cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Frequency Marked Electrodes in Electrical Impedance Tomography

In Electrical Impedance Tomography current is injected into a body and voltage is measured to estimate the impedance or conductivity distribution inside the body. In many implementations, the current is injected through a pair of electrodes while the other electrodes are measuring the voltage. Then, the system continues to the next pair of electrodes and injects current, while measuring the voltage with the remaining electrodes. In some systems, two sets of electrodes are used, one for voltage measurements and the other set for current injection. We propose a method of injecting current through all of the current injecting electrodes simultaneously, and measuring all of the resulting voltages at once. Each current injecting electrode is marked by injecting a unique frequency for that electrode. At the voltage measurement electrodes, the voltage related to each current injecting electrode is isolated by using a Fourier transform. This method is beneficial in instances where tissue impedance is changing fast. The underlying assumption is that the impedance is changing from one measurement to another but slowly enough to be considered constant during a single measurement.
The effectiveness of different phonon frequencies in enhancing the Tc of superconductors

It is shown that two simple equations for the superconducting transition temperature, both of which give quite accurate values of T/sub c/, and practically the same results for the isotope effect, do not agree even qualitatively when used to calculate the effectiveness of different phonon frequencies in enhancing T/sub c/. (auth) Some Josephson experiments on Pb/PbO/ Sn/Pb tunnel functions have been done and two limiting forms of the temperature variation of the dc Josephson current have been obtained when the Sn thickness is varied. Near the transition temperature of the superconducting Sn/Pb sandwich, the De Gennes theoretical model is in good agreement with the experiments. (auth)
A Holistic Perspective on Women’s Career Pathways in Athletics Administration

Though progress has been made in recent years, women continue to be underrepresented in sport leadership positions around the globe, particularly at the highest levels. This problem persists despit...
Efficacy of biofungicides against root rot and damping-off of microgreens caused by Pythium spp.

Abstract Pythium spp. are the causal agents of Pythium root rot and damping-off on microgreens. The objective of this project was to assess the efficacy of biofungicides on Pythium root rot and damping-off caused by Pythium aphanidermatum and Pythium dissotocum on microgreens in greenhouses. In the first experiment, arugula (Eruca sativa Mill.), kale (Brassica oleracea var. sabellica L.), radish (Raphanus raphanistrum subsp. sativus L.), and mustard (Brassica juncea L. Czern) microgreens were treated with Companion® (Bacillus subtilis GB03), Triathlon BA® (Bacillus amyloliquefaciens D747), or RootShield Plus® (Trichoderma harzianum KRL-AG2 and Trichoderma virens G-41) in a hydroponic nutrient film technique system. Two days after treatment, the plants were inoculated with 3 × 105 zoospores of Pythium spp. After seven days, we measured root necrosis, damping-off incidence and severity, and plant biomass. All plants infected with Pythium spp. were smaller by 28% or more compared with non-inoculated plants. Overall disease was low, but biomass was lower in all treatments inoculated with Pythium spp. Arugula infected with Pythium spp. and treated with Triathlon BA® resulted in 8% lower disease incidence compared with the positive control, yet Triathlon BA® resulted in the highest root necrosis. On a separate experiment, arugula and mustard were grown in propagation trays, irrigated manually, and treated with the biofungicides mentioned above or Cease® (Bacillus subtilis QST 713). Arugula and mustard plants inoculated with Pythium spp. had 74.4% reduction of shoot dry weight. Arugula and mustard treated with Cease®, with and without Pythium spp., resulted in ≥59% more biomass compared with the untreated inoculated control. In the tray experiment, all the infected plants treated with biofungicides had more biomass than plants with no biofungicides. Results from this experiment suggest that microbial biofungicides can be introduced in nutrient solutions in nutrient film technique or applied in the irrigation to prevent Pythium root rot and damping-off in brassica microgreens. However, biofungicides can reduce plant biomass and growers may need to extend production time to achieve target yields.
Jejunostomy Placement, Open and MIS Approaches

This chapter describes the surgical procedure for open and laparoscopic placement of feeding jejunostomy tubes and buttons as performed by the following approaches: placement of jejunostomy tube with serosal tunnel, creation of omega pouch to accommodate button balloon, and creation of Roux-en-Y limb to accommodate jejunostomy button balloon. The text includes an introduction that outlines the indications, risks, alternatives, essential steps, needed equipment, and variations in technique for the procedure in question. This is followed by a template operative dictation, which provides the reader with an operative report, such as is found in a patient chart or electronic medical record. A description of the critical concepts and different techniques for this procedure is provided.
Ocular Pulse Elastography: Imaging Corneal Biomechanical Responses to Simulated Ocular Pulse Using Ultrasound.

Purpose In vivo evaluation of corneal biomechanics holds the potential for improving diagnosis and management of ocular diseases. We aimed to develop an ocular pulse elastography (OPE) technique to quantify corneal strains generated by naturally occurring pulsations of the intraocular pressure (IOP) using high-frequency ultrasound. Methods Simulated ocular pulses were induced in whole porcine and human donor globes to investigate the effects of physiologic variations in baseline IOP, ocular pulse amplitude, and frequency on corneal strains. Ocular pulse-induced strains were measured in additional globes before and after UVA-riboflavin-induced corneal crosslinking. The central cornea in each eye was imaged with a 50-MHz ultrasound imaging system and correlation-based speckle tracking of radiofrequency data was used to calculate tissue displacements and strains. Results Ocular pulse-induced corneal strains followed the cyclic changes of IOP. Both baseline IOP and ocular pulse amplitude had a significant influence on strain magnitude. Variations in pulse frequency within the normal human heart rate range did not introduce detectable changes in corneal strains. A significant decrease of corneal strain, as quantified by the OPE technique, was observed after corneal crosslinking. The extent of corneal stiffening (i.e., strain reduction) seemed to correlate with the initial strain magnitude. Conclusions This ex vivo study demonstrated the feasibility of the OPE method to quantify corneal strains generated by IOP pulsation and detect changes associated with corneal crosslinking treatment. Translational Relevance Integrating in vivo measurement of IOP and ocular pulse amplitude, the OPE method may lead to a new clinical tool for safe and quick biomechanical evaluations of the cornea.
Beyond Representation: Is There Nothing Outside the Fetish?

Jacques Derrida offers us a chance to perceive the inner logic of fetishization within any given representational economy. What Derrida adds is the quest for a presentation beyond representation, the search for the “living” presence, voice, or person who is presumed to lie behind any fetish-object but who is seemingly always just beyond one’s reach. My intuition is that Derrida’s attempt to reduce the “real”, locatable presence of the person in a representation to a fetishistic spectral “presence” only exposes the fault lines of the nature of representation itself, or the fetish of representation within his work. I trace as well related dimensions of fetishism in the works of Homi K. Bhabha and Louis-Marie Chauvet, where we can develop a theologically productive notion of the fetish in contemporary cultural terms.
Proteome-wide Analysis of Coxiella burnetii for Conserved T-cell epitopes with Presentation Across Multiple Host Species

Coxiella burnetii is the Gram-negative bacterium responsible for Q fever in humans and coxiellosis in domesticated agricultural animals. Previous vaccination efforts with whole cell inactivated bacteria or surface isolated proteins confer protection but can produce a reactogenic immune responses. Thereby a protective vaccine that does not cause aberrant immune reactions is required. The critical role of T-cell immunity in control of C. burnetii has been made clear, since either CD8+ or CD4+ T cells can empower clearance. The purpose of this study was to identify C. burnetii proteins bearing epitopes that interact with major histocompatibility complexes (MHC) from multiple host species (human, mouse, and cattle). Of the annotated 1815 proteins from the Nine Mile Phase I (RSA 493) assembly, 402 proteins were removed from analysis due to a lack of inter-isolate conservation. An additional 391 proteins were eliminated from assessment to avoid potential autoimmune responses due to the presence of host homology. We analyzed the remaining 1022 proteins for their ability to produce peptides that bind MHCI or MHCII. MHCI and MHCII predicted epitopes were filtered and compared between species yielding 777 MHCI epitopes and 453 MHCII epitopes. These epitopes were further examined for presentation by both MHCI and MHCII, and for proteins that contained multiple epitopes. There were 31 epitopes that overlapped positionally between MHCI and MHCII across host species. Of these, there were 9 epitopes represented within proteins containing ≥ 5 total epitopes, where an additional 24 proteins were also epitope dense. In all, 55 proteins were found to contain high scoring T-cell epitopes. Besides the well-studied protein Com1, most identified proteins were novel when compared to previously studied vaccine candidates. These data represent the first proteome-wide evaluation of C. burnetii peptide epitopes. Furthermore, the inclusion of human, mouse, and bovine data capture a range of hosts for this zoonotic pathogen plus an important model organism. This work provides new vaccine targets for future vaccination efforts and enhances opportunities for selecting multiple T-cell epitope types to include within a vaccine.
Hip decompression combined with bone marrow concentrate and platelet-rich plasma for corticosteroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head : mid-term update from a prospective study.

AIMS Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells obtained from bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC) with platelet-rich plasma (PRP), has been used as an adjuvant to hip decompression. Early results have shown promise for hip preservation in patients with osteonecrosis (ON) of the femoral head. The purpose of the current study is to examine the mid-term outcome of this treatment in patients with precollapse corticosteroid-induced ON of the femoral head. METHODS In all, 22 patients (35 hips; 11 males and 11 females) with precollapse corticosteroid-induced ON of the femoral head underwent hip decompression combined with BMAC and PRP. Mean age and BMI were 43 years (SD 12) and 31 kg/m² (SD 6), respectively, at the time of surgery. Survivorship free from femoral head collapse and total hip arthroplasty (THA) and risk factors for progression were evaluated at minimum five-years of clinical follow-up with a mean follow-up of seven years (5 to 8). RESULTS Survivorship free from femoral head collapse and THA for any reason was 84% and 67% at seven years postoperatively, respectively. Risk factors for conversion to THA included a high preoperative modified Kerboul angle (grade 3 or 4) based on preoperative MRI (hazard ratio (HR) 3.96; p = 0.047) and corticosteroid use at the time of decompression (HR 4.15; p = 0.039). The seven-year survivorship for patients with grade 1 or 2 Kerboul angles for conversion to THA for articular collapse, and THA for any reason, were 96% and 72%, respectively, versus THA for articular collapse and THA for any reason in patients with grade 3 or 4 Kerboul angles of 40% (p = 0.003) and 40% (p = 0.032). CONCLUSION At seven years, hip decompression augmented with BMAC and PRP provided a 67% survivorship free from THA in patients with corticosteroid-induced ON. Ideal candidates for this procedure are patients with low preoperative Kerboul angles and can stop corticosteroid treatment prior to decompression. Cite this article: Bone Jt Open 2021;2(11):926-931.
Sparsifying Synchronization for High-Performance Shared-Memory Sparse Triangular Solver

The last decade has seen rapid growth of single-chip multiprocessors CMPs, which have been leveraging Moore's law to deliver high concurrency via increases in the number of cores and vector width. Modern CMPs execute from several hundreds to several thousands concurrent operations per second, while their memory subsystem delivers from tens to hundreds Giga-bytes per second bandwidth. Taking advantage of these parallel resources requires highly tuned parallel implementations of key computational kernels, which form the back-bone of modern HPC. Sparse triangular solver is one such kernel and is the focus of this paper. It is widely used in several types of sparse linear solvers, and it is commonly considered challenging to parallelize and scale even on a moderate number of cores. This challenge is due to the fact that triangular solver typically has limited task-level parallelism and relies on fine-grain synchronization to exploit this parallelism, compared to data-parallel operations such as sparse matrix-vector multiplication. This paper presents synchronization sparsification technique that significantly reduces the overhead of synchronization in sparse triangular solver and improves its scalability. We discover that a majority of task dependencies are redundant in task dependency graphs which are used to model the flow of computation in sparse triangular solver. We propose a fast and approximate sparsification algorithm, which eliminates more than 90% of these dependencies, substantially reducing synchronization overhead. As a result, on a 12-core Intel® Xeon® processor, our approach improves the performance of sparse triangular solver by 1.6x, compared to the conventional level-scheduling with barrier synchronization. This, in turn, leads to a 1.4x speedup in a pre-conditioned conjugate gradient solver.
Sugar phosphate phosphohydrolase. II. Effects of glucose on its activity and biosynthesis in Neisseria meningitidis.

Abstract The sugar phosphate phosphohydrolase activity of Neisseria meningitidis could be significantly repressed by a glucose concentration of 5.5 x 10-4 m, and a half-maximal repression was seen with 1.5 x 10-3 m glucose under the experimental conditions used. This restraint was independent of the Pi concentration, did not require Mg++, Mn++ Fe+++, Na+, K+, or NH4+, and exhibited no correlation with the low pH attained during glucose metabolism. Glucose did not appear to induce any other system (systems) in order to exert its repressive effect on the sugar phosphate phosphohydrolase. Enzyme formation, enzyme destruction, or inhibition of its catalytic activity did not occur on the addition of glucose to the culture medium. No evidence was observed for the presence of a mobilizable inhibitor or activator of the previously existing enzyme activity in cells cultured in the presence or absence of glucose, respectively. The elevation of the enzyme activity in the absence of glucose did not require an inducer or cellular growth, but oxidative energy-forming reactions were necessary. In contrast to puromycin and chloromycetin, actinomycin D or 8-azaguanine did not cause an inhibition of this enzyme increase. It is suggested that the translation rather than the transcription level of the protein biosynthetic process may be more important as a rate-limiting step in the elevation of the number of enzyme molecules. Evidence indicates that the primary effect of glucose, or metabolite (metabolites) of glucose, may be to prevent the association of the enzyme molecules (which have left the polysomal surface) with the membrane systems. These free unassociated enzyme molecules, but not the bound molecules, may then, secondarily, prevent their own enzyme-forming process at the translation level by a feedback control mechanism. This system would apparently be unique in that feedback inhibition in turn would display feedback repression, since the inhibition is exerted on a protein biosynthetic process. That a similar type of control mechanism might be applicable to the formation of other structural entities is discussed.
Program Restructuring via Design-Level Manipulation

A meaning-preserving program restructuring tool can be used by a software engineer to change a program's structure to better support modifications during maintenance. Our implementation of such a tool performs restructuring transformations on code fragments that are selected using a text-based interface. However, a text representation does not represent program structure well because some component relationships that we conceptualize as structure are not readily observable in the program text. For example, structural properties such as module uses or procedure calls are represented by references to names rather than by proximity or direct linkage. Since restructuring is primarily a design-oriented activity, this design information must be readily available. Although the program text may be the wrong representation to manipulate, we still want transformations to directly affect the implementation. To solve both these problems, we use a graphical representation of the program design that displays the program's structure and, unlike visualization tools, permits direct manipulation of the structure to perform transformations on the implementation. We introduce a direct manipulation graphical interface that meets these criteria. We describe its design and implementation, and discuss the special problems of direct-manipulation program restructuring at the design level, and relate it to other approaches for manipulating designs.
The J vs M relation for binary stars

For a given mass M and environmental temperature T, there is a well-defined angular momentum Jmax above which physical systems cannot exist as self-gravitating entities. The quantity Jmax ∝M2T−1/2. Observations of J and M in young binary systems should put useful constraints on the temperature of the medium from which they formed.
50 Years Ago in CORR

Arthroplasty of the hip has evolved remarkably, albeit in fits and starts, from the suggestion of Themistocles Gluck in 1891 to replace the femoral head with a carved ivory ball [3] (a suggestion that apparently failed owing to foreign body extrusion according to Jones [5]). Various authors recommended “interposition arthroplasty,” using a variety of materials placed between the two joint surfaces, including celluloid, ivory, chromacized pig’s bladder, and metal [2]. Jones, in 1908, reported interposing gold foil with some success [5]. Smith-Petersen, after trying a relatively thick hemispheric “mould” of various materials (among them glass, Pyrex®, and Bakelite) settled on Vitallium metal at the suggestion of his dentist [7]. Of all the interposition arthroplasties, this latter was the most lasting and unquestionably most successful, being used through the 1960s and early 1970s when the Charnley low friction arthroplasty assumed the dominant place in hip arthroplasty. Smith-Petersen [7] suggested the articular surfaces would repair by the molding of the fibrous ingrowth of the nascent blood clot and would progress through fibrocartilage to hyaline cartilage. Remarkably, such a repair process occurred with time, although never demonstrably to normal hyaline cartilage. Marshall Urist (the Editor-in-Chief of Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research from 1966–1993) demonstrated this process 50 years ago in histologic sections from a series of 15 patients [9] using a unique form of arthroplasty [8]. He noted two distinct forms of response: (1) progressive disintegration of the joint (typically in patients with posttraumatic and other forms of osteonecrosis; (2) progressive repair (typically in patients with old acetabular fractures or developmental conditions). The latter apparently required good collateral circulation, and progressed to fibrocartilage (Fig. 1) as had been described by Smith-Petersen [7]. That cartilage, he noted, was not normal hyaline cartilage, and rather had smaller cells (often paired presumably from recent divisions) and lacked the typical organizational features such as “chondrones” (a concept more recently popularized by Poole and colleagues [6] suggesting a coherent structure of the cell and surrounding matrix) and Benninghoff’s arcades of collagen fibers extending from the subchondral bone to the cartilage surface [1]. Contrary to common opinion at the time, this repair process occurring after a period of progressive deterioration suggests when submitted to a new mechanical environment cartilage does have a capacity to partially restore itself. Similar radiographic and histologic restoration naturally occurs spontaneously in rare cases of advanced hip osteoarthritis [4]. Urist’s work and that of others raises a question as to what conditions lead to durable restoration. Fig. 1 (Left) Kodachrome photomicrograph of a sagittal section of the articular surface of the femoral head (longitude lines) from an autopsy specimen of the hip of a 70-year-old man. The cartilage cells in the deep layers are large and surrounded by spherical ...
The neuropsychological phenotype in Turner syndrome.

Abstract Numerous studies have demonstrated a significant depression in performance IQ (PIQ) in Turner Syndrome (TS) females, but the neuropsychological interpretation of this finding remains unclear. The present study addressed the following questions regarding the neurospychological phenotype in TS: (1) Are TS women neuropsychologically impaired? (2) Is the impairment lateralized and (3) How consistent is the neuropsychological phenotype across TS individuals? Unlike previous studies, the present study utilized both normal and brain damaged female controls. All subjects were given an extended Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological battery. The TS females were significantly worse than normals but not significantly different from brain damaged females in their overall level of neuropsychological functioning. However, their impairment was not lateralized. Their pattern of lateralizing findings was similar to that found in the Diffuse and Normal groups, but significantly different from either the right or left unilateral lesion groups. Fairly consistent deficits were found on tests of visuospatial skills and long term memory, but there was considerable variability in all the other test findings among TS individuals. The results are discussed in relation to the recent findings (Inglis and Lawson, 1981) that verbal-performance IQ discrepancies may be unreliable indicators of lateralized cerebral dysfunction in females. Hence the depressed PIQ in TS appears not to indicate predominantly right hemisphere dysfunction and may not even indicate a consistent underlying neuropsychological phenotype.
Ultrasound Assisted Single Screw Extrusion Process for Dispersion of Carbon Nanofibers in Polymers

Abstract A novel method for the continuous dispersion of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) in a polymer matrix for manufacturing high performance nanocomposites was developed using an ultrasonically assisted single screw extrusion process. The effect of ultrasound on die pressure, electrical and thermal conductivity, rheological, morphological and mechanical properties of polyetherimide (PEI) filled with 1 to 20 wt.% CNFs was studied. A reduction in the die pressure and percolation threshold of CNF/PEI nanocomposites with a permanent increase in the viscosity and a permanent decrease in tan δ was achieved through ultrasonic treatment. Morphological studies of the treated nanocomposites revealed their improved homogeneity leading to an increase of the Young's modulus and electrical and thermal conductivity.
Carrier density enhancement in semiconducting NaSn and CsPb.

The electrical conductivity $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ and thermoelectric power $S$ data have been measured in two semiconductors that undergo a solid-state transformation to a dynamically disordered phase about 100 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}C below the melting point. At the transition, $\ensuremath{\sigma}$ for NaSn is reduced while that for CsPb exhibits a dramatic rise. For both semiconductors, $S$ is reduced in magnitude and changes sign at the transition. These results are consistent with a model which explicitly allows for the interactions between mobile ions and electrons and which provides a unified explanation of the transport properties of these compounds and other fast ion conductors with appreciable electronic conductivity.
Bayesian Tobit Modeling of Longitudinal Ordinal Clinical Trial Compliance Data with Nonignorable Missingness

Abstract In the Lung Health Study (LHS), compliance with the use of inhaled medication was assessed at each follow-up visit both by self-report and by weighing the used medication canisters. One or both of these assessments were missing if the participant failed to attend the visit or to return all canisters. Approximately 30% of canister-weight data and 5% to 15% of self-report data were missing at different visits. We use Gibbs sampling with data augmentation and a multivariate Hastings update step to implement a Bayesian hierarchical model for LHS inhaler compliance. Incorporating individual-level random effects to account for correlations among repeated measures on the same participant, our model is a longitudinal extension of the Tobit models used in econometrics to deal with partially unobservable data. It enables (a) assessment of the relationships among visit attendance, canister return, self-reported compliance level, and canister weight compliance, and (b) determination of demographic, physiolog...
Lysine post-translational modifications of collagen

Type I collagen is the most abundant structural protein in vertebrates. It is a heterotrimeric molecule composed of two α1 chains and one α2 chain, forming a long uninterrupted triple helical structure with short non-triple helical telopeptides at both the N- and C-termini. During biosynthesis, collagen acquires a number of post-translational modifications, including lysine modifications, that are critical to the structure and biological functions of this protein. Lysine modifications of collagen are highly complicated sequential processes catalysed by several groups of enzymes leading to the final step of biosynthesis, covalent intermolecular cross-linking. In the cell, specific lysine residues are hydroxylated to form hydroxylysine. Then specific hydroxylysine residues located in the helical domain of the molecule are glycosylated by the addition of galactose or glucose-galactose. Outside the cell, lysine and hydroxylysine residues in the N- and C-telopeptides can be oxidatively deaminated to produce reactive aldehydes that undergo a series of non-enzymatic condensation reactions to form covalent intra- and inter-molecular cross-links. Owing to the recent advances in molecular and cellular biology, and analytical technologies, the biological significance and molecular mechanisms of these modifications have been gradually elucidated. This chapter provides an overview on these enzymatic lysine modifications and subsequent cross-linking.
Observation of a new dimeric amino acid derivative in the reaction of methyl N-BOC-(S)-(3-fluorophenyl)alanate with DIBAL-H and lithio ethyl propiolate

Abstract A novel amino acid dimer 9a was isolated while trying to apply a known reduction/nucleophilic addition sequence. This dimer provided information both on the mechanism of the process and on the dependence of the desired reaction on the stoichiometry of reagents.
Estimation of fluorescence yields for 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein in titanium dioxide suspensions

Abstract A recently published computational procedure for extracting quantum yields of fluorescence, generated within a highly scattering medium, has been tested with the dye 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein in TiO 2 suspensions. The computation is based on a solution of fluorescence transport under Kubelka—Munk conditions, which implies diffuse incidence of exciting light, but the parameters entering into it were derived from transmitted and back-scattered light measurements made under the more realistic conditions of collimated or focused incident light. The computation corrects for reabsorption and converts observed fluorescence spectra from the dye in suspensions into reasonable approximations to the fluorescence spectrum of the dye dianion in solution. Fluorescence quantum yields in alkaline suspensions approach that measured in solution. Remaining differences can probably be accounted for as errors induced by polarization, which were larger than anticipated in the 450 – 500 nm wavelength range of exciting light. In weakly acid suspensions, the dye is adsorbed as the dianion to TiO 2 , and its fluorescence is largely quenched; that which remains is ascribed to free or weakly adsorbed dianion. It is concluded that the computational procedure, with parameters determined in prescribed ways, can be of value in treating fluorescence in highly scattering systems even when Kubelka—Munk conditions are not strictly observed, especially if care is taken to minimize errors from polarization.
Reserpine-induced up-regulation of dopamine D2 receptors in the rat striatum is enhanced by denervation but not by chronic receptor blockade.

Abstract Compensatory increases in the density of dopamine (DA) D 2 receptors in the rat striatum occur following chronic interruption of dopaminergic neurotransmission. Substantia nigra lesions, DA depletion with reserpine and D 2 receptor blockade by neuroleptics increase the number of striatal D 2 receptors as identified with the D 2 ligand, [ 3 H]spiperone ([ 3 H]SPIP). Chronic administration of haloperidol to substantia nigra-lesioned rats causes an additive increase in binding over levels obtained with one treatment alone. In this study we have found a similar response when lesioned animals are treated with reserpine. However, compensatory increases in the number of [ 3 H]SPIP binding sites found after combined administration of reserpine and haloperidol to intact rats do not exceed levels obtained following administration of either drug alone. The data suggest that up-regulation of striatal D 2 binding sites occurring after substantia nigra lesions is unique relative to other forms of up-regulation and may involve the loss of a presynaptic regulatory factor other than DA.
Predictors of the Development of Applied Knowledge Structures for Presidential Candidates

In this study, traditional correlates of political knowledge (reflective integration, news use, and political ideology and values) were explored using a survey to determine if they are related to the depth of applied knowledge structures. Results suggested that news use, reflective integration of news content, and political ideology, but not political values, predicted applied knowledge structure depth. Applied knowledge structures appear to be distinct from factual knowledge, and the implications of these findings for news effects research are discussed.
Multiplex real-time PCR assay for detection of pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains

Foodborne disease caused by pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus has become a serious public health problem in many countries. Rapid diagnosis and the identification of pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus are very important in the context of public health. In this study, an EvaGreen-based multiplex real-time PCR assay was established for the detection of pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus. This assay targeted three genetic markers of V. parahaemolyticus (species-specific gene toxR and virulence genes tdh and trh). The assay could unambiguously identify pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus with a minimum detection limit of 1.4 pg genomic DNA per reaction (concentration giving a positive multiplex real-time PCR result in 95% of samples). The specificity of the assay was evaluated using 72 strains of V. parahaemolyticus and other bacteria. A validation of the assay with clinical samples confirmed its sensitivity and specificity. Our data suggest the newly established multiplex real-time PCR assay is practical, cost-effective, specific, sensitive and capable of high-throughput detection of pathogenic V. parahaemolyticus.
Motion planning and control for a tethered, rimless wheel differential drive vehicle

This paper considers motion planning and control problems that are motivated by the design of tethered, extreme terrain robots. We abstract the mobility structure of these systems using a tethered differential drive robot with rimless wheels. We analyze several important issues related to this geometry. First it is shown that this vehicle cannot be modeled deterministically unless an additional degree of freedom relative to the standard differential drive vehicle is provided. The simplest kinematically consistent model is one that allows for slight prismatic motion of the axle, approximating the effects of wheel slip. We show that under mild assumptions, such a vehicle's reachable set is dense in SE(2), implying local maneuverability. Next we study some of the constraints which the tether places on the vehicle's motions and derive scaling laws relating wheel and vehicle speeds. Using these results, we provide simple planning and approximate path-following methods that allow tether management. In particular, we consider trajectories produced by solving an optimal control problem to minimize the integral of absolute tether-reeling rate.
Visual cortex activation induced by tactile stimulation in late-blind individuals with retinitis pigmentosa

The inter-subject variability of visual cortex reorganization was assessed in late-blind subjects suffering from retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative retinal disease that results in tunnel vision and eventual loss of sight. fMRI BOLD responses were measured as blindfolded RP and blindfolded sighted control groups completed a tactile discrimination task (in which subjects determined the relative roughness of sandpaper discs) during successive scans in a 3T Siemens scanner. Resulting activation patterns were compared between the two groups in a whole-brain analysis. We found that vision deprivation leads to elevated activation of the visual cortex elicited with tactile stimuli, and the degree of activation correlates with the degree of visual field loss: higher visual cortex activation is associated with greater vision loss. The location of vision loss in the visual field also correlates with the location of tactile responses in the visual cortex, with greater peripheral vision loss leading to stronger activation in the peripheral of V1. Visual cortex responses to tactile stimuli may hence be used as a diagnostic marker in determining the extent of an individual's vision loss and tracking sight recovery following treatments.
The interaction of platelets and concanavalin A.

Abstract The interaction of agglutinating concanavalin A and non-agglutinating trypsinized concanavalin A preparations with platelet surfaces was monitored by determining the gel electrophoretic labelling pattern of platelet membrane protein obtained from iodinated cells pre-incubated with the plant lectin. A radioactive peak of molecular weight 25,000 was detected in the membrane protein fraction obtained from cells exposed to native concanavalin A and trypsinized concanavalin A which was not detected in the membrane proteins obtained from control cells unexposed to concanavalin A. The 25,000 molecular weight peak was shown to be part of the concanavalin A molecule by the following criteria. I. The radioactive protein in the mannoside eluate obtained from platelets incubated with iodinated T-ConA reacted with antibody to concanavalin A. 2. Gel electrophoresis of this mannoside eluate revealed an identical low molecular weight radioactive peak to that seen in the membrane protein derived from iodinated cells preincubated with the lectin. These results suggest that concanavalin A binds to the platelet membrane and appears as a 25,000 molecular weight peak following solubilization, reduction, and electrophoresis of the platelet membrane proteins. Binding of the trypsinized concanavalin A to the platelet surface interfered with platelet agglutination induced by native “multivalent” concanavalin A. Trypsinized concanavalin A inhibited platelet aggregation and serotonin release induced by ADP, epinephrine, collagen and thrombin. We suggest that trypsinized concanavalin A alters platelet membrane function by steric interference with essential membrane components.
Failure mechanisms in human vertebral cancellous bone

Specimens of human vertebral cancellous bone were compressed to well past mechanical failure (15% strain) in the infero-superior direction. The mechanisms of failure were examined microscopically and histologically. The primary mechanism of failure was shown to be microscopic cracking rather than overt failure of the trabecular elements. The morphology of the cracks was consistent with an hypothesis that they were the result of shear stress (or strain) in the tissue. Complete fracture of trabeculae was confined to elements oriented transversely to the direction of loading. The tissue's ultimate strength and residual strength after compressive failure were both strongly correlated to tissue stiffness (R2 = 0.88 and R2 = 0.71, respectively). It is proposed that cancellous bone strength may be a consequence of the adaptation of bone stiffness to applied stresses. With removal of the load, all specimens recovered at least 94% of their original height. Implications of energy dissipation by microcracking for recovery and maintenance of overall trabecular architecture are discussed.
A revision of the southern African family Prototheoridae (Lepidoptera: Hepialoidea)

The systematics and external morphology of the southern African family Prototheoridae are reviewed. A single genus, Prototheora, is recognized, with the former genus Metatheora synonymized. Eleven species are recognized, including five new species: angolae, biserrata, drackensbergae, geniculata, and merga. In addition, two possibly new species represented only by female specimens are described but not named. A key to the species of Prototheora is provided, as well as a preliminary analysis of their relationships. The family is considered to be one of the most basal lineages in the Hepialoidea and can be partially destinguished from related families by several plesiomorphic characters including the retention of three segmented maxillary palpi (plesiomorphic within Hepialoidea), simple antenna, generalized leg structure with a complete set of tibial spurs (0-2-4), and a single row of abdominal spines on A3-7 of the pupa. Possible synapomorphies involve the lateral sclerotization of the suspensorium and the extreme development of a conjugal process from sternum IX of the female which may lock into a conjugal pouch usually formed by the male trulleum and juxta. The family occurs predominantly within two highly divergent, South African floristic zones, the Capensis, or Fynbos dominated Cape Flora, and the southern Afromontane zone, characterized by mostly temperate, evergreen forests. Most species occur within the Capensis, and all but three (P. angolae from central Angola and P. drackensbergae and parachlora from Natal) are restricted to Cape Province, mostly in or south of the Cape Folded Belt mountain ranges. Their life history remains unknown.
Effects of crowding by mono-, di-, and tetrasaccharides on cytochrome c-cytochrome c peroxidase binding: comparing experiment to theory.

In cells, protein-protein interactions occur in an environment that is crowded with other molecules, but in vitro studies are almost exclusively performed in dilute solution. To gain information about the effects of crowding on protein complex formation, we used isothermal titration calorimetry to measure the stoichiometry, the free energy change, and the enthalpy change for the binding of yeast iso-1-ferricytochrome c to yeast ferricytochrome c peroxidase in dilute solution and in solutions crowded with the sugars glucose, sucrose, and stachyose. The stoichiometry is 1:1 under all conditions. The sugars stabilize the complex, but by only 0.1-0.5 kcal.mol(-)(1), and the increased stability is not correlated with the change in enthalpy of complex formation. We then compared the measured stability changes to values obtained from several analyses that are currently used to predict crowding-induced changes in biomolecular equilibria. None of the analyses are completely successful by themselves, and the results suggest that a complete analysis must account for both excluded-volume and chemical interactions.
Estimations of Certain Environmental Influences on Milk Production Based upon Dairy Herd Improvement Association Data

Abstract A preliminary study indicated that influences other than maximum daily temperature account for most of the variation in milk production among cows. As a result, herd data on 305 herds and 19,636 cows were analyzed, using multiple covariance and regression techniques, to determine the effects of 13 management variables on fat corrected milk (FCM) production. Statistically significant regressions and constants were obtained for FCM on per cent of cows sired artificially, number of milking machines used, management of the breeding program, grain feeding program, milking facilities, and pipeline vs. bucket milking. Regressions obtained for per cent management by family, average number of months in DHIA, milking program, number of men using machines, size of herd, total number of men in milking operation, and time spent for one milking were not significant. The variables studied accounted for about 31% of the total variation ( R 2 = 30.7).
Clinical significance of non-Candida fungal blood isolation in patients undergoing high-risk allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (1993-2001)

BACKGROUND The clinical relevance of mold isolated from blood cultures, even in severely immunosuppressed allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) recipients, remains uncertain. The authors hypothesized that isolation of non-Candida fungi from blood cultures in patients undergoing high-risk HSCT would have clinical significance. METHODS The authors reviewed the records of 73 allogeneic HSCT recipients between January 1, 1993 and January 1, 2001 in whom fungal species were isolated from blood cultures. RESULTS Fifty-two episodes of non-Candida fungemia occurred in 48 patients (66%) after a median of 10 days (range, 2–341) after transplantation. All 48 patients had indwelling intravascular catheters, and 23 patients (48%) had profound neutropenia. Thirty-five of 48 patients had received partially matched, related donor stem cell grafts (19 patients had 3-antigen-mismatched grafts); 35 patients had undergone T-cell depleted transplantation and 9 patients were receiving treatment for acute graft-versus-host disease. In 5 of 48 patients (10%), death was attributed to fungemia that occurred 8–11 days after the initial fungal blood culture was obtained; all 5 patients were age > 30 years. No deaths occurred in the younger age group (n = 22 patients; P = 0.05). In the 24 patients who did not receive systemic antifungal therapy, 4 deaths (17%) were attributed to infections with Penicillium (n = 2 patients), Epicoccum (n = 1 patient), or Penicillium plus Cladosporium species (n = 1 patient). Of the 24 patients who received amphotericin B, only 1 patient (4%) died as a result of a probable hematogenous Aspergillus species infection; this difference in outcome, however, was not significant (P = 0.2). CONCLUSIONS Most of the non-Candida fungal blood culture isolates in recipients of high-risk, mismatched donor transplantation were clinically nonsignificant. However, because these low-virulence saprophytes occasionally may cause life-threatening disease, a reevaluation of the existing diagnostic paradigm is needed so that clinically significant fungemia may be differentiated from pseudofungemia. Cancer 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.
Contemporary Russian Satire: A Genre Study

This wide-ranging 1996 study presents an examination of the extraordinary diversity and range of satirical writing in Russian literature and will be of interest not only to Slavicists but also to those interested in genre theory. Through the close analysis of seminal satirical texts written by five Russian and emigre authors in the 1970s and 1980s, Karen Ryan-Hayes demonstrates that formal and thematic parody is pervasive and that it provides additional levels of meaning in contemporary Russian satire. Each work under examination is placed within the wider European literary context as well as within the Russian tradition and is representative of a different sub-genre of satire. The author focuses on a variety of these genres and modes and offers practical criticism on each text. The writers under discussion have enjoyed a positive reception in the West and their works demonstrate the variety and vitality of Russian and Soviet satire.
The use of commercial serum replacements in media for the in vitro replication of nuclear polyhedrosis virus

Abstract Two commercially available fetal bovine serum replacements, previously used in media for the culture of vertebrate and insect cells, were evaluated in comparison with fetal bovine serum (FBS) for suitability as medium supplements for the production of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus in fall armyworm cell cultures. The overall patterns of viral protein synthesis were similar in infected cells in each of the media supplements, but some differences were noted in quantities of individual proteins produced and in the temporal regulation of the synthesis. The release of extracellular budded virions (ECV) in all media began at about the same time and the rate of release was similar. However, the final concentration of ECV was consistently lower in medium containing either CPSR-1 or CPSR-3 than that in FBS supplemented medium. The number of occlusion bodies (OB) per cell was also less in the CPSR-1 medium. In the CPSR-3 medium the number OBs per cell produced was not significantly different from those in the FBS medium. The LC 50 value of the OBs bioassayed in neonate Spodoptera frugiperda produced in the CPRS-3 medium was significantly lower than that of OBs from FBS medium but the LC 70 and LC 90 values were not. Abnormal OBs, that is OBs that contained few or no occluded virions, were observed in cells in media with all three supplements.