The USDA National Farmers Market Directory is the largest and most comprehensive directory of farmers markets in the United States. It is the only farmers market directory that provides the geographical coordinates of market locations and allows the public to download the dataset at no cost. The geographic coordinates of the market locations in the directory were collected through a web-based GIS data collection form. This form allows market managers to navigate, review, and adjust market locations on the web-based map, and to save the coordinates of the market locations into the database. However, market location addresses and descriptions provided by users are in an open-ended format, which did not allow automatic verification of the accuracy of a market location. In using the web-based GIS to capture market coordinates, deficiencies in users' computer literacy skills, attention to details, Internet speed, etc. means spatial errors in market locations coordinates were possible. Hence, the directory data, including market location coordinates, has to be validated before it is delivered to the public. This study developed a method to verify the coordinates of farmers market locations by comparing user-generated market coordinates against the geocoded coordinates from multiple geocoding services based on user-submitted market addresses. Using the USDA 2012 National Farmers Market Directory as a test dataset, three-quarters of the market locations generated by farmers market managers were verified as the ground-truth locations. This study suggests that multiple geocoding services provide a feasible and practical method for validating user-generated farmers market locations.

The high-affinity serotonin (5-HT) transporter (5-HTT) plays an important role in the removal of extracellular serotonin, thereby modulating and terminating the action of this neurotransmitter at various pre- and post-synaptic serotonergic receptors and heteroreceptors. In order to characterize the anatomical distribution of the 5-HTT in mouse brain, in situ hybridization histochemistry using 35S-labeled riboprobes was performed. These results were compared with 5-HTT binding site distribution as evaluated by [125I]RTI-55 autoradiography. High levels of 5-HTT mRNA were detected in all brain stem raphe nuclei, with variations in labeling among the various subnuclei. Those brain areas known to possess serotonergic cell bodies stained intensely for both 5-HTT mRNA and 5-HTT binding sites. In contrast to previous findings in rat brain, the highest densities of 5-HTT sites were found in areas outside the raphe complex, particularly in the substantia nigra, globus pallidus, and superior colliculi.

Malignant ascites occurs in association with a variety of neoplasms. It is a frequent cause of morbidity and presents significant problems for which there are no clear management guidelines. In this article we discuss various modalities which are available including diuretic therapy, paracentesis, peritoneovenous shunts and intraperitoneal chemotherapy. There are no randomized trials of diuretic drugs to assess their efficacy in malignant ascites. Phase II data suggest that they are effective in approximately one-third of patients with malignancy, and their efficacy may be determined by plasma renin/aldosterone concentrations. Paracentesis provides relief in up to 90% of patients; because of varying reports of hypovolaemia, some advocate simultaneous intravenous fluid infusion. Permanent percutaneous drains may prevent the need for repeated paracentesis, although there is potential for infection. A peritoneovenous shunt also prevents the need for repeated paracenteses, whilst maintaining normal serum albumin concentrations. Blockage occurs in 25% of shunts, which are contraindicated in the presence of heavily bloodstained ascites because of the risk of occlusion. The preclinical and clinical experience with anti-angiogenic agents such as the matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors and the VEGF antagonists suggests that these agents may have a role in the treatment of malignant ascites.

The fluorogenic tetrazolium dye 5-cyano-2,3 ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC) has been increasingly used as a measure of cell-specific metabolic activity in bacteria, in that it acts as an electron acceptor in the electron transport system (ETS) of bacterial cells. As such, it is taken to be a direct measure of abundance of those bacterial cells that are actively engaged in respiration. Although it would, thus, be anticipated that microbial respiration should be strongly correlated to the number of CTC-active cells, such a relationship has yet to be demonstrated for natural bacterioplankton comrnunities. CTC was used in sj tu to assay cell-specific respiratory activity w~thin the pelagic community of Chesapeake Bay. Over the course of sampling, the observed variation in CTC-active cell abundance was 25-fold, substantially greater than the 6-fold variation in total cell abundance (estimated by DAPI staining). As a result, the proportion of CTC-active cells ranged from 3.5 to 47.4 % of the total bacterial population, with this proportion varying seasonally as well as spatially. Both abundance and proportion of CTC-active cells were highly correlated with respiration rates within the microplankton community (c3 pm size fraction), explaining 80%, or more, of the variations in these rates. Although respiration rates and total bacterial abundance also tended to covary seasonally, the relationship was not as strong. and large spatial differences in respiration along the Bay could not be explained by total abundance alone. This suggests that the large spatiaVtempora1 variations previously observed in respiration rates are the result of changes in the number of active bacteria, rather than total bacterial abundance. Results of the present study thus encourage the view that CTC provides an ecologically meaningful measure of active bacterial abundance in aquatic systems, and that CTC-active bacteria are likely responsible for the bulk of bacterial community metabolic activity.

Objective. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of radionuclide phallograms in therapeutic decision-making for erectile dysfunction.Method. Forty-eight impotent men being considered for pharmacologically-induced penile erection therapy (PIPE) had radionuclide phallograms (RP) as part of their evaluation. RP were performed using Tc-99m-labeled autologous red blood cells and provided a measurement of penile blood volume (PBV) change following the intracorporeal injection of 0.25 to 0.3 mL of a papaverine/phentolamine mixture.Results. Thirty-eight patients showed a good response with a mean PBV increase 2.6 times baseline (range 1.2 to 8.9). Ten patients had significantly lower PBV changes (P = 0.001) than the first group, with a mean PBV increase of 1.6 times baseline (range 1.1 to 2.4). These ten patients were dissatisfied with pharmacologically induced penile erection (PIPE) therapy after an unsuccessful treatment trial.Conclusion. We conclude that the RP can help to discriminate between patients who will benefit from PIPE therapy and those who will not. (C) 1998, Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Plankton community production and respiration rates were examined at 3 stations representing distinct regions along the estuarine gradient in the main stem of Chesapeake Bay, USA. Rates were measured as in vitro changes in oxygen concentration, as determined by Winkler titration with an automated photometric end-point detection system. At each station rates of both processes exhibited annual patterns which followed that of water temperature. There were distinct differences, however, among the 3 stations in the relative magnitude of metabolic rates measured. Annual rates of daytime net plankton community production were estimated to be 265, 1680, and 2040 g O-2 m(-2) yr(-1), while annual night-time plankton community respiration rates in the upper water column were estimated as 130, 1090, and 490 g O-2 m(-2) yr(-1) at the upper, middle and lower Bay stations, respectively. Thus, whereas rates of net daytime production increased substantially moving downbay, highest measured rates of community respiration were, in fact, found in the middle region of the Bay. Annual cycles of production and respiration rates were significantly related to each other at the upper and middle stations, but unrelated at the lower station. Integrated estimates of net plankton community metabolism (production minus respiration) at the 3 stations exhibited seasonal patterns departing from balanced metabolism (production = respiration) during winter-spring and converging on zero net metabolism in summer-fall. During the cooler months net plankton metabolism was negative (net heterotrophic) at the upper station and positive (net autotrophic) at the middle and lower stations. Over the annual cycle, the 3 stations showed a longitudinal pattern of increasing diel net plankton community metabolism, progressing from a net heterotrophy of -70 g O-2 m(-2) yr(-1) in the turbid, upper Bay, to slightly positive metabolism of 160 g O-2 m(-2) yl(-1) in the mid-region, to strong net autotrophy of 760 g O-2, m(-2) yr(-1) in the less turbid, lower Bay.

International Journal of Developmental NeuroscienceVolume 11, Issue 3 p. 399-399 Book Review Psychoneuroimmunology: Interactions between brain, nervous system, behavior, endocrine and immune system edited by H.-J. Schmoll, U. Tewes and N.P. Plotnikoff. Hogrefe and Huber Publishers, Lewiston, NY, 1992. $34.00 (U.S.) E.M. Smith, E.M. SmithSearch for more papers by this author E.M. Smith, E.M. SmithSearch for more papers by this author First published: June 1993 https://doi.org/10.1016/0736-5748(93)90011-2AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume11, Issue3June 1993Pages 399-399 RelatedInformation

Perivenous and periportal hepatocytes were isolated by the digitonin/collagenase perfusion technique. The specific activity of phosphate-activated glutaminase was 2.33-fold higher in periportal cells than in perivenous cells. Similarly, the relative abundance of glutaminase mRNA was 2.6-fold higher in samples from periportal cells. The distribution of glutaminase activity and mRNA was compared with those for glutamine synthetase (predominantly perivenous) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (predominantly periportal). The results suggest that phosphate-activated glutaminase is predominantly expressed in the periportal zone of the liver acinus.

Mammalian liver possesses a unique isozyme of phosphate-activated glutaminase which plays an important role in the regulation of glutamine catabolism. Antibodies to hepatic glutaminase were used to screen a lambda gt11 rat liver cDNA library. One cDNA to hepatic glutaminase was identified. Changes in the relative abundance of hepatic glutaminase mRNA were determined by hybridization to this cDNA. The mRNA is found only in liver; it is not present prior to birth but its abundance increases dramatically at birth. The abundance of the mRNA is increased approximately 4-fold in diabetes. The sequence of the cDNA was compared to that recently published for kidney (brain)-type glutaminase (Banner, C., Hwang, J.-J., Shapiro, R.A., Wenthold, R.J., Nakatani, Y., Lampel, K.A., Thomas, J.W., Huie, D., and Curthoys, N.P. (1988) Mol. Brain Res. 3, 247-254). When the predicted amino acid sequences were compared a region of 123 amino acids with greater than 80% identity was found. The presence of scattered amino acid substitutions within stretches of identical amino acids suggests that the glutaminase isozymes are encoded by separate genes. This is the first demonstration of any similarity between the two glutaminases at the molecular level.

A feasibility study for production of liquid oxygen is presented. The plant is conceived as part of a larger system which also produces slush hydrogen, the proportion of the two cryogenic products being closely suited to the new generation of air-breathing aerospace engines. Thermodynamic peformance of liquefaction is improved because effectively, isothermal gaseous compression is achieved by generating hydrogen and oxygen streams via high pressure electrolysis of water, and because part of the high pressure oxygen stream is also used for refrigeration. The approach follows an earlier paper concerning production of slush hydrogen, which set out a basis for the thermodynamic design of cryogenic liquefaction plant.

Thermodynamics dictate that efficient liquefaction is achieved when hydrogen gas is cooled at supercritical pressure. An energy efficient method of producing the high-pressure stream is by compression of a hydrogen carrying liquid before splitting to gaseous hydrogen and a by-product stream. Several routes to production of a high-pressure product hydrogen stream are examined. Comparative performance of candidate refrigerant fluids is assessed in relation to conventional compressors, cryo-expanders and heat-exchange equipment. The performance of an improved hydrogen liquefaction plant is presented and directions for future development indicated.

Herbage intake is usually depressed when beef cattle grazing abundant pastures are supplemented with energy-rich feedstuffs but relatively little is known about the effects of supplementation on the components of ingestive behaviour. An experiment was conducted to establish the effect of ground corn ( Zea mays L.) on the ingestive behaviour of yearling Angus and Angus × Hereford steers ( Bos taurus ) (mean live weight (LW) of 323 kg) grazing autumn stockpiled Boone cocksfoot ( Dactylis glomerata L.) using a tethered grazing system in which the experimental unit was the tethered steer and its grazing area (45 m 2 ) for one grazing session. Herbage dry matter (DM) mass was 1662 kg ha −1 and herbage DM allowance was 7–5 kg steer −1 for each grazing session. Herbage DM intake was measured as the difference between herbage DM mass offered and refused. Grazing took place during two daily sessions each of about 2 h duration commencing at 08.00 and 14.00 h for 9 days. Ground corn (0, 1·5, 3·0 and 4·5 kg steer −1 ) was fed each day at 12.00 h and had no significant ( P < 0·05) effect on rate of DM intake, rate of biting or DM intake per bite. Mean DM intake was 6 2 kg steer −1 d −1 (87 mg (kg LW) −1 min −1 ). Steers averaged 4832 bites per grazing session, with a mean DM intake per bite of 644 mg (2·0 mg (kg LW) −1 ) and a mean rate of 44 bites min −1 . Data obtained at the beginning and end of each grazing period on ingestive behaviour of one group of four steers (mean LW of 306 kg) fitted with oesophageal fistulae supported data for the two groups of normal steers and showed no response to supplementation. Mean values for rate of DM intake, DM intake per bite and rate of biting established for the fistulated cattle were 73 mg (kg LW) −1 min −1 , 521 mg bite −1 (1·7 mg (kg LW) −1 ) and 39 bites min −1 , respectively.

A subgroup of individuals with major depressive disorder have an impaired thyrotropin (TSH) response to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). The molecular relationship between the mechanism of this “blunted” TSH response and depression is unknown. Numerous recent studies have characterized similarities and interactions between the immune and neuroendocrine systems. As the immune system both produces and responds to TSH, we utilized a peripheral blood leukocyte system to compare immunoreactive (ir)-TSH responsiveness in 10 adult patients (1 man, 9 women) with Research Diagnostic Criteria for major depressive disorder to that of 9 control subjects. All subjects had normal baseline serum TSH and T4 concentrations. Isolated mononuclear leukocytes were treated in vitro with either 0.5 μg/ml staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA), 50 μg/ ml TRH, or no stimulant. After incubation, the cells were monitored for ir-TSH production by indirect immunofluorescence and reverse hemolytic plaque assay using antisera to TSH-β. The culture supernates were analyzed by TSH radioimmunoassay. SEA- and TRH-treated cell cultures from depressed individuals had significantly fewer immunofluorescent positive cells, as well as significantly fewer and smaller plaques, than did similarly treated leukocytes from control subjects. The increase in supernatant ir-TSH was significantly less in TRH-treated cultures from depressed patients as compared to normals (p < 0.05). These results suggest that examination of mononuciear leukocyte TSH production may reflect an altered state of neuroendocrine function and may thus be a useful marker for major depressive disorder.

A method for the purification of phosphate-activated glutaminase from the liver of streptozotocin-diabetic rats is described. The procedure involves solubilization of glutaminase activity from isolated mitochondria by sonication, followed by ammonium sulfate precipitation, polyethylene glycol precipitation, and sequential chromatography on DEAE, hydroxylapatite, and zinc-chelated resins. The enzyme was purified 600-fold to a specific activity of 31-57 U/mg protein. The purified enzyme has an apparent subunit molecular mass of 58,000-Da and is greater than 80% pure by scanning densitometry of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The purified enzyme has an apparent Km for glutamine of 17 mM and a pH optimum between 7.8 and 8.2. The physical and kinetic properties of this enzyme are similar to those of the enzyme from normal rat liver. Polyclonal antibodies raised against the enzyme specifically inhibit hepatic glutaminase activity and react primarily with a 58,000-Da peptide in liver fractions on immunoblots. These antibodies were used in equivalence point titrations and immunoblots to provide evidence for increased concentration of glutaminase protein in the liver of diabetic rats with no change in specific activity of the enzyme. In addition, the antibodies cross-react, at low affinity, with kidney-type glutaminases. On immunoblots, the antibodies did not react with fetal liver, mammary gland, or lung. Antibodies to rat hepatic glutaminase should prove useful as tools to study the long-term regulation of the enzyme.

Development of simulation models of grazing beef cattle requires measurement of the components of the ingestive process and the establishment of relationships between these components and the structure of the sward. The ingestive behaviour of eight half-sib Angus steers (live weight (LW), x̄= 270 kg) grazing alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) was studied at three stages of maturity (26, 40 and 47 days of regrowth) and at four allowances of herbage dry matter (DM) (1·0, 1·5, 20 and 2·5 kg per 100 kg LW) at each of two daily grazing sessions. A tethering system of grazing was used in which the experimental unit was a tethered steer and its plot for one grazing session. Grazing sessions commenced at 08.00 and 14.00 h EDT. Intake (DM) increased linearly from 1·98 kg per steer session at a DM allowance of 1 kg (100 kg LW) −1 to 2 89 kg steer session at an allowance of 2·5 kg (100 kg LW) −1 as utilization of herbage declined linearly from 0·69 to 0·43. Herbage DM in take per bite increased from 1 0 g at 1 kg (100 kg LW) −1 allowance to 1·5 g at 2·5 kg (100 kg LW) −1 allowance. Rates of biting were not affected by herbage allowance and averaged 21 bites min −1 . Dry matter intake increased from 1·77 to 3 41 kg per steer session as the alfalfa matured and herbage mass changed from 1500 to 4656 kg ha −1 . Mean rates of biting were 24 bites min −1 for steers grazing the youngest alfalfa and 16 bites min −1 for steers on the oldest forage. Herbage DM intakes per bite were 1·1 g and 1·7 g at the same stages. Rates of DM intake approached 2 kg h −1 and maximum daily DM intake was estimated at 2 75 kg (100 kg LW) −1 . Intake of alfalfa was limited by allowance and mass of herbage above a canopy horizon of 20 cm and, to a lesser extent, by the length of fast.

The small intestine is the major site of glutamine utilization in the mammalian body. During prolonged (40-day) streptozotocin-diabetes in the rat there is a marked increase in both the size and the phosphate-activated glutaminase activity of the small intestine. Despite this increased capacity, intestinal glutamine utilization ceases in diabetic rats. Mean arterial glutamine concentration fell by more than 50% in diabetic rats, suggesting that substrate availability is responsible for the decrease in intestinal glutamine use. When arterial glutamine concentrations in diabetic rats were elevated by infusion of glutamine solutions, glutamine uptake across the portal-drained viscera was observed. The effect of other respiratory fuels on intestinal glutamine metabolism was examined. Infusions of ketone bodies did not affect glutamine use by the portal-drained viscera of non-diabetic rats. Prolonged diabetes had no effect on the activity of 3-oxoacid CoA-transferase in the small intestine or on the rate of ketone-body utilization in isolated enterocytes. Glutamine (2 mM) utilization was decreased in enterocytes isolated from diabetic rats as compared with those from control animals. However, glutaminase activity in homogenates of enterocytes was unchanged by diabetes. In enterocytes isolated from diabetic rats the addition of ketone bodies or octanoate decreased glutamine use. It is proposed that during prolonged diabetes ketone bodies, and possibly fatty acids, replace glutamine as the major respiratory fuel of the small intestine.

Because of the importance of salamanders in forest food chains, the effects of forest management practices on populations of these animals warrant consideration. We compared the numbers and activity patterns of salamanders in areas of a deciduous forest in central New York State that had been cut selectively for firewood, or clearcut, or planted with conifers. Numbers of salamanders were lower in three recently distrurbed habitats than in adjacent old-growth control stands. The frequency of above-ground activity by both species of salamanders was positively correlated with the density of understory vegetation and the depth of leaf litter. Small-scale habitat disruption associated with harvesting firewood increased the numbers of the terrestrial eft stage of the red-spotted newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) but had no effect on numbers of red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). A recently clearcut area had fewer red-backed salamanders than adjacent old-growth forest had, but the numbers of salamanders in a 60-year-old second-growth forest were indistinguishable from those in the adjacent old-growth forest. Populations of salamanders in a conifer plantation were low. Thus, salamanders seem to be resilient to limited disturbance of forests, but major changes are likely to affect populations of salamanders and, consequently, of birds and mammals that depend on salamanders for food.