cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Inhibition of the measurement of the wave function of a single quantum system in repeated weak quantum nondemolition measurements.

It is shown that a series of repeated weak quantum nondemolition measurements performed on a single quantum system gives no information about the wave function of the system. The physical explanation, based on the quantum Brownian motion and the continuous collapse of the wave function which originate in the projection postulate, is discussed in two specific examples.
Further Studies on the Interaction of Sorbic Acid with an Insoluble Polyamide

A previous paper reported the sorption and diffusion of sorbic acid in an insoluble polyamide. Further studies have been continued on this project and are reported in this paper. Experimental methods of Browne and Steele have given further evidence that the interaction of sorbic acid with nylon 66 is primarily one of hydrogen bonding at the amide linkage. Application of the Rotinyan-Drozdov equation to the sorption data confirms that the rate-determining step in the sorption process is the diffusion process in the nylon. Diffusion coefficients, calculated by several methods from sorption data, are compared to the diffusion coefficients obtained by the use of the experimental method of Barrer. Finally, X-ray diffraction and infrared spectra studies on the nylon-sorbic acid complex are used to help explain the mechanism of interaction, with emphasis on a possible double hydrogen bond formation.
Variable optical buffer using slow light in semiconductor nanostructures

We proposed a compact variable all-optical buffer using slow-light in semiconductor nanostructures. We discuss the general design principle via dispersion engineering. The buffering effect is achieved by slowing down the optical signal using an external control light source to vary the dispersion characteristic of the medium via electromagnetically induced transparency effect. We demonstrate that the semiconductor quantum dot structures can be used as a slow-light medium. In such structure, the total buffering time is variable and controlled by an external pump laser. We present a theoretical investigation of the criteria for achieving slow light in semiconductor quantum dots. New pump scheme is proposed to overcome the sample nonuniformity. Finally, optical signal propagation through the semiconductor optical buffer is presented to demonstrate the feasibility for practical applications.
A Genetic Analysis of Chick Feathering and Its Influence on Growth Rate

Abstract TWO important characteristics of meat-type chickens are feathering and growth rate. These characteristics are important because they strongly influence economic returns in the production of poultry meat. Although both feathering and growth rate are complex physiological traits there appears to be a major difference in their mode of inheritance. In the case of feather growth, single gene effects have been identified. The action of the recessive early feathering sex-linked gene k, first reported by Serebrovsky (1922) and later by Warren (1925) is now well established. In addition, a multiple allelic series of genes, the Tardy-Retarded series, has been described in White Leghorns by Jones and Hutt (1946) and in White Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds by McGibbon and Halpin (1946). In the case of growth rate no single gene effects have as yet been isolated although Maw (1935) and Kaufman (1948) found some evidence for sex-linked genes depressing body size. . . .
GPCR kinase 2 interacting protein 1 (GIT1) regulates osteoclast function and bone mass.

G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) kinase 2 interacting protein-1 (GIT1) is a scaffold protein expressed in various cell types including neurons, endothelial, and vascular smooth muscle cells. The GIT1 knockout (KO) mouse has a pulmonary phenotype due to impaired endothelial function. Because GIT1 is tyrosine phosphorylated by Src kinase, we anticipated that GIT1 KO should have a bone phenotype similar to Src KO. Microcomputed tomography of the long bones revealed that GIT1 KO mice have a 2.3-fold increase in bone mass compared to wild-type controls. Histomorphometry showed increased trabecular number and connectivity suggesting impaired bone remodeling. Immunoblot analysis of GIT1 expression showed that it was expressed in both osteoclasts and osteoblasts. Osteoblast activity and function assayed by alkaline phosphatase, mineral nodule formation, and in vivo calcein labeling were normal in GIT1 KO mice suggesting that the observed increase in bone mass was due to an osteoclast defect. GIT1 KO bone marrow cells differentiated into multinucleated osteoclasts, but had defective bone resorbing function on dentin slices. This defect was likely caused by loss of podosome belt based on immunofluorescence analysis and previous studies showing that GIT1 is required for podosome formation. Furthermore, we found that GIT1 was a regulator of receptor activator of NFκB (RANK) signaling since it was tyrosine phosphorylated in a Src-dependent manner and was required for phospholipase C-γ2 phosphorylation. These data show that GIT1 is a key regulator of bone mass in vivo by regulating osteoclast function and suggest GIT1 as a potential target for osteoporosis therapy. J. Cell. Physiol. 225: 777–785, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Persistent phosphorylation of NKCC1 and WNK1 in the epicenter of the spinal cord following contusion injury

Abstract Background context NKCC1 regulates neuronal homeostasis of chloride ions and mediates GABAergic activities in nociceptive processing. WNK1 is an upstream regulator of NKCC1 and acts via SPAK (STE20/SPS1-related proline/alanine-rich kinase) and oxidative stress-responsive kinase 1. NKCC1 activity has been shown to be important in edema formation and nociception following spinal cord injury (SCI). Purpose To determine the role of NKCC1 and WNK1 in spinal cord tissues in the acute and chronic phases following contusional SCI. Study design An experimental study investigating the phosphorylation profile of an important Cl-regulatory protein Na+-K+-Cl− cotransporter 1 (NKCC1) and its regulatory-kinase WNK1 (kinase with-no-lysine). Methods Sprague-Dawley rats underwent a contusive SCI at T9. The epicenter spinal cord tissues were harvested at Days 1, 3, and 7 for acute phase of injury or Days 35 and 42 in the chronic phase of injury. Western blot was used to compare phosphorylated levels of both NKCC1 and WNK1 in injured tissues compared with those of sham. Results A sustained increase in phosphorylation of NKCC1 and WNK1 was detected in the lesion epicenter in spinal cord during both acute and chronic phases following SCI. Conclusions These results suggest that persistent activation of NKCC1 and WNK1 may play an important role in SCI.
Emerging roles of neural guidance molecules in atherosclerosis: sorting out the complexity.

Neural guidance cues are attracting attention in atherosclerosis. In this issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology , Wanschel et al1 add yet another neural guidance molecule, Semaphorin 3E, to the growing list of neural guidance cues that may contribute to atherosclerosis. Indeed, this team of scientists, led by Kathryn Moore at New York University, has in the last year implicated 3 other neural guidance cues in atherosclerosis, including netrin-1,2,3 semaphorin 3A,3 and ephrin B3 in the regulation of inflammatory atherosclerosis. See accompanying article on page 886 In the first of a series of papers on these molecules, this group showed that netrin-1–deficient bone marrow transplanted into LDLR–/− mice led to markedly reduced atherosclerotic plaques.2 Using a method to track monocyte entry and persistence in a quantitative manner,4,5 the authors argued that netrin-1 was essential for retaining monocyte-derived foamy macrophages in plaques. In the absence of netrin-1, monocytes could …
Child and adolescent exposure to food and beverage brand appearances during prime-time television programming.

Background: The food industry disproportionately markets to young people through product placements. Children and adolescents may be more susceptible to these disguised persuasive attempts. Purpose: Quantify incidence and youth exposure to food and beverage brand appearances within shows on prime-time TV. Methods: Data on the number of food, beverage, and restaurant brand appearances within shows during prime-time programming in 2008 were purchased from Nielsen and analyzed by product category and company in 2010. Exposure to these brand appearances by children, adolescents, and adults were examined and compared with exposure to prime-time TV advertisements for the same categories and companies using additional Nielsen data. Results: Food, beverage, and restaurant brands appeared a total of 35,000 times within prime-time TV programming examined by Nielsen in 2008. Regular soft drinks, traditional restaurants (i.e., not quickserve), and energy/sports drinks made up 60% of all brand appearances. Young people viewed relatively few of these appearances with one notable exception. Coca-Cola products were seen 198 times by the average child and 269 times by the average adolescent during prime-time shows over the year, accounting for 70% of child exposure and 61% of adolescent exposure to brand appearances. One show, American Idol, accounted for more than 95% of these exposures. Exposure of children to Coca-Cola products through traditional advertisements was much less common. Conclusions: Brand appearances for most food industry companies, except for Coca-Cola, are relatively rare during prime-time programming with large youth audiences. Coca-Cola has pledged to refrain from advertising to children, yet the average child views almost four Coke appearances on prime-time TV every week. This analysis reveals a substantial, potential loophole in current food industry self-regulatory pledges to advertise only better-for-you foods to children. (Am J Prev Med 2011;41(3):291–296) © 2011 American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Anxiety sensitivity: Concurrent associations with negative affect smoking motives and abstinence self-confidence among young adult smokers

Abstract The present study evaluated the association between the lower-order facets of Anxiety Sensitivity construct (Physical, Mental Incapacitation and Social Concerns) and theoretically relevant cognitive-based smoking processes. Participants were 151 young adult daily smokers (63 females); mean number of cigarettes / day = 12.3 [S.D. = 5.6]). Both AS Physical and Mental Incapacitation Concerns were significantly associated with greater negative affect reduction smoking motives and lower levels of self-confidence in remaining abstinent from smoking when emotionally distressed. The observed effects were over and above the variance accounted for by nicotine dependence, smoking rate, and gender. Results are discussed in relation to better understanding cognitive-based smoking processes among individuals at heightened risk for panic psychopathology.
A New Strategy for the Design of Monoamine Oxidase Inactivators. Exploratory Studies with Tertiary Allylic and Propargylic Amino Alcohols

A new strategy for the design of monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors is proposed. The strategy is based on the premise that tertiary-amine containing MAO-inactivators which operate by alkylation of active site nucleophiles are activated in situ by single electron transfer (SET) to the MAO-flavin cofactor to form aminium cation radicals which undergo secondary fragmentation reactions to produce reactive electrophiles. The purpose of the current work was to assess the feasibility and applicability of this proposal for the design of new families of MAO-inactivators. Based on the documented retro-aldol type fragmentation reactivity of β-amino-alcohol cation radicals, tertiary β-allylic and -propargylic β-amino-alcohols were expected to serve as precursors of conjugated ketones in SET-promoted processes. Evidence supporting this hypothesis was gained from studies of model SET-photoreactions of members of this amino-alcohol family with 3-methyllumiflavin (3MLF). The efficient production of 4a- and 4a,5-flavin ad...
Wetting of Polystyrene and Urethane Roof Insulations in the Laboratory and on a Protected Membrane Roof

When subjected to a sustained temperature gradient in the presence of moisture in laboratory wetting tests, urethane and expanded polystyrene roof insulations accu mulate enough moisture to significantly reduce their insulating ability. Extruded polystyrene is quite resistant to moisture in such tests. But the vapor drive is not as great in actual roofs and it may reverse direction, thereby seasonally drying the msu lation. To determine how well the laboratory tests could predict the wetting rate of insulation in actual protected membrane roofs, extruded and expanded polystyrene and urethane insulations were installed in a protected membrane roof in Hanover, NH. After three years of exposure, little moisture had accumulated in the extruded polystyrene and it still retained essentially all of its initial insulating ability. Moisture progressively accumulated in 16 kg/m3 (1 pcf) and 30 kg/m3 (1.9 pcf) expanded poly styrene and at the end of the test they retained only about 30 and 40 percent of their initia...
Network tomography-based unresponsive flow detection and control

To avoid a congestion collapse, network flows should adjust their sending rates. Adaptive flows adjust the rate, while unresponsive flows do not respond to congestion and keep sending packets. Unresponsive flows waste resources by taking their share of the upstream links of a domain and dropping packets later when the downstream links are congested We use network tomography-an edge-to-edge mechanism to infer per-link internal characteristics of a domain-to identify unresponsive flows that cause packet drops in other flows. We have designed an algorithm to dynamically regulate unresponsive flows. The congestion control algorithm is evaluated using both adaptive and unresponsive flows, with sending rates as high as four times of the bottleneck bandwidth, and in presence of short and long-lived background traffic.
Circuit Breakers, Trading Collars, and Volatility Transmission Across Markets: Evidence from NYSE Rule 80A

The NYSE's Rule 80A attempted to delink the futures and equity markets by limiting index arbitrage trades in the same direction as the last trade to reduce stock market volatility. Rule 80A leads to a small but statistically significant decline in intraday U.S. equity market volatility. In addition, the results are asymmetric: volatility is dampened more in a rising market than in a declining one. These results suggest that, to a limited extent, rule restrictions on trading can sufficiently delink the futures and equity markets enough to reduce the transmission of volatility.
Clinical and Laboratory Differentiation of Recurrent Intraoral Herpes Simplex Virus Infections Following Fever

Recurrent herpes simplex infections occurred over three times as frequently in a group of febrile patients as in a group of nonfebrile controls. Virus was isolated from patients without lesions, patients with lip lesions only, and patients with lip and intraoral lesions. Characteristic clinical features of the intraoral lesions found in association with herpes simplex virus (HSV) were identified.
Optimal trade policy, time consistency and uncertainty in an oligopsonistic world market

This dissertation investigates the strategic behavior between countries that have purchasing power on the world market for a certain good. Tariffs and quotas are not equivalent protection instruments under non-cooperative behavior. Importers would be better off by choosing their policy cooperatively. If production decisions occur before consumption decisions, the ex-ante optimal policy is not time consistent because the ex-post elasticity of the residual foreign export supply is lower than the ex-ante elasticity. However, we show that the importers' inability to commit to their trade instrument may be welfare superior to the precommitment solution;We derive the equilibrium production policies if importers do not irrevocably commit to their ex-ante trade policy. Production instruments are not equivalent under noncooperative behavior. Provided trade is restricted with an import quota, the equilibrium production policy is to restrict domestic production below the competitive level. If trade is restricted with an import tariff, the equilibrium production policy may be to subsidize production. We derive conditions under which the ability of each importer to control domestic production increases welfare;In the next part of the dissertation, we endogenize the decision of two policy active importers to either commit to their import quota or keep the flexibility to revise their ex-ante quota once production decisions are made. Production in both importing countries is subject to an asymmetric random shock. Both policy active importers prefer not to commit to their trade policy given a sufficiently high degree of variance in production uncertainty. Under certain conditions, there exists an equilibrium where one country commits to its ex-ante quota while the other keeps the flexibility to revise the level of its quota after uncertainty is resolved;Finally, we examine the endogenous choice of trade instrument among two policy active importers. Production and consumption decisions are carried out simultaneously and the producers' cost function is subject to an asymmetric random shock. In a certain world, the equilibrium of the game entails both importers choosing to use an import quota. Under production risk, there exists an equilibrium where one country uses an import quota while the other uses an import tariff.
Sulfurospirillum barnesii sp. nov. and Sulfurospirillum arsenophilum sp. nov., new members of the Sulfurospirillum clade of the epsilon Proteobacteria.

Two strains of dissimilatory arsenate-reducing vibrio-shaped bacteria are assigned to the genus Sulfurospirillum. These two new species, Sulfurospirillum barnesii strain SES-3T and Sulfurospirillum arsenophilum strain MIT-13T, in addition to Sulfurospirillum sp. SM-5, two strains of Sulfurospirillum deleyianum, and Sulfurospirillum arcachonense, form a distinct clade within the e subclass of the Proteobacteria based on 16S rRNA analysis.
The ovary of the sea otter.

The ovarian histology of 140 sea otters (4 juvenile and 136 sexually mature) is described. Multilayered germinal epithelium occurs in thickened areas on the ovarian surface and in fissures which are simple or complexly branched. Occasionally an epithelial tube extends from the fissure into the cortex. Typically a single Graafian follicle reaches the prevulatory stage while others become atretic. Interstitial gland cells of theca interna origin are abundant and apparently secretory during estrus. The corpus luteum of preimplantation pregnancy has a medium to large antrum which is obliterated by the time the blastocyst implants. During delayed implantation, the luteal cells progressively hypertrophy and by the time of implantation they are polygonal with a uniformly granular, nonvacuolated cytoplasm. Following implantation, many small secondary cavities or spaces are observed in the corpus. Subsequently, they coalesce to form larger ones. These cavities are strikingly well developed during mid gestation. After parturition, the corpus luteum degenerates rapidly. A corpus albicans persists for at least two years before blending with the stroma.
CONTOUR-CRAFTING-CARTESIAN-CABLE ROBOT SYSTEM CONCEPTS: WORKSPACE AND STIFFNESS COMPARISONS

Contour crafting (CC) is a new technology that is proposed for construction. Formerly we presented a cable-suspended robot to implement CC technology with Cartesian motion. The current paper proposes an improved Contour-Crafting-Cartesian-Cable (C4 ) robot. Although the new concept is preferable in structural design, here we compare the original and improved C4 robot concepts with regard to kinematics, workspace, and stiffness.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Mediation and Moderation of the Relationship Between Intrinsic Religiousness and Mental Health.

The present study examined specific aspects of individuals’ personal strivings as mediators, and religious tradition as a moderator, of the relationship between intrinsic religiousness and mental health. In a sample of 268 university students, the negative relationship between intrinsic religiousness and hostility was mediated by the degree of sanctification within individuals’ strivings. The relationships between intrinsic religiousness and both anxiety and depression were moderated by religious tradition, with Catholics’ intrinsic religiousness significantly associated with greater anxiety and depression but Protestants’ intrinsic religiousness not significantly associated with either of these mental health variables. Implications of these results for future research on religiousness are discussed.
Is a heterojunction essential for high-efficiency organic solar cells?

Innovation in high-performance semiconducting polymers have led to a 10-fold increase in the efficiency of polymer based solar cells. However, the record efficiency reported is often less than one-third of the thermodynamic limit anticipated for these newly developed polymers. Remarkably, almost half of this efficiency gap could be attributed to the voltage loss at the donor-acceptor heterojunction (HJ). In this work, it is demonstrated that poor charge collection caused by defect induced electric field screening is a significant bottleneck for the high efficiency HJ-free device design. Our results imply that low JSC in HJ-free devices has been misattributed to exciton bottleneck, rather than defect screening. The results suggest synthesis of new polymers with high purity with the reassessment of the prospects of HJ-free polymer-only device design.
Classical And Quantum Transition State Theory For The Diffusion Of Helium In Silica Sodalite

We use a classical transition state theory (TST) to calculate the diffusion constant for noble gas atoms through silica sodalite. Due to the restrictive geometry of the transition state, diffusion of Ne and Ar is energy-activated at room temperature, but the diffusion of He is limited by entropy. The small mass of He suggests that a quantum TST must be employed. Path integral Monte Carlo is used to perform the relevant sampling, and quantum and classical diffusivities are compared. Comparison reveals a competition between tunneling and diffraction of the quantum mechanical He atom. A pairwise centroid pseudopotential is developed for the guest−host atom pair, and the effective potential energy and TST rate are compared with that of direct quantum TST.
Application of mass spectrometry to the identification and quantification of histone post-translational modifications.

The study of histone post-translational modifications began in 1964 with the identification by K. Murray of e-methyllysine in acid hydrolysates of calf thymus histones [Murray, 1964]. Soon thereafter, e-acetyllysine and phosphoserine residues were also found in the core histones [Kleinsmith et al., 1966; Ord and Stocken, 1967; DeLange et al., 1968; Gershey et al., 1968; Vidali et al., 1968]. Later, the repertoire of modifications was extended to include ubiquitylation, ADP-ribosylation and, most recently, sumoylation [Goldknopf et al., 1975; Ueda et al., 1975; Hunt and Dayhoff, 1977; Shiio and Eisenman, 2003]. Until recently, the precise positions of these modifications were ascertained, in most instances, by Edman degradation sequencing of either intact proteins or proteolytic fragments. These analyses indicated that the vast majority of histone modifications reside in the NH2-terminal tail domains. While a number of excellent studies have detailed their functional significance, this study will focus on recent advances in the analytical characterization of histones [Berger, 2002; Goll and Bestor, 2002; Turner, 2002; Iizuka and Smith, 2003]. These advances have significantly expanded our picture of the extent to which histones are dynamically modified.
The role of weeds in nematode management

Abstract Weeds are alternative hosts for plant-parasitic nematodes and have long been recognized for their ability to maintain nematode populations targeted for suppression by various management strategies. The impact of weeds as alternative hosts depends largely on nematode feeding behavior, which is determined by the level of host specialization required for the parasite to feed successfully. In general, the more specialized feeding adaptations are associated with greater crop damage, more diverse nematode management options, and greater negative impact from weeds. Besides serving as alternative hosts, certain weeds can protect nematodes from pesticides and the environment, provide nematode suppression through antagonism, contribute to changes in future nematode biotic potential, or exert indirect effects through competition with crops or by the effects of weed control strategies on nematode populations. Shrinking nematicide options and increasing environmental concerns are making integrated pest manage...
Multimodal neuroimaging dissociates hemodynamic and electrophysiological correlates of error processing

Recognizing errors and adjusting responses are fundamental to adaptive behavior. The error-related negativity (ERN) and error-related functional MRI (fMRI) activation of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) index these processes and are thought to reflect the same neural mechanism. In the present study, we evaluated this hypothesis. Although errors elicited robust dACC activation using fMRI, combined electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography data localized the ERN to the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). ERN amplitude correlated with fMRI activation in both the PCC and dACC, and these two regions showed coordinated activity based on functional connectivity MRI. Finally, increased microstructural integrity of the posterior cingulum bundle, as measured by diffusion tensor imaging, predicted faster error correction. These findings suggest that the PCC generates the ERN and communicates with the dACC to subserve error processing. They challenge current models that view fMRI activation of the dACC as the hemodynamic reflection of the ERN.
An LQR-based optimal actuator guidance in thermal processing of materials

An LQR-based optimal actuator guidance strategy is developed for thermal processing of materials that are dominated by conductive heat transfer. The optimal location and power of the actuator at successive time periods is determined by minimization of quadratic performance indices that are evaluated at prespecified actuator locations for each of these time subintervals. A finite-dimensional representation of the heat input distribution and the temperature state provides a computationally efficient heat source guidance strategy. This is verified by FEA simulations results that also indicate the superior temperature tracking performance when fixed-location actuation is applied. This thermal control strategy is validated experimentally as it is implemented on a plasma-arc processing station.
Refolding of β-galactosidase: microfluidic device for reagent metering and mixing and quantification of refolding yield

We have developed a device that uses microfluidic valves and pumps to meter reagents for subsequent mixing with application to refolding of the protein β-galactosidase. The microfluidic approach offers the potential advantages of automation, cost-effectiveness, compatibility with optical detection, and reduction in sample volumes as opposed to conventional techniques of hand-pipetting or using robotic systems. The device is a multi-layered poly(dimethylsiloxane) on glass device with automated controls for reagent aliquoting and mixing. Refolding experiments have been performed off-chip using existing protocols on the protein β-galactosidase and the refolding yield has been quantified on-chip using fluorescein di-β-d-galactopyranoside, a caged-fluorescent molecule. This work provides the potential to reduce the cost of drug discovery and realization of protein pharmaceuticals.
Kinematics, control and redundancy resolution of a 9-DoF wheelchair-mounted robotic arm system for ADL tasks

A wheelchair-mounted robotic arm (WMRA) system was designed and built to meet the needs of mobility-impaired persons with limitations of upper extremities, and to exceed the capabilities of current devices of this type. The control of this 9-DoF system expands on the conventional control methods and combines the 7-DoF robotic arm control with the 2-DoF power wheelchair control. The 3-degrees of redundancy are optimized to effectively perform activities of daily living (ADLs) and overcome singularities, joint limits and some workspace limitations. The control system is designed for teleoperated or autonomous coordinated Cartesian control, and it offers expandability for future research. Different user-interface devices, including a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) were integrated to the control of the WMRA system. Testing and data collection were performed on human subjects. Various optimized control methods and test results are presented in this paper.
Effects of Tylosin Use on Erythromycin Resistance in Enterococci Isolated from Swine

The effect of tylosin on erythromycin-resistant enterococci was examined on three farms; farm A used tylosin for growth promotion, farm B used tylosin for treatment of disease, and farm C did not use tylosin for either growth promotion or disease treatment. A total of 1,187 enterococci were isolated from gestation, farrowing, suckling, nursery, and finishing swine from the farms. From a subset of those isolates (n = 662), 59% (124 out of 208), 28% (80 out of 281), and 2% (4 out of 170) were resistant to erythromycin (MIC ≥ 8 μg/ml) from farms A, B, and C, respectively. PCR analysis and Southern blotting revealed that 95% (65 out of 68) of isolates chosen from all three farms for further study were positive for ermB, but all were negative for ermA and ermC. By using Southern blotting, ermB was localized to the chromosome in 56 of the isolates while 9 isolates from farms A and B contained ermB on two similar-sized plasmid bands (12 to 16 kb). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed that the isolates were genetically diverse and represented a heterogeneous population of enterococci. This study suggests that although there was resistance to a greater number of enterococcal isolates on a farm where tylosin was used as a growth promotant, resistant enterococci also existed on a farm where no antimicrobial agents were used.
A Theoretical Analysis of Steady-State Charge Collection in Simple Diodes Under High-Injection Conditions

A previous rigorous mathematical analysis of drift-diffusion equations was used to investigate collected charge in a simple reverse-biased p-n junction diode exposed to an ionization source that liberates carriers (electron-hole pairs) in a quasi-neutral region within the diode. Each of two simple models was found to agree with the more rigorous analysis when carrier liberation is sufficiently intense. One is the sensitive volume (SV) model, and the other was called ?ambipolar diffusion with a cutoff? (ADC). The earlier rigorous analysis was worked out in detail only for a localized source, i.e., a point source of carrier liberation, so it was able to validate the applicability of each simple model only for that case. The present paper treats an arbitrary spatial distribution of carrier generation and concludes that the ADC model remains valid for this more general case, but the SV model does not.
Apoptosis promotes early tumorigenesis

One hallmark of cancer is intrinsic or acquired resistance to apoptosis. Surprisingly, recent studies demonstrate that CD95/Fas/Apo1 and p53 upregulated mediator of apoptosis/PUMA (potent inducers of the death receptor and the mitochondrial apoptotic pathways, respectively) promote tumorigenesis. These findings provide important insights into the multifaceted roles of apoptosis in tumorigenesis.
Perceptions matter: faculty caring, campus racial climate and academic performance.

Aim Examine the influence of students’ perception of faculty caring on academic performance and the moderating role of students’ perceptions of campus racial climate. Background There is limited knowledge on how students’ perceptions of faculty caring, campus racial climate and academic performance are linked. Understanding this nexus is crucial to improving nursing education. Design Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional data obtained from seven undergraduate nursing programs in Texas, USA. Method Data were from 385 students enrolled in Medical-Surgical 1 over three semesters (March 2010 - December 2010). Six sets of factor analytic scores derived from 31 original perceptions of faculty caring items served as predictors; one set of scores derived from seven original perceptions of campus racial climate items served as moderating variable in a regression model. Numeric grade was the outcome variable. Results/findings Perception of faculty having a positive outlook/compassion had an enhancing effect on performance. As students’ perceptions of campus racial climate became increasingly discriminating, the positive association between perceptions of faculty's trust in students’ judgment and academic performance became increasingly strong. Conclusion Results highlight ways by which students’ perception of micro-level social reality (dyadic interaction) might interact with their perception of meso-level social reality (social environment) to influence their academic performance.
Marbury in Africa: Judicial Review and the Challenge of Constitutionalism in Contemporary Africa

With the global spread of judicial review has come increased scholarly interest in comparative dimensions of the "countermajoritarian difficulty" and, thus, in the activities of courts in new democracies. This Article broadens the growing discourse in this area to incorporate the African experience, which has received virtually no airing thus far. Explaining the early "fall" of judicial review in postcolonial Africa as resulting from a severe deficit of legitimacy for the courts in the heady days after decolonization, the Article notes the recent rise to prominence of Africa's courts, as democracy has gained a foothold in several states long ruled by autocrats. Contemporaneous constitutional reforms accompanying recent democratic transitions have given African courts express and extensive constitutional review authority. However, because of Africa's postcolonial history of "constitutions without constitutionalism," the current constitutionalism revival has met with skepticism. The Article argues that while current trends in Africa represent a significant new opportunity to build constitutionalism in Africa, the model of constitutionalism that Africa's lawyer-dominated constitutional reformers appear to have settled on - "juridical constitutionalism" - is a "quick fix" that ignores, or fails to redress, persistent defects in the structure and distribution of power in the postcolonial African state. Efforts at building constitutionalism in Africa through reliance on courts also places undue faith in judicial review and fails to reckon longstanding limitations that confront constitutional litigation and adjudication in Africa. The Article highlights, in particular, deficiencies in the jurisprudence, legitimacy, and independence of Africa's judiciaries, and counsels Africa's reformers to focus more attention on structural constitutionalism, using constitutional design to constrain executive hegemony and the centralized unitary state through the horizontal and vertical dispersion of governmental power.
Perspectives: Fundamentally Flawed Indexing

Fundamental indexers argue that capitalization weighting is an inferior investment strategy because it necessarily invests more in overvalued stocks and less in undervalued stocks. This article shows that this claim is false. Capitalization weighting does not, by itself, create a performance drag.
Cortisol directly stimulates differentiation of chloride cells in tilapia opercular membrane

Opercular membranes from freshwater tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) were maintained in vitro for 4 days and exposed to several concentrations of cortisol (0, 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 micrograms/ml). Chloride cell size, number, and Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase content were examined using a fluorescent mitochondrial dye (dimethylaminostyrylethylpyridiniumiodine), a fluorescent analogue of ouabain (anthroylouabain) that binds specifically to Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase, and a cytological stain specific for plasma and tubular membranes. In the absence of cortisol, chloride cell density of the freshwater tilapia opercular membrane decreased (from initial levels of 6,114 +/- 451 to 18 +/- 9 cells/cm2) and was restored by cortisol in a dose-dependent manner. Chloride cell height (5.5 +/- 0.3 microns initially and 7.8 +/- 0.5 microns after 4 days in vitro) increased twofold (13.1 +/- 0.7 microns) after exposure to 1 microgram/ml cortisol. Initially and after 4 days in control medium, there was no detectable staining with anthroylouabain; exposure to 1 microgram/ml cortisol resulted in the appearance of numerous anthroylouabain-positive chloride cells. Without cortisol, Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase activity of the opercular membrane remained constant through 4 days of culture (0.4-0.6 mumol ADP.mg protein-1.h-1); addition of cortisol caused a dose-dependent increase to a maximum of 1.2 +/- 0.1 mumol Pi.mg protein-1.h-1. In vitro cortisol also maintained the size, density, and appearance of chloride cells from opercular membrane of seawater-adapted tilapia. The results indicate that in vitro cortisol exposure causes morphological and biochemical differentiation of the seawater form of the chloride cell.
Buy and Hold Versus Timing Strategies: The Winner Is …

The authors propose three simple market-timing strategies and compare them to other commonly known strategies, such as the yield curve, earnings yield vs. Treasury yield, Shiller CAPE, and S&P 500 200-day simple moving average. The first strategy uses the leading economic indicator (LEI) from the Conference Board. The other two use sentiment indexes from the Baker-Wurger index and the Feldman perceived loss index to trigger the switch between the S&P 500 and three-month Treasury bills. The Conference Board’s LEI strategy earns the highest return of the three strategies, beating the benchmark strategy, which consists of simply holding the S&P 500, by 1.66% per year from 1970 to 2012. Corresponding monthly returns are significantly different from those of the benchmark strategy at the 10% level. The authors also combine strategies and find that a mix of both fundamental and technical strategies produces even greater returns than does any single market timing strategy. The combination of the Conference Board LEI and S&P 500 200-day moving average beats the benchmark strategy by 2.76% annually. Lastly, they find that the Shiller CAPE underperforms all of the market-timing strategies in question, as well as the S&P 500 benchmark strategy.
GaInAs/GaInP Double Barrier Structures: Growth and Application in Tunneling Diodes

We have fabricated resonant tunneling diodes (RTD’s) containing a GaInAs quantum well and strained GaInP barriers. These diodes exhibit good characteristics at 80 K with a peak to valley current ratio of 1.34 which is comparable to other reports for RTD in this material system. Additional RTD’s were made using a InAs rich well region to study the effect of strain compensation. To investigate the properties of these structures, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and low temperature photoluminescence (PL) were performed. TEM shows that both RTD structures contain misfit dislocations. PL measurements indicate that the dislocations are not significantly affecting the GaInAs quantum well.
Population variability in the genusTrichocereus (Cactaceae) in central Chile

Trichocereus has 4 species in central Chile. Population analyses indicate that introgressive hybridization has occurred betweenT. chilensis andT. litoralis in the Valparaiso and Santiago coast ranges. A taxonomic key is presented.
Microscopic Analysis of the Behavior of Interstitial and Precipitated Oxygen During Intrinsic Gettering in Si

We have used FTIR spectrum processing to analyze the behavior of interstitial and precipitated oxygen during the intrinsic gettering process. The kinetics of precipitation and the microscopic growth characteristics of precipitates were compared with a theoretical model based on diffusion controlled precipitation process. The annealing time dependence of precipitate size has been found to follow the relation of r = t n with n = 0.7.
Multivariate Approaches to Algal Stratagems and Tactics in Systems Analysis of Phytoplankton

Numerical classifications and principal components ordinations were performed on species from 57 weekly samples of phytoplankton from Lake Wingra. The data were considered in absolute and relative terms before and after transformation to presence/absence and logarithmic quantities. The data were also analyzed, taking into account growth rates in the samples, by means of a transformation that replaced the scores of species present by the productivity of the sample as determined by C, uptake/biomass. It is shown that different transformations can reveal different but biologically meaningful aspects of the data. These different biological aspects are species similarities based on either short-term survival expedients in particular environmental circumstances, species tactics, or long-range growth patterns, involving breadth of tolerance and place in the community, that is, species stratagems. Most phytoplankton species in Lake Wingra adopt one of three stratagems: either ungrazed, slow-growing and very persistent, or ungrazed, fast-growing and of intermediate duration, or grazed fastgrowing and ephemeral. Tactical information is relevant to particular systems, while strategic information is needed in ecosystem comparison and for models applicable to several systems.
Control effect of measles in Daishan county from 2000 to 2008

Objective To reflect the achievements of controling measles in Daishan county in recent years,based on the floating children inoculation survey.Methods Two doses of routine measle vaccination were given to local children and inoculation of the floating children was strengthened.Based on vaccination identification checking and strengthened immunization,we also carried out epidemic monitoring and investigations.Measle vaccination was conducted in time to promote the measles control.ResultsMeasles vaccine two dose coverage rate of local children achieved 98.93%in 9 years.The success rate of immunity was 100%.Measles vaccine coverage rate of the floating children achieved 91.9% by 2008,the second dose of measles could reach 95%.Through epidemic monitoring and investigations,there is no measles epidemic reported except 1 case in Daishan county.Measles was effectively controlled.In 9 years only 19 cases with measles developed in the county,with an annual incidence rate between 0/100,000 to 2.42/100,000.Conclusion Strengthening the measles epidemic monitoring and investigations,keeping children measles immunization coverage and high success rate are the effective measures for controlling the incidence of measles.
The spectrum of ectopic thymomas

Thymomas are rare tumors that usually manifest in the anterosuperior mediastinum. Occasionally, thymomas may also originate from ectopically dispersed thymic tissue and can arise in locations such as the neck, lung, or pleura or other locations in the thoracic cavity. The occurrence of thymomas in these ectopic locations can cause substantial diagnostic difficulty as the entity is almost never included in the differential diagnosis and its biphasic morphology can cause further complications during the diagnostic process. In this review, we summarize the clinical and pathological spectrum of ectopic thymomas and discuss the histogenesis, treatment, and prognosis of these extraordinary tumors.
Clausius’ first paper

Passing over the work of KELVIN and RANKINE for lack of time, I now take up the main analyses of CLAUSIUS, whose influence on the accepted “classical” thermodynamics is second only to CLAPEYRON’s.
Why Space Migration Must Be Posthuman

This chapter responds to the urgency for reflecting on the large-scale ethical and ecological implications, socio-political challenges and technological preconditions of space migration , by highlighting the importance of treating outer space in relation to Earth, and not as a separated otherness. Instead of the utilitarian view, which perceives space as the ultimate resource, this chapter will engage with an onto-epistemological standpoint inspired by Heidegger’s definition of technology: outer space will be thus accessed as “a way of revealing”, allowing for an original understanding of this notion in the processual constitution of human and posthuman identities. In the first section, this chapter will demonstrate that, in the ancient world, astronomical insights were crucial to the perception of the Earth and to the development of human civilizations. The second section will underline how, in the space race, humans lost their ontological primacy, in relation to non-human animals and robots; it will also critically analyze the history of humans in space according to practices of discrimination such as: anthropocentrism , sexism and racism. The third section will highlight how space pragmatics should be revised by developing sustainable space technologies in order to comply with the theoretical principles of the “Outer Space Treaty” (1967), expanding the beneficial vision of space exploration, from humans and Earth, to non-human beings and non-human agents, including other planets. The dynamics of space migration will be inquired by reconciling the varied philosophical landscape of the posthuman, bridging different schools of thought such as: Posthumanism, Transhumanism, New Materialism and Object-Oriented Ontology .
Internal tide oceanic tomography

A concept of internal tide oceanic tomography (ITOT) is proposed to monitor ocean warming on a global scale. ITOT is similar to acoustic tomography, but that work waves are internal tides. ITOT detects ocean temperature changes by precisely measuring travel time changes of long-range propagating internal tides. The underlying principle is that upper ocean warming strengthens ocean stratification and thus increases the propagation speed of internal tides. This concept is inspired by recent advances in observing internal tides by satellite altimetry. In particular, a plane wave fit method can separately resolve multiple internal tidal waves and thus accurately determines the phase of each wave. Two examples are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of ITOT. In the eastern tropical Pacific, the yearly time series of travel time changes of the M2 internal tide is closely correlated with the El Nino–Southern Oscillation index. In the North Atlantic, significant interannual variations and bidecadal trends are observed and consistent with the changes in ocean heat content measured by Argo floats. ITOT offers a long-term, cost-effective, environmentally friendly technique for monitoring global ocean warming. Future work is needed to quantify the accuracy of this technique.
ROP Gadget Prevalence and Survival under Compiler-based Binary Diversification Schemes

Diversity has been suggested as an effective alternative to the current trend in rules-based approaches to cybersecurity. However, little work to date has focused on how various techniques generalize to new attacks. That is, there is no accepted methodology that researchers use to evaluate diversity techniques. Starting with the hypothesis that an attacker's effort increases as the common set of executable code snippets (return-oriented programming (ROP) gadgets) decreases across application variants, we explore how different diversification techniques affect the set of ROP gadgets that is available to an attacker. We show that a small population of diversified variants is sufficient to eliminate 90-99% of ROP gadgets across a collection of real-world applications. Finally, we observe that the number of remaining gadgets may still be sufficient for an attacker to mount an effective attack regardless of the presence of software diversity.