cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Trait self-control predicts drinking patterns during treatment for alcohol use disorder and recovery up to three years following treatment

To more fully understand recovery from alcohol use disorder, we must consider several ways in which reductions in drinking and improvements in psychosocial functioning may occur. Previous research has demonstrated various patterns of drinking and functioning during and after behavioral treatment for alcohol use disorder, including groups of individuals who consume alcohol at low-risk levels and those that report occasional heavy drinking yet good psychosocial functioning. This study aimed to identify whether trait self-control, which has previously been associated with alcohol treatment outcomes, was a predictor of drinking patterns during treatment as well as three years following treatment. Latent variable mixture modeling was used to identify seven classes of drinking patterns during treatment and four profiles of drinking and psychosocial function after treatment. We found that membership in the low-risk drinking class was predicted by greater trait self-control than several of the other classes, including the consistent abstinence class. Furthermore, we found that greater trait self-control predicted membership in two high-functioning recovery profiles at three years following treatment, including a high functioning occasional heavy drinking profile. These findings suggest that self-control is an important predictor of recovery, particularly for a non-abstinent recovery.
The NCATS Pharmaceutical Collection: a 10-year update

The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Pharmaceutical Collection (NPC), a comprehensive collection of clinically approved drugs, was made a public resource in 2011. Over the past decade, the NPC has been systematically profiled for activity across an array of pathways and disease models, generating an unparalleled amount of data. These data have not only enabled the identification of new repurposing candidates with several in clinical trials, but also uncovered new biological insights into drug targets and disease mechanisms. This retrospective provides an update on the NPC in terms of both successes and lessons learned. We also report our efforts in bringing the NPC up-to-date with drugs approved in recent years.
Three Pillars of Modern Responsible Investment

Modern responsible investment encompasses three distinct activities: alignment of portfolios with client values, using exclusions; integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors into the investment process, often with a focus on financial materiality; and impact, which in public markets is usually sought through engagement with corporate management. All three fields are progressing rapidly, and each has a distinctive set of professional practices and supporting empirical literature: The performance effects of typical exclusion policies apparently remain benign, but recent research suggests that information about ESG performance may have important implications for portfolio risk. The emerging evidence on engagement is potentially disruptive, with a small but strong group of papers suggesting that it can positively affect financial and stock market performance, as well as the investment behavior of corporate managers. With new practices and findings emerging in each of these areas, investment professionals will be challenged to keep up with the pace of innovation and, in an increasingly competitive marketplace, to implement these policies at a high standard. TOPICS:Portfolio theory, portfolio construction, ESG investing Key Findings • The field of responsible investment is complex, and modern practice requires that practitioners develop facility in three distinct but related areas, each with its own goals, practices, and empirical literature. This article addresses recent research in these areas, and finds strong empirical support for some practices. • The field of EGS integration is becoming more standardized with the advent of disclosure such as those published by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board. Many studies document an association between ESG performance and traditional ideas of firm quality, and a few good papers have documented instances where ESG factors were associated with strong investment performance. But many studies have significant methodological shortcomings. With ESG practices becoming more widespread it is not realistic to expect significant performance benefits from typical ESG integration practices. • The UNPRI active ownership mandate has led to a significant increase in corporate engagement efforts. A small but strong group of papers suggests that, when successful, these initiatives have positive impacts on near-term stock price performance of targeted companies, as well as subsequent corporate investment behavior.
Noise Exposures and Hearing Protector Use at Small Logging Operations

The study objective was to characterize noise exposures and hearing protector usage at small-scale logging operations. Noise dosimeters were used to measure exposures of 31 loggers at two cable operations and five mechanized operations in the United States. Activity cards were employed to evaluate hearing protector usage. Ninety-two percent of cable operation loggers were overexposed to noise according to National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommended criteria, but only 46% of cable loggers wore hearing protection. Six percent of mechanized operation loggers were overexposed to noise over the 8-h shifts observed, but this number increased to 33% when working 12-h shifts, which was a common practice among the participant companies. Only 6% of mechanized loggers wore hearing protection. Mean noise exposures and the proportion of hearing protection usage were both significantly greater at cable operations than at mechanized operations. None of the logging operations had hearing conservation programs in place. Despite the use of mechanized logging equipment and methods, the potential for noise-induced hearing loss remains a concern for workers employed at small-scale operations in the logging industry.
Multiple Reaction Pathways in the Morphinone Reductase-Catalyzed Hydride Transfer Reaction

Morphinone reductase (MR) is an important model system for studying the contribution of protein motions to H-transfer reactions. In this research, we used quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulation together with transition path sampling (TPS) simulation to study two important topics of current research on MR: the existence of multiple catalytic reaction pathways and the involvement of fast protein motions in the catalytic process. We have discovered two reaction pathways for the wild type and three reaction pathways for the N189A mutant. With the committor distribution analysis method, we found reaction coordinates for all five reaction pathways. Only one wild-type reaction pathway has a rate-promoting vibration from His186, while all of the other four pathways do not involve any protein motions in their catalytic process through the transition state. The rate-promoting vibration in the wild-type MR, which comes from a direction perpendicular to the donor-acceptor axis, functions to decrease the donor-acceptor distance by causing a subtle "out-of-plane" motion of a donor atom. By comparing reaction pathways between the two enzymes, we concluded that the major effect of the N189A point mutation is to increase the active site volume by altering the active site backbone and eliminating the Asn189 side chain. This effect causes a different NADH geometry at the reactant state, which very well explains the different reaction mechanisms between the two enzymes, as well as the disappearance of the His186 rate-promoting vibrations in the N189A mutant. The unfavorable geometry of the NADH pyridine ring induced by the N189A point mutation is the potential cause of multiple reaction pathways in N189A mutants.
Coherence of Involutive Categories

For each type of categories with extra structures, coherence can be understood as the question of describing the free structured category of a category. The purpose of this chapter is to study the coherence of involutive categories and related topics.
What is Really Fair: Internet Sales and the Georgia Long-Arm Statute

This article analyzes the current issue of online merchants being forced to defend themselves in foreign jurisdictions during litigation concerning online sales. Part I describes the history of personal jurisdiction from its nineteenth century concerns with territoriality to the twentieth century minimum contacts standard to other, more recent developments. Part II summarizes personal jurisdiction and minimum contacts as applied to the Internet generally and discusses whether Internet sales contain sufficient minimum contacts to satisfy the constitutional prerequisites for the exercise of personal jurisdiction over the seller. Part III analyzes the Georgia long-arm statute as it relates to jurisdiction over persons transacting sales over the Internet. Finally, Part IV examines the policies for and against allowing the Georgia long-arm statute to pull foreign sellers into Georgia before recommending clear guidelines to the Georgia Legislature if it were to amend the long-arm statute.
Feasibility of breast radiation therapy in a Fanconi Anemia patient diagnosed with breast cancer: A case report and review of literature.

Abstract Fanconi Anemia (FA) is a rare inherited autosomal recessive disease that results in impaired double stranded DNA repair. This leads to both increased susceptibility to various cancers, as well as hypersensitivity to radiotherapy and systemic therapy; thus, increasing the complexity of oncological treatment paradigm. Here, we present an FA patient who initially developed invasive breast cancer for which she received breast conserving treatment with no significant treatment related toxicity. This was followed by a diagnosis of high-grade ductal carcinoma-in-situ in the contralateral breast, which was managed successfully by surgery and meticulously planned adjuvant radiotherapy, with no treatment interruptions.
Does Training Parents in Reinforcement Skills or Relationship Skills Enhance Individual Youths’ Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety? Outcome, Specificity, and Mediation:

We conducted a dismantling design treatment study comparing individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), CBT targeting parents’ reinforcement skills (CBT + Reinf), and CBT targeting parents’ rela...
Improved spectroscopic constants for I2 D 1Σu

Abstract The D-X transition of I 2 can be used to observe populations in vibrationally excited levels of I 2 (X). Levels in the range 20 ⩽ ν ″ ⩽ 50 are sensitively detected by exciting transitions that terminate on I 2 (D) ν ′ ⩽ 40. In the present work, spectroscopic studies of the lower vibrational levels of I 2 (D) were performed to facilitate use of the D-X transition for monitoring excited I 2 (X). New molecular constants for the D state are reported.
Thrombolysis for Acute Stroke

Trials of intravenous thrombolytic agents in acute stroke date back to the early 1960s. At that time, several trials of streptokinase, fibrinolysin and urokinase were performed and demonstrated either no effect or higher mortality in patients treated with thrombolysis [1, 2, 3]. Because these studies preceded CT scanning, patients with hemorrhage were not necessarily excluded. The discouraging results inhibited further acute stroke trials until the 1980 s when several reports appeared showing favorable outcomes with local intra-arterial thrombolytic therapy within a few hours of stroke onset [4,5]. These reports renewed interest in thrombolysis and led to several feasibility studies and small randomized trials of intravenous thrombolysis [6,7]. In 1995 the results of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) intravenous tPA study, a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial of intravenous tPA for acute ischemic stroke, were published, demonstrating for the first time a beneficial effect of acute stroke treatment when given within three hours of onset [8] (Table 1). Open image in new window Table 1. Clinical trials of thrombolytic therapy for stroke
Box 3: Ion Ranges

Ion range is one of the most important considerations in describing ion-solid interactions. When an energetic ion penetrates a solid, it undergoes electronic and nuclear stopping in the target. In the beginning of the slowing-down process at high energies, the ion is slowed down mainly by electronic stopping, and it moves almost in a straight path. As the ion energy decreases, the probability of collisions with nuclei increases, and the nuclear stopping finally dominates the slowing-down process. During the collision processes, target atoms (target recoils), which receive significant recoiling energies from the ion, will be removed from their lattice positions and produce a cascade of further collisions in the target.
Review and Comparison of Spatial Localization Methods for Low-Power Wireless Sensor Networks

Spatial localization (colocation) of nodes in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is an active area of research, with many applications in sensing from distributed systems, such as microaerial vehicles, smart dust sensors, and mobile robotics. This paper provides a comprehensive review and comparison of recent implementations (commercial and academic) of physical measurement techniques used in sensor localization, and of the localization algorithms that use these measurement techniques. Physical methods for measuring distances and angles between WSN nodes are reviewed, followed by a comprehensive comparison of localization accuracy, applicable ranges, node dimensions, and power consumption of the different implementations. A summary of advantages and disadvantages of each measurement technique is provided, along with a comparison of colocalization methods in WSNs across multiple algorithms and distance ranges. A discussion of possible improvements to accuracy, range, and power consumption of selected self-localization methods is included in the concluding discussion. Although the preferred implementation depends on the application, required accuracy, and range, passive optical triangulation is reported as the most energy efficient localization method for low-cost/low-power miniature sensor nodes. It is capable of providing micrometer-level resolution, however, the applicable range (internode distance) is limited to single centimeters.
GaN transistor large-signal characterization under multi-frequency excitation

Transmitters for high peak-to-average power ratio communication, including Doherty, outphasing, and envelope tracking, are increasingly using supply modulation to improve efficiency. This paper describes a technique to measure multi-frequency excitation of a transistor under supply modulation conditions. The measurement setup is used to characterize GaN transistors in large signal operation at X-band with 1–500MHz low frequency excitation on the drain and is useful for supply modulator design.
Absorption spectrophotometric characterization of Sm(II), Sm(III), and Sm(II/III) bromides and Sm(III) oxybromide in the solid state

Absorption spectra obtained from SmBr3, SmBr2, and SmOBr were used in identifying the samarium species in several mixed-valence Sm(II/III) compounds produced by H2 reduction of SmBr3. The nature of the absorption of SmOBr made it possible to detect even traces of SmOBr in the Sm bromides.
A Computationally Efficient Method for Large-Scale Concurrent Mapping and Localization

Decoupled stochastic mapping (DSM) is a computationally efficient approach to large-scale concurrent mapping and localization. DSM reduces the computational burden of conventional stochastic mapping by dividing the environment into multiple overlapping submap regions, each with its own stochastic map. Two new approximation techniques are utilized for transferring vehicle state information from one submap to another, yielding a constant-time algorithm whose memory requirements scale linearly with the size of the operating area. The performance of two different variations of the algorithm is demonstrated through simulations of environments with 110 and 1200 features. Experimental results are presented for an environment with 93 features using sonar data obtained in a 3 by 9 by 1 meter testing tank.
Empty Promise: Black American Veterans and the New GI Bill

The 2008 GI Bill offers college funds for veterans. Yet Black male vets are not taking advantage of these benefits. This chapter examines personal and societal problems that hinder access to higher education for Black vets, and suggests some ways adult educators can advocate for these young men.
Clinical evidence for secondary epileptogenesis.

Publisher Summary The clinical impact of secondary epileptogenesis and the surgical technique of multiple subpial transection (MST) are the two areas in which Frank Morrell's teaching had the greatest influence on the clinical practice. The concepts underlying secondary epileptogenesis as well as MST were originally conceived in the animal laboratory and only later moved into the clinical arena. Morrell's ability to link experimental clinical data for developing innovative approaches for a better understanding or management of epilepsy was certainly one of his special strengths. This chapter defines secondary epileptogenesis and related concepts, discusses the available evidence of its existence in humans, and debates the impact of secondary epileptogenesis on the clinical practice.
Prosecuting Human Trafficking as a Crime Against Humanity Under the Rome Statute

Bought and sold, consumed and exploited: human bodies, labor, personhood, and dignity have become the most valuable, reusable, and profitable products in the 2011 world market. In the early twenty-first century, increased awareness and international concern mobilized several legal mechanisms to combat the 32 billion dollar human trafficking industry. In 2002, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force, with specific reference to “trafficking in persons” as a crime against humanity. Despite the developments in human trafficking law, awareness, and policy over the past decade, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) potential treatment of trafficking as a crime against humanity remains a question mark. This paper examines the potential of the ICC in prosecuting human trafficking as a crime against humanity, identifying the complex contexts of trafficking, the opposition that ICC prosecution will likely face, and approaches that the ICC could take in investigating and prosecuting human trafficking. Highlighting the challenges of defining trafficking, the shadow of armed conflict in the ICC’s developing jurisprudence, and the risk of overlooking the gravity of human trafficking, this paper concludes by urging the ICC to look beyond the situations to which international law has traditionally applied. To realize the promise of the Rome Statute, this paper urges the ICC to incorporate the Palermo Protocol, common purpose, and the exceptional and global effects of the trafficking market in approaching human trafficking as a crime against humanity.
In vivo flexor tendon forces generated during different rehabilitation exercises.

We measured in vivo forces in the flexor digitorum profundus and the flexor digitorum superficialis tendons during commonly used rehabilitation manoeuvres after flexor tendon repair by placing a buckle force transducer on the tendons of the index finger in the carpal canal during open carpal tunnel release of 12 patients. We compared peak forces for each manoeuvre with the reported strength of a flexor tendon repair. Median flexor digitorum profundus force (24 N) during isolated flexor digitorum profundus flexion and median flexor digitorum superficialis force (13 N) during isolated flexor digitorum superficialis flexion were significantly higher than during the other manoeuvres. Significantly higher median forces were observed in the flexor digitorum superficialis with the wrist at 30° flexion (6 N) compared with the neutral wrist position (5 N). Median flexor digitorum profundus forces were significantly higher during active finger flexion (6 N) compared with place and hold (3 N). Place and hold and act...
Delay-time refraction methods applied to a 3D seismic block

Two-layer velocity models, which sum the vertical time in the weathering layer and the vertical time from base of weathering to datum, produce an initial basis for 3D seismic near-surface static corrections in Saudi Arabia. The thickness and velocity of the weathering layer are highly variable so the near-surface modeling is extended with delay times calculated by the plus-minus and the generalized reciprocal method (GRM) technique.
DDE in eggs of two crocodile species from Belize.

Organochlorine (OC) residues were recently detected in nonviable Morelet's crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) eggs from northern Belize. To further the assessment of contaminant exposure in Belizean crocodiles, nonviable Morelet's crocodile eggs (n = 11) from southern Belize and American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) eggs (n = 12) from the coastal zones of Belize were screened for 20 OCs. Results indicated p,p-DDE to be the most prevalent OC (96% occurrence) in eggs examined, with concentrations ranging from 5 to 372 ng/g. These concentrations are similar to those observed in crocodile eggs (10−180 ng/g) from northern Belize. A general trend toward higher DDE concentrations in Morelet's crocodile eggs (mean = 103 ppb) compared with American crocodile eggs (mean = 31 ppb) was observed. However, this trend may be due to site-specific contamination rather than differences in interspecific susceptibility to chemical exposure. Other OCs detected in crocodile eggs included the parent compound, p,p-DDT, and its me...
Effect of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) on monoamine neurotransmitters in mouse brain & heart

Abstract The effect of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) was studied on dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE), serotonin (5HT) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons in mouse brain and on NE neurons of mouse heart. MPTP (45 mg/kg) was administered s.c. to mice twice daily for 2 consecutive days. This dosage regimen produced a decrease in the forebrain concentrations of DA and NE at 7 and 20 days after injection. In contrast, the forebrain concentrations of 5HT and GABA were not significantly decreased at either time. MPTP administration also produced a marked decrease in the uptake of 3H-DA into striatal slices and 3H-NE into cerebral cortical slices. In contrast, the uptake of 3H-NE into hypothalamic slices and the uptake of 3H-5HT into slices from several brain regions were not altered. MPTP initially reduced the concentration of NE in the heart, but unlike the persistent decreases in the forebrain concentrations of NE and DA, the NE concentration in the heart returned to control levels at approximately 20 days after MPTP administration. These results, showing that MPTP can produce a long lasting and selective decrease in the forebrain concentrations of NE and DA and in the uptake of radioactive DA and NE into brain slices, suggest that MPTP can cause the destruction of catecholamine neurons in mouse brain. In contrast, MPTP administration does not appear to produce long term changes in either 5HT or GABA neurons.
ADAM 13: a novel ADAM expressed in somitic mesoderm and neural crest cells during Xenopus laevis development.

Embryonic development involves a series of cell adhesive interactions that provide mechanical and instructive information required for morphogenesis. The ADAMs family of membrane-anchored proteins, containing ad isintegrin and metalloprotease domain, is well suited for participating in such developmental events. They encode not only a potential adhesive function, through an integrin-binding disintegrin domain, but also a potential antiadhesive function, through a zincdependent metalloprotease domain. In order to investigate the role of ADAMs in early development we cloned a cDNA encoding a novel member of the ADAM family from a Xenopus laevis neurula stage library. We call this cDNA, and the 915-amino-acid protein it encodes, ADAM 13. X-ADAM 13 RNA is expressed during embryogenesis from the midblastula stage through tadpole stage 45. X-ADAM 13 is localized to somitic mesoderm and cranial neural crest cells during gastrulation, neurulation, and in tail bud stages. Sequence analyses of the X-ADAM 13 metalloprotease and disintegrin domains indicate that the protein is likely to be involved in both proteolytic and cell-adhesive functions. The X-ADAM 13 sequence is most closely related to that of mouse meltrina, which is implicated in myoblast fusion. Our data suggest that X-ADAM 13 may be involved in neural crest cell adhesion and migration as well as myoblast differentiation. q 1997 Academic Press
Profiling substrate phosphorylation at the phosphopeptide level.

Abstract The identification of substrates is a key aspect in the study of the biological function of protein kinases. The procedure here described is aimed at profiling substrate phosphorylation at the phosphopeptide level by sequentially involving (i) the assessment of the in vitro activity of individual protein kinases on a complex mix of immobilized proteins, (ii) the fractionation of the phosphopeptides being released upon proteolysis of substrates, and (iii) the final identification of the targeted sequences. In particular, the protein sample is spotted onto nitrocellulose membrane and then subjected to a solid-phase kinase assay in the presence of [ 32 P]ATP, prior to solid-phase proteolytic digestion and two-dimensional phosphopeptide mapping. Radiolabeled phosphopeptides are subsequently isolated and sequenced to identify the substrates being targeted by the examined protein kinase. Using the γ-isotype of p21-activated protein kinase (γ-PAK) and its known in vitro substrates, I verified that both the specificity of substrate phosphorylation and its efficiency are similar upon solid- and liquid-phase conditions. To demonstrate the feasibility of the overall experimental system, I then employed a fairly crude cell extract as a source of candidate substrates and successfully identified the sequence of a putative substrate of γ-PAK.
Morphogenetic influences on rubber content and molecular weight in tissue cultures of guayule

Abstract A gel permeation chromatographic (GPC) method was developed for measuring the content and M r s of cis -polyisoprene in tissue cultures of guayule ( Parthenium argentatum ). Rubber production and growth rates were investigated in several morphogenetically distinct cultures, including normal and crown gall callus, and root and shoot cultures. These results were compared with rubber production in leaves and stems of whole plants. Tissue cultures yielded 1 to 10% of the rubber found in mature guayule stem tissue. The M r distributions of rubber from cultures were bimodal in contrast with that of rubber from whole plant stems which is unimodal. In the intact plant only the rubber from leaf tissue is bimodal with most of it contained in a M r fraction with a peak of 22 300. In contrast, the rubber peak in stems of young guayule plants was 500 000. Rubber from shoot and root cultures had average M r s of 150000 and 201 000 respectively, and normal and tumour callus cultures had M r s of 415 000 and 291 000. The ability of tissue cultures to make comparatively high M r rubber relative to whole plants supports the use of guayule tissue cultures for studies of rubber biosynthesis.
First-principles string molecular dynamics: An efficient approach for finding chemical reaction pathways

A recently proposed approach, called “string method,” allows us to find minimum energy pathways connecting two metastable states of a system [W. E et al., Phys. Rev. B 66, 052301 (2002)]. So far this approach has been only used with empirical force field parametrizations of the atomic potential energy surface or in the context of macroscopic continuum models. Here we show that the string method can be efficiently combined with first-principles molecular dynamics to provide an accurate description of chemical reaction pathways and barriers. We illustrate the first-principles string molecular dynamics by applying it to the study of a surface chemical reaction, for which extensive experimental and theoretical works are available, namely, the adsorption of H2 on the reconstructed Si(100) surface.
Is There a Need for Clinical Neuroskepticism

Clinical neuroethics and neuroskepticism are recent entrants to the vocabulary of neuroethics. Clinical neuroethics has been used to distinguish problems of clinical relevance arising from developments in brain science from problems arising in neuroscience research proper. Neuroskepticism has been proposed as a counterweight to claims about the value and likely implications of developments in neuroscience. These two emergent streams of thought intersect within the practice of neurology. Neurologists face many traditional problems in bioethics, like end of life care in the persistent vegetative state, determination of capacity in progressive dementia, and requests for assisted suicide in cognition-preserving neurodegenerative disease (like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). Neurologists also look to be at the forefront of downstream clinical applications of neuroscience, like pharmacological enhancement of mental life. At the same time, the practice of neurology, concerned primarily with the structure, function, and treatment of the nervous system, has historically fostered a kind of skeptical attitude toward its own subject matter. Not all problems that appear primarily neurological are primarily neurological. This disciplinary skepticism is generally clinical in orientation and limited in scope. The rise of interest in clinical neuroethics and in neuroskepticsim generally suggests a possible broader application. The clinical skepticism of neurology provides impetus for thinking about the appropriate role for skepticism in clinical areas of neuroethics. After a brief review of neuroskepticism and clinical neuroethics, a taxonomy of clinical neuroskepticism is offered and reasons why a stronger rather than weaker form of clinical neuroskepticism is currently warranted.
Sympathetic Hyperactivity After Traumatic Brain Injury and the Role of Beta-Blocker Therapy

Head injury remains the leading cause of death among trauma patients and accounts for one-third of all trauma mortalities.1,2 Of these, 75% will die within the first 3 days. In patients who survive beyond this period, however, the underlying causes of death are the result of non-neurologic organ dys
Host impact on the stability of a plant virus gene vector as measured by a new fluorescent local lesion passaging assay.

Abstract Viruses can be used as vectors for transient expression of proteins in plants but frequently foreign gene inserts are not maintained stably over time due to recombination events. In this study the hypothesis was that the choice of plant host affects the foreign gene retention level by a Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) vector expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP). To accomplish this, a novel virus vector integrity bioassay was developed based on an old concept, whereby RNA transcripts of the TBSV-GFP vector were rub-inoculated onto leaves of test plants, and at 3 days post inoculation (dpi), these leaves were used as inoculum for passage to cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata ), a local lesion host. Chlorotic lesions at points of virus infection were counted on cowpea at 4 dpi and then the leaves were exposed to ultraviolet light to count green fluorescent foci. These tests with seven different plant species covering five families showed that the percentage of green fluorescent lesions varied on the cowpea indicator plants in a host-dependent manner. For instance, the vector was relatively unstable in Nicotiana benthamiana , tomato, bean, and spinach, but compared to those its stability in lettuce was significantly improved (∼3-fold). This host-dependent effect suggests that some plants may present a more suitable environment than others to support or maintain optimum levels of virus vector-mediated foreign gene expression.
Total Synthesis of Anti-HIV Agent Chloropeptin I

A convergent diastereo- and enantioselective total synthesis of anti-HIV agent chloropeptin I is reported. Important features of the total synthesis include: (1) the use of Ti-catalyzed cyanide addition to imines to prepare a requisite amino acid moiety, (2) the discovery of the positive effect of MeOH in the Cu-mediated biaryl ether formation to afford one of the two macrocyclic peptide moieties, and (3) the discovery of the positive influence of collidine in the diastereoselective Pd-mediated cross-coupling to result in efficient formation of another macrocycle within this medicinally important molecule. This key step is performed in the presence of four unprotected phenols, two of which reside on dichlorophenylglycines.
Adaptive cancellation of variable feedback path for hearing aid using misalignment-dependent step size values

Various methods have been proposed to overcome the problem of compensating the acoustic feedback path that negatively impacts the performance of hearing aid devices. However, in most of them feedback path model is assumed to be fixed which is not quite realistic. In this paper, we consider fixed and variable feedback paths and analyze for each case the performance of one of the robust Adaptive Feedback Cancellation (AFC) schemes, i.e. the Prediction Error Method AFC which uses Partitioned Block Frequency-Domain Normalized Least Mean Square (PBFD-NLMS) algorithm. Based on the analysis results we propose varying the step size values for the same adaptive algorithm on the fly by monitoring the misalignment criteria. The experimental results using the proposed method show improvement made on the system performance.
TIME-SCALE FACTOR AS RELATED TO THEORIES OF SOCIETAL CHANGE

Summary.-A computer simulation model of theory building was discussed within the framework of Quincy Wright's data on occurrences of wars within the 15-20th century time interval and time series of discoveries of the atomic elements of matter. Several types of theories of societal change as derived from generalizations of longitudinal data were postulated in terms of their underlying geometric forms. The main parameter of the model was the length of the historical period used for abstraction from the observed data. A relationship between the size of this parameter and the geometric form of theories of historical change was observed. Implications of this finding were discussed with respect to models of open systems and both active and fringe periods of closed systems. Theories of societal change are based on assumptions of structural relations as identified in longitudinal data pertaining to historical events. These assumptions of structure typically follow some simple geometrical form such as a line, parabola, spiral, or some type of periodic function. Another viewpoint is that no pattern of historical change is discernible, corresponding to the geometric analogy of disjoint points or disjoint clusters or points. The latter view might be called a chaotic theory, maintaining that history has no pattern or meaning. The early theories of historical change were cyclical. This type of theory can be found among Greek and Roman historians of the classical era, as, e.g., Heraclitus, Empedocles, or Marcus Aurelius, describing history as following a path of perpetually recurring cycles. In its classical formulation by Aristotle (1927, p. 107) this type of theoretical stance maintains that "chaos did not exist for an infinite time; but the same things have always existed, passing through a cycle of changes or obeying some other law." The linear theory of historical change is implicit in writings of St. Augustine. Facing the charges of his contemporaries that a contributing factor in the disintegration of Roman civilization was the spread of religious modes of thinking (a view implying a paraboloid theory of societal development), St. Augustine posrulated six linearly sequenced historical periods, a theological perspective spanning the time from creation to the end of the world (cf. Nash, 1969). The time dilation, characteristic of linear theories of societal development, may be observed in writings of Immanuel Kant. Scanning the story of.civiliza[ion from ancient Greece, through the Roman Empire and Middle Ages to the
Salutary consequences of blockade of platelet activating factor in hemorrhagic shock.

Abstract We studied the effects of a potent, specific platelet activating factor (PAF) antagonist, CV-6209, in a murine model of hemorrhagic shock. Hemorrhaged rats treated with CV-6209 (1 mg/kg) maintained post-reinfusion mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) at significantly higher values than rats receiving either 0.9% NaCl or a lower dose (0.2 mg/kg) of CV-6209 (final MABP 88 ± 4 vs. 57 ± 4, vs. 61 ± 7 mm Hg, respectively). CV-6209 (1 mg/kg) also significantly attenuated the increase in plasma cathepsin D activity following hemorrhage compared with hemorrhaged rats receiving only its vehicle (i.e. 0.9% NaCl). CV-6209 (1 mg/kg) also significantly decreased the plasma accumulation of free amino-nitrogen compounds and the plasma activity of a myocardial depressant factor (MDF) compared to hemorrhaged rats receiving 0.9% NaCl. Rats receiving CV-6209 (1 mg/kg) exhibited a significantly increased survival rate and survival time post-reinfusion compared to rats receiving only the vehicle. These data indicate that PAF is an important mediator of hemorrhagic shock in the rat and that PAF receptor antagonists may be useful in hemorrhagic shock states.
Spectrum and energy levels of singly ionized aluminum (Al ii)

New wavelength measurements in the spectrum of singly ionized aluminum (8640–683 A) have been combined with some previous observations to re-evaluate all of the known energy levels of that ion. The designations of the previously known 3p 3d3D0 and 3P0 terms have been changed and newly found terms have been identified as 3p 3d3D0 and 3p21S. The ionization energy is 151862.7(4) cm−1 or 18.828 73(5) eV.
Psychiatric Liaison Support Groups For General Hospital Staffs

Abstract The value of psychiatric liaison services to hospital staffs is exemplified by liaison support groups. Including medical, nursing, and ancillary personnel, these groups strive to reduce work-related stress, which, left unchecked, can lead to depression, work dissatisfaction, and a high rate of personnel turnover. The group structure is designed to encourage the staff to ventilate their concerns, receive constructive feedback, bolster morale, and improvepatient care. The author enumerates the problems support groups encounter, particularly resistance, and describes how they function by providing examples and comparisons with group psychotherapy.
A NUMERICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DIRAC EQUATION ON A HYPERCUBE MULTICOMPUTER

We describe the numerical methods used to solve the time-dependent Dirac equation on a three-dimensional Cartesian lattice. Efficient algorithms are required for computationally intensive studies of nonperturbative electromagnetic lepton-pair production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Discretization is achieved through the lattice basis-spline collocation method, in which quantum-state vectors and coordinate-space operators are expressed in terms of basis-spline functions on a spatial lattice. For relativistic lepton fields on a lattice, the fermion-doubling problem is central in the formulation of the numerical method. All numerical procedures reduce to a series of matrix-vector operations which we perform on the Intel iPSC/860 hypercube, making full use of parallelism. We discuss solutions to the problems of limited node memory and node-to-node communication overhead inherent in using distributed-memory, multiple-instruction, multiple-data stream parallel computers.
Fast magnetization-driven preparation for imaging of contrast-enhanced coronary arteries during intra-arterial injection of contrast agent.

Purpose To implement a short-duration magnetization preparation sequence, which consists of a saturation followed by multiple inversion pulses, for imaging of short-T1 species and suppression of long-T1 species. Materials and Methods Computer optimizations were performed to derive preparation schemes that 1) suppress long-T1 background species with T1 ≥ 250 msec, 2) maximize the MZ of contrast-enhanced (CE) structures with T1 ≤ 50 msec, and 3) have a preparation duration in the range of 200 msec. The optimized sequences were tested on a phantom and a pig model instrumented with an intracoronary catheter for infusion of contrast media. Results Computer simulations generated preparation schemes with durations of 165–225 msec depending on the number of preparation pulses used, which generated saturation of over 98% for T1 > 250 msec, and about a 30% reduction for 20 msec < T1 < 50 msec. The phantom studies validated the performance of the optimized sequences. Coronary artery angiograms (380 msec for preparation and image acquisition) demonstrated signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) in the range of 13–15.5 and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) in the range of 6.3–7.1 in the CE coronary vessels. Conclusion This work demonstrates that fast magnetization-driven preparation schemes can be implemented for fast imaging of CE coronary vessels with efficient saturation of background species. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Evaluation of 64Cu-Labeled Acridinium Cation: A PET Radiotracer Targeting Tumor Mitochondria

This report presents the synthesis and evaluation of 64Cu(DO3A-xy-ACR) (DO3A-xy-ACR = 2,6-bis(dimethylamino)-10-(4-((4,7,10-tris(carboxymethyl)-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecan-1-yl)methyl)benzyl)acridin-10-ium) as a radiotracer for imaging tumors in athymic nude mice bearing U87MG glioma xenografts by PET (positron emission tomography). The biodistribution data suggested that 64Cu(DO3A-xy-ACR) was excreted mainly through the renal system with >65% of injected radioactivity being recovered from urine samples at 1 h postinjection (p.i.). The tumor uptake of 64Cu(DO3A-xy-ACR) was 1.07 ± 0.23, 1.58 ± 0.55, 2.71 ± 0.66, 3.47 ± 1.19, and 3.52 ± 1.72%ID/g at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 24 h p.i., respectively. 64Cu(DO3A-xy-ACR) had very high liver uptake (31.90 ± 3.98, 24.95 ± 5.64, 15.20 ± 4.29, 14.09 ± 6.82, and 8.18 ± 1.27%ID/g at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, and 24 h p.i., respectively) with low tumor/liver ratios. MicroPET studies showed that the tumors were clearly visualized as early as 30 min p.i. in the glioma-bearing mouse admin...
Modulation of intestinal immune reactivity by interleukin 2. Phenotypic and functional analysis of lymphokine-activated killer cells from human intestinal mucosa.

There is evidence indicating that interleukin 2 may be important in the regulation of intestinal immunity, as suggested by its capacity to induce nonspecific cytotoxic (lymphokine-activated killer) activity from human intestinal mucosal mononuclear cells. The present study was designed to further explore the phenotypic and functional changes induced by interleukin 2 on intestinal lymphocytes derived from inflammatory bowel disease and control tissues. Immunohistology of intestinal mucosa demonstrated few cells bearing the activation antigen recognized by anti-Tac (anti-interleukin 2 receptor) monoclonal antibody. However, when isolated lamina proprial mononuclear cells were exposed to interleukin 2 in culture, the number of Tac-positive cells increased dramatically, a phenomenon paralleled by the generation of lymphokine-activated killer cell activity. This cytotoxic function was critically dependent on the continuous availability of interleukin 2, but not on the expression of the Tac antigen, since Tac-negative cells were also cytotoxic. Depletion of natural killer cells, fractionation into T cell-enriched and -depleted cells before and after culturing with interleukin 2, and separation into Tac-positive and -negative cells after interleukin 2 activation failed to eliminate lymphokine-activated killer cell activity, suggesting that this phenomenon is mediated by phenotypically and functionally heterogeneous cell subsets. During the induction of lymphokine-activated killer cells variable amounts of interferon-γwere produced, but these did not correlate with the degree of cytotoxicity. No differences were observed between the response to interleukin 2 by inflammatory bowel disease and control cells. Therefore, in view of its capacity to induce significant phenotypic and functional changes in different subpopulations of intestinal mucosal mononuclear cells, interleukin 2 should be regarded as an important modulator of intestinal immune reactivity.
Motoneurons of the tail of young xenopus tadpoles

The purpose of this study was to identify, characterize, and follow the morphogenesis of motoneurons innervating tail myotomes of Xenopus during early and middle larval stages (33-48). Application of horseradish peroxidase to a single myotome results in a column of labeled motor cells extending over four spinal segments. By midlarval stages two morphologically distinct cell types were recognizable in this column-primary and secondary motoneurons. Primary motoneurons occupied the more rostral and secondary motoneurons the more caudal portions of the column with some overlap of the two populations. Primary neurons developed earlier, were larger, and displayed thicker axons and proximal dendrites. Secondary neurons, in contrast, were smaller, more variable in configuration and dendritic distribution, and displayed thinner axons and dendrites. Development of the labeled motor column during the period observed involved the addition of more labeled neurons, principally secondary cells, and the enlargement of individual cell somata with the progressive elaboration of more and longer dendrites into the developing lateral fasciculus.
The frequency of dynamic pointer references in “C” programs

A collection of ‘‘C’’ programs was measured for the number of dynamic references to pointers. The number of dynamic references to pointers is presenteded with respect to the total number of instructions a program executes, giving the percentage of pointer references executed in a ‘‘C’’ program. The measurements were done on a VAX 11/780 running the Berkeley UNIX operating system. The measured programs were selected by examining the most commonly run programs on the Computer Sciences Department UNIX machines. The measurement process was performed in two steps: (1) the dynamic counting of pointer references, and (2) the counting of the total number of instructions executed by the program.
Particle radiation near the orbit of the Vacuum Wake Shield

The particle populations that are expected to inflict the most damage on thin film materials grown on the vacuum Wake Shield Facility (WSF) are ions and energetic neutral atoms with energies in the range of 100 eV to 20 keV. The production of films that have an order of magnitude fewer defects than are now available requires that the 1-keV particle flux be kept lower than 1000 particles/(sq cm s sr keV) (assuming a reasonable spectral shape). WSF will be flown on orbits with an inclination of 28 deg at altitudes of 300-700 km. Because of the background counting rate produced by the about 100 MeV trapped protons in the inner belt, obtaining accurate measurements of the particles of interest is very difficult. The quiet-time background fluxes of the relevant particles are not presently known. At times of magnetic activity, fluxes of 0.1-17 keV O(+) ions as great as 10 million ions/(sq cm s sr keV) have been observed flowing out of the ionosphere at these latitudes. It appears that instrumentation for detailed assessment is essential for the proof-of-concept flight(s) and that real-time monitoring of low-energy ion and energetic neutral radiation will be required for the production flights.