cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Synthetic studies towards cystodytin A: The preparation of novel cystodytin congeners

Abstract A sequence involving a modified Knoevenagel-Stobbe pyridine synthesis, and an unusual intramolecular reaction between a quinone and an azide, permits expeditious assembly of the ring system of the cystodytin alkaloids.
The University of the Wilderness

Abstract Academic wilderness education is separate from adventure and skills-oriented approaches. Though problems in logistics, academic expertise, and leadership place unusual demands on teachers and students, the qualitative benefits of field studies can be profound. Three programs are described ranging from short- to long-term immersion in backcountry environments. The University of Montana Wilderness and Civilization program focuses on the boundary between wildness and domesticity. The Outdoor Program of Hampshire College uses an individual-in-community approach that leads toward participatory empowerment. Sierra Institute programs, offered through the University of California Extension, Santa Cruz, challenge students with eight weeks in wilderness areas, probing the roots of ecology and attitudes toward nature. At the deepest level, wilderness studies direct participants toward reconnecting culture with nature through advocacy and cultivation of the ecological self.
Construction and first analysis of a corpus for the evaluation and training of microblog/twitter geoparsers

This article presents an approach to place reference corpus building and application of the approach to a Geo-Microblog Corpus that will foster research and development in the areas of microblog/twitter geoparsing and geographic information retrieval. Our corpus currently consists of 6000 tweets with identified and georeferenced place names. 30% of the tweets contain at least one place name. The corpus is intended to support the evaluation, comparison, and training of geoparsers. We introduce our corpus building framework, which is developed to be generally applicable beyond microblogs, and explain how we use crowdsourcing and geovisual analytics technology to support the construction of relatively large corpora. We then report on the corpus building work and present an analysis of causes of disagreement between the lay persons performing place identification in our crowdsourcing approach.
Identification of archaeogastropod larvae from a hydrothermal vent community

Dispersal is essential in order that endemic species living in ephemeral, patchy vent environments may persist over evolutionary time. Quantitative field studies of larval dispersal, however, require specieslevel identification of the larval forms because each individual must be distinguished from related vent species, and from non-vent species living in the surrounding deep-sea environment. Methods for culturing these larvae to an identifiable stage have not yet been developed. To solve the larval identification problem for the archaeogastropod molluscs (a prominent component of vent communities), we used a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to image shells of larvae collected in the water column near vents along the East Pacific Rise (9°40′ to 9°50′N; 104°W). Larval shell size, shape and ornamentation were compared to protoconchs retained in juvenile or adult shells of identified species, and used to assign five larval groups unequivocally to species (Cyathermia naticoides Waren and Bouchet, 1989; Neomphalus fretterae McLean, 1981; Clypeosectus delectus McLean, 1989; Rhynchopelta concentrica McLean, 1989; and Lirapex granularis Waren and Bouchet, 1989) and seven groups tentatively to species or genus [Lepetodrilus spp. (three groups); Gorgoleptis sp; Peltospira ?operculata McLean, 1989; and ?Melanodrymia sp. (two groups)].
Influence of wastewater-treatment effluent on concentrations and fluxes of solutes in the Bush River, South Carolina, during extreme drought conditions

As the human population in the piedmont of South Carolina grows, the release of treated effluents from wastewater-treatment plants (WWTPs) will increasingly affect the chemical composition and biogeochemical processes of the region's rivers. We examined the impact of WWTP effluent on the solute chemistry of one such river, the Bush River, South Carolina, which experienced extremely low flow during the drought of 19982002. Two WWTPs discharge into the river and accounted for at least 70% of the river flow during the summer of 2002. The response of river solute concentrations to discharge from the downstream WWTP followed the expected dilution pattern. In contrast, the response to discharge from the upstream WWTP only followed the expected pattern for nonnutrient solutes (e.g., chloride and sodium). Concentrations of total dissolved nitrogen, nitrate, phosphate, and sulfate were all far below those expected from simple mixing calculations. At downstream sampling localities, however, conservative ions such as chloride and sodium had concentrations well below those predicted by mixing calculations. Instream biological processes associated with very low flow conditions, such as denitrification and sulfate reduction, may have caused the observed decrease in some nutrients. The cause of the discrepancy between the observed and predicted concentrations of conservative solutes remains unclear. Fluxes of solutes were much higher below the downstream WWTP. Our results indicate that the treated effluents of WWTPs have a significant impact on the biogeochemistry of piedmont rivers during drought periods. The impact is particularly large in rivers with small discharges. Extreme low flow conditions, however, may actually increase the opportunity for biological activity to remove dissolved nutrients from river water.
Sequential detection and estimation of soft failures in linear systems

An algorithm is reported for soft failure detection and estimation which has very modest computational requirements. Soft failures manifest themselves as deviations from the expected statistical behaviour of system inputs. The detection scheme utilizes only one Kalman filter and requires the implementation of a Wald Sequential Detector (WSD). The algorithm consists of applying the Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT) to the nonwhite Kalman filter innovations for rapid failure detection. The Average Sample Number (ASN) is used for estimating failed parameters. Some computer simulation results are presented.
Applications of Optical Resonance to Biological Sensing and Imaging

Optical resonators designed for biological sensing and imaging are demonstrated to yield sub-nanometer position accuracy in DNA conformation, high-sensitivity in ring-resonators for biosensing, and massively parallel, non-labeled detection in a Resonant Cavity Imaging Biosensor.
Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in the community setting

Over the past decade, antimicrobial resistance has emerged as a major public-health crisis. Common bacterial pathogens in the community such as Streptococcus pneumoniae have become progressively more resistant to traditional antibiotics. Salmonella strains are beginning to show resistance to crucial fluoroquinolone drugs. Community outbreaks caused by a resistant form of Staphylococcus aureus, known as community-associated meticillin (formerly methicillin)-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, have caused serious morbidity and even deaths in previously healthy children and adults. To decrease the spread of such antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in the community, a greater understanding of their means of emergence and survival is needed.
Protein Folding, Stability, and Solvation Structure in Osmolyte Solutions

An understanding of the impact of the crowded conditions in the cytoplasm on its biomolecules is of clear importance to biochemical, medical, and pharmaceutical science. Our previous work on the use of small biochemical compounds to crowd protein solutions indicates that a quantitative description of their nonideal behavior is possible and straightforward. Here, we show the structural origin of the nonideal solution behavior. We discuss the consequences of these findings regarding protein folding stability and solvation in crowded solutions through a structural analysis of the m-value or the change in free-energy difference of a macromolecule in solution with respect to the concentration of a third component.
Read-React-Respond: An integrative model for understanding sexual revictimization

Females who have been sexually abused in childhood are at significantly higher risk to be revictimized in adolescence and adulthood. Revictimization is associated with a raft of adverse mental and physical health outcomes, and so understanding why victims of childhood sexual abuse are more vulnerable to later sexual assaults has critical implications for their development. It has been hypothesized that sexual abuse in childhood results in reduced ability to recognize and/or respond effectively to sexual threats later in life, but studies examining these ideas have produced inconsistent results. Further, this research has failed to incorporate the powerful physiological reaction elicited by threats of imminent harm to the self, which has the potential to disrupt cognitive processing and coping behavior. In the present paper, we propose a model of revictimization that integrates contemporary theory and research on the biological stress response with cognitive, affective, and behavioral factors believed to be involved in adaptive responding to sexual threats. The model provides a conceptual guide for understanding why females with a history of sexual abuse are more vulnerable to revictimization and offers ideas for improving prevention programs designed to strengthen females' ability to resist sexual coercion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)
Keratinocyte K+ channels mediate Ca2+-induced differentiation.

K + channel activation has been associated with growth or differentiation in many cells. We have previously identified a 70-pS K + channel that was found only in differentiated involucrin-positive cells. In this study we examined the role of K + channels in Ca 2+ -induced keratinocyte differentiation. Consistent with our previous report, we found that a K + conductance developed only in cells cultured in high extracellular Ca 2+ . Addition of charybdotoxin or verapamil blocked these K + channels and inhibited Ca 2+ -induced differentiation, as assessed by cornified envelope formation or transglutaminase activity. These results suggest that K + channel activation is necessary for Ca 2+ -induced differentiation. Finally, we used 125 I-labeled charybdotoxin to demonstrate the presence of K + channels in intact human and mouse epidermis, hair follicles, and eccrine glands, indicating that these channels are found in keratinocytes both in vitro and in vivo . Thus K + channels may moderate Ca 2+ influx in more differentiated keratinocytes and may play a central role in keratinocyte differentiation.
Tracer and hydrometric study of preferential flow in large undisturbed soil cores from the Georgia Piedmont, USA

We studied the temporal patterns of tracer throughput in the outflow of large (30 cm diameter by 38 cm long) undisturbed cores from the Panola Mountain Research Watershed, Georgia. Tracer breakthrough was affected by soil structure and rainfall intensity. Two rainfall intensities (20 and 40 mm hr -1 ) for separate Cl - and Br - amended solutions were applied to two cores (one extracted from a hillslope soil and one extracted from a residual clay soil on the ridge). For both low and high rainfall intensity experiments, preferential flow occurred in the clay core, but not in the hillslope core. The preferential flow is attributed to well-developed interpedal macrochannels that are commonly found in structured clay soils, characteristic of the ridge site. However, each rainfall intensity exceeded the matrix infiltration capacity at the top of the hillslope core, but did not exceed the matrix infiltration capacity at the middle and bottom of the hillslope core and at all levels in the clay core. Localized zones of saturation created when rainfall intensity exceeds the matrix infiltration capacity may cause water and tracer to overflow from the matrix into macrochannels, where preferential flow occurs to depth in otherwise unsaturated soil.
Military and academic programs outperform community programs on the American Board of Surgery Examinations.

Background There is a paucity of American Board of Surgery (ABS) Qualifying Examination (QE) and Certifying Examination (CE) outcomes comparing residency programs by academic, community, or military affiliation. We hypothesize that the larger academic programs will outperform the smaller community programs. Methods In this retrospective study from 2002 to 2012, examination performance on the ABS QE and CE were obtained from the ABS for all of the general surgery residency programs. Programs were categorized by academic, community, and military affiliation. Both nonparametric and parametric statistics were used for comparison, using an α = 0.05. Results There were 137/235 (58.3%) academic programs, 90/235 (38.3%) community programs, and 8/235 (3.4%) military programs that satisfied inclusion criteria for this study. The Mann-Whitney U tests showed that the military programs outperformed academic and community programs on the ABS QE and the ABS CE, and had a higher proportion of examinees passing both examinations on the first attempt (all p≤0.02). One-tailed Student t-tests showed that academic programs had higher pass rates than community programs on the ABS QE (85.4%±9.5% vs 81.9%±11.5%), higher pass rates on the ABS CE (83.6%±8.3% vs 80.6%±11.0%), and a higher proportion of examinees passing both examinations on the first attempt (0.73±0.12 vs 0.68±0.15) (all p≤0.01). The chi-square and Fisher exact tests showed that examinees performed highest in military programs, followed by academic programs, and lowest in community programs on the ABS QE and ABS CE (all p≤ 0.01). Conclusions Military programs have the highest degrees of success on all of the ABS examinations. Academic programs outperform community programs. These results have the potential to affect application patterns to established general surgery residency programs.
Temporal disaggregation of satellite-derived monthly precipitation estimates and the resulting propagation of error in partitioning of water at the land surface

Abstract. Global estimates of precipitation can now be made using data from a combination of geosynchronous and low earth-orbit satellites. However, revisit patterns of polar-orbiting satellites and the need to sample mixed-clouds scenes from geosynchronous satellites leads to the coarsening of the temporal resolution to the monthly scale. There are prohibitive limitations to the applicability of monthly-scale aggregated precipitation estimates in many hydrological applications. The nonlinear and threshold dependencies of surface hydrological processes on precipitation may cause the hydrological response of the surface to vary considerably based on the intermittent temporal structure of the forcing. Therefore, to make the monthly satellite data useful for hydrological applications (i.e. water balance studies, rainfall-runoff modelling, etc.), it is necessary to disaggregate the monthly precipitation estimates into shorter time intervals so that they may be used in surface hydrology models. In this study, two simple statistical disaggregation schemes are developed for use with monthly precipitation estimates provided by satellites. The two techniques are shown to perform relatively well in introducing a reasonable temporal structure into the disaggregated time series. An ensemble of disaggregated realisations was routed through two land surface models of varying complexity so that the error propagation that takes place over the course of the month could be characterised. Results suggest that one of the proposed disaggregation schemes can be used in hydrological applications without introducing significant error. Keywords: precipitation, temporal disaggregation, hydrological modelling, error propagation
Assessment of UK practice for management of acute childhood idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura against published guidelines

Summary Background Guidelines for management of acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in childhood were published in 1992. Regional audit in 1995 showed substantial variation in clinical practice not related to clinical differences in patient groups, which indicated a need for national audit. Methods Individuals aged from birth to their 16th birthday newly presenting with ITP were identified over 14 months by regular mailing of paediatricians and haematologists for case notification. Information was obtained from follow-up by a detailed questionnaire. Findings ITP was clinically mild and benign in 323 (76%) of 427 cases, including 181 (70%) of 260 cases with platelet counts below 10×10 9 /L. There were no deaths or intracranial haemorrhages. There was a substantial discrepancy between clinical practice and published guidelines: many children were admitted to hospital and received treatment unnecessarily; there was overuse of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) as first-line therapy (94 children); children received steroids without marrow examination; and there was inappropriate use of platelet transfusions (41 with mild or moderate disease). Interpretation Our results indicate a need for change in practice.
Altitude extension of the three anomalous gravity components

The extension of the components of anomalous gravity to points outside the globe is usually based on application of Stokes’Gravity Formula and its derivatives, possibly in combination with the use of Poisson’s Integral Theorem. The principal deterministic errors in these processes are those due to the effects of unmapped areas where boundary value data are non-existent and those dependent on the treatment of the relatively large uncertainties in zeroth order terms. To reduce these errors significantly below their values in current practices, the following extension procedure has been developed:
Safety and Toxicity of Dietary Organic Arsenicals Relative to Performance of Young Turkeys: 2. Carbarsone

Abstract Two experiments were conducted with Large White turkeys from day-old to 28 days of age. Nitarsone (4-nitrophenylarsonic acid) levels from 0.01 to 0.08 percent were fed in a ground yellow corn-soybean meal, basal diet containing 28% protein. Body weight of individual birds and the feed consumption of each experimental group were recorded at the end of 14 and 28 days. Birds were closely observed daily for toxicity symptoms and mortality. Percent tibia ash was determined at 28 days in the first experiment. The maximum safe dietary level of nitarsone relative to performance of young turkeys to 28 days of age was 0.02 percent in both experiments. Body weight gain to 28 days was significantly decreased (P
Design and Performance Frameworks for Constructing Problem-Solving Simulations

Rapid advancements in hardware, software, and connectivity are helping to shorten the times needed to develop computer simulations for science education. These advancements, however, have not been accompanied by corresponding theories of how best to design and use these technologies for teaching, learning, and testing. Such design frameworks ideally would be guided less by the strengths/limitations of the presentation media and more by cognitive analyses detailing the goals of the tasks, the needs and abilities of students, and the resulting decision outcomes needed by different audiences. This article describes a problem-solving environment and associated theoretical framework for investigating how students select and use strategies as they solve complex science problems. A framework is first described for designing on-line problem spaces that highlights issues of content, scale, cognitive complexity, and constraints. While this framework was originally designed for medical education, it has proven robust and has been successfully applied to learning environments from elementary school through medical school. Next, a similar framework is detailed for collecting student performance and progress data that can provide evidence of students' strategic thinking and that could potentially be used to accelerate student progress. Finally, experimental validation data are presented that link strategy selection and use with other metrics of scientific reasoning and student achievement.
Globalization and the Call Center Industry

The call center industry is one of the most rapidly growing areas of work globally. Drawing upon a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach to studying call centers, the book and report reviewed here provide sociological insights on the process of globalization and the transformation of work and labor relations. Issues addressed include resource strategies, managers and management, jobs and job skills, women's careers in call centers, worker control and autonomy, and union organizing. The studies illuminate the need to rethink some of the logic that drives work organization in the call center industry and offer strategies for collective mobilization, including the role of unions in protecting the rights of workers within and across nations.
The Effects of Self-Regulated Strategy Development on the Writing of Expository Essays for Adults With Written Expression Difficulties: Preparing for the GED

A multiple-probe, multiple-baseline, across-subjects design was used to examine the writing performance of four low-achieving adult students with and without disabilities enrolled in general equivalency diploma (GED) preparatory classes. Students’ writing was evaluated before instruction and after self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) instruction for the POW (Pick my idea–pay attention to the prompt, Organize, Write and say more) + TREE (Topic sentence, Reasons, Explanations, Ending) + COPS (Capitalize, Organize, Punctuate, Sense) strategies. Results following the instruction indicated that students had learned to independently write expository essays. The number of essay parts and transition words increased, demonstrating evidence of organized essays. The number of words written and descriptive word use also increased. Gains were maintained on maintenance probes. All students who took the GED exam passed the essay-writing portion following the intervention.
Magic ratio of window width to grating period for van der Waals potential measurements using material gratings

We report improved precision measurements of the van der Waals potential strength $({C}_{3})$ for Na atoms and a silicon-nitride $({\text{SiN}}_{x})$ surface. We studied diffraction from nanofabricated gratings with a particular ``magic'' open fraction that allows us to determine ${C}_{3}$ without the need for separate measurements of the width of the grating openings. Therefore, finding the magic open fraction improves the precision of ${C}_{3}$ measurements. The same effect is demonstrated for a grating with an arbitrary open fraction by rotating it to a particular ``magic'' angle, yielding ${C}_{3}=3.42\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.19\text{ }\text{eV}\text{ }{\text{\AA{}}}^{3}$ for Na and a ${\text{SiN}}_{x}$ surface. This precision is sufficient to detect a change in ${C}_{3}$ due to a thin metal coating on the grating surface. We discuss the contribution to ${C}_{3}$ of core electrons and edge effects.
Serial proton MR spectroscopy of gray and white matter in relapsing-remitting MS

ABSTRACT Objective: To characterize and follow the diffuse gray and white matter (GM/WM) metabolic abnormalities in early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging ( 1 H-MRSI). Methods: Eighteen recently diagnosed, mildly disabled patients (mean baseline time from diagnosis 32 months, mean Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS] score 1.3), all on immunomodulatory medication, were scanned semiannually for 3 years with T1-weighted and T2-weighted MRI and 3D 1 H-MRSI at 3 T. Ten sex- and age-matched controls were followed annually. Global absolute concentrations of N -acetylaspartate (NAA), choline (Cho), creatine (Cr), and myo -inositol (mI) were obtained for all GM and WM in the 360 cm 3 1 H-MRSI volume of interest. Results: Patients9 average WM Cr, Cho, and mI concentrations (over all time points), 5.3 ± 0.4, 1.6 ± 0.1, and 5.1 ± 0.7 mM, were 8%, 12%, and 11% higher than controls9 ( p ≤ 0.01), while their WM NAA, 7.4 ± 0.7 mM, was 6% lower ( p = 0.07). There were increases with time of patients9 WM Cr: 0.1 mM/year, Cho: 0.02 mM/year, and NAA: 0.1 mM/year (all p Conclusions: Diffuse WM glial abnormalities were larger in magnitude than the axonal abnormalities and increased over time independently of conventional clinical or imaging metrics and despite immunomodulatory treatment. In contrast, the axonal abnormalities showed partial recovery, suggesting that patients9 lower WM NAA levels represented a dysfunction, which may abate with treatment. Absence of detectable diffuse changes in GM suggests that injury there is minimal, focal, or heterogeneous between cortex and deep GM nuclei.
Foraging energetics and diving behavior of lactating New Zealand sea lions, Phocarctos hookeri

The New Zealand sea lion, Phocarctos hookeri, is the deepest- and longest-diving sea lion. We were interested in whether the diving ability of this animal was related to changes in its at-sea and diving metabolic rates. We measured the metabolic rate, water turnover and diving behavior of 12 lactating New Zealand sea lions at Sandy Bay, Enderby Island, Auckland Islands Group, New Zealand (50 degrees 30'S, 166 degrees 17'E), during January and February 1997 when their pups were between 1 and 2 months old. Metabolic rate (rate of CO(2) production) and water turnover were measured using the (18)O doubly-labeled water technique, and diving behavior was measured with time/depth recorders (TDRs). Mean total body water was 66.0+/-1.1 % (mean +/- s.d.) and mean rate of CO(2) production was 0. 835+/-0.114 ml g(-)(1 )h(-)(1), which provides an estimated mass-specific field metabolic rate (FMR) of 5.47+/-0.75 W kg(-)(1). After correction for time on shore, the at-sea FMR was estimated to be 6.65+/-1.09 W kg(-)(1), a value 5.8 times the predicted standard metabolic rate of a terrestrial animal of equal size. The mean maximum dive depth was 353+/-164 m, with a mean diving depth of 124+/-36 m. The mean maximum dive duration was 8.3+/-1.7 min, with an average duration of 3.4+/-0.6 min. The deepest, 550 m, and longest, 11.5 min, dives were made by the largest animal (155 kg). Our results indicate that the deep and long-duration diving ability of New Zealand sea lions is not due to a decreased diving metabolic rate. Individual sea lions that performed deeper dives had lower FMRs, which may result from the use of energetically efficient burst-and-glide locomotion. There are differences in the foraging patterns of deep and shallow divers that may reflect differences in surface swimming, time spent on the surface and/or diet. Our data indicate that, although New Zealand sea lions have increased their O(2) storage capacity, they do not, or cannot, significantly reduce their at-sea metabolic rates and are therefore likely to be operating near their physiological maximum.
Variations in the chemical lability of iron in estuarine, coastal and shelf waters and its implications for phytoplankton

Abstract The relationship between total and chemically labile Fe has been studied in estuarine, coastal and shelf waters of the Gulf of Maine, U.S.A. Measurements of the labile fraction of total Fe, defined by complexation with 8-hydroxyquinoline in 1 h, correlate with the availability of Fe to marine phytoplankton and therefore can be used to estimate Fe availability in seawater. The results show that the relative lability (=labile/total) of Fe in seawater varied both spatially and temporally from near-zero to 100%. Although particulate Fe (>0.45 μm) was generally less labile than dissolved Fe (
Extraction conditions affecting supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of lycopene from watermelon.

Abstract Lycopene, a carotenoid linked to protection against certain forms of cancer, is found in produce such as papaya, red-fleshed tomatoes, grapefruit and watermelon. The preparation of a supercritical CO2 (SC-CO2) watermelon–lycopene extract could serve as a food grade source of this carotenoid. This study established preliminary conditions for enhancing SC-CO2 extraction of lycopene from watermelon. Freeze-dried watermelon was extracted with SC-CO2 and ethanol as an organic co-solvent. The lycopene concentration was determined by HPLC, with absorbance measured at 503 nm. In an initial set of experiments, the effects of extraction temperature (70–90 °C), pressure (20.7–41.4 MPa) and co-solvent ethanol addition (10–15%) were evaluated. A lycopene yield of 38 μg per gram of wet weight was obtained at 70 °C, 20.7 MPa, and 15% by volume ethanol. The extraction of fresh (non-freeze-dried) watermelon yielded 103 ± 6 μg lycopene per gram fresh fruit weight. Of the parameters tested, temperature had the most effect on lycopene yield. Thus, in another set of experiments, the temperature was varied from 60–75 °C at an extraction pressure of 20.7 MPa in the presence of 15% ethanol. Studies showed that freeze-dried watermelon flesh loses lycopene in storage. In accounting for lycopene storage losses, lycopene yields at 60 °C extraction temperature were 14% greater than those obtained at 70 °C.
Complete deletion of yeast chromosomal rDNA repeats and integration of a new rDNA repeat: use of rDNA deletion strains for functional analysis of rDNA promoter elements in vivo

Strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae were constructed in which chromosomal rDNA repeats are completely deleted and their growth is supported by a plasmid carrying a single rDNA repeat, either a plasmid carrying the 35S rRNA gene transcribed from the native promoter by RNA polymerase I or a plasmid carrying the 35S rRNA gene fused to the GAL7 promoter for transcription by RNA polymerase II. This system has made it possible to assess the expression of rDNA by measuring the ability of synthesized rRNA to support cell growth as well as by measuring the actual rRNA synthesized rather than by the use of reporter mini-rDNA genes. Using this system, deletion analysis of the rDNA promoter confirmed the presence of two elements, the upstream element and the core promoter, and showed that basal transcription from the core promoter, if it takes place in vivo as was observed in vitro, is not sufficient to allow cell growth. We have also succeeded in integration of a rDNA repeat and its copy number expansion at the original chromosomal locus, which will allow future mutational analysis not only of rRNA but also other DNA elements involved in rRNA transcription, rDNA replication and recombination within a repeated rDNA structure.
Stability of hybrid systems

We introduce a model of hybrid systems as a combination of discrete state and continuous state systems. The continuous state space is divided into regions so that in every region, depending on the discrete state of hybrid system, the continuous state system dynamic functions which are called representative functions are found. The switching situation in a region is studied and the continuous state dynamics to be used in this situation is defined. It is shown that after a switching mode the system behavior may be uncertain due to the high frequency discrete state switchings. The classical stability of the origin of the continuous state space is defined. Following the Lyapunov theory, some stability theorems are provided. >
Electrical stimulation of sensory nerves with skin electrodes for research, diagnosis, communication and behavioral conditioning: A survey

When electrical current is passed through the body by means of electrodes applied to the skin, sensory nerves can be stimulated. This results in sensations that vary from barely perceivable to highly unpleasant. Such electrocutaneous stimulation of sensory nerves has been studied by engineers, neurologists, physiologists and psychologists, who have investigated the interrelationship between the physical parameters of the electrical stimulus and the psychological effect that it evokes, have used electrical stimulation to study the nervous system and its pathologies and have tried to use cutaneous stimulation as a communication medium. Despite a large number of publications reporting the results of this research, certain basic questions still remain unanswered.
The use of gravity or manual-stress radiographs in the assessment of supination-external rotation fractures of the ankle

Supination-external rotation (SER) fractures of the ankle may present with a medial ligamentous injury that is not apparent on the initial radiographs. A cadaver gravity-stress view has been described, but the manual-stress view is considered to be the examination of choice for the diagnosis of medial injuries. We prospectively compared the efficacy of these two examinations. We undertook both examinations in 29 patients with SER fractures. Of these, 16 (55%) were stress-positive, i.e. and had widening of the medial clear space of > 4 mm with a mean medial clear space of 6.09 mm (4.4 to 8.1) on gravity-stress and 5.81 mm (4.0 to 8.2) on manual-stress examination, and 13 patients (45%) were stress-negative with a mean medial clear space of 3.91 mm (3.3 to 5.1) and 3.61 mm (2.6 to 4.5) on examination of gravity- and manual-stress respectively. The mean absolute visual analgoue scale score for discomfort in the examination of gravity stress was 3.45 (1 to 6) and in the manual-stress procedure 6.14 (3 to 10). We have shown that examination of gravity-stress is as reliable and perceived as more comfortable than that of manual stress. We recommend using it as the initial diagnostic screening examination for the detection of occult medial ligamentous injuries in SER fractures of the ankle.
Public Discourses in Schools: Purposes, Problems, Possibilities

Classroom discussion can play an important role in the formation of citizens, and in more ways than one. Yet recitation persists as the discursive norm in classrooms, and the literature on discussion lacks clarity as to purpose. This article contributes a delineation of two purposes—interpretation (enlightenment) and decision making (engagement)—and argues that they are elemental to both discussion pedagogy and citizen formation. As practices, they upend recitation and offer an occasion for liberal education, including opening oneself to difference. The author aims to show that classroom discussion is useful both pedagogically and politically when the two purposes are articulated in a diverse school setting, and that critics risk their own interests when they dismiss the possibilities of discussion.
Nuclear spin isospin responses for low-energy neutrinos

Nuclear spin isospin responses for low-energy neutrinos of current astroparticle physics interests are brie#y reviewed. Neutrinos are key particles for new particle physics beyond the standard electro-weak theory, and sensitive probes for studying stellar evolution and astronuclear processes. Low-energy neutrinos with energies of E l K0.1}50 MeV have been studied extensively by using nuclei as micro-laboratories. Nuclear weak processes involved are vector and axial-vector weak interactions. Accordingly, nuclear isospin and spin isospin responses for neutrinos are crucial for studying neutrinos through nuclear weak processes.
Microsatellite markers for the heavily exploited canary (Sebastes pinniger) and other rockfish species

The isolation and characterization of nine polymorphic microsatellite loci (eight tetranucleotide and one dinucleotide) from the canary rockfish Sebastes pinniger are described. Polymorphism at these loci revealed from six to 28 alleles, with expected heterozygosities ranging between 0.42 and 0.88, enabling high-resolution genetic population structure investigation for this overfished species in the northeastern Pacific. They also amplify in 13 other congeneric species, providing highly variable loci for research on other rockfishes.
Transthoracic and Transesophageal Echocardiographic Assessment of Mitral Regurgitation Severity: Usefulness of Qualitative and Semiquantitative Techniques

In this report, we review the advantages, limitations, and optimal utilization of various transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiographic (TTE and TEE) methods used for assessing mitral regurgitation (MR) as published in full-length, peer-reviewed articles since the color Doppler era began in 1984. In addition, comparison is made to other imaging modalities including catheter-based, magnetic resonance and surgical assessment of MR. Although left ventricular (LV) angiography has been traditionally used for validation of various TTE methods and is time-honored, its considerable limitations preclude it from being a real "gold standard." Based on the reviewed literature, no clear "gold standard" for the assessment of MR can be identified at present, but newly emerging TTE and TEE techniques, such as three-dimensional color Doppler, may have the potential to overcome some of the limitations of the two-dimensional methods.
Transient left ventricular apical ballooning and exercise induced hypertension during treadmill exercise testing: is there a common hypersympathetic mechanism?

Objective To describe two cases of Takotsubo like myocardial contractile pattern during exercise stress test secondary to hypertensive response.
MATERNAL ACID-BASE STATUS AND NEONATAL RESPIRATORY DISTRESS IN NORMAL AND COMPLICATED PREGNANCIES.

Abstract In order to investigate the possible etiological importance of maternal blood-gas and acid-base status in the respiratory distress syndrome, studies were made on the arterial blood of mothers at delivery and on cord and on 1 hour arterial samples of their infants. A total of 79 maternal samples, 76 cord bloods, and 30 1 hour infant samples were studied. The maternal blood data indicated that neither maternal hypoxia nor acidosis at delivery was etiologycally important in the 14 infants who developed respiratory distress. Moreover, clinical and cord blood biochemical studies also suggested that the presence of intrauterine asphyxia as deduced from such information was not an important etiological factor in this syndrome. Infant arterial samples suggested that maternal metabolic acidosis, when present, was associated with acidosis in the infant which persisted at least 1 hour.
User Perceptions of Technology Adoption and Implementation: A Case Study of Footwear Production in a Global Market

AbstractFor any technological innovation to be adopted within a corporation, the role of the user must be considered in the acceptance process. As an effective strategy to gain empirical data, a case study method was employed to examine user perceptions in a world leading US footwear company. The company's own patented prototyping technology, called the Virtual Sampling (VS) system, was selected for study in 2007. Employees who were using the VS system were invited to respond to a Web questionnaire that included both qualitative and quantitative questions about the technology. Three main findings emerge from the study: 1) in the process of implementing a technology in an organization, there are external variable(s) that identify relative user groups within the organization; 2) different user groups tend to have different levels of perception of the technology and evaluate adoption and implementation from that perspective; 3) however, no matter which groups they belong to, technology users in the organizat...
Stroke in young

Stroke is a major healthcare problem ranking as the third lead ing cause of death and the first cause of disability in the Western countries. Although young adults are at a lower risk of stroke compared to older people, strokes affecting those who are at earlier stages of their productive lives have a greater social impact in terms of number of years of lost productivity and disability. The incidence of stroke in young people ranges between 60 to 200 new cases per year per one million inhabitants, and the overall incidence is about one episode per 100,000 patients per year. Stroke in the young is more frequent in change with industrialized countries, in women, and in blacks and Hispanics compared to whites. In this review we sought to discuss the risk factors, and specific diseases and causes associated with stroke in the young. Moreover, we will discuss the genetic impact on stroke in young, and the outcome and prognosis after stroke among young adults.
Female Reproductive Life-History Traits of the Rock Darter, Etheostoma Rupestre, from Flat Creek, Alabama

Abstract We studied clutch size and ovum mass in the rock darter, Etheostoma(Etheostoma) rupestre, from one site (population) in Big Flat Creek, Alabama, using two collections made in consecutive years. Clutch sizes of 98 females 28–50 mm standard length (SL) ranged from 18–94 (x = 44) eggs. Mean dry ovum mass from 29 females ranged from 391–595 (x = 491) μg. Both clutch size and ovum mass were correlated significantly with SL, and both SL-adjusted clutch size and SL-adjusted mean ovum mass showed significant differences between samples. Our general comparisons with the results of life history studies on several other members of the subgenus Etheostoma suggest that the reproductive life-history traits of E. rupestre are similar to those of other species to which it is most closely related.
Enriching a massively multilingual database of interlinear glossed text

The majority of the world's languages have little to no NLP resources or tools. This is due to a lack of training data ("resources") over which tools, such as taggers or parsers, can be trained. In recent years, there have been increasing efforts to apply NLP methods to a much broader swath of the world's languages. In many cases this involves bootstrapping the learning process with enriched or partially enriched resources. We propose that Interlinear Glossed Text (IGT), a very common form of annotated data used in the field of linguistics, has great potential for bootstrapping NLP tools for resource-poor languages. Although IGT is generally very richly annotated, and can be enriched even further (e.g., through structural projection), much of the content is not easily consumable by machines since it remains "trapped" in linguistic scholarly documents and in human readable form. In this paper, we describe the expansion of the ODIN resource--a database containing many thousands of instances of IGT for over a thousand languages. We enrich the original IGT data by adding word alignment and syntactic structure. To make the data in ODIN more readily consumable by tool developers and NLP researchers, we adopt and extend a new XML format for IGT, called Xigt. We also develop two packages for manipulating IGT data: one, INTENT, enriches raw IGT automatically, and the other, XigtEdit, is a graphical IGT editor.
Generation and Characterization of a Murine Model of Bietti Crystalline Dystrophy

PURPOSE Bietti crystalline dystrophy (BCD) is a rare, autosomal recessive, progressive, degenerative eye disease caused by mutations in the CYP4V2 gene, for which no treatments are currently available. Cyp4v3 is the murine ortholog to CYP4V2, and to better understand the molecular pathogenesis of this disease we have established a Cyp4v3-null mouse line. METHODS Cyp4v3(-/-) mice were generated by homologous recombination in embryonic stem cells. Ocular morphologic characteristics were evaluated via fundus imaging, plasma lipid profiling, and histologic analysis via Oil Red O reactivity, hematoxylin and eosin staining, and transmission electron microscopy. RESULTS The Cyp4v3(-/-) mouse recapitulates the characteristic features of corneoretinal crystal accumulation and systemic dyslipidemia seen in BCD. The Cyp4v3(-/-) mice behave normally and are viable and fertile when maintained under specific pathogen-free (SPF) housing conditions. CONCLUSIONS Cyp4v3(-/-) mice represent a promising preclinical model that may be used to better understand the disease etiology and to evaluate pharmacotherapies for this devastating condition.
Effects of brief alcoholism training on general hospital personnel.

A brief (31-hour) training program on alcoholism was provided by state mental hospital staff for 27 general hospital personnel. Pre- and post-training comparisons were made on a 20-item opinions ab...
The Accuracy of Linear Interpolation

(1946). The Accuracy of Linear Interpolation. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 53, No. 7, pp. 364-366.
Action Research in Mathematics Education

Under the influence of NCMT抯 standard, mathematics education research had been shifting its attention to classroom teaching since 1980抯. This shift had provided opportunities for teachers to conduct action research in their classrooms. Action research was based on critical theory, postmodernism theory and constructivism. The objective of the action research was to promote the understanding of effective teaching and to enhance teachers?abilities of problem solving and students?learning ability. By doing action research, the teachers played important roles in research and became lifelong learners.
Xanthines and skeletal muscle: lack of relationship between phosphodiesterase inhibition and increased twitch tension in rat diaphragms.

No relationship was found between the abilities of a series of xanthine derivatives to increase twitch tension of directly stimulated rat hemidiaphragms and their abilities to inhibit hydrolysis in vitro of cyclic AMP or cyclic GMP or to change tissue levels of these cyclic nucleotides. The order of potency of the agents to increase twitch tension by 20% did not resemble the order of potency to inhibit either cyclic AMP or cyclic GMP hydrolysis. Further, a wide range of twitch tension responses was observed when agents were applied at concentrations that were five times those required for 50% inhibition of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP hydrolysis. At concentrations that caused 20% increases in twitch tension, two of the agents were found to cause no significant changes in the tissue levels of cyclic AMP or cyclic GMP while two other agents caused significant increases in levels of both cyclic nucleotides. On the other hand, two agents that caused similar increases in cyclic AMP levels and no significant changes in cyclic GMP levels caused very different tension responses. Thus, under the conditions of this study, cyclic nucleotide metabolism does not appear to be involved in the mechanism of action of xanthines to increase twitch tension of rat diaphragms.
Constitutionalism in Eastern Europe: An Introduction

Since 1989, seven countries in Eastern Europe have undertaken the transition from one-party rule to constitutional democracy: Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. Six of the seven are currently rewriting their constitutions. The exception is Hungary, although that country's constitution is very much a patchwork, and new constitutional efforts can be expected there, too, within the next few years. In addition, several of the constituent republics are writing or revising their constitutions, including the Czech and the Slovak Lands in Czechoslovakia and Croatia and Slovenia in Yugoslavia. Finally, the German Democratic Republic had made some progress toward creating a new constitution before the process was overtaken by unification. Altogether, therefore, we are dealing with at least a dozen constitution-making processes. This wave of constitution-making is not altogether unique. In the late 1700s, the individual American states, the United States itself, and France enacted a series of democratic constitutions. The wave of revolutions in 1848 also included brief constitutional epi-