cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Studies of the cobalt(II) complexes of N-methyl-γ-butyrolactam

Abstract Complexes with the formulas [Co(NMBuL)6](ClO4)2 and [Co(NMBuL)4](ClO4)2 have been isolated (NMBuL = N-methyl-γ-butyrolactam). I.R. spectral and conductance data are presented to eliminate the possibility of perchlorate coordination in [Co(NMBuL)4](ClO4)2. Spectral parameters obtained from the electronic spectra and magnetic moments indicate approximate tetrahedral and octahedral ligand fields for the 4- and 6-coordinate complexes, respectively. Vibrational spectra demonstrate coordination through NMBuL carbonyl oxygen for both complexes. Simultaneous coordination through both the carbonyl oxygen and amide nitrogen may be present in [Co(NMBuL)4](ClO4)2 or distortion from pure Td symmetry may result from ion pairing. The crystal-field prediction that Δ(T d ) Δ(C h )=0·44 is found not to agree with the experimental results, and possible explanations are offered.
Review of health behaviors and their correlates among young adult cancer survivors

It is imperative that young adult cancer survivors address any modifiable risk factors, given their increased health risks. Unfortunately, few behavioral interventions have been developed for this population. The literature on physical activity, smoking, and alcohol and drug use among young adult cancer survivors was reviewed in order to identify the behaviors most in need of intervention, the most vulnerable subsets of the population, and the health behavior theories that might guide intervention development. This literature indicates that young adult cancer survivors are not meeting physical activity recommendations though smoking and risky drinking appear less pervasive than in the general population. Several demographic and medical characteristics are associated with health behaviors, indicating subsets of the population particularly in need of intervention. The literature also indicates that a few different theories and models (e.g., social cognitive theory, self-determination theory) might be useful in guiding the development of interventions for this population.
Project Proficiency: Assessing the Independent Effects of High School Reform in an Urban District

ABSTRACT.The authors sought to determine if an urban school district's effort to fundamentally change teaching, assessment, and intervention practices increased student achievement and decreased achievement variation among classrooms in 11 high schools. They examined Grade 11 mathematics achievement data from the 2009–2010 and 2010–2011 Kentucky Core Content Test. The sample consisted of 2,451 students in 11 high schools that implemented an initiative called Project Proficiency. The study used hierarchical linear modeling to determine if changes in instructional practices yielded academic gains, while controlling for individual and school socioeconomic status (SES) and prior student achievement. The analysis revealed that Project Proficiency had a significant impact on state mathematics achievement and reduced classroom variation by 55% in the final model, as opposed to 16% in the control group. Results also indicated that a school's SES had a greater influence on student achievement than an individual st...
The fifty percent male excess of infant respiratory mortality.

AIM: To test whether infant mortality from clearly respiratory causes has a consistent male excess that is different from the male excess in most cardiac conditions. METHODS: Analysis of male excess in infant mortality data from the United States and from north European countries. Data are analyzed for the period 1979-2002 in autopsied and unautopsied cohorts. RESULTS: Several modes of respiratory death in infancy are characterized by an approximate 50% male excess. This common excess is demonstrated in vital statistics for infant respiratory distress syndrome, sudden infant death syndrome, inhalation of food and other objects causing obstruction of respiratory tract or suffocation, congenital pneumonia, viral pneumonia, bronchiolitis and bronchitis, and accidental drowning. Results are presented for these and other respiratory causes of mortality in all United States infant deaths from 1979-1998 and for sudden infant death syndrome from the United Kingdom and Scandinavia. In sudden infant death syndrome, the common male excess appears to exist only for the autopsied post-neonatal cases. Comparisons are made to the male excess mortality from congenital cardiac anomalies showing a similarly large male excess for those conditions resulting in severe hypoxic and ischemic hypoxia. CONCLUSION: Because these respiratory disease conditions are quite different, it is proposed that their common approximately 50% male excess implies a common terminal hypoxic condition and mechanism of death reached via the different pathways. We hypothesize that an unknown X-linkage may be responsible for this consistent male excess in infant mortality. Language: en
The Effect of Sunitinib on Primary Renal Cell Carcinoma and Facilitation of Subsequent Surgery

Purpose: We investigated the effect of sunitinib on locally advanced primary renal carcinoma tumors and the ability to facilitate subsequent surgery.Materials and Methods: Patients with an unresectable primary renal tumor, with or without distant metastases, received 50 mg sunitinib with continuous daily dosing in a phase II trial. Computerized tomography was performed every 12 weeks to determine surgical resectability. The primary end point of the trial was the percentage of patients with renal cell carcinoma and initially unresectable primary tumors who could undergo nephrectomy after sunitinib therapy.Results: Of 30 patients enrolled in the study (19 with distant metastases) 28 (35 total renal tumors) were evaluable for response. The median change in primary renal cell carcinoma tumors was a 22% decrease, corresponding to a median absolute reduction of 1.2 cm. The median reduction in primary renal cell carcinoma tumors of clear cell histology was −28% (absolute reduction 1.7 cm) compared to a 1.4% incr...
Dietary niche partitioning among fossil bovids in late Miocene C3 habitats: Consilience of functional morphology and stable isotope analysis

Abstract Teeth of late Miocene bovids referred to Bovini and “Boselaphini” were subjected to enamel stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to test paleoecological reconstructions based on dental morphology. Teeth of Bovini possess derived characters–including larger size, higher crowns, and increased enamel surface area–that are indicative of feeding on a more fibrous and gritty diet, probably grass. In contrast, teeth of “Boselaphini” reflect the plesiomorphic condition among bovids–being smaller, lower-crowned, and with simple occlusal morphology–and are indicative of a diet with a greater reliance on softer food items such as browse. Late Miocene bovines are also expected to have inhabited drier, more open habitats than did boselaphines. Stable carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions from 30 fossil teeth (18 bovine, 12 boselaphine) from well-dated localities of between 8.3 and 7.9 Ma in age from the Siwalik deposits, Pakistan, were analyzed to test these paleoecological hypotheses. All δ13C values (VPDB) are more negative than −8‰, indicating that both bovines and boselaphines at this time had pure C3 diets. The mean δ13C for bovine teeth (−10.4‰) is more positive than that for boselaphines (−10.9‰), and the differences between these two series are significant (Wilcoxon, p Stable isotope analysis results, particularly δ13C values, suggest that in the late Miocene neither bovines nor boselaphines inhabited dense forest habitats. And while both bovid taxa may have been mixed feeders to different extents, the δ13C values support the hypothesis developed on the basis of dental functional morphology that early bovines evolved inhabiting more open habitats than did contemporaneous boselaphines. The scenario whereby the bovine clade owes its origins to a boselaphine lineage that adapted to drier, more open habitats is supported by the general context of climatic and faunal change in Eurasia in the late Miocene, particularly between 11–8 Ma, when faunal assemblages from many sites exhibit significant turnover events through which open-habitat taxa become present in increasing proportions at the expense of closed-habitat taxa.
The Ear-Brain Connection: Older Ears and Older Brains.

Purpose The purpose of this article is to review recent research from our laboratory on the topic of aging, and the ear–brain system, as it relates to hearing aid use and auditory rehabilitation. The material described here was presented as part of the forum on the brain and hearing aids, at the 2014 HEaling Across the Lifespan (HEAL) conference. Method The method involves a narrative review of previously reported electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) data from our laboratory as they relate to the (a) neural detection of amplified sound and (b) ability to learn new sound contrasts. Conclusions Results from our studies add to the mounting evidence that there are central effects of biological aging as well as peripheral pathology that affect a person's neural detection and use of sound. What is more, these biological effects can be seen as early as middle age. The accruing evidence has implications for hearing aid use because effective communication relies not only on sufficient dete...
WAIS-III Matrix Reasoning: Instruction Effects on Task Perception and Performance

Instructions for the Matrix Reasoning subtest of the WAIS-III do not communicate to examinees that the subtest is untimed. The present study examined what percentage of participants (34 women, 26 men, M age = 20.1; 55 Caucasian, 3 African American, 2 Hispanic) made the assumption that Matrix Reasoning was timed, and its effect on examinees' scores. 55% of participants receiving standard instructions retrospectively reported assuming the subtest was timed, and those who did not assume Matrix Reasoning was timed scored significantly higher than participants who did. Participants receiving additional instructions that clarified the untimed nature of Matrix Reasoning scored significantly higher than those receiving standard instructions who believed the subtest was timed.
A DEFENSE OF THE NECESSARY UNITY OF PHENOMENAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Some argue that split-brain cases undermine the thesis that phenomenal consciousness is necessarily unified. This paper defends the phenomenal unity thesis against Michael Tye's (2003) version of that argument. Two problems are identified. First, his argument relies on a questionable analysis of the split-brain data. Second, his analysis leads to the view that in experimental situations split-brain patients are not single subjects - a result that would render the analysis harmless to the phenomenal unity thesis.
Cumulative effects of land use, altered fire regime and climate change on persistence of Ceanothus verrucosus, a rare, fire‐dependent plant species

Mediterranean ecosystems are among the highest in species richness and endemism globally and are also among the most sensitive to climate and land-use change. Fire is an important driver of ecosystem processes in these systems; however, fire regimes have been substantially changed by human activities. Climate change is predicted to further alter fire regimes and species distributions, leading to habitat loss and threatening biodiversity. It is currently unknown what the population-level effects of these landscape-level changes will be. We linked a spatially explicit stochastic population model to dynamic bioclimate envelopes to investigate the effects of climate change, habitat loss and fragm entation and altered fire regime on population abundances of a long-lived obligate seeding shrub, Ceanothus verrucosus, a rare endemic species of southern California. We tested a range of fire return intervals under the present and two future climate scenarios. We also assessed the impact of potential anthropogenic land-use change by excluding land identified as developable by local governments. We found that the 35-50 year fire return interval resulted in the highest population abundances. Expected minimum population abundance (EMA) declined gradually as fire return interval increased, but declined dramatically for shorter fire intervals. Simulated future development resulted in a 33% decline in EMA, but relatively stable population trajectories over the time frame modeled. Relative changes in EMA for alternative fire intervals were similar for all climate and habitat loss scenarios, except under the more severe climate scenario which resulted in a change in the relative ranking of the fire scenarios. Our results show climate change to be the most serious threat facing obligate seeding shrubs embedded in urban landscapes, resulting in population decline and increased local extirpation, and that likely interactions with other threats increase risks to these species. Taking account of parameter uncertainty did not alter our conclusions.
Mutagenicity of azo dyes used in foods, drugs and cosmetics before and after reduction by Clostridium species from the human intestinal tract

Various azo dyes currently approved by the US FDA for use in foods, drugs and cosmetics are reduced by anaerobic bacteria from the human intestinal tract. These bacteria with azoreductase activities include several Clostridium species. Seven of these azo dyes and their reduction products following incubation with a Clostridium sp. were evaluated for mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100. No mutagenicity was induced in either TA98 or TA100 by any of the seven azo dyes or the reduced metabolites when tested at concentrations as high as 200 μg/plate, with or without exogenous metabolic activation by rat liver fraction S-9.
Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor Control System

The fine pointing information required for the extraordinary pointing stability of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is provided by the fine guidance sensor (FGS), which is capable of measuring extremely small pointing errors, of the order of 3 milliarcseconds. The FGS provides this fine pointing information over a relatively large, continuous range of angles of guide stars relative to the optical axis of the telescope. The FGS accomplishes this task by a judicious design involving the following: a two-axis high precision star selector servo system; an optical deflection system that provides high reduction from shaft angle to optical angle; a unique interferometer using Koester prisms and extremely sensitive photomultiplier tubes that enable the FGS to lock onto guide stars whose magnitude may be any value over a wide range of brightness (including 14.5 Mv and fainter); and the use the large aperture of the telescope itself to advantage. This paper describes the FGS control systems involved in achieving this performance, supported by test data.
Identification of a novel phosphorylation site in human androgen receptor by mass spectrometry.

Abstract An N-terminal hexahistidine-tagged full-length human androgen receptor protein (His 6 -hAR) was overexpressed and purified to apparent homogeneity in the presence of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in our previous studies. In-gel trypsin digestion of the purified DHT-bound His 6 -hAR, and tryptic peptide mapping using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI/TOF-MS), detected a total of 17 peptides (21% coverage of hAR) with 9 peptides originating from the ligand-binding domain (LBD, 31% coverage of LBD). Amino acid sequencing analysis of the tryptic peptides from a separate in-gel digestion of the His 6 -hAR, using HPLC-coupled electrospray ionization ion trap mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-ITMS and MS/MS), unambiguously confirmed 21 peptides with 19% coverage of the hAR, of which 11 peptides originated from the LBD (35% coverage of LBD). These 21 peptides included 11 out of the 17 peptides detected by MALDI/TOF-MS. In addition, a novel serine phosphorylation site (Ser 308 ) within the N-terminal transactivation domain of hAR was identified.
Evidence for a distorted solar core rotating with a 12.4-day period

The periodicity recently discovered in the solar Doppler velocity may be due to an Eddington–Sweet current driven in the photosphere by a distorted gravitational potential rotating rigidly with a synodic period of 12.81±0.10 days (12.4 days sidereal).
Use of N-acetyl-2'-O-methyllactosamine as a specific acceptor for the determination of α-L-(1→3)-fucosyltransferase in human serum

A synthetic substrate, N-acetyl-2'-O-methyllactosamine, was employed as a specific acceptor for alpha-L-(1----3)-fucosyltransferase from human serum. The fucosyl linkage of the product from this substrate was characterized by hydrolysis with a specific alpha-L-(1----3)/(1----4)-fucosidase. Using this acceptor, the pH optimum for the serum alpha-L-(1----3)-fucosyltransferase was 6.5. The enzyme was activated by Mn2+ or Mg2+ ions and was inhibited by EDTA. The apparent Km for this enzyme using N-acetyl-2'-O-methyllactosamine was 20.4 mM and Vmax was 5.6 pmol/h/ml serum.
Spatial memory and perspective taking.

Giving directions or describing an environment often requires assuming perspectives other than one’s own. We employed a spatial perspective-taking task to investigate how describing familiar versus novel perspectives affects subsequent memory. One participant (the director) viewed a display of objects from a single perspective and described the display to another participant (the matcher) from a perspective that varied by 0°, 45°, 90°, 135°, or 180° from the viewing perspective. Following the description, we assessed the director’s memory for the display, using judgments of relative direction, scene recognition, and map drawing. The participants imagined and recognized familiar views faster and/or more accurately than novel views. Moreover, different tasks showed different degrees of facilitation for the visually perceived and described views, suggesting multiple representations for different aspects of spatial memory. These findings emphasize the importance of understanding distinctions among spatial experiences and underscore differences in the tasks used to probe spatial memory.
X-Ray Scattering by Very Defective Lattices

There is evidence to indicate that some diffusely scattering substances are essentially highly defective lattices rather than made up of small domains diffracting incoherently with respect to each other. Equations have been derived for the diffraction profiles from such lattices; they are of a Cauchy type. Highly defective lattices are characterizable by a mean defect-free distance rather than a domain size. Several criteria are presented for distinguishing defect-broadening from domain or particle-size broadening, and procedures are outlined for the separation of strain and defect broadenings.
A simple comparison of two sequences of probabilities

A simple measure of comparison for two sequences of probabilities is proposed. It is the squared distance between these two sequences. An estimation procedure including a point estimator and a confidence interval is proposed for this simple measure. A testing procedure is presented for testing the difference of the two sequences. This new measure and the statistical procedures based on it have certain distinct advantages over the Mantel-Haenszel procedure in the situation where one sequence is not majorized by the other. A test which takes advantages of both the squared distance test and the Mantel-Haenszel test is proposed. Some simulation studies on these varieties are conducted.
A CRAVED Analysis of Multiple Illicit Parrot Markets in Peru and Bolivia

Parrots are one of the most threatened bird species in the world, partly due to the illegal parrot trade. Previous research has attempted to explain why some parrot species are more likely to be poached for illicit markets, though these studies suffer from a small sample size or focus on a singular illicit market. Whether these past findings are generalizable to other markets in other countries remains unknown. Using two recent conservation studies that examine illicit pet markets in seven cities within Peru and Bolivia (Gastanaga et al., Bird Conservational International, 1–10, 2010; Herrera and Hennessey, Tundra to Tropics, 232–234, 2008), this study applies the CRAVED model (Clarke, London: Home Office, 1999) to identify which factors are able to explain poaching variation of species. Findings show that the more concealable, available, abundant, and disposable species are poached more often. Enjoyable, removable, and valuable species were not found to be significantly related with poaching. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Frege, Leśniewski and Information Semantics on the Resolution of Antinomies

Frege sharply distinguished functions from objects. The interplay between the two domains led to serious complications to which many logicians of our century have addressed themselves. Perhaps the time has come to bridge this gap and to this end information semantics is a contribution.
Passivation and doping due to hydrogen in III-nitrides

We have systematically studied the electronic structure and stability of hydrogen in AlN, GaN, and InN, based on first-principles calculations. In GaN and AIN, H is amphoteric and always compensates the prevailing conductivity: in GaN, H + is stable for Fermi levels below 2.2 eV, and in AlN, H + is stable for E F below 2.5 eV. In InN, we find that H + is stable for all Fermi level positions; i.e., H behaves exclusively as a donor. Consequences for controlling the conductivity of InN are discussed.
Differentiating motivations of guided versus unguided fly anglers

Abstract Motivations, characteristics, and fishing involvement of guided and unguided fly anglers were examined in southwestern Montana. Recent growth in fly fishing has created crowding and conflict, while fishery managers have little information on this growing segment of the angling population. On‐site interviews with 246 anglers were conducted with a questionnaire, sampling an equal number of guided and unguided anglers in order to examine differences between the two groups. Significant differences were found for social characteristics such as age, income, and fishing involvement. A discriminant analysis of angler motivation revealed five variables that distinguished between guided and unguided fly anglers. “Catching trophy fish”;, “catching different kinds of fish”;, and “testing flies that I have tied”; were more important to unguided anglers than guided anglers. “Learning new skills from others”;, was more important to guided anglers than unguided anglers, while unguided anglers reported higher imp...
Permutability of subgroups of G×H that are direct products of subgroups of the direct factors

If M and S are two subgroups of a group G, M and S permute if MS=SM. Furthermore, M is a permutable subgroup of G if M permutes with every subgroup of G. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for M, a subgroup of G, to permute with a subgroup of G×H given that G and H are finite groups. The main part of the paper involves the development of a characterization of permutable subgroups of G×H that are direct products of subgroups of the direct factors; that is, subgroups that are equal to A×B where A $ \leqq $ G and B $ \leqq $ H.
Computational determination of the relative polarizabilities of molecular components

It is well known that the polarizabilities of both atoms and molecules correlate well with their volumes (V). We have shown in earlier work that these relationships can be further improved by including an inverse dependence on the average local ionization energy (S,ave) over the surface of the atom or molecule. We have recently suggested that this be extended to the components of molecules (atoms or groups) and that V/S,ave be viewed as a measure of their relative polarizabilities (α). We have now extended this approach computationally to a total of nine atoms and groups: F, Cl, Br, OH, SH, NH2, CH3, CN, and NO2. The transferability of S,ave, V, and V/S,ave for a given component from one molecule to another is analyzed in detail, and it is shown that components of molecules containing the nitro group are likely to have anomalously low polarizabilities. By converting our α to absolute αi via a correlation with Miller's values, we are able to predict the polarizabilities of a large number of molecules. The agreement with available experimental data is quite reasonable (average absolute difference = 0.23 A3), given the inevitable uncertainty associated with the concept of component properties. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2006
Overlap between dissociation and other psychological characteristics in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures.

Patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) often report symptoms of dissociation. However, it is unclear how these symptoms relate to psychotherapeutic treatment, for example, with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Here, we investigated the degree of overlap between symptoms of dissociation and other psychiatric features that are more traditional targets for CBT. We used a hierarchical linear regression to measure the variance associated with dissociative symptoms (as assessed by the Dissociative Experiences Scale - DES) among 46 individuals with PNESs. The regression predictor variables are indices of participants' self-rated mood, self-efficacy, quality of life, locus of control, and life outlook (e.g., optimism). Results revealed that 70.2% of the variance associated with DES score was explained by psychological distress and locus of control. The other factors examined did not make a significant contribution to the regression model. These results suggest that traditional CBT targets - mood symptoms, mood distress, and dysfunctional beliefs about locus of control - overlap substantially with self-reported dissociative symptoms.
Water quality of seasonally flooded agricultural fields in Mississippi, USA.

Planned flooding of agricultural fields is performed to prevent erosion (e.g. sheet, gully, and rill) and provide habitat for waterfowl. As a post-harvest field treatment, flooding is becoming more common in the agriculturally dominated landscape of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) in the southeastern United States. Despite this trend, information pertaining to water quality characteristics of water remaining on fields during the winter and subsequent relationships with environmental and biological processes is sparse. Because the water retained on fields is eventually released into adjacent waterways prior to planting, it is critical to monitor water quality parameters of these flooded fields. Water quality parameters of flooded agricultural fields were assessed from January to March and compared to those observed in impounded wetlands. Temporal variation of parameters among sampling dates was also examined. Mean (S.E.) suspended solids concentration was greater (p<0.05) in flooded agricultural fields (283.3 98.7 mg l 1 ) than impounded wetlands (79.525.3 mg l 1 ) and an interaction of habitat and sampling date was detected on dissolved solids concentration (p<0.05). Water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, ammonia, nitrate, total phosphorus, enterococci bacteria, and fecal coliform bacterial concentrations exhibited temporal variation among sampling dates (p<0.05). For both flooded fields and wetlands, fecal coliform and enterococci concentrations peaked at 2887.5 and 675.0 colony forming units (CFU) 100 ml 1 , respectively, during the first sampling date (January) and declined to 133.2 and 33.3 CFU 100 ml 1 , respectively, in March. Results of this study indicated that: (1) flooded agricultural fields had greater variability of water quality parameters than wetlands; (2) 53% of measured water quality parameters exhibited temporal variation and (3) impounding water may facilitate decreases in bacterial concentrations. Holding water on agricultural fields and knowledge of temporal water quality trends may provide a means to decrease contaminant concentrations, thus improving quality of potential runoff that may enter adjacent bodies of water. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Enhancement of Oxidation and Phosphorylation of Maize Scutellum Mitochondria by Physiological Concentration of Indoleacetic Acid

Mitochondria isolated from inbred and hybrid maize scutella were found to exhibil enhancd oxidative and phosphorylative activity in many cases when treated with physiological concentrations of IAA. It was found that the genotype being tested the substrate utilized, and the concentration of IAA applied had significant effects on the degree of enhancement or inhibition observed in each case. These results suggest that IAA is related in some manner to theactivity of the respiratory enzymes of the mitochondria.
Hyaluronic acid binding by human sperm indicates cellular maturity, viability, and unreacted acrosomal status.

Abstract Objective To test, both in semen and washed-sperm fractions, whether hyaluronic acid (HA) binding is restricted to sperm that have completed cellular maturation. Design Comparisons of sperm in semen and in HA-bound sperm fractions. Setting University-based diagnostic and research andrology laboratory. Patient(s) Semen samples originated in men being tested for infertility. Intervention(s) The attributes of sperm maturity were tested by immunocytochemistry with creatine kinase and HspA2 antisera (highlights cytoplasmic retention in diminished-maturity sperm), aniline blue chromatin staining (detects persistent histones), pisum sativum lectin staining (reveals acrosomal integrity), and the FertiLight viability kit (highlights viable and nonviable sperm). Result(s) All markers of sperm maturity and immaturity supported the hypothesis that HA-bound sperm are mature. Nonbinding sperm exhibited cytoplasmic and nuclear properties of diminished maturity. The acrosomal status of HA-bound sperm was either unreacted or slightly capacitated, but not acrosome reacted. Only viable sperm exhibited HA binding. Conclusion(s) Sperm that are able to bind to HA are mature and have completed the spermiogenetic processes of sperm plasma membrane remodeling, cytoplasmic extrusion, and nuclear histone–protamine replacement. Hyaluronic acid–bound sperm show unreacted acrosomes. These studies provide further insights into the relationship between spermiogenesis and sperm function.
Does why we reminisce reflect how you behave? Linking maternal reminiscing goals to child behavioural and emotional problems

Recent theoretical and empirical work suggests that joint mother–child reminiscence may reflect both explicit and implicit socialization goals. The present study investigates mothers' explicit socialization goals that may be enacted during joint reminiscence in relation to children's behavioural and emotional problems. Two hundred and sixty-five mothers of 3- to 8-year-old children completed an online survey that included a measure of seven reminiscing goals (emotional understanding, behaviour control, bonding, interdependence, entertainment, memory skill development, and maintaining peer relationships). In addition, mothers completed measures of children's emotion problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems as well as supportive parenting and maternal attachment. Findings indicated that controlling for supportive parenting and maternal attachment, emotional understanding was a unique predictor of children's emotion problems, directing behaviour was a unique predictor of conduct problems, and bonding was a unique predictor of hyperactivity. These findings provide support for the functional nature of joint reminiscence. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Inhibitors of the Tick-Borne, Hemorrhagic Fever-Associated Flaviviruses

No antiviral therapies are available for the tick-borne flaviviruses associated with hemorrhagic fevers: Kyasanur Forest disease virus (KFDV), both classical and the Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus (AHFV) subtype, and Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus (OHFV). We tested compounds reported to have antiviral activity against members of the Flaviviridae family for their ability to inhibit AHFV replication. 6-Azauridine (6-azaU), 2′-C-methylcytidine (2′-CMC), and interferon alpha 2a (IFN-α2a) inhibited the replication of AHFV and also KFDV, OHFV, and Powassan virus. The combination of IFN-α2a and 2′-CMC exerted an additive antiviral effect on AHFV, and the combination of IFN-α2a and 6-azaU was moderately synergistic. The combination of 2′-CMC and 6-azaU was complex, being strongly synergistic but with a moderate level of antagonism. The antiviral activity of 6-azaU was reduced by the addition of cytidine but not guanosine, suggesting that it acted by inhibiting pyrimidine biosynthesis. To investigate the mechanism of action of 2′-CMC, AHFV variants with reduced susceptibility to 2′-CMC were selected. We used a replicon system to assess the substitutions present in the selected AHFV population. A double NS5 mutant, S603T/C666S, and a triple mutant, S603T/C666S/M644V, were more resistant to 2′-CMC than the wild-type replicon. The S603T/C666S mutant had a reduced level of replication which was increased when M644V was also present, although the replication of this triple mutant was still below that of the wild type. The S603 and C666 residues were predicted to lie in the active site of the AHFV NS5 polymerase, implicating the catalytic center of the enzyme as the binding site for 2′-CMC.
THE GEOTROPIC REACTION OF RODLESS MICE IN LIGHT AND IN DARKNESS.

"Black—short ears—kinky tail—rodless" mice, controlled by "pink eyed—dilute—brown" mice, were tested on an inclined plane in order to determine if they are photically sensitive, and, if so, to get a quantitative expression for their visual receptivity. Rodless and control animals were tested in the dark to obtain an expression for normal geotropic orientation. Light was then introduced to modify these reactions if possible. Under light, the controls failed to orient, whereas the rodless gave reactions almost identical with those in the dark. This test has failed in this experiment to suggest sight in the rodless mouse.
Perceived Acute Human Resource Management Problems in Small and Medium Firms: An Empirical Examination

The main objective of this study was to introduce and empirically test a novel and useful framework from which to study human resource management (HRM) problems in small– and medium–sized enterpris...
Day to Day Variability and Reliability of Blood Oxidative Stress Markers within a Four-Week Period in Healthy Young Men

The present study aimed to determine the day to day variability and reliability of several blood oxidative stress markers at rest in a healthy young cohort over a four-week period. Twelve apparently healthy resistance trained males (24.6 ± 3.0 yrs) were tested over 7 visits within 4 weeks with at least 72 hrs between visits at the same time of day. Subjects rested 30 minutes prior to blood being obtained by vacutainer. Results. The highest IntraClass correlations (ICC's) were obtained for protein carbonyls (PC) and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) (PC = 0.785 and ORAC = 0.780). Cronbach's α reliability score for PC was 0.967 and for ORAC was 0.961. The ICC's for GSH, GSSG, and the GSSG/TGH ratio ICC were 0.600, 0.573, and 0.570, respectively, with Cronbach's α being 0.913, 0.904, and 0.903, respectively. Xanthine oxidase ICC was 0.163 and Cronbach's α was 0.538. Conclusions. PC and ORAC demonstrated good to excellent reliability while glutathione factors had poor to excellent reliability. Xanthine oxidase showed poor reliability and high variability. These results suggest that the PC and ORAC markers were the most stable and reliable oxidative stress markers in blood and that daily changes across visits should be considered when interpreting resting blood oxidative stress markers.
Evaluation of the MicroSeq System for Identification of Mycobacteria by 16S Ribosomal DNA Sequencing and Its Integration into a Routine Clinical Mycobacteriology Laboratory

An evaluation of the MicroSeq 500 microbial identification system by nucleic acid sequencing and the Mayo Clinic experience with its integration into a routine clinical laboratory setting are described. Evaluation of the MicroSeq 500 microbial identification system was accomplished with 59 American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) strains and 328 clinical isolates of mycobacteria identified by conventional and 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing by using the MicroSeq 500 microbial identification system. Nucleic acid sequencing identified 58 of 59 (98.3%) ATCC strains to the species level or to the correct group or complex level. The identification results for 219 of 243 clinical isolates (90.1%) with a distance score of 1%; 35 (41.1%) were identified to the appropriate species level or group or complex level; 13 (15.3%) were identified to the species level. All 85 isolates were determined to be mycobacterial species, either novel species or species that exhibited significant genotypic divergence from an organism in the database with the closest match. Integration of nucleic acid sequencing into the routine mycobacteriology laboratory and use of the MicroSeq 500 microbial identification system and Mayo Clinic databases containing additional genotypes of common species and added species significantly reduced the number of organisms that could not be identified by phenotypic methods. The turnaround time was shortened to 24 h, and results were reported much earlier. A limited number of species could not be differentiated from one another by 16S ribosomal DNA sequencing; however, the method provides for the identification of unusual species and more accurate identifications and offers the promise of being the most accurate method available.
Radiation and surface waves of a microstrip antenna covered with a dielectric layer

The effects of a thick cover layer on the radiation characteristics of a microstrip patch antenna are investigated. A magnetic line source model has been used to derive explicit expressions for the far field, radiated power, directivity, and surface wave of the antenna. Numerical results are presented to show the effects of a lossless as well as a lossy dielectric cover layer on the surface waves and the radiated power.
Copper Ions Promote Peroxidation of Low Density Lipoprotein Lipid by Binding to Histidine Residues of Apolipoprotein B100, But They Are Reduced at Other Sites on LDL

Abstract Oxidized LDL is implicated in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. A widely studied model for oxidation of the lipid in LDL involves Cu2+. Recent studies suggest that Cu2+ may be reduced to Cu1+ by α-tocopherol to initiate LDL lipid peroxidation. LDL demonstrates binding sites for Cu2+, but the nature of these binding sites, as well their role in promoting Cu2+ reduction and lipid peroxidation, has not been established. In the current studies, we used diethylpyrocarbonate (DEPC) to modify the histidine residues of apolipoprotein B100, the major protein in LDL. First, we demonstrated that histidine residues were preferentially modified by DEPC under our experimental conditions. Then we monitored the kinetics of Cu2+-promoted oxidation of LDL and DEPC-modified LDL. In both cases, the progress curve of lipid peroxidation exhibited a lag phase and a propagation phase. However, when LDL was modified with DEPC, the length of the lag phase was prolonged whereas the rate of lipid peroxidation during the ...
Virilizing adrenal cortical neoplasm arising ectopically in the thorax

We describe a 44-yr-old woman with a 12-yr history of clinical virilization and serum testosterone levels up to 28.1 nmol/L (normal range, 1-3.3 nmol/L) in whom repeated clinical evaluation and surgical procedures failed to reveal the source of androgen production. At the time the patient was referred to the Clinical Center of the NIH, an intrathoracic mass was seen on upper cuts of an abdominal computer-aided tomography scan, confirmed by computer-aided tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging of the chest. A 6 x 5 x 3.5-cm mass, attached to the posterior pericardium, was removed by thoracotomy. Pathological examination revealed an adrenal cortical neoplasm of uncertain malignant potential that contained testosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, progesterone, and 17-hydroxyprogesterone. After the operation, the patient's serum testosterone levels decreased to the normal range. Ectopic adrenal cortical rests in the thorax and neoplasms arising from these rests are extremely rare, and we are not aware of a sim...
Photochemically induced carbon dioxide production as a mechanism for carbon loss from plant litter in arid ecosystems

[1] We investigated the potential for abiotic mineralization to carbon dioxide (CO2) via photodegradation to account for carbon (C) loss from plant litter under conditions typical of arid ecosystems. We exposed five species of grass and oak litter collected from arid and mesic sites to a factorial design of ultraviolet (UV) radiation (UV pass, UV block), and sterilization under dry conditions in the laboratory. UV pass treatments produced 10 times the amount of CO2 produced in UV block treatments. CO2 production rates were unaffected by litter chemistry or sterilization. We also exposed litter to natural solar radiation outdoors on clear, sunny days close to the summer solstice at midlatitudes and found that UV radiation (280–400 nm) accounted for 55% of photochemically induced CO2 production, while shortwave visible radiation (400–500 nm) accounted for 45% of CO2 production. Rates of photochemically induced CO2 production on a per-unit-mass basis decreased with litter density, indicating that rates depend on litter surface area. We found no evidence for leaching, methane production, or facilitation of microbial decomposition as alternative mechanisms for significant photochemically induced C loss from litter. We conclude that abiotic mineralization to CO2 is the primary mechanism by which C is lost from litter during photodegradation. We estimate that CO2 production via photodegradation could be between 1 and 4 g C m−2 a−1 in arid ecosystems in the southwestern United States. Taken together with low levels of litter production in arid systems, photochemical mineralization to CO2 could account for a significant proportion of annual carbon loss from litter in arid ecosystems.
BOOK AND SOFTWARE REVIEWS

(1991). BOOK AND SOFTWARE REVIEWS. American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal: Vol. 52, No. 6, pp. A-336-A-336.
Nicaragua's Environmental Problems, Policies, and Programmes

Nicaragua is the largest (geographical area) country in Central America, but has the lowest population per hectare. For the last half-century its rich natural resources—timber, fruits, and minerals—were exploited by North American and European corporations without any regard for basic ecological principles. Furthermore, early in the 1950s, cotton was introduced and became the main source of foreign exchange. This led to massive use of pesticides, and construction of pesticide manufacturing plants, causing disastrous pollution by mercury of Lakes Managua and Nicaragua. It also forced migration of thousands of local subsistence farmers from the lowland cotton-producing areas to the hills where the farmers' ‘slash and burn’ techniques exacerbated the damage already done to the forests by foreign companies.
The slow motion of slender rod-like particles in a second-order fluid

The motion of a slender axisymmetric rod-like particle is investigated theoretically for translation through a quiescent second-order fluid and for rotation in a simple shear flow of the same material. The analysis consists of an asymptotic expansion about the limit of rheologically slow flow, coupled with an application of a generalized form of the reciprocal theorem of Lorentz to calculate the force and torque on the particle. It is shown that an arbitrarily oriented particle with fore-aft symmetry translates, to a first approximation, at the same rate as in an equivalent Newtonian fluid, but that the motion of particles with no fore-aft symmetry may be modified at the same level of approximation. In addition, it is found that freely translating particles with fore-aft symmetry exhibit a single stable orientation with the axis of revolution vertical. In simple shear flow at small and moderate shear rates, the non-Newtonian nature of the suspending fluid causes a drift through Jeffery orbits to the equilibrium orbit C = 0 in which the particle rotates about its axis of revolution. At larger shear rates, the particle aligns itself in the direction of flow and ceases to rotate. Comparison with the available experimental data indicates that the measured rate of orbit drift may be used to determine the second normal stress difference parameter of the second-order fluid model. Finally, in an appendix, some preliminary observations are reported of the motion of slender rod-like particles falling through a quiescent viscoelastic fluid.
The effects of substrate elasticity on endothelial cell network formation and traction force generation

While the growth factors and cytokines known to influence angiogenesis and vasculogenesis have garnered widespread attention, less is known about how the mechanical environment affects blood vessel formation and cell assembly. In this study, we investigate the relationship between substrate elasticity, endothelial cell-cell connectivity and traction force generation. We find that on more compliant substrates, endothelial cells self-assemble into network-like structures independently of additional exogenous growth factors or cytokines. These networks form from the assembly of sub-confluent endothelial cells on compliant (E = 3D200-1000Pa) substrates, and results from both the proliferation and migration of endothelial cells. Interestingly, stabilization of these cell-cell connections and networks requires fibronectin polymerization. Traction Force Microscopy measurements indicate that individual endothelial cells on compliant substrates exert forces which create substrate stains that propagate from the cell edge. We speculate that these strains draw the cells together and initiate self-assembly. Notably, endothelial cell network formation on compliant substrates is dynamic and transient; as cell number and substrate strains increase, the networks fill in through collective cell movements from the network edges. Our results indicate that network formation is mediated in part by substrate mechanics and that cellular traction force may promote cell-cell assembly by directing cell migration.
Biochemical Correlates of Auto-Aggressive Behavior

The auto-aggressive behavior that characterizes the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome1 is unique among behavioral abnormalities in that the genetic and molecular basis of the disorder has been firmly established.2 The syndrome is a consequence of the deficiency of the enzyme hypoxanthineguanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT; E.C. 2.4.2.8); the deficiency is inherited in a simple X-linked fully recessive manner. However, the exact etiology of the auto-aggressive behavior, the way in which the abnormality in purine metabolism leads to the behavioral phenotype, remains obscure despite an extensive body of research on the metabolic consequences of HPRT deficiency. It is almost certain that neurotransmitter metabolism is involved. Animal models suggest ways in which early neurotransmitter imbalances may cause autoaggressive behavior. Several mechanisms for an effect of HPRT deficiency on neurotransmitter metabolism seem plausible, including a direct action of the substrates of HPRT on receptors, and the participation of GTP-binding proteins. Experimental approaches to therapy have also contributed to our knowledge of what is— and what is not— involved in auto-aggressive behavior.