cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
DISPERSAL AND MATING IN THE FIELD BY MALE PINK BOLLWORM, PECTINOPHORA GOSSYPIELLA, LABELED WITH 32P

Radioactive phosphorus was fed to laboratory-reared male pink bollworms, Pectinophora gossypiella (Saunders), for studies of dispersal and mating in the field. Released moths either irradiated with 20 Krad or unirradiated, were found predominantly within a few hundred meters of the release points. Prior to formation of a plant canopy, daytime-resting places of moths were soil crevices at the bases of the plants. Later, when a protective plant canopy had formed, about half of the moths took resting places in the lower canopy, many in withered blooms. Little mating occurred between released males and native females, probably due to the great preponderance of native males in the test area. The technique of autoradiography of native females to determine mating with released labeled males was simple and effective. Zusammenfassung AUSBREITUNG UND PAARUNG IM FELD BEI MANNCHEN DES ROTEN BAUMWOLLKAPSELWURMS, PECTINOPHORA GOSSYPIELLA, NACH MARKIERUNG MIT32P Im Labor gezogene Mannchen von P. gossypiella wurden mit 32P gefuttert, um Ausbreitung und Paarung im Baumwollfeld zu studieren. Freigelassene Falter, teils bestrahlt mit 20 Krad, teils unbestrahlt, wurden vorwiegend innerhalb von 100 m von der Freilassungsstelle gefunden. Vor Bildung eines geschlossenen Bestandes waren die Tagesruheplatze der Falter Bodenspalten an der Basis der Pflanzen. Spater, wenn ein schutzender, dichter Pflanzenbestand gebildet war, hatten die Falter ihre Ruheplatze etwa zur Halfte in dem unteren Bereich des Pflanzenbestandes, davon viele in verwelkten Bluten. Zwischen freigelassenen Mannchen und Freilandweibchen kam es nur zu wenig Paarungen, wahrscheinlich wegen des zahlenmassigen Ubergewichts der Freilandmannchen im Gebiet. Die Technik der Autoradiographie von Freilandweibchen zur Erkennung einer Paarung mit freigelassenen, markierten Mannchen war einfach und wirkungsvoll.
A study of exception handling and its dynamic optimization in Java

Optimizing exception handling is critical for programs that frequently throw exceptions. We observed that there are many such exception-intensive programs iin various categories of Java programs. There are two commonly used exception handling techniques, stack unwinding optimizes the normal path, while stack cutting optimizes the exception handling path. However, there has been no single exception handling technique to optimize both paths.
A Technique for Simultaneous, Echo Location of Fish and Thermal Plume Mapping

Abstract Thermal plume mapping procedures developed at Argonne National Laboratory and echo location procedures developed at the University of Washington (College of Fisheries) were combined to provide a technique for fish distribution studies near thermal discharges. This pilot study was performed on Lake Michigan at the Point Beach Nuclear Power Station (Two Creeks, Wisconsin) on 28 October 1971. Reduction of fish distribution and temperature data from both day and night plume series showed striking diurnal changes in fish orientation. Many schools of fish were observed during the day series, while, at night, only individual fish were observed. The depth distribution of fish also differed between day and night: during the day, observed schools were deeper than individual fish, whereas at night, the individuals were at shallower depths. During both series: (1) fish were more numerous in the upstream side (relative to current) of the plume; and (2) fish were more abundant in the cooler areas of the plume ...
Physics and potential applications of terahertz air photonics

We present recent results on experimental measurements and theoretical simulations for terahertz wave generation (quantum mechanical simulation) and detection (four-wave-mixing) with ambient air and selected gases. We demonstrate standoff terahertz wave generation for potential applications of terahertz air photonics in remote sensing and identification.
Laboratory experiments for a new sonar system

Experiments were performed to demonstrate a new sonar concept. The concept involves assuming locations at which scatterers may exist and computing the strengths of scatterers at these locations that best match the data. This involves precomputing a matrix using the geometry of the sensors and transmission pulse information. The matrix is then reduced in size using singular value decomposition, which also takes care of ill-conditioning due to locating potential scatterers close together. In real-time operation of the sonar the incoming data is premultiplied by the matrix to produce a map of scatterers. A computer simulation showed the effects of the matrix rank on the scatterer map. As the rank moves away from full rank, the scatterer positions become blurred. In a laboratory experiment, we used one transmitting transducer and two receiving transducers. The signal was passed through an analog to digital converter. We demonstrate that simple scatterers can be located from this data using the new approach.
OC34.07: Measurement of muscles of anal canal using 3D ultrasound

descent of pelvic organs on ultrasound on the one hand and hiatal dimensions on the other hand (all P < 0.001). Conclusions: Hiatal dimensions vary markedly in women symptomatic of pelvic floor disorders. Vaginal childbirth seems to be the main environmental influence, with a clear relationship between the number of deliveries and hiatal area. The most marked changes seem to occur with the first baby delivered vaginally. Hiatal dimensions seem to correlate strongly with the degree of prolapse.
Ontogeny of atrial natriuretic peptide receptors in fetal rat kidney and adrenal gland.

With in vitro autoradiography, specific receptors for atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) were localized in fetal rat kidney and adrenal glands. Receptors were present over renal vesicles, in the primitive renal medulla and throughout the adrenal gland as early as 16 days gestation. By 20 days gestation, several layers of developing renal corpuscles were present and ANP receptors were localized over developing glomeruli in each layer. Larger accumulations occurred over the juxtamedullary glomeruli. In the medulla, the receptors were localized in a reticular pattern near the pelivis. With emulsion coated sections, ANP receptors in developing renal corpuscles were seen primarily over the lower curve of S-shaped vesicles and around the periphery of the more mature corpuscles. In the renal medulla, receptors were localized over the interstitial cells. In the 16-day-old adrenal gland, ANP receptors were present throughout the cortical area but at 20 days gestation and 1 day postpartum receptors appeared more numerous in the peripheral region. these data suggest that ANP has important developmental effects in the kidney and adrenal gland and may be involved in regulation of body fluid homeostasis in the late gestation rat fetus.
Information Modeling for Integrated Product Design, Process Planning and System Design for Powertrain Machining

To shorten product development lifecycles for machined powertrain components, it is necessary to develop technologies around integrated product design, process planning and system design. This integration should enable information once created to be readily available across all activities of the lifecycle. A key to achieving this is the creation of an information model for capturing and relating this information. This model should be comprehensive and easily navigable to enable, for instance, manufacturing engineers to trace tasks on the stations in a machining line to specific surfaces on in-process states of the workpiece. Also of importance are strategies that specify how instances of this model are created and how it is to be maintained. This paper presents information models created specifically for powertrain machining. These models have been implemented as a database within a framework for integrated product design, process planning and system design. An XML (eX tensible M arkup L anguage) application based on the model has also been developed to standardize interfaces and facilitate communication within product development teams and with suppliers.Copyright © 2003 by ASME
Discovery of an Arc of Particles near Enceladus' Orbit: A Possible Key to the Origin of the E Ring☆

Abstract High angular resolution (adaptive optics) images taken on August 12, 1995 between 11:26 and 12:23 (UT) show a faint elongated structure apparently moving away from Saturn. The structure is consistent with light scattered by an arc of particles on a Keplerian orbit close to that of Enceladus. The orbit is slightly inclined (1.8°), and the arc is 76° ahead of the satellite. It appears to be a transient phenomenon since the arc brightness decreased by almost a factor two during the observations, and no such structure was observed at the same orbital position two days before. A possible explanation is that a large block of ice previously ejected by Enceladus collided with ice fragments trapped on the satellite orbit near its L 4 Lagrange point. The collision likely occurred about 6 h before observations started and produced a rapidly expanding cloud of small particles. We estimate the total mass of particles to be at least 10 5 kg.
The influence of pregnancy on sexuality: A review of current evidence

Abstract The current paper reviews and evaluates available research on the influence of pregnancy on sexuality. Patterns of findings consistent across most studies include a decline in sexual interest and in sexual behavior of women during the third trimester of their pregnancy. Changes in sexuality during earlier stages of pregnancy are less clearly established. The limited number of investigations used different methodologies, each with significant shortcomings. While some consistency in the pattern of sexual change is evident, there has been little attempt to identify the underlying factors accounting for such change. The methodology of investigations of the influence of pregnancy on sexuality can be improved by standardizing assessment procedures, combining longitudinal and cross‐sectional methodologies, including assessment of the pregnant woman's partner, and providing adequate descriptions of methodology.
Previous exposure to a low infectious dose of Leishmania major exacerbates infection with Leishmania infantum in the susceptible BALB/c mouse

The geographic distribution of Leishmania major overlaps with several other species of Leishmania. This study seeks to examine what effect previous exposure to L. major has on the outcome of infection with Leishmania infantum, the agent of virulent visceral leishmaniasis. The L. major immune response is well characterized by a strong Th1 response leading to resolution and protection against subsequent re-infection. A contrasting Th2 immune response leads to disseminated disease, while the role Th17 cytokines may play in Leishmania infection is still being explored. The cytokine profile, antibody titer, and parasite burden were evaluated in the susceptible BALB/c mouse after L. infantum infection in either naive mice or those previously infected with a low/self-healing dose of L. major. Only IL-4 expression in mice previously exposed to L. major was found to be significantly increased over controls, a cytokine with an ambiguous role in L. infantum infection. However, disease exacerbation, with a notably higher parasite burden, was observed in the L. major exposed mice compared to the L. infantum only. Cross-reactive antibodies were seen in both groups of infected mice regardless of their immune history. Studies have shown a role for opsonizing antibodies leading to increased disease in visceral leishmaniasis. We speculate that cross-reactive antibodies may be playing a role in augmenting visceral disease in mice with immunological memory to L. major.
The localized role of base level lowering on channel adjustment of tributary streams in the Trinity River basin downstream of Livingston Dam, Texas, USA

The purpose of this study is to describe and explain river channel cross-sectional change in tributary streams within the 60-km scour zone of the Trinity River, Texas, downstream of Livingston Dam. This study investigates changes within the tributary systems to base level changes triggered by incision, associated with scour and channel migration within the dammed trunk stream. The dam represents a precise moment and place of a system perturbation and therefore represents an opportunistic geomorphic experiment. Geomorphological effects of the lower Trinity River tributaries were investigated through three different types of data: resurveys of bridge cross sections, planform change as measured from aerial photographs, and field mapping of changes in channel geometry using fallen trees, undercut banks, and other geomorphic indicators of change. While field evidence of channel change was found at sites well upstream of tributary confluences with the Trinity, these were not consistent with responses to lower base level. Downcutting and lateral changes in response to lowered base level were confined to lower tributary reaches. This suggests distance decay and lag times in transmission of responses upstream and/or masking of dam-induced effects by other processes and controls. The most dynamic locations of geomorphic change are near the confluences of the tributaries with the Trinity River, where the response to dam-induced incision is strongly influenced by local trunk stream morphology, indicating a high degree of historical and geographical contingency.
Mammary Growth in Rats Treated with Somatotropin During Pregnancy and/or Lactation.

SummaryGroups of rats Received daily injections of 2 mg somatotropin (STH) from either day 3-19 of pregnancy or day 1-13 of lactation. Another group of rats Received graded increments (0.5-3.0 mg) of STH every 6 days during both pregnancy and lactation, Other groups of rats served as pregnancy and lactation controls. Mammary gland deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) content was determined in all rats and milk yield was determined in all rats carried to day 14 postpartum. Significant increases in mammary DNA occurred in all rats treated with STH irrespective of dose or schedule of injections when compared to gestation controls. A significant elevation in mammary DNA above the lactation control level was also evident in rats receiving the hormone and carried to day 14 of lactation. Milk yield of rats treated with graded increments of STH was significantly greater than that of control lactators but milk yield of rats receiving a constant daily dose of the hormone did not differ from that of controls.
Atomic Matching Across Internal Interfaces

The atomic structure of internal interfaces in dense-packed systems has been investigated by high-resolution electron microscopy (HREM). Similarities between the atomic relaxations in heterophase Interfaces and certain largeangle grain boundaries have been observed. In both types of interfaces localization of misfit leads to regions of good atomic matching within the interface separated by misfit dislocation-like defects. It appears that, whenever possible, the GB structures assume configurations in which the atomic coordination is not too much different from the ideal lattice. It is suggested that these kinds of relaxations primarily occur whenever the translational periods along the GB are large or when the interatomic distances are incommensurate. Incorporation of low index planes into the GB appears to lead to preferred, i.e. low energy structures, that can be quite dense with good atomic matching across a large fraction of the interface.
Modeling interregional commodity flows with incorporating network autocorrelation in spatial interaction models: An application of the US interstate commodity flows

Abstract Spatial interaction models are frequently used to predict and explain interregional commodity flows. Studies suggest that the effects of spatial structure significantly influence spatial interaction models, often resulting in model misspecification. Competing destinations and intervening opportunities have been used to mitigate this issue. Some recent studies also show that the effects of spatial structure can be successfully modeled by incorporating network autocorrelation among flow data. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of network autocorrelation among commodity origin–destination flow data and its effect on model estimation in spatial interaction models. This approach is demonstrated using commodity origin–destination flow data for 111 regions of the United States from the 2002 Commodity Flow Survey. The results empirically show how network autocorrelation affects modeling interregional flows and can be successfully captured in spatial autoregressive model specifications.
Development of a biophotonics concept inventory for program evaluation

The Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology has developed an evaluation tool to assess the impact of its educational programs on participants' understanding of basic concepts underlying biophotonics science. The Biophotonics Concepts Inventory (BPC) includes fourteen items; some adopted from other concept tests as well as several original items developed by CBST scientists and educators. Scientists also contributed to instrument development by completing a pilot version of the BPC during the CBST annual retreat and rating each item for relevance and importance to the field of biophotonics. The final items were selected based on item feedback and comparisons between mean item scores for scientists, undergraduates, and high school students who completed the draft version of the BPC. Items primarily focus on the behavior of light and light-matter interactions. The instrument has been used as a pre-test and post-test in programs for undergraduates, K-12 teachers, high school and middle school students. To date, there has been a significant increase in BPC scores from pre to post conditions across CBST programs and courses. We will discuss BPC development, response patterns, and pre/post group comparisons. Specifically, we will address how typical misconceptions about light and light-matter interactions were used to design items, the rationale for incorporating visual representations into many items, the methods used for investigating instrument quality, and implications for making claims about the effectiveness of CBST biophotonics education programs.© (2010) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Climatic Fingerprints, Patterns, and Indices

Abstract The purpose of this note is to point out that Hasselmann's optimal fingerprints for detecting climatic change follow from the geometrical interpretation of covariance as an inner product.
Ablation of Atrial Fibrillation

Recognition that the initiation of atrial fibrillation often is dependent on arrhythmogenic foci within the pulmonary veins1 opened a new chapter in our understanding of the mechanisms of atrial fibrillation, which in turn has led to dramatic improvements in our ability to ablate atrial fibrillation. Based on experimental studies and clinical studies that used a variety of catheter and surgical ablation techniques, it is possible to postulate two major mechanisms for the initiation and perpetuation of atrial fibrillation. 1. Primary drivers. Some types of atrial fibrillation, particularly paroxysmal atrial fibrillation, may be primarily dependent on tachycardias that initiate and drive the atrial fibrillation.2 Although often located in the pulmonary veins, the drivers also may originate from within other thoracic veins,3 such as the superior vena cava, vein of Marshall, or coronary sinus, or within the left or right atrium. Furthermore, secondary tachycardias that also may function as drivers may develop in any of these arrhythmogenic sites, particularly the pulmonary veins,2 in response to the primary driver. Once the primary driver induces secondary drivers, the perpetuation of atrial fibrillation may become more likely because even if the primary driver is extinguished, the other drivers may still function. Elegant studies by Jalife4 demonstrated that rotors with a very short cycle length exist during atrial fibrillation and can play a critical role in the perpetuation of atrial fibrillation. It appears that these rotors may have anchor points within the left atrium, near the pulmonary veins. In another experimental model, atrial fibrillation was found to be caused by an atrial flutter with a very short cycle length that resulted in fibrillatory conduction throughout the atria.4 Based on this mechanism, successful ablation of atrial fibrillation requires elimination of the primary and secondary drivers with strategies such as pulmonary vein isolation, isolation of the coronary sinus from the left atrium, or elimination of the rotors. 2. Multiple wavelet reentry. As described by Moe,5 the multiple wavelet hypothesis proposes that a critical number
IL-1β Increases Type 1 Inositol Trisphosphate Receptor Expression and IL-6 Secretory Capacity in Osteoblastic Cell Cultures

Abstract Acute IL-6 secretion from osteosarcoma cells induced by the PI-linked hormones PTH(1–34) and endothelin-1 is potentiated by IL-1β. The present findings indicate that this potentiation is accompanied by increased signal transduction capacity. Specifically, IL-1β (30 pM) increased the B max of InsP 3 receptor binding (2.7-fold) and immunoblot showed a 2.4-fold increase specifically in the type 1 InsP 3 receptor protein. Northern analyses of IL-1β-treated G-292 cells showed an 1.8-fold increase in type 1 InsP3 receptor mRNA and, in IL-1β-treated murine MC3T3-E1 osteoblastic cells, an 8.4-fold enhancement of the type 1 InsP 3 receptor gene transcription. Promoter reporter assays confirmed the mRNA measurements and showed the effect of IL-1β to be mediated by the major transcriptional regulatory region of the type 1 InsP 3 receptor promoter. The findings support the hypothesis that chronic regulators of osteoblast function, such as IL-1β, affect the capacity of cellular signal transduction through changes in InsP 3 receptor levels.
Donor Conversion and Procurement Failure: The Fate of Our Potential Organ Donors

Donor availability remains the primary limiting factor for organ transplantation today. The purpose of this study was to examine the causes of procurement failure amongst potential organ donors. After Institutional Review Board approval, all surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients admitted to the LAC + USC Medical Center from 01/2006 to 12/2008 who became potential organ donors were identified. Demographics, clinical data, and procurement data were abstracted. In non-donors, the causes of procurement failure were documented. During the 3-year study period, a total of 254 patients were evaluated for organ donation. Mean age was 44.8 ± 18.7 years; 191 (75.2%) were male, 136 (53.5%) were Hispanic, and 148 (58.3%) were trauma patients. Of the 254 patients, 116 (45.7%) were not eligible for donation: 34 had multi-system organ failure, 24 did not progress to brain death and had support withdrawn, 18 had uncontrolled sepsis, 15 had malignancy, 6 had human immunodeficiency virus or hepatitis B or C, and 19 patients had other contraindications to organ donation. Of the remaining 138 eligible patients, 83 (60.2%) did not donate: 56 because the family denied consent, 9 by their own choice. In six, next of kin could not be located, five died because of hemodynamic instability before organ procurement was possible, four had organs that could not be placed, and three had their organs declined by the organ procurement organization. The overall consent rate was 57.5% (n = 67). From the 55 donors, 255 organs were procured (yield 4.6 organs/donor). Of all patients screened for organ donation, only a fifth actually donated. Denial of consent was the major potentially preventable cause of procurement failure, whereas hemodynamic instability accounted for only a small percentage of donor losses. With such low conversion rates, the preventable causes of procurement failure warrant further study.
Phase-locking and critical phenomena in lattices of coupled nonlinear oscillators with random intrinsic frequencies

Abstract We study phase-locking in a network of coupled nonlinear oscillators with local interactions and random intrinsic frequencies. The oscillators are located at the vertices of a graph and interact along the edges. They are coupled by sinusoidal functions of the phase differences across the edges, and their intrinsic frequencies are independent and identically distributed with finite mean and variance. We derive an exact expression for the probability of phase-locking in a linear chain of such oscillators and prove that this probability tends to zero as the number of oscillators grows without bound. However, if the coupling strength increases as the square root of the number of oscillators, the probability of phase-locking tends to a limiting distribution, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov distribution. This latter result is obtained by showing that the phase-locking problem is equivalent to a discretization of pinned Brownian motion. The results on chains of oscillators are extended to more general graphs. In particular, for a hypercubic lattice of any dimension, the probability of phase-locking tends to zero exponentially fast as the number of oscillators grows without bound. We also consider a less stringent type of synchronization, characterized by large clusters of oscillators mutually entrained at the same average frequency. It is shown that if such clusters exist, they necessarily have a sponge-like geometry.
Exponentially small splitting of heteroclinc orbits: from the rapidly forced pendulum to discrete solitons

In this work we address the problem of splitting of heteroclinic orbits introduced by discretization of spatial or temporal derivatives in nonlinear equations supporting such solutions. We use asymptotics beyond all orders, to explore these exponentially small effects in the case studies of the rapidly forced pendulum as well as the ones of discrete soliton problems such as the sine-Gordon and the φ4 model.
Immunostains for blood group antigens lack prognostic significance in T1 lung carcinoma

Recent reports have suggested that the retention of blood group antigen expression on tumor cells may be an important prognostic factor for survival. From 1986 to 1991, 136 patients underwent operative resection for their T1 N0 non-small cell lung carcinoma. One hundred twenty tissue blocks were available for antigen testing, and the histologic types were as follows: adenocarcinoma (73 patients), squamous cell (39 patients), large cell/undifferentiated (7 patients), and mucoepidermoid (1 patient). Follow-up is complete for all patients (mean, 41 months). This distribution of patients among the blood groups was as follows: A, 56 (47%); O, 53 (44%); B, 9 (7.5%), and AB, 2 (1.7%). Immunostaining was performed for A, B, and H blood group antigens. The 5-year actuarial survival in the blood group A patients (53%) did not differ significantly from that in the blood group O patients (59%). Similarly, when tumors were examined for their respective antigens, no significant differences were found in the 5-year survival of either blood group A or O patients between the tumors that retain and those that lose blood group antigen expression. Retention or loss of blood groups A or O antigen expression does not predict survival in patients with early-stage lung carcinomas.
Overview of cephalosporin prophylaxis

After an uncertain and highly controversial beginning, the use of antimicrobials for prophylaxis of surgical wound infection has evolved to represent state-of-the-art management of the surgical patient. Although a truly ideal prophylactic antimicrobial does not exist, the cephalosporins, particularly those of the first generation, have emerged as the mainstay of prophylaxis in surgery. However, new pathogens and newly recognized problems have necessitated a comparative evaluation of a wide variety of antibiotic regimens. The choice of an appropriate antibiotic is complicated by the lack of an adequate experimental model of infection in clean and clean-contaminated surgical procedures. Moreover, clinical trials have proved to be an inefficient method of comparing antibiotic regimens, as important variations in risk factors for infection cannot be reliably controlled. Significant differences exist among cephalosporins and between the cephalosporins and other classes of antimicrobials in several clinically important parameters: antimicrobial spectrum, serum half-life, ease of administration, tissue penetrability, cost, and incidence of allergy and toxicity. New generations of cephalosporins and new classes of antibiotics have demonstrated the potential to out-perform the first-generation cephalosporins in many of these areas. Although the first-generation cephalosporins were essential in establishing the efficacy of antibiotic prophylaxis in surgery, there are no guarantees that this class of cephalosporin, or that any cephalosporin, for that matter, will continue to dominate the prophylactic arena.
Optoelectronic multichip modules for high-speed computer systems and communication networks

The demand for communication delay and connectivity improvements suggests that optoelectronic multichip modules (OE-MCMs), utilizing photonic and electronic technologies, may provide practical solutions for high-speed interconnection problems at the module level. Design and fabrication issues for integrating optical waveguide and multiple metal layers on a single substrate are described to facilitate the practical implementation of OE-MCMs. In particular, innovative device structures and fabrication strategies are proposed such that OE-MCMs can be fabricated in a batch mode by a well-established IC fabrication process without causing any fabrication compatibility problems. The proposed OE-MCMs utilize optoelectronic interconnection, multichip module packaging, and MEMS fabrication technologies at the module level, and the feasibility of the proposed OE-MCMs has been demonstrated through the fabrication, assembly, and characterization of prototypes.
Sodium azide mutagenesis in diploid and hexaploid oats and comparison with ethyl methanesulfonate treatments

Sodium azide was tested as a mutagen in a diploid oat, Avena strigosa L. (2n = 2x = 14), and in hexaploid cultivated oats, A. sativa L. (2n = 6x = 42). Optimized treatments of a 1-hr exposure of diploid oat seeds to 2–10 mM azide at pH 3 or 4.5 after a 4-hr water presoak gave frequencies of chlorophyll deficient mutants in progeny populations similar to those from EMS treatments of 50–70 mM EMS for 4 hr after an 8-hr presoak. In the diploid oat, for each mutagen about 60% of the M1 generation plants grown from mutagenized seed had mutants segregating among their M2 generation progenies. In contrast, in the three hexaploid cultivars tested only 1–2% of M1 plants gave mutant progeny following treatments with azide and 2–4% with EMS. On a total M2 plant basis the frequency of chlorophyll deficient mutants was <0.3% in the hexaploid oats compared to 3–5% in the diploid oat. The lower frequency of mutants in the hexaploid vs diploid oats could be accounted for by the presence in hexaploids of duplicative loci masking the effects of mutation at individual loci. Mutants with either meiotic synapsis deficiency, shorter plant height, or possible male sterility were recovered in hexaploid oats following azide mutagenesis. Their recovery indicates that azide mutagenesis can be effective in cultivated hexaploid oats although the overall frequency of mutant recovery may be low compared to that obtained in a diploid species.
Citywide biological monitoring as a tool for ecology and conservation in urban landscapes: the case of the Tucson Bird Count

As urban areas worldwide continue to grow, the cities in which we live, work, and play can take on an increasingly vital role in sustaining biological diversity. Studies of bird communities in metropolitan areas show that our cities generally remain places inhospitable to most native bird species. However, gaps exist in our understanding of the principles needed to design metropolitan landscapes that better sustain native birds. Long-term data collected over a range of spatial scales across a city can aid in filling these gaps. To evaluate an approach to collecting such data, and to address unanswered questions concerning birds in populated areas, I organized a volunteer-based bird monitoring project (the Tucson Bird Count, or TBC) in Tucson, Arizona, USA. In the TBC, skilled observers surveyed the breeding bird community at hundreds of sites throughout Tucson. This paper reports results after the second year of this ongoing project, and has four objectives. First, it discusses issues of survey design in relation to scientific and conservation data needs. Second, it tests the ability of a citywide survey to rapidly prioritize species according to their sensitivity to development. Third, it presents a novel approach for quantifying the impact to humans of reduced diversity in urban areas. Finally, it concludes with an evaluation of the viability of volunteer-based, citywide surveys as tools for research and monitoring in cities in general, citing specific examples from this Tucson study. Volunteer-based, citywide surveys offer high visibility, efficient means to acquire data unobtainable by other methods, presenting great potential to advance ecology and conservation.
Phase-Lock Loop Frequency Acquisition Study

The ability of a phase-lock loop using a proportional plus integral control filter to acquire a noisy signal when the local oscillator is being swept was determined empirically by means of a low-frequency, GEESE1 model of such a system. The effects of the damping factor and natural frequency on the frequency acquisition properties of linear loops (as distinguished from a loop in which the IF signal is limited) are considered in this study. In addition, consideration is given to a loop in which the IF signal is ``hard'' limited and the loop designed to maximize the sweep rate under the constraint that the probability of acquisition is equal to or greater than 90 per cent for a given SNR. The rms phase jitter in the output signal was measured as a method of verifying the standard analytic approach to predicting phase jitter. The results of the study are as follows: 1) The range of damping factors from 0.5 to 0.85 yields near optimum acquisition performance. 2) Although a drop in loop gain produces lower phase jitter for a given (S/N) IF , it degrades the over-all ability of the loop to acquire and track a signal. 3) A ``hard'' limiter in the IF can be effectively used as a gain control to enhance loop performance. 4) Using an empirical formula derived from experimental results, the VCO sweep rate for 90 per cent probability of acquisition can be predicted accurately, given the (SNR) IF and loop parameters.
Nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation of glycogen H1 in solution

The NMR relaxation properties of the H1 proton of oyster glycogen in D2O and H2O solutions have been studied using nonselective, semiselective, and selective inversion recovery and Hahn spin-echo pulse sequences. The data were analyzed in terms of an isotropic, rigid-rotor dipole-dipole model including cross-relaxation. At 8.4 T in D2O, p = 5.4 +/- 0.4 s-1 and sigma = -4.5 +/- 0.4 s-1. The large, negative sigma value is consistent with strong cross-relaxation and a long correlation time. The relaxation data can be explained by a single correlation time, tau c = 2.7 x 10(-9) s, indicating significant internal mobility. With this value of tau c, and assuming that the structure of the glucose moieties was the same as in alpha-D-glucose crystals, the dipole sum contributing to T1 relaxation was calculated. The intra-ring relaxation was dominated by dipole fields from the H2 proton, but these only accounted for approximately 18% of the total relaxation. Most of the relaxation comes from inter-glucose relaxation. From modeling, this is dominated by the H4' across the alpha-1,4-glycosidic bond. The H1 longitudinal relaxation rates were significantly enhanced in H2O compared with D2O. This enhancement is not due to direct dipolar interaction between H1 and bulk water. Transverse relaxation rates were not significantly enhanced in H2O.
Wealth neutrality in higher education: The effects of student grants

Abstract Public policy has been directed toward increasing equal opportunity of access to higher education for over two decades, yet there has been little systematic investigation of the effectiveness of student financial aid to achieve this goal. This paper examines the effectiveness of publicly provided student grants to achieve wealth neutral college attendance in 1980, where the wealth neutral equity criterion is defined as an equal probability of college attendance across household income. Student grants are seen to encourage a movement toward wealth neutrality, but do not completely remove the positive effect of income on the probability of college attendance.
Subject‐Involving Luck

In recent years, philosophers have tended to think of luck as being a relation between an event (taken in the broadest sense of the term) and a subject; to give an account of luck is to fill in the right-hand side of the following biconditional: an event e is lucky for a subject S if and only if ____. We can call such accounts of luck subject-relative accounts of luck, since they attempt to spell out what it is for an event to be lucky relative to a subject. This essay argues that we should understand subject-relative luck as a secondary phenomenon. What is of philosophical interest is giving an account of subject-involving luck, i.e., filling in the right-hand side of this biconditional: it is a matter of luck that S ϕs iff ____. The essay argues that one of the upshots of focusing on subject-involving luck is that lack of control accounts of luck (LCALs) become more attractive. In particular, a range of counterexamples to LCALs of subject-relative luck do not apply to LCALs of subject-involving luck.
Mobile robot navigation and target tracking system

This paper presents the framework for the navigation and target tracking system for a mobile robot. Navigation and target tracking are to be performed using a Microsoft Xbox Kinect sensor which provides RGB color and 3D depth imaging data to an x86 based computer onboard the robot running Ubuntu Linux. A fuzzy logic controller to be implemented on the computer is considered for control of the robot in obstacle avoidance and target following. Data collected by the computer is to be sent to a server for processing with learning-based systems utilizing neural networks for pattern recognition, object tracking, long-term path planning and process improvement. An eventual goal of this work is to create a multi-agent robot system that is able to work autonomously in an outdoor environment.
Depletion of Alveolar Macrophages during Influenza Infection Facilitates Bacterial Superinfections

Viruses such as influenza suppress host immune function by a variety of methods. This may result in significant morbidity through several pathways, including facilitation of secondary bacterial pneumonia from pathogens such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. PKH26-phagocytic cell labeling dye was administered intranasally to label resident alveolar macrophages (AMs) in a well-established murine model before influenza infection to determine turnover kinetics during the course of infection. More than 90% of resident AMs were lost in the first week after influenza, whereas the remaining cells had a necrotic phenotype. To establish the impact of this innate immune defect, influenza-infected mice were challenged with S. pneumoniae. Early AM-mediated bacterial clearance was significantly impaired in influenza-infected mice: ~50% of the initial bacterial inoculum could be harvested from the alveolar airspace 3 h later. In mock-infected mice, by contrast, >95% of inocula up to 50-fold higher was efficiently cleared. Coinfection during the AM depletion phase caused significant body weight loss and mortality. Two weeks after influenza, the AM population was fully replenished with successful re-establishment of early innate host protection. Local GM-CSF treatment partially restored the impaired early bacterial clearance with efficient protection against secondary pneumococcal pneumonia. We conclude that resident AM depletion occurs during influenza infection. Among other potential effects, this establishes a niche for secondary pneumococcal infection by altering early cellular innate immunity in the lungs, resulting in pneumococcal outgrowth and lethal pneumonia. This novel mechanism will inform development of novel therapeutic approaches to restore lung innate immunity against bacterial superinfections.
Culture-independent identification of microorganisms that respond to specified stimuli

A new approach that permits culture-independent identification of microorganisms that respond to specified stimuli was developed. This approach was illustrated by examination of microorganisms that grew in response to various nutrient supplements added to soil. A thymidine nucleotide analog, bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), and supplements were added to soil and incubated for 3 days. DNA was extracted from the soil, and the newly synthesized DNA was isolated by immunocapture of the BrdU-labeled DNA. The unique perspective this approach offers was demonstrated by comparing the microbial community structures obtained from total soil DNA and the BrdU-labeled fraction in an rRNA gene (rDNA) analysis. The traditional total DNA analysis revealed no notable differences between the treatments, whereas the BrdU-labeled DNA showed significantly different banding patterns between the nutrient supplement treatments and compared with total DNA banding patterns. PCR primers were developed to specifically amplify the intergenic region of an rDNA sequence unique to the BrdU analysis of a phosphate supplement treatment. Amplification of DNA from all treatments using these primers showed that it was unique to the phosphate treatment and that it was present in both the total DNA and BrdU-labeled DNA fractions. This result demonstrates the promise of this new strategy, because it was able to permit identification of a sequence from a phosphate-responsive organism that was not discernable in the traditional total DNA community structure analysis.
A survey of secure mobile Ad Hoc routing protocols

Several routing protocols have been proposed in recent years for possible deployment of mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) in military, government and commercial applications. In this paper, we review these protocols with a particular focus on security aspects. The protocols differ in terms of routing methodologies and the information used to make routing decisions. Four representative routing protocols are chosen for analysis and evaluation including: Ad Hoc on demand Distance Vector routing (AODV), Dynamic Source Routing (DSR), Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR) and Temporally Ordered Routing Algorithm (TORA). Secure ad hoc networks have to meet five security requirements: confidentiality, integrity, authentication, non-repudiation and availability. The analyses of the secure versions of the proposed protocols are discussed with respect to the above security requirements.
Coal River’s Last Mountain King Coal’s Après moi le déluge Reign

A failed proposal to substitute wind energy for mountaintop removal coal mining provides a valuable case study illustrating the weakness of theoretical approaches that neglect class relations and the analytical strength of Marxist ecology for understanding the processes of environmental degradation. The latter’s strength is shown in its illumination of the ways in which class relations in the coalfields are tied to capitalism’s metabolic rift and how this rift shapes political struggle and developmental path dependencies. Using Marx’s approach of successive abstractions, the interrelated drivers and consequences of mountaintop removal mining in the Coal River Valley are analyzed from three vantage points: the perspective of ecology, of capital, and of human development. The destructiveness involved in this type of coal production reveals the ways in which capitalism depends on an apres moi le deluge regime, discounting the future, and thus barring sustainable human development.
Do Parental Transfers Reduce Youths' Incentives to Work?

. This paper uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 to examine the effects that parental transfers from a family have on a youth's labor supply. The results from a fixed-effects two-stage least squares estimator suggest that: (i) parental pocket money reduces youths' incentives to work; (ii) parental allowances have a non-linear effect on hours worked; (iii) the subsample of siblings shows similar patterns that parental transfers have a negative impact on hours worked, although the magnitudes are slightly weaker than the full sample; and (iv) the response to parental transfers varies by age.
Impacts of suspended sediment on the ecosystem in Lake Michigan: A comparison between the 1998 and 1999 plume events

[1] The impact of a reflective, recurrent coastal resuspension plume on the lower trophic food web system in Lake Michigan was examined using a 3-D coupled physical and biological model. Numerical experiments were conducted for the March 1998 and 1999 plume events. The comparison between modeling results of these 2 years shows that the spatial distributions of the biological fields (i.e., phosphorus, phytoplankton, detritus, etc.) were closely coupled to the physical environment associated with wind-induced three-dimensional circulation and mixing. The influence of suspended sediment plumes on the lake ecosystem was reflected in heterotrophic (secondary) production rather than in the autotrophic (primary) production. Nutrients were maintained through nutrient release from suspended sediments within the plume, while it was supplied by current advection and diffusion in the interior. The cross-shore flux of nutrients was driven by episodic wind events with a period of about 5–7 days. The flux was offshore during northerly winds and onshore during southerly winds. Comparisons between energy fluxes among biological variables suggest that the microbial loop (detritus-heterotrophic bacteria and microzooplankton) played an important role in the ecosystem dynamics during plume events. Bacteria were good competitors with phytoplankton for inorganic phosphorus and were also a key supporter for growth of microzooplankton inside and outside the plume. As a result, the lower food web system could be divided into two decoupled loops: (1) detritus-bacteria-microzooplankton-large zooplankton and (2) nutrient-phytoplankton-detritus.
The Macroeconomic News Cycle and Uncertainty Resolution

We examine the behavior of return volatility and trading at 5‐minute intervals in the treasury bond futures market in the context of the monthly macroeconomic news cycle. We advance and confirm the hypothesis that volatility and trading activity are higher in the first half of the month. The data indicate that these patterns arise from at least two sources: (1) a higher level of uncertainty regarding the value of news in announcements in the first half of the month, and (2) improvement in efficiency of macroeconomic forecasts from the first to the second half of the month.