cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adult Medication-Free Schizophrenic Patients Exhibit Long-Chain Omega-3 Fatty Acid Deficiency: Implications for Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Deficiency in long-chain omega-3 (LCn - 3) fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n - 3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n - 3), has been implicated in the pathoetiology of cardiovascular disease, a primary cause of excess premature mortality in patients with schizophrenia (SZ). In the present study, we determined erythrocyte EPA + DHA levels in adult medication-free patients SZ (n = 20) and age-matched healthy controls (n = 24). Erythrocyte EPA + DHA composition exhibited by SZ patients (3.5%) was significantly lower than healthy controls (4.5%, -22%, P = 0.007). The majority of SZ patients (72%) exhibited EPA+DHA levels ≤4.0% compared with 37% of controls (Chi-square, P = 0.001). In contrast, the omega-6 fatty acid arachidonic acid (AA, 20:4n - 6) (+9%, P = 0.02) and the AA:EPA + DHA ratio (+28%, P = 0.0004) were significantly greater in SZ patients. Linoleic acid (18:2n - 6) was significantly lower (-12%, P = 0.009) and the erythrocyte 20:3/18:2 ratio (an index of delta6-desaturase activity) was significantly elevated in SZ patients. Compared with same-gender controls, EPA + DHA composition was significantly lower in male (-19%, P = 0.04) but not female (-13%, P = 0.33) SZ patients, whereas the 20:3/18:2 ratio was significantly elevated in both male (+22%, P = 0.008) and female (+22%, P = 0.04) SZ patients. These results suggest that the majority of SZ patients exhibit low LCn - 3 fatty acid levels which may place them at increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.
Structure of hexamethylbenzene monocarbanion

Abstract NMR data demonstrate that the negative charge of 2,3,4,5,6-pentamethylbenzyl anion is confined to a single resonance-stabilized methylene. No evidence was found for a fluxional carbanion in which protons pass rapidly, in a circular fashion, from one carbon to the next.
Against Two Modest Conceptions of Hard Paternalism

People in our liberal pluralistic society have conflicting intuitions about the legitimacy of coercive hard paternalism, though respect for agency provides a common source of objection to it. The hard paternalist must give adequate reasons for her coercion which are acceptable to a free and equal agent. Coercion that fails to meet with an agent’s reasonable evaluative commitments is at least problematic and risks being authoritarian. Even if the coercer claims no normative authority over the coercee, the former still uses coercion to replace the latter’s reasons or will with his own reasons or will. But does every hard paternalistic view have to invite such objection? Throughout I will assume that defenders of what I will call “Neutral Paternalism” (NP) and “Commonsense Paternalism” (CP) aim to offer reasons for coercion all can reasonably endorse despite evaluative diversity, in opposition to more objectionable forms of coercive paternalism, such as those which defend it on religious or perfectionist grounds. I will argue, nonetheless, that Gerald Dworkin’s defense of NP and Danny Scoccia’s defense of CP succumb to the same problems of objectionable imposition that saddle other forms of coercive paternalism. The shortcomings in their views suggest that even modest hard paternalism is nonetheless problematic for liberals.
Atmospheric nitrogen deposition to estuaries in the mid-atlantic and northeastern United States

The purpose of this work was to determine the contribution made by atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition to the total N input to 10 estuaries on the east coast of the United States. We estimated the amount of N fixed by human activities in the watersheds (N fertilization, biotic N2fixation by legumes and pastures, atmospheric N deposition, and net food and feed import of N) of these 10 estuaries and used a land-use specific approach to estimate the N available for transport to the estuary from different watershed N sources (runoff from agriculture, urban areas and upland forests, point sources, and atmospheric deposition). Total atmospheric N inputs (watershed runoff plus direct deposition to the surface of estuary) accounted for 15-42% of the total N inputs to these 10 estuaries. Direct deposition to the surface of the estuary was an important atmospheric N source for four estuaries, accounting for 35-50% of the total atmospheric N inputs. Simulated reductions of atmospheric N deposition by 25% and 50% of current deposition rates reduced the contribution made by atmospheric N deposition to the total N loads by 1-6% and 2-11%, respectively. Largest reductions occurred in estuaries with direct atmospheric N deposition contributions >35% of the total atmospheric N input. Results from our simulated reductions suggest that considerable reductions (>25%) in atmospheric N deposition will be needed to significantly reduce the contribution made by atmospheric N deposition to the total N loads to our study estuaries. In addition, reductions in atmospheric N deposition will first be detected in estuaries with relatively high direct deposition inputs of atmospheric N deposition.
Characterization of narrowband infrared interference filters

A Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrophotometer system is used to measure the transmittance of infrared band-pass filters as a function of wavelength, temperature, and beam geometry. Measurements are performed using an f/4 beam geometry at normal incidence, or a nearly collimated geometry with variable angle of incidence. Blocking filters are used to expand the dynamic range of the out-of-band measurement to transmittances as low as 10-6 with 4 cm-1 resolution.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Experimental Microvascular Suture Anastomosis

To evaluate the limits imposed by blood vessel size on success or failure of vascular anastomosis by suture techniques, tiny vessels in young CFN rats were anastomosed by microsuture technique, using the Zeiss operating microscope at 16 and 25 magnifications. In series I aortae averaging 1.3 mm external diameter prior to manipulation were divided transversely and rejoined by suture anastomosis. In series II inferior venae cavae averaging 2.7 mm external diameter prior to manipulation were similarly treated. In series III both of these procedures were performed in each animal. There were ten animals in each group. Of 40 consecutive anastomoses only three were not patent when the animals were sacrificed three weeks after surgery. Two of the failures were arterial, and one was venous. This high success rate was achieved only when certain refinements in technique had been perfected. The feasibility of suture anastomosis of extremely small veins as well as arteries has been demonstrated.
Affinity-Seeking Communication in Collegiate Female-Male Relationships.

The development of affinity is one of the most important functions of interpersonal communication between college females and males. This study examined differential preferences in use of and expectations of the use of affinity‐seeking strategies as a function of gender of participant. Results indicated distinct differences between self‐reported male and female strategies and further indicated that both males and females expected an individual of the opposite gender to mirror their own preferences when seeking affinity with them. Two alternative explanations for the apparent difficulty in defining affinity‐seeking relationships in cross‐gender dyads as complementary or symmetrical are explored, with a suggestion that the relative willingness of either interactant to respond to the other's preferred strategies may be more important than characteristic gender behaviors in establishing affinity in such dyads.
Effects of end-expired pressure on phrenic output in servo-ventilated dogs.

Abstract The pattern of breathing induced by increases in end-expired lung volume (EEVL) was determined in 9 anesthetized dogs. The pulmonary and systematic circulations were separately pump-perfused and the lungs were ventilated with a servo-ventilator actuated from the phrenic neurogram. EEVL was increased as a continuous ramp by slowly raising end-expired transpulmonary pressure from 1.5 to 12 cm H2O. Tidal volume ( Vt ), inspiratory time ( Ti ), and expiratory time ( Te ) were measured at vagal temperatures of 39°C and 7°C and following vagotomy. At a vagal temperature of 39°C, increasing EEVL produced significant reductions in Vt and Ti while greatly prolonging Te . Vagal cooling to 7°C, substantially altered the reflex response to increased EEVL. At 7°C, Vt decreased as EEVL increased, but the reduction was not so pronounced as at 39°C. In addition, both Ti and Te shortened. Increasing EEVL following vagotomy had no consistent effects on breathing pattern. We conclude that increasing EEVL stimulates tachypneic promoting pulmonary afferent nerves, most likely pulmonary C-fibers, but at normal vagal temperature their effect is masked by the stronger reflex inhibition of slowly adapting pulmonary stretch receptors.
On random placement and species-area relations

Abstract Consider a collection C of individuals from several species residing ina region R which is the union of a number of nonoverlapping subregions. Let n i be the number of individuals from species i which belong to C and hence reside somewhere in R . The simplest hypothesis about the spatial distribution throughout R of the members of C is that their placement in dwelling sites is random and noninteractive, with the probability of a given individual of C residing in a particular subregion r of R equal to the ratio α ofthe area of r to the area of R . It is shown here that when this hypothesis of random placement holds, the mean s and variance σ 2 of the number of species from C represented in r are given by explicit functions of α, provided the number n i are known. Thus, if all the species in C have been censured, species-area data permit a test of the hypothesis of random placement. The nature of the dependence of s and σ 2 on α is discussed in detail for special cases in which the numbers n i are given by such theoritical abundance relations as the logarithmic series distribution, the “broken stick” distribution, the lognormal distribution, the Poisson lognormal distribution, and the gamma distribution. The arguments employed here to deduce consequences of the hypothesis of random choice are rigorous and exact. No use is made of the assumption, commonly made heretofore (but not in general correct, even under the hypothesis of random placement), that a species-area curve (giving the number of species expected to be found in a sample of known area ) must have the same form as the corresponding collector's curve (giving the number of species expected in a sample of a known number of individuals ). Nor is it assumed in advance, as is often done in the theory of island biogeography, that the distribution of individuals throughout the subregions of R is such thatthe species abundance relations for subregions of different areas must be of a preassigned type, i.e., must share a common form, such as that associated with a truncated lognormal distribution.
An examination of effects of solidification parameters on permeability of a mushy zone in castings

A model describing the development of dendritic structure and the resulting gradient of flow resistance to interdendritic liquid is presented. The Hagen–Pousielle version of D’Arcy’s equation for flow through a porous structure is developed as a function of cooling rate and liquid volume fraction. Applied to finite elements in a unidirectionally cooled casting model, permeability gradient, feeding flow-rate required to prevent porosity, and mushy-zone liquid pressure drop at this flow rate are evaluated for the simple Fe–2Cr–0.5C and Al–5Cu castings exhibiting asymptotic and linear temperature profiles, respectively. The model shows permeability of the dendritic structure in the mushy zone dropping sharply, approaching the root of solidification front (solidus). Also shown is the effect of relative magnitude of primary and secondary arm spacing. If secondary dendrite arm spacing approaches primary arm spacing, the permeability for flow normal to primary dendrite arms approaches or even surpasses the permeability for flow parallel to primary dendrite arms.
Measurement of plant nucleotides by high-performance liquid chromatography

Abstract Procedure are described for the chromatographic isolation of nucleotides from plant extracts and fro their separation and measurement by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A plant extract containing nucleotides plus an array of other plant products and ions was adjusted to pH 2 with hydrochloric acid and passed sequentially through three small low-pressure columns containing: (1) porous polystyrene (Amberlite XAD-2), (2) water-insoluble polyvinylpolypyrrolidone, (3) charcoal—cellulose. At pH 2, the first two columns retained most aromatic compounds but not nucleotides. The latter were retained by the charcoal while inorganic ions and aliphatic compounds passed through all three column. Nucleotides were eluted from the charcoal with ammoniacal alcohol. They were separated on an HPLC anion-exchange column with gradient elution. During the passage of a dilute phosphate mobile phase through the column, large changes in pH occurred because of Donnan equilibrium effects. These effects prevented pH equilibration of the column in a reasonable time, caused irregularities in nucleotide retention time, and even changed elution order. The addition of 0.01 M acetate to a dilute phosphate mobile phase improved pH control so that column pH equilibration was achieved within 50 min. Nucleotide retention times were stabilized and separation improved. At 0.01 M , the acetate showed relatively little tendency to compete with phosphate for exchange sites.
Transfer of immunity to Babesia microti of human origin using T lymphocytes in mice.

Abstract Lymph node and spleen cells from mice infected with Babesia microti of human origin developed the ability to transfer adoptive immunity to naive mice within 25 days after infection. This protective activity was greater in cells obtained at 32 days than in cells obtained at 25 days postinfection and remained stable up to 52 days postinfection. Recipients of lymph node cells and spleen cells displayed similar peak parasitemias although 2 days after peak parasitemia, immune spleen cell recipients had significantly lower parasitemias than immune lymph node cell recipients. Strong protective activity was demonstrated when cells were transferred 1 day postinfection, while equal numbers of cells, transferred 3 days postinfection did not confer significant protection over nonimmune cells. There was also a suggestion that the number of immune spleen cells necessary for significant protection was directly related to the number of parasites inoculated. The subpopulation of lymphocytes responsible for the transfer of adoptive immunity to B. microti of human origin was then studied in BALB/c mice depleted of T lymphocytes by thymectomy and lethal irradiation. One day after infection with B. microti , T-cell-depleted mice were given complement-treated immune spleen cells, anti-θ serum-treated immune spleen cells, nonimmune spleen cells, or no cells. Similar experiments were performed comparing the effects of anti-immunoglobulin serum-treated and unfractionated immune spleen cells on B. microti parasitemia. Treatment with anti-θ serum abrogated the protective activity of immune spleen cells while anti-immunoglobulin serum treatment had no effect. These results suggest that immunologic memory of B. microti in BALB/c mice is modulated by T rather than B lymphocytes.
Guaranteed asymptotic stability for a class of uncertain linear dynamical systems

We consider a class of linear dynamical systems with bounded, Lebesgue-measurable uncertainties in the system and input matrices as well as in the input itself. A state feedback control is derived, which guarantees global, uniform asymptotic stability of the zero state; this control is continuous, except at the zero state.
Cholinergic modulation of Kir2 channels selectively elevates dendritic excitability in striatopallidal neurons

Dopamine-depleting lesions of the striatum that mimic Parkinson's disease induce a profound pruning of spines and glutamatergic synapses in striatopallidal medium spiny neurons, leaving striatonigral medium spiny neurons intact. The mechanisms that underlie this cell type–specific loss of connectivity are poorly understood. The Kir2 K+ channel is an important determinant of dendritic excitability in these cells. Here we show that opening of these channels is potently reduced by signaling through M1 muscarinic receptors in striatopallidal neurons, but not in striatonigral neurons. This asymmetry could be attributed to differences in the subunit composition of Kir2 channels. Dopamine depletion alters the subunit composition further, rendering Kir2 channels in striatopallidal neurons even more susceptible to modulation. Reduced opening of Kir2 channels enhances dendritic excitability and synaptic integration. This cell type–specific enhancement of dendritic excitability is an essential trigger for synaptic pruning after dopamine depletion, as pruning was prevented by genetic deletion of M1 muscarinic receptors.
Resolving quadrature fringes in real time.

In many interferometers, two fringe signals can be generated in quadrature. The relative phase of the two fringe signals depends on whether the optical path length is increasing or decreasing. A system is developed in which two quadrature fringe signals are digitized and analyzed in real time with a digital signal processor to yield a linear, high-resolution, wide-dynamic-range displacement transducer. The resolution in a simple Michelson interferometer with inexpensive components is 5 × 10-13 m Hz-1/2 at 2 Hz.
From Expressed Sequence Tags to Peroxisome Biogenesis Disorder Genes

Isolation of human disease genes is a challenging process and can often only be achieved by labor-intensive positional cloning techniques. Fortunately, there are alternative strategies for isolation of peroxisome biogenesis disorder genes. The first, functional complementation, was established as a viable approach by Fujiki and colleagues, who identified PAF-1, the first known peroxisome biogenesis disorder gene. The second strategy, computer-based homology probing, relies on (1) the fact that peroxisome assembly has been conserved throughout the evolution of eukaryotes, (2) knowledge of the amino acid sequences of an increasing number of yeast peroxisome assembly (PAS) genes, and (3) the existence of sequence data from large numbers of human genes. The recent development of the expressed sequence tag (EST) database (dbEST) is fulfilling the last of these requirements. We have applied the homology probing strategy in the search for candidate genes for the peroxisome biogenesis disorders by routinely screening the database of ESTs for genes with significant sequence similarity to yeast PAS genes. The validity of this approach is demonstrated by its use in identifying PXR1 as the human orthologue of the Pichia pastoris PAS8 gene and PXAAA1 as a human homologue of the Pichia pastoris PAS5 gene. Furthermore, detailed analysis of PXR1 has revealed that mutations in this gene are responsible for complementation group 2 of the peroxisome biogenesis disorders. The demonstration that human homologues of yeast PAS genes exist and that mutations in these genes cause peroxisome biogenesis disorders demonstrates that yeast pas mutants are accurate and useful models for the analysis of these diseases.
Ubiquitous Health Monitoring System for Diagnosis of Sleep Apnea With Zigbee Network and Wireless LAN

The Greek word “apnea” literally means “without breath.” The three types of apnea are obstructive, central, and mixed. Obstructive is the most common type. Despite the difference in the root cause of the three types of apnea, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for 1 min or longer. Sleep apnea can cause high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases, memory problems, weight gain, impotency, and headaches. Sleep apnea may be responsible for job impairment and motor vehicle accidents. Apart from the physical health risks, sleep apnea can lead to social problems when left undiagnosed or untreated such as a high amount of unnecessary health care cost. Sleep disorder is diagnosed with polysomnography, an overnight sleep study, by monitoring electrical activity of brain, heart, eye movement, muscle activity, breathing pattern, and other physiological signals. Because polysomnography requires overnight monitoring by a sleep technologist with full sleep staging, polysomnography is expensive, inconvenient, time consuming, and labor intensive. Although some systems provide home based diagnosis, most systems record the sleep data in a memory card. The patient must send the memory card to a medical center through the mail or internet. The real-time monitoring is not performed and a patient can experience life threatening episodes by not receiving proper feedback from a medical center or a physician. We propose a wireless health monitoring system to diagnose sleep apnea, which enables the global monitoring of biomedical signals. A patient does not need hospitalization and can be diagnosed and receive feedback at home. The system supports monitoring five different biomedical signals to diagnose sleep apnea: electrocardiogram with dry electrodes (no gel), body position, nasal airflow, abdomen/chest efforts and oxygen saturation. The system consists of three units: a wireless transmitter, a wireless receiver, and a monitoring unit. A wireless transmitter unit sends the measured signals from sensors to a receiver unit with Zigbee communication. The receiver unit, which has two wireless modules, Zigbee and Wi-Fi, receives signals from the transmitter unit and retransmits signals to the remote monitoring system with Zigbee and Wi-Fi communication, respectively. By using both the Zigbee network and wireless LAN, the system can achieve low power consumption in a local monitoring area with the feature of the Zigbee standard. The system also provides wide data coverage and easily extends its sensor network to the Internet with the Wi-Fi standard. The features of the system and the results of the continuous monitoring of vital signals are presented.
TH-E-BRA-01: A Line-Source Method for Aligning Onboard-Robotic-Pinhole and Other SPECT-Pinhole Systems

Purpose: To achieve on‐board molecular imaging in the radiation therapy room, we are developing a robotic multi‐pinhole SPECT system. Alignment of the SPECT system to LINAC/CBCT coordinates is essential for target localization and image reconstruction. Pinhole alignment methods typically use point sources, which can be challenging to make and to localize. We propose a method that utilizes line sources and as few as one pinhole projection. This method is generally applicable to SPECT pinhole imaging.Methods: Line source positions are taken as known by CBCT or some other transmission imaging procedure. A model is developed relating line source positions and their pinhole‐SPECT projections to pinhole‐SPECT alignment parameters. Based on this model and a radon‐transform detection of projected lines, alignment parameters (three detector rotations, three detector translations, and in some cases three pinhole translations) are estimated. To evaluate the method, line‐source projections are computer‐simulated, with blur and noise included, for three and five lines, and for several pinhole‐SPECT rotations/translations. Alignment parameters are obtained and compared to true values. Results: For six parameters (3 translations, 3 rotations), errors were 0.3±0.6mm, 0.3±0.4mm, 1.1±2.2mm, 0.2±0.1deg, 0.3±0.6deg, 0.5±0.5deg using three line sources and 0.2±0.3mm, 0.5±1.2mm, 0.9±1.6mm, 0.1±0.2deg, 0.4±0.7deg, 0.2±0.4deg using five line sources. For nine parameters and five line sources, errors were 6.2±10.5mm, 8.4±16.7mm, 29.2±44.0mm, 1.9±2.8deg, 0.7±0.9deg, 0.7±1.6deg, 3.7±4.5mm, 4.8±3.3mm, 16.7±25.1mm. Replacing the line‐source projection positions determined by the radon transform with true values, these nine parameters were estimated with no error using five line sources. Conclusions: Estimation of alignment parameters can be achieved using one pinhole projection of line‐sources. Alignment errors are largely associated with limited accuracy of the radon transform in determining positions of line‐source projections. For robotic multi‐pinhole SPECT, this method shows promise to estimate relative and absolute alignment of each pinhole within the multi‐pinhole system. This work is supported by NIH grant R21‐CA156390‐01A1.
High-frequency approximations of the full wave solutions to single and double scatter cross sections for two-dimensional random rough surfaces

The like and cross polarized single and double scattered fields are derived using a full wave approach. This approach is based on the complete expansion of the electromagnetic fields, the imposition of exact boundary conditions and the conversion of Maxwell's equations into generalized telegraphists equations for the scattered wave amplitudes. Thus, the zero order iterative solutions for the generalized telegraphists equations yield the primary electromagnetic (source) fields impressed upon the rough surface. The first and second order iterative solutions to the generalized telegropherts' equations yield the single and double scattered fields. This can be clearly demonstrated by taking the geometric optics limit of the full wave solutions. To obtain the corresponding like and cross polarized scatter cross sections, as in the case of scattering from one dimensional rough surfaces, it is necessary to account for contributions from the quasi parallel double scatter paths as well as the quasi antiparallel double scatter paths. However, for scattering from two dimensional rough surfaces, these paths are not restricted to the plane of incidence. The full wave solutions for the double scattered fields are expressed as six dimensional integrals, that account for the complete wave spectra of scattered fields and the coordinate variables at a pair of points on the rough surface. These expressions are used to obtain the multidimensional integrals for the like and cross polarized cross sections. To make these solutions tractable for computational purposes, a high frequency approximation of the full wave double scatter cross sections are expressed as four dimensional integrals involving scatter wave vector variables. These results can be evaluated in significantly less time than standard numerical solutions of the integral equations. Moreover, the physical interpretation of the results shed light on the impact, of different statistical parameters of the random rough surfaces, upon the backscatter enhancement.
Master Sintering Curve Concepts as Applied to the Sintering of Molybdenum

Sintering experiments with various molybdenum powders are rationalized using a master sintering curve concept that collapses density, grain size, or other parameters onto a single curve. In this case, the integral work of sintering is developed and customized for different green densities. Construction of the master sintering curve is described to show how the curve can be normalized with respect to green density effects. Various grades of molybdenum for metal injection molding and die compaction are included in the analysis, processed over a range of heating cycles. Die-compacted samples of varying green densities are used to illustrate the efficacy of the new, normalized master sintering curve concept. Sintering cycle optimization is one possible outcome from this analysis.
Neural dynamics of motion grouping: from aperture ambiguity to object speed and direction

A neural network model of visual motion perception and speed discrimination is developed to simulate data concerning the conditions under which components of moving stimuli cohere or not into a global direction of motion, as in barberpole and plaid patterns (both type 1 and type 2). The model also simulates how the perceived speed of lines moving in a prescribed direction depends on their orientation, length, duration, and contrast. Motion direction and speed both emerge as part of an interactive motion grouping or segmentation process. The model proposes a solution to the global aperture problem by showing how information from feature tracking points, namely, locations from which unambiguous motion directions can be computed, can propagate to ambiguous motion direction points and capture the motion signals there. The model does this without computing intersections of constraints or parallel Fourier and non-Fourier pathways. Instead, the model uses orientationally unselective cell responses to activate directionally tuned transient cells. These transient cells, in turn, activate spatially short-range filters and competitive mechanisms over multiple spatial scales to generate speed-tuned and directionally tuned cells. Spatially long-range filters and top–down feedback from grouping cells are then used to track motion of featural points and to select and propagate correct motion directions to ambiguous motion points. Top–down grouping can also prime the system to attend a particular motion direction. The model hereby links low-level automatic motion processing with attention-based motion processing. Homologs of model mechanisms have been used in models of other brain systems to simulate data about visual grouping, figure–ground separation, and speech perception. Earlier versions of the model have simulated data about short-range and long-range apparent motion, second-order motion, and the effects of parvocellular and magnocellular lateral geniculate nucleus lesions on motion perception.
Effects of unopposed conjugated equine estrogen on lipoprotein composition and apolipoprotein-E distribution.

Administration of conjugated equine estrogen to 31 postmenopausal women for 3 months produced 14.6% and 9.4% decreases in low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and apolipoprotein-B (apoB), and 11.5%, 12.7%, and 9.6% increases in high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), apoA-I and apoA-II, respectively. Phospholipids of HDL2 and HDL3 were increased 57.9% and 19.3%, respectively, while relatively small increases in cholesterol of the two subfractions were not significant. Compositions of LDL and HDL and its subfractions were altered substantially with estrogen treatment. The proportion of LDL triglyceride to LDL-C was increased. The phospholipid content in both the HDL2 and HDL3 subfractions (compared to cholesterol) was increased significantly (34.8% and 10.7%, respectively), while the triglyceride content was increased only in the HDL2 subfraction (43.6%). Estrogen use also caused a 9.1% reduction in total apoE levels and a redistribution of apoE to the very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) from ...
Mechanism of Carbamazepine Mediated Rescue of Trafficking Defective Mutant KATP Channels

The β-cell ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel regulates insulin secretion by coupling glucose metabolism to membrane excitability. Mutations in the constituent protein subunits Kir6.2 and sulfonylurea receptor 1 (SUR1) that prevent channels from trafficking to the cell surface are frequent causes of congenital hyperinsulinism. We recently reported that carbamazepine, an anticonvulsant, corrects the trafficking defects caused by mutations in the N-terminal transmembrane domain of SUR1. In addition, carbamazepine inhibits the function of rescued channels that can be reversed by subsequent drug removal. Here, we investigated the mechanism underlying carbamazepine's effects on KATP channel trafficking and gating by partial proteolysis and electrophysiology, respectively. We show that carbamazepine inhibits channel activity by specifically abolishing channel response to the physiological stimulator MgADP. Our partial proteolysis results show that carbamazepine interacts with the channel complex and protects the N-terminus of Kir6.2 against trypsin digestion. Further, results show that deletion of Kir6.2 N-terminal 30 amino acids severely compromised carbamazepine mediated rescue of the SUR1 trafficking mutant, F27S. Our findings suggest a structural model for carbamazepine mediated rescue of SUR1-TMD0 trafficking mutants and inhibition of KATP channels.
On the conversion of tritium units to mass fractions for hydrologic applications

We develop a general equation for converting laboratory-reported tritium levels, expressed either as concentrations (tritium isotope number fractions) or mass-based specific activities, to mass fractions in aqueous systems. Assuming that all tritium is in the form of monotritiated water simplifies the derivation and is shown to be reasonable for most environmental settings encountered in practice. The general equation is nonlinear. For tritium concentrations c less than 4.5×1012 tritium units (TU) – i.e. specific tritium activities<5.3×1011 Bq kg−1 – the mass fraction w of tritiated water is approximated to within 1 part per million by w ≈ c×2.22293×10−18, i.e. the conversion is linear for all practical purposes. Terrestrial abundances serve as a proxy for non-tritium isotopes in the absence of sample-specific data. Variation in the relative abundances of non-tritium isotopes in the terrestrial hydrosphere produces a minimum range for the mantissa of the conversion factor of [2.22287; 2.22300].
Near-bottom currents over the continental slope in the Mid-Atlantic Bight

From a set of 28 current meter records we have found that near-bottom currents faster than 0.2 m s−1 occur frequently over the outer continental shelf of the Mid-Atlantic Bight (bottom depth <210 m) but very rarely (<1%of the time) between bottom depths of 500 m and 2 km over the slope. The rarity of strong near-bottom flow over the middle and lower slope allows the accumulation of fine-grained sediment and organic carbon in this region. Fast near-bottom currents which do occur over the slope are invariably associated with topographic waves, although it is often superimposed inertial oscillations which increase current speed above the level of 0.2 m s−1. Episodes of intense inertial oscillations occur randomly and last typically for 10–20 days. Their energy source is unknown. Topographic wave energy exhibits a slight, but statistically significant, minimum over the mid-slope. These waves appear irregularly and vary both along isobaths and in time. The irregularity is presumably a consequence of random topographic wave generation by Gulf Stream instability. The current regime within sea-floor depressions in the slope (canyons and gullies) is distinctly different from that of the open slope; most notable is the near absence of topographic wave motion within depressions.
Interleukin-1 beta simultaneously affects the stress and reproductive axes by modulating norepinephrine levels in different brain areas.

Abstract Aims Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a cytokine that is known to activate the stress axis and suppress the reproductive axis. Different brain areas are involved in the regulation of these two axes. However, they are both under the stimulatory control of the catecholamine, norepinephrine (NE). Here, we hypothesized that IL-1β differentially affects these two axes by modulating NE levels in specific brain regions. Main methods Female Sprague–Dawley rats in proestrus were injected intraperitoneally with either PBS-1.0% BSA (control) or 5 μg of IL-1β at 1 pm. Groups of rats were sacrificed at 1, 3, and 5 pm and their brains were collected. Brain areas associated with reproduction as well as areas associated with stress axis activity were isolated and analyzed for NE concentrations using HPLC–EC. Trunk blood was analyzed for IL-1β, corticosterone and luteinizing hormone levels. Key findings As a general trend, treatment with IL-1β significantly decreased NE levels ( p p Significance The ability of IL-1β to produce differential effects on the stress and reproductive axis could be explained by modulation of NE levels in specific brain areas that are associated with these functions. This differential regulation of NE may be an adaptive phenomenon in response to a systemic immune challenge.
POLICY CONSIDERATIONS FOR CARSHARING AND STATION CARS: MONITORING GROWTH, TRENDS, AND OVERALL IMPACTS

Since the late 1990s, more than 25 U.S. shared-use vehicle programs—including carsharing and station cars—have been launched. Given the presumed social and environmental benefits, the majority of these programs received some governmental support, primarily in the form of start-up grants and subsidized parking. As of July 2003, 15 shared-use vehicle programs were in existence, including 11 carsharing organizations, 2 carsharing research pilots, and 2 station car programs. Over the past 5 years, membership in U.S. carsharing programs has experienced exponential growth. Despite this expansion, the social and environmental impacts and long-term sustainability of these services remain unclear. As part of a U.S. shared-use vehicle survey (August 2002 to July 2003), market growth and trends as well as limited, systematic evaluation of program impacts were documented. Although 80% of shared-use programs implement internal customer surveys (initially or as follow-up), few independent studies have been conducted to...
Bromodeoxyuridine labeling study of intracranial meningiomas: proliferative potential and recurrence.

Ninety-six patients with intracranial meningiomas and two with hemangiopericytic variants received a 30-min intravenous infusion of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd), 200 mg/m2, before tumor removal. Excised tumor specimens were stained by the indirect immunoperoxidase method to determine the BrdUrd labeling index (LI), or percentage of cells in DNA synthesis. The BrdUrd LI was 5%, 44% (11 of 25) in those with a BrdUrd LI 1% to 5%, and 6.1% (4 of 66) in those with an LI 1% may grow faster and recur more frequently. Among patients with malignant mengngiomas, the mean time to recurrence after the study was 7.5 months in those with a BrdUrd LI > 5% and 20.2 months for those with an LI 1% to 5%. The mean time to recurrence was 97.8 months in patients with nonmalignant meningiomas. Both hemangiopericytic variants were recurrent and showed LIs of 0.5% and 4.1%; the former tumor recurred 8 years after complete resection, while the latter recurred three times in 3.5 years. Thus, the proliferative potential of intracranial meningiomas as reflected by the BrdUrd LI appears to be a prognostic variable that can help to elucidate the biological behavior of individual meningiomas.
Some Consequences of Pump Coherence on Energy Exchange in Nonlinear Optical Processes

The finite coherence time of the driving field plays an important role in the rates of energy exchange taking place in nonlinear processes. As a typical example, the problems of the quantum parametric amplifier and frequency converter driven by a fluctuating pump are considered. A closed hierarchy of equations for the moments of the fields is given, which in turn is used for evaluating the average number of photons per mode and the relative variance as functions of time. Significant deviations from the case where the pump field is coherent are found.
Agricultural Journalists' Assessments of Print Coverage of Agricultural News

Abstract Critics of agricultural news claim farm media and mass media coverage of agriculture is systematically distorted, a condition that could seriously affect the agricultural information system. A national survey used agricultural journalists as expert judges to assess how well three types of print journalists cover agricultural news. Their assessments indicated that mass media reporters who do not regularly cover agricultural news tend to write agriculture stories that are superficial and stereotyped but not biased toward agricultural interests. Farm magazine writers' stories are not superficial or stereotyped, but writers are uncritical of agriculture, biased toward agroindustry, and overlook important social and environmental issues. Newspaper farm beat reporters are closer to farm magazine writers in not trivializing agriculture and closer to general newspaper reporters in avoiding close ties with industry. Both farmers and public thus receive biased and fragmented reporting that may polarize their views on current agricultural issues. Even if reporters are aware of critical shortcomings in their coverage, improvement may require reduction in structural constraints on story choice.
Theory of the tetrad effect in the lanthanide(III) and actinide(III) series

Abstract An explanation is put forward for the tetrad effect recently observed in the Z , or q , dependence of various physical and chemical properties of some complexes in the lanthanide(III) or actinide(III) series. The effect originates mainly from the quantum mechanical interelectronic repulsion energy of the q electrons in each 4 f q or 5 f q electronic configuration. It can be described in terms of Racah's parameters of interelectronic repulsion E 1 and E 3 , and the dependence of the coefficients of these parameters on the quantum numbers L and S for the ground electronic state of each Ln(III) or An(III) ion. Taking typical variations in E 1 or E 3 of about 1 per cent between two media in equilibrium, with each containing a particular Ln(III) or An(III) species of interest, we show that simple thermodynamic considerations can account for the observations. Contributions to the tetrad effect from electron spin-orbit-interactions are estimated to be possible, but they are not expected to be as significant as the Racah interelectronic repulsions.
Design-patterning co-optimization of SRAM robustness for double patterning lithography

Double patterning lithography (DPL) provides an attractive optical lithography solution for 32nm and subsequent technology nodes. There are two primary DPL techniques: pitch-split double patterning (PSDP) and self-aligned double patterning (SADP), which can be implemented using a positive tone or a negative tone process. Each DPL implementation has a different impact on line space and linewidth variation, and by analyzing the impact of these different DPL options the best overall process flow can be achieved. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis and optimization framework that compares the layerwise impact of different DPL choices on SRAM robustness, density, and printability. It then performs a sizing optimization that accounts for increased variability due to DPL for each layer. Experimental results based on 45nm industrial models show that using the best DPL option for each layer, along with the sizing optimization presented, we can achieve single exposure robustness together with improved DPL printability at almost no overhead (less than 0.2% increase in write energy). Specifically, cell failure probability can be further reduced by 5X as compared to the single exposure failure probability, at the cost of increasing write energy by 6.3% and write delay by 2.5%.
Cytoplasmic Dynein Is Required for the Nuclear Attachment and Migration of Centrosomes during Mitosis in Drosophila

Cytoplasmic dynein is a multisubunit minus-end–directed microtubule motor that serves multiple cellular functions. Genetic studies in Drosophila and mouse have demonstrated that dynein function is essential in metazoan organisms. However, whether the essential function of dynein reflects a mitotic requirement, and what specific mitotic tasks require dynein remains controversial. Drosophila is an excellent genetic system in which to analyze dynein function in mitosis, providing excellent cytology in embryonic and somatic cells. We have used previously characterized recessive lethal mutations in the dynein heavy chain gene, Dhc64C, to reveal the contributions of the dynein motor to mitotic centrosome behavior in the syncytial embryo. Embryos lacking wild-type cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain were analyzed by in vivo analysis of rhodamine-labeled microtubules, as well as by immu-nofluorescence in situ methods. Comparisons between wild-type and Dhc64C mutant embryos reveal that dynein function is required for the attachment and migration of centrosomes along the nuclear envelope during interphase/prophase, and to maintain the attachment of centrosomes to mitotic spindle poles. The disruption of these centrosome attachments in mutant embryos reveals a critical role for dynein function and centrosome positioning in the spatial organization of the syncytial cytoplasm of the developing embryo.
An inversion method for identification of elastoplastic properties for engineering materials from limited spherical indentation measurements

In this article, a new method for determination of elastoplastic properties from an indentation loading curve is proposed. Mathematical model, based on deformation theory, leads to quasi-static elastoplastic contact problem, given by the monotonically increasing values α i >0 of the indentation depth. The identification problem is formulated as an inverse problem of determining the stress–strain curve from an experimentally given indentation curve . The inversion method is based on the parameterization of the stress–strain curve, according to the discrete values of the indentation depth, and uses only a priori information as monotonicity of the unknown function . It is shown that the ill-conditionedness of the identification problems depends on the state discretization parameter Δe i. An algorithm of optimal selection of state discretization parameters is proposed as a new regularization scheme. Numerical examples with noise free and noisy data illustrate applicability and high accuracy of the proposed me...
Mapping of simple sequence repeat (SSR) DNA markers in diploid and tetraploid alfalfa

Cultivated alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is an autotetraploid. However, all three existing alfalfa genetic maps resulted from crosses of diploid alfalfa. The current study was undertaken to evaluate the use of Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) DNA markers for mapping in diploid and tetraploid alfalfa. Ten SSR markers were incorporated into an existing F2 diploid alfalfa RFLP map and also mapped in an F2 tetraploid population. The tetraploid population had two to four alleles in each of the loci examined. The segregation of these alleles in the tetraploid mapping population generally was clear and easy to interpret. Because of the complexity of tetrasomic linkage analysis and a lack of computer software to accommodate it, linkage relationships at the tetraploid level were determined using a single-dose allele (SDA) analysis, where the presence or absence of each allele was scored independently of the other alleles at the same locus. The SDA diploid map was also constructed to compare mapping using SDA to the standard co-dominant method. Linkage groups were generally conserved among the tetraploid and the two diploid linkage maps, except for segments where severe segregation distortion was present. Segregation distortion, which was present in both tetraploid and diploid populations, probably resulted from inbreeding depression. The ease of analysis together with the abundance of SSR loci in the alfalfa genome indicated that SSR markers should be a useful tool for mapping tetraploid alfalfa.