cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lack of IL‐7 and IL‐15 signaling affects interferon‐γ production by, more than survival of, small intestinal intraepithelial memory CD8+ T cells

Survival of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in peripheral lymphoid organs during viral infection is known to be dependent predominantly on IL-7 and IL-15. However, little is known about a possible influence of tissue environmental factors on this process. To address this question, we studied survival of memory antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in the small intestine. Here, we show that 2 months after vaccinia virus infection, B8R20–27/H2-Kb tetramer+ CD8+ T cells in the small intestinal intraepithelial (SI-IEL) layer are found in mice deficient in IL-15 expression. Moreover, SI-IEL and lamina propria lymphocytes do not express the receptor for IL-7 (IL-7Rα/CD127). In addition, after in vitro stimulation with B8R20–27 peptide, SI-IEL cells do not produce high amounts of IFN-γ neither at 5 days nor at 2 months postinfection (p.i.). Importantly, the lack of IL-15 was found to shape the functional activity of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells, by narrowing the CTL avidity repertoire. Taken together, these results reveal that survival factors, as well as the functional activity, of antigen-specific CD8+ T cells in the SI-IEL compartments may markedly differ from their counterparts in peripheral lymphoid tissues.
The place of rational choice in criminology and risk analysis

The danger in both criminology and risk analysis is that rational choice will be embraced uncritically and without examination of its subtleties, boundaries, and limitations; its dependency on context, its relationship to what is seen (and not seen), what is understood and what is not understood, its embeddedness in both personal and organizational life. That is a challenge worthy of all the social and behavioral sciences.
CEO Compensation and the Responsibilities of the Business Scholar to Society

American CEOs make a great deal of money. The amounts must stagger people who are unfamiliar with contemporary business prac tice. The AFL-CIO's Executive PayWatch reports that the average CEO in the SP 214 Democrats and 55 Republicans supported what is known as the Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act (or more colloquially, the "Say on Pay" initiative).4 That same day, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) and seven of his colleagues introduced S. 1181.5 As of this writing, the Senate version of the bill is being considered by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Ur ban Affairs. Professor Kaplan's testimony serves as a wonderful stimulus to consider both the com plexities of CEO compensation and the proper role for a business scholar in society.6 Professor Kaplan vigorously defends U.S. cor porate governance practices. He argues that "there can be absolutely no doubt that the typical CEO in the United States is paid for performance" This article is in response to Steven N. Kaplan's Congressional testi mony on empowering shareholders on executive compensation and H.R. 1257, the Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act before the Committee on Financial Services of the United States House of Represen tatives, on March 8, 2007. The ideas expressed in Mr. Kaplan's article in this issue are based largely on this testimony. Due to timing issues, we asked Mr. Walsh to respond to Mr. Kaplan's testimony, not to the article that appears in this issue. To access the full testimony, visit www.house.gov/ apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/htkaplan030807.pdf. Mr. Walsh would like to thank Paul Adler, Peter Cappelli, Don Hausch, Joshua Margolis, Nejat Seyhun, Cathy Shakespeare, and Judith Walls for their conversations and comments on an earlier version of this
Thermodynamic study of the competition between superconductivity and magnetism in ErRh4B4.

Measurements of the specific heat on two single crystals of ErRh/sub 4/B/sub 4/ indicate that the origin of the hysteresis at the reentrant temperature is due to superheating effects. An analysis of the superheating behavior indicates the minimum free-energy difference between the ferromagnetic and coexistence state to be 0.325 and 0.375 J/mole for the two samples.
Infection of rabbit T-cell and macrophage lines with human immunodeficiency virus

We report the successful infection of two rabbit T-cell lines and one rabbit macrophage line with human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1). One T-cell line was a herpesvirus ateles transformant, the other T-cell line was a human T-cell leukemia virus I transformant, and the macrophage line was a simian virus 40 transformant. After infection with a high-titered HIV-1 stock, the rabbit cultures exhibited properties that closely mimic those of HIV-1-infected human cells. Productive infection was evident in cultures 7-14 days after infection, as shown by an increase in reverse transcriptase activity, a concomitant increase in positive cells detected by indirect immunofluorescence using serum from a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and a decrease in cell viability. RNA gel blot hybridization and protein immunoblot analyses of infected cells indicated that all predicted viral transcripts and proteins were synthesized during the course of the infection. Proof that cell-free culture supernatants of the infected rabbit cell lines contained infectious virus was given by successful passage onto a susceptible human T-cell line. The ability of HIV-1 to infect transformed rabbit cell lines in vitro suggests that, with appropriate manipulation, the rabbit may provide a model for infection with HIV-1.
On the antiquity of British chalk grasslands: a response to Thomas

The debate over the history and antiquity of the chalk grasslands will not be resolved until there is a suite of good palaeoecological records. Willow Garth, North Humberside, provided the first broad-based, well-dated, palaeoecological study to incorporate wellpreserved pollen, plant macrofossil, coleopteran, mollusc and bryophyte evidence from a site lying on the British chalk. Unfortunately, so long as there is only a single site on which to base discussion of the paleoecological history of the Yorkshire Wolds ther are bound to be grey areas and interpretive differences. Dr Thomas (this issue) has highlighted some of these problems. The papers by Bush & Flenley (1987) and Bush (1988a) were intended as summaries of a research project, and in the interests of brevity a full assessment of pertinent literature was not attempted. Thomas’s criticism in this direction is accepted.
Recognition of foreign oviposition marking pheromones is context dependent and determined by preimaginal conditioning

Many insects deposit marking pheromones following egglaying that signal an occupied and thus sub-optimal resource. Herbivorous insects mark host fruit or other vegetative plant parts after depositing eggs, while insect parasitoids deposit such pheromones directly on the cuticle of a particular life stage of their prey. These oviposition marking pheromones (OMPs) are then recognized by conspecifics, which avoid subsequent egglaying in the previously utilized and unsuitable host. Since many host resources are capable of supporting a limited number of offspring, these pheromones function to decrease competition among the brood, which increases survival rate of the subsequent generation. In rare instances, distinct species of phytophagous and parasitic insects will inspect the same substrate following egg-laying. 1 Recently, Stelinski et al. 1 have demonstrated that in such instances, the herbivore is able to learn to recognize its predator’s OMP and utilize it to its advantage by avoiding oviposition into unsuitable host fruit. This recognition of a foreign marking pheromone occurs in a multitrophic context since both herbivore and parasitoid inspect, oviposit into, and mark the same substrate (i.e., fruit surface). In this Article Addendum, we further show that this recognition of a foreign pheromone is both context-dependent and mediated by preimaginal conditioning.
A quantitative NEO hazard mitigation scale

Abstract A hazard mitigation scale is presented that quantifies the danger from a potential near-Earth object (NEO) impact with Earth in terms of the energy required to perturb the threatening NEO's orbit to avoid collision in the foreseeable future. The required energy is based on NEO mass, anticipated velocity change to avoid collision, and momentum coupling coefficient for the particular interaction. The momentum coefficient can be empirically determined and depends on the type, intensity, placement of the interaction energy, and target materials. Reliable experimental values for momentum coupling coefficients are provided.
Sensitivity of Relative Worth in QFD Matrices to Rating Scales and Worth Calculation Schemes: An Empirical Study

In the past several decades, Quality Function Deployment (QFD) has gained its popularity among engineers as a tool to relate (map) customer requirements (inputs) to system requirements or system components (outputs), and to calculate relative worth of these requirements and components. The benefits of QFD in system development include cost reduction, fewer design changes after the start of production, and improved communication among engineers. Despite the observed benefits, the needs for QFD research have been addressed by researchers. These research needs include decision-making process in QFD, rating scales used in QFD matrices, and calculation schemes for calculating the worth of outputs (e.g., system requirements) from the importance of inputs (e.g., customer requirements). The purpose of this paper is to empirically study sensitivity of the relative worth and rank of outputs in QFD matrices to rating scales and worth calculation schemes. We collected QFD matrices from journal articles and textbooks; then calculated the changes of relative worth and the rank of outputs when one type of rating scale and/or worth calculation scheme was changed to the other. The results suggest that the relative worth and rank of outputs are relatively insensitive to rating scales and worth calculation schemes in the QFD matrices studied in this paper.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
The chemistry of bibenzyl on Pt(111) as probed with BPTDS

The dissociation of 1,2-diphenylethane (bibenzyl) on Pt(111) has been studied by using TDS and bismuth postdosing thermal desorption mass spectroscopy (BPTDS). In spite of this molecule's very weak central C-C bond, it did not dissociate prior to extensive dehydrogenation. Adsorbed bibenzyl dissociates on Pt(111) in a 3 step process: (1) Between 280 and 380 K adsorbed bibenzyl (C6H5-CH2CH2-C6H5,a) partially dissociates and partially dehydrogenates to produce adsorbed stilbene (C6H5-CHCH-C6H5,a) and Ha. (2) At ~ 500 K, this adsorbed stilbene dissociates to eliminate six hydrogen atoms as H2 gas (Ea ≅ 110 kJmol). At this point, six “C2Ha” species are proposed to be produced, which may be polymeric in nature and of slightly different C:H ratio (C14H6). (3) Between 560 and 800 K, the remaining six hydrogens, assumed to be bonded in these species, are evolved to leave graphitic carbon (Ea = 123–178 kJmol). No evidence was seen for a benzyl (C6H5-CH2,a) species at any stage of the dissociation process, although BPTDS experiments using coadsorbed Da would have identified this species if it were present.
The Effect of Multi-Nationality on the Precision of Management Earnings Forecasts

This study examines the relationship between a firm’s degree of multi-nationality and its managers’ earnings forecasts. Firms with a high degree of multi-nationality are subject to greater uncertainty regarding earnings forecasts due to the additional risk resulting from the more complex multinational environment. Prior research demonstrates that firms that fail to meet or beat market expectations experience disproportionate market losses at earnings announcement dates. The complexities and greater uncertainty resulting from higher levels of multi-nationality are expected to be negatively associated with management earnings forecast precision. Results indicate that precision of management earnings forecasts is significantly negatively related to multi-nationality (foreign sales/total sales and the number of geographic segments). These findings should be of interest to investors, analysts, and other stakeholders who make decisions based on management earnings forecasts. Findings should also be of interest to those interested in how multi-nationality affects business in general.
The Iowa Gambling Treatment Program: treatment outcomes for a follow-up sample.

The Iowa Gambling Treatment Program (IGTP) amassed participant data for gam- blers and concerned others of gamblers over 4 years (1997-2001). Data collection opportunities included: (1) crisis contacts, (2) placement screening, (3) admission, (4) treatment services, (5) discharge, and (6) follow-up. Among followed gamblers, 74% of treatment completers, 49% of substantial treatment completers, and 36% of dropouts and referrals were abstaining from gambling at 6-month follow-up. The reduction in dollars lost to gambling was similar; 85% of treatment completers, 88% of substantial treatment completers, and 65% of others reduced their dollars lost per week. Although more extensive follow-up efforts are needed to properly evaluate the effectiveness of the IGTP, these results suggest that the IGTP shows promise.
Biology, treatment, and time.

Barlogie and colleagues report that patients with abnormal baseline metaphase cytogenetics and enrolled on TT2 had better overall survival (OS) rates when randomized to thalidomide.
Assessing Managerial Discretion across Industries: A Multimethod Approach

Industries differ widely in how much managerial discretion, or latitude of action, they allow. This research contributes to the reliable and valid measurement of this important but hard-to-measure ...
Plow Zones and Predictability: Sesquinary Context in New England Prehistoric Sites

Archaeologists tend to regard plow zones of sites as having minimal importance for interpretive purposes. The present study describes three prehistoric sites in Massachusetts at which plow zone dat...
Construction of Metric and Vector Potential Perturbations of a Reissner- Nordstrom Black Hole

When an appropriate decoupling of variables in a coupled linear system of partial differential equations is obtained, a recently described procedure enables one to construct solutions to the full coupled system of equations. We employ this procedure here to generate solutions of the linearized Einstein-Maxwell equations describing perturbations of a Reissner-Nordstrom black hole, using Chandrasekhar's recent decoupling of these equations. Explicit formulae are given for the metric and vector potential perturbations for each parity type.
Dosimetric properties of megavoltage grid therapy

Purpose : Grid therapy is a technique used to deliver a high dose of radiation (15-20 Gy) in a single fraction to many small volumes within a large treatment field. This treatment modality is used for the palliative treatment of large, deeply seated tumors, which have either been treated to tolerance with conventional radiation, or, due to massive tumor bulk, would most likely not benefit from a conventional course of radiation therapy. As the dose distribution from megavoltage grid therapy differs significantly from that of conventional radiation therapy (i.e., many large dose gradients exist within the tumor volume), we have measured various dosimetric properties inherent in this unique treatment modality. Methods and Materials : The grid is a 16 x 16 array of 1-cm diameter holes in a 7-cm thick piece of custom blocking material. The ratio of shielded to open surface area is 1 :1. Depth dose, valley-to-peak ratios, and output factors for this square array grid were measured in a water phantom for several field sizes, as well as for a 1-cm diameter narrow beam using 6 MV and 25 MV photon beams. Results : The depth dose curves for the grid fields lie between those for an open portal and a narrow beam. For the 6-MV beam at d max , the ratios of the doses delivered to the center of the shielded regions to that under the center of the holes, expressed as valley-to-peak ratios, range from 15 to 40%. At 10 cm, the ratios increase to between 25 and 45%. At 25 MV at both d max and 10 cm, the valley-to-peak ratios are between 40 and 60%. The output factors, 0.89 for 6 MV and 0.77 for 25 MV, do not depend on field size. Conclusion : Megavoltage grid therapy is a unique treatment modality where the dose is delivered differentially to a large volume in one fraction. Characterization of the dosimetric properties has allowed clinical implementation of the grid.
Determination of the Enantiomeric Purity of a CNS Agent, Sumanirole, by Electrokinetic Chromatography

Abstract A chiral procedure based on electrokinetic chromatography was developed and validated for sumanirole (PNU‐95666E), a drug candidate that was under development for treatment of Parkinson's disease. The method underwent various iterations over a several years’ period, first utilizing a neutral cyclodextrin as the chiral recognition agent, then later using a highly sulfated‐beta‐cyclodextrin (HS‐β‐CD). Separation is on a 61 cm×50 µm ID fused silica capillary at an applied potential of −25 kV with a background electrolyte of 5% HS‐β‐CD in pH 2.50, 22.5 mM lithium phosphate buffer. For a sample prepared at 5 mg/mL, the limit of detection (LOD) for the undesired enantiomer (distomer) is about 0.02%. In a similar method developed for a congener of sumanirole, the LOD is approximately 0.01%, but at a sample concentration of 10 mg/mL. The separation, in both cases, takes less than 20 min. Over the range of 0.05–0.4%, the average recovery for the distomer of sumanirole was 102.1% and the linear regression ...
An IR Imaging Simulation System

A complete simulation system has been developed to perform motion table testing of IR imaging seekers. The system consists of an IR projector, an imaging system composed of a computer and a real-time graphics processor, and an integrated IR signature modeling system. The simulation system can perform both seeker-in-the-loop and open-loop simulation. The IR projector, which uses a liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), is driven by a conventional CRT and projects images in the 8-12 micron range. The off-line IR signature modeling software is completely integrated with the simulation system. It consists of (1) a geometric target modeler, (2) an interactive geometric scene editor, (3) a thermal model, and (4) an atmospheric attenuation model based on LOWTRAN 6.
Accelerating QM/MM free energy calculations: representing the surroundings by an updated mean charge distribution.

Reliable studies of enzymatic reactions by combined quantum mechanical /molecular mechanics (QM(ai)/MM) approaches, with an ab initio description of the quantum region, presents a major challenge to computational chemists. The main problem is the need for very large computer time to evaluate the QM energy, which in turn makes it extremely challenging to perform proper configurational sampling. One of the most obvious options for accelerating QM/MM simulations is the use of an average solvent potential. In fact the idea of using an average solvent potential is rather obvious and has implicitly been used in Langevin dipole / QM calculations. However, in the case of explicit solvent models the practical implementations are more challenging and the accuracy of the averaging approach has not been validated. The present study introduces the average effect of the fluctuating solvent charges by using equivalent charge distributions, which are updated every m steps. Several models are evaluated in terms of the resulting accuracy and efficiency. The most effective model divides the system into an inner region with N explicit solvent atoms and an external region with two effective charges. Different models are considered in terms of the division of the solvent system and the update frequency. Another key element of our approach is the use of the free energy perturbation (FEP) and/or linear response approximation (LRA) treatments that guarantees the evaluation of the rigorous solvation free energy. Special attention is paid to the convergence of the calculated solvation free energies and the corresponding solute polarization. The performance of the method is examined by evaluating the solvation of a water molecule and a formate ion in water and also the dipole moment of water in water solution. Remarkably, it is found that different averaging procedures eventually converge to the same value but some protocols provide optimal ways of obtaining the final QM(ai)/MM converged results. The current method can provide computational time saving of 1000 for properly converging simulations relative to calculations that evaluate the QM(ai)/MM energy every time step. A specialized version of our approach that starts with a classical FEP charging and then evaluates the free energy of moving from the classical potential to the QM/MM potential appears to be particularly effective. This approach should provide a very powerful tool for QM(ai)/MM evaluation of solvation free energies in aqueous solutions and proteins.
Nuclear behavior of Spirostomum ambiguum during conjugation with special reference to macronuclear development.

SYNOPSIS. During conjugation in Spirostomum ambiguum, the micronuclei divide thrice before synkaryon formation and 20 times thereafter. During the first meiotic division 18-24 bivalents, each about 0.5 μ or less appear on the spindle. They separate and pass to the poles. The details of the 2nd and 3rd prezygotic divisions and synkaryon formation by reciprocal exchange of gametic nuclei resemble those described for other ciliates in the literature. The synkaryon divides twice resulting in 4 nuclei; 2 of them become micronuclei and the remaining 2 macronuclear anlagen. The micronuclei enter into division, but this division is arrested in metaphase. The chromosomes in the macronuclear anlagen resemble those appearing in the Ist meiotic division in shape and size. In their maximum stage of development the macronuclear chromosomes are at least 3-4 times larger than those appearing in the arrested micronuclear metaphases in the same cell. There is no banding pattern of the chromosomes and therefore the possible extent of polyteny is difficult to evaluate. The chromosomes duplicate 3-4 times resulting in about 200–250 before they become indistinct as separate entities. Spirostomum is the only nonhypotrichous ciliate in which these cytologic features are described.
Feminism and the Politics of Travel after the Enlightenment

Yael Schlick's purpose in this study of women's travels and travel writing during the long nineteenth century is to move beyond the celebration of “mere pluck” to an examination of their political ...
Recent Gravity-Assist Trajectories for Interplanetary and Solar Exploration

This paper describes how lunar and planetary gravity assists have been used to design trajectories that have enabled challenging missions, currently flying or in development, at the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) of Johns Hopkins University, to explore the Sun, and the planets closest to and farthest from it. This is a continuation of a paper presented at the first New Trends in Astrodynamics and Applications conference, January 2003. That paper concentrated on the Third International Sun-Earth Explorer (ISEE-3) halo orbit mission, later known as the International Cometary Explorer, or ICE, and the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission of APL, and the ground-breaking orbits that those spacecraft used to accomplish their ambitious goals. This paper gives much more information about current APL missions, MESSENGER, STEREO, and New Horizons, which were only briefly described in the previous paper.
An appraisal of the agriculture extension service in iran as perceived by extension specialists and extension agents

Summary The general problem addressed in the study reported in this paper was: How do extension specialists and extension agents appraise the educational efforts of the extension service in the area of agricultural production and village youth clubs in terms of the accomplishment of the objectives of the extension service in the Fars and Semnan provinces of Iran? The analysis is based on data collected by postal questionnaire from 21 extension specialists and 48 extension agents during the autumn of 1978. The findings indicated that extension specialists and extension agents were not satisfied with the overall educational efforts of the extension service.
Government Intervention and Adverse Selection Costs in Foreign Exchange Markets

An important group of traders in the foreign exchange market is governments who often adhere to a foreign exchange rate policy of occasional interventions with otherwise floating rates. In this article we provide a theoretical model and empirical evidence that government foreign exchange interventions create significant adverse selection problems for dealers. In particular, our model shows that the adverse selection component of the foreign exchange spread is positively related to the variance of unexpected intervention and that expected intervention has no impact on the spread. After controlling for inventory and order processing costs, we find that bid-ask spreads increase with U.S. dollar and German deutsche mark foreign exchange rate intervention during the period 1976-94. Furthermore, when the intervention is decomposed into expected and unexpected components, we find a statistically and economically significant increase in spreads with the variance of unexpected intervention, while expected intervention has no significant impact on spreads. Article published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Financial Studies in its journal, The Review of Financial Studies.
Recent developments in WiFi system and related challenges in power amplifier design

The explosive growth of the smart phone and other mobile devices has created a wireless tsunami for both wireless service providers and ordinary consumers. The most important feature for these mobile devices is the internet access and multiple technologies are being used. IEEE 802.11 based WiFi system is the default choice for all of these mobile devices. There have been constant growing demands for optimizing the WiFi system performance and usage. To meet these demands the IEEE 802.11 standard has also been constantly evolving to achieve higher data throughput and spectral efficiency. The newer WiFi standards have been introduced recently which creates newer technical challenges to the WiFi front-end-module (FEM) and power amplifier design. This paper will discuss new advanced WiFi system and related new design requirements on the power amplifiers.
Locomotor response to novelty does not predict cocaine place preference conditioning in rats

Previous studies have demonstrated that rats showing a strong locomotor response to a novel environment have a greater locomotor response to psycho-stimulant drugs and more rapidly acquire intravenous self-administration of amphetamine. In this report, we examined whether these high-responder (HR) rats would develop place-preference conditioning with cocaine more readily than low-responder (LR) rats. Neither group of rats developed conditioned place preference for cocaine, 2.5 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (IP). Both groups of rats developed conditioned place preference for cocaine, 5.0 and 15 mg/kg, IP. However, we could not find any evidence of enhanced conditioning in the HR rats. HR rats did show a greater locomotor response to cocaine, 15 mg/kg, IP, and the locomotor response of HR and LR rats to cocaine correlated with their response to a novel environment. We conclude that using the place-preference procedure, HR and LR rats do not differ in the rewarding effect of cocaine.
Temperature Dependence of the Proton-Spin-Lattice Relaxation Time in Antiferromagnetic Mn Cl 2 · 4 H 2 O

Measurements of the proton-spin\char22{}lattice relaxation time ${T}_{1}$ in antiferromagnetic Mn${\mathrm{Cl}}_{2}$ \ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{} 4${\mathrm{H}}_{2}$O are reported for temperatures ranging from 0.5 to 0.8 \ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The measurements were performed in zero external field by the methods of free-induction decay and spin echoes. The experimental results are compared with Moriya's expression for the two-magnon (Raman) relaxation process. Good agreement with theory is found for both the magnitude and temperature dependence of ${T}_{1}$ over the range of temperatures considered.
Inequalities and stability for a linear scalar functional differential equation

There have been a lot of investigations about stability of the linear scalar functional differential equation x′(t)=a(t)x(t)+b(t)x(t−h), where a,b:R+→R continuous and h>0 a constant. However, almost all investigations require a(t)⩽0 for asymptotic stability and a(t)⩾0 for instability. In this paper, we investigate Wazewski inequalities of solutions of the equation. As a consequence, we offer some sufficient conditions for asymptotic stability if a(t)⩾0 and instability if a(t)⩽0. In the case that a(t) and b(t) are constant, we offer a region showing uniform asymptotic stability and instability of the zero solution of the equation. This region is different from J. Hale's (1977).
Taking Off the Cold War Lens: Visions of North-South Conflict during the Algerian War for Independence

EVEN BEFORE EDWARD SAID'S Orientalism APPEARED SOME TWENTY YEARS AGO, Arab, French, and American scholars had begun to jostle the keystone connecting knowledge and power in the imperial edifice. Indeed, Anouar Abdel-Malek declared "Orientalism in Crisis" in 1963, as the triumph of national liberation movements like Algeria's shook the confidence of social scientists on both sides of the Atlantic. In succeeding years, nowhere more than in scholarship on North Africa, sociologists, anthropologists, and historians criticized their predecessors for legitimizing colonial authority by depicting Muslims as an underdeveloped "other." They recognized that orientalism could both reflect and reinforce inequality, ultimately serving as a coercive arm of the state.' Since then, many more scholars have taken "the historic turn," becoming increasingly critical of their disciplinary histories.2 At the same time, the new field of postcolonial studies has continued the pursuit of orientalism, ranging ever further from the institutions officially charged with preserving imperial power. Recoiling from the elitism of "official history," it would instead seek out the voice of the subaltern, or at least interrogate the discourses that keep them silent. Following Said's lead in literary criticism, postcolonial scholars today catalog the cultures of empire in novels and travel writing, museums and expositions, paintings and postcards-everywhere, it seems, but the archives and personal papers of European and U.S. policymakers. Consequently, diplomats and other high officials are becoming the exotic "other" of postcolonial studies-passively receiving all
Trace Metal Analysis in Clinical Chemistry

Trace metals are attracting considerable attention in the biological sciences. Metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic are toxic if absorbed in moderate amounts, and they may even be deleterious to health at the background levels found in relatively polluted urban and industrial areas. Other metals such as iron, chromium and zinc are essential nutrients, and there is evidence that a significant proportion of the U.S. population is ingesting less than optimum amounts of these metals.
Least-squares joint imaging of multiples and primaries

Multiple reflections contain subsurface reflectivity information which often complements that found in primary reflections. Previous attempts to combine the additional information by summing prestack images of the primaries and multiples have generally failed because of crosstalk leakage between the images. We present a general linear least-squares joint imaging of multiplesand primaries (LSJIMP) inversion method to simultaneously suppress crosstalk noise and combine pegleg multiples and primaries in a prestack sense. In general, LSJIMP is compatible with a wide variety of prestack imaging methods and can be extended to jointly image primaries and other embedded wave modes such as shear-wave conversions. We present a particular LSJIMP implementation that utilizes an efficient linear operator to model and image pegleg multiples in a true relative-amplitude sense. Applied to a given type of pegleg multiple in the data, our imaging operator produces an image directly comparable to primaries after NMO. Our operator’s kinematic component is an extension of the NMO equation that independently images split peglegs in a moderately heterogeneous earth. Its amplitude component corrects multiples for their differences in angle-dependent reflection strength and illumination, relative to a primary. We test our LSJIMP implementation on 2D and 3D prestack field data examples and show that the method cleanly separates primaries and multiples and also uses joint information in the events to interpolate the signal in acquisition gaps.
Accurate Estimation of Standard Deviations for Quantitative Methods Used in Clinical Chemistry

Although the standard deviation is the most widely used measure of the precision of quantitative methods, there is a need to re-examine the conditions necessary to obtain a meaningful estimate of this quantity. The importance of the material to be sampled, the sample size, the calculation of confidence intervals, and the segregation of outliers are discussed.
Alteration of Na(+)-coupled transport in site-directed mutants of the melibiose carrier of Escherichia coli.

Asn-58 of the Escherichia coli melibiose carrier was replaced by Ala, Leu, Ser, and Gln. Trp-54 was replaced by Leu and a double mutant Leu-54/Ala-58 was constructed using site-directed mutagenesis. Cation/sugar cotransport and sugar-induced cation uptake were studied for each mutant. The charge of Asn-58 to Ala results in a nearly complete loss of Na+-stimulated galactoside transport as well as sugar-stimulated Na+ uptake. Substitutions of Leu, Gln, and Ser for Asn-58 were also defective in Na+-stimulated sugar transport. The Trp-54 to Leu mutant shows moderate sugar accumulation with cation selectivity similar to wild-type. The double mutant Leu-54/Ala-58 shows elevated H+-melibiose cotransport as well as reduced Na+-stimulated melibiose cotransport. These results suggest that Asn-58 is important for Na+ recognition.
Medical Image Processing in Diagnostic Radiology

There exists a need to quantify the radiological information contained in the digital measurements of the imaging technologies. These imaging technologies include computed tomography, nuclear medicine examinations, diagnostic ultrasound imaging, computer radiography and digitization of radiographic film images. A rapidly growing number of studies suggest that useful quantitation of radiographic information includes linear measurements for organ estimation, estimation of surface areas and volumes, estimation of tissue density, and the visualization of three-dimensional organ sites.
Colonization of fine particulate organic matter by invertebrates in a Central Florida stream

. Our study was conducted to determine whether small invertebrates of the shredder and collector feeding guilds would preferentially colonize fine particulate organic matter (FPOM) from fast-decaying species of leaves in central Florida streams. Bags of FPOM (0.2–1 mm) generated from maple, elm, sweetgum, and water oak leaves, as well as artificial Sty-rofoam, were suspended at two sites in Poley Creek, a 1st-order sand-bottomed stream. Three replicate bags of each type were collected from each site after 7, 14, and 28 d, and bacteria and invertebrates present were counted. Bacteria colonized maple and elm in significantly higher numbers than sweetgum, oak and Styrofoam. The amphipod Gammarus tigrinis accounted for 97% of all shredders in FPOM bags, and 63% of total invertebrates. Deposit-feeding chi-ronomids comprised 87% of collectors and 28% of total invertebrates. No other taxon comprised >2% of total invertebrates. Large numbers of invertebrates colonized in the first 7 d, but densities did not increase after Day 7. Both shredders and total invertebrates occurred in significantly greater densities on maple and elm than on sweetgum and oak. Amounts of FPOM remaining in bags after 28 d were significantly smaller for maple and elm (P<.05), suggesting that shredders were eating the FPOM. Collectors occurred in similar densities in all natural FPOM bags. Only a few individuals of either functional feeding group colonized Styrofoam bags, suggesting that FPOM was being colonized for its nutritional value rather than as a refuge from predation.
Temporal Profile of Endogenous Anatomical Repair and Functional Recovery following Spinal Cord Injury in Adult Zebrafish

Regenerated cerebrospinal axons are considered to be involved in the spontaneous recovery of swimming ability following a spinal cord injury in adult zebrafish. We employed behavioral analysis, neuronal tracing, and immunocytochemistry to determine the exact temporal relationship between swimming ability and regenerated cerebrospinal axon number in adult zebrafish with a complete spinal cord transection. Between two and eight weeks post-lesion, swimming gradually improved to 44% of sham-injured zebrafish. Neurons within the reticular formation, magnocellular octaval nucleus, and nucleus of the medial longitudinal fascicle grew their axon across and at least four millimeters beyond the lesion. The largest increases in swimming ability and number of regenerated cerebrospinal axons were observed between two and four weeks post-lesion. Regression analyses revealed a significant correlation between swimming ability and the number of regenerated axons. Our results indicate the involvement of cerebrospinal axons in swimming recovery after spinal cord injury in adult zebrafish.
IQGAP3 is essential for cell proliferation and motility during zebrafish embryonic development

IQGAPs are scaffolding proteins that regulate actin assembly, exocyst function, cell motility, morphogenesis, adhesion and division. Vertebrates express 3 family members: IQGAP1, IQGAP2, and IQGAP3. IQGAP1 is known to stimulate nucleation of branched actin filaments through N-WASP and the Arp2/3 complex following direct binding to cytoplasmic tails of ligand-activated growth factor receptors, including EGFR, VEGFR2 and FGFR1. By contrast, little is known about functions of IQGAP2 or IQGAP3. Using in situ hybridization on whole mount zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos, we show that IQGAP1 and IQGAP2 are associated with discrete tissues and organs, while IQGAP3 is mainly expressed in proliferative cells throughout embryonic and larval development. Morpholino knockdowns of IQGAP1 and IQGAP2 have little effect on embryo morphology while loss of function of IQGAP3 affects both cell proliferation and cell motility. IQGAP3 morphant phenotypes are similar to those resulting from overexpression of dominant negative forms of Ras or of Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor 1 (FGFR1), suggesting that IQGAP3 plays a role in FGFR1-Ras-ERK signaling. In support of this hypothesis, dominant negative forms of FGFR1 or Ras could be rescued by co-injection of zebrafish IQGAP3 mRNA, strongly suggesting that IQGAP3 acts as a downstream regulator of the FGFR1-Ras signaling pathway.
Multiphase Field Simulations of Intermetallic Compound Growth During Lead-Free Soldering

A multiphase field simulation of the morphological evolution of the intermetallic compounds (IMCs) formed during the reaction between liquid Sn-based solder and a copper substrate is presented. The Cu-substrate, Cu3Sn (e phase), and Cu6Sn5 (η phase) layers (or grains), as well as the Sn-liquid phase are considered. Interfaces are defined by the presence of more than one phase at a given point of the computational domain. The interface structure is determined by assuming that all components of coexisting phases within the interfacial region have equal chemical potentials, which are in turn calculated from CALPHAD thermodynamic databases. Fast grain boundary (GB) diffusion in the η IMC layer, η grain coarsening and growth with growth/shrinkage of e grains, and dissolution of Cu from the substrate will be discussed and compared with previous works. The simulation will address the kinetics of the IMC growth during soldering and the influence of fast GB diffusion on the concurrent coarsening of Cu3Sn and Cu6Sn5 grains. The kinetic behavior of the substrate/IMC/solder system as a function of model parameters will also be presented.
Associations of lifetime active and passive smoking with spontaneous abortion, stillbirth and tubal ectopic pregnancy: a cross-sectional analysis of historical data from the Women's Health Initiative

Objective To examine the associations between tobacco exposure and adverse pregnancy outcomes using quantitative measures of lifetime active smoking and secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure. Methods Historical reproductive data on 80 762 women who participated in the Women9s Health Initiative Observational Study were examined with a cross-sectional analysis. We assessed self-reported lifetime active and passive tobacco smoke exposure, self-reported spontaneous abortions, stillbirths and ectopic pregnancies. Results When compared with never-smoking women, participants who were ever active smokers during their reproductive years had ORs (OR) of 1.16 (95% CI 1.08 to 1.26) for 1 or more spontaneous abortions, 1.44 (95% CI 1.20 to 1.73) for 1 or more stillbirths, and 1.43 (95% CI 1.10 to 1.86) for 1 or more ectopic pregnancies. Never-smoking women participants with the highest levels of lifetime SHS exposure, including childhood >10 years, adult home >20 years and adult work exposure >10 years, when compared with never-smoking women with no SHS exposure had adjusted ORs of 1.17 (95% CI 1.05 to 1.30) for spontaneous abortion, 1.55 (95% CI 1.21 to 1.97) for stillbirth, and 1.61 (95% CI 1.16 to 2.24) for ectopic pregnancy. Conclusions Women who were ever-smokers during their reproductive years had significantly greater estimates of risk for spontaneous abortion, stillbirth and tubal ectopic pregnancy. Never-smoking women with the highest levels of lifetime exposure to SHS had significantly increased estimates of risk for spontaneous abortion, stillbirth and tubal ectopic pregnancy.
Discovery of False Codling Moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick), in California (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae)

Abstract. The false codling moth, Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick), is one of the most destructive pests of avocado, citrus, and cotton in Africa. On July 24, 2008, a male of this species was identified from a pheromone trap located in Ventura County, California. Although larvae of T. leucotreta are frequently intercepted at U.S. ports-of-entry, primarily on bell peppers (Capsicum sp.), eggplant (Solanum melongena), and clementines (Citrus sp.), this represents the first North American record outside of a port or international commercial shipment. Additional individuals have not been recorded from California suggesting that this species is not yet established in the state. We provide descriptions, illustrations, and other information to help in the identification of this species.
Electrocyclone for High-Temperature, High-Pressure Dust Removal

Pressurized fluidized bed combustion (PFBC) is a promising new approach to generating electricity from coal, but requires removal of coal ash from the combustion gas at high temperature and pressure. In response to this need for a high-efficienc y, high-throughp ut gas cleanup device, experiments have been performed with an electrostatically augmented cyclone. In this paper, the electrocyclone concept, its advantages, and its theory of operation are discussed. Recent experimental results with a 0.457-m (18-in.) cold flow laboratory model are reviewed and compared with an analytical model. Comparisons of the measured and predicted fractional efficiency show good agreement over a range of flow rates and electrode voltages. Using the same computer model, the projected performance of prototype equipment for a 660-MWe PFBC power plant is examined, and plans for the continued development of the electrocyclone are summarized.
Instance-level access control for business-to-business electronic commerce

The emergence of e-marketplace Web sites that contain proprietary information from multiple organizations requires the creation of new access control schemes that provide fine-grained access control while reducing both administrative and run-time overhead. It is also desirable to have clear, concise, and easily configurable definitions of access control policies that are aligned with business processes, and to have these policies enforced consistently throughout an ecommerce system. In this paper, we describe a policy-based access control scheme, and its implementation, that allows access to individual instances of resources to be specified in a concise and computationally efficient manner. We model business relationships between users and business objects and use implicit grouping of users and resources. These concepts allow policies to refer efficiently to aggregates of resources and users and to document the intention of an authorization policy. Our access control scheme is implemented as an application-level access control mechanism within IBM's WebSphere® Commerce Suite, Marketplace Edition. We use this implementation to provide examples and give performance data. For future work, we discuss how our policy-based, resource-level access control scheme might be enhanced to augment language-level access control schemes, such as the Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE™) security model.
Analysis of a greedy heuristic for finding small dominating sets in graphs

We analyze a simple greedy algorithm for finding small dominating sets in undirected graphs of N nodes and M edges. We show that dg < N + 1 - v2M + 1, where dg is the cardinality of the dominating set returned by the algorithm.
Predictive values of routine blood pressure measurements in screening for hypertension

There presently is no consensus regarding criteria for hypertension screening or case finding. Blood pressure variability results in differential ascertainment, depending upon the number of screening visits, the number of measurements per visit, and the method used in reducing the data obtained to an underlying measure of blood pressure status. To develop screening rules, the authors have computed the predictive values of blood pressure measurements for particular age-, race-, and sex-specific groups. Predictive value computations require estimates of between- and within-visit variability and of prevalence. Estimates of variability were calculated from data obtained at a worksite or a community blood pressure program from 991 persons, aged 30-69 years and not currently on antihypertensive medications, who were screened over two to five visits, one week apart. Estimates of prevalence were obtained from the screening of 158,955 adults by the Hypertension Detection and Follow-Up Program. Predictive values are presented for particular age-, race-, and sex-specific groups over a wide range of diastolic blood pressures, and are used to identify appropriate screening rules that minimize misclassification with the fewest possible blood pressure measurements. The results of a questionnaire sent to 30 hypertension experts indicated that the median acceptable predictive values for making screening decisions were 80% for predictive value positive and 77.5% for predictive value negative. When these criteria were adopted, 81%, 90%, and 93% of the subgroup of 901 persons with at least three visits from the above screened population were identified as having or not having true diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 90 mmHg after one, two, and three visits, respectively. The status of the remaining 7% remained uncertain after three visits.