cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Schwann Cell CD9 Expression Is Regulated by Axons

The cell-surface glycoprotein, CD9, has been implicated in hematopoietic and Schwann cell signaling in vitro. In vivo, Schwann cell CD9 expression follows a developmental time course that parallels that of myelin genes. Here we report that Schwann cell CD9 mRNA expression is regulated by axonal contact in culture and in vivo. Following adult rat sciatic nerve injury, CD9 mRNA expression in distal nerve sections is correlated with the presence of axons; CD9 is down-regulated when axons are degenerating and is reexpressed when axons are regenerating, but not if they are prevented from doing so by transection. CD9 regulation in cultured Schwann cells is also dependent on the presence of neurons such that dissociated Schwann cells down-regulate CD9 mRNA expression in culture, but in the presence of sensory neurons they continue to express CD9. Therefore, regulation of Schwann cell CD9 expression parallels that of myelin genes protein O and myelin basic protein in culture and in vivo. A signaling role for CD9 in nerve development and regeneration is proposed.
The Communitarian Challenge to Liberal Social and Educational Theory

One of the traditional arguments for public schooling is that modern technological democratic societies need to replace the particularistic values of the family and the local community with the more universal values of the larger society. In the family or the local community feelings of love or loyalty determine the distribution of material and symbolic resources, in advanced technological societies the ideals of competence and achievement are supposed to determine this distribution (see Dreeben, 1968). This argument held special ideological force during the 19th and much of the 20th century when the United States was undergoing both technological and population changes. Public schools were thought to have an essential role in realizing the ideal of equality of opportunity by providing children from traditional communities with the attitudes and skills that they needed to compete in a modern society. Although the argument clearly overlooked race bias in the school, as well and gender tracking in both the school and the family, the ideals presented have played an important role in liberal educational reform through both conservative and progressive iterations.
Does hydrophobic hydration destabilize protein native structures

Water in the immediate vicinity of a non-polar solute has characteristically low entropy and high heat capacity at 25 degrees C. Common opinion has been that the insolubility of such species is caused by thermodynamic changes associated with the formation of these layers of abnormal water, 'hydrophobic hydration'. Recently, however, it has been proposed instead that hydrophobic hydration favors solution of hydrocarbons, or hydrocarbon sidechains, in water and therefore promotes protein unfolding. It is argued here that available data do not convincingly support this hypothesis.
Trends in World Wide Web development: May 1995

The World Wide Web, an Internet‐based hypertext system, swept onto the Internet scene about 18 months ago as a result of the widespread popularity of Mosaic, the universal client software developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois. Mosaic provided an easy‐to‐use interface that struck a responsive chord in Internet users hungry for content and tired of the arcane syntax of command‐line Internet services.
Body circumferences as alternatives to skinfold measures of body fat distribution in children

The ratios of circumferences (waist/hip, waist/thigh) have been proposed in lieu of skinfold measurements for studies of obesity and body fat distribution in adults. The skinfold method has been used successfully in children to study the growth and development of patterns of body fat distribution, but circumferences have not. We studied the relationship between these two methodologies as indicators of body fat and its anatomical distribution among 365 normal children aged 6-11 years, using canonical correlation analysis. With this method, weighted vectors of four body circumferences on the one hand and five skinfolds on the other are formed in such a way that the correlation between the two sets of variables is maximized. Weights (regression coefficients) are assigned each variable and their strength and sign help us to select the best combination of circumferences which describe a component of centralised obesity. A first canonical correlation was substantial in both boys and girls (0.84) and was independent of age. It appeared to relate to fatness level. A second canonical correlation was low (0.34 in boys, 0.35 in girls) (p less than 0.01). It too was age independent and in both sexes it reflected differences between fat on the trunk and on the lower extremity, and was thus a component of centralised fat distribution. The simple waist/thigh ratio correlated better with this canonical variable (0.67-0.88) than the more commonly used waist/hip ratio (0.45-0.79). The 'best' index of centralised fat in children is therefore, the waist/thigh circumference ratio, the same one that has been suggested for adults.
Bounds on ΔB = 1 couplings in the supersymmetric standard model

The most general supersymmetric model contains baryon number violating terms of the form {lambda}{sub ijk} {bar D}{sub i}{bar D}{sub j}{bar U}{sub k} in the superpotential. The authors reconsider the bounds on these couplings, assuming that lepton number conservation ensures proton stability. These operators can mediate n-{anti n} oscillations and double nucleon decay. They show that neutron oscillations do not, as previously claimed, constrain the {lambda}{sub dsu} coupling; they do provide a bound on the {lambda}{sub dbu} coupling, which they calculate. They find that the best bound on {lambda}{sub dsu} arises from double nucleon decay into two kaons; the calculation is discussed in detail. There are no published limits on this process; experimenters are urged to examine this nuclear decay mode. Finally, the other couplings can be bounded by the requirement of perturbative unification.
Morphology of Porous and Wrinkled Fibers of Polystyrene Electrospun from Dimethylformamide

Submicron diameter fibers of polystyrene are electrospun from solutions in dimethylformamide (DMF). When electrospun in a high-humidity environment, the interior of these fibers was found to be highly porous rather than consolidated, despite the smooth and nonporous appearance of the fiber surfaces. The formation of interior porosity is attributed to the miscibility of water, a nonsolvent for the polymers in solution, with DMF. The resulting morphology is a consequence of the relatively rapid diffusion of water into the jet, leading to a liquid−liquid phase separation that precedes solidification due to evaporation of DMF from the jet. When electrospun in a low-humidity environment, the fibers exhibit a wrinkled morphology that can be explained by a buckling instability. Understanding which morphology forms under a given set of conditions is achieved through the comparison of three characteristic times: the drying time, the buckling time, and the phase separation time. The morphology has important consequ...
Stearoyl-CoA desaturase: A therapeutic target of insulin resistance and diabetes

Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) is a central enzyme responsible for the synthesis of monounsaturated fatty acids – mainly oleate (C18:1) that is a major component of tissue lipids. Recent studies have revealed that mice deficient in SCD have reduced tissue lipid accumulation, increased insulin sensitivity and are resistant to diet and leptin deficiency-induced obesity. Because insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes mellitus are associated with intracellular lipid accumulation and obesity, inhibition of SCD expression might be a potential therapeutic target in the prevention of diabetes.
Thyroid Hormone-independent Interaction between the Thyroid Hormone Receptor β2 Amino Terminus and Coactivators

Thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) mediate hormone action by binding to DNA response elements (TREs) and either activating or repressing gene expression in the presence of ligand, T(3). Coactivator recruitment to the AF-2 region of TR in the presence of T(3) is central to this process. The different TR isoforms, TR-beta1, TR-beta2, and TR-alpha1, share strong homology in their DNA- and ligand-binding domains but differ in their amino-terminal domains. Because TR-beta2 exhibits greater T(3)-independent activation on TREs than other TR isoforms, we wanted to determine whether coactivators bound to TR-beta2 in the absence of ligand. Our results show that TR-beta2, unlike TR-beta1 or TR-alpha1, is able to bind certain coactivators (CBP, SRC-1, and pCIP) in the absence of T(3) through a domain which maps to the amino-terminal half of its A/B domain. This interaction is specific for certain coactivators, as TR-beta2 does not interact with other co-factors (p120 or the CBP-associated factor (pCAF)) in the absence of T(3). The minimal TR-beta2 domain for coactivator binding is aa 21-50, although aa 1-50 are required for the full functional response. Thus, isoform-specific regulation by TRs may involve T(3)-independent coactivator recruitment to the transcription complex via the AF-1 domain.
A direct out-of-core solver for CGWAVE on the Cray XI

CGWAVE is a general-purpose, state-of-the-art wave-prediction model. It is applicable to the estimation of wave fields in harbors, open coastal regions, coastal inlets, around islands, and around fixed or floating structures. CGWAVE generates a system of simultaneous linear complex equations that are difficult to solve. Some iterative solvers do not converge at all, while others struggle to converge. A direct, banded, out-of-core solver that utilized reordering of the nodes to reduce the size of the bandwidth was written. The solver was then optimized for the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center Major Shared Resource Center (ERDC MSRC) Cray XI. This paper describe the details of how this work was performed and give performance results on the ERDC MSRC Cray XI.
Scanning electron microscope study of a new irrigation method in endodontic treatment

The effectiveness of a newly developed perforated endodontic irrigation needle, with its distal aperture sealed, was compared to conventional endodontic irrigation procedures. In all instances 5 percent sodium hypochlorite was used since the delivery system, rather than the irrigant, was being evaluated. A base line group in which all soft tissue was described was also included. The results indicate that the perforated endodontic irrigation needle is a very effective instrument for the cleansing of instrumented root canals.
Brightness, visual acuity and colour blindness.

1. Measurements have been made of the dark-adapted foveal threshold of normal and colour blind persons in five parts of the spectrum using a 1° circular test field. 2. Compared to normals, protanopes (red-blinds) show an elevation of the threshold which increases slowly from blue to yellow and rises rapidly thereafter until in the red the threshold is more than ten times as high as normal. Deuteranopes (greenblinds) do not show so high an elevation, their maximum in the green being only about 70% above normal. 3. These threshold elevations correspond to luminosity losses in the spectrum. For the protanope the total loss in the spectrum is nearly one-half of the normal luminosity; for the deuteranope it is nearly two-fifths of normal. 4. Measurements were made of the illumination necessary for equal visual performance in normal and colour blind subjects. It was found that protanopes require 119% and deuteranopes 55% more light to achieve a visual acuity of 0.29 reciprocal minutes. These values agree closely with those found in the luminosity measurements. 5. Such losses support the idea that colour blindness corresponds to the loss of one of the three receptor systems usually postulated to account for normal colour vision. However, the colour sensations reported by colour blind persons, especially monocular colour blinds, do not support the idea of a lost or inactivated receptor system. A fresh explanation for colour blindness is needed to reconcile these conflicting kinds of evidence.
Effects of leaders' and evaluators' sex on sex-role stereotyping of charismatic leaders.

This study extends research on sex and leadership by examining the relation between evaluators' and leaders' sex and the sex-role stereotyping of charismatic leaders. A total of 219 students (110 men and 109 women) from a large northeastern university rated charismatic leaders depicted in vignettes using the revised Bem Sex-Role Inventory; overall, the leaders were rated higher on masculinity than femininity. Analysis by sex of evaluator and leader showed masculinity was higher in all cases except when male charismatic leaders were evaluated by women. In this case, the results support an androgynous view, i.e., high on both masculinity and femininity.
Inclusions and solidification structures of high pure ferritic stainless steels dual stabilized by niobium and titanium

As the raw materials in the post process of rolling and heat treatment, ingots have great effects on the properties of the final products. Inclusions and solidification structures are the most important aspects of the quality of ingots. Niobium and titanium are usually used to react with carbon and nitrogen to improve the properties of ferritic stainless steels. In this research, combined with thermodynamic calculation, effects of niobium and titanium on the inclusions and solidification structures in three kinds of high pure ferritic stainless steels with different titanium additions were investigated by optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and energy disperse spectrometer (EDS). Results show that Al2O3 and a few (Nb,Ti)N particles form when titanium addition is 0.01 %. Furthermore, inclusions are mainly TiN and Al2O3–TiO x –TiN duplex inclusions when titanium addition is more than 0.10 %. Those two types of inclusions are in well distribution, and can afford nuclei to the solidification process. Therefore, the ratio of equiaxed zone increases with the increase of titanium addition. The ratio increases from 42.1 % to 64.0 % with the titanium addition increasing from 0.01 % to 0.10 %, and it increases to 85.7 % when the titanium addition reaches 0.34 %.
Nanocomposites from in-Situ Polymerization of Substituted Polyacetylene within Lamellar Surface of the Montmorillonite: A Solid-State NMR Study

Nanocomposites prepared by in-situ polymerization of 2-ethynylpyridine (2EPy) in the presence of a layered aluminosilicate such as Ca2+−montmorillonite (MMT) were characterized by solid-state 13C cross-polarization/magic angle spinning (CP/MAS) NMR spectroscopy. The structure and dynamics of the polymer layer inserted between the montmorillonite lamellae were investigated. The 13C NMR chemical shifts of the polymer component of the nanocomposite that was prepared by in-situ polymerization were assigned by analyzing the difference between the chemical shift values of the bulk and bulk-intercalated poly(2-ethynylpyridine) (P2EPy) nanocomposite material. The results of solid-state NMR and X-ray diffraction studies clearly demonstrate a spontaneous polymerization of 2EPy within the galleries of MMT. The polymer thus formed is mostly bound to the surface of MMT at either the Bronsted or Lewis acid sites. Infrared analysis suggests the existence of positive charge on the nitrogen atom of the polymer inside the ...
Assessment of student and faculty mentor perceptions of an international undergraduate research program in physical geography

In this study, we assess whether students and their faculty mentors in a Research Experience for Undergraduates program have similar perceptions about the relative importance of different outcomes of their study abroad experience. Results of a Q-analysis reveal a significant difference of opinion between the students and the faculty mentors. It is argued that the faculty mentors need to spend more time in the field with their students and recognize that undergraduate research provides students with skills and a confidence to conduct research in the future, rather than personal and professional development, and the ability to think like a scientist.
“To Look at Death Another Way”: Black Teenage Males' Perspectives on Second-Lines and Regular Funerals in New Orleans:

The purpose of this study was to describe how Black adolescent males understand "second-line" (musical processions) and "regular"/traditional funeral rituals in New Orleans following the violent deaths of significant persons in their lives. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 Black males between the ages of 12 and 15 using descriptive phenomenology methodology. Findings revealed that these participants understood death as a cause for celebration, remembrance, and unity related to their experiences with the second-line ritual. Three elements of the life world of Black teenage males were descriptive of second lines, including: a) observed locations of second lines; b) dancing to good music; and c) observed messages conveyed through t-shirts. Participants provided gender-based descriptions of perceived spoken and unspoken rights in grieving at the two distinct rituals. Related to their second-line experience, the teens reflect on ways in which they wish to have their deaths ritualized. Language: en
On the importance of sp-electrons in the surface relaxation of d-band metals

Abstract We present arguments to the effect that the self-consistent smoothing of the mobile sp-electron distribution gives rise to electrostatic forces which are a major contribution to the initial relaxing forces on the outermost ions at a d-band metal surface. Numerical estimates for the (001) face of α-Fe are given, showing that for the surface ions the surface Madelung force from the sp-electrons is inward and about 3 1 2 times stronger than an outward short-range force simulating the effect of d-electrons.
Energy transfer in the glutamate dehydrogenase-NADH binary complex and its relation to the binding of cofactor.

Abstract Fluorescene spectroscopy was used to examine the interaction between glutamate dehydrogenase (EC 1.4.1.3) and NADH. The binary complex of enzyme and coenzyme showed enhanced emission at 465 nm with excitation at 295 nm, as compared to the free components. This behavior was concluded to arise from a non-radiative transfer of excitation energy between glutamate dehydrogenase and NADH. The intensity of the transfer was used to quantitate the binding of NADH to glutamate dehydrogenase. It was found that a K diss from 2 · 10 −5 to 1 · 10 −4 could be measured, depending on the experimental conditions. Those conditions closest to the composition of kinetic assays gave a K diss for the glutamate dehydrogenase-NADH binary complex of 1 · 10 −4 . The fact that glutamate dehydrogenase may contain as many as four tryptophanyl residues per mole makes distance calculations based on the efficiency of the energy transfer quite hazardous. If only one of the tryptophanyl residues were shown to be the energy donor, then this transfer could prove a useful probe of the NADH binding site on glutamate dehydrogenase.
Graduate Social Work Students' Attitudes Toward Service-Learning

Service-learning attitudes among graduate social work students enrolled in a course on human diversity and oppression are presented. A survey was administered at the beginning and at the end of the semester to students enrolled in the course, which was taught using a service-learning approach. Among the results were believing that service-learning aided in meeting learning goals and higher overall satisfaction with the service-learning experience. This article expands the literature on service-learning in social work education and promotes the use of this experiential method in social work diversity curricula.
Distinct contributions of glutamate and dopamine receptors to temporal aspects of rodent working memory using a clinically relevant task

Rationale: Understanding the mechanistic basis of working memory, the capacity to hold representation "on line," is important for delineating the processes involved in higher cognitive functions and the pathophysiology of thought disorders. Objectives: We compared the contribution of glutamate and dopamine receptor subtypes to temporal aspects of working memory using a modified rodent spatial working memory task that incorporates important elements of clinical working memory tasks. Methods: A discrete paired-trial variable-delay T-maze task was used. Initial characterization studies indicated that performance on this task is stable at seconds-long retention intervals, is sensitive to retention interval and proactive interference, and is dependent on the integrity of the medial prefrontal cortex. Results: Consistent with clinical findings, low dose amphetamine (0.25 mg/kg) produced a delay-dependent improvement in performance, while higher doses impaired performance at all retention intervals. D1 receptor blockade produced the predicted dose- and delay-dependent impairment. D2 receptor blockade had no effect. Activation of metabotropic glutamate 2/3 (mGluR2/3) receptors, which in the prefrontal cortex inhibits the slow asynchronous phase of glutamate release, also produced a delay-dependent impairment. Low doses of an AMPA/kainate antagonist had effects similar to the mGluR2/3 agonist. In contrast, NMDA receptor antagonist-induced impairment was memory load-insensitive, resulting in chance-level performance at all retention intervals. Conclusions: These findings suggest that activation of NMDA receptors is necessary for the formation of mnemonic encoding while modulatory components involving slow asynchronous release of glutamate and phasic release of dopamine contribute to the active maintenance of information during the delay period.
The role of the gut microbiome in the pathogenesis and treatment of obesity.

The human body is colonized by microorganisms that number in the hundreds of trillions (1014), essentially outnumbering the total number of eukaryotic cells (60 trillion) that make up a human.1 These organisms can be found all over the body and throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) system from the mouth to the rectum, with the highest concentration of organisms localized to the colon (1011-1012). Over time, humans and these microorganisms have found a method to live in symbiosis—in essence helping one another survive. This community of microorganisms forms an ecosystem that exists in and on every human is broadly termed the microbiome. There exists a skin microbiome, urogenital microbiome, and a gastrointestinal microbiome (composed of bacteria, archaea, microeukaryotes, fungi, and viruses). This review will focus primarily on the gut microbiome and its relationship to obesity.
Lillicon: using transient widgets to create scale variations of icons

Good icons are legible, and legible icons are scale-dependent. Experienced icon designers use a set of common strategies to create legible scale variations of icons, but executing those strategies with current tools can be challenging. In part, this is because many apparent objects, like hairlines formed by negative space, are not explicitly represented as objects in vector drawings. We present transient widgets as a mechanism for selecting and manipulating apparent objects that is independent of the underlying drawing representation. We implement transient widgets using a constraint-based editing framework; demonstrate their utility for performing the kinds of edits most common when producing scale variations of icons; and report qualitative feedback on the system from professional icon designers.
Experimental technique to launch flier-plates representing orbital debris to hypervelocities

Very high driving pressures (tens or hundreds of GPa), are required to accelerate flier plates to hypervelocities. This loading pressure pulse on the flier plates must be nearly shockless to prevent the plate from melting or vaporizing. This is accomplished by using graded-density impactors referred to as 'pillows'. When this graded-density material is used to impact a flier- plate in a modified two-stage light gas gun, nearly shockless megabar pressures are introduced into the flier plate. The pressure pulses must also be tailored to prevent spallation of the flier- plate. This technique has been used to launch nominally 1-mm-thick aluminum, magnesium and titanium (gram-size) intact plates to 10.4 km/s, and 0.5-mm-thick aluminum and titanium (half-gram size) intact plates to 12.2 km/s. This is the highest mass-velocity capability attained with laboratory launchers to date, and should open up new regimes of impact physics and lethality studies related to space sciences for laboratory investigations. In particular, the mass- velocity capability of this newly developed hypervelocity launcher meets the average specifications of the space debris environment, and is therefore expected to be a useful tool to evaluate the effects of debris impact on space structures and debris shields.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Coupled aeroelastic and aerodynamic response analysis of long-span bridges

Abstract Multi-mode responses of suspended-span bridges to turbulent wind excitation have been estimated in the past by considering the response of each mode and then taking the root-sum-square for the total response. Other procedures, mainly in the time domain, also exist but they have certain simplifying assumptions that limit the complete analysis of the system as well as the estimation of certain important criteria, e.g., flutter speed. A more comprehensive procedure, in the frequency domain, has been developed to capture the full bridge aerodynamics by considering simultaneously the effect of more than one mode. Frequency-domain functions (flutter derivatives) are preferred by most bridge dynamists because they are easier to obtain experimentally. The determination of multi-mode response is especially important for longer-span bridges since their increased flexibility is more likely to elicit a coupled response. In this paper, the fundamental single-mode frequency-domain formulation is extended into the multi-modal domain and a detailed example is presented to highlight the importance of using a coupled analysis procedure for suspended bridges with longer spans.
Determinants and limits of pressure-preset ventilation: a mathematical model of pressure control.

In recent years, four square-wave modes of pressure-preset mechanical ventilation (PPV)--pressure control, pressure support, inverse ratio, and airway pressure release ventilation--have been introd...
Globally precise-restartable execution of parallel programs

Emerging trends in computer design and use are likely to make exceptions, once rare, the norm, especially as the system size grows. Due to exceptions, arising from hardware faults, approximate computing, dynamic resource management, etc., successful and error-free execution of programs may no longer be assured. Yet, designers will want to tolerate the exceptions so that the programs execute completely, efficiently and without external intervention. Modern computers easily handle exceptions in sequential programs, using precise interrupts. But they are ill-equipped to handle exceptions in parallel programs, which are growing in prevalence. In this work we introduce the notion of globally precise-restartable execution of parallel programs, analogous to precise-interruptible execution of sequential programs. We present a software runtime recovery system based on the approach to handle exceptions in suitably-written parallel programs. Qualitative and quantitative analyses show that the proposed system scales with the system size, especially when exceptions are frequent, unlike the conventional checkpoint-and-recovery method.
Delay in fishery management: diminished yield, longer rebuilding, and increased probability of stock collapse1

Shertzer, K. W., and Prager, M. H. 2007. Delay in fishery management: diminished yield, longer rebuilding, and increased probability of stock collapse. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 149-159.When a stock is depleted, catch reductions are in order, but typically they are implemented only after considerable delay. Delay occurs because fishery management is political, and stricter management, which involves short-term economic loss, is unpopular. Informed of stock decline, managers often hesitate, perhaps pondering the uncertainty of scientific advice, perhaps hoping that a good year class will render action moot. However, management delay itself can have significant costs, when it exacerbates stock decline. To examine the biological consequences of delay, we simulated a spectrum of fisheries under various degrees of delay in management. Increased delay required larger catch reductions, for more years, to recover benchmark stock status (here, spawning-stock biomass at maximum sustainable yield). Management delay caused stock collapse most often under two conditions: (1) when the stock-recruitment relationship was depensatory, or (2) when catchability, unknown to the assessment, was density-dependent and fishing took juveniles. In contrast, prompt management resulted in quicker recoveries and higher cumulative yields from simulated fisheries. Benefits to stock biomass and fishery yield can be high from implementing management promptly.
Meta-Analysis of Interventions for Medication Adherence to Antihypertensives

OBJECTIVETo identify methods targeted at improving adherence to antihypertensives and determine their effect on adherence using meta-analytic techniques.METHODSA literature search from 1970 to December 2000 using MEDLINE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, PsychLit, ERIC, and EMBASE was performed using the terms compliance, adherence, and medication. Randomized articles with an intervention directed at a patient/caregiver, a comparator group, and a minimum of 10 subjects in each intervention group were identified by 3 independent reviewers. Articles that did not report sample size data or adequate results of the intervention were excluded. Sixteen citations focusing on antihypertensive adherence were identified. Of the 16 citations, 6 studied either more than one intervention in the same population or different interventions in different patient populations, yielding 24 cohorts with 2446 patients.RESULTSFifty-eight percent of the methods focused on behavioral interventions (BIs), 29% studied the effe...
Coherent semiconductor amplifier array

Fiber-coupled semiconductor amplifiers form a coherent laser array. We have demonstrated an architecture that maintains brightness when scaled to higher powers through phase and frequency self-locking of seven diodes
The prospects for long-term intervention in asthma with antileukotrienes

The antileukotriene drugs are the first new therapeutic agents approved for the treatment of asthma in more than 20 years. The currently available compounds are orally active and either prevent the cysteinyl leukotrienes from binding to and activating the cysLT-1 receptor in the lung (leukotriene receptor antagonists, LTRAs) or inhibit leukotriene synthesis (leukotriene synthesis inhibitors, LTSIs). The antileukotrienes acutely bronchodilate the airways of patients with baseline broncho-constriction, although usually not as well as beta-agonists. When used regularly they produce rapid improvements of pulmonary function and symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate asthma, and probably of those with more severe asthma as well, which persists for the duration of treatment. Yet, individual responses to the antileukotrienes are variable and not predictable based on clinical criteria. Recent studies suggest they reduce asthmatic airway inflammation. The few comparator studies with other asthma medications indicate they are equal or more effective than cromolyn but equal or less effective than low-to-moderate doses of inhaled corticosteroids. Initial experience with the antileukotrienes reveals limited toxicity and a favourable therapeutic-to-toxic ratio. The exact role of the antileukotrienes in the treatment of asthma remains to be determined, as does the relative potency of the various agents.
Fast algorithms for approximate semidefinite programming using the multiplicative weights update method

Semidefinite programming (SDP) relaxations appear in many recent approximation algorithms but the only general technique for solving such SDP relaxations is via interior point methods. We use a Lagrangian-relaxation based technique (modified from the papers of Plotkin, Shmoys, and Tardos (PST), and Klein and Lu) to derive faster algorithms for approximately solving several families of SDP relaxations. The algorithms are based upon some improvements to the PST ideas - which lead to new results even for their framework - as well as improvements in approximate eigenvalue computations by using random sampling.
Improving bit-error-rate performance of the free-space optical communications system with channel estimation based on radiative transfer theory

In order to improve the performance of terrestrial free-space optical communication systems in adverse visibility conditions, we present a method for estimation of the atmospheric channel impulse response function which governs the optical intensity propagation. This method reduces run-time computational demands and system complexity in comparison to our previously proposed dual-wavelength channel estimation technique. We consider propagation of optical wavelengths in fog, where the droplet diameters are close to the wavelength and thus scattering and absorption effects are significant. A method for rapid calculation of a channel response function based on estimating the effective optical depth of the channel and curve-fitting is described. The channel response estimate can then be used to design a receiver-side equalizer (minimum mean-squared error linear equalizer) to correct the signal distortion due to propagation through the dispersive channel. The channel estimates are based on parametric curve-fitting functions which have been developed using the modified-vector radiative transfer theory to model the channel response. The optimal fit parameters are found using particle-swarm optimization to minimize the simulated bit-error rate of the received signal.
Parallel Matrix Computations Using a Reconfigurable Pipelined Optical Bus

We present fast and cost-efficient parallel algorithms for a number of important and fundamental matrix computation problems on linear arrays with reconfigurable pipelined optical bus systems. These problems include computing the inverse, the characteristic polynomial, the determinant, the rank, the Nth power, and an LU- and a QR-factorization of a matrix and solving linear systems of equations. Our algorithms provide a wide range of performance?cost combinations. Compared with known results, the running time of parallel solutions to all these problems can be reduced by a factor of O(logN) while costs are maintained under o(N4).
Failure of Alpha-Phenylbutyrate and Beta-Phenylvalerate in Treatment of Hypercholesterolemia

Sodium alpha-phenylbutyrate and sodium beta-phenyl-n-valerate have been administered to a carefully controlled group of hypercholesterolemic patients. Prior reports that these compounds are effective in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia are not confirmed. Two patients developed toxic reactions requiring cessation of treatment. The ineffectiveness of these drugs, despite their inhibitory effect on the synthesis of cholesterol from acetate, is discussed in terms of recent biochemical information concerning their site of action.
Coping and posttraumatic growth in women with limb amputations

While ample research has examined the psychological experiences of men with limb amputations, minimal research has examined the psychological experiences of women with limb amputations. The present study utilizes a qualitative design to examine coping and posttraumatic growth in women with limb amputations. Thirty women completed the posttraumatic growth inventory (PTGI) and provided open-ended responses about coping, social support, discrimination, support groups, and acceptance. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to discern emergent and superordinate themes in qualitative responses. Superordinate themes included social support (friendships/family and community), self-beliefs, resources, physical complications, spirituality, specific strategies, and acceptance. Concerns related specifically to participants' gender identity included appearance and motherhood. Overall, women reported moderate-to-high PTGI scores. The current findings address a void in the literature by illuminating the unique perspective of women with amputations. Future research should use quantitative methodology to expand on our research findings, as well as assess interventions to assist women adjusting to limb loss.
The Role of Nonverbal Cues and Physical Attractiveness in the Selection of Dating Partners

Forty-six members of a video dating organization filled out the Self-Monitoring Scale and the Affective Communication Test. Judges rated portions of the videotaped interviews of these members in terms of their attractiveness and overall likeability, and examined nonverbal cues such as eye contact, smiling, and head movements. In general, members judged more attractive and more likeable were selected as dates more frequently but made fewer selections themselves. Among male members, popularity or frequency of being selected was related to rated attractiveness, acting ability, and overall expressiveness. For females, on the other hand, popularity was related positively to attractiveness, but negatively to expressiveness and extraversion. Results are discussed in terms of (a) the different strategies employed by males and females in dating selections and (b) previous research on expressiveness and inter-personal attraction.
The limitations of the model of a crack along the interface of an inclusion in an elastic matrix

The two-dimensional problem of an arc-shaped crack lying along the interface of a fixed circular rigid inclusion embedded in an elastic matrix is considered. The assumption that the inclusion is rigid provides the same mathematical behavior of an oscillatory singularity at the crack tips as if an elastic inclusion had been assumed but in a simpler mathematical problem. In contrast to previous studies which determine only the radial displacement of the crack faces, a simple closedform formula for the entire displacement throughout the elastic matrix is determined for a far-field biaxial load with an infinitesimal rigid rotation. From this expression a natural decomposition of the problem is identified which allows interpenetration regions to be determined easily. It is found that most loading situations predict the elastic crack face to have a large interpenetration region. Thus if the behavior of the material near the crack is to be accurately determined it is necessary to use a model which allows the crack faces to be in contact.
Earthquake and volcano clustering via stress transfer at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

The proposed national high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain is close to Quaternary cinder cones and faults with Quaternary slip. Volcano eruption and earthquake frequencies are low, with indications of spatial and temporal clustering, making probabilistic assessments difficult. In an effort to identify the most likely intrusion sites, we based a three-dimensional finite-element model on the expectation that faulting and basalt intrusions are sensitive to the magnitude and orientation of the least principal stress in extensional terranes. We found that in the absence of fault slip, variation in overburden pressure caused a stress state that preferentially favored intrusions at Crater Flat. However, when we allowed central Yucca Mountain faults to slip in the model, we found that magmatic clustering was not favored at Crater Flat or in the central Yucca Mountain block. Instead, we calculated that the stress field was most encouraging to intrusions near fault terminations, consistent with the location of the most recent volcanism at Yucca Mountain, the Lathrop Wells cone. We found this linked fault and magmatic system to be mutually reinforcing in the model in that Lathrop Wells feeder dike inflation favored renewed fault slip.
Individual to population level effects of South Louisiana crude oil water accommodated hydrocarbon fraction (WAF) on a marine meiobenthic copepod

Acute toxicities of crude oil and crude oil water accommodated hydrocarbon fraction (WAF) are relatively well documented, but data on the biological effects of chronic exposures to WAF on species and populations are scarce. South Louisiana Sweet crude oil was used to assess the effects of crude oil WAF on the copepod Amphiascus tenuiremis’ survival, development and reproduction. Effects were evaluated using a 96-well microplate full life-cycle toxicity test, a test that allows tracking of individuals from the nauplius stage to sexual maturation and reproduction. Briefly, 24-h hatched nauplii were followed to adulthood (ni=z120 nauplii/treatment) in individual glass-coated microplate wells containing 200 AL of seawater solution. Treatments consisted of 10%, 30%, 50% and 100% Louisiana WAF, with seawater used as control. Nauplii were monitored through development to adulthood, and sexually mature virgin copepods were mated pairwise in wells containing original rearing treatments. Nauplius-tocopepodite survival was reduced by 57% in exposures to 100% WAF, relative to controls (88F3%), and copepodite-to-adult survival was reduced by 18% in the 50% WAF, relative to controls (98F3%). Analysis of development curves showed that nauplii in the 10% WAF developed significantly faster into copepodites, while nauplii in the 50% WAF developed significantly slower than controls. Although the naupliar developmental rate in the 100% WAF was not significantly different from the control, these nauplii showed an average 1.4 day delay in development into copepodites. Similarly, copepodite development into mature females and males was significantly enhanced by 1.2 to 1.8 days and delayed by 1.9 to 2.2 days (pb0.05) in the 10% and 50% WAFs, respectively, compared to controls. Although the copepodite developmental rate in the 100% WAF was not significantly different from the control, these copepodites still showed an average 1.5 and 2.1 day delay in development into females and males, respectively. Analysis of reproductive endpoints showed that fertility was the only endpoint negatively affected by WAFs; reproductive failure increased by 30% and 41% in exposures to 30% and 100% WAF, respectively, compared to controls (3.33F4.71%). Leslie matrix population projections based on empirical microplate data indicated lower production rates through three generations of exposure to WAFs. Furthermore, a comparison between NIST and Louisiana crude oil WAFs using the same life-cycle approach indicated a greater chronic toxicity for the Louisiana WAF and an overall developmental delay in exposures to high WAFs (50% and 100% WAFs) from both crude oil types. D 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Cross-Cultural Issues in International Consumer Marketing: Introduction to the Special Section

ABSTRACT This special section is devoted to cross-cultural issues in international consumer marketing. Three papers were selected from papers presented at the 12th Cross-Cultural Research Conference, which was held in Honolulu, Hawaii, in December 2007. An invitation was offered to conference participants to submit revised papers for review. Articles chosen were subjected to two rounds of double-blind reviews and revisions, plus further revisions requested by the editors. The articles cover a range of topics and cultures, and apply a range of methodologies.
Apparatus Named After Our Academic Ancestors — II

My academic ancestors in physics have called on me once more to tell you about the apparatus that they devised, and that many of you have used in your demonstrations and labs. This article is about apparatus named after Francois Arago, Heinrich Helmholtz, Leon Foucault, and James Watt.
Community-based participatory research skills and training needs in a sample of academic researchers from a clinical and translational science center in the Northeast.

Purpose: To determine the community-based participatory research (CBPR) training interests and needs of researchers interested in CBPR to inform efforts to build infrastructure for conducting community-engaged research. Method: A 20-item survey was completed by 127 academic health researchers at Harvard Medical School, Harvard School of Public Health, and Harvard affiliated hospitals. Results: Slightly more than half of the participants reported current or prior experience with CBPR (58 %). Across all levels of academic involvement, approximately half of the participants with CBPR experience reported lacking skills in research methods and dissemination, with even fewer reporting skills in training of community partners. Regardless of prior CBPR experience, about half of the respondents reported having training needs in funding, partnership development, evaluation, and dissemination of CBPR projects. Among those with CBPR experience, more than one-third of the participants wanted a mentor in CBPR; however only 19 % were willing to act as a mentor. Conclusions: Despite having experience with CBPR, many respondents did not have the comprehensive package of CBPR skills, reporting a need for training in a variety of CBPR skill sets. Further, the apparent mismatch between the need for mentors and availability in this sample suggests an important area for development. Clin Trans Sci 2012; Volume #: 1–5
Familial syndrome of endocrine and neuroectodermal abnormalities

We report on a previously undescribed combination of endocrine and neuroectodermal abnormalities in four sibs from Burma. These abnormalities include low growth hormone levels in response to provocative stimuli, delayed puberty associated with prepubertal levels of gonadotropins in the males and pubertal levels of gonadotropins in the females, type II diabetes mellitus with elevated insulin levels, mild mental retardation, sensori-neural deafness, and alopecia without pili torti. They also had a characteristic facial appearance and fleshy hands and feet. This family appears to have a previously undescribed combination of endocrine and neuroectodermal abnormalities. © Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Multifunctional calcium carbonate microparticles: Synthesis and biological applications

Multifunctional composites based on calcium carbonate (CaCO3) spherical microparticles stabilized through the embedding of CdSe/ZnS/SiO2 nanoparticles into surface pores were fabricated. The stabilization of the vaterite polymorph of CaCO3 through nanoparticles embedding was necessary to generate a spherical, porous morphology of the microparticles. The CdSe/ZnS quantum dots were obtained and dispersed in aqueous solution after coating them with a silica shell via a reverse microemulsion approach. Green and red-emitting CaCO3-CdSe/ZnS/SiO2 microcomposites were analyzed via confocal laser-scanning fluorescence microscopy were to demonstrate their potential for imaging applications. The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme was immobilized into the pores of the spherical CaCO3-CdSe/ZnS/SiO2 microcomposites and the resulting hybrid material was used as a platform for the design of a pesticide biosensor. The detection limit for the paraoxon pesticide in aqueous solutions was determined to be of 4.6 nM.
Efficient input and output coupling between planar photonic crystal waveguides and fiber tapers

Highly efficient (> 94%) contradirectional coupling into and out of a photonic crystal waveguide is measured using a fiber taper probe as both a source and a collector