cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sn-equivariant sheaves and Koszul cohomology

We give a new interpretation of Koszul cohomology, which is equivalent under the Bridgeland-King-Reid equivalence to Voisin’s Hilbert scheme interpretation in dimensions 1 and 2 but is different in higher dimensions. We show that an explicit resolution of a certain S n -equivariant sheaf is equivalent to a resolution appearing in the theory of Koszul cohomology. Our methods easily show that the dimension Kp,q(B,L) is a polynomial in d for L=d A+P with A ample and d large enough. This interpretation allows us to extract various pieces of information about asymptotic properties K p,q for fixed p,q.
The Rate of Vaporization of Mercury from an Anchored Cathode Spot

Two major difficulties which interfere with the measurement of the vaporization of mercury at a free cathode spot are the spray and the normal evaporation from the free surface. By anchoring the spot the spray has been eliminated, and by a specially designed, water-cooled cathode structure the free surface has been limited to small areas of controllable size. By means of a calibrated feed mechanism, mercury was fed to the cathode as fast as it vaporized. Measurements were made over a range of arc current, cooling water temperature, and exposed area. The rate of vaporization (g/coulomb) increased with arc current, temperature, and exposed area, all due to increased normal evaporation. The rate may also increase with arc current, because of cumulative effects within the spot itself. Extrapolated to zero arc current the rate was found to be approximately 2.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}${10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ g/coulomb. This lies within the limits set by von Issendorf. It means that eight elementary charges pass through the arc for every atom evaporated.
Analysis of simulated and experimental fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. Data for two diffusing components

Fluorescence recovery after photobleaching has been a popular technique to quantify the lateral mobility of membrane components. A variety of analysis methods have been used to determine the lateral diffusional mobility, D. However, many of these methods suffer from the drawbacks that they are not able to discern two-component diffusion (i.e., three-point fit), cannot solve for two components (linearization procedures), and do not perform well at low signal-to-noise. To overcome these limitations, we have adopted the approach of fitting fluorescence recovery after photobleaching curves by the full series solution using a Marquardt algorithm. Using simulated data of one or two diffusing components, determinations of the accuracy and reliability of the method with regard to extraction of diffusion parameters and the differentiation of one- versus two-component recovery curves were made under a variety of conditions comparable with those found in actual experimental situations. The performance of the method was also examined in experiments on artificial liposomes and fibroblast membranes labeled with fluorescent lipid and/or protein components. Our results indicate that: 1) the method was capable of extracting one- and two-component D values over a large range of conditions; 2) the D of a one-component recovery can be measured to within 10% with a small signal (100 prebleach photon counts per channel); 3) a two-component recovery requires more than 100-fold greater signal level than a one-component recovery for the same error; and 4) for two-component fits, multiple recovery curves may be needed to provide adequate signal to achieve the desired level of confidence in the fitted parameters and in the differentiation of one- and two-component diffusion.
Dueling Philosophies: Inclusion or Separation for Florida's English Language Learners?

Educational policies in Florida affect one of the United States' largest and most diverse student populations. A major consequence of the comprehensive restructuring of education for English language learners since 1990 has been a rapid move toward inclusion (mainstreaming) for these learners. The current study provides an overview of the historical background and philosophical bases of inclusion versus separation and presents recent developments affecting L2 education policy and practice in Florida. Data from interviews with 29 district-level ESL administrators address their rationales for the models implemented in their districts and their beliefs about the effectiveness of each model. Administrators expressed both positive and negative sentiments regarding inclusion and separation. The article notes parallel trends toward inclusion and standardization in national and international contexts. Findings document how issues of equity for English language learners have been forced into the background and why the specialized nature of the ESL/EFL teaching profession is in jeopardy.
Kinetics of surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization

Although atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) is often a controlled/living process, the growth rate of polymer films during surface-initiated ATRP frequently decreases with time. This article investigates the mechanism behind the termination of film growth. Studies of methyl methacrylate and methyl acrylate polymerization with a Cu/tris[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]amine catalyst system show a constant but slow growth rate at low catalyst concentrations and rapid growth followed by early termination at higher catalyst concentrations. For a given polymerization time, there is, therefore, an optimum intermediate catalyst concentration for achieving maximum film thickness. Simulations of polymerization that consider activation, deactivation, and termination show trends similar to those of the experimental data, and the addition of Cu(II) to polymerization solutions results in a more constant rate of film growth by decreasing the concentration of radicals on the surface. Taken together, these studies suggest that at high concentrations of radicals, termination of polymerization by radical recombination limits film growth. Interestingly, stirring of polymerization solutions decreases film thickness in some cases, presumably because chain motion facilitates radical recombination. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 386–394, 2003
A Science of Humanitarian Action

Sword and Salve: Confronting New Wars and Humanitarian Crises. By Peter J. Hoffman, Thomas G. Weiss Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2006. 272 pp., $75.00 cloth (ISBN: 0-7425-3977-6), $28.95 paper (ISBN: 0-7425-3978-4). Sword and Salve , by Peter Hoffman and Thomas Weiss, traces how the recent responses to “new wars” have led to a “humanitarianism in crisis” (de Waal 1997; Rieff 2002; Terry 2002; Kennedy 2004) and sketches the actions needed to salvage the humanitarian enterprise as a whole. The book's core argument is that humanitarian organizations must respond to global changes in violence by increasing their analytical capabilities and by adopting a more consequentialist approach to humanitarian crises. According to Hoffman and Weiss, the traditional humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and consent are “unlikely to provide satisfactory guidance in contemporary armed conflicts” (p. 210). As a result, they should be put into a context of explicit strategic thinking as organizations choose goals and commit resources. In short, humanitarianism today will “be judged not by intentions, but by consequences” (p. 210). Hoffman and Weiss advance this core argument with a historical discussion of the emergence of humanitarianism within the state system. Even though principles of neutrality and impartiality were largely appropriate to past conflicts, which were dominated by interstate wars, they have become increasingly dysfunctional in a world of “new wars” that are marked by fragmented political authority, the proliferation of nonstate actors, and the shift toward internal violent conflict (Chapter 3). These new forms of violent conflict have turned humanitarian aid …
The isolation and partial characterization of a calcium-rich particulate fraction from bone cells

Ninety-five percent of the total calcium and phosphate in homogenates of cells isolated mechanically from bone was found to sediment with subcellular particles in a centrifugal field of 15000×G. A method was devised for the isolation and partial purification of this calcium-rich fraction by enzymatic digestion with deoxyribonuclease and ultracentrifugation through 70% sucrose. The resultant pellet was 10% mineral, present as some form of calcium-phosphate complex, and was rich in protein and lipid. Significant amounts of phospholipid and RNA were present also, but only small amounts of hexosamine and sialic acid. Enzyme assays and electron microscopy indicated that the fraction contained several different types of cytoplasmic particles but those which contained calcium could not be determined from available data.
II—Ruth Chang: Reflections on the Reasonable and the Rational in Conflict Resolution

Most familiar approaches to social conflict moot reasonable ways of dealing with conflict, ways that aim to serve values such as legitimacy, justice, morality, fairness, fidelity to individual preferences, and so on. In this paper, I explore an alternative approach to social conflict that contrasts with the leading approaches of Rawlsians, perfectionists, and social choice theorists. The proposed approach takes intrinsic features of the conflict—what I call a conflict's evaluative ‘structure’—as grounds for a rational way of responding to that conflict. Like conflict within a single person, social conflict can have a distinctive evaluative structure that supports certain rational responses over others. I suggest that one common structure in both intra- and interpersonal cases of conflict supports the rational response of ‘self-governance’. Self-governance in the case of social conflict involves a society's deliberating over the question, ‘What kind of society should we be?’ In liberal democracies, this rational response is also a reasonable one.
Green Site Design: Strategies for Storm Water Management

Abstract Increasingly, proponents of green building are realizing the potential of green site development strategies on the future sustainability of urbanized areas. In particular, alternative stra...
Pursuit of Comfort and Pursuit of Harmony: Culture, Relationships, and Social Support Seeking:

This research examined whether people from collectivistic cultures are less likely to seek social support than are people from individualistic cultures because they are more cautious about potentially disturbing their social network. Study 1 found that Asian Americans from a more collectivistic culture sought social support less and found support seeking to be less effective than European Americans from a more individualistic culture. Study 2 found that European Americans' willingness to seek support was unaffected by relationship priming, whereas Asian Americans were willing to seek support less when the relationship primed was closer to the self. Study 3 replicated the results of Study 2 and found that the tendency to seek support and expect social support to be helpful as related to concerns about relationships. These findings underscore the importance of culturally divergent relationship patterns in understanding social support transactions.
Structures of undecagold clusters: Ligand effect

Abstract The most stable structure of undecagold, or Au 11 , clusters was predicted from our DFT calculations to be planar [L. Xiao, L. Wang, Chem. Phys. Lett. 392 (2004) 452; L. Xiao, B. Tollberg, X. Hu, L. Wang, J. Chem. Phys. 124 (2005) 114309.]. The structures of ligand protected undecagold clusters were shown to be three-dimensional experimentally. In this work, we used DFT calculations to study the ligand effect on the structures of Au 11 clusters. Our results show that the most stable structure of Au 11 is in fact three-dimensional when SCH 3 ligands are attached. This indicates that the structures of small gold clusters are altered substantially in the presence of ligands.
Euplotes minuta Yocom (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida)

SYNOPSIS. Euplotes minuta Yocom, 1930, which has not been reported since its original description, was isolated in 1961 from a tide pool on the New Hampshire coast. Specimens from cultures derived from a single individual averaged 54μ long and 28μ wide. The buccal cavity has an average length of 41μ and contains 31–40 membranelles. There are ten fronto-ventral cirri, five anal cirri, four caudal cirri, and nine dorsal bristle rows. E. minuta is compared with similar species in the genus and found to be a valid species on the basis of presently accepted criteria.
Surface effects on the kinetics of hydrogen absorption by metals

We have studied a straightforward model for the kinetics of solution of hydrogen in transition metals which includes an explicit coupling between the surface and the bulk. In constrast to previous work we find that for this process there is no rate-limiting step per se; rather the rate equations for the two steps must be solved simultaneously. In addition, we note that for all known metals the desorption energy is larger than the solution energy (i.e., surface hydrogens are more tightly bound than bulk hydrogens). This leads to an inherent reduction in the rate of filling over the ideal rate.
Predictability of Weak Binding from X-ray Crystallography: Inhaled Anesthetics and Myoglobin†

Xenon and dichloromethane are inhalational anesthetic agents whose binding to myoglobin has been demonstrated by X-ray crystallography. We explore the thermodynamic significance of such binding using differential scanning calorimetry, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and hydrogen−tritium exchange measurements to study the effect of these agents on myoglobin folding stability. Though specific binding of these anesthetics might be expected to stabilize myoglobin against unfolding, dichloromethane actually destabilized myoglobin at all examined concentrations of this anesthetic (15, 40, and 200 mM). On the other hand, xenon (1 atm) stabilized myoglobin. Thus, dichloromethane and xenon have opposite effects on myoglobin stability despite localization in comparably folded X-ray crystallographic structures. These results suggest a need for solution measurements to complement crystallography if the consequences of weak binding to proteins are to be appreciated.
Summary of the 2006 model size metrics workshop

A standardized and consistent means of determining the size of an artifact is fundamental to the ability to collect metrics such as defect density and productivity about the artifact. For example, source lines of code is often used as the size metric for C code. However, the concept of lines of code does not readily apply to modeling languages such as UML and SDL. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions on this topic from the 2006 Model Size Metrics workshop.
Lack of benefit of allopurinol in duchenne dystrophy

A double-bline, controlled study was conducted to assess the effects of allopurinol on Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Six patients--three treated with allopurinol and three given a placebo--were followed up for one year and were evaluated by functional and manual muscle testing as well as by determination of serum creatine kinase (CK) levels. Patients in both the allopurinol-treated group and the placebo group deteriorated at varying rates without evidence of therapeutic benefit. To exclude the possibility of error attributable to small sample size, all six patients were treated with allopurinol for an additional eight-week period. Muscle strength continued to deteriorate during this phase of the study.
Integration of Microstructural Development and Properties Design Into the CAD/CAM Environment

This investigation incorporates the development and control of microstructure and properties into a computer aided design/computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) environment for materials design. An integrated computer model has been developed which predicts the microstructure and properties based on the material processing and the material composition. The material processing includes the extrusion parameters and the aging conditions employed during heat treatment. The material being utilized as a demonstration medium is a special precipitation hardenable aluminum-lithium-zirconium (Al-Li-Zr) alloy which has been direct-chill (D.C.) cast and direct extruded. A model has been developed based on a series of quantitative transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations to predict microstructure from the composition and material processing. This model, referred to as the microstructural model, provides the basis for the overall CAD/CAM model for materials design. Also included is an analysis of the microstructural mechanisms that contribute to the strengthening of precipitation hardened alloys that contain shearable precipitates. A number of existing models regarding particle shearing and looping mechanisms in precipitation hardened systems were evaluated regarding their suitability in describing the Al-Li aging and strengthening behavior. These analytical models are incorporated with the microstructural model to make theoretical predictions for the critical resolved shear strength.
A confabulation model for abnormal vehicle events detection in wide-area traffic monitoring

The advanced sensing and imaging technologies of today's digital camera systems provide the capability of monitoring traffic flows in a very large area. In order to provide continuous monitoring and prompt anomaly detection, an abstract-level autonomous anomaly detection model is developed that is able to detect various categories of abnormal vehicle events with unsupervised learning. The method is based on the cogent confabulation model, which performs statistical inference functions in a neuromorphic formulation. The proposed approach covers the partitioning of a large region, training of the vehicle behavior knowledge base and the detection of anomalies according to the likelihood-ratio test. A software version of the system is implemented to verify the proposed model. The experimental results demonstrate the functionality of the detection model and compare the system performance under different configurations.
Instrumentation: astronomers look to nanotechnology.

A superconducting detector can count photons and measure their energy with an accuracy that could be good enough for space-based far-infrared telescopes.
Comparison of Lard, Tallow, Butter, and Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil in Starters and of Pelleted vs. Nonpelleted Coastal Bermudagrass Hay for Calves

Abstract A total of 99 calves was used in three experiments to study; (a) the effect of adding various fats to starters, (b) the influence of calcium level in high fat starters, and (c) the affect of grinding and pelleting vs. grinding Coastal Bermudagrass hay on calf performance. In Experiment 1, 56 baby calves were fed one of seven starters and pelleted or coarsely ground Coastal Bermudagrass hay ad libitum in an 8-wk growth trial. The addition of 10% butter, tallow, lard, or hydrogenated cottonseed oil to starters did not significantly (P = 0.05) affect weight gains, days of diarrhea, or hay consumption. Level of calcium in starters containing hydrogenated cottonseed oil had little influence on calf performance. Pelleting the hay approximately doubled its consumption and reduced the starter eaten, but did not affect the total amount of feed consumed. In cafeteria trials (Experiment 2) the control starter was decidedly more palatable than those containing added fat. The following order of decreasing palatability was indicated for the others; butter, lard, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, and tallow. Calves exhibited a decided preference for the pelleted hay. In Experiment 3, pelleting the hay increased hay consumption and gains of older calves with either a low or a medium level of concentrates.
Diazepam induces relaxation of chick embryo muscle fibers in vitro and inhibits myosin synthesis.

Abstract Diazepam (Valium/Roche) causes an immediate cessation of spontaneous contraction in chick embryo skeletal muscle fibers growing in vitro. Between 24–48 h later in the presence of 100 μM diazepam the relaxed muscle fibers no longer accumulate myosin as measured by the total amount of myosin heavy-chain peptide extracted from the cell cultures and identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The myosin heavy chain assay procedure was standardized by quantitative precipitation of myosin with antibody to column purified chicken skeletal muscle myosin. Failure to accumulate myosin is related to a progressive inhibition of myosin synthesis. Diazepam-treated cultures showed an 80% inhibition of myosin heavy-chain synthesis over a period of 4 days. At the same time the rate of myosin heavy-chain degradation increases in diazepam-treated cultures relative to matched control cultures. Total protein synthesis was only marginally affected suggesting that diazepam may differentially inhibit myofibrillar protein synthesis. All of the observed effects of diazepam were reversible if drug exposure was limited to 48 h. The apparent specificity and reversibility of diazepam suggests that the drug will be useful in probing the mechanisms of terminal skeletal muscle cell differentiation and the hypotrophic relationship between chronic relaxation and inhibition of accumulation of myosin and perhaps other myofibrillar proteins.
Warfarin Bioavailability With Feeding Tubes and Enteral Formula

Background: Earlier literature showed reduced efficacy of warfarin when co-administered with enteral nutrition formulas through feeding tubes. This study used an in vitro model for gastric administration of warfarin through a feeding tube to evaluate potential causes for reduced warfarin absorption when administered through feeding tubes. Methods: There were 2 phases of the study. The first phase used an artificial stomach model with or without the infusion of enteral nutrition formula. Warfarin was added to the contents either directly into the vessel or passed through a feeding tube. Warfarin tablet dissolution was compared to the injectable formulation, which served as a control. The second phase used chopped feeding tube material added to beakers containing warfarin in increasing amounts. Results: Warfarin injection and tablet formulations showed decreased solubility when combined with acid. The warfarin solubility was higher when enteral formula was added. Warfarin concentration dropped by 35% when t...
Regulatory Strategy: A Blueprint for Drug Development:

An efficient drug development process, and rapid review and approval are the goals of every pharmaceutical sponsor, but numerous factors make this goal difficult and sometimes impossible to achieve. Although some of these factors are beyond the control of the sponsor, many delays in the regulatory process can be avoided by conceiving a regulatory strategy early in the development process. This paper describes a regulatory strategy document that serves as a blueprint for the development of drugs within a particular class. This document draws from a variety of regulatory information sources with the goal of identifying key issues that must be addressed in order to demonstrate safety and efficacy and gain Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a drug. When a regulatory strategy document is prepared prior to development planning and updated throughout the development process, it provides the project team with a valuable reference resource and guideline, enabling them to make informed decisions in lin...
Flow Instability in the Torsional Straining of Commercially Pure Titanium

Analysis of the phenomenon of adiabatic flow instability during the torsional straining of CP titanium has been made and the instability shear strain predicted. The constitutive equation for isothermal deformation of CP titanium was integrated over the total shear strain received by the material. Thermal softening caused by adiabatic heating was calculated and used to derive the adiabatic shear stress-shear strain curves. The instability shear strain was determined as the value that corresponds to zero slope of these curves. The effect of strain rate, temperature, and specific heat on the instability shear strain was also discussed. Comparison of the experimental results with predictions showed that flow instability in the torsion test occurred at strains approximately equal to the theoretical thermo-plastic instability strains for a temperature of 150 C but at lower strains at higher temperatures. The difference between the theoretical and experimental instability strains increases with an increase in temperature. A discussion of this difference is also presented.
The effects of cross-fostering on the behaviour of two species of North American lemmings, dicrostonyx groenlandicus and lemmus trimucronatus: II. Sexual behaviour

Abstract The role of the maternal environment in development of sexual behaviour was investigated by reciprocally cross-fostering two species of lemmings (Dicrostonyx groenlandicus and Lemmus trimucronatus). Non-fostered and within-species-fostered animals served as controls. When adult, cross-fostered (CF) animals engaged in more contact social and sexual behaviours with the foster species than did controls. Lemmings reared by conspecific dams directed sexual behaviour exclusively toward conspecifics. Since CF animals also mated with conspecifics, cross-fostering appears to have resulted in a broadening of ‘species identity’ to include the foster species. These results suggest that neonatal learning of the species characteristics of the mother is important in the ontogeny of premating sexual isolation in these species.
Price/performance patterns of U. S. computer systems

Econometric models of the U.S. computer market have been developed to study the relationships between system price and hardware performance. Single measures of price/performance such as “Grosch's Law” are shown to be so oversimplified as to be meaningless. Multiple-regression models predicting system cost as a function of several hardware characteristics do, however, reveal a market dichotomy. On one hand there exists a stable, price predictable market for larger, general purpose computer systems. The other market is the developing one for small business computer systems, a market which is relatively unstable with low price predictability.
Exercise and Cognitive Function: A Randomized Controlled Trial Examining Acute Exercise and Free-Living Physical Activity and Sedentary Effects

Abstract Objective To simultaneously examine the effects of acute exercise intensity and free-living physical activity and sedentary behavior on cognitive function in young, healthy adults. Patients and Methods Using a counterbalanced, crossover, randomized controlled design, 87 young adults (mean age, 21.4 years) completed various cognitive assessments with and without an acute bout of exercise preceding the assessment. Participants were randomized into 1 of 4 groups to complete a 30-minute bout of acute exercise: control (no exercise), light intensity (40%-50% of predicted maximum heart rate [HR max ]), moderate intensity (51%-70% of predicted HR max ), or vigorous intensity (71%-85% of predicted HR max ). Subjectively and objectively determined (accelerometry) physical activity and sedentary behavior were assessed to examine the association between these free-living behaviors and cognitive function. The study duration was August 26, 2013, to September 11, 2014. Results Concentration-related cognition (mean ± SD Feature Match test score) was significantly higher after a 30-minute acute bout of moderate-intensity exercise (145.1±26.9) compared with cognitive assessment without exercise (121.3±19.2; P =.004). Furthermore, questionnaire-determined sedentary behavior was inversely associated with visual attention and task switching (Trail Making Test A score) (β=–0.23; P =.04). Last, estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (volume of maximum oxygen consumption) was positively associated with reasoning-related cognitive function (Odd One Out test score) (β=0.49; P =.05); when adding metabolic equivalent of task minutes per week to this model, the results were not significant (β=0.47; P =.07). Conclusion These findings provide some support for acute moderate-intensity exercise, sedentary behavior, and cardiorespiratory fitness being associated with executive functioning–related cognitive function in young, healthy adults.
Texture analysis for mapping Tamarix parviflora using aerial photographs along the Cache Creek, California.

Natural color photographs were used to detect the coverage of saltcedar, Tamarix parviflora, along a 40 km portion of Cache Creek near Woodland, California. Historical aerial photographs from 2001 were retrospectively evaluated and compared with actual ground-based information to assess accuracy of the assessment process. The color aerial photos were sequentially digitized, georeferenced, classified using color and texture methods, and mosaiced into maps for field use. Eight types of ground cover (Tamarix, agricultural crops, roads, rocks, water bodies, evergreen trees, non-evergreen trees and shrubs (excluding Tamarix)) were selected from the digitized photos for separability analysis and supervised classification. Due to color similarities among the eight cover types, the average separability, based originally only on color, was very low. The separability was improved significantly through the inclusion of texture analysis. Six types of texture measures with various window sizes were evaluated. The best texture was used as an additional feature along with the color, for identifying Tamarix. A total of 29 color photographs were processed to detect Tamarix infestations using a combination of the original digital images and optimal texture features. It was found that the saltcedar covered a total of 3.96 km2 (396 hectares) within the study area. For the accuracy assessment, 95 classified samples from the resulting map were checked in the field with a global position system (GPS) unit to verify Tamarix presence. The producer's accuracy was 77.89%. In addition, 157 independently located ground sites containing saltcedar were compared with the classified maps, producing a user's accuracy of 71.33%.
Incidence of Acute Otitis Media and Sinusitis Complicating Upper Respiratory Tract Infection: The Effect of Age

Infants and young children are prone to developing upper respiratory tract infections, which often result in bacterial complications such as acute otitis media and sinusitis. We evaluated 623 upper respiratory tract infection episodes in 112 children (6-35 months of age) to determine the proportion of upper respiratory tract infection episodes that result in acute otitis media or sinusitis. Of all upper respiratory tract infections, 30% were complicated by acute otitis media and 8% were complicated by sinusitis. The rate of acute otitis media after upper respiratory tract infection declined with increasing age, whereas the rate of sinusitis after upper respiratory tract infection peaked in the second year of life. Risk for acute otitis media may be reduced substantially by avoiding frequent exposure to respiratory viruses (eg, avoidance of day care attendance) in the first year of life.
APC and GSK-3β Are Involved in mPar3 Targeting to the Nascent Axon and Establishment of Neuronal Polarity

In developing hippocampal neurons in culture, the evolutionarily conserved polarity complex mPar3/mPar6/aPKC selectively accumulates at the tip of one, and only one, of the immature neurites of a neuron and thus specifies the axon and generates neuronal polarity. How mPar3/mPar6 is enriched at the tip of the nascent axon, but not the dendrites, is not fully understood. Here, we report that mPar3 forms a complex with adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) and kinesin superfamily (KIF) 3A, proteins that move along microtubules. In polarizing hippocampal neurons, APC selectively accumulates at the nascent axon tip and colocalizes with mPar3. Expression of dominant-negative C terminus deletion mutants of APC or ectopic expression of APC leads to dislocalization of mPar3 and defects in axon specification and neuronal polarity. In addition to spatial polarization of APC, the selective inactivation of the GSK-3beta activity at the nascent axon tip is required for mPar3 targeting and polarization and establishing neuronal polarity. These results suggest that mPar3 is polarized in developing neurons through APC- and kinesin-mediated transport to the plus ends of rapidly growing microtubules at the nascent axon tip, a process that involves a spatially regulated GSK-3beta activity.
Incorporating sea turtle interactions in a multi-objective programming model for Hawaii's longline fishery

Abstract There has been a growing concern about the interactions of endangered sea turtles with the pelagic longline fishery in Hawaii recently. Some tough measures including a swordfish harvest ban have been put into effect since 2000 to protect these turtles. Accounting for protected turtle species interactions with the longline fishery by the fishery management has become an increasingly important policy goal lately. A multi-objective programming model has been extended to incorporate sea turtle interactions as one of the fishery management goals in the Hawaii's longline fishery. The model result indicates that there is a tradeoff between fleet-wide profit and turtle interactions. It also indicates that there are possibilities of significantly higher profit and reduced turtle interactions compared to the base case scenario by reconfiguring fishing efforts. However, the current fishery policy related to sea turtle interactions disallows tapping of all the potential efficiency gain, as the number of turtles allowed to get interacted severely limits swordfish-targeted longline fishing that uses the conventional technologies. Banning longline activities are also costly, as the average shadow price per turtle in terms of lost profit is about $9120, and in terms of lost revenue is about $56,060. Adaptation to ‘turtle-friendly’ fishing technologies is among the many strategies that would allow for higher optimal fishing efforts leading to higher overall welfare.
Systemic administration of IGF-I enhances healing in collagenous extracellular matrices: evaluation of loaded and unloaded ligaments

Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) plays a crucial role in wound healing and tissue repair. We tested the hypotheses that systemic administration of IGF-I, or growth hormone (GH), or both (GH+IGF-I) would improve healing in collagenous connective tissue, such as ligament. These hypotheses were examined in rats that were allowed unrestricted activity after injury and in animals that were subjected to hindlimb disuse. Male rats were assigned to three groups: ambulatory sham-control, ambulatory-healing, and hindlimb unloaded-healing. Ambulatory and hindlimb unloaded animals underwent surgical disruption of their knee medial collateral ligaments (MCLs), while sham surgeries were performed on control animals. Healing animals subcutaneously received systemic doses of either saline, GH, IGF-I, or GH+IGF-I. After 3 weeks, mechanical properties, cell and matrix morphology, and biochemical composition were examined in control and healing ligaments. Tissues from ambulatory animals receiving only saline had significantly greater strength than tissue from saline receiving hindlimb unloaded animals. Addition of IGF-I significantly improved maximum force and ultimate stress in tissues from both ambulatory and hindlimb unloaded animals with significant increases in matrix organization and type-I collagen expression. Addition of GH alone did not have a significant effect on either group, while addition of GH+IGF-I significantly improved force, stress, and modulus values in MCLs from hindlimb unloaded animals. Force, stress, and modulus values in tissues from hindlimb unloaded animals receiving IGF-I or GH+IGF-I exceeded (or were equivalent to) values in tissues from ambulatory animals receiving only saline with greatly improved structural organization and significantly increased type-I collagen expression. Furthermore, levels of IGF-receptor were significantly increased in tissues from hindlimb unloaded animals treated with IGF-I. These results support two of our hypotheses that systemic administration of IGF-I or GH+IGF-I improve healing in collagenous tissue. Systemic administration of IGF-I improves healing in collagenous extracellular matrices from loaded and unloaded tissues. Growth hormone alone did not result in any significant improvement contrary to our hypothesis, while GH + IGF-I produced remarkable improvement in hindlimb unloaded animals.
Fetal alcohol exposure alters neurosteroid modulation of hippocampal N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors.

Abstract The actions of ethanol on brain ligand-gated ion channels have important roles in the pathophysiology of alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorders and fetal alcohol syndrome. Studies have shown that N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are among the ligand-gated ion channels affected by prenatal ethanol exposure. We exposed pregnant dams to an ethanol-containing liquid diet that results in blood ethanol levels near the legal intoxication limit in most states (0.08%). Primary cultures of hippocampal neurons were prepared from the neonatal offspring of these dams, and NMDA receptor function was assessed by patch clamp electrophysiological techniques after 6–7 days in culture in ethanol-free media. Unexpectedly, we did not detect any changes in hippocampal NMDA receptor function at either the whole-cell or single-channel levels. However, we determined that fetal alcohol exposure alters the actions of the neurosteroids pregnenolone sulfate and pregnenolone hemisuccinate, which potentiate NMDA receptor function. Western immunoblot analyses demonstrated that this alteration is not due to a change in the expression levels of NMDA receptor subunits. Importantly, in utero ethanol exposure did not affect the actions of neurosteroids that inhibit NMDA receptor function. Moreover, the actions of pregnenolone sulfate on type A γ-aminobutyric acid and non-NMDA receptor function were unaltered by ethanol exposure in utero, which suggests that the alteration is specific to NMDA receptors. These findings are significant because they provide, at least in part, a plausible mechanistic explanation for the alterations in the behavioral responses to neurosteroids found in neonatal rats prenatally exposed to ethanol and to other forms of maternal stress (Zimmerberg, B., and McDonald, B. C. (1996) Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 55, 541–547).
A prospective randomized trial comparing 6 versus 12 prostate biopsy cores: impact on cancer detection.

Purpose: Several studies suggest that sextant transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy of the prostate provides insufficient material to detect all clinically important prostate cancer, and obtaining more biopsy cores may improve the cancer detection rate. We performed a prospective randomized trial comparing 6 to 12 prostate biopsy cores to determine the impact on the cancer detection rate.Materials and Methods: We prospectively randomized 244 men, including 71 (29%) black men, with a mean age plus or minus standard deviation of 65 ± 8 years to undergo biopsy with 6 or 12 peripheral zone tissue cores. In our study subjects serum total prostate specific antigen (PSA) was between 2.5 and 20 ng./ml., and/or digital rectal examination was suspicious for cancer. All men completed a self-administered pre-biopsy and 2 post-biopsy questionnaires at 2 and 4 weeks. Cancer detection rates were compared in the groups and correlated with race, biopsy history, digital rectal examination findings, total PSA, transrectal ul...
Respiratory pentane: a measure of in vivo lipid peroxidation applied to rats fed diets varying in polyunsaturated fats, vitamin E, and selenium and exposed to nitrogen dioxide.

Pentane is one decomposition product of ω 6-unsaturated lipid hydroperoxides. The measurement of respiratory pentane is one of the most sensitive in vivo tests of lipid peroxidation. This measurement was applied to test the ability of a low level, short-term exposure of rats to nitrogen dioxide to induce lipid peroxidation. When exposed to 4.48 ppm nitrogen dioxide for 60 min, no increase in pentane production was detected. For 10 weeks prior to exposure, the rats were fed Torula yeast-based diets with 10% stripped lard or 10% stripped corn oil. The ratios of basal pentane production by rats fed the following antioxidants were for corn oil- and lard-fed rats, respectively: 40 I.U. vitamin E/kg and 0 selenium:0 vitamin E and 0.1 ppm selenium: 0 vitamin E and 0 selenium, 1:2.2:5.8 and 1:1.9:3.5. Pentane production was significantly (P < 0.05) greater by corn oil-fed rats than by lard-fed rats only when both vitamin E and selenium were absent from the diet.
Maximal beta3-adrenergic regulation of lipolysis involves Src and epidermal growth factor receptor-dependent ERK1/2 activation.

Catecholamine-stimulated lipolysis is primarily a β-adrenergic and cAMP-dependent event. In previous studies we established that the β3-adrenergic receptor (β3AR) in adipocytes utilizes a unique mechanism to stimulate extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK) by direct recruitment and activation of Src kinase. Therefore, we investigated the role of the ERK pathway in adipocyte metabolism and found that the β3AR agonist CL316,243 regulates lipolysis through both cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and ERK. Inhibition of PKA activity completely eliminated lipolysis at low (subnanomolar) CL316,243 concentrations and by 75-80% at higher nanomolar concentrations. The remaining 20-25% of PKA-independent lipolysis, as well as ERK activation, was abolished by inhibiting the activity of either Src (PP2 or small interfering RNA), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR with AG1478 or small interfering RNA), or mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1 or 2 (MKK1/2 with PD098059). PD098059 inhibited lipolysis by 53% in mice as well. Finally, the effect of estradiol, a reported acute activator of ERK and lipolysis, was also totally prevented by PP2, AG1478, and PD098059. These results suggest that ERK activation by β3AR depends upon Src and epidermal growth factor receptor kinase activities and is responsible for the PKA-independent portion of the lipolytic response. Together these results illustrate the distinct and complementary roles for PKA and ERK in catecholamine-stimulated lipolysis.
AN EXACT TEST FOR A STOCHASTIC COEFFICIENT IN A TIME SERIES REGRESSION MODEL

An exact small-sample test is developed for testing the hypothesis that a regression coefficient is constant against the alternative that it is generated by a random walk process. The test is mean- and scale-invariant and approximates the most powerful invariant test against any specific alternative. It thus outperforms tests previously given in the literature. Computationally efficient algorithms are given to compute the test statistic and its distribution using a modified version of the Kalman filter.
Hand deformities in Parkinsonism

Abstract In a series of 86 patients with Parkinsonism there were 34 (40 per cent) who had some deformity of the hands. These deformities occurred more frequently among those with post-encephalitic Parkinsonism than in those who gave no history of encephalitis. Hand deformities are associated with muscular rigidity, but not with the extent or duration of tremor. It seems probable that the deformities are due to localized extra-pyramidal muscular rigidity.
The Use of Percussion

Summary There has been much controversy recently over the use of percussion. This has arisen largely due to misuse by some practitioners and misunderstanding by some researchers. A review of work done in this field shows that percussion is an effective means of treatment when used appropriately.
Quantum-Mechanical Many-Body Problem with Hard-Sphere Interaction

The system under consideration is an $N$-particle quantum-mechanical system enclosed in a volume $V$, in which the particles interact via two-body hard-sphere potentials, with hard-sphere diameter $a$. The two-body hard-sphere problem is first discussed by a generalization of Fermi's pseudopotential by means of which the problem is formulated entirely in terms of the scattering phase shifts. It is then shown that a pseudopotential for the $N$-body problem can be introduced, and leads to an expansion of the energy levels of the system in powers of $a$. The first order energy levels of a Bose and a Fermi system are calculated. For the Bose system, the first order energy formula exhibits an "energy gap" above the ground state, leading to properties of the system not dissimilar to that of a superfluid. The ground state energy for a Bose system is calculated to order ${a}^{3}$ and that for the Fermi system, to order ${a}^{2}$. The physical interpretation and validity of these results are discussed.
Autonomous efficiency improvement or income elasticity of energy demand: Does it matter?

Observations of historical energy consumption, energy prices, and income growth in industrial economies exhibit a trend in improving energy efficiency even when prices are constant or falling. Two alternative explanations of this phenomenon are: a productivity change that uses less energy and a structural change in the economy in response to rising income. It is not possible to distinguish among these from aggregate data, and economic energy models for forecasting emissions simulate one, as an exogenous time trend, or the other, as energy demand elasticity with respect to income, or both processes for projecting energy demand into the future. In this paper, we ask whether and how it matters which process one uses for projecting energy demand and carbon emissions. We compare two versions of the MIT Emissions Prediction and Policy Analysis (EPPA) model, one using a conventional efficiency time trend approach and the other using an income elasticity approach. We demonstrate that while these two versions yield equivalent projections in the near-term, that they diverge in two important ways: long-run projections and under uncertainty in future productivity growth. We suggest that an income dependent approach may be preferable to the exogenous approach.
Therapy insight: peripheral arterial disease and diabetes--from pathogenesis to treatment guidelines.

Approximately one-third of patients with diabetes have peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and concomitant diabetes amplifies the already high risk of atherothrombotic events present in those with PAD. Here, Emile R Mohler III discusses atherothrombosis and PAD in patients with diabetes in the context of the 2006 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines for PAD management.
The Premarital Communication Roots of Marital Distress and Divorce: The First Five Years of Marriage

Using data from 210 couples who provided data across the first 5 years of marriage, we examined how premarital communication quality was related to divorce and later distress. The results showed that premarital observed negative and positive communication nearly reached significance as predictors of divorce, while self-reported negative communication was significantly associated with divorce. In terms of marital adjustment, we found that both premarital observed and self-reported negative premarital communication (but not observed positive communication) were associated with lower adjustment during the first 5 years of marriage. The most important questions addressed in this study pertain to how positive and negative dimensions of communication change over time and how these changes are related to being distressed or nondistressed after 5 years of marriage. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to examine the changes in communication over time that are so central to theories of the development of marital distress and for research-based interventions. We found that all couples showed decreases in negative communication over time, but the nondistressed group declined significantly more than the distressed group in negative communication, suggesting they are handling negative emotions better. Implications for future research on the development of relationship distress and for enhancing research-based couples' intervention programs are provided.