cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Distance constraints on macromolecular conformation.

Many physico-chemical studies are made on proteins to determine something of their solution conformation. For example the coat protein of Tobacco Mosaic Virus has been subjected to more non-crystallographic experimental studies to determine its native conformation than perhaps any other protein. Yet the sum of the experimentally determined constraints on its tertiary structure are surprisingly inadequate to fix its conformation. We are able to detect and remove minor inconsistencies in the data and then calculate a sampling of conformations consistent with all the data, which differ among themselves by r.m.s. deviations of the respective interresidue distances ranging from 5.7 angstrom to 15.8 angstrom. Some individual interresidue distances differ by as much as 50 angstrom from structure to structure. In order to restrict the range of possible conformations to something corresponding to the errors in a 10 angstrom resolution X-ray crystal structure, chemical and spectroscopic studies will have to be much more detailed than anything done to date. Our calculations appear to be useful in deciding which further experiments would be most productive.
Anaerobic Oxidation of Acetylene by Estuarine Sediments and Enrichment Cultures

Acetylene disappeared from the gas phase of anaerobically incubated estuarine sediment slurries, and loss was accompanied by increased levels of carbon dioxide. Acetylene loss was inhibited by chloramphenicol, air, and autoclaving. Addition of 14C2H2 to slurries resulted in the formation of 14CO2 and the transient appearance of 14C-soluble intermediates, of which acetate was a major component. Acetylene oxidation stimulated sulfate reduction; however, sulfate reduction was not required for the loss of C2H2 to occur. Enrichment cultures were obtained which grew anaerobically at the expense of C2H2.
THE SUSTAINING NEUTRAL BEAM POWER SUPPLY SYSTEM FOR THE MIRROR FUSION TEST FACILITY

In late August 1978, a fixed price procurement contract for $25,000,000 was awarded to Aydin Energy Division, Palo Alto, California, for the design, manufacture, installation and acceptance testing of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Mirror Fusion Test Facility (MFTF) Sustaining Neutral Beam Power Supply System (SNBPSS). This system of 24 power supply sets will provide the conditioned power for the 24 neutral beam source modules. Each set will provide the accel potential the arc power, the filament power, and the suppressor power for its associated neutral beam source module. The design and development of the SNBPSS has progressed through the final design phase and is now in production. Testing of the major sub-assembly power supply is proceeding at Aydin and the final acceptance testing of the first two power supplies at LLNL is expected to be completed this year.
What Is an Activity? Appropriating an Activity-Centric System

Activity-Centric Computing (ACC) systems seek to address the fragmentation of office work across tools and documents by allowing users to organize work around the computational construct of an Activity . Defining and structuring appropriate Activities within a system poses a challenge for users that must be overcome in order to benefit from ACC support. We know little about how knowledge workers appropriate the Activity construct. To address this, we studied users' appropriation of a production-quality ACC system, Lotus Activities, for everyday work by employees in a large corporation. We contribute to a better understanding of how users articulate their individual and collaborative work in the system by providing empirical evidence of their patterns of appropriation. We conclude by discussing how our findings can inform the design of other ACC systems for the workplace.
The Court's 2012 Class Act: A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That

Building on the Court’s heightened interest in class action litigation, the Court during the 2012-13 term issued an unprecedented six decisions dealing with class action issues. However, scholars searching for coherent class action jurisprudence will have to await another day (maybe another decade); consistent with its other recent decisions, the Court rendered class action opinions that favored both sides of the docket. Plaintiff and defense counsel both may claim some large and small victories in this term’s class action decisions. Nonetheless, the Court continues its plodding case-by-case approach to class litigation that fails to illuminate any overarching abstract theory of aggregate litigation. Instead, the Court’s attitude towards class action litigation is chiefly characterized by pragmatism and not-so-veiled policy concerns. Moreover, the 2012-13 class action decisions highlight the Court’s liberal and conservative division, with the Court’s conservative wing prevailing generally in its antipathy toward class litigation. As the Court’s conservatives incrementally make it more difficult to pursue class litigation, the Court’s liberals have become more vociferous in expressing their dismay over shrinking access to justice for large groups of claimants. The Court’s six class action cases embraced a grab bag of issues. The two most closely watched cases, Amgen, Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds (Docket No.11-1085) and Comcast v. Behrend (Docket No.11-864), dealt with class certification requirements. In another pair of appeals the Court again returned to its fascination with problems of class-wide arbitration clauses: Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter (Docket No.12-135) and American Express Co. v. Italian Colors Restaurant (Docket No.12-133). Finally, two appeals addressed jurisdictional requirements for class actions: in Standard Fire Ins. Co. v. Knowles (Docket No.11-1450), the Court considered pleading issues under the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, and in Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk (Docket No.11-1059) the Court focused on standing issues for collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act. This article evaluates the significance and impact of the Court’s six class action decisions during the 2012-13 term, commenting on the Court’s incremental refinement of Rule 23 as well as the Court’s failure to address significant class action issues.
Reactivation of Ribonucleic Acid and Protein Synthesis During Germination of Blastocladiella Zoospores and the Role of the Ribosomal Nuclear Cap

Freshly harvested zoospores of Blastocladiella emersonii begin to germinate about 15 min after inoculation into a defined growth medium at a density of 10 6 zoospores per ml. Flagellum retraction accompanies encystment, and dispersal of the ribosomal nuclear cap takes place shortly thereafter. The primary rhizoid begins to emerge at 25 to 30 min and starts to branch at ca. 60 min. The first nuclear division occurs between 120 and 190 min. The dry weight per cell increases linearly after 60 min, whereas the deoxyribonucleic acid per cell doubles between 120 and 240 min. A linear increase in total ribonucleic acid (RNA) is detectable beginning at 40 to 45 min, and in total protein beginning at 80 min; neither process is interrupted during nuclear division. Encystment and nuclear cap disorganization are associated with a sharp rise in the rates of precursor incorporation into RNA and protein. Cycloheximide at 20 μg/ml prevents leucine incorporation at all stages and inhibits development beyond the earliest encystment stage. Actinomycin D at 25 μg to 50 μg/ml prevents uracil incorporation, but it has no effect on leucine incorporation or development until 40 to 45 min. At the latter stage, actinomycin D causes a sharp developmental arrest and begins to inhibit leucine incorporation. It is concluded that early protein synthesis must occur on the ribosomes formed during the prior growth phase and conserved through the zoospore stage in the nuclear cap. The results further indicate that this synthesis is dependent upon messenger RNA already present in the zoospore before germination. Images
Realistic Job Previews

Realistic job previews (RJPs) are used to present realistic and accurate information to applicants concerning open positions. The primary purpose of RJPs has been to reduce employee turnover through the reduction of discrepancies between applicant expectations and employee experiences and the presentation of accurate perception generating information related to applicant fit. Over 50 years of research upholds a modest consentient effect of RJPs on the reduction of employee turnover. Keywords: realistic job preview; recruitment; turnover; attraction; fit
Distinct Pathways of Humoral and Cellular Immunity Induced with the Mucosal Administration of a Nanoemulsion Adjuvant

Nasal administration of an oil-in-water nanoemulsion (NE) adjuvant W805EC produces potent systemic and mucosal, Th-1– and Th-17–balanced cellular responses. However, its molecular mechanism of action has not been fully characterized and is of particular interest because NE does not contain specific ligands for innate immune receptors. In these studies, we demonstrate that W805EC NE adjuvant activates innate immunity, induces specific gene transcription, and modulates NF-κB activity via TLR2 and TLR4 by a mechanism that appears to be distinct from typical TLR agonists. Nasal immunization with NE-based vaccine showed that the TLR2, TLR4, and MyD88 pathways and IL-12 and IL-12Rβ1 expression are not required for an Ab response, but they are essential for the induction of balanced Th-1 polarization and Th-17 cellular immunity. NE adjuvant induces MHC class II, CD80, and CD86 costimulatory molecule expression and dendritic cell maturation. Further, upon immunization with NE, adjuvant mice deficient in the CD86 receptor had normal Ab responses but significantly reduced Th-1 cellular responses, whereas animals deficient in both CD80 and CD86 or lacking CD40 failed to produce either humoral or cellular immunity. Overall, our data show that intranasal administration of Ag with NE induces TLR2 and TLR4 activation along with a MyD88-independent Ab response and a MyD88-dependent Th-1 and Th-17 cell–mediated immune response. These findings suggest that the unique properties of NE adjuvant may offer novel opportunities for understanding previously unrecognized mechanisms of immune activation important for generating effective mucosal and systemic immune responses.
Multi-megahertz pulse width modulation converters with improved 1 /spl mu/m p-channel metal oxide semiconductor transistors

Pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques have been limited to 1 to 2 MHz by the switching speeds of currently available power switches. This limitation has been overcome by high speed ( 85%) and very high power density (500 W/in/sup 3/ versus state-of-the-art 100 W/in/sup 3/).
Peripheral vasopressin accelerates extinction of conditioned taste avoidance.

Abstract Both peripheral and central administration of vasopressin improves retention and delays extinction when given before or after acquisition of shock avoidance learning. For conditioned taste avoidance, however, vasopressin prolongs extinction when injected peripherally before acquisition tests and accelerates extinction when infused intracerebroventricularly after acquisition. The following experiments were designed to determine whether this inconsistency is based on the route of administration or timing of vasopressin treatment. Because acquisition of conditioned taste avoidance is strengthened when an agent that is capable of inducing avoidance is administered after LiCl injection, it was determined in experiment 1 that a 6 μg/kg dose of vasopressin did not induce conditioned taste avoidance when administered 50 min after consumption of a sucrose solution. In experiment 2, it was determined that this dose of vasopressin accelerated extinction of a LiCl-induced conditioned taste avoidance when given 50 min after LiCl injection. These results suggest that the inconsistency is not based on route of administration. In experiment 3, it was determined that there was a tendency for animals to show prolonged extinction when vasopressin was administered 20 min before access to a sucrose solution. All of the results taken together suggest that the differential effects of vasopressin on extinction are due to the timing of administration. It was suggested that vasopressin accelerates extinction when given after acquisition by reducing the effectiveness of LiCl and it prolongs extinction when given before acquisition by altering neural responsiveness in areas mediating conditioned taste avoidance.
Educating the national citizen in neoliberal times: from the multicultural self to the strategic cosmopolitan

The paper is a broad, comparative investigation of shifts in the educational rhetoric and policy of three countries over the past two decades. Using England, Canada and the United States as case studies, I argue that the spirit of multiculturalism in education has shifted from a concern with the formation of tolerant and democratic national citizens who can work with and through difference, to a more strategic use of diversity for competitive advantage in the global marketplace. This shift is directly linked with and helps to facilitate the entrenchment of neoliberalism as it supports a privatization agenda, reduces the costs of social reproduction for the government, and aids in the constitution of subjects oriented to individual survival and/or success in the global economy.
Characterizations of Ruled Surfaces with Lightlike Ruling in Minkowski 3-Space

For ruled surfaces with lightlike ruling in Minkowski 3-space, using elementary methods, we give some characterizations of B-scrolls and obtain the classification (also construction) of finite type surfaces and surfaces with finite type Gauss map.
Use of a Mechanical Microvascular Anastomotic Device in Head and Neck Free Tissue Transfer

Background: The use of mechanical microvascular anastomotic systems for free tissue transfer has previously been reported. Currently, a commercially available coupling device (3M Healthcare, St Paul, Minn) is widely used for various microvascular free flaps. However, to our knowledge, there are no reports in the literature describing the efficacy of this particular device in regard to free tissue transfer in head and neck reconstruction. Objective: To describe the surgical technique, limitations, and guidelines for application of this system for vascular anastomosis in head and neck free tissue transfer. Design: The microvascular anastomotic device was used in 79 head and neck free flaps: radial forearm (n=28), rectus abdominis (n=27), fibula (n=12), lateral thigh (n=4), iliac crest (n=3), gracilis (n=2), jejunum (n=1), pectoral (n=1), and lateral arm (n=1). Follow-up ranged from 6 months to 2.5 years. Setting: Two major teaching/referral medical centers. Participants: Seventy-six patients ranging in age from 19 to 86 years. Intervention: A total of 105 anastomoses (17 arterial and 88 venous) were performed. Outcome Measures: Anastomotic times and patency rates were evaluated. Results: The anastomotic times ranged from 8 to 18 minutes for the arteries (average, 10 minutes) and from 4 to 16 minutes for the veins (average, 5 minutes). None of the flaps resulted in venous congestion due to thrombosis at the anastomosis. Two arterial anastomoses resulted in thrombosis, one of which was detected intraoperatively and successfully salvaged with conventional suture anastomosis. Conclusions: The patency rates with the microvascular anastomotic system appear to compare favorably with those of standard suture techniques. The major advantage is that the time of venous anastomosis is reduced, thereby decreasing the total ischemic time. An additional advantage is the ease with which anastomoses can be performed when the vessels are deep within a wound, where suture placement is difficult. (Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1996;122:529-532)
The effects of cholesterol on magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers: a solid-state NMR and EPR spectroscopy study.

Abstract This paper presents the first time that both solid-state NMR spectroscopy and EPR spectroscopy are used to study the effects of cholesterol on magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers (bicelles). Solid-state deuterium NMR spectroscopy was carried out using both chain perdeuterated 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC-d54) and a partially deuterated β-[2,2,3,4,4,6-2H6]cholesterol (cholesterol-d6). Also, EPR spectroscopy was carried out utilizing a 3β-doxyl-5α-cholestane (cholestane) spin probe incorporated into magnetically aligned bilayers to provide a more complete picture about the ordering and dynamics of the phospholipid and cholesterol molecules in the bicelle membrane system. The results demonstrate that cholesterol was successfully incorporated into the phospholipid bilayers. The molecular order parameters extracted directly from the 2H NMR spectra of both DMPC-d54 and cholesterol-d6 were compared to that from the EPR study of cholestane. The order parameters indicate that the sterol was motionally restricted, and that the DMPC had high order and low motion for the hydrocarbon segments close to the head groups of the phospholipids and less order and more rapid motion toward the terminal methyl groups. Both methods clearly indicate an overall increase in the degree of ordering of the molecules in the presence of cholesterol and a decrease in the degree of ordering at higher temperatures. However, EPR spectroscopy and 2H NMR spectroscopy exhibit different degrees of sensitivity in detecting the phospholipid molecular motions in the membrane. Finally, cholesterol increases the minimum alignment temperature necessary to magnetically align the phospholipid bilayers.
Some observations on the isopod,Cyathura polita, in Chesapeake Bay

The recently established isopod species,Cyathura polita, appears to be widely distributed in Chesapeake Bay. Ecological and physiological studies of this estuarine animal should yield valuable information, particularly its role as food for fishes.
Design of optimal process parameters for non-isothermal forging

This paper presents a state space model and an optimal design scheme for non-isothermal metal forming processes. By selecting nodal velocity and temperature as the state variables, a non-isothermal state equation with coupled deformation and thermal terms is established. Based on this state space model, a control design scheme is developed to obtain the optimal die velocity and initial die temperature which will ensure that the effective strain-rate and temperature satisfy the design requirements. A titanium alloy engine disk forging is used to demonstrate two design examples. The results show that the proposed model and design scheme behave well for different design requirements.
Cytokinesis: The effect of initial distance between mitotic apparatus and surface on the rate of subsequent cleavage furrow progress

The purpose of this investigation was to determine whether furrows which develop in surfaces distant from the mitotic apparatus function at the same rate as those which develop in surfaces close to the mitotic apparatus. Fertilized, denuded Echinarachnius parma eggs were flattened to a diameter of 175 μm and a thickness of 60 μm 30 to 45 minutes before cleavage in such a way that the mitotic apparatus was eccentric. The initial distance between the mitotic apparatus and the equatorial margin before furrowing was determined as well as the rates of progress of the furrows formed in the opposite margins. The mean rate of progress of furrows which develop in margins 100 to 110 μm from the mitotic apparatus was 5.2 ± 2.8 μm/minute (n = 11). Furrows that developed in margins 65 – 75 μm from the mitotic apparatus progressed at a rate of 10.8 ± 1.8 μm/minute (n = 12). The difference between the means is significant (P < 0.001; t = 6.04; 21 degrees of freedom). The ten fastest furrows progressed at a mean rate of 12.1 ± 0.2 μm/minute and the mean initial distance was 76.3 ± 6.7 μm. The ten slowest furrows progressed at a mean rate of 2.9 ± 0.9 μm/minute and the mean initial distance was 100.5 ± 8.7 μm. The difference between the means of the initial distance measurements is significant (P < 0.001; t = 6.97; 18 degrees of freedom). There was a positive correlation between the difference in initial distances and the difference in rates of progress of two furrows formed in the same cell (r = 0.68; P < 0.005; n = 37) as well as an inverse proportionality between the ratio of the rates of the slower and faster furrows and the ratio of the distances from the mitotic apparatus to the closer and more distant margins (r = 0.63; P < 0.005; n = 37).
Coaching Younger Practitioners and Students Using Components of the Co-Active Coaching Model

Coaching is used to improve performance, achieve preset goals and obtain desired results. Several coaching models have been used in health professions for leadership and professional development. This article describes some components of Co-Active Coaching® that can be applied while coaching pharmacy students and younger practitioners. Co-Active Coaching requires the coach to use a broad range of communication skills, including listening, asking powerful questions, making insightful comments, offering encouragement, and giving sincere praise. The characteristics of the ideal candidate for coaching and the value of coaching are also discussed.
Mechanism of active transcriptional repression by the retinoblastoma protein

The retinoblastoma tumour-suppressor protein (Rb) belongs to a family that share a motif known as the pocket. The pocket was originally identified as the region of Rb required for binding to oncoproteins from DNA tumour viruses, which disrupt the binding of Rb to the E2F family of cell-cycle transcription factors (referred to collectively here as E2F). Rb switches E2F sites from positive to negative elements, suggesting that Rb-E2F is an active complex that blocks transcription. Here we report that Rb is selectively recruited to promoters through E2F, where it in turn inactivates surrounding transcription factors by blocking their interaction with the basal transcription complex. We suggest that this repressor activity is essential for inhibiting promoters that contain enhancers in addition to E2F sites.
Optimizing the Value-to-Cost Ratio for Central Receiver Electric Power Plants

Typically, solar thermal power plants are designed to minimize the levelized energy cost. However, to maximize the benefit of a solar plant and, hence, maximize the wealth of an investor or a utility, a solar plant should be designed and operated with the objective of maximizing the value-to-cost ratio. This paper describes a value and cost analysis of solar central receiver power plants using molten salt external receiver technology. These plants were assumed to operate within the service area of the Southern California Edison Company. The SOLERGY computer code was used to simulate the performance of the solar plants using 1984 weather data for Barstow, California. A value-maximizing dispatch strategy that uses thermal storage to shift operation of the turbine from nonpeak demand periods to the utility's peak demand period, is shown to greatly increase the value of a solar central receiver power plant with little increase in the levelized energy cost. Results are presented as functions of storage capacity, type of dispatch strategy, size of the field relative to the turbine, and turbine size.
Statistical significance of the Lambda coefficients: A comment

This brief note corrects an error in “Statistical Significance of the Lambda Coefficients,” by Frederick Hartwig, which appeared in Behavioral Science, July 1973, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 307–310.
Current Concepts: Classification of Thoracolumbar Fractures

Classification of thoracolumbar fractures is important both for communication between clinicians and for standardization of nomenclature to facilitate outcomes research. For these injuries, several classification systems have been proposed and each has relative strengths and weaknesses. Ideally, a classification system should be easy to use, have high inter- and intraobserver reliability, and provide guidance regarding optimal treatment. Recent classification systems have integrated improved ability to visualize soft tissue structures using magnetic resonance imaging and factors such as the presence of neurological injury to provide insight into the need for surgical intervention.
Thermoelasto-viscous Materials

A thermoelasto-viscous material is defined by a set of constitutive laws in which the stress, entropy, heat flux and free energy are functions of the present configuration, temperature, temperature gradient and the rate of change of all three of these. Here these materials are presented within the framework of Walter Noll’s new theory of simple materials, so that the constitutive laws are specified without the use of a frame of reference. The Coleman-Noll procedure is carried out, and the symmetry group of the material is also discussed, both without using a frame of reference. It is then shown what form the constitutive laws of a fluid thermoelasto-viscous material take when a frame of reference is considered. Finally, the governing equations for these materials are explicitly obtained and discussed. The results in this paper may serve as a foundation for new and better mathematical models to deal with phenomena such as heat transfer, heat exchanges and thermophoresis.
Quantum computational geometry

The prospects for practical quantum computing have improved significantly over the past few years, and there is an increasing motivation for developing quantum algorithms to address problems that are presently impractical to solve using classical computing. In previous work we have indentified such problems in the areas of computer graphics applications, and we have derived quantum-based solutions. In this paper we examine quantum-based solutions to problems arising in the area of computational geometry. These types of problems are important in a variety of scientific, industrial and military applications such as large scale multi-object simulation, virtual reality systems, and multi-target tracking. In particular, we present quantum algorithms for multidimensional searches, convex hull construction, and collision detection.
Aging and physical mobility in group-housed Old World monkeys

While indices of physical mobility such as gait speed are significant predictors of future morbidity/mortality in the elderly, mechanisms of these relationships are not understood. Relevant animal models of aging and physical mobility are needed to study these relationships. The goal of this study was to develop measures of physical mobility including activity levels and gait speed in Old World monkeys which vary with age in adults. Locomotor behaviors of 21 old (\( \overline x \) = 20 yoa) and 24 young (\( \overline x \) = 9 yoa) socially housed adult females of three species were recorded using focal sample and ad libitum behavior observation methods. Self-motivated walking speed was 17% slower in older than younger adults. Likewise, young adults climbed more frequently than older adults. Leaping and jumping were more common, on average, in young adults, but this difference did not reach significance. Overall activity levels did not vary significantly by age, and there were no significant age by species interactions in any of these behaviors. Of all the behaviors evaluated, walking speed measured in a simple and inexpensive manner appeared most sensitive to age and has the added feature of being least affected by differences in housing characteristics. Thus, walking speed may be a useful indicator of decline in physical mobility in nonhuman primate models of aging.
Peak shaving and minimum cost operation of an electric vehicle charging station based on Multi-port Power Electronic Interface

In this paper, an energy management system for Multi-port Power Electronics Interface (MPEI) is developed to be used in public electric vehicle charging stations. The MPEI has power electronic converters to interface with the utility grid, photovoltaic panels, battery energy storage, and the loads. In order to achieve a minimum daily utility cost, the proposed energy management system provides an economic dispatch of the grid converter considering time-of-use price of electricity and peak shaving functions. Experimental results have been presented to demonstrate the technical capability of the MPEI system and its controllers to operate under various dispatching strategies. A numerical solution of the day-ahead economic dispatch optimization problem is also presented to demonstrate how the dispatching power commands can be calculated based on a suitable forecasting model of the load and photovoltaic generation.
Metaphor as a possible pathway to more formal understanding of the definition of sequence convergence

Abstract This study presents how the introduction of a metaphor for sequence convergence constituted an experientially real context in which an undergraduate real analysis student developed a property-based definition of sequence convergence. I use elements from Zandieh and Rasmussen's (2010) Defining as a Mathematical Activity framework to trace the transformation of the student's conception from a non-standard, personal concept definition rooted in the metaphor to a concept definition for sequence convergence compatible with the standard definition. This account of the development of the definition of sequence convergence differs from prior research in the sense that it began neither with examples or visual notions, nor with the statement of the formal definition. This study contributes to the Realistic Mathematics Education literature as it documents a student's progression through the definition-of and definition-for stages of mathematical activity in an interactive lecture classroom context.
Testing Like William the Conqueror: Cultural and Instrumental Uses of Examinations

The spread of academic testing for accountability purposes in multiple countries has obscured at least two historical purposes of academic testing: community ritual and management of the social structure. Testing for accountability is very different from the purpose of academic challenges one can identify in community “examinations” in 19th century North America, or exams’ controlling access to the civil service in Imperial China. Rather than testing for ritual or access to mobility, the modern uses of testing are much closer to the state-building project of a tax census, such as the Domesday Book of medieval Britain after the Norman Invasion, the social engineering projects described in James Scott's Seeing like a State (1998), or the “mapping the world” project that David Nye described in America as Second Creation (2004). This paper will explore both the instrumental and cultural differences among testing as ritual, testing as mobility control, and testing as state-building.
Substance-abusing mothers and fathers' willingness to allow their children to receive mental health treatment

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes of substance-abusing mothers and fathers entering outpatient treatment toward allowing their children to participate in individual- or family-based interventions. Data were collected from a brief anonymous survey completed by adults at intake into a large substance abuse treatment program in western New York. Only one-third of parents reported that they would be willing to allow their children to participate in any form of mental health treatment. Results of chi-square analyses revealed that a significantly greater proportion of mothers reported that they would allow their children to participate in mental health treatment (41%) compared to fathers (28%). Results of logistic regression analyses revealed even after controlling for child age, mothers were more likely than fathers to indicate their willingness to allow their children to receive mental health treatment; however, type of substance abuse (alcohol versus drug abuse) was not associated with parents' willingness to allow their children to receive treatment. Parental reluctance to allow their children to receive individual or family-based treatment is a significant barrier in efforts to intervene with these at-risk children.
POST-AVICENNAN LOGICIANS ON THE SUBJECT MATTER OF LOGIC: SOME THIRTEENTH- AND FOURTEENTH-CENTURY DISCUSSIONS

In the thirteenth century, the influential logician Afḍal al-Dīn al-Khūnajī (d. 1248) departed from the Avicennan view that the subject matter of logic is “second intentions”. For al-Khūnajī, the subject matter of logic is “the objects of conception and assent”. His departure elicited intense and sometimes abstruse discussions in the course of subsequent centuries. Prominent supporters of Khūnajī's view on the subject matter of logic included Kātibī (d. 1277), Ibn Wāṣil (d. 1298) and Taftāzānī (d. 1390). Defenders of Avicenna's view included Ṭūsī (d. 1274), Samarqandī (d. 1303) and Quṭb al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 1365). This article presents the outline of the development of this discussion down to the end of the fourteenth century and attempts to reconstruct the major arguments of both sides.
Video-Gadget: MPEG-7-based audio-visual content indexing and browsing engine

MPEG-7 is a standard to provide a standardized way of describing contents of multimedia information. The development of technologies related to the MPEG-7 and exploiting MPEG-7 applications have been a main research interest of us for the last two years. TV broadcasting is one specific area of interest among various applications to which MPEG-7 can be of benefit. The VideoGadgetTM, which is an indexing and retrieval engine of multimedia data, is designed to aid user friendly environment of Digital TV as well as conventional analogue TV. By enabling automatic feature extraction and indexing of received TV program with help of low-cost random access storage device, a dull and conventional TV can turn into an interactive personalized entertainment center. With various user-friendly functionalities such as non-linear browsing of received programs, structure-based navigation, and searching/filtering of programs, the user can view the received program anytime the user prefers in the way the user prefers. Even though the Video-GadgetTM project, which is currently in progress, aims an environment of the Digital TV broadcast with MPEG-7 descriptions, a version of the Video-GadgetTM is under development to actually generate MPEG-7-like descriptions while the analogue stream is received. The real-time generation of the content description in detail brings many problems to solve such as limited I/O bandwidth and computing power and extensive sharing of the system resources. Due to the limited resource, some features are impossible to be extract in the real time, the functionality using those features should be redesigned to use simpler features. Once the Digital TV broadcast with MPEG-7 descriptions become available, the feature extraction part of the Video-GadgetTM will be employed by the MPEG7 description generation server or the service provider and only the retrieval engine including search, browsing, and filtering functionality will remain in the client part.
ON THE ROLE OF THE PRIMARY SYSTEM IN CANDIDATE SELECTION

How does the type of the primary system affect political outcomes? We address this issue by constructing a simple model that accounts for intra-party as well as inter-party political competition. Our model suggests that allowing non-partisan voters to participate in the primaries (i.e. a semi-open primary system) indeed improves the chances of a moderate candidate getting elected. However, this need not necessarily happen in the case of a completely open primary system. Under such a system there arise multiple equilibria, some of which may lead to a greater degree of extremism than the closed primary system. Thus, our model contributes to the current debate on the choice of primary systems from an analytical perspective and helps explain some of the empirical findings.
Monte Carlo simulations on adsorptions of benzene and xylenes in sodium-Y zeolites

Abstract The structures of benzene and C8 isomers ( o -xylene, m -xylene, p -xylene) in NaY simulated by the canonical Monte Carlo method were in good agreement with the experimental data of the available neutron diffraction analysis. All these sorbed compounds are stacked through the aromatic π-electron interaction on the cation of the SII site in the Sodium-Y. The experimental adsorption order ( m -xylene > o -xylene > p -xylene) of xylene isomers in the faujasite was also in good agreement with the order obtained from calculated heats of adsorption. It was shown that the difference in the interaction between the 4-ring sites and the methyl groups of xylene caused the better adsorption of m -xylene compared to those of the others. From these results, our conclusion is that the adsorption of the C8 isomers in the faujasite can be explained by considering only the interaction between the zeolite framework and the adsorbate approximated as a rigid model. Moreover, this type of simulation proved to be very useful to understand the mechanism of the adsorption of aromatic compounds in zeolites like faujasites.
Evaluation of Corn Hybrids Expressing Cry34Ab1/Cry35Ab1 and Cry3Bb1 Against the Western Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

ABSTRACT Studies were conducted across nine U.S. states, over 5 yr, to characterize the efficacy of transgenic corn (Zea mays L.) hybrids producing insecticidal proteins derived from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) for control of western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera Le Conte. Hybrids tested had the same genetic background, contained one of two single events (DAS-59122-7 expressing Cry34Ab1/Cry35Ab1 or MON 88017 expressing Cry3Bb1) or a pyramid consisting of both rootworm-active events (SmartStax traits) and were compared with a non-Bt near isoline. Frequency analyses of root feeding data showed that hybrids containing both events sustained less root damage (0–3 node injury scale) than hybrids containing either event alone. The levels of root protection provided by MON 88017 and DAS-59122-7 were not different from each other. Efficacy was also evaluated based on consistency of protection, based on the proportion of plants with root ratings of either ≤0.25 or <1.00 on the node injury scale. The...
Twins born over weekends: are they at risk for elevated infant mortality?

To assess the impact of the day of birth on twin mortality in a population sample. We analyzed weekend versus weekday twin births from the United States national twin birth data for the periods 1989–2002. We computed adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) to assess the association between infant mortality and weekday of birth using the Cox proportional hazards model. The crude rates for all types of mortality were found to be significantly higher for twins born on weekends than on weekdays. After adjustment, only post-neonatal mortality risk was higher on weekends as compared to weekdays [Hazards ratio (HR) = 1.19, CI: 1.04, 1.36]. Twins of white mothers were at greater risk for neonatal death (HR = 1.16, CI: 1.08, 1.24) but were less likely to experience post-neonatal death (HR = 0.68, CI: 0.64, 0.76) as compared to twins of black mothers. We found an interaction between maternal age and weekday of birth. Twins born on weekends to teenage mothers (age <18) had a 35 % greater risk for neonatal death (HR = 1.35, CI: 1.06, 1.71) while those born on weekends to older mothers did not show elevated risk for any of the mortality indices. Increased risks for post-neonatal death are significantly higher amongst twins born on weekends as compared to weekdays. Further research is required to identify the detailed differences in structure and procedures that result in the disadvantage associated with weekend birth.
Thermal equilibration of 26Al

In astrophysical environments, the long-lived (t1/2 = 0.72 Myr) ground state of 26Al can communicate with its short-lived (t1/2 = 6.35 s) first excited state through thermal excitations. The result is that the astrophysical half-life for 26Al can be much shorter than the laboratory value, which can have an impact on the amount of 26Al produced at high temperatures. We have reexamined the equilibration process using the results of new calculations of some of the key transition rates. In addition, we discuss a simple way of describing the behavior of 26Al in a stellar plasma and use this to better define the conditions where equilibration is expected to be important. Finally, we present a series of network calculations to show how the interplay between the timescale for equilibration versus that for nuclear reactions will govern the evolution of 26Al.
Evidence of recovery from acidification in Massachusetts streams

A ten year survey of water quality in 330 Massachusetts streams was conducted to examine the rate and pattern of recovery from acidification. Meta-analysis was used to combine the results of the 330 non-parametric trend tests into an overall test for trend in a variety of water quality variables including pH, acid neutralizing capacity (ANC), and major inorganic ions. Analysis of trends in the raw data indicates both pH and ANC are increasing. After detrending for variations in stream runoff, we estimate the streams are recovering from acidification at a rate of +0.021 pH units/year and +2.4μeq/L/year, for pH and ANC respectively. These trends appear to be related to declines in sulfate (−1.8μeq/L/year), while base cation trends were mixed. Meta-analysis reveals the trends are not always homogeneous between seasons or between sites. While it is commonly assumed that the low ANC systems are most ‘sensitive’ to changes in acid or base inputs, we found the greatest rates of change in ANC were associated with the high ANC systems. The greatest increases in pH were seen in the low ANC streams as expected. The results also suggest streams respond quickly to changes in precipitation inputs and stream monitoring networks may be valuable as an early detection technique for changes in environmental quality.
Adaptive subspace decomposition for constrained nonlinear inversion of linear inverse problems

Many problems in applied mathematics involve recovering a function f from measurements of Lf, where L is a known operator. If L is a linear operator with a bounded inverse, then f can recovered from noisy data Lf + n via standard techniques with little difficulty. The recovery of f from noisy data Lf + n is much more difficult if L is an operator whose inverse is unbounded. One such problem is the recovery of a function f : R2 —R, from limited knowledge of its Fourier transform f. Thus we are interested in reconstructing f from Lf where L is an operator which reflects the limited knowledge of the Fourier transform of f. This problem is motivated by the limited angle tomography problem. This recovery problem is ill-posed and unsolvable without a priori assumptions about f. With proper a priori knowledge, however, this problem is solvable. For example, if f is compactly supported, then f will be an analytic function, and therefore f will be uniquely determined by its values on any region containing a limit point [3]. Classical analytic continuation techniques are not numerically feasible [22] since the operator L will generally not have a bounded inverse. A technique for doing analytic continuation was introduced by Papoulis in [20]. This algorithm depends upon the eigenfunctions of the continuous time and band-limiting operators, which were extensively studied in the classical works of Slepian, Pollack, and Landau [28]. The convergence of the algorithm is dependent upon the eigenvalues of the joint time- and band-limiting operators, and except in extreme cases, this algorithm is not feasible numerically [9]. We will model these data recovery problems as the inversion of a compact operator L ( for limited data ); where Lf = Xs(Xcj), S is the common support of the functions under consideration, C is the set where we can measure the Fourier transform of f, and Xs is a characteristic, or indicator function on the set S. One tool for analyzing the spectra of these discrete approximations to L will be the theory of finite Toeplitz forms, originally introduced by Siego [4]. We will show that the study of these finite Toeplitz forms will give us some clues concerning the construction of an accurate, stable inversion for L, even when the continuous spectra of L suggests that it is not invertible. Possibly more importantly, we will examine the addition of nonlinear constraints into this problem in order for further mollification
Soluble Oligomers of the Amyloid β-Protein: Impair Synaptic Plasticity and Behavior

The central quest of research on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is to identify precisely what molecular process first interferes with episodic declarative memory and then prevent that process. During the last 25 years, neuropathological, biochemical, genetic, cell biological and even therapeutic studies in humans have all supported the hypothesis that the gradual cerebral accumulation of soluble and insoluble assemblies of the amyloid β-protein (Aβ) in limbic and association cortices triggers a cascade of biochemical and cellular alterations that produce the clinical phenotype. Missense mutations in presenilin, an unusual intramembrane aspartyl protease, cause rare forms of early-onset AD by altering its cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) transmembrane domain to increase the ratio of Aβ42 to Aβ40 peptides, thereby promoting Aβ oligomerization. The reasons for elevated cortical Aβ42 levels in most patients with typical, late-onset AD are unknown, but based on recent work, these could turn out to include augmented neuronal release of Aβ during some kinds of synaptic activity. Elevated levels of soluble Aβ42 monomers enable formation of soluble oligomers that can diffuse into synaptic clefts. We have identified certain APP-expressing cultured cell lines that form low-n oligomers intracellularly and release a portion of them into the medium. We find that these naturally secreted soluble oligomers – at picomolar concentrations – can disrupt hippocampal LTP in slices and in vivo and can also impair the memory of a complex learned behavior in rats. Aβ trimers appear to be more potent in disrupting LTP than are dimers. The cell-derived oligomers also decrease dendritic spine density in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures, and this decrease can be prevented by administration of Aβ antibodies or small-molecule modulators of Aβ aggregation. The signaling pathways mediating these effects are under study. Intensive attempts to develop safe and effective Aβ-lowering agents have brought us into human trials that have provided preliminary evidence of cognitive benefit. This therapeutic progress has been accompanied by advances in imaging the Aβ deposits non-invasively in humans. A new diagnostic-therapeutic paradigm to successfully address AD and its harbinger, mild cognitive impairment-amnestic type, is emerging.