cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The 31P NMR spectra of Cd3P2 and Zn3P2

Abstract The magic-angle spinning 31 P NMR spectrum of Cd 3 P 2 is reported. Three lines with intensities nearly 1:1:2 are observed, as expected from the X-ray determined crystal structure. In light of this agreement and the reported identical crystal structures, the 31 P NMR of Zn 3 P 2 is re-examined. At room temperature, a doublet of equal intensities is observed and has been explained previously as an accidental overlap. This interpretation is confirmed by the observation that the overlap is removed at low temperatures. In addition, an unexpected overall frequency shift with temperature is observed and attributed to a Knight-shift-type mechanism.
Crystallization and preliminary X-ray analysis of B-domain fragments of a Staphylococcus aureus collagen-binding protein.

Recombinant proteins of monomeric and dimeric B-domain repeats of a Staphylococcus aureus FDA 574 collagen-binding adhesin have been crystallized. The single repeat unit (B1) was crystallized in a body-centered orthorhombic lattice with a = 96.9, b = 101.3, c = 120.8 A in either the I222 or I212121 space group. These crystals diffracted to 2.5 A resolution and the calculated Vm values of 3.2 and 2.2 A3 Da−1 suggest the possibility of a dimer or a trimer in the asymmetric unit. The two-repeat fragment (B1B2) crystallized in the orthorhombic space group P212121 with cell dimensions a = 42.4, b = 79.4, c = 130.4 A and diffracted to 2.3 A resolution. For this species, the calculated Vm value of 2.2 A3 Da−1 indicates the presence of a monomer in the asymmetric unit.
Identification of a new region in the vesicular stomatitis virus L polymerase protein which is essential for mRNA cap methylation

The vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) L polymerase protein possesses two methyltransferase (MTase) activities, which catalyze the methylation of viral mRNA cap structures at the guanine-N7 and 2'-O-adenosine positions. To identify L sequences required for the MTase activities, we analyzed a host range (hr) and temperature-sensitive (ts) mutant of VSV, hr8, which was defective in mRNA cap methylation. Sequencing hr8 identified five amino acid substitutions, all residing in the L protein. Recombinant VSV were generated with each of the identified L mutations, and the presence of a single G1481R substitution in L, located between conserved domains V and VI, was sufficient to produce a dramatic reduction (about 90%) in overall mRNA methylation. Cap analysis showed residual guanine-N7 methylation and reduced 2'-O-adenosine methylation, identical to that of the original hr8 virus. When recombinant viruses were tested for virus growth under conditions that were permissive and nonpermissive for the hr8 mutant, the same single L mutation, G1481R, was solely responsible for both the hr and ts phenotypes. A spontaneous suppressor mutant of the rG1481R virus that restored both growth on nonpermissive cells and cap methylation was identified and mapped to a single change, L1450I, in L. Site-directed mutagenesis of the region between domains V and VI, amino acids 1419-1672 of L, followed by the rescue of recombinant viruses identified five additional virus mutants, K1468A, R1478A/D1479A, G1481A, G1481N, and G1672A, that were all hr and defective in mRNA cap methylation. Thus, in addition to the previously characterized domain VI [Grdzelishvili, V.Z., Smallwood, S., Tower, D., Hall, R.L., Hunt, D.M., Moyer, S.A., 2005. A single amino acid change in the L-polymerase protein of vesicular stomatitis virus completely abolishes viral mRNA cap methylation. J. Virol. 79, 7327-7337; Li, J., Fontaine-Rodriguez, E.C., Whelan, S.P., 2005. Amino acid residues within conserved domain VI of the vesicular stomatitis virus large polymerase protein essential for mRNA cap methyltransferase activity. J. Virol. 79, 13373-13384], a new region between L amino acids 1450-1481 was identified which is critical for mRNA cap methylation.
A direct method of stream-function computation

An iterative method is described that fits a stream function ( P ) to wind observations. The technique was designed for use in tropical regions where errors in height data and other difficulties preclude use of the geostrophic or balance equations to obtain P ; however, the technique is believed to be sufficiently general to have other applications. Since the calculations may be carried out rapidly by an electronic computer, the technique might serve as a replacement for the laborious streamline-isotach method of tropical analysis. The equations basic to the computations are given. If the stream function is defined to have the units of height (i.e., meters), it is convenient to use observed heights as the initial-guess field. Several iterations are made until the computed values of P stabilize within a pre-determined limit. Explicit calculations of vorticity and of boundary values of P , as required in a stream function obtained by solution of a Poisson equation, are not needed. Analyses of computed values of P in the Caribbean are compared with independent, subjective analyses of the same data, and show excellent agreement. Autocorrelations show that computed values of stream function were considerably more persistent than height data for the period studied. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1964.tb00140.x
Taking Advantage of Outsourcing Options: Using Purchased Record Sets to Maximize Cataloging Effectiveness

Libraries have downloaded records created by other institutions from bibliographic utilities for many years, but purchasing record sets is often a controversial topic in technical services. However, as fewer staff are expected to manage a rapidly growing number of increasingly complex information resources, technical services departments are called upon to identify their core competencies and delegate operations that fall outside those areas to others. This paper examines the costs and benefits associated with the purchase and loading of record sets. It also establishes criteria for determining when record sets should be considered as an alternative to traditional cataloging.
Corn kernel structural integrity: analysis using solvent and heat treatments.

ABSTRACT Most corn (Zea mays, L.) processing is accomplished by causing a structural change to the kernel. Associations between corn endosperm structural components were characterized using textural analysis after solvent and heat treating kernels. Intact Asgrow 405W and B73xMo17 kernels were incubated and treated at 20, 40, 55, and 90°C for 1, 24, and 48 hr in static air, in acetone, and in aqueous solutions of water, calcium chloride, sodium chloride, sodium bisulfite, lactic acid, lime, lye, ethanol urea, and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). After treatment, kernels were compressed between flat platens. Acetone did not significantly soften endosperm structure. Ethanol reduced kernel fracturability by weakening cell-to-cell (wall) bonds, but ethanol did not effectively reduce kernel hardness. Water and aqueous solvents swelled and softened kernels by plasticizing structural components. Bisulfite and SDS softened kernels more than water only soaks because they denatured matrix proteins. Alkaline soaks reduc...
Quasi-Resonant K-K Charge Exchange in F-Ne Collisions

Over the last years K-K charge transfer has been identified as a major K-vacancy creating mechanism in near symmetric collision systems by measuring either the projectile charge dependence of the target K-vacancy production or by high resolution study of the deexcitation processes after inner-shell vacancy production. The complexity of the simultaneous outershell excitation during a collision which creates a K vacancy requires that for a more systematic study a system be chosen which allows a more or less straightforward derivation of the K-vacancy probabilities from the observed decay of the excited state. An immediate candidate is the F /SUP q+/ - Ne system, which had been studied spectroscopically very extensively by Kauffman and Woods and who suggested that the K-vacancy production cross section could be extracted directly from the K-Auger cross sections because the fluorescence yield to be applied in the ionized case still is very small.
The Amino Terminus of Epstein-Barr Virus Glycoprotein gH Is Important for Fusion with Epithelial and B Cells

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infects B lymphocytes and epithelial cells. While the glycoproteins required for entry into these two cell types differ, the gH/gL glycoprotein complex is essential for entry into both epithelial and B cells. Analysis of gH protein sequences from three gammaherpesviruses (EBV, marmoset, and rhesus) revealed a potential coiled-coil domain in the N terminus. Four leucines located in this region in EBV gH were replaced by alanines by site-directed mutagenesis and analyzed for cell-cell membrane fusion with B cells and epithelial cells. Reduction in fusion activity was observed for mutants containing L65A and/or L69A mutations, while substitutions in L55 and L74 enhanced the fusion activity of the mutant gH/gL complexes with both cell types. All of the mutants displayed levels of cell surface expression similar to those of wild-type gH and interacted with gL and gp42. The observation that a conservative mutation of leucine to alanine in the N terminus of EBV gH results in fusion-defective mutant gH/gL complexes is striking and points to an important role for this region in EBV-mediated membrane fusion with B lymphocytes and epithelial cells.
Real-Time Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Guide Pediatric Endovascular Procedures

Although x-ray fluoroscopy (XRF) has guided diagnostic and therapeutic transcatheter procedures for decades, certain limitations still exist. XRF still visualizes tissue poorly and relies on projection of shadows that do not convey depth information. Adjunctive echocardiography overcomes some of these limitations but still suffers suboptimal or unreliable imaging windows. Furthermore, ionizing radiation exposure in children imparts a cancer risk. An interventional platform using real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may offer superior image guidance without radiation. Although there are many remaining challenges, but real-time MRI has the potential to revolutionize transcatheter therapeutics.
Changes in Prescribing of Antiviral Medications for Influenza Associated With New Treatment Guidelines

In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended discontinuing the use of adamantanes (amantadine and rimantadine) to treat influenza because of high levels of resistance to this class of antivirals. We examined changes in prescribing practices resulting from this recommendation and found that prescribing of adamantanes declined nationwide, with these drugs accounting for approximately 40% of the antivirals prescribed for influenza from 2000 to 2005 and only 2% in 2006. This finding provides evidence of a rapid change in clinical practice associated with the dissemination of treatment guidelines. Evaluating the effectiveness with which public health recommendations are translated into practice is important given the ongoing emergence of resistance to antiviral drugs and a novel H1N1 influenza virus.
A finite element model of a persistent slip band based upon electron microscopic evidence

The initial stage of the fatigue process is the formation of persistent slip bands (psb’s). Recently, it was discovered that psb’s in large grains of an aluminum alloy elongate at a constant rate. This report describes a new model of a psb which accounts for this result. It is proposed that the material within a psb has a wide variation in yield strength: it is very small near the tip, but increases with distance from the tip reaching a maximum value at the initiatory site. This distribution results from softening of the matrix near the tip of the psb due to precipitate dispersal, followed by cyclic hardening of the softened material. The material parameters describing this distribution are based upon microstructural information contained in electron micrographs. Finite element calculations of the strain field show that the plastic strains in the matrix, in a small damage zone near the tip of a psb, are independent of the length of the psb, as required for a constant rate of elongation. Furthermore, the absolute values of plastic strain are consistent with the observed growth rates, while the calculated strains within the psb are in excellent agreement with interferometric data.
Assumptions, models, and computational methods for plasticity

Abstract On the basis of a survey conducted in 1974 [1] on the availability and capability of general purpose programs for plastic analysis, it is safe to assume that there are now a vast body of users of such programs. The objective of this paper is to familiarize these users with the assumptions and models generally employed in describing nonlinear material behavior. The treatment of plasticity within static and dynamic structural analysis is briefly reviewed with the discussion focused on some recent theoretical and computational advances. Some prophetic comments are given that are concerned with the future direction of existing capabilities and problem areas that will benefit from their extensions.
Salmonella mutagenicity and rodent carcinogenicity: quantitative structure-activity relationships

Based on a compilation of 222 reports of rodent nominal lifetime carcinogenicity bioassays by the NCI/NTP on the one hand, and corresponding Salmonella mutagenicity bioassays (Ames tests) on the other, Ashby and Tennant (1988) have divided the carcinogens and non-carcinogens into genotoxic (Ames test positive) and non-genotoxic (Ames test negative) groups and discussed structural characteristics common to each of these groups. The Ames test alone was deemed to be adequate for the identification of genotoxicity because other short-term bioassays, and even combinations, or batteries, appeared to offer no significant advantages. From the results of this study it is possible to achieve (1) a division of the carcinogens into the same genotoxic and non-genotoxic groups, and (2) a division of the non-genotoxic compounds into the same carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic groups, solely on the basis of structure-activity relationships, with a classification accuracy of approx. 95%. (1) An equation comprising 8 sigma molecular charge descriptors, 2 molecular connectivity indices (MCIs), 2 kappa molecular shape descriptors and one MOLSTAC substructure descriptor achieved discrimination between genotoxic and non-genotoxic carcinogens with an accuracy of 94.5%. (2) Another equation comprising 8 sigma molecular charge descriptors, 3 MCIs, one kappa shape descriptor and 12 substructural descriptors achieved discrimination between non-genotoxic carcinogens and non-genotoxic non-carcinogens with an accuracy of 95.2%. These SAR models are suitable for the distinction between (1) genotoxic and non-genotoxic carcinogens and (2) carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic non-genotoxins, both in the absence of animal bioassay data.
Identification of a Site Critical for Kinase Regulation on the Central Processing Unit (CPU) Helix of the Aspartate Receptor

Ligand binding to the homodimeric aspartate receptor of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium generates a transmembrane signal that regulates the activity of a cytoplasmic histidine kinase, thereby controlling cellular chemotaxis. This receptor also senses intracellular pH and ambient temperature and is covalently modified by an adaptation system. A specific helix in the cytoplasmic domain of the receptor, helix α6, has been previously implicated in the processing of these multiple input signals. While the solvent-exposed face of helix α6 possesses adaptive methylation sites known to play a role in kinase regulation, the functional significance of its buried face is less clear. This buried region lies at the subunit interface where helix α6 packs against its symmetric partner, helix α6′. To test the role of the helix α6–helix α6′ interface in kinase regulation, the present study introduces a series of 13 side-chain substitutions at the Gly 278 position on the buried face of helix α6. The substitutions are observed to dramatically alter receptor function in vivo and in vitro, yielding effects ranging from kinase superactivation (11 examples) to complete kinase inhibition (one example). Moreover, four hydrophobic, branched side chains (Val, Ile, Phe, and Trp) lock the kinase in the superactivated state regardless of whether the receptor is occupied by ligand. The observation that most side-chain substitutions at position 278 yield kinase superactivation, combined with evidence that such facile superactivation is rare at other receptor positions, identifies the buried Gly 278 residue as a regulatory hotspot where helix packing is tightly coupled to kinase regulation. Together, helix α6 and its packing interactions function as a simple central processing unit (CPU) that senses multiple input signals, integrates these signals, and transmits the output to the signaling subdomain where the histidine kinase is bound. Analogous CPU elements may be found in other receptors and signaling proteins.
Imitation performance in toddlers with autism and those with other developmental disorders.

Background: The present study sought to examine the specificity, developmental correlates, nature and pervasiveness of imitation deficits very early in the development of autism. Methods: Subjects were 24 children with autism (mean age 34 months), 18 children with fragile X syndrome, 20 children with other developmental disorders, and 15 typically-developing children. Tasks included manual, oral-facial, and object oriented imitations, developmental measures, joint attention ability, and motor abilities. Results: Children with autism were found to be significantly more impaired in overall imitation abilities, oral-facial imitation, and imitations of actions on objects than children in all of the other groups. Imitation skills of young children with fragile X syndrome were strongly influenced by the absence or presence of symptoms of autism. For children with autism, imitation skills were strongly correlated with autistic symptoms and joint attention, even when controlling for developmental level. For comparison groups, imitation was related to other developmental abilities including play, language, and visual spatial skills. Neither motor functioning nor social responsivity accounted for a significant amount of variance in imitation scores, when controlling for overall developmental level, which accounted for much of the variation in imitation ability. Conclusions: Simple imitation skills were differentially impaired in young children with autism, and lack of social cooperation did not account for their poor performance. In autism, imitation skills clustered with dyadic and triadic social interactions and overall developmental level, but were not related to play or language development. For comparison children, all these areas were inter-related. Hypotheses about a specific dyspraxic deficit underlying the imitation performance in autism were not supported.
Molecular imaging of neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are very common in neurodegenerative diseases and are a major contributor to disability and caregiver burden. There is accumulating evidence that NPS may be a prodrome and/or a "risk factor" of neurodegenerative diseases. The medications used to treat these symptoms in younger patients are not very effective in patients with neurodegenerative disease and may have serious side effects. An understanding of the neurobiology of NPS is critical for the development of more effective intervention strategies. Targeting these symptoms may also have implications for prevention of cognitive or motor decline. Molecular brain imaging represents a bridge between basic and clinical observations and provides many opportunities for translation from animal models and human post-mortem studies to in vivo human studies. Molecular brain imaging studies in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are reviewed with a primary focus on positron emission tomography studies of NPS. Future directions for the field of molecular imaging in AD and PD to understand the neurobiology of NPS will be discussed.
Family background, gender and schooling in Mexico

This article is organised around two enquiries concerning the determinants of schooling attainment in Mexico. The first explores the importance of parental schooling for children's educational attainment, which is a near‐universal finding in the literature. Even after controlling for usually unobserved family characteristics such as desired schooling, parental schooling continues to exert a strong influence on children's attainment. The second enquiry examines differences in determinants of schooling for boys and girls. Schooling attainment for boys appears to be more sensitive to their number of siblings, household wealth and parent's desired schooling. Girls’ schooling depends relatively more on birth order and family structure.
Polyamines and neoplastic growth

Studies over many years have suggested that increased polyamine synthesis may be necessary for neoplastic growth. This review summarizes recent work on the regulation of putrescine production both de novo and via the degradation of higher polyamines and provides a summary of studies using transgenic mice in which the levels of proteins that regulate these processes (L-ornithine decarboxylase, antizyme and spermidine/spermine-N(1)-acetyltransferase) are altered.
Properties of a chloroquine adduct of rhodium acetate

Activite biologique du complexe [(chloroquine) Rh 2 (OAc) 4 ]. Etude in vitro sur les cellules lignee L1210 et B16, activite antitrypanosome
Reflective infrared quarter-wave plate using silicon nanostructures

The design, fabrication, and characterization of a reflective quarter-wave plate operating at 1550 nm wavelength are presented. This device consists of a subwavelength-period grating in silicon with an evaporated gold coating, and is compatible with standard fabrication processes.
Choice of a Stable Set of Reference Genes for qRT-PCR Analysis in Amblyomma maculatum (Acari: Ixodidae)

ABSTRACT Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is a widely used laboratory tool to quantify mRNA levels of target genes involved in various biological processes. The most commonly used method for analyzing qRT-PCR data are the normalizing technique where a housekeeping gene is used to determine the transcriptional regulation of the target gene. The choice of a reliable internal standard is pivotal for relative gene expression analysis to obtain reproducible results, especially when measuring small differences in transcriptional expression. In this study, we used geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper programs to analyze the gene expression results using qRT-PCR. Five candidate reference genes, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), β-actin, α-tubulin, elongation factor 1-α, and glutathione s-transjerase, were used to evaluate the expression stability during prolonged blood-feeding on the vertebrate host. These five genes were evaluated in all life stages o...
Reversal of neuroleptic-induced catalepsy by novel aryl-piperazine anxiolytic drugs.

— The novel anxiolytic drug, buspirone, reverses catalepsy induced by haloperidol. A series of aryl-piperazine analogues of buspirone and other 5-hydroxytryptaminergic agonists were tested for their ability to reverse haloperidol induced catalepsy. Those drugs with strong affinity for 5-hydroxytryptamine1a receptors were able to reverse catalepsy. Drugs with affinity for other 5-HT receptors or weak affinity were ineffective. However, inhibition of postsynaptic 5-HT receptors neither inhibited nor potentiated reversal of catalepsy and leaves open the question as to the site or mechanism for this effect.
Job Satisfaction and Career Commitment Among Alzheimer’s Care Providers: Addressing Turnover and Improving Staff Empowerment:

This study investigated the relation between job satisfaction and career commitment among 262 Alzheimer’s care staff working in long-term and community-based care settings. It was anticipated that ...
Fever, febrile seizures and epilepsy

Seizures induced by fever (febrile seizures) are the most common type of pathological brain activity in infants and children. These febrile seizures and their potential contribution to the mechanisms of limbic (temporal lobe) epilepsy have been a topic of major clinical and scientific interest. Key questions include the mechanisms by which fever generates seizures, the effects of long febrile seizures on neuronal function and the potential contribution of these seizures to epilepsy. This review builds on recent advances derived from animal models and summarizes our current knowledge of the mechanisms underlying febrile seizures and of changes in neuronal gene expression and function that facilitate the enduring effects of prolonged febrile seizures on neuronal and network excitability. The review also discusses the relevance of these findings to the general mechanisms of epileptogenesis during development and points out gaps in our knowledge, including the relationship of animal models to human febrile seizures and epilepsy.
European Court Practice Concerning State Immunity from Enforcement Measures

The practice of national courts in Europe with regard to enforcement immunity is far from uniform. Nevertheless, certain common principles have emerged over the last decades. Absolute immunity from enforcement measures has been largely abandoned and almost all jurisdictions have adopted a restrictive approach to enforcement immunity in one or another form. Enforcement measures are usually permitted in case of waiver or with regard to earmarked property. In practice, the most important exception from immunity concerns non-governmental property. Here it is primarily the purpose of the property against which enforcement measures are sought that determines whether or not immunity will be granted. This article surveys the judicial practice in Europe, focusing on the case-law of the last 50 years, in order to permit an assessment of whether various recent codifications, most importantly the 2004 United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property, actually codify such practice or depart from it.
A Case Report of Probable Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome

Objective: To report a case of probable neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) of unknown origin. Case Summary: A 32-year-old Caucasian man was found unconscious by emergency services. On presentation to the emergency department, he had a temperature of 107.5°F (41.9°C) and a Glasgow Coma Scale rating of 3 (range = 3-15). Fluids were administered and cooling blankets applied. He was admitted to the intensive care unit. Supportive measures decreased his temperature to 101.7°F (38.7°C). Arterial blood gas, comprehensive metabolic panel, complete blood count, and cardiac risk panel results were within normal limits; urinalysis and urine and serum drug screens were negative. He had been discharged on the following medications: benztropine, citalopram, chlorpromazine, divalproex, haloperidol, and hydroxyzine. Based on the medication discharge list and clinical presentation, the Naranjo Adverse Drug Reaction Probability Scale was applied. The criteria scoring indicated a probable relationship (8 of 12) between th...
The pathologist as a teacher.

The Department of Pathology in an academic center plays a critical role in the life of the institution. In addition to playing an essential role in patient care, we pathologists teach our nonpathology colleagues and serve in a consultative role, thus earning the appellation of “the doctor’s doctor.” Traditionally, pathologists have taught medical students in the preclinical years and in pathology electives; in the current climate of curriculum reform, their role is recognized as crucial to the design of the curriculum.1 Far less structured and often underrecognized is the teaching role that pathologists play in the education of residents and fellows in specialties other than pathology. In this issue of AJCP , Bean et al2 have documented the dependence that other departments in academic centers have on the teaching efforts of pathologists. Specifically, the requirements for accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for …
Sources of variability in perceptions of and responses to sexual harassment

Social exchange theory was used to explain sexual harassment interactions in terms of perceived or actual inequities in incurred costs or rewards between targets and perpetrators. A factorial experiment was conducted in which the effects of severity of harassment, target response, target gender, and rater gender on perceptions of harassment, perpetrator appropriateness and target appropriateness and suggested responses to harassment were examined. Ninety-four male and 116 female students from two eastern universities served as subjects. The sample was approximately 90% Caucasian and was composed of traditional (18–22-year-old) undergraduates. Results indicated that all independent variables affected perceptions of and responses to sexual harassment situations.
Book Review: Feminism & Bioethics: Beyond Reproduction:

Susan M. Wolf, ed., Feminism & Bioethics: Beyond Reproduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996): 398 pp., ISBN 0-19-508568-x (cloth), $50.00. To order call 1-800-451-7556.
Saliva of Lutzomyia longipalpis sibling species differs in its composition and capacity to enhance leishmaniasis.

Leishmania donovani chagasi parasites, transmitted by sandflies of the Lutzomyia longipalpis species complex, normally cause visceral leishmaniasis. However, in Central America infections frequently result in cutaneous disease. We undertook experiments to investigate the possible influence of sandfly saliva on the course of infection. Erythemas caused by feeding sandflies correlated well with the levels of the erythema-inducing peptide, maxadilan, in their saliva. Saliva of Brazilian flies was the most potent, that of Colombian flies less so, and Costa Rican saliva had very little maxadilan and lacked activity. Nucleotide sequence differences in the maxadilan gene of the three species were detected by ‘single strand conformational polymorphism’ electrophoresis. Leishmania infections proliferated fastest when coinjected with the saliva of Costa Rican flies. Brazilian flies had less influence, and Colombian flies only a slight effect. Thus Costa Rican Lutzomyia longipalpis , vectors of non-ulcerative cutaneous disease, have very low vasodilatory activity and very little maxadilan, but their saliva strongly enhances cutaneous proliferation of Leishmania infections. Conversely, flies from Colombia and Brazil, vectors of visceral disease, have more maxadilan, but exacerbate cutaneous infections to a lesser degree. These coincidental observations suggest that species of Lutzomyia longipalpis differ in their propensity to modulate the pathology of the disease they transmit.
Thermal annealing of RF sputtered NbN

The effects of thermal annealing on RF sputtered NbCN films and completed NbN-based tunnel junctions has been investigated. The starting films were RF sputtered at temperatures from 150°C to 650°. After a vacuum anneal at 600°C for six hours the transition temperature reached a maximum of 14.6K and depended only on the carbon concentration, for those films deposited at 200°C and 400°C. Vacuum annealing for one hour at temperatures of 900°C or more caused the formation of additional phases. Rapid thermal annealing, RTA, at temperatures from 600°C to 1200°C for times from one to 100 sec resulted in increased T c with increased annealing temperature. The maximum T c produced by RTA was 16.6K. The lattice parameter of annealed δ -phase NbCN was decreased toward the accepted value of 4.41 A. Resistivity of the annealed films decreased except when the films cracked during annealing. RTA for 10 sec at 750°C of a completed NbN/Si/NbN edge junction increased the electrode gaps but for NbN/Si/Nb planar junctions the sum gap decreased. Microshorts also appeared in both types of junctions after annealing.
A 3D SPIHT low-memory encoding approach for video compression

In this paper, a three-dimensional (3D) SPIHT algorithm is proposed with low-memory usage. The standard SPIHT coding uses three separate lists to store and organize tree data structures and their significance, which can grow large at high rate and consume large amounts of memory. In the proposed algorithm, unnecessary lists are discarded and the process length of the sorting phase is shortened to reduce coding time and memory usage. Results show that the proposed method reduces memory usage, run time and improves PSNR.
Perchlorate Distribution, Excretion, and Depuration in Prairie Voles and Deer Mice

A study on perchlorate distribution was conducted in male adult prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Excretion via urine was the major pathway for perchlorate fate in the body, with the highest concentrations of perchlorate detected in urine after exposure to perchlorate through drinking water [250 μg/ml Mg(ClO4)2], and an average of 34% and 88% of perchlorate intake recovered in urine in the 4- and 8-h exposure groups, respectively. Perchlorate mass in kidney, thyroid, blood, and urine were related to perchlorate intake (254.5–2687.7 μg). Perchlorate excretion and depuration patterns via urine were tested further using male adult deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Animals were exposed to perchlorate through dosed drinking water (0, 17, 165, and 1600 ng/ml). Perchlorate concentrations in urine showed a significant difference among the three dosed groups during a 28-day exposure period. However, no difference was found in urine among the three dosages in terms of mass percentage of perchlorate intake from water at each sampling time over the 28-day exposure period. Both concentrations of perchlorate and mass percentage in urine reached a steady state after 1 day in all treatments. On average 46%, 46%, and 61% of perchlorate intake from water was recovered in urine over the exposure period in high, medium, and low dose groups, respectively. Including perchlorate consumption from rodent chow (1.44 ng/g), less than 46% of perchlorate intake was recovered in urine in the high and medium dose groups, and 0.99 in both the low and high dose groups; half-lives of perchlorate in deer mice were estimated as 9.12 and 7.25 h in the low and high dose groups, respectively. Endogenous generation of perchlorate and/or some degree of retention or metabolism of perchlorate may occur in deer mice, based in part on the uncompleted mass balance in the excretion and depuration experiments. The data reported herein should provide additional insight for perchlorate fate determination in animals and humans and valuable information for perchlorate risk assessment in the environment, especially wildlife.
NERVE IMPULSE PATTERNS AND REFLEX CONTROL IN THE MOTOR SYSTEM OF THE CRAYFISH CLAW

1. The opener muscle of the crayfish claw receives, under nearly natural conditions, a train of excitatory nerve impulses which may show a temporal patterning to which the muscle is specially sensitive. Especially at high frequencies the impulse train contains doublets which form a separate class in the interval distribution. Their appearance at high frequencies gives rise to an increase in the coefficient of variation of interval lengths. 2. Excitatory and inhibitory motor neurons to the same opener muscle seem to be part of the same commonly excited motor neuron pool. Frequency changes in the two axons generally show positive correlations. For most inputs and for ‘spontaneous’ central drive the excitor has the lowest threshold and shortest latency, and it gives the earliest indication of changes of excitatory state. 3. Proprioceptive input from the claw may excite both motor neurons, but generally the inhibitory one gives the earlier, bigger response. The peripheral inhibition completes a negative feedback loop. 4. Inhibitory frequencies plotted against concurrent excitatory frequencies give points falling into two groups with different slopes dependent upon input source. For general body inputs the slope is less than one and for proprioceptive claw input it is much more than one. This divergence leads to greater effectiveness of either excitation or inhibition as overall level of output increases, with a good separation of antagonistic functions in spite of the apparent lack of reciprocal interaction.
A Chicken in Every Pot; One Laptop per Child: The Trouble with Global Campaign Promises:

The object of this article is to analyse the possible viability of the global education project One Laptop per Child (OLPC), and to trace some of the recent events impacting the project. The XO lap...
Extruded Aluminum Crash Can Topology for Maximizing Specific Energy Absorption

This paper describes how specific energy absorption (SEA) is a quantitative measure of the efficiency of a structural member in absorbing impact energy. For an extruded aluminum crash can, SEA generally depends upon the topology of its cross-section. An investigation is carried out to determine the optimal cross-sectional topologies for maximizing SEA while considering manufacturing constrains such as, permissible die radii, gauges, etc. A comprehensive Department of Energy (DOE) type matrix of cross-sectional topologies has been developed by considering a wide variety of practical shapes and configurations. Since it is critical to include all feasible topologies, much thought and care has been given in developing this matrix. Detailed finite element crash analyses are carried out to simulate axial crushing of the selected crash cans topologies and the resulting SEA is estimated for each case. Evidently, topologies with an outer and an inner ring joined together by a number of straight panels yields the highest SEA. Among single cell sections, hexagon and octagon are the most efficient topologies for crash energy management. Note that all conclusions drawn in this paper are based on CAE analysis results. The authors are currently pursuing physical testing to verify the CAE analysis results.
IRS Estate Freeze Rules: Implications for Family Business Succession Planning

This article examines the estate freeze rules of the Internal Revenue Service with respect to their implications for family business succession planning. Specifically, the tax impact of the valuation rules for transfers of certain interests, transfers in trust, buy-sell agreements, and lapsing rights are all reviewed in order to provide recommendations for family business planning.
Sadness and Susceptibility to Judgmental Bias: The Case of Anchoring:

In a wide range of empirical paradigms, sadness has been associated with more extensive and detail-oriented thinking than happiness, resulting in reductions in judgmental bias that arise from reliance on stereotypes and other simple decision heuristics. It was hypothesized that anchoring would constitute a significant exception to this general pattern. Recent research on anchoring indicates that an active thought process underlies the emergence of this bias. If sad people are likely to think more actively about the judgmental anchor than their neutral-mood counterparts, their subsequent judgments should be more likely to be assimilated toward this reference point. This prediction was confirmed in two experiments demonstrating that sad people are indeed more susceptible to anchoring bias than are people in a neutral mood. Moreover, this effect generalized over judgments in positive, neutral, and negative content domains.
High frequency Q-switched operation of a VCSEL with intracavity electroabsorption modulator

We report on active Q-switching of AlGaAs/GaAs VCSELs with In 0.16 Ga 0.84 As MQW active region and absorber. Pulse widths of 40 ps at repetition rates of 4 GHz were measured at 5dBm incident RF power.
Recognition and categorization of biologically significant objects by rhesus monkeys (macaca mulatta): The domain of food

To survive, organisms must be able to identify edible objects. However, we know relatively little about how humans and other species distinguish food items from non-food items. We tested the abilities of semi-free-ranging rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) to learn rapidly that a novel object was edible, and to generalize their learning to other objects, in a spontaneous choice task. Adult monkeys watched as a human experimenter first pretended to eat one of two novel objects and then placed replicas of the objects at widely separated locations. Monkeys selectively approached the object that the experimenter had previously eaten, exhibiting a rapidly induced preference for the apparently edible object. In further experiments in which the same objects were used as tools or were manipulated at the face but not eaten, we fail to observe an approach bias, providing evidence that the monkeys' pattern of approach in the earlier experiments was specific to objects that were eaten. Subsequent experiments tested how monkeys generalized their preference for an edible object by first allowing them to watch a human experimenter eat one of two objects and then presenting them with new objects composed of the same substance but differing from the original, edible object in shape or color. Monkeys ignored changes in the shape of the object and generalized from one edible object to another on the basis of color in conjunction with other substance properties. Finally, we extended this work to infant rhesus monkeys and found that, like adults, they too used color to generalize to novel food objects. In contrast to adults, however, infants extended this pattern of generalization to objects that were acted on in other ways. These results suggest that infant monkeys form broader object categories than adults, and that food categories become sharpened as a function of maturational or experiential factors.
Hormonal Mechanisms of Mate Choice

SYNOPSIS. Mate choice is a critically important determinant of reproductive success. Because of its significance in the evolutionary process, it has received a great deal of attention from animal behaviorists interested in ultimate causes of behavior. Much less effort has been directed at uncovering the physiological mechanisms of mate choice, including those operating during ontogeny that lead to adult mate preferences. As a result of natural and sexual selection, many aspects of mate choice are sexually dimorphic. How do adult males and females of the same species come to show different mating partner preferences? One possibility is that sex steroid hormones play important roles, acting either during early development to permanently establish sex differences or during adulthood to facilitate their expression, roles similar to the organizational and activational effects of sex steroids on sexually dimorphic copulatory and courtship behavior patterns. This review (1) summarizes what is known about hormones and mate choice, highlighting those results most relevant to understanding proximate causation from an evolutionary perspective; (2) describes recent work from the author's lab testing an organizational hormone hypothesis of mate choice, focusing on a particularly widespread and robust aspect of mate choice—preference for opposite sex partners—in a pair bonding species—the zebra finch; and (3) suggests some future directions for research that might integrate ultimate and proximate causation.
Calibrating simulation models using the knowledge gradient with continuous parameters

We describe an adaptation of the knowledge gradient, originally developed for discrete ranking and selection problems, to the problem of calibrating continuous parameters for the purpose of tuning a simulator. The knowledge gradient for continuous parameters uses a continuous approximation of the expected value of a single measurement to guide the choice of where to collect information next. We show how to find the parameter setting that maximizes the expected value of a measurement by optimizing a continuous but nonconcave surface. We compare the method to sequential kriging for a series of test surfaces, and then demonstrate its performance in the calibration of an expensive industrial simulator.
Music therapy in pain management

Abstract Music therapy is a nonpharmacologic method that can be used to treat pain and suffering. Music therapy aims to promote relaxation, alteration in mood, a sense of control and self expression. Music therapy techniques are individually devised, consideration given to patient's physical, emotional and psychological needs, coping abilities and prior musical experiences. Active involvement is encouraged to facilitate cognitive and emotional expression as well as involvement in pain management.
Transient and impulse responses of a one-dimensional linearly attenuating medium ? I. Analytical results

The transient and impulse responses (Green's function) for one-dimensional wave propagation in a standard linear solid are calculated using a Laplace Transform method. The spectrum of relaxation times is chosen so as to model a constant Q medium within an absorption band covering a broad frequency range which may be chosen so as to include the seismic frequencies. The inverse transform may be evaluated asymptotically in the limit of very long propagation times using the saddle point method. For shorter propagation times the method of steepest descent may be modified so as to yield an accurate first motion approximation. The character of the small amplitude precursor to the large amplitude ‘visible’ signal is investigated analytically. It is shown that the signal velocity is intermediate between the high-frequency (‘unrelaxed’) and the low-frequency (‘relaxed’) limits of the phase velocity.
Harvesting translingual vocabulary mappings for multilingual digital libraries

This paper presents a method of information harvesting and consolidation to support the multilingual information requirements for cross-language information retrieval within digital library systems. We describe a way to create both customized bilingual dictionaries and multilingual query mappings from a source language to many target languages. We will describe a multilingual conceptual mapping resource with broad coverage (over 100 written languages can be supported) that is truly multilingual as opposed to bilingual parings usually derived from machine translation. This resource is derived from the 10+ million title online library catalog of the University of California. It is created statistically via maximum likelihood associations from word and phrases in book titles of many languages to human assigned subject headings in English. The 150,000 subject headings can form interlingua mappings between pairs of languages or from one language to several languages. While our current demonstration prototype maps between ten languages (English, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish), extensions to additional languages are straightforward. We also describe how this resource is being expanded for languages where linguistic coverage is limited in our initial database, by automatically harvesting new information from international online library catalogs using the Z39.50 networked library search protocol.