cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recent developments in ligase-mediated amplification and detection.

Abstract DNA ligase catalyzes a strand-joining reaction at a nick junction formed by the annealing of two DNA strands on a DNA template. The requirement of base-pair complementarity at the nick junction has been explored to develop ligase-based technologies for the detection of sequence variance. Analogous to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), amplification can be achieved through repeated cycles of template denaturation, probe annealing and ligation. When joined by DNA ligase, the two juxtaposed strands might also serve as a template for amplification by PCR or other means. This article reviews progress made over recent years in the development of ligase-based technologies. Several ligase-based techniques have been developed for the high-throughput detection of DNA, homogeneous assays, single-molecular detection, and scanning of unknown mutations. Ligase-based techniques can also be used to detect sequence variance in RNA. Linking DNA-based aptamers to ligation primers – a technique called proximity ligation – also enables ligase-based techniques to be used in the detection of protein molecules.
Inhibition of exocytotic noradrenaline release by presynaptic cannabinoid CB1 receptors on peripheral sympathetic nerves.

Abstract 1. Activation of CB1 receptors by plant cannabinoids or the endogenous ligand, anandamide, causes hypotension via a sympathoinhibitory action in anaesthetized rats. In mouse isolated vas deferens, activation of CB1 receptors inhibits the electrically evoked twitch response. To determine if these effects are related to presynaptic inhibition of noradrenaline (NA) release, we examined the effects of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC), anandamide and the CB1 antagonist, SR141716A, on exocytotic NA release in rat isolated atria and vasa deferentia. 2. In isolated atria and vasa deferentia preloaded with [3H]-NA, electrical field stimulation caused [3H]-NA release, which was abolished by tetrodotoxin 0.5 microM and concentration-dependently inhibited by delta 9-THC or anandamide, 0.3-10 microM. The inhibitory effect of delta 9-THC and anandamide was competitively antagonized by SR 141716A, 1-10 microM. 3. Tyramine, 1 microM, also induced [3H]-NA release, which was unaffected by tetrodotoxin, delta 9-THC or anandamide in either atria or vasa deferentia. 4. CB1 receptor mRNA is present in the superior cervical ganglion, as well as in whole brain, cerebellum, hypothalamus, spleen, and vas deferens and absent in medulla oblongata and atria, as demonstrated by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. There was no evidence of the presence of CB1A receptor mRNA in ganglia, brain, or cerebellum. These results suggest that activation of presynaptic CB1 receptors located on peripheral sympathetic nerve terminals mediate sympathoinhibitory effects in vitro and in vivo.
Laccase- and chloroperoxidase-nanotube paint composites with bactericidal and sporicidal activity.

Abstract Laccase and chloroperoxidase (CPO) were separately immobilized onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and subsequently mixed with a commercial eco-friendly paint to generate biocatalytic coatings. The laccase-nanotube based paints showed >99% bactericidal activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (both challenged with 10 6 CFU/mL) within 30 min and >98% sporicidal activity against Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis -Δ Sterne (initially challenged with 10 4 CFU/mL) within 120 min. The CPO-nanotube based paints also showed >99% antimicrobial activity within 30 min against E. coli and S. aureus (both challenged with 10 6 CFU/mL). These enzyme-nanotube based formulations provide an eco-friendly route to generate biocidal compounds, which can prevent the growth of a broad spectrum of bacterial pathogens, including spores. These enzyme-containing paints may be envisioned to be applied as self-decontaminating coatings onto a wide range of surfaces, such as hospital infrastructure, medical devices and equipment, food processing and packaging, etc.; in all cases effective killing of a variety of infectious organisms is critical.
Storage characterization for unstructured data in online services applications

Mega datacenters hosting large scale web services have unique workload attributes that need to be taken into account for optimal service scalability. Provisioning compute and storage resources to provide a seamless user experience is challenging since customer traffic loads vary widely across time and geographies, and the servers hosting these applications have to be rightsized to provide both performance within a single server and across a scale-out cluster. Typical user-facing web services have a three tiered hierarchy — front-end web servers, middle-tier application logic, and back-end data storage and processing layer. In this paper, we address the challenge of disk subsystem design for back-end servers hosting large amounts of unstructured (also called blob) data. Examples of typical content hosted on such servers include user generated content such as photos, email messages, videos, and social networking updates. Specific server applications analyzed in this paper correspond to the message store of a large scale email application, image tile storage for a large scale geo-mapping application, and user content storage for Web 2.0 type applications. We analyze the storage subsystems for these web services in a live production environment and provide an overview of the disk traffic patterns and access characteristics for each of these applications. We then explore time-series characteristics and derive probabilistic models showing state transitions between locations on the data volumes for these applications. We then explore how these probabilistic models could be extended into a framework for synthetic benchmark generation for such applications. Finally, we discuss how this framework can be used for storage subsystem rightsizing for optimal scalability of such backend storage clusters.
Sampling theory for linear integral transforms.

A sampling theorem is developed to reduce integration error in matrix–vector and linear multiplexing processors that perform discrete versions of continuous linear operations. By simply filtering the operation kernel before sampling, one can perform integration-error-free processing on inputs sampled at their Nyquist rate. Example applications to Laplace and Hilbert transformation are presented.
Postural control in multiple sclerosis: Effects of disability status and dual task

Persons with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS) have postural control impairments. The simultaneous performance of a cognitive task while maintaining an upright posture (i.e. dual task) negatively influences postural control in PwMS with mild disability. This investigation compares the effect of simultaneous cognitive task performance on postural control in PwMS with mild and moderate disability. Forty-five PwMS were divided into groups based on Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores: mild (EDSS: 2.0-3.5) and moderate (EDSS: 4.0-6.5) disbaility. Each participant underwent posturography testing during a quiet baseline condition and a cognitive task condition (i.e. dual task). The cognitive task was a word list generation (WLG) task. Median sway velocity, root mean square displacement, and sway area were calculated for each condition. The moderate disability group had significantly worse postural control than the mild disability group. There was an increase in postural sway in the dual task condition. There were no significant task-by-group interactions on postural control. Postural control declines with disability status and is negatively affected by a concurrent cognitive task in PwMS. The dual task cost during a balance task is not different between disability levels and this conflicts with findings for the effect of dual tasking during walking in PwMS.
Exploitation of chromosome 4S1, from Aegilops sharonensis, for the production of stable 44-chromosome wheat lines

A number of chromosomes from species related to wheat carry genes of potentially high agronomic value. However, wheat lines carrying an additional pair of such chromosomes have never been exploited commercially because they are unstable and the extra chromosomes are frequently lost during gametogenesis. In order to overcome this problem translocations involving the long arm of the Aegilops sharonensis chromosome 4S1, which carries the gene(s) determining preferential transmission, and the long and short arms of chromosome 1U from Aegilops umbellulata, which carry respectively the genes Glu-U1 and Gli-U1, which affect bread making quality, have been isolated. These translocations are stable and preferentially transmitted.
How Likely Is Male Mate Choice Among Anurans

Male mate choice has received considerable attention in recent years. This phenomenon rarely has been demonstrated in anuran mating systems, nonetheless, male choice has been suggested as having a significant impact on some anuran pairing patterns. Here I present a quantitative model that predicts the potential and prevalence of male mate choice in nine anuran species with data available in the literature. Males of only four of the nine species (Bufo americanus, B. bufo, B. exsul, and Rana sylvatica) are predicted to reject females under Normal conditions; in those cases only the smallest 1% to 5% of the females, respectively, should be rejected. By contrast, male Bufo conorus, B. cognatus, Hyla rosenbergi, Physalaemus pustulosus, and Rana catesbeiana are not expected to reject females of any size. Not until operational sex ratios became lm: lf and search times were reduced to 30%, on average, of normal values will reject and accept strategies become equally prevalent. Thus for these nine anuran species, the quantitative model presented here elucidates why the extent of male mate choice may be very limited, and why it is not expected to exert a strong influence on mating dynamics or pairing patterns.
Photoelectron-diffraction effects and circular dichroism in core-level photoemission.

We have calculated the circular dichroism associated with core-level photoemission using multiple-scattering photoelectron-diffraction theory. For C 1s emission in a chiral geometry from CO adsorbed on Pd(111), photoelectron-diffraction calculations predict the dichroism found in experimental results due to Bansmann et al. and also agree well with prior free-molecule calculations by McKoy and Stephens. Backscattering from the Pd substrate is also found to alter the dichroic asymmetries for different adsorption geometries. Analogous calculations for Fe 2p emission from a small Fe cluster also indicate that dichroism due to a chiral geometry can strongly affect measurements of magnetic circular dichroism in systems with net magnetization. With generalization to include spin-orbit and multiplet splittings in the initial state and spin-dependent scattering of the outgoing electrons, photoelectron-diffraction theory thus should provide a general method for modeling dischroism in core-level photoemission from both nonmagnetic and magnetic systems.
Menorahs in Color: Polychromy in Jewish Visual Culture of Roman Antiquity

AbstractIn recent years, polychromy has developed as a significant area of research in the study of classical art. This essay explores the significance of this work for interpreting Jewish visual culture during Roman antiquity, through the focal lens of the Arch of Titus Digital Restoration Project. In July 2012, this project discovered that the Arch of Titus menorah was originally colored with yellow ochre paint. The article begins by presenting the general field of polychromy research, which has developed in recent years and resulted in significant museum exhibitions in Europe and the US. It then turns to resistance to polychromy studies among art historians, often called “chromophobia,” and to uniquely Jewish early twentieth-century variants that claimed that Jews were especially prone to colorblindness. After surveying earlier research on polychromy in Jewish contexts, we turn to polychromy in ancient Palestinian synagogue literature and art. Finally, the article explores the significance of polychromy for the study of the Arch of Titus menorah panel, and more broadly considers the importance of polychromy studies for contextualizing Jewish attitudes toward Roman religious art (avodah zarah).
Flooding and saltwater intrusion: Potential effects on survival and productivity of wetland forests along the U.S. Gulf Coast

Abstract The predicted global warming trend and resultant sea-level rise will increase inundation and salinity along coastal regions worldwide. As water level increases, saltwater encroaches farther inland in many coastal areas. Responses of Gulf of Mexico coastal tree species to increased flooding and saltwater intrusion is evaluated. A review of investigations which address changes in morphological characteristics and carbon assimilation rates under short-term flooding and/or salinity conditions is presented. The combination of flooding and salinity causes foliage damage and substantial reductions in carbon assimilation. The morphological response and reductions in gas exchange rates are closely associated with increases in salt levels. Exposure to salt concentrations greater than 50 mol m−3 (3 ppt) causes some leaf burning and decline in carbon assimilation rates of up to 84% in seedlings of some species. Results indicated that increased flooding and saltwater intrusion, a problem facing U.S. Golf Coast bottomland forests, can cause drastic reduction in net carbon assimilation, leaf burning and seedling mortality. The stress at sublethal levels can lead to weaker seedlings and, consequently, reduced survival rates, and the potential for long-term habitat changes thus limiting the existing natural range of these forests.
Carcinoma in isolated bladder after ileoconduit diversion.

Abstract A thirty-six-year-old Caucasian male paraplegic of sixteen years' duration, who was found to have carcinoma of the bladder about twenty-three months after an ileoconduit diversion had been performed for decompensated neurogenic bladder is presented. Chronic infection and residual urine may irritate or accelerate the process of neoplastic change in transitional epithelium. Obviously the supravesical diversion of urine in this patient did not avoid the occurrence of cancer. A plea is made for periodic checks using bladder exfoliative cytology and cystoscopy of the isolated bladder for early detection of vesical neoplasm.
Astrocyte Inositol Triphosphate Receptor Type 2 and Cytosolic Phospholipase A2 Alpha Regulate Arteriole Responses in Mouse Neocortical Brain Slices

Functional hyperemia of the cerebral vascular system matches regional blood flow to the metabolic demands of the brain. One current model of neurovascular control holds that glutamate released by neurons activates group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) on astrocytes, resulting in the production of diffusible messengers that act to regulate smooth muscle cells surrounding cerebral arterioles. The acute mouse brain slice is an experimental system in which changes in arteriole diameter can precisely measured with light microscopy. Stimulation of the brain slice triggers specific cellular responses that can be correlated to changes in arteriole diameter. Here we used inositol trisphosphate receptor type 2 (IP3R2) and cytosolic phospholipase A2 alpha (cPLA2α) deficient mice to determine if astrocyte mGluR activation coupled to IP3R2-mediated Ca2+ release and subsequent cPLA2α activation is required for arteriole regulation. We measured changes in astrocyte cytosolic free Ca2+ and arteriole diameters in response to mGluR agonist or electrical field stimulation in acute neocortical mouse brain slices maintained in 95% or 20% O2. Astrocyte Ca2+ and arteriole responses to mGluR activation were absent in IP3R2−/− slices. Astrocyte Ca2+ responses to mGluR activation were unchanged by deletion of cPLA2α but arteriole responses to either mGluR agonist or electrical stimulation were ablated. The valence of changes in arteriole diameter (dilation/constriction) was dependent upon both stimulus and O2 concentration. Neuron-derived NO and activation of the group I mGluRs are required for responses to electrical stimulation. These findings indicate that an mGluR/IP3R2/cPLA2α signaling cascade in astrocytes is required to transduce neuronal glutamate release into arteriole responses.
The occurrence of rheumatoid factor in association with antibody response to influenza A2 (Asian) virus

Analysis of sera from persons exposed to the 1957 Asian influenza epidemic demonstrated the appearance of rheumatoid factor in 14.8 per cent of 27 post-epidemic sera showing viral antibody response and in only 1.3 per cent of 79 corresponding sera which did not show viral antibody response. The factor was associated with either clinical infection or vaccination. Rheumatoid factor activity was demonstrated in both the latex FII agglutination and sensitized sheep cell tests and was abolished by mercaptoethanol treatment. Le analyse de seros ab subjectos exponite in 1957 al epidemia de influenza asian revelava le presentia de factor rheumatoide in 14,8 pro cento de 27 post-epidemic seros in que un responsa de anticorpore anti antigeno virusal esseva notate e in solmente 1,3 pro cento de 79 simile seros in que ille responsa non esseva notate. Le presentia del factor esseva associate con le presentia de anticorpore sin reguardo a su origine in infection o vaccination. Le activitate de factor rheumatoide esseva demonstrate in tests de agglutination de latex FII e in tests a sensibilisate cellulas ovin. Illo esseva abolite per un tractamento con mercaptoethanol.
Joined‐up governance: mandated collaboration in US homeless services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of the Northlake Homeless Coalition, a collaborative network among homeless serving agencies in southeastern Louisiana. These collaboratives are required for obtaining government funds for housing programs in the USA.Design/methodology/approach – The study involved a literature review and the application of findings to analyse a case study of the Homeless Coalition.Findings – Amongst the reasons for the success of the programme seem to be the longevity of involvement of many participants, which encourages social bonds and commitment to grow; financial interests and individual attributes of agency representatives, including personalities, relationships, and belief systems. Many of the most active members are from agencies with legitimacy due to their governmental or larger organizational bases, but this is to the exclusion of small, faith‐based organizations and shelters that frequently provide services not able to be funded by the grant. Th...
Plasma characterization and room temperature growth of carbon nanotubes and nano-onions by excimer laser ablation

Abstract The deposition of carbon nanotubes and carbon nano-onions at room temperature using excimer laser radiation to ablate mixed graphite–metal targets is described. Our deposition conditions are in contrast to other investigations on the pulsed laser deposition of carbon nanotubes that have employed high temperatures and high pressures. We find that the formation of these carbon nanostructures is dependent on the ambient gas employed during ablation. In the presence of O2 gas, carbon nanotubes and nano-onions are produced, while inert atmospheres such as Ar yield amorphous carbon. High-resolution, in situ, time-resolved emission spectroscopy has been used to track the evolution of species (C2, C3, Ni/Co) in the ablation plume. Spectral fits on low and high-resolution spectra reveal that the vibrational-rotational temperatures for C2 produced in O2 remain at ∼5000 K for nearly 20 μs but drop rapidly in Ar. Details of the formation of carbon nanotubes and nano-onions, and in situ time-resolved optical emission spectroscopy are described.
Interventricular septal and free wall dynamics in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Two-dimensional echocardiography was used to analyze interventricular septal and free wall dynamics in eight normal subjects and eight patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Upper, middle and lower septal and corresponding free wall motion and thickening were analyzed using both fixed and floating reference systems. The lower and midseptal dynamics did not seem to differ significantly between the two groups and the lower septum seemed to move more than the corresponding free wall (probability [p] It is concluded that the interventricular septum in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is not akinetic. Previously reported hypokinesia of the septum in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy may be due to sampling of the upper septum by M-mode echocardiography and to the fixed system of reference used by M-mode echocardiography.
Adaptation and international students' perceptions of on‐campus foodservice

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate whether length of time spent in the USA impacts perceptions of international students studying in US schools regarding the service and food quality of on‐campus foodservice operations.Design/methodology/approach – The researchers surveyed international students at one Southeastern and one Southwestern university in the USA regarding their perceptions of university foodservice, divided into six factors, i.e. service and sanitation, food dislikes, selection and taste, drinks, value, and crowding. A two‐way MANOVA test was performed using SPSS Version 17.0 to identify any significant differences between the six factors, time in the USA, and universities.Findings – MANOVA testing indicated that there was a significant difference between length of time in the USA and the ratings of the service and sanitation factor. The group that had been in the USA for less than six months rated the service and sanitation factor higher than the group who had been in the U...
Goal-question-Kanban: Applying Lean Concepts to Coordinate Multi-level Systems Engineering in Large Enterprises

Abstract There is good evidence from experience reports and other literature that the lean flow concepts of on-demand, value-based scheduling and limited work-in-progress are highly effective in many instances of software development. The question remains, however, if they are equally applicable to the systems and enterprise engineering found in large or complex system environments. This paper builds on previous conceptual work to describe specific applications of the concepts to support coordination of systems engineering activities within large-scale system acquisition, development and evolution. Using a surrogate environment derived from the complex interactions of IT, embedded systems, and human activities in a large multi- facility hospital system, we provide examples of how integrated kanban-like constructs can be created at each systems engineering level from an individual project through the complete capabilities portfolio.
Effects of promethazine on the isolated perfused rat heart.

Abstract 1. 1. Perfusion of hearts from normal male rats with promethazine (50–5000 ng) containing Krebs-Ringer bicarbonate buffer caused a profound bradycardia at each dose studied, and at the highest concentration, cardiac arrest occurred between 15 and 30 min after exposure to the drug. 2. 2. Coronary flow showed either a slight increase or no change as a consequence of perfusion with promethazine-containing medium. 3. 3. Promethazine (5000 ng/ml) decreased isometric systolic tension to 37% of control by 15 min, after which cardiac arrest occurred. Diastolic tension increased simultaneously at 5000 ng/ml whereas at lower concentrations, it decreased over the 60 min perfusion period. 4. 4. PR and QT intervals increased following perfusion with promethazine, and its effects were greatest at 1000 and 5000 ng/ml respectively. 5. 5. Although promethazine caused pronounced alterations in mechanical and electrical activity, it had no effect, on the biochemical functions which we measured. 6. 6. There was no evidence of promethazine-induced early myocardial ischemia, as determined by histochemical methods, and no drug-induced lesions, gross or microscopic, were found in any of the hearts studied.
A comparative study of immersed-boundary and interpolated bounce-back methods in LBE

The Interpolated Bounce-Back (IBB) method and Immersed Boundary (IB) method are compared for fluid-solid boundary conditions in the Lattice Boltzmann Equation (LBE) in terms of their numerical accuracy and computational efficiency. We carry out simulations for the flow past a circular cylinder asymmetrically placed in the channel in two dimensions with the Reynolds number Re = 20 and 100, corresponding to steady and unsteady flows, respectively. The results obtained by the LBE method are compared with the existing data. We observe that the LBE with either the IBB or IB methods for the no-slip boundary conditions exhibits a second-order rate of convergence. While the computational cost for both methods are comparable, the interpolated bounce-back method is more accurate than the immersed-boundary method with the same mesh size. Consequently the IBB method is more efficient computationally, while the IB method is easier to implement.
Relationship between energetic particles and plasmas in the distant plasma sheet

Measurements of ions from three different instruments on the IMP-7 and 8 spacecraft are combined to yield the differential energy spectra of ions over the entire energy range of 100 eV to 4 MeV in the earth's distant (30 to 40 earth radii) plasma sheet. These spectra, obtained during times of relatively small bulk flow velocities, span the intensity range from 10 to the -5th to 10 to the 5th per sq cm-sec-sr-keV, varying smoothly over the entire energy range both when the plasma is cold (about 1 keV) and hot (about 9 keV). Overall, the shape of the spectrum resembles a Maxwellian but with a high energy (not less than 50 keV) tail described well by a power law. The high energy tail is displaced in a parallel fashion to higher or lower intensities when the plasma is hot or cold, respectively. It is found that the energetic particle populations in the plasma sheet appear to be directly related to the mean thermal energies of the corresponding plasmas.
FAST observations of the solar illumination dependence of downgoing auroral electron beams: Relationship to electron energy flux

[1] The dependence of the occurrence frequency of downgoing auroral electron beams on solar illumination, as a function of energy flux, has been examined utilizing data from the FAST satellite. Solar illumination has almost no effect on the occurrence frequency of electron beams with energy flux less than or equal to a few erg/cm2s; however, the ratio of the occurrence frequency in darkness to that in sunlight increases with the energy flux carried by the beam. For an energy flux >5 ergs/cm2s, the ratio is ∼2 to 2.5, consistent with the results of Newell et al. (1996b). The characteristic energy of dayside beams is less than that on the nightside by a factor of ∼2. Both on the dayside and nightside, the characteristic energy of the electron beams increases with the energy flux carried by the beam and the energy is somewhat dependent on solar illumination, ∼50% (20%) higher in darkness for dusk (morning) beams. Although there are fewer very intense aurora in sunlight, the very intense aurora that occur have characteristic energies comparable to those in darkness. These results are consistent with a density and scale height dependent mechanism for parallel potential drops in the auroral acceleration region.
City objectives in monopoly franchising: the case of cable television

This paper employs an approach from the labour literature to determine relative weights which cities place on alternate service proposals when selecting cable television operators. Using contract proposals for 27 franchise auctions which took place across the US between 1979 and 1981, a probit model is estimated which corrects for firm self-selection into the auctions. Cities are found to select firms with local or regional advantages, and to prefer relatively fewer unprofitable services and relatively higher basic tier prices. The results suggest that monopoly franchising may serve private interests at the average consumer's expense.
Gap solitons and their linear stability in one-dimensional periodic media

An analytical theory utilizing exponential asymptotics is presented for one-dimensional gap solitons that bifurcate from edges of Bloch bands in the presence of a general periodic potential. It is shown that two soliton families bifurcate out from every Bloch-band edge under self-focusing or self-defocusing nonlinearity, and an asymptotic expression for the eigenvalues associated with the linear stability of these solitons is derived. The locations of these solitons relative to the underlying potential are determined from a certain recurrence relation, that contains information beyond all orders of the usual perturbation expansion in powers of the soliton amplitude. Moreover, this same recurrence relation decides which of the two soliton families is unstable. The analytical predictions for the stability eigenvalues are in excellent agreement with numerical results.
Estimating silage energy value and milk yield to rank corn hybrids

This paper provides a revised summative energy equation and applies it to estimate the energy value of corn (Zea mays) silage. Estimating the energy value of corn silage is important, because energy is the primary nutrient contributed by corn silage to dairy cattle rations. Estimated energy intake from corn silage was used to estimate milk yield from corn silage by dairy cows. The milk yield estimate was used to rank corn hybrids in silage evaluation and breeding programs. The revised (MILK2000) forage quality (milk Mg−1) and yield (milk ha−1) indices were evaluated relative to MILK1995 indices in corn silage hybrid performance trials. A previously published summative energy equation (Weiss, 1996), with crude protein, fat, non-fiber carbohydrate (NFC), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) fractions and corresponding digestibility coefficients, was adapted for corn silage as follows: the crude protein and fat fractions were not altered, the NFC fraction with constant digestibility was replaced with starch and non-starch NFC fractions, the starch digestibility coefficient was varied in relationship to whole-plant dry matter (DM) concentration and kernel processing, and the NDF digestibility coefficient based on lignin concentration was replaced by a 48 h or maintenance intake in vitro measurement of NDF digestibility (NDFD). Our summative approach integrates known differences in starch digestibility, as affected by whole-plant DM concentration and kernel processing, and NDFD into estimates of the energy value of corn silage. It also provides a framework for the future incorporation of laboratory measures of starch digestibility into estimates of the energy value of corn silage. For the MILK2000 model, we used our net energy for lactation estimates along with DM intake estimated from NDF concentration and NDFD to estimate milk Mg−1of corn silage DM. Corn hybrid checks characterized by high and low milk Mg−1 were selected on the basis of above average forage yield and either low or high NDF concentration. These low and high NDF check hybrids were then included in 61 trials conducted between 1995 and 2000. The frequency with which low NDF hybrids had greater estimated milk Mg−1 than high NDF hybrids was 0.90–0.93. Both maturity at harvest and NDFD strongly influenced the relative hybrid rankings with MILK2000 versus MILK1995. MILK2000 provides an index for evaluating relative performance among hybrids and could be applied to ranking hybrids tested in performance trials.
A silicon SPECT system for molecular imaging of the mouse brain

We previously demonstrated the feasibility of using silicon double-sided strip detectors (DSSDs) for SPECT imaging of the activity distribution of iodine-125 using a 300-micrometer thick detector. Based on this experience, we now have developed fully customized silicon DSSDs and associated readout electronics with the intent of developing a multi-pinhole SPECT system. Each DSSD has a 60.4 mm x 60.4 mm active area and is 1 mm thick. The strip pitch is 59 micrometers, and the readout of the 1024 strips on each side gives rise to a detector with over one million pixels. Combining four high-resolution DSSDs into a SPECT system offers an unprecedented space-bandwidth product for the imaging of single-photon emitters. The system consists of two camera heads with two silicon detectors stacked one behind the other in each head. The collimator has a focused pinhole system with cylindrical-shaped pinholes that are laser-drilled in a 250 mum tungsten plate. The unique ability to collect projection data at two magnifications simultaneously allows for multiplexed data at high resolution to be combined with lower magnification data with little or no multiplexing. With the current multi-pinhole collimator design, our SPECT system will be capable of offering high spatial resolution, sensitivity and angular sampling for small field-of-view applications, such as molecular imaging of the mouse brain.
The Effect of Interpretive Schemes on Videoteleducation's Conception, Implementation, and Use

Often, new technologies are seen as artifacts whose use is obvious. This study, which builds on Weick's notion that all technologies are equivocal, challenges that assumption. Using a case approach, this research examines how various groups at Far West, a professional school, interpret the implementation of a two-way video and audio videoteleducation (VTE) distance learning system and analyzes why different groups interpreted the technology in fundamentally different ways. From this case data, a model is created that examines the effects that dominant organizational groups’ interpretation and thus conceptualization of VTE have on its system design, support, training, and rewards; measures of effectiveness; and rule generation.
Privacy practices in collaborative environments: a study of emergency department staff

Privacy research has long focused on the individual. Yet most organizations are highly collaborative where teamwork is the norm. To examine privacy practices in collaborative settings, we conducted an ethnographic study of a highly collaborative and information-intensive setting -- an emergency Dept. (ED). We found that ED staff's work practices did not always align with the organization's privacy policies and procedures. We then discuss the use of workarounds when privacy policies interfere with work practices, the challenge of assigning accountability for enforcing privacy in collaborative environments, and implications for technical and policy design. We conclude with some thoughts on the future of privacy research in collaborative settings.
Assessing Organizational Commitment: An Employee's Global Attitude toward the Organization

In response to numerous calls for a clarification of conceptual and methodological issues related to organizational commitment, the authors propose using advances in the conceptualization of attitu...
A Self-Administered Instrument to Measure Psychiatric Discomfort of Persons With Serious Mental Illness

The author describes the development and evaluation of the Psychiatric Discomfort Scale, a self-report instrument that provides a quantitative measurement of patients' discomfort with psychiatric symptoms that change over time. Initially, a 60-item instrument was evaluated with 55 psychiatric inpatients in a Veterans Affairs (VA) medical center and a comparison group of 71 medical outpatients in the VA system. It was revised and tested again with 292 outpatients in treatment for psychosis. The resulting 23-item instrument was found to be internally consistent and responsive to changes in a patient's condition over time.
SB 242784, a Selective Inhibitor of the Osteoclastic V-H+-ATPase, Inhibits Arterial Calcification in the Rat

The present experiments were carried out to further test the hypothesis that arterial calcification is linked to bone resorption by determining whether the selective inhibition of bone resorption with SB 242784, a specific inhibitor of the osteoclastic V-H+-ATPase, will inhibit arterial calcification. Treatment for 96 hours with toxic doses of vitamin D caused widespread calcification in the aorta and in the femoral, mesenteric, hepatic, renal, and carotid arteries, and treatment with SB 242784 completely prevented the vitamin D-induced calcification of each of these arteries at a dose of 40 mg/kg per day and significantly reduced calcification at a dose of 10 mg/kg per day. Treatment with vitamin D also caused extensive calcification in the lungs, tracheal cartilage, and kidneys, and treatment with SB 242784 prevented or reduced calcification at each of these sites. Measurement of serum levels of cross-linked N-telopeptides, a specific measure of bone resorption activity, showed that treatment with vitamin D alone produced the expected 2.4-fold increase in bone resorption activity and that concurrent treatment with the 40-mg dose of SB 242784 reduced bone resorption activity to below control levels. With the inclusion of the present results, there are now three types of bone resorption inhibitors (each with an entirely different mode of action on the osteoclast) that share the ability to potently inhibit arterial calcification in the rat, the V-H+-ATPase inhibitor SB 242784, the cytokine osteoprotegerin, and the amino bisphosphonates alendronate and ibandronate.
USE OF HOME RANGES BY RESIDENT BOTTLENOSE DOLPHINS (TURSIOPS TRUNCATUS) IN A SOUTH CAROLINA ESTUARY

Abundance, distribution, and ranging patterns of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the western Atlantic Ocean are not well understood. As part of an initial attempt to understand their ecology and social system, I examined the ranging patterns of coastal resident dolphins in South Carolina. From October 1994 through December 1998, I conducted 209 surveys in Calibogue Sound and adjoining coastal waters. Individual dolphins were identified by distinctive fin characteristics and categorized as resident or transient inhabitants based on resighting patterns. Home range boundaries and core use areas were defined for 20 resident dolphins. Resident dolphins occurred in inshore waters, were moderately mobile, exhibited strong site-fidelity, and showed distinct patterns of core use within their home ranges. Ranging patterns exhibited geographic partitioning along environmental and social parameters within the resident population.
An Explanation of and Cure for Minimax Pathology

The traditional approach to choosing moves in game-playing programs is the minimax procedure. The general belief underlying its use is that increasing search depth improves play. Recent research has shown that given certain simplifying assumptions about a game tree's structure, this belief is erroneous: searching deeper decreases the probability of making a correct move. This phenomenon is called game tree pathology. Among these simplifying assumptions is uniform depth of win/loss (terminal) nodes, a condition which is not true for most real games. Analytic studies in [10] have shown that if every node in a pathological game tree is made terminal with probability exceeding a certain threshold, the resulting tree is nonpathological. This paper considers a new evaluation function which recognizes increasing densities of forced wins at deeper levels in the tree. This property raises two points that strengthen the hypothesis that uniform win depth causes pathology. First, it proves mathematically that as search deepens, an evaluation function that does not explicitly check for certain forced win patterns becomes decreasingly likely to force wins. This failing predicts the pathological behavior of the original evaluation function. Second, it shows empirically that despite recognizing fewer mid-game wins than the theoretically predicted minimum, the new function is nonpathological.
Global patterns of protein abundance during the development of cold hardiness in blueberry

Abstract To gain a better understanding of the cold acclimation progression in blueberry, we investigated the proteome-level changes that occur in flower buds with increasing exposure to chilling temperatures using the 2D-DIGE technique. From this procedure, 104 protein spots were found to be differentially expressed. These proteins, identified by mass spectrometry, were compared to those previously found on 1-D protein gels and to differentially expressed transcripts from an earlier transcriptome study. The most highly induced proteins corresponded to previously described dehydrins. Approximately half of the changes in the proteome reflected similar changes in the transcriptome. In addition, from 2D-DIGE, different quantitative patterns of protein induction and suppression were found. The largest differences occurred during the transition from the first to the second stage of cold acclimation, which corresponded to timing of the largest increase in cold hardiness. This, with qualitative differences affecting the regulation of several functional groups, suggest as a whole that plants are able to monitor changes in the environment and then respond by modulating their proteome accordingly. Major pathways increasing in abundance included stress-related proteins, carbohydrate/energy metabolism, amino acid metabolism, biosynthesis of phenolic compounds and gene expression regulation. On the other hand, pathways decreasing in abundance consisted of stress-related proteins, photosynthetic proteins and cell growth and structural components. Their possible implication in the development of cold hardiness is discussed.
EACK: End-to-End Acknowledgement-Based Method for Reliable Data Collection in Wireless Sensor Networks

Reliability is the vital requirement in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Most routing protocols in WSNs assume that every node in the network is trustworthy. However, due to the open medium, the wide distribution, and the lack of nodes' physical protection, attackers can easily compromise WSNs by inserting misbehaving nodes, black hole attacks, into the network. In this paper a special end-to-end acknowledgment-based method, named EACK, for reliable data collection in WSNs is developed that, contrary to existing methods, resists collusion black hole attacks without using public-key cryptography, independent of MAC layer protocol, and does not need node-disjoint paths. Analytical and simulation results demonstrate that the EACK considerably decreases the network overhead and increases the packet delivery ratio compared to the existing methods.
Privatizing Punishment: Strategies for Private Norm Enforcement in the Inner-City

The most significant law-enforcement advances of the 1990s have involved the use of law to regulate social norms. The effective legal regulation of norms is constrained, however, by the enfeebled legitimacy of the state in the inner-city communities that suffer from the greatest concentration of crime. This essay identifies strategies by which state law-enforcement agencies can enlist the assistance of churches and other civic associations that possess the legitimacy necessary to reshape norms in these communities. Privatization of norm regulation can and should be among the most significant advances in law enforcement as we enter the next century.
The Importance of Leveraged Lending: It's (Not) All Academic

This paper argues that U.S. bank regulator efforts to restrain leveraged lending are misguided. Leveraged loans are a critical source of external financing for companies in need of cash to invest, innovate, and grow. I review a sizable body of academic evidence that shows that, of the myriad sources of financing available to companies, including funding received through various forms of equity and debt financing, bank lending is unique in that it provides value to borrowers in ways that other funding sources do not. I also argue that regulators are mistaken in their efforts to reduce the funding available for LBOs. Empirical studies of the impact of private equity ownership on firm performance indicate that LBOs are followed by increases in operating performance and value at target firms, and that such increases outpace those at peer firms not backed by private equity groups. Moreover, when private equity-backed firms do become financially distressed, they resolve their distress more quickly and with a higher survival rate than their non-private equity-backed peers.
Rydberg-Mediated Quantum Manipulation of Atom Pairs and Ensembles

Interactions between n~100 Rydberg atoms localized within <10 µm prohibit multiple excitations. This “blockade” allows entanglement of spatially resolved atomic pairs and ensembles, including demonstration of a C-NOT gate and collective Rabi flopping.
The Magnetostatic Field

The methods that have been developed for the analysis of electrostatic fields apply largely to the magnetostatic field as well. Every magnetostatic field can be represented by an electrostatic field of identical structure produced by dipole distributions and fictive double layers. The equations satisfied by the magnetic vectors of a stationary field are obtained by placing the time derivatives in Maxwell's equations equal to zero. The existence of a scalar potential function associated with the electrostatic field is a direct consequence of the irrotational character of the field vector. The units and dimensions of electrostatic quantities have been commonly based on Coulomb's law. The intensity of magnetization, or polarization, includes the permanent or residual magnetization M 0 if any is present. In case the body carries a current, the interior field cannot be represented by a scalar potential and the boundary-value problem must be solved in terms of a vector potential.
Surface-Modified Silica Colloidal Crystals: Nanoporous Films and Membranes with Controlled Ionic and Molecular Transport

Nanoporous membranes are important for the study of the transport of small molecules and macromolecules through confined spaces and in applications ranging from separation of biomacromolecules and pharmaceuticals to sensing and controlled release of drugs. For many of these applications, chemists need to gate the ionic and molecular flux through the nanopores, which in turn depends on the ability to control the nanopore geometry and surface chemistry. Most commonly used nanoporous membrane materials are based on polymers. However, the nanostructure of polymeric membranes is not well-defined, and their surface is hard to modify. Inorganic nanoporous materials are attractive alternatives for polymers in the preparation of nanoporous membranes.In this Account, we describe the preparation and surface modification of inorganic nanoporous films and membranes self-assembled from silica colloidal spheres. These spheres form colloidal crystals with close-packed face centered cubic lattices upon vertical deposition...
Smokers may experience poorer bone regeneration than nonsmokers after periodontal treatment.

Systematic review conclusion. Smoking has a negative effect on bone regeneration after periodontal treatment. Critical summary assessment. Results from studies with moderate to high risk of bias consistently suggest that smoking will have a negative effect on periodontal bone regeneration after periodontal treatment. Evidence quality rating. Limited.