cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Middle and Late Pennsylvanian cyclothems, American Midcontinent: Ice-age environmental changes and terrestrial biotic dynamics

Abstract The Pennsylvanian portion of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age was characterized by stratigraphic repetition of chemical and siliciclastic rocks in the equatorial regions of the Pangean interior. Known as “cyclothems”, these stratigraphic successions are a 105 yr-record of glacial waxing and waning, superimposed on longer term, 106 yr intervals of global warming and cooling and a still longer term trend of increasing equatorial aridity. During periods of maximum ice–minimum sea level, the interior craton was widely exposed. Epicontinental landscapes were initially subjected to dry subhumid climate when first exposed, as sea level fell, but transitioned to humid climates and widespread wetlands during maximum lowstands. During interglacials (ice-minima) seasonally dry vegetation predominated. The wetland and seasonally dry biomes were compositionally distinct and had different ecological and evolutionary dynamics.
Anaerobic enzyme adaptations to sprint training in rats

The adaptability of several regulatory glycolytic enzymes to chronic sprint exercise has been investigated. Ten animals were subjected to an 11-week running program consisting of 30-sec sprints interposed with 30-sec rest periods and were running up to 18 sprints a day at 80.5 m/min during the eleventh week. Ten animals served as sedentary controls. Phosphorylase (PHOS), phosphofructokinase (PFK), and pyruvate kinase (PK) activities were estimated in samples from the red and white portions of the gastrocnemius muscle (RG and WG), the red area of the vastus lateralis muscle (RV), and the soleus muscle (S). In control animals the activities of PHOS, PFK, and PK were highest in the WG, followed in order by the RV, RG, and S. Significantly more fast-twitch fibers were classified as high-oxidative in the WG of the trained animals. Only the S showed a consistent increase in glycolytic enzyme capacity with training. The findings indicate that most skeletal muscles possess sufficient anaerobic capacity to meet the demands of heavy, short-term intermittent work without adaptation to a higher level.
Teaching about Vietnamese Culture: Water Puppetry as the Soul of the Rice Fields

(1995). Teaching about Vietnamese Culture: Water Puppetry as the Soul of the Rice Fields. The Social Studies: Vol. 86, No. 1, pp. 25-28.
Near-Equilibrium Chemical Force Microscopy

Molecular force spectroscopy experiments probe the stochastic kinetics of individual intermolecular bond rupture under external loading. While there are numerous examples describing rupture kinetics under fast-loading, far from equilibrium conditions, bond rupture at slow loading rates near equilibrium conditions is seldom explored. We use an analytical and numerical approach to show that rupture forces in this qualitatively different regime reach an equilibrium plateau value that is a function of the probe stiffness and the free energy difference between the bound and dissociated state of the bond. Chemical force microscopy measurements of the interaction between a small number of well-defined COOH functional groups confirm these predictions and show the expected scaling of the force plateau values with the square root of the probe stiffness. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results for the interpretation of force spectroscopy experiments.
Effects of Mercurial Diuretics on Urine Volume and Chloride Excretion in the Rat with Additional Observations on Toxicity

The effects of therargidone, a hercurial diuretic containing 88 mg. of sodium N- (3-hydroxymercuri-2-methoxypropyl)-2-pyridone-5-carboxylate (equivalentto 39 mg. of mercury) and 60 mg. of theophylline per cc., on urine volume and chloride excretion were compared with those of mersalyl and theophylline in the rat. The activity of therargidone was found to be approximately equal to that of mersalyl and theophylline. In acute toxicity determinations, therargidone was found to be more toxic than mersalyl and theophylline in the mouse, equally toxic in the rat, and slightly less toxic in the hamster at twenty-four hours after injection. No delayed deaths of significance were observed with either compound in the mouse. Approximately a fourfold increase in toxicity due to delayed deaths was observed with both substances in the rat and hamster. In subacute toxicity studies in the dog in which dosages of therargidone equivalent to 2, 4, and 8 mg. Hg/Kg. were given subcutaneously once daily, five days a week for six weeks, no evidence of toxicity was observed at the two lower dose levels. An acute nephrosis developed in the dogs at the 8 mg. Hg/Kg. dose level, terminating in death during the second week of medication.
Sensory processing relates to attachment to childhood comfort objects of college students

The author tested the hypothesis that attachment to comfort objects is based on the sensory processing characteristics of the individual. Fifty-two undergraduate students with and without a childhood comfort object reported sensory responses and performed a tactile threshold task. Those with a comfort object described their object and rated their attachment to it. Participants with a strong attachment liked the texture of their comfort object and sleeping with it. Smell sensitivity in childhood, seeking out tactile stimulation as children, and tactile threshold predicted the intensity of object attachment. Participants with comfort objects showed a higher tactile threshold and reported seeking out more tactile stimulation as children than participants without a comfort object did. These findings suggest that children with an object attachment seek out more sensory stimulation through touch, which in turn is soothing. Results support growing research linking sensory processing to psychological functioning.
A Conformational Switch to β-sheet Structure in Cytochrome c Leads to Heme Exposure; Implications for Cardiolipin Peroxidation and Apoptosis

Ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy reveals that, when heated at pH 3, a substantial fraction (30%) of cytochrome c converts to a β-sheet structure, at the expense of turns and helices. β-sheet formation is rapid, exhibiting a 2 μs rise time, following a temperature jump. It is proposed that a short β-sheet segment, comprising residues 37−39 and 58−61, extends itself into the large 37−61 loop when the latter is destabilized by protonation of H26, which forms an anchoring H-bond to loop residue P44. This conformation change ruptures the Met80-Fe bond, as revealed by changes in ligation-sensitive heme-resonant Raman bands. It also induces peroxidase activity with the same temperature profile. This process is suggested to model the apoptotic peroxidation of cardiolipin by cytochrome c.
The Impact of Institutional Repositories on Technical Services

The library technical services units at the Ohio State University Libraries are heavily involved in the operation of the institutional repository. A literature review revealed that the majority of articles addressing the impact of institutional repositories on library operations emphasize the role of public services. In an effort to determine if the Ohio State experience was unusual, a survey was sent to 123 Association of Research Libraries libraries through the Association of Research Libraries directors' listserv. The survey was designed to determine how the management and workload associated with institutional repositories is distributed across the library including whether institutional repository responsibilities are fulfilled in technical services and whether there has been reorganization of technical services to handle the institutional repository. Twenty-one percent of the libraries returned the survey. Most of the institutions indicated that the operation and management of the institutional repo...
Voltage-Dependent Kappa Opioid Modulation of Calcium Currents Elicited by Action Potential Waveforms in Neurohypophysial Terminals

Release of neurotransmitter is activated by the influx of calcium. Inhibition of Ca2+ channels results in less calcium influx into the terminal and, presumably, a reduction in transmitter release. In the nerve terminals of the neurohypophysis, voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCC) are primarily controlled by membrane voltage and their activity can be modulated, in a voltage-dependent manner, by their interaction with G-protein subunits. Endogenous opioids also affect (inhibit) these calcium channels, upon binding to μ- and κ-receptors at the terminals.Voltage-dependent relief of G-protein inhibition of VGCC is achieved with either a depolarizing square pre-pulse or by action potential waveforms. Both protocols were tested in the presence and absence of opioid agonists targeting the μ- and κ-receptors. The κ-opioid VGCC inhibition is relieved by such pre-pulses, suggesting that this receptor is involved in a voltage-dependent membrane-delimited G-protein pathway. In contrast, μ-opioid inhibition of VGCC is not relieved by such pre-pulses, indicating a voltage-independent diffusible second-messenger signaling pathway. Furthermore, κ-opioid inhibition is also relieved during stimulation with action potential bursts with physiological characteristics. This indicates the possibility of activity-dependent modulation in vivo.Differences in the facilitation of Ca2+ channels due to specific G-protein modulation during a burst of action potentials may contribute to the fine-tuning of Ca2+-dependent neuropeptide release in other central nervous system synapses, as well. [Supported by NIH Grant NS29470].
Comparison of Rates of Local Cerebral Glucose Utilization Determined with Deoxy[l‐14C]glucose and Deoxy[6‐14C]glucose

: The activity of the pentose phosphate shunt pathway in brain is thought to be linked to neurotransmitter metabolism, glutathione reduction, and synthetic pathways requiring NADPH. There is currently no method available to assess flux of glucose through the pentose phosphate pathway in localized regions of the brain of conscious animals in vivo. Because metabolites of deoxy[l-14C]glucose are lost from brain when the experimental period of the deoxy[14C]glucose method exceeds 45 min, the possibility was considered that the loss reflected activity of this shunt pathway and that this hexose might be used to assay regional pentose phosphate shunt pathway activity in brain. Decarboxylation of deoxy[l-14C]glucose by brain extracts was detected in vitro, and small quantities of 14C were recovered in the 6-phosphodeoxygluconate fraction when deoxy[14C]glucose metabolites were isolated from freeze-blown brains and separated by HPLC. Local rates of glucose utilization determined with deoxy[l-14C]glucose and deoxy[6-14C]glucose were, however, similar in 20 brain structures at 45,60,90, and 120 min after the pulse, indicating that the rate of loss of 14CO2 from deoxy[l-14C]glucose-6-phosphate in normal adult rat brain is too low to permit assay pentose phosphate shunt activity in vivo. Further metabolism of deoxy[l-14C]glucose-6-phosphate via this pathway does not interfere during routine use of the deoxyglu-cose method or explain the progressive decrease in calculated metabolic rate when the experimental period exceeds 45 min.
Cellular pattern of type-I insulin-like growth factor receptor gene expression during maturation of the rat brain: Comparison with insulin-like growth factors I and II

Insulin-like growth factors have a number of potent trophic effects on cultured neural tissue and most if not all of these effects appear to be mediated by the type-I insulin-like growth factor receptor. In order to establish the identity of cell types expressing this receptor in the rat central nervous system during development and maturity, we have used in situ hybridization to map sites of type-I insulin-like growth factor receptor mRNA synthesis in the developing and adult rat brain. In order to identify possible local sources of peptide ligands for this receptor, we have also mapped the sites of insulin-like growth factors I and II mRNA synthesis in parallel brain sections. From early development onward, there is a uniform and stable pattern of type-I insulin-like growth factor receptor gene expression in all neuroepithelial cell lineages, in which regional variations reflect primarily differences in cell density. In addition to this generalized pattern, during late postnatal development, high levels of type-I insulin-like growth factor receptor gene expression are found in specific sets of sensory and cerebellar projection neurons in conjunction with abundant insulin-like growth factor-I gene expression in these same neurons. While insulin-like growth factor-I expression is confined to the principal neurons in each system, receptor mRNA is also found in local interneurons. In the cerebral cortex and hippocampal formation, type-I insulin-like growth factor receptor mRNA and insulin-like growth factor-I are concentrated in different cell populations: receptor mRNA is abundant in pyramidal cells in Ammon's horn, in granule cells in the dentate gyrus, and in pyramidal cells in lamina VI of the cerebral cortex. Insulin-like growth factor-I mRNA is found in isolated medium- to large-sized cells which are rather irregularly distributed throughout the hippocampus and isocortex. In the hypothalamus, receptor mRNA is concentrated in the suprachiasmatic nucleus but is in low abundance elsewhere, including the median eminence, while insulin-like growth factor-I mRNA is not detected in this region at all. Type-I insulin-like growth factor receptor and insulin-like growth factor-II mRNAs are both abundant in choroid plexus, meninges and vascular sheaths from early development to maturity, but insulin-like growth factor-II mRNA is not detected in cells of neuroepithelial origin at any stage of development. This study provides evidence for two fundamentally different patterns of gene expression for the brain type-I insulin-like growth factor receptor.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Sequential non-linear least-square estimation for damage identification of structures

Abstract An early detection of structural damage is an important goal of any structural health monitoring system. In particular, the ability to detect damages on-line, based on vibration data measured from sensors, will ensure the reliability and safety of the structures. In this connection, innovative data analysis techniques for the on-line damage detection of structures have received considerable attentions recently, although the problem is quite challenging. In this paper, we proposed a new data analysis method, referred to as the sequential non-linear least-square (SNLSE) approach, for the on-line identification of structural parameters. This new approach has significant advantages over the extended Kalman filter (EKF) approach in terms of the stability and convergence of the solution as well as the computational efforts involved. Further, an adaptive tracking technique recently proposed has been implemented in the proposed SNLSE to identify the time-varying system parameters of the structure. The accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed approach have been demonstrated using the Phase I ASCE structural health monitoring benchmark building, a non-linear elastic structure and non-linear hysteretic structures. Simulation results indicate that the proposed approach is capable of tracking on-line the changes of structural parameters leading to the identification of structural damages.
Computer-Controlled Air-Conditioning Experimental Apparatus

A portable experimental setup for demonstrating air-conditioning processes was designed, developed and constructed by a multidisciplinary capstone senior design team. This experimental apparatus is currently being used to demonstrate to undergraduate students air-conditioning processes such as cooling, heating, and humidification. The level of cooling, heating, or humidification is being monitored and controlled using a PC-based control system which consists of LabVIEW and data acquisition unit. This article provides details about the integration of the electrical/electronic component and the control system. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 18: 458–468, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com; DOI 10.1002/cae.20185
Fluorescence detection of proteins and amino acids in capillary electrophoresis using a post-column sheath flow reactor.

Abstract A simple laser-induced fluorescence detection method for proteins and amino acids in capillary electrophoresis is reported. A sheath flow cell is utilized as a post-column reactor for fluorescence derivatization of proteins and amino acids by addition of o-phthaldialdehyde–2-mercaptoethanol to the sheath fluid. With the use of a 50 μm I.D. capillary, the limits of detection for carbonic anhydrase are 0.73 nM or 1.8 amol which represents a five- and two-fold improvement, respectively, over the best results previously reported for post-column detection. In addition, separation efficiencies up to 8.07·105 are achieved, and the detector response is linear over three-orders of magnitude. These results demonstrate that mixing is adequate and the reaction kinetics are rapid enough to provide sensitive detection with this approach. Also, because this post-column derivatization scheme requires no instrumental changes to a typical sheath flow cell detector, the system can be used for detection of pre-column labeled analytes and for native fluorescence detection.
Tel-2 Is a Novel Transcriptional Repressor Related to the Ets Factor Tel/ETV-6

We report here the isolation of Tel-2, a novel member of the Ets transcription factor family, with high homology to Tel/ETV-6. Tel-2 is the second mammalian member of the Tel Ets family subclass whose prototype Tel is involved in various chromosomal translocations in human cancers. Six differentially expressed alternative splice products of Tel-2 were characterized encoding different Tel-2 isoforms which either contain or lack the amino-terminal Pointed domain and also vary at the carboxyl terminus. In contrast to Tel, which is highly expressed in several different cell types and tissues, Tel-2 is only weakly expressed in a variety of tissues and cell types, including placenta, prostate, spleen, liver, and lung. Tel-2 binds to functionally relevant Ets-binding sites of several genes and only the Tel-2 isoform containing the Pointed domain and the DNA-binding domain acts as a strong repressor of transcription. The retinoic acid receptor alpha and bone morphogenetic protein-6B (BMP-6) genes are specifically repressed by Tel-2 indicating a function for Tel-2 as an inhibitor of differentiation. Due to the important involvement of Tel in human cancer and the location of Tel-2 within the MHC cluster region, Tel-2 might be involved in chromosomal translocations in human cancer as well.
Compact InP-Based 16-Channel O-CDMA Encoder/Decoder

A very compact InP-Based 16-channel O-CDMA encoder-/decoder chip (3.8 mm x 6.8 mm) has been designed, fabricated and characterized. The device successfully performs O-CDMA spectral encoding.
The CaMV-35S promoter is sensitive to shortened photoperiod in transgenic tobacco.

The CaMV-35S promoter is one the most widely used promoters in transgenic plant research because it exhibits a high level of transcriptional activity in a variety of plant tissues. Here, the CaMV-35S promoter fused to the GUS gene was used as a model for constitutive expression in transgenic Nicotiana tabacum (cv 'Xanthi') leaves. The transgenic plants were placed under a shortened photoperiod to determine if GUS expression changed; measurements were made using fluorometry and ribonuclease protection assays. When the plants were moved from a 16 : 8-h photoperiod to a 8 : 16-h photoperiod, an increase in both specific GUS activity and gus RNA levels was observed, and these levels decreased upon returning to the 16 : 8-h photoperiod. These results indicate that photoperiod plays an important role in the regulation of the CaMV-35S promoter. Studies involving a comparison of this promoter to others should be limited to constant photoperiod conditions.
Bilin—apoprotein linkages in rhodophytan phycobiliproteins: The role of cysteine

The photosynthetically active algal biliproteins phycocyanin and allophycocyanin contain the hnear tetrapyrrole, phycocyanobilin, which is covalently attached to apoprotein [l] . The structure of phycocyanobilin has been established [2,3] but the nature of the covalent linkages to apoprotein has remained controversial [l] . Attempts to elucidate bilin-apoprotein linkages have included treatment of phycobiliproteins with agents which specifically cleave ester, ether and peptide bonds [4], sequencing [5] and amino acid analysis [6,7] of chromopeptides obtained by proteolysis of phycobiliproteins, and analysis of the pattern of imides derived from the chromophore of phycobiliproteins during chemical degradation in chromic acid [8] . We have shown that phycocyanin and allophycocyanin from the unicellular rhodophyte, Cyanidium caldarium, are comprised of dissimilar polypeptide subunits, termed (Y and 0, that the OL : fl chromophore composition of the phycocyanin subunits is 1 : 2, and that the Q : @ chromophore composition of the allophycocyanin subunits is 1 : 1 [9,10] . Clearly the complexity of the subunit and chromophore composition of these phycobiliproteins could allow for more than one type of covalent attachment between phycocyanobilin and amino acids in the subunit polypeptides. 0 Carra and 0 hEocha [ 1 ] concluded that the best evidence seems to indicate that one type of bilin-apoprotein linkage is a thioether bond between a cysteinyl residue and the ethylidine group of ring I of phycocyanobilin and that a second type of linkage is an ester bond between a seryl residue and the propionic Fig.1. Diagram illustrating proposed linkages between phycocyanobilin and apoprotein [ 1 ] .
Evaluation of a new porous titanium-niobium mixed oxide for photocatalytic water decontamination

Abstract A porous oxide semiconductor material made of a titanium-niobium oxide is evaluated as a heterogeneous photocatalyst for the photolysis of organic compounds in water. The photodegradation of micromolar solutions of a test compound, bromocresol green dye, was used to evaluate the material’s catalytic activity under ultraviolet light irradiation. The photolysis experiments were performed at pH 2.1, 3.6, and 7.0 and the dye concentrations were monitored over time down to 0.15 ppm using the optical absorbance of the dye in its basic form at a wavelength of 616 nm. The photolytic destruction of the dye was found to follow first order rate kinetics. The study compares the rate constants, with respect to the dye, of the new catalyst to a commercial nonporous TiO2 catalytic powder, Degussa P25, which has excellent catalytic properties and is considered to be a benchmark for degradation efficiency. Results indicate that at pH 2.1 the photocatalytic activity of the porous material was slightly superior to the commercial TiO2 powder, but it did not perform as well at pH 3.6 and 7.0. Possible reasons for the differences in the observed pH dependence of the new material versus the TiO2 are discussed. The porous material had much better sedimentation characteristics than the TiO2 powder, a quality that can be exploited to help solve catalyst retrieval and filtration problems after water decontamination of micro pollutants.
Optical characterization of two-layered tissue-like phantoms using multi-distance, frequency domain near-infrared spectroscopy

We present a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) approach for the optical characterization of two-layered tissuemimicking phantoms. For the data acquisition, we employed a multi-distance frequency-domain system. For the data analysis, we implemented an inversion routine based on a two-layered solution of the frequency-domain diffusion equation as the forward model. Measured quantities were the absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of the first layer (μ a1 , μ’ s1 ) and the second layer (μ a2 , μ’ s2 ), and the thickness of the first layer ( L ). We report measurements on three two-layered liquid phantoms featuring absorption coefficients in the range 0.009-0.017 mm -1 , reduced scattering coefficients in the range 0.69-0.92 mm -1 , and first layer thickness in the range 8-15 mm. Our method yielded measured values of the optical coefficients and first layer thickness (μ a1 , μ’ s1 , μ a2 , μ’ s2 , and L ) that are within 10% of the true values (optical properties measured in the infinite geometry; and the true first layer thickness). These are promising results toward exploring the potential of this two-layered medium approach in the human head, where the two layers would represent extracerebral and cerebral tissue, respectively.
On the invariance and general cohomology comparison theorems

The Invariance Theorem of Gerstenhaber and Schack states that if \(\mathbb A \) is a diagram of algebras then the subdivision functor induces a natural isomorphism between the Yoneda cohomologies of the category \(\mathbb A \)-\(\mathbf{mod }\) and its subdivided category \(\mathbb A ^{\prime }\)-\(\mathbf{mod }\). In this paper we generalize this result and show that the subdivision functor is a full and faithful functor between two suitable derived categories of \(\mathbb A \)-\(\mathbf{mod }\) and \(\mathbb A ^{\prime }\)-\(\mathbf{mod }\). This result combined with our work in Stancu (Hochschild cohomology and derived categories, PhD thesis, SUNY, Buffalo, 2006; J Homotopy Relat Struct 6(1):39–63, 2011), on the Special Cohomology Comparison Theorem, constitutes a generalization of Gerstenhaber and Schack’s General Cohomology Comparison Theorem (GCCT).
Knowledge transformation for cross-domain sentiment classification

With the explosion of user-generated web2.0 content in the form of blogs, wikis and discussion forums, the Internet has rapidly become a massive dynamic repository of public opinion on an unbounded range of topics. A key enabler of opinion extraction and summarization is sentiment classification: the task of automatically identifying whether a given piece of text expresses positive or negative opinion towards a topic of interest. Building high-quality sentiment classifiers using standard text categorization methods is challenging due to the lack of labeled data in a target domain. In this paper, we consider the problem of cross-domain sentiment analysis: can one, for instance, download rated movie reviews from rottentomatoes.com or IMBD discussion forums, learn linguistic expressions and sentiment-laden terms that generally characterize opinionated reviews and then successfully transfer this knowledge to the target domain, thereby building high-quality sentiment models without manual effort? We outline a novel sentiment transfer mechanism based on constrained non-negative matrix tri-factorizations of term-document matrices in the source and target domains. We report some preliminary results with this approach.
Instantaneous three-dimensional concentration measurements in turbulent jets and flames

An experiment is described in which the instantaneous three-dimensional gas-concentration distributions in turbulent jets and flames were recorded. A resonant scanning mirror was used to sweep a laser sheet through the volume of a flow field. During the 1.4-μsec duration of the laser pulse, an electronic framing camera imaged the scattered light from the gas in as many as 12 parallel planes within the flow. A two-dimensional charge-coupled-device array was used to digitize the images from the framing camera in real time. The measurement period was brief enough to freeze the motion of the gas.
Evidence for haemoglobin uptake by oöcytes of Chironomus thummi

Abstract Developing oocytes of a haemoglobin-containing fly, Chironomus thummi, have been investigated using the 3,3′-diaminobenzidine method for their endogeneous peroxidase activity. In the previtellogenic oocytes the reaction product, which is thought due to the peroxidatic activity of the haemoglobins, is not observed within the oocytes. Vitellogenic oocytes appear active in the uptake and incorporation of the externally derived peroxidese-active material into the yolk. The reaction product which is first visualized in the extracellular spaces within the follicle, then the pinosomes and multivesicular bodies of the oocyte, is later seen in the mature yolk granules. These observations are discussed in terms of their relation to the accumulation of haemoglobin as a part of the yolk.
A low-power VLSI implementation for variable block size motion estimation in H.264/AVC

Variable block size motion estimation (VBSME) is becoming the new coding technique in H.264/AVC. This paper presents a low-power VLSI implementation for full-search VBSME. Compared to existing hardware architectures and implementations for VBSME, the proposed design employs a fast full-search block matching algorithm to reduce power consumption, while preserving the optimal solution and the throughput. The proposed architecture has been implemented and tested in Xilinx XtremeDSP Video Starter Kit Spartan-3ADSP 3400A Edition, and also verified using standard cell approach in UMC 0.18µm CMOS technology. Compared to other VBSME designs that give optimal solutions of Motion Vectors (MV), the proposed design can save power consumption by more than 56%.1
Development of a novel polymer–metal nanocomposite obtained through the route of in situ reduction for integral capacitor application

Metal nanoparticles exhibit a number of interesting characteristics, including unique physical, chemical, optical, magnetic, and electric properties. Numerous investigations have exploited their properties in a readily usable form by incorporating them into polymers. The current focus of interest is the behavior of such polymer nanocomposites near the percolation loading levels of the metal nanoparticles. This material is particularly suitable for the new integral passive technology. Discrete capacitors are used in many applications, such as noise suppression, filtering, tuning, decoupling, bypassing, termination, and frequency determination, and they occupy a substantial amount of surface area on a substrate. Thus there are limitations in the number of capacitors that can be placed around the chip. Integral passive components are gradually replacing discrete components because of the inherent advantages of improved electrical performance, increased real estate on the printed wiring board, miniaturization of interconnect distance, reduced processing costs, and efficient electronics packaging. For integral capacitors, polymer composite material has emerged as a potential candidate because it meets the requirements of low processing temperature and reasonably high dielectric constant. Yang and Wong, whose patent was filed in 2001, demonstrated novel integral passive component materials with extraordinarily high dielectric constants (K > 1000) and high reliability performance. These materials are characterized by high dielectric constant based on the mechanism of interfacial polarization, although they need precision filler concentration control. The current study overcomes this drawback and produces the composite through an in situ reduction in an epoxy matrix. Material characterization was done through TEM, SEM, X-ray analysis, and energy-dispersive analysis for X rays. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 1531–1538, 2004
Evidence-Based Performance and Outcome Measures for Diabetes Care

Diabetes is a serious chronic disease. It is the fourth leading cause of death by disease and is the leading cause of blindness in people between the ages of 20 and 74 years. Diabetes is responsible for over one-third of patients on dialysis, and accounts for over half of all nontraumatic lower extremity amputations. It doubles the risk of stroke and increases the chances for a heart attack 2-fold in men and 4- to 5-fold in women. Sadly, much of these devastating complications need not happen if only certain evidence-based outcome and performance measures for good diabetes care are followed. Ten of these are presented and discussed. Some are quantitative outcomes (glycaemia, lipids, renal evaluation and blood pressure) and the evidence for each is summarised. If these outcomes are not achieved, additional action is required, an approach not included in previous promulgations of guidelines for diabetes care. Others are process measures so closely linked to outcomes that few could argue about their importance are presented as surrogate end-points (office visits, eye and foot examinations, measurement of weight and assessment of smoking). The establishment of a Provider Recognition Program by the American Diabetes Association as an inducement for physicians to improve their level of diabetes care is described. The recent cosponsorship of this programme by the National Committee of Quality Assurance, the accrediting body of health maintenance organisations, is likely to play a major role in the improvement of diabetes care in managed care organisations.
Response to Duell et al

Duell et al1 report on the finding of a significant reduction in plasma proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9 (PCSK9) levels in 4 subjects with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia after a single session of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) apheresis with the Liposorber system,1 thus providing complete support to the results we recently published in Circulation Research .2 We had worked with 6 patients undergoing multiple apheresis sessions with the same system, and obtained an aggregate PCSK9 reduction of 52% because of the almost complete loss of LDL-associated PCSK9 and a 40% loss of apolipoprotein B–free PCSK9. Duell et al1 also found a 52% PCSK9 reduction among the 3 patients who had a full apheresis session. As expected, in these subjects the …
Distribution and chemical coding of corticotropin‐releasing factor‐immunoreactive neurons in the guinea pig enteric nervous system

Immunofluorescence was used to study immunoreactivity (IR) for corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in the guinea pig enteric nervous system. CRF-IR was expressed in both the myenteric and the submucosal plexuses of all regions of the large and small intestine and the myenteric plexus of the stomach. CRF-IR nerve fibers were present in the myenteric and submucosal plexuses, in the circular muscle coat, and surrounding submucosal arterioles. Most of the CRF-IR fibers persisted in the myenteric and submucosal plexuses after 7 days in organotypic culture. CRF-IR was not coexpressed with tyrosine hydroxylase-IR or calcitonin gene-related peptide-IR fibers. The proportions of CRF-IR cell bodies in the myenteric plexus increased progressively from the stomach (0.6%) to the distal colon (2.8%). Most of the CRF-IR myenteric neurons (95%) had uniaxonal morphology; the remainder had Dogiel type II multipolar morphology. CRF-IR cell bodies in the myenteric plexus of the ileum expressed IR for choline acetyltransferase (56.9%), substance P (55.0%), and nitric oxide synthase (37.9%). CRF-IR never colocalized with IR for calbindin, calretinin, neuropeptide Y, serotonin, or somatostatin in the myenteric plexus. CRF-IR cell bodies were more abundant in the submucosal plexus (29.9-38.0%) than in the myenteric plexus. All CRF-IR neurons in submucosal ganglia expressed vasoactive intestinal peptide-IR and were likely to be secretomotor/vasodilator neurons. CRF-IR neurons did not express IR for the CRF(1) receptor. CRF(1)-IR was expressed in neuronal neighbors of those with CRF-IR. Collective evidence suggests that VIPergic secretomotor neurons might provide synaptic input to neighboring cholinergic neurons.
Light scattering by starch granules

Abstract Using a photographic method, it is readily shown that light scattered by starch granules is due to fluctuations in anisotropy. The scattering envelope coincides with theoretical predictions for a spherulitic sample. The theory allows one to derive an average diameter for the granules from the H u scattering pattern.
A Comparison of Fan Inlet Dynamic Wall Pressure Measurements from Rig and Engine Tests

Acoustic measurements are often collected in scaled fan rig facilities to provide preliminary noise estimates, evaluate hardware configuration changes, and guide design modifications prior to fabricating full-scale engine hardware. As a result, it is important to have some confidence in how the sound pressure levels, frequency spectra, and modal content measured on a fan rig compare to those measured on a full scale engine. This paper provides comparisons of sub-scale and full-scale dynamic wall pressure measurements for a fan designed for a business jet class propulsion engine. The comparisons demonstrate that scaled rig testing provides a good estimate of the tone and broadband noise levels of the fullscale fan. Another feature of interest is that the rig and full-scale fan noise spectra that are acquired without a turbulence control screen are found to exhibit a broadband skirt around the fan blade passing tone.
Controller design with regional pole constraints

A design procedure is developed that combines linear-quadratic optimal control with regional pole placement. Specifically, a static and dynamic output-feedback control problem is addressed in which the poles of the closed-loop system are constrained to lie in specified regions of the complex plane. These regional pole constraints are embedded within the optimization process by replacing the covariance Lyapunov equation by a modified Lyapunov equation whose solution, in certain cases, leads to an upper bound on the quadratic cost functional. The results include necessary and sufficient conditions for characterizing static output-feedback controllers with bounded performance and regional pole constraints. Sufficient conditions are also presented for the fixed-order (i.e. full- and reduced-order) dynamic output-feedback problem with regional pole constraints. Circular, elliptical, vertical strip, parabolic, and section regions are considered. >
Transplantation Tolerance, Microchimerism, and the Two-Way Paradigm

Melvin Cohn has extolled the virtues of immunologic hypotheses which accommodate all relevant observations as opposed to concise “small theories” that explain only a few facts.1 Exemplifying Cohn’s argument, the inability to evolve an encompassing explanation for observations made in human and animal allograft recipients, or in surrogate in vitro models, has driven much of transplantation research down a reductionist pathway. Two premises that were introduced into transplantation immunology between 1944 and 1959 explain why. One was that the events following transplantation could be defined in terms of one-way immune reactions: host versus graft (HVG) and graft versus host (GYH). When this assumption was combined with the second premise that whole organ allograft “acceptance” was fundamentally different from the chimerism-dependent acquired tolerance of Billingham, Brent, and Medawar2,3, a derivative dogma emerged that we have called “the one-way paradigm”.4
Prosodic boundary strength: An articulatory and perceptual study

This study examines the production and perception of Intonational Phrase (IP) boundaries. In particular, it investigates (1) whether the articulatory events that occur at IP boundaries can exhibit temporal distinctions that would indicate a difference in degree of disjuncture, and (2) to what extent listeners are sensitive to the effects of such differences among IP boundaries. Two experiments investigate these questions. An articulatory kinematic experiment examines the effects of structural differences between IP boundaries on the production of those boundaries. In a perception experiment listeners then evaluate the strength of the junctures occurring in the utterances produced in the production study. The results of the studies provide support for the existence of prosodic strength differences among IP boundaries and also demonstrate a close link between the production and perception of prosodic boundaries. The results are discussed in the context of possible linguistic structural explanations, with implications for cognitive accounts for the creation, implementation, and processing of prosody.
Cottontop tamarin, Saguinus oedipus, alarm calls contain sufficient information for recognition of individual identity

Most work on individual recognition has focused on signals used in the context of social contact or mate attraction. Here we present the results of a playback experiment designed to test whether cues of individual identity are encoded in alarm calls given by cottontop tamarins during encounters with a trained and flying goshawk, Accipiter gentilis. Based on a habituation–discrimination paradigm previously used with this species to show individual recognition of their long calls, subjects showed the ability to distinguish individuals by their alarm calls alone. Once subjects habituated to multiple exemplars of one individual's alarm call, their response was renewed to the alarm calls of another individual but not to a new set of alarm calls from the same individual. We discuss the implications of these results for current theories of signal processing.
Nematic order in suspensions of colloidal rods by application of a centrifugal field

An applied field generated by centrifugation induced nematic order in colloidal rods of aspect ratio, r, varying from 3.6 to 8. The dependence of the order parameter, S, on dimensionless applied field strength was quantified by identifying the directors of the micron-sized poly(methyl methacrylate) rods in the suspension with confocal microscopy. The influence of the centrifugal field on orientational order was highly aspect ratio dependent. Order increased with field strength for r = 3.6, while it decreased with field strength for r = 8.0. All the measurements, however, were well correlated by ϕ/ϕnem, where ϕnem is the volume fraction of the nematic phase boundary. The most significant ordering of the rods, corresponding to S ≈ 0.55 ± 0.02, was measured at the highest achievable volume fractions of ϕ/ϕnem ≈ 1.35 ± 0.09. At the largest centrifugal field strengths, the volume fraction for all three aspect ratios studied converged to ϕ/ϕnem ≈ 1.25 ± 0.07. Comparison to previous theory and simulation of the isotropic–nematic transition of rod particles indicates that the field strengths required to generate nematic order were larger than would have been predicted under the assumption of local equilibrium in the sediments.
“Crystal Dex:” Free-Base Dextromethorphan

Dextromethorphan (DXM) is a common component of combination cold medications that has become a popular drug of abuse for young adults. Abusers of DXM have developed a simple acid-base extraction technique to "free-base," or extract, the DXM from the unwanted guaifenesin, coloring agents, sweeteners, and alcohol that are typically included in combination cold preparations. We report a case of DXM overdose after ingestion of this purified "Crystal Dex" and discuss the "Agent Lemon" and single-phase extraction techniques that are used to free-base the dextromethorphan.
The Impact of a Family-Centered Intervention on the Ecology of Adolescent Antisocial Behavior: Modeling Developmental Sequelae and Trajectories During Adolescence

This study used an experimental, longitudinal field trial involving random assignment to the Family Check-Up (FCU) to explore the social ecology of adolescent antisocial behavior. A sample of 998 youths and their families was followed from early to late adolescence (age 12 to 18-19). In the intervention condition, 115 families (23%) elected to receive the FCU. In general, random assignment to the FCU in middle school was associated with reductions in late adolescence antisocial behavior (age 18-19). Variable-centered analyses revealed that the effects were mediated by reductions in family conflict from early to middle adolescence (age 12-15). The link between family conflict and antisocial behavior in turn was mediated by association with deviant peers at age 17; parental monitoring at age 17 was also influential but did not attain the status of a mediator. Person-oriented analyses suggested that the FCU was associated with declining trajectories of family conflict and rising trajectories of parental monitoring but was not associated with trajectories of deviant peer association. A dual-trajectory analysis indicated that the pathways to adolescent antisocial behavior were myriad and varied, suggesting new directions for developmental and intervention research.
Oxygen-Nitrogen Relationships in Autotrophic Nitrification

Oxygen utilization by the autotrophic nitrifiers Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter was studied. Experimental evidence is presented which reflects the effect of carbon dioxide fixation on overall oxygen utilization in autotrophic nitrification. Measurement of dissolved oxygen and inorganic nitrogen changes indicates that oxygen-nitrogen ratios in inorganic nitrogen oxidation are equal to 3.22 parts (expressed in milligrams per liter) of oxygen per part of ammonia nitrogen oxidized to nitrite nitrogen and 1.11 parts of oxygen per part of nitrite nitrogen oxidized to nitrate nitrogen. These values rather than the stoichiometric ratios should be used in nitrogenous oxygen demand calculations.
Activity of pp60c-src protein kinase in human breast cancer.

Because there is elevation of pp600- activity in breast carcinoma tissue, we analyzed primary breast cancer tissue samples from 30 women to determine whether pp60°- 8- activity correlated with specific clinical parameters . We found that tumors with a progesterone receptor had higher
In-Situ Monitoring of Trace Gases in a Non-Urban Environment

Abstract A set of commercial instruments measuring carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O 3 ), sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), and nitrogen oxides [nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), and odd nitrogens (NO X )] was integrated and deployed in a non– urban environment. The deployment occurred between July 2, 2007 and August 7, 2007 in Richland, WA. The mixing ratios of all species were lower than in most rural–suburban environments, and strong diurnal patterns were observed. NO 2 was depleted by photochemically formed ozone during the day and replenished at night as ozone was destroyed. The highest ozone concentration during these episodes was 45 ppb. The overall average was 15 ppb with readings approaching near zero at times. This observation is low compared to average daytime summer readings of 60–80 ppb in highly populated and industrialized urban areas in the Pacific Northwest region. Back-trajectory analysis and prevailing weather conditions both indicated that much of the ozone was transported locally or was produced in– situ . Analysis of SO 2 as a tracer for O 3 advection further indicated lack of long–range regional transport of pollutants to Richland. We also present results of analysis of high ozone episodes and comparisons relative to other areas in the Pacific Northwest region. These results provide a useful sample data set to study the historical record of air quality in rural Eastern Washington.