cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
EUROPIUM OXIDE MEASUREMENTS IN THE ENGINEERING MOCKUP CRITICAL ASSEMBLY OF THE FAST TEST REACTOR

Worth measurements of Eu$sub 2$O$sub 3$ and B$sub 4$C have been made at the location of a peripheral shim rod, of a control rod, and of a safety rod in the Engineering Mockup Critical (EMC) Assembly of the Fast Test Reactor (FTR). The worths were measured as a function of the volume fraction of control material in the rods over a range from 4 to 32 percent. The measurements indicate that europia is approximately equivalent to natural boron carbide on a reactivity worth per unit volume basis. Calculation of the worths and comparison with the experimental results have also been performed. (auth)
Contra a parcimonia-tres maneiras faceis de complicar algumas categorias do discurso economico

The aim of Hirschman’s essay is to confront the tendency of economic theory to economic arguments, postulates and assumptions. According to him, various realms of economic enquiry calls for complication and he tries to answer for this necessity in three different ways, all of them challenging the assumption of a self interested and rational individual who chooses freely between alternative courses of action after calculating their costs and benefits. First, he proposes a distinction within the concept of preferences between first and second order ones and argues that this distinction is important for the analysis of its pattern of change. Only assuming that human beings have the ability to formulate metapreferences (or second order preferences) it would be possible to illuminate the varied nature of this pattern and differentiate, for example, between a change that is purely impulsive and publicity oriented and other which is the result of a process of acquisition of new social or personal values. Second, he proposes distinction within the concept of human activities and explores the idea of the existence of some of them that are noninstrumental, that is, which ends are not predictable and not related with preliminaries efforts. These noninstrumental activities, in spite of its fre-quently painful character have the quality of being striving and attaining. The point Hirschman makes is that economics is growing so fast its ambition that it becomes of increasing importance to incorporate into its scope this other kind of human action, extremely useful, for instance, in stud-ying public policies or in studying the oscillations between individualistic and private oriented actions and actions in pursuit of public happiness. Third, Hirschman tries to complicate economics by reintroducing into its realm the idea that economic system needs, to function, as well as of others factors of production, of a kind of moral input. In sum, to complicate the economic discourse means to accept and take into account the idea that human action can be moral, full of values and sometimes noninstrumental.
Informal Caregiving in a Medically Underserved Community: Challenges, Construction of Meaning, and the Caregiver-Recipient Dyad.

Little is known about informal caregivers' challenges in medically underserved communities. This qualitative study explores their perceptions/experiences of caregiving in a medically underserved co...
Critical Geographies of Human Rights and the Spatial Dimensions of International Law Violations in Rakhine State, Myanmar

The term critical geographies of human rights refers to the idea that law, society, geography, and injustice are mutually constitutive. This article proposes one possible theoretical framework for ...
Constitutive expression of ULBP-4 on monocytes regulates NK cell NKG2D expression.

Key Points The NKG2D ligand ULBP-4 is expressed on healthy monocytes. Monocyte ULBP-4 expression regulates NKG2D expression by NK cells.
The 1927 Radio Act as Pre-emption of Common Law Property Rights

The 1927 Radio Act imposed a new legal regime for radio spectrum: The Act established administrative allocations according to the “public interest.” This reform has been credited by the U.S. Supreme Court with bringing order out of chaos and thereby averting endemic market failure. Ronald Coase challenged the logic of the resulting regulatory policy but not its historical origins: He attributed the regime shift to policy makers’ failure to grasp the possibility of ownership rights in frequencies. An alternative interpretation, however, explains the Radio Act as a measure that was designed to block such property rules. The legal history and market data tend to support the latter.
Hydrogen-Bonding Motifs and Proton-Transfer Dynamics in Electronically Excited 6-Hydroxy-2-formylfulvene.

To elucidate low-barrier hydrogen-bonding (LBHBing) motifs and their ramifications for hydron-migration dynamics, the A1B2–X1A1 (π* ← π) absorption system of 6-hydroxy-2-formylfulvene (HFF) and its monodeuterated isotopolog (HFF-d) has been probed under free-jet expansion conditions through synergistic application of fluorescence-based laser spectroscopy and quantum-chemical calculations. Neither the donor–acceptor distance nor the proton-transfer barrier is predicted to change markedly between the X1A1 and A1B2 manifolds, yet a radical alteration in the nature of the reaction coordinate, whereby the planar (C2v) transition-state configuration of the former is supplanted by a notably aplanar (C2) form in the latter, is suggested to take place following π* ← π electron promotion (owing, in part, to attendant rearrangements of π-electron conjugation about the molecular framework). In contrast to the strongly perturbed vibrational landscape (commensurate with LBHBing) reported for the X1A1 potential surfa...
Parallel replica dynamics simulations of reactions in shock compressed liquid benzene

The study of the long-term evolution of slow chemical reactions is challenging because quantum-based reactive molecular dynamics simulation times are typically limited to hundreds of picoseconds. Here, the extended Lagrangian Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics formalism is used in conjunction with parallel replica dynamics to obtain an accurate tool to describe the long-term chemical dynamics of shock-compressed benzene. Langevin dynamics has been employed at different temperatures to calculate the first reaction times in liquid benzene at pressures and temperatures consistent with its unreacted Hugoniot. Our coupled engine runs for times on the order of nanoseconds (one to two orders of magnitude longer than traditional techniques) and is capable of detecting reactions that are characterized by rates significantly slower than we could study before. At lower pressures and temperatures, we mainly observe Diels-Alder metastable reactions, whereas at higher pressures and temperatures we observe stable polymerization reactions.
A New Approach to Evaluate Planetary Perturbations on a Cloud of Dust in Low Eccentricity Heliocentric Orbits

Dynamical perturbations on ensembles of particles in heliocentric orbits of lew eccentricity are integrated over time. The dust is perturbed by radiation pressure, Poynting-Robertson drag, their corpuscular counterparts, and by gravitation due to any number of planets. A dust cloud is represented by a set of centroids and orbital dispersions (about the centroids). Gravitational perturbations on the centroid are derived from a single matrix, valid for any planet, in the appropriate frame of reference. After transformation of the time derivatives to a common coordinate system, the perturbation rates are summed up and integrated. The time dependence of the planets’ orbital elements are evaluated inside the time integral.
Rabbis on refugees: theological responses to the treatment of converso migrants in sixteenth-century Candia

This case study considers rabbinic texts that address the migration of converso refugees to Venetian Crete in the mid-sixteenth century. New papal policies and the onset of the Roman Inquisition on...
Recreational Sports Participation and Academic Success: Numbers of Activities and Time Investment

The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between student academic success and recreational sports participation. Data from the NASPA Assessment and Knowledge Consortium Recreation...
Prevalence and Prognosis of Updated Phenotypes of Chronic Lung Allograft Dysfunction

Purpose The recently updated ISHLT chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) consensus report establishes four CLAD phenotypes. The proportion of patients who meet criteria for these phenotypes and their respective survival have not been described. Methods We retrospectively determined the CLAD phenotype at the time of CLAD onset for all patients who received a bilateral lung transplant at the University of Michigan based on the presence of obstruction (FEV1/FVC Results Among 327 eligible patients, 142 (43.4%) developed a definitive FEV1 decline not attributable to another cause, consistent with CLAD. At CLAD onset, 46 (32.4%) patients had BOS, 22 (15.5%) patients had undefined CLAD, 12 (8.5%) had RAS, 8 (5.6%) patients had mixed CLAD; 54 (38.0%) patients could not be classified as any CLAD phenotype as defined by ISHLT guidelines (Figure, panel A). Compared to patients with BOS, patients with undefined CLAD, RAS, and mixed CLAD all had shorter survival after CLAD onset (p Conclusion Patients with undefined CLAD, RAS, and mixed CLAD, as defined by the updated ISHLT guidelines, have worse survival than patients with BOS. A substantial portion of patients with CLAD could not be categorized into a defined phenotype.
The effect of extrusion temperature and cycles on electrical resistivity in carbon nanofiber-modified PLA filament for multi-functional additive manufacturing

Multi-functional additive manufacturing is a promising route to achieving exciting new rapid prototyping and in-the-field manufacturing capabilities. Ideally, multi-functionality could be imparted to materials that can be used with existing additive manufacturing hardware with little-to-no modification of the hardware. However, because much of the additive manufacturing hardware currently available is highly sensitive to the properties of the input material, it is important to understand the relationship among the processing/development of the input material, its physical properties, and quality and properties of the additively manufactured part. To that end, this project explores the effects of processing conditions on the electrical properties and printability of nanofiller-modified fused deposition modeling (FDM) filament. Specifically, pulverized polylactic acid (PLA) is dry mixed with carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and extruded through a commercially available single-screw filament extruder. Filament resistivity and diameter are then statistically characterized as a function of extrusion temperature and number of extrusions. Printability is also quantitatively and qualitatively characterized using a commercial FDM printer. Insights developed through this work could be of considerable significance to next-generation additively manufactured piezoresistive-based sensors, actuators, and electrical components.
High Phase Change Enthalpy Enabled by NanocelluloseEnhanced Shape Stable Boron Nitride Aerogel

In this work, we developed an in situ one-step, scalable, high-yield (98.2%) method for the preparation and surface functionalization of boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) with amino and carboxyl gro...
The Shad-Fack Transom

SummaryWe provide several constructions, both algebraic and geometric, for determining the ratio of the radii of two circles in an Apollonius-like packing problem. This problem was inspired by the ...
Polypharmacological drug actions of recently FDA approved antibiotics.

Abstract The current epidemic of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections has fueled the demand for novel antibiotics exhibiting both antibacterial efficacy and anti-drug resistance. This need has not been fully satisfied by the conventional “one target–one molecule” approach. Consequently, there has been rising interest in the development of multi-target antibiotics. Over the past two decades, 52% (14 out of 27) of the FDA approved antibiotics have demonstrated synergistic, multi-target mechanisms of action. Among these are three second-generation lipoglycopeptides, five new generation quinolones and six modernized β-lactams. This review focuses on the structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis and the polypharmacological drug action of these antibiotics, to reveal how these multi-target antibiotics achieve the dual objectives of maximizing bactericidal or bacteriostatic efficacy and minimizing antibiotic resistance. The entrance of multi-target antibiotics into the FDA-approved regimens represents a milestone in the evolution of drug discovery as it has transcended from chemical library screening to rational drug design.
Julian of Norwich’s Mystic Vision as a Site for Rebuilding Societal Unity in the Aftermath of the Black Death

The woman known as Julian of Norwich, the first female author in the English language, survived a pandemic which tore English society apart. The first outbreak of the bubonic plague in Norwich was in 1349 when Julian was only six years old and continued for another twenty-one years of sporadic outbreaks in East Anglia. Despite this formative experience, scholarly treatments of the plague’s impact on Julian’s writing focus primarily on her use of maternal imagery as a pre-existing general trend in mystic texts which developed a new significance in post-plague religious writing. The divine mother figure was now not only a creator but a source of protection and comfort. While this is certainly true, this is also perhaps a bit myopic. A holistic view of her book of “Showings” reveals that the plague and its aftermath are actually central to her theosophical project. By evoking imagery of the Black Death in her explanation of the Passion and the existence of suffering, Julian of Norwich sought to restore unity to medieval English society through a re-envisioning of the Holy Trinity as Earthly authority figures: family/household, Holy Mother Church, and feudal lord.
Creating a Successful Web Presence by a Leading Manufacturer of Memory Products

Although creating a successful web presence is of great interest to all types of business entities, adoption practices by original product manufacturers have been less frequently explored in the e-business literature. In this paper we analyze the strategy of creating a successful web presence by a leading manufacturer of memory products. The paper reports on a segment of our research in progress and briefly examines both business and development strategies. We report on some interesting lessons learned and offer a set of future research questions to further examine this segment.
Comment on "Comparison of Linear and Riccati Equations Used to Solve Optimal Control Problems"

References 1 Chase, D. M., "Mean Velocity Profile of a Thick Turbulent Boundary along a Circular Cylinder." AIAA Journal, Vol. 10, No. 7, July 1972, pp. 849-850. 2 Bradshaw, P. and Patel, V. C., "Comment on Mean Velocity Profile of a Thick Turbulent Boundary Layer along a Circular Cylinder." AIAA Journal, Vol. 11, No. 6, June 1973, pp. 893-894. 3 Rao, G. N. V., 'The Law of the Wall in a Thick Axisymmetric Turbulent Boundary Layer." Journal of Applied Mechanics, Vol. 34, 1967, pp. 237-238. 4 Townsend, A. A., "Equilibrium Layers and Wall Turbulence." Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 11, Pt. 1, 1961, pp. 97-120.
Anger and hostility in maritally violent men: Conceptual distinctions, measurement issues, and literature review

Abstract Marital violence researchers have generally used the terms anger and hostility interchangeably. However, there are important differences between anger and hostility that may be vital to understanding the relationship between these constructs and marital violence. The present manuscript highlights the advantages of distinguishing between anger and hostility. In order to investigate the role of anger and hostility in marital violence, we provide a comprehensive review of 26 empirical studies in addition to critically examining researchers ' definitions of anger and hostility and the methods of assessment utilized in this body of research. While many researchers have presented data suggesting that maritally violent men are higher in anger and hostility than maritally nonviolent men, the findings are not consistent and vary in accordance with the construct assessed and the assessment strategy used.
Query Reformulation for Clinical Decision Support Search

Abstract : One of the tasks a Clinical Decision Support (CDS) system is designed to solve is retrieving the most relevant and actionable literature for a given medical case report. In this work, we present a query reformulation approach that addresses the unique formulation of case reports, making them suitable to be used on a general purpose search engine. Furthermore, we introduce five reranking algorithms designed to re-order a list of retrieved literature to better match the type of information needed for each case report.
Ion Chemistry in the D Region

Publisher Summary This chapter summarizes the current understanding of the ion chemistry of the D region of the ionosphere. The ionosphere is defined as that region of the Earth's upper atmosphere in which there exists a substantial plasma component at all times. High frequency radio waves are transmitted by reflections from the E and F regions of the ionosphere, but it was realized at an early stage in ionospheric research that some underlying ionization must exist to account for the absorption of high frequency radio waves and for the transmission of radio waves of low and very low frequencies. Naturally enough this underlying ionized region became known as the D region. In terms of altitude, the D region generally lies between an upper boundary in the neighborhood of 90 km and an ill-defined lower boundary that can be taken as about 60 km for most practical purposes. The ion chemistry and the neutral chemistry of the D region cannot be decoupled, and that, in fact, any quantitative discussion of the ion chemistry is critically dependent on the concentrations of certain minor neutral constituents of the atmosphere.
Girls as elite distinction: The appropriation of bodily capital

Abstract The capital concept has proliferated in studies of culture and stratification, usually depicting individual assets as personal advantages within given fields. Because this approach sidesteps issues of ownership, it obscures how unequal value can be generated through the appropriation of someone else's capital. Based on fieldwork in the global VIP party circuit from New York to Cannes, as well as 84 interviews with party organizers and patrons, I document the uses of women's bodily capital by men who appropriate women as a symbolic resource to generate profit, status, and social ties in an exclusive world of businessmen. I argue that women are unable to capitalize on their bodily capital as effectively through participation in the VIP scene because codes of sexual morality penalize women for strategic intimacy. By shifting the analysis of capital from individual advantages to systemic extra-individual advantages, this article brings appropriation into the study of culture and class. Further, this article genders the elite by documenting the cultural incompatibilities of femininity in elite men's social spaces.
A high speed centroid computation circuit in analog VLSI

We present a new centroid computation circuit with very low dc offset and high bandwidth. A novel test setup is also shown to test adaptive optic integrated circuits. Static and dynamic simulation and test results of the centroid computation circuit are shown. Compared to the work of Deweerth we report a 4.3 times increase in the bandwidth in both simulation and test results. The centroid circuit is fabricated in the AMI 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS process. A 1D centroid circuit with 7 photodiodes has dimensions equal to 765 /spl mu/m/spl times/90 /spl mu/m.
Intersubjective Affect and Embodied Emotion: Feeling the Supernatural in Thailand

In this article I argue for increased attention to the supernatural as a site for inquiry into, and elaboration of, affect. In attending to how and when people encounter ghosts in Thailand, affect is approached as a moving, interpersonal field of wishes and desires. These wishes and desires circulate within intersubjective spaces, and are sometimes experienced as coalesced, embodied emotions. In highlighting such an orientation, affect (at least in Thailand) can be understood as not just an intersubjective project but also a spiritual one. I suggest that we pay special attention to this quality of the supernatural as an affective force and to the intersubjective, affective currents of emotion.
An observational study of energy balance in the atmospheric lunar tide

Analyses of satellite orbit-perturbation and altimeter data have been used in the past few years to evaluate sea-tide dissipation. A value of about 2.5 TW for the M2 tide is emerging from this work, which for the first time has placed our knowledge of sea-tide energy balance on a firm observational basis. A comparable improvement for the air tide is not yet possible, but an energy-balance estimate of M2 air-tide dissipation is made here from the best available spherical-harmonic analysis of the lunar barometric tide, namely that of 1969 byHaurwitz andCowley. Full account is taken of the flux of tide energy from the ocean, by means of sea-tide elevation derived from satellite data, and effects of sea-tide attraction and load are included. The result of this observational assessment is an M2 air-tide dissipation of about 10 GW maintained almost entirely, on the average, by the sea tide.
Post-transplant Burkitt lymphoma is a more aggressive and distinct form of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder

BACKGROUND: Although the literature reports a low incidence of Burkitt lymphoma (BL) as a post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD), this entity appears to be different from other monomorphic PTLDs (M-PTLDs), both in its aggressive clinical presentation and its distinct pathologic profile. METHODS: Patients with BL, diagnosed in the post-transplant setting, (patients aged ≤18 years) were retrieved from the pathology archives at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center from 1982 to 2010. Clinical outcomes were obtained along with pathologic review. RESULTS: Twelve patients with pediatric BL in the post-transplant setting (9 boys, 3 girls) were retrieved. The patients displayed a monomorphic population of small to intermediate-sized, noncleaved, lymphoid elements with a “starry-sky” pattern. The immunophenotype for patients available to the study was CD20+ (n = 9/10), CD10+ (n = 8/8), bcl-6+ (n = 11/11), with a near 100% Ki-67/MIB-1 proliferation index (n = 7/7), and negative for TdT (n = 7/7). Most pretransplant Epstein-Barr virus titers were negative (n = 8/10), with post-transplant titers positive in all tested patients (n = 11), and with positive Epstein-Barr–encoded RNA in situ hybridization in most cases (n = 9/11). The median time from transplantation to diagnosis was 52 months (range, 6-107 months). Nine patients were currently alive after immediate antineoplastic chemotherapy, with median disease-free time of 93 months from diagnosis (range, 2-199 months). CONCLUSIONS: BL-PTLD had a higher Epstein-Barr virus incidence compared with sporadic and immunodeficiency-associated BL and represented a distinct monomorphic PTLD. Although some M-PTLDs can be managed less aggressively with decreased immunosuppression alone, immediate lymphoma-specific chemotherapy was associated with a favorable outcome and was strongly recommended. Cancer 2011;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.
Withdrawal from etanercept after successful clinical response in psoriasis patients: disease characteristics and the durability of treatment response

WITHDRAWAL FROM ETANERCEPT AFTER SUCCESSFUL CLINICAL RESPONSE IN PSORIASIS PATIENTS: DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS AND THE DURABILITY OF TREATMENT RESPONSE Alice B Gottlieb, MD, PhD, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, United States, Kenneth Gordon, MD, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, United States, Andrea Wang, PhD, Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, United States, Ralph Zitnik, MD, Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, United States
A Mouse-Passaged Dengue Virus Strain with Reduced Affinity for Heparan Sulfate Causes Severe Disease in Mice by Establishing Increased Systemic Viral Loads

The four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV1 to DENV4) cause extensive morbidity and mortality. A major obstacle to studying disease pathogenesis and developing therapies has been the lack of a small-animal model. We previously reported isolation of a DENV2 strain, obtained by passaging a clinical isolate between mosquito cells and mice, that caused severe DENV disease in mice and contained multiple mutations, including many in domain II of the envelope (E) protein. Here, we describe a recombinant virus, differing from the non-mouse-passaged virus by two mutations in the E protein, that induces vascular leakage and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)-mediated lethality, while the non-mouse-passaged virus causes paralysis. This recombinant virus has a weaker affinity for heparan sulfate, resulting in an increased serum half-life, higher systemic viral loads, and high levels of TNF-alpha in the serum of infected mice. These results exemplify the role of the E protein in modulating virion clearance and connect the effect of clearance on the systemic viral loads responsible for severe disease manifestations.
Ferromagnetism in doped thin-film oxide and nitride semiconductors and dielectrics

Abstract The principal goal in the field of ferromagnetic semiconductors for devices is the synthesis, characterization and utilization of semiconductors that exhibit substantial carrier spin polarization at and above room temperature. Such materials are of critical importance in the emerging field of semiconductor spintronics. The interaction leading to carrier spin polarization, exchange coupling between the dopant spins and the valence or conduction band, is known to be sufficiently weak in conventional semiconductors such as GaAs, Si and Ge, that magnetic ordering above cryogenic temperatures is extraordinarily difficult to achieve, as experience has shown. Since the provocative theoretical predictions of Curie points above ambient in p-Mn:ZnO and p-Mn:GaN [T. Dietl, H. Ohno, F. Matsukura, J. Cibert, D. Ferrand, Science 287 (2000) 1019], and the observation of room-temperature ferromagnetism in Co: TiO2 anatase [Y. Matsumoto, M. Murakami, T. Shono, T. Hasegawa, T. Fukumura, M. Kawasaki, P. Ahmet, T. Chikyow, S.-Y. Koshihara, H. Koinuma, Science 291 (2001) 854], there has been a flurry of work in oxides and nitrides doped with transition metals with unpaired d electrons. It has even been claimed that room-temperature ferromagnetism can be obtained in certain d0 transition metals oxides without a dopant. In this Report, the field of magnetically doped oxides and nitrides is critically reviewed and assessed from a materials science perspective. The focus is on films prepared not only by conventional vacuum deposition methods, but also by spin coating colloidal nanoparticles in air. It is shown that despite their apparent simplicity, dilute magnetic systems are deceptively complex. High dopant mobilities and the existence of multiple structural configurations that are nearly degenerate lead to a range of embedded magnetic nanostructures within the host lattice. The resulting macroscopic magnetic properties are diverse and critically dependent on growth and processing conditions.
Stimulation of mammalian epoxide hydrase activity by flavones

1. A series of flavones have been examined for the ability to stimulate the activity in vitro of rat liver microsomal epoxide hydrase. Flavone and 7,8-benzoflavone both stimulate epoxide hydrase activity in vitro with styrene oxide as the substrate. The stimulation by flavone itself was several times that of 7,8-benzoflavone.2. When tested in vitro under the same conditions, the stimulation by 7,8-benzoflavone was significantly greater than the stimulation by metyrapone, a recognized stimulator of the activity of epoxide hydrase in vitro. The stimulation by 6,7-benzoflavone was barely detectable; the 5,6-benzoflavone isomer did not stimulate epoxide hydrase activity.3. Exposure of rats to either 7,8- or 5,6-benzoflavone for 4 days before killing did not increase the epoxide hydrase specific activity in the subsequently isolated microsomes. Exposure to flavone, however, did induce epoxide hydrase activity.4. The possible relevance of these observations to the effects of benzoflavone upon arylhydrocarbon-in...
The year 2000: What it means to you and your PC

WHILE THE MILLENIUM QUICKLY APPROACHES, many people claim that the Year 2000 could become one of the most devastating disasters the world has ever seen. The threat is real. A large majority of computers and the software they run will not be able to handle the Year 2000 because of the way they store years as two digit values. This article explains what caused the problem, how it manifests itself, and what can be done to fix it.
Magnesium content of serum, circulating mononuclear cells, skeletal muscle, and myocardium in congestive heart failure.

Deranged magnesium concentrations in serum and cardiovascular structures have been implicated in the pathophysiology of hypertension, ischemic heart disease, arrhythmias, and sudden death. This study was conducted to determine the status and interrelation of serum and tissue concentrations of magnesium in patients with congestive heart failure, a clinical setting purportedly predisposed to the development of depleted levels of this cation. Magnesium concentrations of serum, circulating mononuclear cells, skeletal muscle, and myocardium were measured in 23 patients with heart failure on standard therapy. Two patients were hypomagnesemic (less than 1.6 meq/l). Poor or no correlations were found between serum and tissue magnesium concentrations and among the magnesium concentrations of the three tissues studied. Strong direct correlations were, however, noted between magnesium and potassium concentrations of the tissues examined. The prevalence of hypomagnesemia in this typical ambulatory heart failure popul...
Effects of low dosages of apomorphine on maternal responsiveness in lactating rats.

Abstract Lactating rats (day 7 ± 1 postpartum) were observed during a 1-h reunion with their pups 4 h after separation from them and 10 min after subcutaneous injection of saline (SAL; 0.1 ml) or low dosages of the dopamine agonist, apomorphine (APO; 0.1 or 0.25 mg/kg). Although APO did not affect latency to sniff pups or retrieve the first pup, there were dosage-dependent delays in onset of licking and nursing pups, and decreases in retrieval and grouping of pups, nursing duration, and litter weight gain. The alterations in maternal responsiveness among APO-treated dams were related to increased carrying and mouthing of pups and markedly increased sniffing of pups, bedding, and cage. Duration of time spent licking pups, exploring, and self-grooming did not differ between groups. Thus, certain APO-induced stereotypic behaviors interfered with the normal sequence of maternal behavior by exaggerating some components and delaying others. These results are relevant to disturbances in maternal behavior caused by hyperreactivity or by other drugs that increase dopaminergic activity, such as cocaine.
Cardiorespiratory neurons of the rat ventrolateral medulla contain TASK-1 and TASK-3 channel mRNA

The potassium channels TASK-1 and TASK-3 are neuronal 'leak' channels that are inhibited by extracellular acidification and numerous neurotransmitters. Here we tested whether in the rat TASK-1 and TASK-3 mRNAs are present in ventrolateral medulla neurons that regulate respiration or circulation (C1 adrenergic neurons). The mRNAs were identified by in situ hybridization. Respiratory neurons were identified by anatomical markers (neurokinin-1 receptors, NK1R, or somatostatin) or directly by juxtacellular labeling of bulbospinal neurons. C1 neurons were identified by the presence of tyrosine-hydroxylase. TASK-1 and TASK-3 transcripts were present in all hypoglossal and facial motor neurons, in most C1 cells (85-95%), in most small and large NK1R-ir neurons (>90%) of the ventral respiratory group (VRG) and in all the inspiratory-augmenting bulbospinal neurons of the rostral ventral respiratory group. In conclusion, TASK channels are expressed by respiratory cells with putative rhythmogenic function and by premotor and motor neurons. TASK channels presumably mediate excitatory effects of numerous transmitters on these neurons and may contribute to their pH-sensitivity.
Mammalian 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases

Abstract Mammalian 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases (3α-HSDs) regulate steroid hormone levels. For example, hepatic 3α-HSDs inactivate circulating androgens, progestins, and glucocorticoids. In target tissues they regulate access of steroid hormones to steroid hormone receptors. For example, in the prostate 3α-HSD acts as a molecular switch and controls the amount of 5α-dihydrotestosterone that can bind to the androgen receptor, while in the brain 3α-HSD can regulate the amount of tetrahydrosteroids that can alter GABA a receptor function. Molecular cloning indicates that these mammalian 3α-HSDs belong to the aldo-keto reductase superfamily and that they are highly homologous proteins. Using the three-dimensional structure of rat liver 3α-HSD as a template for site-directed mutagenesis, details regarding structure-function relationships, including catalysis and cofactor and steroid hormone recognition have been elucidated. These details may be relevant to all mammalian 3α-HSDs.
Red States, Blue States, and Flu States: Media Self-Selection and Partisan Gaps in Swine Flu Vaccinations

This study assesses the relationship between political partisanship and attitudes and behavior with respect to the Swine Flu crisis of 2009 in general, and the U.S. mass vaccination program in particular. I argue that even seemingly non-partisan political issues like public health are increasingly characterized by partisan polarization in public attitudes, and that such polarization is attributable, at least in part, to the breakdown of the information commons that characterized the American mass media from roughly the 1950s until the early 1990s. In its place has arisen an increasingly fragmented and niche-oriented media marketplace in which individuals are better able to limit their information exposure to attitudes and opinions that reinforce, rather than challenge, their preexisting beliefs. The consequence in this instance was a substantial partisan gap in attitudes regarding the 2009 Swine Flu outbreak and in vaccination rates, with Republicans far less worried about the Swine Flu than Democrats and substantially less likely to seek the vaccination. I test my argument against a variety of data sources, including opinion surveys and state level Swine Flu vaccination rate data.
Fecundity of Sugarcane Borer (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), as Affected by Larval Development on Gramineous Host Plants

During a 2-yr study investigating the fecundity of the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), 607 pupae were collected on four gramineous hosts. Weight, length, and diameter of sugarcane borer pupae collected on corn, Zea mays L. cv. Merrit, and a sugarcane borer-susceptible sugarcane (a complex hybrid of Saccharum spp.) variety, CP 61-37, were greater (P < 0.05) than those of pupae collected on johnsongrass, Sorghum halapense (L.) Persoon. Female pupae collected on a moderately resistant sugarcane variety, CP 65-357, weighed significantly less (P < 0.05) and were shorter than those collected on CP 61-37 or corn. The sex ratio of sugarcane borer was independent of host plant. The best model for predicting sugarcane borer fecundity was that of a linear regression on pupal weight, with fecundity increasing at 4.3 eggs for each milligram increase in pupal weight, regardless of host or year from which the pupae were collected. Fecundity of moths collected from corn and the susceptible sugarcane variety was greater (P < 0.05) than that of moths collected from johnsongrass or the moderately resistant sugarcane variety. The potential finite daily rate of increase of sugarcane borer populations was determined to be 1.132 on corn and CP 61-37, 1.128 on CP 65-357, and 1.119 on johnsongrass.
Epigenetics in Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors: Clinical Implications and Potential Therapeutic Perspectives

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) represent the most common mesenchymal neoplasms affecting the gastrointestinal tract. Activating mutations in either the KIT or PDGFRa gene are the principal oncogenic triggers with the former accounting for more than 80 % of cases. In the small subset of GIST that are wild type for both the aforementioned changes, other germline or somatic mutations have been identified. GIST exhibit a highly variable clinical behavior and the main prognostic determinants are tumor size, mitotic rate, and location. It is, however, strongly believed that, beyond classic genetics, additional epigenetic phenomena such as DNA hypomethylation and hypermethylation, microRNA alterations, and chromatin modifications underlie GIST tumorigenesis and influence the clinical course and response to standard treatment. This review aims to illuminate current advances in terms of epigenetics in GIST, as well as possible implications in prognosis and therapeutics.
Fourth branchial arch sinus: clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, and surgical treatment.

Objectives/Hypothesis: Abnormalities of the fourth branchial arch are much less common than those of the second arch and present in a different manner. The authors report their experience with five cases of fourth arch sinuses. Methods: Retrospective chart review of patients at a tertiary care center. Results: All patients presented in the first or second decade of life, and all but one had left-sided neck involvement. Four patients presented with recurrent low neck inflammatory episodes, and one with respiratory compromise. Diagnostic studies performed included ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) scan, barium swallow, magnetic resonance imaging, and fine-needle aspiration. Barium contrast studies and CT scan were the most useful in demonstrating a fourth arch sinus tract preoperatively. Surgical treatment with an emphasis on complete exposure of the recurrent laryngeal nerve and exposure of the lateral piriform sinus to facilitate complete sinus tract excision was successful in all patients. Conclusion: The clinical history of recurrent low neck inflammatory episodes in young patients, especially on the left side, should raise the suspicion of this entity. Investigation using barium swallow in combination with CT scanning is useful. Excision of the sinus tract taking care not to injure the recurrent laryngeal nerve is curative.
Stressing Out about Dissent: Examining the Relationship Between Coping Strategies and Dissent Expression

This study examined how coping strategies related to dissent expression. A sample of full-time employees from various organizations completed a survey questionnaire reporting about their use of emotion-focused coping strategies and how they expressed dissent. Findings indicated that coping strategies did significantly associate with upward, lateral, and displaced dissent. In particular, disengagement and denial coping strategies related to upward dissent expressed to management, disengagement and venting coping strategies related to lateral dissent shared with coworkers, and denial and venting coping strategies related to displaced dissent directed to nonwork friends and family members.
Faculty encounters with uncivil nursing students: an overview

The critical incident technique (CIT) was used to explore faculty experiences with uncivil nursing students. Twenty-one nursing faculty with various years of experience in teaching were interviewed to ascertain what they considered critical incidents of uncivil encounters with nursing students and what effect those encounters had on them. Thirty-six encounters were described by the faculty. Of the 36 encounters, 33 occurred with individual students and 3 occurred with groups of students. Twenty-three encounters occurred in the context of poor student performance requiring constructive criticism or resulting in course failure. A battlefield metaphor is used to describe the incidents, their antecedents, and their consequences. The encounters were precipitated by a period of escalating tensions and effort by the faculty to diffuse the situation. The faculty were surprised and caught off guard by the encounters, which ranged in severity from mild to highly aggressive. The faculty often perceived significant threats to well-being of self, loved ones, job security, and/or possessions. The aftermath of the encounters included physical and emotional tolls on faculty, decreased self-esteem and loss of confidence in teaching ability, significant time expenditures, and negative consequences to the educational process. Three of the faculty left teaching in part due to encounters with students.
Assay of Spleen Cells Forming Antibodies to O-Antigens of Salmonellae

SummaryThe appearance and kinetics of antibody-producing spleen cells was demonstrated after use of S. typhosa, strain 0901, and S. paratyphi A as immunizing antigens and as indicators in a bacteriolytic (or bacteriostatic) plaque assay in agar. The results showed that in the very beginning of the immune response antibody-producing cells appeared which were able to produce mainly antibodies against the XII antigens which are present in both S. typhosa and S. paratyphi A. The number of plaques was dependent on the sensitivity of the strain employed for the assay; the highly sensitive strain 0901 produced higher numbers of plaques in the presence of homologous antibodies and also in the presence of anti-S paratyphi A anti-bodies than the S. paratyphi A strain. No significant differences were found in the response to living and to heat-killed bacteria.
Earnings, regulatory capital, and tax management: Comments

Abstract In the preceding papers, Beaver and Engel and Adiel investigate managerial discretion in the financial services industry. This comment evaluates the contribution and limitations of both papers and suggests avenues for further extensions.
Ion Channel Regulation by Lipid Bilayers: Theory & Simulation of Deformed Membranes around Gramicidin A

The energetic coupling between an integral membrane protein and its host bilayer depends on the protein structure and the bilayer material properties (e.g., hydrophobic thickness, intrinsic lipid curvature, compression modulus, and bending modulus). Therefore, if a bilayer is modulated by a membrane protein conformational change, the energetics of the protein-induced bilayer deformations must be considered. To explore this energetic coupling, gramicidin A (gA) monomer↔dimer association was used as a surrogate for conformational transitions of large membrane proteins that perturb the host bilayer. gA channels provide similar physics of bilayer modulation since they form by transmembrane dimerization, and deform the bilayer to match the hydrophobic length of the channel. gA channels were simulated in five single-component bilayers formed of mono-unsaturated lipids with increasing chain length, leading to thicker bilayers, and increased deformation around the peptide. These deformations are analyzed primarily in terms of compression (i.e., placing a tall lipid next to the shorter channel) and bending. Lipid compression and bending both cause bilayer stresses, and these stresses lead to curvature frustration of the individual leaflets. The per area free energy of bending with respect to curvature, dF/dR−1, (a sensitive measure of bilayer stress) is calculated and compared to the predictions based on a continuum elastic model (CEM). It is shown that gA monomer insertion produces similar contributions to dF/dR−1 independent of bilayer type, and gA dimerization increases dF/dR−1 systematically with bilayer thickness. The increase in dF/dR−1 is indicative of increased bilayer stresses due to dimerization. In tandem with the CEM results, the all-atom values allow for development of an improved CEM, and determination of the compression and bending energies that can be compared to experiment.
Beyond hypofrontality: A quantitative meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies of working memory in schizophrenia

Although there is considerable evidence that patients with schizophrenia fail to activate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to the degree seen in normal comparison subjects when performing working memory or executive tasks, hypofrontality may be coupled with relatively increased activity in other brain regions. However, most imaging studies of working memory in schizophrenia have focused on DLPFC activity. The goal of this work is to review functional neuroimaging studies that contrasted patients with schizophrenia and healthy comparison subjects during a prototypical working memory task, the n-back paradigm, to highlight areas of hyper- and hypoactivation in schizophrenia. We utilize a quantitative meta-analysis method to review 12 imaging studies where patients with schizophrenia were contrasted with healthy comparison subjects while performing the n-back paradigm. Although we find clear support for hypofrontality, we also document consistently increased activation in anterior cingulate and left frontal pole regions in patients with schizophrenia compared to that in controls. These data suggest that whereas reduced DLPFC activation is reported consistently in patients with schizophrenia relative to healthy subjects, abnormal activation patterns are not restricted to this region, raising questions as to whether the pathophysiological dysfunction in schizophrenia is specific to the DLPFC and about the relationship between impaired performance and aberrant activation patterns. The complex pattern of hyper- and hypoactivation consistently found across studies implies that rather than focusing on DLPFC dysregulation, researchers should consider the entire network of regions involved in a given task when making inferences about the biological mechanisms of schizophrenia.
Nondifferentiable fractional programming with Hanson-Mond classes of functions

A class of nonlinear fractional programming problems is considered in which the numerator of the objective function involves a finite sum of square roots of quadratic forms. Inequality and equality constraints are considered. Necessary and sufficient optimality conditions and weak, strong, and converse duality theorems are established in the framework of the Hanson-Mond classes of functions.
THYROXINLIKE ACTIVITY OF SEVERAL THYROXIN ANALOGS.

Five analogs of thyroxin were tested for thyroxinlike activity on the basis of the Rana catesbiana tail fin assay procedure. Two of them, 3,5-diiodo-4-(3′,5′-diiodo-4-hydroxyphenoxy)-phenylpropionic acid and 3,5-diiodo-4-(3′,5′-diiodo-4-hydroxyphenoxy)-phenylbutyric acid, were by this test many times more potent than L-thyroxin; one of them, 3,5-diiodo-4-(3′,5′-dimethyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)-phenylalanine, was slightly more potent than L -thyroxin.