cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Are movement parameters recognizably coded in the activity of single neurons

To investigate neural mechanisms of movement, physiologists have analyzed the activity of task-related neurons in behaving animals. The relative onset latencies of neural activity have been scrutinized for evidence of a functional hierarchy of sequentially recruited centers, but experiments reveal that activity changes occur largely in parallel. Neurons whose activity covaries with movement parameters have been sought for evidence of explicit coding of parameters such as active force, limb displacement, and behavioral set. Neurons with recognizable relations to the task are typically selected from a larger population, ignoring those cells with complex relations to the task and unmodulated cells. Selective interpretations are also used to support the notion that different motor regions perform different motor functions; again, current evidence suggests that units with similar properties are distributed over widely different regions.These coding issues are reexamined for premotoneuronal (PreM) cells, whose correlational links with motoneurons are revealed by spike-triggered averages. PreM cells are recruited over long times relative to their target muscles; they show diverse response patterns relative to the muscle force they produce; functionally disparate PreM cells such as afferent fibers and descending corticomotoneuronal and rubromotoneuronal cells can exhibit similar patterns. Neural mechanisms have been further elucidated by neural network simulations of sensorimotor behavior; the pre-output hidden units typically show diverse response patterns in relation to their target units. Thus, studies in which both the activity and the connectivity of the same units are known reveal that units with both simple and complex relations to the task contribute significantly to the output. This suggests that the search for explicit coding may be diverting us from understanding distributed neural mechanisms that operate without literal representations.
Serum cobalamin (Vitamin B12) concentrations in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) and pigtailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina) with chronic idiopathic diarrhea

Chronic diarrhea poses a significant threat to the health of NHP research colonies, and its primary etiology remains unclear. In macaques, the clinical presentation of intractable diarrhea and weight loss that are accompanied by inflammatory infiltrates within the gastrointestinal tract closely resembles inflammatory bowel disease of humans, dogs, and cats, in which low serum and tissue cobalamin (vitamin B12) levels are due to intestinal malabsorption. We therefore hypothesized that macaques with chronic idiopathic diarrhea (CID) have lower serum cobalamin concentrations than do healthy macaques. Here we measured serum cobalamin concentrations in both rhesus and pigtailed macaques with CID and compared them with those of healthy controls. Serum cobalamin levels were 2.5-fold lower in pigtailed macaques with CID than control animals but did not differ between rhesus macaques with CID and their controls. This finding supports the use of serum cobalamin concentration as an adjunct diagnostic tool in pigtailed macaques that present with clinical symptoms of chronic gastrointestinal disease. This use of serum vitamin B12 levels has implications for the future use of parenteral cobalamin supplementation to improve clinical outcomes in this species.
The impact of emotion on numerical estimation: A developmental perspective:

Recent literature has revealed underestimation effects in numerical judgments when adult participants are presented with emotional stimuli (as opposed to neutral). Whether these numerical biases em...
Dementia Approach and Follow-up in Primary Care

Introduction: The prevalence of dementia has been increasing in recent years in parallel with an ageing population. Today it is a common pathology in primary care level. Objectives: To review the family physician’s role in diagnosing and following up on patients with dementia. Methods: Theoretical review based on researching clinical guidelines, systematic and original articles published in English and Portuguese in PubMed, Clinical Key, UpToDate, the Index of Portuguese Journals from January 2006 to September 2016 using the MeSH terms: “Dementia,” “Primary Health Care,” “Primary Care Nursing” and “Primary Care Physician.” Results: When dementia is suspected, it is important to resort to family members and/or caregivers’ cooperation, to conduct a thorough medical history of the patient, focusing on behavioural and cognitive symptoms and changes in daily activities. Subsequently, an objective examination should be carried out and an array of cognitive, psycho-affective and functional assessment tests applied. Finally, an analytical and imaging evaluation should be performed. Equally important is the role of the family physician in the patient’s subsequent treatment/guidance and support to families and caregivers in care management. Conclusions: The family physician is in a prime position for early detection of dementia. Clinical diagnosis is essential and is not always easy at an early stage. The role of doctors and other professionals in primary health care should not be limited to the initial assessment, but should extend to following up on and guiding the sick and their respective families.
Development of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor nAChR α7 Binding Activity Prediction Model: Coupling Machine Learning with Competitive Molecular Docking

Despite the well-known adverse health effects associated with tobacco use, addiction to nicotine found in tobacco products causes difficulty in quitting among users. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are the physiological targets of nicotine and facilitate addiction to tobacco products. The nAChR α7 receptor subtype plays an important role in addiction; therefore, predicting the binding activity of tobacco constituents to nAChR α7 would contribute to methods assessing the addictive potential of tobacco constituents. Among the receptor-ligand complexes obtained from the Protein Data Bank (PDB), we found that there were two distinct clusters of binding-pocket conformations for nAChR α7. One template was selected from each cluster to construct the 3D structures of human nAChR α7 using homology modeling. The competitive docking model was developed for determination of the structure of nAChR α7 bound with a chemical. To develop a prediction model of human α7 binding activity, we used a training data set of extracted 930 chemicals assessed for human α7 binding from the two databases, PubChem and ChEMBL. We also extracted 1448 chemicals evaluated for rat α7 binding from the same databases as the external testing data set. Based on the competitive docking results, the winning docking scores were partitioned to identify the key residues that play important roles in the receptor-ligand binding for each chemical. Our previously published algorithm, Decision Forest (DF), which combines multiple Decision Tree models was used to train the human α7 binding activity prediction model based on the partitioned docking scores. Five-fold cross validations were conducted to estimate the performance of the DF models. The DF model was tested using the external testing data set and then was used to predict the potential human α7 binding activity for the 5275 tobacco constituents of unknown activity. The human α7 binding activity data for 84 of the 5275 tobacco constituents were experimentally measured to confirm the prediction results. The overall prediction accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 77.4%, 57.7% and 86.2%, respectively, demonstrating that the developed predictive model of human α7 binding activity could be a useful tool for high-throughput screening of potential addictive tobacco constituents. Disclaimer: The findings and conclusions in this abstract are not a formal dissemination of information by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and do not represent Agency position or policy.
Understanding SRY-Related 46X,Y Sex Reversal at the Atomic Level

There is considerable evidence that the Y chromosome encoded testis determining factor, known as SRY, constitutes the primary active binary switch which regulates the transcription of a cascade of genes which in turn direct the development of the primordial gonad into the male testes (Goodfellow and Lovell-Badge 1993; McElreavey et al. 1993; Gustafson and Donahoe 1994; Haqq et al. 1994; Werner et al. 1996a). In the absence of functional SRY, either through mutations in SRY or because of chromosomal makeup (viz. XX females), the primordial gonad develops into ovaries. One potential target for SRY is the promoter for the gene encoding the Mullerian inhibtory substance (MIS) whose product is responsible for the regression of the female Mullerian ducts.
Changes in bone mineral density in women with breast cancer receiving aromatase inhibitor therapy.

We assessed bone mineral density (BMD) change with aromatase inhibitor (AI) treatment in a contemporary cohort of women with breast cancer treated in Kaiser Permanente Northern California. Percent and estimated annual percent changes in BMD at the total hip and lumbar spine were examined in 676 women receiving AI therapy who had two serial BMD reports available (at least 1 year apart) before and after AI initiation (N = 317) or during continued AI therapy (N = 359). BMD changes were examined at the total hip and lumbar spine and compared by age and clinical subgroups. Women experienced BMD declines after AI initiation or continued therapy, with median annual percent change − 1.2% (interquartile range, IQR − 2.4 to − 0.1%) at the hip and − 1.0% (IQR − 2.3 to 0.1%) at the spine after AI initiation, and − 1.1% (IQR − 2.4 to 0.1%) at the hip and − 0.9% (IQR − 2.4 to 0.5%) at the spine during continued therapy. Higher levels of bone loss were observed among younger (< 55 years) compared with older (≥ 75 years) women at the hip (− 1.6% vs. − 0.8%) and at the spine (− 1.5% vs. − 0.5%) after AI initiation, and at the hip (− 1.4% vs. − 1.2%) and at the spine (− 2.4% vs. − 0.001%) during continued therapy. Small but consistent declines in total hip and lumbar spine BMD were present in breast cancer patients following AI therapy initiation or continued AI therapy. Although the overall rates of osteoporosis were low, greater estimated levels of annual bone loss were evident among women < 55 years.
A quantitative and spatially resolved analysis of the performance-bottleneck in high efficiency, planar hybrid perovskite solar cells

Hybrid perovskites represent a potential paradigm shift for the creation of low-cost solar cells. Current power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) exceed 22%. However, despite this, record PCEs are still far from their theoretical Shockley–Queisser limit of 31%. To increase these PCE values, there is a pressing need to understand, quantify and microscopically model charge recombination processes in full working devices. Here, we present a complete microscopic account of charge recombination processes in high efficiency (18–19% PCE) hybrid perovskite (mixed cation and methylammonium lead iodide) solar cells. We employ diffraction-limited optical measurements along with relevant kinetic modeling to establish, for the first time, local photoluminescence quantum yields, trap densities, trapping efficiencies, charge extraction efficiencies, quasi-Fermi-level splitting, and effective PCE estimates. Correlations between these spatially resolved parameters, in turn, allow us to conclude that intrinsic electron traps in the perovskite active layers limit the performance of these state-of-the-art hybrid perovskite solar cells.
Presidential Fit: Rethinking Community College Presidential Departure.

ABSTRACTCommunity college presidential tenure has consistently declined for decades, which leaves scholars to question what factors are associated with this phenomenon. While there are many potential reasons for presidential turnover, this study seeks to understand how presidential fit is associated with increased presidential departure. Guided by the person–organization fit framework, this study presents the Competing Values Framework as a potential tool for measuring fit and used data from the American Council on Education’s College Presidents Survey to understand how fit is associated with community college presidential tenure. Findings of this exploratory study indicate that in addition to the age of the president at their appointment, the president’s prior job, and field of study, fit is positively related to increased tenure.
Smudged Wares: The Importance of Color and Iridescence as a Long-Lived Decorative Attribute in the Mogollon Highlands

The importance of color and iridescences as decorative attributes is rising in importance in archaeological theory. Following this trend, this study examines smudged vessels dating to the Reserve a...
What is the shape of a bundle? An analysis of Rosen's fibrous composites experiments using the chain‐of‐bundles model

In the 1960s, W. B. Rosen conducted some remarkable experiments on unidirectional fibrous composites that gave seminal insights into their failure under increasing tensile load. These insights led him to a grid system where the nodes in the grid were ineffective length fibers and to model the composite as something he called a chain‐of‐bundles model (i.e., a series system of parallel subsystems of horizontal nodes that he referred to as bundles), where the chain fails when one of the bundles fails. A load‐sharing rule was used to quantify how the load is borne among the nodes. Here, Rosen's experiments are analyzed to determine the shape of a bundle. The analysis suggests that the bundles are not horizontal collection of nodes but rather small rectangular grid systems of nodes where the load‐sharing between nodes is local in its form. In addition, a Gibbs measure representation for the joint distribution of binary random variables is given. This is used to show how the system reliability for a reliability structure can be obtained from the partition function for the Gibbs measure and to illustrate how to assess the risk of failure of a bundle in the chain‐of‐bundle model.
Radioiodine ( 131 I) therapies performed in a paediatric hospital: facilities and procedures

Radioiodine (131I) therapies on younger children with thyroid cancer and neuroblastoma can be challenging as they are required to be isolated for a period of time due to radiation safety concerns. At our hospital these therapies are performed in a purpose-built child-friendly therapy room. Nursing staff are able to provide personal care during the isolation period with minimum radiation exposure. Patients are provided with various age-appropriate entertainment items such as iPad, X-Box, DVD, craft and books to keep them entertained while in isolation. Parents can communicate freely with their child via the audio-visual system located in the Ward Parent Lounge and can also stay in the shielded part of the ante room of the therapy room. Nursing staff can communicate with the patient via a similar audio-visual system located in the nurses station so that they only need to enter the therapy room when they are required to provide personal patient care. All persons entering the therapy room are monitored with personal digital dosimeters. Patients accept the isolation period with minimal aggravation and the personal radiation exposures to staff, parents and visitors are well below the general public annual limit of 1000 µSv. The design and facilities of the therapy room with its child-friendly surroundings and support network makes the experience of the isolation period easier and positive for both patients and parents. For Graves’ disease, the patients are treated as outpatients in the Department of Nuclear Medicine and are discharged within a short time after the radioiodine administration.
Prediction of therapeutic response in acute myelocytic leukemia.

There have been many attempts to predict the outcome of antileukemic chemotherapy by characterizing the kinetic status or the drug uptake characteristics of a patient’s leukemic cells. These attemps have for the most part been unsuccessful [1–4]. In this paper we will present recently acquired data from our laboratories which appears to be useful in predicting the outcome of therapy and will discuss some of the reasons for the failure of previous studies.
The Growth of Data Localization Post-Snowden: Analysis and Recommendations for U.S. Policymakers and Business Leaders

In the wake of the Edward Snowden intelligence disclosures, governments around the world are now considering enacting so-called “data localization” laws, rules that limit the storage, movement, and/or processing of digital data to specific geographies, jurisdictions, and companies. This paper analyzes the complex – and often overlooked – motivations behind the data localization movement, explains how localization policies (in all their various permutations) fail to achieve their stated goals, and highlights some of the many harms localization can cause. Recommendations are provided for U.S. business leaders and policymakers seeking to counter this problematic trend.
EFFECT OF SERIAL ANTERIOR CHAMBER PARACENTESIS ON SUSTAINED INTRAOCULAR PRESSURE ELEVATION IN PATIENTS RECEIVING INTRAVITREAL ANTI-VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR THERAPY

Purpose:To investigate the effect of serial anterior chamber (AC) paracenteses in eyes with sustained elevations of intraocular pressure (IOP) in the setting of repeated intravitreal injections (IVI) of anti–vascular endothelial growth factor medications.Methods:This is a retrospective records revie
Travelers' diarrhea: update on the incidence, etiology and risk in military and similar populations - 1990-2005 versus 2005-2015, does a decade make a difference?

Travelers’ diarrhea remains a prevalent illness impacting individuals visiting developing countries, however most studies have focused on this disease in the context of short term travel. This study aims to determine the regional estimates of travelers’ diarrhea incidence, pathogen-specific prevalence, and describe the morbidity associated with diarrheal disease among deployed military personnel and similar long term travelers. We updated a prior systematic review to include publications between January 1990 and June 2015. Point estimates and confidence intervals of travelers’ diarrhea and pathogen prevalence were combined in a random effects model and assessed for heterogeneity. Eighty-two studies were included in the analysis, including 29 new studies since the prior systematic review. Military personnel were evaluated in 69% of studies and non-military long term travelers in 34%, with a median duration of travel of 4.9 months, and travel predominantly to the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Sixty-two percent of tested cases were due to bacterial pathogens, with enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), and Campylobacter predominating, and significant regional variability. The incidence of TD from studies with longitudinal data was 36.3 cases per 100 person-months, with the highest rates in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East, with higher estimates from those studies using self-reporting of disease. Morbidity remained significant, with 21% being incapacitated or placed sick in quarters (SIQ) by their illness, 15% requiring intravenous fluids, and 3% requiring hospitalization. In comparison to results from the prior systematic review, there were no significant differences in incidence, pathogen prevalence, or morbidity; however there was a trend toward improved care-seeking by sick individuals.
Tranexamic acid for treatment of pulmonary hemorrhage after tissue plasminogen activator administration for intubated patient

Abstract Background The risk of tPA in the treatment of stroke, is that approximately 5% of patients may have significant intracranial bleeding, increasing mortality to 45%. Use of tPA can also cause other forms of life-threatening bleeding, most commonly gastrointestinal bleeding. In this case review, we discuss the presentation and management of a patient with post-tPA pulmonary hemorrhage and the use of tranexamic acid (TXA) for the cessation of bleeding. Case report A 78-year-old female reported dysarthria, left-sided facial droop, left sided weakness of 1-hour duration with an initial NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) of 7. The patient had tPA administered, had an abrupt change in mental status and was ultimately intubated for airway protection. After endotracheal intubation, the patient began to hemorrhage from the endotracheal tube and was administered nebulized TXA totaling 2 g over the course of 20 min, with subsequent cessation of bleeding. tPA administration comes with inherent risks given the known bleeding complications and no consensus for the reversal of bleeding secondary to tPA. TXA may be a viable option in the setting of tPA induced pulmonary hemorrhage.
Augmenting Fremyella diplosiphon Cellular Lipid Content and Unsaturated Fatty Acid Methyl Esters Via Sterol Desaturase Gene Overexpression.

Cyanobacteria have immense prospective as a platform for renewable energy; however, a major barrier in achieving optimal productivity is the low lipid yield. Fremyella diplosiphon, a model cyanobacterium, is an ideal biofuel agent due to its desirable fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). To enhance lipid content, we overexpressed the sterol desaturase (SD) gene in F. diplosiphon B481 wild type by genetic transformation. This effort resulted in a transformant (B481-SD) with a 64-fold increase in the SD gene at the mRNA transcript level, with no loss in growth and pigmentation. The transformant was persistently grown for over 32 generations indicating long-term stability and vitality. We observed 27.3% and 23% increases in total lipid content and unsaturated FAMEs respectively in B481-SD transesterified lipids with methyl octadecadienoate as the most abundant unsaturated component. In addition, we detected an 81% increase in FAME composition in the transformant compared with the wild type. Theoretical physical and chemical properties confirmed a FAME profile with very high cetane number (65.972–67.494) and oxidative stability (50.493–18.66 h) in the engineered strain. Results of the study offer a promising approach to augment F. diplosiphon total lipid content and unsaturated FAMEs, thus paving the way to enhance biofuel capacity of the organism.
Assessing the reliability of the measurement component of Neulinger's paradigm.

This study assessed the reliability of the “What Am I Doing” scale, the measurement component of Neulinger's paradigm of leisure. The dimensions of importance to this paradigm are perceived freedom...
The impact of sex and age on T cell immunity and ischemic stroke outcomes

Sex differences are well-recognized in ischemic stroke, a disease mainly affecting the elderly. Stroke results in robust activation of central and peripheral immune responses which contributes to functional outcome. Aging is associated with increased low-grade chronic inflammation known as "inflammaging" that renders aged males and females more susceptible to poor outcomes after ischemic stroke. Despite the fact that sex differences are well-documented in immunity and inflammation, few studies have focused on sex differences in inflammatory responses after ischemic stroke and even fewer have been performed in the context of aging. The role of T cell responses in ischemic stroke have gained increasing attention over the past decade as data suggest a major role in the pathophysiology/recovery after ischemic injury. T cells offer an attractive therapeutic target due to their relatively delayed infiltration into the ischemic brain. This review will focus on T cell immune responses in ischemic stroke, highlighting studies examining the effects of aging and biological sex.
Deposition of Particulate Elemental Carbon from the Atmosphere

Elemental carbon is removed from the atmosphere by both precipitation scavenging and dry deposition at the Earth’s surface. Measurements of the wet removal flux may be obtained from optical or chemical analyses of the insoluble material in precipitation samples. Sampling considerations include losses to the walls of the sampling system, contamination from fugitive dust, pollen, or biological growth in the sample, and extraction of the carbon on to a suitable filter medium. An estimate of the dry deposition flux may be obtained by exposing a clean surface to the atmosphere but not to precipitation, washing with water subsequent to collection, and then analyzing in the same manner as precipitation samples. This may not be representative of the true flux because of the wide variety of surfaces to which deposition may occur, but does provide an estimate of the contribution of dry deposition to the precipitation samples.
Combinatorics Encoding Geometry: The Legacy of Bill Thurston in the Story of One Theorem

This chapter presents a whirlwind tour of some results surrounding the Koebe–Andre’ev–Thurston Theorem, Bill Thurston’s seminal circle packing theorem that appears in Chapter 13 of The Geometry and Topology of Three-Manifolds.
Active microwave responses: an aid in improved crop classification

A study determined the feasibility of using visible, infrared, and active microwave data to classify agricultural crops such as corn, sorghum, alfalfa, wheat stubble, millet, shortgrass pasture and bare soil. Visible through microwave data were collected by instruments on board the NASA C-130 aircraft over 40 agricultural fields near Guymon, OK in 1978 and Dalhart, TX in 1980. Results from stepwise and discriminant analysis techniques indicated 4.75 GHz, 1.6 GHz, and 0.4 GHz cross-polarized microwave frequencies were the microwave frequencies most sensitive to crop type differences. Inclusion of microwave data in visible and infrared classification models improved classification accuracy from 73 percent to 92 percent. Despite the results, further studies are needed during different growth stages to validate the visible, infrared, and active microwave responses to vegetation.
Technical Note—Data-Based Dynamic Pricing and Inventory Control with Censored Demand and Limited Price Changes

Pricing and inventory replenishment are important operations decisions for firms such as retailers. To make these decisions effectively, a firm needs to know the demand distribution and its depende...
Theory of the Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Transport Bifurcations

The development and time evolution of a transport barrier in a magnetically confined plasma with non-monotonic, nonlinear dependence of the anomalous flux on mean gradients is analyzed. Upon consideration of both the spatial inhomogeneity and the gradient nonlinearity of the transport coefficient, we find that the transition develops as a bifurcation front with radially propagating discontinuity in local gradient. The spatial location of the transport barrier as a function of input flux is calculated. The analysis indicates that for powers slightly above threshold, the barrier location $x_b(t) \sim ( D_n t (P-P_c)/P_c)^{1/2},$ where $P_c$ is the local transition power threshold and $D_n$ is the neoclassical diffusivity . This result suggests a simple explanation of the high disruptivity observed in reversed shear plasmas. The basic conclusions of this theory are insensitive to the details of the local transport model.
AN AUTOMATED METHOD TO CONDUCT IMPORTANCE-PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES FROM ONLINE REVIEWS - AN EXTENSION WITH A CASE STUDY

With the growth of online marketplaces and social media, product designers have been seeing an exponential growth of data available, which can serve as an extremely valuable source of information communicated from customers without geographical limitations. The data will reveal customers’ preferences, which can be expensive and slow to obtain via traditional methods such as survey and questionnaires. While existing methods in the literature have been proposed to extract product information and make inference from online data, they have limitations, especially in providing reliable results and in dealing with data sparsity. Therefore, this paper proposes a method to conduct an Important-performance analysis from online reviews. The major steps of this method involve using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) to identify product attributes, using IBM Watson Natural Language Understanding tool to perform aspect-based sentiment analysis, and using XGBoost model to infer product attribute importance from the collected dataset. In our case study, we have collected over 150,000 text reviews of more than 3,000 laptops from Amazon.
The long and winding road

Growing up in a capitalist society means induction into a set of taken for granted concepts that seemingly get realized through the way that world works. As a result, a grasp of the very different ...
For the General Welfare: Finding a Limit on the Taxing Power after NFIB v.Sebelius

In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court held that the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate violated the Commerce Clause but upheld the mandate under the Taxing Power. While the Court’s decision has radically foreclosed congressional action under the Commerce Clause, it has allowed congressional authority under the Taxing Power to expand beyond the Commerce Clause. This departure from previous Supreme Court jurisprudence is significant.
Development of a new generation gravity map of Antarctica: ADGRAV Antarctic Digital Gravity Synthesis

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has agreed to support the development of a new generation gravity map of Antarctica (ADGRAV - Antarctic Digital Gravity Synthesis), funding the development of a web based access tool. The goal of this project is the creation of an on-line Antarctic gravity database which will facilitate access to improved high resolution satellite gravity models, in conjunction with shipboard, airborne, and land based gravity measurements for the continental regions. This database will complement parallel projects underway to develop new continental bedrock (BEDMAP) and magnetic (ADMAP) maps of Antarctica.
Process of Infection with Bacteriophage øX174: XXIII. DNA Synthesis in Cells infected by a Coat Protein Mutant

Single-stranded progeny DNA is not formed when host cells are infected at the restrictive temperature with a temperature-sensitive coat protein mutant of oX174. Once begun, the synthesis of single-stranded DNA is interrupted when an infected culture is shifted from the permissive to the restrictive temperature. The synthesis of double-stranded “replicative form” DNA is observed under restrictive conditions. Upon shifting an infected culture from restrictive to permissive conditions after 30 minutes of infection, single-stranded DNA synthesis starts almost immediately. In this instance, the initial single-stranded viral DNA is formed out of the pre-formed double-stranded replicative form DNA by degradation of the complementary strand. The attachment of coat protein to the viral strand and the release of the viral strand from the double-stranded precursor appear to take place simultaneously.
Redesigning the genetic architecture of phenotypically plastic traits in a changing environment

Normal development depends on specific genetic and environmental inputs. When environments change, entire populations of organisms may simultaneously express maladaptive phenotypes. Selection in the new environment may gradually restore the ancestral phenotype by favouring alleles that counteract the environmental perturbation. This evolutionary process is called genetic compensation, and its effect on the fate of novel phenotypes is opposite to that of genetic assimilation. When genetic compensation occurs along a spatial environmental gradient, it results in the geographic pattern known as countergradient variation. Another place to look for genetic compensation is where human activities are causing environmental changes that affect how traits develop. For example, pollutants with endocrine-disrupting effects are altering the reproductive behaviour of natural populations of animals. If such pollutants persist long enough for genetic compensation to occur, the animals may come to depend on the presence of these chemicals for normal development. Taking genetic compensation into account could enhance our understanding of the role of behaviour in evolution in at least three ways: first, behavioural interactions are often the source of selection against environmentally induced phenotypes; second, behavioural traits themselves may often be targets of genetic compensation; and third, behavioural plasticity can delay or prevent genetic compensation. I present examples to illustrate each of these points, and further explore the ramifications of this understudied and underappreciated evolutionary process. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2013, ••, ••‐••. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: behavioural plasticity ‐ climate change ‐ endocrine disruption ‐ genetic accommodation ‐ genetic compensation ‐ phenotypic plasticity ‐ sex determination.
Cryogenic Mechanical Properties of High-Manganese Steel Weldments

The structural alloys used in fusion reactor magnets of the next generation are required to have a 4.2 K yield strength and fracture toughness combination superior to that of alloys used currently. An alloy of nominal composition 18Mn-5Ni-16Cr-0.22N after proper thermomechanical treatment approaches the JAERI projected requirements and exceeds the proposed U.S. requirements for 4.2 K yield strength and fracture toughness in the base metal. However, the properties in the welded condition are still uncertain. This work investigates the effect of autogenous GTAW on the cryogenic properties of this alloy. It was found that the 4.2 K yield strength of the weld can be increased through the addition of nitrogen to a 75% He/25% Ar shield gas; specifically, a yield strength comparable to that of the base metal was achieved for a 6 vol% nitrogen addition. Fracture toughness data are still preliminary; however, autogenous welds made on this alloy approach the U.S. requirements for both yield strength and KIc.
Stoichiometric changes to KH2PO4 during laser-induced breakdown

The local structure of KH2PO4 crystals (so-called KDP) at laser-induced damage sites created by irradiation with ~3-ns, 355-nm laser pulses is studied by a combination of Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopies. We compare spectra from pristine material, surface and bulk laser-induced damage sites, as well as from KPO3 references. Results show that irradiation with fluences above the laser-induced breakdown threshold leads to stoichiometric changes at surface damage sites but not at bulk damage sites. New spectroscopic features are attributed to dehydration products. For the laser irradiation conditions used in this study, the decomposed near-surface layer absorbs photons at ~3.4 eV (364 nm). These results may help explain the recently reported observation that surface laser damage sites in KDP crystals tend to grow with subsequent exposure to high-power laser pulses, while bulk damage sites do not.
Life expectancy of monozygotic and dizygotic twins

White male twins from the NAS-NRC twin sample, who were born in the U.S. between 1917 and 1927 and served in the military, are used to estimate variability in hazard functions for those twins who died during the period 1974-1990. Roughly the same number of MZ and DZ twins died during this period, but their death rates are similar. DZ twins exhibit greater within-pair variation. Using hazard and other analyses, the only statistically significant variables are found to be being a DZ twin (in level equations), date of birth, and, sometimes, wife's religious preference. Variables not significant for level or within-pair equations, include own religion, parental education, working overtime frequently, and number of children. The greater variation in life expectancy of DZ twins is hardly surprising and may say something about the lack of comparability in phenotype variance of DZ twins, which in turn may be worrying.
Telectronics 330-801 Atrial Lead Extraction via the Subclavian Approach

Abstract Background . The Telectronics 330-801 atrial J (801) lead was recalled after reports implicated lead fracture/retention wire protrusion in patient mortality and morbidity. Recent reports suggest that 801 lead extraction may be associated with substantial morbidity and, possibly, excess mortality. We hypothesized that the 801 lead could be extracted using the subclavian approach with a high success rate and acceptable morbidity. Methods . We analyzed the clinical outcomes in 60 consecutive patients who underwent 801 lead extraction. Results . Sixty patients (34 women) with a mean age of 67 ± 14.8 years had 18 class I, 13 class II, and 29 class III fractures. The lead age was 39 ± 17 months. The subclavian approach was successful in 58 of 60 patients (96%). Complications, three major and eight minor, occurred in 10 of 60 patients (16%). All complications were successfully treated. There were no deaths. Only concurrent ventricular lead extraction was associated with complications ( p = 0.008 by Fisher's exact test). Conclusions . Telectronics 801 leads can be successfully extracted using the subclavian approach with acceptable short-term morbidity, low mortality, and excellent long-term results.
Modelling the role of pay equity perceptions: A field study

Data were collected on 365 managers representing five managerial levels in order to provide an initial field test of an equity model based on Adams (1963) and Lawler (1971). Exploratory path analysis was performed using LISREL VI to identify the primary paths affecting equity perceptions and those leading to the outcomes of job performance and voluntary turnover. The primary variables influencing pay equity were salary level, job level, pay valence, and prior job performance. The data suggested that pay equity perceptions have an impact on voluntary turnover but not necessarily on job performance. The impact on turnover, however, was indirect, through its influence on pay satisfaction, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to leave. The major predictors of job performance were prior job performance and salary level.
Denial of Aging: Age Identification and Reference Group Orientations.

A 10-year longitudinal study of the age-identities of persons 70 and older revealed that many rejected the possibility that they were, in fact, "old." Although there was increased acknowledgment in the restudy of being old, a majority of respondents continued to define themselves in other ways (i.e., as middle-aged or elderly). The importance of comparative reference groups for aging denial was tested. As hypothesized, favorable self-evaluations versus age peers were positively correlated with younger self-images. These comparative evaluations were shown to be as useful as "positional" variables in explaining age-identity. The findings demonstrate the utility of a reference-group perspective in explaining diverse psychological adaptations to late-life role changes.
Characteristic Variations of Chip Morphology and Cutting Forces in Face Milling with Flat-Faced and Grooved Tool Inserts

The modeling of face milling operations has been traditionally focused on using flat faced tools with an assumption of perfectly straight chip formation. However, curled chip formation is a common phenomenon in practical milling operations, and it has a profound effect on machining performances. A new analytical model that takes into account the chip curling effect in milling operations is proposed in this paper. It is shown that chip morphology and machining parameters, such as the chip up-curl radius, the chip thickness, and the tool-chip contact length, simultaneously change with varying undeformed chip thickness during each tooth cycle. The proposed model is validated through milling tests. Good agreement between theory and experiments has been reached. A comparison of the average resultant force among three types of commercially available tool inserts is made to demonstrate the effect of tool insert chip-groove geometry on milling performances.
Enhancing Medical Education by Improving Statistical Methodology in Journal Articles

Background: Medical journal articles often contain imprecise and inaccurate statistical methods and terminology that inhibit effective teaching and learning in medical education. Summary: Examples are used for ten flaws dealing with research design and methods and statistical analysis. Conclusions: If these inaccurate and inappropriate usages are avoided, teaching and learning in medical student and graduate medical education will be enhanced, and subsequently the health care of patients will be improved. The first step toward wisdom is knowing what the words mean.—Aristotle
ON THE ROLE OF CALCIUM IONS IN OOCYTE MATURATION IN THE POLYCHAETE CHAETOPTERUS PERGAMENTACEUS

The germinal vesicle of mechanically released Chaetopterus oocytes disintegrates in natural sea water (NSW), but not in artificial sea water of normal composition (ASW), calcium-free sea water (CaFSW), magnesium-free sea water (MgFSW) or calcium and magnesium-free sea water (CaMgFSW). Several methods of inducing oocyte maturation using chemically well-defined medium have been established. (1) Germinal vesicle breakdown was induced by the treatment of immature oocytes with KCl (60 mM) in ASW or MgFSW. The presence of Ca2+ is necessary for inducing oocyte maturation with high potassium concentration. “Differentiation without cleavage” was observed after this treatment. (2) Trypsin (0.3%) induced oocyte maturation in ASW, but not in CaFSW. Oocytes matured in this manner developed to trochophores upon insemination. (3) Immature oocytes, treated with isotonic CaCl2 for less than 1 min and then transferred to ASW, underwent germinal vesicle breakdown. The oocytes were arrested at the first meiotic metaphase and upon insemination developed to trochophore larvae. (4) Tetracaine (0.4 mM) induced oocyte maturation in the absence of Ca2+ in the medium. In ASW, CaFSW or CaMgFSW containing the drug, oocytes were arrested at the first meiotic metaphase, while in MgFSW with tetracaine they developed parthenogenetically up to the 4- and 8-cell stages. The role of calcium in oocyte maturation was established and its importance was discussed based on the results obtained with the different ways of inducing oocyte maturation.
Quantum Mechanical State Preparation: A Simple Model

Quantum dynamics is normally used to describe the causal evolution of the quantum state of a physical system between initial acts of preparation and final measurement operations. But logical consistency and completeness require that the same dynamical principles be applicable to the physical description of the preparation and measurement processes themselves. There is an extensive literature of contributions to the quantum theory of measurement, but very little theoretical scrutiny has been given to the process of state preparation. This paper begins with a philosophical analysis of the concept of preparation in quantum physics, then develops a classification of preparation schemes into selective and coercive types. An exact mathematical model illustrating coercive preparation is presented in detail.
The value of lorazepam in gas encephalography: A preliminary report

Lorazepam is of value in the performance of gas encephalography. Given with judicious and individualized doses of IV narcotic, it has significantly lessened the morbidity of this examination. We have been particularly impressed with the lack of unpleasant memories for the procedure. The quality of the examination was good though the patients had to be reminded, because of the amnestic effects of the drug, to hold still throughout the 6-s exposure needed for polytomography.
Reducing the noise emanating from a twin jet nozzle using flexible filaments

A twin jet was tested in anechoic facilities at the University of Arizona and NASA Langley Research Center to determine the effectiveness of flexible filaments in jet noise reduction. Results were strongly dependent on filament diameter and material, the most effective of which was found to be Tex 800 Kevlar. In the best configurations, the filaments consistently eliminated screech tones and reduced overall sound pressure level by 3 dB or more. Additionally, broadband shock noise was diminished by more than 5 dB over certain audible frequency ranges. Larger-scale tests run at NASA showed comparable reductions in overall sound pressure level and broadband shock-associated noise.
Functional units of a compound nose: Aesthetasc sensilla house similar populations of olfactory receptor neurons on the crustacean antennule

The lateral flagellum of the antennule of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus houses more than 1,000 morphologically similar olfactory sensilla, called aesthetascs. By using a highresolution activity labeling technique that depends on entry of agmatine into olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) through cation channels during odor stimulation, we examined the distribution of different functional types of ORNs within and across mature aesthetascs. A significant number of ORNs in mature aesthetascs are labeled with agmatine during stimulation by single odorants, including adenosine-59-monophosphate, ammonium chloride, cysteine, glycine, proline, and taurine. The percentage of ORNs per aesthetasc that was agmatine labeled during odor stimulation averaged 0.5‐1.6% for single compounds and 4.6% for a 33-component mimic of oyster tissue. For most antennules and antennular regions studied, the percentage of agmatine-labeled ORNs by stimulation with single or complex odorants was statistically homogeneous across most or all aesthetascs. The extent of heterogeneity among mature aesthetascs was correlated with their age: extensive heterogeneity was observed only in the distal part of the flagellum containing the oldest aesthetascs and their ORNs. Thus, it appears that over most of the length of the aesthetasc-bearing region of the lateral flagellum, different and distinct functional types of aesthetascs do not exist. Rather, aesthetascs appear to be repetitive morphological and functional units in olfactory coding. However, because odor sensitivity of ORNs can change with the age of an aesthetasc, some development-related functional heterogeneity exists among aesthetascs. J. Comp. Neurol. 418:270 ‐280, 2000. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Indexing terms: lobsters; olfactory receptor neurons; agmatine; immunogold-silver techniques
Perioperative resting pressure predicts long-term postoperative function after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether perioperative manometry is useful in predicting long-term functional status after ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). Prospectively collected perioperative anal manometry data from 1439 patients undergoing IPAA from 1986 to 2000 were compared to postoperative functional status at various time intervals from 6 months to 8 years after IPAA. A validated questionnaire was used to obtain information regarding restrictions of diet, work, social and sexual activity, urgency, fecal seepage or incontinence, energy level, satisfaction with surgery, and quality of life. The presence of seepage and the degree of incontinence were compared to the patient’s perceived quality of life, health, energy level, and satisfaction with surgery. Low (<40 mm Hg) pre- and postoperative resting pressures were associated with increased seepage, pad use, and incontinence. Patients with low resting pressures also reported diminished quality of life, health, energy level, and satisfaction with surgery. There was a significant association (P < 0.001) between seepage and degree of incontinence and quality of health, quality of life, energy level, and level of satisfaction with surgery. Perioperative resting anal sphincter pressures greater than 40 mm Hg are associated with significantly better function and quality of life after ileal IPAA. Improved functional outcome is associated with better quality-of-life outcomes. Low preoperative resting pressures do not preclude successful outcome after IPAA.