cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using Direct Instruction Flashcards and Reading Racetracks to Improve Sight Word Recognition of Two Elementary Students with Autism

The purpose of this study was to implement and evaluate a Direct Instruction (DI) flashcard system as well as the reading racetrack, to teach sight word acquisition to two elementary students diagnosed with autism. A multiple baseline design was used across word sets with each student to evaluate the effectiveness of the combined flashcard and reading racetrack procedures. Due to the limitations of one of our participants, an ipad application called,” Proloquo2Go™ “was also employed. A functional relationship was demonstrated between the use of these strategies and the reading of sight words for both participants. The study showed that DI flashcards and the reading racetrack can be an effective way to teach students with autism sight words. Both staff and students enjoyed the interventions.
Improving Ethics Education in Accounting: Lessons from Medicine and Law

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to offer accounting educators additional perspectives for ethics education by considering teaching approaches from medicine and law. It takes the form of lit...
The state of water in human and dog red cell membranes.

The apparent activation energy for the water diffusion permeability coefficient, Pd, across the red cell membrane has been found to be 4.9 ± 0.3 kcal/mole in the dog and 6.0 ± 0.2 kcal/mole in the human being over the temperature range, 7° to 37°C. The apparent activation energy for the hydraulic conductivity, Lp, in dog red cells has been found to be 3.7 ± 0.4 kcal/mole and in human red cells, 3.3 ± 0.4 kcal/mole over the same temperature range. The product of Lp and the bulk viscosity of water, η, was independent of temperature for both dog and man which indicates that the geometry of the red cell membrane is not temperature-sensitive over our experimental temperature range in either species. In the case of the dog, the apparent activation energy for diffusion is the same as that for self-diffusion of water, 4.6–4.8 kcal/mole, which indicates that the process of water diffusion across the dog red cell membrane is the same as that in free solution. The slightly, but significantly, higher activation energy for water diffusion in human red cells is consonant with water-membrane interaction in the narrower equivalent pores characteristic of these cells. The observation that the apparent activation energy for hydraulic conductivity is less than that for water diffusion across the red cell membrane is characteristic of viscous flow and suggests that the flow of water across the membranes of these red cells under an osmotic pressure gradient is a viscous process.
Evidence for 5- and 6-coordinated magnesium in bacteriochlorophyll a from visible absorption spectroscopy☆

The visible absorption spectrum of bacteriochlorophyll a (Bchl) in the 560–620 nm (yellow) region can be used to establish the coordination state of the central Mg atom. Five-coordinated Mg species absorb near 580 nm, whereas 6-coordinated Mg species are red-shifted to about 610 nm. Five-coordination is confirmed to be the principal coordination state of Mg in self-aggregated bacteriochlorophyll. The equilibrium constant for the reaction Bchl · Py + Py ai Bchl · Py2 has been determined from computer-assisted analyses of spectral data, where Py represents pyridine. The spectral criteria for the coordination state of Mg in bacteriochlorophyll advanced here are shown to be applicable to both in vitro and in vivo systems. Similar spectral behavior is exhibited by chlorophylls a and b, and a band at 633 nm is shown to be associated with the presence of 6-coordinated Mg in chlorophyll a.
Foaming−Antifoaming in Boiling Suspensions†

Particle-stabilized aqueous foams are encountered in radioactive waste treatment and immobilization processes and in food, chemical, and agricultural products. The cause of foaminess in the presence of finely divided solids during boiling and in the absence of any surface-active agents is not well understood. Our research has identified at least two kinds of particles in such foaming systems, hydrophilic (i.e., water wet) colloidal particles dispersed in the aqueous phase and biphilic particles (partially wetted by water). The biphilic particles are attached to the air−water surface. In this study we used an advanced optical technique to characterize and monitor the number of nonattached (i.e., hydrophilic) and attached (i.e., biphilic) particles at the gas−liquid surface. The results clearly show that foaming increases with an increase in each of the two types of particles but to a different degree. The presence of biphilic particles causes a significantly higher degree of foaminess than the hydrophilic ...
Incidence of Periodontitis Recurrence in Treated Patients With and Without Cultivable

A total of 98 adults previously treated for moderate to advanced periodontitis and on a trimonthly recall schedule were screened for the presence of critical levels of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Prevotella (Bacteroides) intermedia, and Porphyromonas (Bacteroides) gingivalis. Patients with at least 2 positive sites were placed in a positive group and patients without or with low levels of these bacteria in a negative group. During the 30-month study the incidence of disease recurrence was greater in the positive group, but did not reach statistical significance. Positive patients with deeper pockets tended to be at greater risk of developing recurrent disease than those with shallower pockets. In the positive group only, both A. actinomycetemcomitans recovery and antibody levels to A. actinomycetemcomitans strain NCTC 9710 (serotype c) were inversely correlated with disease recurrence. The presence of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. intermedia above critical levels did not reliably predict future episodes of disease recurrence in this population. The sparse recovery of P. gingivalis did not permit us to assess its diagnostic value. With the exception of P. gingivalis, for which insufficient data were available, the results indicate that the presence or absence of the above bacterial species cannot of itself serve as a reliable predictor of future episodes of recurrent disease in a population of treated patients on a regular trimonthly recall schedule.
Design of Axially Loaded Helical Spring Isolation Systems

Engineering metals have a desirable property of absorbing energy especially when they are manufactured into helical springs. This ability has been utilized favorably in the design of isolation systems. The material and spring behavior prolongs the time period of excitation thereby decreasing the frequency and acceleration of the shock into the structure. This paper presents the design and behavioral response of a steel spring isolation system subjected to shock excitation as experienced in real world applications. The isolation discussed is for the support motion where the shock excitation originates outside the structure. In particular the focus is on undamped single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems. The goal is to design a passive isolation system in the form of helical steel springs. The system must limit the instance of high acceleration energy transferred into the structure in a very short time frame. A transmissibility algorithm is developed and presented. A test case is designed and manufactured based upon the design data simulated from the algorithm. A comparative study is presented to validate the accuracy of the algorithm and isolation system against empirical results from the test case using a drop testing apparatus. The shock response spectra commonly used in problems of shock excitation to a half sine wave is presented.
Jean Gottmann, 1915–1994

(1995). Jean Gottmann, 1915–1994. Annals of the Association of American Geographers: Vol. 85, No. 2, pp. 356-365.
Surviving the Review Process [Editor's Corner]

The purpose of this article is to provide some insight into the peer-review process used by many technical journals and to give a bit of advice about revision and resubmission of a paper that was not accepted after the first round of reviews. For young authors, the review process can be mysterious and frustrating. Criticisms conveyed in anonymous reviews may feel like personal attacks, while terse or vague comments may seem to provide little guidance for revision. This article provides a set of practical guidelines that can help you succeed in publishing good research. This includes a brief overview of the review process, as well as some hints about interpreting reviews, and suggestions for preparing a response to the reviews. The opinions below have evolved over several years, through numerous interactions with authors, reviewers, and members of editorial boards. They are meant only to convey practical hints for success and not as value judgments about the process. Finally, they represent only one viewpoint. Newcomers to the process would do well to solicit the advice and opinions of a variety of senior researchers.
Rates and time scales of clay-mineral formation by weathering in saprolitic regoliths of the southern Appalachians from geochemical mass balance

Rates of clay formation in three watersheds located at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, western North Carolina, have been determined from solute flux-based mass balance methods. A system of mass balance equations with enough equations and unknowns to allow calculation of secondary-mineral formation rates as well as the more commonly determined primary-mineral dissolution rates was achieved by including rare earth elements (REE) in the mass balance. Rates of clay-mineral formation determined by mass balance methods have been used to calculate the time needed for a 5% (50 g kg−1) change in relative clay abundance in the saprolite at Coweeta; this corresponds to the “response time” of the clay mineral to, for example, a change in climate. The 5% change in relative clay abundance is the smallest change that can generally be detected using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Response times range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of years. Extrapolating the Coweeta clay formation rates to other southern Appalachian regoliths, the time required to form measured clay abundances (“production times”) in eastern Blue Ridge and Inner Piedmont regolith have been calculated. The production times of clay-mineral assemblages range from 2 k.y. to 2 m.y., with mean values ranging from 50 k.y. to 1 m.y. The results of this study are consistent with the arguments of [Thiry (2000)][1] that the best resolution of the paleoclimatic record in marine clay-rich sediments and mudrocks is ∼1 or 2 m.y. [1]: #ref-107
Social Information-Processing Patterns of Maltreated Children in Two Social Domains.

Abstract This study examined relations among social information-processing (SIP) variables in the domains of peer provocation and peer group entry. Using Crick and Dodge's [Crick, N. R., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). A review and reformulation of social information-processing mechanisms in children's social adjustment. Psychological Bulletin, 115, 74–101] model, SIP variables were examined within and across domain to determine whether processing patterns varied with type of social situation. The ethnically varied sample included 188 (49% male) maltreated children ( M age = 6.5 years) who had either been neglected or neglected and physically-abused in early elementary school. Factor analyses indicated that the variables representing attribution and evaluation steps of processing were domain-specific, whereas encoding, problem-solving, and enactment were not. In the provocation domain, children who had experienced physical abuse in addition to neglect displayed more hostile attributions and aggressive responses, and fewer competent responses relative to neglected children and nonmaltreated comparison children. In peer group entry, the children in the neglect-only group displayed more processing deficits, generating more aggressive responses than the comparison children.
INTERCELLULAR MIGRATION OF CENTRIOLES IN THE GERMARIUM OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER: An Electron Microscopic Study

A cluster of centrioles has been found in the early Drosophila oocyte. Since the oocyte is connected to 15 nurse cells by a system of intercellular bridges or ring canals, the possibility that the cluster of centrioles arose in the germarium from an intercellular migration of centrioles from the nurse cells to the oocyte was analyzed in serial sections for the electron microscope. Initially, all of the 16 cells of the future egg chambers possess centrioles, which are located in a juxtanuclear position. At the time the 16 cell cluster becomes arranged in a lens-shaped layer laterally across the germarium, the centrioles lose their juxtanuclear position and move towards the oocyte. By the time the 16 cell cluster of cells is surrounded by follicle cells (Stage 1), between 14 and 17 centrioles are found in the oocyte. Later, these centrioles become located between the oocyte nucleus and the follicle cell border and become aggregated into a cluster less than 1.5 µ in its largest dimension. The fate of these centrioles in the oocyte is not known. The fine structure of the germarium and the early oocyte is also described.
Cisplatin Inhibits Hippocampal Cell Proliferation and Alters the Expression of Apoptotic Genes

The hippocampus, which is critical for memory and spatial navigation, contains a proliferating stem cell niche that is especially vulnerable to antineoplastic drugs such as cisplatin. Although the damaging effects of cisplatin have recently been recognized, the molecular mechanisms underlying its toxic effects on this vital region are largely unknown. Using a focused apoptosis gene array, we analyzed the early cisplatin-induced changes in gene expression in the hippocampus of adult Sprague–Dawley rats and compared the results to those from the inferior colliculus, a non-mitotic auditory region resistant to cisplatin-induced cell death. Two days after a 12 mg/kg dose of cisplatin, significant increases were observed in five proapoptotic genes: Bik, Bid, Bok, Trp53p2, and Card6 and a significant decrease in one antiapoptotic gene Bcl2a1. In contrast, Nol3, an antiapoptotic gene, showed a significant increase in expression. The cisplatin-induced increase in Bid mRNA and decrease in Bcl2a1 mRNA were accompanied by a corresponding increase and decrease of their respective proteins in the hippocampus. In contrast, the cisplatin-induced changes in Bcl2a1, Bid, Bik, and Bok gene expression in the inferior colliculus were strikingly different from those in the hippocampus consistent with the greater susceptibility of the hippocampus to cisplatin toxicity. Cisplatin also significantly reduced immunolabeling of the cell proliferation marker Ki67 in the subgranular zone of the hippocampus 2 days post-treatment. These results indicate that cisplatin-induced hippocampal cell death is mediated by increased expression of proapoptotic and decreased antiapoptotic genes and proteins that likely inhibit hippocampal cell proliferation.
One-Session Treatment of a Specific Phobia of Swallowing Pills A Case Study

This case study presents the treatment of a 23-year-old single White male with a specific phobia of swallowing and choking on pills. He presented for treatment as part of a larger treatment study f...
Biochemical and physiological sequelae to perinatal exposure to polybrominated biphenyls: a multigeneration study in rats.

Abstract Polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) cross the placenta and have been detected in milk. Since biologically stable PBBs are transferred readily from mother to offspring, addition of PBBs to the food supply of one generation may result in exposure of subsequent generations. Therefore, we identified physiological and biochemical sequelae to perinatal exposure to PBBs. Rats were fed diets containing 0, 10, or 100 ppm PBBs from Day 8 of pregnancy until 28 days postpartum at which time all offspring (F1-10 and F1-100) were weaned onto control diet, allowed to mature sexually, and bred with littermates to produce the F2 generation (F2-10 and F2-100). F2-100 littermates were bred to produce F3-100 animals. Experiments were conducted in offspring from each generation at 28 days of age. Results from this investigation demonstrate that survival can be reduced and growth and development retarded by perinatal exposure to PBBs. PBBs transferred from one generation to the next produced liver enlargement, hepatic histopathologic alterations, hepatic and renal microsomal enzyme stimulation, a reduction in the duration of anesthesia produced by pentobarbital or a large dose of progesterone, and a decrease in the concentration of vitamin A in liver. Therefore, the health hazard associated with exposure to PBBs may not be limited to a single generation.
Development of an automated diode-laser-based multicomponent gas sensor

The implementation and application of a portable fiber-coupled trace-gas sensor for the detection of several trace gases, including CO2, CH4, and H2CO, are reported. This particular sensor is based on a cw fiber-amplified near-infrared (distributed Bragg reflector) diode laser and an external cavity diode laser that are frequency converted in a periodically poled lithium niobate crystal to the mid-IR spectroscopic fingerprint region (3.3-4.4 micrometers). A continuous absorption spectrum of CH4 and H2CO from 3.37 to 3.10 micrometers with a spectral resolution of 40 MHz (approximately 0.0013 cm-1) demonstrated the spectral performance that can be achieved by means of automated wavelength tuning and phase matching with stepper motor control. Autonomous long-term detection of ambient CO2 and CH4 over a 3- and 7-day period was also demonstrated.
Genetically expressed HIV-1 viral proteins attenuate nicotine-induced behavioral sensitization and alter mesocorticolimbic ERK and CREB signaling in rats

The prevalence of tobacco smoking in HIV-1 positive individuals is 3-fold greater than that in the HIV-1 negative population; however, whether HIV-1 viral proteins and nicotine together produce molecular changes in mesolimbic structures that mediate psychomotor behavior has not been studied. This study determined whether HIV-1 viral proteins changed nicotine-induced behavioral sensitization in HIV-1 transgenic (HIV-1Tg) rats. Further, we examined cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) and extracellular regulated kinase (ERK1/2) signaling in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), nucleus accumbens (NAc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA). HIV-1Tg rats exhibited a transient decrease of activity during habituation, but showed attenuated nicotine (0.35 mg/kg, s.c.)-induced behavioral sensitization compared to Fisher 344 (F344) rats. The basal levels of phosphorylated CREB and ERK2 were lower in the PFC of HIV-1Tg rats, but not in the NAc and VTA, relative to the controls. In the nicotine-treated groups, the levels of phosphorylated CREB and ERK2 in the PFC were increased in HIV-1Tg rats, but decreased in F344 animals. Moreover, repeated nicotine administration reduced phosphorylated ERK2 in the VTA of HIV-1Tg rats and in the NAc of F344 rats, but had no effect on phosphorylated CREB, indicating a region-specific change of intracellular signaling. These results demonstrate that HIV-1 viral proteins produce differences in basal and nicotine-induced alterations in CREB and ERK signaling that may contribute to the alteration in psychomotor sensitization. Thus, HIV-1 positive smokers are possibly more vulnerable to alterations in CREB and ERK signaling and this has implications for motivated behavior, including tobacco smoking, in HIV-1 positive individuals who self-administer nicotine.
Designing a system for mobile manipulation from an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

Due to their significant mobility advantages, UAVs have the potential to perform many tasks in locations that would be impossible for an unmanned ground vehicle to reach. However, most commercially available UAVs currently do not have the required lift to support high performance robotic arms. Recent advances in UAV size to payload and manipulator weight to payload ratios suggest the possibility of integration in the near future. Therefore, we seek to investigate and develop the tools that will be necessary to perform tasks when this becomes a reality. To emulate the UAV, we utilize a six degree-of-freedom gantry crane that provides the complete range of motion of a rotorcraft. Two seven degree-of-freedom manipulators attached to the gantry system perform grasping tasks. Computer vision techniques, including visual servoing, provide target object and manipulator position feedback to the control hardware. To test and simulate our system, we leverage the OpenRAVE virtual environment and ROS software architecture. Because rotorcraft are inherently unstable, introduce ground effects, and experience changing flight dynamics under external loads, we seek to address the difficult task of maintaining a stable UAV platform while interacting with objects using multiple, dexterous arms. As a first step toward that goal, this paper describes the design of a system to emulate highly dexterous manipulators on a UAV.
Benacerraf and Mathematical truth

Paul Benacerraf a soutenu "Mathematical Truth", (Journal of Philosophy, LXX, 1973, pp.661-679) qu'une theorie de la verite mathematique semantiquement correcte et epistemologiquement adequate devait s'appuyer sur un concept referentiel de verite (defini comme une interaction causale du monde sur les enonces). L'A. doute qu'il ait justifie cette these, et souligne les faiblesses de son argument contre le caractere conventionnel des verites logiques.
Fluctuations and membrane heterogeneity.

Abstract Biological membranes contain many specialized domains, ranging from tens of nanometers to several microns in size and characterized by different concentrations and compositions of protein. Because these domains influence membrane function, considerable attention has focused on understanding their origin. Here it is shown that number fluctuations and nonspecific interprotein interactions can lead to considerable heterogeneity in the distribution of membrane proteins, and to an associated submicron-scale domain structure. Number fluctuations were analyzed by modeling the membrane as a two-dimensional fluid containing interacting protein solutes. The characteristic size and lifetime of a domain in which one would expect to observe a fluctuation of specified magnitude was calculated; snapshots showing fluctuation-induced heterogeneity were generated by Monte Carlo simulation. Domain size was found to depend on the nature of the interprotein force (e.g., attractive or repulsive) and on the average protein concentration. Domain size was largest at low protein concentrations and in the presence of attractive interprotein forces, and was smallest at high protein concentrations and in the presence of repulsive interprotein forces. Domain lifetime was found to depend on domain size and on the diffusion coefficient of the proteins. In a ‘typical’ membrane containing 5-nm proteins with diffusion coefficient 10 −10 cm 2 /s at a density of 1000 proteins/μm 2 , a 30% fluctuation will yield domains characterized by a 2-fold difference in local concentration; these domains persist over a distance of about 100 nm and have a lifetime of about 0.25 s. These results can be used to analyze the domain structure commonly observed in electron micrographs, and have implications for both number fluctuation and Monte Carlo studies of the distribution and dynamics of membrane proteins.
Fault tolerant MapReduce-MPI for HPC clusters

Building MapReduce applications using the Message-Passing Interface (MPI) enables us to exploit the performance of large HPC clusters for big data analytics. However, due to the lacking of native fault tolerance support in MPI and the incompatibility between the MapReduce fault tolerance model and HPC schedulers, it is very hard to provide a fault tolerant MapReduce runtime for HPC clusters. We propose and develop FT-MRMPI, the first fault tolerant MapReduce framework on MPI for HPC clusters. We discover a unique way to perform failure detection and recovery by exploiting the current MPI semantics and the new proposal of user-level failure mitigation. We design and develop the checkpoint/restart model for fault tolerant MapReduce in MPI. We further tailor the detect/resume model to conserve work for more efficient fault tolerance. The experimental results on a 256-node HPC cluster show that FT-MRMPI effectively masks failures and reduces the job completion time by 39%.
Obstetrics and the Emergence of Women in Mexico's Medical Establishment

L a medicina cientifica was a popular journal read by Mexican doctors at the end of the nineteenth century. Each edition contained articles on the latest research and developments in the profession and also medical news from around the world of potential interest to subscribers. An excerpt from a February 1889 entry noted that Carolina Schultze had recently passed her medical oral exams in France. One of the evaluators acknowledged her obvious skill and “the great service she will perform to society.” But the article's focus, and the probable reason for its inclusion in this Mexican journal, quickly turned to whether or not other women could match her talent. The author presumed that she was, in fact, unique. “The female doctor,” he said, “neither has been nor is nor ever will be more than an exception, as there are exceptional women in all fields of knowledge, art, science, and literature.” Even more suggestive about late nineteenth-century bias were the reasons why he thought that female doctors, if they must exist, should only specialize in the illnesses of women and children: “when women enter into the practice of a profession appropriate only to the strong sex, they are never satisfied with a secondary role and always want to shine in the front row.”
Heat and mass transfer by natural convection in a porous medium

Abstract This paper reports a fundamental study of the phenomenon of natural convection heat and mass transfer near a vertical surface embedded in a fluid-saturated porous medium. The buoyancy effect is due to the variation of temperature and concentration across the boundary layer. The study contains two parts. In the first part, scale analysis shows that the natural convection phenomenon conforms to one of four possible regimes, depending on the values of buoyancy ratio N and Lewis number Le . The scales of the heat and mass transfer rates are determined for each regime. In the second part of the study, the boundary-layer problem is solved via similarity formulation in the buoyancy ratio range − 5 ⩽ N ⩽ 4 and Lewis number range 1 ⩽ Le ⩽ 100. The similarity solutions confirm the validity of the order-of-magnitude limiting results revealed by scale analysis.
An automatic efficiency optimizer for fractional-horsepower appliance motors

It is a known fact that when an AC motor operates below its rated load, its efficiency can be improved by reducing the supply voltage to an appropriate level. This paper proposes an automatic voltage controller that optimizes the efficiency of fractional-horsepower motors when operating under variable load conditions. The scheme is based on perturbing the supply voltage (by controlling the firing delay angle of a triac) and observing the power drawn by the motor, and the process is repeated until minimum power is reached - thus referring to it as a Minimum Power Point Tracker (MPPT). Due to the simple convex property of the motor power-voltage curve for a given mechanical load, the method always reaches the optimal solution even under severe waveform distortion. The proposed method is validated by laboratory tests on fractional horsepower motors of major home appliances.
Über die medizinische Bedeutung von optischen Aufhellern in modernen Waschpulvern

Es wurden moderne optische Aufheller von Stilben- und Sulfonatcharakter auf ihre Haut- und oestrogene Wirkung untersucht. Die beiden optischen Aufheller zeigten, wie bei ihrem Sulfonatcharakter zu erwarten, eine auserordentlich feste adsorptive Bindung an die Haut, jedoch bei 100facher Uberdosierung, sowie langem und hanfigem Kontakt mit der Haut, keine wesentlichen eczematogenen Eigenschaften. In Verbindung mit zusatzlichen hyperamisierenden Faktoren kann ein Teil der optischen Aufheller moglicherweise jedoch die Entstehung von Ekzemen und Dermatitiden begunstigen. Eine oestrogene Wirkung konnte in zahlreichen Tierversuchen (Allen-Doisy-Test) und beim Menschen nicht nachgewiesen werden. Auch zu einer Resorption der Stilbenverbindungen scheint es nicht zu kommen. Sollten weitere Korper ahnlicher Natur in Waschmitteln eingesetzt werden, so wird ihre Uberprufung auf eczematogene und eventuell auch oestrogene Eigenschaften notwendig sein.
Discussion: Public Land Policy in the Context of Planning-Programming-Budgeting Systems

[1] CARLSON, WILLIAM A., "The Planning-Programming-Budgeting System in the U.S. Department of Agriculture," paper presented during a seminar on Executive Orientation in PPBS conducted for USDA, Forest Service, Region 9 personnel by the U.S. Civil Service Commission's Bureau of Training, Milwaukee, Wis., Feb. 1, 1968. [2] GRIFFIN, C. W. JR., "The 'Nopanaceists,"' Atlantic Monthly 218:76-77, Sept. 1966.
Automatic Computation of Electronic Energies of Diatomic Molecules

A general method for computing electronic energies and wave functions of diatomic molecules is described and arranged in such a way that the processes of the computation are carried through systematically and fully automatically by an electronic computor. The number of electrons in the molecule concerned, values of the nuclear charges and symmetry properties of the molecule are the necessary informations. Symmetry adapted basic functions made up from molecular orbitals are automatically generated and the energy matrix involving them is calculated by using representation matrices of permutation groups.
Quantitation of Na/Ca exchanger function in single ventricular myocytes.

Abstract A Na/Ca exchange current can be elicited in voltage clamped single ventricular myocytes by the abrupt removal of extracellular Na + by means of a rapid switcher device. We measured this reverse Na/Ca exchange current in isolated mouse ventricular myocytes from wild-type mice, and from transgenic mice with hearts overexpressing the Na/Ca exchanger. In mouse ventricular myocytes, the current was sensitive to nickel, and was eliminated by removal of intracellular Na + . It was not influenced by 3 m m ouabain, and thus not contaminated by Na pump currents. The magnitude of the current reached a plateau within 10–15 min after obtaining a whole cell patch with the pipettes containing EGTA, to buffer [Ca 2+ ] i and in zero extracellular K + concentration to completely inhibit the Na pump, and allow equilibration of pipette Na + with subsarcolemmal [Na + ]. The magnitude of the current increased with increases in pipette [Na + ]. Comparison of the current magnitudes in wild-type and transgenic myocytes showed a 2.5 and 2.7 fold increase in the current in transgenic myocytes at pipette [Na + ] of 10 and 20 m m . The magnitude of this increase in Na/Ca exchanger currents in single transgenic myocytes compares well with the reported 2.5 fold increase in Na + -dependent 45 Ca 2+ uptake measured in ventricular sarcolemmal vesicles obtained from transgenic animals. With this approach, we found variation in exchanger current densities in different species, with values for mouse>rat>rabbit>dog>human. This technique should also be useful in quantifying changes in Na/Ca exchanger current density as a consequence of pathologic processes, and exposure to drugs.
The heating field in an asymmetric hurricane — Part I: Scale analysis

A closed system of equations describing an asymmetric disturbance in cylindrical geometry is expanded about a small parameter. The small parameter describes the ratio of the magnitude of divergence in the boundary layer to that above that layer. A low order system describes a gradient wind balance in the radial direction and is quasi-symmetric with respect to the pressure and temperature fields. This system can be solved as an inverse problem for a mature steady state hurricane. The procedure entails asking the questions what structure and heating distributions are required to maintain a given asymmetric distribution of the tangential velocity (i. e. the angular momentum) in steady state. The method of characteristics enables us to solve for the vertical motion. That in turn determines the radial motion from the mass continuity equation. Application of the hydrostatics to the cylindrical thermal wind equation determines the pressure and the thermal fields and finally the required heating fields are deduced from the first law. This entire system of inverse dynamics is linear although no nonlinear terms are dropped from the original direct set of equations. The real data applications of this procedure will be described in part II (to be published in the next issue).
Edible Film Coating to Minimize Eggshell Breakage and Reduce Post‐Wash Bacterial Contamination Measured by Dye Penetration in Eggs

The mechanical and bacterial barrier properties of washed (tap water, sodium carbonate, Na 2 CO 3 , sodium hypochlorite, NaOCI) noncoated eggs and eggs coated with soy protein isolate (SPI), whey protein isolate (WPI), carboxylmethyl cellulose (CMC), or wheat gluten (WG) were evaluated. All coated eggshells showed greater puncture strength than those of noncoated eggs. The film-coated eggs reduced post-wash bacterial penetration as measured by dye penetration method, WPI coating completely inhibited blue dye penetration on average. These results suggest that WPI coatings can be used to reduce breakage of eggshell and egg microbial contamination. Les proprietes mecaniques et de barriere des oeufs laves (eau, carbonate de sodium, hypochlorite de sodium, NaOCl) enrobes ou non enrobes d'un film comestible (proteine de soja, proteine de lactoserum, carboxymethyl cellulose, ou gluten de ble) sont evaluees. L'enrobage permet d'augmenter la resistance mecanique des oeufs. l'enrobage avec un film de proteine de lactoserum permet d'augmenter la resistance a la penetration des bacteries.
Non-invasive evaluation of orthotopic heart transplant rejection by echocardiography

Abstract Background Heart transplant recipients require frequent myocardial biopsies to screen for acute rejection. The purpose of this study was to identify demographic and echocardiographic factors associated with transplant rejection and develop a predictive model, which may reduce the number of cardiac biopsies. Methods From January 1998 to December 2001, we performed 406 echocardiographic studies on 264 heart transplant patients who had biopsies performed on the same day. Two-dimensional, pulsed and tissue Doppler echocardiographic variables were compared between patients with and without rejection, and their predictive ability for detecting rejection was determined by uni- and multivariate analyses. Results In 268 biopsies there was no significant rejection (ISHLT Grade ≤II), whereas 138 showed rejection (ISHLT Grade ≥IIIa). By multivariate analysis, pericardial effusion, isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) 1.7, diameter of inferior vena cava and duration of pulmonary vein atrial reversal were independently associated with rejection. Because the odds ratios were similar for all 5 predictors, a simplified model was developed based on the sum of the number of abnormal predictors present (0 to 5). The probability of rejection increased from 15.9%, in the absence of any predictor, to 39.7%, 52.0% and 71.1%, if 1, 2 or 3 predictors were present, respectively. Conclusions Recipient age, pericardial effusion, IVRT and ratio of pulsed Doppler E/A are significant predictors of acute cardiac allograft rejection. However, no single predictor or combination of predictors were powerful enough to eliminate surveillance endomyocardial biopsies.
An analysis of peer-to-peer file-sharing system queries

Many studies focus on the Web, but yet, few focus on peer-to-peer file-sharing system queries despite their massive scale in terms of Internet traffic. We analyzed several million queries collected on the Gnutella network and differentiated our findings from those of Web queries.
Simple signatures of subtle physics in exotic nuclei

Abstract Experiments on exotic nuclei, in both “near” and “far” regions off stability, are discussed from the complementary standpoints of improvements in experimental techniques, on the one hand, and the exploitation of simple signatures of structure on the other.
Power Spectral Density: Is It Right?

We concentrate on the instrumental issues surrounding power spectral density (PSD) determination employing Fizeau interferometers. We briefly discuss the properties of an ideal calibration method and some methods that have been used previously.
Political involvement and the projection process

The politically involved members of the mass public have commonly been described as having more sophisticated awareness of political issues and a greater ability to use issues in forming their evaluations of candidates. This paper briefly reviews the issue-voting literature which comes to that conclusion, and proposes that the politically involved people might also be more subject to projection in the formation of their political perceptions. A model of perception that includes both projection and inference processes is estimated using data from the 1972–74–76 CPS Panel Study. Separate estimations for the involved and uninvolved strata reveal higher projection coefficients for the more involved on the more ambiguous issues.
Behavior of methane seep bubbles over a pockmark on the Cascadia continental margin

A newly modifi ed acoustic method was used to derive time-dependent bubble emission size distributions and to monitor associated zooplankton behavior at a methane seep emitted from the northeast Pacifi c continental shelf in 150 m water depth near Grays Harbor, Washington State, USA. Instrumentation consisted of a seafl oor mooring with an upward-oriented 200 kHz sonar that imaged the column’s lower 100 m for 33 h during September 2009. The profi ler observed several highly variable methane bubble streams venting from a large carbonate-lined pockmark. Other acoustic data and visual observations confi rmed that the gas bubbles reached the sea surface and were highly variable in nature. Individual bubble traces in the acoustic sonar images were used to derive vertical bubble velocities with a mean value of 24.6 ± 2.5 cm s ‐1 over the entire depth range. Some bubbles entering the acoustic image at shallower water depths exhibited a slower rise velocity of 22.2 ± 2.4 cm s ‐1 and likely originated from adjacent emission sites. Measured rise velocities were too slow to be clean, uncoated bubbles. We therefore assumed that the bubbles were surfactant coated with a Gaussian-shaped size distribution peaking at an observed radius of 7500 ± 100 μm. If the fl ux derived from these measurements was assumed to be relatively constant over time, total methane issuing from only one of the ~20 active bubble vents at the pockmark site is estimated as ~9 kg yr ‐1 , similar to the fl ux
Interpreting, dating, and reevaluating the botanical assemblage from tell Kedesh: a case study of historical contamination

Botanical assemblage including charred and mineralized macro plant remains were examined from tell Kedesh in the Upper Galilee, Israel. Flotation samples were collected from various contexts within and outside a large Persian-Hellenistic administrative building complex at tell Kedesh, dated to the 5th to the 2nd century BC, based on the archaeological material. Four AMS radiocarbon dates were obtained on plant macro remains recovered from the flotation samples from the complex. The radiocarbon dates range from the 9th century BC to 17th century AD. The discrepancy among the radiocarbon dates obtained from plant remains and those based on archaeological material can be attributed to bioturbation, including the deep burrowing of harvester ants. The study demonstrates the need for direct radiocarbon dating of the charred plant remains generally assumed to be of ancient origin. This research improves the understanding of depositional and postdepositional processes of plant macro remains and explains their mode of arrival, relevant for the sites with a long occupational history by humans and animals.
Effects of the sGC stimulator BAY 41-2272 are not mediated by phosphodiesterase 5 inhibition.

To the Editor: A major conclusion of the recent publication of Mullershausen et al1 is that “the physiological effects of BAY 41-2272 … are due to the synergism of sensitization of NO-sensitive GC [guanylate cyclase] and inhibition of PDE5.” This conclusion is based on the authors’ finding that BAY 41-2272 stimulates sGC and inhibits human PDE5A1 at the same half-maximal concentration of 3 μmol/L. These observations are inconsistent with our own observations as well as results generated by others. We have hypothesized that the only significant activity of BAY 41-2272 is the NO-independent activation of NO-sensitive GC. In our laboratory, as little as 0.001 μmol/L BAY 41-2272 stimulates the highly purified recombinant sGC, and maximal stimulation is achieved by 1 μmol/L.2 Moreover, BAY 41-2272 activates sGC in a stably sGC-overexpressing CHO cell line and in a cGMP reporter cell line with EC50 of 0.09 μmol/L and 0.17 μmol/L,3 respectively. Even in tissues, IC50s for BAY 41-2272 have been reported by Cellek’s group several times that are 6- to 20-fold lower than the 3-μmol/L range observed by Mullershausen1; these include anococcygenus muscle from control and diabetic rats, …
A Practical Synthesis of Nitrocefin

Nitrocefin is a key reagent for high and low throughput assays of the activities of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) and beta-lactamases, the former used for discovery of antibiotics and the latter for inhibitors of resistance determinants for beta-lactam antibiotics. This compound is commercially available but is prohibitively expensive because of the circuitous routes to its synthesis. We describe herein a three-step synthesis of nitrocefin that gives an overall yield of 44%. This is a practical route to the synthesis of this key reagent for drug discovery.
Double Role of Water in the Fuel Cell Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Water is present during the normal operating condition of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and we have, through model experiments on a platinum surface using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, investigated its role in two different stages in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). We found that the activation of oxygen to the adsorbed atomic phase occurs readily in the dry region, but not in the humid region process. In this case, water is acting to inhibit the active sites on the catalyst. On the contrary, water is found to promote the reduction of adsorbed atomic oxygen in the formation of a water-hydroxyl surface complex.
Simulation of motoneuron morphology in three dimensions. I. Building individual dendritic trees.

We have developed a computational method that accurately reproduces the three-dimensional (3D) morphology of individual dendritic trees of six cat alpha motoneurons. The first step was simulation of trees with straight branches based on the branch lengths and topology of actual trees. A second step introduced the meandering, or wandering, trajectories observed in natural dendritic branches into the straight-branch tree simulations. These two steps each required only two parameters, one extracted from the data on actual motoneuron dendrites and the other adjusted by comparing simulated and observed trees, using measurements that were independent of the model specifications (i.e., emergent properties). The results suggest that: 1) there is a somatofugal “tropism” (a bias introduced by the environment that affects the trajectory of dendritic branches) that tends to constrain the lateral expansion of alpha motoneuron dendrites; and 2) that most of the meandering of natural dendritic branches can be described by assuming that they are fractal objects with an average fractal dimension D of about 1.05. When analyzed in the same way, the dendrites of gamma motoneurons showed no evidence of a similar tropism, although they had the same fractal dimension of branch meandering. J. Comp. Neurol. 503:685–700, 2007. Published 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Apparent movement due to closely spaced sequentially flashed dots in the human peripheral field of vision.

Abstract Two dots in the peripheral field of vision, so close to one another that they are not resolved spatially when flashed together, induce a strong illusion of movement when they are flashed sequentially. Light adaptation changes the range of adequate interflash intervals. Stabilized vision, and a number of variants of the two-flash program, do not abolish the illusion whereas putative dichogeniculate presentation does. We have not been able to rule out the view that the illusion shares a common basis with the phenomena of metacontrast and real-movement perception.
Empirical Models Based on Free-Modulus Magnitude Estimation of Perceived Presence in Virtual Environments:

A series of 3 studies was conducted to test free-modulus magnitude estimation as a measure of perceived presence in virtual environments (VEs) and to model the first- and second-order effects of 11 VE system parameters on perceived presence across 5 subtasks. Sequential experimentation techniques were used to build 4 empirical models using polynomial regression. An integrated empirical model of data combined across 2 experiments demonstrated that all significant factors had a positive effect on perceived presence. Three of these parameters--field of view, sound, and head tracking--had almost 3 times as much influence on presence than the other 4 significant parameters, which were visual display resolution, texture mapping, stereopsis, and scene update rate. Sequential experimentation was an efficient tool for building empirical models of perceived presence, but the subjective nature of this phenomenon and individual differences made data bridging across sequential studies problematic. It was concluded that magnitude estimation is a useful measure of perceived presence, and the resulting polynomial regression models can be used to facilitate VE system design decisions. This research has broad application in the selection and design of VE system components and overall design of VE systems.
Liquid-phase sintering of SiC in presence of CaO

Abstract Two SiC samples S1 and S2 containing constant amount of Al 2 O 3 , Y 2 O 3 (7 and 2 wt.%, respectively) and different amount of CaO (1 and 3 wt.%) as sintering aids were sintered to >95% of theoretical density (TD) at temperature between 1750 and 1900 °C. The densification occurred by a liquid phase formed among Al 2 O 3 , Y 2 O 3 and CaO. A fine elongated and equiaxed grained (average grain size about ≤10 μm) microstructure was obtained. The mechanical properties in terms of hardness (HV), elastic modulus ( E ) and fracture toughness ( K IC ) were also measured. Their amounts are also affected by the firing temperature and the obtained microstructure, i.e. by increasing the firing temperature, it is found that, the mechanical properties increase in S1 and S2 after firing up to 1800 °C and then decrease again at 1900 °C. These results confirm the results of densification, i.e. the maximum value of K IC , HV and E were for the samples sintered at 1800 °C. Densification characteristics and microstructural development of the liquid phase-sintered β-SiC are described.
Speech and language production at age 2: evidence for tradeoffs between linguistic and phonetic processing.

The purpose of this study was to explore how 2-year-old children manage the relationship between phonetic production and production of word combinations in their spontaneous speech. The subjects we...