cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Observations of 14CO2 in ecosystem respiration from a temperate deciduous forest in Northern Wisconsin

The 14CO2 composition of plant and soil respiration can be used to determine the residence time of photosynthetically fixed carbon before it is released back to the atmosphere. To estimate the residence time of actively cycled carbon in a temperate forest, we employed two approaches for estimating the Δ14CO2 of ecosystem respiration (Δ14C-Reco) at the Willow Creek AmeriFlux site in Northern Wisconsin, USA. Our first approach was to construct nighttime Keeling plots from subcanopy profiles of Δ14CO2 and CO2, providing estimates of Δ14C-Reco of 121.7‰ in June and 42.0‰ in August 2012. These measurements are likely dominated by soil fluxes due to proximity to the ground level. Our second approach utilized samples taken over 20 months within the forest canopy and from 396 m above ground level at the nearby LEF NOAA tall tower site (Park Falls, WI). In this canopy-minus-background approach we employed a mixing model described by Miller and Tans (2003) for estimating isotopic sources by subtracting time-varying background conditions. For the period from May 2011 to December 2012 the estimated Δ14C-Reco using the Miller-Tans model was 76.8‰. Together, these Δ14C-Reco values represent mean Reco carbon ages of approximately 1–19 years. We also found that heterotrophic soil-respired Δ 14C at Willow Creek was 5–38‰ higher (i.e., 1–10 years older) than predicted by the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach global biosphere carbon model for the 1 × 1 pixel nearest to the site. This study provides much needed observational constraints of ecosystem carbon residence times, which are a major source of uncertainty in terrestrial carbon cycle models.
Next Gen Ambivalent Sexism: Converging Correlates, Causality in Context, and Converse Causality, an Introduction to the Special Issue

The special issue on Ambivalent Sexism (Glick and Fiske 1996, 1999, 2001) reflects the current landscape of ambivalent sexism research. This introduction reviews the theory, exploring the particularly insidious case of benevolent sexism. Next, it presents the included papers, which range broadly, but generally fit one of three research streams in the development of ambivalent sexism research. Some papers focus on converging correlations, exploring ambivalent sexism’s relation to other ideologies and cultural dimensions. Other papers demonstrate causality in context, revealing impact on targets and the prescriptive power of ambivalent ideologies. A third line documents converse causality, illustrating impact on perceivers’ self processes. Finally, we discuss possible future areas of research.
Design, synthesis, and biological evaluations of tumor-targeting dual-warhead conjugates for a taxoid-camptothecin combination chemotherapy.

Novel tumor-targeting dual-warhead conjugates, 2 (DW-1) and 3 (DW-2), which consist of a next-generation taxoid, 1 (SB-T-1214), and camptothecin as two warheads, self-immolative disulfide linkers for drug release, biotin as the tumor-targeting moiety, and 1,3,5-triazine as the tripod splitter module, were designed and synthesized. The potency of 2 was evaluated against MX-1, MCF-7, ID8, L1210FR (BR+, biotin receptor overexpressed) and WI38 (BR–, normal) cell lines in the absence and presence of glutathione (GSH), which is an endogenous thiol that triggers drug release inside the cancer cells. With the GSH and resuspension protocol, 2 exhibited IC50 values of 3.22–9.80 nM against all BR+ cancer cell lines, and 705 nM against WI38. Thus, there was a two orders of magnitude higher selectivity to cancer cells. Also, a clear cooperative effect was observed for the taxoid–camptothecin combination when two drugs were delivered to the cancer cells specifically in the form of a dual-warhead conjugate.
Analysis and Design of Wire Antennas with Applications to EMC

The method of moments is applied to wire antennas. Antenna analysis and beam pattern synthesis methods are outlined. Constraints appropriate to problems of EMC can readily be introduced. Some of the subjects treated are coupling, parasitic effects, pattern synthesis, null placement, and gain maximization. Numerous examples are given to illustrate the theory.
3 mm O.D. Raster Scanning Multiphoton Endoscope

We present a 3mm outer diameter multiphoton endoscope that utilizes a hybrid resonant/non-resonant miniaturized piezo raster scanner. A field of view of 80um by 70um is achieved at a frame rate of 4.4 frames/s.
Method for the measurement of the modulation transfer function of sampled imaging systems from bar-target patterns

A rigorous and simple method for the determination of the modulation transfer function (MTF) of a sampled imaging system is presented. One calculates the MTF by imaging bar patterns and calculating the reduction in amplitude of the fundamental frequency components. The optimal set of bar-pattern frequencies that reduce errors from aliased frequency components is derived. Theoretical and experimental data are presented.
Non-NMDA but not NMDA blockade at deep prepiriform cortex protects against hippocampal cell death in status epilepticus.

Abstract The present study investigates the role of pharmacologic blockade of NMDA ( N -methyl- d -aspartate) and non-NMDA receptors at deep prepiriform cortex (area tempestas, AT) in neuronal injury during prolonged seizures in rat. Status epilepticus was induced by intravenous kainate (15 mg/kg) and neuronal death was assessed in hippocampal CA3 sector 72 h following status epilepticus. Unilateral equimolar microinjections of 2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid (AP-7), an NMDA receptor antagonist, or 2,3-dihydroxy-6-nitro-7-sulfamoyl-benzo( F )quinoxaline (NBQX), a non-NMDA receptor antagonist, into AT were given prior to kainate administration. Counts of surviving cells in CA3 ipsilateral to NBQX-injected AT were significantly greater than on the contralateral control-side, but no significant difference between the AP-7-injected and saline-injected side was found. These results indicate that neurotransmission via non-NMDA receptors is more important than that via NMDA receptors at AT in the genesis of neuronal injury in hippocampus during kainate-induced status epilepticus.
Correspondence of Tono-Pen intraocular pressure measurements performed at the central cornea and mid-peripheral cornea.

Background As the awareness of the influence of central corneal thickness (CCT) on Goldmann tonometry has increased, many publications have questioned the accuracy of Goldmann intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement. The Tono–Pen®, because it indents a much smaller surface area when compared to a Goldmann probe, may be less affected by corneal thickness variations when compared with Goldmann tonometry. Methods Forty human subjects with no history of refractive surgery participated in this study. The IOP of the right eye of each subject was measured with the Goldmann tonometer, the Tono–Pen at the central cornea, and the Tono–Pen at the mid-peripheral cornea. An ultrasonic DGH Pachette pachymeter was used to measure the central and mid-peripheral corneal thickness at the location of the IOP readings. Results Tono-Pen measurements at the central and mid-peripheral cornea highly correlated (r = 0.933), and did not significantly differ (p = 0.646). The IOP readings with the Goldmann tonometer (r = 0.406), the Tono–Pen at the central cornea (r = 0.453), and the Tono–Pen at the mid-peripheral cornea (r = 0.321) showed a positive correlation to corneal thickness. The Goldmann and Tono–Pen tonometers differed significantly in the measurement of IOP at the central cornea (p = 0.007), but were positively correlated (r = 0.674). Conclusions The Tono–Pen IOP measurement at the central cornea highly approximated Tono–Pen IOP measurement at the mid-peripheral cornea. Furthermore, although not highly correlated, both the Goldmann and Tono–Pen tonometers showed a significantly positive correlation between IOP and corneal thickness measurements.
Impact of Competition and Mycorrhizal Fungi on Growth of Centaurea stoebe, an Invasive Plant of Sand Dunes

Abstract Soil biota such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have been shown to increase invasive plant species success in a wide variety of systems by providing both direct and indirect benefits to the invader. For example, Centaurea stoebe invasion in the western US is at least partially due to AMF networks allowing Centaurea to parasitize some native plant species. Centaurea also invades sand dune systems of the northern Great Lakes region, which often have reduced or altered soil communities compared to other grasslands. In these habitats, AMF may play a different role in invasion success of this species. We conducted a greenhouse experiment to compare effects of soil biota and AMF on competitive interactions between Centaurea and two varieties of Ammophila breviligulata, a dominant native grass of Great Lakes sand dunes. We found that Centaurea growth was slowed by the presence of Ammophila competitors, while AMF had no direct or indirect effect on growth. Both Ammophila varieties were uninhibited ...
Zeros of L-functions attached to Maass forms

This paper considers PSL(2,ℤ)-automorphic cusp forms (the Maass forms) and their associated Dirichlet series. There are two major results. The first uses real variable techniques to give an explicit reconstruction of the cusp form in terms of the Dirichlet series. This representation is valid in the entire upper half-plane. The second uses this representation to show that the Dirichlet series has many zeros on its critical line. This is the analogue of the Hardy-Littlewood result for the Riemann zeta function.
Review Of The Hydrogen Triplet Series Lasers

Lasers in the triplet spectroscopic series of molecular hydrogen and molecular deuterium were discovered in the mid-infrared band. These are at 3.84, 3.77 and 3.71 microns in ydrogen and at 4.71, 4.60 and 4.52 microns in deuterium. These lasers operate in the a3 - On system in both molecules but the assignment is not so certain in deuterium A‚Â§s it is in hydrogen because of the lack of sufficient spectroscopic coefficients for the c3 state. The laser data have been used to identify heretofore unidentified infrared lines in hydrogen and deuterium. Future work is planned to include extension of the laser data base for the AV = -1 transitions and an attempt to produce the AV = 0 lasers.
Treatment of rat heart allograft recipients with postoperative total lymphoid irradiation (TLI).

Abstract Pretransplant total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) plus donor bone marrow can result in donor-specific tolerance, but graft-versus-host disease is not consistently avoided. TLI may have greater applicability as an adjuct to generalized immunosuppressive treatment. In a clinical trial, preoperative TLI posed problems for patients with a high percentage of cytotoxic antibodies who sometimes had a long wait for a transplant after completion of TLI. It would be logistically advantageous if TLI could be given in the perioperative period. We investigated the feasibility of this approach in an ACI (RT-1 a ) to Lewis (RT-1 l ) rat heart allograft model. Untreated recipients rejected the grafts at a mean of 6.1 days. TLI 400 or 600 rads administered as one dose 1 day preoperative did not prolong graft survival (rejected a mean of 5.6 and 6.3 days). A dose fraction schedule previously found to be effective when given preoperatively, 200 rads × 5 consecutive days, did not prolong graft survival when administered beginning the first day postoperatively (mean rejection at 6.3 days). Higher dose fractions were effective: 300 rads × 3, 300 rads × 5, 400 rads × 3, and 400 rads × 4 gave mean rejection times of 11.8, 16.8, 11.5, and 13.6 days, respectively. Combining 600 rads preoperative with 200 rads × 5 days postoperative did not prolong graft survival. Six hundred rads preoperative plus 300 rads × 3 days postoperative prolonged graft survival, but was no more effective than 300 rads × 3 days postoperative alone. The most effective schedule for postoperative TLI was 300 rads × 3, 0 rads × 2, and 200 rads × 5 days; this treatment delayed rejection to 25 days. In conclusion, one dose preoperative TLI has no effect on heart allograft survival, but postoperative TLI in dose fractions of 300 rads is effective in delaying rejection. Postoperative TLI may be an alternative treatment for patients who must wait for suitable crossmatch negative cadaver kidneys.
Relationship of religiosity to death anxiety of middle-aged males

The purpose of this study was to determine how religiosity was related to death anxiety among a group of middle-aged men. A non-probability sample of 237 male volunteers between the ages of 40 and ...
Precisely cyclic sand: Self-organization of periodically sheared frictional grains

The disordered static structure and chaotic dynamics of frictional granular matter has occupied scientists for centuries, yet there are few organizational principles or guiding rules for this highly hysteretic, dissipative material. We show that cyclic shear of a granular material leads to dynamic self-organization into several phases with different spatial and temporal order. Using numerical simulations, we present a phase diagram in strain–friction space that shows chaotic dispersion, crystal formation, vortex patterns, and most unusually a disordered phase in which each particle precisely retraces its unique path. However, the system is not reversible. Rather, the trajectory of each particle, and the entire frictional, many–degrees-of-freedom system, organizes itself into a limit cycle absorbing state. Of particular note is that fact that the cyclic states are spatially disordered, whereas the ordered states are chaotic.
Consequences of Prenatal Exposure to Diethylstilbestrol

Exposure to the drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) during the first 18 weeks of prenatal life can have many results ranging from benign misconfigurations of the reproductive organs to adenocarcinoma. Since the drug was routinely administered to pregnant American women from 1940 to 1970, a large population of Americans we involved. The key factor is early awareness to the exposure und careful follow‐up. Since many of those exposed are unaware that they received DES, the health cure profession must be attuned to the signs und symptoms predisposed by the exposure und be able to provide adequate follow‐up and education concerning this medical problem.
Effective business management in Brunei

Focuses on Brunei, briefly describing its geographic, demographic, economic, political, and cultural background. Highlights the ease of doing business in Brunei, particularly for US companies. States, however, that there are certain aspects of doing business in Brunei that bear thinking about, such as the use of local labour when there is little motivation for people to work because they are so well cared for by the state. Points out that, consequently, the most motivating factor in working is to feel part of an extended family organization, which is difficult if the headquarters are on a different continent. Suggests joint ventures as a way round this. Identifies how the notion of excellence differs between the US and Brunei, highlighting also shared characteristics of the two countries’ management styles. Criticizes Brunei’s complacency, which has resulted in a lack of productivity through people, and infers that the workforce needs to be better motivated if managers are to achieve competitive advantage for their businesses. Another attempt to impose “west is best” economies that are actually doing very well on their own.
When The Bombs Drop: Reactions to Disconfirmed Prophecy in a Millennial Sect

This article reports the results of an ethnographic study of a millennial Baha'i sect whose leader predicted that the world would be devastated by nuclear war on April 29, 1980. Shortly before that date we began a participant-observer study of the sect, and during the following eight months we supplemented our observations by interviewing members and defectors in the four states where the group's leader had a substantial following. The purpose of the investigation was to replicate the classic study of disconfirmed prophecy reported in When Prophecy Fails by Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter. They found that prophetic disconfirmation was followed by an increase in conviction and heightened efforts to recruit new believers. We report contrary findings and explore social psychological factors that might account for the difference between our findings and the results of the Festinger et al. study. We argue that reactions to prophetic failure are shaped less by psychological forces than by social circumstances...
Tensile deformation of nanostructured TiO2 at low temperatures

Abstract Nanostructured TiO 2 with an average grain size of 40 nm was synthesized by the gas condensation technique followed by consolidation and sintering. Pellets of 15 mm diameter and 0.5 mm in thickness were deformed plastically by a gas pressure forming technique. Gas ressures were varied between 100 and 250 kPa, resulting in stresses in the range of 2 to 20 MPa; deformation temperatures varied from 700 to 800°C. After deformation with strains ϵ up to 0.1 the samples did not show any evidence of crackformation. The total deformation at the center of the sample disk, i.e. the apex height, was larger than 2 mm and strain rates were as large as 4 x 10 −6 s −1 . These experiments show for the first time that nanostructured ceramics can be deformed plastically under tensile stresses below half the melting point. Although the total strain is still small, larger deformation and net shape forming should be possible by this technique, enabling technological applications of nanostructured ceramics.
Quality-of-Care Indicators for Infantile Spasms

We developed a comprehensive set of quality-of-care indicators for the management of children with infantile spasms in the United States, encompassing evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention and management of side effects and comorbidities. The indicators were developed using the RAND/UCLA Modified Delphi Method. After a focused review of the literature and guidelines by the study team, an expert panel (nominated by leaders of Child Neurology Society, American Epilepsy Society, and National Institute for Neurologic Disorders) rated the draft indicators anonymously, met face-to-face to discuss each indicator, and rerated the revised indicators on validity, feasibility, and importance. The panel recommended 21 indicators, of which 8 were identified as most likely to have a large positive impact on improving quality of life and/or health outcomes for children with infantile spasms. The proposed indicators can be used to assess and document variations and gaps in quality-of-care and inform future research and quality improvement interventions.
From 0 - 60 in 4.2 seconds supporting the RESNET

Our Help Desk had traditionally supported faculty & staff but in August 2004 that all changed with a decision that the Help Desk would offer support to students in the residence halls later that month. We then expanded further, providing technical assistance to all students (including commuter students) by the end of that same fall semester. To add to this challenge, Perfigo (now called CleanAccess) was implemented in the residence halls the day before move-in weekend!This paper will address many of the challenges and pitfalls we faced and discuss what we learned in the process, including but not limited to:Determining staffing levels with nothing to work fromTraining Help Desk staff to be able to handle these new support challenges such as spyware, virus outbreaks, bandwidth and online gaming.Dealing with parents placing calls on behalf of their children.Our experience with CleanAccess.Getting the word out to students to call the Help Desk for assistance.Coordinating support with the ResNet techs whose work schedules did not overlap at all with the Help Desk hours of operation.Reaching students when a callback is necessary 8am is not always the ideal time.We will discuss the positive and negative impacts this change had on the students. And finally, we will share the changes we have planned for the future to improve our ability to support students.
Development of a single molecule optical probe

Abstract Advances in sensitive optical measurement schemes have led to the detection and the physical and chemical characterization of individual molecules. We are attempting to exploit the advances in single molecule detection by preparing single molecule probes based on near-field optical nanoprobes. A single carbocyanine dye C18 (DiI) molecule is immobilized on a near-field optical fiber probe. The single DiI molecule probe's optical properties have been characterized. Photobleaching of the single DiI molecule on the probe occurs as a discrete and total extinction of its fluorescence. We have also developed an optical method which differentiates single molecule probes from multiple molecule probes. Using the optical intensities of a probe before and after molecular immobilization, we are able to formulate an optical intensity ratio to identify single molecule probes with 99% accuracy. The single molecule light sources are the first step in our efforts to developing a variety of single molecule probes for single molecule optical microscopy and single molecule interaction studies with extremely high spatial resolution and sensitivity.
Supercontinuum-based 10-GHz flat-topped optical frequency comb generation

The generation of high-repetition-rate optical frequency combs with an ultra-broad, coherent and smooth spectrum is important for many applications in optical communications, radio-frequency photonics and optical arbitrary waveform generation. Usually, nonlinear broadening techniques of comb-based sources do not provide the required flatness over the whole available bandwidth. Here we present a 10-GHz ultra-broadband flat-topped optical frequency comb (> 3.64-THz or 28 nm bandwidth with ~365 spectral lines within 3.5-dB power variation) covering the entire C-band. The key enabling point is the development of a pre-shaping-free directly generated Gaussian comb-based 10-GHz pulse train to seed a highly nonlinear fiber with normal dispersion profile. The combination of the temporal characteristics of the seed pulses with the nonlinear device allows the pulses to enter into the optical wave-breaking regime, thus achieving a smooth flat-topped comb spectral envelope. To further illustrate the high spectral coherence of the comb, we demonstrate high-quality pedestal-free short pulse compression to the transform-limited duration.
Formula databases for high-performance resolution/paramodulation systems

Over the past 25 years, researchers have written numerous deduction systems based on resolution and paramodulation. Of these systems, very few have been capable of generating and maintaining aformula database containing more than just a few thousand clauses. These few systems were used to explore mechanisms for rapidly extracting limited subsets of ‘relevant’ clauses. We have developed a simple, powerful deduction system that reflects some of the best of the ideas that have emerged from the research. This paper describes that deduction system and casts the idea in a form that makes them easily accessible to researchers wishing to write their own high-performance systems.
Confocal Raman microscopy for identification of bacterial species in biofilms

Implemented through a confocal microscope, Raman spectroscopy has been used to distinguish between biofilm samples of two common oral bacteria species, Streptococcus sanguinis and mutans, which are associated with healthy and cariogenic plaque, respectively. Biofilms of these species are studied as a model of dental plaque. A prediction model has been calibrated and validated using pure biofilms. This model has been used to identify the species of transferred and dehydrated samples (much like a plaque scraping) as well as hydrated biofilms in situ. Preliminary results of confocal Raman mapping of species in an intact two-species biofilm will be shown.
Laser texturing of doped borosilicate glasses

We describe a novel process of laser-assisted fabrication of surface structures on doped oxide glasses with heights reaching 10 - 13% of the glass thickness. This effect manifests itself as a swelling of the irradiated portion of the glass, and occurs in a wide range of glass compositions. The extent of such swelling depends on the glass base composition. Doping with Fe, Ti, Co, Ce, and other transition metals allows for adjusting the absorption of the glass and maximizing the feature size. In the case of bumps grown on borosilicate glasses, we observe reversible glass swelling and the bump height can increase or decrease depending on whether the consecutive laser pulse has higher or lower energy compared with the previous one. To understand the hypothetical mechanism, which includes laser heating of glass, glass melting, and directional flow, we explored density, refractive index, fictive temperature, and phase separation dynamics.
Would You Run it Here or There? AHS: Automatic Heterogeneous Supercomputing

Parallel progrm often exhibit strong preferences for different system structrues, and machines with the ideal structures may all be available within a single heterogeneous network.
Radical species generation and their lifetime extension by a femtosecond and nanosecond dual-laser system

For many material processes, desired radical species at excited states are produced which interact with a given substrate for a certain period of time allowing chemical reactions between them to occur and complete. Hence, it is important to maintain the population of the excited radical species for an extended period of time, i.e., their lifetime, which is defined as the time for emission intensity to decay to 1/e of the initial intensity. In this study, a femtosecond–nanosecond (fs–ns) dual-laser system was employed to generate desired radical species via the fs laser and, then, to extend the lifetime of the radical species by the ns laser with different time delays between the two fs–ns laser pulses. The proposed method is demonstrated for a N2–CO2 mixture with CN as the radical species. The results show that the lifetime of CN radical species can be significantly extended, particularly the (3, 3) spectral line which was extended from 30 to 200 ns. By using a wavelength-tunable ns laser, the lifetime of most radical species can be extended which may increase the process efficiency for many material processes.
Enchanced fluoresence emission of croconate violet in ethanol containing poly(4-vinyl-pyridine)

When croconate violet 1. a dye with strong visible absorption and reversible redox behavior, is microeneaged by a polymer, its fluorescence quantum yield increases by a factor of 8; the fluorescence lifetime increases from <9 ps to 28 ps. The influence of the polymer [poly(4-vinyl-pyridine)] on the photochemical properties of the dye is discussed.
Measuring variation for nominal data

This paper is concerned with the measurement of variation or dispersion for nominal categorical data. A new measure of such variation is proposed. It is defined as the complement of the standard deviation of the individual category frequencies from the modal frequency. Large-sample distribution methods are developed for constructing confidence intervals and testing hypotheses for the equivalent population measure of variation. Numerical sample data are used to exemplify the statistical inference methods.
Evaluating Precipitation Modification under Drought Conditions for Utah Agriculture

Abstract The impacts of the 1934 and 1977 droughts in the seven Climatological regions of Utah were examined using a linear programming model that simulated crop and livestock production in Utah for 1979. Crop and range production equations wee developed to predict changes in production of feed and food crops during the drought before and after cloud seeding was implemented. The simulations indicated that the costs of both droughts fell largely on the livestock industry statewide and on the crop industry in northwestern and southeastern Utah. Cloud seeding was most beneficial in these latter two regions.
Electrical engineering in the postwar world: XII — Developments in radio and television

If electronic progress follows the pattern set after World War I, the next decade will see the expansion of techniques nurtured by military need: frequency modulation, television, facsimile, and radar. Economic considerations, however, probably will set the rate and limit of their expansion.
Rural-urban differences in colon cancer risk in blacks and whites: the North Carolina Colon Cancer Study.

: Context: Geographic and racial variations in cancer incidence have been observed. Studies of colorectal carcinoma indicate a higher incidence and mortality rate for blacks than for whites in the United States. Purpose: We evaluated the effect of rural versus urban residence on colon cancer risk and stage of disease at diagnosis in blacks and whites. Methods: Interviews were conducted with 558 colon cancer cases and 952 controls enrolled in the North Carolina Colon Cancer Study, a population-based case-control study of blacks and whites residing in 33 contiguous counties. Findings: Residence in a rural area was associated with increased colon cancer risk (odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.1-1.8). This association was no longer significant after controlling for recent use of colorectal cancer screening tests (odds ratio, 1.2; 95% confidence interval, 0.9-1.6). Risk estimates were not modified by race nor were they markedly different for extent of disease at diagnosis. However, colorectal cancer screening rates were lower for blacks than for whites. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that rural blacks and whites are at increased risk of colon cancer regardless of stage of disease at diagnosis than their urban counterparts; this relationship may be mediated by screening behavior.
Growth hormone response of bull calves to growth hormone-releasing factor.

Three experiments were conducted to determine serum growth hormone (GH) response of bull calves (N = 4; 83 kg body wt) to iv injections and infusions of human pancreatic GH-releasing factor 1-40-OH (hpGRF). Peak GH responses to 0, 2.5, 10, and 40 micrograms hpGRF/100 kg body wt were 7 +/- 3, 8 +/- 3, 18 +/- 7, and 107 +/- 55 (mean peak height +/- SEM) ng/ml serum, respectively. Only the response to the 40-microgram dose was greater (P less than 0.05) than the 0-microgram dose. Concentrations of prolactin in serum were not affected by hpGRF treatment. In calves injected with hpGRF (20 micrograms/100 kg body wt) at 6-hr intervals for 48 hr, GH increased from a mean preinjection value of 3.1 ng/ml serum to a mean peak response value of 70 ng/ml serum. Differences in peak GH response between times of injection existed within individual calves (e.g., 10.5 ng/ml vs 184.5 ng/ml serum). Concentrations of GH in calves infused continuously with either 0 or 200 micrograms hpGRF/hr for 6 hr averaged 7.4 +/- 3 and 36.5 +/- 11 ng/ml serum, respectively (P less than 0.05). Concentrations of GH oscillated markedly in hpGRF-infused calves, but oscillations were asynchronous among calves. We conclude that GH response of bull calves to hpGRF is dose dependent and that repeated injections or continuous infusions of hpGRF elicit GH release, although magnitude of response varies considerably. We hypothesize that differences in GH response to hpGRF within and among calves, and pulsatile secretion in the face of hpGRF infusion may be related to the degree of synchrony among exogenous hpGRF and endogenous GRF and somatostatin.
Electronic Stacks: Using Web Sources in Reference Service

The awareness of Web sources in reference service has risen in recent years as many reference librarians have become more Internet-minded. During the reference process, we often ask ourselves: can this question be answered by using the Web? The use of Web sources is expanding the amount of available reference information, enhancing individual libraries' collections, and, hence, providing better user service. There are many benefits in using the Web sources in reference service. There are also some drawbacks. Some useful Web sources are reviewed. The Web, when used properly, provides reference librarians with a valuable resource option to help improve their services in an effective manner.
Effect of corticosteroids on the production of superoxide and hydrogen peroxide and the appearance of chemiluminescence by phagocytosing polymorphonuclear leukocytes

Human polymorphonuclear leukocytes were incubated with either methylprednisolone sodium succinate, hydrocortisone sodium succinate, or distilled water, and then latex spherules were added as target particles for phagocytosis. At low concentrations of these corticosteroids (0.04–0.22 mM), no effect was observed on O2−· production, H2O2 production, or chemiluminescence. At high concentrations of these steroids (2.7 mM), a significant inhibition was observed in both O2−· production and H2O2 production. At 2.7 mM, methylprednisolone sodium succinate significantly decreased chemiluminescence, whereas hydrocortisone sodium succinate was without effect on chemiluminescence.
The role of progesterone signaling in the pathogenesis of uterine leiomyoma

Uterine leiomyomas are benign tumors that originate from the myometrium. Evidence points to ovarian steroid hormones, in particular, progesterone as major promoters of leiomyoma development and growth. While progesterone action in leiomyomas involves the classical nuclear receptor effects on gene regulation, there is growing evidence that signaling pathways are directly activated by the progesterone receptor (PR) and that PR can interact with growth factor signaling systems to promote proliferation and survival of leiomyomas. Studies investigating the genomic and non-genomic actions of PR and its role in leiomyoma growth are summarized here. Studies testing various selective progesterone receptor modulators for the treatment of leiomyomas are also highlighted. An increased understanding of the mechanisms associated with progesterone-driven growth of leiomyomas is critical in order to develop more efficient and targeted therapies for this prevalent disease.
8. Barrett’s esophagus – A perfect target for cryo-ablation

Endoscopic cryotherapy is used for a variety of indications in the gastrointestinal tract, including treatment of chronic gastric antral vascular ectasia (GAVE), radiation proctitis, and Barrett’s esophagus. Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is a known precursor to esophageal adenocarcinoma resulting from chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease. Endoscopic treatment of high grade neoplasia (high grade dysplasia) and early adenocarcinoma in Barrett’s esophagus is the preferred first line approach for most patients. This includes endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) for nodular disease or focal neoplastic lesions, and mucosal ablation for flat neoplasia. Current ablative techniques include treatment with heat energy (such as radiofrequency ablation or RFA), cryogen (cryotherapy or cryoablation), and laser plus photosensitizing drug therapy (photodynamic therapy). Although less widely available and studied compared to RFA, endoscopic cryotherapy using liquid nitrogen or compressed gas such as carbon dioxide or nitrogen have excellent safety and efficacy profiles. The complete response rates for elimination of high grade neoplasia in Barrett’s esophagus are comparable to those of RFA, whether it is used for primary or salvage therapy. Cryotherapy can also be applied when RFA is contraindicated or associated with greater risk (such as in patients with esophageal strictures, radiation therapy, eosinophilic esophagitis, cardiac defibrillators, on chronic anti-platelet or anticoagulation therapy). Furthermore, a few studies of cryotherapy also demonstrate long term response rates for endoscopic treatment and palliation of esophageal adenocarcinoma, which cannot be treated with RFA. The incidence of side effects of cryotherapy, when used properly, is lower than that of RFA, particularly with less post-treatment pain and dysphagia. Patients can usually resume a normal diet, unlike RFA. Lastly, the current systems and cost of cryotherapy are significantly lower than that of RFA or photodynamic therapy. New methods of applying endoscopic cryotherapy are being developed to improve the portability and technical ease. Cryotherapy is an excellent mucosal ablative technique for the gastrointestinal tract.
On the Input Joint Rotation Space and Mobility of Linkages

This paper presents the concept and application of input joint rotation space of linkages and offers updates on the N-bar rotatability laws. A thorough discussion on the joint rotation space of single-loop planar five-bar linkages is first presented. The concept is then extended to spherical linkages and the generalization to N-bar linkages is discussed. It offers a visualization tool for the input joint rotatability and fills up a void in the N-bar rotatability laws regarding the coordination among multiple inputs. It explains the formation of branches and how to establish a one-to-one correspondence between the inputs and the linkage configurations. The applications to multiloop linkages and spatial linkages are highlighted with Stephenson six-bar linkages, geared linkages, and spatial RCRCR mechanisms. These examples exhibit simplicity and benefits of the proposed concept to the mobility analysis of diversified mechanisms. The concept of virtual loop in spatial linkages is proposed and demonstrated with simple RCRCR and Stephenson six-bar mechanisms.
The effect of time-compressed speech on comprehensive, interpretive, and short-term listening.

Contemporary definitions of human listening suggest that it is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Short-term and interpretative listening may be viewed as important aspects of the listening process. However, research in time-compressed speech has focused on listening comprehension while not adequately treating other important types of listening. A broader view of the listening process would include all of the skills considered relevant to everyday human communication. This study examined the effect of time-compressed speech on comprehensive, interpretative and short-term listening. The Kentucky Comprehensive Listening Test was used to measure the three types of listening. Cut and splice tape editing was employed in the development of four master test tapes: a control tape presented at normal rate and tapes with test stimuli time-compressed by 30%, 45%, and 60%. Each of four randomly selected groups, 120 total subjects, was exposed to one of the four test tapes. The data from the test administrations was analyzed by analysis-of-variance and simple means tests. Results indicate that a statistically significant amount of the variance in comprehensive, interpretative and short-term listening scores may be explained by the manipulated variable, time-compression. However, the amount of variance-accounted-for is relatively low for both short-term and interpretative listening. Closer examination of the data indicates that short-term and interpretative listening test scores do not significantly decay until a high level of time-compression (60%) is reached. Conversely, in the case of comprehensive listening, a relatively linear relation exists between degree of time-compression and test scores. Significant drops in mean scores were found at more moderate levels of time-compression. The findings are discussed in light of differences between short-term and long-term memory. Comprehensive listening, which relies upon long-term memory, may suffer from a lack of adequate processing and encoding time which may be induced by time-compression. Short-term and Interpretative listening are processes which rely primarily on short-term memory and may not be adversely affected until a level of time-compression is reached which impairs intelligibility. Implications are noted for future research and for educational applications.
PHOTOTROPISM OF SELAGINELLA: THE DIFFERENTIAL RESPONSE TO LIGHT

Selaginella kraussiana (Kunze) A. Braun has a plagiotropic dorsiventral stem with two rows of small leaves on the dorsal surface and two rows of large leaves inserted laterally. Stem tips exhibit a differential phototropic response. When stem tips are placed in their normal horizontal orientation and the dorsal surfaces are illumianted, the tips bend only 20° below the horizon and away from light. Stem curvature is limited to a zone 450 ,um long located 1.5 mm behind the shoot apex. The dorsal cortical cells within this zone of curvature are about 1.44 times longer than the ventral cortical cells. Illumination of the ventral surface of the stem tips elicits a strong phototropic response. The stems bend from 123-158° below the horizon and toward light, and the zone of curvature increases in length to 10 mm of the explant. The curvature is large enough so that the previously shaded dorsal leaves of the stem tips become redirected toward the light. This phototropic response is promoted by white and blue light, whereas red or far-red light has no effect. When stem tips are cultured in total darkness, the length of the zone of curvature is 8.0 mm but the stems bend only 50-67°. Treatment of the small dorsal leaves with phenylacetic acid inhibits phototropic curvature, and the phototropic response is unaffected by gravity. SELAGINELLA, section Heterophyllum, characteristically has plagiotropic dorsiventral
Determinants of Use of Emergency Medical Services in a Population With Stroke Symptoms The Second Delay in Accessing Stroke Healthcare (DASH II) Study

Background and Purpose—With the advent of time-dependent thrombolytic therapy for ischemic stroke, it has become increasingly important for stroke patients to arrive at the hospital quickly. This study investigates the association between the use of emergency medical services (EMS) and delay time among individuals with stroke symptoms and examines the predictors of EMS use. Methods—The Second Delay in Accessing Stroke Healthcare Study (DASH II) was a prospective study of 617 individuals arriving at emergency departments in Denver, Colo, Chapel Hill, NC, and Greenville, SC, with stroke symptoms. Results—EMS use was associated with decreased prehospital and in-hospital delay. Those who used EMS had a median prehospital delay time of 2.85 hours compared with 4.03 hours for those who did not use EMS (P=0.002). Older individuals were more likely to use EMS (odds ratio [OR] 1.21 for each 5-year increase, 95% CI 1.14 to 1.29), as were individuals who expressed a high sense of urgency about their symptoms (OR 1.6...
Isolation and in vitro characterization of CheZ suppressors for the Escherichia coli chemotactic response regulator mutant CheYN23D

The phosphorylated form of the response regulator CheY promotes the tumble signal in Escherichia coli chemotaxis. Phospho-CheY is thought to interact with the switch at the base of the flagellar motor and cause reversal of flagellar rotation from counterclockwise to clockwise changing the swimming direction. Thus the level of phospho-CheY controls the direction of flagellar rotation. The decay of the tumble signal is caused by dephosphorylation of CheY. CheY has an intrinsic autophosphatase activity; however, this reaction is greatly accelerated by the presence of the CheZ protein. We have shown previously that mutations at residues Asn-23 and Lys-26 in CheY confer resistance to the dephosphorylation activity of CheZ (Sanna, M. G., Swanson, R. V., Bourret, R. B., and Simon, M. I.(1995) Mol. Microbiol. 15, 1069-1079). Here we show that mutant CheY(N23D) is impaired in binding to CheZ, which provides a possible explanation for its resistance to the dephosphorylation activity of CheZ. Moreover, we isolated CheZ second-site suppressors of CheY(N23D), which restore both dephosphorylation and binding activity in a CheY(N23D) background. When the CheZ suppressor mutations are mapped, they are found in two clusters at the N and C termini of the CheZ protein which could define two regions of interaction with CheY. Furthermore, these regions may generate a surface in the folded three-dimensional structure of CheZ required for interaction with CheY.
Quinelorane (LY163502), a D2 dopamine receptor agonist, facilitatesseminal emission, but inhibits penile erection in the rat

Abstract Dopaminergic compounds have been shown to facilitate male sexual responses in various contexts. We investigated the effects of a specific D2 dopamine receptor agonist, quinelorane (LY163502), on sexual responses elicited in the restrained supine male rat (i.e., ex copula reflex tests). Penile erections, evoked by retraction of the penile sheath, were inhibited by systemic administration of 10 μg/kg quinelorane; however, the occurrence of seminal emission was dramatically increased. A smaller dose of 0.25 ng/kg was without effect. In a second experiment, intracranial microinjection of quinelorane was followed by ex copula reflex tests. The medial preopic area (MPOA) has been previously implicated in the dopaminergic regulation of male copulatory behavior (4, 18, 25). The effects of an intra-MPOAinjection of quinelorane on seminal emission and erectile responses were similar to those observed following systemic administration. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that DA receptors in the MPOA are important in the regulation of male sexual behavior and suggest that D2 receptors in the MPOA may decrease ejaculatory threshold while inhibiting erectile mechanisms.
The Use of Mohs Surgery in Facial Tumors in a Patient with Darier's Disease

A case illustrating the need for the Mohs technique for removing basal cell carcinomas (BCC) in skin involved with Darier's disease is presented. Because of the erythema and scaling secondary to Darier's disease, defining the margins of the tumor clinically is impossible. Therefore, we recommend Mohs micrographic surgery for BCCs that occur in Darier's-involved skin.
Prostaglandin E2 accelerates sexual behavior in male rats

Abstract Sexual behavior in male rats is accompanied by an increase in body temperature of 1°C. It has been suggested that this increase may be, at least in part, a febrile response mediated by the endogenous central release of prostaglandins of the E series (PGE). This putative release of PGE could also affect the expression of sexual behavior, a possibility that was tested in the present experiment. PGE2 was infused into the cerebral aqueduct and sexual behavior and hypothalamic temperature were monitored. PGE2 infusion raised hypothalamic temperature and decreased the postejaculatory interval and ejaculation latency. The exact cause of this acceleration of sexual behavior cannot as yet be determined.