cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vector field analysis for multi-object behavior modeling

This paper proposes an end-to-end system to recognize multi-person behaviors in video, unifying different tasks like segmentation, modeling and recognition within a single optical flow based motion analysis framework. We show how optical flow can be used for analyzing activities of individual actors, as opposed to dense crowds, which is what the existing literature has concentrated on mostly. The algorithm consists of two steps - identification of motion patterns and modeling of motion patterns. Activities are analyzed using the underlying motion patterns which are formed by the optical flow field over a period of time. Streaklines are used to capture these motion patterns via integration of the flow field. To recognize the regions of interest, we utilize the Helmholtz decomposition to compute the divergence potential. The extrema or critical points of this potential indicates regions of high activity in the video, which are then represented as motion patterns by clustering the streaklines. We then present a method to compare two videos by measuring the similarity between their motion patterns using a combination of shape theory and subspace analysis. Such an analysis allows us to represent, compare and recognize a wide range of activities. We perform experiments on state-of-the-art datasets and show that the proposed method is suitable for natural videos in the presence of noise, background clutter and high intra class variations. Our method has two significant advantages over recent related approaches - it provides a single framework that takes care of both low-level and high-level visual analysis tasks, and is computationally efficient.
Immunoglobulin gene diversification in cattle.

Research in several species has revealed that different types of mammals have evolved divergent molecular and cellular strategies for generating immunoglobulin diversity. Other chapters in this text have highlighted the specific characteristics unique to chicken, rabbit, mouse, human and sheep B lymphocyte development; namely indicating differences in the mechanisms of diversity and the site of primary B cell development. Studies of the bovine system have indicated that like the sheep system, the ileal Peyer's patch (IPP) is a likely chicken bursal equivalent, and is a site of primary B lymphocyte development. Substantial investigation in sheep has indicated that Ig diversity is created by untemplated somatic mutation and intense selective pressure (Reynaud et al., 1991). The frequency of alteration in the sheep Ig light chain gene locus also is characteristic of the bovine system, however, recent evidence from sequencing of bovine lambda light chain genes indicates that one mechanism that contributes to ...
Conservation genetics of a desert fish species: the Lahontan tui chub ( Siphateles bicolor ssp.)

Analysis of the genetic diversity and structure of declining populations is critical as species and populations are increasingly fragmented globally. In the Great Basin Desert in particular, climate change, habitat alteration, and fragmentation threaten aquatic habitats and their endemic species. Tui chubs, including the Lahontan tui chub and Dixie Valley tui chub, (Siphateles bicolor ssp.) are native to the Walker, Carson, Truckee and Humboldt River drainages in the Great Basin Desert. Two populations, Walker Lake and Dixie Valley, are under threat from habitat alteration, increased salinity, small population sizes, and nonnative species. We used nine microsatellite markers to investigate the population genetic structure and diversity of these and nine other tui chub populations to provide information to managers for the conservation of both Walker Lake and Dixie Valley tui chubs. Genetic population structure reflects both historical and contemporary factors, such as connection with Pleistocene Lake Lahontan in addition to more recent habitat fragmentation. Dixie Valley was the most highly differentiated population (pairwise F ST = 0.098−0.217, p < 0.001), showed evidence of a past bottleneck, and had the lowest observed heterozygosity (Ho = 0.607). Walker Lake was not substantially differentiated from other Lahontan tui chub populations, including those located in different watersheds (pairwise F ST = 0.031−0.103, p < 0.001), and had the highest overall observed heterozygosity (Ho = 0.833). We recommend that managers continue to manage and monitor Dixie Valley as a distinct Management Unit, while continuing to maximize habitat size and quality to preserve overall genetic diversity, evolutionary potential, and ecological processes.
Work in progress: Using rigorous design reviews to teach and assess students' design capabilities

This paper presents a template for conducting rigorous reviews in design projects that set high standards for design excellence, thereby teaching and assessing students' design capabilities in the context of authentic design experiences. In engineering professional practice, the design performances of practitioners are tested in design reviews conducted at critical milestones of each project. For projects requiring approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or other high stakes projects, design reviews evaluate the rigor and documentation of design processes as well as the quality of products delivered. The proposed design review structure draws from these rigorous design reviews to provide context, questions, and scoring rubrics that guide and probe design team achievements, documentation, and understanding.
Studying the jet medium interaction by two particle Δη–Δϕ correlations

Abstract We present two-dimensional Δ η –Δ ϕ inclusive photon-charged hadron correlations measured by the PHENIX experiment. Jet-like correlations are modified in central Au + Au collisions compared to p + p collisions, in both the trigger jet and opposing jet. The trigger jet is elongated in pseudo-rapidity (the “ridge”), while the opposing jet shows a double peak structure (“head” and “shoulder”). We decompose the structures by fitting the Δ η and Δ ϕ correlations to disentangle components from the medium, the punch-through and the trigger jets. The ridge exists for associated particle p T below 3 GeV / c ; it is broad in rapidity and narrow in Δ ϕ . The away side correlated particle yield is enhanced in central collisions. The yield of the ridge closely resembles the shoulder in the centrality dependence of particle yield and spectra.
Abstract 3769: Use of combined levels of dietary intake from FFQ and plasma biomarkers to assess association between antioxidant exposures and prostate cancer risk

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Epidemiologic studies evaluating the relation between specific nutrients and risk of disease typically rely either on questionnaire-based or on biomarker-based measures of exposure; however both of these approaches may be affected by systematic error. In this study, we aim to improve assessment of antioxidant exposure through a combined measure reflecting both plasma measurements and food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)-derived levels of intake. This combined measure of exposure is examined in relation to risk of prostate cancer. In this community-based case-control study, dietary intake was assessed through the validated Block FFQ that allowed estimating daily intakes of various antioxidants. Archived plasma samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography to determine circulating levels of carotenoids (lycopene, α-carotene, β-carotene, lutine, and β-cryptoxanthin), retinol (vitamin A), and α-tocopherol (vitamin E). Cases and controls were categorized as having “high” or “low” for each antioxidant's dietary intake and plasma level based on the median value among controls. Each participant was then included into one of the following four categories: (1) low dietary intake and low plasma level; (2) low dietary intake and high plasma level; (3) high dietary intake and low plasma level; and (4) high dietary intake and high plasma level. The combined measurements of high dietary intake and high plasma levels of lycopene, β-cryptoxanthin, and α-tocopherol demonstrated a statistically significant association with prostate cancer risk with adjusted odds ratios of 0.46 (0.23-0.91), 0.43 (0.22-0.84), and 0.32 (0.14-0.72), respectively. The combined measurements of high dietary intake and low plasma levels of β-carotene also demonstrated a statistically significant association (aOR = 0.43; 95% CI=0.20-0.91) with prostate cancer risk. These results tended to be stronger than the corresponding results for each measure of exposure considered individually. These findings provide evidence that the use of combined levels of dietary intake from FFQ and plasma biomarkers can improve the assessment of antioxidant exposure compared to use of either FFQ or plasma biomarkers separately. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3769.
The rhetoric of confrontation

(1969). The rhetoric of confrontation. Quarterly Journal of Speech: Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 1-8.
The modification of tryptophan in bovine thrombin

Abstract 2-Hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide, at a 100-fold molar excess, was observed to react with thrombin at pH 4.0 to give a modified enzyme which possessed 20% of the fibrinogen clotting activity and 80% of the esterase activity compared to a control preparation. Spectrophotometric analysis of the modified protein indicated that this effect on catalytic activity was associated with the incorporation of 1 mol of reagent per mol of thrombin. Amino acid analysis showed no loss of amino acids other than tryptophan. The reaction of N -bromosuccinimide with thrombin at 2-fold molar excess resulted in the modification of one tryptophan per mol of enzyme with the loss of 80% of the fibrinogen clotting activity with, as above, a considerably smaller loss of esterase activity. Oxidation of thrombin with N -bromosuccinimide decreased the extent of subsequent tryptophan modification with 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide. Thrombin modified with 2-hydroxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide showed a 3–4-fold increase in K m and a decrease in V for the ester substrate. The reaction of thrombin with 2-acetoxy-5-nitrobenzyl bromide, a substrate analogue, also resulted in the inactivation of the enzyme. The data are interpreted to show the presence of a tryptophan residue at or near the enzyme's substrate binding site.
Anxiety neurosis among psychiatric outpatients

Abstract Anxiety neurosis, a common disorder, is seen with relative infrequency in psychiatric hospitals and perhaps even in psychiatric clinics. Sixty-two patients given the diagnosis of anxiety neurosis in a psychiatric clinic are described in this report. The data suggest that anxiety neurotics who do come to a psychiatrist are likely to have secondary affective disorder, alcoholism, or severe phobias. Anxiety neurotics with and without secondary affective disorder are compared. In similar fashion, anxiety neurotics with and without alcoholism are compared. This is no evidence that patients with either additional illness should be separated from the larger group of anxiety neurotics.
Molecular characterization of the β-adrenergic receptor of frog erythrocytes

The beta-adrenergic receptor of the frog erythrocyte has been solubilized in an active form with digitonin and purified by affinity chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. Purified preparations contain a single band of iodinated protein of apparent Mr = 58,000. This peptide appears to represent the ligand binding subunit of the receptor since purified preparations bind ligands with the same beta-adrenergic specificity as the solubilized or membrane-bound receptor, display the same isoelectric point and similar sedimentation characteristics in sucrose density gradients. The same ligand binding subunit can also be identified in partially purified receptor preparations or in membranes by photoaffinity labelling or photodependent crosslinking of two radiolabelled beta-adrenergic antagonists, p-azidobenzylcarazolol and p-aminobenzylcarazolol.
Thyroid Hormone Reduces Cholesterol via a Non-LDL Receptor-Mediated Pathway

Although studies in vitro and in hypothyroid animals show that thyroid hormone can, under some circumstances, modulate the actions of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors, the mechanisms responsible for thyroid hormone's lipid-lowering effects are not completely understood. We tested whether LDL receptor (LDLR) expression was required for cholesterol reduction by treating control and LDLR-knockout mice with two forms of thyroid hormone T(3) and 3,5-diiodo-l-thyronine. High doses of both 3,5-diiodo-l-thyronine and T(3) dramatically reduced circulating total and very low-density lipoprotein/LDL cholesterol (∼70%) and were associated with reduced plasma T(4) level. The cholesterol reduction was especially evident in the LDLR-knockout mice. Circulating levels of both apolipoprotein B (apo)B48 and apoB100 were decreased. Surprisingly, this reduction was not associated with increased protein or mRNA expression of the hepatic lipoprotein receptors LDLR-related protein 1 or scavenger receptor-B1. Liver production of apoB was markedly reduced, whereas triglyceride production was increased. Thus, thyroid hormones reduce apoB lipoproteins via a non-LDLR pathway that leads to decreased liver apoB production. This suggests that drugs that operate in a similar manner could be a new therapy for patients with genetic defects in the LDLR.
Mass Scaling of Permanent Magnet Line Cusp Plasma Leaks

Plasma leaks to permanent magnetic produced "full line cusps" are shown to depend on ion mass as (mj?). This result is consistent with hybrid gyroradius (i.e., geometric mean of ion and electron gyroradii) leaks but not with ion gyroradius leaks.
Status of Trogoderma yunnaeunsis Zhang and Liu, Description of its Larva, and Distinction from Other Eastern Palearctic Trogoderma (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

Abstract The nomenclatural status of Trogoderma yunnaeunsis Zhang and Liu is clarified. T. yunnaneunsis Zhang, Liu, and Jing is found to be a junior synonym of T. yunnaeunsis. The adult is distinguished from 7 different eastern Palearctic species of Trogoderma and from the European T. versicolor (Creutzer). The mature larva of T. yunnaeunsis is described and distinguished from larvae of other Eastern Palearctic Trogoderma for which information is available.
Vehicle-to-grid power implementation: From stabilizing the grid to supporting large-scale renewable energy

Abstract Vehicle-to-grid power (V2G) uses electric-drive vehicles (battery, fuel cell, or hybrid) to provide power for specific electric markets. This article examines the systems and processes needed to tap energy in vehicles and implement V2G. It quantitatively compares today's light vehicle fleet with the electric power system. The vehicle fleet has 20 times the power capacity, less than one-tenth the utilization, and one-tenth the capital cost per prime mover kW. Conversely, utility generators have 10–50 times longer operating life and lower operating costs per kWh. To tap V2G is to synergistically use these complementary strengths and to reconcile the complementary needs of the driver and grid manager. This article suggests strategies and business models for doing so, and the steps necessary for the implementation of V2G. After the initial high-value, V2G markets saturate and production costs drop, V2G can provide storage for renewable energy generation. Our calculations suggest that V2G could stabilize large-scale (one-half of US electricity) wind power with 3% of the fleet dedicated to regulation for wind, plus 8–38% of the fleet providing operating reserves or storage for wind. Jurisdictions more likely to take the lead in adopting V2G are identified.
Properties of the phencyclidine (PCP) receptors

[3H]Phencyclidine (PCP, Angel Dust) receptors have been characterized using a rat brain binding section technique. [3H]PCP labels a single class of site in rat brain (KD = 46 nM; Bmax = 10.5 fmol/slice). Ligand selectivity pattern strongly suggests that [3H]PCP binds to sites relevant for its pharmacological actions. Chronic PCP treatment (10 mg/kg/day for 14 days) decreases the number of sites (Bmax) for [3H]PCP and [3H]spiperone binding but not for [3H]dihydromorphine. These modifications could be related to the development of tolerance and dependence to PCP. Visualization of [3H]PCP binding sites shows high densities of receptors in cortical areas and hippocampus. Lower densities are observed in caudate-putamen, nucleus accumbens, and amygdala. Negligible quantities of receptors are seen in brain stem and over white matter. The presence of specific [3H]PCP binding sites in rat brain suggests the possible existence of an endogenous ligand for this unique receptor.
Population Ecology of Pagurus maclaughlinae Garcia-Gomez (Decapoda: Anomura: Paguridae) in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida

ABSTRACT Pagurus maclaughlinae is an abundant component of sea-grass macrobenthos in Florida waters. As a grazer on sea-grass blades, it may play an important role in sea-grass ecology by reducing epiphyte cover on the blades. Population dynamics, habitat selection and utilization patterns, and interactions with a decapod predator were examined in field collections and laboratory experiments. At a site north of Link Port in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida, P. maclaughlinae was more abundant in beds of Thalassia as compared to those of Syringodium or Halodule. In the laboratory, Syringodium was selected in preference to Thalassia and Halodule, and choice was not influenced by presence of a predator. Sea grass with epiphytes was significantly selected over unfouled substrates. Recruitment occurred in October-February and in May-July, and the overall male/female ratio was close to 1, although month to month variation occurred. High percentages of ovigerous females were found in the fall and in the spring, and female maturation occurred at a CL of approximately 1.25-1.50 mm. Cerithium muscarum, Modulus modulus, and Nassarius vibex constituted -94% of the 13 species of gastropod shells used. Shell utilization differed between sexes, ovigerous and nonovigerous females, and among size classes. Predation experiments with the blue crab Callinectes sapidus suggested that predation rate was independent of shell species, that the presence of Thalassia offered significant protection against predation compared with bare sand, and that predation rates were not different between sea grasses.
Characterization of the binding of and the immune response to pneumococcal group 9 capsular polysaccharides

Abstract The binding of Streptococcus pneumoniae14C-9N and 14C-9V polysaccharides (PSs) to lymphocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes of human blood were studied. The quantity of 14C-9N and 14C-9V PSs bound to leukocytes was proportional to the number of leukocytes and the incubation time; the binding was temperature-dependent. The binding activity appeared to be specific, since the binding was inhibited by prior treatment with homologous group 9 PSs. The binding was also inhibited by prior treatment with cross-reactive group 9 PSs. The binding of 14C-9V PS to leukocytes was greater than that of 14C-9N PS. Reciprocal plot analysis revealed 6.4 × 104 binding sites for 9N PS on each lymphocyte and 9.5 × 104 binding sites for 9V PS on each lymphocyte, while the affinity constant for 9N PS was 3.7 × 109M−1 and that for 9V PS was 9.4 × 108M−1. Furthermore, there were 7.8 × 104 binding sites for 9N PS on each polymorphonuclear leukocyte and 1.2 × 105 binding sites for 9V PS on each polymorphonuclear leukocyte, while the affinity constant for 9N PS was 1.6 × 109M−1 and that for 9V PS was 8.5 × 108M−1. There was a high degree of inhibition of the binding of 14C-9N PS to leukocytes by prior treatment with 9V PS, and a low degree of inhibition of the binding of 14C-9V PS to leukocytes by prior treatment with 9N PS. The high degree of inhibition of binding of 9V PS to leukocytes was not directly related to the production of cross-reactive antibodies to 9N PS. The serum antibody and the plaque-forming cell responses in mice immunized with 9V PS were significantly greater than responses in mice immunized with 9N PS.
Intensity-invariant coding in the auditory system

The auditory system faithfully represents sufficient details from sound sources such that downstream cognitive processes are capable of acting upon this information effectively even in the face of signal uncertainty, degradation or interference. This robust sound source representation leads to an invariance in perception vital for animals to interact effectively with their environment. Due to unique nonlinearities in the cochlea, sound representations early in the auditory system exhibit a large amount of variability as a function of stimulus intensity. In other words, changes in stimulus intensity, such as for sound sources at differing distances, create a unique challenge for the auditory system to encode sounds invariantly across the intensity dimension. This challenge and some strategies available to sensory systems to eliminate intensity as an encoding variable are discussed, with a special emphasis upon sound encoding.
Defect chemistry and states in the gap of lone-pair semiconductors☆

Abstract The development of models for states in the gap of amorphous semiconductors is reviewed. It is pointed out that early models, the ideas of Anderson, and those of Street and Mott all are essentially ad hoc . On the other hand, ideas developed by Kastner, Ovshinsky, and Kastner, Adler, and Fritzsche, are based on the underlying symmetry of the system: the chemical bonding. Recent successes of the valence-alternation model for defects in lone-pair semiconductors are summarized. Although many results are easily explained, the photoluminescence process appears much more complicated than previously believed.
The Specification of Experimental Designs to ANOVA Programs

Abstract Control languages used to specify experimental designs to ANOVA programs must have syntax and semantics to express several different types of information about the data and their analysis. The languages associated with several widely distributed ANOVA programs are compared for their flexibility and legibility in expressing the set of designs encountered in design texts. The types of output of the programs are listed.
The effect of volume phase changes, mass transport, sunlight penetration, and densification on the thermal regime of icy regoliths

The present quantitative modeling of convective, condensational, and sublimational effects on porous ice crust volumes subjected to solar radiation encompasses the effect of such insolation's penetration of visible bandpass-translucent light, but opaque to the IR bandpass. Quasi-steady-state temperatures, H2O mass fluxes, and ice mass-density change rates are computed as functions of time of day and ice depth. When the effects of latent heat and mass transport are included in the model, the enhancement of near-surface temperature due to the 'solid-state greenhouse effect' is substantially diminished. When latent heat, mass transport, and densification effects are considered, however, a significant solid-state greenhouse effect is shown to be compatible with both morphological evidence for high crust strengths and icy shell decoupling from the lithosphere.
Beneficial effects of estrogen on cardiac stunning in female rabbits.

TO determine the effect of estrogen treatment on the contractile, relaxation, and chronotropic responses of hearts of female rabbits to cessation of perfusion. Adult female rabbits were treated either with estradiol or with the vehicle (control). The hearts were then isolated and perfused at constant pressure by the Langendorff technique. A saline-filled balloon connected to a pressure transducer was inserted in the left ventricle in order to assess the mechanical function of the isolated heart. Cardiac stunning was induced by halting the perfusion of the coronary vasculature for four successive periods of 1, 3, 5, and 5 minutes, followed by reperfusion between nonperfusion periods. Changes in cardiac function induced by the cessation of perfusion were assessed by monitoring the changes in heart rate and in left ventricular pressure ([dP/dt]max as an index of ventricular contractility and [dP/dt]min as an index of ventricular relaxation). Changes in coronary flow were determined at baseline and following reperfusion. Halting coronary perfusion decreased (dP/dt)max and (dP/dt)min and slowed left ventricular contractions both in control and in estrogen-treated hearts. The depressant effects of flow cessation on left ventricular (dP/dt)max and (dP/dt)min were smaller in estrogen-treated hearts than in control hearts. Treatment with estrogen had no effect on the changes on the heart rate in responses to cessation of flow and to reperfusion. Treatment with estrogen increased coronary flow by 40%. Coronary reperfusion increased coronary flow transiently, but the effects did not differ significantly between control and estrogen-treated hearts. Short-term treatment of adult female rabbits with doses of estrogen that are physiologic for the rabbit exerts a protective effect on cardiac contractility from repetitive periods without perfusion.
Heme oxygenase 1 is associated with ischemic preconditioning-induced protection against brain ischemia

Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) protects brain against ischemic injury by activating specific mechanisms. Our goal was to determine if the inducible heme oxygenase 1 (HO1) is required for such protection. IPC before transient or permanent ischemia reduced cortical infarct volumes by 57.4% and 33.9%, respectively at 48 h in wildtype adult mice. Interestingly, IPC failed to protect the HO1 gene deleted mice against permanent ischemic brain injury. IPC also resulted in a significant increase in HO1 protein levels in the brain and correlated with reduced neurological deficits after permanent and transient brain ischemia. Our study demonstrates that neuroprotective effects of IPC are at least partially mediated via HO1. Elucidating the physiological/cellular role by which HO1 is protective against brain ischemia may aid the development of selective drugs to treat stroke and its associated neurological disorders.
Sigmoid wave transitions at alpine treeline

Ecotones that are controlled by a single environmental gradient or a set of correlated environmental factors are hypothesized to show a sigmoid wave form in percentage cover as the ecotone is crossed. This study investigates the sigmoid wave hypothesis at the alpine treeline in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. We find that approximately half of the sampled locations exhibit a sigmoid wave form in percentage cover across the ecotone. These results indicate that in some cases treeline is controlled by a single environmental gradient or a set of correlated environmental factors. However, in other cases, additional factors that are not correlated with the primary controlling gradient act to change the form of the transition. We investigated surficial geology as a possible controlling factor that would not be correlated with the primary climatic gradients found along transects across the alpine treeline. In at least some of the cases, surficial geology type was shown to be significantly associated with differences between sigmoidal and non-sigmoidal transitions. These results support previous evidence for sigmoid wave transitions at the boreal forest-tundra ecotone, but also show that the alpine treeline case is more complex. We argue that in cases where ecotones are used as sites for monitoring the effects of climate change on vegetation, care should be taken to utilize only sites that exhibit a sigmoidal transition so as to minimize the effects of non-climate-related controlling factors on the interpretations.
T-matrix calculations for the electron-impact ionization of hydrogen in the Temkin-Poet model

An eigenchannel R-matrix expansion of the T matrix is used to calculate total integrated and ejected energy differential cross sections for the electron-impact ionization of hydrogen in the Temkin-Poet model. In previous close-coupling results, unphysical oscillations in the total ionization cross section could be averaged over due to the smooth dependence of the cross section on the incident energy. For differential ionization cross sections, a step-function behavior in the cross sections’ overall ejected energy dependence has made unphysical oscillation removal much more problematic. By formulation design, the T-matrix method eliminates the stepfunction problem found in most close-coupling calculations of the ejected energy differential cross section. Total and differential ionization cross sections in a one-state R-matrix expansion are in excellent agreement with Hartree-Fock distorted-wave results. Total and differential ionization cross sections in multiple state R-matrix expansions converge toward the more accurate results given by a time-dependent wave-packet method. Unphysical oscillations appear in the differential ionization cross sections for all the T-matrix results involving more than three states in the R-matrix expansion, but the oscillations are small, symmetric about E/2, and easily averaged to give a smooth uniform result. PACS number~s!: 34.80.Kw
Hindered settling of rod‐like particles measured with magnetic resonance imaging

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to measure the time evolution of the volume fraction vs. height profile during batch sedimentation of rod-like particle suspensions. At any instant during sedimentation, MRI clearly delineates the supernatant, suspension, and sediment regions. The rod-like particles with a mean aspect ratio of 17.4 exhibit considerably larger hindered settling effects than spherical particles with increasing particle concentrations. This can be attributed in part to the larger increase in interparticle forces and relative viscosities with suspensions of rod-like particles than with suspensions of spherical particles, as the particle concentration increases. The relative viscosity of the rod-like particle suspensions is a function of the spin-spin relaxation time, T2. Since T2 is a measurable MRI quantity, this suggests that MRI may be used as an instrument for rheological measurement.
Various surgical approaches to treat voiding dysfunction following anti-incontinence surgery

Objective The aims of this study are to report the efficacy of retropubic urethrolysis, vaginal urethrolysis, and cutting of synthetic suburethral slings in treating postoperative voiding dysfunction that occurs after anti-incontinence surgery and to report the recurrence rate of stress urinary incontinence (SUI).
A brief Report on the Tank-mixture Method of using Oil Spray.

With over 35 brands of highly refined oil emulsions on the market for use in the spraying of citrus trees in southern California, backed in general by methods of “high-pressure” salesmanship, and with widely variable results in insect control and injury to trees, a definite need existed for a formula whereby the grower who so desired could use a spray of known composition. Pursuant to this need investigations showed that, when the type of oil best suited for citrus spraying is used, the principal quality of the spray mixture is that which relates to the quantity of oil deposited and the uniformity of the oil coverage. Tests showed that it is entirely practicable, with modern orchard sprayers, to maintain a uniform mixture of water, emulsifier, and pure oil, added separately to the spray tank, by using large-sized blades on the agitators and increasing the speed of the agitator shaft to about 225 r.p.m. By dyeing the spray oil and placing a piece of heavy-walled glass tubing at each end of the spray hose, one between the spray tank and the hose and the other between the hose and the spray nozzle, the fact was determined that the oil globules do not coalesce or float out to any material extent in passing through the spray hose. Microscopic studies of samples taken from the spray tank and from the spray nozzle showed that even though globules of relatively large size might pass through the hose, these are broken into very small globules, quite comparable to those in proprietary emulsions, as a result of being forced through the nozzle under a pressure of 300 pounds. Studies on the quantity of oil deposited on glass and citrus leaves, 25 square inches being used as the unit of area, showed that certain proprietary emulsions deposited three times as much oil as others. The average amount deposited on the glass was 21 milligrams. Tests with the tank mixture, using calcium caseinate spreader at the rate of ½ pound to 100 gallons of water, showed a deposit of 22 milligrams of oil. All tests were made with two percent of actual oil in the spray.
Reflection Phase Characterization of Curved High Impedance Surfaces

Reflection phase characteristics of cylindrically curved high impedance surfaces (HISs) are examined. Due to the non-periodicity of the problem, full wave solutions can be time consuming. To overcome this problem, an approximate semi-analytical method, which assumes a homogenized model for the curved HIS, is developed. The model parameters can be extracted from the reflection properties of the flat HIS. For the cases where only Floquet currents are excited, the reflection phase diagram of a curved HIS is independent of the curvature. However, the surface waves generated on HISs, due to their periodic geometry, distorts their reflection phase characteristics within specific frequency intervals. In those intervals, the reflection phase changes as a function of radius of curvature and size of the HIS. These effects are not observed for the flat cases because of the lower radiation resistance of the surface waves. In this paper, the normal incidence case is considered for TEz and TMz polarizations.
Pulmonary toxicity after exposure to military-relevant heavy metal tungsten alloy particles.

Significant controversy over the environmental and public health impact of depleted uranium use in the Gulf War and the war in the Balkans has prompted the investigation and use of other materials including heavy metal tungsten alloys (HMTAs) as nontoxic alternatives. Interest in the health effects of HMTAs has peaked since the recent discovery that rats intramuscularly implanted with pellets containing 91.1% tungsten/6% nickel/2.9% cobalt rapidly developed aggressive metastatic tumors at the implantation site. Very little is known, however, regarding the cellular and molecular mechanisms associated with the effects of inhalation exposure to HMTAs despite the recognized risk of this route of exposure to military personnel. In the current study military-relevant metal powder mixtures consisting of 92% tungsten/5% nickel/3% cobalt (WNiCo) and 92% tungsten/5% nickel/3% iron (WNiFe), pure metals, or vehicle (saline) were instilled intratracheally in rats. Pulmonary toxicity was assessed by cytologic analysis, lactate dehydrogenase activity, albumin content, and inflammatory cytokine levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid 24 h after instillation. The expression of 84 stress and toxicity-related genes was profiled in lung tissue and bronchoalveolar lavage cells using real-time quantitative PCR arrays, and in vitro assays were performed to measure the oxidative burst response and phagocytosis by lung macrophages. Results from this study determined that exposure to WNiCo and WNiFe induces pulmonary inflammation and altered expression of genes associated with oxidative and metabolic stress and toxicity. Inhalation exposure to both HMTAs likely causes lung injury by inducing macrophage activation, neutrophilia, and the generation of toxic oxygen radicals.
A Path planning control strategy for search-classify task using multiple cooperative underwater vehicles

This paper proposes to investigate the performance of a path planning controller for a search-classify mission using multiple cooperative underwater vehicles. We present a control strategy for multi-agent cooperative systems, namely the Grid-based Multi-Objective Optimal Problem (GMOOP) solving technique, to find the optimal solutions for a search-classify mission using an action determination map subject to certain constraints and objectives. This technique is based on an Interval Programming (IvP) algorithm introduced in for representing and optimizing over multiple competing objective functions. We made improvements in this GMOOP technique to suit the harsh underwater acoustic communication environment by taking advantages of the Location-Aware Source Routing (LASR) protocol for underwater Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET). Preliminary simulation trials based on two simplified scenarios have been carried out. Results show that the demanded cooperative search task could be finished satisfactorily under harsh acoustic constraints, and the performance of the GMOOP model are studied in various aspects.
What can individuals do to reduce personal health risks from air pollution

In many areas of the world, concentrations of ambient air pollutants exceed levels associated with increased risk of acute and chronic health problems. While effective policies to reduce emissions at their sources are clearly preferable, some evidence supports the effectiveness of individual actions to reduce exposure and health risks. Personal exposure to ambient air pollution can be reduced on high air pollution days by staying indoors, reducing outdoor air infiltration to indoors, cleaning indoor air with air filters, and limiting physical exertion, especially outdoors and near air pollution sources. Limited evidence suggests that the use of respirators may be effective in some circumstances. Awareness of air pollution levels is facilitated by a growing number of public air quality alert systems. Avoiding exposure to air pollutants is especially important for susceptible individuals with chronic cardiovascular or pulmonary disease, children, and the elderly. Research on mechanisms underlying the adverse health effects of air pollution have suggested potential pharmaceutical or chemopreventive interventions, such as antioxidant or antithrombotic agents, but in the absence of data on health outcomes, no sound recommendations can be made for primary prevention. Health care providers and their patients should carefully consider individual circumstances related to outdoor and indoor air pollutant exposure levels and susceptibility to those air pollutants when deciding on a course of action to reduce personal exposure and health risks from ambient air pollutants. Careful consideration is especially warranted when interventions may have unintended negative consequences, such as when efforts to avoid exposure to air pollutants lead to reduced physical activity or when there is evidence that dietary supplements, such as antioxidants, have potential adverse health effects. These potential complications of partially effective personal interventions to reduce exposure or risk highlight the primary importance of reducing emissions of air pollutants at their sources.
Evolving Labor Markets

Our Introduction was designed to offer readers a view of the larger context—the “forest”—in which our contributors were at work on the major varieties of the “trees.” It falls to us, at this point, to offer some tentative judgments about the near-and middle-term prospects for balances to be struck between the roles of markets—economic roles—and the roles, in a democracy for central government—in policy terms—that will facilitate “progressive” (rather than regressive) growth and development. To do so we infer several themes from and between the lines in our contributors’ chapters, to present a brief chapter that aims to identify some likely developments.
Chemosynthetic endosymbioses: adaptations to oxic-anoxic interfaces.

Chemosynthetic endosymbioses occur ubiquitously at oxic–anoxic interfaces in marine environments. In these mutualisms, bacteria living directly within the cell of a eukaryotic host oxidize reduced chemicals (sulfur or methane), fueling their own energetic and biosynthetic needs, in addition to those of their host. In habitats such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents, chemosynthetic symbioses dominate the biomass, contributing substantially to primary production. Although these symbionts have yet to be cultured, physiological, biochemical and molecular approaches have provided insights into symbiont genetics and metabolism, as well as into symbiont–host interactions, adaptations and ecology. Recent studies of endosymbiont biology are reviewed, with emphasis on a conceptual model of thioautotrophic metabolism and studies linking symbiont physiology with the geochemical environment. We also discuss current and future research directions, focusing on the use of genome analyses to reveal mechanisms that initiate and sustain the symbiont–host interaction.
DNA Repair Pathways in Clinical Practice: Lessons From Pediatric Cancer Susceptibility Syndromes

Human cancers exhibit genomic instability and an increased mutation rate due to underlying defects in DNA repair. Cancer cells are often defective in one of six major DNA repair pathways, namely: mismatch repair, base excision repair, nucleotide excision repair, homologous recombination, nonhomologous endjoining and translesion synthesis. The specific DNA repair pathway affected is predictive of the kinds of mutations, the tumor drug sensitivity, and the treatment outcome. The study of rare inherited DNA repair disorders, such as Fanconi anemia, has yielded new insights to drug sensitivity and treatment of sporadic cancers, such as breast or ovarian epithelial tumors, in the general population. The Fanconi anemia pathway is an example of how DNA repair pathways can be deregulated in cancer cells and how biomarkers of the integrity of these pathways could be useful as a guide to cancer management and may be used in the development of novel therapeutic agents.
Processing of the phalloidin proprotein by prolyl oligopeptidase from the mushroom conocybe albipes

The peptide toxins of poisonous Amanita mushrooms are bicyclic octapeptides (amatoxins) or heptapeptides (phallotoxins). In Amanita bisporigera, α-amanitin and phallacidin are synthesized as 35- and 34-amino acid proproteins, respectively, in which the amino acid sequences found in the mature toxins are flanked by conserved amino acid sequences. The presence of invariant Pro residues immediately upstream of the toxin regions and as the last predicted amino acid in the toxin regions themselves suggests that a Pro-specific peptidase is responsible for the initial post-translational processing of the Amanita toxin proproteins. We purified an enzyme from the phalloidin-producing mushroom Conocybe albipes that cleaves a synthetic 22-mer phalloidin peptide to release the mature toxin peptide (AWLATCP). Mass spectrometric analysis of the purified protein combined with isolation and sequencing of the encoding gene indicates that the responsible processing enzyme is a member of the prolyl oligopeptidase (POP) subfamily of proteases (EC 3.4.21.26). The processing enzyme was able to use the chromogenic POP substrate benzyloxycarbonyl-Gly-Pro-p-nitroanilide and was inhibited by the specific POP inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Pro-prolinal. Both Pro bonds in the proprotein are cleaved by the same enzyme, with the C-terminal Pro bond cleaved first or much faster than the N-terminal Pro bond. Transient accumulation of the N-terminal intermediate indicates that cleavage is not strongly processive. A synthetic peptide representing the phallacidin proprotein was also cleaved by the POP of C. albipes, but a precursor of amanitin (which is not made by C. albipes) was cleaved inefficiently.
Colonial and Republican Missions Compared: The Cases of Alta California and Southeastern Bolivia

In Latin America missions have traditionally played a large role in conquering and incorporating native populations into dominant society. Most studies of the missionary enterprise have focused on the colonial period, when the missions reached their high point. The Jesuit missions in Paraguay and the Franciscan missions of central and northern Mexico, for example, ruled over vast territories and thousands of Indians. Although these institutions and their leaders have been widely studied because of their importance and visibility for colonial Latin America, it is not often recognized that missions continued to play a crucial role in the frontier development of the region even after the Spanish and Portuguese had been driven from the continent. Throughout the republican period, missionaries from many orders and creeds became critically important actors who, to a large degree, determined the shape of relations between native peoples and national society. This is quite clear even today in the Amazon basin, where missionaries often provide the natives' first exposure to Europeanized society.
Effect of colonic distention on superiority of supine versus prone views in screening computed tomographic colonography.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of colonic distention in computed tomographic colonography (CTC). Methods There were 3941 adults who underwent CTC with distention by either carbon dioxide (CO 2 ; n =2099) or room air (RA; n =l733). Supine distention and prone distention were prospectively assessed and compared. Results With CO 2 , distention on the supine view was superior in 72.1% (1514/2099) of the patients; with RA, the prone view was better in 56.8% (984/1733) ( P Conclusions With CO 2 , the supine data set is more often the superior view, whereas with RA, the prone data set is more often preferred.
Changes in Indices of Selenium Status in Men on Low, Medium, and High Intakes

Erythrocyte and plasma GSHPx were not sensitive to large changes in selenium intake over a six week period but might change over a longer time. Conversely, plasma selenium concentration and platelet GSHPx activity were more sensitive indicators of a change in selenium status. Exchangeable pool size estimates did change as a result of changes in selenium intake and correlated with changes in plasma selenium concentrations.
Studies on the lipids of sheep red blood cells. IV. The identification of a new phospholipid. N-acyl phosphatidyl serine.

Abstract A new phospholipid has been isolated from the erythrocytes of sheep. It has been tentatively identified as N -acyl phosphatidyl serine. It amounts to between 2.0 and 4.0% of the total phospholipids in sheep erythrocytes. This phospholipid has also been detected in the red cells of other ruminants, such as the cow and goat.
Inference for nonconjugate Bayesian Models using the Gibbs sampler

A Bayesian approach to modeling a rich class of nonconjugate problems is presented. An adaptive Monte Carlo integration technique known as the Gibbs sampler is proposed as a mechanism for implementing a conceptually and computationally simple solution in such a framework. The result is a general strategy for obtaining marginal posterior densities under changing specification of the model error densities and related prior densities. We illustrate the approach in a nonlinear regression setting, comparing the merits of three candidate error distributions.
A proxy-network based overlay topology resistant to DoS attacks and partitioning

In this paper we examine the effectiveness of a circulant graph proxy-network overlay topology. We select to examine a circulant graph that exhibits several attributes which strengthen the proxy network's resistance to DoS attacks. Proxy networks enable applications to communicate with users without disclosing their IP's. An application's resistance to DoS attacks is improved by hiding it behind a proxy-network based overlay. We evaluate the selected-topology's fault-tolerance and its effectiveness in the resistance of DoS attacks.