cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Survival cannibalism or sociopolitical intimidation? : Explaining perimortem mutilation in the American Southwest

Over the past two decades, archaeologists and physical anthropologists investigating the prehistoric Anasazi culture have identified numerous cases of suspected cannibalism. Many scholars have suggested that starvation caused by environmental degradation induced people to eat one another, but the growing number of cases as well as their temporal and spatial distribution challenge this conclusion. At the same time, some scholars have questioned the validity of the osteoarchaeological indicators that are used to identify cannibalism in collections of mutilated human remains. To address these concerns, this study attempts to reconstruct the behaviors that produced the Anasazi skeletal trauma by first examining ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological material for analogues useful for interpreting mutilated human remains and then correlating these analogues with the evidence from the Southwest. The patterns suggest that different behaviors are responsible for the Anasazi skeletal mutilation seen in different time periods. To explain these differences, the study employs game theoretical models that examine how changing social and physical contexts altered the sociopolitical strategies that Anasazi groups would likely have employed. The results suggest that violent mutilation and perhaps cannibalism was an intentional sociopolitical strategy of intimidation used during Pueblo II (A.D. 900-1100), while environmental changes after this period promoted resource-based warfare and the incidental skeletal trauma associated with this behavior.
Effects of Manganese, Calcium, Zinc, and Iron on Growth and Pigmentation of Trichocladium Canadense, Phialophora Melinii, Hypoxylon Rubiginosum, Daldinia Concentrica, and Cytospora Decipiens

(1974). Effects of Manganese, Calcium, Zinc, and Iron on Growth and Pigmentation of Trichocladium Canadense, Phialophora Melinii, Hypoxylon Rubiginosum, Daldinia Concentrica, and Cytospora Decipiens. Mycologia: Vol. 66, No. 2, pp. 339-341.
Undocumented Immigration and Rates of Crime and Imprisonment: Popular Myths and Empirical Realities

This paper examines the relationship of contemporary immigration, including undocumented migration, to crime and imprisonment. First, at the national level, I analyze changes in the rates of violent crimes and property crimes during the years of the surge in immigration. Next I look at the incarceration rates of young men 18 to 39, comparing the foreign-born vs. the U.S.-born by national origin and by education, and, among the foreign-born, by length of residence in the United States. The analysis compares the rates of incarceration of foreign-born young men from nationalities the majority of whom are undocumented immigrants with less than a high school education (Mexicans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans) vs. the rates for other immigrant nationalities as well as for native ethnic majority and minority groups. Finally, I summarize the available empirical evidence from a wide range of other studies, compare it to prevailing public perceptions, and note their implications for criminological theory, research, and public policy.
Urban Runoff Peak Frequency Curves

Runoff peak frequency curves were derived from runoff flows observed in an urban test catchment and from runoff flows simulated for storms selected from two rainfall records. The first record, of a shorter length, was recorded in the test catchment. The second rainfall record, of a greater length, was recorded at a station located 10.6 km west of the test catchment. Comparisons of peak frequency curves derived from observations and both sets of simulations indicated a good agreement. As the sewer system became surcharged, the rate of flow increase with the increasing return period diminished.
Medical care needs of the aged. 2.

Because of their higher rate of chronic illness and disability, the aged have a greater need than younger persons for institutional care. However, facilities and care are often inadequate and alternatives to institutionalization may be feasible in many cases. Treating the total patient as opposed to isolated symptoms is especially important in geriatric care. It requires that the physician play a truly supportive role, carefully balancing the benefits of treatment against the cost in discomfort, as well as in money and time.
Chapter 10 – The Uncertain Future

Is history about to repeat itself? Not long ago, the US government and public embraced coal as a solution to an energy crisis engendered by the OPEC and Iranian oil embargoes of the 1970s. Large corporations like Exxon and Gulf Oil expended millions of dollars to develop and commercialize systems to produce liquid fuels from coal. The plants that were constructed were shut down shortly afterward and the technology was shelved. Now the US Congress has mandated the use of renewable fuels as a solution to a perceived energy crisis. Once again, millions of dollars are being invested for process development and plant construction. At the same time, with the onset of fracking, we may be awash in natural gas and increased production of crude oil not to mention ever more efficient electric vehicles. And in the midst of all this, does ethanol as a gasoline additive disappear to be displaced by isobutanol, or does diesel at long last replace gasoline altogether?
The Pathologic Patterns of AIDS

Infection with the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) results in a variety of pathologic lesions, leading to multisystem disease (Klatt 1989, Klatt 1992; Lucas 1995; Lucas et al. 1993, Lucas 1996). Although some of the effects are the direct results of HIV infection, the majority of the lesions are due to secondary infections with opportunistic organisms (Lyon et al. 1996). In addition, a considerable number of proliferative lesions, both benign and malignant, occur as a direct result of the immunodeficiency status of the patient, and the intense therapy also has its drawbacks (John et al. 1998, Paxton and Janssen 2000).
Metaphor after Myriad : The Effect of Legal Rhetoric on Intellectual Property Protection for Biological Sequences

The Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics (‘Myriad’), the U.S. Supreme Court’s first code-level determination of patent eligibility for biological sequences, ultimately barred isolated DNA patents in the United States while granting patent protection of cDNA. Myriad’s decision has, since 2013, continued to pose questions regarding legal protection for biological sequences as a whole: which types of biological sequences are patent-ineligible, and what legal strategy organizations should use to protect these sequences. As biotechnology companies continue to perform genetic testing and market pharmacogenomics products to the general public, the industry will likely demand appropriate legal instruments to safeguard significant investment in research and development. Although no clear direction has emerged for protecting biological sequences holistically, analyzing metaphors used in the Myriad decision may suggest a legal direction compatible with court reasoning. Based on metaphors used most prevalently in Myriad, courts seem to suggest thin compilation copyright and trade secret protection offer potential solutions for legally protecting biological sequences.
Chapter 7 – Thermal dileptons

The chapter elaborates the production of high mass thermal lepton pairs. The structure of the calculation of thermal dilepton production is very similar to that of the Drell-Yan dilepton calculation. The main difference in the plasma phase is that the initial quark and antiquark distributions that interact to produce a lepton pair are not the parton distributions of a cold nucleus but those of a thermal system. A simple calculation of a lepton pair invariant mass distribution for lepton pairs produced from a system in thermal equilibrium is presented in the chapter. To obtain an observable dilepton production rate that is comparable to the Drell-Yan rate, it is necessary to integrate the space-time history of a collision. The higher temperatures obtained using the uncertainty principle bound give a larger contribution relative to the Drell-Yan production over a broader mass range than does the rate for the fixed formation time. If the width of the multiplicity distribution is changed, the greatest effect is on the thermal dilepton rapidity distributions.
A Novel Absorbable Radiopaque Hydrogel Spacer to Separate the Head of the Pancreas and Duodenum in Radiation Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer

Purpose We assessed the feasibility and theoretical dosimetric advantages of an injectable hydrogel to increase the space between the head of the pancreas (HOP) and duodenum in a human cadaveric model. Methods and Materials Using 3 human cadaveric specimens, an absorbable radiopaque hydrogel was injected between the HOP and duodenum by way of open laparotomy in 1 case and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guidance in 2 cases. The cadavers were subsequently imaged using computed tomography and dissected for histologic confirmation of hydrogel placement. The duodenal dose reduction and planning target volume (PTV) coverage were characterized using pre- and postspacer injection stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) plans for the 2 cadavers with EUS-guided placement, the delivery method that appeared the most clinically desirable. Modeling studies were performed using 60 SBRT plans consisting of 10 previously treated patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer, each with 6 different HOP–duodenum separation distances. The duodenal volume receiving 15 Gy (V15), 20 Gy (V20), and 33 Gy (V33) was assessed for each iteration. Results In the 3 cadaveric studies, an average of 0.9 cm, 1.1 cm, and 0.9 cm HOP–duodenum separation was achieved. In the 2 EUS cases, the V20 decreased from 3.86 cm3 to 0.36 cm3 and 3.75 cm3 to 1.08 cm3 (treatment constraint Conclusions Currently, dose escalation has been limited owing to radiosensitive structures adjacent to the pancreas. We demonstrated the feasibility of hydrogel separation of the HOP and duodenum. Future studies will evaluate the safety and efficacy of this technique with the potential for more effective dose escalation using SBRT or intensity-modulated radiation therapy to improve the outcomes in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.
Multilevel method for modeling large-scale networks.

Understanding the behavior of real complex networks is of great theoretical and practical significance. It includes developing accurate artificial models whose topological properties are similar to the real networks, generating the artificial networks at different scales under special conditions, investigating a network dynamics, reconstructing missing data, predicting network response, detecting anomalies and other tasks. Network generation, reconstruction, and prediction of its future topology are central issues of this field. In this project, we address the questions related to the understanding of the network modeling, investigating its structure and properties, and generating artificial networks. Most of the modern network generation methods are based either on various random graph models (reinforced by a set of properties such as power law distribution of node degrees, graph diameter, and number of triangles) or on the principle of replicating an existing model with elements of randomization such as R-MAT generator and Kronecker product modeling. Hierarchical models operate at different levels of network hierarchy but with the same finest elements of the network. However, in many cases the methods that include randomization and replication elements on the finest relationships between network nodes and modeling that addresses the problem of preserving a set of simplified properties domore » not fit accurately enough the real networks. Among the unsatisfactory features are numerically inadequate results, non-stability of algorithms on real (artificial) data, that have been tested on artificial (real) data, and incorrect behavior at different scales. One reason is that randomization and replication of existing structures can create conflicts between fine and coarse scales of the real network geometry. Moreover, the randomization and satisfying of some attribute at the same time can abolish those topological attributes that have been undefined or hidden from researchers. We propose to develop multilevel methods to model complex networks. The key point of the proposed strategy is that it will help to preserve part of the unknown structural attributes by guaranteeing the similar behavior of the real and artificial model on different scales.« less
Context-dependent Chemosensory Signaling, Aggression and Neural Activation Patterns in Gravid Female African Cichlid Fish

Social animals must constantly assess their environment to make appropriate behavioral decisions. The use of various sensory modalities is imperative in this process and it is hypothesized that the highly conserved brain nuclei comprising the social decision-making network (SDMN) integrates social information with an animal's internal state to elicit behavioral responses. Here, we used the highly social African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, to investigate whether reproductively receptive (gravid) females show contextual chemosensory signaling, social behaviors and neural activation patterns within the SDMN. We exposed gravid females to different social contexts: (1) dominant male (inter-sexual reproductive); (2) mouth brooding (non-receptive) female; (3) gravid female (intra-sexual aggressive); (4) juvenile fish (low social salience); and (5) empty compartment (control). By injecting females with a blue dye to visualize urine pulses, we found that gravid females show context-dependent urination, exhibiting higher urination rates in the presence of dominant males (reproductive context) and mouth brooding females (aggressive contexts). Further, gravid females show contextual aggression with increased aggressive displays toward mouth brooding females compared with other gravid females. Using in situ hybridization to quantify cells expressing the immediate early gene cfos as a measure of neural activation, we also show that certain regions of the SDMN in gravid females are differentially activated after exposure to high compared with low social salience contexts. Coupled with previous reports, these results demonstrate true chemosensory communication in both sexes of a single fish species, as well as reveal the neural substrates mediating intra- and inter-sexual social behaviors in females.
RELAXATION TECHNIQUES IN MULTIBODY DYNAMICS

The waveform relaxation (WR) method affords a means of using parallel computers in the numerical solution of systems of differential equations (DEs). The method has been successfully applied to pro...
A stereoselective pentobarbital binding site in cholinergic membranes from Torpedocalifornica

Acetylcholine receptor-rich membranes from Torpedocalifornica contain a binding site for [14C] pentobarbital which has a dissociation constant of 210 ± 24 μM and 1.4 ± 0.18 sites per acetylcholine site. (+) pentobarbital competes for this site three times more effectively than (−) pentobarbital. Cholinergic ligands decrease [14C] pentobarbital binding and this effect is blocked by pre-incubation with α-bungarotoxin. Pentobarbital decreases [3H] acetylcholine binding non-competitively with an apparent dissociation constant similar to the dissociation constant for [14C] pentobarbital binding. Thus, the pentobarbital and acetylcholine binding sites appear to interact with each other allosterically.
The course of the SDS and Zeleny sedimentation tests for gluten quality and related phenomena studied using the light microscope

The course of the sedimentation test for evaluation of gluten quality was investigated using light microscopy. Flour particles swelled up reversibly in the sedimentation solutions, as did single strands of the gluten network, the swelling being greater in sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS)-sedimentation solution than in Zeleny reagent. Investigation of gliadin and glutenin showed only glutenin to be capable of swelling, whereas gliadin dissolved completely.
SP23 Gene Expression

Conventional diagnostics could benefit greatly from the high-throughput genomics technologies that have arisen over the past 10 years in basic research. Whether it is for DNA analysis (CGH arrays, SNP analysis) or RNA analysis (gene-expression arrays), information at the molecular level would undoubtedly improve the accuracy of diagnoses and prognoses. In the past 3 years, several efforts have been made to standardize assays, experimental procedures, and data processing, and governmental institutions such as the FDA, microarray manufacturers, and the scientific community have worked diligently to bring genomics into daily medicine. This talk will review the recent developments in molecular classification, prognostication, and treatments.
Functional Neuroimaging in Sleep Disorders

While the utilization of nuclear medicine methods for the assessment of sleep disorders is still in its infancy, early studies suggest that this is a promising area for future development. The assessment of brain function during sleep introduces a time-of-day variable into a neuroimaging study. Extensive preclinical knowledge of the neural mechanisms of sleep regulation helps to inform models of brain function that may be altered by sleep and by sleep disorders. Early studies show reliable increases in function in limbic and anterior paralimbic cortex in REM sleep and decreases in function in higher order cortical regions in known thalamocortical networks during NREM sleep. While most of the early work in this area has been devoted to the study of normal sleep mechanisms, a collection of studies in diverse sleep disorders such as sleep deprivation, depression, insomnia, dyssomnias, narcolepsy and sleep apnoea suggest that nuclear medicine has great potential in clarifying the pathophysiology of sleep disorders and potentially in guiding treatment strategies.
What is a healthy place? Models for cities and neighbourhoods

What is a healthy place? Focusing on the scale of the neighbourhood and city, this paper outlines six overlapping types of environments that chart the range of current thinking: healthy built envir...
Directed Acyclic Graph Reconstruction Leveraging Prior Partial Ordering Information

Reconstructing directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) from observed data constitutes an important machine learning task. It has important applications in systems biology and functional genomics. However, it is a challenging learning problem, due to the need to consider all possible orderings of the network nodes and score the resulting network structures based on the available data. The resulting computational complexity for enumerating all possible orderings is exponential in the size of the network. A large number of methods based on various modeling formalisms have been developed to address this problem, primarily focusing on developing fast algorithms to reduce computational time. On many instances, partial topological information may be available for subsets of the nodes; for example, in biology one has information about transcription factors that regulate (precede) other genes, or such information can be obtained from perturbation/silencing experiments for subsets of DAG nodes (genes).
Incremental Minimization of Symbolic Automata

Symbolic automata are generalizations of finite automata that have symbolic predicates over the alphabet as transitions instead of symbols. Recently, traditional automata minimization techniques have been generalized to symbolic automata. In this paper, we generalize the incremental minimization algorithm to symbolic automata such that the algorithm can be halted at any point for obtaining a partially minimized automaton. Instead of computing the sets of equivalence classes, the incremental algorithm checks for equivalence between pairs of states and if they are equivalent, merges them into a single state. We evaluate our algorithm on SFAs corresponding to Unicode regular expressions and compare them to the state-of-the-art symbolic automata minimization implementations.
SPORT SPECIALIZATION AND COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP BELIEFS AND FINANCIAL INVESTMENT AMONG HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL PARENTS

BACKGROUND:Youth athletes are increasingly encouraged to specialize in a single sport and participate on club teams year-round to be offered a college scholarship. For collegiate baseball, only 11....
Z-pinch fusion

The Z-pinch configuration offers the promise of a compact fusion device owing to its simple geometry, unity beta, and absence of external magnetic field coils. Increasing the axial current compresses the plasma, resulting in a rapid rise of the fusion reaction rate. Historically, the Z pinch has been plagued by fast growing instabilities that limit plasma lifetimes. Recent progress has resulted from investigating approaches that provide stability. One approach exploits sheared-flow stabilization to produce an equilibrium Z pinch, which sustains the compressed plasma state for durations much longer than other plasma timescales. Recent experimental and simulation results encourage pursuit of the stabilized Z pinch to explore its fusion performance limits.
Examining the potential conflict between sea otter recovery and Dungeness crab fisheries in California

Abstract Human exploitation of marine mammals led to precipitous declines in many wild populations within the last three centuries. Legal protections enacted throughout the 20th century have enabled the recovery of many of these species and some recoveries have resulted in conflict with humans for shared resources. With legal protections and reintroduction programs, the southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) has returned to portions of its former range from which it had been extirpated for decades, causing concern that the Dungeness crab (Cancer magister) fishery could be negatively affected by increasing otter range and population size. The Dungeness crab fishery is one of the most valuable in California, and these crabs are a known prey item of sea otters. We examine sea otter population growth by port region in relation to Dungeness crab catch using landing receipts since the early 1980s. We find Dungeness crab landings and fishing success, as measured by landings per trip receipt, increased across all ports. In the most recent decade, we observed slower growth in fishing success in northern ports where otters were absent, relative to southern ports where sea otters exist and their populations have grown. In ports where otters were present, fishing success was positively correlated with otter population size over time. Further, an extensive dataset of 83,000 sea otter foraging dives identified Dungeness crab to be less than 2% of the total diet. Though we find no evidence that sea otter populations impact the Dungeness crab fishery in California, other potential conflicts could be considered before expanding reintroduction programs.
Fully Bayesian Human–Machine Data Fusion for Robust Online Dynamic Target Characterization

This work examines the problem of fusing human operator observations with probabilistic information extracted by an automated data fusion system, in the context of dynamic multitarget track charact...
Hyperbaric oxygen management of recurrent cellulitis in poikiloderma with neutropenia

Poikiloderma with neutropenia (PN), is a rare autosomal recessive condition with many associated complications and manifestations. Here we present a patient with confirmed PN who is of one-quarter Chucktaw or Cherokee heritage with no known descent from the Navajo tribe. The patient's condition was complicated by chronic bilateral lower limb cellulitis and associated osteomyelitis which was unresponsive to extensive antibiotic regimens. Subsequent treatment with hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was successful. To date, no author has reported on the treatment of recurrent cellulitis using HBOT in this patient population. Based on our experience, HBOT should be considered in patients with PN.
Multinucleate parietal cells and cytoplasmic inclusion bodies in the gastric epithelium of callitrichids.

Inclusion bodies (IBs) and multinucleate cells can be associated with viral infections; however, IBs and multinucleate cells have been described in normal tissue and with non-viral disease processe...
Application of the 3' mRNA-Seq using unique molecular identifiers in highly degraded RNA derived from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue.

Background Archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples with clinical and histological data are a singularly valuable resource for developing new molecular biomarkers. However, transcriptome analysis remains challenging with standard mRNA-seq methods as FFPE derived-RNA samples are often highly modified and fragmented. The recently developed 3' mRNA-seq method sequences the 3' region of mRNA using unique molecular identifiers (UMI), thus generating gene expression data with minimal PCR bias. In this study, we evaluated the performance of 3' mRNA-Seq using Lexogen QuantSeq 3' mRNA-Seq Library Prep Kit FWD with UMI, comparing with TruSeq Stranded mRNA-Seq and RNA Exome Capture kit. The fresh-frozen (FF) and FFPE tissues yielded nucleotide sizes range from 13 to > 70% of DV200 values; input amounts ranged from 1 ng to 100 ng for validation. Results The total mapped reads of QuantSeq 3' mRNA-Seq to the reference genome ranged from 99 to 74% across all samples. After PCR bias correction, 3 to 56% of total sequenced reads were retained. QuantSeq 3' mRNA-Seq data showed highly reproducible data across replicates in Universal Human Reference RNA (UHR, R > 0.94) at input amounts from 1 ng to 100 ng, and FF and FFPE paired samples (R = 0.92) at 10 ng. Severely degraded FFPE RNA with ≤30% of DV200 value showed good concordance (R > 0.87) with 100 ng input. A moderate correlation was observed when directly comparing QuantSeq 3' mRNA-Seq data with TruSeq Stranded mRNA-Seq (R = 0.78) and RNA Exome Capture data (R > 0.67). Conclusion In this study, QuantSeq 3' mRNA-Seq with PCR bias correction using UMI is shown to be a suitable method for gene quantification in both FF and FFPE RNAs. 3' mRNA-Seq with UMI may be applied to severely degraded RNA from FFPE tissues generating high-quality sequencing data.
FAST: A fog computing assisted distributed analytics system to monitor fall for stroke mitigation

Fog computing is a recently proposed computing paradigm that extends Cloud computing and services to the edge of the network. The new features offered by fog computing (e.g., distributed analytics and edge intelligence), if successfully applied for pervasive health monitoring applications, has great potential to accelerate the discovery of early predictors and novel biomarkers to support smart care decision making in a connected health scenarios. While promising, how to design and develop real-word fog computing-based pervasive health monitoring system is still an open question. As a first step to answer this question, in this paper, we employ pervasive fall detection for stroke mitigation as a case in study. There are four major contributions in this paper: (1) to investigate and develop a set of new fall detection algorithms, including new fall detection algorithms based on acceleration magnitude values and non-linear time series analysis techniques, as well as new filtering techniques to facilitate fall detection process; (2) to design and employ a real-time fall detection system employing fog computing paradigm, which distribute the analytics throughout the network by splitting the detection task between the edge devices (e.g., smartphones attached to the user) and the server (e.g., servers in the cloud); (3) we carefully exam the special needs and constraints of stroke patients and propose patient-centered design that is minimal intrusive to patients. This type of patient-centered design is currently lacking in most of the existing work; and (4) our experiments with real-word data show that our proposed system achieves the high sensitivity (low missing rate) while it also achieves the high specificity (low false alarm rate). At the same time, the response time and energy consumption of our system are close to the minimum of the existing approaches.
In vitro immunosuppression mediated by an extracellular polysaccharide from Capnocytophaga ochracea. Influence of macrophages.

The mechanism of immunosuppression produced by an extracellular polysaccharide (EP) from Capnocytophaga ochracea strain 25 (Socransky) was evaluated in vitro. Adherent (A), nonadherent (NA), and whole spleen cells (WS) from C57BL/6 inbred mice were pulsed with EP and combinations of cells evaluated for responsiveness to the T lymphocyte mitogen concanavalin A (Con A) by measurement of 3H-thymidine uptake after 72 h of culturing. Binding of EP to spleen cells was evaluated by inhibition of 3H-Con A binding after pre-exposure of cells to EP. In addition, experiments were performed which attempted to block EP-mediated suppression of responses to Con A by pre-exposure of WS cells to 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME), dithiothreitol (DTT), catalase, and indomethacin, all being known inhibitors of macrophage-mediated immunosuppression. Significant suppression of responses to Con A occurred only when WS cells were pulsed with EP prior to exposure to the mitogen or when EP-pulsed A cells were mixed with NA cells or WS cells prior to mitogenic stimulation. Pre-exposure of NA cells to EP followed by mixing with untreated A cells or WS cells was comparatively ineffective in suppressing responses to Con A. EP bound to A cells to a higher degree than to NA cells as determined by inhibition of 3H-Con A binding. Both 2-ME and a combination of indomethacin and catalase blocked EP-mediated immunosuppression, while preexposure of cells to DTT, catalase, or indomethacin alone was ineffective in blocking suppression. The results suggest that EP may exert its immunosuppressive activity through macrophages; however, the participation of suppressor T cells was not eliminated by these studies.
Nuclei in Dense Matter

A review is given of the application of the liquid drop model and extensions of it to calculate properties of nuclei in high density matter encountered in neutron stars and stellar collapse.
Liver function and morphology in Q fever.

Summary Attention is called to the frequent involvement of the liver in Q fever.This may become clinically manifest by pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, hepatic enlargement and tenderness with or, more often, without jaundice. However, in the majority of patients the hepatic involvement is apparently "silent" and can be demonstrated only by means of the liver tests and/or the biopsy of the liver. In any case of "fever of undetermined origin," Q fever is one of the possibilitiesto be entertained. In the face of positive flocculation tests, with or without clinical evidence of hepatic involvement such as liver enlargement and tenderness, the suspicion is thereby materially strengthened and calls for the performance of appropriate serologic tests for Q fever, unless a diagnosis of some one of the other diseases which present a similar clinical picture becomes clearly evident. Flocculation tests are more frequently abnormal than other liver tests. They were positive in 5 out of the 6 patients herein presented. The needle biopsies of the liver revealed focal hepatocellular damage within filtrating eosinophils and monocytes. Swollen and often distorted histiocytes were a prominent feature of the focal lesions.
Performance of a motor task learned on levodopa deteriorates when subsequently practiced off

Studies in animals and in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) demonstrate complex effects of dopamine on learning motor tasks; its effect on retention of motor learning has received little attention. Recent animal studies demonstrate that practicing a task in the off state, when initially learned in the on state, leads to progressive deterioration in performance. We measured the acquisition and retention of 3 different motor tasks in the presence and absence of levodopa. Twenty individuals with Hoehn and Yahr Stage 1.5 to 3 PD practiced the tasks daily for two 4-day weeks, one half practicing on L-dopa the first week and off the second week. The other half practiced off l-dopa both weeks. The tasks were (1) alternate tapping of 2 keys, (2) moving the body toward 2 targets on a posturography device, and (3) mirror drawing of a star. For the tapping and body movement tests, those who practiced on the first week had a progressive decline in performance with practice during week 2, while subjects off during week 1 maintained or improved. In contrast, for the mirror task, subjects on L-dopa initially had much more difficulty completing the task compared to subjects who practiced off. Both groups improved with practice the first week and had flat performance the second week. These data suggest that performance of speed-accuracy tasks learned in the on state may progressively worsen if subsequently practiced in the off state. In addition, performance, but not learning, of some tasks may be impeded by L-dopa.
Ganglioside GD2 specific monoclonal antibody 3F8: a phase I study in patients with neuroblastoma and malignant melanoma.

The murine IgG3 monoclonal antibody (MoAb) 3F8, specific for the ganglioside GD2, activates human complement, is active in antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), and can target specifically to human neuroblastoma in patients with metastatic disease. In a phase I study, 3F8 was administered intravenously (IV) to 17 patients with metastatic GD2 positive neuroblastoma or malignant melanoma at doses of 5, 20, 50, and 100 mg/m2. Serum 3F8 levels achieved were proportional to the dose of 3F8 infused. However, serum antimouse antibody levels did not increase with the amount of 3F8 administered. Toxicities included pain, hypertension, urticaria, and complement depletion. All acute side effects were controllable with symptomatic therapy. No long-term side effects were detected in patients observed for more than 14 months. None of the 17 patients received any antitumor therapy postantibody treatment. Antitumor responses occurred in seven of 17 patients. These ranged from complete clinical remissions ...
Differences between responders and nonresponders to cocaine cues in the laboratory.

Abstract Previous research has shown that a majority of drug-dependent subjects respond to drug cues in the laboratory with increased craving; however, approximately one-third are not cue responsive. The current study examined differences between responders and nonresponders to cocaine cues in a sample of 69 cocaine-dependent methadone patients. Subjects completed questionnaires assessing selected dimensions of addiction and participated in a cue-reactivity protocol that assessed both cocaine craving and cocaine aversion in response to cues. Four groups of subjects were identified on the basis of their cue responses: (a)increased craving plus decreased aversion; (b)increasing craving only; (c) decreased aversion only; (d) no increase in craving and no decrease in aversion (“nonresponders”). No group differences were found in severity of cocaine dependence, depression, or on any demographic variable, with the exception of parental status. Group differences were found on measures of cocaine expectancies and self-efficacy. There is a discussion of the bearing of these findings upon explanations offered in the literature for nonreactivity to drug cues.
FREQUENCY-AFFECT RELATIONSHIP IN A SIMULTANEOUS SPATIAL PRESENTATION

72 college students saw a spatial display in which nonsense-word stimuli occurred 25, 10, 5, 2, 1 and 0 times. Occurrences of a given stimulus were either massed or distributed throughout the display. After a 4-min. viewing period, they rated all stimuli on a 7-point good-bad scale. Affect was a linear function of frequency, corroborating Zajonc's results with temporal presentation of stimuli that high-frequency items are preferred to low-frequency items. However, mode of presentation of these stimuli (massed versus distributed) had no direct effect or interaction with their frequency.
Predictors for success in a discrete math course

Several factors, including grade-point average, math SAT scores, performance in calculus and programming courses, and results from a short pre-test were used in an effort to predict student grades a discrete mathematics course offered to computing science students. Two factors, SAT and average programming grade, were found to be significantly associated with the final grade for the discrete math course. Additionally, performance in the discrete math course was positively correlated with performance in the automata course required for computer science students.
Establishment of a neovascular bed in a collegen‐impregnated polyurethane sponge

A technique for promoting vascularization of a polyurethane sponge is demonstrated in the present study. Collagen-impregnated polyurethane sponges (Hypol, 2002) Foamable Hydrophilic Prepolymer (FHP) were implanted in the femoral fossa of rats for 1 day to 6 weeks. The ligated femoral artery/vein was pulled through the sponges to facilitate more complete neovascularization. Light-microscopic evaluation of the implanted sponges revealed that significant vascularization had occurred by the seventh day of implantation, and was maximal by the fourth to sixth week. Sponges containing collagen had a more thorough vascularization process than sponges without collagen, perhaps due to a more uniform pore size as demonstrated by scanning EM. Time course studies suggested that the artery/vein pull-through enhanced the development of the neovascularization process in the center of the sponges. We conclude that significant vascular tissue in-growth can be developed in polyurethane sponges and that both collagen and centrally placed blood vessels help promote the vascularization process. Potential applications could extend to a variety of bioartificial systems including endocrine or hepatic transplantation, soft-tissue prosthetic materials, bone grafts, or drug delivery systems. Further studies would be useful in providing additional information on the factors promoting neovascularization, and on the potential applications of this methodology using the present or similar biomaterials.
Use of the health and activities limitation index as a measure of quality of life in obesity.

Objective: Obesity reduces the quality of life (QOL); however, quantification of obesity's impact on QOL is cumbersome. Utility indices reduce QOL measurements to a single numerical value that can be used in the calculation of Quality-Adjusted Life-Years and the cost effectiveness for obesity treatment. The purpose of this investigation is to assess the sensitivity of the Health and Activities Limitation Index (HALex) utility index to obesity. Research Methods and Procedures: The answers to five questions regarding an individual's self-perception of his or her health status and information about limitation in daily and work activities were collected from 32,440 adults in the 1998 National Health Information Survey. Answers to the questions were scored and converted to a utility index score ranging from 0 (near-death state) to 1 (perfect health) with no limitations. Average values for indices corresponding to differing body mass indices were obtained and significance determined by ANOVA. Results: The utility index for normal weight males and females was 0.86 ± 0.19 and fell to 0.68 ± 0.27 for superobese males and 0.60 ± 0.28 in superobese females. Utility indices fell linearly with increasing body mass index and were lower for respondents having obesity-related comorbid conditions known to reduce the quality of life. Discussion: There is a statistically significant decrease in the QOL with increasing obesity, slightly worse for women compared with men. The Health and Activities Limitation Index can quantitate the effect obesity and its complications have on quality of life.
Information processing in anxiety disorders: Application to the understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder

Abstract Several of the key defining features of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are symptoms that reflect problems related to perception, attention, and memory processes (hypervigilance, flashbacks, nightmares, psychogenic amnesia, and concentration difficulties). Although there have been several recent attempts to explain such phenomena through facets of cognitive psychology, little empirical work has been completed to confirm or explicate such processes in PTSD. This paper critically reviews the theoretical and empirical work done to date in the area of information processing in anxiety disorders, so as to provide a context for future empirical work to identify the specific psychological mechanisms and controlling variables responsible for symptoms of PTSD. A working theoretical model of information processing variables in PTSD is also proposed to stimulate future research in this area.
Staging Membrane Fusion

Upon arrival of a nerve impulse, neurons release neurotransmitters contained within synaptic vesicles to transmit signals to other neurons, thus enabling a myriad of neural functions. Neurotransmitter release is mediated by the soluble N -ethylmaleimide–sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins synaptobrevin, syntaxin-1, and SNAP-25, which govern the fusion of synaptic vesicles with the plasma membrane. Assembly of the tight complex formed by the SNAREs is believed to provide the energy for fusion ( 1 , 2 ) and to occur in steps, zippering from the amino terminus to the carboxyl terminus ( 3 ) (see the figure). Biophysical data in solution ( 4 , 5 ) and studies of SNARE complexes anchored at separate surfaces using surface force apparatus ( 6 ) or atomic force microscopy ( 7 ) supported this notion and provided insights into the zippering forces. However, fundamental questions remained about the energy landscape and the overall free energy of SNARE complex assembly. On page 1340 of this issue, Gao et al. ( 8 ) combine a clever design with a high-tech optical approach to dissect neuronal SNARE complex assembly into three steps and to determine the associated free energies. This remarkable technical achievement has profound implications to understand the mechanism of neurotransmitter release.
Global Concern for the Environment: Is Affluence a Prerequisite?

It is widely assumed that public concern for environmental quality is dependent on affluence, and is therefore stronger in wealthy nations than in poor nations. This assumption is tested via results from a 1992 international survey conducted by the George H. Gallup International Institute that obtained data on a wide range of environmental perceptions and opinions from citizens in 24 economically and geographically diverse nations. Aggregate, national-level scores for a variety of measures of public concern for environmental quality were created and correlated with per capita gross national product. Although the results vary considerably depending upon the measure, overall national affluence is more often negatively rather than positively related to citizen concern for environmental quality—contradicting conventional wisdom.
Rationalizing Organizational Change: A Need for Comparative Testing

Behavioral theory explains that organizational change is prompted by performance relative to a firm-specific aspiration. Although this explanation has been empirically confirmed, it has not been tested comparatively alongside other explanations, most notably rational choice. This lack of comparative study implies that prior research may be committing Type I errors—confirming aspiration-level decision making when it is not actually occurring. This paper contributes to behavioral theory in two specific ways. First, we show that several foundational studies purporting to provide empirical support for aspiration-level decision making may actually represent maximizing behavior. To consider this potential, we simulate a sample of subjectively rational agents who choose strategies by maximizing expectations. We show that it is possible and highly probable to diagnose satisficing when agents are, in fact, maximizing. Second, we develop and implement recommendations for comparative testing to demonstrate reliability. Analysis shows that the recommendations are effective at reducing Type I and II errors for both behavioral theory and rational choice. This paper is meant to inspire the design of future studies on aspirations and, indeed, all studies of organizational change.
Using Demographic Subgroup and Dummy Variable Equations to Predict College Freshman Grade Average.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether adjustments for the differential prediction observed among sex, racial/ethnic, or age subgroups in one freshman class at a college could be used to improve prediction accuracy for these subgroups in future freshman classes. For older students, dummy variable and separate subgroup prediction equations were found, on cross-validation, to be more accurate than the total group equations. For sex subgroups, dummy variable and separate subgroup equations were only moderately effective in improving prediction accuracy. For racial/ethnic subgroups, they were more often than not less accurate, on cross-validation, than total group equations. Among all three kinds of demographic subgroupings, shifts over time in colleges' mean grade averages were found to be a more important source of prediction bias than differential prediction.
Mechanism of Photocleavage of (Coumarin-4-yl)methyl Esters

(Coumarin-4-yl)methyl esters (CM−A) are caged compounds that, upon excitation, release the masked biologically active acid HA and the highly fluorescent (coumarin-4-yl)methyl alcohol CM−OH very rapidly and in part with high efficiency. The results of photostationary and time-resolved investigations of 25 CM−A esters and corresponding CM−OH alcohols with varying substitution on the (coumarin-4-yl)methyl moiety and a wide variation in the structure of the acidic part have been analyzed. The initial step of the photoreaction is heterolytic ester cleavage leading to the singlet ion pair 1[CM+ A-] with rate constant k1. 1[CM+ A-] hydrolyzes to CM−OH and HA with rate constant k2 or recombines to ground-state CM−A with rate constant krec. 1[CM+ A-] is the key intermediate of the reaction. Stabilization of both CM+ by using electron-donating substituents and A- by increasing the acid strength leads to a strong enhancement of k1 and simultaneously to a diminution of krec. Therefore, stabilization of the ion pair h...
Homo- and Anti-phasic Stimulation in ABR

Effects of homo-phasic and anti-phasic stimulation on the binaurally evoked auditory brain-stem responses (ABRs) were investigated in 10 normal subjects. Clicks were presented at 47 dB SL with two in-phase (binaural condensation and binaural rarefaction) and two out-of-phase (left ear condensation, right ear rarefaction and right ear condensation, left ear rarefaction) stimulus configurations. The earlier of the latencies obtained with homo-phasic stimulation were compared with the earlier of the latencies obtained with anti-phasic stimulation. Repeated measures ANOVAs on the peaks (P) and troughs (N) of each component, revealed significantly earlier latencies for the anti-phasic condition, for components II N (p less than 0.049), III P (p less than 0.012) and VIN (p less than 0.025). Similar trends were apparent for components IVP (p less than 0.075), VP (p less than 0.099) and VIP (p less than 0.12). The results are discussed in terms of the binaural-level difference phenomenon and possible clinical applications.