cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
INVOLVEMENT OF I REGION PRODUCTS IN T-CELL IMMUNITY AGAINST TNP-MODIFIED AUTOLOGOUS CELLS

Specificity of the T-cytotoxic effector cells generated in cell-mediated lympholysis (CML) to TNP-modified autologous cells is such that the target cells: (a) must be modified by the same agent as that used for sensitization; and (b) must express the same haplotype at the K and/or D regions of the murine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) as the stimulating and/or responding cells (1–4). However, the involvement of products of the mouse MHC in H-2 -associated “hapten modified” syngeneic immune responses need not necessarily be restricted to products of the K and D regions. Products of the I region may also be important. In fact, dominant, H-2 -linked immune response (Ir) genes appear to control CML response potential to the H-2D d -TNP specificity. At least two such genes affect this CML--one which maps between I-A and I-J and the other which maps to the left of 1-A. Furthermore, products of the I region appeal to be important in generating secondary in vitro mixed lymphocyte reactions to TNP-modified syngeneic cells, since proliferative responses can be generated when there is H-2 homology at the K, D , or I regions between the secondary and primary stimulating cells.
A data envelopment analysis of West Virginia school districts.

Abstract West Virginia schools are consistently below the national average on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Using Data Envelopment Analysis, we estimate the technical efficiency of West Virginia school districts. We find less variation in technical efficiency in West Virginia than in similar studies conducted in other states. This appears to be because of state policy imposing homogeneity of input usage. Due to the limited variation in technical efficiency across districts, we cannot analyze how non-school inputs such as socioeconomic factors affect technical efficiency across districts. Summary statistics organized by county economic status, however, suggest that socioeconomic status plays a role. Our results highlight an important limitation of DEA analysis on schools.
Interstate-80 Closures: A Support Vector Machine Model

Road closure due to adverse and severe weather is common in Wyoming even in summer due to its high elevation and mountain related ice and snow storms. One particular section of Interstate-80 will be investigated. In this initial data driven study we use machine learning techniques based on a support vector machine approach to establish a predictive model for road closures in this region using roadway sensor data and road closure data. As the results suggest, such a data driven model will be beneficial in both establishing legitimate road closures and improving general safety in this region during periods of adverse and severe weather. In particular, the new model is superior to the ad hoc procedures currently in place by the state transportation department.
Chapter 8 – Electronic Structure of Solids

Metals and semiconductors have crystal lattices with a well-defined translational symmetry. Most important among the crystal lattices are the simple cubic, body-centered cubic, and face-centered cubic structures, the diamond structure, and the hexagonal close-packed structure. The structure of the crystal of which a substance is composed determines the properties of the wave functions of electrons moving through the crystal. Free-electron wave functions are periodic with respect to the crystal lattice if the wave vector k belongs to the reciprocal lattice, which may be constructed using the primitive vectors of the original crystal lattice. The reciprocal lattice of the simple cubic lattice is itself a cubic lattice, while the reciprocal lattice of the bcc lattice is a fcc lattice and the reciprocal lattice of the fcc lattice is a bcc lattice. According to Bloch’s theorem, the translational symmetry of the lattice implies that each wave function, which is a solution of Schrodinger equation, has an associated wave vector k. The vector k is a vector in the reciprocal lattice, which, like the crystal itself, consists of a multitude of basic cells. The unit cell of the reciprocal lattice is called the Brillouin zone. Each electron having a wave vector k interacts with the electron with a wave vector k′, which is the mirror image of k across the boundary of the Brillouin zone. This simple model of the interaction of electrons in a crystal allows us to understand the bandgap of solids and to classify materials into insulators, metals, and semiconductors. Graphene and carbon nanotubes, which have appeared recently, are complex material with properties of metals and semiconductors.
Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells on demand: developing potent CAR T cells in less than 24 hr for adoptive immunotherapy

Background & Aim The recent success of immunotherapy using chimeric antigen receptor modified T cells (CAR T) in B-cell malignancies highlights the potential of these cytotoxic “drugs” for cancer therapy. CAR T therapies generally relies upon viral transduction of T cell-receptor (TCR) activated T cell followed by ex vivo expansion of patient-derived T cells over days to weeks prior to infusion. In addition to the required time and labor, we previously reported that TCR/CD3 activation and ex vivo expansion leads to progressive differentiation of the CAR T cells with associated loss of CAR T cell potency. Since cell division is not a prerequisite for lentiviral vector-mediated gene delivery, we hypothesized that elimination of the CD3/CD28 activation step would yield a T cell product with high functional potency. Methods, Results & Conclusion Here, we show that functional CD19-specific CAR T cells (CART19) can be generated in as little as 24 hours using lentiviral vectors without the need for prior T cell activation. We further demonstrate that some of the restriction factors that limit the infection of quiescent T cells can be overcome by changes to the medium formulation. Most importantly, we show that non-activated T cells exhibit potent antitumor function with deep and durable control of leukemia achieved in vivo with greater than 1-log fewer CD19-specific CAR T cells compared with a 9-day process currently used by tisagenlecleucel (Fig. 1). These findings confirmed that as few as an estimated 12,000-32,000 non-activated CAR T cells produced within 24 hours from mononuclear cell collection could eradicate leukemia. These results demonstrate the potential for vastly reducing the time, materials and labor required to generate CAR T cells, which could be especially beneficial in patients with rapidly progressive disease and in resource-poor health care environments.
How cute do I sound to you?: gender and age effects in the use and evaluation of Korean baby-talk register, Aegyo

Abstract This paper examines how segmental strategies of the baby-talk register in Korean, Aegyo, are used and evaluated through usage frequency analysis on Twitter and a cuteness rating experiment. The experimental results show that Korean speakers recognize different expressive strengths of segmental strategies of the Aegyo register and that the phonotactic naturalness of sound sequences as the outputs of segmental Aegyo strategies is a critical factor in evaluating the degree of cuteness of Aegyo expressions. The Aegyo variants involving sequences of an affricate and the following palatal glide that are natural on the phonotactic grounds in Korean got the highest cuteness scores. The pattern of usage frequencies on Twitter shows a positive correlation with the rating results. Since the function of the Aegyo register is to sound cute and young, we examine the gender and age effects in evaluating cuteness of Aegyo variants. The results of rating experiments also show that female and older speakers (the main users of Aegyo) are more sensitive to relative differences in expressive strengths between different segmental compared to male and younger speakers. Considering that use of Aegyo register is to set up a childlike persona of addressers to be taken care of by addressees in an intimate relationship, the gender and age effects could be understood as the motivated attention: female and older speakers have greater caretaking motivations.
Comparison of a Continuous Noninvasive Temperature to Monitor Core Temperature Measures During Targeted Temperature Management

Temperature modulating devices (TMD) currently utilize core temperature measurements during targeted temperature management (TTM) that are currently limited to esophageal (Et), bladder (Bt), or rectal (Rt) temperatures. We assessed the ability of a continuous noninvasive temperature monitor to accurately approximate core temperature during TTM. All patients undergoing TTM using a gel pad surface TMD and an existing core temperature monitoring device were eligible for this study. Core and continuous noninvasive temperature monitoring values were simultaneously recorded for up to 72 h of TTM. The two sets of temperature data were downloaded from a clinical data acquisition storage system at 1-min intervals. The Bland–Altman method assessed agreement between the core and continuous noninvasive temperature monitor values, by measuring the mean difference (± 2 SD) between these values. There were 20 subjects that underwent study between January 2018 and March 2018 (55% women, age: 57 ± 14 years old, BMI: 28.9 + 9.8 kg/m2, 100% mechanically ventilated). The comparison patient temperature source was predominantly esophageal (n = 10) followed by bladder (n = 5) or rectal (n = 5). There were a total of 999 h of paired patient temperature data from esophageal (50%), bladder (25%), and rectal (25%) temperatures. Bland–Altman analysis demonstrated good agreement with the superficial temperature monitor and core temperature measures in all patients overall, with a difference mean of 0.06 ± 0.39 C (P = 0.99) and no proportional bias noted (β =0.002, P = 0.917). Continuous noninvasive temperature monitoring is a suitable alternative method for assessing core temperature during TTM. Future studies should focus on developing connectivity with a continuous noninvasive temperature monitor to approximate core temperature during TTM.
Impacts of non-Saccharomyces species and aeration on sequential inoculation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce lower alcohol Merlot wines from Washington state.

Background Species of non-Saccharomyces yeasts isolated from Washington vineyards were evaluated for their abilities to reduce alcohol contents of wines. As many of these yeasts benefit from some oxygen, the effect of limited aeration was also studied. Results Although fermentations of a high sugar Merlot grape must (310 g L-1 ) did not reach dryness, inoculation of Metschnikowia chrysoperlae, Mt. pulcherrima, Meyerozyma guillermondii, Pichia kluyveri, or P. membranifaciens yielded in wines with lower amounts of ethanol without excessive levels of acetic acid. Aeration frequently resulted in wines with less ethanol but with more acetic acid compared to non-aerated fermentations. Inoculation of Mt. pulcherrima or My. guilliermondii into another Merlot grape must that contained a lower initial amount of fermentable sugar (266 g L-1 ) resulted in dry wines that contained less alcohol. Conclusions Inoculation of My. guilliermondii or Mt. pulcherrima before primary alcoholic fermentation resulted in wines with reduced alcohol contents without excessive acetic acid production. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.
Cleaning Up the Rust Belt: Housing Market Impacts of Removing Legacy Pollutants

The Great Lakes and their tributaries make up the largest freshwater system on the planet, providing drinking water and recreational value to millions of people. Yet manufacturing plants have left a legacy of toxic pollutants in the region, tarnishing it as the “Rust Belt.” In 1987, the Area of Concern (AOC) Program designated 31 areas in the region as having hazardous water quality. Over 700 million federal dollars have been spent since 2004 on grants to clean up the areas. Our paper provides causal estimates of the program’s impact on local housing markets. We find negative and statistically significant effects of AOC designation, indicating that consumers value clean water and incorporate information about water quality into their housing purchases. We develop two specifications to bound the effects of remediation grants on housing prices. Our estimates imply that the benefits of remediation grants range from $16.9 billion to $25.6 billion, greatly exceeding grant costs.
Urban Courier: Operational Innovation and Data-driven Coverage-and-Pricing

We study a novel practice in the urban logistics sector, the transshipment-based urban courier (TUC) system. In the TUC system, large-capacity vehicles are utilized as moving warehouses to flexibly consolidate packages from individual couriers. The goal is to achieve a better trade-off between transportation costs and delivery efficiency. Because the performance of the TUC system depends significantly on the coordination of the transportation services and the pricing system for consumers, we consider the joint transportation coverage and pricing problem. In particular, we propose a data-driven robust pricing model in coordination with a transportation coverage model. Theoretical performance guarantees and numerical results verify the robustness of the pricing decision. The coverage-and-pricing model can be solved by a decomposition-based heuristic. This heuristic is a valid approximation algorithm under sufficient regularity conditions. After decomposition, the coverage-and-pricing problem can be reformulated as a maximum weighted coverage problem and solved via column generation, where the column-generating subproblems can be solved efficiently by a dynamic programming algorithm. Numerical experiments and a case study based on operational data from DML-Express demonstrate the efficiency of our method and provide managerial implications for the pricing policy in a TUC system.
Immobilization and growth of clonal tissue fragments from the macrophytic red alga Gracilaria vermiculophylla on porous mesh panels

New approaches are needed to automate and intensify the cultivation of commercially important red macroalgae. For example, cultivation of Gracilaria vermiculophylla on vertically stacked panels, deployed in raceway circulation tanks or in the open ocean, may enable process intensification. A scalable process for panel inoculation is a first step toward this end. Clonal plantlets of G. vermiculophylla were mechanically blended (1000 rpm, 5 s) into tissue fragments of 2 cm nominal size, deposited on a 3-mm polypropylene mesh sheet, and then sprayed with a pressurized water jet at 4.5 bar in 0.1 s bursts with average velocity of 13 m s−1. The force of the water jet pushed the 1 mm diameter thallus tissue fragments into the mesh openings, securing the plantlet to the mesh support. Gracilaria vermiculophylla test panels (7 cm per side) were placed in an upright orientation, with rising air bubbles providing fluid motion over the panel surface. During cultivation at saturation light intensity in nutrient-replete medium, near-exponential growth was sustained over 42 days at a specific growth rate of 8–9% per day, identical to the freely suspended thallus tissues. The tissue fragments proliferated over the panel surface and extended outward from the panel surface, ultimately creating a loose mat of tissue nearly 8–10 cm in thickness and biomass loadings exceeding 3000 g FW per m2 of panel surface. The steps used to prepare the G. vermiculophylla panels can be automated, and dense arrays of stationary G. vermiculophylla panels cultivated under defined current flow offer future potential for process intensification.
Technology, Social Media, and Professional Ethics

The following is a transcript of a 2018 Federalist Society panel entitled Technology, Social Media, and Professional Ethics. The panel originally occurred on November 17, 2018 during the National Lawyers Convention in Washington, D.C. The panelists were: John Browning, Shareholder, Passman & Jones; David Lat, Founder, Above the Law; Hon. Stephen Dillard, Chief Judge, Georgia Court of Appeals; and Josh Blackman, Associate Professor of Law, South Texas College of Law. The moderator was the Honorable Don Willett of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
An evaluation of a medical student international service-learning experience in Southeast Asia.

Background: International service-learning trips (ISLTs) are structured experiences in a different country where students interact and engage in cross-cultural dialog with others. Month-long ISLTs originating from North American or European medical schools enhance clinical acumen, cultural awareness, and global health familiarity. The impact of experiences shorter than 1 month or those that originate from Asia is unknown. We aimed to determine the impact of a short-term ISLT on medical students' clinical and cultural competence. Methods: At Duke-National University Singapore, we developed an ISLT incorporating peer-assisted learning and a 1-week on-site experience delivering supervised primary care, health screening, and health education in an underserved Southeast Asian community. Using a prospective controlled design, we assessed its impact on medical students' clinical and cultural competency using validated surveys. We compared medical students who participated in the ISTL (intervention group) to a control group of students before and after the ISTL experience. We analyzed responses using univariate analysis and the Kruskal–Wallis test. Results: Sixty-six students responded to the survey (100%). After the ISTL, the intervention group (n = 32) showed an increase in their ratings of clinical competency (preexperience mean = 3.39, postexperience mean = 3.81, P
Killing Due Process: Double Jeopardy, White Supremacy and Gang Prosecutions

The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution holds that no person shall be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb for the same offense. Read plainly, a person cannot be tried or punished more than once for a single crime. Yet in recent decades, as legislatures have expanded the prosecutorial state with weapons designed to punish more criminal defendants more harshly, the U.S. Supreme Court has abrogated its duty of constitutional protection and killed due process through the evisceration of double jeopardy. This Article argues that such an approach is flawed. The dismantling of Fifth Amendment double jeopardy protection is the product of white supremacy, couched in a legislative intent narrative, for the purpose of expanding the carceral state. Specifically, for gang statutes that proscribe multiple punishments, Black and Brown accused gang members are charged, tried, and punished multiple times, for a single offense, in violation of double jeopardy.
Nighttime behavior and the length of social relationships in male Asian elephants.

To evaluate elephant welfare, it is important to understand their use of time both during day and night. The length of social relationships can influence how much time they spend in different activ...
On the dynamic forcing of short-term climate fluctuations by feedback mechanisms

Various internal feedback mechanisms in the ocean atmosphere system were studied. A variability pattern of sea surface temperature with a quasibiennial oscillation (QBO) was detected off the coast of Senegal, in the Gulf of Guinea and even in the Gulf Stream as it leaves the North American continental shelf. Possible physical connections between some of these QBO's were pointed out by a hypothetical feedback model. Interaction of a QBO with the annual cycle may lead to beating frequencies resembling climatic trends of a duration of several years.
Integrating Performance Analysis in the Uintah Software Development Cycle

Technology for empirical performance evaluation of parallel programs is driven by the increasing complexity of high performance computing environments and programming methodologies. This paper describes the integration of the TAU and XPARE tools in the Uintah computational framework. Performance mapping techniques in TAU relate low-level performance data to higher levels of abstraction. XPARE is used for specifying regression testing benchmarks that are evaluated with each periodically scheduled testing trial. This provides a historical panorama of the evolution of application performance. The paper concludes with a scalability study that shows the benefits of integrating performance technology in the development of large-scale parallel applications.
Phylogenetic studies on T cells: I. Lymphocytes of the shark with differential response to phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A

Abstract Peripheral blood lymphocytes of the nurse shark ( Ginglymostoma cirratum ) respond to stimulation by concanavalin A (Con A) as evidenced by increased incorporation of tritiated thymidine. Separation by means of Ficoll-Isopaque yields two or more bands and a sediment, all of which contain lymphocytes responsive to Con A. Only the bottom cells react to phytohemagglutinin (PHA). This reaction cannot be detected in the unseparated lymphocyte population. Thus, only a unique subset of lymphocytes appears to be responsive to PHA and is probably blocked in its response by other cells. The findings suggest that differentiation toward Con A responsiveness may have preceded phylogenetically the responsiveness to PHA. Judging by the requirement for high concentrations of both mitogens the receptor sites on shark lymphocytes appear to be present in lower densities than on lymphocytes of higher vertebrates.
Cat Bonds and Other Risk-Linked Securities: Product Design and Evolution of the Market

This paper analyzes risk-linked securities as sources of risk capital for the insurance and reinsurance industries. Risk-linked securities are innovative financing devices that enable insurance risk to be sold in capital markets, raising funds that insurers and reinsurers can use to pay claims arising from mega-catastrophes and other loss events. The most prominent type of risk-linked security is the catastrophic risk (CAT) bond, which is a fully collateralized instrument that pays off on the occurrence of a defined catastrophic event. The CAT bond market has expanded significantly in recent years and now seems to have reached critical mass. Nontraditional risk financing instruments, including CAT bonds, industry loss warranties (ILWs), and sidecars, now represent a substantial component of the property catastrophe retrocession market.
Charles Darwin, CEO: Some Applications of Evolutionary Psychology to Management

This theoretical paper outlines two potential applications of evolutionary psychology to management. Organizational change and voluntary turnover are discussed. It is argued that in certain cases people will be less resistant to change if organizational developers downplayed the perception of the actual expected outcome instead of emphasizing on the future positive consequences of the change. It is also argued that from an evolutionary perspective job security and advancement opportunities are the most important factors in ensuring people retention.
Food consumption data needs for food and agricultural policy.

Food and agricultural policy strives to provide stable, safe, nutritional, and affordable food supplies with policies on farm income, low-income food security, food safety (including nutritional risk), and nutrition education. For each policy area, comparisons are made between food consumption data needs and information currently collected with four human nutrition monitoring system components administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Identified data gaps become the basis for recommendations for future data needs. Food consumption data are essential to management of programs. However, many food safety and nutritional well-being issues require specific food product consumption data for high risk groups. Sampling procedures are often too aggregate to meet these needs. Food consumed away-from-home is not well measured, yet this market segment now accounts for about half of all consumer food expenditures. Surveys should be designed to provide complementary and additive data. A premium should be placed on standardizing household description variables to enable "splicing" together data from different surveys. Survey continuity across time is essential. Data collection should be planned with funding limitations and respondent burden in mind so that a balance is achieved between survey objectives and the practical constraints of obtaining accurate data.
Informed consent training improves surgery resident performance in simulated encounters with standardized patients

Abstract Background Although informed consent is vital to patient–physician communication, little training is provided to surgical trainees. We hypothesized that highlighting critical aspects of informed consent would improve resident performance. Methods Eighty (out of 88) surgical postgraduate year 1 surgical residents were randomly assigned to one of the 2 cases (laparoscopic cholecystectomy or ventral herniorrhaphy) and instructed to obtain and document informed consent with a standardized patient (SP) followed by a didactic training session. The residents then obtained and documented informed consent with the other case with the other SP. SPs graded encounters (“Checklist”); trained raters graded notes. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine differences between pre- and post-training and Checklist versus “Note” scores. Results Statistically significant pre- to post differences for Note ( P P P Conclusions Training improved surgery residents’ ability to discuss and document informed consent. Despite this improvement, significant differences between discussion and documentation persisted. Documentation training is a future area for improvement.
Spin solitons in organic charge-transfer salts

Organic charge-transfer (CT) salts that crystallize in face-to-face stacks of π-electron donors (D) and acceptors (A) are one-dimensional electronic systems with strong coupling to lattice and molecular vibrations. Peierls–Hubbard models of CT salts resemble π-electron theory of conjugated polymers, although transfer integrals t along mixed DA stacks are considerably smaller. Strong D and A yield Peierls systems with dimerized ground states of ion radicals, D+ and A−. Topological spin solitons separate regions of opposite dimerization, similarly to solitons in trans-polyacetylene, but are thermally accessible in ionic CT salts due to small t. Salts with still smaller t have Peierls transitions at TP < 300 K to undimerized stacks. A Peierls–Hubbard model, HCT, describes both types of salts and estimates of t are consistent with TP < 300 K in some salts and spin solitons in others with higher TP. Electron paramagnetic resonance (epr) spectra of single crystals provide direct evidence for spin solitons and one-dimensional electronic states. Spin solitons and HCT resolve longstanding conflicts between vibrational and magnetic data that indicate dimerized stacks in several prototypical CT salts, while structural data point to undimerized stacks with large thermal ellipsoids. The low energy scale, availability of single crystals and diversity of CT salts offer opportunities for detailed modeling.
Emulating the human interpretation of line-drawings as three-dimensional objects

The human vision system has the ability to interpret two-dimensional images as three-dimensional objects. In this article, we present a program that emulates this ability for the case of images consisting of line-drawings. As a by-product of the approach, we provide an explanation of the Necker cube illusion.
The lack of effectiveness of (−)-epicatechin against alloxan induced diabetes in wistar rats

Abstract (−)-Epicatechin, a naturally occurring flavonoid, has been reported to protect pancreatic beta cells from alloxan-induced diabetes (1) and to stimulate beta cell regeneration when given after alloxan administration (2,3). However, in the present study, we have not been able to confirm these findings. Administration of (−)-epicatechin (100 mg/kg/day for 15 days) beginning three days after alloxan administration (140 mg/kg) had no significant effect on blood glucose levels when compared to alloxan control animals. Another study which failed to demonstrate an antidiabetic effect of (−)-epicatechin (4) has been criticized for not using fresh solutions of (−)-epicatechin because of its instability in aqueous solution (5). We have found, however, that (−)-epicatechin is stable for at least five days based on thin-layer chromatographic analysis and optical rotation measurements.
A simplified method for estimating corrosion cavity growth rates

A simplified method is proposed for calculating corrosion cavity propagation rates. This method is based on an assumption that if the rate of an electrode reaction depends (in an explicit form) only on the potential, the pit growth rate depends only on the concentration of those species that determine the potential distribution near the metal within the cavity. The advantage of this method is that it permits one to predict the rates of cavity propagation without knowing various parameters, such as the equilibrium constants of some chemical reactions and diffusion coefficients of species that are present at relatively low concentrations near the electrode surface. The analytical expressions for calculating propagation rates of cylindrical and hemispherical pits are compared with available experimental data. The influence of aggressive anions on the pit propagation rate has been investigated. It is shown that transport processes in the internal environment do, in the general case, influence the kinetics of metal corrosion.
Inhibition of Glucose Uptake by 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose in Chick Embryo Heart.∗:

Summary and Conclusion2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) inhibits glucose uptake by 5- and 9-day-old hearts in vitro. Insulin does not modify the effect of 2-DG. The results are compatible with the generally held beliefs that 2-DG inhibits the intracellular phosphorylation of glucose and, confirming the results obtained with other tissues, demonstrate the potential usefulness of chick embryo hearts at various stages of development for studies of glucose transport and insulin action.2-deoxyglucose inhibits glucose uptake by 5- as well as 9-day-old chick embryo heart. This inhibition is not modified by addition of insulin. The lack of insulin effect, as well as the previously demonstrated facts that the 5-day-old chick embryo heart is freely permeable to glucose and is not sensitive to insulin, are compatible with the belief that 2-DG acts by inhibiting the intracellular phosphorylation of glucose. These results constitute further evidence for the usefulness of the chick embryo heart in studies of glucose transport a...
The Role of Landowners in Jaguar Conservation in Sonora, Mexico

Abstract: The northernmost known breeding population of jaguars occurs in the municipality of Nacori Chico, Sonora, Mexico about 270 km from the United States–Mexico border and may be the source from which jaguars sighted in the United States dispersed. Since 1999 at least 11 jaguars (Panthera onca) had been illegally killed in the area due to predator control programs. We initiated a jaguar landowner-based conservation plan in 2004. The eight participating landowners agreed to suspend predator control programs targeting jaguars and pumas (Puma concolor) only if cattle losses were compensated. A private outfitter, with the consent of landowners, initiated white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) hunts in 2004 and agreed to pay the group of participating landowners US$1500 for every deer hunt permit sold. The funds paid to the landowners from deer hunts were sufficient to convince landowners to suspend all predator-control efforts of jaguars and pumas. The involvement of landowners in the jaguar conservation program in northeastern Sonora is a successful, private, wildlife-conservation initiative that provides an example for jaguar conservation efforts in northern Mexico.
Antithyroid Antibodies in Pediatric Patients by Ultrasensitive Direct Radioassay. Clinic and Methodological Correlations

Antithyroid Antibodies in Pediatric Patients by Ultrasensitive Direct Radioassay. Clinic and Methodological Correlations
Characterization and thermal reactivity of oxidized organic sulphur forms in coals

Abstract X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and sulphur K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) were used to define the transformations of organically bound sulphur forms during mild oxidation of three low pyrite coals, and the eight Argonne Premium coals. At the conditions studied (125°C, 5 days), both techniques indicate that aliphatic sulphides are selectively oxidized to sulphoxides and sulphones. In one case (Rasa) sulphonic acids were the major product of oxidation. Aromatic sulphur forms were relatively unreactive. The thermal reactivity of organically bound sulphur forms in oxidized coals was studied using a temperature programmed decomposition-mass spectrometry system coupled with XPS and XANES analysis of the solid reaction products. Hydrogen sulphide evolution from oxidized coals is suppressed relative to that evolved from unoxidized samples, sulphur dioxide evolves from oxidized samples and most oxidized sulphur forms are retained in the residues from thermal treatment.
A new X-ray investigation of maximum microcline crystalline solutions

Refined unit-cell dimensions and molar volumes of a mircocline-low albite ion-exchange series previously studied by Waldbaum and Robie (1971) have been redetermined. Members in the sodic half of the series were found to have significantly larger b dimensions than those previously reported, resolving the major difference between the above study and that of Orville (1967).
The interrelationships of mathematical precursors in kindergarten

Previous efforts have evaluated several potential predictors of mathematical performance in children at the kindergarten level (Geary, Hoard, & Hamson, 1999; Geary, Hamson, & Hoard, 2000; Gersten, Jordan, & Flojo, 2005; Jordan, Kaplan, Olah & Locuniak, 2006; Jordan, Kaplan, Locuniak & Ramineni, 2007; Koponen, Aunola, Ahonen, & Nurmi, 2007; Stock, Desoete, & Roeyers, 2007). Predictors that involve an understanding of quantity, that utilize counting, or that in some way tap “number sense” have recently received much attention, although subdivisions within this area are not always clear. In contrast to such number or quantitative predictors, there is also a large body of research that implicates non-quantitative cognitive skills, particularly domain general skills such as working memory, in the expression of math skill (e.g., Bull, Espy, & Wiebe, 2008; Geary, 2004; Swanson, 2006; Swanson, Jerman, & Zheng, 2008). Language and reading skills are also frequently implicated in discussions of math ability and disability in general (Jordan & Hanich, 2003; Jordan, Kaplan, & Hanich, 2002; Geary, 1993; Gersten et al., 2005), with several studies specifically assessing the role of phonological skills or other reading related skills such as rapid naming as predictors of mathematical outcomes (Geary, Hoard, Byrd-Craven, Nugent, & Numtee, 2007; Hecht, Torgesen, Wagner, & Rashotte, 2001; Krajewski & Schneider, 2009). While many studies evaluate the relationships of the above types of precursors to math, there are a much smaller number that evaluate them in a multivariate context, and still fewer that do so in the context of a comprehensive model. Thus, little is known about how these sets of precursors relate to one another, which has implications for the extent to which they may have unique contributions to math performance. Recently, however, LeFevre and colleagues (LeFevre, Fast, Skwarchuck, Smith-Chant, Bisanz et al., in press) have proposed a model (the “pathways” model) relating the three types of precursors described above to mathematical achievement, and this serves as a framework for the present study. The current study contributes to existing research by: (a) evaluating the three pathways of LeFevre et al. (in press) at the level of latent rather than observed variables; (b) assessing the quantity domain comprehensively and distinguishing between core and mediating precursors therein; (c) establishing the relationship of these latent variables to a measure of small sums addition; and (d) examining performance in a relatively large and diverse sample at the kindergarten level, after students have been exposed to a formal learning environment, but have not yet completed development of their procedural arithmetic skills. Understanding what predicts early mathematical performance is crucial given the importance of these skills for more complex mathematical skill many years later (Duncan et al., 2007).
Does metabolic syndrome impact on outcome after acute myocardial infarction

Original article Zeller M et al. (2005) Prevalence and impact of metabolic syndrome on hospital outcomes in acute myocardial infarction. Arch Intern Med 165: 1192–1198 PubMed Metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular (CV) disease.
ON THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN ILLOGICAL AND IRRATIONAL BELIEFS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO ANXIETY

To determine the relationship between dysfunctional cognitions and anxiety, 242 undergraduates completed the Irrational Beliefs Test, the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The former is said to measure Ellis' irrational beliefs and the latter is said to measure attitudes related to Beck's measure of depressed affect. While these two scores and the anxiety measures were all significantly correlated, a canonical correlation analysis showed that the relationship between measures of anxiety and of cognitive dysfunction could be almost entirely accounted for by the simple relationship between the score on irrational beliefs and Trait Anxiety.
Helical Conformational Specificity of Enzymatically Synthesized Water-Soluble Conducting Polyaniline Nanocomposites

A novel template guided enzymatic approach has been developed to synthesize optically active conducting polyaniline (PANI) nanocomposites in the presence of H2O2 as an oxidant, using (+) and (-) 10-camphorsulfonic acid (CSA) as a dopant and chiral inductor. The formation of chiral polyaniline in the nanocomposites was confirmed by circular dichroism (CD). Interestingly, the CD spectra of nanocomposites formed either with (+) or with (-) CSA show the enzyme itself plays a critical role in controlling the stereospecificity of the polyaniline (PANI) in the nanocomposite. The enzyme used for the polymerization of aniline in the nanocomposite was horseradish peroxidase (HRP). It was shown that this enzyme prefers a specific helical conformation, regardless of whether induced chirality in the complex CSA-aniline is from (+) or (-) CSA. UV-vis spectra show that the polyaniline is in the conducting form, and transmission electron micrographs (TEM) show that the nanocomposites are dispersed nicely with particle size dimensions in the range of 20-50 nm. Electron diffraction patterns of these chiral polymer nanocomposites suggest that these nanocomposites are in both crystalline and amorphous states.
National Library of Medicine's Medical Informatics Course, June 2000 at The Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts is the site of a survey course on medical informatics. Medical librarians have been attending this course with other health profe...
Body mass index as a predictor of hypertension incidence among initially healthy normotensive women.

BACkgROuNd Few prospective studies have evaluated the risk for incident hypertension (HTN) across the normal range of body mass index (BMI). Even fewer studies included body composition and fat distribution measurements in their analyses. In the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study, we examined HTN risk in women across a wide spectrum of baseline BMI (kg/m²) values and also studied waist circumference (WC, cm), percent body fat, fat mass (FM, kg), and fat-free mass (FFM, kg) on incident HTN in subgroup analyses. METhOdS A total of 5,296 healthy normotensive women between 20 and 77 years of age completed a baseline examination during 1971–2004,
On the Significance of Cytokinin Incorporation into RNA

The clarification of the following 2 questions was attempted: (a) are cytokinins precursors in the formation of sRNA, (b) is the observed incorporation of cytokinins into sRNA related to the action of the hormone? Although Escherichia coli contains cytokinins in its sRNA, no cytokinin auxotroph mutants of E. coli could be found and the statistical probability for the existence of such mutants is extremely low. This suggests that cytokinins are not precursors in the synthesis of sRNA. A radioactive cytokinin, 6-benzylamino-9-methyl-purine was synthesized and it was tested whether or not it is incorporated into sRNA of soybean callus tissue. Masking the 9-position of the purine inhibited the incorporation of this cytokinin into RNA while not affecting its biological activity. This is taken as an indication that the observed incorporation of cytokinins such as benzyladenine into sRNA is not related to the action of this hormone.
Age and the onset of desaturation in apnoeic children

Most patients undergoing general anaesthesia are apnoeic during laryngoscopy and tracheal intubation. This study determined the time until the onset of desaturation following pre-oxygenation in apnoeic infants, children, and adolescents. Fifty ASA physical status I patients, 2 days to 18 yr of age, were studied. The patients were stratified into one of five groups according to age: Group I, 0-6 mo; Group II, 7-23 mo; Group III, 2-5 yr; Group IV, 6-10 yr; and Group V, 11-18 yr. Following induction of anaesthesia with halothane via mask or intravenous barbiturates, the ability of the anaesthetist to ventilate the lungs via the mask was ascertained and paralysis was accomplished with vecuronium 0.1 mg.kg-1. Manual mask ventilation was maintained with oxygen and halothane. When end-tidal N2 decreased below 3% (minimum time two minutes), the face mask was removed. The time between the removal of the face mask and a decrease in oxygen saturation (SpO2) from 99-100% to 90% was measured. Manual ventilation was then resumed and the trachea intubated. Desaturation started earlier in infants than in two- to five-year-old children (96.5 +/- 12.7 sec vs 160.4 +/- 30.7 sec, P < 0.0001). Children became desaturated faster than adolescents (160.4 +/- 30.7 vs 382.4 +/- 79.9 sec, P < 0.0001). The time required to reach 90% saturation correlated well with age by linear regression analysis (r2 = 0.88, P < 0.0001). We conclude that the time to onset of desaturation following pre-oxygenation with mask ventilation increases with age in healthy apnoeic children.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Application of a rapid colorimetric assay to detect alterations in rat proline imino peptidase

Abstract A modification of a colorimetric assay previously used for Clostridium histolyticum collagenase (EC 3.4.4.19) based on the cleavage of a chromophore-acyl-pentapeptide was employed to demonstrated enzymatic activity in rat liver, lung, and heart homogenates. Proline imino peptidase (EC 3.4.1.4) displayed maximum activity at 37° and pH 8.5. Liver enzyme activity per gram liver was significantly elevated in male albino rats fed a commercial atherogenic diet and treated concurrently with parathyroid extract (U.S.P.) (25 U.S.P. units per rat every other day). Proline imino peptidase activity demonstrated by this method is operable under physiological conditions and does not require de novo synthesis or extrusion of ferment from viable tissue culture to produce measurable enzymatic activity.
Cognitive Control: Componential and Yet Emergent

In this commentary, I will argue that the componential and emergent views of cognitive control as defined by Cooper (2010) do not necessarily oppose each other, and I will try to make a case for their interdependence. First, I will use the construct of cognitive inhibition—one of the main componential control functions mentioned in the target articles—to illustrate my line of reasoning. Then, I will comment on how some of the target articles, each from a different perspective, bring arguments in favor of this integrative view.
Two types of electroreceptive lateral lemniscal neurons of the lateral line lobe of the catfishIctalurus nebulosus; connections from the lateral line nerve and steady-state frequency response characteristics

1. The lateral line lobe of the bullhead catfishIctalurus nebulosus was found to contain two types of higher-order neurons which can be activated antidromically from the mesencephalon and which respond to weak (2.5×10−5 μa/mm2) current stimulation of the lateral line electroreceptors. 2. The response of these neurons to weak current stimulation is reciprocal, one type responding with an increase in spike frequency to cathodal receptor stimulation, the other with an increase in response to an anodal current. One type was found to receive a monosynaptic excitation from the ipsilateral lateral line nerve, whereas the second type was found to receive a disynaptic inhibition. This difference in synaptic inputs probably accounts for the difference in the response of the two types to receptor stimulation of a particular polarity. 3. The receptive fields of both types were found to be distributed over the entire body and head with greatest density on the head and on the caudal peduncle. 4. The steady state frequency response of these neurons indicates that both types have characteristic (best response) frequencies which are lower than those of the electroreceptive primary afferents. 5. The spike activity of lemniscal neurons was strongly modulated by the respiratory potentials generated by a small fish 7 cm away. A Fourier analysis of the potentials recorded from small fish and from one species of aquatic arthropod indicates that there is a good match between their frequency spectra and the steady-state bandpass characteristics of the lemniscal units.
Improved monitoring of surface ozone by joint assimilation of geostationary satellite observations of ozone and CO

Abstract Future geostationary satellite observations of tropospheric ozone aim to improve monitoring of surface ozone air quality. However, ozone retrievals from space have limited sensitivity in the lower troposphere (boundary layer). Data assimilation in a chemical transport model can propagate the information from the satellite observations to provide useful constraints on surface ozone. This may be aided by correlated satellite observations of carbon monoxide (CO), for which boundary layer sensitivity is easier to achieve. We examine the potential of concurrent geostationary observations of ozone and CO to improve constraints on surface ozone air quality through exploitation of ozone–CO model error correlations in a joint data assimilation framework. The hypothesis is that model transport errors diagnosed for CO provide information on corresponding errors in ozone. A paired-model analysis of ozone–CO error correlations in the boundary layer over North America in summer indicates positive error correlations in continental outflow but negative regional-scale error correlations over land, the latter reflecting opposite sensitivities of ozone and CO to boundary layer depth. Aircraft observations from the ICARTT campaign are consistent with this pattern but also indicate strong positive error correlations in fine-scale pollution plumes. We develop a joint ozone–CO data assimilation system and apply it to a regional-scale Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) of the planned NASA GEO-CAPE geostationary mission over North America. We find substantial benefit from joint ozone–CO data assimilation in informing US ozone air quality if the instrument sensitivity for CO in the boundary layer is greater than that for ozone. A high-quality geostationary measurement of CO could potentially relax the requirements for boundary layer sensitivity of the ozone measurement. This is contingent on accurate characterization of ozone–CO error correlations. A finer-resolution data assimilation system resolving the urban scale would need to account for the change in sign of the ozone–CO error correlations between urban pollution plumes and the regional atmosphere.