cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cosmogenic radionuclides from fiord landscapes support differential erosion by overriding ice sheets

The interpretation of differentially weathered mountainous areas along the fringes of Pleistocene ice sheets is fundamental for determining ice-sheet behavior and thickness during the last glaciation. Two existing interpretations are either that highly weathered uplands remained as nunataks while freshly eroded troughs held outlet glaciers during the last glaciation or that uplands and lowlands were equally covered by ice, but that it was differentially erosive as a function of its spatially variable basal thermal regime. Cosmogenic radionuclide measurements from 33 bedrock samples and 27 upland erratics from differentially weathered fi ord landscapes on northeastern Baffi n Island shed light on Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) dynamics and thickness. Tors on weathered upland surfaces have minimum 10 Be ages between ca. 50 and ca. 170 ka (n = 12), whereas the majority of erratics perched in the uplands range from ca. 10 to ca. 13 ka (n = 14), indicating that the whole landscape was glaciated during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Glacially sculpted bedrock (n = 7) near sea level refl ects the age of deglaciation, and increasing amounts of isotopic inheritance in highelevation sculpted bedrock (n = 3), higher elevation intermediately weathered bedrock (n = 11), and highest elevation intensely weathered bedrock refl ect the weakening of erosive power as the ice sheet transitioned from fi ords to interfi ord plateaus. Cold-based glaciation of uplands was contemporaneous with warm-based glaciation in fi ords, suggesting the presence of ice streams. 26 Al and 10 Be concentrations measured in 10 bedrock samples indicate that tors have experienced a complex history of alternating periods of exposure, burial, and limited glacial erosion. The paired isotope data reveal a minimum duration of burial of 80‐500 k.y., presumably by cold-based ice, and indicate that the tors have an age of at least 150‐580 ka. These data, together with other reconstructions of ice streams in the eastern Canadian Arctic, suggest that ice streams were a large infl uence on northeastern LIS dynamics throughout the late Quaternary. Thus, the northeastern LIS was sensitively tied with North Atlantic thermohaline circulation and abrupt climate change.
A comparison of two cellular delivery mechanisms for small interfering RNA

Cellular delivery of small interfering RNAs to target cells of a tissue has the potential to travel by two intercellular pathways. For intimately apposed cells gap junctions allow transport exclusive of the extracellular space. For cells not in intimate contact, exocytotic release of vesicular contents and subsequent retrieval via endocytosis of exosomes and other vesicular contents represent an alternative intercellular delivery system that utilizes the extracellular space. Previous studies have shown siRNA/miRNA transfer from a delivery cell to a target cell via gap junction channels. We hypothesized that siRNA can be delivered via gap junctions and downregulate the expression of a reporter gene, the cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel gene (mHCN2), in the recipient cells of cell pairs. Whole-cell patch clamp was used to measure the mHCN2-induced current and junctional conductance. The target cells were HEK293 cells that endogenously express Cx43 or HeLaCx43 cells, both transfected with mHCN2. The source cells were HEK293 or HeLaCx43 cells transfected with fluorescent-labeled siRNA targeting mHCN2. We found that siRNA targeting mHCN2 resulted in significant downregulation of mHCN2 currents both in single cells and the recipient cell of a cell pair. In addition we also documented downregulation in target cells that were not in contact with source cells suggesting an extracellular-mediated delivery. To test further for extracellular delivery HEK293/HCN2 or HeLaCx43/HCN2 cells were cultured in medium collected from HEK293 or HeLaCx43 cells transfected with fluorescent-labeled siRNA or fluorescent-labeled morpholino designed to target HCN2. After 24 h single HEK293/HCN2 or HeLaCx43cells showed accumulation of siRNA. The mHCN2 currents were also down regulated in cells with siRNA uptake. Application of 200 nmol/L Bafilomycin A1, which has been shown to affect endosome acidification and endocytotic activity, resulted in a smaller accumulation of fluorescent-labeled siRNA in single target cells. In distinction to siRNA, morpholinos targeting HCN2 exhibited greatly reduced extracellularly mediated transfer while in cell pairs, target cells exhibited reduced HCN2 currents consistent with effective gap junction-mediated delivery.
Defining and Researching Leadership as a Behavioral Construct: An Idiographic Approach:

The authors first discuss the problem of defining leadership, suggesting three minimal criteria: (1) demonstrated personal causation, (2) observed relationships between behavior and its effects, and (3) substantive performance outcomes. The authors then stress the importance of considering environmental influences on the leadership process and suggest an idiographic approach to researching leadership under such theoretic assumptions for leadership. The rest of the article presents a demonstration study for this approach. After first obtaining qualitative data concerning the problem and the context, the authors use a single-case experimental design to analyze quantitatively the impact that a production manager had on the performance of his unit. The authors feel that this article therefore represents a significant departure from the traditional ways in which leadership has been defined and researched.
Can feature design reduce the gender gap in end-user software development environments?

Recent research has begun to report that female end-user programmers are often more reluctant than males to employ features that are useful for testing and debugging. These earlier findings suggest that, unless such features can be changed in some appropriate way, there are likely to be important gender differences in end-user programmerspsila benefits from these features. In this paper, we compare end-user programmerspsila feature usage in an environment that supports end-user debugging, against an extension of the same environment with two features designed to help ameliorate the effects of low self-efficacy. Our results show ways in which these features affect female versus male enduser programmerspsila self-efficacy, attitudes, usage of testing and debugging features, and performance.
What Tasks can be Performed with an Uncalibrated Stereo Vision System

This article studies the following question: “When is it possible to decide, on the basis of images of point-features observed by an imprecisely modeled two-camera stereo vision system, whether or not a prescribed robot positioning task has been precisely accomplished?” Results are shown for three camera model classes: injective cameras, weakly calibrated projective cameras, and uncalibrated projective cameras. In particular, given a weakly calibrated stereo pair, it is shown that a positioning task can be precisely accomplished if and only if the task specification is invariant to projective transformations. It is shown that injective and uncalibrated projective cameras can accomplish fewer tasks, but are still able to accomplish tasks involving point coincidences. The same formal framework is applied to the problem of determining the set of tasks which can be precisely accomplished with the well-known position-based control architecture. It is shown that, for any class of camera models, the set of tasks which can be precisely accomplished using a position-based control architecture is a subset of the complete set of tasks which can be decided on the set, but includes all positioning tasks based on point coincidences. Two ways of extending the idea of position-based control to accomplish more tasks are also presented.
High throughput micropatterning of optical oxygen sensor

In this paper, we present our results from process development and characterization of optical oxygen sensors that are patterned by traditional UV lithography. An oxygen sensitive luminescent probe, platinum octaethylporphyrin (PtOEP), was encapsulated in commercially purchased photoresist (AZ5214) to form uniform thin sensor films on fused silica substrates. Plasticizer ethoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylate (SR454) was added to the dye-photoresist sensor mixtures to improve the oxygen sensitivity. The optimum sensor mixture composition that can be patterned with maximum sensitivity was identified. The microfabrication process conditions, cell adherence and oxygen sensitivity results from patterned structures were characterized in detail. Down to 3 µm features have been fabricated on fused silica substrates using the developed techniques. The result implies the developed methods can provide a feasible way to miniaturize the optical sensor system for single cell analysis with precise control of sensor volume and response
Development of kinetic models for methionine degradation in fortified soybean model systems.

Successful methionine fortification of soy protein may enhance its nutritional value. Methionine, however, is highly sensitive to processing conditions, hence the need for kinetic studies to optimize its retention. Kinetic models describing the effect of major compositional and processing parameters, such as moisture, protein and initial methionine content as well as temperature were developed in this investigation. Methionine degradation in these soy protein-containing systems appeared to follow a pseudo-first order reaction. Mathematical models clearly showed that all the parameters studied had a significant effect on the rate of methionine degradation. Statistical analysis of the kinetic data indicated that empirical equations can accurately describe methionine degradation as a function of the aforementioned parameters.
Analysis of the Skin Transcriptome in Two Oujiang Color Varieties of Common Carp

BACKGROUND Body color and coloration patterns are important phenotypic traits to maintain survival and reproduction activities. The Oujiang color varieties of common carp (Cyprinus carpio var. color), with a narrow distribution in Zhejiang Province of China and a history of aquaculture for over 1,200 years, consistently exhibit a variety of body color patterns. The molecular mechanism underlying diverse color patterns in these variants is unknown. To the practical end, it is essential to develop molecular markers that can distinguish different phenotypes and assist selective breeding. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS In this exploratory study, we conducted Roche 454 transcriptome sequencing of two pooled skin tissue samples of Oujiang common carp, which correspond to distinct color patterns, red with big black spots (RB) and whole white (WW), and a total of 737,525 sequence reads were generated. The reads obtained in this study were co-assembled jointly with common carp Roche 454 sequencing reads downloaded from NCBI SRA database, resulting in 43,923 isotigs and 546,676 singletons. Over 31 thousand (31,445; 71.6%) isotigs were found with significant BLAST matches (E<1e-10) to the nr protein database, which corresponds to 12,597 annotated zebrafish genes. A total of 70,947 isotigs and singletons (transcripts) were annotated with Gene Ontology, and 60,221 transcripts were found with corresponding EC numbers. Out of 145 zebrafish pigmentation genes, orthologs for 117 were recovered in Oujiang color carp transcriptome, including 18 found only among singletons. Our transcriptome analysis revealed over 52,902 SNPs in Oujiang common carp, and identified 63 SNP markers that are putatively unique either for RB or WW. CONCLUSIONS The transcriptome of Oujiang color varieties of common carp obtained through this study, along with the pigmentation genes recovered and the color pattern-specific molecular markers developed, will facilitate future research on the molecular mechanism of color patterns and promote aquaculture of Oujiang color varieties of common carp through molecular marker assisted-selective breeding.
An Optimal Wide-Sense Nonblocking Distributor

Distributors, also known as multicast switching networks, support one-to-many communications. Known wide-sense nonblocking distributors are either having high costs or not efficiently routable. We present a wide-sense nonblocking distributor of O(N\log N) cost, O(\log N) diameter, O(N\log N) control cost, and O(\log N) routing time. This is the first wide-sense nonblocking distributor that is optimal in all four aspects.
The Clinician Interview‐ Based Impression (CIBI) A clinician's global change rating scale in Alzheimer's disease

Global assessments are Food and Drug Administration-required primary outcome measures in trials of putative antidementia drugs. Global ratings are intended to provide an index of clinical importance of change that cannot be obtained from quantitative assessment measures such as mental status examinations. We examined the performance of a global assessment of change instrument, the Clinician Interview-Based Impression (CIBI), in the placebo group of a 30-week, randomized, double-blind clinical trial of tacrine in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Initially there were 184 placebo patients, of whom 125 completed the 30-week study. Descriptive statistics, correlations with changes on other assessment instruments, and test-retest reliability were determined for the CIBI. At week 30, clinicians rated more than 40% of patients on the CIBI as unchanged. The CIBI ratings were weakly but significantly correlated, in the expected direction, with change scores on the quantitative cognitive assessments. The CIBI was modestly reliable on test-retest at weeks 22 and 24 but less reliable compared with other quantitative outcome measures. Modifications of the CIBI that might improve its reliability and acceptance include (1) no restrictions on the form of the bedside mental status assessment, (2) inclusion of caregiver input, and (3) better definition of ratings on the global scale. Global instruments, if properly constructed, can provide an index of clinically important change for the assessment of dementia patients.
Hepatitis C core and nonstructural 3 proteins trigger toll-like receptor 2-mediated pathways and inflammatory activation

Background & Aims: Recent evidence suggests that toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognize certain viruses. We reported that hepatitis C virus (HCV) core and nonstructural 3 (NS3) proteins activate inflammatory pathways in monocytes. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of TLRs in innate immune cell activation by core and NS3 proteins. Methods: Human monocytes, human embryonic kidney cells transfected with TLR2, and peritoneal macrophages from TLR2, MyD88 knockout, and wild-type mice were studied to determine intracellular signaling and proinflammatory cytokine induction by HCV proteins. Results: HCV core and NS3 proteins triggered inflammatory cell activation via the pattern recognition receptor TLR2 and failed to activate macrophages from TLR2 or MyD88-deficient mice. HCV core and NS3 induced interleukin (IL)-1 receptor-associated kinase (IRAK) activity, phosphorylation of p38, extracellular regulated (ERK), and c-jun N-terminal (JNK) kinases and induced AP-1 activation. Activation of nuclear factor-κB by core and NS3 was associated with increased IκBα phosphorylation. TLR2-mediated cell activation was dependent on the conformation of core and NS3 proteins and required sequences in the regions of aa 2–122 in core and aa 1450–1643 in NS3. Although cellular uptake of core and NS3 proteins was independent of TLR2 expression, cell activation required TLR2. HCV core protein and TLR2 showed intracellular colocalization. The hyper-elevated TNF-α induction by TLR2 ligands in monocytes of HCV-infected patients was not due to increased TLR2 expression. Conclusions: HCV core and NS3 proteins trigger inflammatory pathways via TLR2 that may affect viral recognition and contribute to activation of the innate immune system.
"Sex isn't something you do with someone you don't care about": young women's definitions of sex.

Abstract Study Objective How young women define sexual intercourse has implications for their sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk. This study investigated young women’s (1) definitions of sex, (2) understanding of a unique sex event, and (3) definitions of when a sex event begins and ends. Design Using semi-structured interviews, young women were asked to define sex, define when a sex event began and ended, and were asked whether they thought their partners would agree. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis. Setting Participants were recruited from an urban adolescent health clinic in the Northeastern United States. Participants Twenty-four heterosexual, sexually active young women contributed data for analysis. Interventions None. Results Young women’s definitions of sex varied. Some included anal and oral sex while others did not. Time between sex events, new condom use, and new erection were used to define unique sex events. Some believed sex began with foreplay. Others believed sex began when the penis entered the vagina. Some believed sex ended when the penis was withdrawn from the vagina. Others believed sex ended with orgasm for one or both partners. Young women talked about the influence of relationship type on their definitions of sex. Conclusions Variations in young women’s definitions of sex may influence their responses to clinical questions about sexual activity and their understanding of their STI risk. As such, our findings have important implications for clinical counseling regarding sexual behavior and correct condom use and for researchers investigating young women’s sexual behavior.
The mirror system, imitation, and the evolution of language

A dance class in Santa Fe, Sept. 25, 1999: The percussion is insistent. Dancers move in rows from the back of the hall towards the drummers at the front. From time to time, the mistress of the dance breaks the flow, and twice repeats a sequence of energetic dance moves. The dancers then move forward again, repeating her moves, more or less. Some do it well, others not so well. Imitation involves, in part, seeing the instructor's dance as set of familiar movements of shoulders, arms, hands, belly and legs. Many constituents are variants of familiar actions, rather than familiar actions themselves. Thus one must not only observe actions and their composition, but also novelties in the constituents and their variations. One must also perceive the overlapping and sequencing of all these moves and then remember the “coordinated control program” so constructed Probably, memory and perception are intertwined. As the dancers perform they both act out the recalled coordinated control program and tune it. By observing other dancers and synchronizing with their neighbors and the insistent percussion of the drummers, they achieve a collective representation that tunes their own, possibly departing from the instructor's original. At the same time, some dancers seem more or less skilled – some will omit a movement, or simplify it, others may replace it with their imagined equivalent. (One example: the instructor alternates touching her breast and moving her arm outwards. Most dancers move their arms in and out with no particular target.) Other changes are matters of motor rather than perceptual or mnemonic skill – not everyone can lean back as far as the instructor without losing balance. These are the ingredients of imitation.
Contagion and coordination in random networks

We study the problem of spreading a particular behavior among agents located in a random social network. In each period of time, neighboring agents interact strategically playing a 2 × 2 coordination game. Assuming myopic best-response dynamics, we show that there exists a threshold for the degree of risk dominance of an action such that below that threshold, contagion of the action occurs. This threshold depends on the connectivity distribution of the network. Based on this, we show that the well-known scale-free networks do not always properly support this type of contagion, which is better accomplished by more intermediate variance networks.
Chronic Proliferative Arthritis of Mice Induced by Mycoplasma arthritidis II. Serological Responses of the Host and Effect of Vaccines

Complement-fixing antibodies were first detected in mice 7 days after intravenous injection with Mycoplasma arthritidis. Peak titers were observed at 21 days, and high levels of antibody persisted through 293 days. The metabolism-inhibiting antibody response was minimal. On fractionation of mouse sera, only 7S antibody was detected which first appeared at 12 days after injection and persisted throughout the experiment. In contrast, serum taken from rats injected with M. arthritidis contained predominantly 19S antibodies in the early stages of the disease which were gradually replaced with 7S antibodies. The intravenous injection of mice with M. arthritidis culture supernatant fluid had no effect upon their subsequent susceptibility to the arthritogenic effects of M. arthritidis, but this procedure appeared to delay the onset of abscess formation after the subcutaneous injection of M. arthritidis. Formalin-killed cells of M. arthritidis partially protected mice against the arthritis induced by M. arthritidis. Previous infections with M. arthritidis conferred partial immunity against the arthritogenic effects of the organism. Serum taken from convalescent mice at 41 days had a partial protective effect when used to immunize passively normal mice against M. arthritidis. However, rabbit anti-M. arthritidis serum which possessed higher complement-fixing and metabolism-inhibiting antibodies was without significant protective properties.
Inclination flattening and the geocentric axial dipole hypothesis

Abstract William Gilbert first articulated what has come to be known as the geocentric axial dipole hypothesis. The GAD hypothesis is the principle on which paleogeographic reconstructions rely to constrain paleolatitude. For decades, there have been calls for permanent non-dipole contributions to the time-averaged field. Recently, these have demanded large contributions of the axial octupole, which, if valid, would call into question the general utility of the GAD hypothesis. In the process of geological recording of the geomagnetic field, “Earth filters” distort the directions. Many processes, for example, sedimentary inclination flattening and random tilting, can lead to a net shallowing of the observed direction. Therefore, inclinations that are shallower than expected from GAD can be explained by recording biases, northward transport, or non-dipole geomagnetic fields. Using paleomagnetic data from the last 5 million years from well-constrained lava flow data allows the construction of a statistical geomagnetic field model. Such a model can predict not only the average expected direction for a given latitude, but also the shape of the distribution of directions produced by secular variation. The elongation of predicted directions varies as a function of latitude (from significantly elongate in the up/down direction at the equator to circularly symmetric at the poles). Sedimentary inclination flattening also works in a predictable manner producing elongations that are stretched side to side and the degree of flattening depending on the inclination of the applied field and a “flattening factor” f . The twin tools of the predicted elongation/inclination relationship characteristic of the geomagnetic field for the past 5 million years and the distortion of the directions predicted from sedimentary inclination flattening allows us to find the flattening factor that yields corrected directions with an elongation and average inclination consistent with the statistical field model. The method can be tested using sediments deposited in a known field. Application of the elongation/inclination correction method to two magnetostratigraphic data sets from red beds in Asia and Pakistan brings the inclinations into agreement with those predicted from modern GPS measurements and from global paleomagnetic data. There appears to be no compelling reason at this time to abandon the geocentric dipole hypothesis, which has provided such an excellent working model for so long.
A note on the use of temporal frequency distributions in studies of prehistoric demography

Temporal frequency distributions of archaeological sites and radiocarbon dates are commonly used as proxies for prehistoric population levels based on the assumption that more people create a stronger archaeological signal. While this assumption is certainly correct, we question whether relative frequencies of sites or dates observed from prehistoric contexts are necessarily linked to human demography. In this paper, we demonstrate that the typical positive curvilinear frequency distributions observed in archaeological contexts also regularly occur in paleontological and geological contexts and are thus likely caused by the operation of time-dependent destructive processes, what we call ‘‘taphonomic bias.’’ Using a simple model, which assumes a constant rate of site loss over time, we show how taphonomic bias can produce positive curvilinear frequency distributions through time even in cases of population stasis, decline, and fluctuation. We conclude that caution must be used when attempting to infer demographic trends from frequency distributions alone. 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Piceatannol Inhibits TNF-Induced NF-κB Activation and NF-κB-Mediated Gene Expression Through Suppression of IκBα Kinase and p65 Phosphorylation

Piceatannol is an anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and anti-proliferative stilbene that has been shown to interfere with the cytokine signaling pathway. Previously, we have shown that resveratrol suppresses the activation of the nuclear transcription factor NF-κB. Piceatannol, previously reported as a selective inhibitor of protein tyrosine kinase Syk, is structurally homologous to resveratrol. Whether piceatannol can also suppress NF-κB activation was investigated. The treatment of human myeloid cells with piceatannol suppressed TNF-induced DNA binding activity of NF-κB. In contrast, stilbene or rhaponticin (another analog of piceatannol) had no effect, suggesting the critical role of hydroxyl groups. The effect of piceatannol was not restricted to myeloid cells, as TNF-induced NF-κB activation was also suppressed in lymphocyte and epithelial cells. Piceatannol also inhibited NF-κB activated by H 2 O 2 , PMA, LPS, okadaic acid, and ceramide. Piceatannol abrogated the expression of TNF-induced NF-κB-dependent reporter gene and of matrix metalloprotease-9, cyclooxygenase-2, and cyclin D1. When examined for the mechanism, we found that piceatannol inhibited TNF-induced IκBα phosphorylation, p65 phosphorylation, p65 nuclear translocation, and IκBα kinase activation, but had no significant effect on IκBα degradation. Piceatannol inhibited NF-κB in cells with deleted Syk, indicating the lack of involvement of this kinase. Overall, our results clearly demonstrate that hydroxyl groups of stilbenes are critical and that piceatannol, a tetrahydroxystilbene, suppresses NF-κB activation induced by various inflammatory agents through inhibition of IκBα kinase and p65 phosphorylation.
Genetic analysis of isozyme variants in diploid and tetraploid potatoes.

Genetic segregations for six enzyme-coding genes were studied in diploid and tetraploid progenies obtained from various Solanum species. The loci identified are Prx-2, Prx-3, Prx-5, Mdh-1, Pgi-1 and Sdh-1. Prx-2 and Prx-3 were found to be linked; alleles at these loci segregated concomitantly in most of the diploid progenies. The putative homologous loci in tomato, Prx-2 and Prx-3, have also been reported to be linked, suggesting that this linkage block has been conserved since the divergence of Solanum and Lycopersicon. Several interspecific crosses between the species S. phureja and S. tuberosum, S. phureja and S. chacoense, and S. tuberosum and S. chacoense, yielded segregations for Prx-2 that deviated from expected Mendelian ratios. In these progenies unexpected phenotypes were commonly found, most likely due to posttranscriptional modification. Products of some of the alleles of Mdh-1 probably suffered posttranscriptional modifications, although most of their segregations fitted expected Mendelian ratios. The most extreme case of posttranscriptional modification was found in phenotypes involving allele Mdh-14. Instead of the expected heterodimers in the heterozygous individuals, a slowly migrating band close to the origin was observed in these phenotypes. Some of the accessions of the diploid species S. sparsipilum were found to have a unique zymogram for a second MDH zone of electrophoretic activity, MDH-2. We propose in this paper a common nomenclature for potato isozymes based on the nomenclature used for Capsicum and Lycopersicon.
On the Frost-Dugdale plot for non-propagating cracks

The Frost–Dugdale plot is re-examined and the subject of the non-propagation of fatigue cracks is updated to emphasize that fatigue crack closure is the principal factor responsible for the non-propagation of fatigue cracks which originate at notches. The limitations of the original Frost–Dugdale plot with respect to notch depth are also discussed.
PERCEPTION OF FAT IN A MILK MODEL SYSTEM USING MULTIDIMENSIONAL SCALING

This study examined the contributions of stimulus fat content and flavor volatiles to the perception of fat in a milk model system. The model system was formulated by adding bland vegetable oil (0%, 5%, or 10% w/v) and natural cream flavor (0%, 0.5% or 1% w/v) to a skim milk base. Panelists judged pairs of samples for similarity on the basis of three attributes (fat content, mouthcoating and thickness) and the results were analyzed using a multidimensional scaling procedure. Two-dimensional solutions best represented the data. The stimulus spaces for fat content and mouthcoating were visually similar to each other and provided reasonable separation of the samples. Instrumental measures helped to define the underlying dimensions of the stimulus space for fat content. Dimension 1 related to texture and included the contributions of viscosity, and fat particle size and number distribution; dimension 2 related to flavor perception. The sample with a moderate fat content (5%) and the highest concentration of added cream flavor (1%) was perceived to be similar to the 10% fat samples with added flavor. Thus, the added flavor provided the sensation of higher fat content. These data suggest that flavor plays an important role in the preception of fat in dairy foods. A psychophysical model of fat perception in dairy foods is proposed which includes the contribution of viscosity, fat particle size and number distribution, and volatile flavor perceptions.
POSTOVULATORY FOLLICLES IN MALLARDS: IMPLICATIONS FOR ESTIMATES OF BREEDING PROPENSITY

Abstract ABSTRACT We evaluated the use of postovulatory follicles (POFs) up to 90 days postlaying to determine breeding propensity and clutch size in Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). During 2002–2003, we examined ovaries from 48 postbreeding female Mallards (24 captive, wild-strain and 24 radio-marked, free-ranging) with known laying histories at periods ranging from 30 to 90 days postlaying. We found that POFs remained identifiable macroscopically (at 4.6–16× magnification) in all females (24 of 24) collected 30–60 days postlaying and in 79% (19 of 24) of females collected 61–90 days postlaying. Using microscopic examination (20–80× magnification), we found that ≥1 POFs remained identifiable in all cross-sectioned ovaries collected from females up to 90 days postlaying. We found a weak correlation between macroscopic POF counts and observed clutch size for females collected 30–60 days postlaying, but not for females collected 61–90 days postlaying. Blind tests using ovaries from known nonbreeding females c...
Type VI secretion system sheaths as nanoparticles for antigen display

The bacterial type 6 secretion system (T6SS) is a dynamic apparatus that translocates proteins between cells by a mechanism analogous to phage tail contraction. T6SS sheaths are cytoplasmic tubular structures composed of stable VipA-VipB (named for ClpV-interacting protein A and B) heterodimers. Here, the structure of the VipA/B sheath was exploited to generate immunogenic multivalent particles for vaccine delivery. Sheaths composed of VipB and VipA fused to an antigen of interest were purified from Vibrio cholerae or Escherichia coli and used for immunization. Sheaths displaying heterologous antigens generated better immune responses against the antigen and different IgG subclasses compared with soluble antigen alone. Moreover, antigen-specific antibodies raised against sheaths presenting Neisseria meningitidis factor H binding protein (fHbp) antigen were functional in a serum bactericidal assay. Our results demonstrate that multivalent nanoparticles based on the T6SS sheath represent a versatile scaffold for vaccine applications.
Design of Microwave Baluns With Flexible Structures

In this letter, two types (Type-I and Type-II) of microwave baluns with generalized structures are presented. Different from the conventional transmission-line-based baluns where λ/2 transmission lines or λ/4 microstrip lines are used, the proposed baluns are constructed by transmission lines with arbitrary electrical lengths. Both of the two types of baluns are designed based on a symmetric four-port structure with one of the ports open-ended. Even-odd mode method is applied to analyze the performance of these baluns. Specifically, for the Type-I design, a symmetrical impedance transformer is employed to realize the desired flexible balun function. For the Type-II design, an asymmetric impedance transforming network is applied, and a compact size is achieved. Analytical design equations have been derived for both designs. Based on these equations, two different baluns (Type-I and Type-II) have been designed, fabricated and measured. The measurement results match well with the theoretical analysis, which practically proves the design theory.
Smoking and trait anxiety.

Smoking behavior was not associated with manifest anxiety scores for a sample of 91 college students.
Two new psychology databases: e-psyche and psycARTICLES.

(2002). Two New Psychology Databases. Medical Reference Services Quarterly: Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 65-74.
Mode of action of insulin, carbutamide, and tolbutamide.

Summary and conclusionsInsulin was injected in different doses and at different rates into either the femoral or the portal vein of anesthetized dogs. No qualitative differences were noted between the 2 routes of administration: in all cases insulin caused a decrease in concentration of blood glucose and potassium and an increase in concentration of pyruvate and lactate. Intravenous carbutamide and tolbutamide caused a decrease not only in blood glucose, and potassium, but also pyruvate and lactate. It is suggested that the drugs may stimulate release of insulin from the pancreas, and that when a minimum (permissive?) amount of insulin is available and glycogenolysis is not accelerated, as in severe diabetes, they may also inhibit glucose production by the liver or its utilization by the muscle. If this hypothesis is correct, prolonged therapy with sulfonylurea-like drugs should be attempted with caution, for continued stimulation of the B cells with sulfonylurea may lead to their exhaustion (1,30) and su...
The diagnosis and treatment of renal dysplasia in children

Objective To review the diagnosis and treatment of renal dysplasia in children. Methods The clinical data of 66 children(male 20 and female 46,ages ranged from 1 month to 15.8 years,mean 4.8 years)with congenital renal dysplasia were retrospectively analyzed.Results The main clinical presentations were urinary incontinence accompanied and frequency.Dysplastic kidneys were correctly located and diagnosed by ultrasound(B-US)in 58/64.Intravenous pyelogram(IVP) showed that the affected kidneys did not function in 45/60.Sixty-five children underwent nephroure- terectomy.Ureterectomy was performed in 1 child,as his dysplastic kidney was fused with the opposite kidney.The remaining 32 patients underwent laparoscopic nephroureterectomy.Most of those children had satisfactory results.Conclusions B-US and IVP are the recommended for the affected patients.For the symptomatic patients,nephroureterectomy of dysplastic kidney should be the treatment of choice. Laparoscopic nephroureterectomy is a safe and reliable procedure.
Metanephric osteopontin regulates nephrogenesis in vitro

Renal expression of osteopontin is enhanced in the setting of acute ischemic injury. Because of the parallels that exist between recovery from renal ischemia and renal development, we characterized the role that osteopontin plays during metanephrogenesis in the rat. Osteopontin mRNA is present in kidneys obtained from rat embryos as early as embryonic day 13 (E13). Immunohistochemical staining of metanephroi obtained from E16 rat embryos and metanephroi obtained from E13 embryos and cultured for 3 days in vitro demonstrated that osteopontin is expressed both in the developing nephron and in the ureteric bud. Addition of anti-osteopontin antibodies to metanephric organ cultures results in failure of the metanephric blastema to undergo normal tubulogenesis. Addition of the arginine-glycine-aspartic acid-containing peptide, cyclo-RGDfV, or the anti-alpha(v)beta3-integrin antibody, LM609, to cultures has a similar effect. These findings establish that osteopontin is produced within the rat metanephros during development in vivo and suggest that the binding of osteopontin to the alpha(v)beta3-integrin is required for tubulogenesis to occur in vitro. Blastemal cells within metanephroi cultured in the presence of OP199 manifest increased apoptosis compared with controls. It is possible that osteopontin plays an important anti-apoptotic role during the process of metanephric blastema condensation that is a prerequisite for the formation of nephrons in vivo.
Health Risks to Ecological Workers on Contaminated Sites - the Department of Energy as a Case Study.

Background: At most contaminated sites the risk to workers focuses on those ‘hazardous waste workers’ directly exposed to chemicals or radionuclides, and to the elaborate approaches implemented to protecting their health and safety. Ecological workers generally are not considered. Objectives: To explore the risks to the health and safety of ecological workers on sites with potential chemical and radiological exposures before, during or after remediation of contamination. To use the U.S. Department of Energy as a case study, and to develop concepts that apply generally to sites contaminated with hazardous or nuclear wastes, Methods: Develop categories of ecological workers, describe their usual jobs, and provide information on the kinds of risks they face. Ecological activities include continued surveillance and monitoring work on any sites with residual contamination, subject to institutional controls and engineered barriers following closure as well as during the restoration. Results: The categories of ecological workers and their tasks include 1) Ecological characterization, mapping and monitoring, 2) Biodiversity studies, 2) Contaminant fate and transport, 3) On-going industrial activities 4) Remediation activities (environmental management), 5) Environmental restoration, 6) Post-cleanup surveillance and monitoring, and 7) Post-closure future site activities. There are a set of functional activities that can occur with different frequencies and intensities, including visual inspection, collecting biological samples, collecting media physical samples, collecting biological debris, restoration planting, and maintaining ecosystems. Conclusions: Ecological workers face different exposures and risks than other environmental cleanup workers. Many of their tasks mimic shift work with long hours leading to fatigue, and they are exposed to biological as well as chemical/radiological hazards. DOE and other entities need to examine the risks to ecological workers on site with an eye to risk reduction.
Stability of the continuous-time Altafini model

This paper considers the continuous-time Altafini model for opinion dynamics in which the interaction among a group of agents is described by a piecewise-constant switching signed digraph (or directed graph). Building on an idea proposed in [1], stability of the system described by the model is studied using a graphical approach. It is shown that for any sequence of repeatedly jointly strongly connected digraphs, without any assumption on the sign structure of the graphs, the system asymptotically reaches a consensus in absolute value, including convergence to zero and different types of bipartite consensus (or two-clustering). Necessary and sufficient conditions for exponential stability with respect to each possible type of limit states are provided. Specifically, under the assumption of repeatedly jointly strong connectivity, it is shown that (1) a certain type of two-clustering will be reached exponentially fast for almost all initial conditions if, and only if, the sequence of signed digraphs is repeatedly jointly structurally balanced corresponding to that type of two-clustering; (2) the system will converge to zero exponentially fast for all initial conditions if, and only if, the sequence of signed digraphs is repeatedly jointly structurally unbalanced.
Case 63: This Is a Test to See What You Have Learned

You are listening to a presentation by a junior member of staff. He has just completed a study entitled:
Current Controversies on Wernicke's Area and its Role in Language.

The aim of the study is to assess historical anatomical and functional definitions of Wernicke’s area in light of modern lesion and neuroimaging data. “Wernicke’s area” has become an anatomical label usually applied to the left posterior superior temporal gyrus and adjacent supramarginal gyrus. Recent evidence shows that this region is not critical for speech perception or for word comprehension. Rather, it supports retrieval of phonological forms (mental representations of phoneme sequences), which are used for speech output and short-term memory tasks. Focal damage to this region produces phonemic paraphasia without impairing word comprehension, i.e., conduction aphasia. Neuroimaging studies in recent decades provide evidence for a widely distributed temporal, parietal, and frontal network supporting language comprehension, which does not include the anatomically defined Wernicke area. The term Wernicke’s area, if used at all, should not be used to refer to a zone critical for speech comprehension.
Short-Term Memory

Working memory (WM), or short-term memory (STM), temporarily stores a limited amount of information in an online and easily accessible state. Research has investigated the key role of WM in cognition by examining its characteristics and limitations in the verbal and visual modalities. Neuroimaging techniques have provided additional insight into this cognitive ability that is critical to many daily tasks.
Function of Autosomes

Part III is divided into “Function of Autosomes” and “Function of Sex Chromosomes.” All chromosomes that are not sex chromosomes are called autosomes. After the discussion of chromosome structure, it is important to learn some basic facts about chromosome function. Structure and function are necessarily closely related. Many structural features are the basis for the function of chromosomes. The genetic units of the chromosomes are the genes. Genes seem to function as groups and also seem to be transferred as such from generation to generation. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the first one to recognize such gene complexes was Morgan (1910b). He called them linkage groups (1911). A linkage group is the association of certain genes that are located on the same chromosome.
The effect of bank regulatory distance on acquirer ownership interest in a cross-border bank M&A

We examine the effect of uncertainty on the governance structure that results once a cross-border merger and acquisition (MA however, when disaggregating the measure, we find substantial support for both theories’ predictions of governance structure, particularly when considering bank regulations regarding the supervisory authority of external actors. The TCE perspective is s...
Percutaneous Repair for Recurrent Mitral Regurgitation After Surgical Repair: A Mitraclip Experience

Background: The aim of our study was to evaluate the acute feasibility and short-term efficacy of mitral valve repair using the MitraClip device in patients with prior surgical repair. Mitral regur...
Gate Controlled Three-Terminal Metal Oxide Memristor

We discuss the theory, design, fabrication, and testing of a three-terminal memristor based on thin-film metal oxides. The fabricated device modifies a traditional SrTiO3 thin-film memristor to include a third control terminal. The results show the device conductance is continuous over three orders of magnitude, with significant retention and endurance, and comparatively low set and reset currents. The gate allows for continuous conductance state tuning, and allows for flexible architectures compared with traditional two-terminal memristors by separating the read and write terminals.
The influence of mechanical vibration on local and central balance control

Fall prevention has an indispensable role in enhancing life expectancy and quality of life among older adults. The first step to prevent falls is to devise reliable methods to identify individuals at high fall risk. The purpose of the current study was to assess alterations in local postural muscle and central sensory balance control mechanisms due to low-frequency externally applied vibration among elders at high fall risk, in comparison with healthy controls, as a potential tool for assessing fall risk. Three groups of participants were recruited: healthy young (n = 10; age = 23 ± 2 years), healthy elders (n = 10; age = 73 ± 3 years), and elders at high fall risk (n = 10; age = 84 ± 9 years). Eyes-open and eyes-closed upright standing balance performance was measured with no vibration, 30 Hz, and 40 Hz vibration of Gastrocnemius muscles. When vibratory stimulation was applied, changes in local-control performance manifested significant differences among the groups (p < 0.01). On average between conditions, we observed 97% and 92% less change among high fall risk participants when compared to healthy young and older adults, respectively. On the other hand, vibration-induced changes in the central-control performance were not significant between groups (p ≥ 0.19). Results suggest that local-control deficits are responsible for balance behavior alterations among elders at high fall risk and healthy individuals. This observation may be attributable to deterioration of short-latency reflexive loop in elders at high fall risk. On the other hand, we could not ascribe the balance alterations to problems related to central nervous system performance or long-latency responses.
Failed rib region prediction in a human body model during crash events with precrash braking.

Objective: The objective of this study is 2-fold. We used a validated human body finite element model to study the predicted chest injury (focusing on rib fracture as a function of element strain) ...
Optimal duration for continuation of statin therapy in bacteremic patients

Background:Evidence suggests statins may improve survival in patients with bloodstream infections. However, there is no consensus on optimal timing and duration of exposure.Objectives:To quantify s...