cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Facts about Vitamins and Minerals

Ever since James Lynn observed in 1593 that orange juice can prevent scurvy, humans have gradually become more aware that there are noncaloric substances in foods that are necessary for survival. Those substances that have enzymatic activity and are not synthesized by man are generally defined as vitamins. For the purposes of this book, the important facts concerning vitamins are described in a simplified outline form.
Physics Concepts in Energy Conversion

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the physics concepts in energy conversion. There is one single principle that dominates the entire subject of energy conversion in physics: Energy is conserved. The energy is one of the most important concepts and quantities in the physicists' description of nature. One cannot be sure that conservation of energy is absolutely universal. Energy conservation is mechanics can take various forms, but it always applies to a complete system. Ever since the development of the kinetic theory of matter, it has been recognized that heat and thermal energy are simply randomized forms of mechanical energy. However, the description of exchanges and conversions of thermal energy is dominated by the concept of temperature. It was the experiments of J. P. Joule that proved the existence of a precise equivalence in the conversion of mechanical work into heat. The conversion of heat into work always involves the degradation of thermal energy, which is the taking of thermal energy from a reservoir at one temperature and the returning of part of that energy to a second reservoir at a lower temperature.
Biological sex and glucoregulation modulate postprandial cognition following dairy milk and fruit juice in healthy school-age children.

Objectives: Recent work suggests potential postprandial benefits for cognition and on-task behavior in children, depending on the macronutrients consumed, as well as individual differences such as ...
Genetic and demographic analysis of invasive Peromyscus leucopus in the northern Great Lakes region

Many organisms worldwide are responding to rapid climate change by shifting their geographic ranges. The white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, has expanded its range northward in Michigan and Wisconsin since 1980 and is now common in localities where it was previously unknown. To investigate the origin and history of the newly established populations, complete D-loop sequences were analyzed from 595 white-footed mice collected throughout the northern Great Lakes region. Mice from Wisconsin and the western Upper Peninsula (UP) of Michigan make up a well-differentiated lineage, while the eastern UP and the Lower Peninsula (LP) of Michigan form a second lineage. The two lineages diverged about 34,000 BP, well before they migrated to the Great Lakes region. The close genetic relationship between mice in the LP and those in the eastern UP is probably due primarily to accidental transport by humans and may have implications for the spread of Lyme disease in the Upper Midwest.
Asymmetries in phonetic memory across voices and contexts

Listeners store highly detailed phonetic representations in memory. These representations are tied to talkers, whereby changing the talker negatively influences performance. This talk focuses on two related issues: (1) memory is not perfectly reliable and (2) the encoding of a single utterance across various voices and contexts is likely to vary. In this talk, I present the result from three experiments that highlight asymmetries that arise when we look the memory for spoken words in the continuous recognition paradigm when talker is a between-subject variable, when talker is a within subject variable, and when talker is a within-subject variable in a divided attention condition. I show that memory for spoken words depends on talker voice, presenting talker voices together increases the differences found across talkers. These differences are larger again, under divided attention conditions. The phonetic memory for a single word depends on the talker, the social information processed about the talker by the listener, and stereotypes cued by the voices. This work focuses on the memory of words spoken by different talkers and is important in a broader context: Reports of linguistic experiences depend on linguistic memory, and here, we show that memory is both predictably unreliable and easily malleable.
Shadows of Symmetries

Humans see patterns everywhere: in the turn of the seasons, in the threading of planets, even in the spatter of stars across the sky. No wonder when it comes to the spectral harmonies of atomic nuc...
Revisiting Reflective Practice in an Era of Teacher Education Reform: A Self-Study of an Early Childhood Teacher Education Program.

The authors describe a major program reform study of an early childhood teacher education program in a large, urban, state university in the United States. Over a 4-year period, our team of early c...
Pharmacist perspectives and considerations for implementation of therapeutic oncology biosimilars in practice.

Purpose An overview of therapeutic oncology biosimilars, the U.S. biosimilars regulatory pathway, and the clinical development of selected biosimilar products is provided, including discussion of considerations in adopting biosimilars into oncology practice. Summary Biosimilars are biologic agents that are highly similar to and have no clinically meaningful differences from an approved reference product in terms of safety, purity, and potency. There is a large market for cancer biologics, and approval of biosimilars has the potential to increase access to care and reduce costs. An abbreviated regulatory pathway for the development and approval of biosimilars defines a stepwise approach to demonstrating biosimilarity and conducting clinical comparative trials to confirm equivalent pharmacokinetics, efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity to the reference product. Three therapeutic biologics (bevacizumab, trastuzumab, and rituximab) have been used extensively in the treatment of a variety of cancers and are targets for biosimilar product development. Preclinical and clinical experience with 2 recently approved biosimilars to bevacizumab and trastuzumab is reviewed. Challenges faced by pharmacy and therapeutics committees when considering oncology biosimilars for formulary inclusion are discussed. Conclusion Increased adoption of biosimilars could potentially lower treatment costs and improve access to biologics for patients with cancer. Key considerations in formulary review of biosimilars include the quality and quantity of data from comparative clinical trials, economic factors, manufacturer reliability, and challenges associated with incorporating biosimilars into practice.
A Tale of Two Co-ops in Two Cities

Conceived in support of the Louisville Association of Cooperative Economics (LACE), this paper pre­sents case studies of two different food coopera­tives serving communities of color. After establish­ing a brief history of food cooperatives, we explore the expansion efforts of Seward Community Co-op, a long-standing and well-established coopera­tive in a predominantly White area of Minneapolis, Minnesota, into a more diverse area of the city. Next, we explore the Mandela Grocery Co-op in Oakland, California, a relatively new, worker-owned cooperative. We then discuss several points to consider in the development of new co-ops that emerge from these cases. See the press release for this article.
Probing biophysical sequence constraints within the transmembrane domains of rhodopsin by deep mutational scanning

Membrane proteins must balance the sequence constraints associated with folding and function against the hydrophobicity required for solvation within the bilayer. We recently found the expression and maturation of rhodopsin are limited by the hydrophobicity of its seventh transmembrane domain (TM7), which contains polar residues that are essential for function. On the basis of these observations, we hypothesized that rhodopsin’s expression should be less tolerant of mutations in TM7 relative to those within hydrophobic TM domains. To test this hypothesis, we used deep mutational scanning to compare the effects of 808 missense mutations on the plasma membrane expression of rhodopsin in HEK293T cells. Our results confirm that a higher proportion of mutations within TM7 (37%) decrease rhodopsin’s plasma membrane expression relative to those within a hydrophobic TM domain (TM2, 25%). These results in conjunction with an evolutionary analysis suggest solvation energetics likely restricts the evolutionary sequence space of polar TM domains.
Kalman Filter Approach for Line Parameter Estimation for Long Transmission Lines

Transmission line parameters including series resistance, series reactance, and shunt susceptance are essential inputs to a variety of power system applications. The purpose of the study is to develop new methods to estimate line parameters for long transmission lines with different configurations under the effect of measurement noises by utilizing the Kalman filter techniques. Simulations are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. Results evince promising applications of the proposed new method.
OP0248 PREMATURE MORTALITY BURDEN FOR SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS: NATIONWIDE POPULATION-BASED STUDY

Background: Premature mortality is an important way to quantify disease burden. Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) can die prematurely of disease, however, the premature mortality burden of SSc is unknown. The years of potential life lost (YPLL), in addition to age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR) in younger ages, can be used as measures of premature death. Objectives: To evaluate the premature mortality burden of SSc by calculating: 1) the proportions of SSc deaths as compared to deaths from all other causes (non-SSc) by age groups over time, 2) ASMR for SSc relative to non-SSc-ASMR by age groups over time, and 3) the YPLL for SSc relative to other autoimmune diseases. Methods: This is a population-based study using a national mortality database of all United States residents from 1968 through 2015, with SSc recorded as the underlying cause of death in 46,798 deaths. First, we calculated the proportions of deaths for SSc and non-SSc by age groups for each of 48 years and performed joinpoint regression trend analysis1 to estimate annual percent change (APC) and average APC (AAPC) in the proportion of deaths by age. Second, we calculated ASMR for SSc and non-SSc causes and ratio of SSc-ASMR to non-SSc-ASMR by age groups for each of 48 years, and performed joinpoint analysis to estimate APC and AAPC for these measures (SSc-ASMR, non-SSc-ASMR, and SSc-ASMR/non-SSc-ASMR ratio) by age. Third, to calculate YPLL, each decedent’s age at death from a specific disease was subtracted from an arbitrary age limit of 75 years for years 2000 to 2015. The years of life lost were then added together to yield the total YPLL for each of 13 preselected autoimmune diseases. Results: 23.4% of all SSc deaths as compared to 13.5% of non-SSc deaths occurred at Conclusion: Mortality at younger ages ( References: [1]Yen EY….Singh RR. Ann Int Med 2017;167:777-785. Disclosure of Interests: None declared
Local TrkB signaling: themes in development and neural plasticity

The sensitivity of the nervous system to receive and respond to events, both internal and in the environment, depends on the ability of neural structures to remodel in response to experience (Kandel 2001; Mayford et al. 2012)⁠. Neural plasticity depends on rapid, tightly controlled rearrangements of cytoskeleton, membrane morphology, and protein content. Neurons regulate plasticity across orders of structural organization, from changes in molecular machinery that calls forth the synaptic alterations that underlie learning and memory, to events that evoke mesoscale alterations in neurite architecture, and to the birth and death of neurons. We address the concept that the events responsible for such diverse modification of neurons originate from local changes in signaling and that understanding the underlying mechanisms requires an appreciation of the nature of constraints placed upon spatial and temporal activity. During development and in the adult, both the remodeling of specific subcellular structures and induction of synaptic plasticity require local control and regulation of signaling, including those initiated by activation of surface receptors (Reichardt 2006). As an example, the receptor tyrosine kinase TrkB, activated by its ligand brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), has emerged as a potent modulator of plasticity in both development and adulthood, from neurite pruning and branching events during PNS and CNS development, to learning and memory. Here, we review the mechanisms by which TrkB signaling engages in local remodeling to support neural plasticity.
Investigating Airplane Crash Data with Watson Analytics and Cognos Analytics

Over the last century, the world has seen a number of airplane crashes both in the sky and on the ground. The development of technology aims to decrease technological difficulties and human errors. However, fatalities and aircraft damages caused by crashes do not cease to exist.Investigating Airplane Crash Data with Watson Analytics and Cognos Analytics is a big data project that involves discovering and examining airplane crash patterns using IBM's Watson Analytics and Cognos Analytics. This project aims to: (1) find some factors that contribute to crashes, (2) analyze patterns of the data collected from all over the world in the past decades, and (3) find replicable solutions for both aviation industry and customers. This paper looks for correlations between crashes and different variables and predicts when crashes are most likely to happen in a year.The analysis of over 73,000 data points, collected from a subsidiary of Google LLC Kaggle, displays a decrease in the number of airplane crashes and fatalities over the years, an increase in the number of passengers, predictive values for the future years, correlations between different variables, and strong correlations between the occurrence of crashes and the following time variable: yearly, monthly, and daily.The results found in this project will benefit the ongoing investigations into this important topic. Understanding what factors cause airplane crashes helps aviation industries make continuous improvement in flight safety, and help raise customer confidence with the use of statistical evidence.
Near-Infrared Detection of WD 0806-661 B with the Hubble Space Telescope

WD 0806-661 B is one of the coldest known brown dwarfs (T {sub eff} = 300-345 K) based on previous mid-infrared photometry from the Spitzer Space Telescope. In addition, it is a benchmark for testing theoretical models of brown dwarfs because its age and distance are well constrained via its primary star (2 ± 0.5 Gyr, 19.2 ± 0.6 pc). We present the first near-infrared detection of this object, which has been achieved through F110W imaging (∼Y + J) with the Wide Field Camera 3 on board the Hubble Space Telescope. We measure a Vega magnitude of m {sub 110} = 25.70 ± 0.08, which implies J ∼ 25.0. When combined with the Spitzer photometry, our estimate of J helps to better define the empirical sequence of the coldest brown dwarfs in M {sub 4.5} versus J – [4.5]. The positions of WD 0806-661 B and other Y dwarfs in that diagram are best matched by the cloudy models of Burrows et al. and the cloudless models of Saumon et al., both of which employ chemical equilibrium. The calculations by Morley et al. for 50% cloud coverage differ only modestly from the data. Spectroscopy would enable a more stringent testmore » of the models, but based on our F110W measurement, such observations are currently possible only with Hubble, and would require at least ∼10 orbits to reach a signal-to-noise ratio of ∼5.« less
Colloidal density control with Bessel-Gauss beams

Optical manipulation of colloidal systems is of high interest for both fundamental studies and practical applications. It has been shown that optically induced thermophoresis and nonlinear interactions can significantly affect the properties of dense colloidal media. However, macroscopic scale phenomena can also be generated at thermal equilibrium. Here, we demonstrate that steady-state variations of particle density can be created over large, three-dimensional regions by appropriately structured external optical fields. We prove analytically and experimentally that an optical vortex beam can dynamically control the spatial density of microscopic particles along the direction of its propagation. We show that these artificial steady-states can be generated at will and can be maintained indefinitely, which can be beneficial for applications such as path clearing and mass transportation.
The Racially Unequal Impacts of Disasters and Federal Recovery Assistance on Local Self-Employment Rates:

This study examines racial inequalities in changing self-employment rates associated with natural hazard impacts and federal recovery assistance in ethnoracially diverse metropolitan counties betwe...
Visual Aids in Skiing

(1951). Visual Aids in Skiing. Journal of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation: Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 51-52.
The Effects of Strain and Centrality of Strain on Delinquency among Chinese Adolescents

This study assesses the moderating effects of importance placed on strained domains (i.e., centrality of strain) on the relationship between strain and delinquent participation among Chinese adolescents. Regression analyses of data on 1,735 middle school students from Fuzhou City, China, yield results quite comparable with expectations. Adolescents who report high levels of strain and simultaneously consider these strained domains (i.e., status achievement, interpersonal relations, and personal appearance) as important engage in higher levels of delinquency than those who encounter strain but deem it as less important. The effects of strain and centrality of strain are most salient concerning status achievement. These findings are interpreted in light of Chinas cultural setting and policy implications. KW: Juvenile justice; Juvenile delinquency; Language: en
Discordance among Cell-Mediated Cytolytic Mechanisms in Cancer Patients: Importance of the Assay System

ADCC and SCMC directed against Change cell targets that are mediated by lymphocytes having properties characteristic of K cells were impaired in cancer patients. In contrast, ADCC directed against CRBC targets that is mediated by both K cells and macrophages was normal in cancer patients, whereas SCMC against CRBC that is mediated primarily by macrophages was increased. Thus, there was a discordance among cytotoxic mechanisms in cancer patients with K cell-mediated cytotoxic function being impaired and macrophage-mediated cytotoxicity being enhanced. Regression analysis suggested that these perturbations of cytotoxic function occurred independently. Cancer patients had an increased proportion of circulating macrophages and a decreased proportion of eosinophils, but these abnormalities did not correlate significantly with ADCC or SCMC.
Activation of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor during development leads to an altered CD4+ T cell response to influenza A virus infection (IRC2P.448)

Epidemiological evidence suggests developmental exposures to certain pollutants correlate with lower antibody responses to childhood immunizations, but the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. The transcription factor aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is activated by a variety of chemicals, expressed by immune cells, and has been shown to influence immune function, such as CD4+ T cell subset specification and function. The effect of maternal exposure to AhR ligands on the function of CD4+ T cells has never been directly examined. We report here the consequences of developmental triggering of the AhR on the CD4+ T cell response to influenza virus infection. Mice developmentally exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the prototypical AhR ligand, have fewer activated, virus-specific CD4+ T cells, Th1, and T follicular helper cells, yet an increase in regulatory T cells in their lung draining lymph nodes. Consistent with this, developmentally exposed mice have a reduction in their class-switched, virus-specific antibody response. By using reciprocal adoptive transfers, we demonstrate that the effects of developmental activation of the AhR on CD4+ T cells occur through both direct and indirect pathways. These findings suggest changes in the functional capacity of CD4+ T cells may be a key contributor to the decreased antibody response to immunizations observed in children of mothers exposed to AhR-binding chemicals.
Amino-acylation site mutations in amino acid-activating domains of surfactin synthetase: effects on surfactin production and competence development in Bacillus subtilis.

Abstract The part of the srfA operon of Bacillus subtilis that contains the region required for competence development is composed of the first four amino acid-activating domains which are responsible for the incorporation of Glu, Leu, D-Leu, and Val into the peptide moiety of the lipopeptide surfactin. Ser-to-Ala substitutions were made in the amino-acylation site of each domain, and their effects on surfactin production and competence development were examined. All of the mutations conferred a surfactin-negative phenotype, supporting the finding that the conserved Ser in the amino-acylation site is required for peptide synthesis. However, none of the mutations affected significantly competence development or the expression of a lacZ fusion to the late competence operon comG. This, coupled with recent findings that only the fourth, Val-activating, domain is required for competence, suggests that some activity, other than amino-acylation and perhaps unrelated to peptide synthesis, possessed by the fourth domain is involved in the role of srfA in regulating competence development.
Adipogenesis and glycemic improvement can be concurrent, yet independent (133.7)

Although excessive adiposity is linked with impaired glycemic control, in some animal models transgenic manipulations that increase adiposity, paradoxically improve glycemic control. In mice, Ad36, -a human adenovirus, promotes adipogenesis, and enhances glycemic control. The E4orf1 gene of Ad36 is sufficient to improve diet induced hyperglycemia in mice, which offers therapeutic potential. Studies indicate that via E4orf1, Ad36 increases Ras to up-regulate PPARγ and Glut4 signaling, leading to adipogenesis and better glycemic control, respectively. Our objective was to determine if the adipogenic and glycemic signaling pathways induced by E4orf1 are interdependent. PPARγ null mouse embryonic fibroblasts were transfected with vector expressing E4orf1 or a null vector. Compared to cells transfected with the null vector, E4orf1 expression significantly increased glucose uptake despite a complete absence of PPARγ or adipogenesis, and significantly enhanced Ras activation and the protein abundance of glucose ...
A Moorean View of the Value of Lives

Can we understand being valuable for in terms of being valuable? Three different kinds of puzzle cases suggest that the answer is negative. In what follows, I articulate a positive answer to this question, carefully present the three puzzle cases, and then explain how a friend of the positive answer can successfully respond to them. This response requires us to distinguish different kinds of value bearers, rather than different kinds of value, and to hold that among the value bearers are totality states of affairs. The final section of the article discusses the possibility of organic unification without organic unities.
Detection of ras point mutations by polymerase chain reaction using mutation-specific, inosine-containing oligonucleotide primers

Abstract The use of DNA primers with 3′-ends complementary to specific genetic point mutations allowed for the rapid detection of such mutations in genomic DNA by polymerase chain reaction. The sensitivity of this approach was such that mutations could be detected in DNA samples mixed with a 10 7 -fold excess of normal non-mutated DNA. To increase the practicality of this approach for the detection of point mutations affecting all 3 of the known ras oncogenes we synthesized mutation-specific primers complementary to all 3 genes by substituting inosine residues at positions corresponding to ambigous bases on the genes.
Mantle cell lymphoma with flow cytometric evidence of clonal plasmacytic differentiation: A case report

Background: Plasmacytic differentiation in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) occurs rarely. However, no flow cytometric studies that demonstrate plasmacytic (PC) differentiation in MCL have been reported. Herein, we report a case of MCL with PC differentiation identified by flow cytometry. Methods: Morphologic review was performed by hematoxylin and eosin (HE14)(q13;q32) was performed on interphase cells. Results: The neoplastic cells had the cytologic features of MCL with nodal, bone marrow, and colonic involvement. In-situ hybridization for kappa and lambda light chains demonstrated clonal plasma cells in the lymph node and bone marrow biopsies. In addition, flow cytometric studies of the bone marrow aspirate showed three populations of neoplastic cells: a clonal B-cell population with typical MCL phenotype, a similar B-cell population in transition to plasma cells, and a clonal plasma cell population. The plasma cells retained CD5 expression and had the same light chain restriction as the clonal B-cells. Conclusions: Multi-parameter flow cytometry can be useful in demonstrating clonal PC differentiation in MCL and distinguishing from a concurrent but unrelated plasma cell dyscrasia. © 2008 Clinical Cytometry Society
Semiconducting YBaCuO as infrared-detecting bolometers

This paper reports the fabrication of microbolometers using semiconducting YBaCuO as the IR sensing material. The detectors are operable at room temperature and thus are suitable for lost-cost and high performance imaging applications. Semiconducting YBaCuO is promising as a bolometric material as it has a thermal coefficient of resistance near 3% and relatively low noise. Two different bolometer structures will be reported here. First generation YBaCuO microbolometers were built on micromachined SiO 2 bridges using wet etching techniques to undercut the silicon. The second generation structures were processed upon micromachined Si 3 N 4 membranes with sputtered MgO films used as sacrificial layers. The membrane structures are the first of its kind to incorporate MgO as a sacrificial layer, and they offer a fabrication technique that is fully CMOS compatible, with all processing at ambient temperatures. Detectivities in the order of 10 8 cm Hz 1/2 /W were measured at 30 Hz chopping frequency in both structures. The thermal conductance of the suspended membranes was on the order of 10 -7 W/K, which is desirable as low thermal conductance yields high responsivities. There are realizable optimizations for both applications to yield detectivities over 10 9 cm Hz 1/2 /W. All measurements reported here were performed at ambient temperature with no temperature stabilization.
Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome after syngeneic bone marrow transplant in mice.

Idiopathic pneumonia syndrome is characterized by noninfectious diffuse lung injury after myeloablative chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant. Because little is known about its pathogenesis after autologous-based regimens, we have developed a murine model that closely mimics the human lung disease process. Using an autologous regimen similar to that used for patients with metastatic breast cancer, mice developed pulmonary injury as early as 1 day posttransplant. This lung injury was most dramatically characterized by decreased lung compliance that was associated with an intense monocytic cellular infiltrate of activated macrophages. This influx was preceded by an acute elevation in monocyte chemotactic protein-1 and macrophage inflammatory protein-1α. The conditioning regimen caused substantial oxidative stress as manifest by elevations in lung lipid peroxidation and oxidized glutathione. To test the hypothesis that oxidation is directly responsible for the lung toxicity, we administered the antioxidant...
Mechanism of potentiation of LY83583-induced growth inhibition by sodium nitroprusside in human brain tumor cells

The effect of 6-anilino-5,8-quinolinedione (LY83583), an inhibitor of guanylyl cyclase (GC), on the growth of human brain tumor cells (U-373 MG astrocytoma and SK-N-MC neuroblastoma) was evaluated. LY83583 inhibited the growth of these cells in a dose-dependent manner. This growth inhibition was found to be the result of decreased cell viability as assessed by the trypan blue exclusion method. The LY83583-induced decrease in cell viability was not altered by dibutyryl cyclic GMP, but significantly was reversed by superoxide dismutase and catalase, indicating that these effects of LY83583 may not be due to the inhibition of GC, but due to the formation of superoxide anion. The LY83583-induced decrease in cell viability was potentiated by cotreatment with sodium nitroprusside (SNP), a nitric oxide (NO) donor. This SNP-induced potentiation was significantly blocked by various scavengers for hydroxyl radicals or by intracellular Ca2+ release blockers. These results suggest that the potentiation effects of SNP may be mediated through the generation of hydroxyl radicals which can be formed by the interaction of superoxide anion (from LY83583) and NO (from SNP), and that intracellular Ca2+ release from internal stores may play an important role in the cytotoxic mechanism of hydroxyl radicals.
An objective measure of REM activity

Recent emphasis on REM sleep abnormalities has begun to yield significant differences between “normals” and patients with affective syndromes or schizophrenia. In our efforts to objectively quantitate aspects of REM sleep during all-night studies in psychiatric patients, we have developed the “REM analyzer” for automatic on-line measurement. As a practical application of the REM analyzer, 20 psychiatric patients (12 inpatients and 8 outpatients) were studied. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal-sleep studies were obtained; predrug and drug periods were also compared. From the REM analyzer, the number of rapid eye movements during each REM period (Cn) and the sum of their integrals during each REM period (In) were recorded. The ratio I/C was named “REM weight” (the “average rapid-eye-movement area“). The objective measures of REM sleep which highly correlate with a number of visual methods of defining REM sleep and with diagnostic and therapeutic implications in affective and schizophrenic disorders are discussed in this paper. The method appears particularly suitable for the differentiation of tonic and phasic components of REM sleep and, thus, for the investigation of REM suppression-compensation models.
The multiple-robot assembly plan problem

In previous research, we defined, classified, and solved the robotic assembly plan problem for a single assembly robot. In this paper, we formulate this problem for the case of multiple, cooperating assembly robots. The problem now includes the allocation of assembly tasks among multiple robots.
ANALYSIS OF SELENIUM IN GLASS

A new method for the determination of selenium in glass is reported. It comprises fusion of the sample with sodium carbonate, dissolution of the melt in sulfuric acid, distillation of the selenium as selenium tetrabromide from a sulfuric-hydrobromic acid solution, and titration of the distilled selenium by the iodide-thiosulfate method. The method is rapid, accurate, and precise and recovers all forms of selenium. The recommended procedure is outlined.
Choice of material for HVL measurements in megavoltage x-ray beams

The relative sensitivity of the half-value layer (HVL) method as a quality index for megavoltage x-ray beams is examined by theoretical calculation and experimental measurements for 4-, 6-, 10-, and 25-MV x-ray beams. It is shown that lower atomic number materials are more sensitive to beam quality changes than higher atomic number materials, and that aluminum is a reasonable choice of material for HVL measurements in megavoltage x-ray beams. Further, it was found that the HVL in aluminum or polystyrene is a more sensitive index of spectral quality than the ionization ratio method, recommended by recent dosimetry protocols.
Inhibin A and inhibin B responses to gonadotropin withdrawal depends on stage of follicle development.

Previous studies demonstrate that inhibin A and B are differentially secreted across the menstrual cycle. To test the hypothesis that the responses of inhibin A and inhibin B to partial gonadotropin withdrawal are influenced by the stage of follicular development, a maximally suppressive dose of the Nal-Glu GnRH antagonist (150 μg/kg) was administered to normal cycling women during the midfollicular (MFP; n = 8), late follicular (LFP; n = 6), and midluteal phase (MLP; n = 5) to assess ovarian responsiveness over a broad range of developmental stages. Administration of the GnRH antagonist resulted in a significant decrease in LH (75 ± 5%, 63 ± 3%, and 84 ± 7%; P < 0.05) and FSH (23 ± 9%, 32 ± 5%, and 39 ± 6%; P < 0.04) during the MFP, LFP, and MLP, respectively. During the MFP, partial withdrawal of gonadotropins resulted in disappearance of the dominant follicle on ultrasound accompanied by a decrease in estradiol (E2; 64.9 ± 11.4 to 23.9 ± 3.3 pg/mL; P < 0.02) and inhibin B levels (121.6 ± 14.8 to 28.4 ±...
Pressure dependent Raman, and conductivity studies of the fast ion conductors Cu2HgI4, Ag2HgI4 and Tl2ZnI4

Abstract High pressure Raman, electrical conductivity, and optical microscopic studies on the ternary fast ion conductor Cu2HgI4 were undertaken to delineate the pressure-temperature phase diagram. In addition, comparison of the pressure dependence of Raman shifts in Cu2HgI4 and Tl2ZnI4 was used to assist in making vibrational assignments whenever possible.
Research on Control Strategy and Experiment of Electronic Mechanical Continuously Variable Transmission

Nowadays, most of continuously variable transmissions (CVT) adopt hydraulic system to exert pressure on the cone-plate, in order to realize variable speed control. Electronic Mechanical Continuously Variable Transmission (EMCVT) studied in this paper, however, used rolling screw mechanism instead of the energy-hungry hydraulic system. Mechanical speed governor controlled by electro was adopted in EMCVT to regulate speed, which not only reduced the automobile’s fuel consumption, but also brought down the transmission’s manufacturing cost and failure rate obviously. Further study on the ratio control strategy of EMCVT was made and digital PID control algorithm with target ratio tracing was raised. Moreover, an improved PID control algorithm, that was integral separation and differential precession algorithm, was given. Platform experiment of EMCVT was finished, thus, the functionality and rationality of this transmission’s mechanical structure was proved, so was the feasibility and rationality of the speed ratio control strategy.
Cashing in palm oil for conservation.

Tropical forests in southeast Asia are under threat from oil-palm growers. This is an opportunity to combine sustainable economic growth with biodiversity conservation, argue Lian Pin Koh and David S. Wilcove. The growing popularity of palm oil as a cooking oil, in manufactured foods and as a biofuel has been condemned by some conservationists. Large areas of rainforest are being given over to palms in Malaysia and Indonesia, with an appreciable loss in biodiversity. Yet the high yield and high prices that make this crop so attractive could be turned to a biodiversity advantage. Lian Pin Koh and David Wilcove suggest that campaigning groups could buy small tracts of existing oil palm plantations, and use the revenue they generate to establish a network of privately owned nature reserves.
Government Regulation and the Quality of Healthcare: Evidence from Minimum Staffing Legislation for Nursing Homes

This paper investigates the effect of a regulation mandating a minimum nurse-staffing level on the quality of healthcare in nursing homes. To comply with the regulation, firms increase employment of nurses in proportion to the gap between their initial staffing level and the legislated minimum threshold. If higher nurse staffing causes better quality, then the changes in quality outcomes should mirror these changes. Despite inducing increases in nurse aide hours of 10 percent on average and up to 30 percent for some firms, I find no impact of the regulation on patient outcomes or overall facility quality.
Global Comparability in Financial Reporting: What, Why, How, and When?

The Conceptual Framework identifies comparability as a qualitative characteristic of useful financial reporting information. This paper explains what comparability is, why comparability is desirable, how comparability is achieved, and when we might achieve it. In particular, comparability is the qualitative characteristic that enables users to identify and understand similarities in, and differences among, items; comparability aides investors, lenders and other creditors in making informed capital allocation decisions; and achieving comparability depends on firms applying a common set of financial reporting standards and on requirements in the standards, especially measurement requirements. The paper discusses research showing that greater comparability can lower costs of comparing investment opportunities and improving financial reporting information quality. When comparability might be achieved is uncertain, although much progress has been made recently.
“Così è (se vi pare)”: Remarks on Subjective Well-Being from a Resource-Based Perspective

The present international interest on subjective well-being in research and policy-making is put under a critical eye from the perspective of the Scandinavian resource-based approach on well-being. In its stereotypical formulation, the Scandinavian approach is first and foremost interested in access to sufficient resources for all, and also in fair distribution of resources in the population. The approach leaves little space for subjective well-being, or leaves it as a private issue that is not a policy concern. From the Scandinavian perspective, it seems that many research ideas and policy proposals inspired by subjective well-being can be returned to resource-based approach. The paper discusses critically some recent proposals of strengthening the role of subjective well-being in research and policy. It also points out that the Scandinavian approach is not a monolith, but a number of side currents have always existed there, including ideas related to subjective well-being. Finally, the paper describes a rising interest in subjective well-being in the Nordic countries, too, although resource-based approach still dominates in welfare policies.
A source of error in mutagen testing of foods

Mutagenic compounds reported to be present in foods may be forming during the extraction process rather than during cooking or baking. In this study, the formation of mutagenic substances in biscuits was examined using in the extraction procedure either ammonium sulfate and ammonium hydroxide or sodium sulfate and sodium hydroxide. Compounds producing high mutagenic activity in Salmonella strains 1538 and TA 98 obtained from aqueous biscuit extracts containing ammonium ions. No mutagenic activity was observed in extracts from aqueous biscuit extracts containing sodium ions until some ammonium ions (NH4OH) were added. We suggest that ammonium sulfate and ammonium hydroxide not be used in the extraction procedure of food when studying mutagen formation.
Comparative evaluation of mask cleaning performance

Cleaning is one of the most important processes in photomask manufacturing, because the smallest particles may be printable on wafers. Moreover, mask cleaning requirements are stricter than that for wafers because masks are the master image from which all wafers prints will be made. We now face difficult challenges as we enter the 90nm era with 193nm DUV lithography and more prominent use of phase shifting applications. As defect sizes to be controlled in the cleaning process decrease, cleaning performance depends not only on conventional chemical treatments and megasonic hardware, but also on new cleaning methods such as UV/Ozone treatment. We investigated and compared the cleaning performance of UV/Ozone treatment + traditional chemical cleaning methods with standalone conventional wet chemical cleaning methods on glass, chrome, and MoSiON blank surfaces over pattern densities at 70% and 30% clear in the pattern area. Contact angle measurements and wettability tests were performed as well to evaluate cleaning performance results. The cleaning effectiveness with different drying methods on EAPSMs has been also investigated by controlling phase and transmission of KrF EAPSMs to within ±3'and ±0.3% respectively. Overall, it was found that the UV/Ozone pre-treatment combined with the traditional chemical cleaning process results in a better particle removal rate compared to conventional cleaning methods when it comes to removing the smallest mask particles., and it did not adversely affect EAPSM optical properties.
Point-of-care technology: The i-STAT system for bedside blood analysis

T HE i-STAT PORTABLE blood analyzing system (Princeton, N J) is a small, portable, hand-held device that performs a panel of blood tests in 90 seconds on two to three drops of whole blood (Fini, 1994). This technological innovation, which combines silicon chip manufacturing with classical electrochemistry, facilitates the instantaneous reporting of critical laboratory parameters. Blood analysis for sodium, potassium, chloride, ionized calcium, urea nitrogen, glucose, hematocrit, and blood gases are readily available with the current technology. Serum bilirubin soon will be added to the menu. The testing can be performed by physicians, nurses, or other trained assistive personnel and is performed at the bedside, eliminating the costs associated with transporting specimens to a remote central laboratory. This technology has been successfully applied in a variety of clinical settings that include high-acuity patients requiring rapid stabilization and management. These settings include but are not limited to the neonatal intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, PICU, postanesthesia, critical care unit, emergency, dialysis, and outpatient settings. The use of this system on transport also could further expedite early recognition and treatment of acid base,
Theory of plasmon interactions in an electron gas: Scattering of two plasmons

The interaction of two plasmons is calculated from first principles by two methods. Following the physical approach of Bohm and Pines, the scattering amplitude of two plasmons is dominated by the exchange of an electron-hole pair, although higher-order contributions yield minor quantitative corrections. The effective coupling between plasmons is found to be attractive and sufficiently strong to form a bound state of two plasmons at reasonably low electron densities (${r}_{s}g3$). An alternate derivation of the electron-plasmon Hamiltonian supports these conclusions. Possible extensions of the theory of systems of reduced dimensionality are briefly discussed in view of recently observed anomalies in the two-plasmon spectrum.
Antifungal Activity of Thiosemicarbazones

The antifungal activity of several substituted thiosemicarbazones was studied, and a direct relation was found between antifungal activity and reaction of the thiosemicarbazones with copper ions. N 2 -Methyl derivatives do not form complexes with copper ions and have little antifungal activity, while the other derivatives for which complex formation is possible have an activity similar to that of the unsubstituted thiosemicarbazones. 9-Undecenal thiosemicarbazone was found to be active against Aspergillus niger in a metal-deficient medium, but its effect can be neutralized by the addition of equivalent amounts of copper acetate.
Development of medium energy ion scattering and magneto-optic Kerr effect apparatus for characterizing ultrathin magnetic films

Abstract The development of a state-of-the-art UHV surface science instrument is described. It has been built to study the relationship between the atomic structure and the magnetic anisotropy of ultrathin magnetic films and their interfaces. The unique aspect of this instrument is the particular combination of several in-situ surface techniques, MEIS and LEED for detailed atomic structural determination, XPS/UPS/AES for surface chemistry analysis, and magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) for magnetic measurements. Additionally, the metal films are grown in situ with full control of the sample temperature throughout an experiment. The components are incorporated into a relatively compact system of three vacuum chambers and a 230 keV ion accelerator for the MEIS. The rotating MEIS ion analyzer uses a two-axis, scattering angle and energy, position sensitive detector. To allow the sample temperature to be fully controlled, the sample remains on a single manipulator, with six-axis motion, at all times. The manipulator is moved to different analysis stations in the main chamber via motion of a large (67cm dia.) differentially pumped, rotating seal. Nonmagnetic materials were extensively used for compatibility with the 3 Tesla superconducting magnet used for the MOKE measurements. The successful implementation of the instrument is demonstrated with MEIS and MOKE results from Fe growth on Cu(100).
Calculating the efficacy of heat sterilization processes.

Abstract The isothermal semi-logarithmic survival curves of certain bacterial spores, C. botulinum and B. sporothermodurans among them, are non-linear. Hence, the methods to calculate the efficacy of processes to destroy them need to be revised. These spores’ survival curves could be described by a power law model, which is based on the assumption that the spores’ heat resistances have a Weibull type distribution, with a practically temperature independent shape factor. The temperature dependence of the ‘rate parameter’ of the power law model (related to the reciprocal of the distribution’s scale factor) could be described by a log logistic or a discontinuous linear model. The survival characteristics of the two spores are described in terms of the power law model’s exponents and the log logistic and discontinuous linear models’ two parameters; the temperature level where the inactivation accelerates and the rate at which it rises with temperature at the lethal range. These three parameters, together with the temperature profiles were used to simulate the outcome of different heat processes by solving, numerically, a rate based survival model. The resulting survival curves could then be compared and the processes’ lethality assessed in terms of the final survival ratio that they had produced. The method to calculate the survival curves is applicable to thermal processes having either a continuous or a discontinuous temperature profile. The same survival model could also be used to estimate the spores’ survival parameters directly from the non-isothermal survival curves in simulated inactivation data to which a scatter had been added.