Excited states of OH-(H₂O)n clusters for n = 1-4: an ab initio study.

Equation of motion coupled cluster calculations were performed on various structures of OH in clusters with one, two, three, and four water molecules to determine the energies of valence and charge transfer states. Motivation for these calculations is to understand the absorption spectrum of OH in water. Previous calculations on these species have confirmed that the longer wavelength transition observed is due to the A((2)∑) ← X((2)∏) valence transition, while the shorter wavelength transition is due to a charge-transfer from H2O to OH.

Effects of a novel CB1 agonist on visual attention in male rats: role of strategy and expectancy in task accuracy.

The effects of cannabinoid CB1 agonists (including Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive component of marijuana) on attention are uncertain, with reports of impairments, no effects, and occasionally performance enhancements. To better understand these effects, we sought to uncover a role of changing online (within-session) strategy as a possible mediator of the effects of the novel, potent CB1 agonist AM 4054, on a model of sustained attention in male Sprague-Dawley rats. In this operant, two-choice reaction time (RT) task, AM 4054 decreased accuracy in an asymmetric manner; that is, performance was spared on one lever but impaired on the other.

Systematics and position of Nephrops among the lobsters.

This chapter presents and explains the position of Nephrops norvegicus in the classification of lobsters. Covered, in order, are systematic classification of Nephrops, taxonomic history of Nephrops, and analysis of Nephrops in nephropid phylogeny. The genus Nephrops was erected by Leach in 1814 and has a long and interesting taxonomic history.

Evolution of Type II Antifreeze Protein Genes in Teleost Fish: A Complex Scenario Involving Lateral Gene Transfers and Episodic Directional Selection.

I examined hypotheses about lateral transfer of type II antifreeze protein (AFP) genes among "distantly" related teleost fish. The effects of episodic directional selection on amino acid evolution were also investigated. The strict consensus results showed that the type II AFP and type II antifreeze-like protein genes were transferred from Osmerus mordax to Clupea harengus, from the ancestral lineage of the Brachyopsis rostratus-Hemitripterus americanus clade to the ancestor of the Hypomesus nipponensis-Osmerus mordax group and from the ancestral lineage of Brachyopsis rostratus-Hemitripterus americanus-Siniperca chuatsi-Perca flavescens to Perca flavescens.

Reports of the death of CB1 antagonists have been greatly exaggerated: recent preclinical findings predict improved safety in the treatment of obesity.

CB1 antagonists, including rimonabant (SR 141716A), hold considerable therapeutic potential in the reduction of appetite and lipogenesis and in improving the metabolic profile of obese individuals and those with diabetes. However, rimonabant has not been approved in the USA because of its numerous side-effects, including depression and anxiety. Because of this, it is expected that fewer attempts will be made to introduce CB1 antagonists into the market.

Remains of War: Walt Whitman, Civil War Soldiers, and the Legacy of Medical Collections.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine holds a collection of anatomical specimens from nearly 2,000 soldiers injured during the American Civil War. Originally collected as part of a study of trauma and disease during war, these specimens have been museum artifacts for over 140 years. During this time, they have been displayed and utilized in an array of interpretative strategies.

Evolution of antifreeze protein genes in the diatom genus fragilariopsis: evidence for horizontal gene transfer, gene duplication and episodic diversifying selection.

Hypotheses about horizontal transfer of antifreeze protein genes to ice-living diatoms were addressed using two different statistical methods available in the program Prunier. The role of diversifying selection in driving the differentiation of a set of antifreeze protein genes in the diatom genus Fragilariopsis was also investigated. Four horizontal gene transfer events were identified.

Emergency contraceptive pill (ECP) use and experiences at college health centers in the mid-Atlantic United States: changes since ECP went over-the-counter.

Objective: To investigate the availability of emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) at college health centers since ECP went over-the-counter (OTC) in 2006. Related issues, such as distribution procedure, existence of a written protocol, personnel involved, contraindications, follow-up procedures, methods of advertising, and staff attitudes, were examined.

Participants: The sample included 135 college and university health centers in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States.

Phylogenetic analyses of a combined data set suggest that the Attheya lineage is the closest living relative of the pennate diatoms (Bacillariophyceae).

A Bayesian analysis of a seven gene data set was conducted to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships among a sample of centric and pennate diatoms and to test alternative hypotheses about the closest living relative of Bacillariophyceae. A lineage, composed of two Attheya species, was inferred to share the most recent common ancestor with Bacillariophyceae--a relationship that was also corroborated by the combined parsimony analysis. All competing hypotheses about the closest living relative of Bacillariophyceae were rejected because 100% of the trees in the post-burn-in sample in the Bayesian analysis supported the Attheya-Bacillariophyceae clade.

College student knowledge and attitudes toward emergency contraception.

Background: This study explored male and female college students' knowledge of and attitudes toward emergency contraception pills (ECPs).

Study Design: A survey of 692 undergraduate college students (338 male and 358 female) was conducted at a mid-size university in northwest Pennsylvania during the Spring 2008 semester.

Results: Eighty-three percent of the participants had experienced sexual intercourse, and 52% of them had feared a pregnancy at least once.

Microevolution and speciation in Thalassiosira weissflogii (Bacillariophyta).

In this study five different molecular markers were used to: (1) infer the phylogeographic differentiation of Thalassiosira weissflogii in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans; and (2) address the biological species status of the inferred geographic lineages. The results of the ribosomal RNA data analyses suggested that the Hawaiian isolate evolved first after which the Indonesian and the Atlantic/California strains diverged. In contrast, the tree derived from the partial sexually induced gene 1 (Sig1) data exhibited an initial divergence between the Eastern Atlantic/Western Atlantic/California and the Hawaiian/Indonesian groups after which the latter evolved into the Hawaiian and Indonesian lineages.

Psychosocial adjustment in children and adolescents with a craniofacial anomaly: diagnosis-specific patterns.

Objective: To obtain descriptive information about diagnosis-specific patterns of psychosocial adjustment for children and adolescents with craniofacial anomalies.

Design: Chart review of medical records was used to obtain psychosocial checklists. Scores were compared with published norms to evaluate elevated risk of problems, separately for six diagnostic groups.

Energy flux in a surface-plasmon-polariton wave bound to the planar interface of a metal and a structurally chiral material.

The spatial profile of the energy flux in a surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) wave bound to the planar interface of a metal and a structurally chiral material (SCM) shows strong dependencies on the pitch of the SCM. More than one SPP-wave mode at the same frequency (or free-space wavelength) being possible for the chosen interface, the energy-flux profiles of different modes are different. Although the energy flux on the metal side of the interface decays exponentially with distance from the interface, the profile on the SCM side exhibits oscillations as a function of distance from the interface and decay rates, which are highly variable.

The cannabinoid CB1 receptor inverse agonist AM 251 and antagonist AM 4113 produce similar effects on the behavioral satiety sequence in rats.

Cannabinoid CB1 inverse agonists such as rimonabant and AM 251 hold therapeutic promise as appetite suppressants, but the extent to which non-motivational factors contribute to their anorectic effects is not fully known. Examination of the behavioral satiety sequence (BSS) in rats, the orderly progression from eating to post-prandial grooming and then resting, has revealed that these compounds preserve the order of events but differ markedly from natural satiation. The most notable difference is that grooming (particularly scratching) is profoundly enhanced at anorectic doses, while eating and resting are diminished, raising the possibility that the anorectic effect is simply secondary to the grooming effect.

Ingestion without inactivation of bacteriophages by Tetrahymena.

Tetrahymena has been shown to ingest and inactivate bacteriophages, such as T4, in co-incubation experiments. In this study, Tetrahymena thermophila failed to inactivate phages PhiX174 and MS2 in co-incubations, although PhiX174 were ingested by T. thermophila, as demonstrated by: (1) recovery at defecation in a pulse-chase experiment, (2) recovery from Tetrahymena by detergent lysis, and (3) transmission electron microscopy.