cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Risk factors associated with hospital readmission in pediatric asthma.

Asthma is a leading cause of hospitalization among children, and about 15–50% of pediatric patients are readmitted after an index admission. The purpose of this integrative review is to explore contemporary scientific findings on the association between pediatric asthma readmission and various demographic, environmental, psychosocial and clinical risk factors. An electronic database search resulted in a sample of 29 studies. African American, public or no insurers, previous admission and complex chronic comorbidity were identified as risk factors associated with pediatric asthma readmission. However, more interdisciplinary and well-designed investigations are warranted to further explicate the spectrum of environmental and psychosocial correlates.
Viscometric analysis of the contractile proteins of mammalian spermatozoa.

Abstract Modifications of the methods for isolating myosin, actin, and actomyosin from mammalian muscle were employed to extract the contractile proteins of the bull spermatozoan flagellum in order to study their physicochemical properties. The flagellum was found to contain at least two distinct proteins, flactin and spermosin, which interacted to form a “complex”, flactospermosin, deformable in the presence of ATP and divalent cations. Bull sperm flagellar spermosin resembled muscle myosin in that it showed no viscometric response to the addition of ATP and magnesium ions, but did interact reversibly with both actin and flactin. Bull sperm flagellar flactin resembled muscle actin in that it contained a stoichiometric quantity of bound nucleotide, was polymerizable in the presence of ATP and MgCl 2 , was depolymerized in the presence of KI, and interacted reversibly with both myosin and spermosin. Flactospermosin, both when extracted directly from the spermatozoa or when prepared by mixing flactin with spermosin, responded to the presence of ATP and magnesium ions by undergoing a reversible decrease in viscosity.
Child sexual abuse: a case study in community collaboration.

Abstract Objective: This is an exploratory study that describes the process and outcomes of a Midwestern US community’s approach to case management of child sexual abuse. Method: Data were abstracted from 323 criminal court files. Specific information gathered included child and suspect demographic data, law enforcement and CPS involvement, child disclosure patterns and caretaker responses, offender confession, offender plea, trial and child testimony information, and sentences received by offenders. Both case process and outcome variables were examined. Results: In this community, criminal court records reflect a sex offense confession rate of 64% and a sex offense plea rate of 70%. Only 15 cases went to trial and in six the offender was convicted. Conclusion: Communities can achieve successful outcomes when criminal prosecution of sexual abuse is sought, but the child’s testimony is not necessarily the centerpiece of a successful case. In this study, desired outcomes were a consequence of the collaborative efforts of law enforcement, CPS, and the prosecutor’s office, which resulted in a high confession and plea rate.
Phosphoinositide second messengers in olfaction.

Abstract Olfactory stimuli (odorants) are detected and recognized by binding to receptors belonging to the G-protein-coupled receptor superfamily. The binding of odorants to some receptors stimulates the activity of an odorant-sensitive phospholipase C (PLC) thereby generating the second messengers inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol (DAG). IP3 plays a key role in membrane depolarization by binding to a receptor that is itself a cation channel. The formation of DAG is expected to stimulate the activity of protein kinase C (PKC). PKC, together with G-protein-coupled receptor kinases, mediates signal termination by phosphorylation of odorant receptors and possibly other substrates. This review summarizes recent evidence regarding the role of phosphoinositide-derived second messengers in the molecular events underlying olfactory signaling. In addition, the role of calcium as a “third messenger” that provides a mechanism for interaction between phosphoinositide second messengers and components of the cyclic AMP signaling pathway is also discussed.
Hemodialysis compliance: The relationship of staff estimates of patients' intelligence and understanding to compliance

Abstract Hemodialysis staff assessments of the behavior of 661 patients from 93 centers in the U.S. in 1967 were available for a secondary analysis to identify how useful are staff estimates of patient's intelligence level or level of understanding of a restriction in relation to assessments of patient's compliance with three dietary restrictions and shunt care. Three beliefs regarding the importance of intelligence or understanding in patient compliance are found among professionals in the literature but the validity of these beliefs has not been supported empirically. The finding that staff assessments of patient's understanding of restrictions is more useful in predicting complicance than patient's estimated intelligence level suggests the need for questioning the implications of staff beliefs. The issue is critical both because intelligence has been used as a criterion for selecting patients for treatment and because staff beliefs about the role of intelligence may effect their management of patients.
Hypothyroidism: Learning deficit induced in rats by early exposure to thiouracil

Abstract Two experiments were conducted with rats to investigate long-term behavioral consequences of prenatal and early postnatal exposure to the antithyroid drug thiouracil. In Experiment 1, groups of rats which received varying doses of thiouracil, via transplacental and transmammary passage for 16 prenatal and 16 postnatal days, displayed dose-related performance deficits as adults in a closed-field maze series. When exposure to thiouracil was confined to the prenatal period (Experiment 2), reflexes appearing within the first 3 postnatal weeks were slightly retarded in their development but no maze learning deficit was found in adulthood. The studies indicated that early postnatal thyroid deficiency in rats results in enduring deficits in learning capacity even when overall physical retardation is only temporary, and supported the view that the lower age boundary of the critical period of thyroid deficiency in rats falls at approximately the time of birth.
New Characteristics of Some Polynomial Sequences in Combinatorial Theory

Abstract Some new necessary and sufficient conditions on basic sets, sheffer sets, cross-sequences, and Steffensen sequences are established.
Decoherence and loss of entanglement

We review our recent work establishing by an explicit many-body calculation for an open quantum-mechanical system of two qubits subject to independent noise modelled by bosonic baths, a newly identified connection between two important quantities in the studies of entanglement and decoherence. We demonstrate that the decay of entanglement is governed by the product of the suppression factors describing decoherence of the subsystems (qubits). This result is a detailed model calculation proving an important and intuitively natural physical property that separated open quantum systems can evolve coherently, quantum mechanically on time scales larger than the times for which they remain entangled. Our result also suggests avenues for future work. Specifically, for multiqubit systems, it is expected that similar arguments should apply "by induction." This will stimulate research to develop appropriate quantitative measures of entanglement, and attempts to quantify entanglement and decoherence in a unified way. We considered one "physically meaningful" measure of two-qubit entanglement, the concurrence. In future research, it would be of interest to obtain similar results for other measures of entanglement as well.© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
The new adjustment of the North American horizontal datum

Geodesy, like astrometry, was a highly precise science when other branches of geophysics were still in their infancy. Over continental distances, surveys reached levels of precision of the order of a part in 100,000. The burden of extensive hand computation was the limiting factor applied to the field. Geocentric coordinates and ties between continents were less well known; the uncertainties were 200 m or more. One of the major scientific achievements of its day was the North American 1927 Datum, compiled by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. The coordinates of points in the contiguous 48 states and parts of Canada were adjusted and put into a single system with a high degree of internal consistency. Chord lengths determined by satellite methods have verified the quality of the work [Marsh et al., 1973].
Control Systems Development Logic

A control systems development logic is described which proved useful as a communications aid in assuring human factors input in the design development process. The flow chart format begins with an examination of mission objectives and works the control problem to the final configuration. The procedure is thorough, systematic, and assures attention to basic human factors criteria and standards.
Lithium storage mechanisms in purpurin based organic lithium ion battery electrodes

Current lithium batteries operate on inorganic insertion compounds to power a diverse range of applications, but recently there is a surging demand to develop environmentally friendly green electrode materials. To develop sustainable and eco-friendly lithium ion batteries, we report reversible lithium ion storage properties of a naturally occurring and abundant organic compound purpurin, which is non-toxic and derived from the plant madder. The carbonyl/hydroxyl groups present in purpurin molecules act as redox centers and reacts electrochemically with Li-ions during the charge/discharge process. The mechanism of lithiation of purpurin is fully elucidated using NMR, UV and FTIR spectral studies. The formation of the most favored six membered binding core of lithium ion with carbonyl groups of purpurin and hydroxyl groups at C-1 and C-4 positions respectively facilitated lithiation process, whereas hydroxyl group at C-2 position remains unaltered.
Factors influencing zoning ordinance adoption in rural and exurban townships

a b s t r a c t Though 70% of land in the contiguous U.S. is privately owned, land conservation discourses have focused more on public protected areas than on private land policy. U.S. private land policy is generally implemented by local governments through comprehensive plans and zoning ordinances. While most cities have adopted these policies many non-metropolitan jurisdictions remain unzoned. In this study we investigated factors predicting zoning adoption in rural and exurban Michigan townships. Results from a logit model showed that likelihood of zoning adoption between 1998 and 2003 was higher for townships with more developed land, fewer conservative voters, higher household income, more zoned neighbors, and township-level planning rather than county-level planning. We quantified thresholds at which development levels correlated with zoning adoption. Overall, townships had greater than a 50% probability of adopting zoning when 9% or more of their land base had been developed, but this threshold was higher in townships with no planning (12%) and highest where planning was implemented at the county level (19%). In high-growth townships forestland was negatively correlated with zoning adoption. However, model results showed socioeconomic variables to be better predictors of zoning adoption than natural resource variables. These results highlight the importance that planning and zoning occur at the same level of government, and the importance of multiple policy options in jurisdictions unlikely to adopt zoning. Gaining insight into reasons for land-use policy adoption, or lack thereof, is important for achieving common planning goals, including preserving rural livelihoods, conserving forests and farmlands, and maintaining rural landscape characteristics.
Mutational analysis of the maize gamma zein C-terminal cysteine residues

Abstract Alignment of 98 S-rich prolamin amino acid sequences illustrated that four cysteines were preserved nearly 100% and four cysteines were less well conserved. These residues form two to four intramolecular disulfide bonds in several S-rich prolamins. For maize gamma zein, it is unknown whether the eight C-terminal cysteines form intramolecular disulfide bonds. If gamma zein contains intramolecular disulfide bonds, modifications of critical cysteines in soluble thioredoxin–gamma zein fusion protein might prevent disulfide bond formation and result in misfolded and insoluble protein in Escherichia coli . Individual modification of conserved cysteines C128 and C136 resulted in a four-fold reduction in solubility and a significant decrease in expression level compared to wild-type fusion protein. Modification of conserved C156 resulted in a two-fold reduction in expression level but not a significant change in solubility until combined with a non-deleterious Q181R modification. This suggested that C128 and C136 were involved in disulfide bonds critical for protein folding, whereas C156 was more critical for protein stability. Modification of a non-conserved N-terminal cysteine residue (C117) resulted in increased protein solubility, suggesting it was not involved in an intramolecular disulfide bond. From these data and a review of the literature, a disulfide map for gamma zein is proposed.
Isolation and Characterization of Microsatellite Markers and Analysis of Genetic Diversity in Chinese Jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.)

Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill, 2n = 2× = 24, Rhamnaceae) is an economically important Chinese native species. It has high nutritional value, and its medicinal properties have led to extensive use in traditional oriental medicine. The characterization of genotypes using molecular markers is important for genetic studies and plant breeding. However, few simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are available for this species. In this study, 1,488 unique SSR clones were isolated from Z. jujuba ‘Dongzao’ using enriched genomic libraries coupled with a three-primer colony PCR screening strategy, yielding a high enrichment rate of 73.3%. Finally, 1,188 (80.87%) primer pairs were amplified successfully in the size expected for ‘Dongzao’. A total of 350 primer pairs were further selected and evaluated for their ability to detect polymorphisms across a panel of six diverse cultivars; among these, 301 primer pairs detected polymorphisms, and the polymorphism information content (PIC) value across all loci ranged from 0.15 to 0.82, with an average of 0.52. An analysis of 76 major cultivars employed in Chinese jujube production using 31 primer pairs revealed comparatively high genetic diversity among these cultivars. Within-population differences among individuals accounted for 98.2% of the observed genetic variation. Neighbor-joining clustering divided the cultivars into three main groups, none of which correspond to major geographic regions, suggesting that the genetics and geographical origin of modern Chinese jujube cultivars might not be linked. The current work firstly reports the large-scale development of Chinese jujube SSR markers. The development of these markers and their polymorphic information represent a significant improvement in the available Chinese jujube genomic resources and will facilitate both genetic and breeding applications, further accelerating the development of new cultivars.
Homocysteine lowering and cardiovascular disease risk: lost in translation.

Studies of the general population have suggested that high homocysteine levels are associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In chronic kidney disease, homocysteine levels rise, and cardiovascular risk increases with declining kidney function. While some studies in this population have found an association between elevated homocysteine and cardiovascular risk, others have noted that this association is largely attenuated by adjustment for kidney function, and several studies of patients with kidney failure have found that lower homocysteine levels predict mortality. Homocysteine levels can be lowered with folate, vitamin B 6 and vitamin B 12 . Three large, randomized, controlled trials of patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease and two smaller, randomized, controlled trials of patients with kidney failure failed to detect any cardiovascular benefit from homocysteine-lowering vitamins. Several more interventional trials are ongoing, but the available data thus far do not support screening for or treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia.
Ammonia Mediates Methamphetamine-Induced Increases in Glutamate and Excitotoxicity

Ammonia has been identified to have a significant role in the long-term damage to dopamine and serotonin terminals produced by methamphetamine (METH), but how ammonia contributes to this damage is unknown. Experiments were conducted to identify whether increases in brain ammonia affect METH-induced increases in glutamate and subsequent excitotoxicity. Increases in striatal glutamate were measured using in vivo microdialysis. To examine the role of ammonia in mediating changes in extracellular glutamate after METH exposure, lactulose was used to decrease plasma and brain ammonia. Lactulose is a non-absorbable disaccharide, which alters the intestinal lumen through multiple mechanisms that lead to the increased peripheral excretion of ammonia. METH caused a significant increase in extracellular glutamate that was prevented by lactulose. Lactulose had no effect on METH-induced hyperthermia. To determine if ammonia contributed to excitotoxicity, the effect of METH and lactulose treatment on calpain-mediated spectrin proteolysis was measured. METH significantly increased calpain-specific spectrin breakdown products, and this increase was prevented with lactulose treatment. To examine if ammonia-induced increases in extracellular glutamate were mediated by excitatory amino-acid transporters, the reverse dialysis of ammonia, the glutamate transporter inhibitor, DL-threo-β-benzyloxyaspartic acid (TBOA), or the combination of the two directly into the striatum of awake, freely moving rats was conducted. TBOA blocked the increases in extracellular glutamate produced by the reverse dialysis of ammonia. These findings demonstrate that ammonia mediates METH-induced increases in extracellular glutamate through an excitatory amino-acid transporter to cause excitotoxicity.
Identification of the scales of differential element mobility in a ductile fault zone

Two fundamentally different scales of element mobility have been identified in the upper-amphibolite-facies Hunts Brook fault zone of south-central Connecticut, USA. Field relations, mineral chemistry, and 80 bulk rock analyses provide overwhelming evidence that the blastomylonitic schists and gneisses of the fault zone were derived from the enclosing granodioritic Rope Ferry orthogneiss. Two-sample mass balance calculations between the Rope Ferry Gneiss and fault rocks strongly suggest that the Rope Ferry Gneiss was segregated into biotite-rich schists and quartz–plagioclase-rich gneisses through the centimetre-scale transfer of Si, Al, Ca, Na, Ba, and Zr from schists to gneisses. Three- and four-sample mass balance calculations provide convincing evidence that Al, Ca, Na, and Ba were lost and Si and K gained by the entire fault zone. Both scales of metasomatism have been identified at two localities separated by 20 km, implying that the metasomatic processes were pervasive throughout the fault zone. From the mass balance calculations, an apparent disparity in K mobility arises. K appears to be gained by the entire fault zone, but is immobile during the centimetre-scale segregation. This is because mass balance calculations can only detect differential element mobility. Differential element mobility requires that the mechanism of metasomatism produces chemical potential gradients. Therefore, the identification of differentially mobile elements provides insight into the mechanisms of metasomatism. The immobility of K during segregation of schists and gneisses implies that the segregation was not achieved through the extraction of partial melt. However, the element mobility is reconcilable with deformation-driven metamorphic differentiation. The gains of Si and K and losses of Ca, Na, Al, and Ba for the entire fault zone are also inconsistent with the intrusion or extraction of partial melt, but may reflect the infiltration of a metasomatizing aqueous fluid.
The encapsulation of Rh(III) phthalocyanines in zeolites X and Y

The template syntheses of rhodium(III) phthalocyanine complexes within the supercage structures of zeolites X and Y are reported. These ship-in-a-bottle compounds are characterized by elemental analysis, UV-Vis, IR, XRD and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The effect of temperature on the encapsulation process is also discussed.
Constructing Maximal Dynamic Flows from Static Flows

A network, in which two integers tij the traversal time and cij the capacity are associated with each arc PiPj, is considered with respect to the following question. What is the maximal amount of goods that can be transported from one node to another in a given number T of time periods, and how does one ship in order to achieve this maximum? A computationally efficient algorithm for solving this dynamic linear-programming problem is presented. The algorithm has the following features a The only arithmetic operations required are addition and subtraction b In solving for a given time period T, optimal solutions for all lesser time periods are a by-product c The constructed optimal solution for a given T is presented as a relatively small number of activities chain-flows which are repeated over and over until the end of the T periods. Hence, in particular, hold-overs at intermediate nodes are not required d Arcs which serve as bottlenecks for the flow are singled out, as well as the time periods in which they act as such e In solving the problem for successive values of T, stabilization on a set of chain-flows seec above eventually occurs, and an a priori bound on when stabilization occurs can be established. The fact that there exist solutions to this problem which have the simple form described in c is remarkable, since other dynamic linear-programming problems that have been studied do not enjoy this property.
Tetrabenazine has properties of a dopamine receptor antagonist

Tetrabenazine is considered to act in a manner similar to reserpine to reduce the involuntary movements of tardive dyskinesia or Huntington's disease and to improve psychoses. We determined that tetrabenazine also has properties of a dopamine receptor antagonist by testing the ability of tetrabenazine to block the inhibitory effect of dopamine on prolactin secretion from rat anterior pituitary glands in vitro and to displace 3H-spiperone binding to dopamine receptors in the pituitary, corpus striatum, and a rat transplantable prolactin-secreting tumor. Under in vitro conditions, 0.5 to 10 microM tetrabenazine directly blocked dopaminergic inhibition of prolactin secretion. Furthermore, 1 hour after tetrabenazine injection (30 mg/kg intraperitoneally) in vivo, when the serum prolactin had increased from 22 +/- 9 to 450 +/- 52 ng/ml (p less than 0.01), pituitary glands of the treated rats examined in vitro were refractory to dopaminergic inhibition of prolactin release. Tetrabenazine apparently interacts with the dopamine receptor because this drug displaced the dopamine antagonist 3H-spiperone from dopamine receptors of the three different tissues with an apparent inhibitory constant of about 5 microM. We conclude that tetrabenazine has biological and pharmacological properties typical of a dopamine receptor antagonist. These observations should stimulate a reevaluation of the mechanisms for the actions of tetrabenazine previously attributed exclusively to a "reserpine-like" effect.
The Sex Wars Continue: Hung's Postfeminist Debate

HBO's series Hung is a compelling program about a high school teacher surviving the recession as a male prostitute. Characters Lenore and Tanya are central to the program and represent the struggle between the belief that sexual power is not political and the postfeminist assertion that sex is a reflection of female power and agency. On the basis of a textual analysis of the first season, this study examines competing approaches to female sexuality and explores how such understandings extend past sexuality to ideas about consumerism, agency, and what it means to be a woman in 21st-century America.
Player aggression affects head impact biomechanics in youth ice hockey players

Objective To evaluate the effect of player aggression on head impact biomechanics. Design Prospective cohort. Setting Field (on-ice) study. Participants Thirty-seven volunteer ice hockey players (age=15.0±1.0 years, height=173.5±6.2 cm, mass=66.6±9.0 kg, playing experience=2.9±3.7 years). Interventions Participants were equipped with accelerometer-instrumented helmets to collect head impact biomechanics for one playing season. The Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire (BPAQ) was administered to all players. We collected the total number of penalties in minutes (PIM) throughout the season. Data were analysed using random intercept general mixed linear models, with each individual player as a repeating factor/cluster. Main Outcome Measurements Dependent variables included linear and rotational head accelerations, and the Head Impact Technology severity profile (HITsp), a weighted composite score factoring impact accelerations, duration, and location. Tertile aggression and PIM data were used to categorise players into high, moderate, and low aggression levels. Results The players who experienced the highest number of PIM experienced greater rotational accelerations (p=0.034) and HITsp values (p=0.046) than those with the lowest number of PIM. No differences in linear acceleration for PIM were observed (p>0.05). We did not observe any differences between the aggression levels as measured by the BPAQ (p>0.05). Conclusions Youth ice hockey players with higher PIM experienced greater head impact forces, supporting behavioural interventions designed to reduce excessive penalty taking among youth hockey players such as Fair Play in North America. Officials should more stringently assess penalties to participants who purposefully foul opponents. Our results should encourage youth ice hockey players to conform to playing rules. Acknowledgements This study was supported in part by a grant from the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Injury Prevention Research Center (grant #2005-PREV-BANT-387). The USA Hockey Foundation and the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) also provided financial support. Competing interests None.
Effect of cyclooxygenase inhibition on serotonin-induced chloride secretion from rat distal colon.

Abstract Background Serotonin is a well-known mediator of intestinal chloride secretion. The effects of exogenous 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) can be demonstrated experimentally by a rise in short-circuit current, which is proportional to active electrogenic chloride secretion. Prostaglandin E2 is also an intestinal secretagogue and has been implicated in certain diarrheal illnesses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a cyclooxygenase inhibitor on 5-HT-stimulated ion transport. Methods Full- or partial-thickness sheets of rat colon were mounted in Ussing chambers and placed under short-circuit conditions. 5-HT or the specific 5-HT3 receptor agonist, 2-methyl-5-HT, was added in the absence and presence of the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, piroxicam. Results The overall drug effect was statistically significant at two concentrations (10-5 and 5 × 10-4 mol) of piroxicam when compared with 5-HT alone (P ≤ .005; ANOVA, n = 8). The inhibitory effect of piroxicam (10-5) was statistically significant when compared to 2-methyl-5-HT alone (P Conclusions Exogenous 5-HT applied to an in vitro preparation of rat distal colon induces chloride secretion that is significantly inhibited by the cyclooxygenase inhibitor, piroxicam. It appears that the cyclooxygenase pathway plays a major role in the mediation of the secretory response to exogenous serotonin in vitro.
Physical characterization of FeTiO2 model supported catalysts: I. Electron microscopic studies of reduction behavior

The morphology of FeTiO2 model supported catalysts has been monitored using transmission electron microscopy following hydrogen reduction at progressively higher temperatures. Nucleation and growth of iron particles from an initially contiguous iron overlayer was observed in the temperature range 608 to 707 K. Following reduction at 773 K, the smaller iron crystallites (less than 10 nm in size) were observed to spread over or wet the support surface, and reduction at temperatures of 875 K or higher extended this spreading behavior to larger crystallites. In addition, reduction at these latter temperatures caused decreases in the average iron particle size and the amount of iron present on the support as distinct iron crystallites. This can be attributed to a diffuse spreading of iron over the support or a diffusion of iron into the support.
Cerebral hypoperfusion induces cortical watershed microinfarcts which may further aggravate cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease

Abstract Increasing number of data, including the existence of common risk factors, indicate an association between cerebrovascular disease and Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is known to be often associated with cerebral hypoperfusion. Recent histopathological evidence showed a significant association between watershed cortical microinfarcts and AD indicating that cerebral hypoperfusion induces not only white matter damage, known as leuko-araiosis, but cortical border zone infarcts as well, further aggravating the degenerative process and worsening dementia. In late stages of Alzheimer's disease - in cases with neuropathologically confirmed definite AD - the occurrence of watershed cortical microinfarcts was ten times higher than in aged matched control cases. Congophilic angiopathy and perturbed hemodynamic factors were found to be important factors in the genesis of watershed microinfarcts. To consider the vulnerability of the cerebral blood flow and the perturbed cortical vascular network in AD is import...
Confidence bands in nonparametric regression

Abstract New bias-corrected confidence bands are proposed for nonparametric kernal regression. These bands are constructed using only a kernel estimator of the regression curve and its data-selected bandwidth. They are shown to have asymptotically correct coverage properties and to behave well in a small-sample study. One consequence of the large-sample developments is that Bonferroni-type bands for the regression curve at the design points also have conservative asymptotic coverage behavior with no bias correction.
A MODEL OF THE VISCOUS WALL REGION OF TURBULENT SHEAR FLOWS

The viscous wall region of a fully developed turbulent pipe flow is investigated using a nonlinear, time-dependent, three-dimensional model. In the model, the velocity field is assumed to satisfy periodic boundary conditions in the longitudinal and spanwise directions, the velocity vanishes at the pipe wall, the velocity fluctuations are assumed to vanish at large distances from the wall, and a law of the wall profile is imposed on the longitudinal and spanwise average of the longitudinal component of velocity outside the viscous wall region. The model equations are solved using pseudospectral methods and the computed mean velocity profile, fluctuation intensities, and turbulence production rate are found to be in good agreement with experiment in the viscous wall region. It is found that the bulk of turbulence production is generated by length scales larger than 40 in the spanwise direction and 200 in the longitudinal direction.
Excluding paths and antipaths

The Erd?s-Hajnal conjecture states that for every graph H, there exists a constant ?(H)>0, such that if a graph G has no induced subgraph isomorphic to H, then G contains a clique or a stable set of size at least |V (G)|?(H). This conjecture is still open. We consider a variant of the conjecture, where instead of excluding H as an induced subgraph, both H and Hc are excluded. We prove this modified conjecture for the case when H is the five-edge path. Our second main result is an asymmetric version of this: we prove that for every graph G such that G contains no induced six-edge path, and Gc contains no induced four-edge path, G contains a polynomial-size clique or stable set.
Experimental estimation of energy dissipation in ITER central solenoid superconductor

This paper demonstrates a practical process for evaluating AC losses of a full-size chrome-plated Nb/sub 3/Sn cable with key parameters determined from a laboratory-scale single-wire experiment. By using wire specifications given in the engineering design phase as experimental information, this process was applied to estimate AC losses in the inner-most layer of the ITER central solenoid.
Microstructure of Al3Sc with ternary transition-metal additions

The microstructure of binary Al3Sc and ternary Al3(Sc1 − yXy), where X is one of the transition metals from Group IIIA (Y), IVA (Ti, Zr or Hf) or VA (V, Nb or Ta), was investigated as a function of alloying element concentration for 0.1 y0.75. Alloys with Group IIIA and IVA additions exhibited a single L12 solid-solution phase with some Kirkendall porosity. At the highest concentration studied, a second phase precipitated with the D019 (Y), D022 (Ti) or D023 (Zr and Hf) structure. Conversely, alloys with Group VA additions exhibited both the L12 trialuminide phase and a dendritic trialuminide second phase with D022 structure for all concentrations studied. The solubility limit in the ternary L12-type Al3(Sc1 − yXy) phase was high for Group IIIA and IVA metals (almost 12.5 at.% or y=0.5), and much lower for Group VA metals (from about 1.8 at.% or y= 0.07 for Ta to about 2.7 at.% or y=0.11 for V). Similarly, the solubility limit of Sc in the non-L12 phases decreases from the Group IIIA trialuminide to the Group VA trialuminides. The lattice parameter of the L12 solid-solution decreased linearly with increasing concentration of Group IVA and VA metals, but increased linearly with concentration of Y (Group IIIA). This linear concentration dependence of the lattice parameter is found to correlate with the atomic size mismatch between Sc and the transition metal. The microhardness of the L12 solid-solution increased linearly with increasing concentration of ternary elements. The concentration dependence of hardness is strongest for Group VA metals and weakest for Group IVA metals, for which a correlation is found with the concentration dependence of lattice parameter. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Public Health, Law, and Local Control: Destruction of the US Chemical Weapons Stockpile

Destruction of US chemical weapons has begun at one of the 8 sites in the continental United States, was completed on Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean, and is scheduled to begin in at least 3 other locations during the upcoming year. About 25% of the stockpile and 38% of the munitions had been destroyed as of December 31, 2002. However, the program has become controversial with regard to choice of technology, emergency management, and cost. This controversy is in large part due to efforts by some state and local governments and activist groups to play a more central role in a decisionmaking process that was once fully controlled by the US Army.
THE CONSTITUTION OF GLASS

Glass is to be regarded as a liquid which has a viscosity so great as to be practically rigid; and the glasses of commerce are all solutions undercooled far below their normal crystallizing temperatures. Nothing more is known regarding the constitution of these highly concentrated solutions than is known about the constitution of other concentrated solutions. The phase-equilibrium diagram gives no information as to the compounds present in the liquid phase, for there is no known correlation between the properties of a homogeneous system and those of the heterogeneous system formed from it on crystallization. Evidence based on the rate of volatilization of alkali from alkali-silicate glasses does not indicate compound formation. The discontinuous change of properties of a glass in the “annealing range” has been considered by some to be evidence that the glassy state is a fourth state of matter separated from the liquid state by this transition temperature; by others, as indicating that above this discontinuity the material is a liquid, below it, a brittle solid. These views are unsound, because they are based on measurements of physical properties made with changing temperature when those properties themselves not only change with temperature but also require at each temperature considerable time to reach their equilibrium value. When the measurements are made on glasses which have been held at constant temperature long enough for the equilibrium value of the property to be attained, no discontinuities are observed and there is no justification for calling glass a fourth state of matter or for separating a “brittle” from a “viscous” temperature range. Arguments, based on the variation of physical properties with composition in which it is considered that such variation is represented not by a continuous curve but by a series of straight lines determined by the composition of hypothetical compounds, are shown to be theoretically improbable and not in accord with the facts. Recent speculations on the constitution of glass based on X-ray evidence and recent studies of glass by means of X-rays indicate that the glassy state is distinguished by a random nonrepeating atomic network. This conclusion is in harmony with the view that glass is an undercooled liquid representing a solution in which definite compounds can not be identified.
Categorization in natural time-varying image sequences

Approaches to single image categorization do not easily generalize to natural time-varying image sequences. In natural environments, object categories tend to have few features that help to distinguish between each other and the surrounding environment. To better discriminate between categories and the surrounding environment, we propose a multi-view categorization approach that exploits the statistics of image sequences rather than single images. The approach is unbiased towards redundant views - that is, it does not matter how many times an object appears from the same viewpoint. At the same time, the approach does not penalize for missing views, so that we do not have to capture an object at all viewpoints to successfully categorize the object. We first present a data set for studying natural environment monitoring: an image sequence of birds at a feeder station. After manual localization, a baseline bag of features approach was found to perform significantly worse on the proposed data set compared to the standard Caltech 101 data set. We find that our approach increases the categorization accuracy from 48% to 58% on average when compared to an equivalent single view categorization method. Finally, we show how the same metric proposed for the supervised categorization can be used to transform, in an unsupervised manner, an image sequence into a manageable set of categories.
Dietary supplement use amongst junior college athletes

DIETARY SUPPLEMENT USE AMONGST JUNIOR COLLEGE ATHLETES by Eliseo R. Munoz This thesis addresses the topic of dietary supplement use amongst CA junior college (JC) athletes during the 2003-2004 academic years. The study examined the relationship between dietary supplements use and gender within the CA junior college population. In addition, the attitudes of student-athletes toward consumption dietary supplements, ethnicity, and factors influencing use were studied. The current study revealed of the 130 subjects surveyed, 55% reported using dietary supplements. Approximately one third (29.23%) of subjects consuming to aid in athletic performance, most male and female users reported using to aid in athletic performance. Attitudes of dietary supplement users confirmed a lack of motivation to stop using dietary supplements. Family members were most likely to be influence subjects into using dietary supplements. Although no association was found between ethnicity and dietary supplement use, further research on this topic is recommended to identify and further investigate contributing factors to dietary supplement use. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to begin by thanking all the people who have contributed to my development as a student, person, and a professional. I would like to first give gratitude to my graduate advisor, Dr. Leamor Kahanov for helping me continue my academic journey and completion of my thesis. The most influential people who helped me as a youth were Coach Rudy Garcia, who gave me one more chance, Carrie Lujan, my counselor for the Educational Talent Search Program who first told me I should go to college, my uncles Angel, Pepe, & Jorge, who kept giving me "cocos" on my head, and my teachers who pushed me to take college prep-classes. In college I found myself, but I couldn't do it if not for all these people. Thanks Dave (Beymer), who gave me an opportunity in JC, Steve (Yoneda) for taking me under your wings at Cal Poly, all my Lambda Theta Phi brothers, but especially Jaime Calderon, Robert Gil, Dennis Munoz, Ben Raya, Frank Lopez II, and future roommate and athletic trainer David Alderete. Lastly, and most important I would like to thank my wife Claudia Diaz, my brothers Octavio, Osvaldo, and Anthony, but especially my mother Alicia Rojas and my father Eliseo Munoz who raised me, supported me, taught me, and loved me. To you, I dedicate this thesis.
Emerging concepts in the evaluation of ventilatory limitation during exercise: the exercise tidal flow-volume loop.

Traditionally, ventilatory limitation (constraint) during exercise has been determined by measuring the ventilatory reserve or how close the minute ventilation (e) achieved during exercise (ie, ventilatory demand) approaches the maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) or some estimate of the MVV (ie, ventilatory capacity). More recently, it has become clear that rarely is the MVV breathing pattern adopted during exercise and that the e/MVV relationship tells little about the specific reason(s) for ventilatory constraint. Although it is not a new concept, by measuring the tidal exercise flow-volume (FV) loops (extFVLs) obtained during exercise and plotting them according to a measured end-expiratory lung volume (EELV) within the maximal FV envelope (MFVL), more specific information is provided on the sources (and degree) of ventilatory constraint. This includes the extent of expiratory flow limitation, inspiratory flow reserve, alterations in the regulation of EELV (dynamic hyperinflation), end-inspiratory lung volume relative to total lung capacity (or tidal volume/inspiratory capacity), and a proposed estimate of ventilatory capacity based on the shape of the MFVL and the breathing pattern adopted during exercise. By assessing these types of changes, the degree of ventilatory constraint can be quantified and a more thorough interpretation of the cardiopulmonary exercise response is possible. This review will focus on the potential role of plotting the extFVL within the MFVL for determination of ventilatory constraint during exercise in the clinical setting. Important physiologic concepts, measurements, and limitations obtained from this type of analysis will be defined and discussed.
Graph Laplacian Design of a LTI Consensus System for the Largest Delay Margin: Case Studies

The dynamics of a LTI consensus system with homogeneous inter-agent delays is the focus here where we design, via graph synthesis and our Responsible Eigenvalue (RE) concept, its Graph Laplacian associated with agents’ heterogeneous coupling strengths, with the aim to maximize the system’s delay margin - the largest delay it can withstand before losing its stability. Over case studies, we present how this calculation can be done.
Novel role of kallistatin in vascular repair by promoting mobility, viability, and function of endothelial progenitor cells.

Background Kallistatin exerts pleiotropic activities in inhibiting inflammation, apoptosis, and oxidative stress in endothelial cells. Because endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) play a significant role in vascular repair, we investigated whether kallistatin contributes to vascular regeneration by enhancing EPC migration and function. Methods and Results We examined the effect of endogenous kallistatin on circulating EPCs in a rat model of vascular injury and the mechanisms of kallistatin on EPC mobility and function in vitro. In deoxycorticosterone acetate–salt hypertensive rats, we found that kallistatin depletion augmented glomerular endothelial cell loss and diminished circulating EPC number, whereas kallistatin gene delivery increased EPC levels. In cultured EPCs, kallistatin significantly reduced tumor necrosis factor-α–induced apoptosis and caspase-3 activity, but kallistatin's effects were blocked by phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitor (LY294002) and nitric oxide (NO) synthase inhibitor (l-NAME). Kallistatin stimulated the proliferation, migration, adhesion and tube formation of EPCs; however, kallistatin's actions were abolished by LY294002, l-NAME, endothelial NO synthase–small interfering RNA, constitutively active glycogen synthase kinase-3β, or vascular endothelial growth factor antibody. Kallistatin also increased Akt, glycogen synthase kinase-3β, and endothelial NO synthase phosphorylation; endothelial NO synthase, vascular endothelial growth factor, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 synthesis and activity; and NO and vascular endothelial growth factor levels. Kallistatin's actions on phosphoinositide 3-kinase–Akt signaling were blocked by LY294002, l-NAME, and anti–vascular endothelial growth factor antibody. Conclusions Endogenous kallistatin plays a novel role in protection against vascular injury in hypertensive rats by promoting the mobility, viability, and vasculogenic capacity of EPCs via enhancing NO and vascular endothelial growth factor levels through activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase–Akt signaling. Kallistatin therapy may be a promising approach in the treatment of vascular diseases.