cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Atmospheric aerosol and trace gas parameter derived from local MFRSR network: multi-instrument data fusion in comparison with satellite retrievals

We present the results of a scale analysis of aerosol optical thickness (AOT) variability in time and space. The standard scale analysis methods based on variance spectra, structure functions and singular measures were applied to different datasets to determine AOT scaling properties in the scale range from 0.2 to 1200 km. We used data sets from the local network of Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometers (MFRSRs) located at the DOE ARM program's Southern Great Plains (SGP) site. This network consists of 21 instruments arrayed across approximately 55,000 square miles in north-central Oklahoma and south-central Kansas. Our analysis demonstrates that datasets from the SGP network can provide definitive information on both temporal and spatial AOT variability. We compare AOT scale properties derived from MFRSR network data with those derived from MODIS satellite aerosol retrievals over SGP. We also use MODIS retrievals over larger land and ocean areas to study large-scale AOT variability. Our analysis suggests that the variability of AOT splits into three main scale regimes. Three-dimensional turbulent transport dominates small scales (0-30 km), the influence of 2D turbulence at scales larger than 30 km makes AOT more non-stationary, and finally, the influence of the AOT boundedness at scales larger than 100 km presses AOT behavior back towards stationarity. However, the scales used in our analysis were not large enough to observe the boundedness-induced asymptotic regime in AOT variability, where any further scale increase does not change variability properties.
Surgery without blood.

ObjectiveThe principle aim of “bloodless surgery” is to minimize blood loss and to reduce or eliminate exposure to allogeneic blood transfusion. The risks associated with blood transfusions have been well documented, and it is the goal of bloodless surgery centers to avoid complications and unnecess
Assessing the use of speech and language measures in relation to parental perceptions of development after early cochlear implantation.

Objective:Clinicians and investigators use multiple outcome measures after early cochlear implantation (CI) to assess auditory skills, speech, and language effects. Are certain outcome measures better associated with optimal childhood development from the perspective of parents? We studied the assoc
Optimization of time-varying systems

A method of self-optimization using system models to compute error-criterion gradients in a parameter space is extended to time-varying systems. When the parameters are permitted to vary only slowly, the gradient computer is similar to that used for stationary systems of fixed configuration. When the parameters vary more rapidly, it is found that only the gradient with respect to the plant input function is meaningful. This influence function is obtained as the output from a model which can be defined whether or not a state-variable representation for the plant is known; a procedure for computing optimal control functions in a variety of linear and nonlinear systems is thus obtained.
Cerebellar cell degeneration in the leaner mutant mouse.

Abstract Leaner is an autosomal recessive mutation of the mouse which results in a severe ataxia accompanied by cellular losses in the cerebellar cortex. The purpose of this report is to construct a developmental profile of these losses. Of the three cerebellar cell types studied, the granule cells are the first to show obvious degenerative changes. Pycnotic cells are numerous in the internal granule cell layer at postnatal day 10, and, while they are found throughout the cortex, they are more concentrated in the anterior folia. Initially, there is a strong tendency for the pycnotic cells to be located in the deep half of the internal granule cell layer. By four postnatal months the rate of loss has slowed but the finding of occasional pycnotic cells in animals up to one year old suggests it continues for the life of the animal. Quantitative analysis of Purkinje and Golgi cells in leaner cerebella reveals a progressive loss of these cells as well. The number of Golgi cells falls uniformly to around half of the wild-type number. By contrast, the Purkinje cells show much more extensive degeneration. Further, the rate of cell death shows a regional variation; it is significantly more rapid in anterior folia. Overall, the number of Purkinje cells in leaner falls to about one-fifth of the wild-type number. The loss of both Purkinje and Golgi cells occurs late relative to the major events of cerebellar maturation. Significant cell loss is not observed until the end of the first postnatal month. For the next 4 to 6 weeks there is extensive cell death but, rather than abating, it appears to continue at a low rate for the life of the animal. It is hoped that this developmental sketch of the leaner defect will stimulate others to approach leaner and its alleles, tottering and rolling, as models for heterogeneity of disease expression.
A retrieval account of the long-term modality effect.

When to-be-remembered (TBR) word pairs are separated by distractor activity, recall of the last few audibly presented pairs is greater than recall of the last few visually presented pairs. The effect is found even after a considerably long distractor-filled retention interval. Five experiments disconfirm echoic storage, short-term storage and long-term storage accounts of these effects, as well as demonstrating that the effect is not an artifact of differential use of a recency-first output strategy. The data are generally consistent with the proposition that retrieval is disrupted by modality-specific similarity between to-be-remembered items and distractor information. Language: en
Ocular Metastases from Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer to metastasize to the eye. This is thought to be a rare occurrence but may be more common than thought. Two cases with eye metastases from breast cancer are presented to acquaint physicians with this entity. Other tumors that metastasize to the eye, the anatomic location of metastases in the eye, and the evaluation, treatment, and prognosis of breast cancer metastatic to the eye are discussed.
Partition functions for many-particle systems

The well-known cumulant-summation formula is applied to the low-temperature calculation of the quantum-mechanical partition functions for many particle systems. The motivation for this method is to be able to deal with many-particle states directly and avoid the usual starting point of independent single-particle states. The test case chosen for this method was the calculation of the canonical partition function and the grand-canonical partition function for the degenerate free-electron gas. The result is that the expected equivalence of the canonical and grand-canonical ensembles is not found at low temperatures. The role of few-particle fluctuations in the grand-canonical ensemble is shown to be extremely important to the thermal properties of the degenerate free-electron gas and in the difference between the ensembles.
Arrhenius behavior of electron attachment to CH3Br from 303 to 1100 K

Abstract Thermal electron attachment to CH 3 Br has been studied over the temperature range 303–1100 K using two flowing-afterglow Langmuir-probe apparatuses. The reaction yielded only Br − product over this temperature range. The rate coefficient for electron attachment to CH 3 Br was measured to be 8 ± 4 × 10 −12 cm 3 s −1 at 303 K, and was observed to increase strongly with gas temperature. Rate coefficients for the reaction show Arrhenius behavior over the entire temperature range with an activation energy of 260 ± 20 meV. The results are in substantial agreement with earlier data covering a smaller temperature range. Kinetic modeling implies that this behavior and the small rate coefficient at room temperature are due to a barrier in the crossing from the neutral to the anionic potential surfaces of ∼280 meV that dominates other factors in the attachment reaction. There is a hint of the Arrhenius plot reaching saturation at the highest temperatures. While examining an electron-cation recombination correction, the rate coefficient (1.8 ± 0.4 × 10 −9 cm 3 s −1 ) of the reaction Ar + + CH 3 Br was measured at 302 K, and the ion products identified (80% CH 3 + and 20% CH 2 Br + ). A secondary reaction forming the adduct (CH 3 Br)CH 3 + was seen to occur with a rate coefficient of 2.8 ± 1.0 × 10 −9 cm 3 s −1 .
A new perspective on hyperthermia-induced birth defects: The role of activation energy and its relation to obstetric ultrasound

Abstract This paper concerns the rate of birth defects that is induced by hyperthermic conditions during gestation. These defects occur with low rates under apparently normal physiologic conditions, but with substantially higher rates with appropriate timing of a hyperthermic event during gestation. The concept of “free energy of activation” is invoked to explain not only the background rate but also the effect of a short-term, acute (additive) thermal dosing at a highly heat-sensitive stage of embryogenesis. In this respect, this paper is both retrospective and prospective in approach. It briefly and retrospectively addresses the historical data in this area and then, following a novel mathematical procedure whereby the activation energy for a specific type of hyperthermia-induced birth defect is determined, prospectively applies this information to predict what the outcomes would be in a clinical situation such as obstetric diagnostic ultrasound where it is known that the clinical procedure can involve a temperature increment for a specific duration. A major outcome of this review is that there appear to be no thresholds for hyperthermic events, that any temperature elevation for any duration during pregnancy has some potential for inducing a deleterious effect. The paper includes an analysis that for the first time allows a calculation of risk for such defined thermal insults, with broader implications for any natural or other clinical situation in which the temperature of the embryo or fetus is raised above the normal physiologic level. The topic of hyperthermia-induced birth defects and related activation energies needs thorough, long-term testing of this prospective position.
Early Iron Deposition in Teeth of the Streamside Salamander, Ambystoma barbouri

Abstract In some salamander species, as well as various other vertebrates, iron-rich molecules are sequestered in the enamel and enameloid layers of the crowns of teeth. In adults, the presence of iron can be detected easily because the cusps are often tinted orange-brown. However, visual confirmation is not possible in embryos or larvae. Consequently, the ontogenetic stage during which iron is first deposited in teeth is not known. We used scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to examine the teeth of embryonic and larval Streamside Salamanders, Ambystoma barbouri, to determine the earliest developmental stage during which iron can be detected in teeth and to quantify the relative iron concentration along the length of the enamel cap. Iron was present in first-generation teeth of embryos when individuals were still acquiring nutrients from yolk, suggesting that yolk, rather than diet, was the source of iron deposited in early generation teeth of salamanders. Furthermore, as...
521 U. UREALYTICUM (UU) AND M, HOMINIS (MH) COLONIZATION AMONG SEXUALLY ABUSED (SA) CHILDREN

The genital mycoplasmas UU and MH have long been considered as possible pathogens of the genital tract. They are thought to be a major cause of nonspecific urethritis in adult males, and colonization after puberty is closely related to sexual activity. However, their role in pediatric genital infections has not been evaluated. The association of gonorrhea and chlamydia with sexual abuse in children prompted us to study UU and MH as possible markers for sexual abuse.
Triangulation heuristics for maximum character compatibility

In this paper, we describe, to our knowledge, the first fast, accurate, triangulation-based heuristic solutions to the two-state maximum character compatibility problem with missing data. Recently, this problem has been reduced to a graph triangulation problem. Our first heuristic follows a classic approach from the triangulation literature, and our second heuristic is informed by the separation of monochromatic pairs. While slower, our informed heuristic generally performed better than our classic heuristic. We compared our heuristic solutions with optimal solutions obtained from minimal triangulation integer programs when possible, and were able to solve problems an order of magnitude larger using heuristics than were possible with this integer program.
The impact of women’s employment on the distribution of earnings among married-couple households: a comparison between 1973 and 1992–1994

Abstract This paper examines the impact of working wives on the distribution of family earnings at various life-cycle stages, with particular emphasis on comparisons between the early 1970s and the early 1990s. The results show that in both time periods, the actual gap between rich and poor families is narrower than if all wives were out of the labor force, and that this equalizing influence of female employment is least pronounced when a child under age six is present in the household. At the same time, the equalizing impact of the wives’ contribution is found to have become substantially more pronounced during the 1990s, partly because of a decrease over the past two decades in the dispersion of female earnings relative to male earnings.
Jamming transition and new percolation universality classes in particulate systems with attraction.

We numerically study the jamming transition in particulate systems with attraction by investigating their mechanical response at zero temperature ($T=0$). We find three regimes of mechanical behavior separated by two critical transitions---connectivity and rigidity percolation. The transitions belong to different universality classes than their lattice counterparts, due to force balance constraints. We also find that these transitions are unchanged at low temperatures and resemble gelation transitions in experiments on colloidal and silica gels.
Lyophilization of cationic lipid–protamine–DNA (LPD) complexes

Cationic lipid-based gene delivery systems have shown promise in transfecting cells both in vitro and in vivo. However, these systems tend to form aggregates in liquid formulation during storage, which has limited their clinical applications. As a result, lyophilization of these systems has recently become a subject of increasing interest. In this paper, lyophilization of LPD, a novel cationic lipid-based gene delivery system, was studied. Both particle size and transfection efficiency could be preserved in the presence of sufficient amount of appropriate lyoprotectant. A series of monosaccharides and disaccharides, including dextrose, galactose, mannose, lactose, maltose, sucrose and trehalose, were evaluated for their lyoprotective effect and disaccharides showed more superior protection to monosaccharides. The effect of different freezing protocols for lyophilization was also evaluated and no significant difference was found. However, for freeze-thawing, fast freezing caused less aggregation. Finally, nonlyophilized LPD and LPD lyophilized with 10% sucrose were stored at different temperatures and their stability was followed for eight weeks. Lyophilized LPD could be stored at room temperature without significant change in particle size or loss of transfection efficiency.
The Electrophysiological Effects of Alpha‐Chloralose Anesthesia in the Intact Dog: (1) Alone and (2) in Combination with Verapamil

The electrophysiological effects of alpha-chloralose anesthesia were determined in 13 chronically instrumented dogs and compared to baseline electrophysiological parameters in the conscious state. Alpha-chloralose anesthesia (75 mg/kg of a 4% solution in polyethylene glycol (PEG) delayed conduction and prolonged refractoriness of the AV node: (1) the P-R interval increased from 108 +/- 14 msec (mean +/- SD) in the conscious state to 125 +/- 23 msec (P less than 0.02); (2) the A-H from 98 +/- 12 msec to 108 +/- 16 msec (P less than 0.04); (3) the AV nodal effective refractory period from 136 +/- 16 to 153 +/- 29 msec (P = .05) and the AV nodal functional refractory period from 232 +/- 58 to 247 +/- 46 msec (P = 0.07); and (4) the AV block cycle length from 228 +/- 54 msec to 248 +/- 43 msec (P less than 0.04). Chloralose anesthesia also increased the ventricular refractory period from 139 +/- 13 msec to 161 +/- 22 msec (P less than .03) and the QTc interval from 273 +/- 22 to 306 +/- 32 msec (P less than 0.0002). To determine whether these effects on AV nodal conduction would influence experimental results, responses to verapamil were studied in the conscious state and during chloralose anesthesia. During chloralose anesthesia, (1) no relationship was detected between the sinus cycle length and verapamil concentrations; (2) a greater increment in AV conduction time was seen for a given verapamil concentration; and (3) AV block occurred at verapamil concentrations associated with 1:1 conduction in the conscious state. We conclude that chloralose anesthesia has significant electrophysiological effects and that these effects must be taken into consideration during the interpretation of experiments performed in animals during chloralose anesthesia.
Effect of Human Menopausal Gonadotropin and Follicle Regulatory Protein(s) on 3β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase in Human Granulosa Cells*

Recently, a protein fraction [follicle regulatory protein (FRP)] which inhibits FSH-induced granulosa cell aromatase activity was isolated from both human and porcine follicular fluid. In this study, the actions of FRP on 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (33β-HSDH) activity were examined using granulosa cells obtained from hyperstimulated patients undergoing oocyte aspiration for in vitro fertilization. Granulosa cells were cultured with 0,167, or 500 μ g/rril FRP with or without human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG; 10 mlU/ml). After 48 h, the medium (S) was removed and stored. Cells then were mechanically lysed and centrifuged at 10,000 × g. The supernatant was further centrifuged (100,000 × g) to obtain a microsomal fraction (M) and cytosol (C). The M fraction was resuspended in medium 199 with 10-6 M pregnenolone plus 5 μM NAD+ and incubated for 2 h to determine 3β-ol dehydrogenase activity. The S, C, and M fractions were all assayed for progesterone (P) by RIA. hMG markedly increased P concentrations in...
Self-Consistent Results for n -Type Si Inversion Layers

Self-consistent results for energy levels, populations, and charge distributions are given for $n$-type inversion layers on $p$-type silicon. Quantum effects are taken into account in the effective-mass approximation, and the envelope wave function is assumed to vanish at the surface. Approximate analytic results are given for some special cases. Numerical results are given for representative surface orientations, bulk acceptor concentrations, inversion-layer electron concentrations, and temperatures.
Q-Dock: Low-resolution flexible ligand docking with pocket-specific threading restraints

The rapidly growing number of theoretically predicted protein structures requires robust methods that can utilize low-quality receptor structures as targets for ligand docking. Typically, docking accuracy falls off dramatically when apo or modeled receptors are used in docking experiments. Low-resolution ligand docking techniques have been developed to deal with structural inaccuracies in predicted receptor models. In this spirit, we describe the development and optimization of a knowledge-based potential implemented in Q-Dock, a low-resolution flexible ligand docking approach. Self-docking experiments using crystal structures reveals satisfactory accuracy, comparable with all-atom docking. All-atom models reconstructed from Q-Dock's low-resolution models can be further refined by even a simple all-atom energy minimization. In decoy-docking against distorted receptor models with a root-mean-square deviation, RMSD, from native of approximately 3 A, Q-Dock recovers on average 15-20% more specific contacts and 25-35% more binding residues than all-atom methods. To further improve docking accuracy against low-quality protein models, we propose a pocket-specific protein-ligand interaction potential derived from weakly homologous threading holo-templates. The success rate of Q-Dock employing a pocket-specific potential is 6.3 times higher than that previously reported for the Dolores method, another low-resolution docking approach.
Legislative Support for Urban Land-Use Control in China:

China is in a transitional period with a decentralized economy operated within a highly centralized governmental structure. With a strong statutory law tradition, the federal government has created a very complicated set of statutes to regulate land-use tenure, land-use rights allocation, and planning activities. Local governments regulate daily land-use transfer activities within the federal framework. China is now looking for a land-use management tool that can effectively regulate individual activities at the local level. The statutory plan framework (local-level land-use plans similar to zoning ordinances) is one of the attempts. Shenzhen is the first city to adopt statutory plans as local bylaws and its experience provides other cities with a good example of how to incorporate public participation into land-use management. However, the experience in Shenzhen also exposes a number of problems related to the overall distribution of power in the current federal structure. With most cities lacking power ...
Belonging and Connection to School in Resettlement: Young Refugees, School Belonging, and Psychosocial Adjustment

Schools are one of the first and most influential service systems for young refugees. There is a burgeoning interest in developing school-based refugee mental health services, in part to reduce sti...
Parity violation observed in the beta decay of magnetically trapped 82Rb atoms.

Laser cooling and atomic trapping techniques have been employed to confine polarized ${}^{82}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms ( ${T}_{1/2}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}75\mathrm{s}$) in a magnetic time-orbiting-potential (TOP) trap. We have observed the parity-violating correlation between the emitted positron momentum and the parent nuclear spin as a continuous function of angle and positron energy for this pure Gamow-Teller (GT) transition. These proof-of-principle measurements demonstrate the utility of exploring fundamental symmetries in a TOP trap and the steps required to improve sensitivity in the search for physics beyond the standard model.
Making Sense of "Red Birth Marks".

* Abbreviation: ISSVA — : International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies What a useful tool the vascular anomalies classification described by Wassef et al1 would have been during my medical training! As a pediatric resident in the 1980s, I was frequently perplexed by the many red “birth marks” I was confronted with while performing newborn and well-child examinations. Despite a reassuring nod from attendings, who offered terms like “port wine stain” and “strawberry hemangioma,” such gastronomic allusions did little to make sense of the nature of those unpredictable red vascular lesions. Most were red, flat “Angel's kisses”, and faded with time, whereas a smaller percentage remained flat but darkened with age. Some presented as innocuous red spots in the first month or 2 of life, then mushroomed in color and size during early infancy. When queried by a concerned parent, I often felt unable to provide a clear diagnosis or prognosis. At the same time, a conceptual breakthrough regarding pediatric vascular lesions was occurring in Boston. In 1982, Mulliken and Glowacki2 first proposed a more organized way of viewing “pediatric red … Address correspondence to Sheila Fallon Friedlander, MD, 8010 Frost St, San Diego, CA 92123. E-mail: sfriedlander{at}rchsd.org
CDC25A Phosphatase: a Rate-Limiting Oncogene That Determines Genomic Stability

CDC25A is a critical regulator of cell cycle progression and checkpoint response. Overexpression of this cyclin-dependent kinase phosphatase occurs often in human cancers. Our recent genetic studies in the mouse indicate that restricting CDC25A can limit tumorigenesis induced by the HER2/neu-RAS oncogenic pathway without compromising normal cell division or viability. These findings offer a sound foundation to justify development of CDC25A inhibitors for antitumor therapy.
Tests for the two-sample problem based on empirical probability measures

Tests are proposed for the equality of two unknown distributions. For empirical probability measures that are defined for samples from the two distributions, the proposed tests are based on the supremum of the absolute differences between the corresponding empirical probabilities, the supremum being taken over all possible events (Borel sets). In contrast, competing EDF tests compare only empirical probabilities of a subclass of Borel sets. The proposed tests are compared for simulated samples to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Cramer-von Mises, Kuiper, and Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon tests
Metabolic Emergencies in the Child With Acute Leukemia

Acute leukemia is the most common malignancy in children. Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia are frequently diagnosed, evaluated, and treated in emergency departments. Children with acute leukemia may develop multiple life-threatening electrolyte abnormalities, either at the time of diagnosis or after initiation of therapy. Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia or hyperleukocytosis are at high risk for developing tumor lysis syndrome, which includes hyperuricemia, hyperkalemia, hyperphosphatemia, or hypocalcemia. Clinical complications of tumor lysis syndrome include renal insufficiency or acute renal failure, seizures, altered mental status or coma, cardiac arrhythmias, and sudden death. Rarely, children with acute leukemia will present with hypercalcemia. After initiation of systemic chemotherapy, some children will develop hyponatremia due to excessive hydration, dehydration, or syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone. Prompt recognition and prevention or treatment of metabolic abnormalities by the treating physician is crucial to preventing end-organ damage or death.
Family Density and SES Related to Diabetes Management and Glycemic Control in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Youth with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) from single-parent families have poorer glycemic control; a finding confounded with socioeconomic status (SES). Family density (FD), or youth:adult ratio, may better characterize family risk status. METHODS Structural equation modeling assessed the relation of single-parent status, SES, and FD to parenting stress, diabetes-related conflict, parental monitoring, adherence, and glycemic control using cross-sectional parent and youth data (n = 257). RESULTS Single-parent status exhibited similar relations as SES and was removed. Lower FD was associated with better glycemic control (β = -.29, p = .014) via less conflict (β = .17, p = .038) and greater adherence (β = -.54, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS Beyond SES, FD plays a significant role in adherence and glycemic control via diabetes-related conflict. In contrast, the effects of single-parent status were indistinguishable from those of SES. FD provides distinct information related to adolescent glycemic control.
Bargaining with Rent Seekers

Consider a rent-seeking game, which has government bargain with firms over dividing the rents. In period 1, each firm can invest to increase the probability that the rent will appear. In period 2, the parties bargain. In equilibrium, though firms will invest more than the socially optimal level, rent-seeking expenditures may be low. Firms that collude to restrict investment maximize joint profits by investing at a positive, non-infinitesimal level, and restrict investment even if the cost of rent-seeking effort is zero.
Evidence for Independent Secretion of β-Endorphin Immunoreactivity from Rat Pars Distalis in Vivo

The distinctive chromatographic patterns of β-endorphin-like immunoreactivity (βEND-LI) released from rat pars distalis (PD) or pars intermedia in vitro as well as the selective inhibitory effects of dexamethasone on PD were used to determine which lobe secretes (βEND-LI into plasma after clonidine administration in vivo. Gel chromatography (Sephadex G-50) indicates that cultured PD cells released two major immunoreactive species which coelute with β-ipotropin (βLPH) or βEND standards. Conversely, virtually all of the βEND-LI secreted by neurointermediate lobe [pars intermedia plus pars nervosa (NIL)] cells in vitro resembled βEND in size, while none was detected which cochromatographed with βLPH. Incubation of PD cells with clonidine (10-6 M) evoked a 2-fold increase in βEND-LI release, while the drug had no effect on βEND-LI released from cultured NIL cells. Dexamethasone (10-7 M) inhibited the clonidine-induced release of βEND-LI from PD cells, whereas it did not influence the stimulated release of βEN...
Identification of a polymorphic mucin-like gene expressed in the midgut of the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, using an integrated bulked segregant and differential display analysis

The identification of putative differentially expressed genes within genome regions containing QTL determining susceptibility of the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, to the malarial parasite, Plasmodium gallinaceum, was investigated using an integrated, targeted approach based on bulked segregant and differential display analysis. A mosquito F2 population was obtained from pairwise matings between the parasite-susceptible RED strain and the resistant MOYO-R substrain. DNA from female carcasses was used to genotype individuals at RFLP markers of known chromosomal position around the major QTL (pgs 1). Midguts, dissected 48 hr after an infected blood meal, were used to prepare two RNA bulks, each representing one of the parental genotypes at the QTL interval. The RNA bulks were compared by differential display PCR. A mucin-like protein gene (AeIMUC1) was isolated and characterized. The gene maps within the pgs 1 QTL interval and is expressed in the adult female midgut. AeIMUC1 RNA abundance decreased with time after blood meal ingestion. No differential expression was observed between the two mosquito strains but three different alleles with inter- and intrastrain allelic polymorphisms including indels and SNPs were characterized. The AeIMUC1 gene chromosome location and allelic polymorphisms raise the possibility that the protein might be involved in parasite-mosquito interactions.
A versatile electronic tracking apparatus (VETA).

An electronic tracking and scoring system which gives access to relatively complete response data is described. Input, output, error and acceleration data are recorded on magnetic tape and may either be read out for visual inspection or read directly into analog computers and correlators for further analysis. An important feature of the system is that it readily permits the programming of various complex wave form inputs of either regular or irregular patterns in sequences of any length. Type or pattern of input may be varied between trials. The system is highly automated and easily calibrated.
Cloning and Characterization of Human Prostate Coactivator ARA54, a Novel Protein That Associates with the Androgen Receptor

Abstract Androgen receptor (AR) is a member of the steroid receptor superfamily that may require coactivators for proper or maximal transactivation. Using a yeast two-hybrid screening followed by mammalian cell analyses, we identified a novel ligand-dependent AR-associated protein, ARA54, which consists of 474 amino acids with a molecular mass of 54 kDa. We demonstrated that ARA54 might function as a preferential coactivator for AR-mediated transactivation in human prostate cancer DU145 cells. Interestingly, our data also showed that ARA54 could significantly enhance the transcriptional activity of LNCaP mutant AR (ARt877a) but not wild type AR or another mutant AR (ARe708k) in the presence of 10 nm 17β-estradiol or 1 μmhydroxyflutamide. These results imply that both ARA54 and the positions of the AR mutation (877 versus 708) might contribute to the specificity of AR-mediated transactivation. Our findings further demonstrated that the C-terminal domain of ARA54 can serve as a dominant negative inhibitor and exogenous full-length ARA54 can reverse this squelching effect on AR transcriptional activity. Co-expression of ARA54 with other AR coactivators, such as ARA70 or SRC-1, showed additive stimulation of AR-mediated transactivation, which indicates that these cofactors may function individually as AR coactivators to induce AR target gene expression. Through our findings, we have identified and characterized a novel AR coactivator, ARA54, which may play an important role in the AR signaling pathway in human prostate.
Nonlocalized lower gastrointestinal bleeding: provocative bleeding studies with intraarterial tPA, heparin, and tolazoline.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of provocative mesenteric angiography with tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), heparin, and tolazoline in patients with nonlocalized lower gastrointestinal (LGI) bleeding. Results were examined to assess the clinical impact of the study on patients who had positive or negative results from elective provocative bleeding studies. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seventeen provocative bleeding studies for occult LGI bleeding were performed in 16 patients, nine of whom were women, aged 44–79 years. All patients had negative results from previous endoscopic and angiographic studies. Patients' requirements for blood transfusion ranged from 6 to 69 units. Studies were performed electively. Blood group matching and cross-matching were performed for all patients. To provoke bleeding, a combination of intravenous heparin, intraarterial tolazoline, and intraarterial tPA was used. Doses used included 3,000–10,000 U heparin, 25–100 mg intraarterial tolazoline, and 10–50 mg intraarterial tPA (mean, 20.3 mg). Duration of follow-up was 3–34 months. RESULTS Seventeen elective provocative studies were performed in 16 patients with occult LGI bleeding, leading to provoked bleeding in six patients (37.5%). In addition, two previously undiagnosed vascular abnormalities were diagnosed, which did not bleed during provocation. Therefore, an abnormality was identified in eight of 16 patients (50%) overall. There were no procedural complications encountered during or after any of the 17 procedures. In six patients in whom bleeding was successfully provoked, four bleeding episodes occurred in the large bowel and two occurred in the small bowel. Five of the positively provoked patients had a previously positive tagged red cell scintigraphic study. Three patients had superselective embolization at the time of provoked bleeding. Two were treated with estrogen therapy, and one patient was treated palliatively. Five of these six patients required no further therapy for LGI bleeding. Ten patients (including two with vascular abnormalities) did not bleed during the provoked study with tPA. Follow-up of the group of eight patients with completely normal study results ranged from 3 to 34 months in duration, and during the follow-up period, five patients experienced repeated bleeding and one had no further bleeding. One patient was diagnosed with an ileal vascular lesion during subsequent intraoperative enteroscopy and underwent surgical resection. One patient was lost to follow-up. CONCLUSION Intraarterial provocative mesenteric angiography with heparin, vasodilator, and tPA identified the site of bleeding in 37.5% of patients in our study group and contributed to treatment in 50%. This small study indicates that the procedure appears to be safe, with no complications encountered in this series. Larger prospective studies are needed to fully assess the safety and efficacy of the technique and to optimize the pharmacologic protocol and patient selection.
Large-scale Bayesian multi-label learning via topic-based label embeddings

We present a scalable Bayesian multi-label learning model based on learning low-dimensional label embeddings. Our model assumes that each label vector is generated as a weighted combination of a set of topics (each topic being a distribution over labels), where the combination weights (i.e., the embeddings) for each label vector are conditioned on the observed feature vector. This construction, coupled with a Bernoulli-Poisson link function for each label of the binary label vector, leads to a model with a computational cost that scales in the number of positive labels in the label matrix. This makes the model particularly appealing for real-world multi-label learning problems where the label matrix is usually very massive but highly sparse. Using a data-augmentation strategy leads to full local conjugacy in our model, facilitating simple and very efficient Gibbs sampling, as well as an Expectation Maximization algorithm for inference. Also, predicting the label vector at test time does not require doing an inference for the label embeddings and can be done in closed form. We report results on several benchmark data sets, comparing our model with various state-of-the art methods.
MASONOCERAS, A NEW KARAGANDOCERATID AMMONOID FROM THE LOWER MISSISSIPPIAN (LOWER OSAGEAN) OF KENTUCKY

Karagandoceratids are a rare offshoot of the Prionoceratinae, resembling that subfamily in general conch form and sutural ontogeny, but differing by possession of an acute ventral margin and an increasingly trifid ventral lobe. The systematic position of the Karagandoceratidae has been controversial [see Bartzsch and Weyer (1988) for an exhaustive review]. The nominate genus, Karagandoceras Librovitch, 1940 (type species, K. galeatum ), possesses a weakly divided ventral lobe which has led authors to refer it to both the Praeglyphioceratina (Ruzhencev, 1960, 1962; Bogoslovsky, 1971; Ruzhencev and Bogoslovskaya, 1978; Bogoslovskaya et al., 1999; Kusina, 2000) and the Goniatitina (Weyer, 1965, 1972; Kullmann, 1981). Discovery of an ancestral karagandoceratid genus, gen. nov. I aff. Karagandoceras Bartzsch and Weyer, 1988, in the early Tournaisian Siphonodella sandbergi conodont Zone in Germany provided clarification on the proximate origin of Karagandoceras and provided a plausible link to the early Tournaisian prionoceratin genus Nicimitoceras Korn, 1993 (type species, Imitoceras subacre Vohringer, 1960). Bartzsch and Weyer (1988) proposed a karagandoceratid phylogeny beginning with gen. nov. I aff. Karagandoceras in the early Tournaisian, progressing through Karagandoceras in the middle Tournaisian, and culminating with a third, descendent genus, gen. nov. II aff. Karagandoceras (typical species, Karagandoceras bradfordi Manger, 1971), early in the late Tournaisian. Bartzsch and Weyer (1988) elected to leave both the initial and final members of this lineage, gen. nov. I and gen. nov. II aff. Karagandoceras, in open nomenclature pending discovery of more completely preserved material. Discovery of superbly preserved representatives of a new species of gen. nov. II aff. Karagandoceras from the Borden Formation in northeastern Kentucky provides additional sutural and morphological details that support Bartzsch and Weyer's phylogenetic interpretation and makes formal description of this terminal karagandoceratid taxon (herein designated Masonoceras new genus) possible.
Sulfur and Iodine Speciation in the Water Column of the Black Sea

Voltammetric methods have been applied to determine sulfur and iodine speciation and to understand the chemistry and cycling of sulfur and iodine in Black Sea waters. The only reduced dissolved inorganic sulfur species detected in the water column was hydrogen sulfide. The minimum detectable limit for sulfide analysis is 0.1 nM using a cathodic stripping square wave voltammetry (CSSWV) method. Thus, the precise boundary between the “free” hydrogen sulfide (sulfidic) zone and the upper (oxic / suboxic) water column was determined at the three stations studied. It is apparent that this boundary has moved up by about 50 m in the past 20 years. Although there has been a change in this boundary, the sulfide gradient (near 52 mmole m−4) is similar to that reported by Brewer and Spencer (1974). The sulfide results reported here helped to demonstrate that there are three chemically distinct zones of water in the Black Sea. These zones in the western and central basins are (1) the oxic [0 – 65 m], (2) the anoxic and non-sulfidic [65 – 100 m] and (3) the sulfidic [> 100 m].
Sexual and Reproductive Health Indicators and Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Among Female Family Planning Clinic Patients Who Have Sex with Women and Men.

Abstract Background: Sexual minority women are more likely than heterosexual women to have ever experienced intimate partner violence (IPV). Although IPV is associated with sexual risk and poor reproductive health outcomes among US women overall, little is known about whether IPV is related to sexual and reproductive health indicators among sexual minority women in particular. Methods: Baseline data from a prospective intervention trial were collected from women ages 16–29 years at 24 family planning clinics in western PA (n=3,455). Multivariable logistic regression for clustered survey data was used to compare women who have sex with men only (WSM) and women who have sex with women and men (WSWM) on (1) IPV prevalence and (2) sexual and reproductive health behaviors, outcomes, and services use, controlling for IPV. Finally, we tested the interaction of sexual minority status and IPV. Results: WSWM were significantly more likely than WSM to report a lifetime history of IPV (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 3.00...
Differential Potency of 2,6-Dimethylcyclohexanol Isomers for Positive Modulation of GABAA Receptor Currents

GABAA receptors meet all of the pharmacological requirements necessary to be considered important targets for the action of general anesthetic agents in the mammalian brain. In the following patch-clamp study, the relative modulatory effects of 2,6-dimethylcyclohexanol diastereomers were investigated on human GABAA (α1β3γ2s) receptor currents stably expressed in human embryonic kidney cells. Cis,cis-, trans,trans-, and cis,trans-isomers were isolated from commercially available 2,6-dimethylcyclohexanol and were tested for positive modulation of submaximal GABA responses. For example, the addition of 30 μM cis,cis-isomer resulted in an approximately 2- to 3-fold enhancement of the EC20 GABA current. Coapplications of 30 μM 2,6-dimethylcyclohexanol isomers produced a range of positive enhancements of control GABA responses with a rank order for positive modulation: cis,cis > trans,trans ≥ mixture of isomers > > cis,trans-isomer. In molecular modeling studies, the three cyclohexanol isomers bound with the highest binding energies to a pocket within transmembrane helices M1 and M2 of the β3 subunit through hydrogen-bonding interactions with a glutamine at the 224 position and a tyrosine at the 220 position. The energies for binding to and hydrogen-bond lengths within this pocket corresponded with the relative potencies of the agents for positive modulation of GABAA receptor currents (cis,cis > trans,trans > cis,trans-2,6-dimethylcyclohexanol). In conclusion, the stereochemical configuration within the dimethylcyclohexanols is an important molecular feature in conferring positive modulation of GABAA receptor activity and for binding to the receptor, a consideration that needs to be taken into account when designing novel anesthetics with enhanced therapeutic indices.
Pathogenesis of polyps (adenomas)

The pathogenesis of adenomas in adenomatous polyposis of the gastrointestinal tract (familial polyposis coli, FPC) is not completely known. The morphologic features of the dysplastic epithelium and the morphogenesis of adenomas in FPC have been well described. Studies of the precursors to adenomatous epithelium have identified histopathologic, ultrastructural, and epithelial proliferative abnormalities in grossly normal colonic mucosa of FPC patients. The role of the intraluminal environment and the mechanisms of its interaction with the mucosa appear to be important areas for research directed at the pathogenesis of adenomas in FPC, due to the implications for therapy
Development, Survival, and Reproduction of Geocoris punctipes (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae): Effects of Plant Feeding on Soybean and Associated Weeds

Effects of plant feeding on the biology of the insect predator Geocoris punctipes (Say) were examined in the laboratory. Supplementing a prey diet with plant food resulted in shorter developmental times for certain instars, greater nymphal survival, and increased weight of newly emerged adults. Plant food alone was sufficient to sustain first instars for a short period and allowed some development to the second instar, but was not sufficient for sexual maturation and oviposition and did not significantly increase the fecundity of mature adults compared with a water control. Plant feeding, serving as a moisture source, allowed adults resulting from prey-fed nymphs to survive for a limited time in total absence of prey, while limited consumption of prey in early adult life more than doubled longevity of adults restricted to plant-only diets. Effects of particular plant species were variable, depending on developmental stage and sex. A seed diet of green bean was superior for adult longevity in the absence of prey but was less suitable than many plant foliage diets for nymphs. G. punctipes appears to be able to draw moisture and nourishment from a wide variety of herbaceous plants, an ability that may increase developmental and survival rates in periods of prey abundance and may represent an important means for dealing with periods of prey scarcity.
Backward Chaining Ontology Reasoning Systems with Custom Rules

In the semantic web, content is tagged with "meaning" or "semantics" to facilitate machine processing and web searching. In general, question answering systems that are built on top of reasoning and inference face a number of difficult issues. In this paper, we analyze scalability issues faced by a question answering system used by a knowledge base with science information that has been harvested from the web. Using this system, we will be able to answer questions that contain qualitative descriptors such as "groundbreaking", "top researcher", and "tenurable at university x". This question answering system has been built using ontologies, reasoning systems and custom based rules for the reasoning system. Furthermore, we evaluated the performance of our optimized backward chaining engine on supporting custom rules and designed the experimental environment including scalable datasets, rule sets, query sets and metrics and compared the experimental results with other in-memory ontology reasoning systems. The results show that our developed backward chaining ontology reasoning system has better scalability than in-memory reasoning systems.
L-NNA suppresses cerebrovascular response and evoked potentials during somatosensory stimulation in rats.

We studied the local cerebrovascular response and somatosensory-evoked potentials (SEPs) to stimulation of the sciatic nerve during both short- ( 30 min, L-NNA induced severe vasomotion and attenuated the vascular responses to sciatic nerve stimulation. Long-term exposure to topically (1 mM) or systemically (10 mg/kg i.v.) applied L-NNA also attenuated cortical SEPs to sciatic nerve stimulation. Thus L-NNA-induced inhibition of vascular responses may be secondary to suppression of neuronal activity and an L-arginine metabolite, such as nitric oxide, may be involved in neurotransmission in the cerebral cortex during somatosensory activity.