cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The competing effects of terrestrial evapotranspiration and raindrop re-evaporation on the deuterium excess of continental precipitation

Abstract The deuterium excess (d-excess) of precipitation, which tracks kinetic fractionations during water phase changes, has been used to trace the regions and conditions of oceanic moisture sources, in particular from polar ice-core records. Still, many observations suggest that precipitation d-excess varies significantly across terrestrial environments, both above and below the global average value 10. These variations are often interpreted to reflect either moisture recycling via terrestrial evapotranspiration or sub-cloud raindrop re-evaporation, respectively. Despite being frequently mentioned in literature, however, little work has been carried out to quantify these two competing effects on the widespread variations of d-excess. Here, we use a one-dimensional model of water vapor transport to interrogate the relative controls on d-excess of continental precipitation. We show that when the water vapor gradient is coupled with decreasing temperature, d-excess increases with net rainout and δ 18 O depletion along the model transect, while the magnitude of increase is controlled by the water balance, evaporation/transpiration ratio, and transport type. Raindrop re-evaporation functions as an additional flux of recycled moisture and further increases the d-excess downwind. Alternatively, when the water vapor gradient is coupled with decreasing relative humidity, d-excess may decrease along the model transect wherein upwind evapotranspiration is overwhelmed by local raindrop re-evaporation effects. This local effect becomes even stronger under a regime of turbulent eddy transport with high transpiration fractions, resulting in a pronounced decrease of d-excess without notable changes in δ 18 O. Finally, we demonstrate that model processes capture the isotopic variations in precipitation across the altitudinal gradient of the Andes as well as the South American low-level jet zone. Broadly, this study presents a novel framework for understanding the dynamical controls of precipitation d-excess and for linking spatial isotopic variations with ecohydrological fluxes and processes in both modern and paleo-environments.
Adults' pedagogical messages engender children's preference for self-resembling others.

These studies investigate the influence of adults' explicit attention to commonalities of appearance on children's preference for individuals resembling themselves. Three findings emerged: (1) An adult's identification of 2 dolls' respective similarity to and difference from the child led 3-year-olds to prefer the similar doll (Study 1, n = 32). (2) When the adult did not comment on similarity, children age 6 years but not younger preferred physically similar individuals (Study 2, n = 68), suggesting that a spontaneous preference for physically similar others does not emerge before school age. (3) Four- but not 3-year-olds generalized an adult's pedagogical cues about similarity, leading them to prefer a self-resembling doll in a new context (Study 3, n = 80). These findings collectively suggest that the preference for individuals resembling ourselves develops through a process of internalizing adults' attention to, and messages about, similarities of appearance. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Logical Leaps and Quantum Connectives: Forging Paths through Predication Space

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿The Predication-based Semantic Indexing (PSI) approach encodes both symbolic and distributional information into a semantic space using a permutation-based variant of Random Indexing. In this paper, we develop and evaluate a computational model of abductive reasoning based on PSI. Using distributional information, we identify pairs of concepts that are likely to be predicated about a common third concept, or middle term. As this occurs without the explicit identification of the middle term concerned, we refer to this process as a “logical leap”. Subsequently, we use further operations in the PSI space to retrieve this middle term and identify the predicate types involved. On evaluation using a set of 1000 randomly selected cue concepts, the model is shown to retrieve with accuracy concepts that can be connected to a cue concept by a middle term, as well as the middle term concerned, using nearest-neighbor search in the PSI space. The utility of quantum logical operators as a means to identify alternative paths through this space is also explored.
I Analytical Techniques for Multiple Scattering from Rough Surfaces

Publisher Summary This chapter describes analytical techniques for multiple scattering from rough surfaces. All real surfaces are rough. The degree of roughness depends on both the geometry and the wavelength of the incident probe. The types of rough surfaces are generally classified into periodic rough surfaces such as diffraction gratings and nonperiodic surface variability, which includes random rough surfaces. The chapter discusses theoretical treatment of the latter class of surfaces, although, as can be seen, much of the development is in terms of a stochastic surface and stochastic equations, which in principle hold true for an arbitrary non-stochastic surface as well. In addition, it comprises of a mathematically oriented review of rough surface scattering theory. The basic concepts of vertical and horizontal scales of roughness are introduced and a very succinct review of the kinds of surface statistics required in subsequent analyses is provided. The chapter also presents a brief discussion of other recent multiple scattering approaches.
Sensitivity Analysis of Analytic Models: Linearization and Adjoint Approaches

In this chapter we apply the linearization and adjoint approaches of sensitivity analysis to three analytic models, for which we have obtained the solutions earlier, in Chap. 4, using the formalism of differential calculus (for discrete parameters) and variational calculus (for continuous parameters). We will reproduce these results using the approaches of sensitivity analysis described in general form in Chap. 3, which will provide a form of validation of these approaches.
Linking Exotic Snails to Carbon Cycling in Kelly Warm Springs, Grand Teton National Park

Biotic calcification has yet to be considered in most freshwater carbon budgets, despite previous calculations that suggest the importance of calcifying animals in altering inorganic carbon cycling. The freshwater snail, Melanoides tuberculata, has achieved a high abundance and a biomass of 34.2 g AFDM m-2 after invading Kelly Warm Springs in Grand Teton National Park approximately five years ago. This high biomass suggests that introduced populations of Melanoides may alter ecosystem processes. We measured Melanoides growth rates and biomass to calculate the production of biomass, shell mass, and C02 for comparison with ecosystem carbon pools and fluxes. Melanoides calcification in Kelly Warm Springs produced up to 10.4 mmol C02 m-2 day-1 during summer months. Despite extremely high primary production and respiration in Kelly Warm Springs (-379 mmol C02 m-2 day-1 and 445 mmol C02 m-2 day-1 , respectively), C02 produced from biotic calcification increased total C02 production in Kelly Warm Springs from 65.9 to 76.3 mmol C02 m-2 day-1 . This rate of C02 production via biotic calcification is within the range of those previously calculated for freshwater systems and suggests the importance of considering the role of calcification in inorganic carbon budgets for areas dominated by calcifying organisms.
Industry Initiated Core Safety Attributes for Human Spaceflight for the 7th IAASS Conference

Now that the NASA Commercial Crew Program (CCP) is beginning its full certification contract for crew transportation to the International Space Station (ISS), is it time for industry to embrace a minimum set of core safety attributes? Those attributes can then be evolved into an industry-led set of basic safety standards and requirements.
Sources of Support for School-Related Issues; Choices of Hispanic Adolescents Varying in Migrant Status

This investigation provides a descriptive framework for Hispanic adolescents' preference for social support on salient concerns in their daily lives. Participants were 698 Hispanic adolescents attending a junior high school (grades 7–8), 138 of whom were identified by the school as “migratory” students. Participants identified who they would most likely talk to given specific concerns. Parents and teachers were major sources of support and information, in particular for matters of school-work and relationships with peers and teachers at school Peers were the preferred sources for nonacademic issues such as “looks” and getting along with other students. The patterns described above varied according to gender and migrant status. Possible explanations were considered and related to likely variations in the subcultures of gender and migrant status.
Heating and Cooling of the Interstellar Gas

Basic considerations of the global heating and cooling of the interstellar gas are summarized. The various energy sources are reviewed. Expressions for the rates of a number of typical heating and cooling processes are given. General comments are made about the conditions in the several phases of the interstellar medium in thermal balance.
Thromboxane A2 Receptor‐Mediated Cell Proliferation, Survival and Gene Expression in Oligodendrocytes

Thromboxane A2 receptors (TP) were previously localized to discrete regions in the rat brain on myelinated fiber tracts and oligodendrocytes (OLGs). The present studies extended these findings and investigated the effects of TP signaling on cell proliferation, survival, and gene expression in OLG progenitor cells (OPCs) and OLGs. It was found that the TP agonist, U46619 stimulated the proliferation of OPCs and promoted the survival of mature OLGs. Examination of the early gene expression events involved in OPC proliferation, revealed that c-fos expression was substantially increased by U46619 stimulation. Treatment of OPCs or OLGs with U46619 caused activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) ERK 1/2. In OPCs this activation was blocked by inhibition of src. However, in OLGs this phosphorylation was not only blocked by inhibition of src but also by inhibition of protein kinase C (PKC). Furthermore, U46619 was found to increase CREB phosphorylation in both OPCs and OLGs. Similar to ERK 1/2 activation, there was a divergence in the mechanism of the TP-mediated CREB response for each cell type. Specifically, U46619 activation was attenuated by src and protein kinase A (PKA) inhibition in OPCs, whereas in OLGs this effect was blocked by inhibition of src, PKA as well as by inhibition of PKC. Collectively, these results provide the first demonstration that TP-activated nuclear signaling events are involved in the proliferation of OPCs, the survival of mature OLGs, and the stimulation of gene expression.
Curiouser & Curiouser : Translating Mythic Tale into Contemporary Expression: Robin McKinley's Spindle's End

McKinley's Spindle's End demonstrates her increasing mastery over the art of retellings. Within the text, McKinley describes the literary and mythic function of fairy tales by referring to popular fairy tales as well as contemporary critical readings of those tales.
Intelligent control of a robotic aid system for the physically disabled

An overview is given of research on a robotic aid system for the physically disabled. One of the goals of the system is to assist the user in feeding. In order to provide safe and easy-to-use services to the user in an environment where the robot arm operates near the user's face, reactive and predictive control is essential. Several research issues involved in building such an intelligent controller are presented, and the approach used to implement a mechanism for avoiding collision of the robot arm with the user's face is described. >
Cryptic designs on the peppered moth.

In a provocative recent book, JonathanWells (2000) decries what he discerns as a systematic pattern in how introductory biology textbooks “blatantly misrepresent” ten routinely cited examples offered as evidence for evolution. Each of these examples, according to Wells, is fraught with interpretive problems and, as such, textbooks that continue to use them should at the very least be accompanied by warning labels. The following essay critiques his reasoning with reference to one of these examples, the phenomenon of industrial melanism. After criticizing Wells’s specific argument, the essay draws several conclusions about the nature of science lost in his account.
Comparative system performance for a Beowulf cluster

A Beowulf cluster is a multiple-instruction-multiple-data multiprocessor built from low-cost, off-the-shelf personal computers connected in a local area network and using free open-source operating system software to achieve supercomputer performance. System performance of a 16-processor cluster running the standard HPL Linpack benchmark is compared to performance running the molecular dynamics program NAMD as the number of processors used for the calculations increases from one to 16. System performance increases linearly for both applications, with NAMD achieving 76% of the performance of the HPL Linpack benchmark.
New nomenclature combinations in the green alder species complex (Betulaceae)

The name Alnus viridis (Chaix) DC., based on Betula viridis Chaix (1785), has traditionally been attributed to green alders although it is based on a later basionym. Alnus alnobetula (Ehrh.) K. Koch based on Betula alnobetula Ehrh. (1783) is the correct name for green alders. In light of the increasing use and recognition of the name Alnus alnobetula (Ehrh.) K. Koch in the literature. I herein propose new nomenclatural combinations to account for the Japanese and Chinese subspecies respectively: Alnus alnobetula subsp. maximowiczii (Callier ex C.K. Schneid.) J. Chery and Alnus alnobetula subsp. mandschurica (Callier ex C.K. Schneid.) J. Chery. Recent phylogenetic analyses place these two taxa in the green alder species complex, suggesting that they should be treated as infraspecific taxa under the polymorphic Alnus alnobetula.
First- and Second-Degree Atrioventricular Block

The atrioventricular (AV) node is a complex structure. Anatomic descriptions of the AV node remain a subject of debate and significant gaps remain in the understanding of AV node physiology, despite the increased evidence with molecular data. Despite these gaps, there are clinically distinct patterns of abnormal AV nodal conduction that provide insight to pathologic mechanisms. Recognition of these patterns, and the natural history associated with each, is crucial for appropriate patient management.
Atrial natriuretic peptide hormonal system in plants.

Abstract To determine if atrial natriuretic peptides are present in plants as well as animals, where they are important for water and sodium metabolism, the leaves and stems of the Florida Beauty ( Dracena godseffiana ) were examined. The N-terminus consisting of amino acids (a.a.) 1–98 (i.e., pro ANF 1–98), the mid portion of the N-terminus (a.a. 31–67; pro ANF 31–67), and C-terminus (a.a. 99–126; ANF) of the 126 a.a. atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) prohormone were all present in the leaves and stems of this plant. The concentrations of pro ANF 1–98, pro ANF 31–67 and ANF-like peptides of 120±20, 123±21, and 129±20 ng/g of plant tissue in leaves and 109±20, 96±21, and 124±18 ng/g of tissue, respectively, in the stems were lower (P Rattus norvegicus ) heart atria of 196±40, 192±28, and 189±15 ng/g of tissue respectively, but higher (P
Religion and Governance in India—A Comment

The papers in this collection were stimulated by debates in Indian public life during the last two decades over the nature of the Indian state and, specifically, the challenges posed to India's imp...
Spectroscopic comparisons of the pH dependencies of Fe-substituted (Mn)superoxide dismutase and Fe-superoxide dismutase.

We have compared the active sites of Escherichia coli Fe-substituted (Mn)superoxide dismutase [Fe-sub-(Mn)SOD] and Fe-SOD to elucidate the basis for the inactivity of Fe-sub-(Mn)SOD, despite its apparent similarity to Fe-SOD. The active site of (reduced) Fe2+-sub-(Mn)SOD is qualitatively similar to that of native Fe2+-SOD, indicating similar active site structures and coordination environments for Fe2+. Its nativelike pK is indicative of nativelike local electrostatics, and consistent with Fe2+-sub-(Mn)SOD's retention of ability to reduce O2•- [Vance and Miller (1998) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 120(3), 461−467]. The active site of (oxidized) Fe3+-sub-(Mn)SOD differs from that of Fe3+-SOD with respect to the EPR signals produced at both neutral and high pH, indicating different coordination environments for Fe3+. Although Fe3+-sub-(Mn)SOD binds the small anions N3- and F-, the KD for N3- is tighter than that of Fe3+-SOD, suggesting that the (Mn)SOD protein favors anion binding more than does the (Fe)SOD protein. Th...
Nutritive value of maygrass,Phalaris caroliniana

Maygrass, Phalaris caroliniana,a native annual grass used as a food resource by prehistoric Indians of the eastern United States, was analyzed for nutritive value. Protein nutrient density of maygrass grains is higher than that for other starchy seeds, oily seeds, and nuts commonly found in paleoethnobotanical samples from the region. Maygrass grains are a good source of several vitamins and minerals, especially thiamin and dietary iron. The amino acid in shortest supply is lysine. Nutritional quality of the grains may have served as an inducement for its protection or cultivation.
Differential effects of scopolamine and lorazepam on working memory maintenance versus manipulation processes

Between-study comparisons of benzodiazepine and anticholinergic drugs on working memory suggest that anticholinergics may produce greater impairment in maintenance processes, whereas benzodiazepines may produce greater impairment in manipulation processes. This study directly compared acute effects of the benzodiazepine lorazepam (1.0 and 2.0 mg/70 kg, orally administered) and the anticholinergic scopolamine (0.25 and 0.50 mg/ 70 kg, subcutaneously administered) on working memory maintenance (storage and rehearsal) and manipulation processes in a placebo-controlled, double-dummy, double-blind, crossover design in 20 healthy volunteers. Using a modified Sternberg paradigm, storage, rehearsal, and manipulation processes were parametrically manipulated by varying memory load, delay between stimulus presentation and test, and number of operations performed on the letter strings, respectively, while controlling for drug effects on nonmemory processes. As predicted, the results suggested greater impairment in maintenance processes (rehearsal) with scopolamine than with lorazepam and greater impairment in manipulation processes with lorazepam than with scopolamine. In addition, the results suggested greater overall slowing of working memory processes with lorazepam.
The Dynamic Density Bottle: A Make-and-Take, Guided Inquiry Activity on Density

An activity is described wherein students observe dynamic floating and sinking behavior of plastic pieces in various liquids. The liquids and solids are all contained within a plastic bottle; the entire assembly is called a “density bottle”. After completing a series of experiments that guides students to think about the relative densities of both the liquids and solids in the bottle, students are able to explain the curious floating and sinking phenomena. As a part of the activity, students construct their own bottles and are encouraged to describe to others how the density bottle works. These bottles can be constructed using inexpensive and easily obtained materials. The level of inquiry involved in the activity can be tailored to meet the particular interests and needs of students. Modifications to the density bottle, including an engaging one that uses LEGO pieces, are discussed.
Effect of heavy ions on coupling between density structures and electromagnetic waves in the auroral zone

[1] This paper presents the results from a numerical study of the effects of multiple ion species on the development of small-scale, intense electromagnetic waves and density structures that are frequently observed in the auroral ionosphere in the vicinity of discrete auroral arcs. The study is based on a multifluid MHD model describing nonlinear coupling between shear and slow ultra-low-frequency MHD waves in cold, low-altitude plasma containing several ion species. Simulations reveal that these waves can be generated by the ionospheric feedback instability in the downward current channels adjacent to the upward currents, causing aurora, when heavy ionospheric ions (in particular, O2+) provide the “matching impedance” condition between the ionosphere and the magnetosphere. The ponderomotive force associated with these waves moves ions along the ambient magnetic field from the ionosphere. Different ion species exhibit different dynamics, depending on their masses and initial distributions. The strongest variations in density of −14% and +23% of the background values occur in the F region and are produced by the dynamics of O+ ions. These density variations can be detected by ground radars and low-orbiting satellites in the auroral zone.
Testing in the software development life-cycle: now or later

Abstract The most critical and visible principle of TQM in the Information Systems (IS) environment is the focus on zero defects in a software development project to achieve customer satisfaction. This paper presents results from a simulation study that suggests that greater performance towards zero defects can be achieved through testing after each phase (concurrently), in the development life-cycle of a software as opposed to testing after the coding of the system has been completed. The simulation model is developed using four benchmark software development projects, and is validated using the Software Life-Cycle Management Model (SLIM), developed by Quantitative Software Management (QSM). Three performance measures are used in comparing the two testing philosophies: time required to produce the software, the effort expended and the cost. The results indicate that the two approaches do not differ significantly on the first two measures, however, the costs are found to be dramatically different. This difference in costs leads to the conclusion that concurrent testing is superior. The cost superiority of concurrent testing can be attributed to the distribution of hours worked throughout the life-cycle, as opposed to being back-loaded in the maintenance of the system when the costs are much higher than the earlier phases in development.
The World and Truth About What Is Not

Truthmaker says that things, broadly construed, are the ontological grounds of truth and therefore, that things make truths true. Recently, there have been a number of arguments purporting to show that if one embraces Truthmaker, then one ought to embrace Truthmaker Maximalism — the view that all nonanalytic propositions have truthmakers. But then if one embraces Truthmaker, one ought to think that negative existentials have truthmakers. I argue that this is false. I begin by arguing that recent attempts by Ross Cameron and Jonathan Schaffer to provide negative existentials with truthmakers by appealing to the world fail. I then argue that the conditional — if one embraces Truthmaker, the one ought to embrace Truthmaker Maximalism — is false by considering small worlds where very little, if anything at all, exists. The conclusion is that thinking that negative existentials do not have truthmakers, and therefore rejecting Truthmaker Maximalism, need not worry Truthmaker embracers. Truth requires an explanation, or ontological ground, of sorts.1 One way of articulating this requirement is to say that things, broadly construed, are the ontological ground of truths and therefore, that things make truths true. Call the claim that things make truths true Truthmaker. Call the claim that all non-analytic truths are made true by things Max, which I’ll formulate as follows: Max. Necessarily, for all non-analytic propositions p, if is true, then there is some thing(s) E and is true in virtue of E2 Recently, there have been a number of arguments purporting to show that if one embraces Truthmaker, then one ought to embrace Max (Mumford 2007: 49; Merricks 2007: 39-67; Dodd 2007; Cameron 2008a: 411-412). Some philosophers who 1For example, Aristotle (1984: 22) says “if there is a man, the statement whereby we say that there is a man is true ... And whereas the true statement is in no way the cause of the actual thing’s existence, the actual thing does seem in some way the cause of the statement’s being true.” W. V. O. Quine (1970: 10-11) echoes this thought when he says “No sentence is true but reality makes it so”. 2I follow custom in allowing that ’ ’ stand for ’the proposition that p’.
Conjuring the Ghosts of Missing Children: A Monte Carlo Simulation of Reproductive Restraint in Tokugawa Japan

This article quantifies the frequency of infanticide and abortion in one region of Japan by comparing observed fertility in a sample of 4.9 million person-years (1660–1872) with a Monte Carlo simulation of how many conceptions and births that population should have experienced. The simulation uses empirical values for the determinants of fertility from Eastern Japan itself as well as the best available studies of comparable populations. This procedure reveals that in several decades of the eighteenth century, at least 40 % of pregnancies must have ended in either an induced abortion or an infanticide. In addition, the simulation results imply a rapid decline in the incidence of infanticide and abortion during the nineteenth century, when in a reverse fertility transition, this premodern family-planning regime gave way to a new age of large families.
Conductivity Measurements of Sand-Clay Mixtures: A Modified Experimental Method

We present experimental results of electrical conductivity measurements on sand-clay mixtures saturated with brines and on sand saturated with trichloroethylene (TCE). These experiments were conducted to aid in the study of detecting common groundwater contaminants and to expand the database of conductivity measurements made on unconsolidated sediments. Our experimental apparatus is based on the standard four-point electrode measurement technique utilizing removable unconsolidated sample “cores.” We can change saturating fluids and make seismic measurements in the same apparatus without disturbing the sample. Our brine data show little change in magnitude with frequency and follow Archie’s law with Archie’s cementation exponents ranging from approximately 1.5 to 2.5. Samples with higher clay content show a lower bulk conductivity. This trend may be due to both incomplete saturation and∕or the clay packing. This finding may affect the interpretation of common field methods, as it is contrary to results on ...
Homing-in on the origin of biliary steroids

See article on page 700 The raison d’etre of bile is to provide a conduit to eliminate excess cholesterol from the organism.1 Biliary secretion accomplishes this function in two ways. The liver secretes unesterified (free) cholesterol molecules into bile and also converts cholesterol molecules into bile acids, which are secreted as water soluble anions (bile salts). Bile salt synthesis from cholesterol compensates for obligatory faecal loss (as acidic sterols) during enterohepatic cycling, and this feedback control is regulated by the efficiency of bile salt return from the intestine. In a healthy human of ideal body weight, de novo synthesis amounts to about 250 mg a day and the bile salt pool, which approximates 3 g, cycles 8 to 12 times a day; therefore, the contribution of bile salt synthesis to biliary secretion is approximately 1%. In contrast to the efficiency of the enterohepatic circulation, 50% of the 1000 mg of cholesterol secreted daily into bile is lost in faeces as bacterial metabolic products (neutral sterols) in faeces, thereby exceeding the loss of cholesterol as acidic sterols by a factor of 2 to 1. Knowledge of the precursor sources and disposition of biliary cholesterol and bile salts is important for its own sake and to provide targets for new drugs because of the high prevalence rates of atherosclerosis and cholesterol gallstones in Western societies. In both animals and humans, the contributions of de novo cholesterol synthesis to biliary cholesterol secretion, as well as bile salt synthesis, are now considered to be of minor quantitative importance, with estimates as low as 10%.2 Clearly, the evidence suggests that biliary cholesterol and bile salt molecules derive principally from preformed cholesterol in plasma lipoproteins.2-4 Now, Hillebrant and colleagues (see page 700) have narrowed the focus and …
Description of the Role of Shot Noise in Spectroscopic Absorption and Emission Measurements with Photodiode and Photomultiplier Tube Detectors: Information for an Instrumental Analysis Course.

A description of shot noise and the role it plays in absorption and emission measurements using photodiode and photomultiplier tube detection systems is presented. This description includes derivations of useful forms of the shot noise equation based on Poisson counting statistics. This approach can deepen student understanding of a fundamental principle that can ultimately limit the sensitivity of a spectroscopic measurement.
The Link Between the Quality of the Supervisor–Employee Relationship and the Level of the Employee's Job Satisfaction

This study explores Leader–Member Exchange Theory (LMX Theory), which theorizes when leaders and followers have good exchanges or high quality effective LMX relationships, they share mutual trust, feel better, accomplish more, and the overall unit performance within organization is enhanced. The specific focus of this study is on whether high-quality leader member exchange is positively related to job satisfaction, which can lead to positive outcomes for organizations and ultimately provide organizations the solution to remaining competitive in this new economy. The findings were discussed from the perspective of the advantages available to organizations relative to the many positive organizational outcomes that result from high-quality effective LMX and individual job satisfaction for employees.
In vitro expression and inhibition of procoagulant activity produced by bovine alveolar macrophages and peripheral blood cells

Local and systemic activation of coagulation is frequently associated with bacterial sepsis. The coagulopathy is due, at least in part, to expression of tissue factor (TF) by monocytes and macrophages. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of procoagulant activity by bovine alveolar macrophages, leukocytes and platelets, and to determine the relative potency of three chemical inhibitors of TF expression (pentoxifylline, retinoic acid, and cyclosporin A). Bovine alveolar macrophages were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) derived from Pasteurella haemolytica or recombinant bovine tumour nervous factor (TNF) and dose- and time-dependent effects on TF expression were studied. LPS and TNF induced TF expression in alveolar macrophages and LPS treatment of whole blood induced TF expression in mononuclear cells. Neutrophils and platelets also expressed procoagulant activity, but this activity was not inhibited by anti-bovine TF monoclonal antibody. Pentoxifylline (40 μmol/L), retinoic acid (0.01 mmol/L) and cyclosporin A (0.08 μmol/L) inhibited TF expression when added concurrently with LPS or TNF, but not when added 4 h after stimulation. TF mRNA was not detected in unstimulated alveolar macrophages by Northern blot analysis. In contrast, exposure to LPS or TNF for 6 h induced marked expression of TF mRNA, which was inhibited by treatment with pentoxifylline, retinoic acid and cyclosporin A. Expression of TNF by alveolar macrophages stimulated with LPS was also inhibited by these compounds. Our results indicate that procoagulant activity expressed by alveolar macrophages and monocytes is associated with expression of TF, whereas procoagulant activity expressed by neutrophils and platelets is not. The concentrations of pentoxifylline and retinoic acid necessary for inhibition of TF expression in vitro may not be achievable in vivo owing to their toxic effects. However, the in vitro concentration of cyclosporin A that inhibited TF expression did not exceed the plasma concentration observed in humans, and therefore may be useful for inhibition of TF expression in vivo.
Restriction endonuclease sensitivity of DNA containing globin genes in different murine erythroleukemia cell lines

Abstract The arrangement of the globin structural genes has been examined in murine erythroleukemia cells, strain DS19, and several related inducer-resistant variant cell lines. One fragment larger than 20 kilobases and six globin gene-containing fragments between 10 and 1.9 kilobases in size are detected in EcoRI-cleaved purified DNA prepared from strain DS19. By comparison, when isolated nuclei are digested with EcoRI, only two globin gene-containing fragments are detected, one greater than 20 kilobases and the other 1.9 kilobases. Of seven cell lines derived from DS19 and resistant to inducers, six had similar patterns to DS19 of globin gene-containing EcoRI-generated DNA fragments from nuclei and from purified DNA. One cell line, DR10, a DMSO-resistant cell line, lacks the 1.9 kilobase fragment after digestion of either nuclei or purified DNA. The 1.9 kilobase fragment hybridizes with α-globin cDNA but not with the β-globin cDNA, suggesting either rearrangement or deletion of an α-globin gene-like fragment in DR10 DNA.
A third-order partial differential equation in ocean currents

We here consider boundary value problems for the equation which has the form of equations developed by T.V. Davies for ocean currents near the equator. We solve the boundary value problems by reducing them to systems of integral equations though use of fundamental solutions to the differential equation. Solutions for semi-infinite and for finite domains are obtained.
Skeletal muscle amino acid transporter expression is increased in young and older adults following resistance exercise

Amino acid transporters and mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling are important contributors to muscle protein anabolism. Aging is associated with reduced mTORC1 signaling foll...
ε-Approximations for Multidimensional Weighted Location Problems

This paper considers the multidimensional weighted minimax location problem, namely, finding a facility location that minimizes the maximal weighted distance to n points. General distance norms are used. An e-approximate solution is obtained by applying a variant of the Russian method for the solution of Linear Programming. The algorithm has a time complexity of On log e for fixed dimensionality k. Computational results are presented.
A problem with using derivatives to explain the matching law

Herrnstein (1979) recently claimed that the matching law could be derived from an ordinary differential equation. He failed, however, to analyze the dynamic properties of his proposed equation. I show that it implies behavior cannot stabilize in accordance with the matching law. Consequently, Herrnstein's equation cannot explain why matching behavior has been widely observed.
An oscilloscope array for high-impedance device characterization

An equivalent time oscilloscope array is implemented in a 90nm CMOS technology. A combination of adjustable termination, calibration circuitry and capacitance compensation enables driver bandwidths between 0.4 to 2GHz for termination impedances of 20Ω to 2kΩ for extraction of S-parameters and delay characteristics of high impedance devices such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene. Measurement results show that the capacitance compensation technique enhances the bandwidth by 3X for impedances between 2kΩ and 20kΩ.
High-resolution simulations of global climate, part 1: present climate

We examine simulations of today's climate performed with a global atmospheric general circulation model run at spectral truncations of T42, T170, and T239, corresponding to grid cell sizes of roughly 310 km, 75 km, and 55 km, respectively. The simulations were forced with observed sea-surface temperatures and sea-ice concentrations. The T42 simulations and initial simulations at T170 and T239 were performed using a model version that was carefully "tuned" to optimize results at T42; subsequent simulations at T170 and T239 used a model version that was partly re-tuned to improve results at T170. On the scales of a T42 grid cell and larger, nearly all quantities we examined in all the T170 and T239 simulations agree better with observations, at least in terms of spatial patterns, than in the T42 simulations. In some cases the improvements are very substantial. Improvements are seen in all-season, global domain results, and in results pertaining to most seasons and latitude bands. Increasing the model resolution from T42 introduces biases (errors in the mean) into some simulated quantities; the worst of these were removed by the partial retuning we performed at T170. This retuning has little effect on the spatial patterns of results, except in Northern Hemisphere winter at T170, where it tends to bring improvements. We discuss aspects of simulated regional climates, and their dependence on model resolution.
Specific protection from phenocopy induction by heat shock

Mild heat treatments applied to whole animals or cell cultures of Drosophila prior to lethal heat shocks result in increased survival and protection against phenocopy induction. The optimal condition for the preliminary mild heat treatment is that which induces the synthesis of heat-shock proteins but does not turn off the protein synthesis that is in progress. Recovery of protein synthesis but not RNA synthesis following a drastic heat shock is much enhanced by the pretreatments. The results suggest that the protection for survival and against phenocopy induction is due to storage of messenger RNA.
Struggles Over Dams as Struggles for Justice: The World Commission on Dams (WCD) and Anti-Dam Campaigns in Thailand and Mozambique

Publication of the World Commissions on Dams (WCD) final report in November 2000 prompted a series of divergent responses. The global anti-dam movement applauded the report's call for fastidious screening of large dam projects and increased levels of transparency and participation in dam-related decisions, while the dam industry argued the document was irrevocably biased against large dams. Several anti-dam campaigns in specific localities almost immediately employed the WCD recommendations as a means of arguing against contentious projects. This article examines two of these struggles, one in northeast Thailand and one in the lower Zambezi Valley of Mozambique, to shed light on the impacts of the transnational WCD process and the variegated ways it intersects with conflicts in specific locales.
LRSAM1, an E3 Ubiquitin Ligase with a Sense for Bacteria

Antimicrobial autophagy is a host cellular process that captures and delivers intracellular parasites to lysosomes following their targeting as cargo via ubiquitination. Huett et al. (2012) show that the LRR- and RING-domain-containing E3 ubiquitin ligase LRSAM1 recognizes various bacteria and generates a ubiquitin signal that initiates the autophagic cascade.
A paradox of trout invasions in North America

A paradox of invasion biology is that even though native species are locally adapted to environmental conditions, nonnative species without this advantage often invade. Ecologists have advanced four main theories to explain why invaders are successful in some places and not others: biotic resistance, environmental resistance, human disturbance, and natural enemies. However, none of these theories alone can account for invasions by two trout species outside their native ranges in North America. Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are able to displace native cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) in the inland western US, but are themselves displaced by nonnative rainbow trout (O. mykiss) in the southeastern US. An alternative hypothesis is that an interaction among zoogeography, evolutionary history, and environmental resistance from the natural flow regimes can account for this paradox. The nonnative species invade successfully at the southern edge of the ranges of the native species, which are farthest from their ancestral origins. Due to their evolutionary history, the native species are poorly adapted to the natural disturbance regime at the southern limit of their ranges, but the nonnative species are preadapted by chance due to theirs. This alternative hypothesis about the interaction between the historical contingency of evolution and environmental resistance should be more widely tested, to inform both invasion biology and the conservation of native trout.
Gas chromatographic retention index as a basis for predicting evaporation rates of complex mixtures.

Abstract Models that predict the fate of petroleum fuels in the environment are often required for effective remediation of fuel-contaminated sites. In this research, an environmental fuel spill was simulated by means of a diesel/water microcosm, in which the temporal changes in composition were assessed during evaporation by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). First-order kinetic rate constants were calculated for 51 selected compounds and utilized to develop predictive models for evaporation rate constants, using GC retention indices on a nonpolar stationary phase. Models were initially developed to predict rates of evaporation of compounds from individual classes (normal alkane, branched alkane, alkyl benzene, and polycyclic hydrocarbon) and then expanded to include all compounds (comprehensive model). Using the comprehensive model, the rate constants were predicted with a mean absolute percent error (MAPE) of 10%, whereas the class-specific models resulted in less error (4–8%). These models were employed to predict the fraction remaining of the total fuel (6% error) as well as the fraction remaining of individual compounds (13% MAPE). Accurate models such as these will facilitate remediation of environmental releases of petroleum products.
A Simple Device for Determining Patient Contours

Linear potentiometers and approximation circuits have been employed in a simple and inexpensive device which accurately reproduces the contour of a patient to within ±2 mm. Reliable measurement of patient contours is necessary for accurate dosimetry in radiation therapy treatments.
Maternal effects shape dynamic trajectories of reproductive allocation in the ladybird Coleomegilla maculata.

Wefollowedlifetime trajectoriesofreproductiveallocation inColeomegilla maculata females of three different size classes produced by rearing beetles on three different daily larval feeding regimes (30min, 6h or ad libitum access to eggs of Ephestia kuehniella). We hypothesized that small females would produce fewer and smaller eggs than larger females and that reproductive effort would decline with female age. Females were mated with a male from the same treatment and then isolated with ad libitum food for their entire adult lives. Egg size increased over time in all treatments; small females started off laying the smallest eggs, but increasedegg size morerapidly than larger females, until all treatments converged on a similar egg size around the 20th day of oviposition. Large females realized a larger proportion of their fecundity early in life, but smaller females increased daily fecundity over time. Reproductive effort (egg mass/body mass) did not decline over 30 oviposition days; it remained constant in large females, but increased among small and medium females, suggesting gradual compensation for larval food deprivation. An increase in egg sizewith maternal age maybe an adaptivestrategyto maximize fitness on ephemeral patches of aphid prey, assuming females reproduce in a single aphid outbreak and that offspring produced later in the aphid cycle experience greater competition and risk of mortality compared to those produced earlier. We demonstrate for the first time in Coleoptera that dynamic changes in both egg size and number occur as a function of female age and illustrate that such changes are constrained by larval feeding histories via their effects on maternal body size.
Prevalence and risk factors associated with geographic tongue among US adults.

Objective: To characterize the prevalence of geographic tongue (GT) among US adults. Design: Population-based case–control study Main outcome measures: The presence or absence of GT. Subjects and methods: Data from 16 833 adults examined during The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988–1994 (NHANES III), a study based on multistage probability sampling were analyzed using SAS-callable SUDAAN 9.0.1. Results: Geographic tongue point prevalence was 1.8% (95% CI: 1.4, 2.3). Multivariate logistic regression showed significant effects of race-ethnicity, with Whites (AOR = 1.8; 1.3, 2.5) and Blacks (AOR = 1.6; 1.2, 2.1) having greater odds of GT than Mexican-Americans; current corticosteroid therapy (AOR = 3.7; 1.54, 8.6). Cigarette smokers had lower GT prevalence (AOR = 0.4; 0.3, 0.6). Fissured tongue (FT) was strongly associated with GT among non-smokers: AOR = 17.5 (7.8, 39.5). We did not find significant associations with age, gender, oral contraceptive use, diabetes mellitus, allergy or atopy, psychological or dermatological conditions as previous research has suggested. Conclusions: Geographic tongue was more prevalent among Whites and Blacks compared with Mexican-Americans, positively associated with FT, and inversely associated with cigarette smoking.
‘They're just not mature right now’: teachers' complicated perceptions of gender and anti-queer bullying

Sexuality education teachers in the USA are often the only officially sanctioned voice in schools charged with teaching students about sexuality and gender. This paper considers the ways in which sexuality education teachers conceptualise gender and anti-queer bullying in order to explore the ways in which teachers understand their own role in the systems of power that lead to gender policing and anti-queer bullying. The study finds that teachers' notions of gender are often linked to essentialist and stereotypical notions of sex and that their beliefs about anti-queer bullying reinforce problematic discourses that dismiss bullying as immature and silence queer potentials for young people.
Conditioned tilt naming: a modified absolute judgment method is used to measure the oblique effect.

Two naive human observers were conditioned to report on the slant of a 3.8-cpd sinusoidal grating viewed monocularly with a light-adapted eye and presented at various orientations extending from −45 to +135 deg. The procedures used yielded a baseline measure of performance and measures obtained during conditioning, extinction, and reconditioning of the tilt-naming response. Both subjects learned rapidly, achieving a level of performance that permits efficient measurement of meridional differences in perceived orientation Ithe oblique effect) at a large number of angles.
Emerging Risk Factors and Prevention of Perioperative Pulmonary Complications

Modern surgery is faced with the emergence of newer “risk factors” and the challenges associated with identifying and managing these risks in the perioperative period. Obstructive sleep apnea and obesity hypoventilation syndrome pose unique challenges in the perioperative setting. Recent studies have identified some of the specific risks arising from caring for such patients in the surgical setting. While all possible postoperative complications are not yet fully established or understood, the prevention and management of these complications pose even greater challenges. Pulmonary hypertension with its changing epidemiology and novel management strategies is another new disease for the surgeon and the anesthesiologist in the noncardiac surgical setting. Traditionally most such patients were not considered surgical candidates for any required elective surgery. Our review discusses these disease entities which are often undiagnosed before elective noncardiac surgery.