cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
US respondents' willingness to pay for Cheddar cheese from dairy cattle with different pasture access, antibiotic use, and dehorning practices

ABSTRACT Cheese is a widely consumed product in American diets and an important economic driver of US dairy markets. Given the widespread interest in credence attributes of fluid dairy products, the lack of knowledge of demand for animal welfare, environmental, and other credence attributes in cheeses is surprising. Increasing attention surrounding dairy cattle welfare has been placed on the disbudding or dehorning of dairy cattle, in addition to the longer term debates surrounding pasture access and antibiotic use. This work estimates willingness to pay for these attributes of dairy cattle management systems for Cheddar cheese in a nationally representative sample of 749 US household members. Ninety percent of respondents indicated they or someone in their household consumed cheese in the last year. Higher proportions of respondents with children in the household purchased cheese of any kind. Respondents had positive willingness to pay for Cheddar cheese that had the following attributes: USDA-, retailer-, and industry-verified antibiotic use not permitted, required pasture access, and dehorning with pain relief as well as polled (when compared with dehorning without pain relief). As dairy producers face tighter margins and shifting consumer preferences, increasing attention on consumer preferences for cheese may aid in increasing profitability if demanded attributes can be profitability provided.
A Combined Morphometric and Statistical Approach to Assess Nonmonotonicity in the Developing Mammary Gland of Rats in the CLARITY-BPA Study.

Background: The Consortium Linking Academic and Regulatory Insights on Bisphenol-A (CLARITY-BPA) is a rare collaboration of guideline-compliant (core) studies and academic hypothesis-based studies ...
A Quarter Century of International Copyright on Software

A quarter of a century ago, under the new TRIPS Agreement, copyright protection for software became the international norm. Whether copyright is in fact an appropriate form of protection for software was and still is debated; the issues raised in the ongoing high-profile Google v. Oracle dispute, now before the U.S. Supreme Court, are among the continuing and significant problems that the extension of copyright to software have generated. This article reviews the coexistence between software and copyright law; it focuses on their mutual effects and the adjustments in each that resulted from their coexistence. The article notes the technological changes that coincided with or followed the adoption of the international norm and that significantly affected the coexistence between software and copyright law.
Sex- and age-dependent alterations of splenic immune cell profile and NK cell phenotypes and function in C57BL/6J mice.

Physiological homeostasis decline, immunosenescence, and increased risk for multiple diseases, including neurodegeneration, are all hallmarks of ageing. Importantly, it is known that the ageing process is sex-biased. For example, there are sex differences in predisposition for multiple age-related diseases, including neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases. However, sex differences in age-associated immune phenotypes are not clearly understood. Here, we examined the effects of age on immune cell phenotypes in both sexes of C57BL/6J mice with a particular focus on NK cells. We found female-specific spleen weight increases with age and concordant reduction in the number of splenocytes per gram of spleen weight compared to young females. To evaluate sex- and age-associated changes in splenic immune cell composition, we performed flow cytometry analysis. In male mice, we observed an age-associated reduction in the frequencies of monocytes and NK cells; female mice displayed a reduction in B cells, NK cells, and CD8 + T cells and increased frequency of monocytes and neutrophils with age. We then performed a whole blood stimulation assay and multiplex analyses of plasma cytokines and observed age- and sex-specific differences in immune cell reactivity and basal circulating cytokine concentrations. As we have previously illustrated a potential role of NK cells in Parkinson’s disease, an age-related neurodegenerative disease, we further analyzed age-associated changes in NK cell phenotypes and function. There were distinct differences between the sexes in age-associated changes in the expression of NK cell receptors, IFN-γ production, and impairment of α-synuclein endocytosis. This study demonstrates sex- and age-specific alterations in splenic lymphocyte composition, circulating cytokine/chemokine profiles, and NK cell phenotype and effector functions. Our data provide evidence that age-related physiological perturbations differ between the sexes which may help elucidate sex differences in age-related diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Parkinson’s disease, where immune dysfunction is implicated in their etiology.
The Effects of Anabolic Growth Implant and Restricted Feed Intake on Proliferation of Bovine Primary Skeletal Muscle Cells

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a steroid implant, Revalor XS (200 mg trenbolone acetate, 40 mg estradiol) and/or restricted feed intake on nutrient metabolism and muscle cell growth of steers.
Stable isotopes in precipitation and meteoric water: Sourcing and tracing the North American monsoon in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah

The North American monsoon (NAM) is an important source of precipitation across the southwestern United States (US). The approximate northern boundary of this feature crosses the Navajo Nation, in ...
X-ray Radioluminescent Crystalline Colloidal Arrays Composed of Terpolymer Nanoparticles

X-ray active, terpolymer nanospheres are fabricated by copolymerizing styrene, propargyl acrylate, and anthracene methyl methacrylate. The strong Coulombic forces between particles induce spontaneous self-assembly into a crystalline colloidal array.
Parsing Natural Scenes and Natural Language with Recursive Neural Networks

Recursive structure is commonly found in the inputs of different modalities such as natural scene images or natural language sentences. Discovering this recursive structure helps us to not only identify the units that an image or sentence contains but also how they interact to form a whole. We introduce a max-margin structure prediction architecture based on recursive neural networks that can successfully recover such structure both in complex scene images as well as sentences. The same algorithm can be used both to provide a competitive syntactic parser for natural language sentences from the Penn Treebank and to outperform alternative approaches for semantic scene segmentation, annotation and classification. For segmentation and annotation our algorithm obtains a new level of state-of-the-art performance on the Stanford background dataset (78.1%). The features from the image parse tree outperform Gist descriptors for scene classification by 4%.
Chapter 10 The Application of Labeled Lectins and Antibodies to Sds Gels And Their use In Studying Glycoproteins and Cell Surface Antigens During Development

Publisher Summary An approach has been developed by several laboratories for detecting both glycoproteins and antigens in sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gels by the direct binding of lectins or antibodies, respectively. The binding is detected by labeling the lectin or antibody with an enzymatic, fluorescent, or radioactive marker. Because a characteristic of developing systems is the expression of new surface antigens, many of which will also be glycoproteins, both techniques (lectin and antibody staining of gels) is of particular value in analyzing surface changes during differentiation. The chapter illustrates this approach using lectins applied to gels to analyze glycoproteins in two differentiating systems: (1) the development of the cellular slime mold, Dictyostelium discoideum and (2) the differentiation of a muscle cell line in tissue culture. Lectin binding to SDS gels provides a sensitive technique for analyzing glycoproteins according to both their apparent molecular weight and their carbohydrate content. The resolution of the technique is essentially equal to the resolution of the gel system used. When lectin binding is used to analyze glycoproteins, it also suggests a way of purifying any glycoproteins of interest becasue lectins can be used for affinity chromatography.
A high-voltage switching circuit for rapid plasma ion implantation

Efficient ion implantation of metals in a steady-state plasma requires easily adjustable exposure times and shorter duty cycles than those possible by pulsing the sample voltage using conventional spark gap technology. Pulsing the voltage is required to prevent the water-cooled sample from absorbing all the ions and quenching the plasma, since the required sample exposure time is much longer than the plasma ion containment time. Experimental attempts to study the improvement in wear and corrosion resistance of metallic samples are in progress. A high-voltage switching circuit, biased to a negative potential of several tens of kilovolts and using a high-power vacuum tube as the active switching element, has been designed, built, and tested. A square wave from a signal generator is input to a fiber-optic transmitter, which delivers an infrared signal to a fiber-optic receiver. This link provides an isolated control system capable of fast switching speeds. The receiver controls a comparator-actuated, enhancement-mode TMOS switching circuit that pulses a DC-to-DC converter providing a 350-V pulse to the tetrode control grid, turning the sample voltage on and off. A second voltage-regulated TMOS circuit supplies the tetrode filament power (7.1 V, 20 A) from a high-current, 12-V battery. >
Analyzing real time terrorism data

Terrorism is a complex and evolving phenomenon, and terrorist groups are highly dynamic in terms of cooperation and locality. Terrorism data collection organizations such as the study of terrorism and response to terrorism (START) release terrorism incident data on a yearly basis. Such data is valuable for historical terrorism incident analysis. However, it is crucial that researchers have access to real time terrorism incidents data to perform analysis such as safety level estimation, monitoring or projections. We developed a novel system that automatically collects news data and analyzes them in real time for terrorism incidents. We developed a safety assessment formula based on recent terrorism incidents and time. Our system displays the safety level of countries and cities on a dynamic map, and it also allows to tracks the events of a selected terrorist group. Our results show that countries like Israel, Nigeria, Ukraine, Iran, and Afghanistan are currently among the most unsafe places in the world. Our system can assist counter-terrorism experts to plan counter-terrorism measures and potentially prevent incidents. Our future research focuses on projecting terrorism incidents based on recent events and other factors.
When two is better than one: thoughts on three decades of interaction between Virology and the Journal of Virology.

This year the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is celebrating a most important birthday, its 100th. Interestingly, the discipline of virology is also 100 years old; for it was also in the last decade of the 19th century, in 1898, that Beijerink coined the term “virus” (Latin, poison) to
The CATCHUM Consortium: Developing a Cancer Prevention Curriculum using the World Wide Web

Melissa deSantis, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas, USA Trevor Burt, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA Billy Philips, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA David Barker, The University of North Texas Health Sciences Center at Fort Worth, Texas, USA Brandi Dyer, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas, USA Gale Hannigan, Texas A & M College of Medicine, Temple, Texas, USA Herb Hagler, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas, USA Larry Laufman, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA Cathy Montoya, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA Margaret Vugrin, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas, USA
The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: The Matthew Effect in Online Education

In our globally and technologically connected world, many universities raced to offer online, college degrees to populations who otherwise would not have access to higher education. They promised high quality, rigorous, flexible, accessible, and affordable programs. Colleges and universities pledged to support these students to ensure theirsuccess within an online environment. However, Canchola (2011) argued that online students rarely receive the support they were promised. Sandeen and Barr (2006) argued many online programs increase students’ dissatisfaction with higher education and increase their drop-out rate. As a result, such programs rather than help students achieve their goals; they set them back academically and financially. This serves only to intensify The Matthew Effect for students. The authors offer recommendations for alleviating TheMatthew Effect and share guidelines for maintaining high quality, responsive online education.
The Modulatory Action of Dopamine on Crustacean Foregut Neuromuscular Preparations

1. 1. Effects of dopamine (DA) on contractile and electrical properties of decapod foregut neuromuscular preparations were examined. 2. 2. Dopamine produced dramatic increases in nerve-evoked contractions and, in particular muscles, contractures and spontaneous contractions. These effects were observed at concentrations as low as 5 × 10−9 M-DA. 3. 3. The DA-produced enhancement of nerve-evoked contractions was associated with an increase in amplitude of excitatory junctional potentials (EJPs). 4. 4. The increase in EJPs resulted in part from an increase in muscle fibre membrane resistance that was particularly prominent over depolarized membrane potentials. A presynaptic action of dopamine cannot be as yet excluded. 5. 5. In fibres from the muscle in which dopamine produced a contracture, dopamine also produced a depolarization. 6. 6. In fibres from the muscle in which dopamine activated spontaneous contractions, dopamine also produced spontaneous rhythmic action potentials. 7. 7. Dopamine also accelerated the half-time of muscle relaxation following muscle contraction.
Sharing and fusing landmark information in a team of autonomous robots

A team of robots working to explore and map a space may need to share information about landmarks so as register local maps and to plan effective exploration strategies. In this paper we investigate the use of spatial histograms (spatiograms) as a common representation for exchanging landmark information between robots. Each robot can use sonar, stereo, laser and image information to identify potential landmarks. The sonar, laser and stereo information provide the spatial dimension of the spatiogram in a landmark-centered coordinate frame while video provides the image information. We call the result a terrain spatiogram. This representation can be shared between robots in a team to recognize landmarks and to fuse observations from multiple sensors or multiple platforms. We report experimental results sharing indoor and outdoor landmark information between a two different models of robot equipped with differently configured stereocameras and show that the terrain spatiogram (1) allows the robots to recognize landmarks seen only by the other with high confidence and, (2) allows multiple views of a landmark to be fused in a useful fashion.
Regional variations of somatosensory input convergence in nucleus VPL of cat thalamus.

Abstract Regional differences in the time course of contralateral forepaw-evoked discharge have been observed that correlate with the adequate stimuli and receptive field sizes of neurons predominating in particular subareas within nucleus ventralis posterolateralis of chloralose-anesthetized cats. Early activity is due primarily to small-field, forepaw-specific neurons in the anterior, medial forepaw “focus,” defined here in terms of the evoked thalamic “localizing potential” and correlated unit spike discharge density. Later activity is produced largely by wide-field neurons that respond to other appendages, in addition to contralateral forepaw, in the caudolateral portion of the nucleus. Hair-sensitive neurons are clustered medially within the forepaw focus and discharge earliest, whereas touch-sensitive neurons are scattered diffusely throughout the focus and the adjacent central zone, and lag behind hair cells in onset, build-up, and decline of activity. Of those affected by cortex, most hair cells are inhibited and most touch cells are excited. The anterior-medial portion of ventralis posterolateralis is dominated by crossed lemniscal input, and shows some segregation of neurons according to modality, whereas dorsal column, spinothalamic, and perhaps other projections converge upon the caudolateral region, where there is obvious bilateral input.
NUTRITION OF THE HOST AND NATURAL RESISTANCE TO INFECTION : IV. THE CAPABILITY OF THE DOUBLE STRAIN INOCULATION TEST TO REVEAL GENETICALLY DETERMINED DIFFERENCES IN NATURAL RESISTANCE TO INFECTION

The double strain inoculation (DSI) method of testing for natural resistance to infection has been examined in the instance of mouse salmonellosis. The DSI method has been found capable of detecting differences in natural resistance due to genetic as well as nutritional causes. A difference in response to Salmonella infection was found for the first time between the two "susceptible" inbred mouse strains, BSVR and BSVS. Whereas BSVS mice for the most part survived an intraperitoneal injection of 103 "avirulent" S. typhimurium, BSVR mice all succumbed. The relationship of the DSI test to the usual single infection test has been discussed and it is suggested that such single infection tests are special cases of the DSI test, since they involve a heterogeneous bacterial population which can be considered as a mixture of cultures of differing virulence and in which, by a single injection, the usual time interval between the two injections of the DSI method has been reduced to 0.
An adaptable head retention and alignment device for computed tomography scanning of macaca mulatta

An adaptable retention device has been developed for the purpose of holding and aligning the head of a sedated primate subject during computed tomography (CT) scan procedures. The device is used to obtain a close reproduction of CT scan studies at a time before and after dental implant placement in the mandibles of nine subjects. Geometric and material properties are extracted from these studies for the purpose of developing finite elements computer models. The device is constructed of low-density acrylic and consists of a horizontal base to which lateral supports are affixed. The device is placed on the CT table and axially aligned with the scan beam. Repeatable, calibrated CT studies of primate implant subjects were possible using the head holding device.
Middle meningeal origin of the ophthalmic artery.

Objective To examine the microsurgical anatomy and clinical significance of an anomalous origin of the ophthalmic artery from the middle meningeal artery. Methods In the course of an anatomic study of the cavernous sinus, an anomalous ophthalmic artery arising from the middle meningeal artery was found. To further define the anatomy of the region, five additional skulls, in which the arteries and veins were injected with colored latex, were dissected using 3x to 40x magnification. Results The anomalous ophthalmic artery arose from the frontal branch of the middle meningeal artery, passed through the superior orbital fissure, and supplied the entire contents of the orbit, as well as giving rise to the central retinal artery. This study provides the first display of this anomaly in an anatomic dissection. Conclusion The ophthalmic artery may infrequently arise from the middle meningeal artery. This anomaly places the ophthalmic artery at risk during procedures in which the dura is elevated from the greater and lesser wings of the sphenoid or when the sphenoid ridge is removed and during embolization procedures involving the branches of the external carotid artery.
Latino Attitudes toward Various Areas of Public Policy The Importance of Acculturation

The growth of the Latino population and the increasing political importance of this group leads to questions about the potential political importance of this group. As such, it is important to gain...
Origin and acceleration of the slow solar wind

This Letter uses Doppler dimming measurements by SOHO UVCS to elucidate the origin and acceleration of the slow solar wind. By investigating plasma flow in the corona over an active region during 2000 May 14-16, we confirm what has been suggested by the presence of the imprint of active regions in the solar wind near Earth orbit, that active regions are a source of slow wind. The observed active region does not have an associated streamer in the outer corona. We explain how this implies that any related heliospheric current sheet must be transverse to the line of sight. It is this favorable geometry of a transverse heliospheric current sheet that allows the plasma flow over the active region to be isolated in path-integrated Doppler dimming measurements. The results also show that acceleration of the slow wind associated with active regions toward its terminal speed is faster than that along the heliospheric current sheet. These differences in acceleration explain why the signatures of the heliospheric current sheet are dissimilar in velocity, but not in density, between the corona and solar wind measured near Earth orbit.
Applying design principles for enhancing enterprise system usability

Experienced users learn the “tricks of the trade” that allow them to make effective and efficient use of enterprise systems. New users and even experienced ones accessing unfamiliar parts of the system, however, are stymied by the lack of navigational cues, the ubiquity of tabbed pages, and the sheer number of fields that may be required. In earlier work, we documented the usability issues users are facing in the field, derived four design principles for guiding the design of systems that collaborate with their users, and implemented a database framework for supporting those principles. In this paper, we present two interventions targeted at the design principle that calls for providing navigational and progress guidance, while supporting the principle requiring that the system make use of contextual information in presenting data and choices to the user. Using visualizations in conjunction with a playback mechanism, users can learn about system-supported processes, find detailed information on the particular process instances on which they are working, and view automated playbacks of users completing the same and other types of tasks. This paper is the next step in designing enterprise systems that help, rather than hinder, their human partners by sharing their knowledge.
Poroma: a review of eccrine, apocrine, and malignant forms

Poroma is a benign adnexal neoplasm of the terminal sweat gland duct. Although poromas have traditionally been thought to originate from the eccrine sweat gland, there have been cases of apocrine etiology as well. Eccrine and apocrine poromas typically present as erythematous or flesh-colored nodules on the palms and soles. As these features overlap with a multitude of differential diagnoses, it is imperative to have a firm understanding of the characteristics that make the diagnosis of poroma. In addition, the malignant counterpart to the poroma, the eccrine porocarcinoma, manifests in a similar nonspecific fashion. Case studies and literature reviews have contributed immensely to our present knowledge of poroma and porocarcinoma. Given the rarity of these neoplasms, however, there remains a relative paucity of information on atypical presentations and rates of malignant transformation. In this article, the epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of poroma and porocarcinoma will be reviewed. This systematic approach may serve as a guide in navigating the diagnostic dilemma of these rare cutaneous lesions.
Evaluation of the energy yield prediction error depending on the methodology to estimate global tilted irradiance from measured global horizontal irradiance

The evaluation of the energy yield (EY) in Photovoltaic (PV) systems depends strongly on the quality of the onsite irradiance measurement. Prior to system installation, normally only the horizontal plane irradiance is available and therefore various mathematical models are used to translate the measured values into the plane of the PV array. This paper evaluates the influence of irradiance models, and specifically diffuse tilted irradiance models, on the accuracy of the EY calculation. For this purpose several PV installations were evaluated by comparing measured global tilted irradiance values and measured DC energy with modeled values.
Platelet survival in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.

The pathogenesis of the thrombocytopenia of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome has been investigated in several patients. Eight survival studies using homologous platelets were normal in 3 patients and plasma acid phosphatase levels were also normal, suggesting no increased destruction of peripheral platelets. Marrow aspirates from 3 patients revealed many peculiar megakaryocytes. The nuclei of these cells were characterized by fragmentation and karyorrhexis despite cytoplasm which showed no granularity or platelet formation. Administration of prednisone and fresh plasma was without beneficial effect in 2 patients. These studies indicate that the characteristic thrombocytopenia of Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome does not result from increased peripheral destruction of platelets as is usually the case in ITP; rather developmental or maturational factors appear to be involved. Similar mechanisms might conceivably be invoked to explain the eczema and susceptibility to infection characteristic of this syndrome. Although conventional therapy is without regular benefit, platelet transfusions may be confidently administered for hemorrhage or when surgery is necessary.
Seed transmission of Pyrenophora tritici-repentis, causal fungus of tan spot of wheat

Seed transmission ofPyrenophora tritici-repentis, a common foliar pathogen of wheat, was investigated in soft white winter wheat cv. Frankenmuth and found to be non-systemic; the emerging coleoptile was infected externally by hyphal growth from the infected pericarp. Hyphae from the infected coleoptile then infected the first and second seedling leaves as they emerged. Coleoptile symptoms ranged from tiny brown streaks or spots to large, brown necrotic areas accompanied by cracking and distortion of the coleoptile. Small brown spots sometimes occurred on the first and rarely on the second seedling leaves, often accompanied by leaf distortion. Pseudothecial initials of the fungus were present within or on the seed remnants. Seed transmission efficiency was as high as 92%in vitro and 60% in potting soil outdoors. Seed infection did not affect germinationin vitro, but slightly reduced emergence in potting soil. Seedling weight and height were reduced significantly. In potting soil, seed infection also resulted in delayed plant growth and increased tan spot severity at later stages of plant development. Under controlled conditions, seed transmission efficiency and incidence of pseudothecia on seed were negatively correlated with seed germination temperature in the range of 9 to 21 °C, whereas frequency of recovery of the fungus from symptomatic coleoptiles and leaves was positively correlated with seed germination temperature. These results suggest that infected seed may serve as a source of inoculum for tan spot epidemics and for dispersal of strains of the fungus to new areas.
Familial renal cancer as an indicator of hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer syndrome

Hereditary Leiomyomatosis and Renal Cell Carcinoma (HLRCC) is a hereditary condition which typically presents with cutaneous and uterine leiomyomata. Papillary type II renal cell carcinoma and other less common histologic subtypes of renal cancer have been reported in HLRCC. We describe the case of a 31-year-old man in which the pathology review of his renal carcinoma and a positive family history of renal carcinoma allowed for the identification of a pathogenic mutation in the FH gene (c.698G>A;p.R233H) confirming the diagnosis of HLRCC. Recognition of this syndrome allowed for appropriate surveillance as well as identification of at-risk family members. Pathology review is essential for accurate diagnosis of a hereditary cancer syndrome in the setting of familial renal cancer.
Alcohol dependency and affective illness among women of childbearing age

The objectives of the study were to identify variables that predicted duration of an episode of alcoholism among women and to examine risk factors for women having comorbid alcoholism with affective illness when compared to women who had an affective disorder only. We selected a cohort of women of childbearing age (n = 231) from computerized medical records. The women were contacted five years after their initial emergency visit and asked to participate in a follow-up study. Each RDC episode of illness and its duration were plotted on a longitudinal time-line graph. The only multivariate predictor of duration of an episode of alcoholism was comorbidity with a mood disorder. We compared women who had alcoholism comorbid with affective illness to women with affective illness only. Women with both disorders were 36 times more likely to have a history of illness with their first psychiatric episode before the age of 15 compared to women with an affective disorder only. The findings suggest a dual liability for alcoholism and an affective illness among women with young children.
Dancing on quicksand gracefully: instructional design for rapidly evolving technology courses

One of the challenges of higher education in technology, especially in computer disciplines, is the rapid change of technical content. In technology disciplines with a tradition of experiential learning instructors need to continually redesign courses to ensure the learning experience for the students is current and relevant. This paper discusses an approach to course design that has been applied to a class in Information Technology that experiences significant changes in course content on a regular basis. The design approach allows many aspects of the course design to remain constant, including much of the class presentation and assessment, while including the latest technology developments and applications in the course. Students collaborate in seeking out new applications in technology and in sharing them with the class.The paper discusses a course module developed using these principles. Different aspects of the design were analyzed. Firstly how successful is this as a mechanism for maintaining course currency with current technological developments, secondly to what extent is this successful for instructors to collaborate with students in acquiring new knowledge in the discipline and thirdly does the instructional design approach adequately support student learning of new application areas in the discipline.
Groupware: computer supported collaboration

Abstract Technological advances have increased the functionality of groupware solutions in the workplace. The role of computer supported collaboration will continue to redefine the strategy and culture of corporations worldwide. Companies are increasingly viewing groupware solutions as a competitive necessity. Achieving success in planning and implementing a groupware installation requires an organization to define communication goals in terms of corporate strategy and full support from all levels of management. Groupware is about people, whether in teams, organizations, or whole enterprises. This article attempts to define the groupware concept and present practical implications of a collaborative implementation in the workplace environment.
Use of a pentachlorophenol degrading bacterium to bioremediate highly contaminated soil

ASphingomonas species that mineralizes high concentrations of pentachlorophenol (PCP) was isolated from a PCP-contaminated EPA Superfund site. This bacterium, identified asSphingomonas sp. strain RA2, is able to degrade PCP at concentrations of up to 300 μg/mL in liquid culture. This organism was tested for its ability to degrade high concentrations of PCP in a soil that did not contain organisms capable of degrading high concentrations of PCP. When inoculated into contaminated soil,Sphingomonas sp. RA2 mineralized PCP at concentrations of 300, 600, 900, and 1200 μg PCP/g of soil, but was unable to mineralize 1500 μg PCP/g of soil. Only very minimal loss of PCP was seen in uninoculated soils. The results of this study demonstrate thatSphingomonas sp. RA2 may be a useful organism for remediation of sites contaminated with high concentrations of PCP.
Contemporary Southern oratory: A rhetoric of hope, not desperation

Emerging consensus has it that Southern oratory is “heavily myth‐encrusted.” Using this assumption as a starting point, this essay considers the traditional characteristics of Southern oratory and, as others have done previously, dismisses most as “obscuring legend.” Emerging as the overriding characteristic of Southern oratory in an earlier period is the quality of desperation. Against this background is juxtaposed a consideration of contemporary Southern oratory, concluding that the latter is essentially optimistic. It is characterized by an aversion to the past rhetoric of desperation and lost causes, by a spirit of renewal, and with a focus which is decidedly futuristic.
On the entropy region of discrete and continuous random variables and network information theory

We show that a large class of network information theory problems can be cast as convex optimization over the convex space of entropy vectors. A vector in 2n - 1 dimensional space is called entropic if each of its entries can be regarded as the joint entropy of a particular subset of n random variables (note that any set of size n has 2n - 1 nonempty subsets.) While an explicit characterization of the space of entropy vectors is well-known for n = 2, 3 random variables, it is unknown for n Gt 3 (which is why most network information theory problems are open.) We will construct inner bounds to the space of entropic vectors using tools such as quasi-uniform distributions, lattices, and Cayley's hyperdeterminant.
Size of the ecological effect zone associated with exurban development in the Adirondack Park, NY

Abstract Exurban development represents a potential threat to wildlife communities and ecological integrity in rural landscapes worldwide and recent work has suggested that its ecological impacts can be similar to those associated with more characteristically urban development patterns. Despite the large scope and rapid pace of exurbanization, understanding of its ecological consequences is incomplete and most North American research has occurred in the western United States. The ecological impact zone denotes the area surrounding a home which should be considered affected habitat and has been shown to be demonstrably larger than the actual footprint of homes and lawns. We conducted a study to determine whether an impact zone of 180 m identified for a shrub-oak community in the Rocky Mountain west was applicable in an eastern, closed forest system. We sampled bird communities at the forest/lawn edge of exurban homes, and at 200- and 400-m in surrounding forest and modeled occupancy at increasing distances from residential structures for human-adapted, human-sensitive, and neutral species. Occupancy rates of human-adapted and human-sensitive species were different (36% higher and 26% lower, respectively) at points near homes versus those in surrounding forest. Our findings indicate a similarity in the effects of exurban homes on avian communities and the size of the ecological impact zone in these structurally different eastern and western North American landscapes. This similarity suggests the possibility that human behaviors associated with exurban homes may play a larger role in shaping avian community characteristics nearby than do habitat alterations created by construction and clearing.
First Report of Cross-Infectivity of Plasmopara halstedii from Marshelder to Sunflower.

In May 1999, marshelder (Iva xanthifolia Nutt.) plants with chlorotic upper leaves and abundant white sporulation on abaxial surfaces were observed in roadside ditches near Fargo, ND. Ovoid to elliptical zoosporangia (20 to 30 μm × 15 to 20 μm) that were borne on sporangiophores 400 to 500 μm long and branched monopodially at right angles were recovered from infected marshelder leaves. Dimensions of the zoosporangia and sporangiophores fall within those reported for Plasmopara halstedii (Farl.) Berl. & de Toni (1). Zoosporangia rinsed from marshelder plants were used to inoculate 3-day-old sunflower seedlings. The seedlings were immersed in a suspension of 2 × 104 zoosporangia per ml for 3 h, and planted in a greenhouse maintained at 18 to 24°C with a 16-h photoperiod. Systemic chlorosis, stunting, and sporulation were observed on sunflower plants 12 days after inoculation. Isolates from two individual marshelder plants were inoculated on a standard set of nine sunflower downy mildew differential lines, a...
Modeling observed saturation overshoot with continuum additions to standard unsaturated theory

In uniform soils that are susceptible to unstable preferential flow, the water saturation exhibits a nonmonotonic profile upon continuous infiltration. This overshoot cannot be described by the conventional Richards equation. Here, solutions to the infiltrations using a popular nonequilibrium extension to the Richards equation are obtained using the traveling wave nature of the saturation profile. Quantitative comparisons are made to recent measurements of saturation overshoot. The nonequilibrium solutions can be made to fit the flux range of the overshoot, but the fit to the tip saturations is fair to poor at best. Also, small changes in porous media size and roughness require large changes in the magnitude of the nonequilibrium term to match the flux range. The results suggest that the nonequilibrium capillary pressure does not include the correct physics that controls the overshoot.
SU-E-T-78: Feasibility Study on Use of Gafchromic EBT2 Film as an Absolute Dosimetry QA System for SBRT Treatment

Purpose: To establish the use of Gafchromic EBT2 film as an accurate and effective QA tool capable of providing absolute dosimetry for SBRT treatment plans. Methods: A dose calibration curve using the absolute dose response of Gafchromic EBT2 film after irradiation of known doses from 0 – 2500 cGy was created and used to compare planar doses created by the Pinnacle treatment planning system to EBT2 film dose responses after being irradiated with the patient's plan on a QA phantom of solid water. FilmQAPro 2012 software was used to compare the calculated andmeasured planar doses in absolute dose mode. Both manual and fiducial marker registration methods were performed. For manual registration, the film was adjusted using the software's movement tools in order to get the best agreement between the film and calculated planar dose. Intended as the primary method, fiducial marker registration involved marking the isocenter on the film at the time of plan delivery and then setting these marks to the isocenter of the calculated planar dose before comparison. Results: Two cases were chosen: a single arc that could not be measured with the Delta4 dosimetry system despite troubleshooting and another composite plan involving a non‐coplanar arc. In both cases, the measured and calculated planar dose comparisons had a γ‐index <1 when using ± 3% dose and ± 3mm DTA criteria for above 95% of the points for both relative and absolute registration without dose rescaling. Conclusions: Initial resultsshow that EBT2 film can serve as an adequate QA tool for the evaluation of patient specific QA involving SBRT. We found that film offers the superior spatial resolution needed for SBRT cases which involve extremely steep dose gradients and small areas of dose deposition. Additionally, film also performs well with SBRT plans involving non‐coplanar beams or arcs.
Gold and alloy nanoparticles in solution and thin film assembly: spectrophotometric determination of molar absorptivity

Abstract The spectrophotometric determination of molar absorptivities of the surface plasmon (SP) resonance for gold and gold–silver nanoparticles is reported. The importance of the optical parameter for assessing concentrations of nanoparticles in solution reactions and for estimating thickness of thin film assembly of nanoparticles is highlighted. The high monodispersity (5.6±0.4 nm) of decanethiolate-capped gold nanoparticles produced by thermally activated processing protocol served as a model system, which yielded an e value of 1.1×10 7 M −1 cm −1 . This value was also compared with values determined similarly for nanoparticles of different core sizes and compositions, including decanethiolate-capped gold (1.9 nm), gold–silver alloy (2.7 and 5.6 nm), and citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (13.4 nm). The determined e values are used for the thickness estimation of thin film assembly of gold nanoparticles linked by 1,9-nonanedithiol (NDT) and the concentration calculation of nanoparticles in a solution reaction. The results have important implications for quantitative assessment of nanoparticle-related reactivities and structures.
Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist

1. Introduction 2. Rational egoism: a profile of its foundations and basic character 3. The master virtue: rationality 4. Honesty 5. Independence 6. Justice 7. Integrity 8. Productiveness 9. Pride 10. Implications for certain conventional virtues: charity, generosity, kindness, temperance.
A green's function theory of surface states

Abstract A Green's function theory of surface states is presented. Starting from the energy eigenvalues of an infinite crystal, we generate the Green's function of a semi-infinite crystal using standard techniques. The effect of alterations in the surface potential is included. With the aid of the Green's function we calculate various local and total densities of states for both bulk (extended) and surface (localized) states. We apply the technique to the case of a non-degenerate band in a simple cubic lattice. The effect of introducing surfaces in various crystallographic directions is studied in detail. Numerical results are presented.
Ethnic minorities in the soviet armed forces: The plight of central Asians in a Russian‐dominated military

(1994). Ethnic minorities in the soviet armed forces: The plight of central Asians in a Russian‐dominated military. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies: Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 155-197.
Chromatic automorphisms and symmetries of some graphs

Abstract Certain colored graphs are defined in terms of permutations in Sn and the edge-chromatic automorphism groups of these graphs are studied. In fact, these groups are characterized in terms of the associated permutations. These groups are related to the groups of symmetries of certain drawings of cycles in the plane.
Partial specific volumes of lipid and water in mixtures of egg lecithin and water

We describe in this paper measurements of the partial specific volumes of lipid (upsilon L) and water (upsilon W) in mechanical mixtures of egg yolk lecithin and water over a range of hydrations (5–55 wt% water) that includes the region at which excess water appears. upsilon L and upsilon W are found to be very nearly 1 cm3/g over the entire range. The water activities of the mixtures were also determined and found to be the same as for lipid deposited as oriented multilayers on solid substrates.
Lake Bonneville fluctuations and global climate change

Lake Bonneville, the largest late Pleistocene closed-basin lake in the North American Great Basin, fluctuated widely in response to changes in climate. The geochemistry and mineralogy of endogenic calcium carbonate deposited in deep water, and stratigraphic studies of shore-zone deposits, provide evidence of millennial-scale lake-level fluctuations that had amplitudes of about 50 m between 30 and 10 ka. Falling-lake events occurred at 21, 18.5–19, 17.5, 16–15.5, 14–13, and 10 ka (radiocarbon years) synchronously with the terminations of Heinrich events H1 and H2 and other smaller scale iceberg-rafting events (a, b, c, and Younger Dryas) in the North Atlantic Ocean. The Lake Bonneville results thus support other climate records that suggest that late Pleistocene millennial-scale climate change was global in extent. The size and shape of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets, which determined the mean positions of storm tracks, may have been the primary control on late Pleistocene water budgets of Great Basin lakes.
The Biochemistry of Neurotransmitter Secretion

The progress that has resulted from the convergence of biochemistry with yeast genetics has accelerated the pace at which the molecular events of membrane transport are being elucidated. Future research will focus not only on testing the proposed sequence of protein-protein interactions but also on identifying how calcium regulation is imposed on this system. As our understanding of the basic mechanisms of neurosecretion increases, attention will undoubtedly shift to how the molecules of release are modified to produce changes in synaptic efficacy.
Synthesis and crystal structures of coordination polymers, networks and complexes of an adamantane shaped phosphorus-nitrogen cage ligand and cuprous chloride

Abstract Reactions of cuprous chloride with the phosphorus–nitrogen cage ligand 2,4,6,8,9,10-hexamethyl-2,4,6,8,9,10-hexaaza-1,3,5,7-tetraphosphaadamantane, P4(NCH3)6, in acetonitrile form distinct solids depending on the ligand-to-metal ratio. Three structurally characterized compounds include: a solvated 3-D network of formula [P4(NCH3)6]2(CuCl)3(CH3CN)2; a “ladder-type” polymer {[μ2-P4(NCH3)6]2(CuCl)2}∞; and a monomeric complex [P4(NCH3)6]2CuCl. Thermal decomposition of the solvated network results in formation of two more materials [P4(NCH3)6]2(CuCl)3, and [P4(NCH3)6](CuCl)2 that are not isolated from solution reactions. The variety of products isolated based solely on ligand-to-metal ratio suggest that this system participates in solution equilibria common to many phosphorus(III) ligands and multiple solubility equilibria.
Experimental study of thermoacoustic effects on a single plate Part I: Temperature fields

The thermal interaction between a heated solid plate and the acoustically driven working fluid was investigated by visualizing and quantifying the temperature fields in the neighbourhood of the solid plate. A combination of holographic interferometry and high-speed cinematography was applied in the measurements. A better knowledge of these temperature fields is essential to develop systematic design methodologies for heat exchangers in oscillatory flows. The difference between heat transfer in oscillatory flows with zero mean velocity and steady-state flows is demonstrated in the paper. Instead of heat transfer from a heated solid surface to the colder bulk fluid, the visualized temperature fields indicated that heat was transferred from the working fluid into the stack plate at the edge of the plate. In the experiments, the thermoacoustic effect was visualized through the temperature measurements. A novel evaluation procedure that accounts for the influence of the acoustic pressure variations on the refractive index was applied to accurately reconstruct the high-speed, two-dimensional oscillating temperature distributions.