cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Electronic Structure of Diamond, Silicon Carbide, and the Group-III Nitrides

This paper describes the trends in the electronic structure of diamond, silicon carbide, the group-Ill nitrides and some related materials. The relationships between the electronic band structures in the zincblende and wurtzite structures are adressed. For SiC, the discussion is extended to other poly types. The trends with ionicity and atomic number are explained. The purpose of this discussion is to help identify the similarities and differences between the various classes of wide bandgap semiconductors. The strain effects on the band structure are discussed and calculated elastic constants are given for SiC, GaN and AlN. Spectroscopie probes of the band structure such as pholoemission and UV-refiectivity are discussed for GaN and SiC. Materials with the formula II-IV-2 are proposed to be an interesting complement to the III-N’s. In particular, BeCN2 is a direct gap semiconductor with elastic properties close to those of diamond and may also be useful as a bufferlayer for diamond growth.
The effect of impurities on ductility and cavitation in the superplastic Zn-22%Al alloy

Abstract An investigation of the effect of impurities on the ductility and cavitation behavior of a microduplex superplastic alloy was performed. Experiments were conducted in tension at 473 K on three grades of Zn-22%Al that contain different impurity contents. It is shown that a higher impurity content results in a drastic decrease in the ductility and an enhancement in the cavitation even when the deformation is considered superplastic. In addition, the orientation of the cavity stringers appears not to depend on the rolling direction but is always observed parallel to the tensile axis. The experimental observations are compared in terms of the strain rate sensitivity dependence of ductility. The results are also compared with the predictions of various theoretical models that attempt to describe cavity nucleation and growth. Finally, the mechanisms for the formation of cavity stringers parallel to the tensile axis are discussed.
Culture Matters in the Neolithic Transition and Emergence of Hierarchy in Thy, Denmark: Distinguished Lecture

How did the emergence of hierarchical social structure that followed the domestication of plants and animals in the Neo- lithic actually come about? I suggest that material media were instrumental in this transformation, as culture was changed by incorpo- rating such new media as landscape constructions and elaborate prestige objects. During the Neolithic transition in Thy, Denmark, local corporate groups formed, and, subsequently, Bronze Age chieftains came to power. Shifts in material culture suggest possible connec- tions to these institutional changes, namely the materialization of property rights by burial monuments and permanent domestic archi- tecture and the centralization of power through the controlled production of wealth objects. I conclude that, as part of social process, the nature of culture has been transformed by incorporating material culture with specific characteristics of scale, permanency, and control that were vital to institutional change. (Keywords: cultural genre, Neolithic transition, social hierarchy, built landscapes, pres- tige goods)
VORTICES IN THE ABELIAN CHERN–SIMONS–HIGGS MODEL AND DUALITY IN ANYON SUPERCONDUCTIVITY

Vortices in the Abelian Chern–Simons–Higgs model (CSH) are anyons, in agreement with expectations on general ground. If the CSH is considered as a low energy effective theory of charged anyons, the vortices then have the same electric charge and dual spin and statistics as the original anyons.
Character table of a controlling association scheme defined by the general orthogonal groupO(3,q).

LetN m (q) be the set of nonisotropic lines in the vector space of dimensionm over a finite field of orderq. In a paper by Bannai, Hao, Song and Wei, it was shown that the association scheme character tableP(Sp(2n, q),N 2n (q)), withn ? 3 andq odd, is controlled byP(Sp(4,q),N 4(q)) which is in turn controlled byP(O(3,q),O(3,q)/O + (2,q)). Our purpose in this paper is to compute the entries in the character tableP(O(3,q), O(3,q)/O + (2,q)) explicitly, which is left open in that paper.
The trend of production rates with heliocentric distance for comet P/Halley

Comet P/Halley was observed spectroscopically in the wavelength range 5200-10,400 A during 10 observing runs, roughly a month apart from 1985 August 28 to 1986 June 6. The observations span a heliocentric distance from 0.73 to 2.52 AU. This data set is analyzed to determine the course of the production rate with heliocentric distance for C2, NH2, CN, and the continuum. The effect of changing the Haser scale lengths and their heliocentric distance dependence is examined. The production rate ratios to water change only in a minor way, but the absolute values of the production rates are more severely affected. Fluorescent efficiencies, or g-factors for the CN red system are calculated, and band intensity ratios for NH2 and CN are presented. Using presently available fluorescence efficiencies and Haser scale lengths, mixing ratios for the parents of C2, CN, and NH2 with respect to water are: 0.34 +/- 0.07%, 0.15 +/- 0.04%, and 0.13 +/- 0.05%. It is found that these mixing ratios are essentially constant over the heliocentric distance range of the observations, implying a rather uniform nucleus and uniform outgassing characteristics, although there are indications of smaller scale day-to-day variations. The results provide strong observational confirmation that water evaporation controls the activity of the comet over the distance range studied. Continuum values Af rho are determined, and their ratios to QH2O are found to have a clear dependence with heliocentric distance approximately r(exp -1.0) with a post-perihelion enhancement. No correlation of the production rate ratios with light curve of P/Halley were found, nor was there any correlation of the C2 or CN production with the dust.
Nuclear γ-ray superradiance

Nuclear γ-ray-resonant superradiance is discussed, comparing Dicke's original approach 1 and recent extensions 2,3 of Scully et al. 2–5 involving conditional excitation to the classical resonant-scattering 6–10 and the Hannon–Trammell 11–14 quantum theories. Relevant questions are whether the sample is optically thin or thick in the excitation and re-radiation processes, the role of superpositions between ground and excited states, Fermi's golden rule, and decoherence due to spatially-dependent near-field interactions 15–17. The relation of these considerations to experimental results is discussed.
Effect of bag type on the apparent digestibility of feeds in ANKOM DaisyII incubators

Abstract This study determined if the in vitro apparent dry matter digestibility (DMD) of feed samples in ANKOM DaisyII incubators is affected when alternatives to ANKOM F57 bags are used, or when samples are weighted to ensure submersion in the media. In three experiments, feed samples were incubated within filter bags for 48 h in buffered rumen fluid and for a further 48 h in acidified pepsin in ANKOM DaisyII incubators. In Experiment 1, 32 replicates of three dried, ground (1 mm) feed samples were either weighed into ANKOM F57 polyester/polyethylene bags with a pore size of 25 μm or weighed into dacron bags with a pore size of 50 μm. One 5 g glass ball was placed in each of eight ANKOM bags or eight dacron bags for each forage to ensure submersion in the media. In Experiments 2a and 2b, 16 and 8 replicates of 14 dried, ground feed samples were respectively, weighed into either ANKOM F57 bags or polyester/polyethelene bags with a pore size of 30 μm. The DMD of these samples was also determined simultaneously using the conventional, tube based, rumen fluid pepsin technique. Regression relationships were derived between ANKOM and alternative bag DMD estimates. In Experiment 1, weighted bags had greater (P
Cliques, computation, and computational tractability ☆

Abstract We describe a class of computations that is motivated by a model of line and edge detection in primary visual cortex, although the computations here are expressed in general, abstract terms. The model consists of a collection of processing units (artificial neurons) that are organized into cliques of tightly inter-connected units. Our analysis is based on a dynamic analog model of computation, a model that is classically used to motivate gradient descent algorithms that seek extrema of energy functionals. We introduce a new view of these equations, however, and explicitly use discrete techniques from game theory to show that such cliques can achieve equilibrium in a computationally efficient manner. Furthermore, we are able to prove that the equilibrium is the same as that which would have been found by a gradient descent algorithm. The result is a new class of computations that, while related to traditional gradient-following computations such as relaxation labeling and Hopfield artificial neural networks, enjoys a different and provably efficient dynamics. The implications of the model extend beyond efficient artificial neural networks to (i) timing considerations in biological neural networks; (ii) to building reliable networks from less-reliable elements; (iii) to building accurate representations from less-accurate components; and, most generally, to (iv) demonstrating an interplay between continuous “dynamical systems” and discrete “pivoting” algorithms.
Characterization of asphaltene deposition in a stainless steel tube

Abstract In this study, the mechanism and kinetics of asphaltene deposition in stainless steel tubes have been studied experimentally using n-heptane as the precipitant. The effects of oil velocity, temperature, and oil–precipitant volumetric dilution ratio on the rate of asphaltene deposition are investigated. Since the adhesion of asphaltenes on to the metal surface is controlled by its transport through the laminar sub layer, our focus was limited to studying the phenomena in laminar flow regime. The concentration of asphaltenes was measured using UV–visible spectrophotometer at 650 nm wavelength. This enabled us to accurately measure the amount and extent of asphaltene deposits in the stainless steel tube. It is observed that the deposition process is often accompanied by significant erosion due to the subsequent dominance of shear forces on the asphaltene deposits. However, the erosion is not complete and a certain layer of asphaltene deposits remain before the deposition process becomes dominant. The initial rate of asphaltene deposition increases with the increase in oil velocity and temperature. The deposition rates increase with the decrease in the oil–precipitant volumetric dilution ratio. The asphaltene deposits were also subjected to X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to characterize the surface composition of atoms responsible for the interfacial interaction forces due to the surface functional groups. The fundamental interaction forces between asphaltenes and a stainless steel surface was measured by using inverse gas chromatography. The surface energy of stainless steel indicated the amphoteric nature of the surface, with a slightly higher basic component. The surface energy of asphaltenes displayed a very high component of Lifshitz–van der Waals forces. However the polar component of surface energy of asphaltenes could not be measured due to its very strong interaction with the polar probes on account of its polarity.
Reporting discrepancies between the ClinicalTrials.gov results database and peer-reviewed publications.

Although ClinicalTrials.gov has the potential to be a great asset for clinicians, patients, and researchers, the validity of the posted results is questionable because of frequent discrepancies bet...
Ammonium in moscovite

Abstract From a study of infrared spectra and subsequent chemical analyses, it has been concluded that 1. (a) NH 4 + occurs in muscovites; 2. (b) this NH 4 + is located in the interlayer substituting for potassium ions; 3. (c) in a sample of Bengal ruby nearly 2 per cent of the interlayer sites are occupied by NH 4 + .
Disagreements, Spinoffs, and the Evolution of Detroit as the Capital of the U.S. Automobile Industry

The agglomeration of the automobile industry around Detroit, Michigan is explained using a theory in which disagreements lead employees of incumbent firms to found spinoffs in the same industry. Predictions of the theory concerning entry and firm survival are tested using data on the origin, location, and years of production of every entrant into the industry from 1895 to 1966. The geographic concentration of the industry is attributed to four early successful entrants and the many successful spinoffs they spawned in the Detroit area and not to conventional agglomeration economies benefiting co-located firms, as featured in modern theories of agglomeration. Implications of the findings regarding firm strategy are discussed.
Decomposition and inversion of elastic reflection data: first-order angular dependence and applications

Abstract The elastic wave displacement equation is transformed into pressure-stress coordinates, where the Born approximation of the Lippman-Schwinger equation in the Fourier-transform domain is employed to decompose the observed fields into their scattered components: P-P, P-S, S-P, and S-S. Triple Fourier transforms of the scattered elastic wave data are linear combinations of the double Fourier transforms of the relative changes in the medium properties. Angular-dependent reflection coefficients for each of the scattering modes are constructed, and an inversion algorithm is outlined. Inversion of the observed elastic wave fields is accomplished in a manner similar to the acoustic problem. Density, bulk modulus, and shear modulus variations in an elastic earth can be recovered by utilizing the angular-dependent information present in the observed wave fields. Examples illustrate these points. Transforming the elastic wave data back to displacement coordinates and assuming a compressional source, an analysis of recorded amplitudes yields some practical answers about converted-wave data. Significant amounts of P → S data should typically be generated by compressional sources, with significant contributions at smaller angles, However, signal-to-noise calculations suggest that more sweeps and more geophone channels at longer offsets will typically be necessary to get P-S sections of comparable quality to P-P sections.
COMPARATIVE AEROSOL STUDIES OF PACIFIC RIM CITIES-SANTIAGO, CHILE (1987); MEXICO CITY, MEXICO (1987-1990); AND LOS ANGELES, U.S.A. (1973 AND 1987)

The UC Davis Air Quality Group has performed studies on urban air quality since 1973. Recently, with the active collaboration of scientists in Mexico and Chile, these studies have been extended to other Pacific Rim cities of similar climate. From such comparisons, the successes (and failures) of control strategies can be inferred and compared to Los Angeles' progress, 1973 through 1987. An early and rather surprising result is the rough equivalence between Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Santiago in terms of several classes of fine (Dp < 2.5 μm) particles. However, coarser particles are far more prevalent in Mexico City and Santiago than Los Angeles. Finally, in many ways, Los Angeles of 1973 was worse than Mexico City and Santiago today. Thus, the progress of Los Angeles gives hope for similar improvement given suitable policies.
Crystal symmetries of plane-wave-like functions. I. The symmorphic space groups

Abstract A set of tables of coefficients for forming linear combinations of plane waves, both without and with spin, symmetrized with respect to all the necessary sub-groups of all 73 symmorphic space groups, is presented here. A symmetry analysis of all the Brillouin zone symmetry points of these 73 space groups is also included and serves as an index to the coefficient tables. A discussion of the method of calculation is included as well as a review of the theory which underlies the desirability of symmetrized functions, and the theory of the projection operator, by which these coefficients were calculated. Section 4, a guide to the use of the tables, may be read independently of the rest.
Caloric Restriction for Treatment of Geriatric Obesity: Do the Benefits Outweigh the Risks?

Most evidence for the health benefits of prescribing caloric restriction (CR) for weight loss is derived from randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) in young/middle-aged adults; there are very few RCTs in older adults in which the isolated effects of CR can be deciphered. The purpose of this review is to summarize the RCT evidence of the benefits (and potential risks) of CR for the treatment of obesity in older adults. We identified only 19 published papers from 10 RCTs ranging from 3 to 18 months that met the criteria of independent effects of a CR component and were conducted in adults with a mean age ≥65 years. Overall, the results show a beneficial treatment effect for improving some metabolic, functional, and body composition outcomes with few documented risks. However, all outcomes were assessed immediately after treatment cessation. Thus, until additional scientifically rigorous evidence with long-term follow-up is available; the risk-to-benefit ratio of CR for the treatment of obesity in older adults remains unclear.
Texture characterization of the NiSi film on Si substrate

We have recently reported the relationship between thermal stability of NiSi films and the implanted dopant species on Si substrates. The most stable NiSi layer appeared on Boron-implanted Si substrate, where the formation of pseudo-epitaxial transrotational structure was observed in grazing incident X-ray diffraction (GIXD) pattern. Transrotational arrangements of NiSi grains makes the stress at grain boundary diminishing, thus this unique texture is the one of key roles of NiSi thermal stability. In this study, we investigated the texture of NiSi films on Si substrates with various implanted species in detail. The analysis using pole figure measurements shows that implantation of boron on substrate changes the texture of NiSi films drastically, from axiotaxy to transrotational structure, when the dose of boron is more than 5e15atoms/cm^2. We predict that this transition of crystallographic orientation is driven by the total energy minimization, which consists of interfacial energy of films and/or elastic energy of NiSi lattice.
Stem Cells: Doing Some Heavy Lifting at ISSCR 2011

This year's International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) annual meeting was an opportunity for attendees to be inspired by early successes, to grapple with the challenges of applying emerging technologies, and to contemplate moving with increasing but cautious optimism toward the clinic.
Common elements in growth factor stimulation and oncogenic transformation: 85 kd phosphoprotein and phosphatidylinositol kinase activity

The phosphorylation of proteins on tyrosine in vivo and in vitro was examined in 3T3 cells stimulated by platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and transformed by polyoma middle T antigen (MTAg) by using an antibody directed against phosphotyrosine (P-tyr). Two common events were observed upon PDGF stimulation or MTAg transformation of cells: the appearance in the immunoprecipitates of an 85 kd phosphoprotein, and increased phosphatidylinositol (PI) kinase activity. In PDGF-stimulated cells, the 85 kd phosphoprotein and PI kinase activity appeared rapidly, within 1 min of growth factor addition. The PI kinase activity and 85 kd phosphorylation were also increased in anti-P-tyr immunoprecipitates from cells transformed by v-fms and v-sis, but not by SV40 T antigen. The presence of the tyrosine-phosphorylated 85 kd protein correlated with PI kinase activity during several purification steps. These results suggest that the 85 kd phosphoprotein, a putative PI kinase, is a substrate for both the PDGF receptor and MTAg/pp60c-src tyrosine kinase activities.
Scheduling of routine maintenance using production schedules and equipment failure history

Abstract Ideally all maintenance should be routine, and should be performed to prevent pre-mature equipment failure. From the practical viewpoint of maintenance in a manufacturing environment it is important to know when in the production cycle it is most advantageous for equipment to be removed from service for repair. This paper describes a model that was developed for scheduling of routine maintenance at an aggregate level in a manufacturing environment. The model utilizes the production plan and the equipment failure history to develop a maintenance schedule. The objective is to choose a maintenance action so that the expected costs of breakdown of equipment are minimized. Different maintenance schedules are generated and the schedule that gives the least expected cost is selected as the maintenance plan for the equipment. The model is implemented on a North Star microcomputer.
Time series analysis of the relationships among (macro) economic variables, the dividend yield and the price level of the S&P 500 Index

In this article, the relationships among the dividend yield on the S&P 500 Index, the yield on the 10 year Treasury note, the price level of the S&P 500 Index, the money supply, the level of the Industrial Production Index (IPI) and the level of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) are examined using monthly data from January 1959 to December 2009. We use a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) to examine the possible simultaneous and cross short run relationships among the variables. The error correction portion of the model also allows us to examine long run relationships. We find evidence that there are simultaneous and significant interactions among the variables of interest. Specifically, all the variables exhibit endogeneity to some degree. Some of the discrepancies between our results and the results of others may lie in the sensitivity of the analysis to the time period of the sample. The two major implications of this study are to demonstrate that it would be a major folly of investors to consider only ...
Single-Input–Dual-Output Modeling of Image-Based Input Function Estimation

Purpose Quantification of small-animal positron emission tomography (PET) images necessitates knowledge of the plasma input function (PIF). We propose and validate a simplified hybrid single-input–dual-output (HSIDO) algorithm to estimate the PIF.
Is GPR17 a P2Y/Leukotriene Receptor? Examination of Uracil Nucleotides, Nucleotide Sugars, and Cysteinyl Leukotrienes as Agonists of GPR17

The orphan receptor GPR17 has been reported to be activated by UDP, UDP-sugars, and cysteinyl leukotrienes, and coupled to intracellular Ca2+ mobilization and inhibition of cAMP accumulation, but other studies have reported either a different agonist profile or lack of agonist activity altogether. To determine if GPR17 is activated by uracil nucleotides and leukotrienes, the hemagglutinin-tagged receptor was expressed in five different cell lines and the signaling properties of the receptor were investigated. In C6, 1321N1, or Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells stably expressing GPR17, UDP, UDP-glucose, UDP-galactose, and cysteinyl leukotriene C4 (LTC4) all failed to promote inhibition of forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation, whereas both UDP and UDP-glucose promoted marked inhibition (>80%) of forskolin-stimulated cAMP accumulation in C6 and CHO cells expressing the P2Y14 receptor. Likewise, none of these compounds promoted accumulation of inositol phosphates in COS-7 or human embryonic kidney 293 cells transiently transfected with GPR17 alone or cotransfected with Gαq/i5, which links Gi-coupled receptors to the Gq-regulated phospholipase C (PLC) signaling pathway, or PLCe, which is activated by the Gα12/13 signaling pathway. Moreover, none of these compounds promoted internalization of GPR17 in 1321N1-GPR17 cells. Consistent with previous reports, coexpression experiments of GPR17 with cysteinyl leukotriene receptor 1 (CysLTR1) suggested that GPR17 acts as a negative regulator of CysLTR1. Taken together, these data suggest that UDP, UDP-glucose, UDP-galactose, and LTC4 are not the cognate ligands of GPR17.
Effects of underfeeding and refeeding on GH and thyroid hormone secretion in young, middle-aged, and old rats.

Abstract The effects of a 50% reduction in normal food intake for a period of 10 weeks were measured on secretion of growth hormone (GH), thyroxine (T4), and triiodothyronine (T3) in 5 1 2 −6 1 2 - month-old, and 17 1 2 −18 1 2- month-old male rats. In full-fed controls, GH, T 3 , and T 4 were lower in the old and middle-aged than in the young rats. By the 10th week of underfeeding, GH, T 3 , and T 4 were reduced in all age groups, but the decrease in T 3 and T 4 in the middle-aged and old rats was greater than in the young rats. Pulses of GH ceased in all the underfed groups. Upon refeeding for 5 days, pulses of GH and levels of GH returned to full-fed control values in the young and middle-aged but not in the old rats. T 3 values in the young and middle-aged rats returned to full-fed control levels, but remained below control levels in the old rats. T[in4 values reached control levels in all age groups upon refeeding. The differences in the response to underfeeding and refeeding by the middle-aged and old rats as compared to the young rats may be due to their initially lower secretion of GH and thyroid hormones and to the age-related decrease in neuroendocrine function.
Analysis of Probe-fed Circular Microstrip Patches Backed by Circular Cavities

Abstract In this article, a full-wave moment method solution for probe-fed circular microstrip patch antennas backed by circular cavities is presented. The antenna performance in both scattering and radiation cases is considered. Results are compared to those of conventional probe-fed circular patch antennas.
Association between first-trimester vaginal bleeding and miscarriage

OBJECTIVE:To estimate the strength of association between first-trimester bleeding and miscarriage, setting aside bleeding at time of loss.METHODS:Women enrolled in a community-based pregnancy cohort study before or during early pregnancy. Detailed first-trimester bleeding data were collected by tel
Synthesis and evaluation of p-N,N-dialkyl substituted chalcones as anti-cancer agents

Several new N,N-dialkyl substituted chalcones (chalconoids or benzylideneacetophenones) have been synthesized via the condensation of corresponding N,N-dialkylbenzaldehyde with various aryl methyl ketones. All the chalcones have been synthesized from readily available and cheap starting materials under environmentally benign conditions in very high yields without work up and column chromatographic purification. Synthesized compounds have been tested for their biological activity against pathogenic microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Mycobacterium smegmatis. Anti-cancer activity of these compounds has also been tested against multiple myeloma (RPMI-8226) and human mammary adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) cell lines. The most hydrophilic molecules 23 and 24 showed very good anti-cancer activity against MCF-7 cell lines at low micro-molar concentrations. All the compounds have also been evaluated for their activity against Beta-secretase 1 enzyme. One of the synthesized compounds showed Beta-secretase 1 enzyme inhibition activity at micro-molar concentration.
Updates to the on-orbit calibration of SNPP VIIRS for ocean color applications

The NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG) has continued monitoring the SNPP VIIRS on-orbit calibration since the derivation of the calibration for Reprocessing 2014.0 of the VIIRS ocean color data set. That calibration was based on solar and lunar observations through July 2014. Updates to the R2014.0 calibration include: 1) the addition of solar and lunar observations through May 2015; 2) the extension of the lunar libration corrections to incorporate sub-solar point corrections in addition to sub-spacecraft point corrections; 3) the implementation of a shortwave infrared (SWIR) band lunar and solar calibration; and 4) the absolute calibration of the solar observations using solar diffuser measurements. The SWIR band lunar calibration shows residual libration effects. Comparison of the lunar and solar time series yields lunar-derived adjustments to the solar calibration. The solar calibration time series show RMS residuals per band of 0.066–0.17%. The lunar calibration time series show RMS residuals per band of 0.072–0.23%. The solar and lunar time series show RMS differences per band of 0.10–0.23%. The VIIRS on-orbit calibration stability is comparable to that achieved for heritage instruments (SeaWiFS, Aqua MODIS). The quality of the resulting ocean color products is sufficient for incorporation of the VIIRS data into the long-term NASA ocean color data record.
What might have been: Counterfactual thought concerning personal decisions

Counterfactual thinking entails the process of imagining alternatives to reality —what might have been. The present study explores the incidence and content of counterfactual thinking about personal decisions in three samples of adults. The results indicate, first, that counterfactual thought occurs frequently among normal adults, with approximately half of each sample reporting that they would do something differently if they had their lives to live over. Secondly, there appear to be common themes to the counterfactuals reported in various real-life domains. For example, it is common to imagine states counter to the realities of having married early, having curtailed one's education, and having experienced unsatisfactory interpersonal relationships. In general, it appears that decisions and events that were unusual, that have proved less than ideal, or that have prematurely closed off important life options most often generate counterfactual thinking.
mILD: a tool for constructing and analyzing matrices of pairwise phylogenetic character incongruence tests

Summary: Pairwise comparisons of disagreement in phylogenetic datasets offer a powerful tool for isolating historical incongruence for closer analysis. Statistically significant phylogenetic character incongruence may reflect important differences in evolutionary history, such as horizontal gene transfer. Such testing can also be used to specify possible combinations of datasets for further phylogenetic analysis. The process of comparing multiple datasets can be very time consuming, and it is sometimes unclear how to combine data partitions given the observed patterns of incongruence. Here we present an application that automates the process of making pairwise comparisons between large numbers of phylogenetic datasets using the Incongruence Length Difference (ILD) test. The application also implements strategies for data combination based on the patterns of incongruence observed in pairwise comparisons. Availability: The application is freely available as a Perl script that interacts with the command-line version of PAUP*. Contact: [email protected] Supplementary information: http://www.GenomeCurator.org/mILD/
Effects of retinoic acid on cell proliferation and cell differentiation in a rat tracheal epithelial cell line

. The effects of 3.3 times 10-7 M to 3.3 times 10-5 M all-trans-retinoic acid (vitamin-A acid) on the total cell population dynamics of 165 S, a keratinizing epithelial cell line from carcinogen-exposed rat trachea, were studied. During the first 6 days of culture, cells accumulated on the dish in the presence of the vitamin to twice the density of controls. [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA and percentage of [3H]thymidine-labelled cells in autoradiographs were stimulated in a dose-dependent fashion to a maximum of 25- and 34-fold, respectively. Exfoliation of cells from the cultures was also enhanced 2–3-fold, resulting in nearly twice the total number of cells (attached plus exfoliated) in the presence of the vitamin. During 19 days of culture, retinoic acid maintained a higher level of [3H]thymidine incorporation and cell exfoliation in 165 S cells so that by day 19, total cell production was more than three times that seen in controls. At this time, vitamin-treated cultures showed a reduced cell saturation density compared to controls. The higher final cell density in the control cultures was a result of multilayering and papillary formation which did not occur in the presence of retinoic acid. The papillae in control cultures stained specifically with Rhodamine B or with the eosin and orange G components of the Papanicolaou method. A count of the number of eosin and orange G positive cells in the attached and exfoliated cell compartments showed an 8-fold reduction of keratinization in retinoic acid-exposed cultures. Our results show that retinoic acid is a growth stimulant in these cell cultures, causing increased cell proliferation and exfoliation accompanied by inhibition of keratinization.
Measurement of one-photon and two-photon wave packets in spontaneous parametric downconversion

One-photon and two-photon wave packets of entangled two-photon states in spontaneous parametric downconversion (SPDC) fields are calculated and measured experimentally. For type II SPDC, measured one-photon and two-photon wave packets agree well with theory. For type I SPDC, the measured one-photon wave packet agrees with the theory. However, the two-photon wave packet is much bigger than the expected value, and the visibility of interference is low. We identify the sources of this discrepancy as the spatial filtering of the two-photon bandwidth and nonpair detection events caused by the detector apertures and the tuning-curve characteristics of the type I SPDC.
Interstitial granulomatous dermatitis secondary to soy

A healthy 58-year-old woman developed an asymptomatic papular eruption of the neck, cheek, abdomen, arms, and flexures. There was an 8-year history of the lesions, which had erupted when the patient started a strict vegetarian diet. Lesions lasted 3 to 5 days, cleared without scarring, and were associated with burning and increased tearing of the eyes. The biopsy specimen showed an interstitial granulomatous dermatitis without vascular injury, collagen alteration, or mononuclear atypia. The eruption cleared when the patient omitted soy products from her diet. It subsequently recurred with intake of even minimal amounts of soy. Interstitial granulomatous dermatitis is a histologic pattern of inflammation that generates a broad differential diagnosis. No previous reports of interstitial granulomatous dermatitis related to soy products are available in the literature.
Exact Confidence Intervals for Impulse Responses in a Gaussian Vector Autoregression

Many techniques have been proposed for forming confidence intervals for the impulse responses in a vector autoregression. However, numerous Monte-Carlo simulations have shown that all of these methods often have coverage well below the nominal level. This paper proposes a new approach to constructing confidence intervals for impulse responses in a vector autoregression, making the additional assumption of Gaussianity. These confidence intervals are conservative in all sample sizes; by construction they have coverage that must be greater than or equal to the nominal level.
Unbiased estimation of a nonlinear function a normal mean with application to measurement err oorf models

Let W be a normal random variable with mean μand known variance σ2. Conditions on the function f(·) are given under which there exists an unbiased estimator, f(W), of f(μ) for all real μ. In particular it is shown that f(·) must be an entire function over the complex plane. Infinite series solutions for F(·) are obtained which are shown to be valid under growth conditions of the derivatives, fk( ·), of f(·). Approximate solutions are given for the cases in which no exact solution exists. The theory is applied to nonlinear measurement-error models as a means of finding unbiased score functions when measurement error is normally distributed. Relative efficiencies comparing the proposed method to the use of conditional scores (Stefanski and Carroll, 1987) are given for the Poisson regression model with canonical link.
Remote measurement of river morphology via fusion of LiDAR topography and spectrally based bathymetry

This study developed and evaluated a hybrid approach to remote measurement of river morphology that combines LiDAR topography with spectrally based bathymetry. Comparison of filtered LiDAR point clouds with surveyed cross-sections indicated that subtle features on low-relief floodplains were accurately resolved by LiDAR but that submerged areas could not be detected due to strong absorption of near-infrared laser pulses by water. The reduced number of returns made the active channel evident in a LiDAR point density map. A second dataset suggested that pulse intensity also could be used to discriminate land from water via a threshold-based masking procedure. Fusion of LiDAR and optical data required accurate co-registration of images to the LiDAR, and we developed an object-oriented procedure for achieving this alignment. Information on flow depths was derived by correlating pixel values with field measurements of depth. Highly turbid conditions dictated a positive relation between green band radiance and flow depth and contributed to under-prediction of pool depths. Water surface elevations extracted from the LiDAR along the water's edge were used to produce a continuous water surface that preserved along-channel variations in slope. Subtracting local flow depths from this surface yielded estimates of the bed elevation that were then combined with LiDAR topography for exposed areas to create a composite representation of the riverine terrain. The accuracy of this terrain model was assessed via comparison with detailed field surveys. A map of elevation residuals showed that the greatest errors were associated with underestimation of pool depths and failure to capture cross-stream differences in water surface elevation. Nevertheless, fusion of LiDAR and passive optical image data provided an efficient means of characterizing river morphology that would not have been possible if either dataset had been used in isolation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Spectacles of Autonomy and Crisis: Or, What Bulls and Beauty Queens have to do with Regionalism in Eastern Bolivia

La caida del neoliberalismo en Bolivia abre espacios tanto para los movimientos sociales progresivos e indigenas como para los nuevos proyectos elitistas. Este articulo examina una expresion del "nuevo urbanismo" en la ciudad y region oriental de Santa Cruz donde un movimiento elitista y "civico" propone la "autonomia" como respuesta al creciente poder indigena-popular y nacionalista. Este nuevo urbanismo se expresa mediante una gama de espectaculos culturales?desde carnaval hasta formas de violencia privada?y responde a una crisis del poder social, politico y economico de la elite tradicional. El espectaculo es una tactica para la visualizacion del poder en el contexto de incertidumbre territorial e institucional y la perdida, frente a la democracia popular, de espacios de control sobre el aparato estatal por parte de la elite regional. Utilizando la imagen del migrante andino o "kolla" como simbolo de la amenaza del estado central, esta tactica de visualizacion del poder en el caso de Santa Cruz se vuelca hacia la racializacion del espacio publico y de los derechos a su ocupacion, y a la defensa de jerarquias, simbolos e instituciones sociales en decadencia. Como el espectaculo no resuelve las fracturas provocadas por la crisis de poder, ni silencia a los desafios a la hegemonia crucena, el regionalismo de elite depende tambien del uso selectivo de la violencia privada y publica. El articulo intenta trascender enfoques etnograficos locales para visualizar nueva articulaciones trans-locales mediante las cuales el presente y futuro del estado boliviano es actualmente re-imaginado y disputado
Medication Adherence and Its Connection With Depression and Lifestyle Medicine

Depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States. Research has shown that exercise can improve the symptoms associated with depression, in part by influencing many of the same chemicals that antidepressants do, such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Medication adherence research shows that patients who are depressed are less likely than nondepressed patients to adhere to their drug therapy, even for medications that are not related to depression. It is presumable, then, that patients with depression may have difficulty adhering to their healthy lifestyle behaviors as well. The purpose of this article is to discuss medication adherence and its possible effects on the management of depression and lifestyle medicine activities as well as the role that pharmacists have in adherence to lifestyle medicine activities.
The Effect of Child Support Enforcement on Abortion in the United States

This project aims to answer a critically important question of public policy: does effective child support enforcement lead to a change in the incidence of abortion across the United States? In 2005, there were approximately 1.21 million abortions across the country. In the past, studies on abortion prevalence have focused on the influence of numerous state laws regarding the conditions under which an abortion can be performed, after controlling for each state's individual sociodemographic profile and economic characteristics, political climate, and provider availability. Most commonly, these studies have specifically examined the withdrawal of Medicaid funding and the imposition of parental notification/consent laws, and generally— though not always—find that these policies tend to decrease the incidence of abortion. Notably, income security also seems to make a difference with respect to abortion; indeed, poor women are four times as likely to have an abortion as non-poor women. In this project, we reproduce earlier work on the link between strong child support enforcement and non-marital births before taking this income-related research a step further by examining the influence of strong child support enforcement on the incidence of abortion in the states. More specifically, using state- level data collected from 1978-2003, we employ regression analysis to examine whether financial security as measured by 5 types of child support enforcement effectiveness impacts fertility decisions and outcomes. We find that using particular measures of child support enforcement effectiveness decreases nonmarital births and increases the incidence of abortion. Acknowledgements: The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Bob Johnston for his help with the abortion data, and Rebecca Blank, Chien-Chung Huang, Lenna Nepomnyaschy , Lauren Alexander of the Guttmacher Institute, and Danielle West of NARAL for their data contributions. We would also like to thank M.B. Crowley for his continued professional support. All remaining errors are our own.
Recent History (1988–2004) of Beaver Dams along Bridge Creek in Central Oregon

Bridge Creek is a low-gradient stream in the John Day River basin of eastern Oregon. After decades of grazing, riparian vegetation along a 31.7 km reach was sparse and low in diversity, vegetated floodplains were typically narrow, and the stream was relatively wide and shallow. Cattle grazing within this reach was reduced in 1988, irrigation diversion ditches were replaced with culverts in 1989, and beaver (Castor canadensis) trapping was discontinued after 1991. Between 1988 and 2004, we inventoried beaver dams and ponds twice a year and estimated their dimensions. Field notes and photographs were used to document habitat use and better understand the potential role of beaver with regard to channel morphology and riparian plant communities. The annual number of beaver dams present in the study reach ranged from 9 to 103. On average, dams were nearly 8 m in length with ponds extending upstream 26 m. We also found that beaver dams/ponds, over time, typically accumulated sediment, improved conditions for es...
Bayesian Classification of Flight Calls with a Novel Dynamic Time Warping Kernel

In this paper we propose a probabilistic classification algorithm with a novel Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) kernel to automatically recognize flight calls of different species of birds. The performance of the method on a real world dataset of warbler (Parulidae) flight calls is competitive to human expert recognition levels and outperforms other classifiers trained on a variety of feature extraction approaches. In addition we offer a novel and intuitive DTW kernel formulation which is positive semi-definite in contrast with previous work. Finally we obtain promising results with a larger dataset of multiple species that we can handle efficiently due to the explicit multiclass probit likelihood of the proposed approach.
Structural Evidence for a Two-Metal-Ion Mechanism of Group I Intron Splicing

We report the 3.4 angstrom crystal structure of a catalytically active group I intron splicing intermediate containing the complete intron, both exons, the scissile phosphate, and all of the functional groups implicated in catalytic metal ion coordination, including the 2′-OH of the terminal guanosine. This structure suggests that, like protein phosphoryltransferases, an RNA phosphoryltransferase can use a two-metal-ion mechanism. Two Mg2+ ions are positioned 3.9 angstroms apart and are directly coordinated by all six of the biochemically predicted ligands. The evolutionary convergence of RNA and protein active sites on the same inorganic architecture highlights the intrinsic chemical capacity of the two-metal-ion catalytic mechanism for phosphoryl transfer.
Solar influence on nuclear decay rates: constraints from the MESSENGER mission

We have analyzed 137Cs decay data, obtained from a small sample onboard the MESSENGER spacecraft en route to Mercury, with the aim of setting limits on a possible correlation between nuclear decay rates and solar activity. Such a correlation has been suggested recently on the basis of data from 54Mn decay during the solar flare of 13 December 2006, and by indications of an annual and other periodic variations in the decay rates of 32Si, 36Cl, and 226Ra. Data from five measurements of the 137Cs count rate over a period of approximately 5.4 years have been fit to a formula which accounts for the usual exponential decrease in count rate over time, along with the addition of a theoretical solar contribution varying with MESSENGER-Sun separation. The indication of solar influence is then characterized by a non-zero value of the calculated parameter ξ, and we find ξ=(2.8±8.1)×10−3 for 137Cs. A simulation of the increased data that can hypothetically be expected following Mercury orbit insertion on 18 March 2011 suggests that the anticipated improvement in the determination of ξ could reveal a non-zero value of ξ if present at a level consistent with other data.
Energy security of military and industrial systems: Multicriteria analysis of vulnerability to emergent conditions including cyber threats

This paper describes decision analysis and scenario analysis for energy security of industrial and military installations. The approach compares potential investments across multiple criteria and finds the impact of emergent and future conditions to the prioritization of investments. Emergent conditions include cyber threats, market/economic drivers, policies and regulations, environment, and technologies.