cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electrochemistry and the Hydrogen Economy

Hydrogen is a hot topic in our society today. Issues relating to hydrogen run the gauntlet from energy, economics, and the environment to foreign and domestic policy. The vision of the widespread production, storage, distribution, and use of hydrogen as an energy carrier is often termed, "the hydrogen economy." This vision can offer energy security for the nation, provide enormous environmental benefits for our cities and towns, and increase the reliability, "dispatchability," and quality of our electric power system.
“The waiting is the worst”: Development of a next day access (NDA) program for patients with cancer.

205Background: Delays in access to treatment can cause anxiety and distress in patients with cancer. Time to treatment is increasing nationally, with retrospective analyses showing worse outcomes i...
Verification of Deterministic Scattering Computations and Some Observations

Scattering of the x-ray photons by the test object constitutes one of the most important physical mechanisms having a significant impact on radiographie image. Depending upon equipment setup, inspection parameters and material of the test object, contribution of scattering to the photon intensity may vary from a few percent of the overall beam incident upon the detector to more than half of the overall beam intensity. Therefore, a quantitative understanding of mechanics of scattering is an important issue in implementation of existing radiographie procedures and development of new ones. Development of computational models simulating scattering in radiographie studies provides the means for quantitative study of scattering phenomena. In addition to parametric studies enabled by such computational models, existence of such codes can also be utilized by the radiography simulators which have been gaining significant visibility in the last decade.
Passive mode locking with a hybrid laser

Summary form only given. It has been shown that a hybrid laser, which contains both an inhomogeneously broadened and a homogeneously broadened laser media, can improve the active mode locking performance. It generates coherent and shorter pulses as compared to that by either the inhomogeneously broadened medium or the homogeneously broadened medium alone. We present the results of a numerical study of passive mode locking with a hybrid laser. Gains of the hybrid laser can be adjusted to ensure starting of the mode locking process and control the pulse bandwidth to within the lockable optical bandwidth that is governed by the saturable absorber properties and group velocity dispersion (GVD).
Helicobacter Pylori and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease

Key points • Helicobacter pylori infections and gastroesophageal reflux disease are both common and thus frequently occur together. • Helicobacter pylori does not cause gastroesophageal reflux disease directly or indirectly (i.e. it has no effect on the anti-reflux barrier). • Helicobacter pylori infection does not protect against gastroesophageal reflux disease, Barrett's esophagus or adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. • Hypochlorhydria or achlorhydria associated with atrophic gastritis prevents symptomatic reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease sequelae such as erosive esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus, and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. It is also strongly associated with the risk of gastric cancer. • Proton pump inhibitor therapy in patients with Helicobacter pylori gastritis can result in acceleration of corpus gastritis and thus can theoretically increase the risk of gastric cancer. • Helicobacter pylori eradication does not significantly affect anti-secretory therapy for gastroesophageal reflux disease. • Patients considered for long-term proton pump inhibitor therapy should be tested for Helicobacter pylori and if present, the infection should be eradicated .
Cofactor and DNA interactions in EcoRI DNA methyltransferase. Fluorescence spectroscopy and phenylalanine replacement for tryptophan 183.

EcoRI DNA methyltransferase contains tryptophans at positions 183 and 225. Tryptophan 225 is adjacent to residues previously implicated in S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) binding and to cysteine 223, previously shown to be the site of N-ethyl maleimide-mediated inactivation of the enzyme (Reich, N. O., and Everett, E. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 8929-8934; Everett, E. A., Falick, A. M., and Reich, N. O. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 17713-17719). The fluorescence spectra of the wild-type enzyme is centered at 338 nm indicating partial tryptophan solvent accessibility. Substitution of tryptophan 183 with phenylalanine results in a 45% drop in fluorescence intensity, but no shift in lambda max. DNA binding to the wild-type methyltransferase caused an increase in the fluorescence intensity, while binding to the tryptophan 183 mutant had a quenching effect, suggesting that DNA binding induces a conformational change near both tryptophans. Binding of AdoMet and various AdoMet analogs to the wild-type methyltransferase results in no change in the fluorescence spectrum when excitation occurs at 295 nm, suggesting that no conformational change occurs, and AdoMet does not interact with either tryptophan. In contrast, quenching was observed when excitation occurred at 280 nm, suggesting that AdoMet and its analogs may be quenching tyrosine to tryptophan energy transfer. Protein-ligand complexes were titrated with acrylamide, and the data also implicate conformational changes upon DNA binding but not upon AdoMet binding, consistent with previous limited proteolysis results (Reich, N. O., Maegley, K. A., Shoemaker, D.D., and Everett, E. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 2940-2946).
Tastes and Technology in a Two-Country Model of the Business Cycle: Explaining International Comovements

Trade on international financial markets allows people to insure country-specific risk and smooth consumption intertemporally. Equilibrium models of business cycles with trade on global financial markets typically yield international consumption correlations near 1 and excessive volatility of investment. We incorporate nontraded goods in the model and find that the implications for aggregate consumption, investment, and the trade balance are consistent with business-cycle properties of industrialized countries. However, the model driven by technology shocks alone yields counterfactual implications for comovements between consumption and prices at the sectoral level. Taste shocks produce price - quantity relationships more consistent with the data. (JEL E30, F40)
Freshwater bacterial lifestyles inferred from comparative genomics

While micro-organisms actively mediate and participate in freshwater ecosystem services, we know little about freshwater microbial genetic diversity. Genome sequences are available for many bacteria from the human microbiome and the ocean (over 800 and 200, respectively), but only two freshwater genomes are currently available: the streamlined genomes of Polynucleobacter necessarius ssp. asymbioticus and the Actinobacterium AcI-B1. Here, we sequenced and analysed draft genomes of eight phylogentically diverse freshwater bacteria exhibiting a range of lifestyle characteristics. Comparative genomics of these bacteria reveals putative freshwater bacterial lifestyles based on differences in predicted growth rate, capability to respond to environmental stimuli and diversity of useable carbon substrates. Our conceptual model based on these genomic characteristics provides a foundation on which further ecophysiological and genomic studies can be built. In addition, these genomes greatly expand the diversity of existing genomic context for future studies on the ecology and genetics of freshwater bacteria.
Mutualistic interaction between Salmonella enterica and Aspergillus niger and its effects on Zea mays colonization.

Summary Salmonella Typhimurium inhabits a variety of environments and is able to infect a broad range of hosts. Throughout its life cycle, some hosts can act as intermediates in the path to the infection of others. Aspergillus niger is a ubiquitous fungus that can often be found in soil or associated to plants and microbial consortia. Recently, S. Typhimurium was shown to establish biofilms on the hyphae of A. niger. In this work, we have found that this interaction is stable for weeks without a noticeable negative effect on either organism. Indeed, bacterial growth is promoted upon the establishment of the interaction. Moreover, bacterial biofilms protect the fungus from external insults such as the effects of the anti-fungal agent cycloheximide. Thus, the Salmonella–Aspergillus interaction can be defined as mutualistic. A tripartite gnotobiotic system involving the bacterium, the fungus and a plant revealed that co-colonization has a greater negative effect on plant growth than colonization by either organism in dividually. Strikingly, co-colonization also causes a reduction in plant invasion by S. Typhimurium. This work demonstrates that S. Typhimurium and A. niger establish a mutualistic interaction that alters bacterial colonization of plants and affects plant physiology.
Dietary protein, cholesterol and atherosclerosis : a review of the early history

The first purely nutritional investigation into experimental atherosclerosis was carried out by Ignatowski in 1908. Believing that a toxic metabolite of animal protein led to atherosclerosis, he fed meat to adult rabbits and milk and egg yolk to weanling rabbits and caused atherosclerosis. For the next two decades experimental efforts from many laboratories were directed at determining which, if any, animal protein was the most atherogenic. The discovery in 1912 that dietary cholesterol per se was atherogenic turned attention to fat and cholesterol, eclipsing work on dietary protein. In 1926 Clarkson and Newburgh showed that the amount of cholesterol present in the animal protein they fed was insufficient to be atherogenic, demonstrating that some factor other than lipid determined atherogenicity. In 1940 Meeker and Kesten showed that animal protein (casein) was more atherogenic that plant protein (soy). Carroll and his co-workers showed that most proteins of animal origin were more cholesterolemic for rabbits than were proteins of vegetable origin, although there was some overlap. Cholesterol turnover is slower and fecal excretion of cholesterol is reduced in rabbits fed casein as opposed to those fed soy protein. The mechanisms underlying this effect are moot.
Adaptive noise cancellation in a fighter cockpit environment

In this paper we discuss some preliminary results on using Widrow's Adaptive Noise Cancelling (ANC) algorithm to reduce the background noise present in a fighter pilot's speech. With a dominant noise source present and with the pilot wearing an oxygen facemask, we demonstrate that good (>10 dB) cancellation of the additive noise and little speech distortion can be achieved by having the reference microphone attached to the outside of the facemask and by updating the filter coefficients only during silence intervals.
Ester components of aggregation pheromone ofDrosophila virilis (Diptera: Drosophilidae).

The male-produced aggregation pheromone ofDrosophila virilis was found to contain five ester components, in addition to a previously identified hydrocarbon, (Z)-10-heneicosene (Z10–21). The five esters were: the methyl, ethyl, and 1-methylethyl (isopropyl) esters of 2-methyl-(E)-2-butenoic (tiglic) acid and the methyl and ethyl esters of hexanoic acid. The esters were not detected in females. Each ester was active by itself in laboratory bioassay tests, and each increased the number of flies responding toZ10–21 ca. 4–5 times. In comparisons among the five esters at 10 ng per compound, ethyl tiglate was the most active, and methyl tiglate, the least. No mixture of esters was found to be significantly more active than ethyl tiglate alone. In a doseresponse study, bioassay activity increased with dose for both ethyl tiglate andZ10–21. Newly emerged males did not have detectable levels of the esters. All five esters increased as sexual maturity was approached. Ethyl tiglate and ethyl hexanoate were the most abundant in mature males, usually over 15 ng per individual. Ratios among the esters were variable. Male flies also contained an as yet unidentified attractant(s) still more polar than the esters, which was synergistic with the esters and hydrocarbon. Food odors also synergized the synthetic compounds.
Effect of turn preference upon development of discriminated T-maze training ability of infant mice

Mice received 25 trials in a shock-escape T-maze at 7, 9, 11, or 13 days of age. On the first trial, shock-offset occurred upon reaching either goalbox. For the remaining 24 trials, half of the mice at each age were trained to escape to the goal opposite their first-trial choice, while the other half continued to receive shock-offset for reaching either goalbox. Comparisons of direction of choice-point turns indicated little difference between trained and free-choice groups at 7 days of age. In contrast, mice trained to a specific goal at 9, 11, and 13 days of age made more turns in the direction opposite their first-trial choice than did the free-choice groups.
Foreign Body Aspiration in the Elderly Patient

The aspiration of foreign bodies is more common in the extremes of age. The increased risk in the elderly patient results from multiple factors including poor dentition, altered sensorium, poor coordination of deglutition mechanisms, and significant comorbidities. Unfortunately, non-specific symptoms contributing to a delay in diagnosis often result in complicated management issues. We describe the epidemiology, clinical presentation, and treatment options in the elderly patient. A high index of suspicion and prompt multidisciplinary approach maximize the likelihood of a positive outcome. An assessment of the technological and human capital necessary to address this life-threatening condition will likely guide the decision to treat or transfer the patient to the appropriate facility. Flexible and rigid bronchoscopies are the cornerstones of the diagnosis and treatment and should always be offered to the patient, regardless of the overall clinical condition. The probability of successful foreign body removal in trained hands is very high.
Combined airways: impact of upper airway on lower airway

Purpose of reviewThis article reviews recent literature on the important relationship between the nose, paranasal sinuses and lungs. Recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the association between upper and lower airways are discussed.Recent findingsEpide
Aggregation methods for large-scale sensor networks

The ability to efficiently aggregate information—for example compute the average temperature—in large networks is crucial for the successful employment of sensor networks. This article addresses the problem of designing truly scalable protocols for computing aggregates in the presence of faults, protocols that can enable million node sensor networks to work efficiently. More precisely, we make four distinct contributions. First, we introduce a simple fault model and analyze the behavior of two existing protocols under the fault model: tree aggregation and gossip aggregation. Second, since the behavior of the two protocols depends on the size of the network and probability of failure, we introduce a hybrid approach that can leverage the strengths of the two protocols and minimize the weaknesses; the new protocol is analyzed under the same fault model. Third, we propose methodology for determining the optimal mix between the two basic protocols; the methodology consists in formulating an optimization problem, using models of the protocol behavior, and solving it. Fourth, we perform extensive experiments to evaluate the performance of the hybrid protocol and show that it usually performs better, sometimes orders of magnitude better, than both the tree and gossip aggregation.
Modeling the Dynamics of the Sorption of Hydrophobic Organic Chemicals to Suspended Sediments

The adsorption and desorption of hydrophobic organic chemicals to suspended sediments are often quite slow and, because of this, these finite rates of sorption must be included for accurate predictions of the transport of contaminants in surface waters in many cases. A theoretical model of adsorption and desorption which includes finite sorption rates has previously been developed and shown to be in good agreement with experimental results. However, this model generally requires quite large amounts of computer time. In the present study, a simplified but reasonably accurate version of this model is developed which requires much less computer time and is therefore suitable for large-scale calculations of the transport of contaminants in surface waters. Applications of this model are presented in order to illustrate the effects of finite sorption rates on this transport.
Development of a Large Animal Model of Osteochondritis Dissecans of the Knee: A Pilot Study

Background:Treatment of osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the knee is challenging, and evidence for stage-dependent treatment options is lacking. Basic science approaches utilizing animal models have provided insight into the etiology of OCD but have yet to produce a reliable and reproducible large animal model of the disease on which to test new surgical strategies.Purpose/Hypotheses:The purpose of this study was to develop an animal model featuring an OCD-like lesion in terms of size, location, and International Cartilage Repair Society (ICRS) grading. The hypothesis was that surgical creation of an osteochondral defect followed by placement of a barrier between parent bone and progeny fragment would generate a reproducible OCD-like lesion.Study Design:Controlled laboratory study.Methods:Bilateral osteochondral lesions were created in the medial femoral condyles of 9 Yucatan minipigs. After lesion creation, a biodegradable membrane was interposed between the progeny and parent bone. Five different trea...
Induction of Phagocytosis and “Cannibalism” by the Giant Ameba, Chaos carolinensis

SYNOPSIS. It is evident from studies of cellular recognition resulting in phagocytosis by Chaos carolinensis that cilia from certain protozoa serving as prey, e.g. Tetrahymena pyriformis, influence phagocytic action. Glutaraldehyde-fixed C. carolinensis to which cilia, isolated from Tetrahymena, are attached by the benzidine reaction, are engulfed by living Chaos but not digested. Fixed Chaos without attached cilia are not engulfed. Adding increased numbers of cilia from Tetrahymena progressively inhibits the rate at which Chaos phagocytizes Paramecium caudatum, suggesting blockage by the cilia of contact sites normally available to initiate phagocytosis of Paramecium.
Frequency Shifts and Master Equations for a Quantum Oscillator Coupled to a Reservoir

Abstract For a quantum oscillator coupled to a reservoir, master equations obtained under the assumptions of weak coupling and use of a rotating-wave Hamiltonian (RWA) are known to give incorrect frequency shifts. Here, we show that a calculation which does not invoke the RWA gives results for the frequency shifts, which agree with exact results for Lamb-type (temperature T =0) shifts. However, for non-zero T , we point out that, in general, corresponding energy and free energy shifts for the system require exact treatments since off-resonant contributions (which are automatically excluded in weak coupling calculations) are important in the case of super-Ohmic reservoirs.
An application of linear feature selection to estimation of proportions

Let X be a random n-vector whose density function is given by a mixture of known multivariate normal density functions where the corresponding mixture proportions (a priori probabilities) are unknown. We present a numerically tractable method for obtaining estimates of the mixture proportions based on the linear feature selection technique of Guseman, Peters and Walker (1975).
Inhibition of EGF Signaling Protects the Diabetic Retina from Insulin-Induced Vascular Leakage

Diabetes mellitus is a disease with considerable morbidity and mortality worldwide. Breakdown of the blood–retinal barrier and leakage from the retinal vasculature leads to diabetic macular edema, an important cause of vision loss in patients with diabetes. Although epidemiologic studies and randomized clinical trials suggest that glycemic control plays a major role in the development of vascular complications of diabetes, insulin therapies for control of glucose metabolism cannot prevent long-term retinal complications. The phenomenon of temporary paradoxical worsening of diabetic macular edema after insulin treatment has been observed in a number of studies. In prospective studies on non–insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes mellitus patients, a change in treatment from oral drugs to insulin was often associated with a significant increased risk of retinopathy progression and visual impairment. Although insulin therapies are critical for regulation of the metabolic disease, their role in the retina is controversial. In this study with diabetic mice, insulin treatment resulted in increased vascular leakage apparently mediated by betacellulin and signaling via the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor. In addition, treatment with EGF receptor inhibitors reduced retinal vascular leakage in diabetic mice on insulin. These findings provide unique insight into the role of insulin signaling in mediating retinal effects in diabetes and open new avenues for therapeutics to treat the retinal complications of diabetes mellitus.
Processing Styles, Reading Performance and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Prescriptive Reading Performance Test, and a modification of the Analytic Reading Inventory were administered to a sample of nonexceptional, elementary-...
A Study of an Underserved Youth Sports Program Using the Youth Program Quality Assessment

Although positive youth development is an important line of inquiry, the evaluation of youth sport organizations that attempt to build character with underserved children remains understudied. To explore the efforts of a sport organization to build character, 66 observations of inner-city baseball and softball practices/games were conducted across three age groupings. Practice and game settings did not vary significantly. Two-way (Age × Gender) analyses of variance (ANOVAs) identified that Under-14 programs were rated lower than the U18 and U12 age groups in the safety, support, and engagement domains of the Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA). Boys’ programs were rated lower than girls’ in terms of support.
EVIDENCE OF CONTAINMENT OF A 3-kev DEUTERIUM PLASMA

A report is given on the production and containment of a plasma in which the mean ion energy is plus or minus 3 kev and the electron temperature is plus or minus 50 ev. The plasma is produced by magnetic compression of a highly ionized but "colder" plasma which is injected into an initially evacuated chamber. The leading front of the plasma burst is trapped between the d-c barrier and a pulsed magnetic field where it is compressed and heated by the rising magnetic field. Adiabatic heating of the ions has been confirmed within the accuracy of the experiments. An estimate is given for the ion energy distribution at the end of the compression (70 mu sec) in the plasma. After 70 mu sec, the decay of the production rate is probably caused by decreases in mean ion energy and density caused by the decay of the pulsed field (700 mu sec characteristic time). A histogram of neutron production is given for containment of at least 900 mu sec. The plasma is contained for times which exceed the e-folding time for hydromagnetic instabilities by three orders of magnitude. The close agreement of the observed ion energy gain to that predictedmore » from adiabatic theory indicates that the energy transport from ions to electrons does not greatly exceed the rate calculated on the basis of Coulomb collisions. (B.O.G.)« less
Intolerance of Uncertainty in Relation to Motives for Alcohol Use

Various anxiety-related risk factors have been proposed to contribute to the development of drinking motives. However, little is known about how intolerance of uncertainty (IU), defined as a cognitive bias to interpret ambiguity in a negative fashion, relates to motives for alcohol use. IU, as measured by the IUS-12, is comprised of prospective IU (cognitive perceptions of future uncertainty as threatening) and inhibitory IU (apprehension due to uncertainty). The current study sought to test whether IU was associated with the various motives for alcohol use, namely coping and conformity motives, and to investigate the relationship between the IUS-12 subfactors and motives for alcohol use. Undergraduates (N = 189) completed self-report measures assessing motives for drinking alcohol, depression and IU. Analyses revealed that IU was significantly associated with coping, conformity, and social motives for alcohol use, after covarying for levels of depression and gender. Additionally, results revealed that the prospective subscale of IU was significantly related to coping motives for drinking. Finally, hierarchical regression found the inhibitory subscale of IU to be significantly associated with conformity motives for alcohol use. Findings suggest that IU may be an important vulnerability factor contributing to drinking motives and greater alcohol use. IU may be a useful treatment target for protocols aiming to prevent the development of negative drinking motives.
Oscillatory and relaxation studies in the convection of supercritical

Abstract We analyze the observed temporal profile ΔT(t) of the temperature difference, measured across a very compressible supercritical 3 He fluid layer in the convective state. The experiments were done along the critical isochore in a Rayleigh–Benard cell after starting the vertical heat flow q. For q>qons (“convection onset”), the transient ΔT(t) under given conditions of q and e≡(T−T c )/T c (T c =3.318 K ) shows a damped oscillatory profile with period tosc modulating a smooth base profile. The latter forms the tail of the transient which relaxes exponentially to the steady-state ΔT(∞) with a time constant τtail. The scaled times tosc/tD and τtail/tD from all the data could be collapsed onto two curves as a function of the Rayleigh number over ∼3.5 decades. Here tD is the diffusion time.
Sensitive Determination of Ethyl Carbamate in Smokeless Tobacco Products and Cigarette Smoke Using SPE and HPLC–APCI–MS/MS

Ethyl carbamate occurs not only in a wide range of alcoholic beverages and fermented foods such as bread, yoghurt, or soy sauce but also in fruit and vegetable juices. Apart from that, traces of ethyl carbamate have been found in tobacco smoke and smokeless tobacco products such as moist snuff or snus. A highly efficient purification technique was established for ethyl carbamate from smokeless tobacco products and tobacco mainstream smoke. After extraction using an aqueous buffer, a polymeric-reversed phase material is used to purify the extracts. Aqueous buffer with 10 % methanol is sufficient to elute the highly polar analyte from the column while matrix components remain on the column. Final determination of ethyl carbamate is performed using HPLC–APCI–MS/MS. Ethyl carbamate-d5 is used as internal standard to correct the peak areas before quantification via external standard calibration. A comparison of ionization techniques, APCI and ESI, showed that APCI gives a significantly improved sensitivity. Reference cigarettes (tobacco mainstream smoke) as well as reference smokeless tobacco products (CRP1–4) were analyzed, but only CRP2 showed detectable levels of 38 µg kg−1. Recoveries ranged from 80 % in CRP2 to 45 % in CRP3. Furthermore, extensive validation data are presented.
ECG abnormalities in tricyclic antidepressant ingestion

The tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) agents are recognized for their potentially lethal cardiovascular and neurological effects in poisoned patients. The 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) has emerged as a popular bedside tool in the evaluation of TCA toxicity. Although the history and physical examination play a key role in the assessment of the patient with potential TCA poisoning, the presence or absence of features of the TCA toxidrome are not sufficient to detect or exclude toxicity from this class of drugs. A variety of ECG findings occur with TCA toxicity. Aside from the sinus tachycardia due principally to anticholinergic effects, TCA-toxic changes seen on the ECG are attributable primarily to the sodium channel blockade caused by these agents. The majority of patients at significant risk for developing cardiac or neurological toxicity will have a QRS complex greater than 0.10 seconds or a rightward shift of the terminal 40 ms of the frontal plane QRS complex vector. The majority of these patients will also display these changes early in their emergency department stay. However, the appearance of these findings, either alone or in combination, does not mean the patient will develop significant cardiac or neurological toxicity. The ECG can neither unequivocally rule in nor rule out impending toxicity; recognizing these limitations, the emergency physician can use this bedside tool in combination with other clinical data during the assessment of the poisoned patient.
Triplatin, a platelet aggregation inhibitor from the salivary gland of the triatomine vector of Chagas disease, binds to TXA2 but does notinteract with glycoprotein PVI

Salivary glands from haematophagous animals express a notable diversity of negative modulators of platelet function. Triplatin is an inhibitor of collagen-induced platelet aggregation which has been described as an antagonist of glycoprotein VI (GPVI). Because triplatin displays sequence homology to members of the lipocalin family of proteins, we investigated whether triplatin mechanism of action could be explained by interaction with pro-haemostatic prostaglandins. Our results demonstrate that triplatin inhibits platelet aggregation induced by low doses of collagen, thromboxane A2 (TXA(2)) mimetic (U46619), and arachidonic acid (AA). On the other hand, it does not inhibit platelet aggregation by convulxin, PMA, or low-dose ADP. Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) revealed that triplatin binds AA, cTXA(2), TXB(2), U46619 or prostaglandin (PG)H(2) mimetic (U51605). Consistent with its ligand specificity, triplatin induces relaxation of rat aorta contracted with U46619. Triplatin also interacts with PGF(2α) and PGJ(2), but not with leukotrienes, AA or biogenic amines. Surface plasmon resonance experiments failed to demonstrate interaction of triplatin with GPVI; it also did to inhibit platelet adhesion to fibrillar or soluble collagen. Because triplatin displays sequence similarity to apolipoprotein D (ApoD) - a lipocalin associated with high-density lipoprotein, ApoD was tested as a putative TXA(2)-binding molecule. ITC failed to demonstrate binding of ApoD to all prostanoids described above, or to AA. Furthermore, ApoD was devoid of inhibitory properties towards platelets activation by AA, collagen, or U46619. In conclusion, triplatin mechanism of action has been elucidated without ambiguity as a novel TXA(2)- and PGF(2α)- binding protein. It conceivably blocks platelet aggregation and vasoconstriction, thus contributing to successful blood feeding at the vector-host interface.
Perspectives Emerging From Neuroscience on How People Become Addicted and What to Do About It

This article reviews the new ideas emerging from neuroscience regarding the question of why some people are compelled to use drugs. During the process of drug exposure, the brain's motivational system is changed and these changes, along with changes in the brain's self-regulatory structures, compel an individual to use drugs. Ways to reverse those changes in an addicted brain have been identified, as have ways to enhance self-regulatory control. The information from neuroscience offers a new perspective on “loss of control” as well as offering implications for treatment.
Student Mobility, Dosage, and Principal Stratification in School-Based RCTs.

In school-based randomized control trials (RCTs), a common design is to follow student cohorts over time. For such designs, education researchers usually focus on the place-based (PB) impact parameter, which is estimated using data collected on all students enrolled in the study schools at each data collection point. A potential problem with this approach, however, is that the PB impact parameter could confound intervention effects on student mobility with more policy-relevant intervention effects on student achievement. Furthermore, the PB parameter pertains to students with different levels of intervention exposure, which complicates the interpretation of the impact findings. To address these issues, this article uses a principal stratification approach to examine the survivor average causal effect (SACE) parameter for original cohort students who would remain in their baseline study schools in either the treatment or control condition. The SACE parameter pertains to those who would receive maximum expo...
Acoustical monitoring of Rhyzopertha dominica (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae) populations in stored wheat

Acoustical sensors provided estimates of Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) population increases at 27 and 32°C that were comparable with estimates obtained from counts of adults in grain samples. At both temperatures, the number of insect sounds increased in proportion to insect density and averaged twice the number of adult insects. Between 7 and 70 dafter eclosion, the number of adult insect sounds did not differ significantly with age. At 22 and 27°C, adults produced >37 times the number of sounds produced by larvae at 27°C. Thus, even though larvae were more numerous than adults, they probably did not contribute many of the sounds heard when adults were present.
Interictal spike detection comparing subdural and depth electrodes during electrocorticography

We compared the ability of subdural and depth electrodes to detect and localize interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) in the temporal lobe. Sixteen patients had simultaneous intraoperative recordings with depth and subdural electrodes while undergoing anterior temporal lobe resections under local anesthesia for medically intractable seizures. IEDs that were focal (detected at just 1 or 2 electrode contacts) typically registered at the nearest contact, regardless of type. IEDs that were regional (engaging more than 2 electrode contacts) typically appeared simultaneously at both electrode types. Neither method was better able to indicate whether an IED was mesial or lateral, posterior or anterior. Subdural and depth electrodes seem to provide complementary information on the location of IEDs within the temporal lobe.
Relationship Beliefs and Expectations of Satisfaction in Marital Relationships: Implications for Family Practitioners

Cognitive-behavioral models suggest that the beliefs and expectations individuals bring into relationships affect their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and satisfaction in them. This article presents the findings of two studies that measured the relationship expectations of young adults, their level of irrational relationship-related beliefs, and their satisfaction in their current relationships. Some results included the following: Participants expected their own relationship satisfaction, when dating, engaged, and married, to exceed their perception of the average American's; and participants expected their relationships to progress from dating through marriage with ever-increasing levels of satisfaction (an outcome contrary to what couples typically experience). Those participants who had lower levels of irrational relationship beliefs than did their peers found their current dating relationships more satisfyzng. The zmplications of these findings for practice are discussed in this article.
Factors affecting hypoglycemia awareness in insulin-treated type 2 diabetes: The Diabetes Outcomes in Veterans Study (DOVES).

Abstract Objective : To identify clinical factors that affect hypoglycemia perception in type 2 diabetes. Methods : Prospective observational study of 344 insulin-treated subjects randomly selected from pharmacy records at three large medical centers. At entry, subjects underwent an extensive psychological evaluation and then monitored their blood glucoses in their usual fashion for up to 52 weeks using a glucose meter capable of storing 1000 readings. For blood glucoses ≤3.33mmol/l (60mg/dl), subjects recorded the severity of symptoms in a log book. Symptoms were scored ‘0' if they were asymptomatic, ‘1' for symptoms that were mild-to-moderate, and ‘2' if the subject had a diminished level of consciousness or required the assistance of others. A mean blood glucose and mean symptom score were calculated for all hypoglycemic episodes detected by each patient. Results : One hundred seventy-six subjects (51.2%) had a median of 4.5 hypoglycemic events during 42.5±8.0 weeks of follow-up. The mean hypoglycemic blood glucoses and mean symptom scores were modestly correlated ( r =0.153; P =0.043). After adjusting for blood glucose, symptom scores were lower in the elderly and higher in subjects with higher diabetes knowledge scores, microvascular complications, and higher entry hemoglobin A1c. Multiple linear regression showed that the latter three factors were independently predictive of higher symptoms. Conclusions : Conventional clinical data may be useful in identifying patients with poor hypoglycemia perception. Patients with better long- and short-term glycemic control are at higher risk and may benefit from instruction on all aspects of hypoglycemia.
Risk and incentives in the financing of hazardous waste cleanup

Abstract This paper evaluates alternative approaches to financing hazardous waste cleanup, recognizing that future cleanup costs are not known with certainty and that the choice of a financing approach implies a specific allocation of risk. Both retroactive and prospective use of different forms of strict liability are considered. In the prospective case, the standard principal-agent paradigm is extended to capture the risk-sharing and incentive effects relating to the choice of waste-generating inputs. The results indicate when a fund used for cleanup should or should not be subrogated.
Neuronal death in the development of normal and hyperplastic spinal ganglia

The increase of the peripheral area available for innervation by the ninth spinal ganglion of larval Rana berlandieri was accomplished by unilaterally removing at stage V two (numbers 8 and 10) of the three (numbers 8, 9, and 10) ganglia that normally provide the bulk of the sensory innervation to the hindlimb. Peripheral increase significantly enhanced nerve cell number, and the change in neuronal number with developmental stage was also significant. The increase in nerve cell numbers in affected ganglia of 86% over control values at stage XVI compares favorably with the results of workers using different techniques. The effect of peripheral increase on normally occurring neuronal degeneration during the development of the hyperplastic condition through early and middle larval stages was determined. While the data show a trend toward the presence of fewer degenerating neurons in peripherally overloaded than in control ganglia through stage X, the differences in the numbers of dying nerve cells were not significant. This fact and other considerations suggest that a mechanism other than or in addition to a reduction in the level of neuronal degeneration must be operative to account for the increase in the number of neurons present in ninth ganglia with expanded peripheries. Results are discussed in the context of the temporal pattern of the proliferation of cells that differentiate as neurons, the establishment of central-peripheral connections, and neuronal degeneration.
Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 contributes to N-acetylcysteine’s protection in stroke

Stroke is a leading cause of adult morbidity and mortality with very limited treatment options. Evidence from preclinical models of ischemic stroke has demonstrated that the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) effectively protects the brain from ischemic injury. Here, we evaluated a new pathway through which NAC exerted its neuroprotection in a transient cerebral ischemia animal model. Our results demonstrated that pretreatment with NAC increased protein levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), the regulatable subunit of HIF-1, and its target proteins erythropoietin (EPO) and glucose transporter (GLUT)-3, in the ipsilateral hemispheres of rodents subjected to 90min middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and 24h reperfusion. Interestingly, after NAC pretreatment and stroke, the contralateral hemisphere also demonstrated increased levels of HIF-1α, EPO, and GLUT-3, but to a lesser extent. Suppressing HIF-1 activity with two widely used pharmacological inhibitors, YC-1 and 2ME2, and specific knockout of neuronal HIF-1α abolished NAC's neuroprotective effects. The results also showed that YC-1 and 2ME2 massively enlarged infarcts, indicating that their toxic effect was larger than just abolishing NAC's neuroprotective effects. Furthermore, we determined the mechanism of NAC-mediated HIF-1α induction. We observed that NAC pretreatment upregulated heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90) expression and increased the interaction of Hsp90 with HIF-1α in ischemic brains. The enhanced association of Hsp90 with HIF-1α increased HIF-1α stability. Moreover, Hsp90 inhibition attenuated NAC-induced HIF-1α protein accumulation and diminished NAC-induced neuroprotection in the MCAO model. These results strongly indicate that HIF-1 plays an important role in NAC-mediated neuroprotection and provide a new molecular mechanism involved in the antioxidant's neuroprotection in ischemic stroke.
Neutronics calculations for denatured molten salt reactors: Assessing resource requirements and proliferation-risk attributes

Abstract Molten salt reactors (MSRs) are often advocated as a radical but worthwhile alternative to traditional reactor concepts based on solid fuels. This article builds upon the existing research into MSRs to model and simulate the operation of thorium-fueled single-fluid and two-fluid reactors. The analysis is based on neutronics calculations and focuses on denatured MSR systems. Resource utilization and basic proliferation-risk attributes are compared to those of standard light-water reactors. Depending on specific design choices, even fully denatured reactors could reduce uranium and enrichment requirements by a factor of 3–4. Overall, denatured single-fluid designs appear as the most promising candidate technology minimizing both design complexity and overall proliferation risks despite being somewhat less attractive from the perspective of resource utilization.
Embedded MEMS for health monitoring and management of civil infrastructure

Civil engineering structures are large and their damage mechanism is complex requiring a large number of inexpensive, spatially distributed and wirelessly powered embedded sensing devices that support frequent and on-demand acquisition of real-time information about their state. Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) seem to have the necessary characteristics to meet these requirements. MEMS technology, such as, sensors, actuators and other engineered components can be embedded into concrete structures to provide sensing and interaction capabilities. By embedding active electronics with MEMS, the ability of the concrete structure to interpret its environment is improved. However, many challenges must be met in order to develop a mature MEMS technology for structural health monitoring (SHM). These challenges are primarily technical in nature and need to be addressed before this emerging technology can be implemented in different civil engineering structures. The objective of this paper is to study the feasibility of embedding MEMS devices into concrete material for conditioning and health monitoring of civil infrastructure. A research program was conducted to evaluate the durability and sensing capability of different embedded MEMS devices, and the findings are presented here.
Binding of circulating immune complexes to human peripheral blood lymphocytes: effect of complement.

Abstract The mode of binding of immune complexes, with and without bound complement components, to normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes was examined. Heat-aggregated human IgG (agg IgG) was employed as an in vitro model of immune complexes. Immune complexes without bound complement or with bound C1, C4, or C2 inhibited antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and EA rosette formation but not rosette formation with EAC. In contrast, immune complexes with bound C3b blocked EAC rosette formation but inhibited ADCC and EA rosette formation little if at all. These findings demonstrate that agg IgG, and thus immune complexes, without fixed complement or those with bound C1, C4, or C2, preferentially interact with the lymphocyte Fc receptor and that C3b-bound immune complexes bind to the lymphocyte surface C3b receptor.
Changes of elbow kinematics and kinetics during 1 year after stroke

A precise description of the natural history of motor recovery after stroke provides a framework for understanding the mechanisms underlying this improvement and for tracking the efficacy of rehabilitation treatments. To characterize the time course of this change in motor impairment, we examined voluntary elbow movements in hemiparetic stroke survivors over a period of 1 year after stroke. Based on the possibility that both central nervous system and muscle factors could contribute to the observed clinical state, we hypothesized that we should observe at least two major recovery patterns of motor impairment. To explore these predictions, we assessed elbow movement range, movement speed, and isometric force generation. Subjects were examined five times over the 12-month period. We used the "growth mixture" model to characterize recovery of these measures, and the Fugl-Meyer scale (FMS) of upper-extremity function at 1 month to predict the recovery. We observed two distinct recovery classes. Class 1 started with low values for the physiological measures, and these increased over time, whereas class 2 tended to start with higher values and showed widely divergent recovery patterns. Using the logistic regression model, the impact of FMS on class membership was estimated for each parameter. Based on these data, we were able to accurately predict arm impairment recovery at different time-points in the first year, information of great potential value for planning targeted therapeutic interventions.
Redescription of the pocket gopher Thomomys atrovarius from the Pacific coast of mainland Mexico

Thomomys atrovarius is redescribed to include the smooth-toothed pocket gophers that inhabit dry, thornscrub vegetation along the Pacific versant of the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico from northern Sinaloa into western Durango, northwestern Jalisco, and western Nayarit. Molecular analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences (including historical samples from museum skins) show high levels of genetic differentiation between T. atrovarius and T. umbrinus of the Sierra Madre Occidental (15.4% cytochrome-b divergence) and Mexican Central Plateau (16.9% divergence). Roughly coincident morphometric and genetic gaps divide T. atrovarius into 2 subspecies, T. a. parviceps in the north and T. a. atrovarius in the south, with probable intergradation in between. Most specimens of T. atrovarius, especially those of the southern subspecies, are distinguished easily from specimens of T. bottae and T. umbrinus on the basis of fur texture, and an analysis of cranial morphometrics shows little overlap between T. atrovarius and other Thomomys clades in Mexico. An analysis of niche parameters shows significantly different climate envelopes for T. atrovarius compared with other species of Thomomys, and a biogeographical review suggests that T. atrovarius has ancestral affinities to the south of its current distribution. A synonymy of T. atrovarius and a key to the currently recognized species of Thomomys in mainland Mexico are provided.