cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effectiveness of Melatonin for the Prevention of Intensive Care Unit Delirium.

Study objective Intensive care unit (ICU) delirium is an acute brain dysfunction that has been associated with increased mortality, prolonged ICU and hospital lengths of stay, and development of post-ICU cognitive impairment. Melatonin may help to restore sleep and reduce the occurrence of ICU delirium. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of melatonin for the prevention of ICU delirium in critically ill adults. Design Retrospective, observational cohort study. Setting Large academic medical center. Patients A total of 232 adults were included who were admitted to the medical-surgical or cardiac ICUs between 2013 and 2017 who had a negative Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU). Of those, patients who received melatonin for at least 48 hours were included in the melatonin group (n=117). Patients were included in the control group if they were admitted to the ICU for at least 4 days (average time of melatonin initiation) and did not receive melatonin or antipsychotics within the first 4 days of their ICU stay (n=115). Measurements and main results The primary outcome was development of delirium, which was assessed by using the CAM-ICU twice daily by nursing staff. The development of delirium was significantly lower in the melatonin group: 9 (7.7%) versus 28 (24.3%) patients (p = 0.001). This finding remained significant in multivariate logistic models controlling for age, sex, history of hypertension, need for emergent surgery, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, mechanical ventilation, ICU length of stay, dexmedetomidine use, and benzodiazepine use. For those patients who developed delirium, patients in the control group had, on average, 20.9 delirium-free days without coma in 28 days compared with 19.9 days in the melatonin group (p = 0.72). In the melatonin group, melatonin was used for a mean ± SD of 6.3 ± 7.9 days, with a median dose of 3.5 mg/night (range: 1-10 mg). Conclusion The development of ICU delirium was significantly lower in the melatonin group compared with that in the control group. To our knowledge, this is one of the only studies that has examined the use of melatonin for the prevention of ICU delirium. Melatonin may be a promising agent for the prevention of ICU delirium; however, a randomized study is needed to further validate its efficacy.
Molecular analysis of two adjacent transcription terminators in yeast

RHOl is a member of the ras superfamily of genes coding for small molecular weight guanine nucleotide binding proteins. Recently, RHOl has been implicated in negatively controlling bud formation. RHOl is located on chromosome XIII adjacent to MRP2, a gene coding for a mitochondrial ribosomal protein, such that their 3' ends are separated by only 281 nucleotides. This study physically characterizes the RHOl and MRP2 transcripts and showsis transcribed constitutively throughout the cell cycle. RHOl mRNA possesses extensive nontranslated regions at both the 5' and 3' ends, unlike typical yeast transcripts. Furthermore, the polyadenylation sites of RHOl transcripts are distributed over a very wide region, at least 158 nucleotides. MRP2 transcripts on the other hand, possess more typical nontranslated regions terminating within 52 nucleotides. Finally, nucleotide sequence analysis of cDNA clones showed the transcribed regions of RHOl and MRP2 overlap by at least 111 nucleotides.
Health professional student preparedness to care for sexual and gender minorities: efficacy of an elective interprofessional educational intervention

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people have unique health and health care needs that are inadequately met. An eight-hour symposium was developed at the George Washington Un...
Phishing: message appraisal and the exploration of fear and self-confidence

Phishing attacks have threatened the security of both home users and organisations in recent years. Phishing uses social engineering to fraudulently obtain information that is confidential or sensi...
A TID and SEE Characterization of Multi-Terabit COTS 3D NAND Flash

Single-event effects and total ionizing dose testing are described for a 32-layer NAND flash memory, in both SLC and MLC configurations, with special considerations for unique three-dimensional test results. Extraction of three-dimensional heavyion test data presents a unique visualization of angular effects in NAND flash. Pattern dependence differences between SLC and MLC mode are noted, along with slightly non-uniform angular cross-section results due to the complex volume. Finally, TID data under different operating and bias conditions shows that the failure point remains the higher-voltage erasure circuitry.
THE RENAL RESPONSE TO ADMINISTRATION OF ACETAZOLAMIDE (DIAMOX®) DURING SALICYLATE INTOXICATION

Advanced salicylate intoxication in young children may produce severe acidosis due not only to the production and accumulation of organic acids in tissues, but also to the diminished content of buffer cation which is secondary to the loss of buffer cation during the excretion of organic acids. The excretion of an intensely acid urine all but prevents the excretion of free salicylate and thereby perpetuates the toxic effects of this ion. Despite severe deficit of buffer cation, the kidney responds to administration of a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor with excretion of alkaline urine. The magnitude of the loss of buffer cation is unpredictable both before and after enzyme inhibition. However, the systemic acidosis may be controlled by infusion of solutions of sodium bicarbonate, but frequent determinations of pH and content of carbon dioxide in the serum are mandatory. While the alterations in acid-base disturbance may be controlled during administration of acetazolamide, the occurrence of neurologic complications late in the course must be accepted as a serious additional hazard which may preclude the successful therapeutic value of this agent.
A Note On Surface Humidity Measurements In The Cold Canadian Environment

In the cold Canadian environment, humidity measurements can be verydifficult to conduct. In this brief communication, humidity observationstaken by two different sensors at six remote Canadian Arctic locations arecompared. The observations collected by Vaisala HMP35CF sensors displaya strong tendency toward the ice saturation point whereas dew cell instrumentsexhibit significantly lower values of relative humidity with respect to ice (RHi).Humidity data collected by HMP35CF hygrometers are therefore unreliable sincethey are subject to persistent icing that lead them to record values of RHi near 100%, irrespective of the air temperature. The high humidity bias emerges atmeteorological stations mounted with the HMP35CF probes since these instrumentsare usually neither sheltered nor heated, and are not attended to at regular intervals. Thus, great care must be taken in utilizing humidity data recorded by HMP35CF sensors across the network of climate autostations in Canada.
A statistics-based approach to studying aluminum pit initiation - Intrinsic and defect-driven pit initiation phenomena

A statistical description of pit initiation in high-purity aluminum (99.99) is developed based on the statistical frameworks established by Baroux [Corros. Sci., 28, 969 (1988)] and Shibata and Takeyama [Corrosion, 33, 243 (1977) and 52, 813 (1996)]. The statistical treatment is used to examine the dependency of pitting behavior on electrode area, scan rate, and chloride concentration. It is shown that the average pitting potential is proportional to the log of the scan rate and the log of one over electrode area, implying an exponential dependence of pit germination rate on applied potential. The constants that describe pit germination rate are independent of area for electrodes of diameter 125 μm and smaller. However, the constants are area-dependent for larger electrodes. Based on these results a homogeneous pit nucleation process is proposed to account for pit initiation on 125 μm diam and smaller electrodes, while a heterogeneous process is proposed to control the behavior of 500 μm diam electrodes. The results from these studies also demonstrate the importance of correctly choosing experimental conditions when studying pitting behavior. The dependencies of pitting potential on scan rate and area are found to be sensitive to electrode size, scan rate, and aggressiveness of the electrolyte.
Mu1-related transposable elements of maize preferentially insert into low copy number DNA.

The Mutator transposable element system of maize was originally identified through its induction of mutations at an exceptionally high frequency and at a wide variety of loci. The Mu1 subfamily of transposable elements within this system are responsible for the majority of Mutator-induced mutations. Mu 1-related elements were isolated from active Mutator plants and their flanking DNA was characterized. Sequence analyses revealed perfect nine base target duplications directly flanking the insert for 13 of the 14 elements studied. Hybridizational studies indicated that Mu1-like elements insert primarily into regions of the maize genome that are of low copy number. This preferential selection of low copy number DNA as targets for Mu element insertion was not directed by any specific secondary structure(s) that could be detected in this study, but the 9-bp target duplications exhibited a discernibly higher than random match with the consensus sequence 59-G-T-T-G-G/C-A-G-G/A-G-39.
The CXXC motif: crystal structure of an active-site variant of Escherichia coli thioredoxin.

The 2.2 A crystalline structure of an oxidized active-site variant of Escherichia coli thioredoxin (Trx) has been solved. Trx is a 12 kDa enzyme which catalyzes the oxidation of dithiols and the reduction and isomerization of disulfides in other proteins. Its active site contains the common structural motif CXXC. Protein-disulfide isomerase (PDI), a 57 kDa homolog of Trx, contains four Trx-like domains. The three-dimensional structure of PDI is unknown. PDI-deficient Saccharomyces cerevisiae are inviable. An active-site variant of Trx which complements PDI-deficient yeast has the active-site sequence Cys32-Val33-Trp34-Cys35 (CVWC). The reduction potential of oxidized CVWC Trx (E°′ = −0.230 V) is altered significantly from that of the wild-type enzyme (E°′ = −0.270 V). However, the structure of the oxidized CVWC enzyme is almost identical to that of wild-type Trx. The addition of valine and tryptophan in the active site is likely to increase the reduction potential, largely by decreasing the pKa of the Cys32 thiol in the reduced enzyme. Unlike in wild-type Trx, significant protein–protein contacts occur in the crystal. Protein molecules related by a crystallographic twofold axis form a dimer in the crystal. The dimer forms as an extension of the twisted mixed β-sheet which composes the backbone of each Trx structure.
Pressure effects on the relaxation of an excited nitromethane molecule in an argon bath

Classical molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the relaxation of nitromethane in an Ar bath (of 1000 atoms) at 300 K and pressures 10, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 300, and 400 atm. The molecule was instantaneously excited by statistically distributing 50 kcal/mol among the internal degrees of freedom. At each pressure, 1000 trajectories were integrated for 1000 ps, except for 10 atm, for which the integration time was 5000 ps. The computed ensemble-averaged rotational energy decay is ∼100 times faster than the vibrational energy decay. Both rotational and vibrational decay curves can be satisfactorily fit with the Lendvay-Schatz function, which involves two parameters: one for the initial rate and one for the curvature of the decay curve. The decay curves for all pressures exhibit positive curvature implying the rate slows as the molecule loses energy. The initial rotational relaxation rate is directly proportional to density over the interval of simulated densities, but the initial vibrational relaxation rate decreases with increasing density relative to the extrapolation of the limiting low-pressure proportionality to density. The initial vibrational relaxation rate and curvature are fit as functions of density. For the initial vibrational relaxation rate, the functional form of the fit arises from a combinatorial model for the frequency of nitromethane “simultaneously” colliding with multiple Ar atoms. Roll-off of the initial rate from its low-density extrapolation occurs because the cross section for collision events with L Ar atoms increases with L more slowly than L times the cross section for collision events with one Ar atom. The resulting density-dependent functions of the initial rate and curvature represent, reasonably well, all the vibrational decay curves except at the lowest density for which the functions overestimate the rate of decay. The decay over all gas phase densities is predicted by extrapolating the fits to condensed-phase densities.
The Effect of an Education Program on the Incidence of Central Venous Catheter-Associated Bloodstream Infection in a Medical ICU

Objective: To determine whether an education initiative could decrease the rate of catheter-associated bloodstream infection. Design: Preintervention and postintervention observational study. Setting: The 19-bed medical ICU in a 1,400-bed university-affiliated urban teaching hospital. Patients: Between January 2000 and December 2003, all patients admitted to the medical ICU were surveyed prospectively for the development of catheter-associated bloodstream infection. Intervention: A mandatory education program directed toward ICU nurses and physicians was developed by a multidisciplinary task force to highlight correct practices for the prevention of catheter-associated bloodstream infection. The program consisted of a 10-page self-study module on risk factors and practice modifications involved in catheter-related bloodstream infections and in-services at scheduled staff meetings. Each participant was required to complete a pretest before reviewing the study module and an identical test after completion of the study module. Fact sheets and posters reinforcing the information in the study module were also posted throughout the ICU. Measurements and main results: Seventy-four episodes of catheter-associated bloodstream infection occurred in 7,879 catheter-days (9.4 per 1,000 catheter-days) in the 24 months before the introduction of the education program. Following implementation of the intervention, the rate of catheter-associated bloodstream infection decreased to 41 episodes in 7,455 catheter days (5.5 per 1,000 catheter-days) [p = 0.019]. The estimated cost savings secondary to the decreased rate of catheter-associated bloodstream infection for the 24 months following introduction of the education program was between $103,600 and $1,573,000. Conclusions: An intervention focused on the education of health-care providers on the prevention of catheter-associated bloodstream infections may lead to a dramatic decrease in the incidence of primary bloodstream infections. Education programs may lead to a substantial decrease in medical-care costs and patient morbidity attributed to central venous catheterization when implemented as part of mandatory training.
Repetitive Hydatidiform Mole with Different Male Partners

Abstract Objective. The aim of this study was to determine the role of parental factors that may relate to the pathogenesis of molar pregnancy. Methods. A retrospective review of six patients who had a molar pregnancy with at least two different partners at New England Trophoblastic Disease Center between 1965 and March 1999 was performed. Results. A total of 34 pregnancies with 20 different partners were observed in 6 patients. These pregnancies resulted in 15 (44.1%) hydatidiform moles, 8 (23.5%) term live births, 7 (20.6%) therapeutic abortions, 3 (8.8%) spontaneous abortions, and 1 preterm delivery. While 5 patients had a molar pregnancy with 2 different partners, 1 patient had a molar pregnancy with 3 different partners. Two patients developed persistent postmolar gestational trophoblastic tumor in 3 (20.0%) of the 15 episodes of molar pregnancy. Three of the male partners reported a total of 7 healthy children from prior relationships. Conclusion. The experience in these six patients suggests that a primary oocyte problem may contribute to the development of molar pregnancy.
Concepts Of Biostereometrics Applied To Robotics

Abstract By examining the concepts of natural vision, a non-computer image processor was develop­ ed. This device uses a cellular contrast pattern matching and searching technique to define elements of the image. Coupling the pattern matching and searching technique with a stereo­ metric capability provides considerable information about the shape, size, orientation, depth and location of a subject. This type of information is very useful in machines and robots that must acquire objects in unpredictable orientations or in unknown environments.IntroductionAnyone who is reading this paper cannot deny the importance of vision. We gather more than 85% of the information necessary for our everyday life by visual input alone. The types and quality of information that our eyes and minds extract from the world are not only impressive but extremely desirable for use in machine perception and robotics. Nevertheless, eyesight and visual perception is something we embody, but do not understand. To build and program machines that see we must know what vision is, and how it works. It was, therefore, our purpose to design a device that could, to some degree, emulate the cybernetics of the mammalian visual tract.Anatomy of the Visual TractBased on many sources of information (see references) our cybernetic vision model is based on the anatomy of several information feedback systems. These feedback loops exist in the retina, optic nerve, and the upper brainstem. In fact, several of these pathways have been very well documented for many years. Probably the best known of the visual infor­ mation feedback loops are the parasympathetic nerves to the sphincter muscles of the iris and the sympathetic nerves to the dilator pupillae muscles also of the iris (see Figure 1). These nerves form two separate feedback paths into the eye from the brainstem. The relation between the eye and brain via these nerves is complex. Besides responding to changes in light and helping to focus images, the iris can express the emotional state-of the indivi­ dual. Some researchers believe that even one's health is revealed by the iris. Unfortu­ nately the feedback pathways into the retina are not as thoroughly understood.
Significantly Increased Expression of β-Glucuronidase in the Central Nervous System of Mucopolysaccharidosis Type VII Mice from the Latency-Associated Transcript Promoter in a Nonpathogenic Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Vector

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) has the ability to establish life-long latent infections in postmitotic neurons and to remain transcriptionally active, continuously expressing latency-associated transcripts (LAT) while producing minimal disease. These properties have made HSV an excellent candidate for neuronal gene transfer. Previously, we have shown that in mucopolysaccharidosis type VII mice (MPS VII, β-glucuronidase deficiency) the LAT promoter is capable of expressing β-glucuronidase (GUSB) in the trigeminal ganglion and the brainstem after latency is established. However, the number of neurons expressing GUSB is much lower than the number expressing 2-kb LAT following a wild-type virus infection. In this study, we have evaluated the effect of the position of the coding sequence relative to the LAT promoter on β-glucuronidase gene expression in the central nervous system (CNS). Non-neurovirulent (ICP-34.5-deleted HSV-1) vectors were used, allowing direct intracranial injection. Significantly more GUSB activity was detected in brains of MPS VII mice inoculated with a recombinant virus (HSV-LAT-GUSB-JS) in which the GUSB cDNA was inserted near the LAT promoter, compared to viruses where it was inserted farther downstream in either the LAT exon 1 or overlapping exon 1 and the 2-kb LAT intron. This vector produced more than 100 times the number of positive cells than the other constructs. During acute infection, the distribution of viral replication differed from the distribution of GUSB enzyme expression. Viral antigen was predominately present in cells around the site of injection in the caudate putamen and in ependymal cells lining the ventricles. In contrast, GUSB expression was present mainly in cells of the thalamus and hypothalamus, which did not exhibit viral antigen, suggesting that GUSB enzyme activity was expressed from latently but not acutely infected neuronal cells. This vector design should be useful for high-level expression of various genes in the CNS.
Porohyperelastic finite element modeling of abdominal aortic aneurysms

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the gradual weakening and dilation of the infrarenal aorta. This disease is progressive, asymptomatic, and can eventually lead to rupture--a catastrophic event leading to massive internal bleeding and possibly death. The mechanical environment present in AAA is currently thought to be important in disease initiation, progression, and diagnosis. In this study, we utilize porohyperelastic (PHE) finite element models (FEMs) to investigate how such modeling can be used to better understand the local biomechanical environment in AAA. A 3D hypothetical AAA was constructed with a preferential anterior bulge assuming both the intraluminal thrombus (ILT) and the AAA wall act as porous materials. A parametric study was performed to investigate how physiologically meaningful variations in AAA wall and ILT hydraulic permeabilities affect luminal interstitial fluid velocities and wall stresses within an AAA. A corresponding hyperelastic (HE) simulation was also run in order to be able to compare stress values between PHE and HE simulations. The effect of AAA size on local interstitial fluid velocity was also investigated by simulating maximum diameters (5.5 cm, 4.5 cm, and 3.5 cm) at the baseline values of ILT and AAA wall permeability. Finally, a cyclic PHE simulation was utilized to study the variation in local fluid velocities as a result of a physiologic pulsatile blood pressure. While the ILT hydraulic permeability was found to have minimal affect on interstitial velocities, our simulations demonstrated a 28% increase and a 20% decrease in luminal interstitial fluid velocity as a result of a 1 standard deviation increase and decrease in AAA wall hydraulic permeability, respectively. Peak interstitial velocities in all simulations occurred on the luminal surface adjacent to the region of maximum diameter. These values increased with increasing AAA size. PHE simulations resulted in 19.4%, 40.1%, and 81.0% increases in peak maximum principal wall stresses in comparison to HE simulations for maximum diameters of 35 mm, 45 mm, and 55 mm, respectively. The pulsatile AAA PHE FEM demonstrated a complex interstitial fluid velocity field the direction of which alternated in to and out of the luminal layer of the ILT. The biomechanical environment within both the aneurysmal wall and the ILT is involved in AAA pathogenesis and rupture. Assuming these tissues to be porohyperelastic materials may provide additional insight into the complex solid and fluid forces acting on the cells responsible for aneurysmal remodeling and weakening.
Fast and Accurate Solutions of Steady Stokes Flows Using Multilevel Boundary Element Methods

Most recently, we have developed a novel multilevel boundary element method (MLBEM) for steady Stokes flows in irregular two-dimensional domains (Grigoriev, M.M., and Dargush, G.F., Comput. Methods. Appl. Mech. Eng., 2005). The multilevel algorithm permitted boundary element solutions with slightly over 16,000 degrees of freedom, for which approximately 40-fold speedups were demonstrated for the fast MLBEM algorithm compared to a conventional Gauss elimination approach. Meanwhile, the sevenfold memory savings were attained for the fast algorithm. This paper extends the MLBEM methodology to dramatically improve the performance of the original multilevel formulation for the steady Stokes flows. For a model problem in an irregular pentagon, we demonstrate that the new MLBEM formulation reduces the CPU times by a factor of nearly 700,000. Meanwhile, the memory requirements are reduced more than 16,000 times. These superior run-time and memory reductions compared to regular boundary element methods are achieved while preserving the accuracy of the boundary element solution.
Students’ Participation in an Interdisciplinary, Socioscientific Issues Based Undergraduate Human Biology Major and Their Understanding of Scientific Inquiry

The purpose of this study was to examine whether Socioscientific Issues (SSI) based learning environments affect university students’ epistemological understanding of scientific inquiry differently from traditional science educational contexts. We identify and compare conceptions of scientific inquiry of students participating in an interdisciplinary, SSI-focused undergraduate human biology major (SSI) and those participating in a traditional biology major (BIO). Forty-five SSI students and 50 BIO students completed an open-ended questionnaire examining their understanding of scientific inquiry. Eight general themes including approximately 60 subthemes emerged from questionnaire responses, and the numbers of students including each subtheme in their responses were statistically compared between groups. A subset of students participated in interviews, which were used to validate and triangulate questionnaire data and probe students’ understanding of scientific inquiry in relation to their majors. We found that both groups provided very similar responses, differing significantly in only five subthemes. Results indicated that both groups held generally adequate understandings of inquiry, but also a number of misconceptions. Small differences between groups supported by both questionnaires and interviews suggest that the SSI context contributed to nuanced understandings, such as a more interdisciplinary and problem-centered conception of scientific inquiry. Implications for teaching and research are discussed.
Sex, Family Wage-Earning Status, and Satisfaction with Work

Past examinations of the job-related sources of worker satisfaction, though numerous, have ignored the possible influences of sex and family wage earning status. Developing logic to suggest that wo...
Significance of coring-induced fractures in Mesaverde core, northwestern Colorado

Several types of mechanically induced fractures occur in Mesaverde core from the U.S. Department of Energy's Multiwell Experiment wells. Two of these types of fractures have significance for the determination of in-situ stress orientations. Scribe-line fractures originate at orientation grooves on the surface of the core and are initiated by scribing knives in the core barrel minutes after the core is cut free from the surrounding rock. In sandstone core, these fractures strike parallel to the maximum in-situ horizontal stress direction that has been determined in these wells by anelastic strain recovery measurements. Coring-induced petal and petal-centerline fractures form just below the advancing core bit. Their strike is also controlled by the in-situ stress field. Loc lly, however, strike may be secondarily influenced by shear stress created by bit rotation, reorienting petal fracture strikes in the direction of rotation. Nevertheless, in many situations the orientations of these two types of fractures may be used to determine the orientation of the horizontal in-situ stress field if the core is oriented. Even in unoriented core, the relative orientation between in-situ stress and natural fractures may be determined.
Retrospective attitude studies of parent-child relations.

Many reviews of the literature and considerations of methodological problems in specific areas are published after considerable experimentation and at a time when interest in the field has lagged. This paper will attempt to anticipate problems of method in a newly developing research approach in order to contribute to maximal use of research energy in attacking the problems involved. The approach consists of administering attitude questionnaires to parents whose children differ in behavior. In studies to be considered it is indicated or implied that variation in the independent variable as measured by parental attitude measures has contributed in mediated or direct form to variation in the dependent variable or criterion measure of child behavior. In further discussion, the term criterion variable will be used to refer to measures of the behavior of children, whether such measures result from the use of experimental and control groups, or from measurements of a continuous variable in a single group. Studies to be discussed are postdictive rather than predictive. The study design thus parallels the retrospective clinical case study. It might be called a "reverse leap-frog" design. Inferences from obtained differences in parental attitudes involve a backward extrapolation in time, conceptually "leaping over" the actual behavior of parents with the children. The nature of an earlier developmental process is inferred from data obtained at a later point in time. Accordingly it is difficult to assert that obtained differences between parental attitudes measured after the development of children reflect factors operating at the time the children were developing. On the other hand, obtained differences in attitudes between parent groups cannot be ignored. It is tempting simply to suggest longitudinal studies of the effects of measured parental attitudes on child development. However, the productivity of such cumbersome, slow-moving projects may be heavily dependent on the preliminary hypothesis development carried out most rapidly in the retrospective type of study.
Photoperiodic control of the maintenance and termination of larval diapause in Chironomus tentans.

DURING recent years, dipterous larvae possessing giant polytene chromosomes have provided important new insight into developmental physiology at the sub-cellular level. This is in large measure attributable to the phenomenon of chromosomal ‘puffing’, which has afforded the opportunity for visualizing the changing pattern of genetic activity within individual tissues during the course of development1. Clever2 has reported significant alterations in the puffing pattern of salivary gland chromosomes from a laboratory population of Chironomus tentans which experienced a state of spontaneously arrested development under conditions seemingly favourable for continued growth and metamorphosis. Although not previously described for this organism, the developmental arrest resembles the diapause which typifies the life-histories of many insect species. Diapause is commonly induced or terminated by extrinsic environmental factors, particularly temperature and photoperiod, which exert their effect by influencing the activity of the endocrine system which regulates insect growth and metamorphosis3. In view of the paucity of information on these matters in the case of C. tentans, coupled with the general utility of dispausing insects and the special cytological attractions of this species for investigations of biochemical mechanisms underlying growth and differentiation, we have examined the natural occurrence of a larval diapause and its photoperiodic control under laboratory conditions.
An Overview on Oxygen Carriers in Cancer Therapy

Solid tumors are aberrant tissues composed of stroma and malignant cells. Amongst the properties which distinguish normal tissues from solid tumors are physiological characteristics related to the disregulated proliferation of the neoplastic and normal cells that comprise the tumor mass. Although signals for vascular growth are present in solid tumors, the growth of blood vessels in tumors is irregular, and the vasculature is often poorly formed and inadequate lacking vasoresponsive elements. Thus, solid tumors often exhibit highly heterogeneous oxygen tension distributions, pH, glucose delivery and utilization, etc. [1-6]
Solar House as an Educational Tool for the Newly Established Renewable Energy Engineering Program

This paper introduces the newly established renewable energy engineering program at Alfred University (AU) and a solar house project used as an educational tool for this program. Topics include solar energy harvesting and adaptation of solar systems, engineering calculations/simulation, and global collaboration and marketing.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Sputter deposition of NiTi thin film exhibiting the SME at room temperatures

In this paper we will present a novel method for depositing NiTi thin film by DC sputtering that produces films with transformation temperatures very close to that of the target. The new process involves heating the target to temperatures over 400 degrees C and does not require compositional modification of the 50/50atm percent NiTi target. Results from tensile testing, XRD, TEM, and DSC are presented. Conclusions are cold target produces films that were in the Austenite phase at rom temperature while hot target produces films that were Martensite at room temperatures, confirming that compositional modification can be produced by varying the target temperature. Films that were produced by gradual heating of the target, produced a gradation of composition through the film thickness. These gradation films exhibiting the two-way SME. The simplicity of this new process should increase the use of NiTi film sin microactuator devices.
THE MEASUREMENT OF THE IN$sup 113$* CONVERSION COEFFICIENT WITH A SCINTILLATION SPECTROMETER

The internal conversion coefficient of the 0.39-Mev isomeric transition of ${\mathrm{In}}^{113*}$ has been determined with a scintillation spectrometer by measurements which involve only gamma-gamma and electron-electron intensity comparisons. A value of $\ensuremath{\alpha}=0.55\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03$ is obtained for the total conversion coefficient of this transition. Thus the $K$-conversion coefficient is 0.46\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.03 if one uses the $K$ to $L$ conversion ratio of 5.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.8 as determined by Lawson and Cork. This value is in good agreement with the value of 0.47 which is obtained from Rose's tables for magnetic ${2}^{4}$-pole radiation.
Lung-selective impairment of cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenases and cellular injury by 1,1-dichloroethylene in mice

The acute toxic effects of 1,1-dichloroethylene (DCE; 125 mg/kg, i.p.) on mouse lung, liver and kidney were investigated 24 hr after its administration. DCE caused a reduction of cytochrome P-450 levels and related monooxygenases in lung microsomes with no corresponding changes in liver and kidney. Examination of the lung tissue by light microscopy revealed necrosis restricted to the Clara cells. In contrast, liver and kidney were relatively unaffected by DCE treatment, as indicated by lack of changes in microsomal monooxygenase activities and morphology.
Give-and-take : interactions between DNA transposons and their host plant genomes

Recent genome sequencing efforts have revealed how extensively transposable elements (TEs) have contributed to the shaping of present day plant genomes. DNA transposons associate preferentially with the euchromatic or genic component of plant genomes and have had the opportunity to interact intimately with the genes of the plant host. These interactions have resulted in TEs acquiring host sequences, forming chimeric genes through exon shuffling, replacing regulatory sequences, mobilizing genes around the genome, and contributing genes to the host. The close interaction of transposons with genes has also led to the evolution of intricate cellular mechanisms for silencing transposon activity. Transposons have thus become important subjects of study in understanding epigenetic regulation and, in cases where transposons have amplified to high numbers, how to escape that regulation.
Computer simulation helps increase life of impeller in alumina hydrate precipitation from 2 to 8 years

The rate at which an impeller wears is a strong function of the velocity at the leading edge. Blades often fail due to extreme erosion. Simulating the impeller and tank of a draft tube mixer using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) helped extend the life of an impeller by two to eight years. The computer simulation, using FLUENT CFD software from Fluent Inc., Lebanon, NH, made it possible to quickly evaluate the leading edge velocity of several proposed new designs. The analysis helped identify the erosion problem by predicting the locations of wear patterns.
Characterization of the yellow fever mosquito sterol carrier protein-2 like 3 gene and ligand-bound protein structure.

The sterol carrier protein-2 like 3 gene (AeSCP-2L3), a new member of the SCP-2 protein family, is identified from the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. The predicted molecular weight of AeSCP-2L3 is 13.4 kDa with a calculated pI of 4.98. AeSCP-2L3 transcription occurs in the larval feeding stages and the mRNA levels decrease in pupae and adults. The highest levels of AeSCP-2L3 gene expression are found in the body wall, and possibly originated in the fat body. This is the first report of a mosquito SCP-2-like protein with prominent expression in tissue other than the midgut. The X-ray protein crystal structure of AeSCP-2L3 reveals a bound C16 fatty acid whose acyl tail penetrates deeply into a hydrophobic cavity. Interestingly, the ligand-binding cavity is slightly larger than previously described for AeSCP-2 (Dyer et al. J Biol Chem 278:39085–39091, 2003) and AeSCP-2L2 (Dyer et al. J Lipid Res M700460–JLR200, 2007). There are also an additional 10 amino acids in SCP-2L3 that are not present in other characterized mosquito SCP-2s forming an extended loop between β3 and β4. Otherwise, the protein backbone is exceedingly similar to other SCP-2 and SCP-2-like proteins. In contrast to this observed high structural homology of members in the mosquito SCP2 family, the amino acid sequence identity between the members is less than 30%. The results from structural analysis imply that there have been evolutionary constraints that favor the SCP-2 Cα backbone fold while the specificity of ligand binding can be altered.
Analysis of anionic metallized azo and formazan dyes by capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry.

Abstract Capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry was applied to the separation of several anionic dyes containing copper(II), chromium(III), or cobalt(III) as part of the dye molecule. The dyes were separated using a 110 cm×50 μm uncoated fused-silica capillary and a 5 mM ammonium acetate buffer (pH 9) containing 40% acetonitrile. Excellent separation efficiencies (N=500 000 plates/column) and low detection limits of 20–50 pg (selected ion monitoring, S/N=10) were achieved. Mass spectra were acquired at different cone voltages. At low cone voltages (low collision energies), sensitivity was maximized and the mass spectra contained only signals of the (multiply charged) molecular ions and low levels of sodium ion and proton adducts. At higher cone voltages, the 2:1 (ligand:metal) chromium and cobalt dyes showed losses of one of the two dye ligands, accompanied by a reduction of the metal. The copper dyes showed signals due to loss of SO2 and SO3−, but no release of metal. Azo cleavage, otherwise typical of azo dyes, was not observed with the metallized dyes.
Sclerotherapy for the treatment of postmastectomy seroma

Abstract Background Seroma is a common complication after mastectomy. We review our experience with sclerotherapy for postmastectomy seroma management. Methods Patients who underwent outpatient sclerotherapy for postmastectomy seroma were reviewed. Ninety-five percent ethyl alcohol or povidone iodine, which was administered by way of percutaneous catheter, was the initial sclerosant, and dwell time was 20 to 30 minutes. Povidone iodine solution was instilled 2 to 3 times daily. Catheters were removed when output reached Results Sixteen patients (18 seromas) had sclerotherapy initiated at median of 34 days after surgery. Mean number of treatment days was 3 (median duration 16). Seven patients (44%) developed infection during treatment, which was associated with increased duration. Three seromas recurred and were successfully treated with single aspiration. Comments Sclerotherapy is a feasible treatment for chronic seroma after mastectomy. Longer treatment duration was associated with infection; antibiotic prophylaxis should be considered. Research is necessary to determine optimal regimens and superiority over other approaches.
Glycoprotein synthesis in the human retina: Localization of the lipid intermediate pathway

Abstract Retinal tissue from human eye donors was incubated with [ 3 H]-labeled mannose, glucosamine, fucose, and leucine in the presence and absence of tunicamycin, a selective inhibitor of dolichol-dependent glycoprotein biosynthesis. The incorporation of labeled substrates was examined by quantitative light microscopic autoradiography and biochemical methods. [ 3 H]-Mannose and [ 3 H]-fucose were predominantly incorporated into the photoreceptor layer, while [ 3 H]-gluosamine and [ 3 H]-leucine labeled the entire retinal expanse. Tunicamycin caused a marked and selective reduction in the incorporation of [ 3 H]-mannose and [ 3 H]-glucosamine in the photoreceptor layer (especially the inner segments) without affecting the relative distribution of labeled products derived from [ 3 H]-fucose or [ 3 H]-leucine. All three [ 3 H]-labeled sugars were incorporated preferentially into rod inner segments, relative to cones. Dual-label experiments with [ 3 H]-sugars and [ 14 C]-leucine revealed that tunicamycin selectively inhibited the incorporation of [ 3 H]-mannose, but not the other substrates, into total retinal TCA-precipitable material. This inhibition was not due to decreased mannose uptake by retinal cells. Detergent-solubilized retinas were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and fluorography. The results indicated that each labeled substrate was incorporated into a variety of glyoproteins, including a component having the electrophoretic mobility of opsin. These results suggest that the lipid intermediate pathway of glycoprotein synthesis is localized preferentially to the photoreceptor layer of the retina, and may subserve the biosynthesis of rod cell glycoproteins (e.g. opsin).
Regularity results for stokes type systems related to climatology

Abstract In this note, we prove the regularity of solutions of Stokes type systems related to the large scale equations of the ocean [1], the primitive equations of the atmosphere and the coupled system atmosphere-ocean [2,3]; the regularity of solutions of strongly elliptic nonhomogeneous problems in cylinder-type domains is proved with the same generality as in the homogeneous case and is used in the proof of our results.
Biochemical pathways of retinoid transport, metabolism, and signal transduction.

Retinoids control the processes of differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis from the conception of vertebrates through their deaths. It may seem improbable that a few small, simple lipids could contain and communicate such extensive and disparate information as the retinoids, but the permutations possible make this notion plausible. Retinoid actions result from coordinated interplay among more than one hormone and multiple binding proteins, biosynthetic and catabolic enzymes, receptors (acting alone or in combination not only with retinoid but also with other lipophilic hormone receptors), and receptor-response elements. This symphony is conducted in all vertebrates in deliberate spatially and temporally specific patterns. This article reviews the absorption and formation of retinol, the parent and major circulating naturally occurring retinoid; the role of retinol as substrate for biosynthesis of two hormones, i.e., all-trans-retinoic acid (atRA) and 9-cis-retinoic acid (9cRA); the integrated operations of retinoid metabolism and the intracellular retinoid-binding proteins, cellular retinol-binding protein (CRBP), and cellular RA-binding protein (CRABP), which protect (retinoids), serve (as substrate), and control (metabolic reactions); and the mechanism of RA and 9cRA action as activators of the transcription factors RA-receptor (RAR) and the retinoid X receptor (RXR). The discussion offers a mechanistic rationale for the pleiotropic actions of retinoids.
Hans Eysenck (1916–1997): A tribute

Hans Eysenck died on September 4,1997, in London, at the age of 8 1. Eysenck was one of the most well-known psychologists in the world, and perhaps, upon his death, even the most well-known. Eysenck was born in 1916 in Berlin, the only child of an economically well-off family (see Eysenck, 1997; Jensen, 1994, for more details). Both his parents were actors. After graduating from the Gymanasium, Eysenck left Berlin in 1933 as a protest against the ascension to power of Adolph Hitler. An aspiring physicist, Eysenck became a psychologist when told that the university credits he had obtained in Germany could be applied toward the study of psychology but not of physics. He went on to become a world leader in the field of psychology (Modgil & Modgil, 1986; Nyborg, 1997). Eysenck was a man of paradox. On the one hand, no one spoke more forcefully of the importance of scientific rigor in psychological research. Eysenck was critical of and sometimes merciless toward those who were less than rigorous. At the same time, he seemed to hold beliefs that flew in the face of scientific evidence. For example, he claimed to be unconvinced that cigarette smoking was causal of cancer, instead choosing to believe that smokers might have a genetic predisposition toward cancer. Although the evidence for cigarette smoking leading to cancer is not unequivocal, it is and even was at the time of Eysenck’s claims far stronger than the evidence in favor of the beliefs to which Eysenck adhered at least in public. Eysenck also once commented to me in a conversation that the reason that psychologists had not found evidence in favor of astrology was that they wrongly focused on the stars. He suggested that they instead should have been focusing on the planets, for which there was evidence in favor of an influence on psychological predispositions. It was hard to know when to take Eysenck seriously. At times, I wondered whether he wasn’t playing a joke on everyone, publicly espousing positions that he would immediately reject in private. But were his private views different? Perhaps those who knew him better could say. I never knew.
Osteomesopyknosis: a case report and review of sclerosing bone disorders.

ABSTRACT Objective We present a case of osteomesopyknosis, a nonmalignant sclerosing bone dysplasia of the axial skeleton, with unknown etiology and unknown prevalence. Methods We studied a 49-year-old female who suffered from back and pelvic pain. Her history was obtained, a physical examination performed, and the laboratory results and imaging diagnostics were studied to describe her disease. Results A 49-year-old, perimenopausal female suffered excruciating, intermittent, dull back and pelvic pain for 1.5 years. Nonmalignant blastic bone lesions along her spine and pelvis were discovered on computed tomography (CT) and confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and bone scans. Other metabolic/endocrine conditions were ruled out. Her son also has similar symptoms, and corresponding changes were observed on his vertebrae MRI. Both were diagnosed with osteomesopyknosis. Conclusion Osteomesopyknosis is a rare, autosomal dominant condition characterized by nonmalignant osteosclerosis restricted to the axial skeleton. The disease may produce chronic low-grade back pain in the thoracic and lumbar regions. (Endocr Pract. 2014;20:e106-e111)