cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Identification of denitrifying rhizobacteria from bentgrass and bermudagrass golf greens.

Aims: As high rates of nitrogen fertilization are used in turfgrass management, there is a great potential for nitrogen loss. Research on identification of denitrifiers in turfgrass has been limited. Therefore, the aim was to identify denitrifier species and genes from turfgrass roots. Methods and Results: Rhizobacteria were isolated from roots of bentgrass and bermudagrass in sand-based United States Golf Association (USGA) golf greens and used for denitrification biochemical analysis. Seventeen per cent (34 isolates) were identified as denitrifiers, 47% were classified as nitrate-reducers and 36% were nondenitrifiers. Identification of species of the denitrifiers was performed by chromatography fatty acid methyl ester (GC-FAME) and16S rDNA analyses. Bacillus and Pseudomonas were the major turfgrass denitrifiers. The two methods showed a 60% agreement at the genus level. Nitrite reductase genes nirK and nirS were detected in 74 and 15% of the denitrifiers, respectively, but not in nondenitrifiers. The nosZ gene encoding nitrous oxide reductase was detected in all the denitrifiers, but also in some nondenitrifiers. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first report for identification of denitrifiers and denitrification-related genes associated with turfgrass roots. Significance and Impact of the Study: These results provide valuable data for future denitrification studies that seek to improve turfgrass nitrogen management for maximum efficiency.
A simple procedure for assaying cAMP

A step-by-step protocol for assaying cAMP is presented. This method is based on the standard binding protein assay that is available commercially. However, using the present procedure, the per tube cost is dramatically reduced. In the current protocol, four different binding proteins are compared for their ability to bind cAMP. The source of all reagents is noted as well as necessary precautions for insuring reliable assays. A simple tissue preparation method is outlined for assaying cAMP in brain. The utility of the assay is illustrated by demonstrating the effect of forskolin on cAMP in mouse striatal tissue.
An Inexact Trust-Region Algorithm for the Optimization of Periodic Adsorption Processes

Periodic adsorption processes have gained increasing commercial importance as an energy-efficient separation technique over the past two decades. Based on fluid-solid interactions, these systems never reach steady state. Instead they operate at cyclic steady state, where the bed conditions at the beginning of the cycle match with those at the end of the cycle. Nevertheless, optimization of these processes remains particularly challenging, because cyclic operation leads to dense Jacobians, whose computation dominates the overall cost of the optimization strategy. To efficiently handle these Jacobians during optimization and reduce the computation time, this work presents a new composite step trust-region algorithm for the solution of minimization problems with both nonlinear equality and inequality constraints, and combines two approaches developed in Walther 1 and Arora and Biegler. 2 Instead of forming and factoring the dense constraint Jacobian, this algorithm approximates the Jacobian of equality constraints with a specialized quasi-Newton method. Hence it is well suited to solve optimization problems related to periodic adsorption processes. In addition to allowing inexactness of the Jacobian and its null-space representation, the algorithm also provides exact second-order information in the form of Hessian—vector products to improve the convergence rate. The resulting approach' also combines automatic differentiation and more sophisticated integration algorithms to evaluate the direct sensitivity and adjoint sensitivity equations. A 5-fold reduction in computation is demonstrated with this approach for two periodic adsorption optimization problems: a simulated moving bed system and a nonisothermal vacuum swing adsorption O 2 bulk gas separation.
On the log-linear wind profile and the relationship between shear stress and stability characteristics over the sea

Wind and stability characteristics in the atmospheric surface boundary layer at a height,Z, less than 20 m above the sea were examined in nine oceanic investigations. The analysis lends further support to the utility of the log-linear wind-profile law in the stability region of −0.4⩽Z/L⩽0.9, whereL is the Monin-Obukhov length. However, it is also shown that, inasmuch as better than 90% of the measurements fall within the range of ¦Z/L¦⩽ 0.25, and inasmuch as this correction to the drag coefficient under neutral conditions amounts to less than 10%, the familiar logarithmic wind law may be used rather than the log-linear form. A wind-stress drag coefficient,Cd (=1.2×10−3 between 1.0 m ⩽Z⩽ 18.3 m), is thus recommended for general deepwater oceanic applications. The situation over shallow water, which is different, is discussed briefly.
Functions of the subesophageal ganglion in the medicinal leech revealed by ablation of neuromeres in embryos.

Two general trends in the evolution of the nervous system have been toward centralization of neuronal somata and cephalization of the central nervous system (CNS). These organizational trends are apparent in the nervous system of annelid worms, including leeches. To determine if the anterior brain of the leech serves functions similar to those of the brains of more complex organisms, including vertebrates, we ablated one of the two major regions of the cephalic brain - the subesophageal ganglion (SubEG). For anatomical reasons, ablations were performed in embryos, rather than in adults. At the end of embryonic development, we observed the leeches' spontaneous behaviour and their responses to moderate touch. We observed that, although the midbody ganglia of the leech CNS display a high degree of local autonomy, the cephalic brain provides generalized excitation to the rest of the CNS, is a source of selective inhibition that modulates behaviour, integrates sensory information from the head with signals from the rest of the body, and plays an important role in organizing at least some complicated whole-body behaviours. These roles of the leech cephalic brain are common features of brain function in many organisms, and our results are consistent with the hypothesis that they arose early in evolution and have been conserved in complex nervous systems.
Proximity to roadways and pregnancy outcomes.

Adverse birth outcomes are associated with exposure to air pollution during pregnancy. Road proximity is a simple, widely available metric for capturing local variation in exposure to traffic-related air pollution. We characterized maternal exposure to traffic-related air pollution during pregnancy using residential proximity to major roadways among 2004–2008 singleton births in NC. Controlling for maternal race, age, education, nativity, marital status, and tobacco use, and season of birth, parity, infant sex, and Census tract-level urbanization and income, we evaluated the association between road proximity and pregnancy outcomes using generalized linear mixed models with a random intercept for each Census tract. Birth weight, birth weight percentile for gestational age, gestational hypertension, and small-for-gestational age were not associated with road proximity; however, women residing within 250 m of a major roadway were at 3–5% increased odds of low birth weight, preterm birth, and late preterm birth compared with women residing beyond 250 m (P<0.05). Our analyses demonstrate an association between proximity to major roadways and pregnancy outcomes using a large sample. Road proximity may represent a relatively straightforward method for assessing maternal risk from exposure to traffic-related air pollution, with results offering guidance for studies that can more accurately characterize air pollution exposures.
Real-time speech enhancement system using envelope expansion technique

A real-time system for the enhancement of speech signals degraded by additive broadband noise is described. The enhancement process employed is a multiband envelope expansion technique derived from a recent speech dereverberation method and the system is implemented on a Texas Instruments TMS32O-C25 processor.
The Headache‐Specific Locus of Control Scale: Adaptation to Recurrent Headaches

This paper describes the development, psychometric properties, and construct and incremental validity of a Headache-Specific Locus of Control Scale (HSLC). The HSLC is a 33 item scale designed specifically for recurrent headache sufferers. It assesses the individual's perceptions that headache problems and headache relief are determined primarily by: the individual's behavior (Internal factors), Health Care Professionals, or Chance factors. The psychometric properties of the HSLC were satisfactory. Among our findings were that: (1) the belief that headache problems and relief are determined by chance factors was associated with higher levels of depression, physical complaints, reliance on maladaptive pain coping strategies (p less than .001), and greater headache-related disability (p less than .01); (2) the belief that headache problems and relief are influenced primarily by the ministrations of health care professionals was associated with higher levels of medication use (p less than .01) and preference for medical treatment (p less than .001); and (3) the belief that headache problems are determined by the individual's responses and behaviors was associated with a preference for self-regulation treatment (p less than .01). These findings suggest adaptation to headache problems is influenced not only by the frequency and severity of the headache episodes, but by locus of control beliefs. The assessment of locus of control beliefs may provide useful information not typically obtained from standard medical evaluations.
Effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) on Neisseria gonorrhoeae invasion of and IgA secretion by human fallopian tube mucosa.

The possible effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) on the mucosal immune response and susceptibility of the fallopian tube mucosa to invasion by Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonococci) was investigated in the fallopian tube organ culture (FTOC) model. Immunohistochemical and radioreceptor assay techniques showed specific high affinity binding of hCG in vitro to the apices of non-ciliated fallopian tube cells (Kd approximately 10−9 m). Continuous exposure of the FTOC mucosa to hCG during infection with gonococci resulted in a marked increase (6- to 15-fold) in IgA secretion and significantly reduced gonococcal invasion (invasion score range 0.7 to 1.75) compared to infected control tissue which was not exposed to hCG (invasion score range 2.9 to 4.95, P ⩽ 0.01). By contrast, exposure of the mucosa to hCG during the 24 h preceding gonococcal infection followed by the removal of hCG from the system at the time of infection resulted in enhanced gonococcal invasion (invasion score range 7.95 to 9.7, P < 0.001). We conclude that hCG can modulate the mucosal immune response and susceptibility of fallopian tube epithelium to gonococcal invasion.
Implementation analysis of forest programmes: Some theoretical notes and an example

Abstract This paper proposes a framework for implementation analysis of public programmes. The framework is an approach to look for possible reasons behind implementation failures based on the idea that these failures are due to the possibility that policy instruments included in the programme may not be controllable by the policy makers. This means that they may fail to meet three types of constraints: feasibility constraints of different kinds (resource constraints, knowledge constraints, administrative constraints, etc.), individual rationality constraints and incentive compatibility constrains. This typology is applied to the analysis of the first EU co-funded forest programme in Portugal which was a historical switch in Portuguese forest policy regarding private forestry.
Absolute pitch: A special group of ears

Auditory pitch perception is an ability that is pervasive in the animal kingdom, but many features of this ability are not understood. In humans, it is clear that pitch perception is the result of sound processing by the listener, and although the perceived pitch of a sound is strongly related to its frequency, careful psychophysical studies have revealed many surprising features of this auditory function (1). One of the most remarkable aspects of human pitch perception is the phenomenon of absolute pitch (AP), which is the subject of an article by Athos et al. (2) in this issue of PNAS.
Theory and Method in Health Audience Segmentation

Audience segmentation is widely regarded as essential to effective health communication campaign efforts. Nonetheless, its practice is typically ad hoc. The conceptual history and theoretical bases for audience segmentation are reviewed, and typical audience segmentation strategies for health communication efforts are described and critiqued. An analogy is drawn between the methodological problems associated with audience segmentation and those of multivariate classification and taxonomy in botany and zoology. Cluster analytic techniques responsive to these issues are described, as are applications of these techniques for analysis of health communication campaign audiences. Approaches that would permit widespread use of such segmentation strategies are discussed, and recommendations for such efforts are made.
Asymptotics of weighted best-packing on rectifiable sets

We investigate the asymptotic behaviour, as N grows, of the largest minimal weighted pairwise distance between N points restricted to a rectifiable compact set embedded in Euclidean space, and we find the limit distribution of asymptotically optimal configurations. Bibliography: 23 titles.
A Trimeric Structural Subdomain of the HIV-1 Transmembrane Glycoprotein

HIV-1 infection is initiated by the fusion of viral and cellular membranes with subsequent transfer of viral genetic material into the cell. The HIV-1 transmembrane envelope glycoprotein gp41 plays a major role in this membrane fusion process. Previous studies have shown that a stable, alpha-helical, trimeric structural domain of gp41 consists of N-terminal 51-residue (N-51) and C-terminal 43-residue (C-43) extraviral segments. This alpha-helical, trimeric complex has been proposed to form the core of the membrane fusion-active conformation of the HIV-1 envelope. We show here that a stable subdomain can be formed by shorter 36-residue (N-36) and 34-residue (C-34) peptides corresponding to the central regions of N-51 and C-43, respectively. In isolation, N-36 is predominantly aggregated, while C-34 is unfolded. Upon mixing, however, these peptides form a stable, alpha-helical, discrete trimer of heterodimers (the melting temperature of a 10 microM solution is 64 degrees C at pH 7). Thus, this subdomain displays the salient features of the stable core structure of the isolated gp41 protein. Our results also provide strong support for the notion that short peptides can form unique, cooperatively folded subdomains, in which elements of secondary structure are stabilized by native-like tertiary interactions.
New Opportunities for Metals Extraction and Waste Treatment by Electrochemical Processing in Molten Salts

Molten salt electrolysis is a proven technology for the extraction of metals—all the world's primary aluminum is produced in this manner. The unique properties of molten salts also make them excellent media in which to treat a variety of forms of waste. Of special note in this regard is electrolysis in molten oxides, a concept put forward by the author, initially as a “clean technology” for producing primary metal. However, in the context of waste treatment, elcctrolysis in molten oxides is a process offering the prospect of changing the valence of dissolved heavy metals while making pure oxygen gas as the main by-product. Laboratory tests conducted at a temperature of 1550 °C on chromate sludge dissolved in melt composed of Al2O3, SiO2, CaO, and MgO have confirmed electrochemical production of oxygen on a carbon-free anode.
Raman spectroscopy studies of antiferromagnetic FeCO3 and related carbonates

Abstract Raman spectroscopy experiments were performed on antiferromagnetic siderite (natural FeCO3). Weak lines at room temperature (in addition to the expected vibrational lines) were found to be seven well defined excitations at liquid helium temperature. Polarization tensor components of these new lines were examined at temperatures varying between room and liquid helium temperature. Frequency decreases upon cooling were observed for three of the lines (the greatest change occuring near the Neel temperature, 38 K). By comparison with infrared spectra, variable temperature Raman spectra and impurity analysis of two related crystals (antiferromagnetic MnCO3 and CaMg(CO3)2 containing 6% iron), new explanations for two (741 and 1735 cm−1) of three previously observed lines and for one (870cm−1) of the remaining four are presented. The three variable frequency lines (440,1175 and 1225 cm−1) are considered magnetic excitations between trigonal field, spin-orbit, and exchange split states of the ferrous ion. The frequency decreases upon cooling may be due to unquenched orbital angular momentum resulting in an exchange interaction of a non-Heisenberg form. Symmetry distortion due to magnetic ordering upon cooling may cause the infrared 741 cm−1 vibration to become Raman-active.
Vitamin C, cancer and aging

Oxidative damage to DNA, proteins and lipids appears to be a major contributing factor in aging and the degenerative processes that accompany it, including cancer, heart disease, cataracts, and cognitive dysfunction. Numerous epidemiologic studies have found that persons with lower intake of antioxidant nutrients or the fruits and vegetables that provide them have a higher risk of almost every type of cancer. In many studies, those with low intake had twice the risk of those with high intake. A large-scale follow-up study found that persons with a low vitamin C intake had a statistically significantly higher risk of heart disease mortality and total mortality over the subsequent 10 years. In addition, several studies have found that persons with low intake of antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C and carotene had significantly increased risk of developing age-related eye diseases such as cataracts. Although many older people consume more antioxidants than younger people, very substantial proportions of older persons have very low intakes and blood levels. Among white men 65–74 in the U.S., 15% have blood ascorbate levels below 0.4 mg/dl, the lower boundary of “normal.” Among black men of that age, 25% have levels below 0.4 mg/dl. Persons with high intakes of dietary vitamin C or citrus fruit have repeatedly been found to have a lower risk of developing cancer. In addition, recent research indicates an important role in heart disease and other disabilities of aging. This paper will summarize the epidemiologic literature briefly, and provide data on intake of this vitamin in the United States. Vitamin C has numerous biologic functions, including collagen, hormone and neurotransmitter synthesis. Its role as an antioxidant and free radical scavenger may be of primary importance in many of its roles in disease prevention. Oxidative and free radical damage to DNA and cell membranes is an important factor in cancer initiation, and it is clear that ascorbic acid can help prevent such damage.
Theory of mind: Better methods, clearer findings, more development

Beginning in 1991, Willem Koops challenged me that typical theory of mind data were “not very developmental”. In the intervening years, better methods and clearer findings have addressed this challenge. I argue that the clearest developmental theory-of-mind findings come from combining longitudinal, microgenetic, and developmental scaling methods. I review illustrative studies using these methods, to provide a clearer, “more developmental” picture of theory-of-mind acquisition in the preschool years.
Inventory accounting policy choice among Canadian firms

Abstract This study examines factors that influence inventory accounting policy choice among Canadian firms. The dataset includes 80 firms that use FIFO and 45 firms that use average cost. Results indicate that average-cost firms operate in industries with lower but more variable inflation rates; have a lower inventory turnover rate, higher variance of income and inventory, higher leverage, and tighter dividend restrictions; and are larger than FIFO firms.
Cardiac arrhythmias following the use of large doses of central nervous system stimulants.

Abstract Although caffeine, nikethamide, and amphetamine are commonly employed to combat central nervous system depression, relatively little attention has been directed to the development of cardiac arrhythmias associated with the use of large doses of these drugs. It is the purpose of this communication, by describing two illustrative cases, to call attention to such arrhythmias as a possible complication of the administration of massive doses of these stimulants.
Consumption and Poverty: How Effective are In-Kind Transfers?

The ability of in-kind transfers to alleviate poverty depends on accurate targeting as well as recipients' valuations of the benefits. Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Surveys, the efficiency of in-kind transfers is examined in a microsimulation framework in which recipients are identified as those who have the lowest consumption. In this framework, in-kind transfers of food, capital services (which includes housing), and consumer services are an effective means of providing support to the poor even at high levels of subsidization. The multiple good transfers that are considered are essentially equivalent to cash grants. Copyright 1996 by Royal Economic Society.
Laser treated glass platform with rapid wicking-driven transport and particle separation capabilities

Wicking and particle separation are two required capabilities for many microfluidics and lab-on-a-chip devices, but they often require multiple materials and structures (e.g., paper, polymer filters) which are difficult to integrate with established microfabrication techniques and materials. In this work, we combine both properties into a single glass platform with a straightforward and economical fabrication process. By laser machining soda lime glass with a specific power and laser speed, we create channels defined by an array of micro cracks (3–4 µm) which provide particle separation properties and simultaneously enable rapid liquid transport (up to 24.2 mm/s) as a result of capillary forces from the crevices and laser-induced surface hydrophilization.
Novel calibration of a dynamic surface tension detector: flow injection analysis of kinetically-hindered surface active analytes.

Abstract First, a novel technique for calibration of a dynamic surface tension detector (DSTD) is described. The DSTD measures the differential pressure as a function of time across the liquid–air interface of growing drops that repeatedly form and detach at the end of a capillary tip. The calibration technique utilizes the ratio of pressure signals acquired from the drop growth of two separate solutions, i.e. a standard solution and a corresponding mobile phase, such as water, both of which have a known surface tension. Once calibrated, the dynamic surface tension of an analyte is obtained from the ratio of the pressure signals from the analyte solution to that of the mobile phase solution. Thus, this calibration technique eliminates the need to optically image the radius of the expanding drop of liquid. Accurate dynamic surface tension determinations were achieved for aqueous sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solutions over a concentration range of 0.5–5.4 mM. The measured surface tensions for these SDS solutions range from 70.3 to 46.8 dyne/cm and were in excellent agreement with the literature. A precision of 0.2 dyne/cm (1 S.D.) was routinely obtained. Second, the DSTD with this calibration technique was combined with flow injection analysis (FIA) for the study of model protein solutions and polymer solutions. The kinetic surface tension behavior of aqueous bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions as a function of concentration and flow rate is presented. Evaluation of the dynamic surface tension data illustrates that a protein such as BSA initially exhibits kinetically-hindered surface tension lowering, i.e. a time dependence, as BSA interacts with the liquid–air interface of an expanding drop. FIA/DSTD is then shown to be an effective tool for the rapid study of kinetically-hindered surfactant mixtures. It was found that mixtures of SDS and the polymeric surfactant Brij®-35 (lauryl polyoxyethylene ether with an average molecular weight of 1200 g/mol) result in essentially an additive lowering of the surface tension. Mixtures of polyethylene glycol (PEG), with an average molecular weight of 1470 g/mol, and Brij®-35, however, result in a competitive (non-additive) surface tension with the Brij®-35 dominating the response.
The image contrast of surface steps in reflection electron microscopy

Steps on the surfaces of crystals, one or more atoms high, show high contrast in reflection electron microscopy (REM) images obtained using diffracted beams produced in grazing incidence in the RHEED mode. An important part of this contrast may be described as phase contrast, produced by the phase difference between waves scattered from the top and bottom of a step. Calculations based on a simple theory for a phase step, taking into account the possibility of large phase changes, deviations of the angle of incidence from the Bragg angle and possible displacements of the objective aperture, show good agreement with the contrast observed for steps on the surfaces of gold and platinum crystals.
Thyrotropin-releasing hormone: central site of action in antagonism of pentobarbital narcosis.

THYROTROPIN-RELEASING HORMONE (TRH) is capable of antagonising pentobarbital narcosis, and this effect is independent of its hypophysiotropic function1,2. The potency of intraventricular injections2,3 and the localisation of TRH in nerve terminals from both hypothalamic and extrahypothalamic sites4,5, suggest that TRH may function as a neuromodulator in the central nervous system (CNS)6. Although TRH antagonism of pentobarbital has been behaviourally and electroencephalographically7,8 characterised, the underlying neuroanatomical substrate remains unknown. In an attempt to identify the central substrate mediating this effect, we have used intracerebral microinjection of TRH into specific brain loci. Brain sites were chosen to represent large neuroanatomical regions—as cholinergic activation has been hypothesised to mediate pentobarbital antagonism by TRH, structures belonging to the cholinergic activating system9 were examined, and we also examined medially located brain regions that Wei et al.10 found to be most active at inducing TRH-mediated shaking. While a number of sites were found responsive at 500 ng of TRH, the septal region proved exceptionally sensitive by responding significantly at only 5.0 ng TRH.
Diagnosis and treatment of abortion

Abstract The present paper discusses the diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous and induced abortion. The causes of this complication are mentioned; certain problems of differential diagnosis are considered; and the most common pathological changes found in aborted ova are briefly described. The methods of treatment which constitute the body of the paper are based upon an extended practical experience in our clinic.
Seismic Velocity Estimation And Time to Depth Conversion of Time-migrated Images

We address the problem of time to depth conversion of time migrated seismic images and show that the Dix velocities estimated from time migration velocities are the true seismic velocities divided by the geometrical spreading of image rays. We pose an inverse problem: to find seismic velocities from Dix velocities and suggest two algorithms for solving this problem. One algorithm is based on the ray tracing approach, and the second is based on the level set approach. We test these algorithms on synthetic data examples and apply them to a real data example from the North Sea. We demonstrate that it is important to take into account the fact that, in laterally heterogeneous media, the Dix velocities are not equal to the seismic velocities and that the difference between the two can be significant.
Femtosecond Characterization Of Semiconductor Lasers

A review of ultrafast techniques for characterizing wide modu-lation bandwidth semiconductor lasers is presented. The origin of nonlinear gain effects and their influence on the modulation bandwidth are investigated. The most recent experimental results and trends are discussed.
Decidable hybrid systems

Hybrid systems combine differential equations with discrete event systems. We consider the reachability problem: is there a trajectory from an initial state to a target state in the hybrid system. We show that for hybrid systems with decoupled differential inclusions, the reachability problem can be decided in a finite number of steps.
An electrochemical framework to explain the intergranular stress corrosion behavior in two Al-Cu-Mg-Ag alloys as a function of aging

Abstract A modified version of the Cu-depletion electrochemical framework was used to explain the metallurgical factor causal to intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) susceptibility in two Al–Cu–Mg–Ag alloys (i.e., Al–5.0%Cu–0.8%Mg–0.5%Ag and Al–5.4%Cu–0.5%Mg–0.5%Ag). This framework was also used to explain the specific cases of IGSCC susceptibility in the under-aged condition and increased IGSCC resistance with over-aging. Susceptibility in the under-aged and T8 (peak-aged) conditions is consistent with the grain boundary Cu-depletion mechanism and high concentrations of Cu in solid solution in grain interiors. Improvement in resistance to IGSCC of the over-aged T8+ condition (i.e., T8 temper followed by an additional thermal exposure of 5000 h at 107.2 °C) can be explained by elimination of the differential Cu concentration adjacent to the grain boundary compared to that of the grain interior. The resultant leveling of Cu concentration leads to the suppression of a preferential dissolution path at the grain boundaries associated with IGSCC.
Defining, Teaching, and Assessing Engineering Design Skills

The paper discusses a systematic approach for defining, teaching, and assessing engineering design skills. Although the examples presented in the paper are from the field of aerospace engineering, the principles apply to engineering design in general. What makes the teaching of engineering design particularly challenging is that the necessary skills and attributes are both technical and non-technical and come from the cognitive as well as the affective domains.Each set of skills requires adifferent approach to teachandassess. Implementing a variety of approaches for a number of years at SJSU has shown that it is just as necessary to teach affective skills, as it is to teach cognitive skills. As one might expect, each set of skills presents its own challenges.
A Technique for the Temporary Application and Augmentation of Pigment Patterns in Fish

Secondary sexual characteristics, such as pigment patterns in male fish, have significant roles in female mating preferences. Vertical body-bar pigmentation, one such characteristic, is found in a variety of Xiphophorus species. Prior investigations have revealed that these bars function as a signal attracting females and deterring rival males in at least two species. Furthermore, it has been shown that X. cortezi females prefer vertical bar symmetry as well as more bars in conspecific males. Because of the shortcomings of prior techniques used for pigment elimination and permanent color marking, a temporary method for augmenting pigment patterns with an artificial dye was developed. This technique was tested using the known preference that female X. cortezi have for more bars in conspecific males. The results corroborate previous findings as female X. cortezi preferred males with more artificial vertical bars in comparison with males with fewer. Therefore, the method of applying temporary, artificial pigment patterns using an antiseptic dye would appear to be an effective way to control and manipulate secondary sexual pigmentation for behavioral investigations in fish.
Terahertz Broadband-Stop Filters

We show that multilayer microstructures consisting of loop resonators exhibit characteristics for broadband-stop filters. The parameters describing the resonators have been varied to optimize their influences on the performances of the band-stop filters. By investigating near-field distributions and employing the coupled Drude-Lorentz-type resonance model, the mechanism for the broadband attenuation is attributed to longitudinal coupling between each layer and reinforced resonance within the planar microstructures. The multilayer microstructures can be modulated for tuning bandwidths and center frequencies as well as ensuring the same filtering effect regardless of the polarization.
Destruction processes of large stacking fault tetrahedra induced by direct interaction with gliding dislocations

The destruction process of large non-truncated stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs) induced by gliding dislocations was examined by in situ transmission electron microscope straining experiments. Three different destruction processes were observed: a triangular Frank loop remained after the collapse (Type 1), the whole SFT was incorporated into a gliding dislocation as multiple super jog segments (Type 2), and an apex portion of the original SFT remained as a smaller SFT while the base portion was annihilated (Type 3). The remnants of Type 1 and 2 destruction processes were similar to those of previous models proposed by Kimura, indicating that these processes are based on dislocation reactions as assumed in Kimura models. On contrary, the Type 3 process, which was entirely different from Kimura models, is occasionally accompanied by vacancy migration.
Rewarding and punishing effects from stimulating the same place in the rat's brain.

Delgado, Roberts, and Miller (1) found that electrical stimulation in hypothalamic structures of the cat brain would motivate the learning and performance of escape and avoidance habits. In another line of research, Olds and Milner (7) and Olds (6) reported a positive reinforcing effect from electrically stimulating septal and hypothalamic areas in the rat's brain. Finally, Roberts (8) discovered areas in the posterior hypothalamus of cats in which electrical stimulation would motivate the cats to learn the correct turn in a T maze to escape (i.e., terminate) the stimulation, but would not motivate them to learn to leave a distinctive starting box in time to avoid the stimulation. One hypothesis that Roberts suggested to explain this odd effect was that the onset of stimulation in these structures may actually be rewarding, although it becomes punishing quickly thereafter. To support this hypothesis, Roberts (9) tested his cats in a Skinner box and found indeed that they would press the bar to receive brief electrical stimulation of the brain (ESB). On the basis of this and other allied results, he inferred that brief stimulation in these structures produced a positive reinforcing effect. His hypothesis, then, was that the onset of stimulation in these structures was rewarding and that it became punishing only after it had been on for a few seconds. With this in mind, we can understand why his 5s might never learn to avoid the stimulation, although they would learn to do something to turn it off (escape) after it had been on for several seconds. The present study further investigates this hypothesis using albino rats as 5s, The over-all plan of the experiment is to start with a heterogeneous group of reward rats and to give several behavioral tests which will differentiate 5s having reward and aversion
The effect of temperature on adenosine diphosphate glucose pyrophosphorylase from Solanum tuberosum

Abstract A partially purified extract of adenosine diphosphate glucose pyrophosphorylase has been prepared from Solanum tuberosum. The effect of temperature on the initial rate of reaction has been determined in the presence and absence of activator. The results are discussed in relation to the sweetening of potatoes at 2°.
Novel hydrogen sensors using evanescent microwave probes

Gas sensing using local probes, such as atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopes, enables accurate measurement and detection of very small quantities of gas molecules and chemicals. Here, we report a unique application of the evanescent microwave probes (EMP) in detecting hydrogen. The EMP is extensively used to map resistivity and other nonuniformities in a variety of materials including metals, insulators, semiconductors (both organic and inorganic), composites, and biological specimens. The EMP detects the microwave resistivity of the sample and it has an exponential sensitivity to distance and thickness variations. Here, the EMP is used to detect deflections in a Pd-coated cantilever and to quantify the amount of stress and the resistivity change in the Pd film as a function of hydrogen concentration. The stress was in the range of 5.26–8.59×107 Pa for H2 concentrations of 0.5%–1.4% at room temperature, which is about three times larger than that found in the bulk Pd for the same range of H2 co...
Tritiated guanethidine of high specific activity

Due to the desire for biological assay techniques of greater sensitivity and specificity than presently exist for the antihypertensive drug guanethidine, tritium labeled guanethidine of high specific activity was prepared for use in radioimmunoassay procedures. This drug has been labeled in other positions than described here resulting in much lower specific activity and less than optimal sensitivity in RIA work. The work described here involves the preparation, deuteration and tritiation of an olefinic precursor, N-(2-aminoethyl)-Δ4-hexahydroazocine which was converted in one subsequent step to tritiated guanethidine with a specific activity of 72 Ci/mmole (145 mCi/mg) for the sulfate salt and 36 Ci/mmole (182 mCi/mg) for the free base.
Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) inositol monophosphatase: gene structure and enzyme characteristics.

The cellular myo-inositol (Ins) pool is important to many metabolic and signaling pathways in plants. Ins monophosphatase (IMPase; EC 3.1.3.25) activity is essential for the de novo synthesis of myo-Inositol (Ins), and for recycling of Ins in Ins(1,4,5)P3. However, proteins encoded by at least one family of IMP genes also have l-galactose-1-P phosphatase activity important to ascorbic acid synthesis, indicating a bifunctionality that links these two branches of carbon metabolism. As part of research into the regulation of Ins synthesis and supply during seed development, the barley IMP-1 gene and gene products were studied. The 1.4 kb barley IMP-1 promoter contains one low temperature response element (RE), two heat shock REs, one gibberellin and two auxin REs, and five sugar REs. Barley IMP-1 is expressed in all tissues assayed, and expression levels were not greatly altered by abiotic stress treatments. Reduced use of Ins for Ins P6 synthesis in developing seed of barley low phytic acid (lpa) mutants results in Ins accumulation, and IMP-1 expression is reduced in proportion to the increase in Ins level. The barley recombinant enzyme had a lower Km, indicating higher affinity, for d/l-Ins(3)P1 (Km = 9.7 μM) as compared with reported Km (Ins P1) values for other eukaryotic IMPases (43–330 μM) or with a reported Km (l-Gal-1P) of 150 μM for a kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) enzyme. These and other data indicate that the barley IMP-1 gene is regulated at least in part in response to Ins metabolic needs, and that the enzyme it encodes displays catalytic properties well suited for a role in Ins synthesis, in addition to other roles as an l-gal-1-P phosphatase important to ascorbate synthesis, or as an IMPase important to Ins(1,4,5)P3 signal recycling.
Tailor-Made Renal Cell Carcinoma Vaccines

Cancer vaccines are beginning to show signs of clinical activity, but major uncertainties remain regarding antigen selection, strategy for immune stimulation, patient stratification, and monitoring of elicited response. A new study of peptide vaccines in advanced renal cell carcinoma patients provides important insights into these central issues.
Two New Species of Nothobomolochus Vervoort, 1962 (Copepoda, Bomolochidae) Parasitic on Marine Fishes of Taiwan

Two new species of copepods of the genus Nothobomolochus Vervoort, 1962 (Poecilostomatoida, Bomolochidae) parasitic on marine fishes of Taiwan, are described. They are: N. lizae n. sp. from Liza macrolepis (Smith) and N. longisaccus n. sp. from Thryssa hamiltonii (Gray). The former species is characteristic in having an armature of 0-I; 0-I; II on the endopod of leg 4. The latter species has a combination of the following features: three processes on the pedestal of the antennule subequal, and longer than the first two antennular setae; terminal claw on the maxilliped with distinctive auxiliary tooth; and an armature of II, I,5 on the terminal segment of the exopod of leg 4. Both species of host are the first species of their genus recorded for carrying a bomolochid copepod.
Optimization of object region and boundary extraction by energy minimization for activity recognition

Automatic video segmentation for human activity recognition has played an important role in several computer vision applications. Active contour model (ACM) has been used extensively for unsupervised adaptive segmentation and automatic object region and boundary extraction in video sequences. This paper presents optimizing Active Contour Model using recurrent architecture for automatic object region and boundary extraction in human activity video sequences. Taking advantage of the collective computational ability and energy convergence capability of the recurrent architecture, energy function of Active Contour Model is optimized with lower computational time. The system starts with initializing recurrent architecture state based on the initial boundary points and ends up with final contour which represent actual boundary points of human body region. The initial contour of the Active Contour Model is computed using background subtraction based on Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) such that background model is built dynamically and regularly updated to overcome different challenges including illumination changes, camera oscillations, and changes in background geometry. The recurrent nature is useful for dealing with optimization problems due to its dynamic nature, thus, ensuring convergence of the system. The proposed boundary detection and region extraction can be used for real time processing. This method results in an effective segmentation that is less sensitive to noise and complex environments. Experiments on different databases of human activity show that our method is effective and can be used for real-time video segmentation.
Automating Cloud Service Level Agreements Using Semantic Technologies

Cloud related legal documents, like terms of service or customer agreement are usually managed as plain text files. Hence extensive manual effort is required to monitor the cloud service performance by cross referencing the metrics and measures agreed upon in these documents. We have significantly automated the process of managing and monitoring cloud Service Level Agreements (SLA) using semantic web technologies like OWL, RDF and SPARQL. In this paper, we describe in detail the cloud SLA ontology and the prototype that we have developed to illustrate how the SLA measures can be automatically extracted from legal Terms of Service that are available on cloud provider websites.
A new cross-country tabulation of the quality index of consumption

Abstract Cross-country data are used to tabulate a quality index of consumption for each of 30 countries ranging in affluence from the U.S. to India as well as the real-income, relative-price and residual components of the quality index.
Space use, longevity, and reproductive success in meadow voles

We addressed the question of how reproductive success (RS) was limited in the shortlived but highly fecund meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus. In so doing, we asked how differential space use patterns could affect longevity and hence RS in each sex. The sample comprised all voles achieving sexual competency over the course of a 40-week breeding season in a live-trapped population in Manomet, MA USA. Matrilineal families were determined using a radionuclide labelling technique; paternity was estimated using a maximum likelihood model. Individual RS was defined as the number of offspring successfully recruited into the trappable population per adult. We found that the variance in RS among female meadow voles was greater than the variance among males. In an attempt to explain this pattern, reproductively successful individuals were compared to reproductively unsuccessful individuals with regard to survivorship, maximum body weight achieved, and spatial mobility. The only difference between fathers and reproductively unsuccessful males was that fathers were heavier. In contrast, mothers differed from unsuccessful females in every measurement. Females lived longer than males, and mothers lived longer than either fathers or reproductively unsuccessful females. The observed differences in longevity may have been largely the result of differences in levels of mobility, assuming more mobile voles were more susceptible to predation. Mothers were significantly more site tenacious than were either males or unsuccessful females. These patterns explain the distribution of RS in our population if predation differentially affects male and female meadow voles. The meadow vole is the only non-polyandrous vertebrate reported to date in which the variance in RS among females exceeds the variance in RS among males.
A computer analysis of the merck sharp & dohme research laboratories indexing system

A study of the indexing terms of 10,000 documents was conducted for the main purpose of analyzing the frequency of use of the indexing terms, both singly and in combination with one another. The serial number of each document and the indexing terms for it were typed onto magnetic tape using a Remington Rand Unityper magnetic-tape typewriter, and this information was analyzed by a Univac I computer; the sequence of computer operations is given in a flow chart. The statistical results, presented graphically, include (1) the number of descriptors used to describe the content of a reference, (2) the distribution of use of the total vocabulary as contained in the dictionary (authority list) for the system, and (3) the frequency of occurrence of singles, pairs, and triples in describing individual documents. The data obtained through this analysis are informative, but not sufficient to fully evaluate an information system. Full evaluation would require analyzing the actual output of the system in terms of the desired output.