cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
142 EFFECT OF VERAPAMIL ON MECHANICAL FUNCTION OF THE NEONATAL RABBIT HEART

Previous data from our laboratory suggest that the newborn (NB) rabbit heart is greatly dependent on extracellular calcium (Ca) for excitation-contraction coupling. Verapamil (V), a calcium antagonist, is currently being used to treat arrhythmias in infaits. Little is known about the negative inotropic effects of this agent on NB hearts. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of V on mechanical function of the neonatal heart. NB (n=6) and adult (A,n=6) rabbit hearts were studied utilizing an isolated, arterially perfused cardiac preparation that was maintained at 27°C and paced at 36 beats/min. The muscles were perfused initially with a control Krebs-Henseleit solution (K-HS) and then with a K-HS containing 0.1 uM of V. Peak (PT), developed (DT), resting (RT) tensions; rate of tension development (+dT/dt); time to peak tension (TPT); and time to half relaxation (1/2 RLT) were recorded continuously. The negative inotropic effect of V in the NB was significantly (P<0.01) less than that in the A. In the NB, 50% of the maximal decrease in function occurred significantly (P=0.03) later than it did in the A. V significantly (P<0.04) increased the RT in the NB but not in the A. V had no significant effect on either the TPT or the 1/2 RLT in the two age groups. These data suggest that the negative inotropic effect of V in the NB is less than that in the A and that the NB is less dependent on the slow inward calcium current for excitation-contraction coupling than is the A.
Hepatitis C virus core protein enhances FADD-mediated apoptosis and suppresses TRADD signaling of tumor necrosis factor receptor.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein has been shown to interact with the death domain (DD) of tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (TNFR1). In this study, we further examined the interaction of the core protein with the signaling molecules of TNFR1, including FADD, TRADD, and TRAF2, in a human embryonic kidney cell line, HEK-293, that overexpresses the HCV core protein. This core protein-expressing cell line exhibited enhanced sensitivity to TNF-induced apoptosis. By in vitro binding and in vivo coimmunoprecipitation assays, we showed that the HCV core protein interacted with the DD of FADD and enhanced apoptosis induced by FADD overexpression. This enhancement could be blocked by a dominant-negative mutant of FADD. In contrast, the core protein did not directly interact with the DD of TRADD, but could disrupt the binding of TRADD to TNFR1. TRAF2 recruitment to the TNFR1 signaling complex was also disrupted by the core protein. Correspondingly, TRAF2-dependent activation of the protein kinase JNK was suppressed in the core protein-expressing cells. However, NF kappa B activation by TNF was not significantly altered by the HCV core protein, suggesting the existence of TRAF2-independent pathways for NF kappa B activation. These results combined indicate that the HCV core protein sensitizes cells to TNF-induced apoptosis primarily by facilitating FADD recruitment to TNFR1. The inhibition of JNK activation by the HCV core protein may also contribute to the increased propensity of cells for apoptosis. These results, in comparison with other published studies, suggest that the effects of the HCV core protein and their underlying mechanisms vary significantly among cells of different origins.
Dicarboxylic acid fluxes during gluconeogenesis. No channelling of mitochondrial oxalacetate

A rather complete model of the gluconeogenic pathway was used, with the known separate pools of mitochondrial and cytosolic oxalacetate, malate and aspartate. The fumarase, malate dehydrogenase and glutamate oxalacetate transaminase reactions were assumed to be isotopically actively reversible, but none at isotopic equilibrium. Malate was assumed to exchange actively between the mitochondria and cytosol, while aspartate exchange was more limited, in agreement with the known electrogenic nature of aspartate export from the mitochondria. This model was fit to 14C data obtained in hepatocyte studies, and to the whole rat 14C data obtained by Heath and Rose (Biochem J. 227, 851-876, 1985). The latter data were easily fit to our model, when a single mitochondrial oxalacetate pool was assumed. However, invoking two mitochondrial oxalacetate pools, as proposed by Heath and Rose, with the oxalacetate formed via pyruvate carboxylase preferentially channelled to gluconeogenesis, could not be fit with the known differences in scrambling in glucose and glutamate produced from L[3-14C]lactate.
Evidence for "the wedge", initiator of DNA replication.

A low molecular weight factor from ascitic fluid stimulates DNA replication—especially with double stranded DNA as template—and cell division. Its properties are those which would be expected of “the wedge”, a protein thought to be essential for the organization and action of DNA polymerase.
Gastroesophageal reflux-associated aspiration alters the immune response in asthma

Background A large number of studies point toward chronic aspiration associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as an important factor involved in the development of asthma, the incidence of which has increased dramatically in industrially developed countries. Recent work suggests that medical intervention aimed at acid blockade is not sufficient to relieve the effects of chronic aspiration on asthma pathology, leaving surgical treatment of the disease as one of the few remaining options. This study examined the effect of chronic aspiration on the airway-associated immune response to allergens using a model of experimentally induced airway hypersensitivity in Balb/c mice.
Information-based optical design for binary-valued imagery.

Applications such as optical data storage, optical computing, and optical interconnects require optical systems that manipulate binary-valued images. Such an optical system can be viewed as a two-dimensional array of binary communication channels. This perspective is used to motivate the use of pagewise mutual information as a metric for optical system analysis and design. Fresnel propagation and coherent imaging both are analyzed in terms of mutual-information transmission. An information-based space–bandwidth product is used to analyze the trade-off between the numerical aperture and the number of image pixels in a coherent 4f system. We propose a new merit function to facilitate information-based optical system design. Information maximization and bit-error-rate minimization both are possible with the new radially weighted encircled-energy merit function. We demonstrate the use of this new merit function through a design example and show that the information throughput is increased by 8% and the bit-error rate is reduced by 36% when compared with systems designed with traditional criteria.
A Possible Reason for Failure to Access Community Services

Many families referred to community-based programs and services never receive them. Our own experience with a city-wide program in Hartford, Connecticut, supports this observation. ChildServ , implemented in 1998, was designed to improve the early detection of children at risk and promote their (and their families') linkage to community-based services and supports. Only 43% of referred children ultimately received services despite an average of 6.9 contacts with the family after initial referral.1 We did not understand why linkage rates were not higher, particularly because the families were preferentially referred to neighborhood programs that were in close geographic proximity and considered culturally “appropriate.” In this issue of Pediatrics Electronic Pages , … Address correspondence to Paul H. Dworkin, MD, Connecticut Children's Medical Center, 282 Washington St, Hartford, CT 06106. E-mail: pdworki{at}ccmckids.org
Membrane skeletal protein 4.1 of avian erythrocytes is composed of multiple variants that exhibit tissue-specific expression

The avian analog of mammalian erythrocyte protein 4.1, a structural component of the membrane skeleton, has been identified. It is present at the plasma membranes of avian erythrocytes and lens cells, but has not been found elsewhere in comparable amounts. In chickens, it exists as six variants with molecular masses of 87, 100, 115, 150, 160, and 175 kd. The corresponding polypeptides in turkeys are each about 3 kd smaller, suggesting that all may be encoded by a single gene. These variants have similar solubility properties and nearly identical two-dimensional iodopeptide maps that are similar to those of mammalian protein 4.1, but they are differentially phosphorylated. The three smallest variants are the predominant forms in avian erythrocytes, while the two largest variants predominate in avian lens cells. In contrast, mammalian erythrocytes and lens cells exhibit patterns of variants that are more similar to each other. These results show that only a subset of spectrin-containing cells possess protein 4.1, and that these cells differentially express the variants of protein 4.1 in a manner that may reflect corresponding functional differences.
Declining family size and the number of children in poor families in the United States: 1964–1983☆

Abstract Change in the number of children in poor white or black families with a male or female as head of the family is examined for the periods 1964–1973, 1973–1978, and 1978–1983. All periods are characterized by declining family size in all four family types. In families with male heads the change in poverty rates specific to family size is generally the major factor behind change in the number of poor children. Declines in family size greatly accelerated declines(or impeded increases) due to changing poverty rates in all three periods. Declining family size also moderated the otherwise large increase in the number of children in poor white and black families with a female head resulting from successive increases in all three periods in the number of white or black female singleparent families. Sizable declines in the number of poor children stemming from further declines in family size are unlikely, but possible changes in fiscal policies that affect marriage and family building by husband-wife couples might reverse policies that may have tended to increase the number of poor children in America in recent decades.
Truly Enthralling: Epileptiform Events In Film and On Television—Why They Persist and What We Can Do About Them

Seizures and epilepsy have been portrayed in film since 1900 and on television since the 1950s, but unlike many other conditions, their depictions have not improved with increased scientific understanding. At this time, most individuals who are under 45 years of age will never witness a seizure. Thus, their information about what seizures are comes from depictions in film and on television. Because especially on television these fictive and often erroneous images are increasing, many think of them as accurate. The research addresses three questions in relation to these images: How do directors use the images? Why do uses of seizures in visual media not reflect contemporary scientific knowledge? Why have they persisted and increased in use? Data consist of material from 242 films and television episodes. The general category of seizures includes seizures in characters said to have epilepsy or some other condition, seizures related to alcohol/drug use, feigned or pseudoseizures, and a "throwaway" category. The research demonstrates how epileptiform events drive the narrative, support the genre, evoke emotional reactions, highlight traits of characters with seizures, accentuate traits of other characters through their responses, act as catalysts for action, and enhance voyeuristic experience. Through connecting categories, we explain a basic social process (Glaser, 2007). The conclusion is that these images are so enthralling that their use is likely to persist. The authors suggest that advocates acknowledge this and then find ways to have more continuing characters with correctly depicted epilepsy be part of television series as a way of exploring the truly enthralling dimensions of the condition.
Reply to Brueckner

Anthony Brueckner (2008) offers a compelling argument for incompati bilism the New Third Argument (here after 'NTA') in response to my criticisms of the Third Argument (Campbell 2007).11 explicate NTA (?2), offer some preliminary considerations (?3), and then close with a discus sion of Brueckner's critique of my Adam example (2007: 109) (?4). In the end I show that, like the Third Argument, NTA does not establish incom patibilism, the view that no one has free will if determinism is true.
The Recreation of a Human Face Using a Low-Cost Reverse Engineering System

The primary goal of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of a low-cost reverse engineering system to recreate a 3D model of a human face. In order to achieve the goal of this research, three key objectives were fulfilled: (1) the first objective was to recreate the physical model of the human face using a low-cost experimental setup (< $5000) using a NextEngine 3D Scanner and Makerbot Replicator 2, (2) the second objective was to investigate the dimensional accuracy at which models can be produced by the system and (3) the third objective was to evaluate the surface finish of the physical models. A chosen test subject had his face scanned several times using several different orientations. From these scans, a model of the face was generated and built using a low-cost Makerbot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer. The dimensional accuracy and surface finish were then measured on the finished product. Three iterations of two different 3D models of the human face were printed using the MakerBot Replicator 2 in order to create a dimensionally accurate model (< 5% error). While it was known that the reverse engineering system could recreate simple objects with easily defined characteristics with minimal error (< 5%) with no holes or other significant imperfections to the surface finish, it was not known how well it would be able to create something as detailed and complex as the human face. The first printed model of the human face was not recognizable as a human face. The second model possessed dimensional errors of up to 33.33%, the third 3D model had dimensional errors less than 4%. The final model showed no holes or other significant imperfections to the surface finish. Further research can be done trying to recreate the fine details and textures of the human face, such as the eyebrows, lip structure and facial hair.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Cultural influences on HIV testing among Latino youth

Young Latinos aged 13-24 years in the USA are disproportionately impacted upon by HIV. Despite the elevated risk, lower rates of HIV testing have been documented among Latino youth relative to other racial/ethnic groups. The objective of the current study was to examine the influence of acculturation and cultural values on HIV testing among Latino youth. The study consisted of 51 sexually experienced young Latinos aged 13-16 years from a major city in the Southeastern USA. Participants completed a survey on HIV testing history, cultural orientation and Latino cultural values. Results indicate that 21.6% of the young people had been tested for HIV. The number of times tested ranged from one to four (M = 1.9 ± 1.0). HIV testing was associated with US American cultural orientation and familism (and emphasis on strong family commitment, family support and emotional closeness). Participants with greater orientation to US American culture were more likely, whereas those who endorsed higher familism value were less likely, to have had an HIV test. For participants scoring high on familism, the desire to maintain family honour may serve as a deterrent to testing. Incorporating culturally relevant strategies, such as promoting sexual communication and conversations on HIV prevention within the family, may enhance testing and narrow the gap in HIV infection between Latino youth and other ethnic groups.
The regulation of thiomethylgalactoside transport in Clostridium acetobutylicum P262 by inducer exclusion and inducer expulsion mechanisms

Clostridium acetobutylicum P262 had phosphotransferase systems for glucose and lactose, and the lactose system was inducible. When C. acetobutylicum P262 was provided with glucose and lactose, the cultures grew in a diauxic fashion, and glucose was used preferentially. Cells grown on lactose took up thiomethylgalactoside, and retained this non-metabolizable lactose analog for long periods of time. Because glucose inhibited thiomethylgalactoside uptake and caused the efflux of thiomethylgalactoside that had already been taken up, it appeared that C. acetobutylicum P262 had inducer exclusion and inducer expulsion mechanisms similar to those found in lactic acid bacteria.
Laminin-coated poly(L-lactide) filaments induce robust neurite growth while providing directional orientation.

Cellular channels during development and after peripheral nerve injury are thought to provide guidance cues to growing axons. In tissue culture where these cues are absent, neurites from dorsal root ganglion neurons grow with a radial distribution. To induce directional axonal growth and to enhance the rate of axonal growth after in- jury, we have designed microfilaments of poly(L-lactide). We demonstrate that dorsal root ganglia grown on these filaments in vitro extend longitudinally oriented neurites in a manner similar to native peripheral nerves. The extent of neurite growth was significantly higher on laminin-coated filaments compared with uncoated and poly-L-lysine-coated filaments. As high as 5.8 ± 0.2 mm growth was observed on laminin-coated filaments compared with 2.0 ± 0.2 mm on uncoated and 2.2 ± 0.3 mm on poly-L-lysine-coated fila- ments within 8 days. Schwann cells were found to grow on all types of filaments. They were, however, absent in the leading edges of growth on laminin-coated filaments. Pho- tolysis of Schwann cells caused a significant reduction in the neurite length on all types of filaments. Laminin-coated fila- ments, however, induced significantly longer neurites com- pared with uncoated and/or poly-L-lysine-coated filaments even in the absence of Schwann cells. Our results suggest that laminin-coated poly(L-lactide) filaments are suitable for inducing directional and enhanced axonal growth. Implants designed by arranging these microfilaments into bundles should aid regenerating axons by providing guidance cues and channels to organize matrix deposition, cell migration, axon growth, and improve functional recovery. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 51, 625-634, 2000.
State equations for delay systems

It is demonstrated that feedback delay in a linear system leads naturally to a state formulation with delays in the control variable. Equations that reduce to 'normal form' equations for the nondelay case are given for a single-input single-output system with a single delay. The system coefficient matrices are given as solutions of linear equations involving the coefficients in the input-output representation.
Creating new specific ligand–receptor pairs for transgene regulation

The creation of specifically matched ligand–receptor pairs that are orthogonal to naturally present interacting pairs is essential for the development of small molecule-regulated gene expression systems for biotechnological applications. However, for many years this task has represented a significant challenge for synthetic chemists and protein engineers. Recently, Doyle and colleagues demonstrated that highly specific ligand–receptor pairs can be engineered in a rapid fashion by creating large libraries of protein variants and applying a selection scheme to identify variants with improved activation by the target synthetic ligand.
Large-displacement Closed-loop Control of Variable Area Electrostatic Actuation for Membrane Reflectors

Membrane mirrors may be attractive in some space applications where light weight, deployability, and conformability are desired. This article investigates large-displacement closed-loop control of electrostatically driven mirrors being used in focusing and steering of laser beams. The required transient response characteristics for the membrane response are achieved using a variable area, constant voltage actuation method, which may be advantageous in some applications. Our previous work on variable area control was restricted to membrane deflections not exceeding 1/3 (the available gap size), and assumed that a continuous area variation was available. In this article, the controller design is extended to enable deflections approaching the entire available gap size, which would help to bring down the voltage requirement for a prescribed deflection range. A Lyapunov function-based approach is used here along with a fully nonlinear dynamic model. Although a single-mode lumped parameter model is used, a feed...
Multi-modal traffic signal control with priority, signal actuation and coordination

Both coordinated-actuated signal control systems and signal priority control systems have been widely deployed for the last few decades. However, these two control systems are often conflicting with each due to different control objectives. This paper aims to address the conflicting issues between actuated-coordination and multi-modal priority control. Enabled by vehicle-to-infrastructure (v2i) communication in Connected Vehicle Systems, priority eligible vehicles, such as emergency vehicles, transit buses, commercial trucks, and pedestrians are able to send request for priority messages to a traffic signal controller when approaching a signalized intersection. It is likely that multiple vehicles and pedestrians will send requests such that there may be multiple active requests at the same time. A request-based mixed-integer linear program (MILP) is formulated that explicitly accommodate multiple priority requests from different modes of vehicles and pedestrians while simultaneously considering coordination and vehicle actuation. Signal coordination is achieved by integrating virtual coordination requests for priority in the formulation. A penalty is added to the objective function when the signal coordination is not fulfilled. This “soft” signal coordination allows the signal plan to adjust itself to serve multiple priority requests that may be from different modes. The priority-optimal signal timing is responsive to real-time actuations of non-priority demand by allowing phases to extend and gap out using traditional vehicle actuation logic. The proposed control method is compared with state-of-practice transit signal priority (TSP) both under the optimized signal timing plans using microscopic traffic simulation. The simulation experiments show that the proposed control model is able to reduce average bus delay, average pedestrian delay, and average passenger car delay, especially for highly congested condition with a high frequency of transit vehicle priority requests.
Effect of changes in contractility on the index of myocardial performance in the dysfunctional left ventricle

The index of myocardial performance has prognostic power in patients with cardiomyopathy and following myocardial infarction. As the index of myocardial performance has been shown to be preload and afterload dependent, the effect of altering contractility on IMP and its components with left ventricular dysfunction has been incompletely delineated. Chronic left ventricular dysfunction was induced in 10 canines using coronary microsphere embolization. Each dog was instrumented and imaged with 2D echo and Doppler. At the same atrially paced rate, contractility was increased with a dobutamine infusion and then following 4 weeks of oral digoxin. With chronic left ventricular dysfunction, a reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (42 ± 3%, p < 0.001) and increased index of myocardial performance (0.58 ± 0.17, p < 0.01) due to isovolumic contraction time lengthening and shortened left ventricular ejection time were noted. Dobutamine increased ejection fraction (p < 0.001), reduced left ventricular end diastolic pressure (p < 0.01), and reduced the index of myocardial performance (0.33 ± 0.17, p < 0.001) due to isovolumic contraction time, isovolumic relaxation time, and left ventricular ejection time shortening. Digoxin increased ejection fraction (p < 0.05), reduced left ventricular end diastolic pressure (p < 0.05), and reduced the index of myocardial performance (0.42 ± 0.13, p < 0.01) due to isovolumic contraction time shortening (p < 0.001). Both dobutamine and digoxin lengthened the diastolic filling period (p < 0.01). Increased inotropy with digoxin and dobutamine reduced the index of myocardial performance in dogs with left ventricular dysfunction. Shortened isovolumic contraction time, increased diastolic filling period, and reduced left ventricular end diastolic pressure with digoxin may provide insight into its efficacy in heart failure.
Objective Diagnostic Tests and Measures

In a previous chapter in the Annual Review of Psychology covering a quite different topic. Tulving & Madigan succumbed to the torment of the Annual Review author and wished aloud that " ... at least some writers, faced with the decision of whether to publish or perish. should have seriously considered the latter alternative" (149, p. 442). If this final solution to the problems faced by reviewers Seems at all unappreciative. consider the following dilemma: (a) the present chapter, the first on a topic that will now be reviewed once every 3 years, must be held to approximately 25 printed pages; (b) in 25 Annual Review pages, if one avoided all text whatsoever, one could include a bibliography of about 675 titles; (c) during the 3 year period 1970-1972, the period chosen for this review, there appeared over 750 titles on one instrument, the MMPI, alone (12), and thus it would not be possible even to list merely a bibliography of MMPI reports; (d) each year there are over 3000 titles (including books, chapters in edited books, and journal articles) of some relevance to this topic (12), or close to 10,000 for the entire period. So, clearly, this review must be ruthlessly selective, hacking away most of this bloat with machete-like abandon. Towards this end, efforts have been made to avoid duplicating the material covered in chapters on assessment, human abilities, personality, attitudes and opin­ ions, personnel selection, scaling, and test theory in previous Annual Review vol­ umes, and in chapters on personality, genetics of behavior, social and cultural
The Effect of Patent Litigation and Patent Assertion Entities on Entrepreneurial Activity

This paper empirically investigates the statistical relation between levels of patent litigation and venture capital ("VC") investment in the U.S. We find that VC investment, a major funding source for entrepreneurial activity, initially increases with the number of litigated patents, but that there is a "tipping point" where further increases in the number of patents litigated are associated with decreased VC investment, which suggests an inverted U-shaped relation between patent litigation and VC investment. This appears strongest for technology patents, and negligible for products such as pharmaceuticals. There is some evidence of a similar inverted U-shaped relation between patent litigation and the creation of new small firms. Strikingly, we find evidence that litigation by frequent patent litigators, a proxy for PAE litigation, is directly associated with decreased VC investment with no positive effects initially.
Characteristics of Head-Mounted Displays and Their Effects on Simulator Sickness

Objective: We examined the effects of several display characteristics of head-mounted displays (HMDs) on simulator sickness (SS).Background: Technological limitations, such as display delay and reduced field of view (FOV), affect perception when using an HMD and are often thought to be related to SS. Few studies have examined the relationship between FOV and geometric FOV (image scale factor) or how HMD characteristics may interact.Method: Participants made active head movements to locate objects when viewing a live video via an HMD.Results: Compared with no added delay, an additional 200 ms of display delay did not result in increased SS, as measured by the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire. Furthermore, an effect of image scale factor on SS was not revealed. However, SS was greater when peripheral vision was occluded than when it was not. Peripheral vision moderated the effects of image scale factor and delay on head movement velocity.Conclusion: Occluding peripheral vision may subject HMD users to the p...
Goals with limited vision: a qualitative study of coping with vision-related goal interference in midlife

Objective: To investigate how middle-aged adults manage their goal pursuits in the face of visual disability.Design: Cross-sectional qualitative study.Setting: Vision rehabilitation agency.Subjects: 216 middle-aged adults with visual impairment.Methods: Telephone interviews composed of structured and open-ended assessments of life goals and the strategies used to cope with vision-related goal interference.Results: Individuals reported strategies that reflected the broader domains found in prior research with older adults: internal resource use, new approach use, technology use, help use, and psychological self-regulation. The most frequently reported strategy was help use (n = 192), followed by new approach use (n = 166), internal resource use (n = 162), technology use (n = 159) and psychological self-regulation (n = 130). Across domains, the most frequently reported strategies were instrumental informal help, instrumental formal help, optical aids, and invest effort. Specific strategy domains emerged as ...
Experiment and Theory of an Active Optical Filter

The role of gain in an optical filter is advanced by good agreement between theory and experiment presented herein. The particular integrated photonic filter is composed of four semiconductor optical amplifiers and one four-port coupler located at the intersection of the amplifiers. The four-port coupler is realized using frustrated total internal reflection off a very thin slab of alumina embedded in the substrate. The delta function response of the filter is measured using an ultra-fast laser and cross-correlator, and the measured transfer functions agree well with a z-transform-based description of the device.
DYNAMICS OF PLAGUE IN A GUNNISON'S PRAIRIE DOG COLONY COMPLEX FROM NEW MEXICO

A plague (Yersinia pestis) epizootic spread through Gunnison's prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni), and possibly other rodent species, in the Moreno Valley in north-central New Mexico between winter 1984–1985 and autumn 1987. We observed the progress of the epizootic and subsequent population recovery at four prairie dog towns within the valley during this period. At two towns (Midlake and Val Verde) the prairie dogs were marked prior to the epizootic. At two additional towns (Vega and South Entrance) prairie dogs were marked following the epizootic. In 1988, a second epizootic occurred at Vega. One hundred thirty-nine serum samples were collected from prairie dogs and other rodents and 1,750 fleas were collected from animals and burrows. Fleas infected with Y. pestis were collected from prairie dogs, deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), and thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus). Prairie dog fleas included Oropsylla hirsuta, O. labis and O. tuberculata; deermouse associated fleas wer...
Estimation and Prediction of a Class of Convolution-Based Spatial Nonstationary Models for Large Spatial Data

In this article we address two important issues common to the analysis of large spatial datasets. One is the modeling of nonstationarity, and the other is the computational challenges in doing likelihood-based estimation and kriging prediction. We model the spatial process as a convolution of independent Gaussian processes, with the spatially varying kernel function given by the modified Bessel functions. This is a generalization of the process-convolution approach of Higdon, Swall, and Kern (1999), who used the Gaussian kernel to obtain a closed-form nonstationary covariance function. Our model can produce processes with richer local behavior similar to the processes with the Matern class of covariance functions. Because the covariance function of our model does not have a closed-form expression, direct estimation and spatial prediction using kriging is infeasible for large datasets. Efficient algorithms for parameter estimation and spatial prediction are proposed and implemented. We compare our method w...
US Social Welfare Policy: The Reagan Record and Legacy

This paper reviews the Reagan administration's attack on the US welfare system during the 1980s. The paper considers the origins, provisions and impact of Reagan's three major pieces of retrenchment legislation: the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, the Social Security Amendments of 1983, and the Family Support Act of 1988. It is argued that Reagan's record in retrenching welfare was limited in budgetary terms, but was successful in making welfare programmes more restrictive. Reagan's welfare legacy is assessed in terms of his attempts at restructuring social provision and shifting the welfare debate to the right. The paper concludes by asserting that Reagan's critique of, and attack on, social provision was accepted by his presidential successors, George Bush and Bill Clinton.
Ship-Raising; Especially with Reference to his Experience in Raising the Russian Ships Sunk in the Harbour of Sevastopol

(1869). Ship-Raising; Especially with Reference to his Experience in Raising the Russian Ships Sunk in the Harbour of Sevastopol. Royal United Services Institution. Journal: Vol. 13, No. 55, pp. 348-359.
The Comparative Effectiveness of Prednisolone and Dexamethasone for Children With Croup A Community-Based Randomized Trial

Background. Although common practice, evidence to support treatment of croup with prednisolone is scant. Methods. We conducted a community-based randomized trial to compare the effectiveness of prednisolone (2 mg/kg/d for 3 days, n = 41) versus 1 dose of dexamethasone (0.6 mg/kg) and 2 doses of placebo (n = 46). Participants were children 1 to 8 years old with croup symptoms ≤48 hours, categorized as mild (42%) or moderate (58%). Results. There were no differences for those treated with dexamethasone or prednisolone for additional health care for croup (2% vs 7%, P = .34), duration of croup symptoms (2.8 vs 2.2 days, P = .63), nonbarky cough (6.1 vs 5.9 days, P = .81), nights with disturbed sleep for the parent (0.68 vs 1.21 nights, P = .55), and days with stress (1.39 vs 1.56 days, P = .51). Conclusion. There were no detected differences in outcomes between the 2 croup treatments for either child or parent.
Pollen tube guidance by the female gametophyte

In flowering plants, pollen grains germinate on the pistil and send pollen tubes down the transmitting tract toward ovules. Previous genetic studies suggested that the ovule is responsible for long-range pollen tube guidance during the last phase of a pollen tube’s journey to the female gametes. It was not possible, however, to unambiguously identify the signaling cells within an ovule: the haploid female gametophyte or the diploid sporophytic cells. In an effort to distinguish genetically between these two possibilities, we have used a reciprocal chromosomal translocation to generate flowers wherein approximately half the ovules do not contain a functional female gametophyte but all ovules contain genotypically normal sporophytic cells. In these flowers, pollen tubes are guided to the normal but not to the abnormal female gametophytes. These results strongly suggest that the female gametophyte is responsible for pollen tube guidance, but leave open the possibility that the gametophyte may accomplish this indirectly through its influence on some sporophytic cells. SUMMARY
Theories Incomparable with Respect to Relative Interpretability

The present paper concerns the relation of relative interpretability introduced in [8], and arises from a question posed by Tarski: are there two finitely axiomatizable subtheories of the arithmetic of natural numbers neither of which is relatively interpretable in the other? The question was answered affirmatively (without proof) in [3], and the answer was generalized in [4]: for any positive integer n , there exist n finitely axiomatizable subtheories of arithmetic such that no one of them is relatively interpretable in the union of the remainder. A further generalization was announced in [5] and is proved here: there is an infinite set of finitely axiomatizable subtheories of arithmetic such that no one of them is relatively interpretable in the union of the remainder. Several lemmas concerning the existence of self-referential and mutually referential formulas are given in Section 1, and will perhaps be of interest on their own account.
Advances in the assessment of no-reflow after successful primary percutaneous coronary intervention for acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: now that we can diagnose it, what do we do about it?

The current standard of care for acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), provided that it is available and can be performed soon enough after the onset of symptoms. However, successful restoration of antegrade coronary flow with
Molecular Pathology of Viral Respiratory Diseases

Virology has long been the gold standard by which advances in molecular biology and methodology have been measured.1 As new molecular tools have been developed, new viruses or variants of older, established taxons have been described. Recent advances in genetic sequencing and amplification technologies were pivotal in detecting and describing the two newest agents with a tropism for the respiratory system, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza virus,2, 3, 4 both of which have the potential to be pandemic agents with a high mortality and morbidity rate. The rapid development of specific molecular tests led to effective public health measures to be put in place to successfully quarantine these agents thus far. The identification of these two new agents underscores the fact that the major cause of nonbacterial epidemics in history has been viruses with a predilection for the respiratory system. The classic example is the global “Spanish flu” pandemic of 1918, attributed to causing the deaths of 20–40 million people within 1 year, a mortality rate greater than that recorded for World War I and the 4 worst years of the Black Plague (AD 1347–1351) combined.4, 5, 6, 7
Governing Copyright in Cyberspace: The Penalty Default Problem with State-Centric Sovereignty

This Article examines the consequences for Internet governance of observing traditional, state-centric sovereignty in multilateral cyberspace regulation by analyzing the World Intellectual Property Organization's Copyright Treaty. Three layers of protection for state sovereignty in the Treaty interact to produce a possible nonenforcement default of its protections for digitally transmitted materials in contracting states that profit more from sidestepping than securing copyright protections. This nonenforcement default operates like a "penalty default" because it gives copyright-profiting states incentive to further bargain to avoid the default. This penalty default is not consciously set, but results from observing state sovereignty in regulating a supranational common resource against the backdrop of a cleavage in state interests over regulation. States with high economic interest in copyrighted material might respond with out-of-treaty bargaining to induce other states to enact regulations avoiding the default. Copyright-profiting states and certain private actors also will have increased incentive to erect electronic security fences and deploy other technologies that chill information flow. The resulting deliberation-deficient and undemocratic process for achieving regulation and nontransparent restrictions on information access may act as a hidden penalty default against piracy-profiting states and all concerned about information access and cyberspace governance, if not ameliorated by a multilaterally agreed mandatory fair use rule and establishment of a strong central dispute settlement body to enforce the treaty's terms.
Forgive and Forget

Japanese America in Los Angeles seems to have snuck into town and set up shop behind my back. Bush One asserted Christian supremacy over oil with the Gulf War against Iraq. It was dead and draining after the Rodney King riots of 1992. What a terrible year that was. That was the day I tucked my five-year-old son Sam into the red Honda CVCC, rolled down to the road to hawk my novel Donald Duk, and showed my son some cities and friends along I-5 to Seattle. The news over the radio was hard news. Wouldn't you know it?—I chose to drive off on the first day of Operation: Desert Storm. I explained Bush's Desert Storm to Sam as we drove past the rollercoaster at Six Flags amusement park.
CMOS-compatible synthesis of large-area, high-mobility graphene by chemical vapor deposition of acetylene on cobalt thin films

We demonstrate the synthesis of large-area graphene on Co, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible metal, using acetylene (C2H2) as a precursor in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-based method. Cobalt films were deposited on SiO2/Si, and the influence of Co film thickness on monolayer graphene growth was studied, based on the solubility of C in Co. The surface area coverage of monolayer graphene was observed to increase with decreasing Co film thickness. A thorough Raman spectroscopic analysis reveals that graphene films, grown on an optimized Co film thickness, are principally composed of monolayer graphene. Transport properties of monolayer graphene films were investigated by fabrication of back-gated graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs), which exhibited high hole and electron mobility of ∼1600 cm2/V s and ∼1000 cm2/V s, respectively, and a low trap density of ∼1.2 × 1011 cm–2.
Direct Observation Of Sexual Isolation Between Allopatric And Between Sympatric Strains Of The Different Drosophila Paulistorum Races

Dobzhansky and Spassky (1959) first suggested that Drosophila paulistorum was a cluster of species in statu nascendi, a borderline case of uncompleted speciation. Their suggestion has been borne out by much laboratory work since then. It is indeed a superspecies composed of six races or subspecies or incipient species. This situation is of interest precisely because these six may be considered about equally legitimately as very distinct races or as very closely related species. Each race inhabits a geographic area different from the others, but the distributions of some of the races do overlap. Where two or more races share a common territory (four is the maximum number of races occurring sympatrically), they seem not to interbreed, and thus they behave like full-fledged species (Dobzhansky et al., 1964). Sexual (or ethological or behavioral) isolation wherein potential mates meet but do not mate, is a most efficient isolating mechanism; it does away with the wastage of gametes, food and space for developing hybrids, etc. This sexual isolation which makes matings between the females and males of different D. paulistorum races much less likely to occur than matings within the races, is due to polygenes scattered in every one of the three pairs of chromosomes which the species possesses. These polygenes efficiently control the sexual preferences of their carriers. Their effects seem to be simply cumulative (Ehrman, 1961). A female of hybrid origin which carries a majority of the chromosomal material derived from a given race
Slippery Issues in Microbubble Drag Reduction

Motivated by the results of recent DNS on microbubble drag reduction in turbulent ∞ows, we investigate parametrically the efiect of a steady force, which is similar to the interaction force in the microbubble system. We flnd that for sustainable drag reduction of more than 50% as reported in experiments, the magnitude of the force has to be much larger than the bubbles could produce and its distribution should be very localized in the wall, which is not possible with microbubbles at high speeds. To this end, we introduce a model where slippage at the wall is allowed so that bubbles and slip act synergistically. Specifically, computational experiments based on direct numerical simulation of wall-bounded turbulent ∞ow reveal that skin-friction can be reduced by as much as 70% by a steady force acting against the ∞ow direction. This force has a distribution similar to the time-averaged force produced by microbubbles injected in the wall boundary layers. For sustained drag reduction, the control force has to act within a distance of about twenty wall units. We also investigate the efiect of wall slip on the drag reduction in bubble-laden turbulent ∞ows. The combined action of slip and bubbles may provide a possible scenario for explaining the large amounts of drag reduction in agreement with recent experimental studies.
Reengineering Business Processes: A Complexity Theory Approach To Value Added

AbstractToday, there is no objective, countable way to measure value added by component processes before and after a reengineering effort and, therefore, no way to provide executives with return-based assurances. Objective value allocation among the component processes of a compound process cannot be gotten through existing approaches (e.g., generally accepted accounting practices, activity-based costing, economic value added, cost of quality, quality function deployment) (Drucker, 1993; Eccles, 1991; Johnson, 1992). These approaches focus on cost or various subjective assessments of value and cannot be used in return based financial ratios because they do not use comparably objective units of measurement (e.g., money). Using an extension of Kolomogorov’s Complexity Theory, this paper offers a solution to this problem. Specifically, this article proposes an approach to calculating return-on-investment at the component process level.
Benzolamide inhibits low-threshold calcium currents in hippocampal pyramidal neurons

1. Benzolamide is a poorly permeant sulfonamide inhibitor of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase. We studied the effect of benzolamide on low-threshold (LT) Ca currents in neonatal hippocampal CAl neurons. 2. In hippocampal slices, benzolamide (2-10 microM) inhibited the LT current 30-75% in voltage-clamped CAl pyramidal cells (n = 6). In slices bathed in N-2-hydroxypiperazine-N'-2-ethane-sulfonic acid (HEPES)-buffered Ringer, benzolamide also reduced the LT current, indicating that the action of the drug was not bicarbonate dependent. 3. Benzolamide inhibited LT Ca currents 20-75% in acutely dissociated CAl neurons in HEPES (n = 18): inhibition was 36 +/- 8% (mean +/- SE; n = 7) and 50 +/- 8% (n = 7) at 10 and 50 microM benzolamide, respectively. By contrast, high-threshold calcium currents recorded in CAl pyramidal cells (n = 18) and dorsal root ganglion neurons (n = 4) were virtually unaffected by benzolamide. 4. These results indicate that benzolamide inhibits LT Ca channels in central neurons and suggest caution in the use of this agent to inhibit extracellular carbonic anhydrase in excitable tissues.