from regions of upper crustal extension. The resultant horizontal shearing in the lower crust may be a mechanism for the initiation of low-angle extensional detachments.
Demo: Tethys -- An Energy Harvesting Networked Water Flow Sensor

We describe Tethys, an energy-harvesting wireless water flow sensor that can monitor water use at a per-fixture level with the intention of associating water use with specific individuals. Tethys was motivated by recent efforts at Stanford University to reduce water use due to the California drought. Understanding how the university population uses water at per-person level can greatly influence policies and conservation approaches. Tethys uses Bluetooth Smart to both identify individuals as well as asynchronously upload data to the cloud for later analysis. We describe two challenges encountered in deploying Tethys: energy harvesting design and the mechanical considerations for high-pressure water at high temperatures.
Pacemaker-mediated tachycardias: A rapid bedside technique for induction and observation

The DDD pacemaker allows sensing and pacing in both chambers and can, therefore, maintain atrioventricular synchrony. However, this pacemaker creates an additional anterograde conduction system between the atrium and ventricle and, in the presence of ventriculoatrial (VA) conduction, the possibility of pacemaker-mediated tachycardia exists. A simple bedside technique that does not require catheterization or expensive equipment was used to detect VA conduction. Just after DDD pacer implantation, an attempt was made to detect VA conduction in 31 patients. Ambulatory monitoring (Holter) was done for 24 hours after implantation and at 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 weeks after implantation to detect pacemaker-mediated tachycardia. Attempts to induce pacemaker-mediated tachycardia were made using a special programmable external stimulator at follow-up after implantation. It was found that (1) all the 17 patients with detectable VA conduction had pacemaker-mediated tachycardia when the atrial refractory period was less than the VA conduction time, (2) pacemaker-mediated tachycardias were not inducible or detected spontaneously when atrial refractory period was equal to or greater than VA conduction time + 50 ms, (3) VA conduction was not detectable in 9 of the 17 patients at a later visit. Six of these 9 received antiarrhythmic therapy or had developed congestive heart failure. VA conduction has important implications in patients with DDD pacemakers and can be readily evaluated at the bedside.
Recent results on the attribute based data model: a tutorial

Data base systems are intended to help in the storage and retrieval of information which is needed to make decisions in an organization. Senko [7] has stated that we should try to assure "(1) the efficient use of human resources in the design, implementation, and utilization of information systems, and (2) the efficient utilization of the physical mechanical resources of the systems themselves."