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Toxic behavior in online video games is frequent and problematic. Previous research has linked toxic behavior with worsened performance. No study, however, has investigated a causal relationship be...

Despite the loss of much-loved bricks and mortar retailers, little has been said about how shopping contributes to well-being. Yet notions of social connectivity and cultural participation figure i...

The Sulawesi subspecies of the Philippine Megapode, Megapodius cumingii gilbertii, most commonly lays its eggs in decaying roots of dead trees. We measured 14 environmental variables describing the dead tree and surrounding forest at incubation sites and random points in the Tangkoko-DuaSudara Nature Reserve, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Incubation sites were not selected randomly by the Philippine Megapode but were located in areas with specific environmental characteristics. A Discriminant Function Analysis produced a clear separation between incubation sites and random points based primarily on ten variables. Relative to random points, incubation sites were located at the base of very large dead trees, disproportionately Alstonia ranvolfia, with their trunks standing and unbroken, and root plates in the ground. Incubation sites were in areas that were less disturbed than random points, with a relatively high and closed canopy, more large trees, and a less dense understorey. We consider that variables associated with incubation sites provide in situ a large biomass of decaying roots (for heat generation from microbial decomposition) while being under a closed canopy (for protection from desiccation and fluctuations in air temperature). Research is required into the effects of habitat modification on the Philippine Megapode and other members of the Megapodiidae. Until such studies are undertaken, we recommend that resource managers protect areas of relatively undisturbed mature closed forest in order to conserve the Philippine Megapode.

Objectives: To study the pharmacokinetics of lithium chloride administered intravenously to patients who had undergone cardiac surgery within the previous 12 h and to normal volunteers, since lithium is used in a new indicator dilution method for measuring cardiac output. Methods: A prospective study was carried out in a London teaching hospital. Lithium chloride was administered intravenously and blood samples taken at intervals for up to one hour. Plasma lithium levels were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and standard pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated. Results: Two groups of patients were investigated; the first (n = 10) received five doses of 0.6 mmol LiCl at 2 min intervals, the second (n = 10) a single dose of 0.6 mmol LiCl. A further group of six normal volunteers also received a single dose of 0.6 mmol LiCl. Biexponential curves were fitted to the data. For the three groups the half-lives of the first exponentials (T1/2α) were 3.3, 4.2 and 3.9 min, resp...

pip92 is a cellular immediate-early gene inducible by serum growth factors in fibroblasts. It is also induced in the rat pheochromocytoma cell line PC12 by agents that cause proliferation, neuronal differentiation, and membrane depolarization. We show that the pip92-encoded polypeptide is a proline-rich protein of 221 amino acids, has an extremely short half-life, and is localized in the cytoplasm. We hypothesize that Pip92 plays a role in mediating the cellular responses to a variety of extracellular signals.

The manner in which CAFs have been applied to cargo carried by lines appears to be both arbitrary and secretive. This note intends to give some clarification as to how the CAF is calculated and the manner in which it is applied. The operation of the two methods, i.e. the monthly review and the radical review, is merely a device which enables conferences to adjust effective charges so as to leave lines without a loss in real revenue, although minor losses and gains will be inevitable as the operation of the CAFs take time to be implemented. Finally it is hoped to point out the volatilc nature of CAF changes impinges upon the uncertainty of lines' costs.

Instrumental methods for determination of wort color and turbidity either previously proposed or currently in use were reviewed. New techniques developed included a wort-color calibration based on ...

We isolated a group of genes that are rapidly and transiently induced in 3T3 cells by tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate (TPA). These genes are called TIS genes (for TPA-inducible sequences). Epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), and TPA activated TIS gene expression with similar induction kinetics. TPA pretreatment to deplete protein kinase C activity did not abolish the subsequent induction of TIS gene expression by epidermal growth factor or fibroblast growth factor; both peptide mitogens can activate TIS genes through a protein kinase C-independent pathway(s). We also analyzed TIS gene expression in three TPA-nonproliferative variants (3T3-TNR2, 3T3-TNR9, and A31T6E12A). The results indicate that (i) modulation of a TPA-responsive sodium-potassium-chloride transport system is not necessary for TIS gene induction either by TPA or by other mitogens and (ii) TIS gene induction is not sufficient to guarantee a proliferative response to mitogenic stimulation.

The purpose of this paper is to consider some of the issues arising from currency fluctuations or currency disparities and in particular their effects upon freight earnings through the application of a currency adjustment factor (CAF). The operation of CAFs has been a source of great concern to shippers and shipper's councils since their introduction some seven years ago. The basis of this concern has been the widening differential of applicable CAFs as a surcharge on basic freight rates. The CAF system has been regarded by many as iniquitous and punitive. Conferences have been accused of insulating themselves from currency losses due to exchange-rate variability consequent upon the introduction of flexible exchange rates in 1971. However, this mounting pressure has brought the operation of the CAF formula under close scrutiny especially from four sources. (a) Some member Councils of the European Shippers' Council (ESC). (b) The Japanese Shippers' Council (JSC). (c) The question of the legality of differe...

Summary The growth of seedlings of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.) was studied at different soil nitrogen levels. At all nitrogen levels, and at all stages of growth studied, perennial ryegrass seedlings produced more dry matter than cocksfoot. After the initial two-weeks period, the dry-matter production ratio of perennial ryegrass to cocksfoot was greater at the lower levels of nitrogen than at the higher. At high nitrogen levels the relative growth rates of the two species were similar, but at lower nitrogen levels the relative growth rate of perennial ryegrass was significantly greater than that of cocksfoot in the second two weeks of growth, and significantly less than that of cocksfoot in the fourth two weeks of growth. The results are discussed in relation to early competition as affected by soil nitrogen, light, and temperature, between these two species in pasture mixtures.