Poetry, Sort Of: My Experience Using Library of Congress Subject Headings and the Supplemental List of Seventh-day Adventist Subject Headings

The Library of Congress Subject Headings, for all its seeming comprehension, has not always been up to the task of covering Seventh-day Adventist subject matter better than the Supplementary List of Subject Headings published by the Loma Linda University Libraries as used by the Seventh-day Adventist Periodical Index. More important, there has been, and continues to be, a need to coin new terms as they are needed. To rely primarily on one source for assigning index terms, however comprehensive it might seem generally, is too inflexible a strategy to be realistic. Relying on both the LCSH and the SLSH is the preferred method of indexing Seventh-day Adventist periodical articles

A 100-MIPS GaAs asynchronous microprocessor

The authors describe how they ported an asynchronous microprocessor previously implemented in CMOS to gallium arsenide, using a technology-independent asynchronous design technique. They introduce new circuits including a sense-amplifier, a completion detection circuit, and a general circuit structure for operators specified by production rules. The authors used and tested these circuits in a variety of designs

Functional characterization of synthetic leukotriene B and its stereochemical isomers.

Leukotriene B (LTB), a potent lipid chemotactic factor for neutrophils, is 5S,12R-dihydroxy-6,14-cis,8,10-trans-eicosatetraenoic acid (Fig 1), based upon direct comparison of natural LTB with synthetic 5S,12R-dihydroxy-6,8,10,14-eicosatetraenoic acid (5,12-di-HETE) stereoisomers in three biological assays. Of the six synthetic stereoisomers evaluated, only the 5S,12R,6,14-cis,8,10-trans compound had chemotactic potency for human neutrophils in vitro that was comparable to that of natural LTB, with a concentration of 3 X 10(9-9) M eliciting a one-half maximum response. In contrast, the racemic mixture of 5R,12R- and 5S,12S-6,10-trans,8,14-cis, the racemic mixture of 5S,12R- and 5R,12S-6,10-trans,8,14-cis, the 5S,12R-6,8-trans,10,14-cis, the 5S,12R-6,8,10-trans,14-cis, and the 5S,12S-6,8,10-trans,14-cis stereoisomers required concentrations of 3 X 10(-7) to 1 X 10(-6) M to elicit comparable responses. Only natural LTB and its synthetic counterpart elicited a local neutrophil infiltration when injected into the skin of the rhesus monkey at 10 ng and 100 ng per site. Natural and synthetic LTB at a concentration of 3 X 10(-8) M each provoked an EC25 contractile response of guinea pig pulmonary parenchymal strips in vitro, whereas the other four tested stereoisomers of 5,12-di-HETE were inactive at this concentration. Structure-function analyses suggest that the neutrophil chemotactic activity depends critically upon the C-1 to C-12 domain, including the stereochemistry of the 6-,8-,and 10-olefinic bonds and the presence of both hydroxyl groups

An Asynchronous Microprocessor in Gallium Arsenide

In this paper, several techniques for designing asynchronous circuits in Gallium Arsenide are presented. Several new circuits were designed, to implement specific functions necessary to the design of a full microprocessor. A sense-amplifier, a completion tree, and a general circuit structure for operators specified by production rules are introduced. These circuit were used and tested in a variety of designs, including two asynchronous microprocessors and two asynchronous static RAM's. One of the microprocessor runs at over 100 MIPS with a power consumption of 2 Watts

Adrenalectomy alters the sensitivity of the central nervous system melanocortin system

Removal of adrenal steroids by adrenalectomy (ADX) reduces food intake and body weight in rodents and prevents excessive weight gain in many genetic and dietary models of obesity. Thus, glucocorticoids appear to play a key role to promote positive energy balance in normal and pathological conditions. By comparison, central nervous system melanocortin signaling provides critical inhibitory tone to regulate energy balance. The present experiments sought to test whether glucocorticoids influence energy balance by altering the sensitivity to melanocortin receptor ligands. Because melanocortin-producing neurons are hypothesized to be downstream of leptin in a key weight-reducing circuit, we tested rats for their sensitivity to leptin and confirmed reports that the hypophagic response to third ventricular (i3vt) leptin is increased in ADX rats and is normalized by glucocorticoid replacement. Next we tested rats for their sensitivity to the melanocortin agonist melanotan II and found that, as for leptin, ADX enhanced the hypophagic response via a glucocorticoid-dependent mechanism. The central nervous system melanocortin system is unique in that it includes the endogenous melanocortin receptor antagonist, AgRP. The orexigenic effect of i3vt AgRP was absent in ADX rats and restored by glucocorticoid replacement. We conclude that the potent weight-reducing effects of ADX likely involve heightened responsiveness to melanocortin receptor stimulation

Shining a light on the composition and distribution patterns of mesophotic and subphotic fish communities in Hawai‘i

As agencies shift from single-species management to ecosystem-based fisheries management, ecosystem models are gaining interest for understanding species dynamics in relation to oceanographic and ecological processes and human marine uses. However, information on community structure or distribution of many species that occupy deep (>30 m) waters is largely unavailable. We amassed a total of 24 686 fish observations of 523 species/taxa for the 30−410 m depth areas surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI). We also obtained estimates of geomorphological variables, including substrate type, slope, rugosity, and ridge-like features. Using these 2 data sources, we (1) identified distinct fish communities along the 30−410 m depth gradient, and (2) generated relative biomass maps for fish functional groups. We showed that the mesophotic zone ranges between 30 and 129 m, with a fish faunal break at 60 m. Beyond this zone, 4 subphotic zones were identified: upper rariphotic (130−169 m), mid-rariphotic (170−239 m), lower rariphotic (240−319 m), and upper bathyal (320−410 m). We assigned fish species to functional groups partly based on identified depth ranges and fitted general additive models (GAMs) integrating geomorphological covariates to the functional group relative biomass estimates to determine the environmental variables that best predict the probability of encounter and relative biomass of each fish functional group. Finally, GAM predictions were employed to map functional group relative biomass distributions. These distribution maps showed a high relative biomass of many groups in the center of the MHI chain. This study contributes to a better understanding of fish community structure around the MHI and will inform ecosystem model parameterization

Trophic interactions of megafauna in the Mariana and Kermadec trenches inferred from stable isotope analysis

Hadal trenches house distinct ecosystems but we know little about their sources of nutrition or trophic structures. We evaluated megafaunal food web structure and nutritional sources in the Kermadec and Mariana trenches using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis (δ15N and δ13C values) of bulk tissues and proteinaceous individual amino acids (AAs). In the Kermadec Trench, bulk δ15N values ranged from 5.8‰ in trench sediment to 17.5‰ in tissues of the supergiant amphipod, Allicela gigantea. δ15N values of detritivores were much higher than those of sediments (by 7.5‰ more). The δ13C values ranged from −21.4‰ in sediments to −17.3‰ in the brittle star, Ophiolimna sp., and did not co-vary with δ15N values. In the Mariana Trench, only bait-attending fauna and surface sediments were available for analysis. Mariana Trench fishes, amphipods, and sediments had slightly lower δ15N values than those from the Kermadec Trench, possibly because the Mariana Trench lies under more oligotrophic surface waters. We found evidence for multiple food inputs to the system in each trench, namely substantially higher δ15N values in detritivores relative to sediment and high variability in δ13C values. Trophic levels determined from isotopic analysis of individual AAs in the Kermadec Trench ranged from three for detritivores to five for fishes. Source AA δ15N values were variable (range of ~7.0‰ in average δ15N source AA values), with much of this variation occurring in small amphipods. For the other fauna sampled, there was a significant increase in δ15N source AA values with increasing collection depth. This increase could reflect larger amounts of highly microbially reworked organic matter with increasing depth or sporadic input from turbidity flows. Although further sampling across a broader faunal diversity will be required to understand these food webs, our results provide new insights into hadal trophic interactions and suggest that trench food webs are very dynamic

Distribution, composition and functions of gelatinous tissues in deep-sea fishes

Many deep-sea fishes have a gelatinous layer, or subdermal extracellular matrix, below the skin or around the spine. We document the distribution of gelatinous tissues across fish families (approx. 200 species in ten orders), then review and investigate their composition and function. Gelatinous tissues from nine species were analysed for water content (96.53 ± 1.78% s.d.), ionic composition, osmolality, protein (0.39 ± 0.23%), lipid (0.69 ± 0.56%) and carbohydrate (0.61 ± 0.28%). Results suggest that gelatinous tissues are mostly extracellular fluid, which may allow animals to grow inexpensively. Further, almost all gelatinous tissues floated in cold seawater, thus their lower density than seawater may contribute to buoyancy in some species. We also propose a new hypothesis: gelatinous tissues, which are inexpensive to grow, may sometimes be a method to increase swimming efficiency by fairing the transition from trunk to tail. Such a layer is particularly prominent in hadal snailfishes (Liparidae); therefore, a robotic snailfish model was designed and constructed to analyse the influence of gelatinous tissues on locomotory performance. The model swam faster with a watery layer, representing gelatinous tissue, around the tail than without. Results suggest that the tissues may, in addition to providing buoyancy and low-cost growth, aid deep-sea fish locomotion. © 2017 The Authors