cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A combination assay for simultaneous assessment of multiple signaling pathways.

Abstract We have developed an assay in which modulation of two or more signaling pathways can be assessed concurrently by combining reporter gene systems with fluorescent probe technology. The validation of this method was achieved by indirect analysis of adenylyl cyclase activation with the use of a cyclic AMP response element (CRE)–luciferase reporter system in combination with the measurement of calcium mobilization by Calcium Green™-1 AM fluorescence on a fluorescent imaging plate reader. To demonstrate the utility of the method in studying the pharmacology of receptors that couple to more than one G protein, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which stably expressed both the CRE-luciferase reporter gene and the human pituitary adenylyl cyclase-activating peptide (PACAP) receptor, were treated with PACAP 1-27 and 1-38. Calcium mobilization and the induction of adenylyl cyclase activity in response to each concentration of peptide were assessed in individuals wells. This assay may also be used to screen for ligands of two or more unrelated receptors simultaneously without compromising the assessment of either signaling pathway. To illustrate this point, Rat-1 fibroblasts, which expressed human α 1A receptors, were cocultured with CRE-luciferase CHO cells, which expressed human GLP-1 receptors. Calcium mobilization elicited by phenylephrine agonism of the α 1A receptor was assessed in the same assay as GLP-1-induced activation of adenylyl cyclase. The pEC 50 for each agonist was similar to that observed when the cell lines were not cocultured. The number of different receptors that can be screened per well is limited only by the ability to distinguish different reporter gene signals and fluorescent indicators.
Effect of thyroid hormone on respiratory control of liver mitochondria from adult and senescent rats.

Changes in the State-3 (ADP-stimulated) and State-4 (controlled) rates of succinate oxidation in liver mitochondria induced by thyroid hormone were examined in adult (12–13 months old) and senescent (27–29 months old) rats. Adult animals, made hypothyroid by feeding thiouracil, had significantly decreased State-3 rates of respiration and respiratory control ratios. The State-4 rate of oxidation was not lowered significantly. A single injection of triiodo-l-thyronine (T3) to these hypothyroid rats resulted in increases in States-3 and -4 rates of respiration as well as in the respiratory control ratios. The enhancement of the State-3 rate was evident at 6 hr after hormonal administration, reaching a maximum (2.3-fold the hypothyroid value) in about 2 days, with this high level being maintained for at least an additional 3 days. The increase in State-4 rate of succinate oxidation was 1.6-fold; this was attained in 1 day after injection of T3 and was maintained for at least an additional 4 days. The rates of induction by T3 of the increases in States-3 and -4 rates of succinate oxidation and respiratory control ratio as well as the maximal levels achieved with hormonal administration were the same in adult and senescent rats. These findings suggest that the biochemical machinery necessary for the stimulation in respiratory rates and respiratory control ratio in the livers of aged animals is in no way impaired and that senescent rats are fully capable of responding, at least in this system, to the direct adaptive stress of thyroid hormone.
Web-based Analytical Tools for the Exploration of Spatial Data

This paper deals with the extension of internet-based geographic information systems with functionality for exploratory spatial data analysis (esda). The specific focus is on methods to identify and visualize outliers in maps for rates or proportions. Three sets of methods are included: extreme value maps, smoothed rate maps and the Moran scatterplot. The implementation is carried out by means of a collection of Java classes to extend the Geotools open source mapping software toolkit. The web based spatial analysis tools are illustrated with applications to the study of homicide rates and cancer rates in U.S. counties.
Verification of prehistoric campfires by 40Ar39Ar analysis of fire-baked stones

Abstract 40Ar39Ar analysis may be used to test whether or not suspected hearths and cooking pits from archaeological sites of ancient man ever contained fires. Under some circumstances it may even be possible to deduce the intensity of use and to estimate ages for sites too old to be dated by conventional 14C analysis. This is done using the stepwise heating variant of 40Ar39Ar analysis to measure argon loss from rocks caused by heating in the campfire. It appears to be possible to determine if stones containing microcline or other potassium-bearing minerals were ever heated above ∼500°C for 30 min or more.
Numerical study of small-scale intermittency in three-dimensional turbulence

Intermittency effects, in magnitude comparable to the early Batchelor & Townsend (1949) experiments, are studied for stationary, homogeneous, isotropic turbulence by means of a direct spectral simulation on a 643 lattice. The turbulence is kept stationary by a coupling to modes external to the spectral code that model the straining effects of large scales on smaller ones. The rate of energy input and viscosity are free parameters. The interrelations of intermittency and parametrizations of the large scales are discussed. Small-scale universality and a local cascade are necessary if comprehensive models of the large scales are to prove tractable. An iterative method to determine the otherwise arbitrary parameters in such a scheme is proposed but not implemented.The equations for energy and vorticity balance are checked as a function of wave-number. The nonlinear (e.g. vortex stretching) terms in the spectral simulation account for nearly 95% of the vorticity production with the external forcing supplying the rest. The non-dimensionalized one-dimensional energy spectrum agrees well with experiments in the dissipation range at Rλ ∼ 100. The locality of the energy cascade in wavenumber is also examined.First- and second-derivative flatness factors of order 4·5-5·0 and 9·0 respectively are found under stationary conditions with bursts to higher values. Resolution and other systematic errors are explored by extensive runs with a 323 code; de-aliasing all higher-order derivative statistics; and recomputing selected averages after zeroing in succession the highest- and lowest-wavenumber bands. The latter analysis is of some relevance to the experimental problem of gauging how a finite-length hot wire biases a flatness measurement. A host of other higher-order derivative statistics are computed, including the vorticity/rate of strain correlations. Three-dimensional plots of the vorticity reveal persistent and extended tubes, sheets and blobs.
Effects of the mutant sigma allele rpoD800 on the synthesis of specific macromolecular components of the Escherichia coli K12 cell

Escherichia coli K12 strains containing the mutant sigma allele rpoD800 are temperature-sensitive for growth. We have compared gene expression in isogenic rpoD+ and rpoD800 cells during steady-state growth and after temperature shift, in order to define the role of the sigma subunit in vivo. We have shown that sigma synthesis is regulated. After temperature shift-up, sigma behaves like other heat-shock proteins. The stimulation of sigma synthesis by heat shock is greater in mutant than in wild-type cells, possibly because the cell is responding to sigma limitation at high temperature by over-producing sigma. Mutant cells continue protein synthesis for a short time after shift-up and then shut off the synthesis of all proteins in response to the decreasing intracellular concentration of sigma. During the initial period of high protein synthesis, the relative expression of many proteins is changed in mutant cells. We argue that these changes are predominantly an indirect, rather than a direct effect of mutant sigma and are due to a change in the physiological state of mutant cells. Finally, we have shown that degradation of mutant sigma results in a decrease in synthesis of all major messenger RNA and stable RNA species. If other sigma factors are present in exponentially growing cells, they do not appear to be involved in a significant fraction of RNA synthesis.
Host finding by moths: sensory modalities and behaviours.

Abstract Despite their economic importance, moths have not been the subject of intense studies on host finding as have been their larvae or adults of other groups of insects. This paper details the host-finding behaviour of Heliothis virescens and the kinds of external sensory modalities involved in this process compared with those in other moths. Based on a review of the literature, models for strategies of host finding are discussed, along with the importance of experience and metabolic states on oviposition by moths.
Thermoregulation in crocodilians - III. Thermal preferenda, voluntary maxima, and heating and cooling rates in the American alligator, Alligator mississipiensis

Grouped data for head and body mean-preferred temperature were 31.° C (range 28.9° -35.9° C) and 32.0° C (range 29.9° -35.6° C) respectively, and the differences were not significant. Grouped data for measn-voluntary maxima for the head and body were 34.4° C (range 31.4° -38.1° C) and 33.7° C (range 31.5° -38.5° C) respectively. A comparison of thermal preferenda and varying sized individuals of Alligator mississipiensis showed a direct relationship between size and preferred temperature. The most effective method of reducing head and body temperature was that of seeking shade; water would be effective, but in this study enough water for complete submersion was not available in the experimental enclosures. Gaping was observed several times during the study but had little effect on head temperature. Heating and cooling experiments conducted in constant temperatute water-baths demonstrated that a 49.9 kg alligator heated in 36.5% of the time it required to cool. The alligator shows a greater alteration in heating and cooling time than any other reptile studied.
On the modeling of the Taylor cylinder impact test for orthotropic textured materials: experiments and simulations

Abstract Taylor impact tests using specimens cut from a rolled plate of tantalum were conducted. The tantalum was experimentally characterized in terms of flow stress and crystallographic texture. A piece-wise yield surface was interrogated from an ODF corresponding to this texture assuming two slip system modes, in conjunction with an elastic stiffness tensor computed from the same ODF and single crystal elastic properties. This constitutive information was used in EPIC-95 3D simulations of a Taylor impact test, and good agreement was realized between the calculational results and the experimental post-test geometries in terms of major and minor side profiles and impact-interface footprints.
Control strategies for the reduction of airborne particulate nitrate in California's San Joaquin Valley

Abstract The effect of NO x , volatile organic compound (VOC), and NH 3 emissions control programs on the formation of particulate ammonium nitrate in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) was examined under the typical winter conditions that existed on 4–6 January, 1996. The UCD/CIT photochemical transport model was used for this study so that the source origin of primary particulate matter and secondary particulate matter could be identified. When averaged across the entire SJV, the model results predict that 13–18% of the reactive nitrogen (NO y =NO x +reaction products of NO x ) emitted from local sources within the SJV was converted to nitrate at the ground level. Each gram of NO x emitted locally within the SJV (expressed as NO 2 ) produced 0.23–0.31 g of particulate ammonium nitrate (NH 4 NO 3 ), which is much smaller than the maximum theoretical yield of 1.7 g of NH 4 NO 3 per gram of NO 2 . The fraction of reactive nitrogen converted to nitrate varied strongly as a function of location. Urban regions with large amounts of fresh NO emissions converted little reactive nitrogen to nitrate, while remote areas had up to 70% conversion (equivalent to approximately 1.2 g of NH 4 NO 3 per gram of NO 2 ). The use of a single spatially averaged ratio of NH 4 NO 3 /NO x as a predictor of how changes to NO x emissions would affect particulate nitrate concentrations would not be accurate at all locations in the SJV under the conditions studied. The largest local sources of particulate nitrate in the SJV were predicted to be diesel engines and catalyst equipped gasoline engines under the conditions experienced on 6 January, 1996. Together, these sources accounted for less than half of the ground-level nitrate aerosol in the SJV. The remaining fraction of the aerosol nitrate originated from reactive nitrogen originally released upwind of the SJV. The majority of this upwind reactive nitrogen was already transformed to nitrate by the time it entered the SJV. The effect of local emissions controls on this upwind material was small. A 50% reduction in NO x emissions applied to sources within the SJV reduced the predicted concentration of total nitrate by approximately 25% during the study episode. VOC emissions controls were less effective, while reasonable NH 3 emissions controls had the smallest effect on the amount of ammonium nitrate produced. A 50% reduction in VOC emissions lowered predicted concentrations of total nitrate by 17.5%, while a 50% reduction in NH 3 emissions lowered predicted concentrations of total nitrate by only 10%. This latter result is expected since the formation of ammonium nitrate aerosol is limited by the availability of gas-phase nitric acid, with large amounts of excess NH 3 available. NO x emissions controls appear to be the most efficient method to reduce the concentration of locally generated particulate nitrate in the SJV under the conditions experienced on 4–6 January, 1996.
Quality Assessment Through Patient Self-report of Symptoms Prefiberoptic and Postfiberoptic Bronchoscopy

Study objective To apply the principles of quality improvement to measure the frequency and severity of symptoms that result from fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB), and to identify opportunities to improve FOB practice by identifying factors about patients and the process of care that predict these symptoms. Design Concurrent longitudinal cohort study. Patients Four hundred ninety-three adult patients who underwent FOB. Measurements and results Patients completed questionnaires just prior to FOB and again at 48 h postprocedure. Patients were asked to rate the severity of nose pain, throat pain, swallowing pain, and chest pain, and the frequency of coughing, hemoptysis, phlegm, shortness of breath, wheezing, difficulty swallowing, fever, and chills. Symptom severity was reported on a four-point ordinal scale. Findings: Significant worsening was found for nose pain, throat pain, swallowing pain, and hemoptysis. Shorter patients experienced more throat pain and hemoptysis, and longer procedure time predicted nose pain and hemoptysis. Conclusions Bronchoscopy causes nose pain, throat pain, swallowing pain, and hemoptysis to a larger extent than previously has been recognized. There are opportunities to improve the patient experience with bronchoscopy by using smaller bronchoscopes in shorter patients, shortening the procedure length, and reanesthetizing the nares in longer procedures.
Pathology and epidemiology of conjoined twinning in swine.

Among 67 pigs with conjoined twinning observed over four and one-half years the majority had partial rather than complete twinning. Fifty-two percent of the 67 pigs were classified as syncephalus, i.e., with 1 head and two bodies. Epidemiologically, most were crossbred pigs born in February, March, and April on farms scattered throughout the swine-producing regions of Missouri. In addition each was the only deformed pig in the litter. Comparison of some 32 swine husbandry variables for conjoined twin herds and matched-paired environmental control herds did not identify any major environmental or genetic factors associated with conjoined twinning in Missouri swine.
Base saturation, nutrient cation, and organic matter increases during early pedogenesis on landslide scars in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico

We evaluate data from a chronosequence study of landslide scars, ranging in age from 1–55+ yr, in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF) a subtropical lower montane wet forest (sensu Holdridge) in eastern Puerto Rico. Surface mineral soil (0–10 cm) base saturation index (BSI) values increase during primary succession in the LEF (R = 0.85, P < 0.001). Both BSI values and major nutrient cation concentrations are extremely low on new landslide scars. During the course of the 55+ yr chronosequence, major nutrient cation concentrations are positively correlated with soil organic matter (SOM) content (P = 0.079) and not with clay content (P = 0.794). When data collected from plots representing the two dominant late-succession vegetation associations are added to the analysis, nutrient cation concentrations correlate significantly with both SOM (P = 0.001) and clay content (P = 0.033). Our data show that when initial conditions are oligotrophic, both nutrient cation pools and BSI values can increase in the surface mineral soil during early pedogenesis. We discuss exogenic litter input, substrate weathering, and precipitation as potential sources for nutrient cations in these soils. We further suggest that production and decomposition of SOM is the dominant process controlling capture, retention and intra-ecosystem cycling of nutrient cations in these forests.
Structural characterization of epitaxial GMR magnetic multilayers and spin valves grown by sputter deposition

Epitaxial Cu/Py/FeMn and (Cu/Co)×20 GMR magnetic multilayers were grown on single crystal (011) Nb that was deposited on (1121) Al2O3 substrates by dc magnetron sputtering. Electron backscatter patterns (EBSPs) revealed that the Cu films display two twin variants, corresponding to two stacking sequences of {111} planes in fcc. The epitaxial orientation relationship between the bcc Nb and both fcc Cu variants was the Nishiyama-Wasserman (N-W) relationship. Conventional TEM observations revealed epitaxial growth for both the Cu/Py/FeMn and (Cu/Co)×20 multilayers. High-resolution TEM confirmed epitaxial growth of close packed (011) Nb on (1120) Al2O3 substrates with [111]Nb‖[0001]Al2O3. Numerous small twins were observed in the Cu near the Cu-Nb interface of the Cu/Py/FeMn multilayer. In the Cu/Co multilayer, the growth planes of the Cu and Co were found to be {100} instead of the expected close-packed {111} planes of the fcc structure.
An all-or-none theory for learning on both the paired-associate and concept levels

Abstract A theory is proposed for paired-associate learning tasks in which several items are interrelated to facilitate learning. The theory is a synthesis of the all-or-none paired-associate and concept models. It assumes that when an item is presented either nothing is learned, or that item alone is learned, or the group of related items is learned. Thus the theory postulates both instance learning and rule learning. From the general theory, a number of learning models are derived for various item presentation schedules and levels of data analysis. In particular, the serial learning, study-test, anticipation, and Bernoulli procedures are studied in conjunction with the individual item level and concept level error-success processes.
Progress in the Preparatory Commission: A secretariat perspective

Abstract Preparatory Commissions of the United Nations generally function as rule-making bodies for future international organizations. The Preparatory Commission for the International Sea-Bed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has an additional and possibly unique mandate to administer a provisional sea-bed mining regime which will last until entry into force of the Law of the Sea Convention. This paper will examine, within the context of its mandates, the progress the Preparatory Commission has made since its inception with respect to its two principal functions: institution building and regime building. It will show that significant and important progress has been made and suggest what this implies for the future.
Peripheral neuropathy in lead‐intoxicated sickle cell patients

Peripheral neuropathy and hypertension caused by lead intoxication are reported in two children with sickle cell anemia. One child had generalized weakness in the initial occurrence and distal paralysis during a relapse two years later. The second child had foot and wrist drop. Both had slow peripheral nerve conduction velocities during the episodes. Chelation therapy was successful and resulted in a return of strength (over a period of several months) and a normalization of the blood pressures. Children with sickle cell anemia who are subjected to lead intoxication appear to be predisposed to peripheral nerve damage.
Convergence and error bounds for passive stochastic algorithms using vanishing step size

Abstract This work is concerned with passive stochastic approximation (PSA) algorithms having vanishing or decreasing step size and window width. Unlike the traditional stochastic approximation methods, the passive stochastic approximation algorithms utilize passive strategies. Under the framework of PSA, not only the measurement noise is unobservable, but also the “state” { x n } is a randomly generated sequence. In our formulation, both the observation noise and the randomly generated { x n } are correlated random processes. Under rather general conditions, w.p.1. convergence of the algorithms is established. Then upper bounds on estimation errors are obtained. It is shown that the bounds depend on the smoothness of the function under consideration in an essential way, which reveals another distinct feature of the passive algorithms.
Bioreactors for synthesis gas fermentations

Abstract Bacterial cultures have been isolated for the conversion of synthesis gas (CO, H2 and CO2) into ethanol or methane. These heterogeneous reactions require the transport of substrate through the gas phase, across the interface into the liquid phase, and to the solid microorganisms. The reactions are generally mass transfer limited due to very low gas solubilities. Bioreactors must maximize mass transport, while achieving high cell densities to promote fast reaction. This paper examines the performance of both dispersed gas phase systems (CSTR) and dispersed liquid phase systems (immobilized cell reactors) under mass transfer controlled and non-mass transfer controlled conditions. Mass transfer coefficients are determined and models are developed to predict bioreactor behavior. Retention times of a few minutes are achieved for these gaseous substrate fermentations.
Review article: the safety profile of tegaserod

Gastrointestinal symptoms are the most common side-effects of tegaserod therapy. In data pooled from Phase III randomized controlled trials in patients with irritable bowel syndrome with constipation, diarrhoea was reported by 8.8% of patients treated with tegaserod 6 mg b.d. vs. 3.8% of patients treated with placebo. Similar rates were observed in international post-US marketing randomized controlled trials. In most patients, tegaserod-induced diarrhoea was mild and transient. In randomized controlled trials, it did not elicit fluid or electrolyte disturbances, and fewer than 3% of irritable bowel syndrome patients discontinued tegaserod due to diarrhoea. The incidence of other gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g. abdominal pain, nausea and flatulence) was similar in tegaserod-treated and placebo-treated patients. Pooled analysis of Phase III and post-US marketing randomized controlled trials did not demonstrate significant differences between tegaserod-treated and placebo-treated patients in the incidence of abdominal/pelvic surgery. No episodes of ischaemic colitis were reported in tegaserod-using patients in any Phase III or post-marketing randomized controlled trials, and post-marketing surveillance indicated that the rate of ischaemic colitis in tegaserod-using patients was lower than that in non-tegaserod-using patients. Pooled analysis of Phase III randomized controlled trials demonstrated an increase in the incidence of headaches in tegaserod-treated (6 mg b.d.) vs. placebo-treated patients (15% vs. 12.3%, respectively; P < 0.05), although post-US marketing randomized controlled trials did not demonstrate this increase. Other extra-gastrointestinal adverse events occurred with similar frequency in tegaserod-treated and placebo-treated patients. Tegaserod-treated patients in randomized controlled trials did not demonstrate significant prolongation of the QTc interval or cardiac arrhythmias compared with placebo-treated patients. In summary, tegaserod exhibits a favourable safety and tolerability profile in irritable bowel syndrome patients based on data from clinical trials.
Hierarchical reliable multicast: performance analysis and placement of proxies

The use of proxies for local error recovery and congestion control is a scalable technique used to overcome a number of well-known problems in Reliable Multicast (RM). The idea is that the multicast delivery tree is partitioned into subgroups that form a hierarchy rooted at the source, hence the term Hierarchical Reliable Multicast (HRM). For each subgroup, there is a designated node, the proxy, which is responsible for collecting the feedback from the subgroup and for locally re-transmitting the lost packets. The performance of any RM protocol is affected by the underlying multicast routing tree and its loss characteristics. Furthermore, the performance of the HRM approach, in particular, strongly depends on the appropriate partitioning of the tree and the selection of proxies. In this paper, we first model the HRM problem, then define and compute appropriate performance metrics and finally give insights on the optimal location of proxies.
Simulation of Hard Particles in a Phase-Separating Binary Mixture

We simulate the motion of spherical particles in a phase-separating binary mixture. By combining cell dynamical equations with Langevin dynamics for particles, we show that the addition of hard particles significantly changes both the speed and the morphology of the phase separation. At the late stage of the spinodal decomposition process, particles significantly slow down the domain growth, in qualitative agreement with earlier experimental data.
Arachidonate-induced hydrocephalus and hyperthermia: "dilutional tolerance" to centrally injected pyrogen and PGE1.

Abstract Conscious, unrestrained cats given multiple injections of sodium arachidonate into a lateral cerebral ventricle responded with prolonged increases in body temperature. Development of tolerance was indicated by a gradual reduction in the response to successive doses. Cross-tolerance developed to hyperthermic actions of intraventricular bacterial endotoxin and prostaglandin E 1 but not to leukocytic pyrogen given IV. Tolerance to the centrally administered agents was associated with enlargement of the cerebral ventricles and was therefore at least partially due to dilution of injected solutions by the increased volume of cerebrospinal fluid. The lateral ventricles were the most affected, particularly on the side of injection. There was no indication of physical obstruction within the ventricular system. Light microscopic examination revealed regions of chronic granulomatous inflammation of the subependymal zone of the periventricular tissues. The hydrocephalus was not secondary to the large number of intraventricular injections per se , to alkalinity of the arachidonate solution or to intermittent development of hyperthermia and was apparently a specific response to arachidonate. Intraventricular administration of arachidonate provides a means of inducing hydrocephalus with minimal morbidity and mortality.
Whoever can speak, can sing

Despite the rhetoric of failure inherent in the long‐lasting debates over school music instruction in Russia, the practice of school singing teaching in Russian schools, especially those serving peasants and the urban lower classes, satisfied to a large degree the needs of the community. However, the limited role for school music and singing instruction offered under this model did not satisfy the needs of the nascent music profession. Musical pedagogues attempted to increase the legitimacy of music and singing in the school curriculum by improving the status of both the subject and of its teachers. These efforts met with limited success. Although the state was willing to acknowledge the importance of music for the moral and aesthetic education of children, both the public and school officials tended to maintain, rather than modify, their belief that music instruction was peripheral to the main objectives of schooling. Whatever the flaws of school music instruction, when well taught the subject met the ne...
Anti-estrogens and Plasma Proteins. I. Clomiphene and Isomers, Ethamoxytriphetol, U-ll,100A and U-11,555A

The estrogenic and anti-estrogenic activities of the nonsteroidal anti-estrogens clomiphene citrate, cisclomiphene, transclomiphene, ethamoxytriphetol, U-ll, 100A and U-11, 555A were studied on plasma proteins in humans and monkeys alone and in combination with ethinyl estradiol. Serum cortisol, cortisol-binding globulin (CBG), nonprotein-bound cortisol (NPC), serum thyroxine, thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG), thyroxinebinding prealbumin (TBPA), plasminogen, fibrinogen, haptoglobin, β-glucuronidase, albumin and total proteins were studied. Clomiphene citrate alone had estrogen-like activity on CBG, serum cortisol and serum thyroxine but not on TBG, albumin or total proteins in humans. Both clomiphene in humans and monkeys and cisclomiphene in monkeys resulted in anti-estrogenic activity on TBG and to a lesser extent on serum thyroxine and plasminogen, but both potentiated estrogens on CBG. Transclomiphene did not show any blocking effects on the plasma protein responses studied, including that of TBG. U-l...
Tunable LYOT-filters

An all fiber tunable Lyot filter is experimentally demonstrated. The filter can be configured for narrow band or wide band tuning. It is implemented as a Sagnac loop configuration comprised of polarization controllers, birefringent fibers, and a polarizer. Results are present for band stop tuning and narrow band tuning for the wavelengths ranging between 1500nm to 1600nm.
Observing Other Teachers Teach: The Effect on Adolescent Teaching Behavior

Low-income adolescents were instructed to observe videotapes of two teachers consistently modeling effective teaching of young children in a structured teaching task. Simultaneously the subjects incidentally observed systematic differences in the inquiry- and directive-oriented teaching styles and novel behavior being modeled. As a result of observation, the subjects imitated aspects of the incidentally observed inquiry teaching style modeled as well as important aspects of the effective teaching behavior they were instructed to observe. Factors affecting subjects' selective imitation of the two models' styles were examined. The most significant factors examined were subjects' perceptions of their own teaching style and their perceptions of the teaching models' effectiveness.
Metkephamid and meperidine analgesia after episiotomy

Metkephamid is an analog of methionine enkephalin. The efficacy, safety, and time course of analgesia with 70 or 140 mg metkephamid were compared with those of 100 mg meperidine and placebo in 59 hospitalized women with severe postpartum episiotomy pain. There were two separate trials with single intramuscular doses and identical designs, including parallel groups, randomized blocks, and double-blind conditions. Using subjective reports as indexes of response, patients rated pain intensity, pain relief, and side effects at periodic interviews for 6 hr. Almost all measures of summed and peak analgesia exhibited important differences among the three treatments in both trials. Metkephamid at the 140-mg dose was the most effective and meperidine, 100 mg, was next, whereas metkephamid, 70 mg, and placebo were least effective. Only metkephamid, 140 mg, and meperidine were measurably superior to placebo. Both treatments took effect within 30 min and peaked at 1 to 2 hr; with 140 mg metkephamid, maximum analgesia was sustained 6 hr, i.e., 2 hr longer than with meperidine. Metkephamid, 70 mg, could not be distinguished from placebo throughout its entire time course. Although dizziness was experienced with meperidine, the two metkephamid doses induced other side effects, including sensation of heavy limbs, dry mouth, eye redness, and nasal stuffiness. None were distressing. Our results suggest that 140 mg metkephamid compares favorably with 100 mg meperidine for analgesia after episiotomy, but it induces minor side effects more frequently. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1983) 34, 240–247; doi:10.1038/clpt.1983.160
Compressive-Projection Principal Component Analysis for the Compression of Hyperspectral Signatures

A method is proposed for the compression of hyperspectral signature vectors on severely resource-constrained encoding platforms. The proposed technique, compressive-projection principal component analysis, recovers from random projections not only transform coefficients but also an approximation to the principal-component basis, effectively shifting the computational burden of principal component analysis from the encoder to the decoder. In its use of random projections, the proposed method resembles compressed sensing but differs in that simple linear reconstruction suffices for coefficient recovery. Existing results from perturbation theory are invoked to argue for the robustness under quantization of the eigenvector-recovery process central to the proposed technique, and experimental results demonstrate a significant rate-distortion performance advantage over compressed sensing using a variety of popular bases.
LIFE SPAN OF A TROPICAL FOREST RODENT, PROECHIMYS SEMISPINOSUS

We estimated the median and maximum life spans of 1,459 spiny rats (Proechimys semispinosus) from mark– recapture data collected monthly from 4 island populations in central Panama over a 9-year period. We plotted frequency distributions of life spans of males and females over 5-month age intervals, proportions of males and females surviving versus age, and survivorship curves for males and females. Median life spans ranged from 6.5 to 10 months, and maximum life spans ranged from 36 to 53 months. Frequency distributions were skewed to the right, showing a greater frequency of individuals with shorter life spans. Life spans did not differ between sexes or among islands. Survival curves were linear for both males and females within 1 population and convex for both sexes within the other 3 populations. We thereby provided the 1st quantitative analysis of life spans and survival curves for any small tropical rodent.
The Social Organization of Risk: Public Involvement in Federal Environmental Planning

This paper describes how the social construction of risk has been institution alized by two U. S. Federal environmental programs. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), and related regulations require public involvement in determining impacts, iden tifying threats and deciding on remedial environmental actions. Federal environmental planning is oriented towards allowing forums for airing pub lic concerns, without direct public control of decisions. The paper uses the sociology of risk literature to show how the actors and processes have been structured through law and regulation. Following Stallings's (1990) frame work of the social organization of risk discourse, this paper identifies the claims makers, stakeholders, and risk definers within the NEPA and CERCLA processes. The processes include definition soliciting, information dissemi nation, claims making and risk defining. The paper concludes by stressing the need for public involvement policy to be grounded theory and research.
Noncooperative Routing with Cooperative Diversity

Routing in wireless networks confronts more diverse and more rapidly varying characteristics associated with wireless links. Several recent protocols have tried to exploit cooperative diversity to deal with these channel characteristics, but they suffer from large overhead costs due to the need for collaboration among candidate nodes of next hop. We propose a novel routing protocol that is able to realize cooperative diversity without exchanging information among candidate nodes. Our protocol divides the routing decision between the transmitter and the receivers: the transmitter decides the direction and an angle spread to broadcast the packet; each receiver, without communicating each other, decides whether to start a timer whose duration depends on the strength of the channel state information. The node with shortest timer transmits first and thus becomes the transmitter for the next hop. Thus, a multi-hop route is found in a noncooperative way where the communication overhead is minimal, and we show that cooperative diversity is collected. The performance characteristics and design parameters of this protocol are first theoretically analyzed, and then examined in a realistic network setting through simulations.
Individual differences in general intelligence correlate with brain function during nonreasoning tasks

Brain imaging can help identify the functional neuroanatomy of general intelligence (i.e., ‘‘g’’) and indicate how brain areas salient to g relate to information processing. An important question is whether individual differences in g among subjects are related to brain function even when nonreasoning tasks are studied. If so, this would imply that individuals with high g scores may process information differently even when no reasoning or problem solving is required. To further investigate this, we administered the Raven’s Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) test, a strong correlate of g ,t o 22 normal subjects and then measured cerebral glucose metabolic activity with PET while the subjects viewed videos on two occasions, tasks with no inherent reasoning or problem solving. Individual RAPM scores were correlated with regional brain activity using statistical parametric mapping (SPM99) conjunction analysis to combine both video conditions. Results showed greater activation in specific posterior brain areas (left BA37/19) in high RAPM scorers (P=.02, corrected for multiple comparisons). Subsequent analyses revealed a high/low RAPM group difference in functional connectivity between left BA37/19 activity and the left anterior cingulate/medial frontal gyrus. These data provide evidence that individual differences in intelligence correlate to brain function even when the brain is engaged in nonreasoning tasks and suggest that high and low g subjects may preferentially activate different neural circuits, especially nonfrontal areas involved in information processing. D 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
The Rock Varnish Revolution: New Insights from Microlaminations and the Contributions of Tanzhuo Liu

Rock varnish is a coating composed of clay minerals cemented to rock surfaces by oxides of manganese and iron. Although this dark brown-to-black accretion is most noticeable in arid regions, it occurs in all terrestrial weathering environments. Scholarly varnish research started with Alexander von Humboldt, when he asked how this external accretion forms and why manganese concentrations in varnish are 10 1 ‐10 2 greater than in potential source materials. In the ensuing two centuries, investigations into rock varnish have been characterized by researchers studying only a handful of samples who have often used limited data to draw general conclusions. In contrast, nearly two decades of work by Tanzhuo Liu of Columbia University has yielded more than 10,000 varnish microstratigraphies obtained from rock depressions, analyses of which have provided new insights into the origin of rock varnish and the nature of climatic change in deserts, in addition to opening new research avenues in geomorphology and geoarchaeology.
Investigation of Motion Requirements in Compensatory Control Tasks

Tests consisting of one- and two-axis closed-loop tracking tasks, with and without motion, have been made to define some areas where motion cues are beneficial. Tests were made with reduced scaling on the motion input to investigate the minimum requirements of motion cues in those tests where motion was found to be of assistance. For the set of conditions tested, little or no difference in the measurement criteria was observed in the single-axis motion/no motion runs. Similar results were obtained when comparing two single-axis tests with different pitch orientation. The two-axis tests, which consisted of pitch and yaw and pitch and roll, did, however, produce a difference in the error measurements in the motion/no motion comparison. A decrease in normalized tracking error and an increase in closed-loop system frequency were observed when motion was added. Tests were also run, in pitch and yaw only, in which the scale of the motion input was reduced. These tests were performed by the subject in sequence starting with no motion all the way to full motion and back down to no motion. Each motion scale condition (none, 1/16, ?, ?, ?, and full) constituted a test. The normalized tracking error remained constant for full, ?, and ? motion scaling, but increased with a further reduction in motion scaling.
Preliminary Technical Study of Medieval Limoges Enamels

Enamels from Northern Spain, Central France, and Limoges, dating from the 10th century to the mid 13th century, were analyzed by energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry and x-ray diffractometry to determine their overall compositions, and the opacifiers and colorants used. The compositions suggest the re-use of Roman tesserae. Calcium and lead antimonates were found as the predominant opacifiers; however, tin oxide and lead-tin yellow were also found in some of the enamels, either singly or in combination with the antimonates. One of the enamels from Limoges varied from the others in that the enamels had overall compositions similar to Islamic or Venetian glasses, and contained only tin oxide as an opacifier.
Labor and Sugar in Puerto Rico and in Jamaica, 1800–1850

The islands of Puerto Rico and Jamaica, which lie roughly at the same latitude and less than 600 miles apart at their nearest points, share a number of remarkable similarities in general physical environment. Strikingly in contrast to the similarities in topography, climate, flora and fauna are the differences in the cultures of the two islands. One of the reasons for this cultural disparity has to do not with the cultures of the colonial powers, but with the persistence of a strong peasantry in one island (Jamaica), and a relatively weak peasantry in the other (Puerto Rico). This difference stems in large part from the individual histories of the two islands, histories predominantly determined by the colonial aims and policies of, in one case, Spain and Great Britain; in the other, Spain and the United States. The present paper purports to treat principally one brief period (1800–1850) during which a sharp divergence in the colonial objectives of the respective controlling powers affected the cultures of Jamaica and Puerto Rico accordingly. It was during this half-century that Puerto Rico repeated a historical experience which Jamaica had undergone nearly 150 years earlier: the development of a sugar plantation economy.
Protein radical involvement in biological catalysis

or is also warranted. While it is generally accepted that thiols are capable of transferring a hydrogen atom to carbon-centered radicals because of the relative weakness of their bond dissociation energies (91 + 1.5 kcallmol) (33, 89), their role as hydrogen atom abstractors is contraindicated by most commonly held beliefs. Hydrogen atom abstraction of the 31-H of a nucleoside by a thiyl radical is allowed on thermodynamic grounds because the C-H homolytic bond dissociation energy is -91 kcallmole. Akhlaq et al recently devised a method to detect thiyl radical-mediated hydrogen atom abstractions (34), which are usually masked in the presence of high RSH concentrations due to thiol-mediated repair. Akhlaq et al took either cis-2,5 Me2THF or trans-2,5 Me2THF and measured the production of a mixture of cis and trans 2,5 Me2THF (Eq. 4). Thiols in this case, as in the earlier studies H'C>(J0 CH, 103/M/, -aD CH, RS . H .====-H3C • + RSH H 108/M/s H 4. by Huyser & Kellogg (35), do in fact induce a chain reaction. Thus, the feasibility of thiyl radicals mediating hydrogen atom abstractions has reason­ able chemical precedent. The final step in the postulated mechanism, thiyl radical abstraction of a hydrogen atom from 51 deoxyadenosine, is thermo­ dynamically unfavorable by 1 8 kcal. The driving force for this reaction would have to be provided by reformation of the C-Co bond to produce AdoCbI. This proCI!SS has recently been shown to be exothermic by 25 to 30 kcallmole (91). The establishment of the role of any postulated thiol in an enzymatic reaction will be facilitated by the cloning, sequencing, and expression of any of these genes and use of site-directed mutagenesis methods to replace the cysteine residues. Efforts are presently under way with both RTPR and ethanolamine ammonia lyase to investigate the putative role of thiyl radicals in the chemistry . An interesting paper of Hartmanis & Stadtman provides further credibility to the postulated role of protein radicals (36). Specifically, a dioldehydrase that does not require AdoCbl has been partially purified from Chlostridium glycolicum and shown to possess a protein radical that is destroyed by reduction with hydroxyurea concomitant with loss of dioldehydrase activity. The properties of this radical are similar to those observed in E. coli RDPR. In addition to the binuclear iron center, tyrosyl radical, and AdoCbl­ dependent systems discussed above, recent studies from Follmann' s labora­ tory indkate that ribonucleotide reductase isolated from Brevibacterium ammoniagenes requires manganese for activity (37) . Based on recent chemi­ cal model systems from Lippard's and Wieghardt' s laboratories, it is reason­ able to postulate the existence of a novel binuclear Mn(III)-dependent system
The use of echocardiography in the emergency management of nonpenetrating traumatic cardiac rupture

Three young adults, all drivers involved in three separate motor vehicle accidents that occurred in Portage County, Ohio, during a three-week period, sustained blunt, nonpenetrating chest trauma that resulted in right atrial rupture and cardiac tamponade. On arrival in the emergency department, all were hypotensive and complained of chest pain; only one had jugular venous distension and upper body cyanosis. All had normal chest radiographs, and one had ECG ST elevation. Echocardiography showed a moderate-sized pericardial effusion and signs of cardiac tamponade in all three. Two of the three survived emergency thoracotomy and repair of the right atrial rupture. These cases demonstrate the importance of echocardiography in diagnosing cardiac tamponade as the classic signs are not always present.
From domain ontologies to modeling ontologies to executable simulation models

Ontologies allow researchers, domain experts, and software agents to share a common understanding of the concepts and relationships of a domain. The past few years have seen the publication of ontologies for a large number of domains. The modeling and simulation community is beginning to see potential for using these ontologies in the modeling process. This paper presents a method for using the knowledge encoded in ontologies to facilitate the development of simulation models. It suggests a technique that establishes relationships between domain ontologies and a modeling ontology and then uses the relationships to instantiate a simulation model as ontology instances. Techniques for translating these instances into XML based markup languages and then into executable models for various software packages are also presented.