cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Monitoring fugitive dust emission sources arising from construction: a remote-sensing approach

Construction-related soil disturbance (e.g., road construction, trenching, land stripping, earthmoving, and blasting) is a significant source of fugitive (airborne) dust in the atmosphere. Fugitive dust is a primary cause of decreased air quality and may carry airborne pathogens. We use Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) remote-sensing data spanning 1994 through 2009 over southern Arizona to identify source areas of construction-related activity likely to produce fugitive dust. We correlate temporal changes in the mid-infrared spectral response to dust sources from local construction. Image differencing of the TM band 5 (mid-infrared), with a change threshold of ±5 SD of the mean, suitably estimates the location and area affected by construction-related soil disturbance. Estimated dust-producing surface area ranges from 10.0 (1996–1997) to 28.3 km2 (2004–2005), or 0.16–0.44% of the Pima County study area. Our methods aim to automate monitoring of fugitive dust sources by environmental and health agencies and to...
Strategic trade policy

Abstract I consider a trade policy game in which the choice of policy (subsidy or quota) and time of implementation [before (commit) or after (delay) observing the random demand intercept] is endogenously determined. Each country has four possible options: CQ, CS, DS and DQ, where CQ denotes a commitment to a quota and the other options are similarly labeled. For the special case of an international duopoly, countries prefer quotas to subsidies: CQ is chosen if noise is ‘small’ and DQ if noise is ‘large’. Also interesting is that quotas in the DQ regime coincide with firms' desired exports.
Conservation and diversity in families of coated vesicle adaptins.

The complete sequence of the beta adaptin subunit of the plasma membrane adaptor complex from coated vesicles has been elucidated. Complementary cDNA clones from human fibroblasts, rat lymphocytes, and bovine lymphocytes have been isolated, sequenced, and compared with each other and with beta adaptin sequences from rat brain (Kirchhausen, T., Nathanson, K.L., Matsui, W., Vaisberg, A., Chow, E.P., Burne, C., Keen, J.H., and Davis, A.E. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 2612-2616). Surprisingly, the 937-amino acid beta adaptin polypeptide is totally conserved between species. This remarkable homology contrasts with the absence of significant sequence similarity between the alpha (Robinson, M.S. (1989) J. Cell Biol. 108, 833-842) and beta adaptins of the plasma membrane adaptor complex. Diversity within each adaptin family is created by the expression of different genes and by tissue-specific differential splicing. The structures of the beta and alpha adaptins can both be divided into two globular domains interconnected by a variable and potentially flexible stalk domain.
Where do we fit quality science in engineering courses

It is argued that more emphasis should be placed on teaching quality science in engineering schools. Examples of specific topics in an engineering program are given. These topics are: data analysis, product design, process design and control, and measurements. The topics which compose the body of knowledge, as defined by the American Society for Quality Control, for an engineer taking the Certified Quality Engineer Examination, could be used to develop a curriculum in quality science. Some of the topics could also be included in traditional engineering courses. >
Grape seed extract and resveratrol prevent 4‐nitroquinoline 1‐oxide induced oral tumorigenesis in mice by modulating AMPK activation and associated biological responses

Preventive measures against oral carcinogenesis are urgently warranted to lower the high morbidity and mortality associated with this malignancy worldwide. Here, we investigated the chemopreventive efficacy of grape seed extract (GSE) and resveratrol (Res) in 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (4NQO)-induced tongue tumorigenesis in C57BL/6 mice. Following 8 weeks of 4NQO exposure (100 μg/mL in drinking water), mice were fed with either control AIN-76A diet or diet containing 0.2% GSE (w/w) or 0.25% Res (w/w) for 8 subsequent weeks, while continued on 4NQO. Upon termination of the study at 16 weeks, tongue tissues were histologically evaluated for hyperplasia, dysplasia and papillary lesions, and then analyzed for molecular targets by immunohistochemistry. GSE and Res feeding for 8 weeks, moderately decreased the incidence, but significantly prevented the multiplicity and severity of 4NQO-induced preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions, without any apparent toxicity. In tongue tissues, both 4NQO+GSE and 4NQO+Res treatment correlated with a decreased proliferation (BrdU labeling index) but increased apoptotic death (TUNEL-positive cells) as compared to the 4NQO group. Furthermore, tongue tissues from both the 4NQO+GSE and 4NQO+Res groups showed an increase in activated metabolic regulator phospho-AMPK (Thr172) and decreased autophagy flux marker p62. Together, these findings suggest that GSE and Res could effectively prevent 4NQO-induced oral tumorigenesis through modulating AMPK activation, and thereby, inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis and autophagy, as mechanisms of their efficacy.
Revascularization in Patients With Multivessel Coronary Artery Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease: Everolimus-Eluting Stents Versus Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery.

Abstract Background Randomized trials of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) versus coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) routinely exclude patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Objectives This study evaluated outcomes of PCI versus CABG in patients with CKD. Methods Patients with CKD who underwent PCI using everolimus-eluting stents were propensity-score matched to patients who underwent isolated CABG for multivessel coronary disease in New York. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and repeat revascularization. Results Of 11,305 patients with CKD, 5,920 patients were propensity-score matched. In the short term, PCI was associated with a lower risk of death (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.35 to 0.87), stroke (HR: 0.22; 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.42), and repeat revascularization (HR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.23 to 0.98) compared with CABG. In the longer term, PCI was associated with a similar risk of death (HR: 1.07; 95% CI: 0.92 to 1.24), higher risk of MI (HR: 1.76; 95% CI: 1.40 to 2.23), a lower risk of stroke (HR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.41 to 0.76), and a higher risk of repeat revascularization (HR: 2.42; 95% CI: 2.05 to 2.85). In the subgroup with complete revascularization with PCI, the increased risk of MI was no longer statistically significant (HR: 1.18; 95% CI: 0.67 to 2.09). In the 243 matched pairs of patients with end-stage renal disease on hemodialysis, PCI was associated with significantly higher risk of death (HR: 2.02; 95% CI: 1.40 to 2.93) and repeat revascularization (HR: 2.44; 95% CI: 1.50 to 3.96) compared with CABG. Conclusions In patients with CKD, CABG is associated with higher short-term risk of death, stroke, and repeat revascularization, whereas PCI with everolimus-eluting stents is associated with a higher long-term risk of repeat revascularization and perhaps MI, with no long-term mortality difference. In the subgroup on dialysis, the results favored CABG over PCI.
The Thing about Exclusion

In this contribution to a volume on the work property scholarship of Thomas Merrill, I will show how an account of property as the law of things completes the picture of property, putting the right to exclude in proper perspective. Contra Merrill, the right to exclude is not the sine qua non of property, and the main features of property cannot be derived from the right to exclude. Nonetheless, I will argue that Merrill is right to search for a unifying theme in property and that the relevant thread is the mediation of legal relations through things. From the role of the thing in depersonalizing and formalizing property relations, we can see when the right to exclude and closely related notions of possession are – and are not – important. Private law deals with the complex interactions of members of society, and a first cut at managing potential conflict is to carve the world into modular things, in tangibles or intangibles, and associate them with people through the norms and the law of property. More complex aspects of property from governance strategies to entity property build off of the legal thing. At the heart of property is the thing.
Structural Equation Models including Historical Origins

Structural equation models refer to general statistical procedures for multiequation systems that include continuous latent variables, multiple indicators of concepts, errors of measurement, errors in equations, and observed variables. An analysis that uses structural equation models has several components. These include (a) model specification, (b) the implied moment matrix, (c) identification, (d) estimation, (e) model fit, and (f) respecification. Historical origins of structural equation models are also described. Keywords: structural equation models; factor loading matrix; path analysis; implied moment matrix; model identification; respecification
Noncholinergic nonadrenergic inhibitory innervation of the canine pylorus

Abstract Vagal nerve stimulation in atropine-treated dogs leads to an inhibitory motor response at the pylorus. The roles played by the cholinergic and the adrenergic nervous systems in this response were investigated in pentobarbital-anesthetized dogs. Force transducers were sutured to the gastric antrum, pylorus, and duodenum. Electrical vagal stimulation of the distal cut ends of the thoracic vagi was performed for 1-min periods. Minute motility indices were obtained for prestimulatory, stimulatory, and poststimulatory motor activity before and after each drug administration. Atropine sulfate (0.1–1.0 mg/kg i.v.) was administered to all animals. After atropine administration, 12 dogs received hexamethonium bromide as a bolus intravenous injection (30 mg/kg) and seven dogs received hexamethonium by infusion (60 mg/kg/hr i.v.). A second group of six dogs received the infusion of hexamethonium first, followed by atropine injection. A third group of 11 dogs received atropine followed by phenoxybenzamine, phentolamine, and propranolol (each at 4 mg/kg i.v.). Guanethidine sulfate (4 mg/kg i.v.) was administered either after the adrenergic receptor antagonists and atropine (eight dogs) or after atropine alone (four dogs). Following atropine injection, spontaneous contractile activity was observed only in the pylorus. Vagal stimulation produced significant inhibition of this activity and, in a majority of the animals, a concomitant relaxation of the pyloric tone. Hexamethonium infusion, but not bolus injection, blocked the pyloric inhibition, relaxation response. Vagal stimulation during the infusion of hexamethonium without atropine produced an excitatory response in the antrum and pylorus. None of the drugs affecting the adrenergic nervous system prevented the vagally mediated inhibitory response. The inhibition, relaxation response of the canine pylorus to vagal stimulation is noncholinergic and nonadrenergic and is mediated through nicotinic and possibly muscarinic ganglionic receptors. The nervous pathways for the vagally mediated excitatory pyloric responses utilize both nicotinic and muscarinic synaptic transmission. The canine pylorus appears to be a physiologically unique zone.
Metatranscriptomic signature of exogenous polyamine utilization by coastal bacterioplankton

Summary The polyamines putrescine (PUT) and spermidine (SPD) are ubiquitous in seawater, but mechanisms that drive the degradation of these important nitrogen sources by marine bacteria remain unclear. We employed a comparative metatranscriptomics approach to compare gene transcription patterns between coastal bacterioplankton communities with and without amendments of PUT or SPD, in an effort to understand how bacterial communities and their genes shape polyamine biogeochemistry in the ocean. Statistically different transcript categories in the PUT (25 COG groups) and SPD (23 COG groups) samples, relative to controls that received no amendment (CTRL), indicated that genes encoding the cellular translation machinery and the metabolism of organic nitrogen and carbon became enriched in the community transcriptome when polyamine availability increased. Of the three known pathways for bacterial polyamine degradation, only genes in the transamination pathway were enriched in the PUT and SPD libraries, suggesting that this route dominated polyamine degradation. Taxonomic affiliation of significantly enriched diagnostic genes in the PUT and SPD libraries pointed to roseobacter- and SAR11-affiliated bacteria as the predominant taxa driving transformation in this coastal ocean, although other diverse marine bacterioplankton groups (Gammaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes) also contributed to polyamine-related gene transcription.
Assessing an organizational culture instrument based on the Competing Values Framework: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses

The Competing Values Framework (CVF) has been widely used in health services research to assess organizational culture as a predictor of quality improvement implementation, employee and patient satisfaction, and team functioning, among other outcomes. CVF instruments generally are presented as well-validated with reliable aggregated subscales. However, only one study in the health sector has been conducted for the express purpose of validation, and that study population was limited to hospital managers from a single geographic locale. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to examine the underlying structure of data from a CVF instrument. We analyzed cross-sectional data from a work environment survey conducted in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The study population comprised all staff in non-supervisory positions. The survey included 14 items adapted from a popular CVF instrument, which measures organizational culture according to four subscales: hierarchical, entrepreneurial, team, and rational. Data from 71,776 non-supervisory employees (approximate response rate 51%) from 168 VHA facilities were used in this analysis. Internal consistency of the subscales was moderate to strong (α = 0.68 to 0.85). However, the entrepreneurial, team, and rational subscales had higher correlations across subscales than within, indicating poor divergent properties. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors, comprising the ten items from the entrepreneurial, team, and rational subscales loading on the first factor, and two items from the hierarchical subscale loading on the second factor, along with one item from the rational subscale that cross-loaded on both factors. Results from confirmatory factor analysis suggested that the two-subscale solution provides a more parsimonious fit to the data as compared to the original four-subscale model. This study suggests that there may be problems applying conventional CVF subscales to non-supervisors, and underscores the importance of assessing psychometric properties of instruments in each new context and population to which they are applied. It also further highlights the challenges management scholars face in assessing organizational culture in a reliable and comparable way. More research is needed to determine if the emergent two-subscale solution is a valid or meaningful alternative and whether these findings generalize beyond VHA.
The role of low pH and disulfide shuffling in the entry and fusion of Semliki Forest virus and Sindbis virus.

Semliki Forest virus (SFV), an enveloped alphavirus, infects cells via a membrane fusion reaction that is induced by the low pH in endocytic vesicles. The role of low pH in the entry of the alphavirus Sindbis virus (SIN) is unclear, and an alternative fusion mechanism involving receptor-induced disulfide bond rearrangements at neutral pH has been proposed. The entry properties of SFV and SIN were here compared in parallel using treatment with the weak base NH4Cl or the vacuolar ATPase inhibitors bafilomycin A-1 or concanamycin to neutralize endosome pH. Three membrane impermeant thiol modifying reagents, 5,5'-dithio-bis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB), p-chloromercuriphenylsulfonic acid (pCMBS), and monobromotrimethylammoniobimane (Thiolyte MQ), were used to inhibit thiol-disulfide exchange reactions. Primary infection by both SFV and SIN was inhibited by neutralization of endosome pH using NH4Cl, bafilomycin, or concanamycin. The concentration of NH4Cl or bafilomycin required for inhibition correlated with the pH dependence of membrane fusion for SFV, SIN, and a pH-shift mutant of SFV. SFV and SIN infection were partially inhibited by the thiol blocker DTNB, but not by pCMBS or Thiolyte MQ. Our data suggest that acidic endosomal pH induces the fusion activity of both SFV and SIN during virus infection.
Analysis of a possible Sun-weather correlation

In an attempt to verify the relationship between solar activity and precipitation posited by Xanthakis (1973), annual precipitation records from 2,548 stations in both hemispheres from the period 1850 to 1973 were examined. The strong negative correlation between solar activity and rainfall in the 60 to 70 deg N latitude belt found by Xanthakis appeared much less distinct in the present study. In addition, a spectral analysis indicated no significant spectral peaks having periods between 6 and 20 years, a finding which cast further doubt on the solar cycle-precipitation correlation.
Hepatic glycogen patterns in fasted and fed rats.

Hepatic glycogen patterns are described for rats adapted to a precisely controlled feeding schedule and ad libitum fed rats. Liver samples were processed for biochemical and histochemical glycogen analysis at precise intervals following a 22 hour fast and a 2 hour meal. Histochemical determination of glycogen (PAS) after freeze substitution showed lobular patterns of hepatic glycogen which correlate with chemically determined glycogen levels and nutritional states of the rats. After 22 hour fasting, hepatocytes from rats with low glycogen levels ( 5%). Glycogen depletion reduced glycogen staining in cells throughout the lobule, but centrilobular patterns prevailed until late in depletion when periportal patterns appeared. Ad libitum-fed rats showed similar glycogen patterns except maximum deposition was characterized by centrilobular or even lobular distribution of glycogen, and periportal patterns of glycogen were seen only rarely in extreme fasted rats. Differences in lobular patterns between ad libitum and control fed rats is apparently related to lower maximum hepatic glycogen levels reached by ad libitum-fed animals.
The Evidence for Somānanda's Pantheism

It is well known that Utpaladeva’s (c. 925–975) articulation of the Pratyabhijnā deviates in style and substance from that of his teacher, Somānanda (fl. c. 900–950), and that the former’s Īśvarapratyabhijnākārikās (along with two auto-commentaries) come to be regarded as the definitive formulation of the school’s philosophy almost from the moment they were first composed. In this essay, I argue that while the spirit and general philosophical contours of Somānanda’s Śivadṛṣṭi serve as the basis for all subsequent writings in the history of the Pratyabhijnā, Somānanda nevertheless articulates a philosophical monism that is both pantheistic and absent in its essentials from Utpaladeva’s oeuvre. This pantheism, I further suggest, stands in contrast to Utpaladeva’s panentheistic monism, which while compatible with Somānanda’s philosophical vision is nevertheless articulated in different terms: Somānanda emphasizes the functioning of Śiva’s power(s), while Utpaladeva articulates a monism based on the identification of paired opposites. In doing so, this essay identifies Somānanda’s unique contributions to the history of the Pratyabhijnā.
Inhibitors of colon carcinogenesis

Disulfiram (tetraethylthiuram disulfide, Antabuse) and sodium diethyldithio-carbamate, when added to the diet, inhibit 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH)-induced neoplasia of the large bowel in female CF1 mice. Ethylene bis(dithiocarbamato)manganese (Maneb) and bis(ethylxanthogen), two pesticides with structural similarities to disulfiram, produce comparable inhibition of DMH. In other work, disulfiram was found to inhibit the carcinogenic effect of azoxymethane (AOM) on the large bowel. Under comparable conditions the inhibition of AOM was considerably less than that obtained with DMH as the carcinogen. The data suggest that disulfiram inhibits DMH metabolism at more than one oxidative step.
Age-Related Changes in Centripetal Ciliary Body Movement Relative to Centripetal Lens Movement in Monkeys

The goal was to determine the age-related changes in accommodative movements of the lens and ciliary body in rhesus monkeys. Varying levels of accommodation were stimulated via the Edinger-Westphal (E-W) nucleus in 26 rhesus monkeys, aged 6-27 years, and the refractive changes were measured by coincidence refractometry. Centripetal ciliary process (CP) and lens movements were measured by computerized image analysis of goniovideographic images. Ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) at 50 MHz was used to visualize and measure accommodative forward movements of the ciliary body in relation to age, accommodative amplitude, and centripetal CP and lens movements. At approximately 3 diopters of accommodation, the amount of centripetal lens movement required did not significantly change with age (p = 0.10; n = 18 monkeys); however, the amount of centripetal CP movement required significantly increased with age (p = 0.01; n = 18 monkeys), while the amount of forward ciliary body movement significantly decreased with age (p = 0.007; n = 11 monkeys). In the middle-aged animals (12-16.5 years), a greater amount of centripetal CP movement was required to induce a given level of lens movement and thereby a given level of accommodation (p = 0.01), compared to the young animals (6-10 yrs). Collectively, the data suggests that, with age, the accommodative system may be attempting to compensate for the loss of forward ciliary body movement by increasing the amount of centripetal CP movement. This, in turn, would allow enough zonular relaxation to achieve the magnitude of centripetal lens movement necessary for a given amplitude of accommodation.
Hydro-NEXRAD: Metadata computation and use

To enable the efficient use of the Hydro-NEXRAD system in hydrologic research, the authors are developing and computing a set of metadata. Vast archives of radar-centric NEXRAD data, the highly variable spatial and temporal characteristics of precipitation events, and the existence of anomalous data complicate the process of selecting subsets of the data for specific investigation. Well-defined, pre-computed, radar-centric, basin-centric and point (for a selected set of rain gauge locations) metadata offer the possibility of efficiently selecting data subsets that meet user-specified criteria. Metadata have to be computed quickly so that they do not slow down the data ingest process, but they do not have to be highly accurate. Separating rainfall from clear air conditions and heavy rainfall from light precipitation is often sufficient. In this paper, the authors discuss the technical challenges of computing metadata for the vast archives of NEXRAD data and basic data quality control incorporated into that process. Users of Hydro-NEXRAD will be able to query the database using different criteria based on the metadata or visually inspect the time series of the metadata.
Morphologic and biochemical study of dissociated rat parotid gland acini stimulated in vitro.

Abstract This study presents a method for dissociating parotid gland tissue into separate acinar groups, single acini, cell clumps and single cells for the in vitro study of secretion. Parotid slices, in Saline G plus special additives, were treated with 5 mg/ml crude collagenase and 1 mg/ ml soybean trypsin inhibitor followed by mechanical agitation and rinsing in fresh medium plus BSA. The resulting suspension was stimulated with 10 μM isoprenaline and compared with nondissociated parotid slices for the release of amylase over a 90 min period. About 12 per cent of the amylase of dissociated tissue was present in the medium at time zero, as compared with 0.5 per cent of the amylase of sliced tissue but after 90 min stimulation both preparations released about 76 per cent of total amylase. Specimens monitored by light and electron microscopy showed a loss of secretion granules in stimulated cells and the formation of lysosomes. Scanning electron microscopy showed that stromal elements disappeared after collagenase treatment and that the basal lamina was absent in finely divided cells which also demonstrated surface blebs, microvilli and ruffles.
Electromechanical uncoupling in a molluscan muscle examined by the sucrose gap technique. The effect of calcium antagonist and agonist agents.

Membrane potential and tension ofBusycon radular protractor muscles were studied by sucrose gap methods. Excitation-contraction (EC) coupling was examined in response to acetylcholine (ACh) and high K which depolarized the fibres and induced tension, but without action potential firing. Potassium depolarization did not follow predictions expected from the Nernst equation at low and very high K levels, and maximum tension was found at about 100 mM K. EC coupling was very sensitive to [Ca]o. Ca-free media eliminated K- and ACh-induced tension but with normal depolarization, showing full electromechanical uncoupling. Ionophore A23187 enhanced K- and ACh-induced responses and X-537A enhanced ACh responses, demonstrating acute dependence of activation on [Ca]o in this muscle. The calcium antagonists nifedipine and nisoldipine reduced tension in the muscle only at very high concentrations, and both agents slightly reduced K- and ACh-induced depolarization. Verapamil reduced K- and ACh-induced tension but paradoxically it enhanced the depolarizing actions of these agents leading to electromechanical uncoupling. Abscisic acid (ABA) enhanced ACh- and K-induced tension and simultaneously enhanced their depolarizing actions. Ionophores and ABA appear to enhance calcium influx which may secondarily influence sodium influx. Calcium antagonists have no consistent actions on this muscle, suggesting that calcium channel activity of the radular protractor may be different from that seen in mammalian visceral muscles.
Effects of higher-order threshold corrections in high-E T jet production

Results for higher-order threshold enhancements in high-${E}_{T}$ jet production in hadron-hadron collisions are presented. Expressions are given for the next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) threshold corrections to the single-jet inclusive cross section at next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) accuracy. The corrections are found to be small for the specific choice of ${E}_{T}/2$ for the factorization and renormalization scales, and the corrected cross section shows a substantial reduction of the scale dependence. A comparison to experimental results from the Fermilab Tevatron is presented.
Development of a new sea ice growth and lead parameterization

A thermodynamic sea ice model that has been numerically structured to take time steps on the order of a week has been shown to be sensitive to time step size. This sensitivity was caused by the extrapolation of initial ice growth rates over the long time step. A new parameterization of new sea ice growth on open ocean and in leads that can be used over a large range of time step sizes (at least from 0.3 to 12 days) is described here. In this parameterization new sea ice growth is computed as a power law function of the initial energy deficit in the ocean. This power law takes into account the rapid reduction of the ice growth rate as the sea ice gets thicker, and therefore reduces sensitivity to time step size. Tests of this parameterization show that this method does a good job of simulating the rate of new ice growth when compared to data from Mawson, Antarctica, and is relatively insensitive to the length of the time step.
A Control-Point-Based Sweeping Technique

This article presents a general sweeping technique for nonuniform rational B-splines. This operator allows sweeps with several cross sections along a 3D path. One can scale the cross sections along the path according to the shape of a profile curve. The definition of the resulting surface is inherited from the initial curves, and you compute its control mesh from the control polygon of these curves. We shall consider several special cases, like straight lines and rational curves; characteristics of circles and straight lines are preserved.
Subordinate Solutions of a Differential Equation

In 2003, Ruscheweyh and Suffridge settled a conjecture of Polya and Schoenberg on subordination of the de la Vallee Poussin means of an analytic function by defining a continuous extension of the de la Vallee Poussin means using a differential equation. We extend this differential equation to a more general setting and observe that a similar subordination result with convex functions holds. Through an integral operator of Bernardi, particular convex subordination chains are constructed with specified limiting functions. Finally, we show the importance of convexity by producing an example of a family of starlike solutions that fails to be a subordination chain.
Operational and design considerations for broad area graded barrier quantum well heterostructure lasers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition for high power applications

Abstract Graded barrier quantum well heterostructure (GBQWH) broad area lasers have been shown to be capable of high power pulsed and cw operation. In this article, we consider several operational characteristics and design issues associated with broad area graded barrier quantum well heterostructure lasers grown by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. In particular, the effect of junction heating on emission wavelength for cw device operation and the effects of various buffer layer structures on the material properties and device characteristics of GBQWH structures are addressed. Typical results for high power operation of uncoated broad area laser diodes are also outlined.
Interdigitated microelectrode-based microchip for electrical impedance spectroscopic study of oral cancer cells.

In this study, electric/electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry were used to study the cellular activities of oral cancer cell line CAL 27, including the kinetics of cell adhesion, spreading, and cell proliferation on interdigitated microelectrodes (IMEs). Impedance spectra of CAL 27 cells on IMEs electrodes were obtained in cell growth medium and in 0.1 M PBS with 50 mM [Fe(CN)6]3−/4− as redox probe. Equivalent circuits were used to model both cases. In cell growth medium, impedance spectra allowed us to analyze the changes in capacitance and resistance due to cell attachment on the IMEs over the entire experiment period. It was found that cell spreading caused the most significant decrease in capacitance component and slight increase in resistance component. Impedance change at given frequencies (between 10 kHz to 100 kHz) was found to be linearly increased with increasing cell number of CAL 27 on the IMEs. In comparison with non-cancer oral epithelial cells (Het-1A), at equal cell number, cancer cells always generated impedance several folds higher than that of non-cancer cells. In the presence of [Fe(CN)6]3−/4−, impedance spectra allowed us to analyze the change in electron transfer resistance of IMEs due to cell attachment, in which an increase trend was observed at 24 h with increasing cell number from 2500 cells to 10000 cells on IMEs. Double layer capacitance was also affected by cell attachment, and a decrease in double layer capacitance was observed with increasing cell number on the electrodes. Cyclic voltammetric measurements correlated well with the impedance results. The results of this study demonstrated the use of electrochemical approaches to obtain and understand cellular behaviors/activities of oral cancer cells, potentially providing useful tools for cancer cell research.
On the frontier of globalization: Development and discourse along the Rio Grande

Abstract The Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas is a region characterized by high levels of poverty, indicative of a peripheral area located in the core. Since the 1960s this region has undergone considerable economic change due to industrialization along the Mexican side of the border, a process which is integrally linked to the globalization of the world economy. In this paper, this macroeconomic transformation provides a frame for the discussion of the local political economy of the Rio Grande Valley. Specifically, this study employs a Regulationist Approach to examine the contemporary configuration of capital accumulation in McAllen, Texas and the spatial, social and discursive processes which lend support to this arrangement. The resulting description of the local mode of social regulation demonstrates continuity and stability in local power structures despite rapid economic and social change. This paper concludes by returning to a discussion of globalization and argues that the meaning and significance of this term can only be apprehended by studying the transformation of such places as the Rio Grande Valley.
An examination of methods for producing relaxation during short-term laboratory sessions

Abstract Reductions in psychological and physiological correlates of tension produced by various muscle relaxation training techniques were examined during a short-term laboratory session. Two studies are described involving a combined total of one hundred subjects receiving either abbreviated progressive relaxation, visual, auditory, or tactile electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback procedures. The Anxiety Differential was administered before and after the laboratory session. Heart rate, respiratory rate, skin conductance, systolic blood pressure, and frontalis and dominant forearm extensor EMG measures were obtained before, during, and after administration of relaxation training. Results indicated feedback in the tactile modality to produce overall reductions in tension comparable to those produced by progressive relaxation. Overall reductions in tension displayed by both progressive relaxation and tactile feedback were generally greater than reductions shown by visual or auditory feedback procedures. Interpretations suggest that certain forms of EMG feedback may offer an alternative to progressive relaxation techniques for producing short-term reductions in tension. Feedback modality is further indicated as a potentially important variable during relaxation training using the EMG feedback technique.
The Semi-Infinite Strip Problem in the Mechanics of Composite Materials

Many problems, ranging from interface-fiber fracture to determining the strength of fiber-matrix interfaces in composites, can be greatly assisted by a complete understanding of the boundary value problem of a semi-infinite strip. The specific boundary value problem of a semi-infinite strip with symmetric tractions on the transverse edges and normal loads on the end is investigated in the present study. The nature of the singular behavior in the slope of the end vertical displacement at the corner points is found. An asymptotic analysis of the solution shows that, depending on the nature of the applied stresses in the vicinity of the corner points, the singularity in the slope of the end vertical displacement may either be a power or logarithmic type, both, or not exist at all. Illustrative examples, for which exact or numerical results are known, are given. Numerical procedures are also given. The direct application of the results of the paper are illustrated for several problems in the mechanics of composite materials.
A questionnaire approach to measuring the relative reinforcing efficacy of snack foods.

Behavioral choice theory and laboratory choice paradigms can provide a framework to understand the reinforcing efficacy or reinforcing value of food. Reinforcing efficacy is measured in the laboratory by assessing how much effort one will engage in to gain access to food as the amount of work progressively increases. However, this method to establish demand curves as estimates of reinforcer efficacy is time consuming and limits the number of reinforcers that can be tested. The general aim of this study was to compare the reinforcing efficacy of snack foods using a behavioral task that requires subjects to respond to gain access to portions of food (LAB task) with a questionnaire version of a purchasing task designed to determine demand curves (QUES task) in nonobese and obese adults (n = 24). Results showed correlations between the maximal amount of money that individuals were willing to spend for food (QUES Omax) and the maximal amount of responses made on the highest reinforcement schedule completed (LAB Omax) (r = 0.45, p < 0.05), and between BMI and the LAB Omax (r = 0.43, p < 0.05) and the QUES Omax (r = 0.52, p < 0.05). The study suggests the questionnaire provides valid measures of reinforcing efficacy that can be used in place of or in conjunction with traditional laboratory paradigms to establish demand curves that describe the behavioral maintaining properties of food.
Products in methane combustion near surfaces

Emission of carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (CH[sub 2]O), and unburned methane (CH[sub 4]) are calculated for premixed methane/air mixtures impinging on a flat surface as functions of surface temperature, equivalence ratio, and strain rate with detailed chemistry involving 46 reversible reactions and 16 species using numerical bifurcation theory. Multiple solutions with different selectivities to stable products are found. On the extinguished branch unburned CH[sub 4], molecular hydrogen (H[sub 2]), CO, and CH[sub 2]O dominate, whereas on the ignited branch carbon dioxide (CO[sub 2]) predominates near the surface. Cold walls can promote the selectivity to CO and CH[sub 2]O near extinction, and high flow rates can increase considerably the formation of CO, CH[sub 2]O, and unburned CH[sub 4]. For example, an ignited stoichiometric methane/air mixture (9.5% CH[sub 4] in air) impinging on a surface of 1,000 K is calculated to produce 2% CO, 150 ppm CH[sub 2]O, and 3% unburned CH[sub 4] for a strain rate of 500 s[sup [minus]1]. Maximum efficiency of CH[sub 4] and minimum selectivity to CH[sub 2]O occur near the stoichiometric ratio, whereas minimum selectivity to CO occurs for fuel lean mixtures. Comparison of combustion near surfaces with freely propagating flames is also shown.
The sequential sum problem and performance bounds on the greedy algorithm for the on-line Steiner problem

This article is motivated by versions of the dynamic or on-line Steiner tree problem (OST) introduced by Imase and Waxman [4]. In this problem one is given an edge-weighted graph G and a sequence σ = (x1,&,xn) of distinct vertices of G. The requirement is to construct for each i ≤ n a tree Ti spanning the first i vertices of σ subject to the condition that Ti-1ETi for all i, where Ti is constructed without knowledge of the remaining vertices xj, j > i. The goal of the on-line Steiner problem is to minimize the performance ratio; that is, the maximum (over 1 ≤ i ≤ n) of the ratio of the weight of Ti to the weight of the minimum weight tree in G spanning the first i vertices (the latter tree is called the Steiner tree for these vertices). In [4] a lower bound of 1 + ½⌊ log2(n-1)⌋ was proved for this ratio. The authors further made the interesting conjecture that there is some on-line algorithm for the OST whose performance ratio achieves this lower bound. We show that a strong form of the greedy algorithm achieves a ratio that converges to the conjectured ½log2(k) + O(1) as the proportion of degree 2 vertices in the instance graph grows. Our results also imply improvements in certain cases on the known upper bound ⌈log2(n)⌉ for the performance ratio of the greedy algorithm. Our approach is to study a related graph parameter. For each sequence σ as above, define the associated cost $$L(\sigma) = \sum_{i = 2}^n c(i,\sigma),$$ where c(i,σ) = min1 ≤ t < idist(xi, xt). Then let Opt(n, G) be the maximum of L(σ) over all such sequences σ of length n. The problem of, given n and G, determining Opt(n, G) we call the Sequential Sum Problem (SSP). In this article we analyze the SSP, obtaining exact values and bounds on Opt(n, G) and relating these bounds to the greedy algorithm for the OST. For example, we calculate Opt(n, P) for the path P, and obtain a surprising characterization of all length n sequences σ which realize Opt(n, P). By analyzing Opt(n, P) for the continuous path, we derive upper bounds on the performance ratio of the greedy algorithm for the OST in arbitrary graphs. On the other hand, generalizing the lower bound argument of [4] we show that there are instances of OST, which can significantly fool any on-line algorithm for OST. Specifically, given any tree T normalized to have total edge weight 1, we construct a graph G and a length k ≤ |V(T)| sequence σ of vertices of G for which the performance ratio of any on-line algorithm for the OST with input σ is lower bounded by Opt(k, T). Finally, we show that the SSP for arbitrary G is NP-complete. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol. 45(3), 143164 2005
An explanation for enhanced virus plaque formation in chick embryo cells

While studying virus neutralization of many togaviruses by antisera raised in chickens, Hawkes and Lafferty1,2 observed a significant increase of plaque counts above controls when virus–antibody mixtures were assayed on chick embryo (CE) cell monolayers, or monolayers derived from other avian embryos. Among those antisera tested, partial neutralizing activity was observed at low dilutions and plaque enhancement at high dilutions above the neutralizing end point. These studies interested us because of the many apparent similarities between plaque enhancement and enhanced replication of dengue virus in mononuclear phagocytes. The latter has been shown to be mediated by anti-dengue IgG at dilutions above neutralization end points. When non-neutralized immune complexes are formed between dengue virus and antibody molecules, the Fc termini attach to cell receptors and complexes are internalized; this facilitates infection and results in enhanced production of virus3,4. The same phenomenon has been extended to West Nile (WN) virus demonstrated on mouse macrophage cell lines by Peiris and Porterfield5. Here, we have examined the infection of CE cells with virus–antibody complexes of another flavivirus, Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) virus. Our results show that a similar mechanism operates in the antibody-mediated viral plaque enhancement of MVE virus on CE cells.
Gold electrodes with polyion multilayers and electrostatically bound redox couples

Abstract Self-assembled monolayers of alkane thiols with terminal ionized moieties readily adsorb polyions of the opposite charge to form a bilayer structure. A second polyion layer can be adsorbed electrostatically onto the first polyion layer to yield a trilayer. Ellipsometry suggests that the polyion layers have thicknesses comparable to that of the self-assembled monolayer. Each polyion layer can also electrostatically bind a redox couple, although only certain combinations of polyion and redox couple yield a stable redox wave. The reaction of ferroin and other iron complexes onto an anionic surface (monolayer or trilayer) leads to a pH-sensitive surface redox couple believed to be an oligomer of iron hydroxide. A two-terminal pH sensor of the type described by I. Rubinstein [1], and Hickman et al. Anals Chem 56, 1135 (1984). [2] is demonstrated using electrostatically bound redox couples.
Analogy in William Rowan Hamilton's New Algebra

This essay offers the first analysis of analogy in research-level mathematics, taking as its case the 1837 treatise of William Rowan Hamilton. Analogy spatialized Hamilton's key concepts—knowledge and time—in culturally familiar ways, creating an effective landscape for thinking about the new algebra. It also structurally aligned his theory with the real number system so his objects and operations would behave customarily, thus encompassing the old algebra while systematically bringing into existence the new.
Trimethyl acetate on TiO2(110): preparation and anaerobic photolysis.

The preparation and anaerobic ultraviolet photolysis of trimethyl acetate (TMA) on rutile TiO2(110) have been examined with an emphasis on reaction paths. Substrates for photolysis were prepared by dosing trimethyl acetic acid at 100, 300, and 550 K. The chemistry was characterized by mass spectrometry during dosing and by H2O adsorption and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) after dosing. Using TPD after photolysis and mass spectrometry during photolysis, the products ejected and retained during photolysis were sought. The photolysis results are interpreted using the following mechanistic model. Photons with energies exceeding 3 eV create electron−hole pairs in the substrate. With probabilities of 10-5 or lower, the holes initiate TMA chemistry by extracting an electron from the π orbital of the carboxylate moiety. The accompanying electrons are trapped at the surface and inhibit subsequent events of this chemistry. The electron-deficient intermediate, TMA*, decarboxylates to form CO2 and either che...
A global view of radiative association as a function of product size: interstellar implications

Radiative association processes are currently thought to play a significant if not dominant role in the gas phase chemistry of dense interstellar clouds. Current detailed gas phase models of the chemistry of dense clouds contain large numbers of molecules comprising up to about 10 atoms. Radiative association will play a more important role when such models are extended to larger molecules because this process tends to increase in rate as the reactant size increases. Here, a current detailed theory of radiative association rate coefficients (the so-called phase space theory) is utilized to determine such rate coefficients for generic reactive systems ranging in size from fewer than 10 atoms to upwards of 100 atoms
[3H]Etorphine binding activity in early chick embryos: Brain and body tissue

Stereospecific [3H]etorphine binding has been detected in chick embryos as early as day 4 of incubation in both brain and body tissue. By day 10 of incubation [3H]etorphine stereospecific binding activity is not detectable in nonneuronal tissue. The ubiquitous opiate binding sites early in embryogenesis are high affinity and respond to ion and GTP regulation in a manner similar to adult brain tissue. We interpret our observations to indicate all embryonic cells prior to cell differentiation contain opiate receptors. Therefore, we propose that opiate receptors play a dual role; one function early in embryogenesis not associated with neurotransmitter regulation, and another function later in embryonic development and in the adult: the classical neurotransmitter regulatory function.
Some experiments in multitasking on an ELXSI system 6400

In the next six years, Sandia National Laboratories plans to acquire several of the most powerful supercomputers available at that particular time. We anticipate that these machines will have multitasking capabilities. To ensure that the Department of Energy programmatic goals will be met, it is essential that these machines be used efficiently. For this purpose, the Applied Mathematics Division and the Parallel Processing Division at Sandia have underway research programs to investigate the interaction between algorithms, the software environment, and advanced computer architecture for numerical-analysis applications in both mathematical-software libraries and large production codes. This report presents some preliminary results of running a code for solving two-point boundary-value problems in a multitasking environment on the ELXSI 6400.