cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Accidental carbon monoxide poisoning

THE SEVERE winters of 1976 to 1977 and 1977 to 1978 and the current energy crisis have led to improved home insulation and the increased use of space heaters. This has substantially increased the potential for accidental carbon monoxide (CO) poisonings in the home. The use of internal combustional engines in any relatively closed environment can also cause CO poisoning. Since the symptoms of CO poisoning are nonspecific, many conditions will escape early diagnosis unless physicians consider this diagnostic possibility in patients with headache, nausea or vomiting, or confusional state. Our first understanding of the pathophysiology of CO dates from the work of Claude Bernard in 1857, when he ascribed the toxic effects to tissue hypoxia. In 1895, Haldane1described the underlying mechanism for CO toxicity when he demonstrated that CO reversibly interacted with hemoglobin, blocking the binding of oxygen to hemoglobin, thus causing tissue hypoxia. He also demonstrated
Addressing Science Teacher Needs

Given the pace at which the scientific landscape changes, even practicing scientists can find it difficult to keep up with advances outside their fields of specialization. Imagine the daily challenge faced by classroom science teachers, who are trying to remain current with a broad range of scientific content and to incorporate the new information into existing curricula. This integration requires a depth and breadth of science knowledge not provided by the professional development available to most elementary, and even some secondary, school teachers.
Separate and inequal: preserving heterogeneity in topical authority flows

Web pages, like people, are often known by others in a variety of contexts. When those contexts are sufficiently distinct, a page's importance may be better represented by multiple domains of authority, rather than by one that indiscriminately mixes reputations. In this work we determine domains of authority by examining the contexts in which a page is cited. However, we find that it is not enough to determine separate domains of authority; our model additionally determines the local flow of authority based upon the relative similarity of the source and target authority domains. In this way, we differentiate both incoming and outgoing hyperlinks by topicality and importance rather than treating them indiscriminately. We find that this approach compares favorably to other topical ranking methods on two real-world datasets and produces an approximately 10% improvement in precision and quality of the top ten results over PageRank.
Feeding ecology of lake whitefish larvae in eastern Lake Ontario

We examined the feeding ecology of larval lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis) in Chaumont Bay, Lake Ontario, during April and May 2004–2006. Larvae were collected with towed ichthyoplankton nets offshore and with larval seines along the shoreline. Larval feeding periodicity was examined from collections made at 4-h intervals over one 24-h period in 2005. Inter-annual variation in diet composition (% dry weight) was low, as was spatial variation among collection sites within the bay. Copepods (81.4%), primarily cyclopoids (59.1%), were the primary prey of larvae over the 3-year period. Cladocerans (8.1%; mainly daphnids, 6.7%) and chironomids (7.3%) were the other major prey consumed. Larvae did not exhibit a preference for any specific prey taxa. Food consumption of lake whitefish larvae was significantly lower at night (i.e., 2400 and 0400 h). Substantial variation in diet composition occurred over the 24-h diel study. For the 24-h period, copepods were the major prey consumed (50.4%) and their contribution in the diet ranged from 29.3% (0400 h) to 85.9% (1200 h). Chironomids made up 33.4% of the diel diet, ranging from 8.0% (0800 h) to 69.9% (0400 h). Diel variation in the diet composition of lake whitefish larvae may require samples taken at several intervals over a 24-h period to gain adequate representation of their feeding ecology.
Resonant frequency of a tunable rectangular patch antenna

The uniform transmission-line model is applied to determine the resonant frequency of a coaxial probe fed rectangular patch antenna tuned by a number of passive metallic posts suitably placed within the antenna's boundary. An approximate expression is given for the resonant frequency as a function of the post location and number, and of the other characteristic parameters of the antenna. Theoretical results are compared with available measured values.
GIBBERELLIN‐INDUCED INHIBITION OF FLORAL INITIATION IN FUCHSIA

A B S T R A C T The 'Lord Byron' cultivar of Fuchsia hybrida is a long day plant for which GA acts as an inhibitor of flower initiation. At the dosages required to inhibit initiation (0.025 Ag per plant) GA also promotes increased stem elongation but causes no other departures from normal development. Similar tests with auxins, antiauxins, kinins, and other substances showed no effect on flower initiation at dosages equivalent to that for GA. At 10- to 100-fold greater dosages, auxins, kinins, and anti-auxins inhibit not only flower initiation but also vegetative development. Thus the effect of GA on flower initiation appears to be unique, although other hormonal substances, such as abscisin, have not been tested. GA-induced inhibition is directly proportional to the dosage applied and inversely to the strength of long day induction (as measured by the number of long days). GA is most effective when applied to the terminal bud rather than to the mature leaves, suggesting that it is active at the site of flower initiation rather than in the leaves. If it is applied after translocation of the floral stimuli from the leaves, GA does not prevent flower initiation. Regardless of the dose applied, GA is less effective if applied later rather than earlier during LD induction. The inhibitory effect persists for several days. For example, an 0.85 jig dosage causes an 8-10-day delay in initiation; lower dosages have reduced effects. GA inhibits flower initiation but has no effect upon flower development. The rate of bud development is the same in GA-treated and control plants. Apparently no more than one to two axillary buds immediately below the apical meristem are receptive to long day-induced floral stimuli from the leaves. Regardless of the daylength conditions axillary buds more basal do not initiate flowers but develop into branch axes. The effect of a long day treatment persists for a very short time, perhaps no longer than the inhibition caused by minimal GA dosage. Thus flower initiation continues for a very short time following the end of long day induction. The significance of these findings is discussed in relation to the many reports of GA-induced inhibition as well as promotion of flower initiation. In particular, the discussion concerns the nDtion that flower initiation in fuchsia may be controlled by a gibberellin-like transmissible inhibitor.
Seasonal ice area and volume production of the Arctic Ocean: November 1996 through April 1997

Polar cap boundary layer waves are ELF/VLF electric and magnetic waves detected on field lines just adjacent to the polar cap.
Introduction to special issue: Viruses and neoplasia

Keywords: viral infections; HIV-1; HTLV-1; HIAP-1; SLE; HCV; HSV; EVB; MMTV; prions; spiroplasm bacteria; TSE; membrane rafts; dengue virus; Dominican Republic; UTESA; Tulane University; Brown University; lymphomas
Selective feeding by Balanion sp. (Ciliata: Balanionidae) on phytoplankton that best support its growth

Abstract The planktonic ciliate, Balanion sp., feeds preferentially on certain dinoflagellates when confronted with mixtures of microalgae. The preferred prey are species which support its fastest growth (≈ 3 div./day at 15°C). At high food densities, Balanion can grow as rapidly in algal mixtures which contain its preferred prey as its corresponding monocultures. Balanion are found year-round in estuaries in which dinoflagellates are common but are only occasionally the dominant phytoplankters. Preferential ingestion of suitable dinoflagellate prey may thus increase the growth rate of this ciliate in situ.
Cost effectiveness in behavioral family therapy

This report presents a multiple assessment exploration of cost effectiveness in behavioral family therapy. Thirty-six families with problem children between the ages of 4 and 12 were randomly assigned within stratified blocks to individual treatment, group treatment, or minimal contact bibliotherapy. All conditions received similar information about the behavioral management of children; only the format for therapy and the amount of therapist contact were different. Dependent variables consisted of parent attitude measures, parent-collected data on defined problems, and observational data from audio recordings made in the homes of the families. Analysis of both the parent-collected data and the home-observation data indicated the superiority of group and individual treatment conditions over the minimal contact bibliotherapy condition. Although it required less than half the amount of professional time, the group condition performed as well as the individual therapy condition. Parents in all three conditions rated the focus child as significantly improved with no differences between conditions.
Magnitude judgments of loudness change for discrete, dynamic, and hybrid stimuli.

Recent investigations of loudness change within stimuli have identified differences as a function of direction of change and power range (e.g., Canevet, Acustica, 62, 2136-2142, 1986; Neuhoff, Nature, 395, 123-124, 1998), with claims of differences between dynamic and static stimuli. Experiment 1 provides the needed direct empirical evaluation of loudness change across static, dynamic, and hybrid stimuli. Consistent with recent findings for dynamic stimuli, quantitative and qualitative differences in pattern of loudness change were found as a function of power change direction. With identical patterns of loudness change, only quantitative differences were found across stimulus type. In Experiment 2, Points of Subjective loudness Equality (PSE) provided additional information about loudness judgments for the static and dynamic stimuli. Because the quantitative differences across stimulus type exceed the magnitude that could be expected based upon temporal integration by the auditory system, other factors need to be, and are, considered.
The association constant of the complexes of adenosine triphosphate with magnesium, calcium, strontium, and barium ions☆

Using a colorimetric, a titrimetric and a resin-adsorption method, approximately the same value for the binding constant of Ca2+ to ATP has been determined giving the values 7880, 8380 and 9320, respectively (average 8500). With the last two methods the association constant for MgATP has been obtained as 26700 and 22300, respectively (average 24500). With the titrimetric method the same constant for SrATP was found to be 3940 and for BaATP 2350.
The rapid isolation and determination of iridium after simultaneous liquid-liquid extraction and determination of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold

Abstract The proposed method provides a rapid isolation of iridium form the other noble metals, as well as from Ni, Cu, Fe, Cr, Co and Na. The scheme comprises an initial removal of ruthenium and osmium by volatilization of their tetroxides followed by the simultaneous extraction of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold as their 2-mercaptobenzothiazole—tin(II) chloride complexes into chloroform. Iridium in the raffinate is complexed by the same reagent system, after boiling, and extracted into chloroform. The extracts after evaporation of the solvent are converted to hydrochloric acid solutions and the noble metals are determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. Satisfactory results are obtained for various noble metal solutions, and for a solid platiniferous sample.
A NOTE ON THE RESPONSE SPECTRUM MAP

A plot of frequency, or spectral, content versus a system parameter was introduced in a recent paper by Billings and Boaghe [2001] as a useful alternative to bifurcation diagrams in nonlinear dynamics. The current contribution illustrates the same approach based on data taken from two experimental mechanical systems in which hysteresis is featured.
Fashion, the Politics of Style and National Identity in Pre–Fascist and Fascist Italy

The essay offers an analysis of fashion and its bearing on the construction of national identity and politics of style during fascism in Italy. No recent work on fascism has analysed the role of fashion in the complex and contradictory phases of the cultural politics of Mussolini’s regime. The essay aims to illustrate the two sides of fashion and their relevance to the period in question. It shows, on the one hand, how the regime used fashion to discipline the social body, especially women’s, and to create a national style recognisable as such; and, on the other, how fashion is also an individual act through which was expressed the creativity both of the people working in the fashion industry and of ordinary people who used fashion and style to demonstrate their non–conformity with the diktats of the regime. Pointing out that it was as a result of the debate on nationalism of the pre–fascist liberal period that premises for fascist policy were set, the essay argues that the history of fascist fashion policy is one of continuities rather than ruptures.
Stem cell antigen-1 regulates the tempo of muscle repair through effects on proliferation of α7 integrin-expressing myoblasts

Skeletal muscle repair occurs through a programmed series of events including myogenic precursor activation, myoblast proliferation, and differentiation into new myofibers. We previously identified a role for Stem cell antigen-1 (Sca-1) in myoblast proliferation and differentiation in vitro. We demonstrated that blocking Sca-1 expression resulted in sustained myoblast cell division. Others have since demonstrated that Sca-1-null myoblasts display a similar phenotype when cultured ex vivo. To test the importance of Sca-1 during myogenesis in vivo, we employed a myonecrotic injury model in Sca-1−/− and Sca-1+/+ mice. Our results demonstrate that Sca-1−/− myoblasts exhibit a hyperproliferative response consisting of prolonged and accelerated cell division in response to injury. This leads to delayed myogenic differentiation and muscle repair. These data provide the first in vivo evidence for Sca-1 as a regulator of myoblast proliferation during muscle regeneration. These studies also suggest that the balance between myogenic precursor proliferation and differentiation is critical to normal muscle repair.
Efficient identification of geographic restriction conditions in anti-covering location models using GIS

Spatial separation in located services and activities is often essential. Examples include homeland security, military asset defense, impacts on the environment, franchise outlet location, and promoting public wellbeing. When planning and management is supported by mathematical modeling, a difficulty has been efficient representation of spatial separation conditions. This paper reviews an optimization model, the anti-covering location problem, used to support planning and management problems where spatial separation must be ensured between sited services/activities. An approach is presented for the efficient and effective identification and use of spatial separation conditions called cliques in this model based upon the use of a geographic information system (GIS). Results highlight the significance of the developed methodology in terms of computational requirements, tractability and effectiveness. This research enhances capabilities for addressing important practical planning problems.
Constrained Parameters in Applications: Review of Issues and Approaches

This review article provides an introduction to statistical issues that arise when some statistical model parameters are constrained. This often happens in applications, in particular in testing for variance components (e.g., genomics) and construction of one-sided confidence intervals (e.g., environmental risk analysis). Heuristic explanations are provided, and a number of general and recent statistical results that appeared in statistical literature are summarized for use in applications. Simulation results are shown for illustration of consequences of ignoring parameters on the boundary. Special attention is paid to likelihood ratio tests, but other approaches to confidence interval construction, such as Wald, bootstrap, and Bayesian are also briefly discussed. This paper presents examples from the risk assessment field and genomics, but all conclusions apply to whenever one-sided testing is conducted. Recommendations are provided for dealing with parameters on the boundary for a range of situations.
Composition dependence of the spin-orbit splittings in lattice-matched quaternary alloys: Generalized Van Vechten-Berolo-Woolley model

We present a model including both inter- and intraband disorder-induced mixing which accounts for the recently observed composition dependence of the valence-band spin-orbit splittings ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{0}$ and ${\ensuremath{\Delta}}_{1}$ in the quaternary alloys InGaAsP and GaAlInAs lattice matched to InP.
Structural studies of porcine malate dehydrogenase. Selective chemical modification.

Abstract Evidence is presented indicating that residues at or near the active center of mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (L-malate-NAD+ oxidoreductase, E.C.1.1.1.37) of porcine heart can be selectively carboxamidomethylated with the use of iodoacetamide. Protection against inactivation by addition of the coenzyme NADH and quantitation of incorporation of modifying reagent are discussed.
Induced coherence without induced emission

An interference experiment with signal and idler photons produced by parametric down-conversion in two nonlinear crystals is described and analyzed theoretically. It is found that when the idlers for the two crystals are superposed and aligned, the idler photon from the first crystal can induce coherence between the two signals, but without inducing any additional emission. Blocking the first idler wipes out the interference. The implications for the interpretation of the quantum state vector are discussed, and this leads to the conclusion that the state reflects not only what is known, but to some extent also what is knowable in principle.
Effect of accelerated postpubertal growth and early calving on lactation performance of primiparous Holstein heifers.

Abstract Seventy postpubertal Holstein replacement heifers were assigned to one of four treatments to assess effects of accelerated postpubertal growth on performance during first lactation. Heifers were fed control or accelerated diets from 10 mo of age until parturition, and breeding was initiated at 14 or 10 mo of age, respectively. Heifers were also subdivided into two breeding groups (target or delayed) based on normal AI breeding efficiencies. Heifers fed accelerated diets had a higher average daily gain (933 vs. 778 g/d) and calved earlier (21.7 vs. 24.6 mo) than did heifers fed control diets. Heifers fed accelerated diets had similar prepartum (10 d) BW, but lower wither height and postpartum BW, than heifers fed the control. For heifers fed accelerated diets, milk fat and milk protein yields were lower, and milk fat percentage was higher, at mo 1 and 2; milk fat percentage was lower at mo 3 to 7 of lactation. Delayed bred heifers calved later (≈ 2 mo), had higher prepartum and postpartum BW, and were taller at the withers than target bred heifers. Delayed breeding resulted in higher body condition scores at calving and a greater incidence of dystocia, but lactation performance was not affected. Accelerated postpubertal growth resulted in earlier calving at similar prepartum BW, but data for wither height, pelvic area, and postpartum BW suggested that heifers fed accelerated diets were smaller. Accelerated postpubertal growth and early calving reduced performance during first lactation, but the exact mechanisms could not be determined.
A Systematic Review of the Literature on Screening for Exercise-Induced Asthma: Considerations for School Nurses.

Asthma is a major cause of illness, missed school days, and hospitalization in children. One type of asthma common in children is exercise-induced asthma (EIA). EIA causes airway narrowing with symptoms of cough and shortness of breath during exercise. The purpose of this article is to review the literature relevant to screening children and adolescents for EIA and to inform development of a school nurse–led EIA screening program. A systematic review of EIA screening tests was conducted by searching PUBMED for key terms. Sixty-seven articles were identified; after review only seven met the inclusion criteria. The most common screening test was the 6-min exercise challenge. School-based screening programs have the potential to identify EIA among undiagnosed children and adolescents. School nurses are health professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to develop successful screening programs in the school setting. Based on results of the literature review, we present implications for developing sc...
GPC5 Gene and Its Related Pathways in Lung Cancer

Recently, a five-center collaborative study1 reported that genetic variations of glypican 5 (GPC5) may significantly contribute to an increased risk of lung cancer in never smokers. GPC5 gene-expression levels in normal lung tissues were found significantly lower in individuals who carry high-risk alleles, and the GPC5 expression level in adenocarcinoma tissue was significantly lower than in matched normal lung tissue. Reduction of expression of GPC5 may lead to the development of lung cancer, suggesting that this gene normally functions as a tumor suppressor.
Characterization of nitrogen-containing radical products from the photodissociation of trimethylamine using photoionization detection

The outcome of neutral and photoionized N(CH3)2 primary products of trimethylamine photodissociation at 193 nm is determined by combining photoionization detection with supporting G3 theoretical calculations. N(CH3)2 primary products with very little internal energy show an experimentally observed ionization onset of 9.1±0.2 eV, but do not appear at the parent ion (m/e=44). Instead, the parent ion is unstable and easily fragments to m/e=42, where the signal is observed. N(CH3)2 radicals with higher internal energies undergo H-atom loss from the neutral to give CH2NCH3, which has an observed ionization onset at parent (m/e=43) of <9.3 eV. At slightly higher ionization energies, these secondary products also appear at m/e=42 (where their appearance energy is roughly 9.8–9.9 eV, uncorrected for internal energy). Finally, N(CH3)2 radicals with the highest internal energy in this study appear to undergo H2 loss as neutrals, giving rise to a species whose parent ion has m/e=42. The ionization onset of this spec...
Temperature dependent changes in absorption and fluorescence properties of the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans.

Temperature dependent changes in absorbance and fluorescence of chlorophyll a (Chl a) were analyzed in membrane fragments and in a Chl-protein complex reconstituted with lipids isolated from the cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans. Absorbance versus temperature curves measured at 656 nm showed an inflection point at 23–24°C and at 14–16°C in the membrane fragments prepared from A. nidulans cells, grown at 39° and 25°C, respectively. Temperature-induced absorbance changes measured at 680 and 696 nm did not show clear break points. The presence of lipids was essential in order to see a clear maximum in the fluorescence versus temperature curve of Chl a in a Chl-protein complex. It is suggested that a specific form of Chl a may be associated with lipids in the thylakoid membranes and that this form of Chl a may be responsible for temperature-induced absorbance and fluorescence yield changes in this cyanobacterium.
Internalizing channels: a mechanism to control pain?

The opioid receptor–like receptor inhibits the Cav2.2 calcium channel even without the receptor ligand, nociceptin. A new study finds that long-term exposure to nociceptin causes internalization of the receptor-channel complex.
Genistein and erbstatin inhibition of normal mammary epithelial cell proliferation is associated with EGF-receptor down-regulation

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a potent mitogen for normal mouse mammary epithelial cells grown in primary culture. EGF activation of the EGF-receptor (EGF-R) induces intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity which results in EGF-R autophosphorylation and tyrosine phosphorylation of other intracellular substrates involved in EGF-R signal transduction. Genistein and erbstatin are anticancer agents which have been shown to be potent tyrosine kinase inhibitors. However, the effects of these compounds in modulating EGF-dependent normal mammary epithelial cell proliferation is presently unknown. Therefore, studies were conducted to determine the effects of genistein and erbstatin on EGF-dependent proliferation, and EGF-R levels and autophosphorylation in normal mouse mammary epithelial cells grown in primary culture and maintained in serum-free media. Chronic treatment with 6.25-100 microM genistein or 1-16 microM erbstatin significantly decreased EGF-dependent mammary epithelial cell proliferation in a dose-responsive manner. However, the highest doses of genistein (100 microM) and erbstatin (16 microM) were found to be cytotoxic. Additional studies showed that acute treatment with 6.25-400 microM genistein did not affect EGF-R levels or EGF-induced EGF-R autophosphorylation, while acute treatment with 1-64 microM erbstatin caused a slight reduction in EGF-R levels, but had no effect on EGF-dependent EGF-R autophosphorylation in these cells. In contrast, chronic treatment with similar doses of genistein or erbstatin resulted in a large dose-responsive decrease in EGF-R levels, and a corresponding decrease in total cellular EGF-R autophosphorylation intensity. These results demonstrate that the inhibitory effects of chronic genistein and erbstatin treatment on EGF-dependent mammary epithelial cell proliferation is not due to a direct inhibition of EGF-R tyrosine kinase activity, but results primarily from a down-regulation in EGF-R levels and subsequent decrease in mammary epithelial cell mitogenic-responsiveness to EGF stimulation.
An incomplete beta series with argument x(l-x)

An expression for calculating the incomplete beta cumulative distribution I x(a, b) is given in terms of the series and its derivative where For small values of w, the expression is convenient for numerical calculation. For integer values of a, b, closed form expressions are also given.
A numerical algorithm for computing exact distribution of a truncated random variable when truncation points are assigned point masses

When continuous random variables are truncated at one or two points and point mass assigned to the truncation points, the distribution of the average of the random variables may not have an analytical form. This article presents an algorithm for computing exact percentiles of the sampling distribution of averages of small numbers of independent, truncated random variables. This methodology may be applicable to cases where there is a mixture of a continuous random variable with discrete part at one or both end points. Applications can be in areas of reliability and survival analysis where censoring is widely used; however, we were looking at using this method in new quality control schemes, whereby an item in batch or lot may be evaluated as defective, marginal or effective. Although the defective and effective can assume values of 0 and 1, respectively, the marginal part may be a continuous random variable assuming values between 0 and 1. Such distributions will open up an area of sampling distributions o...
Temporal variability in summertime bottom hypoxia in shallow areas of Mobile Bay, Alabama

This paper addresses temporal variability in bottom hypoxia in broad shallow areas of Mobile Bay, Alabama. Time-series data collected in the summer of 2004 from one station (mean depth of 4 m) exhibit bottom dissolved oxygen (DO) variations associated with various time scales of hours to days. Despite a large velocity shear, stratification was strong enough to suppress vertical mixing most of the time. Bottom DO was closely related to the vertical salinity gradient (ΔS). Hypoxia seldom occurred when ΔS (over 2.5 m) was 8 psu in the absence of extreme events like hurricanes. Oxygen balance between vertical mixing and total oxygen demand was considered for bottom water from which oxygen demand and diffusive oxygen flux were estimated. The estimated decay rates at 20°C ranging between 0.175–0.322 d−1 and the corresponding oxygen consumption as large as 7.4 g O2 m−2 d−1 fall at the upper limit of previously reported ranges. The diffusive oxygen flux and the corresponding vertical diffusivity estimated for well mixed conditions range between 8.6–9.5 g O2 m−2 d−1 and 2.6–2.9 m2 d−1, respectively. Mobile Bay hypoxia is likely to be associated with a large oxygen demand, supported by both water column and sediment oxygen demands, so that oxygen supply from surface water during destratification events would be quickly exhausted to return to hypoxic conditions within a few hours to days after destratification events are terminated.
Optical rotation and vicosity of native and denatured proteins. IX. Some plasma proteins at various pH

Abstract The optical rotation of human serum albumin, α1-glycoprotein, the metal-binding β-globulin, and the γ-globulin was studied. The dependence of the specific rotation on pH of the denatured proteins was found different from that of the native proteins. Various preparations of the albumin, even if purified by the multilayer ion-exchange treatment, differ considerably in their optical activity. The intrinsic viscosity and levorotation of the γ-globulins are constant between pH 5 and 9; both viscosity and levorotation increase sharply on the increase of alkalinity from pH 9.5 to 10, and higher.
Mobile and interactive media use by young children: The good, the bad, and the unknown

The use of interactive screen media such as smartphones and tablets by young children is increasing rapidly. However, research regarding the impact of this portable and instantly accessible source of screen time on learning, behavior, and family dynamics has lagged considerably behind its rate of adoption. Pediatric guidelines specifically regarding mobile device use by young children have not yet been formulated, other than recent suggestions that a limited amount of educational interactive media use may be acceptable for children aged <2 years.1 New guidance is needed because mobile media differs from television in its multiple modalities (eg, videos, games, educational apps), interactive capabilities, and near ubiquity in children’s lives. Recommendations for use by infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children are especially crucial, because effects of screen time are potentially more pronounced in this group. The aim of this commentary is to review the existing literature, discuss future research directions, and suggest preliminary guidance for families. ### Educational Value Although well-researched television programs such as Sesame Street or Blue’s Clues can promote early academic skills in preschool-aged children, children <30 months cannot learn from television and videos as they do from real-life interactions.2 Interactive media, on the other hand, allow for contingent responses to children’s actions and thus may facilitate more retention of taught material. For example, socially contingent media (ie, with appropriate content, timing, and intensity) such as videophone apps are just as effective as real-life encounters in teaching language to 24 month olds,3 but otherwise, published research on whether infants and toddlers can learn from interactive screens is scant. Promising research suggests that interactive media such as learn-to-read apps and electronic books (e-books) may increase early literacy … Address correspondence to Jenny S. Radesky, Boston Medical Center, Vose 4, 88 E Newton St, Boston, MA 02118. E-mail: jenny.radesky{at}bmc.org
Effects of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, Human Interstitial Cell Stimulating Hormone and Human Follicle-Stimulating Hormone on Ovarian Weights in Estrogen-Primed Hypophysectomized Immature Female Rats

In connection with systematic studies of steroid and peptide hormone interactions during follicular growth, we have measured ovarian weight responses to graded doses of highly purified human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), human interstitial cell stimulating hormone (hICSH) and human follicle-stimulating hormone (hFSH) in hypophysectomized immature female rats (HIFR) treated with diethylstilbestrol in silastic capsules (DESC) implanted subcutaneously. Our results are con1sistent with earlier reports of enhancement of ovarian weight responses to hCG and FSH. Contrary to results of similar experiments reported by others, we have found that estrogen treatment of HIFR enhanced ovarian weight response to ICSH. In addition, we report for the first time that small doses of hCG and hICSH inhibit ovarian weight responses to estrogen in HIFR. Our observations on effects of small doses of hCG and hICSH and the long-known fact that ovarian interstitial cells are stimulated in HIFR given similar doses of these hormones ...
The nature of light : The relationship between photons, electrons and positrons

Abstract It is proposed that a photon is composed of a positive and a negative charge. The relationship between photons, electrons and positrons is discussed. A mechanism of the production of coherent light by lasers is also proposed. The nature of light is intimately concerned with the Special Case of the Theory of Relativity. However the model proposed provides no clue to explain why this theory should hold.
Hypertension Does Not Cause Spontaneous Hemorrhage of Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations

The authors measured blood pressure changes non-invasively in 56 conscious, unpremedicated patients with cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) during preparation for proton beam therapy. The procedure requires six injections of local anesthetic and application of a stereotactic frame by fixation into the outer table of the skull, and has been used during the past 20 yr to treat over 1,000 patients with cerebral AVMs. No effort was made to control blood pressure. Blood pressure increased during administration of the local anesthetic and application of the frame. Maximum systolic and mean arterial pressures averaged 160 +/- 17 and 118 +/- 7 mmHg (mean +/- SD), respectively. This represented an average increase of 44 mmHg (38%) in systolic pressure and 32 mmHg (37%) in mean blood pressure at some point during the procedure (P less than 0.01 compared with pretreatment control pressures). Systolic pressure increased more than 60 mmHg in 21% of patients. Nevertheless, none of these 56 patients nor any of the more than 1,000 patients treated in similar fashion suffered a clinically evident AVM hemorrhage during the procedure. Since the treatment protocol has not changed materially during the past 20 yr, the authors assume that most patients treated in this fashion developed a similar degree of hypertension and conclude from this large clinical experience that moderate arterial hypertension does not precipitate spontaneous hemorrhage of intracranial AVMs.
Thin Film Batteries for Energy Harvesting

Batteries are one solution for charge accumulation and storage of energy from harvesting and scavenging devices. Because many harvesting devices capture low levels of ambient energy, only very small batteries are required for most applications requiring energy storage and intermittent use. This chapter highlights the fabrication and performance of research batteries and recently commercialized thin film batteries (TFB) including the energy and power densities, charging requirements, cycle-life and shelf-life, and also oerformance at both high and low temperatures. With flexible charging models and excellent cycle life, thin batteries are very promising for paring with a variety of energy harvesting devices including solar cells and piezoelectrics.
βCatenin Signaling Activity Dissected in the Early Xenopus Embryo: A Novel Antisense Approach

Xenopus embryos develop dorsal/ventral and anterior/posterior axes as a result of the activity of a maternal Xwnt pathway, in which β-catenin is an essential component, acting as a transactivator of transcription of zygotic genes. However, the questions of where and when β-catenin is required in early embryogenesis have not been addressed directly, because no loss-of-function method has been available. Here we report the use of a novel antisense approach that allows us to target depletion of protein to individual blastomeres. When a "morpholino" oligo complementary to β-catenin mRNA is injected into early embryos, it depletes β-catenin protein effectively through the neurula stage. By targeting the oligo to different cleavage blastomeres, we block β-catenin activity in different areas and at different times. Dorsal vegetal injection at the 2- and 4-cell stages blocks dorsal axis formation and at the 8-cell stage blocks head formation, while A-tier injection at the 32-cell stage causes abnormal cement gland formation. This approach shows the complex involvement of Xwnt pathways in embryonic patterning and offers a rapid method for the functional analysis of both maternal and early zygotic gene products in Xenopus.
Visual Motion-Detection Circuits in Flies: Parallel Direction- and Non-Direction-Sensitive Pathways between the Medulla and Lobula Plate

The neural circuitry of motion processing in insects, as in primates, involves the segregation of different types of visual information into parallel retinotopic pathways that subsequently are reunited at higher levels. In insects, achromatic, motion-sensitive pathways to the lobula plate are separated from color-processing pathways to the lobula. Further parallel subdivisions of the retinotopic pathways to the lobula plate have been suggested from anatomical observations. Here, we provide direct physiological evidence that the two most prominent of these latter pathways are, indeed, functionally distinct: recordings from the retinotopic pathway defined by small-field bushy T-cells (T4) demonstrate only weak directional selectivity to motion, in striking contrast with previously demonstrated strong directional selectivity in the second, T5-cell, pathway. Additional intracellular recordings and anatomical descriptions have been obtained from other identified neurons that may be crucial in early motion detection and processing: a deep medulla amacrine cell that seems well suited to provide the lateral interactions among retinotopic elements required for motion detection; a unique class of Y-cells that provide small-field, directionally selective feedback from the lobula plate to the medulla; and a new heterolateral lobula plate tangential cell that collates directional, motion-sensitive inputs. These results add important new elements to the set of identified neurons that process motion information. The results suggest specific hypotheses regarding the neuronal substrates for motion-processing circuitry and corroborate behavioral studies in bees that predict distinct pathways for directional and nondirectional motion.
Improved lossless compression of color palette images by re-indexing with particle swarm optimization

This work builds on previous work in the area of one dimensional lossless color compression. The previous work applied a cross entropy (CE) solution to traveling salesman problem (TSP) for color re-indexing with a Burrows-Wheeler transformation and inversion ranks. The proposed technique replaces the cross entropy based TSP algorithm with a particle swarm optimization (PSO) for the task of color re-indexing. The proposed method yields improvement over the previous work regardless of the number of colors in the image.
Altering the mouth of a hydrophobic pocket. Structure and kinetics of human carbonic anhydrase II mutants at residue Val-121.

Abstract Eleven amino acid substitutions at Val-121 of human carbonic anhydrase II including Gly, Ala, Ser, Leu, Ile, Lys, and Arg, were constructed by site-directed mutagenesis. This residue is at the mouth of the hydrophobic pocket in the enzyme active site. The CO2 hydrase activity and the p-nitrophenyl esterase activity of these CAII variants correlate with the hydrophobicity of the residue, suggesting that the hydrophobic character of this residue is important for catalysis. The effects of these mutations on the steady-state kinetics for CO2 hydration occur mainly in kcat/Km and Km, consistent with involvement of this residue in CO2 association. The Val-121----Ala mutant, which exhibits about one-third normal CO2 hydrase activity, has been studied by x-ray crystallographic methods. No significant changes in the mutant enzyme conformation are evident relative to the wild-type enzyme. Since Val-121 is at the mouth of the hydrophobic pocket, its substitution by the methyl side chain of alanine makes the pocket mouth significantly wider than that of the wild-type enzyme. Hence, although a moderately wide (and deep) pocket is important for substrate association, a wider mouth to this pocket does not seriously compromise the catalytic approach of CO2 toward nucleophilic zinc-bound hydroxide.
Antagonism of Convulsive and Lethal Effects Induced by Propoxyphene

A toxicological study was performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of several proposed antidotes against the convulsant and lethal effects of propoxyphene hydrochloride. Intravenous administration of levallorphan tartrate, nalorphine hydrochloride, or naloxone hydrochloride at a dose of 1 mg./Kg. significantly increased convulsion threshold and mortality threshold of mice and rats infused with propoxyphene hydrochloride. Treatment with levallorphan tartrate, 1 mg./Kg., plus sodium pentobarbital, 10 mg./Kg., or sodium pentobarbital alone, 10 mg./Kg., prevented propoxyphene-induced convulsions in a large percentage of mice and rats. The combination treatment was effective in elevating mortality threshold in both species, but was no more effective in this respect than a narcotic antagonist alone. Pentobarbital failed to modify mortality threshold. It is recommended that any one of the narcotic antagonists, without pentobarbital, be used to counteract the toxic symptoms of propoxyphene hydrochloride poisoning.
Systems-Level Dissection of the Cell-Cycle Oscillator: Bypassing Positive Feedback Produces Damped Oscillations

The cell-cycle oscillator includes an essential negative-feedback loop: Cdc2 activates the anaphase-promoting complex (APC), which leads to cyclin destruction and Cdc2 inactivation. Under some circumstances, a negative-feedback loop is sufficient to generate sustained oscillations. However, the Cdc2/APC system also includes positive-feedback loops, whose functional importance we now assess. We show that short-circuiting positive feedback makes the oscillations in Cdc2 activity faster, less temporally abrupt, and damped. This compromises the activation of cyclin destruction and interferes with mitotic exit and DNA replication. This work demonstrates a systems-level role for positive-feedback loops in the embryonic cell cycle and provides an example of how oscillations can emerge out of combinations of subcircuits whose individual behaviors are not oscillatory. This work also underscores the fundamental similarity of cell-cycle oscillations in embryos to repetitive action potentials in pacemaker neurons, with both systems relying on a combination of negative and positive-feedback loops.
Synthesis of [18F]BODIPY: Bifunctional Reporter for Hybrid Optical/Positron Emission Tomography Imaging

Fluorescence-based intravital imaging approaches have been essential for studying the function and distribution of biologically active small molecules and their molecular targets in vivo.[1] While optical imaging enables visualization over a broad scope of spatial resolution ranging from subcellular to whole body anatomical imaging, its application is constrained by the optical transparency of tissues. Optical imaging modalities are thus better suited for small animal imaging rather than for translational applications.[2] In contrast, Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is used routinely for clinical applications but its use is limited primarily to macroscopic spatial and temporal imaging. A strategy that would enable seamless switching between fluorescence and PET imaging would thus be highly desirable for several reasons. First, the ability to visualize PET probes at the microscopic level would allow more rapid validation of the former in vivo and consequently expedite the development of novel PET probes. Second, for macroscopic hybrid imaging[3], it would be possible for optical and PET signals to be superimposed onto structural information derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT). Likewise, the ability to image in more than one or two channels would be useful for visualizing underlying physiological events. Third, hits from microscopic screens of small molecule fluorochrome-adducts could be more rapidly translated into clinically relevant applications.
Large area flexible SERS active substrates using engineered nanostructures

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an analytical sensing method that provides label-free detection, molecularly specific information, and extremely high sensitivity. The Raman enhancement that makes this method attractive is mainly attributed to the local amplification of the incident electromagnetic field that occurs when a surface plasmon mode is excited at a metallic nanostructure. Here, we present a simple, cost effective method for creating flexible, large area SERS-active substrates using a new technique we call shadow mask assisted evaporation (SMAE). The advantage of large, flexible SERS substrates such as these is they have more area for multiplexing and can be incorporated into irregular surfaces such as clothing. We demonstrate the formation of four different types of nanostructure arrays (pillar, nib, ellipsoidal cylinder, and triangular tip) by controlling the evaporation angle, substrate rotation, and deposition rate of metals onto anodized alumina nanoporous membranes as large as 27 mm. In addition, we present experimental results showing how a hybrid structure comprising of gold nanospheres embedded in a silver nano-pillar structure can be used to obtain a 50× SERS enhancement over the raw nanoparticles themselves.
Pulmonary Diseases and the Heart

The complex nature of interactions between the pulmonary and cardiovascular systems is becoming increasingly appreciated. Pulmonary vascular abnormalities are frequently present in patients with respiratory disorders, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, sarcoidosis, neuromuscular or chest wall disorders, and disorders of ventilatory control including sleep apnea syndromes and obesity hypoventilation syndrome. Pulmonary hypertension, classified as group III in the World Health Organization classification scheme for pulmonary hypertension, may result in severe right ventricular dysfunction caused by lung disease, also known as cor pulmonale. The development of cor pulmonale is generally associated with poorer prognosis and increased death. Systemic manifestations of lung disease, particularly obstructive disorders, are also particularly relevant because they are associated with increased cardiac death and impaired health status. This article will discuss the most common pulmonary diseases and disorders of ventilatory control that cause pulmonary vascular abnormalities and cor pulmonale, with particular concentration on how treatment of these diseases may affect the heart. In addition, the complex nature of cardiac and lung disease will also be explored, particularly with respect to the relationship between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, systemic inflammation, atherosclerosis, and cardiovascular death, which is currently a very active focus of research.