cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Convulsant actions of the neurosteroid pregnenolone sulfate in mice

Abstract Pregnenolone sulfate (PS) is an endogenous neurosteroid known to antagonize GABAA receptor-mediated inhibitory responses and potentiate NMDA receptor-mediated excitatory responses in vitro. To assess the actions of the steroid as a modulator of seizure susceptibility in vivo, PS (30–300 nmol) was administered intracerebroventricularly in mice. At doses of 50 to 150 nmol, PS elicited seizures characterized by head jerks, rearing and falling, severe forelimb and hindlimb clonus, opisthotonos and explosive running. The seizures increased in severity and frequency with time and eventually progressed to status epilepticus, tonic hindlimb extension and death. The doses producing convulsions in 50% (CD50) and 97% (CD97) of animals were 92 and 205 nmol, respectively. A subconvulsant dose of PS (50 nmol) significantly increased the convulsant potencies of systemically administered pentylenetetrazol (30–50 mg/kg) and NMDA (50–100 mg/kg). Systemically administered PS at doses as high as 100 mg/kg failed to induce seizures or alter the convulsant potencies of pentylenetetrazol and NMDA. Protection against PS (205 nmol)-induced seizures and lethality was conferred by the GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators clonazepam and allopregnanolone, and by the NMDA receptor antagonists dizocilpine and (R)-CPP. The overall pharmacological profile suggests that the convulsant actions of PS are mediated predominantly via its effects on GABAA receptors, and also possibly by effects on NMDA receptors.
A naturally occurring MTA1 variant sequesters oestrogen receptor-α in the cytoplasm

Oestrogen receptor (ER) is a good prognostic marker for the treatment of breast cancers. Upregulation of metastatic tumour antigen 1 (MTA1) is associated with the invasiveness and metastatic potential of several human cancers and acts as a co-repressor of nuclear ER-alpha. Here we identify a naturally occurring short form of MTA1 (MTA1s) that contains a previously unknown sequence of 33 amino acids with an ER-binding motif, Leu-Arg-Ile-Leu-Leu (LRILL). MTA1s localizes in the cytoplasm, sequesters ER in the cytoplasm, and enhances non-genomic responses of ER. Deleting the LRILL motif in MTA1s abolishes its co-repressor function and its interaction with ER, and restores nuclear localization of ER. Dysregulation of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 in breast cancer cells enhances the expression of MTA1s and the cytoplasmic sequestration of ER. Expression of MTA1s in breast cancer cells prevents ligand-induced nuclear translocation of ER and stimulates malignant phenotypes. MTA1s expression is increased in human breast tumours with no or low nuclear ER. The regulation of the cellular localization of ER by MTA1s represents a mechanism for redirecting nuclear receptor signalling by nuclear exclusion.
Conceptualizing and Measuring Collaboration

This article conceptualizes and measures collaboration. An empirically validated theory of collaboration, one that can inform both theory and practice, demands a systematic approach to understanding the meaning and measurement of collaboration. We present findings from a study that develops and tests the construct validity of a multidimensional model of collaboration. Data collected using a mail questionnaire sent to 1382 directors of organizations that participate in a large national service program provides the basis for a higher order confirmatory factor analysis. The model that emerges from this analysis demonstrates an overall close fit with the empirical data and the high, standardized gamma coefficients estimated in the model confirm that five key dimensions contribute to an overall construct of collaboration. The primary purpose of this research was to stimulate interest in measurement of collaboration and refinement of the model. As such, we present a detailed description of the analytical process, identify areas that affect interpretation of the data (such as possible selection bias), and propose areas for future research. We believe this effort to conceptualize and measure collaboration offers a foundation for further research. A growing body of multidisciplinary research suggests that we live in an increasingly ‘‘networked’’ world that demands forms of organizing quite different from bureaucracies or firms (O’Toole 1997; Powell 1990). Devolution, increasingly rapid changes in technology, scarce resources, and rising organizational interdependence are factors that explain the emergence of these new forms. Interorganizational collaboration is a term used by scholars and practitioners to describe a process that can emerge as organizations interact with one another to create new organizational and social structures. Collaboration is emerging as a distinct focus of scholarly research. Although the literature is vast, multidisciplinary, and rich with case research, it also lacks coherence across disciplines. A wide range of theoretical perspectives results in an equally wide variety of definitions and understandings of the meaning of collaboration. Although multiple conceptualizations of collaboration add richness to the research, they often impede its rigor and cumulativeness. To put it simply, lack of consensus among scholars on the
CALCIUM, MAGNESIUM, AND POTASSIUM IN HAIR OF DEER FROM AREAS OF CONTRASTING SOIL PRODUCTIVITY

Differences in mineral nutrient composition of soils have been considered to affect health and population characteristics of free-ranging animals, particularly herbivores. Contents of Ca, Mg, and K in hair of female fawn white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were measured for eight consecutive years to determine if soil and annual effects occurred in two areas of contrasting soil productivity in Illinois. Soil differences may account for some of the autumnal weight difference (7.2 kg for 4 yrs of observation) observed in fawn does from the areas. Ca, Mg, and K were assayed, because these macronutrients were known to differ in soils of the areas and were presumed to differ in forages. In 6 of the 8 yrs, at least one element was significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) between areas. Significant (P ≤ 0.05) differences for K occurred in 5 yr, for Ca in 4 yr, and for Mg in 2 yr. Ca and Mg were lower in hair in 7 yr from deer collected from the area in which extractable Ca and Mg were higher in soils; that is, hair Ca and Mg levels tended to be inversely related to levels of plant-available Ca and Mg in soil. For 7 of the 8 yr, K content was lower in hair from the area of lower soil K content. Within one area, between-year differences occurred for Ca and K and for Ca and Mg in the other area. Between-year differences in diet selection and annual climatic effects on mineral uptake of forages, among other factors, may account for some of the latter differences. Results for hair analyses suggest that macronutrient differences in Ca, Mg, and K occur in the diets of these populations and may account for some of the weight difference observed between the areas.
A bilinear multidimensional measurement model of Asian American acculturation and enculturation: Implications for counseling interventions.

Several unilinear and bilinear dimensional measurement models of Asian American acculturation and enculturation were tested with confirmatory factor analysis. Bilinear models of acculturation consistently outperformed the unilinear model. In addition, models that articulated multiple dimensions (i.e., values and behavior) exhibited a better fit to the data than did unidimensional models. The degree to which Asian Americans adhered to the values and behavior associated with each culture differed. Specifically, there was a small relationship between values and behavior in the Asian cultural orientation, whereas there was a moderate relationship between values and behaviors in the Western cultural orientation and between Asian behavior and Western behavior. Present findings suggest that the way in which Asian Americans negotiate the acculturation and enculturation process is likely nuanced and complex. Implications for working with Asian Americans and future directions for research are explored.
A Mass Transfer Explanation of Metabolic Scaling Relations in Some Aquatic Invertebrates and Algae

Chemical engineering theory can be used in accounting for the broad range of metabolic scaling exponents found in some aquatic invertebrates and algae. Delivery of metabolically important compounds to these organisms occurs by diffusion through a boundary layer. Dimensionless relations (Sherwood-Reynolds number functions) demonstrate the degree to which water motion and organism size affect mass transfer, and ultimately, metabolic rate. Derivation of mass exponents in the range 0.31 to 1.25 for simple geometries such as plates, spheres, and cylinders directly follows from knowledge of the Sherwood-Reynolds number relations. The range of exponents predicted is that found by allometric studies of metabolic rate in these organisms.
Combined 14C and δ13C Monitoring of in Situ Biodegradation of Petroleum Hydrocarbons

Measurements of the stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) of microbial metabolic end products presents a promising method for monitoring in situ bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons. Differences between the δ13C values of hydrocarbons and indigenous carbon sources (e.g., plant matter, soil carbonates) can be exploited to trace the origins of metabolic end products. However, in zones of methanogenesis and/or where the δ13C values of endogenous plant matter overlap those of hydrocarbons, δ13C measurements can produce ambiguous results. In such cases, simultaneous measurement of the radiocarbon (14C) contents of metabolic end products can be used to determine their sources. This method was applied at a gasoline station spill site where hydrocarbons were the only source of 14C-free carbon. Combined δ13C and 14C measurements of soil gas CO2 and dissolved inorganic carbon in groundwater enabled quantification of carbon inputs. Furthermore, low 14C contents of high δ13C CO2 were crucial in establishing that th...
The influence of intravenous nutrition on protein dynamics following surgery.

Abstract Rates of whole body protein turnover were measured in 13 adult patients one day following abdominal surgery. A constant intravenous infusion of L-(1-14C)-leucine was used to estimate rates of whole body protein flux, synthesis, breakdown and fractional synthesis rates of albumin and mixed globulins. After a baseline measurement when saline was infused, patients were assigned to one of three groups in order to assess the relative effects of three hypocaloric intravenous nutrition regimens upon these rates. Group A (n = 5) was given 108 g/day of crystalline L-amino acids. Group D (n = 4) received 216 g/day of glucose and 22 units of insulin/day. Group AD (n = 4) received a combination of the two regimens (108 g/day amino acids, 216 g/day glucose and 22 units insulin/day). The two isotope infusion studies lasted 20 hr after which the specific intravenous diet was continued for a total of three days. The amino acid infusion increased whole body protein flux from 3.07 g/kg ideal body weight · day to 4.56 g/kg ideal body weight · day (p
Four approaches to interpersonal communication: Review, observation, prognosis

This paper uses four focal points to review interpersonal communication research conducted by speech communication scholars. These four foci include the dialogic approach which stresses authentic communication; the cohesion approach which explores how communication is related to interpersonal outcomes; the message process approach which stresses verbal and nonverbal exchange patterns in dyads; and the rhetorical approach which stresses the strategic nature of communication behavior in dyads. Research in each of these areas is reviewed and selected observations about the nature of that research are offered. The paper concludes with a prognosis for future developments in interpersonal communication.
‘Barbari civilizzatissimi’: Marinetti and the futurist myth of barbarism

Abstract In light of the specific cultural history of Italy and of Marinetti's African provenance, the persistent self-proclaimed primitivism and barbarism of the Italian futurists is discussed in contrast to other versions of modernist and avant-garde primitivism. Postcolonial critics have highlighted the complicity and affinity between primitivist avant-gardes and European imperialism in Africa. Yet Italian futurism cannot be simply assimilated to the imperialist European incorporation of the African ‘other’. Italy (especially southern Italy) was traditionally perceived and represented by northern Europeans as an inferior, barbaric ‘primitive’ other akin to Africa, in opposition and contrast to ‘civilized’ Europe. The Italian futurists ironically reclaimed, embraced and valorized both Italy's southern-ness and its African-ness. At the same time, the futurists exposed barbarism and civilization in technology-driven modernity as two faces of the same coin.
The Fourteenth‐Century Verse Novella Dis ist von dem Heselin: Eroticism, Social Discourse, and Ethical Criticism

Late-medieval German literature offers many highly intriguing examples of erotic narratives structured and motivated in the manner of the fabliaux and novelle. One of these maeren, Dis ist von dem Heselin, composed sometime around 1300, presents an account of a tryst between a naive peasant maid and a young knight who barters a hare for her love. The narrative lives from the charming contrast between this young woman's ignorance of the true meaning of the word minne, or ‘courtly love,’ and the moral decline of the nobility. Whereas she freely and openly grants her love to the knight and later tells everything to her mother, who severely punishes her for her seeming stupidity, the knight's noble fiancee proves to be highly cynical and morally untrustworthy. Mocking the peasant maid during the wedding celebration and emphasizing her own intelligent behavior in hiding her numerous sexual contacts with the family's chaplain, she deeply shocks her fiance, who then quickly changes the marriage arrangements and takes the peasant maid as his wife. The maid triumphs over the noble lady because of her simplicity, trustworthiness, and true love for the knight. Her moral infraction is easily forgiven because of her ignorance and naivete, whereas her highly respected competitor for the knight's hand loses because she knows nothing of true love and morality.
A time-discrete model for dynamic fracture based on crack regularization

We propose a discrete time model for dynamic fracture based on crack regularization. The advantages of our approach are threefold: first, our regularization of the crack set has been rigorously shown to converge to the correct sharp-interface energy Ambrosio and Tortorelli (Comm. Pure Appl. Math., 43(8): 999–1036 (1990); Boll. Un. Mat. Ital. B (7), 6(1):105–123, 1992); second, our condition for crack growth, based on Griffith’s criterion, matches that of quasi-static settings Bourdin (Interfaces Free Bound 9(3): 411–430, 2007) where Griffith originally stated his criterion; third, solutions to our model converge, as the time-step tends to zero, to solutions of the correct continuous time model Larsen (Math Models Methods Appl Sci 20:1021–1048, 2010). Furthermore, in implementing this model, we naturally recover several features, such as the elastic wave speed as an upper bound on crack speed, and crack branching for sufficiently rapid boundary displacements. We conclude by comparing our approach to so-called “phase-field” ones. In particular, we explain why phase-field approaches are good for approximating free boundaries, but not the free discontinuity sets that model fracture.
Differential effects of electrical stimulation and lesions of the hippocampus and adjacent regions upon attack behavior in cats

Abstract The role of the hippocampus and lateral nucleus of the amygdala in attack behavior elicited by electrical stimulation of the hypothalamus was assessed. The major finding was that stimulation of the ventral hippocampus and adjacent regions significantly lowered latencies to attack, whereas stimulation of the dorsal hippocampus increased attack latencies. A functional division of the hippocampus was indicated by the results. Lesions of the ventral hippocampus and lateral amygdala increased attack latencies. Dorsal hippocampal lesions did not reveal a consistent pattern of results.
Surface energy balance of a corn residue-covered field

Abstract Crop residues on the soil surface have the potential to significantly affect the magnitude of individual components of the surface energy balance. Previous research has concentrated on residue effects on soil temperature and moisture early in the growing season. The objective of this study was to measure each of the surface energy balance components of a field during snow-free periods between successive growing seasons. A Bowen ratio system was used to measure surface fluxes within a no-tillage corn ( Zea mays L.) field near Ames, IA, USA. During the fall, large solar zenith angles and short daylengths resulted in −2 d −1 of available energy ( R n − G ). On overcast days with a dry surface, average daytime Bowen ratios ( β ) were β values were >2.3 and β values (1.0 and 1.5 on sunny vs. 0.87 and 1.84 on overcast days) while less available energy was used to evaporate water on sunny days ( 38% on overcast days). More energy was available (up to 12.9 MJ m −2 d −1 ) during the spring measurement interval with daytime Bowen ratios averaging 1.7 and 0.8 on sunny and overcast days, respectively. With overcast conditions and wet soil, evaporation approached potential rates predicted by both the Priestley–Taylor and Penman–Monteith equations. With clear skies and wet soil, Penman–Monteith estimates using a residue resistance term agreed well with measured values.
Digitized tissue microarray classification using sparse reconstruction

In this paper, we propose a novel image classification method based on sparse reconstruction errors to discriminate cancerous breast tissue microarray (TMA) discs from benign ones. Sparse representation is employed to reconstruct the samples and separate the benign and cancer discs. The method consists of several steps including mask generation, dictionary learning, and data classification. Mask generation is performed using multiple scale texton histogram, integral histogram and AdaBoost. Two separate cancer and benign TMA dictionaries are learned using K-SVD. Sparse coefficients are calculated using orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP), and the reconstructive error of each testing sample is recorded. The testing image will be divided into many small patches. Each small patch will be assigned to the category which produced the smallest reconstruction error. The final classification of each testing sample is achieved by calculating the total reconstruction errors. Using standard RGB images, and tested on a dataset with 547 images, we achieved much better results than previous literature. The binary classification accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity are 88.0%, 90.6%, and 70.5%, respectively.
A comparison of ten-year cardiac risk estimates in schizophrenia patients from the CATIE study and matched controls

Objective: Standardized mortality rates are elevated in schizophrenia compared to the general population. The incidence of coronary heart disease (CHD) and the relative contribution of CHD to increased mortality in schizophrenia patients are not clear, despite recent concerns about metabolic complications of certain atypical antipsychotics. Method: Ten-year risk for CHD was calculated for 689 subjects who participated in the Clinical Trials of Antipsychotic Treatment Effectiveness (CATIE) Schizophrenia Trial at baseline using the Framingham CHD risk function and were compared with age-, race- and gender-matched controls from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III. Results: Ten-year CHD risk was significantly elevated in male (9.4% vs. 7.0%) and female (6.3% vs. 4.2%) schizophrenia patients compared to controls (p=0.0001). Schizophrenia patients had significantly higher rates of smoking (68% vs. 35%), diabetes (13% vs. 3%), and hypertension (27% vs. 17%) and lower HDL cholesterol levels (43.7 vs. 49.3 mg/dl) compared to controls (pb0.001). Only total cholesterol levels did not differ between groups. Ten-year CHD risk remained significantly elevated in schizophrenia patients after controlling for body mass index (p=0.0001). Conclusions: These results are consistent with recent evidence of increased cardiac mortality in schizophrenia patients. While the impact of cigarette smoking is clear, the relative contributions to cardiac risk of specific antipsychotic agents, diet, exercise, and quality of medical care remain to be clarified. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Suitability of the Normal Density Assumption for Processing Multispectral Scanner Data

Multivariate normal probability density functions are usually used in classification decision (i.e., recognition) processes on multispectral scanner data. The mean and covariance matrix of the normal density function are usually estimated from a training data set. In this study, a comparison was made to determine whether or not improved classification results could be obtained by use of a different form to represent the probability density functions, namely, an empirical multivariate probability density histogram of decorrelated variables. First, tests were made of the normality of the individual subsets of data, and all were found to be non-normal at the 1% level of significance using a standard chi-square goodness-of-fit test. Operating characteristic curves then were generated to represent decisions made with each form between each given class and a uniformly distributed alternative class; a uniform distribution was chosen because the results are then least dependent on the choice of the alternative data set. It was found that the probabilities of misclassification using the two forms were approximately identical for almost every data set even though a large number of individual data points were classified differently. It was concluded that a decision rule based on the assumption of multivariate normal distributions of scanner signals performs sufficiently well, in comparison with a more accurate but more complicated rule, to warrant its continued use in recognition processing.
Four Dimensional System Engineering Demands on Radar Operating in a Coastal Sub-refractive Environment

Surface sub-refraction in the littorals reduces radio frequency (RF) horizon and introduces an expensive ameliorating system margin requirement. Along coastal Virginia, sub-refractive events are driven by synoptic scale meteorological features with three day time scales. Air/land/sea interactions introduce diurnal and mesoscale variations. This paper describes these inhomogeneities in terms of range dependent propagation factor loss relative to a standard atmosphere. Four dimensional thermodynamic profiles supporting the refractivity field calculation are provided by the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS). The Advanced Refractivity Effects Prediction System (AREPS) is employed to predict the performance of notional S and X band radars operating 24 nm offshore.
Analysis of western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) specific Alu repeats.

Research into great ape genomes has revealed widely divergent activity levels over time for Alu elements. However, the diversity of this mobile element family in the genome of the western lowland gorilla has previously been uncharacterized. Alu elements are primate-specific short interspersed elements that have been used as phylogenetic and population genetic markers for more than two decades. Alu elements are present at high copy number in the genomes of all primates surveyed thus far. The Alu Y subfamily and its derivatives have been recognized as the evolutionarily youngest Alu subfamily in the Old World primate lineage. Here we use a combination of computational and wet-bench laboratory methods to assess and catalog Alu Y subfamily activity level and composition in the western lowland gorilla genome (gorGor3.1). A total of 1,075 independent Alu Y insertions were identified and computationally divided into 10 subfamilies, with the largest number of gorilla-specific elements assigned to the canonical Alu Y subfamily. The retrotransposition activity level appears to be significantly lower than that seen in the human and chimpanzee lineages, while higher than that seen in orangutan genomes, indicative of differential Alu amplification in the western lowland gorilla lineage as compared to other Homininae.
A study of the alanine dosimeter irradiation temperature coefficient from 25 to 80 °C

Abstract The response of high-dose-range chemical dosimeters is dependent on the dosimeter temperature during irradiation. Typically, irradiation temperatures are estimated by measurements, calculations, or some combination of the two. Then using the temperature coefficient for the dosimetry system, the dosimeter response is adjusted or corrected to be consistent with the irradiation temperature for the calibration curve. Consequently, the estimation of irradiation temperature and the response correction via the temperature coefficient are sources of uncertainty in industrial dosimetry. To date, studies of dosimetry system performance at high temperatures have been limited. The maximum irradiation temperature for temperature coefficient studies of commercial alanine dosimeter formulations has not exceeded 50 °C. However, high-energy electron-beam processing can expose dosimeters to temperatures as high as 70 °C. This study aims to examine the temperature coefficient above 50 °C and assess the accuracy of the dosimeter response corrections. The findings reveal small but significant deviations from linearity above 70 °C. The magnitude of this deviation and its implications to dosimetry measurements will be discussed.
Religious objection to cantharidin use in Jain patients.

: We report a case of a Jain family that was upset with the use of cantharidin for treatment of molluscum contagiosum for religious reasons.
Factor-independent interaction of Met-tRNAi and ApUpG with 40 S subunits of rat liver ribosomes

Abstract The small (40 S) subunit of rat liver ribosomes is capable of binding the initiator tRNA (Met-tRNAi), in the absence of added protein factors, in marked preference to other aminoacyl-tRNAs. This binding requires magnesium ions, is codon (ApUpG)-specific, is not obtained with 60 S subunits, and is significantly higher than that observed with 80 S ribosomes. The 40 S subunit also exhibits a preference for ApUpG over several other trinucleotides. The reaction is inhibited by 60 S particles; it is also inhibited by compounds that effect chain initiation such as edeine and aurintricarboxylic acid, but not by cycloheximide, tetracycline or KF. All other aminoacyl-tRNAs, including Met-tRNAm, bind more efficiently to 80 S ribosomes at low MgCl2 concentrations with EF1 or in high Mg++-containing solutions.
POSTERIOR SAGITTAL APPROACH FOR MANAGEMENT OF A TRAUMATIC URETHRAL STRICTURE

A 15-year-old boy struck by a motor vehicle sustained extensive pelvic injuries, a large perineal injury involving the urethra and rectum, and blunt trauma to the head. Emergency surgical exploration revealed a large pelvic hematoma involving the sigmoid. Complete urethral disruption was noted and there was significant continued blood loss from the perineum. The wound was packed and suprapubic cystostomy was performed. The patient underwent double barrel sigmoid colostomy and perineal rectal drainage. The pelvic fracture
Pathogenesis and Prevention of Intraventricular Hemorrhage

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a major neurologic complication of prematurity. Pathogenesis of IVH is attributed to intrinsic fragility of germinal matrix vasculature and to the fluctuation in the cerebral blood flow. Germinal matrix exhibits rapid angiogenesis orchestrating formation of immature vessels. Prenatal glucocorticoid exposure remains the most effective means of preventing IVH. Therapies targeted to enhance the stability of the germinal matrix vasculature and minimize fluctuation in the cerebral blood flow might lead to more effective strategies in preventing IVH.
Protection against β-amyloid induced abnormal synaptic function and cell death by Ginkgolide J.

A new Ginkgo biloba extract P8A (TTL), 70% enriched with terpene trilactones, prevents A beta(1-42) induced inhibition of long-term potentiation in the CA1 region of mouse hippocampal slices. This neuroprotective effect is attributed in large part to ginkgolide J that completely replicates the effect of the extract. Ginkgolide J is also capable of inhibiting cell death of rodent hippocampal neurons caused by A beta(1-42). This beneficial and multi-faceted mode of action of the ginkgolide makes it a new and promising lead in designing therapies against Alzheimer's disease.
Effect of physical activity on cholesterol atherosclerosis in rabbits.

Summary1. Thirty-six New Zealand white rabbits of 5 litters and one group of miscellaneous rabbits were fed 28 g of cholesterol for 60 days. Half of the animals were exercised for 10 minutes a day; half the animals remained sedentary. 2. There was a significant diminution of atherosclerosis in the exercised animals as determined by visual grading and by chemical analysis of the lipid content of the aorta.
TCDD decreases ATP levels and increases reactive oxygen production through changes in mitochondrial F0F1-ATP synthase and ubiquinone

Mitochondria generate ATP and participate in signal transduction and cellular pathology and/or cell death. TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) decreases hepatic ATP levels and generates mitochondrial oxidative DNA damage, which is exacerbated by increasing mitochondrial glutathione redox state and by inner membrane hyperpolarization. This study identifies mitochondrial targets of TCDD that initiate and sustain reactive oxygen production and decreased ATP levels. One week after treating mice with TCDD, liver ubiquinone (Q) levels were significantly decreased, while rates of succinoxidase and Q-cytochrome c oxidoreductase activities were increased. However, the expected increase in Q reduction state following TCDD treatment did not occur; instead, Q was more oxidized. These results could be explained by an ATP synthase defect, a premise supported by the unusual finding that TCDD lowers ATP/O ratios without concomitant changes in respiratory control ratios. Such results suggest either a futile cycle in ATP synthesis, or hydrolysis of newly synthesized ATP prior to release. The TCDD-mediated decrease in Q, concomitant with an increase in respiration, increases complex 3 redox cycling. This acts in concert with glutathione to increase membrane potential and reactive oxygen production. The proposed defect in ATP synthase explains both the greater respiratory rates and the lower tissue ATP levels.
Longitudinal Studies of Types A and B Influenza among Seattle Schoolchildren and Families, 1968-1974

Longitudinal studies of influenza were conducted by postepidemic collection of sera and illness information among Seattle schoolchildren from 1968 to 1974 and in family groups from 1972 to 1974. The rate of infection with A/Hong Kong (H3N2) virus was lowest in the 1968-1969 epidemic; rates were twice as high in the epidemics of 1970 and 1972, and in the A/England (H3N2) epidemic of 1973. The introduction of a new strain of influenza type A or type B caused higher rates of infection in junior high than elementary schoolchildren. For influenza A, a shift in strain was associated with higher rates in the urban area than in the suburban area. The proportion of adolescents with serological evidence of infection who reported typical illness was 40%-42% in all three A/Hong Kong epidemics and 54% during the A/England epidemic. Reinfection with the A/Hong Kong strain was rare. Recent natural infection with the A/Hong Kong virus (1972) afforded 62% protection in the 1973 epidemic of A/England influenza.
Biologically-Inspired Face Detection: Non-Brute-Force-Search Approach

We present a biologically-inspired face detection system. The system applies notions such as saliency, gist, and gaze to localize a face without performing blind spatial search. The saliency model consists of highly parallel low-level computations that operate in domains such as intensity, orientation, and color. It is used to direct attention to a set of conspicuous locations in an image as starting points. The gist model, computed in parallel with the saliency model, estimates holistic image characteristics such as dominant contours and magnitude in high and low spatial frequency bands. We are limiting its use to predicting the likely head size based on the entire scene. Also, instead of identifying face as a single entity, this system performs detection by parts and uses spatial configuration constraints to be robust against occlusion and perspective.
Universality of J-shaped and U-shaped dose-response relations as emergent properties of stochastic transition systems.

Dose-response data for many chemical carcinogens exhibit multiple apparent concentration thresholds. A relatively small increase in exposure concentration near such a threshold disproportionately increases incidence of a specific tumor type. Yet, many common mathematical models of carcinogenesis do not predict such threshold-like behavior when model parameters (e.g., describing cell transition rates) increase smoothly with dose, as often seems biologically plausible. For example, commonly used forms of both the traditional Armitage-Doll and multistage (MS) models of carcinogenesis and the Moolgavkar-Venzon-Knudson (MVK) two-stage stochastic model of carcinogenesis typically yield smooth dose-response curves without sudden jumps or thresholds when exposure is assumed to increase cell transition rates in proportion to exposure concentration. This paper introduces a general mathematical modeling framework that includes the MVK and MS model families as special cases, but that shows how abrupt transitions in cancer hazard rates, considered as functions of exposure concentrations and durations, can emerge naturally in large cell populations even when the rates of cell-level events increase smoothly (e.g., proportionally) with concentration. In this framework, stochastic transitions of stem cells among successive events represent exposure-related damage. Cell proliferation, cell killing and apoptosis can occur at different stages. Key components include: An effective number of stem cells undergoing active cycling and hence vulnerable to stochastic transitions representing somatically heritable transformations. (These need not occur in any special linear order, as in the MS model.) A random time until the first malignant stem cell is formed. This is the first order-statistic, T = min{T1, T2, …, Tn} of n random variables, interpreted as the random times at which each of n initial stem cells or their progeny first become malignant. A random time for a normal stem cell to complete a full set of transformations converting it to a malignant one. This is interpreted very generally as the first passage time through a network of stochastic transitions, possibly with very many possible paths and unknown topology. In this very general family of models, threshold-like (J-shaped or multi-threshold) dose-response nonlinearities naturally emerge even without cytotoxicity, as consequences of stochastic phase transition laws for traversals of random transition networks. With cytotoxicity present, U-shaped as well as J-shaped dose-response curves can emerge. These results are universal, i.e., independent of specific biological details represented by the stochastic transition networks.
Moral Universalism and Global Economic Justice

Moral universalism centrally involves the idea that the moral assessment of persons and their conduct, of social rules and states of affairs, must be based on fundamental principles that do not, explicitly or covertly, discriminate arbitrarily against particular persons or groups. This general idea is explicated in terms of three conditions. It is then applied to the discrepancy between our criteria of national and global economic justice. Most citizens of developed countries are unwilling to require of the global economic order what they assuredly require of any national economic order, for example, that its rules be under democratic control, that it preclude life-threatening poverty as far as is reasonably possible. Without a plausible justification, such a double standard constitutes covert arbitrary discrimination against the global poor.
Cultural studies of fungi causing brown rot in heartwood of living lemon trees in Arizona

Coniophora eremophila and Antrodia sinuosa cause brown heartrot in living lemon trees in southern Arizona and California. They can be distinguished in the field by differences in rot characteristics. Both have a high optimum growth temperature of approximately 35 °C. Coniophora eremophila has a cultural morphology typical of other Coniophora species and did not fruit in culture. Antrodia sinuosa cultures were morphologically similar to previous reports and fruited readily under laboratory conditions. Mating tests with homokaryotic single spore isolates showed it to have a heterothallic bipolar mating system. The decay capacity of C. eremophila on lemon wood test blocks under laboratory conditions was low compared to that of A. sinuosa , five other brown rot fungi, and three white rot fungi.
Observation of a low-lying neutron-unbound state in 19C

Abstract Proton removal reactions from a secondary 22N beam were utilized to populate unbound states in neutron-rich carbon isotopes. Neutrons were measured with the Modular Neutron Array (MoNA) in coincidence with carbon fragments. A resonance with a decay energy of 76(14) keV was observed in the system C 18 + n corresponding to a state in 19C at an excitation energy of 653(95) keV. This resonance could correspond to the first 5 / 2 + state which was recently speculated to be unbound in order to describe 1n and 2n removal cross section measurements from 20C.
An Unexpected Antagonist: Courts, Deregulation, and Conservative Judicial Ideology, 1980-94

This article examines the judicial response to attempts by the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush to promote a deregulatory agenda through executive action. It describes how the federal judiciary frequently prevented both administrations from implementing deregulatory policies despite the fact that by the late 1980s politically conservative judges dominated the bench. The essay identifies two reasons for this judicial resistance. First, because executive deregulation required courts to adopt a highly deferential posture towards executive action, courts allowing it would have been forced to endorse administrative law doctrines that transferred a great deal of power from courts to the executive. Conservative judges were unwilling to take this step. Their institutional interest in retaining power over the administrative state trumped their political inclinations. Second, judicial rejection of executive deregulation illustrates a contradiction within late twentieth-century conservative ideology. Conservatism was committed to anti-statist policies such as deregulation. It was also, however, extremely hostile to what it perceived as judicial activism. Consequently, conservatives developed a series of mechanisms that were intended to limit the powers of the courts. These included textual approaches to statutory interpretation, and a belief in originalism in both constitutional and statutory interpretation. A commitment to both textualism and originalism undermined executive deregulation. Thus, conflicting impulses within late-twentieth-century conservatism limited the ability of conservatives to put their reform agenda into effect.
Attempted Suppression of the Tobacco Hornworm with Sterile Males

Male Manduca sexta (L.) irradiated as pupae with an average dose of 37.7 krad of gamma irradiation from a cobalt-60 source were released on Vieques, a 56 mile2 Caribbean island, over a 17-month period to determine the effect on the native population. The highest ratio of released (sterile) to native males collected subsequently in blacklight traps was 3.7:1, but egg hatch in the native population was not reduced proportionately, and the population increased during the releases. Collections of tobacco hornworms from BL traps baited or unbaited with virgin females showed that the released males were less attracted to the bait females than the native males. Similar sterile male moths from pupae that were irradiated when they were 1–2 days older than those released on Vieques appeared more competitive when they were released on St. Croix island, based on the greater reduction in egg hatch.
Hole Concentration - Tc Relationships for Nd and Zn Substitutions in YBa2Cu3Oy

One of the intriguing questions involving the copper containing high temperature superconductors is the relationship between the hole concentration and the transition temperature, Tc. We address this question in terms of a proposed “master curve” on a Tc, vs hole concentration plot. This curve shows a maximum at 90K at a hole concentration of approximately 0.2 – 0.22 holes per sheet copper for the 1–2–3 system. In this work we studied the Nd1+xBa2−xCu3Oy and YBa2Cu3−xZnxOy systems to check the validity of this “master curve”. Both Nd and Zn substitutions lower Tc, Nd by reducing the number of holes, consistent with the model given by the curve. The effect of Zn substitution is ambiguous, since both the holes are increased and the Cu-O planes are perturbed. Compensation doping, using both Nd and Zn, shows that the major effect of Zn is to disrupt the Cu-O planes.
Evaluation and Optimization of Equipment Contactors' Technology Service System

If the contactors afford supports,the army can expand or reduce support resources in good time according to combat demands.The army can continuously get the necessary supports and reduce support expenses.It is obvious that contactor's supports are the great progresses to army combat ability in the operations.The equipment contactors' technology service system seems an individual decision making unit(DMU).The input and output indexes are distinguished and it is constructed that the data envelopment analysis(DEA) model of the equipment contactors' technology service system.The model is analyzed by Matlab tools.A kind of thought and way is provided that can evaluate effectiveness of the equipment contactors' technology service system.
Impact of high transvalvular velocities early after implantation of Freestyle® stentless aortic bioprosthesis

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY Stentless aortic bioprostheses have excellent hemodynamics, although heterogeneity in gradients has been observed. The present study was intended to determine whether high early postoperative transvalvular velocities correlate with other measures of left ventricular outflow obstruction, whether the phenomenon is transient, and whether high velocities observed early after surgery predict differences in subsequent valve performance or left ventricular remodeling. METHODS Sixty-eight consecutive patients who underwent implantation of Freestyle stentless aortic bioprosthesis and survived to hospital discharge underwent early postoperative echocardiography. Peak transvalvular velocity was used to define a 'high-velocity' group, based on mean (+ 1 SD) for the group. Mean pressure gradient, ratio of peak to proximal velocities, and effective orifice area were assessed; change in peak velocity and evidence of left ventricular mass regression were studied at one-year follow up. RESULTS Of 68 patients, 14 (21%) had 'high velocities' based on early postoperative peak transvalvular velocity >3.0 m/s. There was a higher prevalence of women (64% versus 33%, p = 0.04), and both body surface area (1.79+/-0.17 versus 1.95+/-0.20 m2, p = 0.01) and implanted valve size (22.9+/-2.0 versus 24.9+/-2.1 mm, p = 0.003) were smaller among the 'high-velocity' group. High velocity correlated with other measures of resistance to left ventricular outflow, including higher mean gradient (20.9+/-6.5 versus 8.3 +/-4.2 mmHg, p <0.001) and lower effective orifice area (1.15+/-0.36 versus 1.69+/-0.62 cm2, p <0.001). High early postoperative velocities persisted at one year in eight of 13 (62%) patients. Left ventricular mass regression occurred less often in the 'high-velocity' group (38% versus 77% of patients, p = 0.03) and was present in only one of eight (12%) patients in whom high velocity persisted at one year. CONCLUSION High early postoperative transvalvular velocity suggests resistance to left ventricular outflow. High velocities are transient in some patients, although persistence of high transvalvular velocity suggests 'prosthesis-patient mismatch' with incomplete relief of left ventricular outflow obstruction.
Monoclonal antibody study of the decorated spongiome of contractile vacuole complexes of Paramecium

A monoclonal antibody (mAb) has been developed and selected by immunofluorescence for the radial canals of the contractile vacuole complex (CVC) of Paramecium multimicronucleatum. By applying indirect immunogold labeling to thin frozen sections this mAb has been shown at the electron microscopic level to be specific for the decorated spongiome. We have used the mAb to study the normal interfission appearance as well as developmental stages of the decorated spongiomes. Two decorated spongiomes, presumably involved in water sequestration, radiate as 5–10 bands from unlabeled, circular, 25 microns diameter centers. Two new CVCs arise just anterior to the space occupied by the old spongiomes, the new anterior CVC appearing slightly before the posterior one. Development of the new spongiomes around a 10 microns unlabeled central zone is accompanied by a regression of old spongiome bands until the lengths of these bands in both old and new CVCs are equal just before cell division. After division both old and new spongiome bands grow at equal rates to the same length. Exceptions to the above general scheme, both in number of CVCs in interfission, as well as in position of the new relative to the old CVCs, are also observed.
Human CD34+ hematopoietic progenitors have low, cytokine-unresponsive O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase and are sensitive to O6-benzylguanine plus BCNU

Human bone marrow (BM) cells contain low levels of the DNA repair protein, O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase, which may explain their susceptibility to nitrosourea-induced cytotoxicity and the development of secondary leukemia after nitrosourea treatment. Isolated CD34+ myeloid progenitors were also found to have low levels of alkyltransferase activity. The level of alkyltransferase in CD34+ cells or in mononuclear BM cells did not increase after incubation with granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interleukin-3, stem cell factor, the combination, or 5637 conditioned medium. BCNU sensitivity remained unchanged as well. In addition, O6-benzylguanine depleted alkyltransferase activity in BM cells at concentrations as low as 1.5 mumol/L after a 1-hour exposure. O6-benzylguanine pretreatment markedly sensitized hematopoietic progenitor colony-forming cells to BCNU, resulting in a reduction in the dose of drug (termed the dose-modification factor) required to inhibit 50% of the colony formation (IC50) of threefold to fivefold. Since, unlike many other cell types, proliferating early (CD34+) hematopoietic precursors do not induce alkyltransferase, myelosuppression may be the dose-limiting toxicity of the combination of O6-benzylguanine plus BCNU in clinical trials.