cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PASSIVE VIBRATION SUPPRESSION OF BEAMS AND BLADES USING MAGNETOMECHANICAL COATING

Abstract The feasibility of using magnetomechanical coating for enhancing high damping capacity on turbine blades is investigated. An analytical procedure is developed for modelling the dynamic behavior of beams and blades coated with a plasma-sprayed iron–chromium-based coating. The stress- or strain-dependent damping capability of the coating material is evaluated experimentally and further quantified with a distribution function proposed by Smith and Birchak (1968 Journal of Applied Physics39, 2311–2316 [1], 1969 Journal of Applied Physics40, 5174–5178 [2]). The equation of motion and associated boundary conditions are derived for uniformly coated beams. The resulting equation of motion is solved for beams using a closed-form procedure. To validate the closed-form solutions and further investigate the effects of a thin coating on high-frequency chordwise bending modes or stripe modes (the terminology widely used by the turbine engine industry) of the vibrations of a curved blade, a three-dimensional finite element approach is used, which allows one to systematically determine the stress-dependent damping properties. The finite element results show that a thin magnetomechanical coating layer can make a significant contribution to the damping and reduction of vibratory or alternating stresses at various high-frequency vibration stripe modes.
On a nonlinear multivariable servomechanism problem

Abstract Multivariable nonlinear plants with both measured and unmeasured vector disturbance signals are considered. Output-feedback, dynamic control laws are designed for the problem of tracking a constant or slowly-varying reference input while rejecting constant or slowly-varying disturbances.
The impact of clinical information technology on information quality in US hospitals

The healthcare industry today is information-intensive. The quality of healthcare and the reduction of medical errors are directly related to the quality of information for clinical decision making in hospitals. Therefore, it is an imperative to improve the quality of information in these organisations. Information Technology (IT) is one resource that has proven to improve information quality in other industries. This study examines the prospect of clinical IT in hospitals improving the quality of information. The study found that IT does improve several aspects of information quality, that of accuracy, reliability and timeliness, although the impact is currently rather low. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Nikon EUVL development progress update

Nikon has been developing the full field exposure tool called EUV1 for process development of 32nm hp node and beyond. The unique feature of EUV1 is the capability of variable illumination coherence and off-axis illumination. EUV1 was installed in Selete and used for EUV lithography process development. Nikon also has conducted continuous collaborative works with customers using EUV1. Since the last SPIE Symposium in 2009, many exposure results with EUV1 tools were obtained. They showed excellent resolution capability beyond 24nm L/S with off-axis illumination and stable overlay capability of 10nm (Mean + 3 sigma). Process development exposures of test chip patterns are ongoing. With regard to HVM tool development, imaging capability with high NA projection optics and throughput capability are reviewed.
The Influence of Language Brokering on Hispanic Teenagers' Acculturation, Academic Performance, and Nonverbal Decoding Skills: A Preliminary Study

This study replicates and extends R. Buriel, W. Perez, T. L. De Ment, D. V. Chavez, and V. R. Moran's (1998) study to assess the influence of language brokering on acculturation, biculturalism, and nonverbal decoding in U.S. culture as well as the subsequent influence of these variables on academic self-efficacy and grade point average. Bilingual Hispanic teenagers attending U.S. public schools (N = 89) completed written and video questionnaires. The analyses revealed relationships between language brokering, acculturation, biculturalism, academic self-efficacy, and grade point averages for the junior high school participants as well as relationships between language brokering, academic self-efficacy, and grade point average for the senior high school participants. Analyses yielded no significant results related to nonverbal decoding in U.S. culture.
The microsatellites of Escherichia coli: rapidly evolving repetitive DNAs in a non‐pathogenic prokaryote

We have demonstrated hypervariability of native short-motif repeats (microsatellites) in Escherichia coli. Twenty-five of the longest microsatellites in the E. coli genome were identified. These were analysed for length variability among 22 wild-type (non-mutator) isolates from the E. coli collection of reference (ECOR). Non-coding mononucleotide repeats are consistently polymorphic among these genetically diverse E. coli. Length differences in variable microsatellites allowed all E. coli strains examined to be uniquely differentiated. Phylogenetic analysis of the variable repeats shows ubiquitous homoplasy at the level of divergence represented by the sample set, suggesting that these markers are hypermutable and should prove valuable for the discrimination of closely related strains that are not otherwise genetically differentiable. Genomic analyses suggest that similar markers are also likely to be found in all other prokaryotes.
RESULTS OF DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMLY SELECTED PLACEBO CONTROLLED THERAPEUTIC TRIALS OF HUMAN IgE PENTAPEPTIDE (HEPP)

RESULTS OF DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMLY SELECTED PLACEBO CONTROLLED THERAPEUTIC TRIALS OF HUMAN IgE PENTAPEPTIDE (HEPP)
A software reliability growth model

Most of the existing software reliability models assume time between failures to follow an exponential distribution. Develops a reliability growth model based on non‐homogeneous Poisson process with intensity function given by the power law, to predict the reliability of a software. Several authors have suggested the use of the non‐homogeneous Poisson process to assess the reliability growth of software and to predict their failure behaviour. Inference procedures considered by these authors have been Bayesian in nature. Uses an unbiased estimate of the failure rate for prediction. Compares the performance of this model with Bayes empirical‐Bayes models and a time series model. The model developed is realistic, easy to use, and gives a better prediction of reliability of a software.
Stratigraphic Relation of Silurian Sandstone in Part of Summit and Portage Counties, Ohio: ABSTRACT

The Silurian sandstones of northeastern Ohio, informally termed white "Clinton," red "Clinton," and stray "Clinton," in ascending order, have been described by various investigators as belonging to a major Silurian delta complex sourced from an easterly direction. Detailed study of geophysical logs of a limited area in Summit and Portage Counties supports this interpretation. Isopach maps, sand thickness maps, and sandstone-shale ratio maps show a pattern of probable deltaic distributary streams flowing generally from east to west, bifurcating at places to probable crevasse splays, and terminating westerly in nearshore beach and marine bar sands. The units are probably marine regressive. In ascending order, the white Clinton represents partial bars, beaches, and delta fro t; the red Clinton represents poorly drained swamp and/or upper delta or fluvial environments; and the stray Clinton may be marine transgressive representing environments similar to the white Clinton. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1925------------
Restrictions on Representationalism

Strong representationalism claims that the qualitative character of our phenomenal mental states consists in the intentional content of such states. Although strong representationalism has greatly increased in popularity over the last decade, I find the view deeply implausible. In this paper, I attempt to argue against strong representationalism by a two-step argument. First, I suggest that strong representationalism must be unrestricted in order to serve as an adequate theory of qualia, i.e., it must apply to all qualitative mental states. Second, I present considerations – deriving largely from nonperceptual states – to show that an unrestricted form of strong representationalism is problematic.
“Real” Hiddenite and Real Names

Figure 1. William E. Hidden (kneeling) with miners at the Freeman Zircon mine, near Tuxedo, Henderson County, North Carolina, in 1886–87. Photo courtesy of the Mineral and Lapidary Museum of Hender...
Are traditional MOSFET packages suitable for the new generation of DC-DC converters

Using a lossless MOSFET model, we will show mathematically the performance limits of traditional and modern packages on their own and demonstrate that some traditional packages are less suitable for high frequency applications. We will also highlight the new BGA family of packages that meets these demands and is likely to continue to meet them for some time in the future
A kernel-based learning approach to ad hoc sensor network localization

We show that the coarse-grained and fine-grained localization problems for ad hoc sensor networks can be posed and solved as a pattern recognition problem using kernel methods from statistical learning theory. This stems from an observation that the kernel function, which is a similarity measure critical to the effectiveness of a kernel-based learning algorithm, can be naturally defined in terms of the matrix of signal strengths received by the sensors. Thus we work in the natural coordinate system provided by the physical devices. This not only allows us to sidestep the difficult ranging procedure required by many existing localization algorithms in the literature, but also enables us to derive a simple and effective localization algorithm. The algorithm is particularly suitable for networks with densely distributed sensors, most of whose locations are unknown. The computations are initially performed at the base sensors, and the computation cost depends only on the number of base sensors. The localization step for each sensor of unknown location is then performed locally in linear time. We present an analysis of the localization error bounds, and provide an evaluation of our algorithm on both simulated and real sensor networks.
Synthesis and properties of polycarbosilanes with the meta-linkage bending unit by hydrosilylation polymerization

The polycarbosilanes (PCS) with meta-linkage bending unit ((SINGLE BOND)Me2Si(SINGLE BOND)m(SINGLE BOND)C6H4(SINGLE BOND)Me2Si(SINGLE BOND)CH2CH2(SINGLE BOND)) were successfully synthesized in mild conditions by hydrosilylation in the presence of [Pt{(CH2(DOUBLE BOND)CHSiMe2)2O}2]. The PCS obtained were soluble in various solvents owing to the lowering of the crystallinity. These properties are well compared with those of the PCS [(SINGLE BOND)Me2Si(SINGLE BOND)p(SINGLE BOND)C6H4(SINGLE BOND)Me2Si(SINGLE BOND)CH2CH2(SINGLE BOND)]n. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Picosecond-photodichroism studies of the transient states in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides reaction centers at 5 K. Effects of electron transfer on the six bacteriochlorin pigments

Abstract We have examined the dichroism of the visible and near-infrared absorption changes due to the early transient states in Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides reaction centers imbedded in polyvinyl alcohol films at 5 K. The transient-state, ground-state and derivative spectra acquired under these conditions are highly resolved. Spectral features have been assigned to the bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) dimer (P) that serves as the primary electron donor, to each of the two additional BChls, and to the two bacteriopheophytin (BPh) molecules. The dichroism of the absorption changes, taken together with earlier results including our observation of a detection-wavelength dependence of the kinetics, argues that only one of the BPhs is a clearly resolved electron carrier prior to ubiquinone. The second BPh and the two BChls not constituting P display electrochromic effects and/or nuclear relaxations, possibly involving the protein, in response to the charge-separation process.
Self-perceived and observed practices of secondary school mathematics teachers

Abstract This study investigated changes in 22 secondary school mathematics teachers' self-perceived and observed teaching practices during their involvement in a three-year professional development program. Data were collected over four years and analyzed for changes over time. Sources included a survey given at the beginning and end of the program that addressed the teachers' perception of their practice, a classroom observation instrument, interviews, and participants' written reflections. Both teachers' self-perceived and observed practices were found to move towards the targeted goals, although not necessarily at the same rate. As the teachers' practice approached exemplary, the discrepancy between observed and self-perceptions decreased. When discrepancies did exist, the teachers tended to perceive themselves as being closer to exemplary than was supported by observation.
PREHISPANIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN THE MIMBRES REGION, SOUTHWESTERN NEW MEXICO

Prehispanic settlements often had archaeologically visible impacts on their surrounding environments, including changes in local plant communities that affected the presence and abundance of both plant and animal species. Here, data from sites in the Mimbres region of southwestern New Mexico are used to identify evidence for such impacts around habitation sites, and to investigate four factors (site size, elevation, water availability, and occupational history) that influence the degree of impact different settlement types had on their surroundings. Patterning in riparian tree species ubiquity, weed ubiquity, and lagomorph ratios indicates that environmental impact is linked not only to settlement size, but also to the history of human occupation in an area. These combined factors outweigh differences in settlement elevation and water availability in the study area.
Prohibitin Induces the Transcriptional Activity of p53 and Is Exported from the Nucleus upon Apoptotic Signaling

Prohibitin, a potential tumor suppressor protein, has been shown to inhibit cell proliferation and repress E2F transcriptional activity. Though prohibitin has potent transcriptional functions in the nucleus, a mitochondrial role for prohibitin has also been proposed. Here we show that prohibitin is predominantly nuclear in two breast cancer cell lines where it co-localizes with E2F1 and p53. Upon apoptotic stimulation by camptothecin, prohibitin is exported to perinuclear regions where it localizes to mitochondria. The data presented here also show that prohibitin is capable of physically interacting with p53 in vivo and in vitro. Prohibitin was found to enhance p53-mediated transcriptional activity and cotransfection of an antisense prohibitin construct reduces p53-mediated transcriptional activation. Prohibitin appears to induce p53-mediated transcription by enhancing its recruitment to promoters, as detected by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. These results suggest that prohibitin is capable of modulating Rb/E2F as well as p53 regulatory pathways.
CCK26-33 degrading activity in brain and nonneural tissue: a metalloendopeptidase.

: Cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK26–33) is metabolized by neural membranes with an initial cleavage to CCK29–33 and subsequent breakdown to CCK31–33 and CCK32–33; this pattern of proteolysis occurs on incubation with either P2 or purified lysed synaptosomal membranes. To determine whether the pattern of CCK26–33 proteolysis is unique to the brain and whether regional brain differences in its pathway or rate exist, we analyzed the proteolysis of CCK by synaptic membranes of various brain areas and cellular membranes of peripheral tissue. The pattern of degradation in brain did not differ among the regions studied. The overall proteolysis rate, as measured by the formation of tryptophan, was higher in the striatum than in the cortex, although CCK29–33 was formed at the same rate in both areas. In nonneural tissue, the rate of degradation was highest in liver membranes and lowest in pancreatic acinar cell preparations. Thus, it appears that degradative peptidases are not necessarily colocalized with CCK receptors. The pattern of product formation is the same in peripheral compared with CNS membranes; thus, the degradative pathway does not appear to be unique to brain tissue. The enzyme present in synaptic membranes that is responsible for CCK29–33 formation requires a metal ion and sulfydryl groups for the catalysis and thus is a metalloendopeptidase. Furthermore, its activity is inhibited by Ac-Gly-Phe-Nle-al, a peptide aldehyde whose sequence bears some homology to the amino acid sequence in the region of CCK26–33 that is cleaved by this enzyme.
Hook spectroscopy as an atomic number density diagnostic applied to laser-ablated copper plasmas

Hook spectroscopy has been used to determine the absolute number density of ground state copper atoms in laser-ablated plasma plumes. An ablation laser power flux of {approximately} 1.5 GW/cm{sup 2} is applied to a solid copper target in a background gas, producing a plasma plume suitable for studying homogeneous copper vapor condensation. Density is measured at post-ablation time delays ranging from 10 {mu}s to 3 ms with 25 torr of argon as the background gas. Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLEF) images containing relative density information are used in conjunction with the hook spectra to resolve spatially the absolute density within the plume. Copper atom densities thus measured ranged from 1.9 {times} 10{sup 15} cm{sup {minus}3} at a delay of 10 {mu}s to 2.7 {times} 10{sup 13} cm{sup {minus}3} at 3 ms delay in 25 torr of argon The decrease in density is due to the condensation of copper vapor to form fine particulate. As a combustion diagnostic, the hook method may prove extremely useful for the determination of metal impurity density in coal fired flames as well as a single -- shot OH density and temperature diagnostic.
Upper-air observation indicators predict outbreaks of asthma exacerbations among elementary school children: integration of daily environmental and school health surveillance systems in Pennsylvania.

Objective. To determine whether a relationship exists between asthma exacerbations among elementary school children and daily upper-air observations (temperature, relative humidity, dew point, and mixing ratio) and, if so, to derive a mathematical model that predicts asthma exacerbations among children. Methods. Using an ecological study design, school health records of 168,825 elementary school students enrolled in the Health eTools for Schools program within 49 Pennsylvania counties were analyzed. Data representing asthma exacerbations were originally recorded by school nurses as the type of treatment given to a student during a clinic visit on a particular day. Daily upper-air measurements from ground level to the 850 mb pressure level, covering a radius of 800 km around Pittsburgh, PA, were obtained. The Wilcoxon two-sample test was used to identify associations. A generalized estimating equation model was used to predict the occurrence of more than 48 asthma exacerbations, the daily mean for 2008–201...
Farmer's rights and genetic conservation in traditional farming systems

Abstract Crop genetic resources are concentrated in some of the world's poorest farming systems. These resources have been used by industrial countries without compensating farmers. Concerns for equity and conservation have led to proposals to protect crop genetic resources as intellectual property. This paper argues that conventional intellectual property regulations (e.g. utility patents and plant variety protection) should not be used to protect crop genetic resources. It suggests that farmers' rights, as an alternate form of intellectual property rights, be used to indirectly compensate farmers by supporting genetic conservation. It examines methods of in situ conservation for crop genetic resources.
THE PALEOECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF OPPORTUNISTIC SPECIES

Opportunistic species are not resource-limited. With favorable events they can increase rapidly in numbers. Such species populations are typically very unstable and may become extinct very quickly. In contrast, equilibrium species populations are resource-limited and maintain stable population levels. The identification of explosive opportunists in the fossil record is an important means of recognizing animal communities which were primarily controlled by the physical, and not the biotic, environment. In young environments of high physiological stress where animal communities are physically controlled, most species are opportunistic. In old and biologically accommodated communities opportunists are relatively rare. Explosive opportunists can be recognized by means of distributional, relative abundance and fossil occurrence data.
Image reconstruction in cardiac interventions using a small flat-panel detector

C-arm CT is used in neurovascular interventions where a large flat panel detector is used to acquire cone-beam projection data. In this case, data truncation problems due to the limited detector size are mild. When the cone beam CT method is applied to cardiac interventions severe data truncation artifacts reduce the clinical utility of the reconstructions. However, accurate reconstruction is still possible given a priori knowledge of the reconstruction values within a small region inside the FOV. Several groups have studied the case of the interior problem where data is truncated from all views. In this paper, we applied these new mathematical discoveries to C-arm cardiac cone-beam CT to demonstrate that accurate image reconstruction may be achieved for cardiac interventions. The method is applied to iteratively reconstruct the image volume such that it satisfies several physical conditions. In this work, the algorithm is applied to data from in-vivo cardiac canine studies collected using a clinical C-arm system. It is demonstrated that the algorithm converges well to the reconstruction values of non-truncated data reconstructed using the FDK algorithm. Furthermore, proper convergence is achieved by using only an estimate of the average value within a subregion as a priori information (i.e. the exact value at each pixel in the a priori region need not be known). Two methods for obtaining a priori information are compared.
Caution! Warning Effectiveness may be More Obfuscated than it Appears: Making Sense of the Warning Literature

Much research on warnings has the ultimate goal of assessing warning effectiveness or behavioral compliance with the warning. Despite this seemingly common goal, research conducted on warnings differentially concentrates on various aspects of the warning process, all of which are necessary to comply with a warning, but each is not sufficient to ensure compliance when considered in isolation. Thus, this extensive review of the literature will consider research on the four stages of warning compliance: namely, notice, encode, comprehend, and comply, and will seek to evaluate the effectiveness of product warnings as a whole. In addition to determining the effectiveness of warnings at each stage of the warning process, this research will also identify areas in need of further research, especially those pertaining to behavioral compliance, and will propose a framework for conducting experiments to adequately and more fully address behavioral compliance and warning effectiveness for on-product warnings. Language: en
Apparatus for automatically maintaining cell suspension at low, constant oxygen concentrations: The oxystat

Abstract An apparatus which rapidly provides and maintains constant oxygen partial pressure from 1 to 150 Torr (1.4 to 211 μ m ) in suspensions of respiring rat hepatocytes (0.50 – 0.87 μ m s−1) was developed. Voltage output from a Clark-type electrode in an incubation vessel regulates oxygen flow into the vessel to control solution oxygen concentration at a predetermined level. After maintenance of cell suspensions (4–15 ml) for 10 to 30 min, metabolism can be quenched and examined.
A pair of adjacent glucocorticoid response elements regulate expression of two mouse metallothionein genes

Synthesis of mouse metallothionein (MT)-I and MT-II is transcriptionally induced by the synthetic glucocorticoid, dexamethasone (DEX) or both in vivo as well as in numerous cell lines. However, the location(s) of a glucocorticoid response element (GRE) has not been described. The observation that a marked MT-I gene, as well as heterologous genes, when placed in the context of 17 kb of flanking sequence from the MT locus, are inducible by DEX and lipopolysaccharide in transgenic mice renewed the search for the GRE. Analysis of a series of deletion constructs from this 17-kb region in cultured cells identified a single 455-bp region that conferred DEX induction on a reporter gene. This 455-bp region contains two GREs that bind to the glucocorticoid receptor as assessed by gel mobility shift. Deletion of this fragment from the 17-kb flanking region eliminates the DEX responsiveness of reporter genes. The two GREs, which are located approximately 1 kb upstream of the MT-II gene and approximately 7 kb upstream of the MT-I gene, are necessary for induction of both genes and can function independently of elements within the proximal promoter region of either gene.
Alterations of inhibitory synaptic responses in the dentate gyrus of temporal lobe epileptic patients.

The number of orthodromically evoked population spikes was used to classify brain slice tissue from the dentate gyrus of temporal lobe epileptic patients as “more excitable” (multiple population spikes) or “less excitable” (a single population spike). During orthodromic stimulation, “more excitable” tissue exhibited less paired-pulse depression in comparison to “less excitable” tissue. During antidromic stimulaltion, both multiple population spikes and paired-pulse depression were observed in “more excitable” tissue. “Less excitable” tissue exhibited a single antidromic spike and often on antidromically evoked paired-pulse depression. The strength of antidromic paired-pulse depression was correlated positively with the number of antidromic spikes and was correlated negatively with orthodromic paired-pulse depression. Although orthodromic and antidromic paired-pulse depression were correlated to the number of orthodromically evoked populaltion spikes, this correlation was not as strong as that between orthodromic paired-pulse depression, antidromic paired-pulse depression, and number of antidromically evoked population spikes. The antidromic paired-pulse depression observed in tissue exhibiting antidromically evoked multiple population spikes was enhanced rather than blocked by bicuculline. In addition, the blockade of the antidromic paired-pulse depression by CNQX indicated that this inhibition is mediated by an AMPA-type glutamatergic synapse. We suggest that alterations in circuitry occur in the dentate gyrus of some temporal lobe epileptic patients and were manifested by both a loss of inhibitory input as well as an increase of inhibition, which was dependent on the pathway of stimulaltion. The results of pairing antidromic and orthodromic stimuli were consistent with these conclusions. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Microscale screening systems for 3D cellular microenvironments: platforms, advances, and challenges

The increasing interest in studying cells using more in vivo-like three-dimensional (3D) microenvironments has created a need for advanced 3D screening platforms with enhanced functionalities and increased throughput. 3D screening platforms that better mimic in vivo microenvironments with enhanced throughput would provide more in-depth understanding of the complexity and heterogeneity of microenvironments. The platforms would also better predict the toxicity and efficacy of potential drugs in physiologically relevant conditions. Traditional 3D culture models (e.g., spinner flasks, gyratory rotation devices, non-adhesive surfaces, polymers) were developed to create 3D multicellular structures. However, these traditional systems require large volumes of reagents and cells, and are not compatible with high-throughput screening (HTS) systems. Microscale technology offers the miniaturization of 3D cultures and allows efficient screening of various conditions. This review will discuss the development, most influential works, and current advantages and challenges of microscale culture systems for screening cells in 3D microenvironments.
Off‐axis rotation as a test of otolith function

This experiment was performed to determine whether linear acceleration causes a change in the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) that could be exploited as a research and/or clinical test of otolith function. The effect of otolith stimulation on the VOR was studied in the horizontal and vertical planes in 10 cats. The VOR was induced by pulses of angular acceleration (velocity ramps). During some of the test runs, a centripetal linear acceleration stimulus was also applied to stimulate the otolith organs. Using the stimuli combination as tested in this project, the authors found that otolith stimulation affected the vertical VOR but not the horizontal VOR. The vertical VOR was asymmetric. While the methods used in this study are useful in research applications, the data variability and the equipment requirements make these techniques generally impractical for clinical testing.
Pathways to HIV testing among adults aged fifty and older with HIV/AIDS.

Abstract Older adults (age 50 + ) are less likely to be tested for HIV and are diagnosed at a later disease stage than younger individuals. To examine the barriers and facilitating factors to testing in this age group, interview data from 35 older men and women who tested HIV positive at age 50 or older were analysed. Participants described a variety of pathways to testing, related to gender, sexual orientation, drug use, and era of the epidemic. Older gay and bisexual men described three trajectories: proactively seeking out testing, delaying testing due to fear and hopelessness, and denying exposure to HIV. Heterosexual drug users and their partners followed two trajectories, depending on the phase of the epidemic: (1) delay due to the lack of knowledge or perceived risk for infection, and (2) delay due to psychological barriers and drug use, despite recognizing their risk. Finally, heterosexual non-drug-users were unaware of their risk. Across risk groups, physical symptoms and encouragement from healt...
The internal accuracy of the Yale parallaxes

Abstract The internal accuracy of 1323 Yale parallaxes is discussed and its dependence upon various arguments. The probable errors of unit weight of the parallaxes are used as a measure of the accuracy, after elimination of variations depending on the measurer and on the epoch of measurement. The resulting standardized errors show great reduction and enable small effects to be determined which depend on such arguments as distortion of the film, guiding, on right ascensions, spectral types, sector openings, on diameters of the images, exposure times, zenith distances, etc. There exists no correlation with the size of the parallax, although there is a clear indication of an increase of the errors for long periods of observation, due to the presence of variable motions.
Community treatment of violent youth: Seven years of experience with a class action suit

Abstract The background and development of a class action suit to provide psychiatric and medical treatment for violent youth is described from a clinical perspective. The current programming provides a broad array of community services including foster and group home care, special education, psychiatric treatment, and consultation including medication management, case managers, and any other treatment required by the diagnosis and malfunctioning of the class action members. The strengths, e.g., continuity of care and the weaknesses of the program are described. This statewide, tax-supported program is the most extensive and intensive ever developed for the broad-based treatment of violent youth; hence, continued scrutiny of its assets and deficiencies will provide vital information for further programming for difficult-to-treat, chronically mentally ill violent youths.
Decreased Processivity of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Reverse Transcriptase (RT) Containing Didanosine-Selected Mutation Leu74Val: a Comparative Analysis of RT Variants Leu74Val and Lamivudine-Selected Met184Val

We previously showed that a didanosine-selected mutation in pNL4-3 background conferred a replication disadvantage on human immunodeficiency virus type 1, resulting in a loss of replication fitness. This work has been extended by showing that a recombinant virus with the HXBc2 backbone and reverse transcriptase (RT) fragments from pNL4-3 containing the Leu74Val mutation produce decreasing amounts of p24 antigen over a 3-week period. The HXBc2 recombinant containing the wild-type RT from pNL4-3 replicated efficiently. When the virion-associated RT containing the Leu74Val mutation was used in an RT processivity assay with homopolymer RNA template-primer, poly(A), and oligo(dT), the RT with altered Leu74Val mutation was less processive, generating fewer cDNA products in comparison to wild-type pNL4-3 RT. The replication kinetics and RT processivity of the mutant with the Leu74Val mutation were compared to those of a lamivudine-selected mutant Met184Val. In replication kinetics assays, mutant Leu74Val replicated slower than the mutant Met184Val. In a processivity assay, the mutant RTs from both viruses show comparable decreases in processivity. These observations provide biochemical evidence of decreased processivity to support the decrease in replication fitness observed with the Leu74Val or Met184Val mutations.
Exploring the role of chitinolytic enzymes in the sea fan coral, Gorgonia ventalina

Chitinases are involved in defense against chitinaceous pathogens in both invertebrates and vertebrates. This study investigated whether sea fan corals, Gorgonia ventalina (Linnaeus) collected from the Florida Keys between the summer of 2002 and the summer of 2005 contain chitinases, and whether these enzymes could serve an analogous protective role against the fungal pathogen, Aspergillus sydowii (Thom et Church). Crude extracts of healthy sea fans contained detectible levels of exochitinase activity in an in vitro microplate assay using fluorogenic substrates. The exochitinase levels decreased upon injury, agitation, or manipulation of the tissue. A concurrent, transient increase of exochitinase in the surrounding water suggests that sea fans release chitinases as a response to these stresses. By contrast, endochitinase was detected in only 2 of 15 sea fans (13%), suggesting a high degree of variation for this enzyme. Sea fan chitinase-containing seawater and anion exchange chromatography fractions were both active against A. sydowii in an absorbance-based antifungal assay. The presence of chitinases in sea fan extracts, their release into the surrounding water upon stress, and their activity against A. sydowii suggests that further study of these enzymes in coral stress responses is warranted.
Validation of modeled pharmacoeconomic claims in formulary submissions

Modeled or simulated claims for costs and outcomes are a key element in formulary submissions and comparative assessments of drug products and devices; however, all too often these claims are presented in a form that is either unverifiable or potentially verifiable but in a time frame that is of no practical use to formulary committees and others who may be committed to ongoing disease-area and therapeutic-class reviews. On the assumption that formulary committees are interested in testable predictions for product performance in target populations and ongoing disease area and therapeutic reviews, the methodological standards that should be applied are those that are accepted in the natural sciences. Claims should be presented in a form that is amenable to falsification. If not, they have no scientific standing. Certainly one can follow ISPOR-SMDM standards for validating the assumptions underpinning a model or simulation. There is clearly an important role for simulations as an input to policy initiatives and developing claims for healthcare interventions and testable hypotheses; however, one would not evaluate such claims on the realism or otherwise of the model. The only standard is one of the model's ability to predict outcomes successfully in a time frame that is practical and useful. No other standard is acceptable. This sets the stage for an active research agenda.
Tracking the Path Shape Qualities of Human Motion

We propose a probabilistic generative model for extracting intended path shape qualities of an object moving under human control in real time. At each instant, we decide whether the object is moving in a straight, curved, or random path, or whether it has stopped moving. Our model incorporates sensor noise as well as human imperfections in the intended motion. As well as tracking the object's position, velocity, and motion direction, we compute the posterior probability of each shape quality hypothesis given all sensed-data in the horizon [t - N + 1,t]; the hypothesis maximizing this posterior is taken as the decision. The posterior is computed using the unscented Kalman filter (UKF), as our model is inherently nonlinear. The path-shape quality tracking is successfully embedded in a hybrid physical-digital interface where the position of an illuminated ball, sensed by a low-cost video camera array, triggers multimodal feedback in a mediated learning environment. We show successful results on a variety of real-world motion paths where the participant is given only verbal descriptions of how to move. Our generative model is further validated by user studies involving a simple color-based interaction, where participants discover shape quality controls as they interact.
Intonation in Two Scottish Poems

This article represents recent interests in poetic intonation. The systematic study of intonation has come very late to linguistics and is still fraught with difficulties. As the author explains, any study of intonation in poetry encounters further problems, too, given that poetry is usually presented visually and is visually thought to transcend individual performances. Nonetheless, using two Scottish poems, the author shows how intonational contours in poetry can indeed be recorded, identified, compared, and interpreted. These contours, the author demonstrates, can do important poetic work: shape rythms, create parallels, express attitudes, and mark linguistic, geographical, generic, and personal identities.
Integrating semantic concept similarity in model-based Web applications

Model-based design methods, and model-based architectures, have gained adoption in authoring applications for the WWW. This is further reinforced by the increasing visibility of the semantic Web, where models are intrinsic, described as metadata associated with the data made available to users and applications. Several proposals attempt to leverage this additional information to improve search functionalities, by incorporating semantic similarity (or proximity) measures into the search mechanism. In this paper we show how the availability of a semantic similarity evaluation engine can be used to enhance several functionalities of Web-based applications. In particular we show how such an infrastructure can be used to detect and suggest new relation instances, as well as propose an inferred ordering for the presentation of related information that reflects the semantic closeness of the corresponding information. The proposed engine is based on a hybrid spread activation algorithm applied to the concept instances graph.
Host Egg Characteristics, Physiological Host Range, and Parasitism Following Inundative Releases of Trichogramma platneri (Hymenoptera: Trichogrammatidae) in Walnut Orchards

Under controlled conditions we exposed eggs of 17 potential host taxa representing five orders and 14 families to females of Trichogramma platneri Nagarkatti, an egg parasitoid used as an inundative biological control agent against codling moth, Cydia pomonella L. (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae). Trichogramma platneri successfully parasitized species from five lepidopteran families (Gelechiidae, Noctuidae, Pyralidae, Sphingidae, Tortricidae) and the green lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea Stephens (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). Female wasps spent more time on heavier host eggs and the probability of successful parasitism was related to the structural integrity of the chorion of the host egg. We observed oviposition attempts on all other lepidopteran hosts offered and on eggs of Geocoris punctipes Say (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae) and Nezara viridula L. (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Dipteran and coleopteran eggs were not attacked. Sentinel eggs of the six physiologically acceptable hosts were exposed in a walnut orchard in California during inundative releases of T. platneri and all hosts were attacked equally. Parasitoids were also equally active at all heights from 1.5 to 6.5 m within the orchard canopy. Inundative releases of T. platneri may impact naturally occurring populations of green lacewings within walnut orchards, and have the potential to impact nontarget lepidopteran populations within the release area.
A shortness exponent for r‐regular r‐connected graphs

Let r≧ 3 be an integer. It is shown that there exists e= e(r), 0 0 such that for all n ≧ N (if r is even) or for all even n ≧ N(if r is odd), there is an r-connected regular graph of valency r on exactly n vertices whose longest cycles have fewer than ne vertices.
Quantifying predictive accuracy in survival models

For time-to-event outcomes in medical research, survival models are the most appropriate to use. Unlike logistic regression models, quantifying the predictive accuracy of these models is not a trivial task. We present the classes of concordance (C) statistics and R 2 statistics often used to assess the predictive ability of these models. The discussion focuses on Harrell's C, Kent and O'Quigley's R 2, and Royston and Sauerbrei's R 2. We present similarities and differences between the statistics, discuss the software options from the most widely used statistical analysis packages, and give a practical example using the Worcester Heart Attack Study dataset.
Physical activity and nutritional behaviors of women with physical disabilities: physical, psychological, social, and environmental influences.

Introduction We examined predictors of 2 important health behaviors, namely, physical activity and nutritional behaviors, in a sample of community-living women with physical disabilities (N = 386). Method We conducted a cross-sectional survey with regression analysis. Results Our regression model accounted for 33.5% of the variance in physical activity. Women with joint problems or multiple sclerosis tended to engage in less physical activity than those with stroke-related disabilities. Those who had lived with their disability longer and those experiencing greater pain tended to report less physical activity. Consistent with the literature, women with greater self-efficacy for physical activity tended to engage in more physical activity. The regression model for nutritional behaviors accounted for 37.9% of the variance. Women with better mobility, greater self-efficacy for nutrition, and more vitality had better nutritional behaviors while those who needed assistance with activities of daily living, had lower social functioning scores, and were engaged in more productive activities reported poorer nutritional behaviors. Conclusions Our findings highlight the importance of self-efficacy for improving health behaviors. Further research is needed to develop a new paradigm for the measurement of health behaviors, one that focuses on individual improvement rather than comparison to a norm, and health promoting interventions that are responsive to the needs and life circumstances of women with physical disabilities.
Trajectories of Marijuana Use and Psychological Adjustment Among Urban African American and Puerto Rican Women

BACKGROUND The current longitudinal study examined the developmental patterns of marijuana use and their relationship with subsequent psychological adjustment in a community-based sample of urban African American and Puerto Rican women. METHOD Participants were interviewed five times over a period ranging from adolescence (mean age 14.0 years) to adulthood (mean age 32.5 years). Outcome measures included depressive symptoms, anger/hostility and the presence of a substance use disorder (abuse/dependence). RESULTS Three distinct trajectories of marijuana use were identified: non-users, increasers and quitters. Increasers reported higher levels of depressive symptoms and anger/hostility than did non-users and were more likely to meet criteria for a substance use disorder at age 32.5 years. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that early-starting long-term use of marijuana is associated with psychological maladjustment among women. Prevention efforts should emphasize the long-term cost associated with marijuana use, and that the best psychological health is reported by those who abstain from the drug.
On derived domains in sentence phonology

This paper deals with two distinct but inextricably connected sets of questions in the area of sentence phonology. The first concerns the organisation of sentence phonology and the nature of the phonological representation(s) of the sentence, and the second the relation between syntactic structure and phonological representation.
Interaction Testing in Model-Based Development: Effect on Model-Coverage

Model-based software development is gaining interest in domains such as avionics, space, and automotives. The model serves as the central artifact for the development efforts (such as, code generation), therefore, it is crucial that the model be extensively validated. Automatic generation of interaction test suites is a candidate for partial automation of this model validation task. Interaction testing is a combinatorial approach that systematically tests all t-way combinations of inputs for a system. In this paper, we report how well interaction test suites (2-way through 5-way interaction test suites) structurally cover a model of the mode- logic of a flight guidance system. We conducted experiments to (1) compare the coverage achieved with interaction test suites to that of randomly generated tests and (2) determine if interaction test suites improve the coverage of black-box test suites derived from system requirements. The experiments show that the interaction test suites provide little benefit over the randomly generated tests and do not improve coverage of the requirements-based tests. These findings raise questions on the application of interaction testing in this domain.