cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
IMPROVEMENT IN MOSES LAKE QUALITY FROM DILUTION AND SEWAGE DIVERSION

ABSTRACT Moses Lake has received dilution water in 9 of 10 years since treatment began in 1977. The average input for those years was 143 ± 79 × 106m3/yr over 93 days, which represents flushing rates of about 13 percent/day for Parker Horn where the dilution water enters, and 1 percent/day for the whole lake. As a result, lake quality has improved at least 50 percent in terms of chlorophyll aand total phosphorus and by nearly 100 percent in transparency. Pumping diluted lake water from Parker Horn beginning in 1982 and diverting sewage effluent in 1984 markedly improved water quality in a section that received treated effluent and little or no dilution water. Total phosphorus has declined by 90 percent and chlorophyll aby 60 percent, although transparency increased only about 0.2 m because of that section's shallowness. Diluted nitrate concentration in the inflow has been considered the cause for control of algae, but a switch from largely flood to spray irrigation, as well as sewage diversion, has result...
Wide field aplanatic two-mirror telescopes for ground-based γ-ray astronomy

Abstract Aplanatic telescopes with two aspheric mirrors, configured to correct spherical and coma aberrations, are considered for application in γ-ray astronomy utilizing the ground-based atmospheric Cherenkov technique. We explore the phase space of optical system parameters to find telescope configurations which minmize astigmatism. It is shown that unlike the traditional prime-focus Davies-Cotton design, such telescopes provide a solution for wide field of view γ-ray observations. The designs are isochronous, can be optimized to have no vignetting across the field, and allow for significant reduction of the plate scale, making them compatible with finely-pixilated cameras, which can be constructed from modern, cost-effective image sensors such as multi-anode PMTs, SiPMs, or image intensifiers.
“I’ve a Feeling We’re Not in Kansas Anymore”: The Commercialmzation and Commodification of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

This article examines and analyzes the private sector’s commercialization and commodification of teaching and learning in higher education. An important issue related to this fast-growing relationship is the blind acceptance of the marketplace model as it relates to technology use, teaching, and learning in higher education. This relationship is suspect from the outset because the goals and purposes important to the private sector do not blend with those important to educational communities. Moreover, there appears to be little concern about implications and consequences associated with the marketing and selling of teaching and learning. An argument is made that by commercializing and commodifying teaching and learning, training becomes confused with education and teaching, and learning becomes decontextualized, simplistic, and mechanistic; void of human interactions; focused on competition and securing profit margins; and the means to prepare for a future emphasizing individualism and the lifestyle goals...
Decomposition of Phosgene in Air

Thermal decomposition of 10 ppm of phosgene in air was studied under simulated environmental conditions. It was shown that temperature and time of contact with hot surfaces affect the amount and rate of decomposition. A clean iron surface enhances decomposition and combines with the decomposition products at relatively low temperatures. “Corroded” iron surfaces enhance decomposition, and chloride is “liberated” from those surfaces on contact with phosgene at relatively low temperatures. Humidity causes only slight increase in decomposition. The amount of phosgene decomposition depends on the temperature of the open flame; phosgene was essentially completely decomposed on contact with a carbon monoxide flame. The presence of carbon tetrachloride and/or its decomposition products markedly decreases decomposition of phosgene. Phosgene is decomposed to chloride which is subsequently converted to chlorine by further heating.
Poly(rA): oligo(dT)-directed DNA polymerase activity in carcinogen induced rat mammary tumors and in normal tissues.

Abstract Mammary tumors induced in Sprague-Dawley Rats by the carcinogen 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene contain a DNA polymerase similar to that found in RNA tumor viruses. It has a molecular weight of 105,000 daltons and is active on the synthetic templates poly(rA):oligo(dT) and poly(rC):-oligo(dG) but is inactive on poly(dA):oligo(dT). This polymerase may be purified more than 300 fold with a 25% yield by ammonium sulfate precipitation, phosphocellulose chromatography and hydroxyapatite chromatography. A similar polymerase is also found in lactating normal rat mammary tissues.
Risk assessment: Controlling hazardous materials

Abstract Recent events such as the Bhopal chemical plant accident in India and the Chernobyl nuclear plant accident in the Soviet Union have demonstrated that technologies have the potential to release hazardous materials to the environment with catastrophic consequences. This paper discusses probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), and suggests that this methodology can be useful in the regulatory arena. This conclusion is based both on previous experience (e.g. the Reactor Safety Study) and growing interest in the methodology from many different sectors, including regulatory agencies such as EPA, NASA, OSHA, and NRC, the military, in addition to the private sector, such as insurance companies. Since human error is a major contributor to accident risk in large technologies, this paper also discusses at some length how such error may be quantified in risk assessments, as well as how risk may be reduced through improved management practices. Finally, regulatory developments in this area, and future directions for change, are also highlighted.
Experimental design comparison of studies evaluating doxorubicin nanoparticles in breast cancer therapy

Background The unique properties of nanoparticles (NP) qualify these colloidal systems for a wide range of medical applications, including diagnosis and treatment. Particularly in cancer therapy, NP have significantly enhanced the potential of conventional imaging, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy and, consequently, offered new avenues for early interventions. So far, breast cancer has been one of the most studied cancer types with NP research, which can benefit the occupational breast cancer for the increasing number of women in the labor force in industry. Objectives The objective of this study is to compare the experimental designs of preclinical studies that assessed the effect of doxorubicin NP (DOX-NP) on the estrogen-dependent MCF-7 breast cancer cell line using a recently established quantitative Experimental Appraisal Instrument (ExpAI). Methods A systematic review of research articles published between August 2004 and August 2005 on NP and breast cancer treatment with doxorubicin was performed using various online databases and indexes available through the University of Cincinnati. Restrictive inclusion and exclusion criteria were defined leading to selection of four relevant articles that used comparable experimental designs. Critical appraisal of those studies was performed by five independent assessors using the ExpAI version 2.0 and the results were summarized in a table of evidence. Results The study design in the selected articles was either between groups or mixed, with sample sizes varying from n = 3–6, and the evaluation of the effect of DOX-NP either in vitro or in vivo. The cytotoxic drug doxorubicin was the input variable in all studies, whereas different end points such as pharmacokinetic parameters, cytotoxicity surrogates (e.g., growth inhibition, mitochondrial activity), and quantitative analysis of messenger RNA were used as output variables. Conclusions Although the articles assessed in this article were preclinical experimental studies, the results showed that doxorubicin NP drugs can be used effectively to enhance the delivery process in MCF-7 breast cancer cells by increasing the circulation time and targeting the tumor tissues. Considering the rising number of women in the labor force and the risk of occupational breast cancer, it can be concluded that DOX-NP may potentially be used as an effective anticancer drug on humans, but further research and studies are required to understand how DOX-NP drugs might react in the human body before using it on breast cancer patients. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Different sensory modalities are required for successful courtship in two species of the Drosophila willistoni group

During courtship, specific signals are transmitted and received between the male and the female. To understand the evolution and function of courtship behaviours, these signals must be tested individually to determine their relative effects. Drosophila species have a variety of courtship patterns that use different sensory modalities, including chemosensory, tactile, visual and auditory cues, and thus provide an opportunity for exploring different sensory modalities. In most species of the Drosophila willistoni group, males produce an auditory cue (courtship song) through wing vibration. One species, Drosophila nebulosa, does not produce an auditory signal in courtship, although both sexes perform wing-lifting movements and males fan an anal droplet towards the female. We compared the sensory modalities important for mating success in D. nebulosa and D. willistoni through a series of phenotypic manipulation experiments in which individuals had disrupted transmission or reception of signals. In D. nebulosa, females had to be able to smell, presumably to detect the anal droplet, for successful mating to occur, whereas for males of the same species, vision was essential. In contrast, no single sensory modality was absolutely necessary for D. willistoni mating success, although hearing greatly increased mating success for females and courtship song greatly increased mating success for males. Thus, these species are divergent in the sensory modalities necessary for courtship success, indicating that courtship behaviour may change rapidly within species groups.
A constructive proof of the ordinal efficiency welfare theorem

Abstract We provide a non-geometric constructive short proof of the ordinal efficiency welfare theorem.
Sexual Differentiation of Gonadotropin Patterns

The original experiments, done by Witschi and his associates, on sexual differentiation of pituitary gonadotropins weie interpieted as demonstrating the contrasting effects of testes on the subsequent output of luteimzing hormone (LH) and interstitial cell stimulating hormone (ICSH). The subsequent demonstration that these two hormones were identical has led to a theory that testes alter the hypothala mic centeis which control the cyclic release of LH “Masculinization of the female hypothalamic pituitary axis has been claimed following neonatal treatment with steroids”. However, true sex reversal of gonadotiopin patterns has neither been demon stiated, the male pattern has not yet been clearly denned Consistent high levels of blood and pituitary follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) appear to be at least two characteristics of the male pattern, and neither can be induced in lemales by neonatal treatment with testosterone propionate. Furthermore, castration of males at bnth with concomitant ovanan implinldtion, does not appear to remove the male pattern of high FSH. Considering that we understand so little regarding gonadotropin patterns in males, we cannot assume that this pattern can be induced simply by pie or postnatal steroid trealment. Considerably more data on the positive and negative feedback effects of steroids, and steroid combinations, on TSH, LH, and piolictin in both males and females, will be requned before a meaningful concept of sexual differentiation cin be formulated
Inflammation to Rebuild a Brain

The overarching strategy of all immune systems is as predictable as the plot of an episode of Mission: Impossible. A short-lived message describing the problem reaches commanding immune cells. A team of specialized expert cells is then dispatched to deal with the problem. Once successfully addressed, the team disappears without leaving a trace. On page 1353 of this issue, Kyritsis et al. ( 1 ) characterize an astonishing type of immune response—a new team of “executioner” cells—that is implemented when the zebrafish brain is injured. By tricking the immune system into believing neuronal injury had occurred, the authors discovered that inflammation alone is sufficient to switch on neurogenesis. The molecular components used by the highly specialized immune cells that promote neurogenesis represent potential novel therapeutic targets that could promote brain repair.
Weberized Mumford-Shah Model with Bose-Einstein Photon Noise

Human vision works equally well in a large dynamic range of light intensities, from only a few photons to typical midday sunlight. Contributing to such remarkable flexibility is a famous law in perceptual (both visual and aural) psychology and psychophysics known as Weber's Law. The current paper develops a new segmentation model based on the integration of Weber's Law and the celebrated Mumford-Shah segmentation model (Comm. Pure Appl. Math., vol. 42, pp. 577-685, 1989). Explained in detail are issues concerning why the classical Mumford-Shah model lacks light adaptivity, and why its "weberized" version can more faithfully reflect human vision's superior segmentation capability in a variety of illuminance conditions from dawn to dusk. It is also argued that the popular Gaussian noise model is physically inappropriate for the weberization procedure. As a result, the intrinsic thermal noise of photon ensembles is introduced based on Bose and Einstein's distributions in quantum statistics, which turns out to be compatible with weberization both analytically and computationally. The current paper focuses on both the theory and computation of the weberized Mumford-Shah model with Bose-Einstein noise. In particular, Ambrosio-Tortorelli's Γ-convergence approximation theory is adapted (Boll. Un. Mat. Ital. B, vol. 6, pp. 105-123, 1992), and stable numerical algorithms are developed for the associated pair of nonlinear Euler-Lagrange PDEs.
Retrospective Comparison of Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Versus Open Pancreaticoduodenectomy for Periampullary Neoplasms

As with other open procedures now routinely performed using laparoscopy, minimally invasive pancreaticoduodenectomy (MIPD) may result in decreased pain, fewer wound complications, and accelerated recovery. However, when used for periampullary cancers, it is also important to assess if MIPD offers comparable oncologic outcomes. Technical and perioperative outcomes were compared between patients with a preoperative diagnosis of periampullary neoplasm offered MIPD or open pancreaticoduodenectomy (OPD) from November 2009 to July 2011. Fifty-six consecutive MIPD and OPD (28 each) procedures were analyzed. Comparing MIPD to OPD, significant differences included longer median procedure time (431 vs 410 min, p = .04) and fewer median lymph nodes harvested (15 vs 20, p = .04). R0 resection rate tended to be lower (63 vs 88 %, p = .07) as well as surgical site infections (18 vs 43 %, p = .08). Clinically significant pancreatic fistula rate was the same between groups (21 %). Other outcomes such as narcotic pain medication use, length of stay, and 30-day readmission rates were also similar. MIPD is feasible with comparable technical success and outcomes to OPD. However, there is a learning curve to the procedure and further experience and prospective study will be required to better establish the oncologic efficacy of MIPD to open resection.
Revealing common ground: augmentation on the edges of interpretive communities

At the center of an intellectual community, members draw upon their knowledge of shared assumptions to have nuanced discussions about complex ideas. Newcomers to the conversation, who are on the edge of this "interpretive community," do not partake in the common ground necessary to join these discussions and can find themselves in a trapped state. We are designing a new kind of computationally-generated augmentation that jumpstarts the search for meaningful common ground n both for people trying to join an established interpretive community, and for people trying to form a new one. This paper discusses the application of this type of augmentation, called the μ -cue, to both face-to-face and on-line communities.
The relationship between male moth density and female mating success in invading populations of Lymantria dispar

The successful establishment of non-native species in new areas can be affected by many factors including the initial size of the founder population. Populations comprised of fewer individuals tend to be subject to stochastic forces andAllee effects (positive-density dependence),which can challenge the ability of small founder populations to establish in a new area. Although the conceptual relationship between initial colony size and establishment success has been previously documented, it is not trivial to estimate precisely the colony size needed to ensure colony persistence. Over the last 40 years, there have been many studies on the probability of mating success of female Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) in the USA related to background male moth densities. We weremotivatedby this wealthofdataandsoughttocombine theresults fromthesepriorstudies with thegoal ofestimatinga robust measureofthemalemoth density required to achievevarying levelsof female mating success. Although the data are specific to L. dispar, the pheromone communication system in L. dispar is not unique and thus the results of this analysis could be broadly applicable to ourgeneralunderstandingofLepidopteramatingbehavior.
Variable module graphs: a framework for inference and learning in modular vision systems

We present a novel and intuitive framework for building modular vision systems for complex tasks such as surveillance applications. Inspired by graphical models, especially factor graphs, the framework allows capturing the dependencies between different variables in form of a graph. This enforces principled coordination and exchange of information between different modules. Breaking away from the traditional probabilistic graphical models the framework allows flexibility of design in individual modules by allowing different learning and inference mechanisms to work in a common setting. It also allows easy integration of more modules into an already functional system. We demonstrate the ease of building a complex vision system within this framework by designing a fully automatic multi-target tracking system for a video surveillance scenario. Favorable results are obtained for the tracking application.
The Arts as Part of Our Everyday Lives: Making Visible the Value of the Arts in Learning for Families

Family engagement, in many forms, has been shown to be an essential component to successful learning for children. A child's first exposure to the arts is often through family rituals and traditions. New research suggests these activities can form the basis for personal exploration and skill development and reinforce in-school learning. Because public schools continue to reduce art programs due to budgetary contraction, families and communities need to enhance and increase their commitment to informal arts and learning opportunities. These experiences can occur at home, in youth and arts museums, and in libraries and family-based organizations as evidenced by a range of events already underway throughout the country. Communication and outreach about the relevance and the science of arts and learning for families needs to be expanded. By recognizing the important role families hold it is possible to enhance learning through the arts at home and in the community. More targeted research is required to better understand how families can use the rich array of arts-integrated experiences in age-appropriate ways to enhance literacy, numeracy, social-emotional skills, and more.
Smoother based 3D attitude estimation for mobile robot localization

The mobile robot localization problem is decomposed into two stages; attitude estimation followed by position estimation. The innovation of our method is the use of a smoother, in the attitude estimation loop that outperforms other Kalman filter based techniques in estimate accuracy. The smoother exploits the special nature of the data fused; high frequency inertial sensor (gyroscope) data and low frequency absolute orientation data (from a compass or sun sensor). Two Kalman filters form the smoother. During each time interval one of them propagates the attitude estimate forward in time until it is updated by an absolute orientation sensor. At this time, the second filter propagates the recently renewed estimate back in time. The smoother optimally exploits the limited observability of the system by combining the outcome of the two filters. The system model uses gyro modeling which relies on integrating the kinematic equations to propagate the attitude estimates and obviates the need for complex dynamic modeling. The indirect (error state) form of the Kalman filter is developed for both parts of the smoother. The proposed approach is independent of the robot structure and the morphology of the ground. It can easily be transferred to another robot which has an equivalent set of sensors. Quaternions are used for the 3D attitude representation mainly for practical reasons discussed in the paper. Proposed innovative algorithm is tested in simulation and the overall improvement in position estimation is demonstrated.
Prognostic value of postoperative carcinoembryonic antigen concentration and extent of invasion of resection margins after hepatic resection for colorectal metastases.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prognostic value of postoperative concentration of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and extent of surgical margins after resection of liver metastases from colorectal cancer. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Teaching hospital, Switzerland. SUBJECTS: 49 patients with hepatic metastases after primary colorectal cancer. INTERVENTIONS: Resection of hepatic metastases MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Assessment of prognostic value of variables by univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Median survival was 24 months (range 5-86 months). Resection margins were clear (> 1-cm) in 10, close (< 1-cm) in 25 and invaded in 9 patients. On univariate analysis, a postoperative concentration of CEA of <4ng/ml was correlated with prolonged survival (p < 0.001), but the width of the resection margin was not of prognostic importance. There was no correlation between width of resection margins and postoperative concentration of CEA (p = 0.5). On multivariate analysis, postoperative concentrations of CEA of 4 ng/ml or more were associated with increased risk of death (relative risk 7.3; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.8-18.7, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Postoperative CEA offers better prognostic discrimination than the width of resection margins after resection of liver metastases from colorectal tumours. Some patients with invaded resection margins did survive for 3 years, but no patient did whose CEA concentration was 4 ng/ml or more. The definition of a potentially curative hepatic resection should include a postoperative CEA concentration of <4 ng/ml (within the reference range).
EFFECTS OF BACTERIAL ENDOTOXINS ON METABOLISM : III. NITROGEN EXCRETION AFTER ACTH AS AN ASSAY FOR ENDOTOXIN.

There exists an inverse proportionality between number of heat-killed cells of Salmonella typhimurium injected intraperitoneally into mice and the quantity of urinary nitrogen the animals excrete during a 17 hour period following the subcutaneous administration of 2 units of ACTH. This relationship has been developed into an assay for bacterial endotoxin. Mice immunized against S. typhimurium require 10 to 20 times the number of cells needed by control animals to suppress urinary nitrogen excretion to the same extent. Intravenous saccharated iron oxide sensitizes animals so that fewer heat-killed salmonellae can be detected. Heat-killed cells of Staphylococcus aureus are without effect in the assay. Several lipopolysaccharides derived from Gram-negative bacteria are effective in preventing the rise of urinary nitrogen excreted in response to ACTH and the amount required, compared to the LD50, is in the same ratio for all of them. Citrated mouse serum partially inactivates the endotoxin during in vitro incubation for 1 hour at 37°C. while normal serum does not. Dichloroisoproterenol protects mice against the lethal effects of lipopolysaccharide and it lowers its effectiveness in the assay. The minimum amount of endotoxin reliably determined by the test is 0.25 µg. of an E. coli preparation that was given intravenously in mice in which the reticuloendothelial system had been "blocked" with saccharated iron oxide.
Tempos of Gene Locus Deletions and Duplications and Their Relationship to Recombination Rate During Diploid and Polyploid Evolution in the Aegilops-Triticum Alliance

The origin of tetraploid wheat and the divergence of diploid ancestors of wheat A and D genomes were estimated to have occurred 0.36 and 2.7 million years ago, respectively. These estimates and the evolutionary history of 3159 gene loci were used to estimate the rates with which gene loci have been deleted and duplicated during the evolution of wheat diploid ancestors and during the evolution of polyploid wheat. During diploid evolution, the deletion rate was 2.1 × 10−3 locus−1 MY−1 for single-copy loci and 1.0 × 10−2 locus−1 MY−1 for loci in paralogous sets. Loci were duplicated with a rate of 2.9 × 10−3 locus−1 MY−1 during diploid evolution. During polyploid evolution, locus deletion and locus duplication rates were 1.8 × 10−2 and 1.8 × 10−3 locus−1 MY−1, respectively. Locus deletion and duplication rates correlated positively with the distance of the locus from the centromere and the recombination rate during diploid evolution. The functions of deleted and duplicated loci were inferred to gain insight into the surprisingly high rate of deletions of loci present apparently only once in a genome. The significance of these findings for genome evolution at the diploid and polyploid level is discussed.
Roles of the Availability of Explanations, Feelings of Ease, and Dysphoria In Judgments about the Future

Abstract This study investigated the process by which individuals with and without dysphoria judge the likelihood that specific negative events will happen to them. More specifically, it examined whether the positive relationship usually found between dysphoria and pessimism is mediated by how easy it feels to imagine reasons why such events would happen to the self. We manipulated the number of reasons that participants imagined (two vs. five) as an additional predictor of ease. Regression analysis indicated that both the number of reasons imagined and dysphoria predicted feelings of ease. Moreover, dysphoria and feelings of ease predicted likelihood judgments. Finally, feelings of ease partially mediated the relationship between dysphoria and likelihood judgments. We discuss the results in terms of the availability heuristic, the simulation heuristic, and ease of recall (e.g., Schwarz et al., 1991), as well as possible moderators of depressed individuals' judgments of future events.
Anthropological perspectives on diabetes mellitus type II

(1989). Anthropological perspectives on diabetes mellitus type II. Medical Anthropology: Vol. 11, Anthropological Approaches to Diabetes, pp. 221-225.
Metabolic and Functional Protection by Selective Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Synthase 2 During Ischemia-Reperfusion in Isolated Perfused Hearts

Background— Drugs that selectively block nitric oxide synthase (NOS) 2 enzyme activity by inhibiting dimerization of NOS2 monomers have recently been developed. Methods and Results— To investigate whether selective inhibition of NOS2 is cardioprotective, rats were pretreated for 2 days with BBS2, an inhibitor of NOS2 dimerization, at 15 mg/kg SC. Isolated buffer-perfused hearts from treated (n=9) and control (n=7) hearts were subjected to 20 minutes of ischemia followed by 60 minutes of reperfusion. NOS2 protein was upregulated in all hearts at the end of ischemia and of reperfusion; NOS2 enzyme activity was 60% lower in hearts from the treated animals. In the treated hearts, the increase in end-diastolic pressure was significantly attenuated at the end of ischemia, and the return of developed pressure at reperfusion was greater (P<0.05). Creatine kinase release at reperfusion was lower in treated hearts than in controls (P=0.02). At the end of ischemia and of reperfusion, myocardial ATP levels were signi...
Factors influencing time between biopsy and definitive surgery for malignant melanoma: do they impact clinical outcome?

BACKGROUND: Whether time between biopsy and surgery for malignant melanoma affects clinical outcomes is sparsely defined. This study evaluated factors influencing surgical interval and surgical interval effect on outcomes. METHODS: We performed a review of a prospective 10-year, single-institution database. RESULTS: There were 473 patients treated for 478 malignant melanomas. The mean surgical interval was 30.5 days. The mean thickness was 2.1 mm; 46% of patients had a surgical interval of more than 28 days whereas 8% had a surgical interval of more than 56 days. Residual melanoma was found at excision in 170 (36%) patients. Age, sex, and referral source significantly affected surgical interval, however, lesion thickness, sentinel lymph node status, ulceration, and residual melanoma at excision did not. In univariate Cox models, neither a surgical interval of 28 or less nor less than 56 days showed better overall survival (OS) or disease-free survival (DFS). In multivariate Cox models of OS and DFS including lesion thickness, sentinel lymph node status, ulceration, and residual melanoma at excision, neither a surgical interval of 28 days or fewer nor a surgical interval of 56 days or fewer significantly affected outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Age, sex, referral source, and lesion thickness were associated with surgical interval. Immediate surgery for malignant melanoma does not significantly impact OS or DFS.
Biometric analyses of vibrissal tactile discrimination in the rat

Blindfolded rats were trained to stretch across a gap to palpate rough or smooth surfaces with their mystacial vibrissae. Animals learned to discriminate reliably a smooth surface from a rough surface having shallow (approximately 30 microns) grooves spaced at 90 microns intervals. Field-by-field video analyses confirmed that rats used only their vibrissae to contact the discriminanda. The whiskers swept across the surfaces at 696 degrees/sec during forward movements and 1106 degrees/sec for retracting movements. Mean amplitudes, which were 32 degrees, were considerably smaller than the total arc through which whiskers can move. Rats maintained whisker contact with discriminanda for several hundreds of msec, during which time the animals repetitively swept their vibrissae across the surface at a dominant frequency of 8 Hz. The range extended from 1 to 20 Hz, and the frequencies utilized varied within and among subjects. Whiskers contacted the discriminanda along the hair shaft, not at the whisker tips. The hair shafts were bent continually but to varying degrees as an animal palpated the surface, and more than one of the large caudal whiskers were almost always in contact with it. Thus, whiskers are not used independently as rigid levers. Results indicate that the capacity of the rodent whisker system to distinguish a smooth surface from a rough one is comparable to that of primates using their fingertips and suggest common strategies for active touch in the mammalian somatomotor system.
Silicon vs silicon carbide device characterization

Significant development of silicon carbide (SiC) material for device applications now allows circuit designers to more fully exploit its unique properties. The 4 H-SiC structure provides the most favorable characteristics to optimize device speed and power handling capabilities. These include wide bandgap (3.2 eV), high dielectric breakdown (3.5 MV/cm), and high thermal conductivity (4.9 W/cm-K) [IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, 1993]. By combining these properties, SiC devices are able to achieve fast reverse recovery and high reverse blocking voltages, along with excellent high temperature characteristics (case temperatures above 150 C). This makes these devices ideally suited to power electronics applications, where high power levels as well as fast switching are required. Many areas dominated by ultrafast recovery silicon (Si) diodes, might therefore be better suited to the application of SiC. In order to verify the efficacy of SiC devices, temperature dependent measurements were made on a sample of fast recovery Si and SiC diodes. This paper presents the results of these measurements, comparing critical characteristics of Si and SiC devices over a range of junction temperatures up to 150 C.
Protection against UV-induced suppression of contact hypersensitivity responses by sunscreens in humans

Both in vivo skin immune responses and the skin's reaction to sun exposure integrate a complex interplay of biologic responses. The complexity and multiplicity of events that occur in the skin during an immune response make it a sensitive indication of both UVB and UVA-induced changes in the skin by sun damage, as well as those changes that are prevented by various sunscreens. Sunscreens are the most effective and widely available intervention for sun damage, other than sun avoidance or clothing. However, sunscreens vary widely in their relative ability to screen various UV waveband components, and their testing has been variably applied to outcomes other than for erythema to determine the sunburn protection factor (SPF), a measure primarily of UVB filtration only. Determination of an immune protection factor (IPF) has been proposed as an alternative or adjunctive measure to SPF, and recent studies show IPF can indeed detect added in vivo functionality of sunscreens, such as high levels of UVA protection, that SPF cannot. Clarification of the definition of IPF, however, is required. Excellent data are available on quantification of the IPF for restoring the afferent or induction arm of contact sensitivity, but other immune parameters have also been measured. Proposed here is nomenclature for whether the IPF is measured using contact sensitivity induction (IPF-CS-I), contact sensitivity elicitation (IPF-CS-E), delayed-type hypersensitivity elicitation (IPF-DTH-E), antigen-presenting cell function (IPF-APC-FXN) or numbers (IPF-APC-#), and cytokine modification such as IL-10 (i.e. IPF-cyto-IL-10). Similar nomenclatures could be used for other measures of skin function protection (i.e. DNA damage, p53 induction, oxidation products, etc.). A review of in vivo human studies, in which sunscreens are used to intervene in a UV-induced modulation of immune response, cells or cytokines, highlights the technical variables and statistical approaches which must also be standardized in the context of an IPF for regulatory or product claim purposes. Development of such IPF standards would allow the integration of both UVB and nonUVB (UVA, blue and possible IR) solar waveband effect-reversals, could be applied to integrate effects of other ingredients with protective function (i.e. antioxidants, retinoids, or other novel products), and would spur development of more advanced and complete protection products.
Spline fitting in presense of uniform noise

The method of estimation using splines is basically a curve fitting technique[1] for smoothing a collection of random data. Spline fitting involves estimation of coefficients of a polynomial which fits a set of data points between 'knots'. A technique is presented in this paper for spline fitting when the data scattering is most accurately described by a non-Gaussian density function. The polynomial coefficients can be optimally estimated in the sense that the mean square error is minimized. If there are a sufficient number of data points between a pair of knots, the estimate error approaches zero. The technique can be used for real time processing of data[2]. Nonlinear fitting using Bayesian estimation is used to estimate the spline coefficients.
Construction of 4-thiouridine site-specifically substituted RNAs for cross-linking studies.

Availability of 4-thiouridine (4-thioU)-containing RNAs is the prerequisite for 4-thioU site-specific cross-linking studies. This paper presents a method for constructing such RNAs. A 5'- and a 3'-RNA are synthesized via phage RNA polymerase transcription and/or RNase H site-specific cleavage directed by 2'-O-methyl-RNA-DNA chimeras. These two half-RNAs in combination correspond to the sequence of full-length RNA, with a single nucleotide gap at the junction that will be filled in with a 4-thiouridylate. A single p4SUp, which is derived from 4SUpN (N can be any nucleotide) via 5'-phosphorylation (therefore, the phosphate can be radioactive) followed by RNase A digestion, is then ligated to the 3' end of the 5'-half RNA with T4 RNA ligase. The 3'-phosphate of the ligated product is subsequently removed by calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase to produce a 3'-hydroxyl group. The resulting 5'-half RNA and the 3'-half RNA with a 5'-phosphate group (which can also be radioactive) are then aligned with a bridging deoxyoligonucleotide and ligated with T4 DNA ligase. This method was previously applied to the P120 pre-mRNA that contains an AT-AC intron, yielding three RNAs each containing a single 4-thioU near the 5'-splice site. Subsequent cross-linking studies with these RNAs yielded detailed information regarding interactions between the 5'-splice site and other spliceosomal snRNAs and between the 5'-splice site and proteins during splicing. Because there is no sequence constraint surrounding the site of 4-thioU substitution, this method should be applicable to many other RNAs.
Reasoning about authorization policies

An authorization policy states the conditions under which an action is permitted or forbidden. In this dissertation, we use formal methods to ensure that policies written in certain languages are unambiguous and to provide provably correct algorithms for reasoning about policies. For example, we describe how questions about entailment, such as "may Alice edit the database?", can be answered efficiently. We begin by showing that a fragment of first-order logic can be used to represent and reason about policies. Because we use first-order logic, policies have a clear syntax and semantics. We show that further restricting the fragment results in a language that is still quite expressive yet is also tractable. More precisely, questions about entailment can be answered in time that is a low-order polynomial (indeed, almost linear in some cases), as can questions about the consistency of policy sets. In addition to developing our own language, we have examined two policy languages, XrML and ODRL. We focused on these languages because, when we began our work, they seemed to have the strongest support from industry. We found that the specifications for both languages have significant problems, which is not surprising since neither includes formal semantics. We discussed the problems that we found with the language developers and then proposed formal semantics for each language. We present our semantics here. In addition, we consider the complexity of determining if a permission is implied by a set of statements in each language. We prove that the general problem for XrML is undecidable and the general problem for ODRL is decidable and NP-hard. Finally, we define fragments of both languages that are fairly expressive and for which the problem is polynomial-time computable.
Loop Corrections in Nonlinear Cosmological Perturbation Theory. II. Two-Point Statistics and Self-Similarity

We calculate the lowest order nonlinear contributions to the power spectrum, two-point correlation function, and smoothed variance of the density field, for Gaussian initial conditions and scale-free initial power spectra, P(k) ~ kn. These results extend and, in some cases, correct previous work in the literature on cosmological perturbation theory. Comparing with the scaling behavior observed in N-body simulations, we find that the validity of nonlinear perturbation theory depends strongly on the spectral index n. For n < −1, we find excellent agreement over scales where the variance σ2(R) 10; however, for n ≥ −1, perturbation theory predicts deviations from self-similar scaling (which increase with n) not seen in numerical simulations. This anomalous scaling suggests that the principal assumption underlying cosmological perturbation theory, namely, that large-scale fields can be described perturbatively even when fluctuations are highly nonlinear on small scales, breaks down beyond leading order for spectral indices n ≥ −1. For n < −1, the power spectrum, variance, and correlation function in the scaling regime can be calculated using dimensional regularization.
Activation-dependent and biphasic electromagnetic field effects: Model based on cooperative enzyme kinetics in cellular signaling

Experiments on filed exposure effects of extremely-low-frequency electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) on biological systems have shown that, in many cases, the biological-functional status is of fundamental importance for an effective interaction. For example, studies of calcium uptake regulation in cells of the immune system, particularly in T lymphocytes, have revealed that, depending on the degree of cellular activation, either stimulatory, inhibitory, or no field exposure effects are observed for identical field parameters. A brief summary of the experimental findings is given, and a theoretical approach is presented that accounts in a qualitative manner for EMF exposure effects 1) that depend on the degree of cellular activation and 2) that exhibit a biphasic response behavior (stimulation/ inhibition). In the model, biochemical stimulation of the cell results in activation of specific signaling pathways that regulate calcium dynamics in the cell (calcium release from intracellular calcium stores and capacitative calcium entry). We assume that, controlled by these pathways, a specific EMF-sensitive enzyme system becomes activated. The activated enzyme, in turn, exhibits a feedback control on the signal processes, thus leading to a modulation of calcium entry. This modulation may affect other cellular processes that are calcium dependent (e.g., DNA synthesis). Magnetic field exposure is assumed to alter the kinetics of a specific step within the enzyme-reaction cycle in accord with the radical-pair mechanism, although the formulism is not restricted to this specific example. Results show that inclusion of cooperative steps within the enzyme-reaction cycle provides a theoretical basis that enables a simple description of a biphasic response behavior to EMF exposure.
Symbolic Deadlock Analysis in Concurrent Libraries and Their Clients

Methods in object-oriented concurrent libraries hide internal synchronization details. However, information hiding may result in clients causing thread safety violations by invoking methods in an unsafe manner. Given such a library, we present a technique for inferring interface contracts that specify permissible concurrent method calls and patterns of aliasing among method arguments, such that the derived contracts guarantee deadlock free execution for the methods in the library. The contracts also help client developers by documenting required assumptions about the library methods. Alternatively, the contracts can be statically enforced in the client code to detect potential deadlocks in the client. Our technique combines static analysis with a symbolic encoding for tracking lock dependencies, allowing us to synthesize contracts using a SMT solver. Our prototype tool analyzes over a million lines of code for some widely-used Java libraries within an hour, thus demonstrating its scalability and efficiency. Furthermore, the contracts inferred by our approach have been able to pinpoint real deadlocks in clients, i.e. deadlocks that have been a part of bug-reports filed by users and developers of the client code.
Abstract 512: RAGE-dependent Down-regulation of Glyoxalase-1 Impairs Inflammatory Response and Angiogenesis in Hind Limb Ischemia in Diabetic Mice

Critical limb ischemia is a serious form of peripheral artery disease. Previous studies linked the advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and its receptor, RAGE, to impairment of angiogenesis in hind limb ischemia in diabetes. Here, we tested the hypothesis that reduction of RAGE ligand, AGEs, by transgenic (Tg) overexpression of glyoxalase-1 (Glo1), an enzyme that detoxifies AGE precursor methylglyoxal, improves inflammatory responses, angiogenesis and blood flow recovery in hind limb ischemia in diabetic mice. Wild type (WT), Ager-/- (devoid of RAGE) and Tg (Glo1) mice were rendered diabetic (D) with streptozotocin (stz); non-diabetic (ND) cohorts were treated with buffer alone. After two month of diabetes, at age 16 weeks, mice were subjected to unilateral hind limb ischemia. In skeletal muscle tissue within the tributary of the femoral arterial system, a significant increase of Glo1 mRNA was evident in both ND and D Ager-/- mice vs. WT mice after ischemia (p<0.05). A significant reduction in carboxymethyl lysine (CML)-AGEs modified protein was observed in Tg (Glo1) mice compared to WT mice at baseline and on day 5 after ischemia in non-diabetes and diabetes (p<0.05). A significant increase of inflammatory mediators, early growth response-1 (Egr1) (p<0.001) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2) (p<0.01) was observed in ND and D Tg (Glo1) vs. WT mice after ischemia. In parallel, significantly augmented inflammatory cell infiltration identified by increasing CD68+ cell numbers in skeletal muscle tissues was observed in ND and D Tg (Glo1) compared to WT on day 7 after ischemia (p<0.05). Tg(Glo1) mice displayed significantly improved capillary density in both the non-diabetic and diabetic states compared to WT mice on day 28 after ischemia (p<0.05 and p<0.01). Increased blood flow was observed in ND and D Tg (Glo1) mice vs. WT controls (p<0.01). Our findings reveal that RAGE-dependent down-regulation of Glo1 is mechanistically linked, at least in part, to the impaired angiogenic responses observed in WT diabetic mice after hind limb ischemia, suggesting that suppression of AGE-RAGE axis and consequent upregulation of the Glo1 pathway may provide an important therapeutic target in the prevention of diabetic vascular damage.
Mode Selection and Mode Switching in Foraging Animals

Publisher Summary The objectives of this chapter are to (1) consider evidence suggesting that animals from a variety of taxa choose among alternative modes while foraging, dependent on proximate characteristics of prey or other ecological conditions— that is, (“mode switching”), (2) consider generalities in the behavior of apparent mode switchers, (3) discuss the application of a cost-benefit approach to understanding the ultimate causes of mode switching, in terms of both optimal foraging theory (OFT) and other decision-based approaches, and (4) suggest shortcomings in existing theory and ways in which future research might explore the validity and extent of the phenomenon.
Lessons from the Asian Financial Crisis, and the Prospects for Resuming High Growth

Broadly speaking, there were two initial explanations for the unexpected nature of the Asian financial crisis. The first explanation emphasized the common structural problems (soft rot) in the crisis Asian countries, and the second explanation emphasized the primary roles of investor panic and financial contagion. In my view, the crisis was built on national weaknesses that were greatly magnified by a flawed international financial system; the initial policy recommendations from Washington, especially to raise interest rates sharply and to close a large number of financial institutions, were inappropriate, and made matters worse, not better.