cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Do english-language newspapers make universities prestigious?: Rise and fall in media salience of top Japanese private universities

This study investigated whether English-language news media, which increased coverage of two large, well known private universities in Japan, increased their salience in the minds of international residents in Japan. Based on the agenda-setting theory of media influence, the authors made use of university enrollment trends as an indicator of public salience and found that the English-language media contributed to the growing prestige of the universities among the non-Japanese population. Academic reality in Japan underwent little change during that period with the top ranking government-funded universities, whose coverage in the English-language media did not increase, remained more prestigious within the local context, as is evident from local university rankings. This study also demonstrates that the media can exert an agenda-setting influence on institutions of higher learning, a domain that has not been traditionally investigated. The study also addresses the influences of the international, English-language press in the context of a non-English speaking country, Japan, and how the, “need for orientation” (NFO), might have been a factor.
Developing Sustainable Leadership Through Succession Planning

The author introduces the concept of sustainable leadership as an interdisciplinary method to accomplish succession planning. It is proposed that both sustainable leadership and succession planning are long-term strategies employed by leaders in organizations. For sustainable leadership to become part of the culture within an organization the leaders must incorporate these concepts into staff training and leadership development activities. The chapter contains vignettes to help clarify specific points. Finally, the concept of sustainable leadership provides a framework for leaders to develop specific strategies and tactics to address the long-term needs of the organization.
Molecular detection of Oxyspirura larvae in arthropod intermediate hosts.

To determine potential intermediate hosts of Oxyspirura petrowi, a common nematode eyeworm of wild gallinaceous birds, various arthropod species including red harvester ants, beetles, wood cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, and desert termites were screened for the presence of O. petrowi using specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) primers targeting the internal transcribed spacer 2 region (ITS2) of the eyeworm ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA). This is the first study to investigate the intermediate hosts of O. petrowi utilizing molecular techniques. We determined 38% (13/34) of the cockroaches, 27% (3/11) of the crickets, and 23% (68/289) of the grasshoppers which were positive for O. petrowi. Identifying potential intermediate hosts of O. petrowi is essential to better understanding the epizoology of the eyeworm’s transmission mechanics and to controlling infections in wild gallinaceous birds.
When behavior disrupts the physician-healer.

A physician's behavior may be defined as disruptive when it ceases to be normative: A disruptive physician can be the surgeon who berates colleagues, residents, and nurses for not performing to his or her standards, and yet constantly violates protocol, arrives early or late for procedures, and disappears at the most inopportune moments.[1] The internist who never uses drugs on the hospital formulary but refuses to serve on the pharmacy committee may be considered disruptive. The pediatrician, a favorite of patients' families, who never completes paperwork but lets it be known that the blame for a child not getting the care that the family believes is needed lies with the administration, nursing staff, and managed care providers who conspire together to prevent the doctor from practicing good medicine may also be considered disruptive. Such behavior takes its toll. Such disruptive physician behavior can undermine the morale of individual staff members, weaken the effectiveness of the medical team in delivering care to patients, spark lawsuits, make it difficult to hire and retain a good staff, and negatively affect the reputation of the institution as well as that of the entire profession. Results of a new survey show that when physicians exhibit disruptive behavior as this, it fuels the nationwide nursing shortage by affecting on-the-job satisfaction and morale for nurses: “The disruptive physician attempts to manipulate supervisors, staff, and patients.…[2]”
Papillomaviruses and Carcinogenic Progression I

The etiological agent of rabbit papillomatosis, a disease brought to the attention of Shope by a hunter, was identified as a virus over 50 years ago (Shope and Hurst, 1933). As later shown, the Shope rabbit papilloma virus—now usually named cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV)—represented the first DNA virus known to cause tumors. Five biological phenomena brought considerable attention to CRPV and its biology: (1) the ability to induce tumors (papillomas); (2) the disappearance of detectable virus from many tumors, a phenomenon called “masking”; (3) the spontaneous regression of virus-induced tumors in some animals; (4) the progression of the papillomas to malignant, invasive, metastasizing carcinomas; and (5) the synergism between virus and chemical carcinogens. Finally, an early, though unsuccessful, experiment in gene therapy with CRPV involving hyperarginemic patients was undertaken (Terheggen et al., 1975). The rationale for this experiment was based on the assumption that increased levels of arginase in virus-induced rabbit papillomas was due to the expression of a virus-coded enzyme (Rogers, 1959; Rogers and Moore, 1963). Subsequent measurements of the arginase activity in 9,10-dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene (DMBA)-induced papillomas showed similarly increased arginase levels (Orth et al., 1967; Satoh et al., 1967) and the enzyme was indistinguishable from highly purified rabbit liver arginase (Orth et al., 1971b; Vielle-Breitburd and Orth, 1972).
Social, Religious and Spiritual Capitals: A Psychological Perspective

This article locates the concept of social capital and its faith-basedcorrelates—religious and spiritual capital—within a psychological framework. Upto now, these correlates have been deployed primarily within a social policy and political science discourse. Having located these concepts, the article develops a hypothesis, based on qualitative case study material, that religiously based motivation (spiritual capital) and religiously based participation (religious capital) work in mutually reinforcing ways to produce a virtuous cycle (or feedback loop) of capitals (including bridging and linking forms of capital—as well as bonding).
Construction Principles for Efficient Parallel Structures

This chapter provides an overview of the examination and comparison of network structures. It discusses the variety of possible types of parallelism, possible sources of speedup from parallelism and hardware and software design, and the range of possibilities between tightly and loosely coupled networks. It also presents some applications of graph theory that have produced a number of interesting new possibilities for networks. These graph theory results are narrowly focused on one or two formal global characteristics, chiefly the density of packing of nodes. But local structural characteristics, in particular a close fit of the anatomy of the network to the physiology of the program's flow of procedures, are almost certainly of overriding importance. In theory, a single system might incorporate virtually every type of parallelism. However, that would be too expensive in practice and overall efficiency would probably not be increased by simply adding all together.
Ischaemic limb lesion in monochorionic twin infant

A 20-year-old mother with a spontaneous, monochorionic diamniotic twin pregnancy developed twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS) and underwent laser ablative therapy at 24 weeks. Unfortunately, in utero demise of one twin was confirmed at 25 week ultrasound and new onset ischaemic lesion of the left lower extremity of surviving twin was …
Bulghaith al-Darawi and Barthélemy d'Herbelot: Readers of the Qur'an in Seventeenth-Century Tuscany

This paper is an exercise in the history of reading and textual production in seventeeth-century Florence. Through the analysis of a very short and fascinating miscellaneous manuscript (BNCF, MS Ma...
Modelling partitioning between structure and storage in sugar beet: effects of drought and soil nitrogen

In the UK sugar beet is grown on contrasting soils that vary both in their nutritional status and water-holding capacities. Water shortage and low nitrogen reduce canopy growth and dry matter production, which is compensated in part by an increase in the fraction of assimilates partitioned to storage. Conversely, high nitrogen and ample water encourage growth of the canopy, increase assimilation of carbon dioxide but reduce the proportion of assimilates stored as sugar. This paper sets out to examine simple relationships between sugar yield, total dry matter and soil nitrogen in rain-fed and irrigated sugar beet crops (Beta vulgaris L.) from 46 field experiments spanning 12 years and a range of soil types, in order to improve prediction of sugar yields. Two partitioning functions were fitted to the data. The first represents a useful alternative formulation of the allometric growth function that overcomes some of the difficulties in the interpretation of the parameters. This model adequately described the seasonal progress of sugar yield (Y) in relation to total dry matter (W), but it was difficult to postulate biological mechanisms as to how the parameters should vary in relation to varying soil nitrogen or to drought. The second partitioning function, given by Y = W − (1/k) log(1 + kW), also described the data well, but had the more useful parameter, k, the decay rate of the fraction of assimilates partitioned to structural matter. This was shown to be greater in crops which had experienced significant drought and was inversely proportional to the amount of nitrogen taken up by the crops. Relationships between k and amounts of nitrogen fertilizer applied and/or amounts of residual nitrogen in the soil at sowing, however, were more variable. These could be improved by additionally taking account of soil type and rainfall following nitrogen fertilizer application in late spring. The models are a useful extension to yield forecasting models because they provide a simple means of estimating sugar yield from total dry matter in relation to factors that affect partitioning of assimilates such as drought and soil nitrogen availability.
Attrition in Longitudinal Data is Primarily Selective with Respect to Level Rather than Rate of Change.

Objectives: An important question in longitudinal research is whether the individuals who discontinue participation differ in their level of, or their change in, cognitive functioning relative to individuals who return for subsequent occasions. Methods: Performance in five cognitive domains was examined in nearly 5000 participants between 18 and 85 years of age who completed between one and five longitudinal occasions. Results: Little or no differences in cognitive performance were apparent between young adults who did or did not return for subsequent longitudinal occasions. However, among adults above about 45 years of age, returning participants had higher levels of cognitive performance, but approximately similar magnitude of longitudinal change, as participants completing fewer occasions. Conclusions: These results suggest that generalizability of longitudinal comparisons may be restricted to individuals with relatively high levels of cognitive functioning, but that rates of cognitive change are nearly comparable for individuals completing different numbers of longitudinal occasions.
Topological entropy of Markov set-valued functions

We investigate the entropy for a class of upper semi-continuous set-valued functions, called Markov set-valued functions, that are a generalization of single-valued Markov interval functions. It is known that the entropy of a Markov interval function can be found by calculating the entropy of an associated shift of finite type. In this paper, we construct a similar shift of finite type for Markov set-valued functions and use this shift space to find upper and lower bounds on the entropy of the set-valued function.
A MIMO system with backward compatibility for OFDM-based WLANs

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been selected as the basis for the new IEEE 802.11a standard for high-speed wireless local area networks (WLANs). We consider doubling the transmission data rate of the IEEE 802.11a system by using two transmit and two receive antennas. We propose a preamble design for this multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system that is backward compatible with its single-input single-output (SISO) counterpart as specified by the IEEE 802.11a standard. Based on this preamble design, we devise a sequential method for the estimation of the carrier frequency offset (CFO), symbol timing, and MIMO channel response. We also provide a simple soft detector based on the unstructured least square approach to obtain the soft information for the Viterbi decoder. This soft detector is very simple since it decouples the multidimensional QAM symbol detection into multiple one-dimensional QAM symbol-and further PAM symbol-detections. Both the sequential parameter estimation method and the soft detector can provide excellent overall system performance and are ideally suited for real-time implementations. The effectiveness of our methods is demonstrated via numerical examples.
Terrestrial Ecology: Natural Selection for Mast Seeding

Mast seeding is a widespread reproductive phenomenon in plants, and testing evolutionary drivers is challenging. New research uses four decades of individual-tree reproduction data and demonstrates selection for hypersensitivity to a weather cue, high temporal variability, and high synchrony with neighbours.
Fixed single-cell RNA sequencing for understanding virus infection and host response

Single-cell transcriptomic studies that require intracellular protein staining, rare cell sorting, or inactivation of infectious pathogens are severely limited because current high-throughput RNA sequencing methods are incompatible with paraformaldehyde treatment, a common tissue and cell fixation and preservation technique. Here we present FD-seq, a high-throughput method for droplet-based RNA sequencing of paraformaldehyde-fixed, stained and sorted single-cells. We show that FD-seq preserves the mRNA integrity and relative abundances during fixation and subsequent cell retrieval. Furthermore, FD-seq detects a higher number of genes and transcripts than methanol fixation. We applied FD-seq to investigate two important questions in Virology. First, by analyzing a rare population of cells supporting lytic reactivation of the human tumor virus KSHV, we identified TMEM119 as a host factor that mediates viral reactivation. Second, we found that upon infection with the betacoronavirus OC43, which causes the common cold and is a close relative of SARS-CoV-2, pro-inflammatory pathways are primarily upregulated in lowly-infected cells that are exposed to the virus but fail to express high levels of viral genes. FD-seq thus enables integrating phenotypic with transcriptomic information in rare cell populations, and preserving and inactivating pathogenic samples that cannot be handled under regular biosafety measures.
Quantification of Survival and Transfer of Salmonella on Fresh Cucumbers during Waxing.

ABSTRACT Cucumbers found in retail markets are often waxed to improve visual appeal and retard moisture loss. This waxing may affect bacterial survival, and the waxing process may facilitate cross-contamination between cucumbers. This study assessed the survival of Salmonella on waxed and unwaxed cucumbers and the potential for Salmonella cross-contamination during the waxing process. Fresh waxed or unwaxed cucumbers were spot inoculated with a cocktail of Salmonella enterica strains. Three different wax coatings (mineral oil, vegetable oil, or petroleum wax) were manually applied to unwaxed cucumbers using polyethylene brushes. Salmonella transfer from inoculated cucumbers to the brush or to uninoculated cucumbers was quantified. Higher Salmonella concentrations were observed on waxed cucumbers during the first 3 days of storage, but the final concentration on unwaxed cucumbers was higher than on waxed cucumbers at the end of storage, regardless of storage temperature. The wax formulation did affect the survival of Salmonella inoculated directly into waxes, with a significant decline in Salmonella populations observed in vegetable-based wax coating but with populations unchanged over 7 days at 7 or 21°C in mineral oil-based and petroleum-based waxes. Salmonella cells could transfer from inoculated unwaxed cucumbers to brushes used for waxing and then to uninoculated cucumbers during waxing. A significantly higher log percentage of transfer to brushes was observed when cucumbers were waxed with vegetable oil (0.71 log percent, P = 0.00441) than with mineral oil (0.06 log percent) or petroleum (0.05 log percent). Transfer to uninoculated cucumbers via brushes was also quantified (0.18 to 0.35 log percent transfer). Salmonella remaining on contaminated cucumbers after waxing could be detected for up to 7 days, and Salmonella survived better on cucumbers treated with a petroleum-based wax. These findings should be useful in managing the risk of Salmonella contamination in cucumbers during postharvest handling. HIGHLIGHTS
Breast milk intake rates vary in patients seen by resident vs faculty clinician

Purpose: There is a paucity of research to show correlation of patient breast milk intake rates with provider type (resident vs faculty clinician). To explore this relationship, we used a real-time, electronic tracking tool in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) to document breast milk intake rates in our patient population by age (ever, 6 months, 12 months) as well as by several other characteristics, including whether the provider at the encounter was in training. We show how a novel EMR tool can be used to understand differences in provider and clinic …
Processes with Imbedded Point Process: Countable State Space

In this chapter we continue our study of processes with an imbedded point process, begun in Chapter 3. Now we specialize to a countable space. Again, the main focus is on the use of sample-path analysis to derive relations between various asymptotic state frequencies, such as the frequency at an arbitrary point in time and at the times of arrivals to a queueing system. In certain cases, we are also able to prove insensitivity.
TU‐G‐201‐03: Imaging Systems in Radiotherapy: Buying, Installing, and Using

This session will update therapeutic physicists on technological advancements and radiation oncology features of commercial CT, MRI, and PET/CT imaging systems. Also described are physicists’ roles in every stage of equipment selection, purchasing, and operation, including defining specifications, evaluating vendors, making recommendations, and optimal and safe use of imaging equipment in radiation oncology environment. The first presentation defines important terminology of CT and PET/CT followed by a review of latest innovations, such as metal artifact reduction, statistical iterative reconstruction, radiation dose management, tissue classification by dual energy CT and spectral CT, improvement in spatial resolution and sensitivity in PET, and potentials of PET/MR. We will also discuss important technical specifications and items in CT and PET/CT purchasing quotes and their impacts. The second presentation will focus on key components in the request for proposal for a MRI simulator and how to evaluate vendor proposals. MRI safety issues in radiation Oncology, including MRI scanner Zones (4-zone design), will be discussed. Basic MR terminologies, important functionalities, and advanced features, which are relevant to radiation therapy, will be discussed. In the third presentation, justification of imaging systems for radiation oncology, considerations in room design and construction in a RO department, shared use with diagnostic radiology, staffing needs and training, clinical/research use cases and implementation, will be discussed. The emphasis will be on understanding and bridging the differences between diagnostic and radiation oncology installations, building consensus amongst stakeholders for purchase and use, and integrating imaging technologies into the radiation oncology environment. Learning Objectives: 1. Learn the latest innovations of major imaging systems relevant to radiation therapy 2. Be able to describe important technical specifications of CT, MRI, and PET/CT 3. Understand the process of budget request, equipment justification, comparisons of technical specifications, site visits, vendor selection, and contract development
Self-Concept and Reading Achievement in the Bilingual Setting

Teachers in an elementary bilingual program find themselves involved in the process of teaching children to read quickly and efficiently while also developing their selfconcept and preserving their cultural heritage. Research in the area of self-concept and academic achievement as well as language learning indicates that a relationship between self-concept and the development of language skills exists. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-concept and reading achievement in elementary school children enrolled in one of three biliteracy programs and a monoliteracy program. Hypotheses tested included: (1) a hierarchical relationship would exist among the three levels of self/concept; (2) the levels of self/concept would correlate with scores on the Metropolitan Achievement Test in a hierarchical manner, (3) the reading and self-concept scores of children in the LEA biliteracy group would be as high as if not higher than those of children in the other groups. Results indicate...
Inhibition of UVB-induced nonmelanoma skin cancer: A path from tea to caffeine to exercise to decreased tissue fat

Oral administration of green tea, black tea, or caffeine (but not the decaffeinated teas) inhibited ultraviolet B radiation (UVB)-induced skin carcinogenesis in SKH-1 mice. Studies with caffeine indicated that its inhibitory effect on the ATR/Chk1 pathway is an important mechanism for caffeine’s inhibition of UVB-induced carcinogenesis. The regular teas or caffeine increased locomotor activity and decreased tissue fat. In these studies, decreased dermal fat thickness was associated with a decrease in the number of tumors per mouse. Administration of caffeine, voluntary exercise, and removal of the parametrial fat pads all stimulated UVB-induced apoptosis, inhibited UVB-induced carcinogenesis, and stimulated apoptosis in UVB-induced tumors. These results suggest that caffeine administration, voluntary exercise, and removal of the parametrial fat pads inhibit UVB-induced carcinogenesis by stimulating UVB-induced apoptosis and by enhancing apoptosis in DNA-damaged precancer cells and in cancer cells. We hypothesize that tissue fat secretes antiapoptotic adipokines that have a tumor promoting effect.
Chapter 4.4 – Five-Membered Ring Systems: With More than One N Atom

The synthesis and chemistry of pyrazoles, imidazoles, 1,2,3-triazoles, 1,2,4-triazoles, and tetrazoles were actively pursued in 2012. No attempt was made to incorporate all the exciting chemistry and biological applications that were published in 2012.
The College Access Debate: Class Considerations And College Preparation

The college access debate in America remains an important one. Affirmative action policies and practices continue to occupy a significant sub-component of the overall college access discussion. Recent legal debates and policy changes pertaining to affirmative action have encouraged analysis surrounding the overall viability and fairness of these policies. This article describes the current parameters and arguments surrounding the college access debate in America in relation to affirmative action practices and makes suggestions as to how these practices can be improved. Three major aims of the article are to articulate the shortcomings of affirmative action practices in their current forms, to investigate the potential benefits of considering students’ social-class backgrounds when making affirmative action admissions decisions at institutions of higher education, and to ultimately point out that college access factors prior to and following the admissions process, such as college preparation and the degree of support mechanisms in place after matriculation, are potentially more important to the access debate than affirmative action considerations. This article concludes that all students can significantly benefit from exposure to higher education and that affirmative action policies should address social class in some capacity or be abandoned.
Detection of Phenothiazine Derivatives in Urine An Evaluation of 3 Methods

Findings of the present study agree with published results that showed an incidence of approximately 25% "false negative" results with the Forrest FPN test for phenothiazine derivatives in urine. A recently published modification purportedly decreased these "false negatives" to less than 5%. However, our control group of negative urine specimens omitted in Campbell's study, yielded 100% negative results with the FPN test and 81% positive results with the modified test. Phenistix (Ames) was evaluated for elimination of false negative readings but was found not to have any advantage for this purpose. Data are also presented indicating differing sensitivities of the Forrest FPN test to various phenothiazine derivatives.
Intra-axonal Translation of SMAD1/5/8 Mediates Retrograde Regulation of Trigeminal Ganglia Subtype Specification

Summary In many cases, neurons acquire distinct identities as their axons navigate toward target cells and encounter target-derived signaling molecules. These molecules generate retrograde signals that activate subtype-specific gene transcription. Mechanisms by which axons convert the complex milieu of signaling molecules into retrograde signals are not fully understood. Here, we examine retrograde signaling mechanisms that specify neuronal identity in the trigeminal ganglia, which relays sensory information from the face to the brain. We find that neuron specification requires the sequential action of two target-derived factors, BDNF and BMP4. BDNF induces the translation of axonally localized SMAD1/5/8 transcripts. Axon-derived SMAD1/5/8 is translocated to the cell body, where it is phosphorylated to a transcriptionally active form by BMP4-induced signaling endosomes and mediates the transcriptional effects of target-derived BDNF and BMP4. Thus, local translation functions as a mechanism by which coincident signals are converted into a retrograde signal that elicits a specific transcriptional response. Video Abstract
Associations between Campylobacter fetus, Haemophilus somnus, Leptospira hardjo and bovine viral diarrhea virus antibody titers in dairy cattle from a California herd

Abstract In a cross-sectional study, the associations of age, serological status against Campylobacter fetus (CF), Haemophilus somnus (HS) and Leptospira hardjo (LH) with the seroprevalence of bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) in dairy cattle were evaluated. Six hundred and thirty cattle from a herd in Tulare county of California were included in the study. Blood samples from the cattle were collected in December 1986. Enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) was used to determine the positive or negative status of cows against CF, HS, LH and BVDV antigens. Loglinear analysis was used to describe the relationships of four categorical variables with the seroprevalence of BVDV. The final loglinear model was interpreted as a logit model and obtained by conditioning on explanatory variables in the model found to relate significantly with BVDV seropositivity. The hierarchical logit model included two two-way interactions (BVDV × HS and BVDV × LH) and a three-way interaction ( BVDV × CF × age). HS-seronegative cattle had 4.7 times greater odds of being BVDV-seropositive compared with HS-seropositive cattle. In contrast, LH-seropositive cattle had 2.7 times increased odds of BVDV seropositivity compared with LH-seronegative cattle. The presence of the three-way interaction term in the model involving age, CF and BVDV seroprevalence implies that among heifers, CF-seronegative and CF-seropositive animals had about the same odds of BVDV seropositivity (e.g. adjusted odds ratios = 20.5 vs. 24.5), whereas, among cows, CF-seronegative animals had at least twice the odds of being BVDV-seropositive than those of CF-seropositive animals (e.g. adjusted odds ratios = 23.0 vs. 11.0).
Uniform standards for genome databases in forest and fruit trees

TreeGenes and tree fruit Genome Database Resources serve the international forestry and fruit tree genomics research communities, respectively. These databases hold similar sequence data and provide resources for the submission and recovery of this information in order to enable comparative genomics research. Large-scale genotype and phenotype projects have recently spawned the development of independent tools and interfaces within these repositories to deliver information to both geneticists and breeders. The increase in next generation sequencing projects has increased the amount of data as well as the scale of analysis that can be performed. These two repositories are now working towards a similar goal of archiving the diverse, independent data sets generated from genotype/phenotype experiments. This is achieved through focused development on data input standards (templates), pipelines for the storage and automated curation, and consistent annotation efforts through the application of widely accepted ontologies to improve the extraction and exchange of the data for comparative analysis. Efforts towards standardization are not limited to genotype/phenotype experiments but are also being applied to other data types to improve gene prediction and annotation for de novo sequencing projects. The resources developed towards these goals represent the first large-scale coordinated effort in plant databases to add informatics value to diverse genotype/phenotype experiments.
Immunochemical and physical chemical properties of carboxymethyl proteins.

Abstract 1. 1. The relative viscosities, optical rotations, and immunochemical properties of the proteins investigated indicate that the carboxymethylation reaction as performed leads to some denaturation of the protein. 2. 2. The immunochemical studies showed not only that the specificity of the CM proteins was different from the native ones but that the introduced CM groupings acted as specific determinants.
Epicardial Fat: An Additional Measurement for Subclinical Atherosclerosis and Cardiovascular Risk Stratification?

Background The value of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness as determined by echocardiography in cardiovascular risk assessment is not well understood. The aim of this study was to determine the associations between EAT thickness and Framingham risk score, carotid intima media thickness, carotid artery plaque, and computed tomographic coronary calcium score in a primary prevention population. Methods Patients presenting for cardiovascular preventive care ( n = 356) who underwent echocardiography as well as carotid artery ultrasound and/or coronary calcium scoring were included. Results EAT thickness was weakly correlated with Framingham risk score. The prevalence of carotid plaque was significantly greater in those with EAT thickness ≥5.0 mm who either had low Framingham risk scores or had body mass indexes ≥25 kg/m 2 , compared with those with EAT thickness Conclusion EAT thickness ≥5.0 mm may identify an individual with a higher likelihood of having detectable carotid atherosclerosis.
Fast-response IR spatial light modulators with a polymer network liquid crystal

Liquid crystals (LC) have widespread applications for amplitude modulation (e.g. flat panel displays) and phase modulation (e.g. beam steering). For phase modulation, a 2π phase modulo is required. To extend the electro-optic application into infrared region (MWIR and LWIR), several key technical challenges have to be overcome: 1. low absorption loss, 2. high birefringence, 3. low operation voltage, and 4. fast response time. After three decades of extensive development, an increasing number of IR devices adopting LC technology have been demonstrated, such as liquid crystal waveguide, laser beam steering at 1.55μm and 10.6 μm, spatial light modulator in the MWIR (3~5μm) band, dynamic scene projectors for infrared seekers in the LWIR (8~12μm) band. However, several fundamental molecular vibration bands and overtones exist in the MWIR and LWIR regions, which contribute to high absorption coefficient and hinder its widespread application. Therefore, the inherent absorption loss becomes a major concern for IR devices. To suppress IR absorption, several approaches have been investigated: 1) Employing thin cell gap by choosing a high birefringence liquid crystal mixture; 2) Shifting the absorption bands outside the spectral region of interest by deuteration, fluorination and chlorination; 3) Reducing the overlap vibration bands by using shorter alkyl chain compounds. In this paper, we report some chlorinated LC compounds and mixtures with a low absorption loss in the near infrared and MWIR regions. To achieve fast response time, we have demonstrated a polymer network liquid crystal with 2π phase change at MWIR and response time less than 5 ms.
Evidence for a light-dependent system for reassimilation of photorespiratory CO2, which does not include a C4 cycle, in the C3−C4 intermediate species Moricandia arvensis

Three methods of estimating photorespiratory rate in leaves of the C3−C4 intermediate species Moricandia arvensis and the related C3 species Moricandia moricandioides were compared. The results indicated that the photorespiratory rate in M. arvensis is less than in M. moricandioides, and that this is caused partly by reduced carbon flux through the photorespiratory pathway, and partly by the presence of a mechanism for enhanced photorespiratory CO2 reassimilation in the intermediate species. Measurements of the CO2 compensation point (Γ) in the two species supported this conclusion. A functional C4 pathway is unlikely to be involved in the reduction of photorespiratory rate in M. arvensis since pulse-chase experiments showed that carbon did not move from C4 acids to the reductive pentose-phosphate pathway in attached leaves under steady-state conditions at Γ.
Effect of altering dopamine or serotonin neurotransmitters upon cathinone discrimination.

Abstract Rats were trained to discriminate between the stimulus properties of 0.8 mg/kg l -cathinone and its vehicle in a two-lever, food-motivated operant task. Once trained, rats showed a dose-related decrease in discriminative performance when tested with lower cathinone doses. An analysis of the dose-response curve indicated an ED 50 value of 0.23 mg/kg. Pretreatment with CGS 10746B (5–20 mg/kg) resulted in a dose-related decrease in cathinone discrimination with the highest dose blocking cathinone discrimination. In contrast to the ability of this dopamine release inhibitor to decrease cathinone discrimination, pretreatment with three doses of the calcium channel blocker isradipine (2.5–10 mg/kg) or with the 5-HT 3 antagonist MDL 72222 (0.1–0.4 mg/kg) had no effect upon cathinone discrimination. The results suggest that cathinone controls differential responding in a discriminative stimulus task by a mechanism involving presynaptic release of dopamine, which may not be regulated by either neuronal calcium influx through L-type calcium channels or by serotonergic neurons.
Thyroid Hormone Influences the Maturation of Apolipoprotein A-I Messenger RNA in Rat Liver

Chronic administration of thyroid hormone (T3) increases apolipoprotein (apo) A-I gene expression in rat liver. That transcriptional activity of the apoA-I gene is reduced to 50% of control, whereas abundance levels of nuclear and total cellular apoA-I mRNA are increased 3-fold, implies more effective apoA-I mRNA maturation. To study hormonal effects on apoA-I RNA processing, we quantified mRNA precursors in control and T3-treated rats (50 μg/100 g body weight for 7 days). Northern blotting, amplification of reverse-transcribed RNA, and ribonuclease protection assays showed that the splicing pathway is branched, in that either intron 1 or intron 2 is removed first from the primary transcript, whereas intron 3 is removed last. In T3-treated rats, abundance levels of the primary transcript, the intron 1-containing precursor devoid of intron 2, the intron 2-containing precursor devoid of intron 1, the intron 3-containing precursor lacking both introns 1 and 2, and nuclear mRNA were 65, 183, 78, 195, and 268% of controls. Compared with control rats, the half-life of the intron 1-containing precursor, measured after injection of actinomycin D, was increased 2-fold in T3-treated rats. In contrast, half-lives of the primary transcript and the intron 2-containing precursor were similar in control and T3-treated rats. Ribonuclease protection assays revealed an RNA species extending from the transcription start site close to the 3′ end of intron 1. The abundance of this RNA fragment, probably representing a degradation product, was 2.5-fold higher in control than in T3-treated animals (p
Threshold Photoelectron Spectrum of the Argon 3s Satellites

Lately a variety of techniques have studied the electron correlation satellites with binding energies between the Argon 3s binding energy (29.24 eV) and the 2p/sup /minus/2/ ionization potential (43.38 eV). One of these techniques, Threshold Photoelectron Spectroscopy, with /approximately/90 meV FWHM resolution, revealed at least 25 individual electronic states. All of these could contribute to any other satellite spectrum, and this helped explain some discrepancies between previous measurements. This technique has been applied to the same region with higher resolution (<60 meV at the Ar 3s/sup /minus/1/peak). In this higher resolution spectrum at least 29 individual electronic states are present. In some cases the multiplet splitting is observed. 12 refs., 2 figs.
Generalized Padé Approximation

Approximation by minimizing the magnitude of the complex error phasor in the steady state is considered and relationships to conventional magnitude-only and phase-only methods are discussed. The particular case of the Taylor approximation about zero frequency is shown to be equivalent to the Taylor approximation in terms of the complex variable. Generalized examples are given which relate to rational approximations for transistor alpha, resistance-capacitance transmission lines, and the Z transform.
Evidence of a Surprising Channeling of Ring-Opening Energy to the H2 Product in the H + c-C3H6 → H2 + C3H5 Abstraction Reaction

The product energy disposal in the abstraction reaction H + c-C 3 H 6 → H 2 (v', j') + C 3 H 5 at 1.6 eV collision energy has been characterized by quantum-state-selective, Doppler-resolved REMPI detection of the H 2 (v', j')product. The H 2 (v', j') product is observed with total energy, translational plus rotational plus vibrational, in excess of the total available energy if the C 3 H 5 product is a cyclopropyl radical, but the total H 2 (v', j') energy matches the total available energy if the C 3 H 5 product is allyl. This implies ring-opening of cyclopropyl to allyl concerted with abstraction and the deposition of a large fraction of the ring-opening energy into the H 2 (v', j') product. Such behavior is unprecedented and entirely unexpected. Calculations indicate that both direct H-by-H abstraction and H-addition/H 2 -elimination should occur too quickly to allow the isomerization to occur before product separation. Even if ring-opening did occur, the appearance of the total isomerization energy in the H 2 product would seem dynamically forbidden. The reaction must follow an unanticipated and surprising path.
Inhibition of testicular steroidogenesis in the neonatal rat following acute ethanol exposure.

We have previously reported detrimental effects of in utero ethanol exposure on testicular steroidogenic enzyme activity in newborn rats. It is now reported that in utero ethanol exposure during Day 12 of gestation through birth has no apparent morphological effect on the testes of Day 1 neonatal rats. It appears that the detrimental effects of ethanol on testicular steroidogenesis can be manifested at the biochemical level in the absence of morphological effects. However, it remained unknown as to whether acute exposure to ethanol would elicit similar biochemical effects as chronic ethanol exposure on testicular steroidogenesis. To test this possibility ethanol was injected at 0, 1, or 2 g/kg intraperitoneally (IP) into rats of various postnatal ages. Plasma ethanol and testosterone levels as well as testicular 17 alpha-hydroxylase and C17,20-lyase activities were measured. The results indicate that acute exposure to ethanol significantly (p less than 0.05) inhibits the catalytic activity of testicular 17 alpha-hydroxylase in the newborn rat testis. This inhibition was specific since the activity of testicular C17,20-lyase was not affected. In conjunction with the reduction in testicular enzyme activity, plasma testosterone levels were reduced to 30% of the control levels in newborn animals receiving ethanol. In older animals, i.e., postnatal Day 20 and 40 rats, plasma testosterone levels were reduced, but not significantly, following ethanol treatment. Furthermore, testicular enzyme activity was not significantly reduced following ethanol treatment in these same older animals. These results suggest that the newborn rat testis is especially sensitive to the effects of ethanol.
Simple robust averages of forecasts: Some empirical results

Abstract An extensive body of literature has shown that combining forecasts can improve forecast accuracy, and that a simple average of the forecasts (the mean) often does better than more complex combining schemes. The fact that the mean is sensitive to extreme values suggests that deleting such values or reducing their extremity might be worthwhile. We study the performance of two simple robust methods, trimmed and Winsorized means, which are easy to use and understand. For the data sets we consider, they provide forecasts which are slightly more accurate than the mean, and reduce the risk of high errors. Our results suggest that moderate trimming of 10–30% or Winsorizing of 15–45% of the forecasts can provide improved combined forecasts, with more trimming or Winsorizing being indicated when there is more variability among the individual forecasts. There are some differences in the performance of the trimmed and Winsorized means, but overall such differences are not large.
Potentiation and Antagonism of 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin Effects in a Complex Environmental Mixture

Abstract There is increasing need to understand the toxicity of complex environmental mixtures. The organic phase of a leachate (OPL) from the Love Canal chemical dump site is a complex mixture that contains over 100 organic compounds, including 0.74 ppm 2,3,7,8,-tetrachlorodibenzo- p -dioxin (TCDD). Mice congenic at the Ah locus were used to evaluate several toxic effects of the OPL, including immune function and hepatic enzyme induction. OPL toxicity was compared with that of pure TCDD in both C57BL/6J Ah b/b and congenic C57BL/6 Ah d/d (B6.D2) mice. Mice were given single oral doses of up to 2 g OPL/kg or 100 μg TCDD/kg, immunized, and evaluated after 7 days. The TCDD equivalent of the OPL was determined to be 3.9 and 5.0 ppm in C57BL/6J and B6.D2 mice, respectively. This is six times the TCDD content. The Ah phenotype-dependent response ratio was calculated by dividing the dose required to cause an effect in the B6.D2 strain by the dose causing the same effect in the C57BL/6J strain. Ratios based on both ED5Os and the lowest observed adverse effect levels were used to determine whether each adverse effect was Ah phenotype-dependent, the extent to which TCDD contributed to the effect, whether there were interactive effects between the AhR ligands and nonligands and if they were additive, antagonistic, or synergistic, and whether the response was predictable based on the known chemical composition of the mixture. It was concluded that the non-TCDD component potentiated TCDD immune suppression, and possibly thymic atrophy, through AhR mechanisms. In contrast, this analysis indicated that the non-TCDD component of the OPL antagonized the ability of the TCDD component to induce hepatic AHH activity whereas OPL hepatomegaly was caused primarily by the non-TCDD component of the OPL. This study demonstrates that the toxicity of mixtures containing TCDD may not be accurately predicted based on the TCDD content alone and that this approach could be useful in the toxicologic assessment and management of environmental contamination.
The denominations of US coins: a case of institutional evolution

Abstract. The system of denominations of US coins, which the paper treats as a quasi-genetic trait of the US monetary system, has not been constant since inception but rather has evolved over time in the sense of being subject to innovation and selection. However, all the innovations have disappeared, as have a number of the original denominations. Abstract theories of optimal systems of denominations provide a good explanation of one selection factor, but other important influences include limiting the number of separate denominations and accommodating the requirements of decimal counting. However, even some innovations that ultimately disappeared survived for decades.
Molecular insights into systemic lupus erythematosus pathogenesis.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex, heterogeneous, and chronic autoimmune disorder of an unknown origin. Its clinical symptoms range from a benign skin disorder to severe, life-threatening conditions.1 Immune effector dysfunctions are hall marks of SLE disease.2 The etiopathogenesis of the altered immune response in SLE remains unknown. SLE is characterized by the presence of auto-antibodies (AutoAbs) for a wide variety of self antigens and circulating immune complexes.1,2 The onset of lupus is variable and may affect all stages of life. The disease predominantly affiicts females in the child-bearing years about 6- to 10-fold more frequently than males. We have not had a new drug in 50 years, because of the unknown etiology of the abnormal immune response. The current lupus therapies are non-specific, symptomatic, and cause significant side effects. In this editorial, I have made an attempt to describe multistep immune alterations that pave the way for the inception and sustaining of SLE pathogenesis, and postulated molecular mechanisms involved in SLE disease onset. Such information will help in better understanding SLE etiopathogenesis and in developing effective and safer strategies to combat SLE as well as other autoimmune diseases.