cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Environmental factors differentially influence the persistence or remission of infantile wheezing during the first three years of life

Abstract Rationale The identification of environmental risk factors that influence the differentiation of wheezing phenotypes in early childhood is important to the study of asthma pathogenesis in children. Methods 269 children with at least one atopic parent enrolled in the COAST (Childhood Origins of ASThma) study were followed prospectively from birth to 3 years of age. Data were collected using serial questionnaires and examinations permitting an evaluation of the timing and nature of multiple environmental exposures. These exposures were then examined for their association with the following 2 groups of children: those who only wheezed during the first year of life [infantile wheezers (IW); n=49], and those that began wheezing during infancy and continued to wheeze until at least 3 years of age [recurrent wheezers (RW); n=45]. Results Exclusive formula feeding (29% vs. 11%; p=0.04) and dog (not cat) ownership (41% vs. 22%; p=0.05) were more common in infantile wheezers. Recurrent wheezers were more likely to have active atopic dermatitis at age 1 yr (36% vs. 16%; p=0.03). Recurrent wheezers tended to be exposed more often to smoke (38% vs. 22%; p=0.10) and to have one or more older siblings (76% vs. 61%; p=0.14). Daycare exposure was comparable in the two groups (RW 56% vs. IW 51%; p=0.66). Conclusion During early childhood, various environmental exposures differentially influence the persistence or remission of wheezing that begins during infancy.
Snow hydrology in a general circulation model

A snow hydrology has been implemented in an atmospheric general circulation model (GCM). The snow hydrology consists of parameterizations of snowfall and snow cover fraction, a prognostic calculation of snow temperature, and a model of the snow mass and hydrologic budgets. Previously, only snow albedo had been included by a specified snow line. A 3-year GCM simulation with this now more complete surface hydrology is compared to a previous GCM control run with the specified snow line, as well as with observations. In particular, the authors discuss comparisons of the atmospheric and surface hydrologic budgets and the surface energy budget for U.S. and Canadian areas. The new snow hydrology changes the annual cycle of the surface moisture and energy budgets in the model. There is a noticeable shift in the runoff maximum from winter in the control run to spring in the snow hydrology run. A substantial amount of GCM winter precipitation is now stored in the seasonal snowpack. Snow cover also acts as an important insulating layer between the atmosphere and the ground. Wintertime soil temperatures are much higher in the snow hydrology experiment than in the control experiment. Seasonal snow cover is important for dampening large fluctuations in GCM continental skin temperature during the Northern Hemisphere winter. Snow depths and snow extent show good agreement with observations over North America. The geographic distribution of maximum depths is not as well simulated by the model due, in part, to the coarse resolution of the model. The patterns of runoff are qualitatively and quantitatively similar to observed patterns of streamflow averaged over the continental United States. The seasonal cycles of precipitation and evaporation are also reasonably well simulated by the model, although their magnitudes are larger than is observed. This is due, in part, to a cold bias in this model, which results in a dry model atmosphere and enhances the hydrologic cycle everywhere.
Ultrasonic measurement of breast tissue motion and the implications for velocity estimation

A high-resolution study of breast tissue motion during cardiac systole and respiration is presented. An experimental system was designed to achieve a velocity resolution on the order of 1 mm/s with high spatial resolution. The peak velocity of tissue motion estimated during cardiac systole ranged from 0.2 mm/s to 5.6 mm/s among the subjects studied. It is shown that motion due to the cardiac cycle is less significant when the subject is positioned on the side rather than supine. The mean tissue velocity among subjects in the supine position is 2.88 mm/s and drops to 0.81 mm/s for the side position, with a corresponding spatial displacement of 0.095 mm, dropping to 0.027 mm. The velocity profiles indicate that 100 ms is required for the entire ribcage contraction-relaxation process to occur. Experiments using a prone biopsy table show the almost complete elimination of tissue motion due to cardiac systole, suggesting that the use of the table eliminates this motion, thus allowing for high-resolution blood velocity estimates. Features resulting from respiratory motion are also presented. We found this motion to be of a much longer time duration, and of a much higher magnitude, with velocities as high as 29 mm/s. The implications of the study on the high-resolution estimation of blood velocity and high-resolution breast imaging are discussed.
Recent advances in active control of civil engineering structures

Abstract Active control systems for civil engineering structures have attracted considerable attention in recent years, because they may become effective protective systems. This paper reviews briefly the current state-of-the-art and summarizes some recent advances in active control of civil engineering structures both theoretically and experimentally.
Higher order differential lift equations over manifolds

LetM be a differentiable manifold modeled on a Banach space overK=R or C. LetT k(M) be thekth iterated tangential extension ofM, and letk M be thekth Bowman (=restricted tangential) extension ofM. It is shown that there is an embedding ϕk:k →T k(M), and that such embeddings constitute a natural transformation of functors. LetQ be a subset/submanifold inT k(M), and letV:Q→T(Q) be a differentiable vector field. CallV k-suitable if everyK-curveg inQ satisfyingg′=V° g has the formg=f [k], wheref [k] denotes thekth iterated differential lift of aK-curvef inM. It is shown thatV isk-suitable if and only if: (a) $$Q = \varphi _k \left( {\overline Q } \right)$$ , where $$\overline Q $$ is a subset/submanifold ink M, and (b) $$V = T\left( {\varphi _k } \right)^\circ \bar V^\circ \varphi _k^{ - 1} $$ , where $$\overline V :\overline Q \to T\left( {\overline Q } \right)$$ isk-suitable relative to restricted tangentialK-curve liftsf (k). Interpretive consequences for motion problems are discussed.
Analysis of a Load-Side Heat Exchanger for a Solar Domestic Hot Water Heating System

Testing is done of an unpressurized drainback system with a load-side heat exchanger. Analytical calculations for the heat exchanger effectiveness and three models for convective heat transfer coefficients from correlations are compared against the experimental data. TRNSYS simulations were performed using the average effectiveness of 0.78 (the calculated effectiveness varies from 0.68 to 0.95); the results compare favorably with experimental results, indicating that a constant effectiveness is an adequate model for the system.
Impending gangrene of the foot following treatment for pruritus of jaundice with ergotamine tartrate: Report of case

Ergotamine tartrate in treatment of the itching of jaundice must be used with care. Patients may have an idiosyncrasy for the drug or a cumulative reaction may develop. The case of a woman who had severe jaundice and who was given 6.75 mg. of ergotamine tartrate in nine days is reported. Signs of impending gangrene developed in one foot. Fortunately, the prompt use of measures designed to produce vasodilatation led to recovery and saving of the foot. Certain observations suggested that administration of ergotamine tartrate wrought further injury to a liver already damaged by jaundice.
Occurrence of Two Hemiuroid Trematodes in the Stomachs of Juvenile Pacific Salmon from the Marine Waters of Southeastern Alaska and British Columbia

Abstract Juvenile Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. were captured in purse seines in coastal waters from the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia (July and August 1984), to Lituya Bay, Alaska, and the inside marine passages of southeastern Alaska (July 1983 and July and August 1984) to determine the occurrences of internal parasites. Prevalence and abundance of the hemiuroid trematodes Brachyphallus crenatus and Hemiurus levinseni increased significantly from south to north and from coastal to inside passages. Prevalence and abundance of both trematode species were greatest in juvenile coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch and were lower but similar among juvenile pink salmon O. gorbuscha, chum salmon O. keta, and sockeye salmon O. nerka.
Missed Opportunity: Use of Driver License Manuals to Educate Drivers About Roundabouts in Small- and Medium-Sized Communities

Modern roundabouts have become increasingly popular in small and medium cities in the United States because of their success in reducing speeds and collisions. According to many traffic engineers, modern roundabouts are an attractive and cost-effective speed-control device for intersections. They have been constructed in small and medium communities in California, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. Geometric designs and right-of-way rules at roundabouts and traffic circles are distinct, and student drivers must be educated and informed of the correct way to use them. State driver manuals could be used to ensure fast dissemination of information to residents in small and medium communities. Review of the manuals of 32 states and the District of Columbia in 1998 and 2002 indicated that very little information is provided and by very few states. Between 1998 and 2002, only three states of those studied updated the information on roundabouts and traffic circles in the driver manuals. The manual of the state of Oregon is best for both traffic circles and roundabouts. The information in most of the manuals is covered in one sentence, and some states have used the term traffic circle to mean both circle and roundabout. It is imperative that the manuals be revised with adequate information on the correct way to use roundabouts so that the drivers in small and medium communities are better informed and less resistant to these devices.
An examination of the layers of workplace influences in ethical judgments: Whistleblowing likelihood and perseverance in public accounting

We employ a Layers of Workplace Influence theory to guide our study of whistleblowing among public accounting audit seniors. Specifically, we examine professional commitment, organizational commitment versus colleague commitment (locus of commitment), and moral intensity of the unethical behavior on two measures of reporting intentions: likelihood of reporting and perseverance in reporting. We find that moral intensity relates to both reporting intention measures. In addition, while high levels of professional identity increase the likelihood that an auditor will initially report an observed violation, the auditor’s commitment to the organization drives perseverance in reporting. Results may assist organizations and researchers in their understanding of antecedents to whistleblowing as a form of corporate governance and of the effect of these antecedents on whistleblowing perseverance.
Diffraction of Gaussian Laser Beams by a Semi-Infinite Plane

Theoretical and experimental aspects of the diffraction of gaussian laser beams by the straight edge bounding an opaque plane are investigated. Theoretical analysis is based upon the Kirchhoff scalar wave theory in the Fresnel limit, assuming an incident electromagnetic field having spatial amplitude and phase variation appropriate to a fundamental-mode gaussian beam. Experimental observation consisting of irradiance as a function of position is in good agreement with this theory. Both theoretical and experimental results are found to depend strongly on gaussian-beam parameters.
Analysis of the symmetrical 90°-peel test with extensive plastic deformation

Abstract A numerical 2-D study of the symmetrical 90°-peel test (a similar geometry to the T-peel test) in which extensive plastic deformation occurs in the adherends is presented in this paper. A traction-separation relation is used to simulate failure of the interface, and the conditions for both crack initiation and steady-state crack growth are investigated. The numerical predictions for the steady-state peel force are compared with those based on elementary beam theory. It is shown that two competing effects dominate the mechanics of the peel test to such an extent that the results of beam-bending analyses cannot be used to predict the peel force. At one extreme range of parameters, delamination is driven by shear rather than by bending, resulting in a lower peel force than would be predicted by beam-bending analyses. At the other extreme, where delamination is bending-dominated, the constraint induced by the interfacial tractions cause an increase in the peel force. The numerical results are compare...
Plasma cea levels in small cell lung cancer. Correlation with stage, distribution of metastases, and survival

Plasma CEA levels were determined in 61 patients with small cell lung cancer entering chemotherapy protocols between 1976 and 1980. Five quantitative categories were determined: less than 2.5 ng/ml (the standard normal for Hansen assay); 2.6-5.0 ng/ml (the extended normal for smokers); 5.1-20.0 ml; (the intermediate elevation and the transition for the indirect to the direct assay); 20-100 ng/ml; and greater than 100 ng/ml. Forty-seven percent of patients had levels less than 5 ng/ml and only ten of 61 or 16% had levels greater than 20 ng/ml. There was no clearcut relationship of plasma CEA level to stage of disease, in that 40% of patients with extensive disease (32 patients) had levels less than 5 ng/ml and 45% of patients with limited disease (29 patients) had levels greater than 5 ng/ml. Similarly, there was no relationship of CEA level to site of metastases, although levels greater than 100 ng/ml were always associated with liver metastases. The median survival for each quantitative category was similar, ranging from seven to nine months. The use of sequential determinations of CEA to correlate with tumor response was studied in only eight patients with levels greater than 20 ng/ml and a measurable parameter of disease. The qualitative direction of change of CEA was appropriate in those patients responding to treatment but in three nonresponding patients the direction of CEA change paradoxically decreased. In five patients who developed progressive disease, the plasma CEA level predicted the clinical relapse. CEA as a tumor marker for oat cell carcinoma must be applied in conjunction with other tumor parameters and is meaningful in only a small proportion of the total small cell patient population.
Mortality of chick embryos upon injection of homologous adult cells.

SummaryCirculating white blood cells and the upper centrifugal layer of bone marrow cells taken from normal adult chickens caused a high percentage of deaths when injected into embryonic chicks. Considerably lower percentage of deaths was produced by injection of red blood cells, lower centrifugal layer of bone marrow cells, or embryonic blood.
Does PRODAN Possess a Planar or Twisted Charge-Transfer Excited State? Photophysical Properties of Two PRODAN Derivatives

The synthesis and photochemical properties of 1-(4-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[f]quinolin-8-yl)propan-1-one (7) and 2,2-dimethyl-1-(4-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[f]quinolin-8-yl)propan-1-one (8) are reported. These compounds are models for PRODAN, 6-propionyl-2-(dimethylamino)naphthalene, where the dialkylamino group is forced to remain coplanar with the naphthalene ring. The Stokes shifts of 7 and 8 in various solvents are compared with those of PRODAN. The absorption and emission transitions are calculated by the AM1 semiempirical method employing a conductor-like screening model for solvent effects. The experimental and calculated solvatochroism of both model compounds are of the same magnitude as PRODAN, suggesting that all fluoresce from a planar ICT state.
Conformation and Dynamics of Nucleic Acids and Proteins from Laser Raman Spectroscopy

Nucleic acids and proteins may be studied with both classical or resonance Raman spectroscopies. In the former a visible laser line is selected, commonly one of the argon lines at 514.5 nm or 488.0 nm. One sees in these spectra Raman bands which are due to the vibrations of the backbone of the biological micromolecules as well as the side chains. Much information can be obtained on the average conformation of these biological macromolecules from analysis of the vibrational frequencies arising from the backbone portion of the chain. This is because the frequencies from the backbone are closely related to the torsional angles in which the principle chain or backbone of the biological polymer exist. On the other hand, with resonance Raman spectroscopy one can study individual side chains such as tyrosine or tryptophane. One can also design chromophoric substrates to make enzyme substrate complexes and study the conformation or the structure of the chromophore at the change in the enzymatic catalytic event. Examples of all of these types of spectroscopies and conformational information both static and dynamic which can be obtained will be discussed below. Suffice it to say however, that at the present time classical and resonance Raman spectroscopy presents powerful techniques for the study of the conformation of biological macromolecules both in vivo and vitro.
MEASURING UNCERTAINTY IN AIRSPACE DEMAND PREDICTIONS FOR TRAFFIC FLOW MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS

Traffic flow management (TFM) in the U.S. is the process by which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with the participation of airspace users, seeks to balance the capacity of airspace and airport resources with the demand for these resources. This is a difficult process, complicated by the presence of severe weather or unusually high demand. TFM in en-route airspace is concerned with managing airspace demand, specifically the number of flights handled by air traffic control (ATC) sectors; a sector is the volume of airspace managed by an air traffic controller or controller team. Therefore, effective decision-making requires accurate sector demand predictions. While it is commonly accepted that the sector demand predictions used by current and proposed TFM decision support systems contain significant uncertainty, this uncertainty is typically not quantified or taken into account in any meaningful way. The work described here is focused on measuring the uncertainty in sector demand predictions under current operational conditions, and on applying those measurements towards improving the performance and human factors of TFM decision support systems.
The Association of Child and Household Food Insecurity With Childhood Overweight Status

CONTEXT. The prevalence of childhood overweight status is increasing. Some have suggested that childhood overweight is associated with food insecurity, defined as limited or uncertain access to enough nutritious food. OBJECTIVES. The purpose of this work was to assess the association of household and child food insecurity with childhood overweight status. METHODS. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999–2002 uses a stratified multistaged probability sample and collects a broad array of data from a nationally representative sample of US citizens. All children 3 to 17 years old in this sample are included in these analyses. We measured BMI categorized as at risk for overweight or greater (≥85%) or overweight (≥95%) and household and child food security/insecurity using the US Food Security Scale. RESULTS. When compared with children from food-secure households, children from food-insecure households were more likely to demonstrate significant associations with being at risk for overweight or greater in the following demographic categories: 12 to 17 years, girls, white, and in households with income 4 times the federal poverty level. Household food insecurity is associated with child overweight status in children aged 12 to 17, girls, and children who live in households with incomes >4 times the federal poverty level. Child food insecurity demonstrated the same associations with being at risk for overweight or greater, as did household food insecurity, but associations were also seen in 3- to 5-year-old children, boys, and Mexican American children. Child food insecurity is significantly associated with child overweight status for children aged 12 to 17, girls, white children, and children in families with income ≤100% poverty level. Controlling for ethnicity, gender, age, and family poverty index level, childhood food insecurity is associated with a child being at risk for overweight status or greater, but not overweight status. CONCLUSIONS. Household and child food insecurity are associated with being at risk for overweight and overweight status among many demographic categories of children. Child food insecurity is independently associated with being at risk for overweight status or greater while controlling for important demographic variables. Future longitudinal research is required to determine whether food insecurity is causally related to child overweight status.
Kinship, Trust and Moral Hazard in the Motorcycle-Taxi Market in Togo and Benin

In the motorcycle-taxi market in most Sub-Saharan African countries, the relation between vehicle owner and driver is characterised by a principal-agent problem with the following features: the owner cannot observe the final output of the driver and thereforecannotconditionawageonit,andhighereffortfromthedriverdepreciatesthemotorcycle.Thesetwofeaturesimplythatitisintheowner’sbestinterestthatthedriverexertsas little effort as possible while still leasing the motorcycle from him. The problem with loweffort implementation is that the motorcycle will not generate enough revenue. I analyse thecontractualarrangementsbetweenownersandthedriversinthismarketusingsurvey datafromfourcitiesinTogoandBenin.Evidencesuggeststhatthequestfortrustthrough kinship between owner and driver may explain the prevalence of a contract that induces drivers to exert excessive effort, leading to adverse outcomes like traffic accidents.
A UWB Three-Layer Dielectric Rod Antenna With Constant Gain, Pattern and Phase Center

A three-layer dielectric rod (TLROD) antenna design optimized for stable realized gain, pattern, and phase center from at least 4 to 18 GHz is presented. Such antenna characteristics are useful for reflector feeds or for near-field range probes. Full-wave simulation results of the current optimized TLROD antenna exhibits stable gain around 10 dBi and 3-dB beamwidth of 60° in both E and H planes from 2 to 18 GHz. The phase center variation is within 0.25 inches from 4 to 18 GHz, and has a maximum variation of two inches occurring at 2 GHz. The major design challenge of TLROD antenna is to determine optimal thickness, dielectric constant, and tip shape of each dielectric layer for achieving desired VSWR, pattern, and phase center requirements. An autonomous design optimization procedure was developed based on genetic algorithm and novel fitness functions for simultaneously controlling the values and variations of reflection coefficient, phase center, and pattern characteristics over the desired wide frequency range.
A Matrix-Theoretic Approach to the Construction of Non-Binary Quasi-Cyclic LDPC Codes

This paper presents two simple and very flexible methods for constructing non-binary (NB) quasi-cyclic (QC) LDPC codes. The proposed construction methods have several known ingredients including base array , masking , binary to non-binary replacement , and matrix-dispersion . By proper choice and combination of these ingredients, NB-QC-LDPC codes with excellent performance can be constructed. The constructed codes can be decoded with a reduced-complexity iterative decoding scheme which significantly reduces the hardware implementation complexity.
Pneumopericardium and pneumothorax contralateral to venous access site after permanent pacemaker implantation

A 77-year-old female underwent implantation of a left-sided dual chamber permanent pacemaker for symptomatic bradycardia with active fixation leads. Eight hours after the procedure, the patient complained of shortness of breath and was found to have a 30% right pneumothorax on chest X-ray. Immediately, a chest tube was inserted, promptly relieving the symptoms. A CT scan of the chest revealed extrusion of the helix of the screw-in atrial lead, through the wall of the right atrial appendage. The helix was abutting a bulla in the right lung, the likely cause for pneumothorax and pneumopericardium. The atrial lead was explanted without incident.
Different residues in the GABAA receptor α1T60-α1K70 region mediate GABA and SR-95531 actions

Although gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor agonists and antagonists bind to a common site, they produce different conformational changes within the site because agonists cause channel opening and antagonists do not. We used the substituted cysteine accessibility method and two-electrode voltage clamping to identify residues within the binding pocket that are important for mediating these different actions. Each residue from alpha(1)T60 to alpha(1)K70 was mutated to cysteine and expressed with wild-type beta(2) subunits in Xenopus oocytes. Methanethiosulfonate reagents reacted with alpha(1)T60C, alpha(1)D62C, alpha(1)F64C, alpha(1)R66C, alpha(1)S68C, and alpha(1)K70C. gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) slowed methanethiosulfonate modification of alpha(1)F64C, alpha(1)R66C, and alpha(1)S68C, whereas SR-95531 slowed modification of alpha(1)D62C, alpha(1)F64C, and alpha(1)R66C, demonstrating that different residues are important for mediating GABA and SR-95531 actions. In addition, methanethiosulfonate reaction rates were fastest for alpha(1)F64C and alpha(1)R66C, indicating that these residues are located in an open, aqueous environment lining the core of the binding pocket. Positively charged methanethiosulfonate reagents derivatized alpha(1)F64C and alpha(1)R66C significantly faster than a negatively charged reagent, suggesting that a negative subsite important for interacting with the ammonium group of GABA exists within the binding pocket. Pentobarbital activation of the receptor increased the rate of methanethiosulfonate modification of alpha(1)D62C and alpha(1)S68C, demonstrating that parts of the binding site undergo structural rearrangements during channel gating.
Biological Production of Acrylic Acid from Cheese Whey by Resting Cells of Clostridium propionicum

Biological production of acrylic acid from cheese whey has been demonstrated. Lactose in sweet whey fortified with yeast extract was first converted to a stoichiometric mixture of propionic and acetic acids in 70 h by a coculture of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Pro-pionibacterium shermanii. Further conversion of propionate to acrylate was accomplished by resting cells of Clostridium propionicum in systems in which methylene blue acted as an electron acceptor. A maximum acrylate yield of 0.133 mmol/g of wet cell was achieved for periods of 6 h, after which resting cell activity declined substantially. Bio-conversion of propionate to acrylate could also be carried out by cells immobilized in calcium alginate beads with no decrease in cell productivity or initial reaction rate.
Asymmetry in a visual signaling character and sexual selection in a wolf spider

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) can indicate developmental instability in bilaterally symmetric organisms, and studies have shown that the degree of asymmetry in male secondary sexual characters influences female mate choice in a number of taxa. In male Schizocosa ocreata wolf spiders, conspicuous tufts of bristles on the forelegs are a critical component of visual courtship signals, which appear to play a role in female mate choice. Previous studies have shown that females exhibit reduced receptivity to males with regenerative asymmetry, a consequence of leg loss and regeneration that causes males to be grossly asymmetric with respect to this important signaling character. We provide data on the occurrence of FA in the tufts of S. ocreata, and examine further the influence of asymmetry on female mate choice. The distribution of tuft area asymmetry values from a sample of field-collected males was normal, with a mean value of zero, indicating true FA. For a subset of males measured directly after field collection and prior to feeding, tuft asymmetry was significantly negatively correlated with measures of body size (body length) and condition (abdomen volume/cephalothorax width). Receptivity responses of females to visual signals from live males of similar size varied with the degree of asymmetry in male tufts. Since FA covaries with male body size and condition, which may also influence behavioral vigor, we used video image manipulation to alter the degree of asymmetry in tufts of a courting male while holding size and condition constant. Asymmetry treatments represented values within the range of natural FA variation as well as more extreme values characteristic of regenerative asymmetry. With the confounding effects of male size, condition, and behavior held constant, female spiders exhibited reduced receptivity responses to all experimental asymmetric video images relative to a control video stimulus. There were no differences in the frequency of female receptivity among the various asymmetry treatments, suggesting that discrimination against asymmetry in conspecific male signal characters is not simply a rejection of extreme phenotypes. Results suggest that asymmetry in a key male secondary character used in visual signaling, independent of any concomitant behavioral or size factor, is an important criterion in mate choice.
Effect of third-order dispersion on passive mode locking

The effect of third-order dispersion on the width of mode-locked pulses is investigated analytically and numerically. The pulse width increases monotonically with increasing third-order dispersion as a consequence of the symmetric chirp introduced by it. The chirp broadens the bandwidth and lowers the gain. Computer simulations show the appearance of a resonant sideband that also taxes the gain. Reducing the filter bandwidth partially suppresses the sideband and narrows the pulse.
An Experimental Investigation on Aerodynamic Hysteresis of a Low-Reynolds Number Airfoil

( ) An experimental study was conducted to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of a NASA low speed GA(W)-1 airfoil at the chord Reynolds number of ReC=160,000. Aerodynamic hysteresis was observed for the angles of attack close to the static stall angle of the airfoil. In addition to mapping surface pressure distribution around the airfoil, a high-resolution PIV system was used to make detailed flow field measurements to quantify the occurrence and behavior of laminar boundary layer separation and transition on the airfoil when aerodynamic hysteresis occurs. The flow field measurements were correlated with the airfoil surface pressure measurements to elucidate underlying fundamental physics. For the same angle of attack in hysteresis loop, the flow obtained along the increasing angle branch was found to result in an almost attached flow with small unsteadiness, higher lift and lower drag, whereas the one with decreasing angle of attack branch was associated with large unsteadiness, lower lift, and higher drag. The hysteresis was found to be closely related to the behavior of the laminar boundary layer separation and transition on the airfoil. The ability of the flow to remember its past history is believed to be responsible for the hysteretic behavior.
Improved in vivo measurement of myocardial transverse relaxation with 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging

Purpose—To develop practical methods at 3T for measuring myocardial transverse relaxation in normal human myocardium. Materials and Methods—Ten healthy volunteers were investigated with four multi-echo, turbo spin-echo (TSE) methods. Each method traded acquired phase encoding lines per image for echoimage sample points obtained along the T2 decay curve. Four multi-echo turbo field-echo (TFE) methods were also tested. The TFE methods highlighted differences between achievable receiver bandwidth and echo time constraints versus the number of sample points obtained along the T2* decay curve. Results—Measured transverse relaxation values were consistent in reported means across all scan methods. T2 for the ventricular septum was measured as 58.8 ± 7.7 ms (N=10). T2* for the ventricular septum was 31.6 ± 5.8 ms (N = 10). The variation of mean T2 or T2* within an ROI improved significantly with increases in acquired echoes. Therefore four or more echoes may provide for clear distinctions between regions of altered tissue composition within a subject. Conclusion—These results suggest that the 4-echo methods are best suited for measuring variations in transverse relaxation values in the mid-ventricular septum.
Scalability evaluation of the Yima streaming media architecture

Over the last decade research has been pursued on all aspects of streaming media. While many theoretical results have been reported in the literature, few performance results of large-scale systems have been published. In this report we specifically explore the scalability aspects of our Yima streaming media architecture in an end-to-end test environment. With Yima, it was our goal to design and implement an architecture that would scale in performance from small to large systems. Some of the design features include (1) a multi-node cluster architecture based on commodity hardware and custom software, (2) media type independence (support ranges from 500 Kb s-1 MPEG-4 to 45 Mb s-1 HDTV, at both variable and constant bitrates), (3) fine-grained online scale up/down capabilities, and (4) a client-controlled rate smoothing protocol. We briefly discuss the design and implementation of these capabilities of Yima and then thoroughly evaluate its scalability through several sets of experiments. Our results show that Yima scales linearly (within the range of our test parameters) as a function of the cluster size and also as a function of available resources such as network bandwidth and CPU performance.
Translation in Aulus Gellius

In the last twenty years, the study of translation has emerged as a discipline in its own right.1 Scholars in various fields have turned their attention to the linguistic, philosophical, and ideological issues involved in the ‘carrying over’ of ideas from one language into another. This new discipline has a natural affinity with Latin philology, since the Romans may be regarded as pioneers in the art of translation in the West. At present, however, we have only begun to study what they really thought about translation and how they went about doing it. In the present paper,31 will re-examine a valuable but under-appreciated witness: Aulus Gellius, author of the Attic NightsSome of Gellius′ brief essays contain translations from Greek, and a few of them were prepared specifically as exercises in the ars interpretandi.By studying them, we learn how the questions associated with translation were addressed by a Roman litterateur of the Antonine period.
Do resources matter? PISA science achievement comparisons between students in the United States, Canada and Finland

The PISA 2006 Science Literacy Assessment results report Finland as the first ranked country out of the 30 developed nations that participated in the testing (Organization for Economic Cooperation ...
Effects of salinity on hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) defense parameters and QPX disease dynamics.

QPX (Quahog Parasite Unknown) is a protistan parasite affecting hard clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) along the Northeast coast of the United States. The fact that QPX disease epizootics are usually observed in field sites with high salinities led to the general assumption that salinity represents an important factor for disease distribution. This study was designed to investigate the effect of salinity on QPX disease development as well as constitutive and QPX-induced defense factors in M. mercenaria. Naive and QPX-infected (both experimentally and naturally) clams were submitted to 17 and 30 psu for 4 months. Standard and QPX-specific cellular and humoral defense parameters were assessed after 2 and 4 months. These included total and differential hemocyte counts, reactive oxygen species production, phagocytic activity of hemocytes, lysozyme concentration in plasma, anti-QPX activity in plasma and resistance of hemocytes to cytotoxic QPX extracellular products. Results demonstrated higher QPX-associated mortality in naturally infected clams maintained at high salinity compared to those held at 17 psu. Our findings also showed an increase in mortality following experimental challenge with QPX in clams submitted to 30 psu but not in those held at 17 psu. Constitutive clam defense factors and the response to QPX challenge were also affected by salinity. QPX challenge caused significant but transitory changes in hemolymph parameters that were obvious at 2 months but disappeared at 4 months. Overall, our results show that salinity modulates clam immunity and the progress of QPX disease although its impact appears secondary as compared to findings we reported earlier for temperature.
Endogenous Prostaglandin Synthesis and Glucose-induced Insulin Secretion from the Adult Rat Pancreatic Islet

Although exogenous prostaglandins are recognized modulators of insulin secretion, the relationship between their endogenous synthesis and insulin secretion has not been rigorously studied in isolated adult rat islets. Using 3 H-arachidonic acid as a tracer, we evaluated the effect of glucose stimulation upon the incorporation of this fatty acid into islet phospholipids and prostaglandins (separated by extraction and sequential silicic acid, thin-layer and paper chromatography). We observed that 3 H-arachidonic acid was incorporated into islet phospholipids and prostaglandins under basal conditions (0.3 mg/ml glucose). Furthermore, exposure of islets to a stimulatory glucose concentration led to significant increases in the recovery of 3 H-arachidonic acid-derived radioactivity in islet phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidylinositol as well as into all of the measured prostaglandins (A 2 ,B 2 , D 2 , E 2 , and F 2α ). The most marked increases in recovered radioactivity resulting from a stimulatory glucose concentration were in islet phosphatidylethanolamine and prostaglandin A 2 (which we believe to be derived, in large part, from endogenously synthesized prostaglandin E 2 ). These glucose-induced increases in 3 H-arachidonic acid-derived radioactivity in both the phospholipid and the prostaglandin fractions were eliminated by the inhibition of phospholipase A 2 activity with mepacrine or by the inhibition of cyclooxygenase activity with sodium salicylate. When islets prelabeled with 3 H-arachidonic acid were exposed to a high glucose concentration in a perifusion system, there was a brisk extracellular release of radioactivity (presumably representing unidentified prostaglandins) that began within 1 min and that peaked slightly before the peak of the first phase of insulin secretion. Inhibition of either phospholipase A 2 or of cyclooxygenase activity prevented the glucose-induced release of radioactivity and converted the pattern of insulin secretion from biphasic to monophasic. We conclude that the adult rat pancreatic islet rapidly incorporates arachidonic acid into phospholipids and prostaglandins and that this incorporation is markedly increased in the presence of a stimulatory glucose concentration. Studies with inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis suggest that the endogenous synthesis of prostaglandins induced by glucose may contribute to the biphasic pattern of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from the rat pancreatic islet.
Perceiving Structure From Motion: Failure Of Shape Constancy

Four experiments are reported on human perception of structure from motion that show systematic failures of shape consi:ancy as a function of object motion. Two of these experiments show that the perceived depth of an object undergoing sinusoidal oscillation about a vertical axis increases monotonically with the amplitude of oscillation. The other two experiments show how the shape of an object varies in the neighborhood of a degeneracy within the stimulus domain, at which shape information is absent. These systematic failures of shaps constancy are considered for their implications about the process underlying human perception of structure from motion.
The demographics of inpatient pediatric anesthesia: Implications for credentialing policy

Abstract Study Objective: To examine the demographics of inpatient anesthesia care for infants and children in a specific region to determine if there were sufficient numbers of procedures to permit credentialing to take place, as a first step in understanding the consequences of implementing credentialing policies based on caseload. Design: Retrospective computerized review of discharge abstracts. Setting: All hospitals in northern California Measurements and Main Results: Surgical procedures and date of surgery were linked to create "procedure-days." Each procedure-day counted as one anesthesia case. Annual hospital caseloads (procedure-days) were tabulated for three separate age subgroups under six years of age. The proximity of hospitals with smaller surgical volumes to those with larger volumes was determined. Of the 205 hospitals in the region, 162 had at least one procedure-day for children less than 6 years of age for a total of 14,435 procedure-days (anesthesia cases). For each of three age groups studied—0 to 6 months, 7 to 24 months, and 25 to 72 months—85%, 90%, and 81%, respectively, of hospitals had caseloads of 1 to 50 per year. When procedure days from all three age groups were totalled, 59% of hospitals had less than 20 cases per year and 72% of hospitals had less than 50 cases per year; 86% of hospitals had less than 100 cases per year. Of hospitals with less than 100 cases per year, 75% were within 50 miles of a hospital with more than 100 cases. Conclusions: Performance based credentialing for pediatric anesthesia based on caseload may be problematic for many hospitals due to the distribution of cases: a majority of hospitals care for a few children, and most children are cared for in a few hospitals.
Hanslick's Third Thesis

Between Hanslick's negative thesis (music cannot portray specific feelings) and his positive thesis (the beauty of music is just the beauty of its tonal forms) lies what I call his disconnection thesis: 'Even if it were possible for feelings to be represented by music, the degree of beauty in the music would not correspond to the degree of exactitude with which the music represented them'. In short, the beauty of a piece of music and its expressive properties are disconnected. Hanslick supports this thesis with four arguments. Unfortunately for Hanslick none of these works.
A Comparative Study Between A Traditionally Taught Criminology Course And A Computer Hybrid Course: Does Technology In The Classroom Make A Difference?

Hybrid courses are the latest trend in the academic community. Little research however exists on this new delivery method. This study compares the performance of students (n = 36) enrolled in two criminology courses taught at a community college. One course was delivered using traditional lecture methods while the other course was delivered as a hybrid course. Using t-tests, seven variables were examined to determine statistical significance between the two groups of students. Performance measures included course requirements and final course grades for both classes. Course requirements were identical for each group. Hybrid students performed at higher levels than traditional students and t-test scores indicate statistically significant differences for exams and final scores between the two groups.
Oral Nutrient Supplementation and Cognitive Function—Reply

In Reply The AREDS2 trial provided a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of oral supplementation on cognition. The limitations of our study included testing in a well-nourished, well-educated, select population affected with age-related macular degeneration. We noted the restricted generalizability of the results to this population and the possibility that the doses and ratios of various omega-3 LCPUFAs were inappropriate. Concerning the remarks of Dr Renzi-Hammond and colleagues, our study was designed to evaluate the main effects of the individual nutrients, specifically omega-3 LCPUFAs. We agree that this was not a placebo-controlled study. We described the fact that the majority of participants were using some form of AREDS supplements that contained antioxidant vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene, which were tested in previous trials of cognition with no definitive beneficial effects.
Bongard's Nontax Motive Test: Not Open and Schutt

Under either the Bongard majority's test or a business or economic analysis test, Bigelow and the two Korby opinions would likely be decided the same way. They involved clearly testamentary transfers where the assets of the FLP were intended to be, and were in fact, used for their respective decedents' lifetime needs.On the other hand, Schutt, which was decided in the taxpayer's favor under the application of the Bongard majority's nontax motive test to unique facts, would likely have been decided differently under a business purpose test or economic analysis. Despite Schutt's nontax motive of restricting the trusts' terms, the bottom line is that in Schutt the taxpayer did what the taxpayer in Turner did. He was not operating a business and he converted liquid assets into illiquid ones. Objectively, Schutt transferred assets to an FLP for a limited partnership interest that was worth less than the value of his transferred assets. Because the transfers were not in the ordinary course of a business, he should not have been able to take advantage of the presumption that the transfer constituted an economic equivalence. Section 2036 excepts only a bona fide sale for an adequate and full consideration in money or money's worth so that the decedent's estate is not diminished. Under a traditional economic analysis, therefore, the value of the assets that Schutt transferred to his FLP should have been included in his gross estate under section 2036.
Gaussian beam based sensitivity kernel calculation and its applications in turning wave tomography

We introduce a Gaussian beam (GB) based method to calculate finite-frequency sensitivity kernels and test its applications in turning wave tomography. The GB summation method has the advantage of high computation efficiency and no any angle limitations. Thus it is suitable in generating sensitivity kernels for high-frequency, long propagation distance and wide-angle waves including the turning waves. We first validate the GB kernels by comparing them with those calculated using analytical and finite-difference (FD) solutions. Then, based on these sensitivity kernels, we build an inversion system for turning-wave travel-time tomography. The proposed method incorporates the wave phenomena into the inversion thus avoids certain difficulties encountered by the high-frequency asymptotic methods. On the other hand, this method still keeps the simplicity of the ray-based tomography method. The preliminary results from numerical tests reveal the potential applications of this method in building velocity models using turning waves.