cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electroencephalography in a case of cerebral vascular malformation; report of a case.

Abstract 1. 1. A case is reported of an 11 1 2 year old boy with an intracerebral vascular malformation on whom 4 serial electroencephalograms were recorded. 2. 2. One of these recordings, obtained at the height of an exacerbation of symptoms helped to localize the lesion; the changes in the electroencephalograms paralleled the clinical course and yielded useful information. 3. 3. The advantage of serial EEG's is emphasized.
A comparison of magnesium sulfate and alcohol for the prevention of premature labor.

Abstract Intravenous magnesium sulfate and alcohol were compared as treatments for premature labor. A successful treatment was the absence of contractions for a 24 hour interval. Early treatment was found to be essential for successful management of premature labor. There is a significant correlation of cervical dilatation at the onset of treatment to success at controlling premature labor. There was no statistically significant relation of weeks of gestation or parity to success at controlling premature labor. In this study magnesium sulfate was the better agent for controlling premature labor.
Recombination between IS5 elements-requirement for homology and recombination functions

Intermolecular recombination between two IS5 elements was measured, using bacteriophage lambda recombination vectors, and was compared to recombination between two copies of an SV40 segment cloned into the same vectors. Experiments were conducted in the presence and in the absence of RecA and Red functions, and with the recombining inserts in the same or in reversed orientation. Under all conditions, IS5 elements recombined in a manner similar to the SV40 inserts, indicating that IS-encoded functions did not confer measurable additional intermolecular recombination ability to IS5 in E. coli K-12. Bacteriophages containing reversed IS5 inserts, for which the 16 base pair (bp) termini are identical in 15 positions and which display 12 bp of uninterrupted homology, recombined at approximately the same low frequency under Rec+ and Rec - conditions, indicating that these short homologies were not good substrates for the Rec system. Bacteriophages having reversed inserts recombined better under Red+ than under Red- conditions, but the crossovers were located in nonhomologous regions flanking the element termini. This suggests that 12-bp homologies are not good substrates for the Red system.
Peptide-triggered conformational switch in HIV-1 RRE RNA complexes

We have used NMR spectroscopy to determine the solution structure of a complex between an oligonucleotide derived from stem IIB of the Rev responsive element (RRE-IIB) of HIV-1 mRNA and an in vivo selected, high affinity binding Arg-rich peptide. The peptide binds in a partially alpha-helical conformation into a pocket within the RNA deep groove. Comparison with the structure of a complex between an alpha-helical Rev peptide and RRE-IIB reveals that the sequence of the bound peptide determines the local conformation of the RRE peptide binding site. A conformational switch of an unpaired uridine base was revealed; this points out into the solvent in the Rev peptide complex, but it is stabilized inside the RNA deep groove by stacking with an Arg side chain in the selected peptide complex. The conformational switch has been visualized by NMR chemical shift mapping of the uridine H5/H6 atoms during a competition experiment in which Rev peptide was displaced from RRE-IIB by the higher affinity binding selected peptide.
Local Coordinate Description of Fibre Bundles

In the first section, we show that, up to isomorphism, vector bundles are just locally trivial fibre bundles with a finite-dimensional vector space V as fibre and GL(V), the group of automorphisms of V, as a structure group. This is done by examining how trivial bundles are pieced together, using systems of transition functions to define a general locally trivial fibre bundle. We can apply this analysis to prove a theorem which says that any continuous functorial operation on vector spaces determines an operation on vector bundles. This allows construction of tensor products, exterior products, etc., of vector bundles.
Role of B61, the Ligand for the Eck Receptor Tyrosine Kinase, in TNF- α-Induced Angiogenesis

B61, a cytokine-inducible endothelial gene product, is the ligand for the Eck receptor protein tyrosine kinase (RPTK). Expression of a B61-immunoglobulin chimera showed that B61 could act as an angiogenic factor in vivo and a chemoattractant for endothelial cells in vitro. The Eck RPTK was activated by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) through induction of B61, and an antibody to B61 attenuated angiogenesis induced by TNF-alpha but not by basic fibroblast growth factor. This finding suggests the existence of an autocrine or paracrine loop involving activation of the Eck RPTK by its inducible ligand B61 after an inflammatory stimulus, the net effect of which would be to promote angiogenesis, a hallmark of chronic inflammation.
Content and release of acetylcholinesterase in skeletal muscle of rats with experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis

Abstract The effects of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG) on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) were investigated in diaphragms of adult female Lewis rats. Both total AChE activity per muscle and release of enzyme activity during a 3-h incubation in vitro were measured. Two groups of myasthenic animals were used. Acute EAMG was induced by intravenous injection 48 h earlier with a syngeneic monoclonal autoantibody against the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) of rat skeletal muscle; age- and weight-matched controls received a monoclonal anti-AChR antibody nonreactive with mammalian muscle. Chronic EAMG was induced by immunization 4 weeks earlier with AChR purified from Torpedo electroplax; controls received only adjuvants. When preparations from rats with acute or chronic EAMG were compared with the appropriate controls, no statistically significant differences in content or release of AChE activity were detected. Neither was there any change in the relative amounts of the various molecular forms of AChE in samples from animals with chronic EAMG. We conclude that the structural and functional changes arising in EAMG are highly specific for the acetylcholine receptor and associated elements of the neuromuscular junction, but have little impact on the biology of AChE.
Sources of Fine Particulate Material along the Wasatch Front

The concentration and composition of PM2.5 has been measured with a variety of continuous and integrated samplers at the Hawthorne EPA Environmental Monitoring for Public Awareness and Community Tracking (EMPACT) sampling site in Salt Lake City, UT, and at an EPA Science to Achieve Results (STAR) sampling site in Bountiful, UT. Data are considered at both sites during a 10-day winter period with high PM2.5 concentrations due to winter inversions, and at the Hawthorne site only during a fourteen day summer period when the site was impacted by smoke from wildfires in the Wasatch Mountains. The PM2.5 was dominated by organic material and ammonium nitrate in the winter and by organic material in the summer. In both cases, substantial amounts of sem-volatile material, SVM, was present which was not measured by a Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance (TEOM) monitor but was detected by a Real-Time Ambient Mass Sampler (RAMS). The PM2.5 data have been combined with concentrations of particulate soot and soil c...
Collective Oscillations in a Bubble Column

A physical mechanism that could account for some of the sound generation in the ocean is the production of bubble clouds by ocean surface agitation. From our laboratory study of the sound generated by bubble clouds it is demonstrated that the individual bubbles can engage in collective oscillations that portray a gross feature of the cloud itself. The agreement between the measured collective mode frequencies and the theoretical predictions give evidence that a major source of ocean ambient noise in the few hundred hertz region may be that associated with the collective oscillations of bubble clouds.
Solutions élémentaires invariantes pour les opérateurs différentiels invariants sur les espaces symétriques réductifs de type Gℂ/Gℝ**

Resume Soit G un groupe de Lie reductif complexe connexe de groupe derive simplement connexe. Soit H une forme reelle de G. Soit z un operateur differentiel G-invariant sur l'espace symetrique reductif G/H. On donne une condition suffisante explicite pour que z ait une solution elementaire invariante sur G/H.
Software Analytics: So What?

The guest editors of this special issue of IEEE Software invited submissions that reflected the benefits (and drawbacks) of software analytics, an area of explosive growth. They had so many excellent submissions that they had to split this special issue into two volumes--you'll see even more content in the September/October issue. They divided the articles on conceptual grounds, so both volumes will feature equally excellent work. The Web extra at http://youtu.be/nO6X0azR0nw is a video interview in which IEEE Software editor in chief Forrest Shull speaks with Tim Menzies about the growing importance of software analytics.
Measurements of the reduced force coefficients for H 2 , N 2 , CO, and CO 2 incident upon a solar panel array material, SiO 2 -coated Kapton, Kapton, and Z-93-coated Al

The reduced force coefficients were measured for H{sub 2}, N{sub 2}, CO, and CO{sub 2} incident upon a solar panel array material, SiO{sub 2}-coated Kapton, Kapton, and Z-93-coated Al. The coefficients were determined by measuring both the magnitude and direction of the force exerted on the surfaces by molecular beams of the gases. Measurements were made at angles of incidence of 0{degree}, 25{degree}, 50{degree}, 75{degree}, and 85{degree}. The forces were measured using a torsion balance with the surfaces mounted on the end of the lever arm. The absolute flux densities of the molecular beams were measured using a second torsion balance with a beam stop mounted on the lever arm that nullified the force of the scattered molecules. Flux measurements were also made using the effusive method. Standard time-of-flight techniques were used to determine the flux-weighted average velocities of the molecular beams. These velocities ranged from 1670 to 4620 m/s. The overall uncertainty in the reduced force coefficient measurements was estimated to be less than {plus_minus}10{percent}. These measurements were used to obtain the magnitude and direction of the flux-weighted average velocity of the scattered molecules, and also the flux-weighted translational kinetic energy of the scattered molecules. Analysis of this informationmore » provided insight into the microscopic details of the gas-surface interaction potential energy surface. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}« less
Parental selection, number of breeding populations, and size of each population in inbred development.

Some breeders select inbreds from many F2 or backcross breeding populations, each with relatively few progenies. Other breeders select inbreds from only a few breeding populations, each with many progenies. My objectives were to: (1) determine the relative importance of parental selection, number of breeding populations, and size of each population, and (2) find optimum combinations between number and size of breeding populations. I assumed that a breeder has resources to test a total of 2,000 recombinant inbreds for a quantitative trait that was controlled by 100 additive loci and had a heritability of 0.20, 0.60, or 1.0. The parental inbreds had an inherent pedigree structure due to advanced cycle breeding. The parental inbreds were ranked according to their mean performance, and breeding populations were made among all parents, the top 25% of parents, and the top 10% of parents. I found that the issue of number versus size of breeding populations was only secondary compared with the ability to identify, prior to making the crosses, the breeding populations with the highest mean performance. For a given level of effectiveness of parental selection, the selection response was largest when the maximum number of breeding populations was used. The effect of the number of breeding populations was minor, however, when selection was practiced among the parents or when heritability was less than 1.0. The results suggested that, in practice, large selection responses could be obtained with a wide range of combinations between number and size of breeding populations.
TCP westwood with agile probing: dealing with dynamic, large, leaky pipes

TCP westwood (TCPW) has been shown to provide significant performance improvement over high-speed heterogeneous networks. The key idea of TCPW is to use eligible rate estimation (ERE) methods, to set the congestion window (cwnd) and slow start threshold (ssthresh) after a packet loss. ERE is defined as the transmission rate a sender ought to use to achieve high utilization and remain friendly to other TCP variants. This paper presents TCP westwood with agile probing (TCPW-A), a sender-side only enhancement of TCPW. TCPW-A perform well when faced with highly dynamic bandwidth, large propagation time/bandwidth, and random loss in the current and future heterogeneous Internet. TCPW-A achieves its goal by incorporating the following, two mechanisms: 1) when a connection initially begins or re-starts after a timeout, instead of exponentially expanding cwnd to an arbitrary preset ssthresh and then going into linear increase. TCPW-A uses agile probing, a mechanism that repeatedly resets ssthresh based on ERE and forces cwnd into an exponential climb each time. The result is fast convergence to a more appropriate ssthresh value. 2) In congestion avoidance, TCPW-A invokes agile probing upon indication of unused extra bandwidth via a scheme we call load gauge (LG). Experimental results, both in Ns-2, and in measurements using FreeBSD implementation, show that TCPW-A can significantly improve link utilization over a wide range of bandwidth, propagation delay and dynamic network loading.
Atomic oxygen effects on the prefailure damage processes in highly filled glass/mica/epoxy composites

In the present study, the effect of atomic oxygen (AO) exposure, as a simulation of low earth orbit, on the flexural properties and prefailure damage mechanisms of a series of short glass fiber/mica/epoxy composites under three-point bending were elucidated using acoustic emission (AE) techniques. The incorporation of mica in the composites was shown to increase the resistance to AO as measured by the weight loss, ashing rate, and reaction efficiency. Furthermore, as the mica content increased, the resistance increased such that the all-mica composite had over one order of magnitude lower ashing rate and reaction efficiency than did the all-glass-fiber composite. This increased resistance was caused by the mica particles preferentially orienting parallel to the surface of the composites, creating an inorganic barrier to attack. The AO-induced erosion was found to have an insignificant effect on both the flexural properties and prefailure damage mechanisms because the erosion was confined to the epoxy surface only and did not affect the bulk.
Sorption kinetics and breakthrough curves for pepsin and chymosin using pepstatin A affinity membranes

Isotherms and kinetic parameters for pepsin and chymosin sorption to immobilized pepstatin A were measured in batch experiments. The measured single-solute parameters were used in an affinity-membrane model which included competitive sorption kinetics, axial diffusion and dead volume mixing. The predictions made using the affinity-membrane model matched the experimental breakthrough curves, whereas predictions made using local-equilibrium theory were a distinct mismatch. The performance of affinity-membrane separations was dominated by slow sorption kinetics.
Estrogen-dependent DNA synthesis in cultures of Xenopus liver parenchymal cells.

We have recently shown that extensive proliferation of liver parenchymal cells takes place in adult maleXenopus frogs in response to estradiol-17β, which also induces synthesis and secretion of vitellogenin, the precursor of yolk proteins. We demonstrate here that liver parenchymal cells from adult male animals can be maintained for several weeks in a defined tissue culture medium containing added insulin, dexamethasone, and triiodothyronine. Under these conditions the cells do not divide, but can synthesize DNA. Maximum DNA synthesis occurs in cells that have achieved monolayer morphology under low plating densities. Estradiol-17β causes a dose-dependent increase in the number of cells synthesizing DNA, as well as inducing synthesis of vitellogenin. Estrogen-dependent, but not background, DNA synthesis is inhibited by the antiestrogen tamoxifen. These results imply that estradiol-17β acts directly on liver cells to initiate DNA replication, probably by interaction with a receptor protein and induction of specific gene transcription.
Kr (n=5-10,s,d,g) electronic wave packets: Electron time-of-flight resolution and the ac-Stark shift during wave-packet preparation

A two-color $(3+{1}^{\ensuremath{'}})$ pump-probe scheme is used to create Rydberg wave packets in krypton atoms. The ac-Stark shift, caused by the high intensity pump pulse, allows access to states with principal quantum numbers $n=5--10$ over a broad energy range. States shifted by as much as $3000\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ during the pump pulse are coherently excited, resulting in wave-packet superpositions of field free states. By resolving the kinetic energy of the photoelectrons produced in the ionization probe step, numerous quantum beats are resolved and assigned. In addition, the energies of four previously unmeasured $g$ states are determined.
A THERAPEUTIC APPROACH TO SPEECH PHOBIA: ELECTIVE MUTISM REEXAMINED

Partial speech avoidance in young children has been known as elective mutism. Typically, a child manifests this disorder when he speaks only to a few select intimates, usually his parents and siblings, and studiously refrains from making any vocal utterances in the presence of all others. Most commonly, the problem presents itself when the child enters school and refuses to respond verbally to the teacher and to fellow students. After the educators have overcome their initial skepticism that the child is not speechless, for example, by eavesdropping on a conversation between parents and child or by listening to tapes of the child's voice as submitted by parents, a trial of coaxing the mute student to speak follows. Within a short time, however, teachers and administrators are feeling helpless and perplexed in the face of a continuing immutable silence. Since the children's behavior with extrafamilial persons is one of timidity and stiffness, school personnel begin to express concern for the child's mental stability under pressure and they retreat from making demands for speech. At this juncture, referral to a mental health specialist is usually recommended to parents. Although the earliest reference is credited to the German physician Kussmaul in 1877 who had described "voluntary mutism" in association with insanity (von Misch, 1952), a number of other terms were subsequently introduced to differentiate the syndrome for mute chil-
Mineralization enhancement of non-aqueous phase and soil-bound PCB using biosurfactant

Batch studies were conducted to evaluate the impact of biosurfactant (Rhamnolipid R1) on microbial utilization of radiolabeled 4,4′ chlorobiphenyl (4,4′CB). Production of 14 CO 2 , after addition of an acclimated bacterial culture ( Alcaligenes eutrophus ), was monitored to determine the extent and rate of mineralization. Bioavailability of non-aqueous and soil-bound phases upon biosurfactant treatment was evaluated. Addition of Rhamnolipid R1 elevated both the rate and extent of 4,4′CB mineralization; however, enhancement was pronounced only at biosurfactant concentrations above the critical micelle concentration (CMC). For a biosurfactant concentration of 4.0 g/L, the average mineralization rate of 4,4′CB was 45 times that measured in controls (no biosurfactant). The extent of 4,4′CB mineralization in the presence of 4.0 g/L biosurfactant increased by a factor of 213 over biotic controls. Elevated mineralization was due, in part, to aqueous solubility enhancement of the test compound in the presence of biosurfactant. The total mass of 4,4′CB mineralized in biosurfactant solutions exceeded the total initial mass of 4,4′CB dissolved in biosurfactant free solutions, which confirmed that micellized 4,4′CB was biodegradable. Co-mineralization of biosurfactant was at a minimum during periods of high 4,4′CB mineralization. The results of this research provide clear evidence that biosurfactant addition followed by pure culture biological treatment is a promising approach for treatment of non-aqueous phase and soil-bound PCBs.
Quantitative and qualitative relationships between fetal heart rate accelerations and fetal movement

We measured duration, amplitude, and duration at peak amplitude of 117 heart rate accelerations of 12 normal fetuses greater than 36 weeks gestation. Fetal movement measured by Doppler was analyzed for duration of movement; number of limb, spine, and rolling movements; and total movements per epoch of movement. Of 117 accelerations, only five were not associated with recorded movement and all of these had amplitude less than 12 bpm and duration less than 16 seconds. Only four (3%) accelerations occurred before fetal movement was detected, 23 (20%) began after onset of movement, and the large majority (77%) of fetal heart rate (FHR) accelerations occurred synchronously with fetal movement. In addition to an obvious correlation between number of movements and time spent in movement, a relationship exists between movements and duration of accelerations. Movements do not correlate with amplitude of accelerations. Fetal movement and heart rate acceleration relate temporally, but the strength or type of movemen...
Cytokines and nitric oxide synthase inhibitor as mediators of adrenergic refractoriness in cardiac myocytes

We have previously proposed that pro-inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) contributed to reversible myocardial depression in patients with sepsis and congestive heart failure. Sepsis and heart failure are also associated with refractoriness to β-adrenoceptor agonists. Therefore, the chronotropic effects of cytokines and the NO synthase inhibitor, NG-methyl-l-arginine (NMA), on β-adrenoceptor stimulation of neonatal cardiac myocytes were studied. Tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-1β and interleukin-6 but not interleukin-4 or interleukin-5 significantly enhanced spontaneous beating rates compared to untreated myocytes in serum-free media for 48 h (P<0.01; n=12 for each). NMA also significantly enhanced spontaneous beating rates (P<0.01; n=12 for each). Only interleukin-1β treatment resulted in significant nitrite production, immunohistochemical staining for inducible nitric oxide synthase and detection of inducible NO synthase messenger RNA by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). However, tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and NMA each completely blocked the positive chronotropic effects of the β-adrenoceptor agonist, isoproterenol (P<0.01; n=12 for each). These findings are most consistent with an inducible NO synthase-independent effect of cytokines and NMA on the chronotropic responses of neonatal cardiac myocytes to β-adrenoceptor stimulation. This effect of cytokines and NMA on adrenergic signaling may involve a myocardial constitutive NO synthase or an NO-independent mechanism.
Looking for a Structural Network: Effects of Changing Size and Style on Letter Recognition:

The accuracy of identifying backward-masked strings of unrelated letters was measured to test a prediction of a structural network model in which information about the absolute size of letters in a font is factored out from other types of information and is represented by a single size parameter. In this model, variation from block to block in the font size should be handled relatively easily by changing this parameter. In contrast, variation in several aspects of the font style would require changing multiple parameters and should be more difficult. In three experiments, the font was alternated in style, size, size and style, or not at all, at the end of each block of eight trials. The accuracy was lower overall when the font was varied, but contrary to the predictions of the model, variation in size reduced the accuracy of performance as much as did variation in style and variation in size and style.
Deep Brain Stimulation—A new treatment for tinnitus

Abstract Intractable tinnitus can lead to serious consequences. Study evidence indicates that the central nervous system is involved in generation and maintenance of chronic tinnitus and that tinnitus and other neurologic symptoms such as chronic pain may share similar mechanisms. Brain ablation and stimulation are used to treat chronic pain with success. Recent studies showed that ablation and stimulation in non-auditory areas resulted in tinnitus improvement. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) may be an alternative treatment for intractable tinnitus and deserves further study.
A High-Resolution Study of the HI Content of Local Group Dwarf Irregular Galaxy WLM

Dwarf irregular galaxies are unique laboratories for studying the interaction between stars and the interstellar medium in low mass environments. We present the highest spatial resolution observations to date of the neutral hydrogen content of the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxy WLM. We find that WLM's neutral hydrogen distribution is typical for a galaxy of its type and size and derive an HI mass of 6.3e7 Msun for WLM. In addition, we derive an HI extent for WLM of 30 arcmin, which is much less than the 45 arcmin extent found by Huchtmeier, Seiradakis, and Materne (1981). We show that the broken ring of high column density neutral hydrogen surrounding the center of WLM is likely the result of star formation propagating out from the center of the galaxy. The young stars and Ha emission in this galaxy are mostly correlated with the high column density neutral hydrogen. The gap in the central ring is the result of star formation in that region using up, blowing out, or ionizing all of the neutral hydrogen. Like many late-type galaxies, WLM's velocity field is asymmetric with the approaching (northern) side appearing to be warped and a steeper velocity gradient for the approaching side than for the receding side in the inner region of the galaxy. We derive a dynamical mass for WLM of 2.16e9 Msun.
Der Weg zu Fludelon: ein Tumortherapeutikum mit außergewöhnlichen Eigenschaften

Ein Prinzip der Biosynthese von niedermolekularen Naturstoffen ist die Optimierung ihrer Fahigkeit, an bestimmte Proteine oder andere Zielmolekule zu binden. Die Rahmenbedingungen, innerhalb derer ein zu synthetisierender Wirkstoff funktionieren muss, mogen letztlich ganz anders aussehen – dennoch kann der Einsatz solcher Naturstoffe als Leitsubstanzen zu einem signifikanten Vorsprung bei der Suche nach neuen, klinisch relevanten Wirkstoffen fuhren. In diesem Kurzaufsatz beschreiben wir, wie die chemische Synthese zu wirksameren Epothilonderivaten fuhrte und wie dies wiederum die Entwicklung neuer Synthesewege inspirierte. Dies demonstriert den Nutzen von zielgerichteten Totalsynthesen bei der Suche nach neuen Wirkstoffen.
A review of geographic variation and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in prescription drug use research.

Abstract Background While understanding geography's role in healthcare has been an area of research for over 40 years, the application of geography-based analyses to prescription medication use is limited. The body of literature was reviewed to assess the current state of such studies to demonstrate the scale and scope of projects in order to highlight potential research opportunities. Objective To review systematically how researchers have applied geography-based analyses to medication use data. Methods Empiric, English language research articles were identified through PubMed and bibliographies. Original research articles were independently reviewed as to the medications or classes studied, data sources, measures of medication exposure, geographic units of analysis, geospatial measures, and statistical approaches. Results From 145 publications matching key search terms, forty publications met the inclusion criteria. Cardiovascular and psychotropic classes accounted for the largest proportion of studies. Prescription drug claims were the primary source, and medication exposure was frequently captured as period prevalence. Medication exposure was documented across a variety of geopolitical units such as countries, provinces, regions, states, and postal codes. Most results were descriptive and formal statistical modeling capitalizing on geospatial techniques was rare. Conclusion Despite the extensive research on small area variation analysis in healthcare, there are a limited number of studies that have examined geographic variation in medication use. Clearly, there is opportunity to collaborate with geographers and GIS professionals to harness the power of GIS technologies and to strengthen future medication studies by applying more robust geospatial statistical methods.
G'rab'bing the microenvironment for invasion.

Transformation and metastasis require cell invasion. In this issue of Developmental Cell , Caswell et al. describe a unique mechanism regulating tumor cell invasion. The authors report that an interaction between β1 integrin and Rab25, a GTPase that has been linked to tumor aggressiveness and metastasis, regulates the recycling of α5β1 integrin to the leading edge of cell pseudopodia.
Contribution of glutamatergic systems in locus coeruleus to nucleus paragigantocellularis stimulation-evoked behavior.

The role of extracellular glutamate, within the locus coeruleus, in mediation of the behavioral signs elicited by electrical stimulation of the nucleus paragigantocellularis (PGi) was investigated in conscious, opioid-naive rats. Each rat was prepared with a chronically implanted unilateral electrode within the PGi and a microdialysis guide cannula directed at the ipsilateral locus coeruleus. Opioid withdrawal-like behaviors (rearing, teeth-chattering, wet-dog shakes, etc.) and increases in extracellular glutamate concentrations within the locus coeruleus were evoked, in a frequency-dependent (0.5–50 Hz) manner, during PGi stimulation. Reverse dialysis perfusion of the locus coeruleus with the nonspecific glutamate receptor antagonist, kynurenic acid (0.1, 1 mM), reduced the intensity of stimulation-induced behaviors by roughly 50%, but had no effect on the corresponding increases in glutamate concentrations. Perfusion of the locus coeruleus with the glutamate transporter inhibitor, l-trans-pyyrolidine dicarboxylic acid, at 1, but not at 0.1, mM significantly increased glutamate levels in dialysates. Neither concentration of the transporter inhibitor altered the behavioral score. The results indicate that the opioid withdrawal-like behaviors elicited by electrical stimulation of the brainstem at the site of the PGi are positively correlated with locus coeruleus levels of glutamate, and suggest further that the behaviors are partially mediated by release of glutamate within the locus coeruleus or its immediate vicinity.
Where does attention go when you blink

Many studies have shown that covert visual attention precedes saccadic eye movements to locations in space. The present research investigated whether the allocation of attention is similarly affected by eye blinks. Subjects completed a partial-report task under blink and no-blink conditions. Experiment 1 showed that blinking facilitated report of the bottom row of the stimulus array: Accuracy for the bottom row increased and mislocation errors decreased under blink, as compared with no-blink, conditions, indicating that blinking influenced the allocation of visual attention. Experiment 2 showed that this was true even when subjects were biased to attend elsewhere. These results indicate that attention moves downward before a blink in an involuntary fashion. The eyes also move downward during blinks, so attention may precede blink-induced eye movements just as it precedes saccades and other types of eye movements.
Phylogenetic Relationships and Species Limits within Phyllotis (Rodentia: Sigmodontinae): Concordance between mtDNA Sequence and Morphology

Phylogenetic relationships and species limits within the South American rodent genus Phyllotis were estimated using nucleotide sequence data from a 973 base-pair region of the mitochondrial gene, cytochrome b . Geographic variation and species limits were assessed by sequencing individuals from multiple populations and morphometric analyses of skulls and skins. Results supported the following clades: Phyllotis plus Auliscomys exclusive of Graomys , the darwini species group, and a northerly distributed species-pair of P. amicus and P. andium . The phylogeny, genetic divergence estimates, and morphology indicated that P. xanthopygus rupestris is polyphyletic and populations from the Pacific slope of the Andes currently assigned to that taxon are specifically distinct. These populations are placed in the newly elevated P. limatus and an emended diagnosis is provided. Biogeographic and phylogenetic patterns are most consistent with successive colonization of the Pacific slopes by P. xanthopygus , possibly through range expansion and contraction, over a short period of time relative to the age of the clade.
What We Owe The Author: rethinking editorial peer review

Editorial peer reviewers play an important role in shaping the direction of knowledge growth of their discipline. Recent concern over reports of peer review misconduct has led some to advocate the establishment of a code of ethics for peer reviewers. Such a code should include guidelines for the discipline and for society at large, but it should also contain guidelines for the authors whose manuscripts are reviewed. Peer reviewers have a special obligation to show beneficence and fairness or impartiality towards the authors for whom they review. The practical application of these two ethical concepts is discussed.
Invariance theory for nonlocal variational principles—I extended variations

Abstract This is the first in a series of four papers dealing with the extensions of the Noether theorems on invariance and conservation laws to the nonlocal calculus of variations. After a summary of the germain aspects of the nonlocal variational calculus, the effects of the action of coordinate transformations and point transformations on the domain space of dependent functions are obtained. These results are then used to compute the variations in a functional of functionals that are induced by infinitesimal coordinate transformations and point transformations. Several forms are obtained for such variations since each will be required in the sequel.
Liquid Crystalline Behavior in Octahedral Metal Complexes

Abstract Octahedral liquid crystals based upon diketonate complexes of Fe+3, Mn+3, and Cr+3 are reported. These materials display columnar phases with ≥12 sidechains and an ordered smectic phase with 6 sidechains.
Updated counselling for the patient with prostate cancer.

For many years, prostate cancer has been the most common cancer in American men. The disease is now common in men in the Middle East and in Arab countries. The ever-expanding, seemingly conflicting literature on prostate cancer makes counselling patients with prostate cancer a difficult but often necessary part of clinical practice. The mass of information that can be supplied to the patient can be overwhelming and can contribute to increased anxiety about making the ‘best decision’. It is thus important to give the information in a simple, accurate and compassionate manner that allows the patient to understand the facts about prostate cancer. As a pathological entity, prostate cancer occurs in almost all men as they age. Autopsy studies indicate that some men start to show evidence of cancer in their prostates as early as their third decade, with an increasing incidence over the subsequent decades. Once diagnosed, the patient needs to understand these facts, as well as the modern management methods and their application to his particular condition.
Collateral damage in the war on drugs: HIV risk behaviors among injection drug users

Abstract Objective: To determine whether two key War on Drugs policies, the criminalization of syringes and the disqualification of drug users from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, are associated with injection-related human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors among injection drug users (IDUs). Methods: IDUs were interviewed regarding HIV risk behaviors, drug use, and criminal activities in six San Francisco Bay Area communities in 1996 and followed through 1997 ( n =1257). Multivariate analysis was conducted to examine the association between concern about arrest while carrying drug paraphernalia and injection-related risk behaviors. Regarding SSI, respondents were interviewed before (1996) and after (1997) drug and alcohol addicts were disqualified from SSI ( n =88). Bivariate analysis was conducted comparing IDUs who lost SSI benefits with those who retained benefits. Results: Among our study sample, 32% of IDUs reported being concerned about possible arrest while carrying drug paraphernalia. In multivariate analysis, concerned IDUs were over one-and-a-half times more likely to share syringes than IDUs not concerned (adjusted odds ratio=1.74; 95% confidence interval=1.24, 2.44). Regarding SSI, 60% (53/88) of baseline SSI recipients had lost benefits by their follow-up interview. IDUs who lost benefits were more likely to participate in illegal activities (48 vs. 27%; P P P
A finite steepest-ascent algorithm for maximizing piecewise-linear concave functions

In this note, we describe a finitely convergent steepest-ascent scheme for maximizing piecewise-linear concave functions. Given any point, the algorithm moves along the direction of steepest ascent, that is, along the shortest subgradient, until a new ridge is reached. The overall process is then repeated by moving along the new steepest-ascent direction.
All paths through a maze

The author considers a specific maze shown as a figure. The question is to enumerate all 46 paths between two specificn points. It is supposed that if one tries manually, that he will probably find about three-fourths of all the paths and then become bogged down with redundancy. In the remainder of this letter, the author not only shows how to enumerate all paths from some starting nodet to some end node in a straightforward one-pass technique, but also how to determine the total number of paths between any two specific nodes. The second piece of information is determined essentially for no additional cost. The matrix technique of Murchland (1965) for generating all paths in maze or graph requires the eliminaotion of paths produced which contain a loop. Consequently, the author believes that the method proposed here is more efficient. Also, this new technique has a simpliclty, as found in Moore?s Shortest Route Algorithm (1957), which is not found in Murchland?s.
Comparison of theoretical and thermodynamic values of interconstituent interactions in DNA

Experimental base stacking and hydrogen bonding enthalpies, as determined from double stranded DNA melting studies, are compared with theoretical calculations of interactions between the respective DNA interconstituent components. Comparisons are made in relation to the differences in magnitudes, sequence dependent spreads, and trends. It is shown that the use of an effective dielectric constant reconciles the differences between the experimental and theoretical values. Suggestions are made for calibration of potential functions suitable for nucleic acid conformational analysis.
Gradient index polymer optics

The design, fabrication, and properties of one of a new class of gradient-index lenses are reported. The lens is an f /2.25 GRIN singlet based on a nanolayered polymer composite material, designed to correct for spherical aberration. The light gathering and focusing properties of the polymer lens are compared to a homogeneous BK7 glass singlet with a similar f-number. The modulation transfer function of the polymer GRIN lens exceeded that of the homogeneous glass lens at all spatial frequencies and was as much as 3 times better at 5 cyc/mm. The weight of the polymer lens was approximately an order of magnitude less than the homogeneous glass lens.
Thermal and Nonthermal Emission in Solar Flares

The observation that in many flares there is a linear correlation between the peak soft X-ray emission and the time-integrated nonthermal emission—the Neupert effect—indicates a strong link between particle acceleration and chromospheric evaporation. In this Letter we consider the hydrodynamic response of impulsively heated flare loops. We find that the peak soft X-ray flux should scale approximately as E1.75/V0.75L0.25, where E is the total input energy, V is the flare volume, and L is the loop length. This scaling is not consistent with the linear relationship implied by the Neupert effect unless there are additional correlations between the input energy and the other parameters of the flare.
Plasma low density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration in cynomolgus monkeys; Differing effects of age and body weight in animals consuming low and high cholesterol diets

Abstract It has been reported in cross-sectional studies that plasma cholesterol concentration does not increase with age in nonhuman primates who consume a cholesterol-free diet over their lifetimes. However, dietary composition and body weight may confound any change in plasma cholesterol concentration during aging, as is the case in humans in industrialized societies. To determine if the relationship between age and plasma cholesterol concentration is affected by dietary cholesterol and body weight in nonhuman primates, we compared post-pubertal male cynomolgus monkeys consuming low cholesterol (0.04 mg cholesterol/kcal; n = 10) and high cholesterol (0.39 mg cholesterol/kcal: n = 21) diets. A univariate repeated measures analysis of covariance of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentration was performed from a longitudinal data set (monkeys aged 5 to 20 years), containing an average of 34 observations per animal. The interaction of age and body weight on LDL cholesterol concentration differed among the two dietary groups. In monkeys consuming the low cholesterol diet, an increase in age was associated with a small increase in mean LDL cholesterol concentration. This effect of age increased with increasing body weight. Monkeys on the high cholesterol diet had higher mean LDL concentration, but showed no significant effect of aging on concentration. Instead, at all ages, LDL concentration was strongly affected (positively) by body weight in this group. A qualitatively similar (but quantitatively smaller) effect of body weight was observed only at older ages in the low dietary cholesterol group. We conclude that the associations of LDL concentration with age and body weight in cynomolgus monkeys are strongly influenced by dietary cholesterol. The similarity of the interaction of age and body weight on LDL cholesterol concentration in older monkeys consuming 0.04 mg/kcal/day to those in older humans of industrial societies suggests that such animals may provide a useful experimental model of the effects of aging and weight on LDL metabolism.
Analysis of pharmacokinetic data using parametric models. III: hypothesis tests and confidence intervals

This is the third in a series of tutorial articles discussing the analysis of pharmacokinetic data using parametric models. In this article the concern is how to test hypotheses about, and assign confidence intervals to, the values of the parameters of such models. The basic approach to both tasks involves determining the goodness of fit of the model to the data for alternative values of the parameters and using the change in goodness of fit to assess the plausibility of the alternative values. The goodness of fit is measured by the value of a (least-squares-type) objective function. An approximation to the dependence of the latter on the parameter values yields an estimate of the familiar asymptotic covariance matrix of the estimates. The latter can also be used to test hypotheses about, and assign confidence intervals to, functions of parameters.
Synergistic Effects of Amides from Two Piper Species on Generalist and Specialist Herbivores

Plants use a diverse mix of defenses against herbivores, including multiple secondary metabolites, which often affect herbivores synergistically. Chemical defenses also can affect natural enemies of herbivores via limiting herbivore populations or by affecting herbivore resistance to parasitoids. In this study, we performed feeding experiments to examine the synergistic effects of imides and amides (hereafter “amides”) from Piper cenocladum and P. imperiale on specialist (Eois nympha, Geometridae) and generalist (Spodoptera frugiperda, Noctuidae) lepidopteran larvae. Each Piper species has three unique amides, and in each experiment, larvae were fed diets containing different concentrations of single amides or combinations of the three. The amides from P. imperiale had negative synergistic effects on generalist survival and specialist pupal mass, but had no effect on specialist survival. Piper cenocladum amides also acted synergistically to increase mortality caused by parasitoids, and the direct negative effects of mixtures on parasitoid resistance and pupal mass were stronger than indirect effects via changes in growth rate and approximate digestibility. Our results are consistent with plant defense theory that predicts different effects of plant chemistry on generalist versus adapted specialist herbivores. The toxicity of Piper amide mixtures to generalist herbivores are standard bottom-up effects, while specialists experienced the top-down mediated effect of mixtures causing reduced parasitoid resistance and associated decreases in pupal mass.
Alanine Aminotransferase: A Clinical and Regulatory Tool for Detecting Liver Injury–Past, Present, and Future

Assay of the serum activity of the enzyme alanine aminotransferase (ALT) has become the primary screening tool for detecting acute liver injury. But what does an elevated value mean? Not what it is too often mistakenly believed to indicate. It is not a test of liver function. It does not necessarily predict worse effects to come (in a given person). It is not a valid measure of severity of liver injury or dysfunction. It is too unspecific to be reliable in screening for relatively rare effects on the liver. Although these are substantial limitations, ALT is a very useful biomarker if understood and used properly. It is important to consider how and why these erroneous concepts came to have such wide acceptance, and how elevations of ALT activity for evaluating patients and subjects under study might be interpreted better.
Water Transfer Projects and the Role of Fisheries Biologists

Abstract Water transfer projects are commonly considered important mechanisms for meeting increasing water demands. However, the movement of water from one area to another may have broad ecosystem effects, including on fisheries. The Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society held a symposium in 1995 at Virginia Beach, Virginia, to discuss the ecological consequences of water transfer and identify the role of fisheries biologists in such projects. Presenters outlined several case studies, including the California State Water Project, Garrison Diversion Project (North Dakota), Lake Texoma Water Transfer Project (Oklahoma-Texas), Santee-Cooper Diversion and Re-diversion projects (South Carolina), and Tri-State Comprehensive Study (Alabama-Florida-Georgia). Results from these studies suggest that fisheries biologists have provided critical information regarding potential ecological consequences of water transfer. If these professionals continue to be called for information regarding the ecological c...