cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Salicylate: A Structure-Activity Study of its Effects on Membrane Permeability

Salicylate atnd benzoate, and their anlalogs, reversibly increase the membrane potetntial and conductance of identified molluscan neurons by increasing potassium conductance and decreasing chloride conductance. The relative potencies of these compounds were closely correlated with their octanol-water partition coefficients and their pK a values.
Postglacial response of a stream in central Iowa to changes in climate and drainage basin factors

Postglacial geomorphic development of the Buchanan Drainage, a small tributary to the South Skunk River, is reconstructed by documenting relationships among four allostratigraphic units and 17 radiocarbon dates. Formation and headward expansion of the valley was both episodic and time-transgressive. Response to downstream conditions in the South Skunk River largely controlled the early formation of the basin. Downcutting through Pleistocene deposits produced a gravelly lag deposit that was buried by alluvium in the downstream portion of the valley during the early Holocene (10,500–7700 yr B.P.). Lag deposits formed in a similar manner continued to develop in the upper portion of the drainageway into the late Holocene (3000-2000 yr B.P.). Episodes of aggradation during the middle Holocene (7700-6300 yr B.P.) and late Holocene (3000-2000 yr B.P.) were separated by a period of soil formation. Holocene geomorphic events in the drainageway coincide with some vegetational and climatic changes as documented in upland pollen sequences from central Iowa. Analysis of plant macrofossil assemblages recovered from alluvium indicates that during the middle Holocene forest contracted and prairie expanded into the uplands within the basin. Vegetational changes within the basin apparently had only minor influence on rates of hillslope erosion, and the widely accepted relationship between prairie (versus forest) vegetative cover and increased rates of hillslope erosion did not hold. Instead, greater amounts of erosion occurred under forested conditions when local water tables were higher and seepage erosion was more effective.
General relativistic shock waves in fluids for which pressure equals energy density

A shock wave in a self-gravitating fluid obeying the equation of state: pressure equal to energy density is shown to travel with the velocity of light in a space-time determined by the Einstein field equations. The jump conditions that must be satisfied by the hydrodynamic variables are derived and discussed as are those that must be satisfied by the metric tensor and its derivatives. The latter conditions are obtained by using a variational principle.
Bat Dynamics of Female Fast Pitch Softball Batters

Abstract Eight female fast pitch Softball batters served in the examination of the dynamic characteristics of the bat during the swing. An analysis of three-dimensional linear and angular bat kinematic parameters led to the following results: (1) 200 msec to contact, slight rotation of the bat about its long axis and rapid bat movement away from the subject's anterior aspect ensued, (2) a rapid increase in bat velocity directed toward the pitched ball began 120 msec prior to contact, and (3) a slight downward movement occurred until 87 msec prior to contact, at which lime there was an increase in the upward bat velocity which continued until contact. Maximum resultant bat velocity (19.08 m·s−1) and mean maximum kinetic energy (270.21 J) values were less than those reported for male baseball batters. The combination of decreased response lime, due to the shorter pitching distance, and the lower bat velocity suggests that there may be a difference between optimal baseball and softball batting techniques.
A Six-Year Study of Sex Differences in Intellectual Functioning, Reading/Language Arts Achievement, and Affective Development

Summary An ANOVA procedure compared at the seventh-grade level 52 girls and 42 boys (matched upon school entry according to age, socioeconomic levels, readiness-test scores, and intelligence) on three measures of intelligence, four measures of achievement (reading vocabulary and comprehension, spelling, and language arts), and twenty affective measures (personality, self-concept, and attitudes). Girls outperformed boys on measures of language arts and spelling and on six affective measures. Significant interactions (sex, type of elementary schooling, and intelligence level) appeared to lack any meaningful consistency. The superior language arts and spelling achievement of girls, along with their affective advantages, may be mistaken as superior reading skills.
Long-lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission requires postnaptic modifications in the neocortex

The mechanisms of associative long-lasting potentiation (LLP) of excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) were studied in the motor cortex of anesthetized cats. Mono- and oligosynaptic EPSPs were evoked by stimulations of thalamic VL nucleus, pyramidal tract, callosal and somatosensory system and paired with orthodromic, antidromic or current-induced action potentials. EPSP-spike stimulus pairs with 0.1-0.2 Hz frequency and 0-200 ms interstimulus intervals induced increases in the amplitudes and durations of EPSPs for 40-60 min or longer after 20-50 pairings. The LLP was prevented when postsynaptic firing was blocked by intracellular current injection or by juxtasomatic application of gamma-aminobutyric acid. LLP was also prevented when the level of intracellular free calcium was lowered by the intracellular injection of the calcium chelator EGTA or when neuronal transport was blocked by the intracellular injection of colchicine. Neither EGTA nor colchicine blocked postsynaptic firing. Thus, these findings show that LLP in the neocortex is a postsynaptic phenomenon which requires conjunctive pre- and postsynaptic activity, adequate levels of intracellular free calcium, and functional intracellular transport.
Electronic structure of the La1 + xBa2 - xCu3O7 + δ system studied by photoelectron spectroscopy

Abstract Photoemission experiments utilizing synchrotron radiation have been carried out on the high temperature superconductor La 1.075 Ba 1.925 Cu 3 O 7.0 . The valence band spectra show similar spectral features as those of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.9 , even though large differences in relative peak intensities are observed. Oxygen-related states are identified by scanning the photon energy through the O2 s → O2 p absorption edge. The stability of the sample surface, and changes in the valence band spectra after annealing in ultrahigh vacuum are also briefly discussed.
Tunable Hierarchical Metallic-Glass Nanostructures

Synthesizing metallic nanostructures with control over morphology, surface chemistry, and length-scale is important for a wide range of applications. Nanostructures having large surface area paired with suitable chemistry are particularly desirable in catalytic applications to facilitate the reaction kinetics. However, the techniques used for nanostructure synthesis are often lengthy, difficult, require expensive precursors/stabilizers, and limit the control over nanostructure morphology/chemistry. Here tuning metallic-glass nanostructures to a wide range of morphologies, where the surface is enriched with catalytic noble metal, is reported. By combining thermoplastic nanofabrication together with electrochemical processing, hierarchical metallic nanostructures with large electrochemical surface area and high catalytic activity are synthesized. Due to the versatility in processing and independent control over multiple length-scales, the approach may serve as a tool-box for fabricating complex hierarchical nanostructures for wide ranging applications.
Comments on "Convexity of frequency response arcs associated with a stable polynomial

In the original paper, Hamann and Barmish (ibid., vol. 38, no. 6, p. 904-15, 1993) showed that the frequency response arc and the inner frequency response set associated with D-stable polynomial are convex. This note points out that clockwise property and positive curvature is sufficient for convexity based on a result in classical differential geometry and provides an alternative proof of the convexity based on curvature. It is felt that this line of proof may be more easily generalized to study the rational function cases. >
Debonding of interfaces between beta-silicon nitride whiskers and SiAlY oxynitride glasses

Abstract Crack bridging mechanisms in self-reinforced silicon nitride ceramics rely on interfacial debonding and intergranular fracture processes. The toughening effects can be enhanced by increasing the diameter of the elongated grains. However, the composition of the additives and, hence, the grain boundary amorphous phase can significantly alter this response; the question remains as to whether this is due to interfacial structure and bonding or the state of residual stresses. Here studies of debonding of the interfaces associated with β-Si 3 N 4 whiskers embedded in oxynitride glasses are used to examine the role of oxynitride glass composition on the debonding behavior. Using indentation cracking, measurements of interfacial debond lengths versus angle of incidence (i.e. between crack plane and interface plane) are used to determine the critical angle for debonding which can be related to debonding energy. In SiAlYON glasses, it is found that increases in the Y:Al and O:N ratios promote interfacial debonding. At the same time, the properties of the glasses are dependent upon composition. As a result, the thermal expansion mismatch stresses imposed on the whisker by the glass also vary with composition. Thus, the influence of thermal expansion mismatch stresses on the interface debonding was considered by analyses of the radial and the axial stresses using the measured glass properties. These results show that thermal expansion mismatch stresses are not a factor in interfacial debonding in the current experiments. Rather, interfacial compositional profile analyses and high resolution microstructural characterization of the interfaces reveal that the observed compositional effects on debonding behavior are related to formation of interfacial phases, in this case the growth of a β'-SiAlON layer.
Tissue mixture-based inner bladder wall segmentation with applications in MRI-based virtual cystoscopy

As a non-invasive bladder tumor screening approach, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based virtual cystoscopy (VCys) has received increasing attention for a better soft tissue contrast compared to computer tomography (CT)-based VCys. In this paper, some preliminary work on segmenting the inner boundary of bladder wall from both T1- and T2- weighted MR bladder images were presented. Via an iterative maximum a posteriori expectation-maximization (MAPEM) approach, the tissue mixture fractions inside each voxel were estimated. Considering the partial volume effect (PVE) that MR images suffer from, the advantages of such mixture-based segmentation approach are (1) statistics-based tissue mixture model that shapes each tissue type as a normal-distributed random variable, (2) closed-form mathematical MAP-EM iterative solution, and (3) capability and efficiency of the estimated tissue mixture fractions in reflecting PVE. Given the extracted inner bladder wall, manipulations could be further taken, for each individual voxel located on the inner bladder wall, to identify the outer bladder wall prior to the measurement of wall thickness. Not limited to geometrical analysis, the consideration of PVE in the study of early stage abnormality on the mucosa in the scope of VCys is believed to provide more textural information in distinguishing from neighboring artifacts about the surface deformations that is due to bladder tumors.
Activin and BMPs regulate sensory neuronal differentiation

Regulated expression of neuropeptide transmitters in the sensory nervous system results in the ability to feel pain and modulate inflammation. These functions are carried out by sensory neurons that express calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and project to skin, muscle or gut target tissues. Activin and members of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family have been suggested to contribute to the induction of CGRP in embryonic dorsal root ganglion neurons. Bioassays using embryonic target tissues as well as cell lines derived from these tissues clearly implicate a target derived factor in the induction of CGRP. Further, embryonic tissues that serve as sensory neuron targets express biochemically detectable amounts of BMPs and activin, as well as inhibitory molecules. These data support the hypothesis that BMPs and activin regulate sensory neuron cell phenotype development. In addition, activin also appears to induce neuropeptide expression following skin injury in the adult. Following a skin wound an increased proportion of CGRP expressing neurons are present in sensory ganglia innervating the wound region. While adult skin has low activin expression, following excisional skin wound, activin protein expression in skin adjacent to the wound increased, while BMP-2, BMP-4, and BMP-6 expression decreased. These data suggest that activin and BMPs are important regulators of CGRP in development and disease.
Differential expression of aortic and lung elastin genes during chick embryogenesis

Abstract The ratios of tropoelastin b to a were measured in chick aorta and lung during embryogenesis. The rates of tropoelastin a and b synthesis were determined in short-term organ culture. The results demonstrated that in lung tissue the ratio of the two tropoelastins remained essentially constant. Each of the tropoelastins comprised 50% of the total elastin synthesis. In the aortic tissue, tropoelastin b represented 70% of the total elastin in the 11- to 13-day embryos and increased to 91% by Day 16. These observations seen in the organ culture system were paralleled in measurements of functional mRNAs coding for the two proteins. Measurements of functional tropoelastin mRNAs from both lung and aortic tissues were performed in a mRNA-dependent rabbit reticulocyte lysate system. Although the changes in the abundance of the tropoelastin mRNAs revealed the same trend as that seen in the organ culture data, the magnitude of the tropoelastin b to a ratio in the aortic organ culture was twice that determined in the cell-free translation of aortic mRNAs. The data obtained from both cell-free translations and organ culture experiments demonstrate that there is a differential expression of elastin genes during aorta development which is significantly different from that found in developing lung.
How Might Cocaine Interfere with Brain Development

Women addicted to cocaine often continue drug use through pregnancy, despite risks to the fetuses they are carrying. Multiple studies have attempted to identify the effects of cocaine and other commonly abused drugs on fetal brain development and behavior in clinical populations. The attribution of risk to specific drugs remains challenging, however, because women addicted to cocaine often use other illegal drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco. Moreover, they tend to have poor nutrition, low levels of prenatal care, and other problems that confound analysis. Not surprisingly, as the outcomes of different cohorts of pregnant women who use drugs are examined, diverse findings have been reported. Overall, however, children exposed to cocaine prenatally appear to have neurological and cognitive deficits. For example, at six months of age children exposed to cocaine in utero have been observed to have abnormalities of tone and posture [1]. A longitudinal, prospective, comparison birth cohort study that measured drug levels in urine and meconium found that children exposed to cocaine showed significant cognitive deficits and a higher rate of developmental delay during the first two years of life [2]. Another cohort of children exposed to cocaine and other drugs had deficits in sustained attention and problems with impulsivity at age four [3].
Biodegradation of sedimentary organic matter associated with coalbed methane in the Powder River and San Juan Basins, U.S.A.

The Powder River Basin and San Juan Basin, U.S.A., are two of the most productive coalbed methane reserves in the world. Of particular interest is the microbial biodegradation of coal beds associated with this natural gas production. Biogenic methane production is indicated as a significant component to the total gas resources in the San Juan Basin, and as the nearly sole source for the shallow coals of the Powder River Basin. Molecular and isotopic signatures indicate a microbial origin for the gas. Geochemical characteristics of formation waters, such as elevated alkalinity and 13C-enriched dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), further support extensive microbial degradation of coal organic matter associated with methanogenesis. Extractable organic matter isolated from coals in both basins point to patterns of hydrocarbon biodegradation in coals restricted to specific depths. To some extent, biodegradation patterns are similar to those observed in methanogenic, biodegraded black shales of the mid-continent of the United States. Specifically, both coals and shales exhibit near-quantitative removal of straight-chain and acyclic isoprenoid hydrocarbons. However, loss of aromatic hydrocarbons in the coals proceeds prior to the extensive removal of the saturated hydrocarbons, in contrast to what is conventionally observed in biodegraded petroleum systems or in black shales. In addition, previous thermal maturation histories in both the Fruitland and Fort Union coalbed methane systems have little impact on more recent hydrocarbon biodegradation. Instead, localized hydrologic conditions and subsurface geology likely play important roles in controlling the extents of biodegradation and methanogenesis. These results suggest that biodegradation of hydrocarbons coupled with methanogenesis may develop regardless of organic matter source across a range of inherited thermal maturities.
Identification and characterization of two groups of congenital hypothyroid infants: implications for newborn screening.

Abstract A retrospective analysis of 400 newborns diagnosed with congenital primary hypothyroidism between 1983 and 1987 was conducted. Two distinct groups of cases were identified and characterized based on their newborn screening TSH value. The two groups are separated at a TSH concentration of 50 mU/1 of serum by a normal probability plot. This finding is in agreement with the 1993 recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics that infants with a low T4 level and a TSH concentration greater than 40 mU/1 be considered to have primary hypothyroidism until proven otherwise. The group of infants with TSH less than 50 mU/1 have a higher proportion of males and low birthweight infants. For this group, T4 increases with increasing TSH. We find that screening TSH, T4, and birthweight are predictive of follow-up serum TSH level for the cases with TSH > 50 mU/1 but not for cases with TSH
An investigation into expectation-led interviewer effects in health surveys

Many large-scale health surveys use interviewers to obtain standardised information about the health of the general population. To improve response rates and data quality, the researchers/designers usually brief the interviewers to familiarise them with the survey procedures and stimulate their interest in the survey. However, it is possible that interviewers, having been exposed to researchers' expectations, may inadvertently influence respondents to produce outcomes consistent with those expectations. Such expectations are referred to here as 'expectation-led interviewer effects'. In this paper, the design and results from an experiment to test for expectation-led interviewer effects are described. The experiment involved conducting two health surveys, called the 'experimental' and the 'control', which were identical in every way except that researchers made a reference to a supposed link between childhood and adult health at the experimental survey briefing. The testing procedure was designed prior to data collection to preclude accusations of data dredging and to ensure that the type I error probability was less than 5 percent. No consistent evidence of expectation-led interviewer effects was found, bar a statistically significant effect for health questions requiring the recall of detailed quantitative information. This effect was small, however.
INFLUX OF GLUTAMIC ACID IN PERIPHERAL NERVE—CHARACTERISTICS OF INFLUX1

— —The influx of glutamic acid in frog sciatic nerve has been studied by monitoring the disappearance of 14C labelled compound from the bathing medium. After 5hr of incubation in 10 −6m non-labelled l-glutamic acid and 0·01, μc/ml labelled isotope, the intracellular concentration of labelled glutamic acid is about 15 times the concentration in the bathing medium; however, there appears to be a net loss of non-labelled compound with incubation. Uptake of L,-glutamic acid is accompanied by conversion of significant amounts of labelled E-glutamic acid to carbon dioxide and glutamine; small amounts of γ-aminobutyric acid and aspartic acid are also formed. The rate of disappearance of labelled l-glutamic acid decreases with increasing concentration of non-labelled isotope in the bathing medium. Construction of a Lineweaver-Burk plot from initial velocities of influx yields an average Vm of 4·02 × 10−9 moles/g/min and an average Km. of 3·23 × 10 −5 moles/l. The influx of glutamic acid is highly specific with regard to molecular structure; of the compounds tested, only l-glutamine, l-glutamic acid, GABA, l-lysine, and l-aspartic acid are taken up, and only l-aspartic acid will compete with l-glutamic acid for uptake.
Effect of cannula length on aortic arch flow: Protection of the atheromatous aortic arch

Atheromatous disease in the transverse aortic arch is associated with an increased incidence of perioperative stroke. In addition, tissue erosion in the aortic arch is caused by the high-velocity jet emerging from an aortic cannula during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), termed the "sandblast effect". To quantify this phenomenon, flow in the aortic arch was measured intraoperatively by epiaortic ultrasonography in 18 patients undergoing CPB. All were cannulated in the ascending aorta, 10 with a short (1.5 cm) cannula and 8 with a long (7.0 cm) cannula. The peak forward aortic flow velocities (mean ± standard deviation) measured on the caudal luminal surface of the aortic arch were 0.80 ± 0.23 m/s off CPB and 2.42 ± 0.69 m/s on CPB ( p p
Carcinoembryonic antigen: Transmission by blood products

The frequency and pattern of CEA development in acute hepatitis and its association with hepatitis transmission by blood products have been investigated. In a series of studies, stored aliquots of blood units were tested for CEA. Recipients of CEA positive units were prospectively followed with recipients of CEA negative blood units matched for race, age, sex, and transfusion volume. Plasma from patients without malignancies was obtained before and at 2-week intervals after transfusion for 10 months. In other studies plasma samples obtained at peak SGPT levels from 19 hepatitis B and 29 non-A non-B hepatitis patients were tested for CEA. Among 486 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative blood units, 50 had CEA levels over 4.9 ng/ml. Among the 50 recipients of CEA positive blood, 23 developed hepatitis (SGPT > 5 times the upper limit of normal on 2 serial assays 7 days apart) while of the 50 recipients of CEA negative blood, only 8 developed hepatitis (p < .0005). Among all recipients of CEA positive blood who developed hepatitis and who previously lacked CEA, CEA developed before or at the same time as the first SGPT elevation, peaked with the SGPT and gradually fell off after the SGPT had returned to normal. Eight recipients of CEA positive blood became CEA positive and failed to develop hepatitis but carried CEA for the 10 months of follow-up. Donor or recipient smoking history, transfusion volume and source of blood were factors equally distributed among the study groups. In the other study group, plasma of 5 of 19 (26%) hepatitis B patients and 18 of 29 (62%) non A non B hepatitis patients were CEA positive. In summary: 1) CEA is often an early indicator of developing hepatitis appearing earlier than the SGPT, remaining elevated during hepatitis and not returning to normal until after SGPT has become normal, 2) HBsAg negative, CEA positive blood units often transmit hepatitis or a chronic CEA carrier state (46% of CEA positive blood units transmitted hepatitis and 16% produced a chronic CEA carrier state without concomitant acute or chronic liver disease, cancer or smoking), and 3) Sera of patients with non-A non-B hepatitis are frequently CEA positive (62%).
Changing scenarios in the projection market

The projection market is undergoing many dynamic changes. Front LCD and front-reflective (mainly DLP) technologies compete with each other for most projection applications. The front-projector market is still emerging, with new technologies (such as liquid-crystal-on-silicon, or LCOS), new product categories developing (like <EQ3-pound projectors), and new suppliers entering the market. In the rear-projection market, although rear CRT remains the dominant force in large TV applications, new products based on rear DLP, LCD, and LCOS will take more market share from rear-CRT technology. This paper analyzes changing scenarios in the projection market by examining the developments over last five years. Also, this paper touches on what to expect in the next five years.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Children of the Urban Poor: The Sociocultural Environment of Growth, Development, and Malnutrition in Guatemala City

Children of the Urban Poor: The Sociocultural Environment of Growth, Development, and Malnutrition in Guatemala City. FRANCIS E. JOHNSTON and SETHA M. LOW. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1995. xiii. 189 pp., references, tables, figures.
Law & psychiatry: dangerous persons, moral panic, and the uses of psychiatry.

thereafter in state institutions, apart from brief and not entirely happy visits with his mother. His first known offense, breaking and entering, occurred when he was 11 years old, and by the age of 18 he had been convicted 44 times, mostly for larceny and once for carrying a firearm. Transferred to an adult correctional facility before he turned 18, David remained in custody, with only four brief periods in the community, for the rest of his life.
The effect of divided doses of x-rays on the regrowth of hair in the mouse.

SummaryIn radiotherapy, the time-interval between successive treatments varies between one and fourteen days. A study of the effect of such time-intervals between doses of x-rays has been undertaken on the mouse hair follicle. The regrowth of the hair after irradiation is used as an index of the biological effect of the radiation. The magnitude of the second dose of a split-dose treatment producing the same biological effect as a single dose generally increases with the time-interval between doses, but has a maximum value when the time-interval is four days. Possible reasons for this effect and its significance are discussed.
Gold line array electrodes increase substrate affinity and current density of electricity-producing G. sulfurreducens biofilms

During growth of Geobacter species able to transfer electrons to electrodes, biofilms consisting of multiple cell layers accumulate on surfaces. These biofilms require pathways for efficient electron relay towards the electrode, and diffusion of protons and end products away from the electrode. We hypothesized that altering the geometry of current-collecting electrodes would improve diffusion of substrates into electricity-producing biofilms, and allow testing of hypotheses related to the limits of long-range electron transfer. Two designs exposing equal gold surface areas to cultures of Geobacter sulfurreducens were compared: one consisting of a rectangular gold electrode and the other an array of 10 µm wide lines separated by 100 µm of non-conductive material. In all experiments, the line array electrode stabilized at a current density 4-fold higher (per unit electrode surface area) after 140 h of growth (1600 µA cm−2vs. 400 µA cm−2). Confocal imaging and cyclic voltammetry analysis demonstrated that because cells could grow at least 15 µm outward in a semicylinder from the gold lines, 4-fold more biomass could share each line electrode, compared to the rectangular geometry. The semicylinder-shaped biofilms did not fill in gaps between the electrodes after 300 h of growth, suggesting a limitation to the distance of useful between-cell electron transfer. The wider spacing of biofilms also improved the affinity of cells for acetate, especially under quiescent conditions.
Activation of Rho-associated kinase during augmented contraction of the basilar artery to serotonin after subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Delayed cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) may be due, in part, to altered regulation of arterial smooth muscle contraction. Contraction of cerebral arteries to serotonin is aug...
The role of inertia in modeling decisions from experience with instance-based learning.

One form of inertia is the tendency to repeat the last decision irrespective of the obtained outcomes while making decisions from experience (DFE). A number of computational models based upon the Instance-Based Learning Theory (IBLT), a theory of decisions from experience, have included different inertia implementations and have shown to simultaneously account for both risk-taking and alternations between alternatives. The role that inertia plays in these models, however, is unclear as the same model without inertia is also able to account for observed risk-taking quite well. This paper demonstrates the predictive benefits of incorporating one particular implementation of inertia in an existing IBL model. We use two large datasets, estimation and competition, from the Technion Prediction Tournament (TPT) involving a repeated binary-choice task to show that incorporating an inertia mechanism in an IBL model enables it to account for the observed average risk-taking and alternations. Including inertia, however, does not help the model to account for the trends in risk-taking and alternations over trials compared to the IBL model without the inertia mechanism. We generalize the two IBL models, with and without inertia, to the competition set by using the parameters determined in the estimation set. The generalization process demonstrates both the advantages and disadvantages of including inertia in an IBL model.
The effects of space on inter-state growth dynamics and income disparities in India : modeling the simultaneous growth of a system of spatial units

This dissertation examines the effects of spatial-specific conditions on trends in inter-state disparities in a sample of 17 Indian states. It employs an extended Lotka-Volterra model to estimate the magnitude and direction of inter-state growth dynamics and the long run collective behavior of this system of states. The study evaluates the estimates of growth effects or inter-state growth dynamics and offers meaningful insights into their association with the varying levels and rates of growth of income per capita of states in the sample. It also models and compares growth effects that are driven by geographical proximity with those that are driven by structures that are equivalent. There are several significant contributions of this dissertation. First, it develops a new methodology that makes it possible to model spatial and, more significantly, structural dynamic spillover effects among spatial units. Second, it provides new insight into the relationship between divergent tendencies in the Indian economy (despite a long history of India's attempt to deploy a generally balanced growth policy) and both their spatial and structural relations. And third, the empirical findings show that the methodology enables a deeper insight into potential policy prescriptions for the nation, its states and combinations of states.
Psychological well-being and coping in mothers of youths with autism, Down syndrome, or fragile X syndrome

The psychological well-being of mothers raising a child with a developmental disability varies with the nature of the disability. Most research, however, has been focused on Down syndrome and autism. We added mothers whose adolescent or young adult son or daughter has fragile X syndrome. The sample was comprised of mothers of a child with fragile X syndrome (n 5 22), Down syndrome (n 5 39), or autism (n 5 174). Mothers of individuals with fragile X syndrome displayed lower levels of well-being than those of individuals with Down syndrome, but higher levels than mothers of individuals with autism, although group differences varied somewhat across different dimensions of well-being. The most consistent predictor of maternal outcomes was the adolescent or young adult’s behavioral symptoms.
Weeding Gone Wild Planning and Implementing a Review of the Reference Collection

A major review of the reference collection in Bowling Green State University’s Jerome Library was made necessary by the decision to incorporate the materials from the reference collection in the science library. The process of planning and implementing this collection review is described, emphasizing how this process has been affected by changes in technology and the demands made by library users. Suggestions that may help ensure a successful review are included.
Opinion summarization: automatically creating useful representations of the opinions expressed in text

Opinion analysis is concerned with extracting information about attitudes, beliefs, emotions, opinions, evaluations and sentiment expressed in texts. To date, research in the area of opinion analysis has focused on developing methods for the automatic extraction of opinions and their attributes. While this opinion information is useful, its true potential can be realized only after it is consolidated (summarized) in a meaningful way: the raw information contained in individual opinions is often incomplete and their number is overwhelming. Until now, the task of domain-independent opinion summarization has received little research attention. We address this void by proposing methods for opinion summarization. Toward that end, we formulate new approaches for the problems of determining what opinions should be attributed to the same source ( source coreference resolution) and whether opinions are on the same topic (topic identification/coreference resolution). Additionally, we introduce novel evaluation metrics for the quantitative evaluation of the quality of complete opinion summaries. Finally, we describe and evaluate OASIS, the first opinion summarization system known to us that produces domain-independent non-extract based summaries. Results for the individual components are encouraging and the overall summaries produced by OASIS outperform a competitive baseline by a large margin when we put more emphasis on computing an aggregate summary during evaluation.
Design of cascaded plasmon resonances for ultrafast nonlinear optical switching

The optical properties of cascaded plasmon resonant metallic nanocomposites are investigated. Plasmon resonances and their related field distributions are numerically evaluated in two-dimensional arrays of spherical silver nanoparticles embedded in a dielectric host. The field distributions in structures with identical particle sizes indicate the presence of a largely dipolar particle response, with a small multipole resonance contribution at high frequency. However, in arrays consisting of particles with dissimilar sizes, an additional coupled mode appears in which the dipole moment in adjacent particles is found to be anti-parallel. For increasing size-dissimilarity a higher electric field enhancement is observed inside the small metal nanospheres, indicative of a cascaded field enhancement effect. This effect may be used to enhance the nonlinear optical response of an effective medium composed of particles with engineered size dispersion and particle placement.
Postnatal Development of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone and Cyclophilin Gene Expression in the Female and Male Rat Brain

The rat preoptic area-anterior hypothalamic continuum (POA-AH) contains about 400-800 neurons that express the decapeptide GnRH and the 56-amino-acid GnRH-associated peptide. Originating from the olfactory placode, these neurons migrate and establish their final distribution and connections in the POA-AH several days before birth. The aim of the present study was to examine whether the biosynthesis of the mRNA encoding the precursor (proGnRH) common to GnRH and GnRH-associated peptide undergoes postnatal changes corresponding to the development of sexual maturation. The POA-AH content of proGnRH messenger RNA (mRNA) was followed from postnatal day 1 to day 90 in female and male Sprague-Dawley rats killed by decapitation between 1000-1200 h. Cytoplasmic RNA fractionated from individual POA-AH homogenates was purified using proteinase K digestion. Cytoplasmic proGnRH mRNA was quantitated simultaneously with cyclophilin mRNA (an internal standard control) using solution hybridization-RNase protection assay, with the protected fragments separated through polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In the POA-AH, the concentrations of proGnRH mRNA (femtograms mRNA per microgram total RNA) increased significantly with age in both sexes (P less than 0.001). In males, proGnRH mRNA levels increased by day 30 some 2-fold over the values of days 5 and 10, and the levels established on day 30 were maintained through adulthood. In females, the first rise in proGnRH mRNA levels occurred on day 30, followed by an additional increase on day 45 to levels seen in adulthood. Levels of proGnRH mRNA established in adulthood were significantly higher in females than in males (P less than 0.03). The concentrations of cyclophilin mRNA (picograms mRNA per microgram total RNA) remained essentially unchanged in both sexes during the same period of time when proGnRH mRNA levels were increasing. These results provide evidence for postnatal sex-related increases in the levels of proGnRH mRNA in the rat POA-AH, which are likely to reflect differential regulation by gonadal steroids.
Overview of the Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers

The Cohort Consortium Vitamin D Pooling Project of Rarer Cancers (VDPP) brought together 10 cohorts to conduct a prospective study of the association between vitamin D status, measured as serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), and the development of 7 rarer cancer sites: endometrial, esophageal, gastric, kidney, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers. The cohorts come from 3 continents, with participants from a wide range of latitude who are racially diverse. Across each cancer site, there was no evidence of a protective association between higher concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (>75 nmol/L) and cancer outcome. An increased risk at very high levels (≥100 nmol/L) was noted for pancreatic cancer, confirming previous reports. The articles included in this issue detail the overall design and governance of the project, correlates of vitamin D status, and results from the cancer site-specific investigations. The Vitamin D Pooling Project realizes a major goal of consortium efforts, namely, to rigorously test hypotheses for rarer cancer outcomes that may not be adequately addressed in any one prospective cohort study. The results of this study have application for the planning and conduct of intervention trials, especially in determining potential risks.
The relative importance in the auditory nerve spiking of a neuron's internal dynamics versus an external input stimulus

Neuron spiking typically reflects both the intrinsic dynamics of the neuron as well as characteristics of extrinsic stimuli. In this paper, we compare the importance of the neuron's internal dynamics and the spectro-temporal characteristics of an input speech stimulus in a previously developed point process model for auditory nerve spiking. Using a relative deviance measure and Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) analysis, we show that, for low spontaneous rate neurons, the spectro-temporal characteristics of the input speech stimulus are much more important than the neuron's internal dynamics and, in fact, sufficient to explain the neuron spiking. However, for higher spontaneous rates, both are shown to be almost equally important to the spiking. The relative importance of one of these two aspects for spiking in the auditory nerve and their relevance in the neuron firing model therefore depends on the spontaneous rate of the neuron.
Life cycle process management for environmentally sound and cost effective semiconductor manufacturing

Customers, regulators, and the public are increasingly focused on the chemical and environmental characteristics of semiconductor fabrication. At the same time, semiconductor material, process, and equipment innovations are being introduced at a breakneck pace. An effective partnership between the equipment, process, and environmental engineering teams at a fabricator can achieve a succession of process improvements which reduce the environmental impacts of the process, enhance its efficiency, and reduce costs through improved material and commodity utilization and residuals and emissions management. This demonstrates a strong environmental focus at the fabricator to our customers and the public. Effective implementation of a cycle of continuous process improvements depends on the execution of key business systems: chemical review and approval, evaluation and collection of input and output data from all process equipment, and cross functional pollution prevention teams for commodity use and emission reductions. Effective execution of these processes has reduced manufacturing costs by several million dollars since 1998 while reducing site air emissions by 46% and hazardous waste generation by 25%.
An expressed sequence tag (EST) library from developing fruits of an Hawaiian endemic mint (Stenogyne rugosa, Lamiaceae): characterization and microsatellite markers

Background The endemic Hawaiian mints represent a major island radiation that likely originated from hybridization between two North American polyploid lineages. In contrast with the extensive morphological and ecological diversity among taxa, ribosomal DNA sequence variation has been found to be remarkably low. In the past few years, expressed sequence tag (EST) projects on plant species have generated a vast amount of publicly available sequence data that can be mined for simple sequence repeats (SSRs). However, these EST projects have largely focused on crop or otherwise economically important plants, and so far only few studies have been published on the use of intragenic SSRs in natural plant populations. We constructed an EST library from developing fleshy nutlets of Stenogyne rugosa principally to identify genetic markers for the Hawaiian endemic mints.
Computational study of alkali metal-noble gas collisions in the presence of non-resonant lasers

The collision of Na with Ar in the presence of two non-resonant lasers, the rhodamine-110 dye laser and the Nd: glass laser, is investigated within a quantum mechanical close-coupled formalism employing realistic potential curves and transition dipole matrix elements. Both one- and two-photon processes are investigated, as a function of the frequency of the dye laser as well as the collision energy. Cross sections on the order of 10-19-10-18 cm2 and 10-22 cm2 are found for the one- and two-photon processes, respectively, for field intensities of 1 MW/cm2.
Romanian and American Life Aspirations in Relation to Psychological Well-Being:

Researchers have concluded that individuals who perceive extrinsically related goals as relatively more important than intrinsically related aspirations show lower levels of psychological well-being (e.g., Kasser & Ryan, 1993). We found only partial support for the intrinsic goals hypothesis: In this cross-cultural study, Romanians and Americans both showed positive correlations with psychological well-being when community feeling (intrinsic) was considered central to their lives. However, when financial success (extrinsic) was held to be the most central aspiration, only the American sample showed a negative relationship with psychological well-being. Further analyses revealed the meaning of financial success for both cultures: For Americans, financial success was related to “power” and “security,” whereas the same construct more closely related to “self- direction” for the Romanian sample.
Understanding deja reviewers

People who review products on the web invest considerable time and energy in what they write. So why would someone write a review that restates earlier reviews? Our work looks to answer this question. In this paper, we present a mixed-method study of deja reviewers, latecomers who echo what other people said. We analyze nearly 100,000 Amazon.com reviews for signs of repetition and find that roughly 10-15% of reviews substantially resemble previous ones. Using these algorithmically-identified reviews as centerpieces for discussion, we interviewed reviewers to understand their motives. An overwhelming number of reviews partially explains deja reviews, but deeper factors revolving around an individual's status in the community are also at work. The paper concludes by introducing a new idea inspired by our findings: a self-aware community that nudges members toward community-wide goals.
Lignin to lipid bioconversion by oleaginous Rhodococci

A metabolic route yielding lipids from lignin would represent innovative applications for this recalcitrant biomass component. In this study ethanol organosolv lignin (EOL) and ultrasonicated EOL (us-EOL) were utilized in Rhodococci bioconversions. Both lignins proved to be sufficient carbon sources, moreover, lipid formation was also observed, up to 4.08%.
ESTIMATING DETECTION PROBABILITIES FROM MULTIPLE-OBSERVER POINT COUNTS

Abstract Point counts are commonly used to obtain indices of bird population abundance. We present an independent-observer point-count method, a generalization of the dependent-observer approach, based on closed-population capture- recapture methods. The approach can incorporate individual covariates, such as detection distance, to account for individual differences in detection probabilities associated with measurable sources of variation. We demonstrate a negative bias in two-observer estimates by comparing abundance estimates from two- and four- observer point counts. Models incorporating data from four independent observers were capable of accounting for this bias. Modeling individual bird differences in detection probabilities produced abundance estimates 15–21% higher than models that did not account for individual differences, in four out of five data sets analyzed. Although independent-observer methods are expensive and impractical for large- scale applications, we believe they can provide importa...
A Case of Hair Thread Torniquet Syndrome in a Neonate - Unusual Hand Injury Caused by Mittens

Hand injury secondary to mittens application have been reported since 1960s. A neonate was brought with history of bilateral hand swelling with dusky discoloration predominantly involving the right hand. Two mittens were worn in both hands and tightened at the wrist by elastic bands. Discoloration of the right hand with constriction mark at the wrist was noted. Hair thread tourniquet syndrome was suspected which is caused by hair or synthetic strands tightly wrapped around appendages.The underlying pathophysiology is impedance of lymphatic flow, venous outflow and/or arterial inflow obstruction. Treatment is prompt removal of the constricting substance with supportive care.