cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comment evaluer la qualite de l'ensemble du regime alimentaire?

Comment definir des habitudes alimentaires saines reste un challenge pour les nutritionnistes et epidemiologistes. De nouveaux indices de la qualite du regime sont largement bases sur les principes d'equilibre, de moderation et de variete. Ces indices comprennent un score de diversite alimentaire, un indice de qualite du regime et un score d'alimentation saine. Un score de variete alimentaire prend en compte le nombre d'aliments differents consommes par les individus. Les criteres d'evaluation de qualite du regime etablis aux Etats-Unis ont ete appliques a l'alimentation des sujets francais dans le Val-de-Marne. Comme le regime francais reste riche en lipides, lipides satures et cholesterol, l'indice de moderation etait bas. Cependant les scores de variete et diversite etaient eleves par rapport aux Etats-Unis. L'evaluation de la qualite du regime et de sa diversite fournit un nouvel outil dans l'etude des rapports entre la nutrition et les maladies chroniques et donne un nouvel apercu sur les comparaisons des habitudes alimentaires inter-pays.
Appetitive Structure and Straight Alley Running

Publisher Summary Traditional research in learning has treated animals as bundles of reflexes and random behaviors that are selectively strengthened in the presence of particular stimuli by the appropriate presentation of events called “reinforcers.” Lloyd Morgan set the stage for this view in his claim that just as a sculptor carves a statue out of a block of marble, so does acquisition carve an activity out of a mass of random movements. Recently, agreement has begun to develop around an ecologically based alternative to a general reinforcement theory. This ecological view is based on the assumption that learning is an evolved capacity that occurs in the service of functions promoting the survival and reproduction of the organism. A key element of the ecological approach is that the motor and sensory potential of an organism is structured prior to entering a learning situation. Although an ecological approach does not necessarily rule out a general reinforcement mechanism, there are important differences in how learning is viewed: (1) learning occurs against a backdrop of the complex and sophisticated organization of response elements, stimulus sensitivities and motivational hierarchies that underlie an animal's behavior, (2) any learning that occurs is not automatic but is dependent on and mediated by the organization underlying the animal's behavior, and (3) learning is not limited to circumstances in which a reinforcer closely follows a particular response or stimulus.
RNA interference shows interactions between mouse brainstem angiotensin AT1 receptors and angiotensin‐converting enzyme 2

Angiotensin (Ang) AT1 receptors and Ang-converting enzymes (ACE and ACE2) are expressed in the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) of the brainstem. The aim of this study was to examine in vivo interactions between brainstem Ang AT1 receptors, ACE and ACE2 using small, hairpin RNA (shRNA) gene-silencing methods. The study takes advantage of the bilateral brainstem expression of renin–angiotensin system (RAS) markers. Adenovirus vectors (Ad, 2.0 × 109 c.f.u. ml−1, 200 nl) carrying interference small hairpin RNA (shRNA) for either AngAT1a (Ad-AT1a-shRNA) or AngAT1b (Ad-AT1b-shRNA) were microinjected into the right side of the brainstem DVC. The Ad-LacZ control was injected into the left side. Brainstems were processed with in situ hybridization and immunochemistry. Results showed that: (1) Ad-AT1a-shRNA downregulated Ang AT1a mRNA by 61.2 ± 6.8% (P < 0.01) and Ad-AT1b-shRNA downregulated Ang AT1b mRNA by 51.6 ± 5.2% (P < 0.01); (2) downregulation of Ang AT1a mRNA was associated with decreased ACE2 mRNA expression (decrease of 29.0 ± 14.5%, P < 0.01), while reduction in Ang Ad-AT1b mRNA had no effect; (3) ACE mRNA expression was not altered by either RNA interference (RNAi) treatment; and (4) immunochemical staining for Ang AT1 receptors, ACE and ACE2 were in agreement with the mRNA changes observed. These results demonstrate the utility of in vivo gene silencing to examine functional specificity. Both Ad-AT1a-shRNA and Ad-AT1b-shRNA induced site- and subtype-specific downregulation of receptor expression. Gene silencing showed that there were interactions between brainstem Ang AT1a receptors and the RAS regulatory enzyme, ACE2.
El mercado de mano de obra de mexico y de los estados unidos en el futuro

Resumen: En este estudio se elaboran algunas proyecciones de la deman da y la oferta de mano de obra en los Estados Unidos y en Mexico. Tales proyecciones indican una demanda excedente de mano de obra en los Es tados Unidos que puede pasar de diez millones de trabajadores para el ano 2000, mientras que la oferta excedente de mano de obra en Mexico se elevara a cerca de cinco millones, sin contar los trabajadores que ya laboran en los Estados Unidos. Se presentan diferentes escenarios de la forma y la medida en que la mano de obra excedente de Mexico afectara el mercado laboral, los salarios, la distribucion del ingreso y el crecimien to del PNB de los Estados Unidos. Tambien se examina el papel de las politicas de comercio, inversion y migracion de ambos paises. Los Estados Unidos parecen afrontar una eleccion dificil entre la proteccion a sus trabajadores, incluido el mantenimiento de una elevada participacion de los salarios en el PNB, y la competitividad internacional de sus productos manufacturados, mientras que Mexico debera escoger entre la exportacion de mano de obra en la forma de bienes intensivos en mano de obra y el aumento de la emigracion a los Estados Unidos a corto y mediano pla zos. La consideracion de las perspectivas norteamericanas y mexicanas indica que una reduccion severa de la migracion afectara negativamente los intereses economicos de ambos paises y acarreara consecuentes costos sociales y politicos.
Polarization of Noble Gas Nuclei with Optically Pumped Alkali Metal Vapors

The sections in this article are 1 Introduction 2 Optical Pumping of Alkali Vapors 3 Spin Exchange with Noble Gas Nuclei 4 Relaxation Mechanisms for the Alkali Atoms 5 Relaxation Mechanisms for the Noble Gas Atoms 6 Biographical Sketch Related Articles
POTA: Lessons Learned From India’s Anti-Terror Act

Shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, India passed its own anti-terrorism ordinance, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), following a terrorist attack on India’s Parliament building in December 2001. As with the USA PATRIOT Act, Indian legislators acted quickly, declaring the Act to be a necessary weapon against terrorism. But POTA, like the USA PATRIOT Act, had detractors, who criticized the law as unnecessary and draconian. Among other potentially dangerous measures, POTA allowed for 180-day detentions without charge, presumptions of guilt, sketchy review procedures, summary trials and trials in absentia. In many ways, POTA was harsher than the USA PATRIOT Act, but then again, so is India’s terrorist threat. In September 2004, a new central government repealed POTA, but other vigorous antiterror laws are likely to follow. This Note evaluates the most dangerous provisions of POTA, how ofacials abused those provisions, and what lessons India and the United States can learn from the experience.
HEURISTICS FOR MULTI PERIOD COMPETITIVE PRICING STRATEGIES FOR MANUFACTURING COMPANIES

In this study, dynamic competition between two manufacturing companies is analyzed over four quarters in which the aggressive competitor is allowed to cut prices by 20% or 30% while the company can cut price by 10%, 20%, 30%, or do nothing. The competitive interaction between companies is based on Sweezy’s economic model, in which the competitor always has the first move and the response is instantaneous. There are various heuristics developed, such as “Beat’em”, ”Finish’em”, ”Match’em” and “Forget’em” to achieve maximum profit by price cuts over a year. The performance measure is total profit, which depends on revenue and total cost. The total cost consists of procurement cost, inventory carrying cost, labor cost, machine cost, utility cost and overhead cost. The methodology involves determining demand for our company for a given competitor price based on a log linear equation having cross elasticity of demand as coefficients. For every quantity demanded, a cellular manufacturing system is developed and a simulation is performed to obtain the revenue and cost. The heuristics are evaluated on the basis of total profit over a year and it is observed that “Finish’em” performs better than the other heuristics.
Spiritual struggle and affective symptoms among geriatric mood disordered patients

Conclusions: Previously observed effects of general religiousness on (less) depression among geriatric mood disordered patients may be less pronounced in less religious areas of the USA. However, spiritual struggle appears to be a common and important risk factor for depressive symptoms, regardless of patients’ general level of religiousness. Further research on spiritual struggle is warranted among geriatric mood disordered patients. Copyright # 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
State Preserving Extreme Learning Machine for face recognition

Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) has been introduced as a new algorithm for training single hidden layer feed-forward neural networks (SLFNs) instead of the classical gradient-based algorithms. Based on the consistency property of data, which enforce similar samples to share similar properties, ELM is a biologically inspired learning algorithm with SLFNs that learns much faster with good generalization and performs well in classification applications. However, the random generation of the weight matrix in current ELM based techniques leads to the possibility of unstable outputs in the learning and testing phases. Therefore, we present a novel approach for computing the weight matrix in ELM which forms a State Preserving Extreme Leaning Machine (SPELM). The SPELM stabilizes ELM training and testing outputs while monotonically increases its accuracy by preserving state variables. Furthermore, three popular feature extraction techniques, namely Gabor, Pyramid Histogram of Oriented Gradients (PHOG) and Local Binary Pattern (LBP) are incorporated with the SPELM for performance evaluation. Experimental results show that our proposed algorithm yields the best performance on the widely used face datasets such as Yale, CMU and ORL compared to state-of-the-art ELM based classifiers.
The Ethics of Tax Evasion: A Survey of Hispanic Opinion

In 1944, Martin Crowe, a Catholic priest, wrote a doctoral dissertation titled "The Moral Obligation of Paying Just Taxes". His dissertation summarized and analyzed 500 years of theological and philosophical debate on this topic, which identified three basic philosophical positions on the issue (tax evasion is always unethical, sometimes unethical or never unethical). Since Crowe's dissertation, not much has been written on the topic of tax evasion from an ethical or religious perspective. The present paper is an empirical study, the goal of which is to determine the strength of the 15 arguments justifying tax evasion that Crowe identified plus 3 more recent arguments. A survey was constructed using a seven-point Likert scale that included all three positions and all 18 arguments and distributed to 319 business students at a university in the South Texas area. The 18 arguments were ranked in terms of strength, from strongest to weakest. Comparisons were also made according to gender, age, student status, residence, major, ethnicity and religion to determine if the viewpoints for these demographics were significantly different.
Personalized driving behavior monitoring and analysis for emerging hybrid vehicles

Emerging electric-drive vehicles, such as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in HEVs (PHEVs), hold the potential for substantial reduction of fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. User driving behavior, which varies from person to person, can significantly affect (P)HEV operation and the corresponding energy and environmental impacts. Although some studies exist that investigate vehicle performance under different driving behaviors, either directed by vehicle manufacturers or via on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, they are typically vehicle-specific and require extra device/effort. Moreover, there is no or very limited feedback to an individual driver regarding how his/her personalized driving behavior affects (P)HEV performance. This paper presents a personalized driving behavior monitoring and analysis system for emerging hybrid vehicles. Our design is fully automated and non-intrusive. We propose phone-based multi-modality sensing that captures precise driver---vehicle information through de-noise, calibration, synchronization, and disorientation compensation. We also provide quantitative driver-specific (P)HEV analysis through operation mode classification, energy use and fuel use modeling. The proposed system has been deployed and evaluated with real-world user studies. System evaluation demonstrates highly-accurate (0.88-0.996 correlation and low error) driving behavior sensing, mode classification, energy use and fuel use modeling.
Vitamin B12 Biosynthesis ENZYME STUDIES ON THE FORMATION OF THE α-GLYCOSIDIC NUCLEOTIDE PRECURSOR

Abstract A nicotinate ribonucleotide:benzimidazole (adenine) phosphoribosyltransferase which catalyzes the formation of N-α-glycosidic 5'-ribonucleotides occurs in Clostridium sticklandii. The enzyme has been purified 680-fold by a method involving lysozyme treatment, acid precipitation, ammonium sulfate fractionation, and elution from hydroxylapatite and Sephadex columns. The enzyme resembles a corresponding enzyme from Propionibacterium shermanii. An apparently narrower specificity of the present enzyme than of the P. shermanii enzyme for the ribose phosphate donor and a broader specificity for the base may be a consequence of higher purity. The reactivity toward nicotinamide mononucleotide decreases markedly with purification, and most, if not all, of this activity is due to a contaminating nicotinamide mononucleotide deamidase. The present enzyme catalyzes the formation of an N-α-glycosidic adenine nucleotide. Rate studies with varying concentrations of adenine and nicotinate ribonucleotide support a single displacement mechanism.
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of the Locations of La Ions in La–Si–O–N Intergranular Films in Silicon Nitride

Molecular dynamics computer simulations were used to determine the locations and energies of La ions in silicate intergranular films (IGFs) between basal and prism-oriented silicon nitride crystals as a function of composition. La segregation to the interfaces occurs at each surface with no nitrogen present in the IGF, but segregates preferentially to the prism surface with nitrogen in the IGF. La adsorption onto the prism surface occurs in the simulations at the two sites observed previously in studies using high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy. The binding energies of La at the two sites differ with no nitrogen in the IGF, and both are more strongly bonded than for La in the interior of the IGF. However, with nitrogen in the IGF, the binding energies are less different between the two prism surface sites and the interior of the IGF, indicating a decreased driving force for segregation. The simulations provide evidence justifying the preferential segregation of La ions to the prism surface and also indicate that a variation in the local composition would cause some IGFs to show segregation of all La to the interface, leaving little La within the glassy IGF, while other IGFs may show more La remaining in the glassy IGF.
Extended electrical transport measurements on the mixed conductor Ag3.0CS2

Ag 3.0 CS 2 is one of a family of amorphous mixed ionic electronic conductors A x CS 2 (A = Cu, Ag, and x between 2.8 and 4.0). This work extends the electrical transport measurements over a temperature range 170 to 440 K. Direct current four-probe transient methods were used to acquire voltage vs. time profiles of the material, and the ionic and electronic conductivities, and the chemical diffusion coefficients obtained following Yokota's model for mixed conductors Differential scanning calorimetry showed phase transitions at about 411 and 451 K. Variations in the electrical transport measurements at around 400 K seem to corroborate the first phase transition. Thermogravimetric analysis shows no decomposition of the material up to about 600 K. The ionic conductivity over the entire temperature range is of the Arrhenius form, supporting hopping as the mode of ionic transport, with an activation energy of about 0.25 eV, and jump and residence times of the order of 10 -12 and 10 -8 s, respectively. The electronic conductivity results suggest possible variable range hopping between localized states, in support of earlier results obtained from the estimate of the electronic diffusion The chemical diffusion coefficients were also of the Arrhenius form, with an activation energy of about 0.24 eV.
STUDY ABROAD: A CASE STUDY IN INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION '

Summary.-In recent years study abroad programs offered by American universities have grown rapidly, but little evaluation has been done. An exploratory analysis of one such program is described because no formal attempt had been made since its inception in 1976. participants from 39 states were 309 men and women who ranged in age from 19 to 56 yr. A 30-item questionnaire, administered after the summer program, showed great variation in responses as students adjusted to Living and going to school in a foreign country. The implications for the program's value were discussed. Several recent polls have indicated American students have very limited
Practical selectivity estimation through adaptive sampling

Recently we have proposed an adaptive, random sampling algorithm for general query size estimation. In earlier work we analyzed the asymptotic efficiency and accuracy of the algorithm, in this paper we investigate its practicality as applied to selects and joins. First, we extend our previous analysis to provide significantly improved bounds on the amount of sampling necessary for a given level of accuracy. Next, we provide “sanity bounds” to deal with queries for which the underlying data is extremely skewed or the query result is very small. Finally, we report on the performance of the estimation algorithm as implemented in a host language on a commercial relational system. The results are encouraging, even with this loose coupling between the estimation algorithm and the DBMS.
Growth of Co-Evaporated Superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-x Thin Films Oxidized By Pure Ozone

Superconducting YBa2Cu3O7-x thin films have been prepared by co-evaporation using an ozone vapor jet to oxidize the films. Films exhibiting zero resistance at 85 K have been fabricated in-situ under high vacuum conditions using substrate temperatures of 700°C without a post-evaporation anneal in oxygen. This process has the advantage that ozone can be made and stored in very pure form, unlike most other commonly used forms of highly reactive oxygen. This makes ozone very useful when a well characterized oxidizing gas is needed for systematic studies of the growth kinetics and oxidation of oxide superconductor films. In this paper, techniques for growing films using ozone are discussed, including the production of pure ozone vapor. Characteristics of the resulting films are also discussed. The superior oxidation efficiency of ozone may facilitate in-situ measurements on fully oxidized superconducting surfaces using techniques such as RHEED and XPS that require nearly UHV conditions. The fabrication in nearly UHV of devices and structures requiring fully oxidized interfaces and surfaces may also be possible using oxidation by ozone.
Noncanonical EF-hand motif strategically delays Ca2+ buffering to enhance cardiac performance.

The inability of the heart to efficiently relax as it beats, termed diastolic dysfunction, is a major underlying cause of heart disease. As a new strategy for treating diastolic dysfunction, Joseph Metzger and his colleagues engineered directed substitutions in the calcium-binding protein Parvalbumin to optimize its ability to promote cardiac myocyte relaxation. Gene transfer of this Parvalbumin variant promoted cardiac myocyte relaxation of rabbit and canine heart failure models in vitro and corrected heart function in two in vivo mouse models of diastolic dysfunction.
Hybridization, short range order, and entropy in metallic glass formation

Abstract The composition range favorable for melt quenching of metallic alloy glasses is that where a deep eutectic occurs. In the eutectic region the temperature of melt metastability can be comparable to the glass transition temperature. For alloy systems where deep eutectics occur, the melt has a high degree of short range order, and an attractive potential between unlike atoms. In the case of alloys between metalloids and transition or noble metals, both experimental and theoretical results show that the attractive potential is due to metal-d/metalloid-p hybridization. Analyzing the results of a recent experimental characterization of the temperature and composition dependence of the mixing free energy of liquid gold-silicon alloys shows that the attractive potential results in a large negative enthalpy with causes the deep eutectic, and also in a negative excess entropy which leads to a glass transition according to the ‘entropy crisis’ model.
The Role of Timing in Assessing Oral Reading Fluency and Comprehension in Kenya.

Despite rapid growth in literacy-related programmes and evaluation in sub-Saharan Africa, little critical attention has been paid to the relevance of assumptions that underlie existing assessment methods. This study focuses on the issue of timing in the assessment of oral reading fluency, a critical component of successful reading (Chard, Vaughn, & Tyler, 2002; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), 2000; Pikulski & Chard, 2005). Within the context of the Primary Math and Reading Initiative, a randomized controlled trial of several instructional interventions in Kenya, timed and untimed Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) oral reading fluency and reading comprehension tasks were administered to 4385 students in 95 government and 125 informal schools. Using the data from the EGRA – whose administration has expanded within sub-Saharan Africa recently – we found that students did not perform significantly better on the assessments when they had more time. This pattern largely hel...
Effect of reading additional safety information on planned use of over-the-counter analgesics.

OBJECTIVES: This study was used to test the effect on planned safe use of over-the-counter (OTC) analgesics of adding information about the potential for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) interaction with antihypertensive medications, the potential for interaction of alcohol and acetaminophen, and NSAID ceiling effects to the Federal Drug Administration's (FDA's) OTC analgesics pamphlet. DESIGN: A randomized posttest-only double-blind experimental design was used to test an intervention with a comparison group reading the FDA pamphlet, and treatment group reading the pamphlet with added information. SAMPLE: Participants included 137 adults. INTERVENTION: Participants read the treatment or the comparison pamphlet. RESULTS: Both groups responded with similar planned use of OTC analgesics. The majority were likely to read the label before taking an OTC analgesic, but were unlikely to give acetaminophen to a family member using antihypertensive medication. CONCLUSIONS: Reading additional information about OTC analgesics resulted in no greater intention to safely use analgesics. Responses indicated reluctance to use OTC analgesics, and the potential need for increased health teaching regarding use of OTC analgesics with antihypertensive medication. Public health teaching should include the importance of treating pain and selecting the safest OTC analgesics for the clinical situation. Language: en
SENSORY EVALUATION OF CRUDE TOASTED CANOLA AND SESAME SEED OIL

‘Alto’variety canola seed and yellow sesame seed were toasted at 180, 200, 220, 240 and 260C for 8 min and 10 min, respectively. Control oils from nontoasted seeds were also evaluated. Oils from ground canola and sesame seed were extracted with hexane at 25C for 10 h. Two ranking tests for odor preference were performed by a Korean panel. Among the canola oils, oil for seeds toasted at 240C was significantly better, and oil from seed toasted at 200C was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) worse than the others. Oils from sesame seed toasted at 220 and 260C were significantly better and untoasted and toasted sesame seed oil at 180C were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) worse than the other sesame seed oils. A second ranking test was performed to find the best oil among the canola and sesame seed oils. The toasted sesame seed oil at 260C was significantly better, and the toasted canola oil at 200C was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) worse. Among the other toasted oils, canola oil toasted at 240 and 260C and sesame seed oil toasted at 220 and 240C were not significantly different from each other. The ranking test showed that toasted canola oils were not significantly different from toasted sesame seed oils except toasted sesame seed oil at 260C.
Land use and landscape effects on aggregate stability and total carbon of Andisols from the Colombian Andes

The Dosquebradas Basin, in the central coffee-growing region of the Colombian Andes, covers 58 km2 between 1350 and 2150 m of elevation. Soils in this basin are mostly Melanudands. Soil sampling units were defined on the basis of land use (sun coffee, shade coffee and pasture) and slope. Samples from 76 sites were collected during June–July of 2002 to measure water stable aggregates, aggregate carbon concentration, total carbon content and C/N ratios, and analyze the effect of aggregate size, land use, landscape position (summit, shoulder, backslope) and depth on these properties. Analyses of variance indicated an interaction effect of land use and landscape position on water stable aggregates and aggregate carbon concentration, while a main effect of land use on total carbon content and C/N ratios. Higher percentages of water stable aggregates were found under sun coffee (95%) and pasture (93%) compared to shade coffee (83%) at the backslope position. Aggregate carbon concentration was highest under pasture (95 g kg−1) at the summit position and under sun coffee (76.7 g kg−1) at the shoulder position. Aggregate size (>2 mm, 1 to 2 mm and <1 mm) did not have an effect on aggregate carbon concentration, indicating that these Andisols do not conform to the aggregate hierarchy model. Total carbon content of surface samples (0 to 5 cm) was higher under pasture (26 tC ha−1) than under shade coffee (19 tC ha−1). Carbon content under sun coffee (23 tC ha−1) was not significantly different from either one. The most notable findings were (a) the generalized high percentages of water stable aggregates (75% of sites with water stable aggregates above 90%) which point to the relatively high stability of Andisols, and (b) the significant differences in aggregate carbon concentration, particularly at the summit where pasture incorporated almost 30% more carbon into aggregates compared to the coffee systems.
Frequency-Agile Bandpass Filters Using Liquid Metal Tunable Broadside Coupled Split Ring Resonators

A fluidic-based approach for designing tunable coupled resonator bandpass filters is presented. These filters employ broadside coupled split ring resonators (BC-SRR) with one of their open loop resonators constructed from liquid metal. The tuning mechanism is based on dynamically moving the liquid metal to reshape the resonator. To demonstrate the concept, a second order Butterworth filter with continuous tuning range from 650 to 870 MHz is designed and experimentally verified by utilizing PTFE tubing filled with liquid metal and Teflon solution. Due to an inductive external coupling mechanism and 180° rotated resonators, the filter exhibits a near constant 5% fractional bandwidth throughout its tuning range with > 10 dB return and <; 3 dB insertion loss. The filter is realized over a 1.27 mm thick Rogers 6010.2LM substrate and has an approximate footprint of 20 × 40 mm2.
Graduate Social Work Students' Interest in Working with Older Adults

This study examined Master's in Social Work students' (N = 304) interest in working with older adults following the use of case studies to infuse aging content into the foundation social work curriculum. Faculty members were provided with extensive materials to support their use of the cases with aging content in class. Compared to an earlier study, students were significantly more interested in working with older adults after they were exposed to the cases. Factors that predicted students' interest include age and attitude towards aging, specifically seeing older adults as having vitality. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Product Innovativeness, Customer Newness, and New Product Performance: A Time-Lagged Examination of the Impact of Salesperson Selling Intentions on New Product Performance

In this time-lagged study, we illuminate the role of the sales force in new product introductions by examining the impact of salespeople’s selling intentions on new product performance. Survey responses from 439 salespeople selling one product and 362 salespeople selling a second product suggest that salespeople’s selling intention is a key mediating variable. In particular, product innovativeness has a positive impact and customer newness has a negative impact on new product performance. However, both variables work indirectly through salespeople’s intention to sell new products. We conclude with managerial implications of our fi ndings and directions for future research.
Type D personality, stress, and cortisol.

I read with interest the paper by Habra et al. [1] that was recently published in your journal. This paper is important because of the following reasons: (1) Type D personality (the joint tendency towards negative affectivity and social inhibition) may be quite prevalent in the general population; (2) Type D personality may be regarded as a psychopathological condition that may affect health and longevity and requires psychological and/or pharmacological treatment; and (3) studies of psychology and neurobiology of Type D personality may help develop treatment approaches to improve psychological and physical health of individuals with Type D personality. The authors [1] found that both negative affectivity and social inhibition were associated with greater cortisol reactivity to stress. However, results were not significant in regression analyses. I think that this indicates that further research is necessary to examine hypothalamic– pituitary–adrenal (HPA) function in individuals with Type D personality. Type D individuals have the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, hostile feelings, and depressed mood, and to inhibit these emotions while avoiding social contacts [1–3]. Situations involving fear, anxiety, helplessness, and loss of control have been shown to result in release of cortisol [4–8]. A common denominator among these studies documenting increased cortisol to laboratory challenges appears to be an increase in negative affect. The relationship between negative affect and cortisol activity has been documented in several studies using structured laboratory stressors, such as public speaking and mental arithmetic [9] and aversive stimulation [8], and in the scientific literature related to changes in the HPA axis in depressed patients [10–12]. A recent study has documented relationships among negative affect, positive affect, and cortisol in response to naturalistic stressors [13]. Both the experience of a current stressor and anticipating a
Guidelines are not enough: The need for written sentencing opinions

Guideline sentencing systems, including the new federal guidelines, have not settled on a clear conception of when and how a trial judge should explain sentences. Indeterminate sentencing systems did not have a tradition of written sentencing decisions and recent sentencing reforms do not focus on the trial judge's role. This article suggests the many advantages of written sentencing opinions. Initial experience under the federal sentencing guidelines bolsters the conclusion that written sentencing opinions in appropriate cases—including both sentences “within” guidelines and guideline “departures”—are the next step in the evolving law of sentencing and the best way to recognize trial judges as an essential engine of principled change.
Copper adsorption through chitosan immobilized on sand to demonstrate the feasibility for in situ soil decontamination.

Abstract The contamination of soils and waters by metals all over the world continues to present a serious danger to the environment and human health. The development of innovative metal clean-up technologies remains a challenge as current procedures have many limitations, such as being expensive, disruptive, and only efficient for certain concentrations. With high molecular weight and repetitive functional groups, biopolymers provide excellent chelating material for metals. Chitosan is a well-known and efficient metal chelator, but its practical use is limited due to the relatively high costs of constructing clean-up devices (filters) from chitosan alone. In the current study we attempt to find a more cost-effective solution by investigating a new adsorbent material based on chitosan immobilized on sand, namely, chitosan-coated sand (5% chitosan content). This new material was studied for its copper adsorption capacity at contact times of 2, 4, and 6 h and the equilibrium result was compared with copper adsorption capacities of chitosan and sand alone. Hopefully this concept will lead to an application as a large-scale permeable reactive barrier. Copper recovery from an adsorbent with the possible reuse of the adsorbent material was also evaluated in leaching tests. The equilibrium isotherms for Cu adsorption on chitosan-coated sand were described by the Langmuir model. These preliminary results indicate the possibility of using chitosan-coated sand to build inexpensive large-scale barrier filters for metal removal from moving contaminated groundwater plumes.
Blockade of angiotensin pressor activity in the freshwater turtle

Abstract In order to study the pharmacological characteristics of the renin-angiotensin system in the turtle, Pseudemys scripta elegans , angiotensin I (AI) and angiotensin II (AII) were administered intravenously to conscious turtles along with angiotensin antagonists, a converting enzyme inhibitor, and adrenergic blockers. Both AI and AII produced dose-dependent vasopressor responses. Infusion of the AII analogs [Sar 1 , Ala 8 ] AII or [Sar 1 , Ile 8 ] AII at 10 μg/kg/min significantly reduced the pressor responses to both AI and AII while the pressor action of norepinephrine (3 μg/kg) was unaffected. Neither AII analog exhibited a sustained pressor action at this infusion rate. The converting enzyme inhibitor SQ 20881 (1 mg/kg bolus + 0.5 mg/kg/hr) did not reduce the pressor effect of AII but significantly reduced the response to AI. The α-adrenergic antagonists phentolamine (0.5 mg bolus + 1 mg/kg/hr) and phenoxybenzamine (0.25 mg/kg/min) almost abolished the pressor response to norepinephrine and significantly decreased the vasopressor action of AI and AII. The results suggest that an angiotensin-converting enzyme-like mechanism may exist in the turtle and that the pressor response to angiotensin in the turtle may be due largely to catecholamines.
Transmission ratio distortion of mouse t haplotypes is not a consequence of wild-type sperm degeneration.

Abstract A mouse t-complex-specific DNA probe was used to determine the ratio of t-carrying and (+)-carrying sperm in epididymal, vas deferens, and postejaculatory sperm cell populations from heterozygous ( + t ) mice with transmission ratios of greater than 95%. No detectable degeneration of (+)-carrying sperm was observed. In this respect, mouse t haplotypes differ from Drosophila melanogaster SD chromosomes. High transmission of t haplotypes must be a consequence of differential transport and/or differential sperm function during the fertilization process itself.
GPU accelerated motion and disparity estimations for multiview coding

Multiview video coding (MVC) is an extension of H.264/AVC standard. Its purpose is to further increase compression efficiency when multiple video sources are presented for coding. The computational complexity of MVC, however, is extremely high due to the motion estimation (ME) between the frames and disparity estimation (DE) between the views, contributing to more than 99% of overall complexity of the coder. For MVC to find a common place for real-time applications requires acceleration of ME and DE engines. On the other hand, there is a recent uptake of graphical processing unit (GPU) computing to significantly enhance the performance of signal and image processing applications, through massive-parallel processing. This paper presents the development and GPU implementation of a parallel full search algorithm to significantly reduce the computational complexity of ME and DE over the full search and TZsearch estimations on a sequential processor, by a factor of 300 and 4, respectively.
Possible alternate splicing or initiation of the pro-opiomelanocortin gene in lymphocytes.

Des lymphocytes en culture transcrivent le gene de la proopiomelanocortine; cette transcription augmente quand les lymphocytes sont cultives en presence de ACTH-RH
Improving spatial localization in MEG inverse imaging by leveraging intersubject anatomical differences.

Modern neuroimaging techniques enable non-invasive observation of ongoing neural processing, with magnetoencephalography (MEG) in particular providing direct measurement of neural activity with millisecond time resolution. However, accurately mapping measured MEG sensor readings onto the underlying source neural structures remains an active area of research. This so-called “inverse problem” is ill posed, and poses a challenge for source estimation that is often cited as a drawback limiting MEG data interpretation. However, anatomically constrained MEG localization estimates may be more accurate than commonly believed. Here we hypothesize that, by combining anatomically constrained inverse estimates across subjects, the spatial uncertainty of MEG source localization can be mitigated. Specifically, we argue that differences in subject brain geometry yield differences in point-spread functions, resulting in improved spatial localization across subjects. To test this, we use standard methods to combine subject anatomical MRI scans with coregistration information to obtain an accurate forward (physical) solution, modeling the MEG sensor data resulting from brain activity originating from different cortical locations. Using a linear minimum-norm inverse to localize this brain activity, we demonstrate that a substantial increase in the spatial accuracy of MEG source localization can result from combining data from subjects with differing brain geometry. This improvement may be enabled by an increase in the amount of available spatial information in MEG data as measurements from different subjects are combined. This approach becomes more important in the face of practical issues of coregistration errors and potential noise sources, where we observe even larger improvements in localization when combining data across subjects. Finally, we use a simple auditory N100(m) localization task to show how this effect can influence localization using a recorded neural dataset.
The influence of dietary lutein and zeaxanthin on visual performance.

ABSTRACT: The idea that normal constituents of the diet can influence visual function is not new. As early as 1782, Buzzi identified the yellow of the macula and Schulze (1866) specifically postulated that the yellow pigments led to improvements in human vision. These pigments were later found to be derived from dietary lutein and zeaxanthin that are known to be oxygenated carotenoids (xanthophylls). Walls and Judd (1933) postulated that these yellow intraocular pigments could improve visual performance by absorbing light scattered both within (for example, glare) and outside of the eye (increasing visual range by absorbing blue light scattered in the atmosphere), and by improving spatial vision through enhancing contrast and reducing chromatic blur. In this article, evidence for these ideas is reviewed with particular emphasis towards more recent data on glare effects.
Elastic Fields Resulting From Concentrated Loading on a Three-Dimensional Incompressible Wedge

This paper considers point force or point moment loading applied to the surface of a three-dimensional wedge. The wedge is two-dimensional in geometry but the loading may vary in a direction parallel to the wedge apex, thus creating a three-dimensional problem within the realm of linear elasticity. The wedge is homogeneous, isotropic, and the assumption of incompressibility is taken in order for solutions to be obtained. The loading cases considered presently are as follows : point normal loading on the wedge face, point moment loading on the wedge face, and an arbitrarily directed force or moment applied at a point on the apex of the wedge. The solutions given here are closed-form expressions. For point force or point moment loading on the wedge face, the elastic field is given in terms ofa single integral containing associated Legendre functions. When the point force or moment is at the wedge tip, closed-form (nonintegral) expressions are obtained in terms of elementary functions. An interesting result of the present research indicates that the wedge paradox in two-dimensional elasticity also exists in the three-dimensional case for a concentrated moment at the wedge apex applied in one direction, but that it does not exist for a moment applied in the other two directions.
Life history and language: Selection in development

Language, like other human traits, could only have evolved during one or more stages of development. We enlist the theoretical framework of human life history to account for certain aspects of linguistic evolution, with special reference to initial phases in the process. It is hypothesized that selection operated at several developmental stages, the earlier ones producing new behaviors that were reinforced by additional, and possibly more powerful, forms of selection during later stages, especially adolescence and early adulthood. Peer commentaries have provided opportunities to explain human life history more comprehensively, and to add details to our account of spoken language. We made no attempt to explain syntax in the target article, but we propose here that selection for vocal plumage may have increased our species capacity for utterance complexity, a development that would have benefited all levels of language.
Reduction of cerebral glucose utilization by the HIV envelope glycoprotein Gp-120

Abstract Gp-120 is a glycoprotein constituent of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) envelope. The effects of gp-120 on cerebral glucose utilization in rats were studied by the quantitative 2-deoxy- d -[1- 14 C]glucose method. Intracerebroventricular injection of gp-120 significantly reduced glucose utilization in the lateral habenula and the suprachiasmatic nucleus and decreased the global cerebral metabolic rate for glucose. The findings suggest that gp-120 and closely related peptides can alter neuronal function, thereby contributing to the sequelae of HIV infection.
Comparison of terrane accretion in modern Southeast Asia and the Mesozoic North American Cordillera

The western part of the North American Cordillera has been divided into numerous suspect terranes. Some of these terranes have traveled hundreds to thousands of kilometres between the time of their formation and their final incorporation into the accretionary belt of the Cordillera. Most of the terranes appear to be relics of island arcs, oceanic plateaus and islands, continental margin fragments, and complex accretionary terranes, the latter including melange belts, ophiolite fragments, and thrust-faulted forearc provinces. Because the terranes have complex histories and diverse stratigraphies, it has been difficult to envisage an actualistic setting for the Mesozoic Cordillera. Here we propose an analogy with the tectonic setting of the Indo-Pacific region, from the Tonga trench on the east to eastern Indonesia on the west. This region comprises several distinct island arcs, several large oceanic plateaus, numerous accretionary terranes, melange zones, ophiolite fragments, and a variety of continental fragments, all moving toward the central collision zone. Like the Cordillera, this part of the Indo-Pacific region is undergoing oblique convergence, driven by relatively high rates of movement between the oceanic plates and the collision zone. Also analogous to the Cordillera is the formation of a foreland fold and thrust belt, developing between the collision zone and the Australian continent, and a zone of basement-rooted foreland folds, suggestive of an early Laramide style of deformation.
Neal R. Amundson, a bold and brilliant leader of chemical engineering.

Neal R. Amundson (born 1916), Cullen Professor Emeritus of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Houston, died February 16, 2011 in Houston at the age of 95.
COEVOLUTION AND BIOGEOGRAPHY AMONG NEMATODIRINAE (NEMATODA: TRICHOSTRONGYLINA) LAGOMORPHA AND ARTIODACTYLA (MAMMALIA): EXPLORING DETERMINANTS OF HISTORY AND STRUCTURE FOR THE NORTHERN FAUNA ACROSS THE HOLARCTIC

Nematodes of the subfamily Nematodirinae are characteristic components of a Holarctic fauna. The topology of a generic-level phylogenetic hypothesis, patterns of diversity, and geographic distributions for respective nematode taxa in conjunction with data for host occurrence are consistent with primary distributions determined across Beringia for species of Murielus, Rauschia, Nematodirus, and Nematodirella. Ancestral hosts are represented by Lagomorpha, with evidence for a minimum of 1 host-switching-event and subsequent radiation in the Artiodactyla. Diversification may reflect vicariance of respective faunas along with episodic or cyclical range expansion and isolation across Beringia during the late Tertiary and Quaternary. Secondarily, species of Nematodirus attained a distribution in the Neotropical region with minimal diversification of an endemic fauna represented by Nematodirus molini among tayassuids, Nematodirus lamae among camelids and Nematodirus urichi in cervids during the Pleistocene. Nematodirines are a core component of an Arctic-Boreal fauna of zooparasitic nematodes (defined by latitude and altitude) adapted to transmission in extreme environments characterized by seasonally low temperatures and varying degrees of desiccation. The history and distribution of this fauna is examined in the context of biotic and abiotic determinants for geographic colonization and host switching with an exploration of predicted responses of complex host-parasite systems to ecological perturbation under a regime of global climate change.