cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mammalian p55CDC Mediates Association of the Spindle Checkpoint Protein Mad2 with the Cyclosome/Anaphase-promoting Complex, and is Involved in Regulating Anaphase Onset and Late Mitotic Events

We have investigated the function of p55CDC, a mammalian protein related to Cdc20 and Hct1/Cdh1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and Fizzy and Fizzy-related in Drosophila. Immunofluorescence studies and expression of a p55CDC-GFP chimera demonstrate that p55CDC is concentrated at the kinetochores in M phase cells from late prophase to telophase. Some p55CDC is also associated with the spindle microtubules and spindle poles, and some is diffuse in the cytoplasm. At anaphase, the concentration of p55CDC at the kinetochores gradually diminishes, and is gone by late telophase. In extracts prepared from M phase, but not from interphase HeLa cells, p55CDC coimmunoprecipitates with three important elements of the M phase checkpoint machinery: Cdc27, Cdc16, and Mad2. p55CDC is required for binding Mad2 with the Cdc27 and Cdc16. Thus, it is likely that p55CDC mediates the association of Mad2 with the cyclosome/anaphase-promoting complex. Microinjection of anti-p55CDC antibody into mitotic mammalian cells induces arrest or delay at metaphase, and impairs progression of late mitotic events. These studies suggest that mammalian p55CDC may be part of a regulatory and targeting complex for the anaphase-promoting complex.
Nonosmotic Stimuli Alter Osmoregulation in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury

Studies on two quadriplegic patients who developed severe hyponatremia during episodes of acute respiratory distress were performed to determine whether differences in osmoregulation of vasopressin release could be identified in these patients compared to other quadriplegic subjects previously studied in a similar manner. Both patients were clinically stable and normonatremic, with no signs or symptoms of respiratory distress, when the studies were performed. However, both exhibited evidence of hemodynamic instability in the sitting posture. Linear regression analysis of the plasma vasopressin/plasma osmolality (Pavp:Posm) relationship during infusions of 0.85 m sodium chloride showed no significant differences in either the slope (sensitivity) or abscissal intercept (osmotic threshold) of this relationship compared to that of other quadriplegic subjects when the patients were supine. In contrast, when the patients were studied in the sitting posture there was a marked shift in the relationship of Pavp:Po...
Hormone action at the membrane level. VIII. Adrenergic receptors in rat heart and adipocytes and their modulation by thyroxine.

The regulation of adrenergic receptors in rat heart was measured in rats made hyperthyroid by injection with thyroxine and made hypothyroid by addition of propylthiouracil to the drinking water. Hyperthyroid rats displayed cardiac hypertrophy and a decrease in epididymal gat pad weight. The maximal beta-receptor level of ventricular membranes, as determined by (−)-[3H]dihydroalprenolol binding, was increased 60% by thyroxine treatment and decreased about 30% by propylthiouracil treatment. The affinity of the beta receptor was unchanged after thyroxine or propylthiouracil treatment. The maximal activity of the isoproterenol-stimulated adenylate cyclase (EC 4.6.1.1) varied with thyroid state in a manner parallel to the increase in beta-adrenergic binding sites. Thyroxine treatment also increases by 2-fold the beta receptors in isolated rat fat cells. Propylthiouracil treatment lowered the level of alpha receptors in heart by 30% as measured by [3H]dihydroergocryptine binding, but increased the affinity about 2.5 fold. The highest level of alpha receptors was seen in control hearts. These studies indicate that thyroxine may control the turnover of beta-adrenergic receptors in heart and fat cells and regulate physiological responses in these tissues via a hormone-hormone interplay system. Thyroxine treatment reduced the activity of the membrane-bound Mg2+-ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3) and 5′-mononucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5) but appears to increase the activity of the (Na+ + K+)ATPase (EC 3.6.1.4).
Regeneration and autotomy exhibited by the Black Widow spider,Latrodectus variolus walckenaer : I. The legs.

Crustaceans, insects and to a lesser degree arachnids have been employed in regeneration studies. Amputation and ligation of the legs was used to determine occurring in a Black Widow spider complied with the developmental gradient model of regeneration. The occurrence of autotomy in this species was also documented. Amputation indicated the most proximal point from which regeneration of the leg could occur was the femoral mid-point. Amputation proximal to that area did not result in leg regeneration. Autotomy following amputation was not observed. Ligation of the legs resulted in autotomy when applied at and proximal to the mid-point of the tibia, increasing in frequency as more proximal segments were ligated. Autotomy always occurred at the trochanter-coxa joint. Autotomized legs did not regenerate. The regeneration observed complied with the developmental gradient model.
Reverse saturable absorption in polymethine dyes

Thenonlinear absorption of a series of polymethine dyes (PD's) have been investigated, and some of them are identified as potential candidates for optical limiting applications. We have demonstrated that very low optical limiting thresholds can be obtained by using polymethine dyes with a large ratio of the absorption cross section ofthe excited to the ground-state: a ratio as large as 200 has been measured in one of the PD's. This value is significantly higher than any previously reported value, while, at the same time, maintaining a large ground-state cross section. It has been shown that nonlinear absorption of PD's in polyurethane acrylate (PUA) polymer is as large as in ethanol solution. In addition, photostability of the PD's and initial measurements ofoptical limiting in these samples are reported.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Isostasy and its Meaning

The theory of isostasy supposes that, in regions which have not been disturbed recently, each vertical column of the earth's crust with a certain minimum radius and extending to a depth of about 100 km has approximately the same mass. To find the deviation from this approximation in a given region, the density must be assumed as a function of depth. Such assumptions used at present for calculations are discussed critically. The resulting errors are greater than it is normally beleaved; errors in the calculated isostatic gravity anomalies exceeding ten milligals must be expected in certain regions. Systematic errors result from the usual assumption in routine calculations that the mean density in the earth's crustal layers under the bottom of the Pacific and in the continental areas is the same, and that in both the difference between the density of the layers above about 30 km and the layers below this depth is 0.6. The processes producing and maintaining isostatic equilibrium are discussed.
Polarized distribution of key membrane transport proteins in the rat submandibular gland

Immunofluorescence labelling and confocal microscopy were employed to examine the polarized distribution of several membrane transport proteins believed to be essential for salivary secretion in the rat submandibular gland. The Na+/K+-ATPase, Na+/H+ exchanger isoform 1 (NHE1), and the secretory Na+/K+/2Cl–cotransporter isoform were all found in the basolateral membranes of acinar and intralobular duct cells. Anion exchanger isoform 2 (AE2) was found only in the basolateral membranes of acinar cells, while AE1 was absent from glandular epithelial cells. Aquaporin 5 was detected in the apical membranes of acinar cells, while the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator was found only in apical membranes of intralobular duct cells. NHEs 2 and 3 were found in the apical membranes of both acinar and intralobular duct cells. Our results are generally consistent with the expected distribution of most transporters based on previous physiological and pharmacological experiments. However, the apical localization of NHEs 2 and 3, and the presence of the secretory isoform of the Na+/K+/2Cl–cotransporter in intralobular duct cells were not predicted.
Middle latency auditory evoked potentials to tones of different frequency

The scalp distributions of middle latency auditory evoked potentials (MAEPs) elicited by tone bursts of 250 and 4000 Hz were compared in two experiments. Na (19.9 ms), Pa (29.8 ms), and Pb (51.4 ms) components elicited by tones of either frequency had fronto-central distributions, whereas the Nb component (38.4 ms) was maximal at parietal sites. Although the distributions of MAEP components varied as a function of the ear of stimulation, no significant differences were found as a function of tone frequency. The results are consistent with suggestions that MAEPs reflect activation of non-tonotopically organized generators.
An optically isolated digital interface for the SKED system

A digital interface to support the SKED software system in recent versions of the PDP-8 computer. One printed circuit card of interface logic and optical isolators can be installed in the OMNIBUS to provide 24 input and 36 output lines to external panels containing input simulation switches and input or output indicators.
Identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence determinants - new technologies for a difficult problem.

We thank Gery Hehman for his critical reading of the manuscript. Our research is supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Dept of Veteran Affairs.
Energy levels of 136 Pm and 136 Nd via beta decay of 136 Sm and 136 Pm

136Pm and136Nd were studied using theβ decay of136Sm and136Pm. The radioactive nuclei were produced by the92Mo (48Ti,xpyn) and112Sn (28Si,xpyn) reactions. The UNISOR isotope separator enabled mass identification. The previously unknown level scheme of136Pm was constructed and the half-life of136Sm was determined to be 47±2 s. Six new levels and thirteen newγ-ray transitions have been added to the level scheme of136Nd.
The role of microorganisms in the stabilization of soil aggregates

Abstract The maintenance of water-stability of soil aggregates bound by different chemicalbinding agents produced in situ by pure cultures of microorganisms and by an indigenous soil microflora was assessed by wet-sieve analysis. Seven fungi, six streptomycetes, and five bacteria produced binding materials in artificial aggregates of Miami silt loam amended with sucrose. These aggregates generally showed little resistance to biodegradation by a soil population. Comparable aggregates amended with corn stover were more resistant to biodegradation; at least 50 per cent of these aggregates were stable after 64 days. Progressive decreases in the water-stability of these aggregates near the end of 128 day. indicated the depletion of energy sources necessary for the synthesis of aggregating agents. Water-stable aggregates were formed at a faster rate at 30°C than at 15°C, but maximum stability was maintained longer at 15°C than at 30°C. Water-stabilities of aggregates rapidly declined when aggregates bound at 15°C were transferred to 30°C. This indicated biodegradability at 30°C of the binding substances synthesized at 15°C. These data support the hypothesis of Stallings (1953) and endorsed by Harris et al . (1966b) that the status of soil aggregation is determined by the net effect of the continuous synthesis and degradation of binding materials by the microbial population en masse rather than the activity of specific microorganisms. This balance between synthesis and degradation of binding materials is controlled by the prevailing environmental conditions and nutritional factors which affect microbial activity.
On the use of the complementary energy in the solution of buckling problems

Abstract A systematic derivation of the expression for the complementary energy in elastic buckling problems is presented. Compatibility is identified with variation with respect to the stress components, and the resulting eigenvalue problem is shown to be equivalent to, and sometimes more convenient than, the corresponding formulation in terms of the potential energy. Similarly, approximate techniques may lead to better as well as simpler estimates, whose upper bound property can, however, be assured only through appropriate safeguards. The method is applied in some detail to buckling of columns of arbitrary boundary conditions and axial force distribution. Another example is the problem of lateral beam buckling, with the effect of warping restraint included. In both cases (and presumably in many others) the complementary energy formulation is of lower order than the conventional potential energy formulation, and it is clear that the same simplification should also apply to finite elements or other discrete formats. The method is restricted to the (technically significant) case of a linear prebuckling state.
Probabilistic Numerical Simulation of Pavement Performance using MEPDG

ABSTRACT It is widely acknowledged that the accurate simulation of complex engineering systems, such as nuclear power reactors, modern weapon systems, and aircraft, requires probabilistic analysis due to inherent uncertainties in their models' parameters. The demand for and the complexity of probabilistic analysis prompted Sandia National Laboratories to develop a versatile software toolkit, DAKOTA, adaptable to various engineering applications. Pavements are another example of a complex engineering system requiring probabilistic modeling due to the uncertain nature of most of the pavement performance models parameters, including traffic, climate, material properties, and pavement structure. The deterministic pavement performance models vary from simplistic empirical relationships to complex mechanistic-empirical computational algorithms. Due to DAKOTA's independence of choice of analysis tool, it is a natural candidate to perform probabilistic aspects of pavement performance prediction. The paper present...
Mixing in the surface boundary layer of a tropical freshwater reservoir

Abstract A combined observational-modeling study was conducted to investigate turbulence mixing, and the relation to surface forcing, in the surface boundary layer (SBL) of a tropical, high-altitude, freshwater reservoir. A suite of vertical profiles of temperature microstructure, collected at three different stations of one-day duration each, provided estimates of dissipation rates of turbulence kinetic energy, ϵ , and temperature variance, χ . Numerical simulations of ϵ and χ , using state-of-the-art, public domain, two-equation turbulence closure models, compared favorably with the observations and reproduced the dynamics of daytime wind mixing as well as the vertical and temporal turbulence structure during nighttime convective conditions. Two independent estimates of vertical eddy diffusivities in the stably stratified (daytime) SBL, computed from the microstructure measurements, agreed closely, and the near surface heat and buoyancy fluxes, computed from the diffusivities, were similar to those computed independently from surface meteorology. Model generated eddy diffusivities agreed closely with the observed values, except those generated by K profile parameterization (KPP) model simulations. The good agreement provides confidence that nutrient fluxes in the SBL may be accurately computed from the models when forced with regularly measured surface meteorological parameters. The consequences are important for estimation of daily primary productivity rates in the euphotic zone and the ability to predict algal blooms such as those observed in the present reservoir.
PMD2 The Effect of the Louisiana Medicaid Lock-in on Prescription Drug Utilization And Expenditures

In an effort to contain costs while assuring quality, the Louisiana Medicaid program expanded its existing Lock-in program (for high utilizers) in the summer and fall of 1995. Lock-in recipients may be locked-in to a primary care physician, a specialist, and/or a pharmacy. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to determine the impact of the lock-in on pharmacy provider consistency, and the utilization of prescription drugs and expenditures for prescription drugs. METHODS: To be included in this study, a recipient must have been continuously eligible for Medicaid during the study period, not have been a nursing home patient, not participated in the Community Care program (a gate-keeping program), and enrolled in the lock-in program. Two years of pharmacy claims data were used in the analysis. A t-test compared pharmacy provider consistency prior to and during the lock-in. Segmented regression was used to determine if there were significant differences in the slopes and the levels of pre-lock-in and post-lock-in trend lines for utilization and expenditure variables. RESULTS: A total of 1,490 recipients met the inclusion criteria. The study group was predominantly female and white with an average age of 47.56. Results demonstrated that post lock-in, recipients received significantly more prescriptions from a single pharmacy when compared to the pre-lock period. Significant reductions were also found in the utilization of number of different drugs (a surrogate for polypharmacy), utilization of Schedule II narcotics, and total pharmacy costs (adjusted for decline in per unit cost). There was also a slight reduction in number of maintenance medications, but the difference was not significant. CONCLUSION: The lock-in improved continuity of pharmacy care of enrolled Medicaid recipients. It also significantly decreased polypharmacy while having little effect on maintenance medications.
Systems with resonating-valence-bond ground states: Correlations and excitations.

We consider a resonating-valence-bond state as a variational estimate for the ground state of a Heisenberg antiferromagnet. We derive an expression for the normalization of this wave function, which is a superposition of a very large number of singlet pair states, which we then use to show that the singularities, correlations, and low-lying excitations of this quantum system can be calculated from the partition function of a related dimerlike classical statistical mechanics problem. Possible calculational schemes are discussed.
A flame dictionary method for an unsteady, premixed laminar flame

Abstract A numerical method is presented that models a premixed, laminar flame in a single or several space dimensions. The method models the reaction zone of the flame as an interface followed by a preheat zone. The downstream edge of the preheat zone characterizes an entry in a flame dictionary. The entries in the flame dictionary constitute a compendium of one-dimensional, steady-state flame profiles under chemical and flow field conditions encountered by the flame as it progresses through the flow field. The dictionary is independent of the number of space dimensions, geometry and boundary conditions. This method overcomes the problems associated with multiple time and length scales associated with chemically reactive flows. Numerical results in one-space dimension demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the flame dictionary method. Results are also presented in two space dimensions for the interaction of a premixed, laminar flame with a cold wall.
Alfvén eigenmode observations on DIII-D via two-colour CO2 interferometry

Measurements are presented of toroidicity-induced (TAEs) and reverse shear (RSAEs) Alfven eigenmodes made using the standard two-colour CO2 interferometer on DIII-D modified for increased bandwidth. Typical values of the effective line-integrated density perturbation in DIII-D are found to be d(nL)/nL ~ 10−3, and comparisons are made with NOVA calculations as well as magnetic measurements. There is a strong difference in the measured power spectrum between vertical and radial chords through the plasma. On average, vertical views are characterized by a larger line-integrated density perturbation due to TAEs than radial chords. Radial chords, however, can be used much more reliably than vertical chords to identify the presence of RSAEs in the plasma—a result found to be due to the radially localized nature of these modes. In general, the apparent amplitude of the observed modes for both TAE and RSAE is found to be highly dependent on viewing location.
Trimethaphan-induced hypotension: effect on renal function.

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of trimethaphan-induced hypotension on renal function in healthy young patients undergoing maxillofacial surgery. Anaesthesia was induced with thiopentone and was maintained with halothane 1.5-2.0 per cent in oxygen. Each patient served as his own control, and data were analyzed using the paired t-test. Trimethaphan was infused at a rate of 45-52 [xg-kg-lmin-1 for an average hypotensive period of 53 ± 4 (mean ± SEM) minutes to reduce the mean arterial pressure (MAP) to 49 ± 2 torr. Endogenous creatinine clearance, urinary Po2, sodium reabsorption rate (TNa), and serum and urine osmolalities were determined before, during and after arterial hypotension with trimethaphan. Urine flow averaged 2.9 ± 1 ml/min during the period of hypotension. Endogenous creatinine clearance and TNa were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the hypotensive period. These values returned to normal levels within one hour upon discontinuation of trimethaphan and restoration of blood pressure. We found no statistical difference in urine Po2, and serum and urine osmolalities during control, hypotensive and recovery periods. These results suggest that medullary renal tissue oxygenation, an index of tissue viability, may have remained adequate despite a significant reduction in endogenous creatinine clearance during the hypotensive period. Furthermore, it appears that the effect of trimethaphan-induced hypotension on renal function is similar to the sodium nitro-prusside-induced hypotension in man which we have reported previously.
From 51 Peg to Earth-type planets

Abstract The discovery of 51 Pegasi is the result of a continuous improvement of cross-correlation spectrographs to obtain more precise radial velocities. Three generations of instruments developed over 30 years have allowed us to increase the radial-velocity precision by a factor 1000, from 250 m s−1 in the 70s to a value close to 0.25 m s−1 today. The statistical results gathered on exoplanet properties over the last 14 years have revealed the amazing diversity of extrasolar planetary systems. Our solar system does not appear to be a typical example of planetary systems. These discoveries have provided strong constraints for planet-formation models. At the beginning the detections were mostly focused on gaseous giant planets. Today, the best precision is achieved by the HARPS spectrograph. This makes possible the discovery of planets with masses comparable to the mass of the Earth. A new category of very low mass with minimum masses below 10 Earth masses, which may well be solid objects, has recently been revealed. This newly discovered population (apparently quite numerous) reveals specific statistical properties offering useful constraints for planet-formation models. The continuously improving precision of the radial velocity technique strengthens our hope that real Earth-type planets could be identified in the very few coming years.
Dehydrogenation of Propane over Platinum Containing CIT-6

The catalytic dehydrogenation of propane is carried out on platinum-impregnated CIT-6 catalysts. Prior to loading platinum, numerous postsynthesis treatments of the as-made CIT-6 are investigated, e.g., calcination, structure directing agent (SDA) extraction, ion exchange, etc., to observe the effects of catalyst preparation on the dehydrogenation of propane. The catalytic behavior depends strongly on the method of postsynthesis treatment. When the as-made CIT-6 is contacted with NH_4NO_3 to remove the SDA prior to platinum loading, an active, selective, and stable catalyst is obtained. ^(29)Si NMR studies show that, after this postsynthesis treatment, some of the zinc remains within the CIT-6 framework. Contacting as-made CIT-6 with Zn(NO_3)_2 to remove the SDA prior to platinum loading gives a solid with a higher level of extraframework zinc. This additional amount of extraframework zinc does not lead to a more stable catalyst. When as-made CIT-6 is contacted with acetic acid at 60 °C, the SDA and also the zinc are extracted to give pure-silica CIT-6. Platinum loading into this material gives a catalyst that deactivates very rapidly. Thus, framework zinc appears to be essential for the creation of a stable platinum-impregnated CIT-6 catalyst for propane dehydrogenation.
Implementation of an optimizing compiler for VHDL

We present techniques used to implement an optimizing compiler for the VHSIC hardware description language (VHDL). We present details about the LR parser used to parse the input program. An efficient intermediate representation, called a process graph, is constructed as a result of the parsing. This representation is chosen to facilitate the ease of data flow analyses and optimizations. The process graph is a reducible flow graph because of the restricted subset of VHDL that we work with. The various data flow analyses and optimization techniques that have been implemented are described. This optimizing compiler is being used as a front end for a tool that performs behavioral synthesis.
Understanding the Meteorological Drivers of U.S. Particulate Matter Concentrations in a Changing Climate

Particulate matter (PM) air pollution is a serious public health issue for the United States. While there is a growing body of evidence that climate change will partially counter the effectiveness of future precursor emission reductions to reduce ozone (O3) air pollution, the links between PM and climate change are more complex and less understood. This paper discusses what we currently understand about the potential sensitivity of PM episodes to climate-change-related shifts in air pollution meteorology, in the broader context of the emissions and atmospheric chemistry drivers of PM. For example, initial studies have focused largely on annual average concentrations of inorganic aerosol species. However, the potential for future changes in the occurrence of PM episodes, and their underlying meteorological drivers, are likely more important to understand and remain highly uncertain. In addition, a number of other poorly understood factors interact with these likely critical meteorological changes. These in...
Balanced subgroups of totally projective groups

The following uniqueness theorem is proved for balanced subgroups of totally projective groups. Let B and B′ be balanced subgroups of reduced totally projective groups A and A′, respectively. If B and B′ have the same Ulm-Kaplansky invariants and if AB ≅ A′B′, then B is isomorphic to B′.
Folate and 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (FDH) expression in the central nervous system of the mature rat

10-Formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (10-FTHFDH) is a folate-binding protein that is important in folate metabolism. In addition, 10-FTHFDH catalyzes the rate-limiting step in hepatic folate-dependent formate oxidation. We measured folate concentrations and examined cellular 10-FTHFDH expression in regions of the adult rat central nervous system (CNS), to study components of CNS oxidative formate metabolism. Folate was detected in every CNS region studied; the concentrations ranged from 3 to 14% of that detected in the liver. Immunohistochemical expression of 10-FTHFDH was identified in many CNS structures. 10-FTHFDH was mostly expressed by glia, especially astrocytes and ventricular ependyma. Neuronal expression was weak but evident in the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, cerebellum, and spinal cord. Thus, CNS tissue has the chief components of folate-dependent formate oxidation and the chief site of this oxidation appears to be glia.
Fault tolerance study on large scale Benes switches

In this paper, we present methods to enhance the fault tolerance of large-scale optical switches through innovations in architecture and control logic design. A large-scale switch is constructed from a network of 2/spl times/2 optical switch elements (SEs). Classic switch network architectures, such as the Benes, are not designed with fault tolerance in mind. There are three major contributions in this paper: 1) we developed an analytical method, referred to as the probability accumulation method, to calculate the average connection blocking probability in a faulty switch network; 2) we provided a fault-aware routing algorithm to effectively circumvent connections from defected SEs in a dilated Benes switch; and 3) we improved the connectivity pattern of the Benes network to further reduce the blocking probability, especially when the SE failure rate is low.
Floodtide pulses after low tides in shallow subembayments adjacent to deep channels

In shallow waters surface gravity waves (tides) propagate with a speed proportional to the square root of water depth (c ¼ ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiðhChÞ p ). As the ratio of free surface displacement to mean depth (h/h) approaches unity the wave will travel noticeably faster at high tide than at low tide, creating asymmetries in the tidal form. This physical process is explained analytically by the increased significance of friction and the nonlinear terms in the continuity and momentum equations. In a tidal system comprising a shallow bay adjacent to a deeper channel, tidal asymmetries will be more prevalent in the shallow bay. Thus strong barotropic gradients can be generated between the two, producing rapid accelerations of currents into the bay (relative to other bay tidal processes) and create a maximum peak in the flood tide that we describe as a floodtide pulse. These floodtide pulses can promote a landward flux of suspended-sediment into the bay. In Grizzly Bay (part of northern San Francisco Bay, USA), field observations verify the occurrence of floodtide pulses during the lowest low tides of the year. No pulses were observed in neighboring Honker Bay, which has an average depth w30 cm greater than Grizzly Bay. Numerical simulations of northern San Francisco Bay using realistic bathymetry demonstrated that floodtide pulses occurred in Grizzly Bay but not in Honker Bay, consistent with the observations. Both observations and numerical simulations show that floodtide pulses promote a landward flux of sediment into Grizzly Bay. Numerical simulations of an idealized bayechannel system quantify the importance of mean depth and friction in creating these floodtide pulses. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
SHOULD ADVERTISERS USE NUMBER‐BASED COPY IN PRINT ADVERTISEMENTS?

Recently it is becoming more common for advertisers to employ numbers and statistics in their print advertisements. However, there has been no published research that investigates how this number‐based copy influences the reader. This study presents the results of a controlled experiment in which a number‐oriented versus a non‐number‐oriented ad was manipulated for a consumer durable and a consumer nondurable product. The results indicate that readers perceived the number‐based ad to be more informative than a similar ad without numbers, regardless of the type of product being advertised. The findings from this study can help advertisers create more effective advertisements which could ultimately enhance sales.
Successful aging—an emerging paradigm of gerontology

The social, medical, and economic problems of aging populations in the developed nations have evolved over the first 70 years of the past century. Over an historically brief time, an age in which infectious diseases dominated the morbidity and mortality patterns gave way to an era in which chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and stroke on the mortality side and arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease on the morbidity side, came to dominate the illness burden of developed nations. In the late 1960s, another epoch began; one in which declines were noted in the incidence of some of the most important chronic illnesses, particularly cardiovascular disease and stroke [1]. Increasingly, therefore, the illness burden began to be determined by the frailty of seniors and the frailty adding to and complicating the problems of chronic illness. The acute diseases of premature death with little morbidity first had given way to chronic problems of much longer duration and much greater cumulative disability. The scientific advances of antibiotics, insulin, and many others enabled people to live longer and thus to experience greater cumulative disability. This paradoxic problem was termed by some the ‘‘failure of success’’ [2], because rapid increases in life expectancy from birth (from 47 years at the turn of the twentieth century to 76 years later in the century) were accompanied by an increase in the absolute amount of morbidity in the typical life and an increased fraction of that life spent in other than perfect health. Demographic projections suggested a very gloomy health future for developed nations, with predictions of astronomic nursing home needs and a decline in the national quality of life.
Interest Group Participation, Competition, and Conflict in the U.S. Supreme Court

In this article, we analyze how pluralistic, competitive, and conflictual interest group amicus curiae participation is in the U.S. Supreme Court. Examining participating organizations and briefs during the 1995 term, we address three inquiries. First, we scrutinize the types of organized interests who participate as amici curiae. We find that the Court is open to a wide array of interests and that particular types of groups do not dominate amicus activity. Second, we analyze the frequency with which amici file briefs on opposing sides of dispute. We reveal few strict patterns of competition, suggesting that Supreme Court cases are salient to a diverse spectrum of interest groups, many of which are not usually thought of as being in competition with one another. Third, we investigate how often and which amici directly cite one another for purposes of invalidating each other's argumentation. While amici have a great deal of opportunity for this form of direct conflict, it is surprisingly rare. Nonetheless, when amici engage in this express form of discord, they play a clear role in shaping the flow of information at the Court.
Knee Osteoarthritis and Frailty: Findings From the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study and Osteoarthritis Initiative

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) and frailty are two conditions that are associated with functional limitation and disability in elders, yet their relation to one another is not known. METHODS: We included participants from two large, multicenter studies enriched with community dwelling older adults with knee OA (Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study and Osteoarthritis Initiative). Knee OA was defined radiographically (ROA) and symptomatically (SOA). Frailty was defined using the Study of Osteoporotic Fracture index as the presence of ?2 of the following: (i) weight loss >5% between two consecutive visits; (ii) inability to arise from chair five times without support; (iii) poor energy. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of knee OA with prevalent and incident frailty, respectively, were examined using binomial regression with robust variance estimation, adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: In the cross-sectional analyses, frailty was more prevalent among participants with ROA (4.39% vs 2.77%; PR 1.60 [1.07, 2.39]) and SOA (5.88% vs 2.79%; PR 1.92 [1. 35, 2.74]) compared with those without ROA or SOA, respectively. In the longitudinal analyses, risk of developing frailty was greater among those with ROA (4.73% vs 2.50%; RR 1.45 [0.91, 2.30]) and SOA (6.30% vs 2.83%; RR 1.66 [1.11, 2.48]) than those without ROA or SOA, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Knee OA is associated with greater prevalence and risk of developing frailty. Understanding the mechanisms linking these two common conditions of older adults would aid in identifying novel targets for treatment or prevention of frailty.
Autonomous altitude estimation of a UAV using a single onboard camera

Autonomous estimation of the altitude of an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is extremely important when dealing with flight maneuvers like landing, steady flight, etc. Vision based techniques for solving this problem have been underutilized. In this paper, we propose a new algorithm to estimate the altitude of a UAV from top-down aerial images taken from a single on-board camera. We use a semi-supervised machine learning approach to solve the problem. The basic idea of our technique is to learn the mapping between the texture information contained in an image to a possible altitude value. We learn an over complete sparse basis set from a corpus of unlabeled images capturing the texture variations. This is followed by regression of this basis set against a training set of altitudes. Finally, a spatio-temporal Markov Random Field is modeled over the altitudes in test images, which is maximized over the posterior distribution using the MAP estimate by solving a quadratic optimization problem with L1 regularity constraints. The method is evaluated in a laboratory setting with a real helicopter and is found to provide promising results with sufficiently fast turnaround time.
Treatment of tularemia with fluoroquinolones: two cases and review.

Streptomycin, gentamicin, and tetracycline are currently considered the antimicrobials of choice for the treatment of tularemia. Preliminary data suggest that quinolones may be effective alternative agents; however, clinical experience is limited, and their role in treating severe disease is uncertain. We recently treated two acutely ill immunocompromised patients who had presumed atypical pneumonia with levofloxacin. Both patients had an excellent clinical response and were diagnosed with tularemia only when blood cultures subsequently yielded Francisella tularensis. Neither patient relapsed during 12 months of follow-up. Including our two cases, a total of 10 cases of tularemia treated with quinolones have been reported. In all 10 cases, a favorable clinical response was documented, and no relapses occurred. We conclude that the quinolones appear promising for the treatment of even severe tularemia, and they should be considered efficacious alternative agents for patients who do not require parenteral therapy or are intolerant of more standard treatment regimens.
Multilayer thin-film structures with high spatial dispersion

We demonstrate how to design thin-film multilayer structures that separate multiple wavelength channels with a single stack by spatial dispersion, thus allowing compact manufacturable wavelength multiplexers and demultiplexers and possibly beam-steering or dispersion-control devices. We discuss four types of structure—periodic one-dimensional photonic crystal superprism structures, double-chirped structures exploiting wavelength-dependent penetration depth, coupled-cavity structures with dispersion that is due to stored energy, and numerically optimized nonperiodic structures utilizing a mixture of the other dispersion effects. We experimentally test the spatial dispersion of a 200-layer periodic structure and a 66-layer nonperiodic structure. Probably because of its greater design freedom, the nonperiodic structure can give both a linear shift with wavelength and a larger usable shift than the thicker periodic structure gives. © 2003 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: 260.2030, 060.4230, 230.4170.
Effects of tricyclic antidepressants on platelet monoamine oxidase activity

The eight subjects in this study were diagnosed as having primary or secondary depression and were treated with amitriptyline, 100 to 300 mg/day. Activity of platelet monoamine oxidase (MAO), an enzyme responsible for the degradation of biogenic amines, was determined before and after treatment with amitriptyline. Pretreatment values for MAO activity ranged from 17.94 to 44.89 U. After amitriptyline the values ranged from 0.66 to 41.94 U, a mean decrease of 50.2%. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that the tricyclic antidepressants act, at least in part, by inhibition of MAO. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1984) 35, 531–534; doi:10.1038/clpt.1984.72
Enhancement of metastasis of prostate adenocarcinoma cells by immune-suppressive cyclosporine A

The rate and extent of metastasis by prostate adenocarcinoma-III cells was enhanced in Lobund-Wistar rats by administration of immune-suppressive cyclosporine A. PA-III cells spread from the subcutaneous PA-III-derived tumor, through ipsilateral lymph nodes, to the lungs in which they developed secondary tumors. Swollen lymph nodes, compacted with PA-III cells, indicate that the 'normal' host-engendered level of intravascular non-specific restraints to metastasis were abrogated by CSA.
The Future of Whiteness

Acknowledgments vi Introduction: The Unbearable Whiteness of Being 1 1 An Analytic of Whiteness 39 2 White Exceptionalism 91 3 Double Consciousness 136 Conclusion: A Place in the Rainbow 178 References 205 Index 219
Learning when to reject an importance sample

When observations are incomplete or data are missing, approximate inference methods based on importance sampling are often used. Unfortunately, when the target and proposal distributions are dissimilar, the sampling procedure leads to biased estimates or requires a prohibitive number of samples. Our method approximates a multivariate target distribution by sampling from an existing, sequential importance sampler and accepting or rejecting the proposals. We develop the rejection-sampler framework and show we can learn the acceptance probabilities from local samples. In a continuous-time domain, we show our method improves upon previous importance samplers by transforming a sequential importance sampling problem into a machine learning one.
Physiological and Biochemical Aspects of Marine Bacteria

This paper is not intended as a review. There is an enormous literature dealing directly with bacteria isolated from the sea and an even larger literature indirectly important to questions of marine bacterial physiology and biochemstry. In this paper I want to call attention to the contributions physiological and biochemical studies of pure cultures have made to marine ecology.
Advance Directives and Care Received by Older Nursing Home Residents.

Background:Research shows variable success as to whether care provided aligns with individual patient preferences as reflected in their advance directives (AD).Objective:We aimed to study AD status and subsequent care received in older nursing home (NH) residents deemed at risk for infections and care transitions: those with a urinary catheter (UC), feeding tube (FT), or both.Design/participants/measurements:A subgroup analysis of a prospective cohort of 90 residents with a UC and/or FT from 15 NHs in southeast Michigan. Outcomes assessed at enrollment and at 30-day intervals were hospitalizations and antibiotic use. The ADs were divided as follows: (1) comfort oriented: comfort measures only, no hospital transfer; (2) palliative oriented: comfort focused, allowing hospital transfer (except intensive care unit), antibiotic use, but no cardiopulmonary resuscitation; (3) usual care: full code, no limitations to care. We calculated incidences for these outcomes.Results:Seventy-eight (87%) residents had ADs: ...
A sublinear algorithm for barrier-certificate-based data-driven model validation of dynamical systems

The paper considers the problem of scaling the method of barrier certificates for data-driven validation of dynamical system models using a large number of collected trajectories. Construction of a barrier certificate requires solving a convex feasibility problem that consists of a set of affine constraints whose number grows with the size of the dataset. The time complexity of traditional methods such as the interior-point method depends at least linearly on the size of the dataset and can be expensive to use for large datasets. We show that sublinear time complexity can be achieved using the multiplicative weights method, which was originally proposed to compute an approximate feasible solution for affine constraints. After modifications, the multiplicative weights method is able to yield an exact solution to the convex feasibility problem and hence a valid barrier certificate. We also present numerical studies and show that the multiplicative weights method is favorable to traditional methods for large datasets.
Laboratory tests with promising insecticides for control of adult and larval stable flies.

Of 19 compounds that were effective against adults and larvae of the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), 4 had extremely low oral toxicities to rats or mice. These were SD-8949 (1-(2-bromo-4,5-dichlorophenyl)-2-chlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate), SD-8447 (2-chloro-1-(2,4,5-trichlorophenyl) vinyl dimethyl phosphate), SD-8211 (2-chloro-1-(2,5-dichlorophenyl) vinyl dimethyl phosphate), and SD-8972 (1-(4-bromo-2,5-dichlorophenyl)-2-chlorovinyl dimethyl phosphate). Susceptibility of the insect to the different compounds was determined by spraying adults in a wind tunnel and exposing larvae in treated CSMA medium. An evaluation was made of 146 compounds against adults and 212 against larvae.
Microwave Nitrudation of Silicon Compacts Utilizing a Temperature Gradient

Silicon compacts nitrided utilizing the temperature gradient inherent to microwave heating were more fully converted to silicon nitride than was possible with similar compacts nitrided isothermally. Although nitrogen depletion prevented the reaction rate in the center from exceeding that at the surface, the temperature gradient partially counteracted the effect of nitrogen depletion. Thus the microwave-heated specimens could be nitrided fully before the reduction in porosity that accompanies the reaction eliminated the diffusion of nitrogen into the compact.
Using Kinematics to Assess Software Usability and Ergonomic Risk Factors

Over fifty percent of the workforce utilize the computer and suffer health problems that include musculoskeletal disorders and physical discomfort (Newburger, 1999 and Work Loss Data Institute, 2001). Professionals from disciplines of human factors and ergonomics address computer issues independently. Usability and user interface issues are identified in the software development stage focusing on the users ability to perceive and understand the designed functions. Ergonomic professionals are involved in usability after implementation and upon complaints and user injury. The focus of ergonomics is to evaluate extreme postures, resulting from design that cause stress to the body. By using motion analysis, usability studies are enriched by identifying extreme movements in completing system tasks. In this paper we will present a novel method that utilizes the kinematics of the user's hand and wrist movements to simultaneously evaluate physical strain and usability.
Design and application of intelligent gas drainage system of coal mine

Local ventilation frequency control system is a special control system of underground local fan support,according to the working face gas concentration can automatically adjust the air flow,automatic switching double fan double power supply,to face on-demand ventilation and safety and high efficiency of gas,is of great significance to the coal mine production safety,energy saving.
Helping elderly couples in crisis.

A differential approach to effective service delivery to frail aging spouses is developed. Emphasis is placed on the caregiving function as it impacts on marital relations late in life. Case exampl...