cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
GluN3-Containing NMDA Receptors in the Rat Nucleus Accumbens Core Contribute to Incubation of Cocaine Craving.

Cue-induced cocaine craving progressively intensifies (incubates) after withdrawal from cocaine self-administration in rats and humans. In rats, the expression of incubation ultimately depends on Ca2+-permeable AMPARs (CP-AMPARs) that accumulate in synapses onto medium spiny neurons (MSN) in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core. However, the delay in their accumulation (approximately 1 month after drug self-administration ceases) suggests earlier waves of plasticity. This prompted us to conduct the first study of NMDAR transmission in NAc core during incubation, focusing on the GluN3 subunit, which confers atypical properties when incorporated into NMDARs including insensitivity to Mg2+ block and Ca2+-impermeability. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were conducted in MSNs of adult male rats 1-68 days after discontinuing extended-access saline or cocaine self-administration. NMDAR transmission was enhanced after 5 days of cocaine withdrawal and this persisted for at least 68 days of withdrawal. The earliest functional alterations were mediated through increased contributions of GluN2B-containing NMDARs, followed by increased contributions of GluN3-containing NMDARs. As predicted by GluN3-NMDAR incorporation, fewer MSN spines exhibited NMDAR-mediated Ca2+ entry. GluN3A knockdown in NAc core was sufficient to prevent incubation of craving, consistent with biotinylation studies showing increased GluN3A surface expression, although array tomography studies suggested that adaptations involving GluN3B also occur. Collectively, our data show that a complex cascade of NMDAR and AMPAR plasticity occurs in NAc core, potentially through a homeostatic mechanism, leading to persistent increases in cocaine cue reactivity and relapse vulnerability. This is a remarkable example of experience-dependent glutamatergic plasticity evolving over a protracted window in the adult brain. Significance Statement ‘Incubation of craving’ is an animal model for the persistence of vulnerability to cue-induced relapse after prolonged drug abstinence. Incubation also occurs in human drug users. AMPAR plasticity in medium spiny neurons (MSN) of the nucleus accumbens core is critical for incubation of cocaine craving but occurs only after a delay. Here we found that AMPAR plasticity is preceded by NMDAR plasticity that is essential for incubation and involves GluN3, an atypical NMDAR subunit that markedly alters NMDAR transmission. Together with AMPAR plasticity, this represents profound remodeling of excitatory synaptic transmission onto MSNs. Given the importance of MSNs for translating motivation into action, this plasticity may explain at least in part the profound shifts in motivated behavior that characterize addiction.
Estimation of Irrigated Agricultural Area and Water Consumption in Iraq

The year-to-year irrigated area and water balance of central Iraq were estimated with a view to shed light to transboundary water dispute over Tigris and Euphrates Rivers caused partly by uncertainty of scientific data. Subpixel resolution technique based on Vegetation Fraction Model was applied to continuous AVHRR images to estimate actual irrigated area with Landsat images as verification/validation data. The water budget of target area was also analyzed to compare the evapotranspiration volume and estimated irrigated area. The estimated irrigated area was 6002 ± 1541 km2 in spring harvest season and 4939 ± 726 km2 in summer, which were substantially lower than the figures reported by public statistics. The water budget analysis also indicated that the evapotranspiration volume increases in proportion to the river inflow. It also suggested the possibility that substantial amount of evapotranspiration occurs outside of irrigated area. Both results imply that the transboundary water dispute over Tigris and Euphrates Rivers may be relaxed by expanding financial and technical assistance over the irrigation sector of Iraq.
Bovine brain acetylcholinesterase primary sequence involved in intersubunit disulfide linkages

Three distinct classes of membrane-bound acetylcholinesterases (AChEs) have been identified. A12 AChE is composed of 12 catalytic subunits that are linked to noncatalytic collagen-like subunits through intersubunit disulfide bonds. G2 AChE is localized in membranes by a glycoinositol phospholipid covalently linked to the C-terminal amino acid. Brain G4 AChE involves two catalytic subunits linked by a direct intersubunit disulfide bond while the other two are disulfide-linked to a membrane-binding 20-kDa noncatalytic subunit. Molecular cloning studies have so far failed to find evidence of more than one AChE gene in any organism although alternative splicing of torpedo AChE mRNA results in different C-terminal sequences for the A12 and G2 AChE forms. Support for a single bovine AChE gene is provided in this report by amino acid sequencing of the N-terminal domains from the G2 erythrocyte, G4 fetal serum, and G4 brain AChE. Comparison of the 38-amino acid sequences reveals virtually complete identity among the three AChE forms. Additional extensive identity between the fetal serum and brain AChEs was demonstrated by sequencing several brain AChE peptides isolated by high performance liquid chromatography after trypsin digestion of nitrocellulose blots of brain AChE catalytic subunits. Cysteines involved in intersubunit disulfide linkages in brain AChE were reduced selectively with dithiothreitol in the absence of denaturants and radioalkylated with iodoacetamide. The observed sequence of the major radiolabeled tryptic peptide was C*SDL, where C* was the radioalkylated cysteine residue. This sequence is precisely the same as that observed at the C terminus of fetal bovine serum AChE and shows close homology to the C-terminal sequence of torpedo A12 AChE. We conclude that the mammalian brain G4 AChEs utilize the same exon splicing pattern as the A12 AChEs and that factors other than the primary sequence of the AChE catalytic subunits dictate assembly with either the collagen-like or the 20-kDa noncatalytic subunits.
Experimental Protein Malnutrition Decreases Calcium-Binding Protein in Rat Intestinal Mucosa

Calcium-binding activity was measured in duodenal mucosal homogenates of rats 50 days after weaning onto a protein-deficient diet providing 3-4 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day compared to control animals, who were fed an isocaloric diet providing 9-12 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. Calcium-binding activity was decreased (44% of control) further than can be explained by the decrease in intestinal mucosal weight (70% of control) or supernatant protein content (80% of control). The results suggest that the decrease in calcium-binding activity reflects decreased synthesis of the vitamin D-dependent calcium-binding protein (CaBP) as an adaptive response to the stunted growth associated with protein malnutrition.
Synonymous Mutations as a Cause of Human Genetic Disease

The genetic code is degenerate, that is, several codons are translated into the same amino acid. Synonymous codon changes that do not alter the protein sequence were considered as having no functional consequence and referred to as ‘silent’. This viewpoint has changed drastically in the past decade. Studies in molecular evolution have established that in all organisms, synonymous codons are under selection pressure and consequently used with different frequencies. These observations have been complemented by biochemical, biophysical and genetic studies that provide mechanistic explanations of how such a codon bias is exploited by the translation machinery of cells to control gene expression, the efficiency of protein folding and the coordinated expression of functionally related gene families. Interest in this phenomenon has been heightened by the association between many synonymous mutations and human diseases. Thus, synonymous mutations, once considered innocuous are increasingly being demonstrated to be important in human diseases, evolution and biotechnology. Key Concepts: Synonymous codon changes do not change the amino acid sequence of the translated protein. Until recently synonymous changes were thought to have no effect on the protein and were called silent. New studies show that even synonymous nucleotide changes can affect protein folding and function. Studies in molecular evolution show that even synonymous codons are under selection pressure. Over 50 human diseases are associated with synonymous mutations. Synonymous mutations can affect the splicing of precursor mRNAs. Synonymous mutations can alter the secondary structure of the mRNA and thus affect mRNA stability. Several codons encode the same amino acid but are not used with the same frequency, this is called codon bias. Codon bias is used by the translation machinery to regulate the translation speed and accuracy. Keywords: single nucleotide polymorphisms; synonymous mutations; codon bias; genetic code; genome-wide association studies; protein folding; molecular evolution; ribosomal profiling
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF DECEDENT VERSUS LIVING CONTROLS IN A MORTALITY CASE-CONTROL STUDY

The mortality odds ratio computed with a decedent control series (ORD) and the mortality odds ratio obtained with a living control series (ORL) estimate the mortality rate ratio (RRM) under very different assumptions. The bias of the ORD as an estimate of RRM is a function of the mortality rates from other causes (those causes for which controls were selected) in the underlying exposed (E) and nonexposed (E) populations, while the bias of ORL as an estimate of RRM is a function of the prevalence of the study disease in the underlying E and E populations. The ORL closely estimates the RRM if the prevalence of the disease under study is small. If the study disease mortality rate is small relative to the other-causes mortality rate, the ORD closely estimates the cause-specific proportional mortality ratio.
Localization of Frames,Banach Frames, and theInvertibility of the FrameOperator

We introduce a new concept to describe the localization of frames. In our main result we show that the frame operator preserves this localization and that the dual frame possesses the same localization property. As an application we show that certain frames for Hilbert spaces extend automatically to Banach frames. Using this abstract theory, we derive new results on the construction of nonuniform Gabor frames and solve a problem about non-uniform sampling in shift-invariant spaces.
Embryo emergent: elucidating the cell biology of development

The meeting was organized by Cori Bargmann and Richard Harland and held at The University of California, Santa Cruz on July 21–25, 2000. ![][1] With the rapid rise in genomic information, increasing knowledge about the intricacies of cell signaling pathways, and a greater understanding of conserved gene functions, the field of developmental biology has reached a new level, where researchers face a different set of challenges. Some of these challenges and the exciting approaches being taken to surmount them were described at the Santa Cruz Conference in Developmental Biology. In this review, we highlight methodological trends and new areas of focus that emerged from the meeting. ### Converging pathways, molecular complexity At the time of the previous Santa Cruz conference in 1996, considerable progress had been made in unraveling signaling and transcriptional regulatory pathways that underlie cell fate choices. A recurring theme of the 2000 meeting was that linear pathways are an oversimplification, and that future research must take into account the many feedback loops and cross‐signaling networks that link regulatory pathways throughout the cell. The complexity of cross‐talk between pathways was ably demonstrated in the yeast by Ira Herskowitz (San Francisco, CA), who described the interplay between the cellular response to high osmolarity, the pheromone response and pseudohyphal growth. These seemingly distinct pathways are mediated by partially overlapping MAP kinase cascades that negatively regulate one another. For example, during the high osmolarity response, the HOG1 MAP kinase is both an activator of this pathway and an inhibitor of FUS1, a target in the pheromone pathway (O'Rourke and Herskowitz, 1998). Yeast researchers are now exploiting DNA microarray technology to assay genome‐wide responses to extrinsic signals, to identify pathway components and to define epistatic relationships among key regulators. The hope is that the technology will become adaptable to more complex systems such as developing Xenopus , where … [1]: /embed/graphic-1.gif
Radiative Transfer Analysis of Far-Ultraviolet Background Observations Obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope

In 1992, the Far Ultraviolet Space Telescope provided measurements of the ultraviolet (140-180 nm) diffuse sky background at high, medium, and low Galactic latitudes. A significant fraction of the detected radiation was found to be of Galactic origin, resulting from scattering by dust in the diffuse interstellar medium. To simulate the radiative transfer in the Galaxy, we employed a Monte Carlo model that utilized a realistic, nonisotropic radiation field based on the measured fluxes (at 156 nm) and positions of 58,000 TD-1 stars, and a cloud structure for the interstellar medium. The comparison of the model predictions with the observations led to a separation of the Galactic scattered radiation from an approximately constant background, attributed to airglow and extragalactic radiation, and to a well-constrained determination of the dust scattering properties. The derived dust albedo a = 0.45 ± 0.05 is substantially lower than albedos derived for dust in dense reflection nebulae and star-forming regions, while the phase function asymmetry g = 0.68 ± 0.10 is indicative of a strongly forward-directed phase function. We show the highly nonisotropic phase function to be responsible, in conjunction with the nonisotropic UV radiation field, for the wide range of observed correlations between the diffusely scattered Galactic radiation and the column densities of neutral atomic hydrogen. The low dust albedo is attributed to a size distribution of grains in the diffuse medium with average sizes smaller than those in dense reflection nebulae.
Contingent identification in a biomedical engineering classroom

This study, set in a university biomedical engineering capstone design course, explores how students identify as engineers, finding this process to be contingent and dynamically negotiated. Biomedical engineering, as a degree program, serves as a legitimate pathway towards engineering and medical school, making identification with engineering particularly contingent. Living narratives provide glimpses into experiences students have in their design course, which aligns more closely with authentic engineering practice than their previous coursework. As a result, the design course is a significant opportunity for students to consider themselves to be engineers. Framed by changes in accountable disciplinary knowledge and navigation (Stevens, O'Connor, Garrison, Jocuns, & Amos, 2008) within the interdisciplinary context of biomedical engineering and the varied goals of students for choosing the major (engineering vs. health sciences), students' identification as engineers emerges as particularly contentious. Leadership and underrepresentation are considered in relation to identification, navigation, and accountable disciplinary knowledge.
Modern Dynamical Systems Theory

In order to analyse generic or typical properties of dynamical systems we consider the space of all C 1 -vector fields on a fixed differentiable manifold M . In the C 1 -metric, assuming M is compact, is a complete metric space and a generic subset is an open dense subset or an intersection of a countable collection of such open dense subsets of . Some generic properties (i.e. specifying generic subsets) in are described. For instance, generic dynamic systems have isolated critical points and periodic orbits each of which is hyperbolic. If M is a symplectic manifold we can introduce the space of all Hamiltonian systems and study corresponding generic properties.
Microscopic Polyangiitis Associated With Thymoma, Exacerbating After Thymectomy

A variety of autoimmune diseases has been associated with thymoma, and thymectomy does not always induce remission of these disorders. This case report describes a 50-year-old man who presented with migratory polyarthritis and an anterior mediastinal mass that proved to be a thymoma. Five months after thymectomy, the patient presented with worsening polyarthritis, hematuria, and azotemia. Based on elevated titers of antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies directed against myeloperoxidase and renal biopsy showing crescentic necrotizing glomerulonephritis, microscopic polyangiitis was diagnosed. After remission-induction therapy with prednisone and cyclophosphamide, articular symptoms and renal manifestations resolved. Microscopic polyangiitis was not associated previously with thymoma, and this case broadens the spectrum of autoimmune disorders seen with this tumor. Progressive disease seen after thymectomy in this patient has potential implications regarding the pathophysiological characteristics of microscopic polyangiitis and management of patients with this clinical association.
Relative growth rate in relation to physiological and morphological traits for northern hardwood tree seedlings: species, light environment and ontogenetic considerations.

The influence of ontogeny, light environment and species on relationships of relative growth rate (RGR) to physiological and morphological traits were examined for first-year northern hardwood tree seedlings. Three Betulaceae species (Betula papyrifera, Betula alleghaniensis and Ostrya virginiana) were grown in high and low light and Quercus rubra and Acer saccharum were grown only in high light. Plant traits were determined at four ages: 41, 62, 83 and 104 days after germination. In high light (610 μmol m−2 s−1 PPFD), across species and ages, RGR was positively related to the proportion of the plant in leaves (leaf weight ratio, LWR; leaf area ratio, LAR), in situ rates of average canopy net photosynthesis (A) per unit mass (Amass) and per unit area (Aarea), and rates of leaf, stem and root respiration. In low light (127 μmol m−2 s−1 PPFD), RGR was not correlated with Amass and Aarea whereas RGR was positively correlated with LAR, LWR, and rates of root and stem respiration. RGR was negatively correlated with leaf mass per area in both high and low light. Across light levels, relationships of CO2 exchange and morphological characteristics with RGR were generally weaker than within light environments. Moreover, relationships were weaker for plant parameters containing a leaf area component (leaf mass per area, LAR and Aarea), than those that were solely mass-based (respiration rates, LWR and Amass). Across light environments, parameters incorporating the proportion of the plant in leaves and rates of photosynthesis explained a greater amount of variation in RGR (e.g. LWR*Amass, R2=0.64) than did any single parameter related to whole-plant carbon gain. RGR generally declined with age and mass, which were used as scalars of ontogeny. LWR (and LAR) also declined for seven of the eight species-light treatments and A declined in four of the five species in high light. Decreasing LWR and A with ontogeny may have been partially responsible for decreasing RGR. Declines in RGR were not due to increased respiration resulting from an increase in the proportion of solely respiring tissue (roots and stems). In general, although LWR declined with ontogeny, specific rates of leaf, stem, and root respiration also decreased. The net result was that whole-plant respiration rates per unit leaf mass decreased for all eight treatments. Identifying the major determinants of variation in growth (e.g. LWR*Amass) across light environments, species and ontogeny contributes to the establishment of a framework for exploring limits to productivity and the nature of ecological success as measured by growth. The generality of these relationships both across the sources of variation we explored here and across other sources of variation in RGR needs further study.
Rejecting unfairness: emotion-driven reaction or cognitive heuristic?

In the following paragraphs, I am arguing that rejecting inequality, even when it means sacrificing available resources, could be interpreted as a default response that occurs when there is no other reason to choose otherwise. Moreover, I am reviewing some of our latest findings suggesting that emotions might not be the sole mechanism that ultimately explains this response, as claimed instead by the most accredited account (e.g., Sanfey et al., 2003; van't Wout et al., 2006; Crockett et al., 2008; Tabibnia et al., 2008).
Ingestion of aspirin prevents platelet-induced human fibroblast growth. Implications for peptic ulcer healing.

Lanas A, Haggerty P, Hirschowitz BI. Ingestion of aspirin prevents, platelet-induced human fibroblast growth. Implications for peptic ulcer healing. Scand J Gastroenterol 1994;29:17-22.Because aspirin (ASA) may affect peptic ulcer healing through actions on platelets (for example, by inhibiting release of growth factors), human foreskin fibroblast mitogenesis was used for two bioassays (24-h growth with 3H-thymidine incorporation and 5- to 6-day cell proliferation) for serum derived from collagen-aggregated platelet-rich plasma (PRP) or platelet-poor plasma (PPP) or from clotted whole blood (WBS). Blood was taken from five normal subjects before and 6 h after ingestion of ASA. After ASA ingestion serum (WBS or PRP) was less mitogenic (p < 0.01) by both bioassays, whereas PPP serum was not mitogenic either before or after ASA. In vitro, neither ASA nor salicylic acid alone at levels normally found in plasma with ASA use inhibited fibroblast growth. We conclude that ASA ingestion inhibits the mitogenic acti...
Recombinant human growth hormone exacerbates chronic puromycin aminonucleoside nephropathy in rats

Recombinant human growth hormone exacerbates chronic puromycin aminonucleoside nephropathy in rats. Growth failure is a cardinal feature of chronic renal failure in children. Administration of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) ameliorates this problem but may adversely affect the kidney and hasten the progression to end-stage renal disease. We conducted experiments to examine the impact of rhGH on the severity of chronic puromycin aminonucleoside (PAMN) nephropathy in rats. The glomerulopathy was induced by serial injections of PAMN over a 12 week period. Experimental animals (N = 6) received rhGH, 0.5 mg per dose, three times weekly, while control rats (N = 6) received hormone vehicle. rhGH had no effect on weight gain, hematocrit, or blood pressure in rats with the experimental renal disease. Urinary protein excretion increased approximately 50% in rhGH-treated rats with chronic PAMN nephropathy compared to untreated animals between four to eight weeks of the observation period. After 12 weeks, the inulin clearance was significantly lower in rhGH-treated rats, 0.26 ± 0.05 versus 0.50 ± 0.06 ml/min/100 g body wt in control PAMN animals, P -3 versus 11.9 ± 0.5 × 10 -3 mm 2 , P
Patterns of health-related quality of life and patterns associated with health risks among Rhode Island adults.

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) has become an important consideration in assessing the impact of chronic disease on individuals as well as in populations. HRQOL is often assessed using multiple indicators. The authors sought to determine if multiple indicators of HRQOL could be used to characterize patterns of HRQOL in a population, and if so, to examine the association between such patterns and demographic, health risk and health condition covariates. Data from Rhode Island's 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) were used for this analysis. The BRFSS is a population-based random-digit-dialed telephone survey of adults ages 18 and older. In 2004 RI's BRFSS interviewed 3,999 respondents. A latent class regression (LCR) model, using 9 BRFSS HRQOL indicators, was used to determine latent classes of HRQOL for RI adults and to model the relationship between latent class membership and covariates. RI adults were categorized into four latent classes of HRQOL. Class 1 (76%) was characterized by good physical and mental HRQOL; Class 2 (9%) was characterized as having physically related poor HRQOL; Class 3 (11%) was characterized as having mentally related poor HRQOL; and Class 4 (4%) as having both physically and mentally related poor HRQOL. Class 2 was associated with older age, being female, unable to work, disabled, or unemployed, no participation in leisure time physical activity, or with having asthma or diabetes. Class 3 was associated with being female, current smoking, or having asthma or disability. Class 4 was associated with almost all the same predictors of Classes 2 and 3, i.e. older age, being female, unable to work, disabled, or unemployed, no participation in leisure time physical activity, current smoking, with having asthma or diabetes, or with low income. Using a LCR model, the authors found 4 distinct patterns of HRQOL among RI adults. The largest class was associated with good HRQOL; three smaller classes were associated with poor HRQOL. We identified the characteristics of subgroups at higher-risk for each of the three classes of poor HRQOL. Focusing interventions on the high-risk populations may be one approach to improving HRQOL in RI.
Nanomolar Binding of Peptides Containing Noncanonical Amino Acids by a Synthetic Receptor

This paper describes the molecular recognition of phenylalanine derivatives and their peptides by the synthetic receptor cucurbit[7]uril (Q7). The 4-tert-butyl and 4-aminomethyl derivatives of phenylalanine (tBuPhe and AMPhe) were identified from a screen to have 20–30-fold higher affinity than phenylalanine for Q7. Placement of these residues at the N-terminus of model tripeptides (X-Gly-Gly), resulted in no change in affinity for tBuPhe-Gly-Gly, but a remarkable 500-fold increase in affinity for AMPhe-Gly-Gly, which bound to Q7 with an equilibrium dissociation constant (Kd) value of 0.95 nM in neutral phosphate buffer. Structure–activity studies revealed that three functional groups work in a positively cooperative manner to achieve this extraordinary stability (1) the N-terminal ammonium group, (2) the side chain ammonium group, and (3) the peptide backbone. Addition of the aminomethyl group to Phe substantially improved the selectivity for peptide versus amino acid and for an N-terminal vs nonterminal...
Geologic storage of carbon dioxide and enhanced oil recovery. I. Uncertainty quantification employing a streamline based proxy for reservoir flow simulation

Abstract Carbon dioxide (CO2) is already injected into a limited class of reservoirs for oil recovery purposes; however, the engineering design question for simultaneous oil recovery and storage of anthropogenic CO2 is significantly different from that of oil recovery alone. Currently, the volumes of CO2 injected solely for oil recovery are minimized due to the purchase cost of CO2. If and when CO2 emissions to the atmosphere are managed, it will be necessary to maximize simultaneously both economic oil recovery and the volumes of CO2 emplaced in oil reservoirs. This process is coined “cooptimization”. This paper proposes a work flow for cooptimization of oil recovery and geologic CO2 storage. An important component of the work flow is the assessment of uncertainty in predictions of performance. Typical methods for quantifying uncertainty employ exhaustive flow simulation of multiple stochastic realizations of the geologic architecture of a reservoir. Such approaches are computationally intensive and thereby time consuming. An analytic streamline based proxy for full reservoir simulation is proposed and tested. Streamline trajectories represent the three-dimensional velocity field during multiphase flow in porous media and so are useful for quantifying the similarity and differences among various reservoir models. The proxy allows rational selection of a representative subset of equi-probable reservoir models that encompass uncertainty with respect to true reservoir geology. The streamline approach is demonstrated to be thorough and rapid.
Setting Up the Doll House: A Developmental Perspective on Termination

This article considers the contribution that consideration of the moment-to-moment process in psychoanalysis can make to an understanding of termination. Information on moment-to-moment interactions related to termination is developed from videotape microanalysis of termination discussions—focusing on a child analysis, but including an example from an adult analysis—as viewed through the structure of a developmental model (Tronick's dyadic expansion of consciousness model) that is consistent with dynamic systems theory. The theory emphasizes the co-creation of meaning that occurs in an analysis, as indicated by verbal, as well as nonverbal, interactions that are apparent in the videotape. The insights from this approach can enrich the traditional psychoanalytic views on termination by emphasizing the ongoing developmental process, with termination more of an important step in this process than a specific ending.
S-1 Herbicide-Resistant Crops-Their Impact on Weed Science

Crops made resistant to herbicides by biotechnology are being widely adopted in North America and other parts of the world. The major impact will be from crops containing transgenes imparting resistance to post-emergence, non-seletctive herbicides for which there is only one commercially successful analogue, such as glyphosate and glufosinate. These products allow the farmer to more effectively use reduced- or no-tillage cultural practices, eliminate use of some of the more environmentally suspect herbicides, and use fewer herbicides to manage nearly the entire spectrum of weed species. In some cases, non-selective herbicides used with herbicide-resistant crops even reduce plant pathogen problems because of their toxicity to some microbes. There is concern among weed scientists that eventual over reliance on fewer weed management strategies will result in evolution of resistance to the more useful herbicides and/or weed population shifts to naturally resistant species. Environmentalists are concerned with gene flow from transgenic crops to closely related wild relatives; however, herbicide resistance transgenes alone confer no fitness advantage outside of fields treated with the herbicide, making it unlikely that they would affect plant populations in natural areas. The next ten years should clarify the eventual impact of these powerful new tools on weed science and weed management.
Existence of solutions for integral inclusions of Urysohn type with nonconvex-valued orientor field

In this paper, we prove the existence of solutions for an integral inclusion of Urysohn type with nonconvex orientor field and with delay. We make standard boundedness and continuity assumptions on the data, and we assume that the orientor field is l.s.c. in the state variable. Using a selection theorem of Fryszkowski, we are able to prove the existence of solutions, extending an earlier result of Angell.
Probit Analysis of Correlated Data: Multiple Observations Over Time at One Concentration

We present a method to analyze serial time–mortality data from bioassay experiments where successive observations are made on the same group of organisms exposed to 1 concentration of a stimulus (for example, a pesticide). Standard probit techniques are not applicable because such data are correlated. Methods are presented for calculating statistics for the time–mortality line by regressing complementary log-log, logit, or probit transformations of proportion of responders on untransformed time or logarithmic transformations of time; and for calculating confidence limits on lethal time values corresponding to given mortality levels. As a result we have developed a computer program to facilitate use of the method.
Natural history of discrete subvalvar aortic stenosis: management implications.

Discrete subvalvar aortic stenosis (DSVAS) represents a unique cardiac lesion. As compared to most other congenital heart defects, DSVAS is virtually never recognized in early infancy, but appears to be an “acquired” lesion, albeit with anatomic precursors [(1–4)][1]. The stenosis is caused by
The viscoelastic response of cement paste to three-dimensional loading

The majority of the viscoelastic constitutive data for cement paste or concrete found in the literature deal exclusively with uniaxial loading. To predict the isotropic response of concrete or cement paste under multiaxial loading or multiaxial prescribed deformation, it is necessary to have knowledge of at least two viscoelastic constitutive properties. In the past, the typical treatment of three-dimensional modeling of concrete viscoelasticity has involved the assumption of a time-independent viscoelastic Poisson ratio. However, the experimental evidence supporting this simplification is inconclusive. In this study, experiments were performed on hardened cement paste that allowed the simultaneous measurement of both the dilatational and shear compliances, allowing the full three-dimensional characterization of the constitutive response. It was found that the dilatational compliance leveled off after several days for three of four mixtures tested. In these three materials, the Poisson’s ratio was found to be an increasing function of time. Prediction of the measured uniaxial compliance using the measured bulk and shear compliances indicated that the confined compressive test used in this research may cause changes in the material which affect the measured dilatational compliance, and therefore the calculated viscoelastic Poisson ratio.
Using Computer Modeling to Evaluate Fixed VS. Random Grid Sampling for Fisheries Resource Assessment

The purpose of this paper is to describe in some detail, a method for the evaluation of fixed and random grid sampling for fisheries resource assessment. The approach that is discussed involves a system within which investigators with different points of view can develop inputs for the simulation that, in effect, create a control situation. In this way two groups with opposing viewpoints can manipulate the model in a "blind" situation, thus making the results more meaningful. The final outcome of the effort would involve a "back modeling" of the "catch" to see which method, random or fixed grid, most closely approximates the actual distribution of the simulated "resource."
Pattern Formation in Turing Systems on Domains with Exponentially Growing Structures

Turing reaction–diffusion systems have been used to model pattern formation in several areas of developmental biology. Previous biomathematical Turing system models employed static domains which failed to incorporate the growth that inherently occurs as an organism develops. To address this shortcoming, we incorporate an exponentially growing domain into a Turing system, allowing one to more realistically model biological pattern formation. This Turing system can generate patterns on an exponentially growing domain in any of the eleven coordinate systems in which the Helmholtz equation is separable, making the system incredibly flexible and giving one the capability to mathematically model pattern formation on a geometrically diverse group of domains. Linear stability analysis is employed to generate mathematical conditions which ensure such a system can generate patterns. We apply the exponentially growing Turing system to a prolate spheroidal domain and conduct numerical simulations to investigate the system’s pattern-generating behavior. We find that the addition of growth to a Turing system causes a significant change in the pattern-generating behavior of the system. While a static domain Turing system converges to a final pattern, an exponentially growing domain Turing system produces transient patterns that continually evolve and increase in complexity over time.
Benefits of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Hydrocarbon Pneumonitis

Objective: To review the therapeutic benefits of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for the management of hydrocarbon pneumonitis. Methods: A search of the medical literature was conducted through Medline and the bibliographies of relevant articles and a search of patient databases maintained by the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization and the American Association of Poison Control Centers was performed. All articles and case reports on the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in patients with hydrocarbon pneumonitis were selected. The data were abstracted without judgments about study design. Results: There is some evidence that pulmonary parenchymal tissue can recover from hydrocarbon pneumonitis, but the degree of injury and recovery are variable. In the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Registry 19 children with hydrocarbon pneumonitis were treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation during 1985 to 1994 and 68% survived compared to the 52% overall survival of 883 pediatric cases...
Evidence of interstitial microsegregation in iron obtained by ion microscopy

Segregation of impurity atoms to the strain fields of dislocations and the effective locking of the dislocations by the impurity atmospheres have been suggested earlier by others. The formation of interstitial atmospheres and their effect in iron was first treated mathematically by Cottrell and Bilby (Proc. Phys. Soc.; A62: 49(1949). Hirth and Lothe (Theory of Discolations, McGraw-Hill, New York (1968) reviewed more recent evidence of interstitial effects and theoretical treatments of interstitial dislocation interactions. This paper describes additional evidence of microsegregation of several interstitial elements in iron that were detected using secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). 10 references, 2 figures.
Monte Carlo simulation of photon transport within a hybrid grid-detector system for digital mammography

Screen-film and digital mammography typically utilize grids to remove scatter and a phosphor screen to convert the x- rays to light. We propose a square pore microchannel plate (SPMCP) hybrid grid-detector system that offers improvement in scatter rejection and quantum efficiency with acceptable resolution. SPMCP's are effective mammographic grids. Packing the exit side of the SPMCP with phosphor creates the hybrid system. The SPMCP confines the lateral spread of the emitted light and allows for a high efficiency phosphor layer. The hybrid system was investigated using Monte Carlo simulation of diffusive transport of optical photons. The size of the SPMCP pores, reflective coatings, scattering length within the phosphor, and phosphor thickness, were varied to maximize light output while maintaining resolution. The light output of the hybrid grid-detector systems is dependent upon the reflective properties of the SPMCP pores. WIth absorptive walls, the output increases with phosphor thickness, then decreases as absorption dominates. With reflective walls, the output is increased by 50 percent over the output of a conventional mammographic screen. Pore size and photon scattering length have minimal effect on light output. The MTF of a SPMCP detector is primarily dependent upon the size of the pores.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
PARP inhibitors in ovarian cancer: Current status and future promise

Clinical investigation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors for ovarian cancer treatment has rapidly evolved from observations of single-agent in vitro activity of these agents in BRCA-deficient cancer cells in 2005 to the initiation of multiple phase III studies in 2013. With clinical trial design and treatment of ovarian cancer increasingly based on histological and molecular characteristics, PARP inhibitors are on the horizon of becoming the first biologic agents to be used to treat ovarian cancer based upon pre-selection characteristics of the patient's cancer. PARP inhibitors are most active in ovarian cancers that have defects or aberrations in DNA repair; use of these agents has been of particular interest in high grade serous cancers (HGSC), where studies have shown that ~50% of HGSC have abnormalities of DNA repair through BRCA germline and somatic mutation, post-translational changes of BRCA, and abnormalities of other DNA repair molecules. In addition, as aberrant DNA pathways in other histological subtypes of ovarian cancer are identified, and through the combination of PARP inhibitors with other biologic agents, the pool of eligible patients who may benefit from PARP inhibitors will likely expand. Pending review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the outcome of confirmatory phase III studies, PARP inhibitors could become the first FDA-approved biologic agent for ovarian cancer and also the first new FDA-approval in ovarian cancer since carboplatin and gemcitabine were approved for platinum sensitive ovarian cancer in 2006. This review discusses the PARP inhibitors that are currently in testing for ovarian cancer treatment and the future of this class of anti-cancer agents.
Sources of subcortical projections to the superior colliculus in the cat.

A comprehensive search for subcortical projections to the cat superior colliculus was conducted using the retrograde horseradish peroxidase (HRP) method. Over 40 different subcortical structures project to the superior colliculus. The more notable among these are grouped under the following categories. Visual structures: ventral lateral geniculate nucleus, parabigeminal nucleus, pretectal area (nucleus of the optic tract, posterior pretectal nucleus, nuclei of the posterior commissure). Auditory structures: inferior colliculus (external and pericentral nuclei), dorsomedial periolivary nucleus, nuclei of the trapezoid body, ventral nucleus of the lateral lemniscus. Somatosensory structures: sensory trigeminal complex (all divisions, but mainly the γ division of nucleus oralis), dorsal column nuclei (mostly cuneate nucleus), and the lateral cervical nucleus. Catecholamine nuclei: locus coeruleus, raphe dorsalis, and the parabrachial nuclei. Cerebellum: medial, interposed, and lateral nuclei, and the perihypoglossal nuclei. Reticular areas: zona incerta, substantia nigra, midbrain tegmentum, nucleus paragigantocellularis lateralis, and the hypothalamus. Evidence is presented that only the parabigeminal nucleus, the nucleus of the optic tract, and the posterior pretectal nucleus project to the superficial collicular layers (striatum griseum superficiale and stratum opticum), while all other afferents terminate in the deeper layers of the colliculus. Also presented is information concerning the rostrocaudal distribution of some of these afferent connections. These findings stress the multiplicity and diversity of inputs to the deeper collicular layers, and more specifically, identify multiple sources of the physiologically well-known representations of the somatic and auditory modalities in the colliculus.
Patterns of sexual dimorphism in the hominoid distal humerus

Basic biomechanical principles predict that body size differences and differences in the positional behavior of primates should impact on the design of the locomotor skeleton. Allometric distortions in joint shape might be expected between sexes if the degree of body size dimorphism is substantial and/or if sex-specific differences exist in behavior. Nevertheless, there are few documented cases of sexual dimorphism in the limb joints of hominoids, despite substantial body size dimorphism and some reports of intersexual differences in positional behavior. This study re-examines sexual dimorphism in the hominoid distal humerus using coordinate data, and distinguishes explicitly between degree of dimorphism (i.e., the magnitude of intersexual differences) and pattern of dimorphism (i.e. , the nature of these differences). Using a variety of multivariate morphometric methods (e.g., canonical variates analysis of Mosimann shape variables; Euclidean Distance Matrix Analysis of both form and pattern difference matrices), we address the following issues: (1) do males and females of different species and subspecies (or ethnic groups for humans) maintain similar joint shapes? (2) are multiple patterns of dimorphism evident in this region of hominoids? (3) are differences and similarities in degree and pattern predicted by phylogenetic propinquity and positional behavior? For the most part, our results support earlier findings that sexual dimorphism in the shape of the anthropoid elbow is slight. Of the eight taxa considered here, only the western lowland gorillas exhibited significant differences in the shape of the distal humerus. Gorilla gorilla gorilla also displays a significantly different pattern of dimorphism from the orang-utan. Pattern differences between Andaman Islanders and both mountain gorillas and the orang-utan also approach statistical significance (P<0.06 and P<0.08, respectively). Overall, and despite marked differences in the degree of dimorphism, the knuckle-walking African apes are more similar in patterns of dimorphism to each other than to other taxa (e.g., gorillas are more similar to orang-utans in degree, but more similar to chimpanzees and bonobos in pattern). We could find no definitive "human pattern" in our results and suspect that this is because human upper limbs face less stringent mechanical constraints since they are relieved of locomotor stresses (but we cannot rule out the possibility of undocumented differences among our human groups in sex-specific, work-related activities). We anticipate finding additional pattern differences among anthropoids in articular dimorphism as we add other taxa to our sample (including fossil hominids), and examine other joint systems.
Extreme sexual dimorphism in a Miocene hominoid.

SOME Miocene hominoids may have been extremely sexually dimorphic for body size, inferred from the apparent dimorphism of dental and gnathic remains1–4. But this has never been demonstrated convincingly for any fossil species because of small sample sizes, uncertainties about the number of species in most fossil samples, and the inability to reliably sex individual specimens. Here we demonstrate a case of extreme dental dimorphism, and presumed body-size dimorphism, in a Miocene hominoid sample in which these limitations have been overcome. Lufengpithecus lufengensis from the late Miocene site of Lufeng, China, was more dimorphic than the most dimorphic living hominoid, the orangutan, and may have been more dimorphic than any living anthropoid.
Detection and imaging of corrosion around wing skin fasteners using the dripless bubbler ultrasonic scanner

The galvanic action between steel fasteners and aluminum wing skins of aircraft often leads to hidden exfoliation corrosion around the countersink surface of the fastener heads. To detect and evaluate the severity of such corrosion defects, the Dripless Bubbler ultrasonic scanner was applied. This technique uses a focused beam of high frequency ultrasound in a closed-cycle, water-coupled scan of wing skin test panels containing corroded and uncorroded fasteners. With full waveform acquisition, not only the lateral extent but also the depth profile of the corrosions around the fastener heads were mapped out, subject to shadowing of defects at different depth. The technique is capable of providing quantitative assessment of the severity of the corrosion. In tests conducted to evaluate different techniques, the Dripless Bubbler has shown high probability of detection and low false call rate. The presence of paint on the surface did not degrade the performance of the technique. In addition, the Dripless Bubbler was also used on wing skin panels containing repair 'blend-out' regions that had 0.020' to 0.100' of metal removed from the surface by grinding. Corrosions around fasteners in the blend-out regions were also detected.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.