cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of oxidation-reduction heat treatments on CuInSe/sub 2//CdS device behavior (solar cells)

All changes in the spectral responses and current-voltage characteristics of CuInSe/sub 2//CdS solar cell devices due to oxidation (air)-reduction (H/sub 2/) heat treatments can be explained by the changes in CuInSe/sub 2/ resistivity. An investigation of the effect of reducing heat treatments is presented. Spectral response and temperature-dependent current-voltage (J-V vs. T) measurements were carried out as a function of oxidation-reduction heat treatments. The device was heat treated in air or H/sub 2/ at 200 degrees C in order to achieve oxidized or reduced states, respectively. As observed previously, spectral response and J-V characteristics of the CuInSe/sub 2//CdS heterojunction solar cell were completely reversible during the oxidation-reduction cycle. These measurements allow the various regions of the operating CuInSe/sub 2//CdS heterojunction solar cell to be probed. Spectral response and barrier height measurements (V/sub oc/ vs. T) provide information about the main heterojunction, while the low-temperature forward bias J-V vs. T characteristics can be analyzed to obtain the parameters of the back diode Mo/CuInSe/sub 2/ contact as the device is cycled through oxidized and reduced states. >
The mysterious relocation of the bundle of Türck.

The name bundle of Turck has become synonymous with the temporopontine tract. As details concerning this pathway have been confusing and incomplete we reviewed the papers of Ludwig Turck (1810–1868) to determine what in fact he originally described. Turck's pioneering degeneration studies provided great detail concerning the corticospimal tracts. Charcot recognized his contributions and used the eponym ‘bundle of Turck’ to denote the anterior corticospinal tract. Turck did not observe projections from the temporal lobe to the basis pontis, nor did he describe a temporopontine tract located at the most lateral aspect of the cerehral peduncle. The papers of Meynert, Flechsig and others reveal the origins of the current incorrect use of the eponym.
Response of Alfalfa, Green Onion, Dry Bulb Onion, Sugar Beet, Head Lettuce, and Carrot to Imazosulfuron Soil Residues 2 Years after Application

Abstract Field studies were conducted from 2009 to 2011 in Oregon and from 2006 to 2008 in California to evaluate the response of various crops to imazosulfuron soil residues 91 to 731 d after application (DAA). Imazosulfuron rates applied in Oregon were 224 or 450 g ai ha−1 PRE, sequential 224 g ha−1 PRE and POST, or 450 g ha−1 as a tank mixture with PRE applied S-metolachlor at 1,060 g ai ha−1 followed by 224 g ha−1 POST to potato. Imazosulfuron was applied on bare ground PRE at 224, 336, and 450 g ha−1 and applied sequentially at 450 g ha−1 in California. Sugar beet planted 91 to 364 and 458 to 731 DAA were injured 83 to 94% and 54 to 78% among imazosulfuron rates and application timing in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Alfalfa planted 701 DAA at rates greater than 224 g ha−1 was injured, and the forage yield was reduced. Onion, spinach, carrot, and broccoli were also injured by imazosulfuron residues when planted 91 to 731 DAA, regardless of the rate or interval before planting. Imazosulfuron applied at...
Evaluating parsimonious risk-adjustment models for comparing hospital outcomes with vascular surgery

Background Most outcomes registries use a large number of variables to control for differences in patients. We sought to determine whether fewer variables could be used for risk adjustment without compromising hospital quality comparisons. Methods We used prospective, clinical data from the American College of Surgeons-National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) for five commonly performed inpatient vascular procedures (N = 24,744). For each of the five operations, we compared the ability of two parsimonious models (an intermediate model, using the top five variables for each procedure and a limited model using the top 2 variables from each procedure) and the full model (up to 42 variables) to predict the risk of mortality and morbidity at the patient and hospital level. Results The parsimonious model was similar to the full model in all comparisons. For the five procedures, the intermediate, limited, and full models all had very similar discrimination at the patient-level (C indices of 0.87 vs 0.85 vs 0.87 for mortality and 0.77 vs 0.75 vs 0.77 for morbidity), and similar calibration, as assessed with the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. In evaluating hospital-level morbidity and mortality rates, the correlations between the parsimonious and full models were very high for both mortality (>0.97 across operations) and morbidity (>0.97 across operations). Conclusions Hospital quality comparisons for vascular surgery can be adequately risk-adjusted using a small number of important variables. Reducing the number of variables collected will significantly decrease the burden of data collection for hospitals choosing to participate in the vascular module of the ACS-NSQIP.
Case study of childhood disintegrative disorder— Heller's syndrome

The case of a 25-year-old male with childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD), or Heller's syndrome, is discussed in terms of differential diagnosis, progression of the disorder, and suggestions for home- and school-based interventions. The case documents the progressive deterioration of cognitive and social competencies. Given the paucity of research and information with respect to CDD, further clinical investigation is suggested. © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
SYMMETRIES OF THE STRONG INTERACTIONS

An attempt is made to study the symmetry properties of the strong baryon-meson couplings without using arguments concerning the origin of the baryon mass differences. It is shown that too high a symmetry is incompatible with associated production experiments. The argument is independent of perturbation theory. It is assumed that the $\ensuremath{\Sigma}$ and $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ have the same spin, that the ($\ensuremath{\Sigma}, \ensuremath{\Lambda}$) parity is even, and that the usual isotopic spin assignments are correct. The general conclusions may have to be revised if it would turn out that the commonly assumed baryon spectrum is incomplete.
Computer simulation of dental professionals as a moral community

Current empirical studies of moral behavior of healthcare professionals are almost entirely focused on self-reports, usually collected under the assumption that an ethical disposition characterizes individuals across various contexts. It is well known, however, that individuals adjust their behavior to what they see being done by those in their peer group. That presents a methodological challenge to traditional research within a community of peers because the behavior of each individual is both the result of norms and a contributor to the norms of others. Computer simulations can be used to address this methodological challenge. A Markov replicator model that runs on an Excel spreadsheet was used to investigate a community with four agent types in the dental community: devious practitioners, ethical practitioners who avoid involvement in the poor ethics of others, ethical practitioners who accept it as part of their professional responsibility to challenge colleagues who act unprofessionally, and those who enforce ethical standards. A panel of leaders in the profession independently estimated parameters for the model and criteria for a possible distribution of agent types in the community. The simulation converged on distributions of the agent types that were very similar to the expectations of the panel. The simulation suggests the following characteristics of such moral communities: The structure of such communities is robust across a wide distribution. It appears that reduction in unethical behavior is more sensitive to the way ethical practitioners interact with each other than to sanctions the enforcement community imposes on unethical practitioners, and that large external interventions will be short lived.
A rapid method for measuring cellulase activity in soils

Abstract A rapid method for measuring cellulase activity in soils is described. It involves incubating cellulose powder with soil under laboratory conditions and measuring the glucose produced by enzymic hydrolysis using a glucose oxidase:peroxidase system. The method has been applied to a number of different soil types and results are given.
Multiscale Conservation Laws Driven by Lévy Stable and Linnik Diffusions: Asymptotics, Shock Creation, Preservation and Dissolution

Recent work has shown that the solutions of the fractal conservation laws driven by Levy \(\alpha \)-stable diffusions exhibit shocks for bounded, odd, and convex on the positive half-line, initial data when the parameter \(\alpha < 1. \) We study the analogous situation for the Levy \(\alpha \)-Linnik diffusions in which case the local behavior is strikingly different, although we are able to establish analytically that the large time behavior of the two types of conservation laws are similar. But the main new insights obtained via large-scale numerical experiments is that, for any \(0<\alpha \le 2\), the conservation laws driven by \(\alpha \)-Linnik diffusions display shocks that do not dissipate over time, while those for \(\alpha \)-stable diffusion (\(0<\alpha \le 1\)) do. We formulate rigorous conjectures based on these numerical experiments.
Bovine genome mapping: evolutionary inference and the power of comparative genomics.

Abstract All bovine chromosomes are now represented by a syntenic group, a linkage map and at least one in situ hybridization. Almost 1000 loci are mapped, about 300 of which are coding sequences useful for comparative mapping and evolutionary inference. Economically important loci are beginning to appear on bovine linkage maps and enhanced comparative maps are likely to be necessary to identify many of these genes by a comparative positional candidate gene approach.
Dispositions toward critical thinking: The preservice teacher's perspective

This study examines the critical thinking (CT) dispositions of 202 preservice physical education students in the US. All were juniors or seniors and enrolled in physical education secondary teaching methods classes. Results provided evidence of a positive inclination toward CT on six of seven subscales and the total score of the California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory (CCTDI). When compared with other university populations, the preservice physical education sample generated higher scores than community college students, but were generally outscored by students from a private 4-year university cohort. Knowledge of the CCTDI data can be used to assist physical education teacher educators as they prepare teachers capable of fostering CT in their students.
Genetic Analysis of the Internal Ribosome Entry Segment of Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus

Pestiviruses and hepaciviruses are atypical members of the Flaviviridae due to their unique biological properties, including the utilization of internal ribosome entry for translation initiation. In contrast to internal initiation in picornaviruses, which depends on numerous canonical initiation factors, the mode of internal ribosome entry in pestiviruses and hepaciviruses resembles prokaryotic translation initiation. To identify functionally important elements within the bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) internal ribosome entry segment (IRES), we carried out a mutational analysis of the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) of BVDV cloned in the intercistronic region of a bicistronic reporter plasmid. IRES function was assessed in a bicistronic transcript by inserting the 5' 901 nucleotides of BVDV genome, which correspond to the 385 nucleotides of the 5' UTR and 515 nucleotides of the open reading frame (ORF) encoding for Npro and 4 amino acids from the capsid protein. The resulting Npro-luciferase fusion encoded by the 3' cistron was cleaved efficiently to release the luciferase reporter. In vivo translation analyses showed that stem-loops Ia and Ib in the 5' UTR were completely dispensable for efficient translation, whereas stem-loop IIIe and the hairpin end of IIIb were only partially required. In contrast, deletions or insertions in any of other four stem-loop structures, including domains II, IIIa, IIIc, and IIId, caused nearly 10-fold reductions of in vivo IRES activity. The tolerance of structural modifications within the distal portion of domain IIIb and IIIe correlated with a low level of sequence conservation in these regions among pestiviruses. The 5' boundary of the IRES resides at the 5' end of stem-loop II near nucleotide 75. The 3' of the IRES extends into the 5' end of the polyprotein ORF because removal of the Npro coding region reduced translation by 21%.
EVOLUTION AND SPATIAL STRUCTURE INTERACT TO INFLUENCE PLANT-HERBIVORE POPULATION AND COMMUNITY DYNAMICS

An individual-based model of plant–herbivore interactions was developed to test the potentially interactive effects of explicit space and coevolution on population and community dynamics. Individual plants and herbivores resided in cells on a lattice and carried linked interaction genes. Interaction strength between individual plants and herbivores depended on concordance between these genes (gene-for-gene coevolution). Mating and dispersal among individuals were controlled spatially within variably sized neighbourhoods. Without evolution we observed high-frequency plant–herbivore oscillations (blue spectra) with small individual neighbourhoods, and stochastic fluctuations (white spectra) with large neighbourhoods. Evolution resulted in decreased interaction strength, decreased herbivore-induced plant mortality, increased population sizes, and longer-term fluctuations (reddened spectra). Small herbivore neighbourhoods led to herbivore extinction only with evolution. To explore the increased population size response to evolution we ran simulations without evolution while tuning plant–herbivore interaction strength from high to none. We found that herbivore populations were maximized at intermediate levels of interaction strength that coincided with the interaction strength achieved when the system tuned itself through evolution. Overall, our model shows that the small-scale details of phenotypically variable individual-level interactions, leading to evolutionary dynamics, affect large-scale population and community dynamics.
Nonlocal image editing.

In this paper, we introduce a new image editing tool based on the spectrum of a global filter computed from image affinities. Recently, it has been shown that the global filter derived from a fully connected graph representing the image can be approximated using the Nystrom extension. This filter is computed by approximating the leading eigenvectors of the filter. These orthonormal eigenfunctions are highly expressive of the coarse and fine details in the underlying image, where each eigenvector can be interpreted as one scale of a data-dependent multiscale image decomposition. In this filtering scheme, each eigenvalue can boost or suppress the corresponding signal component in each scale. Our analysis shows that the mapping of the eigenvalues by an appropriate polynomial function endows the filter with a number of important capabilities, such as edge-aware sharpening, denoising, tone manipulation, and abstraction, to name a few. Furthermore, the edits can be easily propagated across the image.
Using the Gaussian Image to Find the Orientation of Objects

Current three-dimensional vision algorithms can generate depth maps or vector maps from images, but few algorithms extract high-level information from these depth maps. This paper identifies one algorithm that determines an object's orientation by matching object models to depth map data. The object models are constructed by mapping surface orien tation data onto spheres. This process is based on a mathe matical theorem that can be applied only to convex objects, but some extensions for nonconvex objects are presented. The paper shows that a global approach can be used successfully in cases where objects do not touch one another. Another important result illustrates the size of the space of rotations. It shows that even when 6,000 rotations are almost uniformly distributed for matching, errors of 17 degrees are still possible.
Relative importance of taste and vision in reducing bird damage to crops with methiocarb, a chemical repellent

Abstract The relative importance of taste and vision for methiocarb-induced food aversions was studied in captive house finches ( Carpodacus mexicanus ). Seed handling behavior and patterns of consumption of safflower seeds treated with methiocarb indicated that taste was not involved. Rather, the data suggest that, in the absence of visual cues to palatability, the finches responded to physiological effects following methiocarb ingestion. In an experiment to assess the effect of an added visual signal, pairs of finches given methiocarb-treated hulled oats with red tape on their food bowl showed more aversion to the treated food than did pairs without tape. These and other findings suggest that methods to reduce bird damage to crops with chemical repellents should emphasize visual cues rather than taste.
Role of superconducting fluctuations in c-axis transport of Bi-2:2:1:2 superconductor in high magnetic fields

Abstract The c axis resistivity ϱ c of Bi-2:2:1:2 single crystals is measured in magnetic fields up to 26.4 T. In the fluctuation regime, B > H c2 ( T ), the increase of ϱ c as B approaches H c2 from above at given T is described by the theory based on the BCS model for Josephson coupled layered superconductors. In contrast, the increase of ϱ c as T approaches T c ( B ) is much stronger than this theory predicts. This indicates evidence for a temperature dependent ϱ c in the normal state.
Institutions and the Environmental Kuznets Curve for Deforestation: A Crosscountry Analysis for Latin America, Africa and Asia

Abstract The relationship between deforestation and income across 66 countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia is examined. Institutional characteristics as well as macroeconomic policies of each country are hypothesized to impact deforestation. Results show strong evidence of an environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) relationship between income and deforestation for all three continents. Institutional structure and macroeconomic policy significantly affect the tropical deforestation process. Improvements in political institutions and governance significantly reduce deforestation. The factors leading to deforestation differ across regions, however, and there is no one-size-fits-all global policy recommendation for restraining the tropical deforestation process.
Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory

Abstract The uncritical acceptance of Maslow's need hierarchy theory despite the lack of empirical evidence is discussed and the need for a review of recent empirical evidence is emphasized. A review of ten factor-analytic and three ranking studies testing Maslow's theory showed only partial support for the concept of need hierarchy. A large number of cross-sectional studies showed no clear evidence for Maslow's deprivation/domination proposition except with regard to self-actualization. Longitudinal studies testing Maslow's gratification/activation proposition showed no support, and the limited support received from cross-sectional studies is questionable due to numerous measurement problems. The difficulties with testing the theory are discussed and the conceptual, methodological, and measurement problems of the studies reviewed are detailed. The implications of the findings and future directions for research are outlined.
Stress and obesity

In this paper, we briefly discuss certain medical-psychiatric implications of obesity. The stressful effects of being obese are then presented. Next, we focus on stress in its relationship to overeating, obesity and eating disorders. Then we discuss the stress associated with dieting and maintenance of weight loss. Finally, we present a clinical framework for assessing the roles of obesity, weight concerns and stress.
Vortex pinning in Josephson-junction arrays

Josephson-junction arrays provide a uniform lattice of vortex pinning sites. We investigate the effect of pinning on vortex motion in this model system through comparisons of numerical simulations with measurements on 1000{times}1000 Nb-Cu-Nb proximity-effect Josephson-junction arrays. The resistive transition is broadened upon application of small magnetic fields near {ital f}=0, where {ital f} is the number of flux quanta per unit cell. We discuss this broadening in terms of thermally activated vortex motion. The resistive transition at {ital f}=1/2 also broadens in the presence of small additional magnetic fields; we attribute this broadening to motion of field-induced defects in the ground-state vortex superlattice. Pinning barriers are found to be field independent for small deviations of the field from both {ital f}=0 and 1/2. We also discuss measurements suggesting defect motion near {ital f}=1/3 and 1/4. The implications of these results for flux-line lattice dissipation in other systems are discussed.
Synthesis of paddlanes having a bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane core. The consequences of olefin metathesis involving unsaturated 1,3-dicarboxylate esters of varying chain length

Abstract Described herein is the synthesis of an homologous series of bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane-1,3-dicarboxylate esters featuring ω-alkenols of differing chain length (n=4–8) for the purpose of evaluating their ability to undergo ring-closing metathesis/paddlane formation in the presence of Grubbs’ catalyst.
Lymphocyte subsets associated with T cell receptor β‐chain gene rearrangement in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and neutropenia

Objective. To determine the incidence of a clonal lymphoid disease in patients with chronic rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and neutropenia. Methods. Lymphocytes from 23 RA patients with either current neutropenia or a history of this complication were studied. Results. Eight patients had a clonal rearrangement of the T cell receptor β-chain gene. Phenotypically, they showed a distinctive pattern characterized by an inverted CD4+:CD8+ cell ratio and an increased number and percentage of CD57+/CD8+ and CD3+/DR+ lymphocytes. None had evidence of a lymphoid malignancy. Conclusion. Among RA patients with neutropenia, there is a subset who have a subclinical disease resembling T γ lymphoproliferative disease.
Effect of Elastic Stress on Some Electronic Properties of Indium

We have measured the effect of elastic stress to 0.3 kbar on the resistance at room and helium temperatures and on the superconducting transition temperature of In whiskers. These whiskers have diameters 1 $\ensuremath{\mu}$ of about and axes parallel to a closest-packed or 101g direction. $\frac{\ensuremath{\partial}{T}_{c}}{\ensuremath{\partial}\ensuremath{\sigma}}$ is 51\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}7 mK/kbar, in disagreement with results obtained by measuring the change in length of In crystals as they pass through the superconducting transition. At room temperature, $\frac{\ensuremath{\Delta}\ensuremath{\rho}}{\ensuremath{\rho}\ensuremath{\sigma}}=a+b\ensuremath{\sigma}$, where $a=(\ensuremath{-}0.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}5}$ ${\mathrm{bars}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ and $b=(14\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}9}$ ${\mathrm{bar}}^{\ensuremath{-}2}$.
Wound Infection After Infrainguinal Bypass Operations: Multivariate Analysis of Putative Risk Factors

Reported wound infection rates for infrainguinal bypass operations range from 17% to 44%, but there is limited appreciation of which characteristics of patients or operations are reliable markers of increased wound infection risk. The purpose of the present study was to analyze all wound infections observed after infrainguinal bypass operations during 20 years of practice in a large teaching institution. Independent risk factors for wound infection development were identified. During the 20-year period ending 31 December, 1997, 978 male patients underwent infrainguinal bypass operations at the Minneapolis Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Wound infections complicated the recovery of 129 of these patients during a 30-day postoperative surveillance interval. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to test the association between wound infection occurrence and putative risk factors that were either features of patients or characteristics of the operations. The following variables were examined: obesity, prosthetic graft placement, diabetes mellitus, steroid use, anticoagulation use, length of preoperative hospital stay, development of incisional hematoma, duration of operation, and the preoperative presence of a non-healing wound in the extremity being revascularized. The overall wound infection rate was 13.2% (129/978). In a final logistic regression model, obesity was a significant and independent predictor of wound infection (Relative Risk 2.6, 95% confidence interval, 1.35-4.90), as was development of a post-operative incisional hematoma (Relative Risk 6.44, 95% confidence interval, 2.95-14.08). No other explanatory variable was significantly associated with wound infection development.
Influence of chain conformation on translational diffusion of poly(2-vinyl pyridine) in dilute solution

A comparative photon correlation spectroscopy study is reported of the concentration-dependent translational diffusion coefficient Dt of atactic poly(2-vinyl pyridine) in tetrahydrofuran and in aqueous solution, in the form of the poly(2-vinyl pyridinium)chloride salt (α = 0.4). The limiting Stokes radius of the polymer is observed to be identical within experimental error in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at temperatures below 30°C and in aqueous solutions at high ionic strength. This numerical value is comparable to expectation for an unperturbed atactic vinyl polymer chain and indicates a compact, possibly micellar, conformation. Raising the temperature in THF above 30°C and decreasing the ionic strength or increasing the ionization above α = 0.4 in aqueous solvents causes a discontinuous cooperative transition to a more expanded structure. The effect of the conformational change is also manifest in the concentration dependence of Dt. Using experimental estimates of the second osmotic virial coefficients obtained by total scattered intensity measurements, the experimental data for dDt/dc are compared with prediction based on hydrodynamic theory. Substantial disagreement is found between theory and experiment, especially in the aqueous system. In 0.01M NaCl, decrease in polyion concentration induces the transition from the compact form to a highly extended structure. Angle-dependent quasielastic light scattering data from the expanded state provides information about the intramolecular chain dynamics.
Prevalence and degree of sexual dysfunction in a sample of women seeking bariatric surgery.

Abstract Background Sexual functioning has been shown to be impaired in women who are obese, particularly those seeking bariatric surgery. However, most previous studies evaluating sexual function in these populations have not used validated measures. We used the validated Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) to assess the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in a sample of >100 women evaluated for bariatric surgery. Methods The FSFI was administered to reportedly sexually active women during their preoperative evaluation. The scores for the individual FSFI domains (desire, arousal, lubrication, orgasm, satisfaction, and pain) ranging from 0 (or 1.2) to 6 were summed to produce a FSFI total score (range 2–36). A FSFI total cutoff score of ≤26.55 was used to identify participants with FSD. The participants' FSFI total and domain scores were compared with previously published norms available for women diagnosed with female sexual arousal disorder and healthy controls. Results Of the 102 women, 61 (59.8%) had FSFI total scores of ≤26.55, indicative of FSD. Older age and menopause were associated with FSD. Compared with published norms, bariatric surgery candidates had FSFI domain scores that were lower than those of the control group (all P values P values Conclusion Women seeking bariatric surgery are clearly a population with substantial sexual function impairment, with 60% of participants reporting FSD. These findings highlight the need to initiate routine assessment of sexual functioning in this population and examine whether the weight loss after bariatric surgery contributes to a reversal of FSD.
Naming symmetric processes using shared variables

Implementations of inter-process communication and synchronization in distributed systems usually rely on the existence of unique ids for the processes. We consider the problem of generating such ids for identical processes in a shared-variable system. A randomized protocol that assigns distinct ids to the processes within an expected polynomial number of rounds using a polynomial number of boolean atomic variables is presented.
The Calsequestrin Mutation CASQ2D307H Does Not Affect Protein Stability and Targeting to the Junctional Sarcoplasmic Reticulum but Compromises Its Dynamic Regulation of Calcium Buffering

Mutations in cardiac ryanodine receptor (RYR2) and cardiac calsequestrin (CASQ2) genes are linked to catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, a life-threatening genetic disease. They predispose young individuals to cardiac arrhythmia in the absence of structural abnormalities. One such mutation that changes an aspartic residue to histidine at position 307 in CASQ2 has been linked to catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia. In this study we made a transgenic mouse model expressing the mutant CASQ2D307H protein in a CASQ2 null background and investigated if the disease is caused by accelerated degradation of the mutant protein. Our data suggest that the mutant protein can be expressed, is relatively stable, and targets appropriately to the junctional sarcoplasmic reticulum. Moreover, it partially normalizes the ultrastructure of the sarcoplasmic reticulum, which was altered in the CASQ2 null background. In addition, overexpression of the mutant protein does not cause any pathology and/or structural changes in the myocardium. We further demonstrate, using purified protein, that the mutant protein is very stable under chemical and thermal denaturation but shows abnormal Ca2+ buffering characteristics at high calcium concentrations. In addition, trypsin digestion studies reveal that the mutant protein is more susceptible to protease activity only in the presence of high Ca2+. These studies collectively suggest that the D307H mutation can compromise the dynamic behavior of CASQ2 including supramolecular rearrangement upon Ca2+ activation.
Trifluoromethyl analogs of amphetamine and norephedrine

Trifluoromethyl analogs of amphetamine (I) and norephedrine (II) were synthesized for pharmacological evaluation. They showed no activity in profile tests for anorectic activity (I), antiemetic activity (I), CNS activity (I), MAO-inhibitory activity (I, II), and pressor activity (II).
Downwind evolution of surface fluxes over a vegetated surface during local advection of heat and saturation deficit

Abstract The horizontal advection of warm, dry air to a vegetated surface and the resulting effects on evaporation were examined. Contrary to the decreasing trend of evaporation with downwind distance predicted by traditional models, the eddy covariance measurements made in this study indicated that evaporation remained nearly constant with downwind distance over the few hundred meters considered. Under stronger advection there was even some evidence of increases in evaporation with distance. Canopy conductance values calculated from the measured values of sensible and latent heat fluxes wind speed and canopy temperature, suggested that canopy conductance increased with downwind distance, likely in response to the reduction in saturation deficit. The stomatal response to increases in humidity may have compensated for the effects of the humidity on transpiration, allowing the evaporation flux to continue at a high rate. These results support similar assertions made by recent studies. The mechanisms of heat and water vapor transfer between the surface and the atmosphere, downwind of the transition were analyzed using spectral analyses. Power spectra of temperature and humidity scalars showed changes with downwind distance that appear to be governed by both the upwind conditions and the growing local boundary layer. Cross-spectra of the vertical fluxes suggested that at lower frequencies the vertical motions preceded changes in temperature and humidity, whereas at higher frequencies the changes in the scalars led the changes in vertical motions. This suggests that large eddies generated over the upwind surface were essentially independent of the stability of the local boundary layer growing over the new surface. These findings suggest possible mechanisms for the recent observations that local similarity is not valid under these conditions. Observations of ramps of humidity and temperature at all downwind locations suggest that coherent structures were common. Intermittency of fluxes was estimated with a simple procedure, and suggested that a substantial portion of the fluxes occurred during intermittent events. More analyses of coherent structures and intermittency are needed to better understand the mechanisms of transport under advection conditions.
The communication software and parallel environment of the IBM SP2

This paper describes the software available on the IBM SP2™ for parallel program development and execution. It presents the rationale for the design of the Message-Passing Library used on the SP2, outlines its current implementation, and gives information on performance. In addition, the paper describes the programming environment and the program development tools available for developing and executing parallel codes.
The acetate kinase of Clostridum acetobutylicum strain P262.

Clostridum acetobutylicum strain P262 fermented glucose, pyruvate, or lactate, and the butyrate production was substrate-dependent. Differences in butyrate yield could not be explained by changes in butyrate kinase activities, but the butyrate production was inversely related to acetate kinase activity. The acetate kinase had a pH optimum of 8.0, aKm for acetate of 160 mM, and akcat of 16,800 min-1. The enyzme had a native molecular mass of 78 kDa; the size of 42 kDa on SDS-PAGE indicated that the acetate kinase of strain P262 was a homodimer.
Cutoff in potency implicates alcohol inhibition of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in alcohol intoxication.

Abstract As the number of carbon atoms in an aliphatic n-alcohol is increased from one to five, intoxicating potency, lipid solubility, and membrane lipid disordering potency all increase in a similar exponential manner. However, the potency of aliphatic n-alcohols for producing intoxication reaches a maximum at six to eight carbon atoms and then decreases. The molecular basis of this "cutoff" effect is not understood, as it is not correlated with either the lipid solubility or the membrane disordering potency of the alcohols, which continue to increase exponentially. Since it has been suggested that inhibition of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors by alcohols may play a role in alcohol intoxication, we investigated whether a series of aliphatic n-alcohols would exhibit a cutoff in potency for inhibition of NMDA receptors. We found that although potency for inhibition of NMDA receptors increased exponentially for alcohols with one to five carbon atoms, potency for inhibition of NMDA receptors reached a maximum at six to eight carbon atoms and then abruptly disappeared. This cutoff for alcohol inhibition of NMDA receptors is consistent with an interaction of the alcohols with a hydrophobic pocket on the receptor protein. In addition, the similarity of the cutoffs for alcohol inhibition of NMDA receptors and alcohol intoxication suggests that the cutoff for NMDA receptor inhibition may contribute to the cutoff for alcohol intoxication, which is consistent with an important role of NMDA receptors in alcohol intoxication.
Interfacial temperatures and surface heat fluxes during a blade-seal rubbing process

A thermal analysis was made of a blade-seal configuration to determine the effects of thermal contact resistance, blade speed, and thermal properties upon the interfacial temperature. The analysis disclosed that while the thermal properties of the blade or the seal specimen strongly affect the temperatures in their respective parts, the factors which control the overall temperature field are the contact resistance and the heat generated at the interface.
Environmental Education for Automotive Personnel in Mexico

As an environmental anthropologist and coordinator of a variety of international projects, I have dealt with many cross-cultural issues concerning environmental problems. In my work for the National Center for Vehicle Emissions Control and Safety, I have been particularly concerned with the problem of mobile source air pollution—air pollution generated by automobiles. Both the training and expertise of local automotive personnel and cultural attitudes toward the automobile and regulations regarding its use must be understood and addressed in any program designed to alleviate air pollution. Assessments of local technical expertise and cultural attitudes and the design and implementation of culturally relevant programs require the skills of a competent ethnographer.
Power system steady state security analysis using vector processing computers

The main difficulties encountered in applying a vector processor to the solution of a power flow is the sparsity of the power flow matrices which results in very short vectors when the nonzero terms are gathered into a packed vector format. The authors describe a steady-state security analysis code which overcomes the problem of very short vectors. The length of the list of outages is the major problem in security analysis since it usually includes at least each individual piece of equipment taken one at a time, and a large number of cases with multiple outages. The use of contingency selection and screening has opened the way to reducing this burden, but a very large number of individual cases must be run to satisfy the need to be sure that no cases have gone unchecked. The efforts described have extended the computational speed with which this can be accomplished, and the implementation of very high performance security analysis codes has been made possible. >
Historical and contemporary trophic niche partitioning among Laurentian Great Lakes coregonines

Anthropogenic activities have significantly altered freshwater fish communities. Extirpations of deepwater coregonines (Coregonus spp.), a diverse group of fish species, have left vast areas of the Laurentian Great Lakes devoid of a deepwater fish community. Currently, fisheries managers are considering restoring populations by reintroducing deepwater coregonines from Lake Superior and Lake Nipigon. However, little is known about the historical ecology of deepwater coregonines, and species characterization has proved difficult. We used stable isotope analysis of museum-preserved and contemporary specimens to investigate if (1) coregonine species historically occupied distinct niches and (2) the pattern of trophic niche partitioning has changed over the last century. Across all lakes, individual species occupied distinct trophic niches, confirming that these species were ecologically distinct. Understanding trophic niche partitioning helps resolve uncertainty about distinctness of species within and across lakes and may provide a better ecological basis for rehabilitation of Great Lakes food webs and ecosystems.
Preparation of high resolution nickel open tubular columns

A detailed description of the production of nickel open tubular columns is given and the important steps are discussed. Two types of surface modification, etching and introduction of a suspended silanized silica, which result in conventional open tubular (COT) and in support coated open tubular (SCOT) columns are described. Properties of these columns are presented for one phase, Emulphor ON 870 and several examples of applications are given.
Applications of Behavior Modification to Community Health Education: The Case of Heart Disease Prevention

Principles of behavior modification increasingly have been applied to community health education and offer considerable promise for public health in general. Behavior modification procedures can be conceptualized in a 2 X 2 framework with desired goals being either to increase and strengthen or decrease and weaken behavior, and procedures producing essentially positive or negative consequences. Modifying specific behavioral risk factors for the prevention of heart disease may include the use of positive reinforcement, shaping, differential reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and "punishment." The use of an adequate "behavior analytic" history, highly acceptable interventions, observable effects, inexpensive materials and procedures, community-owned programs, and other practical guidelines can help optimize the effectiveness of behavior modification for health education in the community.
Comparing the SMART stent with the Wallstent iliac endoprosthesis: reading between the lines.

THE Palmaz P308 stent (Cordis/Johnson & Johnson, Warren, NJ) was approved in 1991 and was the first stent to gain Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for use in the iliac arteries. TheWallstent (Boston Scientific, Natick, MA) gained approval in 1996. Both stents were approved for use after suboptimal angioplasty based on historical comparisons with angioplasty, or in the case of the Wallstent, with historical results with use of the Palmaz stent. There are approximately 40 other stents that have achieved FDA approval for marketing in the United States, usually labeled as biliary stents. Most gained access to the U.S. market through the premarket notification route, approved because they are deemed to be equivalent to another approved device under section 510(k) of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Until recently, there was no other device approved for marketing for use in the iliac arteries. Since 1996, the FDA has required randomized trial design and objective performance criteria before considering approval of devices to be labeled as intravascular stents. The SMART stent is the first stent to gain approval for marketing for use in the iliac arteries since 1996. The Cordis SMART Stent CRISP-US Study that appears in this issue of JVIR (1) is the report of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration study sponsored by Cordis/Johnson & Johnson and is the study that led to approval of the SMART stent for marketing as an iliac artery stent. The study is a multicenter, randomized clinical trial comparing the SMART stent (Cordis) and the Wallstent. There were 203 patients with chronic limb ischemia and iliac artery stenoses in the study. The indication for stent placement was suboptimal angioplasty results, with suboptimal angioplasty defined as 30% residual stenosis, flow-limiting dissection greater that the initial lesion length, or mean transstenotic pressure gradient of 5 mm Hg. Only two thirds of patients had mean pressure gradients greater than 5 mm Hg, which is usually considered the threshold for stent placement (2). The primary endpoint was a composite of 9-month restenosis, 30-day death, and 9-month target vessel revascularization. Secondary endpoints were (i) acute procedural success, (ii) early clinical success, (iii) late clinical success, (iv) hemodynamic success, (v) patency, and (vi) improvement in Walking Impairment Questionnaire scores. There are a large number of secondary endpoints but no mention of type I error control. The study was designed as an equivalency study, and the primary endpoint was observed in similar numbers of patients at 9 months. On that ground, the SMART stent received FDA approval in September 2003 for improving lumen diameter in the iliac arteries. Because the study was an equivalency study, the conclusions the reader could expect to draw are fairly neutral. Nevertheless, there are a number of claims in the manuscript that deserve attention.
SU-GG-T-403: A Coarse Mesh Transport Method for the Calculation of Photon Energy Deposition in Tissue

Purpose: To develop and test a novel, transport‐based method for calculating the energy deposition of a photon beam in tissue. Method and Materials: The new method is based on a hybrid Monte Carlo‐Deterministic Coarse Mesh Transport Method COMET.COMET is a method for solving the linear Boltzmann Transport Equation based on an incident angular current expansion. It has been shown to perform well for 2D coupled photon‐electron transport calculations aimed at determining the energy deposition of a photon beam. The COMET method uses pre‐computed Monte Carlo‐based response expansion coefficients to achieve accuracy comparable to Monte Carlo methods in a fraction of the time. The current work extends the photon transport capability of the COMET method to handle 3D geometry and to simulate realistic photon sources. The method is tested with a simple benchmark problem consisting of a 20×20×20cm water phantom irradiated by a collimated, polyenergetic photon source at a source‐to‐surface distance (SSD) of 80cm. Although the COMET mesh size is arbitrary, the phantom is divided into 1×1×1cm voxels for convenience. The accuracy of the method is evaluated by comparison to a reference calculation performed with EGSnrc. Results: The distribution of energy deposition was examined voxel by voxel. The largest error for any voxel is found to be less than 3.3% of the maximum energy deposition value from the reference solution. The relative standard error for each voxel in the reference solution is less than 0.5%. The COMETsolution took 0.27 core‐hours to compute compared with 84 core‐hours for the reference solution.Conclusion: The work indicates that the COMET method holds promise for fast and accurate 3D photon and electron dose calculations. Furthermore, sources of error are identified and suggestions are made to improve the accuracy of the new method during future development.
THE ROLE OF PROTEOLYTIC CELLULAR SYSTEMS IN TRABECULAR MESHWORK HOMEOSTASIS

The molecular mechanisms contributing to the progressive malfunction of the trabecular meshwork (TM)/Schlemm's canal (SC) conventional outflow pathway during aging and in Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) are still poorly understood. Progressive accumulation of damaged and cross-linked proteins is a hallmark of aging tissues and has been proposed to play a major role in the tissue abnormalities associated with organismal aging and many age-related diseases. Such progressive accumulation of damaged proteins with age is believed to result from both, increased oxidative stress that results in faster rates of protein damage, as well as from a functional decline in the cellular proteolytic machinery that eliminates misfolded and damaged proteins. Here, we review the reported data that supports the occurrence of oxidative damage and the alterations in the intracellular proteolytic systems in the TM in aging and POAG. Finally, we discuss how the functional decline of the cellular proteolytic machinery in the TM might lead to the observed physiologic alterations of the outflow pathway in glaucoma.