cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Charge State Dependent Energy Deposition by Ion Impact

We report on a measurement of craters in thin dielectric films formed by ${\mathrm{Xe}}^{Q+}$ $(26\ensuremath{\le}Q\ensuremath{\le}44)$ projectiles. Tunnel junction devices with ion-irradiated barriers were used to amplify the effect of charge-dependent cratering through the exponential dependence of tunneling conductance on barrier thickness. Electrical conductance of a crater ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{c}(Q)$ increased by 4 orders of magnitude ($7.9\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{S}$ to $6.1\text{ }\text{ }\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{S}$) as $Q$ increased, corresponding to crater depths ranging from 2 to 11 \AA{}. By employing a heated spike model, we determine that the energy required to produce the craters spans from 8 to 25 keV over the investigated charge states. Considering energy from preequilibrium nuclear and electronic stopping as well as neutralization, we find that at least $(27\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2)%$ of available projectile neutralization energy is deposited into the thin film during impact.
Quantification of soluble E-receptor in the serum of patients with various diseases and its accompanying in vitro immunosuppression in neoplasia.

Evidence in the literature indicates that soluble E-receptor in the serum may modulate T-dependent immune response. We have developed a solid-phase radioimmunoassay to measure the soluble form of E-receptor from various sources. The assay detects solubilized antigens derived from E-receptor-bearing T lymphocytes and not with non-E-receptor-bearing B lymphocytes. The sensitivity limit of the assay is 0.1 ng/ml of purified E-receptor antigen. Using this assay, one can show that the T-cell mitogen phytohaemagglutinin stimulated both lymphocytes and cells of the resting human T-cell lymphoma cell line Jurkat to shed or secrete E-receptor into the culture medium. Results of the radioimmunoassay performed on human sera indicated that some patients with Hodgkin's disease, melanoma, sarcoma, or acute or chronic lymphocytic leukaemia had elevated levels of this antigen in their serum, whereas normal human sera registered lower levels, Elevated levels of the soluble form of E-receptor in the serum were suggestive of an in vitro assessment of their immunosuppressive activity. These results indicate that activation of T-cell immunity in vivo may result in humoral immunosuppression.
Certified code development for a microcontroller architecture

We are surrounded in our daily lives by embedded systems--microprocessors running software to control the operation of electronic gadgets and appliances we rely on. The proliferation of such devices and increased dependence upon them means that the correctness and safety of the software controlling them is all the more critical. Numerous techniques to ensure such properties are being widely researched, ranging from software engineering processes to formal verification technologies.
Reaction of ozone with lysozyme under different exposure conditions

Abstract The stoichiometry and specificity of the inactivation of lysozyme by ozone is dependent upon the conditions under which the exposure takes place. In deionized water or neutral phosphate buffer the oxidation is specific for trp 62 when ozone is introduced into the gassing vessel at a low rate (less than 50 nmol/min). The amount of ozone required to achieve inactivation is dependent upon the protein concentration in the reaction vessel, approaching equimolar levels at protein concentrations greater than 5 mg/ml. This oxidative inactivation is accompanied by a loss of the ability of the lysozyme to form an enzyme-substrate complex. When the rate of ozone delivery is high (greater than 50 nmol/min) the oxidation is no longer specific for trp 62 but becomes more random with the oxidation of three to four tryptophan residues required to achieve complete inactivation. Similarly, when lysozyme is exposed to ozone under conditions resulting in protein denaturation (in anhydrous formic acid) the oxidation is no longer specific for trp 62. In this case, some of the inactivated protein retains the ability to bind substrate.
FRACTURE-FLIP/TRITON X-100 REVEALS THE CYTOPLASMIC SURFACE OF HUMAN ERYTHROCYTE MEMBRANES

We propose the use of fracture-flip combined with Triton X-100 extraction to visualize the cytoplasmic surface of plasma membranes. Unfixed human erythrocytes were freeze-fractured, carbon-cast, and thawed. The carbon casts, along with attached freeze-fractured erythrocytes, were treated with 2% Triton X- 100 to solubilize unfractured plasma membranes and to release haemoglobin. After repeated washing, the carbon-casts, along with attached protoplasmic and exoplasmic membrane halves, were picked on grids, flipped, and Pt-shadowed. Our method leads to extended views of the cytoplasmic surface revealing the fibrilar network that laminates the inner surface of the erythrocyte membrane. Spectrin immunogold labelling of fractured, carbon cast erythrocytes shows that the colloidal gold particles are associated with the fibrilar network at the cytoplasmic surface. Removal of membrane skeletal elements including spectrin by treatment with a low ionic strength buffer containing EDTA leads to loss of the network and reveals globular particles on the cytoplasmic surface of the membrane. These globular particles contained band 3, as shown by immunogold labelling. Our method can be extended to both the ultrastructural observation and the cytochemistry of the cytoplasmic surfaces of other biomembranes.
Monitoring and control of anytime algorithms: a dynamic programming approach

Anytime algorithms offer a tradeoff between solution quality and computation time that has proved useful in solving time-critical problems such as planning and scheduling, belief network evaluation, and information gathering. To exploit this tradeoff, a system must be able to decide when to stop deliberation and act on the currently available solution. This paper analyzes the characteristics of existing techniques for meta-level control of anytime algorithms and develops a new framework for monitoring and control. The new framework handles effectively the uncertainty associated with the algorithm’s performance profile, the uncertainty associated with the domain of operation, and the cost of monitoring progress. The result is an efficient non-myopic solution to the meta-level control problem for anytime algorithms.  2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
A path-following method for solving BMI problems in control

We present a path-following (homotopy) method for (locally) solving bilinear matrix inequality (BMI) problems in control. The method is to linearize the BMI using a first order perturbation approximation, and then iteratively compute a perturbation that "slightly" improves the controller performance by solving a semidefinite program. This process is repeated until the desired performance is achieved, or the performance cannot be improved any further. While this is an approximate method for solving BMIs, we present several examples that illustrate the effectiveness of the approach.
Hydroxygrindelane derivatives by microbial transformation

Abstract The microbial transformation of methyl 7α,8α-epoxygrindelate and 6,8(17)-dehydrogrindelic acid by cultures of Aspergillus niger and Penicillium brevicompactum produced the corresponding 3α-hydroxygrindelanes.
Highly Enantioselective Ag(I)-Catalyzed [3 + 2] Cycloaddition of Azomethine Ylides

A highly reactive Ag(I)-catalyzed [3 + 2] cycloaddition of azomethine ylides is founded using AgOAc as the catalytic precursor and phosphines as ligands. Using a new bis-ferrocenyl amide phosphine (FAP) as the ligand, we found that high enantioselectivities (up to 97% ee) have been achieved in the [3 + 2] cycloaddition of azomethine ylides. Up to four stereogenic centers can be established in this multicomponent coupling reaction from readily available materials such as aldehydes, aminoesters, and dipolarophiles.
Dependent Development and the Arab OPEC States

This analysis uses Gerschenkron's theories on delayed industrialization to reinterpret the vital role played by transnational oil firms in the economic development of the Arab OPEC states. Given the relative backwardness of their urban middle classes and state structures, the study points to the major oil firms as the initial sources of entrepreneurial activity and capital accumulation in the Arab oil-exporting countries. Likewise, as the economic needs of the majors and their OECD markets largely have structured the Arab OPEC states' development, their economic modernization has unfolded as a political economy of dependent development. While the transnationals' initial inputs allowed the Arab OPEC states to diminish their relative backwardness, the investigation concludes that despite their tremendous growth in the 1970s these economies have not diminished their dependence on the oil majors and the OECD states to become economically more autonomous.
Lung volume measured during sequential swallowing in healthy young adults.

Purpose Outcomes from studying the coordinative relationship between respiratory and swallow subsystems are inconsistent for sequential swallows, and the lung volume at the initiation of sequential...
Bioterrorism and bioethics: Challenges for industry, government and society

The emerging threat of bioterrorism raises important challenges for the biotechnology industry. Not only do new ethical issues arise for companies seeking to take advantage of opportunities for product development; so too must industry continue to grapple with longstanding issues that arise from advances in human genetics and medical research. No longer will it be sufficient to focus bioethical attention only on whether the 'ethics' of a clinical trial is as good as the 'science' (an important justification for pharmaceutical and biotechnology research). The threat of bioterrorism requires that economic, political and ethical considerations be given increased attention.
Investigations into Levels of Both Airborne Beryllium and Beryllium in Coal at the Hayden Power Plant Near Hayden, Colorado

Abstract The paper presents data on beryllium levels found in coal used presently by the Ute and Salt River REA power plant near Hayden, Colorado. Also, the level of airborne beryllium found as an effluent from the Hayden plant is compared to both rural and urban averages for airborne beryllium. This paper reports on field research investigating both the level of beryllium in coal and airborne beryllium at and near the Hayden power plant in northern Colorado. Two trips were made to the site during July and October of 1972. On the first trip in July, coal, spoil, and fly ash samples were collected. This second trip was for direct atmospheric sampling by means of a high volume air sampler. Beryllium is a natural constituent of coal and is found in varying concentrations depending on from where the coal originated. Table 1 reflects the average beryllium content of the major coal producing areas of the United States.
A Palynological Study of the Staphyleaceae

Abstract Pollen of 23 species representing all five genera was examined by light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and a selected number in transmission electron microscopy. For the most part the family is palynologically rather uniform with the occurring variation forming a morphological continuum. Staphyleaceae pollen is tricolporate, tectate, circular to triangular in outline in polar view and usually spheroidal. Ectoapertures are long to very long, recessed, and granular. Endoapertures range from poorly developed in Huertea and Tapiscia to well defined in Euscaphis, Slaphylea, and Turpinia, and are either bounded by the colpi margins or transversely extended. Periapertural exine thinnings are present. The exine is stratified into tectum, columellae, foot layer and endexine. The endexine is either smooth, or as in Slaphylea, solid near the foot layer and granular on the inner surface. Tapiscia is characterized by the absence of endexine and an interrupted fool layer. The exine surface is tectat...
Mining fetal magnetocardiogram data for high-risk fetuses

The fetal magnetocardiogram (fMCG) contains a wealth of information regarding the health of a fetus. The purpose of this study is to classify fMCG data into the following two groups: high-risk and normal. In this presentation the authors first describe how the feature vector containing both time and frequency domain attributes is built from the time-series fMCG data. Second, the classification process using support vector machine (SVM) tools to identify the high-risk fetuses is described. Experimental results from 272 data sets taken from 118 fetuses demonstrate the SVM classifier's ability to distinguish between the high-risk and normal fetuses. Artificial neural networks and decision trees are used to validate the SVM results and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis and blind tests are employed to show the strength of the model. The model currently attains a sensitivity of 0.67 and a specificity of 0.65. While this study remains a work in progress, the authors are refining the process to improve the aforementioned results.
Orientation-dependent effects in Oort's theory of comet origin II. Anisotropies in the distribution of long-period comet orbits

The statistical significance of anisotropies in the distribution of orbital orientations among the long-period and nearly parabolic comets is evaluated. It is suggested that these anisotropies are not the result of observational selection effects. A numerical model for the distribution of orbital orientations is constructed, based on Oort's theory of comet origin and the assumption that the observed anisotropies are caused by multiple planetary perturbations over the course of many perihelion passages. The model, which is restricted to comets with perihelion distances less than 0.3 AU, does not predict any significant anisotropies.
Early detection of thoracic spine fracture in the multiple trauma patient: Role of the initial portable chest radiograph

Early detection of thoracic spine fracture in the often unconscious multiple trauma patient is of utmost importance. Failure to recognize thoracic spine fracture early could result in neurologic injury during certain radiologic and therapeutic procedures that may be indicated for other injuries. In most trauma centers, the initial evaluation of the multiple trauma patient includes a portable chest radiograph, which may show signs of thoracic injury. To determine the value of the initial portable chest radiograph in the detection of thoracic spine fracture, 34 cases of multiple trauma patients with proven thoracic spine fractures were studied. The initial portable chest radiograph was reviewed for signs of thoracic fracture and compared with the findings on plain bone radiographs and computed tomographic scans and with the patient's medical record. Of the 34 cases, radiologic signs of fracture were initially reported in 18 patients (53%). On re-review, positive signs of fracture were seen in 27 patients (79%). The authors conclude that the initial portable chest radiograph in the multiple trauma patient must be carefully studied for subtle signs of thoracic spine fracture. The most frequent chest radiographic findings were paraspinal hematoma, decreased vertebral body height, and lateral translation of vertebral bodies. Apical pleural cap, increased interpediculate distance, increased interspinous distance (“empty vertebral body sign”), and rib disarticulation were also noted.
On Model Ensemble Analyses of Nonmonotonic Data

Mammalian ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) activity has been reported to be nonmonotonic in ATP. If many nonlinear models are to be fitted to such data automatically as part of a model search process, use of the same initial parameter values across all models can lead to too many poor fitting, monotonic least squares fits, i.e., false model rejections. We propose that such fits can be rescued by using as initial parameter estimates the final estimates of neighboring models that do have nonmonotonic fits; here models are neighbors if complexes that they represent differ by at most one ligand. We use this approach to show that troughs in RNR activity versus ATP can be fitted similarly well by models that do or do not demand a third ATP binding site.
Absence of photoreactivation of pyrimidine dimers in the epidermis of hairless mice following exposures to ultraviolet light.

—The influence of photoreactivating light on the fate of UV-induced DNA damage has been measured in the epidermis of hairless mice using damage-specific endonuclease from Micrococcus luteus. Groups of mice were exposed to varying fluences of UV at 297nm or from an FS40 fluorescent sun lamp to induce UV photoproducts. The same fluence-dependent DNA damage was observed in high molecular weight epidermal DNA regardless of whether the mice were killed immediately, or maintained in the dark or under photoreactivating light for 20 h after UV. Thus, no detectable photoreactivation of UV-induced pyrimidine dimers could be demonstrated in mouse epithelial cells in vivo.
LSR 0602+3910: Discovery of a Bright Nearby L-Type Brown Dwarf

We report the discovery of LSR 0602+3910, an L dwarf of class L1. The object was initially identified by Lepine et al. as a new high proper motion star lying close to the Galactic plane. Its Two Micron All Sky Survey value of J-Ks = 1.43 is consistent with an L dwarf, which we now confirm spectroscopically. In addition, we see a signature of Li I absorption, making LSR 0602+3910 a brown dwarf, one of the brightest known (Ks = 10.86). Among L dwarfs, it is second in brightness to the combined light of 2MASS 0746+20, a close binary system. We see no indication that LSR 0602+3910 is a binary, although high-resolution imaging will be required to confirm this. Spectroscopic and photometric distance estimates agree very well, placing LSR 0602+3910 at d = 10.6 ± 0.8 pc. LSR 0602+3910 was most likely missed in previous searches because of its proximity to the plane, the region that most searches avoided. We estimate that some 40% of bright L dwarfs are missed because of this selection effect.
Studying medium effects on children's creative processes

The Fourth Grade Slump, whereby children's creativity drops precipitously at around fourth grade, is a developmental phenomenon that begs for research to be done on ways to nurture children's creativity. We posit that due to its form and formal features, the use of the animated medium for creative activities can positively sustain the child's creativity throughout the Slump. We present a study that investigated how the animated medium (animation) mediates and influences the creative process of children in the third and fourth grade, using the digital print medium (storybook) as comparison. Analysis of the process was done at the structural and production level using mainly the method of discourse analysis.Children were observed to go through different stages and sequences when creating stories using animation as opposed to the storybook medium. The strategies that the children adopted to create differed along six themes: the prevalence of micro-activities, an integrated and activity-driven process of story generation, a focus on qualitative details producing richer stories, a broader imagination in terms of the story world, the occurrence of serendipitous creativity, and a higher degree of convergence and divergence despite a low seeding level of ideas in story generation. While animation was seen to have certain limitations in the act of creating, it had a largely positive impact on the children's motivation and enthusiasm to engage in the creative activity. Our results have implications for the understanding of the creative process among elementary school children, a necessary first step for the proper design of systems to nurture and sustain children's creativity throughout the Fourth Grade Slump.
Controversial Cases in Endourology

THE PATIENT is a 34-year-old woman who is 27 weeks pregnant with her second baby. At 12 weeks into her pregnancy, she was found to have an obstructing right renal stone and had a stent placed. At 17 weeks, she was admitted with acute colic and was found to have an obstructed, encrusted stent, which was removed cystoscopically. A nephrostomy tube was placed. She has undergone nephrostomy tube changes but requires them nearly every 2 weeks because of acute encrustation, even using 14F tubes. Now she has persistent bacteriuria, and her gynecologist is concerned she may go into premature labor because of the frequent manipulations required to keep her nephrostomy tube draining. The site has been relocated from a middle to a lower calix to improve pain control and drainage. It is likely she will require some definitive procedure prior to the safer, 32-week time. At 27 weeks, she is high risk regardless of the approach taken. Ultrasound scanning shows a 2.03 2.0-cm renal pelvis stone and numerous stone fragments in the upper pole and on the nephrostomy tube, none larger than 8 mm. There is minimal hydronephrosis and a normal ureter. No radiographs are available to you at this time.
Multiterminal measures for network reliability and resilience

Network reliability, specifically k-terminal reliability, gives the probability that k specified nodes in a network are connected. Multi-terminal network resilience measures the average k-terminal reliability over all node sets of size k. This is the expectation that a randomly chosen set of k nodes is connected. One may also ask for the probability that any k nodes are connected. This leads to three ways to require a set of k nodes be connected: the nodes are provided as input to the problem (as in reliability), they are randomly chosen (as in resilience), or they can be any k nodes. Certain problems may require a set constructed by some combination of the three. We introduce new measures to cover these possibilities, and reduce all measures to two general expressions that capture them. These expressions permit the consideration of decades of work on reliability to solve them. Additionally, we introduce six component-based network measures, and demonstrate how they can be solved alongside reliability and resilience. The component based measures admit even more variability in problem definition. In the end, we have thirteen distinct measures, and solve them simultaneously. An algorithm and example results are provided.
Hormonal effects of early rearing conditions in the infant rhesus monkey.

Mother-reared and nursery-reared rhesus monkeys were evaluated during the first month of life to assess the effects of early rearing on endocrine status in infancy. Plasma cortisol and growth hormone (GH) levels were measured in two conditions: (1) basal and (2) 30 min following removal from either the mother or the nursery. Nursery-reared infants had lower basal GH levels and higher cortisol levels than did mother-reared infants. Both GH and cortisol levels rose significantly following separation and reached similar levels in the mother-reared and nursery-reared infants. Mother-reared animals exhibited higher GH levels in response to a pharmacological GH-stimulation test. Thus nursery rearing of primate infants significantly affected the baseline secretion of two important endocrine systems, but did not appear to alter markedly the acute endocrine response to a psychological stressor.
Cannabinoid-Mediated Inhibition of Recurrent Excitatory Circuitry in the Dentate Gyrus in a Mouse Model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a neurological condition associated with neuron loss, axon sprouting, and hippocampal sclerosis, which results in modified synaptic circuitry. Cannabinoids appear to be anti-convulsive in patients and animal models of TLE, but the mechanisms of this effect are not known. A pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus mouse model of TLE was used to study the effect of cannabinoid agonists on recurrent excitatory circuits of the dentate gyrus using electrophysiological recordings in hippocampal slices isolated from control mice and mice with TLE. Cannabinoid agonists WIN 55,212-2, anandamide (AEA), or 2-arachydonoylglycerol (2-AG) reduced the frequency of spontaneous and tetrodotoxin-resistant excitatory postsynaptic currents (EPSCs) in mice with TLE, but not in controls. WIN 55,212-2 also reduced the frequency of EPSCs evoked by glutamate-photolysis activation of other granule cells in epileptic mice. Secondary population discharges evoked after antidromic electrical stimulation of mossy fibers in the hilus were also attenuated by cannabinoid agonists. Agonist effects were blocked by the cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R) antagonist AM251. No change in glutamate release was observed in slices from mice that did not undergo status epilepticus. Western blot analysis suggested an up-regulation of CB1R in the dentate gyrus of animals with TLE. These findings indicate that activation of CB1R present on nerve terminals can suppress recurrent excitation in the dentate gyrus of mice with TLE. This suggests a mechanism for the anti-convulsive role of cannabinoids aimed at modulating receptors on synaptic terminals expressed de novo after epileptogenesis.
Uniqueness and Characterization of Prime Models over Sets for Totally Transcendental First-Order Theories

THEoEm. If T is a complete first-order totally transcendental theory then over every T-structure A there is a prime model unique up to isomorphism over A. Moreover M is a prime model over A iff: (1) every finite sequence from M realizes an isolated type over A, and (2) there is no uncountable indiscernible set over A in M. The existence of prime models was proved by Morley [3] and their uniqueness for countable A by Vaught [9]. Sacks asked (see Chang and Keisler [1, question 25]) whether the prime model is unique. After proving this I heard Ressayre had proved that every two strictly prime models over any T-structure A are isomorphic, by a strikingly simple proof. From this follows THEOREM. If T is totally transcendental, M a strictly prime model over A then every elementary permutation of A can be extended to an automorphism of M. (The existence of Mfollows by [3].) By our results this holds for any prime model. On the other hand Ressayre's result applies to more theories. For more information see [6, ?OA]. A conclusion of our theorem is the uniqueness of the prime differentially closed field over a differential field. See Blum [8] for the total transcendency of the theory of differentially closed fields. We can note that the prime model Mover A is minimal over A iff in M there is no indiscernible set over A (which is infinite). In order to help the reader, ??l and 2 contain known results which are from Morely [3] (except 2.3, 2.4), with a variation of the definition of rank type. If we define T as totally transcendental iff R(x = x) < c, then the restriction " T is countable" is superfluous. The result of this paper was announced in [6, ?OA.5B] (in more general form) and in [7, Theorem 6]. Notation. Let Tbe a fixed first-order countable complete theory in the language L. For simplicity all the sets and models we shall deal with, will be of cardinality < W, for some high enough cardinal K; and let A be a K-saturated model of T. As every model of T of cardinality < W is isomorphic to an elementary submodel of M, we can deal with them only. (See Morley and Vaught [5], or Chang and Keisler [1] for K-saturated models.) So let M, N denote elementary submodels of A (of cardinality < c), A, B, C sets of elements of M (of cardinality < K), a, b, c elements of a, 5, c finite sequences of elements of M. Let I MI be the set of elements of M, Al the cardinality of A, so I M JJ is the cardinality of M. Let p j, 0 denote formulas
A Comparative Study of Phosphoric Acid-Doped m-PBI Membranes

Phosphoric acid (PA)-doped m-polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes used in high temperature fuel cells and hydrogen pumps were prepared by a conventional imbibing process and a sol-gel fabrication process. A comparative study was conducted to investigate the critical properties of PA dop- ing levels, ionic conductivities, mechanical properties, and molecular ordering. This systematic study found that sol-gel PA-doped m-PBI membranes were able to absorb higher acid doping levels and to achieve higher ionic conductivities than conventionally imbibed membranes when treated in an equiva- lent manner. Even at similar acid loadings, the sol-gel mem- branes exhibited higher ionic conductivities. Heat treatment of conventionally imbibed membranes with � 29 wt % solids caused a significant reduction in mechanical properties; con- versely, sol-gel membranes exhibited an enhancement in mechanical properties. From X-ray structural studies and atom- istic simulations, both conventionally imbibed and sol-gel membranes exhibited d-spacings of 3.5 and 4.6 A u , which were tentatively attributed to parallel ring stacking and staggered side-to-side packing, respectively, of the imidazole rings in these aromatic heterocyclic polymers. An anisotropic staggered side-to-side chain packing present in the conventional mem- branes may be related to the reduction in mechanical proper- ties. 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. † J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014, 52, 26-35
Evaluating Driving Performance of Outpatients with Alzheimer Disease

Background: Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive disease, with multiple physiologic, psychologic, and social implications. A critical issue in its management is when to recommend restrictions on autonomous functioning, such as driving an automobile. This study evaluates driving performance of patients with AD and its relation to patient scores on the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE). ~Afethods: This study compared 29 outpatients with probable AD with 21 age-matched control participants on an interactive driving simulator to determine how the two groups differed and how such differences related to mental status. Results: Patients with AD (1) were less likely to comprehend and operate the simulator cognitively, (2) drove off the road more often, (3) spent more time driving considerably slower than the posted speed limit, (4) spent less time driving faster than the speed limit, (5) applied less brake pressure in stop zones, (6) spent more time negotiating left turns, and (7) drove more poorly overall. There were no observed differences between AD patients and the control group in terms of crossing the midline and driving speed variability. Among the AD patients, those who could not drive the simulator because of confusion and disorientation (n = 10) had lower MMSE scores and drove fewer miles annually. Those AD patients who had stopped driving also scored lower on their MMSE but did not perform more poorly on the driving simulator. Factor analysis revealed five driving factors associated with AD, explaining 93 percent of the variance. These five factors correctly classified 27 (85 percent) of 32 AD patients compared with the control group. Of the 15 percent who were improperly classified, there were three false positives (control participants misclassified as AD patients) and two false negatives (AD patients misclassified as control participants). The computed total driving score correlated significantly with MMSE scores (r = -.403, P = 0.011). Conclusion: Driving simulators can provide an objective means of assessing driving safety. (J Am Board Fam Pract 1998;11:264-71.)
Operations Systems with Discretionary Task Completion

Most performance evaluation models in the operations management literature implicitly assume that tasks possess standardized completion criteria. However, in many systems, particularly service and professional work, judgment is frequently required to determine how much time to allocate to a task. In this paper, we show that introducing discretion in task completion adds a fourth variability buffer, quality, to the well-known buffers of capacity, inventory and time. To gain insight into the managerial implications of this difference, we model the work of one- and two-worker systems with discretionary task completion as controlled queues. After characterizing the optimal control policy and identifying some practical heuristics, we use this model to examine the differences between discretionary and nondiscretionary work. We show that in systems with discretionary task completion, (i) adding capacity may actually increase congestion, and (ii) task variability in service time can improve system performance. This implies that it may be suboptimal to expect shorter delays as a result of a capacity increase, and that task variability reduction may not be an appropriate goal in systems with discretionary task completion. We also find that the benefit of queue pooling is smaller in systems with discretionary task completion than in systems with nondiscretionary task completion.
Effect of aluminum hydroxide on fluoride metabolism

Aluminum inhibits intestinal absorption of fluoride in animals but little information is available about man. To determine whether and to what extent aluminum affects fluoride absorption in man, effects of aluminum hydroxide on fluoride metabolism were studied under controlled dietary conditions. Relatively small amounts of aluminum hydroxide were used (30 ml three times daily, containing a total of 1.8 gm aluminum, were given for several weeks). Fluoride balances were determined in control studies and during the intake of aluminum hydroxide. The fluoride intake was the fluoride content of the diet and the drinking water. Two studies were also carried out on a high-fluoride intake. The use of aluminum hydroxide was associated with an increase in fecal fluoride excretion and a decrease in net absorption of fluoride regardless of the intake fluoride, calcium, phosphorus, or magnesium. Urinary fluoride decreased during aluminum hydroxide ingestion. Our studies show that relatively small amounts of aluminum hydroxide inhibit intestinal absorption of fluoride in man.
Pre-modern Arctic Ocean circulation from surface sediment neodymium isotopes

[1] We present a survey of Nd isotopes measured from authigenic phases on surface sediments from the Arctic Ocean seafloor. Comparison with published dissolved water column Nd isotope distributions suggests that eNd from sediment leachates accurately represents bottom water circulation of the Arctic Ocean, with Atlantic (~11 eNd )a nd Pacifi c( ~5 eNd) water end-members clearly distinguishable. Nd isotopic data from the Chukchi margin show several apparent deviations from the expected pattern, which imply that this margin has been a region of sustained shelf-tobasin sediment redistribution and/or a region where deep water cascades downslope, such as through brine rejection during ice formation. These data also provide insights into a pre-anthropocene “baseline” (several thousand years) for investigating Arctic Ocean circulation in a changing climate; the data presented here are indicative that these changes may be impacting the deep as well as surface ocean. Citation: Haley, B. A., and L. Polyak (2013), Pre-modern Arctic Ocean circulation from surface sediment neodymium isotopes, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, doi: 10.1002/grl.50188.
Inducible Podocyte Injury and Proteinuria in Transgenic Zebrafish

Damage or loss of podocytes causes glomerulosclerosis in murine models, and mutations in podocyte-specific genes cause nephrotic syndrome in humans. Zebrafish provide a valuable model for kidney research, but disruption of pronephroi leads to death within a few days, thereby preventing the study of CKD. In this study, we generated an inducible model of podocyte injury in zebrafish (pod::NTR-mCherry) by expressing a bacterial nitroreductase, which converts metronidazole to a cytotoxin, specifically in podocytes under the control of the zebrafish nphs2/podocin promoter. Application of the prodrug metronidazole to the transgenic fish induces acute damage to the podocytes in pronephroi of larval zebrafish and the mesonephroi of adult zebrafish, resulting in foot-process effacement and podocyte loss. We also developed a functional assay of the glomerular filtration barrier by creating transgenic zebrafish expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged vitamin D-binding protein (VDBP) as a tracer for proteinuria. In the VDBP-GFP and pod::NTR-mCherry double-transgenic fish, induction of podocyte damage led to whole-body edema, and the proximal tubules reabsorbed and accumulated VDBP-GFP that leaked through the glomeruli, mimicking the phenotype of human nephrotic syndrome. Moreover, expression of wt1b::GFP, a marker for the developing nephron, extended into the Bowman capsule in response to podocyte injury, suggesting that zebrafish have a podocyte-specific repair process known to occur in mammalian metanephros. These data support the use of these transgenic zebrafish as a model system for studies of glomerular pathogenesis and podocyte regeneration.
Another route to broadening the scope of social psychology: Ecologically valid research

An imbalance is identified in social psychology between controlled experimental studies (which are common) and real-world, ecologically valid studies (which are rare). The preponderance of experimental studies (which provide mere existence proofs and lack realism) helps fuel social psychology's fault-finding focus. Laboratory experiments and ecological studies should be pursued jointly to examine social life in the real world.
Cost‐Effective Placement of Best Management Practices in a Watershed: Lessons Learned from Conservation Effects Assessment Project

This article reviews the key, cross-cutting findings concerning watershed-scale cost-effective placement of best management practices (BMPs) emerging from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) competitive grants watershed studies. The synthesis focuses on two fundamental aspects of the cost-effectiveness problem: (1) how to assess the location- and farmer-specific costs of BMP implementation, and (2) how to decide on which BMPs need to be implemented and where within a given watershed. Major lessons learned are that (1) data availability remains a significant limiting factor in capturing within-watershed BMP cost variability; (2) strong watershed community connections help overcome the cost estimation challenges; (3) detailing cost components facilitates the transferability of estimates to alternative locations and/or economic conditions; and (4) implicit costs vary significantly across space and farmers. Furthermore, CEAP studies showed that (5) evolutionary algorithms provide workable ways to identify cost-effective BMP placements; (6) tradeoffs between total conservation costs and watershed-scale cost-effective water quality improvements are commonly large; (7) quality baseline information is essential to solving cost-effectiveness problem; and (8) systemic and modeling uncertainties alter cost-effective BMP placements considerably.
Expression profiling of Crambe abyssinica under arsenate stress identifies genes and gene networks involved in arsenic metabolism and detoxification

Background: Arsenic contamination is widespread throughout the world and this toxic metalloid is known to cause cancers of organs such as liver, kidney, skin, and lung in human. In spite of a recent surge in arsenic related studies, we are still far from a comprehensive understanding of arsenic uptake, detoxification, and sequestration in plants. Crambe abyssinica, commonly known as 'abyssinian mustard', is a non-food, high biomass oil seed crop that is naturally tolerant to heavy metals. Moreover, it accumulates significantly higher levels of arsenic as compared to other species of the Brassicaceae family. Thus, C. abyssinica has great potential to be utilized as an ideal inedible crop for phytoremediation of heavy metals and metalloids. However, the mechanism of arsenic metabolism in higher plants, including C. abyssinica, remains elusive. Results: To identify the differentially expressed transcripts and the pathways involved in arsenic metabolism and detoxification, C. abyssinica plants were subjected to arsenate stress and a PCR-Select Suppression Subtraction Hybridization (SSH) approach was employed. A total of 105 differentially expressed subtracted cDNAs were sequenced which were found to represent 38 genes. Those genes encode proteins functioning as antioxidants, metal transporters, reductases, enzymes involved in the protein degradation pathway, and several novel uncharacterized proteins. The transcripts corresponding to the subtracted cDNAs showed strong upregulation by arsenate stress as confirmed by the semi-quantitative RT-PCR. Conclusions: Our study revealed novel insights into the plant defense mechanisms and the regulation of genes and gene networks in response to arsenate toxicity. The differential expression of transcripts encoding glutathione-Stransferases, antioxidants, sulfur metabolism, heat-shock proteins, metal transporters, and enzymes in the ubiquitination pathway of protein degradation as well as several unknown novel proteins serve as molecular evidence for the physiological responses to arsenate stress in plants. Additionally, many of these cDNA clones showing strong upregulation due to arsenate stress could be used as valuable markers. Further characterization of these differentially expressed genes would be useful to develop novel strategies for efficient phytoremediation as well as for engineering arsenic tolerant crops with reduced arsenic translocation to the edible parts of plants.
A Bird's-Eye View of Sex Chromosome Dosage Compensation

Intensive study of a few genetically tractable species with XX/XY sex chromosomes has produced generalizations about the process of sex chromosome dosage compensation that do not fare well when applied to ZZ/ZW sex chromosome systems, such as those in birds. The inherent sexual imbalance in dose of sex chromosome genes has led to the evolution of sex-chromosome-wide mechanisms for balancing gene dosage between the sexes and relative to autosomal genes. Recent advances in our knowledge of avian genomes have led to a reexamination of sex-specific dosage compensation (SSDC) in birds, which is less effective than in known XX/XY systems. Insights about the mechanisms of SSDC in birds also suggest similarities to and differences from those in XX/XY species. Birds are thus offering new opportunities for studying dosage compensation in a ZZ/ZW system, which should shed light on the evolution of SSDC more broadly.
Effect of Tenofovir on Didanosine Absorption in Patients with HIV

OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the pharmacokinetic interaction between tenofovir and didanosine when used in combination as a highly active antiretroviral therapy regimen.DATA SOURCES:Literature retrieval was accessed through MEDLINE (1966–January 2003) using the terms tenofovir and didanosine. Abstracts from recent meetings, including the International AIDS Society, Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, were reviewed for relevant abstracts and poster presentations.DATA SYNTHESIS:Pharmacokinetic studies evaluating the concurrent use of tenofovir and didanosine have been performed in healthy volunteers. Tenofovir 300 mg administered concurrently with 400 mg didanosine results in a 48–64% increase in the didanosine maximum plasma concentration and AUC with no significant alterations in the tenofovir pharmacokinetic parameters. Tenofovir 300 mg and didanosine 250 mg has been compared with didanosine 400 mg alone. The results demonstrated equi...
CONSEQUENCES OF POPULATION STRUCTURE ON GENES UNDER BALANCING SELECTION

Abstract This paper describes a new approach to modeling population structure for genes under strong balancing selection of the type seen in plant self-incompatibility systems and the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) system of vertebrates. Simple analytic solutions for the number of alleles maintained at equilibrium and the expected proportion of alleles shared between demes at various levels are derived and checked against simulation results. The theory accurately captures the dynamics of allele number in a subdivided population and identifies important values of m (migration rate) at which allele number and distribution change qualitatively. Starting from a panmictic population, as migration among demes decreases a qualitative change in dynamics is seen at approximately mcrit ≈ (s/4πNT)1/2, where NT is the total population size and s is a measure of the strength of selection. At this point, demes can no longer maintain their panmictic allele number, due to increasing isolation from the total popul...
Disentangling Methodological and Biological Sources of Gene Tree Discordance on Oryza (Poaceae) Chromosome 3

We describe new methods for characterizing gene tree discordance in phylogenomic data sets, which screen for deviations from neutral expectations, summarize variation in statistical support among gene trees, and allow comparison of the patterns of discordance induced by various analysis choices. Using an exceptionally complete set of genome sequences for the short arm of chromosome 3 in Oryza (rice) species, we applied these methods to identify the causes and consequences of differing patterns of discordance in the sets of gene trees inferred using a panel of 20 distinct analysis pipelines. We found that discordance patterns were strongly affected by aspects of data selection, alignment, and alignment masking. Unusual patterns of discordance evident when using certain pipelines were reduced or eliminated by using alternative pipelines, suggesting that they were the product of methodological biases rather than evolutionary processes. In some cases, once such biases were eliminated, evolutionary processes such as introgression could be implicated. Additionally, patterns of gene tree discordance had significant downstream impacts on species tree inference. For example, inference from supermatrices was positively misleading when pipelines that led to biased gene trees were used. Several results may generalize to other data sets: we found that gene tree and species tree inference gave more reasonable results when intron sequence was included during sequence alignment and tree inference, the alignment software PRANK was used, and detectable "block-shift" alignment artifacts were removed. We discuss our findings in the context of well-established relationships in Oryza and continuing controversies regarding the domestication history of O. sativa. (gene trees; multilocus data; Oryza; phylogenomics; phylogeny reconstruction; species trees.)
Cognitive factors in perspective-based reading (PBR): A protocol analysis study

The following study investigated cognitive factors involved in applying the Perspective-Based Reading (PBR) technique for defect detection in software inspections. Using the protocol analysis technique from cognitive science, the authors coded concurrent verbal reports from novice reviewers and used frequency-based analysis to consider existing research on cognition in software inspections from within a cognitive framework. The current coding scheme was able to describe over 98% of the cognitive activities reported during inspection at a level of detail capable of validating multiple hypotheses from literature. A number of threats to validity are identified for the protocol analysis method and the parameters of the current experiment. The authors conclude that protocol analysis is a useful tool for analyzing cognitively intense software engineering tasks such as software inspections.