cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
OREXINERGIC SIGNALING MEDIATES LIGHT-INDUCED NEURONAL ACTIVATION IN THE DORSAL RAPHE NUCLEUS

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a major depressive disorder recurring in the fall and winter, is caused by the reduction of light in the environment, and its depressive symptoms can be alleviated by bright light therapy. Both circadian and monoaminergic systems have been implicated in the etiology of SAD. However, the underlying neural pathways through which light regulates mood are not well understood. The present study utilized a diurnal rodent model, Arvicanthis niloticus, to explore the neural pathways mediating the effects of light on brain regions involved in mood regulation. Animals kept in constant darkness received light exposure in early subjective day, the time when light therapy is usually applied. The time course of neural activity following light exposure was assessed using Fos protein as a marker in the following brain regions/cells: the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), orexin neurons in the perifornical-lateral hypothalamic area (PF-LHA) and the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN). A light-induced increase in Fos expression was observed in orexin neurons and the DRN, but not in the SCN. As the DRN is densely innervated by orexinergic inputs, the involvement of orexinergic signaling in mediating the effects of light on the DRN was tested in the second experiment. The animals were injected with the selective orexin receptor type 1 (OXR1) antagonist SB-334867 prior to the light exposure. The treatment of SB-334867 significantly inhibited the Fos induction in the DRN. The results collectively point to the role of orexin neurons in mediating the effects of light on the mood-regulating monoaminergic areas, suggesting an orexinergic pathway that underlies light-dependent mood fluctuation and the beneficial effects of light therapy.
Effect of roundup ultra on microbial activity and biomass from selected soils.

Herbicides applied to soils potentially affect soil microbial activity. The quantity and frequency of Roundup Ultra [RU; N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine; Monsanto, St. Louis, MO applications have escalated with the advent of Roundup-tolerant crops. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of Roundup Ultra on soil microbial biomass and activity across a range of soils varying in fertility. The isoproplyamine salt of glyphosate was applied in the form of RU at a rate of 234 mg active ingredient kg -1 soil based on an assumed 2-mm glyphosate-soil interaction depth. Roundup Ultra significantly stimulated soil microbial activity as measured by C and N mineralization, as well as soil microbial biomass. Cumulative C mineralization as well as mineralization rate increased above background levels for all soils tested with addition of RU. There were strong linear relationships between C and N mineralized, as well as between soil microbial C and N (r 2 = 0.96 and 0.95, respectively). The slopes of the relationships with RU addition approximated three. Since the isopropylamine salt of glyphosate has a C to N ratio of 3:1, the data strongly suggest that RU was the direct cause of the enhanced microbial activity. An increase in the C mineralization rate occurred the first day following RU addition and continued for 14 d. Roundup Ultra appeared to be rapidly degraded by soil microbes regardless of soil type or organic matter content, even at high application rates, without adversely affecting microbial activity.
“I Want to Be Good; I Just Don't Get It”: A Fourth Grader's Entrance Into a Literacy Community

Based on a year-long ethnographic study, this article presents a case study of a fourth-grade student, Kenya, who learned to participate in the literacy community of her classroom—in her terms “to be good”—by writing letters. It was through these letters, which began as daily written interactions about (mis)behavior, that Kenya gained confidence and skill as a writer. The genre of letters allowed Kenya to construct her identity as a writer in the classroom community, at the same time that she retained her identity as a member of a group of four, frequently defiant African American girls. In this classroom, teachers used writing to forge collaborative relationships with students—relationships that often were built around struggle and conflict—to encourage students' growth as writers. This study has implications for a new pedagogy of writing, one that provides a rich and challenging curriculum for all students, even those who might in other circumstances be considered “remedial,” and one which alters our co...
A greenhouse study of northern red oak seedling growth on two forest soils at different stages of acidification

The objective of this study was to determine whether or not Ca and P in soils from two forested sites at two different stages of acidification were limiting growth of red oak seedlings. The A and E horizons of a Berks soil from Watershed 4 at the Fernow Experimental Forest (cation exchange buffer range) and a Hazelton/Dekalb soil from Pea Vine Hill in Southwestern Pennsylvania (Al buffer range) were placed in pots and utilized as the growth medium for northern red oak seedlings in a greenhouse environment. Soil water NO3-N, Ca, Mg, and K concentrations were significantly higher (α≤0.05) on the Berks soil. Soil exchangeable P and soil solution TP (total phosphorus) were significantly higher (α≤0.10) on the Hazelton/Dekalb soil. Both soils were amended with bone meal (CaPO4) to determine the effects of Ca and P addition on the growth and nutrient uptake of the seedlings. Height growth of the control red oak seedlings was significantly (α≤0.05) greater on the Berks soil after 45 d, but amendment of Hazelton/Dekalb soil with bone meal eliminated this difference. Bone meal addition to the Hazelton/Dekalb soil resulted in significantly greater (α≤0.05) height growth of red oak seedlings when compared to red oak seedlings grown on unamended Hazelton/Dekalb soil, but did not have a similar effect for red oak seedlings grown on Berks soil. Bone meal addition to Hazelton/Dekalb soil resulted in greater (α≤0.05) concentrations of Ca and Mg in red oak leaves. Unfertilized Berks red oak seedling leaves had significantly higher (α≤0.05) concentrations of Ca and K than their Hazelton/Dekalb counterparts. Al/Ca molar ratios were significantly lower on the Berks soil. Red oak height growth was increased significantly by Ca addition to the Hazelton/Dekalb soil.
Simulation of Surface-Moisture Effects on the Great Plains Low-Level Jet

Abstract Convective precipitation and severe weather episodes in the central United States commonly have diurnal oscillations with maximum amplitudes at night. Observations suggest that the timing of some convective events may be driven by diurnal changes in the atmospheric boundary-layer convergence and vertical-motion fields resulting from a nocturnal, low-level jet over the southern Great Plains. Recent planetary boundary-layer models have attempted to simulate the strong boundary-layer forcings and dissipations that may be partly responsible for these low-level flows. This research attempts to determine the effects of soil moisture and evaporation on the Great Plains nocturnal jet. Soil moisture determines surface evapotranspiration, latent beating, and soil thermal capacity and thereby plays an important role in the stratification and buoyancy of the boundary layer. Soil moisture should, therefore, be significant to this nocturnal, boundary-layer phenomenon. This hypothesis is evaluated by embedding ...
Viscosity in the phase transition region of triblock copolymer systems

THE behaviour of melts of styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) triblock copolymer under oscillatory shear exhibits a marked departure from that of homopolymers in the low frequency range; the dynamic viscosity η′(ω) increases continually with decreasing frequency, rather than exhibiting the Newtonian limiting value η0 expected of true fluids1. This peculiar behaviour has been explained in terms of phase separation which forms a lattice of linked polystyrene domains. Here we present rheological evidence directly demonstrating a thermodynamic transition.
Influence of repeated cocaine exposure on the endocrine and behavioral responses to stress in rats

Previous studies have determined that chronic cocaine exposure inhibits the serotonergic stimulation of hormone secretion. The present experiments were conducted to determine whether the endocrine responses to stress could be a useful approach to assess the influence of cocaine exposure on neuronal function. Male rats received twice daily injections of cocaine (1–15 mg/kg, IP) for 7 days. Animals were subsequently exposed to different stressors, i.e. conditioned emotional stress utilizing a low (0.5 mA) or high (1.5 mA) intensity footshock during training, or to immobilization stress. Immediately after the stress procedures, blood samples were collected for radioimmunoassay of plasma corticosterone, prolactin, and renin concentrations. Repeated cocaine exposure attenuated the stress-induced elevations of corticosterone and prolactin secretion, and attenuated some of the behavioral effects of the low intensity conditioned emotional stress. When exposed to the high intensity conditioned emotional stress, cocaine did not alter the endocrine or behavioral effects of stress. Finally, repeated cocaine exposure modified the immobilization stress-induced elevation of renin secretion; low doses of cocaine (1 or 5 mg/kg) attenuated, while higher doses (10 mg/kg) potentiated the renin response to immobilization stress. Thus, the influence of repeated cocaine exposure on the endocrine and behavioral responses to stress appears to depend upon the type and intensity of the stressor. Compared with previous studies which found altered neuroendocrine responses to serotonin releasers and agonists following cocaine exposure, the hormonal responses to stress are less consistently modified by cocaine.
Suppression of Side Chain Crystallization and Transformation of Monotropic Mesophases into Enantiotropic Mesophases by Copolymerization of the Parent Polymers' Monomer Pairs Containing Constitutional Isomeric Mesogenic Side Groups

Abstract The synthesis and characterization of several copolymers based on the monomer pairs of 11-[4-methoxy-(4′-oxy)-α-methylstilbene]undecanyl methacrylate (4-11-MA) and 11-[4-oxy-4′-methoxy)-α-methylstilbene]undecanyl methacrylate (4′-11-MA), 11-[4-methoxy-(4′-oxy)-α-methylstilbene]undecanyl acrylate (4-11-AC) and 11-[4-oxy-(4′-methoxy)-α-methylstilbene]undecanyl acrylate (4′-11-AC), and 8-[4-methoxy-(4′-oxy)-α-methylstilbene]octyl acrylate (4-8-AC) and 8-[4-oxy-(4′-methoxy)-α-methylstilbene] octyl acrylate (4′-8-AC) are described In the case of polymers with polymethacrylate backbones, the copolymerization of the two constitutional isomeric mesogenic monomers cancels the side chain crystallization tendency characteristic of their parent homopolymers. Subsequently, the copolymer presents a broader mesophase temperature range than any of the two parent homopolymers. In the case of polymers with polyacrylate backbones, copolymerization suppresses the tendency towards side chain crystallization and subsequently, transforms one or even two monotropic mesophases into enantiotropic mesophases.
Emission Spectra of Group 13 Metal Atoms and Indium Hydrides in Solid H2 and D2

Infrared spectra of solid hydrogen (deuterium) samples co-deposited at 3.5 K with laser-ablated Al, Ga, In, and Tl atoms reveal infrared absorptions for the MH [MD] molecules. Irradiation at 193 nm increases MH2 and MH3 [MD2 and MD3] absorptions and produces emission spectra for the metal atoms except for Al and phosphorescence spectra for the InH [InD] molecules. Unreacted metal emission bands are blue-shifted from the gas phase more by solid D2 than by solid H2. However, the emission yield for InD is much higher in solid D2 than for InH in solid H2, which suggests a higher nonradiative relaxation rate in solid H2 than in solid D2 owing to the larger zero-point motion.
Non‐specific resistance mechanisms to listeriosis: implications for experimental and naturally occurring infection

Use of murine listeriosis as an experimental model has greatly increased our understanding of the complex interplay of cells and mediators in non-specific antibacterial resistance (innate immunity). Important contributions made with this experimental model include demonstrating the ability of inflammatory cytokines (i.e. IFN-gamma, IL-1 alpha, TNF-alpha) to protect against bacterial infection, and illustrating the rapidity of the host cytokine response (detectable within 1 h of challenge) during bacterial infection. Most experimental studies of host defense against Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) have used a parenteral challenge (i.v. or i.p.). This ignores the pathogenesis of naturally occurring listeriosis, which usually results from ingestion of Listeria-contaminated food products. In this review, we will include consideration of the host-pathogen interactions that occur when L. monocytogenes invades through its natural portal of entry, the gastrointestinal tract. Although resistance to facultative intracellular pathogens, such as L. monocytogenes, was formerly thought to revolve exclusively around the T helper cell/macrophage axis, more recent evidence indicates that neutrophils are able to ingest and kill L. monocytogenes and prevent the unrestricted multiplication of listeriae in parenchymal cells. Exploring the mechanisms involved in this process will provide new insights into the communication between leukocytes and tissue cells in host defense.
Much Maligned Monsters: A History of European Reactions to Indian Art

In this fascinating study, Partha Mitter traces the history of European reactions to Indian art, from the earliest encounters of explorers with the exotic. East to the more sophisticated but still incomplete appreciations of the early twentieth century. Mitter's new Preface reflects upon the profound changes in Western interpretations of non-Western societies over the past fifteen years.
High-sensitivity quadrupole mass spectometry system for the determination of hydrogen in irradiated materials

High levels of helium and hydrogen are generated in metals in fusion reactors, and fusion simulations in mixed-spectrum fission reactors, spallation neutron sources, and high-energy charged particle environments. Although hydrogen generation rates are generally higher than those of helium, hydrogen is thought to quickly diffuse out of metals, especially at elevated temperatures. There appear to be some conditions, however, where significant hydrogen retention can occur. To assess this potential, a high-sensitivity analysis system has been developed for the measurement of hydrogen in small samples of irradiated materials. The system is based on a low-volume extraction furnace in combination with a quadrupole mass spectrometer, and has a detection limit of ∼1 appm for steel. Hydrogen levels have been measured in high-energy proton-irradiated tungsten and Inconel 718, in iron-based alloys and vanadium alloys from fusion materials programs, and in stainless steels and pure metals irradiated in light water reactors. Details of the system and typical results are presented.
Teaching language to computers: As our computer dependency increases, so does our need for more intelligent machines

The use of natural languages as an interface between computer and user is discussed. The role of linguistic, conceptual, and referential knowledge in understanding and producing language is examined.
Optimum Formulation of Surfactant/Water/Oil Systems for Minimum Interfacial Tension or Phase Behavior

MEMBERS SPE-AIME E. VASQUEzt A screening test used to help select surfactant systems potentially effective for oil recovery is to identify those formulations that yield middle-phase microemulsions when mixed with sufficient quantities of oil and brine. A correlation is presented to link these variables regarding their contributions to middle-phase formation: structure of the sulfonated surfactant, alkane carbon number (ACN), and alcohol type and concentration. WOR and temperature effects are introduced as correction terms added to the empirical correlation. Sets of variables that give middle-phase micro­ emulsions are shown as identical to those defining the low tension state without observable middle phases. This generally occurs for low surfactant concentrations.
Synthesis of 3-Substituted 1,4-Benzodiazepin-2-ones

The preparation of 3-substituted 1,4-benzodiazepines by benzodiazepine enolate alkylation has been explored. Employing this approach, multigram quantities of benzodiazepine 1 have been prepared for animal studies to evaluate a new approach for the treatment of the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
CEO Experience and Diversification Strategy Fit

Recent years have seen major progress on research into the concept of fit. Also emerging in the literature is an apparent interest in the importance of executive know-how and experience. This article combines the two areas by considering the impact of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) experience upon strategy adoption and corporate performance in the post-implementation strategy phase. Using a sample of 52 US companies from the top 1000, we have examined the relationship between CEO experience and the separate strategies of internal and acquisitive diversification. The results suggest that CEO experience is not a major factor in strategy selection but where a fit exists between the selected strategy and observed experience, post-implementation performance is affected.
Intracerebroventricular drug administration in pigeons

For many procedures used in behavioral pharmacology, the intracerebroventricular (ICV) route of drug administration is infrequently used due, in part, to the lack of a reliable technique for determining cannula patency in vivo. This study describes an in vivo technique for assessing ICV cannula patency in pigeons. The technique was applied in an experiment designed to evaluate several drugs, which are presumed to differ in the extent to which they enter the central nervous system, for their rate-suppressing effects in pigeons trained to peck a key on a fixed-ratio 20 schedule of food reinforcement. The opioid agonist morphine and antagonist quaternary naltrexone were 100 and 280 times more potent, respectively, in suppressing responding when administered ICV, as compared to systemic administration. Tertiary naltrexone was approximately equipotent as an antagonist of morphine's rate-suppressing effects when administered ICV or systemically. Quaternary naltrexone did not antagonize morphine by either route of administration. The utility of this in vivo cannula verification technique is discussed, as well as the limitations of comparisons between systemically-administered tertiary and quaternary derivatives.
Effect of Kaolin concentration on distribution coefficient of copper

Varying amounts of H+-Kaolin were equilibrated with spiked (high activity radioactive64Cu) water and kept overnight in a constant temperature water bath shaker. After proper filtration, through 0.45 µm Millipore memberane, the amount of radioactivity on the filter paper and the filtrate was measured separately using a Gamma ray well counter. Adsorption of Cu (expressed as distribution coefficient − Kd) was plotted against the final clay concentration. Kd values decrease initially with increasing clay concentration and then seem to reach an equilibrium condition at higher clay concentrations. At low clay concentration higher particle aggregation (nucleation) of the metal with clay in suspension is a possible explanation for this behavior.
Can Corporations Be Morally Responsible? Aristotle, Stakeholders and the Non-Sale of Hershey

Stakeholder theory is a significant development in the drive to provide a foundation for intuitions concerning the moral responsibility connected to corporate decision making. The move to include the interests of workers, consumers, the communities and biological environment in which the corporations instantiations are located run counter to the view in which shareholders’ interests are paramount. The non-sale of the Hershey Foods company to Wrigley1 was the ultimate result of a massive call by stakeholders to put other interests before shareholder financial stakes, yet the discussion was notably not held in terms of stakeholder theory. Rather, the discussion was explicitly Aristotelian with opponents of the view arguing that the sale was improper because it ran counter to the essence or telos of the organisation. This case is no doubt unusual in that the founding documents of the organisation were appealed to in order to justify the claim that the essence of the corporation was to do more than enrich the shareholders. This paper intends to examine whether, in spite of this anomaly, the Hershey case has anything general to say about the foundations of corporate responsibility.
HIPAA compliance efforts.

Objectives Identify the regulations from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that impact the emergency department. Describe processes that demonstrate compliance with the security and privacy regulations that pertain to protected health information. Identify the consequences of noncompliance to this congressional mandate. Methods A review of the literature was conducted to extract the effects of the legislation on emergency services. Since the inception of the law in 1996, additional regulatory requirements have been added to the protection of protected health information. Concomitantly, practice changes are conducive to emergency department's compliance with these regulatory mandates. Results HIPPA encompasses 6 components in the regulations that must be addressed. Of these, most organizations focus on the greatest areas of risk, which include the transmission of electronic data and the security and privacy components. To avoid financial penalties and imprisonment, facilities must demonstrate and adhere to the regulations outlined. Verification of compliance could occur through random unannounced visits by the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Civil Rights, or through health information privacy complaints filed against the individual or the organization. Conclusions A sharing of best practices and benchmarking could contribute to organizational savings and improve productivity if facilities were forthcoming in describing how they demonstrate compliance. As interpretations and applications of the law are modified, practice changes will also occur. Since each facility is held to the same standard, it behooves one to provide mutual support so as not to begin the process from its genesis.
Melanosome level estimation in human skin from hyperspectral imagery

Locating individuals in the open has several practical uses; most formidable is that of the search and rescue application. Although existing methods exist to find human skin in color imagery, these methods are subject to high false alarm rates caused by objects that are skin colored. Hyperspectral imagery offers a distinct advantage due to the abundance of spectral information that can be exploited to dramatically reduce false alarms while maintaining a high detection rate. The work presented in this article extends our earlier work in hyperspectral-based skin detection to the detection of skin pigmentation levels. Specifically, we estimate the amount of melanosomes contained within pixels identified as skin which gives an estimate of skin color. Our method is based on the intrinsic properties of human skin and does not use a “hyperspectral to RGB conversion.” We demonstrate the capability of our algorithm using a hyperspectral instrument developed by SpecTIR Corp (the HST3) which nominally covers the spectral range of 400–2500nm.
Imaginaries of Exile and Emergence in Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Hip Hop

The landscape of hip hop among Jewish and Palestinian communities in Israel may be understood as the performative interplay of two discursive strategies: exile and emergence. The shift from exile to emergence, embodied in the work of several contemporary hip hop artists, offers a unique reimagining of the Israeli nation-state and provides opportunities for interrogating the dynamics of power and performance in Israel/Palestine.
Seasonal dynamics and regional features of MODIS-derived land surface characteristics in dust source regions of East Asia

Abstract Atmospheric mineral dust is an important component of the climate system; however, representation of dust production in the climate models poses significant challenges. Satellite remote sensing has the potential to aid in determining the surface characteristics of active dust source regions that are of importance to dust emission modeling. This study uses data from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) in conjunction with soil texture to investigate linkages of spatial distribution of surface characteristics related to dust emission, and their dynamics, at the seasonal time scale. In addition to standard MODIS land products such as surface albedo and NDVI which are strongly linked to dust emission, we introduce a roughness index (RI) and an arid soil surface index (ASSI) to aid in land surface characterization. Three regions of northwestern China known for dust emission, the Taklamakan, Badain Jaran, and Gurbantunggut Deserts, are examined for spatial and temporal changes of surface characteristics during winter–spring–summer transition February–July 2005. A new methodology is proposed by introducing regional masking derived from MODIS Band 10 surface albedo. The analysis demonstrates regional unique temporal and spatial characteristics in the 2005 seasonal transition for these areas. Seasonal modes of response are clearly present. The soil texture correlation results demonstrate that clay fraction has a consistently high negative correlation to albedo, as does vegetation. The analysis also demonstrates that RI is a dynamic characteristic changing both with season and on much shorter time scales.
Delaware Mental Health Courts’ Process Evaluation: Progressive Treatment and Systematic Obstacles

Despite the recent proliferation of Mental Health Courts (MHC) nationwide, little empirical research connects on-the-ground insight into how these courts work with their measurable outcomes. This paper contributes to the existing literature on MHC by illustrating some of issues that Delaware’s New Castle County MHCs have faced in their daily operation that appears to hinder the effectiveness of the courts, as well as highlighting some of the obstacles other jurisdictions should address as they implement their own MHC. While numerous articles have highlighted potential obstacles and have made suggestions about how MHC should run in theory (See Scheider 2008), this paper will discuss technical issues that affect the operation of the MHC and the innovative ways that Delaware’s Chief Justice’s Task Force is seeking to address them, as well a some very preliminary outcome measures that underline potential for progress, improvement, and expansion.
CD8+ T Cells Maintain Suppression of Simian Immunodeficiency Virus in the Central Nervous System

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) accesses the brain early in infection and can lead to neurocognitive disorders. The brain can also serve as a viral reservoir, but how virus is controlled in the brain is unknown. To examine this, CD8-depleting monoclonal antibody was injected into the cerebrospinal fluid of rhesus monkeys with chronic simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infection. This treatment led to the rapid increase of SIV in the brain. Virus in the brain is maintained by active suppression from the host immune system. This dynamic interaction can be manipulated in efforts to control and eradicate virus from the brain and other reservoirs.
High Altitude Airship Simulation Control and Low Altitude Flight Demonstration

In recent years there has been a revival of interest in lighter than air platforms for use in telecommunications and homeland security. These platforms are attractive primarily because they are capable of maintaining altitude without requiring large forward flight speeds to generate lift, and they fill an important gap between fixed wing aircraft and satellite capabilities. Stability and autonomous control are important issues related to the long term deployment of these kinds of systems, and an in-depth look into flight operations is an important step toward deploying a high altitude buoyant platform. This research is focused primarily on developing a simulation in which all of the flight critical systems can be tested, and with which operational concepts can be validated. Simple models for all of the necessary flight systems have been developed and implemented into an expandable architecture into which higher fidelity subsystems can be implemented as they are developed. This paper also outlines a control strategy shown to be capable of long duration station keeping. A conventional proportional derivative attitude controller mated with an outer loop navigation module is tested. In addition to the simulation results presented, a modest low altitude flight test program has been executed to show the viability of some of the control concepts developed in the simulation environment. The flight testing was also performed to validate some of the design methods.
SEASONAL AND ANNUAL ENERGY BUDGETS OF FEMALE DESERT TORTOISES (GOPHERUS AGASSIZII)

How do female desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) reproduce every year despite variability in winter rainfall and food availability? To answer this question, I measured energy budgets of individual female desert tortoises from July 1987 to July 1989. Females produced eggs in years with low levels of winter annual plants by relaxing their control of energy and water homeostasis. They tolerated large deficits and surpluses in their body dry-matter composition (both nonlipid and lipid) on a seasonal, annual, and longer time scale. They could increase body energy content (lipid and nonlipid energy) before winter and use this reserve (especially nonlipid energy) the following spring to produce eggs. Females used high-protein foods and rainwater, when available, to achieve energy surpluses that helped them survive periods of low resource availability (e.g., during hibernation and droughts). Adjusting seasonal and annual field metabolic rates (FMR) and food requirements to levels of food availability, they sti...
Relationship of diurnal variation in 17-hydroxycorticosteroid levels in blood and urine to eosinophils and electrolyte excretion.

The state of sleep is associated with many measurable changes, including an increased number of mitoses (1, 2), a high eosinophil count (3, 4) increased liver glycogen (5, 6), decreased blood epinephrine (7), decreased excretion of water (8, 9), electrolytes (8, 10), uric acid (11) and 17-ketosteroids (12), and lowered body temperature (13). The urinary excretions mentioned decrease in spite of unchanged renal function (14). Then in apparent preparation for the day's activity, a rapid reversal of these functions occurs, a few hours before awakening. It is evident that the rhythm of activity of many of these substances may actually be caused by a change in adrenal gland activity.
Picosecond time-lenses

There is an interesting analogy between the spatial problem of Fresnel diffraction and the temporal problem of first-order dispersion. This space-time analogy was recently extended to propose a time-domain analog to spatial imaging that allows for the distortionless expansion of compression of optical waveforms in time. This process is called temporal imaging. The extension includes the idea of a time-lens as a dual of a spatial lens (regular lens). The time-lens is simply a quadratic optical phase modulator in time, which is approximated by a portion of a sinusoidal phase modulator. Thus, by using phase modulators as lenses and grating pairs as dispersive elements, complete temporal imaging systems can be constructed in exact duality with spatial imaging systems. However, for practically useful time-lenses, considerable modulation is required at fairly high frequencies. The main body of the paper is the detailed design and development of a practical time-lens. This is addressed in Section II, where a resonant microwave modulator is developed based on a LiNbO/sub 3/ loaded waveguide. Multiple passes are obtained through the modulator using an off-axis path in a stable optical resonator. At 5.2-GHz operation, 44 radians of phase modulation is obtained at 1.06-/spl mu/m wavelength for 13 W of microwave power. This corresponds to a time-lens with 31-ps aperture and 1.9-ps resolution. This was confirmed by demonstrating temporal focusing of 45-ps pulses to 1.9 ps. By optimizing the design of the time-lens and better thermal engineering, it may be possible to obtain subpicosecond resolution. >
The Future (History) of Socioeconomic Measurement and Implications for Improving Health Outcomes Among African Americans

Socioeconomic status (SES) has powerful and complex impacts on health, and understanding the relationship between SES and health is essential for long-term improvements in the health of populations. In addition, in the United States, the impact of SES on health is inextricably intertwined with racial and ethnicity status and the historical development and maintenance of health disparities. Most of the literature documenting this relationship has focused on individual-level socioeconomic factors. There are sound theoretical reasons and some empirical support to suggest that socioeconomic resources at both individual and neighborhood levels have strong influences on health outcomes such as disease, disability, and mortality. However, these relationships have been inadequately examined to date. In this article, the term "ecological SES" will be used to denote SES at geographic group levels. As the United States attempts to achieve the goals of the Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010 program, understanding ecological SES and its impacts on health will be crucial. We review the theory, some of the empirical evidence, and likely future for the measurement and use of a broader approach to SES and offer a specific research paradigm for examining these issues. We focus in particular on one racial-ethnic group that experiences health disparity, that is, African Americans. We use our ongoing project investigating physical frailty in urban African Americans to illustrate the importance of a multilevel approach to understanding the impacts of socioeconomic resources on health and the potential implications for efforts to prevent or reverse frailty.
Speed-Accuracy Testing on the Apple iPad® Provides a Quantitative Test of Upper Extremity Motor Performance in Children with Dystonia

The currently available scales for quantitative measurement of the severity of childhood dystonia require human observer ratings and provide poor granularity in the scores for individual limbs. We ...
Autocorrelation and modulus constraints in radar waveform optimization

Two methods of constraining the waveform auto-correlation sequence (ACS) in a radar waveform optimization problem are compared. The first method directly constrains the envelope of the waveform ACS, whereas the second method indirectly constrains the waveform ACS through the imposition of a similarity constraint. Both methods are imposed in conjunction with constraints on the waveform modulus. The resulting nonlinear programming problems were formulated for a specific example, and solved using standard numerical algorithms. The results indicate that the similarity constraint may not be a useful means of constraining the waveform ACS when the waveform modulus is simultaneously constrained. The results also demonstrate that phase-only optimization can provide a significant decrease in computation time while providing near optimal results.
ReVive: cost-effective architectural support for rollback recovery in shared-memory multiprocessors

This paper presents ReVive, a novel general-purpose rollback recovery mechanism for shared-memory multiprocessors. ReVive carefully balances the conflicting requirements of availability, performance, and hardware cost. ReVive performs checkpointing, logging, and distributed parity protection, all memory-based. It enables recovery from a wide class of errors, including the permanent loss of an entire node. To maintain high performance, ReVive includes specialized hardware that performs frequent operations in the background, such as log and parity updates. To keep the cost low, more complex checkpointing and recovery functions are performed in software, while the hardware modifications are limited to the directory controllers of the machine. Our simulation results on a 16-processor system indicate that the average error-free execution time overhead of using ReVive is only 6.3%, while the achieved availability is better than 99.999% even when the errors occur as often as once per day.
How Drosophila males make eggs: it is elemental.

Oogenesis in Drosophila requires a significant amount of phosphorus. Oocytes mature in follicles, each of which contains 15 highly polyploid, transcriptionally active chromosomes. We show that the demand for phosphorus is met in part from the male9s ejaculate following mating. Females incorporate phosphorus–32 from radiolabelled males into their ovaries, specifically into their nucleic acids. Male–derived phosphorus is also present in significant amounts in mature oocytes. The mechanism by which phosphorus uptake from the female reproductive tract occurs must differ from that previously reported for radiolabelled carbon and hydrogen derived from ejaculatory proteins, as phosphorus uptake is observed in species not showing female incorporation of radiolabel derived from ejaculate proteins.
Amplified gene for the epidermal growth factor receptor in a human glioblastoma cell line encodes an enzymatically inactive protein.

Abstract The gene encoding the receptor for epidermal growth factor was amplified two- to fivefold in the human glioblastoma cell line SF268. The amplified gene gave rise to abundant quantities of receptor that bound EGF with a high affinity (Kd, 0.35 nM). The binding of ligand failed to elicit cellular DNA synthesis, however, and the receptor was enzymatically inactive. We presume that the amplified receptor gene carries a mutation(s) that affects several aspects of the receptor's function. Characterization of the mutation(s) may illuminate how structure dictates function in the receptor protein.
Illumination and geometry inference using graphical models

Image formation is a function of three components: scene geometry, surface reflectance and illumination. Estimation of one or more of these components from an image gives rise to inverse rendering problems, such as shape reconstruction or illumination estimation, which are the two major problems of interest in this thesis. We formulate such problems in a way that attempts to bridge the gap between low-level approaches based on the physical laws governing image formation and higher-level models that examine images in a statistical way. We take advantage of the powerful formalism offered by graphical models, which lead to modular frameworks and offer powerful discrete optimization techniques. We first focus on the problem of illumination estimation from a single image, utilizing the information in cast shadows. We start by describing a method to extract cast shadows from an image. We then present three approaches to illumination estimation from shadows: The first models illumination as a mixture of distributions to robustly estimate illumination. The second associates illumination not with pixel intensities but with the existence of shadow edges. The third approach unifies the previous ideas in a Markov Random Field (MRF) framework. Such a model is robust to coarse or incomplete knowledge of geometry, while it can also incorporate geometric parameters, allowing us to jointly infer three major components of the problem: the cast shadows, illumination and geometry. Geometry inference from the information contained in cast shadows can only be coarse, however. We subsequently focus on the problem of inferring geometry from the shading variations in an image. We take a data-driven approach, constructing a dictionary of geometric primitives. To reconstruct an image, we combine local hypotheses from this dictionary in an MRF model. We demonstrate that this approach can effectively reconstruct 3D shapes from real photographs, while removing several important assumptions of previous approaches.
Role of Intrinsic Protein Disorder in the Function and Interactions of the Transcriptional Coactivators CREB-binding Protein (CBP) and p300

The transcriptional coactivators CREB-binding protein (CBP) and p300 undergo a particularly rich set of interactions with disordered and partly ordered partners, as a part of their ubiquitous role in facilitating transcription of genes. CBP and p300 contain a number of small structured domains that provide scaffolds for the interaction of disordered transactivation domains from a wide variety of partners, including p53, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α), NF-κB, and STAT proteins, and are the targets for the interactions of disordered viral proteins that compete with cellular factors to disrupt signaling and subvert the cell cycle. The functional diversity of the CBP/p300 interactome provides an excellent example of the power of intrinsic disorder to facilitate the complexity of living systems.
Short-term administration of the GLP-1 analog liraglutide decreases circulating leptin and increases GIP levels and these changes are associated with alterations in CNS responses to food cues: A randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study.

Abstract Background GLP-1 agonists, including liraglutide, have emerged as effective therapies for type 2 diabetes (DM) and obesity. Here, we attempted to delineate how liraglutide, at doses approved for DM, may impact circulating hormones influencing energy homeostasis in diabetics. Basic Procedures Using a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over trial of 20 patients with type 2 diabetes, we examined the effects of liraglutide as compared to placebo on fasting levels of circulating hormones important to energy homeostasis, including leptin, ghrelin, PYY, and GIP. After 17 days (0.6 mg for 7 days, 1.2 mg for 7 days and 1.8 mg for 3 days) of treatment, we also studied changes in fMRI responses to food cues. Main Findings By design, to avoid any confounding by weight changes, subjects were studied for 17 days, i.e. before body weight changed. Participants on liraglutide had significantly increased GLP-1 levels (p Principal Conclusions We demonstrate herein short-term changes to circulating levels of GIP and leptin in response to GLP-1 agonist liraglutide therapy. These findings suggest that liraglutide may alter the circulating levels of hormones important in energy homeostasis that, in turn, influence CNS perception of food cues. This could possibly lead to compensatory changes in energy homeostasis that could over time limit the efficacy of liraglutide to decrease body weight. These novel findings, which, pointing to the potential advantages of combination therapies, may have therapeutic implications, will need to be confirmed by larger and longer-term trials.
Behavior and Survival in Corn Plants of Ostrinia nubilalis (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) Larvae When Infected with Nosema pyrausta (Microspora: Nosematidae) and Parasitized by Macrocentrus grandii (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

To clarify the interaction among the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis , the parasitic wasp, Macrocentrus grandii , and the entomopathogen Nosema pyrausta , we examined behavior and survival in corn stems of O. nubilalis larvae infected with N. pyrausta and parasitized by M. grandii. Fifty-four percent of heavily infected, parasitized O. nubilalis larvae emigrated from their tunnels before emergence of parasitoid larvae and did not reestablish on corn plants. One-third as many heavily infected host larvae as noninfected larvae remained in tunnels until parasitoid larval emergence. The tunnels bored by infected, parasitized O. nubilalis larvae did not differ in length from those of noninfected parasitized larvae, suggesting that emigration behavioral changes occur after feeding. Parasitoid larval and pupal mortalities were greater in infected O. nubilalis hosts than in noninfected hosts. Greater than 46% of heavily infected M. grandii broods wandered instead of remaining clustered around host carcasses and pupating. This behavior accounted for almost ≈40%of the observed mortality in infected parasitoids. Wandering was attributed to decreased production of cocoons by hosts, causing parasitoid larvae to search for suitable substrates on which to spin their own cocoons. Percentage emergence of M. grandii adults from corn stalks was significantly lower in N. pyrausta -infected treatments, but the sex ratio of the parasitoid was unaffected by the level of host infection. The mean number of M. grandii adults per brood was reduced from 39.8 in the noninfected treatment to 10.5 in heavily infected larvae.
Predation of Eggs of Heliothis spp. on Tobacco

Surveys of predator populations on tobacco at 3 locations in North Carolina showed that the most numerous predator of eggs of Heliothis spp. was Jalysus spinosus (Say). Observable predation on artificial infestations of eggs of the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.), ranged from 0 to 46% after 48 hours and was correlated with the number of J. spinosus per unit area of foliage. Other potential predators of budworm eggs included Geocoris pllnctipes (Say), Oecanthus spp., and Cyrtopeltis varians (Distant).
Comparison of measurement of fat absorption using I131- and C14-labeled fats

1. The relative validity of C14-labeled fat and I131-labeled fat in measuring fat absorption was checked in subjects with Neomycin-induced mal-absorption syndrome.
Effect of dual tasking on intentional vs. reactive balance control in people with hemiparetic stroke.

To examine the effect of a cognitive task on intentional vs. reactive balance control in people with hemiparetic stroke (PwHS). Community-dwelling PwHS (n = 10) and healthy, age-similar controls pe...
65 FOUR WEEKS OF INDINAVIR DOES NOT AFFECT BONE BREAKDOWN IN HEALTHY HIV-NEGATIVE SUBJECTS.

Introduction and Purpose HIV-1 protease inhibitors have been reported to increase bone breakdown in HIV-infected patients. However, it is unclear if this is a direct effect of the drug on bone or due to an interaction between drug and underlying disease. In order to assess the effect of drug alone on bone turnover, we studied the effect of a single protease inhibitor, indinavir, on markers of bone turnover. Methods We studied eight healthy HIV-negative subjects with normal bone density as determined by dual x-ray absorptiometry. We measured markers of bone turnover in our subjects at baseline and after 4 weeks of daily oral indinavir at 800 mg three times a day. Results We studied six male and two female subjects with a mean age of 37 ± 2 years, with a mean BMI of 29.2 ± 1.0 kg/m2. All subjects had normal serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, and urinary N-telopeptide levels prior to initiation of the study. There was no change in BMI after indinavir. Urinary N-telopeptide levels remained unchanged after 4 weeks of indinavir (29.6 ± 7.3 preindinavir vs 25.6 ± 2.9 nmBCE/mmol creatinine postindinavir). Urinary calcium and phophorus remained unchanged as well. Conclusions Indinavir does not alter markers of bone turnover in healthy HIV-negative subjects. This indicates that the HIV-1 protease inhibitor indinavir does not appear to have a direct effect on bone breakdown.
Congenital Disorders of Neuromuscular Transmission

Pathology underlying congenital forms of myasthenia gravis has been delineated through microscopic and electrophysiologic studies over the past 15 years. Differentiation from the immune-mediated disorder is crucial because therapy appropriate for acquired myasthenia may be harmful to patients with congenital disease.
The Abnormal Perineum in the Neonate

This discussion is divided according to anatomic areas: the scrotum, either abnormally large or empty, the penis, and miscellaneous conditions in the perineum.