cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Microbiota Regulate Intestinal Absorption and Metabolism of Fatty Acids in the Zebrafish

Regulation of intestinal dietary fat absorption is critical to maintaining energy balance. While intestinal microbiota clearly impact the host's energy balance, their role in intestinal absorption and extraintestinal metabolism of dietary fat is less clear. Using in vivo imaging of fluorescent fatty acid (FA) analogs delivered to gnotobiotic zebrafish hosts, we reveal that microbiota stimulate FA uptake and lipid droplet (LD) formation in the intestinal epithelium and liver. Microbiota increase epithelial LD number in a diet-dependent manner. The presence of food led to the intestinal enrichment of bacteria from the phylum Firmicutes. Diet-enriched Firmicutes and their products were sufficient to increase epithelial LD number, whereas LD size was increased by other bacterial types. Thus, different members of the intestinal microbiota promote FA absorption via distinct mechanisms. Diet-induced alterations in microbiota composition might influence fat absorption, providing mechanistic insight into how microbiota-diet interactions regulate host energy balance.
Foreseeability and self-interest as moral judgment factors with normal and acting-out adolescent boys

Abstract Thirty-two male adolescents participated in a study of moral judgment and its relationship to social functioning. Half of the subjects were selected for frequent acting-out, aggressive behavior, and half were selected from regular eighth-grade classes and matched for intelligence. The moral stories featured good intentions with bad outcomes and varied as to whether or not the outcome was foreseeable and in the actor's self-interest. Subjects judged the actor, attributed judgments to adults, and casually explained the outcome. The difference in judgments between foreseeable and nonforeseeable actions was greater for “normal” subjects. Furthermore, although normal subjects judged foreseeable actions more harshly than acting-out subjects, the reverse was true for nonforeseeable actions. Judgments attributed to adults were harsher than subjects' own judgments, and this difference was greater for acting-out subjects. Causal attributions (personal vs. situational) and other reasoning related strongly to the foreseeability and self-interest factors but not to subject group.
Efficient Use of Two Decks of Cards in Randomized Response Sampling

In this article, a new estimator for estimating the proportion of a potentially sensitive attribute in survey sampling is introduced. The relative efficiency of the proposed estimator has been studied with respect to the existing competitors. The proposed randomized response model based on two decks of cards can always be made more efficient in any surveys than the Warner (1965), Mangat and Singh (1990), and Mangat (1994) models by adjusting the proportion of cards in the two decks of cards to be used.
A welfare estimation of beach recreation with aggregate data

A single-site travel cost recreation demand model for a representative agent visiting a beach is employed that uses an indirect utility function. Alternative specifications of the expected demand function are estimated with aggregate time-series data from a local beach park. The estimated parameters are used to compute the value of the consumer surplus. The recreational value of the park is expectedly sensitive to the functional form used. Also, own-price and income elasticities for various functional forms vary. The results from the Box–Cox procedure suggest that the semi-log function is the most appropriate for the data used in this study. Confidence intervals are calculated to deal with the reliability problem of the consumer surplus estimates. An alternative algorithm, which assumes omitted variable as the source of the error in the demand function, is also presented.
Drying Rate of Cut Forages After Spray Treatments to Hasten Drying

Abstract Drying rates were increased by our spraying field or greenhouse-grown alfalfa ( Medicago sativa ) with solutions containing emulsified methyl esters of long chain fatty acids plus potassium carbonate or potassium carbonate alone. Treatment increased drying of stems and leaves and was more effective in hastening drying of intact alfalfa plant than of separated leaves and stems. Alfalfa grown under different environmental conditions had different drying rates. Red clover ( Trifolium pratense ) and birdsfoot trefoil ( Lotus cornicalatus ) responded to chemical treatment with increased drying rates, whereas speed of moisture loss for two cool-season forage grasses, bromegrass ( Bromus inermis ) and orchardgrass ( Dactylis glomerata ), were not altered. Thus, spray treatment of several economically important legumes has the potential to reduce time cut forage remains in the field and to decrease the chance of large losses of dry matter and nutrients associated with exposure of cut forage to rain and adverse weather conditions.
Novel tube and circuit designs for automatic gain controlled broad band intermediate frequency amplifiers

A special pentode tube for broad band intermediate frequency amplifier application is designed with the purpose of eliminating cathode degeneration while maintaining the capability to control the gain. The amplification of the stage is further increased by utilizing the space charge coupling between the plate current and suppressor grid. The circuits are developed to move the poles of the amplifier and vary the bandwidth in a predetermined manner. The new tube, which can be used either as a sharp cut off or remote cut off pentode, is completely free of run away effects due to gas or grid emission, and because of its inherent characteristics, the clipping of the modulation from the signal cannot occur. As a result of this development, it is now possible to eliminate one of the three stages of video intermediate frequency amplifiers presently used in black and white television sets without loss of performance.
Identification of Factors Predicting Response to Adjuvant Radiation Therapy in Patients With Positive Margins After Radical Prostatectomy

ABSTRACTPurpose: Radical prostatectomy (RP) is a highly effective treatment for patients with prostate cancer. However, patients with positive surgical margins after radical prostatectomy have less than ideal outcomes with 5-year progression rates between 36% and 50%. Postoperative radiation therapy (RT) is often advocated for improving these outcomes. We identified predictors of response to adjuvant RT given for positive margins after RP.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of men who underwent RP between 1987 and 1999 at our institution and who received adjuvant RT for positive surgical margins. Only patients in whom prostate specific antigen (PSA) was undetectable after RP as well as before the initiation of RT were included. Numerous clinicopathological variables, including pre-RP PSA, pathological stage, margin length and location, and extracapsular extension or seminal vesicle involvement, were assessed for their adverse effect on the biochemical recurrence rate af...
Systems of Differential Equations without Linear Terms

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the systems of differential equations without linear terms. The qualitative behavior of solutions of a system is often closely connected to the behavior of the solutions of the corresponding system of first approximation. There is a set of real numbers, the radial type numbers that reduce the linear case to the real parts of the characteristic numbers of the matrix of coefficients. These numbers are used to obtain a generalization of the classical stability theorem of Liapunov. According to Liapunov theorem, if the characteristic numbers of A have negative real parts, then the trivial solution, x = 0, of d x d t = f(x) + g(x, t) is asymptotically stable, where x is an n-vector, f(x)is homogeneous of positive degree k, and f(x), g(x, t) are continuously differentiable in x and in t for all x in a region D containing the origin and for all t.
Beneficial effects of thiamine on recognition memory and P300 in abstinent-cocaine dependent patients

The present study evaluated the effects of thiamine vs. placebo on memory task performance and event-related electroencephalographic potentials in eight abstinent cocaine-dependent patients. Patients orally ingested 5 g of thiamine and 5 g of a lactose placebo on two separate days scheduled approximately 1 week apart. The order of administration was randomized. Double-blind procedures were followed. Approximately 3 h after ingesting the capsules, patients completed Sternberg's (1975) memory scanning task during which performance and event-related potentials (P300) were recorded simultaneously. Thiamine was found to significantly improve recognition accuracy and P300 amplitude, at the midline parietal (Pz) electrode. The improvement was most reliable under conditions of increased memory load. These preliminary findings justify a further examination of the relation between thiamine's hypothesized effects on central nervous system cholinergic function, and the direct and indirect effects of cocaine abuse.
A revision of Neurobezzia Wirth & Ratanaworabhan and Neurohelea Kieffer, with a description of a new genus and discussion of their phylogenetic relationships (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae)

The genus Neurohelea Kieffer is restricted to its type species, N. luteitarsis (Waltl) and is returned to the Heteromyiini. The Nearctic species previously recognized as Neurohelea nigra Wirth and N. macroneura (Malloch) are members of the Ceratopogonini and are placed in the new genus Atyphohelea. Neurohelea nigra Wirth is a new synonym of the type species Atyphohelea macroneura (Malloch), new combination. The Baltic amber species Neurohelea cothurnata (Meunier) is also placed in Atyphohelea as a new combination. An unnamed species from Taiwan is described and the pupa of A. macroneura is newly described. The male of Neurobezzia granulosa (Wirth) is described for the first time. The male previously identified as N. granulosa by Grogan & Wirth (1978) is probably the male of Amerohelea frontispina (Dow & Turner) in the Palpomyiini. Medeobezzia Yu is regarded as a new synonym of Neurobezzia Wirth & Ratanaworabhan, which now includes three species. A new world key to the genera of male and female Heteromyiini is provided. The phylogenetic relationships of the described genera are discussed.
In ascaris sperm pseudopods, msp fibers move proximally at a constant rate regardless of the forward rate of cellular translocation

Computer-assisted methods have been employed to obtain a high resolution description of pseudopod expansion, cellular translocation, and the subcellular dynamics of MSP fiber complexes in the motile sperm of the nematode Ascaris suum. Although Ascaris sperm translocating in a straight line or along a curved path do not retract their pseudopod or significantly alter pseudopod shape, they move in a cyclic fashion, with an average period between velocity peaks of 0.35 +/- 0.05 min, which is independent of the forward velocity of sperm translocation. Expansion is confined to a central zone at the distal edge of the pseudopod for sperm translocating in a straight line and to a left-handed or right-handed lateral zone in the direction of turning, for sperm translocating along a curved path. For cells translocating in a straight line, the branch points and kinks of MSP fiber complexes move in a retrograde direction in relation to the substratum at an average velocity of 11 microns per min which is independent of the forward velocity of sperm translocation. The distal (anterior) end of a fiber complex, however, moves distally at the speed of sperm translocation when it emanates from the expansion zone, but when it is displaced to a nonexpanding surface of the pseudopod, it stops moving distally. When a cell is anchored to the substratum and is, therefore, nonmotile, the velocity of fiber complexes moving in a retrograde direction doubles. The unique aspects of pseudopod and MSP fiber complex dynamics in Ascaris are compared to the dynamics of pseudopod formation and actin filament dynamics in traditional actin-based amoeboid cells, and the treadmill model for MSP polymerization is reassessed in light of the discovery that fiber complex branch points move proximally (posteriorly) at a fixed rate.
EFFECT OF PITUITARY THYROTROPHIN ON THE DIGLYCERIDE TRIGLYCERIDE INTERRELATIONSHIPS IN THYROID TISSUE.

IN surviving cellular preparations of thyroid tissue, intermediary metabolism is altered profoundly when ‘work’ is induced by the addition of pituitary thyrotrophin (TSH)1. Heightened phospholipid metabolism is one of the basic features. Thus, TSH augments the incorporation of orthophosphate-32P into certain phospholipids of thyroid slices even in the absence of exogenous organic substrates2,3. In the presence of substrate quantities of glucose-14C or albumin-complexed 14C-fatty acids (as potential carbon donors for the glycerophosphate or acyl residues of thyroidal lipids), TSH preferentially channelizes radioactivity into phospholipids rather than neutral lipids1,4. Since diglycerides may constitute communal precursors for both phospholipids and triglycerides5, investigations were instituted to assess whether the disparate activation of phospholipogenesis is accompanied by detectable changes in the diglyceride fraction. The experiments have indicated that the incorporation of carbon atoms into the individual neutral lipid components of thyroid slices during 1–4 h of incubation is altered by TSH. Although TSH does not systematically change the total labelling of neutral lipids from glucose-14C, the triglyceride-14C/diglyceride-14C ratio is reduced, possibly connoting a new ‘steady-state’ favouring phospholipogenesis.
Bibliographies on radiation chemistry: VII. Triplet-triplet absorption spectra part C (April, 1982 Dec., 1984)

Abstract At the Radiation Chemistry Data Center we are currently producing a compilation1 of critically evaluated spectral information relevant to triplet-triplet absorption of organic molecules in condensed phases. The basis of this work lies in the reviews of Labhart and Heinzelmann2 and of Bensasson and Land3. Additionally, two previous bibliographies4,5 in this series presented lists of reference to works on triplet-triplet absorption spectra which we hoped to be reasonably completed through April, 1982. The present report brings those bibliographies up to date (through December, 1984) and includes several references overlooked in our previous study. These additions were uncovered in the course of the data compilation. The routine mechanism for updating the list comprises a keyword search of ongoing supplements6 to our local bibliographic data base7 designed to retrieve papers on the absorption spectra of transients. From these references, and citations therein, the relevant articles are selected manually. Note that the above outoff date implies only that papers reaching us by Jan. 1, 1985 will be secured. Undoubtedly, some works while in print at this time will still remain outstanding. Again we have included only those papers providing quantitative spectral information such as peak locations and extinction coefficients. Studies in which the observation of a previously well-defined triplet-triplet absorption is used simply as a kinetic tool have been generally omitted. Work in the gas phase has been excluded and we have not covered contributions to the theoretical aspects of the phenomenon. The exact identity of the metastable absorber in coordination compounds is often uncertain and these have generally been excluded from consideration although studies on chlorophylls and porphyrins have been retained. As before, in accordance with the mandate8 for this series, internal laboratory reports and conference proceedings have usually been discarded. The resulting reference list has been printed in roughly chronological order and the omission from Parts A and B have been listed separately in the section titled “Backlog”.
Enhancing financial success among electrical contractors

This paper provides electrical contractors with significant information related to enhancing company financial performance. The methodology involves understanding the determinants of contractor financial success through: (1) an extensive literature review; (2) collection of financial- and management-related data from electrical contractors; and (3) analysis of data to identify management trends that are more prevalent in profitable firms. Ninety-six usable responses were collected from small, medium, and larger electrical contracting companies. General trends reveal that more profitable firms place greater emphasis in the areas of certain management initiatives (higher lines of credit and supporting continuing education), marketing initiatives (involvement in formal alliances and partnering), and technology initiatives related to spending more capital resources on computers and software. Significant differences are revealed with financial ratios as well. A Financial Success Scorecard is created for firms to compare their management inputs to those of successful firms. Findings from this study could provide helpful guidelines for nonelectrical contracting firms. Recommendations for achieving future financial success are also provided.
Role of acetylglucosamine in chitin synthesis in crayfish—II. Enzymes in the epidermis for incorporation of acetylglucosamine into UDP-acetylglucosamine

Abstract 1. 1. Activity of an enzyme which phosphorylates acetyglucosamine has been found in the epidermis of crayfish. This activity does not appear to be competitively inhibited by glucose. 2. 2. A quantitative assay based on area of epidermis was developed for UDP-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase. The activity of this enzyme was correlated with the stages of the molting cycle. 3. 3. UDP-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase activity was low during intermolt but increased early in premolt and declined in postmolt. 4. 4. These data are discussed in terms of the onset of premolt chitin synthesis and the precursor to premolt chitin synthesis.
Advances in fiber optic based acoustic sensors

Acoustic sensors based on optical principles have the advantage that they are compatible with fiber optic transmission lines. Although extensive progress in the development of the optical sensors employing Mach-Zehnder fiber interferometry has been achieved, this paper will concentrate on non-interferometric sensors which have also experienced rapid development. The most promising fiber-optic acoustic sensors will be discussed, the latest results will be presented, and comparison of these sensors with the inter-ferometric sensors will be made.© (1982) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Trends of Intergenerational Mobility in Ukrainian Society

Studies of social stratification and mobility long ago became a traditional and theoretically, methodologically, and empirically grounded branch of sociological knowledge. The nature and scale of mobility serve as the basis of individuals' evaluations of the social order in which they live. Movement in a hierarchically organized social space of status and groups is an important indicator of equal social opportunity, of class or group solidarity, and of a decline in the threat of social dissatisfaction and conflicts caused by the inaccessibility of high-status positions. Data on social mobility are often used as evidence of a society's openness, meaning that positions at all levels are assigned on the basis of a person's merits and achievements, not his social origin and other prescribed characteristics.
Network macrostructure models for the Davis-Leinhardt set of empirical sociomatrices

Abstract Davis, Holland and Leinhardt have studied various microlevel and macrolevel models for group social structure in terms of certain two-valued relations on the group. These models are essentially defined in terms of permitted and forbidden triad types at the microlevel which imply and are implied by specific ordered clique structures at the macrolevel. Upon testing these models against a large collection of empirical sociomatrices, it was found that these models fit the data moderately well; however, not perfectly, since one or two triads forbidden by the models occur in over half of the sociomatrices at frequencies greater than or equal to chance expectation. These discrepancies have encouraged further theorizing and elaboration of the models, but there has heretofore been no macromodel put forth which fits the total data exactly. In this paper we obtain such a model, which allows hierarchy within cliques. In addition, we give an exact data-fitting macromodel for each class of group sizes as well, except for a somewhat less precise description for the class of largest sizes. In each case the general macromodel exhibits all of the permitted triads and none of the forbidden ones. Similar data from a study of Hallinan not only support the macromodel for the total data when the forbidden triads are taken individually but also when they are taken as a set, thus showing that the data actually support this particular macromodel and not another.
A nonexistence result for abelian menon difference sets using perfect binary arrays

A Menon difference set has the parameters (4N2,2N2-N, N2-N). In the abelian case it is equivalent to a perfect binary array, which is a multi-dimensional matrix with elements ±1 such that all out-of-phase periodic autocorrelation coefficients are zero. Suppose that the abelian group\(H \times K \times Z_{p^\alpha }\) contains a Menon difference set, wherep is an odd prime, |K|=pα, andpj≡−1 (mod exp (H)) for somej. Using the viewpoint of perfect binary arrays we prove thatK must be cyclic. A corollary is that there exists a Menon difference set in the abelian group\(H \times K \times Z_{3^\alpha }\), where exp(H)=2 or 4 and |K|=3α, if and only ifK is cyclic.
A neuromorphic system for visual object recognition

Abstract Autonomous object recognition in images and videos is a topic of emerging importance in commercial and defense applications. Recent advances in the field of visual neuroscience are increasingly being leveraged to develop biologically-plausible models and algorithms for visual cognition with the ultimate goal of improving object recognition accuracy, speed, and robustness. In this paper, we describe our feasibility attempt at building one such end-to-end neuromorphic visual object recognition architecture and system that is inspired by neuroscience theories of human visual attention and recognition. Our system, called the NVRS (Neuromorphic Visual Recognition System), processes images and videos to first detect and localize objects and then classify them into one of several pre-defined object classes. The NVRS uses modularized algorithms inspired by the Form-and-Color-and-Depth (FACADE) and Laminar-ART (LAMINART) models of human visual attention, search, and object recognition. The NVRS is primarily composed of two encapsulated modules: attention and object recognition. The system was evaluated on simulated scenes, Caltech-101 and COIL-100 datasets, and aerial imagery, with results that demonstrate the efficacy of the NVRS. Lessons learnt from the NVRS can be useful in building practical autonomous visual systems for real-world applications and towards addressing longer-term BICA challenges.
Fatigue crack behavior of incology 800 tested in the bend and the push-pull mode

Crack initiation and crack propagation behavior of Incology 800 push-pull and bend fatigue specimens tested at elevated temperatures were investigated. Specimens which were fatigue tested in air at 649, 704 and 760 °C, at a strain rate of 4 × 10−3 s−1 and at 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0% total strain ranges were considered. Scanning electron microscopy was used to construct composites from which crack growth information was obtained. Push-pull specimens exhibited increasing crack growth rates except at the 0.5% strain range where the crack growth rates were constant just prior to fracture. Bend specimens displayed increasing crack growth rates initially, and decreasing growth rates after some time up to the time of fracture. The number of cycles to initiate a crack of the size of one grain diameter (≈ 0.1 mm) was determined by extrapolating curves of log a vs. N (where a is the crack length and N is the number of cycles). When the fraction of fatigue life to initiate a crack, N0/Nf, was plotted vs. the plastic strain range it was observed that: for the push-pull mode, N0/Nf varied only slightly with the plastic strain range, and appeared to be insensitive to the temperatures investigated; for the bend mode, N0/Nf was strongly dependent on the plastic strain range, but also appeared to be insensitive to the temperature.
A comparison of magnetic and electrical stimulation of spinal nerves.

We compared magnetic stimulation using different coil designs (2 rounded coils and a butterfly-prototype coil) with electrical stimulation of the median and ulnar nerves in 5 normal subjects. Using magnetic stimulation we were able to record technically satisfactory maximal sensory and motor responses only with the butterfly coil. Submaximal electrical stimuli preferentially activated sensory rather than motor axons, but submaximal magnetic stimuli did not. The onset latency, amplitude, area and duration of responses elicited electrically or magnetically with the butterfly coil during routine sensory and motor nerve conduction studies were similar, and motor and sensory conduction velocities were comparable when studied over long segments of nerve. However, the motor conduction velocities with magnetic and electrical stimulation differed by as much as 18 m/sec in the across-elbow segment of ulnar nerve. Thus, recent developments in magnetic stimulator design have improved the focality of the stimulus, but the present butterfly coil design cannot replace electrical stimulation for the detection of focal changes in nerve conduction velocity at common entrapment sites, such as in the across-elbow segment of the ulnar nerve.
Laparoscopic Colon Resection for Cancer

Laparoscopic-assisted colectomy (LAC) has demonstrated recovery benefits and has gained acceptance for the treatment of benign colonic disorders in the course of the last decade, but oncologic concerns have hampered the development of laparoscopic colonic resection in the treatment of colonic carcinoma. A multicenter prospective, randomized trial conducted in the United States has demonstrated equivalent postoperative and oncologic outcomes in LAC and open colectomy (OC) and has provided sound evidence supporting the use of LAC for carcinoma. At least two additional prospective randomized trials from England and continental Europe have corroborated the short-term results of the initial American trial. Although most available data concur in showing recovery benefits after LAC, the extent of patient-related benefits after LAC is still unclear, especially in regard to quality-of-life (QOL) benefits, reduction in costs, and long-term complications such as reduction of small bowel obstructions and ventral hernia formation. This review article examines the oncologic concerns regarding LAC for colon carcinoma, the currently published prospective randomized trials, postoperative outcomes following LAC, costs, QOL, and credentialing for LAC. ONCOLOGIC CONCERNS At the beginning of the clinical experience with the laparoscopic approach, there were concerns regarding the ability of LAC to accomplish the same type of operation as OC. Before survival data became available, a number of studies examined surrogate markers of adequate oncologic resection, especially lymph node harvest. Several retrospective studies have confirmed that LAC and OC are associated with a similar lymph node harvest, a finding that has been subsequently confirmed in multicenter prospective, randomized trials (Table 1). An additional objection limiting widespread acceptance of LAC
Altered respiratory control in newborn puppies after chronic prenatal exposure to α-l-acetylmethadol (LAAM)☆

Abstract Respiratory studies were conducted on newborn puppies chronically exposed to α-l-acetylmethadol ·HCl (LAAM) during portions of gestation. Bitches received daily oral doses of LAAM from the second week through the sixth week of pregnancy (LAAM-6) or through the end of a 9-week prenancy (LAAM-9), but not after parturition. LAAM-9 pups displayed narcotic abstinence signs during the first week after birth, while LAAM-6 pups did not. LAAM-9 pups had increased tidal volume, respiratory frequency, alveolar ventilation and O2-consumption and decreased alveolar CO2-tension during the first week of life compared to placebo-treated controls. The LAAM-9 CO2-response curve was significantly displaced to the left of control. These data are consistent with relative hyperventilation during neonatal withdrawal from LAAM. LAAM-6 pups had decreased tidal volume and alveolar ventilation during 4 of the 6 weeks studied. These changes in ventilation were associated with a decrase in O2 consumption. By 6 weeks after birth CO2-responses curves of both LAAM-9 and LAAM-6 pups were shifted to the right of control. These changes in CO2-responsiveness suggest the possibility of prolonged disturbances of respiratory control which may continue beyond the sixth week of life.
Chemical and Enzymatic changes in Microsomes of Chicken Livers following Stimulation by Oestrogens

Administration of oestrogenic substances to chicks, pullets or roosters results in rapid and extensive proliferation of membraneous and ribosomal components of the endoplasmic reticula (E.R.) of their livers in preparation for the synthesis of yolk proteins. Under such circumstances, the liver microsomes initially display many of the chemical and enzymatic characteristics previously delineated for rapidly expanding E.R. in the livers of chicken embryos. In addition, it was found that the microsomal fraction (mostly E.R.) is enzymatically related to, and is possibly in equilibrium with, a ‘post-microsomal’ lipoprotein fraction which does not present the same morphology as the conventional membrane. 600R of whole body X-irradiation was found to quickly inhibit proliferation of both liver E.R. and ‘post-microsomal’ elements, as detected by inhibition of normally occurring enzyme changes provoked by oestrogen administration and, in the case of rough E.R., by a reduction in the net synthesis of ribosomal RNA.
41. Anti-inflammatory effects of apipuncture on systemic and localized inflammogens

Acupuncture and physical therapies involve musculocutaneous stimulation which can produce analgesia and reduce inflammation. Likewise, counter-irritation inhibits LPS-induced TNF-alpha via the sympathetics. We examined the effects of injecting bee venom into acupuncture sites (apipuncture) on systemic and localized inflammatory responses. Bee venom (1, 10, or 100 μg/50 μl) was injected bilaterally into ST36 acupoints (inferiolateral to knee) and 30 min later injected i.v. with 10 μg LPS and 90 min later plasma levels of TNF and corticosterone assayed. The 10 μg dose decreased LPS-induced plasma and splenic TNF and plasma corticosterone. We next examined the localized anti-inflammatory and anti-hyperalgesic effects of apipuncture and showed that s.c. injections into the hindpaw of peptidoglycan (PEG) produced an increase in hyperalgesia, primarily to heat, and localized edema (inflammation). Bee venom was injected into the left ST36 site 30 min prior to injecting PEG into the left hindpaw and hyperalgesia and edema measured at 1 and 2 h post-injection. Apipuncture blocked the hyperalgesic effects of PEG, reduced the paw edema, and reduced plasma corticosterone levels. Additional studies showed the effects of apipuncture were acupoint site specific in that bee venom injections into the contralateral limb or the back had no effect on the localized inflammatory response. Thus, apipuncture produces a decrease in both systemic and localized inflammatory immune responses. Sponsored by NIH Grant # MH 43778 .
Distribution of Flares on the Sun during 1955--1985: ``Hot Spots'' (Active Zones) Lasting for 30 Years

The coordinates of 'major solar flares' observed during the period from January 1955 through August 1985 are analyzed. About 100 'superactive' regions (large, complex, active regions containing large sunspots) produced 46 percent of the major flares during the period. Superactive regions appeared more frequently in certain areas of the sun called 'hot spots' or 'active zones'. The synodic rotation periods of the northern and southern hemisphere hot spots were 26.72 d and 26.61 d, respectively. One of the two hot spots persisted through three solar cycles, and the other was active during cycles 19 and 21 but was dormant during cycle 20. These findings suggest that the mechanism producing hot spots must be stable for two or three solar cycles or longer.
Low-risk acute heart failure patients: external validation of the Society of Chest Pain Center's recommendations.

Introduction Risk-stratification in acute heart failure syndromes (AHFS) is problematic. A recent set of recommendations describes emergency department (ED) patients with AHFS who do not fulfill high-risk criteria and may be good candidates for observation unit (OU) management. The goal of this analysis was to report on the outcomes experienced by ED patients with AHFS who do not have any of these high-risk criteria. Methods We performed a secondary analysis of the HEart failure and Audicor technology for Rapid Diagnosis and Initial Treatment (HEARD-IT) multinational study. HEARD-IT was a multicenter study designed to test the impact of acoustic cardiography on ED decision making in patients with possible AHFS. For the purposes of the current analysis we identified a subset of HEARD-IT patients who did not fulfill any high-risk criteria based on published data. The proportion of these patients who experienced an adverse outcome was determined. Results The 201 subjects who fulfilled the inclusion criteria had a mean age of 64 years (SD: 13), 61% were male, 34% were Caucasian, and 55% were black. There were a total of 25 (12.4%) cardiac events, including 1 death due to AHFS. The majority of the cardiac events were 30-day readmissions related to AHFS (16/25, 64.0%). Conclusion AHFS patients at low-risk for subsequent morbidity and mortality based on recent consensus guidelines may be good candidates for early discharge after a brief period of observation in the OU or ED. Additional prospective research is needed to determine the impact of implementation of these criteria in ED patients with AHFS.
LOW TEMPERATURE ELECTROLUMINESCENCE OF GREEN AND DEEP GREEN GaInN/GaN LIGHT EMITTING DIODES

Electroluminescence of GaInN/GaN multiple-quantum-well (QW) light-emitting diodes emitting in the green spectral region is analyzed at variable low temperature. Spectra are dominated by QW emission at RT throughout 7.7 K. Below 150 K, donor-acceptor pair recombination appears that must be assigned to residual impurities in either the barriers or the p-layers. The current-voltage behavior reveals shunt paths that carry up to several mA at low bias voltages. Below 20 K those paths are frozen out, but the device still emits predominantly from the QW. The peak energy exhibits a blue shift from RT to 158 K followed by a red shift from 158 K to 7.7 K. The deeper binding energy at low temperatures can hardly be affect by the injection current indicating that saturation of low-density states cannot be responsible for the transition between red and blue shifts.
Demonstration of α-lymphotoxin in human rejected renal allografts

Abstract To determine whether α-lymphotoxin (α-LT), a lymphokine extensively studied in vitro , can also be isolated from human rejected renal allografts, we developed an isolation procedure by adding LT as a marker to kidney extracts and subjecting the material to a series of protein fractionation techniques. The procedure (without the added marker) was then applied to normal human kidneys and rejected renal allografts. Fractions isolated from normal human kidney were not cytotoxic. However, fractions separated from the rejected grafts were cytotoxic and could be neutralized in part by anti-human α-LT serum. The results of this investigation indicate that human rejected renal allografts, the sites of a mixed cellular and humoral immune reaction, contain α-LT.
Formation and electronic properties of double-walled boron nitride nanotubes

The electronic and structural properties of double-walled boron nitride (BN) nanotubes are studied using the first principle pseudopotential density functional method. It is shown that zigzag-type tubes have a larger formation energy for the double-walled configuration than the armchair-type structure, and that interwall stacking plays a significant role for intertube interactions and in the formation of multiwall BN nanotubes. The fundamental energy gap of double-walled BN nanotubes was found to be smaller than that of single-walled tubes mostly due to band shift. It is shown that the electronic properties of double-walled BN tubes exhibit a slight but noticeable difference for the zigzag and armchair type tubes studied.
Some applications of lasers to experimental high-energy density physics at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Abstract Advances in laser technology have made possible the construction of the National ignition Facility for inertial fusion ignition and energy gain in the laboratory, for understanding the properties of matter in extreme conditions of gigabar pressures, densities many times solid density, and at relativistically hot temperatures T e ≫ m e c 2 . These advances have spawned many valuable applications in coherent light sources, micro-impulse radar, EUV lithography, medical imaging, and laboratory astrophysics.
Size effect in a granular superconductor

The superconducting energy gap and the transition temperature of a small grain of superconductor are larger than the corresponding quantities for bulk material. This results because the small dimensions cause a discrete, rather than continuous, spectrum of one-electron energy levels. This effect becomes important when the volume of the grain is comparable with, or smaller than, the characteristic volume ${{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{F}}^{2}{\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0}$, where ${\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{F}$ is the Fermi wavelength and ${\ensuremath{\xi}}_{0}$ the $T=0$ Pippard coherence distance of the bulk material. As grain size is lowered, the ratio of $T=0$ energy gap to Boltzmann's constant times transition temperature gradually increases from the weak-coupling limit (3.528) to the strong-coupling limit (4.0).
The Rep68 protein of adeno-associated virus type 2 increases RNA levels from the human cytomegalovirus major immediate early promoter.

Abstract The Rep68 and Rep78 proteins of adeno-associated virus type-2 (AAV) are multifunctional DNA binding proteins which are involved in the positive and negative regulation of AAV genes, as well as various cellular and heterologous viral genes. In this study we report that Rep68 enhances expression from the major immediate early promoter (MIEP) of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). This Rep-mediated enhancement of RNA levels is abrogated by the introduction of a Rep recognition sequence (RRS) at either position −18 or −244 in the HCMV–MIEP. However, a mutant RRS (mRRS), which is not bound by Rep68 is unable to negate the effect of Rep68. Sequence analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed no Rep68 binding sites within the wild-type HCMV–MIEP. Rep68 may therefore be enhancing expression from the HCMV–MIEP by interacting with other regulatory proteins that have an effect on the expression from this promoter or by altering the expression of a cellular gene whose product influences the HCMV–MIEP. Our results may also help to explain the previous observation that coinfection with AAV enhances the cytopathic effect of HCMV.
GroEL/GroES-dependent Reconstitution of α2β2 Tetramers of Human Mitochondrial Branched Chain α-Ketoacid Decarboxylase: OBLIGATORY INTERACTION OF CHAPERONINS WITH AN αβ DIMERIC INTERMEDIATE *

Abstract The decarboxylase component (E1) of the human mitochondrial branched chain α-ketoacid dehydrogenase multienzyme complex (∼4–5 × 103 kDa) is a thiamine pyrophosphate-dependent enzyme, comprising two 45.5-kDa α subunits and two 37.8-kDa β subunits. In the present study, His6-tagged E1 α2β2 tetramers (171 kDa) denatured in 8 m urea were competently reconstituted in vitro at 23 °C with an absolute requirement for chaperonins GroEL/GroES and Mg-ATP. Unexpectedly, the kinetics for the recovery of E1 activity was very slow with a rate constant of 290 m −1 s−1. Renaturation of E1 with a similarly slow kinetics was also achieved using individual GroEL-α and GroEL-β complexes as combined substrates. However, the β subunit was markedly more prone to misfolding than the α in the absence of GroEL. The α subunit was released as soluble monomers from the GroEL-α complex alone in the presence of GroES and Mg-ATP. In contrast, the β subunit discharged from the GroEL-β complex readily rebound to GroEL when the α subunit was absent. Analysis of the assembly state showed that the His6-α and β subunits released from corresponding GroEL-polypeptide complexes assembled into a highly structured but inactive 85.5-kDa αβ dimeric intermediate, which subsequently dimerized to produce the active α2β2tetrameter. The purified αβ dimer isolated from Escherichia coli lysates was capable of binding to GroEL to produce a stable GroEL-αβ ternary complex. Incubation of this novel ternary complex with GroES and Mg-ATP resulted in recovery of E1 activity, which also followed slow kinetics with a rate constant of 138m −1 s−1. Dimers were regenerated from the GroEL-αβ complex, but they needed to interact with GroEL/GroES again, thereby perpetuating the cycle until the conversion from dimers to tetramers was complete. Our study describes an obligatory role of chaperonins in priming the dimeric intermediate for subsequent tetrameric assembly, which is a slow step in the reconstitution of E1 α2β2 tetramers.
"The awe in which biologists hold physicists": Frits Went's first phytotron at Caltech, and an experimental definition of the biological environment.

After Darwin, experimental biology sought to unravel organisms. By the early twentieth century, organisms were broadly conceived as the product of their heredity and their environment. Much historical work has explored the scientific attack on the genotype, particularly through the new science of genetics. This article explores the tandem efforts to assert experimental control over the environment in which plants grew and developed. The case described here concerns the creation of the first phytotron at Caltech by botanist and plant physiologist Frits Went. Opening in 1949, the phytotron was a plant laboratory that, across a series of rooms and chambers, kept genes constant while regulating and maintaining defined ranges of known environments. This article details the context in which the phytotron emerged, how the phytotron gained its sobriquet, and how it served to cement the “environment” as a category of biological knowledge. Describing the institutional context of Caltech, its interdisciplinary culture, and its encouragement of adopting technology into biological science, I argue that the phytotron and the commensurate category of the “environment” were the product of the familiar movement to integrate the physical and biological sciences. In addition, however, the creation of the phytotron was also a broader story of plant physiologists establishing a definition of the “environment” in both physical and technological terms.
Coronary arterial patterns in double-outlet right ventricle.

Abstract In patients with double-outlet right ventricle (DORV) in whom an arterial switch procedure is planned, knowledge of the origins and distribution of the coronary arteries is important to the surgeon. However, a description of the coronary arteries in DORV has only been reported in isolated cases.1–3 This study describes the patterns of coronary artery distribution in a relatively large group of hearts with DORV.
The Byr2 Kinase Translocates to the Plasma Membrane in a Ras1-Dependent Manner

The activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase cascades by the Ras GTPase is an evolutionarily conserved signal transduction mechanism. To better understand the interaction between Ras and its target kinase, we study the yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe where the Ras1 GTPase activates the Byr2 kinase. Cell fractionation and immunofluorescence showed that Ras1 was localized to the plasma membrane and that Byr2 was in the cytoplasm. When Ras1 was overexpressed, Byr2 was translocated to the plasma membrane. Byr2 translocation was dependent on binding to Ras1 since Ras1-V12, an activated mutant of Ras1, caused more Byr2 translocation than Ras1, since Ras1-D38E, an effector domain mutant, did not cause Byr2 translocation, and since the Ras1-binding domain of Byr2 was necessary and sufficient to cause Byr2 translocation. The Byr2 protein was usually not uniform around the plasma membrane, but was frequently enriched at the cell ends and at the region of septal deposition. This uneven membrane localization depended upon regions of the Byr2 regulatory domain, in addition to those required for Ras1 binding, suggesting that these Byr2 domains participate in protein-protein interactions.
Force and Length in the Mitotic Spindle

The mitotic spindle assembles to a steady-state length at metaphase through the integrated action of molecular mechanisms that generate and respond to mechanical forces. While molecular mechanisms that produce force have been described, our understanding of how they integrate with each other, and with the assembly/disassembly mechanisms that regulate length, is poor. We review current understanding of the basic architecture and dynamics of the metaphase spindle, and some of the elementary force-producing mechanisms. We then discuss models for force integration and spindle length determination. We also emphasize key missing data that notably include absolute values of forces and how they vary as a function of position within the spindle.
Activation of prophenoloxidase and inhibition of melanization in the haemolymph of immune Galleria mellonella larvae

Abstract After immunization of Galleria larvae with bacterial lipopolysaccharide, inhibition of haemolymph melanization developed parallel with antibacterial immunity. Failure of melanization was correlated with significantly decreased amounts of active cell-associated phenoloxidase (PO). In normal, nonimmune haemolymph, cellular PO originated from plasma proPO activated by, and largely attached to, the haemocytes; activation was maximal by 150 min. With immune haemolymph, such cellular activation of plasma proPO did not occur. Immune plasma proPO was activated by homogenization, but not by freeze-thawing. Normal plasma proPO was activated by freeze-thawing, but only to a very slight extent by homogenization. Mixing immune plasma with the freeze-thaw activated PO in normal plasma (1:2, v:v) caused a 37%, average reduction in PO activity. The results suggest that inhibition of melanization in immune Galleria haemolymph is caused by plasma factor(s) inhibiting the activation of plasma proPO by haemocytes.
MORPHOLOGY OF MARSILEA VESTITA. III. MORPHOGENESIS OF THE LEAVES OF ETIOLATED PLANTS

The laminae of etiolated Marsilea vestita leaves develop by means of marginal meristems. Unlike light-grown plants, the form of the etiolated plant is not affected by growth on a solid medium. All of the young leaves isolated from light-grown submerged plants will elongate in darkness. The smallest, etiolated, uncoiled leaves develop into land leaves when they are placed in light, and this development occurs regardless of whether the leaves remain on the plant or are isolated on nutrient agar. Only these smallest leaves (2.3 mm average length) are actually capable of being converted from a submerged leaf form to a land leaf form by darkness.