cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Performance evaluation: On choosing to know the related attributes of others when we know their performance

Abstract It was hypothesized that people will choose to find out about the performance attributes of others who perform similarly to themselves if they believe the attributes are related to performance. Subjects within a group of nine were supposedly given different amounts of practice prior to taking a test on which performance was said to be either related or unrelated to practice. After taking the test, each subject was given his score, his rank order in the group, and the score obtained by each of the other group members. The subject was then allowed to find out about the number of items practiced by one other person in the group. A second choice was also given. On both first and second choices, subjects in the related condition chose to learn about others who were adjacent to them in the rank order. Subjects in the unrelated condition chose to learn about others with extreme scores. First choices in both conditions were strongly biased upward, supporting the unidirectional drive hypothesis.
Xenopus Dan, a member of the Dan gene family of BMP antagonists, is expressed in derivatives of the cranial and trunk neural crest.

Abstract Dan is the founding member of the Dan family of secreted cytokines. All members of this family – which includes Gremlin, Cerberus, Dante, PRDC, and several genes identified as expressed sequence tags in the mouse – characterized to date have been shown to antagonize signaling by the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family. During mouse embryogenesis, Dan is expressed in a restricted and dynamic pattern. Major sites of transcription include the somites, the myotome and the cranial, and facial and limb mesenchyme. Xenopus Dan (XDan) shares over 76% amino acid identity with mouse Dan (mDan). Here we report that in Xenopus embryos, XDan is expressed both as a maternal transcript and at later stages in populations of cells associated with the cranial and trunk neural crest. The conservation of Dan expression in cells of the head mesenchyme between Xenopus and mouse embryos suggests an important role for BMP antagonists in these tissues.
Leptin grows up and gets a neural network.

Studies seeking a dominant site of action for the hormone leptin have focused on leptin receptor-expressing neuropeptidergic neurons. In this issue, Vong et al. show that leptin regulates energy homeostasis predominantly via a distributed network of GABAergic neurons.
“I Could Be Anybody”: Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Students in U.S. Schools

Principals are constantly challenged to provide support for diverse populations in the school, including female students, special education students, and minority students and their parents. Another facet of diversity that is usually not addressed in schools is how administrators can meet the needs of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students.
Protease C2, a cysteine endopeptidase involved in the continuing mobilization of soybean β-conglycinin seed proteins

The protease that degrades the beta subunit of the soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) storage protein beta-conglycinin was purified from the cotyledons of seedlings grown for 12 days. The enzyme was named protease C2 because it is the second enzyme to cleave the beta-conglycinin storage protein, the first (protease C1) being one that degrades only the alpha' and alpha subunits of the storage protein to products similar in size and sequence to the remaining intact beta subunit. Protease C2 activity is not evident in vivo until 4 days after imbibition of the seed. The 31 kDa enzyme is a cysteine protease with a pH optimum with beta-conglycinin as substrate of 5.5. The action of protease C2 on native beta-conglycinin produces a set of large fragments (52-46 kDa in size) and small fragments (29-25 kDa). This is consistent with cleavage of all beta-conglycinin subunits at the region linking their N- and C-domains. Protease C2 also cleaves phaseolin, the Phaseolus vulgaris vicilin homologous to beta-conglycinin, to fragments in the 25-28 kDa range. N-Terminal sequences of isolated beta-conglycinin and phaseolin products show that protease C2 cleaves at a bond within a very mobile surface loop connecting the two compact structural domains of each subunit. The protease C2 cleavage specificity appears to be dictated by the substrate's three-dimensional structure rather than a specificity for a particular amino acid or sequence.
Tai chi/yoga reduces prenatal depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances

Ninety-two prenatally depressed pregnant women were randomly assigned to a tai chi/yoga or a waitlist control group at an average of 22 weeks gestation. The tai chi/yoga group participated in a 20-min group session per week for 12 weeks. At the end of the treatment period the tai chi/yoga group had lower summary depression (CES-D) scores, as well as lower negative affect and somatic/vegetative symptoms subscale scores on the CES-D, lower anxiety (STAI) scores and lower sleep disturbances scores.
Optimizing RFID tag-inventorying algorithms

Maximizing the rate at which Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags can be read is a critical issue for end-users of RFID technology as well as for RFID hardware manufacturers. Supply chain applications typically involve tags for which the reader–tag communication is regulated by a protocol that enforces a slotted Aloha scheme. This article shows how to dynamically adjust the parameter of this scheme as a function of the number of tags remaining and the last-used value of the parameter, such that the total amount of time required to read a given set of tags is minimized. To do so, several variations of this stochastic shortest path problem are formulated as Markov decision processes, which are then solved for the optimal policies by exploiting the models' decomposability. Computational results indicate that the optimal policies are complex and static heuristics perform poorly but that a myopic heuristic performs nearly optimally under the current cost structure when the reader processes all slots befo...
Platinum thin film electrodes for high-temperature chemical sensor applications

Abstract Metal thin film electrodes that may withstand harsh-environments are crucial in the development of advanced chemical sensor applications, as well as, microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices that operate at elevated temperatures. The objective of this work was to investigate high-temperature platinum (Pt) thin films that are compatible for these applications. Special attention was paid to the development of new Pt-based electrode compositions and microstructures that limit sintering and grain coarsening. This work investigated different multilayer coatings of hafnium (Hf) and zirconium (Zr) as both the adhesion layers and grain boundary pinning-phases within the Pt films. All adhesion layers and Pt layers were deposited to the same ∼35 nm and ∼425 nm thicknesses, respectively. The coating deposition was completed by DC magnetron sputtering on alumina substrates at 200 °C. The multilayer Pt thin films were processed at 800 °C and 1200 °C for 1–48 h, since the anticipated operation temperature is ≥1000 °C. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) were utilized to characterize the changes in chemistry and microstructure. Electrical resistivities of the as-deposited and thermally processed Pt films were evaluated by four-point probe technique. The work identified a Hf–Zr–Pt multilayer thin film that demonstrated a room temperature resistivity −9 Ω m after being processed to 1200 °C for 48 h. A lift-off technique was finally used to produce an electrode pattern with the optimum film structure for sustained high-temperature operation.
Spontaneous Multivessel Coronary Artery Dissection in a Young Asymptomatic Patient

A unique case of spontaneous multivessel coronary artery dissection in a young woman without identifiable risk factors, who remained asymptomatic despite extensive coronary dissection is presented. The management of this condition and a review of the current literature on this subject are presented. (J Interven Cardiol 2004;17:123–127)
Bats of Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado: Composition, Reproduction, and Roosting Habits

ABSTRACT. We determined the bat fauna at Mesa Verde National Park (Mesa Verde) in 2006 and 2007, characterized bat elevational distribution and reproduction, and investigated roosting habits of selected species. We captured 1996 bats of 15 species in mist nets set over water during 120 nights of sampling and recorded echolocation calls of an additional species. The bat fauna at Mesa Verde included every species of bat known west of the Great Plains in Colorado, except the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus). Some species showed skewed sex ratios, primarily due to a preponderance of males. Thirteen species of bats reproduced at Mesa Verde. Major differences in spring precipitation between the 2 years of our study were associated with differences in reproductive rates and, in some species, with numbers of juveniles captured. Reduced reproductive effort during spring drought will have a greater impact on bat populations with the forecasted increase in aridity in much of western North America by models of glo...
Wildland fire emissions, carbon, and climate: Plume rise, atmospheric transport, and chemistry processes

This paper provides an overview and summary of the current state of knowledge regarding critical atmospheric processes that affect the distribution and concentrations of greenhouse gases and aerosols emitted from wildland fires or produced through subsequent chemical reactions in the atmosphere. These critical atmospheric processes include the dynamics of plume rise, chemical reactions involving smoke plume constituents, the long-range transport of smoke plumes, and the potential transport of gases and aerosols from wildland fires into the stratosphere. In the area of plume-rise dynamics, synthesis information is provided on (1) the relevance of plume height for assessing impacts of gases and aerosol from wildland fires on the climate system, (2) recent scientific advances in understanding the role of multiple updraft cores in plume behavior, and (3) some of the current modeling tools and remote sensing monitoring techniques available for predicting and measuring smoke plume heights. In the area of atmospheric chemistry associated with wildland fire emissions, synthesis information is provided on what is currently known about the atmospheric fate of wildland fire smoke-plume constituents and the relationship of their atmospheric chemistry to radiative forcing. Synthesis information related to long-range atmospheric transport of wildland fire emissions is presented and summarizes many of the recent published observational and modeling studies that provide clear evidence of intercontinental, continental, and regional transport of North American fire emissions, including black carbon, to locations far-removed from the fire-event locations. Recent studies are also highlighted that examined the significance of troposphere-stratosphere exchange processes, which can result in the transport of greenhouse gases and aerosols from North American wildland fires into the stratosphere where they can remain for very long periods of time and alter the radiative balance and typical chemical reactions that occur there. Finally, specific research gaps and needs related to plume dynamics, atmospheric transport and deposition processes, and the atmospheric chemistry of wildland fire emissions are identified and discussed.
Holocene tropical South American hydroclimate revealed from a decadally resolved lake sediment δ 18 O record

Abstract Oxygen isotope ratios of authigenic calcite (δ 18 O cal ) measured at annual to decadal resolution from Laguna Pumacocha document Andean precipitation variability during the last 11,200 years. Modern limnological data show that Pumacocha δ 18 O cal reflects the average annual isotopic composition of the lake's surface waters (δ 18 O lw ), and that δ 18 O lw tracks the isotopic composition of precipitation (δ 18 O precip ), which is largely controlled by the intensity of the South American summer monsoon (SASM). Based on these relationships we use down-core δ 18 O cal measurements as a proxy for δ 18 O precip that varies with the intensity of SASM precipitation. Pumacocha δ 18 O cal increased rapidly between 11,200 and 10,300 yr B.P. from − 14.5‰ to − 10.5‰, reaching a maximum of − 10.3‰ by 9800 yr B.P. After 9800 yr B.P., δ 18 O cal underwent a long-term decrease that tracked increasing Southern Hemisphere summer insolation, suggesting that enhanced SASM precipitation was linked to precessional forcing. Higher-frequency trends did not follow insolation and therefore represent other variability in the climate system. Millennial-scale trends from Pumacocha strongly resemble those from lower-resolution tropical Andean ice and lake core isotopic records, particularly the Huascaran ice core, and low elevation speleothems. These relationships suggest that tropical Andean isotopic records reflect variations in precipitation intensity related to precessional forcing rather than tropical temperatures. They also demonstrate a coherent pattern of SASM variability, although with differences between low elevation and Andean records during the late Glacial to Holocene transition and the late Holocene. Centennial and decadal SASM precipitation variability is also apparent. Reduced SASM rainfall occurred from 10,000–9200, 7000–5000, 1500–900 yr B.P. and during the last 100 years. Intensifications of the SASM occurred at 5000, 2200–1500, and 550–130 yr B.P. with the amplitude of variability increasing after 2200 yr B.P. These periods may represent SASM responses to ocean–atmosphere variability related to orbital and radiative forcing (e.g., El Nino-Southern Oscillation and the Intertropical Convergence Zone).
The complexities of genome analysis, the Retroid agent perspective

MOTIVATION The sequences of Retroid agents from a wide diversity of organisms constitute the largest set of complete genomes currently available for the study of genomic architecture and the transfer of information within and between organisms. These agents are ubiquitous in Eukaryotes, comprising 50-90% of the genomic information in some cases. RESULTS Analyses conducted for over a decade illustrate that Retroid agents are engaged in a wide spectrum of molecular evolutionary events. A description of these complexities is presented as a three parameter conceptual framework that considers type, size, and mechanism of events that contribute to the evolution of genes, genomes, and organisms. The results of new data mining studies further illustrate the complexity of the network of relationships among and between Retroid agents and other organisms. A hidden Markov model construction strategy is presented that generates a multiple alignment more similar to those refined by human experts. CONTACT mars@parvati.msu.montana. edu
Combining ATPG and symbolic simulation for efficient validation of embedded array systems

In the past, symbolic trajectory evaluation (STE) has been shown to be effective for verifying individual array blocks. However, when applying STE to verify multiple array blocks together as a single system, the run-time OBDD (ordered boolean decision diagrams) sizes would often blow up. In this paper, we propose the use of both an ATPG-based justification engine and symbolic simulation to facilitate the application of STE proof methodology for array systems. Our method translates a given verification problem instance into ATPG justification objectives, and partitions a given design into ATPG and symbolic simulation domains. Then, by developing a scheme that enables the ATPG justification engine to work closely with the symbolic simulator, the runtime OBDD sizes during each symbolic simulation run can be limited. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by verifying the memory management units (MMU) in Motorola high-performance microprocessors. The verification of a MMU as a whole was not possible before because of the OBDD size blow-up problem when symbolic simulation is used in the STE proof process.
Games for virtual team building

Distributed teams are increasingly common in today's workplace. For these teams, face-to-face meetings where members can most easily build trust are rare and often costprohibitive. 3D virtual worlds and games may provide an alternate means for encouraging team development due to their affordances for facile communication, emotional engagement, and social interaction among participants. Using principles derived from social psychological theory, we have designed and built a collection of team-building games within the popular virtual world Second Life. We detail here the design decisions made in the creation of these games and discuss how they evolved based on early participant observations.
Biology Blogs: An Online Journal Club & Assessment Tool

A “blog” can be used as an online journal club to supplement classroom learning. When crafted in a certain way, it can help students develop their scientific reading comprehension, critical thinking, and writing skills in a way that can easily be assessed by educators.
Generic Jordan Polynomials

The universal multiplication envelope &#x1d4b0; ℳ ℰ(J) of a Jordan system J (algebra, triple, or pair) encodes information about its linear actions—all of its possible actions by linear transformations on outer modules M (equivalently, on all larger split null extensions J ⊕ M). In this article, we study all possible actions, linear and nonlinear, on larger systems. This is encoded in the universal polynomial envelope &#x1d4b0; &#x1d4ab; ℰ(J), which is a system containing J and a set X of indeterminates. Its elements are generic polynomials in X with coefficients in the system J, and it encodes information about all possible multiplications by J on extensions . The universal multiplication envelope is recovered as the “linear part,” the elements homogeneous of degree 1 in some variable x. We are especially interested in generic polynomial identities, free Jordan polynomials p(x 1,…, x n ; y 1,…, y m ) which vanish for particular a j ∈ J and all possible x i in all , i.e., such that the generic polynomial p(x 1,…, x n ; a 1,…, a...
A switched capacitor circuit simulator: AWEswit

This paper describes the modeling and simulation of switched capacitor circuits in AWEswit. AWEswit is a mixed signal simulator for switched capacitor circuits. It allows for portions of the circuit to be modeled with digital blocks controlled by an event queue. The remainder of the circuit is modeled in the analog domain. The paper describes the circuit formulations employed by AWEswit, and how they are exploited in modeling the nonidealities associated with switched capacitor circuits. AWEswit employs asymptotic waveform evaluation (AWE) as its core simulation engine. It combines circuit formulations in the charge-voltage and current-voltage regimes. This flexibility in the circuit formulations means that if the circuit is modeled entirely with ideal switches (i.e. no resistors), then it is automatically solved in the charge-voltage regime (like SWITCAP2). However, if portions of the circuit need to be solved in the current-voltage regime, then AWEswit automatically partitions the circuit and solves the different partitions in whichever regime is appropriate, i.e., in the current-voltage regime (using AWE to evaluate circuit response) or in the charge-voltage regime. AWEswit naturally handles the bandwidth limitations associated with switched capacitor circuits. In addition, it models the clock feedthrough and signal-dependent charge dump that characterize MOSFET switches. The simulator is illustrated by example. >
Exploring the limits of cycle time for VLSI processing

Theoretical cycle time of 17.5 hours has been demonstrated on 13-mask 0.35-/spl mu/m CMOS using 100% single-wafer processing and real-time process control. The process time during which "the wafer state was being altered" was only 9.4 hours. In this experiment, total cycle time of less than 72 hours (3 days) was demonstrated. Under ideal conditions (e.g., no queues) it should be possible to manufacture advanced ICs with cycle times as short as approximately 2 hours per mask level. >
An effective proposal distribution for sequential Monte Carlo methods-based wildfire data assimilation

Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) methods have shown their effectiveness in data assimilation for wildfire simulation; however, when errors of wildfire simulation models are extremely large or rare events happen, the current SMC methods have limited impacts on improving the simulation results. The major problem lies in the proposal distribution that is commonly chosen as the system transition prior in order to avoid difficulties in importance weight updating. In this article, we propose a more effective proposal distribution by taking advantage of information contained in sensor data, and also present a method to solve the problem in weight updating. Experimental results demonstrate that a SMC method with this proposal distribution significantly improves wildfire simulation results when the one with a system transition prior proposal fails.
Early hypercholesterolemia contributes to vasomotor dysfunction and injury associated atherogenesis that can be inhibited by nitric oxide.

Objective Atherosclerosis results in vasomotor dysfunction, in part, through impairment of nitric oxide (NO) dependent vasodilation. It is unclear whether blood vessels are dysfunctional in an early environment of hypercholesterolemia alone and if this contributes to the vascular injury response. We hypothesize that early hypercholesterolemia, prior to gross vascular changes, contributes to vasomotor dysfunction and the vascular injury response. The efficacy of NO therapy to protect against the injury response in this setting was also assessed. Methods The effect of oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) gene transfer on rat aortic smooth muscle cell (SMC) proliferation was measured with 3 H-thymidine incorporation. Common carotid arteries (CCA) from wild-type C57BL6 (WT or C57) and apolipoprotein E deficient (ApoE KO) mice fed normal or Western diets for 6 to 8 weeks were tested for vasomotor function using an arteriograph system. Studies were repeated after CCA injury. The effect of iNOS gene transfer on morphometry by histology and vasomotor responses in injured CCAs in ApoE KO was examined. Results OxLDL increased SMC proliferation by >50%. In SMC expressing iNOS, NO production was unaffected by oxLDL and reduced oxLDL and still inhibited SMC proliferation. Endothelium dependent vasorelaxation was reduced in uninjured CCAs from ApoE KO and C57 mice on the Western vs normal diet (ApoE 39% ± 2% vs 55% ± 13%; C57 50% ± 13% vs 76% ± 5%, P 2 ; media 46,306 ± 2448 vs 11,714 ± 392 μm 2 , respectively; P Conclusions Early hypercholesterolemia impairs endothelial function, with severity being related to duration and magnitude of hypercholesterolemia. Severe hypercholesterolemia leads to atheromatous lesion formation following injury and stresses the role of vascular injury in atherogenesis and suggests different mechanisms are involved in endothelial dysfunction and the injury response. Despite these changes, iNOS gene transfer still effectively inhibits atheroma formation. These findings support early correction of hypercholesterolemia and emphasize the potential role for NO based therapies in disease states.
Trigant Burrow's Group Analysis:

Two related aspects of the group research of Trigant Burrow are discussed: the development and structure of the self-image, called the `I'-persona by Burrow, and the protocol of Burrow's group analysis. The `I'-persona is viewed as the product of social conditioning and considered to be at the root of interrelational conflict, due to its propensity to pursue its own interests at the expense of the common interests of the group. The objectives of Burrow's group analysis are to identify the manifestations of the `I'-persona's self-serving, oppositional tendencies as they arise in the group context, and to transform those tendencies to more cohesive interrelational behavior by employing a somatic technique that involves the shift of attention from the self-image to organismic and proprioceptive sensations.
Kinematics-driven geometric modeling: a framework for simultaneous NC tool-path generation and sculptured surface design

Current practice in CAD/CAM separates the process of geometric shape design from that of CNC (computerised numerical control) tool path generation. Although successful for 3-axis machining, this strategy is not as effective for 5-axis machining of sculptured surfaces due to the difficulty in generating accurate and gouge-free-5-axis tool paths from the CAD models. This paper presents a framework for a new, kinematics-based methodology for geometric modeling that integrates sculptured-surface design with too-path generation for 5-axis CNC machining. In particular, sculptured surfaces are represented directly in terms of rational Bezier and B-spline motions of the cutting tool. The proposed framework brings together the fields of Kinematics and computer aided geometric design as well as the recent results in computer aided motion synthesis and swept volume modeling, and provides a basis for concurrent geometric shape design and manufacture.
Introduction to Antifungal Drugs

In the United States, only 10 antifungal drugs are currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the therapy of systemic fungal infections. As shown in table 1, these drugs belong to 3 principal classes: polyenes, pyrimidines, and azoles. Drugs that belong to other classes are also approved as topical antifungal drugs, but will not be considered further here. Although conventional amphotericin B (Fungizone) remains the standard therapy for many invasive or life-threatening mycoses, this polyene drug is associated with significant toxicity, including infusion-related events, such as chills, fever, headache, nausea and vomiting, and dose-limiting nephrotoxicity [1]. In addition, the clinical efficacy of amphotericin B in some settings (e.g., mold disease such as invasive aspergillosis in severely immunocompromised patients) is suboptimal. Consequently, 3 new lipid formulations of amphotericin B (amphotericin B lipid complex, amphotericin B cholesteryl sulfate, and liposomal amphotericin B) have been developed and recently approved by the FDA. These lipid formulations offer several advantages over conventional amphotericin B, including increased daily dose of the parent drug (up to 10-fold), high tissue concentrations in the primary reticuloendothelial organs (lungs, liver, and spleen), decrease in infusion-associated side effects (especially liposomal amphotericin B), and marked decrease in nephrotoxicity [2‐3]. Although the therapeutic : toxic ratio of these compounds is clearly improved, superiority in clinical efficacy has not been definitively established in headto-head comparative trials, either a lipid formulation versus conventional amphotericin B or 1 lipid formulation versus another lipid formulation [4‐11]. Moreover, these lipid formulations of amphotericin B are considerably more expensive than conventional amphotericin B, ranging from 10- to 20-fold higher in cost per dose [3]. In addition, the optimum daily or total dose of these lipid compounds has not been established. Accordingly, unanswered questions and controversy abound about several issues relating to these 3 lipid agents [11]. For example, is 1 drug superior by pharmacologic and efficacy pa
CDSIMEQ: A program to implement two-stage probit least squares

The cdsimeq command implements the two-stage estimation method described in Maddala (1983) for simultaneous equations models in which one of the endogenous variables is continuous and the other endogenous variable is di- chotomous. The cdsimeq command implements all the necessary procedures for obtaining consistent estimates for the coefficients, as well as their corrected stan- dard errors.
An automated procedure for the sensitive and specific determination of ATP.

An automated procedure is described for the measurement of ATP. This method, based on the linear luminescence response of firefly extracts added to ATP, is rapid, reproducible, and allows a relatively large number of samples to be run (up to 35/hr.). A procedure is also given for the preparation of the luciferin-luciferase system from dried firefly lanterns. Sample volumes required are small, and reading error is about ± 3%. Uniform timing of the addition of reagents and reading of light emission intensity for each sample are insured. Variables investigated include dilution of firefly extract, alterations in time after mixing sample and enzyme, linearity, cation, anion, and ADP and AMP interference.
Capture of percutaneous locking screws

(2002). Capture of percutaneous locking screws. Acta Orthopaedica Scandinavica: Vol. 73, No. 5, pp. 589-589.
Removal of ABS and Other Sewage Components by Infiltration Through Soilsa

The nature and extent of movement of ABS (alkylben-zenesulfonate) and other sewage components through natural soils were studied in the laboratory and in the field north of Denver, Colorado. Small amounts of ABS and bacteria pass through soils and reach the zone of saturation, where they move laterally down-gradient several thousand feet. Total dissolved solids show little fluctuation during such movement, possibly because extracted solutes are replaced by other solutes leached from the soils during water infiltration. In laboratory studies Denver sewage-plant effluent was filtered through packed columns of 8 types of soils. ABS was not significantly removed by most of the soils; how-ever, muck, greensand marl, and residual basalt soil ini-tially removed up to 94 percent of the ABS. Some ABS was removed only after development of bacterial slime on the soils; subsequent infiltration caused leaching of the slime and its adsorbed ABS and other constituents. All soils initially removed about 90 percent of the bacteria within a few feet of travel, but a small percentage passed through the soil. Bacterial clogging occurred quickly in the fine soils but only in modest amounts in the coarse sand, even after three months of flow. Field studies included analyses of river and irrigation water contaminated from a sewage-plant effluent, and well water from selected sites down-gradient between unlined irrigation ditches and the river. Concentrations of ABS and bacteria were significantly reduced during infiltration of irrigation ditch water to the water table. As noted in the laboratory the concentrations of both of these contaminants can be reduced through soil filtering action. In addition there may be some dilution of the infiltrate by the ground water. Dissolved solids showed practically no change between the ditches and the wells.
Online continuing dental education.

Background An increasing number of continuing dental education, or CDE, courses are available on the Internet. The authors conducted this study to determine general characteristics of online CDE course offerings.
How myosin VI coordinates its heads during processive movement

A processive molecular motor must coordinate the enzymatic state of its two catalytic domains in order to prevent premature detachment from its track. For myosin V, internal strain produced when both heads of are attached to an actin track prevents completion of the lever arm swing of the lead head and blocks ADP release. However, this mechanism cannot work for myosin VI, since its lever arm positions are reversed. Here, we demonstrate that myosin VI gating is achieved instead by blocking ATP binding to the lead head once it has released its ADP. The structural basis for this unique gating mechanism involves an insert near the nucleotide binding pocket that is found only in class VI myosin. Reverse strain greatly favors binding of ADP to the lead head, which makes it possible for myosin VI to function as a processive transporter as well as an actin-based anchor. While this mechanism is unlike that of any other myosin superfamily member, it bears remarkable similarities to that of another processive motor from a different superfamily—kinesin I.
Pharmacological analysis of cerebellar contributions to the timing and expression of conditioned eyelid responses

Abstract Contradictory results have been reported regarding the effects of cerebellar cortex lesions on the expression of conditioned eyelid responses—either no effect, partial to complete abolition of responses, or disruption of response timing. This uncertainty is increased by debates regarding the region(s) of cerebellar cortex that are involved, by the likelihood that cortex lesions can inadvertently include damage to the interpositus nucleus or other pathways necessary for response expression, and by potential confounds from the degeneration of climbing fibers produced by cerebellar cortex lesions. We have addressed these issues by reversibly blocking cerebellar cortex output via infusion of the GABA antagonist picrotoxin into the interpositus nucleus. After picrotoxin infusion, conditioned responses are spared but their timing is disrupted and their amplitude diminished. In the same animals, conditioned responses were abolished by infusion of the GABA agonist muscimol and were unaffected by infusion of saline vehicle. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that (i) plasticity in the interpositus nucleus contributes to the expression of conditioned responses, as suggested by the responses seen with the cortex disconnected, and (ii) plasticity in the cerebellar cortex also contributes to conditioned response expression, as suggested by disruption of response timing.
Pathogen transmission as a selective force against cannibalism

Cannibalism is uncommon in most species despite being taxonomically widespread. This rarity is surprising, because cannibalism can confer important nutritional and competitive advantages to the cannibal. A general, but untested, explanation for why cannibalism is rare is that cannibals may be especially likely to acquire pathogens from conspecifics, owing to greater genetic similarity among conspecifics and selection for host specificity and resistance to host immune defences among pathogens. We tested this hypothesis by contrasting the fitness consequences of intra- versus interspecific predation of diseased and non-diseased prey. We fed cannibalistic tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) larvae diseased conspecifics, healthy conspecifics, diseased heterospecifics (a sympatric congener, small- mouthed salamanders, A. texanum), or healthy heterospecifics. Cannibals that ate diseased conspecifics were significantly less likely to survive to metamorphosis and grew significantly less than those that ate diseased heterospecifics, but none of the other groups diVered. Tiger salamander larvae also preferentially preyed on heterospecifics when given a choice between healthy conspecifics and heterospecifics. These results suggest that pathogen transmission is an important cost of cannibalism and provide a general explanation for why cannibalism is infrequent in most species. ? 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour
Adiabatic Thermography of Composite Materials

Present evidence suggests that thermoelastic strain field measurements in composite materials can provide unique information at the structural level for applications to engineering analysis, and at the specimen and local level for scientific investigations. In addition, the unique dynamic nature of the technique, and the apparent relationship of data obtained from such a method to micro-mechanical and especially to constituent behavior and properties seems to present very special opportunities. The present paper describes the thermoelastic effect in composite materials, and the manner in which that phenomenon can be used to characterize global strain distributions, local strain distributions, stress relaxation associated with damage development, strain rate dependence, and the dependence of mechanical response on micro-constituent arrangement and behavior. In general, it is found that the thermoelastic effect provides a significant opportunity for the nondestructive evaluation of composite materials, and offers some unique opportunities, especially with regard to the investigation of the manner in,vhich the properties and performance of composites depends upon the properties, performance, and arrangement of micro-constituents.
Derivation, Construction and Validation of a Nonlinear Model of an Axisymmetric Isolator from Two-Dimensional Euler Equations

Renewed interest in scramjet propulsion had lead to concentration of effort toward constructing a model of the scramjet engine flow path that accurately captures transient flow dynamics relevant to the unstart phenomenon. The model should also be amenable for designing a model-based engine controller that, in particular, acts to prevent unstart. In this paper, the modeling process is simplified by considering the engine system as the cascade of an inlet/isolator subsystem and a combustor subsystem. A nonlinear model is constructed for the inlet/isolator subsystem through spatial discretization of the twodimensional Euler equations and modified through the addition of two damping matrices, which introduce artificial viscosity to the model. It is found that the model is too large to be efficiently simulated, even using high-performance hardware, as the amount of data collected after two weeks of simulation was too small to use for evaluation of the model. These limitations suggest that a model of smaller order should instead be considered for use in validation and control design.
Determination of Bulk Rock Properties From Ground-water Level Fluctuations

The response of ground-water levels to tides and changes in barometric pressure provides an in-situ measure of the response of the rock-water system to changes in stress. Tidal and barometric efficiencies can thus be expressed in terms of drained and undrained moduli. In addition, if the various moduli are known from laboratory measurements, the laboratory equivalents of both tidal and barometric efficiency can provide an estimate of the specific storage. The method is demonstrated to provide reasonable and consistent results when applied to various rock types of differing rigidity.
Empirical Analysis of “Volatility Surprise” between Dollar Exchange Rate and CRB Commodity Future Markets

This paper used the five multivariate GARCH models (including BEKK, CCC, DCC, VARMA-CCC and VARMA-DCC) to analyze the mean and volatility interaction of volatility surprise between US dollar exchange and CRB future index (including agricultural, energy, commodity and precious metal equity index). The empirical findings exhibit that significant own short and long-term persistence effects and the cross-markets volatility surprise spillover short and long-term persistence effects between dollar exchange rate and CRB commodity future equity index markets in five multivariate GARCH models. Besides that, the residual diagnostic test indicated that VARMA-DCC models is the best suitable model to modeling the dollar exchange rate with CRB commodity equity index.
Gradient techniques for performance prediction and control in multitier systems

In recent years, the emergence of cloud computing, and software paradigms such as service-oriented architectures (SOAs), has led to the proliferation of Web services. One of the most important factors of the Web services is the end-to-end performance. It is important for the service provider to be able to predict and control the end-to-end performance of the Web services. However, as more and more Web services adopt a multitier architecture, and advanced techniques are used to improve the scalability and responsiveness, the problem of performance prediction and control for multitier systems is becoming more and more challenging. This motivates the search for techniques for performance prediction and control in multitier systems that power these Web services. Traditional techniques like queuing networks and machine learning have been applied in performance prediction and control. While these techniques work well in static systems, most of them fail to capture the dynamic systems as they are frequently reconfigured at runtime. The goal of the work in this thesis is to develop a runtime technique that can predict accurately the performance of general multitier systems, yet requires very little knowledge. In this thesis, we propose the gradient model technique. It is a runtime technique that combines simple first-order model, high-level system knowledge, and lightweight online measurements. It can be used with general multitier systems with little effort. We present the implementations and evaluations of three specific gradient models, the link gradient, workload gradient and CPU gradient. Our results show that the gradient models can accurately predict the end-to-end performance of the multitier systems under a wide range of configurations. In addition, we demonstrate the practical usage of the gradient model in different scenarios, including per-transaction response time optimization and energy conservation. Finally, we present the design of the gradient model toolkit. The gradient model toolkit enables users to easily implement new gradient model and use the model in their own applications. Our vision is that, with the general gradient model methodology, and the toolkit we built, performance prediction and control for general multitier systems can be made simpler for system administrators and service providers.
Sagitta studies for the endcap muon chambers of the ATLAS spectrometer

The ATLAS detector for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN will study the products of protons collisions at energies of up to 14 TeV. One of its subdetectors is a high-resolution muon spectrometer designed to exploit the physics potentials. A system test of the ATLAS muon spectrometer has been performed in the H8 test beam area at the CERN SPS
Design of BGA Assemblies with Enhanced Thermal Cycle Capability Using Solder Coated Polymer Balls

Abstract Solder coated polymer balls have been successfully employed for attaching packages to circuit boards with minimum standoff height, while accommodating large mismatches in thermal expansion coefficients. Dramatic improvements in temperature cycling performance are often realized by using them in place of solid solder balls, with five-fold increases in mean cycles to failure reported by a number of investigators. The sales literature, provided by suppliers of solder coated solder balls, attribute this superior temperature cycling performance to the soft, compliant polymer core of the product. Our study of the mechanics of solder coated polymer balls has revealed that their stiffness is in fact comparable to that of solid solder balls. Their rigidity results from a composite construction in which a nearly incompressible polymer material is surrounded by a copper shell that is not easily deformed from its spherical shape. We have employed finite element analysis and mechanical measurements to obtain ...
Movie review analysis: emotion analysis of IMDb movie reviews

Movie ratings and reviews at sites such as IMDb or Amazon are commonly used by moviegoers to decide which movie to watch or buy next. Currently, moviegoers base their decisions as to which movie to watch by looking at the ratings of movies as well as reading some of the reviews at IMDb or Amazon. This paper argues that there is a better way: reviewers movie scores and reviews can be analyzed with respect to their emotion content, aggregated and projected onto a movie, resulting in an emotion map for a movie. One can then make a decision on which movie to watch next by selecting those movies having emotion maps with certain emotion map patterns desirable for him/her. This paper is a first step towards the above-listed scenario.
Bridging the Gap: Connecting Resident Assistants and Suicidal Residents Through Gatekeeper Training

One hundred sixty-two resident assistants (RAs) at a large southeastern university were randomly assigned to attend either a specialized 1-hr training program in suicide prevention (intervention group) or a stress and time management skills training program (control group). The results failed to show the suicide prevention training program had any impact on RA intervention behaviors, resident help-seeking behaviors, or RA perceptions of resident distress and suicidality 4 months following training. Results are interpreted and discussed in relation to strengthening suicide prevention training programs on college campuses.
Starting Up a Cisco Router

This chapter explains how to connect to the router and start making basic configuration. The chapter explains simple steps to configure passwords, interfaces, and other basic settings. This chapter includes three training scenarios.
Assessment of the plume dispersion due to chemical attack on April 4, 2017, in Syria

A numerical investigation has been performed using Weather Research and Forecasting model to determine the role of atmospheric factors that influenced the dispersion of the chemical plume released on the fateful date of April 4, 2017, at 6.30 a.m. in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in northwestern region of Syria. The plume has been approximated as an inert tracer and the effect of meteorological and topographical conditions on the plume dispersion has been studied. The results have shown that the released plume formed a thin layer up to 100 m above the surface known a “fumigation plume”. The plume spreads radially, undiluted to distance of 7.9 and 19.3 km at 1 and 2 h, respectively, after the initial release. Due to change to convective atmospheric stability conditions, the turbulence convective eddies dilutes the plume. The atmospheric stability conditions in the next 2 h were critical in dispersing the plume. The study motivates the importance of estimating short-term transport of the plume in health-, safety- and evacuation-management.
Dis)Emergence to Spectral Subjectivity

(Dis) Emergence to Spectral Subjectivity begins with an overview of the problem of anti-foundationalist metaphysics and subject formation after postmodernism, a “post” conceptual era still troubled by the absence of a stable metaphysical structure. The opening discussion focuses on the theoretical possibilities of the concept of “ontological incompleteness,” which is explored through the recent work by Catherine Keller, Face of the Deep, Elizabeth Grosz, Chaos, Territory, Art, and modern literary references, namely Borges and Beckett. The narratological nature of ontological incompleteness, then, is further discussed via Jacques Derrida and Alain Badiou’s engagement with literature as a philosophical space or, as Badiou describes it, an “evental site” for metaphysical inquiry.
Lunar Source of 3He for Commercial Fusion Power

An analysis of astrophysical information indicates that the solar wind has deposited an abundant, easily extractable source of 3He onto the surface of the moon. Apollo lunar samples indicate that t...
When Is Posting about Patients on Social Media Unethical "Medutainment"?

Plastic surgeons who use patient images for online advertising should ensure informed consent and not exploit the patient-physician relationship for gain.
Review of Pastoralist Livelihoods in Asian Drylands: Environment, Governance and Risk edited by Ariell Ahearn and Troy Sternberg with Allison Hahn

Ahearn, A, Sternberg, T with Hahn, A (eds.) Pastoralist Livelihoods in Asian Drylands: Environment, Governance and Risk Cambridgeshire: The White Horse Press, 2017 Xiii + 222 pages ISBN 978-1-874267-98-0 (HB); 978-1-912186-07-5 (ebook)