cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Recovery of function and basal ganglia [14C]2-deoxyglucose uptake after nigrostriatal injury.

Abstract Rats with unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine injections along the mesotelencephalic dopaminergic projection showed a profound impairment in localizing somatosensory stimuli on the contralateral body surface at 3 days postoperatively. Approximately one-half of the affected animals recovered the ability to localize tactile stimuli during 6 weeks postoperatively, whereas the remainder did not. When it occurred, the recovery of sensorimotor function began between the third and fifth day postoperatively and plateaued between days 14 and 21. Unilateral damage to these dopaminergic neurons resulted in hemispheric asymmetries of [14C]2-deoxyglucose incorporation at 3 days postoperatively. For structures that normally receive a dopaminergic innervation (e.g., neostriatum, nucleus accumbens septi, olfactory tubercle) the autoradiographic density of the injured side was decreased relative to the intact hemisphere. For structures that receive striatal inputs (globus pallidus, entopeduncular nucleus, substantia nigra pars reticulata), the autoradiographic density was increased on the side of the injury. This pattern of altered [14C]2-deoxyglucose incorporation was still present at 6 weeks postoperatively in animals that showed no recovery of somatosensory localization during that time. In contrast, rats that did recover showed no hemispheric asymmetries within the anterior neostriatum, globus pallidus, or substantia nigra pars reticulata at 6 weeks postoperatively, and the time course of normalization of metabolic activity in these structures was similar to that for behavioral restoration. These results directly demonstrate the importance of the neostriatum and particular structures efferent to it in the recovery of sensorimotor functions after striatal dopamine depletion. The types of neuronal plasticity within this basal ganglia circuitry responsible for the normalization of [14C]2-deoxyglucose incorporation and behavior are discussed.
Enteric-coated aspirin bezoar: Elevation of serum salicylate level by barium study

The gastric accumulation of enteric-coated aspirin tablets due to peptic ulcer disease or gastric outlet scarring and the impaired gastric emptying that results have been previously reported. In the case reported herein, an unanticipated peaking of plasma salicylate levels occurred following radiographic studies in which barium was used. This phenomenon prompted an in vitro study in which dissolution rates of enteric-coated aspirin in various barium preparations were determined, suggesting that dissolution is dependent upon effervescent activity of the milieu, as well as pH. The use of barium in diagnosing suspected accumulation of enteric-coated aspirin is discussed, and techniques for tablet removal are reviewed.
Polypyrrole polyvinylidene difluoride composite stripe and zigzag actuators for use in facial robotics

Composite stripe and zigzag actuators consisting of a sandwich polypyrrole (PPy)/polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF)/PPy structure were synthesized using potentiodynamic film growth on gold electrodes. The synthesis was done from an aqueous solution containing tetrabutylammonium perchlorate and pyrrole by polymerization at room temperature. The actuator displacement was modeled using finite element simulations. For depositing thin PPy films and thereby minimizing the response time, experimental optimization of the deposition conditions was performed. The number of current-potential (potentiodynamic) growth cycles and the thickness of the deposited PPy film were highly correlated in the initial stages of polymer film growth. The actuation response measurements indicate that the zigzag shaped actuators provide promising properties to develop artificial muscle.
Gerald D. Feldman (1937–2007)

W V THETHER it was his prodigious publication rate or the untiring help he extended to his students, the remarkable generosity he showed to colleagues or the anger he occasionally displayed over what he con sidered to be problematic scholarship, or merely his outsized appetite for good food, Gerry Feldman was a titanic force in the field of German history for more than forty years. His fascination with the past, love of the present, and concern for the future transformed his spacious home in the Oakland hills and his cramped office at the University of California at Berkeley into international des tinations for itinerant intellectuals. His writing and his personal relations were infused with an exuberant delight in the most mundane of things and a wry appreciation of life's greatest challenges. With his passing, we have lost a great advocate of transnational scholarly relations, one of the profession's most talented economic historians, and our foremost expert on the Weimar Republic, its antecedents, and the men who dug its grave. Feldman grew up in modest circumstances in a Jewish household in New York City. He acquired a love of opera at a young age by listening to radio broadcasts while visiting with his father in his workshop. A state scholarship helped to pay for his undergraduate education at Columbia Univer sity, where he published his first scholarly paper as a senior in 1958 on the Treaty of Versailles. From Columbia he went to Harvard University, where he studied with Franklin Ford and William L. Langer. His dissertation, which was pub lished in 1966 as Army, Industry, and Labor in Germany, 1914-1918, remains a classic commentary on Wilhelmine collapse and Weimar weakness. The book was immediately recognized for its thorough documentation of the Army's attempt to mobilize the civilian economy for military purposes, its rich portrait of a vacillating and incompetent military leadership, its innovative emphasis on interest group politics, and its skillful location of Weimar's origins in Erich von Ludendorff's military dictatorship. Especially influential has been Feldman's argument that the Army's logistical needs led it to broker a truce between capital and labor, which dealt a fatal blow to the alliance
High level continuity for coordinate generation with precise controls

Coordinate generation techniques with precise local controls have been derived and analyzed for continuity requirements up to both the first and second derivatives, and have been projected to higher level continuity requirements from the established pattern. The desired local control precision was obtained when a family of coordinate surfaces could be uniformly distributed without a consequent creation of flat spots on the coordinate curves transverse to the family. Relative to the uniform distribution, the family could be redistributed from an a priori distribution function or from a solution adaptive approach, both without distortion from the underlying transformation which may be independently chosen to fit a nontrivial geometry and topology.
Differential Charge Cancellation (DCC) Layout as an RHBD Technique for Bulk CMOS Differential Circuit Design

A novel RHBD technique utilizing charge sharing to mitigate single-event voltage transients in differential circuits is demonstrated experimentally. Differential charge cancellation (DCC) layout leverages the inherent common-mode rejection of differential circuits to mitigate voltage transients induced by ion strikes. A simple layout variation transforms normally single-ended error signals into common-mode signals that are mitigated by the differential signal path. This layout change maintains the matching achieved via a standard common-centroid layout but incurs negligible area penalty.
Delayed and indirect effects of antiarrhythmic drugs in reducing sudden cardiac death

In the USA, two-thirds of sudden cardiac deaths (SCDs) are caused by sustained ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy has been demonstrated to decrease mortality caused by these arrhythmias, when used both for primary and secondary prevention. However, ICD use is expensive, has proarrhythmic effects and does not prevent ventricular arrhythmias. Antiarrhythmic drugs (AADs) can be used for acute or chronic therapy to prevent ventricular arrhythmias and SCD. Most commonly, AADs are often used in patients with an ICD who have recurrent ICD shocks due to ventricular arrhythmias. Class I AADs are used in patients with a structurally normal heart and are contraindicated in patients with structural heart disease. β-blockers have been demonstrated to be beneficial in preventing mortality and malignant tachyarrhythmias in postmyocardial infarction and congestive heart failure patients, and in patients who have an ICD. Amiodarone has a neutral effect on mortality, while other class III drugs may increase mortality in certain subgroups of patients. Dronedarone, a new class III drug, may reduce mortality, but sufficient data are not available to allow for its use in the prevention of malignant tachyarrhythmias. Few drugs that are not classified as AADs can also prevent arrhythmias, via their beneficial effects on cardiovascular remodeling. These non-ADDs have delayed and indirect effects, which are mediated by the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and lipid metabolism - n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (fish oil), and statins, and can thus can reduce the likelihood of future malignant ventricular arrhythmias in patients with coronary artery disease or congestive heart failure. The role of chronic drug therapy alone for primary and secondary prevention of SCD is less than desirable because of proarrhythmic and adverse side effects. The non-ADDs are well tolerated and have no proarrhythmic actions, thus their benefit could outweigh risks, although currently there are no concrete data to suggest this.
Access to Health Insurance, Barriers to Care, and Service Use among Adults with Disabilities:

No studies to date have examined access to insurance coverage or medical care for a broadly defined population of uninsured nonelderly adults with disabilities. This analysis uses the 2002 National Survey of America's Families to examine access to coverage, access to care, and service use for a large sample of adults with disabilities, with a focus on the uninsured. All disabled groups reported unmet need and service use greater than their nondisabled counterparts with the same insured status. Access to coverage was most problematic for low-income adults with work limitations but no other indication of disability, with over one-third uninsured. This group deserves greater policy attention.
Modeling network autocorrelation within migration flows by eigenvector spatial filtering

Although the assumption of independence among interaction flows frequently is engaged in spatial interaction modeling, in many circumstances it leads to misspecified models and incorrect inferences. An informed approach is to explicitly incorporate an assumed relationship structure among the interaction flows, and to explicitly model the network autocorrelation. This paper illustrates such an approach in the context of U.S. interstate migration flows. Behavioral assumptions, similar to those of the intervening opportunities or the competing destinations concepts, exemplify how to specify network flows that are related to particular origin–destination combinations. The stepwise incorporation of eigenvectors, which are extracted from a network link matrix, captures the network autocorrelation in a Poisson regression model specification context. Spatial autocorrelation in Poisson regression is measured by the test statistic of Jacqmin-Gadda et al. (Stat Med 16(11):1283–1297, 1997). Results show that estimated regression parameters in the spatial filtering interaction model become more intuitively interpretable.
Incorporation of saturated fatty acids into phosphatidylcholine bilayers

Abstract The transition temperature of dipalmitoylglycerophosphocholine in multilamellar aqueous suspensions, as observed by high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry, is raised from 41.4 to 61.5°C by addition of palmitic acid at a mole fraction of 0.67. It appears that the fatty acid chains pack in the hexagonal lattice with the lipid chains in a one-to-one ratio, thereby eliminating the destabilizing crowding of the phosphatidylcholine head groups. A similar effect on dilauroylglycerophosphocholine is produced by lauric acid. The stabilizing effect is not produced in full measure by acids of different chain lengths, nor by alcohols or saturated hydrocarbons of the same chain length.
FRET-based Biosensors to Detect Infectious Agents

We report herein on the development of a FRET-based method to detect changes caused by viral protein-receptor binding. FRET fluorophore pairs (donor and acceptor fluorophores) were tagged to two specific receptors, both which bind to a viral protein. When the binding event occurs, the distance between the donor and acceptor FRET fluorophores is decreased, thus initiating the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Since the binding event is unique to the viral protein, fluorescent change indicates the present of the virus. In this paper, the viral protein gp120, which is the featured protein on the surface of HIV-1, was detected. The receptors, CD4 and gp120-antibody which specifically bind to gp120, were conjugated to the FRET fluorophore pair, AMCA-NHS (succinimidyl-7-amino-4-methylcoumarin-3-acetic acid) and FITC (fluorescein isothiocyanate) respectively. Spectrofluorimetry was used to detect the fluorescent change between AMCA-NHS and FITC peak intensities when the receptors bind to the gp120. Specific binding gp120 and non-specific binding gp120 were used to test the selectivity of the sensor. The results indicated that FRET-conjugated receptors can efficiently detect the presence of gp120.© (2002) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Hitler's Gateway to the Atlantic: German naval bases in France, 1940–1945

Any book that misspells its author's name on both the jacket and the spine should be approached with caution. Indeed the text contains numerous additional irritants in the form of butchered or miss...
Reducing standard errors by incorporating spatial autocorrelation into a measurement scheme for soil carbon credits

Several studies have suggested that geostatistical techniques could be employed to reduce overall transactions costs associated with contracting for soil C credits by increasing the efficacy of sampling protocols used to measure C-credits. In this paper, we show how information about the range of spatial autocorrelation can be used in a measurement scheme to reduce the size of the confidence intervals that bound estimates of the mean number of C-credits generated per hectare. A tighter confidence interval around the mean number of C-credits sequestered could increase producer payments for each hectare enrolled in a contract to supply C-credits. An empirical application to dry land cropping systems in three regions of Montana shows that information about the spatial autocorrelation exhibited by soil C could be extremely valuable for reducing transactions costs associated with contracts for C-credits but the benefits are not uniform across all regions or cropping systems. Accounting for spatial autocorrelation greatly reduced the standard errors and narrowed the confidence intervals associated with sample estimates of the mean number of C-credits produced per hectare. For the payment mechanism considered in this paper, tighter confidence intervals around the mean number of C-credits created per hectare enrolled could increase producer payments by more than 100 percent under a C-contract.
A quickbasic computer model of spermatogenesis

Abstract A program in QuickBasic has been written for the purpose of simulating spermatogenesis in any animal in order to more fully understand the dynamics of sperm production. Two basic informations are needeed to run the program: controlling factors (CF-s) and the stem cell population size. These can be interactively manipulated for theoretical evaluations or be implemented from actual animal data for assessment of valid sperm yield.
A mutualistic interaction between a fungivorous nematode and a fungus within the endophytic community of Bromus tectorum

Abstract In its invaded range in western North America, Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) can host more than 100 sequence-based, operational taxonomic units of endophytic fungi, of which an individual plant hosts a subset. Research suggests that the specific subset is determined by plant genotype, environment, dispersal of locally available endophytes, and mycorrhizal associates. But, interactions among members of the endophyte community could also be important. In a sampling of 63 sites throughout the invaded range of B. tectorum, a fungivorous nematode, Paraphelenchus acontioides, and an endophyte, Fusarium cf. torulosum, were found together in two sites. This positive co-occurrence in the field led to an experimental investigation of their interaction and its effects on relative abundances within the endophyte community. In greenhouse and laboratory experiments, we determined first that P. acontioides preferred F. cf. torulosum to other endophytes, and secondly that the relative abundance of F. cf. torulosum within the endophyte community was increased by the nematode in experimental plants. Taken together our results suggest that the fungivorous P. acontioides uses living plants to cultivate or increase the relative abundance of its preferred fungus. Surprisingly, host plant growth was unaffected by this endophytic, cultivation-based mutualism between a nematode and a fungus.
Measuring Market Power in the Supermarket Industry: The Case of the Seattle-Tacoma Fluid Milk Market

ABSTRACT In this paper, we estimate market power for supermarket chains by computing their price-cost marginsfor selling ﬂuid milk. However, unlike most previous studies that assume Bertrand-Nash pricingconduct, we solve for pricing conduct, assuming a leader follower (Stackelberg) framework, and joint-proﬁt maximization (monopoly) conduct, in addition to the widely used Bertrand-Nash pricingconduct. Price-cost margins are computed using estimates from a random coefﬁcients multinomial logitdemand model. Our results indicate that demand for milk at the supermarket chain level is elastic.Consumers, moreover, are more price sensitive to whole milk than to skim milk. In terms of pricingconduct, our results indicate that the Stacke1berg game, where, for instance, the Albertsonssupermarket chain leads and Safeway follows, best ﬁts the data at hand. This model implies that, onaverage, 23% of retail prices are appropriated by supermarket chains when selling ﬂuid milk. Moreover,in the case of Albertsons whole milk, 76% of the marketing margin is explained by the cost ofprocessing and distribution of ﬂuid milk, and 24% is explained by the exercise of market power.Approximately 52% of the marketing margin is due to the exercise of market power in the case of skimmilk sold by Safeway, while 48% is due to the cost of processing and distribution. [Econ Litclassiﬁcation: L1, L2, L4, Q1]. r 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.1. INTRODUCTION
Specific and nonspecific effects of EMG biofeedback.

This study investigated the effects of performance feedback and EMG biofeedback on perceptions of the “self” (i.e., self-esteem, self-control, self-efficacy, and locus of control) as well as on a self-control behavior (study skills) the subjects performed outside the laboratory. Forty-seven college students were randomly assigned to one of four groups in a 2(high and low success feedback) × 2(true and false EMG biofeedback) factorial experiment with repeated measures. All of the participants received four sessions of EMG biofeedback, and later they were asked to self-monitor their study habits for 2 weeks. Results showed that the self-esteem measure and perceptions of study skills improvement were differentially affected by success feedback but unrelated to the true or false EMG manipulation. Shifts toward an internal locus of control and perceptions of improved self-control were also noted, but they were independent of the subjects' group membership. Implication of the results are briefly discussed.
Home or Nursing Home: Does Place of Residence Affect Longevity in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease? The Experience of CERAD Patients

ABSTRACT There is concern that life is curtailed when patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are institutionalized. To determine whether placement in a nursing home reduces their remaining years of life, we examined the experience of White patients with AD (n=890) enrolled in the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). Proportional hazards survival analysis using the landmark approach (with the landmark set to 12 months after CERAD entry and reevaluated at succeeding 6-month time intervals through 5 years) indicated that longevity at home and in the nursing home was comparable. Thus, in these patients enrolled at tertiary care medical centers, living at home or in a nursing home did not affect time to death. These data suggest that when home care is no longer feasible, families and nurses counseling them should not feel that they are curtailing life by placing an AD patient in a nursing home.
Shape slack: a design-manufacturing co-optimization methodology using tolerance information

The move to low-k1 lithography makes it increasingly difficult to print feature sizes that are a small fraction of the wavelength of light. With further delay in the delivery of extreme ultraviolet lithography, these difficulties will motivate the research community to explore increasingly broad solutions. We propose that there is significant research potential in studying the essential premise of the design/manufacturing handoff paradigm. Today this premise revolves around design rules that define what implementations are legal, and raw shapes, which define design intent, and are treated as a fixed requirement for lithography. In reality, layout features may vary within certain tolerances without violating any design constraints. The knowledge of such tolerances can help improve the manufacturability of layout features while still meeting design requirements. We propose a methodology to convert electrical slack in a design to shape slack or tolerances on individual layout shapes. We show how this can be done for two important implementation fabrics: (a) cell-library-based digital logic and (b) static random access memory. We further develop a tolerance-driven optical proximity correction algorithm that utilizes this shape slack information during mask preparation to ensure that all features prints within their shape slacks in presence of lithographic process variations. Experiments on 45 nm silicon on insulator cells using accurate process models show that this approach reduces postlithography delay errors by 50%, and layout hotspots by 47% compared to conventional methods.
A Logical Reading System for Nonreturn-to-Zero Magnetic Recording

The nonreturn-to-zero method for the magnetic recording of binary information saturates the surface in a continuous fashion, one sense of saturation being used for a ``1'' and the opposite sense of saturation for a ``O.'' A system is described for reading NRZ digital data which utilizes the inherent alternating characteristic of the readback signal waveform to effect a logical correction. The reading system corrects the ``normal'' sources of error which limit the usable bit storage density and set the degree of reliability. The system employs only amplitude sensitive waveform operators and samples the readback signal only at the regular clock times.
Indifference or indecisiveness? Choice-theoretic foundations of incomplete preferences

Abstract A commonly held belief in economics is that an individual's preferences that are revealed by her choices must be complete. This paper takes issue with this position by showing that one may be able to distinguish between indifference and indecisiveness of an agent upon observing her choice behavior. We relax the standard Weak Axiom of Revealed Preferences (WARP) and show that a potent theory of individual choice (with and without risk) can be founded on this weaker axiom when it is coupled with some other standard postulates. The most notable features here are that an agent is allowed to be indifferent between certain alternatives and indecisive about others. Moreover, an outside observer can identify which of these actually occur upon examining the (observable) choice behavior of the decision maker. As an application, we also show how our theory may be able to cope with the classical preference reversal phenomenon.
Boron isotopic variations in hydrous rhyolitic melts: a case study from Long Valley, California

In this paper, we present boron isotope analy- ses of variably degassed rhyolitic glasses from Long Valley, California. The following results indicate that pre-eruptive boron isotopic signatures were preserved in degassed glasses: (1) averaged secondary ionization mass spectrometry (SIMS) measurements of H2O-rich (� 3 wt%) melt inclusions from late erupted Bishop Tuff pumice are indistinguishable from positive thermal ionization mass spectrometry (PTIMS) analysis of vesiculated groundmass glass (d 11 B=+5.0±0.9& and +5.4±0.5&, respectively); (2) SIMS spot-analyses on H2O-poor obsidian (� 0.15 wt% H2O) from younger Glass Mountain Dome YA (average d 11 B=+5.2±1.0&) overlap with compositionally similar late Bishop Tuff melt inclusions; and (3) four variably degassed obsidian samples from the 0.6 ka Mono Craters (H2O between 0.74 and 0.10 wt%) are homogeneous with regard to
Invasive Pneumococcal Disease: Clinical Features, Serotypes, and Antimicrobial Resistance Patterns in Cases Involving Patients with and Without Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection

We reviewed 153 episodes of invasive pneumococcal disease involving 147 hospitalized patients with and without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease to examine and compare epidemiologic and clinical features, capsular serotypes, and antibiotic susceptibility patterns. HIV infection was the most common risk factor for invasive pneumococcal disease. Pneumococcal disease in HIV-infected individuals was characterized by the greater frequency with which pneumonia was the source of bacteremia (90% vs. 63%) (P < .01) and an increased recurrence rate (15% vs. < 1%) (P < .01). The overall mortality rate was 12% and did not vary by HIV serostatus. Capsular-type data were available for 149 episodes; 90% of the types were among those found in the polyvalent pneumococcal vaccine. The four most common capsular types causing invasive disease were 14, 6b, 9v, and 22f; capsular type 9v was significantly more common among HIV-infected patients (P < .01). Penicillin-resistant isolates were identified in 7.2% of all cases, and their presence did not vary by HIV status; 20% of isolates from cerebrospinal fluid were resistant. The majority of the resistant isolates were of capsular type 9v. Given the worldwide increase in both HIV and penicillin-resistant pneumococcal infections, better preventative and therapeutic strategies are greatly needed.
Spoken language mismatch in speaker verification: An investigation with NIST-SRE and CRSS Bi-Ling corpora

Compensation for mismatch between acoustic conditions in automatic speaker recognition has been widely addressed in recent years. However, performance degradation due to language mismatch has yet to be thoroughly addressed. In this study, we address langauge mismatch for speaker verification. We select bilingual speaker data from the NIST SRE 04-08 corpora and develop train/test-trials for language matched and mismatched conditions. We first show that language variability significantly degrades speaker recognition performance even with a state-of-the-art i-vector system. Next, we consider two ideas to improve performance: i) we introduce small amounts of multi-lingual speech data to the Probabilistic Linear Discriminant Analysis (PLDA) development set, and ii) explore phoneme level analysis to investigate the effect of language mismatch. It is shown that introducing small amounts of multi-lingual seed data within PLDA training has a significant improvement in speaker verification performance. Also, using data from the CRSS Bi-Ling corpus, we show how various phoneme classes affect speaker verification in language mismatch. This speech corpus consists of bilingual speakers who speak either Hindi or Mandarin, in addition to English. Using this corpus, we propose a novel phoneme histogram normalization technique to match the phonetic spaces of two different languages and show a +16.6% relative improvement in speaker verification performance in the presence of language mismatch.
Measurement Properties of the Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Index (SCI-FI) Short Forms

Abstract Objective To evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spinal Cord Injury-Functional Index (SCI-FI) short forms (basic mobility, self-care, fine motor, ambulation, manual wheelchair, and power wheelchair) based on internal consistency; correlations between short forms banks, full item bank forms, and a 10-item computer adaptive test version; magnitude of ceiling and floor effects; and test information functions. Design Cross-sectional cohort study. Setting Six rehabilitation hospitals in the United States. Participants Individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury (N=855) recruited from 6 national Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems facilities. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures SCI-FI full item bank, 10-item computer adaptive test, and parallel short form scores. Results The SCI-FI short forms (with separate versions for individuals with paraplegia and tetraplegia) demonstrate very good internal consistency, group-level reliability, excellent correlations between short forms and scores based on the total item bank, and minimal ceiling and floor effects (except ceiling effects for persons with paraplegia on self-care, fine motor, and power wheelchair ability and floor effects for persons with tetraplegia on self-care, fine motor, and manual wheelchair ability). The test information functions are acceptable across the range of scores where most persons in the sample performed. Conclusions Clinicians and researchers should consider the SCI-FI short forms when computer adaptive testing is not feasible.
The role of clouds in the enhancement of cloud condensation nuclei concentrations

Abstract Three exist three possible mechanisms for the enhancement of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the vicinity of and within clouds. Firstly, when clouds form due to mixing air masses, real-time CCN measurements show that CCN concentrations could register an increase around such clouds due to differences in the aerosol content of the two air masses (the mechanism being the transport of new CCN to the measurement site). Secondly, due to sulfate production within clouds themselves, the CCN concentration in the air mass processed by such clouds could be elevated due to a shift in the size distribution and chemical composition of the existing aerosol particles. Thirdly, new aerosol particles could be formed by the process of homogeneous, heteromolecular nucleation in the vicinity of and within clouds resulting from a modification of the supersaturation field. The third mechanism is capable of enhancing simultaneously both condensation nuclei (CN) and CCN concentrations. By analyzing the existing field measurements, examples demonstrating the enhancement in CCN concentration within clouds, close to the cloud top, and in clear but moist air above the cloud tops are provided. It is pointed out that for CCN to play an effective role in climate-regulation (i.e. counteracting the greenhouse warming due to CO 2 etc.), their number concentrations should increase by as much as a factor of four which would cause an increase in the global albedo by ≈ 1.7%. Current evidence shows that such a CCN enhancement may be possible locally but is not observable in general. Although anthropogenically influenced arctic stratus clouds were observed to produce significant CCN enhancement, no such effect was observed in antarctic stratus clouds. A model based on homogeneous, heteromolecular aerosol particle production was used to calculate particle production. Model results of sensitivity studies are presented that explain why the observations of this phenomenon so far have been so few. Enhanced actinic radiation flux, high relative humidity, abundance of gaseous sulfur, and long life span of clouds are found to be common features of observations that indicate CCN enhancement within clouds. Such clouds are very active photochemically. Sampling artifacts encountered in airborne observations could also occur and may explain partially or totally the observed CCN enhancement although this explanation is far from satisfactory and precludes the observed CCN enhancement in clear moist layers above the cloud tops.
A Collision Detection Algorithm for Point-Like Haptic Interactions in Highly Detailed Virtual Environments

In this paper, we present a collision detection algorithm for use in hapto-visual virtual environments containing highly- detailed, rigid, and dynamic models that are manipulated with probe-like haptic devices. Our approach is primarily motivated by the observation that highly detailed virtual models are typically represented by dense point clouds (specifically those that result from high-resolution laser-scans of real-life objects). By not viewing models as the sum of their constituent points, but rather dealing with the vertices individually, we present a novel collision detection algorithm that bounds each individual vertex with an axes-aligned bounding box that is arranged in a modified octree during a preprocessing phase. Collision detection at run-time is then performed via an involved query of the octree searching for the haptic probe's coordinates inside one of the aforementioned bounding boxes. Our algorithm runs in logarithmic time 0(log n) where n is the number of vertices that makes up the model(s). Our approach accommodates environments where objects undergo rotation and translation but on the condition that models remain rigid
Sensing systems for precision agriculture in Florida

Many sensing systems were developed for use in precision agriculture in Florida.Examples include fruit recognition and disease detection platforms.A summary of past efforts is presented.Applications of different sensing systems and future directions are discussed. Many sensing systems have been developed for use in precision agriculture in Florida over the past decade. These systems have been designed for specialty crops such as citrus and blueberry. Systems include those for fruit recognition for yield mapping as well as those for disease detection systems using ground- and aerial-based platforms. Other systems discussed are used in soil phosphorus detection using near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy, debris detection generated from citrus mechanical harvesting, detection of citrus fruit dropped on the ground due to disease, citrus leaf nitrogen detection, silage yield mapping, soil nutrients and grain insect detection using NIR spectroscopy. A summary of past efforts is presented in this paper, applications of these different sensing systems are discussed, and future directions are described.
Performance and Selection of Rigid and Flexible Pipes

The increasing number of pipe breaks and resulting contamination, the aging of existing underground pipelines, and the economics and engineering involved in procuring and installing new underground pipelines have led to the introduction of several new pipe products. Among the available products, the selection of the most suitable product is often based on a comparative evaluation of literature and the data provided by the manufacturers and vendors. This practice has led to poor performance of several underground pipelines and unnecessary maintenance costs. This paper presents a detailed account of the existing design procedures for rigid and flexible pipelines and standards. In addition, the warranties provided by various manufacturers are examined with the backfill requirements. Clear guidelines for proper pipe selection are presented for the benefit of city and municipal engineers and other design engineers.
Microtubular cytoskeletons of the trophic cells of five eumycetozoans

The trophic cells of the protostelids,Ceratiomyxella tahitiensis, Cavostelium apophysatum, Planoprotostelium aurantium, andClastostelium recurvatum, and the reduced myxomycete,Echinostelium bisporum, were examined with indirect immunofluorescence to determine the overall structure of the microtubular cytoskeletons of each type of cell. All five species have a distinct flagellar apparatus in the amoeboflagellate state, but they vary with respect to the presence of body microtubules, those microtubules which do not focus on the flagellar apparatus. The obligate amoebae ofC. tahitiensis, C. apophysatum andC. recurvatum all have extensive microtubular cytoskeletons, but each is unique to its respective species. The obligate amoeba ofC. tahitiensis has scattered microtubules which often describe curved paths. The microtubules never appear to focus on MTOCs. The microtubular cytoskeleton ofC. apophysatum consists of relatively straight, rigid appearing microtubules. Small subpopulations of these microtubules radiate from MTOCs near the nucleus. The obligate amoeba ofC. recurvatum has a cytoskeleton consisting of numerous microtubules which radiate from a perinuclear MTOC and fill the body of the cell. These results correlate well with earlier ultrastructural observations which suggest that the amoeboflagellate state is homologous in these mycetozoans and that the obligate amoebae, when present, are unique to the various lineages in which they appear.
Release of Iron from Phosvitin by Heat and Food Additives

Most of the iron in egg yolk is bound by phosvitin. Heating whole egg or yolk in a double boiler does not release this iron. Also, heating a 0.125 mg/ml solution of phosvitin in distilled water for 20 and 40 min at 110°C did not free iron. A second phosvitin solution mixed equally with 0.04M citric acid, 2 M NaCl and 0.03M Na2 EDTA. Only EDTA released (ca) iron from phosvitin without heating.
Drought stress and preharvest aflatoxin contamination in agricultural commodity: genetics, genomics and proteomics.

Throughout the world, aflatoxin contamination is considered one of the most serious food safety issues concerning health. Chronic problems with preharvest aflatoxin contamination occur in the southern US, and are particularly troublesome in corn, peanut, cottonseed, and tree nuts. Drought stress is a major factor to contribute to preharvest aflatoxin contamination. Recent studies have demonstrated higher concentration of defense or stress-related proteins in corn kernels of resistant genotypes compared with susceptible genotypes, suggesting that preharvest field condition (drought or not drought) influences gene expression differently in different genotypes resulting in different levels of “end products”: PR(pathogenesis-related) proteins in the mature kernels. Because of the complexity of Aspergillus-plant interactions, better understanding of the mechanisms of genetic resistance will be needed using genomics and proteomics for crop improvement. Genetic improvement of crop resistance to drought stress is one component and will provide a good perspective on the efficacy of control strategy. Proteomic comparisons of corn kernel proteins between resistant or susceptible genotypes to Aspergillus flavus infection have identified stress-related proteins along with antifungal proteins as associated with kernel resistance. Gene expression studies in developing corn kernels are in agreement with the proteomic studies that defense-related genes could be upregulated or downregulated by abiotic stresses.
A rapid method for quantitation of immunofluorescence on human lymphoblastoid cell suspensions.

Abstract A quantitative fluoroimmunoassay for antibodies to, and surface antigens of, human lymphoblastoid cells (IM-1) with photon-counting spectrofluorometry is described. IM-1 cell suspensions were reacted with rabbit antiserum to human spleen vesicular membranes, were washed, and then were reacted with an excess amount of fluorochrome-conjugated (fluorescein or rhodamine) goat anti-rabbit immunoglobulin G (IgG). Under appropriate conditions, antibodies to IM-1 cells could be detected with experimental/control fluorescence ratios ranging between 5 and 40. Moreover, detectable levels of antibody-saturated cells approached 5 × 10 3 cells per milliliter or a total of 1.7 × 10 3 cells per assay. Inhibition of the fluoroimmunoassay was performed with either viable IM-1 cells or IM-1 vesicular membrane preparations and demonstrated a dose-dependent antigen inhibition. Fluorescence of sensitized cells reactive with either fluorescein- or rhodamine-labeled antiglobulins could be quantitatively distinguished in dual-labeled preparations.
95 Four versus 6 courses cisplatin etoposide (E.P.) with early chest radiotherapy. A randomized study in small cell lung cancer (SCLC)

Despite several trials testing increased dose intensity, alternating drug administration etc. the survival of patients (pts) with SCLC has not improved. Early chest radiotherapy in pts with Limited Disease (LD) has been shown to improve patients’ survival. In an effort to reduce toxicity we have compared the efficacy and toxicity of 4 courses (Group A) versus 6 courses (Group B) of EP chemotherapy combined with early chest radiotherapy. In a randomized study 52 evaluable pts have been treated with E.P. (Etoposide 120 mg/m 2 days 1–3, Cisplatin 80 mg/m 2 day 1). All responders have been irradiated after the 4th course. Objective Response (O.R.) for Group A was 16/24 = 66%, with 5 CRS 20% and 11 PRS 46%, Group B OR: 21/28 = 75% with 7 CRS 25% and 14 PRS 50%. Median Time to progression group A: 8 mo group B: 13 mo (P = 0.050) Median Survival group A: 9 mo (5–28+) group B: 12.5 mo (6–43+) ( P = 0.033). Median Survival LD pts group A: 15.6 mo, Group B: 20.5 mo (N.S.). Extensive Disease (E. D.) Group A: 7.5 mo, Group B: 11.5 mo ( P = 0.027). Myelotoxicity and renal toxicity were not significantly different. We consider 4 courses inferior to 6 courses even with early radiotherapy. E. D. patients seem to benefit more from the two extra courses.
Radionuclide imaging in myocardial sarcoidosis. Demonstration of myocardial uptake of technetium pyrophosphate99m and gallium

A patient had severe congestive cardiomyopathy secondary to myocardial sarcoidosis. The clinical diagnosis was confirmed by radionuclide ventriculography, thallium 201 ( 201 Tl), gallium-67 ( 67 Ga,) and technetium-99m ( 99 mTc) pyrophosphate (TcPYP) scintigraphy. Myocardial TcPYP uptake has not been reported previously in sarcoidosis. In this patient, TcPYP was as useful as gallium scanning and thallium imaging in documenting the myocardial process.
The Jobs-Housing Balance and Urban Commuting

This paper applies geographical information system (GIS) techniques and a piece-wise, non-linear model-spline functions—to analyse empirically the relationship between the jobs-housing ratio and urban commuting patterns in terms of vehicle miles travelled (VMT) and trip length. A dynamic buffering process in GIS is developed to measure the jobs-housing ratio within floating catchment areas of a 5-7 mile (8.05-11.27 km) radius as opposed to pre-defined and arbitrary jurisdictional boundaries. This study found a non-linear relationship between the jobs-housing ratio and VMT and trip length in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. Only when the jobs-housing ratio is less than 1.2 or larger than 2.8 do VMT vary noticeably as the jobs-housing ratio changes. Marginal changes in VMT are small when the jobs-housing ratio is between 1.2 and 2.8. Since most areas in the study region have a job-household ratio between 1.2 and 2.8, any changes in the jobs-housing ratio will have little impact on VMT. Consequently,...
Probing the potential energy landscape for dissociation of protonated indole via threshold collision-induced dissociation and theoretical studies

Abstract Collision-induced dissociation of protonated indole with Xe is studied as a function of kinetic energy using guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometry techniques. Activated dissociation resulting in endothermic loss of neutral HCN (or HNC) is the only pathway observed over the range of collision energies examined. The cross-section threshold for this activated dissociation pathway is interpreted to yield 0 and 298 K activation energies for this process after accounting for the effects of multiple ion–neutral collisions, the internal energy distribution of the protonated indole cations, and their lifetimes for dissociation. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the MPW1PW91/6-31G* level of theory are used to determine the structures of indole, the protonated indole tautomers, and the transition states, intermediates, and products involved in the activated dissociation of protonated indole. Four distinct pathways between the reactant ion and dissociation products are computed. In all cases, the ionic product formed is C 6 H 5 CH 2 + , while the neutral product is HCN in three of the pathways and HNC in the fourth. The vibrational frequencies and rotational constants of the ground state tautomer of protonated indole and the rate-determining transition state along each of the pathways computed are used for the thermodynamic analysis of the experimental data. The theoretical activation energies and potential energy landscapes for activated dissociation of protonated indole are determined from single point calculations at the MPW1PW91/6-311+G(2d,2p) and MP2(full)/6-311+G(2d,2p) levels of theory, using the MPW1PW91/6-31G* optimized geometries. Both theories produce similar potential energy landscapes for elimination of HCN (or HNC) from protonated indole. Theory suggests that elimination of HNC is favored over HCN. However, our threshold measurements probe the lowest-energy pathway available and are in much better agreement with the higher-energy HCN elimination pathways, suggesting that theory underestimates the activation energy for loss of HNC.
Chelators for investigating zinc metalloneurochemistry

The physiology and pathology of mobile zinc signaling has become an important topic in metalloneurochemistry. To study the action of mobile zinc effectively, specialized tools are required that probe the temporal and positional changes of zinc ions within live tissue and cells. In the present article we describe the design and implementation of selective zinc chelators as antagonists to interrogate the function of mobile zinc, with an emphasis on the pools of vesicular zinc in the terminals of hippocampal mossy fiber buttons.
Evidence for two independent distributions of serum immunoglobulin E in atopic families: Cognate and non-cognate IgE

Genetic studies of IgE-mediated atopic disease have produced conflicting results, due largely to variable phenotype definitions. Total IgE concentrations and 14 allergen skin prick tests (SPT) were determined in 1099 members of families with history of atopy. Log10 [Total IgE] values were normally distributed in both atopic (SPT [+]) and non-atopic (SPT [-]) groups. The mean Log10 [Total IgE] value was higher in the atopic group, although the standard deviations of the distributions were the same. The mean Log10 [Total IgE] value of the non-atopic distribution was subtracted from the individual Log10 [Total IgE] values of the atopic group giving an allergen-specific fraction. There was a strong positive correlation between the specific IgE fraction and the number (#) SPT [+] results, defined as Cognate IgE. Among the atopics, subtracting the Cognate IgE value from total IgE yielded Non-Cognate IgE. The Cognate and Non-Cognate IgE distributions were statistically uncorrelated. Evidence is presented for two serum IgE fractions that are statistically and physiologically independent of one another in atopic families; a Cognate IgE fraction associated with atopic sensitization and a Non-Cognate IgE fraction unrelated to atopic disease. Elevated serum IgE is a consequence, not a predisposing cause, of allergen sensitization.