cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bond graphing as a mode of technical communication

Bond graphs offer a simple, efficient method for developing models of physical (e.g., mechanical, electrical, thermal, fluid), chemical, economic, and other types of systems. They are a communication device that can be easily interpreted by workers with differing technical and mathematical backgrounds, thereby facilitating interdisciplinary discussion and exchange of information. This paper provides a quick introduction to bond graphs with examples and references.
Studies of natural killer cell activity and antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity among patients with acute leukemia in complete remission

Low natural killer (NK) cell activity against the K-562 leukemia cell line was observed in patients with acute leukemia in the early stages of remission, i.e., 2–4 months (11.3%±7.95% specific target cell lysis). This parameter was found to be normal among leukemia patients after a longer time in remission (19.53%±7.55%) when compared with healthy donors (18.46%±12.98%). A similar pattern of activity was observed in studies of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytolysis (ADCC) to the CEM lymphoid tumor cell line in the same group (37.58%±12.4% vs. 51%±6.79% specific target cell lysis).
Cachectic dwarfism resembling the Cockayne-Neill type

Since 1936, twelve cases of cachectic dwarfism, funduscopic aberrations, and changes resembling senility have been reported. E. A. Cockayne described the first two cases, and the title “Cockayne's syndrome” has since been applied to patients with similar signs. No cause for the disease has been found. Cockayne's syndrome has been included in the differential diagnoses of various other syndromes in which ectodermal dysplasia is a feature, although cachectic dwarfism has been a characteristic feature only of Cockayne's syndrome, Bloom's syndrome, and progeria. In this paper, the case histories of a cachectic dwarf and his brother are presented, with a review of the related literature. It is proposed that the case presented in this paper represents a partial expression of the lesion responsible for Cockayne's syndrome.
Investigation of Excited States in Be 8 by Alpha-Particle Scattering from He

Partial phase shifts have been deduced from the data on the scattering of $\ensuremath{\alpha}$ particles (12.3 to 22.9 Mev) from He, reported in an earlier publication. The interpretation of the phase shifts is as follows: The monotonic decrease of the $S$-wave phase shift throughout the energy range investigated indicates no broad $S$ states in ${\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$ for excitations between 0.5 and 11.45 Mev. The $D$-wave phase-shift energy dependence clearly indicates the 2.9-Mev ${2}^{+}$ state in ${\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$. The $G$-wave phase shift shows a broad ${4}^{+}$ state in the neighborhood of 11 Mev with a reduced width of about 2 Mev. The $I$-wave phase shift is first observed at 20 Mev and is positive.Moderate success has been achieved in explaining the scattering results in terms of Haefner's alphaparticle model of ${\mathrm{Be}}^{8}$.
Effects of maternal body morphology, morning sickness, gestational diabetes and hypertension on fluctuating asymmetry in young women

Abstract The magnitude of fluctuating asymmetry (FA)—an indicator of genetic and phenotypic quality—can be affected by genetic perturbations, environmental stressors, and maternal effect (maternal age, diseases, dietary deficiency). Maternal effect on human FA has been typically investigated in newborns or very young children. There are no studies investigating whether maternal effect can disrupt developmental mechanisms responsible for the secondary sexual traits that are manifested at adulthood under the influence of steroid hormones. We investigated the effect of maternal degree of obesity, gestational diabetes and hypertension, and morning sickness on the magnitude of FA in nonsexual traits as well as asymmetric thigh circumference—a sexually differentiated trait—in adult daughters. Results revealed that gestational diabetes and hypertension and maternal obesity are positively associated with FA in nonsexual traits. FA in nonsexual traits was not associated with morning sickness; however, the FA in the sexual trait (thigh circumference) was positively related to third-trimester morning sickness. Fluctuating asymmetries of nonsexual traits and thigh circumference were significantly correlated. This preliminary study demonstrates a maternal effect on adult daughters' developmental instability as measured by sexual and nonsexual traits.
Extracellular matrix stiffness protects carcinoma cells from sorafenib via JNK signaling

Tumor progression is coincident with mechanochemical changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM). We hypothesized that tumor stroma stiffening, alongside a shift in the ECM composition from a basement membrane-like microenvironment toward a dense network of collagen-rich fibers during tumorigenesis, confers resistance to otherwise powerful chemotherapeutics. We created a high-throughput drug screening platform based on our poly(ethylene glycol)-phosphorylcholine (PEG-PC) hydrogel system, and customized it to capture the stiffness and integrin-binding profile of in vivo tumors. We report that the efficacy of a Raf kinase inhibitor, sorafenib, is reduced on stiff, collagen-rich microenvironments, independent of ROCK activity. Instead, sustained activation of JNK mediated this resistance, and combining a JNK inhibitor with sorafenib eliminated stiffness-mediated resistance in triple negative breast cancer cells. Overall, we discovered that β 1 integrin and its downstream effector JNK mediate sorafenib resistance during tumor stiffening. These results also highlight the need for more advanced cell culture platforms, such as our high-throughput PEG-PC system, with which to screen chemotherapeutics.
A Bit Level Soft Decision Decoding of Reed-Solomon Codes for Optical Data Storage

A suboptimum bit level soft decision decoding of Reed-Solomon codes for optical data storage is proposed. It is based on the bit level structure of Reed-Solomon codes. Simulation results are provided.
DNA DAMAGE IN RAT 9L CELLS TREATED WITH 8‐METHOXYPSORALEN AND NEAR‐UV LIGHT ASSAYED BY VISCOELASTOMETRY AND S1 NUCLEASE

–The techniques of viscoelastometry and S1 nuclease digestion were applied to the analysis of DNA damage in rat 9L cells treated with the combination of 8-MOP (8-methoxysporalen) and near-UV light. Treatment of cells with near-UV light alone resulted in a decrease in the viscoelastic retardation time under both denaturing and nondenaturing conditons. Exposure of cells to 8-MOP alone yielded a maximum in the plot of retardation time vs dose under nondenaturing conditions, similar to that found with ionizing radition. This observation suggests that treatment with 8-MOP alone leads to DNA strand breaks. Viscoelastic analysis of cell lysates under denaturing conditions demonstrated that treatment of cells with 8-MOP and UV radiation led to substantial increases in both the viscoelastic retardation time and recoil, consistent with formation of DNA interstrand cross-links. Viscoelastic analysis of cell lysates under nondenaturing conditions showed that exposure to long wavelength UV light in the presence of 8-MOP produced a decrease in retardation time. This decrease reflects the combined effect of strand breaks and interstrand cross-links. Results from the S1 nuclease assay confirmed these observations and permitted quantitation of DNA damage arising from single-strand breaks and DNA interstrand crosslinks. The importance of including the effect of strand breaks in the quantitation of cross-link formation is discussed.
The Energetic Cost of Begging in Nestling Passerines

A critical assumption of many of the current discussions of parent-offspring conflict and sibling competition is that the begging behavior of nestling birds is costly, either in terms of energetics or increased risk of predation. I measured the energetic expenditures associated with the begging of nestling birds using closed-chamber respirometry and found this cost to be surprisingly low. Active metabolic rate (AMR) while begging was 1.05 times the resting metabolic rate (RMR) in European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and 1.27 times the resting metabolic rate in Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). The cost of 1 s of begging was 0.001 J/g in European Starlings and 0.008 J/g in Tree Swallows; this cost increased with age for all nestlings. Results of measurements on five other species are consistent with these values. The ratio of AMR:RMR did not change with ambient temperature for either Tree Swallows or European Starlings, but data for all seven species pooled did show a significant decrease in energetic costs with temperature. The amount of time spent begging had a negligible effect on cost for both Tree Swallows and European Starlings. Likewise, the in- tensity of the begging display had no effect on the AMR:RMR ratio in either species alone, but was positively correlated for the seven species pooled. Compared to the energy require- ments for other avian behaviors, the cost of begging is low. Most discussions of the evolution of begging behavior in nestling birds have assumed that begging is costly. Based on my results, the assumption that begging is energetically costly needs to be reexamined and, until then, conclusions of models dependent on this assumption should be considered tentative. Received 6 September 1994, accepted 25 April 1995.
Fracture toughness of structural aluminum alloys

Abstract Some of the procedures available for considering the fracture behavior of structural aluminum alloys in design are described. For the higher strength aluminum alloys, particularly when used in fairly thick sections, plane-strain fracture-toughness concepts are useful; values of the critical plane-strain stress intensity factor, K 1c are summarized and typical values and ranges of expected values are presented. For highstrength alloys in relatively thin sections, and medium-strength alloys in thicker sections, a thickness-related K c approach seems to have merit; representative values of K c are presented for a range of thicknesses of some alloys. For the lower strength, very tough alloys or for relatively mild stress raisers, the results of tests of small structural assemblies are relied upon; the results of tensile tests of single- and double-angle members are presented as an illustration of this type of analysis.
Implementing dialogic communication: : A survey of IPR, PRSA, and IABC members

Abstract A line of public relations research argues that dialogic communication is both ethical and beneficial for organizations. However, empirical studies found many organizations hesitate to implement dialogic communication. This article seeks to explore the obstacles that prevent some organizations from engaging the public in dialogues. We analyzed data from a large scale national survey among senior level public relations practitioners and our findings suggest that organizations’ tolerance for risk and the role of public relations in organizations influence organizations’ implementation of dialogic communication.
Duplicate abalone egg coat proteins bind sperm lysin similarly, but evolve oppositely, consistent with molecular mimicry at fertilization.

Sperm and egg proteins constitute a remarkable paradigm in evolutionary biology: despite their fundamental role in mediating fertilization (suggesting stasis), some of these molecules are among the most rapidly evolving ones known, and their divergence can lead to reproductive isolation. Because of strong selection to maintain function among interbreeding individuals, interacting fertilization proteins should also exhibit a strong signal of correlated divergence among closely related species. We use evidence of such molecular co-evolution to target biochemical studies of fertilization in North Pacific abalone (Haliotis spp.), a model system of reproductive protein evolution. We test the evolutionary rates (dN/dS) of abalone sperm lysin and two duplicated egg coat proteins (VERL and VEZP14), and find a signal of co-evolution specific to ZP-N, a putative sperm binding motif previously identified by homology modeling. Positively selected residues in VERL and VEZP14 occur on the same face of the structural model, suggesting a common mode of interaction with sperm lysin. We test this computational prediction biochemically, confirming that the ZP-N motif is sufficient to bind lysin and that the affinities of VERL and VEZP14 are comparable. However, we also find that on phylogenetic lineages where lysin and VERL evolve rapidly, VEZP14 evolves slowly, and vice versa. We describe a model of sexual conflict that can recreate this pattern of anti-correlated evolution by assuming that VEZP14 acts as a VERL mimic, reducing the intensity of sexual conflict and slowing the co-evolution of lysin and VERL.
Sequence and expression of the Escherichia coli recR locus.

Abstract The Escherichia coli RecR protein participates in a recombinational DNA repair process. Its gene is located in a region of chromosome that extends from 502 to 509 kilobases on the physical map and that contains apt, dnaX, orf12-recR, htpG, and adk. Most, if not all, of these are involved in nucleic acid metabolism. The orf12-recR reading frames consist of 935 base pairs and overlap by one nucleotide, with the 3' A of the orf12 termination codon forming the 5' nucleotide of the recR initiation codon. The orf12-recR promoter was located upstream of orf12 by sequence analysis, promoter cloning, and S1 nuclease protection analysis. The start point of transcription was determined by primer extension. The transcript 5' end contained a long, apparently untranslated region of 199 nucleotides. Absence of a detectable promoter specific for recR and the overlap of the orf12 and recR reading frames suggest that translation of recR is coupled to that of orf12. By maxicell analysis, it was determined that both orf12 and recR are translated.
Recognizing human actions in videos acquired by uncalibrated moving cameras

Most work in action recognition deals with sequences acquired by stationary cameras with fixed viewpoints. Due to the camera motion, the trajectories of the body parts contain not only the motion of the performing actor but also the motion of the camera. In addition to the camera motion, different viewpoints of the same action in different environments result in different trajectories, which can not be matched using standard approaches. In order to handle these problems, we propose to use the multi-view geometry between two actions. However, well known epipolar geometry of the static scenes where the cameras are stationary is not suitable for our task. Thus, we propose to extend the standard epipolar geometry to the geometry of dynamic scenes where the cameras are moving. We demonstrate the versatility of the proposed geometric approach for recognition of actions in a number of challenging sequences
Gene flow in the endophyte Neotyphodium and implications for coevolution with Festuca arizonica.

Arizona fescue (Festuca arizonica) often harbours asymptomatic, asexual endophytic fungi from the genus Neotyphodium. In agronomic grasses, Neotyphodium endophytes are often credited with a wide range of mutualistic benefits to its host many of which are related to fungal production of alkaloids for herbivore deterrence. Neotyphodium in the native grass Arizona fescue, however, usually produces alkaloids at levels too low to deter herbivores, and in general, does not behave mutualistically. This study uses microsatellite markers to examine rates of gene flow among four Arizona populations of Neotyphodium. Haplotypic diversity was generally low; only one population contained more than two haplotypes. Haplotypes carrying multiple loci for some or all of the microsatellite loci were also found, indicating a vegetative hybridization event between Neotyphodium and the grass choke pathogen from the genus Epichloe. Gene flow between Neotyphodium populations is very low, and likely much lower than the pollen mediated gene flow of its host. These differing rates of gene flow are predicted to create trait mismatching between endophyte and host and may explain the low, or lack of, alkaloid production by Neotyphodium in Arizona fescue and other native grass species.
Persistence of Cell-Mediated and Humoral Immune Responses in Healthy Children Immunized with Live Attenuated Varicella Vaccine

Two hundred fourteen healthy seronegative children immunized with various doses of Oka/Merck varicella vaccine were studied for persistence of varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-specific lymphocyte proliferation and antibodies to VZV as determined by a glycoprotein (gp) ELISA. Of the 140 vaccinees tested for VZV-specific lymphocyte proliferation, 94% had positive responses, with a mean stimulation index of 8.9 (range, 3.0-44.6). Of 214 tested by gpELISA, 95% were positive for up to 6 years after immunization; the geometric mean titer was 30.2 (range, 1.3-3510.0). Of 122 individuals tested both by ELISA and for VZV-specific lymphocyte proliferation, 91% had persistence of both responses. Persistence of cellular and humoral immune responses in a large percentage of vaccinees for up to 6 years after immunization with Oka/Merck varicella vaccine suggests that protection against severe varicella is likely to be similarly long-lasting.
The perceived benefits of certified internal auditor designation

Describes a study conducted to obtain empirical evidence with respect to the nature of the perceived benefits of the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designation as they relate to career advantages and perceived competences. A survey comprising 24 questions was mailed to the director of internal audit, the chief financial officer, and a member of the board of directors at each of 200 sample firms. Reveals that CIA designation is perceived to be indicative of a significant level of competence and to provide career advantages in internal audit positions, but generally not important in line management’s acceptance of internal auditors’ recommendations; nor in providing career advantages in non‐internal audit positions.
Detection of Interfacial Structures of Poly(ethylene glycol), Poly(propylene glycol) and Their Copolymers at Liquid/Solid Interfaces Using Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy

We have applied sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy, a submonolayer surface sensitive analytical technique, to study interfacial structures of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG), poly (propylene glycol) (PPG), their solutions, their copolymers, and copolymer solutions while contacting different media including air, fused silica, and various polymers. For the first time, conformations of polyether materials at various interfaces have been shown at the molecular level in situ. Depending on the hydrophobicity of the solid contacting media, the liquid polymers PEG and PPG show different conformations at different interfaces, which can be correlated to molecular interactions at these interfaces. The favorable interaction between hydrophobic media and the hydrophobic segments, methylene or methyl groups, of polyethers causes an ordered conformation with these groups standing up at the interface. The unfavorable interaction between hydrophilic media and hydrophobic segments of the polyethers induces interfacial methylene or methyl groups to have a random structure or to lie down at the interfaces, indicated by the weakening or even absence of SFG signals. For comparison, interfaces between aqueous PEG or PPG solutions and air, polystyrene (PS), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and fused silica have also been investigated. In addition, we have studied conformations of pluronics at various interfaces, showing that different blocks have different interface activities. The interfaces are always dominated by the PPG segments. The studies on molecular level interfacial structures of PEG, PPG and pluronics will help us to understand and control the interfacial behavior of liquids at interfaces.
A Wavelet-Laplace Variational Technique for Image Deconvolution and Inpainting

We construct a new variational method for blind deconvolution of images and inpainting, motivated by recent PDE-based techniques involving the Ginzburg-Landau functional, but using more localized wavelet-based methods. We present results for both binary and grayscale images. Comparable speeds are achieved with better sharpness of edges in the reconstruction.
Explicit determination of the Picard group of moduli spaces of semistable G-bundles on curves

Let G be a connected, simply-connected, simple affine algebraic group and Cg be a smooth irreducible projective curve of any genus g ≥ 1 over C. Denote by MCg (G) the moduli space of semistable principal G-bundles on Cg. Let Pic(MCg (G)) be the Picard group of MCg (G) and let X be the infinite Grassmannian of the affine Kac-Moody group associated to G. It is known that Pic(X) Z and is generated by a homogenous line bundle Lχ0 . Also, as proved by KumarNarasimhan [KN], there exists a canonical injective group homomorphism
Estimating impacts of a breakfast in the classroom program on school outcomes.

Importance Short-term impacts of breakfast consumption on diet quality and cognitive functioning have been reported, but more evidence is needed to draw causal inferences about long-term impacts of school breakfast on indicators of school engagement and academic achievement. Objective To estimate the impact of a Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) program on School Breakfast Program participation, school attendance, and academic achievement. Design, Setting, and Participants This quasi-experimental study included a sample of 446 public elementary schools from a large, urban US school district that served predominantly low-income, racial/ethnic minority students. Interventions A total of 257 schools (57.6%) implemented a BIC program during the 2012-2013 academic year, whereas 189 (42.4%) did not. Main Outcomes and Measures School- and grade-level data from 2012-2013 and grade-level achievement data from the prior year were collected from school district records across the elementary schools. Hypotheses that a BIC program would improve school breakfast participation at the school level, school attendance at the grade level (kindergarten through sixth grade), and academic achievement at the grade level (second through sixth grades) were tested using propensity score weights to adjust for demographic differences between the BIC and non-BIC schools. Results The BIC program was linked with increased breakfast participation during the academic year ( F 10,414 = 136.90, P F 1,2772 = 8.40, P = .004). When performing attendance analyses in the subset of grade levels for which achievement data were available, results were mostly consistent, although there was a group × time interaction ( F 10,1891 = 1.94, P = .04) such that differences between least squares means in the BIC vs non-BIC groups did not reach statistical significance at every month. There were no group differences in standardized test performance in math (57.9% in the BIC group vs 57.4% in the non-BIC group; F 1,1890 = 0.41, P = .52) or reading (44.9% in the BIC group vs 44.7% in the non-BIC group; F 1,1890 = 0.15, P = .70). Conclusions and Relevance Findings add to the evidence that BIC can increase school breakfast participation substantially and suggest that it has the potential to improve overall school attendance rates. Additional research is needed to explore the generalizability of these findings and the potential impacts on achievement for longer periods and on additional outcomes, such as weight status.
Shock Compression of Boron Carbide: A Quantum Mechanical Analysis

The shock Hugoniot of boron carbide, from 0 to 80 GPa, has been obtained using first principles quantum mechanics (density functional theory) and molecular dynamics simulation. The Hugoniot for six different structures which vary by structure or stoichiometry were computed and compared to experimental data. The effect of stoichiometry, and structural variation within a given stoichiometry, are shown to have marked effects on the shock properties with some compositions displaying bilinear behavior in the computed shock velocity-particle velocity profiles while others show a continuous Hugoniot curve with no evidence of a phase transition over the pressure range considered in this work. Two structures, B12(CBC) and B11Cp(CCB), have predicted phase transition pressures lying within the 40–50 GPa range suggested experimentally. It is shown that the phase transition is driven by deformation of the 3-atom chain within the boron carbide crystal structure which induces a discontinuous volume change at the critical shock pressure. The effect of defects, in the form of chain vacancies, on the shock response is presented and the ability of shear to significantly lower the phase transition pressure, in accord with experimental observation, is demonstrated.
The effect of a patient's risk-taking attitude on the cost effectiveness of testing strategies in the evaluation of pulmonary lesions.

Study objectives To assess the health and cost effects of a patient's risk-taking attitudes about diagnostic tests. Design Cost-effectiveness analysis. Setting Diagnostic testing strategies used in the evaluation of a patient with a radiographically detected lung lesion were evaluated. Strategies included combinations of sputum, fine-needle aspiration, bronchoscopy, thoracoscopy, and expectant management. Patients Patient data were obtained from the Survival Epidemiology and End Results Program, MEDLINE search, National Center for Health Statistics, and the Universities of Iowa and Stanford, and Kaiser Permanente Hospital. Interventions Different patient risk-taking attitudes were simulated using decision analysis. Measurements: Lifetime cost of medical care, life expectancy, and cost effectiveness. Results The cost effectiveness of competing strategies depended on patient attitudes about taking risks. For a patient averse to expectantly waiting without definitive knowledge of whether cancer was or was not present, testing strategies using invasive procedures, such as thoracoscopy, were more cost effective. In contrast, for a patient who was identical except that he or she was averse to tests with higher morbidity and mortality, strategies that involved expectantly waiting, instead of more invasive tests, were more cost effective. Small changes in some risk-taking attitudes resulted in large changes in cost effectiveness. Conclusions Risk-taking attitudes influenced the cost effectiveness of testing strategies. Consideration of patient risk-taking attitudes in diagnostic testing appears warranted in setting clinical policies and making individual decisions.
Cycling with functional electrical stimulation in an adult with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy.

Background and Purpose Adults with cerebral palsy (CP) are at risk for decreased mobility and health complications, and exercise may combat some of these negative changes. Because people with CP have difficulty generating sufficient muscle force, exercise augmented with functional electrical stimulation (FES) is an option for increasing exercise intensity. This mixed-method (quantitative-qualitative) case report describes the effects—across the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) model—of cycling with FES (FES cycling) in an adult with CP. Case Description An ambulatory 49-year-old man with spastic diplegic CP cycled with FES at home for 30 minutes, 3 times per week, for 12 weeks. Volitional efforts were augmented by FES of the bilateral quadriceps, gastrocnemius, and gluteal muscles. Testing was performed before and after the intervention and 4 weeks after intervention withdrawal. Outcomes After training, quadriceps muscle strength (force-generating capacity) improved by 22.2%, hamstring muscle strength improved by 18.5%, and the Timed “Up & Go” Test time decreased from 11.9 to 9.0 seconds. The patient reported increased performance and satisfaction for self-identified goals at the ICF level of participation, and his score on the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Health Survey questionnaire increased from 62.1 to 77.6. However, he reported increased back pain, which he attributed to positioning while cycling. Qualitative interviews provided context (the patient's perspective) for some of the quantitative results. Discussion The patient made gains in body structure and function, activity, and participation (ICF levels) after FES cycling. The mixed-method approach provided insight into his experiences and perceptions about the measures assessed quantitatively. Further investigation on FES cycling in this population as well as positioning during cycling is warranted.
Development in High-Speed Switching Elements

Recent developments in high-speed switching elements are outlined to indicate the trend of recent work and thoughts on physical implementation of high-speed digital data processing systems. Four outstanding switching elements, thin film cryotron, high-speed transistor, microwave parametric phase-locked oscillator, and tunnel diode, as well as some related circuit and fabrication techniques, are briefly described and commented on. The transistor remains as the predominant switching element for these systems, largely because of the vast experience with it. The other technologies are presenting an ever increasing challenge to the transistor in this area.
Comparative elemental stoichiometry of ecologically diverse Drosophila

Summary 1. Chemical analyses of ecologically diverse species of Drosophila reveal substantial variation among them in their nitrogen and phosphorus contents, determined as a percentage of adult dry mass. Across Drosophila species, the nitrogen content of flies is positively correlated with phosphorus content. 2. For both N and P, the concentration in the flies is correlated with that of their breeding sites. The variation in the elemental composition of breeding sites, and therefore of the flies themselves, may affect the ecology and life-history variation of Drosophila . 3. The range of variation in N and P contents and the N : P ratio is considerably less among Drosophila than among their breeding sites, indicating that there is substantial constancy for elemental composition across Drosophila species. The N : P ratio varies somewhat among species, indicating that the nitrogen and phosphorus contents do not change in perfect proportion across species. 4. An important, but unanswered, question concerns the relation between intraspecific homeostasis and interspecific constancy for elemental composition. Three possible mechanisms by which such interspecific constancy is brought about are discussed.
The Two Electorates: Voters and Non-Voters in a Wisconsin Primary

GNE OF THE United States' most unique political institutions, the direct primary has been studied from several different perspectives. Some political scientists have focused upon the role of party organizations in selecting candidates before the primaries and ensuring their nomination.1 Others have measured the incidence and conditions of competition in primaries.2 Still others have explored the processes by which primary contestants emerge from the general population.3 Only V. 0. Key, however, has published a major empirical study of primary electorates to see how they resemble and differ from their counterparts in general elections.4 Most of what theory we have on these questions we owe to Key. But his work, valuable
Robust functional estimation using the median and spherical principal components

SUMMARY We present robust estimators for the mean and the principal components of a stochastic process in L2(R). Robustness and asymptotic properties of the estimators are studied theoretically, by simulation and by example. It is shown that the proposed estimators are generally more robust to outliers than the commonly used sample mean and principal components, although their properties depend on the spacings of the eigenvalues of the covariance function.
Registration for correlative microscopy using image analogies

Correlative microscopy is a methodology combining the functionality of light microscopy with the high resolution of electron microscopy and other microscopy technologies for the same biological specimen. In this paper, we propose an image registration method for correlative microscopy, which is challenging due to the distinct appearance of biological structures when imaged with different modalities. Our method is based on image analogies and allows to transform images of a given modality into the appearance-space of another modality. Hence, the registration between two different types of microscopy images can be transformed to a mono-modality image registration. We use a sparse representation model to obtain image analogies. The method makes use of representative corresponding image training patches of two different imaging modalities to learn a dictionary capturing appearance relations. We test our approach on backscattered electron (BSE) Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)/confocal and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM)/confocal images and show improvements over direct registration using a mutual-information similarity measure to account for differences in image appearance.
Necessity of OxyR for the Hydrogen Peroxide Stress Response and Full Virulence in Ralstonia solanacearum

The plant pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum, which causes bacterial wilt disease, is exposed to reactive oxygen species (ROS) during tomato infection and expresses diverse oxidative stress response (OSR) genes during midstage disease on tomato. The R. solanacearum genome predicts that the bacterium produces multiple and redundant ROS-scavenging enzymes but only one known oxidative stress response regulator, OxyR. An R. solanacearum oxyR mutant had no detectable catalase activity, did not grow in the presence of 250 μM hydrogen peroxide, and grew poorly in the oxidative environment of solid rich media. This phenotype was rescued by the addition of exogenous catalase, suggesting that oxyR is essential for the hydrogen peroxide stress response. Unexpectedly, the oxyR mutant strain grew better than the wild type in the presence of the superoxide generator paraquat. Gene expression studies indicated that katE, kaG, ahpC1, grxC, and oxyR itself were each differentially expressed in the oxyR mutant background and in response to hydrogen peroxide, suggesting that oxyR is necessary for hydrogen peroxide-inducible gene expression. Additional OSR genes were differentially regulated in response to hydrogen peroxide alone. The virulence of the oxyR mutant strain was significantly reduced in both tomato and tobacco host plants, demonstrating that R. solanacearum is exposed to inhibitory concentrations of ROS in planta and that OxyR-mediated responses to ROS during plant pathogenesis are important for R. solanacearum host adaptation and virulence.
Utilizing SSR Indications for Improved Video Communication in Presence of 802.11B Residue Errors

Radio hardware used for the reception of 802.11b frames is capable of associating a Signal to Silence Ratio (SSR) with each received frame. If a received frame is corrupted, then these SSR indications can be used to provide robust apriori estimate of the bit error rate in the packet. In many recently proposed cross-layer protocols, for transmission of video over wireless networks, recovery of information from partially corrupted packets has shown significant utility. In this paper, based on experiments with actual 802.11b error traces, we show that the Channel State Information (CSI) provided by the SSR indications can be used to improve the error recovery performance of an FEC scheme employed in conjunction with a cross-layer protocol. H.264 based simulation are used to establish the efficacy of the proposed work for video applications; specifically for video over 802.11b WLAN.
The accuracy of endoscopic ultrasound for restaging esophageal carcinoma after chemoradiation therapy

BACKGROUND Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is an accurate staging modality for esophageal malignancy. Studies have determined that EUS does not retain this accuracy after chemoradiation and that it should not be used as a restaging tool for esophageal carcinoma. In this study, the authors examined their experience with esophageal carcinoma and restaging after neoadjuvant therapy with EUS. METHODS A retrospective chart review was conducted that included 83 patients with locoregional esophageal adenocarcinoma who were treated with chemoradiation under protocol. All patients underwent surgical resection. EUS was performed for restaging, and the results were compared with findings at surgical pathology using the TNM classification system. RESULTS All 83 patients identified underwent surgery. There were 77 males, and the mean patient age was 59 years. At restaging, the tumor status (T classification) was assessed correctly by EUS in 22 of 83 patients (29%). The sensitivity of EUS for the individual T classifications were 0% for T0 tumors, 19% for T1 tumors, 27% for T2 tumors, 52% for T3 tumors, and 0% for T4 tumors. In 19 of 83 patients, the tumor classification was correct, whereas 42 of 83 patients were over classified, and 15 of 83 patients were under classified when the EUS results were compared with the surgical pathology results. The lymph node status (N classification) was assessed correctly by EUS in 41 of 83 patients. The sensitivity of EUS for N classification was 48% for N0 disease and 52% for N1 disease. Twenty-two patients were restaged with residual disease according to the EUS results but had no evidence of residual tumor or lymph node involvement according to the surgical pathology results. CONCLUSIONS EUS did not retain its usefulness as a restaging modality after neoadjuvant chemoradiation for esophageal adenocarcinoma when the standard TNM classification system was used. Cancer 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.
Constructing the sterile city: pronatalism and social sciences in interwar Italy

This article explores the construction of the Italian city and the urban population as objects of social scientific knowledge and technical intervention. In the context of a pronatalist campaign launched by the fascist regime in the 1920s and 1930s, the city was identified as a locus of sterility, and urban populations were made the targets of new forms of government aimed at transforming reproductive practices. The links between knowledge and power revealed by this “problematization” of the city are, I suggest, of some importance for genealogies of the social sciences, including urban anthropology. [cities, urbanism, social science, reproduction, Italy, fascism]
Secondary Porosity in Laumontite-Bearing Sandstones: ABSTRACT

Some sedimentary rocks, particularly those containing volcanogenic material, develop laumontite cements during burial with increasing temperature. The development of laumontite cements in sandstones is highly destructive to reservoir potential. As a result, in the search for hydrocarbons, laumontite-bearing sedimentary rocks commonly are considered economic basement. However, it is possible to develop secondary porosity after the formation of laumontite. Theoretical considerations show that the stability of laumontite (Lm) is limited by the following equilibria: (1) Lm + CO2 = Calcite (Cc) + Kaolinite (Kao) + 2 Quartz (Q) + 2 H2O, End_Page 569------------------------------ and (2) Lm + 2 H + = Kao + 2 Q + Ca++. At diagenetic temperatures, equilibrium (1) has a steep slope on a T-XCO2 diagram, indicating that the boundary between zeolite and clay minerals during diagenesis is more strongly controlled by fluid composition than by temperature. Equilibrium (1) and (2) along with the complimentary equilibrium (3) Cc + 2 H+ = Ca++ + CO2 + H2O can be plotted on an isothermal projection. This projection shows that either an increase in XCO2 or a decrease in pH can cause the breakdown of laumontite. Destruction of Lm by reaction (1) leads to a volume decrease of 10%, whereas Lm elimination by reaction (2) leads to a volume decrease of 28%. During diagene is, as a result of decarboxylation reactions, previously formed laumontite can be destabilized, creating secondary porosity. In contrast, the development of secondary permeability and ultimately the recreation of reservoir potential will be a function of aluminum mobility. Whether secondary porosity and permeability develop in laumontite-rich sedimentary rocks will be dependent on the sequence, rates, and magnitude of the laumontite-forming and organic maturation reactions. End_of_Article - Last_Page 570------------
The effects of three acaricides on the developmental biology of small hive beetles (Aethina tumida).

SummarySmall hive beetles (Aethina tumida, SHB) are an emerging problem for beekeepers internationally. Here we report how SHB development is affected by three acaricides, representing three chemic...
No Alternative to “Isms”

In this thoughtful and well-intended essay, David Lake expresses a frustration with the sectarian debates among the “isms” of international relations and calls for a common lexicon or “Rosetta stone” that “aims to facilitate conversation across research traditions by suggesting that all theories of international studies can be disaggregated into the basic and common concepts of interests, interactions, and institutions.” But his lexicon inevitably privileges some concepts and theories over others—agency over structure, interests over identities, interactions over sovereignty, and institutions (hierarchy) over anarchy. A better way is to recognize that “isms” are inevitable, given the nature of social knowledge, and to encourage them to address one another more directly and jointly.
Nerve Hematoma Mimicking DVT

This case study describes a patient who underwent an upper extremity venous examination to evaluate for possible deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Sonography showed no evidence of thrombus in the veins of the deep or superficial system. Adjacent to the veins of the peripheral arm, however, an enlarged hypoechoic structure was visualized that had a very similar appearance to DVT. With further imaging, hyperechoic linear bands were visualized at the proximal end of the hypoechoic structure. The appearance suggested that this structure was related to the median nerve, but its normal appearance was altered by a large mass inside the nerve sheath. Given the patient’s history, the finding most likely represents a nerve hematoma.
Male-Sex-Ratio Trait in Drosophila pseudoobscura: Frequency of Autosomal Aneuploid Sperm

Males with the SR X chromosome show the "sex-ratio" (sr) phenotype in which they produce almost entirely daughters. The few sons (about 1%) are invariably sterile X/O males and result entirely from nullo-XY sperm. The "male-sex-ratio" (msr) phenotype is a modified form of sr in which SR/Y males produce a higher frequency of sterile X/O sons. The msr trait is due to the presence of the SR X-chromosome in males which are also homozygous for one or more autosomes from the L116 strain. Here the frequency of nullo-3 and diplo-3 sperm from msr males was measured by crossing to a compound-3 strain and found to be 13.8% and 3.2%, respectively, of the total viable sperm. The sr males produced very low levels of nullo-3 sperm at a frequency not different from control X/Y males and a slightly elevated frequency of diplo-3 sperm over X/Y males. The msr males were found to have only 12% the fecundity of sr males and in matings to cause a high frequency of brown inviable eggs. These results indicate that high rates of autosomal aneuploidy are not restricted to chromosome 3 but also occur for chromosomes 2, 4 and 5. The overall frequency of autosomal aneuploid sperm is estimated to be approximately 50%. Microscopic studies of meiosis in testes from msr males indicates meiotic nondisjunction and meiotic chromosome loss are responsible for the msr phenotype. Last, microscopic studies of sperm cysts from msr males reveal high levels of spermiogenic failure.
Campbell Soup Company: Harmonizing Processes and Empowering Workers

In 2007 Campbell Soup Company was implementing Project Harmony: a multi-year effort to implement SAP and create more standardized and integrated business processes across Campbell’s North American businesses. Campbell pursued its transformation with an expectation that it would not experience the performance dip common in companies implementing major new systems. Toward that end, Campbell designed a governance structure intended to (1) allocate ownership of project outcomes to senior executives; (2) free up top talent to ensure effective process design and smooth implementation; (3) benefit from the expertise of external partners; and (4) empower stakeholders to learn from one another and drive benefits from new systems and processes. Early results suggest that the firm’s efforts were paying off. This case describes Campbell’s journey from isolated systems and processes to an integrated business with empowered local decisions makers who were learning to take advantage of transparent transaction data.
The Effect of Mannitol and Frusemide on the Blood-Brain Osmotic Gradient and Intracranial Pressure

These experiments were designed to study the relationship between the reversal of the blood-brain osmotic gradient and the fall in intracranial pressure that has been observed in man and lower animals with both the osmotic and loop diuretics (Millison et al. 1981, Schettini et al. 1982), with the goal of elaborating the underlying mechanism of the observed synergy.
Three Dimensional Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Foams for Ultrahigh Energy Density Lithium Air Battery Cathodes

This paper highlights our progress in developing pristine single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) into functional materials for lightweight, conductive cathodes in lithium air (Li-air) batteries. We outline a process to produce foams of single-walled carbon nanotubes using liquid processing routes that are free of additives or surfactants, using polar solvents and electrophoretic deposition. To accomplish this, SWCNTs are deposited onto sacrificial metal foam templates, and the metal foam is removed to yield a freestanding, all-SWCNT foam material. We couple this material into a cathode for a Li-air battery and demonstrate excellent performance that includes first discharge capacity over 8200 mAh/g, and specific energy density of ∼ 21.2 kWh/kg (carbon) and ∼ 3.3 kWh/kg (full cell). We further compare this to the performance of foams prepared with SWCNTs that are dispersed with surfactant, and our results indicate that surfactant residues completely inhibit the nucleation of stable lithium peroxide materials — a result measured across multiple devices. Comparing to multi-walled carbon nanotubes produced using the same technique indicates a discharge capacity of only ∼ 1500 mAh/g, which is over 5X lower than SWCNTs in the same processing technique and material architecture. Overall, this work highlights SWCNT materials in the absence of impurities introduced during experimental processing as a lightweight and high performance electrode material for lithium-air batteries.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Provision of Step-Level Public Goods The Sequential Contribution Mechanism

Groups of five players participated in a social dilemma game in which each player receives a monetary endowment and then chooses whether to contribute it to a monetary public good. The good is provided to all group members if at least three contributions are made; it is not provided, otherwise. Experiment 1 showed that the simultaneous protocol of play—where decisions are made privately and anonymously—is significantly less effective in solving the dilemma than the sequential protocol—where decisions are made sequentially with complete information about previous decisions in the sequence. Experiment 2 replicated this finding and, in addition, showed that the sequential protocol with only information about previous noncooperative choices is significantly more effective in solving the dilemma than the sequential protocol with only information about previous cooperative choices.