All that you can be: stereotyping of self and others in a military context

The authors tested the shifting standards model (M. Biernat, M. Manis, & T. E. Nelson, 1991) as it applies to sex- and race-based stereotyping of self and others in the military. U. S. Army officers attending a leadership training course made judgments of their own and their groupmates' leadership competence at 3 time points over a 9-week period. We examined the effects of officer sex and race on both subjective (rating) and objective/common-rule (ranking/Q-sort) evaluations. Stereotyping generally increased with time, and in accordance with the shifting standards model, pro-male judgment bias was more evident in rankings than in ratings, particularly for White targets. Self-judgments were also affected by sex-based shifting standards, particularly in workgroups containing a single ("solo") woman. Differential standard use on the basis of race was less apparent, a finding attributed to the Army's explicit invocation against the use of differential race-based standards.     

Analogues of capsaicin with agonist activity as novel analgesic agents: structure-activity studies. 4. Potent, orally active analgesics

Structural features of three regions of the capsaicin molecule necessary for agonist properties were delineated by a previously reported modular approach. These in vitro agonist effects were shown to correlate with analgesic potency in rodent models. Combination of optimal structural features from each of these regions of the capsaicin molecule have led to highly potent agonists (eg., 1b). Evaluation in vivo established that 1b had analgesic properties but poor oral activity, short duration of action, and excitatory side effects which precluded further development of this compound. Preliminary metabolism studies had shown that the phenol moiety of 1b was rapidly glucuronidated in vivo, providing a possible explanation for the poor pharmacokinetic profile. Subsequent specific modification of the phenol group led to compounds 2a-j, which retained in vitro potency. The in vivo profiles of two representatives of this series, 2a,h, were much improved over the "parent" phenol series, and they are candidates for development as analgesic agents.     

Roald Amundsen--a study of personality

Roald Amundsen is the most famous of the Norwegian polar explorers. His ancestors came from a group of islands south-east of the Oslofjord. From being fishermen and sailors, they progressed to becoming captains and shipowners in the course of two generations. Amundsen's father, Jens, stayed at sea until his ship went down with all the crew. Roald was 14 years of age at the time, the youngest of four competing brothers. Jens had left the close-knit local family community before that, and bought a flat in the capital, Oslo, so that his sons could get a better education. Roald's mother wanted him to study medicine. He did as she wished for a time, but was not at all interested. When his mother died, he abruptly left the university and went to sea, which had been the tradition in his family for decades. As a young boy he was an admirer of Sir John Franklin and his explorers of the Northwest Passage. Fridtjof Nansen became his ideal. The biographies about Roald Amundsen are very diverging--some hold him a hero, others reflect a strongly critical attitude. Here, the author tries to define his personality and places him firmly within the narcissistic domain. His tendency to seek the company of married women, but to take immediate flight when they really became interested reflects an Oedipus complex from before puberty. The tragic death of his father, the sea captain, may have been a supposition; puberty can be seen as a period of coping with ambivalence towards an earlier idealized father. His genius combined ambitious goals with a sharp eye for details as regards the equipment used in his expeditions. In his travels in the Arctic and the Antartic he was driven forward by the energy of the nation. His heroic death, trying to save his earlier "enemy", Nobile, was probably caused by an urge for self-destruction.     

CHL1 encodes a component of the low-affinity nitrate uptake system in Arabidopsis and shows cell type-specific expression in roots

The Arabidopsis CHL1 (AtNRT1) gene confers sensitivity to the herbicide chlorate and encodes a nitrate-regulated nitrate transporter. However, how CHL1 participates in nitrate uptake in plants is not yet clear. In this study, we examined the in vivo function of CHL1 with in vivo uptake measurements and in situ hybridization experiments. Under most conditions tested, the amount of nitrate uptake by a chl1 deletion mutant was found to be significantly less than that of the wild type. This uptake deficiency was reversed when a CHL1 cDNA clone driven by the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter was expressed in transgenic chl1 plants. Furthermore, tissue-specific expression patterns showed that near the root tip, CHL1 mRNA is found primarily in the epidermis, but further from the root tip, the mRNA is found in the cortex or endodermis. These results are consistent with the involvement of CHL1 in nitrate uptake at different stages of root cell development. A functional analysis in Xenopus oocytes indicated that CHL1 is a low-affinity nitrate transporter with a K(m) value of approximately 8.5 mM for nitrate. This finding is consistent with the chlorate resistance phenotype of chl1 mutants. However, these results do not fit the current model of a single, constitutive component for the low-affinity uptake system. To reconcile this discrepancy and the complex uptake behavior observed, we propose a "two-gene" model for the low-affinity nitrate uptake system of Arabidopsis.     

Analogues of capsaicin with agonist activity as novel analgesic agents; structure-activity studies. 3. The hydrophobic side-chain "C-region"

Structural variants of the hydrophobic side chain ("C region") of the capsaicin molecule have been incorporated into a series of vanillylamides and vanillylthioureas. These compounds have been tested in an in vitro assay for agonism (45Ca2+ influx into dorsal root ganglia neurones), previously shown to be predictive of analgesic activity. The results of this study have established the requirement for a hydrophobic substituent of limited size (molar refractivity, MR, < 55) in order to obtain high potency. Combination of the information gained here about the "C-region" of the capsaicin molecule with the studies described in the preceding two papers provides a rational basis for the design of compounds of increased potency.     

Differential effects of elevated potassium ion concentration and of theophylline on growth hormone release by rat adenohypophyses in vitro

The effects of 27 mM K+ and of 6.7 mM theophylline on the release of growth hormone (GH) by rat hemipituitaries in vitro were investigated using bioassay (rat tibia test) and radioimmunoassay (RIA). Both agents markedly increased the release of immunoreactive GH. High K+ also promoted the release of bioactive GH but to a much lesser degree than RIA-GH. Theophylline did not consistently affect the release of bioassay-detectable GH. The results suggest that these agents promote massive release of a form of immunoreactive GH (possibly "immature") that has little or no activity in the bioassay. Theophylline is relatively more effective in this regard than is elevated K+.     

The amount of information and the volume of ‘information tare’

A distinction is suggested between the notions ‘information tare’, the role of which is played by the signals or letters forming the message, and ‘information’, which may be contained in such messages. It is shown that Shannon's definition of the amount of information is, in fact, the definition of the volume of information tare, whereas the amount of information itself may be measured as the volume of information tare of the maximally compact message used for its recording. This allows one to express both the volume of information tare, H, and the amount of information, B, in the same units of measurement–bits–and for any message B≤H. Some consequences of these views are analysed.     

Minimizing photodecomposition of flavin adenine dinucleotide fluorescence by the use of pulsed LEDs

Dynamic alterations in flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) fluorescence permit insight into energy metabolism‐dependent changes of intramitochondrial redox potential. Monitoring FAD fluorescence in living tissue is impeded by photobleaching, restricting the length of microfluorimetric recordings. In addition, photodecomposition of these essential electron carriers negatively interferes with energy metabolism and viability of the biological specimen. Taking advantage of pulsed LED illumination, here we determined the optimal excitation settings giving the largest fluorescence yield with the lowest photobleaching and interference with metabolism in hippocampal brain slices. The effects of FAD bleaching on energy metabolism and viability were studied by monitoring tissue pO₂, field potentials and changes in extracellular potassium concentration ([K⁺]_o). Photobleaching with continuous illumination consisted of an initial exponential decrease followed by a nearly linear decay. The exponential decay was significantly decelerated with pulsed illumination. Pulse length of 5 ms was sufficient to reach a fluorescence output comparable to continuous illumination, whereas further increasing duration increased photobleaching. Similarly, photobleaching increased with shortening of the interpulse interval. Photobleaching was partially reversible indicating the existence of a transient nonfluorescent flavin derivative. Pulsed illumination decreased FAD photodecomposition, improved slice viability and reproducibility of stimulus‐induced FAD, field potential, [K⁺]_o and pO₂ changes as compared to continuous illumination.     

动态不确定环境下的决策：一种分层决策模型

本文提出一种智能体分层决策结构模型，试图通过分层决策技术有效地解决动态、不确定环境中的智能体的实时决策问题。本模型的高层采用BDI结构，以便为较长期任务的规划和推理提供充分的支持；模型的底层采用反应式结构，以保证对短期实时任务的及时响应。实验结果表明了这种分层模型在某些复杂任务领域中的有效性。     

High-dose thiotepa and etoposide-based regimens with autologous hematopoietic support for high-risk or recurrent CNS tumors in children and adults

The prognosis in patients with primary brain tumors treated with surgery, radiotherapy and conventional chemotherapy remains poor. To improve outcome, combination high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) has been explored in children, but rarely in adults. This study was performed to determine the tolerability of three-drug combination high-dose thiotepa (T) and etoposide (E)-based regimens in pediatric and adult patients with high-risk or recurrent primary brain tumors. Thirty-one patients (13 children and 18 adults) with brain tumors were treated with high-dose chemotherapy: 19 with BCNU (B) and TE (BTE regimen), and 12 with carboplatin (C) and TE (CTE regimen). Patients received growth factors and hematopoietic support with marrow (n = 15), peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPC) (n = 11) or both (n = 5). The 100 day toxic mortality rate was 3% (1/31). Grade III/IV toxicities included mucositis (58%), hepatitis (39%) and diarrhea (42%). Five patients had seizures and two had transient encephalopathy (23%). All patients had neutropenic fever and all pediatric patients required hyperalimentation. Median time to engraftment with absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >0.5 x 10(9)/l was 11 days (range 8-37 days). Time to ANC engraftment was significantly longer (P = 0.0001) in patients receiving marrow (median 14 days, range 10-37) than for PBPC (median 9.5 days, range 8-10). Platelet engraftment >50 x 10(9)/l was 24 days (range 14-53 days) in children. In adults, platelet engraftment >20 x 10(9)/l was 12 days (range 9-65 days). In 11 patients supported with PBPC, there was a significant inverse correlation between CD34+ dose and days to ANC (rho = -0.87, P = 0.009) and platelet engraftment (rho = -0.85, P = 0.005), with CD34+ dose predicting time to engraftment following HDC. Overall, 30% of evaluable patients (7/24) had a complete response (CR) (n = 3) or partial response (PR) (n = 4). Median time to tumor progression (TTP) was 7 months, with an overall median survival of 12 months. These TE-based BCNU or carboplatin three-drug combination HDC regimens are safe and tolerable with promising response rates in both children and older adults.