cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
William Louis Abbott in Madagascar: Revisiting Archival and Museum Resources of a Smithsonian Naturalist from the 1890s

This article introduces an important group of ethnographic, biological, and unpublished archival materials deriving from two expeditions to Madagascar by American naturalist William Louis Abbott (1860–1936). The first was from February to September 1890; the second from January to July 1895 when Abbott rushed back to Madagascar not only to collect for the Smithsonian but also to join the Merina in their unsuccessful war of independence against the encroaching French government. Beyond summarizing localities he visited and the current organization and usefulness of his collections for research, the article attempts to interpret archival records to assess Abbott's collecting focus, biases, and purposes; his perspectives on contemporaneous events in Madagascar; and also the role that “naturalist” collectors such as Abbott played within the history of anthropology and of museums. Ethnographic information is embedded not only within the ethnographic collections but also within associated biological collections and archives. [Madagascar, William Louis Abbott, naturalist, ethnographic collections, Smithsonian Institution]
Rebound responding following a single dose of drug using an amphetamine-vehicle-haloperidol drug discrimination

The purpose of this research was to characterize drug-induced rebound cue states using a three-choice, agonist-vehicle-antagonist drug-discrimination procedure. Rats were trained to discriminate among 0.50 mg/kg amphetamine (AM), distilled water (DW), and 0.03 mg/kg haloperidol (HA) in a three-lever drug discrimination task. Time-dependent changes in cue state were assessed following single doses of AM (5 and 10 mg/kg), HA (1 mg/kg), and cocaine (30 and 40 mg/kg). Consistent with expectations derived from the results of a study that used a two-lever AM-HA discrimination task, single doses of AM produced rebound responding on the HA-appropriate lever that was dose-dependent and peaked at 24 h following administration. In addition, cocaine substituted for AM at 0.5-2 h post-injection and then produced HA-like rebound responding that peaked at 24-36 h post-administration. Contrary to expectations, however, rebound AM-like responding did not occur following HA administration. Perhaps two- and three-choice discrimination tasks differ in their ability to characterize qualitative aspects of the post-haloperidol cue state. Knowledge of the time course of drug-induced adaptive processes, measured as withdrawal in the present research, is necessary for a complete description of a drug's effects and is important in understanding the effects of repeated drug administration.
A viable weak interaction axion

Abstract We demonstrate that a specific value of ratio of Higgs expectation values in variant weak interaction axion models can lead to an axion whose isoscalar and isovector couplings vanish to lowest order in chiral perturbation theory. Such an axion may still be viable.
Preface to the deconstruction of an exhibition on science in American life

L'A. presente un programme d'expositions et de conferences elabore aux Etats-Unis qui retrace et enumere les grands contribution de la science au mode de vie americain «Science in American Life». Il montre comment il s'est efforce d'inclure dans ce programme la presentation de certains grands travaux conduits dans le cadre des sciences sociales et notamment les recherches menees par S. Stouffer sur les soldats americains pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Il affirme que pour realiser ce type de projet il convient d'analyser les pratiques, les croyances, les approches politiques de la science et donc d'adopter une approche sociologique
An Emergency Control Algorithm for Real-Time Applications

An emergency control algorithm for possible incorporation as one of the major functions of an Energy Control Center is developed. The algorithm considers the effect of governor and AGC loop settings and determines the post contingency state and checks for any overloading condition. In the event of such overloading a Linear Programming procedure evaluates an alternate safe target state.
Carbohydrate Metabolism in the Experimental Galactose Cataract

ALTHOUGH the cataractogenic influence of galactose has long been appreciated1,2,3, the mechanism whereby galactose exerts its effect on the ocular lens has not been clarified. It was recently shown that galactose-1-phosphate acts as, or gives rise to, an inhibitor of the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in the rat lens, both in vitro and in vivo 4. In order to investigate further the hexose monophosphate shunt in such lenses, six Holtzman strain white male rats, 27 days old and weighing approximately 55 gm. each, were placed on a high galactose diet5 while six similar animals were fed a control glucose diet5. One animal from each group was killed after 1½ days on its respective diet; their lenses were immediately removed, weighed, and placed in an incubation apparatus similar to the one employed by Kinoshita and Wachtl6. Each incubation tube contained 5 ml. Krebs Ringer bicarbonate buffer which had been gassed for 1 hr. with 5 per cent carbon dioxide, 95 per cent oxygen, in order to stabilize the pH at 7.5.
Successive Approximations in Nonlinear Thermoelasticity

Abstract Starting with the basic equations of finite thermoelasticity for an incompressible, isotropic, homogeneous body, we generalize the usual method of successive approximations by expanding the relevant fields in terms of two parameters. These parameters separately characterize the mechanical and thermal loading on the body. The successive equations are derived, and due to the incompressibility and isotropy assumptions, it is seen that at each order they are not only linear but also completely uncoupled. The displacement is determined by the equations of linear isothermal elasticity, while the temperature field is determined by the equation of linear heat conduction. As an example, the solution, through second-order terms, is found for the problem of an annular cylinder with axial mechanical loading and radial thermal loading.
A Different, More Complicated Bradstreet: Interview With Charlotte Gordon

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of Charlotte Gordon to Anne Bradstreet studies. Her work has brought important and energizing popular attention to Bradstreet, and to early American researc...
Rapid determination of low levels of water in pressurized pharmaceutical inhalation aerosol products

AbstractA simple, fast and rugged method for the determination of low levels of water in pressurized pharmaceutical inhalation aerosol products is described. The pressurized canister is pierced and the contents are directly transferred into a Karl Fischer unit. The water content is measured by coulometric titration. This method has been applied to two commercial products and two development formulations.
Thermomagnetic analysis of meteorites, 2. C2 chondrites

Samples of all eighteen of the known C2 chondrites were analyzed thermomagnetically. For eleven of these, initial Fe3O4 content is low(generally 1%) and the J sub s-T curves are irreversible. The heating curves show variable and erratic behavior, whereas the cooling curves appear to be that of Fe3O4. The saturation moment after cooling is greater (up to 10 times larger) than it is initially. This behavior is interpreted to be the result of the production of magnetite from a thermally unstable phase--apparently FeS. Four of the remaining 7 C2 chondrites contain Fe3O4 as the only significant magnetic phase: initial magnetite contents range from 4 to 13 percent. The remaining three C2 chondrites contain iron or nickel-iron in addition to Fe3O4. These seven C2 chondrites show little evidence of the breakdown of a thermally unstable phase.
A comprehensive stochastic model of irradiated cell populations in culture.

A comprehensive entirely mechanistic model of the kinetics of cell population in vitro exposed to continuous irradiation is formulated and analysed. The model provides a stochastic description of the processes of formation and repair of radiation-induced lesions, as well as of cell cycling, cell proliferation, and cell death. Unobservable kinetic parameters of the model are estimated from experimental data on the sizes of clones formed in synchronized cultures of S3 HeLa cells exposed to continuous irradiation by γ-rays at various dose rates. The effects of dose rate on cell cycle duration and damage repair kinetics are studied. Continuous and acute exposures with the same total dose are compared in terms of their impact on cell survival.
Brookhaven National Laboratory's Spar Buoy Oceanographic Telemetry System (SBOTS): Software Engineering in an Oceanic Information System

Since May 1977 over a quarter of a million in situ measurements of temperature, conductivity, and current have been collected off the south shore of Long Island by a real-time data collection system. The size of this data set by early 1978 and plans for its continued expansion were deemed sufficient justification for undertaking an intensive information system design effort beginning. The goals of the SBOTS information system are (1) to significantly decrease the lag time between spar deployment and the availability of reliable information for distribution and analysis; and (2) to provide a set of programs flexible enough to incorporate both changes in data verification strategies and sensor package hardware enhancements with minimal reprogramming. These goals have been met by using the techniques of Software Engineering, including a top-down design, a hierarchical approach to program definition, structured programming, and IPO diagram documentation. The top-down approach to the information system design is illustrated by a series of block diagrams describing both high-level systems definition and detail programming task definition. Programming paralleled the top-down design. The use of the University of Minnesota FORTRAN Compiler to obtain structured programming and library functions to obtain modularity are discussed. Several levels of IPO diagrams are included as examples of the SBOTS system documentation. A unique feature of the SBOTS information system is the use of statically structured data files. Several applications which take advantage of this feature are described, including the use of digital filters and Fourier methods for time series analysis. Procedures for pre- and post-deployment calibration of each remote sensor have been established and now form an integral part of the SBOTS information system. Internal calibration techniques to compensate for electronic drift in the sensing and telemetry system have been refined and both are described. The software measures of development cost, complexity, maintainability, and coding effort are compared between the programming prior to mid-1978 and since.
Use of a conditional base number system for encoding sequences of correlated characters

A procedure is described for the relatively efficient encoding of sequences of characters which have predecessor-successor selection rules. The procedure is shown to assign a unique integer to each sequence and to generate a reasonably compact set of values.
Decomposition of biomedical signals for enhancement of their time–frequency distributions

Abstract Bilinear time–frequency distributions have been widely utilized in the analysis of nonstationary biomedical signals. A problem often arises where the time–frequency components with small-amplitude values cannot be displayed clearly. This problem results from a masking effect on these components caused by the presence of high-energy slow waves and sharp patterns in the input which produce large values in the time–frequency distribution. These large values often appear in the time–frequency plane as irregular patterns in the low-frequency range (due to slow waves), and as wide-band, impulsive components at certain points in time (due to sharp patterns). In this work we present an effective signal pre-processing method using a nonlinear operation on wavelet coefficients. This method equalizes the energy of different time–frequency components in the data so that the masking effect is greatly reduced, while the original time–frequency features of the input signal are preserved. Comparative experiments on electroencephalographic data with and without using this method have shown a clear improvement in the readability and sensitivity in bilinear time–frequency distributions.
Improving prescription auxiliary labels to increase patient understanding

Abstract Objectives To develop new, easy-to-understand prescription auxiliary labels, assess patient understanding of both new and existing labels, and compare the effectiveness of existing labels with the newly developed ones. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Semistructured interviews. Participants Convenience sample of adults from minority populations who were currently taking or had previously taken a prescription medication and could understand English. Intervention Easy-to-understand prescription auxiliary labels were developed. Both these newly created labels and existing labels were shown to participants. Participants’ health literacy levels and understanding of the information provided on the labels were determined. The reading difficulty of the auxiliary labels was determined using a Lexile Score. Main outcome measures Interpretation and understanding of prescription auxiliary labels. Results The study included 120 participants with a mean age of 40 years (SD = 14). All existing prescription auxiliary labels yielded less than 50% “excellent” interpretations except for those indicating “Take with food” and “Do not chew or crush.” The newly designed labels were better understood compared with existing labels. Some existing labels yielded Lexile scores above the sixth-grade reading level. There was an association between higher levels of education (χ 2 = 20.86, P = 0.02) or higher REALM-R (Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine, Revised) scores (χ 2 = 26.79, P = 0.02) and better interpretation of auxiliary labels. Conclusion Simpler auxiliary labels with improved patient comprehension can be developed. Auxiliary label understanding and interpretation is low for commonly used labels. Pharmacies should consider using existing manufacturer auxiliary labels that meet the criteria for patients with low literacy.
Neural progenitor cells of the neonatal rat anterior subventricular zone express functional GABAA receptors

The interneurons of the olfactory bulb arise from precursor cells in the anterior part of the neonatal subventricular zone, the SVZa, and are distinctive in that they possess a neuronal phenotype and yet undergo cell division. To characterize the differentiation of neonatal SVZa progenitor cells, we analyzed the complement of ionotropic neurotransmitter receptors that they express in vitro. For this analysis, we tested the sensitivity of SVZa progenitor cells to gamma-amino-n-butyric acid (GABA), adenosine triphosphate (ATP), kainate, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), and acetylcholine (ACh) after 1 day in vitro. SVZa progenitor cells had chloride currents activated by GABA and muscimol, the GABA(A) receptor-specific agonist, but were insensitive to ATP, kainate, NMDA, and ACh. In addition, GABA- or muscimol-activated chloride currents were blocked nearly completely by 30 microM bicuculline, the GABA(A) receptor-specific antagonist, suggesting that GABA(B) and GABA(C) receptors are absent. Measurements of the chloride reversal potential by gramicidin-perforated patch clamp revealed that currents generated by activation of GABA(A) receptors were inward, and thus, depolarizing. A set of complementary experiments was undertaken to determine by reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) whether SVZa progenitor cells express the messenger RNA (mRNA) coding for glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 (GAD67), used in the synthesis of GABA and for GABA(A) receptor subunits. Both postnatal day (P0) SVZa and olfactory bulb possessed detectable mRNA coding for GAD67. In P0 SVZa, the GABA(A) receptor subunits detected with RT-PCR included alpha 2-4, beta 1-3, and gamma 2S (short form). By comparison, the P0 olfactory bulb expressed all of the subunits detectable in the SVZa and additional subunit mRNAs: alpha 1, alpha 5, gamma 1, gamma 2L (long form), gamma 3, and delta subunit mRNAs. Antibodies recognizing GABA, GAD, and various GABA(A) receptor subunits were used to label SVZa cells harvested from P0-1 rats and cultured for 1 day. The cells were immunoreactive for GABA, GAD, and the GABA(A) receptor subunits alpha 2-5, beta 1-3, and gamma 2. To relate the characteristics of GABA(A) receptors in cultured SVZa precursor cells to particular combinations of subunits, the open reading frames of the dominant subunits detected by RT-PCR (alpha 2-4, beta 3, and gamma 2S) were cloned into a mammalian cell expression vector and different combinations were transfected into Chinese hamster ovary-K1 (CHO-K1) cells. A comparison of the sensitivity to inhibition by zinc of GABA(A) receptors in SVZa precursor cells and in CHO-K1 cells expressing various combinations of recombinant GABA(A) receptor subunits suggested that the gamma 2S subunit was present and functional in the GABA(A) receptor chloride channel complex. Thus, SVZa precursor cells are GABAergic and a subset of the GABA(A) receptor subunits detected in the olfactory bulb was found in the SVZa, as might be expected because SVZa progenitor cells migrate to the bulb as they differentiate.
mRNA–mRNA duplexes that autoelicit Staufen1-mediated mRNA decay

We report a new mechanism by which human mRNAs cross-talk: an Alu element in the 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) of one mRNA can base-pair with a partially complementary Alu element in the 3' UTR of a different mRNA, thereby creating a Staufen1 (STAU1)-binding site (SBS). STAU1 binding to a 3'-UTR SBS was previously shown to trigger STAU1-mediated mRNA decay (SMD) by directly recruiting the ATP-dependent RNA helicase UPF1, which is also a key factor in the mechanistically related nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway. In the case of a 3'-UTR SBS created by mRNA-mRNA base-pairing, we show that SMD targets both mRNAs in the duplex, provided that both mRNAs are translated. If only one mRNA is translated, then it alone is targeted for SMD. We demonstrate the functional importance of mRNA-mRNA-triggered SMD in cell migration and invasion.
Apparent Bias in the X-Ray Fluorescence Determination of Titanium in Selected NIST SRM Low-Alloy Steels

X-ray fluorescence results of the analysis of titanium in NIST SRM 1165 and 1264 low-alloy steels were found to be significantly different from the certified values. These differences appear to be unique to the XRF results since results from other methods such as emission spectroscopy did not show any discrepancies. The microhomogeneity of selected samples was examined by electron probe microanalysis and revealed the presence of titanium inclusions containing varying amounts of zirconium, niobium, and tantalum. Differences in metallurgical uniformity are believed to be the major cause of apparent XRF bias in these SRMs. XRF analysis of the new 1760-series alloys indicates that these are more uniform and more accurate for purposes of calibration than the 1160 series and 1260 series for elements such as titanium.
Comparison of 3D and 2D menus for cell phones

Few prior studies have directly compared 3D and 2D menus for cell phones. Because the technology available for cell phone interfaces has changed in recent years, interface guidelines for cell phones need to be re-evaluated, especially with regard to the use of 3D interfaces. In the present study, we first compared performance of tasks for menus with different breadths using three 3D menus (revolving stage, 3D carousel, and collapsible cylindrical tree) shown on the small display screen of an iPhone(R) simulator. Performance was best with the revolving stage menu, and there was a nonsignificant tendency for it to be rated as preferred by the participants. Then, we compared the 3D revolving stage menu to a 2D overview menu, for tasks of different complexity and menus of different breadths, on an actual iPhone. The 3D menu was preferred by users at high breadth levels, and the 2D menu showed better performance than the 3D menu with low memory load. From the results, recommendations for the design of menus for small displays were developed.
Urbanization, land use, and sustainable development in China

More profound knowledge about urban land use and expansion is needed to better understand the growth and sustainability of Chinese cities. This special issue is dedicated to addressing land use and environmental issues arising from the urbanization process, and aims to identify and model the mechanisms of land use and environmental changes. It draws from papers that were presented in the sessions titled ‘‘Urbanization, Land Use, and Regional Development in China I, II, III’’ at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in New York, February 24–28, 2012. In addition, we have also collected papers presented at the ‘‘International Conference on Urbanization and Development in China’’ held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, August 26–28, 2011, and through an open call for papers. Articles published in this special issue have all successfully gone through a very selective and rigorous anonymous peer-review process in order to secure a fairly high standard and a good balance between the different topics, debates, and study regions. This special issue has thus contributed to the broadening of the geographical scope and scale of research. This special issue is situated in the broad trends of academic enquiry on modeling urban growth and land expansion in China. Specifically, this research furthers the study of local variations on urban growth patterns with recently developed geographic information science (GIS) spatial analysis techniques such as geographically weighted logistic regression, and interprets urban growth patterns through the analysis of institutional change and on-theground field experiences. This special issue has also further attempted to incorporate socio-economic variables and expand the coastal cities-based research to interior cities. While the focus of this special issue is urban land expansion, it also explores a wide range of associated topics, including the characteristics of environmental problems and how this is related to China’s urban transition. This issue is a collection of 10 papers selected out of many candidate ones from the two conferences and open call for papers. Due to quality control and space limitation, some of the submitted manuscripts had to be rejected. We thank all those who submitted their abstracts and papers. We greatly appreciate the prompt action from both authors and reviewers, which allowed the timely publication of this special issue. Finally, our thanks also go to Dr. George Christakos, SERRA’s Editor-in-Chief, who helps us achieve the realization of this special issue.
French–German relations: the Strasbourg–Kehl encounter, 1945–55

German–French relations have proved to be pivotal to the course of modern European history. Recent success, however, has somewhat obscured our memory of the difficult path that has been trod. Directing our attention to Kehl, a small village on the upper Rhine, we can revisit the difficulties inherent in resolving feelings of mutual animosity and longstanding historical problems. Kehl stands for the quest for reconciliation at the local and regional level. In the immediate postwar era, French dreams of continued influence over the Rhine valley would have to be put aside just like German anger over their treatment by the French.
Generating instruction sets and microarchitectures from applications

The design of application-specific instruction set processor(ASIP) system includes at least three interdependent tasks: microarchitecture design, instruction set design, and instruction set mapping for the application. We present a method that unifies these three design problems with a single formulation: a modified scheduling/allocation problem with an integrated instruction formation process. Micro-operations (MOPs) representing the application are scheduled into time steps. Instructions are formed and hardware resources are allocated during the scheduling process. The assembly code for the given application is obtained automatically at the end of the scheduling process. This approach considers MOP parallelism, instruction field encoding, delay load/store/branch, conditional execution of MOPs and the retargetability to various architecture templates. Experiments are presented to show the power and limitation of our approach. Performance improvement over our previous work is significant.
Five-Millimeter Balloon Trocar Site Herniation: Report of Two Cases and Review of Literature

Trocar site herniation is a well-known potential complication of minimally invasive surgery. We present the cases of two herniations after use of 5-mm non-bladed balloon trocars. In both patients, surgical management was required, with no subsequent sequelae to date. The hernias were attributed to excessive fascial stretching and compression by the balloon. We recommend full-thickness closure of 5-mm ports if a balloon is used or if there was extensive intraoperative manipulation.
Antibody fragment separations by capillary zone electrophoresis

Abstract This study investigated methods of improving the separation and identification of an IgA antibody, McPC603, and its pepsin fragments. The problem presented by purification of antibody fragments (Fabs) and the antibody light chain required accurate and informative analysis of highly hydrophobic proteins, which can polymerize and fold to form secondary structures. Capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) permits the separation of peptides and small proteins by a method which is orthogonal to the traditional method of reversed-phase HPLC. To facilitate planned studies of the antibody's biological activity, our buffer composition was kept as simple as possible. During CZE analysis, if the buffer pH is below the isoelectric point of the protein, or the protein is large (with a heterogeneous distribution of surface charges), it can irreversibly bind to the capillary wall unless the capillary is coated. We found that C1-coatings in RP-capillaries at pH 9.5 adequately prevented the antibody fragments from binding to the wall. However, the coating did not remain stable at such high pH, so different conditions were sought. We achieved adequate separations in several buffers at nearly physiological pH, in a bare silica capillary which had been coated once with a soluble cationic polymer coating (Micro-Coat applied during column conditioning). Antibody electropherograms changed depending on the type of inorganic buffer salt used in a separation. Phosphate binds to the antigen-binding site of the IgA with low affinity, and interesting effects were observed in separations using phosphate buffer. These effects will be discussed.
2C-3 Contrast Imaging with Chirped Excitation

With a contrast agent, wideband signals have been hypothesized to increase the contrast-to-tissue ratio (CTR). However, nonlinear properties of contrast agents make decoding difficult when applying coded excitation to contrast imaging. Here, we propose two frequency modulated excitation methods to image contrast agents, with a mechanical index (MI) from 0.05 to 0.34. In a single chirp method, one chirp is transmitted, followed by a clutter filter to reject tissue echoes and a matched filter to recover range resolution. In a chirp sequence method, an increasing and decreasing chirp sequence is transmitted followed by subtraction of the compressed echoes to reject tissue echoes (assuming tissue is a linear scatterer at low MI). Ten independent acoustic experiments were performed to evaluate the CTR for chirp and tone burst insonation, with same spatial peak temporal averaged intensity (ISPTA). A significant increase in CTR, ranging from 4 dB to 8 dB, is observed for chirped excitation as compared with tone burst insonation, at an ISPTA of 0.1 and 0.3 mW/cm2 (P les 5 times 10-3). Deconvolution of the linear microbubble response from the received echoes is proposed as a method to recover spatial resolution. The difference in the axial resolution between chirp and 3-cycle tone burst insonation is approximately 220 mum. The difference in the mainlobe width between experimental and predicted compressed echoes is less than 20%. The sidelobe amplitude is 9 dB to 16 dB below the mainlobe with a transmitted ISPTA from 0.1 to 6.6 mW/cm2
Diffusion and trapping of tritium in grainboundaries of 304L stainless steel

Abstract Permeation rates of tritium through 304L stainless steel are calculated using a grainboundary diffusion model and measured values of bulk and grainboundary diffusion coefficients. Computed results show that the tritium release rate through grainboundaries should be significantly greater than through the lattice. These predictions, however, are not borne out by permeation experiments. In order to explain this discrepancy, autoradiographic examinations were carried out. The results show that although grainboundaries are indeed fast diffusion paths, their contribution to the overall permeation rate may be minimized by trapping in surface oxide films and possibly by low solubility of tritium within the grainboundaries.
Creation of security engineering programs by the Southwest Surety Institute

The Southwest Surety Institute includes Arizona State University (ASU), Louisiana State University (LSU), New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NM Tech), New Mexico State University (NMSU), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The universities currently offer a full spectrum of post-secondary programs in security system design and evaluation, including an undergraduate minor, a graduate program, and continuing education programs. The programs are based on the methodology developed at Sandia National Laboratories over the past 25 years to protect critical nuclear assets. The programs combine basic concepts and principles from business, criminal justice, and technology to create an integrated performance-based approach to security system design and analysis. Existing university capabilities in criminal justice (NMSU), explosives testing and technology (NM Tech and LSU), and engineering technology (ASU) are leveraged to provide unique science-based programs that will emphasize the use of performance measures and computer analysis tools to prove the effectiveness of proposed systems in the design phase. Facility managers may then balance increased protection against the cost of implementation and risk mitigation, thereby enabling effective business decisions. Applications expected to benefit from these programs include corrections, law enforcement, counter-terrorism, critical infrastructure protection, financial and medical care fraud, industrial security, and border security.
Stratified Sampling Using Cluster Analysis: A Sample Selection Strategy for Improved Generalizations From Experiments

Background:An important question in the design of experiments is how to ensure that the findings from the experiment are generalizable to a larger population. This concern with generalizability is particularly important when treatment effects are heterogeneous and when selecting units into the experiment using random sampling is not possible—two conditions commonly met in large-scale educational experiments.Method:This article introduces a model-based balanced-sampling framework for improving generalizations, with a focus on developing methods that are robust to model misspecification. Additionally, the article provides a new method for sample selection within this framework: First units in an inference population are divided into relatively homogenous strata using cluster analysis, and then the sample is selected using distance rankings.Result:In order to demonstrate and evaluate the method, a reanalysis of a completed experiment is conducted. This example compares samples selected using the new method w...
Anatomical distribution and physiological effects of enkephalin in rat inferior olive.

Abstract The opioid peptide enkephalin was evaluated as a possible synaptic transmitter in the inferior olivary complex using anatomical and physiological techniques. With standard immunohistochemical procedures, fibres and terminals containing enkephalin-like immunoreactivity were found to be heterogenously distributed in the inferior olive of the rat. Enkephalin-like immunoreactivity was found in the medial and dorsal accessory nuclei, but was sparse in the principal nucleus. Iontophoresis or pressure microapplication of Leu 5 -enkephalin, or a peptidase-resistant enkephalin analogue, depressed both spontaneous and amino acid-evoked firing of inferior olivary complex cells. The effect appeared to be postsynaptic, since the excitatory effects of iontophoretically-applied dl -homocysteic acid were suppressed. No selective effect on a calcium-mediated component of the action potential was seen. We conclude that enkephalin may act as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator at afferent synapses in the inferior olive.
INCREASED SERINE-PHOSPHORYLATION OF THE D1A RECEPTOR IN RENAL PROXIMAL TUBULE CELLS IN SPONTANEOUS HYPERTENSION. • 2218

We have suggested that a defect in the coupling of the D1 receptor to G-protein/enzyme complex in renal proximal tubules is involved in the pathogenesis of spontaneous hypertension. The D1A receptor subtype may be involved since hypertension develops in mice mutant for the D1A receptor allele. However, we have found no mutation of the D1A receptor gene in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) or Dahl salt-sensitive rat suggesting that the D1A receptor defect may be due to post-translational modification. Since the renal D1 receptor resembles the phenomenon of desensitization, and desensitization occurs as a result of receptor phosphorylation, we studied the phosphorylation of the D1A receptor in renal proximal tubules from SHR and its normotensive control, the Wistar-Kyoto rat (WKY). Vehicle alone or fenoldopam, a D1 agonist, 1μg/kg/min, was infused for 5-10′ into the renal artery via the right suprarenal artery of anesthetized rats. Renal cortical homogenates (n=5) were then immunoprecipitated with anti-phosphoserine antibodies and immunoblotted with anti D1A antibodies. Basal serine-phosphorylated D1A receptor was greater in SHR (21.0±1.5 density units, DU) than in WKY(7.4±2.9 DU) (P<0.01 t-test); the D1 agonist increased serine-phosphorylated D1A receptor in WKY (55.0±2.8 DU) but not in SHR (17.0±6.3 DU) (P<0.01 t-test) (n=5/group). The“hyper” phosphorylation of the D1A receptor in the SHR was not the result of homologous desensitization because similar studies were obtained when the rats (n=3) were injected with carbidopa (40 μmol/kg) 24, 18, and 1 hr prior to study to decrease renal dopamine production. Moreover, the decreased ability of D1 agonist to stimulate adenylyl cyclase and phospholipase C (n=5-8) and the “hyper” phosphorylation (n=3) of the D1A receptor persist in immortalized proximal tubular cells from SHR (dopamine synthesis does not occur because of the absence of DOPA, the substrate for renal dopamine synthesis). The mechanism of “hyper” phosphorylation of the D1A receptor in renal proximal tubules from SHR is not known. However, we have recently found that protein phosphatase 2A activity in cytosol but not in membranes of renal proximal tubules is decreased in the SHR compared to the WKY; protein phosphatases are important in the resensitization process. We conclude that a defect in the post-translational modification of the D1A receptor is important in the pathogenesis of spontaneous hypertension.
Perioperative extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for tracheal reconstruction in congenital tracheal stenosis

The management of a critical airway in infants and toddlers with congenital tracheal stenosis (CTS) continues to be an enormous challenge to the surgeon. Until recently, this condition often proved fatal. Improvements in surgical techniques, anesthetic management, and postoperative critical care have resulted in successful outcomes in children not long ago considered untreatable. However, issues such as the best operative approach and the optimal perioperative management are still unresolved. The diagnosis of CTS, often delayed, must be considered in any infant with stridor, wheezing, cyanosis, or recurrent episodes of pneumonia. Associated anomalies are the rule, including frequently vascular rings and rarely pulmonary agenesis. These defects can be repaired with conventional ventilatory support under cardiopulmonary bypass, or using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). We report our experience in which ECMO was used to support two patients with CTS during the perioperative period. ECMO proved to be both safe and practical, allowing unrushed, precise repair of the tracheal stenosis and providing brief postoperative support. Perioperative outcomes were excellent, although one of our patients died months after the repair. A review of the literature and our experience in which ECMO was used to provide cardiopulmonary support during repair of CTS showed uniformly successful perioperative outcomes.
Weight-Growth Curves

Abstract INTRODUCTION THE study of the changes in weight of poultry is of importance from the standpoint of the immediate economy of meat and egg production as well as from the standpoint of long-time improvement through inheritance and increase of knowledge of physiology as affected by environment and heredity. A great many papers have appeared in recent years both from the viewpoint of practical production and from the viewpoint of a mathematical representation of a, “law of growth.” The purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, suggestions are made on the improvement of growth and of weight data. Second, a mathematical representation of growth is given and applied which is a generalization and unification of many of the commonly used “laws of growth.” The method of application is such that partial growth data that describe a major portion of the cycle of growth can be used to get an approximation . . .
Tubulointerstitial nephritis due to a mutant polyomavirus BK virus strain, BKV(Cin), causing end-stage renal disease

A renal biopsy from a 36-year-old man with AIDS showed a severe tubulointerstitial nephritis with intranuclear inclusions in epithelial cells. Electron microscopy revealed the characteristic findings of a polyomavirus (PyV) infection, and immunofluorescence indicated the presence of BK virus (BKV) antigen. Inoculation of rhesus monkey kidney cell cultures both with urine and with buffy coat blood cells resulted in a cytopathic response which was subsequently confirmed to be due to BKV. Further characterization of the viral DNA from the kidney by PCR amplification and Southern blot analysis with PyV and strain-specific primers and probes indicated that the virus was closely related to the BK(Dun) strain but different in its apparent sequence arrangement. Subsequent cycle sequencing showed a dinucleotide mutation of TG→AA which substitutes hydrophilic Gln for hydrophobic Leu in a sequence homologous to an origin DNA-binding domain of simian virus 40 T antigen. It is suggested that the mutation and a coding region rearrangement of this strain of BKV designated BKV(Cin) has the potential to alter viral DNA replication and enhance pathogenicity.
Localization of neurons in the rat spinal cord which project to the superior cervical ganglion.

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used to determine the location in the spinal cord of neurons projecting to the superior cervical ganglion of the rat. HRP was applied to the proximal cut end of the cervical sympathetic trunk, close to its entry into the superior cervical ganglion. After survival times of 3, 6, or 9 days, the animals were sacrificed and their spinal cords were processed to visualize HRP using diaminobenzidine, benzidine dihydrochloride, or tetramethylbenzidine. Labeled neurons were found only ipsilateral to the site of HRP application and were restricted to spinal segments C8-T5. Ninety percent of these neurons were located in segments T1-T3. Similar numbers of labeled neurons were found at survival times of 3 and 6 days and the mean number +/- S.E.M. for 11 experiments at these two survival times was 1575 +/- 89. Nine days after application of HRP the mean number of labeled cells and the density of label per cell were reduced. Labeled neurons were found in four regions of the spinal cord: the intermediolateral nucleus (75%), the lateral funiculus (23%), the central autonomic area (1%), and the intercalated region (1%). The cells of the intermediolateral nucleus did not form a continuous column along the rostrocaudal axis of the spinal cord, but instead were often found in clusters, several clusters being present per spinal segment.
HAQu: Hardware-accelerated queueing for fine-grained threading on a chip multiprocessor

Queues are commonly used in multithreaded programs for synchronization and communication. However, because software queues tend to be too expensive to support finegrained parallelism, hardware queues have been proposed to reduce overhead of communication between cores. Hardware queues require modifications to the processor core and need a custom interconnect. They also pose difficulties for the operating system because their state must be preserved across context switches. To solve these problems, we propose a hardware-accelerated queue, or HAQu. HAQu adds hardware to a CMP that accelerates operations on software queues. Our design implements fast queueing through an application's address space with operations that are compatible with a fully software queue. Our design provides accelerated and OS-transparent performance in three general ways: (1) it provides a single instruction for enqueueing and dequeueing which significantly reduces the overhead when used in fine-grained threading; (2) operations on the queue are designed to leverage low-level details of the coherence protocol; and (3) hardware ensures that the full state of the queue is stored in the application's address space, thereby ensuring virtualization. We have evaluated our design in the context of application domains: offloading fine-grained checks for improved software reliability, and automatic, fine-grained parallelization using decoupled software pipelining.
Predicted fitness consequences of threat-sensitive hiding behavior

In studies of refuge use as a form of antipredator behavior, where prey hide in response to a predator’s approach, factors such as foraging costs and the perceived risk in a predator’s approach have been shown to influence the hiding behavior of prey. Because few studies of waiting games have focused on mammals, we studied the hiding behavior of the yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris), a ground-dwelling rodent. We tested the prediction that marmots vary hiding time as a function of predator approach speed and presence and absence of food outside their refuge and that marmots hide differently depending on their relative condition. We conducted ‘‘fast approaches’’ and ‘‘slow approaches’’ in the presence and absence of extra food and evaluated hiding times. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that the interaction between the approach speed and the presence and absence of food influenced hiding behavior; body condition had a smaller, but nonsignificant effect. We then developed a state-dependent dynamic model to explore potential fitness consequences of these decisions. The model suggested that the overall survival of a population is substantially reduced when individuals make suboptimal decisions. Our research builds on previous studies, indicating that animals integrate both costs and benefits of hiding when determining their hiding times. Key words: antipredator behavior, dynamic modeling, hiding behavior, Marmota flaviventris, marmots, predation risk, refuge use. [Behav Ecol]
Understanding the Impact of Employer-Provided Financial Education on Workplace Satisfaction

The present study examines the linkage between workplace financial education and workplace satisfaction. Data gathered from a national sample of employees of an insurance company favor the hypothesis that employees who participate in workplace financial education more fully understand personal finances and recognize how financial literacy impacts their future financial expectations. In addition, employees who gain considerable literacy in financial matters and confidence in their future financial situation are also more likely to be satisfied with and supportive of their company. Implications of these results for nonwork settings and for consumers in general have also been developed. In recent years, there has been significant growth in the number of U.S. workplaces offering financial education programs to their employees. This phenomenon provides an excellent opportunity to assess the effects of these programs on employees’ financial literacy, financial expectations, and satisfaction with the employer. Being able to quantify these effects helps justify continuous promotion and improvement of adult financial education in the workplace. Already, nearly half (47%) of the workers who responded to a recent Retirement Confidence Survey said they received education materials or attended seminars on retirement planning and saving offered by either their employer or their retirement plan provider. In addition, nearly one-third of the workers reported that an employer provided access to retirement investment advice (Employee Benefit Research Institute 2004). Encouraged by the positive effects of education on retirement saving and investing, the professional literature shows that some employers have widened the scope of financial education in the workplace (Employee Benefits 2004; Pomeroy 2003). These programs are targeted at improving an employee’s level of financial literacy and analytic ability, thus preventing or resolving financially stressful situations. Despite acknowledgment that education in the workplace impacts employee financial expectations (Garman, Leech,
Digitizing of UWB signals based on frequency channelization

One of the primary challenges in the implementation of the UWB radio is the design of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC). To relax the ADC requirements, the frequency channelized receiver is presented. Among the advantages of the frequency channelized receiver are the robustness to narrowband interference and the ease of designing the sample/hold circuitry. This paper summarizes some of our recent work on the frequency channelized receiver for digitizing UWB signals.