cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development of a Rat Model of Toluene-Abuse Embryopathy

A rat model was developed to study toluene-abuse embryopathy, a clinical syndrome which occurs in offspring of women who abuse toluene during pregnancy. On d 6-19 of gestation, eight dams received a daily gavage dose of toluene, 650 mg/kg body weight, diluted in corn oil, whereas eight control dams and eight pair-fed dams received corn oil. The fetuses were delivered on d 19 of gestation. In the toluene-exposed group, the weights of the fetuses were reduced by 21.6% (p < 0.001), and a delay in skeletal ossification was demonstrated. Toluene exposure significantly reduced the weight of the fetal brain by 11.9% (p < 0.001), as well as the weights of the heart, liver, and kidney. Organ weight/body weight ratios did not differ significantly. Morphometric analysis of brain sections demonstrated that toluene exposure resulted in smaller brains together with an increase in the size of the ventricular system and a reduction in the size of the caudate nucleus. Although toluene exposure resulted in a 13.7% reduction in maternal food consumption, the observations made in the pair-fed group did not differ from those made in the control group. These findings suggest that prenatal exposure to toluene results in generalized fetal growth retardation, and that these effects are not due to the reduction in maternal food consumption.
The economics of mobile payments: Understanding stakeholder issues for an emerging financial technology application

Economic theory provides a unique vantage point from which to examine issues with respect to emerging technologies, where standards and adoption, business process changes and implementation outcomes, information security, investments and business value, and industry impact require care and consideration on the part of senior management strategists and financial services leaders. In this article, we examine a new technology application which is coming into its own around the world, in association with the revolution in wireless connectivity: mobile payments. Although there are likely to be nuances and surprises with this technology application, we caution the reader to recognize that many of the same economic forces will be at work as were with other financial services and related technology applications in the past. We apply a robust evaluative framework that permits identification of the relevant stakeholders and applicable theory in the analysis of consumer, firm, business process, market, industrial and social issues. Our findings are intended to guide senior managers in dealing with the economic aspects of mobile payments, and to help identify some important directions for the research.
Red and yellow solvates of chloro(2,2':6',2''-terpyridine)platinum(II) chloride and Pt...Pt interactions.

Crystallization of chloro­(2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine)platinum(II) chloride from dimethyl sulfoxide yields a red polymorph, [PtCl(C15H11N3)]Cl·C2H6OS, (I), which exhibits stacking along the a axis through pairs of Pt⋯Pt(−x, −y, −z) inter­actions of 3.3155 (8) A. The cations are further associated through close Pt⋯Pt(1 − x, −y, −z) distances of 3.4360 (8) A. Recrystallization from water gives a mero­hedrally twinned yellow–orange dihydrate form, [PtCl(C15H11N3)]Cl·2H2O, (II), with pairwise short Pt⋯Pt(1 − x, 2 − y, −z) contacts of 3.3903 (5) A but no long-range stacking through the crystals. Inter­pair Pt⋯Pt(−x, 2 − y, −z) distances between cation pairs in the hydrate are 4.3269 (5) A.
Complete solution NMR analysis of three oligoimine model compounds

A series of three model compounds (monomer, dimer and trimer analogues) representing polyisocyanides were synthesized and their solution NMR spectra were characterized. Analysis of the monomer and dimer analogues led to the conclusion that the most stable forms of these molecular systems are planar with the C—C bond in an s-trans conformation and the imine moieties in a Z conformation. In solution, the trimer analogue exhibits a preferred conformation that has a planar s-trans-diimine segment covalently attached to a magnetically isolated monoimine segment such that each segment is oriented at approximately 90° to the other. This latter observation gives significant insight into the preferred molecular structure to be expected for sterically unconstrained poly(N-phenyliminomethylene) in solution. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Modulation of Glucose Transporter 1 (GLUT1) Expression Levels Alters Mouse Mammary Tumor Cell Growth In Vitro and In Vivo

Tumor cells exhibit an altered metabolism characterized by elevated aerobic glycolysis and lactate secretion which is supported by an increase in glucose transport and consumption. We hypothesized that reducing or eliminating the expression of the most prominently expressed glucose transporter(s) would decrease the amount of glucose available to breast cancer cells thereby decreasing their metabolic capacity and proliferative potential. Of the 12 GLUT family glucose transporters expressed in mice, GLUT1 was the most abundantly expressed at the RNA level in the mouse mammary tumors from MMTV-c-ErbB2 mice and cell lines examined. Reducing GLUT1 expression in mouse mammary tumor cell lines using shRNA or Cre/Lox technology reduced glucose transport, glucose consumption, lactate secretion and lipid synthesis in vitro without altering the concentration of ATP, as well as reduced growth on plastic and in soft agar. The growth of tumor cells with reduced GLUT1 expression was impaired when transplanted into the mammary fat pad of athymic nude mice in vivo. Overexpression of GLUT1 in a cell line with low levels of endogenous GLUT1 increased glucose transport in vitro and enhanced growth in nude mice in vivo as compared to the control cells with very low levels of GLUT1. These studies demonstrate that GLUT1 is the major glucose transporter in mouse mammary carcinoma models overexpressing ErbB2 or PyVMT and that modulation of the level of GLUT1 has an effect upon the growth of mouse mammary tumor cell lines in vivo.
Review of the validation and dissemination of eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing: A scientific and ethical dilemma

Abstract Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a technique that combines imaginai exposure with eye movement, recently has been proposed by its originator, F. Shapiro, as a prescriptive treatment for trauma-related anxiety. To date, several uncontrolled case studies have found EMDR to be effective. However, none employed objective or standardized dependent measures of therapeutic improvement and all combined EMDR with other interventions. In contrast to results obtained from case studies, controlled experiments utilizing objective and standardized dependent measures have failed to support the efficacy of the technique beyond that of its imaginal exposure component. Unfortunately, these experiments employed small samples with a limited range of disorders, indicating the need for further evaluation. However, unbiased replication is impeded by Shapiro's practice of prohibiting individuals not associated with her EMDR Institute from training others in the technique. We articulate our concern that despite its lack of empirical validation clinical application of the technique by behavior therapists is rapidly increasing.
Dlx genes, p63, and ectodermal dysplasias

Many events in vertebrate morphogenesis and organogenesis develop from epithelial/mesenchymal interactions. These processes involve a series of sequential and reciprocal interactions between the thickened epithelial sheets and underlying mesenchymal cells. Much has been learned from in vitro assays and knockout experiments in mice on the early signaling molecules that regulate the initial stages of the epithelial/mesenchymal interactions. In this review, we discuss effectors of these initial signals, specifically the p63 and Dlx families of transcription factors, that play central roles in embryonic patterning and regulation of different developmental processes, and provide a review of some of the mutations in these genes that have been associated with ectodermal dysplasias (EDs).
Use of parenteral antiepileptic drugs and the role for fosphenytoin

Neurology 1996;46(Suppl 1):S1-S2 Epilepsy is a chronic neurologic disorder. The pathologic process or condition that results in seizures may be acquired as a result of injury or developmental malformations Table 1 or it may be predetermined by inherited chromosomal gene abnormalities Table 2. Seizures may also be nonepileptic in origin, occurring as a result of transient alterations in cerebral physiology due to hypoxia, a metabolic or toxic cause, substance abuse or withdrawal, electrolyte imbalance, or elevated temperature. View this table: Table 1. Injuries or developmental malformations causing epilepsy View this table: Table 2. Epilepsies associated with gene abnormalities The goal of epilepsy therapy is to prevent seizures with the long-term use of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and sometimes with surgical procedures. Occasionally, AEDs are used prophylactically to prevent the development of epilepsy in patients who have experienced head injury or who have had surgical ablative procedures for the treatment of other brain pathologic processes. Although the medical management of epilepsy is accomplished by the long-term use of orally administered AEDs, parenteral AEDs are necessary to treat seizure emergencies or when other medical situations preclude the use of oral …
Short-term effects of agriculture on air pollution and climate in California

[1] This paper discusses the short-term effects of irrigation and albedo differences due to agriculture on California and Los Angeles air pollution and climate. High-resolution irrigation, land use, soil, albedo, and emission data were applied at the subgrid scale in the nested global-through-urban GATOR-GCMOM model to examine these issues following a comparison of baseline model results with data. In August, irrigation alone was found to increase soil moisture, thereby increasing nighttime but decreasing daytime ground temperatures more, causing a net ground cooling in California and Los Angeles. Agriculture was calculated to increase the albedo of the northern Central Valley but decrease that of the southern valley more relative to nonagricultural land today, offsetting part of the cooling due to irrigation alone. The spatial maximum day-night average August cooling in the Central Valley due to irrigation plus albedo differences from agriculture was 0.9 K at 30 m height and 2.3 K at the ground, in range of an historic 0.74–2.4 K cooling at 2 m attributed to heavily irrigated agriculture in an independent data study. When averaged over all model cells containing >0% irrigation, irrigation alone and irrigation plus albedo differences decreased day-night average 2-m temperatures by 0.44 K and 0.16 K, respectively, indicating greater local than regional effects of agriculture. In the Central Valley, irrigation increased the relative humidity, cloud water, and precipitation, shifting aerosol and soluble gas mass to clouds and rain. In the valley and Los Angeles, agriculture stabilized air, decreasing wind speeds and turbulence, increasing pollution in the absence of rain. Thus, when enhancing clouds and precipitation, agriculture decreased pollution; otherwise, agriculture increased pollution. Agriculture in parts of the polluted eastern Los Angeles basin increased fine particulate matter by ∼2% and ozone by ∼0.1%. All results were robust to a change in the simulation date, although further evaluation is needed to better quantify effects of agriculture on climate and air quality.
Evaluating the Dissolution Behavior of Zinc-Complexed Protein Suspensions by Computer Modeling and Simulation

In vitro dissolution of zinc insulin suspensions can be promoted by the complexation of zinc with an ionic species for which the zinc ion has a greater affinity. Studies conducted by our group have previously shown that the rate-limiting steps that govern the dissolution of zinc-complexed insulin suspension may be (1) chemical complexation (surface reaction) and (2) subsequent drug mass transport (diffusion and solubility). The purpose of this work was to use a computer simulation model to predict the dissolution behavior of zinc-complexed insulin suspensions and determine the influence of the above rate-limiting steps on the overall process of dissolution. A quasi-steady-state model was chosen which included the effects of a shrinking particle radius, the drug's solubility, and a convective mass transfer term. Based on this model, the computer simulation program evaluated dissolution behaviors of various model drugs, including zinc insulin suspensions. The experimental data obtained from actual dissolution experiments were superimposed on computer-generated profiles that incorporated quantitative values to key terms, namely the alpha (diffusion resistance) and beta (surface reaction resistance) values. Results demonstrated that the computer simulations could be used to predict the dissolution behavior of zinc-complexed protein suspensions by manipulating the alpha and beta values. Overall, the computer simulations indicated the involvement of both the surface reaction and the diffusion rate-limiting steps in zinc insulin dissolution, which was consistent with the results obtained from actual experimental studies.
Stars in Photographic Emulsions Initiated by Deuterons. Part I. Experimental

Photographic plates have been bombarded with deuterons in the 184-inch Berkeley cyclotron, and a group of 1200 stars in the emulsion has been studied. The group included 300 stars at each of the following energies: 35 Mev, 90 Mev, 130 Mev, and 190 Mev. At each of these energies the average number of prongs per star was close to 3.0. About three times as many prongs were observed in the forward direction of the beam as in the backward direction. The study was made with desensitized plates, which do not show tracks of high energy protons. The results are to be interpreted as including all alpha particles and heavier nuclear fragments but only the lower energy protons.
Effect of Fungicide Application and Cultivar on Soybean Green Stem Disorder.

Abstract Green stem disorder of soybean (Glycine max) has increasingly become a nuisance for soybean producers. The disorder is distinguished from other manifestations of delayed plant maturity by ...
Carrier dynamics in site- and structure-controlled InGaN/GaN quantum dots

We report on the carrier dynamics in InGaN/GaN dot-in-nanowire quantum dots, revealed by a systematic mapping between the optical properties and structural parameters of the quantum dots. Such a study is made possible by using quantum dots with precisely controlled locations and sizes. We show that the carrier dynamics is governed by two competing mechanisms: (1) Excitons are protected from surface recombination by a potential barrier formed due to strain relaxation at the sidewall surface. (2) Excitons can overcome the potential barrier by tunneling and thermal activation. This carrier dynamics model successfully explains the following surprising experimental findings on individual quantum dots. First, there exist strong statistical correlations among multiple optical properties of many individual quantum dots, despite variations of these properties resulting from inevitable structural variations among the quantum dots. Second, the antibunching property of the quantum dot emission exhibits an abnormal ladle-shaped dependence on the decay time and temperature. Our results can guide the way toward nitride-based high-temperature single-photon emitters and nanophotonic devices.
Combined superior oblique tuck and adjustable suture recession of the ipsilateral superior rectus for long-standing superior oblique palsy.

Abstract Purpose Unilateral long-standing superior oblique palsy may lead to superior rectus overaction/contracture requiring surgery of multiple extraocular muscles to correct the hypertropia. We review our technique of tucking the superior oblique combined with immediate postoperative adjustable suture recession of the ipsilateral superior rectus. Methods Twelve patients during the course of 2.5 years with longstanding vertical diplopia unrelated to closed head trauma or systemic disease who underwent our surgical technique were identified. The hypertropia in all patients was largest across the lower field (Knapp class 5) or nasal and lower fields (Knapp class 4). Outcome measures were primary-position hypertropia and vertical diplopia. Results The mean preoperative hypertropia in primary gaze measured 17.8 PD (range, 4 to 30). The mean 2-week postoperative vertical deviation was 1.3 PD (range, 4 PD hypotropic to 6 PD hypertrophic). The mean 6-week postoperative vertical deviation was 1.9 PD (range, 2 PD hypotropic to 12 PD hypertrophic). Diplopia in primary and down gaze, which was universally present before surgery, resolved in 11 of the 12 patients (92%). Conclusions This combination of procedures appears to be a highly successful choice for treatment of unilateral long-standing superior oblique palsy. Advantages for both patient and surgeon include adequate exposure through a single conjunctival incision, elimination of risks to the contralateral eye, and immediate intraoperative suture adjustment of the ipsilateral superior rectus.
Agra, arboreal beetles of Neotropical forests: famula group of formicaria group systematics (carabidae)

. This paper is the third in a series designed to cover taxonomically all species groups of Agra, whose cumulative ranges extend from southernmost Texas to northernmost Argentina. A clear understanding of phylogeny and distribution of these beetles may provide very good data with which to test recently proposed hypotheses of tropical species richness and endemism, particularly the forest refugium-flood-zone hypothesis. New methods of description are used in the series to cover the several hundred species in less time and space, to provide a consistent numerical data base for those who choose to use it, and to use more efficiently and effectively the descriptive process. In this paper, two species groups, famula and formicaria, are discussed. Three names are presented in new combinations: Agra rubricollis (Chaudoir), Agra smuragdinipennis (Steinheil), Agra phaenicodera (Bates). All these species were originally placed in Agridia and now are considered as part of Agra, formicaria group. One synonymy (formicaria = batesii), previously recognized by Chaudoir, is questioned but left standing because of no recourse to type material of formicaria Thomson. Twelve new species of Agra in two species groups are described from the following type localities: famula group; cuneolus (BRAZIL, Amazonas, Manaus), tessera (BRAZIL, Para Santarem), campana (REPUBLIC OF PANAMA, Panama, Cerro Campana), spina (BRAZIL, Mato Grosso, Rosario Oeste), fortuna (REPUBLIC OF PANAMA, Chiriqui, Fortuna); formicaria group; blumax (BRAZIL, Sāo Paulo, Mato de Governo), inpa (BRAZIL, Amazonas, Manaus), zona (REPUBLIC OF PANAMA, Canal Zone, Barro Colorado Island), aeroides (BRAZIL, Amazonas, Sāo Paulo d'Olivenqa), leuhea (REPUBLIC OF PANAMA, Canal Zone, 5.0 miles northwest of Gamboa), vation (PERU, Loreto, Pebas), moira (BRAZIL, Amazonas, Manaus area, Parana do Xiboreninho). Twenty species arrayed in two groups and ten subgroups are fully discussed. Their cumulative range extends from Costa Rica south to Bolivia and east to the middle of the Amazon Basin;most species are very locally distributed. A dot map illustrates the range of each taxon. Distribution and relationships are discussed in general, but detailed cladistic analysis is deferred until taxonomy of the five groups of Section Erythropus is completed. Species distributions correspond to pleistocene refuges suggested by other authors based on other classes or groups of organisms.
Assessing reproductive toxicity of two environmental toxicants with a novel in vitro human spermatogenic model

Environmental influences and insults by reproductive toxicant exposure can lead to impaired spermatogenesis or infertility. Understanding how toxicants disrupt spermatogenesis is critical for determining how environmental factors contribute to impaired fertility. While current animal models are available, understanding of the reproductive toxic effects on human fertility requires a more robust model system. We recently demonstrated that human pluripotent stem cells can differentiate into spermatogonial stem cells/spermatogonia, primary and secondary spermatocytes, and haploid spermatids; a model that mimics many aspects of human spermatogenesis. Here, using this model system, we examine the effects of 2-bromopropane (2-BP) and 1,2,dibromo-3-chloropropane (DBCP) on in vitro human spermatogenesis. 2-BP and DBCP are non-endocrine disrupting toxicants that are known to impact male fertility. We show that acute treatment with either 2-BP or DBCP induces a reduction in germ cell viability through apoptosis. 2-BP and DBCP affect viability of different cell populations as 2-BP primarily reduces spermatocyte viability, whereas DBCP exerts a much greater effect on spermatogonia. Acute treatment with 2-BP or DBCP also reduces the percentage of haploid spermatids. Both 2-BP and DBCP induce reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation leading to an oxidized cellular environment. Taken together, these results suggest that acute exposure with 2-BP or DBCP causes human germ cell death in vitro by inducing ROS formation. This system represents a unique platform for assessing human reproductive toxicity potential of various environmental toxicants in a rapid, efficient, and unbiased format.
The rise and fall of early oil field technology: The torsion balance gradiometer

Today elementary, physics students take for granted such quantities as “big G,” the universal gravitational constant. In fact in the late 1700s the value of this quantity was unknown, and the quest to determine it led to some of the earliest geophysical instrumentation. Just after the Revolutionary War in the United States, Cavendish developed the first system to measure the universal gravitational constant, the familiar “big G.” Unfortunately, for geologists (at this time still mostly “gentlemen scientists”), this apparatus produced data which were difficult to interpret geologically, and it was far too large and cumbersome for field use. The geologic limitation was that the system only measured the horizontal derivative of a horizontal component of the gravity field, a quantity which by itself is difficult to interpret. Thus no applications of this elegant yet laboratory‐bound instrument emerged.
Self-Collision Detection in Spatial Closed Chains

A novel methodology for detecting self-collisions in spatial closed kinematic chains is presented. In general these chains generate complex three dimensional motions in which their own links will collide with each other (i.e., a self-collision) without effective motion planning. The self-collision detection is accomplished via a novel algorithm for definitively detecting collisions of right circular, cylindrically shaped, rigid bodies moving in three dimensions. The algorithm uses line geometry and dual number algebra to exploit the geometry of right circular cylindrical objects to facilitate the detection of collisions. In the first stage of the algorithm, cylindrically shaped rigid bodies are modeled by infinite length right circular cylinders. Sufficient and necessary conditions are then used to determine if a pair of infinite length cylinders collide. If the actual finite length rigid bodies collide, then it is necessary that their associate infinite length cylinder models collide, and we proceed to the next stage of the algorithm where the bodies are modeled with finite length cylinders and a definitive necessary and sufficient collision detection algorithm is employed. The result is an efficient approach of detecting collisions of cylindrically shaped bodies moving in three dimensions that has applications in spatial mechanism design and motion planning. A case study examining a spatial 4C mechanism for self-collisions is included.
The stimulation of ribonucleic acid synthesis by ribosome inhibitors in amino acid-starved Escherichia coli.

Abstract 1. 1. A series of ribosome inhibitors all stimulated RNA synthesis in cells of Escherichia coli strain 10B6 treated with 5-methyltryptophan. This mutant strain possesses a temperature-sensitive valine-activating enzyme ( l -valine: tRNA ligase (AMP), EC 6.1.1.9.). When the same inhibitors were applied to cells whose RNA synthesis was inhibited by incubation at 42°, all of them proved far less active in stimulating RNA synthesis. The inhibitors were chlortetracycline, puromycin, lincomycin, mikamycin, erythromycin, pactamycin, and spectinomycin. Spermidine treatment had similar effects. 2. 2. We infer that the entire group of inhibitors stimulate RNA synthesis in amino acid-deficient cells by sparing amino acids. For chlortetracycline, which inhibits protein synthesis in vitro by preventing binding of amino acyl-tRNA to ribosomes, it follows that either this inhibition of binding is not the mode of action in vivo or the amino acids act at a pre-ribosomal site in regulating RNA synthesis.
Effect of Multivalent Salts—Calcium and Aluminum on the Flocculation of Kaolin Suspension with Anionic Polyacrylamide

The effects of calcium and aluminum ions on the interaction behavior of anionic polyacrylamide (anionic PAM or HPAM) and kaolin are important in determining the efficient flocculation of kaolin. While kaolin surfaces are negatively charged in media such as water, they exhibit the positive surface charge characteristic at pH below 3.2 in the solution of calcium cation, and at pH below 9.2 in the solution of aluminum cation. The. experimental results show that both calcium and aluminum ions suppress the kaolin flocculation process. The results are analyzed and explained by molecular orbital theory, solution chemistry, infrared spectra, and electronic probe examination of kaolin treated with and without anionic PAM. Analysis results indicate that the specific adsorption of Ca[sup 2+], Al[sup 3+] and their hydroxo complexes on anionic PAM causes the loss of anionic character in the low pH range and leads to a low flocculation efficiency. In the high pH range, the poor kaolin flocculation can be attributed to precipitation of calcium and aluminum hydroxides on active functional groups, which inhibits the hydrogen bonding between anionic PAM and kaolin surfaces. At neutral pH values, the trivalent aluminum ion has more significant adverse effect on the kaolin flocculation than the divalentmore » calcium ion.« less
Amplification and absorption of electromagnetic waves in overdense plasmas

The spatial variation of the amplitude of electromagnetic radiation propagating into an inhomogeneous plasma is discussed in reference to nonlinear interaction of HCN laser radiation with plasmas and to experiments on r.f. heating of the ionosphere. Previous results on the ordinary wave and on the extraordinary wave at normal incidence are reviewed with emphasis on the physical processes affecting the amplitude behaviour. New numerical results are obtained starting from an integral representation of the solution of the wave equation for waves in a cold, inhomogeneous, magnetized plasma slab. Resonance absorption is discussed for the cases of normal incidence in the presence of a magnetic field (the Budden problem) and oblique incidence in the absence of a magnetic field.
Attraction of male beetles to grubs: Evidence for evolution of a sex pheromone from larval odor

Females of the scarabaeid beetleCyclocephala lurida produce a volatile sex pheromone which attracts conspecific males. Field experiments demonstrated that larvae of both sexes also emit volatile chemicals that stimulate similar responses in adult males, including attempts by the attracted males to mate with the nonreproductive immature stage. Significantly more adult males were caught in traps baited with conspecific male or female larvae or adult females than in blank control traps. Hexane extracts of both male and female grubs were at least as effective as live larvae in trapping male adults, demonstrating that the behavioral responses are mediated by volatile chemicals. Sensory and behavioral responses of males to sex pheromones emitted by adult females are part of the functional communication system. However, their response to grubs is not functional, because grubs are normally temporally and spatially inaccessible to mate-seeking males. In theory, the evolution of a communication system is problematic because it requires the development of a signal in one sex and the sensory and behavioral attributes to respond to that signal in the other sex. The ontogeny of sex pheromone communication inC. lurida suggests a partial solution to this evolutionary problem. We propose that this sex pheromone communication system is probably derived from noncommunicative volatile chemicals that are lost in adult males and retained by adult females.
In Pursuit of Water Oxidation Catalysts for Solar Fuel Production

Roughly three-fourths of the power generated globally comes from burning fossil fuels. For solar energy to compete directly as a replacement, technologies are needed to capture this energy in a chemical form—as a fuel—so it can be used when sunlight is not available. One bottleneck in the development of practical solar fuels is the water oxidation reaction. Water is the only potential source of electrons capable of reducing protons to H2 or CO2 to carbonaceous fuels on a global scale. Thus, while there may be many options for reduction catalysts, redox cycling inevitably requires the coupling of reduction reactions to water oxidation (see the figure, panel A). On page 342 of this issue, Yin et al. ( 1 ) report on a water-soluble water oxidation catalyst that has a reaction center containing four cobalt (Co) atoms. Its surrounding ligands are not organic groups but are polyoxotungstate (PW9O349−) anions that resemble the solid oxide supports of heterogeneous catalysts. This catalyst weds the best features of extant heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts while remedying many of their respective disadvantages.
Diaphragmatic paralysis after cardiac surgery.

![Figure][1] A 75-year-old female patient presented to our hospital with worsening shortness of breath 2 months after undergoing a coronary artery bypass graft procedure. Chest x-ray showed marked elevation of the left hemidiaphragm, with visceral contents occupying the lower two-thirds of
Heat/Mass Transfer in Rotating, Smooth, High Aspect-Ratio (4:1) Coolant Channels With Curved Walls in 90° and 45° Orientation

The paper presents an experimental study of heat/mass transfer coefficient in 4:1 aspect ratio smooth channels with non-uniform cross-sections. Curved leading and trailing walls are studied for two curvatures and for two different curvature configurations. One configuration has curved walls with curvature corresponding to the blade profile (positive curvature on both leading and trailing walls), and the other configuration has leading and trailing walls that curve inwards into the coolant passage (negative curvature on the leading surface and positive curvature on the trailing surface). The experiments are conducted in a rotating two-pass coolant channel facility using the naphthalene sublimation technique. Only the radially outward flow is considered for the present study at a Reynolds number of 20,000, rotation numbers in the range 0–0.051 and for 90° and 45° orientations with respect to the direction of rotation. In addition to area averaged values, the span-wise mass transfer distributions of fully developed regions of the channel walls are presented in order to delineate the effects of rotation number, channel shape and orientation. The mass transfer data from the curved wall channels are compared to those from a smooth 4:1 rectangular duct with similar flow parameters. Pressure drop along each channel is also measured and put in perspective of the mass/heat transfer results for the 90° orientation, through the presentation of a performance factor.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Factors Influencing Somatic Embryogenesis from Cultured Leaf Segments of Dactylis glomerata

Summary Data for the gradient response (embryogenic callus/direct embryo formation) of cultured 3 mm length orchardgrass ( Dactylis glomerata L.) leaf segments showed that callus induction decreased with increasing distance from the base and was nonexistent in segments distal from 12 mm. Direct embryo formation began 6 – 9 mm from the base of the innermost leaf and 3 – 6 mm from the base of the next leaf outward. The optimum response for number of embryos produced was obtained with 30 μM 3,6-dichloro-o-anisic acid (dicamba) or 10 μM 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic (2,4-D) acid added to Schenk and Hildebrandt medium. Plants regenerated from somatic embryos exhibited an increased embryogenic response compared to the parent plants from which they were derived and the embryogenic response remained high through four cycles of in vitro culture. The most important factor influencing the embryogenic response appeared to be genotype and there was an indication that the trait may be transmitted through female gametes.
Passive and active acoustics using an autonomous wave glider

The recently developed wave glider has the potential to be an effective unmanned platform for acoustic applications. We present the results of a variety of experiments that quantify this potential. The radiated self-noise of the autonomous platform is evaluated using an integrated passive acoustic recorder during a set of field trials off the coast of Hawaii. We present the radiated noise spectra from these trials to illustrate the dependence on hydrophone location and sea state. Using the same instrumentation, we demonstrate the ability of a modified wave glider to detect marine mammals using passive acoustic monitoring techniques. We also evaluate the performance of the wave glider operating as an active acoustic gateway, highlighting the potential of this platform to serve as a navigation reference and communications relay for scientific, industrial, and military subsea assets. To demonstrate the potential of the wave glider platform to support acoustic navigation, we assess the performance of time-of-flight range estimation and seafloor transponder localization. These tests were performed using commercial off-the-shelf acoustic positioning hardware integrated with the wave glider to illustrate that the low self-noise of the wave glider makes it possible to achieve acoustic positioning performance similar to previously reported results. Finally, we show that the glider can operate as a station-keeping surface communications gateway and provide recommendations for its use. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Conditional peripheral membrane proteins: Facing up to limited specificity

Regulated relocalization of signaling and trafficking proteins is crucial for the control of many cellular processes and is driven by a series of domains that respond to alterations at membrane surfaces. The first examples of these domains—conditional peripheral membrane proteins—included C1, C2, PH, PX, and FYVE domains, which specifically recognize single tightly regulated membrane components such as diacylglycerol or phosphoinositides. The structural basis for this recognition is now well understood. Efforts to identify additional domains with similar functions that bind other targets (or participate in unexplained cellular processes) have not yielded many more examples of specific phospholipid-binding domains. Instead, most of the recently discovered conditional peripheral membrane proteins bind multiple targets (each with limited specificity), relying on coincidence detection and/or recognizing broader physical properties of the membrane such as charge or curvature. This broader range of recognition modes presents significant methodological challenges for a full structural understanding.
Effects of Varying Ethanol and Turpentine Levels on Attraction of Two Pine Root Weevil Species, Hylobius pales and Pachylobius picivorus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

The pales weevil, Hylobius pales (Herbst), and the pitch-eating weevil, Pachylobius, picivorus (Germar), are part of a weevil complex causing extensive damage to plantation pines throughout the Lake States. A means of monitoring weevil populations has been developed using pitfall traps baited with ethanol and turpentine. The relative attractiveness of six combinations of ethanol and turpentine were compared. Traps were monitored throughout the 1988 and 1989 growing seasons in a Scots pine Christmas tree farm. Both species were more strongly attracted to ethanol/turpentine ratios above 1:1. Pales weevils preferred slightly higher ethanol/turpentine ratios than did pitch-eating weevils. Within species, both sexes responded equivalently among treatments. The implications of these behavioral responses to weevils' locating stressed trees, the role of chemical ecology in niche partitioning, and IPM of pine root weevils are discussed.
The Lumbee Problem: The Making of an American Indian People

How does a group of people who have American Indian ancestry but no records of treaties, reservations, Native language, or peculiarly "Indian" customs come to be accepted--socially and legally--as Indians? To discover how this unlikely transition has been made by the Lumbee Indians of Robeson County, North Carolina, is Karen I. Blu's object in this book, a penetrating inquiry into the makeup of the Lumbee as a people as well as a revealing look at the shaping of Indian--and group--identity in general. The Lumbee Problem traces the political and legal history of the Indians of Robeson County, arguing that Lumbee political activities have been powerfully affected by the interplay between their own and others' conceptions of who they are. The book offers insights into the workings of racial ideology and practice in both the past and the present South--and particularly into the nature of Indianness as it is widely experienced among nonreservation Southeastern Indians. Race and ethnicity, as concepts and as elements guiding action, are seen to be at the heart of the matter. By exploring these issues and their implications as they are worked out in the United States, Blu brings much-needed clarity to the question of how such concepts are--or should be--applied across real and perceived cultural borders. Karen I. Blu is an associate professor of anthropology at New York University.
Blood Pressure Control in Chronic Kidney Disease: Is Less Really More?

BP control is critical in the treatment of patients with chronic kidney disease. Recent guidelines now recommend a BP goal of <130/80 mmHg. Clinical trials using a randomized, intention-to-treat design have not established the benefits of this goal; rather, observational data and secondary or subgroup analyses drove the development of the new guidelines. A variety of observations suggest potential adverse events associate with achieving too low a BP in patients with chronic kidney disease, and ongoing randomized trials will have to establish the benefits or risks of meeting this goal.
Motor transport of self-assembled cargos in crowded environments

Intracellular transport of cargo particles is performed by multiple motors working in concert. However, the mechanism of motor association to cargos is unknown. It is also unknown how long individual motors stay attached, how many are active, and how multimotor cargos would navigate a densely crowded filament with many other motors. Prior theoretical and experimental biophysical model systems of intracellular cargo have assumed fixed teams of motors transporting along bare microtubules or microtubules with fixed obstacles. Here, we investigate a regime of cargos transporting along microtubules crowded with free motors. Furthermore, we use cargos that are able to associate or dissociate motors as it translocates. We perform in vitro motility reconstitution experiments with high-resolution particle tracking. Our model system consists of a quantum dot cargo attached to kinesin motors, and additional free kinesin motors that act as traffic along the microtubule. Although high densities of kinesin motors hinder forward motion, resulting in a lower velocity, the ability to associate motors appears to enhance the run length and attachment time of the quantum dot, improving overall cargo transport. These results suggest that cargos that can associate new motors as they transport could overcome traffic jams.
Dharmic Projects, Imperial Reservoirs, and New Temples of India: An Historical Perspective on Dams in India

As international attention continues to focus on large dam projects across Asia, it is worth noting that conflicts over the politics of and environmental changes caused by dams in India are not new. Population dislocation, siltation, disease, floods caused by catastrophic dam failure, raised water tables, high costs and low returns—all of these concerns, and others, can be discussed in the context of reservoir projects ten, one hundred, or even one thousand years old. In this paper, I identify some of the major issues in the political ecology of contemporary dam projects and show how these same issues have played out in southern India over the last thousand years, suggesting that historical attention to the cultural and political context of reservoir construction might help us to understand some aspects of contemporary conflicts.
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases Phenotype, C. difficile and NOD2 Genotype Are Associated with Shifts in Human Ileum Associated Microbial Composition

We tested the hypothesis that Crohn’s disease (CD)-related genetic polymorphisms involved in host innate immunity are associated with shifts in human ileum–associated microbial composition in a cross-sectional analysis of human ileal samples. Sanger sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and 454 sequencing of 16S rRNA gene hypervariable regions (V1–V3 and V3–V5), were conducted on macroscopically disease-unaffected ileal biopsies collected from 52 ileal CD, 58 ulcerative colitis and 60 control patients without inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) undergoing initial surgical resection. These subjects also were genotyped for the three major NOD2 risk alleles (Leu1007fs, R708W, G908R) and the ATG16L1 risk allele (T300A). The samples were linked to clinical metadata, including body mass index, smoking status and Clostridia difficile infection. The sequences were classified into seven phyla/subphyla categories using the Naive Bayesian Classifier of the Ribosome Database Project. Centered log ratio transformation of six predominant categories was included as the dependent variable in the permutation based MANCOVA for the overall composition with stepwise variable selection. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were conducted to measure the relative frequencies of the Clostridium coccoides – Eubacterium rectales group and the Faecalibacterium prausnitzii spp. Empiric logit transformations of the relative frequencies of these two microbial groups were included in permutation-based ANCOVA. Regardless of sequencing method, IBD phenotype, Clostridia difficile and NOD2 genotype were selected as associated (FDR ≤0.05) with shifts in overall microbial composition. IBD phenotype and NOD2 genotype were also selected as associated with shifts in the relative frequency of the C. coccoides – E. rectales group. IBD phenotype, smoking and IBD medications were selected as associated with shifts in the relative frequency of F. prausnitzii spp. These results indicate that the effects of genetic and environmental factors on IBD are mediated at least in part by the enteric microbiota.
Smokeless Tobacco Use among Big Ten Wrestlers and Selected Associated Factors

The use of smokeless tobacco (ST) by 234 Big Ten intercollegiate wrestlers was surveyed, with a special interest in determining their beliefs about ST health consequences and discriminators of ST use. Self-reported ST use was validated by sputum analysis of a selected team. Twenty-eight percent of the wrestlers were current, regular ST users. This is well above the national norm. Over 42% of the wrestlers had used some form of ST in the past year. Evidence indicates that three variables (prior cigarette smoking, receiving a free ST sample, and alcohol consumption) were strong discriminators of ST use.
PDMS absorption of small molecules and consequences in microfluidic applications

Microfluidic devices made out of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) have many physical properties that are useful for cell culture applications, such as transparency and gas permeability. Another distinct characteristic of PDMS is its ability to absorb hydrophobic small molecules. Partitioning of molecules into PDMS can significantly change solution concentrations and could potentially alter experimental outcomes. Herein we discuss PDMS absorption and its potential impact on microfluidic experiments.
Dispersal and inbreeding avoidance in the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus

Abstract The effects of inbreeding depression on dispersal tendencies in white-footed mice were investigated by experimentally measuring the reproductive success of females that artificially ‘dispersed’ various distances. Observed natal dispersal distances were also compared against those predicted by a model in which competition for home range sites is the sole factor determining dispersal distance. In the population studied, the majority of juveniles of both sexes remained as adults on or adjacent to their natal home range. In artificial dispersal experiments, all measures of reproductive success for females mated with males that occupied home ranges located 1 inter-activity-centre distance away from their natal centre of activity were similar or superior to that of females mated to males from 2 to 3 or 10 inter-activity-centre distances away. Though a significant inbreeding depression has been demonstrated in this population for full-sibling and half-sibling matings, high juvenile and adult mortality makes it probable that individuals dispersing even to an adjacent home range will rarely risk close inbreeding. Comparison of the probabilities of philopatry with a null model suggests that females are moving only as far as forced to by competition to find a vacant home range. Males seem to avoid settling in their natal home range, even if the resident adult male has disappeared. Males may be dispersing to avoid inbreeding, but other evidence suggests that females avoid mating with close kin and male dispersal is a consequence, not a cause of inbreeding avoidance.
The Dow Theory: William Peter Hamilton's Track Record Re-Considered

Alfred Cowles' (1934) test of the Dow Theory apparently provided strong evidence against the ability of Wall Street's most famous chartist to forecast the stock market. In this paper, we review Cowles' evidence and find that it supports the contrary conclusion -- that the Dow Theory, as applied by its major practitioner, William Peter Hamilton over the period 1902 to 1929, yielded positive risk-adjusted returns. A re-analysis of the Hamilton editorials suggests that his timing strategies yield high Sharpe ratios and positive alphas. Neural net modeling to replicate Hamilton's market calls provides interesting insight into the nature and content of the Dow Theory. This allows us to examine the properties of the Dow Theory itself out-of-sample.
Battery charging systems for electric vehicles

The past decade has seen major advances in electric vehicle (EV) technology driven primarily by new developments in fast-switching, high-power semiconductor devices, high-speed digital control, improved motor designs, advances in cooling systems and many other related technologies. Thus, EV technology has now reached the stage whereby almost all car manufacturers are presently engaged in major research and development programs to produce prototype vehicles and many manufacturers have already launched test vehicles on the market. Many technical hurdles have to be overcome by the automotive companies to bring an EV to the market. Clearly, the safe, efficient, user-friendly, robust and cost effective charging of electric vehicle battery banks represents a very significant engineering challenge and it is this area in particular which is the subject of the present paper. (8 pages)