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TIMM50 is a core subunit of the TIM23 complex, the mitochondrial inner membrane translocase responsible for the import of pre-sequence-containing precursors into the mitochondrial matrix and inner membrane. Here we describe a mitochondrial disease patient who is homozygous for a novel variant in TIMM50 and establish the first proteomic map of mitochondrial disease associated with TIMM50 dysfunction. We demonstrate that TIMM50 pathogenic variants reduce the levels and activity of endogenous TIM23 complex, which significantly impacts the mitochondrial proteome, resulting in a combined oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) defect and changes to mitochondrial ultrastructure. Using proteomic data sets from TIMM50 patient fibroblasts and a TIMM50 HEK293 cell model of disease, we reveal that laterally released substrates imported via the TIM23SORT complex pathway are most sensitive to loss of TIMM50. Proteins involved in OXPHOS and mitochondrial ultrastructure are enriched in the TIM23SORT substrate pool, providing a biochemical mechanism for the specific defects in TIMM50-associated mitochondrial disease patients. These results highlight the power of using proteomics to elucidate molecular mechanisms of disease and uncovering novel features of fundamental biology, with the implication that human TIMM50 may have a more pronounced role in lateral insertion than previously understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the importance of understanding the relationship between data and energy consumption in order to achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050. The energy cost of 1GB of data is a complex issue with various interpretations and a lack of transparency in the data industry. The article traces the evolution of the energy consumption of 1GB and highlights the need for a standardized approach to calculating and reporting data energy consumption. Future research and increased transparency are necessary to develop a clearer understanding of the environmental impact of data and to support policy development. [Extracted from the article]

This exploratory study aimed to assess associations of baseline nutritional status and in-hospital step count with muscle quantity, quality, and function. Seventy-nine participants aged ≥70 years (mean age 79.1 years, 44.3% female) were recruited (elective colorectal surgery, emergency abdominal surgery, and general medical patients with infections). Baseline nutrition (Mini Nutritional Assessment) and in-hospital step count (Fitbit Inspire devices) were assessed. Ultrasound quadriceps, bioelectrical impedance analysis, and physical function were assessed at baseline and 7 (±2) days and 13 (±1) weeks post-admission/post-operatively. Baseline nutritional status was associated with baseline rectus femoris ultrasound echogenicity (normal: 58.5, at risk: 68.5, malnourished: 81.2; p = 0.025), bilateral anterior thigh thickness (normal: 5.07 cm, at risk: 4.03 cm, malnourished: 3.05 cm; p = 0.021), and skeletal muscle mass (Sergi equation) (normal: 21.6 kg, at risk: 18.2 kg, malnourished: 12.0 kg; p = 0.007). Step count was associated with baseline patient-reported physical function (<900 37.1, ≥900 44.5; p = 0.010). There was a significant interaction between nutrition, step count, and time for skeletal muscle mass (Janssen equation) (p = 0.022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollutants are being increasingly linked to extrapulmonary multi-organ effects. Specifically, recent studies associate air pollutants with brain disorders including psychiatric conditions, neuroinflammation and chronic diseases. Current evidence of the linkages between neuropsychiatric conditions and chronic peripheral immune and metabolic diseases provides insights on the potential role of the neuroendocrine system in mediating neural and systemic effects of inhaled pollutants (reactive particulates and gases). Autonomically-driven stress responses, involving sympathetic-adrenal-medullary and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axes regulate cellular physiological processes through adrenal-derived hormones and diverse receptor systems. Recent experimental evidence demonstrates the contribution of the very stress system responding to non-chemical stressors, in mediating systemic and neural effects of reactive air pollutants. The assessment of how respiratory encounter of air pollutants induce lung and peripheral responses through brain and neuroendocrine system, and how the impairment of these stress pathways could be linked to chronic diseases will improve understanding of the causes of individual variations in susceptibility and the contribution of habituation/learning and resiliency. This review highlights effects of air pollution in the respiratory tract that impact the brain and neuroendocrine system, including the role of autonomic sensory nervous system in triggering neural stress response, the likely contribution of translocated nano particles or metal components, and biological mediators released systemically in causing effects remote to the respiratory tract. The perspective on the use of systems approaches that incorporate multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors, including environmental, physiological and psychosocial, with the assessment of interactive neural mechanisms and peripheral networks are emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inhalation of ozone activates central sympathetic-adrenal-medullary and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress axes. While airway neural networks are known to communicate noxious stimuli to higher brain centers, it is not known to what extent responses generated from pulmonary airways contribute to neuroendocrine activation. Unlike inhalational exposures that involve the entire respiratory tract, we employed intratracheal (IT) instillations to expose only pulmonary airways to either soluble metal-rich residual oil fly ash (ROFA) or compressor-generated diesel exhaust particles (C-DEP). Male Wistar–Kyoto rats (12–13 weeks) were IT instilled with either saline, C-DEP or ROFA (5 mg/kg) and necropsied at 4 or 24 hr to assess temporal effects. IT-instillation of particulate matter (PM) induced hyperglycemia as early as 30-min and glucose intolerance when measured at 2 hr post-exposure. We observed PM- and time-specific effects on markers of pulmonary injury/inflammation (ROFA>C-DEP; 24 hr>4hr) as corroborated by increases in lavage fluid injury markers, neutrophils (ROFA>C-DEP), and lymphocytes (ROFA). Increases in lavage fluid pro-inflammatory cytokines differed between C-DEP and ROFA in that C-DEP caused larger increases in TNF-α whereas ROFA caused larger increases in IL-6. No increases in circulating cytokines occurred. At 4 hr, PM impacts on neuroendocrine activation were observed through depletion of circulating leukocytes, increases in adrenaline (ROFA), and decreases in thyroid-stimulating-hormone, T3, prolactin, luteinizing-hormone, and testosterone. C-DEP and ROFA both increased lung expression of genes involved in acute stress and inflammatory processes. Moreover, small increases occurred in hypothalamic Fkbp5, a glucocorticoid-sensitive gene. Respiratory alterations differed between C-DEP and ROFA, with ROFA inducing greater overall lung injury/inflammation; however, both PM induced a similar degree of neuroendocrine activation. These findings demonstrate neuroendocrine activation after pulmonary-only PM exposure, and suggest the involvement of pituitary- and adrenal-derived hormones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) interruptions are a common feature of people's work activity. In studying interruptions, researchers can understand how people manage and co-ordinate their work when faced with multiple, often competing, demands. However, CMC interruptions are characteristically different from each other and impact people's work performance in different ways. In this theoretical paper, we define and differentiate between computer-mediated communication (CMC) interruptions, according to the level of control people are able to exert over an interruption at different points in the delivery timeline. Informed by the extant interruptions literature and Action Regulation Theory, a classification framework is provided, to help researchers and work designers distinguish which types of real-world CMC interruption are more or less disruptive, based on levels of control. Using the developed framework, two key research propositions are made, which we encourage future research to attend to. Unique contributions and implications of this paper are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we present multi-dimensional mesoscale simulations of detonation initiation in energetic materials. We solve the reactive Euler equations, with the energy equation augmented by a power deposition term. The reaction rate at the mesoscale is modelled using density-based kinetics, while the deposition term is based on simulations of void collapse at the microscale, modelled at the mesoscale as hot spots. We carry out two- and three-dimensional mesoscale simulations of random packs of HMX crystals in a binder, and show that transition between no-detonation and detonation depends on the number density of the hot spots, the packing fraction, and the post-shock pressure of an imposed shock. In particular, we show that, for a fixed post-shock pressure, there exists a critical value of the number density of hot spots, such that when the number density is below this value a detonation wave will not develop. We highlight the importance of morphology to initiation by comparing with a homogeneous counterpart, and we compare relevant length scales by examining their corresponding power spectra. We also examine the effect of packing fraction and show that at low post-shock pressures there is significant variation in the initiation times, but that this variation disappears as the post-shock pressure is increased. Finally, we compare three-dimensional simulations with the experimental data, and show that the model is capable of qualitatively reproducing the trends shown in the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The epigenetic mechanisms underlying chemoresistance in cancer cells resulting from drug-induced reversible senescence are poorly understood. Chemoresistant ESC-like embryonal carcinoma PA1 cells treated with etoposide (ETO) were previously found to undergo prolonged G2 arrest with transient p53-dependent upregulation of opposing fate regulators, p21CIP1 (senescence) and OCT4A (self-renewal). Here we report on the analysis of the DNA methylation state of the distal enhancer (DE) and proximal enhancer (PE) of the Oct4A gene during this dual response. When compared to non-treated controls the methylation level increased from 1.3% to 12.5% and from 3% to 19.4%, in the DE and PE respectively. It included CpG and non-CpG methylation, which was not chaotic but presented two patterns in each enhancer. Discorrelating with methylation of enhancers, the transcription of Oct4A increased, however, a strong expression of the splicing form Oct4B was also induced, along with down-regulation of the Oct4A partners of in the pluripotency/self-renewal network Sox2 and Lin28. WB demonstrated disjoining of the OCT4A protein from the chromatin-bound fraction. In survival clones, methylation of the DE was considerably erased, while some remnant of methylation of the PE was still observed. The alternative splicing for Oct4B was reduced, Oct4A level insignificantly decreased, while the expression of Sox2 and Lin28 recovered, all three became proportionally above the control. These findings indicate the involvement of the transient patterned methylation of the Oct4A enhancers and alternative splicing in the adaptive regulation of cell fate choice during the p53-dependant dual state of reversible senescence in ESC-like cancer stem cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we present one- and two-dimensional mesoscale simulations of detonation initiation in energetic materials. We solve the reactive Euler equations, with the energy equation augmented by a power deposition term. The reaction rate at the mesoscale is modelled using a density-based kinetics scheme, adapted from standard ‘Ignition and Growth’ models. The deposition term is based on previous results of simulations of void collapse at the microscale, modelled at the mesoscale as hot spots. For an isolated hot spot in a homogeneous medium, it is found that a critical size of the hot spots exists. If the hot spots exceed the critical size, initiation of detonation can be achieved. For sub-critical hot-spot sizes, we show that it takes a collection of hot spots to achieve detonation. We also carry out two-dimensional mesoscale simulations of random packs of HMX crystals in a binder, and show that the transition between no detonation and detonation depends on the number density of the hot spots, the initial radius of the hot spot, the post-shock pressure of an imposed shock, and the amplitude of the power deposition term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Museums have a remit to inspire visitors. However, inspiration is a complex, subjective construct and analyses of inspiration are often laborious. Increased use of social media by museums and visitors may provide new opportunities to collect evidence of inspiration more efficiently. This research investigates the feasibility of a system based on knowledge patterns from FrameNet – a lexicon structured around models of typical experiences – to extract expressions of inspiration from social media. The study balanced interpretation of inspiration by museum staff and computational processing of Twitter data. This balance was achieved by using prototype tools to change a museum’s Information Systems in ways that both enabled the potential of new, social-media-based information sources to be assessed, and which caused the museum staff to reflect upon the nature of inspiration and its role in the relationships between the museum and its visitors. The prototype tools collected and helped analyse Twitter data related to two events. Working with museum experts, the value of finding expressions of inspiration in Tweets was explored and an evaluation using annotated content achieved an F-measure of 0.46, indicating that social mediamayhave some potential as a source of valuable information for museums, though this depends heavily upon how annotation exercises are conducted. These findings are discussed along with the wider implications of the role of social media in museums. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this work we investigate the initiation of detonations in energetic materials through thermal power deposition due to pore collapse. We solve the reactive Euler equations, with the energy equation augmented by a power deposition term. The deposition term is partially based on previous results of simulations of pore collapse at the microscale, modelled at the macroscale as hotspots. It is found that a critical size of the hotspots exists. If the hotspots exceed the critical size, direct initiation of detonation can be achieved even with a low power input, in contrast to the common assumption that a sufficient power is necessary to initiate detonation. We show that sufficient power is necessary only when the size of the hotspots is below the critical size. In this scenario, the so-called ‘explosion in the explosion’, the initial ignition does not lead to a detonation directly, but detonation occurs later as a result of shock-to-detonation transition in the region processed by the shock wave generated by the initial ignition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We examine a pore in an energetic material whose collapse following the passage of a strong genesis shock wave, the subsequent ignition of reactive gases within it produced by pyrolysis at the pore boundary, and the emission of shock waves as a consequence of this ignition, can lead to a detonation. The interest in such a problem arises from the interest in knowing the sensitivity and therefore the safe-handling protocol of energetic materials. We follow the initial pore collapse, before melting occurs, using rational analytical strategies, but to describe the later stages, with full coupling between the physics in the condensate and those in the pore cavity, we describe a numerical strategy. The results provide a description of the power deposition into the energetic material and lead to a power deposition model for the macro-scale, one that encompasses a number of pores. For suitable parameter choices, shock waves generated by the pores interact to form a detonation upstream of the genesis shock. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Technology acceptance in policing is under-researched, yet mobile devices are widely implemented across UK police forces. The paper validates a mobile technology acceptance model (M-TAM) developed in a single police force. It shows that the M-TAM is transferrable to other UK police forces, and potentially worldwide. The influence of local supervision and fit of technology to roles and tasks are shown to be the most influential factors. Factors beyond the technology itself, such as the influence of peers and involvement of operational officers in technology investment decisions, must be considered to accommodate the strong cultural barriers in policing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We pose the following question: ‘Within the context of the classical shrinking-core model for sub-micron aluminium combustion, allowing only for the diffusion of atomic oxygen (no aluminium diffusion), but with two non-classical ingredients (large Knudsen number heat losses to the ambient atmosphere and a fractal reacting surface), are the solutions consistent with four experimental facts and data sets: (i) burn times; (ii) particle temperatures; (iii) maximum temperatures independent of particle size for small Damköhler numbers; and (iv) also for small Damköhler numbers a burn law of the formd1 − ν–t(wheredis the particle diameter and ν ∼ 0.7 or so)?’ In the analysis we first consider a non-fractal model and scale the lengths with(whereis the diffusion coefficient andkis the reaction-rate constant) and time with(where ρ−is the aluminium density andcois a characteristic value of the O density within the alumina). Burn times are calculated which follow a lineard–tlaw for small values ofkL/D(L=D/2), the Damköhler number, and a quadraticd2–tlaw for large values of. Enhanced temperatures (greater than the ambient) arise for small values ofwith maximum values that are size independent. Since the small Damköhlerd–tlaw does not agree with experimental data, we introduce a fractal concept into the model, as this can generate a burn law of the observed form. However, we then find that the maximum temperature is not independent of particle size. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We revisit the shrinking-core model of sub-micron aluminum combustion with particular attention to the mass flux balance at the reaction front which necessarily leads to a displacement velocity of the alumina shell surrounding the liquid aluminum. For the planar problem this displacement simply leads to an equal displacement of the entire alumina layer, and therefore a straightforward mathematical framework can be constructed. In this way we are able to construct a single curve which defines the burn time for arbitrary values of the diffusion coefficient of O atoms, the reaction rate, the characteristic length of the combustion field, and the O atom mass concentration within the alumina provided that it is much smaller than the aluminum density. This demonstrates a transition between a ‘d 2–t’ law for fast chemistry and a ‘d–t’ law for slow chemistry. For the spherical geometry, the one of physical interest, the outward displacement velocity creates not a simple displacement, but a stress field which, when examined within the framework of linear elasticity, strongly suggests the creation of internal cracking. We note that if the molten aluminum is pushed into these cracks by the high internal pressure characteristic of the stress field, its surface, where reaction occurs, could be fractal in nature and affect the fundamental nature of the burning law. Indeed, if this ingredient is added to the planar model, a single curve for the burn time can again be derived, and this describes a transition from a ‘d 2–t’ law to a ‘d ν–t’ law, where 0<ν<1. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents an approach to locating experts within organisations through the use of the indispensable communication medium and source of information, email. The approach was realised through the email expert locator architecture developed by the authors, which uses email content in the modelling of individuals' expertise profiles. The approach has been applied to a real-world application, EKE, and evaluated using focus group sessions and system trials. In this work, the authors report the findings obtained from the focus groups sessions. The aim of the sessions was to obtain information about the participants' perceptions, opinions, underlying attitudes, and recommendations with regard to the notion of exploiting email content for expertise profiling. The paper provides a review of the various approaches to expertise location that have been developed and highlights the end-users' perspectives on the usability and functionality of EKE and the socio-ethical challenges raised by its adoption from an industrial perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review of empirical studies on the effects of electric transmission lines on property values. The primary purpose of these studies is to address the effects of the presence of transmission lines on the value of surrounding properties. The studies range from survey-based research that provides important context to regression analyses of sales data to less formal appraisal-based sales analyses. The surveys of market participants and real estate professionals found evidence of concern and at least in one survey, an assumption that such concern would impact property values. Others noted the unattractiveness of the transmission lines and structures. However, most of the regression-based sales price analyses found little or no effects on price. What effects that were found tended to dissipate with time and distance. Lastly, price analyses based on less formal paired sales and other techniques failed to find any effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have focused on the effect of military trade and defence spending on human rights, particularly the effect of US military aid in Latin America. Little is known, however, about the human rights effects of the proliferation of small arms and light weapons (SALW). Human rights groups, such as Amnesty International, are adamant that any future Arms Trade treaty ban small arms to risky environments. Using a unique dataset on small arms trade, we find that higher imports of small arms associates with lower respect for physical integrity rights and higher levels of state terror against citizens. This study establishes a direct empirical link between small arms imports and the violation of human rights, but this effect is substantively quite small. Since civil wars lead to very high levels of human rights violations and require large amounts of SALW, the overall impact of small arms on human rights is potentially quite large, vindicating demands of the NGO community for greater scrutiny of small arms trade. Moreover, we demonstrate that the effect of small arms among autocracies has a much higher risk of repression than among democracies, which is a salient entry point for global policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If pyrrhic victory had an antonym, it would describe a loss with dramatic yet unanticipated benefits, a victory disguised as defeat. This essay's central assertion is the Vietnam War was a geopolitical victory for the United States. The war was a victory disguised as defeat. Nicholas Spykman's analysis of the United States' geopolitical position in America's Strategy in World Politics is applied along with older and post-Cold War Vietnam War historiography. Saul Cohen's maritime conception of the Cold War is also employed. The 1965 American ground force intervention in Vietnam geopolitically secured Indonesia in the Western strategic-economic orbit in the Cold War. The unanticipated benefit, making the Vietnam War pyrrhic victory's antonym, is the intervention's role in the movement of the Sino-American relationship from that of enemy to rapprochement to tacit alliance in the 1970s. This movement illustrates a recent historiographical assertion the war intensified communist bloc fractures beyond repair, reoriented international politics, and made a major contribution to the US Cold War victory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sceptics of globalization attribute the proliferation of light weapons to economic openness. Increasing globalization apparently weakens public authority, leading to social disarray, anomic violence, and general conditions that make handgun ownership and use more likely. Pro-globalists might argue contrarily that trade openness can raise the premium on peace as violence is bad for business. Moreover, greater interdependence allows the diffusion of anti-proliferation norms and facilitates cooperative behavior among trading partners for stemming the demand for and proliferation of small arms. Using a unique dataset on small arms imports, we find that greater openness to trade and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) lowers small arms imports per capita. A policy measure of economic freedom is associated with higher small arms imports, but this association seems to be explained entirely by the association between economic freedom and strong bureaucracies. States that are de facto more open to the global trading system are less likely to be inundated with these weapons, but richer, better-governed countries import more small arms. Global policy should pay closer attention to the seepage of these weapons from the relatively wealthy, who manufacture and buy them in larger quantities, to the poor, among whom the 'problems' associated with small arms are often manifested. Curbing those factors that encourage globalization, however, would be counterproductive to reducing the trade in small arms and light weapons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) is approved by the FDA for treatment of both epilepsy and depression. Recent work has shown that VNS acutely affects pain perception in humans, actually increasing pain sensitivity momentarily while the device is firing. It is unclear how this acutely increased sensitivity might change over time with treatment and how it might relate to longer-term therapeutic effects of VNS on pain. We describe a patient with treatment-resistant depression and a history of severe lumbar degenerative disease with resultant chronic low back pain. His depression and pain symptoms both seemed to respond to VNS. He eventually stopped all medications and remained depression and pain free for 35 months with no change in his device settings. Sixty-six months after VNS implantation and 64 months after his initial clinical antidepressant response, under single-blind conditions, we performed quantitative sensory testing with laboratory thermal pain procedures during acute VNS-on and -off conditions. Interestingly, despite a significant and profound anti-nociceptive clinical response for the previous 35 months, he had significant increases in painfulness ratings while the VNS device was actively firing compared with device-off conditions. This case suggests that VNS-induced acute increases in pain sensitivity can coexist with a clinical anti-nociceptive response. If the acutely increased sensitivity sets the stage for the slower chronic anti-pain effects, the increased acute sensitivity does not disappear. Acute and chronic effects of VNS on pain perception merit further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil moisture is an important hydrologic variable in both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Recent experiments, based on remote sensing data, provided observations of soil moisture distributions at a regional scale. One of the instruments is the Electronically Scanned Thinned Array Radiometer (ESTAR). Deployed on the aircraft, it measures brightness temperature (with the spatial resolution about 400 m) that can be converted into estimates of volumetric soil moisture. The soil moisture retrieval algorithm requires additional data layers (like soil physical temperature, land cover, and soil texture) that come from different sources and have to be combined together in a uniform GIS. The objective of this paper is to report results of the GIS use to map soil surface moisture from passive microwave measurements and to quantify spatial structure of soil moisture distributions. The data were collected across a 10 000 km[sup 2] area in Oklahoma during June and July 1997. The precipitation data and ground measurements from the test sites were also incorporated into GIS. The GIS data layers enable soil moisture distribution analysis with geostatistical tools. Semi-variograms of soil moisture were nested and showed the presence of two scales. Rainfall was the dominant factor influencing soil moisture distribution at the regional scale, whereas soil texture was important at the local scale. Information about soil moisture, obtained with remote sensing techniques over space and time, and organized in a GIS with complementary environmental data layers, can be used in landscape pattern analysis, landscape models, land use assessment and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fermentation studies investigated the effects of pectolase (P) percentages (0 ° , 0.15 ° , 0.5 ° , 1 ° ) at varying incubation periods (1 h, 4 h, 24 h) at 23 ± 1 ° C on physicochemical, microbiological and sensory qualities of banana wines. Addition of enzyme had no effects ( p > 0.05) on percentage wine yield, degrees Brix, percentage alcohol, sulphur dioxide (SO[sub 2]), pH or titratable acidity except for ( p < 0.05) colour, volatile acidity and tannin content. Longer incubation period resulted in changes in all parameters ( p < 0.05) except degrees Brix, percentage alcohol and pH. Wines with 1% P (4 h) and 1% P (24 h) were judged as standard wines. Wine quality was stable for most parameters during storage at 22-25 ° C for 4 months with better clarity and lower SO[sub 2]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the effects of environmental contamination on the sales prices of industrial properties. Two general questions are addressed. The first is the extent to which sales prices may be impacted by contamination. The second is whether sales price effects due to contamination persist subsequent to the remediation of previously contaminated industrial properties. Using data on industrial property sales in Southern California, this study estimates sales price models that address these two questions. The results show that there are statistically significant impacts on property values in the period before and during remediation, but that these effects dissipate subsequent to cleanup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the risk perceptions of commercial and industrial mortgage lenders related to environmental contamination. Two research questions are addressed. The first is whether perceived risks vary with a property's remediation/ cleanup status. The second is whether market conditions have an intervening effect on environmental risk. An analysis of national lender survey data found significant differences in perceived risk before, during and after cleanup, with most lenders unwilling to make a loan before cleanup and a majority willing to lend at typical rates and terms after cleanup. The study also found that strong market demand significantly reduces environmental risk while weak demand increases these risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature reviewed in this article reflects the degree to which practitioners and academics are having difficulty in arriving at consistent findings as to the effect of environmental contamination on real estate. The valuation literature in this category deals with appraisal methods, but does not develop a consensus view. The empirical sales price literature is also inconsistent, with disagreement over the existence and magnitude of price impacts, persistence of these impacts and other issues. The article concludes by summarizing the results of these studies with respect to contamination source, effect on sales price, persistence and intervening factors such as strong or weak market conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of studies was undertaken to determine possible factors contributing to low predictive utility for Felt Figure Replacement Technique (FFRT) scores from normal, adult males. It was first postulated that normal adult males, compared to normal adult females, are less sensitive to social cues present in the FFRT task. Twenty-six undergraduate males and the same number of undergraduate females were asked to replace both a) department store manikins, thought to be less abstract, and then b) felt figures. While task differences were obtained, these were not dependent on gender, nor did any overall gender differences occur for three types of replacement error. The second study involved 31 college males and 33 college females replacing both felt figures and a male and female confederate. It was assumed that differential attention to social cues would be more visible in this comparison. The general results were identical to the first study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conclusions from an earlier study testing the validity of the Felt Figure Replacement Technique (FFRT) were questioned and three new measures of FFRT performance were developed. The reliability of these three measures, and the conventional measure of distance error, was checked using a sample of 54 female and 49 male undergraduates at Oregon State University. These subjects also completed an established personality inventory. Three of the four FFRT measures tested proved to be reliable, and it was found that models combining the three reliable FFRT measures could yield successful predictions on the personality dimensions for females but not for males; although males and females perform similarly on the FFRT. Both groups made the same kinds of errors relative to the standard placement. Also, males and females differ on only one of the three reliable FFRT measures. It was concluded that the FFRT may yet prove a valuable assessment approach, and the implications of these conclusions for personality assessment were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a design replication of Dovidio and Morris' study, the effects of stress and commonality of fate on helping behavior were examined. Ss were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: high stress/common fate (n = 15), high stress/dissimilar fate (n = 15), or low stress/common fate (n = 15), or low stress/dissimilar fate (n = 15). While the initial study involved male Ss, the present study involved females in order to assess the generality of the original findings. Other aspects of the original experiment were repeated as closely as possible. Consistent with the original study, a significant interaction was found, indicating that Ss were more helpful under conditions of high stress and common fate. Results also revealed a greater overall amount of helping behavior than that found by Dovidio and Morris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a previous analysis, the stability of a premixed flame in a stagnation point How was discussed for a restricted class of disturbances that are self-similar to the basic undisturbed flow. Thus, flame fronts with corrugations only in the cross stream direction have been considered. In this paper, we consider a more general class of three-dimensional flame front perturbations, which permits corrugations in the streamwise direction as well. It is shown that, because of the stretch experienced by the flame, the hydrodynamic instability is limited only to disturbances of short wavelength. If, in addition, diffusion effects have a stabilizing influence, as would be the case for mixtures with Lewis number greater than one, a stretched flame could be absolutely stable. Instabilities occur when the Lewis number is below some critical value less than one. Neutral stability boundaries are presented in terms of the Lewis number, the strain rate and the appropriate wavenumbers. Beyond the stability threshold, the two-dimensional, self-similar modes always grow first. However, if disturbances of long wavelength are excluded, it is possible for the three-dimensional modes to be the least stable ones. Accordingly, the pattern that will be observed on the flame front, at the onset of the instability, will consist of either ridges in the direction of stretch, or the more common three-dimensional cellular structure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The behavior of 537 male and female users of windows at a drive-up bank was investigated by observing: (a) length of time spent approaching teller window, (b) whether machine or personal contact was chosen, (c) length of time spent at the window, and (d) characteristics of individuals in the vehicles. The results indicate that male drivers with same sex passengers had significantly (p < .05) faster approach lane time and window times than other groups. The drivers also tended not to use window lanes that were too far removed from the teller. The results are considered in terms of interpersonal contact of the driver with both the teller and passengers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the assumption, gleaned from several locus of control studies, that "expectancy" and "experience" are interchangeable constructs. All subjects were given the Health Locus of Control Scale (HLC) and the Tiffany Experienced Control Scales (EC). Factor analysis revealed that the scores of the HLC (as a variant of locus of control) did not load on the four main factors of the EC. These results do not support other locus of control studies concerning the interchangeability of expectancy and experience. These results also provide emphasis for the further clarification of the relationships of these two constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

29 Ss were assigned to one of 3 treatment conditions and treated for their cigarette smoking over a 2-week period. These conditions were: group rapid smoking, group hypnosis, and an attention-placebo control group. All treatments produced significant reductions in average daily smoking rates during the treatment phase but all Ss returned to near baseline levels of smoking by the 6-week follow-up. The rapid smoking and hypnosis groups did not differ from the control group in smoking rates at treatment termination or at the 6-week follow-up. They also did not differ from the control group in the number of Ss abstaining from smoking by treatment termination but did differ at follow-up. Eventually, at the 9-month follow-up, only Ss from the group rapid smoking condition had significantly more abstainers than the control group. The results suggested that rapid smoking can work as effectively in group procedures as previous individualized approaches had demonstrated. Group hypnosis, while less effective than some previous individualized approaches had indicated, was nevertheless only marginally less effective than the group rapid smoking procedure. The use of abstinence rates as opposed to average rates of smoking was strongly recommended as the best measure of treatment effectiveness for future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The hypothesis that changes in oral temperature are associated with neutral hypnotic induction was investigated using neutral hypnosis and a high motivation condition as controls. 33 Ss were assigned to 3 experimental conditions: (1) neutral hypnotic induction, (2) high motivation control, and (3) no treatment control. Ss in all 3 conditions received pre-and post-treatment oral temperature measurements after a 20-minute temperature stabilization period. Ss exposed to the neutral hypnotic induction condition showed a significantly greater increase in oral temperature as compared to Ss in both the high motivation and no treatment control conditions. Ss in the latter 2 conditions did not differ from each other in this regard. The methodological considerations of future research in this area are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information on the 8th European Workshop on Cell Death (EWCD) that was held in Monêtier-les-Bains, Serre Chevalier Valley, France on June 3-8, 2012 is presented. The sessions in this bi-annual conference focused on topics such as death receptor signaling, inflammation, pattern-recognition receptors and tumor therapy. The event also featured several researchers including Conor Kearney, Stephen Tait and Sarah Pensa.

The authors present a case of Behçet disease presenting with frosted branch angiitis. Frosted branch angiitis is a rare clinical finding and there are only two reported cases in the literature associated with Behçet disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the differing attitudes toward people who have acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) through given experimental conditions. In their study C. Leone and C. Wingate concluded that the participants felt most positively about the person who had hemophilia because they perceived that this person did not have any control over contracting AIDS. The participants felt more negatively about the homosexual person because of societal prejudice, and most negatively about the IV drug user because they perceived that the IV drug user had control over contracting AIDS. In the present research researchers extended Leone and Wingate's study by adding a fourth experimental condition: a person who had AIDS was described as heterosexual with a history of more than one monogamous sexual relationship. Researchers hypothesized that even though the heterosexual person had perceived control over contracting AIDS, the participants would be more empathetic toward this person because of the similarity of their lifestyles.

In investigating the relationship between altruism and dishonesty, Newman (1979) considered two contrasting possibilities, that they are (a) extremes of the same theoretical variable or (b) two separate variables influenced by different factors. Newman recorded subjects' responses to a naturalistic situation and found that altruism and dishonesty tended to act as two separate variables influenced by different variables such that, as the probability for altruistic behavior increases, the probability of dishonest behavior may or may not change. The present study replicated Newman's methodology. A female confederate dropped either a quarter (25¢) or a nickle (5¢) while approaching a subject (N = 48 men and 48 women, either students on a small midwestern college campus or members of the public in the main business area of a midwestern city). An observer recorded whether the subject ignored the dropped coin, picked it up and kept it, or picked it up and returned it to the confederate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present experiment was an intersubject design replication: it exposed different Ss to procedures similar to those used in the original study. In order to increase power, the number of Ss was increased from 64 to 80. All Ss were again female undergraduate students, and all were randomly assigned to one of the eight conditions resulting from a 2 (Justification) × 2 (Nonverbal Display) × 2 (Verbal Self-Disclosure) ANOVA. Ss read a typed description of a female college student depicted as upset while waiting at an airport. Since the original descriptions were not available, the scenarios used were based upon information taken from the original article and from information provided over the telephone by Donald J. Woods. After reading the description, the Ss rated, traits of the model on eight seven-point scales similar to those used by Woods and Brooks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Trochlear calcification: a common entity" by R. K. Sobel and S. M. Goldstein in a 2012 issue.