cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The role of the geologic province in Precambrian paleomagnetism

Abstract The class A paleomagnetic data of pre-1400 m.y. Precambrian rocks from North America and Baltic Europe are compiled according to geological province. The objective is to attempt to establish a polar-wander curve for each province to test the intra-cratonic integrity of the Canadian and Fenno-Sarmatian Shields. Viewed in this light the paucity of data precludes drawing any conclusions from most of the provinces. It is possible to make a number of tentative suggestions which may subsequently be tested: (1) A single path satisfies the available North American data for the pre-2400 m.y. data. (2) A Wilson cycle may have operated between 2200 and 1800 m.y. between the Superior (+ Southern and Wyoming) and Churchill (+ Slave and Labrador) Provinces. (3) Data from the Wyoming and Superior Provinces are satisfied by a single curve. (4) For every province there are data which do not readily fit any simple pattern of polar wander.
Weather and the Prediction of Daily Cigarette Smoking

Weather-related variables (temperature and rain) are examined for their association with daily cigarette smoking. Prior research has examined how the average monthly temperature and summer versus winter months are related to smoking, but daily fluctuations in weather have not been examined previously. The current research tests whether daily changes in weather are related to young adult cigarette use. In addition, nicotine dependency is tested as a moderator of such associations. Nine hundred and twelve participants were recruited to complete weekly measures of cigarette smoking for 35 weeks. Participants provided weekly self-reports of daily smoking for the last week and completed measures of nicotine dependence. In addition, data was obtained on daily temperature and presence of rain. A longitudinal growth curve model was calculated using daily temperature and rain data to predict daily cigarette smoking. A positive linear effect and negative quadratic effect of temperature was found along with a negative effect of rain. Nicotine dependency did not moderate the effect of temperature or rain on smoking. This study is the first to use daily measures of temperature and rain and corresponding daily measures of cigarette smoking to examine possible associations. Results support the relevance of weather-related variables in the prediction of cigarette smoking and the importance of considering environmental factors in understanding smoking behaviour.
The identity of individuals in a strict functional calculus of second order

In previous papers we developed two functional calculi of first order based on strict implication which we called S2 and S4. In the present paper, these systems will be extended to include a functional calculus of second order with the purpose of introducing the relation of identity of individuals.Primitive symbols. {the abstraction operator, the blank space to be replaced by an appropriate variable}.
Analytical HDMR formulas for functions expressed as quadratic polynomials with a multivariate normal distribution

High Dimensional Model Representation (HDMR) is a general set of quan- titative model assessment and analysis tools for systems with many variables. A gen- eral formulation for the HDMR component functions with independent and correlated variables was obtained previously. Since the HDMR component functions generally are coupled to one another and involve multi-dimensional integrals, explicit formu- las for the component functions are not available for an arbitrary function with an arbitrary probability distribution amongst their variables. This paper presents analyt- ical formulas for the HDMR component functions and the corresponding sensitivity indexes for the common case of a function expressed as a quadratic polynomial with a multivariate normal distribution over its variables. This advance is important for practical applications of HDMR with correlated variables.
Forecasting with imprecise probabilities

We review de Finetti's two coherence criteria for determinate probabilities: coherence"1 defined in terms of previsions for a set of events that are undominated by the status quo - previsions immune to a sure-loss - and coherence"2 defined in terms of forecasts for events undominated in Brier score by a rival forecast. We propose a criterion of IP-coherence"2 based on a generalization of Brier score for IP-forecasts that uses 1-sided, lower and upper, probability forecasts. However, whereas Brier score is a strictly proper scoring rule for eliciting determinate probabilities, we show that there is no real-valued strictly proper IP-score. Nonetheless, with respect to either of two decision rules - @C-maximin or (Levi's) E-admissibility-+-@C-maximin - we give a lexicographic strictly proper IP-scoring rule that is based on Brier score.
Validity Evidence for Medical School OSCEs: Associations With USMLE® Step Assessments

Background: Recently, there has been a surge in the use of objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) at medical schools around the world, and with this growth has come the concomitant need to validate such assessments. Purposes: The current study examined the associations between student performance on several school-level clinical skills and knowledge assessments, including two OSCEs, the National Board of Medical Examiners® (NBME) Subject Examinations, and the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE) Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) and Step 3 assessments. Methods: The sample consisted of 806 medical students from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. We conducted Pearson correlation analysis as well as stepwise multiple linear regression modeling to examine the strength of associations between students’ performance on 2nd- and 3rd-year OSCEs and their two Step 2 CS component scores and Step 3 scores. Results: Positive associations were found between the OSCE variable...
Wave--wave interactions and gravitational instability

The instability of gravitational waves withk>kJeans in a weakly turbulent gas is discussed. Basic features of the processes leading to amplification or damping of gravitational waves are described. Growth rates of the amplitudes are calculated.
Quasielastic light scattering studies of tubulin aggregation

Abstract A quasielastic light scattering study of purified tubulin has resulted in a monomer diffusion coefficient of 6.0 × 10−7 cm2/s. In an attempt to characterize the small tubulin oligomers which are predicted to form as intermediates in the self-assembly into double rings, magnesium ions (10 m m ) were incorporated into the PG (10 m m NaPi, 0.1 m m GTP, pH 7.0) buffer. With magnesium-containing buffers, a second slow diffusing species was identified with D = 0.56 × 10−7cm2/s. This corresponds to the tubulin double rings. A study of the small oligomers was precluded by the presence in all preparations of traces of aggregates resulting from the slow aging process of the protein ( V. Prakash and S. N. Timasheff (1982) J. Mol. Biol.160, 499–515 ). While colchicine was shown to inhibit this aging process, the presence of these irreversible aggregates, even to the extent of 1% by mass, precludes equilibrium studies of the self-association of tubulin into small oligomers.
Overcoming Alienation as the Practice of Adult Education: The Contribution of Erich Fromm to a Critical Theory of Adult Learning and Education

Erich Fromm's analysis of the commodification of contemporary life, his description of automation conformity, and his call for the overcoming of alienation represent important, though ignored. elem...
Biological assessment of urban and agricultural streams in the California Central Valley.

This project was designed to establish baseline aquatic biological community structure and physical habitat conditions in select wadeable streams within the California Central Valley. A secondary objective was to evaluate possible water quality differences between site types and seasons. Two agricultural and two urban streams were monitored in spring and fall for two consecutive years beginning in the fall of 2002. Bioassessment sampling was conducted according to modified US EPA methods. The study included physical habitat assessment, water and sediment chemical analysis and characterization of the benthic macroinvertebrate community at each site. Water samples were analyzed for selected organophosphate insecticides, pyrethroid insecticides and herbicides, while sediment samples were analyzed for pyrethroids only. All sites had substantial physical habitat and water quality impairments, and the absence of pollution intolerant macroinvertebrates and dominance of pollution tolerant macroinvertebrates were indications of biological impairment. Due to the limited amount of water quality and pesticide data collected, it was not possible to definitively demonstrate any cause and effect relationships between BMI community structure and water quality or pesticide concentrations. Though most physical habitat parameters were similar and EPA physical habitat scores revealed on no significant differences between urban and agricultural sites (P = 0.290), a significant difference was seen in substrate embeddedness (P = 0.020). Dominant taxon found at all sites were chironomids, amphipods, and oligochaetes. Benthic macroinvertebrate metrics were significantly different between both types of sites (P = 0.001) and seasons (P = 0.014). Chironomidae taxon and those of the functional feeding group scrapers were greater at urban sites, while those of the functional feeding group filterers were greater at agricultural sites. In addition, the metric groups Chironomidae, filterers, and predators were found in greater numbers in the spring than the fall.
Erosive wear of CVD ceramic coatings exposed to particulate flow

Abstract Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) was used to apply titanium carbide, titanium nitride and alumina multilayers to a cemented tungsten carbide substrate. The erosion behavior of these coatings was investigated experimentally by exposing them to particle-laden flow in a specially designed wind tunnel. The eroded surface was then examined by scanning electron microscopy. The erosion results show the effects of velocity, temperature, impingement angle and mass of the impacting particles on the erosion rate. The results indicate that the erosion rate is proportional to the particle velocity to the power n, where the velocity exponent, n, varies from 2.61 to 2.82. The variation of temperature and the particle impingement angle did not substantially affect the coating erosion rates. This study indicates that the tested ceramic coatings provide excellent resistance in the particulate flow environment.
CAN RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION AND SEXUAL ORIENTATION AFFIRMATION COEXIST IN SOCIAL WORK? A CRITIQUE OF HODGE'S THEORETICAL, THEOLOGICAL, AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS

Social work strives to be inclusive of all cultural groups and religious identities. However, a tension exists in the profession between freedom of religious expression and full acceptance of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people. David Hodge and others claim social work is oppressive to evangelical Christians. This article critiques primarily Hodge's arguments using an analysis of biblical scriptures, new class theory, freedom of expression, and social work ethics. Social work and human rights principles are discussed as a guide for negotiating these issues in the social work educational environment. Intergroup dialogue is offered as a pedagogical method for addressing the tension in social work classrooms.
ABSOLUTE CONFIGURATION OF CHIRAL ETHANOL-1-D : NEUTRON DIFFRACTION ANALYSIS OF THE (-)-(1S)-CAMPHANATE ESTER OF (+)-(R)-ETHANOL-1-D

The absolute configuration of (+)-ethanol-1-d has been determined to be R by the single-crystal neutron diffraction analysis of its (−)-camphanate ester. The absolute configuration of the (−)-camphanate group, which served as the chiral reference for the neutron study, was in turn established to be 1S,4R in an X-ray anomalous dispersion study of the complex Cu2(camphanate)4(ethanol)2. These results provide unambiguous confirmation that the optical rotation of (R)-ethanol-1-d (positive) is opposite to that of its higher homologs, (R)-propanol-1-d, (R)-butanol-1-d, and (R)-neopentanol-1-d (all negative), and demonstrates the usefulness of neutron diffraction in determining the absolute configuration of molecules possessing chiral methylene groups (i.e., molecules of the type CHDRR‘). Crystallographic details: for the neutron analysis of (+)-(R)-ethyl-1-d (−)-(1S)-camphanate: space group P21212 (orthorhombic), a = 6.422(1) A, b = 21.004(4) A, c = 9.275(2) A, V = 1251.1(7) A3, Z = 4; R(F2) = 0.083, and wR(F...
What transposable elements are differentially translated in lung cancer

Meeting abstracts Transposable element (TE) expression is generally silent in somatic tissues, due to significant genomic methylation and other redundant methods of silencing. Cancer tissues, however, exhibit a marked decrease in methylation throughout the genome, which can result in de-repression
Public perceptions of providing IVF services to cancer and HIV patients

Objective To assess the attitudes of the general U.S. population toward the use of IVF to assist adults with a history of cancer or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Design Cross-sectional survey study. Setting Online. Patient(s) A total of 1,183 adult men and women across the U.S. Intervention(s) Questionnaire consisting of multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Main Outcome Measure(s) Attitudes toward IVF for cancer and HIV patients. Result(s) A total of 82% supported IVF for cancer patients compared with 38% for HIV patients. The most common reasons for support was the anticipation of normal life expectancies and a belief in the universal right to have children, although nearly twice as many participants believed this to be a "right" for cancer patients than for HIV patients. Young respondent ages, higher educational attainment, Jewish religion, and a personal history of infertility were associated with higher likelihood of support. Lower education level, higher annual household income, and having children were predictors of discordance in support of IVF for cancer versus HIV patients. Conclusion(s) Despite advancements in the treatment of cancer and HIV, which have allowed patients to have longer life expectancies and improved chances of parenthood, there is significant disparity in the support of providing IVF to these patient groups.
First Reported Infections Caused by Three Newly Described Genera in the Family Xanthomonadaceae

Members of the family of Xanthomonadaceae are typically characterized as environmental organisms. With the exception of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, these organisms are infrequently implicated as human pathogens. We describe three cases of central venous catheter-associated bloodstream infections caused by Dokdonella koreensis, Aquimonas voraii, and a Luteibacter sp., all newly named genera within the family Xanthomonadaceae. The three patients all had histories of underlying hematological disorders, presented with fever, and recovered fully following treatment. These isolates required 16S rRNA gene sequencing for identification and, unlike S. maltophilia, demonstrated susceptibility to most antibiotics tested. This report represents the first description of human infections caused by these organisms.
The relationship of the distribution of the planktonic worm, Poeobius meseres Heath, to the water masses of the North Pacific

Abstract The distribution of a planktonic worm, Poeobius meseres Heath , was determined from an examination of over 1800 quantitative plankton tows taken in the North and South Pacific. This distribution is compared with the distribution of water masses, as defined by temperature-salinity curves. Since the water mass concept involves a three dimensional unit of the ocean, its use in describing the environment of an animal whose distribution is also three dimensional, is preferable to the method of comparing plankton distributions with horizontal isotherms or isohalines. The distribution of Poeobius coincides, for the most part, with that of the Subarctic water mass and the transition region of Subarctic water, the California Current. However, a few specimens were found in the eastern tropical Pacific. A satisfactory explanation for its restricted presence in this latter area is not possible at this time, but there is some evidence to indicate that this southern segment of the population is not endemic but has been carried in from the north. If this is true, then the occurrence of Poeobius here must be accounted for in considering the sources of the Intermediate water of the area.
Differential Expression of Interleukin-8 and Its Receptors in the Neuroendocrine and Non-Neuroendocrine Compartments of Prostate Cancer

Hormonal therapy (androgen ablation and/or inhibition of androgen action) is the treatment of choice for advanced prostate cancer. After an initial response in most patients, tumors invariably progress to an androgen-independent state. It is unclear how prostate cancer cells proliferate without androgen. Recent studies suggest that interleukin-8 may promote androgen-independent proliferation, but the source of interleukin-8 in the prostate is unknown. Using immunohistochemistry, we show that interleukin-8 was expressed by the neuroendocrine tumor cells in human prostate cancer tissue. Expression of the interleukin-8 receptor CXCR1 was negative or low in benign prostatic tissue and was frequently increased in malignant cells of high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and prostate cancer; however, CXCR1 was not detected in the neuroendocrine tumor cells, suggesting a paracrine mechanism by which interleukin-8 produced by neuroendocrine tumor cells stimulates androgen-independent proliferation of prostate cancer. Neuroendocrine tumor cells expressed another type of interleukin-8 receptor, CXCR2, suggesting an autocrine mechanism by which interleukin-8 regulates the differentiation or function of the neuroendocrine cells. These results, combined with previous reports that neuroendocrine differentiation is induced by hormonal therapy, suggest that neuroendocrine cells play an important role in promoting androgen-independent growth of prostate cancer through interleukin-8 signaling.
The Wulff Shape of Alumina: IV. Ti4+‐Doped Alumina

Controlled-geometry cavities, initially ≈20 μm × 20 μm × 0.5 μm, were introduced into-plane titanium-doped (≈210 ppma;≈500 wt. ppm) sapphire substrates using photolithographic methods, and subsequently internalized by diffusion bonding. The samples were annealed in air for prolonged periods at 1600° and 1800°C to convert the titanium to the 4+ state and to allow the pore shapes to adjust. Pores with an equivalent spherical radius of ≈3.6 μm reached a quasi-equilibrium shape within 160 h at 1600°C and within 48 h at 1800°C. The Wulff shape was determined using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The Wulff shape of Ti4+-doped alumina includes well-defined c(0001),, andfacets and smoothly curved sections. Theand afacets, which are components of the Wulff shape of undoped sapphire, are not discernable. In contrast to undoped alumina, for which the r-plane has the lowest energy, the c-plane is the lowest energy plane in Ti4+-doped alumina. The surface energy sequence of the stable c, r, and p surfaces differs from that in undoped alumina. The Wulff shape varies with temperature. Samples equilibrated at 1800°C were re-annealed at 1600°C. Pore shape changes were reversible, indicating that the observed pore shapes were close to the equilibrium (Wulff) shape.
The Forkhead Transcription Factor, FOXP3, Is Required for Normal Pituitary Gonadotropin Expression in Mice

The hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis is central to normal reproductive function. This pathway begins with the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone in systematic pulses by the hypothalamus. Gonadotropin-releasing hormone is bound by receptors on gonadotroph cells in the anterior pituitary gland and stimulates the synthesis and secretion of luteinizing hormone and, to some extent, follicle-stimulating hormone. Once stimulated by these glycoprotein hormones, the gonads begin gametogenesis and the synthesis of sex hormones. In humans, mutations of the forkhead transcription factor, FOXP3, lead to an autoimmune disorder known as immunodysregulation, polyendocrinopathy, and enteropathy, X-linked syndrome. Mice with a mutation in the Foxp3 gene have a similar autoimmune syndrome and are infertile. To understand why FOXP3 is required for reproductive function, we are investigating the reproductive phenotype of Foxp3 mutant mice (Foxp3sf/Y). Although the gonadotroph cells appear to be intact in Foxp3sf/Y mice, luteinizing hormone beta (Lhb) and follicle-stimulating hormone beta (Fshb) expression are significantly decreased, demonstrating that these mice exhibit a hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Hypothalamic expression of gonadotropin-releasing hormone is not significantly decreased in Foxp3sf/Y males. Treatment of Foxp3sf/Y males with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor agonist does not rescue expression of Lhb or Fshb. Interestingly, we do not detect Foxp3 expression in the pituitary or hypothalamus, suggesting that the infertility seen in Foxp3sf/Y males is a secondary effect, possibly due to loss of FOXP3 in immune cells. Pituitary expression of glycoprotein hormone alpha (Cga) and prolactin (Prl) are significantly reduced in Foxp3sf/Y males, whereas the precursor for adrenocorticotropic hormone, pro-opiomelanocortin (Pomc), is increased. Human patients diagnosed with IPEX often exhibit thyroiditis due to destruction of the thyroid gland by autoimmune cells. We find that Foxp3sf/Y mice have elevated expression of thyroid-stimulating hormone beta (Tshb), suggesting that they may suffer from thyroiditis as well. Expression of the pituitary transcription factors, Pitx1, Pitx2, Lhx3, and Egr1, is normal; however, expression of Foxl2 and Gata2 is elevated. These data are the first to demonstrate a defect at the pituitary level in the absence of FOXP3, which contributes to the infertility observed in mice with Foxp3 loss of function mutations.
Bayesian Co-clustering

In recent years, co-clustering has emerged as a powerful data mining tool that can analyze dyadic data connecting two entities. However, almost all existing co-clustering techniques are partitional, and allow individual rows and columns of a data matrix to belong to only one cluster. Several current applications, such as recommendation systems and market basket analysis, can substantially benefit from a mixed membership of rows and columns. In this paper, we present Bayesian co-clustering (BCC) models, that allow a mixed membership in row and column clusters. BCC maintains separate Dirichlet priors for rows and columns over the mixed membership and assumes each observation to be generated by an exponential family distribution corresponding to its row and column clusters. We propose a fast variational algorithm for inference and parameter estimation. The model is designed to naturally handle sparse matrices as the inference is done only based on the non-missing entries. In addition to finding a co-cluster structure in observations, the model outputs a low dimensional co-embedding, and accurately predicts missing values in the original matrix. We demonstrate the efficacy of the model through experiments on both simulated and real data.
The UN Global Compact: The Challenge and the Promise

The United Nations Global Compact is a new initiative intended to increase and to diffuse the benefits of global economic development through voluntary corporate policies and actions. Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations, addressing the Davos World Economic Forum in January 1999, challenged business leaders to join a “global compact of shared values and principles” and to provide globalization a human face. Annan argued that shared values provide a stable environment for a world market and that without these explicit values business could expect backlashes from protectionism, populism, fanaticism and terrorism.’ Following the 1999 Davos meeting, Annan and a group of business leaders formulated nine principles, which have come to be known as the UN Global Compact. After lengthy consultation, a tenth principle against corruption was added in June 2004.
Extinction from a rationalist perspective

The merging of the computational theory of mind and evolutionary thinking leads to a kind of rationalism, in which enduring truths about the world have become implicit in the computations that enable the brain to cope with the experienced world. The dead reckoning computation, for example, is implemented within the brains of animals as one of the mechanisms that enables them to learn where they are (Gallistel, 1990, 1995). It integrates a velocity signal with respect to a time signal. Thus, the manner in which position and velocity relate to one another in the world is reflected in the manner in which signals representing those variables are processed in the brain. I use principles of information theory and Bayesian inference to derive from other simple principles explanations for: (1) the failure of partial reinforcement to increase reinforcements to acquisition; (2) the partial reinforcement extinction effect; (3) spontaneous recovery; (4) renewal; (5) reinstatement; (6) resurgence (aka facilitated reacquisition). Like the principle underlying dead-reckoning, these principles are grounded in analytic considerations. They are the kind of enduring truths about the world that are likely to have shaped the brain's computations.
Avatar kinematics modeling for telecollaborative virtual environments

This paper introduced the application of a more efficient mathematical representation of the kinematics of avatars, or digital human beings, in telecollaborative virtual reality environments (VRE). The human head, torso and arms were modeled as a redundant eight-degree-of-freedom kinematics structure using an excellent alternative tool to transformation matrices, called dual quaternions. This approach achieves an extremely fast and accurate iterative algorithm that converges to one possible solution of this inverse kinematics problem. The method was implemented and tested in a CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment to demonstrate its performance in real time.
Rate and decoding power constrained video coding scheme for mobile multimedia players

Power dissipation, data rate, and processing time are crucial constraints for embedded multimedia devices. We present a video coding solution given the constraints of bit rate and decoding power dissipation. Coupled with a small dedicated video internal memory at a decoder, the coding scheme is designed for the best operational rate-distortion and decoding power cost trade off. It can substantially decrease the data traffic to the external memory at decoder. A decrease in data traffic to the external memory at decoder will result in faster real-time processing and power savings. The encoder, given the prior knowledge of the decoder's dedicated video internal memory management scheme, optimally regulates its choice of motion compensated predictors to reduce the decoder's external memory accesses. This video coding scheme can be used in any standard or proprietary encoder to generate a compliant output stream decodable by a standard general purpose processor-based or dedicated hardware-based decoder with power restriction. Simulation results show that with a relatively small dedicated internal memory, our scheme may reduce the power dissipation significantly while keeping the comparable picture quality.
A Map Overlay Error Model Based on Boundary Geometry

An error model for quantifying the magnitudes and variability of errors generated in the areas of polygons during spatial overlay of vector geographic information systems layers is presented. Numerical simulation of polygon boundary displacements was used to propagate coordinate errors to spatial overlays. The model departs from most previous error models in that it incorporates spatial dependence of coordinate errors at the scale of the boundary segment. It can be readily adapted to match the scale of error–boundary interactions responsible for error generation on a given overlay. The area of error generated by overlay depends on the sinuosity of polygon boundaries, as well as the magnitude of the coordinate errors on the input layers. Asymmetry in boundary shape has relatively little effect on error generation. Overlay errors are affected by real differences in boundary positions on the input layers, as well as errors in the boundary positions. Real differences between input layers tend to compensate for much of the error generated by coordinate errors. Thus, the area of change measured on an overlay layer produced by the XOR overlay operation will be more accurate if the area of real change depicted on the overlay is large. The model presented here considers these interactions, making it is especially useful for estimating errors in studies of landscape change over time.
Configuration of certain protein molecules. An inquiry concerning the present status of our knowledge

It is now becoming possible to correlate studies on the general size and shape of protein molecules in solution with knowledge of the possible configurations of polypeptide chains and, in some instances, with that of the actual sequence of amino acid residues in these chains. The formation of helices and of “pleated sheets” from polypeptide chains, and the dimensions of these structures, are discussed, and the possible significance of proline residues for the bending and folding of chains is pointed out. The relation of purified protein preparations to the state of the proteins in their natural surroundings is discussed, as is the meaning of the concept of purity. Protein molecules are to be regarded as highly ordered and regular structures, but probably not as completely rigid. The meaning of the concept of protein hydration is considered, with reference to both external and internal hydration. The question of what can be learned from hydrodynamic measurements concerning the hydration and the shapes of protein molecules in solution is critically discussed. The evidence available today concerning the size and shape of some particularly wellknown proteins is examined. These include beef insulin; horse heart myoglobin; horse hemoglobin; human and bovine serum albumin, including mercaptalbumin; human and bovine fibrinogen; rabbit myosin; and tobacco mosaic virus. The first three of these molecules are relatively small and symmetrical in shape. Serum albumin appears to be moderately asymmetrical, with an axial ratio of the order of 4 to 1. Fibrinogen, myosin and tobacco mosaic virus are highly asymmetrical. Although the chemical structure of insulin is now known in great detail, the shape of the molecule as a whole cannot yet be precisely specified. All the molecular models proposed for these proteins, except perhaps that for the virus, must be regarded as tentative and subject to revision. Future prospects of progress in this area are considered, with particular emphasis on the significance of dielectric dispersion, fluorescence polarization, and x-ray methods. The hope of obtaining fairly rapidly a much deeper insight into protein structure now appears justifiable.
Detection of Antibodies Against Sarcocystis neurona, Neospora spp., and Toxoplasma gondii in Horses From Costa Rica

Serum samples from 315 horses from Costa Rica, Central America, were examined for the presence of antibodies against Sarcocystis neurona, Neospora spp., and Toxoplasma gondii by using the surface antigen (SAG) SnSAG2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), the NhSAG1 ELISA, and the modified agglutination test, respectively. Anti-S. neurona antibodies were found in 42.2% of the horses by using the SnSAG2 ELISA. Anti-Neospora spp. antibodies were found in only 3.5% of the horses by using the NhSAG1 ELISA, and only 1 of these horses was confirmed seropositive by Western blot. Antibodies to T. gondii were found in 34.0% of the horses tested, which is higher than in previous reports from North and South America. The finding of anti-S. neurona antibodies in horses from geographical areas where Didelphis marsupialis has wide distribution suggests that D. marsupialis is a potential definitive host for this parasite and a source of infection for these horses.
The taxoids: paclitaxel (Taxol®) and docetaxel (Taxotere®)☆

The taxoids, paclitaxel (Taxol) and docetaxel (Taxotere), represent a novel class of antineoplastic drugs. Paclitaxel and docetaxel share a similar mechanism of action: the promotion of microtubule assembly and inhibition of microtubule disassembly. The clinical development of paclitaxel was initially hampered by hypersensitivity reactions (HSRs). The use of premedications and prolongation of the infusion time to 24h has reduced these reactions and allowed this drug's clinical development. Although paclitaxel's clinical activity has not been fully investigated, clinical trials have demonstrated its activity against ovarian, breast, and bronchial carcinomas. Because phase I studies of docetaxel noted occasional HSRs and these observations increased with further clinical experiences, those premedications employed with paclitaxel have now been instituted in many phase II studies of docetaxel. Docetaxel is currently being investigated in ovarian, breast, and bronchial carcinomas and has shown impressive clinical activity. The dose-limiting toxicity of both these agents is neutropenia; myalgias, mucositis, neuropathies, and alopecia have also been observed with both drugs. Additionally, a fluid retention syndrome and cutaneous toxicities have been noted in patients treated with docetaxel. Future studies of the taxoids will allow further comparisons of the toxicity and efficacy of these agents.
Dental Disease and Work Loss

Few studies have analyzed dental diseases in terms of their social impact. This study explored the feasibility of a social outcome measure, work absence. 2600 employed people in the Hartford (CT) area were interviewed by 'phone using Random Digit Dialing methodology. While dental disability did not affect the majority (75%) of those workers interviewed, 25% reported an episode of work loss in the past 12 months related to dental problems and dental treatment visits. Workers lost an average of 1.7 hours. The prevalence and magnitude of work loss were sensitive to several sociodemographic, access, and health-related factors.
Long-term changes of earthquake inter-event times and low-frequency earthquake recurrence in central California

Abstract The temporal evolution of earthquake inter-event time (IET) may provide important clues for the timing of future events and underlying physical mechanisms of earthquake interaction. In this study, we examine ~12 yr of local earthquake and low-frequency earthquake (LFE) activity near Parkfield, CA from catalogs of ~50,000 earthquakes and ~730,000 LFEs. We focus on the long-term evolution of IETs after the 2003 Mw6.5 San Simeon and 2004 Mw6.0 Parkfield earthquakes. The IETs of local earthquakes along and to the southwest of the San Andreas fault show clear decreases of several orders of magnitude after the Parkfield and San Simeon earthquakes, followed by recoveries with time scales of ~3 yr and >8 yr, respectively. We also observe decreases in recurrence times in some of LFE families, followed by long-term recoveries with time scales of ~4 months to several years. The long-term recovery of the earthquake IET is a manifestation of the aftershock decay of the Parkfield and San Simeon earthquakes, and the different recovery time scales likely reflect the different tectonic loading rates in the two regions. The drop in the recurrence times of LFEs after the Parkfield earthquake is likely caused by static and dynamic stresses induced by the Parkfield earthquake, and the long-term recovery in LFE recurrence time could be due to post-seismic relaxation or gradual recovery of fault zone material properties. The recovery time scales for general earthquake IET and LFE recurrence following the Parkfield earthquake are similar to those estimated for repeating earthquake recurrence identified in previous studies, indicating that they could be controlled by similar mechanisms.
Non-serial Polyadic Dynamic Programming on a Data-Parallel Many-core Architecture

Dynamic Programming (DP) is a method for efficiently solving a broad range of search and optimization problems. As a result, techniques for managing large-scale DP problems are often critical to the performance of many applications. DP algorithms are often hard to parallelize. In this paper, we address the challenge of exploiting fine grain parallelism on a family of DP algorithms known as non-serial polyadic. We use an abstract formulation of non-serial polyadic DP, derived from RNA secondary structure prediction and matrix parenthesization approaches that are well-known and important problems from this family. We present a load balancing algorithm that achieves the best overall performance with this type of workload on many-core architectures. A divide-and-conquer approach previously used on multi-core architectures is compared against an iterative version. To evaluate these approaches, the algorithm was implemented on three NVIDIA GPUs using CUDA. We achieved up to 10 GFLOP/s performance and up to 228x speedup over the single-threaded CPU implementation. Moreover, the iterative approach results in up to 3.92x speedup over the divide-and-conquer approach.
Social Networks and Political Participation: How Do Networks Matter?

Despite great interest in the role of social networks as channels of political mobilization, few studies have examined which types of social networks work more effectively in recruiting political activists. Using the Citizen Participation Study data, this study shows that contrary to the conventional wisdom in the literature, there is little evidence that strong ties are more effective than weak ties in recruiting activists. Ties formed in civic associations, however, are more effective than other ties in recruiting protest participants. Neighborhood ties are more effective in recruiting community activists, but not in other types of activity. I conclude that the contents of relationships and the identities shared by two people, rather than tie strength, form the basis of interpersonal influence in political activism.
Economic Planning and Industrial Policy: A Framework for Avoiding the Corner Solutions

The extreme of central economic planning or the other extreme of reliance only on market signals are not appropriate approaches to national economic planning as complete reliance on either extreme are fraught with serious limitations. Economic planning must find a workable middle way to encourage and support conditions that enhance economic growth. This note suggests some pragmatic guidelines and principles for a balanced framework for national economic planning.
Prenatal assessment of fetal outcome by amniotic fluid C-peptide levels in pregnant diabetic women

Amniotic fluid C-peptide (AFCP), insulin, and glucose levels were measured in 33 diabetic and 126 nondiabetic pregnant women at greater than or equal to 36 weeks' gestation. Levels of AFCP distinguished diabetic from nondiabetic patients more reliably than amniotic fluid (AF) insulin or glucose. Levels of AFCP in diabetic patients correlated well with infant birth weight adjusted for gestational age (large for gestational age greater than adequate for gestational age), degree of diabetic control (fair to poor control greater than good control), or diabetogenic infant morbidity, but did not correlate with classes of diabetes within the limits of the population studied. We conclude that AFCP is a useful prognostic index for predicting fetal outcome in diabetic pregnancies. A level of AFCP of greater than or equal to 1.0 pmoles/ml is associated with an increased risk of macrosomia in infants of diabetic mothers.
Automating joiners

Pictures taken from different view points cannot be stitched into a geometrically consistent mosaic, unless the structure of the scene is very special. However, geometrical consistency is not the only criterion for success: incorporating multiple view points into the same picture may produce compelling and informative representations. A multi viewpoint form of visual expression that has recently become highly popular is that of joiners (a term coined by artist David Hockney). Joiners are compositions where photographs are layered on a 2D canvas, with some photographs occluding others and boundaries fully visible.Composing joiners is currently a tedious manual process, especially when a great number of photographs is involved. We are thus interested in automating their construction. Our approach is based on optimizing a cost function encouraging image-to-image consistency which is measured on point-features and along picture boundaries. The optimization looks for consistency in the 2D composition rather than 3D geometrical scene consistency and explicitly considers occlusion between pictures. We illustrate our ideas with a number of experiments on collections of images of objects, people, and outdoor scenes.
Injury Perceptions, Hope for Recovery, and Psychological Status After Spinal Cord Injury

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of injury perceptions and hope for recovery with life satisfaction, purpose in life, and depressive symptoms measured during inpatient rehabilitation after spinal cord injury (SCI). METHOD: Participants included adults hospitalized for SCI inpatient rehabilitation (N = 208), each of whom completed a modified version of the Illness Perception Questionnaire and three outcome measures: the Purpose in Life Scale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the abbreviated version of the Patient Health Questionnaire. RESULTS: Principal components analysis indicated an SCI perceptions factor regarding severity, permanence, and cure control of SCI, and a second factor related to hope for recovery. Whereas hope for recovery was nearly universal, injury perceptions were more varied. Favorable injury perceptions of SCI were predictive of purpose in life, whereas hope for recovery was predictive of life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Hope for recovery and favorable SCI perceptions were related to positive psychological outcomes during inpatient rehabilitation, although the strength of the relationship was limited. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved). Language: en
Determination of trace amount of boron in nadroparin calcium by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Objective:To establish a method for the determination of trace amount of boron in nadroparin calcium by ICP-MS.Method:The samples were diluted by high purity water.9Be was used as the internal standard for eliminating matrix effect and signal drift.External calibration was applied for making calibration curve.Result:The established method had a good linear correlation(r=0.9998) for boron determination in nadroparin calcium.The limit of detection was 0.03 mg·kg-1.The relative standard deviation was 3.5%-5.1% and recovery rate was 92.0%-96.2%.Conclusion:This method was proved to be simple,rapid,accurate and reliable with high efficiency and low interference.It could be applied to the boron analysis in nadroparin calcium with satisfactory results.
The Common Factors and Control Methods that Affect the Body Welding Spots Strength

This paper introduces body welding process in the formation of welding spots and common factors affecting the strength of welding spots,also introduces the controlling methods against these affecting factors.
Structural Requirements for Activity of Nucleosides as Substrates for Adenosine Kinase: Orientation of Substituents on the Pentofuranosyl Ring

Selected nucleosides of adenine and 8-azaadenine were examined as substrates for adenosine kinase (EC [2.7.1.20][1]), an enzyme that catalyzes the phosphorylation of many biologically active nucleosides, to evaluate the effects on substrate activity of various orientations of substituents on the pentofuranosyl ring. The enzyme used was partially purified from cultured H.Ep.2 cells. Although not all the possible isomers were studied, the results, together with other reported findings, lead to the conclusion that necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for substrate activity are the following: (a) the nucleoside should have a 2'-hydroxy group, (b) the 2'-hydroxy group should be trans to the purine moiety, and (c) there should exist a considerable degree of freedom of rotation about the C-1'—N-9 bond. If these conditions are met, the 3'-hydroxy group and the 4'-hydroxymethyl group may be either cis or trans to the purine ring. These results add to understanding of the mode of binding of substrates to adenosine kinase and should aid in the design of new nucleoside analogues as growth-inhibitory on antitumor agents. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Dr. J. A. Montgomery, Dr. Y. F. Shealy, and Ms. H. J. Thomas for provision of compounds. [1]: pending:yes
Surface Stimulation Techniques for Bladder Management in the Spinal Dog

AbstractElectrical stimulation of the bladder wall or sacral nerves may be effective for bladder management in the spinal cord injured patient. However, extensive surgery has been required for electrode implantation. We compared urodynamic responses using surface and minimally invasive epidural stimulating techniques in the chronic spinal male dog. Various surface stimulating techniques were effective: 1) sacral monopolar electrical stimulation with negative electrodes over S2 sacral foramina and positive electrodes on the legs, 2) sacral bipolar electrical stimulation with electrodes only over sacral foramina, 3) perineal monopolar electrical stimulation, and 4) perineal tactile stimulation. Urodynamic responses were similar to those for sacral epidural electrodes implanted adjacent to sacral nerves. Voiding was obtained both during stimulation and poststimulation. Stimulating parameters that were effective for daily voiding with sacral surface electrodes were 10 pps, 30 to 45 ma, 0.6 ms pulse duration, ...
The Sensitivity of the Neonatal Rat to Mivacurium Relative to Mature Rats

Studies in humans have indicated differences in the dose-response curve for mivacurium between infants, children, and adults, but data in neonates and developing animals are not available.1-3 Previous studies with long acting relaxants have indicated that neonatal animals are sensitive to muscle relaxants.4 The present study, using the in vitro phrenic-hemidiaphragm preparation, elucidates the pharmacodynamic component of the agerelated altered dose-responses to mivacurium in postnatal rats.
Impact of early detection on the clinical course of lung cancer.

The Memorial Sloan-Kettering Lung Cancer Detection Program is described, and data from this study are reported and analyzed. The program enrolled 10,040 cigarettesmoking men who were screened for at least 5 years by annual chest radiographs; half the men randomly selected also had 4-monthly sputum cytologic examinations. Of the 354 lung cancers that developed in these men during the screening period and a 2-year post-screening period, nearly half were adenocarcinomas and nearly one third were epidermoid (or squamous) carcinomas. Lung cancers detected by screening were more likely to be early stage (53 per cent) and resectable (65 per cent) than were those discovered by other means (for example, symptoms) or in the post-screening period (20 per cent early stage, 32 per cent resectable). Sputum cytology was most effective in detecting squamous carcinomas early; chest radiographs were most effective for detecting adenocarcinoma. However, sputum cytology did not reduce lung cancer mortality among these men who were in a program of annual chest radiographic examinations. Overall 5-year survival for all of the men who developed lung cancer was 35 per cent, compared with the national average of 13 per cent.