cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Potential transition state analogue inhibitors for the penicillin-binding proteins.

Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) are ubiquitous bacterial enzymes involved in cell wall biosynthesis. The development of new PBP inhibitors is a potentially viable strategy for developing new antibacterial agents. Several potential transition state analogue inhibitors for the PBPs were synthesized, including peptide chloromethyl ketones, trifluoromethyl ketones, aldehydes, and boronic acids. These agents were characterized chemically, stereochemically, and as inhibitors of a set of low molecular mass PBPs: Escherichia coli (EC) PBP 5, Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NG) PBP 3, and NG PBP 4. A peptide boronic acid was the most effective PBP inhibitor in the series, with a preference observed for a d-boroAla-based over an l-boroAla-based inhibitor, as expected given that physiological PBP substrates are based on d-Ala at the cleavage site. The lowest KI of 370 nM was obtained for NG PBP 3 inhibition by Boc-l-Lys(Cbz)-d-boroAla (10b). Competitive inhibition was observed for this enzyme−inhibitor pair, as expected ...
Bayesian optimal experimental design for treatment—control comparisons in the presence of two-way heterogeneity

Abstract Optimal Bayesian experimental design is derived for the one-way analysis of variance in the presence of two-way heterogeneity. The design is optimal for the estimation of the treatment-control contrasts, minimizing their posterior expected squared error loss. The prior knowledge of the treatment and blocking effects is modelled by Normal distribution, the treatments being exchangeable. A method for the derivation of the optimal design for any covariance structure of the blocking effects is given. For a special interesting covariance matrix of the blocking effects, the optimal design is derived.
Continuous-wave infrared optical nerve stimulation for potential diagnostic applications

Optical nerve stimulation using infrared laser radiation has recently been developed as a potential alternative to electrical nerve stimulation. However, recent studies have focused primarily on pulsed delivery of the laser radiation and at relatively low pulse rates. The objective of this study is to demonstrate faster optical stimulation of the prostate cavernous nerves using continuous-wave cw infrared laser radiation for potential diagnostic applications. A thulium fiber laser =1870 nm is used for noncontact optical stimulation of the rat prostate cavernous nerves in vivo. Optical nerve stimulation, as measured by an intracavernous pressure ICP response in the penis, is achieved with the laser operating in either cw mode, or with a 5-ms pulse duration at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 100 Hz. Successful optical stimulation is observed to be primarily dependent on a threshold nerve temperature 42 to 45 °C, rather than an incident fluence, as previously reported. cw optical nerve stimulation provides a signifi- cantly faster ICP response time using a lower power and also less expensive laser than pulsed stimulation. cw optical nerve stimulation may therefore represent an alternative mode of stimulation for intra- operative diagnostic applications where a rapid response is critical, such as identification of the cavernous nerves during prostate cancer surgery. © 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.
The Essence of Eddie: a reflection of the interplay between art, relationships, and emotion.

Art as the recreation of emotional experience in lives and in relationships brings us together. The artist concentrates, focusing on the smallest details, absorbed in creation form and feeling, emotional expression in its subtlest nuances. Facial expressions can teach us about the complexities of emotional life; how emotion is revealed through lines and curves, depressions, elevations, and shading: the contours of life and its shadow experiences. Each line leads to an understanding of a person or experience. Through imagery we imagine what people have gone through: What have they struggled with? What makes them laugh? Do they understand the meaning of the inscriptions on their faces? A drawing is not finished until it is “alive”: Will the image “speak” to others, can it impart humor, excite thought or conjure a feeling, inspire awareness of suffering and hope for deliverance? In this way, drawing, and art in general, are vital links between people, affirming our connection to each other: our interdependency. “The Essence of Eddie” embodies the interdependency between people and the interplay of forces within a person; it is an image of a young man striving to make ends meet. Eddie, a talented musician and poet, aspires to establish a place in this world. His broad smile betrays both the miseries and the joys of his life. Like moments in a life time, spread across the matrix of being, thousands of tiny dots compose the greater image of Eddie; molecules of feeling, thinking and experiencing, a collective force so vital as to emotionally nourish and sustain an artist though he may not have eaten for days, while he renders experience into new musical and poetic forms. Eddie makes the dots swirl until they rest momentarily on the day’s theme, and then light off again to assume new forms somewhere else in the matrix. It has been said, “Art keeps ideas alive.” In medicine we strive to keep people alive. I believe that it is art in medicine that keeps people alive. Healing resides in the original ideas of the physician, an artistic blend of science and intuition, heart and mind, and in the ability to convey these ideas through interaction and instrumentation within a special human relationship of trust and hope. This relationship is a broader matrix of pointillism comprised of two individuals engaged in a process of understanding and healing. Each one of us, doctor and patient, is “Eddie.” The physician must be able to see into each individual and appreciate the singular artistry within in order to conjure and inspire the inner forces of renewal and healing. Each patient, then, is also the physician’s music and poetry. And, who knows what other healing the doctor’s art may inspire in the collective matrices of our interdependent lives, after it has breathed new life into one person?
CORRELATION OF URINARY HYDROXYPROLINE, SERUM ALKALINE PHOSPHATASE AND SKELETAL CALCIUM TURNOVER.

Abstract Thirty-three patients underwent 79 simultaneous calcium 47 kinetic and calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen metabolic balance studies. Concomitantly, total urinary hydroxyproline and serum alkaline phosphatase were determined. The group was weighted in favor of patients with osteoporosis, vitamin D-resistant rickets, metastatic bone disease and parathyroid disorders. Total urinary hydroxyproline, serum alkaline phosphatase, calcium accretion rate and calcium resorption rate correlate well among the metabolic bone disease groups. There is a good correlation in a given individual between serum alkaline phosphatase and calcium accretion rate and between urinary hydroxyproline and calcium resorption rate. The combination of serum alkaline phosphatase and urinary hydroxyproline is a useful screening method for the detection of skeletal diseases with high turnover rates.
Finite mixture modelling in mass spectrometry analysis

Summary Secondary ion mass spectrometry is a popular physical technique that allows learning elemental and chemical compositions of various substances. In some cases, the mass spectrum of the sample studied is not observable without that of the liquid solution in which the investigated substance must be placed. To separate the informative part of the observed mixed spectrum from the irrelevant liquid solution part, we develop an approach that is based on finite mixtures. Finite mixture modelling is a statistical technique that is capable of accounting for various shapes and patterns in data. We discuss a mixture model constructed with bell-shaped discrete component distributions that can be employed in the mass spectrometry framework for extracting the informative part of the mixed spectrum of organic objects. The results for assessing variability in the mass spectrum extracted are derived. The procedure is thoroughly illustrated on simulated data sets and applied to several real life problems that are concerned with complex organic dyes placed in a glycerol liquid matrix. The results obtained have clear chemical interpretation and suggest that the approach proposed is very promising.
Entrepreneurial Effectuation: A Review and Suggestions for Future Research

Effectuation represents a paradigmatic shift in the way that we understand entrepreneurship. Since its introduction, however, few researchers have attempted to empirically test effectuation. Our purpose is to encourage effectuation research. To do so, we review the effectuation literature and make suggestions for how to design and conduct empirically rigorous effectuation studies consistent with the developmental state of the research stream.
The end of diversity: How leaders make differences really matter

Leaders who recognize the importance of diversity but treat it as a separate topic are not getting the full power of the concept, according to Davidson. The key is what he refers to as “Leveraging Difference.” He poses a provocative question: “What if the most important leadership activity was to catalyze diversity, not just manage it?” Leaders thus become emboldened to re-vision everything they do. Such leaders connect to people who are different from them—those who may be considered informal leaders, or what he refers to as “leaders from the margin.”
From Learning to Development: A Sociocultural Approach to Instruction.

Theories of human development and learning provide an essential framework in which to understand the mechanisms involved in the process of formal instruction as a specific form of teaching and learning in the school setting. The sociocultural theory of development, founded on the works of Lev Vygotsky, espouses the view that social interaction among two or more people is the greatest motivating force in human development. Communication, via the use of language, provides one of the most effective means of social interaction. By collaborating toward a common cultural goal, people co‐construct new knowledge by building on each participant's contribution. Based on the main tenets of sociocultural theory, the following eight interrelated principles for instruction are presented, namely, that it should be: mediated; discursive; collaborative; responsive; contextualized; activity‐oriented; developmental; and integrated.
The South African Broadcasting Corporation's Coverage of the 1987 and 1989 Elections: The Matter of Visual Bias.

Investigations into the fairness of the South African Broadcasting Corporation's (SABC) coverage of general elections have produced either stop watch measurements of the time allocated to different political parties, or verbal analyses of election issues. An important element of bias (i.e., visual manipulation) has virtually been ignored. This study is a content analysis of visual bias. Following a review of research on the applications and implications of camera and editing techniques, twelve categories were derived. Each of these categories was conceptually labeled as positively or negatively biased and applied to the entire population of the SABC's 1987 and 1989 pre‐election broadcasts. Results provide evidence that the governing National Party received the most favorable visual portrayals during both elections.
In vivo and in vitro modulation of growth hormone and prolactin of a mixed somatotropic-lactotropic pituitary microadenoma

Both in vivo and in vitro responses of prolactin and growth hormone to stimuli were studied in an acromegalic, amenorrheic woman with a chromophobe adenoma of the pituitary gland. Preoperative testing revealed a prolactin rise after thyrotropin-releasing hormone and chlorpromazine and a decline after l -dopa and bromocriptine administration. During 3.5-hour incubations, cultured tumor cells produced significant increases of growth hormone and prolactin after dibutyryl adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate stimulation, while bromocriptine inhibited both hormones.
Continuing Education: A National Imperative for School Nursing Practice

Competency-based continuing education is critical to the professional development of school nurses to ensure the application of timely, age-appropriate clinical knowledge and leadership skills in the school setting. School nurses are responsible for a large number of students with a variety of complex and diverse health care needs. Benner's theory of novice to expert provides a framework for the development of roles and competencies in the practice of school nursing. This manuscript synthesizes research reviewed in 15 articles. Common themes found in the articles include the importance of continuing education and identified barriers to attainment. In response, methods to access continuing education and financial resources are presented.
How two causes are different from one: the use of (un)conditional information in Simpson's paradox.

In a causally complex world, two (or more) factors may simultaneously be potential causes of an effect. To evaluate the causal efficacy of a factor, the alternative factors must be controlled for (orconditionalized on). Subjects judged the causal strength of two potential causes of an effect that covaried with each other, thereby setting up a Simpson's paradox—a situation in which causal judgments should vary widely depending on whether or not they are conditionalized on the alternative potential cause. In Experiments 1 (table format) and 2 (trial-by-trial format), the subjects did conditionalize their judgments for one causal factor on a known alternative cause. The subjects also demonstrated that they knew what information was needed to properly make causal judgments when two potential causes are available. In Experiment 3 (trial-by-trial), those subjects who were not told about the causal mechanism by which the alternative cause operated were less likely to conditionalize on it. However, the more a subject recognized the covariation between the alternative cause and the effect, the more the subject conditionalized on it. Such behavior may arise from the interaction between bottom-up and top-down processing.
Microclimate factors influencing the frequency and duration of growth season frost for subalpine plants

Abstract The subalpine environment of the Medicine Bow Mountains, Wyoming (USA) is characterized by frost events throughout the summer. As a result, growing season length is difficult to define in terms of frost-free days. For example, such a definition would have limited the 1993 growing season for many plants to only 5 days. The frequency of summertime frost events appeared particularly dependent on net losses of infrared energy to a cold night sky (radiation frost). These radiative losses to the night sky were strongly dependent on microsite sky exposure and leaf characteristics as well as meteorological conditions. During the summer of 1993, air temperatures at a height of 8 cm at the center of a subalpine meadow were below 0°C on 26 of 67 nights, while leaves of a broadleaf species ( Erigeron peregrinus ) frosted on 41 nights compared to 25 nights for a coniferous sapling ( Abies lasiocarpa ). In E. peregrinus , a strong association occurred between the frequency and duration of freezing episodes and the amount of sky exposure, with plants sheltered by forest canopy experiencing frost only 10% to 40% as often as those in the center of the meadow. At exposed locations, longwave radiation minima from the night sky were strongly correlated with the occurrence of leaf temperature minima. Thus, microsite sky exposure as well as the variation in longwave radiation from the atmosphere may have important implications for estimating growing season length and plant distribution patterns at higher elevations. Growth habit also influenced the occurrence of frost because plant height spanned a substantial vertical gradient in air temperature above the soil surface. This was particularly true on nights with low sky infrared radiation and low wind. On calm, clear nights, the coldest leaf temperatures ( T leaf ≈ −11°C with T air ≈ −6°C) occurred because of the combined effects of low sky infrared radiation and low air temperature at plant heights. However, even on relatively windy nights with air temperature above freezing, net radiative losses to clear skies resulted in leaf frost. Flower temperatures of both E. peregrinus and Polygonum bistortoides tended to be significantly warmer (≈ 2°C) than leaf temperatures due to their greater height above the ground. Thus, leaf size, plant height, microsite exposure, and daily variation in sky infrared radiation all have important influences on the determination of frost frequency, duration, and intensity, as well as the length of the growing season.
Obstructive sleep apnea, daytime sleepiness, and type 2 diabetes.

Purpose The purpose of this article is to review the literature on obstructive sleep apnea, resultant daytime sleepiness, and type 2 diabetes mellitus, as the state of evidence exists. Methods A search was conducted on Medline and CINAHL using the search terms sleep apnea syndromes, obstructive sleep apnea, disorders of excessive somnolence, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and insulin resistance. This review includes only published research studies in English, in adults aged 19 years or older. There were 109 citations when the terms were combined, 36 citations that were identified as research studies, no randomized clinical trials, and only 1 qualitative study. Results Obstructive sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes share the risk factors of age and central abdominal obesity. Recent studies suggest that obstructive sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes not only frequently coexist but also have a bidirectional association wherein each condition exacerbates the other. The mechanism whereby obstructive sleep apnea affects glucose metabolism is likely repetitive hypoxia and sleep fragmentation, which cause a stress response with increased sympathetic nervous system activity, increased fatigue-causing cytokines, and altered leptin levels that result in weight gain. In addition, daytime sleepiness results in an impaired mood state that may impede diabetes management. Conclusions Type 2 diabetes is prevalent in persons with obstructive sleep apnea, although the direction of causality is unknown. More research, including randomized clinical trials, is needed to determine how obstructive sleep apnea and daytime sleepiness affect persons with type 2 diabetes.
Reply [to “Comment on ‘Operational oceanography: Shall we dance?’”]

Stan Wilson and Muriel Cole have provided an instructive comment on my original essay (It was interesting to learn that they are performing ballet and not opera, and doing the jitterbug and tango and not the waltz and foxtrot, as could have been feared.) For example, they revealed that at least 1,317 NOAA employees (i.e., approximately 10% of their total workforce) are “operational oceanographers.” ( I would like to assume that they individually recognize their professional or functional identity) When taken together with Richard Spinrad's declared estimate of 2,800 “operational oceanographers” working for the Navy the United States has (neglecting any that may work for other agencies or the private sector) a minimum of 4,000 “operational oceanographers, ”which I believe the research and academic oceanographers will find surprisingly yet interestingly large.
Mechanism for action potential alternans: the interplay between L-type calcium current and transient outward current.

Background The ionic mechanisms underlying action potential duration alternans are not established. Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore the mechanisms underlying action potential alternans. Methods Computer simulations were performed using a model of a single ischemic myocyte. To emulate ischemia, extracellular potassium was raised to 10 mM, L-type calcium channel conductance was decreased, and the conductivity of the transient outward current I to was varied. Results Alternans occurred at basic cycle lengths between 350 and 1,800 ms. The alternans resulted from the interplay of the recovery kinetics of the calcium and transient outward current inactivation gates. Depending on the diastolic interval, the transient outward current was sufficiently strong and calcium current sufficiently weak to result in the abolition of the action potential plateau and thus in an abbreviated action potential. The inactivation and recovery kinetics of the inactivation gates were such that calcium current was relatively stronger than transient outward current after an abbreviated action potential. The subsequent action potential was long because calcium current was sufficiently large to restore the action potential plateau dome after the partial repolarization caused by the transient outward current. The long-short pattern repeated indefinitely. This alternans mechanism explains how 2:1 patterns can evolve into 3:1 patterns, as observed in at least one experiment, as ischemia progresses and calcium current diminishes. Conclusion Computer simulations and basic theory suggest that the interplay between L-type calcium and transient outward currents causes at least one type of alternans.
Cognitive factors in systematic desensitization

This study investigated the effects of two variables on systematic desensitization of snake fear: (1) telling S the treatment was known to be effective vs. telling him that nothing was known about its effectiveness and (2) telling vs. not telling S the treatment rationale. Neither variable had any effect. That this outcome was not due to a uniform ineffectiveness of systematic desnsitization in all conditions was indicated by the fact that fear reduction was greater for all the experimental subjects combined than for an untreated control group.
Analysis of whisker-toughened CMC structural components using an interactive reliability model

Realizing wider utilization of ceramic matrix composites (CMC) requires the development of advanced structural analysis technologies. This article focuses on the use of interactive reliability models to predict component probability of failure. The deterministic William-Warnke failure criterion serves as theoretical basis for the reliability model presented here. The model has been implemented into a test-bed software program. This computer program has been coupled to a general-purpose finite element program. A simple structural problem is presented to illustrate the reliability model and the computer algorithm.
From scientia operativa to scientia intuitiva: Producing particulars in Bacon and Spinoza

This essay compares two seemingly irreconcilable notions of scientia that bookend the seventeenth century: Bacon's scientia operativa and Spinoza's scientia intuitiva.1 I argue that attention to th...
Intragastric fat self-administration is impaired in GPR40/120 double knockout mice

Mice acquire strong preferences for flavors paired with intragastric (IG) fat infusions. This IG fat conditioning is attenuated in double knockout (DoKO) mice missing GPR40 and GPR120 fatty acid receptors. Here we determined if GPR40/120 DoKO mice are also impaired in IG fat self-administration in an operant lick task. In daily 1-h sessions the mice were trained with a sipper spout that contained dry food pellets; licks on the spout triggered infusions of IG fat (Intralipid). The training sessions were followed by test sessions with an empty spout. GPR40/120 DoKO mice self-infused more 20% fat than wild type (WT) C57BL/6 mice in training with a food-baited spout (2.4 vs. 2.0 kcal/h) but self-infused less 20% fat than WT mice in empty spout tests (1.2 vs. 1.7 kcal/h). The DoKO mice also self-infused less 5% fat than WT mice (0.6 vs. 1.3 kcal/h) although both groups emitted more licks for 5% fat than 20% fat. The DoKO and WT mice did not differ, however, in their self-infusion of 12.5% glucose (1.5 vs. 1.6 kcal/h), which is isocaloric to 5% fat. A second 5% IL test showed that the DoKO mice reverted to a reduced self-infusion compared to WT mice. When the infusion was shifted to water, WT mice reduced licking in the first extinction session, whereas DoKO mice were less sensitive to the absence of infused fat. Our results indicate that post-oral GPR40/120 signaling is not required to process IG fat infusions in food-baited spout training sessions but contributes to post-oral fat reinforcement in empty spout tests and flavor conditioning tests.
Mite-Filled Cyst on a Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) in Florida, USA

A large, partly pedunculated mass on the scapular area of a wild-caught captive Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) consisted of a multiloculated keratin cyst inhabited by a new species of harpirhynchid mite (Harpirhynchus quasimodo). The mass did not interfere with flight or behavior. This is the first record of such an infestation of cowbirds in Florida.
Secretory/excretory antigens produced by tetraphyridia of mesocestoides corti defined by SDS—PAGE and HPLC

Abstract Antigens derived from culture medium in which metacestodes of Mesocestoides corti Hoeppli, 1925, had been maintained were studied by sodium-dodecyl-sulfate—polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS—PAGE) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). By SDS—PAGE a minimum of 18 Coomassie-staining bands were discerned, of which 4 major bands and 4 major peaks by HPLC of similar molecular weights were observed. The HPLC eluate peaks were analyzed for antigenic activity in vitro by double diffusion in two dimensions, and in vivo in a rabbit. The rabbit had been artificially sensitized with a dialyzable leukocyte extract, showing transfer-factor-like activity, from peritoneal exudate cells removed from mice infected with tetrathyridia. All of the HPLC fractions reacted with rabbit antibody prepared against secretory/excretory antigens, but the sensitized rabbit responded only to two fractions. It is now possible by HPLC to fractionate complex antigens without denaturing them and to elucidate further the role they play during infection.
Hypoparathyroidism: clinical features, skeletal microstructure and parathyroid hormone replacement

OBJECTIVE: Hypoparathyroidism is a disorder in which parathyroid hormone is deficient in the circulation due most often to immunological destruction of the parathyroids or to their surgical removal. The objective of this work was to define the abnormalities in skeletal microstructure as well as to establish the potential efficacy of PTH(1-84) replacement in this disorder. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Standard histomorphometric and µCT analyses were performed on iliac crest bone biopsies obtained from patients with hypoparathyroidism. Participants were treated with PTH(1-84) for two years. RESULTS: Bone density was increased and skeletal features reflected the low turnover state with greater BV/TV, Tb. Wi and Ct. Wi as well as suppressed MS and BFR/BS as compared to controls. With PTH(1-84), bone turnover and bone mineral density increased in the lumbar spine. Requirements for calcium and vitamin D fell while serum and urinary calcium concentrations did not change. CONCLUSION: Abnormal microstructure of the skeleton in hypoparathyroidism reflects the absence of PTH. Replacement therapy with PTH has the potential to correct these abnormalities as well as to reduce the requirements for calcium and vitamin D.
Performance Analysis of Production Systems with Correlated Demand via Diffusion Approximations

We investigate the performance of a production system with correlated demand through diffusion approximation. The key performance metric under consideration is the extreme points that this system can reach. This problem is mapped to a problem of characterizing the joint probability density of a two-dimensional Brownian motion and its coordinate running maximum. To achieve this goal, we obtain the stationary distribution of a reflected Brownian motion within the positive quarter-plane, which is of independent interest, through investigating a solution of an extended Helmhotz equation.
Spectral attributes of a window function based on spliced secants

Novel filtering window is introduced in which the temporal weightings are based on secant functions. Frequency domain property of this window are analyzed and then compared to the attributes of common windows used in digital signal processing and spectral analysis.
FINDING AGREEMENT AMONG WOMEN ON GENDER ISSUES

Summary.-This study was done to identify areas o€ agreement on gender issues. The sample of 161 students attended California State University at San LUIS Obispo and 27 nonu~versity students were friends. Among university students, 112 were women, 49 were men. A questionnaire asked respondents to indicate agreement on the issues of equal opportunity, sex differences, tactics of social change, education, protectionism, sexuaLty, family, and sexual standards for women. Agreement was high among different groups, men and women, students and nonstudents, old and young women, and denominational affiliations. The results were discussed in terms of building feminist theory and evaluating social policy on areas of agreement as depicted in this sample.
Lithium insertion reactions of KM3P6Si2O25 potassium transition metal silicophosphates

Abstract Lithium insertion reactions carried out on the potassium silicophosphates, KT3P6Si2O25, KMo3P6Si2O25. KMo2TiP6Si2O25 and KSn2TiP6Si2O25 show the formation of LixM3P6Si2O25 phases with optimal stoichiometries of x = 2, 2, 2 and 1, respectively. These compounds exhibit 3D intersecting tunnel structures. Lithiation does not result in any observable changes in the electronic conductivity of the hosts which remain electronic insulators. Complex impedance measurements confirm that these compounds have relatively low activation energies for ionic conduction in agreement with the observed ion-exchange properties.
Russian Efforts to Control Kazakhstan's Oil: The Kumkol Case

A political scientist examines Russia's attempts to control Kazakhstan's oil, investigating both the authorities' definitions of Russia's state interests and individual profit motives. Kazakhstan's domestic politics and pipeline infrastructure are highlighted. A case-study of the strategically located Kumkol oilfield is presented, focusing on relations between the PetroKazakhstan company, LUKoil, and Chinese and Kazakhstani state-owned oil firms. The article is based on interviews conducted by the author in Kazakhstan and the United States, but interviewees were granted anonymity because of the story's sensitivity; hence only published sources are cited.
Electron and photon emission accompanying the abrasion of MgO with diamond

We report simultaneous, time-resolved measurements of photon emission, electron emission, and frictional force during the abrasion of single crystal MgO with a diamond stylus in vacuum. We present evidence for the luminescence being primarily due to deformation and the electron emission being primarily due to fracture. Time-resolved measurements of all three signals show strong fluctuations which reflect stick-slip-like behavior. These measurements indicate enhanced deformation activity at the beginning of a stick event, with predominant fracture activity beginning some milliseconds later. These emissions provide insight into the processes responsible for catastrophic failure of ceramics in wear applications.
Solid-state foaming of titanium by superplastic expansion of argon-filled pores

Solid-state foaming of commercial purity titanium was achieved by hot-isostatic pressing of titanium powders in the presence of argon, followed by expansion of the resulting high-pressure argon bubbles at ambient pressure and elevated temperature. The foaming step was performed under isothermal conditions or during thermal cycling around the α/β allotropic temperature of titanium. Such thermal cycling is known to induce transformation superplasticity (TSP) in bulk titanium due to the complex superposition of internal transformation stresses and an external biasing stress; TSP was found to be active during foaming, where the deviatoric biasing stress was provided by the internal pore pressure. As compared to isothermal control experiments where foam expansion occurred by creep only, TSP foaming under thermal cycling conditions led to significantly higher terminal porosity (41% as compared to 27%). The foaming rates were also higher for the TSP case before pore growth ceased. Additionally, foaming experiments were conducted under an externally applied uniaxial tensile stress of 1 MPa. This procedure resulted in foaming kinetics and porosities similar to those achieved without an external stress and, for the TSP case, led to high aspect ratio pores elongated in the direction of the applied external stress.
Targeted Expression of a Dominant Negative Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in the Mammary Gland of Transgenic Mice Inhibits Pubertal Mammary Duct Development

The epidermal growth factor (EGF) system has been thought to play an important role in normal mammary development and carcinogenesis. To study the role of the EGF receptor (EGFR) in mammary development, we developed a transgenic mouse model in which a C-terminal truncated mouse EGFR (EGFR-TR) was expressed in the mouse mammary epithelium under the control of the mouse mammary tumor virus long terminal repeat. The EGFR-TR lacks most of the cytoplasmic domain of the receptor, including the entire protein tyrosine kinase domain. In cultured cells, we show that it acts in a dominant negative manner in EGF-signaled EGFR autophosphorylation. Several lines of mice were characterized and shown to express the transgene at the mRNA and protein levels not only in the mammary gland but also in the salivary glands, epididymis, and prostate. In postpubertal virgin female mice, the expression of the EGFR-TR in the mammary glands was greater than the expression of the endogenous wild type EGFR. In these virgin mice, inhibition in mammary ductal development and a decrease of mammary epithelial DNA synthesis were observed beginning at 5-6 weeks. The inhibition of duct development was most apparent by 15-16 weeks, resulting in a significant defect in ductal branching and outgrowth and an apparent overall decrease in the size of the mammary glands. However, during pregnancy, expression of the endogenous wild type EGFR was markedly increased relative to the EGFR-TR and, at this stage, normal presecretory alveoli developed from the hypoplastic duct tree. Postpartum, normal lactation occurred. Despite EGFR-TR expression in other tissues, no morphological abnormalities were observed. This model demonstrates that the EGFR-TR behaves as a dominant negative regulator of the EGFR system in vivo and that the EGFR system plays an important role in mammary ductal development.
Some recent developments in spin glasses

I give some experimental and theoretical background to spin glasses, and then discuss the nature of the phase transition in spin glasses withvector spins. Results of Monte Carlo simulations of the Heisenberg spin glass model in three dimensions are presented. A finite-size scaling analysis of the correlation length of the spins and chiralities shows that there is a single, finite-temperature transition at which both spins and chiralities order.
Intrapulmonary chemoreceptors in Gallus domesticus

Abstract White Leghorn male chickens were anesthetized with sodium pentobarbitone (30 mg·kg−1) and unidirectionally artificially ventilated (2 L·min−1). Action potentials from 35 vagal afferent fibers in 30 animals were recorded extracellularly from cell bodies in the nodose ganglion using tungsten microelectrodes. The discharge frequency of all units was inversely related to the fractional concentration of CO2 in the ventilatory gas (FiCO2). Following a step decrease in FiCO2, the discharge frequency significantly increased within 1 sec with either the pulmonary arterial circulation intact or transiently occluded. The response characteristics of these pulmonary afferent fibers to static levels of FICO2 were determined. The median maximal discharge frequency was 14 impulses·sec−1, median sensitivity was 3 impulses · sec−1· (0.01 FiCO2)−1 and median F i CO2 at 50% maximal discharge frequency was 0.026. The mean response curve (percent maximal discharge frequency as a function of FICO2) of all units studied was sigmoid shaped. No variations in discharge frequency of CO2-sensitive pulmonary afferent fibers were observed which correlated with respiratory movements during unidirectional artificial ventilation. It is concluded that all vagal afferent activity reported originated from “intrapulmonary chemoreceptors” which are sensitive to airway PCO2 and insensitive to mechanical stimulation.
The Effects of Salient Risk-Reducing Advertisements on Consumer Attitudes and Purchase Intentions

The concept of perceived risk in consumer decision making constitutes an important area in advertising research. The experiment described here was designed specifically to identify and reduce salient components of risk for two purchase conditions and to measure the impact of the risk-reducing advertisements on, (a) advertising believability, (b) attitudes toward brand, and (c) consumer purchase intentions. The study found that systematically identifying salient components of risk associated with a product/service and addressing them in the advertising message is a significant means of increasing advertising effectiveness.
Forging and firing thunderbolts: Collaboration and women's rhetoric

Abstract An intricate network of collaborative relationships surrounded and supported nineteenth‐century American women's public discourse. Antebellum women worked closely with families, friends, and hired help to create and deliver rhetoric, negotiate conflicting private and public obligations, accommodate gender norms, and construct “feminine”; ethos. However, despite collaboration's central importance to women's rhetoric, scholars currently lack a model that accounts fully for its many forms and multiple functions. This article introduces a new model of collaboration capable of explaining how and why this cooperative method offers marginalized groups their most effective means to the public forum in resistant surroundings.
1α,25(OH)2 Vitamin D3 actions on ion channels in osteoblasts

Membrane-initiated cellular responses to steroids include modulation of ion channel activities via signal transduction pathways. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in nongenomic actions remain only partially understood. Our research has focused on the rapid effects of 1alpha,25(OH)(2) Vitamin D(3) [1,25D] on L-type Ca(2+) [L-Ca] and DIDS-sensitive Cl(-) channels in osteoblasts. Physiological nanomolar concentrations of hormonally active 1,25D promote rapid (1-5 min) potentiation of outward Cl(-) currents in osteosarcoma ROS 17/2.8 cells and mouse primary osteoblasts. In addition, 1,25D increases inward barium currents through L-Ca channels at low depolarizing potentials within seconds in a fashion similar to the 1,4-dihydropyridine [DHP] agonist Bay K8644. We found that second messenger cAMP is involved in 1,25D potentiation of Cl(-) and Ca(2+) channels. Nongenomic 1,25D effects on ion channel activities in osteoblasts appear to involve different mechanisms that include a possible direct interaction with the L-Ca channel molecule, on one hand, and signaling through the cAMP pathway, on the other. Rapid 1,25D actions on Cl(-) and Ca(2+) currents seem to couple to secretory activities in osteoblasts, thus contributing to bone mass formation.
Telmisartan ameliorates glutamate-induced neurotoxicity: Roles of AT1 receptor blockade and PPARγ activation

Abstract Sartans (Angiotensin II AT1 Receptor Blockers, ARBs) are powerful neuroprotective agents in vivo and protect against IL-1β neurotoxicity in vitro. The purpose of this research was to determine the extent of sartan neuroprotection against glutamate excitotoxicity, a common cause of neuronal injury and apoptosis. The results show that sartans are neuroprotective, significantly reducing glutamate-induced neuronal injury and apoptosis in cultured rat primary cerebellar granule cells (CGCs). Telmisartan was the most potent sartan studied, with an order of potency telmisartan > candesartan > losartan > valsartan. Mechanisms involved reduction of pro-apoptotic caspase-3 activation, protection of the survival PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway and prevention of glutamate-induced ERK1/2 activation. NMDA receptor stimulation was essential for glutamate-induced cell injury and apoptosis. Participation of AT1A receptor was supported by glutamate-induced upregulation of AT1A gene expression and AT1 receptor binding. Conversely, AT1B or AT2 receptors played no role. Glutamate-induced neuronal injury and the neuroprotective effect of telmisartan were decreased, but not abolished, in CGCs obtained from AT1A knock-out mice. This indicates that although AT1 receptors are necessary for glutamate to exert its full neurotoxic potential, part of the neuroprotective effect of telmisartan is independent of AT1 receptor blockade. PPARγ activation was also involved in the neuroprotective effects of telmisartan, as telmisartan enhanced PPARγ nuclear translocation and the PPARγ antagonist GW9662 partially reversed the neuroprotective effects of telmisartan. The present results substantiate the therapeutic use of sartans, in particular telmisartan, in neurodegenerative diseases and traumatic brain disorders where glutamate neurotoxicity plays a significant role.
Evolutionary Theories and the Community Management of Local Commons: A Survey

This article examines the evolution of economic theory to explain the emergence and maintenance of cooperation among users of local commons. The conventional view that “free riding” prevents cooperative solutions to the commons dilemma is challenged under new theories rooted in evolutionary paradigm and the institutional matrix within which individuals find themselves. Contrary to the prediction of the conventional view, modern evolutionary theories provide ample empirical and theoretical evidence in support of a community's ability to self-organize to preserve the local commons.
Phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain eliminates force-dependent changes in relaxation rates in skeletal muscle.

Abstract The rate of relaxation from steady-state force in rabbit psoas fiber bundles was examined before and after phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain (RLC). Relaxation was initiated using diazo-2, a photolabile Ca 2+ chelator that has low Ca 2+ binding affinity ( K Ca =4.5×10 5 M −1 ) before photolysis and high affinity ( K Ca =1.3×10 7 M −1 ) after photolysis. Before phosphorylating RLC, the half-times for relaxation initiated from 0.27±0.02, 0.51±0.03, and 0.61±0.03 P o were 90±6, 140±6, and 182±9ms, respectively. After phosphorylation of RLC, the half-times for relaxation from 0.36±0.03 P o , 0.59±0.03 P o , and 0.65±0.02 P o were 197±35ms, 184±35ms, and 179±22ms. This slowing of relaxation rates from steady-state forces less than 0.50 P o was also observed when bundles of fibers were bathed with N -ethylmaleimide-modified myosin S-1, a strongly binding cross-bridge derivative of S1. These results suggest that phosphorylation of RLC slows relaxation, most likely by slowing the apparent rate of transition of cross-bridges from strongly bound (force-generating) to weakly bound (non-force-generating) states, and reduces or eliminates Ca 2+ and cross-bridge activation-dependent changes in relaxation rates.
The Mayo Prosthetic Joint Infection Risk Score: Implication for Surgical Site Infection Reporting and Risk Stratification

Objective. The goal of this study was to develop a prognostic scoring system for the development of prosthetic joint infection (PJI) that could risk-stratify patients undergoing total hip (THA) or total knee (TKA) arthroplasties.Design. Previously reported case-control study.Setting. Tertiary referral care setting from 2001 through 2006.Methods. A derivation data set of 339 cases and 339 controls was used to develop 2 scores. A baseline score and a 1-month-postsurgery risk score were computed as a function of the relative contributions of risk factors for each model. Points were assigned for the presence of each factor and then summed to get a subject’s risk score.Results. The following risk factors were detected from multivariable modeling and incorporated into the baseline Mayo PJI risk score: body mass index, prior other operation on the index joint, prior arthroplasty, immunosuppression, ASA score, and procedure duration (c index, 0.722). The 1-month-postsurgery risk score contained the same variables...
Product bundling or reserved product pricing? Price discrimination with myopic and strategic consumers

Mixed bundling (MB), in which products are sold separately and as a bundle, is a form of second degree price discrimination. In this study we examine how MB and its variants compare against reserved product pricing (RPP), a form of co-promotion. Used by Amazon.com, among others, RPP consists of the firm offering individual products and then enticing single product buyers with a discount on the second product. Our analytical model has a monopolist offering two products to a mix of myopic and strategic consumers. We find that as long as the market consists of a “modest” fraction of myopic consumers, RPP is more profitable than mixed bundling and its special cases. We also present pricing results under RPP. An extension shows that RPP can also be more profitable than a form of price skimming. Limitations and future research directions are discussed.
Factors affecting temperature variation and habitat use in free-ranging diamondback terrapins

Measuring the thermal conditions of aquatic reptiles with temperature dataloggers is a cost-effective way to study their behavior and habitat use. Temperature dataloggers are a particularly useful and informative approach to studying organisms such as the estuarine diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin) that inhabits a dynamic environment often inaccessible to researchers. We used carapacemounted dataloggers to measure hourly carapace temperature (Tc) of free-ranging terrapins in South Carolina from October 2007 to 2008 to examine the effects of month, sex, creek site, and tide on Tc and to determine the effects of month, sex, and time of day on terrapin basking frequency. Simultaneous measurements of environmental temperatures (Te; shallow mud, deep mud, water) allowed us to make inferences about terrapin microhabitat use. Terrapin Tc differed significantly among months and creek and between sexes. Terrapin microhabitat use also varied monthly, with shallow mud temperature being the best predictor of Tc November–March and water temperature being the best predictor of Tc April– October. Terrapins basked most frequently in spring and fall and males basked more frequently than females. Our study contributes to a fuller understanding of terrapin thermal biology and provides support for using dataloggers to investigate behavior and habitat use of aquatic ectotherms inhabiting dynamic environments.
The continuous-cathode (emitting-sole) crossed-field amplifier

The crossed-field amplifier (CFA) is an outgrowth of the magnetron. Several varieties exist including the forward-wave/ backward-wave types, and the injected-beam continuous-cathode (emitting-sole) types. Of these, the continuous-cathode type has found the most usage and has been established in many systems. Emphasis is placed upon this type. The CFA interaction process has similarities to a synchronous generator. From this, many of the characteristic features can be deduced or understood. The size, efficiency, range of performance, phase stability, and operating parameters are a feature of the crossed-field interaction process which distinguishes the CFA from other microwave tubes. Its greatest usage is in light-weight transportable radar systens, although not restricted to these. Its future lies in the extension of its gain capability and in the incorporation of technological advances such as new materials.