cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Glutamate is a mediator of neurotoxicity in secretions of activated HIV-1-infected macrophages.

We sought to identify neurotoxin(s) secreted by HIV-1-infected mononuclear phagocytes that could contribute to the pathophysiology of HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD). Neurotoxic factors were characterized in batches of conditioned media (CM) from human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) infected with HIV-1ADA and/or activated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). All of the neurotoxicity was: present in the <3000-Da fraction; blocked by 5 μM MK801; and not trypsin sensitive or extractable into polar organic solvents. Glutamate measured in CM accounted for all neurotoxic effects observed from HIV/LPS CM in astrocyte-poor neuronal cultures and may contribute to the pathophysiology of HIV-1-associated dementia.
Arc crustal differentiation mechanisms

Abstract The detailed vertical compositional and thermal structure of the entire Kohistan arc section is constructed using ∼ 63 P / T constraints and 209 plutonic whole rock analyses. The aim is to better understand the nature of the chemical differentiation in the plutonic arc crust at different crustal levels. Results indicate that a distinct difference in character exists between the upper and lower plutonic arc crust. Plutonic rocks in the lower crust ( ⩾ 25 – 30 km ) have whole-rock chemical characteristics that indicate mineral accumulation and residual melt loss. In these cumulate rocks there is a systematic chemical stratification of decreasing incompatible trace elements with depth (e.g. Rb, K2O). In contrast, the plutonic rocks of the upper crust represent mainly frozen liquids and show no systematic relationship between chemical composition and intrusion depth. These results clearly indicate that magmatic differentiation in the Kohistan arc dominantly occurred in the deeper arc crust ( ⩾ 30 km ) consistent with the lower crustal ‘hot zone model’. To understand the role of density barriers for melt stagnation in the crust, and thereby for the observed chemical stratification, the detailed density structure of the plutonic arc crust is compared to melt densities calculated for plutonic rocks with near liquid compositions. Results indicate that melts are consistently less dense than rocks, and there is no evidence for a “neutral buoyancy line” controlling melt emplacement. It is speculated that melt stagnation in the lower arc crust and subsequent chemical differentiation of a felsic upper and mafic lower continental crust is dominantly controlled by temperature and to a lesser extent to density or rheological barriers.
Mutation of zebrafish Snapc4 is associated with loss of the intrahepatic biliary network

Abstract Biliary epithelial cells line the intrahepatic biliary network, a complex three-dimensional network of conduits. The loss of differentiated biliary epithelial cells is the primary cause of many congenital liver diseases. We identified a zebrafish snapc4 (small nuclear RNA-activating complex polypeptide 4) mutant in which biliary epithelial cells initially differentiate but subsequently disappear. In these snapc4 mutant larvae, biliary epithelial cells undergo apoptosis, leading to degeneration of the intrahepatic biliary network. Consequently, in snapc4 mutant larvae, biliary transport of ingested fluorescent lipids to the gallbladder is blocked. Snapc4 is the largest subunit of a protein complex that regulates small nuclear RNA (snRNA) transcription. The snapc4s445 mutation causes a truncation of the C-terminus, thereby deleting the domain responsible for a specific interaction with Snapc2, a vertebrate specific subunit of the SNAP complex. This mutation leads to a hypomorphic phenotype, as only a subset of snRNA transcripts are quantitatively altered in snapc4s445 mutant larvae. snapc2 knockdown also disrupts the intrahepatic biliary network in a similar fashion as in snapc4s445 mutant larvae. These data indicate that the physical interaction between Snapc2 and Snapc4 is important for the expression of a subset of snRNAs and biliary epithelial cell survival in zebrafish.
Reexamination of four-generation heterotic string compactification as a superconformal field theory☆

Abstract We reexamine the four-generation heterotic string compactification on the Y(4, 5)/Z5⊗Z′5 Calabi-Yau manifold formulated here as a superconformal field theory. We construct the superpotential involving the massless chiral superfields and discuss some areas where the conformal field theory formulation can be used to extend previous phenomenological analyses.
Paleosols, trace fossils, and precipitation estimates of the uppermost Triassic strata in northern New Mexico

Abstract This study provides a detailed pedogenic evaluation of two Upper Triassic (Late Norian through Rhaetian) stratigraphic intervals in New Mexico in order to assess the climate and ecology of the Latest Triassic, which ended in a mass extinction. The two study areas are located in north–central and east-central New Mexico and are separated by 200 km. Each section contains abundant paleosols of varying maturity with features that reflect an arid to semiarid climate. There is little pedogenic variation throughout the strata at each location, and a typical paleosol profile is about 1 m thick and has an AB–Bw–Bk–BC horizon succession. Bkm, Bss, Bssk, or Bssg horizons are present in some paleosols. Micromorphological features suggest dominantly well-drained sola (e.g., abundant carbonate nodules, illuviated clay) with minor periods of moist or saturated conditions (e.g., FeMn concretions, FeMn coatings and hypocoatings, sepic-plasmic fabrics). Trace fossils are abundant in these strata and are dominated by Taenidium serpentinum and root traces. Depth-to-carbonate functions estimate that mean annual precipitation was between 200 and 450 +/− 95 mm. Relative to location 1 (eastern New Mexico), location 2 (north–central New Mexico) produced higher paleo-precipitation estimates and has stronger and more abundant sepic-plasmic fabrics in thin sections. The presence of a gleyed paleosol, Camborygma eumnkenomos , and slickensides at location 2 also suggests conditions wetter than at location 1. Taxonomically, all of the paleosols in this study appear to be Entisols or Aridisols and can be grouped into seven representative pedotypes of varying maturity. By comparing these paleosols to modern soils, this study demonstrates that the Late Triassic Western Interior during the Late Norian to Rhaetian was arid to semiarid and supported a desert shrub environment that had localized and periodic moist or saturated soil conditions.
Reanalysis and extension of namias's climatological isentropic analysis: Detection and evaluation of monsoonal, severe storm, drought, and flood events

This study revisits, updates, and evaluates the climatological isentropic analysis method pioneered by Jerome Namias in the 1930s. Early researchers including Namias noted many advantages to the use of constant potential temperature surfaces, or isentropic analysis, over constant pressure charts (e.g., barometric heights) but aviation needs for constant pressure charts caused climatological isentropic research to wane after World War II. We employ modern data to verify and update Namias's original identification of the North American monsoon. Given this verification, we extend his analyses to other seasons. Importantly, we identify a springtime prominent “isentropic inverted wave” over the Great Plains that corresponds to severe storm and tornadic activity. We also verify isentropic analysis in the detection of drought using modern drought indexes. Fundamentally, we demonstrate that Namias's climatological isentropic analysis is still notably applicable to climate forecasting concerns. In a larger perspec...
Postoperative myelography in spondylotic cervical myelopathy.

Thirty-five patients operated for myelopathy caused by cervical spondylosis were followed up from one to ten years. Of these patients 23 had posterior decompressive laminectomy and 12 had anterior intervertebral exploration followed by fusion. Satisfactory results were obtained in 76.9 percent after anterior operation and 72.3 percent after extensive decompressive laminectomy but the relative incidence of return to normal neurological status was higher in patients operated by the anterior approach. The preoperative myelograms of 21 patients (10 operated by anterior approach and 11 by laminectomy) were compared with postoperative myelograms. Several types of postoperative changes are described and correlated to the clinical symptoms. In the great majority of cases myelopathy seemed to be attributed to mechanical compression.
Transient Radiation Effects at X-Band in GaAs FETs and ICs

Transient radiation effects following 20-60 ns electron pulses were measured in GaAs FETs and ICs operating at X-band. Long-term transients in RF output power and drain current were observed in all devices and ICs except FETs fabricated with a buried p-layer. Only the prompt (20 ns) photocurrent response was observed in FETs with a buried p-layer. The long-term transients are explained by a model of substrate trapping and backgating.
Mutational analysis of the ganglioside-binding activity of the type II Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin LT-IIb.

Summary The Escherichia coli type II heat-labile enterotoxin LT-IIb consists of a single A polypeptide and five B polypeptides. The A polypeptide is responsible for the toxic activity, and the B polypeptides function to bind the toxin to gangliosides on the surface of the plasma membrane. Previous studies on the related type II enterotoxin LT-IIa demonstrated the importance of threonine (Thr) residues at positions 13, 14, and 34 in the mature B polypeptide for ganglioside GD1b-binding activity. In this study, we used site-specific mutagenesis to investigate ganglioside GD1a-binding activity of the B polypeptide of LT-IIb. We determined that Thr-13 and Thr-14 were involved in binding of ganglioside GD1 a by the B polypeptides of LT-IIb but that Thr-34 was not essential. Substitution of serine, but not other amino acids, at position 13 or 14 in the B polypeptide of LT-IIb resulted in retention of ganglioside-binding activity equivalent to that of the wild-type enterotoxin, providing strong evidence that the hydroxyl groups of threonine or serine at positions 13 and 14 are important for the ganglioside-binding activity of LT-IIb. Chimeric genes that expressed hybrids of the B polypeptides of LT-IIb and LT-IIa were also constructed, and analysis of the hybrids showed that the specificity of their ganglioside-binding activity was determined by the N-terminal half of the molecule.
Extracting information from protein sequences using random replacement mutagenesis

This paper describes a mutagenesis technique that involves randomizing the DNA sequence of a short stretch of a gene using a synthetic linker with the recognition sequence of a type IIs restriction endonuclease at each end. Type IIs endonucleases cleave DNA at precise distances from their recognition sequences. Linker insertion mutagenesis was used to generate a collection of individual linker inserts distributed throughout the target gene. Then, the type IIs enzyme was used to release the linker and create a precise deletion in the gene. A second linker containing random nucleotide sequence was ligated to the gene to replace the deleted DNA with random sequence DNA. The result was a plasmid library containing all or nearly all possible substitutions for a given region of a protein. We applied this method to the gene encoding TEM-1 β -lactamase and have illustrated that the mutagenesis method is an effective strategy for defining regions important to the structure and function of a protein. Methods for troubleshooting and improving the mutagenesis technique are also described.
Statistical mechanical considerations on the random packing of granular materials

Abstract The historical development on the random packing of granular materials is briefly discussed. The geometrical probability space for granular packings is then introduced and the significance and relevance of characteristic microelements, i.e. ‘Voronoi polyhedra’, is elaborated upon. The classical statistical mechanical theory based on Boltzmann's postulate is remodeled and applied to a collection of ‘Voronoi cells’ in the form of routine ensemble phase averages. The exact probability density functions for the distribution of void ratios in a random aggregate of granular materials are then found to be exponential and the associated partition functions are obtained. The statistical entropy is shown to be a global maximum for the ‘loose random packing’ state which is also equivalent to the critical state reached in simple shearing of such aggregates. At such states the distribution density is shown to be uniform. Furthermore, it is shown that for random close packings the distribution density is skewed towards the denser ‘Voronoi cells’. Exact expressions are given for the expected values of the critical void ratios as well as critical porosities for random loose packing states of both three- and two-dimensional granular aggregates. Similar to three-dimensional packings, it is shown that there exist two critical porosities for the random two-dimensional packing; one corresponding to random loose packing for which n cr ≈ 0.160 and another for random close packing for which n cr ≈ 0.111. Finally, in an Appendix, the connections between the statistical mechanical considerations, the information theoretic considerations, and Jayne's postulate on minimally biased distribution are presented.
The prevalence of OSA in snorers presenting with various chief complaints: a pilot study

Aims: The incidence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in snoring patients is reported in the literature to range from 20% to 70%. The aim of this study was to obtain exact data on the percent of snorers who have OSA, and to classify them as having normal, mild, moderate, or severe sleep apnea. Methodology: There were 273 patients who came into the senior author’s office with sleep disorder breathing problems. They suffered with various sleep problems. All 273 patients also had a snoring problem. None of the 273 patients had ever had a sleep test, or polysomnograph (PSG). All 273 required a PSG for evaluation of their sleep problem. They were referred to a certified sleep lab local to them. When the results of the PSG came back, the authors were able to classify them as having normal, mild, moderate, or severe sleep apnea. Results: The results of the 273 PSGs showed the following: 12 patients (4%) had PSGs of apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI)<5 (normal), 57 patients (21%) had PSGs with AHIs 5–<15 (mild), 79 pati...
Sociological Speculations on Treating Problem Gamblers: A Clinical Sociological Imagination via a Bio-psycho-social-sociological Model

This article explores the potential of a bio-psycho-social-sociological model as it pertains to C. Wright Mills's articulation of a sociological imagination and, especially, how these formulations may be used to help problem gamblers and their families. This tool might be seen as a “clinical sociological” one that complements, rather than replaces, existing psychologically oriented approaches. A number of speculations about the potential utility of this model are presented, and suggestions are outlined for future clinical sociological study of problematic gambling behaviors.
Statistical characteristics of the envelope in diversity combining of two correlated Rayleigh fading channels

Performance of diversity systems is often evaluated under the assumption of perfect interleaving and characterised in terms of long-term parameters such as the average bit-error rate, which does not capture the dynamics of fading channels. Statistical characteristics (static and dynamic) of the envelope of two correlated Rayleigh fading channels are explored using a physical model. For two popular diversity-combining schemes, maximal ratio combining and selection combining, both static and dynamic (level-crossing rate) properties of correlated fading channels are derived. These results are very useful for performance evaluation of diversity systems without bit-level simulations. The results can also provide very useful characteristics such as average duration of fades, fading rate and outage probability for two-channel diversity systems and can be extended to multiple fading channels.
Seasonal Cycles of Meridional Overturning and Heat Transport of the Indian Ocean

A general circulation model of the Indian Ocean is fitted to monthly averaged climatological temperatures, salinities, and surface fluxes using the adjoint method. Interannual variability is minimized by penalizing the temporal drift from one seasonal cycle to another during a two-year integration. The resultant meridional overturning and heat transport display large seasonal variations, with maximum amplitudes of 18 and 22 (x 10(exp 6) cubic m/s) for the overturning and 1.8 and 1.4 (x 10(exp 15) W) for heat transport near 10 S and 10 N, respectively. A dynamical decomposition of the overturning and heat transport shows that the time-varying Ekman How plus its barotropic compensation can explain a large part of the seasonal variations in overturning and heat transport. The maximum variations at 10 deg N and 10 deg S are associated with monsoon reversal over the northern Indian Ocean and changes of the easterlies over the southern Indian Ocean. An external mode with variable topography has a moderate contribution where the Somali Current and the corresponding gyre reverse direction seasonally. Contribution front vertical shear (thermal wind and ageostrophic shear) is dominant near the southern boundary and large near the Somali Current latitudes. The dominant balance in the zonally integrated heat budget is between heat storage change and heat transport convergence except south of 15 S. Optimization with seasonal forcings improves estimates of sea surface temperatures, but the annual average overturning and heat transport are very similar to previous results with annual mean forcings. The annual average heat transport consists of roughly equal contributions from time-mean and time-varying fields of meridional velocities and temperatures in the northern Indian Ocean. indicating a significant rectification to the heat transport due to the time-varying fields. The time-mean and time-varying contributions are primarily due to the overturning and horizontal gyre, respectively. Inclusion of TOPEX data enhances the seasonal cycles of the estimated overturning and heat transport in the central Indian Ocean significantly and improves the estimated equatorial zonal flows but leads 10 unrealistic estimates of the velocity structure near the Indonesian Throughflow region, most likely owing to the deficiencies in the lateral boundary conditions.
Sonar signal classification using the BCM learning algorithm

Previous work by the author has demonstrated the capability of the Bienenstock Cooper Munro (BCM) model (proposed in 1982) of neural synaptic modification to perform feature extraction, thus enhancing the performance of automated classifiers. Recent work has applied the BCM algorithm to sonar images of minelike objects, with the output of the BCM networks fed into a neural network classifier. This paper demonstrates the capability of this approach to classify, objects as minelike or non-minelike, and to further classify the minelike objects by type.
Geometry effect on CMOS transistor stability under DC gate stress

The authors show that transistor degradation is aggravated with an increase in channel length (L) and width (W) for negative gate bias stress, different from the W/L ratio dependence for positive stress reported previously. Nonuniform interface-state generation is believed to be the dominant degradation mechanism for negative stress, whereas negative trapped charge is the prevalent cause of instability for positive stress. This geometry effect needs to be considered when estimating CMOS transistor stability. >
The role of polymorphism in class evolution in the DEVS-Scheme environment

The DEVS-Scheme environment is a realization of the DEVS (discrete event system specification) formalism in a Lisp-based object-oriented environment which supports specification of discrete event models in a hierarchical, modular fashion. The author describes how polymorphism can be exploited in the development of model classes within the DEVS-Scheme environment. The development of subclasses of the class 'coupled-models' in DEVS-Scheme, which are suited for simulation modeling for parallel computer systems, is described to show the role of polymorphism. >
Fast, fully Bayesian spatiotemporal inference for fMRI data

We propose a spatial Bayesian variable selection method for detecting blood oxygenation level dependent activation in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Typical fMRI experiments generate large datasets that exhibit complex spatial and temporal dependence. Fitting a full statistical model to such data can be so computationally burdensome that many practitioners resort to fitting oversimplified models, which can lead to lower quality inference. We develop a full statistical model that permits efficient computation. Our approach eases the computational burden in two ways. We partition the brain into 3D parcels, and fit our model to the parcels in parallel. Voxel-level activation within each parcel is modeled as regressions located on a lattice. Regressors represent the magnitude of change in blood oxygenation in response to a stimulus, while a latent indicator for each regressor represents whether the change is zero or non-zero. A sparse spatial generalized linear mixed model captures the spatial dependence among indicator variables within a parcel and for a given stimulus. The sparse SGLMM permits considerably more efficient computation than does the spatial model typically employed in fMRI. Through simulation we show that our parcellation scheme performs well in various realistic scenarios. Importantly, indicator variables on the boundary between parcels do not exhibit edge effects. We conclude by applying our methodology to data from a task-based fMRI experiment.
Comics and the Critique of Chronophotography, or ‘He Never Knew When It Was Coming!’:

In the wake of Muybridge's and Marey's experiments in recording movement, comics quickly began to emphasize the depiction of continuous movement. Chronophotography mapped the kinetic body onto the regulated spaces of industrial culture: it was a means of revealing the body and a tool for its containment and control. Comics by Wilhelm Busch, Steinlen, Winsor McCay and others, however, mimic the fixed viewpoints and measured progress of chronophotography, but caricature the instrumental reason that supplied its motivation. Each episode of Winsor McCay's Little Sammy Sneeze, for example, offered systematic and meticulous time–motion breakdowns of everyday activities, but the rhythm of efficient motion is subverted by the mighty sneeze that turns all to chaos. With an emphasis on the pioneering comics and animation work of McCay, this article explores the peculiar, parodic counter-logics that mark an oasis of disorder in a time of insistent regulation.
Synthesis and characterization of polyaryloxyphosphazenes

The synthesis, dilute solution characterization, and thermal analysis of seven polyaryloxyphosphazenes are described. Synthesis is accomplished by the ring-opening polymerization of hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene at 245°C, followed by reaction of polydichlorophosphazene with sodium aryloxide salts in solution at 115°C. Polymers prepared and characterized have the general structure [(ArO)2PN]n, with Ar = C6H5, m- and p-CH3C6H4, m- and p-ClC6H4, p-C2H5C6H4, or p-CH3OC6H4. Elemental and infrared analyses show these polymers are essentially free of reactive chlorine sites. All the polymers displayed high intrinsic viscosities [η] > 1 dl/g, in tetrahydrofuran or chloroform. Closer examination of the dilute solution properties of two polyaryloxyphosphazenes revealed high molecular weights (Mw> 6 × 105) and broad molecular weight distributions (Mw/Mn > 4.7). The experimental values for the Z-average radii of gyration, 〈S2〉z1/2, characterized at near theta conditions, are larger than the calculated values for a freely rotating chain, which suggests that these polymers are relatively linear and not highly branched. Thermal analysis revealed second-order glass transitions between −37 and +13°C and first-order endothermic transitions between 43 and 160°C for the different polymers. Although crystalline structure can persist above this first-order transition, this temperature can be regarded as a melting temperature or softening temperature at which films can be molded. Decomposition temperatures, measured in argon and oxygen, ranged from 250°C to 400°C.
Serotype Sensitivity of a Lateral Flow Immunoassay for Cryptococcal Antigen

To meet the needs of a global community, an immunoassay for cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) must have high sensitivity for CrAg of all major serotypes. A new immunoassay for CrAg in lateral flow format was evaluated and found to have a high sensitivity for detection of serotypes A, B, C, and D.
NH2-Terminal Amino Acids of Component-6 of the Blood Sera of Diethylstilbestrol-Treated Cockerels

Abstract THE blood sera of diethylstilbestrol-treated cockerels contains two electrophoretic components that are high in phosphorus and lipid (Clegg and Hein, 1953). These components have been designated as Component-1 (pre-albumin) and Component-6. Component-6 has been prepared by means of a preparative ultracentrifuge and has been shown, by means of electrophoresis and the analytical ultracentrifuge (Misra, 1959), to be essentially homogeneous. The importance of lipo-proteins in lipid transport has created considerable interest in their structure, and much speculation regarding how the lipid portion is attached to the protein moiety. Three phosphoamino acids have been isolated from biological materials (Perlmann, 1955), and it has been theorized that the protein and the lipid portions were stabilized by means of —O—P— and —N—P— bonds. In this investigation, the NH2-terminal amino acids of Component-6 were determined before and after delipidization, to determine if the NH2-terminal amino acids may serve as a link between the …
Synthetic aperture single-exposure on-axis digital holography

We present a system for reconstructing single-exposure on-line (SEOL) digital holograms with improved resolution using a synthetic aperture. Several recordings are made in order to compose the synthetic aperture, shifting the camera within the hologram plane. After processing the synthetic hologram, an inverse Fresnel transformation provides an enhanced resolution reconstruction. We show that recognition capacity for high frequency details is increased. Experimental results with a test target and with a microscopic biological sample are presented. Both visualization and correlation results are reported.
A SiGe bipolar-MOSFET cascode power amplifier with improved linearity for low-power broadband wireless applications

In this paper, a novel bipolar-MOSFET (BiFET) cascode differential power amplifier (PA) is proposed and fabricated, showing strong improvement on the linearity performances over those of the conventional bipolar-bipolar cascode PA. The two-stage differential BiFET cascode PA achieves Pout of 25.7 dBm with 52.1 % power-added-efficiency (PAE) in the continuous wave (CW) measurement at 900 MHz. A conventional bipolar-bipolar cascode PA is designed in a similar configuration to compare with the BiFET cascode PA performances, using the LTE 16QAM 5/20 MHz signals as inputs. The measurement results show that the BiFET cascode PA significantly improves the linearity performances over those of the conventional bipolar-bipolar cascode PA in terms of error vector magnitude (EVM), adjacent channel leakage ratio (ACLR) and the transmission output spectra. These linearity improvements are more visible at lower Pout levels, and become particularly striking as the signal bandwidth increases to 20 MHz. The SiGe PAs are designed and fabricated in a 0.35-μm SiGe BiCMOS technology with through-wafer-vias (TWVs) for low-power broadband wireless applications.
Status and reproductive potential of lion-tailed macaques in captivity

Publication of a studbook for Macaca silenus in 1983 provides detailed demographic information on the captive North American population. These data indicate that females reach sexual maturity at about 4 years of age, whereas onset of reproduction for males occurs at age 5. One-third of all sexually mature females and 57% of sexually mature males have not produced offspring. Maximum fertility of males and females is reached at 6 and 7 years, respectively, but in later life males show less effect of age on reproduction than females. The interval between births for lactating females averages just over 17 months. Lion-tails show no evidence of birth seasonality. Physiological studies in the San Diego Zoo colony revealed that the menstrual cycle is 31 days in length, and is characterized by a peak in estrogen excretion at midcycle, just prior to ovulation. Behavioral studies indicate that males require multiple mounts to achieve ejaculation. Copulation is nearly exclusively a phenomenon of the follicular phase of the cycle.
Viral infection potentiates the increase in airway blood flow produced by substance P

We examined the effect of respiratory tract infection with Sendai virus on the responsiveness of airway blood flow to substance P (SP) in rats. Pathogen-free rats were inoculated with either Sendai virus suspension or sterile viral growth medium into each nostril. Five days later, we measured airway and esophageal blood flows before and immediately after injection of SP or histamine into the left ventricle of rats in both groups using a modification of the reference-sample microsphere technique. Viral infection potentiated the increase in airway blood flow evoked by SP but not by histamine. We also examined the effect of neutral endopeptidase (NEP) and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) on the SP-induced increase in airway blood flow. Both phosphoramidon (NEP inhibitor) and captopril (ACE inhibitor) potentiated the increase in airway blood flow produced by SP in pathogen-free rats. In the presence of both peptidase inhibitors, a submaximal dose of SP increased blood flow to a similar level in infected and pathogen-free rats. Thus decreased activity of both ACE and NEP may be involved in the exaggerated increase in airway blood flow evoked by SP in virus-infected rats.
Acceptance of the 1965 Mineralogical Society of America Award

When the time came to ask someone to introduce me, I was sorry to learn that Dr. O. F. Tuttle could not oblige, because he was the obvious choice, but I was pleased when Dr. R. H. Jahns came to my rescue. I know that my new colleagues in Chicago (with three MSA Awards in the department now) do not mind me describing this as a Penn State Award, and I am sure that Dr. Jahns' new colleagues at Stanford do not mind me reclaiming him for Penn State on this occasion. When I learned at the last GSA meeting that I had been erected as the 1965 recipient of the MSA Award I was overcome with the shock of surprise and pleasure. The shock has abated, but I still cannot express my feelings adequately I can only assure the nominating committee and the council that this honor is greatly appreciated-very greatly appreciated. Then, like the previous recipients, I take pleasure in thanking my teachers and associates, and in telling you a little about them.
Offender Perceptions of Mandated Substance Abuse Treatment An Exploratory Analysis of Offender Experiences in a Community-Based Treatment Program

Offenders with a substance abuse diagnosis are often ordered to participate in treatment. However, little is known about how offenders perceive this mandate or how the criminal justice system shoul...
‘Your focus on race is narrow and exclusive:’ the derailment of anti-racist work through discourses of intersectionality and diversity

AbstractIn this article, we argue that discourses of “diversity” and “intersectionality” can undermine efforts to address racism, protect white privilege, and marginalize people of color. To illustrate how, we present an ethnographic account of student, staff, and faculty efforts to infuse campus culture at a small liberal arts college with an anti-racist pedagogy in response to a string of racist events on campus. Despite intentions, some community members put forward intersectional arguments and calls for “diversity” in ways that re-centered whiteness and situated discussions about race as exclusionary dialogues that victimized white subjects. These discourses also subsumed the experience of racism into a generalized and ostensibly universal experience of marginalization. We argue that this reflects the growing dominance of understanding racism as something that white subjects experience as much as people of color, which has emerged alongside a discourse of “diversity” that compels a focus on individual...
Minimally invasive laser-induced thermal therapy (LITT) for head and neck cancer: A comprehensive review

5572 Background: Laser induced thermal therapy (LITT) has been developed in a step-wise fashion at UCLA as a minimally invasive treatment for head and neck cancer. Initial Phase-I studies demonstra...
Implementation of a quality improvement project on smoking cessation reduces smoking in a high risk trauma patient population.

Cigarette smoking causes about one of every five deaths in the U.S. each year. In 2013 the prevalence of smoking in our institution’s trauma population was 26.7 %, well above the national adult average of 18.1 % according to the CDC website. As a quality improvement project we implemented a multimodality smoking cessation program in a high-risk trauma population. All smokers with independent mental capacity admitted to our level I trauma center from 6/1/2014 until 3/31/2015 were counseled by a physician on the benefits of smoking cessation. Those who wished to quit smoking were given further counseling by a pulmonary rehabilitation nurse and offered nicotine replacement therapy (e.g. nicotine patch). A planned 30 day or later follow-up was performed to ascertain the primary endpoint of the total number of patients who quit smoking, with a secondary endpoint of reduction in the frequency of smoking, defined as at least a half pack per day reduction from their pre-intervention state. During the 9 month study period, 1066 trauma patients were admitted with 241 (22.6 %) identified as smokers. A total of 31 patients with a mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) of 14.2 (range 1–38), mean age of 47.6 (21–71) and mean years of smoking of 27.1 (2–55), wished to stop smoking. Seven of the 31 patients, (22.5 %, 95 % confidence interval [CI] of 10–41 %) achieved self-reported smoking cessation at or beyond 30 days post discharge. An additional eight patients (25.8 %, 95 % CI 12–45 %) reported significant reduction in smoking. Trauma patients represent a high risk smoking population. The implementation of a smoking cessation program led to a smoking cessation rate of 22.5 % and smoking reduction in 25.8 % of all identified smokers who participated in the program. This is a relatively simple, inexpensive intervention with potentially far reaching and beneficial long-term health implications. A larger, multi-center prospective study appears warranted. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic Study, Level V evidence.
The Analysis on Leaking in the Copper Tube of B-oil Cooler at A-little Engine of the 300MW Steam Turbine

A large area leakage of oil cooler copper tube happened after a short-time operation in some power plant,which gave a bad effect on the safety an economic operation of power plant.In the paper a conclusion was got after chemical analysis,macro-inspection,penetrant testing and metallographic analysis.The leakage of oil cooler copper tube was caused by stress corrosion.It had a close relation to the tension and working stressa,mic and chloride in the medium and wrong application of material.The reason why the leakage was caused by stress corrosion but not dezincification was analysed.
Identification of agents effective against multiple toxins and viruses by host-oriented cell targeting

A longstanding and still-increasing threat to the effective treatment of infectious diseases is resistance to antimicrobial countermeasures. Potentially, the targeting of host proteins and pathways essential for the detrimental effects of pathogens offers an approach that may discover broad-spectrum anti-pathogen countermeasures and circumvent the effects of pathogen mutations leading to resistance. Here we report implementation of a strategy for discovering broad-spectrum host-oriented therapies against multiple pathogenic agents by multiplex screening of drugs for protection against the detrimental effects of multiple pathogens, identification of host cell pathways inhibited by the drug, and screening for effects of the agent on other pathogens exploiting the same pathway. We show that a clinically used antimalarial drug, Amodiaquine, discovered by this strategy, protects host cells against infection by multiple toxins and viruses by inhibiting host cathepsin B. Our results reveal the practicality of discovering broadly acting anti-pathogen countermeasures that target host proteins exploited by pathogens.
Sepiolite in the Amboseli Basin of Kenya: A New Interpretation

Abstract The Sinya Beds of Kenya (lower? Pleistocene) are spring-related deposits of the Amboseli Lake Basin. They contain both bedded waxy sepiolite and meerschaum, a massive lightweight porous sepiolite. The meerschaum deposits are largely restricted to the crestal area of the Sinya Dome, which is about 760 × 215 m in areal extent. Here the Sinya Beds consist of 1.5 - 5 m of dolomitic caliche breccia, mostly in the form of dome- and mound- shaped masses, overlain by 1-3 m of intensely folded and fractured waxy bedded sepiolite. Meerschaum occurs as irregular pockets and small veins, most of which are in the caliche breccias. The meerschaum-bearing part of the Sinya Beds originated as follows. First, sepiolite and carbonate were precipitated along the southeast margin of the lake basin, which was fed by springs from Kilimanjaro. This sepiolite is of the bedded, waxy variety. Slight uplift of the Sinya Dome raised the crestal deposits above the water table. The caliche breccias were formed within the sepiolitic clays by evaporation of ground water in the vadose zone. Precipitation of carbonate was localized over permeable zones (fractures?), resulting in caliche-breccia mounds and domes, the growth of which folded and fractured the overlying clays. Meerschaum was precipitated from ground water in the caliche breccias and overlying clays, very likely following a rise in the water table.
The return on social bonds Social hierarchy and international conflict

This article takes a game-theoretic and latent variable approach to modeling the effect of international social hierarchies on conflict among states. I start with the premise that international states are social actors and are nested within informal social networks of friendly and conflictual relationships. Rather than lateral relationships among equals, networks among states tend to have a vertical or hierarchical structure. Although international hierarchical relationships may arise as a result of material power asymmetries, this article focuses on non-material asymmetries that stem from political legitimacy or policy innovation – a subject that has received less attention in scholarly research. I argue that, within these hierarchies, states adopt one of two roles – a dominant or a subordinate. Each resulting (dyadic) dominant–subordinate relationship is a social contract, in which the subordinate concedes some autonomy in exchange for the dominant’s protection. This social hierarchy affects the relatio...
Hyperalgesic actions of cytokines on peripheral nerves

The relationship between nerve injury and pain is pervasive in medicine, being both a simple, common experience and an important diagnostic tool. Acute trauma to a nerve is almost always painful and has been experienced by many people in association with sports and workplace activities. In these cases, injuries occur usually because of nerve stretching or compression, damaging sensory axons that will then degenerate and regenerate. If the nerve is not transected and the Schwann cell basal lamina of the nerve fiber is left intact, the prognosis for recovery is good since regenerating axons are appropriately guided to the original target tissue. If neuropathic pain states do not develop, acute pain will normally resolve during the period of axonal regeneration, which begins within about a week after nerve injury and the start of nerve fiber degeneration. Misguided regeneration that produces a neuroma in continuity or, more often, a neuroma at the severed end of the nerve bundle, can be persistently painful because of the sensitivity of the undifferentiated free nerve endings to mechanical pressure and chemical stimuli. Another example is the sub-chronic low back pain syndrome caused by nerve root compression and chemical irritation secondary to herniated spinal discs. This and other forms of subchronic nerve injury caused by repeated physical or chemical irritation become more problematic in terms of predicting the duration of pain. In these cases, there is often ongoing and intermixed degeneration and regeneration that not only produces acute pain but can also lead to facilitated central processing of peripheral nociceptive signals and chronic pain states. Chronic nerve injuries can be more painful still, but may also be so severe or widespread that nociceptive axons and first-order sensory neurons in the dorsal root ganglia are permanently damaged so that peripheral stimuli are not meaningfully transduced. Severe diabetic neuropathy fits this description if it progresses through states of paresthesia, hyperalgesia, hypoalgesia, and anesthesia. Other causes of complete nerve injury such as iatrogenic transection of peripheral nerves during limb amputation may lead to deafferentation syndromes in which phantom pain is prevalent, although some models of deafferentation imply that phantom pain may be associated with regeneration [1].
"I was close to death!": abortion and medical risk on American television, 2005-2016.

Abstract Objectives To examine the portrayal of complications and long-term health consequences associated with abortion on television, recognizing the impact that fictional stories can have on public beliefs about abortion's safety. Study design Using a systematic online search, we identified all instances of abortion on US television from 2005 to 2016. We qualitatively coded these plotlines to identify any occurrences of complications, interventions or long-term health consequences associated with abortion care, with 95% intercoder reliability. We calculated the frequencies and rates of these occurrences in Microsoft Excel. Results Our search identified 80 abortion plot lines. A percentage of 37.5 of characters who obtained an abortion experienced complications, interventions and/or negative health consequences. This rate contrasts with the 2.1% of real patients who experience complications or require intervention as a result of their abortions. Most onscreen complications were major events (e.g., hemorrhage), as opposed to real women, whose complications are mostly minor. Major medical interventions (e.g., hysterectomy) were similarly overportrayed, while the most commonly used interventions for real patients (e.g., medication) were not depicted at all. Finally, 22.5% of characters faced a long-term adverse health consequence, including mental illness, infertility or death. The onscreen abortion mortality rate was 5%, about 7000 times the actual mortality rate. Conclusions Overall, television dramatically exaggerates the risk associated with abortion procedures, overportraying medical complications — particularly major and life-threatening complications — and long-term adverse health consequences. This pattern of misrepresentation may be partially attributable to the occurrence of stories about illegal abortions or abortions taking place outside of modern medical contexts. Implications Onscreen abortion portrayals may contribute to inaccurate beliefs about abortion's risk that are common among the public, broadly, and abortion patients, specifically. Abortion advocates and providers will be more equipped to respond misinformation if they understand how and to what extent our popular culture portrays abortion as unsafe.
Susceptibility of Goethite to Fe2+-Catalyzed Recrystallization over Time.

Recent work has shown that iron oxides, such as goethite and hematite, may recrystallize in the presence of aqueous Fe2+ under anoxic conditions. This process, referred to as Fe2+-catalyzed recrystallization, can influence water quality by causing the incorporation/release of environmental contaminants and biological nutrients. Accounting for the effects of Fe2+-catalyzed recrystallization on water quality requires knowing the time frame over which recrystallization occurs. Here, we tested the hypothesis that nanoparticulate goethite becomes less susceptible to Fe2+-catalyzed recrystallization over time. We set up two batches of reactors in which55Fe2+ tracer was added at two different time points, and tracked the 55Fe partitioning in the aqueous and solid phases over 60 days. Less 55Fe uptake occurred between days 30 and 60 than between days 0 and 30, suggesting goethite recrystallization slowed with time. Fitting the data with a box model indicated that 15% of the goethite recrystallized after 30 days o...
Value of Mammography

Clinical examination with inspection and palpation for detection of breast cancer has been found increasingly inadequate in recent years. It is becoming evident that breast cancer is present for a substantial period of time in a non-palpable stage. It is also apparent that detection and treatment of the disease in this occult stage leads to increased survival and improved cure rate. Mammography is the only practical means available today to detect and localize the lesion before it can be felt. Mammography is of great value under the following conditions: a. In the presence of a questionable mass on palpation, mammography can help clarify the issue. b. When a palpable lesion is present which appears benign but requires surgery, another lesion which is not palpable may be present in the same breast and be detectable only on mammography. The latter lesion may be a cancer. c. The breast opposite to the one with a palpable lesion may harbor a non-palpable cancer. d. The greatest value of mammography may lie in screening for breast cancer. In all studies to date, up to 45% of cancers are negative to palpation and detected on mammography alone. These are in a particularly early stage with a high degree of curability. The radiation dose used has been reduced by use of film-screen combinations to under 5% of 1 rad to the mid breast, at the same time that quality has been greatly improved. Such minute doses are considered negligible in light of the great potential benefit. Mammography is widely accepted as a valuable modality in the detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. It is becoming increasingly apparent that breast cancer may exist for a substantial period of time before it becomes clinically obvious by palpation. During this time, it may be detectable by mammography. Such detection may be possible when the immunocompetence of the host is intact and when removal of the growth results in a high rate of curability.