cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Multi-tasking in the information age: tasks, information, and interaction contexts

Multi-tasking is a way of life for information workers. In this talk I will present empirical results from fieldwork observations and experiments over the last few years which detail the extent to which information workers multitask, irrespective of their organizational role. I will discuss how multi-tasking impacts various aspects of collaboration and communication in the workplace. More recently, our current work uses sensors to measure multi-tasking. Not only do information workers switch continually among multiple tasks but they also switch continually among interactions in varied workplace contexts, such as the work home and organization. We found that people compensate for interruptions by working faster, but this comes at a price of experiencing more stress. These results challenge the traditional way that most IT is designed to organize information, i.e. in terms of distinct tasks. Instead, I will discuss how IT should support information organization in a way consistent with how most people were found to organize their work, which is in terms of much larger thematically connected units of work. I will present a prototype of a technology that can help support people in their multi-tasking and will also discuss how the results present opportunities for new social and technical solutions to support multi-tasking in the workplace.
Adhesion and short-range forces between surfaces. Part I: New apparatus for surface force measurements

A new miniature Surface Forces Apparatus (SFA Mark III) is described for measuring the forces between surfaces in vapors and liquids. The apparatus employs similar techniques to those used in current SFAs, but it is easier to operate and is generally more user-friendly. Four stages of increasingly sensitive distance controls replace the three control stages of previous apparatuses. The first three stages allow for rapid manual control of surface separation to within 10 A, while the fourth piezo-control stage has a sensitivity of better than 1 A. All four distance controls have been specially designed to produce perfectly linear displacements of the surfaces. In addition, the SFA Mk III is more robust, less susceptible to thermal drifts, easier to clean, and requires smaller quantities of liquid than conventional SFAs. The high performance of this new instrument is illustrated in the succeeding paper (Part II), which describes the subtle effects of surface lattice mismatch on the oscillatory forces in water in the distance regime from 0 to 10 A.
Strehl ratio and modulation transfer function for segmented mirror telescopes as functions of segment phase error

We derive the Strehl ratio for a segmented mirror telescope as a function of the rms segment phase error and the observing wavelength, with and without the effects of the atmosphere. A simple analytical expression is given for the atmosphere-free case. Although our specific results are in the context of the Keck telescope, they are presented in a way that should be readily adaptable to other segmented geometries. We also derive the corresponding modulation transfer functions. These results are useful in determining how accurately a segmented mirror telescope needs to be phased for a variety of observing applications.
A Monte Carlo-based error propagation analysis of Simulated Moving Bed systems

Abstract A Monte Carlo-based uncertainty analysis for the performance assessment of a Simulated Moving Bed (SMB) system, which is widely employed in the petrochemical, sugar, and pharmaceutical industries, is presented. The error propagation analysis is carried out to predict the performance of the SMB system for two different binary separations: (a) glucose–fructose separation in a pilot-scale SMB unit and (b) separation of p-xylene from xylene isomers in an industrial-scale SMB unit. Existing SMB models in literature, which utilize a linear isotherm for the glucose–fructose separation [D.C.S. Azevedo, A.E. Rodrigues, Fructose–glucose separation in a SMB pilot unit: modelling, simulation, design and operation, AIChE J. 47 (2001) 2042–2051] and a nonlinear isotherm for the separation of xylene isomers [M. Minceva, A.E. Rodrigues, Modeling and simulation of a simulated moving bed for the separation of p-xylene, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 41 (2002) 3454–3461], are employed for the analysis. While the purity and productivity of glucose and fructose are chosen as the performance (or output) variables in the former case study, the purity and recovery of p-xylene are chosen as those in the latter. In both cases, the isotherm parameters, often obtained from chromatography experiments with appreciable levels of uncertainty, are chosen as the process (or input) variables. From the sensitivity analysis, simple models are developed to predict the variations in the performance of the SMB as a function of the isotherm parameters.
Microwave-assisted synthesis of substituted imidazoles on a solid support under solvent-free conditions

Abstract The solvent-free microwave-assisted synthesis of 2,4,5-substituted and 1,2,4,5-substituted imidazoles is reported. Imidazoles are obtained as a result of the condensation of a 1,2-dicarbonyl compound with an aldehyde and an amine using acidic alumina impregnated with ammonium acetate as the solid support.
Study of climate and seasonal effects on soil properties by a nonlinear acoustic technique : the phase shift method

In this study, a new nonlinear acoustic technique, the phase shift method, is developed to measure the hysteretic nonlinearity parameter for a field soil. The technique is based on measuring the variation of phase difference between two transducers, i.e. the phase shift, induced by changing sound level. The hysteretic nonlinear parameter can be extracted from the measured phase shift as a function of sound level, or dynamic strain. With this technique, a long-term soil survey is conducted to study the variations of soil properties due to climate and seasonal changes. The hysteretic nonlinear parameter and sound speed of the soil as functions of temperature, moisture, surface tension, rain precipitation, and time are studied.
Low-dose methotrexate administered weekly is an effective corticosteroid-sparing agent for the treatment of the cutaneous manifestations of dermatomyositis.

Abstract Background: The cutaneous manifestations of dermatomyositis can be the most prominent finding and are often difficult to treat. Objective: Our purpose was to determine whether low-dose methotrexate administered weekly in combination with other systemic therapies or as a sole systemic agent is effective in the treatment of the cutaneous disease in patients with dermatomyositis. Methods: We reviewed the records of 13 patients who received oral methotrexate in doses ranging from 2.5 to 30 mg weekly. Their skin lesions had not been completely responsive to sunscreens, topical corticosteroids, oral prednisone, oral antimalarial therapy, and, in one patient each, chlorambucil and azathioprine. Results: At the end of the study period, 4 of these 13 patients were free of all cutaneous manifestations of dermatomyositis, and another four had almost complete clearing. In the remaining five patients, methotrexate induced moderate clearing of their cutaneous lesions. In all patients, the addition of methotrexate allowed reduction or discontinuation of other therapies such as prednisone. All patients tolerated the methotrexate with minimal toxicity. Conclusion: Low-dose oral methotrexate administered weekly is effective in treatment of the cutaneous manifestations of dermatomyositis and frequently enables a reduction or discontinuation of corticosteroid therapy. (J Am Acad Dermatol 1997;36:67-71.)
Probing the structure and mechanism of Ras protein with an expanded genetic code

Mutations in Ras protein at positions Gly12 and Gly13 (phosphate-binding loop L1) and at positions Ala59, Gly60, and Gln61 (loop L4) are commonly associated with oncogenic activation. The structural and catalytic roles of these residues were probed with a series of unnatural amino acids that have unusual main chain conformations, hydrogen bonding abilities, and steric features. The properties of wild-type and transforming Ras proteins previously thought to be uniquely associated with the structure of a single amino acid at these positions were retained by mutants that contained a variety of unnatural amino acids. This expanded set of functional mutants provides new insight into the role of loop L4 residues in switch function and suggests that loop L1 may participate in the activation of Ras protein by effector molecules.
Spawning and nesting behavior of the waccamaw darter,Etheostoma perlongum

The spawning and nesting behavior ofEtheostoma (Boleosoma) perlongum was investigated in the field and laboratory. Sexual dimorphism is highly developed in such features as genital papillae, first dorsal and paired fins, and nuptial coloration. A reproductive migration from mid-lake to shore occurs in the spring: males precede females to select nest sites under submerged sticks and other debris. The male excavates a depression beneath the submerged object. Gonad analysis indicates a single spawning season extending from March through June. Nests were found from late April to mid-June and were guarded by a single male for periods of 13 to 36 days. Males initiate courtship by lateral display, lead the female to the nest site and show the nest by inverting. The female responds by tail up, tail wag and circle; males also tail wag and circle. Spawning pairs invert, usually in unison, and orient head to head or, less often, head to tail. The female deposits eggs while holding her body in a weak ‘S’ or ‘J’ shape with the caudal peduncle held away from the spawning substrate while vibrating.
Production and release of (Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadienal by sex pheromone glands of females ofPlodia interpunctella (lepidoptera: pyralidae).

Extracts of sex pheromone glands obtained from females ofPloida interpunctella contained detectable amounts of (Z,E,)-9,12-tetradecadien-1-ol acetate (Z9,E12–14:Ac) and (Z,E.)-9,12-tetradecadien-1-ol (Z9,E12–14:OH) 4 hr prior to the first scotophase after adult emergence. The amount of pheromone increased during the first 4 hr of the scotophase and then declined to low levels during the subsequent photophase. Decapitation of females immediately after emergence, prior to expansion of the wings, inhibited production of pheromone during the subsequent 48 hr. Injection of extracts of the heads of 1-day-old females ofP. interpunctella of partially purified extracts of the cephalic ganglia of females of the corn earworm moth into decapitated females stimulated production of bothZ9,E12–14:Ac andZ9,E12–14:OH as well as production of (Z,E)-9,12-tetradecadienal (Z9,E12–14:Al). This aldehyde was subsequently identified from extracts of pheromone glands obtained from naturally calling females as well as from volatiles emitted by calling females. Studies on the terminal steps in biosynthesis of the pheromone showed thatZ9,E12–14:OH was produced from the corresponding acetate and thatZ9,E12–14:Al was produced from the alcohol via the action of an oxidase(s).
EMOTION-I Model: A Biologically-Based Theoretical Framework for Deriving Emotional Context of Sensation in Autonomous Control Systems

A theoretical model for deriving the origin of emotional functions from first principles is introduced. The model, called "Emotional Model Of the Theoretical Interpretations Of Neuroprocessing", abbreviated as the "EMO- TION", derives how emotional context can be evolved from innate responses. It is based on a biological framework for autonomous systems with minimal assumptions on the system or what emotion is. The first phase of the model (EMO- TION-I) addresses the progressive abstraction of the sensory input signals within relevant context of the environment to produce the appropriate output actions for survival. It uses a probabilistic feedforward and feedback neural network with multiple adaptable gains, self-adaptive learning rate and modifiable connection weights to produce a self-organizing, self- adaptive system incorporating associative reinforcement learning rules for conditioning and fixation of circuitry into hardwire to form innate responses such that contextual feel of sensation is evolved as an emergent property known as emotional feel.
Utilizing social media data for pharmacovigilance

We present a review of pharmacovigilance techniques from social media (SM) data.Our review discusses twenty-two studies, comparing them across various axes.We present a possible pathway for automated pharmacovigilance research from SM. ObjectiveAutomatic monitoring of Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs), defined as adverse patient outcomes caused by medications, is a challenging research problem that is currently receiving significant attention from the medical informatics community. In recent years, user-posted data on social media, primarily due to its sheer volume, has become a useful resource for ADR monitoring. Research using social media data has progressed using various data sources and techniques, making it difficult to compare distinct systems and their performances. In this paper, we perform a methodical review to characterize the different approaches to ADR detection/extraction from social media, and their applicability to pharmacovigilance. In addition, we present a potential systematic pathway to ADR monitoring from social media. MethodsWe identified studies describing approaches for ADR detection from social media from the Medline, Embase, Scopus and Web of Science databases, and the Google Scholar search engine. Studies that met our inclusion criteria were those that attempted to extract ADR information posted by users on any publicly available social media platform. We categorized the studies according to different characteristics such as primary ADR detection approach, size of corpus, data source(s), availability, and evaluation criteria. ResultsTwenty-two studies met our inclusion criteria, with fifteen (68%) published within the last two years. However, publicly available annotated data is still scarce, and we found only six studies that made the annotations used publicly available, making system performance comparisons difficult. In terms of algorithms, supervised classification techniques to detect posts containing ADR mentions, and lexicon-based approaches for extraction of ADR mentions from texts have been the most popular. ConclusionOur review suggests that interest in the utilization of the vast amounts of available social media data for ADR monitoring is increasing. In terms of sources, both health-related and general social media data have been used for ADR detection-while health-related sources tend to contain higher proportions of relevant data, the volume of data from general social media websites is significantly higher. There is still very limited amount of annotated data publicly available , and, as indicated by the promising results obtained by recent supervised learning approaches, there is a strong need to make such data available to the research community.
Twitter in mass emergency: what NLP techniques can contribute

We detail methods for entity span identification and entity class annotation of Twitter communications that take place during times of mass emergency. We present our motivation, method and preliminary results.
Transforming Liberal Arts Education through Engaged Scholarship.

Public institutions of higher education have commonlyaccepted their responsibility to engage in community servicein addition to research and teaching. Less attention, however,has been paid to the role of comprehensive liberal arts collegesin service to the community. This article describes howengaged scholarship has played a transformative role in theinstitutional life of Calvin College, a Christian, liberal artscollege in Michigan. After a brief history of the developmentof the scholarship of engagement at Calvin College, we discusshow the conversation about engagement has shifted from“doing good” to questioning scholarly paradigms. Finally, wediscuss our areas of ongoing growth and lessons learned. In thelast decade the influx and involvement of scholars who arenow practicing and writing about engagement in fresh andexciting new ways has led to a significant shift in the conceptof institutional engagement.
QsCores: trading dark silicon for scalable energy efficiency with quasi-specific cores

Transistor density continues to increase exponentially, but power dissipation per transistor is improving only slightly with each generation of Moore's law. Given the constant chip-level power budgets, this exponentially decreases the percentage of transistors that can switch at full frequency with each technology generation. Hence, while the transistor budget continues to increase exponentially, the power budget has become the dominant limiting factor in processor design. In this regime, utilizing transistors to design specialized cores that optimize energy-per-computation becomes an effective approach to improve system performance.To trade transistors for energy efficiency in a scalable manner, we propose Quasi-specific Cores, or QsCores, specialized processors capable of executing multiple general-purpose computations while providing an order of magnitude more energy efficiency than a general-purpose processor. The QsCores design flow is based on the insight that similar code patterns exist within and across applications. Our approach exploits these similar code patterns to ensure that a small set of specialized cores support a large number of commonly used computations.We evaluate QsCores's ability to target both a single application library (e.g., data structures) as well as a diverse workload consisting of applications selected from different domains (e.g., SPECINT, EEMBC, and Vision). Our results show that QsCores can provide 18.4 x better energy efficiency than general-purpose processors while reducing the amount of specialized logic required to support the workload by up to 66%.
Gm factors in non-human primates.

Summary. Eighteen different primate species have been typed for Gm factors present at the human γ2b and γ2c loci. Gm factors are absent in lower primates. The Gm factors, associated with γ2c molecules, namely, Gm(s), (c5), (b0) evolve first in the Cer-copithecoidea species. Gm(z) occurs together with Gm(a) on human γ2b molecules, but in baboon sera Gm(z) occurs in the absence of Gm(a). The simultaneous occurrence of Gm(a) and (z) in the same sera is established in Hominoidea. Gm(b3) is present only in gorillas, orangutans, and chimpanzees, while Gm(b4) and (c3) was detected in chimpanzees. Polymorphism for the factors studied exists only in orangutans and chimpanzees. The data show a close correlation between taxonomic classification and the evolution of Gm factors.
Marriage Following Adolescent Parenthood: Relationship to Adult Well‐being

Research suggests that adult marriages confer benefits. Does marriage following a teenage birth confer benefits similar to those observed for adults? Longitudinal data from a community sample of 235 young women who gave birth as unmarried adolescents were used to examine this question. Controlling for socioeconomic status and preexisting “benefits,” we found that marriage conferred small, though statistically significant, benefits with regard to less economic adversity and less marijuana and polydrug use but no observable benefits with regard to alcohol or other drug use, poverty, psychological well-being, or high school completion, in contrast to prior findings. We conclude that in addition to the marriage benefits observed, stable intimate relationships, whether marital or not, appear to confer psychological benefits in this sample.
Some Characterizations Involving Additivity and Infinite Divisibility and Their Applications to Poisson Mixtures and Poisson Sums

Infinite divisibility and additivity of probability distributions have received a great deal of attention in statistical literature. Teicher [11] characterized the additively closed families and showed that often distributions in such families are also infinitely divisible (ID). In the first part of this paper, some characteristic features of the ID and additively closed exponential families (EF’s) are studied. It is also shown how certain families in this class can be characterized using additivity. In the latter part, interesting properties of n-step Poisson mixtures are investigated when the mixing distribution is either ID or additive. The physical interpretation of Poisson mixtures and Poisson sums is also pointed out.
From the Editor of Sexuality and Disability : A Social Work Voice Relates to Sexuality and Disability

Sexuality and Disability continues the mission to provide original impact articles addressing the mental health and medical aspects of sexuality in relation to rehabilitation, hospital, academic and community settings, publishing up-to-date articles, case studies, clinical practice reports, reviews, featured articles, historical articles, special grand rounds topics, brief research reports and survey data reports. Value benefit is provided to authors through worldwide electronic exposure and professional access, while readership gains from scholarly contributions to advance the field through research, best-practice and educational articles. The refined lens of individual contributions from the local and international community continues to deliver a wealth of information on the topic of sexuality and disability for the reader. Thank you for being a part of our international professional network. In December 2014, our special theme ‘‘The Emerging Intersection of Sexuality and Disability in the Profession of Social Work’’ comes together in providing perspective, research and stimulating thought-provoking information. An outstanding resource for readership, we thank Mr. Joseph A LoGiudice, L.M.S.W. for his excellent efforts as Guest Editor for this Special Issue.
Multiple reference frame analysis of non-sinusoidal brushless DC drives

The method of multiple reference frames is employed in the development of a state variable model for brushless DC drives with nonsinusoidal back EMF waveforms. This model has the desirable features of being valid for transient and steady-state analysis as well as having state variables that are constant in the steady-state. The model facilitates both nonlinear and linear system analysis and control design. Computer simulation and experimental data are included to validate the analysis.
LEAF DEVELOPMENT IN ANGIOSPERMS

Leaves are produced in succession on the shoot apical meristem (SAM) of a plant. The three landmark stages in leaf morphogenesis include initiation, acquisition of suborgan identities, and tissue differentiation. The expression of various genes relative to these steps in leaf morphogenesis is described. KNOTTED-like homeobox (KNOX) genes, FLO/LFY, and floral homeotic genes may be involved in generation of leaf shape and complexity. The differences between compound leaves and simple leaves in gene expression characteristics and morphogenetic patterns are discussed.
Micromechanics of granular media Part I: Generation of overall constitutive equation for assemblies of circular disks

Abstract Many problems of special interest to engineers and earth scientists involve characterization of the overall engineering behavior of granular media. Granular materials respond quite differently from polycrystalline materials such as metals due to their particulate nature and random microstructure. Since the particle-to-particle interaction is frictional in nature, contacts in granular media can easily form or break as the particles move towards their new equilibrium positions. From a modeling standpoint, the prediction of the new microstructure of a granular material is a major source of numerical difficulty. Consequently, the effects of microstructure on the overall response of granular media remain hardly understood. This work attempts to capture the effects of microstructural changes on the overall response of granular media. A mathematical model is presented in which the response of a macroscopic point is derived from the overall response of the particle assembly. The conventional hypothesis in computational plasticity is employed, i.e. the overall stress response of the assembly is determined from the micromechanical responses of the constituent granules to a given overall displacement gradient. An important feature of the present formulation is the quasi-static nature in which the micromechanical responses are computed. A quasi-static approach is more appropriate for a wide class of engineering applications where inertia effects are negligible. To assess the performance of the model, numerical results obtained from two-dimensional plane-strain simulations with regular and random initial packings of circular disks are presented.
The K nuclear shuttling domain: a novel signal for nuclear import and nuclear export in the hnRNP K protein

Protein import into the nucleus and export from the nucleus are signal-mediated processes that require energy. The nuclear transport process about which the most information is currently available is classical nuclear localization signal (NLS)-mediated nuclear import. However, details concerning the signal-mediated export of proteins and RNAs as well as alternative nuclear import pathways are beginning to emerge. An example of this is the heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A1 protein which, by virtue of its M9 domain, is actively exported from the nucleus and imported into the nucleus via a novel pathway mediated by the recently characterized transportin protein. Here we report that the shuttling hnRNP K protein contains a novel shuttling domain (termed KNS) which has many of the characteristics of M9, in that it confers bi-directional transport across the nuclear envelope. KNS-mediated nuclear import is dependent on RNA polymerase II transcription, and we show that a classical NLS can override this effect. Furthermore, KNS accesses a separate import pathway from either classical NLSs or M9. This demonstrates the existence of a third protein import pathway into the nucleus and thereby defines a new type of nuclear import/export signal.
Equity first or later? How US community-based forestry distributes benefits

SUMMARY An understanding of how community-based forestry (CBF) generates benefits is required in order to explain their distribution. To examine this question, this paper develops a conceptual framework for understanding CBF dynamics that rests upon the fundamental premise that its transformative potential derives from a change in who gains access to resources and decision-making power. Applying the framework to several pilot cases in the Ford Foundation's US Community-based Forestry Demonstration Program, the study finds that improvements in equity, economy, and ecology may follow in sequence (and with uneven emphasis), rather than simultaneously as premised in the prevalent ideal of CBF promoted by the programme. Who gained access and decision-making power largely predicted who benefited individually, although indirect benefits at higher scales were significant. Moreover, the direct benefits of community forestry generally extended to marginalised groups only when they were specifically targeted.
FILICIDAL RING-Y CHROMOSOMES IN D. MELANOGASTER

Ring-Y chromosomes are recovered infrequently from crosses of ring-Y-bearing males to females of certain strains (Oster 1964). Experiments described here have unveiled a diverse class of genes that exert a maternal effect on the behavior during cleavage of these "filicidal" ring chromosomes. Cytological observations of inviable embryos have revealed that the ring-Y chromosome causes gross disorganization of the cleavage nuclei. This inviability may be equivalent to the "dominant lethality" attributed to unstable ring-X chromosomes (Hinton 1955; Pasztor 1971). Mapping studies indicate that no single region of the normal Y is solely responsible for the unusual behavior of ring-Y chromosomes.
Hydrolysis of lactose in acid whey using beta-galactosidase immobilized on porous glass particles: preparation and characterization of a reusable catalyst for the production of low-lactose dairy products

Partially purified lactoses (β-D-galactoside galactohydrolase, EC 3.2.1.23) from Aspergillus niger, Ladobacillus helveticus, and Saccharomyces lactis were immobilized on diazotized porous glass particles (mean pore diameter, 86.5 nm: particle size diameters, 75–125 μm). In acid whey containing 4–4.5% lactose, A. niger lactase gave the highest activity (89 μmoles lactose hydrolyzed/g glass, min) at 55°C and pH 4.5. Glass-immobilized A. niger laclases (lactase-BG) retained much hydrolytic activity after storage and periodic use for 165 days at 55°C. For values of X greater than 30%, hydrolysis of 0.12M lactose in acid whey by a continuous flow column packed with 2 ml of lactase-BG particles could be correlated by X = 17.2(V/F) + 12.5 where X = lactose hydrolysis, percent of lactose originally present; V = volume of packed bed of lactase-BG, ml; F = flow rate of acid whey, ml/min.
Analysis of homomorphic processing for ultrasonic grain signal characterization

A model for the grain signal is presented, which includes the effect of frequency-dependent scattering and attenuation. This model predicts that the expected frequency increases with scattering and decreases with attenuation. Homomorphic processing was used for spectral smoothing, and the selection of parameters for optimal performance was examined. Experimental results are presented that show both the upward shift in the expected frequency with grain boundary scattering and the downward shift with attenuation. Furthermore, it is shown that the expected frequency shift can be correlated with the grain size of the material. It is important to point out that the quantitative relationship between the average grain size and the expected frequency shift (either upward or downward) is dependent on the type of material, the quality of grain boundaries, and the characteristics of the measuring instruments. >
Analysis of the shadow-sausage effect caustic

We analyze the optical caustic produced by light refracted at the curved meniscus surrounding a cylindrical rod standing partially out of a liquid-filled container. When the rod is tilted from the vertical or when light is diagonally incident, the caustic is a four-cusped astroid with two of its cusps obscured by the rod's shadow. If a portion of the flat end of the rod is raised above the water level, the caustic evolves into a pattern of five interlocking cusps. The five cusps result from symmetry breaking of a three-cusped surface perturbation caustic.
Rate of Fat Compensation and Growth Efficiency of Lipectomized Sprague Dawley Rats

â€¢ ABSTRACT The objective of this experiment was to measure changes in food efficiency and to determine the rate of fat compensation following the surgical removal of adipose tissue in Sprague Dawley rats. The right inguinal fat pad and both epididymal pads were surgically removed from 375 g male castrate rats that were then paired with sham-operated controls. Pairs were evenly distributed into one of five groups. The rats were killed when they reached their group designated weight: immediate post surgery, 375, 405, 435 and 465 g. Dis sected fat weight was significantly less in lipectomized animals at all body weights except 465 g. Gradual fat compensation up to 465 g was due to partial regeneration of the right inguinal fat pad as well as compensatory growth of other (intact) fat depots. Epididymal fat pads showed no signs of regeneration. Lipectomized animals had similar food intake but gained weight more rapidly than shams. Lipectomized rats had more food available for production when calculated maintenance energy requirements were subtracted from total food intake. Efficiency of utilization of production food did not differ significantly between treatments. Compensatory weight gain seen in lipectomized rats was therefore due to greater ad-libitum food consumption above maintenance re quirements. J. Nutr. 110: 1785-1792, 1980.
Viscoelastic Response (VisR) assessment of longitudinal dystrophic degeneration in clinical Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Viscoelastic Response (VisR) imaging is an acoustic radiation force (ARF)-based ultrasonic technique for estimating the viscoelastic properties of tissue. It has been proposed as a method for monitoring degeneration in the skeletal muscles of boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). DMD causes progressive inflammation, necrosis, fibrosis and fatty deposition in muscle, all of which will alter the elasticity and viscosity of the tissue. The motivation of this work is to investigate VisR's potential as method for monitoring dystrophic muscle degeneration, in vivo, in boys with DMD. In an ongoing longitudinal clinical study, muscles in the lower limbs of boys affected with DMD and age-matched healthy control boys are imaged using VisR thrice yearly for four years. A case study of serial imaging results in the Medial Gastrocnemius (GM) muscle of one boy with DMD is herein presented. Beginning at age 6.2 years, parametric VisR images of τ, or the ratio of viscosity to elasticity, show a growing region of high τ (>1.2 ms) over the span of one year. This result is consistent with expected progressive inflammation and fatty deposition early in the GM's degenerative cycle. Over the course of the next four months, the area of high τ decreases, which is in agreement with the expected onset of muscle fibrosis. Then, at age 8.3 years, small and diffusely distributed high τ regions are observed in the muscle, consistent with expected distributed fatty depositions. These results suggest that VisR, a noninvasive ultrasound imaging method, may be clinically viable for monitoring local muscular compositional and structural changes associated with dystrophic degeneration, in vivo.
Resolving message complexity of Byzantine Agreement and beyond

Byzantine Agreement among processors is a basic primitive in distributed computing. It comes in a number of basic fault models: "Crash", "Omission" and "Malicious" adversarial behaviors. The message complexity of the primitive has been known for the strong failure models of Malicious and Omission adversary since the early 80's, while the question for the more benign Crash failure model has been open. We show how to solve agreement in the presence of crash failures using O(n) messages which is optimal, thus settling a thirteen year old open problem. Our solution has almost linear time and our new algorithmic techniques have further implications: a family of "early stopping" agreement protocols with improved message-complexity; and a new solution to "Checkpoint" yielding a substantial improvement of the protocol for distributed work performance under adaptive parallelism in a network of workstations.
In vivo activation of mouse dendritic epidermal T cells in sites of contact dermatitis

Adult mouse epidermis contains a population of dendritic, Thy-1+, CD3+, CD4-, CD8- and T cell receptor (TcR) V gamma 3/V delta 1+ leukocytes termed dendritic epidermal T cells (DETC). DETC isolated from skin and placed into culture will proliferative vigorously in response to T cell mitogens and T cell growth factors. In the present study, we examined whether DETC can be activated in situ by modulating their epidermal environment. Ear skin of CBA mice was painted with the chemical irritant, croton oil, and the epidermal cells (EC) isolated from such sites were then tested for proliferative responses to exogenous interleukin-2 (IL-2), in the absence of added mitogens. Cells from croton oil-treated skin showed marked IL-2 responsiveness, whereas cells from phosphate-buffered saline-treated skin failed to proliferate. IL-2 responses were seen as early as 2 days after croton oil treatment and peaked between days 5 and 10. gamma delta TcR-bearing cells, most likely resident DETC, were the major population to respond to IL-2, since depletion of gamma delta TcR+ cells, but not alpha beta TcR+ cells, abolished that responsiveness, and since gamma delta TcR+ cell numbers increased markedly in the cultures that contained added IL-2. These results indicate that DETC in normal skin, which are at a state of rest, may be activated when their residential epidermal environment is disrupted externally. This process of DETC activation may be a critical step in the maturation of DETC into effector leukocytes in vivo.
Nonlinear feedback in a six-dimensional Lorenz model: impact of an additional heating term

Abstract. In this study, a six-dimensional Lorenz model (6DLM) is derived, based on a recent study using a five-dimensional (5-D) Lorenz model (LM), in order to examine the impact of an additional mode and its accompanying heating term on solution stability. The new mode added to improve the representation of the streamfunction is referred to as a secondary streamfunction mode, while the two additional modes, which appear in both the 6DLM and 5DLM but not in the original LM, are referred to as secondary temperature modes. Two energy conservation relationships of the 6DLM are first derived in the dissipationless limit. The impact of three additional modes on solution stability is examined by comparing numerical solutions and ensemble Lyapunov exponents of the 6DLM and 5DLM as well as the original LM. For the onset of chaos, the critical value of the normalized Rayleigh number (rc) is determined to be 41.1. The critical value is larger than that in the 3DLM (rc ~ 24.74), but slightly smaller than the one in the 5DLM (rc ~ 42.9). A stability analysis and numerical experiments obtained using generalized LMs, with or without simplifications, suggest the following: (1) negative nonlinear feedback in association with the secondary temperature modes, as first identified using the 5DLM, plays a dominant role in providing feedback for improving the solution's stability of the 6DLM, (2) the additional heating term in association with the secondary streamfunction mode may destabilize the solution, and (3) overall feedback due to the secondary streamfunction mode is much smaller than the feedback due to the secondary temperature modes; therefore, the critical Rayleigh number of the 6DLM is comparable to that of the 5DLM. The 5DLM and 6DLM collectively suggest different roles for small-scale processes (i.e., stabilization vs. destabilization), consistent with the following statement by Lorenz (1972): "If the flap of a butterfly's wings can be instrumental in generating a tornado, it can equally well be instrumental in preventing a tornado." The implications of this and previous work, as well as future work, are also discussed.
Formulation variables affecting release of diclofenac sodium from Eudragit-loaded microparticles

Non-aqueous emulsification solvent evaporation method was used to prepare sustained release diclofenac sodium (DS) particles having high DS content while minimizing formulation time. Microparticles were evaluated on the basis of batch yield, encapsulation efficiency, particle size and particle size distribution, effect of surfactant concentration, phase volume ratio, different internal phases, and Eudragit RSPO or Eudragit RLPO used singly or in a 1:1 combination. The 1:1 combination of acetone and isopropanol as the internal phase produced microparticles with higher batch yield and higher encapsulation efficiency. A combination of 1: 1 Eudragit RSPO and Eudragit RLPO formed sustained release microparticles having higher encapsulation efficiency than microparticles formulated using individual polymers. The release of DS was faster from formulations prepared using 3% surfactant concentration than those prepared using 1% or 2% surfactant concentration. Formulations prepared using 60 ml and 80 ml external phase formed microparticles with higher encapsulation efficiency and slower DS release than those prepared using 100 ml external phase. With internal phase volume kept constant at 40 ml, the volume of external phase affected formulation time taking about 1.5 h when the external phase was 60 ml and about 3.5 h when the external phase volume was 100 ml.
E-cigarette use and disparities by race, citizenship status and language among adolescents.

Introduction E-cigarette use among adolescents is on the rise in the U.S. However, limited attention has been given to examining the role of race, citizenship status and language spoken at home in shaping e-cigarette use behavior.
Recovery of Vacuum Spark Gaps

Vacuum spark gaps may be divided into three main types, as shown in Fig. 4–16 and described in Table 4-III. A triggered vacuum gap (TVG) usually has the trigger built into the cathode. In power system applications TVGs may have triggers in both electrodes or a trigger separate from either electrode. This could include an external laser trigger. A vacuum interrupter (VI) usually operates by mechanically drawing an arc, but could be constructed with a separate trigger in order to operate as a TVG when desired. A metal plasma arc switch (MPAS) is able to turn off when desired without requiring additional external circuitry or waiting for a natural current zero.
Bioavailability to rats of calcium in meat products prepared from hand or mechanically deboned beef shank.

Mechanical deboning yields meat containing approximately 0.5% calcium. The bioavailability of the calcium in mechanically deboned meat ( MDM ) was compared to that from calcium carbonate fed in hand deboned meat ( HDM ) diets. Processing calcium carbonate with HDM into bologna, Thuringer or canned meat improved calcium bioavailability but did not increase the bioavailability of the calcium from MDM . The calcium absorptions were 62.7, 60.4 and 60.6%, respectively, from raw MDM , MDM bologna, MDM Thuringer and canned MDM . However, the percentage of calcium absorbed from calcium carbonate was increased slightly from 65.3, 65.9 and 65.6%, respectively, when it was processed as raw HDM , HDM bologna and Thuringer to 69.0% when processed as canned HDM . The bioavailability of the calcium in MDM was similar to that of calcium carbonate, whether expressed as apparent absorption or as relative biological value.
L Organisms of Klieneberger and Streptobacillus Moniliformis

The name of Streptobacillus moniliformis was given to a pleomorphic gram-negative bacillus recovered repeatedly by Levaditti, Nicolau and Poincloux1 from the blood and skin lesions of one of them, who suffered from an acute disease characterized by recurrent attacks of fever, exanthem and arthritis. A few years later Levaditti, Selbie and Schoen2 reported that natural occurring and artificially produced Streptobacillus moniliformis infections in white mice resulted in a disease simulating rheumatic fever in that arthritis and myocarditis were observed frequently. An epidemic caused by the same bacillus was observed in Haverhill, Massachusetts.3 In this also erythema and arthritis were the most characteristic symptoms of the disease. Streptobacillus moniliformis is a common inhabitant of the nasopharynx of rats. Therefore, it is probable that similar organisms isolated from human cases of rat bite fever prior to the time of the report by Levaditti et al. represents Streptobacillus moniliformis strains. Although human infections are uncommon, the study of this organism presents great interest, considering its marked affinity to the joints. Of the bacteria pathogenic to man, only the gonococcus exhibits a similar though less marked affinity to the joints, and the gonococcus cannot be transmitted to animals.
Automated Platelet Counters: A Comparative Evaluation of Latest Instrumentation

An extensive evaluation of performance characteristics and accuracy of clinical results for two automated multiparameter whole-blood cell counters (the Coulter Counter® Model S-Plus and the Ortho ELT-8®) and two single-parameter semiautomated platelet counters (the J. T. Baker MK-4/HC® and the Clay-Adams Ultra-Flo 100®) is described. Results of comparative assays performed on more than 1,200 clinical specimens are analyzed. These results are compared with manual determinations where appropriate. Particular attention is accorded to the accuracy of platelet counts, especially at abnormal levels below 70 × 103/cu mm, where falsely elevated platelet counts may lead to serious clinical consequences. Both multiparameter instruments yielded accurate results, with the exception of low values reported by the ELT-8 for mean corpuscular volumes above 100 cu µm. Results for platelet counts were accurate for most specimens on all four instruments; the ELT-8 was the most reliable (P < 0.01), especially for the critically low counts. Although no instrument is infallible in determining platelet counts at all levels, the authors conclude that addition of platelet-counting capability represents a significant advancement over existing instrumentation.
Building an Intelligent Network with Softswitch Technology

The demands for fixed network intelligence have been nurtured and created by network optimization and reconstruction for fixed operators,convergence of Personal Handy-phone System (PHS) network and Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN),and the broadband and multimedia trend in communications networks. The Softswitch technology can assist in actualizing network intelligence. The network intelligence solution based on the Softswitch technology is advantageous in that it can expand the range of telecom services,and promotes the convergence of fixed and mobile networks.
Prognostic Factors in Non Semin Omatous Testicular Cancer

AbstractThe clinical, pathological and laboratory data for 60 patients with pathological stage I, 50 with stage II and 55 with stage III nonseminomatous testicular cancer were reviewed to identify prognostic factors that may be used to guide therapeutic approaches. In patients with stage I disease the presence of embryonal carcinoma (p less than 0.001) and vascular invasion in primary tumors (p less than 0.01) are significant predictors of metastases and/or recurrence after retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy. In patients with clinical stage II disease, lymph nodes greater than 2 cm. in diameter or more than 5 in number, vascular and/or lymphatic invasion and the presence of embryonal carcinoma with or without choriocarcinoma indicated an increased risk for recurrent tumor after retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy. In patients with stage III disease the involvement of 3 or more organ systems was associated with decreased survival. Patients in this group with intrathoracic metastases smaller than 2 cm., retroperit...
The Product Warranty Audit: A Model for Evaluating an Important Product Decision

Product warranties increasingly are being used by consumer and industrial manufacturers as product differentiation tools. A well developed warranty program involves a considerable investment which, as with any marketing decision, should be periodically evaluated. This paper presents a model for conducting a product warranty audit. Marketing management implications of the model and directions for future research also are highlighted.