cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Swing Issues and Policy Regimes: Federal Education Policy and the Politics of Policy Change

Political scientists have long debated the nature of the American political system, particularly the degree to which the federal government is amenable to major policy initiation and reform. There are two basic schools of thought on this question. One school—which I will call the stasis school—argues that the system is highly resistant to major change. The other school of policymaking—which I will call the dynamic school—emphasizes the openness and responsiveness of America's political system and the relative ease of generating reform at the national level. While the stasis and dynamic schools are helpful in explaining systemic tendencies and the influence of particular forces on the policy process, they are less useful in illuminating the evolution of governmental policymaking in a single issue area over time.
A corridor-centric approach to planning electric vehicle charging infrastructure

Abstract The transition to electric vehicles (EV) faces two major barriers. On one hand, EV batteries are still expensive and limited by range, owing to the lack of technology breakthrough. On the other hand, the underdeveloped supporting infrastructure, particularly the lack of fast refueling facilities, makes EVs unsuitable for medium and long distance travel. The primary purpose of this study is to better understand these hurdles and to develop strategies to overcome them. To this end, a conceptual optimization model is proposed to analyze travel by EVs along a long corridor. The objective of the model is to select the battery size and charging capacity (in terms of both the charging power at each station and the number of stations needed along the corridor) to meet a given level of service in such a way that the total social cost is minimized. Two extensions of the base model are also considered. The first relaxes the assumption that the charging power at the stations is a continuous variable. The second variant considers battery swapping as an alternative to charging. Our analysis suggests that (1) the current paradigm of charging facility development that focuses on level 2 charging delivers poor level of service for long distance travel; (2) the level 3 charging method is necessary not only to achieve a reasonable level of service, but also to minimize the social cost; (3) investing on battery technology to reduce battery cost is likely to have larger impacts on reducing the charging cost; and (4) battery swapping promises high level of service, but it may not be socially optimal for a modest level of service, especially when the costs of constructing swapping and charging stations are close.
Cat in a cold niobium box

Abstract At very low temperatures, steady-state macroscopic superpositions can be generated in a micromaser pumped by a stream of polarized two-level atoms. We show that the onset of these superpositions can be interpreted in terms of a first-order phase transition. While conventional bistable systems involved an incoherent mixture of two state localized at the two minima of an effective potential, the present situation is characterized by a coherent superposition of two such states.
Circulating libraries and video rental stores

We describe a number of interesting parallels between circulating libraries in England circa 1725-1850 and video rental stores in the United States circa 1980-1990. Both institutions evolved in a similar manner, which suggests that common economic and social forces were at work. Perhaps the histories of these two industries may be helpful in understanding current and future developments in computer- and Internet-related media.
Layer-by-layer nanoassembly of polyelectrolytes using formamide as the working medium.

Formamide, in its pure state, has been used as a working solvent for layer-by-layer (LbL) polyelectrolyte self-assembly. Polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) and polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH) polyelectrolyte films were deposited onto planar substrates and colloidal particles. Film deposition was confirmed using quartz crystal microbalance and ζ potential measurements. Formamide was used as an alternative to the water-based working solvents commonly used for LbL self-assembly. Few LbL self-assembly studies using nonaqueous solvents have been reported. Most studies performed with nonaqueous solvents have required the addition of small volumes of water to dissolve the polyelectrolytes. Conversely, the high dielectric constant of pure formamide led to the dissolution and transport of PSS and PAH. Using formamide, it is possible to deposit nanometer thick polyelectrolyte films onto water-sensitive surfaces. Formamide can be thus be used for encapsulating water sensitive hydrogen storage materials within polyelectr...
Gender and race differences in the correlation between body mass and education in the 1971-1975 NHANES I.

STUDY OBJECTIVE--Differences in the correlation between body mass index and education across four gender and race groups were investigated while simultaneously accounting for occupation, income, marital status, and age. DESIGN--The study used analysis of covariance techniques to calculate average body mass and confidence intervals within education categories while simultaneously adjusting for the covariates: age, square of age, family income, marital status, and occupation. SETTING--Data were drawn from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I), 1971-1975. NHANES I is a national probability sample designed to gather information on the non-institutionalised US civilians, ages 1-74 years. SUBJECTS--Samples of 8211 white women, 1673 black women, 6188 white men, and 1023 black men were drawn from the NHANES I, 1971-1975. MAIN RESULTS--Data in the female samples indicate a strictly inverse relation between body mass and years of schooling among white women and an inverted "U" association among black women, achieving a maximum around 8 to 11 years of schooling. In the male samples data indicate inverted "U" relations among both black and white men, reaching maxima between 12 and 15 years of schooling. The sides of the "U" curve are much steeper for black than for white men. CONCLUSIONS--The four gender/race categories display four different body mass index and education associations. These four associations are only slightly altered by simultaneously adjusting for two additional measures of socioeconomic status: occupation and income.
An Infectious Topic in Reticulate Evolution: Introgression and Hybridization in Animal Parasites

Little attention has been given to the role that introgression and hybridization have played in the evolution of parasites. Most studies are host-centric and ask if the hybrid of a free-living species is more or less susceptible to parasite infection. Here we focus on what is known about how introgression and hybridization have influenced the evolution of protozoan and helminth parasites of animals. There are reports of genome or gene introgression from distantly related taxa into apicomplexans and filarial nematodes. Most common are genetic based reports of potential hybridization among congeneric taxa, but in several cases, more work is needed to definitively conclude current hybridization. In the medically important Trypanosoma it is clear that some clonal lineages are the product of past hybridization events. Similarly, strong evidence exists for current hybridization in human helminths such as Schistosoma and Ascaris. There remain topics that warrant further examination such as the potential hybrid origin of polyploid platyhelminths. Furthermore, little work has investigated the phenotype or fitness, and even less the epidemiological significance of hybrid parasites.
Enol tautomers of Watson-Crick base pair models are metastable because of nuclear quantum effects.

Intermolecular enol tautomers of Watson−Crick base pairs could emerge spontaneously via interbase double proton transfer. It has been hypothesized that their formation could be facilitated by thermal fluctuations and proton tunneling, and possibly be relevant to DNA damage. Theoretical and computational studies, assuming classical nuclei, have confirmed the dynamic stability of these rare tautomers. However, by accounting for nuclear quantum effects explicitly through Car−Parrinello path integral molecular dynamics calculations, we find the tautomeric enol form to be dynamically metastable, with lifetimes too insignificant to be implicated in DNA damage.
Role of intracardiac echocardiographic guidance in transcatheter closure of atrial septal defects and patent foramen ovale using the Amplatzer device.

Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has been successfully used for guiding transcatheter device closure of secundum atrial septal defect (ASD) and patent foramen ovale (PFO). However, the use of TEE for device closure requires general anesthesia. Experience with intracardiac echocardiographic (ICE) guidance to close ASD and PFO is limited. One hundred eleven patients (76 female/35 male) with secundum ASD (82 patients) and PFO (29 patients) associated with a stroke underwent an attempt of transcatheter closure of their defects under ICE guidance using the new AcuNav® catheter. The median age of patients was 40 years (range 2.5–80.7) and the median weight was 66 kg (range 12.7–128 kg). The median two-dimensional size of secundum defects as measured by ICE was 17 mm (range 3–32 mm). The median balloon stretched diameter of the ASDs was 22 mm (range 4–36 mm). Five patients had more than one defect that required placement of two devices to close the defects. The median Qp/QS ratio for patients with secundum ASD was 2.1 (range 1–18). ICE provided adequate views of the defects and surrounding structures and the various stages of device deployment. All patients had successful device placement, including the patients who received simultaneous two devices with immediate complete closure of the defects in 100 patients, whereas four and seven patients had trivial and small residual shunt, respectively. The median fluoroscopy time was 10.2 minutes (range 3.7–38.4 minutes) and the median total procedure time was 60 minutes (range 28–180 minutes). There were no complications related to the use of the AcuNav catheter. We conclude that ICE provided unique images of the atrial communications and facilitated device closure of secundum ASD and PFO in children and adults. We believe ICE should replace TEE as a guiding imaging tool for ASD and PFO device closure, thus eliminating the need for general anesthesia. (J Interven Cardiol 2003;16:51–62)
Reproducibility of Ventricular Tachycardia Suppression by Antiarrhythmic Drug Therapy During Serial Electrophysiologic Testing in Coronary Artery Disease

The short-term reproducibility of pharmacologic suppression of ventricular tachycardia (VT) induced by programmed cardiac stimulation was tested in patients with Coronary artery disease presenting with documented recurrent VT or ventricular fibrillation. Sixty-three consecutive patients in whom sustained VT (30 patients) or nonsustained VT (33 patients) was induced by programmed cardiac stimulation without antiarrhythmic drug treatment, and in whom at least 1 oral antiarrhythmic drug regimen suppressed the induced VT during serial electrophysiologic testing, were entered into the study. Programmed cardiac stimulation was repeated after a mean of 37 ± 14 hours during the same antiarrhythmic drug regimen. No VT was induced in 59 of the 63 patients during the second study, resulting in a rate of 94% for short-term reproducibility of pharmacologic suppression of induced VT. Of the remaining 4 patients, programmed cardiac stimulation during the second drug study induced sustained VT in 1 patient and nonsustained VT in 3 patients. There was no significant difference in mean right ventricular effective refractory period and QT interval between the first and second drug study. Thus, in this selected population of patients, pharmacologic suppression of electrically induced VT is a reproducible phenomenon.
The production of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase by bacteriophage P1CM.

Abstract Bacteriophage P1CM possesses a bouyant density in CsCl 0.003 g cm −3 higher than that of phage P1 presumably due to the presence of an additional DNA fragment carrying genes determining resistance to chloramphenicol. Bacteria carrying P1CM as a lysogen possess the intracellular and constitutive enzyme, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase which catalyzes an acetyl-CoA-dependent transacetylation of chloramphenicol to both the 3-acetoxy and 1,3-diacetoxychloramphenicol derivatives. Following the infection of a sensitive cell by P1CM there is a linear increase in enzyme which precedes the release of mature phage by about 20 min but otherwise parallels the time course of phage production. P1CM infection of a P1 lysogenic cell population shows only a small level of enzyme production even though P1CM can lysogenize a P1 lysogenic cell at a frequency similar to that of a P1 nonlysogenic cell. There is a marked increase in enzyme synthesis as a consequence of the UV induction of a P1CM lysogen.
Vibrational behavior of non-linear systems to pulse excitations of finite duration

Abstract The response of a non-linear system subjected to a pulse excitation of finite duration is investigated for the region during which the pulse is acting as well as for the region where the pulse has ceased to act. The original differential equation is transformed into a form for which Lighthill's extension of Poincare's perturbation method can be employed. The method is exhibited for arbitrary pulse load and was in the numerical evaluation applied to a sinusoidal, a one-minus-cosine and a triangular load. It illustrates the influence of the non-linear parameter for hardening and softening restoring characteristics. The application of the method of solution is also indicated for non-linear many-degree-of-freedom systems.
The Optimal Maintenance Period for Repairable Product after Warranty Expiration under Renewing Warranty

A model of the optimal maintenance period for repairable product after warranty expiration under renewing warranty is proposed. In the process to fulfilling warranty, the failures of product within warranty period happen randomly, the replacements of products successively failed with warranty period form a renewing process. Given failure rate of product, the period of fulfilling warranty is function of warranty period. User purchasing a product is considered an investment; the period of fulfilling warranty and the maintenance period after warranty make up the life cycle of product investment. Taking various cost factors into account, making model of the cost rate in life cycle of product investment under renewing warranty, the cost rate is function of maintenance period. Give the failure rate of product is an increasing function, it is derived that there is unique optimal maintenance period minimizing the cost rate. Finally, numerical example is given for illustration.
Minimizing the cardinality of an events set for supervisors of discrete-event dynamical systems

In this paper we study sufficient observation and work spaces for supervisors of a class of discrete-event dynamical systems (DEDS). We use finite state automata to model a DEDS. The finite automata generates a formal language defined over the set of events in the DEDS. A supervisor is a feedback system that observes a generated trace of events and dynamically disables (or enables) a subset of controllable events such that the closed-loop system behaves as desired. We model the desired behavior of the DEDS by a sublanguage defined over the set of events. A sufficient observation space is a collection of events whose observation by a supervisor is enough to realize a given desired behavior. A sufficient work space is a sufficient observation space such that the control action of the supervisor is limited to only the controllable elements of the work space. We construct algorithms to evaluate a sufficient work (or observation) space. The reduction of work (or observation) spaces results in reducing the number of event detectors, communication, and command channels between the supervisor and the plant.
Dual contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the liver with superparamagnetic iron oxide followed by gadolinium for lesion detection and characterization.

Abstract AIM: Iron oxide contrast agents are useful for lesion detection, and extracellular gadolinium chelates are advocated for lesion characterization. We undertook a study to determine if dual contrast enhanced liver imaging with sequential use of ferumoxides particles and gadolinium (Gd)-DTPA can be performed in the same imaging protocol. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixteen patients underwent dual contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the liver for evaluation of known/suspected focal lesions which included, metastases (n = 5), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC;n = 3), cholangiocharcinoma(n = 1) and focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH;n = 3). Pre- and post-iron oxide T1-weighted gradient recalled echo (GRE) and T2-weighted fast spin echo (FSE) sequences were obtained, followed by post-Gd-DTPA (0.1 mmol/kg) multi-phase dynamic T1-weighted out-of-phase GRE imaging. Images were analysed in a blinded fashion by three experts using a three-point scoring system for lesion conspicuity on pre- and post-iron oxide T1 images as well as for reader's confidence in characterizing liver lesions on post Gd-DTPA T1 images. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference in lesion conspicuity was observed on pre- and post-iron oxide T1-GRE images in this small study cohort. The presence of iron oxide did not appreciably diminish image quality of post-gadolinium sequences and did not prevent characterization of liver lesions. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that characterization of focal liver lesion with Gd-enhanced liver MRI is still possible following iron oxide enhanced imaging.Kubaska, S.et al. (2001). Clinical Radiology,56 , 410–415
Fresnel lens based on silicon nanowires

Silicon nanowire reflective Fresnel lenses are demonstrated and their focusing and lensing properties characterizations are shown. The Fresnel lenses were fabricated using conventional lithography and metal-assisted chemical etching. The lenses have dark zones made of sub-wavelength silicon nanowires and bright zones formed by polished silicon surface. High intensity contrast exists between the bright and the dark zones, leading to an efficient focusing performance in the spectrum of visible light. The reflective Fresnel lens has the potential to reflect and focus light onto photosensitive dye in dye-sensitive solar cells in order to improve their light absorption efficiency and hence, the photocurrent.
The meaning of lead vectors and the Burger triangle.

Abstract 1. 1. The characteristics of an electrocardiographic lead connection may be represented by a physical entity known as the lead vector. The direction of the lead axis is the same as that of its vector. The relative “weight” of the lead is directly proportional to the length of the lead vector. 2. 2. A closed geometric configuration, known as the Burger triangle, may be formed from the vectors of the conventional Einthoven leads. A method is presented for transforming the Burger triangle into a triangular coordinate system which obeys the Einthoven law. In general, the Burger triangle is not equilateral. 3. 3. A similar coordinate system may be developed for the unipolar extremity leads. The two systems may be combined into a single hexaxial reference system which obeys all the algebraic laws of the extremity leads. 4. 4. A scalene (nonequilateral) triangle, which represents the quantitative relationships between the electromotive forces of the heart and the extremity leads of the electrocardiogram with reasonable accuracy, may eventually supplant the equilateral triangle as a frame of reference. 5. 5. The concept of the lead vector introduces the powerful method of vector mathematics into certain types of electrocardiographic calculations.
Screening Tests of Certain New Organic Fluorine Compounds for Ascaricidal and Ascaristatic Activities

Results of screening tests of 24 organic fluorine compounds by the method of Lamson aod Brown and by a modified form of Baldwin's method for ascaricidal and ascaristatic activities are given.
Detection of potato viruses S and X in dormant potato tubers by the latex agglutination test

A simple procedure for detection of potato viruses S and X from dormant tubers by a latex agglutination test was developed. Eyes were pricked with a toothpick after having been covered with 50μ1 of buffer. Approximately 20μ1 of buffer then were drawn into a capillary pipette containing 10μ1 of antibody-sensitized latex and a latex agglutination test was performed. Both viruses were detected in all infected tubers tested. For potato virus S, the mean agglutination value was shown to vary significantly among cultivars. Tests on one eye were sufficient for detection with some cultivars, but tests on three eyes were necessary for detection with other cultivars. Eye location on tubers did not appear to influence test results, but better results were obtained when eyes were tested than when other tuber locations were tested.
Open-source versus proprietary software: is one more reliable and secure than the other?

One of the most powerful movements in the information technology community today is the widespread adoption of free and open-source software (FOSS). What was once an idealistic fringe movement conceived and formalized by MacArthur award laureate Richard Stallman has now become one of the most powerful influences in the world of information technology. As FOSS systems grow in popularity, questions of the reliability and security of these systems emerge, especially in comparison with proprietary systems. This paper surveys the arguments presented by proponents of each type of software in published reports and discusses the deployment and reliability figures for both FOSS and proprietary systems as well.
Fatty acids increase neuronal hypertrophy of Pten knockdown neurons

Phosphatase and tensin homolog (Pten) catalyzes the reverse reaction of PI3K by dephosphorylating PIP3 to PIP2. This negatively regulates downstream Akt/mTOR/S6 signaling resulting in decreased cellular growth and proliferation. Co-injection of a lentivirus knocking Pten down with a control lentivirus allows us to compare the effects of Pten knockdown between individual neurons within the same animal. We find that knockdown of Pten results in neuronal hypertrophy by 21 days post-injection. This neuronal hypertrophy is correlated with increased p-S6 and p-mTOR in individual neurons. We used this system to test whether an environmental factor that has been implicated in cellular hypertrophy could influence the severity of the Pten knockdown-induced hypertrophy. Implantation of mini-osmotic pumps delivering fatty acids results in increased neuronal hypertrophy and p-S6/p-mTOR staining. These hypertrophic effects were reversed in response to rapamycin treatment. However, we did not observe a similar increase in hypertrophy in response to dietary manipulations of fatty acids. Thus, we conclude that by driving growth signaling with fatty acids and knocking down a critical regulator of growth, Pten, we are able to observe an additive morphological phenotype of increased soma size mediated by the mTOR pathway.
Composition of the L5 Mars Trojans: Neighbors, not Siblings

Abstract Mars is the only terrestrial planet known to have Trojan (co-orbiting) asteroids, with a confirmed population of at least 4 objects. The origin of these objects is not known; while several have orbits that are stable on Solar System timescales, work by Rivkin et al. [Rivkin, A.S., Binzel, R.P., Howell, E.S., Bus, S.J., Grier, J.A., 2003. Icarus 165, 349–354] showed they have compositions that suggest separate origins from one another. We have obtained infrared (0.8–2.5 μm) spectroscopy of the two largest L5 Mars Trojans, and confirm and extend the results of Rivkin et al. We suggest that the differentiated angrite meteorites are good spectral analogs for 5261 Eureka, the largest Mars Trojan. Meteorite analogs for 101429 1998 VF31 are more varied and include primitive achondrites and mesosiderites.
Plant biology: abscisic acid in bloom.

To survive environmental stresses, plants must respond to the hormone abscisic acid. The receptors for this hormone have remained elusive, but one receptor with unique functions in flowering has now been identified.
Penetration of 14C-inulin and 14C-sucrose into brain, cerebrospinal fluid, and skeletal muscle of developing rats.

1. We studied the decrease in brain uptake of two substances, inulin and sucrose, during maturation of the brain. Concentration ratios of CSF/plasma and brain/plasma for 14C-labeled inulin and sucrose were calculated and time-uptake curves plotted for prenatal and postnatal rats. Comparisons of these ratios among the various ages showed a progressive decrease in the inulin ratios of both compartments with increasing age. Sucrose “spaces” were always larger than inulin “spaces,” suggesting possible sucrose penetration into cells. The brain/CSF concentration ratio for inulin, however, appears to reflect brain extracellular space in young rats, but not in older animals. Electrolyte concentration ratios of CSF and plasma suggested progressive maturation of transport mechanisms at the choroid plexus and increase of CSF flow. The degree of concentration of inulin in the developing brain and the CSF of the young rat probably reflects cellular maturation of both barrier and secretory mechanisms. 2. We also measured the inulin and sucrose space of skeletal muscle in rats of different age. In contrast to brain, the spaces measured by the two substances were the same and decreased with maturation of the animals.
Pathways of cytodifferentiation during the metamorphosis of the epibranchial cartilage in the salamander Eurycea bislineata

Abstract The metamorphosis of the epibranchial—a skeletal element of the hyobranchial apparatus—is characterized by the degeneration of the larval cartilaginous element coupled with the formation of an adult cartilage in the same position. By integrating histological evidence from serial sections, in toto clearing and staining, TEM, SEM, and [ 3 H]thymidine autoradiography, we found that larval chondrocytes die and do not participate in the formation of the adult cartilage. Meanwhile, the adult element forms from a small group of cells located in the mid-ventral region of the larval perichondrium. At the onset of metamorphosis, this group of perichondral cells begins to proliferate and they assume a mesenchymal morphology to subsequently undergo chondrogenesis. Although we only document a specific case, we believe that this process of apportionment of prospective larval and adult cell development is characteristic of highly specialized metamorphic systems in all groups. In general, differentiation is an irreversible process and larval cells once part of a differentiated tissue cannot dedifferentiate and participate in the formation of a new adult structure. To circumvent this constraint during the evolution of divergent larval and adult morphologies, organisms have evolved compartmentalized metamorphic systems.
Tetrasporic Embryo-Sac Formation in Trisomic Sectors of Maize

Nondisjunction in mitotic divisions occurs spontaneously at a low frequency in somatic and germinal tissue in maize and results in sectors of trisomic cells. When this happens with chromosome 3 and in germinal tissue the embryo sac development is changed from the normal monosporic type to a tetrasporic type which is common in some species but not in maize.
Source of Image Contrast in STM Images of Functionalized Alkanes on Graphite: A Systematic Functional Group Approach

A series of functionalized alkanes and/or alkyl alcohols have been prepared and imaged by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) methods on graphite surfaces. The stability of these ordered overlayers has facilitated reproducible collection of STM images at room temperature with submolecular resolution, in most cases allowing identification of individual hydrogen atoms in the alkane chains, but in all cases allowing identification of molecular length features and other aspects of the image that can be unequivocally related to the presence of functional groups in the various molecules of concern. Functional groups imaged in this study include halides (X = F, Cl, Br, I), amines, alcohols, nitriles, alkenes, alkynes, ethers, thioethers, and disulfides. Except for −Cl and −OH, all of the other functional groups could be distinguished from each other and from −Cl or −OH through an analysis of their STM metrics and image contrast behavior. The dominance of molecular topography in producing the STM images of alkanes and alkanols was established experimentally and also was consistent with quantum chemistry calculations. Unlike the contrast of the methylene regions of the alkyl chains, the STM contrast produced by the various functional groups was not dominated by topographic effects, indicating that variations in local electronic coupling were important in producing the observed STM images of these regions of the molecules. For molecules in which electronic effects overwhelmed topographic effects in determining the image contrast, a simple model is presented to explain the variation in the electronic coupling component that produces the contrast between the various functional groups observed in the STM images. Additionally, the bias dependence of these STM images has been investigated and the contrast vs bias behavior is related to factors involving electron transfer and hole transfer that have been identified as potentially being important in dominating the electronic coupling in molecular electron transfer processes.
On constrained multivariate splines and their approximations

The variational formulation of multivariate spline functions is generalized to include cases where the function has to satisfy inequality constraints such as positivity and convexity. Condition for existence and uniqueness of a solution is given. Approximation to the solution can be obtained by solving the variational problem in a finite dimensional subspace. Conditions for convergence and error estimates of the approximations are presented, both for interpolation problems and smoothing problems. The general theory is illustrated by specific examples including the "volume-matching" problem and the "one-sided thin plate spline".
Percutaneous aspiration for hormone levels in the diagnosis of functioning endocrine tumors

Percutaneous aspiration to measure hormone levels in suspected functioning endocrine adenomas has been performed in 23 suspected cases of parathyroid adenomas, 7 cases of ACTH-producing thoracic carcinoid tumors, and 1 case of gastrinoma. When tumors secrete hormone or peptide markers, the biochemical assay can replace cytology to identify the lesion with greater specificity and at less expense.
Ozone, middle ultraviolet radiation and the aquatic environment

Marine organisms in the upper layers of the sea may be endangered by increased ultraviolet radiation resulting from declines in the thickness of stratospheric ozone. Evidence supporting this hypothesis includes the fact that wavelengths of potentially damaging ultraviolet radiation can penetrate to ecologically significant depths and laboratory findings that many marine organisms are extremely sensitive to this radiation. Estimated effects of increased ultraviolet radiation on populations of marine organisms range from insignificant to catastrophic. Direct estimation of population effects have not been made, although this is the only adequate measure of the potential impact. The extreme diminution of ozone during the Antarctic spring, coupled with the dynamics of phytoplankton production in this region, may provide conditions suitable for an environmental test of the hypotheses that marine organisms are endangered by reduced stratospheric ozone. There is an urgency to the testing of this hypothesis since these populations may be directly impacted at the present time.
Hint systems may negatively impact performance in educational games

Video games are increasingly recognized as a compelling platform for instruction that could be leveraged to teach students at scale. Hint systems that provide personalized feedback to students in real time are a central component of many effective interactive learning environments, however little is known about how hints impact player behavior and motivation in educational games. In this work, we study the effectiveness of hints by comparing four designs based on successful hint systems in intelligent tutoring systems and commercial games. We present results from a study of 50,000 students showing that all four hint systems negatively impacted performance compared to a baseline condition with no hints. These results suggest that traditional hint systems may not translate well into the educational game environment, highlighting the importance of studying student behavior to understand the impact of new interactive learning technologies.
Progesterone regulation of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor gene expression during sensitization and decidualization in the rat uterus: effects of the antiprogestin, ZK 98.299.

The ability of uterine stromal cells to respond to embryo attachment or an artificial decidual stimulus and the development and maintenance of decidual cells are primarily regulated by progesterone (P), yet few P-induced genes have been described. Previously, we reported that P stimulated the expression of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor-like growth factor (HB-EGF) messenger RNA (mRNA) in rat uterine stromal cells. We now present evidence that the effects of P on HB-EGF expression are blocked by treatment with ZK98299 (onapristone), indicating that they are receptor mediated. Additionally, animals treated with ZK98299 alone or together with P failed to respond to a decidual stimulus, suggesting that stromal cell sensitivity was inhibited. These results provide further evidence that HB-EGF plays a role in the development of stromal cell sensitivity to decidual stimuli. Expression of HB-EGF mRNA was also investigated in differentiating stromal cells after an artificial decidual stimulus. HB-EGF mRNA...
Seventy-Five Years of Policy on Alcohol Problems: An American Perspective

Objective:This article traces the evolution of alcohol-related social policy over the past 75 years.Method:The literature was reviewed and is critically discussed.Results:The social history of alcohol policies over the last 75 years began with the scientific approach to alcohol in the 1930s and later shifted to a central interest in the disease of alcoholism. Beginning with the National Council on Alcoholism Education, advocates struggled to “mainstream” treatment for this disease into the health care system. Major steps included decriminalization of public intoxication, emphasis of the social respectability of persons with alcohol problems, development of a treatment system that was accompanied by health insurance coverage, and work-based programs to identify and attract employed patients with health insurance coverage. These structures were considerably altered by the War on Drugs, managed care, and the merger of drug and alcohol treatment. The Affordable Care Act, however, has the potential for achievi...
Effects of Cognitive Learning Strategies, Verbal Reinforcement, and Gender on the Performance of Closed Motor Skills in Older Adults

The effectiveness of a content dependent learning strategy and a content independent learning strategy on the performance of a closed motor skill (underhand dart throw) and the transfer of these strategies to the performance of two related closed motor skills (an underhand jart throw and a ball toss) were examined in 50 female and 50 male older adults (range = 65-75 years). In addition, the effectiveness of the content independent strategy was compared to that of the content dependent strategy when the strategies were combined with verbal praise. Gender differences in task performance were also examined. All older adults' performances greatly benefitted from both cognitive learning strategies. Verbal praise combined with the cognitive learning strategies did not further improve subjects' performances, nor did performance differences exist between the experimental conditions. Based on these data practitioners should encourage older adults to use cognitive learning strategies when performing closed motor sk...
Elimination of Refocusing Pulses in NMR Experiments

A large number of one- and two-dimensional NMR experiments employ 180” refocusing pulses with the main purpose of obtaining absorption-mode spectra. Imperfections in the flip angle of the refocusing pulse will generally lead to degradation of the sensitivity of the experiment and may give rise to unwanted resonances in 2D spectra. Those problems can sometimes be significantly alleviated by proper use of the composite pulse concept (Z-4). However, we will demonstrate that those problems can be completely avoided by omitting the refocusing pulses altogether.
Ion chemistry of fluoroethylene parent ions: cis- and trans-1,2-difluoroethylene

Abstract The ion-molecule reactions of the parent ions in cis-CHFCHF and trans-CHFCHF have been observed using ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy. The only observed reaction in both cases was CHFCHF + + CHFCHF → C 3 H 3 F 2 + + CHF 2 with rate constants k (cis) = 6.3 × 10 −12 and k (trans) = 3 × 10 −12 cm 3 molecule −1 sec −1 . The relative ionization potentials of cis- and trans-CHFCHF were measured by determining the forward and reverse rate constants for the reaction cis-CHFCHF + + trans-CHFCHF ⇄ cis-CHFCH + trans-CHFCHF + and by measuring the relative ionic concentrations after 40–50 collisions in the ICR spectrometer. A value of the equilibrium constant K 3 ± 0.4, was obtained in both instances yielding Δ IP = 0.030 ± 0.003 eV or 0.70 ± 0.08 kcal/mole. By comparing this value with the known heat of isomerisation between cis and trans-CHFCHF, the difference in the heats of formation of the ions is Δ H o f (cis-trans) = 0.07 eV or 1.6 kcal/mole.
Comparison of chromium adsorption to starved and fresh subsurface bacterial consortium

The adsorption of chromium (Cr+6) to a denitrifying consortium was investigated for starved and fresh cells under three pH values (pH 6.0, 7.5 and 9.0). Cells starved 50 days adsorbed approximately 10–15% more Cr+6 than fresh (0 day) cells at those three pH conditions.
PrimeScreen, a brief dietary screening tool: reproducibility and comparability with both a longer food frequency questionnaire and biomarkers.

Objective Diet is an important determinant of health outcomes, but physicians have few ways to identify persons with suboptimal diets. The purposes of this study were to examine the reproducibility of a short dietary assessment questionnaire (PrimeScreen) and to compare its results with those of a longer food frequency questionnaire and with plasma levels of selected nutrients. Design Each subject completed two PrimeScreen questionnaires at an interval of 2 weeks and one full length, 131-item, semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ), and had a sample of blood drawn. We compared the PrimeScreen with two reference standards, the SFFQ and plasma levels of selected nutrients. Setting A large managed care organization in New England. Subjects A total of 160 men and women, aged 19-65 years, participated. Results For foods and food groups, the mean correlation coefficient (r) was 0.70 for reproducibility and 0.61 for comparability with the SFFQ. For nutrients, the mean r was 0.74 for reproducibility and 0.60 for comparability with the SFFQ. No substantial differences were evident by sex, race, body mass index, occupation or education. Correlation coefficients for the comparison of vitamin E, beta-carotene and lutein/zeaxanthin intakes from the PrimeScreen with plasma levels were 0.33, 0.43 and 0.43, respectively. These values were similar to those comparing the SFFQ with plasma levels. The median time to complete PrimeScreen was 5 min; 87% of participants required fewer than 10 min. Conclusions A quick way to assess quality of diet among adults, PrimeScreen has adequate reproducibility and its results compare well with a longer food frequency questionnaire and biomarkers.
Occurrence of hydroxyproline in a toxin from the marine snail Conus geographus

Abstract A 22-residue peptide toxin from the venomous marine snail Conus geographus (L.) was found to have a most unusual amino acid composition: Lys4, Arg3, 1 2 Cys 6 , Asx2, Glx2, Thr, Ala, plus three residues of trans-4-hydroxyproline. Absence of Gly and Pro indicates that the hydroxyproline must be in sequences different from those in which hydroxyproline occurs in collagen and other proteins.
Human target identification and automated shape based target recognition algorithms using target silhouette

Human target identification performance based on target silhouettes is measured and compared to that of complete targets. The target silhouette identification performance of automated region based and contour based shape identification algorithms are also compared. The region based algorithms of interest are Zernike Moment Descriptor (ZMD), Geometric Moment Descriptor (GMD), and Grid Descriptor (GD) while the contour based algorithms considered are Fourier Descriptor (FD), Multiscale Fourier Descriptor (MFD), and Curvature Scale Space Descriptor (CS). The results from the human perception experiments indicate that at high levels of degradation, human identification of target based on silhouettes is better than that of complete targets. The shape recognition algorithm comparison shows that GD performs best, very closely followed by ZMD. In general region based shape algorithms perform better that contour based shape algorithms.
Measurements of short-pulse propagation through concrete walls

The authors recently performed a series of experimental measurements of transient electromagnetic (EM) propagation through two different concrete walls. Several different short-duration pulses were used for the incident radiation, with frequency content from VHF to 20 GHz. Both walls were 30 cm thick, with three internal layers of reinforcing steel bars. For this particular set of data, the incident wave polarization was vertical linear only. Corroborating swept-frequency measurements were made with a vector network analyzer. This paper describes the propagation measurements through the two walls, and the propagation model of a lossy dielectric layer. They also examine the transfer function, dielectric constant, loss tangent, attenuation constant, and time-domain impulse response of these walls. The attenuation increases steadily with frequency, and is a strong function of the moisture content of the concrete. The time-domain pulse attenuation and dispersion are consistent with the lowpass-filtering effect of this attenuation loss vs. frequency. The time domain behavior will be very useful in time-domain radar studies of ground-penetrating radar, free-space layered measurement systems, etc.
The induction of hyperkeratotic white lesions in hamster cheek pouches with mouthwash

Listerine mouthwash applied to the left cheek pouch mucosa of thirty-seven hamsters 45 minutes daily for 41 days caused diffuse, corrugated white lesions showing hyperkeratosis in 100 percent of the animals. The right (control) side showed essentially no changes in response to saline solution applied similarly. The significance of these findings is discussed.
Tablet Computers in the Academic Library

Rebecca K. Miller, Heather Moorefield-Land & Carolyn Meier, Eds. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 2014, 155 pp., ISBN: 978-0-8389-1196-9 (ePub), 978-0-8389-1971-2 (Kindle), $25.00.Tablet ...
Shooting behaviour: How working memory and negative emotionality influence police officer shoot decisions

Previous research on police officer shoot decisions has focussed on the influence of situational factors that lead to the shooting error. Focussing instead on the 'shooter', the present study examined whether working memory capacity and threat-related increases in negative emotionality influenced participant shoot decisions in a simulated shooting task. Following a working memory test, 24 police officers viewed a police-relevant threatening video while physiological indices of arousal and negative affect were obtained and then completed a computerized shoot-don't shoot task. Results indicated that lower working memory capacity was associated with a greater likelihood of shooting unarmed targets and a failure to shoot armed targets. Moreover, an interaction effect indicated that these associations were only significant for officers who experienced heightened negative emotionality in response to the video. Results suggest that when negatively aroused via threat, limited working memory capacity increases the risk of shooting error. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Language: en
Difference test sensitivity: Cognitive contrast effects

Judges performed 3-AFC tests between "threshold" concentrations of NaCI solutions and purified water stimuli. For some 3-AFCs, NaCI was the odd stimulus (S-odd); in others, water was the odd stimulus (W-odd). In one condition, interstimulus rinses were different from the stimuli; in a second condition they were the same. The 3-AFCs in which the interstimulus rinses were different from the stimuli yielded a higher d'. When interstimulus rinses were the same as the stimuli, S-odd 3-AFCs had a higher d' than W-odd 3-AFCs. The same was not true when the interstimulus rinses were different from the stimuli. Sequential Sensitivity Analysis and the conditional stimulus model did not furnish a complete explanation for these data. A consideration of additional cognitive contrast effects yielded a possible explanation.
Brief Report: Nature and Implications of Personal Projects Among Adolescents With and Without Diabetes

Objective We examined the relation of adolescent goals to psychological well-being and diabetes health. Method We used personal project analysis to elicit the goals that adolescents with (n ¼ 110) and without type 1 diabetes (n ¼ 117) have. Adolescents evaluated several project dimensions (progress, stress, typicality, happiness, extent desired by others). Psychological well-being and diabetes health were assessed. Results Adolescents with and without diabetes described similar projects, with academic projects being most frequently named. Adolescents with diabetes were more likely to identify appearance projects, and healthy adolescents were more likely to identify self-improvement projects. Among the project dimensions, project progress was associated with better psychological and diabetes health, and project stress was associated with poorer psychological and diabetes health. Conclusion Results suggest that aspects of the general goals that adolescents set for themselves may have implications for their psychological well-being as well as how they care for their diabetes.
The Problem of Auditory Hallucinations in Combat PTSD

In a study of 115 combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, the majority (65%) reported hearing voices. These dissociative voices included command hallucinations to which the individuals responded with a feeling of automatic obedience. We describe an evolving series of psychological interventions that appear to diminish dissociation. These techniques teach the patient to objectively clarify, to conduct a dialogue with, and to negotiate with their voices.[1882 words]