cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gastrointestinal Hormones and Bariatric Surgery-induced Weight Loss

Obesity continues to be a major public health problem in the United States and worldwide. While recent statistics have demonstrated that obesity rates have begun to plateau, more severe classes of obesity are accelerating at a faster pace with important implications in regards to treatment. Bariatric surgery has a profound and durable effect on weight loss, being to date one of the most successful interventions for obesity. Objective To provide updates to the possible role of gut hormones in post bariatric surgery weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Design and Methods The current review examines the changes in gastro-intestinal hormones with bariatric surgery and the potential mechanisms by which these changes could result in decreased weight and adiposity. Results The mechanism by which bariatric surgery results in body weight changes is incompletely elucidated, but it clearly goes beyond caloric restriction and malabsorption. Conclusion Changes in gastro-intestinal hormones, including increases in GLP-1, PYY, and oxyntomodulin, decreases in GIP and ghrelin, or the combined action of all these hormones might play a role in induction and long-term maintenance of weight loss.
Bridge: a retargetable extensive profiling tool

The task of identifying an appropriate processor for a given class of applications to arduous and time consuming, requiring access to processors and extensive study of the processor architecture and organization. We describe Bridge, a retargetable profiling tool that attempts to ease the aforementioned task. Currently, Bridge is targeted to two microcontrollers: the Motorola 68HC11 and the MicroChip PIC16C64. In analyzing Quicksort and Heapsort routines it was found that the HC11 uses 2.7 and 6.8 times more execution cycles, respectively, than PIC. The resource utilization statistics were used to determine that the HC11 requires more additions for memory address generation. The PIC architecture, however, is limited to sorting 40 integers using Quicksort and 50 integers using Heapsort, due to use of 8-bit addresses. In contrast, the HC11 which uses 16 bit addresses, can be used to sort up to 3,000 integers.
Prediction of mountain stream morphology

[1] We use a large and diverse data set from mountain streams around the world to explore relationships between reach-scale channel morphology and control variables. The data set includes 177 step-pool reaches, 44 plane-bed reaches, and 114 pool-riffle reaches from the western United States, Panama, and New Zealand. We performed several iterations of stepwise discriminant analysis on these data. A three-variable discriminant function using slope (S), D84, and channel width (w) produced an error rate of 24% for the entire data set. Seventy percent of plane-bed reaches were correctly classified (16% incorrectly classified as pool-riffle and 14% incorrectly classified as step-pool). Sixty-seven percent of pool-riffle channels were correctly classified (31% incorrectly classified as plane-bed and 2% as step-pool). Eighty-nine percent of step-pool reaches were correctly classified (9% incorrectly classified as plane-bed and 2% as pool-riffle). The partial R2 values and F tests indicate that S is by far the most significant single explanatory variable. Comparison of the eight discriminant functions developed using different data sets indicates that no single variable is present in all functions, suggesting that the discriminant functions are sensitive to the specific stream reaches being analyzed. However, the three-variable discriminant function developed from the entire data set correctly classified 69% of the 159 channels included in an independent validation data set. The ability to accurately classify channel type in other regions using the three-variable discriminant function developed from the entire data set has important implications for water resources management, such as facilitating prediction of channel morphology using regional S-w-D84 relations calibrated with minimal field work.
Ab Initio Calculations of NMR Chemical Shielding

Publisher Summary This chapter gives an overview of the current state of ab initio calculations of the NMR chemical shielding. It provides a general overview citing some of the limitations and problems one faces in carrying out the chemical shielding calculations and quantum mechanical calculations in general. Then the basics of the theory are presented in the chapter. Many of the calculations of chemical shielding discussed are done at the Hartree-Fock level on rigid and isolated molecules. The main approaches to the calculations are examined (mainly, the various ways of combating the gauge problem), and then are presented that are representative illustrations of shielding calculations, beginning at the Hartree-Fock level and ending with the more recent attempts to include electron correlation. Chemical shielding is a tensor quantity and is generally described in terms of the three principal values of the symmetrized shift tensor and the orientation of its principal axes. The chapter discusses some examples, including correlation in shielding the calculations by way of many body of MOller-Plesseth perturbation theory in the GIAO method, the implementation of the second-order polarization propagator (SOPPA) method that incorporates the localized-orbital-local-origin (LORG) methodology called SOLO (second-order LORG), a non-perturbative multi-configuration extension of IGLO called MC-IGL, and finally an example employing the density function theory.
Novel Therapeutic Approach for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease by Peripheral Administration of Agents with an Affinity to β-Amyloid

Plaques containing β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides are one of the pathological features of Alzheimer's disease, and the reduction of Aβ is considered a primary therapeutic target. Amyloid clearance by anti-Aβ antibodies has been reported after immunization, and recent data have shown that the antibodies may act as a peripheral sink for Aβ, thus altering the periphery/brain dynamics. Here we show that peripheral treatment with an agent that has high affinity for Aβ (gelsolin or GM1) but that is unrelated to an antibody or immune modulator reduced the level of Aβ in the brain, most likely because of a peripherally acting effect. We propose that in general, compounds that sequester plasma Aβ could reduce or prevent brain amyloidosis, which would enable the development of new therapeutic agents that are not limited by the need to penetrate the brain or evoke an immune response.
Preventive Interventions for Depression: What We Can Do to Advance the Field

Collins and Dozois (2008) review the depression prevention literature to identify active components of existing programs with the goal of advancing the field. This commentary highlights some of the issues raised by Collins and Dozois as well as other areas that are crucial to the advancement of depression prevention. These include (a) reframing the debate about core intervention components, (b) designing studies with the goal of identifying putative mechanisms, (c) developing novel preventive interventions, (d) empirically studying the involvement of parents in prevention programs, and (e) investigating the effectiveness of preventive interventions when delivered by real-world clinicians.
Cloning and Functional Characterization of Roaz, a Zinc Finger Protein that Interacts with O/E-1 to Regulate Gene Expression: Implications for Olfactory Neuronal Development

We have identified a protein, Rat O/E-1-associated zinc finger protein (Roaz), that plays a role in regulating the temporal and spatial pattern of olfactory neuronal-specific gene expression. This protein functions by interacting with the olfactory factor O/E-1 and modulating its transcriptional activity. Roaz, isolated via a yeast two-hybrid screen, encoded a protein containing 29 C2H2 zinc fingers of the TFIIIA type. The Roaz mRNA was found in brain, eye, olfactory epithelium, spleen, and heart. In situ hybridization data indicated that Roaz was expressed in the basal layer, consisting of neural precursor cells and immature sensory neurons of the olfactory epithelium, but not in the mature receptor cells. We showed that the Roaz protein bound specifically to O/E-1 by using the yeast two-hybrid system. The two proteins formed a stable complex in coimmunoprecipitation and in vitro binding assays. Introduction of Roaz and O/E-1 into cells containing an olfactory promoter-driven luciferase reporter demonstrated that Roaz abolished O/E-1-mediated transcriptional activation. We propose that the function of Roaz is to modulate negatively the transactivational activity of O/E-1 and to act as a switch protein in the coordination of olfactory sensory neuron differentiation.
Prednisone for chronic active liver disease: pharmacokinetics, including conversion to prednisolone.

To determine the effect of impaired liver function on conversion of prednisone to prednisolone, and to investigate the relationship of this to responses to treatment with prednisone, we measured serum prednisone and prednisolone by radioimmunoassay after 10 mg of prednisone was given by vein to 10 healthy volunteers, 6 untreated patients with severe chronic active liver disease (CALD), 10 patients with prednisoneinduced remission of CALD, and 3 patients with CALD deteriorating despite treatment with prednisone. Prednisone disappearance was comparable in all groups and substantial values for serum prednisolone appeared in all groups within 0.3 hr. Minor differences between the groups included lower than normal serum prednisolone in severe CALD and treatment failure; a higher percentage of nonprotein bound prednisolone in such patients; and an association between earlier treatment with prednisone and an increased disappearance rate of prednisolone. We conclude that no major defect of prednisone metabolism occurs in CALD and that failure of this condition to respond to therapy with prednisone is caused by other factors.
Entitlements, the deficit, and spending caps.

This article investigates three common perceptions about entitlement spending-that it is the primary cause of growing budget deficits, that nonmeans-tested entitlements (such as Social Security and Medicare) have grown faster than other entitlement programs, and that nonmeans-tested benefit programs are skewed toward the affluent. Drawing on data from the vast 30 years of federal spending and tabulations from the Current Population Survey, the article concludes that these perceptions are inaccurate. The article then examines recently proposed spending caps, finding that they would have had little impact on entitlement spending other than Medicare and Medicaid, but would have required very large cuts in those two programs. It discusses the mechanics of spending caps, their effect on the nature of entitlement benefits; and the feasibility of placing caps on cash versus in-kind entitlement benefits. It concludes that, while direct spending caps would in effect change entitlements into discretionary programs,...
The King LT versus the Combitube: Flight Crew Performance and Preference

AbstrastIntroduction. Air medical personnel frequently face the challenge of the emergency airway. The Combitube is an airway device commonly used by emergency medical services (EMS) providers as either a primary or rescue airway. Objective. We sought to evaluate the performance and preference of air medical personnel using a newer laryngeal tube airway device, the King LT, versus the Combitube in a simulator model. Methods. Participants included flight physicians, nurses, and paramedics in our air medical transport program. Twenty-seven subjects participated. Participants received a 10-minute instructional program, and then had individual practice with each device. Participants were tested on the insertion of each device in a Laerdal SimMan. Rates of successful placement, time to successful placement, and practitioner preference were recorded. Perceived ease of insertion was measured on a five-point scale (1 = easy, 5 = difficult). Results. All 27 participants correctly placed each device. Mean time to p...
Leeches and their microbiota: naturally simple symbiosis models

Strictly blood-feeding leeches and their limited microbiota provide natural and powerful model systems to examine symbiosis. Blood is devoid of essential nutrients and it is thought that symbiotic bacteria synthesize these for the host. In this review, three distinct leech-microbe associations are described: (i) the mycetome, which is the large symbiont-containing organ associated with the esophagus; (ii) the nephridia and bladders that form the excretory system; and (iii) the digestive tract, where two bacterial species dominate the microbiota. The current knowledge and features of leech biology that promote the investigation of interspecific interactions (host-microbe and microbe-microbe) and their evolution are highlighted.
Time-domain finite difference calculations for interaction of an ultrasonic wave with a surface-breaking crack

Abstract Four two-dimensional configurations are considered in this paper. The first two concern a homogeneous slab (0⩽ y ⩽ H , −∞ x x =0, 0⩽ y ⩽ a ), and without such a crack. The other two configurations concern semi-infinite slabs of different mechanical properties which are in welded contact over x =0, 0⩽ y ⩽ H . One of these has a surface-breaking crack in the interface ( x =0, 0⩽ y ⩽ a ), and the other has perfect contact over the whole interface. Results are presented for diffraction and corner reflection of an ultrasonic displacement pulse. Time-domain calculations have been carried out bu the use of the finite difference method. The results are presented as full-field snapshots of the displacement fields at specified times, and as time histories of the particle velocity at the midpoint of the transducer-specimen interface at x =− H , y = H .
Three Enzymes of Carbon Metabolism or their Antigenic Analogs in Pea Leaf Nuclei

Antigens closely resembling or identical to the three glycolytic enzyme proteins phosphate-glycerate kinase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and aldolase are found in situ in the nucleus of the leaf mesophyll cells of pea (Pisum sativum L.). These proteins have already been identified in vertebrate nuclei. Apparently, these enzymes are nuclear proteins with “secondary” roles not directly related to their enzymatic function in carbon metabolism in both animals and plants.
Dependence of longitudinal mode structure on injected carrier diffusion in diode lasers

We hypothesize that the longitudinal mode structure of diode lasers is greatly influenced by the axial diffusion of injected carriers. Thus several longitudinal modes can coexist in lasers which utilize both injected electrons and slowly diffusing injected holes, whereas lasers which only use injected electrons should operate in a single longitudinal mode.
Diagnostics of low — temperature plasma by refractional methods

Plasma — chemical processes, e.g. during deposition of thin films, are in addition to electron and ion states also influenced by the state of neutral gas. Visualization of density inhomogeneities can be performed by refractional methods. Quantitative analysis of such images is complicated as the refraction depends on partial derivatives of refractive index. As a first step in attempt to estimate some gas or plasma parameters related to the refractive index we formulated equations enabling effective computer modeling of such images and along with them derived inversion formulas based on the Abel transformation for cylindrically symmetric transparent objects. The inverse Abel transformation cannot be applied directly as partial derivatives of the refractive index break its radial symmetry. Based on the derived formulas we have developed a code modeling images for defined inner conditions of plasma.
Vertebral augmentation techniques for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures: A review

Vertebral augmentation techniques have become enormously popular procedures in the United States and abroad for the treatment of painful vertebral compression fractures. This minimally invasive procedure avoids or mitigates the direct and indirect adverse effects of pharmacologic and conventional pain treatment modalities while providing pain relief and improved function in an expedited fashion. Vertebral augmentation procedures include percutaneous vertebroplasty, the injection of bone cement directly into a fractured vertebral body, and balloon kyphoplasty, in which an inflatable bone tamp is employed to create a cavity in the bone prior to cement injection. These procedures are performed on fractures of thoracolumbar vertebrae and the sacral vertebrae (sacroplasty). Until recently, the efficacy of vertebral augmentation procedures had been supported in numerous case reports, case series, and nonrandomized trials. Practitioners valued the procedures, and patients seemed to prefer the active intervention as opposed to medical therapy. However, the level of evidence of these early reports was fair to poor because of the lack of randomized, controlled trials. Recent prospective, randomized, and controlled trials have done little to confirm or deny the efficacy of the techniques. In general, they have found percutaneous vertebroplasty or balloon kyphoplasty either beneficial or not different compared with conservative therapy with regards to primary (pain and disability) and secondary outcome indexes (quality of life, analgesic usage, etc.). The direction of future studies should be directed at endpoints, such as short-term benefits, cost-effectiveness, and longer-term prognosis, and should include adequate sample sizes to allow stratification of patients according to history and physical findings.
Nonlinear Materials For Frequency Conversion

Two figures of merit, the threshold power (P th ) and the limiting volume (Vmin) can be used to compare the relative efficiency and economy of new harmonic generating crystals. The properties of barium metaborate and L-Arginine phosphate are used to illustrate the effect of nonlinearity, birefringence, and damage threshold on these figures of merit.
A deep mantle source for high 3He/4He ocean island basalts (OIB) inferred from Pacific near-ridge seamount lavas

[1] One of the most contentious issues in the debate on the origin of volcanic island and seamount chains is the significance of high 3He/4He ratios at such locations. The contemporary hotspot hypothesis calls for the high 3He/4He signature to be derived from a distinct source reservoir that lies deep in the mantle. The competing plate stress hypothesis claims that extreme isotopic signals, such as the high 3He/4He, come from dispersed crustal lithologies in the upper mantle. Here, we show that lavas from the East Pacific Rise–the ridge axis and near-ridge seamounts, which have radiogenic isotope compositions overlapping with other Pacific OIB, do not have high 3He/4He ratios. This suggests that high 3He/4He is not associated with dispersed, heterogeneous lithologies embedded in the upper mantle. We conclude that the mantle source of high 3He/4He OIB is unique to volcanic island and seamount chains and likely resides at depth in the mantle.
Smoking cessation, smoking reduction, and delayed quitting among smokers given nicotine patches and a self-help pamphlet.

Over-the-counter nicotine replacement raises questions regarding its “real world” efficacy. This was an open-label, prospective study of 223 smokers who received 42 free nicotine patches and a self-help booklet via shopping mall distribution. The overall quit rate 6 months following distribution of the nicotine patches was 22% (50/223), almost the same quit rate found 6 weeks following patch distribution (21%, 47/223). Twelve percent (27/223) were abstinent at both 6 weeks and 6 months. Among the 83 participants who did not quit, cigarettes smoked per day dropped from 28 to 18. A substantial subgroup of quitters (14%) who, although still smoking at 6 weeks, were smoke free at 6 months, and it appears they had purposefully delayed a serious quit attempt. These results support the usefulness of nicotine patches in helping smokers quit, even with only minimal intervention such as a self-help manual.
Visualization of convective solidification in a vertical layer of eutectic Ga-In melt

A vertical layer of an eutectic gallium indium mixture was subjected to a horizontal temperature gradient. The well stirred melt was first solidified and then remelted in a slow, quasi-steady fashion. Real-time visualization of the processing is provided by radioscopy. It was observed that gravitational segregation leads to 1) a break down of convection, and 2) an early solidification of β-indium, followed by an eutectic solidification of most of the remaining melt. The amount of observed concentrational segregation is higher than predicted by theory. The experimental findings have never been predicted in modeling efforts of similar situations including convection; possible reasons are discussed.
Strong-coupling cavity QED with nitrogen vacancy centers and silica microspheres

We report experimental demonstration of strong-coupling in a cavity QED system, in which nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond nanocrystals are coupled to whispering gallery modes in a deformed silica microsphere.
Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice: Language Policy in Multilingual Organisations

A number of language policy researchers have discussed language needs of business, while nearly all of the scant literature on what a corporate language policy would look like has been conducted by human resource management scholars and published in management journals. This lack of attention in the academic literature is surprising, since corporate language policy (presumably) affects everyone who works or will work in a corporation. From a language management theory perspective, ‘language’ presents particular resources and challenges in multilingual organisations, such as how to reconcile power implications of language choice with organisational need for effective communication. In order for an international organisation to have an effective language management policy, it must carefully consider its linguistic needs and be able to develop and capture the linguistic knowledge of its employees to surmount communication barriers. Language management as a form of knowledge management is proposed and recomme...
Time Resolved Transmission and Reflectivity of Pulsed Ruby Laser Irradiated Silicon

The time resolved optical transmission, T (at lambda = 1152 nm), and reflectivity, R (at 633 nm and 1152 nm), have been measured for n-type single crystalline silicon (C-Si) during and immediately after pulsed ruby laser irradiation (lambda = 693 nm, FWHM pulse duration 14 nsec), for a range of pulsed laser energy densities, E/sub l/. The T is found to go to zero, and to remain at zero, for a period of time that increases with increasing E/sub l/, in apparent disagreement with earlier measurements elsewhere that used semi-insulating Si and a different pulsed laser wavelength. Measured reflectivities during the high R phase agree within experimental error with reflectivities calculated from the optical constants of molten Si. Quantitative agreement is also found between both our T and R measurements and detailed time- and E/sub l/- dependent results of thermal melting model calculations.
The Effect of Pre-Existing Affect on the Sexual Responses of Women With and Without a History of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Women with a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) are at greater risk for experiencing sexual problems in their adult lives. Yet, little is known about the possible role of cognitive and affective mechanisms in the development of sexual arousal difficulties in this population. This study investigated the role of pre-existing affect (affect prior to exposure to sexual stimuli) on genital responses, subjective sexual arousal, and affect elicited during the presentation of erotic film excerpts in a community sample of 25 women with and 25 women without a history of CSA. The CSA group showed greater pre-existing negative affect and smaller genital responses to the erotic film stimuli compared to the NSA group. Findings support a moderating effect of CSA, in that pre-existing negative affect was associated with strength of genital responses in the NSA but not in the CSA group. The results did not support a mediation model of pre-existing negative affect as an explanation for smaller physiological sexual responses in the CSA group. Taken together, the findings suggest that pre-existing affect may be more relevant for women with no history of CSA and call for more research on factors implicated in impaired sexual responses in women with a history of CSA.
A simple model of sectoral adjustment

Despite the significance of limited labour mobility across sectors, few attempts have been made to produce dynamic models of sectoral adjustment which are consistent with perfect foresight and, yet, flexible enough to allow for a variety of dynamic experiments. This paper proposes a simple perfect-foresight model of two-sector economies, in which aggregate sectoral movement of labour takes place through the process of demographic change. The model is tractable enough that one can easily examine the effects of intertemporally complicated relative price shocks (both exogenous and endogenous) under a variety of assumptions on technology.
A PREEMPTIVE VALUE‐FUNCTION METHOD APPROACH FOR MULTIOBJECTIVE LINEAR PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS

Many common decision-making situations require integration of a number of objectives or goals into a single objective function to be optimized. A number of techniques for performing this analysis are presented in the literature. These procedures generally require a tradeoff between realism and tractability. The present approach uses the idea of preemptive priority levels with an approximate value function at each level. An efficient experimental design is used to assess directly a quadratic approximation of the multiattribute value functions. An existing algorithm is then used to solve the resulting problem. This procedure is shown to give good results when compared to both the value-function method and goal programming.
p-mode absorption in the giant active region of 10 March, 1989

The interaction of solar p-mode oscillations with solar active regions has been studied in the case of the velocity oscillations observed in the vicinity of NOAA region 5359 on March 10, 1989. A maximum of nearly 70 percent of the power of incident high-degree modes is noted to be absorbed by this exceptionally large sunspot group. The occurrence of a major flare within this region during the observing sequence furnished a unique opportunity for testing the hypothesis that flares can excite photospheric acoustic waves. A search for acoustic 'pulses' emanating from the flare leads no detection of pulses, to a level of about 20 percent of the background power.
Sexual Submissiveness in Women: Costs for Sexual Autonomy and Arousal

Women are bombarded with images of women's sexual submission and subservience to male partners. The authors argue that women internalize this submissive role, namely, they associate sex implicitly with submission. The authors propose that this association leads to submissive sexual behavior, thereby reducing sexual autonomy and arousal. Study 1 found that women implicitly associated sex with submission. Study 2 showed that women's implicit association of sex with submission predicted greater personal adoption of a submissive sexual role. Study 3 found that men did not implicitly associate sex with submission. Study 4 demonstrated that women's adoption of a submissive sexual role predicted lower reported arousal and greater reported difficulty becoming sexually aroused; sexual autonomy mediated these effects.
Ultrastructure of a primary fibrosarcoma of the human thyroid gland

A primary fibrosarcoma of the thyroid occurring in a patient with a nodular goiter is described. Light microscopy showed interwoven bundles of spindle cells admixed with plump ovoid cells, and foci of multinucleated giant cells. Remnants of distorted thyroid follicles were found only at the periphery of the tumor. "Transitional" epithelial elements were not discernible but the tumor resembled an anaplastic giant cell carcinoma. Multiple blocks studied by electron microscopy, however, revealed that the tumor cells, including the giant cells, have the ultrastructure features of a fibroblast.
Activation of human insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 gene promoter by a distal regulatory sequence in a human endometrial adenocarcinoma cell line.

Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-1 (IG-FBP-1) is the major secretory protein of decidualized human endometrium. To understand IGFBP-1 gene regulation in human endometrium, we studied the IGFBP-1 gene promoter activity in human endometrial adenocarcinoma cell line HEC-1B. Previously, we have reported that a 105-base pair (bp) ClaI/RsaI fragment, from -2732 to -2628, of IGFBP-1 promoter enhances promoter activity by 10-fold in HEC-1B cells. In this study we have characterized the activation of IGFBP-1 promoter by this distal regulatory sequence. Transient transfection assays with deletion constructs demonstrated that the activating cis-elements were located in a 59-bp fragment, from -2686 to -2628, which enhanced promoter activity 50-fold. Transient transfections and gel mobility shift assays with oligo-directed mutants revealed three cis-elements within this 59-bp region: I) ATGGGTGGGA (-2675 to -2666), II) GCTGAGCAAGTGCACAACTATCC (-2660 to -2638), and III) AGGGCGGAGT (-2637 to -2628). In nuclear...
Complex patterns of expression suggest extensive roles for the α2β1 integrin in murine development

The extracellular matrix plays important roles in embryogenesis. The integrin family of adhesion receptors may mediate critical cellular interactions with the extracellular matrix during development. In this study, we elucidated the developmental spatial and temporal expression pattern of the alpha 2 beta 1 integrin heterodimer, a cell surface receptor for collagens and laminin. We generated reagents for studying the alpha 2 beta 1 integrin and examined the developmental expression of the integrin in postimplantation mice. A partial length murine alpha 2 cDNA was isolated and the protein encoding region was found to be 82% homologous to that of the human alpha 2 cDNA. A synthetic peptide corresponding to the carboxy-terminus of murine alpha 2 was used to generate alpha 2-specific antiserum. The antiserum and riboprobes derived from both the alpha 2 cDNA and the previously characterized murine beta 1 subunit cDNA were used to determine the spatiotemporal expression of the alpha 2 subunit by immunocytochemistry and of the alpha 2 and beta 1 mRNAs by in situ hybridization. Both approaches gave concordant results. Expression of the alpha 2 integrin subunit was observed in both the maternal and embryonic components of the placenta, namely the perivascular and basal zone decidual cells and decidual cells and spongiotrophoblasts at the maternal/embryonic junction. Expression was also observed in cells actively producing and remodeling the extracellular matrix in the maternal uterus and in the developing gut, lens, cartilage, bone, and tooth of the embryo. Generally, expression of the alpha 2 integrin subunit was found in cells entering their later stages of differentiation such as in chondrocytes as they became hypertrophic, ameloblasts and odontoblasts as they became columnar and began to secrete the matrix of the tooth, endothelial cells after they formed tubules, in the lens just prior to and during lens fiber production, and in the collecting ducts of the kidney only after full gestation. Throughout embryogenesis, beta 1 mRNA was widely distributed and present in cell types expressing alpha 2 mRNA and protein. The developmental expression pattern of the alpha 2 beta 1 integrin suggests roles for the integrin in placental development and matrix assembly and remodeling.
Single dose fetal betamethasone administration stabilizes postnatal glomerular filtration rate and alters endocrine function in premature lambs.

These studies determined the effects of fetal treatment with betamethasone alone, or in combination with thyroid hormone (thyroxine; T4), on postnatal renal and endocrine adaptations in preterm newborn lambs. Ovine fetuses (126 d of gestation; term = 150 d) received single, ultrasound-guided intramuscular injections of saline, 0.5 mg/kg betamethasone (Celestone Soluspan®, or 0.5 mg/kg betamethasone plus 60 μg/kg T4. After 48 h, lambs were delivered, treated with surfactant (Survanta®, 100 mg/kg), and ventilated for 3 h. Due to maintained urine flow in the betamethasone-treated animals and a significant decrease in the saline group, betamethasone versus saline urine flow values (0.11 ± 0.03versus 0.03 ± 0.004 mL·min-1·kg-1) were significantly elevated by the end of studies. GFR (1.5 ± 0.3 versus 0.8 ± 0.2 mL·min-1·kg-1) and mean blood pressure (61± 4 versus 42 ± 3 mm Hg) values also were higher in the betamethasone-treated animals. Although renal blood flow, renal plasma flow, and fractional sodium excretion rates did not differ, betamethasoneversus saline values for the filtration fraction (11.9 ± 1.5versus 7.4 ± 1.5%) and total sodium reabsorption (196± 38 versus 81 ± 16μEq·min-1·kg-1) were increased. Betamethasoneversus saline treatment also was associated with significant reductions in plasma angiotensin II (125 ± 23 versus 550± 140 pg/mL) and AVP (116 ± 19 versus 230 ± 77 pg/mL) levels. Overall, the effects of combined betamethasone + T4 treatment were similar to the effects of betamethasone alone. Conclusions: 1) fetal betamethasone injection 48 h before delivery stabilizes GFR and significantly alters endocrine function in preterm newborn lambs, and 2) the addition of T4 does not augment betamethasone-induced renal and endocrine responses.
Synthesis, Magnetic and Electronic Properties of Single Crystals of EuMn2P2

Abstract Large single crystals of EuMn2P2 were grown from a tin flux whose melt composition and reaction temperature profile were optimized to avoid impurity phases. The crystal structure of EuMn2P2 is of the CaAl2Si2 structure type. The structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography, with the unit cell in the trigonal lattice, a=4.1294(3) A and c=6.9936(8) A, at T=90 K (Z=1, R1=0.0239, wR2=0.0632) and belongs to the P 3 m1 (#164) space group. Temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility, resistivity, and neutron diffraction measurements on single crystals indicate that EuMn2P2 is an antiferromagnetic insulator with a Neel temperature of 16.5±0.25 K. The Eu spins order in a simple magnetic structure where the spins in the a–b plane are aligned ferromagnetically; these ferromagnetic planes are stacked antiferromagnetically along the c-axis.
Protocol for the determination of selected neutral and acidic semi-volatile organic contaminants in fish tissue

Abstract Progress toward the development of a protocol for the determination of a broad spectrum of organic compounds in fish tissue is reported. Finely ground and homogenized fish tissue samples were Soxhlet extracted. Phenolic compounds in the extracts were acetylated and the derivatized extract containing the acetates and neutral semi-volatiles was cleaned up with silica gel and size-exclusion column chromatography. These semi-volatile organic compounds were determined by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The method is evaluated for recovery and precision of selected analytes during the analysis of over 300 fish tissue samples of varying species in support of contaminant determination in fish tissue from the Columbia/Snake River watershed.
A recent study of graduate assistants

University administrators, college deans, department chairpersons and directors, faculty members, graduate assistants, and undergraduate students were mailed questionnaires concerning the roles of and attitudes toward graduate assistants at the University of Minnesota. Basic agreement was found to exist among the six groups surveyed with regard to many aspects of graduate assistantships. Graduate assistants were found to have little knowledge of many departmental concerns that directly affect them. The number of formalized policies regulating graduate assistantships was found to vary with the classification of assistantship.
The Cauchy and the Szegö kernels on multiply connected regions

LetD be a bounded plane region whose boundary ∂D is Dini-smooth. An operatorB:L 2(∂D)→L 2(∂D) that has been considered by Kerzman and Stein is investigated. This operator is a compact self-adjoint integral operator whose kernel β (z, ζ) is bounded on ∂Dx∂D and has a geometric description involving chords inD. With the aid ofB the Szego kernel can be expressed in terms of the Cauchy kernel. Here, the operatorB is recovered from the classical theory of kernel functions resulting in extension of the work of Kerzman and Stein. In particular, the eigenvalue problem associated with the operatorB is studied and its complete equivalence with a very classical problem due to Bergman, Schiffer and Singh is established.
Reaction of Amino Acid Esters and Amides with o-Phthalaldehyde. Limitations in Fluorescent Yield

Abstract Amino acid esters and amides fail to produce strong fluorescence following their reaction with o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) in the presence of β-mercaptoethanol. The lack of luminescence appears to arise from a quenching phenomenon rather than from reduced reactivity of these substrates toward OPA. The amido hydrogen in the peptide linkage has been implicated in the loss in fluorescence yield. o-Phthalaldehyde (OPA) has proven to be a very useful reagent for converting amino acids to fluorescent isoindole derivatives1. This derivatization process permits the visualization of femtomolar quantities of amino acids. Unfortunately, this technique has not been applied successfully to the derivatization of peptides2,3, except for those containing lysine residues, in which the terminal amino group is attacked by the reagent4. It is the purpose of this note to more clearly define the limitations of OPA as a fluorogenic reagents for peptides and amino acid esters.
Immunocytochemical in vivo localization of fibronectin-rich contact sites on fibroblasts of normal periodontal ligament and inflamed gingiva.

Fibroblast-to-matrix attachment sites were studied by routine electron microscopy and immunocytochemistry. Rabbit antibodies to beagle dog plasma fibronectin and sheep antirabbit antibodies conjugated with horseradish peroxidase or ferritin were used to localize fibronectin at fibroblast-to-matrix attachment sites. In fibroblasts of healthy periodontal ligament, the attachment sites consisted of rectangular patches of amorphous material juxtaposed to the external surface of the plasma membrane. At these sites, the cell membrane was more densely stained and the adjacent cytoplasm was characterized by increased density and a high concentration of cytoplasmic filaments. The extracellular plaques contained fibronectin. Morphometric analysis indicated that the attachment plaques were approximately 90 nm thick, 250 nm wide, and 550 nm long, and distributed uniformly over both the cell body and peripheral cytoplasmic processes. In inflamed gingiva, the attachment sites were larger, irregular in shape, and with greater amounts of extracellular amorphous material and fibronectin associated to the cell surface. Cytoplasmic filaments were more often bundled as stress fibers which terminated in fibronexus-type junctions with extracellular fibronectin-coated filaments.
New Paradigm for Design of High-Spin Organic Molecules: The Mechanism of Spin-Dependent Delocalization in Exchange-Coupled, Mixed-Valent Organic Species

A theory is developed to describe the electronic structure of mixed-valent, exchange-coupled organic biradicals. The phenomena described are analogous to those of spin-dependent delocalization observed in binuclear inorganic complexes in the sense that coupling of delocalized hole states favors a triplet state over a singlet state. However, the mathematical description of the delocalization is quite similar to Kramers' treatment of antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic terms in metal oxides (Physica 1934, 1, 182). There is a similarity in that a delocalized orbital in the mixed-valent biradical anion can play the role of oxide in conventional superexchange. As in Kramers' theory, there are two terms that result from the analysis, a second-order term and a third-order term. However, the significance of the terms is different for delocalized magnetic orbitals than for the metal-bridge-metal system considered by Kramers. The computational chemistry shows that the third-order ferromagnetic term dominates for large dihedral angles, in agreement with previous experimental results. The mechanism presented suggests a new paradigm for the design of high-spin organic molecules.
Children and famine: long‐term impact on development

The current and long-term effects of famine and malnutrition on cognitive and behavioral development are reviewed. The brain is vulnerable to the effects of insults during critical periods of brain development from the second trimester of pregnancy until 2 years of age. Malnutrition experienced at these ages will have lifelong consequences that are not reversed by adequate nutrition. Long-term effects of prenatal, postnatal and childhood malnutrition have been reported even after a long period of recovery from the illness itself. We summarize results of our longitudinal study in Barbados in which we followed individuals, now 28–34 years of age, who experienced moderate to severe malnutrition during their first year of life and a healthy comparison group from the same classrooms. Our studies showed that malnutrition had a negative impact on cognitive and behavioral functioning throughout childhood and adolescence, even after controlling for socioeconomic conditions and other factors in the home environment. The most striking finding in our series of studies was a fourfold increase from 15% to 60% in the frequency of attention deficit disorder following infantile malnutrition. Attention deficits persisted at least through adolescence and was closely associated with poor performance on a national high school examination at 11 years of age. We conclude that, under conditions of famine, it is important to include early and comprehensive interventions to reverse not only medical conditions resulting from malnutrition, but also cognitive and behavioral deficits arising from famine. In the absence of appropriate interventions, compromised behavioral function may continue long beyond the episode, may impact on the quality of life over the long-term of survivors, and increase costs to society.
Magnetic properties of the AnFe2 compounds (An = U, Np, Pu, and Am)

The magnetic properties of the actinide Laves compounds (cubic C-15 crystal structure) with iron were studied by magnetization, neutron diffraction, and Moessbauer-effect techniques. All the compounds exhibit a spontaneous magnetization. Magnetic moments of 0.06, 1.09, 0.45, and -0.4..mu../sub B/ are associated with the U, Np, Pu, and Am ions, respectively. The corresponding iron moments are 0.6, 1.4, 1.5, and 1.7..mu../sub B/. The ferrimagnetic nature of AmFe/sub 2/ suggests a partial occupancy of the Am/sup 2 +/:f/sup 7/ state, inasmuch as the Am/sup 3 +/:f/sup 6/ state has a nonmagnetic ground state.
Invalidation of Principle of Competitive Exclusion Defended

Gause and Witt1 give as necessary conditions for the coexistence of two species living in the same microcosm α K1/K2 and β>K2/K1. The two species of Drosophila coexist even though there is a “strong mutual depression”. For example, the sizes of D. pseudoobscura AR and of D. serrata are 252 and 278 flies respectively in the competing populations; in populations of single species their respective sizes are 664 and 1,251 flies. This result warrants the rejection of the principle of competitive exclusion, “two species competing for limiting resources can only coexist if they inhibit the growth of the competing species less than they inhibit their own growth”. Similarly this experimental result warrants the rejection of the competition equations from which the necessary conditions for coexistence stated above are derived.
An American pathologist's view of medicine on the island of Grenada.

"Just south of paradise, just north of frustation." 1 From an American perspective, practicing medicine in Grenada is like practicing medicine on another planet. The heat slows thought processes as well as physical activity. Antiquated buildings with worn floors seem unhygienic. Unoccupied hospital beds have no sheets, and cardiac monitors, ventilators, and televisions are nonexistent. Everything except time seems in short supply. Recently, I had the opportunity to spend 1 month practicing as a physician and pathologist with Project HOPE in St George's, Grenada. Project HOPE, an independent nonprofit corporation that began operations in 1958, is popularly associated with the world's first peacetime hospital ship. 2 The shipboard delivery of medicine is no longer part of its program, but Project HOPE now has health personnel in many developing countries and in the United States. Project HOPE has been in Grenada since 1983, when the US Army invaded the capital during
A mixed signal spectrum clearing system for radio co-existence with high power jamming

High power jamming systems employ very nonlinear and highly efficient power amplifiers. In order to create a clean frequency space to allow radio communications in the jamming spectrum, one must be able to create an agile notch in the output spectrum of such jamming systems. The agile notch must be able to follow the hopping patterns of FHSS systems. The generation of this agile notch is hindered by very large intermodulation products present in the output spectrum. The intermodulation products can only be removed through nonlinear estimation of PA characteristics. This paper presents architecture for enabling such co-existence based on transmitter intermodulation cancellation in a very narrow spectrum. Such narrow band feedback strategy is essential if the system is to be realizable with current A-D and filtering technologies. We demonstrate through a theoretical and architectural study that such a system is indeed realizable and can lead to effective communications in the presence of high power jammers.
The effect of applicator geometry on dose specification in cervical cancer

The effect of variation of applicator geometry on classic parameters of dose specification was studied in 90 Fletcher-Suit radium applications in women with cervical cancer. Five statistically significant factors were identified by multiple linear regression analysis and quantified: mg of radium in the colpostats, mg of radium in the tandem, lateral displacement of the colpostats in the frontal plane, vertical separation between the colpostat and tandem sources, and anterior-posterior displacement of the colpostats relative to the tandem. These factors were used to predict "traditional" (i.e., bladder, rectum, and point A) and ICRU dose specification parameters as a function of applicator geometry. Applicator geometry had little effect on the product of ICRU volume specification components, but it greatly affected the individual ICRU components and "traditional" calculation points. Linear regression equations were generated to predict the magnitude of such changes so that the effects of variations in applicator geometry at various prescription points could be predicted radiographically, with subsequent confirmation by computerized dosimetry. Although such regression equations do not replace 3-dimensional computerized dosimetry, they aid applicator placement and treatment planning.