cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acupuncture for breast cancer related lymphedema: A randomized controlled trial.

e21706Background: Up to 20% of breast cancer survivors develop breast cancer related lymphedema (BCRL), and current therapies are limited. In a previous single armed study, acupuncture appeared to reduce BCRL. In this study, we compared our specific protocol of acupuncture (AC) to usual care wait list control (WL). Methods: Women with moderate persistent BCRL were randomized to AC or WL. The AC protocol included twice-weekly manual acupuncture over 6 weeks. The primary endpoint was change in circumference difference between affected/unaffected arms. Responders were defined as having > 30% improvement in arm circumference difference between arms. We also evaluated the change in difference between affected/unaffected arm bioimpedance. We used analysis of covariance for circumference and bioimpedance measurements and Fisher’s exact test for proportion of responders. Results: Among 82 patients, 73 (89%) were evaluable for the primary endpoint (36 in AC and 37 in WL). The median age in AC was 65 (IQR 54, 71) a...
Sampling from complicated and unknown distributions: Monte Carlo and Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods for redistricting

Abstract Sampling from complicated and unknown distributions has wide-ranging applications. Standard Monte Carlo techniques are designed for known distributions and are difficult to adapt when the distribution is unknown. Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques are designed for unknown distributions, but when the underlying state space is complex and not continuous, the application of MCMC becomes challenging and no longer straightforward. Both of these techniques have been proposed for the astronomically large redistricting application that is characterized by an extremely complex and idiosyncratic state space. We explore the theoretic applicability of these methods and evaluate their empirical performance.
Topic Initiative in a Simulated Peer Dialogue Agent

One goal of our project is to create a dialogue agent that can behave as a student peer and collaborate with a human student to explain or diagnose data structures programs. A human peer must be able to initiate something the agent may not be expecting and the agent must be able to respond to it as a peer would. This paper describes the work we have completed to extend an existing natural language tutorial dialogue system to provide such a capability and the work that remains.
Negative Pressure Wound Therapy and Other New Therapies for Diabetic Foot Ulceration: The Current State of Play

As of 2012, the number of people with diabetes is increasing in every country, and half of the people with diabetes do not know they are afflicted with the malady.1 Furthermore, it is believed that every 20 seconds a lower limb is lost around the world because of complications related to diabetes.6 In a short period, NPWT has transformed wound care across the globe, and other technologies are beginning to emerge that may provide clinicians with the tools necessary for identifying wounds at risk for delayed healing and recurrence. The future of diabetic limb salvage will rely heavily on these and other advances.
Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels: An Arbitration Case Study

This short article for the American Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Magazine summarizes some of the arbitration policy issues implicated by the "contract" among Donald Trump, Stormy Daniels (a/k/a Stephanie Clifford), and Essential Consulting LLC. These issues include confidentiality, federalism, arbitrability, and the impact of the #MeToo movement on arbitration agreements.
New Roles for Old Glue: Astrocyte Function in Synaptic Plasticity and Neurological Disorders

Previously believed to solely play a supportive role in the central nervous system, astrocytes are now considered active players in normal brain function. Evidence in recent decades extends their contributions beyond the classically held brain glue role; it’s now known that astrocytes act as a unique excitable component with functions extending into local network modulation, synaptic plasticity, and memory formation, and postinjury repair. In this review article, we highlight our growing understanding of astrocyte function and physiology, the increasing role of gliotransmitters in neuron-glia communication, and the role of astrocytes in modulating synaptic plasticity and cognitive function. Owing to the duality of both beneficial and deleterious roles attributed to astrocytes, we also discuss the implications of this new knowledge as it applies to neurological disorders including Alzheimer disease, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.
Y-graft modification to the Fontan procedure: Increasingly balanced flow over time.

Abstract Objective The use of Y-grafts for Fontan completion is hypothesized to offer more balanced hepatic flow distribution (HFD) and decreased energy losses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hemodynamic performance of Y-grafts over time using serial cardiac magnetic resonance data and to compare their performance with extracardiac Fontan connections. Methods Ten Fontan patients with commercially available Y-graft connections and serial postoperative cardiac magnetic resonance data were included in this study. Patient-specific computational fluid dynamics simulations were used to estimate HFD and energy losses. Y-graft performance was compared with 3 extracardiac conduit Fontan groups (n = 10 for each) whose follow-up times straddle the Y-graft time points. Results Y-graft HFD became significantly more balanced over time (deviation from 50% decreased from 18% ± 14% to 8% ± 8%; P = .015). Total cavopulmonary connection resistance did not significantly change. Y-grafts at 3-year follow-up showed more balanced HFD than the extracardiac conduit groups at both the earlier and later follow-up times. Total cavopulmonary connection resistance was not significantly different between any Y-graft or extracardiac conduit group. Conclusions Y-grafts showed significantly more balanced HFD over a 3-year follow-up without an increase in total cavopulmonary connection resistance, and therefore may be a valuable option for Fontan completion. Additional follow-up data at longer follow-up times are still needed to thoroughly characterize the potential advantages of Y-graft use.
The soil priming effect: Consistent across ecosystems, elusive mechanisms

Abstract Organic matter input to soils can accelerate the decomposition of native soil carbon (C), a process called the priming effect. Priming is ubiquitous and exhibits some consistent patterns, but a general explanation remains elusive, in part because of variation in the response across different ecosystems, and because of a diversity of proposed mechanisms, including microbial activation, stoichiometry, and community shifts. Here, we conducted five-week incubations of four soils (grassland, pinon-juniper, ponderosa pine, mixed conifer), varying the amount of substrate added (as 13C-glucose, either 350 or 1000 μg C g−1 week−1) and either with no added nitrogen (N), or with sufficient N (as NH4NO3) to bring the C-to-N ratio of the added substrate to 10. Using four different ecosystems enabled testing the generality of mechanisms underlying the priming effect. The responses of priming to the amount and C-to-N ratio of the added substrate were consistent across ecosystems: priming increased with the rate of substrate addition and declined when the C-to-N ratio of the substrate was reduced. However, structural equation models failed to confirm intermediate responses postulated to mediate the priming effect, including responses postulated to be mediated by stoichiometry and microbial activation. Specifically, priming was not clearly associated with changes in microbial biomass or turnover, nor with extracellular enzyme activities or the microbial C-to-N ratio. The strongest explanatory pathways in the structural equation models were the substrate, soil, and C-to-N ratio treatments themselves, with no intermediates, suggesting that either these measurements lacked sufficient sensitivity to reveal causal relationships, or the actual drivers for priming were not included in the ancillary measurements. While we observed consistent changes in priming caused by the amount and C-to-N ratio of the added substrate across a wide array of soils, our findings did not clearly conform to common models offered for the priming effect. Because priming is a residual flux involving diverse substrates of varying chemical composition, a simple and generalizable explanation of the phenomenon may be elusive.
Reprint of: An introduction to effectiveness-implementation hybrid designs

The traditional research pipeline that encourages a staged approach to moving an intervention from efficacy trials to the real world can take a long time. To address this issue, hybrid effectiveness-implementation designs were codified to promote examination of both effectiveness and implementation outcomes within a study. There are three types of hybrid designs and they vary based on their primary focus and the amount of emphasis on effectiveness versus implementation outcomes. A type 1 hybrid focuses primarily on the effectiveness outcomes of an intervention while exploring the "implementability" of the intervention. A type 2 hybrid has a dual focus on effectiveness and implementation outcomes; these designs allow for the simultaneous testing or piloting of implementation strategies during an effectiveness trial. A type 3 hybrid focuses primarily on implementation outcomes while also collecting effectiveness outcomes as they relate to uptake or fidelity of the intervention. This paper provides an introduction to these designs and describes each of the three types, design considerations, and examples for each.
Dissociable roles of dopamine and serotonin transporter function in a rat model of negative urgency

Abstract Negative urgency is a facet of impulsivity that reflects mood-based rash action and is associated with various maladaptive behaviors in humans. However, the underlying neural mechanisms of negative urgency are not fully understood. Several brain regions within the mesocorticolimbic pathway, as well as the neurotransmitters dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT), have been implicated in impulsivity. Extracellular DA and 5-HT concentrations are regulated by DA transporters (DAT) and 5-HT transporters (SERT); thus, these transporters may be important molecular mechanisms underlying individual differences in negative urgency. The current study employed a reward omission task to model negative urgency in rats. During reward trials, a cue light signaled the non-contingent delivery of one sucrose pellet; immediately following the non-contingent reward, rats responded on a lever to earn sucrose pellets (operant phase). Omission trials were similar to reward trials, except that non-contingent sucrose was omitted following the cue light prior to the operant phase. As expected, contingent responding was higher following omission of expected reward than following delivery of expected reward, thus reflecting negative urgency. Upon completion of behavioral training, Vmax and Km were obtained from kinetic analysis of [3H]DA and [3H]5-HT uptake using synaptosomes prepared from nucleus accumbens (NAc), dorsal striatum (Str), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) isolated from individual rats. Vmax for DAT in NAc and for SERT in OFC were positively correlated with negative urgency scores. The current findings suggest that mood-based impulsivity (negative urgency) is associated with enhanced DAT function in NAc and SERT function in OFC.
Tunable Artificial Enzyme-Cofactor Complex for Selective Hydrolysis of Acetals.

Enzymes frequently use unimpressive functional groups such as weak carboxylic acids for efficient, highly selective catalysis including hydrolysis of acetals and even amides. Much stronger acids ge...
The cAMP receptor family of Dictyostelium.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the current understanding of cell surface cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) receptors in Dictyostelium. A role for extracellular cAMP was initially suggested when it was identified as a chemoattractant for aggregation-stage cells. cAMP waves are generated by the signaling response. When stimulated, cells respond by making and secreting more cAMP, thereby relaying the cAMP signal to more distant cells. Extracellular cAMP participates in a wide variety of physiological responses during development in Dictyostelium. It serves as a chemoattractant, a cell-to-cell signaling molecule, and an inducer of cell type-specific gene expression. During development, these cells serially express a family of four cell surface cAMP receptors. All of the receptors display the characteristic seven-transmembrane domain structure and, thus, are likely to transduce extracellular signals by activating G proteins. Eight distinct G protein α-subunit genes have been cloned and sequenced. Although similar in structure, each cAMP receptor has a characteristic affinity and pharmacological specificity and may have a unique pattern of regulation by covalent modification.
In vitro synthesis of spermidine in the higher plant, Vinca rosea

Cell-free extracts of Vinca rosea seedlings exhibited enzyme activities for the following reactions: S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) decarboxylation, spermidine synthesis from decarboxylated SAM and putrescine, and 5′-methylthioadenosine hydrolysis to 5-S-methyl-5-thio-D-ribose and adenine. SAM decarboxylation was stimulated by putrescine and inhibited by semicarbazide. The 15-fold purified ribohydrolase possessed a Km of 1. 03 × 10−5 M and a high specificity for 5′-methylthioadenosine.
Power suppressed corrections to hadronic event shapes

Abstract For high energy processes (M ⪢ ΛQCD) there are infrared safe hadronic shape variables that have a calculable perturbative expansion in αs(M2). However, nonperturbative power suppressed corrections to these variables are not well understood. We use the behavior of large orders of the perturbation expansion to gain insight into the nonperturbative corrections. Our results suggest that certain shape variables have nonperturbative corrections suppressed by fractional powers of Λ QCD 2 M 2 .
Determination of Measurement Data Quality and Establishment of Achievable Goals for Environmental Measurements

In recognizing the need for measuring and documenting the quality of environmental measurements obtained in its monitoring projects and for setting achievable data quality goals for such projects, the Environmental Protection Agency issues a number of guidance and informational documents addressed to those needs. This paper reviews one of those documents, a comprehensive compilation of the quality of measurements actually obtained with various environmental measurement methods in all environmental media. Included are a brief discussion of the rationale and purpose of the document, limited reviews of the four designated measures of data quality (precision, accuracy, completeness, and method detection limit), and explanations of the format used to list the data quality information. Examples of actual data listing from the document are also included. 5 references, 4 figures.
On the difficulty of finding reliable witnesses

For an odd composite number n, let w(n) denote the least witness for n; that is, the least positive number w for which n is not a strong pseudoprime to the base w. It is widely conjectured, but not proved, that w(n) > 3 for infinitely many n. We show the stronger result that w(n) > (log n)1/(3 log log log n) for infinitely many n. We also show that there are finite sets of odd composites which do not have a reliable witness, namely a common witness for all of the numbers in the set.
Family Violence: A Focus on India

Abstract Finkelhor called those interested in raising consciousness regarding family violence to recognize its multifaceted nature, including several types of abuse and victims. This paper identifies the many faces of physical family maltreatment—spousal, child, elder, sibling, filial—in India. Here, traditional norms that condone violence, themes of the sanctity of the family, and patriarchal prerogatives have dominated family relationships and prevented intervention. In recent years, India has been increasingly open about the experiences of battered women, yet it is still loathe to acknowledge intrafamilial violence toward children. Elder abuse, sibling maltreatment, and filial violence in India have yet to come into the awareness of the social services.
A proposed robotic air quality monitoring system

This paper describes a system for environmental monitoring. The component development and test are presented especially for monitoring Ammonia (NH 3 ) pollution. The mobile robot sensing system has self localization capability and carries an open-path spectrometer. The spectrometer is low-cost, compact, ruggedized, and is designed for a wide area survey with measurement distance from 20 m to 1 km. A new double Fourier transformation procedure is implemented to remove the effects of 1/f noise and improve measurement sensitivity. Finally, an active beam alignment technology is proposed for automatic measurements that allow the mobile robot moves around the local terrain.
Scalar field theories in curved space-time

A 3 field theory in a six-dimensional conformally flat space-time is studied at the two loop level. It is found that the state-dependent divergences do not cancel. As a result, the theory does not renormalize in the usual way. The question of why 3 is badly behaved in curved space-time and 4 is well behaved is discussed.
Mucin structure, aggregation, physiological functions and biomedical applications

An understanding of the basic structure, viscoelastic properties and interactions of mucin glycoproteins is of considerable interest to food science because of the important protective role that these macromolecules play in gastric physiology. The polymeric/colloidal behavior of mucins is complicated due to their large size (2–50 MDa) and complex structure with domains involving hydrophilic/hydrophobic, hydrogen bonds and electrostatic interactions, and their propensity to aggregate and form complexes with other polymers. These properties are also of direct relevance to the numerous diseases involving mucins, and to the problems of uptake of nutrients and delivering drugs through the mucus barrier. In this review we describe the current state of understanding of the relevant properties, with an emphasis on recent research. The findings described in this review are of direct relevance to the uptake of nutrients in digestion. D 2005 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Vorticity shedding and acoustic resonance in an in-line tube bundle part II: Acoustic resonance

Abstract The excitation mechanism of acoustic resonances in an in-line tube array with intermediate tube spacings is investigated experimentally. The array is tested in air and water flows. The acoustical mode of the wind tunnel is simulated in the water channel by a standing free-surface wave in the transverse direction. Resonances are found to be excited due to the coupling between the resonant sound field and the unstable shear layers which separate from the tubes. This resonance phenomenon is quite distinct from, and therefore not related to, the jet instability which generates the vorticity-shedding excitation in the absence of resonance. The flow structures under resonant and non-resonant conditions are found to be entirely different. Since the jet instability dominates and the shear layer instability is suppressed at non-resonant conditions, the occurrence of resonance necessitates the switching of the flow instability from the jet mode to the shear-layer mode. The transition mechanism as well as the conditions under which this mode switching can be achieved are described in this paper.
Literary Magazines and British Romanticism

In this study, Mark Parker proposes that literary magazines should be an object of study in their own right. He argues that magazines such as the London Magazine, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, and the New Monthly Magazine, offered an innovative and collaborative space for writers and their work - indeed, magazines became one of the pre-eminent literary forms of the 1820s and 1830s. Examining the dynamic relationship between literature and culture which evolved within this context, Literary Magazines and British Romanticism claims that writing in such a setting enters into a variety of alliances with other contributions and with ongoing institutional concerns that give subtle inflection to its meaning. The book provides an extended treatment of Lamb's Elia Essays, Hazlitt's Table-Talk Essays, Noctes Ambrosianae, and Carlyle's Sartor Resartus in their original contexts, and should be of interest to scholars of cultural and literary studies as well as Romanticists.
Interactive, knowledge-guided visualization of 3D medical imagery

Abstract One of the most important and difficult decision-making tasks is that of interpreting three-dimensional (3D) medical imagery. This information-intensive task typically requires expediency, accuracy and reliability in both the visual presentation as well as in the interpretation of complex information. We present an approach that facilitates this task by using domain knowledge to assist in the interpretation and visualization of 3D cardiac imagery. The objective is to provide the clinician with a more efficient, reliable, comprehensive, and clinically useful manner with which to accurately interpret and display large amounts of complex information. These objectives are met by capturing and representing the visual reasoning process in a computational model, and providing the user with an intuitive graphical and textual representation of the data, as well as explanations, justifications, and interactive data visualizations. The approach is illustrated with cardiovascular 3D SPECT tomographic perfusion imagery, a technique aimed at diagnosing heart disease.
OVERSEGMENTATION REDUCTION BY FLOODING REGIONS AND DIGGING WATERSHED LINES

The watershed transformation is a primary tool for segmenting a grey-tone image into subsets that are of interest to a visual observer. The resulting image, however, may often appear oversegmented into a large number of tiny regions (basins), most of which are not significant to the problem of domain. In this paper, a method for removing these nonsignificant basins is presented. The notions of relative significance and intrinsic significance are introduced, which lead to the definition of three types of significance for a basin: strong, weak and partial. The merging of a basin with other basins only occurs when the significance of the basin is not strong, and is restricted to suitably selected adjacent basins. The merging is performed by using an iterated process consisting of two phases. The first involves the removal of certain regional minima, and is accomplished by following either a flooding or a digging scheme. The second identifies the basins corresponding to the regional minima remaining in the image and utilizes the watershed transformation. An appropriate selection of the basins to be merged produces a segmented image perceptually close to the original image. The performance of the proposed method is for the case of astronomic images.
Design of profile ring rolling by backward simulation using upper bound element technique (UBET)

Abstract The upper bound element technique (UBET) is used to determine the optimum intermediate shape for profile ring rolling using backward simulation. The lowest energy rate is the key issue in achieving the optimal intermediate shape as well as the backward simulation of the process. The plastic flow of material in ring rolling is assumed to be a sequence of successive closed-die forging processes. The ring is divided into features, which provide an approximated profile consisting of a number of rectangular elements. The simulation of the profile ring rolling was tested with different profiles of rolls, and two such cases are presented here. The present method was validated using an experimental radial ring rolling mill designed and fabricated in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering at Ohio University for the investigation of both cold and hot ring rolling processes. As the results show, this technique is capable of solving the backward simulation of profile ring rolling problems in a much shorter time compared to the finite element method (FEM), which cannot easily simulate profile ring rolling. Moreover, as an engineering tool, this approach can be applied effectively to the profile ring rolling process and can serve as a useful tool in industrial applications.
Case Report and Dosimetric Analysis of an Axillary Recurrence After Partial Breast Irradiation with Mammosite Catheter

Partial breast irradiation (PBI) was designed in part to decrease overall treatment times associated with whole breast radiation therapy (WBRT). WBRT treats the entire breast and usually portions of the axilla. The goal of PBI is to treat a smaller volume of breast tissue in less time, focusing the dose around the lumpectomy cavity. The following is a case of a 64-year-old woman with early-stage breast cancer treated with PBI who failed regionally in the ipsilateral axilla. With our dosimetric analysis, we found that the entire area of this axillary failure would have likely received at least 45 Gy if WBRT had been used, enough to sterilize microscopic disease. With PBI, this area received a mean dose of only 2.8 Gy, which raises the possibility that this regional failure may have been prevented had WBRT been used instead of PBI.
Robust Light Emission from Cyclic Alkylaminoluciferin Substrates for Firefly Luciferase

Firefly luciferase utilizes the chemical energy of ATP and oxygen to convert its substrate, D-luciferin, into an excited-state oxyluciferin molecule. Relaxation of this molecule to the ground state is responsible for the yellow-green light emission. Synthetic cyclic alkylaminoluciferins that allow robust red-shifted light emission with the modified luciferase Ultra-Glo are described. Overall light emission is higher than that of acyclic alkylaminoluciferins, aminoluciferin, and the native substrate D-luciferin.
Efficiency of storm tracks an important climate parameter? The role of cloud radiative forcing in poleward heat transport

[1] Variability in poleward atmosphere-ocean heat transport has been suggested as one driver of climate change on long timescales. The radiative impact of clouds, particularly extratropical clouds, is an important factor in determining the equilibrium value of this heat transport in the current climate. Therefore, significant changes in cloudiness and cloud radiative forcing could potentially force equally significant adjustments in total poleward heat transport, and thus in atmospheric and/or oceanic dynamics. At the same time, these extratropical clouds and their strong radiative impact are largely the result of the atmospheric eddies that make up the storm tracks. Coincidentally, these storm track eddies also accomplish most of the extratropical poleward heat transport. At high latitudes, the annual-mean radiative cooling of these clouds is shown here to be of the same order as the atmospheric eddy heat transport convergence, and of opposite sign. Some potential implications of these points for climate change studies are discussed.
Media and youth : Access, exposure, and privatization

Abstract Purpose: To describe U.S. youth's access and exposure to the full array of media, as well as the social contexts in which media exposure occurs. Methods: A cross-sectional national random sample of 2065 adolescents aged 8 through 18 years, including oversamples of African-American and Hispanic youth, completed questionnaires about use of television, videotapes, movies, computers, video games, radio, compact discs, tape players, books, newspapers, and magazines. Results: U.S. youngsters are immersed in media. Most households contain most media (computers and video game systems are the exception); the majority of youth have their own personal media. The average youth devotes 634 h to media; simultaneous use of multiple media increases exposure to 8 h of media messages daily. Overall, media exposure and exposure to individual media vary as a function of age, gender, race/ethnicity, and family socioeconomic level. Television remains the dominant medium. About one-half of the youth sampled uses a computer daily. A substantial proportion of children's and adolescents' media use occurs in the absence of parents. Conclusions: American youth devote more time to media than to any other waking activity, as much as one-third of each day. This demands increased parental attention and research into the effects of such extensive exposure.
Coordinated movements of eukaryotic translation initiation factors eIF1, eIF1A, and eIF5 trigger phosphate release from eIF2 in response to start codon recognition by the ribosomal preinitiation complex.

Accurate recognition of the start codon in an mRNA by the eukaryotic translation preinitiation complex (PIC) is essential for proper gene expression. The process is mediated by eukaryotic translation initiation factors (eIFs) in conjunction with the 40 S ribosomal subunit and (initiator) tRNAi. Here, we provide evidence that the C-terminal tail (CTT) of eIF1A, which we previously implicated in start codon recognition, moves closer to the N-terminal domain of eIF5 when the PIC encounters an AUG codon. Importantly, this movement is coupled to dissociation of eIF1 from the PIC, a critical event in start codon recognition, and is dependent on the scanning enhancer elements in the eIF1A CTT. The data further indicate that eIF1 dissociation must be accompanied by the movement of the eIF1A CTT toward eIF5 in order to trigger release of phosphate from eIF2, which converts the latter to its GDP-bound state. Our results also suggest that release of eIF1 from the PIC and movement of the CTT of eIF1A are triggered by the same event, most likely accommodation of tRNAi in the P site of the 40 S subunit driven by base pairing between the start codon in the mRNA and the anticodon in tRNAi. Finally, we show that the C-terminal domain of eIF5 is responsible for the factor's activity in antagonizing eIF1 binding to the PIC. Together, our data provide a more complete picture of the chain of molecular events that is triggered when the scanning PIC encounters an AUG start codon in the mRNA.
Nuclear magnetic resonance of3He superfluid confined in high porosity aerogel

We report pulsed nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements of the transverse frequency and magnetization of3 He confined in aerogel with 98.2% open volume porosity. A homogeneous superfluid phase is observed at pressures, P > 12 bar, accompanied by a sharp onset of frequency shifts showing little or no textural broadening; a result quite unexpected for3He confined in random porous media. The transition temperatures and order parameter are both significantly suppressed from their bulk values and the magnetization data indicate this low temperature phase is an equal-spin pairing superfluid. For NMR tipping angles greater than 40 ° the resonance frequency drops abruptly to the normal state value. This tip angle dependence is not consistent with either the bulk3He-A or3He-B superfluid phases.
Efficient allocation and composition of distributed storage

In this paper, we investigate the composition of cheap network storage resources to meet specific availability and capacity requirements. We show that the problem of finding the optimal composition for availability and price requirements can be reduced to the knapsack problem, and propose three techniques for efficiently finding approximate solutions. The first algorithm uses a dynamic programming approach to find mirrored storage resources for high availability requirements, and runs in the pseudo-polynomial O(n 2 c) time where n is the number of sellers’ resources to choose from and c is a capacity function of the requested and minimum availability. The second technique is a heuristic which finds resources to be agglomerated into a larger coherent resource, with complexity of O(nlog n). The third technique finds a compromise between capacity and availability (which in our phrasing is a complex integer programming problem) using a genetic algorithm. The algorithms can be implemented on a broker that intermediates between buyers and sellers of storage resources. Finally, we show that a broker in an open storage market, using the combination of the three algorithms can more frequently meet user requests and lower the cost of requests that are met compared to a broker that simply matches single resources to requests.
Kinetics of OH chemiluminescence in the presence of silicon

Abstract Ultraviolet emission from the OH(A–X) transition near 307 nm has been measured in a shock-tube for T = 1050–1400 K and P ≈ 1.2 atm. Experimental mixtures of H 2 /SiH 4 /O 2 /Ar and kinetics calculations were used to identify the elementary reaction forming electronically excited OH (OH ∗ ) in a Si-containing environment and directly measure its absolute rate coefficient. The primary Si-containing reaction found to form OH ∗ is (R0) SiH + O 2 = OH ∗ + SiO with a rate expression of k 0 = 1.5 × 10 7 exp ( + 16.4 kcal/RT ) ± 2.3 × 10 10 cm 3 mol −1 s −1 This work provides insights into the mechanisms of combustion processes involving silicon.
Trick or treat: A field study of social class differences in altruism

Previous research has demonstrated social class differences in altruism; specifically, middle-class members are more sensitive to reciprocity norms than lower-class members. The present study investigated social class differences in altruism in a situation in which reciprocity norms were not particularly salient. Children trick or treated and received candy from 63 houses representing upper-, middle-, and lower-middle-class neighborhoods. Candy from each house was rated for subjective quality; results revealed that quality of candy was not related to social class. Contrary to studies of altruism in other settmgs, the relative cost of giving had no effect. This suggests that cost factors may not be related to altruism in all conditions.
Use of inactivating agents to detect and partially characterize very early events in the infection of cowpea leaf epidermal cells by peanut stunt virus.

Abstract Hydroxylamine, pancreatic ribonuclease (RNase), and tetrachloro- o -benzoquinone inactivate peanut stunt virus (PSV) immediately upon contact in vitro . Each inactivates PSV by a different mechanism. These compounds were rub-applied individually at various concentrations to the upper surface of cowpea primary half-leaves at various times after inoculation with intact virus or infectious PSV-RNA. The appropriate buffer was rub-applied to opposite half-leaves at the same time intervals. Relative infectivity, expressed as the percentage of lesions produced on control half-leaves, was dependent upon (1) the interval between inoculation and application, (2) the inactivating agent used, and (3) the concentration of the inactivating agent. Data expressed graphically as inactivation profiles detected a sequence of events identified as pronounced increases or decreases in relative infectivity with time. These events began immediately after inoculation and continued over a period of 3.5 hr in what appeared to be four distinct phases. Phase I (intervals from 0 to 15 min between inoculation and application of the inactivating agent) was characterized by a rapid increase in lesion numbers as the time interval was increased to 3 min. As the interval was further increased lesion numbers decreased rapidly over the next 3 to 4 min. A second cycle of increasing and decreasing lesion numbers occurred during the intervals from 7 to 15 min. The results obtained with intact virus during Phase I were similar regardless of the inactivating agent used. Similar results were also obtained with PSV-RNA and RNase. During Phase II (intervals between 15 and 25 min) lesion numbers produced by intact PSV remained essentially constant at about 50% of the lesion numbers produced on control half-leaves. Throughout most of this period and for all of the subsequent phases RNase was found to have no measurable effect on lesion numbers produced by PSV-RNA. During Phase III (intervals between 25 and 90 min) and Phase IV (intervals between 90 and 210 min) the lesion numbers produced by intact PSV varied with the inactivating agent used, its concentration, and the interval between inoculation and application. A working hypothesis was developed in an attempt to relate the observed changes in lesion numbers with events known or suspected to occur during the early stages of the infection process. The procedures developed for PSV appear useful in comparing the early events which occur in the infection of plant leaves by other viruses.
Fast and exact network trajectory similarity computation: a case-study on bicycle corridor planning

Given a set of trajectories on a road network, the goal of the All-Pair Network Trajectory Similarity (APNTS) problem is to calculate the similarity between all trajectories using the Network Hausdorff Distance. This problem is important for a variety of societal applications, such as facilitating greener travel via bicycle corridor identification. The APNTS problem is challenging due to the high cost of computing the exact Network Hausdorff Distance between trajectories in spatial big datasets. Previous work on the APNTS problem takes over 16 hours of computation time on a real-world dataset of bicycle GPS trajectories in Minneapolis, MN. In contrast, this paper focuses on a scalable method for the APNTS problem using the idea of row-wise computation, resulting in a computation time of less than 6 minutes on the same datasets. We provide a case study for transportation services using a data-driven approach to identify primary bicycle corridors for public transportation by leveraging emerging GPS trajectory datasets.
Failures of centralized metropolitanism: Inter‐war Moscow and New York

This comparative study portrays New York and Moscow during a period of dramatic growth and transformation for both — from “mere” national centres to international capitals of competing world systems. Stalin and his architects imposed a grand, imperial face on the “calico” Moscow that had survived the upheavals of the earlier part of the century in Russia; in New York, Robert Moses, the Rockefellers, Al Smith, Fiorello La Guardia, Franklin D. Roosevelt and scores of others created a new “capital of capitalism” that leapt across bays, rivers and even small mountain ranges to encompass a region of over 5,000 sq. miles and 11 million souls. While the planners in both communities participated in the era's international debate over the optimal course of urban development, in the end both groups favoured rather traditional 19th century notions of the centralized city: both metropolitan areas came to follow a decentralized path into the future, and by the end of World War II, Centralized Metropolitanism had clear...
Progression of neuronal and synaptic remodeling in the rd10 mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa.

The Pde6b(rd10) (rd10) mouse has a moderate rate of photoreceptor degeneration and serves as a valuable model for human autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (RP). We evaluated the progression of neuronal remodeling of second- and third-order retinal cells and their synaptic terminals in retinas from Pde6b(rd10) (rd10) mice at varying stages of degeneration ranging from postnatal day 30 (P30) to postnatal month 9.5 (PNM9.5) using immunolabeling for well-known cell- and synapse-specific markers. Following photoreceptor loss, changes occurred progressively from outer to inner retina. Horizontal cells and rod and cone bipolar cells underwent morphological remodeling that included loss of dendrites, cell body migration, and the sprouting of ectopic processes. Gliosis, characterized by translocation of Muller cell bodies to the outer retina and thickening of their processes, was evident by P30 and became more pronounced as degeneration progressed. Following rod degeneration, continued expression of VGluT1 in the outer retina was associated with survival and expression of synaptic proteins by nearby second-order neurons. Rod bipolar cell terminals showed a progressive reduction in size and ectopic bipolar cell processes extended into the inner nuclear layer and ganglion cell layer by PNM3.5. Putative ectopic conventional synapses, likely arising from amacrine cells, were present in the inner nuclear layer by PNM9.5. Despite these changes, the laminar organization of bipolar and amacrine cells and the ON-OFF organization in the inner plexiform layer was largely preserved. Surviving cone and bipolar cell terminals continued to express the appropriate cell-specific presynaptic proteins needed for synaptic function up to PNM9.5.
Fluorine substituent effects on metal-carbene bond dissociation energies. Implications for metathesis reactions of fluorinated olefins

On etudie les reactions des ions Ni + avec l'oxiranne, le cyclopropane, l'ethylene et plusieurs hydrocarbures fluores en utilisant un appareil a faisceau ionique
Using the Intranet To Document Healthcare Worker (HCW) Declination and Participation in a Mandatory Influenza Vaccination Program

ISSUE: The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) emphasize HCW vaccination against influenza to prevent disease and transmission to patients. Despite education, incentives and easy access to vaccine our influenza vaccine coverage rate for nearly 20,000 HCWs was 38% in 2004. Because mandatory vaccination was met with resistance due to the perception of coercion, we opted for a strategy of mandatory participation with documentation of declination using the intranet as a tool. PROJECT: To establish an intranet web site where employees were required to document participation, declination or vaccination. The site was accessible on all computers and work stations. Employees logged on using their identification number and selected vaccine received, vaccine contraindicated or vaccine declined. Declining employees automatically received education about vaccination. A Microsoft ® Structured Query Language database was created and linked to a Human Resource database. Administrators were provided feedback on participation rates. The site provided information about where to obtain vaccine, and a place to ask questions linked by e-mail to an Infection Control Practitioner for prompt response. Employees were notified of the program via letter. Reminders were provided through managers and newsletters. Vaccination rates were not provided to managers or administrators. The site was activated October 17, 2005. RESULTS: As of December 1, 2005, 79% of employees (16,138 / 20,361) participated by accessing the intranet: 50% (10,291) indicated vaccine received; 25.9% (5269) declined; 2.8% (578) declined based on contraindications. Self-reported vaccination included 50% of the Division of Medicine and 45% of the Division of Nursing. Declination was 21% and 30% respectively. Departmental data is available for all patient care locations. There were few complaints as employees understood vaccination data was confidential. LESSONS LEARNED: The intranet provided an inexpensive tool for measuring and timely reporting of HCW participation, declination and vaccination rates. Data management was accomplished without significant expense and cumbersome paperwork. The site provided education to large numbers of employees which may have influenced the increase in the vaccination rate. Real time monitoring by location or occupation allows for targeting interventions where rates are low. Detailed departmental data allows for planning future targeted educational programs. The same tool can be used to document other programs such as fit-testing and TB screening.
Discovery Dominance Tradeoff: The Case of Pheidole subarmata and Solenopsis geminata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Neotropical Pastures

Interspecific competition has been shown to play a role in the structure of ant communities. However, the role of foraging behavior and the type of competition that results from this behavior has been less investigated. Here we present results from baiting experiments at various scales to determine the degree of exploitative and interference competition between two Neotropical ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in pastures in the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua. Results suggest that the coexistence of Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) and Pheidole subarmata (Mayrs) in Neotropical pastures is the result of a discovery/dominance tradeoff between these two species. Although S. geminata is a good interference competitor and can defend large resources, P. subarmata is a good exploitative competitor and arrives at resources faster than S. geminata. In an environment with mixed resources (large and small), these two species can co-exist. We discuss the implication of this for the invasion potential of S. geminata.
Analogous cleavage of DNA by micrococcal nuclease and a 1,10-phenanthroline-cuprous complex

We have examined the DNA cleavage specificity of a 1,10-phenanthroline-cuprous complex and find this agent to recognize the same sites and cleave with the same relative preferences as micrococcal nuclease. In contrast, DNase I and bleomycin-ferrous complex cleave the same 5000 bp D. melanogaster histone gene DNA with different specificities, although some of the sites appear to be recognized and cleaved by all four reagents. Our results suggest that the reagents used probably detect discrete conformational perturbations along the DNA double helix.
Parallel edge coloring approximation

Let G be a graph with n vertices and m edges and let its maximum degree be Δ. It is shown that a valid edge coloring of G using at most 2Δ−1 colors can be computed in O(log n log Δ) time using O(m+n) processors on a CREW PRAM. Based on this, for any constant c>1, a valid edge coloring for G using at most max([cΔ], Δ+1) colors can be computed in O(log2 n) time, using O(m+n) processors. Employing different techniques, we show that it is possible to compute a Δ2 coloring in O(log* n) time, with O(m+n) processors. Also, a maximal matching of G can be computed in O(log2 n log Δ) time using O(m+n) processors on a CREW PRAM.
Proteomic identification of nitrated brain proteins in early Alzheimer's disease inferior parietal lobule.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive decline in multiple cognitive domains. Its pathological hallmarks include senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the earliest detectable stage of AD with limited symptomology and no dementia. The yearly conversion rate of patients from MCI to AD is 10–15%, although conversion back to normal is possible in a small percentage. Early diagnosis of AD is important in an attempt to intervene or slow the advancement of the disease. Early AD (EAD) is a stage following MCI and characterized by full-blown dementia; however, information involving EAD is limited. Oxidative stress is well-established in MCI and AD, including protein oxidation. Protein nitration also is an important oxidative modification observed in MCI and AD, and proteomic analysis from our laboratory identified nitrated proteins in both MCI and AD. Therefore, in the current study, a proteomics approach was used to identify nitrated brain proteins in the inferior parietal lobule from four subjects with EAD. Eight proteins were found to be significantly nitrated in EAD: peroxiredoxin 2, triose phosphate isomerase, glutamate dehydrogenase, neuropolypeptide h3, phosphoglycerate mutase1, H+– transporting ATPase, α-enolase and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase. Many of these proteins are also nitrated in MCI and late-stage AD, making this study the first to our knowledge to link nitrated proteins in all stages of AD. These results are discussed in terms of potential involvement in the progression of this dementing disorder.