cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Designing Instructional Materials with Desktop Publishing Software: The Effect of White-Space Variations on Learning.

AbstractAs more and more people gain access to personal computers and powerful desktop-publishing software, many teachers and trainers are producing their own instructional materials using desktop publishing. The new desktop-publishing software offers a wide variety of graphic and text combinations. Three popular text-graphic treatments are run-around, wrap-around, and transparent text. In addition to changing the shape of the text surrounding the graphic, the first two types of text-graphic placement can utilize variations in the amount of white space surrounding the graphic as well. This study utilized the wrap-around text format with variations in the amount of white space surrounding the graphic to investigate effect of white-space variations on reading speed and comprehension. The subjects for this study were 128 university students enrolled in an undergraduate computer literacy course. ANOVA revealed a significantly lower mean score in comprehension for the treatment with one-half inch of white spac...
Review of current authorship guidelines and the controversy regarding publication of clinical trial data.

Publication of clinical trial data is the final step in the scientific method and an important method by which pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, i.e., drug sponsors, disseminate information about their products. Because of the nature of large, multicenter trials, multiple investigators from many institutions may be considered as authors of these papers. Controversy concerning the rights of academic institutions and the rights of drug sponsors has been widely debated. This chapter summarizes the controversy and the current policies.
Wittgenstein on Description

It is a commonplace in discussions of Wittgenstein's later writings to note that he insisted that philosophy involved descriptions, not explanations. Despite this little has been written about the descriptions he had in mind. A close reading of the texts shows that very often Wittgenstein was asking for descriptions of descriptions of everyday objects and phenomena. With this in mind, I consider what can be learned about pain from considering descriptions of descriptions of pain. I conclude by demonstrating how Wittgenstein's discussion of rule-following looks if we keep in mind that he is discussing and describing, descriptions.
Nucleic Acids: Thermal Stability and Denaturation

Nucleic acid structures can have different stabilities that depend on a variety of factors that include the nucleic acid sequence, the structure adopted, and the solution environment. Together, these factors influence the thermal stability of the complex. Keywords: DNA melting; RNA melting; duplex stability; base pairing
Bisphenol A activates Maxi-K (KCa1.1) channels in coronary smooth muscle

Background and purpose: Bisphenol A (BPA) is used to manufacture plastics, including containers for food into which it may leach. High levels of exposure to this oestrogenic endocrine disruptor are associated with diabetes and heart disease. Oestrogen and oestrogen receptor modulators increase the activity of large conductance Ca2+/voltage-sensitive K+ (Maxi-K; KCa1.1) channels, but the effects of BPA on Maxi-K channels are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that BPA activates Maxi-K channels through a mechanism that depends upon the regulatory β1 subunit. Experimental approach: Patch-clamp recordings of Maxi-K channels were made in human and canine coronary smooth muscle cells as well as in AD-293 cells expressing pore-forming α or α plus β1 subunits. Key results: BPA (10 µM) activated an outward current in smooth muscle cells that was inhibited by penitrem A (1 µM), a Maxi-K blocker. BPA increased Maxi-K activity in inside-out patches from coronary smooth muscle, but had no effect on single channel conductance. In AD-293 cells with Maxi-K channels composed of α subunits alone, 10 µM BPA did not affect channel activity. When channels in AD-293 cells contained β1 subunits, 10 µM BPA increased channel activity. Effects of BPA were rapid (<1 min) and reversible. A higher concentration of BPA (100 µM) increased Maxi-K current independent of the β1 subunit. Conclusions and implications: Our data indicate that BPA increased the activity of Maxi-K channels and may represent a basis for some potential toxicological effects.
Abstract 278: Diet-Induced Leukocyte Telomere Shortening Correlates with Extent of Atherosclerosis

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in developed countries, is commonly due to atherosclerosis. Studies have demonstrated association between leukocyte telomere shortening (LTS), extent of atherosclerotic lesions and accelerated cell senescence. Further LTS is associated with dietary intake. However, efforts to link LTS, diet and extent of lesions have been unsuccessful in humans due to difficulties controlling diet in large human population studies. To begin addressing these critical issues, we controlled dietary fat (high-fat, HF) in baboons for 2yrs - a well-developed primate model of human atherosclerosis. This is the first study in primates showing correlation of LTS with both chronic HF diet and atherosclerotic lesions. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that leukocyte telomere length decreased with chronic HF diet in baboons and is correlated with extent of atherosclerotic lesions. Methods and Results: A cohort of pedigreed baboons (n=107; females=46, males=61) was fed a HF diet for 2yrs. Absolute leukocyte telomere lengths (LTL; kb/diploid genome) were quantified by qPCR before and after diet challenge. Total telomere length was calculated by computing the ratio of telomere quantity per single copy gene quantity (baboon LIPG). Mean LTL was significantly shorter after feeding baboons a HF diet for 2 yrs (paired t test, p=0.03). Baboons (n=232) maintained on a low fat diet for 2yrs showed no significant difference in LTL (p=0.47). These findings suggest that a HF diet accelerates LTS. Further we quantified the extent of atherosclerotic lesions in baboons after 2yr HF diet and found that LTL, adjusted for age and sex, were correlated with lesions in descending aorta (Pearson correlation, r=0.19; p=0.03). Interestingly this correlation was significant in females but not in males after adjusting for age (r=0.27, p=0.03). Conclusions: LTS correlates with chronic feeding with a HF diet in baboons, is significantly correlated with arterial lesions and the correlation is sex-specific. These findings suggest that LTS may be a potential biomarker of extent of atherosclerosis.
Effect of nucleation kinetics on the dynamic behavior of a continuous crystallizer

The nucleation kinetics of three materials were related to the growth kinetics using steady state data obtained at various degrees of supersaturation. The power models obtained from the three crystallizaitons exhibited widely different kinetic orders. These materials were then crystallized under unsteady state conditions in a mixed suspension–mixed product removal crystallizer and the transient size distributions were determined. The unsteady state model previously developed by Randolph and Larson was solved on a digital computer for the three systems. Good agreement was obtained. It was found that unsteady state experiments have some advantages over steady state experiments in determining the kinetic order of nucleation.
Speech disruptions in the sentence formulation of school‐age children with specific language impairment

Background: Many school‐age children with specific language impairment produce sentences that appear to conform to the adult grammar. It may be premature to conclude from this, however, that their language formulation ability is age appropriate.Aims: To determine whether a more subtle measure of language use, speech disruptions during sentence formulation, might serve to distinguish children with specific language impairment from their typically developing peers at an age when grammatical accuracy was high. We analysed the rate of speech disruptions in simple sentence production in school‐age children with specific language impairment and typically developing age‐matched peers. We predicted that: (1) the specific language impairment group would exhibit more speech disruptions than the typically developing group as a result of reduced language proficiency even when grammatical accuracy was high; and (2) the specific language impairment group would demonstrate greater reductions in disruption frequency as c...
Why I like working in academia

When Alex Labrinidis asked me to write this essay, I initially balked. I was loathe to speak for academics worldwide, or even just those in SIGMOD. But I then realized that I could speak from personal experience. So these random musings will be of necessity entirely subjective, highly individualistic, and unrepresentative---attributes that a scholar normally attempts to vigorously avoid in his writing. I'm definitely not a "typical" academic (I don't know such an animal), but I can speak with some authority as to what motivates me.As another caveat, I make few comparisons with alternatives such as working in a research lab or as a developer. I won't even attempt to speak for them.The final caveat (distrust all commentaries that start with caveats, but perhaps more so those that don't!) is that my assumed audience comprises students who are considering such a profession. Current academics will find some of my observations trite or may disagree loudly, as academics are oft to do (see below).That said, I have been an academic for exactly twenty years, and I deeply love the academic life. While I have consulted for and written papers with those away from the ivory tower, my professional life has been entirely as a professor. I went forthwith from undergraduate school to graduate school, then directly to the University of North Carolina, then to the University of Arizona, where I am happily ensconced.I open with some disadvantages to this seemingly ideal life, then turn to the advantages. With each I start with those that I expected when I was a doctoral student, and then consider those I (naively or otherwise) was not aware of from that early vantage point.
Substrate control in stereoselective lanthionine biosynthesis

Enzymes are typically highly stereoselective catalysts that enforce a reactive conformation on their native substrates. We report here a rare example in which the substrate controls the stereoselectivity of an enzyme-catalysed Michael-type addition during the biosynthesis of lanthipeptides. These natural products contain thioether crosslinks formed by a cysteine attack on dehydrated Ser and Thr residues. We demonstrate that several lanthionine synthetases catalyse highly selective anti-additions in which the substrate (and not the enzyme) determines whether the addition occurs from the re or si face. A single point mutation in the peptide substrate completely inverted the stereochemical outcome of the enzymatic modification. Quantum mechanical calculations reproduced the experimentally observed selectivity and suggest that conformational restraints imposed by the amino-acid sequence on the transition states determine the face selectivity of the Michael-type cyclization.
The role of talking (and keeping silent) in physician coping with medical error: a qualitative study.

Abstract Objective The aim was to examine the role of talking (or remaining silent) in the physician's experience of coping with medical error. Methods Sixty-one physicians participated in in-depth interviews about their experience of coping with a serious medical error. We analyzed verbatim transcripts to develop a taxonomic analysis of talking domains to capture the physician experience of talking and coping with error. Results Talking (or not talking) about a medical error was an important aspect of the physicians’ experience. After an error, honest conversations with patients and families, the medical team, colleagues, mentors, and others were critical early steps toward healing. Talking with others was important for processing and finding meaning. Many physicians used their stories to teach and help others. Some types of conversation were unhelpful, such as those that were cruel, insensitive, self-serving, and dishonest. Talking with well-intentioned colleagues and family members was often unhelpful if they minimized the error. Conclusion Physicians’ opportunities to talk about their experience in a meaningful way is associated with their ability to recover after a serious medical error. Practice implications This work may inform institutional policies, practices, and training to help physicians effectively prepare for and cope with medical error.
GIS and Paleoanthropology: Incorporating New Approaches from the Geospatial Sciences in the Analysis of Primate and Human Evolution.

The incorporation of research tools and analytical approaches from the geospatial sciences is a welcome trend for the study of primate and human evolution. The use of remote sensing (RS) imagery and geographic information systems (GIS) allows vertebrate paleontologists, paleoanthropologists, and functional morphologists to study fossil localities, landscapes, and individual specimens in new and innovative ways that recognize and analyze the spatial nature of much paleoanthropological data. Whether one is interested in locating and mapping fossiliferous rock units in the field, creating a searchable and georeferenced database to catalog fossil localities and specimens, or studying the functional morphology of fossil teeth, bones, or artifacts, the new geospatial sciences provide an essential element in modern paleoanthropological inquiry. In this article we review recent successful applications of RS and GIS within paleoanthropology and related fields and argue for the importance of these methods for the study of human evolution in the twenty first century. We argue that the time has come for inclusion of geospatial specialists in all interdisciplinary field research in paleoanthropology, and suggest some promising areas of development and application of the methods of geospatial science to the science of human evolution.
Crystal Structures and Functional Studies of T4moD, the Toluene 4-Monooxygenase Catalytic Effector Protein†,‡

Toluene 4-monooxygenase (T4MO) is a four-component complex that catalyzes the regiospecific, NADH-dependent hydroxylation of toluene to yield p-cresol. The catalytic effector (T4moD) of this complex is a 102-residue protein devoid of metals or organic cofactors. It forms a complex with the diiron hydroxylase component (T4moH) that influences both the kinetics and regiospecificity of catalysis. Here, we report crystal structures for native T4moD and two engineered variants with either four (DeltaN4-) or 10 (DeltaN10-) residues removed from the N-terminal at 2.1-, 1.7-, and 1.9-A resolution, respectively. The crystal structures have C-alpha root-mean-squared differences of less than 0.8 A for the central core consisting of residues 11-98, showing that alterations of the N-terminal have little influence on the folded core of the protein. The central core has the same fold topology as observed in the NMR structures of T4moD, the methane monooxygenase effector protein (MmoB) from two methanotrophs, and the phenol hydroxylase effector protein (DmpM). However, the root-mean-squared differences between comparable C-alpha positions in the X-ray structures and the NMR structures vary from approximately 1.8 A to greater than 6 A. The X-ray structures exhibit an estimated overall coordinate error from 0.095 (0.094) A based on the R-value (R free) for the highest resolution DeltaN4-T4moD structure to 0.211 (0.196) A for the native T4moD structure. Catalytic studies of the DeltaN4-, DeltaN7-, and DeltaN10- variants of T4moD show statistically insignificant changes in k(cat), K(M), k(cat)/K(M), and K(I) relative to the native protein. Moreover, there was no significant change in the regiospecificity of toluene oxidation with any of the T4moD variants. The relative insensitivity to changes in the N-terminal region distinguishes T4moD from the MmoB homologues, which each require the approximately 33 residue N-terminal region for catalytic activity.
Chronic neuroleptic treatment reduces endogenous kynurenic acid levels in rat brain.

The brain and cerebrospinal fluid levels of kynurenic acid (KYNA), a metabolite of the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan degradation and antagonist of the glycineB receptor and the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, are elevated in persons with schizophrenia. To evaluate whether this increase is related to antipsychotic medication, we examined the effects of haloperidol (HAL), clozapine (CLOZ) or raclopride (RAC) on brain KYNA levels in rats. Animals received either acute drug injections or ingested the drugs chronically with the drinking water. Acute application or one-week drug exposure had no effect on brain KYNA levels. After one month, HAL, CLOZ and RAC all caused significant reductions in KYNA levels in striatum, hippocampus and frontal cortex. Quantitatively similar reductions in the brain tissue content of KYNA were observed after one year of HAL administration. All these effects were accompanied by equivalent decreases in the extracellular concentration of KYNA, measured by striatal microdialysis. Separate animals received an intrastriatal infusion of 3H-kynurenine to probe the entire kynurenine pathway acutely in rats treated with HAL for one year. These animals showed reduced 3H-KYNA production, but no changes in the formation of other kynurenine pathway metabolites. By enhancing glutamatergic and cholinergic neurotransmission, reduced brain KYNA levels may play a role in the clinical effects of prolonged antipsychotic medication.
High efficiency push-pull inverse class f power amplifier using a balun and harmonic trap waveform shaping network

We present the design and development of a push-pull inverse class F power amplifier in X band using a novel harmonic matching network. The harmonic matching network is realized by a simple, low-loss, Marchand balun and a harmonic trap circuit. This novel harmonic matching network not only provides 3-dB power combining, but also enables waveform shaping for enhanced efficiency. This 1-stage power amplifier using discrete GaAs pHEMTs achieves a measured saturated output power of 33 dBm with a power added efficiency of 63% and a gain of 10 dB. This amplifier operates at 10 GHz with a 6% fractional bandwidth.
Solitary renal cell carcinoma metastasis to the hand: The need for wide excision or amputation***

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma responds poorly to chemotherapy or radiation therapy and is associated with a dismal survival rate. In cases of a solitary acrometastasis, the literature supports complete resection of the lesion in an effort to prolong survival. We report a patient who presented with a solitary metachronous renal cell metastasis to the middle phalanx of the index finger. The lesion was correctly identified as a renal cell metastasis and aggressive surgical management was performed with curative intent.
Proton transfer equilibria in halobenzene systems: Entropy changes and relative proton affinities

Abstract The free energy changes associated with proton transfer equilibria in fluorinated benzene systems, AH+ + B ⇌ BH+ + A, have been determined by measuring the equilibrium constants for reactions in a number of systems. Results of equilibria involving benzene, and chlorobenzene are also included. For the proton transfer equilibria in benzene-fluorobenzene, benzene-chlorobenzene, fluorobenzene-chlorobenzene, and m-difluorobenzene-fluorobenzene systems, entropy changes were experimentally determined. These entropy changes were in good agreement with those predicted from statistical mechanical considerations, and again verified the existence of the “intermolecular” entropy change, which has recently been pointed out. From measured free energy changes in various overlapping equilibria, it was possible to construct a scale of relative gas phase basicities at 373 K, and from this, to calculate a scale of relative proton affinities. The positions in this scale of most of the fluorine-substituted benzenes can be rationalized by considering the number of non-fluorinated reaction sites available, and the positions of those sites ortho to or para to a fluorine substituent.
Nematode associates of several species of Pissodes (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in the United States.

Nematodes were collected from the galleries of 4 species of weevils belonging to the genus Pissodes . New species described are: Mikoletskya bamdenensis , M. pugnea , Panagromacra faceta , Bealius pissodi , Aphelenchoides rhytium , Scinnra sutura , Bursaphelenchus elytrus , and Ektaphelenchus lepidus . The nematodes were recovered in a study to determine the relation of nematode parasites and associates of Pissodes to those with similar affinities for bark beetles.
Chemical and biological stability of anticancer drugs used in a human tumor clonogenic assay

Human tumor clonogenic assays (HTCA) are being used to evaluate the chemosensitivity of human cancers to both standard and experimental anticancer drugs as well as to predict clinical tumor response and resistance to these agents. To enable us to design and accurately interpret drug assay data we quantitated the chemical and biological stability characteristics of various cell cycle-specific and cell cyle-nonspecific drugs commonly used in our laboratory for chemosensitivity testing in the HTCA. Aliquots of the culture media were obtained immediately after drug addition and after 6 and 24 h and 2, 4, and 10 days of incubation, and then frozen in liquid nitrogen for later chemical (HPLC or RIA) and biological (HTCA) assay. Adriamycin, actinomycin D, bisantrene, bleomycin, and vinblastine retained 80–100% of their biological activity against human tumor colony-forming units even after 10 days of incubation in culture media. In contrast, etoposide lost 60% of its in vitro antitumor activity over the same period. There was no loss in the chemical concentration of actinomycin D. bisantrene, bleomycin, or vinblastine in the culture media, but etoposide concentrations as measured by HPLC decreased to zero over 10 days. We conclude that the HTCA can be used as a simple test for biological stability of new investigational agents prior to the development of adequate chemical assay methodology, and that it can help clarify whether a drug's in vitro antitumor activity is due to the parent compound or to a degradation products.
Rate-distortion optimized rate-allocation for motion-compensated predictive video codecs using PixelRank

Inter-frame dependencies are usually ignored in video encoder coding parameter selection. This gives a non-optimal solution and degrades the compression performance. A mathematical model to estimate the importance of each pixel on the reconstructed video quality, called PixelRank, is developed in this paper. Theoretical analysis on the parameters used for PixelRank score calculation dealing with the video coding optimization problem is also given. The PixelRank algorithm tracks the importance of each pixel and distributes the PixelRank scores. With the PixelRank scores for all the pixels, MB-based quantization parameters are adjusted accordingly. Based on this technique, the rate can be allocated more accurately according to the importance of the pixels, thus achieving better overall rate-distortion performance. Compared to the non-optimized scheme in H.264/AVC, the proposed scheme can reduce 13.53% of the average bitrate and up to 25.17% of bitrate in the simulations.
Distribution of magnetic flux in high- T c grain-boundary junctions enclosing hexagonal and triangular areas

We report here scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscope measurements of the magnetic-flux-threading grain-boundary junctions that completely enclose hexagonal and triangular regions. While the total flux through one of these junctions is n${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}}_{0}$, there are distinct areas of localized flux with magnitudes much less than ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Phi}}}_{0}$. We present the experimental results and discuss possible explanations for these observations.
Correlating amino acid conservation with function in tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase.

Sequence comparisons have been combined with mutational and kinetic analyses to elucidate how the catalytic mechanism of Bacillus stearothermophilus tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase evolved. Catalysis of tRNA(Tyr) aminoacylation by tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase involves two steps: activation of the tyrosine substrate by ATP to form an enzyme-bound tyrosyl-adenylate intermediate, and transfer of tyrosine from the tyrosyl-adenylate intermediate to tRNA(Tyr). Previous investigations indicate that the class I conserved KMSKS motif is involved in only the first step of the reaction (i.e. tyrosine activation). Here, we demonstrate that the class I conserved HIGH motif also is involved only in the tyrosine activation step. In contrast, one amino acid that is conserved in a subset of the class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, Thr40, and two amino acids that are present only in tyrosyl-tRNA synthetases, Lys82 and Arg86, stabilize the transition states for both steps of the tRNA aminoacylation reaction. These results imply that stabilization of the transition state for the first step of the reaction by the class I aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases preceded stabilization of the transition state for the second step of the reaction. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the ability of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases to catalyze the activation of amino acids with ATP preceded their ability to catalyze attachment of the amino acid to the 3' end of tRNA. We propose that the primordial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases replaced a ribozyme whose function was to promote the reaction of amino acids and other small molecules with ATP.
Methods for assessing difference between groups in change when initial measurement is subject to intra‐individual variation

Statistical analysis of difference between groups in change for some variable, adjusting for initial value, is complicated by the presence of intra-individual variation in that variable. We estimate here the asymptotic bias that results from calculating the adjusted between-group difference by ordinary least squares (OLS) from observed data. We also present explicit formulae that use the OLS estimates, the difference between treatment groups in mean initial values, and a measure of the intra-individual variation to compute a corrected estimator and its variance. Alternatively, we can use OLS on transformed data to obtain unbiased estimates, in which we replace initial observed values by conditional Stein estimates of true values. We illustrate the results with data from an observational study and a clinical trial.
ZnO Solubility and Zn2 Complexation by Chloride and Sulfate in Acidic Solutions to 290°C with In-Situ pH Measurement

Abstract The solubility of zincite in mildly to strongly acidic aqueous solutions, according to the reaction ZnO + 2H+ ⇔ Zn2+ + H2O, has been measured at ionic strengths of 0.03–1.0 (stoichiometric molal basis) from 50 to 290°C at saturation vapor pressure in sodium trifluoromethanesulfonate solutions (NaTriflate, a noncomplexing 1:1 electrolyte). The hydrogen-electrode concentration cells employed in this study permit continuous and highly accurate pH measurement at elevated temperatures, and periodic sampling to determine the dissolved metal content of the experimental solution. The solubility of zincite is shown to be reversible at 200°C by addition of acidic and basic titrants, at constant ionic strength. The equilibrium constant is precisely described (±0.05 log units) by the function log K = −4.0168 + 4527.66/T. One additional adjustable parameter, together with an extended Debye-Huckel function, is sufficient to model the ionic strength dependence of the reaction. The solubility product at infinite dilution obtained from this study is in quantitative agreement with the thermodynamic model of Ziemniak 1992 . This experimental approach is demonstrated to be advantageous in studying the complexation of Zn2+ with Cl− and SO42−, by titrations involving the appropriate anion into NaTriflate solutions pre-equilibrated with zincite at constant temperature and ionic strength. Formation constants in 0.1 molal NaTriflate for the reaction Zn2+ + yLz− ⇔ Zn(L)y2−yz are reported for ZnCl+, ZnCl2° and ZnSO4° at 200°C (log Q = 1.7 ± 0.1, 3.0 ± 0.1, and 2.6 ± 0.1, respectively). Estimates of the equilibrium constants for the chloride species at infinite dilution and 200°C are log K = 2.5 ± 0.1 (ZnCl+), and 4.2 ± 0.1 (ZnCl2°). This value for the dichlorozinc complex agrees quantitatively with values reported by Bourcier and Barnes 1987 and Ruaya and Seward 1986 . However, the latter authors give a value for the monochlorozinc complex (log K = 4.01 ± 0.02) that is markedly different from our result and that of Bourcier and Barnes 1987 (log K = 3.1 ± 0.3).
Ramsey functions related to the van der waerden numbers

Ramsey functions similar to the van der Waerden numbers w(n) are studied. If A' is a class of sequences which includes the n-term arithmetic progressions, then we define w'(n) to be the least positive integer guaranteeing that if {1,2,?,w'(n)} is 2-colored, then there exists a monochromatic member of A'. We consider increasing sequences of positive integers {x1,?,xn} which are either arithmetic progressions or for which there exists a polynomial p(x) with integer coefficients satisfying p(xi) = xi+1. Various further restrictions are placed on the types of polynomials allowed. Upper bounds are given for the corresponding functions w'(n). In addition, it is shown that the existence of somewhat stronger bounds on w'(n) would imply similar bounds for w(n).
Effect of dual-initiator on low temperature curing of unsaturated polyester resins

In low temperature composite manufacturing processes, a major concern is how to control the resin gel time and cure time and how to achieve a high resin conversion with low residual volatile organic chemicals. In this study, a cobalt promoter catalyzed dual-initiator system was used to control the reaction rate and resin conversion of unsaturated polyester resins. A mechanistic kinetic model was developed to predict the reaction kinetics with dual initiators. This model can be used to simulate the isothermal and dynamic reaction rate and conversion profiles. It can also be utilized to predict the effect of promoter concentration on UP resin cured at low temperatures. The dual-initiator system was applied in the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process at room temperature. The kinetic model, in conjunction with the heat transfer analysis, was able to successfully predict the temperature profiles during the molding processes.
comparison of Three Enteral Product Distribution Systems to Determine Methods to Reduce Waste.

Abstract With increasing use, costs of enteral products are an increasing portion of the foodservice budget. Additional costs are incurred if systems for distributing enteral products throughout the hospital result in waste. A study was designed to compare three enteral product distribution systems to determine if waste could be reduced. In addition, labor time and nursing satisfaction were measured for each system. The present system consisted of product delivery to the bedside daily based on physician order. An alternate system involved product delivery as floor stock to locked nourishment rooms on each nursing unit. The second alternate system consisted of product delivery to a locked cabinet accessed with a coded computer keypad. Alternate systems were trialed on two patient care units with a high volume of enteral product use. To control for differences in units, a crossover design was used. Data collection lasted for two weeks following a one week acclimation period between methods. Formula ordered, amount dispensed, patient intake, and stocking time were recorded daily. Daily waste, percent intake, percent dispensed, and percent wasted were calculated. Analysis of variance was used to compare variables for each delivery system. Each of the alternate systems significantly reduced product dispensed and product wasted (p≤0.05). Alternate systems also required less labor and resulted in higher nursing satisfaction ratings (p≤0.05). Based on these results, delivery of enteral products to a central location on the nursing unit rather than to the patient bedside reduced waste and improved nursing satisfaction.
Avoiding congestion through dynamic load control

The current best effort approach to quality of service in the Internet can no longer satisfy a diverse variety of customer service requirements, and that is why there is a need for alternative strategies. In order to solve this problem a number of service differentiation models have been proposed. Unfortunately, these schemes often fail to provide proper service differentiation during periods of congestion. To deal with the issue of congestion, we introduce a new load control mechanism that eliminates congestion based on the feedback from the network core by dynamically adjusting traffic load at the network boundary. We introduce four methods for calculating load distribution among the ingress routers and among different flows in each ingress router, and we evaluate these proposed methods through simulation.
Metacognition and Performance in the Accounting Classroom

ABSTRACT: Flavell (1976, 232) describes metacognition as: “one's knowledge concerning one's own cognitive processes or anything related to them.” Metacognition has been characterized as “thinking about thinking” (Georghiades 2004), “thinking about learning” (Jackson 2004), “learning about learning” (Case et al. 2001), “knowing about learning” (Meyer 2004), “knowledge about knowledge” (Yore and Treagust 2006), and “what we know about what we know” (Halpern 1998). Essentially, metacognition involves a self‐awareness of how one learns and thinks. Because metacognition is an important aspect of self‐regulated learning, it has potential as a learning skill or attribute that can serve to improve accounting education. The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between metacognition and student performance and success in accounting classes. The researchers use data collected over the course of a decade (1995–2004) to examine this association. Students in a variety of accounting courses completed a qu...
Inflation and extraordinary returns on owner-occupied housing: Some implications for capital allocation and productivity growth

Abstract This paper examines the effects of inflation on the allocation of resources between residential and nonresidential uses and the productivity of capital in the U.S. We begin by calculating the realized rates of return on homeowner equity and the contributions of fixed-rate mortgages and differences in relative inflation rates to extraordinary earned real returns. The paper then focuses on the implications of the extraordinary real returns on residential capital for stock prices and on the demand for owner-occupied housing. Proposals for achieving efficient allocation of capital between residential and nonresidential uses are also considered.
A measure of glucocorticoid load provided by DNA methylation of Fkbp5 in mice.

Rationale Given the contribution of cortisol dysregulation to neuropsychiatric and metabolic disorders, it is important to be able to accurately compute glucocorticoid burden, a measure of allostatic load. One major problem in calculating cortisol burden is that existing measures reflect cortisol exposure over a short duration and have not been proven to reliably quantify cortisol burden over weeks or months.
Crystal Structure of the “PhoU-Like” Phosphate Uptake Regulator from Aquifex aeolicus

The phoU gene of Aquifex aeolicus encodes a protein called PHOU_AQUAE with sequence similarity to the PhoU protein of Escherichia coli. Despite the fact that there is a large number of family members (more than 300) attributed to almost all known bacteria and despite PHOU_AQUAE’s association with the regulation of genes for phosphate metabolism, the nature of its regulatory function is not well understood. Nearly one-half of these PhoU-like proteins, including both PHOU_AQUAE and the one from E. coli, form a subfamily with an apparent dimer structure of two PhoU domains on the basis of their amino acid sequence. The crystal structure of PHOU_AQUAE (a 221-amino-acid protein) reveals two similar coiled-coil PhoU domains, each forming a three-helix bundle. The structures of PHOU_AQUAE proteins from both a soluble fraction and refolded inclusion bodies (at resolutions of 2.8 and 3.2A, respectively) showed no significant differences. The folds of the PhoU domain and Bag domains (for a class of cofactors of the eukaryotic chaperone Hsp70 family) are similar. Accordingly, we propose that gene regulation by PhoU may occur by association of PHOU_AQUAE with the ATPase domain of the histidine kinase PhoR, promoting release of its substrate PhoB. Other proteins that share the PhoU domain fold include the coiled-coil domains of the STAT protein, the ribosome-recycling factor, and structural proteins like spectrin.
A study of the crystallization of two non-crystalline CuZr alloys

Two CuZr alloys, Cu-50 at% Zr and Cu-54 at% Zr, were splat quenched to the non-crystalline state using a piston and anvil device. The glass transition and crystallization temperatures, as well as the enthalpy releases observed during crystallization were measured using differential scanning calorimetry of as-splat specimens and specimens aged below Tg. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction experiments were utilized to monitor phase and structural changes in the alloys as they were transformed to the crystalline state. The results of the investigation indicated that the non-crystalline to crystalline transformation of these two alloys in constant heating rate experiments above Tg was a two-step process. The initial step, which is associated with a large exothermic reaction, results in the appearance of crystallites in a matrix of non-crystalline material. The final step, associated with a smaller exothermic reaction, results in the total transformation of glass to the crystalline state and the formation of the equilibium crystalline phases. The effect of aging these splat-quenched non-crystalline alloys at temperatures below Tg was also investigated. It was determined from these experiments that crystallization does occur when the non-crystalline alloys are aged ∼ 15°C below Tg. However, the incubation time for crystalline nucleus formation was found to be substantially greater for the Cu50Zr50 glass. Finally, it was determined that the thermal stability of the aged glass relative to the spontaneous crystallization observed during the constant heating rate experiments above Tg decreases as a function of aging time.
Metabolic control through reflexive enzyme action.

Abstract The products of enzyme reactions are necessarily inhibitors of the forward reaction. Conditions where such inhibition is important are discussed and the possible role of systems of such reactions presented. There are a number of biological situations where such “reflexive action” could serve an important role. It is pointed out that in general these are the processes that are just yielding to biochemical techniques: cofactor biosynthesis, multi-enzyme systems, active transport, macromolecular biosynthesis, etc. The circumstances where allosteric enzymes could play an effective role in conjunction with reflexive enzyme action are presented, together with a general consideration of the effect of conformational changes on the product inhibition of enzymatic reactions.
Crossing the qualitative- quantitative divide II Inventive approaches to big data, mobile methods, and rhythmanalysis

In this second of three reports on qualitative and quantitative methods we highlight novel methods with particular purchase on the problems of our time. We again focus on scholarship crossing multiple geographical divides, those of neo/paleo geography, qualitative/quantitative methods, and physical/human geography. We do so now by concentrating on three areas: the emerging digital humanities and the rise of big data, mobile methods, and rhythmanalysis. With this broad approach we seek also to encourage consilience, synergy, and a positive embrace of diversity in geographical scholarship.
Neural networks vs. nonparametric neighbor-based classifiers for semisupervised classification of Landsat imagery

Semisupervised classification is one approach to converting multiband optical and infrared imagery into landcover maps. First, a sample of image pixels is extracted and clustered into several classes. The analyst next combines the clusters by hand to create a smaller set of groups that correspond to a useful landcover classification. The remaining image pixels are then assigned to one of the aggregated cluster groups by use of a per-pixel classifier. Since the cluster aggregation process frequently creates groups with multivariate shapes ill-suited for parametric classifiers, there has been renewed interest in nonparametric methods for the task. This research reports the results of an experiment conducted on six Landsat TM images to compare the accuracy of pixel assignment performed by four nearest neighbor classifiers and two neural network paradigms in a semisupervised context. In all the experiments, both the neighbor-based classifiers and neural networks assigned pixels with higher accuracy than the maximum likelihood approach. There was little substantive difference in accuracy among the neighborhood-based classifiers, but the feed-forward network was significantly superior to the probabilistic neural network. The feed-forward network classifier generally produced the highest accuracy on all six of the images, but it was not significantly better than the accuracy produced by the best neighbor-based classifier.
Creating Small Learning Communities: Lessons From the Project on High-Performing Learning Communities About "What Works" in Creating Productive, Developmentally Enhancing, Learning Contexts

Personalizing the school environment is a central goal of efforts to transform America's schools. Three decades of work by the Project on High Performance Learning Communities are considered that demonstrate the potential impact and importance of the creation of “small learning environments” on student motivation, adjustment, and well-being. Findings about how to effectively create such small learning environments in middle and secondary school are presented. Of particular focus are the ways in which ecological changes that create smaller schools within large ones, teacher and student teams, and other personalization strategies may engage diverse, socially, and economically disadvantaged students, in middle and high schools, to improve academic performance, reduce dropout rates, enhance developmental outcomes, and close equity gaps.
Human Conjunctivitis Caused by the Bird Parasite Philophthalmus

We removed a trematode of the species Philophthalmus from under the left upper eye-lid of a 66-year-old man who had follicular conjunctivitis for three weeks. After removal of the parasite, the conjunctivitis resolved.
Chronic lithium treatment and status epilepticus induced by lithium and pilocarpine cause selective changes of amino acid concentrations in rat brain regions

We measured the effects of four weeks of dietary lithium treatment and of status epilepticus induced by administration of pilocarpine to lithium-treated rats on the concentrations of amino acids in four regions of rat brain: cerebral cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and substantia nigra. To ensure accurate quantitation of the amino acids, animals were sacrificed by focussed beam microwave irradiation and amino acids were measured using a fully validated triple-column ion-exchanged amino acid analyzer with post-column o-phthalaldehyde derivatization and fluorometric detection. The concentrations of four amino acids, threonine, methionine, lysine and tyrosine, were increased significantly in two to four brain regions by chronic lithium treatment. Their concentrations remained elevated, or were further increased, during status epilepticus. The concentrations of eight amino acids and ammonia were not altered by lithium treatment but increased in concentration during status epilepticus in some brain regions. Glycine, serine, arginine and citrulline were decreased by chronic lithium treatment. Status epilepticus increased the concentrations of these four amino acids above that found in the lithium-treated samples in some of the brain regions that were examined. Six amino acids and glutathione were generally unaltered by both treatments. These results are related to the effects of lithium treatment and are compared with changes reported by others following treatment with a variety of convulsive stimuli.
Parabiosed rabbit ears: an innovation for experimental subcutaneous implantation.

A new technique is described for the experimental implantation of material subcutaneously into the rabbit ear's auricula without having to cut the skin at the surface of the site. This technique is important because the integument's vascular suppy to the implantation site is not severed as it is with other implantation techniques. The techique consists of resecting all the tissue except one integument from a circular site on each of the rabbit's auriculae. Then the two auriculae are parabiosed at these sites with the implant inserted between them.
Feature-preserving adaptive mesh generation for molecular shape modeling and simulation

We describe a chain of algorithms for molecular surface and volumetric mesh generation. We take as inputs the centers and radii of all atoms of a molecule and the toolchain outputs both triangular and tetrahedral meshes that can be used for molecular shape modeling and simulation. Experiments on a number of molecules are demonstrated, showing that our methods possess several desirable properties: feature-preservation, local adaptivity, high quality, and smoothness (for surface meshes). We also demonstrate an example of molecular simulation using the finite element method and the meshes generated by our method. The approaches presented and their implementations are also applicable to other types of inputs such as 3D scalar volumes and triangular surface meshes with low quality, and hence can be used for generation/improvement of meshes in a broad range of applications.
Dynamic stereo displays for research on the recovery of three-dimensional structure

Research issues that can be addressed by combining stereoscopic and kinetic depth displays include cue conflict and recalibration, mutual constraints, specialization of cues, and differential effects of disparity and kinetic depth on other perceptions, such as size constancy. Methods of producing dynamic stereoscopic displays are reviewed, especially displays combining stereoscopic with orthographic projections of rotation in depth. A sample personal computer program in Pas-cal is provided.
Spectrophotometry of comets Giacobini-Zinner and Halley

Optical window spectrophotometry was performed on comets Giacobini-Zinner and Halley over the interval 300-1000 nm. Band and band-sequence fluxes were obtained for the brightest features of OH, CN, NH, and C2, special care having been given to determinations of extinction, instrumental sensitivities, and corrections for Fraunhofer lines. C2 Swan band-sequence flux ratios were determined with unprecedented accuracy and compared with the predictions of the detailed equilibrium models of Krishna Swamy et al. (1977, 1979, 1981, and 1987). It is found that these band sequences do not agree with the predictions, which calls into question the assumptions made in deriving the model, namely resonance fluorescence statistical equilibrium. Suggestions are made as to how to resolve this discrepancy.