cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Finding order in chemical chaos - Continuing characterization of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists

Diversion of synthetic cannabinoids from the lab to drugs of abuse has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Moreover, as earlier synthetic cannabinoids were banned, manufacturers introduced a new supply of novel compounds to serve as replacements. Hence, the chemical diversity of synthetic cannabinoid analogs has also rapidly increased. The present study examined 8 new synthetic cannabinoids: AM-1220, AM-2232, AM-2233, AM-679, EAM-2201, JWH-210, JHW-251, and MAM-2201. Each compound was assessed for binding affinity and functional activation of CB1 and CB2 receptors, and pharmacological equivalence with Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in THC drug discrimination. All compounds bound to and activated CB1 and CB2 receptors, although efficacy at the CB2 receptor was reduced compared to that for the CB1 receptor. Similarly, all compounds stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding through the CB1 receptor, and all compounds except AM-1220 and AM-2233 stimulated [35S]GTPγS binding through the CB2 receptor. Furthermore, these compounds, along with CP55,940, substituted for THC in THC drug discrimination. Rank order of potency in drug discrimination was correlated with CB1 receptor binding affinity. Together, these results suggest that all test compounds share the THC-like subjective effects of marijuana. Interestingly, the most potent compounds in CB1 binding in the present study were also the compounds that have been found recently in the U.S., MAM-2201, EAM-2201, JWH-210, AM-2233, and AM-1220. These results indicate that the evolution of the synthetic cannabinoid drug market may be focused toward compounds with increased potency. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled 'Designer Drugs and Legal Highs.'
U.S. High-Level Isolation Unit Clinical Laboratory Capabilities Update

In late 2014, 56 hospitals in the United States were designated by state and federal public health authorities as specially designed high-level isolation units (HLIUs) equipped with advanced infrastructure, laboratory capabilities, and trained staff to care for patients with highly hazardous communicable diseases (HHCDs), such as Ebola virus disease. This survey describes the clinical laboratory support capabilities of U.S. HLIUs, including the specific test menus that HLIUs have identified to safely manage HHCD patients and the locations where such testing would be performed. In spring 2016, a survey was electronically distributed, as a fillable pdf file, to the 56 U.S. HLIUs. Site representatives completed the surveys, and data were coded and analyzed in an electronic spreadsheet, using descriptive statistics. Thirty-six HLIUs (64%) responded, and 33 completed the laboratory capabilities section. Thirty-one HLIUs (94%) had performed risk analyses for all laboratory procedures and equipment. Twenty-nine (88%) had decontamination procedures specified for all laboratory equipment used for patients with suspected or confirmed HHCDs. On-site laboratories in 27 HLIUs (81%) had the capacity to inventory and to securely store HHCD patient specimens. Ten HLIUs (31%) had at least one test they would conduct within the patient isolation room. The high-risk nature of HHCDs and the occupational exposures that may occur in clinical laboratories demand advanced preparation and risk assessment of work practices, laboratory equipment, and instrumentation by HLIU laboratories. Although risk analyses of clinical laboratory testing and equipment that HLIUs have conducted have likely focused on those for Ebola virus, HLIUs must be prepared to revise their current procedures for other HHCDs.
Counseling Self-Efficacy of International Counseling Students in the U.S.: the Impact of Foreign Language Anxiety and Acculturation

This study examined the influence of international counseling students’ (ICSs) acculturation and foreign language anxiety on their counseling self-efficacy (CSE). Results indicated that foreign language anxiety significantly predicted ICSs’ CSE, while acculturation needs further examination in this regard. Discussion and implications for counselor training and research are provided.
The Ethics of Conducting Virtual Ethnography on Visual Platforms

For scholars, the internet provides a space to study diverse groups of people across the world and can be a useful way to bypass physical gender segregation and travel constraints. Despite the potential for new insights into people’s everyday life and increased attention from scholars, there is no standard set of ethics for conducting virtual ethnography on visually based platforms, like YouTube and Instagram. While publicly accessible social media posts are often understood to be a part of the public domain and thus do not require a researcher to obtain a user’s consent before publishing data, caution must be taken when studying members of a vulnerable community, especially those who have a history of surveillance, like African-American Muslims. Using a womanist approach, the author provides recommendations for studying vulnerable religious groups online, based on a case study of a YouTube channel, Muslimah2Muslimah, operated by two African-American Muslim women. The article provides an important contribution to the field of media studies because the author discusses a “dead” online community, where users no longer comment on the videos and do not maintain their own profiles, making obtaining consent difficult and the potential risks of revealing information to an unknown community hard to gauge.
Portal Hypertension and the Hepatic Sinusoid

Portal hypertension is one of the most important complications of liver cirrhosis, leading to substantial morbidity and mortality. In broad terms, the level of portal hypertension is a function of portal flow and the resistance of blood flow through the liver. Current evidence suggests that both an increase in resistance to blood flow through the liver as well as an increase in portal blood flow contribute to the pathogenesis of portal hypertension. This chapter focuses on the components of increased intrahepatic resistance. The cellular elements that appear to be critical in determining sinusoidal resistance are the hepatic stellate cells and the sinusoidal endothelial cells. Stellate cells are pericyte-like perisinusoidal cells that have been shown to possess contractile properties, and are capable of constricting the sinusoid in vivo. Stellate cell contractility is regulated by endothelin and nitric oxide, which are potent vasoconstricting and relaxing agents, respectively. Importantly, endothelin is overproduced after liver injury by both stellate cells and endothelial cells, setting up an autocrine/paracrine regulatory loop. Recent evidence suggests that after liver injury, endothelial cell nitric oxide synthase, while produced in normal quantities, does not function normally, and leads to decreased production of nitric oxide in the sinusoid. Thus, stellate cells in the injured liver appear to be exposed to increased levels of endothelin and reduced levels of nitric oxide, each contributing to increased resistance to sinusoidal blood flow.
Effect of age of equine embryos and method of transfer on pregnancy rate.

A 2 X 2 cross-classified experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of age of equine embryo (7 vs 8 d postovulation) and method of transfer (surgical vs nonsurgical) on pregnancy rates at 50 d of gestation. Embryos were recovered 7 or 8 d postovulation using a Foley catheter and 3 liters of modified Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Upon identification, the embryos were placed in millipore-filtered PBS containing 20% heat-inactivated steer serum and maintained at room temperature until transferred. At the time of recovery, embryos were randomly assigned to be transferred either nonsurgically using a sterile insemination pipette or surgically via a flank incision. For nonsurgical transfer, the embryo was deposited into the uterine body; whereas, in surgical transfer, the embryo was placed in the uterine horn ipsilateral to the corpus luteum. Recovery rates for embryos collected on d 7 (75.5%) or 8 (81.9%) were similar (P greater than .05). Age of embryo did not affect (P greater than .05) pregnancy rate. At 50 d, pregnancy rates were 60 and 57% for mares receiving d 7 or 8 embryos. However, more (P less than .05) pregnancies were obtained after transfer of embryos surgically (72%) than nonsurgically (45%). More (P less than .05) pregnancies were obtained after transfer of d 8 embryos surgically (75%) compared with nonsurgically (40%). Within method of transfer, pregnancy rates were similar (P less than .05) for surgical transfer of d 7 and 8 embryos (69 and 75%), but tended (P less than .25) to be higher for nonsurgical transfer of d 7 embryos (50%) compared with d 8 embryos (40%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Naturally phase matched waveguides and microrings on lithium niobate-on-insulator (LNOI)

We demonstrate naturally phase matched waveguides and microrings on chip for second-harmonic generation (SHG) with submicron transverse mode confinement.
Optical communications downlink from a 1.5U Cubesat: OCSD program

In this presentation, we discuss the first demonstration of a lasercom downlink from a LEO 1.5U 2.3 kg CubeSat to our optical ground station at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, CA. Two vehicles, AC7-B&C, built under NASA’s Optical Communications and Sensors Demonstration (OCSD) program and described in previous presentations, were launched in November 2017 and placed in a 450-km circular orbit. Following on-orbit checkouts and preliminary pointing calibration utilizing on-board star trackers, we have demonstrated (at the time of this manuscript submission) communications links up to 100 Mbps with bit error rates near 10-6 without any forward error correction. Further optimization of the vehicle pointing and detection electronics and operating the transmitter at its full power capacity should enable performance improvements and potential for higher data rates.
The Modern Digital Design Flow

The purpose of hardware description languages is to describe digital circuitry using a text-based language. HDLs provide a means to describe large digital systems without the need for schematics, which can become impractical in very large designs. HDLs have evolved to support logic simulation at different levels of abstraction. This provides designers the ability to begin designing and verifying functionality of large systems at a high level of abstraction and postpone the details of the circuit implementation until later in the design cycle. This enables a top-down design approach that is scalable across different logic families. HDLs have also evolved to support automated synthesis, which allows the CAD tools to take a functional description of a system (e.g., a truth table) and automatically create the gate-level circuitry to be implemented in real hardware. This allows designers to focus their attention on designing the behavior of a system and not spend as much time performing the formal logic synthesis steps as in the classical digital design approach.
Acceptability and Feasibility in a Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial of Computerized Working Memory Training and Parental Problem-Solving Training With Pediatric Brain Tumor Survivors.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of computerized working memory training in pediatric brain tumor survivors (PBTS) with cognitive deficits, as well as computerized working memory training that is enhanced with parental problem-solving skills training (PSST). METHODS Twenty-seven PBTS (ages 7-16) recruited from a large, tertiary academic medical center were randomly assigned to computerized working memory training (Standard; n = 14) or computerized working memory training plus PSST (Combined; n = 13). PBTS completed a baseline assessment and parents completed acceptability surveys. Primary outcomes included number of intervention sessions completed and acceptability ratings. RESULTS Fourteen of the 27 participants completed at least 20 sessions of the computerized training with average sessions lasting over an hour (M = 68.42 min, SD = 14.63). Completers had significantly better baseline auditory attention abilities than noncompleters. Parents reported both frustration and satisfaction related to the interventions and identified barriers to completing intervention sessions. CONCLUSIONS This pilot randomized clinical trial raises significant questions related to the feasibility of computerized working memory training in PBTS with cognitive deficits. Findings also offer considerations for integrating family-based treatment approaches into cognitive remediation interventions for PBTS.
Synthesis of optically active alpha-aminoalkyl alpha'-halomethyl ketone: a cross-Claisen condensation approach.

A simple and versatile method was developed for the synthesis of α-aminoalkyl α‘-halomethyl ketone derivatives, which are useful intermediates of protease inhibitors. It involves selective halogenation of the α-position on a β-ketoester, which is prepared by cross-Claisen condensation using N-protected amino acid ester. The title compound is obtained in high yield after decarboxylation of the α-halo-β-ketoester.
F**k business: Brexit and the deep freeze between business and politics in populist nationalism

Business has been f**ked! F**k government! The relationship between business and politics is broken - can it be fixed? This contribution, by Daniel Kinderman (University of Delaware), part book review and part blog post, reflects on the tense and sometimes openly conflictual relationship between business and politics in populist nationalism.
Reducing Operation Cost of LPWAN Roadside Sensors Using Cross Technology Communication

Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) is an emerging communication standard for Internet of Things (IoT) that has strong potential to support connectivity of a large number of roadside sensors with an extremely long communication range. However, the high operation cost to manage such a large-scale roadside sensor network remains as a significant challenge. In this article, we propose Low Operation-Cost LPWAN (LOC-LPWAN), a novel optimization framework that is designed to reduce the operation cost using the cross-technology communication (CTC). LOC-LPWAN allows roadside sensors to offload sensor data to passing vehicles that in turn forward the data to a LPWAN server using CTC aiming to reduce the data subscription cost. LOC-LPWAN finds the optimal communication schedule between sensors and vehicles to maximize the throughput given an available budget. Furthermore, LOC-LPWAN optimizes the fairness among sensors by preventing certain sensors from dominating the channel for data transmission. LOC-LPWAN can also be configured to ensure that data packets are received within a specific time bound. Extensive numerical analysis performed with real-world taxi data consisting of 40 vehicles with 24-hour trajectories demonstrate that LOC-LPWAN reduces the cost by 50% compared with the baseline approach where no vehicle is used to relay packets. The results also show that LOC-LPWAN improves the throughput by 72.6%, enhances the fairness by 65.7%, and reduces the delay by 28.8% compared with a greedy algorithm given the same amount of budget.
Treaty Law for States, Soft Law Addressing Non-State Actors, and the Human Rights Responsibilities of NGOs

This chapter discusses treaty law and soft law addressing the human rights responsibilities of non-state actors and of NGOs, and in particular, how they relate to the human right to reparative justice. It provides a definition of reparative justice based on the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Remedy and Reparation with their five core principles—restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition—and examines the meaning of each of these principles. It discusses case law from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that grounds reparative justice obligations in international human rights law. It discusses how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides soft law guidance affirming the social and moral responsibilities of non-state actors including NGOs to respect and fulfill human rights. It discusses how legally binding UN treaty law affirms the right to reparative justice. It examines voluntary frameworks for NGO ethical and human rights accountability such as the Code of Conduct of the International Red Cross and their limitations of efficacy and reliability.
African Experiences in the Slave Routes to the Rio de la Plata During the Viceregal Era

When writing on the lives of Africans and their descendants, the scholarship of colonial and revolutionary Rio de la Plata has focused mainly on manumission and freedom, slave labor in the city and the countryside, gender, culture, and military participation. Few works examine the African experiences in the slave trade routes leading to Buenos Aires and Montevideo. This chapter examines how the transatlantic trade to the Rio de la Plata, and its continuation toward Lima, shaped the captives’ experiences. This chapter also offers a brief examination of rebellions in slave vessels, given that the historiography of slavery in the Rio de la Plata rarely surveys these instances. Different patterns of the traffic should not obscure that violence determined the everyday life of the enslaved. Violence expressed by death, disease, and starvation shaped the experiences of those who endured the itineraries from inland regions to the African littoral, and from there to the Rio de la Plata (or Brazil), often to continue to Lima.
Developing a Superior Positioning Concept for a Product, Service, Idea, or Experience

While there are a number of courses focused on helping students create and perfect innovative new products, there remains a gap regarding how to create and perfect the idea—or the positioning behind the product. The reality is that it is significantly more difficult than most people think to create a superior positioning concept. In addition, most sophisticated marketing organizations begin with a winning idea before they begin to deploy R&D resources to create a product. This note helps students understand what a positioning concept is, the critical elements of a testable positioning concept, and the attributes of those concepts that tend to be superior to those of their rivals. It is useful for undergraduate and graduate students interested in marketing, sales, brand management, and entrepreneurship. Excerpt UVA-M-0919 Sept. 5, 2018 Developing a Superior Positioning Concept for a Product, Service, Idea, or Experience Most companies focus on product development—how to create a superior product. However, great marketing companies know that a truly superior positioning concept, anchored in deep consumer insight, is what should lead a successful product development process. Unfortunately, most companies don't know how to create a superior positioning concept. —Lee Susen, Senior Director, New Business Development, E. & J. Gallo Winery . . .
A Review of: “Razmik Panossian, The Armenians: From Kings and Priests to Merchants and Commissars”

This book is a comprehensive exploration of the evolution of the Armenian ethnonation in virtually all its dimensions: from its locally fixed beginnings to the multilocal and multicultural reality ...
Utilization of exogenously supplied sphingosine analogues for sphingolipid biosynthesis in Chinese hamster ovary and mouse LM cell fibroblasts

Growth of Chinese hamster ovary and LM cells is inhibited by relatively low concentrations of sphingosine in the culture media. This effect is diminished by an order of magnitude by conversion of this positively charged long-chain amino alcohol to a number of N-acetylated analogues, such as N-acetylsphingosine, N-acetylsphingosine phosphate, and N-acetylsphingosine phosphorylcholine. Synthesis of sphinganine and its incorporation into ceramide, sphingomyelin, and glycosphingolipids (GSL) was monitored using a short pulse of [14C]serine together with a long pulse of [3H]-galactose. Compared to unsupplemented cultures, growth with 15-30 microM N-acetylsphingosine suppressed incorporation of 14C radioactivity into ceramide, sphingomyelin, and GSL by 75-95% without accumulation of labeled sphinganine and without any appreciable change in membrane phospholipid or total GSL content. Furthermore, when cells were cultivated with 15 microM [4,5-3H]N-acetylsphinganine to monitor its utilization for sphingolipid synthesis, considerable loss of radiolabel occurred due to desaturation of sphinganine to sphingosine. Nevertheless, most of the residual label was found in the long-chain base and not the acyl group of sphingomyelin, indicating that the exogenously supplied base was utilized intact for complex lipid synthesis. Radiolabel was also found in ceramide and glycosphingolipid fractions. Thus, established cell lines whose growth is very sensitive to long-chain amino alcohols can be cultivated with sphinganine (sphingosine) analogues at concentrations which suppress endogenous sphinganine production but support continued synthesis of complex sphingolipids.
Bioactivation of S-methyl N,N-Diethylthiolcarbamate to S-methyl N,N-diethylthiolcarbamate sulfoxide: Implications for the role of cytochrome P450

Diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC), diethyldithiocarbamate methyl ester (DDTC-Me), S-methyl N,N-diethylthiolcarbamate (DETC-Me) and S-methyl N,N-diethylthiolcarbamate sulfoxide (DETC-MeSO) are all metabolites of disulfiram. All inhibit rat liver low Km aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in vivo, with the order of potency being DETC-MeSO > DETC-Me > DDTC-Me > DDTC. Studies were carried out both in vivo and in vitro to further investigate the role of bioactivation as a requirement for the action of disulfiram as a liver ALDH inhibitor. The cytochrome P450 inhibitor 1-benzylimidazole (NBI) was employed as a pharmacological tool to study the metabolism of DETC-Me to DETC-MeSO. Administration of NBI to rats prior to DETC-Me treatment blocked the inhibition of liver mitochondrial low Km ALDH by DETC-Me. This was accompanied by an increase in plasma DETC-ME and a decrease in plasma DETC-MeSO. Pretreatment of rats with NBI prior to DETC-MeSO administration did not block the inhibition of liver mitochondrial low Km ALDH by DETC-MeSO. In in vitro studies, the inclusion of NBI in an incubation containing rat liver microsomes, mitochondria and an NADPH-generating system blocked the formation of DETC-MeSO and inhibition of liver mitochondrial low Km ALDH by DETC-Me. DETC-MeSO was found to be a potent inhibitor of rat liver mitochondrial low Km ALDH both in vivo and in vitro. The data suggest that the metabolism of DETC-Me to DETC-MeSO is mediated by cytochrome P450, and that inhibition of cytochrome P450 by inhibitors such as NBI block the inhibition of low Km ALDH by DETC-Me.
Constructing nowhere differentiable functions from convex functions.

We find an easy way to construct a continuous nowhere differentiable function from any nondecreasing convex function mapping the unit interval onto itself. We give a number of examples of nowhere differentiable functions constructed this way.
Kinetics of promoter search by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. Effects of monovalent and divalent cations and temperature.

The rapid mixing/photocross-linking technique developed in our laboratory has been employed in the study of the mechanism of promoter binding by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase (RPase). We have previously reported on the quantitation of the one-dimensional diffusion coefficient (D1) for RPase along the DNA template (Singer, P. T., and Wu, C.-W. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 14178-14189). In this paper, we describe the effect of salt concentration and temperature on the kinetics of promoter search by RPase using plasmid pAR1319 DNA, which contains the A2 early promoter from bacteriophage T7, as template. Over a range of KCl concentrations from 25 to 200 mM, the apparent bimolecular rate constant (ka) for the association of RPase with the A2 promoter on this DNA template varied approximately 2-fold, achieving a maximal value between 100 and 125 mM KCl. More significantly, the transient distribution of RPase among nonspecific DNA binding sites changed markedly as a function of salt concentration, indicative of gross changes in the average number of base pairs covered by sliding during a nonspecific lifetime. Using the mathematical treatment outlined in our earlier report, the nonspecific dissociation rate constant (koff) was calculated from the binding curves for the nonspecific as well as promoter-containing DNA. The observed variations in ka as a function of monovalent cation concentration ([M+]) were due primarily to changes in koff, as D1 was found to be essentially independent of [M+]. Interestingly, D1 decreased by one-third as the concentration of magnesium was lowered from 10 to 1 mM. In addition, the dependence of koff (and consequently the nonspecific equilibrium association constant, keq) on [M+] agreed qualitatively with the results of deHaseth et al. (deHaseth, P.L., Lohman, T. M., Burgess, R. R., and Record, M. T., Jr. (1977) Biochemistry 17, 1612-1622), though we consistently measure a weaker Keq. The association rate constant was also measured between 4 and 37 degrees C, and was found to vary approximately 2-fold over that range. An activation energy for the bimolecular association of RPase to the A2 promoter was calculated to be 2.2 +/- 0.4 kcal/mol, while the activation energy for one-dimensional diffusion was 4.7 +/- 0.8 kcal/mol.
Fall prevention in the elderly: analysis and comprehensive review of methods used in the hospital and in the home

Falls in the elderly are a significant problem both in and out of the hospital. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the Fiscal Year 2009 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule, as outlined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, placed on hospitals the financial burden of fall prevention for falls (ie, hospital-acquired conditions) that could have been prevented by following evidence-based guidelines. Multifaceted and individualized programs have been created to prevent falls in the elderly. Many of these interventions are based on expert opinion and statistical trends. Our review of the literature revealed that the risk of fall is only slightly greater in the hospital environment than in the home and that there is no medical evidence that evidence-based guidelines are effective in fall prevention.
Scale effects on the transverse tensile strength of graphite epoxy composites

The influence of material volume on the transverse tensile strength of AS4/3501-6 graphite epoxy composites was investigated. Tensile tests of 90 degree laminates with 3 different widths and 5 different thicknesses were conducted. A finite element analysis was performed to determine the influence of the grip on the stress distribution in the coupons and explain the tendency for the distribution of failure locations to be skewed toward the grip. Specimens were instrumented with strain gages and extensometers to insure good alignment and to measure failure strains. Data indicated that matrix dominated strength properties varied with the volume of material that was stressed, with the strength decreasing as volume increased. Transverse strength data were used in a volumetric scaling law based on Weibull statistics to predict the strength of 90 degree laminates loaded in three point bending. Comparisons were also made between transverse strength measurements and out-of-plane interlaminar tensile strength measurements from curved beam bending tests. The significance of observed scale effects on the use of tests for material screening, quality assurance, and design allowables is discussed.
The Mw 7.1, Hector Mine, California earthquake: surface rupture, surface displacement field, and fault slip solution from ERS SAR data

Abstract The Mw7.1, Hector Mine, California earthquake of October 16, 1999 produced a 50 km-long surface rupture, ∼20 km east of the surface rupture of the 1992 Landers earthquake. ERS2 radar data acquired before and after the event provide geodetic measurements of two components of the co-seismic surface displacement field. (1) Interferometric processing of the data provides the range (radar line of sight) component of the displacement field with a precision of a few millimeters. (2) The sub-pixel correlation of the before and after amplitude images provides a second component of the surface displacement field, parallel to the satellite track, with a precision of ∼20 cm. The azimuth offset map reveals a ∼50 km long, NNW surface rupture formed of three sections: a N40°W southern section following the Bullion fault, a N10°W central section cutting through the Bullion Mountains, and a northern N40°W section extending up to the Lavic Lake. A north–south-trending, localized gradient in the azimuth offset field suggests that the central section of the fault extends to the north at depth over a distance of ∼10 km. The slip distribution curve constructed using the azimuth offsets has a bell shape, with a maximum of 6.5 m at the north end of the central fault section. The fault slip model derived from the inversion of the azimuth and from range displacement data indicates that 3–5.8 m of right-lateral slip occurred between the depths of 0 and 8 km along the northern and the central sections of the fault. The solution bears a down-dip component of slip of ∼2 m, west side down, along the southern part of the northern fault section. The down-dip component of slip is consistent with compression on a northeast dipping fault.
Protection of dentate hilar cells from prolonged stimulation by intracellular calcium chelation

Prolonged afferent stimulation of the rat dentate gyrus in vivo leads to degeneration only of those cells that lack immunoreactivity for the calcium binding proteins parvalbumin and calbindin. In order to test the hypothesis that calcium binding proteins protect against the effects of prolonged stimulation, intracellular recordings were made in hippocampal slices from cells that lack immunoreactivity for calcium binding proteins. Calcium binding protein-negative cells showed electrophysiological signs of deterioration during prolonged stimulation; cells containing calcium binding protein did not. When neurons without calcium binding proteins were impaled with microelectrodes containing the calcium chelator BAPTA, and BAPTA was allowed to diffuse into the cells, these cells showed no deterioration. These results indicate that, in a complex tissue of the central nervous system, an activity-induced increase in intracellular calcium can trigger processes leading to cell deterioration, and that increasing the calcium binding capacity of a cell decreases its vulnerability to damage.
The incidence of battery in an urban emergency department

Study objective: To determine the incidence of battery against emergency department medical staff by patients or visitors. Design: Prospective descriptive study over a nine-month period. Setting: A university-affiliated ED Level I trauma center with an annual census of approximately 64,000 located in a major metropolitan area. Participants: All staff members who had been punched, kicked, grabbed, pushed, or spat on by a patient or visitor while on duty in the ED. Interventions: Questionnaire that was completed after the incident. Results: During the study period, there were 19 instances of violence against staff by patients. Staff members were punched six times, kicked seven times, grabbed three times, pushed once, and spat on twice. Blows usually were sustained on the face or head (seven) or on the extremities (seven). In only four cases were hospital incident reports filled out, and in no case was there an injury serious enough to require ED treatment or disability leave. The assailant was usually male (15 of 19, 79%) and usually on a psychiatric or substance abuse detainment (15 of 19, 79%). Conclusion: This study suggests that instances of battery in an urban university hospital ED usually are not serious and are committed by patients on a psychiatric or substance abuse detainment.
Complex Causal Relations and Case Study Methods: The Example of Path Dependence

This article discusses the application of qualitative methods in analyzing causal complexity. In particular, the essay reviews how process tracing and systematic case comparisons can address path-dependent explanations. The article unpacks the concept of path dependence and its component elements of causal possibility, contingency, closure of alternatives, and constraints to the current path. The article then reviews four strengths that case studies bring to the study of path dependence: offering a detailed and holistic analysis of sequences in historical cases, being suitable for the study of rare events, facilitating the search for omitted variables that might lie behind contingent events, and allowing for the study of interaction effects within one or a few cases.
Nonclassical antimetabolites XXII. Simulation of 5′‐phosphoribosyl binding V. Inhibition of succinoadenylate kinosynthetase by 6‐mercapto‐9‐purinylalkanoic acid derivatives of 4‐ and 5‐aminosalicylic acid

4- and 5-(6-Mercapto-9H-purine-9-ylvaleramido)salicylic acids (VII and XII) were relatively good inhibitors of succinoadenylate kinosynthetase, being about one-fourth as effective as thioinosinic acid (IX). The only further structural change that allowed retention of inhibition was variation of the valeryl bridge. Removal of the phenolic hydroxyl of VII, replacement of carboxyl group of XII by nitro, or replacement of the salicylic acid moiety by γ-butyric acid led to a decrease in inhibitory properties, thus indicating that both the phenolic hydroxyl and the carboxyl of the salicylate moiety are complexed with the enzyme. The binding of VII and related molecules was finally traced to the acylamino salicylate moiety, and there was no purine binding. Whether the salicylate moiety is simulating the enzyme binding of the phosphate moiety cannot as yet be certain, but appears unlikely.
Augmenting man's judgment with interactive computer systems

An Interactive Decision System (AIDS) is described as a computer-based technique to rationalize the judgment process. This technique is intended to allow a typical manager to make decisions with more complete use of information available and fewer loose ends than is usually the case. It has been derived from the information processing routines used by Kepner & Tregoe (1965) in their decision training programs. A complete session with AIDS using a decision about nepotism is included as an example. Preliminary testing of AIDS is described.
Regulation of vascular smooth muscle tone by N-terminal region of caldesmon. Possible role of tethering actin to myosin.

Abstract To assess the functional significance of tethering actin to myosin by caldesmon in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction, we investigated the effects of synthetic peptides, containing the myosin-binding sequences in the N-terminal region of caldesmon, on force directly recorded from single permeabilized smooth muscle cells of ferret portal vein. Two peptides were used, IK29C and MY27C, containing residues from Ile25 to Lys53 and from Met1 to Tyr27 of the human and chicken caldesmon sequence, respectively, plus an added cysteine at the C terminus. In cells clamped at pCa 6.7, both peptides increased basal tone. Pretreatment of cells atpCa 6.7 with IK29C or MY27C decreased the amplitude of subsequent phenylephrine-induced contractions but not microcystin-racemic mixture-induced contractions. In all cases the effects of the peptides were concentration-dependent, and IK29C was more potent than MY27C, in agreement with their relative affinity toward myosin. The peptides were ineffective after the phenylephrine contraction was established. MY27C did not further increase the magnitude of contraction caused by a maximally effective concentration of IK29C, consistent with the two peptides having the same mechanism of action. Neither polylysine nor two control peptides containing scrambled sequences of IK29C, which do not bind myosin, had any effect on basal or phenylephrine-induced force. Our results suggest that IK29C and MY27C induce contraction by competing with the myosin-binding domain of endogenous caldesmon. Digital imaging of fluoroisothiocyanate-tagged IK29C confirmed the association of the peptide with intracellular filamentous structures. The results are consistent with a model whereby tethering of actin to myosin by caldesmon may play a role in regulating vascular tone by positioning the C-terminal domain of caldesmon so that it is capable of blocking the actomyosin interaction.
Generic form for average error probability of binary signals over fading channels

The authors present a generic form for the average bit error rate (BER) of coherent, differentially coherent, and noncoherent binary signals over fading channels. This generic form relies on an alternate representation of the incomplete gamma function and, for all the channel fading models under consideration, leads to an expression of the average BER involving a single finite-range integral of tabulated functions which can easily be computed numerically.
Towards power and QoS aware wireless networks

The paper studies the optimal use of energy in wireless networking, the feasibility region of tasks that share a multi-access channel, and efficient algorithms for determining if a given set of tasks and resources falls within the feasibility region.
Functional Reconstitution of Thymopoiesis after Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

We have utilized combination antiretroviral therapy following human immunodeficiency virus type 1-induced human CD4(+) thymocyte depletion in the SCID-hu mouse to examine the immune competence of reconstituting thymocytes which appear following administration of combination therapy. These cells express a normal distribution of T-cell receptor variable gene families and are responsive to costimulatory signals. These results suggest that normal thymic function may be restored following antiretroviral treatment.
Central control of bone formation

Vertebrates constantly remodel bone to maintain a constant bone mass. Bone remodeling comprises two phases: bone resorption by the osteoclasts followed by bone formation by the osteoblasts. Although the prevailing view about the control of bone remodeling is that it is an autocrine/paracrine phenomenon, the bone resorption arm of bone remodeling is under a tight endocrine control. To date little is known about the regulation of bone formation. We took the observations that gonadal failure favors bone loss and obesity protects from it as an indication that bone mass, body weight, and reproduction could be regulated by the same hormone(s). Leptin is one of these hormones. Leptin inhibits bone formation by the osteoblasts. This function is dominant, and leptin deficiency results in a high bone mass phenotype despite the hypogonadism characterizing these animals. Genetic biochemical and physiological studies demonstrate that leptin inhibits bone formation following its binding to its receptor in the hypothalamus. These results are the first evience that bone remodeling is a hypothalamic process; they imply necessarily that osteoporosis, the most frequent bone remodeling disease, is partly at least a hypothalamic disease. This finding also has therapeutic implications.
A Mutational Analysis of the Acetylcholine Receptor Channel Transmitter Binding Site

Abstract Mutagenesis and single-channel kinetic analysis were used to investigate the roles of four acetylcholine receptor channel (AChR) residues that are candidates for interacting directly with the agonist. The EC 50 of the ACh dose-response curve was increased following α -subunit mutations Y93F and Y198F and ϵ-subunit mutations D175N and E184Q. Single-channel kinetic modeling indicates that the increase was caused mainly by a reduced gating equilibrium constant (Θ) in α Y198F and ϵD175N, by an increase in the equilibrium dissociation constant for ACh ( K D ) and a reduction in Θ in α Y93F, and only by a reduction in K D in ϵE184Q. This mutation altered the affinity of only one of the two binding sites and was the only mutation that reduced competition by extracellular K + . Additional mutations of ϵE184 showed that K + competition was unaltered in ϵE184D and was virtually eliminated in ϵE184K, but that neither of these mutations altered the intrinsic affinity for ACh. Thus there is an apparent electrostatic interaction between the ϵE184 side chain and K + ( ∼1.7k B T ) , but not ACh + . The results are discussed in terms of multisite and induced-fit models of ligand binding to the AChR.
Tax attributes as determinants of shareholder gains in corporate acquisitions

Abstract The paper provides evidence that tax attributes of target firms are significant in explaining the abnormal returns to shareholders of both target and acquiring firms following acquisition announcements. The most prominent tax attribute in tax-free acquisitions is the amount of net operating loss carryforwards and tax credits due to expire. The most important tax attribute in taxable acquisitions is the step-up in the acquired assets' basis. The findings also suggest that tax considerations motivate acquisitions. Specifically, obtaining tax-free status for the proposed acquisition increases its likelihood of completion.
Comment on the Long-Run and Short-Run Demand for Money

In his recent contribution to the theory and empirical analysis of the demand for money, Gregory Chow attempted to reconcile the shortand long-run behavior of the demand for money by "introducing a mechanism for the adjustment of actual money stock to desired stock. . ." (Chow, 1966, p. 111). In this brief comment, we will argue that his formulation of the adjustment equation contains implications that make it difficult to accept and that his empirical evidence does not distinguish the "relative importance of current income as compared with wealth or permanent income" (Chow, 1966, p. 111), as he claims. Further, we show that when income and prices are not combined in a single variable, nominal income, his more important conclusions about the effect of current income on the demand for money are reversed.
Investigation of electron lifetimes in molybdenum with dilute substitutional impurities

We have measured the electronic lifetimes of the systems Mo(W), Mo(Ru), Mo(Fe) and Mo(U). The concentrations were ≈ 370PPM, 70PPM, 20PPM, and 50PPM respectively. For the first three systems, only the hole octahedron centered atH was investigated thoroughly for all angles and the data inverted to get point lifetimes. For Mo(U) the investigation was done over the entire Fermi surface with the aid of an on-line PDP 11/20 mini-computer. Only selective points were used on other pieces of the Fermi surface in order to avoid problems with degenerate frequencies. A careful determination of the effective masses was also made at all angles under investigation. The masses were found to be in disagreement with those of Leaver and Meyers (these masses were used in our orginal investigation) by as much as 20% in some orientations. The electronic lifetimes were nearly isotropic on the hole octahedron in all the alloy systems investigated. In Mo(U) the isotropy was found to extend to all thed-like surfaces. Only thes-p-like hole ellipsoids centered atN possibly have a substantially different lifetime, but its measurement is inaccurate due to beats from degenerate and many close-lying frequencies.
Synthetic Aperture Radar Image Simulations

This paper describes a simulation model which predicts the SAR image of the ocean surface for an arbitrary set of conditions. This model is used to investigate the properties of the SAR image as a function of environmental conditions and radar system parameters. Specifically, the image signal variance and the shape of the signal distribution function are computed for various wind speeds, assuming a locally wind-generated sea.
Bridging Inequality from Both Sides Now.

Because inequality is one of the central concerns of sociologists, it has been addressed, in various ways, by virtually all of the major traditions of sociological social psychology—social structure and personality, symbolic interactionism, and group processes (Cook, Fine, and House 1995). For those who work in the social structure and personality tradition, inequality refers to inequalities in power, privilege, and resources among sets of actors defined by the major social categories on which society is stratified, including gender, race, and social class. Survey work in this tradition examines how actors’ locations on these dimensions affect a variety of individual-level outcomes, ranging from mental health to self-esteem to attitudes. Symbolic interactionists have also studied aspects of inequality, typically by examining the social construction of identities related to inequality (e.g., the identity of a homeless person) and the implications of inequality for self, emotions, and affect. Finally, work in the group processes tradition addresses inequality at a more abstract level, by developing formal theories that examine how structures of power and status produce inequalities in interaction, influence, and benefits. They also consider how actors respond to inequality, including actors’ perceptions of injustice and responses to injustice. This tradition, and more specifically exchange theories of power and inequality, is the primary focus of the sociological perspective presented here. Social psychologists in psychology departments do not typically work in an area called inequality—there are no courses by that name, for instance—but they work on related topics of prejudice (closest to the social structure and personality approach in sociology), stigmatized identity (closest to symbolic interactionism in sociology), and power relations (closest to group processes in sociology). Of these topics, social psychologists have focused most frequently on prejudice, so the psychology part of this article focuses on the unique insights offered by these analyses. Others in this special issue address identity more generally (Deaux and Burke). And the psychology of power relations will appear here in psychological commentary on the sociology of exchange theories of power and inequality.
Rapid induction of lorazepam dependence and reversal with flumazenil

Benzodiazepine tolerance, dependence and withdrawal are well established clinical entities although the pharmacological basis for these are still unclear. Recent data suggest that the primary event may be a change in efficacy at the benzodiazepine receptor. The present study demonstrates the rapid development of tolerance and dependence to lorazepam, defines its pharmacology in more detail, and shows that it may be rapidly reversed by treatment with the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil. These observations argue in favour of a receptor efficacy change underlying benzodiazepine tolerance and withdrawal and suggest a potential pharmacological treatment for this common and disabling clinical problem.
Wireless Capsule Endoscopy Video Segmentation Using an Unsupervised Learning Approach Based on Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis With Scale Invariant Features

Since wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) is a novel technology for recording the videos of the digestive tract of a patient, the problem of segmenting the WCE video of the digestive tract into subvideos corresponding to the entrance, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine regions is not well addressed in the literature. A selected few papers addressing this problem follow supervised leaning approaches that presume availability of a large database of correctly labeled training samples. Considering the difficulties in procuring sizable WCE training data sets needed for achieving high classification accuracy, we introduce in this paper an unsupervised learning approach that employs Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) for extraction of local image features and the probabilistic latent semantic analysis (pLSA) model used in the linguistic content analysis for data clustering. Results of experimentation indicate that this method compares well in classification accuracy with the state-of-the-art supervised classification approaches to WCE video segmentation.