cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Feminist Space Invaders: Killjoy Conversations in Neoliberal Universities

As teachers of Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies (GWS), whenever we think about our pedagogical goals, we imagine our classrooms as spaces in which students can learn not only the what, but also the how and why of feminism. The strategies we employ, and the ways in which we invite students to imagine what could be, are meant to expand our collective agency, courage, and creativity in the interests of transforming oppressive practices in formal schooling and beyond. While developing our classes, we thought about what new connections we could foster between our students and each other as teachers, given that we were located on different university campuses. We asked ourselves what the possibilities for and benefits of sharing space might be, as well as how the process of forging connections itself could be a subversive practice. Particularly since feminist theory is a dynamic practice of study in which communicating across difference is so imperative, we took the opportunity to foster a cross-campus dialogue between our classes. In setting up the collaboration, we decided that facilitating an ongoing conversation between the two groups would best achieve the goals of helping our students to “pull back the curtain” on how the other class was processing this information. By intentionally invading each other’s spaces, we hoped to open up possibilities for our students to share new insights with each other as well as to demonstrate ways in which the classroom experience can be pushed and prodded beyond standard, normative practices.
Kinetic modeling of metabolism: Present and future

Abstract Kinetic models of metabolism are predictors of temporal metabolic behavior of living organisms that integrate multi-omics data sets with reaction network models to interpret reaction rates, kinetic parameters, and enzyme levels. Modern kinetic modeling and parametrization frameworks are powerful tools for describing prokaryotic and eukaryotic metabolic behavior and promises successful application in human health, agriculture, and biotechnology. While the scarcity of in vivo data, computational expense, and scalability issues provide significant challenges, these can be circumvented by leveraging novel in silico data generation, training modules, and concerted effort from various fields of expertise.
Additively Manufactured RF Devices for 5G, IoT, RFID, WSN, and Smart City Applications

With the development of inkjet-/3D-/4D-printing additive manufacturing technologies, flexible 3D substrate with complex structures can be patterned with dielectric, conductive and semi-conductive m...
Methcathinone decreases dopamine transporter function: Role of protein kinase C.

Methcathinone (MCAT) is a psychostimulant of abuse that can cause both persistent striatal dopaminergic and serotonergic, as well as hippocampal serotonergic, deficits. Evidence suggests that the rapid effects of stimulants that are structurally and mechanistically similar to MCAT on monoamine transporter function may contribute to the abuse liability and/or persistent monoaminergic deficits caused by these agents. Thus, effects of MCAT on 1) striatal dopamine (DA) transporter (DAT); and 2) striatal and hippocampal serotonin transporter (SERT) function, as determined in tissues from adult male rats, were assessed. As reported previously, a single administration of MCAT rapidly (within 1 hr) decreases striatal [3 H]DA uptake. Similarly, incubation of rat synaptosomes with MCAT at 37℃ (but not 4˚C) decreased striatal [3 H]DA uptake. Incubation with MCAT likewise decreased [3 H]5HT but not vesicular [3 H]DA uptake. MCAT incubation in vitro was without effect on [3 H]DA uptake in striatal synaptosomes prepared from MCAT-treated rats. The decrease in [3 H]DA uptake caused by MCAT incubation: (a) reflected a decrease in Vmax , with minimal change in Km , and (b) was attenuated by co-incubation with the cell-permeable calcium chelator, N,N'-[1,2-ethanediylbis(oxy-2,1-phenylene)]bis[N-[2-[(acetyloxy)methoxy]-2-oxoethyl]-1,1'-bis[(acetyloxy)methyl] ester-glycine (BAPTA-AM), as well as the non-selective protein kinase-C (PKC) inhibitors bisindolylmaleimide-1 (BIM-1) and 2-[1-3(Aminopropyl)indol-3-yl]-3(1-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)maleimide (or Bisindolylmaleimide VIII; Ro-31-7549). Taken together, these results suggest that in vitro MCAT incubation may model important aspects of MCAT administration in vivo, and that calcium and PKC contribute to the in vitro effects of MCAT on DAT.
The influence of financial performance on marketing expenditures among U.S. hospitals participating in the Medicare program

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) require hospitals participating in these programs to submit an annual Medicare Cost Report (MCR). This information is utilized to set rates, regulations, and future payment models. CMS defines marketing expenditures as non-reimbursable. Prior research has evaluated the influence of marketing expenditures on financial performance, but not the reverse. This analysis evaluates the influence of this reverse lens, as well as the influence of provider type. Although the results of this analysis determine significance for these constructs, the variance explained is minimal. Therefore, further research is needed to determine additional factors influencing marketing decisions.
Turning off the spigot: reducing drug-resistant tuberculosis transmission in resource-limited settings

Ongoing transmission and re-infection, primarily in congregate settings, is a key factor fueling the global multidrug-resistant/extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/XDR-TB) epidemic, especially in association with the human immunodeficiency virus. Even as efforts to broadly implement conventional TB transmission control measures begin, current strategies may be incompletely effective under the overcrowded conditions extant in high-burden, resource-limited settings. Longstanding evidence suggesting that TB patients on effective therapy rapidly become non-infectious and that unsuspected, untreated TB cases account for the most transmission makes a strong case for the implementation of rapid point-of-care diagnostics coupled with fully supervised effective treatment. Among the most important decisions affecting transmission, the choice of an MDR-TB treatment model that includes community-based treatment may offer important advantages over hospital or clinic-based care, not only in cost and effectiveness, but also in transmission control. In the community, too, rapid identification of infectious cases, especially drug-resistant cases, followed by effective, fully supervised treatment, is critical to stopping transmission. Among the conventional interventions available, we present a simple triage and separation strategy, point out that separation is intimately linked to the design and engineering of clinical space and call attention to the pros and cons of natural ventilation, simple mechanical ventilation systems, germicidal ultraviolet air disinfection, fit-tested respirators on health care workers and short-term use of masks on patients before treatment is initiated.
Millimeter and Submillimeter Wave Spectroscopy and Astrophysical Applications

Millimeter and submillimeter spectroscopy has played a crucial role in the discovery and study of interstellar molecules by radio astronomy, as well as in the characterization of the rotational energy levels for numerous chemical compounds. A broad range of spectrometer designs have been developed for this basic direct absorption technique. Certain systems employ “free space” cells and Gaussian beam optics, while others incorporate mirrors in multipass configurations. Fast scanning methods have additionally been implemented. Synthetic techniques are also important in the astrophysical application of millimeter/submillimeter spectroscopy, as many potential interstellar species are free radicals and molecular ions. Many instruments employ glow discharges, ovens, and other exotic gas-phase methods for the creation of transient molecules. Radical spectra usually exhibit a range of fine structure and hyperfine interactions which can complicate their analysis. Another challenge for millimeter/submillimeter spectroscopy is the study of simple organic molecules with functional groups that undergo hindered rotation. Millimeter and submillimeter spectroscopic measurements continue to provide the necessary rotational “rest frequencies” for molecule identification in space. Recent work has led to the interstellar discoveries of long-chain carbon anions C4H− and C6H−, more complex organic molecules including CH3CONH2, and unusual refractory species such as CCP and AlO. Keywords: millimeter methods; submillimeter methods; rotational spectroscopy; open-shell species; interstellar molecules; radio astronomy
Learning relations among movie characters: a social network perspective

If you have ever watched movies or television shows, you know how easy it is to tell the good characters from the bad ones. Little, however, is known "whether" or "how" computers can achieve such high-level understanding of movies. In this paper, we take the first step towards learning the relations among movie characters using visual and auditory cues. Specifically, we use support vector regression to estimate local characterization of adverseness at the scene level. Such local properties are then synthesized via statistical learning based on Gaussian processes to derive the affinity between the movie characters. Once the affinity is learned, we perform social network analysis to find communities of characters and identify the leader of each community. We experimentally demonstrate that the relations among characters can be determined with reasonable accuracy from the movie content.
CI Therapy: A Method for Harnessing Neuroplastic Changes to Improve Rehabilitation after Damage to the Brain

Constraint-Induced Movement (CI) therapy has been successfully implemented for treating motor deficit resulting from a variety of previously intractable neurological conditions such as traumatic brain injury. CI therapy's efficacy can be attributed to two interrelated mechanisms: overcoming "learned nonuse" and neuroplasticity. Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analyses have demonstrated that CI therapy produces lasting structural changes to the human brain. Patients that received full CI therapy demonstrated profuse grey matter increases in sensory and motor areas and hippocampus, whereas those who received only intensive motor practice did not. The magnitude of the observed structural changes was correlated with the extent to which the patient regained use of the impaired arm for daily activities. These findings demonstrate that the two mechanisms believed to underlie improvement from CI therapy, overcoming "learned nonuse" and neuroplasticity, act synergistically. Therefore, a bidirectional approach to treating brain injury, one that targets both brain and behavior, is suggested.
DACCT-dynamic ACCess testing of IBM large systems

A description is given of DACCT, a pseudorandom test program generator that tests implicit and explicit storage accesses, and its testing philosophy and programming techniques are discussed. DACCT produces a stressful test environment for a computer system and, by focusing on both explicit and implicit data accesses, finds design problems in several of the testing focus areas. DACCT's testing methods, error reports, and recreation abilities offered improved detection design problems as compared with the use of an operating system. >
Characterization of InSb Nanoparticles Synthesized Using Inert Gas Condensation

Nanoparticles (NPs) of indium antimonide (InSb) were synthesized using a vapor phase synthesis technique known as inert gas condensation (IGC). NPs were directly deposited, at room temperature and under high vacuum, on glass cover slides, TEM grids and (111) p-type silicon wafers. TEM studies showed a bimodal distribution in the size of the NPs with average particle size of 13.70 nm and 33.20 nm. The Raman spectra of InSb NPs exhibited a peak centered at 184.27 cm−1, which corresponds to the longitudinal optical (LO) modes of phonon vibration in InSb. A 1:1 In-to-Sb composition ratio was confirmed by energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) studies revealed polycrystalline behavior of these NPs with lattice spacing around 0.37 and 0.23 nm corresponding to the growth directions of (111) and (220), respectively. The average crystallite size of the NPs obtained using XRD peak broadening results and the Debye-Scherrer formula was 25.62 nm, and the value of strain in NPs was found to be 0.0015. NP’s band gap obtained using spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was around 0.43–0.52 eV at 300 K, which is a blue shift of 0.26–0.35 eV. The effects of increased particle density resulting into aggregation of NPs are also discussed in this paper.
The Association Between School Engagement and Achievement Across Three Generations of Mexican American Students

The study examined the relation of cognitive and emotional engagement and academic achievement across three generations (immigrant, children of immigrant parent(s), non-immigrant) of 474 Mexican American adolescent students attending a junior high school in Southern California. Regression analysis revealed a generational shift in regards to the specific academic engagement components that predicted grade point average (GPA). Cognitive engagement was a positive predictor of GPA for first-generation students while both cognitive and emotional engagement were positive predictors for second-generation students. Meanwhile, only emotional engagement positively predicted GPA for third-generation students. Educational responsiveness is utilized as a conceptual framework to understand, interpret, and discuss the study findings. Implications for the development and implementation of policies and practices for Mexican American students responsive to this generational shift are discussed.
Application of Empirical Research Findings in Public Health Advocacy: Focus on Maternal, Child, and Reproductive Health

Efforts to improve population health have always been associated with social action. Within science, however, there exists a tension as to whether including an advocacy agenda in research distorts the objective, impartial process that scientific inquiry is expected to pursue. Action-related research models such as, participatory action research (PAR) and community-based participatory research (CBPR), have been strengthening the case for melding rigorous research with generation of knowledge that informs practice and policy and contributes to social change. In order to adequately carry out evidence-based activities and assess their impact, three important factors must be present: (1) methodologic rigor; (2) resources for postresearch evaluation; and (3) acceptance by the scientific community that advocacy is an appropriate role for researchers. This article describes several studies that reflect advocacy concerns while utilizing research methods that followed scientific conventions, even leading to findings that were not what advocates might have anticipated.
Application of Continuous Improvement Methods to Systems Engineering Tasks: A Case Study

Continuous Process Improvement as an organizational culture is recognized in the 1990's as a key to success in a competitive industry. Application of formal Continuous Improvement methodology on long established tasks presents significant challenges for both staff and management at Rockwell International Space Systems Division. This paper shares the experiences of one Systems Engineering project function in its attempt to incorporate structured Ci practices into the performance of contract tasks. Process decomposition, development and use of product metrics, and the implementation of improvements within various processes are described. Successes, failures, and lessons learned from the experiences are summarized as a guide for future endeavors.
The uteroplacental vascular relationship in the human

Abstract Three facts have altered the current concept of the uteroplacental vascular relationship: (1) the vasculature of the uterus and placenta of the human and nonhuman primate are so similar that findings in one can be safely applied to the other; (2) in the rhesus monkey, the central space of the cotyledon is the preferential site of entry of maternal blood; and (3) there is a single spiral artery located beneath the central space of each cotyledon. Plastoid injections of 3 term human uteri with intact placentas were performed. The results were compared with simultaneously conducted histomorphologic and radiographic examinations of rhesus monkey and human uteri and placentas. This study demonstrates that in the human condition, as in the rhesus monkey, each cotyledon is supplied by one spiral artery which is located beneath the central empty space of the cotyledon and that this is the preferential site of entry.
Depression Sourcebook: Health Reference Series, 2nd edition

Sandra J. Judd is an editor at Omigraphics Incorporated, based in Detroit, Michigan, and has edited 22 sourcebooks related to health issues. Her vast experience organizing information for consumers...
rs4771122 Predicts Multiple Measures of Long-Term Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery

We examined the association of 34 single nucleotide polymorphisms with weight loss up to 9.5 years after Roux-en-Y surgery. Participants were enrollees in the NUgene biobank with stored DNA and linked electronic health records. Ninety-five self-identified white participants underwent surgery and had follow-up weights obtained between 1 and 9.5 years after surgery. SNP rs4771122 was the variant most significantly associated with long-term weight loss after surgery in a repeated linear mixed model (p = .004) of long-term weight loss. In this model, each additional copy of the minor allele was associated with nearly 5 % greater percentage weight loss. This same SNP was also nominally significantly (p < .05) associated with weight loss trajectories, weight loss nadir, and weight loss 2 years after surgery.
Sociability, School Experience, and Delinquency.

Some adolescents are attracted to hedonistic activities because of their active sociability and negative school experiences. This study examines the effects of these two variables in comparison with variables from labeling theory and control theory. Results show that active sociability is a strong predictor of delinquent behavior for African American and White teenagers. Negative school experience predicts delinquency only among Whites. Labeling and control theories receive tepid support.
Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment by Matthew E. Kahn

Matthew E. Kahn, Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2006).The first chapter of this book, a brief introduction, opens with the central ques...
CHANGES IN THE CONNOTATIONS OF RACIAL CONCEPTS AND COLOR NAMES: 1963-1970

This study was a 1970 replication of a 1963 study which assessed the connotative (affective) meanings of color, color-person, and ethnic concepts among Caucasian college students at Wake Forest University. The purpose was to determine whether including the development of the black identity movement during intervening years, had modified the affective meanings of these concepts. The results showed no significant change in the color (e.g., White and Black) or ethnic concepts (e.g., Caucasian and Negro). The meanings of the color-person concepts (e.g., White Person and Black Person) were shown to have shifted away from the related color concepts and toward a greater similarity to the related ethnic concepts. Factor analyses yielded similar factor structures for the color-person concepts and the ethnic concepts, with little evidence of interpretable factors among the color concepts. It was concluded that for Caucasian students the events of the black identity movement during 1963–1970 were associated with a g...
Empirical Validation of Erikson's Theory of Identity Crises in Late Adolescence

Summary Ego identity crystallization was studied within the context of Erikson's psychosocial theory of ego identity development. Ego identity and ego diffusion were measured by the Dignan Ego Identity Scale, an instrument based on Erikson's theoretical formulations. It was hypothesized that Ss within the age span of 17 to 20 would report significantly more ego diffusion than their older counterparts ranging in age from 21–24 years, and that females would report significantly less ego diffusion than males within each age group. These hypotheses were tested on 507 midwestern college students in a cross-sectional design which utilized multiple regression analysis. Results supported both hypotheses and indicated that ego identity processes crystallize in late adolescence as postulated by Erikson's psychosocial theory of ego epigenesis. A significant negative correlation between ego identity and anxiety offered additional construct validity for the Dignan Ego Identity Scale.
The Use Of Aircraft Laser Ranging Data For Forest Mensuration

Laser studies dealing with various aspects of forest canopy measurement are reviewed. Aircraft LIDAR data have been used to estimate canopy density, tree heights, forest volume and biomass, to discriminate terrain units, and to add a height component to multispectral forest cover classifications. Linear comparisons between photogrammetrically-estimated canopy density and laser metrics indicate that the laser explains 45-65 percent of the variation noted in the photo estimates.
11 DISPARITY BETWEEN BIOACTIVE AND IMMNOACTIVE LUTEINIZING HORMONE IN GIRLS WITH GONADAL DYSGENESIS: EFFECT OF ESTROGEN TREATMENT

We have studied the ratio of bioactive to immunoactive (B/I) luteinizing hormone (LH) in eight girls with gonadal dysgenesis before and after estrogen replacement therapy with low doses of oral ethinyl estradiol. The estrogen suppression of bioactive LH, as measured by a rat interstitial cell testosterone assay (RICT), was more profound than the suppression of radioimmuno-assayable (RIA) LH in five girls who had elevated basal serum LH levels: The B/I before therapy was significantly higher (p<0.005) at 2.78±0.12 (n=6) than after three months of 10 μg of ethinyl estradiol (1.44±0.11, n=5), and after three subsequent months of 20 μg of ethinyl estradiol (0.60±0.08, n=3). In two younger patients without elevated basal RIA LH, however, the B/I was low. Estradiol 17-β in concentrations of 0.1, 5 and 10 ng/ml had no effect on testosterone production in the RICT assay.
Conversion of 20-a-hydroxycholesterol to pregnenolone

20-a-Hydroxycholesterol was first reported by Solomon etal. (1956) to be an intermediate in the conversion of cholesterol to the adrenal steroids. Recently, Shimizu etal. (1960) have reported the formation of labeled isocaproic acid when 20-a-hydroxycholesterol-26-C14 was incubated with soluble adrenal extract in the presence of ATP, Mg++, DPN+, and fumarate. We wish to report in this communication the requirement of a reduced pyridine nucleotide and multiple enzyme fractions for the conversion of 20-a-hydroxycholesterol-7-a-T to T-labeled pregnenolone.
Nilpotency ofQBRST and the vanishing ß-function in string theories

Abstract We study the conformal Ward identities following from the BRST invariance in string theories and show that the nilpotency of QBRST implies a vanishing s-function and vice versa.
Regulation of cell adhesion by PAI‐1

Type I plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) is the primary inhibitor of tissue- and urokinase-type plasminogen activators. It circulates in plasma complexed with vitronectin (VN), the primary PAI-1 binding protein. The somatomedin B (SMB) domain of VN contains both the high affinity PAI-1 binding site and the specific site for urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR). PAI-1 is able to regulate uPAR-mediated cell adhesion by competing with uPAR for VN binding. Binding of PAI-1 to SMD may also affect integrin-mediated cell adhesion to VN by hindering integrin binding to the RGD sequence adjacent to the uPAR binding site.
Effects of a Bilingual Education Program on Academic Achievement and Self-Concept:

Sumwry.-This study assessed the effectiveness of a bilingual education (Title VII) program. First, second, and third grade Title VII students (ns = 98, 90, and 51, respectively) were compared to same grade-level non-Title VII students (ns = 41, 40, and 47, respectively) on a nationally standardized, norm-referenced test. In addition, pre- and post-test measures of selfconcept were obtained from the Title VII students. Further, mean obtained scores were compared with "expected" scores on a test of basic skills for third, fourth, and fifth grade Title VII students. Analysis indicated that this bilingual education program did significantly promotc academic achievement and self-concept among the enrolled pupils. Since the enactment of the Bilingual Education Act as Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act on January 2, 1968, there has been much debate ;is to the effectiveness of these programs. The recent threats of cutbacks in federally funded programs will serve to intensify these debates. Administrators with fewer dollars to spend will focus their efforts on proven programs. Bilingual education programs must come under close scrutiny. At this time few studies have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of the bilingual education programs. Those conducted yield contradictory results. The first national "impact" study of Title VII projects was conducted by the American Institute for Research (1977) which examined 37 fourthand fifth-year projects for Hispanic American students. In English language arts, the Title VII students were actually doing slightly worse than comparison students of Hispanic descent in regular classrooms. In mathematics, the Title VII students were doing slightly better. Compared with the national norms, both groups were at the bottom fifth of the nation in English and at the bottom third in mathematics. Also, Title VII students' attitudes toward school were scarcely any different from those of non-Title VII pupils. Advocates of bilingual education have felt that Title VII programs could enhance the students' self-concepts. In contrast, a longitudinal study of the bilingual program in the Santa Fe, New Mexico schools (Leyba, 1978) yielded positive results. The study showed that in most cases, Title VII students outperformed non-Title VII students in reading and mathematics. Furthermore, Title VII students over time surpassed or matched national norms in reading and mathematics. These conflicting results suggest a sharper focus on the effectiveness of
Sperm chemotaxis in the hydromedusae. II. Some chemical properties of the sperm attractants

Gel filtration on highly cross-linked molecular sieves of the sperm attractants of some hydromedusae revealed that the active agents differ in their molecular weights. These differences fall roughly along taxonomic lines, at least at the order level. Anthomedusae have attractants with molecular weights greater than 5,000, while the Leptomedusae attractants have weights less than 1,000. The Limnomedusae and Trachymedusae attractants have weights above 5,000. All the attractants are heat-stable, but only those of the Leptomedusae can pass across a dialysis membrane with a molecular weight cut-off of 14,000.
The effect of acute and subacute ammonia intoxication on regional cerebral acetylcholine levels in rats.

Abstract Cerebral regional concentrations of acetylcholine (ACh) were measured in two acute (with or without portacaval shunt) and one subacute (average 3 days) models of ammonia-induced coma in rats. The animals were sacrificed by total-body or head-focused microwave irradiation which, respectively, decreases or essentially eliminates post mortem degradation of ACh. In the two acute models of coma, normal levels of ACh were found in cortex, midbrain, and brainstem. A small decrease in striatal ACh was noted in rats without portacaval shunt given ammonia, but not in the other acutely intoxicated group. By contrast, in the subacute model (portacaval shunted rat given ammoniated resin by gavage) ACh fell by 14, 20, 33 and 39%, respectively, in the cortex, corpus striatum, midbrain, and brainstem. It is suggested that this decrease in brain ACh is a concomitant finding and not the cause of the coma.
The Influence Of Processor Focus On Speckle Correlation Statistics For A Shuttle Imaging Radar Scene Of Hurricane Josephine

The surface wave field produced by Hurricane Josephine was imaged by the L-band SAR aboard the Challenger on October 12, 1984. Exponential trends found in the two-dimensional autocorrelations of speckled image data support an equilibrium theory model of sea surface hydrodynamics. The notions of correlated specular reflection, surface coherence, optimal Doppler parameterization and spatial resolution are discussed within the context of a Poisson-Rayleigh statistical model of the SAR imaging process.
Temperature-dependence study of λ-CH Proton Couplings in radicals from aliphatic carboxylic acid esters

Abstract Earlier liquid-phase EPR measurements at room temperature of the λ-CH proton couplings in the CH(X 3 (X 4 )- groups of ·C(X 1 )(X 2 )OC(O)CH(X 3 X 4 ) radicals and in the CH 2 (X 1 )- groups of CH 2 (X 1 )OC(O)C(X 2 )(X 3 ) radicals (where an X- is an H- or a simple substituent such as CH 3 -) together with comprehensive INDO-MO-SCF investigations on these same species have allowed the conformational preferences of these radicals to be deduced. The experimentally observed long-range λ-CH proton couplings in these species were demonstrated to be sensitive probes of variations in preferred radical conformation induced by steric and electronic effects of the alkyl substituents. The present paper shows that measurements of the temperature dependence of the λ-CH proton EPR coupling constants in these two types of radicals can be used successfully to determine their preferred conformations at room temperature. The conformations so obtained confirm those previously assigned using INDO-MO-SCF calculations.
Aided speech‐identification performance in single‐talker competition by older adults with impaired hearing

This study examined the effects of increased processing load on the closed-set speech-identification performance of young and older adults in a one-talker background. Since the older adults had impaired hearing, speech-identification performance was measured for spectrally shaped stimuli comparable to those experienced when wearing well-fit hearing aids. There were three groups of listeners: (1) 19 older adults with high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss; (2) 10 young adults with normal hearing who were assessed with the same spectrally shaped stimuli as the older adults; (3) 9 young adults with normal hearing who were assessed without spectral shaping and at a poorer target-to-competition ratio in an effort to equate overall performance to that of the older adults. In addition to this group factor, there were three within-participant repeated-measures independent variables designed to increase the demands on processing for the target and competing speech stimuli. These were: (1) competition meaningfulness (played in forward or reverse direction); (2) gender match between target and competing talkers (same or different gender); and (3) talker uncertainty (either the same target/competition talker pair or one of many such pairs on each trial). These three repeated-measures independent variables were examined in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. They showed roughly independent and additive effects on speech-identification such that combinations of these variables decreased performance cumulatively. Older adults performed worse than young adults across the board, but also showed diminished relative improvement as the processing load was decreased. Individual differences in performance among the older adults were also examined.
The structure and biochemistry of charophycean cell walls: I. Pectins of Penium margaritaceum.

Plant cell walls are essential for proper growth, development, and interaction with the environment. It is generally accepted that land plants arose from aquatic ancestors which are sister groups to the charophycean algae (i.e., Streptophyta), and study of wall evolution during this transition promises insight into structure–function relationships of wall components. In this paper, we explore wall evolutionary history by studying the incorporation of pectin polymers into cell walls of the model organism Penium margaritaceum, a simple single-cell desmid. This organism produces only a primary wall consisting of three fibrillar or fibrous layers, with the outermost stratum terminating in distinct, calcified projections. Extraction of isolated cell walls with trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid yielded a homogalacturonan (HGA) that was partially methyl esterified and equivalent to that found in land plants. Other pectins common to land plants were not detected, although selected components of some of these polymers were present. Labeling with specific monoclonal antibodies raised against higher-plant HGA epitopes (e.g., JIM5, JIM7, LM7, 2F4, and PAM1) demonstrated that the wall complex and outer layer projections were composed of the HGA which was significantly calcium complexed. JIM5 and JIM7 labeling suggested that highly methyl esterified HGA was secreted into the isthmus zone of dividing cells, the site of active wall secretion. As the HGA was displaced to more polar regions, de-esterification in a non-blockwise fashion occurred. This, in turn, allowed for calcium binding and the formation of the rigid outer wall layer. The patterning of HGA deposition provides interesting insights into the complex process of pectin involvement in the development of the plant cell wall.
A transverse phase-space measurement technique for high-brightness, H - beams

Abstract A common method of measuring transverse phase-space distributions in charged-particle beams is to intercept the beam with slits, pinhole plates, or wire grids, and to measure the beam distribution after a drift with a parallel-channel collector or a fluorescent screen. Many of the next generation of accelerator applications (e.g., in heavy-ion fusion and transmutation of nuclear waste) will utilize high-beam currents with small phase-space distributions. The power densities of beams will be too large to permit the interception of entire beams. This paper describes a measurement technique that is applicable to H − beams: a small portion of the beam is separated from the full beam by means of photoneutralization with a laser that is upstream from a sweep magnet. Phase-space measurements are made on only the neutralized beam.
Effect of transobturator tape procedure on proximal urethral mobility.

Abstract Objectives To assess prospectively the degree of urethral mobility in the preoperative and postoperative periods after the transobturator tape procedure and correlate the findings with surgical outcome. Methods Thirty-six consecutive patients with stress urinary incontinence underwent the transobturator tape procedure. A cotton-swab test was performed before the procedure and at the 6-week postoperative follow-up visit to evaluate proximal urethral mobility. Cure was defined as the absence of leak during cough stress testing at cystometric capacity. Results Of the 36 patients, 26 were available for the complete follow-up evaluation. The mean preoperative and postoperative resting cotton-swab test values were 11.7° and 13.6°, respectively ( P = 0.347). The mean preoperative and postoperative straining cotton-swab test values were 57.3° and 48.4°, respectively ( P = 0.047). Of the 36 patients, 21 had a straining cotton-swab test result of 30° or greater after surgery, and 19 (90.4%) of these 21 patients were objectively cured by the procedure. Overall, 21 patients (84%) were objectively cured of stress urinary incontinence. Four patients had urinary leakage during stress testing at cystometric capacity. Three of these patients reported subjective cure and one noted improvement. Of the 5 patients with a negative cotton-swab test after surgery, 2 were cured (50%), 2 were not cured, and 1 did not undergo cough stress testing at cystometric capacity because of urgency at 200-mL limiting bladder filling. Conclusions The cure of urodynamic stress incontinence using the transobturator tape procedure does not require the correction of proximal urethral mobility.
Requirements/design debugging: session summary

This session was essentially a continuation of the earlier session on Knowledge-Based systems. The discussion proceeded along two dimensions. One is the paradigm used to, in some sense, debug high-level specifications. This is further broken into the 'current' and the 'operational specifications' paradigms. The other dimension is one of techniques for implementing these views. This dimension also has only two aspects, current techniques and knowledge-based techniques.The plan for the session was to introduce the technologies that may or may not exist to support these capabilities followed by a debate on these methods. There are four areas to be discussed in terms of technology---symbolic evaluation, fault analysis, behavior expectations and natural language explanations.
Perivascular Dendritic Macrophages as Immunobiological Constituents of the Human Dermal Microvascular Unit

We have recently observed a previously uncharacterized population of class II (Ia) antigen-positive dendritic cells that is intimately associated with the dermal microvessels of normal human adult and newborn skin. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy studies have indicated that this cell is a perivascular macrophage. This dermal perivascular dendritic macrophage was seen in greatest density in the superficial vascular plexus and appears to constitute a large percentage of the total dermal macrophage population. Because tissue macrophages do not always share the same immunologic repertoire as circulating monocytes/macrophages, we became interested in examining the functional immunologic capabilities of this dermal dendritic macrophage. A procedure was developed to isolate and partially purify these cells from normal human newborn foreskin, Preliminary findings are compatible with the possibility that these cells possess the capacity to present alloantigens to CD4+ T cells. The potential immunologic function of this dermal perivascular macrophage is discussed in the context of its possible interactions with the other cellular components of the dermal microvascular unit (i.e., microvascular endothelial cells, perivascular T cells, and mast cells). J Invest Dermatol 93:96S–101S, 1989
Perceptions of public mobile phone conversations and conversationalists

This research examined perceptions of public mobile phone conversations and conversationalists. Participants viewed a staged video of a public conversation and later rated their perceptions of the conversation and target speaker. Two variables were manipulated: whether the conversation took place over a mobile phone or was face-to-face, and whether participants could hear both sides or only one side of the conversation. In general, participants rated the one side mobile phone conversation as more noticeable, intrusive, and annoying than the other conditions. Additionally, the target speaker in this condition was less well-liked than the speaker in the other conditions. Perceptions of the target's extraversion varied as a function of whether the conversation occurred on a mobile phone or not. Overall, the results suggest the existence of negative views toward mobile phones and exposure to one side of a conversation.
A statistical evaluation of the relative influences of climate, vegetation, and prehistoric human population on the charcoal record of Five Lakes, Washington (USA)

Abstract Currently under debate is the extent to which prehistoric peoples influenced the size and frequency of fire on the North American continent. Previous studies have concentrated primarily on cultures that raised crops and had high population densities. The current study focuses, instead, on an area prehistorically inhabited by hunter-gatherer groups. Records of charcoal, pollen, and oxygen isotopes are used as proxies for fire, vegetation, and climate for the past 1000 years in the Rufus Woods Lake area of eastern Washington. This data set is compared to measures of prehistoric human population derived from archaeological data. Statistical analyses reveal that three factors—human population size, pine pollen abundances, and δ 18 O values—are significantly related to future charcoal influx values. The lag between climate and charcoal spans several centuries, indicating that the two are related through a series of climatically-controlled vegetation changes. Pine and human population abundances are related to charcoal deposition on shorter time intervals, pointing to more immediate mechanisms affecting fire through changes in ignition rates and/or available fuels. This work indicates that both natural and cultural processes have acted together in influencing fire in the study area over the past millennium.
Merleau-Ponty and Method: Toward a Critique of Husserlian Phenomenology and of Reflective Philosophy in General

(1983). Merleau-Ponty and Method: Toward a Critique of Husserlian Phenomenology and of Reflective Philosophy in General. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology: Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 176-195.
FTO genotype and aging: pleiotropic longitudinal effects on adiposity, brain function, impulsivity and diet

Although overweight and obesity are associated with poor health outcomes in the elderly, the biological bases of obesity-related behaviors during aging are poorly understood. Common variants in the FTO gene are associated with adiposity in children and younger adults as well as with adverse mental health in older individuals. However, it is unclear whether FTO influences longitudinal trajectories of adiposity and other intermediate phenotypes relevant to mental health during aging. We examined whether a commonly carried obesity-risk variant in the FTO gene (rs1421085 single-nucleotide polymorphism) influences adiposity and is associated with changes in brain function in participants within the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, one of the longest-running longitudinal aging studies in the United States. Our results show that obesity-related risk allele carriers of FTO gene show dose-dependent increments in body mass index during aging. Moreover, the obesity-related risk allele is associated with reduced medial prefrontal cortical function during aging. Consistent with reduced brain function in regions intrinsic to impulse control and taste responsiveness, risk allele carriers of FTO exhibit dose-dependent increments in both impulsivity and intake of fatty foods. We propose that a common neural mechanism may underlie obesity-associated impulsivity and increased consumption of high-calorie foods during aging.
Somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration from zygotic embryo explants in mexican weeping bamboo, Otatea acuminata aztecorum

An efficient protocol has been developed for the in vitro propagation of Mexican Weeping Bamboo through somatic embryogenesis from zygotic embryo explants. Mature seeds and excised embryos were cultured in the light or in the dark on both Murashige and Skoog's and Gamborg's B5 basal media with various supplements. Optimal somatic embryogenesis and plant regeneration were obtained by culture in the dark on Murashige and Skoog's basal medium supplemented with 3 mg/1 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid, 0.5 mg/1 6-benzylaminopurine and 2.0% sucrose. More than 95% of the germinating somatic embryos developed shoots and roots, and were transferred to soil with 85% success.
New twists on an old story: hemoglobin

Abstract New determinations of oxygen and carbon monoxide binding to human hemoglobin, indicating an extremely small population of triply ligated species, suggest a close relationship with structural features that govern the allosteric mechanism of cooperativity.
A test of the association of a time-dependent state variable to survival

An SAS macro which implements a more general version of the Mantel-Byar method is presented. Patients are assumed to potentially change between any number of states any number of times until censored or reaching a predefined endpoint. The macro employs methodology which generalizes that of the well-known logrank test to assess the association between state and endpoint.
MEMOCODE 2014 design contest: k-Nearest Neighbors with Mahalanobis distance metric

The MEMOCODE 2014 hardware/software codesign contest problem is k-Nearest Neighbor search using the Mahalanobis distance metric. Given a data set of points in multi-dimensional space, the goal is to find the k points that are nearest to any given point in that space (quantified with the given distance metric). Contestants were given one month to develop a system to perform the kNN search, aiming to maximize performance or cost-adjusted performance. The two winning teams, which have been invited to contribute papers describing their techniques, combined algorithmic and implementation optimizations. The pure-performance winners targeted the Convey HC-2ex hybrid FPGA/multicore system, while the winners for cost-adjusted performance targeted an Intel multicore.
Almost automorphic mild solutions to some classes of nonautonomous higher-order differential equations

In this paper we make extensive use of the well-known Schauder fixed point principle and dichotomy techniques to obtain the existence of almost automorphic solutions to some classes of nonautonomous (higher-order) differential equations.
Assimilation and deposition of dietary fatty alcohols in Leach's storm petrel, Oceanodroma leucorhoa

The diet of Leach's storm petrel (Oceanodroma leucorhoa) chicks has a high lipid content (up to 60% of fresh mass), and, for certain populations, much of the dietary lipids are wax esters (up to 70% of total lipid). In order to determine the metabolic fate of dietary wax esters, we fed chicks [1-14C]cetyl oleate in either a low wax (20%, w/w) or a high wax (80%, w/w) mixture of wax ester and triacylglycerols. Wax ester in the stomach remained unhydrolyzed for extended periods, with up to 38% of the label still unassimilated after 36 hr. Hydrolysis occured principally in the duodenum, where the fatty alcohol product was rapidly oxidized to fatty acid, apparently at the intestinal epithelia. Assimilated label was primarily metabolized and respired as carbon dioxide, with most of the remainder incorporated into triacylglycerols and deposited in storage fat depots. Hydrolysis of wax ester and assimilation of the fatty alcohol moiety were extremely efficient, with less than 0.2% of ingested label excreted. Assimilation efficiencies for label in low wax and high wax meals were statistically indistinguishable. Chicks fed 20% (w/w) [1-14C]cetyl alcohol in triacylglycerols had similar assimilation efficiencies as those fed labeled wax ester, indicating that hydrolysis of the ester linkage does not limit wax ester assimilation. This study suggests that sea birds can possess an efficient means for metabolizing wax esters, an abundant energy source in the marine environment, which have previously been thought to be difficult to assimilate.
Laser divestment for natural history museum collections

Abstract A series of probative laser cleaning and divestment tests has been performed on a wide variety of the materials encountered in natural history museum collections. These tend to be quite different from the substances customarily encountered in fine art collections. Initial results are shown for laser cleaning of minerals, fossils, wood, ancient textiles, feathers, as well as mummified and frozen tissue. The preliminary results indicate that laser cleaning and divestment may have even more utility in the natural history field than in fine art conservation.