cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Photoacoustic Microscopy using a Scanning Fourier Transform Spectrometer

Broadband fiber lasers have high pulse repetition rate and wide wavelength coverage, making them well suited for spectroscopic photoacoustic microscopy (PAM). These systems typically employ sequential wavelength scanning with an optical band-pass filter. This wastes the majority of spectral content and energy in each broadband laser pulse, and can lead to long data acquisitions times. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a well-established technique in chemical analysis, where all wavelengths of a broadband infrared source are used simultaneously. An interferogram is produced by a Michelson interferometer with a variable optical delay line. A Fourier transform of the interferogram produces the desired spectral data with both fine spectral resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio. This paper reports our initial efforts to adapt the FTIR spectroscopy approach to PAM. Our laser uses nonlinear optical propagation in a photonic crystal fiber to produce broadband pulses (532 - 650 nm) with 7 uJ of energy at a 10 kHz repetition rate. These pulses are sent through a Michelson interferometer with a reference mirror mounted on a small audio speaker. The Michelson output is directed to an optically focused PAM system with a 25 MHz detection transducer. Test experiments on two silicone tubes containing different colored ink clearly produce different interferograms, and their resulting spectra are consistent with the expected absorption characteristics of each ink. Although the interferogram and photoacoustic spectra are degraded by pulse-to-pulse spectral fluctuations of the laser, we believe these preliminary results show the potential of a spectroscopic PAM system based on a scanning Fourier transform spectrometer.
Recurrent incisional hernia repairs at a tertiary hernia center: Are outcomes really inferior to initial repairs?

Abstract Background Recurrent ventral hernia repairs are reported to have higher recurrence and complication rates than initial ventral hernia repairs. This is the largest analysis of outcomes for initial versus recurrent open ventral hernia repairs reported in the literature. Methods A prospective, institutional database at a tertiary hernia center was queried for patients undergoing open ventral hernia repairs with complete fascial closure and synthetic mesh placement. Results A total of 1,694 open ventral hernia repairs patients were identified, including 896 (52.9%) initial ventral hernia repairs and 798 (47.1%)recurrent ventral hernia repairs. Recurrent ventral hernia repair patients were more complex: older (P = .003), higher body mass index (P .05) were nonsignificant. Conclusion At a tertiary hernia center, despite higher-risk patients, larger hernia defects, and increased components separation in recurrent ventral hernia repairs, early recurrence rates, wound complications, and reoperations are similar to initial ventral hernia repairs.
Antihistamines Increase Body Mass Index Percentiles and Z-Scores in Hispanic Children.

The prevalence of childhood obesity has increased over the years in the United States and contributed to a rise in metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Animal studies suggested the role of histamine blockade on mesenteric lymphatics tone, contributing to weight gain and hepatic steatosis. This study aimed to investigate an association between antihistamines (AH) use in children and obesity. A single-center retrospective cohort study on children with a diagnosis of NAFLD, followed in the gastroenterology clinic, was performed between January 2018 and April 2019. The demographics, medications, and body mass index (BMI) were assessed. Participants were divided into an AH group with documented use and comparison group, antihistamine naive. Of the 32 participants in the study, 13 used AH, and 19 did not. Antihistamine users had a mean increase in BMI percentile per year of 1.17 compared to a decrease of 0.06 in comparison group (p = 0.0008). AH usage correlated with a mean increase in BMI z-score of 0.23 per year, as opposed to a decrease by 0.012 in comparison group (p = 0.0016). No difference was found in triglycerides (TG), glucose, and liver enzymes. AH use increases BMI percentiles and z-scores over time and is associated with obesity in children.
Estate Planning for Retirement Benefits after the SECURE Act

This brief essay examines one of the most significant intersections of Elder Law and Trusts & Estates – namely, distributions from defined contribution retirement plans after the participant dies. Particular attention is paid to recently enacted statutory changes, including the end of so-called “stretch IRAs,” which allowed non-spouse beneficiaries to spread withdrawals from inherited retirement accounts over their lifetimes. This essay also addresses strategic considerations in designating beneficiaries for such accounts.
Immunotherapy breaches low-sugar dieting of tumor Treg cells

Glycolysis supports effector T cell function but is detrimental to the immunosuppressive activity of regulatory T cells. In a recent issue of Nature, two papers address a role for glucose and lactate availability within the tumor microenvironment for the balance of pro- and anti-tumoral effects of T cells and the efficacy of neoadjuvant cancer immunotherapy.
High Responsivity Si-Ge Waveguide Avalanche Photodiodes Enhanced by Loop Reflector

We present a loop reflector-assisted silicon-germanium waveguide avalanche photodiode with improved responsivity. Compared to the same APD without the reflector, it has 1.49 times higher responsivity, $\sim$ 1.12 A/W, without compromising the speed performance. It exhibits a 3 dB-bandwidth of $\sim$ 25 GHz, a build-up time limited gain-bandwidth product of $\sim$ 296 GHz, a highest gain-bandwidth product of $\sim$ 497 GHz. Clear eye diagrams are measured at both 32 Gbps NRZ and 64 Gbps PAM4 modulation, and a 1 $\sim$ 2 dB better sensitivity up to −15.7 dBm with 32 Gbps NRZ at a BER of 2.4 $\times 10^{-4}$ .
Vapor Power Cycles

Vapor (or Rankine) power cycles are by far the most common basis for the generation of electricity in large fixed plant operations. They were one of the first developed for steam engines and have been adapted to many applications. They have also been modified in a number of ways to improve their thermal efficiency and better utilize combustible fuels.
Equine infectious anemia virus and human immunodeficiency virus DNA synthesis in vitro: characterization of the endogenous reverse transcriptase reaction

The endogenous reverse transcriptase reaction of equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) has been studied, and conditions allowing synthesis of full-length minus-strand DNA have been determined. In contrast to results reported for other retroviruses, synthesis of EIAV full-length minus-strand DNA was not impaired by high concentrations of Nonidet P-40, a nonionic detergent used to make the virion envelope permeable. All components of the reaction were titrated for maximum synthesis of complete minus strands, and a time course under the standardized conditions was determined. Minor subgenomic bands were observed in some cases, and both the size and proportion varied with reaction conditions. Conditions established for full-length EIAV DNA synthesis also allowed full-genome-length human immunodeficiency virus type 1 DNA synthesis. The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 DNA product contained a greater proportion of reverse transcripts that were shorter than the complete virus genome. Also in contrast to EIAV, the endogenous synthesis of high-molecular-weight human immunodeficiency virus type 1 DNA was drastically reduced at Nonidet P-40 concentrations above 0.02%. These results indicated that a detergent-stable core is not a property shared by all lentiviruses. The EIAV virion synthetic machinery is unusually stable and provides a convenient system for further in vitro study of reverse transcription.
PREFERENCE FOR ONE OF TWO IDENTICAL STIMULI: EXPECTATIONS, EXPLICIT INSTRUCTIONS AND PERSONAL TRAITS

Most consumers, given two identical food samples, express a preference for one, rather than choosing a no-preference option. The stability and potential causes of this seemingly irrational preference were examined across three trials under different conditions, specifically, when the first test pair was identical or different, and when participants were explicitly told that the pairs would often be identical. Choice of no preference typically increased from the first to second trial, especially for groups who saw a pair of different samples on the first trial. The explicit instruction that samples might be the same failed to reduce expressing a preference on the initial trial although it had some effect on later trials. Analysis, by individuals, of sequences of preference or no-preference responses across trials support independence of sequential responses and argue against stable personal traits as a predictor of preference choice. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS More research needs to be done to understand the origins and operation of biases in preference tests. When tested under conditions in which the samples differ only slightly, participants tend to avoid the no-preference option. This is potentially important when interpreting the results of preference tests and assigning practical significance to their outcomes. Also, single trial testing may produce somewhat different results from multi-trial testing, the latter allowing for examination of effects of variation in recent experience.
A/D and D/A Conversion Architectures and Techniques

This article is concerned with the data conversion subsystem that interfaces the front-end and back-end portions of the transceiver core. A data converter translates signals between analog and digital representations. Our emphasis is on data converters for mobile communication systems in which cost and power savings are a priority. Therefore, although much of our discussion is of a general nature, our presentation is geared toward CMOS integrated circuit implementation and applications with low to moderate bandwidths (e.g., communications with WCDMA, IEEE 802.11a/b, or Bluetooth protocols). Keywords: data converter; mobile communications; Bluetooth; IEEE 802.11a/b; CMOS; WCDMA; integrated circuit
Personas in Heuristic Evaluation: An Exploratory Study

Research problem: No study has explored how incorporating personas into heuristic evaluation of products, namely websites, affects the kinds of findings reported and the recommendations presented by usability evaluators. Research questions: (1) Do findings resulting from heuristic evaluations of a website without the use of personas differ from findings resulting from heuristic evaluations of the same website with the use of personas? (2) Do findings from persona-based heuristic evaluations in which evaluators develop their own personas differ from findings from persona-based heuristic evaluations in which evaluators are given personas? (3) If findings and recommendations are different, how do they differ? (4) How does the use of personas affect the evaluators' confidence in the findings of a heuristic evaluation? Literature review: First, previous research of heuristic evaluation has concluded that although heuristic evaluation is inexpensive and does not require advance planning, it has several shortcomings, including its too-intense focus on minor issues and its inability to capture all usability issues. Second, data-driven personas, which have long been a resource in user-centered design, have been suggested as a way to improve or enhance heuristic evaluation, and several studies suggest that usability professionals are indeed using personas in their evaluations. However, no empirical study has assessed heuristic evaluations that include personas. Methodology: In this exploratory study involving three sections of an advanced technical writing course, groups of evaluators conducted a heuristic evaluation of a website. Each section was randomly assigned a different condition with which they would conduct the heuristic evaluation: (a) a traditional heuristic evaluation, (b) a persona-led heuristic evaluation in which the personas were given to the evaluators, or (c) a persona-led heuristic evaluation in which the evaluators themselves created their own personas. Each group wrote a report identifying the major problems with the website and provided recommendations to solve the identified problems. The evaluators completed pretesting demographic surveys and posttesting confidence surveys. Results and discussion: This exploratory study found few detectable differences in the findings reported by groups that used personas in heuristic evaluation and groups that did not use personas. The groups that used personas were more likely to report findings related to navigation than the groups that did not use personas, while the groups that did not use personas were more likely to report findings related to design than the groups that used personas. The groups that created their own personas were more likely than the other groups to include complex issues in their reports and include language that directly references users and user needs. All groups were confident in their findings.
Physical Attractiveness and Sex-Role Stereotypes in Impression Formation:

The effects of physical attractiveness and sexual identity upon attributions had yet to be addressed within a single paradigm. 40 male and 40 female subjects rated the performance of a physically attractive or unattractive male or female depicted in a photograph on modified versions of the sex-typed tasks employed by Deaux and Emswiller (1974). Results indicated “beauty-is-good” effects for both general trait ratings and specific attributions of performance but failed to indicate an anti-female bias in subjects' attributions.
The Directional Dependence of Electrical Conductivity

An attempt is made to apply the theory of conductivity to the question of directional dependence. The first section reviews the usual theory, developing the basic equations in the somewhat generalized form necessary for the problem. The next section discusses the nature of the electron-lattice interaction in some detail. This seems desirable since a number of very significant points---notably the polarization of the lattice waves, and the role of strictly transverse waves when these actually occur---seem to have received much too causal attention in the past. In a third section the directional dependence is calculated for several simple models. No very serious attempt is made to relate the theoretical results with experimental data.
The role of rewards and reinforcements in early education programs: II fostering intrinsic motivation to learn☆

Abstract Teacher training should prepare teachers to develop intrinsic motivation to learn in children, rather than to consequate their learning efforts with extrinsic rewards. Examples of teacher behaviors believed necessary for fostering intrinsic motivation to learn are provided, along with suggestions for training teachers to use them in the classroom.
SKIN PENETRATING PROPERTY OF DRUGS DISSOLVED IN DIMETHYLSULFOXIDE (DMSO) AND OTHER VEHICLES.

Abstract The recent studies of Jacob et al . (1, 2, 3) on dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) indicate this solvent to be a penetrant of biological membranes, including the human skin, and a possible carrier of various chemical agents. Employing a bladder perfusion technique the above authors demonstrated that drugs such as heparin, sulfadiazine, salicylic acid, trypan blue and insulin, when dissolved in a DMSO-buffer solution, were absorbed into the circulation in much greater quantities than when buffer alone was employed as the solvent. While this method permits determination of drug penetration through a biological membrane, it requires a number of relatively laborious steps when larger numbers of drugs are to be assayed. As a possible approach to determining whether DMSO would enhance drug absorption through a biological membrane, we employed a simple test of immersing the tails of mice and rats into solutions of drugs dissolved in DMSO. We employed primarily psychoactive drugs since it would be possible to observe grossly any change in behavior, if, in fact, such did occur. This paper deals with the results of such a study and of a comparison of the ability of different solvents to permit passage of drugs across the skin barrier.
Epidermal adenyl cyclase of human and mouse: A study of the atopic state

Abstract The level of cyclic AMP (cAMP) in normal human epidermis and mouse skin is elevated by catecholamines added in vitro. After pertussis vaccination, the adenyl cylase of mouse skin responds less to adrenergic agents. The defect induced by the pertussis treatment is the noncompetitive type of inhibition. Skin from patients with the atopic eczema has considerably higher initial concentration of cAMP than normal skin. No significant difference was noted between the responsiveness of adenyl cyclase of skin obtained from normal or eczematous individuals. It appears that the defective inhibition by catecholamines of epidermal mitosis in eczema is not the result of defective response of adenyl cyclase.
A pascal theorem applied to Minkowski geometry

If on an oval in a projective plane a 4-point Pascal theorem, π, with fixed points U and V holds, then the oval is {(x,y) ¦xy=c} ∪ (O) ∪ (∞), with c ≠ O, in some Hall coordinatization. If for every 3 distinct points P, Q, R (not on UV; neither U nor V collinear with two of P, Q, R) there is through them a certain point set satisfying an extended version of π, then all these sets together with all lines not through U or V form the circles of a plane Minkowski (= pseudoeuclidean) geometry over a commutative field. π may be expressed in terms of Minkowski geometry. Together with incidence axioms derived from the protective incidence axioms, the Minkowski version of π characterizes the plane Minkowski geometry over a commutative field and is thus equivalent to Miquel's theorem.
Intestinal development and differentiation

In this review, we present an overview of intestinal development and cellular differentiation of the intestinal epithelium. The review is separated into two sections: Section one summarizes organogenesis of the small and large intestines, including endoderm and gut tube formation in early embryogenesis, villus morphogenesis, and crypt formation. Section two reviews cell fate specification and differentiation of each cell type within the intestinal epithelium. Growth factor and transcriptional networks that regulate these developmental processes are summarized.
Efferent connections of the caudate nucleus, including cortical projections of the striatum and other basal ganglia: An autoradiographic and horseradish peroxidase investigation in the cat

Tritiated tracer was injected into the head of the caudate nucleus in cats. Following such injections, labeling is present within extensive regions of both the globus pallidus and entopeduncular nucleus, where it presents a mottled or meshlike appearance. These projections are topographically organized in that there is simple correspondence between the mediolateral, dorsoventral, and rostrocaudal origin of the caudate projection and its input to the globus pallidus and entopeduncular nucleus. Transported tracer is also present within the substantia nigra, where it is most abundant within the pars reticularis. However, distinct labeling also overlies cells of the pars compacta, and lesser amounts of labeling are present within the pars lateralis and within the retrorubral area. Following injections of horseradish peroxidase into the caudate nucleus, and subsequent tissue processing by the tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) method of Mesulam ('78), labeled anterograde fibers are present in abundance within the globus pallidus, entopeduncular nucleus, and all subdivisions of the substantia nigra, thus confirming the autoradiographic findings. Also, it is especially obvious in this HRP material that, contrary to previous degeneration studies, both the rostromedial and caudolateral parts of the pars lateralis of the substantia nigra contain numerous anterogradely labeled fibers. Retrogradely labeled neurons are also present within the substantia nigra of these same tissue sections, where they are most abundant within the pars compacta, but lesser numbers of labeled neurons are also present within the pars reticularis, pars lateralis, retrorubral area, and ventral tegmental area on the ipsilateral side, and all of these same subdivisions of the substantia nigra on the contralateral side. Also, within the subthalamic nucleus in these experiments, there are anterogradely labeled fibers, as well as retrogradely labeled neurons, which are interpreted to represent a reciprocal connection between the subthalamic nucleus and the striatum. In a separate series of experiments, horseradish peroxidase was injected into the motor cortex-specifically into the anterior sigmoidal gyrus. Following such injections, labeled neurons representing afferents to the motor cortex are found in all subcortical nuclei commonly known as the "basal ganglia," including the caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, entopeduncular nucleus, substantia innominata, nucleus of the diagonal band of Broca, medial septal nucleus, claustrum, and basolateral amygdaloid nucleus.
Romanticism’s Scattered Leaves

This essay considers the archival anxieties attending the reproduction, reception and preservation of material remains, in the Romantic period and in our own. I focus on the recurrent trope of scattered leaves as an index of Romantic concerns about the fates of works on paper in the age of industrial papermaking. I suggest that the consequent transformation of the archive in the nineteenth century, both as a concept and as a set of material practices, offers a window onto our current moment of digital transformations of the Romantic legacy. The Romantic archive is haunted by the ruins of paper, unsettled by the changing forms of information storage and retrieval that characterize its day and ours. Ultimately, I argue that the goal of the digital archive should be to send us back to the paper legacies of the Romantics, not to wean us away from those material forms.
The design of the Triton nested relational database system

Unique database requirements of applications such as computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided software engineering(CASE), and office information systems(OIC) have driven the development of new data models and database systems based on these new models. In particular, the goal of these new database systems is to exploit the advantages of complex data models that are more efficient (in terms of time and space) than their relational counterparts.In this paper, we describe the design and implementation of the Triton nested relational database system, a prototype system based on the nested relational data model. Triton is intended to be used as the backend storage and access component of the aforementioned applications.This paper describes the architecture of the Triton system, and compares the performance of the nested relational model versus the relational model using Triton. In addition, this paper evaluates the EXODUS extensible database toolkit used in the development of the Triton system including key features of the persistent programming language E and the EXODUS storage manager.
Behaviour of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons associated with stabilized oil and coal ash artificial reef

Abstract An experimental artificial reef consisting of oil and coal fly ash stabilized with cement and lime has been placed in the Atlantic Ocean off the east central coast of Florida. The oil and fly ash were found to contain levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) similar to a moderately contaminated sediment. Detectable concentrations of individual PAH ranged from highs in the oil ash of 1200 and 270 ng g−1 to lows of 250 and 49 ng g−1 in stabilized bricks for fluoranthane and naphthalene, respectively. The stabilization process used in the construction of the reef bricks reduced the extractability of PAH from reef bricks by hot organic solvents. Because of the toxicity of some PAH, there is concern for leaching of the PAH by seawater from the waste ash used for construction of the reef. Leaching studies of the reef materials with seawater, however, indicated PAH are retained within the reef materials and that seawater is not an effective medium for removing PAH from reef bricks or the ash. Furthermore, the reef materials were found to adsorb PAH from the seawater phase. These results indicate that the stabilization of oil ash is an efficient tool for isolating PAH from environmental circulation.
Waveguide exciton polaritons in polymer optical waveguides doped with J-aggregating dyes: generation, emission and control

We show that the optical modes of thin polymer slabs doped with J-aggregating dye molecules are strongly coupled exciton - waveguide photon modes. The hybridization appears as splitting in the dispersion relation of the fundamental transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes of the system. It is shown that these modes can be controlled by changing the thickness of the optical waveguide and by changing the concentration of the dye molecules. Leaky conical emission from the strongly coupled modes with radial and azimuthl polarizations is captured.
Growth-regulator effect on New Guinea Impatiens hybrids

Abstract New Guinea Impatiens hybrids ‘Morning Star’, ‘Arctic Star’, ‘Pink Eyes’ and ‘Star Fire’ were tested for their response to (2-chloroethyl) trimethylammonium chloride (chlormequat, CCC), α-cyclopropyl, α-4-methoxypropyl, α-5-pyrimidine methanol (ancymidol, EL531) and succinic acid-2, 2-dimethylhydrazide (SADH). Treatments included the concentrations recommended for other bedding-plants plus extremely high concentrations, and were applied as a soil drench or a spray, with or without a surfactant. Results indicated highly significant cultivar × chemical interactions, which precludes the making of specific recommendations that would apply to all cultivars. Of the chemicals tested, ancymidol generally showed the largest and most stable effect. Where height was reduced, the reduction was usually less than 10% of total height. Because genetically controlled height variation in these Impatiens is much greater, breeding for the desired plant height should be more economical than chemical modification.
Truthful multipath routing for ad hoc networks with selfish nodes

Multiple path routing protocols are shown to be performance-effective alternatives over single-path routing for ad hoc networks. They provide better resistance to link breakage and load balancing. However, these protocols typically assume a cooperative network setting. In practice nodes in an ad hoc network may behave selfishly and may not be willing to forward packets for other nodes freely. One way to stimulate nodes' cooperation is to reimburse forwarding nodes according to their cost such that these nodes get enough incentive. However, selfish nodes may cheat over their cost to maximize their payoff. This necessitates the need for a truthful protocol which maximizes a node's payoff only when it reveals its true cost. In this paper, we present GTMR, a generic mechanism to transform any table-driven multipath routing protocol into a truthful one, and prove that it guarantees truthfulness. Further, we present TMRP - a truthful multipath routing protocol based on AOMDV protocol as an instance of GTMR. A prominent feature of TMRP is that it incurs only 2n control packets for a route discovery and does not require new types of control messages over AOMDV. To the best of our knowledge, this is the lowest overhead incurred for any truthful routing protocols. TMRP can also achieve load balancing without compromising truthfulness. We conduct an extensive simulation study to evaluate the performance of TMRP. Simulation results show that TMRP provides high packet delivery ratio and has low overhead and low end-to-end delay without compromising the overpayment to the nodes.
Inoculation theory and resistance to persuasion in marketing

Marketing has benefitted tremendously by psychological theories of persuasion. Unfortunately marketers have not taken full advantage of the psychological perspectives upon instilling resistance to persuasion. The purpose of this paper is to provide a review and analysis of the extant research in psychology and marketing pertaining to resistance to persuasion. Directions for future research are also discussed.
Experimental study on active vibration control of a gearbox system

Abstract An active internal gearbox structure is developed and evaluated experimentally to suppress gear pair vibration due to transmission error excitation. The approach is based on an active shaft transverse vibration control concept that was theoretically analyzed in an earlier study and determined to be one of the most feasible methods. The system comprises of a piezoelectric stack actuator for applying control forces to the shaft via a rolling element-bearing, and a highly efficient, enhanced delayed-x LMS control algorithm to generate the appropriate control signals. To avoid the aliasing effects of higher frequency signals and reduce the phase delay of conventional filters, a multi-rate minimum-phase low-pass digital filter is also integrated into the controller. The experimental results yield 8–13 dB attenuation in the gearbox housing vibration levels and correspondingly 5–8 dB reduction in measured gear whine noise levels at the first and second operating gear mesh frequencies.
Reflections on qualitative research in sport psychology

Four primarily quantitative researchers in the field of sport and exercise psychology offer their observations on qualitative methods. Topics addressed include their assessment of certain strengths and weaknesses of qualitative research, frustrations and concerns in reading and evaluating qualitative research, and speculation on the future of qualitative research in sport and exercise psychology.
Optical Electric Field Assessment in a Dielectric Liquid

A new experimental method is described in which the electrostrictive effect in a liquid is made visible. A real-time interferometer employing a Q-switched ruby laser was used to record transient optical disturbances. When a pulse voltage, synchronized with the laser pulse, was applied to the test object, interference fringes were produced in the viewing plane that could be recorded on photographic film. Experimental results are presented, together with a model for interpretation.
High school dropouts: a case of negatively sloping supply and positively sloping demand curves

This study proposes and estimates a model that incorporates the approach of the supply of and demand for school dropouts. The model is estimated by using data for 604 Ohio school districts. On the supply side, attendance is the most dominant variable in explaining variations in the dropout rate. This is followed in importance by family structure, price and race. On the demand side, price is the most dominant variable, followed by income, attendance rate and divorce rate. The demand is highly price elastic, but the supply function is price inelastic. The model is also estimated by using cumulative inputs over 5 and 9 years. The results support the hypothesis that dropping out is a cumulative process. According to the results of this paper, schools can reduce dropouts with additional financial resources. However, the final outcome depends on the interaction of supply and demand for outputs.
Ontogeny of epidermal growth factor receptor/kinase and of lipocortin-1 in the ovine lung.

We have examined the ontogeny and distri- bution of the epidermal growth factor receptorlkinase (EGF receptor) and of lipocortin-1, a major cellular sub- strate of the EGF receptor, in a developmental series of 13 normal ovine fetal lungs (44-145 d of gestation) using the peroxidase anti-peroxidase technique with two extensively characterized polyclonal antibodies recognizing the EFG receptor and one polyclonal antibody recognizing lipocor- tin-1. Immunoreactive EGF receptorlkinase and lipocortin- 1 were detected in conducting airway epithelium by the end of the first trimester of pregnancy before bronchial glands could be identified. This was followed at two-thirds of gestation by immunoreactivity in bronchial glands and large bronchioles adjacent to postive bronchi. By seven- eighths of gestation conducting airway epithelium no longer contained consistently detectable immunostaining for EGF receptor, although lipocortin-1 was identified until term in all levels of conducting airways. In contrast, neither EGF receptor nor lipocortin-1 immunoreactivity was detected in alveolar type I or type I1 epithelial cells, fibrocytes, chon- drocytes, smooth muscle, or endothelial cells at any ges- tational age. These findings suggest that EGF receptor and lipocortin-1 may participate in early airway development. (Pediatr Res 25:535-541, 1989)
Acute hepatic allograft rejection: Incidence, risk factors, and impact on outcome

Hepatic allograft rejection remains an important problem following liver transplantation, and, indeed, complications related to the administration of immunosuppressive therapy remain a predominant cause of posttransplantation morbidity and mortality. The Liver Transplantation Database (LTD) was used to study a cohort of 762 consecutive adult liver transplantation recipients and determined the incidence, timing, and risk factors for acute rejection. We also evaluated the impact of histological severity of rejection on the need for additional immunosuppressive therapy and on patient and graft survival. Four hundred ninety (64%) of the 762 adult liver transplantation recipients developed at least one episode of rejection during a median follow-up period of 1,042 days (range, 336-1,896 days), most of which occurred during the first 6 weeks after transplantation. Multivariate analysis revealed that recipient age, serum creatinine, aspartate transaminase (AST) level, presence of edema, donor/recipient HLA-DR mismatch, cold ischemic time, and donor age were independently associated with the time to acute rejection. An interesting observation was that the histological severity of rejection was an important prognosticator: the use of antilymphocyte preparations was higher, and the time to death or retransplantation was shorter, for patients with severe rejection. Findings from this study will assist in decision-making for the use of immunosuppressive regimens and call into question whether complete elimination of all rejection or alloreactivity is a desirable goal in liver transplantation.
A prosentential theory of truth

In a number of articles published since 1972, Dorothy Grover has developed the prosentential theory of truth. Brought together and published with a new introduction, these essays do not address traditional truth issues like belief, meaning and justification. Instead, they focus on the grammatical role of the truth predicate and assert that "it is true" is a prosentence, functioning much as a pronoun does. Grover defends the theory by indicating how it can handle notorious paradoxes like the Liar, as well as by analyzing some English truth-usages. The introduction to the volume surveys traditional theories of truth, including correspondence, pragmatic and coherence theories. It considers the implications of the prosentential theory for other theories. Despite the fact that the prosentential theory dismisses the "nature of truth" as a red herring, Grover shows that there are important aspects of traditional truth theories that prosentential theorists have the option of endorsing.
Computational approach to biological validation of protein-protein interactions discovered using literature mining

In this paper we describe a computational technique to validate protein-protein interactions discovered using BioMap, a literature mining system. Two experiments were carried out to validate the interactions pairs. In this study, we used a total of 32,693 documents with 193,738 sentences related to multiple sclerosis from the Medline literature database. From these sentences, BioMap found 1004 explicit and 15,000 implicit protein interaction pairs of which 271 explicit and 16 implicit interactions were validated using the proposed techniques. These results indicate that the proposed methods can be effectively used for biological verification of protein-protein interactions that are obtained through literature mining.
Acid rain: Controllable?

Acid rain is one of a growing number of environmental issues in which impacts are far removed from the source o f the irritants. Those who suffer may differ in geographical area from those who benefit from the activity which releases pollution to the atmosphere. Like the issue concerning the depletion of ozone by manufactured chemicals, the acid rain issue further emphasizes the need for continuing atmospheric chemistry research, a science whose history dates back but a few decades. Examination of the acid rain issue also calls for intimate collaboration of atmospheric scientists with ecologists, biologists, and other scientists, who must advise the geophysicists regarding what chemicals in the environment produce damage, their mode of entry into an ecosystem, and the need to understand acute or chronic impacts.
Post-seismic slip on the San Andreas Fault at the northwestern end of the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake rupture zone

A small geodetic network spanning the San Andreas fault was measured 7, 77, 157, and 200 days following the October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta M7.1 earthquake. This network is located at the northwestern end of the rupture plane defined by the locations of numerous aftershocks. In the initial 70-day interval, the measured line-length changes revealed that 5.4 ± 0.4 mm of right-lateral slip occurred within the network. However, during the later 4 month interval only a marginally significant rate, 3.2 ± 1.4 mm/yr, of right-lateral slip could be detected. Thus, it appears that the measured slip is a typical response of the fault following a major shock in that the rate of slip decreases rapidly with time. However, the magnitude of the post-seismic slip is less than 0.5% of the inferred co-seismic slip at depth.
Scalable ∊-optimal self-organization in communicating swarms using implicit probabilistic automata

The problem of scalable near-optimal distributed control of swarms is investigated with emphasis on decentralized e-optimal path planning to locally sensed targets. The proposed algorithm only uses information that can be locally queried, and rigorous theoretical results on convergence, robustness, scalability are established, and effect of system parameters such as the agent-level communication radius and agent velocities on global performance is analyzed. The fundamental philosophy of the proposed approach is to percolate local information across the swarm, enabling agents to indirectly access the global context A gradient emerges, reflecting the performance of agents, computed in a distributed manner via local information exchange between neighboring agents. It is shown that to follow near-optimal routes to a target which can be only sensed locally, and whose location is not known a priori, the agents need to simply move towards its “best” neighbor, where the notion of “best” is obtained by computing the state-specific language measure of an underlying probabilistic finite state automata. The theoretical results are validated in high-fidelity simulation experiments, with a minimum of 104 agents. Several controlled behaviors of interest are demonstrated in simulation which go beyond rendezvous-type scenarios, thus potentially laying the framework to complex collaborative task execution by large scale engineered swarms in near future.
Attack on Protections Against Air Pollution

p It is well accepted that air pollution has a deleterious impact on personal and public health. Because control and reduction of air pollution are subject to federal regulation, physicians, as advocates for patients, must help educate the Congress on its critical role in preventing the health effects of air pollution. This is particularly important given that Congress is currently debating whether to dismantle existing laws that protect the air we breathe, especially the Clean Air Act [CAA], a cornerstone of environmental health law. First passed in 1963, the CAA authorizes the federal government to reduce airborne contaminants, smog, and air pollution in general. Responsibility for the CAA was given to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after its establishment in 1970. Since its initial passage, a number of amendments to the lawhave been passed—all with strong bipartisan support—to keep pace with the growing evidence base directly linking air quality to health. Unfortunately, a faction in Congress is working to soften regulations on environmental polluters, which, consequently, will greatly weaken the health-protective impacts of the CAA. Several bills have been introduced in the 112th Congress to delay or remove the authority of the EPA to regulate pollutants such as carbon dioxide and others, which researchers have found contribute to the greenhouse effect in the Earth’s atmosphere. For example, H.R.2584, currently before the full House, has provisions to prevent the EPA from requiring public reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, prevent the EPA from requiring emissions permits for major sources of greenhouse gas, and bar state or federal lawsuits regarding greenhouse gas emissions. (A list of dozens of similar bills at different stages of advancement in Congress is available from the corresponding author.) The increased emission of carbon dioxide and other pollutants, known as “greenhouse gases,” is problematic because the ability of the environment to absorb these pollutants is far exceeded by their emission rate. This is causing increased temperature levels in the atmosphere. The temperaturechange inparticular isbeginning tohaveadramatic
The Architectural Lessons of Anselm Kiefer's La Ribaute

ABSTRACTThis article examines the architectural significance of Anselm Kiefer’s situated art practice, exploring how relationships of poetry, history and culture, presented across all of his work, provide vital lessons for architectural thinking and doing. Kiefer’s creation of La Ribaute, outside Barjac, France, is particularly well suited to the study of a hermeneutic approach to architectural creation, since the reinterpretation of historical and mythical themes across painting, sculpture, earthworks and architecture critically situates modern creative practice within the larger continuum of human culture and knowledge.
The systematic status of the Ramphotyphlops flaviventer (Peters) complex (Serpentes: Typhlopidae)

An examination of the type specimens of Typhlops aluensis Boulenger, T. buehleri Hediger, T. depressus Peters, T. flaviventer Peters, T. philococos Wemer, T similis Brongersma, and T. supranasalis Brongersma, in conjunction with external and internal morphology, indicates that Ramphotyphlops flaviventer (sensu McDowell) consists of two easily recognizable allopatric populations here considered as valid species, a western one referred to R. flaviventer and an eastern one referred to R. depressus. Two additional taxa (R. similis and R. supranasalis), closely related to R. flaviventer, appear to deserve recognition. Ramphotyphlops similis is distinct from R. flaviventer in external morphology and thus elevated to full species status. The status of R. supranasalis is debatable but it is provisionally treated as a full species based upon discrete supranasals and an insular distribution. A taxonomic synopsis and preliminary identification key to the Ramphotyphlops flaviventer complex are provided.
Modelling the effect of groundwater abstraction on salmonid habitat availability in the river Allen, Dorset, England

The River Allen in Dorset, England is regarded as a classic example of a chalk stream and historically has a reputation as a high quality trout and salmon fishery. Since 1946 the Allen has been subject to groundwater abstraction from chalk boreholes situated close to the stream. Significant reductions in salmonid populations in recent years prompted the National Rivers Authority Wessex (now South Western) Region to initiate detailed hydrological, biological and fisheries studies to investigate the perceived problem. As part of these studies the Institute of Hydrology was commissioned to investigate the effect of the historical groundwater abstraction regime on the availability of physical habitat for life stages of trout and salmon (Johnson et al., 1993). The modelling procedure used the instream flow incremental methodology (IFIM) (Bovee, 1982), which was implemented using the physical habitat simulation (PHABSIM) model (Milhous et al., 1984). Outputs from PHABSIM hydraulic models were combined with habitat suitability data for life stages of trout and salmon to develop habitat (weighted usable area) versus discharge relationships. Habitat suitability indices were developed by the National Rivers Authority Wessex Region by snorkelling and wading in a number of chalk streams similar in character to the Allen. To assess the impact of groundwater abstraction on the temporal variation of habitat availability, weighted usable area versus discharge relationships were combined with a 20 year time series of mean monthly historical and ‘naturalized’ flows. The resulting time series of historical and naturalized weighted usable areas were analysed using a standard duration curve program to demonstrate the effect of the abstraction on the availability of habitat for each species life stage considered.
Conceptual-to-internal mappings in commercial database systems

Developing a commercial or specialized database system is an exceedingly costly and time consuming undertaking. A goal of this research is to demonstrate that a significant portion of a DBMS's software, specifically the physical database component, can be developed automatically from a small set of specifications.In this paper, we explain a new method of modeling physical databases and show that it provides a framework for realizing such a software development technology. Unlike any existing method, ours makes conceptual-to-internal mappings explicit. This enables the physical database component of operational DBMSs to be described in a systematic, precise, and simple way. Because our method also extends earlier research, it also provides a means for tieing physical database theory to practice.
Why Testing Improves Memory: Mediator Effectiveness Hypothesis

A wealth of research has established that practice tests improve memory for the tested material. Although the benefits of practice tests are well documented, the mechanisms underlying testing effects are not well understood. We propose the mediator effectiveness hypothesis, which states that more-effective mediators (that is, information linking cues to targets) are generated during practice involving tests with restudy versus during restudy only. Effective mediators must be retrievable at time of test and must elicit the target response. We evaluated these two components of mediator effectiveness for learning foreign language translations during practice involving either test-restudy or restudy only. Supporting the mediator effectiveness hypothesis, test-restudy practice resulted in mediators that were more likely to be retrieved and more likely to elicit targets on a final test.