cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A spectroscopic study of the hydroxyl radical in an internal-combustion engine

Direct spectroscopic determination was made of hydroxyl radical concentration in the immediate post-combustion gases of a spark-ignition engine operating on isooctane and air. Hydroxyl radical was found to vary by as much as ±50% from cycle to cycle. Measured concentrations exceeded equilibrium calculations by an order of magnitude, but the relative effect of mixture strength was as predicted by equilibrium projection. Operation at a near stoichiometric fuel-air equivalence ratio of 0.98 resulted in a 30%–60% greater concentration of OH radical than that with 25% rich mixture. The experimental results obtained for the high-pressure post-combustion history of the hydroxyl radical agree qualitatively with the trends obtained from low-pressure flame studies by other investigators. The degree of hydroxyl radical hyperequilibrium in the post-combustion process in the engine cylinder increases with increasing mixture richness. OH concentrations approach in absolute magnitude the chemical equilibrium values as the expansion proceeds. Quantitatively, however, excess over equilibrium is considerably less in the engine process than in the falmes. This is probably due to wall reactions and the increased effect of termolecular recombination reactions at the elevated pressures experienced in the engine.
Bioreactor for the long-term culture of lung tissue.

In this paper, we describe the design and validation of a bioreactor for the in vitro culture of whole rodent lung tissue. Many current systems only enable large segments of lung tissue to be studied ex vivo for up to a few hours in the laboratory. This limitation restricts the study of pulmonary biology in controlled laboratory settings, and also impacts the ability to reliably culture engineered lung tissues in the laboratory. Therefore, we designed, built and validated a bioreactor intended to provide sufficient nutrient supply and mechanical stimulation to support cell survival and differentiation in cultured lung tissue. We also studied the effects of perfusion and ventilation on pulmonary cell survival and maintenance of cell differentiation state. The final bioreactor design described herein is capable of supporting the culture of whole native lung tissue for up to 1 week in the laboratory, and offers promise in the study of pulmonary biology and the development of engineered lung tissues in the laboratory.
The use of hornblende etching, clast weathering, and soils to date alpine glacial and periglacial deposits: A study from southwestern Montana

Many techniques for relative dating of surficial deposits suffer from (1) the need to make judgments and (2) poor reproducibility of data. Furthermore, many of the techniques generate data that do not permit the use of statistical analysis. In contrast, assessing the etching of hornblende grains yields objectively obtained, reproducible data that can be subjected to statistical analysis. In a study of the deposits of the Bear Gulch basin, Tobacco Root Range, southwestern Montana, the hornblende-etching data proved superior to the clast-weathering data and the soil-profile data in making interpretations of age relationships. The mean etching of hornblende grains decreases as a logarithmic function of depth. Hornblende grains from older deposits are more etched, especially near the surfaces of the profiles. The collective evidence supports a record of four first-order glacial and periglacial events, which have been correlated with (1) the youngest pre-Bull Lake glaciation, about 280,000 yr B.P.; (2) the Bull Lake glaciation, about 140,000 yr B.P.; (3) the Pinedale glaciation, consisting of two second-order advances, the first and most extensive between 26,000 and 20,000 yr B.P. and the second about 12,000 yr B.P.; and (4) a mid Neoglacial episode of periglacial activity. In addition, a major landslide blocked the valley in pre-Bull Lake time, and an episode of flood erosion along the valley floor is believed to have truncated the late Pinedale terminal moraine about 1500 yr B.P. In a study area for which numerical ages of the deposits are available, hornblende etching can be expressed mathematically as a function of the time since deposition, with the resulting relationship used to date deposits wherein ages are unknown.
Building proper behavior into mathematical models for shape memory alloys

Many mathematical models currently used for modeling shape memory alloy behavior in a control setting make use of an internal variable that has the interpretation of being the phase fraction of either austenite or martensite. Recently, more detailed models have been introduced that further discriminate phase species. These models seem to be pitched at the correct level for implementation in FEM based design protocols in that they are sufficiently detailed to accurately reflect much of the underlying physics, without having to track individual events at the microscale. In order for these models to enjoy reliable predictive status, it is necessary that conditions be built into them that ensure proper qualitative behavior for all processes to which the model will be applied. We discuss how the constitutive functions which enter into these models (such as the phase fraction envelope curves) can be validated to ensure proper behavior in general processes.
German Romanticism Renewed

In German studies as well as in literary and culture studies more generally, a reengagement with and re-exploration of Romanticism and its aesthetic, literary, philosophical, and political heirs is under way. Essay collections including The Relevance of Romanticism: Essays on German Romantic Philosophy (ed. Dalia Nassar, 2014), Constructions of German Romanticism (ed. Mattias Pirholt, 2011), and The Cambridge Companion to German Romanticism (ed. Nicholas Saul, 2009) are only a few of many recent contributions. Romanticism seems to have rebounded from criticism that it idealizes introversion, promotes disengagement with material reality, and fails to acknowledge social conflict and power relations. The ability of Romantic thought and art to create a meaningful interplay of philosophy and literature arguably remains unparalleled. And, to borrow Richard Eldridge’s phrases, Romanticism represents “the effort to envision human possibilities of the achievement of value” more strongly and self-consciously than Enlightenment thought did before it, and offers a compelling vision of the human as “both a free, noumenal agent and an embodied, natural being” (11, 36), even after the catastrophes of twentieth-century history and the challenges of theory after the linguistic turn. A return to Romanticism need not be a nostalgic attempt to recover a more distant and implicitly better past but rather can offer ways to integrate insights from the most trenchant contemporary thought with a sober reassessment of the virtues and crimes of the desirous, reasonable, finite, striving post-Enlightened subject. These propositions were discussed in depth at the German Studies Association conference in Denver in October 2013, in the course of a seminar titled “Recycling Romanticism.” Participants explored the movement’s permutations from the late eighteenth century to the present. We also considered what it means to “recycle” old ideas, as well as what motivates attempts to mine the present for traces of the past. We investigated the ways in which the conceptual reciprocities and emphasis on the subjective will that marked German Romanticism in particular are compatible with aspects of materialism. Several seminar participants have contributed essays to this issue of Seminar, which represents an extension and deepening of the conference discussions. Ideally, the “symphilosophical” connection between the seminar and this journal issue will encourage continued critical engagement with German Romanticism. Literary scholars have agreed that groups and individuals largely (but not exclusively) concentrated in Jena and Heidelberg produced the main philosophical
Diminishing sign anomaly and scaling behavior of the mixed-state Hall resistivity in Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 films containing columnar defects

The issues of sign reversal of the Hall voltage and scaling between longitudinal (rho(xx)) and Hall (rho(xy)) resistivities are studied in Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 films in which the vortex dynamics is drastically changed by flux pinning at heavy-ion-irradiation-induced linear defects. While the sign anomaly diminishes with increasing defect concentration, the power law rho(xy) is approximately equal to rho(xx) exp beta, beta = 1.85 +/- 0.1, holds even after irradiation. This result shows that the scaling is a universal feature of the mixed state in this system. The sign anomaly, on the other hand, is not consistent with a model that invokes pinning-induced backflow in the vortex core as the mechanism for this effect.
Shedding of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor (gp80) determines the ability of IL-6 to induce gp130 phosphorylation in human osteoblasts

Human osteoblasts produce interleukin-6 (IL-6) and respond to IL-6 in the presence of soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R), but the cell surface expression of IL-6R and the mechanism of sIL-6R production are largely unknown. Three different human osteoblast-like cell lines (MG-63, HOS, and SaOS-2) and bone marrow-derived primary human osteoblasts expressed both IL-6R and gp130 as determined by flow cytometry and immunoprecipitation. However, the membrane-bound IL-6R was nonfunctional, as significant tyrosine phosphorylation of gp130 did not occur in the presence of IL-6. Phorbol myristate acetate induced a dramatic increase of both IL-6R shedding (i.e. the production of sIL-6R) and IL-6 release in osteoblast cultures, but the cell surface expression of gp130 remained unchanged. IL-6 complexed with sIL-6R, either exogenously introduced or derived from the nonfunctional cell surface form by shedding, induced rapid tyrosine phosphorylation of gp130. This effect was inhibited by neutralizing antibodies to either sIL-6R or gp130, indicating that the gp130 activation was induced by IL-6/sIL-6R/gp130 interaction. Protein kinase C inhibitors blocked phorbol myristate acetate-induced and spontaneous shedding of IL-6R resulting in the absence of sIL-6R in the culture medium, which in turn also prevented the activation of gp130. In conclusion, human osteoblasts express cell surface IL-6R, which is unable to transmit IL-6-induced signals until it is shed into its soluble form. This unique mechanism provides the flexibility for osteoblasts to control their own responsiveness to IL-6 via the activation of an IL-6R sheddase, resulting in an immediate production of functionally active osteoblast-derived sIL-6R.
Aliphatic Polyester Miscibility with Polyepichlorohydrin

Based on the behavior of the glass transition for blends of polyepichlorohydrin with various aliphatic polyesters, miscible amorphous phases are formed in all cases when the ratio of aliphatic carbons to ester groups in the repeat unit is less than 10 but more than 2. This observation includes selected polyesters with branched and saturated cyclic units in their structure. Interaction parameters deduced from polyester melting point depression were all negative and showed a minimum within this range of polyester molecular structures. The composition dependence of the observed glass transitions was found to be severely influenced by the presence of polyester crystallinity in the blend when heated through the transition region.
In the Crossfire or the Crosshairs? Norms, Civilian Casualties, and U.S. Conduct in Iraq

The belief that U.S. forces regularly violate the norm of noncombatant immunity (i.e., the notion that civilians should not be targeted or disproportionately harmed during hostilities) has been widely held since the outset of the Iraq War. Yet the evidence suggests that the U.S. military has done a better job of respecting noncombatant immunity in Iraq than is commonly thought. It also suggests that compliance has improved over time as the military has adjusted its behavior in response to real and perceived violations of the norm. This behavior is best explained by the internalization of noncombatant immunity within the U.S. military's organizational culture, especially since the Vietnam War. Contemporary U.S. military culture is characterized by an “annihilation-restraint paradox”: a commitment to the use of overwhelming but lawful force. The restraint portion of this paradox explains relatively high levels of U.S. adherence with the norm of noncombatant immunity in Iraq, while the tension between annihilation and restraint helps to account for instances of noncompliance and for why Iraqi civilian casualties from U.S. operations, although low by historical standards, have still probably been higher than was militarily necessary or inevitable.
Genistein and other isoflavones found in soybeans inhibit estrogen metabolism in salmonid fish

The study was conducted to test the hypothesis that genistein, an isoflavone found in high concentrations in soybeans, inhibits hepatic and renal estrogen metabolism in salmonid fish. Liver and kidney tissues of rainbow trout (Oncorhyncus mykiss), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), and lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were incubated in vitro with radiolabelled estradiol-17β (E2) in the presence of various doses of genistein. The cultures were extracted to remove unmetabolized E2 and neutral E2 metabolites, and the production of water-soluble (conjugated) E2 metabolites was quantified by liquid scintillation counting. High doses (1 and 10 μM) of genistein inhibited E2 metabolism in the liver and kidney of Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout, and in the liver of lake trout. At 1 μM, daidzein, glycitein, and a mix of genistein/daidzein/glycitein at a ratio typically found in soybeans (1.3:1:0.2), all inhibited estrogen metabolism in the liver of rainbow trout, but had no effect on the kidney. The results suggest that the inhibition of hepatic and renal E2 metabolism may be, at least in part, a mechanism mediating the estrogenic effects of isoflavones in salmonid fish.
Extrathyroidally mediated changes in circulating thyroid hormone concentrations in the male rat following administration of an experimental oxyacetamide (FOE 5043)

Evidence of increased hepatic metabolizing capacity coupled with reductions in serum thyroxine (T4) levels were noted in the rat during preliminary toxicity studies with FOE 5043, an oxyacetamide with herbicidal properties. These findings were consistent with reports in the literature suggesting that declines in T4 as a result of exposure to various classes of chemicals may be mediated extrathyroidally, such as through chemical induction of hepatic thyroid hormone metabolism. To examine this question with respect to FOE 5043, male rats were surgically thyroidectomized and provided thyroid hormone replacement therapy via implanted osmotic minipumps capable of maintaining a T4/triiodothyronine (T3) serum concentration for approximately 4 weeks at a level comparable to that of euthyroid controls. Seven days after minipump implantation, thyroidectomized + T4/T3 (TX + T4/T3) and nonthyroidectomized intact rats (NTX) were fed diets containing 0, 25, 1000, or 3000 ppm FOE 5043 for up to 3 weeks. Dose-related and equivalent declines in total and free serum T4 levels in both TX + T4/T3 and NTX rats were measured at Weeks 1, 2, and 3. Alterations in thyrotropin, total, free, and reverse serum T3 levels were also noted in both TX and NTX animals; however, a compound-related trend was difficult to discern and, when compared to the T4 response, the changes were markedly less consistent with respect to both time and dose. Additionally, dose-related increases in absolute and relative liver weights were measured in both TX + T4/T3 and NTX animals. As the only source of thyroid hormone in the TX + T4/T3 animals was that provided by the pump, these data suggest that FOE 5043-induced alterations in serum thyroid hormone levels, most notably T4, are being mediated indirectly, possibly as a result of increased hepatic metabolism, rather than through a direct effect on the thyroid gland.
Butyrated kraft lignin as compatibilizing agent for natural fiber reinforced thermoset composites

Abstract Butyrated kraft lignin was added to an unsaturated thermosetting resin, consisting of a mixture of acrylated epoxidized soybean oil and styrene. Composites were made by the Vacuum Assisted Transfer Molding process with varying amounts of butyrated kraft lignin dissolved in the unsaturated resin system. Butyrated kraft lignin improved the interface between the resin and reinforcing flax fibers. SEM images illustrate a clear improvement in the adhesion of the resin to the fibers by showing the fibers fracturing together with the resin, without fiber pullout. Increases in viscosity upon solubilization of butyrated kraft lignin in the unsaturated resin of up to 150% for 10 wt% butyrated lignin however, resulted in the appearance of dry patches in composites made with dense fiber reinforcement mats. These dry spots decrease the mechanical properties of the overall composite. On the other hand, strength improvement is seen for composites made with short wheat straw fibers, which allow for better resin penetration and fiber wetting. The flexural strength increased by 40% for a 5 wt% butyrated lignin addition. Work currently in progress to reduce the negative effects of the viscosity increase by changing the processing conditions, is also described.
Effect of Three Conditions of Predictability on Word-Recognition Performance

This study compared the effects of three conditions of word predictability on recognition performance. Word-recognition scores were obtained for 30 normally hearing listeners using three pairs of s...
Validating circuit board Interconnect Stress Test preconditioning processes using statistical model comparisons of accelerated test data

Interconnect stress testing (IST) is used for acceptance of product by testing coupons fabricated along with the production panels to determine the long-term reliability of the plated thru-holes. Prior to in-service use, the actual production circuit boards are subjected to Circuit Card Assembly processes like soldering components, but simulated on coupons using preconditioning cycles (PCCs). In this paper, the Circuit Card Assembly preconditioning process is compared with IST PCCs. Accelerated test data for this study use IST preconditioning and Re-Flow Oven preconditioning at an independent company laboratory from coupons supplied by three fabrication suppliers. The data indicate that a Weibull distribution be applied for statistical model comparisons using the likelihood-ratio test on both types of preconditioning processes with coupons that are then subjected to subsequent in-service use IST cycles until failure occurs. Results show that using six IST PCCs are statistically equivalent to six Re-Flow Oven PCCs and thus five IST PCCs currently in use should be reconsidered, but the advantages of effective IST preconditioning lower acceptance costs significantly. In addition, the statistical results are validated by root mean square power calculations. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Herbal medicine: Is it an alternative or an unknown? A brief review of popular herbals used by patients in a pain and symptom management practice setting

This article will briefly discuss herbals frequently used by patients in a pain and symptom management practice setting with regard to common indications, potential side effects, and drug interactions, as well as a review of available research on each substance. An overview of the regulatory morass that continues to surround the herbal products industry will be presented. The author will examine possible ethic implications of providing care to patients utilizing alternative therapies. Future developments and studies in the field of herbal therapies will be considered.
Studying Ethical Judgments and Behavioral Intentions Using Structural Equations: Evidence from the Multidimensional Ethics Scale*

The linkage between ethical judgment and ethical behavioral intention was investigated. The Multidimensional Ethics Scale (MES) was used to measure ethical judgment ratings of hypothetical behaviors in retail, sales, and automobile repair scenarios. Confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of 300 undergraduate business students showed that a model with three latent variables representing three correlated ethical dimensions of moral equity, relativism, and contractualism, three correlated scenario latent variables, and correlated residuals presented a good fit to the data. Further, structural models of the relationship of ethical judgment to behavioral intentions revealed that behavioral intentions were more highly related to the scenario factors than to the ethical dimensions across three scenarios. Adding a method factor to the model improved goodness-of-fit and changed some structural model conclusions.
Effects of hydrodynamic pressure processing on the marination and meat quality of turkey breasts

The effects of hydrodynamic pressure pro- cessing (HDP) on marination and meat quality char- acteristics of turkey breasts were investigated. Breast muscles from 45 turkey hens were removed from the carcasses within 30 min postmortem. From each bird, the breast from one side was treated with HDP and the other side served as a nontreated control. Breasts were then marinated in either 15 or 30% brine (water, salt, and phosphate) based on muscle weight with vacuum tumbling for 30 min or nonmarinated. The control and HDP-treated breasts from each bird received the same marination treatment. Brine uptake, processing yield, and cooking loss were measured as processing charac- teristics and texture, color, and expressible moisture were measured to document changes in meat quality. Hydrodynamic pressure processing increased (P < 0.001) brine uptake after 10 and 30 min of marination and increased (P < 0.001) processing yield compared with controls. The HDP-induced improvements in these processing characteristics were augmented at 30% brine levels compared with 15% brine. Cooking loss was lower (P < 0.001) in marinated breasts compared with non- marinated samples. Hydrodynamic pressure processing decreased (P < 0.0001) Warner-Bratzler shear force and significantly influenced texture profile parameters, resulting in reduced hardness but increased cohesive- ness and springiness compared with controls at both marination levels. Hydrodynamic pressure processing did not influence color (L*, a*, and b*) or expressible moisture values compared with controls at either mari- nation level. Marinated samples (15 and 30% brine lev- els) had lower (P < 0.001) Warner-Bratzler shear force values and lower (P < 0.05) hardness, cohesiveness, and chewiness values compared with nonmarinated samples. Data from this study suggest that HDP enhances brine absorption, increases processing yield, and improves texture characteristics in marinated turkey breasts.
Biochar can be used to capture essential nutrients from dairy wastewater and improve soil physico-chemical properties

Abstract. Recently, the potential for biochar use to recapture excess nutrients from dairy wastewater has been a focus of a growing number of studies. It is suggested that biochar produced from locally available excess biomass can be important in reducing release of excess nutrient elements from agricultural runoff, improving soil productivity, and long-term carbon (C) sequestration. Here we present a review of a new approach that is showing promise for the use of biochar for nutrient capture. Using batch sorption experiments, it has been shown that biochar can adsorb up to 20–43% of ammonium and 19–65% of the phosphate in flushed dairy manure in 24 h. These results suggest a potential of biochar for recovering essential nutrients from dairy wastewater and improving soil fertility if the enriched biochar is returned to soil. Based on the sorption capacity of 2.86 and 0.23 mg ammonium and phosphate, respectively, per gram of biochar and 10–50% utilization of available excess biomass, in the state of California (US) alone, 11 440 to 57 200 tonnes of ammonium-N and 920–4600 tonnes of phosphate can be captured from dairy waste each year while at the same time disposing up to 8–40 million tons of excess biomass.
Comparing folding codes for proteins and polymers.

Proteins fold to unique com- pact native structures. Perhaps other polymers could be designed to fold in similar ways. The chemical nature of the monomer "alphabet" determines the "energy matrix" of monomer interactions-which defines the folding code, the relationship between sequence and struc- ture. We study two properties of energy matri- ces using two-dimensional lattice models: uniqueness, the number of sequences that fold to only one structure, and encodability, the number of folds that are unique lowest-energy structures of certain monomer sequences. For the simplest model folding code, involving binary sequences of H (hydrophobic) and P (polar) monomers, only a small fraction of sequences fold uniquely, and not all structures can be encoded. Adding strong repulsive inter- actions results in a folding code with more se- quences folding uniquely and more designable folds. Some theories suggest that the quality of a folding code depends only on the number of letters in the monomer alphabet, but we find that the energy matrix itself can be at least as important as the size of the alphabet. Certain multi-letter codes, including some with 20 let- ters, may be less physical or protein-like than codes with smaller numbers of letters because they neglect correlations among inter-residue interactions, treat only maximally compact con- formations, or add arbitrary energies to the en-
A sustainable data center with heat-activated cooling

Technological and economic trends in data centers push toward facilities operated at higher ambient temperatures and at higher power densities to meet ever-increasing computational demands. Conventionally, data centers are cooled with vapor-compressor equipment which requires extra power to be driven. This paper proposes an alternative and sustainable data center cooling architecture that is heat driven. The thermal source is the heat produced by the data center room's equipment. A major challenge is providing both enough cooling to the data center and enough exergy to drive the cooling process, regardless of the thermal output of the data center equipment. This challenge is addressed by the use of organic heat storage and a sustainably powered (i.e. solar-powered) heat source, leading potentially to a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) value of less than one.
Mutational Analysis of the Myxococcus xanthus Ω4499 Promoter Region Reveals Shared and Unique Properties in Comparison with Other C-Signal-Dependent Promoters

The bacterium Myxococcus xanthus undergoes multicellular development during times of nutritional stress and uses extracellular signals to coordinate cell behavior. C-signal affects gene expression late in development, including that of Ω4499, an operon identified by insertion of Tn5 lac into the M. xanthus chromosome. The Ω4499 promoter region has several sequences in common with those found previously to be important for expression of other C-signal-dependent promoters. To determine if these sequences are important for Ω4499 promoter activity, the effects of mutations on expression of a downstream reporter gene were tested in M. xanthus. Although the promoter resembles those recognized by Escherichia coli σ54, mutational analysis implied that a σ70-type σ factor likely recognizes the promoter. A 7-bp sequence known as a C box and a 5-bp element located 6 bp upstream of the C box have been shown to be important for expression of other C-signal-dependent promoters. The Ω4499 promoter region has C boxes centered at −33 and −55 bp, with 5-bp elements located 7 and 8 bp upstream, respectively. A multiple-base-pair mutation in any of these sequences reduced Ω4499 promoter activity more than twofold. Single base-pair mutations in the C box centered at −33 bp yielded a different pattern of effects on expression than similar mutations in other C boxes, indicating that each functions somewhat differently. An element from about −81 to −77 bp exerted a twofold positive effect on expression but did not appear to be responsible for the C-signal dependence of the Ω4499 promoter. Mutations in sigD and sigE, which are genes that encode σ factors, reduced expression from the Ω4499 promoter. The results provide further insight into the regulation of C-signal-dependent genes, demonstrating both shared and unique properties among the promoter regions so far examined.
Cultural ecology: at the interface with political ecology - the new geographies of environmental conservation and globalization

© 2006 Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd 10.1191/0309132506ph591pr I New conservation geographies amid globalization: introduction The worldwide expansion of conservation management areas is often showcased as a major success of modern global environmentalism. Protected-area coverage in particular has undergone extensive enlargements that are being coordinated, financed, implemented and monitored through global organizations (Brechin et al., 2003; Zimmerer et al., 2004). The global institutions supporting protectedarea conservation include the UN (especially UNESCO and the UNDEP, the United Nations Development and Environment Program); the World Bank and regional development banks (eg, the IDB, Inter-American Development Bank); and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The latter range from European-based NGOs that coordinate and promote protected-area conservation, such as the IUCN (the World Conservation Union), the WCMC (World Conservation Monitoring Centre) and the WCPA (World Commission on Protected Areas), to influential Washington-based counterparts, including Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, the Worldwide Fund for Nature, and the World Resources Institute. The latter’s World Resources reports and those of the IUCN have regularly updated the global status of protected areas, providing valuable sources to those interested in environmental conservation (eg, IUCN, 1985; 1992; WRI and IIED, 1986; WRI, 1990; 1992; 1994; IUCN and WCMC, 1998; IUCN and WCPA, 2001; see also Lightfoot, 1994). This essay explores how cultural ecology and related fields, particularly the cognate approach of political ecology, are developing a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives to offer fresh insights into the worldwide expansion of conservation areas. (The present essay is the second on topics unfolding at the interface of cultural ecology and political ecology; see also Zimmerer, 2004.) A variety of new geographical conditions is integral to the growth of conservation areas through globalization, with the ensuing intensification of nature-society interactions in this arena (Zimmerer, 2000; 2006; Neumann, 2004a; 2005). Recent contributions suggest that the worldwide expansion of the conservation Progress reports
The Optimal Composition of Influenza Vaccines Subject to Random Production Yields

The Vaccine and Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee meets at least once a year to decide the composition of seasonal influenza vaccine in the United States. Past evidence suggests that the committee could use a more systematic approach to incorporate observed information and to quantify the risks associated with different options. There are two key trade-offs involved in this decision. First, if the Committee decides to retain the current vaccine composition instead of updating to a new one, there is lower uncertainty in production yields, but the current vaccine could be less effective if a new virus strain spreads. Second, if the Committee decides early with less information, then manufacturers have more production time, but the reduced information increases the risk of choosing a wrong strain. We derive an optimal dynamic policy for this decision. Because of the greater uncertainty in production yields of new vaccines, the optimal thresholds are neither symmetric between retaining and updating the composition nor monotonic over time. We apply our model to past decisions using parameter values estimated from a historical case. Our analysis shows that the dynamic optimal policy can significantly improve social welfare.
Flame propagation in Poiseuille flow under adiabatic conditions

We describe flame propagation in a channel subject to a Poiseuille flow, within the thermo-diffusive approximation and an adiabatic context. The two-dimensional flame fronts addressed may be either assisted or opposed by the flow. The problem is characterized by two parameters, the intensity of the flow u0 and the spatial scale small epsilon, Greek. The total burning rate and the propagation speed are determined in terms of u0 and small epsilon, Greek and different distinguished regimes are described. From the results, simple criteria for flame flashback in channels are identified. Conclusions concerning the long-term evolution of an ignition kernel in the present flow are also drawn. The results may also be useful in interpreting similar features encountered in more complicated flow situations. For example, the quadratic dependence of the burning rate on u0 for weak flow intensities, and linear dependence for larger u0, is similar to that of the turbulent flame speed when the latter is considered as a function of the velocity fluctuations or turbulence intensity.
Common Misperceptions: The Press and Victorian Views of Crime

After a string of successes in the early nineteenth century, the Victorian movement to reform criminal punishment began to falter. Despite evidence to the contrary, the populace grew convinced that violent crime was on the rise. A frequency analysis of The Times and The Manchester Guardian suggests that this misperception was due to a drastic increase in crime coverage by the periodicals of the day.
The Role of Human Factors/Ergonomics in the Science of Security: Decision Making and Action Selection in Cyberspace

Objective:The overarching goal is to convey the concept of science of security and the contributions that a scientifically based, human factors approach can make to this interdisciplinary field.Background:Rather than a piecemeal approach to solving cybersecurity problems as they arise, the U.S. government is mounting a systematic effort to develop an approach grounded in science. Because humans play a central role in security measures, research on security-related decisions and actions grounded in principles of human information-processing and decision-making is crucial to this interdisciplinary effort.Method:We describe the science of security and the role that human factors can play in it, and use two examples of research in cybersecurity—detection of phishing attacks and selection of mobile applications—to illustrate the contribution of a scientific, human factors approach.Results:In these research areas, we show that systematic information-processing analyses of the decisions that users make and the a...
Elevated amygdala responses to emotional faces in youths with chronic irritability or bipolar disorder

article i nfo A major controversy in child psychiatry is whether bipolar disorder (BD) presents in children as severe, non-episodic irritability (operationalized here as severe mood dysregulation, SMD), rather than with manic episodes as in adults. Both classic, episodic BD and SMD are severe mood disorders characterized by deficits in processing emotional stimuli. Neuroimaging techniques can be used to test whether the pathophysiology mediating these deficits are similar across the two phenotypes. Amygdala dysfunction during face emotion processing is well-documented in BD, but little is known about amygdala dysfunction in chronically irritable youth. We compared neural activation in SMD (n = 19), BD (n = 19), and healthy volunteer (HV; n = 15) youths during an implicit face-emotion processing task with angry, fearful and neutral expressions. In the right amygdala, both SMD and BD exhibited greater activity across all expressions than HV. However, SMD and BD differed from each other and HV in posterior cingulate cortex, posterior insula, and inferior parietal lobe. In these regions, only SMD showed deactivation in response to fearful expressions, whereas only BD showed deactivation in response to angry expressions. Thus, during implicit face emotion processing, youth with BD and those with SMD exhibit similar amygdala dysfunction but different abnormalities in regions involved in information monitoring and integration.
Functional verification of the POWER5 microprocessor and POWER5 multiprocessor systems

This paper describes the methods and simulation techniques used to verify the functional correctness and performance attributes of the IBM POWER5TM microprocessor and the eServerTM p5 systems based on it. The approaches used were based on migrating the best practices that had been used to verify the POWER4TM chip. The POWER5 chip design posed new challenges to the simulation team with the addition of simultaneous multithreading (SMT) and dynamic power management (DPM). In addition, there was further integration of cache and memory subsystem function onto the POWER5 chip. Since the design complexity had increased from the POWER4 design, the use of test plan coverage tools and techniques was expanded to ensure the maximum effectiveness of each simulation cycle run. A new toolset was also employed to improve the utilization of the large pool of computers used to run batch simulation jobs and to provide more efficient fail reproduction and bug fix management. For the system-level verification, a new test-case-generation tool was utilized which allowed for more targeted testing through a deeper knowledge of the system topology. In parallel with the mainline functional validation, verification of reliability functions and performance attributes also had increased focus for the POWER5 design.
Adaptive autoregressive model for the analysis of center of pressure in healthy subjects during quiet standing

Postural stability is defined as the ability to maintain or control body center of mass (CoM) in relation to the base of support to prevent falls and complete desired movements. The center of pressure (CoP) is an indirect measure of postural sway and measured in anterior-posterior (A-P) and medial-lateral (M-L) planes. The objective of this paper is to design a second order adaptive autoregressive (AR) model to estimate the model parameters and investigate the mean and peak frequencies from CoP data collected in both eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) trials in healthy subjects. The performance of the AR model was compared to that of the fast Fourier transform (FFT). Peak frequency was observed to provide a better resolution than mean frequency. The second order adaptive AR model designed in this study offered an important metric, namely peak frequency, for postural stability analysis. It also provided means to estimate biomechanical parameters for postural stability, which would be the focus of further research
Endothelial lipase: direct evidence for a role in HDL metabolism

For the past three decades, epidemiologic studies have consistently demonstrated an inverse relationship between plasma HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations and coronary heart disease (CHD) (1). Population-based studies have provided compelling evidence that low HDL-C levels are a risk factor for CHD (2–4), and several clinical interventions that increased plasma levels of HDL-C were associated with a reduction in CHD risk (5, 6). These findings have stimulated extensive investigation into the determinants of plasma HDL-C levels. Turnover studies using radiolabeled apolipoprotein A-I, the major protein component of HDL, suggest that plasma HDL-C concentrations are highly correlated with the rate of clearance of apolipoprotein AI (7). However, the metabolic mechanisms by which HDL are catabolized have not been fully defined. Previous studies in humans with genetic deficiency of cholesteryl ester transfer protein (8), and in mice lacking the scavenger receptor BI (SR-BI) (9), have demonstrated that these proteins participate in the removal of cholesterol from HDL, while observations in individuals with mutations in hepatic lipase indicate that this enzyme hydrolyzes HDL triglycerides (10). In this issue of the JCI, reports from laboratories of Tom Quertermous (11) and Dan Rader (12) now indicate that endothelial lipase (LIPG), a newly identified member of the lipase family, catalyzes the hydrolysis of HDL phospholipids and facilitates the clearance of HDL from the circulation.
Mutations in the genes for cardiac troponin T and alpha-tropomyosin in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be caused by mutations in the genes for β cardiac myosin heavy chain, α-tropomyosin, or cardiac troponin T. It is not known how often the disease is caused by mutations in the tropomyosin and troponin genes, and the associated clinical phenotypes have not been carefully studied. Methods Linkage between polymorphisms of the α-tropomyosin gene or the cardiac troponin T gene and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was assessed in 27 families. In addition, 100 probands were screened for mutations in the α-tropomyosin gene, and 26 were screened for mutations in the cardiac troponin T gene. Life expectancy, the incidence of sudden death, and the extent of left ventricular hypertrophy were compared in patients with different mutations. Results Genetic analyses identified only one α-tropomyosin mutation, identical to one previously described. Five novel mutations in cardiac troponin were identified, as well as a further example of a previously described mutation. The cl...
Laparoscopic Oviductal Embryo Transfer and Artificial Insemination in Felids – Challenges, Strategies and Successes

Embryo transfer (ET) and artificial insemination (AI) are potentially invaluable techniques for the propagation and management of genetically valuable domestic cat and endangered nondomestic cat populations. Many of the challenges that impair the effective application of ET and AI in felids may be overcome by using laparoscopic oviductal (LO) approaches. LO-ET and LO-AI are minimally-invasive procedures, requiring only two small skin incisions for insertion of a laparoscope and grasping forceps into the abdominal cavity to permit visualization and catheterization of the oviduct for embryo or semen deposition. With concurrent improvements in embryo culture systems and ovarian synchronization protocols, LO-ET has proven effective over the past decade for propagation of laboratory cats, cat models of hereditary disease and nondomestic cats. To date, viable offspring have been produced following LO-ET of non-frozen and frozen-thawed IVF-derived embryos in eight cat hereditary disease models and two nondomestic cat species, the ocelot and sand cat. LO-AI with low sperm numbers (c. 2-8 million motile) has shown similar efficacy to LO-ET, resulting in high pregnancy percentages (50-70%) following insemination of gonadotropin-treated domestic cats. Multiple kittens also have been produced in two hereditary disease models following LO-AI with frozen semen, and both ocelot and Pallas' cat kittens have been born after LO-AI with freshly-collected semen. The application of LO-ET and LO-AI to felids has resulted in substantial improvement in the efficiency of assisted reproduction for genetic management of these invaluable domestic cat and wild cat populations.
Type 2 Diabetes in Urban Black and Rural White Women

Purpose The purpose of this secondary analysis was to describe and compare physiological, psychosocial, and self-management characteristics of urban black and rural white women with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the northeast United States.Methods A descriptive, cross-sectional secondary analysis was conducted with baseline data from 2 independent study samples: rural white women and urban black women.Results Results revealed the sample were on average educated, working, low-income, mid-life women with poor glycemic and blood pressure control, despite having a usual source of primary care. When compared, black women were younger, had lower income levels, worked more, and were often single and/or divorced. They had worse glycemic control, significantly higher levels of diabetes-related emotional distress, and less support than white women.Conclusion Despite differences in geography and study findings, both groups had suboptimal physiological and psychosocial levels that impede self-management. These findings se...
Nonlinear Model Order Reduction Using Remainder Functions

This paper describes a novel approach to the problem of model order reduction (MOR) of very large nonlinear systems. We consider the behavior of a dynamic nonlinear system as having two fundamental characteristics: a global behavioral "envelope" that describes major transformations to the state of the system under external stimuli and a local behavior that describes small perturbation responses. The nonlinear low order envelope function is generated by using the remainders from the coalescence of projection bases taken through a space-state sample. A behavioral model can then be expressed as the superposition of these two descriptions, operating according to the input stimuli and the current state value. The global behavior describes major transformations to the state of the system under external stimuli and the local behavior describes small perturbation responses. Local effects are captured by regions through a set of linear projections to a reduced state-space while global effects are captured by examining the non-commonalty among these projections. These "remainders" are used to build a modulation function that will generate the required dynamic changes in the common linear projection. The advantage of the envelope representation for strongly nonlinear systems is that it simplifies the complexity of the model into a two-part problem. Depending on the complexity or cost of the behavioral separation procedure, it can be repeated recursively
Isolation of the murine cyclin B2 cDNA and characterization of the lineage and temporal specificity of expression of the B1 and B2 cyclins during oogenesis, spermatogenesis and early embryogenesis

A cDNA encoding the murine cyclin B2 (cycB2) was isolated from an adult mouse testis cDNA library as part of studies designed to identify cyclins involved in murine germ cell development. This cycB2 cDNA was then used to examine the pattern of cycB2 expression during male and female germ cell development and in early embryogenesis, and to compare this expression with the previously characterized expression of cycB1. A single 1.7 kb cycB2 transcript was detected by northern blot hybridization analysis of total RNA isolated from midgestation embryos and various adult tissues. Northern blot and in situ hybridization analyses revealed that cycB2 expression in the testis was most abundant in the germ cells, specifically in pachytene spermatocytes. This is in contrast to the highest levels of expression of cycB1 being present in early spermatids. In situ analysis of the ovary revealed cycB2 transcripts in both germ cells and somatic cells, specifically in the oocytes and granulosa cells of growing and mature follicles. The pattern of cycB1 and cycB2 expression in ovulated and fertilized eggs was also examined. While the steady state level of cycB1 and cycB2 signal remained constant in oocytes and ovulated eggs, signal of both appeared to decrease following fertilization. In addition, both cycB1 and cycB2 transcripts were detected in the cells of the inner cell mass and the trophectoderm of the blastocyst. These results demonstrate that there are lineage- and developmental-specific differences in the pattern of the B cyclins in mammalian germ cells, in contrast to the co-expression of B cyclins in the early conceptus.