cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
First-mode-induced nonlinear breakdown in a hypersonic boundary layer

Abstract The mechanisms underlying transition of a Mach 6 flat plate boundary layer with adiabatic wall conditions are explored with Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) using a high-order hybrid upwind-centered method. The forcing employed is obtained from linear stability theory (LST), which is used to identify Tollmien–Schlichting (T-S) or first-mode instability in the hypersonic boundary layer (HBL). At small amplitudes, the DNS displays linear growth, and matches those obtained from LST, including the spanwise structure of the most amplified oblique wave in the first-mode as well as the spreading angle of the turbulent wedge induced by the oblique wave under transitional scenarios. The main emphasis of the paper is on the nonlinear breakdown process, obtained by forcing the DNS at a higher amplitude so that the linear amplification region yields to nonlinear saturation and breakdown of the first-mode. The oblique waves are seen to first evolve into lambda-vortices with peak perturbation amplitudes around the generalized inflection point (GIP) of the HBL. The fundamental forcing frequency gives rise to progressive superharmonics: These first appear within the foot region of the lambda-vortices, and spread in the spanwise direction into the ring-shaped vortices that develop along the symmetry plane of the oblique waves. Transition and loss of symmetry is initiated upon saturation of the fundamental and harmonics. A modal analysis used to extract each frequency component yields further insight into streak-formation in these modes, resulting in localized regions of peak skin friction near the transition location. The near-wall boundary layer in the transitional zone displays coherent spanwise structures, which represent compressed regions of fluid and induce high gradients over the surface. Towards the end of the breakdown region, the flow displays a broadband spectrum, and the anticipated inertial sub-range appears inside the boundary layer, as a prelude to self-similar turbulent boundary layer evolution.
The Impact of Broadly Relevant Novel Discoveries on Student Project Ownership in a Traditional Lab Course Turned CURE.

This study examined the impact of making broadly relevant novel discoveries on project ownership by comparing students in a traditional lab course with students in a course-based undergraduate rese...
Water Quality and Idiopathic Diseases of Laboratory Zebrafish

Abstract Non-infectious diseases can be a primary cause of morbidity and mortality in laboratory zebrafish. Even organ changes that are generally asymptomatic can result in clinical signs of disease during times of physiological stress and may potentiate morbidity associated with infectious organisms. Some non-infectious pathologies result in physical changes, e.g., operculum malformations and fin erosion, with little apparent effect on overall health and behavior. Still other changes remain subclinical and are diagnosed post-mortem in apparently healthy fish. However, even mild and subclinical changes may alter metabolism and physiology, and the potential ramifications for research endpoints are unknown. Some non-infectious diseases are the result of water quality aberrations, like elevated ammonia and supersaturation, while others, including egg-associated inflammation and hepatic megalocytosis, are idiopathic. An understanding of the types and prevalence of non-infectious diseases in a zebrafish colony is important for optimizing overall health and may be useful in choosing a genetic background for experiments and designing appropriate controls.
Effect of digestate and digestate supplemented with biochar on switchgrass growth and chemical composition

Abstract Digestate, a by-product of anaerobic digestion, can be an excellent source of nutrients for bioenergy crop production, while biochar, resulting from pyrolyzing biomass, can valorize the nutrients of digestate. The objective of this study was to evaluate the nutritional value of digestate and digestate + biochar for switchgrass production. The greenhouse experiment was conducted to determine the effects of a nitrogen (N) source including 0 N (control), urea (nutrient control), sewage sludge digestate, and sewage sludge digestate + corn stover biochar on switchgrass growth and feedstock composition. Nitrogen sources were found to significantly increase plant weight at the 32-week harvest, with weight ranging from 94.2 to 125.2 g plant−1, depending on the N source, compared to 70.7 g plant−1 from the negative control. Moreover, switchgrass treated with digestate + biochar showed higher plant weight than samples treated only with digestate. Nitrogen application of urea, digestate, and digestate + biochar had positive effects on plant height and total leaf area in the 32-week harvests and chlorophyll content in the 8-week harvests. Feedstock quality traits including hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin content were not affected by N sources in either the 8 or 32-week harvests with the exception of ash concentration in the 32-week harvests. Our results indicate that digestate and digestate + biochar can be a potential substitute for chemical fertilizer, resulting in increased biomass yield.
Interpersonal Theory of Suicide Using a Familismo Values Lens among Emerging Mexican Descent Adults

The present study examined the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide (IPT) within a culturally relevant framework by simultaneously examining familismo values to explain suicidal ideation among Mexican d...
Place anonymization as rural erasure? A methodological inquiry for rural qualitative scholars

Through the lens of critical rural scholarship, this methodological paper offers reflections on the theoretical similarities between the qualitative research practice of place anonymization and the...
An overview of probabilistic tree transducers for natural language processing

Probabilistic finite-state string transducers (FSTs) are extremely popular in natural language processing, due to powerful generic methods for applying, composing, and learning them. Unfortunately, FSTs are not a good fit for much of the current work on probabilistic modeling for machine translation, summarization, paraphrasing, and language modeling. These methods operate directly on trees, rather than strings. We show that tree acceptors and tree transducers subsume most of this work, and we discuss algorithms for realizing the same benefits found in probabilistic string transduction.
O futuro como ruptura: A crítica materialista-histórica de ficção científica e utopia

Resumo : Este texto procura fazer o levantamento de algumas fontes bibliograficas, disponiveis em lingua inglesa, que foram importantes para o aprofundamento nos estudos sobre utopia. A linha condutora da escolha dos nomes, entre os diversos autores da area, e a aproximacao deles com o materialismo historico. A selecao aqui e bastante rudimentar, mas serve para divulgar autores e obras pouco conhecidos sem, entretanto, exaurir as fontes. Palavras-chave : Utopia, distopia, marxismo Abstract : This text aims at gathering some bibliographical sources, available in English, which were important to deepen the studies in the utopian field. The guiding line of the choice of such authors, among any others in the area, is their commitment to historical materialism. The selection is somewhat sketchy, but serves to publicize authors and books that are not very well known without the intention of covering all aspects they bring Keywords : Utopia, dystopia, Marxism.
Linguistico-Literary Reflections on the Science of Light: Sensory Emergence in Goethe's Theory of Colors, and Jakob von Uexküll's Metaphoricity of Semiosic Scaffolding

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Theory of Colors (Zur Farbenlehre, 1810) and Jakob von Uexkull's publications, such as Theoretical Biology (Theoretische Biologie, 1920) and his A Foray into the Worlds of Animals and Humans (Streifzuge durch die Umwelten von Tieren und Menschen, Uexkull and Kriszat, 1934, tr. 2010), undertake key semiosic explorations avant la lettre. Research into these scientific writings, which significantly also draw on the Humanities, has paid little or no attention to questions of semiosic saliency and linguistic involutions. In contradistinction to received research particularly on Uexkull, the present considerations draw on literarilly and artistically inflected vantage points and methods rather than on merely scientifically defined analyses. In its concerns with transmissions and metamorphoses of light, optic semiosis in Goethe and Uexkull –— with some reference to the emblematic modernist Georg Trakl and the Beat postmodernist Lawrence Ferlinghetti — occurs at and beyond limits of language and involves extracategorical perception as well as metaphoric elaboration. In the course of Uexkull's considerations on the semiosic workings of light, such as in Theoretical Biology (1920, tr. 1926), the concept of scaffolding ("Gerust") appears. In particular, the present article reflects on semiosic turns from sunlight to organismic perception, namely the zone of emergence in which senses begin to come alive before coordinates of scaffolding are in place.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.26.12425
Melanogenesis in cultures of peripheral nervous tissue: II. Environmental factors determining the fate of pigment-forming cells☆

Abstract Spinal ganglia from 4- to 7-day [Stage 23–30; Hamburger and Hamilton (1951) J. Morphol. 88, 49–92 ] chicken embryos were cultured in vitro to investigate the effect of various environmental conditions on cell differentiation. Culture morphology (i.e., degree of dispersion of the explanted ganglia, survival of neurons, and outgrowth of axons) was observed to depend upon several factors including: (1) the age of the explanted ganglia, (2) the presence or absence of nerve growth factor (NGF), and (3) the nature of the substratum on which the cultured tissue resides. These observations enabled us to disturb the association of neurons with the other cells in ganglion cultures and thereby modulate the differentiation of adventitious melanocytes. Thus, in medium permissive for melanogenesis, melanocytes appear when the association between neurons and small stellate nonneuronal cells in the ganglion is disrupted. This disruption is most extensive (1) when young (Stage 26–27, 5-day) ganglia are explanted on plastic substrata, in the initial absence of NGF, and (2) when cells from enzyme-dissociated ganglia are cultured on plastic substrata. In comparable media, pigment cell differentiation is not observed when the association between neurons and small stellate cells is preserved. Such associations tend to endure (1) in developmentally older (Stage 30+, 7- to 8-day) ganglia or (2) when ganglia are cultured on agar or fibroblast substrata. We conclude that loss of association between neurons and the nonneuronal cells in young ganglia is necessary for the latter to undergo melanogenesis in vitro.
Weighted fit of parametric functions to distributions: The new interface of HBOOK with MINUIT

The fitting routines of the HBOOK package allow weighted fit of parametric functions to the contents of a one, two or N-dimensional distribution, and analysis of the function in the neighborhood of its minimum, through an interface with the MINUIT package. These routines have been rewritten so as to interface the new version of MINUIT and to allow for smooth transitions to future versions of both packages. We discuss the interface and its capabilities: it is more stable than the previous version and presents a more accurate error analysis. The fitting algorithm is based on the Fletcher method, known for its reliability. Exponential, Gaussian and polynomial fitting are provided, as well as arbitrary user-defined fitting, to one, two and N-dimensional distributions. For the latter, the user is required to provide a smooth parametric function and is given the ability to guide the algorithm in finding the desired minimum. Examples are given. 6 refs., 1 fig.
의료사고에서 의료인의 역할분담에 따른 형사법적 책임에 관한 연구

Cet article vise a etudier l’interpretation du systeme numerique chinois en se concentrant sur la question du traitement des nombres dans l’interpretation simultanee (SI) et en analysant la conversion syntaxique qui s’impose dans les combinaisons linguistiques comme le chinois et l’italien, ou les deux systemes de numeration ont des differences syntaxiques importantes. Les donnees proviennent de l’experience d’interpretation de l’auteur a Taiwan, de la litterature, et d’interviews avec des interpretes locaux dont la langue maternelle est le chinois, mais aussi de l’opportunite d’assister a des programmes chinois et taiwanais de formation en interpretation en tant qu’ observateur participant. Les donnees recueillies ont ete analysees qualitativement par l’auteur afin de completer l’article.
The Synthesis and Secretion of γ-Globulin by Lymph Node Cells V. THE DISSOCIATION OF THE MICROSOME-ANTIBODY COMPLEX WITH ENZYMATICALLY AND CHEMICALLY ALTERED γ-GLOBULINS

Microsomes derived from guinea pigs immunized with dinitrophenyl-protein conjugates possess firmly associated antibodies specific for the dinitrophenyl determinant. The fact that these antibodies can be specifically displaced by incubation with an excess of soluble, normal γ-globulins provides a method for studying the site (sites) on γ-globulin involved in the microsome-antibody complex. After digestion of γ-globulin or of the Fc fragment, several peptide fractions were separated by molecular sieve chromatography. All of these were found to be capable of solubilizing antibody from the microsomes. The peptides in one of the active fractions appear to be quite small as judged by their absorption into the matrix of Sephadex G-25 and G-15. The effect of mild periodate oxidation of γ-globulin on its ability to dissociate antibody from the microsomes was also examined. After oxidation, the ability of γ-globulin to displace antibody was increased 5-fold. In contrast, the reduction of a single disulfide bond located at the center of the heavy chains of γ-globulin resulted in a 5-fold decrease in the capacity of such γ-globulin to dissociate antibody. Direct reduction of the microsome-antibody complex also resulted in a loss of microsomal antibody. These findings and the fact that the reactive disulfide is adjacent to a threonine residue bearing one of the carbohydrate chains of γ-globulin are discussed in relation to the nature of the antibody-binding site on microsomes.
Kalman-Bucy Filters with Singular Correlated Noises

This paper presents a solution to the singular linear minimum-vaviance estimation problem in the discrete time case. An expression for the transfer function of the Kalman-Bucy filter with nonsingular correlated noises is derived using the spectral factorization in the zdomain. The case of singular correlated noises is then handled as a special case.
ETHICAL ISSUES REGARDING REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM IN SYRIA

Syria has one of the world’s fastest growing population. Despite the rapid population growth, Syria’s government has been reluctant to intervene directly, preferring to rely on economic development, education, and employment of women to reduce family size. Since the mid 1980’s, changes in the political and economical system led to a sharp decrease in birthrates. Regardless of the indications of economic development, birthrates are still considered high (33 births per 1,000). Therefore, there is an ethical duty on medical professionals as well as policy makers to increase awareness and enforce programs regarding family planning, and the use of modern contraceptive techniques. Furthermore, women should be granted autonomy and freedom of choice when it comes to childbearing and to use of contraceptive methods.
U.S. tourist destinations

Abstract This study supplies a ranking of the most desirable tourist destinations for US travelers from 1907 through 1980, as gauged from a content analysis of travel-related advertisements appearing in two national magazines; Harper's Monthly and National Geographic . The amount of advertising space that features each destination is calculated, and from these totals the rankings of desirable destinations are derived. Maps and accompanying narrative give external validity to the content analysis, while use of consistent coding forms provides reliability. Listings of frequently visited areas accompany each map and narrative, and these in turn generally agree with those developed from the advertisements.
Emergency visits and occupational hazards in German Shepherd police dogs (2008-2010).

Objective To describe the most common reasons for emergency medical visits in working police dogs. Design Retrospective case control study. Animals Two hundred three German Shepherd dogs (GSDs); 138 police dog visits by 74 dogs and 138 pet (control) dog visits by 129 dogs. Procedures Medical records of all GSDs seen in the emergency service (ES) at the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary Hospital from July 2008 to July 2010 were reviewed. The recorded diagnoses from police GSD ES visits (defined as a new problem or new episode of a recurrent problem) were compared to those of randomly chosen pet GSD ES visits. Results There were significantly more intact male police GSDs than pet GSDs. Police GSDs were significantly younger than pet GSDs. The most common presenting complaint in both groups was gastrointestinal disease (eg, vomiting, diarrhea, gastric dilatation and volvulus). Pet GSDs were significantly more likely to present for geriatric conditions (eg, central nervous system disease, cardiovascular disease, and neoplastic conditions). Orthopedic issues were significantly more common in police GSDs. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Police GSDs are more likely to present for orthopedic injuries and less likely to present for geriatric diseases. Gastrointestinal disease is not unique to the working GSD and was equally represented in both populations. Preventative measures for all GSDs should focus on minimizing gastrointestinal disease. Preventive strategies focusing on physical fitness and conditioning as well as selective breeding programs may help reduce orthopedic injuries in police GSDs.
Base excision repair in chromatin: Insights from reconstituted systems

The process of base excision repair has been completely reconstituted in vitro and structural and biochemical properties of the component enzymes thoroughly studied on naked DNA templates. More recent work in this field aims to understand how BER operates on the natural substrate, chromatin [1,2]. Toward this end, a number of researchers, including the Smerdon group, have focused attention to understand how individual enzymes and reconstituted BER operate on nucleosome substrates. While nucleosomes were once thought to completely restrict access of DNA-dependent factors, the surprising finding from these studies suggests that at least some BER components can utilize target DNA bound within nucleosomes as substrates for their enzymatic processes. This data correlates well with both structural studies of these enzymes and our developing understanding of nucleosome conformation and dynamics. While more needs to be learned, these studies highlight the utility of reconstituted BER and chromatin systems to inform our understanding of in vivo biological processes.
Real-Time and the Mu-Calculus (Preliminary Report)

We argue that the Mu-Calculus provides a conceptually advantageous framework for specifying and reasoning about Real-Time Systems. We show that mechanical reasoning can be done efficiently in a quantitative formulation of the Mu-Calculus. Our work also suggests a new complexity theory for reactive systems.
Pixels, porn, and private selves: intimacy and authenticity in the celebrity nude photo hack

On 31 August 2014 the Internet ignited after the release of hundreds of private nude and semi-nude photos of female celebrities. To acquire the photos, a collective of hackers worked for months to ...
1‐(2‐Furanyl)‐1,2‐ethanediol

[19377-75-4] C6H8O3 (MW 128.13) InChI = 1S/C6H8O3/c7-4-5(8)6-2-1-3-9-6/h1-3,5,7-8H,4H2 InChIKey = YOSOKWRRCVPEJS-UHFFFAOYSA-N [14086-08-9] (1R)-C6H8O3 (MW 128.13) InChI = 1S/C6H8O3/c7-4-5(8)6-2-1-3-9-6/h1-3,5,7-8H,4H2/t5-/m1/s1 InChIKey = YOSOKWRRCVPEJS-RXMQYKEDSA-N [61243-05-8] (1S)-C6H8O3 (MW 128.13) InChI = 1S/C6H8O3/c7-4-5(8)6-2-1-3-9-6/h1-3,5,7-8H,4H2/t5-/m0/s1 InChIKey = YOSOKWRRCVPEJS-YFKPBYRVSA-N (carbohydrate derivative, chiral furan diol, and six-carbon intermediate in carbohydrate and natural product syntheses) Alternate Names: 2-(1,2-dihydroxyethyl)-furan, 2-(d-glycero-1,2-dihydroxyethyl)furan. Physical Data: (1R)-1-(2-furanyl)-1,2-ethanediol; bp 83–85 ° (0.01 Torr); (c 3.3 CHCl3). Solubility: soluble in ether, tetrahydrofuran, ethyl acetate, benzene, methylene chloride, and ethanol; slightly soluble in water. Handling, Storage, and Precautions: 1-(2-furanyl)-1,2-ethanediol can form a stable endo-peroxide with singlet oxygen and can be exothermally polymerized under acidic conditions. It may irritate the eyes, the skin, and respiratory tract upon exposure. This reagent should be handled only in a fume hood. Purification: 1-(2-furanyl)-1,2-ethanediol can be distilled at reduced pressure and by silica gel chromatography. Preparative Methods: along with other furan products, the chiral furyl alcohol, (1R)-1-(2-furanyl)-1,2-ethanediol, is a by-product from the acid-catalyzed dehydration of the d-hexoses.1 Better yields of (1R)-1-(2-furanyl)-1,2-ethanediol occur when Hg(II) salts are used in the reaction (eq 1).2 When the biopolymer cellulose is used as the carbohydrate starting material, the mixture of furan products' primary utility is as a potential biofuel source1 and not a starting material for asymmetric synthesis. In addition to the problems with mixtures of furan products associated with the dehydration of the D-hexose, the (1R)-1-(2-furanyl)-1,2-ethanediol produced by these procedures is susceptible to acid-catalyzed racemization. Applying the acid-catalyzed dehydration reaction on advanced carbohydrate intermediates has been shown to skirt some of the problems associated with racemization and isomer formation. For instance, when the glucose derivative, d-glucal, is used in the dehydration procedure, better yields of (1R)-1-(2-furanyl)-1,2-ethanediol are produced with more reproducible enantiopurity (eq 2).3 Of course, other carbohydrate derivatives can be used to produce the enantiomeric product, (1S)-1-(2-furanyl)-1,2-ethanediol (eq 3).4 (1) (2) (3)
Mechanical response and rheological properties of polycarbonate layered-silicate nanocomposites

The effect of clay loading on the mechanical behavior and melt state linear viscoelastic properties of intercalated polycarbonate (PC) nanocomposites was investigated. At low frequencies, the linear dynamic oscillatory moduli data revealed diminished frequency dependence with increasing nanoclay loading. The 3.5 and 5 wt% clay nanocomposites exhibited dramatically altered relaxation behavior, from liquid-like to pseudo-solid–like, compared to the pure PC and the 1.5 wt% clay nanocomposite. Thermal degradation of PC resulted from the melt compounding of organo-modified nanoclays was evident from the reduction in the glass transition temperature and molecular weight of the PC nanocomposites. These nanocomposites also exhibited a significant decrease in the extent of tensile elongation and ductility with respect to the nanoclay incorporation. A concomitant decrease in the rheological properties at high frequencies was also observed, and was consistent with the lowering of the molecular weight of PC, particularly near or above the percolation threshold of nanoclay. These nanocomposites, nevertheless, exhibited elastic-plastic deformation in compression, regardless of nanoclay content. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:825–837, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.
A Three-Dimensional Numerical Analysis of Colliding Microburst Outflow Dynamics

Abstract A parameter study of colliding microburst outflows is performed using a high-resolution three-dimensional model. The colliding microburst pairs me simulated in a domain of 18 km × 16 km × 4.25 km with 50-m resolution. Microburst pairs are examined in varying space and time separations, and the authors find that for certain geometries strong elevated wind fields are generated from the interactions between outflows. For a narrow range of space-time geometries, this elevated wind field is extremely divergent. An examination of the F-factor aircraft hazard parameter reveals that both the divergent wind fields and microburst downdraft cores are regions of danger to jet aircraft. Trajectory analysis reveals that the air composing the elevated jets can be traced back to the shallow outflow formed beneath each microburst core. An analysis of the parcel kinetic energy budget indicates that the pressure domes beneath and between the microbursts are the primary mechanisms for directing energy into the eleva...
A parallel algorithm for finding a maximum weight clique of an interval graph

In this paper we study the problem of finding a maximum weight clique of an interval graph. Let n be the number of vertices in the graph. We show that a maximum weight clique of an interval graph can be found in time O(log n) using n processors on an exclusive-read exclusive-write parallel random access machine.
Improved recommendation system via propagated neighborhoods based collaborative filtering

In this paper, a new two levels propagated neighborhoods based collaborative filtering method (PNCF) is proposed for developing effective and efficient recommendation system. Traditional collaborative filtering (CF) algorithms focus on construct k-nearest neighborhood for each item/user from user-item purchase/rating matrix, such as item-based k-nearest-neighbor collaborative filtering method (itemKNN) and user-based k-nearest-neighbor collaborative filtering method (userKNN). However, the utilization of K-nearest neighborhood method for singe item/user always misses some nature neighbors due to inevitable data noise and data sparsity, resulting in poor prediction accuracy. A novel two levels propagated neighborhoods construction strategy is introduced in PNCF to complement traditional K-nearest neighborhood method, uncovering the underlying neighborhood relationship of each data sample. Furthermore, utilizing propagated neighborhoods improves the recommendation quality. Numerous experiments on MovieLens data set show the superiority of our approach over current state of the art recommendation methods.
BLOOD PARASITES IN SAGE-GROUSE FROM NEVADA AND OREGON

Peripheral blood smears from 196 adult and yearling female greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) were examined for blood parasites (167 from the breeding and 29 from the brood-rearing season) to determine prevalence of blood parasites, to attempt to correlate infection with chick survival, and to establish base-line values of prevalence in sage-grouse from Nevada and Oregon (USA). Birds were captured and released on two study areas during 1999–2001; Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge (SNWR) in northwestern Nevada, and Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge (HMNAR) in southeastern Oregon. Birds from a third study area, Beaty's Butte grazing allotment (BB) in southeastern Oregon, were sampled in 2000 and 2001. Overall, 19 birds (10%) were positive for Leucocytozoon lovati (=L. bonasae), 1 (0.5%) for Plasmodium pedioecetii, and 2 (1%) for microfilariae. Although prevalence of L. lovati on HMNAR was 39% during the breeding season in 1999 and 100% during the brood-rearing season in 2000, statistically,...
Responding to children's everyday transgressions in Chinese working‐class families

This study examines how working‐class mothers in the People's Republic of China respond to their young children's transgressions in everyday contexts. Twenty 4‐year‐old children and their mothers in a working‐class neighbourhood were observed in their daily routines at home. When addressing children's transgressions and socialising desirable behaviour, mothers frequently made references to other children, children's media characters, past transgressions, authority figures and quotes from the classics. Moreover, the study indicates that mothers responded differently to some of the transgressions committed by boys as opposed to girls. This study also demonstrates that children understood social and moral rules by spontaneously elaborating on and appropriating the socialisation strategies used by their mothers.
How sisters grow apart: mycobacterial growth and division.

Compared with traditional model bacteria, the processes of growth and division are unusual in mycobacteria. In this Review, Rubin and Kieser discuss polar growth, asymmetric division and cell wall remodelling in mycobacteria and consider how these processes might contribute to the population heterogeneity and pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Estrogen and Autoimmune Disease

Estrogenic hormones possess both immunostimulating and immunosuppressive properties. In systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), pregnancy is associated with disease flares. In some situations, exogenous estrogen predisposes to development of new SLE, flares of preexisting SLE, and thromboses in susceptible individuals. In contrast, treatment with exogenous estrogen protects postmenopausal rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from active RA and osteoporosis. The search for estrogen-like compounds with anti-inflammatory properties may expand treatment options in RA.
The Effects of Oversize Donor Buttons on Postoperative intraocular Pressure and Corneal Curvature in Aphakic Penetrating Keratoplasty

Abstract Forty-one consecutive aphakic corneal transplants performed by the same surgeon were stuided in order to determine the effects on intraocular pressure and corneal curvature of using 8.0-mm donor buttons in 7.5-mm recipient openings. One half of the grafts had oversize donor buttons, and all were followed for 13 months. The intraocular pressure in the oversize donor group was statistically significantly less during the first five days after keratoplasty, but not subsequently. Eliminating eyes with preoperative glaucoma, more transplants in the same size donor group ( P = 0.08) needed glaucoma therapy 13 months after operation. The anterior corneal curvature (mean keratometry reading) was statistically significantly greater in the oversize donor group throughout the postoperative period. Concurrently, the oversize donor group was less hyperopic after all sutures were removed. There was no difference in keratometric astigmatism or corneal thickness between the two groups. Thus, the use of 0.5-mm oversize donor tissue in aphakic corneal transplants reduced the intraocular pressure and increased the central corneal curvature after keratoplasty.
Computerized oceanic particle characterization using heavy metal staining, SEM, EDXS and image analysis

Abstract Heterogeneous particles collected from seawater were analysed for physical dimensions and elemental composition using a computer-controlled image and chemical analysis system based on a scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. Staining the particles with the heavy metal ruthenium largely overcame the difficulties of forming an adequate image of organic particles that usually limits such automated analyses. Ruthenium staining provides an image comparable to that achieved with metal coatings, improves the contrast of organic particles, and provides a more uniform background grey level. In addition, this treatment simplifies sample preparation and improves the X-ray count rate compared with metal-coated specimens. The major X-ray energy peak of ruthenium interferes only with that of chlorine, which is usually removed during the sample preparation procedures. In its present configuration, the system can perform analyses of particles from 0.5 to 100 μm in one pass for abundance, size, shape, and elemental composition at a rate of about 500 particles per hour. A generalized particle classification scheme based on elemental proportions and ratios is presented for suspended marine particles. The scheme is applied to samples from three depths in the photic zone for a station in the Sargasso Sea. As illustrative data, particle abundance, volumes, and size-volume distributions are presented vs chemical class for the major types of particles found, and a bulk refractive index is calculated.
Asymmetric synthesis of polyhydroxy α-amino acids with the sulfinimine-mediated asymmetric Strecker reaction: 2-amino 2-deoxy L-xylono-1,5-lactone (polyoxamic acid lactone)

Polyhydroxylated sulfinimines derived from protected 1,2-O-isopropyliden-L-threoses undergo the sulfinimine-mediated Strecker syntheses to give alpha-amino nitriles in good yield and de. A double stereodifferentiation effect was not observed and the diastereoselectivity is controlled by the absolute configuration of the sulfinyl group. Hydrolysis of the amino nitriles afforded the lactone rather than polyoxamic acid.
Color dependence of chiral symmetry breaking a result from the strong coupling expansion

Abstract The color dependence of chiral symmetry breaking is examined. We compute the ratio of the mass of the ω-meson made of quarks in the 6, to the mass of that for quarks in the 3 of SU(3) c . The computation is performed on the lattice using strong coupling expansion to fourth order, the result is extrapolated to the weak coupling region using the diagonal P (1, 1) Pade approximants. The ratio is found to be 1.0 ∼ 1.4. The mass ratio for the ordinary nucleon to the ω-meson is also computed in the case when the 6 sector appears in the intermediate states, this is estimated to be 1.9 ∼ 2.3. No strong color dependence for chiral symmetry breaking is found.
2-D nonseparable multiscaling function interpolation and approximation with an arbitrary dilation matrix

Abstract We introduce nonseparable multiscaling function interpolation and show that its approximation can provide similar convergence properties as scalar wavelet system. An equivalent condition for approximation accuracy for nonseparable multiscaling function is also given.
On Cooperative Lattice Coding and Decoding

We propose novel lattice coding/decoding schemes for half-duplex outage-limited cooperative channels. These schemes are inspired by the cooperation protocols of Azarian et al. and enjoy an excellent performance-complexity tradeoff. More specifically, for the relay channel, we devise a novel variant of the dynamic decode and forward protocol, along with a lattice-coded implementation, which enjoys a near-optimal diversity-multiplexing tradeoff with a low encoding/decoding complexity. On the other hand, for the cooperative multiple-access channel, we present a lattice-coded implementation of the optimal non- orthogonal amplify and forward protocol. Finally, we establish the performance gains of our proposed protocols via a comprehensive simulation study.
Synaptically evoked GABA transporter currents in neocortical glia

The presence, magnitude, and time course of GABA transporter currents were investigated in electrophysiologically characterized neocortical astrocytes in an in vitro slice preparation. On stimulation with a bipolar-tungsten stimulating electrode placed nearby, the majority of cells tested displayed long-lasting GABA transporter currents using both single and repetitive stimulation protocols. Using subtype-specific GABA transporter antagonists, long-lasting GABA transporter currents were identified in neocortical astrocytes that originated from at least two subtypes of GABA transporters: GAT-1 and GAT-2/3. These transporter currents displayed slow rise times and long decay times, contrasting the time course observed for glutamate transporter currents, and are indicative of a long extracellular time course of GABA as well as a role for glial GABA transporters during synaptic transmission.
Synthesis of Double-Layer Silicates from Recycled Glass Cullet: A New Type of Chemical Adsorbent

Curbside recycling of glass bottles and jars has been extremely successful. Those glasses that are sorted by color are a marketable commodity; those that are not have no immediate commercial value and must be disposed of in landfills. With proper chemical treatment, however, mixed-glass cullet can be transformed into claylike chemical adsorbents. By mixing ground glass cullet with either alkali hydroxide or alkali carbonate solutions one is able to form a hydrous double-layer silicate known as rhodesite (NaKCa2[Si8O19]·5H2O). Tests of the adsorptive and cation exchange properties of glass cullet derived materials have shown them to have properties comparable to natural clays and zeolites. Whereas natural materials tend to become “sticky” and/or lose their granularity when wet, rhodesite-based adsorbents do not.
Asymmetric Instability of a Viscous Liquid Jet

The spatial instability of a viscid liquid jet issued into an inviscid surrounding gas medium is considered. The numerical solution of the governing equations is used to study the evolution of axisymmetrical and asymmetrical disturbances. It is found that asymmetrical disturbances may become dominant at high Weber number. Increasing gas to liquid density ratio and/or decreasing Ohnesorge number enhances the dominance of asymmetrical disturbances. A high gas to liquid density ratio is sufficient to sustain the prevalence of asymmetrical disturbances at moderate values of Weber number.
Brownian motion and the superconducting surface sheath

We give an explicit solution for the mean velocity of a Brownian particle that is subject simultaneously to a spatially sinusoidal and a constant force. An application is made to the superconducting surface sheath of lead, wherein the fluxoids are represented by Brownian particles. When Brownian mean velocity curves are fitted to experimental voltage-current curves, we find that the parameter values are physically reasonable provided that interactions among the fluxoids are taken into account. The fluxoids move, in effect, as collections of about 100 fluxoids.
Imprecision of dose predictions for radionuclides released to the environment: An application of a Monte Carlo simulation technique

Abstract An evaluation of the imprecision in dose predictions has been performed using current dose assessment models and present knowledge of the variability or uncertainty in model parameter values. The propagation of parameter uncertainties is demonstrated using a Monte Carlo technique for elemental 131 I transported via the pasture-cow-milk-child pathway. The results indicate that when site-specific information is not available the imprecision inherent in the predictions for this pathway is potentially large. Generally, the 99th percentile in thyroid dose for children was predicted to be approximately an order of magnitude greater than the median value. The potential consequences of the imprecision in dose for radiation protection purposes are discussed.
Neurocognitive correlates of white matter in children surviving cancer: a quantitative MR imaging study

Due to the inherent risk of central nervous system (CNS) dissemination, children treated for either acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or malignant brain tumors (BT) receive aggressive CNS therapy. The primary objective of this study was to confirm a previously observed association between reduced volumes of normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) and intellectual and attentional deficits in survivors. A combined MR imaging set consisting of T1, T2, and PD images were collected for 221 children (110 BT; 112 ALL). MR imaging sets were segmented with a hybrid neural network algorithm and volumetric measurements were calculated for five slices centered on the basal ganglia. Summary measures of Overall Index, Omissions, d’ (attentiveness), and beta (risk-taking) were derived from the computer-administered Conners’ Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Age-corrected estimates of Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) were also obtained. Pearson correlation analyses were performed between each neurocognitive measure and the volume of NAWM. The correlation between FSIQ and NAWM failed to reach statistical significance for the BT group but was highly significant for the more homogeneous ALL group. Larger Omission rates, decreased attentiveness and more risk taking were significantly associated with lower NAWM volumes in both groups of survivors. Long-term survivors are at increased risk for cognitive delays or deficits, which oftentimes impair future academic performance, employment, and quality of life. These long-term adverse effects of treatment appear to be due to a diminished ability to acquire new information and may be secondary to deficits in attention, which is thought to be supported by interhemispheric and intrahemispheric white matter tracts.
Iron and temperature as sporangiospore germination factors of Pilobolus longipes

Sporangiospores of Pilobclus longipes germinated on a medium containing ascorbate and FeSO4, but neither ascorbate nor FeSO4 alone caused spores to germinate. The iron chelates (hemin, coprogen, and ferrichrome) that are known to promote mycelial growth of this and other species of Pilobolus had little or no effect on spore germination, suggesting that under these conditions dormant spores are unable to reduce iron III.
Water Quality Dynamics in the Discharge of a Southeastern Hydropower Reservoir: Response to Peaking Generation Operation

ABSTRACT Sampling was conducted to determine the distribution and fate of physicochemical constituents in the releases from West Point Dam, a hydropower project located in west-central Georgia. Routine operation of the dam resulted in two distinct release regimes; peaking operation with meta- or hypolimnetic withdrawal and low-flow operation with near-surface withdrawal. Differences in release water quality were associated with stratified conditions in the reservoir forebay and changes in release regime. Temperatures were most responsive to diel conditions and dissolved oxygen concentrations varied with release type. Concentrations of total iron and manganese in die tailwater, which ranged from 0.3 to 1.9 and 0.1 to 0.5 mg/L−1, respectively, were influenced by hydrograph dynamics, downstream tributary inflows, and physicochemical processes. Longitudinal gradients were observed as increases in dissolved oxygen concentrations and decreases in metals concentrations during steady-state conditions. Processes l...
Amygdala contribution to selective dimensions of emotion

The amygdala has been implicated in emotional processes, although the precise nature of the emotional deficits following amygdala lesions remains to be fully elucidated. Cognitive disturbances in the perception, recognition or memory of emotional stimuli have been suggested by some, whereas others have proposed changes in emotional arousal. To address this issue, measures of emotional arousal and valence (positivity and negativity) to a graded series of emotional pictures were obtained from patients with lesions of the amygdala and from a clinical contrast group with lesions that spared this structure. Relative to the contrast group, patients with damage to the amygdala evidenced a complete lack of an arousal gradient across negative stimuli, although they displayed a typical arousal gradient to positive stimuli. These results were not attributable to the inability of amygdala patients to process the hostile or hospitable nature of the stimuli, as the amygdala group accurately recognized and categorized both positive and negative features of the stimuli. The relative lack of emotional arousal to negative stimuli may account for many of the clinical features of amygdala lesions.
Islands of the Arctic

Few environments on Earth are changing more dramatically than the Arctic. Sea ice retreat and thinning is unprecedented in the period of the satellite record. Surface air temperatures are the warmest in centuries. The biology of Arctic lakes is changing like never before in millennia. Everything is pointing to the meltdown predicted by climate model simulations for the next 100 years. At the same time, the Arctic remains one of the most pristine and beautiful places on Earth. For both those who know the Arctic and those who want to know it, this book is worth its modest price.
Conductivity of Monovalent Metals

The conductivity of monovalent metals is computed from the Bloch theory under the assumption that the wave functions of the electrons are nearly the same as those of free electrons throughout the major part of the volume. The perturbation potential resulting from the Debye elastic waves, which produce transitions between the electronic states, is the sum of two terms: (1) the change in the total potential of the ions, which are assumed to move rigidly with the elastic waves, and (2) the change in the potential of the self-consistent field of the valence electrons. The second part tends to compensate the first. Scattering of electrons through angles greater than 2 ${\mathrm{sin}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ ${2}^{\ensuremath{-}\frac{2}{3}}$ (\ensuremath{\sim}79\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}) results from the "Umklappprozesse" of Peierls. It is shown that the probability of these transitions joins smoothly with the probability of transitions of the ordinary type, so that the probability is a continuous function of the angle of deflection, and transitions through all angles are possible. Comparison with experiment is made through Bethe's interaction constant $C$, which is a measure of the average scattering power of the elastic waves. Table I gives the theoretical and experimental values of $\frac{C}{\ensuremath{\zeta}}$, where $\ensuremath{\zeta}$ is the Fermi energy. Reasonable agreement is obtained for Na and K, but the theoretical values of $C$ for the remaining monovalent metals are somewhat too small.