cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
GDP estimation errors: bias or white noise

Questions have been raised about the accuracy and bias in the widely used advanced estimates of gross domestic product published by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. This article will examine the data for any outward sign of prejudice or systematic bias. This pragmatic look at the numbers should help policy and business users of this information build confidence in the early GDP estimates.
Ultracentrifugal behavior of transferrin in the presence of some anions.

Abstract Transferrin of pooled human plasma has been found to aggregate reversibly in the presence of BrO3−, IO3−, SCN−, Cl−, Br−, I−, and NO3−, giving weight-average sedimentation coefficients of from 5·50 S to 6·83 S compared to a normal s20,w of 5·10 S at 0·7% concentration. The aggregation was most pronounced in the vicinity of the isoelectric points of transferrin, i.e. at pH 5·0, and was dependent on the anion, but not on the protein concentration. No aggregation was observed in the presence of acetate, formate, chloroacetate, fluoride, cacodylate and sulfate at any pH value.
Decorrelated unbiased converted measurement Kalman filter

Converted measurement tracking is a technique that filters in the coordinate system where the underlying process of interest is linear and Gaussian and requires the measurements to be nonlinearly transformed to fit. The goal of the transformation is to allow for tracking in the coordinate system that is most natural for describing system dynamics. There are two potential issues that arise when performing converted measurement tracking. The first is conversion bias that occurs when the measurement transformation introduces a bias in the expected value of the converted measurement. The second is estimation bias that occurs because the estimate of the converted measurement error covariance is correlated with the measurement noise, leading to a biased Kalman gain. First, previously proposed unbiased conversions are examined. Following this, the decorrelated unbiased converted measurement approach is presented. Results show that to overcome conversion bias and estimation bias, an unbiased measurement conversion should be employed that calculates the converted measurement error covariance using the predicted measurement. The conversion approaches are evaluated in tracking scenarios relevant to radar and sonar measurements.
Fracture mechanics and the nuclear industry

Fracture mechanics provides a methodology which can be used in the evaluation of the integrity and safety of structural components used in nuclear power plants. In return, the nuclear industry has provided a major driving force for the development of the technology. This includes defining the direction for new developments in fracture mechanics and identifying the important problems for implementing these new developments, as well as supplying much of the financial support for research efforts. Many of the new developments in fracture mechanics throughout the past three decades were generated in response to specific needs of the nuclear industry. This paper takes a historical perspective in looking at the relationship between fracture mechanics and the nuclear industry. Individual subject areas include basic development of linear elastic fracture mechanics, developments in elastic-plastic fracture and ductile instability, testing and standards, and some of the newest problem areas.
Prescriptions for punishment: Official ideologies and jall overcrowding

This study assesses key actors’ “worlds of fact” regarding jail overcrowding in California through an examination of their perceptions of causes and effects, support for different solutions, and adherence to major punishment ideologies. How policymakers define and structure a specific problem Gail overcrowding), can influence how policy options are differentially weighed as well as how existing policy processes can be improved. A mail survey was sent to two key decision making groups who largely regulate the intake and outflow of local jails: sheriffs and chief probation officers of the 58 California counties. Group differences in responses were predicted from the perspectives of blame avoidance, domain dissensus, and punishment theory. Relationships were examined among perceived causes, effects, solutions, and punishment ideologies. While both sheriffs and probation chiefs advocated highly similar “control-oriented” punishment ideologies, probation chiefs advocated more “progressive” solutions to jail overcrowding. Perceived causes and effects of jail overcrowding, along with support for deterrence ideology, were strongly related to elite support for three potential solutions: building more institutions, passing tougher laws to deter potential offenders, and using shorter sentences for low-risk offenders. Implications of these results for understanding jail overcrowding and policy processes are discussed.
Embedded paths and cycles in faulty hypercubes

An important task in the theory of hypercubes is to establish the maximum integer f n such that for every set ? of f vertices in the hypercube ${\mathcal {Q}}_{n},$ with 0?f?f n , there exists a cycle of length at least 2 n ?2f in the complement of ?. Until recently, exact values of f n were known only for n?4, and the best lower bound available for f n with n?5 was 2n?4. We prove that f 5=8 and obtain the lower bound f n ?3n?7 for all n?5. Our results and an example provided in the paper support the conjecture that $f_{n}={n\choose 2}-2$ for each n?4. New results regarding the existence of longest fault-free paths with prescribed ends are also proved.
A glutamate receptor regulates Ca2+ mobilization in hippocampal neurons

Abstract We investigated the effect of various excitatory amino acids on intracellular free Ca2+ concentration ( [Ca2+]i) in single mouse hippocampal neurons in vitro by using the Ca2+-sensitive dye fura-2. In normal physiological solution, glutamate, kainate, N-methyl-D-aspartate, and quisqualate all produced increases in [Ca2+]i. When all extracellular Ca2+ was removed, kainate and N-methyl-D-aspartate were completely ineffective, but quisqualate and glutamate were able to produce a spike-like Ca2+ transient, presumably reflecting the release of Ca2+ from intracellular stores. Ca2+ transients of similar shape could also be produced by the alpha 1-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine. After the production of a Ca2+ transient a second addition of quisqualate was ineffective unless intracellular stores were refilled by loading the cell with Ca2+ following depolarization in Ca2+-containing medium. None of the conventional excitatory amino acid receptor antagonists inhibited the Ca2+-mobilizing effects of quisqualate. Furthermore alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA) was unable to produce Ca2+ mobilization in Ca2+-free medium, although it could produce Ca2+ influx in Ca2+-containing medium. Thus, glutamate can produce mobilization of Ca2+ from intracellular stores in hippocampal neurons by acting on a quisqualate-sensitive but AMPA-insensitive receptor. This receptor is therefore distinct from the quisqualate receptor that produces cell depolarization. The possibility that this Ca2+-mobilizing effect is mediated by inositol triphosphate production is discussed.
Intensity of Smith-Purcell radiation in the relativistic regime

Abstract An elementary model consisting of an electron moving near the surface of a strip grating is used to generate expressions for the intensity of Smith-Purcell radiation in the limit where the beam energy is relativistic.
Fully perturbative calculation of n d scattering to next-to-next-to-leading order

We introduce a new technique to calculate perturbative corrections to neutron-deuteron ($nd$) scattering that does not require calculation of the full off-shell scattering amplitude. Its relation to the more familiar partial-resummation technique is explained. Also included is a calculation of the SD-mixing term that occurs at next-to-next-to-leading-order (NNLO) in pionless effective field theory (${\mathrm{EFT}}_{\ifmmode\neg\else\textlnot\fi{}\ensuremath{\pi}}$). By using the new technique with the SD-mixing term, a complete strictly perturbative phase-shift analysis of $nd$ scattering is performed up to NNLO including eigenphases and mixing angles. This is compared to potential model calculations and good agreement is found with the eigenphases and some of the mixing angles at low energies.
Epidermal Growth Factor Up-regulates the Transcription of Mouse Lon Homology ATP-Dependent Protease Through Extracellular Signal-Regulated Protein Kinase- and Phosphatidylinositol-3-Kinase-dependent Pathways

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) induces tumorigenic transformation of mouse epidermal cells (JB6 P(+)). We cloned a full-length EGF-responsive cDNA in JB6P(+) cells; EGF up-regulated mRNA expression of this gene 5- to 6-fold. The deduced amino acid sequence of this cDNA exhibited 84 and 96% homology with human and rat Lon homology ATP-dependent protease, respectively, and all conserved domains of Lon, such as ATPase/protease domains, are present in the mouse gene, indicating that this gene is mouse Lon. EGF increased the transcriptional rate without affecting the mRNA stability of m-Lon. The level of m-Lon in irreversibly transformed mouse epidermal cells (JB7) was 3.4-fold higher than that in parental JB6 P(+) cells. Similarly, human mammary epithelial cells overexpressing the proto-oncogene ErbB2 expressed significantly higher levels of Lon than normal mammary epithelial cells. EGF failed to regulate Lon expression in ERK-deficient JB6 P(-) cells or cells that expressed the dominant-negative p85 P13-K regulatory unit. Furthermore, selective chemical blockers for MEK1 and P13-K (PD98059 and LY294002) inhibited EGF-mediated induction. Mitochondria-localized Lon protease plays a critical role in the regulation of mitochondrial gene expression and genome integrity. Disruption of mitochondrial homeostasis is a general characteristic of tumorigenic transformation. Thus, the role of Lon in tumor promotion warrants further study.
Importance of Hydrophobic Apoproteins as Constituents of Clinical Exogenous Surfactants

The biophysical properties and physiologic effects of a series of clinical exogenous pulmonary surfactants was compared to determine the importance of the hydrophobic apoproteins (SP-B and C) as constituents of these preparations. The three exogenous surfactants studied, calf lung surfactant extract (CLSE), Survanta (Surfactant-TA), and Exosurf, all contain dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) as their major constituent. CLSE and Survanta also contain 1 to 2% of SP-B,C but Exosurf has the additives hexadecanol and tyloxapol instead to enhance the activity of DPPC. In adsorption experiments, CLSE reached a final surface tension of 22 mN/m, and Survanta and Exosurf reached 28 and 38 mN/m, respectively. Addition of 1% by weight of an apoprotein isolate containing both SP-B and C to Exosurf slightly improved its adsorption. In oscillating bubble studies, CLSE and Survanta decreased surface tension to low values of less than 1 and 2 mN/m, respectively, but Exosurf achieved a minimum value of only 29 mN/m. Addition of SP-B,C to Exosurf improved this minimum to 1 mN/m and approached the behavior of mixtures of synthetic DPPC with SP-B,C. In both adsorption and pulsating bubble experiments, the minimum surface tensions found for Exosurf were almost identical to those generated by tyloxapol alone. In studies of physiologic activity, 20 mg of CLSE or Survanta restored the pressure-volume mechanics of lavaged, surfactant-deficient excised rat lungs to 95 and 50%, respectively, of normal prelavage levels. Instillation of Exosurf (37.5 mg) produced a minimal improvement of only 10% compared to 70% for mixtures containing 1% SP-B,C with either Exosurf or DPPC.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Reducing Bias of Allele Frequency Estimates by Modeling SNP Genotype Data with Informative Missingness

The presence of missing single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotypes is common in genetic data. For studies with low-density SNPs, the most commonly used approach to deal with genotype missingness is to simply remove the observations with missing genotypes from the analyses. This naive method is straightforward but is appropriate only when the missingness is random. However, a given assay often has a different capability in genotyping heterozygotes and homozygotes, causing the phenomenon of ‘differential dropout’ in the sense that the missing rates of heterozygotes and homozygotes are different. In practice, differential dropout among genotypes exists in even carefully designed studies, such as the data from the HapMap project and the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium. In this study, we propose a statistical method to model the differential dropout among different genotypes. Compared with the naive method, our method provides more accurate allele frequency estimates when the differential dropout is present. To demonstrate its practical use, we further apply our method to the HapMap data and a scleroderma data set.
The Importance of Grandparents in Extended-Kin Caregiving to Black Children with Sickle Cell Disease

This study examined support and care the black extended-kin system provided to 34 chronically ill black children with sickle cell anemia. Findings show that grandparents played important roles in helping provide support to the sick children's primary caregivers and to the children themselves. Grandparents provided support that complemented that of fathers, and they remained in the system of care longer than any other relative in the family. The data indicate a need to design family interventions for sick children and their parent to include grandparents.
Classification of Scientific Documents by Means of Self-Generated Groups Employing Free Language.

A study was undertaken to classify mechanically a document collection using the free-language words in the titles and abstracts of a corpus of 261 physics research papers. Using a clustering algorithm, results were obtained which closely duplicated the clusters obtained by previous experiments with citations. A brief comparison is made with a traditional manual classification system. It is shown that the mechanical procedure is capable of achieving simultaneous average relevance and recall figures above 80%.
Therapy of Genetic Disorders-Novel Therapies for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is an inherited, progressive muscle-wasting disorder caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. An increasing variety of approaches are moving towards clinical testing that all aim to restore dystrophin production and to enhance or preserve muscle mass. Gene therapy methods are being developed to replace the defective dystrophin gene or induce dystrophin production from mutant genes. Stem cell approaches are being developed to replace lost muscle cells while also bringing in new dystrophin genes. This review summarizes recent progress in the field with an emphasis on clinical applications.
Toward a more precise definition of task-sufficient information: reconsidering Bethke et alii on task orientation and usability

"Improving the usability of programming publications," by Bethke et al. was a pioneering effort to transform computer documentation from a system-oriented to task-oriented design. To increase users' satisfaction with their manuals and ensure consistency in libraries, the authors realized that instructional information could not merely explain the inner workings and principles of a system for their own sake but that writers needed to shape information around users' taskrelated purposes, goals, and operational needs. Today, Bethke et al.'s views on taskorientation and usability stand as well-established principles in the field of documentation.
Where Public Health Educators are Working: A National Study of the Hiring Practices and Manpower Needs of Local Health Departments

This study collected data typically included in professional manpower reports for the purpose of establishing a manpower profile of health educators in local health departments (LHD) in the United States. Using a table of random numbers, a nationally representative sample of 670 LHD was mailed a 43-item questionnaire which assessed four basic areas: geographic jurisdiction, personnel, attitudes toward health education credentialing, and demographics of each agency top executive. Usable questionnaires were received from 279 LHD, a return rate of 41.6 percent. The data reveal that a tight job market for health educators exists in LHD. While a large majority (84 percent) of LHD are known to provide health education/risk reduction services, fewer than 60 percent of LHD in the sample employed a health educator. Among those LHD who did employ health educators, less than one-half had a full-time health educator on-staff. Using a weighting formula and interpolation as methods to make projections, there are betwee...
Establishment and characterization of scleroderma fibroblast clonal cell lines by introduction of the hTERT gene

Lack of an adequate experimental model has hindered the ability to fully understand scleroderma (SSc) pathogenesis. Current SSc research is based on the study of cultured fibroblasts from skin biopsies. In depth characterization of the SSc fibroblast phenotype is hindered by the limited lifespan and heterogeneity of these cells. The goal of this study was to isolate high collagen-producing fibroblasts from SSc biopsies and extend their lifespan with hTERT immortalization to enable characterization of their phenotype. Fibroblasts from two pairs of closely matched normal and SSc biopsies were infected with an hTERT lentivirus. Infected colonies were isolated, cultured into clonal cell lines and analysed with respect to profibrotic gene expression. The mRNA levels of nine profibrotic genes were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Protein levels were assessed by Western blot. The hTERT SSc clones were heterogeneous with regards to expression of the profibrotic genes measured. A subset of the SSc clones showed elevated expression levels of collagen I, connective tissue growth factor and thrombospondin 1 mRNA, while expression of other genes was not significantly changed. Elevated expression of collagen I protein and mRNA was correlative with elevated expression of connective tissue growth factor. Several hTERT clones expressed high levels of pSmad1, Smad1 and TGF-betaRI indicative of altered TGF-beta signalling. A portion of SSc clones expressed several profibrotic genes. This study demonstrates that select characteristics of the SSc phenotype are expressed in a subset of activated fibroblasts in culture. The clonal SSc cell lines may present a new and useful model to investigate the mechanisms involved in SSc fibrosis.
Purification and characterization of the diphtheria toxin repressor.

Abstract The diphtheria toxin repressor gene (dtxR) encodes a protein (DtxR) that regulates transcription of the diphtheria toxin gene (tox) by an iron-dependent mechanism. Cloned dtxR was expressed in Escherichia coli from the phage T7 gene 10 promoter, and DtxR was purified. Specific binding of DtxR to the tox+ operator was dependent on reduction of DtxR and the presence of ferrous ions. DtxR protected a sequence of approximately 30 nucleotide pairs, partially overlapping the tox promoter and containing a region of dyad symmetry, from digestion by DNase I. DtxR exhibited very little binding to the mutant tox-201 operator region and failed to bind to the promoter/operator region of the ferric uptake regulation (fur) gene of E. coli.
PROMISES KEPT: ENFORCEMENT AND THE ROLE OF ROTATING SAVINGS AND CREDIT ASSOCIATIONS IN AN ECONOMY

Rotating savings and credit associations (roscas) are a popular form of informal finance in developing countries. This paper examines the rosca's ability to enforce its terms of membership and the implications that this has for their existence in an economy. A connection between enforcement costs and the desirability of rosca formation is illustrated using a framework that focuses on the nature of the financial contract that the rosca offers, allowing inferences to be drawn about the likely viability of roscas throughout the development process and the implications this has for debates about financial dualism. Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Messy learning: Preservice teachers’ lesson-study conversations about mathematics and students

Abstract Research about lesson study and other forms of collaborative, practice-based professional development has tended to focus on identifying structures that support teacher learning. This study builds on this work by examining preservice elementary teachers’ efforts to conduct lesson studies in mathematics. Analysis showed that the structures of the lesson study project supported some groups in developing mathematical and equity lenses for looking at teaching; however, the use of these lenses simultaneously led to productive and problematic learning. This finding suggests that future research focus on challenges present in collaborative, practice-based work even when productive structures are in place.
Determinants of supplement usage.

Abstract Background: As the use of supplements is growing, this study examines the determinants of vitamin and herbal supplement usage. Instead of treating these as all-encompassing categories, they are broken into specific vitamins and herbs and compared to see if users are different. A measure of frequency of vitamin use is also created. Methods: Logistic and ordinal logistic regressions are run on a sample of 24,834 from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) 2000. Results: Women are generally more likely to use supplements than men. Non-Latino Whites are generally more likely to use supplements than non-Latino Blacks and Mexicans. However, despite these general trends, it proves fruitful to break up supplement use into smaller categories. The data provide some evidence that determinants vary by particular supplement. However, including a measure of frequency does not change the picture much. Conclusions: Considering this, more information is needed on why people use particular supplements and what their sources of information are.
Isolation of Structurally Similar Citrus Flavonoids by Flash Chromatography

A rapid and efficient method for the extraction and isolation of naringin and narirutin from citrus molasses is described. Naringin and narirutin are structurally similar glucosides present in citrus molasses. The common problem in purification of plant extracts is the large number of constituents present that are similar in nature. A flash chromatographic technique has been developed for the separation of the main flavonoid glucosides present in citrus molasses. This method is a rapid, inexpensive technique and provides compounds with high purity that can be used for biological activity studies. The separation and yield of narirutin and naringin obtained by this method is reproducible.
Evidence for multiple enzymes in the dolichol utilizing pathway of glycoprotein biosynthesis.

Abstract A comparison has been made of the enzymes catalyzing the transfer of manose, glucose and N-acetylglucosamine from, respectively, GDPmannose, UDP-glucose and UDP-N-acetylglucosamine to endogenous dolichol phosphate (Dol-P) in liver Golgi membranes. Evidence is presented which suggests that all three reactions utilize the same pool of Dol-P. The transfer of mannose from GDP-Man to Dol-P is not inhibited by 0.1 mM UDP or UMP; 0.1 mM GDP did block the accumulation of mannose in Dol-P-Man. The net transfer of glucose and N-acetylglucosamine to Dol-P is prevented by 0.1 mM UDP but not 0.1 mM GDP. UDPglucose inhibits the reverse of the glucose transfer reaction but not reverse of the N-acetylglucosamine or mannose transfer reaction. On the basis of this, and other data, it is concluded that the three sugar transfer reactions utilize separate enzymes.
Performance/Design Formulation for a Solid Polymer Based Acid Electrolyte Hydrogen/Air Fuel Cell

Mathematical development of preliminary performance/design equations for a hydrogen/air, solid polymer acid electrolyte based fuel cell is presented. The development is based on the principles of transport phenomena, intrinsic electrochemical kinetics, and classical thermodynamics. The developed formulation is intended to quantitatively describe the mass fraction profiles of the chemical species, hydrogen and oxygen, in the cell anode and cathode diffusion and electrocatalytic reaction layers as a function of the distance in the proton transport direction at an axial distance parallel to the cell anode or cathode channel flow. Given the cell geometry, chemical species and charge transport, and intrinsic electrochemical kinetic parameters, the developed formulation can be employed to compute the species local mass fluxes and predict the cell anode and cathode cell overvoltages for a desired geometric current density. The presented single cell performance predictive formulation has also been linked to the formulation needed to predict the performance of a stack of a number of identical PEMFCs connected in series.
Multiscale Model and Informatics-Based Optimal Design of Experiments : Application to the Catalytic Decomposition of Ammonia on Ruthenium

Fundamental multiscale models are increasingly being used to describe complex systems. Microkinetic models, which consider a detailed surface reaction mechanism containing all relevant reactions, are a prototypical multiscale model example. The computational effort in calculating all parameters of a multiscale model for real systems from first principles is prohibitive, and parameter uncertainty still limits full quantitative capabilities of these models. This motivates the development of rational model-based techniques in order to refine uncertain parameters and assess the global (in the entire experimental parameter space) model robustness. Herein we describe physics-aided methods (sensitivity, partial equilibrium, and most abundant reactive intermediate analyses) and statistics-based methods (A, D, and E optimal designs) for the design of experiments. While our methods are fairly general, we demonstrate them for the catalytic decomposition of ammonia on ruthenium to produce hydrogen. A global Monte Car...
Assessing venture capital investments with noncompensatory behavioral decision models

Abstract This article examines the prospect of a decision support system for the assessment of venture capital investments. It approaches the task of developing decision models from the perspective of the venture capitalist. Thus venture capitalists have played an active role in defining the predictor variables and in providing data on their own investments. Venture capitalists (and recent research) underscore the importance of the entrepreneur in new ventures and the predictor variables selected reflect this bias. The literature is now replete with studies demonstrating the superiority of multiattribute actuarial models over human judgment for diverse decision environments, ranging from medical science to finance. This class of behavioral decision models consists of the simultaneous consideration of several attributes relevant to a decision. Actuarial models of this kind can be applied to attribute and decision data based on the decision maker's judgments (i.e., expected outcomes) before the events transpire—termed judgment-based models. They can also be applied to data on past events or actual outcomes where known—termed environment-based models. Again, it needs to be emphasized that actuarial models, whether based on the decision maker's judgments or on the environment, usually outperform the decision maker. These general principles are applied here. Among actuarial models a particular subclass of models is called noncompensatory. In these models, a low value for one attribute cannot be compensated by a high value for another attribute. As an example. in selecting a place-kicker in football, athletic skills other than kicking ability are irrelevant. In this study, two types of noncompensatory actuarial models, conjunctive and disjunctive, are used to model both venture capitalists' judgments and the environment. Interviews with venture capitalists reveal that some place strong emphasis on one or two attributes in judging a potential investment. This type of decision-making behavior indicates a disjunctive decision process. At the same time, there can be a tendency to ensure that a prospective investment is satisfactory at a minimum the entrepreneur's tenacity/courage is a redundant variable that is sublimated in desire for success and enthusiasm/capacity for work.
Synthesis and receptor profiling of Stemona alkaloid analogues reveal a potent class of sigma ligands

Reported biological activities of Stemona natural products, such as antitussive activity, inspired the development of synthetic methods to access several alkaloids within this family and in so doing develop a general route to the core skeleta shared by the class of natural products. The chemistry was subsequently adapted to afford a series of analogue sets bearing simplified, diverse Stemona-inspired skeleta. Over 100 of these analogues were subjected to general G protein-coupled receptor profiling along with the known antitussive compound, neostenine; this led to the identification of hit compounds targeting several receptor types. The particularly rich hit subset for sigma receptors was expanded with two focused library sets, which resulted in the discovery of a fully synthetic, potent chemotype of sigma ligands. This collaborative effort combined the development of synthetic methods with extensive, flexible screening resources and exemplifies the role of natural products in bioactivity mining.
Diagnosing childhood tuberculosis: traditional and innovative modalities.

uberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause ofmortality in children worldwide. The diagnosisof tuberculosis in children is traditionallybased on exposure history, symptoms, the tuberculinskin test, chest radiography, and mycobacterial stain-ing and culture. However, these investigations lack insensitivity and speciﬁcity and diagnosing childhoodtuberculosis remains a major global challenge. Recentadvances have improved our ability to diagnose tuber-culosis, but many of the new modalities either havenot been validated in the pediatric population or areinaccessible to tuberculosis endemic regions. More-over, diagnosing tuberculosis in human immunodeﬁ-ciency virus-coinfected children, a growing popula-tion, remains a major challenge. This review providesan overview of traditional and novel approaches usedto diagnose
Investigation of wavefront estimators using the Wavefront Control Experiment at Yerkes Observatory

The Wavefront Control Experiment (WCE) is a zonal adaptive optics system that has been used to test many different matrix wavefront reconstructors. This has influenced the choice of reconstructors for experiments conducted using the Wavefront Control Experiment at Yerkes Observatory, at the Starfire Optical Range 1.5 m telescope, and the Chicago Adaptive Optics System (ChAOS) at the Apache Point 3.5 m telescope. The matrices are generated from a Macintosh software package, called A+, with a graphics user interface. The mathematical basis of many of the reconstructors is outlined, along with our experience using them, and thoughts about future reconstructor concepts.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A group of non-serotonergic cells is CO2-stimulated in the medullary raphé.

Serotonin/substance P synthesizing cells in the raphe nuclei of the brain are candidates for designation as central chemoreceptors that are stimulated by CO2/pH. We have previously demonstrated that these neurons are CO2-stimulated in situ. Evidence also suggests that CO2-inhibited raphe neurons recorded in vitro and in situ synthesize GABA. Unknown is whether there are other types of chemosensitive cells in the raphe. Here, we showed that a previously unrecognized pool of raphe neurons also exhibit chemosensitivity, and that they are not serotonergic. We used extracellular recording of individual raphe neurons in the unanesthetized juvenile rat in situ perfused decerebrate brainstem preparation to assess chemosensitivity of raphe neurons. Subsequent juxtacellular labeling of individually recorded cells, and immunohistochemistry for the serotonin synthesizing enzyme tryptophan hydroxylase and for neurokinin-1 receptor (NK1R; the receptor for substance P) indicated a group of CO2-stimulated cells that are not serotonergic, but express NK1R and are closely apposed to surrounding serotonergic cells. CO2-stimulated 5-HT and non-5-HT cells constitute distinct groups that have different firing characteristics and hypercapnic sensitivities. Non-5-HT cells fire faster and are more robustly stimulated by CO2 than are 5-HT cells. Thus, we have characterized a previously unrecognized type of CO2-stimulated medullary raphe neuron that is not serotonergic, but may receive input from neighboring serotonin/substance P synthesizing chemosensitive neurons. The potential network properties of the three types of chemosensitive raphe neurons (the present non-5-HT cells, serotonergic cells, and CO2-inhibited cells) remain to be elucidated.
Expurgated bounds, bhattacharyya distance, and rate distortion functions*

We examine new low rate error upper bounds for M equally likely code words used over discrete input channels. When optimized over the code ensemble probability distribution, these bounds coincide with the optimized expurgated bounds and the error exponents satisfy rate distortion equations for natural Bhattacharyya distances. Proofs for these error bounds do not require expurgation of code words, and for certain “modular” channels including all binary input memoryless channels, the bounds extend to convolutional codes.
Double Dipping in Arbitration Awards? An Economist Questions Damages Awarded to Karaha Bodas Company in Indonesia

THE ARBITRATION award to Karaha Bodas Company (KBC), in December 2000, appears to an economist to be excessive. This article addresses the method used by the tribunal to calculate the award for a foreign investment that was ‘taken’, the possible perverse effects of excessive awards on the behaviour of investors and host governments, and speculation as to why this and one other case went to arbitration while a number of contemporaneous disputes in similar projects in Indonesia were settled through renegotiation, rather than legal struggles. The KBC arbitration award arose from a foreign investment in Indonesia to generate electric power. In 1994 Caithness Energy (US) and Tomen (Japan) agreed to develop specific Indonesian geothermal sites, if they proved feasible, to produce up to 400 mw of electricity. Caithness, Tomen, Florida Power and Light (another US firm, joining in 1996), and a local Indonesian partner1 incorporated Karaha Bodas Company in the Cayman Islands to undertake the project.2 Under a Joint Operation Contract, KBC operated as a contractor to Pertamina, the state-owned Indonesian oil company with authority over geothermal energy. Under an Energy Sales Contract, KBC was to deliver and sell the electricity produced to PLN, on behalf of Pertamina. PLN, the state-owned electricity company, agreed to buy the electricity on a take-or-pay basis, with the price set initially at 8.46 cents (US) per kwh.3 After Indonesia was hit by the Asian currency crisis in the second half of 1997, it soon appeared that PLN did not need, and could not pay the contracted price for all the power from the 27 independent power producers to which it had made rather similar commitments. Demand projections fell sharply from those that were being made when the contracts were negotiated. The fact that the contracts effectively set prices in dollars meant …
Therapeutic hypertension: principles and methods

In the treatment of neurosurgical patients, elevation of systemic blood pressure is indicated in many clinical situations. An important example is the maintenance of cerebral perfusion pressure in the setting of head injury. With the loss of autoregulation, coupled with high intracranial pressure, cerebral perfusion is often highly dependent on mean arterial pressure. Frequently, hypertension must be induced with vasoactive agents to prevent secondary ischemia. Another example is the treatment of vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage. While control of intravascular volume and maintenance of cardiac output is important, many centers primarily depend on induced hypertension to prevent neurological deficits. While there is clear therapeutic benefit, induced hypertension is associated with significant risks. Sympathetomimetics can disrupt conduction, frequently producing premature ventricular contractions or arrhythmias. Increases in afterload can add stress to the heart, worsening myocardial ischemia or decreasing the ejection fraction. Excessive use of pressors can produce inadequate systemic perfusion and acidosis. Most commonly, pulmonary edema can occur without judicious monitoring of intravascular volume and cardiac output. In this excellent review, a team of experienced neurointensivists details the indications, principles, and guidelines for the use of therapeutic hypertension. In particular, their focus on the proper evaluation and manipulation of the preload, afterload, cardiac output and contractility in addition to the blood pressure is important. Personally, I do not institute prolonged induced hypertension without the use of a Swan–Ganz catheter to monitor both the pulmonary artery wedge pressure and the cardiac output. In addition, their discussion of the possible misreadings from an arterial line is very helpful.
Population‐level thermal performance of a cold‐water ectotherm is linked to ontogeny and local environmental heterogeneity

Summary Negative effects of global warming are predicted to be most severe for species that occupy a narrow range of temperatures, have limited dispersal abilities or have long generation times. These are characteristics typical of many species that occupy small, cold streams. Habitat use, vulnerabilities and mechanisms for coping with local conditions can differ among populations and ontogenetically within populations, potentially affecting species-level responses to climate change. However, we still have little knowledge of mean thermal performance for many vertebrates, let alone variation in performance among populations. Assessment of these sources of variation in thermal performance is critical for projecting the effects of climate change on species and for identifying management strategies to ameliorate its effects. To gauge how populations of the Rocky Mountain tailed frog (Ascaphus montanus) might respond to long-term effects of climate change, we measured the ability of tadpoles from six populations in Glacier National Park (Montana, U.S.A.) to acclimate to a range of temperatures. We compared survival among populations according to tadpole age (1 year or 2 years) and according to the mean and variance of late-summer temperatures in natal streams. The ability of tadpoles to acclimate to warm temperatures increased with age and with variance in late-summer temperature of natal streams. Moreover, performance differed among populations from the same catchment. Our experiments with a cold-water species show that population-level performance varies across small geographic scales and is linked to local environmental heterogeneity. This variation could influence the rate and mode of species-level responses to climate change, both by facilitating local persistence in the face of changes in thermal conditions and by providing thermally tolerant colonists to neighbouring populations.
Comparing the Structural Topology and Dynamic Properties of a Model Peripheral Membrane Peptide Magainin-2 Utilizing X- and Q-Band EPR Spectroscopy

Probing the structural and dynamic properties of membrane proteins poses a very difficult problem due to their hydrophobic amino-acid composition and lipid environment they are associated with. To unravel this dilemma lipid membrane mimics have been used to establish a medium by which membrane proteins can be studied. Magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers (bicelles) coupled with magnetic resonance spectroscopy can be used to extract pertinent information related to their structural topology. This information can be obtained by aligning the samples with respect to the static magnetic field and measuring the corresponding anisotropic spectral parameters. Our lab uses both solid-state NMR and spin-label EPR spectroscopy to study membrane proteins. EPR spectroscopy offers unique advantages over NMR spectroscopy due to a higher sensitivity and a different frequency domain for probing dynamics. These facts have led us to perform EPR spectroscopic alignment studies on the surface peptide magainin-2, which has been shown to exhibit antimicrobial activity by pore formation in two different frequency domains X-Band (9 GHz) and Q-Band (34 GHz). New and unique EPR lineshapes were obtained which not only elegantly contrast integral and peripheral peptide topologies, but also have implications for further elucidating antimicrobial dynamics and their corresponding mechanisms.
The Role of Transcription Initiation Factor IIIB Subunits in Promoter Opening Probed by Photochemical Cross-linking

The core transcription initiation factor (TF) IIIB recruits its conjugate RNA polymerase (pol) III to the promoter and also plays an essential role in promoter opening. TFIIIB assembled with certain deletion mutants of its Brf1 and Bdp1 subunits is competent in pol III recruitment, but the resulting preinitiation complex does not open the promoter. Whether Brf1 and Bdp1 participate in opening the promoter by direct DNA interaction (as sigma subunits of bacterial RNA polymerases do) or indirectly by their action on pol III has been approached by site-specific photochemical protein-DNA cross-linking of TFIIIB-pol III-U6 RNA gene promoter complexes. Brf1, Bdp1, and several pol III subunits can be cross-linked to the nontranscribed strand of the U6 promoter at base pair -9/-8 and +2/+3 (relative to the transcriptional start as +1), respectively the upstream and downstream ends of the DNA segment that opens up into the transcription bubble. Cross-linking of Bdp1 and Brf1 is detected at 0 degrees C in closed preinitiation complexes and at 30 degrees C in complexes that are partly open, but also it is detected in mutant TFIIIB-pol III-DNA complexes that are unable to open the promoter. In contrast, promoter opening-defective TFIIIB mutants generate significant changes of cross-linking of polymerase subunits. The weight of this evidence argues in favor of an indirect mode of action of TFIIIB in promoter opening.
Effective Dielectric Properties of Solvent Mixtures at Microwave Frequencies

We investigated the dielectric properties of various organic solvents and binary solvent mixtures at 21.4 °C over the frequency range of 200 MHz−13.5 GHz. These solvent mixturesnitrobenzene−N,N-dimethylformamide, 1-butanol−formamide, nitrobenzene−toluene, ethanol−1-butanol, and nitrobenzene−chlorobenzeneas well as the pure components display a Debye or near Debye dispersion. Their frequency-dependent dielectric properties can be summarized by three parameters in the Debye equation: a static dielectric constant, a high-frequency limiting dielectric constant, and a dielectric relaxation time constant. On the basis of electrostatics, rate theory, and solution thermodynamics, we have developed dielectric “mixing rules” that describe the frequency-dependent dielectric properties of the solvent mixtures based on solution composition and the dielectric parameters for the solution components. These “mixing rules” yield good agreement between the predicted and experimental dielectric properties for the binary sol...
Thermal-aware mapping and placement for 3-D NoC designs

Networks on chip (NoC) and 3D integrated circuits have been proposed as solutions to the ever-growing interconnect woes surrounding systems-on-chip. 3D designs however suffer from hotspot creation, due to the increase in the power density of parts of the chip. In this paper, we propose the use of a genetic algorithm for a thermal and communication aware mapping and placement of application tasks on 3D NoC environment. Our results show a significant reduction in system temperature when compared to a random mapping and placement, and provide an encouraging situation for migration to the 3D design space
Clustering metrics for two-phase composites

Abstract Most models relating structure and properties of composite materials assume a homogeneous distribution of the material constituents. One reason for this simplification involves the difficulty with defining a robust measure of clustering for these materials. In this paper several previously defined metrics, along with some newly developed metrics, were compared by applying them to simulated composite samples of varying strength and type of clustering. Where possible, metrics were normalized to remove dependence on volume fraction. In order to determine the correlation between the metrics and actual material properties, the effect of clustering on electrical conductivity was also investigated. Some of the metrics, both existing and newly developed, showed promising results in terms of capturing microstructure and property variation due to clustering. These metrics could also prove useful in composite quality control.
Structure-function studies with recombinant PTH/PTHrP receptors

The PTH/PTHrP receptor belongs to a novel family of G protein-coupled receptors. Its complex gene spans about 25 kb of genomic DNA, and contains fourteen coding and at least three non-coding exons. Rat and opossum PTH/PTHrP receptors share 78% amino-acid identity, and 91% of the residues are identical when comparing the rat and human receptor homologs. Despite this significant structual conservation, the receptors display distinct functional characteristics when tested with either [Arg2, Tyr34]hPTH (1-34) amide or [Nle8, 18, Tyr34]bPTH (7-34) amide. The construction of chimeras between rat/opossum and between rat/human PTH/PTHrP receptors, and their evaluation with both PTH analogs led to the identification of receptor residues that appear to be involved in ligand/receptor interaction and receptor activation, respectively.
Collision-induced dissociations and B/E linked scans for structural determination of modified fatty acid esters

Abstract Structures of modified fatty acid esters are determined by collisionally activating [M + Li]+ ions desorptively ionized by fast atom bombardment (FAB). Collision-induced dissociations (CIDs) that occur in the first field-free region of a normal geometry mass spectrometer are observed by using B/E linked scans. The CID spectra provide immediate information about chain length, location and type of substituent in saturated, unsaturated, methyl-branched and hydroxy esters. New spectra of more unusual ethyl esters that contain longer alkyl branches and keto substituents also indicate the location and type of substituent. Novel charge-remote reactions that are directly analogous to thermolytic hydro-acyloxy eliminations and heteroatom analogs of the retro-ene reaction are suggested to explain the formation of some fragment ions from the alkyl and keto esters. Deuterium labeling provides evidence for mechanisms for structurally informative charge-mediated fragmentations of the hydroxy esters. Individual components of complex mixtures can be determined, and the detection limit for the structural determination of methyl palmitate is 25 ng. Methods also are described for optimizing the practical use of FAB in conjunction with B/E linked scans, which can be hampered by poor precursor ion resolution.