cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Structure and properties of the low-density phase ι-Al 2 O 3 from first principles

Of the various phases of transition alumina, iota-alumina (\ensuremath{\iota}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$) is the least well known. It is considered to be the end member of the mullite series in the limit of zero Si content. The structural details of \ensuremath{\iota}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ are not available and its physical properties are totally unknown. Based on an appropriately modified structure of a high alumina content mullite phase close to the 9-1 mullite, we have successfully constructed a structural model for \ensuremath{\iota}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$. The simulated x-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of this model agrees well with a measured XRD pattern obtained from samples that claim to belong to \ensuremath{\iota}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$. \ensuremath{\iota}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ is a highly disordered ultralow-density phase of alumina with a theoretical density of 2854 kg/m${}^{3}$. The calculated total energy per Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ is much higher than \ensuremath{\alpha}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ and the other well-known disordered phase, \ensuremath{\gamma}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$. Using this theoretically constructed model, we have calculated the elastic, thermodynamic, electronic, and spectroscopic properties of \ensuremath{\iota}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ and compared them with those of \ensuremath{\alpha}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ and \ensuremath{\gamma}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$. It is shown that the mechanical strength of \ensuremath{\iota}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ is much weaker with bulk and shear moduli that are only 57 and 42% of \ensuremath{\alpha}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$. Phonon dispersion results and the subsequently calculated thermodynamic properties point to the fact that \ensuremath{\iota}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ is an alumina phase preceding \ensuremath{\gamma}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ in the processing of alumina before reaching \ensuremath{\alpha}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$. Electronic structure calculations show it to be an insulator with a direct band gap of only 3.0 eV at the \ensuremath{\Gamma} point and a higher ionic bonding character than \ensuremath{\alpha}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$ and \ensuremath{\gamma}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$. It has a calculated static dielectric constant of 2.73 and a corresponding refractive index of 1.65 that are in agreement with reported data. Also calculated are the Al-$K$, Al-${L}_{3}$, and O-$K$ edges of the x-ray absorption near edge structure in \ensuremath{\iota}-Al${}_{2}$O${}_{3}$, showing sensitive dependence on its local bonding environment. However, only the weighted average of these spectra can be directly compared with the measured ones which are currently unavailable.
Gene–environment interactions in development and disease

Developmental geneticists continue to make substantial jumps in our understanding of the genetic pathways that regulate development. This understanding stems predominantly from analyses of genetically tractable model organisms developing in laboratory environments. This environment is vastly different from that in which human development occurs. As such, most causes of developmental defects in humans are thought to involve multifactorial gene-gene and gene-environment interactions. In this review, we discuss how gene-environment interactions with environmental teratogens may predispose embryos to structural malformations. We elaborate on the growing number of gene-ethanol interactions that might underlie susceptibility to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. WIREs Dev Biol 2017, 6:e247. doi: 10.1002/wdev.247 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Is Universal Computation a Myth

Akl has claimed that universal computation is a myth, and has offered a number of ingenious arguments in support of this claim, one of which features the challenge of tracking the locations of multiple, ever-moving robots on Mars. I provide what I see as a refutation of this argument; my counter-argument is based on a thesis that is less informal and more plausible than the Church-Turing Thesis, and on my own generalized variant of Kolmogorov-Uspensky machines. While I concede that it doesn’t deductively follow from the success of my refutation that universal computation is, or can be, real, I conclude by pointing toward a route that I believe can vindicate the counter-claim that universal computation is specifiable, and instantiable.
Library-Based Microbial Source Tracking via Strain Identification

Microbial Source Tracking (MST) aims to classify the source host-species of biological matter, typically fecal matter, using strains of fecal indicator bacteria, often E. coli. This paper continues addressing the MST problem using analysis of a library of bacterial fingerprints started in [9]. The Cal Poly Library of Pyroprints (CPLOP) is a collection of fingerprints of over 6,000 E. coli isolates collected from the fecal matter of a variety of host-species. In prior work [9] we studied the accuracy of the MST process based on k-Nearest Neighbors discovery in CPLOP. This process, while sufficiently accurate, does not scale well with the size of the database. In this paper, we study the accuracy of a clustering-based MST approach which scales significantly better: the bacterial isolate information stored in CPLOP is clustered using an efficient density-based clustering technique. We present our analysis of the accuracy and efficiency of the clustering-based MST methodology for CPLOP.
Mitigation of self-organized traffic jams using cooperative adaptive cruise control

Prior work has shown that while vehicles equipped with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) algorithms have the ability to improve traffic flows by increasing the critical density at which traffic jams begin to occur, they remain highly susceptible to the presence of even a few human-driven vehicles. This necessitates a trade-off assessment between improving traffic flow and reducing its susceptibility to presence of human-driven vehicles. In this paper, we address this issue via Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) algorithms that use information communicated via other vehicles or infrastructure. Specifically, the CACC algorithms use a modified form of the General Motors' car-following model, where the driver sensitivity is a function of the size of the existing traffic jam. Analysis using the master equation approach shows that, by altering its response based on the existing traffic state, the following connected vehicle is able to mitigate jam formation for a wide range of vehicular densities. Moreover, since the following connected vehicle can leverage information across larger distances, the ‘effective’ critical density is higher than previous results developed with ACC-enabled vehicles only. The included results indicate that traffic state-dependent CACC algorithms can improve traffic flow, and also hold significant potential to reduce susceptibility to the presence of human-driven vehicles.
Strange Wind Blowing

These you may eat of all that are in the waters; all that have fins and scales, you may eat. But whatever does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
Use and Acceptability of Writing Adaptations for Students with Disabilities: Survey of Grade 3-8 Teachers

One hundred forty-one teachers in grades 3–8 indicated how frequently they made 24 writing instructional adaptations for students with disabilities. They also rated the acceptability of each of the 24 adaptations on three dimensions: effectiveness, effort needed to implement, and implementation knowledge. Teachers reported making 16 different adaptations monthly or more often, and 10 at least weekly. The most common adaptation was allowing extra time to complete writing assignments. The least common adaptations included extra handwriting instruction, opportunities to compose via dictation, and homework to reinforce skills. Teachers viewed most of the adaptations as acceptable, and views on acceptability made a unique contribution to predicting reported use of adaptations, after variance due to student and other teacher variables was controlled.
Compiler auto-vectorization of matrix multiplication modulo small primes

Modern CPUs have vector instruction sets such as SSE2 and AVX2 which support the bit level operations (and, or, xor, etc. ) as well as floating point and integer arithmetic. Furthermore compilers, such as g++ and Clang, have auto-vectorization features to exploit the vector instructions. In this study we take advantage of these tools to improve performance of matrix multiplication over GF2, GF3, and other small fields. The purpose is to enhance performance of the Four Russians matrix multiplication algorithm, providing an efficient base case for multiplication of larger matrices using block decomposition as in Strassen's method. The essence of this environment is that already word level parallelism exists, since multiple field elements are stuffed into a word. The hardware vector operations further enhance the needed vector operations of addition and scaling by small powers of 2. Arithmetic modulo 2 or 3 is achieved via bit level operations. For other small fields the packing scheme is such that the vector addition and scaling operations must be followed by periodic normalization. We obtain approximately 2 to 3 fold speedup over these arithmetics on 64 bit words by coaxing compiler exploitation of the 256-bit SIMD instructions.
Effects of temperature and particle size on the biochemical methane potential of municipal solid waste components.

Abstract The effects of temperature and substrate size on the biochemical methane potential (BMP) assay were tested using eight municipal solid waste components. Two sample sizes were tested; size-reduced particles (x 20–100 mm) more similar to an as-disposed condition. Two incubation temperatures (35 and 55 °C) were tested for each component. BMPs for office paper, newspaper, paperboard, and coated paper displayed little difference with regards to temperature or particle size. Mesophilic corrugated cardboard BMPs were significantly greater than their thermophilic counterparts. Hardwood, softwood, and cotton BMPs varied with particle size and temperature. Particle size reduction may increase the bioavailable carbon compounds for wood, but this step was not necessary to achieve similar methane yields for paper products. Extrapolating BMP results to predict landfill methane generation may have greater uncertainty for wood wastes and cotton textiles than paper products.
On Developing the Tools and Metrics for a Neurosurgical Quality Program

Abstract With the current trends in the healthcare environment, it has become essential to develop means with which to improve quality, patient satisfaction, and efficiency while reducing costs. These mounting pressures are affecting how the neurosurgeon practices, how the neurosurgeon is evaluated, and how the neurosurgeon is compensated. Neurosurgical engagement in this continuous evolution of healthcare policy is imperative. Neurosurgeons should be the ones developing best practices and guidelines for neurosurgical care. Also, they must determine the processes to ensure that others are implementing those best practices. Development of a quality/safety program to measure and analyze neurosurgical complications and outcomes is a means with which to implement initiatives aimed at improving that performance. Determining which tools and metrics with which to measure quality and safety, patient satisfaction, and efficiency or throughput is essential.
Religion and the Maintenance of Hierarchy in Murder Pamhplets in Renaissance England

In early modern England, common people often received news of current events through cheaply printed and widely distributed pamphlets. The more interesting of these pamphlets were entirely devoted to relating stories of recent crimes, especially murders. While at first reading [one such] pamphlet appears to be a simple news tabloid, it is, under the surface, much more. Murder pamphlets such as A Briefe Discourse served as messages to the public, instilling religious morals and the importance of maintaining the Great Chain of Being. This article is available in Constructing the Past: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/constructing/vol14/iss1/3 Religion and the Maintenance of Hierarchy in Murder Pamphlets in Renaissance England
Price Policies and the Domestic and International Distribution of Commodity Quality

Most studies of agricultural commodity price policies ignore quality responses.1 Typically, it is assumed that the commodity of interest is homogeneous, and no allowance is made for any policy-induced changes in quality or in the distribution of quality (i.e., average quality).2 This might be a good approximation in some cases. Recently, however, James (2000a) reported a closed-economy model of stereotypical domestic agricultural commodity policies, in which she found that quality responses might be significant and could substantially alter the welfare implications of policy alternatives.3 In this chapter, we adopt the same general approach, and adapt and extend it to evaluate the quality impacts of both domestic and border policies applied to agricultural commodities in an open-economy setting.
The virtues of scientific psychology: A reply to Harzem.

Abstract Harzem recently expressed the opinions that, beginning in the 1960s, the progress of scientific psychology has been deferred and that psychological research has failed to address important social issues. He proposed that progress be resumed by taking up, anew, the experimental analysis of behavior. The present reply provides evidence inconsistent with Harzem's assertions regarding the state of contemporary, scientific psychology and questions the wisdom of disregarding the significant body of data and theory that currently are available to pursue the, as yet, unfulfilled promises of the experimental analysis of human behavior.
Analysis of Solids Flow Rate through Nonmechanical L-Valve in an Industrial-Scale Circulating Fluidized Bed Using Group B Particles

A series of statistically designed experiments were conducted using two different Geldart Group B particles in a 0.3 m diameter circulating fluidized bed (CFB) cold model to evaluate the nonmechanical L-valve for controlling the solids flow rate. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of standpipe aeration, L-valve aeration, solids inventory, and superficial gas velocity through the riser on the solids flow rate. A stochastic correlation was developed for calculating the solid flow rate as a function of these variables. It was found that the solid flow rate increased directly proportional to each of these variables. Dimensional analysis was used to generate an expression for the solids turnover ratio. The model developed in the present study is intended to simulate flow in the present CFB loop. It is not intended for scale-up and will probably not apply for alternative CFB loops with different geometries/pressure balance conditions.
Propagation Across Chiral Interfaces and Tunable Slab Resonators without and with Dispersion

In recent work, Fresnel coefficients (FCs) were evaluated for a non-chiral/chiral interface through which a monochromatic wave was propagated. It was found that both the reflected and transmitted modes are left- and right-circularly polarized (LCP and RCP). Also, the FCs indicated anomalous characteristics, including the Brewster effect for s-polarized incident plane waves and total internal reflection (TIR) under rarer to denser propagation [1–4]. Propagation and imaging characteristics are examined for materials with dispersion and chirality, including discrete chiral components such as lenses and chiral resonators with two interfaces are applied with appropriate forward propagation to establish refraction laws. Anomalies, tunability, and new resonant applications are also explored.
Evidence-Based Assessment for School Psychology: Research, Training, and Clinical Practice

Evidence-based assessment (EBA) and evidence-based practice are gaining attention and application in clinical psychology (Hunsley and Mash, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 3:29–51, 2007; Youngstrom and VanMeter, Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 23:327–347, 2016) and recently in school psychology. This commentary explores EBA in school psychology with implications for research, training, and clinical practice. Fundamental measurement principles and psychometric knowledge and application are essential for school psychologists to ethically practice and are core elements for EBA. It is hoped that there will be a dramatic increase in diagnostic and treatment utility studies reported in the peer-reviewed literature to help guide EBA in school psychology practice and that school psychology will be substantively guided by EBA despite challenges of inconsistently or inadequately defined disabilities.
Laboratory methods in toxicology

Abstract Contemporary toxicology laboratories utilize a variety of highly specialized techniques and instrumentation. Laboratories should seek to employ screening methods that are sensitive to a wide variety of compounds. Comprehensive strategies often include immunoassay screens, gas chromatography, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Targeted testing is generally required for analytes not covered by initial screening techniques or for confirmatory and/or quantitative testing. This chapter discusses the types of instrument most often employed, the advantages and disadvantages of each, as well as, application to various specimen types. Specific analytical methods are suggested for some analyses, and a discussion of clinical information is included.
Sharing Notes With Adolescents and Young Adults Admitted to an Inpatient Psychiatry Unit.

Since its inception in 2012, the OpenNotes initiative has been broadly adopted by medical institutions across the nation, giving more than 40 million patients access to their medical documentation.1 The response to this access has been overwhelmingly positive, as providers and adult patients report increased trust, transparency, and collaboration.2 In contrast, the benefits of OpenNotes have yet to be realized among pediatric and adolescent patients. Since February 2018, our pediatric institution has default released medical notes to patients aged 12 years and older. Currently, 90% of medical notes are shared with adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients; however, medical documentation is withheld from those in care settings regarded as vulnerable (ie, psychiatry, child abuse) or if the provider deems the content sensitive. We previously demonstrated adequate comprehension and satisfaction with medical documentation among AYA patients seen at a pediatric gastroenterology clinic.3 However, confidentiality concerns persist among providers, especially those working within mental health settings.4.
Event-Triggered Output-Feedback Backstepping Control of Sandwiched Hyperbolic PDE Systems

Motivated by vibration control of a mining cable elevator avoiding frequent actions of the massive actuator which is a hydraulic cylinder driving the head sheave, we present an event-triggered output-feedback backstepping boundary controller for 2 × 2 coupled hyperbolic PDEs sandwiched by two ODEs, through a two-step design including an output-feedback low-pass-filter-based backstepping boundary stabilization law and the subsequent design of a dynamic event-triggered mechanism. The existence of a nonzero minimal dwell-time between two triggering times, and exponential convergence being achieved in the event-based closed-loop system are proved in this paper. In numerical simulations, the proposed control design is validated in the application of axial vibration control of a mining cable elevator.
Abstract P539: Comparison of Transradial Artery versus Transfemoral Artery Access for Solumbra Technique in Mechanical Thrombectomy

Introduction: Solumbra technique involves the simultaneous use of stent-retriever and large-bore aspiration for clot retrieval in mechanical thrombectomy (MT). We aim to compare various time parame...
The Output-Welfare Fallacy: A Modern Antitrust Paradox

A fallacy lies at the core of modern antitrust. The same scholars who successfully advanced a singular consumer-welfare goal simultaneously argued that output effects should be the exclusive criterion for analysis. This output–welfare framework entered mainstream discourse, was endorsed by enforcers and judges, and played a pivotal role in the Supreme Court’s recent Ohio v. American Express opinion. Yet despite its centrality, outputism has largely escaped notice. When exposed to systematic evaluation, the previously assumed link between output and welfare breaks down. A wide variety of conduct can push output and welfare in opposite directions. Moreover, purely outputist analysis is often unworkable in markets—for labor, social networking, online search, and more—that are of particular interest to contemporary antitrust. Recognizing the Output–Welfare Fallacy offers substantial payoffs. It illuminates and undercuts a fundamental illogic that motivates outputist judicial decisions, which warrant swift reversal. Market power can be defined as the power to control competition, rather than power to profitably reduce output. Plaintiffs need not demonstrate an output reduction to carry their initial burden of proof. Conversely, defendants need not prove that output increased in order to make out a valid procompetitive justification. In general, moving beyond the narrow confines of output-based analysis enables the application of a more coherent, practical, and efficient antitrust framework.
Does Quantitative Sensory Testing Improve Prediction of Chronic Pain Trajectories? A Longitudinal Study of Youth With Functional Abdominal Pain Participating in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment.

Objectives Youth with functional abdominal pain (FAP) experience significant pain-related distress and functional impairment. Although quantitative sensory testing protocols have identified alterations in pain modulatory systems that distinguish youth with FAP from healthy controls, the extent to which evoked pain responses predict subsequent trajectories of pain symptoms and disability over and above established psychosocial risk factors is unclear. Methods The present study included 183 adolescents with FAP who were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial comparing an 8-week, internet-delivered program of cognitive behavior therapy (n=90) or pain education (n=93). Participants completed a quantitative sensory testing protocol prior to the intervention and were followed for 12-months post-treatment. Results Whereas adolescents with FAP who exhibited stronger baseline conditioned pain modulation reported decreases in pain-related interference over follow-up (b=-0.858, SE=0.396, P=0.032), those with weaker conditioned pain modulation exhibited high, relatively stable levels of pain-related interference over time (b=-0.642, SE=0.400, P=0.110). Conditioned pain modulation status predicted changes in pain-related interference after controlling for the effects of treatment condition and psychosocial risk factors. Static measures of pain sensitivity (i.e., pain threshold, pain tolerance) and temporal summation of second pain were not associated with changes in measures of abdominal pain, gastrointestinal symptom severity, or pain-related interference over follow-up. Discussion The present findings contribute to a growing literature on the predictive utility of quantitative sensory testing indices and suggest that conditioned pain modulation may complement existing psychosocial risk measures in determining individualized pain-related risk profiles.
COVID-19 in Three Global Cities: Comparing Impacts and Outcomes

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted cities around the world. Global cities theory suggests that cities articulated to the global economy should be affected by such flows similarly. We ...
Distribution of clones among hosts for the lizard malaria parasite Plasmodium mexicanum

Background Malaria parasites reproduce asexually, leading to the production of large numbers of genetically identical parasites, here termed a clonal line or clone. Infected hosts may harbor one or more clones, and the number of clones in a host is termed multiplicity of infection (MOI). Understanding the distribution of parasite clones among hosts can shed light on the processes shaping this distribution and is important for modeling MOI. Here, I determine whether the distribution of clones of the lizard malaria parasite Plasmodium mexicanum differ significantly from statistical distributions commonly used to model MOI and logical extensions of these models. Methods The number of clones per infection was assessed using four microsatellite loci with the maximum number of alleles at any one locus used as a simple estimate of MOI for each infection. I fit statistical models (Poisson, negative binomial, zero-inflated models) to data from four individual sites to determine a best fit model. I also simulated the number of alleles per locus using an unbiased estimate of MOI to determine whether the simple (but potentially biased) method I used to estimate MOI influenced model fit. Results The distribution of clones among hosts at individual sites differed significantly from traditional Poisson and negative binomial distributions, but not from zero-inflated modifications of these distributions. A consistent excess of two-clone infections and shortage of one-clone infections relative to all fit distributions was also observed. Any bias introduced by the simple method for estimating of MOI did not appear to qualitatively alter the results. Conclusions The statistical distributions used to model MOI are typically zero-truncated; truncating the Poisson or zero-inflated Poisson yield the same distribution, so the reasonable fit of the zero-inflated Poisson to the data suggests that the use of the zero-truncated Poisson in modeling is adequate. The improved fit of zero-inflated distributions relative to standard distributions may suggest that only a portion of the host population is located in areas suitable for transmission even at small sites (<1 ha). Collective transmission of clones and premunition may also contribute to deviations from standard distributions.
Publishing in Information Systems Journals (Panel)

Interested in publishing your research? Editors from the Journal of Information Systems Education (JISE), Journal of Computer Information Systems (JCIS), Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS), Journal of Information Technology Case Studies and Applications (JITCAR), Journal of Organizational and End User Computing (JOEUC), and Journal of Global Information Technology Management (JGITM) will be hosting a panel on publishing. In this session, you will hear directly from, and ask questions of, editors of these journals as to what they're looking for, how to avoid a rejection or endless RR its emphasis is on originality, importance, and cogency of ideas; it is also a vehicle for case studies, survey articles, tutorials, and other materials of general interest to the IS community. The primary role of a professional society is to facilitate communications among its members. Communications of the Association for Information Systems carries out this role by publishing articles on a wide range of subjects of interest to the membership beyond research results.
Adaptation Mechanisms in Color and Brightness

In order for color to be a useful property for segmenting and identifying objects in a scene it must remain constant in spite of variations in intensity and color of the ambient light, and we know that the visual system achieves an elegant deconfounding of incident light and the reflectance of objects. The last decade has seen considerable advances in the formal analysis of color constancy. These advances have not been matched, however, by advances in understanding whether or how the nervous system carries out these computations. Models of constancy generally require some sort of ‘knowledge’ or computation of the illuminant (see review by Lennie & D’Zmura, 1988). This knowledge may be realized in the visual system to a large extent by mechanisms of light adaptation which can compensate for the changes in the illuminant so that objects of constant reflectance will have a constant effect following adaptational transformations (D’Zmura & Lennie, 1986). Light adaptation is generally acknowledged to play a major role in both color and brightness constancy, but the nature of the adaptational transformations and how they contribute to constancy are poorly understood. In this chapter we will report on preliminary experiments which attempt to specify how light adaptation mechanisms operate to determine the color and brightness of lights. First, we will describe what we know about light adaptation from measurements of sensitivity and then describe how this might be extended to account for color appearance and brightness.
Biomaterials Application in Stem Cell Therapies for Stroke

This chapter focuses on biopolymer scaffolds as cell carriers and their beneficial effects in improving neural stem/progenitor cell therapies for stroke repair. Biopolymers offer a flexible tool to design an integrative solution for stroke repair and address multiple limitations of cell therapy in stroke. We describe important chemical and biophysical properties of biopolymers that contribute to their beneficial effects. We then discuss how cellular scaffolds promote stem/progenitor cell survival and differentiation. Integration of transplanted cells to the host tissue is crucial for any therapeutic with promising functional benefit. Therefore, the chapter continues by describing inherent or engineered characteristics of biopolymer networks that promote integration in stroke repair. The chapter concludes by a review of published reports on biopolymer cell combinations for stroke repair and a few notes regarding the clinical translation of biopolymer scaffolds in cell therapies for stroke.
The Balancing Act: Collection Development in Support of Remote Users in an Extended Campus Setting

As the concept of distance education becomes more prevalent in higher education, the provision of library information resources to remote users becomes extremely important, whether the information sources come from the main campus library, an off-campus collection, or a virtual library. University library collections, in whatever format, developed to serve off-campus users, require the same level of planning and flexibility as those collections that are developed for the main campus library. This article examines an approach to developing and maintaining collections for remote users describing the experiences of a specific off-campus library.
Leucoplakia of cervix uteri.

Abstract Fig. 1 demonstrates a leucoplakia of the cervix uteri and presents a rather sharp contrast in the cellular architectural pattern to that shown in Fig. 2. The latter demonstrates a typical noncornifying squamous-cell carcinoma of the cervix uteri. The thick keratinized epithelium referred to many times in this report, together with an area of superficial ulceration and “rete peg” formation are shown in Fig. 1. For many years speculation concerning the relationship of leucoplakial epithelial thickening to subsequent malignant changes has existed. This relationship has not yet been proved, but in many cases certainly seems to exist. In 103,685 gynecologic admissions, there were 14 cases diagnosed as leucoplakia of the cervix uteri. It is worthy of note that four (28.5 per cent) out of these fourteen patients diagnosed as having leucoplakia of the cervix uteri developed carcinoma of the cervix at a future time. Two of these four patients having carcinoma of the cervix had this condition at the time of first biopsy. The series of cases given is small and consequently no positive accurate conclusions can be drawn. However, from following patients having such lesions, it is our impression that a very definite relationship exists between leucoplakia of the cervix and subsequent malignant growth.
Fluoride inhibition of rat liver microsomal esterases.

Fluoride inhibition of a purified rat liver microsomal esterase was investigated using the substrates phenyl butyrate and ethyl butyrate. The data are consistent with EHF⇋ EH⇋E⇋ES → products where S, E, EH, and EHF are substrate, active enzyme, protonated enzyme (inactive), and an inactive enzyme-fluoride complex, respectively. Fluoride binds primarily to a protonated, inactive form of the enzyme. The residue whose ionization state controls the extent of fluoride inhibition also controls catalytic activity. The residue has a pK of about 6.0 and is probably histidine. The inhibition is apparently competitive since fluoride decreases the concentration of free enzyme available for catalysis. In the presence of fluoride, phenyl butyrate hydrolysis rates decrease slowly according to pseudo-first order kinetics, but fluoride inhibition of ethyl butyrate hydrolysis is not time dependent. Phenyl butyrate stabilizes EHF so that the apparent fluoride inhibition constant for phenyl butyrate hydrolysis is about 300 times less than for ethyl butyrate hydrolysis. In the absence of substrate, fluoride binding and release is a relatively slow process. Ethyl butyrate, however, accelerates both the rate of fluoride binding and release and does not stabilize EHF.
Infrared Spectroscopy from San Fernando Observatory: He I 1083 nm, O I 1316 nm, and Fe I 1565 nm

Imaging spectroscopy of the Sun was carried out at the California State University Northridge San Fernando Observatory using an InGaAs near-IR video camera. Using the Si i 1082.71 nm and He i 1083.03 nm lines the Evershed effect is measured simultaneously in the photosphere and the chromosphere for three sunspots; the speed of the Evershed flow is measured to be between 3 to 8 times greater in the He i line than in the Si i line, and the direction is radially inward in the chromosphere and outward in the photosphere. Telluric absorption lines prevented a meaningful measurement of O i 1128.7 nm limb emission, but an upper limit of 20×10−3 B⊙ is measured for chromospheric limb emission at O i 1316.3 nm. Zeeman splitting in Fe i 1564.9 nm was observed in six sunspot umbrae, and a linear relationship between magnetic field and umbral continuum intensity is confirmed.
Antigenic analyses of highly pathogenic avian influenza a viruses.

In response to the ongoing threat to animal and human health posed by HPAI endemic in poultry, Asia (H5N1) and North America (H7N3) have revived efforts to reduce pandemic risk by disease control at the source and improved pandemic vaccines. Discovery of conserved neutralization epitopes in the HA, which mediate broad protection within and across HA subtypes have changed the paradigm of “broadly reactive” or “universal” vaccine design. Development of such vaccines would benefit from comparative antigenic analysis of viruses with increasing divergence within (and between) HA subtypes. A review of recent work to define the antigenic properties of HPAI viruses revealed data generated through an array of experimental approaches. This information has supported diagnostics and vaccine development for animal and human health. Further harmonization of analytical methods is needed to determine the antigenic relationships among multiple lineages of rapidly evolving HPAI viruses.
Fast clustering with application to fuzzy rule generation

This paper presents a multistage random sampling fuzzy c-means based clustering algorithm, which significantly reduces the computation time required to partition a data set into c classes. A series of subsets of the full data set are used for classification in order to provide an approximation to the final cluster centers. The quality of the final partitions is equivalent to that of fuzzy c-means. The speed-up is normally a factor of 2-3 times, which is especially significant for high dimensional spaces and large data sets. Clustering has been used to generate fuzzy rules for control. In this paper, we show that the multistage random sampling fuzzy c-means based clustering algorithm can be effectively used to create fuzzy rules in the domain of magnetic resonance images where over 60,000 patterns and 3 features or attributes are common. >
In vivo and in vitro correlation of microsomal epoxide hydrolase inhibition by progabide

Progabide was investigated as a potential inhibitor of microsomal epoxide hydrolase as a result of reports of elevated levels of carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide after coadministration of progabide and carbamazepine to patients with epilepsy. The formation clearance of carbamazepine transdihydrodiol after administration of carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide to healthy volunteers was decreased 26% by progabide. Therapeutic concentrations of progabide inhibited S (+)-styrene oxide hydrolysis in human liver microsomes (inhibition constant [Ki] = 1.9 mumol/L) and purified human liver microsomal epoxide hydrolase (Ki = 4.4 mumol/L). A mixed competitive and noncompetitive mechanism of inhibition best described the effect of progabide on microsomal epoxide hydrolase; the most potent inhibition was competitive. A similar model described the inhibition by the acid metabolite of progabide, although inhibitory concentrations are higher than concentrations observed after progabide therapy. An excellent agreement between the in vivo and in vitro inhibitory potencies of progabide suggests that potential inhibitors of this important detoxification enzyme can be predicted in vitro.
Behavioral sequelae to early postnatal cytomegalovirus infection in mice

The effects of intracerebral cytomegalovirus infection on the subsequent development of spontaneous alternation and motor activity were evaluated in mice innoculated at either 5 or 12 days of postnatal age. Mice infected at both ages showed a transient depression in body weight at 26 days of age. While spontaneous alternation initially developed in a normal manner, animals of both sexes infected at 5 but not 12 days of age showed a subsequent decline in this measure at 46 days of age. In contrast to the dependence of alternation effects on age at infection, hyperactivity was found to be sex dependent. These results provide a further example of the interaction between organismic factors and the behavioral effects of CNS viral infection. In addition, certain of the effects of murine cytomegalovirus infection are of a delayed nature.
Robust transmission of JPEG2000 codestreams over packet erasure channels

In this paper, a robust image transmission scheme based on JPEG2000 is proposed for packet erasure channels. Error resilience functionalities provided by JPEG2000 are utilized to control the source coding efficiency and the robustness according to channel conditions. Furthermore, together with the proposed interleaving scheme, some erasures can be recovered. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the scheme.
Immediate effect of percutaneous intramuscular stimulation during gait in children with cerebral palsy: a feasibility study.

The feasibility of percutaneous intramuscular functional electrical stimulation (P-FES) in children with cerebral palsy (CP) for immediate improvement of ankle kinematics during gait has not previously been reported. Eight children with CP (six with diplegia, two with hemiplegia; mean age 9 years 1 month [SD 1y 4mo; range 7y 11mo to 11y 10mo]) had percutaneous intramuscular electrodes implanted into the gastrocnemius (GA) and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles of their involved limbs. Stimulation was provided during appropriate phases of the gait cycle in three conditions (GA only, TA only, and GA/TA). Immediately after a week of practice for each stimulation condition, a gait analysis was performed with and without stimulation. A significant improvement in peak dorsiflexion in swing for the more affected extremity and dorsiflexion at initial contact for the less affected extremity were found in the GA/TA condition. Clinically meaningful trends were evident for improvements in dorsiflexion kinematics for the more and less affected extremities in the TA only and GA/TA conditions. The results suggest that P-FES might immediately improve ankle kinematics in children with CP.
Selective survival, aging and society

The concept of selective survival to advanced ages is introduced and discussed in relation to the black/white mortality "crossover" in the United States. Crossover refers to the phenomenon wherein black mortality rates become lower than white mortality rates after approximately age 75. This reversal of mortality rates between advantaged and disadvantaged populations also occurs between Native Americans and whites. Such crossovers have significant implications for explaining differences in patterns of aging across populations. We argue that higher rates of selective survival in disadvantaged, high mortality populations result in a greater proportion of healthy, very old people who may require less nursing-home care, who have low suicide rates, and who enjoy higher status in the family and community. Differences between populations with regard to selective survival imply that chronological age alone is not always a useful measure of aging and old age. Finally, we identify further lines of inquiry about selective survival and its effects on aging.
Finite elements with embedded branching

This paper is concerned with the numerical modeling of crack branching in brittle materials using finite elements with embedded strong discontinuities, that is, discontinuities in the displacement field defining the solution of the underlying boundary-value problem. In particular, new finite elements are developed in this framework accommodating the different branches of the bifurcating discontinuity in the element interior. The key aspect of these developments is the correct representation of the kinematics of these configurations. This is accomplished through the identification of the proper separation modes characterizing these solutions and their incorporation in the discrete strain field of the finite element. The resulting enhanced modes are activated based on a branching criterion depending on the velocity of the crack tip. The performance of the new elements is illustrated with several numerical simulations involving other approaches for the treatment of branching and comparisons with available experimental results.
The Evolution of the Social Roletaking and Guided Reflection Framework in Teacher Education: Recent Theory and Quantitative Synthesis of Research.

Abstract In this paper the problem of lack of theory and directing constructs for reflective practice in teacher education is addressed. Selected theoretical tenets of Vygotsky and Piaget are reviewed and related to a developmental action/reflection framework for the adult learner. As well, a taxonomy for differentiating reflection according to the needs of the adult learner is summarized. The taxonomy served as the treatment in seven quasi-experimental studies. Results of a quantitative synthesis of the studies are summarized with implications for cognitive-developmental theory, the moral dimensions of schooling and teacher education, and emerging constructs of reflective practice.
Differences in the distribution of responses to ATP and acetylcholine between outer hair cells of rat and guinea pig

Abstract Adenosine 5′ triphosphate (ATP) and acetylcholine (ACh) are neurotransmitters (ACh) and/or modulators (ATP) in the mammalian cochlea. In guinea pig, it appears that both neurotransmitters have a similar response distribution, with larger responses being evoked by the ligands in short hair cells compared to long hair cells (e.g., Chen et al., 1995b. Noise exposure alters the response of outer hair cells to ATP. Hear. Res. 88, 215–221.; Erostegui et al., 1994. In vitro pharmacologic characterization of a cholinergic receptor on outer hair cells. Hear. Res. 74, 135–147). The purpose of the present study was to test whether the distribution of responses to ACh and ATP in the OHCs of rat is the same as guinea pig. The ligand-induced current was monitored using the whole-cell configuration of the patch-clamp technique. Results show that in guinea pig OHCs, extracellular application of 100 μM ATP induced a current response in a majority of the same cells that responded to the application of 100 μM ACh. In contrast in rat OHCs, 100 μM ATP did not induce a current in the majority of cells that responded to the application of 100 μM ACh. N -methyl-glucamine (NMG + ) substituted for K + in the pipette solution failed to unmask an ATP-evoked inward current in rat OHCs. In addition, no response was produced in rat or guinea pig OHCs by adenosine, adenosine 5′-monophosphate (AMP) or adenosine 5′-diphosphate (ADP) at 100 μM. Results suggest that in guinea pig ACh-gated channels are present on most of the same OHCs that have ATP-gated ion channels, whereas in rat ACh-gated ion channels are present without ATP-gated channels on some OHCs.
Land use structures fish assemblages in reservoirs of the Tennessee River

Inputs of nutrients, sediments and detritus from catchments can promote selected components of reservoir fish assemblages, while hindering others. However, investigations linking these catchment subsidies to fish assemblages have generally focussed on one or a handful of species. Considering this paucity of community-level awareness, we sought to explore the association between land use and fish assemblage composition in reservoirs. To this end, we compared fish assemblages in reservoirs of two sub-basins of the Tennessee River representing differing intensities of agricultural development, and hypothesised that fish assemblage structure indicated by species percentage composition would differ among reservoirs in the two sub-basins. Using multivariate statistical analysis, we documented inter-basin differences in land use, reservoir productivity and fish assemblages, but no differences in reservoir morphometry or water regime. Basins were separated along a gradient of forested and non-forested catchment land cover, which was directly related to total nitrogen, total phosphorous and chlorophyll-a concentrations. Considering the extensive body of knowledge linking land use to aquatic systems, it is reasonable to postulate a hierarchical model in which productivity has direct links to terrestrial inputs, and fish assemblages have direct links to both land use and productivity. We observed a shift from an invertivore-based fish assemblage in forested catchments to a detritivore-based fish assemblage in agricultural catchments that may be a widespread pattern among reservoirs and other aquatic ecosystems.
The Relationship Between the Water Transfer and the pH of Egg Contents in Stored Eggs

Abstract IT HAS been known for some time that the pH of egg white is dependent on the state of the equilibrium of the bicarbonate buffer system (Healy and Peter, 1925). Romanoff and Romanoff (1930) found the buffer system to be reversible in its reaction and that the pH of the system could be changed by varying the quantity of carbon dioxide present. The mechanism of the reaction, according to McNally (1943) is as follows: NaHCO 3 + dissolved CO 2 ↑ ↓ ⇄ CO 2 ↑ ↓ + 2 NaHCO 3 ⇄ CO 2 ↑ ↓ + Na 2 CO 3 + H 2 O pH less than 8.35 pH 8.35 pH more than 8.35 A loss in carbon dioxide with the accompanying rise in pH starts immediately, after the egg inlaid, and the rate of both is dependent on the age of the egg and the conditions of storage (Sharp and Powell, 1931). It is also well known that special treatments, such as coating the shells or storing the eggs in an atmosphere containing carbon dioxide will retard the loss of carbon dioxide from the egg white. Sharp (1929) and . . .
Predicting longitudinal change in language production and comprehension in individuals with Down syndrome: hierarchical linear modeling.

Longitudinal change in syntax comprehension and production skill, measured four times across a 6-year period, was modeled in 31 individuals with Down syndrome who were between the ages of 5 and 20 ...